At 8:30PM (following a half-hour red carpet special), the 80th Annual Academy Awards ceremony will begin, finally putting an end to the "There Will Be Oscar" or "Oscar Country for Old Men" type headlines. more ›

• Perhaps the big surprise (besides Juno getting nominated for Best Director and Best Picture) was Ruby Dee for her work in American Gangster (its only other nomination was for art direction)

Due to the Writer's Guild of America strike, Hollywood's party, the Golden Globes Awards were transformed from a boozy, fun dinner party to a press conference where presenters from entertainment programs like Extra! and E! News got to announce the winners. Yes, it was as painful as it sounded (Giuliana Rancic, it's not about you); many said they couldn't believe they were announcing the winners but said they would prefer it with the stars. Inside Edition's Jim Moret struck a classy note when he acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Association (the organization that doles out the Golden Globes) President Jorge Camara. more ›

The most exciting story in New York theater this year had nothing to do with the Broadway stagehands' strike, it was the vibrant growth of what used to be called “experimental theater”, a movement that can now really only loosely be defined by what it’s not: non-naturalistic and not made for TV, with an emphasis on bold physicality, collaboration and, sometimes, multimedia. more ›

Early this morning Hayden Panettiere and other Hollywood elite looked ready to hit the town for a night out even though it was 5:30am. They were announcing this year's Golden Globe nominees, often a good sign for who will be nominated for that other gold statue. All in all New York-based shows and movies fared well as the envelopes were opened sheets of paper were read from. 30 Rock (Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical... more ›

The New York Film Critics Circle met yesterday to vote on their “Best of” list for 2007; widely viewed as a barometer for the upcoming Academy Awards, the critics pride themselves as “a principled alternative to the Oscars, honoring esthetic merit in a forum that is immune to commercial and political pressures.” But if one anonymous member is to be believed, the meeting sounds more like a “principled” excuse for an Aint It Cool News-style... more ›

Last night the 59th Annual Emmy Awards took place on the left coast, but New Yorkers made out very well. New York productions/creative types that took home the gold: Late Night with Conan O'Brien (writing), The Daily Show (variety-comedy show series), 30 Rock (best comedy), and Dick Wolf (for producing Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee). In the would-have-been arena, America Ferrera won best actress in a comedy, Ugly Betty, which was originally supposed to shoot in the Big Apple but shoots in L.A. because it's cheaper. We'll also count Rob Marshall, who won for directing the Best Variety-Musical Special, Tony Bennett: An American Classic, since he has Broadway roots. more ›

There is tons of speculation all over the Internet about the Oscar nominations for films released in 2006. As an Oscars fiend, we're not going to digress about the calculus of vote-splitting. Instead, we'll point out a couple things we noticed: more ›

Yes, yes, last night was the Golden Globes. And boy, that Warren Beatty NEVER SHUTS UP. more ›

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association voting pool for the Golden Globes only consists of 83 members, but every year their mainstream tastes become one of the potential early prognosticators for the Emmys and the Oscars. Over in Beverly Hills today, the stylists are putting the finishing touches on the stars' couture, that long red carpet is being laid and some assistant is double checking the seals on the envelopes. Here in New York of course, we get to play the more enviable armchair critic job hashing out who might be taking home this year's statues after tonight's telecast [8 - 11 pm on NBC]. more ›

After last year's mess of an awards show and this year's joke of nominations (where is love for Lauren Graham, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences?), we were going to swear off this year's Emmys. But then we realized Conan O'Brien was hosting, so we must watch and liveblog. And there's the hope of a good Steve Carrell bit, not to mention awkward reaction shots of Candy and Tori Spelling during the Aaron Spelling tribute. more ›

Broadway's big night celebrated two hit shows, both with word "Boys" in the title. "Jersey Boys," the musical about singing group, The Four Seasons, won Best Musical and two actors won Best Actor (John Lloyd Young) and Best Featured Actor (Christian Hoff), and "The History Boys," a play about British education, won Best Play, Best Direction and Best Actor (Richard Griffiths). The speeches were all very heartfelt, touching and classy - Frances de la Tour, who won as Best Featured Actress in The History Boys, graciously thanked the crew and said she felt at home in "New York, New York." LaChanze won Best Actress in a Musical for The Color Purple, and thanked Oprah Winfrey at the very end. And Cynthia Nixon won Best Actress in a Play for The Rabbit Hole, and called herself a theater geek. The team behind The Drowsy Chaperone, the throwback to the 1920s musical, won a bunch of big awards, including Best Book and Best Score, with its Canadian creators thanking America. more ›

