• "True Blood" is gearing up for a third season on HBO beginning June 13. And in July, fans of the vampire drama starring Oscar champ Anna Paquin ("The Piano") will be able to buy the first installment of a graphic arts version of "True Blood." IDW is crafting a six-part miniseries in conjunction with the show's creator -- Oscar-winning scribe Alan Ball ("American Beauty") -- with artist David Messina handling interiors and covers and J. Scott Campbell doing variants. IGN

• Valerie Harper garnered rave reviews for her performance as theatrical diva Talullah Bankhead in the new play "Looped." However, the New York critics were less kind to this new work by Matthew Lombardo ("Tea at Five") and the Broadway run is ending this Sunday. There is already talk of taking the show on the road and the four-time Emmy champ could still find herself in contention for best actress at the Tony Awards when nominations are announced May 4.

• Fans of the Tony Awards who find themselves on the other coast come June 13 can attend a viewing party hosted by Tony champ Brian Stokes Mitchell ("Kiss Me Kate"). The theater and TV vet serves as president of the Actors Fund, which is holding the fundraiser at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. Capping off the evening will be the presentation of the Julie Harris lifetime achievement award, named for one of the theater greats who won a record five lead actress Tony Awards in her stellar career. ACTORS FUND

• The first kudos of the theater season are bestowed by the Outer Critics Circle. Nominations for these awards will be announced by Tony champ Sutton Foster ("Thoroughly Modern Millie") and her equally talented brother Hunter Foster ("Urinetown") on April 26. Winners will be named on May 17 with the prizes presented during a dinner at Sardi's on May 27.

• Roger Friedman reports that Oscar-winning scribe Geoffrey Fletcher ("Precious") "will be directing a film from his own original script. 'Violet and Daisy' is the title of a movie that may get a start this summer with two Oscar nominated actresses in the lead roles. They would be Carey Mulligan, of 'An Education,' and Saoirse Ronan of 'The Lovely Bones.' " SHOWBIZ 411

• And we may get a chance to see whether talent runs in the family for Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe ("Precious") with the news that her mother Alice Tan Ridley will sing for the judges on "America's Got Talent." In an e-mail Ridley wrote, "It’s a big break for me and I would like to follow in Susan Boyle’s footsteps and become a star in my own right. I love the judges, Sharon and Piers, and I’m really looking forward to trying and impress them although I have not decided what I will sing or wear yet." RADAR ONLINE

• Andrew Lloyd Webber's new tuner "Love Never Dies" -- the sequel to 1988 Tony champ "The Phantom of the Opera" -- will delay its New York opening by six months. The show -- which premiered to mixed reviews in London in March -- is now slated for spring 2011. A statement from the producers explained that the original opening was scheduled prior to the composer being diagnosed with prostate cancer last fall. "Although the cancer has been eradicated, there have been post-operative problems. These have been aggravated by recent air travel and Lloyd Webber's doctors have requested that he does not take any further long-haul flights for the time being and until the problem has been investigated. This prevents him attending auditions and being part of the pre-production process in New York on the original schedule." PLAYBILL

• Andrea Reiher recaps Tuesday's TV appearances by six-time Emmy champ Carol Burnett who has penned a memoir titled "This Time Together." The TV legend "tells 'Today' about discovering Vicki Lawrence and tells Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa on 'Live' the amazing story of how she came to New York to act." Back in 1986, Burnett recounted the story of her childhood and early days in show business in the best-selling "One More Time" which she and daughter Carrie Hamilton later adapted into the 2002 play "Hollywood Arms." This new volume -- which takes its title from a lyric in the theme song to her long-running variety series -- continues her fascinating story. ZAP 2 IT

• Writer-director Juan Jose Campanella will follow up his Oscar-winning foreign language film "El secreto de sus ojos" (The Secret in Their Eyes) with the first 3-D animated feature from his native Argentina. The plot of "Foosball" -- scripted by Campanella, Eduardo Sacheri (author of the book on which "Secret" is based), Gaston Gorali and Axel Kuschevatzky -- is derived from the popular table game. VARIETY

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Top photo: "True Blood" logo. Credit: HBO

Middle photo: "Precious" poster. Credit: Lionsgate

Bottom photo: "This Time Together" dust jacket. Credit: Random House

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• The post-Oscars box office bounce for "The Hurt Locker" will be limited by its availability on DVD. However, as Melena Ryzik reports, "The film, which has actually never left theaters since it opened in a very few in June 2009, will open in an additional 35 on Friday, in major markets like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Washington D.C., Seattle, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis and San Diego, as well as in 30 more in Canada. That will take its total in North America to 348 theaters; for comparison’s sake, 'Avatar' is playing in 2,163 theaters (although 'Alice in Wonderland' has scooped up most its 3-D screens), and 'Crazy Heart' in 1,274." THE CARPETBAGGER

