Gold Derby nuggets: Bigelow more influential than Cameron | 'Chicago' creators allege accounting razzle dazzle | 'The Hobbit' arrives in 2012

• Kathryn Bigelow has bested her ex James Cameron once again. The Oscar-winning director of "The Hurt Locker" secured the third spot on Time's top 25 most influential artists of the year -- only Lady Gaga and Conan O'Brien ranked higher -- while the onetime "king of the world" had to settle for the last slot despite creating the biggest moneymaker in movie history with "Avatar." Also earning places of distinction were director Neill Blokamp -- who contended at this year's Oscars for his script for best picture nominee "District 9" -- at No. 16 and best actress champ Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side") at No. 22. Neil Patrick Harris -- who hosted both the...

Academy Awards Avatar Barbra Streisand Betty White CMT Awards Glee James Cameron Oscars Peter Jackson Sandra Bullock The Blind Side The Hobbit The Hurt Locker The Lord of the Rings
04/29/2010 14:01
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Gold Derby nuggets: Banned 'Hurt Locker' producer's Oscars speech | Stone & Hammond on 'Avatar' loss | Alec Baldwin on Oscars gig

• Eugene Hernandez does a crackerjack job reporting on how banned "Hurt Locker" producer Nicolas Chartier spent Oscar Sunday. He was feted by 300 people gathered at the Malibu home of reality TV/film producer Mike Fleiss, who co-hosted with WME Global chief Graham Taylor and his producer wife Lynnette Howell ("Half Nelson"). As Eugene writes, "The crowd was clearly biased in favor of 'The Hurt Locker' and when the movie won the final award of the night, an uproar was unleashed. Chartier silenced the crowd to listen to the televised speeches and then stepped onto a footstool for his own acceptance. Someone handed him a small plastic statue that looked a bit like an Oscar."...

Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Avatar Crazy Heart Inglourious Basterds James Cameron Kathryn Bigelow Mo'Nique Oscar nominations Oscars Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Sandra Bullock The Blind Side The Hurt Locker Up in the Air
03/09/2010 14:29
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Oscar winners were predicted by guild awards

"The Hurt Locker" won a leading six Oscars, including best picture and best director for Kathryn Bigelow. The Iraq war drama also picked up prizes for original screenplay, editing, sound mixing and sound editing. As is often the case at the Oscars, many of these wins followed up on equivalent kudos from the respective guilds, largely because the two sets of awards share many of the same voters. But the scale is hugely different. There are, for example, 1,240 members of the academy's acting branch but more than 100,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild. The academy includes 374 directors while the vast majority of the 13,000 helmers who belong to the DGA create TV...

Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Avatar Crazy Heart Inglourious Basterds Jeff Bridges Kathryn Bigelow Mo'Nique Oscar nominations Oscars Sandra Bullock The Blind Side The Hurt Locker
03/08/2010 11:57
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'The Hurt Locker' wins six Oscars, including history maker for director Kathryn Bigelow

The 82nd Academy Awards followed the script set down by pundits, as the front-runners for all of the major Oscars won Sunday night. "The Hurt Locker" led with six Oscars, including best picture and best director for Kathryn Bigelow, who became the first woman to win this award. The Iraq war drama also picked up prizes for original screenplay (Mark Boal), editing, sound mixing and sound editing. "Avatar" went into the night tied with "The Hurt Locker" with a leading nine nominations but had to settle for three Oscars for art direction, cinematography and visual effects (and a $2.4-billion and counting box-office take). See a complete list of all Oscar winners here. Lead actor went...

Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Avatar best actor best actress best director best picture best score best screenplay Carey Mulligan Crazy Heart Directors Guild of America entertainment news Helen Mirren Inglourious Basterds James Cameron Jeff Bridges Kathryn Bigelow Meryl Streep movie news Oscar nominations Oscars Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Producers Guild of America Sandra Bullock The Blind Side The Hurt Locker Up Up in the Air
03/07/2010 21:38
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Poll: What film will win best picture at the Oscars?

For the first time since 1943, there are 10 nominees for best picture at the Academy Awards. Although "The Hurt Locker" has been the front-runner for the last several weeks, in the closing days of voting, the war drama faced attack on three fronts: 1) issues of accuracy, 2.) for perhaps being too accurate (an army sergeant claims the movie rips off his own story) and 3.) because its producer was banned from the ceremony for breaking campaign rules. Traditionally, most voters completed their Oscar ballots as soon as they arrived. However, this year -- with the introduction of the preferential method for determining the best picture winner -- more than 1,500 out of 5,800...

Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Avatar best picture entertainment news Inglourious Basterds Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire The Blind Side The Hurt Locker Up Up in the Air
03/07/2010 10:22
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Gold Derby nuggets: Big bash for banned Oscars nominee | Mixed reviews for Indie Spirits

• Mike Fleming of Deadline reports: "Sunday's Oscar viewing party for 'The Hurt Locker' producer Nicolas Chartier has officially become a hot ticket. I'm told the bash had to be relocated to the Malibu home of reality TV/film producer Mike Fleiss when the guest list tripled. Three hundred people are now expected to attend or stop by. Fleiss is co-hosting the bash with WME Global chief Graham Taylor and his wife Lynnette Howell, the producer of 'Blue Valentine' and 'Half Nelson.' " • Peter Bowes of the BBC talks to first-time Oscars director Hamish Hamilton. " 'There are so many emotions going through my head,' says Mr. Hamilton, who admits to being nervous about the...

Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Avatar Crazy Heart entertainment news Gabourey Sidibe Independent Spirit Award Indie Spirits Oscar nominations Oscars The Blind Side The Hurt Locker
03/06/2010 17:12
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Tom and Pete dish Oscars: Does Sandra Bullock deserve to win?

My Envelope colleague Pete Hammond (Notes on a Season) and I recently hooked up at the Hollywood Museum to dish some of the hot Academy Award topics of today against the backdrop of Oscars of yore. Among the items in the museum's collection, for example, are the shoes and pocketbook of Bette Davis, who won two Oscars for the wrong movies ("Jezebel" and "Dangerous") instead of her classics "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" and "All About Eve." Davis' old Oscar nemesis Katharine Hepburn once warned that you usually win for a role "that doesn't rate it." Hepburn ought to know. Oscar's biggest winner claimed four, only one for a truly socko performance ("Lion in Winter")....

Academy Awards Oscars Sandra Bullock The Blind Side
03/05/2010 20:57
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Gold Derby nuggets: Oscars previews and reviews | Whither Oscars ratings? | Emmys live nationwide

• Melena Ryzik reviews the road to the Oscars noting that, "first, the move to 10 nominees produced its own wave of critics, armchair and industry insider alike, who grumbled that the expansion would dilute the value of being noticed; or that there should have been a companion doubling of best director nominees; or that the Academy couldn’t come up with 10 good movies, period. This griping largely stopped when the best picture nominees were revealed, and the Academy did exactly what it was supposed to do, pull in unexpected and popular titles like 'The Blind Side,' 'District 9' and 'Up.'" THE CARPETBAGGER • In his thorough preview, Scott Bowles says, "Leave it to Oscar...

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03/05/2010 15:07
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Gold Derby nuggets: Oscars countdown | James Cameron OK with 'Avatar' Oscars spoof | Oscar gold equals box office green

• Sandy Cohen reports, "Oscar producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic are bridging stage and screen with an advanced, automated set at the Kodak Theatre and a super high-tech program planned for TV viewers. After days of technical tests on their stage setup, Shankman and Mechanic moved into the Kodak Theatre Wednesday, where they're seeing their whole show come to life in person and on screen. 'Today's the first day we're up fully running,' Mechanic says. 'We had three days of tech and now it's camera...' 'Camera, scripting, scenic transition, we're camera-blocking some stuff,' Shankman says, finishing his partner's sentence. 'This is probably as technically advanced a show as you've ever seen or as you...

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03/04/2010 14:10
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Gold Derby nuggets: Pete Hammond: Best actress 'down to the wire' | Oscars leading men

• Pete Hammond -- who pegged Sandra Bullock as a contender weeks before anyone else -- surveys the lead actress field and finds it "all over the map." Pete concludes, "EW's annual survey of four academy voters (not the biggest sample exactly) had Streep winning with 3 to Bullock's 1. I think it is likely much much closer and Gabby and Carey are significant factors. Warner Bros. strategists working on Bullock's behalf privately tell me they prefer that. A tighter four-way contest is better for Bullock's ultimate chances of prevailing than going one-on-one with the imposing Streep. This one's going down to the wire." NOTES ON A SEASON • "Down to the wire" could well...

Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Jeff Bridges Meryl Streep Oscar nominations Oscars Sandra Bullock The Blind Side
03/02/2010 16:29
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Gold Derby nuggets: 'The Hurt Locker' accuracy questioned | Sandra Bullock vs. Meryl Streep

• After acknowledging he is not a film critic, Paul Rieckhoff, executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), writes in a guest column for Newsweek: "As a voice of the new veterans' movement, and of thousands of IAVA members across the country, I have a responsibility to serve as pop-culture watchdog, and to help the American public understand what accurately depicts the military's experience in Iraq and what doesn't. Especially because with less than 1 percent of American citizens now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, films are one of the few ways to connect the other 99 percent of Americans to the reality of modern combat." He then says, "'The...

Academy Awards Avatar best actor best actress best director best picture Crazy Heart entertainment news George Clooney Inglourious Basterds James Cameron Jeff Bridges Kathryn Bigelow Meryl Streep Quentin Tarantino Sandra Bullock The Blind Side The Hurt Locker
02/24/2010 17:45
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Gold Derby nuggets: Dave Karger predix Oscars | So does Sasha Stone | Oscars marketing gambits

• Before revealing that he is sticking with "The Hurt Locker" for the best picture Oscar, Dave Karger recaps the derby parallels between that film and "Brokeback Mountain" four years ago: "'Brokeback' managed the rare feat of winning Best Picture and Best Director at both the New York and Los Angeles film critics awards; so did 'Hurt Locker.' 'Brokeback' also picked up those two big prizes at the Broadcast Film Critics Awards; so did 'Hurt Locker.' 'Brokeback' won the trifecta of PGA, DGA, and WGA trophies; so did 'Hurt Locker. 'Brokeback' won 4 BAFTAs, including Best Film, Director, and Screenplay; 'Hurt Locker' picked up 6 awards, including Best Film, Director, and Screenplay. And of course,...

Academy Awards Avatar BAFTA BAFTAS Carey Mulligan Emmy Awards Emmy nominations Emmy nominees Emmy winners Emmys entertainment news Gabourey Sidibe George Clooney Golden Globe nominations Golden Globes Inglourious Basterds James Cameron Jeff Bridges Kathryn Bigelow Meryl Streep Mo'Nique Oscar nominations Oscars Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Quentin Tarantino Sandra Bullock The Blind Side The Hurt Locker
02/23/2010 16:12
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