Oscar

Jamie Lee Curtis is not happy, and Seth MacFarlane and the Oscars broadcast are to blame. MacFarlane, the Oscars and ... that song. (You know the one. But more on that later.) The "True Lies" and "Halloween" actress let her criticism fly in an opinion piece for the Huffington Post. "I was offended last week," she wrote Friday, referencing the Feb. 24 broadcast. "As an Academy member, as the child of former Academy members and as a woman, I expected more from the best that the movie business has to offer.

Jack Nicholson and Jennifer Lawrence crossed paths backstage at the Oscars on Sunday night in a collision that pitted charm against charm, with the result being, well, charming. Lawrence was describing her shock at receiving the lead actress Oscar to "Good Morning America's" George Stephanopoulos when Jack stepped into view, shaking the interviewer's hand and flattering a stunned J-Law. After a mutual-praise exchange that had Lawrence gushing about loving "all" of Nicholson's movies, he began to take his leave.

This year's Oscars may have drawn some blistering reviews along with its solid ratings. But the producers of the telecast say they don't put much stock in the negative chatter. "When you take the job, you know you're in jeopardy of being ripped to shreds," producer Craig Zadan said in an interview with The Times. "No matter what you do with the Academy [of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences], people take sides. We judged the show by what we wanted to do. " Added Neil Meron, who produced the show with him. "None of us expected to be lauded by the press.

Anne Hathaway surprised the fashion world by wearing Prada -- not Valentino -- to the Academy Awards on Sunday. It was a surprise because the actress is personally close to Valentino Garavani, who even designed her wedding gown. What happened? Hathaway's representative has now released a statement explaining that she had planned to wear a Valentino creation to the Oscars, but at the last minute -- well, Saturday night -- discovered it was very similar to a gown someone else planned to wear.

Lena Dunham had a few post-Oscar tweets about a few of the night's key players: Anne Hathaway and Seth MacFarlane, two of Oscar Sunday's controversial headline-makers. But she did have love for the diminutive "Beasts of the Southern Wild" lead actress nominee. "If I could have dinner with any five people, living or dead, they would be: Quvenzhane Wallis," Dunham tweeted. Then the Golden Globe and Writers Guild Award-winning  "Girls" writer and star got into her critiques of the show.

Now that Ben Affleck has shaved his good-luck Oscar beard, we believe it's safe to officially close the book on the 2012-13 awards season so we can cast a small peek at the treasures that await. What will the coming best picture race look like? Here are 10 candidates: "The Great Gatsby" (May 10): Director, Baz Luhrmann; cast, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire. Delayed from last year and, like all of Luhrmann's high-style, high-wire movies, guaranteed to be divisive, "Gatsby" could well be this year's "Les Miserables" (without the singing)

Oscar Pistorius is planning to hold his own memorial service Wednesday night in Pretoria, South Africa, for girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, whom he shot and killed on Valentine's Day. It is unclear exactly what Pistorius' service would consist of or how many people would attend. "Oscar has asked for a private service with people who share his loss, including his family members who knew and loved Reeva as one of their own. Oscar remains in deep mourning for the loss of his partner Reeva," Vuma Reputation Management, which represents Pistorius, said in a statement.

Re “ An ' Argo ' Night ,” Feb. 25 Mark it as insult to injury that an unspeakably vile “joke” about Lincoln having been shot in the head by an assassin is not even mentioned in The Times' front-page account; it is emblematic of a hopelessly jejune Oscar show. You might have noted, in answer to host Seth MacFarlane's question (“Too soon?”), that 150 years after Lincoln, 50 years after JFK and weeks after Sandy Hook is, yes, too soon. None of these things, with or without time, is funny.

Jennifer Lawrence and Ben Affleck are doing some post-Oscar grooming. And here we thought the nips, trims, dyes and tucks were supposed to happen before the Academy Awards. Lawrence, 22, took home the lead actress Oscar for her role as a neurotic widow in "Silver Linings Playbook" on Sunday night and was spotted Monday without her blond locks when she emerged as a brunet. Oscars 2013: Nominee list | Red carpet | Highlights The actress was photographed smiling when leaving a Beverly Hills hair salon sporting the new 'do, which she donned for her role as Katniss Everdeen for "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," according to People.

Seth MacFarlane may have sung about Oscar's losers, but he wasn't among them. Sunday's movie awards ceremony produced its best ratings in years, even as critics rapped the "Family Guy" producer for some off-color humor. An average of 40.3 million viewers tuned in to the live Oscar telecast on ABC, according to Nielsen. The ceremony - hosted by MacFarlane, the creator of TV's "Family Guy" and director of the movie comedy "Ted" - drew its best numbers since 2010 and were up a modest 2% over last year's show hosted by Billy Crystal.