They're changing Best Film qualifications again.

From here on in, a film has to have attained at least 5 percent first-place votes in order to be nominated. This will produce between five and ten nominees each year.

Sacha Baron Cohen wants to attend the Oscars as a dictator.

Why, is the head of the MPAA not going to be there this year?

Billy Crystal is hosting this year, after an eight year break. Here's an interview with him, courtesy of EW.com. I'm amused by his TV commercials for the show, in which he tries on his tuxedo in a locker room, and proclaims "Still fits."
Eddie Murphy was considered as host, but he bowed out when Brett Ratner stepped down as show producer over Ratner's use of an anti-gay slur. For me, that's too bad, as Murphy might have livened up this excruciatingly tedious bore of a show. (And no, I won't be watching. Then again, I feel that Hall Pass should have been nominated as "Best Picture." )

This year, The Artist won for Best Picture, Actor and Director. Maybe next year, the Academy will nominate movies people actually see (like Hall Pass ), instead of obscure art flicks that no one would ever hear of it wasn't for the Oscars. Don't count on it, though.

I Saw The Artist and it well and truly deserved to win it. The award recognises excellence in film- not by how popular it is- otherwise Adam Sandler would be up for oscars every year doncha think?

The award exists as an advertisement for the film industry. In the course of fulfilling this function, it sometimes recognizes excellence in film. But that's not its primary purpose.