Oscar trivia triumphs: entertaining, informative, and openly gay experts can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the Academy Awards. (The Hollywood Issue).Quick: Who won Best Supporting Actress the year before last? You may have no idea, but we know plenty of gay folks who would have come up with Angelina Jolie's name in a heartbeat immediately. See also: heartbeat . Several of them have written tantalizing tan·ta·lize tr.v. tan·ta·lized, tan·ta·liz·ing, tan·ta·liz·es To excite (another) by exposing something desirable while keeping it out of reach. tomes to put such fun facts at your fingertips--and one of them is ready with his annual TV special on the Oscars. As you might guess from the title, Tom O'Neil's almanac-like Movie Awards: The Ultimate, Unofficial Guide to the Oscars, Golden Globes, Critics, Guild & Indie Honors (Variety/Perigee) covers a broad field, providing tons of details behind all the sundry movie awards--plus annual lists of every last factoid fac·toid n. 1. A piece of unverified or inaccurate information that is presented in the press as factual, often as part of a publicity effort, and that is then accepted as true because of frequent repetition: imaginable. If you're all about the details, you'll want a copy of this indispensable reference guide from one of the great showbiz know-it-alls. Critic and Arizona State University Arizona State University, at Tempe; coeducational; opened 1886 as a normal school, became 1925 Tempe State Teachers College, renamed 1945 Arizona State College at Tempe. Its present name was adopted in 1958. professor Emanuel Levy takes a more analytic approach to the awards in Oscar Fever (Continuum), breaking them down in every way possible. Learn why dramas do better then comedies, why British actors almost always have a leg up, and why Oscar-minded actresses should take roles that involve prostitution, drug addiction, or abuse. If you make Oscar predictions based on the Academy's track record, keep a copy within reach when filling out your ballot for that office pool. For dish, check out Damien Bona's Inside Oscar 2 (Ballantine). This sequel to his meticulously researched and hilarious Inside Oscar (written with Mason Wiley) covers 1995- 2000, taking readers on the full tour of the life span of Gladiator gladiator (Latin; swordsman) Professional combatant in ancient Rome who engaged in fights to the death as sport. Gladiators originally performed at Etruscan funerals, the intent being to give the dead man armed attendants in the next world. , Titanic, and all the rest--from prerelease pre·re·lease n. Something released before an official or scheduled date. adj. Of or relating to an interval preceding an official or scheduled release: buzz to the reviews to the nominations to the big night itself. Chock-full of laughs, information, and bitchy bitch·y adj. bitch·i·er, bitch·i·est Slang 1. Malicious, spiteful, or overbearing. 2. In a bad mood; irritable or cranky. backstage details, this is the perfect book for Oscar gossip obsessives. And speaking of Oscar obsessives, Academy Award season is not complete without a visit with Comedy Central's resident critic, the out and outrageous Frank DeCaro. His fourth annual Oscar special, titled The Frank DeCaro Big O! True West Hollywood Story, debuts March 20 at 11:30 P.M., with repeat showings March 22-24. DeCaro's the bitchiest, swishiest, pithiest Oscar expert around. |
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