TOM HANKS ‘EXTREMELY’ HAPPY TO WORK WITH ‘CLOSE’ CREW

TAKING OVER OSCAR: WE TALK TO PRODUCER BRIAN GRAZER

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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‘HUGO’ LEADS 84TH ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS

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.

Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Demián Bichirin “A Better Life” (Summit Entertainment)
• George Clooneyin “The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight)
• Jean Dujardinin “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company)
• Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (Focus Features)
• Brad Pitt in “Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Kenneth Branaghin “My Week with Marilyn” (The Weinstein Company)
• Jonah Hillin “Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
• Nick Noltein “Warrior” (Lionsgate)
• Christopher Plummerin “Beginners” (Focus Features)
• Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Glenn Closein “Albert Nobbs” (Roadside Attractions)
• Viola Davis in “The Help” (Touchstone)
• Rooney Marain “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
• Meryl Streepin “The Iron Lady” (The Weinstein Company)
• Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company)
• Jessica Chastain in “The Help” (Touchstone)
• Melissa McCarthyin “Bridesmaids” (Universal)
• Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs” (Roadside Attractions)
• Octavia Spencer in “The Help” (Touchstone)

Best animated feature film of the year

• “A Cat in Paris”(GKIDS) Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
• “Chico & Rita”(GKIDS) Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
• “Kung Fu Panda 2”(DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) Jennifer Yuh Nelson
• “Puss in Boots”(DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) Chris Miller
• “Rango” (Paramount) Gore Verbinski

Achievement in art direction

• “The Artist”(The Weinstein Company) Production Design: Laurence Bennett, Set Decoration: Robert Gould
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”(Warner Bros.) Production Design: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• “Hugo” (Paramount) Production Design: Dante Ferretti, Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
• “Midnight in Paris” (Sony Pictures Classics) Production Design: Anne Seibel, Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
• “War Horse” (Touchstone) Production Design: Rick Carter, Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Achievement in cinematography

• “The Artist”(The Weinstein Company) Guillaume Schiffman
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jeff Cronenweth
• “Hugo”(Paramount) Robert Richardson
• “The Tree of Life” (Fox Searchlight) Emmanuel Lubezki
• “War Horse” (Touchstone) Janusz Kaminski

Achievement in costume design

• “Anonymous” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Lisy Christl
• “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Mark Bridges
• “Hugo” (Paramount) Sandy Powell
• “Jane Eyre” (Focus Features) Michael O’Connor
• “W.E.” (The Weinstein Company) Arianne Phillips

Achievement in directing

• “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Michel Hazanavicius
• “The Descendants”(Fox Searchlight) Alexander Payne
• “Hugo”(Paramount) Martin Scorsese
• “Midnight in Paris”(Sony Pictures Classics) Woody Allen
• “The Tree of Life” (Fox Searchlight) Terrence Malick

Best documentary feature

• “Hell and Back Again” (Docurama Films) A Roast Beef Limited Production, Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
• “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) A Marshall Curry Production, Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
• “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”An @radical.media Production, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
• “Pina” (Sundance Selects) A Neue Road Movies Production, Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
• “Undefeated” (The Weinstein Company) A Spitfire Pictures Production, TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Best documentary short subject

• “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” A Purposeful Production, Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
• “God Is the Bigger Elvis”A Documentress Films Production, Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
• “Incident in New Baghdad”A Morninglight Films Production, James Spione
• “Saving Face”A Milkhaus/Jungefilm Production, Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
• “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” A Supply & Demand Integrated Production, Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Achievement in film editing

• “The Artist”(The Weinstein Company) Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
• “The Descendants”(Fox Searchlight) Kevin Tent
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”(Sony Pictures Releasing) Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
• “Hugo”(Paramount) Thelma Schoonmaker
• “Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Christopher Tellefsen

Best foreign language film of the year

• “Bullhead” A Savage Film Production, Belgium
• “Footnote” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Footnote Limited Partnership Production, Israel
• “In Darkness”(Sony Pictures Classics) A Studio Filmowe Zebra Production, Poland
• “Monsieur Lazhar” (Music Box Films) A micro_scope Production, Canada
• “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
• “La Luna” (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Enrico Casarosa
• “A Morning Stroll” (Studio AKA) A Studio AKA Production, Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
• “Wild Life” (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Best live action short film

