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Oscars® (Semi) Live Blog: Second Half of the Ceremony (Special Revised Edition)

11:15 -- Tom Hanks dashes out on stage and (no time to list all ten!) blurts out the Best Picture: The Hurt Locker. I'm thrilled to have been so wrong with my non-stop Avatar predictions. Bigelow's acceptance speech may be the first in Oscar history to thank hazmat emergency crews.

Meanwhile, James Cameron puts his all-Na'vi speech back into his pocket and heads out into the night to kick the stuffing out of Ben Stiller.

11:09 -- The Academy gets a dig in at Barbra Streisand--never nominated for her three films--by making her give out Best Director to Kathryn Bigelow, the first-ever female winner. While it's fantastic that Bigelow broke the glass ceiling, don't let this great achievement overshadow the really amazing thing: this woman is 58 years old?!

11:03 -- Sean Penn seems happy and relaxed to be handing out Best Actress. No, I'm kidding, he seems as nervous as a cat in a rocking-chair factory. Gives the award to Bullock. (That squeal you hear is Moviegoer running screaming up and down the hall.) As cool as Bridges' acceptance speech, Bullock takes home the prize for a speech that is perfectly self-deprecating, funny, and touching. "My lover Meryl Streep!"

10:55 -- Now the "friends and co-workers" of the Best Actress nominees. Forest Whitaker directed Bullock in Hope Floats and Michael Sheen co-starred with Mirren in The Queen (she played the queen, not him). Bald Sarsgaard gushes over Mulligan, Oprah talks about Sidibe, bald Tucci praises Meryl Streep.

10:51 -- Jeff Bridges wins for Crazy Heart and a million Twittering film geeks tweet "The Dude abides." Bridges gets a standing O, drops a "groovy" on us and ends every shout out with "maaan." It's awesome.

10:43 -- People who have starred with the Best Actor nominees are out to offer tribute to them. For five minutes Michelle Pfeiffer fondly recalls decades of working with Bridges only to realize she was thinking of Nick Nolte. Farmiga lauds Clooney, Julianne Moore talks up Colin Firth, and Tim Robbins thanks Morgan Freeman for busting him out of prison. Colin Farrell talks about appearing in SWAT with Jeremy Renner. Which means tonight has seen Fisher Stevens win an Oscar and SWAT get mentioned at the Academy Awards ceremony.

10:35 -- QT and Pedro Almodóvar present Best Foreign Film in front of a wall of lamps. (In tribute to the important role lamps have always played in foreign films.) The winner is Argentina's El Secreto de sus Ojos ("The Secret of the Oreos").

10:25 -- A complete lack of Holocaust documentaries leaves the category wide open this year, so Matt Damon gives it to The Cove. Dolphins and other sea-mammals of the world rejoice, decide to put sea-park revolution on hold for a few weeks. And in a the most amazing Oscar moment ever, Fischer "Short Circuit" Stevens accepts an Academy Award.

10:20 -- Gerald Butler and Bradley Cooper are out to present Best Visual Effects. Butler speaks of "movie magic," two words that probably shouldn't come out of the mouth of an actor whose last few films included Law Abiding Citizen, Gamer, The Ugly Truth, and PS I Love You. Avatar wins, naturally.

Oscars® (Semi) Live Blog: First Half of the Ceremony (Special Revised Edition)

Part Three of Oscar blogging continues here!

8:50 -- Pausing the DVR for a bathroom/beer/snacks break as everyone tallies up their pool picks so far. Live blogging will resume in a bit... unless there's no one out there... if there are any Whos out there in Whoville, give a yelp and I'll keep going.

8:45 -- So far Martin and Baldwin are hilarious, but evening's best re-occurring effect is any time Jeff Bridges appears on screen or stage. His beard is cool standard to which all other human's facial hair can only aspire.

8:40 -- Stiller as Na'vi will haunt my nightmares for weeks. Scarier than anything in Paranormal Activity. ("It was this or the Nazi uniform, but the show seemed a little Hitler heavy...") Wait, I take that back. Cameron's wife, actress Suzi Amis is much scarier. She looks like Cameron makes her sleep outside in a hole and live on roots and berries.

