Oscars:
Hollywood’s glitziest, longest awards ceremony finally arrives this Sunday at 7 p.m. on ABC after an exhausting campaign that seemed to begin right after last year’s ceremony.
Ben Affleck’s “Argo” will fight to become the rare film to win Best Picture without a Best Director nomination.
Elsewhere, presumptive Best Actress favorite Jennifer Lawrence (“Silver Linings Playbook”) will face competition from the steely Jessica Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty”) and the affecting Emmanuelle Riva (“Amour”), whose 85th birthday falls on the night of the ceremony.
Show highlights will include an anniversary tribute to James Bond, performances from Barbra Streisand and Adele and several cast reunions from recent movie musicals.
30 Seconds of Fame:
Tired of “Gangnam Style?” You’re not alone. Not tired of dance-pop memes? You’re still not alone!
In the span of one week, New York producer Baauer’s aggressive dance track “Harlem Shake” went from an obscurity to a sensation, with a viral video assist from YouTube comedian Filthy Frank.
The rules for this video sensation are impressively strict. For fifteen seconds, one person innocently dances in an ordinary location. When the beat drops, the camera cuts and suddenly everyone in the frame is dancing wildly.
Another one-hit wonder or a resilient phenomenon? Time will tell.
Casting caLl, Movie Edition:
Hollywood casting departments and dogged reporters worked in overdrive this week.
Director Bryan Singer announced that “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage will play the villain, possibly a comic book favorite like Puck or Toad, in the upcoming “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”
Meanwhile, current Oscar contender Jennifer Lawrence will reunite with her “Silver Linings Playbook” director David O. Russell and co-star Bradley Cooper for Russell’s next movie, a drama about the Abscam scandal.
In a less well-trodden matchup, acclaimed director Michael Mann will team with Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, for a thriller about cybersecurity.
Casting call, TV Edition:
Each spring, TV production studios cast dozens of big-name actors in pilots that may or may not see the light of day, leading to a host of announcements only exciting in theory.
Why not get excited anyway, though? Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” films) will star in a CBS drama about a U.S. surgeon general.
Sarah Michelle Gellar has joined a pilot starring comedy veteran Robin Williams, and Miranda Cosgrove will star alongside Christina Ricci in the sitcom “Girlfriend in a Coma.”
Tyler’s Back:
One of the most popular figures in the rap scene, the modestly named Tyler the Creator, returns to the airwaves.
His second album “Wolf” arrives on April 2, and the first single, “Domo23,” is already ascending the iTunes chart.
Tyler, with his boundary-crossing lyrics and fascinatingly unpredictable persona, will briefly tour North America and Europe next month.
Ironically, Bruno Mars, a frequent target of Tyler’s musical wrath, also announced a tour this week. Ellie Goulding and Fitz & the Tantrums will be the guests on the “Moonshine Jungle Tour,” which stops in D.C. this summer.
mlieberman@theeagleonline.com
