Academy Award

By STV · The last week before the Oscars, and so much yet to do! We've got to stalk Zac Efron's seat in the big blue Kodak Theater! We have to fill out our In Memoriam montage ballots! We have to get our party-crashing schedule in order! And in the end, it won't even be the show we dream of. Stupid Oscars.

By STV THE UNDERDOG: Oscar nominees will all experience a last-minute surge between today and Sunday, but we'd prioritize Frozen River. Again. This was an Underdog of ours from waaayyy back in August, and we stand by it as Melissa Leo chases a Best Actress upset special. Sure, you can rent it, but ou...

By STV 6:42: Jennifer Aniston shocks everybody, introducing Tina Fey's requisite awards-show appearance as this year's winner for Best Editing. 6:53: Another jellyfish casualty ensues merely 10 seconds into Towelhead butcher Alan Ball's acceptance speech for Best Adapted Screenplay. Th...

By McCluskey and Miller Cancer (June 22 - July 22): "Best Foreign Language Film" - After testing and re-editing your movie over a dozen times, the audience still doesn't connect with its humor. There's no time to recast, rewrite or reshoot, so figure out a way to make some money back, possibly by dubbing it into a no...

By Seth · LED screens behind the presenters "will allow light to be used as a visual sensation," adding much-needed urgency and drama to Sid Ganis's annual address by placing him before a 40-foot wall of flames. The Little Gold Man in a New Blue World [NY Times]

By Kyle Buchanan COURTNEY LOVE: If the British tabloids are to be believed (and we are praying to Jesus, Santa, and Barack Obama that they've nailed this particular story), Rourke has been secretly dating Courtney Love for the past three weeks. Obviously, this would be an amazing red carpet duo—just thin...

By Seth The series of pre-Oscar events, christened "Campaign Hollywood" and cosponsored by advertisers BMW, Dior and Bally, begins Monday with VF portraits of Oscar-nominated and -winning actors being unveiled in the windows of Rodeo Drive boutiques...

By STV If you're like us, you used to blame your poor Oscar-pool showing on those short films that never arrived in theaters before awards night. For better or worse, that excuse is officially over. The 10 nominees for Best Live-Action and Animated Short Film open theatrically today, all gathere...

By STV · "Surprise presenters" really means surprise presenters: Maybe it was just odd phrasing on the part of USA Today's Susan Wloszczyna, but we read, "Instead of lining up last year's winners and stars with upcoming movies to tout, Condon and Mark are reaching out to those names associated...

By STV The producer said the subject soon retracted the charge, but who knows? It didn't alter the film's chemistry, but for a doc short financed via credit cards, without a studio behind it, voted on by a small branch of the Academy, it very well may have upset the Oscar balance. Slumdog's scenari...

By STV The Curious Case of Benjamin Button grazed history last week with 13 Academy Award nominations. But could it seize Oscar legend by the throat on Feb. 22 with 13 losses? We think so! · Best Supporting Actress: This is Penelope Cruz's award to lose, and anyway, Taraji P. Henson swears she was asl...

By Seth Paramount Emperor Brad Grey is undoubtedly delighted with the 13 Oscar nominations earned by his pet project The Curious Case of Benjamin Button—truly an impressive haul for a movie no one actually liked. Benjamin Button's' Oscar nominations may not pay off for Paramount [LAT]

By Kyle Buchanan Marisa Tomei, j'accuse! After claiming to have dozed through the Golden Globe nominations, the Wrestler actress pulled the exact same card today for the Oscar shortlist. Which other nominees feigned ignorance? Reactions from the Oscar nominees [THR] Reactions to the Oscar nominatio...

By Seth We now know who'll be nervously muttering, "C'mon man—get on with it," during Hugh Jackman's half-dozen Oscar numbers. But how much do you really know about the nominees? Take this quiz and see: 8. List the Best Picture nominees from lowest to highest budget. 15 million — 20 million —

By STV 4. How will Disney and Focus handle their multiple Best Original Screenplay nominees? With WALL-E and Happy-Go-Lucky out of the running in Picture and Director, respectively, Disney won't want to compete against its own Miramax for a Screenplay win. Same thing at Focus Features, whose M...

By Seth Jessica Alba, The Eye and The Love Guru The cast of The Women (Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Meg Ryan) Cameron Diaz, What Happens in Vegas Paris Hilton, The Hottie and the Nottie Kate Hudson, Fools' Gold and My Best Friend's Girl WORST SCREENPLAY

By Kyle Buchanan We've already given you our predictions for the Supporting Actress nominations—now, which four actors will have the honor of ultimately losing the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to Heath Ledger? Let's find out! Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder

By Kyle Buchanan The Academy has nominated Amy Adams once before for playing a naive young woman who wants to see the good in people. We have a feeling they'll decide "been there, done that"—especially since Davis might siphon votes from her costar in this category. If anyone is poised to upset, it's Rosemar...

By STV Yes. Sorry. No Holocaust, no coming-of-age treacle, no service, we're afraid. Waltz With Bashir would have crushed Gomorra anyway. And face it, it's better to be the outsider in this club; that "2008 Academy Award Snub!" poster line is a more robust badge of honor than anything a Foreign-Lan...

By Kyle Buchanan The PGA recognition positions Dark Knight well for the Oscars, though the organization historically misses one Best Picture-nominated film a year (last year, the Academy subbed in Atonement for the PGA-vetted The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and in 2006, the PGA gave a slot to Dreamg...

