OSCAR tidbits

To whet your appetite for the Big Night (1996) here is a list of your favorites stars (and mine) who will be presenting awards during Sunday's telecast:

"The list of presenters includes Ben Affleck, Jessica Biel, Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Abigail Breslin, Steve Carell, George Clooney, Daniel Craig, Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kirsten Dunst, Will Ferrell, Jodie Foster, Eva Green, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Diane Keaton, Nicole Kidman, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Lopez, Tobey Maguire, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, John Travolta, Rachel Weisz, Kate Winslet, and Reese Witherspoon. As per the above list, no one who began working in films prior to 1970 will be giving out any awards. The veteran-est of the presenters is Diane Keaton, whose first film, Lovers and Other Strangers, came out in 1970."

And to help you fill-out those Oscar ballots, two IMPORTANT awards were handed out recently, news that may have flown under your radar:

1)
"Mexican-born Emmanuel Lubezki, one of filmdom’s top cinematographers, became the third non-American in a row to win the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) feature-film award for his work in the Anglo-American production Children of Men.
According to Variety, Lubezki’s win "further establish[es] the internationalization of a body that started doling out its own kudos partly in response to the large number of overseas cinematographers, many British, who were winning Oscars."
The trade magazine also names Mexico "as a hotbed of cinematic talent." Both Rodrigo Prieto (whose work on Babel has been highly praised) and Guillermo Navarro (who’s up for an Academy Award, along with Lubezki, for El Laberinto del fauno / Pan’s Labyrinth) also hail from Mexico."

¡Que Viva México! (1932)

2)
"This past Sunday, the American Cinema Editors (ACE) picked two films — it was a tie — to receive the Eddie Award in the dramatic feature film category: Babel (Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise) and The Departed (Thelma Schoonmaker – her fourth Eddie). [Both are nominated for Oscars.]

Way to go, Thelma! ... & Louise (1991)