Contact Help Wanted

Oscar 2009: Makeup Artist and Hairstylist Symposium

The Makeup Artist and Hairstylist Symposium, focusing on the achievements of the 2009 Oscar nominees in the makeup category, will be presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Saturday, February 21, at 2:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Moderated by Academy governor Leonard Engelman, the symposium will include a discussion of the nominees’ creative process and the presentation of film clips, photographs, and models of their work.
The 2009 Academy Award makeup nominees are:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Greg Cannom, special makeup creator and applicator
The Dark Knight, John Caglione Jr., Heath Ledger’s makeup artist; Conor O’Sullivan, prosthetic supervisor
Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Mike Elizalde, [...]

Oscar 2009: Nominees Luncheon

Kate Winslet, David Kross in The Reader (top); Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (middle); Viola Davis in Doubt (bottom)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 15 of the 20 nominees in the acting categories will be among the almost 120 Academy Award nominees gathering at noon on Monday, Feb. 2, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills for the annual Nominees Luncheon. (See images from the 2009 Nominees Luncheon and the 2008 Nominees Luncheon.)
The nominated performers who have already confirmed their presence are: Richard Jenkins, Frank Langella, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Anne Hathaway, Melissa Leo, Kate Winslet, Amy Adams, Penélope Cruz, [...]

Oscar 2009: Animated, Live-Action Shorts Screening

New Boy by Steph Green (top); Oktapodi by Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand (bottom)

The 2009 Academy Award-nominated films in the Animated and Live Action Short Film categories will be screened as part of the program "Shorts!," presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday, February 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The program will feature onstage discussions with the nominated filmmakers (subject to availability). Not to be missed…
The 2009 Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film nominees are:

Animated Short Film
La Maison en Petits Cubes (above), Kunio Kato, director
Lavatory-Lovestory, Konstantin Bronzit, director
Oktapodi, Emud Mokhberi and [...]

Oscar 2009 Poster

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that the official 2009 Oscar poster is now available for purchase. The poster features the Oscar statuette spotlighted center stage among the bright lights of the Kodak Theatre, a representation of the point of view that Oscar ceremony host Hugh Jackman, and Academy Award winners, presenters, and performers will experience from the stage of the Kodak come next February 22.
The Oscar 2009 posters — the only 2009 Academy Awards commemorative item available for sale to the public — will be ready to ship in late January with distribution of more than 50,000 copies worldwide.
The 27×40-inch color poster, printed on premium [...]

Oscar 2009: THE READER’s Nominated Producers Announced

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that producer credits for Best Picture nominee The Reader have been determined by the Producers Branch Executive Committee: The official nominees are Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti and Redmond Morris.
As per the Academy’s press release, "because four producers were listed on the credits form submitted for Oscar consideration and Academy rules allow for only three producers – except in ‘a rare and extraordinary circumstance’ – to be nominated and potentially receive Oscar statuettes, a meeting of the executive committee was necessary. In the end, the committee determined that the circumstances of The Reader – in [...]

Oscar 2009: Best Films at the Box Office

Domestic totals up to Jan. 20. Worldwide figures include domestic rentals.

Frost/Nixon — Domestic: $8.8 million; Worldwide: $10.1 million

Milk — Domestic: $20.5 million; Worldwide: $21.6 million

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — Domestic: $103.6 million; Worldwide: $117.9 million

The Reader — Domestic: $7.9 million; Worldwide: $12.4 million

Slumdog Millionaire — Domestic: $44.2 million; Worldwide: $61.1 million

 
Source: Box Office Mojo (boxofficemojo.com)

Oscar 2009 Nominations

OSCAR NOMINATIONS 2009

Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Most nominated films
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (13 nods)
Slumdog Millionaire (10)
Milk and The Dark Knight (8)
 

The Oscar record-tier
Meryl Streep, nominated for Doubt, ties Katharine Hepburn’s 12 best actress nominations.
Streep has been the overall Oscar record-holder for acting since 2002, when she received her 13th nomination (for best supporting actress in Adaptation). She currently has 15 Oscar nominations — including two wins — under her belt.
 
