"Black Swan" wins big at Spirit Awards
Natalie Portman accepts the best female lead award for "Black Swan" at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011, in Santa Monica, Calif.
/ AP Photo/Chris PizzelloJames Franco was picked as best actor for the survival story "127 hours," while the Ozarks crime story "Winter's Bone" earned both supporting-acting prizes, for John Hawkes and Dale Dickey.
All three films are up for best picture at Sunday's Academy Awards, where Portman is considered the favorite to win the best-actress Oscar and Franco is a co-host alongside actress Anne Hathaway.
With plenty of overlap among nominees at the Oscars, the Spirit Awards are a warm-up for Hollywood's biggest party.
The British monarchy saga "The King's Speech," the best-picture front-runner at the Oscars, won the prize for best foreign film.
"Black Swan" also took the cinematography award for Matthew Libatique.
Continue »Oscars 2011: Which film will win Best Picture?
The movies up for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
/ CBS/APHere's a look at the nominees.
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READ MORE: Oscar night scorecard
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Joel McHale to host Independent Spirit Awards
Joel McHale at 102.7 KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2010 on Dec. 5, 2010 in Los Angeles. (Getty Images)
Although he often trashes celebrities and TV personalities while hosting E!'s "The Soup," McHale, who also stars in NBC's "Community," says he has no plans to ruffle any feathers.
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Continue »Alex Pettyfer makes premiere after small house fire
Actor Alex Pettyfer arrives at the premiere of CBS Films' 'Beastly' at The Grove on February 24, 2011 in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images)
(CBS) British actor Alex Pettyfer is sizzling on the big screen - but he nearly missed his film premiere because his house caught fire.
Pettyfer's home caught fire Thursday night - the same day as the premiere of his new film, "Beastly." A rep told US magazine that he might not show up for the event "due to a small house fire."
Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department told CBS Los Angeles that 27 LAFD firefighters were on the scene, and, with help from the Beverly Hills Fire Department, the fire was under control in 24 minutes.
Pettyfer did make it to the movie premiere - where he spent a short time signing autographs for fans before heading inside.
He told KCAL 9's Suzanne Marques he was simply "glad" to be at the premiere, not wanting to discuss the fire in any great detail.
Pettyfer has been romantically linked with "Glee" star Dianna Agron, though the two have reportedly split. He co-stars with Vanessa Hudgens in "Beastly," and can also be seen with Agron in the film "I Am Number Four."
Deadline Hollywood predicts Oscar snorefest
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(CBS) It's not every year that a guy streaks across the stage at the Academy Awards. Let's face it: There have been a lot of Oscars telecasts that were just plain boring. Then in the press the next morning, lots of Hollywood pundits write that the show was a drag.
Deadline Hollywood predicts that this year will be no different. (SPOILERS!)
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PICTURES: Oscar Nominees 2011
Vogue's Andre Leon Talley likes Oscars fashion risks
Contributing editor at Vogue Magazine, Andre Leon Talley, and Martha Stewart
/ David Steele/The Martha Stewart ShowWhen it comes to fashion at the Oscars, Andre Leon Talley, contributing editor at Vogue Magazine, knows a thing or two about how to rock the red carpet.
And as stars gear up for the Academy Awards this weekend, Leon Talley, among a myriad of fellow fashion critics, will also be revving up for one of fashion's biggest nights.
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So what does the fashion guru hope to see this time around?
Continue »Alyssa Milano flaunts her baby bump
Alyssa Milano at the "Hall Pass" premiere in Hollywood, Calif. on Feb. 23, 2011. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)
Milano, who stars in the Farrelly brothers-directed film with Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis and Jenna Fischer, showcased her baby bump while walking the red carpet in a black and grey empire waist dress.
PICTURES: Celebrity Baby Bumps
Continue »Oscars 2011: Who will win Best Actor?
Colin Firth, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, James Franco and Javier Bardem
/ CBS/GettyThey face competition from actors playing a gruff U.S. Marshal and a man facing his own mortality.
Here's a look at the nominees, and the roles they played:
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Ten bizarre Oscar moments
Oscar statue outside the entrance of the Kodak Theatre. Los Angeles, Calif., on Friday, March 5, 2010. The Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 7. (AP)
(CBS/AP) The Academy Awards show viewers elegance and splendor, but it's those crazy and spontaneous moments that remain etched in our minds.
In honor of the Oscars' 10 Best Picture nominees, we've decided to look back at the 10 most bizarre moments in the show's history.
PICTURES: Ten bizarre Oscar moments
PICTURES: Oscar Nominees 2011
PICTURES: Academy Awards Red Carpet
PICTURES: Six Decades of Oscar Fashion
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Oscar show channels old and new tradition
Oscar Nominees 2011: "Black Swan," "The King's Speech," "The Social Network."
/ CBSThe 2011 Oscar show is bringing the old in with the new. Take a look at the two front-running films for Best Picture: "The King's Speech," an aristocratic British royal drama, and "The Social Network," a modern tale of the Web 2.0 society.
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PICTURES: Colin Firth
PICTURES: Jesse Eisenberg
PICTURES: Natalie Portman
PICTURES: Annette Bening
How Oscar Frontrunner "King's Speech" may lose
Colin Firth as the British monarch King George VI, in "The King's Speech."
/ Weinstein CompanyIt has become a safe bet in recent weeks that the frontrunner for the Academy Award for Best Picture is "The King's Speech," after a streak of wins by such predictive bodies as the Producers Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors' Guild of America, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Late last year the frontrunner had been deemed to be "The Social Network," which overwhelmingly took the top prizes from most every critics' group, including the New York and Los Angeles Film Critics, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and the National Board of Review.
History suggests that the Academy - whose older voting body is dominated by the Actors branch - would back a more traditional drama whose feel-good vibes are indisputable, in which the actors' gifts are more on display than a director's style.
Given the track record of inspirational or period films winning Best Picture over more groundbreaking dramas (or even comedies), "The King's Speech" looks like the prime Oscar candidate over a hip film about computer nerds dramatized through legal depositions, or an action film played out in people's dreams.
60 Minutes: The hidden letters behind "The King's Speech"
But the voting methods for Best Picture may actually do in that popular choice, depending upon what are the least popular choices for Best Picture.
Continue »George Clooney films in Ohio as hometown hero
George Clooney
/ Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesFans in Cincinnati, Ohio, felt the heat as George Clooney prepared for the filming of his new movie, "The Ides of March," yesterday.
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VIDEO: George Clooney on Sudan crisis
The movie, directed by and starring Clooney, is about a presidential campaign and has stirred up quite the conversation in Ohio with the tweeting of "Clooney sightings" by fans around the set. A casting call for 1,500 extras drew 23,000 responses.
Continue »Kim Kardashian in talks to star in Gotti movie
Kim Kardashian arrives at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 13, 2011, in Los Angeles.
/ Getty(CBS) Kim Kardashian could be coming to the big screen.
The television personality is reportedly in talks to star in a biopic of John Gotti.
Continue »Oscars: Aron Ralston wins $125,000 for charity
Aron Ralston, left, poses with James Franco, who plays him in the movie "127 Hours," Oct. 28, 2010.
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PICTURES: Best Picture nominee "127 Hours"
Which Best Pictures are actually the worst?
Jeremy Renner in "Hurt Locke,r" named best picture last year.
/ Summit"Forrest Gump"? Really?
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