The bleary-eyed minions at Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics have shoved off for the long holiday weekend, leaving it to me to sort out the hectic awards scramble as we head into the third month of this year's Oscar Index. And by "hectic," I do mean hectic, with a lead change at the top of two categories, a neck-and-neck tie atop another and plenty of feverish competition foreseen in another. Read on for a closer look.
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Another year, another ruthless paring down of the Oscar-caliber documentary feature crop, with the acclaimed likes of Werner Herzog's Into the Abyss, Steve James's The Interrupters, Asif Kapadia's Senna and others falling by the wayside as the Academy whittled its 125 submissions to 15 shortlist contenders.
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Welcome back to Oscar Index, your weekly awards-season rundown from Movieline's Institute For the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics. And to be honest, there's not so much to run down: Descendants this, Artist that, some minor acting bumps and nudges... relatively quiet, truth be told. Now that I've totally sold you on this latest installment, let's check out the races!
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Despite what could only be described as the week from PR hell, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had to take at least a little comfort -- OK, a lot of comfort -- knowing that it had its second most vital annual event to look forward to during the weekend: The Governors Ball, where Oprah WInfrey, James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith were bequeathed honorary Academy Awards.
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If Billy Crystal's Twitter is to be believed, the funnyman has been tapped to replace Eddie Murphy as host of the Oscars in the wake of RatnerGate, as the comedian Tweeted today. "Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions," read Crystal's post. "Looking forward to the show."
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Oscar-ed out for the week? Don't be! Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics is here to remind both the casual and obsessive fan alike that the Academy Awards are, first and foremost about movies. With that in mind, let's have a look at where this season's Oscar Index crop landed after one of the most turbulent patches in recent memory.
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I'm still waiting for anyone from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to bother replying to my request for comment about yesterday's Brett Ratner "rehearsing is for fags" imbroglio, but AMPAS president Tom Sherak has officially weighed in on the controversy: "He knew it was wrong and he issued that response as quickly as any human being ever has. The bottom line is, this won't and can't happen again. It will not happen again." So much for the #RatnerFreeOscars; it was nice to imagine while it lasted.
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There's good news and... well, more good news about this year's race for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. First, the number of submissions -- 18 -- exceeds the minimum of 16 required for a year of five nominees. (Last year only netted 15 submissions, and thus three nominees, as if anybody was going to knock off Toy Story 3 anyway.) And with a soft year for the likes of both Pixar and DreamWorks Animation, that means the field is pretty wide open for the first time in a while. What can win?
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Welcome back to Oscar Index, your infallible weekly dispatch from Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics. This installment welcomes a few new faces to the mix -- and not a minute too soon, either, as the race attains a strange, stagnant calm before the storm. Let's investigate!
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Say what you will about the legacy, taste and accomplishments of Gilbert Cates, the veteran producer and director who died today at age 77, but few people over the last quarter-century had more influence over the public perception of the Academy Awards. Maybe eight-time host Billy Crystal -- except that 14-time producer Cates was responsible for hiring him.
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Yikes: TMZ is reporting that veteran Oscar producer Gilbert Cates has died. The awardscast guru, 77, was said be discovered in a parking lot at UCLA, where Cates was a professor. No other details are available at the moment, but like I said: Yikes.
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Welcome to week six of Oscar Index, your regular reading of buzz, hype, speculation and crippling myopia in and around the 2011-12 awards beat. This installment brings some rather momentous determinations from the wonks at Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics -- let's get right to them!
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Benicio Del Toro, Jimmy Smits and Esai Morales are among the stars named in a protest of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' new rule to block Puerto Rico from competing in the Foreign-Language Oscar race.
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Welcome back to week five of Movieline's 2011-12 Oscar Index -- week five! Already! We're entering the second month of this sucker, and our scientists and the Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics remain hard at work uncovering new hints and implications every passing day. Well, not every passing day. OK, like, maybe a couple times a week. What can I tell you? It's still early! Let's have a glimpse at the latest -- if light -- movement this week.
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Another week of awards-season data, developments and all-around deconstruction result in this latest edition of Oscar Index. Movieline's bleary-eyed researchers at the Institute for the Advanced Study for Kudos Forensics have been working overtime studying the news and speculation around the awards punditocracy, observing a few major bumps here and there but a fairly steady week overall. Let's check it out.
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