Neil Patrick Harris says Oscars hosting bad for the soul
Su-Lin Tan Hosting Hollywood's biggest night, the Academy Awards, was always going to be a tough gig but to Neil Patrick Harris it was 'bad for his soul'.
News
Best actor fail
Keaton caught putting best actor speech away
Mary Ward Birdman actor might have taken his Oscars preparation a step too far by taking his best actor speech out of his pocket before the winner had been announced.
Blog
Winners and highlights from the 2015 Oscars
KARL QUINN Catch up on all the key moments - and a few surprises - from the 87th Academy Awards.
And the winner is ...
Full list of 2015 Academy Award winners
Birdman scoops the top prizes, while Julianne Moore and Eddie Redmayne walk away with the main acting awards.
Backlash
Patricia Arquette's Oscars backlash
JOSEPHINE TOVEY Oscar winner's backstage comments about the need of 'people of colour' to fight for women have raised the ire of many in the US.
High praise
Redmayne credits Neighbours with acting tips
Backstage the best actor winner called Karl and Susan Kennedy from Neighbours 'the greatest unsung acting duo in history'.
In Memoriam omission
Academy Awards defend Joan Rivers snub
Academy defends its decision to omit long-time red carpet host Joan Rivers from its In Memoriam segment in the 2015 ceremony.
Ratings
Audiences desert Oscars 2015
MICHAEL IDATO After reaching its best audience in a decade last year, the Oscars lost some ground in the television ratings.
Award winners
Birdman, Grand Budapest Hotel win big
GARRY MADDOX Inventive showbiz satire Birdman flew highest to win best picture at the 87th Academy Awards.
Humble beginnings
Eddie Redmayne: from sweaters to superstar
MICHAEL KOZIOL The best actor winner has swapped an ugly sweater for a tuxedo, red hair for light brown and now knitting needles for an Academy Award.
Debut show
Neil Patrick Harris plays it safe (and pantless)
Oscars host wasted no time conceding the ceremony’s much-discussed lack of diversity but quickly segued into a song-and-dance routine.
Viral applause
Streep's amazing reaction to Arquette's speech
MICHAEL KOZIOL Patricia Arquette's passionate plea for wage equality won Meryl Streep's rapturous endorsement, which quickly went viral on social media.
Julie Andrews tribute
Gaga brings tears with Sound of Music
The Academy Awards can sometimes plod along to a fairly predictable script. But when Lady Gaga is involved, predictable is out of the equation.
Shock jocks
Neil Patrick Harris bares (almost) all
SARAH THOMAS Making Oscars history, the host daringly bared almost all by appearing on stage in just his undies in a pastiche of Birdman.
Outrage
Rivers missing from In Memoriam tribute
SARAH THOMAS Joan Rivers was missing from the obligatory round-up of those Hollywood lost during the year. Was it a snub or really down to a simple technicality?
Time to let it go
Menzel pays out on Travolta over name
Revenge proved to be a dish best served cold for Let It Go singer Idina Menzel when she finally got her own back on John Travolta.
John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson
Travolta's strange pic with Scarlett Johansson
Mary Ward John Travolta was probably hoping he would get through this year's Oscars without a scandal. He didn't.
Style
Best dressed men of the Oscars 2015
Michael Harry Who says the Oscars are all about frocks? Here are the most stylish men.
Beauty and the brat
Red carpet: Dakota Johnson snaps
JENNA CLARKE Dakota Johnson has proved you're never too old to be embarrassed by your mother.
Oscar predictions
Our experts predict the Oscar winners
Karl Quinn, Garry Maddox, Philippa Hawker Wondering who will scoop the pool? Our experts reckon they’ve got it all worked out.
Clash of schedules
The Australian nominee too busy to turn up
GARRY MADDOX One of Australia's two nominees is not going to the Academy Awards - but David Lee has a very good excuse.
Picking the winners
Stephanie Bunbury's form guide
This year's Oscar is a remarkably open field. The two films with nine nominations each – Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel – might not be the biggest winners.
Iron-clad
Ten things that are sure to happen at Oscars
GARRY MADDOX At an awards show where anything can happen – remember John Travolta mangling Idina Menzel's name? – there are some rolled gold certainties.
