Votescam: Oscar Edition

From the London Guardian:
Computer security experts have warned that the 2013 Oscars ballot may be vulnerable to a variety of cyber attacks that could falsify the outcome but remain undetected, if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences follows through on its decision to switch to internet voting for its members.

The Academy announced last week that it would be ditching its current vote-by-mail system and allowing its members to fill out electronic ballots from their home or office computers to make their choices for best picture and the other big Hollywood prizes, starting in 2013.

It announced a partnership with Everyone Counts, a California-based company which has developed software for internet elections from Australia to Florida, and which boasted it would incorporate "multiple layers of security" and "military-grade encryption techniques" to maintain its reputation for scrupulous honesty in respecting its members' voting preferences.

The ballot change will be a culture shock for an Academy voting community that tends to be older and more conservative: indeed, concerns are already surfacing as to whether all of the Academy voters even have email addresses.

But Everyone Counts' security claims have been met with deep scepticism by a computer scientist community which has grappled for years with the problem of making online elections fully verifiable while maintaining ballot secrecy – in other words, being rigorous about auditing the voting process, but still making sure nobody knows who voted for what. So far, nobody has demonstrated that such a thing is possible.

"Everybody would like there to be secure internet voting, but some very smart people have looked at the problem and can't figure out how to do it," said David Dill, a professor of computer science at Stanford University and founder of the election transparency group Verified Voting. "The problem arises as soon as you decouple the voter from the recorded vote. If someone casts a ballot for best actor A and the vote is recorded for best actor B, the voter has no way of knowing the ballot has been altered, and the auditor won't be able to see it either."

Dill and many other leading computer scientists have listed multiple potential vulnerabilities to internet systems making vote-tampering possible, including denial-of-service attacks, malware, and penetration of the server's security wall. He reacted with particular alarm to the notion that the Academy's more than 5,000 voters would cast their ballots from their own computers.

"The hardest problem is when you have malicious software on the machine where the vote is cast," he said. "If that's the user's home PC, that's a huge problem, because lots of people have undetected viruses on their machine. A lot of people are under the control of hackers in eastern Europe, or wherever, and don't even know it."

Three years ago – in the wake of a decision by the Democratic party to let overseas voters participate in its presidential primary via internet – Dill issued a formal statement outlining the problems with internet voting, and persuaded 30 of America's top computer scientists to sign it...

Dill said his concern about the arrangement went well beyond the integrity of the Academy Awards themselves. Rather, he worried about the publicity implications of an awards ceremony broadcast to tens of millions of people across America and around the world.

"I don't want this to set a precedent and give a PR push to internet voting generally," he said. "I don't want the message to be: they used it for the Academy Awards, so it's OK to use it to vote for the president."

Full Article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/feb/02/oscars-vulnerable-cyber-attack-experts-warn

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

http://vimeo.com/35404908

Moonbot Studios, the animation studio behind this film, is gaining hype as "The Pixar of the iPad age." If this is any indication, the studio has earned the hype. To read more about Moonbot on The Atlantic and see more photos from the film:

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/archive/2012/02/the-pixar-of-the-ipad-age-goes-to-the-academy-awards-with-its-short-film/252703

Moonbot Studios:
http://www.moonbotstudios.com

Moonbot's description of the film:

Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, “Morris Lessmore” is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favor. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a new narrative experience that harkens back to silent films and M-G-M Technicolor musicals. “Morris Lessmore” is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” was the winner of best animated short film of 2011 at the 84th Academy Awards...

Academy Award Winners 2011

Here are the 2011 Oscar winners, courtesy of EW.com:
BEST PICTURE
The King’s Speech

BEST ACTOR
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

BEST ACTRESS
Natalie Portman, Black Swan

BEST DIRECTOR
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

BEST SONG
“We Belong Together,” Toy Story 3, Randy Newman

BEST EDITING
The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Inside Job, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
God of Love, Luke Matheny

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Strangers No More, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood

BEST MAKEUP
The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

BEST SOUND EDITING
Inception, Richard King

BEST SOUND MIXING
Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, and Ed Novick

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Fighter

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
In a Better World (Denmark)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Toy Story 3

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
The Lost Thing, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Melissa Leo, The Fighter

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Inception, Wally Pfister

BEST ART DIRECTION
Alice in Wonderland, Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara

Oscars & Razzie Nominations

Here's a list of the 83rd annual Academy Award nominations, courtesy of the AP:
1. Best Picture: "Black Swan," ''The Fighter," ''Inception," ''The Kids Are All Right," ''The King's Speech," ''127 Hours," ''The Social Network," ''Toy Story 3," ''True Grit," ''Winter's Bone."