• Among the tasty tidbits served up by Steve Pond in an Oscars wrap-up was this morsel: "Tucked away at the back of the ballroom was a small room with a red velvet rope, a wooden counter fronted by a few high chairs, and three stations where pre-engraved plaques were affixed to the statuettes of the night’s Oscar winners. At about 11 p.m., Kathryn Bigelow finally made her way back there; she was carrying a pair of Oscars she’d won for directing and producing 'The Hurt Locker,' while writer-producer Mark Boal carried another pair. Bigelow took a seat behind the counter, shook her head, and called a friend over to watch the process. 'Look at this!' she said with a big grin. 'I have my own personal engraver!'" THE WRAP

• Emma Rosenblum profiles the charmingly disarming Oscar-winning editors Chris Innis and Bob Murawski ("The Hurt Locker"). Chris told her, "We met on Sam Raimi’s television show 'American Gothic'; he introduced us." And Bob revealed, "That was about fifteen years ago, but we actually only got married after 'The Hurt Locker.' We knew if that didn’t break us up, nothing would." NEW YORK

• Amy Kaufman explains some of Oscars' oddest moments including George Clooney's sourpuss:  "'He and Alec [Baldwin] and Steve [Martin] were making pre-arranged grimacing faces at each other. All planned just to be funny,' Clooney's representative, Stan Rosenfield, assured in an e-mail." THE ENVELOPE

• ABC is repeating the post-Oscar installment of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in primetime on March 13. As per the news release, the episode, "which debuted the now viral 'Handsome Men’s Club' video, captured 4.7 million viewers, making it the third-highest rated telecast to date for the late-night talker, behind only its two post-Super Bowl telecasts (on 1/26/03 and 2/5/06). The late night show’s most watched post-Oscar telecast ever welcomed two-time Academy Award nominee Robert Downey Jr., who brought along the world premiere of the new trailer for 'Iron Man 2,' plus a musical performance by Grammy Award winner Keith Urban." TV BY THE NUMBERS

• Julie Miller recaps Tuesday's appearance of "Music by Prudence" producer Elinor Burkett on Joy Behar's HLN gabfest. The Oscar winner explained her interruption of the acceptance speech by the short doc's director Roger Ross Williams: "I had two choices, right? Either I could let [Williams] blather on for 45 seconds, because that was our max -- this year only one person could speak -- or I could interrupt so I get to talk. And everybody thinks that I was bad for interrupting him. So they don’t think he was bad for, like, bigfooting me to prevent me from speaking at all?" MOVIELINE

• One of the men appearing onstage at the Kodak Theatre Sunday to accept the documentary feature Oscar for "The Cove" broke academy protocol when he unfurled a sign instructing viewers to text the word "dolphin" to an animal rescue organization. "TMZ has learned those two seconds of exposure triggered so many text messages the group's mobile service provider nearly went down. The group claims they've doubled their membership in the two days following the awards." TMZ

• The cast of the Emmy-winning "Mad Men" have been cast in plastic by Mattel. As Stuart Elliot reports, "Mattel is licensing rights to the characters from Lionsgate, the studio that produces 'Mad Men' for the AMC cable channel. There will be 7,000 to 10,000 copies of each doll, to be sold in specialty stores and on two Web sites, amctv.com and barbiecollector.com. The characters to become dolls are Don Draper, the show’s leading man; his wife, Betty; his colleague at the Sterling Cooper agency, Roger Sterling; and Joan Holloway, the agency’s office manager who was Roger’s mistress." NEW YORK TIMES

• Pamela McClintock reports that "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" won't unspool in April as planned due to a possible premiere at Cannes in May. Instead, Paramount is releasing the Oliver Stone-helmed sequel -- in which Michael Douglas reprises his 1987 Oscar-winning role of Gordon "Greed is good" Gekko and Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan ("An Education") costars -- in September. VARIETY

• Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe ("Precious"), who appeared in the pilot of the Showtime comedy "The C Word," will be a recurring character during the show's upcoming first season. Sidibe plays a sassy student while Laura Linney is her teacher who is recovering from cancer.

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Top photo: "The Hurt Locker" poster. Credit: Summit

Middle photo: Jimmy Kimmel and Rob Lowe on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Credit: ABC

Bottom photo: "Mad Men" dolls. Credit: Mattel

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The 82nd Academy Awards followed the script set down by pundits, as the front-runners for all of the major Oscars won Sunday night. "The Hurt Locker" led with six Oscars, including best picture and best director for Kathryn Bigelow, who became the first woman to win this award. The Iraq war drama also picked up prizes for original screenplay (Mark Boal), editing, sound mixing and sound editing.

