Award Central '09
Golden Globes adding extra pizzazz
HFPA shakes up kudofest with a live show and host
What's a venerable awards ceremony to do when ratings are down?

Four Seasons' Watkins rules junket jungle
She helps Beverly Hills hotel hold No. 1 ranking
Who you gonna call when you need to organize a press junket?

Globe TV newcomers try to break in
Veteran shows have advantage of familiarity
Suburban sex. Political sex. Screwed up families. Paranormal freak-outs. And bunch of high schoolers that seem to always burst into song.

Comedy noms may predict Oscar entries
Clues are found in the history of Globes category
Which Golden Globe comedies might make the Oscar list of 10 best-picture nominees?

Globes eye animation
New rule allows five noms, with many to choose from
The HFPA can nominate five animated movies, any of which could break out to make the Oscar list.

Carol Littleton receives MPEG honor
Film editor and former president to be feted
Film editor Carol Littleton ("The Big Chill") will receive her guild's Fellowship and Service award.

Oscar ballots by the numbers
A guide to the Academy's preferential system
Some mysteries of the universe are eternal: How does the Academy's Oscar voting system work?

Few frontrunners for revamped Oscars
Will the new Governors Awards infuse Oscar night?
Here's the conundrum: 10 best-picture slots and not much out there yet that's screaming "Oscar!"

Film funding fickle
Fine movies forced to to seek money abroad
In the tortuous world of specialty film financing, some are contorting themselves even further.

Pics re-examine the '60s
Directors take fresh look at familiar decade
When Carey Mulligan signed on to play the sophisticated English schoolgirl in "An Education," she immediately had to set her friends straight on what kind of '60s movie she was making.

Place plays a power role
2009 films use far-flung sites to enhance stories
International locations have played a role in the stories of countless Oscar-winning pics. This year's contenders were shot in environments as far-flung as a shantytown in South Africa for Neill Blomkamp's "District 9" and the sandblasted streets of Amman, Jordan, for Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker."

Award contenders on location
A look at the location behind 'Cheri,' 'District 9'
Films of 2009 took advantage of locales to complement stories and augment personnages. Here is a list of possible contenders:

'Downfall' parodies up
Viral satires prompted by scene from Hitler biopic
The 2004 Oscar foreign-language film nominee "Downfall," depicting Adolf Hitler's final days, is certainly an unlikely source for a mass Internet comedy explosion.

15 docs on Oscar shortlist
List will be whittled to five nominations
Among the overlooked titles are "Capitalism: A Love Story" and "Anvil! The Story of Anvil."

Oscar likes fresh faces
Vets face challenges from talented newcomers
In the lead actress category, the Oscar almost always goes to the ingenue.

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