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The 84th Academy Awards really looked their age on Sunday night. The painfully cobwebby spectacle included a cringe-inducing blackface joke, a tribute to an elderly seat filler and endless self-absorbed claptrap about the magic of movies. After a dreary 6-month-long awards season largely revolving around movies about movies, why did Oscar organizers feel the need to hammer away at the idea that they love — I mean really love — their movies? Probably because there's growing evidence that the rest of us don't really love the same movies they do. With one exception, “The Help,” the academy's nine best picture...

Best Picture: The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse Actor in a Leading Role: Demián Bichir, George Clooney, Jean Dujardin, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt Actress in a Leading Role: Glenn Close, Viola Davis, Rooney Mara, Meryl Streep, Michelle Williams You lost me there, Mr. Peabody. A Wayforward... machine?

Nine films are competing for the Best Picture award to be handed out at the 2012 Academy Awards extravaganza on Feb. 26—and the average box office gross of the nominees is one of the lowest in the last 20 years. Only one of the nine, The Help, could be considered a genuine hit. And, as with popular nominees of the previous two years, few industry insiders give it much chance of winning. (One Oscar betting site currently pegs its odds at 33 to 1.) Since underrepresentation of crowd-pleasers prompted the Academy's decision in 2009 to have up to 10 Best...

Best Picture: The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse. The Artist has for the most part swept all of the awards for Best Picture, and it doesn’t look like the Oscar will be an exception... Director: Michel Hazanavicius The Artist, Alexander Payne The Descendants, Martin Scorsese Hugo, Woody Allen Midnight in Paris, Terrence Malick The Tree of Life. Once again this looks like another award for The Artist with Hazanavicius being the favorite,... Actor in a Leading Role: Demian Bichir A Better Life, George Clooney...

The rumors became a reality Tuesday: Eddie Murphy will host the 84th Academy Awards, which will be telecast Feb. 26 on ABC, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced. Buzz started circulating over Labor Day weekend that the 50-year-old comedian-actor was being considered for the host job. In some ways, it's no surprise, since Murphy is starring in the upcoming film "Tower Heist," which was directed by Brett Ratner -- who is also producing the Academy Awards show with Don Mischer. "Tower Heist" is set to open in November. By selecting Murphy, the academy is returning to...

As one essayist wrote not long ago, it's become an article of faith in Conservative America that Hollywood is a “collection of hopeless la-la-land liberals — or worse, an elitist gaggle of heartland-bashing snobs.” Conservatives have routinely ridiculed Oscar movies for attacking the military (“Avatar”), promoting homosexuality (“Milk” and “Brokeback Mountain”) and depicting corporate executives as evil villains (“The Constant Gardener” and “Syriana”). So it must've been quite a shock to watch all the la-la-liberals at the Oscars Sunday night honoring their elders and celebrating tradition on a show where the first clip of the night was from “Gone With...

Oscars 2011Academy Awards 83rd Edition ABC 8 PM EST Sunday February 27, 2011 Official Oscar Site The I HATE the Academy Awards Thread HERE

How all good Leftists (AKA HOLLYWOOD) must have voted:Follow along on this Oscar Nomination list.Best Picture:As you can see from this Big Hollywood article from Lawrence Meyers, a majority of these nominees are not worthy.It's clear that there is only one movie that you could've voted for in this category with a clear conscience: The Kids Are Alright.from John Nolte's review:Remove from this little family drama the gratuitous girl-on-girl sex, the guy-on-girl sex, and the ridiculously unnecessary and explicit images from a guy-on-guy gay porn film that no amount of hypnotism or bleach could ever erase from my mind,...

BEST PICTURE Nominees: Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter's Bone Prediction: “The King’s Speech” The bottom line: while Oscar voters appear to really like “The Social Network,” they LOVE “The King’s Speech.” In many ways, it’s a throwback to the Oscar film of yesterday – like “Casablanca,” “Around the World in 80 Days,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” “The Godfather” and “Out of Africa.” Grand art direction and costumes, beautiful cinematography and score, magnificent performances and an examination of history – “The King’s Speech”...

The nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards were announced live this morning in Beverly Hills, California. They were read by Academy President Tom Sherak and last year's Best Supporting Actress winner, Mo'Nique. The British monarchy saga "The King's Speech" led the pack for this year's Academy Awards with 12 nominations, including best picture and acting honors for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush. The Coen brothers' western remake of "True Grit" snagged 10 nominations, just ahead of "The Social Network," David Fincher's Facebook drama which racked up eight. Entertainment's most esteemed award ceremony will take place from the...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Monday morning that actors James Franco and Anne Hathaway will host the 83rd annual Oscar telecast Feb. 27 on ABC -- a move that certainly seems designed to help the academy achieve its long-held goal of attracting a younger viewing audience. The 32-year-old Franco is currently receiving rave reviews for his work in Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" and the 28-year-old Hathaway, currently starring in the new romantic drama "Love & Other Drugs," earned a best actress nomination for 2008's "Rachel Getting Married." "James Franco and Anne Hathaway personify the next generation...

For the first time that I can remember, there were no politically charged comments at the Academy Awards ceremony last Sunday. And I was ready. We had left-wing bomb throwers like George Clooney, Sean Penn, Barbra Streisand and co-host Alec Baldwin all lined up in the "let it fly" zone. But the show turned out to be the silence of the lambs. What's going on? The answer to that question is money, pure and simple. The rise of the machines has dislocated entertainment all over the country. Now you can program your life on your computer and endlessly amuse yourself...

Hats off to Cameron Diaz, who was out till well after 4am on the morning of the Oscars at the party Harvey Weinstein threw at Soho House's sexy digs on Sunset Boulevard. She had about four hours sleep before she had to try on a rack of gowns for the Academy Awards. Incredibly, she was full of vim when she stopped to say 'Hi' to me on the Oscar red carpet. She did her little gig on stage for the awards show.

<p>The audience for Sunday night's Academy Awards grew for the second time in as many years, indicating that live events continue to draw big audiences amid the overall fragmentation of the television landscape.</p> <p>An average of about 41.3 million people in the U.S. were watching the three-and-a-half-hour show at any given minute, according to preliminary Nielsen Co. estimates, up 14% from last year. It was the biggest audience since 2005, when Best Picture was awarded to the film "Million Dollar Baby."</p>

Hollywood may have gone to war, but the Academy Awards Red Carpet was filled with peace and serenity, showy outfits and spectacular ensembles. It was the night for the Leading Ladies of Tinseltown to showcase their best, and the Stars and A-List Celebs came through, glittering like gold, smelling like Chanel and bedazzling us with their chic couture. There are many more images for your perusal at The Fashion Time

It was an Oscar shocker as Karthryn Bigelow won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Director over James Cameron, and the military film she directed, The Hurt Locker, won the Academy Award for Best Picture instead of Avatar. Not only is this the first time that a woman has won the academy award for Best Director, but this woman beat James Cameron - the man whose last two films, Avatar and Titanic, have grossed more money than any other two films in history. And to top it all off, Kathryn Bigelow happens to be James Cameron's ex-wife ...

Films and Faith: Redemption themes dominate Oscar flicks (click URL to view video)

Twenty-nine years, 93 interviews, one regret. That's Barbara Walters' personal scorecard when it comes to ranking her internationally famous Oscar-night interviews that come to a close Sunday evening in a program featuring Mo'Nique and Sandra Bullock. For nearly three decades, the interviews made up one of the most sought-after, eagerly watched, highest-rated programs on television, but now, Walters has decided to stop doing them. It's not a retirement, because she admits that she's going to continue delving into the private lives of the world's big names, but the showbiz-specific package she puts together at Oscar time each year will be...

Picture Kathryn Bigelow's “The Hurt Locker,” with Jeremy Renner as a bomb-disposal expert in Iraq, opened in July to great praise but was considered a dark horse because of its low budget, lower profile and earlier release date... (cut) The crucial factors may be “The Hurt Locker's” recent victories in two guild awards: It has been honored for best direction and best production. In many years, the Directors Guild winner is a predictor of the best picture Oscar. Of these three, I'm predicting “The Hurt Locker.” If one of the other seven wins, let's say I'll be very surprised. Actor...

