Before heading out to participate in whatever Valentine's Day activities you have planned for this evening, here's one story guaranteed to make you go, "Awww!" The Los Angeles Times caught up with those adorable choir kids from P.S. 22 in Staten Island to discuss their trip to California for the Oscars, and it's filled with little flourishes like this: "'I always wanted to be in Disneyland!' exclaimed Mohammed, small and excitable. 'I'm dying, I'm DYING!' He threw an arm across his forehead and fell to the ground in mock-death." Yeah, this is cute.
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The View has a bimonthly tradition (approximately) of making headlines, and the latest "controversy" is a wee one: Whoopi Goldberg claims The New York Times didn't mention her in an article called "Hollywood Whiteout" about this year's rather Caucasian field of Oscar nominees. It touches on Oscar history too, and Whoopi said that the failure to mention her Oscar win for Ghost hurt her "terribly." Is Goldberg's outrage warranted?
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Add another major star to the Oscar telecast. Academy Award producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer have announced that former Best Actress winner Reese Witherspoon will be handing out a statue at the ceremonies on Feb. 27. If you're scoring at home, let's slot her in just below Aaron Rodgers -- but above Werner Herzog and David Lynch -- on the list of possible Best Picture presenters. [Deadline]
Take that, Queen Elizabeth II! At the end of 60 Minutes on Sunday night, reliably old Andy Rooney revealed his own personal ties to The King's Speech. "I don't go to the movies very often," Rooney began, "but recently I saw The King's Speech [...] I like movies that remind me of something I know about." Rooney went on to discuss his own brush with King George VI during World War II. No truth to the rumor that The Weinstein Company is already crafting a press release about this monumental endorsement. Click ahead to watch, whippersnapper.
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Did you watch 'em? Child, I warned you. The Grammys can be the most loathsome telecast of the year -- and there were more than a few terrible choices for winners last night -- but we all survived the tuneless cavalcade and came out loving Cee-Lo Green, snickering at Lea Michele, and wanting to have a stern word with Sir Antebellum. Here's everything you needed to know about the 2011 Grammys.
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It's time once again to return to Movieline's recently undertaken mission to honor this year's acting and directing nominees with a tribute that will surely outlive any trophy they could ever hope to receive: one of our daily inaugural Awards-Season Trading Cards. Today, let's give it up for Best Actress nominee Annette Bening!
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God save the King...from kicking everyone else's ass at the BAFTA. The hometown hero won big at the British awards show, nearly sweeping the major categories -- Best Picture, Best British Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor (sorry fellow Brit Christian Bale!) and even Best Supporting Actress for Helen Bonham Carter. David Fincher's Best Director win over Tom Hooper's was one of the few moments of a royal loss. So two trains of thoughts: one, a British movie about a very British subject would of course do well at a British award show, and this has little bearing on the Oscar race. Two, The King Speech is gonna win every last little thing come February 27.
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Psyched for the Grammys on Sunday? I bet you aren't. Perhaps you'll live-Tweet it with the rest of us (including me!), but you're probably not looking forward to the indignity of hearing Katy Perry's name announced as an Album of the Year nominee. To redeem our faith in this ceremony before the big night, let's revisit five towering Grammy performances that make this schmaltzfest worth it.
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It's hard to remember, but there was a time when romantic comedies weren't viewed with the same contempt as torture porn and Adam Sandler. This is a genre that saw the likes of Preston Struges, Billy Wilder and Woody Allen create some of the most iconic films Hollywood history; now it's a genre overrun by Dennis Dugans and Robert Luketics, filmmakers seemingly content to stomp on whatever happy, "boy meets girl" memories you might have. If the Hollywood machine has got you down in this lead-up to Valentine's Day, there is some hope: Resist buying a ticket for No Strings Attached (or, shiver, Just Go With It) and search out Luke Matheny's God of Love instead.
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It's time once again to return to Movieline's recently undertaken mission to honor this year's acting and directing nominees with a tribute that will surely outlive any trophy they could ever hope to receive: one of our daily inaugural Awards-Season Trading Cards. Today, let's give it up for Best Supporting Actress nominee (and Hollywood rookie) Hailee Steinfeld!
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From Anne Hathaway's breezy charm to James Franco's conception of an Oscar statuette as a murder weapon, there's plenty to recommend in this new featurette of your Academy Awards hosting tandem. But pound-for-pound, little is more thrilling than the prime real estate occupied by Black Swan as the clip comes to a close. Clearly someone has been reading Oscar Index and knows precisely what time it is. Holler! And if you're reading this, too, Anne, please drop Jacki Weaver's name in the next one. Thanks.
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Heads up, Harvey! Incoming fire at 10 o'clock! Don't let the Academy get anywhere near this hot potato: A writer at Big Hollywood has finally said what needed to be said about the vexed stutterer whose dramatic, heart-wrenching travails have touched the hearts of awards voters everywhere: Who the hell feels sorry for the King of England?
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It's time once again to return to Movieline's recently undertaken mission to honor this year's acting and directing nominees with a tribute that will surely outlive any trophy they could ever hope to receive: one of our daily inaugural Awards-Season Trading Cards. Today, let's give it up for Best Director nominee Tom Hooper!
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"The fun but disquieting scenario is if that film wins and five guys in monkey masks come to the stage all saying, 'I'm Banksy!' Who the hell do we give it to? [...] That's the fun part of this job. There's always some crazy-ass wrinkle you never thought of before." And with that, Academy executive director Bruce Davis is plotting a "procedure" by which the elusive graffiti artist can claim his Oscar should Exit Through the Gift Shop win Best Documentary, which of course it should and it will. For starters: He's discouraged from attending. Ha! The guy tagged the West Bank Barrier. Who can stop him? Anyway, I'm free to collect the award that night if anyone needs me, inquire within. [The Wrap]
Because Lord knows you just haven't gotten a close enough read on Melissa Leo's totally ill-advised (or totally admirable, depending on whom you ask) "Consider..." ad campaign, why not take in this behind-the-scenes video of the photo shoot that brought it all together? At the very least it's got a good beat, and you can dance to it.
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