Sacha Baron Cohen's Hype Machine Scores With Fake Oscars Kerfuffle
February, 24, 2012 12:34 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, Awards, Brian Grazer, oscars, Sacha Baron Cohen, the dictatorLet's hope Sacha Baton Cohen's movie is funnier than his latest publicity stunt.
The faux outrage affected by the British comic actor and adopted by some media outlets over his nonexistent "banning" from the Oscar show is looking sillier by the moment.
Particularly so with the latest news Friday morning from show producer Brian Grazer that Baron Cohen is not only attending but will be participating in the show.
And he'll be doing so as himself, not as his character from the upcoming film "The Dictator."
That means that Baron Cohen most likely floated the idea that he wanted to walk the red carpet in character...
Read MoreSacha Baron Cohen Got His Oscar Tickets -- But His Alter Ego Is Still Making Trouble (Video)
February, 24, 2012 7:52 am | Comments On #Academy Awards, Awards, awards video, hugo, movie videos, oscars, Sacha Baron Cohen, the dictator, Tom SherakDespite reports that Sacha Baron Cohen has been banned from the Academy Awards, AMPAS president Tom Sherak has told TheWrap that the comic actor now has his Oscar tickets.
"We want him to come to the show," Sherak said. "But we would like him to come as Sacha."
And Oscar show producer Brian Grazer told Access Hollywood correspondent Tim Vincent that Baron Cohen would be "part of the show ... as himself."
Meanwhile, Baron Cohen has responded to the Academy's request that he not use the Oscar red carpet to stunt-promote his new movie …
… by using that request to stunt-promote his new movie.
...
Read MoreCan 'The Artist' Have It Both Ways?
February, 23, 2012 2:02 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, Awards, Berenice Bejo, Film Independent Spirit Awards, Jean Dujardin, Michel Hazanavicius, oscars, The ArtistIf "The Artist" wins the Academy Award for Best Picture on Sunday night, it will be the first film from a non-English speaking country to win the award.
Or will it?
The Academy says the black-and-white silent film was made by a number of European production companies.
But the Film Independent Spirit Awards says it qualifies as an American production.
"The Artist" truly crosses boundaries in an international filmmaking landscape where national borders are increasingly blurry.
Also read: Oscar's in Desperate...
Read MoreColin Firth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo Returning to the Oscars
February, 23, 2012 10:41 am | Comments On #Academy Awards, Awards, christian bale, Colin Firth, Melissa Leo, Natalie Portman, Oscar presenters, oscarsColin Firth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo – last year's Oscar winners for acting – didn't get the traditional honor of being the first Oscar presenters whose names were announced by the Academy.
But they will be presenting at the 84th Academy Awards, Oscar show producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer announced on Thursday.
Grazer and Mischer broke this year with the tradition of beginning presenter announcements with the previous year's acting winners; instead, their first announcement, back on January 26, was that the cast of "Bridesmaids" would appear on the show....
Read MoreThe Nun Who Kissed Elvis Isn't Quite Accurate With Those Oscar Memories
February, 22, 2012 2:36 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, Awards, Best Documentary Short, Dolores Hart, Elvis Presley, God Is the Bigger Elvis, HBO, Mother Prioress, oscars, Rebecca CammisaThe Benedictine nun at the center of the Oscar-nominated short "God Is the Bigger Elvis" has a great story to tell: 54 years ago she was the young actress who gave Elvis Presley his first screen kiss, and now she's returning as a guest to the Academy Awards, which she last attended when she was a presenter in 1959.
But neither of those things are exactly true.
Since I was raised Catholic and schooled by nuns, I would hardly accuse one of them of anything worse than a faulty memory. But no evidence exists that the actress formerly known as Dolores Hart, who is now Mother Prioress at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut, was ever an Oscar presenter.
...
