Oscars tops Nielsens despite low viewership
NEW YORK -- The Academy Awards telecast gave ABC a rare weekly win in the ratings, but even then the news wasn't as good as it could have been.

Ratings up for Oscar
NEW YORK -- The Academy Awards telecast, with Denzel Washington and Halle Berry winning top acting awards, drew a slightly larger television audience than last year's show, according to Nielsen Media Research.

A 'Beautiful' night
LOS ANGELES -- Halle Berry and Denzel Washington became just the second and third blacks to win Academy Awards on Sunday for lead roles, while "A Beautiful Mind" took top honors as best picture.

History at the Oscars
LOS ANGELES -- Denzel Washington joked he's been trailing Sidney Poitier for decades.

Academy Award winners
- Picture: "A Beautiful Mind."

Hollywood returns to glamour for Oscars
We needed a night of glamour, and Hollywood delivered.

Oscar still brings fame, fortune
Oscar is a slight fellow, a mere 13 1/2 inches tall. But in terms of status, the shadow he casts is immense.

And the winner is ...
In a completely nonscientific poll, Olympian readers voted online for their favorite films and movie stars among the field of Oscar nominations. Though the poll will remain online at www.theolympian.com through Oscar night, the winners and runners-up as of Friday were:

Hooray for Bollywood: Oscar Bid Lifts Hopes
NEW DELHI -- The Oscar competition for Best Foreign Film may not grab many headlines in the United States, but when a movie from India secured one of the five precious slots last month, it was joyous news for those who toil in the world's largest film industry, in Bombay. Bollywood, as the movie business here is known, for years has craved international attention, but its escapist epics have generally been ignored by the West.

Oscar finds permanent home in Kodak Theatre
There's a storybook location shoot for Hollywood's biggest night this year -- Hollywood.

Vanity Fair' gets its elite Oscar party going
Tom and Nicole used to cause gridlock. Ellen met Anne. Jodie hired a bagpiper to serenade Mel. Anything can happen at the ``Vanity Fair'' Oscar night party, where every face is a famous one.

And the Oscar Goes to ... Security
HOLLYWOOD -- For all you amateur stargazers out there, be forewarned: You're not invited to Sunday's Oscars program in Hollywood.

Far from Hollywood, 'Beautiful Mind' film editor calls Omaha home -- and haven
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- A copy of Premiere magazine sits on his coffee table and a few framed movie posters hang on the walls, but you wouldn't know by Mike Hill's modest Midwestern home that he is a leading Hollywood film editor.

Olympia Film Society wants you to be the judge at annual Oscar Bash
OLYMPIA -- Film buffs who never agree with the winners of the Academy Awards are in luck.

Whoopi, Sting and a real circus: All part of 'jampacked' Oscar show
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The theater is new and so is the heightened security. But there will be nostalgic Hollywood touches as well at Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony.

Academy Award-worthy fashion is a team effort
NEW YORK -- It sounds like the setup to a bad joke: How many people does it take to put together an Oscar outfit?

'A Beautiful Mind' criticism draws ire of filmmakers, studio before Academy Awards
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The makers of ``A Beautiful Mind'' have objected to what they say is a whisper campaign to hurt the Oscar chances of their movie, which is up for eight Academy Awards including best picture.

Oscar fantasy: Other-worldly `Fellowship' elevates neglected genre
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Nothing as fantastically removed from our own world has ever done as well with Academy Awards voters as ``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' has so far.

Oscar film capsules
A BEAUTIFUL MIND (PG-13)@ Russell Crowe delivers a virtuoso performance as the tormented, brilliant mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. With Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris. Directed by Ron Howard. Universal Pictures, 129 minutes.

New Venue Creates an Oscar Ticket Crunch
HOLLYWOOD -- Approximately 275 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will not be having a Kodak Theatre moment this year because the move of the Academy Awards into the new venue has caused an enormous ticket crunch.

Who will win Oscar isn't always the same as who should win
AP Movie Writer David Germain and Entertainment Writer Christy Lemire predict who will win -- and suggest who should win -- in top Academy Awards categories on March 24:

Crowe, Berry get Oscar boost at SAG awards
LOS ANGELES -- Russell Crowe continued his pre-Oscars tear by taking best actor honors at the Screen Actors Guild awards, while Halle Berry boosted her prospects to become the first black woman to win a best actress Academy Award.

'GOSFORD PARK' SHINES
Robert Altman's new comedy "Gosford Park" is entertaining as a comedy, but it shines as social commentary/character study.

Hollywood's black leaders cautiously optimistic about Oscars
LOS ANGELES -- It had never happened before, three black performers nominated in the lead-acting categories for the Academy Awards. Surely, it was a sign that Hollywood's top honors finally were catching up with the nation's cultural diversity.

'Lord' takes lead in Oscar race
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The fantasy epic "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" led the Academy Award field Tuesday with 13 nominations -- best picture, director and supporting actor among them.

Academy Award nominations yield few surprises
Hollywood probably is patting itself on the back for its principled stand in not giving a single major Oscar nomination to last year's most successful film -- thus proving that, by completely snubbing "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," they weren't ruled by box-office considerations.

Beautiful minds
OLYMPIA -- Dan Bennett has his own TV show -- two, actually.

Actors guild goes for Oscar favorites
The Screen Actors Guild award nominations are in, with the contenders including Oscar favorites Russell Crowe (''A Beautiful Mind'') and Sissy Spacek (''In the Bedroom''). Another big winner: perennial nominee Judi Dench, nominated in the best-actress category (''Iris'') and the best-supporting-actress category (''The Shipping News'').

Low-profile films, roles rarely get Oscar nod
Oscar is a fickle fellow.