Rethink.

My predictions: 83rd Academy Awards (updated)

2011-02-24T20:00:00.002-05:00

I have been following the race to Oscar Sunday since September, and I'm ready to make my predictions in all 24 categories. (Update: I correctly predicted 15/24 categories, a 60 percent accuracy, down slightly from last year.)

Best Picture √ Correct
“Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
“The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
“Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
“The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
“The King's Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
“127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
“The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
“Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
“True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
“Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Best Director X Incorrect
Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech")
Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan” )
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (“True Grit”)
~~David Fincher (“The Social Network”)~~
Tom Hooper (“The King's Speech”)
David O. Russell (“The Fighter”)

Best Actor in a Leading Role √ Correct
Javier Bardem ("Biutiful")
Jeff Bridges ("True Grit")
Jesse Eisenberg ("The Social Network")
Colin Firth ("The King's Speech")
James Franco ("127 Hours")

Best Actress in a Leading Role √ Correct
Annette Bening ("The Kids Are All Right")
Nicole Kidman ("Rabbit Hole")
Jennifer Lawrence ("Winter's Bone")
Natalie Portman ("Black Swan")
Michelle Williams (“Blue Valentine”)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role √ Correct
Christian Bale ("The Fighter")
John Hawkes (“Winter’s Bone”)
Jeremy Renner (“The Town”)
Mark Ruffalo ("The Kids Are All Right")
Geoffrey Rush ("The King's Speech")

Best Actress in a Supporting Role √ Correct
Amy Adams ("The Fighter")
Helena Bonham Carter ("The King's Speech")
Melissa Leo ("The Fighter")
Hailee Steinfeld ("True Grit")
Jacki Weaver (“Animal Kingdom”)

Best Original Screenplay √ Correct
"Another Year," Mike Leigh
"The Fighter," Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson, Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
"Inception," Christopher Nolan
"The Kids Are All Right," Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumber
"The King's Speech," David Seidler

Best Adapted Screenplay √ Correct
"127 Hours," Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
"The Social Network," Aaron Sorkin
"Toy Story 3," Michael Arndt, Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
"True Grit," Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"Winter’s Bone," Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Best Animated Feature √ Correct
"How to Train Your Dragon," Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
"The Illusionist," Sylvain Chomet
"Toy Story 3," Lee Unkrich

Best Art Direction X Incorrect
"Alice in Wonderland," Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I," Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"Inception," Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
~~"The King's Speech," Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr~~
"True Grit," Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Best Cinematography X Incorrect
"Black Swan," Matthew Libatique
"Inception," Wally Pfister
"The King's Speech," Danny Cohen
"The Social Network," Jeff Cronenweth
~~"True Grit," Roger Deakins~~

Best Costume Design X Incorrect
"Alice in Wonderland," Colleen Atwood
"I Am Love," Antonella Cannarozzi
~~"The King's Speech," Jenny Beavan~~
"The Tempest," Sandy Powell
"True Grit," Mary Zophres

Best Documentary Feature √ Correct
"Exit Through the Gift Shop," Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
"Gasland," Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
“Inside Job,” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
"Restrepo," Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
"Waste Land," Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Best Documentary Short √ Correct
"Killing in the Name", Jed Rothstein
"Poster Girl", Sara Nesson and Mitchell W. Block
"Strangers No More", Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
"Sun Come Up," Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
"The Warriors of Qiugang," Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Best Film Editing √ Correct
"Black Swan," Andrew Weisblum
"The Fighter," Pamela Martin
"The King's Speech," Tariq Anwar
"127 Hours," Jon Harris
"The Social Network," Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Best Foreign Language Film X Incorrect
“Biutiful” (Mexico)
“Dogtooth”(Greece)
“In a Better World” (Denmark)
~~“Incendies” (Canada)~~
“Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” (Algeria)

Best Makeup √ Correct
"Barney's Version," Adrien Morot
"The Way Back," Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
"The Wolfman," Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Best Music — Original Score X Incorrect
"How to Train Your Dragon," John Powell
"Inception," Hans Zimmer
~~"The King's Speech," Alexandre Desplat~~
"127 Hours," A.R. Rahman
"The Social Network," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Best Music — Original Song √ Correct
"Coming Home" from "Country Strong," Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
"I See the Light" from "Tangled," Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
"If I Rise" from "127 Hours," Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
"We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3," Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Best Short Film Animated X Incorrect
~~"Day & Night," Teddy Newton~~
"The Gruffalo," Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
"Let’s Pollute," Geefwee Boedoe
"The Lost Thing," Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
"Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)," Bastien Dubois

Best Short Film Live Action X Incorrect
"The Confession," Tanel Toom
"The Crush," Michael Creagh
"God of Love," Luke Matheny
~~"Na Wewe," Ivan Goldschmidt~~
"Wish 143," Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Best Sound Editing √ Correct
“Inception,” Richard King
“Toy Story 3,” Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
“TRON: Legacy,” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
“True Grit,” Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
“Unstoppable,” Mark P. Stoeckinger

Best Sound Mixing X Incorrect
“Inception,” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
“The King's Speech,” Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
“Salt,” Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
~~“The Social Network,” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten~~
“True Grit,” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Best Visual Effects √ Correct
“Alice in Wonderland,” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,” Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
“Hereafter,” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojansky and Joe Farrell
“Inception,” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
“Iron Man 2,” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

The 83rd Academy Awards were televised live on ABC Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011, at 5:30 p.m. PT. The Red Carpet arrivals show, extended to 90 minutes, began at 4 p.m. PT.

Here is a downloadable ballot, thanks to The Gold Knight Blog, my new adventure I started last fall because I just couldn't contain all of my excitement about the Academy Awards. I was in Los Angeles for the Oscars this year and am sharing all of my experiences on Facebook, Twitter and TGK.

My predictions: Golden Globe Awards 2011 (updated)

2011-01-16T17:30:00.004-05:00

Originally posted on The Gold Knight blog

It's time for bacchanalian party of the year: the Golden Globe Awards. Ricky Gervais is the ringleader for the second year of an evening where celebrities eat and, notably, drink — an awards show without the required gravitas. Last year Gervais was the first host in 15 years for the show by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Here are my predictions (marked in blue and winners highlighted **) for the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards. Enjoy and feel free to leave comments.

Josh Duhamel, Katie Holmes and Blair Underwood announced the noms in December. "The King's Speech" received seven nominations, "The Fighter" and "The Social Network" six.

Film 11/14

Best Motion Picture – Drama

"Black Swan" #2
"The Fighter"
"Inception"
"The King’s Speech" #3
"The Social Network" **

Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical

"Alice In Wonderland"
"Burlesque"
"The Kids Are All Right" **
"Red"
"The Tourist"

Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture – Drama

Halle Berry, "Frankie And Alice"
Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter’s Bone" #2
Natalie Portman, "Black Swan" **
Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine"

Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture – Drama

Jesse Eisenberg, "The Social Network" #3
Colin Firth, "The King’s Speech" **
James Franco, "127 Hours" #2
Ryan Gosling, "Blue Valentine"
Mark Wahlberg, "The Fighter"

Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical

Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right" **
Anne Hathaway, "Love And Other Drugs"
Angelina Jolie, "The Tourist"
Julianne Moore, "The Kids Are All Right"
Emma Stone, "Easy A"

Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical

Johnny Depp, "Alice In Wonderland"
Johnny Depp, "The Tourist"
Paul Giamatti, "Barney’s Version" **
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Love And Other Drugs" #2
Kevin Spacey, "Casino Jack"

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture

Amy Adams, "The Fighter" #3
Helena Bonham Carter, "The King’s Speech"
Mila Kunis, "Black Swan"
Melissa Leo, "The Fighter" #2 **
Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom"

Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture

Christian Bale, "The Fighter" **
Michael Douglas, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"
Andrew Garfield, "The Social Network" #2
Jeremy Renner, "The Town"
Geoffrey Rush, "The King’s Speech" #3

Best Director – Motion Picture

Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan"
David Fincher, "The Social Network" **
Tom Hooper, "The King’s Speech"
Christopher Nolan, "Inception" #2
David O. Russell, "The Fighter"

Best Screenplay

Christopher Nolan, “Inception” #2
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, “The Kids Are All Right”
David Seidler, “The King’s Speech”
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, “127 Hours”
Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network” **

Best Foreign Language Film

“Biutiful” (Mexico/Spain)
“The Concert” (France)
“The Edge” (Russia)
“I Am Love” (Italy) #2
“In a Better World” (Denmark) **

Best Animated Feature

“Despicable Me”
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“The Illusionist”
“Tangled”
“Toy Story 3” **

Best Original Score

Danny Elfman, “Alice in Wonderland”
Hans Zimmer, “Inception” #2
Alexandre Desplat, “The King’s Speech” #2
A.R. Rahman, “127 Hours”
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, “The Social Network” **

Best Original Song

“Bound to You” from “Burlesque”
“You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from “Burlesque” **
“There’s a Place for Us” from “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong”
“I See the Light” from “Tangled” #2

Television 8/11

Best Television Series, Drama

"Boardwalk Empire" #2 **
"Dexter"
"The Good Wife" #3
"Mad Men"
"The Walking Dead"

Best Televison Series, Comedy or Musical

"30 Rock"
"The Big Bang Theory"
"The Big C"
"Glee" **
"Modern Family" #2
"Nurse Jackie"

Best Actor in a Television Series, Drama

Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire" **
Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad" #3
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men" #2
Hugh Laurie, "House"

Best Actress in a Television Series, Drama

Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"
Elisabeth Moss, "Mad Men" #2
Piper Perabo, "Covert Affairs"
Katey Sagal, "Sons of Anarchy" **
Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"

Best Actor in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical

Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock" #2
Steve Carell, "The Office" #3
Thomas Jane, "Hung"
Matthew Morrison, "Glee"
Jim Parsons, "Big Bang Theory" **

Best Actress in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical

Toni Collette, "United States of Tara" #3
Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"
Tina Fey, "30 Rock"
Laura Linney, "The Big C" **
Lea Michelle, "Glee" #2

Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

"The Pacific"
"Carlos" #2 **
"Temple Grandin"
"You Don't Know Jack"
"The Pillars of the Earth"

Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

Dennis Quaid, "The Special Relationship" #2
Ian McShane, "The Pillars of the Earth"
Édgar Ramírez, "Carlos"
Al Pacino, "You Don't Know Jack" **
Idris Elba, "Luther"

Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

Claire Danes, "Temple Grandin" **
Hayley Atwell, "The Pillars of the Earth"
Jennifer Love Hewitt, "The Client List"
Judi Dench, "Return to Cranford"
Romola Gara, "Emma"

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

Hope Davis, "Special Relationship"
Jane Lynch, "Glee" **
Kelly McDonald, "Boardwalk Empire"
Julia Stiles, "Dexter"
Sofia Vergara, "Modern Family" #2

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

Scott Caan, "Hawaii Five-0"
Chris Noth, "The Good Wife"
David Straithairn, "Temple Grandin" #2
Eric Stonestreet, "Modern Family" #2
Chris Colfer, "Glee" **

The Golden Globe Awards will air LIVE coast-to-coast on Sunday, January 16, 2011, on NBC from 5:00-8:00 p.m. (PST) /8:00-11:00 p.m. (EST) from the Beverly Hilton Hotel with host Ricky Gervais. (Originally posted: Jan. 16, 2011, at 5:00 p.m. ET)

My new adventure: The Gold Knight blog

2011-01-15T00:01:00.016-05:00

I love the Oscars. I wear that on my sleeves. Over the last two years, I've used this blog, Rethink., as a place for covering the Academy Awards. Last fall, I decided that I needed a better (and more marketable) place for doing so. And thus was born The Gold Knight blog.

Over the course of the last few months, I've really taken off with my new blog. I have multiple correspondents — some of whom are close friends. I write a column for Toledo Free Press Star. I applied for Oscar Sunday press credentials and, while I did not get them, I have made some inroads with the Academy.

I am very proud of where I have been thus far and am exciting about where I am going. I'll be in Los Angeles for the Oscars this year. While I might not have full access, I have a few (legal) tricks up my sleeve.

To all my friends, thank you for all of the support and I appreciate your help and guidance.

Review and Commentary: ‘The Social Network’

2010-10-03T19:00:00.006-04:00

I experienced college with Facebook. Toward the end of my senior year in high school, I heard about a website for social networking. Sure, we had MySpace in high school, but there was an air of mystery to it that was unappealing. Who was I really talking to? And, no one can forget those obnoxious and hideous profile pages. Who could find anything in that barrage of flashing images, clashing colors and obtrusive music that started with every new profile seen. I could not handle it.

And then there was the promise of “The Facebook.” At the time, you needed an e-mail account ending with .edu or you would not be able to join. The profiles clearly stated the member’s name at the top of the page. The design was clean and made finding information easy. And, most of all, no music randomly starting. This was the place for me.

As soon as I received my university e-mail address, I registered for an account. Since that day in the summer of 2005, my life has been cataloged via Facebook (and since 2008, Twitter).

This is my backstory as I began to watch “The Social Network.” Suffice it to say I was already invested to this film even before taking my seat in the theater because my college career was influenced so heavily by Facebook. But my attachment to the website didn’t mean I was going to
love the film.

Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the screenplay, explained on “The View” that your opinion of the movie will not be swayed about whether or not you like Facebook.

“If you hate Facebook, if you love Facebook, if you’ve never heard of Facebook, that doesn’t matter. The movie isn’t about Facebook,” Sorkin said to the ladies.

And part of that statement is true. Sorkin’s screenplay focuses on the story around Facebook, not necessarily the website itself.

Sorkin and director David Fincher understand “The Social Network” is about the characters, not the website.

The movie is jam-packed with impeccable, smart dialogue thanks to Sorkin, the brain behind great TV series “The West Wing” and “Sports Night.” The audience experiences a high-energy, fast-paced story that keeps its attention.

Comparing “Network” to other excellent films from this year — such as “Inception” and “Toy Story 3” — is difficult because the genres are vastly different. There is, however, one similarity: they are all impressive films.

The editing, cinematography and soundtrack work very well together, keeping “The Social Network” exciting and intense. Viewers are immersed into the film and are suddenly invested in the story. It is hard to watch passively. Eyes are glued to the screen for the two-hour running time, making for an atypical movie-going experience.

/ 5

Trailer:

My official 2010 Emmys Predictions (Updated)

2010-08-28T18:00:00.002-04:00

Normally, I don't play the predictions game with the Emmys, but I was asked what shows I thought would win so here we are... There are 19 categories to be determined, split between series, specials and acting.

Typically, the Academy Awards has many predictors for whom will win. With the Emmys, it's a little more up in the air. With that said, here are my official predictions for the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (winners marked ***):

SERIES, DRAMA – 60% Confidence

Breaking Bad (AMC)
Dexter (Showtime)
The Good Wife (CBS) – Ultimate dark horse, but unlikely
Lost (ABC) – Winner; last season to be nominated, spectacular show
***Mad Men (AMC) – Cast won Emmy; won last two years; I'm not a fan
True Blood (HBO)

SERIES, COMEDY – 85% Confidence

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Glee (FOX) – Dark horse, but hour-long shows fail to win category
***Modern Family (ABC) – Critics favorite and likely winner
Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
The Office (NBC)
30 Rock (NBC)

REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM – 95% Confidence

The Amazing Race (CBS) – Won since category was created; No. 8? Yep.
American Idol (FOX) – Probably Not
Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
Project Runway (Lifetime)
***Top Chef (Bravo)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE – 60% Confidence

Endgame (PBS)
Georgia O’Keeffe (Lifetime)
Moon Shot (History)
The Special Relationship (HBO)
***Temple Grandin (HBO) – Dark horse; movie about autism
You Don’t Know Jack (HBO) – Winner; movie about Jack Kevorkian; STRONG acting

MINISERIES – 95% Confidence

***The Pacific (HBO) – Cast won for miniseries
Return to Cranford (PBS)

VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES – 75% Confidence

The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) – Already won writing award; the favorite
***The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) – Won the last seven years; No. 8? Probably.
Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
Saturday Night Live (NBC) – A great season, but competition is stiff
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien (NBC) – What a great win this would be!

VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SPECIAL – 60% Confidence

Bill Maher “...But I’m Not Wrong” (HBO)
Hope for Haiti Now:A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief (MTV) – Great show
***Kennedy Center Honors (CBS) – Won last year
Robin Williams: Weapons Of Self Destruction (HBO)
The 25th Anniversary Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Concert (HBO)
Wanda Sykes: I’ma Be Me (HBO)

ACTOR, DRAMA – 50% Confidence – Almost a toss-up

Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights – Nope
***Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad – Won twice, but probably not a third
Matthew Fox, Lost – Would be great, but not likely
Michael C. Hall, Dexter – Critics (and my friends) love him and the show
Jon Hamm, Mad Men – Could win
Hugh Laurie, House – For the finale alone... the ultimate winner

ACTRESS, DRAMA – 98% Confidence!

Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights
Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
January Jones, Mad Men
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife – Hands down; won the Golden Globe
***Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer – Maybe, but very unlikely

ACTOR, COMEDY – 85% Confidence

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock – Won the last two times, but another win? Maybe
Steve Carell, The Office
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Matthew Morrison, Glee – Possible, but unlikely
***Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory – Easy choice
Tony Shalhoub, Monk – Maybe, but probably not

ACTRESS, COMEDY – 75% Confidence

Toni Collette, United States Of Tara – Won last year, maybe again
***Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie – Time has come
Tina Fey, 30 Rock – Maybe but unlikely
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures Of Old Christine
Lea Michele, Glee – Competition is fierce so no chance
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA – 80% Confidence

Andre Braugher, Men Of A Certain Age
Michael Emerson, Lost – Already won, but could win again
Terry O’Quinn, Lost – Already won, but WHAT A PERFORMANCE!!
***Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad – A possibility
Martin Short, Damages
John Slattery, Mad Men

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA – 60% Confidence

Christine Baranski, The Good Wife – Perfect performances week to week
Rose Byrne, Damages
Sharon Gless, Burn Notice – If Men vs. Wife splits all votes, a likely win
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men – Could win the Men vs. Wife contest
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men – Did I mention I don't watch this show? Maybe
***Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife – No showcase episode

SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY – 75% Confidence

Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Chris Colfer, Glee – Great actor, but not his year
Jon Cryer, Two And A Half Men – No
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother – Would be great
***Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family – Someone from this show will win; he's winning

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY – 95% Confidence!

Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
***Jane Lynch, Glee – Hands down, but a "Modern Family" lady could ride the wave...
Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live

LEAD ACTOR, MINISERIES/MOVIE – 85% Confidence

Jeff Bridges, A Dog Year – Too soon for an Emmy after an Oscar? Maybe, but it's possible
Ian McKellen, The Prisoner – BIG NAME, GREAT ACTOR, but unlikely
***Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack – Most likely
Dennis Quaid, The Special Relationship
Michael Sheen, The Special Relationship

LEAD ACTRESS, MINISERIES/MOVIE – 90% Confidence

Joan Allen, Georgia O’Keeffe – Probably not...
***Claire Danes, Temple Grandin – Most likely in very tough competition
Hope Davis, The Special Relationship
Judi Dench, Return to Cranford – Maybe
Maggie Smith, Capturing Mary

SUPPORTING ACTOR, MINISERIES/MOVIE – 65% Confidence

Michael Gambon, Emma – Could win
John Goodman, You Don't Know Jack – Probably will win
Jonathan Pryce, Return to Cranford
Patrick Stewart, Hamlet – Dark horse
***David Strathairn, Temple Grandin

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, MINISERIES/MOVIE – 65% Confidence

Kathy Bates, Alice
Catherine O'Hara, Temple Grandin – Possible, but unlikely
***Julia Ormond, Temple Grandin
Susan Sarandon, You Don't Know Jack – Great acting, could pull out a win
Brenda Vaccaro, You Don't Know Jack – Most likely winner, but competitive category

UPDATE: Successfully predicted 10/19 categories.

Need to print out a ballot? I've got you covered:

Open publication to download

Oscar® (Way Early!) Update: A January Telecast? And producers named.

2010-06-24T06:00:00.003-04:00

Four months ahead of last year's announcement, the 83rd Annual Academy Awards now has telecast producers. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak announced late Tuesday.

Academy Award-winning producer Bruce Cohen and television producer/director Don Mischer will produce the ceremony. Mischer will pull double duty as telecast director as well. While being involved with the telecast is a first for the gentlemen, they worked together on the Academy’s first Governors Awards last November.

“I fell in love with the Oscars as an eight-year-old kid, the night my grandmothers let me stay up to watch for the first time,” Cohen was quoted in the press release. "We hope to create a show that celebrates what people around the world love about the Academy Awards year after year – the excitement, glamour and tradition of Oscar Night itself.”

Cohen won an Academy Award in 1999, with Dan Jinks, as a producer of Best Picture “American Beauty.” Both he and Jinks were nominated again in 2008 for "Milk" in the Best Picture category. Cohen’s other producing credits include “Big Fish” (2003) and “Pushing Daisies."

Mischer’s producer/director credits include several Super Bowl halftime shows and the opening ceremonies of both Winter and Summer Olympic Games. He has earned 15 Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award.

But that's not what had people talking... buzz was circulating about a Board of Governors meeting Tuesday night where members discussed moving up the February ceremony date to a Sunday in January.

Since the 2004 ceremony, the Academy moved the normally late March telecast up a month, to February. The 2006 and 2010 ceremonies were held on the first Sundays of March because of the Winter Olympics. Other February ceremonies were held in 1935 and 1939 through 1942.

Wednesday afternoon, Academy officials confirmed the change would not affect next year's ceremony, according to Entertainment Weekly.

"The discussion was about the possibility of doing so no sooner than the 84th Academy Awards, to be held in 2012," an Academy spokeswoman said. "The date for the next Oscar telecast, the 83rd, has already been announced and is firm: February 27, 2011.”

We're 248 days out from the Oscar Sunday. Keep it here for complete news and links about all things Oscar.

Now, go back to enjoying your summer.

Links:
• Read a roundup of reactions from Hollywood insiders.
• From the Hollywood Reporter: "Holding Oscars earlier would be tricky"
• Hollywood scoop queen Nikki Finke first reported the possible move late Tuesday.

mtvU correspondent team announced

2010-03-07T07:00:00.002-05:00

And the spot on the Red Carpet goes to… Terry Stackhouse and Zach Cusson. The team from Emerson College are the Grand Prize winners for the 2010 Oscar Correspondent Contest, sponsored by the Academy and mtvU.

The coveted prize among college journalists gives students a spot on the Red Carpet for the 82nd Academy Awards and access to the backstage press rooms and the Governors Ball.

“Terry and Zach made a strong impression among the online voters and with the Academy and mtvU selection panel. We are certain they will represent college journalists well,” said Academy President Tom Sherak, quoted in the press release. “They are in for an experience like no other — the energy and excitement on Oscar’s® red carpet is truly unique.”

Stackhouse and Cusson battled for votes on mtvU's Web site after winning a spot to compete against 10 semifinalists, which was whittled down to three mid-February.

The winning team was selected through a second round of online voting and evaluation by a panel composed of Academy staff and journalists — Jess Cagle from Entertainment Weekly, Sandy Cohen from the Associated Press and Bonnie Tiegel from “Entertainment Tonight” and “The Insider,” according to a press release.

Runners-up Rachel Berry and Christian Hartnett of Chapman University, and Brandon McCaskill and Kiarra Hart of Florida A&M University earned bleacher seats along the Red Carpet, where they will be able to watch guest arrivals. They also will receive admission to the 2010 Bleacher Fan Oscar Viewing Party, sponsored by Kodak, at the El Capitan Theatre. Kodak provided each of the finalists with a Kodak Zi8 pocket video camera and a Kodak EasyShare M381 digital camera.

Rethink. will be watching for coverage from the Emerson team and will share any videos we find.

Link: Emerson team video

Video update: Meeting Oscar

2010-03-06T22:00:00.001-05:00

Spending the weekend in Chicago, I enjoyed visiting the "Meet the Oscars" exhibition at the Shops At Northbridge downtown, Michigan Avenue. Thanks to Kodak, you can take a picture with an Oscar statuette and have a copy printed in about a minute and go online later to download a digital copy.

If you are visiting Chicago, the exhibition closes Sunday at 6 p.m. CT. If you are in New York City, there is another "Meet the Oscars" location at The Shops at Columbus Circle, Time Warner Center, running until Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.

This was my second time holding an Oscar statuette and was just as enjoyable as the first. The 8.5-pound statuette never ceases to amaze. It's shiny, smooth and solid. And the most coveted and well-known trophy in the world.

Link to video: Oscar Update: Meet Oscar - March 7, 2010

Sunday night we will learn the lucky few who are given their very own golden statuette.

My official 2010 Oscar Predictions

2010-03-05T09:00:00.003-05:00

Are you in need of some help for your office Oscar pool? Well have no fear because here are my official predicitions for the 82nd Academy Awards. My average rate of success is 75% and above. And I will note each category with a percentage of confidence to give you the best shot at winning your pool.

This year, let me say, could be very predictable or very unpredictable. I'm going with both.

Best motion picture of the year — 50%

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) — MY MONEY'S ON "AVATAR," BUT I'M JADED; I DID NOT LIKE "HURT LOCKER" AS MUCH
“The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) — ALL THE PREDICTORS ARE THERE, BUT I CANNOT PUT THIS DOWN FOR THE WIN
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
“A Serious Man” (Focus Features)
“Up” (Walt Disney)
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) — THE DARK HORSE; COULD STEAL THE NIGHT

Performance by an actor in a leading role — 90%

Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight) — DONE
George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role — 99.99%

Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) — THE SUREST WINNER OF THE NIGHT / EASIEST PREDICTION

Performance by an actress in a leading role — 75%

Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.) — HANDS DOWN!
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role — 85%

Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) — HANDS DOWN WINNER!!!!!

Best animated feature film of the year — 90%

“Coraline” (Focus Features), Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox), Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS), Tomm Moore
“Up” (Walt Disney), Pete Docter — PIXAR IS ALWAYS A GREAT CHOICE!!

Achievement in art direction — 70%

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics), Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro, Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company), Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition), Art Direction: Patrice Vermette, Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Achievement in cinematography — 75%

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Mauro Fiore — WHAT A BEAUTIFUL FILM!
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.), Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics), Christian Berger

Achievement in costume design — 90%

“Bright Star” (Apparition), Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics), Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics), Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company), Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition), Sandy Powell — WITHOUT A DOUBT!

Achievement in directing — 90%

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Kathryn Bigelow — HANDS DOWN WINNER!
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios), Jason Reitman

Best documentary feature — 75%

“Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope Laboratories), A Magic Hour Films Production, Anders østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
“The Cove” (Roadside Attractions), An Oceanic Preservation Society Production, Nominees to be determined
“Food, Inc.” (Magnolia Pictures), A Robert Kenner Films Production, Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”, A Kovno Communications Production, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home”, A Mr. Mudd Production, Rebecca Cammisa

Best documentary short subject —60%

“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan, Province”, A Downtown Community Television Center Production, Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”, A Just Media Production, Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”, A Community Media Production, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“Music by Prudence”, An iThemba Production, Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit à la Berlin” (Deckert Distribution), An MS Films Production, Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Achievement in film editing — 60%

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron — MAYBE "HURT LOCKER" IF IT WINS BEST PICTURE
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year — 75%

“Ajami” (Kino International), An Inosan Production, Israel
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haddock Films Production, Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow”, A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogrà/Vela Production, Peru
“Un Prophète” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production, France
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics), An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production, Germany — I WANT "UN PROPHÈTE" BUT I KNOW IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN

Achievement in makeup — 70%

“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box), Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition), Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score) — 75%

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox), Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.), Hans Zimmer
“Up” (Walt Disney), Michael Giacchino — AMAZING SCORE!!

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song) — 75%

“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” (Sony Pictures Classics), Music by Reinhardt Wagner, Lyric by Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine” (The Weinstein Company), Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best animated short film — 60%

“French Roast” , A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production, Fabrice O. Joubert
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Brown Bag Films), A Brown Bag Films Production, Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)”, A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production, Javier Recio Gracia
“Logorama” (Autour de Minuit), An Autour de Minuit Production, Nicolas Schmerkin
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” (Aardman Animations), An Aardman Animations Production, Nick Park

Best live action short film — 60%

“The Door” (Network Ireland Television), An Octagon Films Production, Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
“Instead of Abracadabra”, (The Swedish Film Institute), A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production, Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
“Kavi”, A Gregg Helvey Production, Gregg Helvey
“Miracle Fish”, (Premium Films), A Druid Films Production, Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants”, A Park Pictures and M & M Production, Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Achievement in sound editing — 55%

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” (Walt Disney), Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing — 55%

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount), Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects — 90%

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones — NO QUESTION
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing) , Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Adapted screenplay — 90%

“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics), Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“In the Loop” (IFC Films), Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) , Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner — NO QUESTION

Original screenplay — 65%

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Written by Mark Boal
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Written by Quentin Tarantino — MAYBE HURT LOCKER, BUT QUENTIN'S GETTING THE BUZZ
“The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories), Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
“A Serious Man” (Focus Features), Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Up” (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Well there you have it. On Sunday, we'll see how accurate I am. Bon chance!

Rolling out the Red Carpet

2010-03-04T12:00:00.007-05:00

We are now three days out from the 82nd Academy Awards. Rethink. has been waiting for this day all year and counting down.

In Hollywood, preparations are being made outside the Kodak Theatre along the stretch of Hollywood Boulevard, between N. Orange Drive and N. Highland Avenue. In the photo above, you can see a team of workers rolling out the Red Carpet Wednesday.

You'll notice the tents are back this year after a one-year hiatus. If it's going to rain, awards show organizers know tents are a MUST, especially organizers for this year's Golden Globes. After deciding not to pitch the tents earlier that day, celebrities found themselves hovering under umbrellas and "Precious" star Gabourey Sidibe was among the many sporting dresses with splotches of rain. Suffice it to say it was not pretty.

When I was a bleacher fan in 2008, my friends and I were bummed by the tents and inclement weather; however, we enjoyed not getting wet.

Right now, Weather.com is forecasting party cloudy skies with highs in the low 60s; the chance of rain at 20 percent. Expect a decision to be made by early Sunday morning about keeping the tents up .

Video update: Nominees luncheon, set preview and buzz

2010-02-22T09:00:00.001-05:00

In the week's video update, James discusses the latest news and buzz, including the Nominees Luncheon, the mtvU correspondent contest, this year's Oscar set by David Rockwell, the latest rumors and what the WGA Awards means for "Avatar." You do not want to miss this update.

