Hollywood’s big party is now over, and the town can put the Oscar race of 2006 behind it.
    There is no doubt that the best film win by Martin Scorsese’s crime thriller “The Departed” left many movie fans happy. Scorsese, who has helmed movies such as “Raging Bull” and “GoodFellas,” also won the Oscar for best director, finally taking the prize after losing five times previously.
    “It was an overwhelming moment for me,” Scorsese told reporters backstage at the Oscars on Sunday. “This comes as an extraordinary surprise and quite frankly the best picture was a big surprise … I’m just not used to winning.”
    There also is no doubt the big night for “The Departed” left many other fans disappointed, and that is because the race for best film was so wide open. Each movie, “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Babel,” “The Queen,” and “Letters from Iwo Jima,” had their ardent fans.
    But is “The Departed” really the best movie of 2006? Very simply, no. It is, by the way, absolutely the best movie for the dominant block of voters at the roughly 6,000 member Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but that does not mean it is the best movie.
    Any critic and any moviegoer will tell you that enjoying movies is a subjective notion. The same thing that makes some people cry in “Little Miss Sunshine,” makes others laugh. The structure of the disparate stories told in “Babel” intrigued many audiences while others simply grew confused.
    It’s been that way throughout movie history, and it’s been that way through the 79 years of the Academy Awards. Quick, what was the best movie for 1939, “Wizard of Oz,” or “Gone With the Wind”? Both remain popular today, so they have stood the test of time. Yet only one could be chosen best film Oscar winner that year. It was “Gone With the Wind.”
    Why can’t “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” be the best film of 2006? After all, it was No. 1 at box offices  with $423 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales. That’s pretty good. “The Departed” had $131 million.
    Scorsese and “Departed” won because the master director was long overdue for his record of classic movies, and the Academy finally gave him his just reward, the experts say. There is nothing wrong with that. The Academy is a club for all intents and purposes, and that club can do what it wants.
    Filmgoing depends on many things, including the viewers’ mood at the time they see a film, their expectation of what story they will be told and how that story is told. Don’t let others decide what movie is good or bad, especially not a clubby group based in Beverly Hills with a highfalutin’ name like The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
    Meanwhile, as some of you may know, Pascal Pinck and I were on the red carpet Sunday night, and many of you sent us questions. We regret that we got to few of them because of the hectic pace. We do, however, hope you watched and enjoyed. Thanks for the questions, and keep them coming.
   

The red carpet is one of fashion’s big nights. Here’s a look at what some are saying about last night’s choices and more pictures from show here:

Penelope Cruz InStyle magazine said the Best Actress nominee was the best dressed of the evening, calling her ”stunning in a Versace gown, braided chignon and Chopard diamond earrings.” USA Today praised her hair and makeup, and said the ruffle on the dress looked “smart and elegant.”

Reese Witherspoon USA Today said last year’s Best Actress winner ”looked incredible,” with one of their experts declaring her the best dressed of the evening. The New York Post said, “Reese Witherspoon continued her red-carpet domination with svelte new hair and a bod poured into a strapless blueberry gown by Nina Ricci. She stole the thin-girl fashion sweepstakes.” Us Weekly said she “turned heads on the Oscar red carpet.”

Jennifer Hudson The winner of Best Supporting Actress was deemed the worst dressed by the New York Post. “She looked lost in space last night in a ruched, brown silk gown by Oscar de la Renta accented with a tin-foil bolero. Her high metallic collar made her look like the enslaved betrothed of Ming the Merciless.” Eonline.com agreed: “We just can’t forgive or forget this bizarre metallic shrug covering up her pretty brown Oscar de la Renta frock and overshadowing her Fred Leighton jewels.”

Beyonce Knowles Hudson’s “Dreamgirls” co-star didn’t fare very well with critics either. The New York Post said the pop star “opted for a gown with a one-shoulder strap sponsored by the makers of Junior Mints.” The critics at USA Today said, “the dress is all about the big rocks at the neck.” Another one of the critics said, “there’s a whole lot happening” on her left shoulder.

Cameron Diaz Style.com said Diaz “wore a white strapless Valentino that had a distinct origami feel.”

It was the most diverse Oscar night ever, certainly by the nominations. Plenty of awards were won by foreigners, too.

Best Actress was Brit Helen Mirren, who played Queen Elizabeth in “The Queen.” Seven of the ten vying for best actress and est supporting actress were foreigners, New Zealand’s TVNZ noted ahead of the ceremony.

