Red Carpet Lineup: Oscar Beauties, 86th Edition

We're almost done! Only 35 more Oscar posts before w--- No for reals though we have to talk about fashion at least briefly. There sure was a lot of granny froufrou beading fussy texture on trend this year, huh? Which works on some people but not everyone. And weirdly it doesn't work at first and then totally works by the end of the evenin on some people. By some people I mean the happy Blue Jasmine twosome, whose gowns worked really well once you saw them all snuggly together in their seats. 

SUPPORTING LADIES FIRST

America's Sweetheart 90s Edition, Sally, America's Sweetheart 10s Edition, Sensation, Squibb

I think Julia Roberts should've gone younger/sexier to combat the visual drabness of the Barbara role in August and because Jennifer Lawrence, red hot, has already stolen her Sweetheart crown (in fairness Julia abdicated the throne after her Oscar win so no one really took it from her). Sally Hawkins! (Why do I feel like her bohemian signature characters Ginger & Poppy both would not approve of what their creator is wearing?) I was going to do a poll of best dressed but I figured Lupita Nyong'o would get 100% of the votes making it the most boring poll of all time. I know this is June Squibb's favorite Christmas Party Dress getting a surprise airing in March. 

BEST ACTRESS - AKA FOUR OF THE MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN THE BIZ

5 Times, 18 Times, 6 Times, 2 Times

Judi Dench never shows. Do you think she watches overseas?

Amy Adams has never looked better and that dress was so tight that visual effects were employed to show her jumping up to dance with Pharrell in it. Because: impossible. Meryl Streep with a little off the shoulder glam. But white blouses are risky when you're eating pizza. Cate Blanchett looking like an ethereal elf quee... hey, wait a minute. And Sandra Bullock also looking sensational. The Best Actress shortlist did the red carpet proud.

But which among them wins your "best" votes. Tough call. right? 

Which of the First-Time Nominees Will Return Soon to Oscar?

Some years ago now I did a study on how often actors win second nominations. I can't find the figures at the moment but I believe it was around 42%. Obviously it's not as many as we pretend each Oscar love-in season. Though it's arguably easier to win a second nomination than it is a first -- they're already considering you if you will -- that doesn't mean it's easy, if you get me. The Oscars are definitely a pyramid in shape. There's only one actor with 18 nominations and there are hundreds of thousands with 0. I don't mean to be a bummer, just to underline how special and rare the Oscar experience is even for celebrity actors. Lineups like Best Actress this time, which I believe has the highest average nomination count of all time in an acting shortlist, fool us into believing otherwise but the majority of first nominations are also last nominations. 

the first-timers this year that DIDN'T win: Chiwetel, Sally, Barkhad, Fassy, June*should we do a fashion post?

But let's stay optimistic!

Who among this year's first-time nominees do you think will be the first to be invited back? Explain your choice in the comments. I think I'm going with Sally Hawkins only because her work has been really solid for a long time and now that they've noticed her, perhaps a rush of even better roles will happen? It's not always easy to predict. I mean, who among us thought that Jonah Hill would be the first among the new men from the class of 2011 to do it? There's no wrong answer. At least not for another year or three. 

poll by twiigs.com

If you like this poll, there are more, you know. Vote on those, too!

Backstage at the 86th Oscars

The people who are lucky (or random as Cate Blanchett might say) to win an Academy Award get their moment on the stage and then dive headfirst into a throng of press backstage who proceed to ask them generally innocuous, occasionally offensive, usually bland, nationally-biased questions. This year was no different, but there's usually at least one tasty lil bon mot hidden amongst the winners' videos so while the Academy haven't released the full videos yet, we can still use what we've got to find those anecdotal morsels and quick quips.

All the acting winners, Frozen, Cuaron, Jonze and the make-up artists after the jump...

Cate Blanchett:

This is an auction! I'm for the highest bidder."

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And the Link Goes To...

Mashable "12 Ways June Squibb is the New Jennifer Lawrence"
Kenneth in the (212) Indiewire article on The Normal Heart appears to be outing Taylor Kitsch. Typo? Weird punctuation? Odd sentence structure?
Yahoo Movies premieres the Paddington teaser. But don't get too excited Nicole Kidman is nowhere to be seen
/Film The Avengers Age of Ultron scrambling to rethink shooting schedule. They start shooting next month when Scarlett Johansson will totally be showing (4 months pregnant at the moment)

MNPP do dump or marry: two Hemsworths, one Ben
Dark Horizons Hugh Jackman planning to hang up the Wolverine claws soon. YES! I 100% co-sign everything my friend JA says about this one on his blog:

Honestly at seven films down I'm kind of ready for Jackman to do something else, too. As long as he keeps taking his clothes off, of course! But the bulging vein Wolverine look has gotten to be too much. Smaller and sleeker but still naked - that's what he should do.

Oscar Hangover
Self Styled Siren a must read on Kim Novak's industry history and her Oscar appearance
LA Times a Memo to Hollywood on Lupita Nyong'o's future. (Her slate is pretty much free now -- Who's going to sign her to what?)
MNPP is this the best picture from the Oscar after parties? The expressions!
The Wire "We All Have To Get On The Same Page Of What Oscars Year This Is" I'm so happy Joe Reid has joined me on this lonely battlefield  
Variety 5 brands that deserve an Oscar for marketing. Arby's certainly made a brilliant move on Oscar day

Today's Watch...

Idina Menzel remembering to have fun with the third defining song of her career on Jimmy Kimmel. (If you haven't been paying attention -- her two other huge cultural moments were "Defying Gravity" in Wicked and Maureen in general in Rent & "Take Me or Leave Me") 

Curio: Sunday's Special Oscar Foods

Alexa here. My annual Oscar tradition of theme food took a detour this year, primarily because the most anticipated part of the show for the members of my household under 5 was hearing Idina Menzel sing the song that launched a million YouYube viewings.  

So, instead of a meal made of clever puns I made a "Let It Go" cake, complete with swirly snow icing.

Appropriately enough, our meal beforehand was some rather uninspired pizza, which we enjoyed sharing with Brad and Meryl. [More from the menu after the jump...]

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