Earlier today we learned that director Kathryn Bigelow made Oscar history last night at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards where she took home the trophies for Best Director (the first woman to do so) and Best Picture (the biggest award of the awards). But, there were other folks at the Oscars last night … some of them won Oscars of the their own, many of them didn’t … but that’s the name of the game. Here are a few photos from the red carpet arrivals:

As you can see, Gabourey Sidibe wore a lovely blue dress … in fact, all of the women from Precious who appeared at the Academy Awards last night wore blue dresses because it was the color that actress Hattie McDaniel (the first African-American woman to win an Oscar) wore when she collected her Best Supporting Actress award for Gone with the Wind in 1939. Meryl Streep wore a lovely white dress … which was designed by Project Runway contestant Chris March (who is usually known for his outlandish costume designs — usually worn by drag queens — rather than his stylish fashion designs). The red carpet, as usual, had its hits and misses but the folks presented here looked mighty fine, I thought.

After the jump, check out a few photos of some of the happy Oscar winners in the Academy Awards press room last night (posing with their trophies), read a run-down of all the highlights from last night’s show and find out what I thought of the 82nd Academy Awards telecast …

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Today is the day … Hollywood’s biggest party takes place at The Kodak Theater in Hollywood, CA for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards and the finishing touches are taking place at Hollywood and Highland to prepare the way for the big to-do. The forecast this week has been for rain today but as I type these words, the beauteous sun is shining thru my window … teasing that Hollywood may avoid the rain today? Even still, the folks who put together the Oscars are taking no chances and have erected a huge tent to cover the entire red carpet … just in case:

Many of the Academy Award nominees are gettin’ ready for the big night RIGHT NOW as they start putting together their red carpet looks, make last minute changes to their hopeful acceptance speeches and (very likely) are wringing their hands with nervous anticipation. I know who I’m picking for Oscar wins this year … and very soon, we’ll know which actors and actresses gave the best performances of the year, which director gave us HER or his best work and which film will be named the BEST PICTURE of the year. Living in LA, it’s hard not to get sucked into the excitement. David and I will be meeting up with members of The Turtle Party: Book Club this evening to watch the Academy Awards together before we hold our monthly book club meeting … it shall be a blast.

It shant be long now! The 82nd Academy Awards will be handed out in mere hours … are you ready?

The 82nd Academy Awards are just 2 days away and today celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck unveiled to the media his plans for the fancy eats he’ll be presenting to attendees of the Governor’s Ball on Oscars night … cuz forget about those little trophies, you know the vast majority of folks will be all about the food come Sunday night. Here are some photos of Puck and his peeps showin’ off some of the food creations that will be made available on Oscars night:

Wolfgang Puck will arguably be busiest man in Hollywood once the best motion picture Oscar is handed out Sunday night in Hollywood. The 60-year-old celebrity chef must ensure the expected 1,600 guests who attend the post-Oscar Governors Ball, given by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will be fed within 90 minutes. “Most of them haven’t eaten all day long because they had to go the hairdressers and (do) make-up,” Puck said. The Governors Ball is one of the premier Academy Award bashes where award winners and celebrities of various stripes kick off a night of revelry after the world’s top film honors. All the nominees are expected to be there, from George Clooney and Sandra Bullock to Quentin Tarantino and Meryl Streep. “There’s not a bigger party than the Oscars here,” Puck told Reuters in a phone interview. And beyond the Governors Ball, Puck will juggle two more affairs the same night — an AIDS fund-raiser for singer Elton John and a bash at his own flagship restaurant, Spago. Still, Puck’s first priority will be the Governors Ball, an event he has catered for the past 16 years. To ensure everything runs smoothly, nearly 1,000 people including 300 chefs begin working around the clock starting Saturday, the Austrian-born chef said. This year, guests will dine on crispy potato pancakes with smoked salmon and caviar, followed by black truffle chicken pot pies. They will end their meals with baked alaskas served along espresso ice-cream, chocolate sorbet and hazelnut meringue. To end the three parties a high note, guests can take home their own Oscar statuettes made of chocolate and dusted in 24-carat gold. Puck and his staff are preparing 3,500 of them. “Everybody is a winner if they come eat with us,” he said. But when asked to name his Oscar pick for best movie, Puck admitted he saw none of the 10 nominated films.

