Academy Awards

You don't have to look very hard to find evidence that no one seems to know what makes for a successful TV awards show host anymore, particularly when it comes to the biggest video gala of them all, the Oscars. After years of declining ratings and scathing reviews for its comedian-hosts, the Emmys this year went with five hosts, all of them from the reality TV genre. But the ratings and the reviews only got worse. The Grammys, meanwhile, taking a page from the Golden Globes, gave up on hosts altogether this year.

Looking for backstage access to this year's Academy Awards? You've come to the right place. All weekend, I'll be blogging about what is being said backstage, as Hollywood takes the time to pat itself on the back for whatever good work it did in 2011. The fun begins on Saturday, when I'll be attending the 27th annual Spirit Awards, given to movies produced outside the major studios and with limited budgets. Among this year's big contenders is"The Artist," which is also favored in the Oscar race -- meaning this could be the first time ever that the same film has won the Best Picture Spirit and Oscar.

Hollywood -- Philip Seymour Hoffman was named best actor last night at the 78th annual Academy Awards for his performance as Truman Capote in the film Capote. Otherwise, films with clear political messages dominated the early stages of last night's Academy Awards, as George Clooney and Rachel Weisz won supporting actor and actress Oscars for movies that questioned America's Mideast policy and the world's treatment of medical crises in Africa. In the evening's first award, Clooney won for playing a burned-out, overweight CIA agent in Syriana.

The Oscars are serious — important people making important, relevant, thought-provoking movies about race, marital relations, horses and Owen Wilson seeing dead Parisians. The dresses and jewelry are beyond fancy. The tuxes are bespoke. Sidney Poitier and Steven Spielberg are usually there. Serious stuff. Except this year, Melissa McCarthy is nominated for s---ting in a sink. Nothing against McCarthy; she's hilarious. But in honor of her garnering the rare Oscar-considers-a-comedy-a-real-film nomination, we decided to do our annual Oscar predictions panel a bit differently.

Even though the Academy Awards broadcast has improved in recent years, it's still not something I look forward to.It's always much too long. Johnny Carson, a former host of the proceedings, once called it "two hours of sparkling entertainment spread out over a four-hour show."To psych myself up for tomorrow night's Oscar broadcast (ABC at 9 p.m.), I recently took a look at "Oscar's Greatest Moments" ($19.95, Columbia TriStar1 Home Video), a newly released videotape from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Imre & Associates LLC, a Baltimore-based public relations agency, announced yesterday that it won two awards in the National 2000 Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvil Competition. The firm won a Silver Anvil award in investor relations - one of 42 Silver Anvils awarded - for its campaign work for US Foodservice on launching its e-commerce initiative. Baltimore-based P. W. Feats Inc., a special events company, helped the agency create on Nov. 9 the world's largest cybercafM-i on Wall Street to announce the venture.

In 1994, when she starred in "The Next Karate Kid," no designers were clamoring to flatter Hilary Swank's five-star figure. But since her gender-bending turn in "Boys Don't Cry," which has earned her an Academy Award nomination for best actress, she's reached a kind of quirky fashion-plate status. The willowy actress with the punk pixie haircut has become both edgy ingenue and the darling of designers eager to outfit her for the Academy Awards. "She's an attractive proposition because she's a contender and she's a cute young thing and she pulled off a difficult role, says William Calvert, a New York women's luxury clothing designer.

Despite the high number of daring and socially conscious films nominated at last night's 78th Annual Academy Awards, the telecast was surprisingly lackluster. Don't blame host Jon Stewart, of Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. When he came to Hollywood to host the awards, he did not leave his political humor at home. Referring to the gargantuan Oscar statue behind him, Stewart said: "Do you think if we all got together and pulled it down, democracy would flourish here in Hollywood?"

Tommy Lee Jones won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a federal marshal pursuing escaped convict Harrison Ford in "The Fugitive" at the 66th Annual Academy Awards last night.And, in a stunning upset, 11-year-old Anna Paquin won the Best Supporting Actress Award for her role as the daughter of a mail-order bride in Jane Campion's "The Piano."Ms. Paquin's eyes lit up with amazement when she heard her name. The actress, who said earlier she had not prepared a speech because she doubted she would win, gasped for breath and stood trembling for a few seconds after being handed her statuette, then rushed through a series of "thank yous."

WINNERS AWARD LIST, PG 6D BEST PICTURE / / "The Departed" BEST DIRECTOR / / Martin Scorsese, "The Departed" BEST ACTOR / / Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland" BEST ACTRESS / / Helen Mirren, "The Queen" Style takes center stage In a sea of haute couture, several definitive trends emerge, though "Little Miss Sunshine" starlet Abigail Breslin steals the show. PG 1D A diverse field "The Departed" leads with four Oscars; "Pan's Labyrinth" takes home three; and "Little Miss Sunshine," "Dreamgirls" and "An Inconvenient Truth" win two each.

