BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — More than 5,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will soon get their official ballots for the 79th Academy Awards. The 5,830 ballots were mailed today and must be returned to Pricewaterhouse-Coopers by Feb. 20. The ballots list nominees in 19 categories.
Ballots for certain categories will not be sent until members have verified their attendance at mandatory screenings. These include best documentary feature, documentary short subject, foreign language film, animated short film and live action short film.
And, for a look at who handles and counts those ballots, and how it's done ...
With the massive bloodletting at the climax of ‘‘The Departed,’’ you’d think it might be hard to make a sequel. Well, a domestic take of $125.2 million is making Warner Bros. Pictures and director Martin Scorsese think not. ...
If the upcoming Oscar race actually were a race, Queen Elizabeth II would be haughtily sprinting neck and neck with the bickering internationals of ‘‘Babel’’ while the Boston mobsters of ‘‘The Departed’’ took running potshots at the Japanese soldiers of ‘‘Letters From Iwo Jima.’’ And then, seemingly out of nowhere, a dented yellow VW mini-bus would break through the front line, its broken horn bleating in triumph.
One year after it stormed the Sundance Film Festival and six months after it conquered the nation’s art houses, ‘‘Little Miss Sunshine’’ is starting to look like the film to beat for best picture. ...
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Barbra Streisand. Cher. Elizabeth Taylor. Sharon Stone. Each made style history at the Academy Awards. Who can forget Streisand’s seemingly see-through sequined pantsuit at the 1969 Oscar show, or the certainly see-through sparkling creation Cher wore in 1988? How about Taylor’s 1970 periwinkle chiffon gown that matched her eyes, or the Gap T-shirt Stone built an outfit around in 1996?
These red-carpet contributions — and those of two dozen other stylish female stars — were recognized Tuesday at the film academy headquarters with ‘‘A Celebration of Oscar Fashion,’’ a retrospective of iconic Oscar wear. The private runway show, curated by Andre Leon Talley of Vogue magazine, was designed to inspire this year’s nominees and presenters to express their personal style and ‘‘create their own memorable moment’’ at the Oscars, said telecast producer Laura Ziskin. ...
The Chicago Music Awards were Sunday night at Park West. The list of winners has been posted on the event's site — two awards to R. Kelly?! — and here are some snapshots from the event.
LOS ANGELES — Part of the producing teams that helped launch the Academy Award-nominated films ‘‘The Departed’’ and ‘‘Little Miss Sunshine’’ will have to watch from their seats if either movie should win the best picture Oscar next month. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has ruled that only Graham King will get the credit for the crime drama ‘‘The Departed,’’ leaving Brad Pitt and Paramount Pictures studio chief Brad Grey out in the cold. Similarly — as reported in today's column by Bill Zwecker — the academy decided that Ron Yerxa and Chicago's Albert Berger did not meet its guidelines for inclusion as producers of ‘‘Little Miss Sunshine,’’ which has already won top honors from the Producers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild. ...
After weeks of speculation, the Police confirmed today that the band will reunite to open the 49th annual Grammy Awards Feb. 11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The group has not performed live since its 2003 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; the Grammy appearance is widely expected to kick off a year’s worth of reunion shows throughout the world. ...
MADRID, Spain — Pedro Almodovar’s ‘‘Volver’’ won best picture and earned Penelope Cruz the best actress award Sunday at the Goya Awards, Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars. ...
MUMBAI, India — Oscar-nominated Canadian movie ‘‘Water’’ will be shown in India this spring, seven years after angry Hindu nationalists stormed the sets, forcing its Indian-born director to stop filming. This time, promoters say, they don’t foresee any trouble.
LOS ANGELES — Crews rigged up the lights, on-air ‘‘talent’’ went over last-minute changes and the carpet was rolled out, setting the stage for Hollywood’s biggest night. And we had front row seats.
OK, so the grand gala — the Academy Awards — was down the block. But our room overlooked the pool at the trendy Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where it appeared that preparations were underway for a posh aftershow. ...
Leonardo DiCaprio, nominated in Oscar's best actor category for his film "Blood Diamond," reacts to his nomination to StarPulse: "I am quite young. The Academy Awards don't necessarily go to good work. They are a nice bonus and a lot of people think they are some plateau you need to reach in your work. But you have no control over that. To determine how an audience or Academy members are going to feel about your performance is a losing battle."
CULVER CITY, Calif. — Spider-Man and Oscar have some things in common. Both are iconic figures: Spider-Man can climb buildings and spin webs; Oscar can make an actor’s asking price climb and also spin a web of excitement. Spidey and Oscar also share another thing: producer Laura Ziskin. ...
LOS ANGELES — Winners of the Screen Actors Guild Awards shared a similar reaction when they collected their trophies backstage: ‘‘Wow, this is heavy.’’ They may have been speaking figuratively about being honored by their peers, but the meaning was more likely literal: the bronze ‘‘Actor’’ statuettes weigh a hefty 12 pounds each. ...
LOS ANGELES — Another week, another awards show, and the Oscar situation looks as up in the air as ever. "Little Miss Sunshine," took the Screen Actors Guild's ensemble prize Sunday night, the group's equivalent of a best picture award. Top acting honors, however, went to obvious front-runners Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson. ...
LOS ANGELES — From her 1953 Broadway debut to voicing the queen in "Shrek 2," Julie Andrews watched as her career of more than 50 years was highlighted Sunday night when she received the Screen Actors Guild's lifetime achievement award. ...
