Academy Luncheon Monday, Oscar Contest Finalists - Oscar Buzz Roundup

AMPAS, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, sends so many press releases - at times as many as six within a given week when the Academy Awards are not in full swing - that it spawned this experiment in Oscar-related blogging and Internet reach.

This is the Oscar Buzz Roundup.

Oscar Nominees to Be Honored at Academy Luncheon Monday

Monday features a luncheon that's certainly one this blogger should be at. At 12 noon, 14 of the 20 nominees in the acting categories will join 120 Academy Awards nominees for the annual Nominees Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

All five Best Director nominees will be there: Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, Lee Daniels, Jason Reitman and Quentin Tarantino.

Expected to attend from the Best Actor and Best Actress categories are: Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Morgan Freeman, Jeremy Renner, Sandra Bullock, Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe and Meryl Streep. For the Best Supporting Actor and Actress Categories, Vera Farmiga, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick, Woody Harrelson and Christoph Waltz have been invited to the luncheon.

Three Finalists Named in Academy/mtvU Oscar Correspondent Contest

AMPAS smartly partnered with MTV-U to produce a contest such that teams of college journalists would be flown to Los Angeles to compete for a spot on The Red Carpet. The winning teams and (their videos) are:

Chapman University, Orange, CA – Rachel Berry (anchor) and Christian Hartnett (videographer)
..and a corny but entertaining video that scored a 52 percent thumbs up rating:



Emerson College, Boston, MA – Terry Stackhouse (anchor) and Zach Cusson (videographer) - and an informative video that earned a 51 percent rating:



Florida A&M University, Tallahassee – Brandon McCaskill (anchor) and Kiarra Hart (videographer) and this special-effects-laden video:



You can still vote for these teams through March 2nd, here: Oscars.MTVU.com

The Grand Prize winning team will be announced Saturday, March 6th at a special Academy Awards press conference. The winning team will receive their spot on The Red Carpet and backstage press room passes. The runner-ups will be placed in the bleacher seats above The Red Carpet on Oscar day.

To see all of the videos that were submitted, click here: Oscars / MTV-U. Congratulations to the winning teams!

Actress Elizabeth Banks will host the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Scientific and Technical Awards on Saturday, February 20

The Oscar Scientific and Technical Awards, presented in this space, will be the focus of this Saturday's "Oscar special night" at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, hosted by the lovely Elizabeth Banks (pictured).

Ms. Banks will present 15 awards to 45 individual recipients during the night's event. And you can catch Elizabeth Banks in Paul Haggis' film The Next Three Days.

Stay tuned for more Oscar news.