Link to video: Oscar Update, Feb. 21, 2010

Details: AMC Best Picture Showcase

2010-02-18T06:00:00.014-05:00

Last week, Rethink. reported AMC is continuing its Best Picture Showcase, even with twice as many nominated films. I've attended the event two times now and it's pretty fun, if you don't mind sitting in a theatre all day.

Whether you'd like to take a full dose of Oscar nominees all at once or two doses a week apart, AMC Theatres is the place to be. This year fans went to AMC's Web site and more than 86,000 votes were cast for the schedule of the ten Best Picture nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards, according to AMC.

10 in a row
In you'd like to spend 24 hours straight inside a warm and cozy theatre (not as cozy after three hours), grab the caffeine and head to theatres in New York City (Empire 25), Los Angeles (Block 30), Chicago (River East 21), Washington D.C. (Georgetown 14) or Toronto (Whitby 24). Watch the 10 nominees back-to-back in a cinematic marathon, starting at 12:01 a.m.

Date: Saturday, March 6, 2010
Price: $45
Amenities: Free large popcorn with unlimited refills for the day
Cool factor: If you survive, you can brag and have people think you're a crazy fanatic
Special effects: "AVATAR" and "UP" will be shown in 3D in all 24-hour locations
Schedule:
12:01AM: AVATAR 3D
3:00AM: A Serious Man
5:00AM: Up 3D
7:00AM: District 9
9:10AM: Inglourious Basterds
12:00PM: The Blind Side
2:30PM: An Education
4:30PM: Precious
7:00PM: Up in the Air
9:30PM: The Hurt Locker

Note: 24-hour Marathon theatres will not host the two-day events

5 and 5
For those not as ambitious or near the marathon locations, a more practical option is seeing five of the nominated films in the two Saturdays leading up to the big ceremony on March 7. And you can choose to attend both Saturdays or choose one that best fits your schedule.

Date: Saturdays, Feb. 27 and March 6
Prices:
TWO-DAY PASS
$60: Online price available at AMCEntertainment.com/BPS
$50: Box office price available only at participating AMC Best Picture Showcase theatres
$40: MovieWatcher® member price available only at participating AMC Best Picture Showcase theatre box offices
ONE-DAY PASS
$30: Online and box office price available either at AMCEntertainment.com/BPS or at participating theatres
$25: MovieWatcher member price available only at participating AMC Best Picture Showcase theatre box offices
Schedule: Depending on your theatre (Feb. 27 PDF, March 6 PDF).

Here are schedules for a few theatres:
Chicago, 600 North Michigan 9, Cantera 30, South Barrington 30; Detroit, Forum 30; Milwaukee, Mayfair 18; Washington, D.C., Hoffman Center 22 and Potomac 18:
Feb. 27: 10:30AM: AVATAR (3D), 1:45PM: Up, 3:45PM: A Serious Man, 6:30PM: Precious, 8:45PM: District 9
March 6: 10:30AM: An Education, 12:45PM: The Hurt Locker, 3:15PM: Up in the Air, 6:00PM: The Blind Side, 8:30PM: Inglourious Basterds

Chicago, Crestwood 18, Yorktown 17, Yorktown Premium 1; Cincinnati, Newport on the Levee 20; Columbus, Easton 30; Detroit, Livonia 20; Washington, D.C., Rio 18, Shirlington 7
Feb. 27: 10:30AM: AVATAR (3D), 1:45PM: Up in the Air, 4:00PM: Precious, 6:45PM: The Blind Side, 9:15PM: Inglourious Basterds
March 6: 10:30AM: Up, 12:45PM: A Serious Man, 2:45PM: The Hurt Locker, 6:00PM: An Education, 8:00PM: District 9

Get your tickets soon. And if you are a rewards member, you will save a good chunk of change. For all participating theatres and information, head to the Best Picture Showcase Web site.

'SNL' adds its own take on nominations

2010-02-11T06:00:00.001-05:00

To put a smile on your face, we thought we'd share this clip from last week's "Saturday Night Live," where Academy President Tom Sherak got his own impersonator — not bad either. I enjoy the faux "Access Hollywood" coverage.

Enjoy.

Video link: NBC.com

Video update: Nominees and the Academy calendar

2010-02-09T09:00:00.001-05:00

In the week's video update, James discusses the latest news and buzz, including the nominees, AMC continuing its Best Picture Showcase and the latest on the Academy agenda. The first round is ending for mtvU's Red Carpet Correspondent Contest. Final ballots are being mailed out soon and the Nominees Luncheon is coming up.

Link to video: Oscar Update, Feb. 9, 2010

Keeping the Oscar® Nominations secret

2010-02-06T06:00:00.001-05:00

To start your weekend off right, I found an interesting read from USA Today's Anthony Breznican. The lucky reporter got permission from the Academy to chronicle the events leading up to Tuesday's announcement of the 82nd Academy Awards nominations. (Thus, he knew some of the nominees before the rest of world found out. Awesome!)

Once inside the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' headquarters late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, depending on the staff member, there was no leaving and absolutely no communication with the outside world. Cellphones and smartphones were confiscated. No Internet access. Guards at the doors.

From 8:58 p.m. Monday up to the announcement at 5:38 a.m. Tuesday, the lucky few prepare to tell the world how the Academy members have voted.

"The accountants have the solemnity of undertakers, but the workers rip open the lids and pull out pages like overeager kids on Christmas morning," Breznican writes.

Find the article here for your reading pleasure. Below, is a video from inside the Academy during the preparations.

Nominations coverage from Beverly Hills

2010-02-03T20:15:00.002-05:00

Thought I would share a video from Megan Telles' coverage of Tuesday's nominations announcement. You might remember her name from last year when she was a finalist for the Academy's mtvU Correspondent contest. Rethink. ranked her No. 2 among the list of 10 talented pairs of undergrads vying for a spot on the red carpet.

Telles' partner in crime, Andrew Huse, is again working the camera (Sony EX1, Canon 7D + 400mm f/2.8L IS USM) as the Palestra.net correspondent covers the announcement and interviews "Entertainment Tonight" film guru Leonard Maltin, Academy President Tom Sherak, Parade Magazine reporter Jeanne Wolf and telecast producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic.

82nd Oscar Nominations Announced

2010-02-02T09:50:00.001-05:00

This morning Anne Hathaway joined Academy President Tom Sherak in announcing the 82nd Annual Academy Awards nominations in 10 of the 24 categories. "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" were the two movies running the show. Both lead the race with nine nominations, but not by a landslide.

"Avatar" was nominated for Best Picture, Cinematography, Art Direction, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score) Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects.

"The Hurt Locker" was nominated in the following categories: Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role, Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Writing (Original Screenplay).

"Inglourious Basterds" was next in line with eight nominations in these categories: Best Picture, Actor in a Supporting Role, Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Writing (Original Screenplay).

"Up in the Air" and "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" received six nominations. "Up" has five. All were nominated for Best Picture.

Interestingly enough, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" received only one nomination for Cinematography. I found this surprising. No Visual Effects nom. But the bar was set very high in 2009 with "Avatar" and "District 9," along with "Star Trek," which all received nominations for Visual Effects.

The big surprise of the morning came when "The Blind Side" was announced for Best Picture contention. (Not that it does not deserve the nod.) I had predicted "Invictus" would take that spot. The other films filling out the Best Picture category are "A Serious Man" and "An Education."

Here is the full list:
Best motion picture of the year

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
“The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
“A Serious Man” (Focus Features)
“Up” (Walt Disney)
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

Best animated feature film of the year

“Coraline” (Focus Features), Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox), Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS), Tomm Moore
“Up” (Walt Disney), Pete Docter

Achievement in art direction

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics), Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro, Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company), Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition), Art Direction: Patrice Vermette, Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Achievement in cinematography

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.), Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics), Christian Berger

Achievement in costume design

“Bright Star” (Apparition), Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics), Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics), Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company), Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition), Sandy Powell

Achievement in directing

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios), Jason Reitman

Best documentary feature

“Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope Laboratories), A Magic Hour Films Production, Anders østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
“The Cove” (Roadside Attractions), An Oceanic Preservation Society Production, Nominees to be determined
“Food, Inc.” (Magnolia Pictures), A Robert Kenner Films Production, Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”, A Kovno Communications Production, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home”, A Mr. Mudd Production, Rebecca Cammisa

Best documentary short subject

“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan, Province”, A Downtown Community Television Center Production, Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”, A Just Media Production, Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”, A Community Media Production, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“Music by Prudence”, An iThemba Production, Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit à la Berlin” (Deckert Distribution), An MS Films Production, Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Achievement in film editing

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year

“Ajami” (Kino International), An Inosan Production, Israel
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haddock Films Production, Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow”, A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogrà/Vela Production, Peru
“Un Prophète” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production, France
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics), An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production, Germany

Achievement in makeup

“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box), Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition), Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox), Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.), Hans Zimmer
“Up” (Walt Disney), Michael Giacchino

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” (Sony Pictures Classics), Music by Reinhardt Wagner, Lyric by Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine” (The Weinstein Company), Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best animated short film

“French Roast” , A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production, Fabrice O. Joubert
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Brown Bag Films), A Brown Bag Films Production, Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)”, A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production, Javier Recio Gracia
“Logorama” (Autour de Minuit), An Autour de Minuit Production, Nicolas Schmerkin
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” (Aardman Animations), An Aardman Animations Production, Nick Park

Best live action short film

“The Door” (Network Ireland Television), An Octagon Films Production, Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
“Instead of Abracadabra”, (The Swedish Film Institute), A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production, Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
“Kavi”, A Gregg Helvey Production, Gregg Helvey
“Miracle Fish”, (Premium Films), A Druid Films Production, Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants”, A Park Pictures and M & M Production, Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Achievement in sound editing

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” (Walt Disney), Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount), Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing) , Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Adapted screenplay

“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics), Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“In the Loop” (IFC Films), Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) , Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Original screenplay

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Written by Mark Boal
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Written by Quentin Tarantino
“The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories), Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
“A Serious Man” (Focus Features), Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Up” (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by ABC beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Download the well designed Official Oscar Ballot here.

Oscar® Update: Nominations Preview

2010-02-01T20:40:00.003-05:00

What films are going to be nominated for Best Picture? Will "Avatar" live up to director James Cameron's "Titanic" reputation? What films will be nominated in the Foreign Language category?

James answers those questions in his first video update:

Link to video: http://www.vimeo.com/9130079

What do you think of James' prognostications? Comment on this post and begin the debate!

Rethink. will have full coverage of the nominations announcement Tuesday morning. Watch it LIVE here (or below in the embedded video) at 8:35 a.m. ET / 5:35 a.m. PT.

Oscar® nomination ballots due

2010-01-23T18:00:00.004-05:00

Today is another mile marker on the road to Oscar Sunday®: nomination ballots are due. The 5,777 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences must return their completed Oscar nomination ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) no later than 5 p.m. PT today, January 23. Ballots received after that deadline will not be counted.

Prior to mailing the ballots on Monday, Dec. 28, 2009, the PwC staff made sure no duplicate ballots were sent and that none were missing. Each ballot is numbered to guarantee it is addressed to the appropriate Academy voter. PwC will tabulate the ballots using the preferential voting system (as you can see if the main photo).

Rule Five Paragraph 5 in the Academy's Rules & Eligibility states: "In the nominations voting, the marking and tabulation of all ballots shall be according to the preferential or weighted average system. Votes for achievements in motion pictures not on the Reminder List will not be counted in the nominations balloting. Tabulation of final ballots shall be according to the plurality system. No 'write-in' votes shall be counted on the final ballot."

This is the 76th year of counting Oscars ballots for PwC. Since 1934 only 12 representatives have led the balloting process, according to a PwC press release last year.

The process of counting each ballot has remained the same.

“Even with the technology advancements of the past 75 years, PricewaterhouseCoopers has never changed its process of hand tabulating the ballots to ensure the highest level of precision, discretion and secrecy,” said Rick Rosas, one of two current ballot counting team leaders, in the press release. “Our track record demonstrates the level of accuracy and reliability our Firm brings to the Academy and we look forward to continuing this long-standing tradition.”

While ballots have been kept safe under PwC's watch for 75 years, there were slight hiccups for the Academy 10 years ago, for the 72nd Academy Awards. Academy historian Robert Osborne describes these as "two grand glitches" in his book, "80 Years of Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards."

Three weeks before the ceremony was to take place on March 26, 2000, an entire batch of final ballots sent to members in Southern California went missing. After replacement ballots were sent out (in different color return envelopes), the missing ballots (two of the original eight mail sacks) turned up in the U.S. Postal Service's bulk mail sorting center in Bell, Calif., according to Osborn and an Academy press release.

"The nightmare wasn't over," Osborne recounts.

"The following Monday [in 2000], several crates containing 55 Oscar statuettes — essentially, the full supply for that year's ceremonies — disappeared from a shipping dock, also in Bell, Calif. With the clock ticking away, an S.O.S. was sent to the manufacturer in Chicago, which heroically cast, plated, polished and delivered another supply in time for the show. By the time they arrived, the AWOL awards had mysteriously turned up in a convenience-store parking lot, and three employees of the shipping company eventually found their way into police custody" (Osborne, pg. 339).

In the 10 years following the so-called "grand glitches," the Academy and PwC have not seen that level of commotion over the balloting or delivery of statuettes.

After the deadline passes at 5 p.m. PT today, the accountants of PricewaterhouseCoopers will being their seven-day journey of tabulating the responses and compiling a list of nominees, which we will learn in nine days, on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Facts from PwC, as of last year:
• 440,000+: Approx. number of ballots counted by PwC in 75 years on the job
• 1,700: Approx. number of “person-hours” it takes the PwC team every year to count and verify the ballots by hand
• 24: Number of awards categories to be tabulated for Academy Awards at a secret location known only to the members of the small PwC ballot team
• 7: Number of days it takes to count the ballots for nominations
• 3: Number of days it takes to count the final ballots

My predictions: Golden Globe Awards

2010-01-17T12:00:00.007-05:00

Tonight is the Golden Globes. Ricky Gervais is the ringleader for the bacchanalian party that has celebrities eating and, notably, drinking. The evening is an awards show without the required gravitas. It should be a fun evening, especially with host Gervais, the first in 15 years for the show by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

I thought I would take a brief moment to share my predictions (marked in red) for whom I think will be taking home the awards. Enjoy and feel free to leave comments. I've noted in blue possible dark horses and the clears losers — in my mind at least.

UPDATED WITH WINNERS:
As you can see I was 11 for 19 — 5/9 in the TV categories and 6/10 in the film categories.

82 days until Oscar Sunday®

2009-12-15T06:00:00.021-05:00

As of today, Dec. 15, 2009, we are 10 days away from Christmas and 82 days out from the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. While 82 is not really a momentous milestone number, it seemed appropriate for counting down to next year's ceremony.

News has been coming in at a steady pace over the past month from the Academy and instead of individual posts, here is one hardy helping of all the Oscar news you need.

We left off last month with the 20 Animated Feature contenders, along with Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin being named co-hosts for the telecast. Since then other positions for the telecast have been filled.

New members of the team
David Rockwell was named production designer for the show. For the second consecutive year, Rockwell will bring his elegant and aesthetic sense to the theatre his firm designed. How fitting. He is the only architect to design the show. “David is so creative and has such a great big-picture approach to set design,” telecast producer Adam Shankman was quoted in the press release. See an interview with Rockwell during last year's pre-show. The main image of this post features Rockwell's set from last year. Featured prominently was the new proscenium, composed of 87,000 Swarovski crystals that matched the elegance for which the ceremony is renowned. Rockwell also placed the orchestra on stage in an elaborate bandstand.