"Avatar" went into the night tied with "The Hurt Locker" with a leading nine nominations but had to settle for three Oscars for art direction, cinematography and visual effects (and a $2.4-billion and counting box-office take). See a complete list of all Oscar winners here.

Lead actor went to Jeff Bridges, a four-time also-ran at the Oscars, who finally won for his performance as a down-and-out country singer in "Crazy Heart." The theme song for that film, "The Weary Kind," won best original song for Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

First-time nominee Sandra Bullock won lead actress for best picture nominee "The Blind Side," edging out, among others, Meryl Streep, who was contending for a record 13th time in this category. The lead acting nominees were introduced by performers with whom they have a connection before last year's winners, Sean Penn ("Milk") and Kate Winslet ("The Reader"), bestowed the Oscars. Last year, each of the four acting categories was handled by five past winners who each spoke about one of the nominees.

It was no surprise that the Academy Awards for supporting actor and actress went to Christoph Waltz ("Inglourious Basterds") and Mo'Nique ("Precious"). The pair had picked up all of the precursor awards going into the Oscars. Waltz's win represented the only Oscar for that best picture nominee, which had eight nominations in total while "Precious" -- which had six nominations, including a best picture bid -- also won adapted screenplay for Geoffrey Fletcher

The animated feature race was won by best picture nominee "Up," which edged out Gotham and L.A. critics choice "Fantastic Mr. Fox" among others. "Up" became the fifth Pixar picture -- after "Finding Nemo," "The Incredibles," "Ratatouille" and "Wall-E" -- to win this category since it was introduced in 2001. "Up" also won best score.

Of the 10 best picture nominees, four were completely shut out -- "District 9" (with four noms), "An Education" (three noms), "A Serious Man" (two nominations) and "Up in the Air" (six). 

"El Secreto de Sus Ojos" became the second feature from Argentina to win best foreign-language film, and "The Cove" won the documentary feature Oscar. For her costume design for "The Young Victoria," Sandy Powell took home her third Oscar, following wins for "Shakespeare in Love" and "The Aviator." "Star Trek" won for makeup.

While most of the winners are seemingly foregone conclusions at this year's Oscars, the lead actress race remains too close to call. Most pundits put Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side") ahead. She won with both the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild and seems to have the most buzz going into Sunday.

But when you talk with actual Oscar voters, you hear many of them say that the film and Bullock's performance are too lightweight. You hear lots of votes for all-time nominations champ Meryl Streep ("Julie & Julia") as well as first-time nominees Carey Mulligan ("An Education") and Gabourey Sidibe ("Precious"). As for Helen Mirren ("The Last Station"), she will have to be content with her 2006 win in this same race for "The Queen." 

If you are among those who believe that Sandra Bullock will win, ask yourself: does she deserve to? That the question Pete Hammond and I discuss in our video chat here.

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• Anthony Breznican interviews rookie Oscars producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman and discovers "the division of labor is simple: Mechanic puts together the show; Shankman puts ON the show." He notes that "they liked last year's innovation of having five past Oscar winners coming out to introduce the individual acting contenders. But Shankman and Mechanic want the presenters to have some past connection to the person they're introducing. 'For things where you can't have a connection, for example documentary short, we'll put a comedian,' Shankman adds. 'We'll put an entertainment value there.' As for other entertainment, 'there will be two big dance numbers. Though Shankman doesn't want to reveal too much, smart money is on a few awards being presented within a dance routine." USA TODAY

• While the first three Oscar presenters announced were last year's living acting winners, the next four were all teen sensations (Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron, Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart), and the newest is the one-man media powerhouse Tyler Perry. As the press release notes, "Perry, who is the driving force behind Tyler Perry Studios, writes, produces and directs films in which he also often performs. Perry wrote, produced and starred in 'Diary of a Mad Black Woman' in 2005. His subsequent film credits include 'Madea’s Family Reunion,' 'Daddy’s Little Girls,' 'Why Did I Get Married?' 'Meet the Browns,' 'The Family That Preys' and 'I Can Do Bad All by Myself.' " The announcement omits Perry's executive producing credit on the best picture nominee "Precious." AMPAS

• The official calendar for the 64th annual Tony Awards has been released with these key dates: eligibility cutoff (April 29), nomination announcement (May 4), nominees' press reception (May 5), nominees' private reception (May 20) and the award ceremony (June 13).  TONYS