LOL!! Forget about the fact that many of the Academy Award attendees wouldn’t have eaten all day … I’m guessing many of the lovely ladies who want to look their best for the red carpet haven’t been eating for weeks now! I’m certain that the food that Wolfgang Puck provides will be the highlight for a great many of the Oscars attendees. I really love the salmon sushi in the shape of Oscar trophies … that’s an idea that anyone could adapt for their Oscars parties. WHICH REMINDS ME … if YOU host an Oscars party, make sure you snap a bunch of fun photos to send in and share with all of us! I wanna see YOUR Oscars eats this weekend!! Send your fun photos to pinkisthenewblog @gmail.com

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

The big morning that Hollywood dreams about all year long has finally come … the nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards were announced earlier today and there were quit a few surprises. For the first time since the 1940’s, 10 films have been chosen to compete for Best Picture and among this year’s batch are a couple of very surprising films — District 9 and Up (which is only the second animated film to be nominated for Best Picture after Beauty and the Beast in 1992). The other big story from today’s Oscar noms … both Avatar and The Hurt Locker walked away with 9 nominations each, including noms for Best Picture and Best Director … which will pit James Cameron and ex-wife Kathryn Bieglow head-to-head. It’s really shaping up to be a very interesting Academy Awards this year, don’tcha think? Read on to find out who else garnered Oscar noms this morning:

“Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” have been duking it out all awards season. Now, the two films face their final showdown: They enter the 82nd annual Academy Awards prizefight with nine nominations apiece. The films – which, coincidentally, are by former husband-and-wife James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow – couldn’t be more different. “Avatar” is an eye-popping 3-D science-fiction studio extravaganza: It is the most expensive film ever made and has gone on to be the most successful film ever, earning more than $2 billion so far, worldwide. By contrast, “The Hurt Locker” is a gritty, low-budget, independent film about a bomb-disposal unit in the Iraq War. Though it has earned plenty of accolades this awards season, it has yet to crack the $13-million mark at the box office. The films are two of the best picture nominees announced Tuesday morning by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, among an eclectic mix that included another sci-fi hit, “District 9,” another war film, “Inglourious Basterds” and the animated hit “Up,” which is only the second animated film ever to receive a nod in this category. Though it was no surprise that “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” and “Up in the Air” earned best picture nods, there were some unexpected choices, including “The Blind Side,” “An Education” and “A Serious Man.” … The academy’s announcement marked the first time in 66 years that there were 10 nominees in this marquee category, instead of the traditional five. The nominees for best director were as expected. They included: Cameron for “Avatar,” Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker,” Lee Daniels for “Precious,” Quentin Tarantino for “Inglourious Basterds” and Jason Reitman for “Up in the Air.” But two of the nominees were nonetheless noteworthy: Bigelow, who won the Directors Guild of America Award over the weekend, is only the fourth woman to earn a best director nod. Daniels is just the second African American filmmaker to earn that honor. In the acting categories, the academy followed in the footsteps of the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The only real surprise was Maggie Gyllenhaal for best supporting actress for “Crazy Heart.” She had largely been overlooked this awards season. The nominees for best actress were Sandra Bullock for “The Blind Side,” Helen Mirren for “The Last Station,” Carey Mulligan for “An Education,” Gabourey Sidibe for “Precious” and Meryl Streep for “Julie & Julia.” With this nod, Streep has earned an unprecedented 16 Oscar nominations over the last 31 years. She has received two Oscars: best supporting actress for 1979’s “Kramer vs. Kramer” and best actress for 1982’s “Sophie’s Choice.” The best actor nominations went to Jeff Bridges for “Crazy Heart,” George Clooney for “Up in the Air,” Colin Firth for “A Single Man,” Morgan Freeman for “Invictus,” and Jeremy Renner for “The Hurt Locker.” Joining Gyllenhaal in the best supporting actress category are Penelope Cruz for “Nine,” Vera Famiga and Anna Kendrick for “Up in the Air” and Mo’Nique for “Precious.” Cruz won in this category last year for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” Nominated for best supporting actor are Matt Damon for “Invictus,” Woody Harrelson for “The Messenger,” Christopher Plummer for “The Last Station,” Stanley Tucci for “The Lovely Bones” and Christoph Waltz for “Inglourious Basterds.” The nominations were revealed at 5:38 a.m. Tuesday at the academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, with last year’s lead actress nominee Anne Hathaway helping Oscar president Tom Sherak with the announcements. The Oscars will be telecast live March 7 on ABC from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

Man … what an interesting batch. Films like District 9, The Blind Side and Up are helped greatly by the fact that the Academy decided to go back to the seeming ancient practice of nominating 10 films for Best Picture. They will now be forever known as Academy Award nominated films. Extra special congrats goes out to Lee Daniels for becoming the second African American person to be nominated for Best Director (after John Singleton in 1991 for Boyz N the Hood) and love and congrats goes out to Meryl Streep for picking up her unprecedented 16th Academy Award nomination (she’s held the record since she garnered her 14th Oscar nom … tho she’s only, thus far, won 2 of those nominations!). Click HERE to check out the full list of major Academy Award nominations to see if your faves were nominated. Are any of y’all excited for the show this year? Who are your picks to win Oscars come March 7?