• “Pentecost” (Network Ireland Television) An EMU Production, Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
• “Raju”A Hamburg Media School/Filmwerkstatt Production, Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
• “The Shore” An All Ashore Production, Terry George and Oorlagh George
• “Time Freak” A Team Toad Production, Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
• “Tuba Atlantic” (Norsk Filminstitutt) A Norwegian Film School/Den Norske Filmskolen Production, Hallvar Witzø

Achievement in sound editing

• “Drive”(FilmDistrict) Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”(Sony Pictures Releasing) Ren Klyce
• “Hugo”(Paramount) Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”(Paramount) Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
• “War Horse” (Touchstone) Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Achievement in sound mixing

• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”(Sony Pictures Releasing) David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
• “Hugo”(Paramount) Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
• “Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”(Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
• “War Horse” (Touchstone) Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Achievement in visual effects

• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”(Warner Bros.) Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
• “Hugo” (Paramount) Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
• “Real Steel” (Touchstone) Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
• “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (Paramount) Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Adapted screenplay

• “The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
• “Hugo”(Paramount) Screenplay by John Logan
• “The Ides of March”(Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
• “Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
• “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (Focus Features) Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Original screenplay

• “The Artist”(The Weinstein Company) Written by Michel Hazanavicius
• “Bridesmaids”(Universal) Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
• “Margin Call”(Roadside Attractions) Written by J.C. Chandor
• “Midnight in Paris” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Woody Allen
• “A Separation” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Asghar Farhadi

TINA MAJORINO’S <3 BELONGS TO NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

Everybody remembers and adores side pony-tail girl Deb from the 2004 hit movie, Napoleon Dynamite.  Well, little Miss Deb is animated now and she made her debut last weekend when Fox premiered Napoleon Dynamite, the animated series.  Fox All Access producer Monica Guerra caught up with Tina Majorino on the red carpet to ask about her new gig and she had nothing but good things to say about it. 

Tina admits the best part of playing Deb are the devoted fans, the hard-core fans who go out of their way to show their love of the show.  They usually recognize her and when they do, the most awkward thing tends to happen.  And since Tina’s a good sport about it, she just laughs and goes with it.  Make sure to catch an all-new Napoleon Dynamite episode on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 8:30pm ET/PT on Fox.

“RED TAILS” A VERY TRYING EXPERIENCE FOR NE-YO

Ask Grammy winning music artist Ne-Yo about his experience working on the new World War II action epic “RED TAILS” and he’ll tell you, “It was very, very, trying.” The movie, executive produced by George Lucas, shares the heroic story of the first all African-American aerial combat unit, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, who fought in World Ward II.

Ne-Yo, who plays “Andrew ‘Smoky’ Salem” in the movie, described the challenges of filming in Budapest and trying to live in a 1942 state of mind, “The whole set was 1942, meaning we weren’t allowed to listen to current music, we weren’t allowed to watch TV, we were in 1942!”  and while Ne-Yo is part of an elite group of songwriters and music artists, he told us the acting thing was a different story, “I’m still fairly new to the acting world, so standing next to a Cuba Gooding Jr., a Terrance Howard, or even a Nate Parker, guys that do this for a living, just trying to soak it all up… I just learned how to act through osmosis, just being near those guys.”   It also didn’t hurt to have some of the actual remaining Tuskeegee airmen on set with the cast, “These are some of the most lively 80 year old men you’ll ever meet in life. Age is really just a number in regards to these guys… We would just sit back and let these guys tell stories; stories about what it was to live back then, what it was to go through what they did. They went through something that was really, truly incredible, and I hope that this movie gives people at least a little bit of insight on who they were and the astonishing things they did.”

Check out below to hear Ne-Yo’s full interview, and catch the trailer for “RED TAILS” which opens this Friday, January 20th in a theatre near you.

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STUNTED GROWTH: WAHLBERG LETS THE STUNTMEN TAKE OVER

Mark Wahlberg currently stars in the number one movie at the box office in the action flick, Contraband. Wahlberg is no stranger to starring in action films, having starred in Shooter, Max Payne and The Italian Job, among others.  Wahlberg has done his own stunts in prior films, but seems not to like doing his own stunts as much anymore.  He says that he will do his own stunts when it’s required.