• William Keck reports that "Lost" Emmy winner Terry O'Quinn "is shopping around a bible for a TNT-type show that would pair him back up with his real-life chum and on-screen foe, Michael Emerson (Ben), as suburban hit men juggling family issues. Though Terry asked me not to spill show specifics, he has spoken with 'Lost' creator J.J. Abrams about the project and says, 'I really hope this works out because Michael would be in his prime in this. We’d play kind of awkward partners.'" TV GUIDE

• Dave Karger says, that "with so many of the acting races already sewn up at the Oscars this year, Missy Schwartz and I decided to turn the spotlight on four underdog nominees that we’re rooting for with passion … and not a little futility. True, these four performers don’t have a shot in Hades to reach the Kodak Theatre stage on March 7, but that doesn’t mean they’re not deserving of our love." Dave's personal picks are the two BAFTA lead acting winners -- Colin Firth ("A Single Man") and Carey Mulligan ("An Education") -- while Missy opts for Jeremy Renner ("The Hurt Locker") and Vera Farmiga ("Up in the Air").   ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

• In the first of a series, Melena Ryzik answers readers' questions on the Oscars. The first query -- the difference between sound editing and sound mixing? Melena turns to Oscar-winning sound editor Alan Robert Murray, who explains that the supervising sound editor "is like 'the architect or planner of the soundtrack, meaning he designs and sets up everything having to do with sound effects, dialogue -- nothing to do with music, that’s a whole separate thing -- then would go out and record sounds for the production that he needs, design specific things the director wants,' whether that’s an invented audio effect or simply the sound of a door closing. When it’s ready, all of that audio goes to the sound-mixing stage. 'The sound mixers mix the dialogue at a level that you can hear it, they add the music into the movie and interweave that with all the other sounds, and they basically do the finished product, Mr. Murray said. 'And both are under the input of the director, of what he’s looking for.' " THE NEW YORK TIMES

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Top photo: Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman. Credit: Matt Sayles / Associated Press

Bottom photo: "Lost" logo. Credit: ABC

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• Before revealing that he is sticking with "The Hurt Locker" for the best picture Oscar, Dave Karger recaps the derby parallels between that film and "Brokeback Mountain" four years ago: "'Brokeback' managed the rare feat of winning Best Picture and Best Director at both the New York and Los Angeles film critics awards; so did 'Hurt Locker.' 'Brokeback' also picked up those two big prizes at the Broadcast Film Critics Awards; so did 'Hurt Locker.' 'Brokeback' won the trifecta of PGA, DGA, and WGA trophies; so did 'Hurt Locker. 'Brokeback' won 4 BAFTAs, including Best Film, Director, and Screenplay; 'Hurt Locker' picked up 6 awards, including Best Film, Director, and Screenplay. And of course, 'Brokeback' lost the SAG cast award, and so did 'Hurt Locker.' (The main difference between the two films’ tallies is that 'Brokeback' did win four Globes, including Best Drama and Best Director, while 'Hurt Locker' went 0 for 3.)" ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

• After noting that, "'The Hurt Locker' director Kathryn Bigelow could be the first woman to win Best Director, a triumph for female filmmakers everywhere," Nicole Laporte wonders, "is the Academy voting for her movie or her gender?" She begins her analysis of the issue with this anecdote: "At a recent awards ceremony where Bigelow accepted one of the many accolades she's earned on the pre-Oscar circuit, Bigelow, who is 58, was met with a whooping cry of 'Go, Girl!' It was the kind of remark that's hard not to smile at -- at least, at first -- but that lingers in the air, eliciting a longer-lasting cringe, and ultimately dumps out a suitcase's worth of sexist issues of the sort that have been trailing Bigelow on her long march to the Academy Awards." THE DAILY BEAST

• Pete Hammond reports, "campaigners are pulling out all the stops trying to position their movie as the one with the gravitas that befits a best picture winner. In addition to the usual trade and newspaper ads, TV spots and billboards, at least one 'Hurt Locker' nominee apparently feels the best way may be hand-to-hand combat via e-mail. The Academy may frown at this direct attempt to contact its members, but 'Hurt Locker' co-producer Nicholas Chartier, who through his Voltage Pictures was the film's key financing wizard, is making pleas to friends and friends of friends to get out the vote for 'Hurt Locker' like it was some sort of political grass-roots campaign. His pitch isn't so much about the quality of the film, but rather its independent nature versus that movie with the blue people that cost so much to make. He doesn't mention 'Avatar' by name." NOTES ON A SEASON

• Gold Derby's Emmys forum has been buzzing with speculation over which category Showtime will enter "Dexter" star John Lithgow: supporting or guest? Lithgow recently won the Golden Globe in the supporting slot, but Showtime media chief Richard Licata tells us that Lithgow will compete in the guest slot at the Emmys. The actor won the first of his four Emmys as a guest performer on the series "Amazing Stories" back in 1986. The other three came for his regular lead role on the laffer "Third Rock From the Sun."

