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2010 Academy Award Preview
The 82nd Academy Awards will
be presented live on ABC on Sunday, March 7th at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles. Teases the Academy, "You've never seen Oscar like this," referring
to their latest attempt to shake things up. In essence, this year's Oscars will mark the first time the ceremony is co-hosted.
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2009 Academy Award Preview
The 81st Academy Awards will be presented live on Sunday, February 22nd at the Kodak Theater in
Los Angeles. But not necessarily in the way you think. There will be lots of changes. Lots of secrets and surprises. In what is becoming
an annual tradition to "stir the pot" and "speed things up," the Academy is once more pushing the envelope. Said
Academy President Sid Ganis at the recent Academy Award nominee luncheon, this year's telecast will be "truly
different" and is going to "take some risks."
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2007 Academy Award Preview
Dear Academy.
On February 25th, as you celebrate your 79th Annual Academy Awards, please consider these lessons
learned from the 78th telecast:
Under no circumstances will an original song be performed with
slow motion scene re-enacting zombies a la "In the Deep" from the Best Picture winning film,
Crash. There will be no green screen body suit presentations as Ben Stiller awkwardly demonstrated,
no big bow ties hiding beautiful actresses like Charlize Theron, and no early music before the winners
open their mouths at the podium. Above all, please respect the mantra, that It's Hard Out Here for a
Pimp. But don't let that sway you from evening the score. Three 6 Mafia 1, Martin Scorsese 1.
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2006 Academy Award Preview
On March 5th, the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles will play host to the 78th Annual
Academy Awards. And one can only hope that they?ve learned a lesson from last
year?s debacle and can clean up their act. After all, if you recall, last year?s
ceremony was an embarrassment to the nominees, the award winners, and the
audience that bared witness to the three hour tour. On the verge of becoming
as trashy as the MTV Movie Awards, nominees were introduced as a group on stage
and gradually voted off, while others were presented with their awards from the
aisles. And believe me, nothing says ?class? like receiving an Oscar for
costume design in front of your peers from the mezzanine. Tragically, the famed
Oscar telecast lost a large chunk of the glitz, the glamour, and the prestige
last year and it had absolutely nothing to do with Chris Rock.
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2005 Academy Award Preview
On February 27th, the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles will play host to the 77th Annual Academy
Awards. And what better way to roll out the red carpet than with a whole lot of controversy? In a series of bold moves, famed
Academy Awards' producer Gil Cates has shaken the tree profusely. During the annual Nominees luncheon, Cates
announced some audacious changes to the awards presentation process. For starters, nominees will be introduced as a group on stage with the winner stepping forward
to accept the award. And in other categories, the nominees will remain seated together while the presenter
announces the winner from the aisle! Although not completely disbanding the traditional approach, the
changes are significant enough to add contention to an already unconventional ceremony.
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2004 Academy Award Preview
The 76th annual Academy Awards are approaching faster than ever, thanks in part to a decision to move the famed telecast
up a notch early (Sunday, February 29th). The decision to accelerate the awards was an attempt to cut down on heavy
campaigning and propaganda that have plagued recent years. Shamelessly, posting "For your consideration?" advertisements
and commercials, big studios have dominated the trades and airwaves, influencing the 5,700 Academy members for months on
end. Of course, the overall effect of the move will most likely cause the studios to release their films in November rather than December this year, squeezing
in the extra time to solicit nominations. But the move certainly impacted this year's awards, bringing quite a few surprises from Djimon Hounsou to
Keisha Castle-Hughes to a little place known only as the "City of God."
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2003 Academy Award Preview
The leaves are turning colors, the temperatures are getting cooler, and the summer blockbusters have
fizzled out. Yes, it's officially fall, one of the most difficult times for finding top quality movies. For
unlike television, which showcases a return of all your favorite shows after a summer hiatus, the fall film season
is typically awash with filler material until late November when the heavy pennant races begin.
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