Vote yay or nay on Oscar show
The reviews of last night's Oscar show are in. Depending on which ones you read, it was either a total bust, with Hugh Jackman (left) a lackluster host, or it was a solid attempt to change things up, with Jackman a refreshing talent. What do you say? Thumbs up or thumbs down? Tell me in the post area below. I really want to know.
February 22, 2009
Heath Ledger's parents arrive backstage
Heath Ledger's family took their son's Oscar for best supporting actor backstage, where they talk about him and his legacy. Jeanne reports that they confirmed the statue will go to Heath's daughter, Matilda, in whom they see their son. "He's a part of her," his mother said of the little girl who does indeed look just like Ledger. Ledger, who won for his role of the Joker in The Dark Knight, was always a clown, his parents said, and as a young man he had a passion for film.
Penelope Cruz talks about Woody
Backstage after her win, the lovely Penelope Cruz told reporters she planned to call the director of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Woody Allen as soon as she left them. She warmly described Allen as a good friend — one with whom she keeps in touch regularly by phone. Their friendship is fun to imagine — just the speed of a conversation between those two makes my mind whirl. It has been, nine years, since one of Woody's women - and they all seem to love him so - has won an Academy Award but Penelope became the fifth of Allen's actresses to take home Oscar.
Carpet remnants from our reporter
Jeanne's back stage now, taking a breath before filling us in on the rest of the red carpet happenings. She says it was gridlock but Kate Winslet and Penelope Cruz merged at one point and walked arm in arm, deep in conversation. That's the two of them, at left. Of course, Penelope didn't know at the time she was walking into a win...The little belle of the ball, says Jeanne, was Hannah Montana herself, Miley Cyrus. That supersized prom dress looked overwhelming but she was the darling of the photographers....The crowd in the bleachers went crazy a couple of times — for, guess who? You got it: Twilight's Robert Pattinson, Beyonce and Brad and Angelina. Pattinson was very cute with the crowd, looking a little sheepish for all the attention....Beyonce bounced by quickly, without husband Jay-Z... Brad and Angelina, among the last to arrive as always, breezed by but not without friendly waves to their fans (among them a contingent of screaming "Brad, Brad, Brad.")...A few faces that we haven't seen in a while were there, Danny Glover, for one, and Bridget Fonda, who hasn't done a movie since a 2003 car accident, was there with her composer husband Danny Elfman, whose score for Milk was nominated.
A Wash U shout-out
Just got off the phone with my daughter, Alicia, who is off to an Oscar party with her friends at Washington 
University in St. Louis. Like many of you they are marking their ballots, hopeful they'll be right on target when the night is over. A shout out to all of you at Wash U! I'm reminded of all of you when I see the beautiful young actresses on the red carpet, young women like Natalie Portman, who is wearing a vibrant fuschia, and Anne Hathaway, rumored to be doing a song and dance number in the show tonight. Also, check out Mamma Mia! star Amanda Seyfried, right, who is wearing the kind of statement necklace we've been seeing on the stars all night. And speaking of Mamma Mia! Meryl Streep, who is there with her own daughter, "my baby" as she called her, must be hoping for a win tonight. She got a dress and a hair dresser. That woman can go glam when she wants to. Our Jeanne Wright reports that Streep gave all the adorable kids from Slumdog a big hug when she saw them on the carpet. Those kids are full of energy and seem to love hamming it up for the cameras.
Photo courtesy of USA Today
More red carpet clips...
Madonna is on the red carpet and it's impossible to believe she's 50. She's hosting a party tonight with pal Demi Moore...Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates, a long-lasting celebrity marriage, almost give away his "secret" part in the ceremony. So much for having the "surprise" stars skip the red carpet...I'm watching the very cute Ben Lyons on E! and recalling that I met his dad, movie maven Jeffrey Lyons, who talked so proudly about him....Jeanne is trying to buttonhole the Disney darlings Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, that's Vanessa posing for the cameras, at left....Best actress nominee Melissa Leo, who told us before the SAG Awards that her mother didn't tolerate vanity, has been stunning at every award show and is again tonight....Dev Patel and Freida Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire, who look cozy tonight - as they did a SAG Awards, say "No, no," they are not a couple. That whole cast is so genuinely happy.