Hamish Hamilton will direct the telecast. In a possible attempt to make the ceremony more lively producers Bill Mechanic and Shankman gave Hamilton the directing shoes, making it his first time directing the show. “Hamish is a first-rate live-show director who will bring enthusiasm, experience and a fresh eye to the table,” Shankman was quoted in the press release. “He’s also a master of working with all of the latest technology in television production, which speaks to the kind of cutting-edge show Bill and I are planning.” Hamilton has directed live televised events including the “MTV Video Music Awards,” along with concert by artists like U2, Neil Diamond, Josh Groban, Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera. In February, he will direct the Super Bowl XLIV half-time show. (Historical note: Roger Goodman directed last year and Louis J. Horvitz helmed the telecast the year before, making it No. 12 for him. Horvitz directed shows including a Super Bowl half-time show and the "MTV Video Music Awards.)

Marc Shaiman will serve as music director for the 82nd Academy Awards. "With Marc on board, we are sure to have some great musical and, hopefully, hysterical moments,” Mechanic was quoted in the press release. Shankman said: “Marc was my inspiration and musical partner on ‘Hairspray’ and he has been responsible for some of the most memorable moments in Oscar history, like Will Ferrell and Jack Black’s comedy numbers.”

Dancers join the telecast
Ceremony producer Adam Shankman announced during last week's "So You Think You Can Dance" results show — on which he is a judge — that he's giving two finalists (the top guy and top girl) the opportunity to dance on the Oscar telecast. Here is the video from HollywoodOutbreak.com:

Oscar Race Update
A few more categories' contenders have been announced since we reported on the 20 vying for Animated Feature last month.

Fifteen films, out of the 89 pictures that originally qualified, advanced in the voting process for Documentary Feature. See the contenders here. The films vying for Animated Short was whittled down from 37 to 10. For anyone wondering, Pixar's short, “Partly Cloudy,” by director Peter Sohn, is still in the running. See the contenders here. For the Live Action Short category 10 films will advance in the voting process, from 71. See the contenders here.

And finally, announced last week were the 15 films selected as semifinalists for Visual Effects. The list includes James Cameron's much-ballyhooed project, "Avatar," and Peter Jackson-produced "District 9." The others on the list are as follows: “Angels & Demons,” “Coraline,” “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” “G-Force,” “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Star Trek,” “Terminator Salvation,” “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “2012,” “Watchmen” and “Where the Wild Things Are.” In early January, members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, who selected the semifinalists, will narrow the list to seven.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Student Correspondent Contest
Just a reminder to all the college students out there: submit your two-minute (or less) videos at http://oscars.mtvu.com/ by Friday! All entries must be received by 2:59:59 PM (PT) on December 18, 2009.

"Submit a 2:00 video telling us why you and your camera person should be chosen to take a spot on the Oscars ® Red Carpet to represent your college newspaper or television station. If selected as a finalist, your team would be flown to Los Angeles during Oscars® week to attend and cover pre-events leading up to the big night, and the grand prize winner will earn a spot alongside the best entertainment reporters in the business and have a chance to interview some of the biggest and brightest personalities in the world."

My friend, Rincey, and I submitted a video last year and were no chosen, but still had fun filming the video. (Watch it here.)

Golden Globes
Awards season gets off and running this morning with the announcement of the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards nominations. John Krasinski, Diane Kruger and Justin Timberlake will join Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Philip Berk to announce the nominations at approx. 5:00 a.m. PT at The Beverly Hilton. Go to the official Web site for more. Look for full coverage here later today and in the days to come.

It's going to be an exciting 82 days to the 82nd Annual Academy Awards!

Oscar® Update: List for animated contenders announced

2009-11-12T06:00:00.008-05:00

A quick Oscar update for you on this Thursday: The Academy announced its shortlist — or rather long list — of films that will vie for the Animated Feature nomination and, on March 7, the Oscar.

The 20 submitted features are:
• “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel”
• “Astro Boy”
• “Battle for Terra”
• “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
• “Coraline”
• “Disney's A Christmas Carol”
• “The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer”
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
• “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”
• “Mary and Max”
• “The Missing Lynx”
• “Monsters vs. Aliens”
• “9”
• “Planet 51”
• “Ponyo”
• “The Princess and the Frog”
• “The Secret of Kells”
• “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure”
• “A Town Called Panic”
• “Up”

The Academy noted that “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” “The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Planet 51,” “The Princess and the Frog,” “The Secret of Kells” and “A Town Called Panic” have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run, which would allow them to advance in the voting process.

"Under the rules for this category, a maximum of 5 features can be nominated in a year in which the field of eligible entries numbers at least 16," the press release stated.

This would be the first time in three years the category had five nominees. There were 14 submitted features announced last year on Nov. 10, 2008. (Note: it seems the producers are following a press release announcement schedule similar to last year.) Twelve were submitted Nov. 8, 2007. (Other years are as follows: 16 submitted on Nov. 3, 2006; 10 on Nov. 17, 2005; 11 on Nov. 4, 2004; 11 on Nov. 19, 2003; 17 on Dec. 11, 2002; nine films for the first year honoring, submitted on Dec. 12, 2001.)

While being nominated in the Animated Feature Film category has seemed in recent years to satisfy Oscar voters, those films can also qualify for other categories provided they meet the requirements for those categories. But we haven't seen an animated feature content for Best Picture since "Beauty and the Beast" was nominated nearly two decades ago — and the Animated Feature category had yet to be created.

With ten slots open for Best Picture, now would be best opportunity for an animated film to rise to the top category. Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards will be announced Tuesday, Feb. 2, at 5:30 a.m. PT.

Pete Hammond of the Los Angeles Times predicts the five likely nominees as: "Coraline," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Ponyo," "Princess and the Frog" and "Up."

"Spoilers for a fifth slot could be 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' and a real dark horse, the Australian 'Mary and Max' from Oscar winner Adam Elliott ('Harvey Krumpet,' 2003 animated short winner) and which opened this year's Sundance Film Festival and is said to be a favorite among many animation insiders," he said in his blog post.

Oscar® Update: Co-hosts named for ceremony

2009-11-04T17:00:00.000-05:00

Next year's Oscars has a host! In fact, make that two hosts. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will serve as co-hosts of the 82nd Academy Awards, Academy President Tom Sherak announced Tuesday.

This comes two weeks after Sherak announced Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman producers of the ceremony. (Good things must come on Tuesdays.)

“We think the team of Steve and Alec are the perfect pair of hosts for the Oscars,” said Shankman and Mechanic, quoted in the press release. “Steve will bring the experience of having hosted the show in the past and Alec will be a completely fresh personality for this event.”

The news comes on the heels of Hugh Jackson, last year's musical-inspired host, announcing that he turned down an offer to host again (source). It was also announced that Ricky Gervais signed on to host the Golden Globes, airing Jan. 17 on NBC. Los Angeles Times columnist Patrick Goldstein called that "a crushing blow to the Academy Awards, which desperately needs some heat of its own to propel its show back into the must-watch-TV category" (source).

Goldstein said the Gervais announcement was a "wake-up call" for the Academy. He went on to say producers were leaning toward a multiple-host format and Goldstein said a good pairing would be Steve Martin and Tina Fey, who presented together last year. So, Goldenstein was almost right. Baldwin stars on "30 Rock" with Fey so he gets a silver star for his guesswork.

“I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin,” said Martin, who has hosted the 73rd (view opening monologue) and 75th Academy Awards, earning an Emmy nomination for the first stint. Only time will tell to see if Martin will bring along his banjo - he is currently touring with the bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers with songs from his album, “The Crow: New Songs for the Five String Banjo.”

Baldwin was quoted: “I don’t play the banjo but I’m thrilled to be hosting the Oscars – it’s the opportunity of a lifetime." Baldwin was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 for his supporting role in “The Cooler.” He has won two Emmy Awards for his portrayal as Jack Donaghy on "30 Rock."

How did the producers pair Martin and Baldwin together? The two actors appear together, alongside Meryl Streep and John Krasinski, in the comedy "It's Complicated," due out Christmas Day. Martin guest-starred on "30 Rock" last season as a billionaire friend of Baldwin's character. Both also appeared together on "Saturday Night Live." Entertainment Weekly's Dave Karger seems pretty pumped about the combination: "And I for one say Hallelujah! They’re both adept comedians who’ll certainly play off each other well" (source).

Similar to the Academy returning to past traditions with 10 nominees for the Best Picture category, multiple hosts have shared the Oscar stage before. The first time this happened was on March 15, 1945, when Bob Hope hosted with John Cromwell at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Incidentally, it was the first year the Academy reduced the field to five for Best Picture. There were 21 other times in Oscar history when there was more than one host; most recently was for the March 1987 ceremony, where Paul Hogan, Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn emceed.

All eyes will be watching the pair in 124 days (on March 7, 2010) when the iconic golden statuettes are handed out.

Other news:
• The Academy announced Oct. 28 it will again be teaming up with mtvU the second annual “Oscar Correspondent Contest,” which will give college journalists the chance to win a trip to cover red carpet festivities and backstage activities at the 82nd Academy Awards. (View the promo.)

Now through Dec. 18, college students can submit a video at http://oscars.mtvu.com, showcasing their broadcast journalism skills and proving why they deserve to cover the Oscars. Similar to last year, all videos submitted must be from teams 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 viewers will choose their favorite journalists from Jan. 20 through Feb. 10.

The three teams with the most votes will advance to the final round of online voting from Feb. 16 through March 2. The Grand Prize-winning team will be revealed on Saturday, March 6. The anchor and videographer will be awarded a spot on the red carpet, as well as credentials for access to backstage press rooms. The winning team’s coverage will be aired on MTV News and mtvU. The two finalist teams will receive bleacher seats along the red carpet and admission to an Oscar viewing party. View last year's coverage on Rethink.

Oscar® Update: Producers named for telecast

2009-10-21T06:00:00.004-04:00

With less than 150 days out from the 82nd Academy Awards telecast, Academy President Tom Sherak got the ball rolling by naming Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman producers of the ceremony.

This will be the first major Oscar show involvement for both men, Sherak said Tuesday.

Mechanic is the chairman and CEO of Pandemonium Films and the former chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment. Prior to Fox, he served in executive positions at the Walt Disney Company and Paramount. Mechanic’s producer credits include “Coraline” and “Dark Water” (2005).

“The last time I was on the show was as a dancer, and to come back as a producer is such an unbelievable honor,” Shankman was quoted in the press release.

Shankman’s name may sound familiar to musical and choreography buffs. His directorial credits include “Hairspray” (2007) and other projects he's working on include “Rock of Ages,” “Sinbad,” “Bob: The Musical” and “Bye Bye Birdie.” He also has been a judge on "So You Think You Can Dance" since Season 3.

Set your calendars and countdown clocks for Sunday, March 7, 2010, Oscar Sunday. With Shankman on board, here's hoping we'll get more musical moments in March.

Photos courtesy John Shearer/WireImage.com and Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Olympic host city chosen today

2009-10-02T03:30:00.003-04:00

So as you're reading this, a host city may have already been selected. But even if that is the case, here are my thoughts and rankings.

Choosing the host city
Four years ago, on July 6, 2005, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) met in Singapore. My choice — and favorite at the time — Paris lost in the final round to London. Also losing to London: Moscow, New York and Madrid.

To determine a host city, once the final four have been decided, a candidate city must win a majority of the votes. According to IOC rules: "If there is no majority in the first round, the city with the fewest votes drops out of the running, and the members vote again for the remaining candidates. If two or more cities are tied for the lowest number of votes, a run-off election is held between them, with the city gaining the most votes going on to the next round."

For example, in 2005, London triumphed after four rounds with 54 votes from a possible 104 in the final round. So really, a candidate city can win outright but with four cities competing, the odds are slim.

The four competing cities: a pithy analysis
(in order of final presentations)

Chicago
Pro: Most sponsors of the Olympics are American-based. Could help for revenue. President Obama and Oprah are in Copenhagen rallying support. Much better plan than NYC for 2012 bid.
Con: Money issues. Can Chicago afford the games?

Tokyo
Pro: Very economically conscious and good use of existing structures.
Con: The 2008 Games were in Beijing, which is in the same area as Tokyo. The country's population is not very enthused about the Games coming.

Rio de Janeiro
Pro: Never before have the Games been held in South America. Growing economic power and huge young population.
Con: Rio is already hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the crime rate there is pretty bad.

Madrid
Pro: Good planning and use of existing structures. Highly supported by population.
Con: London is hosting the 2012 Games. Would the IOC award the Olympic

My thoughts
I want Chicago to win. I'm a Midwest kid and would love to see my favorite event (besides the Oscars) come so close to me. If Chicago does not win, I think Rio would be a good second choice. It's only an hour ahead of the Eastern time zone, which would help put more events "live in prime time." Let's see what happens…

Final report before the vote
The announcement of the Host City for the 2016 Games will be made during a 30-minute ceremony which will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Good luck, Chicago!

Caption: In spirit of the Olympics, here I am outside the Olympic Museum and park in Lausanne, Switzerland

A final recap of Chautauqua

2009-09-02T07:00:00.019-04:00

Alas, my summer in Chautauqua is over. I left the grounds for the season on Sunday. What an amazing season it was. I met some great people, attended some very memorable events and lectures and soaked up the warm summer sun (when it wasn't raining). Here we go… (Click on images throughout for larger versions.)

The Chautauquan Daily
Let's face it. Without the Daily, I would not have been in Chautauqua for the summer. Matt, the editor, and Ray, the production manager, made my time there in CHQ fantastic and gave me the creative freedom to come up with some wonderful front pages (seen above).

Where else would one of my photos run as a skybox photo on the front page? As you can see in the photo below, we were treated to a wonderful display of nature's power Sunday, August 9. My friends and I commented that it seemed like aliens had arrived to Earth, "War of the Worlds" style. Or better yet, the clouds were throwing a huge disco party and we, the spectators, were invited.
Matt enjoyed the photos so much, he wanted to run one in the paper. Take a look at all of the photos here.

Working at the Daily gave us interns a great inside look at Chautauqua Institution. From the very beginning we got to chat with Tom Becker, president, and other higher-ups. We had access to them, which was pretty awesome.

Another great experience was meeting former Daily reporter Nancy Gibbs, now editor at large for TIME magazine. She began at the Daily to make her summers more interesting, she told us when she stopped by July 27. She called it "fantastic training for every number of things."

10:45 Lecture
The Amphitheater is the place to be weekday mornings at 10:45. The lecture platform is what Chautauqua is known for. Over the course of the nine-week season, we heard from visionaries like NASA's Kobie Boykins and Daniel Pink, author of "A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future." Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel saw a packed Amp of more than 5,500 attendees to his lecture. Actors Matthew Modine and Beth Grant brought very different, yet comparable experiences to the stage.

Great entertainment
After work, evening programming provided us interns with great opportunities to see theatre, opera and a slew of other options. We enjoyed Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra performances and ballet on multiple occasions. During special engagements we saw Cirque Sublime, Jason Alexander (who did not go over too well with the family crowd), an ABBA tribute band, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, historian David McCullough, among many, many others.

