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Predict the Oscar Winners and Win an iPad 2 and Prada Case!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:10:23 PST

Dazzling, talented stars aren't the only ones who have a chance to win big on Feb. 26 at the Oscars. Predict who you think will take home statuettes, and if you are on the money, you could win a fabulous iPad 2 16GB Wi-Fi and a gorgeous Prada case!

It's easy to enter:

Step 1: Create or log in to your PopSugar account. To become a member, register now for free. (You need to be logged in before you fill out the ballot).

Step 2: Click here to fill out your predictions and submit your ballot. Keep your fingers crossed on Feb. 26, because if you predict the highest number of Oscar winners, you could take away a gorgeous iPad 2 and Prada case!

Pretty easy, huh? Let's see if you've got what it takes to make the most accurate Oscar predictions!

To see the official rules, click here.

Watch Oscar Nominee Jean Dujardin Audition For Every Villain Role Ever

Shannon Vestal — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:30:34 PST

Best actor nominee Jean Dujardin has a good chance of winning the Oscar for his performance in The Artist, and this Funny or Die video has a very specific idea for his career trajectory. Two Hollywood types inform Dujardin that many foreign Oscar winners go on to play memorable villains, so the good-natured Dujardin agrees to audition for a bad guy role - in every possible upcoming movie. Watch the ultra-charming star and his French accent try out every clichèd villain threat (and catch all the hilarious titles for sequels that aren't real . . . yet).

Jean Dujardin's Villain Auditions from Jean Dujardin

How to Throw a Midnight in Paris-Themed Oscar Party

Shannon Vestal — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:30:00 PST

If you're planning on throwing an Oscar viewing party for Hollywood's big night on Feb. 26, then I suggest that you go big this year and give your event a theme. Take a cue from the nominees and let best picture nominee Midnight in Paris give you inspiration. It has plenty of elements that translate into an opulent party: Paris, the 1920s, and many of its own scenes of revelry. Here's how to use the Woody Allen film as your party muse, and don't forget to fill out a ballot with your Oscar picks for a chance to win an iPad.

How to decorate: Scatter vintage books by the authors featured in the film, like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and T.S. Eliot, and decorate with mini French flags and twinkle lights. Stand a cardboard cutout of the Eiffel Tower near the entrance of the party.
How to dress: The dress code can be either 1920s French (think flapper and drop-waist dresses), or you can just wear your regular clothes like Owen Wilson's character Gil, but you have to continually act surprised and impressed by your surroundings.
What to serve: A rainbow of French macarons, a cheese plate, baguettes, and fancy crepes. Serve champagne in '20s-style glasses like the ones used in the film (though these are disposable).

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Keep Track of How Many Oscar-Nominated Films You've Seen With Our Checklist

Shannon Vestal — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:30:38 PST

The countdown to the Oscars is on, and if you're a movie nerd like us, you're trying to see as many nominated films before the ceremony airs on Feb. 26. To help you keep track of how many you've already seen - and to check off more as you watch more films - we've put together a checklist for you. Print it out, mark off the movies you've seen, and then return to it. There are 46 movies up for Academy Awards, so click here to download the checklist, and get watching!

Oscar Poll: Which of the Best Picture Nominees Have You Seen?

Lizzie Fuhr — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:09:40 PST

With all things Oscars on the brain, there's no better time to find out which best picture nominees you've seen and which you still need to check out. No worries if there are a few on this list you haven't seen yet: there are still a few weeks to hit the theaters before the big night! Click through to tell us which of the nine nominees you've seen that are up for the biggest award of Oscar night.

How to Throw a The Artist-Themed Oscar Viewing Party

Shannon Vestal — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:30:00 PST

The Oscars air on Sunday, Feb 26, and any movie lover already has the date penciled in. In case your plans are even grander than simply watching the show and you want to throw a viewing party for friends, then why not pick a theme based around one of the best picture nominees? I'm suggesting The Artist as inspiration, the delightful silent film that's been creating a deafening award season buzz. Here's how to pull it off.

