daily entertainment links: Oscar links, contest, poll; Film Festival releases trailer; D.C. salutes Motown
The Academy Awards are Sunday night, with ABC's coverage starting at 8 p.m. Here are some links to whet your appetite:
• The New York Times: Serious? Snarky? Oscar courts a social medium • ABC: Anne Hathaway, James Franco talk about hosting the big night • AnnArbor.com: Enter Oscar predictions contest for a chance at a year of free movies • DigitalTrends: Twitter users pick the winners • MTV.com: Franco, Hathaway shoot "Grease" homage • MSNBC: Hosts Hathaway, Franco won't talk trash • Ricky Gervais pens snarky Oscar script for Hathaway, Franco • Newark Star-Ledger: Biggest Academy Award upsets • Oscars.org: Full list of nominees
• Now for the big question ...
Other entertainment items of note online today:
MORE MOVIES
• The Detroit Free Press reports on a meeting to fight the end of Michigan's film credit tax incentive that drew more than 1,000 people.
• The Ann Arbor Film Festival has released a trailer for this year's event, coming up next month:
• Some YouTube stars are getting together for a film.
MUSIC
• The White House hosted a special tribute to Motown Records last night, and The Detroit News reports that Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and Martha Reeves were among the participants.
• EW.com has Dr. Dre's new video, "I Need a Doctor."
• Kanye West just can't stay out of the headlines (not that he's trying). A video of his has been pulled over fears it causes seizures, and some of his recent tweets are causing controversy.
• MLive.com reports that a Kalamazoo musician is getting some attention for his song about annoying people "On Facebook."
• MTV.com reports that at least Justin Bieber's "swoop" haircut will live on via his dolls.
THEATER
• Playbill.com reports that James Earl Jones (a University of Michigan graduate) will star in a revival of Gore Vidal's political drama "The Best Man." I saw the 2000 Broadway production and thought it was excellent, so this shows great promise.
TELEVISION
• Apparently Charlie Sheen finally went too far in a radio interview, spurring the cancellation of the rest of the season for his sitcom "Two and a Half Men." If you can stand it, the Washington Post has the entire interview.
• "American Idol" named its top 24 contestants for the season. In other "Idol" news, fans seem to like the idea of Facebook voting.
Renee Tellez contributed to this roundup. Bob Needham is director of entertainment content for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at bobneedham@annarbor.com or 734-623-2541, and follow him on Twitter @bobneedham.
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