The little-known Irish film "The Secret of Kells" caught even insiders by surprise when it received a feature animation Oscar nomination earlier this year, edging out the likes of "Ponyo" and "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." This Friday, "The Secret" will be revealed to Los Angeles moviegoers.

For the film, the artists drew from the scroll-work designs and microscopic detailing of the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the Four Gospels likely dating to the early 8th century. The attention to detail did not stop there; one of the characters, Brother Aidan, has a cat named Pangur Ban -- which happens to be the title of an ancient poem jotted down by an unknown Irish monk in the margin of a manuscript. Mick Lally, the voice of Brother Aidan, chants the poem in the original Old Gaelic over the closing credits of the film.

Director Tomm Moore says, "We learned the poem in school, along with the story that a monk had written it in the corner of a page he was illuminating. It was only later that I learned that the last line can be translated as 'turning darkness into light' or 'turning ink into light,' which I thought was a nice reference to creating an illumination."

You can read my full Calendar story here. And click through to the next page to read an English translation of the poem and see an image of Pangur Ban from the film.

-- Charles Solomon

Throughout awards season, this year's Oscars co-producer Adam Shankman kept his nearly 55,000 Twitter followers amused by sharing behind-the-scenes tidbits about working on the telecast, making up with enthusiasm what he lacked in punctuation and spelling.

It began in December: "Had dinner last night with Oscar cohosts steve martin and Alec Baldwin. Laughed so hard I almost passed out. This is gonna b goooood..."

The remark was followed by a number of other show-related Tweets. In many he queried his fans about whom they would most like to see appear on the Oscars. Some responded with tween favorites like Zac Efron and Miley Cyrus, both of whom ended up presenting awards at this year's ceremony.

So it's no surprise that, post-Oscars, Shankman has taken to his Twitter account to take on those -- like the Times' own Mary McNamara -- who criticized the show's pace, montage omissions, and dancing sections.

"did the best i could last night with so many perameters," he tweeted on Monday. "just so everyone knows the horror tribute was linked 2 roger cormans govs oscar."

Earlier today, he took to his page again with a more positive message, thanking a slew of people, including hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, co-producer Bill Mechanic, and set designer David Rockwell.

Those who enjoyed watching Jeff Bridges woo his way through the Oscars or Christoph Waltz waterboard another metaphor during his acceptance speech will see a lot more of both actors in the coming months -- they each have big movies coming out in December ("Green Hornet" for Waltz and "True Grit" and "Tron Legacy" for Bridges).

For the rest the Oscar class of 2010, we may have to wait awhile. Sandra Bullock is taking her time deciding on a new project -- she's contemplating a legal comedy called "Bobbie Sue" that once had Cameron Diaz involved, but she has made no firm decisions. She in all likelihood won't have a movie coming out in 2010 (of course, she could not have a movie in 2011 either and still be considered prolific after her output this year).

On the "Precious" side, Geoffrey Fletcher is said by people who know him to want to go back to directing (which is how he began his career). He has a handful of possible movies he's contemplating but is on nothing that's ready to go. Mo'Nique is pretty much going to stick with the talk-show thing for the time being; she's got no film projects lined up. (For a photo gallery of the winners and what they are -- or aren't doing -- next, please visit The Envelope's collection here.)

Instead her next project will likely be her reteaming with Mark Boal on "Triple Frontier." The Paramount film is an adventure story set on the border of several South American counties. Boal is still working on the script, and judging by the early word, it is kind of a Spanish-language variation, of a sort, on their previous collaboration. So a movie we should perhaps dub "Taquilla de Dolor."

--Steven Zeitchik

Photo: Kathryn Bigelow at the Oscars. Credit: Gabriel Bouys/AFP

10:45 pm: We'll have more from Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock backstage a little later on, but in the meantime, some notable quotes from Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal and Greg Shapiro, the night's big winners (along with Nicolas Chartier, who's somewhere in Malibu).

Bigelow on her historic win: "I hope, hope I'm the first of many. And, of course, I'd love to just think of myself as a filmmaker, and I long for the day when the modifier can be a moot point, but I'm ever grateful if I can inspire some young intrepid, tenacious male or female filmmaker and have them feel that the impossible is possible."

Boal on the strange trip the film has taken: "I think we're all reminded every day of all the filmmakers out there who don't get their films made ... or don't get them distributed and go straight to DVD. And it's an honor to be here."

On talking to Chartier:

Shapiro: "We haven't spoken to him yet. He sent me a very beautiful e-mail. He had a party thrown for him, and I think he's very pleased. We're gonna see him later."

Boal: "Actually, the cellphones don't work backstage. Maybe it's the concrete. But as Greg said, I think he's very happy."

-- Steven Zeitchik

10:23 pm: Earlier this evening, just moments before Mo'Nique won best supporting actress in one of the night's least surprising events, "Logorama" took the prize for best animated short, in what may be one of its biggest upsets. You wouldn't know it to watch it, but the win for Nicolas Schmerkin's sly, brand-conscious satire was a real surprise.

