Oscars

For the second straight year, the movie business fell for itself. "Argo" - in which a Hollywood producer and makeup artist help engineer the rescue of six Americans from Iran - won the top prize at the 85th Academy Awards, one year after the silent film story "The Artist" took the best picture Oscar. "I never thought I'd be back here. And I am," producer-director Ben Affleck said in accepting the best picture trophy Sunday night, 15 years after he won an original screenplay Oscar for "Good Will Hunting" and then saw his career fall into a tailspin that included "Gigli" and "Daredevil.

Jean Bach first laid eyes on the astonishing photograph more than a decade after its 57 subjects - all illustrious figures from jazz's golden age - posed on the steps of a Harlem brownstone in the summer of 1958. The photo eventually became Bach's obsession and the inspiration for "A Great Day in Harlem," a prize-winning, Oscar-nominated 1994 documentary that explains, through interviews and archival footage, how the magical convergence of dozens of New York jazz legends came to be. "Only Jean could have put that film together because she knew everyone," Johnny Mandel, an arranger-composer for such artists as Count Basie, Frank Sinatra and Natalie Cole who helped choose the music for the project, told The Times last week.

If British spy James Bond can't be called upon to save the mishandling of pop music by the 2013 Oscars, producers did at least book the next best thing: Shirley Bassey. The vocalist, now in her 70s, has defined what has now become a genre, Bond music. A Bond song must feel royal in its presentation, but also have a hint that something is amiss. Sometimes the booming orchestra can act as a moody foil for its vocalist, and other times the singer can become the antithesis of the Bond-girl seductress.

Now that Seth MacFarlane has tweeted that he simply can't find the time to host the Oscars again, is it too early to say: "Tina Fey, come on down!" "I think that's too hard," Fey tells The Times over the phone, when asked if she'd take the job. "Too many dresses to try on. " Really, Tina? You're going to go with the whole degree-of-difficulty dress thing as your primary reason to dodge the high-profile opportunity to flaunt your charm and talents in front of an audience of tens of millions of people?

George Stevens Jr. was brought into the family business as a teenager when he worked as a production assistant on the 1953 Western classic "Shane," which his father, George Stevens, was directing. After college, he joined the crew of his dad's 1956 epic "Giant," for which the filmmaker won his second best directing Oscar, and then shot the location footage in Amsterdam for his father's 1959 drama, "The Diary of Anne Frank. " "I think I was the first one who directed a major part of one of his pictures," Stevens said in a recent interview.

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.

Should Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron both be nominated this year for Oscars, as expected, they wouldn't be the first exes to share the distinction. Carole Lombard and William Powell both received lead acting nominations for the great 1936 screwball comedy "My Man Godfrey," a movie they made three years after an amicable divorce. Cameron already has enjoyed his king-of-the-world moment at the podium. If Bigelow wins, they'd be only the fourth wedded and/or divorced couple to own Oscars in either the acting or directing categories.

In his widely panned bow as Oscars host, “Family Guy” and “American Dad!” creator Seth MacFarlane lived up to his reputation for transgressive frat-boy humor by biting the proverbial hand that feeds. He attempted to bag on just about every A-list actor and Hollywood heavyweight within his sightline at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday night in a performance that, nonetheless, many observers found boring while also failing to live up to the host's usual standard of crassness. “MacFarlane was occasionally crude and mildly offensive; unfortunately, he wasn't very funny,” Mary McNamara observed in The Times.

Well, the 58th Academy Awards have come and gone. I, for one, am not sorry to see them go. A few suggestions for next year: Dump Jane Fonda and Alan Alda as hosts. They were as interesting as watching oatmeal cook. Instead, keep Robin Williams and add Steve Martin as his co-host. They should keep the audience awake. Bring back Statler and Waldorf, the two Muppets in the balcony. They were almost as funny as Williams. Eliminate all production numbers. I watch the Oscars to find out who wins , not to see Debbie Reynolds, Howard Keel, et al., dance around.

During the Oscars on Sunday, there will be lots of glamour, gold and jewels but very few books. Yet before the stars, the lights, the effects and the costumes, there were words. Here's a quiz about this year's Oscar nominees, from a bookish point of view. 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After the coffee. Before going out to vote for next mayor of Los Angeles. The Skinny: It's election day here so do your civic duty and remember to take nothing for granted. Tuesday's stories include a new president at NBC News, Seth MacFarlane says no -- again -- to hosting the Oscars, and "The X Factor" has locked in its new judges. Daily Dose: Now that the upfronts are done, the big TV production companies have rolled out the red carpet for top television executives from around the globe who come here every May for a shopping spree.