2. Actor: Javier Bardem, "Biutiful"; Jeff Bridges, "True Grit"; Jesse Eisenberg, "The Social Network"; Colin Firth, "The King's Speech"; James Franco, "127 Hours."

3. Actress: Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right"; Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole"; Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"; Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"; Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine."

4. Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, "The Fighter"; John Hawkes, "Winter's Bone"; Jeremy Renner, "The Town"; Mark Ruffalo, "The Kids Are All Right"; Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech."

5. Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "The Fighter"; Helena Bonham Carter, "The King's Speech"; Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"; Hailee Steinfeld, "True Grit"; Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom."

6. Directing: Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan"; David O. Russell, "The Fighter"; Tom Hooper, "The King's Speech"; David Fincher, "The Social Network"; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "True Grit."

7. Foreign Language Film: "Biutiful," Mexico; "Dogtooth," Greece; "In a Better World," Denmark; "Incendies," Canada; "Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)," Algeria.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, "127 Hours"; Aaron Sorkin, "The Social Network"; Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich, "Toy Story 3"; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "True Grit"; Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini, "Winter's Bone."

9. Original Screenplay: Mike Leigh, "Another Year"; Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson and Keith Dorrington, "The Fighter"; Christopher Nolan, "Inception"; Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, "The Kids Are All Right"; David Seidler, "The King's Speech."

10. Animated Feature Film: "How to Train Your Dragon," ''The Illusionist," ''Toy Story 3."

11. Art Direction: "Alice in Wonderland," ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," ''Inception," ''The King's Speech," ''True Grit."

12. Cinematography: "Black Swan," ''Inception," ''The King's Speech," ''The Social Network," ''True Grit."

13. Sound Mixing: "Inception," ''The King's Speech," ''Salt," ''The Social Network," ''True Grit."

14. Sound Editing: "Inception," ''Toy Story 3," ''Tron: Legacy," ''True Grit," ''Unstoppable."

15. Original Score: "How to Train Your Dragon," John Powell; "Inception," Hans Zimmer; "The King's Speech," Alexandre Desplat; "127 Hours," A.R. Rahman; "The Social Network," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

16. Original Song: "Coming Home" from "Country Strong," Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey; "I See the Light" from "Tangled," Alan Menken and Glenn Slater; "If I Rise" from "127 Hours," A.R. Rahman, Dido and Rollo Armstrong; "We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3," Randy Newman.

17. Costume: "Alice in Wonderland," ''I Am Love," ''The King's Speech," ''The Tempest," ''True Grit."

18. Documentary Feature: "Exit through the Gift Shop," ''Gasland," ''Inside Job," ''Restrepo," ''Waste Land."

19. Documentary (short subject): "Killing in the Name," ''Poster Girl," ''Strangers No More," ''Sun Come Up," ''The Warriors of Qiugang."

20. Film Editing: "Black Swan," ''The Fighter," ''The King's Speech," ''127 Hours," ''The Social Network."

21. Makeup: "Barney's Version," ''The Way Back," ''The Wolfman."

22. Animated Short Film: "Day and Night," ''The Gruffalo," ''Let's Pollute," ''The Lost Thing," ''Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)."

23. Live Action Short Film: "The Confession," ''The Crush," ''God of Love," ''Na Wewe," ''Wish 143."

24. Visual Effects: "Alice in Wonderland," ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," ''Hereafter," ''Inception," ''Iron Man 2."

For the Academy Awards Website:
http://www.oscars.org/

Meanwhile, From GoldDerby.com:

One-time Oscar contender M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense") led the way for worst filmmaking this year according to nominations for the Razzie Awards. A two-time 2006 Razzie winner for the tepid "Lady in the Water," Shyamalan's latest critical flop -- "The Last Airbender" -- landed nine nods to tie with "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" for the most bids.

Both of those films vie for worst picture with "The Bounty Hunter," "Sex and the City 2" and "Vampires Suck." The three leads from "Eclipse" -- Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart -- are up for worst acting -- as are the four "gal pals" from "SATC 2."