Oscar's greatest losers
Nominees who are always the bridesmaid
PHILIPPA HAWKER If he doesn't win his first Oscar in 12 attempts, cinematographer Roger Deakins can at least console himself that he's in very good company.
Sorkin stir
Is it really harder for a man to win?
GARRY MADDOX A look at what this year's nominees had to go through to get a nomination after Aaron Sorkin claimed female lead roles are easier in Hollywood.
Hosting plans
Can Neil Patrick Harris top Ellen's selfie?
SARAH THOMAS Breaking the internet is a mighty challenge – and the question is, is Neil Patrick Harris up to the task?
Race in the race
Politician raises racism issue on eve of Oscars
KARL QUINN a Californian Congressman has asked to meet with the Academy to look at ways to improve on this year's poor showing of non-whites in the acting categories.
Tim Crosbie
Aussie nominee hopes X-Men will hit the spot
KARL QUINN Tim Crosbie is one of just two Australians in with a shot at Oscar glory this year, for a remarkable sequence in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Freaky freebies
Oscars gift bag includes vibrator, mind control
KARL QUINN There are some astonishing goodies inside this year's gift bag for Oscar nominees.
BAFTAs
BAFTAs: Boyhood scoops best film, director
Coming-of-age drama Boyhood scoops three prizes at Britain's biggest film awards.
Winners
BAFTAs: Lego Movie wins after Oscars snub
Julian Drape Animated film made by Sydney company Animal Logic has won a British Academy award just weeks after missing out on an Oscar nomination.
Front-runner
SAGs: Birdman firms as Oscar favourite
Jake Coyle Birdman has topped the Screen Actors Guild Awards, winning best ensemble cast, even though its star, Micheal Keaton, was upset by Eddie Redmayne.
Misogyny?
Hollywood sexism 'killed Oscar hopes'
JOEL MEARES Films with powerful female stories do not get the Academy Award nominations they deserve, says Cheryl Strayed, whose book about a trek inspired the film Wild.
Since 1929
Aussie actors top Oscars list after US, Britain
DEBORAH GOUGH On the backs of Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman, Australian actors are the third most successful nation of Oscar winners.
#OscarsSoWhite
Academy responds to 'too white' firestorm
Film academy president says the all-white acting slate inspires her to accelerate the academy's push to be more inclusive.
'Brief' disappointment
Aniston admits disappointment over snub
Mary Ward Jennifer Aniston was a hot favourite in the best actress category for her role in the independent film Cake.
Comment
What's behind Lego Movie's stunning snub?
GARRY MADDOX COMMENT: It's clear the Academy got it wrong when it came to the nominations for best animated feature.
#DickPoop
Oscars noms: Dick Poop gaffe trends
LUCY CORMACK As the 2015 Oscar nominations ceremony came to a close on Thursday there were just two things that had people talking on social media.
Nominations
Birdman, Grand Budapest Hotel dominate
GARRY MADDOX Everything was not awesome for the Australian team behind the The Lego Movie when the Oscar nominations were announced in Los Angeles.
Contenders
Oscar nominations 2015: full list of nominees
A complete list of nominees for the 87th Academy Awards.
True and false
Road to Oscars: The truth hurts, not much
PHILIPPA HAWKER The only thing more popular than a true story in Oscar season is a controversy about a true story.
Not looking good for Oscars
Unbroken snubbed at PGAs
Boyhood, Birdman and Whiplash feature among films nominated for awards by the Producers Guild of America, but at least two widely-tipped films were left out.
Men v women
Actresses have it easy at Oscars?
Leaked emails from an Oscar-winning screenwriter are unfairly critical of female talent, writes Robbie Collin.
Analysis
What Globes nods mean for Oscars
GARRY MADDOX Birdman mops up seven Golden Globe nominations.
Pick me
Neil Patrick Harris 'fourth choice' for host
NICK GALVIN He's hosted the Tony Awards four times, but was embarrassingly low on the list of stars asked to host next year’s Oscars. So who else was on the wish list?
Contender
Imitation Game cements front-runner status
Steven Zeitchik WWII-era drama stars Benedict Cumberbatch as eccentric scientist Alan Turing, who helped defeat the Nazis by devising a new code-breaking machine.
