The Playlist

Live Blogging The 84th Annual Oscar Awards: The Winners, The Losers & Who Wore It Well

By Katie Walsh
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February 26, 2012 6:35 PM
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10 Comments

Awards

Hey y'all! Are you ready for some OS-CARS?? This year, Billy Crystal hosts, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Nick Nolte, Christopher Plummer and Martin Scorsese number among the celebrate nominees.... WTF is it 1985?? Yes, the Academy is going retro, celebrating the history of movies, and not just by lauding "The Artist" and "Hugo." Yeah, there are some newbies and left-field pics, but those kinda feel like shots in the dark at attempting to stay relevant (Rooney Mara, so edgy right now). Who could forget the breaking news from this week that the Academy is only old white men? TOTAL SHOCKER.

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The Academy Grows A Pair, Sacha Baron Cohen Will Show Up At The Oscars As 'The Dictator'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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February 24, 2012 6:53 PM
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7 Comments

News

Perhaps realizing that not having The Muppets perform their Best Song nomination, and relying on Cirque Du Soleil as the big centerpiece of entertainment (aside from handing out awards of course) on Sunday night, the Academy has relented on their ban -- sort of -- and allowed Sacha Baron Cohen to show up as his character from "The Dictator" on the red carpet before changing into his formal attire for the ceremony.

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The Amazing Race: Final Predictions For The 2012 Academy Awards

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 24, 2012 3:49 PM
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4 Comments

Awards

We've written, by vague estimates, something close to 80,000 words on the Academy Awards in the last six months. That's novel length. And in two days time, it'll all be done, with the ceremony finally taking place at the no-longer-Kodak Theater at around 5pm PST.

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5 Oscars Wins That We'd Love To See This Year (Even If They Won't Happen)

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 24, 2012 1:02 PM
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5 Comments

Features

Sometimes, the nomination is the prize. Even in more open years than this one (where many of the major prizes have been locked in for weeks, if not months), only two or three of the nominees have had a realistic chance of winning, with the others merely filling out the field. Which is not to say that they're not deserving. Indeed, quite often, the anointed winner is in that position because they're overdue, or they're part of a film that's sweeping the Oscars in general, or any one of a number of reasons.

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The Actors & Actresses Who Should Have Been Nominated For Oscars In 2012

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 24, 2012 12:02 PM
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15 Comments

Features

The Oscars are so close that we can already smell the fresh-ironed shirts, the mascara wiped away by thwarted nominees, and the post-Governor's Ball vomit, but our preparation coverage continues. Yesterday we picked out the directors, cinematographers and other below-the-line titles that we thought deserved to be sitting in the Kodak Theater on Monday, but somehow missed out.

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The Directors, Cinematographers & More Who Should've Been Nominated For Oscars In 2012

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 23, 2012 1:57 PM
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6 Comments

Features

We're just a few days away from the Oscars, and it's not long before we find out who's going to be the big winners and losers. But at this time of year, it's important not to forget those who slipped through the cracks: there were films released in 2011 that weren't "The Artist," after all.

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Sacha Baron Cohen Banned From The Oscars For Proposing To Attend Red Carpet As 'The Dictator' Character

By Edward Davis
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February 22, 2012 6:45 PM
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9 Comments

News

Well, this is probably not the way he saw this going down. The message is clear: do not fuck with the Academy or you will be left the last one not laughing.

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Dan Aykroyd Was Nominated For An Academy Award? The Oscar Nominations That Time Forgot

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 22, 2012 2:47 PM
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11 Comments

Features

You would think that an Oscar nomination would be a total career-changer once you get it. The top prize from your peers, even just a nomination can see you offered all kinds of new opportunities. But sometimes, that can be a short-term effect: looking over lists of past winners in the major categories, all but the most comprehensive film nerd or awards buffs will find more than a few films and performances that they never knew existed, let alone gone anywhere near the Academy Awards.

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The 5 Worst Best Picture Oscar Line-Ups Of All Time

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 20, 2012 2:57 PM
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48 Comments

Awards

Alright, you've already seen our picks for the five best BEST Picture years, the Oscar years that you can actually look back on and not wince if you're a fan of movies and just-deserved prizes. So let's keep it simple: here are the five worst years below, the ones that make fans of cinema rather crazy and that have had people bitching about it ever since.

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The 5 Best Best Picture Oscar Line-Ups Of All Time

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 20, 2012 2:39 PM
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43 Comments

Awards

Given that 2011 was one of the better years for English-language cinema in recent memory, it's disappointing that this year's Best Picture line up feels more anaemic. Sure, you'll find few who'll quibble with the inclusion of " Moneyball" -- it's the kind of fearsomely smart, grown-up entertainment than in an ideal world, would make up the majority of nominees. And even those who weren't totally won over by "The Tree of Life" surely can't find much to complain about when it comes to its inclusion.

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