Worst Picture
"The Bounty Hunter"
"The Last Airbender"
"Sex and the City 2"
"The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
"Vampires Suck"

Worst Actor
Jack Black, "Gulliver's Travels"
Gerard Butler, "The Bounty Hunter"
Ashton Kutcher, "Killers" and "Valentine's Day"
Taylor Lautner, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" and "Valentine's Day"
Robert Pattinson, "Remember Me" and "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"

Worst Actress
Jennifer Aniston, "The Bounty Hunter" and "The Switch"
Miley Cyrus, "The Last Song"
Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, "Sex and the City 2"
Megan Fox, "Jonah Hex"
Kristen Stewart, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"

Worst Supporting Actor
Billy Ray Cyrus, "The Spy Next Door"
George Lopez, "Marmaduke," "The Spy Next Door" and "Valentine's Day"
Dev Patel, "The Last Airbender"
Jackson Rathbone, "The Last Airbender" and "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
Rob Schneider, "Grown Ups"

Worst Supporting Actress
Jessica Alba, "The Killer Inside Me," "Little Fockers," "Machete" and "Valentine's Day"
Cher, "Burlesque"
Liza Minnelli, "Sex and the City 2"
Nicola Peltz, "The Last Airbender"
Barbra Streisand, "Little Fockers"

Worst Eye-Gouging Mis-Use of 3D
"Cats & Dogs 2: Revenge of Kitty Galore"
"Clash of the Titans"
"The Last Airbender"
"The Nutcracker in 3-D"
"Saw 3D"

Worst Screen Couple or Ensemble
Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, "The Bounty Hunter"
Josh Brolin's Face and Megan Fox's Accent, "Jonah Hex"
The Entire Cast of "The Last Airbender"
The Entire Cast of "Sex and the City 2"
The Entire Cast of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"

Worst Director
Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, "Vampires Suck"
Michael Patrick King, "Sex and the City 2"
M Night Shyamalan, "The Last Airbender"
David Slade, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
Sylvester Stallone, "The Expendables"

Worst Screenplay
M Night Shyamalan, "The Last Airbender"
John Hamburg and Larry Stuckey, "Little Fockers"
Michael Patrick King, "Sex and the City 2"
Melissa Rosenberg, "Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, "Vampires Suck"

Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel
"Clash Of The Titans"
"The Last Airbender"
"Sex and the City 2"
"The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
"Vampires Suck"


The 31st annual edition of these awards take place on Feb. 26 -- the night before the Oscars -- at at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Hollywood.

Razzies worst led by 'Last Airbender' and 'Twilight: Eclipse'
Jan 24 2011
http://www.goldderby.com/films/news/977/razzies-worst-led-by-last-airbender-and-twilight-eclipse.html

YouTube Clip of the Week: Peace On Earth

Classic Christmas cartoon. MGM 1939.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8stkqssLYc

Peace on Earth is a one-reel 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon short directed by Hugh Harman, about a post-apocalyptic world populated only by animals.

Two young squirrels ask their grandfather on Christmas Eve who the "men" are in the lyric "Peace on Earth, good will to men." The grandfather squirrel then tells them a rotoscoped history of the human race, focusing on the neverending wars men waged. Ultimately the wars do end, with the deaths of the last men on Earth, two soldiers shooting each other. Afterwards, the surviving animals discover a copy of the Bible in the ruins of a church. Inspired by the book's teachings, they decide to rebuild a society dedicated to peace and nonviolence (using the helmets of soldiers to construct houses). The cartoon features an original song written to the tune of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". According to Hugh Harman's obituary in the New York Times and Ben Mankiewicz, host of Cartoon Alley, the cartoon was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. However, it is not listed in the official Nobel Prize nomination database. Mankiewicz also claimed that the cartoon was the first about a serious subject by a major studio. In 1994, it was voted #40 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. It was also nominated for the 1939 Academy Award for Short Subjects (Cartoons).

List of 82nd annual Academy Award nominations

http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com/news/376-list-of-82nd-annual-academy-award-nominations-ap

List of 82nd annual Academy Award nominations
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Associated Press

Complete list of 82nd Annual Academy Award nominations announced Tuesday:

1. Best Picture: "Avatar," "The Blind Side," "District 9," "An Education," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," "A Serious Man," "Up," "Up in the Air."

2. Actor: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"; George Clooney, "Up in the Air"; Colin Firth, "A Single Man"; Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"; Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker."

3. Actress: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"; Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"; Carey Mulligan, "An Education"; Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire"; Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia."

4. Supporting Actor: Matt Damon, "Invictus"; Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"; Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"; Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"; Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds."

5. Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, "Nine"; Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"; Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"; Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"; Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

6. Directing: James Cameron, "Avatar"; Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"; Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"; Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air."