Finally having her Cake
Jennifer Aniston as an Oscar contender?
Stephanie Merry Could an unheralded indie film finally put Jennifer Aniston in the frame as a serious actress, and in contention for a first Oscar nod?
Biggest role
'I'm in': Neil Patrick Harris to host in 2015
The How I Met Your Mother actor to add the Oscars to his long list of award ceremony presenting gigs.
Official selection
Charlie's Country is Australia's Oscars entry
GARRY MADDOX Rolf de Heer's Charlie's Country has been selected as Australia's entry for the next year's foreign language Academy Award.
Wright or wrong
How much is an Oscar worth?
MICHAEL IDATO Academy fires off lawsuit over $US80,000 ($85,000) sale of iconic statuette by the family of a 1942 winner, Joseph Wright.
Oscars 2014
Searing talent
At 44, Blanchett's career is about to blossom
GARRY MADDOX So how high is Cate Blanchett in the pantheon of great actors after her second Academy Award?
Highlights
Oscars 2014: Top 7 most memorable moments
The most unforgettable moments from the 86th Academy Awards from 'selfies' to a trip on the red carpet.
Winners
Blanchett and Martin add Oscars for Australia
GARRY MADDOX Cate Blanchett threw caution to the wind at the Oscars ceremony, finally mentioning her Blue Jasmine writer-director by name.
Blog
2014 Oscars: the awards as they happened
KARL QUINN Catherine Martin is a double winner at the 86th Academy Awards, and Cate Blanchett becomes the first Australian to win two acting Oscars.
And the winner is ...
Full list: 86th Academy Award winners
The full list of winners at the 86th Academy Awards.
COMMENT
Why bring God into it, McConaughey?
SAM DE BRITO Usually we have to wait for Mel Gibson to get drunk before we hear such nonsense from a movie star.
'Boring'
Did host Ellen DeGeneres play it too safe?
MICHAEL IDATO Despite being labeled 'boring' early on and crashing Twitter with a 'selfie', Ellen DeGeneres at least avoided anything remotely like We Saw Your Boobs.
Triumph
Lupita Nyong'o won more than just an Oscar
KARL QUINN Standing ovations get thrown around at the Oscars like confetti at a wedding. But when the 31-year-old actress won the best supporting actress award, the crowd of 3000 or so took to their feet as one.
Best actress
Cate tips hat to top female performances
GARRY MADDOX Cate Blanchett has triumphed at the Academy Awards for the second time, winning best actress for her striking performance in Blue Jasmine.
Golden girl
Cate drops f-bomb, almost misses Oscars win
SARAH THOMAS Cate Blanchett almost missed her big win at the Oscars because she was drinking at the bar with fellow actress Julia Roberts.
Making history
Martin breaks record with fourth Oscar win
GARRY MADDOX Catherine Martin has become Australia's most prolific Academy Award winner with two Oscars for her dazzling designs for The Great Gatsby.
Travoltify
Travolta hopes Idina Menzel can 'let it go'
John Travolta says he's been feeling terrible over his much-ridiculed Oscars mangling of singer Idina Menzel's name - but believes she would want him to Let it Go.
Barkhad Abdi
Captain Phillips star survives on allowance
SARAH THOMAS Oscar-nominated Barkhad Adi was paid a pittance for his role in Captain Phillips, lived on his per diem while doing Oscar publicity and had to wear borrowed clothes.
Product placement?
Oscars selfie a marketing stunt
MICHAEL IDATO Before it was officially confirmed, it had already been declared the biggest selfie in history.
'We made history'
Ellen's Oscars 'super-selfie' crashes Twitter
MICHAEL IDATO It takes a lot to stop Twitter in its tracks.
Gravity part 2
Jennifer Lawrence falls on the red carpet
Rachel Clun Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence has fallen again at the Oscars.
Queen of the red carpet
Lupita Nyong'o shines in the fashion stakes
SARAH BERRY It was her very first Oscars, but Lupita Nyong'o managed to outshine Hollywood's veterans at the Academy Awards.