Graham King, producer of Best Picture ”The Departed,” is also British. George Miller, who took home the prize for Best Animated Film for “Happy Feet,” is from Australia.

The fantasy film “Pan’s Labyrinth” from Mexico took three Oscars, for makeup, art direction and cinematography.

Argentinian Gustavo Santaolallo won best original score for the second year in a row, winning this year for “Babel” after taking the prize last year for “Brokeback Mountain.” Native Italian Milena Canonero took home her third Oscar, this year for her costume design for “Marie Antoinette.”  

A Chinese woman, Ruby Yang, was one of the winners in the Best Documentary, Short Subjects for “The Blood of Yingzhou District,” while Norwegian Torill Kove took the award for best animated short film for “The Danish Poet.” Even this year’s honorary award went to a foreigner. Composer Ennio Morricone was honored for his decades-long career and gave his speech in his native Italian.

The telecast of the 79th Annual Academy Awards didn’t win many fans among some TV reviewers. What did you think? Share your comments below.

Washington Post critic Tom Shales called the telecast “alternately a bore and a horror.” He said “the number of big, emotionally rewarding moments was infinitesimal,” and that host Ellen DeGeneres did “a crisp and unpretentious job in her first gig as an Oscar host.”

Variety said, “this year’s Academy Awards ultimately proved a stately if unspectacular-bordering-on-dull affair, with host Ellen DeGeneres’ traditional shtick feeling a trifle small for the industry’s biggest stage.” 

The New York Post said the telecast “will likely be remembered as the dullest, most bloated, Academy Awards ever.”

The Hollywood Reporter was gentler on DeGeneres, saying she set a “kinder, gentler tone for the show.”

USA Today thought DeGeneres was the bright spot in the evening but “anyone seeking excitement or anything resembling speed from Sunday’s exceedingly pokey Academy Awards probably came away disappointed.”

The producers of “The Producers” have decided to close up shop.

The show, which broke box-office records and won more Tony Awards than any other show in Broadway history, will close on April 22, three days after its sixth anniversary on the Great White Way.

The 12-time Tony winner was an instant smash when it opened in 2001. But after original stars Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane left the production ticket sales faltered, especially after Henry Goodman was axed as Lane’s replacement two days before he was to open in the role of Max Bialystock. Lane and Broderick rejoined for a limited period in 2003.

Many on Broadway blame the marketing of the show for its run of just six years when many Broadway hits now run 10 years or more. A run of six years for such a critically acclaimed Broadway production is a surprise, some experts say.

“The big mistake they made was to turn it into a vehicle for Matthew and Nathan. The show should have been the star. It could have run 10 years instead of six,” a veteran theater producer told the New York Post.

Even though performers in “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Miss Saigon,” “Les Miserables” and “Cats” won Tony Awards and critical acclaim for their performances, these shows were never marketed as vehicles for their stars. Instead the producers and promoters created iconic logos to sell the shows. So when the original leads departed, the shows continued to thrive.

The backers of “The Producers” built the show’s ad campaign around Lane and Broderick. Critics of this approach believe that once those two departed, audiences were left with the impression that there was less reason to see it.

Despite a run that was shorter than many expected, the show can hardly be considered a disappointment. The Broadway production has grossed almost $300 million, while two national touring companies played 74 cities throughout the U.S. and grossed over $214 million. A Las Vegas production recently opened.

The show’s worldwide gross stands at $1 billion. “The Producers” also has been performed in 12 countries including Australia, Canada and the UK. Currently there are productions in Budapest, Copenhagen, Italy, Korea, Spain, Mexico, Israel and Prague.

Another musical based on a popular Mel Brooks film, “Young Frankenstein,” will be the next tenant at the St. James Theater in New York this coming fall.

Read the Reuters article on “The Producers” closing.

“Legally Blonde: The Musical,” the stage version of the smash hit movies starring Reese Witherspoon playing a rich socialite with a smart brain to match her blonde hair, is heading to Broadway on a wave of rave reviews from its tryout in San Francisco.

The show, the latest movie-to-musical adaptation, won raves from the critics on the West Coast.

THe Napa Valley Register called it “a rip-roaring musical comedy” which “features a wealth of new songs and eye-popping choreography.”

Insidebayarea.com saids the show “shoots out of the gate like a prize, Prada-clad stallion and races toward that elusive goal of Broadway immortality. ”

The San Jose Mercury News called the show “a vapid-and-lovin’-it guilty pleasure show that truly dares to bling it on.”

