This is big: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that it will double the number of films that are nominated for the best picture, from five to ten. The change will take effect next year. The ten…

A few minutes before I entered the bleachers outside the Kodak Theatre for the Oscars, I was walking down an alley behind Hollywood Boulevard and ran into Guillermo Diaz, the parking lot attendant who has become an unlikely celebrity on…

As I reported earlier this week, the Academy Award gendarmes rousted me for using my video camera on the red carpet; but later I did manage to smuggle out some footage. Here’s a taste of what it was like on…

Early arrival Miley Cyrus blows me a kiss–and misses.

From my third row perch in the bleachers along the red carpet, I snared some juicy images from the 2009 Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood. Click here to see them.

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LOS ANGELES • On Thursday I arrive at LAX with a tuxedo in my suitcase and a screenplay in my carry-on; but it doesn’t feel like Oscar season until I see Ben Kingsley. Sir Ben is standing curbside with his…

I’ve brought a miniature video phone with me to Hollywood, and I’m supposed to use it to send streaming images back to the heartland, live on the Web. My first attempt, however, was cut short by a dying battery and by a skeptical lady…

I’m fascinated by statistical analyses of Oscar voting, and now an expert on political voting has jumped into the discussion. Nate Silver, who runs the well-regarded elections site fivethirtyeight.com, has predicted the winners for Sunday’s Academy Awards.

Silver, like most analysts, says…

Two local AMC theaters will be screening all five Oscar nominees for Best Picture on Sat., Feb. 21. The AMC West Olive and AMC Chesterfield Mall are among 97 theaters nationwide that will be showing the movies back to back…

Guessing games are more fun than sure things, and last night the awards handed out by the Screen Actors Guild added some fun uncertainty to the Oscar race.

When Meryl Streep won best actress for “Doubt,” she said she was so…

When the Academy Award nominations were announced this morning from Beverly Hills, there were more than the usual number of surprises.

The biggest surprises included a best actress nomination for the little-known Melissa Leo in the little-seen “Frozen River”; a best actor…