Academy Awards

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Madonna, Boy Toy Get Ready for Oscars

Romance with model Jesus Luz is real, friend says

(Newser) - Madonna's Oscar night outfit will include one top-of-the-line accessory: 22-year-old model Jesus Luz. “Madonna and Jesus have spent all week planning their outfits," a friend told OK! Despite their 28-year age difference, "Madonna and Jesus’ romance is real," the pal added. "Madonna is planning on...

Recession Hits the Oscars— Sort Of

Revenue is down, parties are scaling back

(Newser) - Even the Oscars are feeling the economic strain, People reports. Sure, there are still dozens of parties planned on the big day, but organizers are pumping up the “greenness” of the soirées and downplaying the extravagance—Vanity Fair is using decorations from past events. Even those not scaling...

Oscar Win Is No Career Boost

Past winners haven't had big hits in years

(Newser) - That gold-plated statuette actors take home Oscar night may as well be a parting gift from Hollywood. Past winners—like Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, and Adrien Brody—have had little luck at the box office in subsequent years, Reuters reports. The problem, says one film critic, is that the winners...

And the Oscar Goes to … Matilda, If Ledger Wins

(Newser) - If Heath Ledger is named best supporting actor at Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony, his 3-year-old daughter will become the owner of the statuette. But it won't really belong to Matilda Rose Ledger until her 18th birthday, in 2023—and even then, only if she signs a contract. Ledger's nomination, and...

What Baby? Oscar Producers Beg MIA to Perform

Will bring 'large bed' on stage if necessary

(Newser) - The ratings-challenged Academy Award broadcast needs a boost, and producers are desperate for rapper MIA to perform her Oscar-nominated song, even though she just gave birth, MSNBC reports. “We are happy to bring some sort of fabulous bed on stage if that means MIA can be there,” they...

Oscar-Nom Films Still Slumping; Here's Why
Oscar-Nom Films Still Slumping; Here's Why
OPINION
Feb 16, 2009 8:12 PM CST

Oscar-Nom Films Still Slumping; Here's Why

(Newser) - Is the so-called "Oscar bump" fading? Academy favorites like Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon are stalled at the box office this year; only The Reader has filled more seats since being nominated. Yes, a stream of bona fide Hollywood hits has held them back, but it's more than that,...

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...

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