Star Trek wins Best Make Up for ears, tattoos and green chicks. Or as Charlie Sheen calls it, "Wednesday."

8:34 -- For those of you who think the Short Animated Films category is too familiar and easy, here's Short Documentary! Music by Prudence wins.

Okay, UPDATE TIME! So what was the deal with the bossy lady pushing the nice, polite director out of the way to speak? Turns out quite a big, acrimonious deal... She was the producer and there were "creative differences" during the making of Music by Prudence, ending in a legal battle. She hates him! She really hates him! Good stuff, eh? Salon.com has the He Said-She Said scoop straight from both their mouths: The story behind Oscar's "Kanye moment"

8:30 -- The first major upset of the evening! Logorama takes Best Short Animated Film right out from under a Matter of Loaf and Death, the usual Wallace and Gromit favorite.

8:25 -- When is someone going to hold a telethon for illiteracy in Hollywood? So far, teleprompters: 4, presenters: 0.

8:20 -- The on-stage reunion of some of Hughes's once-young actors is very nice. So I'll refrain from making a snarky remark about Judd Nelson stuffing his pockets at the lobby buffet.

8:15-- Zena the Warrior Princess, er I mean Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick present a tribute to John Hughes. Lots of great scenes from everyone's favorite Hughes films. Sadly short on Curly Sue and Baby's Day Out clips.

8:10 -- Downey, Jr.'s periwinkle bow-tie steals a million hearts with a wink. Fey's leopard-spot dress goes and cries in its trailer. "It's a collaboration between handsome gifted people and sickly little mole people." Meanwhile, The Hurt Locker wins Best Original Screenplay. Mark Boal gives a nice speech, but Jason Reitman is not amused that they accidentally wore the same hair and beards to the ceremony.

8:05 -- As expected, "The Weary Kind" wins for Crazy Heart, letting everyone see just how freakishly tall T-Bone Burnett is and how charmingly southern Ryan Bingham is.

8:00 -- The animated characters bit is cute, though billions of people still don't know what the hell The Secret of the Kells is. Oh, and of course Up wins Best Animated Feature.

7:59 -- Nobody murders a teleprompter like Cameron Diaz.

7:53-- Christoph Waltz wins Best Supporting Actor of course, but his acceptance speech is some sort of dicey extended metaphor about being on a ship with Quentin Tarantino and Harvey Weinstein. The orchestra conductor is too confused--or excited--to play him off the stage.

7:40 -- Wow, because they're long-time movie stars, Martin and Baldwin are getting away with a lot of great, edgy jokes that would have been frowned on had Jon Stewart made them. Luckily we still have J-Lo to sneeringly disapprove. Or just not get them. There are some dud lines, but "tensions between blacks and whites" and "what's up with all the Hitler memorabilia?" win my cynical heart early.

7:33 -- During NPH's saucy, Jackman-esque opening number the camera cuts to Cameron in the audience, but there's no light on him, so he looks like an anonymous witness on 60 Minutes. Someone's already fired. Nobody leaves Jimmy in the dark.

7:30 -- Sorry, but having the Best Actor/Actress nominees stand up in front at the start feels like a school assembly awards. And Jeremy Renner appears to Keebler Elf Sized. He's like a (even Mini-er) Mini Ben Kingsley.

Oscars® (Semi) Live Blog: Red Carpet Pre-Show (Special Revised Edition)

Part Two of Oscar blogging continues here!

7:29 -- Enjoy it, Taylor Lautner... the clock is ticking before everyone realizes you really can't do much with your shirt on. On your way out tonight, swing by the alley and ask Leif Garrett how that whole "talent-free teen heartthrob" thing works out.

7:28 -- Jeff Bridges is so "laid back" on the carpet, you expect him to be wearing a bath robe and holding a White Russian. He appears to have spent the afternoon hanging out in Willie Nelson's tour bus.

7:27 -- I give teen-idol actors and actresses a lot of crap because, well, I'm getting old and bitter... But I have to say in all fairness, Miley Cyrus really does seem like a particularly horrible celebrity. What's worse is I doubt she ever gets dragged down into the Paris-Lindsey-Britney Swamp (aka the ParLinBri Swamp), which means she'll grow up to be one of those ultra-phony celebrities who pretends to be all Down-Home Good Works and Positive Role-Model, but in fact spends most of her time off-screen throwing things at assistants. The best we can hope for is that in 50 years her children write a nasty tell-all book about her.

