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Oscars 2012: The 84th Academy Awards With nine films up for Best Picture — and Billy Crystal returning as host — the movie industry's most glamorous gala is Feb. 26. Here's a collection of reviews, interviews, commentary and more from NPR.
Oscars 2012
Special Series

Oscars 2012: The 84th Academy Awards

With nine films up for Best Picture, the movie industry's most glamorous gala is Feb. 26

'The Artist' The Right Pick For 'Best Picture'?

Host Michel Martin dishes on the wins, losses, and fashion faux pas of Sunday night's Academy Awards. She checks in with Wesley Morris, film critic for The Boston Globe, and Sheila Marikar, entertainment reporter and producer for ABCNews.Com.

'The Artist' The Right Pick For 'Best Picture'?

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Cutting Off Long Oscar Speeches: In Defense Of The Conductor

Actress Julia Roberts holds her Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Erin Brokovich at the 73rd Annual Academy Awards on March 25, 2001. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Cutting Off Long Oscar Speeches: In Defense Of The Conductor

If you're ever tempted to blame the conductor who plays off the long acceptance speeches, you shouldn't — it's the producer's fault.

Cutting Off Long Oscar Speeches: In Defense Of The Conductor

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Throwing An Oscar Bash? Here Are Some Ideas

Oscar fans in New York take a closer look at the statuettes on display during the "Meet the Oscars, Grand Central" exhibition at Grand Central Station on Feb. 22. Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

Throwing An Oscar Bash? Here Are Some Ideas

If you're rolling out your own red carpet tonight, we have tips on how to keep your guests full of Oscar-themed food, drinks and challenging trivia.

Throwing An Oscar Bash? Here Are Some Ideas

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Pop Culture Happy Hour: Step Right Up For The Oscar Spectacular!

Owen Wilson is a writer with a block — and a fiancee (Rachel McAdams) who may be part of the problem — in Woody Allen's latest romance. Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

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Sony Pictures Classics

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Step Right Up For The Oscar Spectacular!

This week, we talk with NPR film critic Bob Mondello about the Oscars, from our favorite films to the performances we loved.

Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour

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The Extraordinary, Ordinary Life Of Alexander Payne

Alexander Payne's The Descendants has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editor and Best Actor. Payne co-wrote and directed the film, which stars George Clooney as an indifferent dad struggling to raise two daughters. Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images

Hollywood Jobs

The Extraordinary, Ordinary Life Of Alexander Payne

Life is a collection of "extraordinarily ordinary moments," says the Academy Award-winning director, if only people would "wake up and pay attention to how beautiful it all is." Payne's latest film, The Descendants, puts the power of everyday moments to use, and is nominated for five Oscars.

The Extraordinary, Ordinary Life Of Alexander Payne

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For Choreographer 'Pina,' A Dance Tribute In 3-D

Director Wim Wenders spent a year working with 3-D experts in preparation for filming Pina. Donata Wenders hide caption

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Donata Wenders

Oscar's Top Documentaries

For Choreographer 'Pina,' A Dance Tribute In 3-D

Director Wim Wenders' documentary tribute to German choreographer Pina Bausch is nominated for an Academy Award. When Wenders and Bausch met more than 20 years ago, they started planning a film that would capture her unique style of modern dance. Bausch died suddenly just days before filming started.

For Choreographer 'Pina,' A Dance Tribute In 3-D

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Most Oscar Voters Are White, Male ... Out Of Touch?

The Los Angeles Times published a study claiming that more than 90 percent of Oscar voters are white, and more than three-quarters are male. The stats are raising questions about whether minorities and women are getting fair changes of winning awards. Host Michel Martin speaks with Reginald Hudlin, a black voter and film director.

Most Oscar Voters Are White, Male ... Out Of Touch?