Rarely does Hollywood ever give Americans in the heartland an opportunity to watch with extraordinary resolve a mother who has made a decision to keep the precious gift that God bestows upon her even in the most telling and difficult circumstances. The film Precious may be finally such a movie highlighted at the 2010 Academy Awards airing Sunday, March 7. Of the ten movies nominated for Sunday night’s selection as Best Picture, Precious – with its star Gabourey Sidibe, nominated for Best Actress, and co-star Mo’nique, nominated for Supporting Actress – tell the story of a teenage mother caught up...

Emmy-winning actor Alec Baldwin's defenders blamed his ex, Kim Basinger, for ramping up the drama after an early morning 911 call by his daughter resulted in the "30 Rock" star being rushed to a Manhattan hospital. "This is another example of Kim's sickness," a buddy of Baldwin's told The Daily News. "Alec came back from the hospital and there were cameras outside his house at 2 a.m. Gee, I wonder how they found out?" Basinger, the buddy said, is jealous that Baldwin is co-hosting the Academy Awards next month and is using their daughter, Ireland, to rain on his parade....

The air was crisp with excitement as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the list of nominees for 2010’s big Oscar Show. We all look forward with inexplicable excitement to that magical night when somewhere between deep probing questions like, “Who are you wearing” and the monotony of watching celebs congratulate themselves over and over and over for their own greatness and earth-changing achievement we (the unwashed masses) are allowed to see who Hollywood thinks is the best of their best.

... The contrast between the media's portrayal of homosexuality and the reality of that lifestyle is striking. But, if the real behavior were shown, we would hear the truth about the medical problems associated with this behavior, the high rates of suicide and other issues that reflect reality--not the rosy picture that has been sold to the American public. Only God knows what we will be seeing 20 years from now. Will the media and Hollywood continue to demonize Christians and conservative Jews to the point it will be illegal to quote Scripture that offends those who practice ungodly behavior?...

Show us what you got Hollywood… In the year the Oscars extolled the virtues of Slumdog Millionaire, there was nothing “slummy” about the charmingly-coffered stars who preened for the cameras in their fabulous designer-wear, accessorized-to-the-millions best at the 81st annual Academy Awards. Anne Hathaway didn’t win her Oscar but she definitely stood out on the red carpet. The actress wore an ivory Armani Privé Spring 2009 gown and Cartier jewelry. Beyonce Knowles dazzled in the dress of her own brand - House of Dereon Couture. No cliche-riddled affair, it was brilliant opiate for the masses

To my Conservative Friends: I almost never pay attention when my wife has on the Oscars, but as I tapped away on my keyboard Sunday night, I could not help myself look over at the TV and ask my wife, "How unwatchable is this show"??? So I decided to write about the things that I found most annoying about the Sham that is the Academy Awards. However, I am not going to go after the low-hanging fruit of the liberal monologues from the likes of Sean Penn (ugliest man alive) or Meryl Screech. That would be too easy.... I want...

Here's a speech we would like to hear from an Academy Award winner:

Last night at the Oscars, they broke out white “knots” in support of gay marriage. We can only assume that’s because white ribbons had already been used by too many other causes — safe motherhood, awareness of violence against women, teen pregnancy, and a host of others. The fact is, there’s a colored ribbon crisis in Hollywood. Ever since this fad started with yellow ribbons for the Iran hostages, we’ve seen colored ribbon after colored ribbon supporting one cause after another. How are we supposed to know what cause they want us to support if each color supports multiple causes?...

Tonight's Oscars will celebrate only-in-the-movies fantasy figures like Wall-E and the Joker . . . and Harvey Milk and Richard Nixon. Even when Hollywood is dealing with documented reality, it can't resist turning it into a cartoon.

We hate to watch the Academy Awards tonight. But we have to, it’s our job. We know many of you won’t be, but if you are following us our Twitter page we’ll let you know of all the idiotic things the self-absorbed actors and actresses have to say. Ah look, Barbara Walters just got Mickey Rourke all teary-eyed. Her first to fall victim to her tonight. http://www.twitter.com/ihatethemedia

ABC Television has slashed the cost of commercials during today’s Academy Awards broadcast. In 2008, 30-second commercials went for as much as $1.8 million. This year, they’re going for as little as $1.4 million. Once considered invulnerable to economic ups and downs, the Academy Awards has discovered that it can’t get away with jacking up the ad rates every year. Especially in a year when all five Best Film nominees have been ignored by movie-goers. Here’s a tip for the Oscars’ nominating committee:

