Results tagged “academyawards”

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this afternoon that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will co-host the 82nd Academy Awards next year. Martin earned an Emmy nomination after he hosted the 73rd Academy Awards. He also hosted the 75th ceremony. Baldwin has never hosted the show. The Oscars will be aired on ABC on Sunday, March 7, 2010, from the Kodak Theatre. As for the Golden Globes next January, Ricky Gervais will host.

The Cocoanut Grove, a supper club where the rich and famous dined and danced, opened 3 months after the Ambassador Hotel, in April 1921. It was designed in Moorish style. The palm trees that decorated the room were rumored to have come from the Rudolph Valentino film, The Sheik and they had stuffed monkeys hanging from them. The ceiling was painted midnight blue and sparkling stars were strewn across its firmament.

Big announcement from the academy today. No longer are days of five competing movies for Best Picture, but ten. “After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year,” said Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis. “The final outcome, of course, will be the same - one Best Picture winner - but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009.”

              

Here's a little of what we saw while on the red carpet at the Oscars...

"For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support," Sean Penn said in his acceptance speech for actor in a leading role last night at the Oscars. "We've got to have equal rights for everyone."

                               

LAist editor Zach Behrens, who is at the Kodak Theatre, and Gothamist editor Jen Chung will be liveblogging Hollywood's biggest night.

In the past, celebrities have helped bring awareness to HIV/AIDS when they've grace the red carpets in their fashion clad gowns and suits donning a small red ribbon. Since then, differently colored ribbons and other accessories have appeared, from pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness to Lance Armstrong's Live Strong yellow bracelets.

She hit the stage at the Grammys a couple of weeks ago 9 months pregnant, gave birth to her son with boyfriend Benjamin Bronfman a couple of days later, and now is working with organizers of Sunday's Oscars telecast to arrange how she might perform live on the awards show. The Guardian UK explains:

According to reports today the rapper is keen to fulfil her commitment to perform her Oscar-nominated song from Slumdog Millionaire, "O Saya," at the awards ceremony. She is said to be trying to find a way to overcome the physical issues of performing so soon after giving birth, including, it's alleged, an appearance by hologram or, failing that, one delivered from a bed live on stage.

If you live or travel near the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, the street is getting a little crowded with the Academy Awards set up. As of yesterday, all lanes of Hollywood Boulevard are closed from the southeast corner of Orange Drive to Highland Avenue and will be until at least a week from today at 6 a.m. There are more closures, too, as we get closer to the ceremony on Sunday.

The Oscars is over two weeks away, but the international event takes weeks to set up for. Here's what's going this weekend:

The 61st annual Directors Guild of America Awards were held here last night at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. The DGA named Brit import Danny Boyle as Best Director for his inspiring film Slumdog Millionaire; Boyle is up for the Oscar in the same category, and many believe these awards are "one of the most reliable indicators for the Academy Awards," which take place at the Kodak Theatre on February 22 this year, explains the LA Times. "The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the guild have disagreed only six times in their selections in the last 60 years."

As programs get stripped and fees get higher for residents in Los Angeles, is this a case of the rich getting richer or a good business move on the part of the city? Tomorrow, the City Council will go through their ritual of approving special event fee waivers (see page 16 of the council agenda in .pdf). These giveaways practicably happen on a weekly basis, giving special events a break on the costs for street closures, personnel and whatever else it costs the city to adjust its landscape for an event taking place in public space.

Oscar statues are actually made 2,000 miles away in Chicago. So sister site to LAist, Chicagoist, made a visit to the factory. Here's a sample: "Oscar starts life as an ingot of britannia metal (think high-class pewter). Always the achiever, he receives his first casting call early. The ingot is melted in a small furnace and the molten metal is then poured into a mold bearing the familiar pose. The casting process is an art in itself, requiring precise temperature control, timing and mold manipulation..."

                                   

For 15 years Wofgang Puck has been the official caterer of The Governors Ball, the celebration that follows the Academy Awards. And this year, LAist was there for the preview. This time we get to show you pictures of Oscar-shaped chocolate statues. We also had the opportunity to test-taste a few of the treats and the cocktails that will be served at the Ball.

       

Nomination day is an early day in Hollywood. Media outlets arrive at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater as early as 12:30 in the morning to start setting up. The rest of the press corps arrives at 3:30 a.m. for the press breakfast, and some stragglers creep in as late as 5 a.m. Jockeying for position is not as aggressive in a room full of mixed media. But once it is the photogs' turn to rush the theater, watch your toes.

In the wee hours of the morning today phones were ringing off the hook all over Hollywood. At 5:30 a.m. the nominees were announced for the 81st Academy Awards. Academy President Sid Ganis and Actor Forest Whitaker made the announcement at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. LAist was there.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this morning that Austrlian actor Hugh Jackman will host the 81st Academy Awards on Sunday, February 22nd at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. He's presented at the ceremony before, but this will be his first time as a host. "[Jackman] has style, elegance and a sense of occasion," the producers said of the star, who was recently named one of the sexiest men alive by People Magazine, in a joint statement. He's starred in Baz Luhrmann's Australia, the X-Men movies and the upcoming and most anticipated X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Jackman won an Emmy in 2005 for his hosting skills at a Tony Awards ceremony. He also won a Tony in 2004 for Best Actor in a Musical.