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Private Screening: How Hollywood Watches Its Work

At the Charles Aidikoff Screening Room on Rodeo Drive, filmmakers can screen their works in progress for an invite-only audience in the small, 57-seat theater. The screening room is also rented to show films to members of the Academy and the press. Cindy Carpien/NPR hide caption

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Cindy Carpien/NPR

Hollywood Jobs

Private Screening: How Hollywood Watches Its Work

Filmmakers rely on private screening rooms to show their unfinished films to invite-only audiences. NPR's Susan Stamberg visits one screening room on Rodeo Drive, run by 97-year-old Charles Aidikoff and his grandson Josh. Four generations of Aidikoffs have worked in the projection business.

Private Screening: How Hollywood Watches Its Work

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Underdog Football Team Shines In 'Undefeated'

Filmmakers Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin spent nine months in North Memphis, Tenn., with the Manassas Tigers. The Weinstein Co. hide caption

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The Weinstein Co.

Oscar's Top Documentaries

Underdog Football Team Shines In 'Undefeated'

In 2009, volunteer coach Bill Courtney led Manassas High School's struggling team to the playoffs. Filmmakers Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin chronicle the challenges of the Memphis team — on and off the field — in the Oscar-nominated documentary Undefeated.

Underdog Football Team Shines In 'Undefeated'

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'If A Tree Falls': The Earth Liberation Front's Rise

Members of the Earth Liberation Front were charged with arson in the 2001 Superior Lumber Co. fire in Glendale, Ore. Roy Milburn hide caption

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Roy Milburn

Oscar's Top Documentaries

'If A Tree Falls': The Earth Liberation Front's Rise

In the documentary If a Tree Falls, director Marshall Curry tells the story of the rise and fall of the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmentalist group that the FBI once described as America's No. 1 domestic terrorism threat. The film was nominated for an Academy Award.

'If A Tree Falls': The Earth Liberation Front's Rise

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One Marine's Journey To 'Hell And Back Again'

Hell and Back Again focuses on Sgt. Nathan Harris' life on the battlefield in Afghanistan and at home in North Carolina. Courtesy Danfung Dennis hide caption

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Courtesy Danfung Dennis

Oscar's Top Documentaries

One Marine's Journey To 'Hell And Back Again'

Photojournalist Danfung Dennis embedded with the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan. His documentary, Hell and Back Again, has been nominated for an Academy Award. The film follows Sgt. Nathan Harris, who is wounded in battle and struggles to transition back into civilian life.

One Marine's Journey To 'Hell And Back Again'

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Moore Explains Changes In Oscar Documentary Rules

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has changed the way they nominate documentaries for the Oscars. One of the most controversial changes — proposed by filmmaker Michael Moore — is that films must be reviewed by The New York Times or the Los Angeles Times.

Moore Explains Changes In Oscar Documentary Rules

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'Undefeated' Filmmakers Talk Friday Nights' Fights

North Memphis' Manassas Tigers Coach Bill Courtney and player O.C. Brown stand on the sidelines in a scene from the Oscar-nominated documentary Undefeated. Weinstein Co. hide caption

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Weinstein Co.

'Undefeated' Filmmakers Talk Friday Nights' Fights

In an Oscar-nominated documentary, T.J. Martin and Dan Lindsay follow an inner-city high school football team in Tennessee, profiling its coaches and players, and showing their struggles on and off the field.

'Undefeated' Filmmakers Talk Friday Nights' Fights

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Brad Pitt: Making 'Moneyball' And Being Billy Beane

Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the passionate general manager of the Oakland A's, in the Oscar-nominated sports drama Moneyball. Sony Pictures hide caption

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Sony Pictures

Brad Pitt: Making 'Moneyball' And Being Billy Beane

Brad Pitt has had quite a year: Two of his films — Moneyball and The Tree of Life — are up for the Best Picture Oscar, and the baseball film earned him a Best Actor nod. Pitt says the Oakland A's manager's idiosyncrasies made the role interesting.

Brad Pitt: Making 'Moneyball' And Being Billy Beane

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'Ides Of March' Writer Goes From Stage To Screen

Writer Beau Willimon turned his stage play, Farragut North, into the film, The Ides of March. Host Rachel Martin speaks to Willimon about the film, one of five nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

'Ides Of March' Writer Goes From Stage To Screen

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