Posthumous Oscar nomination
Heath Ledger for his Joker in The Dark Knight, exactly one year after his death.
 
Double Oscar nominations
Not Kate Winslet — but Doubt, with two performers competing against one another in the best supporting actress category: Amy Adams (right) and Viola Davis.
 
The big comeback
Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler.
 
The [...]

Oscar 2009: Best Song Longlist

"Jai Ho" sound clip. Posted by Marycarmenrod.

In December, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that forty-nine songs are contending for a spot in the 2009 Academy Awards‘ Best Original Song category.
Three to five songs will receive a nomination. A maximum of two songs may be nominated per film. If more than two songs from a film end up in contention, the two songs with the most votes will be the nominees. In other words, no five High School Musical 3: Senior Year nominated songs. (Last year, Enchanted received three nominations — all of them in the best song category.)
As per Academy rules, "to be eligible, a song must consist of [...]

Meet the Oscars, Chicago 2009

For the first time, Chicago will host a "Meet the Oscars" exhibit, at which fans will be able to hold an actual Oscar statuette. “Meet the Oscars, Chicago” will open Friday, February 13, at The Shops at North Bridge on Michigan Avenue, and will run through Sunday, February 22, the night of the 2009 Academy Awards ceremony. Hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free.
Chicago, by the way, is the only city to host a “Meet the Oscars” exhibit this year.
As per the Academy’s press release, “Meet the Oscars, Chicago” will feature "a display of Oscars in various stages of completion, as they [...]

Oscar 2009: Best Foreign-Language Film Semi-Finalists

Wide acclaim and a handful of top European Film Awards didn’t help Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah land a spot in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ list of best foreign-language film semi-finalists.
And in case you’re looking for Let the Right One In among the nine films still in the running, you won’t find it there. Although the Swedish vampire drama was chosen the best foreign-language film of the year by numerous US-based critics’ groups, it was ineligible for the Oscars simply because each country can submit only one film per year: Sweden’s choice for 2008 was Jan Troell’s Everlasting Moments.
The nine semi-finalists — out of 65 (accepted) foreign-language film submissions — are (listed in [...]

Oscar 2009: Correspondent Contest

PRESS RELEASE:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and mtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network, today announced the first-ever “Oscar Correspondent Contest,” giving college journalists nationwide the chance to head to Los Angeles to cover red carpet festivities and backstage celebrations at the 81st Academy Awards.
From January 8 through January 23, college students are invited to submit a video at http://oscars.mtvu.com, showcasing their broadcast journalism skills and proving why they deserve to cover the Oscars®. All videos submitted must be from a team made up of one anchor and one videographer. The Academy and mtvU will select the top ten videos to be posted online at mtvU.com, where students and other viewers [...]

Oscar 2009: Ed Catmull to Receive Gordon E. Sawyer Award

Ed Catmull, a computer scientist, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, and president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, has been chosen by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to receive the Gordon E. Sawyer Award "for his lifetime of technical contributions and leadership in the field of computer graphics for the motion picture industry."
The award, an Oscar statuette, will be handed to Catmull at the Scientific and Technical Awards Presentations on Saturday, February 7, 2009, at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills. Bits from the Scientific and Technical Awards presentation will be shown at the Oscar ceremony to be held on February [...]

Heath Ledger’s Potential Posthumous Oscar

Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

With Heath Ledger in mind, Scott Feinberg remembers the various posthumous Oscar nominations and wins — 53 individuals for a total of 70 nominations and 13 wins, as per Feinberg’s count — in his Los Angeles Times blog:
"As you may recall, the announcement of last year’s Oscar nominations was quickly overshadowed by the tragic news that broke later that same day: Heath Ledger, the actor best known for his Oscar-nominated performance in Brokeback Mountain (2005), had been found dead of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 28. It’s a terrible shame that Ledger will not be alive on nomination day this year, because his name [...]

