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Tag: 86th Academy Awards

  • Pizza Delivery Man Enjoying Fame

    Pizza Delivery Man Enjoying Fame

    Edgar Martirosyan, the pizza delivery driver from the Oscars, is having his fifteen minutes of fame. By now, you probably know the story. Martirosyan, who works for Big Momma’s and Pappa’s Pizzeria in Los Angeles, thought he would just be delivering the pies to the writers backstage at the Dolby Theater while the 86th Academy Awards ceremony was going on.

    However, host Ellen DeGeneres had other plans.

    She told Martirosyan to follow her out on stage and suddenly the delivery driver was handing out slices to the biggest A-List talent in all of Hollywood. He even got a little help from the likes of Brad Pitt, Jared Leto, and Keven Spacey. He spoke of the whirlwind moment, “They told me I’m going to deliver pizzas for writers, and then when I went there, Ellen (DeGeneres) came out and told me, ‘Just follow me. When I was going, I realized I’m on the stage, and I just went. … I wasn’t nervous. I was cool. I was shocked. I didn’t know what was going on.”

    Now Martirosyan is working the Hollywood circuit. He appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday, where the host took out Pharrell’s hat which contained the $600 cash that she collected while working the star-studded crowd. Then she threw in an extra $400, to give Martirosyan an even $1,000 tip.

    The Moscow native has sat for countless interviews and also appeared on Piers Morgan Tonight on Monday to talk about the experience, “I was just shocked. It was a really great moment. I’m thinking that’s when you say American dream, this is really the American dream.”

    The owner, Ararat Agakhanyan, is loving the publicity that his pizzeria is getting on the international stage. TMZ estimates that the pizza joint is getting about $10.8 million in free advertising. The owner told The Los Angeles Times, “All of our locations are crazy busy right now. We had no idea that our pizzas were going to be on TV. We’re ordering supplies like mad, stocking up on cheese, pepperoni, sausage and boxes and shipping them out to the different stores.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Ellen DeGeneres Puts In Brilliant Shift At Oscars

    If the Academy Awards don’t ask Ellen DeGeneres back next year, they really are going to have one hell of a time coming up with anyone good enough to follow her act.

    DeGeneres managed a funny and tasteful monologue that only briefly skirted towards controversial (when she referred to Liza Minnelli as a drag queen for instance) and largely avoided the pitfalls of recent hosts. Think black face and “boob” jokes.

    DeGeneres as emcee was a departure in that she truly allowed the experience of watching the Oscars to be the most interactive and internet-friendly that it has ever been. She frequently interacted with the television audience by breaking the fourth wall in hilarious fashion and took “selfies” with A-List celebrities all evening long.

    This included the record-breaking photo she took with a random collection of stars that included Bradley Cooper (who took the shot), Lupita Nyong’o, her brother, Meryl Streep, Channing Tatum, Julia Roberts and Kevin Spacey among others. Jared Leto’s head was cut off but at least he made it into the picture.

    Liza Minnelli wanted in on the memorable moment, but unfortunately she was simply too short to make it into the picture. Sorry, Liza.

    As for DeGeneres, her random antics throughout the show made it impossible for the show runners to stick to the schedule or so it seemed. Did you notice that despite the embarrassingly lengthy speeches there wasn’t a series of people being “played off”? It’s as if the show runners just accepted the fact that DeGeneres was in charge for the evening and threw their arms up in the air at any idea of predictable order.

    Free reign for DeGeneres lead to some creative moments, including random conversations with nominees and not being where the cameraman expected her to be and the improvisation that followed.

    There was also a pizza delivery that led to Brad Pitt of all people paper plates so that members of the audience could share the grub. Ellen later took up a lucrative collection for the pizza, which included Lupita Nyong’o’s lip balm. She noted that it was probably valuable and pocketed it.

    It was an evening that was anything but boring thanks in large part to the efforts of Ellen DeGeneres, who proved herself a host for the 21st Century. If the Academy decides to wait another seven years to bring her back, it would be a big mistake.

    Image via YouTube

  • Oscar Winners: Did You Predict Correctly?

    Oscar Winners: Did You Predict Correctly?

    Ahead of last night’s Academy Awards, I predicted who I thought would walk away with the biggest awards of the night. Some I got I right, a couple I messed up on, and one category threw me for a loop entirely.

    Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave)

    As I said in my prediction, Lupita Nyong’o was the “It” girl of the moment. The Academy LOVES its “It” girls and while Jennifer Lawrence was last year’s, it wasn’t enough for her to do a repeat. Nyogo’o’s star is shining right now, but “best supporting” has not be a category that has been kind to newcomers. Let’s hope she sticks around after winning.