7. Foreign Language Film: "Ajami," Israel; "El Secreto de Sus Ojos," Argentina; "The Milk of Sorrow," Peru; "Un Prophete," France; "The White Ribbon," Germany.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, "District 9"; Nick Hornby, "An Education"; Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, "In the Loop"; Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air."

9. Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker"; Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"; Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, "The Messenger"; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "A Serious Man"; Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy, "Up."

10. Animated Feature Film: "Coraline"; "Fantastic Mr. Fox"; "The Princess and the Frog"; "The Secret of Kells"; "Up."

11. Art Direction: "Avatar," "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," "Nine," "Sherlock Holmes," "The Young Victoria."

12. Cinematography: "Avatar," "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "The White Ribbon."

13. Sound Mixing: "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Star Trek," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."

14. Sound Editing: "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Star Trek," "Up."

15. Original Score: "Avatar," James Horner; "Fantastic Mr. Fox," Alexandre Desplat; "The Hurt Locker," Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders; "Sherlock Holmes," Hans Zimmer; "Up," Michael Giacchino.

16. Original Song: "Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog," Randy Newman; "Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog," Randy Newman; "Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36," Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas; "Take It All" from "Nine," Maury Yeston; "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart," Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

17. Costume: "Bright Star," "Coco Before Chanel," "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," "Nine," "The Young Victoria."

18. Documentary Feature: "Burma VJ," "The Cove," "Food, Inc." "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers," "Which Way Home."

19. Documentary (short subject): "China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province," "The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner," "The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant," "Music by Prudence," "Rabbit a la Berlin."

20. Film Editing: "Avatar," "District 9," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

21. Makeup: "Il Divo," "Star Trek," "The Young Victoria."

22. Animated Short Film: "French Roast," "Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty," "The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)," "Logorama," "A Matter of Loaf and Death."

23. Live Action Short Film: "The Door," "Instead of Abracadabra," "Kavi," "Miracle Fish," "The New Tenants."

24. Visual Effects: "Avatar," "District 9," "Star Trek."

Grand Oscar night for 'No Country'

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/env-oscarpbp,1,4585549.story

Grand Oscar night for 'No Country'
The iconoclastic filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen won three Academy Awards, including best picture.
By Susan King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

It was a golden night for the Coen brothers.

The iconoclastic filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen won three Academy Awards -- and made history Sunday evening -- with their wins for best picture, director and adapted screenplay for their gritty contemporary Western, "No Country for Old Men."

It also won an Oscar for supporting actor for Javier Bardem, who plays the merciless paid assassin at the center of the film.

Though "No Country for Old Men" is a quintessentially American movie -- and based upon the novel by Cormac McCarthy -- the 80th annual Academy Awards had a distinctly international flavor: All four acting winners were from Europe.

As predicted, Brit Daniel Day-Lewis won an Oscar for his gripping performance as a greedy oilman in "There Will Be Blood." The actor had won practically every major accolade this awards season for his audacious turn.

Frenchwoman Marion Cotillard was something of an upset, winning lead actress for her transcendent performance as France's tragic Little Sparrow -- chanteuse Edith Piaf -- in "La Vie En Rose." Going into the evening, the betting money was on veteran British actress Julie Christie for "Away From Her." Cotillard -- who transforms throughout the film from a gorgeous young girl to a frail, ailing woman -- also made history of sorts. She's the first actress to win this award for a performance in a foreign-language film since Sophia Loren did it for 1961's "Two Women."

Cotillard was clearly overwhelmed as she held the statuette aloft: "You rocked my life, you truly rocked my life," she said as she thanked the film's director. "Well, I'm speechless now. Thank you, life; thank you, love. It is true there are some angels in this city. Thank you so much."

Until Cotillard, the show's biggest surprise was Tilda Swinton upsetting favorites Amy Ryan and Ruby Dee for supporting actress for "Michael Clayton."

The shock was clear on Swinton's face: "Oh, no," she said. Looking down at the Oscar, celebrating its 80th anniversary, she added, "Happy birthday, man."

The British actress said she would be giving her Academy Award to her American agent, who is the "spitting image" of the Oscar.

Bardem's was one of the evening's first major awards. "This is pretty amazing," the Spaniard exclaimed, adding that he wouldn't hold it against the Coens for putting "one of the most horrible haircuts in history on my head."

He then broke into rapid-fire Spanish to thank, among others, his mother, who was also his date.

Diablo Cody could do no wrong this awards season.

The 29-year-old former-stripper-turned-screenwriter capped off her fairy-tale awards season by winning the Oscar for original screenplay for her bittersweet coming-of-age comedy, "Juno."