• Sasha Stone offers up her Oscar predictions in a compelling piece of writing that includes these observations: "In the Best Actress category, it is perhaps a three-way race, with Sandra Bullock firmly in the lead, followed by Meryl Streep and then perhaps Carey Mulligan in a possible upset. There is little doubt that Meryl Streep gave the best performance, but Sandra Bullock has paid her dues and 'The Blind Side' managed to get a Best Picture nomination, which is practically a miracle. For Bullock to lose at this point there would have to be a good reason for it -- and that reason would probably be something like a messy divorce or a bar room brawl. Best Actor still feels like it’s Jeff Bridges’ to lose. There isn’t anyone gaining Adrien Brody-like steam. The only one would have been Viggo Mortensen in 'The Road' but he didn’t get a nod. Jeff Bridges is so beloved and his performance was so good -- and he was in a movie that people seem to really like, certainly enough to give Maggie Gyllnehaal the supporting nod." She also says, "Supporting actor and actress couldn’t be more locked. Both will seen as the big wins for their respective films, which means they can’t really lose. The two open categories right now are still Picture and Original Screenplay in the major categories. Everyone is so quick to call the race done and done, but the truth is, with ten nominees and preferential ballot, anything could happen." AWARDS DAILY

• Randy Lewis reports, "Jeff Bridges, T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham will make what may be their swan song appearance together in conjunction with the film 'Crazy Heart' when they perform one of the movie’s songs at  the 25h anniversary Spirit Awards ceremony on March 5 in Los Angeles. Rather than singing the much-lauded theme 'The Weary Kind,' the best-song Oscar-nominee that Bingham and Burnett wrote, the trio plans to offer up 'Fallin’ and Flyin’, written by the late Texas singer and songwriter Stephen Bruton, who oversaw the film’s music with producer and longtime friend Burnett. Bruton died of cancer shortly after completing work on the music." POP & HISS

• Roger Friedman reports, "Monday night in the main ballroom at the Plaza Hotel, AFTRA, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, gave its lifetime achievement awards to an eclectic bunch. They were: 'Good Morning America's Robin Roberts, CBS' Charles Osgood, 'Soul Man' Sam Moore, the cast of 'Sesame Street' and Latin American artist Juanes. The winners inspired an equally eclectic group of presenters: Don Imus, for Sam Moore; Tony Bennett, for Juanes; Bill Geist for Osgood." SHOWBIZ 411

• Melena Ryzik makes merry with the academy's proposed party kit for Oscar night. "When you think Oscars, you think, 'Bingo!' right? The Academy’s reaching-out-to-the-youth campaign continues with snazzy party-planning tips on its website, including a downloadable card for Oscar bingo, with squares for 'Crying,' 'Winner Accepts Oscar in a Foreign Language' and, mystifyingly, 'Lauren Bacall.' (Spoiler?!) Also on the Academy’s fun primer -- available at oscars.org/partykit -- is a video with Cheryl Cecchetto, a producer of the Governors Ball, the official Oscar afterparty, offering 10 tips for throwing your own Oscar-watching party. 'Must-have number three,' according to Ms. Cecchetto: 'Set the mood by featuring the soundtracks of the nominated pictures.' (Right, since you won’t be hearing them on the actual show.) And must-have No. 4 is 'Champagne, Champagne and more Champagne.' No argument there." THE CARPETBAGGER

• While Heidi Klum won't be on hand, the academy is staging its own version of "Project Runway" this year. Nine up and coming designers -- five from LA, two from New York, and one each from Chicago and Phoenix -- have created gowns to be worn by the models who appear onstage at the Kodak Theater. But only of their creations will make it to the Oscars with online voting from now till March 1 determining the winner. The unveiling of this design will be in the pre-show airing on ABC just before the Oscars on March 7. AMPAS

• One star who has definite ideas about what she will be wearing to the Oscars is best actress nominee Carey Mulligan ("An Education"). As Phil Boucher writes, "Having already appeared once in Vogue, is Mulligan taking editor-in-chief Anna Wintour’s advice on what to wear to the Oscars? Not according to Mulligan, who has visions of her own. 'Anna said I should wear short for the Oscars,' says Mulligan. 'I was like 'No, that is so not what I had in my head when I was six years old!'" PEOPLE

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Top photo: "The Hurt Locker" poster. Credit: Summit

Middle photo: "The Blind Side" poster. Credit: Warners

Bottom photo: Academy Award statuettes. Credit: AMPAS

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The Oscars and BAFTA Awards reputedly share about 500 voters, so maybe that explains why BAFTA has correctly predicted the Oscars' lead actress race for the last four years. If they're really in sync, what are we to make of Carey Mulligan's lead-actress victory for "An Education"? Does this mean we're underestimating her voter pull at the Oscars? Or maybe the Brits just decided that they wanted to take a break from Hollywood groupthink this year and embrace a local British gal?

