Photograph of Kathy Bates and AMPAS President Sid Ganis announcing the nominations by Chris Pizzello/AP While the writers' strike continues and prospects of an awards ceremony are unclear, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences went ahead and announced the contenders for their 80th annual back-slapping ceremony. Oscar-winning friend of the academy Kathy Bates was on hand to announce this year's golden picks. From Bob Dylan to Michael Clayton, many of the nominations......

THEATER: Wolf Lane Productions presents Victims of the Zeitgeist (The Tragedy of Martin Luther King, Jr.), written & directed by Ellwoodson Williams. The production "offers an exciting and telling insight into just who Martin Luther King, Jr., was as leader and simply as a sensitive and intelligent human being who loved life and who had a sense of humor, a deep understanding of the human condition - its strengths and weaknesses - and a profound......

Want to just watch it on TV? Too bad -- unless you're willing to haul ass over to a college campus that gets mtvU. Ummmm, if you want to know about live performances from Rilo Kiley, Lupe Fiasco, Tokyo Police Club, The Academy Is… and Spank Rock, you're going to have to come crawling to our MAD EXCLUSIVE livebloggery! 9:55pm: Damn, kids are punctual these days! Show's over!?!?! What happened to being late for......

Pitchfork-approved blog darlings Tokyo Police Club have spent the last year and change transitioning from flavor of the month boy band to reputable musicians with an enviable knack for short, hook-happy hits. On Thursday night these clever Canucks will have the chance to further extend their fan base when they perform at the “Woodie” Awards; they’re nominated for a “Breaking Woodie”. Broadcast on the 24-hour college network mtvU, the award show will feature performances by......

EVENT: The Academy presents Meet the Oscars. On top of learning fun facts about Oscar, you'll get to see the little gold guy (and tons of tourists) up close and personal, as the statuettes are on display in Times Square. We suggest you bring a fake acceptance speech with you. 11am through 7pm // Times Square Studios [1500 Broadway] // Free THEATER: Kathleen Chalfant (Wit, Angels in America), Marian Seldes (A Delicate Balance, Three Tall......

Robert Altman, maverick film director, died on Monday night in Los Angeles. He was 81 years old. Altman had recently been promoting the DVD release of A Praire Home Companion, a film in which the movie studio hired Paul Thomas Anderson to be an assistant director in case, as Altman put it, he kicked the bucket. He had been nominated five times for best director at the Academy Awards, but never won one (a......

A girl was shot after a community center Halloween party on Saturday - and there may be a link to the Chicken Noodle rappers From Upper East Side mansion to 7 World Trade Center: The Academy of the Sciences have moves downtown Fun fact: 73% of the city's registered domestic partnerships are for straight couples Alan Hevesi is persona-non-grata the Democrats' Election Day party... politics is so like high school! Buy your own CBGB's......

After last year's mess of an awards show and this year's joke of nominations (where is love for Lauren Graham, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences?), we were going to swear off this year's Emmys. But then we realized Conan O'Brien was hosting, so we must watch and liveblog. And there's the hope of a good Steve Carrell bit, not to mention awkward reaction shots of Candy and Tori Spelling during the Aaron Spelling tribute.......

Richard Bright, who appeared in all the Godfather films as Al Neri, Michael Corleone's bodyguard, was hit by a bus on the Upper West Side. The Academy bus driver didn't know he had hit Bright at 86th and Columbus at 6:30PM and proceeded to continue to the Port Authority; police caught up with the driver, but won't be pressing charges. Bright was remembered as a kind neighbor on West 85th Street and a regular at......

It's the itch we can't scratch - the Academy Awards. We make sure we see the announcements at 8:30AM and then rush to work, thinking about the nominations while on the train. This morning, Academy President Sid Ganis and Mira Sorvino (who isn't doing anything else, anyway) announced the nominations. As expected, Brokeback Mountain, Good Night and Good Luck, and Capote earned many nominations, and Crash made a surprising showing with Best Picture, Best Director......

Media boo-boos: 1) The New York Times got the Motion Picture Association of America (the people who bring you stupid ratings for movies, headed by scary Jack Valenti) mixed up with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the people who bring you the Oscars). The story about how studios are trying to curb piracy by not distributing "for your consideration" Oscar screener DVDS mistakenly called Jack Valenti the head of the "Motion Picture......

It's both a Godsend and blaspehmy: there will be no red carpet at the Oscars this year, due to the impending war. (Thanks a lot, Bush and Saddam...no Joan or Melissa Rivers asking stupid questions...hey, really, thank you, Bush and Saddam!) Apparently celebrities don't want to seem frivolous, answering questions about "who are you wearing" while there may be air strikes. Ha. I bet they didn't want to be distracted by the inane tactics......