Academy Awards

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Nate Silver Turns Crystal Ball on Oscars

After number-crunching, Slumdog is tops

(Newser) - FiveThirtyEight.com stats-cruncher extraordinaire Nate Silver shifts his sights from politics to the Oscars in New York magazine. He compiled data from 30 years of Academy Awards to discover the best predictors of success, and found that other awards (SAGs, Golden Globes) carry the most weight. Genre is also key;...

Winslet's Oscar Bid Battered by Nazi Furor

'Nazi porn' asks use to 'empathize with mass murderer'

(Newser) - Mounting criticism of The Reader as an apologia for the Nazis is seriously undermining Kate Winslet's chances for an Oscar, reports the Telegraph. Critics have blasted the film as "Nazi porn," and the author of a book on Hitler charged in a recent article in Slate that it...

MIA Has a Boy; Will She Make the Oscars?

Baby's sex not yet public

(Newser) - MIA is now an M-O-M, reports Hitfix. The 31-year-old Sri Lankan singer and hip-hop artist delivered a healthy baby boy on Wednesday, notes People. It's her first child, and there's no word on the name yet. Now the big question: Can MIA—who performed at the Grammys on her due...

Academy to Presenters: Skip the Oscars Red Carpet

Presenters won't be seen until they present

(Newser) - After Oscar ratings hit historic lows last year, the Academy is taking a bold step: It’s asking presenters to skip their preshow jaunts down the red carpet, the LA Times reports. The Oscar honchos reckon that’ll force fashion-obsessed viewers to watch the actual envelope-opening parts of the show...

Please, No Oscar for 'Manipulative' Reader

(Newser) - The Reader is an “incoherent, exculpatory film” that offers false redemption for "ordinary Germans" involved in the Holocaust through a tired trope and far too much nudity, Ron Rosenbaum writes in Slate. The industry has already erred deeply by nominating the film and Kate Winslet’s performance for...

Forget Oscar—Who Were 2008's Rainmakers?

(Newser) - The Oscars are coming up, but that orgy of self-congratulation doesn’t celebrate what really matters in Hollywood: money. Forbes crunched the numbers for 2008 and selected the winners of a different award: the Rainmaker.
  • Best Actor: Robert Downey Jr. returned $52.60 to Paramount for every dollar it spent
...

Sans Blockbusters, Oscar Scrambles to Build Buzz

Broadcast's ratings decline isn't helped by snub to Dark Knight

(Newser) - Producers of the Academy Awards are scrambling to add twists to a broadcast whose ratings decline won’t be helped by the lack of a blockbuster among the best-picture nominees, the New York Times reports. With the five nominees totaling less than half the box office of snubbed Dark Knight,...

Meet the Men Who Make Oscars
 Meet the Men Who Make Oscars 
Feb 1, 2009 7:13 PM CST

Meet the Men Who Make Oscars

Spotlight misses Chicago workers behind Hollywood's most coveted trophy

(Newser) - Come Feb. 22, Hollywood will be fêting the stars who take home the Oscars—but there’s little chance any of the acceptance speeches will thank the guys who made the statues. From Martin Vega, who melts pewter alloy for the hardware, to Eladio Gonzalez, who gives Oscar his...

Family Thrilled by Heath Oscar Nod

Still-grieving kin celebrate Joker nomination

(Newser) - Heath Ledger's three sisters are still struggling with the loss of their brother, but they are grateful for the legacy he left behind, they tell the Sydney Morning Herald. His death a year ago "seems like nearly yesterday, and we are all nursing broken hearts," said sis Kate,...

Brangelina Just Happy to (Both) Be Nominated

Pitt's Benjamin Button scores 13 Oscar nods; Jolie scores for Changeling

(Newser) - Oscar was kind to Brangelina today, with both halves of the power couple landing nominations, People reports. Brad Pitt received a best actor nod for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, while Angelina Jolie is in the best actress running for Changeling. “I’m especially happy for David Fincher,...

Ledger, Rourke Nab Oscar Nods
 Ledger, Rourke Nab Oscar Nods 
Jan 22, 2009 8:16 AM CST

Ledger, Rourke Nab Oscar Nods

Benjamin Button, Slumdog lead the pack

(Newser) - Exactly a year after his death, Heath Ledger has been nominated for an Academy Award, AP reports. Ledger's Supporting Actor nod was the only nom for The Dark Knight, while The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire rose to the top with 13 and 10 nominations respectively. Other...

