Beverly Hills, CA – Six actresses – Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig – from the hit comedy “Bridesmaids” will be presenters at the 84th Academy Awards, telecast producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer announced today. McCarthy received her first Oscar® nomination this year for her supporting role in the film, and Wiig also became a first-time nominee for the film’s original screenplay. All six will be making their first Oscar show appearances.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.
Tonight, American Idol hits Galveston, Texas, where aspiring singers are hoping to make it to Hollywood to have a chance at being the next American Idol. Before the auditions started in Galveston, Idol judge Randy Jackson stopped by and spoke about how in the eleventh season, the bar has risen and the standards that he and the other judges are looking for are higher.
In the past few seasons, the majority of those who won have been country singers, and the majority of the winners were male. Jackson says that he and the rest of the judges are looking for singers who are not just country singers, but are from all different genres of music. Jackson went on to say that he would like to see the girls get far in the competition this year.
It’s going to be a very busy year for Sam Worthington. This Friday, he stars in the action drama Man on a Ledge, and on March 30th, Worthington reprises his role as Perseus in Wrath of the Titans, the sequel to the 2010 hit Clash of the Titans.
Clash of the Titans was a big hit, but despite the film being a worldwide success, Worthington wasn’t happy with his performance. However, he feels that he will be much better in Wrath of the Titans, and that the film will be much better than the previous film.
It’s been less than two years since Jack Bauer disappeared in New York City, never to be seen again (well, at least until the “24″ movie). And Kiefer Sutherland never imagined he’d be returning to television so soon. But, as he told Fox All Access host Chris Leary on the red carpet, opportunity works on its own schedule, and “Touch” was a show he just couldn’t pass up.
So, as you get ready to watch the special preview of “Touch” tonight, take a look a Kiefer and Chris’ conversation about the show.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (January 23, 2012)The first chapter of the Star Wars Saga arrives in theatres for the first time ever in 3D starting February 10, and AMC theatres across the country are celebrating the occasion with plans to make opening weekend one for fans and families to remember!
To mark the return of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace to theatres, now in immersive 3D, kids, collectors and Star Wars fans of all ages will receive an all-new Hasbro Star Wars Fighter Pod with the purchase of each RealD 3D ticket for Episode I, all weekend long, February 10-12 only at AMC theatres (limit one per ticket, while supplies last).
Additionally, 10 AMC theatres in the United States will host exclusive event screenings in RealD 3D to bring the fun of Star Wars in 3D to life for families and fans. Starting Saturday, Feb. 11 at 11 a.m. local time, select theatres will offer activities, giveaways, and interactive experiences. Fans can expect (while supplies last):
• Exclusive Anakin Skywalker Podracer 3D glasses with ticket purchase, to truly get into the speed and spectacle of 3D Star Wars on the big screen.
• A Hasbro Star Wars FIGHTER PODS collectible toy with RealD 3D ticket purchase
• A LEGO® feature area
• Darth Maul face-painting; a chance to reveal your inner Sith Lord at long last!
• Special character appearances for photo opportunities
• Demonstrations of the upcoming Xbox Kinect™ Star Wars™
The 10 participating Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace exclusive event screening theatres are:
Atlanta: AMC Southlake 24; Boston: AMC Loews Liberty Tree Mall 20; Chicago: AMC South Barrington 30; Denver: AMC Highlands Ranch 24; Los Angeles: AMC Tustin 14 at The District; AMC Ontario Mills 30; New York: AMC Empire 25; AMC Garden State 16; Phoenix: AMC Mesa Grand 24; San Francisco: AMC Emeryville Bay Street 16
Last time Kiefer Sutherland did a TV show, things went pretty well, wouldn’t you say? Eight gripping seasons of “24,” one of the best series of the 21st century so far. After he finished, Kiefer wasn’t looking to jump back into TV… in fact, he wasn’t even planning on it – until he saw the script for “Touch.”
It’s an interesting concept… Kiefer’s playing a single father whose son has never said a word. Instead, he “talks” through numbers, and you’ll be amazed at how things play out.
Like Kiefer said, this is a special show… watch the sneak preview of “Touch,” tomorrow night after “American Idol” on Fox.
Matt Bomer currently stars in the USA network hit series, White Collar, which is now in its third season. The show has turned Bomer into a star. Bomer, who recently co-starred with Justin Timberlake in the action Sci-Fi flick, In Time, has two other films currently in the works. Bomer’s fan base is growing at a fast rate.
Bomer told us that he feels the impact of being on a television series, and enjoys fans coming up to him when he is not working and talking about the show and even taking pictures with him.
Catch Matt Bomer on a new episode of White Collar tonight 10/9 central on USA.
Academy Award winner Tom Hanks stars along with fellow Academy Award winner, Sandra Bullock, in the emotional drama, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The film was nominated today for two Academy Awards for Best Picture, and co-star Max von Sydow received a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.