    Predicted Best Supporting Actor: Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave)

    Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

    With Leto snagging awards for his role in Dallas Buyers Club left and right prior to getting to the big stage, his win for Best Supporting Actor now seems a no-brainer. He was at the center of a great deal of buzz both for his performance and controversy that ensued over the Academy’s habit of rewarding straight actors with awards for playing LGBT characters. The habit continues.

    Predicted Best Actress: Sandra Bullock (Gravity)

    Best Actress: Cate Blanchett

    I knew we were due a major upset. The Academy Awards loves upsets. But I did not predict it would go down in this category. Although with the controversy surrounding Woody Allen and a movie that was all but snubbed over it, I should have seen this coming. Make no mistake, this win was about Allen and not Blanchett.

    Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

    My family and I watched the Awards together and we cringed on behalf of Leonardo DiCaprio as each Best Actor performance was highlighted. I knew that this was McConaughey’s year. As I said: He’s in the middle of a full blown comeback. I’m happy that McConaughey’s grown stronger as an actor, though some people will never forgive him for being a chill guy that plays the bongos naked. There are worse things. Like…having a candle shoved up your ass. Sorry, Leo. There’s always that inevitable “honorary” Oscar to look forward to.

    Best Directing: Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)

    Alfonso Cuarón, who became the first Mexican film director to win, was a shoo-in for this award. Gravity was a unique experience that came together beautifully under the direction of Cuarón. It is a movie that is not only the most accurate depiction of outer space to date; there are moments that are so visually-stunning they almost seem as if they are taken from art. Not to mention to the emotionally-gripping acting. Cuarón got the best out of everyone attached to this movie. He deserved to win.

    Predicted Best Picture: Gravity

    Best Picture: 12 Years A Slave

    I really wouldn’t call this an upset as 12 Years A Slave was a great movie with an outstanding cast. I think it’s fair to say that it would not have gotten the recognition it deserved unless Brad Pitt had used his star power as a producer and taking a role in the movie to get the film into the spotlight. It’s sad to say that as good as it was as a movie, it’s fair to think none of this would have happened without Pitt being attached. On a light-hearted note, director Steve McQueen’s “happy jump”? Probably one of the best moments of the night.

    So how did YOU do? Did you predict the big awards correctly? Did your favorite win or lose? Discuss it in the comments below!

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Academy Awards 2014: Will Blanchett Thank Allen?

    Cate Blanchett is not a lock to win Best Actress at tonight’s 86th Annual Academy Awards ceremony. However, the Australian actress has been picking up trophies left and right including a Golden Globe, virtually every critic award, an Independent Spirit Award, and the Screen Actor’s Guild Award.

    Her competition tonight includes: Amy Adams (American Hustle), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Judi Dench (Philomena), Meryl Street (August: Osage County.)

    But let’s say that Blachett’s winning ways continue, and she wins the Oscar for her heartbreaking portrayal of the titular character in Woody Allen’s film Blue Jasmine. The question everyone is asking is whether or not Blanchett will thank director and writer Woody Allen or mention his name at all in her acceptance speech.

    Allen has been working, almost non-stop, in Hollywood without issue for the past several decades. His work was hardly even interrupted when his daughter Dylan accused him of sexually molesting her 21 years ago. The police couldn’t find enough evidence against Allen, and the charges were dropped. Most people forgot about the incident, and Allen continued to woo A-List actors into doing his low-budget films like nothing ever happened.

    That is until February 1 of this year when Dylan, now 28-years-old, renewed her claim that Allen molested her as a 7-year-old. And she did it by posting an open letter in the New York Times for all the world to see. And in that letter, Ms. Farrow goes after Hollywood and all the people that continue to work with her estranged father. She even calls out Cate Blanchett by name:

    But others are still scared, vulnerable, and struggling for the courage to tell the truth. The message that Hollywood sends matters for them.

    What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett? Louis CK? Alec Baldwin? What if it had been you, Emma Stone? Or you, Scarlett Johansson? You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keaton. Have you forgotten me?

    Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse.

    So imagine your seven-year-old daughter being led into an attic by Woody Allen. Imagine she spends a lifetime stricken with nausea at the mention of his name. Imagine a world that celebrates her tormenter.

    Woody Allen subsequently published a letter of his own, denying the allegations. He put most of the blame on Dylan’s mother Mia Farrow, “Not that I doubt Dylan hasn’t come to believe she’s been molested, but if from the age of 7 a vulnerable child is taught by a strong mother to hate her father because he is a monster who abused her, is it so inconceivable that after many years of this indoctrination the image of me Mia wanted to establish had taken root?”

    So if Blanchett wins the Oscar tonight, will she thank Allen? The controversy surrounding the director has never been so high. No doubt, the actress is in a tough spot. She did thank him last night at the Independent Spirit Awards, she also thanked him when she took home the Golden Globe. She was even keeled and tactful at the Santa Barbara Film Festival when asked about the situation, “It’s obviously been a long and painful situation for the family, and I hope they find some resolution and peace.”

