OSCAR - Academy Awards
Oscars Bosses Change The Rules
Bosses at the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have changed the voting rules for the Academy Awards – to help make the polling for the coveted Best Picture Oscar more accurate.
The changes mean members will now be asked to rate the ten nominees in order of preference, rather than picking one outright winner.
The news comes after Academy executives extended the final shortlist from five to ten movies, starting with the 2010 ceremony.
Oscar 2009 Winners!
The 81st Annual Academy Award winners have been announced. Check out the list:
BEST PICTURE
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“Frost/Nixon”
“The Reader”
“Milk”
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins (”The Visitor”)
Frank Langella (”Frost/Nixon”)
Sean Penn (”Milk”)
Brad Pitt (”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”)
Mickey Rourke (”The Wrestler”)
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway (”Rachel Getting Married”)
Angelina Jolie (”Changeling”)
Melissa Leo (”Frozen River”)
Meryl Streep (”Doubt”)
Kate Winslet (”The Reader”)
DIRECTING
David Fincher (”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”)
Ron Howard (”Frost/Nixon”)
Gus Van Sant (”Milk”)
Stephen Daldry (”The Reader”)
Danny Boyle (”Slumdog Millionaire)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin (”Milk”)
Robert Downey Jr. (”Tropic Thunder”)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (”Doubt”)
Heath Ledger (”The Dark Knight”)
Michael Shannon (”Revolutionary Road”)
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams (”Doubt”)
Penelope Cruz (”Vicky Cristina Barcelona”)
Viola Davis (”Doubt”)
Taraji P. Henson (”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”)
Marisa Tomei (”The Wrestler”)
Oscar 2009 Live!
After last year’s Oscars delivered their worst TV ratings ever, producers this time say they aim to liven up the show with some surprises and new ways of presenting awards.
While some details have surfaced in the past week (the major stars could be Jack Nicholson, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, and Kate Winslet, turned down the chance to present awards) presenters names are being kept top secret. Some stars will sneak backstage, not enter on the red carpet.
Their efforts were complicated by the fact that this year’s main Oscar contenders, led by the British-made “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” starring Brad Pitt, are hardly the big box office blockbusters that tend to pull in viewers.
The host is Hugh Jackman, who has hosted Broadway’s Tony Awards three times, to emcee the Oscars for the first time.
“If I hadn’t done the Tonys, I think I’d be a lot more nervous than I am,” Jackman said.
A major criticism of the ceremony is that, at three and a half hours, it drags on too long. Jackman admitted that he hoped it could be cut shorter. But winning speeches are limited to 45 seconds!
The ceremony airing live on ABC, features a mix of fresh faces and old Oscar hands in the acting categories. Two-time winner Meryl Streep extended her record to 15 nominations, this time for best actress in “Doubt,” while other past Oscar recipients and nominees include Sean Penn (best actor for “Milk”), Kate Winslet (best actress for “The Reader”), Robert Downey Jr. (supporting actor for “Tropic Thunder”) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (supporting actor for “Doubt.”)
Newcomers include a rush of veteran performers, among them best-actress contenders Anne Hathaway (”Rachel Getting Married”) and Melissa Leo (”Frozen River”) and best-actor candidates Mickey Rourke (”The Wrestler”), Frank Langella (”Frost/Nixon”) and Richard Jenkins (”The Visitor”).
Kate Winslet Will Enter Academy Award History
Kate Winslet will either win her first Oscar for her performance as a woman with a secret Nazi past in “The Reader,” or get the title of biggest loser for having been nominated for the coveted honor, and lost, six times! Winslet was nominated for “Sense and Sensibility” (1995), “Titanic” (1997), “Iris” (2001), “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004), “Little Children” (2006).
One more loss and she will be tied at six as Oscar’s biggest losing actress with Deborah Kerr (nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role) – “Edward, My Son” (1949), “From Here to Eternity” (1953), “The King and I” (1956), “Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison”, (1957), “Separate Tables” (1958), “The Sundowners” (1960) and Thelma Ritter (nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role) – “All About Eve” (1950), “The Mating Season” (1951), “With a Song in My Heart” (1952), “Pickup on South Street” (1953), “Pillow Talk” (1959) and “Birdman of Alcatraz” (1962).
