Oscar Presenters, Performers and Parties

The Oscars

The day is finally here! The 78th Annual Academy Awards will be handed out at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart will host this year's grand ceremony (his invitation seems to have been widely embraced by the public, and might even help ol' Gil Cates finally achieve his goal of improving viewership!) Oscar nominations were announced January 31, 2006 (see below).

Following tradition, last year's Best Actress Hilary Swank, Best Actor Jamie Foxx, Best Supporting Actor Morgan Freeman and Best Director Clint Eastwood will be presenters at the 78th Oscars Presentation. Unfortunately, last year's Best Supporting Actress Cate Blanchett will be unable to fulfill the tradition this year because she's playing the title role in a stage production of "Hedda Gabler" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York.

Jessica Alba, Jennifer Aniston, Eric Bana, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Steve Carell, Gorgeous George Clooney, Will Ferrell, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hanks, Selma Hayek, Terrence Howard, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, Rachel McAdams, Jack Nicholson, Queen Latifah, Keanu Reeves, Will Smith, Meryl Streep, Ben Stiller, Charlize Theron, Lily Tomlin, Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Naomi Watts, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon and Ziyi Zhang will also present the prestigious Academy Award.

Director / producer / writer Robert Altman will receive an honorary Oscar to commemorate "a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike."

Dolly Parton will perform her nominated original song, "Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica." Ms. Parton wrote both the music and lyrics for the song. Kathleen "Bird" York will perform "In the Deep" from the film "Crash," for which she is nominated for writing the music and lyrics (co-composer Michael Becker also is nominated for the music.) Jordon "Juicy J" Houston, Paul "DJ Paul" Beauregard and Darnell "Crunchy Black" Carlton of the Memphis rap group Three 6 Mafia will also perform at the 78th Academy Awards. Beauregard and Houston, who are nominated for writing the music and lyrics for "It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," will perform their nominated song with group mate Carlton and actress Taraji Henson, who sang the hook in the film. Cedric "Frayser Boy" Coleman, who is nominated with Beauregard and Houston, will also perform. The song will be the first rap song ever performed on the telecast in the history of the Academy Awards.

The show will be broadcast on ABC at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET. It will be preceded by ABC's "official" red carpet coverage, as well as day long coverage on the E! Entertainment Television Network.

And while Gil Cates has said he won't be repeating last year's presentation fiasco, he isn't exactly planning to return the awards presentation back to it's traditional format. Once again, in the interest of saving time, Cates will be rounding up the nominees in the artistic (otherwise known as technical) categories to play a game of musical chairs with them during commercial breaks. The nominees will be temporarily placed in the first rows of the Kodak Theater, so that the winners can sprint to the stage to accept the award. Cates has already advised these nominees that, if they want their full 60 seconds of fame, they are not to bring out any paper to read from or even stumble during their speeches. Any fumbling will cause Bill Conti to cue up the orchestra and end the winner's moment in the spotlight. The Academy has taken every measure to make sure that this year's traditionally lengthy Oscar speeches go off without a hitch - along with the nominee's tickets to the Oscars, every nominee received a 15 minute DVD, narrated by Tom Hanks, featuring examples of "good" speeches vs. "bad speeches" from previous year's Academy Awards ceremonies.

Official websites: Oscar.com / Oscar.org / Oscar.org Academy Awards

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Oscar Nominations

The 78th Annual Academy Award Nominees:

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
"Brokeback Mountain" Diana Ossana, James Schamus, producers
"Capote" Caroline Baron, William Vince, Michael Ohoven, producers
"Crash" Paul Haggis, Cathy Schulman, producers
"Good Night, and Good Luck" Grant Heslov, producer
"Munich" Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, Barry Mendel, producers

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Paul Haggis, "Crash"
Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Bennett Miller, "Capote"
Steven Spielberg, "Munich"

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Terrence Howard, "Hustle & Flow"
Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain"
Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line"
David Strathairn, "Good Night, and Good Luck"

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley, "Pride & Prejudice"
Charlize Theron, "North Country"
Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
George Clooney, "Syriana"
Matt Dillon, "Crash"
Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"
William Hurt, "A History of Violence"

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams, "Junebug"
Catherine Keener, "Capote"
Frances McDormand, "North Country"
Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain"

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
"Howl's Moving Castle" Hayao Miyazaki
"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" Tim Burton, Mike Johnson
"Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" Nick Park, Steve Box

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
"Good Night, and Good Luck" Jim Bissell (art direction); Jan Pascale (set decoration)
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" Stuart Craig (art direction); Stephenie McMillan (set decoration)
"King Kong" Grant Major (art direction); Dan Hennah and Simon Bright (set decoration)
"Memoirs of a Geisha" John Myhre (art direction); Gretchen Rau (set decoration)
"Pride & Prejudice" Sarah Greenwood (art direction); Katie Spencer (set decoration)

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Batman Begins" Wally Pfister
"Brokeback Mountain" Rodrigo Prieto
"Good Night, and Good Luck" Robert Elswit
"Memoirs of a Geisha" Dion Beebe
"The New World" Emmanuel Lubezki

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" Gabriella Pescucci
"Memoirs of a Geisha" Colleen Atwood
"Mrs. Henderson Presents" Sandy Powell
"Pride & Prejudice" Jacqueline Durran
"Walk the Line" Arianne Phillips