Conclusion
Overall, despite the sometimes cold and dreary weather, my summer spent in Chautauqua was a memorable one that I will not soon forget thanks to great friends and colleagues, intellectually stimulating lectures and some very entertaining events — "Mamma Mia!" Thanks for following my adventures in Chautauqua, N.Y.

My choral experience in Chautauqua

2009-08-25T18:00:00.003-04:00

When I attended the first Morning Worship service at the Amphitheater, I heard the Chautauqua Choir perform and knew I wanted to participate at least once this summer.

The stars aligned last week and I knew it was my chance to sing with the 140-member group. The reason why I hadn't sung in the choir earlier in the season is, in part, because these people put in a large chunk of time into this group. Two out of three rehearsals are a requisite for singing on Sundays. Each rehearsal lasts from 6:00 to 7:45 p.m., every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I work on Thursday nights and Sunday mornings so it can be hard to get away for rehearsal and performance.

I decided, with the approval of my editor, to sing the choir. I attended all three rehearsals so that I would, quite literally, never miss a note. I was the youngest in the choir — in fact one of the only people under 30. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy myself.

It brought me back to singing with the choir at St. Stephen's in Toledo, Ohio. The warm hearts, kind faces and mellifluous music-making brought me back to my childhood. Looking up at my grandparents sing in church, there was purpose and a community of singers. A choir with a purpose. Praising with God-given talent.

And that's what I did on Sunday. Under the direction of the incomparable Jared Jacobsen, director of the choir and organist, we sang "The Testament of Freedom" with words by Thomas Jefferson and "Come Let Us Sing a Song of Joy" by Giovanni Gabrieli. This was a light menu for breakfast.

In the evening, we sang more during the Sacred Song Service. My favorite was "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," arranged by Mack Wilberg, music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I also enjoyed singing a cappella "There Is a Balm in Gilead," linking arms and swaying with my neighbor.

It was a wonderful day of singing — and designing at the Daily. When I got home, suffice it to say I slept very well after four days of singing and interning.

Photos courtesy the Daily's Jordan Schnee

Oscar® Update: New Academy president named

2009-08-19T06:00:00.013-04:00

Remember the name Tom Sherak. As of Tuesday night, August 18th, Sherak is the newly elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, voted by the organization's Board of Governors.

Sherak becomes the 33rd president of the Academy, known for its annual presentation of its golden Oscar statuettes. He is also beginning his seventh year as a governor representing the Executives Branch — members of the Academy represent 15 general areas. He served as treasurer of the Academy during the past year. He will served a one-year term, after which time the board will vote again.

According to the Academy:

"Sherak, a marketing, distribution and production executive with more than four decades in the motion picture industry, is currently a consultant for Marvel Studios.

Previously, Sherak was a partner at Revolution Studios where he oversaw the release of more than 40 films including “Black Hawk Down,” “Anger Management,” “Rent” and “Across the Universe.”

So what does the president of the Academy do? According to Variety: "The president chairs board meetings, has a hand in Oscar-related activities (including securing the Oscarcast producer), is a member of all Academy committees and sits in on as many meetings as time allows as the panels deal with various Acad functions (the library, scholarships, film preservation, et al.)"

Allow me a moment to be vain…

I guess now I will need to get Sherak's autograph. Last year, while a bleacher fan on the red carpet for the Academy Awards, I received the John Hancock of Sid Ganis, the now past Academy president, serving from 2005 until now.

Here is Ganis, in the middle, during final preparations at the 80th Annual Academy Awards.

Two weeks ago, here in Chautauqua, I got the autograph of Ganis' predecessor, Frank Pierson, who served 2001-2005.
Here is my friend and I pictured with Pierson after his lecture at Chautauqua Institution.

So I'd like to wish Sherak good luck. Pierson and Ganis, along with other former Academy presidents, have set the bar very high. I hope he will continue bringing the Academy into the 21st Century.

Other voting news:
Actors Branch governor Tom Hanks was elected first vice president; Producers Branch governor Kathleen Kennedy and Writers Branch governor Phil Robinson were elected to vice presidents posts; Producers Branch governor Hawk Koch was elected treasurer; and Short Films and Feature Animation Branch governor John Lasseter was elected secretary. Ganis, representing the Public Relations Branch, will serve as immediate past president.

The Academy normally announces the news the morning following the board meet, however, in the age of Twitter, execs decided it made more sense to send out the news right away, according to Variety.

Headshot of Sherak by Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.

We're (almost) halfway there

2009-07-28T16:54:00.002-04:00

Wednesday marks my halfway point here in Chautauqua, N.Y. It's been a quick journey to this point, which I can attribute to great friends, amazing events and a beautiful campus at work.

Pictured above is the Chautauqua Belle coming into port to pick up more passengers. I'm enjoying a day off of work on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon.

I hope to write more in the days to come, an update of my journey so far. I also plan to upload beaucoup photos from my adventures in Chautauqua on Facebook. Until then, go outside and enjoy the cool summer breeze and soak up the warm rays of sun.

My review: ‘Half-Blood Prince’

2009-07-20T00:00:00.001-04:00

The latest film in the series following a bespectacled – and now angst-ridden – teenager, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is good. I desperately want to write amazing, awesome and stupendous, but the David Yates-directed film does not quite measure up to those descriptors. And it does not top “Prisoner of Azkaban” or “Order of the Phoenix.” But this review is not all doom and gloom. “Half-Blood Prince” has many redeeming qualities. I saw the movie twice at sold out shows because I enjoyed it so much.

First among the redeeming qualities are the special effects, which are breathtaking from the opening to final scene. The Death Eaters are brilliantly portrayed as menacing, black clouds of smoke traveling to their next victim. The Pensieve seamlessly and exquisitely transports Harry and Hogwarts head Dumbledore to memories from long ago. Quidditch returns for some good fun. And the exterior shots of Hogwarts befuddle me because they are so enchanting.

Probably the best quality of the film is cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel’s impeccable vision. His composition of the frame and the camera angles make watching this film delightful and fun. Delbonnel, who brought his great eye to “Amélie,” is new to this installment of the franchise. His job is made a little easier by production designer Stuart Craig, who has stunningly created the magical world detailed in J.K. Rowling’s series.

The final technical aspect of the film, and the others I have always loved, is the music. Nicholas Hooper outdoes himself again, after creating a brilliant score for “Order of the Phoenix.” I am a traditionalist and will always love what John Williams brought to the movies, particularly “Sorcerer’s Stone” and “Prisoner of Azkaban,” but Hooper does not forget those accomplishments and is influenced by Williams. “Hedwig’s Theme” is sprinkled in songs “Opening” and “Ginny”; you can hear another William-composed piece, “Quidditch Match,” in “Ron’s Victory” and “Of Love & War.” One of the best pieces of the soundtrack is “In Noctem,” written with a choir singing in Latin to the mellifluous yet haunting melody. I could write an entire review of the stunning soundtrack, but I will try to stay focused.

Yates, along with screenwriter Steve Kloves, lead viewers on a fastidious journey through Harry’s magical world. But what I loved about the book seemed to be missing from the movie. The Harry-Dumbledore relationship, along with the Harry and Half-Blood Prince relationship, was somewhat lacking. The teen angst melodrama overwhelmed me at times. I think Kloves might have infused the screenplay with a bit too much love; including, but not limited to, Lavender’s neurosis. But editors worked their magic well in regards to the love charades. Seeing the film a second time helped me solidify this standpoint: I might not have been a big fan of the screenplay overall, but the editors worked very well within its reigns.

SKIP THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM

Finally, a point of contention that put me on the fence with “Half-Blood Prince” is the ending. Dumbledore's death left sitting semi-complacent from the momentous murder. I should have been bawling like when I read that chapter in Rowling’s book – but I was not. There should have been an “ah ha!” moment at the end where I would anticipate the next film. But there was not. There is a meager feeling of the battle and journey set up for the next film. The final two films in the series will be taken from the same book: “Deathly Hallows.” The first movie comes out at the end of 2010 and the last in the summer of 2011. It was not the way I wanted to leave the theater. The emotionally detached scene in the astronomy tower with Harry, Hermione and Ron was slightly painful and slow. It seemed like the editors ran out of steam and just cut together something quick, unlike the rest of the meticulously edited film. It made me want to leave the theater without watching the credits, which everyone knows I love. (Don’t worry, I sat through them all…)

CONTINUE READING NOW (SPOILER-FREE)

Overall, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is a testament to extraordinary creator and genius J.K. Rowling, who has brilliantly delineated Harry’s magical world. The creative team and ineffably gifted cast keep the magic going and transport viewers, albeit with a few missteps, to an unparalleled experience for two hours and 33 minutes. My grade: B+.

Let me know what you thought of the film by commenting to this post.

Photo credits: Review logo by me; others photos and poster courtesy Warner Bros.

Hoping for a "sunny day"

2009-07-02T14:00:00.002-04:00

Sesame Workshop CEO Gary Knell was on the grounds today for the morning lecture, during which Muppet Rosita interrupted and had a very adorable conversation with Knell.

Take a look:

I'll have more on the first official week of Chautauqua Institution and all the goings-on here later today.

New photos from Chautauqua

2009-07-01T17:00:00.001-04:00

I have some new photos I've posted on Facebook, from Chautauqua.

Click here to view them.

A recap of week two coming tomorrow.

Oscar® Update: Best Picture category announcement

2009-06-25T14:00:00.002-04:00

Outgoing Academy President Sid Ganis made a surprise announcement Wednesday morning in Beverly Hills, Calif. As most media outlets reported, the number of nominees for the Best Picture category will be doubled to 10 at the 82nd Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 7, 2010.

At the beginning of the press conference, Ganis said, "This morning's event is about the Academy Awards, but it may not be exactly what you think it is.

“We'll be casting our net wider and in casting that net wider who knows what will turn up,” he said, adding that a documentary, animated or foreign language film could be included in the larger field.

"And what do you know, maybe even a comedy in that group of 10," Ganis added sardonically.

The reason for the change is somewhat retrospective and retroactive.

For nine years there were 10 nominees; the 16th Academy Awards (1943) was the last year to include a field of that size; “Casablanca” was named Best Picture. In 1931/32, there were eight nominees and in 1934 and 1935 there were 12 nominees, according to the press release.

Another possibility for the announcement may be "intense lobbying by the major studios," according to blogger Nikki Finke, and maybe a little enmity from the general public by disregarding well-made films such as "The Dark Knight" for Best Picture nomination.

“I would not be telling you the truth if I said the words ‘Dark Knight’ did not come up" during the nominations discussion, Ganis said during the press conference.

Roger Ebert noted on his Web site, however, that an increase in the number of nominees doesn't exactly mean a ticket to the Academy Awards for mainstream blockbusters.

"As the number of Academy voters has grown, they have been increasingly willing to step outside the mainstream," Ebert said. "While this would mean a highly-regarded hit like 'The Dark Knight' would almost certainly be nominated, but the new 'Transformers' film, which could become this year's biggest blockbuster, would have no chance even if the category grew to 20 films. Taste does remain a factor."

David Carr, Oscar blogger and aficionado for The New York Times, discussed a great angle of the story that I hadn't quite considered.

"The clear winner is the academy," Carr said. "At a time when many believe that the academy’s taste had become too rarified for its own good, the move to broaden and democratize the signal category of the industry’s signal event puts the Oscars right back in the news and perhaps in the middle of American moviegoing conversation."

As I reported earlier this year, ratings for the ceremony have hit record lows. Having bigger and more mainstream movies attached to the ceremony may drive more viewers to the small screen. Or not.

We'll have to wait and see what the true outcome of this announcement is when Oscar nominations are announced Feb. 2, 2010, and after next year's ceremony airs on ABC Sunday, March 7, 2010.

View the press conference on YouTube.

On a side note: Here is a cool time-lapse video I found of the 81st Academy Awards setup at the Kodak:

Photo of Sid Ganis from the press conference: Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Week one in Chautauqua

2009-06-23T18:00:00.052-04:00

Looking out the window of the tour, I thought to myself, "Where am I? What is this place?" That was last Tuesday afternoon, June 16th. Today, I'm still asking that same question to myself - if only to a smaller extent.

I am spending the summer as a design editor at the Chautauqua Institution's daily newspaper, the Chautauquan Daily. I'll be here at this utopia-like place until the end of August. That may answer the first question I asked myself, but there's still the second...

Trying to describe the Institution is very hard. Over dinner Tuesday night, Institution president Tom Becker gave us a better idea of the place. It's like chocolate in that it's incomparable to anything else, he said.

For me, Chautauqua is like many things: a resort, a summer home or lake house, a small college town, Disney World and, in a sense, Monaco.

On Monday, resident archivist and historian Jon Schmitz stopped by the newsroom and helped describe the Institution anecdotally. If you were to describe an elephant to someone, you might say its trunk is like a snake or its leg is like a tree trunk, he said. Everyone who comes to Chautauqua experiences a different aspect and defines the place intrinsically by that experience.

In future weeks, I hope to to show and describe what I'm doing here as a way to indirectly describe this place to you.

Now, I will recap my first week here in Chautauqua, New York - a quick drive north of Jamestown, New York, and an hour east of Erie, Pa.

The drive
I left Tuesday morning, June 16th with my friend and colleague at the paper, Gail. It took us approximately four hours to get to the Institution. The drive was not too long and, thankfully, not as boring as driving from Toledo to Chicago. (Cleveland helped break up what could have been a monotonous road trip.)

The Cottage
After arriving, Gail and I split and went off to our separate cottages before the staff meeting in the afternoon. My living quarters for the summer is Aqua Casa #2, a quaint little house on Hidden Valley Road. I share a bedroom - freshman year dorm style - with Kent student Justin. My other cottage-mates include Tony, a summer tennis instructor for the Institution, and Jordan, the assistant editor for the Chautauquan Daily.

The cottage next to ours houses four females interns from the paper. It's nice to be close to more interns and hang out together after work. In the one week we've been here, our two cottages have hosted a party, had puzzle nights (something for which I am responsible and the reason why I'm known as the "puzzle master") and have thrown a frisbee around in our big yard before the bats came out to play. A cool tidbit: bats are the unofficial mascots of the area.

One amenity our cottages do not provide: Internet. Also, for the time being, our cable is not on. It has been rough for us city people, but we have adapted.

View Chautauqua, New York in a larger map

The Institution
Chautauqua comes alive during the summer, having a density higher than Manhattan - something we learned on our tour last Tuesday. The season begins this Saturday and I should see an antithetic change once people begin arriving. What is the semi-empty campus now should be a bustling, much-to-do Institution this weekend. Beaucoup events keep our reporters very busy. But more on the newspaper to come.

Each season, there are approximately 2,100 events and 150,000 visitors, according to the fact sheet I was given in the newsroom. This summertime mecca was founded in 1874 by Lewis Miller (an Akron, Ohio, inventor and manufacturer) and John Heyl Vincent (a Methodist minister and later bishop) as a training camp for Sunday school teachers.

Since then, the program has expanded not just on the grounds but around the world with the movement itself. The term "chautauqua" can be found in the dictionary to mean: "any similar assembly, esp. one of a number meeting in a circuit of communities" (source).

There are four pillars to the Institution's summer program: arts, education, religion and recreation. This can be seen through the schedule of events, called "the grid."