How to decorate: All your decorations should be black and white, with art deco accents. Play The Artist movie soundtrack or big band music while guests are arriving. And if you know anyone who owns a Jack Russell Terrier, borrow him and pretend he's Uggie.
How to dress: In glam 1920s Old Hollywood garb. Think tuxes for men, and flapper dresses or diaphanous gowns and long pearls for women.
What to serve: Lots of champagne, of course, along with Manhattans and Sidecars, cocktails popular in the '20s.
How to act: Ask everyone to be as silent as possible, but expressive with their face and hands. It sounds crazy, but at least you won't have to shush anyone when the show starts.

Photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company

The Muppets' Music Man Bret McKenzie on His Oscar Nod and Taking a Silly Job Seriously

Lindsay Miller — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:50:41 PST

Bret McKenzie is up for an exceedingly rare honor this year, with his ballad "Man or Muppet" earning one of just two nominations in the Oscars' best song category. I caught up with The Muppets' musical supervisor today at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to chat about the awards attention and the unique experience of penning music for Kermit and company. The New Zealand native talked about fighting the temptation to use the word "motherfrogger" in his songwriting and the roundabout way he came on board The Muppets project in the first place. Bret - who previously was best known as one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords - also shared his hopes of bringing FOC to the big screen. Check out our conversation below:

PopSugar: It's got to be an honor to be nominated for an Oscar, but also in a year when the Academy only bothered to nominate two songs.
Bret McKenzie: They barely nominated anyone! When I found out, it sounded like there'd been a mistake, and yeah, it's a huge honor. It's great and it's really exciting, and I'm not complaining that there's only two nominees the year I'm nominated. I mean, this is the best chance I'll have of winning an Oscar, ever. It couldn't have been better, unless there was just one nomination, and then it would be a very dull ceremony . . . There's a lot of legendary musicians - tunesmiths - in that list of possible nominations. So it's all very surreal to think that I got in ahead of Elton John.

PS: And Madonna. Those two had a little rivalry going on.
BM: I know. I got nervous about what Elton John's husband was going to say about me. It's crazy, and it's great for The Muppets film, because we're all really proud of the film and it wasn't ever really going to get a best actor. Hey, Jason's good, that's not what I mean, but Kermit, Miss Piggy - they can't win these awards - and comedies don't generally get recognized at these awards ceremonies, so it's kind of cool. It's almost like the film as a whole is being recognized with this category.

For more from our chat with Bret, including what he says about his plans for a Flight of the Conchords film, coaching Jason Segel, and the pressure he felt on the project, just

