Oscars

Must-Watch: Best Animated Short Oscar Winner, THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 27th, 2012 at 1:08 pm

There were some quality nominees for this year’s Best Animated Short Oscar, but none of them came close to the winner, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.  The short is filled with clever visuals, vibrant colors, and a lot of heart.  At first, it almost seems like it’s going to be the intro for Reading Rainbow if the intro took up half the show.  But as the short develops, you see how stories (symbolized by books) shape and enrich our lives especially once we tell our own.  And it does all of this without dialogue.  The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore made me tear up by the end, and after watching the short, I hope you’ll understand and share my reaction.

Hit the jump to watch The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

Watch THE DICTATOR Spill Kim Jong-il’s Ashes on Ryan Seacrest on the Oscars Red Carpet

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 27th, 2012 at 8:42 am

Last night, I watched more Oscar red carpet coverage than I ever have in my life because I made the grave error of showing up to a party two-and-a-half hours early.  We watched far too much of E!’s pre-show coverage and when we felt our brains trying to escape like a passenger on a sinking ship, we switched over to ABC’s red-carpet coverage.  Naturally, that’s when something interesting happened on E!.  The Twitterdome exploded by saying that Sacha Baron Cohen‘s character from The Dictator, Admiral General Aladeen (who was “banned” and then “unbanned” from the Oscars), had spilled Kim Jong-il‘s ashes on Ryan Seacrest.  We scoured the Internet for video because of course E! wasn’t going to replay the night’s best moment.  We couldn’t find the video online because the Internet chose to let us down.  Thanks, Internet.

Thankfully, the video has finally gone online and you can check out staged antics after the jump.  The Dictator opens May 11th.

Winners of the 84th Academy Awards; THE ARTIST Wins 5 Including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 26th, 2012 at 8:56 pm

The Oscars are finally over.  The front-runner, The Artist, won the awards race by picking up Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Hazanavicius), Best Actor (Jean Dujardin), Best Costume Design, and Best Score.  There were also some big upsets as “locks” like The Tree of Life for Best Cinematography and Rise of the Planet of the Apes for Best Visual Effects were no match for Hugo, which ended up taking those categories and three more (Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Art Direction).  As for nice surprises…not really (unless you loved Hugo).

It was a forgettable year for the Oscars, and Billy Crystal, turning in his safe, predictable, and family-friendly routine was the perfect fit for a year that screamed “Don’t rock the boat!”  Last year’s Oscars took a chance on pairing Anne Hathaway and James Franco, and the show was a mess.  This year, they played it safe and the ceremony was still dull.  Quite simply, there was no films to root for and the “upsets” were for the establishment.  It was also funny to have the show and actors celebrate the theater when audiences are moving to OnDemand services, and studios are trying to make the theatrical release window even shorter.   Hit the jump for a full list of the winners, click here for mine and Adam Chitwood’s Oscar predictions (he did way better than me), and click here for my live-blog of the ceremony.

Matt and Adam Predict the Winners of the 84th Academy Awards

by Collider Staff    Posted: February 25th, 2012 at 10:41 am

This Sunday, Hollywood will give itself a big, hearty slap on the back and hand out statues that can boost careers and boost box office (although the latter is somewhat debatable).  But since art is being forced into competition, we may as well make our predictions as if this were a sporting event.  I usually bat around .750, and it will be interesting to see who’s better at guessing how old white men vote.  I’ll also note that I think I’ll do far worse this year in my predictions since films I thought were a lock for a nomination didn’t even receive one.  My nomination predictions were so awful that I’m throwing caution to the wind.

Adam has been running point on our Oscar coverage this year, and I’m happy to have him join me in my annual Oscar prediction article.  Hit the jump for what we think should win and what we think will win.  The 84th Academy Awards will air live this Sunday on ABC at 7pm EST.

THE DICTATOR (Sacha Baron Cohen) Responds to Oscars Ban [Updated: Cohen Will Appear as The Dictator, Releases Victory Image]

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 24th, 2012 at 8:22 am

A couple days ago, we reported that the Oscars were banning Sacha Baron Cohen from attending the ceremony as his character from The Dictator, Admiral General Aladeen.  The banning wasn’t unexpected since the Academy has the world’s largest stick jammed up the world’s tightest ass, and while Cohen’s character is comically offensive, it would be entertaining, which is not in the spirit of this year’s Oscars.  This morning, Aladeen went on The Today Show and MSNBC to protest being banned from “The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Zionists.”  The video and the interview give a good sense of the offensive humor he was planning to bring to the Oscars, and it will be sorely missed from the unrelentingly dull ceremony on Sunday.