    It is of course unfortunate for Blanchett that she even has to deal with this conundrum, especially considering her performance in Blue Jasmine is truly one for the ages. It is perhaps not only the best female performance in a film this year, but maybe even the best performance of any actor in the past decade. If she wins, she should be celebrated not scrutinized. But there will be backlash either way. If she thanks Allen, many people will be upset that someone who could have possibly committed a horrendous crime over two decades ago, and got away with it, is receiving praise during the Super Bowl of movies, the Oscars. If she doesn’t thank him, it will look like she’s condemning him and telling the world that she thinks that he’s guilty.

    Of course, the Academy may decide to punish her because of Allen’s potential sins and give the award to Adams, who is the dark horse in the competition. Speculation aside, we will have to tune in tonight to see how the whole thing plays out.

    Image via Wikimedia

  • Charlize Theron Snuggles up to Beau Sean Penn

    Charlize Theron and Sean Penn seem really happy these days.

    Theron, 38, snuggled up to boyfriend Penn, 58, at a pre-Oscars bash hosted by Pharrell Williams at Eveleigh in Los Angeles on Feb. 27.

    During the party the cute couple held hands, cuddled at their table, danced and Penn even kissed Theron’s neck.

    “Watching Charlize and Sean get down! Both so hot,” an attendee of the event told Us Weekly. “Charlize and Sean are so gorgeous together, a natural couple.”

    The is the second public appearance the couple has made together since Theron joined Penn to support his 3rd Annual Help Haiti Home Gala in Beverly Hills.

    News of the budding romance first hit headlines at the start of the year as the two were spotted ringing in the new year in Hawaii.

    “They seemed happy to be spending some time together, very comfortable,” an onlooker said of the two. “They were both pretty relaxed and dressed down.”

    The two have gotten really serious really quickly. They moved in together in February and their love just seems to be growing as the days accumulate. Sean seems to be very happy not only becoming a couple with his beauty, but also becoming a family with Theron and her 2-year-old son Jackson.

    Since then the two have been spotted doing everyday normal things. Some really cute photos have emerged of the long-time friends over the course of the past two months since their friendship turned to romance.

    In January, Sean replied to Talk show host Piers Morgan’s blog after he congratulated Sean on his new love in a blog post.

    “She’s a keeper, that’s for sure,” relied Penn. “Well, I’ll do my best to keep her, anyway!”

    Do you think Sean and Charlize’s romance will last??

    Image via YouTube

  • Academy Award Predictions: Who Will Win Big?

    This may be the most anticipated Academy Awards show in a number of years. It has been a great year for quality movies and standout acting performances. Much buzz surrounds which actors and actresses are expected to leave with an Oscar in hand.

    There is also the shadow of Philip Seymour Hoffman‘s death hanging over the event; the Academy Award-winning actor died nearly a month ago and very likely would have attended. It’s inevitable that he and other actors who have died recently, including Shirley Temple and Paul Walker, will be featured in a tribute.

    With so much attention swirling around the awards this year, there are already predictions being made as to who will likely claim the big awards of the night. Here are some predictions for the big winners of the evening. See if they match your own guesses:

    Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave)

    I give this to Lupita by a hair. She is the new much talked about darling in Hollywood this season as Jennifer Lawrence was last year. This sentiment usually follows a lock for an Oscar, but it’s very possible Lawrence may win for her role in “American Hustle”. I don’t see a dark horse in this race—it’s a toss up between these two women.

    Best Supporting Actor: Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave)

    Fassbender’s turn as an evil and cruel slave owner is what Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in “Django Unchained” would have been like had the role been played seriously. The actor has shown he has
    “stomach-turning baddie” on lock down with this performance.

    Best Actress: Sandra Bullock (Gravity)

    I will go on record as saying I do not think Bullock deserved the Oscar for her role in “The Blind Side” as I do not view it as an Academy Award-winning performance. Nothing highlighted this fact more strongly to me than her acting in the much talked about “Gravity”. To carry this movie virtually on her own (don’t let Clooney’s name in the credits fool you, he’s virtually a passenger…) and churn out a peerless performance is a feat that more than qualifies her for this award. Even with Meryl Streep rounding out the list of nominations, for Bullock to lose would be criminal.

    Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

    If you told me a decade ago that McConaughey would be receiving plaudits for his acting and actually be nominated for an Oscar…I would have laughed you off the planet. Goes to show what I know as this actor is enjoying a full-scale comeback. This is terrible news for Leonardo DiCaprio, who barring some kind of miracle, will likely see his Oscar drought continue.