Blog
Oscars 2014 red carpet coverage
SARAH BERRY Check out the faces, the fashion and the fun from the red carpet at the 86th Academy Awards.
Razzies
Will Smith flop After Earth wins Razzies
Sci-fi flop After Earth earned three Golden Raspberries on Saturday at the annual worst-of film awards, Hollywood's hall of shame.
Predictions
Oscar nominations: pick of the flicks
STEPHANIE BUNBURY Grins and grimaces, should-have-wons and also-rans, and sweet victory in an envelope.
Controversy
Cate faces pressure over Allen accusations
The question on the lips of many in Hollywood is: Will Cate Blanchett mention or diss Blue Jasmine director Woody Allen in her acceptance speech?
Magic moments
Top 10 moments in Oscars history
GARRY MADDOX The Oscars have generated some great moments of humour, surprise and controversy over the years.
VFX Oscar
Getting nod just a barrel of laughs for Clayton
GARRY MADDOX Australian-born animation supervisor David Clayton is up for an Oscar for his work on Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
Costume Oscar
Australian costume designers vie for Oscar
GARRY MADDOX Australia has a fine tradition in the best costume design category, but this year, with Catherine Martin and Michael Wilkinson both nominated, our chances have never been better.
Oscar picks
Who should win v most likely to succeed
GARRY MADDOX Who will triumph at this year's Academy Awards? Garry Maddox predicts the winners.
Top honours
Where the stars keep their Oscars
From bathrooms to museums: Cate Blanchett, Emma Thompson and others reveal where their golden statues live.
Death of film
And the winner is ... digital
PHILIPPA HAWKER We still call it 'film', but the rise of digital cinema has shifted the goalposts forever.
Value of an Oscar
Oscars: Some enchanted evening
GARRY MADDOX A turbocharged career is not the only benefit of winning an Academy Award.
COMMENT
Why Cate Blanchett should not get an Oscar
ALAN STOKES Our Cate Blanchett is talented, generous, inspirational and everyone's hot favourite to win the Oscar. Except mine.
SAG Awards
Cate Blanchett in pole position for Oscar glory
GARRY MADDOX Cate Blanchett has continued her domination of the Hollywood awards season with a win at the Screen Actors Guild awards.
In the running
2014 Oscars: full list of nominees
Complete list of 86th Annual Academy Award nominations announced on Thursday:
Nominees
Cate Blanchett nominated for an Oscar
GARRY MADDOX Cate Blanchett remains the favourite to win her second Academy Award, as American Hustle and Gravity nab 10 nominations each.
Best actress
Maths suggest Cate only contender for actress
PHILIPPA HAWKER Cate Blanchett is widely considered a sure thing for a best actress Oscar - and now she has mathematics on her side. An industry website, Studio System News, has put a figure on it.
Producers Guild
Oscars road: Gravity's unprecedented win
MICHAEL IDATO The science fiction film Gravity has become an 11th hour frontrunner to win the Academy Award for best picture.
Nominations
Overcoming the Oscars age barrier
Gary Maddox Age is no barrier this year when it comes to the Academy Awards best actress category.
BAFTAs
Gravity, 12 Years a Slave lead Bafta noms
Space drama Gravity received 11 Bafta nominations on Wednesday, one more than the hotly-tipped 12 Years a Slave as Britain's equivalent awards pointed the way to Oscars glory.
Gold rush
Space running out fast in Oscars race
GARRY MADDOX The most jam-packed field of Academy Awards contenders in memory is arriving in cinemas.
Contenders no more
Kidman, Watts ruled out for Oscar
GARRY MADDOX Nicole Kidman's Grace of Monaco is being held back for more editing, according to reports.
Oscars 2013
Winners
Happy ending for Affleck on Argo's big night
GARRY MADDOX It's the perfect Hollywood ending. A movie about a fake Hollywood movie, made by a popular actor bafflingly overlooked for best director, triumphs.
Oscar goes to ...
Oscars 2013 winners and nominees
Giles Hardie The full list of nominees and winners at this year's Academy Awards.
Gayest. Oscars. Ever.
Game, Seth and match to polished newcomer
MICHAEL IDATO He sings, he dances and he tells boob jokes. What's not to like about debut Academy Awards host Seth MacFarlane?