The category (and categorical) favorite was "A Matter of Loaf and Death," from "Wallace & Gromit" creator Nick Park. "Logorama" -- a violent, color Tarantino-esque tale with famed brand icons such as Ronald McDonald, the Green Giant, Mr. Clean, (who makes an appearance at the Los Angeles Zoo) and the Michelin Men as its protagonists -- was considered too edgy by many pundits. Yet it took the prize just the same.

The question now becomes: Will anyone actually be able to see this little gem? We asked Schmerkin backstage if he's worried about any legal resistance in trying to get the film some distribution beyond the festival circuit. He acknowledged that given the fact that the film is a legal minefield, "I should share this award with my lawyer."

But then he went on to say that he had at least one friend among the subjects of the film.

"I got some e-mails from brands that weren't happy to be in it," he said. "But I got a nice e-mail from the Los Angeles Zoo."

-- Steven Zeitchik

8:59 pm: It may have been over in the blink of an eye, as Tom Hanks announced the best picture winner seemingly seconds after Kathryn Bigelow finished accepting her historic best director prize. But this is one of the longest odysseys for a best picture winner in the history of the Academy Awards.

First it was years before the film's production got off the ground. And even when it first premiered at the Toronto Film Festival back in 2008, the back-and-forth negotiations between Summit, producers and other distributors were almost an entangled as a Middle East diplomacy mission. (Summit offered close to $2 million, the filmmakers said no and tested the market, then came back and took a little over $1 million.)

It didn't exactly go into overdrive from there. The plan was first for a 2008 awards campaign, which was then scuttled in favor of a June '09 limited release. And even then it took months before critics, and then the guilds, came around. As it is, it's the lowest-grossing best-picture in the modern era (somewhat ironic given the Academy's expansion to ten slots to include more commercial films) but we have a feeling Summit and the filmmakers don't exactly care right now.

Speaking of the podium, Greg Shapiro gives the shout-out to Nicolas Chartier -- whose email, misguided as it was, proved prescient - watching somewhere in Malibu, as Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal and the actors all celebrate onstage. We'll have more from them and the winning lead actors backstage when they get here.

--Steven Zeitchik

Photo: Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal and the cast of "The Hurt Locker." Credit: AP/Mark J. Terrill

8:44 pm: Oprah Winfrey's nod to Gabourey Sidibe not as treacly as it could be (though interesting to hear her describe "Precious" as "our movie" when she came on long after the movie was finished). Stanley Tucci steals the show, as he often does, with his facetious description of Streep and her "selfishness" in grabbing Oscar nominations. But she doesn't grab a win -- that goes to Bullock -- and Streep's O'Toole-ian streak at the Oscars continues.

In her speech, Bullock nods to her persistent campaigning with a "Did I really earn this or did I just wear y'all down?" then goes into a mode we've indeed seen many times this season -- wiseacre (quip about Meryl Streep kiss and a reference to the time "George Clooney threw me in a pool") turning to sentimental. We're ready for her backstage, where we'll probably get ... more of the former.

So the academy gives what's essentially a lifetime achievement award to Jeff Bridges for a role that deserves it all on its own but doesn't do the same for Streep in a role that perhaps deserves it a little bit (but not that much) less.

-- Steven Zeitchik

Photo: Sandra Bullock. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

8:28 pm: Tim Robbins gets off one of the best subtle digs of the night when he recalls how Morgan Freeman called him Ted on the set of "Shawshank Redemption." The rest of the best actor presentations, while long, are a nice ode from the nominees' past and present co-stars (especially nice since it's none of them besides Bridges who will get a moment the rest of the night).

Bridges' speech is nothing remarkable (though as he did Friday night at the Spirits, he sets a record for name-checking -- someone isn't really going for the whole thank-you cam idea) but not absurd or entertaining either. We pine for the days of Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn.

--Steven Zeitchik

Photo: Andrew Gombert / EPA

Tyler Perry's intro for best editing is entertaining ("Alec Baldwin keeps walking up to me and saying, 'I loved you in "The Blind Side".' ") but the announcement of "Hurt Locker" as the winner is telling. It's only happened once in the last 10 years that a best-picture nominee wins editing and doesn't go on to take the big prize ("The Aviator" in 2004). James Cameron, it might be time to start sweating.

--Steven Zeitchik

8:02 pm: "The Cove" is the unsurprising winner for best documentary, beating out the other socially conscious picture "Food, Inc." More controversial: One of the winners holds up a save-the-dolphins text-message number onstage, which seems like a pretty clear infraction of the academy's no-promotion rules for the podium, even if it is a promotion for a good cause.

One interesting subplot for "The Cove" win: Sundance 2009 is now faring pretty well, what with this victory and "Precious" landing two wins.

-- Steven Zeitchik