Oscar 2009: Visual Effects Semi-Finalists

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the seven semi-finalists in the 2009 Oscar’s Visual Effects category. They are, in alphabetical order:

Australia

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Iron Man

Journey to the Center of the Earth

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Among those missing in action are Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Incredible Hulk, and The Day the Earth Stood Still.
As per the Academy’s release, on Thursday, Jan. 15, all members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films. Following the screenings, [...]

Oscar 2009: 281 Features Eligible

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 281 features are eligible for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Picture — and most other categories, I assume.
As per Academy rules, to be eligible "feature films must open in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County by midnight, December 31, and begin a minimum run of seven consecutive days."
Also, "a feature-length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes and must have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format."
And finally, "feature films that receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical [...]

Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Song, Visual Effects

BEST SONG
"Another Way to Die" from Quantum of Solace
"Down to Earth" from WALL-E
"Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire
"Once in a Lifetime" from Cadillac Records
"The Wrestler" from The Wrestler

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Journey to the Center of the Earth

BEST SOUND
Australia
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Quantum of Solace
WALL-E

BEST SOUND EFFECTS
The Dark Knight
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man

BEST MAKEUP
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
The Incredible Hulk

Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Film, Foreign Film
Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Director, Screenplay
Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Documentary, Animated Film
Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Actor, Actress
Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress
Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Cinematography, Editing, Music

Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Cinematography, Editing, Music

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST EDITING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E

BEST ART DIRECTION
Australia
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Changeling
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Film, Foreign Film
Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Director, Screenplay
Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Documentary, Animated Film
Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Actor, Actress
Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Supporting Actor, Supporting [...]

Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress

Josh Brolin in Milk

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin (Milk)
Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)
Though about as much a lead in The Dark Knight as Christian Bale, Heath Ledger is (almost) for sure the one who’ll win the best supporting actor Oscar come next February.
Philip Seymour Hoffman should get included for Doubt and Robert Downey Jr. for his politically incorrect actor in Tropic Thunder.
Of the extensive supporting cast in Milk, Josh Brolin is the most likely contender, while Dev Patel, who apparently supports himself in Slumdog Millionaire, should also make the cut thanks to his film’s popularity.
Runners-up: Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), as much a lead as Frank Langella, is being [...]

Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Documentary, Animated Film

Encounters at the End of the World

BEST DOCUMENTARY, FEATURE
Encounters at the End of the World
I.O.U.S.A.
Man on Wire
Standard Operating Procedure
Trouble the Water
This is another specialty category that’s hard to hazard a guess.

The critically acclaimed Sundance winner Man on Wire is the only shoo-in, unless there’s another Hoop Dreams or The Thin Blue Line upset.
I.O.U.S.A. is quite relevant — the title says it all;
Standard Operating Procedure comes from the hands of Errol Morris, whose The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara won the 2003 Oscar in this category;
Trouble the Water is another doc that has been greeted by solid reviews and that has been [...]

Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Director, Screenplay

Danny Boyle

BEST DIRECTION
Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)
Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight)
Gus Van Sant (Milk)
All the nominees match the films found in the best picture list — something that is less common than one might think. Fincher has been getting plenty of recognition from critics’ and other groups, which makes me believe that, despite some unenthusiastic reviews for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, he’ll land a best director nomination come next January.
Doubt director John Patrick Shanley will have to be content with a screenwriting nod.
Runners-up: Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky), who may pull off another Vera Drake upset and take Ron Howard’s place; Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road); the idolized Clint Eastwood (Gran [...]

Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Actor, Actress

Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbass in The Visitor

BEST ACTOR
Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino)
Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)
Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
Sean Penn (Milk)
Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Clint Eastwood becomes a sentimental favorite whenever he has a Message to convey;
Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke have been winning awards left and right;
Frank Langella will get his first Oscar nod (a sort of career achievement recognition, like James Garner’s — well-deserved — nomination for Murphy’s Romance back in 1985);
and so will SAG nominee Richard Jenkins.

Runners-up: Unless Dev Patel pulls off a Keisha Castle-Hughes upset (she was pushed as a supporting player for Whale Rider in 2003, but landed a — truly surprising — best actress nod instead), the five [...]

