By The Editors 1/24/12 7:27pm

Opening Shot

Old friends at their umpteenth reunion these past few months.

SOPA, Santorum and Seal

If you’re feeling withdrawal symptoms from reduced doses of Occupy Wall Street rabble-rousing (we hear they’re just hibernating), the success of last week’s SOPA blackout ought to cheer you up. Read More

By Aaron Gell 1/10/12 11:11am

Awards Season

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Bérénice Bejo and Diane von Furstenberg

Doggone It! Harvey Weinstein and DVF Celebrate The Artist

Gossip columnist Liz Smith made her way through the dining room of the Monkey Bar on Monday afternoon, where Harvey Weinstein, Diane von Furstenberg and George Stevens, Jr. were hosting a promotional lunch on behalf of The Artist—the black-and-white silent movie that Mr. Weinstein is gently, persuasively shepherding toward an Academy Award for Best Picture—and surveyed the scene, perched side-saddle in a red leather booth. Ms. Smith, who is supposedly in her eighties, looked a few decades younger in a black leather jacket with white stitching from Carlisle. Read More

By Drew Grant 1/09/12 1:45pm

Academy Awards

New York, LA Times Now Decides What Documentaries Nominated For Academy Awards

Adding to the already long list of confusing and nonsensical plans for handing out the little statues from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, it was announced today that documentaries would be considered for Oscar nomination only if they had been reviewed in The New York Times or The LA Times beforehand.

This may not be as terribly insane as it seems. (Though it does seem pretty random, not to mention biased: giving an outside organization the power to wield a nomination verdict conclusively is actually unheard of.) Despite the rise of DIY film making and festival showcases, it’s true that both Times do an admirable job reviewing most documentaries of note–one could make an argument that The New York Times actually skews towards the more esoteric form of film-making because traditionally documentaries have been considered “high-brow” films.

So this shouldn’t be a problem, right? Read More

By Rex Reed 3/02/11 12:19am

Not Happy

What the Hell Happened to the Oscars?

Red was the dominant color at the 83rd Academy Awards, and by the end of three hours and 45 minutes, I was seeing plenty of it. If this was the year when some brain-dead jerk who never heard of the term “moving pictures” decided to move into the age of cyberspace, all I can say Read More

By Nate Freeman 9/07/10 5:33pm

Academy Snubs

Godard Companion: Director Will Not Travel to Oscars for a ‘Bit of Metal’

Despite evidence pointing to his complete non-existence Jean-Luc Godard is in fact still alive, his extremely brief interview with The Australian proves. What’s more, the legend of cinema is actually aware that he will be awarded an honorary Oscar.

On Aug. 26, the Academy assigned flacks to the impossible task of convincing the notoriously private filmmaker to Read More

By Sara Vilkomerson 3/08/10 6:34am

Snoozy Oscar-fest Ends Big With Bigelow!

Well, so that happened! Was it just us or were these just the most tediously boring Oscars in ages? And who should we blame? Maybe we should start with the very strange stage design, which we’re guessing was intended to be a nod to old Hollywood glamour, but felt more like an early-’70s Read More