The Envelope - LA Times - Academy Awards

Oscars expand the best-picture race to 10 films

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:55:16 -0700

The race for top honors will be a little more crowded this year.

Will 10 contenders double Oscars' pleasure?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

COMMENTARY: The film academy's decision to expand the best picture category may benefit smaller and foreign-language films as well as box-office favorites.

A lot of unexpected Oscar winners have been announced over the years, but that's nothing compared to the astonishing news today from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that the best picture category will be doubled to 10 films. It certainly got the Oscars back in the conversation -- and that was no accident.

2010 Oscars make a move to March

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Competition from the Winter Olympics drives the change from February, where it's been in recent years.

Oscar is back on the March.

2009 Oscar scorecard

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 23:06:53 -0800

Complete list of winners and nominees for the 81st annual Academy Awards.

Readers respond to Oscar coverage

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

TV critic Mary McNamara and Big Picture columnist Patrick Goldstein panned Sunday's Oscars show, but many readers didn't agree -- and that's putting it lightly.

TV critic Mary McNamara and Big Picture columnist Patrick Goldstein panned Sunday's Oscars show, but many readers didn't agree -- and that's putting it lightly. A selection of responses from e-mails and blog comments:

Turan: Take your Oscar snark someplace else

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Some of us -- who simply love the movies -- don't need all this endless gossip about the Oscars.

Here's a modest proposal: Next year, let's ignore the Oscars. I'm not talking about the winners or the show itself, but I sure could do without the obsessive buildup to the event that devours everything in its path. Let's let the Oscars sneak up on us on those proverbial little cat's feet and see how that plays.

Oscar parties: A night of painting the town gold

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

After clearing the Kodak, the winners and happy-to-just-be-nominateds fanned out to party down.

Vanity Fair's annual post- Academy Awards celebration, which set up shop at West Hollywood's Sunset Tower Hotel, might have had some recession-chic touches -- reused décor from past events and comfort food like chicken pot pie -- but there was no toning down the glam factor.

Kudos crasher: Oscars Governors Ball

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:08:43 -0800

The scene, the celebs and the stuff Hollywood dreams are made of -- a chocolate buffet.

'Slumdog' strikes it rich with 8 Oscar wins

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The film's eight trophies -- including best picture, direction, adapted screenplay and cinematography -- cement the reputation of Fox Searchlight as a champion of work that Hollywood won't risk.

"Slumdog Millionaire" -- a love story that combines artistic ambition with broad commercial appeal -- won a leading eight Oscars on Sunday night, including the best picture trophy.

The Oscars show itself was puttin' on the fritz

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Note to Hugh Jackman: What was that all about?

Somewhere in New York, a huge weight has been lifted from David Letterman's shoulders. As Sunday night's Academy Awards began, Hugh Jackman's opening number (pardon me, but did he sing the words "pubic hair"? At the Oscars?) has surely obliterated all memory of the Uma-Oprah thing. Not to mention taking years off the lives of the poor folks preparing to launch publicity for "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." They can only hope those teenage boys were too miffed that "Iron Man" wasn't nominated to watch.