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Oscar gets final polish before big show
2008-02-24
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Will Meryl Streep's outfit match her talent? Will Diablo Cody actually refuse to wear those million-dollar, diamond-encrusted shoes? Will Katherine Heigl need to squint? The city was abuzz with all things Oscar as celebrities flocked from around the world for Sunday's Academy Awards ... Muzi.com News 10062110-0 (muzi.com)___ Muzi.com News 10062110-1 (muzi.com) FUNNYMEN UNITE: Oscar freshmen Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill were welcomed to the Kodak Theatre by sophomore Jon Stewart. Muzi.com News 10062110-2 (muzi.com) He jumped up and down on the side of the stage as the "Superbad" stars rehearsed for their Academy Awards debut on Saturday night. Stewart, who hosted the Oscars in 2006, rushed across the stage to greet them, then disappeared into the wings. Muzi.com News 10062110-3 (muzi.com) Wearing matching black horn-rimmed glasses, Rogen and Hill cracked jokes and scoped out their seats in the theater from the stage. Afterward, they met with Stewart in his dressing room. Muzi.com News 10062110-4 (muzi.com) "It's going to be so weird," Rogen told the show host. "It's so epic." Muzi.com News 10062110-5 (muzi.com) Stewart chatted with the pair before sending them on their way with a snack. Muzi.com News 10062110-6 (muzi.com) "Can I offer you a rugula?" he said. Muzi.com News 10062110-7 (muzi.com) Each actor took one of the cookie-like confections, then headed off. Muzi.com News 10062110-8 (muzi.com) ___ Muzi.com News 10062110-9 (muzi.com) PROJECT OSCARS: Tim Gunn hopes Meryl Streep can make it work on the red carpet. Muzi.com News 10062110-10 (muzi.com) The "Project Runway" mentor suggested Streep wear something more flattering than last year when the actress, who was nominated for her part as a cutthroat fashion editor in "The Devil Wears Prada," donned a long black dress and was infamously draped in chunky coral and turquoise jewelry. Muzi.com News 10062110-11 (muzi.com) "I worry about Meryl," Gunn told the AP at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. "She's so smart. She's so talented. I felt so bad for her last year at this event. I had the highest expectations for her because of the role she was nominated for." Muzi.com News 10062110-12 (muzi.com) Gunn's most looking forward to seeing fashions on Cate Blanchett, Julie Christie, Angelina Jolie -- and Helen Mirren, "the most stunning and ravishing woman on the red carpet" at last year's Oscars. Muzi.com News 10062110-13 (muzi.com) "If everyone follows current fashion trends, we should see a lot of jewel tones, black and ivory, and a little birdy told me we'll see lots of yellow on the red carpet," said Gunn. "But, boy, yellow is a difficult color. Very difficult." Muzi.com News 10062110-14 (muzi.com) ___ Muzi.com News 10062110-15 (muzi.com) FOOD FIGHTS: Language and war may divide us, but catering troubles are universal. Muzi.com News 10062110-16 (muzi.com) Directors of the five Oscar-nominated films in the foreign-language category met Saturday, showing clips from their movies -- little-seen so far in the U.S. -- and talking over the joys and frustrations of international production. Muzi.com News 10062110-17 (muzi.com) Sergei Bodrov said his epic "Mongol," Kazakhstan's entry, was shot in Mongolia over the course of two years, with two separate cinematographers. The Russian crew of the film about a young Genghis Khan refused to eat the Chinese food they were served so workers drove 12 hours to pick up new meals, Bodrov said. His movie will be released by Picturehouse in the U.S. on June 6. Muzi.com News 10062110-18 (muzi.com) Nikita Mikhalkov, actor-director for Russia's entry, "12," recalled similar difficulties on the set of his Oscar-nominated 1992 film "Close to Eden." Muzi.com News 10062110-19 (muzi.com) "We had Chinese food and the Russians lost their minds," he said through a translator. Muzi.com News 10062110-20 (muzi.com) ___ Muzi.com News 10062110-21 (muzi.com) SHOE FLAP: Fancy-footwear designer Stuart Weitzman chose Diablo Cody to wear his specially designed $1 million Retro Rose shoes on the red carpet, but the "Juno" screenwriter might leave the diamond-encrusted high heels off her feet Sunday. Cody's not completely thrilled, "now that I think about it." Muzi.com News 10062110-22 (muzi.com) "They're using me to publicize their stupid shoes and NOBODY ASKED ME," Cody wrote on her MySpace blog Friday. "I would never consent to a lame publicity stunt at a time when I already want to hide." Muzi.com News 10062110-23 (muzi.com) Weitzman wasn't at his Four Seasons Hotel shoe suite in Beverly Hills on Saturday afternoon while Taryn Cox, assistant to Scarlett Johansson (size 9), and "Today" show entertainment correspondent Jill Rappaport (size 10) browsed Weitzman's wares. Muzi.com News 10062110-24 (muzi.com) "I would expect she probably won't wear them. She made that very clear," Weitzman later told the AP about the shoe tussle during a telephone interview Saturday night. "If she decides not to wear the shoes, that's Diablo's decision, and I wouldn't try to convince her otherwise. It's Diablo's day, and she can do whatever she wants." Muzi.com News 10062110-25 (muzi.com) Weitzman says he made the cost of the metallic beige shoes -- more than $2.5 million, including parts that were not used in the final pair -- clear to Cody when he met with her. He blames Cody's behind-the-scenes team for not communicating the value of the shoes to the Oscar-nominated screenwriter. Muzi.com News 10062110-26 (muzi.com) "I'm just embarrassed that she wrote what she wrote," he said. Muzi.com News 10062110-27 (muzi.com) Even so, the designer says he wouldn't change his decision to give the ultra-expensive slippers to Cody. Muzi.com News 10062110-28 (muzi.com) ___ Muzi.com News 10062110-29 (muzi.com) LADIES' NIGHT: Half a dozen A-list actresses stopped by the Kodak Theatre on Saturday to rehearse their Oscar lines. Muzi.com News 10062110-30 (muzi.com) Cameron Diaz, in a gray sweater, skinny black jeans and towering high heels, opened a prop winner's envelope and said, "The Oscar goes to -- your mama. No, I'm just kidding." Muzi.com News 10062110-31 (muzi.com) She stepped off stage and bumped into Jessica Alba. "Hi, honey," Diaz said as she gave Alba a kiss. Muzi.com News 10062110-32 (muzi.com) Alba, who is expecting a baby with her fiance, Cash Warren, hid her growing bump under a loose black tunic. Ponytailed and makeup-free, the star recapped her presentation two weeks ago of the academy's annual Sci-Tech awards -- always a tongue-twisting challenge. Muzi.com News 10062110-33 (muzi.com) "You nailed it, hon," stage manager Dency Nelson told her. As soon as she walked off stage, she traded her high heels for comfy flats. Muzi.com News 10062110-34 (muzi.com) Renee Zellweger arrived in a sweat shirt, jeans and sneakers, her oversized Gucci bag slung over her shoulder. Before taking the stage, she plunked her bag on the floor and fished out a pair of tall Christian Louboutin heels. She left her socks and sneakers in a pile near her purse as she stepped out to rehearse her lines. Muzi.com News 10062110-35 (muzi.com) After hitting her mark, she slipped off the stilettos and tossed them back into her bag, saying, "Well, that's enough of these things for today" to no one in particular. Muzi.com News 10062110-36 (muzi.com) Zellweger greeted Katherine Heigl, who was headed to the stage carrying two pairs of heels. But shoes weren't her problem -- seeing the teleprompter was. Heigl narrowed her eyes as she tried to make out the words on the screen at the back of the theater. Muzi.com News 10062110-37 (muzi.com) "Oh, no," she said. "I'll try not to squint." Muzi.com News 10062110-38 (muzi.com) Also switching shoes was Jennifer Garner, who swapped her running shoes for high heels before stepping onstage. An assistant held her sneakers as Garner rehearsed. Muzi.com News 10062110-39 (muzi.com)
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