Brad Pitt's stop on the red carpet was almost eclipsed by a monstrous wave of shouts from photographers aimed at attracting the attention his better half, Angelina Jolie, but he still managed to share a bit of what his baseball film "Moneyball" was all about.
Photo: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at the 84th Annual Academy Awards show Sunday at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times
"From the moment I met him, I said, 'I gotta have him,' because he's the best man in the world," she gushed. "His integrity and his capacity to love and his loyalty -- you can't compare."
Davis, an academy member, didn't have words as kind for the organization. Asked to respond to the argument that the academy is only as diverse as the industry, the actress said: "I don't think that that's what Hollywood is.
"I think that that's probably who's just accepted into the academy."
Photo: Annie Mumolo, left, and Kristen Wiig on the 84th Annual Academy Awards red carpet Sunday at the Hollywood & Highland Center. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times
George Clooney was as calm as ever walking down the Academy Awards red carpet Sunday, that same charming smile on his face as per usual.
"This is fun because usually it's people who want to have a good time," he said. "This is sort of the Super Bowl of all of the events."
Clooney, up for the two biggest awards of the night -- actor in a leading role for "The Descendants" and adapted screenplay for "The Ides of March," plus "The Descendants" is up for best picture -- said he had the sense it was "going to be a pretty big French night," referring to "The Artist."
"And I'm all right with it, because I really like the film."
Meanwhile, the actor, who has been an academy member since 2006, said he was hopeful the organization would become more diverse.
"That'd be a good idea, don't ya think?" he joked. "I think it represents almost every -- directors in Hollywood, as well. It represents not just Hollywood. You can look at the Senate and it's roughly the same thing. I don't think to diversify is ever a bad idea."
But how does the group actually make change happen?
"It's a tricky thing. I think you'd have to open it up to more, as opposed to trying to kick people out," he said. "Instead of taking their cards away."
Sacha Baron Cohen's Adm. Gen. Shabazz Aladeen not only made his way onto the Oscars red carpet Sunday, he made his way over to Ryan Seacrest and managed to stun the usually unflappable host — showering the diminutive Seacrest with the "ashes" of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.
It was a pretty decent payoff to a week's worth of hype.
As if Cohen's character from "The Dictator" wasn't disconcerting enough to interview, who wouldn't be taken aback by an urn's worth of ashes dumped onto an impeccable (and almost certainly Burberry) tux?
Too bad for Aladeen, of course, who'd declared his intention to sprinkle the ashes over the red carpet and, well, over Halle Berry's breasts — not Ryan Seacrest's.
Our vote for the gag's cleverest moment, however? The part where the military strongman said he was wearing Galliano.
And to those whose hearts went out to Seacrest as he tried to tidy up with a napkin, a towel and a donated lint roller, remember this: He's an executive producer on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."
Nolte was happy to be sitting next to his son, Brawley Nolte. As for his chances against shoo-in Christopher Plummer, he said he wasn't frustrated that he wasn't considered the category's front-runner.
"I've had times here where the Vegas odds are in my favor," he said. "I'm not anxious to win because it's a terrible responsibility, what you have to do when you win.
"You've gotta talk to people all over the world. You've gotta pose for a picture with all the winners. It's a lot of work."
To the dismay of many fans, Ryan Gosling was missing from the Oscars red carpet Sunday.
It was rumored the actor was working on a film in Asia, and "Ides of March" screenwriter Beau Willimon — up for adapted screenplay with Grant Heslov and George Clooney — said he wouldn't find that surprising, describing Gosling as a guy who "never stops."
"That's what I think is fantastic about him: his work ethic and his determination and his love for making movies. Sometimes he comes to these things, and sometimes he's busy," Willimon said.
The Academy Awards red carpet is, for many folks at home, all about the dresses. And, yes, you've come to the right place to see photos of all the glamorous looks.
For the folks on the scene in Hollywood, fans and media alike, it's a little more complicated. The fans who got bleacher seats arrived Sunday morning feeling lucky, but by early afternoon -- after hours of staring into the sun and waiting for anything resembling Tinseltown glam -- they were getting a bit punchy.
When a squadron of waiters in pressed shirts whisked past the crowd at 2 p.m. they began the first passionate chant of the red carpet: "Food! FOOD! Food!"
With the red carpet officially on lockdown, a number of entertainment hosts -- Giuliana Rancic, Lara Spencer and Maria Menunos -- took the opportunity to pose for the cameras before the "real" celebrities arrived.