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"Darwin's Nightmare" Hubert Sauper
"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" Alex Gibney, Jason Kliot
"March of the Penguins" Luc Jacquet, Yves Darondeau
"Murderball" Henry-Alex Rubin, Dana Adam Shapiro
"Street Fight" Marshall Curry

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club" Dan Krauss
"God Sleeps in Rwanda" Kimberlee Acquaro, Stacy Sherman
"The Mushroom Club" Steven Okazaki
"A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin" Corinne Marrinan, Eric Simonson

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
"Cinderella Man" Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"The Constant Gardener" Claire Simpson
"Crash" Hughes Winborne
"Munich" Michael Kahn
"Walk the Line" Michael McCusker

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Don't Tell" (Italy)
"Joyeux Noël" (France)
"Paradise Now" (Palestine)
"Sophie Scholl - The Final Days" (Germany)
"Tsotsi" (South Africa)

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" Howard Berger, Tami Lane
"Cinderella Man" David Leroy Anderson, Lance Anderson
"Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" Dave Elsey, Nikki Gooley

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (Original Score)
"Brokeback Mountain" Gustavo Santaolalla
"The Constant Gardener" Alberto Iglesias
"Memoirs of a Geisha" John Williams
"Munich" John Williams
"Pride & Prejudice" Dario Marianelli

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (Original Song)
"In the Deep" from "Crash," music by Kathleen (Bird) York, Michael Becker; lyric by York
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," music and lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman, Paul Beauregard
"Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica," music and lyric by Dolly Parton

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"Badgered" Sharon Colman
"The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation" John Canemaker, Peggy Stern
"The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello" Anthony Lucas
"9" Shane Acker
"One Man Band" Andrew Jimenez, Mark Andrews

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Ausreisser (The Runaway)" Ulrike Grote
"Cashback" Sean Ellis, Lene Bausager
"The Last Farm" Rúnar Rúnarsson, Thor S. Sigurjónsson
"Our Time Is Up" Rob Pearlstein, Pia Clemente
"Six Shooter" Martin McDonagh

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
"King Kong" Mike Hopkins, Ethan Van der Ryn
"Memoirs of a Geisha" Wylie Stateman
"War of the Worlds" Richard King

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic, Tony Johnson
"King Kong" Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, Hammond Peek
"Memoirs of a Geisha" Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline, John Pritchett
"Walk the Line" Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill, Peter F. Kurland
"War of the Worlds" Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Ronald Judkins

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney, Scott Farrar
"King Kong" Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers, Richard Taylor
"War of the Worlds" Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randy Dutra, Daniel Sudick

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"Brokeback Mountain" - screenplay by Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana
"Capote" - screenplay by Dan Futterman
"The Constant Gardener" - screenplay by Jeffrey Caine
"A History of Violence" - screenplay by Josh Olson
"Munich" - screenplay by Tony Kushner, Eric Roth

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"Crash" - screenplay by Paul Haggis, Bobby Moresco; story by Paul Haggis
"Good Night, and Good Luck" - screenplay by George Clooney, Grant Heslov
"Match Point" - written by Woody Allen
"The Squid and the Whale" - written by Noah Baumbach
"Syriana" - written by Stephen Gaghan

 

TRIVIA:

This year's nominations represent the first time since 1981 that the Directing and Best Picture nominations have honored exactly the same five pictures.

A change in the Original Song rules for 2005, imposing a minimum required scoring average for nomination, accounts for the nomination of just three songs in the category.

This is the first time since the Animated Feature category was inaugurated in 2001 that none of the nominees was produced primarily by CGI techniques.

Three pictures, one in each of the three categories for short films, won 2005 Student Academy Awards: "9" in Animated Shorts, "Ausreisser" (The Runaway) in Live Action Shorts and "The Death of Kevin Carter" in the Documentary Short Subject category.

This is the first time in Academy history that a nominee in the Directing category - George Clooney for "Good Night, and Good Luck" - is also nominated in one of the acting categories for a different film ("Syriana").

John Williams' two nominations this year in the Original Score category (for "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Munich") are his 44th and 45th Academy Award nominations, putting him in first place in total nominations in the Music categories, breaking a previous tie with Alfred Newman. He also moves into second place in terms of nominations overall, his total individual nominations now second only to Walt Disney's 59.

Ang Lee, nominated this year in the Directing category for the English-language "Brokeback Mountain," received his first Directing nomination for the foreign language film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

14 of the 20 acting nominees are first-time nominees. Of the other six who previously received nominations, four are Oscar winners: William Hurt, Judi Dench, Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand.

Release Dates of Best Picture nominees:

"Brokeback Mountain" - December 9
"Capote" - September 30
"Crash" - May 6
"Good Night, and Good Luck". - October 7
"Munich" - December 23

Courtesy: AMPAS

Saturday Oscar Parties

The Day Before the Oscars Big Party

Today marked the 13th Annual Oscar luncheon hosted by Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg at their magnificent Coldwater Canyon home. Also taking place this afternoon, the after-party at Shutters in Santa Monica, celebrating the achievements of nominees and winners at today's Independent Spirit Awards. It's a good thing the Spirit Awards wrapped up early, because the Weinsteins are hosting an early evening cocktail party at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, allowing stars plenty of time to change into their designer duds before hitting Jeffrey Katzenberg's Fourth Annual Night Before Party at the Beverly Hills Hotel, with proceeds benefiting the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Focus Features is holding a nominee party at Eat on Sunset, and a special reception is being held for honorary Oscar recipient Robert Altman at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.

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