What makes parallels difficult is the fact that Oscar front-runner Sandra Bullock wasn't nominated at BAFTA because she wasn't eligible. "The Blind Side" didn't open in Britain in 2009. Maybe the fact that Mulligan won BAFTA just means Mulligan, not Meryl Streep, poses the biggest challenge to Bullock, who may the Oscar front-runner, as most pundits believe.

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Photos: "An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics), left; "Julie & Julia" (Columbia), "The Blind Side" (Warner Bros.)

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Oscars nominees will gather together for the annual academy luncheon Monday and 14 of the 20 acting nominees will be among the more than 120 attendees. Just how important is this breaking of bread while the Oscars ballots are still being cast?

Meryl Streep ("Julie & Julia") has arranged her travel schedule to be at the festivities at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The New York-based actress skipped the luncheon last year when she was a nominee for "Doubt" and three years ago when she contended for "The Devil Wears Prada" -- she lost both those races. Indeed, all of the best actress contenders but Helen Mirren ("The Last Station") -- who won this award three years ago for "The Queen" -- will be there as will all five of the best actor nominees.

However, supporting actress frontrunner Mo'Nique ("Precious") has sent in her regrets. With her talk show based in Atlanta, Mo'Nique has had to pick and choose which West Coast events to attend. Also MIA will be last year's supporting actress Oscar winner Penelope Cruz ("Vicky Christina Barcelona"), who contends again in this category for "Nine."

Just two of the five supporting actor nominees will be there -- Woody Harrelson ("The Last Messenger") and Christoph Waltz ("Inglorious Basterds"). Missing will be Matt Damon ("Invictus"), Christopher Plummer ("The Last Station") and Stanley Tucci ("The Lovely Bones").

All five directing nominees -- Kathryn Bigelow ("The Hurt Locker"), James Cameron ("Avatar"), Lee Daniels ("Precious"), Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air") and Quentin Tarantino ("Inglorious Basterds") -- are scheduled to attend, as are many of the Academy Award nominees in the other 19 races.

Look for the historic group photo here Monday afternoon.

Photo: Academy Award statuettes Credit: AMPAS

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• Steve Pond is aces at summing up the goings on so far at the 25th edition of the Santa Barbara filmfest. "Two dozen nominees, with 30 nominations between them, have either already shown up or will participating in the 10-day festival, which began last Thursday and runs through Feb. 10. So far, the festival has feted Best Actress nominees Sandra Bullock and Carey Mulligan; weathered scheduling snafus caused by California’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger; unveiled the little-seen animated Irish film 'The Secret of Kells,' a surprise nominee for Best Animated Feature; celebrated the career of James Cameron; and then crowned Cameron’s Best Picture and Best Director competitor Kathryn Bigelow 'king and queen of the world' while she was sitting next to Cameron." THE ODDS

• Also from Santa Barbara, Jeff Wells writes, "I was reminded of three or four things during last night's  tribute to Sandra Bullock. One, she's whip-smart but uncomplicated -- she had a clean and concise answer for every question thrown her way, but she's not into soul-baring. Two, she worked long and hard to prove her way out of the romantic-comedy prison she felt trapped in about ten years ago. Three, she didn't want to portray her 'Blind Side' character (the real-life Leigh Anne Tuohy) because she felt she was an unrealistic construct -- but she changed her mind after meeting her." HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE

• "Fish Tank" landed the best picture prize at the Evening Standard British Film awards Monday night. Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan ("An Education") lost the best actress prize to Anne Marie Duff for the John Lennon biopic "Nowhere Boy" while Andy Serkis won best actor for "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll." The Oscar-nominated screenplay for political satire "In the Loop" won on its home turf while Sacha Baron Cohen won the Peter Sellers Award for comedy for his alter-ego, the Austrian fashion reporter Bruno. Baron Cohen won the same award in 2006 for Borat. BBC