Now with The Emmy Awards over, it's time to think about the 78th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, February 22 at the Kodak Theatre. As they do every year, the Academy will hold a lotto drawing for people to win one of the coveted bleacher seats at the red carpet.

Normally, the Academy Awards making the news this early in the Oscar-year calendar doesn't make sense. That is, until the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced yesterday in a press release the key dates for next year's show on Sunday, February 22nd. And after listing those dates (below if you care), the last sentence of the release mentioned why there was a slight change.

That's Marion Cotillard, this year's best actress winner at the Academy Awards. Pictured is a mural depicting a moment from her very sweet Oscar speech. Sadly my name isn't Olivier, I am at the moment providing 0.00% of rock to Marion's world. She's referring to Olivier Dahan, her director in the Edith Piaf biopic "La Vie en Rose." A punk if you ask me.

When you read something you like on LAist, we love it when you hit the "recommend" button, and we love it even more if you put your two cents' worth in the comments. Getting a dialog going with our readers and making sure we're giving you content you can use are top priorities for us. So here's this week's top posts, as endorsed by you via the recommend feature, or as indicated by the level of talk going on in the comments:

Enough with the Oscar talk -- Kimmel's long-awaited response to "I'm Fuckin' Matt Damon" is here and it's chock-full of hilarity:

Ethan and Joel Coen, aka the Coen Brothers took home the biggest prizes at tonight's Academy Awards for the film "No Country For Old Men." It wasn't even the best film they've done but then again, Herbie Hancock. Jon Stewart ran the show as he did last year but could do no wrong with Regis Philbin there in the wings.

Live, from in front of our television set, it's LAist's Oscar night liveblog extravaganza.

• Five are dead and one person was hurt in an apparent murder-suicide in Yorba Linda, close to the Richard Nixon Library. A 14-year-old called in to report that his father had shot him. Police later found that the gunman shot his wife and 3 of his children before turning the gun on himself.
• As we have pointed out before, it's not a good time to be a Republican. The state GOP is meeting in San Francisco (of all places) to talk about ways to help the party in which a deep rift has developed between those on the right and those to the right of them.
• In a headline nearly as long as the entire article, the Daily News tells us: Yes, you're paying more for gas. Average is now $3.10. We need to invest in alternative fuels. We need to elect a Democrat who will explore alternative fuels. We need to elect a Repuiblican who will drill in Alaska. We need to drive more hybrids. Fuck it, I'm off to catch the bus.
• Is Councilman Herb Wesson gearing up for a mayoral run? Hmmmmm. At least one blog might support some opposition.
• LAX could receive greater scrutiny if a study is approved Monday that would look into diesel emissions and how noise from arriving and departing planes affects surrounding homes. It's something that Bob Hope Airport in Burbank continues to grapple with.
• The nod for best movie may go to "No Country For Old Men," but the award for best tasting tap water has gone to Los Angeles. A panel of 10 journalists and food critics sampled sparkling, tap and bottled water from 19 states and other countries, including New Zealand, Romania, Macedonia and the Philippines before calling it for Los Angeles.
• And speaking of Oscars, if you are reading this, it means you are not reading our Academy Awards Live- Blogging. Even if you are not a fan of the glitz and glamor, I know you like our wit, and it's being served in 10-minute increments.
  Continue reading "Extra, Extra: We Taste The Best"

LAist's own TV Junkie has already given us the deets (and some alternatives), but in case you missed it, the 80th Annual Academy Awards are tonight, live from our very own Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Settle into your favorite spot in front of your tee vee and tune in along with zillions of other people around the world and see who wins what, who wears what, and if it rains on the red carpet.

Looks like the Academy Awards don't have the same in with Mother Nature and the big meteorologist in the sky the way the Tournament of Roses Parade does.

Final preparations are being made for tomorrow evening's big Academy Awards bash, which means Hollywood is in for an ongoing traffic clusterfuck.

Yesterday we launched a series of polls to see who you would give the Oscar to in the big four acting categories. Now let's look at the other sets of nominees who will be gnashing their teeth and squirming in their seats at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on Sunday at the 80th Annual Academy Awards.

OK so the Oscars are this weekend. Even though the writers' strike is over, the prediction is that this will be a ho-hum (excuse me?) Oscars. First of all, the majority of the films presented for consideration are real downers, secondly, because of the strike, many potential presenters thought that the awards ceremony would be canceled or drastically cut back so they made other plans and are now not available to present at the show. I'm sure they will have enough presenters but perhaps there won't be as many "mega-stars", thus leaving room for more indie-types.