Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences

Like some Zen master clandestinely operating in the heart of Hollywood, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has perfected the art of offering surprises without being surprising. Though specific Oscar nominations can be unexpected, the overall picture remains the same: The academy will always be the academy, doing the things it has traditionally done since what seems like the dawn of time.

It seems the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is not too happy with another, somewhat homonymous ceremony. The academy filed a petition last August with the appeal board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office seeking to have the trademark for "Hackademy Awards" revoked. Those annual awards are given out by Breathe California of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails, a nonprofit group that promotes clean air and a tobacco-free environment.

I never thought I'd be caught dead using the words "bold" and "innovative" in the same sentence with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but that's what any Oscar fan would have to call the academy's eye-popping decision to expand its best picture nominee list from five to 10 pictures. All I can say is "Bravo!"

Dreams revolving around childhood, religion, relationships and death permeated Federico Fellini's classic films, such as "La Dolce Vita," "8 1/2 " and "Amarcord." So it's no surprise the Oscar-winning Italian filmmaker had a vivid dream life. From the early 1960s until 1990 -- three years before his death in 1993 at age 73 -- he kept a journal by his bedside. Every time he woke up, he quickly wrote down his dreams in prose and drawings. Pages from two of Fellini's journals are making their U.S.

Call it the Marion Cotillard Effect. Few American moviegoers had heard of the French actress before she won the Academy Award last year for her performance in the art-house film "La Vie en Rose." That year also marked the lowest ratings ever for an Oscar telecast. Publicly, executives of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and ABC, which has broadcast the show annually since 1976, shrugged off the sinking ratings.