academy awards

Much like the Super Bowl, the Oscar broadcast is also becoming as much about the commercials as it is about the big show. And thanks to the popularity of the Best Picture nominees this year, advertisers are likely to have an even bigger audience than 2010's 41.3 million viewers.

J.C. Penney hasn't even launched its new logo yet, but the critics aren't wasting any time in trashing it. Why do companies repackage themselves -- and what happens when customers don't like the new look? Just ask Gap or Tropicana, both of which quickly reverted to what they had previously.

Usually, the Oscars highlight the chasm between Hollywood's elite and average Americans. But, says one movie critic: "This is one of the rare years when critics and paying audiences backed the nominees." Also notable in 2011 is a youth movement in the nominees -- and the show's hosts.

Create your own red carpet event for an Oscar-viewing party on Feb. 27. Celebrity event planner Mark Addison, who's worked with stars such as Kelly Ripa, Drew Barrymore and Queen Latifah, knows how to throw an Academy Award bash on a budget. Addison shared his tips on how to make a viewing party...

The King's Speech, which tells the tale of how King George VI overcame his stammer to deliver a moving speech to his countrymen as they fought the Nazis in World War II, is considered a front-runner to win the Oscar for Best Picture next weekend. For people with speech problems today, however, the...

Even though the Academy Awards banned official swag bags four years ago (thanks to an IRS decree that actors must pay taxes on the gifts), companies still scramble to get their items into the luxury-laden gift baskets.

How's this for an Academy Awards script? FADE IN: INT. AWARDS HALL -- NIGHT Packed house of luminaries, each more beautiful than the next. CLOSE on AGING MOVIE STAR bent over at the podium. AGING MOVIE STAR And the Oscar for pettiness between cable and network broadcasters goes to ... WABC of New...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has accomplished just want it wanted to by expanding its Best Picture category to 10 nominees: creating space for deserving movies that would have been ignored in the past.

Hoping to reverse a trend of slumping ratings for the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is changing the award show's format, doubling the number of best picture nominees, from five to 10. The idea is to make room for more crowd-pleasing hits like The Dark Knight and Wall-E....

Oprah made bling uncool again last December when she couponized her decadent "Favorite Things" show. This Sunday, millions of us will tune into the Oscars on Sunday for a bit of glamor, but this time Hollywood isn't going to rub our noses in its annual pageantry of excess. Everything about the...