By STV THE BIG LOSER: N/A, unless you count us. THE UNDERDOG: There's not so much to recommend here, either, so let's just suggest once again: If you haven't seen Synecdoche, New York, it's time. And even if you have, a second viewing of 2008's best film can't hurt.

By STV · The Dark Knight: "So ambitious and epic and so expensive-looking. The Departed with bat-gadgets. I want overturned big rigs!" · Milk: "Well-made prestige Oscar bait. Sean Penn deserves credit for appearing likable on screen! I'm a gay man, and you're not."

By STV · Blame Warner Bros.: Pundits were optimistic about his supporting turn in Appaloosa, the Ed Harris-directed Western that Warner attempted to platform opposite The Duchess in mid-September. It fell off not only moviegoers' radar but the entire box-office (and Oscar-season) map a few w...

By STV Though Hollywood reserves the holiday movie season for its annual harvest of ambition, prestige and clout, even the most painstaking Oscar husbandry can often fail. For three much-anticipated films in particular, the damage varies.

By STV · This Week in Hardware: Heath won (again). Miley and Mariah inched closer to Oscar. Chicago worshipped Wall-E. And Kate Hudson needs a new agent. · Cinema may never see another star-studded box-office failure the likes of Delgo. Buy your commemorative posters here.

By STV THE BIG LOSER: Nothing opening this week will flop as mightily as, say, Delgo (what ever could?), but if Six Flags doesn't soon develop a Day the Earth Stood Still Hell Plunge — "the steepest drop of any film-themed thrill ride in America!" — to commemorate the film's 65% freefall in week tw...

By Seth The Academy seems to think he is, but Jackman wants to be reassured he won't have to deliver any Russell Crowe fat jokes shoved into his hands by Bruce Vilanch moments before he takes the stage. Deadline Hollywood Daily reports: OSCARS WANT HUGH JACKMAN TO HOST: He'll Accept If Academy Show...

By Seth I hear that the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has chosen someone "way outside the box" to host the Oscars on February 22nd. And the person is not a TV personality or stand-up comedian. In addition, I've learned that this year's Academy Awards won't have the traditional segme...

By STV · James Franco is a Best Actor candidate for Pineapple Express. Clearly a testament to how totally fucking high the HFPA members were when it came time for nominations. Too bad David Frost wasn't a pot dealer; then Michael Sheen, too, could have avoided his 100th awards snub of the season in t...

By Kyle Buchanan It's a time-honored Hollywood tradition: when reached for comment on award nominations, pretend you had no idea they were announced today (despite your relentless awards season flogging)! Let's rate today's feigned Golden Globe ignorance:

By STV But one devotee is carrying its Oscar water either way at the site The Dark Campaign, featuring a fan-made TV spot rich with easy-to-read blurbs and a mission statement urging Academy revolution: The Dark Campaign [Dark Campaign] WB Drops 'The Dark Knight' Re-release Plans [Superhero...

By Kyle Buchanan I've Loved You So Long: In I've Loved You So Long, Kristin Scott Thomas does three things that Oscar voters will eat up: she speaks in a foreign language (French), she de-glams herself, and she suffers nobly over the film's entire running time. In that way, Scott Thomas's performance recal...

By STV · Along with Penn, Bardem, Williams and Hathaway, round out the starfucking quotient with Best Supporting Actress nominee Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona). Ben Lyons may decide to show up with his camera after all! River,' 'Rachel,' 'Ballast' Lead Spirit Award Nods [IndieWir...

By STV · Finally, the Gurus o' Gold at Movie City News are forecasting dark-horse candidates for acting nominations. But! One of those waaaay down the list is Sally Hawkins, who is actually a nominee shoo-in for Happy-Go-Lucky. Keep your grain of salt nearby.

By Kyle Buchanan The year-end demolition derby that is Oscar season is ramping up, and among the next big films to face the gauntlet is Gus Van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic, Milk. Already the recipient of oodles of pre-release buzz (so there, says Focus Features), its release Wednesday will cap a period of rea...

By STV That's pretty much the consensus, in fact; THR blogger Steve Zeitchik invokes "the schmalztier parts of The English Patient," while Anne Thompson sighs Australia is "well done for what it is, assuming that you like old-fashioned Hollywood movies of the sort they do not make anymore."

By STV The network's attempt to qualify the film for Oscar consideration — by burying it for a week in the farthest reaches of L.A. and Manhattan — denied it the "true release" Academy voters are fond of; a later theatrical run grossed less than $60,000 and hastened its fade from Oscar consideratio...

By STV The Dark Knight came up lame in the first stretch of this year's Oscar marathon, hobbled by the Academy music branch's disqualification of its big, haunting, lugubrious Bat-score. At issue: Credited composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard wrote "more than 60%, but less than 70%" o...

By STV If Goldstein wants to take aim at anything, why not those best-picture victories by Gandhi or Dances With Wolves or the fact that one was denied to what the American Film Institute repeatedly hails as the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane?

By STV The Reader may still require a month's worth of round-the-clock editing under armed guard, but the Kate Winslet drama has at last yielded a trailer to remind us that there is an Oscar-hopeful under all those layers of Harvey Weinstein-Scott Rudin ego-crisis. And like last week's not-emb...