Blog
2013 Oscars: the awards as they happened
GILES HARDIE Who won, who didn't, and importantly, how Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane performed as host.
Blog
2013 Oscars: red carpet coverage
Sarah Berry and Candice Chung take you through the highlights - and lowlights - of the Academy Awards red carpet.
Worst of the worst
Razzies put bite on Twilight, write off Sandler
Twilight takes home seven gongs but it is Adam Sandler's career that is on the downward spiral, says Razzies founder.
Oscar songs
MacFarlane running show and in the running
Philippa Hawker This year's Academy Awards host, Seth MacFarlane, has already set a record.
Second nod
Naomi's Impossible dream for Oscars
GARRY MADDOX Naomi Watts believes her Oscar nomination for the The Impossible is important.
We predict
Take a bow: our experts' guide to the Oscars
Fairfax film critics Our critics' expert guide to who should win at the Oscars, who will win, and why.
True story
Truth stronger than fiction in vote for Oscars
GARRY MADDOX Naomi Watts is an outsider to win best actress at the Academy Awards but she has one big advantage over her main rivals. She played a real person.
Not nominated
Oscars are about who misses out
PHILIPPA HAWKER As the Academy Awards ceremony is almost upon us, it's worth remembering that filmmakers without Oscars are in very good company.
Oscars formula
The 12-step guide to Oscar fame
GARRY MADDOX Emile Sherman, one of the producers of The King's Speech, laughs. "How do you win an Oscar?" he says after a pause. "You've got to work relentlessly, have good taste and hope that luck strikes."
Inside scoop
Anonymous director lifts lid on Oscars vote
Garry Maddox Why I didn't vote for Argo: an Academy insider dishes his dirt.
Form Guide
Who should win the best picture Oscar?
KARL QUINN In the last of our form guides, our critics assess the nine films in contention for the Academy's biggest prize.
Form guide
Who should win the best actress Oscar?
KARL QUINN In the fourth of our form guides, our critics look at what is perhaps the most hotly contested of the acting categories.
Form guide
Who should win the best actor Oscar?
KARL QUINN In the third of our form guides, our critics assess the performances of Denzel Washington, Hugh Jackman, Joaquin Phoenix, Bradley Cooper and Daniel Day-Lewis in the best actor category.
Form guide
Who should win best supporting actress?
KARL QUINN In the second of our Oscars form guides, our film critics look at the contenders for best supporting actress.
Form Guide
Who should win best supporting actor?
Matthew Burgess Who will be the toast of Hollywood this year? With the 85th Academy Awards only one week away, we present the first of our Oscar form guides.
Fierce contender
A lot to love in Oscar dark horse Amour
Paris Love in the autumn of our lives, when illness and senility come knocking, is the difficult theme of Austrian director Michael Haneke's French-language film.
Screenplay race
Writers Guild honours Argo, Zero Dark Thirty
Mark Olsen Bad news for Quentin Tarantino's chances as the Writers Guild of America gives its top prizes to Argo and Zero Dark Thirty.
Presenters
Travolta, Neeson among awards presenters
John Travolta is one of four newly announced stars who will present at the Oscars this weekend.
Campaign trail
First lady weighs in on Oscar-nominated film
Michelle Obama gushes over Beasts of the Southern Wild, calling it one of the 'most powerful and most important' movies in a long time.
All That Jazz
Chicago cast reunite for Oscars
The stars of Chicago will reunite as presenters at this year's Oscars show, on the 10th anniversary of the film's Academy Award win for best picture, organisers say.
The Impossible
Naomi Watts fights fear of waves
Naomi Watts says she had to overcome her fear of drowning to film tsunami movie The Impossible.
BAFTAs
Jackman misses out on BAFTA
Australia's Hugh Jackman has missed out on a BAFTA for best actor with Daniel Day-Lewis taking the gong.
Best actor nominee
Jackman reaches out to Crowe for support
Hugh Jackman desperately wants an Oscars win - even if it means betting on the competition.
Softer side
De Niro teary over Silver Linings Playbook
Robert De Niro became tearful when he appeared on a US talk show to discuss his critically acclaimed film Silver Linings Playbook.