The events I am looking forward to are as follows (hopefully I can attend them!):
• Sesame Street Live
• Lecture by Gary Knell, president and CEO of Sesame Workshop
• Lecture by Kobie Boykins, NASA engineer of the Mars Expedition Rovers Programs
• Play: "The Glass Menagerie"
• Lecture by Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize winner, author of "Night" and Holocaust survivor
• Jason Alexander, who played George Costanza on "Seinfeld"
• An Evening with Ken Burns

There are many, many more events. These are a few. At the beginning of each week, I will highlight the events to watch.

The Daily
First published on Thursday, June 15, 1876, the daily newspaper of the Chautauqua Institution is the official record for everything that happens. Initially called the Chautauqua Assembly Daily Herald, its now the Chautauquan Daily (a title which evolved in the first 30 years of the paper). The Chautauquan Daily title emerged in 1906 to provide uniformity among other publications, according to research by the Daily's own archive reporter George Cooper.

"The newsroom has been a newswriting and reporting training camp for well-known journalists such as investigative reporter Ida Tarbell and current Time magazine editor-at-large Nancy Gibbs," according to the Daily official Web site.

This season, there are approximately 24 interns (that I can count) that are in college or that have, like me, recently graduated. It is very neat to have such a young and new staff making up a majority of the paper. There are also returners from the area; one is returning for her 16th season.

I am part of a four-member design team. On Thursday, we'll start designing and laying out our first issue, which comes out on Saturday. The paper is a daily broadsheet. The Saturday and Sunday issues are combined into a weekend edition, which is published on Saturday mornings.

It's now time to get to work. We have a paper coming out on Saturday!

More info and photos to come throughout the summer. Follow my journey here and on Twitter.

The Road to Chautauqua

2009-06-16T10:56:00.003-04:00

Left my home in Toledo for a cottage along Chautauqua Lake in western New York. It's a four-hour drive - essentially like driving to Chicago.

What waits for me there is a design internship at the Institution's daily newspaper. I'll give you the details some time tomorrow. Off to New York I go until the end of August!

'Talent' update: Voting Percentages

2009-06-05T06:00:00.002-04:00

As promised in Monday's post, here are the percentage breakdown figures for the public voting on the "Britain's Got Talent" finale, in order of highest percentage:
Act % of vote in SF Diversity 24.9% Susan Boyle 20.2%
Julian Smith 16.4% Stavros Flatley 16.3%
Aidan Davis 6.5%
Hollie Steel 3.9%
Shaheen Jafargholi 3.8%
Flawless 3.6%
Shaun Smith 3.4%
2 Grand 1%

It looks like Susan Boyle did not lose by too much. Doing a simple calculation, based on the reported approximately 4 million votes, Diversity received around 996,000 votes; Ms. Boyle received around 808,000 - a difference of 188,000 votes. The difference between Julian Smith and Stavros Flatley, however, is VERY CLOSE: approximately 4,000 votes, according to my estimates.

Well, that's it from me and "Britain's Got Talent." I wonder how the producers will top this amazing season next year... Remember, "America's Got Talent" premieres Tuesday, June 23 on NBC.

Image: Screen grab of finale

What a season for 'Talent'!

2009-06-01T00:00:00.001-04:00

Saturday evening was full of "Talent" for all of Britain. And it appears the country was all tuning in to find out which act would walk away 100,000 pounds (approx. $159,000) richer and get a spot to perform for Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Variety Performance show in December.

A remarkably large 19.19 million viewers tuned in to the finale, making it the most successful TV show in the country for five years, according to the show's official Web site. More than 71 percent of people with a TV on had it tuned to "Talent."

Granted, 19.19 million viewers seems average compared to the American standard. The final night of "American Idol" garnered more than 23 million viewers (source), which was considered low. Of course, one must also consider the size of the United Kingdom, which has a population more than five times smaller than the United States (source).

Here are a few more interesting facts from the show's site:
• That many people haven't watched the same show since England played Portugal - and lost - in the semi finals of footy tournament Euro 2004.
• Thought to be the highest ever peak audience for a reality show on British TV
• Almost 15.5 million people sat on their sofa for two hours earlier in the evening to watch all 10 acts perform
• A peak of 18.02 million (75% viewing share) were all watching at 8:10 p.m.
• More than four million votes were registered
• The official Web site will publish voting percentages per act on Monday

Thanks to the show's recently made global celebrity Susan Boyle, by now most of you reading this blog post, know that she was not crowned winner of "Britain's Got Talent" season three; she was runner-up to dance group Diversity.

Saturday night's finale kicked off at 6:45 p.m. (again, trying not to compare this to American TV) with performances by all 10 finalists, listed below in alphabetical order:

2 Grand, Aidan Davis, Diversity, Flawless, Hollie Steele, Julian Smith, Shaheen Jafargholi, Shaun Smith, Stavros Flatley, Susan Boyle

After the audition round when Susan Boyle emerged as a global gem, I began watching various auditions. Only at the end of last week, when the finalists were announced, did I basically go nuts over the show and watched the two videos associated with each of the finalists (their auditions and semi-final performances).

When Saturday night's finale aired across the pond, I was ready. For a five-minute recap of the finale, visit the official Web site.

Here are my favorites from the evening, in order of most-liked...

• Shaheen Jafargholi, 12-year-old singer:

• Diversity, winning high-energy dance troupe:

• Susan Boyle, 48-year-old globally-known singer from a small Scottish village:

• Aidan Davis, 11-year-old dancer:

• Stavros Flatley, bizarre father-son comedy/dance duo:

• Julian Smith, soprano saxophonist:

Susan Boyle sang "I Dreamed a Dream" again in the finals. The Scottish singer was the first runner-up. "The best people won," she said. "They are very entertaining lads. I wish you all the best."

Third place went to soprano saxophonist Julian Smith.

"As for the finale itself, words almost (only almost, mind...) fail me," said judge Piers Morgan on his blog for the show. "It was one of the most stunning events I can ever remember." Read his full comments here.

I am pretty jealous of NBC News' Meredith Vieira, who was in the audience for the finale! She also interviewed Morgan on TODAY Friday morning (before the finale):

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

You can easily view the entire season, including all 10 finale performances and the results on the show's YouTube channel. Exclusive videos can be found on the official Web site for "Britain's Got Talent."

For a nice summary of the finalists, read TV Guide's assessment.

Here is the recap from NBC News' Jim Maceda, reporting from London on Saturday night's "Nightly News":

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Image courtesy: http://talent.itv.com/.

‘Idol’ hopeful in Milwaukee today

2009-05-08T00:45:00.001-04:00

"American Idol" hopeful Danny Gokey is now in the top three. While I was not excited to see Allison Iraheta go Wednesday night, I was excited by the fact that the final three are visiting their hometowns today, Friday, May 8th.

The powerhouse singer that is Gokey is thankfully from Milwaukee and will be stopping by the "sexiest city in the world" for a quick visit — and my college town will be on TV next week! Sounds awesome to me... Plus, he giving a free concert!!!

Here is his schedule, thanks to my friend Rincey (subject to change):

7 a.m.: Danny arrives at the WITI Fox 6 studios for TV interviews, 9001 N. Green Bay Road, Brown Deer.

11:15 a.m.: Danny makes a visit to the AT&T store (9078 N. Green Bay Road).

3-4:30 p.m.: Scheduled short stops at Milwaukee downtown area landmarks: the bronze Fonz, the Harley-Davidson Museum the Milwaukee Art Museum and Discovery World.

4:15 p.m.: Main gates to Summerfest open.

4:30 p.m.: Short car parade to the Summerfest concert venue from Michigan and Jackson down to Chicago and east on Chicago entering the main gate at Summerfest. The parade (and mini-concert) will also feature four Green Bay Packers players (Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings, Nick Barnett and Ruvell Martin).

Note: all people who attend Danny’s mini-concert at Summerfest will receive a FREE Summerfest weekday admission ticket as they depart the grounds after the concert!

5:15-6 p.m.: Mini-concert at the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse starring Danny Gokey with special guests.

6 p.m.: Motorcade leaves concert for Miller Park. People are invited to line the Wisconsin Avenue route as the motorcade heads to Miller Park.

6:40 p.m.: Danny throws out first pitch and sings the National Anthem before Brewers-Cubs game.

###
(Source: Visit Milwaukee)

SNL, Zac Efron poke fun at HSM

2009-04-13T17:34:00.001-04:00

I saw this on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend and thought I should share it.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Final Oscar post of the season: Looking ahead

2009-03-26T06:00:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, the Academy announced key dates for next year's Academy Awards, the 82nd annual. Set your calendars...

ABC will televise the 82nd Annual Academy Awards from the Kodak Theatre on Sunday, March 7, 2010, Academy President Sid Ganis announced yesterday.

Key dates:

Tuesday, December 1, 2009: Official Screen Credits forms due
Monday, December 28, 2009: Nominations ballots mailed
Saturday, January 23, 2010: Nominations polls close 5 p.m. PT
Tuesday, February 2, 2010: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PT, Samuel Goldwyn Theater
Wednesday, February 10, 2010: Final ballots mailed
Monday, February 15, 2010: Nominees Luncheon
Saturday, February 20, 2010: Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards presentation
Tuesday, March 2, 2010: Final polls close 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, March 7, 2010: 82nd Annual Academy Awards presentation

The blog will return to normal next week.

A look at the Tribune

2009-03-18T23:30:00.003-04:00

I found this Web site called Issuu, a place to put your documents and display them in Flash format. Here is a look at Tuesday's edition of The Marquette Tribune:

Open publication - Free publishing - More student media

I laid out the news section and designed the MUSG Primary Election coverage page.

Oscar ratings up, but not excellent

2009-02-24T15:30:00.001-05:00

As I discussed in a post Thursday, Oscar ceremony ratings hit an all-time low last year. So this year, getting above 32 million viewers didn't seem like a huge challenge.

The challenge I hoped the new producers, along with a Hugh Jackman-hosted ceremony, would meet was the 46.2 million threshold, putting the ceremony in the Top 10 for best rated telecasts. Alas, it was an uphill battle. With no "Dark Knight" Best Picture nominations, viewers and film goers were not happy with the snub.

And the results are...

"Ratings for this year's Academy Awards improved substantially over last year and are the highest for any TV show (sports excluded) in two years," according to Zap2It.com.

ABC says an average of 36.3 million people watched the 81st annual Oscars on Sunday, making it the most-watched entertainment program of the season and bigger than any other entertainment program since the 2007 Oscars' 40.17 million viewers.

The adults 18-49 rating was up, too, rising from 10.7 in 2008 to 12.1 this year. All the other key demos improved too -- even men under 35.

The artilce reminds us that the numbers are based on "time zone-adjusted" fast national ratings that take into account the live nationwide broadcast. What they don't take into account is the last 25 to 30 minutes of the broadcast.

The situation: Nielsen marks the end time of a program as the time of the last national commercial break. For the Oscar telecast, that came at 11:25 p.m. ET Sunday. Unfortunately, the show ended a couple minutes before midnight ET. That last half-hour featured the big awards, where we assume more people watched (I know someone for example who started watched at this point). During this time, Kate Winslet in "The Reader" won the award for best actress, Sean Penn in "Milk" for best actor and "Slumdog Millionaire" for best picture.

"It's not unreasonable to expect there might have been an uptick in viewers," says writer Rick Porter in the article. "We just don't know if that happened based on the figures we have now."

Even if there was an "uptick," the ratings would not have beat my dream of Top 10 ceremonies. This is ratings-wise of course. Sunday's awards were also only the fourth since 1988 to fall short of 40 million viewers (last year, 2006 and 2003 are the others).

The ceremony itself, however, was one of the best I've seen in a long time. Oprah Winfrey agrees with me.

"I've been watching since I was 10 years old, and I think that was the best Academy Awards I have ever seen," Oprah said yesterday on a special edition of her show from the Kodak. "So classy, so respectful."

I'm going through all of the photos and will post some good ones tomorrow.

Ceremony Photo: ©A.M.P.A.S.®

My official predictions and winners (updated!)

2009-02-22T20:29:00.004-05:00

As the show starts, here are my predictions (and winners):
I got 19/24 correct. Tied for the lead in my pool.

Best Picture
“Slumdog Millionaire” √

Best Director
Danny Boyle √

Best Actor
Sean Penn √

Best actress
Kate Winslet √

Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger √

Best Supporting Actress
Taraji P. Henson X Penélope Cruz

Best Original Screenplay
"Milk" √

Best Adapted Screenplay
Simon Beaufoy for “Slumdog Millionaire” √

Best Foreign-Language Film
“Waltz With Bashir” X "Departures"

Best Animated Feature
“Wall-E” √

Best Original Song
“Jai Ho” √

Best Musical Score
“Slumdog Millionaire” √

Best Art Direction
Donald Burft, Victor Zolfo for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” √

Best Cinematography
Anthony Dod Mantle for “Slumdog Millionaire” √

Best Costume Design
“The Duchess” √

Best Film Editing
“Slumdog Millionaire” √

Best Makeup
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” √

Best Sound Editing
“The Dark Knight” √

Best Sound Mixing
“The Dark Knight” X "Slumdog Millionaire"

Best Visual Effects
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” √

Best Animated Short Film
“Presto” X "La Maison en Petits Cubes"

Best Documentary Short Subject
“The Witness” X "Smiles Pinki"

Best Live Action Short Film
“Toyland” √

Best Documentary Feature
“Man on Wire” √

View all the Best Picture nominees

2009-02-21T02:30:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, I will not be blogging too much. Why? I will be at the movie for - wait for it - 14 HOURS! Yes, tomorrow, as I've done in the past, will be devoted to seeing all five Best Picture nominees - “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), “Milk” (Focus Features), “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company) and “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight).

AMC Theatres offers this quite amazing opportunity to see all the nominees back-to-back in a special package. It's $30 - or $25 for rewards members - and includes all five movies, large popcorn, unlimited pop and a cool collectible pass so you can leave the theater between showings and walk around. Here is the schedule:

# Milk 10:30 a.m.
# The Reader 1:05 p.m.
# The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 3:45 p.m.
# Slumdog Millionaire 7:15 p.m.
# Frost/Nixon 9:45 p.m.

Entertainment Weekly named the Best Picture Showcase No. 1 on its "Must List" for this week.

So with that, I need to catch some sleep and get ready to sit all day and watch movies. Sounds like heaven, right?

mtvU names Red Carpet Correspondent

2009-02-20T15:15:00.001-05:00

And the award goes to...

Faheem Ahmed and Anish Patel from Rice University. The team has been selected as the Grand Prize winners for the first-ever “Oscar Correspondent Contest,” a joint promotion by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and mtvU. Their coverage will be posted on www.Oscars.mtvU.com the week of February 23.

Congrats! I'll try to get an interview with them and post it this weekend.

Photo: Faheem Ahmed (left) and Anish Patel from Rice University have earned a spot on the red carpet and will also have access to the backstage press rooms and the Governors Ball. Photo: Darren Decker / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Oscar logo for Sunday

2009-02-20T13:30:00.003-05:00

If you are like me, you stay up late at night and wonder what this year's Oscar ceremony graphics would look like. Well, even if you are even close to that description, I've found a picture, thanks to the Academy, of what looks like this year's logo and artwork.

I mentioned in a post earlier this week that the theme for this year's show was going to be "a rich, deep blue."

Other notes:

The Academy and mtvU will be announcing the Red Carpet correspondent at noon PST / 3 p.m. EST. So I'll keep you posted on the lucky team of students chosen to stand on the red carpet and interview celebs.

The finalists will be on ET tonight, according to one of the teams.