The San Fransisco Examiner said of the musical: “The jokes are genuinely funny, its young actors are good-looking and energetic, the dancing rivals whats popular on TV, and the costumes and sets flash and dazzle to just the right extent.”

“Legally Blonde: The Musical” now heads for an April opening on the Great White Way. New York critics are notoriously more difficult than others to please. But it looks like “Legally Blonde” might follow the footsteps of the smash-hit adaptation of “Hairspray,” moreso than the musical version of the film “High Fidelilty,” which quickly flopped on Broadway earlier this season.

The red carpet truly is rolled out in Hollywood. Outside the Kodak Theatre where the Oscars will be handed out this coming Sunday, crew members and staff of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were busily setting up for the movie industry’s biggest night.

One entire block of Hollywood Boulevard has been closed and security guards and Los Angeles police with specially trained dogs roam the perimeter. Bleachers are being set up for the thousands of fans who will turn out to watch Hollywood’s biggest stars on Oscar night, and a tent was being installed over the carpet in case of rain.

All the activity caused tourists to search much harder for their favorite celebrities’ stars cemented into Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. But none of them seemed to mind because this scene happens only once a year, and it’s sort of cool to see. Brazilian couple Marianne Castro and Bruno Bradaschia paused outside to shoot a photograph of themselves in front of the red carpet. Marianne was disappointed because they are leaving on Friday and cannot stay for the event.

Still, Castro and Bradaschia had a couple of days to kick around town, and while they will not see any stars on the red carpet until Sunday, they were headed to the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills where very often you can catch a celeb or two hanging out in the hotel’s bar.

Mohammad Shahjahan, a supervisor for StarLine Tours that works the Hollywood Boulevard area, said this time of the year brings a lot of people to the area — not as many as the summer — but enough to pick up business during the winter.

It is hard to determine just exactly how many people come to Hollywood for the Oscars. Last year an event called “Meet the Oscar” that is sponsored by the Academy had some 90,000 people visit, according to an Academy spokeswoman. Once there, tourists can look at Hollywood memorabilia and even take their picture holding a real Oscar.

Academy staff spends nearly a year planning the big show and the events taking place around it. Hollywood Boulevard is blocked off for roughly a week, but it only takes a night to tear it all down. The boulevard reopens by Monday, and the crowds, for the most part, go away.

That pattern seems to say something about Hollywood. It often takes years for a star to rise up to the level of Oscar winner. But days later, fans forget. Quick! Can you name last year’s winner of supporting actor or supporting actress?

Me neither.

(Photos: Reuters)

For several months Pascal Pinck, Reuters TV correspondent in Hollywood, and I, Bob Tourtellotte, Reuters show business reporter, have brought movie fans weekly comments on major films opening around the world. Now we’ll bring audiences all the stars parading up the red carpet at the Academy Awards on Feb. 25.
Expect to see the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Penelope Cruz, Will Smith, Cate Blanchett and a host of global movie stars as they stroll into Hollywood’s Kodak Theater on Oscar night. The stars will be dripping in diamonds and donning their best tuxedos, but as always Pascal and I will be taking audiences beyond all the glitz and glamour to discuss a broad range of topics.
Along with star interviews, we plan to provide expert commentary on the wide open races at this year’s and whether “Little Miss Sunshine” can beat back challenges in the best film race from “The Departed,” “Babel,” “The Queen” and “Letters from Iwo Jima.” Will Oscar voters award director Martin Scorsese with his first ever Academy Award for best director, or will they snub him again?
But there will be more than just nominee handicapping. Pascal and I will look at Hollywood’s star-making machinery as it seeks to get the stars all the news coverage it can. We will be sharing behind-the-scenes tales of moviemaking, and we will look at how much business all this Oscar spectacle truly drums up Hollywood’s major studios.
Stay tuned to Reuters.com for our live show beginning at 6:55 p.m. ET and running through 7:50 pm ET on Feb. 25.
Send us your questions and comments and we’ll do our best to get to the stars you want to see.