Winslet, has already picked up two Golden Globes for her role as a German woman with a teenage lover and a secret in “The Reader” and as a frustrated 1950s American housewife in “Revolutionary Road.” She has also won BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Awards, and in emotional speeches, she has expressed shock at her wins after smiling bravely from her seat so often in the past.
The betting in Hollywood ahead of the February 22, 2009 ceremony for the world’s top film awards is that Winslet should be getting her acceptance speech ready.
“I think it is her time. When Academy members are voting, they are going to be thinking not just of “The Reader” but of “Revolutionary Road,” said Hollywood.com movie critic Pete Hammond, when talking about the two movies starring Winslet that were released within weeks of each other in 2008. “That is pretty daunting when you have two great performances like that back to back,” Hammond said.
The four other best actress nominees are Anne Hathaway as a resentful sister in “Rachel Getting Married,” Melissa Leo in border smuggling drama “Frozen River,” Angelina Jolie playing a mother searching for her child in “Changeling” and Meryl Streep for her role in “Doubt.”
“Kate has a solid lead. She is in a Holocaust movie, speaking with a foreign accent, she ages dramatically and she looks great naked – all key elements for a win,” said Tom O’Neil of awards website TheEnvelope.com.
Oscar 2009 – 81st Annual Academy Award Nominations
The 81st Annual Academy Award nominations have been announced. Academy award winner Forest Whitaker and movie producer Sid Ganis had the privilege to announce the 81st Academy Award Oscar Nominations at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Leading the 81st Annual Academy Awards nominations list is “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button” with 13 nominations – Best picture, Performance by an actor in a leading role (Brad Pitt), Performance by an actress in a supporting role (Taraji P. Henson), Directing (David Fincher), Adapted screenplay, Art direction, Cinematography, Costume design, Film editing, Makeup, Sound mixing, Visual effects and Original score.
“Slumdog Millionaire” has 10 nominations – Best picture, Directing (Danny Boyle), Adapted screenplay, Cinematography, Film editing, Original score, Original song – “Jai Ho,” Original song – “O Saya,” Sound editing and Sound mixing.
Heath Ledger got a postmortem nomination on the one-year anniversary of his tragic death for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Joker in “The Dark Knight,” so including this, Performance by an actor in a supporting role, the movie has 8 nominatons – Art direction, Cinematography, Film editing, Makeup, Sound editing, Sound mixing and Visual effects.
“Wall-E” has six, “Frost/Nixon” “Doubt” and “The Reader” five, but “Gran Torino” “Che” “I’ve Loved You So Long” not getting any major nominations.
“Vicky Cristina Barcelona” only scoring a nomination for Penelope Cruz and “In Bruges” only getting a screenplay nomination!?
Take a look at the complete list:
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“$9.99″ Trailer
Fourteen features have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 81st Academy Awards. One of them is “$9.99” a stop motion animated movie for grown-ups based on the Short Stories of Israeli writer Etgar Keret. Tatia Rosenthal is director and co-writer.
“$9.99″ voiced by Geoffrey Rush (The Angel / Homeless Man), Anthony LaPaglia (Jim Peck), Samuel Johnson, Claudia Karvan, Joel Edgerton, Barry Otto, Leanna Walsman, Ben Mendelson, Jamie Katsamatsas and Brian Meagan is set to open on December 12, 2008.
For full synopsis, Hi-Res photos and poster go to the “$9.99″ FF Movie Story
For Your Consideration: “Kirk Lazarus” For Best Supporting Actor
One of the potential nominees for Best Supporting Actor Academy is Kirk Lazarus…I mean Robert Downey Jr.
As we know Oscar season is approaching and Parmount Pictures are pushing their reminder of Downey’s work in “Tropic Thunder” who underwent a controversial procedure in order to play the role of the gritty black sergeant Lincoln Osiris. Check out one of the ads below which is great.
