Jasmine Madatian named as the New Communications Director of AMPAS

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS) has named Jasmine Madatian, a veteran Hollywood publicist, as their latest communications director. Madatian will be in charge of helping all things promotional, from their annual Oscar Awards to overseeing their ongoing promotion campaigns. 

The Academy's chief marketing officer Christina Kounelias divulged the news in an official statement adding that Jasmine is a smart, pioneering and highly regarded communications strategist with strong relationships throughout the film and media industry. Her understanding of the mission and enthusiasm for the Academy is what in actuality sets her apart and makes her such a great fit for this position. 

Madatian comes from Disney, where she lately developed the marketing campaigns for films including "Enchanted," "The Proposal," and "Alice in Wonderland."


 

Baz Luhrmann's Bid For His Foremost Academy Award With Great Gatsby Against Peter Jackson, Ang Lee And Kathryn Bigelow

With Luhrmann's latest Academy Award hope “The Great Gatsby” slated for a December 26 release in the US, no fewer than 8 major movies are set for release around the same time .Few of them include the following:

Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty",
Ang Lee's "Life Of Pi"
Dustin Hoffman's "Quartet"
Peter Jackson's latest "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

With seven months pending until release, Baz Luhrmann still has plenty of time to rectify a glaring error uncovered lately by the release of the first trailer for The Great Gatsby, with a shot of New York's Times Square showing a billboard of the Broadway revue Ziegfeld Follies spelled incorrectly as "Zeigfeld".

Academy Award Winning Costume Designer Colleen Atwood to Introduce First-Ever Apparel Collection With HSN

HSN, the leader in multi-channel retail, announced lately the addition of three-time Academy Award winning Hollywood costume designer Colleen Atwood to its inspiring list of fashion authorities. The internationally acclaimed designer will debut a collection of exclusive apparel motivated by her work on Universal Pictures upcoming "Snow White and the Huntsman". Atwood will appear on HSN as part of a one-time, 24-hour live shopping event on May 30. The film, starring Kristen Stewart, Oscar winner Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth, releases on June 1, 2012.

With the release of her "Snow White and the Huntsman"-inspired line, Atwood brings the epic action-adventure to life with a curated variety of beautiful designs featuring faux suede, leather trim, lace and chiffon details, all reflecting the spirit of the film. The chic collection will range in price from $39 for a short sleeve top with delicate lace detail to $169 for a wonderful embroidered dress inspired by one of the Queen's gowns.

Oscar Award 2012 Best Picture Winner The Artist Returns To Theaters This Mother’s Day Weekend

The Weinstein Company announced lately the re-release of Academy Award Best Picture winner The Artist on a national scale this Friday, May 11, 2012. This will be the final chance for moviegoers to experience the 5 time Academy Award winning love letter to films in a movie theater - the way it was planned to be experienced, and it is the ideal opportunity for a Mother’s Day outing.

TWC President of Marketing Stephen Bruno stated that as summer approaches, they wanted to give audiences across the country one more occasion to experience The Artist in a theater where it has charmed and entertained so many this year. This is the ideal family outing for Mother’s Day weekend.

Oscar Venue Renamed As Dolby Theatre, Awards Show To Continue In Hollywood

The Hollywood venue that hosts the Academy Awards has been renamed the Dolby Theatre in a new sponsorship deal. 

The 3,400-seater building, which has been the abode to the annual Academy Awards ceremony since 2002, was in the past known as the Kodak Theatre. 

Previously this year a judge granted Eastman Kodak permission to end the $74 million, 20-year naming rights deal it signed in 2000. 

Dolby has approved a 20-year contract with theatre owners the CIM Group. 

Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS) stated that the Academy's Board of Governors believes that the home for the awards is in Hollywood.He also added that it is where the Academy and the motion picture industry are rooted.He said that they were pleased to have a new agreement with CIM that will continue their long-standing partnership. 

Kevin Yeaman, of British-founded audio technology specialists Dolby, stated that the partnership enables the theatre to be not only the world stage for the Academy Awards, but for Dolby innovations for decades to come.

The Best Jack Nicholson Movies of All Time On His 75th Birthday

Jack Nicholson, one of the greatest actors of Hollywood turned 75 on April 22, 2012.A brief history on his entry into movies…

When he initially got to Hollywood in the late fifties with a dream to make a living in the movies, Jack was not an immediate hit. For some time, he was an assistant at Hanna-Barbera, and essentially showed promise as an animator. But drawing cartoons wasn't his reason for being there. So he gave up.

He then worked with  Roger Corman now and then for several years, appearing in such cult items as ‘The Little Shop Of Horrors’ (1960) and ‘The Raven’ (1963).By the late sixties,though he was not successful as an actor,he was step by step resigning himself to working behind the camera as a writer/director. Then providence played a hand.