De-gayify. Oscar wants to rebuild its viewership and it hires as its producer … the guy who made Dreamgirls? If there’s anything Oscar desperately needs, it’s to get rid of its showstopping (i.e., funstopping) song-and-dance numbers. No disrespect to our gay brothers and sisters, but perhaps they can be persuaded to watch even without those excruciating Broadway interludes. And if there were as many gay folks in the country as Oscar seems to think, then gay-themed movies (Brokeback Mountain, Milk, Batman and Robin) would do a lot better at the box office....

There's a reputed leaked memo circulating online revealing the winners of tomorrow's Oscar ceremony. I found the document, though am not sure if I can post it here. Please let me know.

Kate Winslet's chances of Oscar glory are being hit by an orchestrated campaign to dismiss her film The Reader as an apologia for Nazi Germany.

Hollywood’s stylish starlets will descend upon the Kodak Theater for the 81st annual Oscar Awards on February 22, 2009. The red carpet will be emblazoned with media and photographers taking photos of actors and actresses, as fashion columnists frantically write down “who is wearing what.” The goal of the stars? To make every media outlet’s Best Dressed List. That being said, what can we expect to see on the red carpet?

"The Weather Underground" 2003 ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE • BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE In October 1969 hundreds of young people, clad in football helmets and wielding lead pipes, marched through an upscale Chicago shopping district, pummeling parked cars and smashing shop windows in their path. This was the first demonstration of the Weather Underground's "Days of Rage." Outraged by the Vietnam War and racism in America, the organization waged a low-level war against the U.S. government through much of the 1970s, bombing the Capitol building, breaking Timothy Leary out of prison, and evading one of the largest FBI manhunts in history. The...

Ever since this year's Oscar season got under way in January, the Hollywood writers strike has loomed fatefully above it: first threatening to cancel Oscar night entirely, then stoking much expectation that the last-minute settlement would result in an evening either grander or duller than usual.

... Oscar is 80 this year, which makes him now automatically the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. You have to admit, this is a huge election. An historic election. So much excitement. For the first time in so many years we don’t have an incumbent president or an incumbent vice-president. The field is wide open. Have you all had a chance to examine all the candidates, study their positions and pick the Democrat you’ll vote for? Democrats do have an historic race going. Hillary Clinton vs Barack Obama. Normally, when you see a black man or a woman president an...

Right after that, a documentary against the Iraq war and GITMO are announced in a second award category. Is this outrageous, or is it me? Having the military introduce a film on same sex issues given the don't ask don't tell policy, and then have it followed by anti Iraq war, anti WOT films is political and using the troops as pawns IMHO. Quote from the winner: Let's hope we move this country away from the dark side. . .

We have to work the dark side. So said Dick Cheney a few days after 9/11, discussing the war on terror. Is this what he meant? In December 2002, an Afghan named Dilawar had scraped together enough money to buy a taxi. He was fingered by a paid informant as a terrorist connected with a rocket attack. Taken to the American prison at Bagram, Afghanistan, he was tortured so violently that he died after five days. An autopsy showed that his legs were so badly mauled, they would have had to be amputated, had he lived. Later, the informant who...

The Hollywood writers' strike claimed its biggest casualty this past week when the threat of picket lines forced NBC to pare back the annual Golden Globes awards ceremony. The network will air an hour-long news conference Sunday night instead of the star-studded, hours-long dinner event that drew 20 million viewers last year. The upending of the awards season comes as more television shows air their remaining first-run episodes produced before the strike began on Nov. 5. Popular entertainers such as Jay Leno, meanwhile, have faced criticism for crossing picket lines and returning to work earlier this month after showing reruns...

Well, the writers strike is over, the Oscars will go on and, by golly, we conservatives just can't wait to watch Hollywood pat itself on the back for another year of anti-American, anti-military, anti-traditionalist filmmaking. And while red-carpet anticipation is giving me the shivers, I can't help but imagine an alternative Oscar ceremony in a different kind of Hollywood with this list of exciting best picture nominees: "Oono." Hilarity ensues when a 16-year-old girl finds herself pregnant and gives the baby away to a similarly unmarried neurotic so that the infant grows up to become a drug-addicted loser and dies...