Also, I interviewed a very happy finalist, Megan Telles, Wednesday night and am playing to chat with the other two teams. Those interviews will be posted here this weekend.
I am currently editing my OSCAR® SPECIAL for my talk show and will let everyone know when it's online.
More prep work is being made outside the Kodak. Here are two photos:

LEFT: The red carpet is unrolled outside the Kodak Theatre Wednesday. By Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S. RIGHT: Just outside the Kodak, an Oscar waits to greet the stars come Sunday. By Darren Decker / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Can this Sunday's show reverse a downward trend?

2009-02-19T16:00:00.003-05:00

Recent ratings for the Academy Awards have been - to say the least - abysmal, a downward trend of bad to worse.

Ratings for last year's ceremony were the lowest ever, according to Nielsen figures, and down nearly 20 percent from the year before. ABC’s showing of the 80th Annual Academy Awards attracted 32 million viewers. The broadcast lasted from 8:30 to 11:38 p.m. ET (Source). The 2003 ceremony was Oscar's previous low, with 33 million viewers (Source).

An average of 39.9 million people watched the 79th annual Academy Awards two years ago, an improvement of one million viewers from the year before but still down from the '04 and '05 shows. "The Departed" took home the Best Picture Oscar. Ellen DeGeneres hosted; the show ran about three hours and 50 minutes -- the longest Oscarcast since the 2002 show, which stretched to more than four hours (Source).

According to a study by Nielsen Preview, Academy Awards viewership correlates directly with the box office draw of the best picture nominees and the popularity of the host:

During the 2004 Academy Awards (hosted by Billy Crystal), there was a 28% increase in households tuning in. This was the year that “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” was nominated (and won) best picture. A blockbuster hit, generating over $350M in revenues, the movie’s broad appeal translated to a strong ratings boost to nearly all demographics. ... The highest rating for women 18-24 was in 2007 - the year Ellen Degeneres hosted. Ellen’s appeal with women also buoyed ratings (which had fallen in prior years) among women 35-55+.

Nielsen, on its Web site, listed the most-watched Oscar broadcasts since 1974. I've posted five here, all of which aired on ABC. Look at the site for the Top 10.

RANK	DATE	BEST FILM	# OF VIEWERS (millions)
1	3/23/98	Titanic	55.2
2	4/11/83	Gandhi	53.2
3	4/14/80	Kramer vs. Kramer	49.0
4	4/3/78	Annie Hall	48.5
5	4/3/78	Forrest Gump	48.3

The ceremony would need more than 46.2 million viewers to break into the Top 10. The most recent year to do that was March 26, 2000. We'll have to wait and see what the number will be. Let's hope for more than 32 millon at this point.

A preview of my talk show

2009-02-19T13:45:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow evening, my talk show's annual Oscar® Special airs on my Web site, http://jmolnar.net/chat. We filmed the episode on Valentine's Day and our panelists had some great commentary to share.

Here is the preview:

Side note: Voting ends tomorrow evening for mtvU's Red Carpet Correspondent contest. Vote here.

New details on set; hi-res images obtained

2009-02-18T08:00:00.003-05:00

Poking around the Web this morning, I stumbled across the official press release (and even high resolution images!) by the Rockwell Group about the set for Sunday's ceremony, which I discussed yesterday in a post (see here).

Some more details I learned:

David Rockwell is the first architect to design an Oscar set
Designed to "create an atmosphere of an elegant party rather than a formal gathering"
Twelve "transforming sets" depicted throughout the night
Peninsula part of stage ("thrust stage") will have four steps between the sage and seating level in order to bring presenters closer to audience
Stage floor will be "an abstract floral pattern referencing the curve of the thrust stage"

Here are the images I found (click for larger view):
Above and to the right is the picture used on the cover of Sunday's New York Times Arts&Leisure cover.

Above is a picture I have not seen anywhere else; it depicts eight different settings for the stage, including semi-schematics for how screens, curtains, etc. fly in from the wings and rafters. Looks a little bland to me, but we'll see the real thing come Sunday.

Any thoughts on the set, or any other Oscar news? Leave me a comment.

An observation: Kodak sign change

2009-02-18T04:00:00.002-05:00

I was looking at Sunday and Monday's preparation photos and noticed a slight modification in the Kodak Theatre's iconic archway façade, where the stars head into the Academy Awards presentation from the red carpet.

If you look at the above photo, you'll notice "theatre" no longer in all caps and a slight modification of the word "Kodak." The logo is now in keeping with the changed Kodak logo, which was revealing at the beginning of 2006. Since the theatre opened in November 2001, the logo would need to be changed. The company paid an estimated $75 million to have its name associated with the theatre - and consequently the Oscars. (The 3,332-seat cost $94 million to build.) Thus, why wouldn't Kodak want its refreshed logo updated on the arch.

Interesting observation is all. Now you know.

Oscar set revealed in NYT article

2009-02-17T16:00:00.007-05:00

I opened my Sunday New York Times with much surprise. Were my eyes seeing what I thought...? It was not a dream. There was the set for Sunday's 81st Annual Academy Awards ceremony, pictured grandly on the Arts&Leisure cover. Here are the details extracted from the 1,900-word article, which can be read if full here:

This year's set is designed by none other than the architect of the Kodak Theatre itself - the very place designed for the ceremony: David Rockwell. (Note NYT, its theatre, not theater.) Rockwell said he is out to "redefine the show's DNA," trying to tame the beast - "a show on television celebrating the movies in a theater," as writer Patricia Leigh Brown describes it. "It's about celebration," said Rockwell, 52. "We want to make it less a big, pre-taped package and more a live show."

Rockwell designed the set with all this in mind. The set includes a 92,000-Swarovski-crystal curtain, fluted crystal chandeliers, shifting patterns of light on the stage floor, the orchestra out of the pit and onto the stage and a "new, curvaceous thrust" (think small peninsula jutting into the audience). Presenters will have LED screen behind them creating a "visual sensation," as the write describes it:

Screens will also appear in unlikely places. In the presentation on film editing, for example, LED screens will be deployed in a kinetic, architectural way. Nineteen of them, each with a different film image, will “fly dimensionally in space,” Mr. Rockwell said, an experience meant to suggest “being in the mind of someone editing.”

This year's mantra: "More intimacy. Less multiple layers of lamé." Look for a rich, deep blue color scheme.

This set sounds and looks very intriguing. Come Sunday we'll see just how intriguing it really is.

My favorite Oscar set in memory is from 2001's ceremony, which took the theme of science-fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey." The theme music was used and the set appeared to be a cylinder, with a huge Oscar statuette in the center.

Oscar Week begins... Some notes

2009-02-16T20:00:00.006-05:00

Hi everyone who is reading my blog or subscribing to the RSS feed. I wanted to take moment to tell you about this upcoming (amazing) week and a little bit about myself.

First, if you're subscribing to my RSS feed, try to visit my actual page at least daily. I will be posting videos and other media onto this page; however, some content might not appear in the RSS feed (or on Facebook, for example) because I will be using the sidebar to the left. So please, come visit the Web page.

Second, I will be posting anything and everything related to the Academy Awards - from the setup and the secrets to the red carpet. If I miss anything, comment and fill me in. Also, follow me on Twitter (jamesamolnar) this weekend for the latest news.

Finally, I want to prove myself to you about why I should be your source for Oscar news:

I've been watching, taping and rewatching the ceremonies for nearly a decade;

I have bought every ceremony poster (except one) since they were made available to the public in 2000;

I vehemently follow all Academy news throughout the year and plan my life around the Academy Awards;

Lastly, my friends and I were bleacher seat fans for last year's red carpet;
AND I was even interviewed by Regis Philbin during the pre-show.

Enough with that, it's time to cover the 81st Annual Academy Awards. I'll post tonight with a sneak peek at this year's set. See you then.

Chicago exhibition opens

2009-02-15T06:00:00.002-05:00

Academy President Sid Ganis was in Chicago Friday to open the "Meet the Oscars, Chicago" exhibition. He was at The Shops at North Bridge on Michigan Avenue downtown.

All Chicago people need to see this! My friends and I went to the one adjacent to the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood last year. It was awesome to be able to hold an Oscar statuette - albeit for a limited time. Make sure you get there quick, though. Remember, this is the only exhibit this year so it will probably be packed.

The exhibition closes next Sunday, Feb. 22nd (Oscar Sunday). Hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free.

The president of the statuette maker, R.S. Owens, Scott Siegel helped cut the ribbon.

Other notes:

Some singing drama, as reported by E!: Peter Gabriel announced to Laurence Mark, producer of this year's ceremony, that he will be attending the Oscars, but he won't be performing during the Best Song medley with "Jai Ho" and "O Saya," both from Slumdog Millionaire. Gabriel was asked to cut his almost six-minute song to a measly 65 seconds. (I will agree with him there. It's only three songs, but I guess we'll have to wait and see what Mark has planned.)

"We completely get where's he's coming from," Mark said of Gabriel to E!. "It wasn't any sort of bad blood going on. It was just a difference of opinion of how he felt things needed to be done."
We filmed the Oscar® Special for my talk show, "Chatting up a STORM." The special airs this Friday on http://jmolnar.net/chat. Also, check out a new episode, entitled "Rethink." and inspired by the blog, this Monday evening. Our special guest tells Sarah and me some ways to rethink how to live a life.

That's all for now. Check back for more news and notes as the ceremony gets closer. I'll post behind-the-scene photos and news on preparations in Hollywood.

SEVEN DAYS TO GO.

Photo of Chicago exhibition: Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Preshow hosts named

2009-02-12T01:00:00.002-05:00

Tim Gunn, Robin Roberts and Jess Cagle with host the 30-minute red carpet show, the Academy announced Wednesday.

Executive producer Robert Morton announced the first-time hosts for show, which airs on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. EST., prior to the 81st Academy Awards® presentation.

Gunn, as the press release stated, is chief creative officer at Liz Claiborne Inc. and well known for his co-hosting of the Emmy®-nominated program “Project Runway."

Roberts is a “Good Morning America” anchor and has traveled from the Mississippi Gulf Coast to the Persian Gulf covering a wide array of topics. She was a commentator and contributor to ESPN before joining ABC News.

Cagle is the managing editor of Entertainment Weekly and the former executive editor of People. He contributes to CBS News and has appeared on “Today” and “20/20.”

That's all we know for now.

10 DAYS UNTIL OSCAR SUNDAY®

Top three announced for mtvU contest

2009-02-09T13:30:00.001-05:00

My predictions last night were correct. mtvU announced the finalists for its red carpet correspondent contest, in association with the Academy. They are as follows: Megan Telles, sophomore - San Diego State University; Justin Shackil, senior - Fordham University; and Faheem Ahmed, senior - Rice University.

The latter in the list was no. 9 on my list, but hey, he got the votes. The person that's missing is my no. 1 pick - David Distenfeld, junior- Duke University. He would have been great, but alas, the people decided.

Voting begins here today and ends around 5 p.m. EST on Friday, February 20, 2009. That's a long voting period.

I will try to interview Telles for sure, maybe Shackil and Ahmed.

Good luck finalists! Get out the vote!

Scientific and Technical Awards given out last night

2009-02-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

Last night, Jessica Biel, pictured, hosted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards in Beverly Hills. Set was nice. Congrats to all those honored last night.

Other notes:

Tomorrow we find out the three finalists for mtvU's Oscar® Correspondent Contest, and consequently voting opens for them. So far, this is what I know: Don't look for Nick Maslow, but look for one of my favs Megan Telles. (Can't tell you how I know...) Here's hoping good news was given to David Distenfeld, but he removed his entry video from YouTube so I'm not thinking that's a good sign... Good luck to my other top five picks, Justin Shackil and Dylan Steinberg.

Academy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson performed on the Grammys this evening. She brought down the house! You could see the emotion on her face.

The Orange British Academy Film Awards took place tonight at the Royal Opera House in London. Award winners included "Slumdog Millionaire" for Best Film (note: the nominees were exactly the same was Oscar's Best Picture noms); Danny Boyle won for directing "Slumdog"; interesting - Martin McDonagh won for his original screenplay of "In Bruges"; "Slumdog" for adapted screenplay; and for actors: Mickey Rourke, Kate Winslet, Heath Ledger and Penélope Cruz. See full winners here. Here is a recap, thanks to itn:

Oscar Sunday: 15 Days to go

2009-02-07T13:52:00.002-05:00

Here is a video I saw on OSCAR.com that is getting me pumped for the big night.

Oscar® Notes - Feb. 4th

2009-02-04T07:30:00.003-05:00

With 18 days until the 81st Annual Academy Awards (on Feb. 22nd) and just about three days left until voting closes for the mtvU Oscars Correspondont Contest (this Friday around 5 p.m. ET), I thought it would be appropriate to discuss odds and ends...

Event news

In a New York Times article published Monday ("Oscars Suspense: Will People Watch?"), writer Michael Cieply discusses the secrets behind this year's ceremony and building pressure on the Academy to get more viewers to watch. Worth the read.
Jessica Biel will host the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards on Saturday, February 7, at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills.
The "Oscars Live Challenge" on OSCAR.COM went live earlier this week. Here, you can predict the winners and the during the ceremony answers questions for more points. There have not been any prizes announced for a possible nationwide winner, but maybe the Academy might not be offer a cool incentive this year.
Nominees for this year's Oscars got together at Beverly Hilton Monday for a luncheon, where Academy President Sid Ganis handed each nominee an official certificate of nomination.

Correspondent Semi-Finalists
After publishing a comprehensive post about the 10 semi-finalists last week, I contacted my top five and asked them their thoughts on being chosen and what they thought about my commentary.

I'll start, appropriately, with my no. 5 pick, Nick Maslow, senior - University of Miami. He commented on my blog post and discussed why he should be a correspondent despite the great interviews he showcased in his videos.

"I must say that for every good interview I showed, there were a handful of times when I spent hours preparing for an interview or event and left empty handed," he wrote in his comment, which can viewed in full here.

I was one of those kids in high school that no one thought would ever do anything with his life. I want to win this competition to inspire teens to not take 'no' for an answer and to challenge themselves. I want to show them that they can start off small by writing for their local newspapers and hopefully gain enough experience to someday report from the red carpet at the Oscars.

Link: Facebook Group

At no. 4 is cool hair Dylan Steinberg, senior - Drexel University, who seems very down-to-earth. Reacting to what I said about "a smug look on his face," he replied: "I totally agree about the smug faces haha. We did the whole thing pretty much improv, so it was fun to just be goofy the whole time."

This is what happened when he learned he was semi-finalist:

When I got the call I freaked out. Everything was amazing in that moment. I threw my bag on the couch, screamed my head off, "Unbelievable....AHHHHH." And then I jumped on my organ I got for free on Craigslist and played improvisational tunes about getting top 10. It was a feeling I haven't felt since I was cast in an AOL commercial back when I was 11.

I am really excited to find out who's going to LA. I've gotten some really supportive feedback and people seem really proud so far. I just hope to be on the red carpet or even just LA, enjoying the opportunity of a lifetime!

Next on my list is Justin Shackil, senior - Fordham University. While his opening was a little weird for me, the interviews that followed were well-done and the editing helped create what I called "a cohesive package."

Here is what Justin thought of the other videos and who he would like to see the final three:

Ok my thoughts on the semi-final round: I don't get why some kids ranted off their resume in the video. With all due respect, I as the viewer could care less. The whole point of the video is to SHOW what you can do. I understand thats hard in 2 minutes, but thats where creativity comes in. Some of the videos I thought were cheezy, and some others were boring. I did like Megan's video and I did like Dylan's. Other than those, I didn't think the others were all that special.

