Academy Awards

The Coen Brothers join Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron and Billy Wilder in the list of directors that have received three awards for a single film at the Oscars. Their brooding, bloody tale of violence No Country for Old Men won best picture, director and adapted screenplay. Javier Bardem also won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role as Anton Chigurh in No Country. Full list of winners after the jump.  read more »

In December, The Observer interviewed last night's Best Actor winner Daniel Day-Lewis about his performance. Here is Sara Vilkomerson's account of her afternoon with the real-life Daniel Plainview.

“For the most part I try to hear the voice, which is one of the most deep and personal ways we present our very selves. It’s like a fingerprint of the soul,” said Daniel Day-Lewis. Last week, the 50-year-old actor was discussing his character, Daniel Plainview, in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, There Will Be Blood, based upon Upton Sinclair’s turn-of-the-century novel Oil! “Little by little a voice started to talk in my head, and then the problem becomes how to make those sounds—to get it out of your head.”  read more »

Some fashion week models are wearing T-shirts backstage that tout Angelina Jolie's Global Action for Children to attract attention to the cause as they get their pre-show hair and makeup done. [WWD]

Amy Winehouse was denied a US visa to attend the Grammy Awards, but she may appear via satellite. [Us]  read more »

Vanity Fair just announced that they are planning to cancel their annual Oscars after-party.

Here's the entire announcement, as posted on VF Daily this afternoon:

After much consideration, and in support of the writers and everyone else affected by this strike, we have decided that this is not the appropriate year to hold our annual Oscar party. We want to congratulate all of this year’s nominees and we look forward to hosting our 15th Oscar party next year.

Now that the Golden Globes has flopped and the Academy Awards are in jeopardy, the Screen Actors Guild and Film Independent Spirit awards shows have a chance to shine this year. Both shows—the proverbial bridesmaids—have been granted waivers from the Writers Guild of America, so the stars are expected to show up in their designer finest. What else are they going to do with those red carpet gems they've been hording all year?  read more »

Continuing to play hardball, the Writers Guild of America turned down waiver requests for both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. Writers won't be drafting a script and the organizations won't be able to use use clips of movies and past Academy Awards shows.

Broadcasting & Cable reports:

In a letter, WGA West president Patric Verrone said, “We must do everything we can to bring our negotiations to a swift and fair conclusion for the benefit of writers and all those who are being harmed by the companies’ failure to engage in serious negotiations.”

Joan Rivers says she’s become bored of talking about celebrities’ designer duds on the red carpet. But Regis Philbin, 76, is just preparing to reinhabit the you-look-fantastic red carpet roost he ruled back in the 1970s. It turns out the morning chat-show host has just been tapped to cover the textile beat during ABC’s Academy Awards preshow on February 24.

“Regis is the perfect guy to serve as host…He knows everyone and everyone loves Regis! I’m thrilled that he has greed to be the ringmaster for this year’s extravaganza,” said Dennis Doty, a producer of the Academy Awards. This means that Mr. Philbin will have free reign of the carpet for the entire half-hour preceding the show’s start-time. This means that American Idol’s Ryan Seacrest, who offers garment gab for E! on Oscar night, will have to stand back and observe as Mr. Philbin takes to the stars. This news comes just days after the cheery TV personality let a future scheduling agreement slip on Live with Regis and Kelly. Apparently, beginning in the fall of 2008, he will co-host the caffeine-fueled chat-fest only three days a week.

We haven’t even peeked Paul Thomas Anderson’s much anticipated There Will Be Blood (in theaters December 26) or Mike Nichols’s star-studded Charlie Wilson’s War (December 25), but Oscar speculating has already begun. To give you a leg up in your Oscar pool, Entertainment Weekly has a “handicapping tip sheet” to make your guesses as educated as possible. For pros, some of their advice will seem pretty obvious. For instance, that the arty movies you wish would be nominated for Best Picture (ie, Into the Wild, Rescue Dawn) could well show up in the screenwriting category, since screenwriters have more “adventuresome spirits” than the Academy folks doing the big category judging. Or that there’s a schmaltz factor in choosing the Best Actor and Actress. However, EW’s background on who does what voting is insightful and smart, and their trust no-one—especially bloggers—attitude is, well, refreshing. “Some of those [movie] bloggers tend to get chest-thumpy about a certain type of (usually male, usually violent) film: This year, a lot of bluster is already massing around No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. They're contenders, but rhetoric doesn't equal votes.” True that—but we’re still betting Mr. Anderson and his star, Daniel-Day Lewis, will come out somewhere near the top.