Michael Moore: Bring Fidel to the Oscars By MARCELA ISAZA, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago "Sicko" director Michael Moore jokes that Fidel Castro would be a "ratings grabber" at Sunday night's Academy Awards show. Moore's Oscar-nominated documentary on the health-care industry concludes with a trip to Cuba, where he seeks care for a group of 9/11 responders who have experienced health problems. They are greeted with open arms at a Havana hospital and given what appears to be top-notch care that they could not get in the United States. Castro, who is 81 and in poor health, announced his...

George Clooney is already practicing his "it's an honor just to be nominated" speech, telling Time magazine in a new interview that he doesn't have a shot at beating out Daniel Day-Lewis for Best Actor at Sunday's Academy Awards. "For me, it's like being Hillary Clinton," says the Michael Clayton star. "If it weren’t for Barack Obama, it would have been a very good year." Adds Clooney: "I thought Daniel Day-Lewis had the best performance of the year."

In theory, if I correctly predicted every single Oscar race, nobody could outguess me, and by default, I would win the prize. Alas, that has never, ever happened, and it's unlikely again this year, because as usual I will allow my heart to outsmart my brain in one or two races, which is my annual downfall. In any event, for what they're worth, here are my Academy Award predictions in a year rich with wonderful films. PICTURE Prediction: My heart cries out "Juno! Juno! Juno!," but my brain dashes a pail of cold water and sternly corrects me: "No Country...

Well, the writers strike is over, the Oscars will go on and, by golly, we conservatives just can’t wait to watch Hollywood pat itself on the back for another year of anti-American, anti-military, anti-traditionalist filmmaking. And while red-carpet anticipation is giving me the shivers, I can’t help but imagine an alternative Oscar ceremony in a different kind of Hollywood with this list of exciting best-picture nominees: * “Oono.” Hilarity ensues when a 16-year-old girl finds herself pregnant and gives the baby away to a similarly unmarried neurotic so that the infant grows up to become a drug-addicted loser and dies...

It's an Oscar Party!Warning: might contain snark and/or discussions about fashion.Best Picture:"Atonement""Juno""Michael Clayton""No Country for Old Men""There Will Be Blood" Best Actor:George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises" Best Actress:Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"Julie Christie, "Away From Her"Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"Laura Linney, "The Savages"Ellen Page, "Juno" Best Supporting Actor:Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"Tom Wilkinson,...

LOS ANGELES - Jon Stewart is getting a do-over as Oscar host. America's favorite faux newscaster, who drew mixed reviews for his first stint in 2006, has been picked for a return engagement in February, the film academy announced Wednesday. "I'm thrilled to be asked to host the Academy Awards for the second time because, as they say, the third time's a charm," Stewart said Wednesday in a statement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. "He did a great job two years ago," Oscar telecast producer Gil Cates told The Associated Press Wednesday. "You need a host...

AP) LOS ANGELES The Motion Picture Academy of Arts & Sciences is suing to stop the public sale of two Academy Awards given to silent film star Mary Pickford. In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, the academy claims it has the right to buy the historic statuettes and one owned by her late husband for $10 each. The academy contends an heir to the Oscars demanded $500,000 for one statuette alone in July -- an offer the academy refused. Pickford won the Academy Award for best actress in 1930 and was given an honorary Oscar in 1975. When she died in...

March 2007Edition Reel Test of the Month Reel Celebrity of the Month Alan Arkin was probably the biggest surprise on Oscar Night winning the Best Supporting Oscar for his portrayal of a cocaine using grandfather of the “Little Miss Sunshine” . He inconveniently dies as the very dysfunctional family is on the way to the big contest. The family is “running late” so just put him in the back … reminiscent of National Lampoons Vacation.. and they presses on to make the deadline in their clunker van. He at 73 has had a long & varied career with movies...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Al Gore is garnering wide praise following his documentary's win at last night's Academy Awards -- even from White House Press Secretary Tony Snow. Asked in a press briefing Monday what he thought about Al Gore's documentary film, "An Inconvenient Truth," winning an Oscar, Snow said, "I'm happy for him," and mused, "It's good to have a second career."