It was almost a fait accompli after she won a slew of other awards this season, including the Writers Guild of America and the Film Independent Spirit Award.

"What is happening?" asked Cody, who strode onstage in a billowy animal print dress with a thigh-high slit that she had to hold closed as she walked up to the stage. (But to be fair, it did showcase nicely that tattoo of a girl in a bikini on her right shoulder.) "This is for the writers," she said.

It was also an enchanted evening for the little Irish drama-with-music "Once," which took home the Oscar for original song for "Falling Slowly."

The song was written and performed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who star in the film about two lonely souls who meet by chance on the streets of Dublin and quite literally make beautiful music together.

It was the evening's little tune that could: It was pitted in this category against three songs from the Disney hit film "Enchanted" as well as a song from "August Rush."

"What are we doing here?" Hansard asked as he and Irglova accepted the award, noting that the film cost about $100,000 to make and was shot in three weeks. "It's been an amazing thing; thank you for taking this film seriously."

"Atonement," the sweeping romantic drama, had seven nominations, but it has received one Oscar: original score for Dario Marianelli.

"There Will Be Blood," an epic about greed, ambition and oil, went into the evening with eight nominations. It was passed over except for Robert Elswit, who won for cinematography, and Day-Lewis.

"The Bourne Ultimatum" also had a big night: The spy thriller won three Oscars. Granted, they came in technical categories of editing, sound mixing and sound editing. But still. Three Oscars.

Presenter Tom Hanks had help introducing the nominees in the documentary short category from members of the nation's armed forces in Iraq. Soldiers read out the names of the nominees and the winner, "Freeheld," about a dying police detective who is trying to get her benefits for her life partner. The statuette for feature documentary went to "Taxi to the Dark Side," about torture practices of the U.S. overseas.

Past Oscar winner Nicole Kidman presented veteran production designer Robert Boyle, 98, an honorary Academy Award for contributions to cinema, which include "North By Northwest," "Marnie" and "Mame."

Austria's Holocaust drama "The Counterfeiters" won in the foreign-language film category. It was that country's first film to win such an honor.

Earlier in the evening, the bloody musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" was honored with an Oscar for art direction. Italian production designer Dante Ferretti and his wife, set designer Francesca Lo Schiavo, shared the honor.

"The Golden Compass" also led to an Oscar for visual effects.

"Thank you!" whooped the winners, including Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood.

Moments earlier, a rat named Remy scurried off with the Oscar for animated feature.

Writer-director Brad Bird won his second Oscar in this category for the Disney-Pixar blockbuster "Ratatouille," about a French rodent who dreamed of becoming a Parisian chef.

The French theme continued into the evening as "Le Mozart des Pickpockets" won for live action short film, and the makeup award went to Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald won for "La Vie En Rose."

The Oscar for animated short film went to "Peter & the Wolf."

That gave way to Amy Adams, who starred in the Disney hit "Enchanted," performing one of the film's three Oscar-nominated tunes, "Happy Working Song." Without the birds, rats and other critters whirling around her as they were in the movie, her performance seemed rather flat.

The 80th Annual Academy Awards got underway beneath gray skies and drizzles at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood with a montage homage to Hollywood. There were scenes from such films as "North by Northwest," "Aliens," "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Terminator."

The first Oscar of the evening went to Alexandra Byrne for costume design for the historical epic "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."

"These past 3 1/2 months were very rough," host Jon Stewart began, referring to the bitter work stoppage caused by the Writers Guild strike. "The fight is over. So tonight, welcome to the makeup sex."

He then took aim at the slate of "psychopathic killer movies" nominated for Oscars, among them "No Country for Old Men," "Sweeney Todd" and "There Will Be Blood," and asked: "Does this town need a hug?"

"Thank God for teen pregnancy," he quipped, referring to "Juno."

Academy Awards ceremonies may have been postponed, but the show has gone on despite wars, assassinations and the fickleness of Mother Nature. This year, the writers strike threatened to cancel the show, but a settlement was reached and the show went on as scheduled.

susan.king@latimes.com

Al Gore, UN panel share Nobel for Peace

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071012/ap_on_re_eu/nobel_peace

Al Gore, UN panel share Nobel for Peace
By DOUG MELLGREN and MATT MOORE, Associated Press Writers
10-12-7

Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change jointly won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and to lay the foundations for fighting it.

Gore, who won an Academy Award earlier this year for his film on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," had been widely tipped to win the prize.

He said that global warming was not a political issue but a worldwide crisis.

