|
Speculation
Rife
HOLLYWOOD, California — The new crop of Oscar nominations is out and—unlike previous years—there is no strong favorite for the golden statuettes that will be presented March 26th in Hollywood. There are 23 separate categories and while “American Beauty”, “The Cider House Rules” and “The Insider” together walked off with a total of 22 nominations in various categories that doesn’t mean they will be winners. What it does mean is that there will be plenty of speculation in the weeks leading up to Oscar Night and journalists will be taking part in the guessing game in print and on television. One can find everything they need to know about top films, actors, actresses, screenplays and dozens of other categories on the Internet. There are even film clips. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences established the Academy Awards to recognize outstanding achievements within the industry and this will be the 72nd time the Oscars have been bestowed. The Academy’s official website is Oscar.Com where
you will find everything from the Academy Awards history to a listing of
current nominations by category. Most of us will watch the awards ceremony
on television, so the Oscar Com site has a special section about the telecast
and Billy Crystal who will preside. It’s probably a good idea to click
on the “Site Map”, since Oscar Com has so much material you need
to to make sure you haven’t missed anything.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
has its own very forgettable website, mostly devoted to blowing its own
horn.
Mr. Showbiz is one of the Internet’s best sites
about the world of entertainment and they have created an informative site
about the Oscars. There is a rundown on nominees, interviews with some
of the principles, and some critical second-guessing about why certain
movies and actors were ignored. There is also information about the motion
picture industry in general.
Hollywood Online is where you can watch actual videos from the nominated movies. There is also a synopsis of each film that’s been nominated. To see video clips one first goes to Best Picture
Nominees, then clicks on the name of the desired film. For “The Sixth Sense”
there were both downloadable Videos that are played on QuickTime and Streaming
Video which plays as it downloads.
There is a better selection of Oscar nominee videos
at the Film Com site which has a special section on the Oscars at this
address:
Click on “Media Library” for a rundown on available media. For “The American Beauty” there were six film clips while “The Cider House Rules” had only two, including the promotional trailer. The always reliable Yahoo! Has a very comprehensive website about the Academy Awards under its “Full Coverage” rubric. First there is a page of general links, consisting of news stories, a list of nominees, Internet news sources about the Oscars and more. To get Yahoo’s “Full Coverage” of a specific picture, actor or actress, simply click on the name. At “American Beauty”, for example, there were
dozens of links to sites or info about that film. Included were numerous
reviews from such sources as Variety and Kenneth Turan, several dozen news
stories, many websites and more. You could also access the official website
about the movie which had been posted by the studio.
For a no-nonsense listing of the Academy Awards
by year, by category, or by current nominations, visit The Internet Movie
Database. If you’re in a hurry and need the information fast, this is the
site for you. The best thing about the site, though, is that once you’ve
found what you’re looking for, the site opens a wealth of information about
that particular nomination or topic.
|
||||