• Mark Harris delivers a must-read analysis of the current awards season. As he writes, "There is a reason why they call the run-up period to the Academy Awards the 'Oscar campaign.' It is, to use a familiar analogy, like an election, with an electorate of 5,777 people (the size of McKenzie County, North Dakota), unwilling to be influenced by anything but their own opinions, yet still, perhaps, more swayable than they’d like to admit. There is no war room, per se, but there are early front-runners that fade, grassroots insurgencies, even primaries. Ultimately, most of the nominees emerge from a combination of good planning, good movies, and good luck." NEW YORK

• Oscarcast co-host Alec Baldwin confesses to Jay Bobbin that he is "nervous" about the gig. As for his day job on "30 Rock," Baldwin says series creator, producer and star Tina Fey has his fate in her hands. "It's Tina's house, so to speak," Baldwin says, "and she has so many other options as a writer. I mean, Tina's going to go off and become Nora Ephron or Elaine May. She'll write films and probably direct films. She is so poised to go off and replicate the success of this show in so many other areas. Her book is coming out; she's very fertile in that way. There's so many things she can do." ZAP 2 IT

• Brian Moylan makes merry with the five nominees for best animated feature at the Oscars. As he writes, "The Oscars are on a campaign to ruin the psyche's of America's children. How? By nominating seriously scary movies for the Gee Willickers Awesome Cartoon Trophy. Beware what you're doing to your kids by taking them to see these. Before you rush out and get all the nominees on DVD thinking that you're giving your kids an artistic experience, just stop yourself. Remember, many of us had traumatic childhood experiences by watching movies that were way too creepy and adult for us at too young an age." Brian then recounts the plot of each of the pictures as well as the psychological symptoms and cures before recommending a fictional psychiatrist. GAWKER

• The East Coast branch of the WGA will fete Alan Zweibel with the Ian McLellan Hunter lifetime achievement prize during the 62nd annual awardsfest on Feb. 20 in Gotham. As per the announcement: "One of 'Saturday Night Live's original writers, Alan Zweibel has won multiple Emmy, Writers Guild, and TV Critics awards for his work in television, which also includes 'It’s Garry Shandling’s Show' (co-creator and executive producer), 'Monk,' and 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.'" WGAE

• Paul Gaita points the way to an op-ed penned by James Cameron about NASA that ran recently in the Washington Post. As Paul notes, " Cameron, who served on the agency's Advisory Council from 2003 to 2005 (did you know?), outlines the financial problems that faced the U.S. space program but ends on a positive note by stating that President Obama's current budget for NASA will allow for private industry to fund space exploration -- which might lead not only to jet packs for everyone (like on the Jetsons!), but also the chance for directors with serious financial clout (like Mr. Cameron) to shoot their future projects in outer space. It's not that far-fetched an idea, and I mean, if you're gonna top 'Avatar,' that's your only likely venue." THE CIRCUIT

• James Hibberd reports that, "after airing the Golden Globes live coast-to-coast for the first time last month, NBC is considering doing the same for the Emmys. The network is discussing with affiliates a plan to air the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards live on Sunday Aug. 29. Tape-delaying certain entertainment programs for the West Coast has been a longtime practice, but with fans increasingly getting their entertainment news on the Internet, Web-savvy Emmy viewers have to go out of the their way to keep from being spoiled during the telecast. (The Oscars are traditionally telecast live)." THR

• Attention all would-be Joe Gillis types: The academy is now accepting applications for the $30,000 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. Five of these fellowships will be awarded in November to individuals who have never earned more than $5,000 from the sale or option of a screenplay or teleplay. The entire application process, including the submission of entry scripts, will be online and all details are available at www.oscars.org/nicholl.

• Anne Thompson and Jack Mathews debate the question of whether Quentin Tarantino has achieved auteur status. As Anne notes, the director told a London audience that with "Inglourious Basterds," "he has established a body of work that can be analyzed as a whole and as a product of his unique vision. Recalling his experiences watching the films of Howard Hawks, he said: 'My aim is that some kid in 50 years time has the same experience with me and my films.'" Mathews and Thompson disagree about "whether QT’s films actually form a body of work or remain a work in progress." THOMPSON ON HOLLYWOOD

Top photo: Santa Barbara International Film Festival logo. Credit: SBIFF

Middle photo: Academy Awards. Credit: AMPAS

Bottom photo: Emmy Award. Credit: ATAS

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This year, 19 of the 20 SAG acting nominees are contending at the Academy Awards. The only one not to make the cut was SAG supporting actress contender Diane Kruger ("Inglourious Basterds"), who was replaced on the Oscars ballot by Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Crazy Heart").