"We face a true planetary emergency. ... It is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity," he said. "It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level."

The win is also likely add further fuel to a burgeoning movement in the United States for Gore to run for president in 2008, which he has so far said he does not plan to do.

Kenneth Sherrill, a political scientist at Hunter College in New York said Gore probably enjoys being a public person more than an elected official.

"He seems happier and liberated in the years since his loss in 2000. Perhaps winning the Nobel and being viewed as a prophet in his own time will be sufficient," says Sherrill.

Two Gore advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to share his thinking, said the award will not make it more likely that he will seek the presidency. If anything, the Peace Prize makes the rough-and-tumble of a presidential race less appealing to Gore, they said, because now he has a huge, international platform to fight global warming and may not want to do anything to diminish it.

One of the advisers said that while Gore is unlikely to rule out a bid in the coming days, the prospects of the former vice president entering the fray in 2008 are "extremely remote."

In its citation, the committed lauded Gore's "strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change. He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted."

Ole Danbolt Mjoes, chairman of the prize committee, said the award should not be seen as singling out the Bush administration for criticism.

"A peace prize is never a criticism of anything. A peace prize is a positive message and support to all those champions of peace in the world."

Bush abandoned the Kyoto Protocol because he said it would harm the U.S. economy and because it did not require immediate cuts by countries like China and India. The treaty aimed to put the biggest burden on the richest nations that contributed the most carbon emissions.

The U.S. Senate voted against mandatory carbon reductions before the Kyoto negotiations were completed. The treaty was never presented to the Senate for ratification by the Clinton Administration.

"Al Gore has fought the environment battle even as vice president," Mjoes said. "Many did not listen ... but he carried on."

Gore supporters have been raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for petition drives and advertising in an effort to lure him into the Democratic presidential primaries. One group, Draftgore.com, ran a full-page open letter to Gore in Wednesday's New York Times, imploring him to get into the race.

Gore, 59, has been coy, saying repeatedly he's not running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, without ever closing that door completely.

He was the Democratic nominee in 2000 and won the general election popular vote. However, Gore lost the electoral vote to George W. Bush after a legal challenge to the Florida result that was decided by the Supreme Court.

Gore called the award meaningful because of his co-winner, calling the IPCC the "world's pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis."

Gore said he planned to donate his share of the prize money to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan nonprofit organization that is devoted to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world about the urgency of solving the climate crisis.

The last American to win the prize, or share it, was former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who won it 2002.

The committee cited the IPCC for its two decades of scientific reports that have "created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming. Thousands of scientists and officials from over 100 countries have collaborated to achieve greater certainty as to the scale of the warming."

It went on to say that because of the panel's efforts, global warming has been increasingly recognized. In the 1980s it "seemed to be merely an interesting hypothesis, the 1990s produced firmer evidence in its support. In the last few years, the connections have become even clearer and the consequences still more apparent."

"It was a surprise," said Carola Traverso Saibante, spokeswoman for the IPCC. "We would have been happy even if (Gore) had received it alone because it is a recognition of the importance of this issue."

But some questioned the prize decision.

"Awarding it to Al Gore cannot be seen as anything other than a political statement. Awarding it to the IPCC is well-founded," said Bjorn Lomborg, author of "The Skeptical Environmentalist."

He criticized Gore's film as having "some very obvious mistakes, like the argument that we're going to see six meters of sea-level rise," he said.

"They (Nobel committee) have a unique platform in getting people's attention on this issue, and I regret they have used it to make a political statement."

This year, climate change has been at the top of the world agenda. The U.N. climate panel has been releasing its reports; talks on a replacement for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate are set to resume; and on Europe's northern fringe, where the awards committee works, concern about the melting Arctic has been underscored by this being the International Polar Year.

Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said the prize would help to continue the globally growing awareness of climate change.

"Their contributions to the prevention of climate change have raised awareness all over the world. Their work has been an inspiration for politicians and citizens alike," he said in a statement.

In recent years, the Norwegian committee has broadened its interpretation of peacemaking and disarmament efforts outlined by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel in creating the prize with his 1895 will. The prize now often also recognizes human rights, democracy, elimination of poverty, sharing resources and the environment.

"We believe that the Nobel Committee has shown great courage by so clearly connecting the climate problems with peace," said Truls Gulowsen, head of environmental group Greenpeace Norway.

The Nobel Prizes each bestow a gold medal, a diploma and a $1.5 million cash prize on the winner.
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On the Net:

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