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Three little Oscar words
Published: 2/16/2009 12:47 PM
Last Modified: 2/16/2009 12:47 PM

Perhaps by now you've heard some of the changeups that the producers of this Sunday's Academy Awards have been pitching in order to woo viewers.

Many of Hollywood's big names may skip the red carpet pre-shows altogether, forcing fans of fashion to watch the awards if they want to ogle dresses and diamonds. If you love to watch trailers, Oscar producers are hoping you'll stay to the end of program, when they plan to unspool 10-second teasers of many of the biggest films of 2009.

Other devices have been dished and dissed as the show attempts to lure more than the historic low of last year's 32 million viewers. That's still a huge number in the age of cable's hundreds of channels nibbling away at the major broadcasters' numbers, but hardly one that still merits the show being referred to by some as the "Super Bowl for women."

I have to wonder how desperate some of these plans would have been if on nomination day we'd heard three little words: Batman, Eastwood and Springsteen.

If "The Dark Knight" would have been nominated for best picture (it should have been), if Clint Eastwood had received a best actor nod for "Gran Torino" (a prize he's never won, for what may be his final acting role), and if Bruce Springsteen's Golden Globe-winning tune from "The Wrestler" had been nominated for best song for him to perform live, the audience count this Sunday night (on KTUL, channel 8 at 7 p.m.) is guaranteed to tick upward.

But Oscar went 0-for-3 on these sexy choices, and producers are scrambling to freshen up their 81-year-old event. It's not like they can go the route of the revamped Grammys: 10 awards handed out live; scores of honors announced on a fast-moving scroll; 22 live performances bringing the house down.

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I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

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Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

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