Photo courtesy of USA Today
Celebs are arriving...
Giuliani Rancic, who is co-hosting with Ryan Seacrest among others on the E! channel is reporting that Jennifer Aniston, maybe with John Mayer, will be a presenter along with Jack Black. Oooo. Could it be the night she has to be nice to Angelina Jolie?...The E! crew is reporting that Nicole Richie is pregnant with her second child. As if we care on Oscar night!...Keisha Whitaker, wife of Oscar winner Forrest Whitaker, is anchoring with the TV Guide Network crew...Super Chef Wolfgang Puck didn't walk the red carpet but he leaves no doubt that he's ready for the post-ceremony Governor's Ball. (That's Wolfgang at left.) Just once I'd love to go sit and eat at the Gov's Ball. He's done some amazing food...Jeanne reports that the entire cast of Slumdog Millionaire, including the young actors who played the two main characters as little boys, traveled the carpet together; the kids in tuxes and under the wing of director Danny Boyle.
Photo courtesy of USA Today
Red carpet reporting gets underway
Our Jeanne Wright is in on the red carpet this afternoon in L.A., along with some 800 other members of the press. If you judged by the number of credentialed media for the Academy Awards, you'd believe we are a society of insatiable news hounds. Sheer numbers is part of the reason the academy's press handlers try to keep the press under control, with security guards making sure reporters or photographers don't stray from the one area they are permitted to be in. Things are just getting underway - so far Miley Cyrus and Emile Hirsch have been seen — so stay tuned for Jeanne's reports.
Will some stars stay away from red carpet?
It isn't security that will keep some of the stars from walking the red carpet today, though our Jeanne Wright reports that it is more detailed than she's ever seen it. Rather, it is an ill-advised request from producers of tonight’s show on ABC who are hoping to surprise viewers with star presenters we don’t already know are to be there. So, instead of exiting the limo to the cheers of 600-plus fans who won a spot in the bleachers, stars like Whoopi Goldberg (who yesterday let it slip she’s coming) or, say, some other previous Oscar winners like Halle Berry or Julia Roberts, or, my personal favorite George Clooney (I'm just guessing here), are expected to sneak in a back door so they don’t get seen by the massive press contingent. What is wrong with this picture?
Well, first, it doesn’t serve the audience well. I don’t know about you but I have TiVo set for the pre-shows on E! and TV Guide Network because I want to see everyone I can. (Even ABC has a live pre-show on at 8 p.m. ET so you'd thing they'd want a little glitz for that.) Second, you can imagine how the whole idea is going down with the reporters, photographers, bloggers and pre-show hosts who need stars, stars, and more stars to do their jobs. There has been grousing about it all weekend. Third, I can't imagine it's going over well with the stars themselves, particularly the women who have spent the entire day with hairdressers, make-up artists and stylists getting ready for their close-up.
In fact, most of the female stars on the carpet won’t be wearing anything of their own and they justify borrowing dresses, bags, jewels, even shoes with the idea that it does the designers good if they are seen in their work. Whether that’s actually true can be argued, and Washington Post fashion writer Robin Givhan's does just that in her On Culture column today. She dares to suggest: “If stars can afford million dollar homes, personal assistants, trainers, cooks, nannies, therapists, publicists and gurus, then the can afford to buy their own party clothes. And the diamonds to go with them.”
I’ll never forget the disdain with which I heard Julie Christie replied to a reporter (no, not me, really) who asked her after her win for best actress at the Screen Actors Guild Award last year, “Whose pants are you wearing tonight.” The lovely Christie, that is her at right from that night, looked at the writer as if she were from another planet and replied “these are my own pants.”
Oscar security is tighter than ever
Even back in the 1980s, when I first covered the Academy Awards, the Los Angeles Police Department made its officers evident. They kept tight control on street closings and watched for errant limos or suspicious characters. But Oscar secruity has grown increasingly tighter in the years since 9-11, and this year the LAPD is going to even greater lengths to protect the attending celebrities and the loyal fans who go out to see them enter the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Police are using an aerial high-tech imaging system that can spot potential terrorists wearing suicide bomb vests or plastic explosives that might slip through a metal detector. Plus, they are using bomb-sniffing dogs.