Hollywood is busily prepping for its biggest night of the year, the Oscars, on Sunday, Feb. 25. Over at the Kodak Theater in downtown Tinseltown, bleachers are now set up for thousands of fans who will turn out to see stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, Cate Blanchett and Penelope Cruz parade up the red carpet in their glitziest gowns and finest tuxedos.
    But before that BIG PARTY gets underway, many smaller ones have already started and it will continue through Sunday’s ceremony. At the Kodak, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars, celebrated writers of past Oscar-winning movies and famous lines like “Here’s looking at you kid” from “Casablanca.”
    Dialogue like that and the famous “I wish I knew how to quit you,” from last year’s gay romance “Brokeback Mountain,” are featured prominently on the poster promoting this year’s telecast. Diana Ossana, who co-wrote “Brokeback” with Larry McMurtry, told Reuters “it’s a testament to the power of films and the power of words,” that movie dialogue can have a life longer than just one movie find a place in cultural history.
    The Academy also will fete the makers of short movies and foreign films and feature a “food and wine” preview ahead of it’s swanky Governor’s Ball on Oscar night.
    Corporations come to Hollywood and use the Oscars as a backdrop to promote products. Watchmaker Omega held a viewing of antique watches to be sold at an April auction in Geneva, Switzerland. On display were a range of time pieces including one worn by actor Daniel Craig in James Bond movie “Casino Royale” that still has mud on it. “Dirt, dust and DNA,” joked one Omega official.
    The estimated price on another watch is $100,000 to $150,000 — a cost only a Hollywood star, big-budget producer or fat cat Beverly Hills businessman can afford.
    The likes of Kwiat diamonds and L’Oreal cosmetics have set up suites to show off their wares. General Motors is hosting a party where singer Beck will perform and stars such as Teri Hatcher and Mary J. Blige are scheduled to attend.
    All is not corporate, however. Hollywood studios will host parties for Oscar nominees, big-time talent agents will do the same, and well-known stars will fete other well-known stars. Jamie Foxx is hosting a Beverly Hills bash for “Dreamgirls” co-star and Oscar nominee Jennifer Hudson.

    The Hollywood pundits say the Oscar race for best film is wide open, but what does that mean for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which will give out the world’s most coveted movie awards on Sunday, Feb. 25. It’s an opening for one of the more exciting shows in recent years. For the movie industry, it means a more competitive environment, and that could translate into better movies to come, the experts say.
    Oscar viewership has dropped in recent years, except for a few spikes when box office blockbusters were also critical hits. Last year when little seen “Crash” won best picture, the audience size was about 38.8 million viewers, which was off by more than 3 million from the year before. When 2003’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” ($377 million U.S.) swept to victory in 11 categories, more than 43 million viewers tuned in.
    But a close Oscar race like this year’s means tension in the air on Hollywood’s biggest night and if there is anything movie lovers love, it’s tension. Moreover, Oscars are expected to be spread among a variety of films including “Dreamgirls,” “Little Miss Sunshine” (cast pictured right), ”The Departed,” “The Last King of Scotland,” “The Queen” and “Letters from Iwo Jima.” That means fans of each of those movies will likely see their favorites claim some sort of victory, giving those fans reason to cheer.
    “There will be two or three surprises the entire night, and who knows what they’ll be,” said David Poland of Moviecitynews.com.
    That is true even in the acting categories where Helen Mirren in “The Queen” is the only true shoo-in.
    Best actor favorite Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland” faces veteran Peter O’Toole (left), who has been nominated for best actor seven times, but only once in 2002 was given an “honorary award.” No actor has ever lost on all eight actor nominations, said Tom O’Neil of TheEnvelope.com. Will Smith is well-liked in Hollywood, and he starred in a box office blockbuster hit, “The Pursuit of Happyness” ($161 million U.S.). Don’t count out either O’Toole or Smith.
    Best supporting actor nominee Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls” goes against veteran Alan Arkin in well-liked “Miss Sunshine” and comeback kid Jackie Earle Haley in “Little Children.” Oscar likes veterans and comeback stories, so don’t count them out.
    “Dreamgirls’” Jennifer Hudson has as a rival the adorable 10-year-old Abigail Breslin for “Miss Sunshine,” and Oscars love adorable little girls. Some experts believe may be the big surprise may be Adriana Barraza for supporting actress in another well-liked movie “Babel.” Don’t count them out.
    Tight races and surprise winners are a good thing for the movie industry overall, too, said Oscar historian Robert Osborne, who has authored a series of dubbed “The Official History of the Academy Awards.”
    “I think it’s great in an Oscar year when you got really good movies…and they don’t make it for (nominations),” Osborne said. “When you got good movies that don’t make it, then when you win an Oscar, it really means something.”