    Best Directing: Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)

    This is another toss-up, the other obvious choice being Steve McQueen, director of “12 Years A Slave” (As much as I adore Martin Scorsese, I’d be surprised if he’s anything more than a distant third place occupant). Cuarón has the slight edge in that what he delivered was simply a breath-taking piece of artistic vision. He gave us unarguably one of the most realistic looks at outer space to date with stunning visuals and yet it served as merely a back drop to a far more intimate and emotionally compelling piece of storytelling.

    Best Picture: Gravity

    Even though “Gravity” is a strong contender for best picture, it’s walking a tight-rope. This is a year for upsets and I predict if we’re going to get a major upset this year (hard with so many outstanding movies in this category…) it’s going to come from an unexpected direction. Either “Her” or “Dallas Buyers Club”.

    The Academy loves themes, so it’s very possible we might see a sweep. Pay close attention to which movie wins the other major awards. It may set the tone for the biggest award winner of the night.

    There are other major awards for the night. Who do you think will win? Do you see a sweep coming? Share in the comment section below!

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Jared Leto Is A Near Guarantee To Win an Oscar

    There are front-runners and then there are guarantees. Jared Leto seems as much as a guarantee as possible to take home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on Sunday night at the 86th Academy Awards. From Time Magazine to The Huffington Post to The New York Daily News, almost every critic is predicting that the 42-year-old is as good as gold to receive the trophy for his portrayal as a transgender HIV Positive woman named Rayon in the powerful drama Dallas Buyer’s Club.

    Leto’s competition for Best Supporting Actor:

    Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
    Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
    Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave
    Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street

    While a case could be made for any other contender, especially Johah Hill’s over the top comedic performance in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Leto leaving without a statue on Sunday would be a shock to the industry. Leto’s transformation to Rayon is considered a career best for the actor who actually “retired” from the Hollywood life for the past six years in order to front his rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars.

    Leto has already swept most the critic’s awards this year. He also won both the Golden Globe and the Screen Actor’s Guild trophies. Leto, who is known as a method actor, totally disappeared into the role of Rayon. Although, Matthew McConaughey is the star of the film and the Dallas Buyer’s Club is his vision to provide HIV Positive patients with affordable and effective medicine outside of the health care system, it is Leto’s Rayon that turns McConaughey’s Ron Woodroof from a homophobic bigot to a compassionate caring man.

    The actor describes Rayon like a living person, rather than a character on a page. “She’s an incredible, empathetic, beautiful dreamer. A heart the size of an ocean. She’s an absolutely one-of-a-kind creature. So, a lot of love and support for her as well. I feel like she became a person, a real person. Especially because I was so deep inside of her. I really feel like I got to know this person. It became like a living, breathing life. It was a once-in-a-lifetime role.”

    It’s clear that Leto brought that passion for the role into his performance. She wasn’t just a drag queen with AIDS, Rayon was a deep soul with kindness in her heart. Leto should have his Oscar speech ready to go, there are no guarantees in life, but the chances weigh heavily in his favor that he will have “Academy Award Winner” next to his name come Sunday night.

    Image via Jared Leto, Twitter

  • Idina Menzel Set To Perform ‘Frozen’ Theme “Let It Go” At The 2014 Oscars

    Idina Menzel has a reason to be excited given the esteemed notification she received today!

    According to Entertainment Weekly, the ABC network announced the Frozen star will be performing at the 86th Academy Awards. Menzel, who was the star voiceover artist for the leading role of Elsa, the Snow Queen, will perform “Let It Go” from the film’s motion picture soundtrack.

    The massive 2013 box office success has been lauded with two Oscar nominations. “Let it Go,” the film’s theme song, is nominated for the Best Original Song. The song’s contenders include: Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” from Despicable Me 2, “Ordinary Love” by U2 from the biographical film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and Karen O’s “The Moon Song,” which was featured in Her.

    The 42-year-old singer-actress took to Twitter to share her elation of the prestigious honor. “It’s really happening,” she tweeted. “I’m singing on the Oscars! Surreal. Thank u frozen family and Oscar producers for this incredible opportunity.”

    While the official announcement may have solidified Menzel’s place in the performance lineup, the publication reports that the Broadway star has already been rehearsing the live rendition of the song in anticipation of the upcoming Oscars.

    (image)

    Menzel’s notable acting credits include the Broadway musical Rent, Wicked which she received a Tony Award for, and the 2007 box office success Enchanted.

    Disney’s Frozen, which was directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, was theatrically released in the United States on November 27, 2013. The film has grossed more than an estimated $914,180,767 since its box office release. The animated fairy tale will be released for digital download on Feb. 25. The Blu-ray/DVD release is set for March 18.

    The 2014 Oscars will be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The biggest night in film is scheduled to air Sunday, March 2, at 7:00 p.m. ET on the Alphabet.

    Image via Facebook | Frozen (1) (2)