Grae Gram

I usually don’t like watching awards shows, frankly because they tend to disappoint (the lackluster Grammys tribute to MJ — they could’ve done better), but, aside from the fashion (check out the Oscars Fashion recap here on GraeGram after the awards), I believe this year’s Oscars could be quite entertaining.  Here are a few spoilers if you haven’t heard any of the Hollywood Gossip behind the show:

• This year there are 10 best picture nominees: in an effort to acknowledge that there are several great films produced every year, the Academy decided to nominate twice as many this year including a double nomination for animated film Up
• Steven Martin and Alec Baldwin share hosting duties: if you like 30 Rock or saw last year’s It’s Complicated maybe this excites you.  I just want to know when the Academy is going to give Chris Rock another shot; he was so misunderstood. . .

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• Juicy gossip: former spouses James Cameron (Avatar) and Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) are competing for both Best Director and Best Picture awards.  This could be awkward, especially since Cameron was quoted as saying that they should award his team with Best Picture and give Bigelow the Best Director statuette since he doesn’t need another.  However, to her credit, Bigelow is only the third woman to be nominated for Best Director and the first to win the Directors Guild of America Award for the same category (precedent says the winner of this award will win the Oscar).  Plus, historically, if a film has nominations for Picture, Director, Editor, Actor, and Screenplay, regardless of winning, it’s usually a lock for Best Picture.  This could get ugly. . .
• And here’s the ugly: Nicolas Chartier, one of the producers of The Hurt Locker, has been banned from the show this year for sending out nasty emails about a certain film directed by a certain someone’s ex, but said film is never mentioned by name.  Really Academy??  There are smear campaigns every year surrounding Awards season.  I bet this wouldn’t have been an issue if Spielberg, Lucas, or Coppola had sent out the same email. . .
• Precious: this film is really the little engine that could, racking up nominations for director Lee Daniels, actress Gabourey Sidibe and supporting actress Mo’Nique not to mention film editing and adapted screenplay.  Wait, could this film upset The Hurt Locker‘s chances?  Well, we did elect Barack President before Hillary. . .
• Mo’Nique:  I’m sure she’ll flash us a little hairy leg during the red carpet and give a heart warming speech thanking God for giving her the opportunity to do what she loves — I think she’s going to win for her category hands down, even against Meryl Streep.  My thoughts on why she’s winning?  That will have to wait for the post show recap.
• A Tribute to John Hughes: like MJ’s music, Hughes shaped many of our adolescent lives with such hits as The Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and St. Elmo’s Fire. Hopefully, the Academy sees fit to give Hughes a better tribute than all the failed ones for MJ (I mean really people, would it have been so hard to get Ne-Yo, Usher, Omarion, Chris Brown (yeah, I said it), Justin Timberlake (yeah, I said that, too) and the countless other young artists who cited MJ as their idol/inspiration to do a tribute, maybe something like his 1995 MTV Awards performance??  But, I digress. . . )

For a full list of the nominees

And watch the 82nd Annual Academy Awards this Sunday, March 7 8P EST/5P PST on ABC