7:26 -- When actors-writers you truly adore and admire, like Tina Fey and Steve Carrell, are continually paraded out to shill for an upcoming film project it's like when your neighborhood friends start selling Amway. You still love them, but you try to pretend you're not home when they stop by.

7:25 -- Jim S. says Christopher Plummer looks like Cesar Romero as the original TV Batman's Joker. But I'm voting either Sandra Bullock or Cameron Diaz.

7:24 -- Once again Matthew Broderick is doing a great job of keeping his mouth shut when his wife is talking fashion. He looks so stiff and awkward, he'd probably be more comfortable chilling with the Price-Waterhouse accountants.

7:21 -- Morgan Freeman is "loose" and chewing a giant wad of gum. He either pitching out of the bullpen tonight or going for the "To Hell With It, I'm Not Gonna Win Anyway" vibe.

7:18 -- Zac Efron goes after the Annual Depp Award by having done his hair with a blender. Who was his hair stylist? The Heat Miser?

Locke's (and Your) Oscar® Picks and Predictions

All week you guys have been voting in our redblog polls for who you WANT to win some of the major Oscars and who you think WILL win the gold baldies tomorrow night.

I've always said the key to enjoying the Oscars is not to get upset when what you want to win doesn't, and the key to winning Oscar pools is to completely ignore what you want to win. Luckily, while gambling is illegal in most states, if you are (illegally) putting money on the winners, this is one of the easiest years in a while to predict most of the big categories. Having said that, now watch there be an exciting evening of stunning upsets.

And be sure to swing by during the red carpet and the ceremony Sunday evening--I'll be doing some live-blogging (not as extensively as for previous awards shows) and hosting a live chat. Come on over and join us in snarking about outfits and complaining when our favorites lose!

With that in mind, let's run down some of my choices for wants and winners tomorrow night and see how they match up against yours.

Best Original Screenplay

We're in agreement here: I'd love to see my darling Inglourious Basterds win for QT here, but I think we all know The Hurt Locker will take it. The big question is, will the Academy members give HL screenplay and director to make up for giving Avatar Best Picture? (And now there's the tricky legal issue of whether or not Hurt Locker is an "original" screenplay or if it's more directly drawn from Mark Boal's Playboy article on an actual Iraq-based Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit than was originally thought. Although that will in no way affect the voting.)

Best Adapted Screenplay

You guys want District 9 and Up in the Air to win--fine, fine choices, but I'm gonna split with you and cast my wishes for In the Loop and An Education--and if I had to pick one, it'd be An Education. I hope to write tomorrow about how much I simply head-over-heels love that film.

As for who WILL win, we're in agreement: we both say Up in the Air. I have mostly positive feelings about Jason Reitman's film--maybe I don't adore it as much as some do, but I like it plenty. Unfortunately, this is the only major award Up in the Air has a shot at, which is why I'm certain it'll get it. You guys have Precious in a close second, but I think the Academy will see that more as an actors' film than a writer's film.

Best Song

Nearly unanimous agreement all around for wants and wins: Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett's "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart is not just an achingly run-down-lovely song, but it fits the film perfectly, serving its tone, themes, and plot. Though I think we'll all be curious to hear just what "Loin de Paname" from Paris 36 sounds like and why it made the list. Maybe it's the greatest movie song we've never heard. (I'm not being snarky--when you think about "Falling Slowly" from Once two years ago, you realize there are always some gems out there that aren't heard enough.)

Best Animated Feature Film

I think we all know and agree what will win. I've talked a lot in the comments this week about why I'd like to see someone other than Pixar win one of these for a change, but that's not a knock on the wonderful Up. I just like to see new ideas and styles promoted. (Since the category was created in 2001--in large part because of the Disney-Pixar animated revolution--every Pixar film released has been nominated, and out of those six, four have won; Monsters, Inc and Cars fell to Shrek and Happy Feet.) So while I agree with you guys that Up will win, I'd really love to see an upset by Fantastic Mr. Fox, one of my favorite films of last year. I doubt very much that will happen, but in a year that seems very predetermined it's nice to dream of a few upsets. (I'd be thrilled with a Coraline upset, too, but I don't think there's any chance of that unless Up and Fox split the vote.)