But Mario Lopez of "Extra" -- who was standing next to us on the red carpet -- took the free time to prep for his interviews. He flipped through a handful of index cards filled with questions his producers had written out for him. He pulled out a plastic Target bag he had filled with cashews, a protein muffin, a banana and energy juice. "I get hungry!" he said with a smile. "Want some nuts?"
Meanwhile, the media along the carpet were so jammed in they were elbow to camera lens, and notebook to back. Relief is rare, so it was an odd moment when, at 2:22 p.m., a production assistant named Geoffrey Doleman, wearing a tux and beat-up sneakers, stopped on the carpet, got down on a knee and checked out the actual size of the press pen with a tape measure.
As photogs from Getty images and reporters from Armed Forces Radio and the Los Angeles Times watched with curiousity, he explained: "Your area is supposed to be 4 feet -- you only get 4 feet, but we can't give you less," he said.
Then he instructed a crewman to move the shiny barricade 2 inches toward the center of the carpet. "All good."
Stay tuned to the Ministry of Gossip as we bring you tons of photos from the red carpet -- as we did last year -- plus interviews and more.
Photos: Oscar statues are seen on the red carpet before the 84th Annual Academy Awards held at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood on Sunday. Credit: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images
Has Sacha Baron Cohen been banned from the Oscars? No, he hasn't -- depending on which Sacha Baron Cohen decides to show up.
Cohen the actor is more than welcome, it seems, as long as he doesn't appear on the Academy Awards red carpet in character and costume as Gen. Aladeen, his alter-ego from "The Dictator," the upcoming comedy in which he plays a political strongman determined to keep democracy out of his oppressed nation.
Academy of Motion Pictures President Tom Sherak told The Times' 24 Frames on Wednesday that he called Paramount, the studio distributing "The Dictator," and told them "it's a bad thing to do" because it would make a mockery of the red carpet.
"He's still invited. We would love for him to come," an Academy Awards rep told the New York Post on Wednesday. "We have expressed that we don't feel it's appropriate to use our Oscar red carpet as a venue for a movie promotional stunt."
The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday cited sources alleging that the actor, known for his prankish comedy revolving around strong characters, intended to hit the Oscars red carpet in "Dictator" drag. If he shows up in costume or not, the threat alone seems to have generated publicity for "The Dictator," which has a May 11 release date.
It wouldn't be the first time Cohen appeared at an event in character -- witness his turn as flamboyant fashionista Bruno at the 2009 MTV Music Awards, where he was infamously lowered onto the face of one ostensibly disgusted Eminem.
Cohen plays the Station Inspector in "Hugo," which is nominated for 11 Oscars, including best picture. He was Oscar-nominated in 2007 for adapted screenplay for "Borat."
Photo: Sacha Baron Cohen with the Year of Excellence Award for "Hugo" during the 12th Annual AFI Awards in Beverly Hills on Jan. 13 in Beverly Hills. Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Taylor Swift fans of the world, let it be known that you guys just might have a chance with the pop-country star, even post-Joe Jonas and post-Taylor Lautner. In “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax,” Zac Efron’s character goes on an adventure to impress Swift's character, but she has yet to be so wildly wooed in real life outside of "the fan/YouTube section of my life," she said.
“Guys in my life — I don’t think I have a memory of [being impressed like] that. But that’s good! The bar’s really low,” Swift said Sunday at the world premiere of “The Lorax,” her first voice-acting gig.
The film, based on the 1971 children’s book by Dr. Seuss, also sparked a friendship between its lead vocal stars that led to Swift teaching “High School Musical” star Efron to play guitar.
“She’s a great teacher,” Efron said at the Universal CityWalk premiere. “In the past, everyone who’s tried to teach me guitar starts with music theory and stuff like that. I tend to just doze off after a little while. She went straight into songs. She taught me, like, four chords, and I’m already playing all the good campfire songs.”
Co-writer Ken Daurio was just “happier and happier” upon learning of each actor who had signed onto the film, especially Danny DeVito, who voices the title character, a small but formidable mystical creature who speaks for the trees.
The script even went through some changes once DeVito was aboard.
“Once you find out Danny DeVito was going to be the Lorax, it so informs everything you do,” co-writer Cinco Paul said on the premiere's orange carpet, which was lined with replicas of the book's Truffula Trees.
Daurio added, “Once we heard Danny and knew it was going to be him, a lot of the dialogue did change. It just helps you think of what his attitude was going to be — he’s going to have that bite.”
The Lorax's lexicon of insulting nicknames like "beanpole" was written in after DeVito took the part. The actor himself said he embodies "the spirited tenacity of the Lorax. I don't really like to take no for an answer."
"Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" also features the voices of Ed Helms, Betty White and Rob Riggle. The film opens March 2.
