And the Oscar goes to....

LOS ANGELES, CA- I grew up loving the Oscars.  I like the evening's glamorous fashions, the little snippets of the screenplays, famous kisses to seat-climbing winners and the wildest acceptance speeches.

 

Like you, the Oscars brings out the child in all of us.  We all dream of walking the Red Carpet on the arm of a movie stars we like while hundreds of bulbs flash simultaneously.

 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences aka Oscar is the world's preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema.

Last Wednesday, I arrived in Los Angeles, California to cover the 85th Academy Awards.  

 

US-based Boholano socialite Mikey Gatal, who lives in the downtown Los Angeles County, accompanied me during the Oscars activities. 

 

It was like an epic to watch the red carpet being physically rolled out last Wednesday for the ceremony. The golden statues were being readied. Statuettes of Oscars are ready for visitors and tourists at a local souvenir shop in Hollywood. 

 

Mikey and I gushed when we witnessed how the Oscars organizers and crew were all organized.  

 

"They are very organized and they have a very tight security," observed Mikey.

 

Before starlets hit the Red Carpet, Hollywood Boulevard was being dressed for the occasion. It was closed between Orange Drive and Highland Avenue. There was re-routing bus traffic. However, people could still visit the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Forecourt of the Stars at Grauman's Chinese Theater and Madame Tussauds Hollywood and Hollywood Museum and the Max Factor Building. (I was thinking to visit the Hollywood Walk of Fame after the Oscar activities for the day yet Mikey rushed me to Hollywood's famous spots.)

 

At the Dolby Theater (formerly known as Kodak Theater), the statues were lined the length of the red carpet which is approximately 500 feet. A little bit of Oscar trivia – the size of most common set-dressing Oscar is 34 in. diameter (base), 7½ feet tall and 65 pounds. The statuette was designed by Cedric Gibbons, art director for MGM studios, and was sculpted by George Stanley.

 

Mikey Gatal

In the week leading up to the Oscars, Mikey and I attended the events celebrating this year's nominees. The Oscar Week featured screenings, film clips, and discussions with filmmakers and artists whose work has garnered nominations in the animated feature film, documentary, foreign language film, make-up and hairstyling and short film categories.

 

We’re hearing more and more about what kind of show to expect this Sunday.

 

The films Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, Argo and Les Miserables earned multiple Oscar nominations.

 

Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron told reporters that Academy Award winner Jane Fonda will join Jennifer Garner, Kristen Stewart and Kerry Washington to present on the Oscar telecast. They are working on a tribute to the genre of movie musicals. With Dame Shirley Bassey, Adele and Barbra Streisand performing, as well as the Les Miserables cast members Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, it promises to be an all-singing, all-dancing kind of affair.

 

Fonda earned seven nominations and won Academy Awards for her roles in "Klute" and "Coming Home." Garner was seen in this year's "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" and will be seen next in "Dallas Buyers Club." Stewart is best known for her role as Bella Swan in the "Twilight" saga and also starred in 2012's "On the Road" and "Snow White and the Huntsman." Washington starred in the Best Picture Nominee "Django Unchained" and was seen in "A Thousand Words." Washington is also the star of ABC's hit drama "Scandal."

 

Fonda, Garner, Stewart and Washington join a stellar list of previously announced Oscar presenters including Jennifer Aniston, Michael Douglas, Jamie Foxx, Paul Rudd, Salma Hayek Pinault, Melissa McCarthy, Liam Neeson, John Travolta, Ben Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Mark Wahlberg, Ted and "Marvel's The Avengers" cast members Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo; returning 2011 Oscar winners Jean Dujardin, Christopher Plummer, Octavia Spencer and Meryl Streep; "Chicago" cast members Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones; special guests Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Daniel Radcliffe, Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron; and performers including Kristin Chenoweth, Jennifer Hudson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks, Aaron Tveit and Helena Bonham,Adele, Dame Shirley Bassey, Norah Jones and Barbra Streisand.

 

Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Feb. 24, the Oscar Sunday, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

 

Meanwhile, excuse me as I attend the Oscar Party tonight.

 

Here is the complete nominations lists:

 

Best Motion Picture

Argo
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django UnchainedLes MisérablesLife of PiLincolnSilver Linings PlaybookZero Dark Thirty 

 

Achievement in Directing

Ang Lee, Life of PiBenh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
David O. Russell, Silver Linings PlaybookMichael Haneke, Amour
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

 

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings PlaybookDaniel Day-Lewis, LincolnDenzel Washington, FlightHugh Jackman, Les MisérablesJoaquin Phoenix, The Master

 

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings PlaybookJessica Chastain, Zero Dark ThirtyNaomi Watts, The ImpossibleQuvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

 

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Alan Arkin, Argo
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

 

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams, The Master
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Sally Field, Lincoln

 

Best Animated Feature Film

BraveFrankenweenieParaNormanThe Pirates! Band of MisfitsWreck-It Ralph

 

Original Screenplay

Amour, Michael Haneke
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
Flight, John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal

 

Adapted Screenplay

Argo, Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi, David Magee
Lincoln, Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell

 

Best Foreign-Language Film

A Royal Affair (Denmark)
Amour (Austria)
No (Chile)
War Witch (Canada)
Kontiki (Norway)

 

Original Score

Anna Karenina, Dario Marianelli
Argo, Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi, Mychael Danna
Lincoln, John Williams
Skyfall, Thomas Newman

 

Original Song

"Before My Time," J. Ralph; Chasing Ice"Everybody Needs a Best Friend," Walter Murphy and Seth McFarlane; Ted
"Pi's Lullaby," Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri; Life of Pi
"Skyfall," Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth; Skyfall"Suddenly," Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boulil; Les Misérables 

 

Achievement in Production Direction

Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln

 

Achievement in Cinematography

Anna Karenina, Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained, Robert Richardson
Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda
Lincoln, Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall, Roger Deakins

 

Achievement in Costume Design

Anna Karenina, Jacqueline Durran
Les Misérables, Paco Delgado
Lincoln, Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror, Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Huntsman, Colleen Atwood

 

Best Documentary Feature

5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Searching for a Sugar Man

 

Best Documentary Short Subject

Inocente
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption

 

Achievement in Film Editing

Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

 

Achievement in Makeup & Hairstyling

Hitchcock
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables

 

Best Animated Short Film

Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head Over Heels
Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"
Paperman

 

Best Live-Action Short Film

Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew
Death of a Shadow
Henry

 

Achievement in Sound Editing

Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty

 

Achievement in Sound Mixing

Argo
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

 

Achievement in Visual Effects

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Marvel's The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman