Oscars 2015: Anna Kendrick will perform at the ceremony
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6.15pm Preparations are now well underway at the Dolby Theatre. Here's the hair-saving, rain-proof tent in all its glory:
(Reuters)
6pm William Hill are offering 5/1 odds that Jennifer Lawrence will trip on the red carpet tonight for the third year in a row. But they also have some more sensible Oscar odds, and it's good news for all you Redmayniancs. (Is that a thing? It is now.)
-Best Picture: 8/13 Birdman; 5/4 Boyhood; 25/1 American Sniper; 40/1 The Grand Budapest Hotel; 40/1 The Imitation Game; 50/1 The Theory of Everything; 100/1 Whiplash; 125/1 Selma
-Best Actor: 1/4 Eddie Redmayne; 11/4 Michael Keaton; 16/1 Bradley Cooper; 40/1 Benedict Cumberbatch; 100/1 Steve Carell
-Best Actress: 1/50 Julianne Moore; 16/1 Reese Witherspoon; 25/1 Rosamund Pike; 40/1 Felicity Jones; 50/1 Marion Cotillard
-Best Director: 8/13 Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu; 6/5 Richard Linklater; 40/1 Wes Anderson; 40/1 Bennett Miller; 66/1 Morten Tyldum
-Best Supporting Actor: 1/50 JK Simmons; 14/1 Edward Norton; 20/1 Mark Ruffalo; 40/1 Ethan Hawke; 50/1 Robert Duvall
-Best Supporting Actress: 1/66 Patricia Arquette; 25/1 Emma Stone; 33/1 Keira Knightley; 33/1 Laura Dern; 40/1 Meryl Streep
5.50pm Some pre-Oscars facts:
-Supporting Actress favourite Patricia Arquette lost money making Boyhood. She says she spent more on hiring dog walkers and babysitters than she was paid for the entire 12-year shoot.
-The makers of Birdman hired a band of drummers to distract Times Square tourists during filming of Michael Keaton’s naked freak-out scene, so he wouldn’t get too mobbed. They also had to get permission from each each advertiser seen on billboards around the square.
-Over 100 special effects ‘stitches’ were used to make Birdman look as if it were shot in one take.
-Director Paul Thomas Anderson still has no idea if author Thomas Pynchon approves of his adaptation of the book Inherent Vice, even though it’s nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.
-This year’s films could be the least-watched Oscars line-up in years. So far, the eight nominated films have taken just $605 million - a far cry from the $1 billion made by 2012’s crop. And most of that is thanks to American Sniper and The Imitation Game.
-Miuccia Prada designed the matching sets of luggage used in Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, lining them with mauve satin even though the insides aren’t seen. The were accompanied at all times on set by their own security guard
-Whiplash has more swearing than any other Best Picture nominee, with 91 F-bombs dropped (thank you, Wall Street Journal). Of course, this pales in comparison to The Wolf of Wall Street, which last year filled the Oscar swear jar with 506 F-bombs (plus much more besides).
-The first statuette presented tonight will be the 2,952nd presented since the first Oscars in 1929.
-Alan Turning’s original Enigma machine, which he called Christopher, cost £100,000. The copy built for The Imitation Game cost just £30,000 - possibly because it doesn't work. “The sum total of its mechanism was that its wheels turned in a sequence similar to the real thing,” explained production designer Maria Djurkovic. As for all those red cables, they were weaved together by interns.
-Richard Linklater made star Ethan Hawke promise to take over directing Boyhood if Linklater died before finishing it.
5.19pm For an alternative look at this year's Best Picture nominees, try these Pop Art-inspired posters commissioned by the photo agency Shutterstock.
(Odes Roberts)
(Kathy Cho)
(Bryant Nichols)
See the full collection, plus an explanation of what on earth is going on in that American Sniper poster, at the Shutterstock website.
4.55pm One question seems to crop up in some corner of the internet every Oscar year: why are there no awards for stunt performers? After all, while the leading men are cuddling plastic babies the stunt actors can be found throwing themselves off buildings in order to make them look good. Yet the Academy barely acknowledges their existence.