TOM HANKS STILL ENJOYS WATCHING MOVIES

It’s one thing to watch a movie as a viewer. It’s different when you’re watching it as an actor. And it’s an entirely different thing when you’re watching as a producer and director. That’s been the progression for Tom Hanks over the years, so is it at all possible for him to put himself back in that mindset of being just a viewer? (Click on the audio player to hear Tom Hanks) 

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ACADEMY STARTS ONLINE COUNTDOWN TO OSCARS

Oscar.com, the official online home of the 84th Academy Awards®, is launching its award-winning Oscar Digital Experience today with a first look at Billy Crystal’s return to Oscar’s stage.  One of America’s most beloved funny men, Billy starts the official countdown to the show talking about what the Oscars mean to him and setting the stage for weeks of extensive coverage on Oscar.com.

The site kicks off with an interactive timeline and Oscar’s official Blog, which will feature daily content including red carpet fashion trends from stylists and tips from master chefs and lifestyle experts on hosting the best Oscar viewing party. Oscar Buzz, the site’s social media page, will track real-time comments from fans using #Oscars and #OscarBuzz.

On Oscar Sunday, February 26, Oscar.com will have live cameras strategically placed everywhere from the red carpet to backstage, and even the Governors Ball, providing the ultimate insiders view before, during and after the show. The cameras will broadcast online, as well as on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

“Last year our team set the bar high in terms of interactive second screen experiences,” said Karin Gilford, senior vice president Digital Media, ABC.com.  ”This year we are taking the best of what we learned and are building on it.  Beginning today we’ll take visitors on an unparalleled journey all the way through Oscar Sunday.”

“Oscar.com is for the movie fan in all of us,” said Christina Kounelias, chief marketing officer, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.  “The site not only allows us to share the latest Oscar news, but also connects fans everywhere with 84 years of unforgettable Academy moments.”

Straight from the Academy’s photo and video archives, Oscar.com presents “Oscar History,” an interactive timeline that includes:

• Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American to win the Oscar for Best Actor for LILIES OF THE FIELD
• Elizabeth Taylor with her Oscar for Best Actress in WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
• Muhammad Ali surprises Sylvester Stallone with an onstage sparring session the night ROCKY wins Best Picture
• Tom Hanks takes home the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in PHILADELPHIA.
• Matt Damon and Ben Affleck charm audiences the night they win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for GOOD WILL HUNTING.
• Hobbits, Hobbits Everywhere. Peter Jackson is accompanied on stage by cast and crew members of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING when he accepts the Academy Award for Best Picture.

On Nominations morning, January 24, Oscar.com welcomes back Internet personality Shira Lazar who will kick off the first video installment of “Oscar Buzz” by covering reactions from the social media world.   “My Oscar Picks” will also go live.  This interactive play-along game offers fans a chance to test their Oscar prediction skills.  On Oscar Sunday, users will have the opportunity to play along during the telecast and predict category winners ahead of the opening of the envelopes.

On January 29, “Oscar Buzz” kicks off “Oscar Talks,” a four-part video series focusing on the Actor, Actress, Directing and Best Pictures categories.

Entertainment Weekly’s Dave Karger returns on February 1 to Oscar.com with “Nominated…with Dave Karger.”   The 10-episode series will provide the ultimate film buff’s analysis of the Best Picture race.

It’s all glamour and glitz beginning February 11.  “Best Dressed” launches with Rachel Smith, host of On The Red Carpet, doing interviews with stylists, makeup artists and hair stylists, as well as covering live events, and of course, offering post show analysis of Oscar Night® fashion.

The 84th Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.

MADONNA HOPES ELTON JOHN NOT MAD AT HER AFTER BEATING HIM OUT FOR GOLDEN GLOBE

Iconic singer Madonna won a Golden Globe tonight for Best Original Song for “Masterpiece,” which was featured in the film W.E., which she also directed. Madonna was up against another music legend, Elton John, in this category. After winning the award, she came back backstage and when asked how she felt beating John for the award, Madonna said she hopes he isn’t mad at her. (Click on the audio player to hear Madonna)

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GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER KATE WINSLET NEXT ROLE TO PLAY A MAN?

Kate Winslet won the second Golden Globe of her career tonight for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television, for her performance in Mildred Pierce.

Winslet, who has played many different roles in her career, wants to take on the role of a man, which she has never played before. (Click on the audio player to hear Kate Winslet)

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