He's a Fine Wrestler, Not So Great Texter
He's a Fine Wrestler, Not
So Great Texter
opinion
Jan 2, 2009 12:11 PM CST

He's a Fine Wrestler, Not So Great Texter

Rourke's errant message trashing Penn is a hoot

(Newser) - Oh, Mickey. Though Mr. Rourke is back from the dead and getting Oscar buzz for his turn in The Wrestler, he still can't quite shake his "primitive" instincts, writes Marina Hyde in the Guardian. She takes great joy in his recent phone text miscue, in which he trashes the...

Critic's Confession: Seeing Oscar Movies Is a Big Pain

Getting to the theater a problem

(Newser) - There are 7 weeks left until the Oscars, and if you start now, and get to the theater every other day, you might just be able to see all the contenders. Hollywood has made being an Oscarphile tough work, writes David Carr of the New York Times. After months of...

Final Chapter for Mystery Writer Westlake

Donald E. Westlake dies of heart attack

(Newser) - Prolific mystery writer Donald E. Westlake, who wrote hundreds of novels, stories and screenplays under his own name and a posse of pseudonyms, died from a heart attack on New Year's Eve while vacationing in Mexico. He was 75. One of his characters, downsized executive turned killer Burke Devore, stands...

Cash-Strapped Studios Spend Big on Oscars

Pricey ads run for contenders despite industry layoffs

(Newser) - America's financial crisis hasn't stopped studios from dropping big money in their quest for Oscars, Nikki Finke writes on Deadline Hollywood Daily. Amid layoffs and cutbacks, Paramount took out 7 full-page ads for Revolutionary Road in the New York Times, and Disney spent $675,000 for a Wall-E insert in...

Jackman to Host Classed-Up Oscars
Jackman to Host
Classed-Up Oscars 
Dec 12, 2008 4:20 PM CST

Jackman to Host Classed-Up Oscars

Hugh has 'style, elegance, and a sense of occasion': producers

(Newser) - Australian hottie Hugh Jackman will host the next Academy Awards, but don't expect Jon Stewart-style wisecracking or mugging à la Robin Williams, Deadline Hollywood Daily reports. The ceremony's producers "were looking for Cary Grant or Clark Gable," they said today, and tapped People's "Sexiest Man Alive,"...

Screen Actors Guild Sets Strike Vote for Jan. 2

(Newser) - The Screen Actors Guild plans to send strike authorization ballots to more than 100,000 union members on Jan. 2, a date that leaves the Golden Globes safe but puts Oscar night in danger of a potential boycott. Votes will be counted on Jan. 23, nearly two weeks after the...

Oscar Campaign for Ledger Is a Tough Balancing Act

(Newser) - Warner Bros. is tiptoeing around the possible Oscar nomination for Heath Ledger, the late star of Dark Knight, writes Rachel Abramowitz in the Los Angeles Times. Hollywood insiders contend that a nod for Ledger is almost certain, but the studio must tread the line between boosting his chances and exploiting...

Hollywood Acts That Could Use a Bailout

MTV, Paris Hilton, the Oscars among franchises needing a makeover

(Newser) - Like Wall Street and Detroit, Hollywood is sinking under stagnant numbers and outdated business plans. The Los Angeles Times runs down some Tinseltown properties in need of a bailout.
  • MTV: The once counter-culture juggernaut should take a hint and develop edgy new dramas a la Gossip Girl.
  • Law and Order:
...

Winslet's Back, With Eyes on Oscar
 Winslet's Back, 
 With Eyes on Oscar 
GLOSSIES
Nov 5, 2008 9:00 PM CST

Winslet's Back, With Eyes on Oscar

Actress reunites with DiCaprio, stars in two films likely to earn her some hardware

(Newser) - Kate Winslet isn’t a demure lady, she just plays one on the screen. The foul-mouthed, roll-your-own-smokes former “fat girl” was ecstatic to be the youngest actress with five Oscar nominations two years ago, but “you bet your (expletive) ass” she wants to actually win one this time...

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