Standing Side by Side

By: Chris Cummins Staff Writer There are two schools of thought regarding the Oscars. If a film that embodies classical values, numbers among its characters a hero set against enormous personal or physical obstacles, and contains a rousing, optimistic finish, it is viewed as a “classic” film. If it wins the Best Picture Award, then the Academy is viewed as picking a classic film, and it generally assumed that the older members deemed it so. If a film is not composed of the above elements, and is sufficiently well directed, edgy, and controversial, then it is viewed as a “young and hip” film. This year, the battle for Best Picture was between The King’s Speech,…

The Oscars Live Chat

We’ll be talking about the Academy Awards as they happen, right here on CSM.com. Red carpet coverage begins at 6 p.m. and award coverage will begin at 7 p.m. (Central time) on Feb. 27. Drop by and chat with us about the winners, losers and everything in-between. The Oscars Live Chat

Oscar ads hit web

By Michael Pankonien The Oscars aren’t even here yet and films are already sending ads promoting their movies for awards.  Hoping to snag an oscar or two, these ads can go a long way for films who debuted early in the 2010 film season at reminding film critics of their success (and failure). Click here to see some of the latest ads!

My Oscar Reactions

By Wren Culp Staff Writer The Oscars bring drama and laughter every year. Then the awards get dished out and emotions fly and things are said that shouldn’t have been said. But I’m not writing about the emotions at all. I’m talking about straight up awards. Best Picture official winner: The Hurt Locker My pick: The Hurt Locker The Hurt Locker was an obvious choice for the winner for best picture. It captured the emotional intensity of an American soldier. It very well demonstrated the psychological nightmare that a soldier in war goes through. It was an outstanding movie. Actor in a leading role winner: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) My pick: George Clooney (Up in…

Sidekick predicts Oscar winners

Video by Chris Nguyen Features Editor This year’ s Academy Awards has gotten more buzz than ever before with big   blockbuster films, including Avatar, Up and The Blind Side, finally earning a huge number of nominations with an expanded nominations list. Ironically enough, the film looking to sweep most of the major categories is The Hurt Locker, a small-budget film that was quietly released in August. Oscar predicting is quite the complex science, which requires taking into account voters’ true movie favorites and their need to make big statements and repressing one’s own desired winners to think like an Academy member. But The Sidekick’ s Chris Nguyen will try anyways with his predictions for…

Students favor ‘Up’ in poll

Story by Rebecca Neumann Video by Graham After polling 50 CHS students about their favorite Oscar nominated movie, it appears that the Academy’s opinion will not reflect the views of teenagers. According to Entertainment Weekly, the favorite for Best Picture at the March 7 Academy Awards is “The Hurt Locker”. However, only 12 percent of CHS students polled answered “The Hurt Locker” as their favorite. Junior Eric Piontek is one of the few who enjoyed the movie above the rest of the nominees. “I liked ‘The Hurt Locker’ the best because it showed the soldiers’ every day lives and told about what’s going on over in Iraq,” Piontek said. “It was also funny at times….

Academy Award Nominations Announced

By Angela Almeida Opinions Editor       Airing on March 7, the 82nd annual Academy Awards will take place. This year, ten films are nominated for Best Picture, doubling the typical five nominations in Oscar past. My take on the following nominations will be in italics. Best Picture: “Avatar” “The Hurt Locker” “Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” “Up in the Air” “Inglourious Basterds” “Up” “The Blind Side” “District 9″ “An Education” “A Serious Man” Although the competition seems to have heightened with the increased number of nominations, the real race is said to be between AVATAR and The Hurt Locker. Ironically, AVATAR director James Cameron and The Hurt Locker director Katheryn Bigelow were once married….

Oscar race heats up

By Chris Nguyen Features Editor Dec. 31 marks the end of the eligibility period for Oscar films to be nominated for this year’s ceremony. Here’s the rundown of what’s hot and what’s not in currently in the race, with my predictions for its nomination hopes: Hot Up in the Air: Released today after months of buzz from the Toronto Film Festival, Up in the Air has both the plus and the very large negative of being the current front runner for Best Picture, with the National Board of Review picking it as its best film of the year. With a charismatic turn from George Clooney and good critical buzz, there is not doubt of the…

Announcement of Oscar hosts sparks early interest in awards ceremony

By Ashleigh Heaton Entertainment Editor When it comes to the Academy Awards, there is usually something for everyone to love — dramatic movies, oodles of movie stars packed into one room, and, of course, the (usually) humorous host for the evening. To kick off the Oscar season, the Academy announced on Tuesday, Nov. 3, that this year’s funnyman for the evening was actually going to be funnymen. Before I say who, keep in mind that these men are having to live up to the excellent hosting jobs done by John Stewart and Hugh Jackman in recent years. These men not only have to be funny, but in-the-know about the inner workings of Hollywood. They have…