Rethink.

We are now three days out from the 82nd Academy Awards. Rethink. has been waiting for this day all year and counting down. In Hollywood, preparations are being made outside the Kodak Theatre along the stretch of Hollywood Boulevard, between N. Orange Drive and N. Highland Avenue. In the photo above, you can see a team of workers rolling out the Red Carpet Wednesday. You'll notice the tents are back this year after a one-year hiatus. If it's going to rain, awards show organizers know tents are a MUST, especially organizers for this year's Golden Globes . After deciding not to pitch the tents earlier that day, celebrities found themselves hovering under umbrellas and "Precious" star Gabourey Sidibe was among the many sporting dresses with splotches of rain. Suffice it to say it was not pretty. When I was a bleacher fan in 2008, my friends and I were bummed by the tents and inclement weather; however, we enjoyed not getting wet. Right now, Weather.com is forecast...

Yesterday, the Academy announced key dates for next year's Academy Awards, the 82nd annual. Set your calendars... ABC will televise the 82nd Annual Academy Awards from the Kodak Theatre on Sunday, March 7, 2010, Academy President Sid Ganis announced yesterday. Key dates: Tuesday, December 1, 2009: Official Screen Credits forms due Monday, December 28, 2009: Nominations ballots mailed Saturday, January 23, 2010: Nominations polls close 5 p.m. PT Tuesday, February 2, 2010: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PT, Samuel Goldwyn Theater Wednesday, February 10, 2010: Final ballots mailed Monday, February 15, 2010: Nominees Luncheon Saturday, February 20, 2010: Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards presentation Tuesday, March 2, 2010: Final polls close 5 p.m. PT Sunday, March 7, 2010: 82nd Annual Academy Awards presentation The blog will return to normal next week.

If you are like me, you stay up late at night and wonder what this year's Oscar ceremony graphics would look like. Well, even if you are even close to that description, I've found a picture, thanks to the Academy, of what looks like this year's logo and artwork. I mentioned in a post earlier this week that the theme for this year's show was going to be "a rich, deep blue ." Other notes: The Academy and mtvU will be announcing the Red Carpet correspondent at noon PST / 3 p.m. EST. So I'll keep you posted on the lucky team of students chosen to stand on the red carpet and interview celebs. The finalists will be on ET tonight , according to one of the teams. Also, I interviewed a very happy finalist , Megan Telles, Wednesday night and am playing to chat with the other two teams. Those interviews will be posted here this weekend. I am currently editing my OSCAR® SPECIAL for my talk show and will let everyone know when it's online. More prep work is bein...

Poking around the Web this morning, I stumbled across the official press release (and even high resolution images!) by the Rockwell Group about the set for Sunday's ceremony , which I discussed yesterday in a post (see here ). Some more details I learned: David Rockwell is the first architect to design an Oscar set Designed to "create an atmosphere of an elegant party rather than a formal gathering" Twelve "transforming sets" depicted throughout the night Peninsula part of stage ("thrust stage") will have four steps between the sage and seating level in order to bring presenters closer to audience Stage floor will be "an abstract floral pattern referencing the curve of the thrust stage" Here are the images I found (click for larger view): Above and to the right is the picture used on the cover of Sunday's New York Times Arts&Leisure cover.  Above is a picture I have not seen anywhere else; it depicts eight different settings for...

I was looking at Sunday and Monday's preparation photos and noticed a slight modification in the Kodak Theatre's iconic archway façade , where the stars head into the Academy Awards presentation from the red carpet. If you look at the above photo, you'll notice "theatre" no longer in all caps and a slight modification of the word "Kodak." The logo is now in keeping with the changed Kodak logo , which was revealing at the beginning of 2006. Since the theatre opened in November 2001, the logo would need to be changed. The company paid an estimated $75 million to have its name associated with the theatre - and consequently the Oscars. (The 3,332-seat cost $94 million to build.) Thus, why wouldn't Kodak want its refreshed logo updated on the arch. Interesting observation is all. Now you know.

I opened my Sunday New York Times with much surprise. Were my eyes seeing what I thought...? It was not a dream. There was the set for Sunday's 81st Annual Academy Awards ceremony , pictured grandly on the Arts&Leisure cover. Here are the details extracted from the 1,900-word article, which can be read if full here : This year's set is designed by none other than the architect of the Kodak Theatre itself - the very place designed for the ceremony: David Rockwell . (Note NYT, its theat re , not theater.) Rockwell said he is out to " redefine the show's DNA ," trying to tame the beast - "a show on television celebrating the movies in a theater," as writer Patricia Leigh Brown describes it. " It's about celebration ," said Rockwell, 52. " We want to make it less a big, pre-taped package and more a live show . " Rockwell designed the set with all this in mind. The set includes a 92,000-Swarovski-crystal curtain , fluted crystal ch...