Read MoreAt the Oscars, It's 'The Kodak Theater' No More
February, 22, 2012 12:11 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, ampas, Awards, CIM, Hollywood & Highland Center, Kodak Theater, oscarsAs far as the Academy Awards are concerned, the home of the Oscars is now the Theater Formerly Known as Kodak.
AMPAS confirmed to TheWrap that the show, the pre-show and any additional advance promotion will now refer to the Oscars as taking place at "the Hollywood & Highland Center," the mall where the theater is located.
The change was made in Wednesday's press release announcing that Meryl Streep would serve as a presenter at the show. Where previous releases have described Sunday's show as taking place "at the Kodak Theater at Hollywood & Highland Center," the new release reads "Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented … from the...
Read MoreFinally, Somebody Likes the Madonna Movie: Costume Designers Give 'W.E.' Top Award
February, 21, 2012 11:38 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, Awards, CDG Awards, Costume Designers Guild, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, oscars, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, W.E."The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "W.E." and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" have won the top awards from the Costume Designers Guild, which handed out this awards season's last set of guild awards on Tuesday night.
"Dragon Tattoo" was honored as the best costume design in a contemporary film, while "W.E." won the award for period film and "Harry Potter" topped the fantasy film category.
"W.E." (left), which alternates scenes set in the 1920s and '30s with contemporary sequences, is the only one of the winners to also have an Oscar nomination.
In the past 10 years, the CDG...
Read MoreSteve Pond's Oscar Picks: 'The Artist' Will Win, but Should It?
February, 21, 2012 6:01 am | Comments On #Academy Awards, Awards, hugo, oscars, The Descendants, The Tree of Life"The Artist" will win six Oscars, "Hugo" will take home four, and "The Help" will land two of the four acting awards.
And the film I picked to win it all back in early September, "The Descendants," will have to settle for a single win for its screenplay.
With Oscar ballots due back at PricewaterhouseCoopers by the end of the day on Tuesday, those are my best guesses as to what Academy voters will do. It's a year where lots of big categories seem all but locked up, but also a year with confounding races in a number of categories.
Also read: ...
Read MoreLA Times Trumpets a Scoop: The Academy Is Old White Men!
February, 20, 2012 6:02 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, ampas, Awards, oscarsIf I've been slow to weigh in on the Los Angeles Times' extensive, lengthy investigation that concluded that the Academy is old, white and male, it's because I haven't really been sure what to say.
Except, maybe, "Yeah, we know. And?"
The study, for which the Times said it identified more than 5,100 of the Academy's 5,765 members, concluded that AMPAS is "markedly less diverse than the public," which is obvious not just to anybody who’s ever been around the Academy, but to anybody who's ever been around any group of people in the entertainment industry.
Also read: Oscar...
Read MoreOscar's in Desperate Need of Surprises -- Here's Where They Could Come From
February, 20, 2012 2:35 pm | Comments On #a separation, Academy Awards, Awards, Best Documentary Feature, Emmanuel Lubezki, George Clooney, In Darkness, Jean Dujardin, Monsieur Lazhar, oscars, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Pina, The Artist, The Tree of Life, undefeatedThe Oscar races can't be decided already.
Yes, "The Artist" and Jean Dujardin and Viola Davis and Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spencer and Michel Hazanavicius seem to have every reason to polish those acceptance speeches. (Keep it under 45 seconds, folks, be emotional, don't read lists!)
But I've noticed a yearning – heck, a desperation – on the part of a number of Academy members for things not to go according to plan.
They want, say, Meryl Streep to upset Viola Davis, or Gary Oldman to pull off a miracle over Dujardin (left) and George Clooney. Or even, just to throw a monkey wrench in things, for Max...
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Description
The Odds is an informed, bemused, skeptical and authoritative look at all aspects of the Academy Awards race. Steve Pond, author of the L.A. Times bestseller The Big Show, has been covering this particular circus for more than two decades, much of that time as the only reporter with full backstage and rehearsal access to the Oscar show.