The American Theater Wing announced the 2006 Tony award nominees, and there are a lot of notables: more ›

As Jon Stewart takes to the stage this Sunday at 8 pm to host the 78th Annual Academy Awards, the movie-lovin' Gothamist will be watching with eager anticipation from our couch. The spectacle, the glamour, the bad musical numbers and cheesy memorial montages -- we love it all. In fact, Gothamist (ie. Jen Chung and movie correspondent Karen Wilson) will be live blogging the ceremony but in the meantime, here's a few predictions for the winners: more ›

With the Oscar nominations announced this week, you can expect much of the box office traffic to be people trying to cross films off of their list that they are just now realizing are "important." However, the new releases keep a coming and the New York repertory houses are programming away, so there's loads of good flicks to check out this weekend. more ›

- Nicolette Sheridan does not look over-Botoxed with fish lips! more ›

The obvious 800-pound, 2000-pound or even 20-ton gorilla in the room is anyway. Just brave the crowds and get it over with already. more ›

It's all about Brokeback these days: This morning, Kate Beckinsale, Mark Wahlberg, and Steve Carrell announced the 63rd Annual Golden Globe nominations, and Brokeback Mountain walked away with 7 nominations, including Best Picture (Drama), Director, Actor, Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams). Match Point, the unreleased Woody Allen movie, also got nods in Picture and Director, plus Supporting Actress Scarlett Johnanssen. As for the TV nominations, the ladies of Wisteria Lane took four leading actress nominations, giving Weeds' Mary Louise Parker a good shot of winning, though Felicity Huffman and Marcia Cross were fierce this year. We do want to say this, though: Kristen Bell, you were robbed! more ›

The reaction camera is off its game, as it catches celebrities at the oddest moments. You see Maria Shriver, Governator is looking down at the floor, probably for that yummy piece of shrimp that fell.
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For ticket information, here's what the MTR says. Here's the BBC's The Office site. You can buy the Christmas Special on DVD. Also, Gervais on a Golden Globe earlier this year for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his work in The Office. Plus, Ask Gothamist on being a temp and dating coworkers. more ›

The Late Show's website Big Show Highlight is also of Murray discussing Lost in Translation back in February; he also got a "Dave" tattoo during the show. more ›

Yay for surprises. The announcement of the 76th Academy Awards nominations were not the snoozefest we thought they would be, thanks to some shockers. Some thoughts on the categories: more ›

At this point, Gothamist will speculate about the Best Picture Oscar nominations. We expect to see "Seabiscuit" to fall out; technically excellent but less than full blooded. "Mystic River" might be too dark, but Clint is Hollywood royalty. The 8 nominations gives "Cold Mountain" some momentum, but if audiences don't respond, it's unlikely that it will be nominated for as many. It seems a given that "Lord of the Rings" will be the top nomination getter, as it will be nominated for pretty much every single technical category. So for Best Picture come Oscar time, we expect to see "Lord of the Rings," "Master and Commander," most likely "Cold Mountain," probably "Mystic River," and fifth slot is a wild card: "Lost in Translation" is a possibility (could be too precious for some), as is "Finding Nemo" even though it's a cartoon (it's one of the few consensus good films of the year). Gothamist will continue to look at different categories leading up to the Globes and Oscars. Stay tuned. more ›

Many wonder what is the use of following these critics' awards, since they are only directionally useful in wondering who will win the Oscars, an imperfect process also. Gothamist ventures to say that when things move us, we want to talk about it, think about it, tell others about it. Movies are a reflection of who we are and become calling cards of ideas and dreams to other places, whether it's to a rural farm town in Nebraska or an emerging metropolis like Shanghai. Sure, there's an amount of unspeakable crap, but it's also nice to see that some exceptional work is being recognized. more ›

Oscar Commentary
Oscar is celebrating its 75th anniversary, I'm celebrating my 25th anniversary of watching Oscar. more ›

The evening is over, while Gothamist will be following up with extensive commentary about the actual Oscar telecast, here are the winners and some post-game analysis: more ›