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The 81st Annual Academy Awards were given out at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, CA last night and pretty much everyone on Earth tuned in to watch the show … or, at least, they should have because last night’s Oscars were the most entertaining of any show in recent memory. A bunch of tweaks to the traditional format, coupled with an energetic and engaging (ie. HOT) host conspired to give us, IMHO, THE best Academy Awards ever. Here are a few photos from the red carpet arrivals last night:

God bless Brangelina, they showed up to last night’s awards with the biggest smiles they could muster to try and show the world that they were honored “just to be nominated” because, judging by their collective track records during this year’s awards show season, they knew they were going home empty-handed … which is exactly what ended up happening by night’s end. Sarah Jessica Parker looked like a DREAM in that beautiful dress … it was a little Carrie Bradshaw but she pulled it off wonderfully. Generally, I was quite pleased with what I saw on the red carpet … Sophia Loren didn’t scare the hell out of me until she showed up on the Oscar stage to present her award. In HD, she was not treated too kindly.

For me, tho, the big star of the night was Hugh Jackman. He really turned in an amazing performance and totally made the show. His opening number (and subsequent numbers, I must add) really showed that there is life yet in the old Academy Awards and they are worth watching:

I was also very impressed with the way the Academy chose to honor the acting nominees by having former winners in their categories come on stage to say nice things about them. I know I was touched by some of the nice things said about the actors who were nominated this year … I can only imagine what an honor it was for the nominees to hear those same things being said about them, to them. I hope they will continue to honor the nominees in this way in future shows … it was my second favorite thing about the show after Hugh’s job hosting.

And how about those winners! I think everyone was pretty surprised by that “shocker” of a winner. After the jump, check out some photos of some of the winners posing with their shiny new Oscars and read about what went down last night — oh, and watch Hugh Jackman’s amazing Oscar opening one more time — it’s deffo worth it …

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The final preparations for the 81st Annual Academy Awards are underway at the Kodak Theater at Hollywood and Highland Blvds. in Hollywood, CA this gloomy Sunday as we begin counting down the final hours to Hollywood’s Biggest Day. In an effort to drum up ratings and get more people to watch this year’s Oscars, producers are promising all sorts of changes to the show’s usual format in an effort to shake things up and get people interested. To be honest, their selection of hottie Hugh Jackman as host is enough to get me to tune in :) Here are a few photos from the Kodak Theater as Oscar prep continues and some deets about what we can expect from this year’s telecast:

Psst: Have you heard that the Oscars are going to be a little … well, different this year? Oh. You have. The worst-kept secret in Hollywood this awards season has been how first-time producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon, in a bid to build buzz and bounce back from last year’s ratings nadir, are keeping their Oscars overhaul plans a secret. From promising sweeping format changes without elaborating to shrouding presenters’ identities and shutting the press out of rehearsals, they’ve largely succeeded. At the secrecy part, anyway. “When (the producers) told me what they were going to do, I said, ‘Look, if it works, you’re geniuses, and if it doesn’t, you’re the putzes who sank the show,’” longtime Oscars show writer Bruce Vilanch said. But lest cloaks and daggers become this year’s hot red carpet couture, here are the details about the show that — whether by design, or loose lips — have come to light over the past week:

MUSIC, MAKES THE PEOPLE, COME TOGETHER: The original-song medley will have a vibrant, world-music theme driven by nominee “Slumdog Millionaire,” and includes a drum line made up of Indian, African, Japanese and Chinese percussionists. The “giant extravaganza” also has a full orchestra and choir. — DJ Ravi Drums, the leader of the drum line for the number.

To be honest, I’m not sure if any revamp is going to do enough to bring people in any more than they have in any previous year. All of these changes just sound like more of the same. I highly doubt people will care enough to change their plans to watch or not. The folks who generally watch will watch again, the ones that don’t … well, won’t.

I, for one, am very excited for this year’s Academy Awards. David and I are hosting our first party in our new home in honor of the Oscars and we are very excited to celebrate with our friends ;)

Woot!!! Good luck to all the nominees … and I can’t wait to see if that leaked list of “Oscar winners” turns out to be genuine or not ;)

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So … a mysterious email made its way to my inbox from an anonymous sender that came with an interesting document attached to it — a supposed scan of the winners list of this year’s Academy Awards. Now, I don’t buy that this list is actually genuine … but, in this day and age of leaks and spoilers, I guess you can never be too sure of anything:

Just in case this list turns out to be the real thing, I’ll keep the spoilery info behind the cut. After the jump, check out this supposed leaked document that lists the winners of the 81st annual Academy Awards …

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