Last year, 18 of the 19 SAG acting nominees repeated at the Academy Awards. As double SAG nominee Kate Winslet was bumped up by the Oscars from supporting to lead for "The Reader," she was denied a lead nod for "Revolutionary Road." However, that film's Michael Shannon managed to knock SAG nominee Dev Patel of "Slumdog Millionaire" out of the supporting race.

Two years ago, 15 of the 20 SAG nominees went on to compete at the Oscars. Three years ago, it was also 19 of the 20 with the one variation coming from the same film -- "The Departed" -- as SAG nominee Leonardo DiCaprio was replaced at Oscar time by Mark Wahlberg.

Four of the five SAG-nominated ensembles appear in Oscar-nominated best pictures with only "Nine" not making it into the top 10. Last year, four of the five SAG-nominated ensembles also did so, with SAG contender "Doubt" replaced by "The Reader." "Slumdog Millionaire" won both awards. Two years ago, only one SAG ensemble nominee -- "No Country for Old Men" -- made it into the best picture race, although that film won both prizes as well. Three years ago, it was three of five, with "Little Miss Sunshine" taking the SAG prize but losing the top Oscar to "The Departed."

Last year, all five of the lead actress nominees also competed for both awards. Two years ago, it was four of five as the only SAG nominee not needing a babysitter come Oscar night was Angelina Jolie ("A Mighty Heart"), whose spot went to "The Savages" star Laura Linney.

As with this year, last year's supporting actress race matched up only four to five as the promotion of Winslet for "The Reader" left room at the Oscars for the addition of Marisa Tomei ("The Wrestler"). Two years ago, this race was also four for five with SAG nominee Catherine Keener ("Into the Wild") replaced by Saoirse Ronan ("Atonement").

Last year, lead actor also matched up perfectly. Two years ago, it went three for five with the SAG nominees as relative newcomers Emile Hirsch ("Into the Wild") and Ryan Gosling ("Lars and the Real Girl") were replaced at the Oscars by Hollywood vets Johnny Depp ("Sweeney Todd") and Tommy Lee Jones ("In the Valley of Elah").

Last year's supporting actor race was four for five with Shannon replacing Patel. Two years ago, SAG nominee Tommy Lee Jones ("No Country for Old Men") was replaced by Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Charlie Wilson's War").

This year, the DGA lineup is repeated at the Oscars. Last year's DGA picks for best director matched up with four of the five academy choices as DGA nominee Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight") was edged out at the Oscars by Stephen Daldry ("The Reader"). Two years ago, DGA nominee Sean Penn ("Into the Wild") lost his Oscar slot to Jason Reitman, who helmed best pic nominee "Juno."

Of this year's 10 PGA nominees for best picture, eight of them earned Oscar nods. The exceptions: One box office champ -- "Star Trek" -- was replaced by another -- "The Blind Side" -- and one set of Oscar favorites -- Clint Eastwood and "Invictus" -- was replaced by another -- the Coen brothers and "A Serious Man."

Last year, the PGA went four for five with the Oscar contenders as "The Dark Knight" was bumped by "The Reader." Two years ago, it was also four for five with PGA nominee "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" replaced by "Atonement."

This year, only two of the five WGA nominees for original screenplay -- "The Hurt Locker" and "A Serious Man" -- are contending at the Oscars. Last year, just one of the five WGA nominees for original screenplay made it into the Oscar race -- eventual winner Dustin Lance Black ("Milk"). Two years ago, the WGA picks lined up with the Oscar nominees except for "Knocked Up," which was knocked out of the competition by the team that whipped up "Ratatouille."

The adapted screenplay Oscar race only includes two of the WGA nominees as well -- "Precious" and "Up in the Air." Last year, the Oscars went four for five with only the WGA nominees for "The Dark Knight" bumped by David Hare, who adapted "The Reader." Two years ago, Sean Penn, who wowed the WGA with his adaptation of "Into the Wild," was snubbed at the Oscars as was the scripter for "Zodiac." They were replaced by "Atonement" adapter Christopher Hampton and first time writer-director Sarah Polley.

The Oscar nominees for best cinematography line up with the American Society of Cinematographers choices with the exception of "Nine" lenser Dion Beebe, who was replaced by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" shooter Bruno Delbonnel. Last year, ASC nominee Roger Deakins ("Revolutionary Road") was replaced at the Oscars by Tom Stern for "Changeling." Two years ago, the ASC went five for five.

This year, the Oscar nominees for editing include just three of the American Cinema Editors' picks as the cutters for "Inglourious Basterds" and "Precious" replace those for "Star Trek" and "Up in the Air." Last year, the nominees lined up, and two years ago, ACE nominee "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" was replaced by "Michael Clayton."