Awards

Six local students were among the first-place winners of the 30th annual College Television Awards, handed out Saturday night by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation. Julie Sagalowsky and Josh C. Feldman of UCLA won in the comedy category for "Lucy: A Period Piece," about a teenager aching for puberty, while Daniel M. Harrich of the American Film Institute in L.A. captured top drama honors for "Acholiland," about a United Nations worker in Uganda.

The idea of a heavy-metal awards show, with paparazzi flashbulbs and celebrity wranglers, seems odd. Metal is outsiders' music, forged in dank garages by fans for whom Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister is a sex object. But it's also competitive. The comparative merits of Coldplay versus Alison Krauss and Robert Plant are opaque; questions of which drummers can play 16th kick notes at 180 bpm are debates with answers.

Dick Smith brought the devil out of Linda Blair, transformed Marlon Brando into a jowly Mafia don and punked out Robert De Niro with a startling Mohawk. So what's next for the 86-year-old special effects makeup artist? How about a tribute from his friends and colleagues? Smith's innovative work on "The Exorcist," "The Godfather," "Taxi Driver" and "Amadeus" (for which he won an Oscar) among others has had a huge influence on the field.

The city's Police Department is under federal investigation for use of deadly force and its mayor faces charges of conflict of interest and misappropriation of $500,000 in public funds. Still, on Tuesday night, Inglewood found reason to rejoice -- with red, white and blue balloons, kettle corn and a singer dressed in Dorothy's ruby slippers who declared that the city has changed and "it knows where it's going."

They're not the Emmys or the Oscars, and the gift baskets aren't full of expensive goodies. But for the people who break into television and radio programming every so often to tell you how traffic is on the 405 and 110 freeways, this was their day in the driver's seat. It was the annual Golden Pylon Awards, which were dished out today at Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant in the Grove. Pylon is the fancy word for traffic cone, which for drivers always signals trouble ahead.

Oscar-winning director Mike Nichols has been selected by the American Film Institute Board of Trustees to receive the 38th annual AFI Life Achievement Award. The 77-year-old filmmaker joins directors John Ford, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese, among others, who have received the AFI's highest honor for a career in film. Nichols' first Oscar nomination came with 1966's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" The following year, he won the Oscar for "The Graduate."

Los Tigres del Norte, Mexico's superstar norteño band, abruptly canceled its participation Wednesday in a major awards show after it was barred from performing a song critical of the government's campaign against drug cartels. The band, best known for its corridos , or Spanish ballads, chronicling the legendary exploits of drug traffickers, had already traveled to Mexico City from homes in Los Angeles for Wednesday night's event. Organizers of the show insisted the band refrain from playing its latest single, "La Granja" ("The Farm")

Mary Poppins wafted into the Ahmanson Theatre on her magic umbrella Sunday evening, and even those who think they've outgrown her carpetbag of enchantment will have to admit that her timing is, to use one of her pet phrases, "practically perfect." The show, while not intended as a holiday entertainment, takes on a special glow as the days get dark early and merriment is placed on family to-do lists. (Sure, Mary can be a bit of a martinet, but wouldn't you rather jump into a painting with her than clock more overtime with Scrooge?

"Slumdog Millionaire," a drama set in Mumbai, India, about a young man reflecting on his turbulent life while participating on a game show, was the big winner Thursday evening at the Broadcast Film Critics Assn.'s 14th annual Critics' Choice Awards. The sleeper indie hit won best film, best director for Danny Boyle, best writer for Simon Beaufoy, best young actor/actress for Dev Patel and best composer for A.R. Rahman. Sean Penn earned two awards for best actor and best ensemble for "Milk."

Teacher Alex Kajitani, known as the "rappin' mathematician," was named one of four finalists Wednesday for the prestigious National Teacher of the Year award. Kajitani, who teaches math at Mission Middle School, is known for using rap music to connect with his students " . . . but his real talent lies in his ability to reach those students who have all but given up on school," said state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, who nominated him. "Mr. Kajitani employs this cultural medium because of his deep concern about the achievement gap and what it is doing to his students and to all students who are struggling in school," O'Connell said.