Les Miz *WINNERS*

It's Reader Appreciation Month so I'm playing Santa with gifts.

I'm so sorry I didn't announce this sooner! I do get backed up here. I know those of you who entered the Les Miz contest are dying to just buy the new blu-ray/dvd combo pack if you didn't win. This contest had a great response. I asked interested Red & Black revolutionaries to answer three questions:

• Which kind of bread would you bake Valjean so he doesn't steal another loaf?
• Which movie hooker other than Fantine should've had a death bed song?
• Bring Him Home: Jackman, Redmayne, Tveit or Crowe?

I had much fun reading the often creative answers. But the three winners, chosen randomly, are...

ROB S in Palm Springs who writes:

1. BREAD: Pain de campagne, which I hope Hugh will stick around to enjoy as pain perdu.
2. HOOKER: Mildred, from Of Human Bondage....Bette Davis croaking it out as she croaks.
3. MAN TO TAKE HOME: Eddie Redmayne for sure. IMO the MVP of Les Misérables

'pain perdu'. teehee. Although I just realized that Rob is basically announcing with his answers that he's taking both Jackman and Redmayne home. Greedy!

JEREMY E in New York who writes:

1. BREAD: Gotta be pumpernickel for Hugh.  Hard on the pump, light on the nickel
2. HOOKER: Hands down, "Kit de Luca", Julia Roberts best friend in Pretty Woman---if only to hear her sing "Cinder-fucken-rella" in a tenor voice.
3. MAN TO TAKE HOME: Hugh

ROBERTA L in New Jersey who writes: 

1. BREAD: I would bake Hugh Jackman Sweet Buns, of course. Although Fruitcake is a strong contender. Because hello, he plays on your team, not mine. I don't care who his wife is.
2. HOOKER: So difficult! Barely-a-teen Brooke Shields? Jon Voight? What's-her-head in Risky Business? Nahh, it's obvious. Barbra Streisand in Nuts. 
3. MAN TO TAKE HOME: Fine. Jackman. I mean that's my type, isn't it?  

Roberta was one of only two contestants brave enough to sing her heart out for extra contest entries. So here she is in this audio clip doing her best Eponine for "On My Own". Nice job!

Roberta sings !

Red Carpet Oscar Pt. 2: "Aaron Tveit Yourself"

Oscar Night in Review: Fun Arrivals, Winner's List , Seth's Hosting, Funniest Tweets, Jennifer Lawrence in the Press Room...

Today's Guest: Guy LodgeWe just talked Red Carpet Best Actress, so now we move on to the men.

NATHANIEL: Welcome back to Red Carpet Convos, Guy Lodge! I'm not even sure where to begin with this one. So many men. Abundant tuxes. We can't possibly discuss them all so here's a random assortment I'm tossing out at you. If we don't do it, who will? Nobody else ever covers the men.

GUY: Well, I think some of the men looked pretty great. So let's hear it for the boys!

NATHANIEL: I hear, via Twitter, that you were just on BBC. "Who" were you wearing?

GUY: I was indeed. Suit by Paul Smith. Socks by Uniqlo. As for who dressed me... er, myself

NATHANIEL: I was on CNNi this week albeit not all of me so you win -- even your socks in frame! I was shot just from the chest up, blue shirt by somebody or other. But chest up is fine. This way I didn't have to worry about how long it's been since I bought any new clothes.

GUY: By the look of his suit, neither does Tommy Lee Jones!

Most Oscar Winner, 2 Time Winner, Winner, 2 Time Winner, Hugh Jackman

NATHANIEL: Yes, let's do start with the nominees. [15 Men After the Jump]

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Red Carpet Arrivals

I shan't be live-blogging the awards tonight -- I miss too much of the show when I do that but expect some tweets here and there and lots of post-mortem recapping tomorrow ALL DAY. But for now a few arrivals...

Eddie Redmayne's hair defies gravity, logic, and follicular reason #redcarpet twitter.com/nathanielr/sta…

— Nathaniel Rogers (@nathanielr) February 24, 2013

LORI SINGER (?) I wonder if Amadeus or Places in the Heart will win tonight? #redcarpet #thatsso80s twitter.com/nathanielr/sta…

— Nathaniel Rogers (@nathanielr) February 24, 2013

When Reese hears "Naomi Watts" she does this. Which is exactly what @joereid does when he hears "Reese"! twitter.com/nathanielr/sta…

— Nathaniel Rogers (@nathanielr) February 24, 2013

MORE GOWNS & GOODIES AFTER THE JUMP

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Final Nomination Predix: Big Day Ahead for Lincoln, Life, Les Miz

And here we are again.

I was amused to find myself named one of the 'Nate Silvers of the Oscar Race' today on Salon but Thursday morning will undoubtedly make the comparison less apt even if though we'll still share a first name (Nathaniel... why do people go by "Nate"?). In my soon-to-be needed defense it's a lot harder to successfully predict 120ish nominees in 24 categories that dozens of different groups are voting on (nominees, though not winners, are determined only by peers: actors voting for actors, directors for directors and so on) than it is to read an electoral map with only two candidates. Nor is their endless polling to guide us. Oscar voters aren't supposed to tell people who they're voting for. And even when they're willing to, filling out a weighted multi-named ballot is a lot different than checking a box for Candidate A or Candidate B when it comes time to let slip your favorites.

But I digress. Whatever the chaotic, agenda-driven, polarizing and exhausting race to Oscar nominations has in common with politics (quite a lot) we'll ditch the analogy now in order to dig in. I've never been one to care too deeply about statistics apart from the generalities they underline. So in the end I play my hunches.

PICTURE
Locks: Lincoln, Argo, Les Misérables, Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook

But What Else Will Be Nominated? infinite hand-wringing after the jump....

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Interview: Eddie Redmayne Talks Live-Singing, Skinny-Dipping, Name-Calling

If there's a surprise name called out as one of the Best Supporting Actors this year on Oscar Nomination morning, might it be Eddie Redmayne? The rapidly ascending 30 year-old actor, a recent Tony winner for "Red" on Broadway, stood in as surrogate for our enduring communal crush on Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) in My Week With Marilyn just last season but the spotlight is even brighter now. Les Misérables' entire second act romantic structure spins on his swooning revolutionary Marius. In one of the quirks of movie awardage, male actors aren't generally honored for their facility with romantic drama, but Redmayne's secret weapon could well be his rendition of the grief stricken show-stopper "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" in which he mourns his fallen brothers who died at the lonely barricades... at dawn. He'll undoubtedly jerk at least some tears from the Academy's acting branch this week as they finalize their ballots (due on January 3rd).

Marius is getting married! Eddie Redmayne in "Les Misérables"

I asked Redmayne about the massive pressure he must have felt approaching this famous number in Les Misérables and our conversation stretched back to Oliver! The Musical on stage and on through his non-musical duets with Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, and Michelle Williams in his young but vivid filmography. [More...]

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