Road to the Oscars
Affleck wins Directors Guild top gong
Ben Affleck wins the top film honour from the Directors Guild of America for his CIA thriller Argo, further sealing its status as best picture front-runner at the Academy Awards.
Oscars luncheon
Stars party as Oscars edge closer
The race to the Academy Awards kicks into high gear at a luncheon for more than 160 nominees.
Open race
Oscar predictions change as Argo takes edge
GARRY MADDOX In the most open best picture race at the Oscars in years, the momentum seems to have shifted towards Argo.
Awards race
Argo, Lincoln primed while Watts' hopes SAG
Nathan Olivieri Oscars competition sharpens for both Naomi Watts and Hugh Jackman after losses at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Rip-roaring or sad and SAGgy?
Big moments at the SAG Awards
Steven Zeitchik The Screen Actor Guild Awards speeches may have been a touch classier and free of Jodie Foster riddles than the Golden Globes, but they still managed to elicit groans and raise eyebrows.
Top honours
SAG Awards full list of winners
Anne Hathaway, Claire Danes and Argo continue awards sweep.
First performance
Adele's powerful vocals to grace Oscars
Grammy-winning British songstress Adele is to perform the Oscar-nominated theme song from 007 blockbuster Skyfall at the Academy Awards show.
Award upsets
Critics praise Amour, but no love for Jackman
Garry Maddox Anne Hathaway wins yet more acclaim for Les Miserables, but Hugh Jackman is pipped by one of his Oscar rivals at the London Critics' Circle Film Awards.
Australians shine
Getting in on the Oscars act
GARRY MADDOX Australian actors are making their mark during awards season, writes Garry Maddox.
'Depiction is not endorsement'
Bigelow defends bin Laden film over torture
Director of Oscar-nominated thriller Zero Dark Thirty says criticism would better be directed at the US officials who ordered such policies.
Does age matter?
Nominations feature females of a certain age
It's for young and old in this year's Oscar nominations.
Nominees
Four Aussies pick up Oscar nods
Garry Maddox Four years ago, Hugh Jackman sang, danced and joked as host of the Academy Awards. Now he is heading back as a best actor nominee for his stirring role in Les Miserables.
Upsets
Stars miss out as Oscar favourites snubbed
Steven Zeitchik Oscar nominations were rife with snubs, particularly in the director category, where several favourites were absent from the list.
Risque humour
Seth Macfarlane polarises Oscars audience
MEGAN LEVY The award for most polarising Oscars host could very well go to Seth MacFarlane, judging by his performance while announcing the nominations for 2013.
Ceremony
Seth MacFarlane to host Oscars
The creator of The Family Guy and Ted will host the Academy Awards next year.
Official entry
Lore gets Oscars nod
GILES HARDIE Holocaust film set to be Australia's entry for the Academy Awards.
Quiz
Take the Oscars test
How much do you really know about the Academy Awards?
Oscar history
Aussie costume designers
An interactive history of Australian costume designers at the Oscars.
Best dressed at the Oscars
A selection of red carpet higlights from the archives.
Video
Birdman takes flight
Backstage drama takes out best picture at the 2015 Oscars.
The speech that thrilled Meryl
Patricia Arquette's win had nothing on Meryl Streep's reaction.
Margot Robbie 'slays' Oscars
The Australian's spectacular gown turned heads on red carpet.
What's it like to win?
2011 recipient Shaun Tan on the 'shock' of winning an Oscar.
Best Oscar-less movies
Which top films walked away from the awards empty-handed?
Photos
2015 Oscars in pictures
View the winners and highlights from the Academy Awards.
Oscar winners celebrate
Stars get playful backstage after winning big at the 2015 Oscars.
2014 Oscars in pictures
Look back at the winners, performers and awards highlights.
Behind the scenes in 2014
Fun snaps, celebrity photobombs from the Oscars and after party.
2014: Oscars red carpet
All the glitz and glam from the red carpet in Los Angeles.
And the Oscar goes to ...
Winners are grinners at the 2013 Academy Awards.
Backstage in 2013
Go behind the scenes to discover the buzz at the Academy Awards.
2013: Oscars red carpet
All of the stars, frocks and impossible glamour of the Oscars.