His good friend Dennis Hopper was getting ready to shoot ‘Easy Rider’  and had a huge tiff with  character actor Rip Torn, who'd been cast to play gonzo lawyer George Hanson in the film.All of a sudden, Rip was out, and Jack was in.

Jack almost stole that movie, earning himself his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Though clearly he'd broken through, it was hardly predicted the level of success that was to follow.

Over the next six years, Jack was nominated for Best Actor four times, and won his first Oscar in 1976, for ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest’. Thus far, he has been nominated 12 times, and won three Academy Awards.

Though Jack is 75, he seems ageless, chiefly when you revisit his best films which includes:

• One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
• Chinatown
• Easy Rider
• The Last Detail
• Carnal Knowledge
• About Schmidt
• The Shining
• Terms Of Endearment
• A Few Good Men
• Something's Gotta Give
• As Good As It Gets

Octavia Spencer, Academy Award Winner, Might Star As Oscar Grant's Mom In Fruitvale

Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer is apparently in negotiations to play the role of Oscar Grant's mother in the forthcoming indie film about the New Year's Day 2009 killing of the Oakland man. Spencer is best known for her role as Minny in the 2011 film ‘The Help’. 

The film, titled ‘Fruitvale’ will feature the final hours before Grant was shot and killed by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle after he got off the train at the Fruitvale station in Oakland. The shooting was video-recorded by other passengers, making it one of the most sensitively charged officer-involved shootings in Oakland's latest history. Mehserle was convicted of unintentional manslaughter but was released from prison on good behavior after serving 11 months of his two-year sentence. The movie, being written and directed by Oakland resident Ryan Coogler, is set to air by July.

Chinese Film Festival To Screen The Iranian Movie 'A Separation'

China has invited the cast and crew of the Academy Award Winning Iranian movie Nader and Simin : A Separation to the 2nd Beijing International Film Festival.

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s internationally-acclaimed film is scheduled to be screened during the festival that is to be held from April 23 to 28, 2012.

Nader and Simin : A Separation won the Oscar Award for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards in 2012.

The drama grabbed The Best Foreign Film Award of the 27th annual Independent Spirit Awards during a ceremony held a day before the 84th Academy Awards.

A Separation also won the Best Foreign Film Award of the 2012 Cesar Awards on February 24, in Paris.

Farhadi's prize-magnet drama has hit the Canadian and the Brazilian cinemas ever since January 20, 2012.

Christopher Plummer Delivers One Of The Best Oscar Speeches

Christopher Plummer took home the award for Best Supporting Actor during the Oscars this year.

At 82, Plummer may be the oldest Oscar winner ever, but that didn't stop him from being one of the best dressed men of the entire night,in a blue velvet tuxedo. But it was Plummer's speech that grabbed everyone’s attention. He commenced with a bit of humor that gave Billy Crystal a run for his money, gazing at the Oscar statute and joking: "You’re only two years older than me darling, where have you been all of my life?" In a night of bad, callous old people jokes it was good to hear a genuine laugh out of the audience.

Plummer went on to deliver one of the most congenial and heartfelt speeches of the night, saying that he was born "already rehearsing my Academy acceptance speech, but it was so long ago mercifully for you I’ve forgotten it." He then ran through the customary list of people to thank before giving one of the best tributes in the long history of awards shows. He thanked his wife, saying that she "deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for coming to my rescue every day of my life."

Acceptance Speech of Meryl Streep at the 84th Academy Awards

Meryl Streep won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2012 Academy Awards for her role in The Iron Lady.

The other nominations in this category includes Viola Davis for ‘The Help’, Glenn Close for ‘Albert Nobbs’, Rooney Mara for ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ and Michelle Williams for ‘My Week With Marilyn’.

Quite surprised that she won she exclaimed.."Oh my god.Oh c’mon.Alright.Thank you so much.Thank you, thank you," Meryl said on stage as she commenced her acceptance speech."When they called my name I’d had this feeling I could hear half of America going 'oh no..oh c’mon..why..her..again?' But whatever."

"First I’m going to thank Don because when you thank your husband at the end of the speech they play him out with the music and I want him to know that everything I value most in our lives you’ve given me," she continued. "And now secondly, my other partner: 37 years ago, my first play in New York City I met the great hairstylist and makeup artist Roy Helland and we worked together pretty continuously since the day we clapped eyes on each other. His first film with me was ‘Sophie’s Choice’ and all the way up to tonight when he won for his beautiful work in ‘The Iron Lady’, 30 years later, every single movie in between."

Meryl Streep concluded by saying, "And I just want to thank Roy but also I want to thank — because I really understand I’ll never be up here again — I really want to thank all my colleagues, all my friends. I look out here and I see my life before my eyes, my old friends, my new friends and really this is such a great honor but the thing that counts the most with me is the friendships and the love and the sheer joy we have shared making movies together. My friends, thank you, all of you, departed and here for this enigmatically wonderful career. Thank you so much. Thank you."