Hit the jump to check out the response video and his interview on MSNBC.  The Dictator opens May 16th. [Update: Oscar producer Brian Grazer has confirmed via Heat Vision that Cohen will appear on the red carpet dressed as The Dictator after all, so prep your DVR's accordingly] [Update 2: Cohen's General Aladeen has posted a victory image with a golden gun and Oscars tickets in hand.]

Full List of 2012 Oscar Presenters Includes Christian Bale, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis and the Cast of BRIDESMAIDS

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 23rd, 2012 at 2:22 pm

We’re only a few short days away from the 84th Academy Awards, which means all that prognosticating and “fake controversy” business will finally come to an end on Monday morning. Until next year, that is. Nevertheless, a number of presenters have been announced over the past few weeks and we figured we’d bring you a full list of all the pretty celebrities scheduled to appear during Sunday night’s telecast. Zach Galifianakis, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Emma Stone, The Muppets and the leading ladies from Bridesmaids will (hopefully) be bringing the funny, and today the Academy announced that last year’s winners in the acting categories will return to present. I really, really liked the way the awards were given out a few years back with past winners speaking directly to each of the nominees, so I’m hoping Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Natalie Portman, and Colin Firth will be doing something similar.

Hit the jump to read the full list of presenters and performers, and be sure to check back this weekend to see how yours truly and Matt Goldberg think the awards will stack up in our predictions feature. Billy Crystal hosts the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday, February 26th.

Sacha Baron Cohen Banned from the Oscars?

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: February 22nd, 2012 at 5:04 pm

Sacha Baron Cohen is not someone you would describe as uncontroversial. Now, his over-the-top antics may have gotten him banned from the 84^th Annual Academy Awards. He’s been a British hip-hop artist (Ali G Indahouse), a Kazakhstani immigrant (Borat) and a flamboyant Austrian fashionista (Bruno), each one more polarizing than the last. Apparently his new character from The Dictator, General Aladeen, is not welcome at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ annual awards show. Hit the jump to find out what got The Dictator banned and to see why this might all just boil down to a publicity stunt one way or another.

Infographic: Oscar Fashion Throughout the Years

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 22nd, 2012 at 7:51 am

Don’t lie: you mute the insipid Oscar red carpet banter and check out the dresses.  There’s nothing wrong with that.  The dresses are one of the finer points of the evening, and you get to see which actresses found the right mix between elegance and originality, and which actresses found what the designer’s fever dream looked like in gown-form.  The people at Dish Network, when not trying to convince us that satellite dish signals can’t be blown out by a gentle breeze, have put together a fun infographic about the dresses worn by the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress nominees from the past 22 years.

Hit the jump to check out the infographic.  The 84th Academy Awards air live this Sunday at 7pm EST on ABC.

Mike Myers Schools Kevin Kline on Oscar Etiquette in Funny-or-Die-Produced Promo

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 21st, 2012 at 12:34 pm

The 2011 Oscar race will finally be over this Sunday night, but winners need to know the proper way to accept the award.  To this end, Funny or Die has produced a promo on behalf of the Academy Awards starring Oscar-winner Kevin Kline (Best Supporting Actor for A Fish Called Wanda) and Sir Cecil Worthington (Mike Myers).  The sketch is meant to poke fun at the importance of the statue, but Worthington is really more of a reminder of the Academy’s largest voting block: old white men who have never won an Oscar.

Hit the jump to check out the promo.  The 84th Academy Awards air live this Sunday on ABC at 7pm EST.

Mondo Kicks Off Academy Awards Series with Posters for HUGO and RANGO

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 17th, 2012 at 2:46 pm

We cover Mondo quite a bit here at Collider, the reason being that they create really, really, really cool posters, and today the collectible boutique arm of the Alamo Drafthouse announced a series of posters to coincide with this year’s Academy Awards. Mondo will be releasing limited prints of four of their favorite nominated films from 2011, and they’re kicking things off with Martin Scorsese’s lovely ode to cinema, Hugo and Gore Verbinski’s stellar and quirky Rango. I’m a huge fan of both movies, and these Mondo posters capture the essence of each film perfectly. The two other posters in the series will be announced next week, but today you can take a look at Hugo by artist Kevin Tong and Rango by artist Tom Whalen.

Hit the jump to check out the posters for Best Picture Nominee Hugo and Best Animated Feature nominee Rango. All four posters will go on sale during the Academy Awards on Sunday, February 26th. As always, follow @MondoNews for on sale announcements.