As usual, Jason Statham hit the nail on the head in a recent interview with Vanity Fair: “These are the unsung heroes,” he said. “They’re risking their necks. Then you have some guy standing in front of a f_____g green screen screwing his face up pretending like he’s doing the stunt... ”
Luckily the stunt industry has its own Oscars, the Taurus Awards, where last year A Good Day to Die Hard won the Best Work with a Vehicle award for this sequence:
Highlights of the winning chase, wrote the judges, included “head on driving, multiple crashes, and 90, 180, and 360 degree spins... Chase ends with a Mercedes G Wagon doing a k-rail slide turnover and the MRAP doing a cannon roll, flying off a bridge and t-boning a big rig.” You have to admit, it does sound livelier than Best Editing.
4.35pm Never mind what Meryl and co will be wearing this evening - what will they be eating? Chef Wolfgang Puck, who you may know from his role as Chef Smurf in the 2011 film The Smurfs (also starring Neil Patrick Harris), has created a seemingly endless selection of tapas-style dishes, none of which seem especially personal trainer-friendly. Feast your eyes on the full menu:
Spicy Tuna Tartare, Sesame Miso Cone
Smoked Salmon Oscar Matzo
Assorted Pizzas
Lobster “BLT” with Bacon, Tomato, Chive Aioli, and Brioche
Aged Cheddar Grilled Cheese with Roasted Tomato
(Wolfgang Puck Catering)
Smoked Hominy Toasts, Avocado, Salsa Verde (above)
Crispy Artichokes, Citrus-Chili Gremolata
Beet Latkes, Pastrami Duck, Apple Mustard
Parsnip Chips, Caponata, Capers
Homemade Pretzels, Pimento Cheese
Five-Year Aged Gouda and Parmigiano-Reggiano
Deviled Eggs with Spiced Crab
Roasted Nuts with Rosemary, Cayenne, Sea Salt, and Brown Sugar
Breadsticks and Seeded Lavash
Baked Potato with Caviar
Chicken Pot Pie, Black Truffles
Parsnip Soup with White Chocolate, Pears, Rosemary, and 24k Gold
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
(Wolfgang Puck Catering)
Mini American Wagyu Burgers, Aged Cheddar, Remoulade (above)
Crispy Potato Galette with Smoked Salmon and Caviar
Wagyu Shortrib, Hay-Smoked Kabocha Squash Puree
Celery Root Agnolotti, Black Winter Truffles
Dover Sole, Fennel, Chili, Orange Miso Vinaigrette
Lobster Salad with Artichokes, Asparagus, Fava Beans, Baby Beets, and Citrus Vinaigrette
Chinois Chicken Salad
Chilled Sweet Pea Soup with Black Truffles
Coffee Oscar Lollipops
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Mint Truffles
Strawberry Marshmallow Rocher
Vanilla Caramel
Nougat Gianduja
WP Artisanal Chocolate Truffles and Bon Bons
(Wolfgang Puck Catering)
Peanut Butter Strawberry Jelly Lollipop (above)
Truffle Coconut Macaron
Violet Crème Brûlée, Blackcurrant Jelly
Passion Fruit Pate de Fruits
Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta, Raspberry, Cherry
Bittersweet Chocolate Cupcake, Marshmallow Frosting
Assorted Chocolate Barks and Bars
White Chocolate Cream, Wild Strawberry Push Pops
Hollywood Chocolate Mousse, Citrus Crème Brûlée
Assorted Mini Cookies
Dark Chocolate Brownie
Mexican Spiced Chocolate Brownie, Earl Grey Ice Cream, Cocoa Crumbs
Apple Millefeuille with Brown Butter Sauce and Apple Cider Jelly
Tiny Vanilla Bean and Hot Fudge Sundae
Leftover food is donated to Los Angeles food banks, although whether or not they’ll want Robert Duvall's old devilled eggs is another matter.
4.05pm Our own Patrick Smith - in common with every other man, woman and child on earth - adores singer, actress and all-round ball of charm Anna Kendrick. So much so that he thinks Kendrick's performance at tonight's Oscars may steal the show. But his countdown of the best Kendrick performances has one serious omission: her and Jake Gyllenhaal's duet of Cam'ron's Hey Ma, from End of Watch. Altogether now:
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