After accepting her award, Meryl spoke to reporters offstage and further joked about her long history of always being nominated but never winning. Still, Streep said that she wasn't worried about never winning again.

Inspite of several nominations, Meryl Streep hadn't won an Oscar since 1982.She had won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in ‘Sophie’s Choice’ in 1982.Earlier in 1979 she also had won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in ‘Kramer vs Kramer’.

84th Academy Awards - 2012

The 84th annual Academy Awards or The Oscars took place at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles on Feb 29th 2012. The Artist and Hugo were the big winners on that night. Nine time host Billy Crystal was the host for this year’s Oscar too.

The list of winners for this years Oscars include:

Best Motion Picture : The Artist

Best Actor in a Leading role : Jean Dujardin for ‘The Artist’

Best Actress in a Leading role : Meryl Streep for ‘The Iron lady’

Best Actor in a Supporting Role : Christopher Plummer for ‘Beginners’

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Octavia Spencer for ‘The Help’

Best Director : Michel Hazanavicus for ‘The Artist’

Best Writing(Adapted Screenplay) : Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Community’s
Dean Pelton for 'The Descendants'

Best Writing (Original Screenplay): Woody Allen won for his screenplay for
‘Midnight in Paris’

Best Animated Film : Rango

Best Original Score : Ludovic Bource for ‘The Artist’

Best Original Song : Bret McKenzie for ‘Man or a Muppet’

Best Documentary : TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas
for their documentary film ‘Undefeated’

Best Cinematography : Robert Richardson for ‘Hugo’

Best Animated Short Film : The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris
Lessmore

Best Short Film (Live Action) : The Shore

Best Art Direction : Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo for
‘Hugo’

Best Costume Design : Mark Bridges for ‘The Artist’

Best Make Up : Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland for ‘The Iron
Lady’

Best Foreign Language Film : The Iranian film..’A Separation’

Best Film Editing : Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall for ‘The Girl With
The Dragon Tattoo’

Best Sound Editing : Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty for ‘Hugo’

Best Sound Mixing : Tom Fleischman and John Midgley for ‘Hugo’

Best Visual Effects : Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and
Alex Henning for ‘Hugo’

Meryl Streep To Present At The 84th Academy Awards Ceremony

Telecast producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer announced lately that the two-time Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep will also present at the Oscars 2012.

Meryl Streep, who is nominated for her lead performance in "The Iron Lady," has been nominated around 17 times – the maximum for any performer in Oscar history. She won a Supporting Actress Oscar in 1979 for her role in "Kramer vs. Kramer" and the Best Actress award in 1982 for her role in "Sophie's Choice." Streep will be seen onscreen next in "Great Hope Springs."

Streep joins a stellar list of previously announced Oscar presenters, including Halle Berry, Rose Byrne, Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie, Bradley Cooper, Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Michael Douglas, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Zach Galifianakis, Milla Jovovich, Ellie Kemper, Jennifer Lopez, Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig.

AMPAS Scraps Performances of Nominated Songs From 'Muppets' and 'Rio'

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS) has planned to scrap the musical performances for 'Man or Muppet' and 'Real in Rio’ for the 2012 Academy Awards. 

Audiences will probably not witness "Man or Muppet" or "Real in Rio" being performed at the Oscars telecast this February 26. The music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has planned to pass over the musical performances of both Best Original Song nominees.

The decision, still, has yet to be sealed as producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer still have a work in progress. An authoritative source stated that the show is not locked yet.He also added that the decisions about this and other things continue to be evaluated by the team trying to produce the most engaging 3 hours possible.

If the decision to skip the Best Song nominees performance be signed, the audience will not witness Jason Segel having duet with Walter to sing the original soundtrack for "The Muppets" nor Sergio Mendes delivering the original song from "Rio".

"Man or Muppet" and "Real in Rio" are the lone two songs being nominated for this year's Best Original Song category at Oscars.

Academy Award Ceremony To Be Shifted Outside Hollywood

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences(AMPAS) has been planning to shift the esteemed Oscar awards venue from Kodak Theatre in Hollywood to Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.

The annual Academy Awards Ceremony has been held at the Kodak Theatre since 2001 and the ceremony will move to a new venue outside Hollywood after 2013.

AEG,which operates the LA Live and 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre, has by now been in discussion with the AMPAS concerning the issue.

The new venue is said to offer larger facilities than in Kodak. It has additional seats, improved infrastructure, superior promotional opportunities and other facilities for parties and press.

In addition a representative stated that the Academy has not commenced venue negotiations for the Oscar telecast beyond 2013.

This year, the Oscars will be presented at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood & Highland Center on Sunday, February 26.

