Alice Ward, played in 'The Fighter' by Melissa Leo, dies in Massachusetts

Alice Ward, the mother and one-time manager of retired boxing champion Micky Ward, died Wednesday in Boston. According to the Lowell Sun website, her son Dick Eklund confirmed her death.

Actress Melissa Leo won a best supporting actress Oscar earlier this year for her portrayal of Alice Ward in 2010's "The Fighter," which itself was nominated for best picture. The film, directed by David O. Russell and also starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Amy Adams, dramatized the working-class family's complicated relationship to life in the boxing ring.

Ward, 79, had been in poor health for some time, and suffered a heart attack in January. She had been in the hospital since then and was taken off life support Tuesday, according to the Lowell Sun.

Ward raised nine children, including her grandson, Dick Eklund Jr.

Leo could not immediately be reached for comment.

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-- Nicole Sperling

Photo: "The Fighter." Credit: Paramount Pictures

Oscars: 'The King's Speech' wins for best picture

“The King’s Speech” won the Oscar for best film Sunday night at the 83rd Academy Awards. Directed by Tom Hooper, the film about King George VI’s attempts to conquer his stutter as he ascends the British throne had been in a tight race for the top Academy Award with David Fincher’s “The Social Network.” That film had dominated the awards season through the Golden Globes, but “The King’s Speech” began to build more momentum with the industry guild awards, starting with the Producers Guild Awards in late January, and on through the BAFTAs, the British equivalent of the Academy Awards, two weeks ago.

The Academy Awards were handed out at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Check in for reaction and more here on Awards Tracker.

-- Susan King

Photo: "The King's Speech" winners, including front: Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Gareth Unwin. Credit: Associated Press.

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Oscars: 'The Social Network' wins for film editing

“The Social Network’s” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter won the Oscar for film editing at the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday night. This is the second nomination for Wall and Baxter, who were previously nominated together for their work on “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” They also won the BAFTA Award for editing with their work on “The Social Network.”

Wall and Baxter competed against Andrew Weisblum for “Black Swan,” Pamela Martin for “The Fighter,” Tariq Anwar for “The King’s Speech” and Jon Harris for “127 Hours.”

The Academy Awards are taking place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood and are being televised live on ABC. We'll carry all the breaking news and reaction here on Awards Tracker.

-- Rick Rojas

Photo: Angus Wall, left, and Kirk Baxter congratulate each other for their win for "The Social Network." Credit: Associated Press.

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Oscars: Melissa Leo says her campaign wasn't a campaign

Supporting actress winner Melissa Leo was thrust into the headlines this season after she took out trade-paper advertisements touting her performance in "The Fighter." It was an unorthodox move — particularly for a front-runner — but Leo was unapologetic when questioned about it backstage after she won. When a reporter asked if she felt vindicated, she volleyed back, tersely: "There's nothing to vindicate. There was no campaign. It was a photo in a magazine."

— Steven Zeitchik

twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

  Photo: Presenter Kirk Douglas shakes hands with actress Melissa Leo after she won the Oscar for actress in a supporting role for her performace in 'The Fighter.'  Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

 

Oscars: David Seidler's ‘The King’s Speech’ wins for original screenplay

David Seidler won the Oscar for original screenplay for “The King’s Speech” at the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday night. It was the first Oscar win for Seidler, who was considered the favorite in this category. Though ineligible for a Writers Guild of America nomination, Seidler won the British Independent Film Award and the BAFTA, the British equivalent of the Academy Award, and was nominated for a Golden Globe.

Seidler was competing against Mike Leigh for “Another Year”; Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson and Keith Dorrington for “The Fighter”; Christopher Nolan for “Inception”; and Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for “The Kids Are All Right.”

The Academy Awards are taking place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood and are being televised live on ABC. We'll carry all the breaking news and reaction here on Awards Tracker.

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-- Susan King

Photo: David Seidler with his Oscar. Credit: Associated Press.

Experts' Oscar predictions in all 24 categories

Below are the complete, updated Oscar predictions of six of our Buzzmeter pundits: Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Sasha Stone (AwardsDaily), Anne Thompson (Indiewire), Peter Travers (Rolling Stone), Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood-Elsewhere) and me. Please give us your Academy Award predictions at The Envelope's Oscar ballot.

-- Tom O'Neil

BEST PICTURE
"Black Swan"
"The Fighter"
"Inception"
"The Kids Are All Right"
"The King's Speech" -- Karger, O'Neil, Thompson
"127 Hours"
"The Social Network" -- Stone, Travers, Wells
"Toy Story 3"
"True Grit"
"Winter's Bone"

DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan"
David O. Russell, "The Fighter"
Tom Hooper, "The King's Speech"
David Fincher, "The Social Network" -- Karger, O'Neil, Stone, Thompson, Travers, Wells
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "True Grit"

LEAD ACTOR
Javier Bardem, "Biutiful"
Jeff Bridges, "True Grit"
Jesse Eisenberg, "The Social Network"
Colin Firth, "The King's Speech" -- Karger, O'Neil, Stone, Thompson, Travers, Wells
James Franco, "127 Hours"

LEAD ACTRESS
Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right" -- Thompson, Travers
Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"
Natalie Portman, "Black Swan" -- Karger, O'Neil, Stone, Wells
Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine"

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, "The Fighter" --  Karger, O'Neil, Thompson, Travers, Wells
John Hawkes, "Winter's Bone"
Jeremy Renner, "The Town"
Mark Ruffalo, "The Kids Are All Right"
Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech" -- Stone

The Noble truth: Satirist spoofs the Oscar race for best picture

Check out the latest video mischief by our forums moderator Matt Noble, an Oscar nut who's a master satirist, deft performer and one-man-band video production company. Click here to view a screamingly hilarious job sorting out the Academy Award contenders for best picture. Also see his video spoofs of nominees "The King's Speech," "127 Hours," "The Fighter" and "Black Swan." (Warning: some videos contain harsh language.)