read more! PS: What was the biggest unexpected challenge for you writing music for the film? I know you talked about one draft of a song where you referred to a Muppet as a piece of felt and were told you couldn't do that. BM: Yeah. Little piece of felt, and you couldn't say things like motherfrogger, even though it's very tempting. There were lots of hard parts to it. The Muppets can't sing certain notes. They can't sing too high or the voice changes and doesn't sound like the right character. There were so many weird things. I spent hours recording penguins and rats, and what's weird is that it's such a silly job, but you have to take it very seriously. So I would be in the studio for days, maybe a whole day recording penguins, and then I'm like, "I'm not happy with how the penguins are sounding! Where's penguin four?" You know, getting demanding. "We lost penguin track four! I can't hear the penguin!" PS: I was watching the movie again last night and watching Jason Segel's performance of "Man or Muppet." Did you coach him on any of his rockstar moves? Because he pretty much nailed it. BM: He nailed it. That's my favorite moment in the film. When he buckles down in the rain, that was one of my favorite shots. I was so proud of what James [Bobin, the director] and those guys achieved, because I wasn't there on set, I just saw them syncing the video, and I was like, "Wow, guys. You nailed it." What we did do in the studio, as Jason and I had a technique where I would sing a line, and he'd watch me through the window, and then he'd sing it back. So we did this thing where, I was really into the drama of it. So, I was like, "Am I a Muppppettt?" [balling his hands into fists] And he'd be like, OK, record. "Am I a Muppppettt!" So we kind of worked together to get that style. PS: Did it shatter some of your childhood illusions to have the guy that does Miss Piggy's voice come work with you [in the recording studio]? BM: Yeah. Well, it wasn't Frank Oz. The guy Eric, who does it now, yeah. That was strange. And the day that we recorded Kermit the Frog doing "Rainbow Connection" - I was sort of pinching myself, because that was probably one of the real moments for me where I realized that my world had really changed. That I'd come from New Zealand, I'd grown up with Kermit the Frog, and now I was in Hollywood in a studio recording Kermit the Frog. It felt like worlds had collided. PS: Was there pressure knowing there was already this great catalog of Muppet songs? To try to add to that or top it in some way? BM: I knew I wouldn't top "Rainbow Connection," but I was very intimidated, but the way I worked on the job was it actually started with me just writing one song, so I didn't feel the pressure of writing the whole movie. I think it would have been different if I'd been hired from the outset to do all the music. So I wrote one, then another, and gradually wrote more and more, so that helped. PS: What song did you write first? BM: The opening song. That's the one they needed, that's the one James asked me to write first. The script was probably on a second draft, and they were in preproduction, so I came in quite late. And the way they were doing it was, they got 100s of demos submitted from all sorts of songwriters, and surprisingly - even though they got some really great people to do demos - people weren't quite hitting the right tone. The Muppet tone. I'd just come off the Conchords tour and I had some time, and James asked if I was interested in doing that opening song, because he had a kind of specific thing he needed from that song. He needed it to be really Muppet-y, that song, and he had a great idea for the whole town joining in, it starting off small and becoming a big musical number, and that came together really well. PS: Is this experience maybe something you want to bring to a Flight of the Conchords movie? BM: Yeah, exactly. Having done this movie now, we're in a much better place to do a Conchords film, because James is more experienced - well, we're all more experienced. Not specifically, but James Bobin - well, we're all very keen to do another studio musical, because I really enjoyed being able to do comedy musical numbers on such a grand scale, and I think next time, I really think it will just get better and better. Because it's such a fun genre, and we've done like 50 songs for TV now, and now The Muppets movie, and I feel like we've accidentally sort of become musical comedy experts. PS: What do you imagine Bret and Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords are up to these days, in their universe? BM: In the Lower East Side? That's a good question. I reckon they probably got a regular gig now. Like, at a Chinese restaurant. Photo courtesy Disney

Watch the Trailer For Best Foreign Film Oscar Nominee Bullhead

Lizzie Fuhr — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:30:41 PST

If you're gearing up for the Oscars like we are, then you'll definitely want to check out the trailer for best foreign language film nominee Bullhead. The Belgian movie follows cattle farmer Jacky Vanmarsenille (Matthias Schoenaerts), who's constantly hopped up on a cocktail of steroids. When he gets involved with a mafioso meat trader, Jacky takes on a sketchy deal that has enormous consequences on his life and forces him to face past trauma.

The trailer favors brutal and stark images over dialogue, but it's also hypnotizing in a way. If you are looking to check out as many Oscar nominees as possible before the big night, this film is having limited release starting Feb. 17. To watch this poignant trailer, just keep reading.

Triple Threat: 13 Actors Who Swept Award Season

BuzzSugar — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:15:02 PST

With the Oscars only a couple of weeks away, we've got a few predictions, and it looks like certain people (go Christopher Plummer, go!) might be sweeping this award season. There are many actors who have pulled off this feat in the past, so if you're curious to see the talented people who took home the Golden Globe, the SAG, and the Oscar for their work, just take a look at this list of triple winners (and you can check out the ladies here).

Oscar Crossovers: Movies That Star Multiple Nominees

Shannon Vestal — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:07:24 PST

This year's Oscar nominees have fairly long and impressive résumés, so it's only natural that many of them have starred in other movies together. Some of these folks can't seem to stay away from one another (I'm looking at you, Pitt and Clooney), while other combinations might surprise you. Check them out before you see them all reunited for the Oscar show on Feb. 26.