Over the jump: the acting and directing awards and Best Picture!

The redblog Oscar® Polls: Best Actor

It's Oscar® Week and we want to hear what you folks are thinking.

All week we'll give you a chance to get your two-cents worth in on the top-ten major Oscar categories--and to sharpen your picks for the office pool. We'll run two different category polls each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Monday was Best Original Screenplay in the morning and Best Adapted Screenplay. Tuesday was Best Song and Animated Feature and yesterday was Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress. This morning was Best Actress and now Best Actor. Director and Best Picture will be tomorrow.

Each of the categories will have two separate polls: one for who you WANT to win, and one for who you think WILL win. And if you have a theory to back up your preferences and picks, by all means share them with us in the comments.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Online Surveys & Market Research

Talkin' Oscars®: Locke on The Hurt Locker Vs. Avatar Battle

With e-mail scandals, lawsuits, new voting procedures, op-ed backlash, and conspiracy theories, we've got a real barn-burner heating up for Sunday's Academy Awards. I went on KPAM's Bob Miller in the Morning show this morning to break it all down.

Listen in right here!

The redblog Oscar® Polls: Best Actress

It's Oscar® Week and we want to hear what you folks are thinking.

All week we'll give you a chance to get your two-cents worth in on the top-ten major Oscar categories--and to sharpen your picks for the office pool. We'll run two different category polls each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Monday was Best Original Screenplay in the morning and Best Adapted Screenplay. Tuesday was Best Song and Animated Feature and yesterday was Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress. This morning is Best Actress, with Best Actor later this afternoon. Director and Best Picture will be Friday.

Each of the categories will have two separate polls: one for who you WANT to win, and one for who you think WILL win. And if you have a theory to back up your preferences and picks, by all means share them with us in the comments.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Online Surveys & Market Research

The redblog Oscar® Polls: Best Supporting Actress

It's Oscar® Week and we want to hear what you folks are thinking.

All week we'll give you a chance to get your two-cents worth in on the top-ten major Oscar categories--and to sharpen your picks for the office pool. We'll run two different category polls each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Monday was Best Original Screenplay in the morning and Best Adapted Screenplay. Yesterday was Best Song and Animated Feature. Today was Best Supporting Actor and now Supporting Actress. Then Lead Acting tomorrow and Director and Best Picture on Friday.

Each of the categories will have two separate polls: one for who you WANT to win, and one for who you think WILL win. And if you have a theory to back up your preferences and picks, by all means share them with us in the comments.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Online Surveys & Market Research

The redblog Oscar® Polls: Best Supporting Actor

It's Oscar® Week and we want to hear what you folks are thinking.

All week we'll give you a chance to get your two-cents worth in on the top-ten major Oscar categories--and to sharpen your picks for the office pool. We'll run two different category polls each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Monday was Best Original Screenplay in the morning and Best Adapted Screenplay. Yesterday was Best Song and Animated Feature. Today is Best Supporting Actor now and Supporting Actress later this afternoon. Then Lead Acting tomorrow and Director and Best Picture on Friday.

Each of the categories will have two separate polls: one for who you WANT to win, and one for who you think WILL win. And if you have a theory to back up your preferences and picks, by all means share them with us in the comments.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Online Surveys & Market Research

The redblog Oscar® Polls: Best Animated Feature Film

It's Oscar® Week and we want to hear what you folks are thinking.

All week we'll give you a chance to get your two-cents worth in on the top-ten major Oscar categories--and to sharpen your picks for the office pool. We'll run two different category polls each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Monday was Best Original Screenplay in the morning and Best Adapted Screenplay. Today was Best Song this morning and Animated Feature this afternoon. Supporting Acting on Wednesday, Lead Acting on Thursday, and Director and Best Picture on Friday.

Each of the categories will have two separate polls: one for who you WANT to win, and one for who you think WILL win. And if you have a theory to back up your preferences and picks, by all means share them with us in the comments.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Online Surveys & Market Research