If not Seth, who? With Seth MacFarlane's tweeted announcement  that he would not be returning as host of the Academy Awards after his controversial but highly rated turn earlier this year, the question becomes "Who next?" Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will have quite a challenge. The motion picture academy continues to strive for a certain respectful solemnity with a fizzy nod to old-school Hollywood glamour while also needing to attract younger viewers, grooming the next generation of Oscar watchers.

Bad news for those of you eagerly anticipating "We Saw Your Boobs: Part Two. " Seth MacFarlane will not reprise his role as the host of the Academy Awards next March, the comedian announced on his Twitter account Monday. "Traumatized critics exhale: I'm unable to do the Oscars again. Tried to make it work schedule-wise, but I need sleep," wrote "The Family Guy" creator. "However, I highly  recommend the job, as Zadan and Meron are two of the most talented producers in the business.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has changed its rules in the animated feature category to ensure that producers are recognized along with directors. The rule change, which the academy announced in a press release Monday, designates "a maximum of two award recipients, one of whom must have a producer credit. " It's common for animated films to share two directors -- and the rule change allows for that. RELATED: Oscars 2013: Best and worst moments since 2008 According to the academy press release, "The director and/or key creative individual shall continue to be a recipient, and in the circumstance of a two-person team with shared and equal director credit, a third statuette may be awarded.

CANNES, France - The British reporter at the press conference had a question for Oscar Isaac--the same question on a lot of reporters' minds. “Where have you come from?” It was a logical query for Isaac after seeing him in the title role in “Inside Llewyn Davis,” the sideways folk tale from Joel and Ethan Coen that's inspired - somewhat - by the life of early folk-revival musician Dave von Ronk. As the tortured, can't-catch-a-break strummer, Isaac is on screen in nearly every scene of the movie, offers plenty of subtlety and showcased some impressive singing chops to boot.

CANNES, France - "Stories come to me," says Asghar Farhadi, his sharp eyes focused, intense. "This one came to me, and I decided to follow it. " It sounds straightforward, simple even, but nothing about the filmmaker's latest work, "The Past," fits that description. Iranian writer-director Farhadi's name may not be familiar, but his previous film, 2011's "A Separation," certainly is. The picture won more than 70 international awards, including the Oscar for foreign language film; the extent of its global box office success surprised both its creator and its country of origin.

“Inocente,” directed by the team of Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, won the Oscar for documentary short on Sunday. The film follows a homeless, undocumented immigrant teenage girl in San Diego as she relentlessly pursues her dream of becoming an artist. With heart and wit, the film explores the issue of  homelessness among youth while also capturing the power of art and ambition. The work aired first on EPIX and later MTV. The filmmakers were previously nominated for their documentary feature “War Dance” in 2007.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will resume its summer screening series on June 5 with the showing of Joss Whedon's 2012 adaptation of "Much Ado About Nothing. " The screening will be one of 25 events scheduled from June to August at the organization's Hollywood campus at 1341 Vine Street, adjacent to the Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study. (It's the site that was originally purchased to hold the academy's film museum.) Whedon and his cast, including Amy Acker, Alexis Denisoff, Clark Gregg, Nathan Fillion, Fran Krazn and Sean Maher, will be on hand for a post-screening Q&A. PHOTOS: Movie sneaks 2013 With the exception of the upcoming music documentary "Twenty Feet From Stardom," most of the screenings will be of classic films, a varied selection that includes Harold Lloyd's silent comedy "Safety Last" from 1923 and Disney's animated "Peter Pan" from 1953.

Re "Wilde about California," Opinion, May 5 Roy Morris Jr. opens his otherwise interesting piece on Oscar Wilde's 1882 trip to San Francisco with a most unfortunate analogy. If readers come away with the impression that Wilde was of the same ilk as Paris Hilton or the "Jersey Shore" gang, he has done a disservice to Wilde and to your readers. Wilde left us plays that are routinely enjoyed more than a century after he wrote them. Hilton and Snooki will have left us only embarrassment at the vacuousness of our popular culture.