Oscar 2009 Predictions: Best Film, Foreign Film

Oscar 2009 Predictions
 

Michael Sheen, Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon

BEST FILM
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire has to be there. It’s been winning nearly every film critics’ award in the United States and it has received two SAG Award nominations: best ensemble and a surprising best supporting actor nod for Dev Patel (who, ahem, happens to be the film’s lead).
Frost/Nixon is a prestige production based on a prestige play. The sort of stuff prestige-hungry Academy members tend to go for even when reviewers haven’t been all that kind. Also, Frost/Nixon is an actors’ showcase, and actors comprise the — by far — largest contingent among Academy members. (Note: Initially, I had [...]

Jerry Lewis’ Humanitarian Gay Slur Controversy

Nikki Finke on the announcement that Jerry Lewis will be given the 2009 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at Deadline Hollywood:
"I also have learned that protests are coming into the Academy about its Board of Governors’ choice of Jerry Lewis to receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The controversy is over his recent repeated and public anti-gay slurs. The Hollywood gay community, joined by much of the showbiz straight community, is already on edge because of Proposition 8 passed last month outlawing same-sex unions in California. So the vote by the AMPAS board selecting Lewis seems like ’salt poured into an open wound’, according to one of my sources. Already several prominent entertainment biz gays have questioned [...]

Oscar 2009: Hugh Jackman to Host Oscar Telecast

ABC/Brett Ratner
Hugh Jackman, whose box-office disappointment Australia has thus far been ignored by award-giving groups, will host the Oscar 2009 ceremony on February 22.
As per Brook Barnes in the New York Times, Oscar telecast’s producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon "said they hoped to achieve multiple goals with the casting of Mr. Jackman. First, there is a desire to put more movie in the annual movie business extravaganza. Jon Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres, recent hosts, are both primarily known as television stars." Mark and Condon also decided to keep their distance from stand-up comedians.
"We are trying to get away from this late-night talk show rut," Mark told the Times. "It seemed to [...]

Oscar 2009: Jerry Lewis to Receive Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Jerry Lewis, 82, will receive the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 2009 Academy Awards ceremony on February 22, 2009. The Jean Hersholt award — an Oscar statuette — is given to "an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry."
Jerry Lewis is well known for raising funds every year on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), where he has served as national chairman since 1952. As per the Academy’s press release, since the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon kicked off in 1966, the program has raised more than $2 billion for the cause.
Among former recipients of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award [...]

Next Page →

Recently Posted

• Oscar 2010: Animated Short Film Semi-Finalists
• Golden Globes 2010 Predictions: Best Picture – Comedy or Musical
• Golden Globes 2010 Predictions: Best Picture - Drama
• Noel Clarke's ADULTHOOD on IFC Festival Direct
• Oscar 2010: Documentary Feature Semi-Finalists
• THE FUPLERS: Q&A with Matt Koval
• Yoav Shamir's DEFAMATION Opens in NY/LA
• TCM Classic Film Festival: A STAR IS BORN, METROPOLIS, BREATHLESS, 2001
• FOUR SEASONS LODGE Screenings
• Oscar 2010: Hash Hamilton to Direct Oscar Telecast

Most Popular Tags

2008 Oscar 2010 Oscar Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Animation Best Films Books Box Office Brokeback Mountain Censorship Classic Movies Daniel Day-Lewis Documentaries DVDs Film Awards Film Festivals Film Reviews Gay Film Festivals Gay Interest Gay Movies Heath Ledger Helen Mirren Interviews London Film Festival London Film Festival 2009 Los Angeles Screenings Martin Scorsese New York Screenings No Country for Old Men Oscar Movies Photos Political Movies Politics Sex Shorts Silent Films Slumdog Millionaire Sundance Film Festival Trailers Turner Classic Movies


Related Posts

Jerry Lewis’ Humanitarian Gay Slur ControversyOscar 2007: Sherry Lansing to Receive Jean Hersholt Humanitarian AwardOscar 2010: Honorary Awards RelocatedMeet the Oscars in Los AngelesOscar Telecast 2009: Sophia Loren, Robert Pattinson, Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer AnistonHonorary Oscars Bypass Women