Irish Short Film "Pentecost" Shortlisted For Oscars

An Irish Short film titled 'Pentecost' has been shortlisted for nomination for the Academy Awards.

Pentecost, a light-hearted film written and directed by Peter McDonald is one of just ten short films from across the globe that has made the shortlist. This will be scaled down to an ultimate five for the real night of the Oscars. The makers of Pentecost will get to know if their film is among the last 5 nominations on 24 January next.A total of 107 films had been initially selected in the category.

Peter McDonald’s nominated short film 'Pentecost' was funded by the Irish Film Board and stars Andrew Bennett, Michael McElhatton and Don Wycherley. It narrates the story of a young altar boy who is compelled  to serve at an important Mass and has to make a hard choice whether conform to the status quo or serve an extended ban from his passion in life… football.

The Academy Awards will be held on 26 February next in Los Angeles.

Hans Zimmer and Pharrell Williams to Overlook Music for the 84th Academy Awards

The Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer and Grammy-winning hip hop artist and producer Pharrell Williams will be working on the Oscar music broadcast for the very first time.

It will be the first time that both musicians will work on the awards broadcast, which ABC will telecast on February 26.

Hans Zimmer has won the Oscar for best score in 1995 for his work on 'The Lion King'. In addition, he has received eight other nominations, most recently for 2010’s 'Inception'.

Zimmer has scored 5 films this year varying from the comedy 'The Dilemma' to the animated movies 'Rango' and 'Kung Fu Panda 2' to the sequels 'Pirates of the Caribbean:On Stranger Tides' and 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadow'.

The Grammy-winning Pharrell Williams composed the score for the 2010 animated movie 'Despicable Me' and his songs have appeared in films such as 'Fast and Furious', 'The Brave One', 'Knocked Up' and 'Mean Girls'.

New Set of Writers for Oscars to Depict a Sharp Focus on Comedy

Oscar producers Brett Ratner and Don Mischer are exhibiting a strong focus on comedy for the 84th Academy Awards presentation to be held in February. The twosome have hired a group of veteran screenwriters to bring some humor to the show. The scribes boast credits for shows counting "Saturday Night Live" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and will be making an attempt to breathe new life into a program that in the last few years seemed to have fallen flat.

Many of the writers have a record of working with either Ratner or his Oscar host, Eddie Murphy, and will work chiefly with Murphy. They will put in writing bits for the actor-comedian ahead of time and will be backstage in the writers’ room the night of the event.

Ratner stated that he was new to this and that he wanted to feel comfortable, since he had to drive this whole thing. Hence he brought in guys with whom he had a personal relationship and with whom he had worked before.

The one, beyond doubt veteran Academy Awards scribe on the case is Jon Macks, who besides writing for the last 14 Oscar shows has also penned bits for the Emmys and the Country Music Awards.

Iranian movie ' Nader and Simin: A Separation' To Compete In Best Foreign Language Category

The Iranian drama ‘Nader and Simin : A Separation', that won top prize at the Berlin Film Festival, has been selected to represent Iran at the 84th Academy Awards. The film will be submitted in the Best Foreign Film category ahead of the Oscars ceremony on February 26. The film triumphed at the Berlin festival in February, as it won the Golden Bear award as well as top acting prizes for its entire cast.

Directed by Asghar Farhadi, the movie narrates the story of a crumbling marriage and looks at the clash connecting strict religious observance as well as the changing values of Iran's educated urban elite.

The movie is also set to be released by Sony Pictures Classics in US movie houses on December 30, in order to make it eligible to run in the Best Director and Best Screenplay categories.

‘Adaminte Makan Abu' Is India's Entry for The 84th Academy Awards

National award-winning Malayalam film 'Adaminte Makan Abu', has been named as India's official entry for 2012 Oscars.

The film won 4 National Awards that includes Best Actor, Best Cinematographer, Best Background Score and Best Feature Film. The movie is directed by debut filmmaker Salim Ahamed and stars Salim Kumar and Zarina Wahab in the lead.

The premise of the film is about an old perfume seller Abu whose primary dream is to go on a Hajj pilgrimage like any devout Muslim.It is a simple story which describes human values,as it portrays how the seller struggles to collect money to go to Hajj.

Eddie Murphy Chosen As The Host For The 84th Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS) in the U.S. declared lately that American stand-up comedian, actor and director Eddie Murphy will host the 84th Academy Awards. The Academy Awards is scheduled to be held on February 26, 2012.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will return to its comedic host origins with Eddie Murphy in his lively and clowning role. Director and telecast producer of the Academy Awards, Brett Ratner stated that Eddie is a comedic genius as well as one of the most influential live performers ever. He explained that with his love of movies, history of crafting unforgettable characters and his iconic performances, especially onstage he can bring an excitement, spontaneity and remarkable heart to the show .