If I was to decide, I would select myself, Megan and Dylan (in no particular order).

Link: Facebook Group

The no. 2 spot belongs to Megan Telles, sophomore - San Diego State University; Justin seems to agree with this. This spunky candidate had some great moments in her video, including a part where she discusses going on a "Road Trip!" with her partner Andrew, who it used a Sony CineAlta EX1 camera to record the submitted video, according to YouTube - that's a $6,000 camera! That's why the video looked so nice...

Here are Megan's thoughts:

WOW - thank you so much for ranking me as #2 and having great things to say about mine and Andrews piece. We were notified about the competition the night before and we seriously pulled through and made it to the top 10. We finished editing at 2:00pm on the 23rd, when it was due at 3:00 pm - so you can only imagine how excited we are to have made it this far. I read through your entire blog and I am very impressed by your input with all the contestants who made it through. I must say - I agree with most everything you have to say.

As you mentioned, I am VERY passionate about getting the hands on experience that I feel a college kid who has NOT been able to get opportunities thus far deserves. I only wish I had some of the interviews, internships and celebrity interactions that some of the contestants have had - which is why I feel that this is a great opportunity for a girl who has not yet fulfilled her dreams of making it to LA! I have had lots of support from family, friends, professors, colleagues and even the media here in San Diego.

I imagine SDSU is proud to hear a student has plugged a positive spotlight on SDSU, simply because we have had some negative media in the past. I am proud to prove that students attending SDSU are not completely submerged in the party scene - some of us can have fun and work hard in the direction of our dreams too :]

Well thank you so much again for the blog reviews - to be #2 on your list means alot - simply because you come off as a passionate student yourself. I encourage you to vote until Friday. Let me know if you need anything else - ok. THANK YOU!!

Links: Facebook Group, with more than 600 members | On the news | FishbowlLA Blog post | Local paper brief

Video, via YouTube:

And my no. 1 choice is David Distenfeld, junior- Duke University. As mentioned in my last post, he contacted me first and that inspired me to reach out to my others on my list. He was something he wrote about my last entry:

Wow, just read your ridiculously detailed blog entry. Glad to know you liked the snark and Slumdog reference.

By the way, I created a facebook to get out the vote (Obama-style)

Feel free to invite everyone you know and again thanks for the support.

Link: School paper story

Video, via YouTube:

Alrighty then! Those are my top 5. Go vote here. Good luck to all of the semi-finalists. I will write another post next week about the final three and try get video/audio interviews with each of them before they head out to Hollywood.

--

mtvU announces semi-finalists for red carpet contest

2009-01-30T01:15:00.007-05:00

It was the moment Rincey and I were waiting for - the phone call. We had lost a lot of sleep during week so the waiting might not be too bad in our state of mind. Saturday and Sunday came and no phone call. "OK... that's not bad. We still have Monday and Tuesday," we told each other.

It was Thursday morning, Rincey tweeted: "i've given up on mtvu and am moving on with my life. i can't live with all the suspense for this long."

She called me a few hours later, telling me to check the site. Our names were not included among the semi-finalists. Instead of being angry and screaming so that my neighbors could hear my ire, I decided to watch the 10 videos.

As a good journalist, I noted what I liked about each and decided to share my thoughts so that I could help others who might not want to watch all 10. Here is my Top 10-styled list, with number one being my favorite:

10. Diana Snyder, freshman - New York University

My main point of contention is the fact this candidate is a freshman. Good for her making it to the next round - the video is short and sweet. However, the video quality is a little lacking (OK graphics). Plus, I don't see Perez Hilton as a plus.

9 - Faheem Ahmed, senior - Rice University
The humor he places within the video escapes me. I'm surprised the Academy would allow mtvU to pick this (then again, MTV and Academy are polar opposites). There is a Britney Spears impersonation. A fake Tom Cruise jumps up and down on a bench. It's seems very banal to me.

8 - Nicole Lovince, senior - Bowling Green State University
I have to give her some credit because BGSU is near my hometown of Toledo, Ohio. However, the tributes end there. Her video comes off a little vain. Granted, most of the videos needed to include some self-love, but here it's a little overbearing. And the lighting is poor. Her video begins the celebrity name-dropping, which is peppered throughout a majority of the videos.

7 - Chantell Black, senior - Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
This video is full of energy and Chantell is very articulate (and the microphone volume is set to loud!). But I get lost when she mentions she was an intern at CNN in New York and was on the red carpet interviewing stars at the Tonys. She seems way too overqualified. What does she need this contest for? Her dream has already come true. She interview Ne-Yo and Chris Brown, "to name a few."

6 - Rachel Alig, senior - University of Cincinnati
Here, four reasons are given to pick Rachel as the correspondent. She has a contagious passion in her video. She even sparkles at times. I especially love when she interviews UC President Nancy L. Zimpher. That was an impressive get. Her hair was less impressive, though. It took away from her nice outfits and spunk. She would be higher up on my list if she would not have mentioned working for Nancy Grace - not a fan, to say the least.

5 - Nick Maslow, senior - University of Miami
Even if a little narcissistic and overly tanned, I have to give it to Nick for some of his interviews, especially the one with Academy Award®-winning actress Halle Berry. But still, what does he need from Oscar's red carpet that he hasn't already gotten?

4 - Dylan Steinberg, senior - Drexel University
Let me start off by saying I love his hair. Dylan seems like a Ryan Seacrest protégé, a friendly interviewer, but the problem is his seems slightly disinterested in his interviews, continuously looking back at the camera with a smug look on his face. Overall though, good video, it was well thought out.

3 - Justin Shackil, senior - Fordham University
Not a huge fan of the open, where Justin is standing in front of a green screen, talking with a weird voice and slightly bouncing. But the rest of the video is well done. The interviews are genuine and they're edited well to create a cohesive package. It especially love the snow at the end. We wanted it to snow, but it wouldn't the days we were filming.

2 - Megan Telles, sophomore - San Diego State University
I could watch this video multiple times without getting sick of it. Megan and her cameraman Andrew film with a great camera and have some great shots; without microphone issues, the video would have been near-perfect! I especially love the highway shot. Megan has a great personality and it shows through. I enjoyed when she said she would save the Academy and mtvU money so her and Andrew could take a road trip. (And that was an example of good hair.)

1 - David Distenfeld, junior- Duke University
And my number one choice is... David from Duke. Its opening - in which he poses the question "David Distenfel is two minutes away from winning a trip to the 2009 Academy Awards. How did he does it?" - almost wins my support outright. (The answer is C. "He was adopted by Angelina Jolie.") He goes on to talk about his addiction to award shows and movies and three things he loves about the Oscars. While cynical, his commentary is snarky and enjoyable. Plus, I'd love to see his interviews on the red carpet. He's got me intrigued.

Some of the semi-finalists litter their videos with names from celebrities. I understand interviews may help boost résumés, but I think this is the wrong approach for this contest. Maybe I was wrong to assume mtvU would want to help out hard-working journalists who have yet to get those big interviews. Granted, my opinion is a little irrelevant because mtvU did not pick my video, which is embedded below:

After posting this video, I noted in the "More Info" box that I recommended people vote for David Distenfeld. Here's part of the message he sent me, after seeing this:

This is David Distenfeld and I just saw the more info for your video. I really liked your entry... More important, thanks so much for recommending mine. Not exactly sure why you liked it so much, but, hey, who am I to complain.

So please vote for David here and if he makes it to the top three, I'll try to get an interview with him. Good luck, semi-finalists!

Update: David sent me this link to his Facebook group, created "to get out the vote (Obama-style)."

Have a great weekend everyone.

...
(Images of contestants courtesy mtvU.com)

Oscar® nominations announced 31 days out

2009-01-22T09:45:00.002-05:00

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and Oscar-winning actor and Academy member Forest Whitaker announced the 81st Annual Academy Award® nominees this morning. (Full list here and video embedded at bottom of post.)

Nominations highlights:

Nom Count: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," 13; "Slumdog Millionaire," 10; "Dark Knight" and "Milk," 8; "Doubt" and "Frost/Nixon" and "The Reader" and "WALL-E," 5.

Best motion picture of the year: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), “Milk” (Focus Features), “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company) and “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight).

Music, original song: "Down to Earth" (from "WALL-E"), "Jai Ho" and "O Saya" (from "Slumdog Millionaire"). Notably absent include Golden Globe nominees from "Gran Torino" (featuring Clint Eastwood), "Bolt" (featuring Miley Cyrus), "Cadillac Records" (featuring Beyoncé Knowles) and "The Wrestler" (featuring Bruce Springsteen). Though, it must be noted, the Academy has very strict guidelines for this category.

Foreign Language: France's submission, "The Class," made it to the shortlist and now is one of five films nominated. Others include submissions from Germany ("The Baader Meinhof Complex"), Japan ("Departures"), Austria ("Revanche") and Israel ("Waltz with Bashir").

Also announced today was the ceremony poster, something I buy every year. This year's poster, as my friend Rincey agreed, is MUCH better than last year's. Take a look:

Watch the Oscar ceremony Sunday, February 22, 2009.

Countdown to the Oscars®: 37 Days

2009-01-16T20:00:00.003-05:00

With 37 days left until the 81st Annual Academy Awards®, here are some bullet points to start your weekend off on the right note:

OSCAR.com launched this afternoon, much to my excitement. While there is nothing really on the site right now but an intro video, much more content will be posted when...

Nominations are announced this Thursday, Jan. 22 at 5:35 a.m. PST (note the time zone and adjust accordingly) from the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater most likely by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and an Oscar winner (such as Kathy Bates last year). Normally, the Academy would announce in advance who will reveal the nominations, but it could just surprise us - in keeping with this year's hush-hush atmosphere in not announcing ceremony presenters.

The British Academy Film Awards nominations were announced Thursday morning in London. Best Film nominees: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon," "Milk," "The Reader" and "Slumdog Millionaire." We'll see how this compares to the Oscar nominees next week.

I'm trying to see "Slumdog Millionaire" this weekend. I've heard so many good things about it. Let me know what you think, by posting your thoughts.

Have a great weekend.

UPDATE: Academy President Sid Ganis and Oscar-winning actor and Academy member Forest Whitaker will announce nominations Thursday, the Academy announced Tuesday.

The duo will unveil the nominations in 10 of the 24 award categories. Nominations info for all categories can be found after the announcement at www.oscar.com.

In 2006 Whitaker took home the Leading Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland.”

An we have a host!

2008-12-12T13:52:00.004-05:00

Hugh Jackman will host the 81st Annual Academy Awards Sunday, February 22, 2009. I was thinking awards season began yesterday with the announcing of the Golden Globe nominees, but the season is now in full gear, with producer Laurence Mark and executive producer Bill Condon of the Oscar telecast announcing the news today (12/12).

A great ad campaign

2008-11-04T16:28:00.005-05:00

The recent free coffee on Election Day Starbucks ad, which I saw during last weekend's "Saturday Night Live," is simply brilliant and brilliantly simple.

Because I started SNL a little late, I could have fast forwarded through the commercial but I noticed it and watched it; I was intrigued. I was not sure who the advertiser was but I loved the text and use of movement.

Take a look:

Now read the text again:

What if we all cared enough to vote?
Not just 54% of us, but 100% of us?
What if we cared as much on Nov. 5th as we care on Nov. 4th?
What if we cared all of the time the way we care some of the time?
What if we cared when it was inconvenient as much as we care when its convenient?
Would your community be a better place?
Would our country be a better place?
Would our world be a better place?
We think so, too.
If you care enough to vote, we care enough to give you a free cup of coffee
Come into Starbucks on Nov. 4th. Tell us you voted, and we'll PROUDLY give you a tall cup of brewed coffee on us.

You and Starbucks. Its bigger than coffee.

The song used in the commercial is "Trillium Glance" by Michael Montes. What a great choice.

It was reported today that in order to comply with election laws in some states, Starbucks is offering its free cup of coffee to everyone as long as they ask. But that doesn't mean not to vote, of course.

NBC’s massive coverage of Beijing begins

2008-08-06T06:30:00.000-04:00

Post Details:
• NBC has unofficially begun its coverage of the Beijing Olympics
• Video on NBC’s site uses Silverlight
• Opening ceremony is Friday night
• Prepare yourself for 17 days ‘round the clock coverage

The opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing are Friday, but from the looks of NBCOlympics.com the coverage has already begun. “Today” began broadcasting from Beijing on Monday with Matt Lauer from the Great Wall of China, and early this morning – beginning at midnight Eastern – visitors to the site could see male gymnasts practice live during “podium training.” While nothing spectacular, the event shows NBC’s commitment to coverage and even a we-paid-$900-million-for-the-rights-to-broadcast-the-games-so-we-might-as-well-SHOW-absolutely-EVERTHING motto.

NBC Universal is planning a massive 3,600 hours of online and broadcast coverage; that’s more than the total of all previous televised Summer Olympics in U.S. history. But add the pre-coverage of last night and the three hours per day “Today” will spend when a majority of its broadcast is from Beijing (starting next week), plus Matt’s coverage this week alone… and you’ve got yourself ‘round the clock coverage – and then some.

One thing that interests me about NBC’s site is the software for its streaming video is not a standard Flash-utilized player, but a Microsoft Silverlight-utilized player. Thus, if you want to watch live coverage online you have to download the software to use the slick player. It’s a good experience and an instance where Microsoft is really pushing its player. Plus, Microsoft is a major sponsor for the site – go figure.

The opening ceremony airs on NBC beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. If you want to watch it live, you’ll have to find a CBC station (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the rights holder up north), which I luckily receive being close to Windsor, Ontario. Coverage continues in the U.S. after the ceremony on the networks of NBC over the course of the 17 days; they include: MSNBC, USA, Telemundo, CNBC, Universal HD, Oh! (Oxygen Network) and NBCOlympics.com.

Get ready for the Summer Olympics, here they come!

To prepare yourself, watch the opening for the 2006 Torino Games (it’s a great meld of music, pictures and narration):

Links:
Read L.A. Times’ coverage of “Today” in Beijing
NY Times has a great interactive schedule on its Web site

Harry Potter Excitement

2008-07-30T06:30:00.002-04:00

Post Details:
• New “Harry Potter” trailer debuts
• Excitement ensues

Today, I digress…

Last night the official trailer was posted for “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” on AOL. The sixth movie will open in American theaters in 114 days – on Nov. 21, 2008.

(Click on photo to left to enlarge.)

I was very excited to watch the trailer – to say the least. Reading the book can be compared to riding an emotional roller coaster. I was a wreck upon completing the book – after experiencing many debilitating moments. (But no spoilers here…)

The trailer was darker and more nerve-wracking than earlier trailers in the series. While less than 90 seconds, the preview provided fans with sneak peeks at young Tom Riddle, among other characters, and Professor Dumbledore’s adventure inside the bewitched cave.

All and all, it’s going to be tough to stave off my excitement until November, but since reading the final book in the series, “Deathly Hallows,” last summer, there’s always something to look forward to. In the meantime, I’ll continue re-watching the movies, rereading the books and re-listening to the soundtracks.

Here is the synopsis:

Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort's defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information.

Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn't counted on Romilda Vane's chocolates! And then there's Hermione, simpering with jealously but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.