Let's all agree: Matt deserves an Oscar for all of these performances next year! Side note: Yes, that's an Aussie accent you hear in his own speech. Matt lives in Sydney.

-- Tom O'Neil

Photo: Matt Noble

Oscars: Amy Adams and Mila Kunis join presenter lineup

 
Supporting actress nominee Amy Adams ("The Fighter") and Mila Kunis ("Black Swan") have  been added to the list of presenters Sunday at the 83rd Academy Awards.

The announcement was made Thursday morning. Adams was previously nominated two times in the supporting actress category, for 2005's "Junebug" and 2008's "Doubt." Kunis came to fame on the sitcom  "That '70s Show" and is also the voice of Meg on "Family Guy."

The Academy Awards will air live on ABC Sunday evening from the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland.

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--Susan King

Photo: Mila Kunis. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin/L.A. Times

Melissa Leo and those odd Oscar ads

If Melissa Leo doesn't win best supporting actress on Sunday night, her loss will be blamed squarely on the ads she took out asking voters to "Consider Melissa." Leo donned fur in the two print ads that appeared on the back pages of Variety and were considered rather tacky by many in the industry.

The 50-year old actress was initially very vocal about why the ads were made and said that she paid for them herself as a way to fight back against the ageism in Hollywood that keeps 50-year-old women off magazine covers.

Now, it seems Leo, who has been nominated for her role as an aggressive mother-manager in David O. Russell's "The Fighter," is rather confused by the response to the ads. In an interview with the Daily Beast, one that occurred after the reporter ran into Leo at a New York restaurant, she says that she has been a good soldier for the entire campaign and thought that the ads were standard procedure. She says she's surprised by the reaction.  "I'm a little confused. This is what we're doing. This is what all the girls are doing," she says.

She adds that she conceived the ads before she was nominated and she might have done things differently had she known she was going to be nominated. But the ads actually published after the nominations were announced, which seemed very oddly timed. "It didn't seem so nomination-oriented," says Leo regarding the original concept for the ads. "It was fun." 

We called Paramount directly and they said they support their actresses 1,000% and would be shocked if people who had been planning to vote for Leo now didn't because of her ads.

We'll see what happens on Sunday night.

-- Nicole Sperling

Photo: Melissa Leo at the Oscar nominees luncheon. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

Around the awards track: 10 Oscar films that were banned and condemned | What upsets are brewing?

• The most shocking thing about the list of top Oscar contenders that were banned from theaters in the past is the fact that the flicks don't seem so shocking today. Can you believe that "Mildred Pierce" was banned in Ireland in 1945? Malaysia, Singapore and parts of the U.K. forbid "The Exorcist" to be shown. China really goes crazy outlawing Oscar contenders ("Brokeback Mountain," of course) –- its leaders even banned "Avatar"! See the full list here. Also check out "10 Oscar Films Condemned by the Legion of Decency." That list includes such jaw-droppers as "Some Like It Hot" and "Spartacus"! GOLD DERBY

• To win this Oscar contest you must answer some curious questions: Will James Franco sing during the ceremony? How late into the telecast will we see Hugh Jackman? Who will be the best-dressed actress? NEXT MOVIE

• Steve Pond weighs the state of the Oscar race. Yes, "The King's Speech" and Colin Firth are shoo-ins to win best picture and lead actor, but the award for best director might go to David Fincher ("The Social Network"). Pond doesn't buy the late-breaking buzz behind Annette Bening ("The Kids Are All Right"): "This surge, if it is indeed happening, is likely a case of too little, too late." In the supporting slots, he warns that Hailee Steinfeld ("True Grit") or Helena Bonham Carter ("The King's Speech") could trip up front-runner Melissa Leo ("The Fighter") and adds about her costar: "I suspect that Bale, at least, is unassailable, particularly since Rush has already won and Bale has never even been nominated." THE WRAP

• Speaking of Oscar crystal-balling, Sasha Stone believes there is still a "little teeny 1%" chance that "Social Network" could win best picture. Most suspense is in that race for supporting actress: "This category is so confused right now that there is no technical 'front-runner' in it. I don't think Leo's ad campaign hurt her, rather, I think it tips the win in her favor. But any of the five could win and I would not be surprised. All of this clears the way for the 'heart light' win, Helena Bonham Carter, as Anne Thompson is predicting." AWARDS DAILY

• Kris Tapley breaks down that tricky Oscar race for  documentary feature, which is hard to forecast because it's not decided by the mood swings of a popular vote. Academy members may cast ballots in that category only if they actually, egads, view the nominated flicks at screenings. Tapley's conclusion: "Inside Job" will win, but "Exit Through the Gift Shop" should win and could –- beware –- pull off an upset. IN CONTENTION

• Speaking of Helena Bonham Carter, she promises that she'll commit a fashion "catastrophe" on the Oscars red carpet. Celeb stylist June Ambrose attempts a fashion intervention with advice: "I'm done, just done with that," she says of Bonham Carter's mismatched-shoes act at the Golden Globes. She suggests a dress designer: "I'd put her in McQueen." E! ONLINE

-- Tom O'Neil

Top photo: "The Exorcist" (Warner Bros.)
Bottom photo: "Inside Job" (Sony Pictures Classics)