If you want to be surprised by Ellen DeGeneres dancing with CGI penguins at the Oscars, don't read this piece by Nikki Finke about that and some other tricks the producers have up their sleeves for the telecast.
BTW, when Fink mentions that Bruce Vilanch, Carrie Fisher, and Carol Leifer are writing the show, she left out my pal Jon Macks -- who will be on my show Monday afternoon for his annual report on what it was like backstage at the Oscars. He'll be in that writers room in a tux trying not to piss off some of the big stars, as he has a habit of doing, by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time to the wrong person. I'm talking about you, Sly Stallone.
Also, there has been some speculation that if "An Inconvenient Truth" wins for Best Documentary, Al Gore will use the acceptance speech to announce his candidacy for President. Not going to happen. While he's the star of the movie, he wasn't one of its producers, and those are the folks who get the Oscars. They might invite Gore onstage, but you're more likely to hear comments about global warming and why Al's happy the Oscar winners aren't chosen by the Electoral College.Labels: movies