Hanks said that he was drawn to the film by the filmmakers, Director Stephen Daldry (who previously directed The Hours, which won Nicole Kidman her first Academy Award) and Producer Scott Rudin (who produced several films including the Academy Award winning film, No Country for Old Men).
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is currently playing in theatres.
As a producer, Brian Grazer boasts one of the most impressive resumes in the business. Among the hit films that Grazer, with his Imagine partner Ron Howard, has has made are “Apollo 13,” “Liar Liar,” “The Da Vinci Code,” and 2002 Best Picture Oscar winner “A Beautiful Mind.” In addition, he’s produced such Emmy-winning TV shows as “Arrested Development” and “24.” As one of Hollywood’s elite producers, it’s no surprise that he’s been tapped to produce the 84th Academy Awards telecast, which will air February 26 on ABC.
We caught up with Grazer this morning when the Oscar nominations were unveiled and talked to him about the task ahead. And with so much Hollywood talent involved in the awards show, we asked Grazer which is more difficult to produce: a movie or the Oscars? (Click on the audio player to hear Brian Grazer)
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This edition of the Academy Awards has already sparked it share of controversy. “Rush Hour” and “Tower Heist” director Brett Ratner was originally slated to produce the telecast, but bowed out after making an unfortunate choice of words while promoting the latter movie. Ratner’s withdrawal led to Eddie Murphy pulling out as the show’s host. After losing two key components to the Oscar telecast, the Academy asked Grazer to come in and make sure preparations for the show ran smoothly. Grazer then recruited one of Oscar’s most beloved hosts, Billy Crystal, to return to the Academy Awards stage once again. After all of the early tumult, Grazer told us, he felt it was important to bring a sense of stability to the show. (Click on the audio player to hear Brian Grazer)
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In his eight previous stints hosting the telecast, Crystal’s trademark has a huge opening musical number, which is often cited as the highlight of the show. Will we get another one this year? Grazer says we can count on it. (Click on the audio player to hear Brian Grazer)
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Grazer’s been on the other side of the Oscar camera before, as an Academy Award winner. And he admitted that he finds it less nerve-wracking to produce the show than to sit in the audience as a nominee. In fact, he shared a funny story about how his nerves got the better of him when “Apollo 13″ was nominated for Best Picture. (Click on the audio player to hear Brian Grazer)
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Beverly Hills, CA – Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were announced today (Tuesday, January 24) by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2010 Oscar® nominee Jennifer Lawrence.
Sherak and Lawrence, who was nominated for an Academy Award® for her lead performance in “Winter’s Bone,” announced the nominees in 10 of the 24 Award categories at a 5:38 a.m. PT live news conference attended by more than 400 international media representatives. Lists of nominations in all categories were then distributed to the media in attendance and online via the official Academy Awards website, www.oscar.com.
Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominations are selected by vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.
Nominations ballots were mailed to the 5,783 voting members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the international accounting firm, for tabulation.
Official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin for members this weekend at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings also will be held at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.
All active and life members of the Academy are eligible to select the winners in all categories, although in five of them – Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject and Foreign Language Film – members can vote only if they have seen all of the nominated films in those categories.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.
“A Separation” (Sony Pictures Classics)A Dreamlab Films Production, Iran
Achievement in makeup
“Albert Nobbs” (Roadside Attractions)Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” (Warner Bros.) Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
“The Iron Lady” (The Weinstein Company) Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“The Adventures of Tintin”(Paramount) John Williams
“The Artist”(The Weinstein Company) Ludovic Bource
“Hugo”(Paramount) Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (Focus Features) Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse” (Touchstone) John Williams
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Man or Muppet”from “The Muppets” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” (20th Century Fox) Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett
Best motion picture of the year
“The Artist”(The Weinstein Company) A La Petite Reine/Studio 37/La Classe Américaine/JD Prod/France3 Cinéma/Jouror Productions/uFilm Production, Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants”(Fox Searchlight) An Ad Hominem Enterprises Production, Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”(Warner Bros.) A Warner Bros. Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help”(Touchstone) A DreamWorks Pictures Production, Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
“Hugo”(Paramount) A Paramount Pictures and GK Films Production, Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
“Midnight in Paris”(Sony Pictures Classics) A Pontchartrain Production, Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
“Moneyball”(Sony Pictures Releasing) A Columbia Pictures Production, Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
“The Tree of Life”(Fox Searchlight) A River Road Entertainment Production, Nominees to be determined
“War Horse” (Touchstone) A DreamWorks Pictures Production, Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
Best animated short film
“Dimanche/Sunday” (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production, Patrick Doyon
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”A Moonbot Studios LA Production, William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
Beverly Hills, CA – Six actresses – Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig – from the hit comedy “Bridesmaids” will be presenters at the 84th Academy Awards, telecast producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer announced today. McCarthy received her first Oscar® nomination this year for her supporting role in the film, and Wiig also became a first-time nominee for the film’s original screenplay. All six will be making their first Oscar show appearances.