As part of its educational mission, the Basketball Academy awards a scholarship to one player on each participating team as chosen by the head coach. Following is the list of this year's winners: Girls Aberdeen: Bri Jones Digital Harbor girls: Jaida Scarborough Dunbar: Damisha Hazelton Poly: Teira Pendleton Randallstown: Khadijah McIntyre Woodlawn: Kiaron Bailey Boys City: Alajuwan Fisher Digital Harbor: Gabe Shongo Dunbar: Evan Singletary Edgewood: Sean Hensley Edmondson: Tony Jones Lake Clifton: Rodney Hawkins Largo: Jeffrey Garvin Milford Mill: Jawuan Wilson New Town: Shawn Magginson Owings Mills: Ahamad Wilson Patterson: Kwynten Brooks Patterson Mill: J.J. Butler Randallstown: Christopher Manning St. Frances: Cory Jones (No winner was given for Friendly.)

- In her most memorable line from "Precious," Mo'Nique's character plaintively asks, "Who is going to love me?" But that's a question the Baltimore County-born actress may never have to ask again, not after receiving a standing ovation for winning the best supporting actress Oscar at Sunday night's 82nd annual Academy Awards. "God bless us all," said the composed, but clearly emotional, actress, whose star turn in "Precious" has garnered widespread, critical acclaim and numerous awards.

In her most memorable line from "Precious," Mo'Nique's character plaintively asks, "Who is going to love me?" But that's a question the Baltimore County-born actress may never have to ask again, not after receiving a standing ovation for winning the best supporting actress Oscar at Sunday night's 82nd annual Academy Awards. "God bless us all," said the composed, but clearly emotional, actress, whose star turn in "Precious" has garnered widespread, critically acclaim and numerous awards.

The making of the Oscar-nominated movie "Music by Prudence" is a tale of two schools, one in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and one in Baltimore. A favorite for best short documentary at tonight's Academy Awards, this 33-minute flight presents an affecting portrait of its tough, gifted title character, the singer-songwriter in a band of disabled youths at the King George VI School & Centre for Children With Physical Disabilities in Bulawayo. Prudence Mabhena suffers from arthrogryposis, a condition that deforms joints and cost her both her legs.

Charm City connections worked like shamrocks at the Oscar nominations this year. "The Blind Side," recounting the rise of Ravens offensive lineman Michael Oher from the Memphis projects, and "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," featuring Baltimore native Mo'Nique, won best picture nominations. "The Blind Side" also earned a best actress nomination for Sandra Bullock, as the wealthy Memphis mother who welcomes Oher into her family. "Precious" garnered five other nominations, including one for Mo'Nique's supporting performance as a monstrously abusive mother.

You don't have to look very hard to find evidence that no one seems to know what makes for a successful TV awards show host anymore, particularly when it comes to the biggest video gala of them all, the Oscars. After years of declining ratings and scathing reviews for its comedian-hosts, the Emmys this year went with five hosts, all of them from the reality TV genre. But the ratings and the reviews only got worse. The Grammys, meanwhile, taking a page from the Golden Globes, gave up on hosts altogether this year.

HOLLYWOOD -Million Dollar Baby, Clint Eastwood's film about a female boxer whose biggest challenges come outside the ring, scored a knockout last night at the 77th annual Academy Awards with four Oscar wins, including Best Picture. Released by Warner Bros. late in the year to take advantage of what the studio saw as a weak field, the film also earned awards for director Eastwood, actress Hilary Swank and supporting actor Morgan Freeman. With first-time host Chris Rock keeping things lively with pointed humor that stopped just short of being too risque for the network airwaves (censors beeped out his words at least twice)

Hanging around backstage at the Academy Awards for 10 years, you pick up a few things. And, if you're a writer, you put them in a book, which is what Steve Pond has done in The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards. Pond, originally granted permission to be a fly on Oscar's wall 10 years ago for a story for Premiere magazine, has been backstage at every Academy Awards since 1995. With this year's ceremonies only a week away, he agreed to answer some questions about what goes on behind the scenes of the movie industry's biggest night.

Some terrific recent Oscar-nominated movies, such as Good Night, and Good Luck and Capote, came as close to nonfiction in their techniques and textures as movie drama could bear. This year reverses the trend with vivid splashes of artifice and theatricality. Movies like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire, and even Milk and Frost/Nixon, though rooted in reality, have won over still-widening audiences with touches of myth and fable and sometimes just plain make-believe.

On the Web: * Doctors and their personal dramas long have been a TV staple. Now the sex-and-stethoscopes genre is the target of Rob Corddry's satirical skills. Childrens' Hospital is a series of 10 five-minute episodes available on TheWB.com, the defunct Warner Bros. TV network brought back from the dead as a Web site. Episodes are also available for purchase on iTunes, and further expansion on the Web (including YouTube) is planned. Corddry, who wrote and directed the series, plays a Patch Adams-like doctor-clown meant to cheer up patients.