Kermit and Miss Piggy to Present at the Academy Awards

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 17th, 2012 at 9:35 am

Every day, the Academy is announcing new presenters for the Oscars, and those press releases are worthless.  No one cares if Ben Stiller will be reading nominees off a card.  But today, the Academy has made a terrific-yet-maddening announcement regarding a duo of presenters.  Kermit and Miss Piggy will present at this year’s Academy Awards, and it will be the fifth time that Muppets have presented at the Oscars.  While I’ll be happy to see them, the announcement makes me even more frustrated with this year’s ceremony.  First, there won’t be a performance of The Muppets nominated song, “Man or Muppet”, which might have made sense due to set construction concerns.  However, there was enough time and money to build a stage for Cirque du Soleil, who should be seen live (or at least in a movie theater) rather than your TV.  And now that they’re going to have Muppets on stage anyway, it feels like the Academy is saying, “Muppets, you’re good enough to deliver a little banter and read names off a card, but no one wants to see you sing a song on live television.”  At least “Man or Muppet” will probably win the Oscar.

Hit the jump for the press release.

Oscar News: Nominated Songs May Not Be Performed Live; Milla Jovovich Will Host the Technical Awards; Group Photo from the Nominees Luncheon

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: February 6th, 2012 at 7:45 pm

The songs are rarely my favorite part of the Oscar ceremony, since the quality of entertainment is so dependent on the nominated performers.  I was really looking forward to this year’s live songs, though.  There are only two, so it would not be a major time suck in the middle of the awards.  And the two nominees are terrific.  “Real in Rio” is infectious and promised a colorful and vibrant production on stage.  “Man or Muppet” would get The Muppets on stage singing a truly clever song, which should be goal #1 in any year that releases a Muppet movie.  And yet Deadline hears the songs may be cut this year.  Said one of their sources: “It seems like a huge missed opportunity to me, and we certainly tried.”  Dude, try harder.  It’s two songs.  Of course, the show is not locked yet, so telecast producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer have time to reconsider before the February 26 broadcast.  I sincerely hope they do.

Hit the jump for more Oscar news, in which Milla Jovovich hosts the technical awards and the nominees assemble for a group photo.

Oscar-Nominated Short Films Coming to a Theater Near You

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: January 27th, 2012 at 9:30 am

With the theatrical releases of such Oscar-nominated features as The Artist, War Horse and Hugo, most people are at least aware of the movies going into the live Oscars broadcast on February 26^th. Slightly less well-known are the short films nominated for this year’s awards. Luckily for you, all of them will be shown in a limited theatrical release on February 10^th via ShortsHD and Magnolia Pictures. Similar to their successful release of last year’s nominated shorts, three theatrical programs will provide audiences access to short films from the animation, live action and short subject documentary categories. Hit the jump to check out the details.

2012 Oscar Nominations Announced; HUGO and THE ARTIST Lead the Pack

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 24th, 2012 at 6:05 am

The nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards have finally been unveiled. Many of the categories have fallen in line just as most have predicted (I fared alright with my predictions, but not great), with Hugo scoring 11 nods, followed closely by The Artist with 10. The biggest surprises are War Horse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close getting in for Best Picture, the exclusion of The Adventures of Tintin from Best Animated Feature, and The Tree of Life nabbing Best Picture and Best Director nods (hooray!). On the snub side of things, despite landing the most precursor critics awards of any other actor in the race thus far, Albert Brooks was denied a Best Supporting Actor nod for his stellar work in Drive (boo). Additionally, Tilda Swinton was overlooked for giving the best performance of the year in We Need to Talk About Kevin, and AMPAS has no love for Michael Fassbender‘s haunting work in Shame.

There’s still plenty to be happy about, as Gary Oldman has his first ever Oscar Nomination (yes, that’s right) and Melissa McCarthy is a Best Supporting Actress nominee. Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominees. The 84th Academy Awards will be presented by Billy Crystal on February 26th.

Oscars 2012: Adam Predicts the Nominees

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 21st, 2012 at 2:38 pm

As I’ve been covering awards season pretty extensively here on the site over the past few months, I figured it would be appropriate to (foolishly) try to predict the upcoming Oscar nominations. It’s been a fairly tame year, as a few frontrunners were singled out early in the race and have held their ground throughout the grueling awards season. We haven’t been without a few surprises, as Steven Spielberg’s War Horse took a massive tumble following snubs from most of the major guilds, and David Fincher has surged back into the race bringing his adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with him.

Though there are plenty of safe bets when it comes to the 2012 Oscar nominations, there are still a few wildcards and tricky categories. I’ve put on my prognosticating cap (those interested can purchase one of these nifty hats at your local Target) and compiled a list of who and what I think will make the cut. Hit the jump to see how I think the nods will stack up when they’re announced on January 24th.

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