The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has learned that selecting deceased movie figures for their Oscar night memorial reel can be as fraught as picking winners, Michael Cieply writes in The New York Times. Lobbying tends to be fierce, even though the committee that chooses whom to include is a closely guarded secret, and feelings tend to get hurt. This year’s awards will almost certainly include Ernest Borgnine, Charles Durning, Nora Ephron, Tony Scott, Richard Zanuck and Marvin Hamlisch, but since the Academy expanded the list to include notable film industry figures like makeup artists and publicists, there are often unpredictable honors and snubs. The commemoration of lesser-known figures has led to the exclusion of Corey Haim, Farrah Fawcett and Bea Arthur, a! mong others, omissions that can feel less like benign neglect than a slight. The Academy maintains a much longer obituary list on Oscars.com.
Alexander Wang, the popular fashion designer, is working with Samsung to create a print based on doodles, sketches and photographs submitted via Samsung Galaxy Note II smartphones. The result will be a unique design that will appear on a limited collection bag whose proceeds will be donated to charity, Elizabeth Olson writes. Samsung hopes that the collaboration will show how “technology empowers creativity,†Christine Cho, their director of global marketing, said. The campaign, which will mainly be spread via social media, should helpSamsung connect with a younger, cooler audience, much as their chief competitor in the device market, Apple, appealed to that constituency with independent bands.
No one dominates this year’s field of Grammy contenders like Adele did last year, and they are sure to lack the drama caused by her vocal surgery and Whitney Houston’s sudden death. That does not mean the awards lack for! interest! ing narratives, James C. McKinley Jr. reports. Here are some to watch this Sunday: Will Fun., the Brooklyn group whose “Some Nights†album, propelled by the single “We Are Young,†win record, album, song and best new artist of the year Will R&B singer Frank Ocean, whose solo debut album “Channel Orange†is on many critics’ top-10 lists, win best album, song or best new artist Will 39-year-old rapper Nas, who has never won a Grammy but has been nominated in all the rap categories, song, album, rap-sung collaboration (wit Amy Winehouse) and performance for his album “Life is Good,†walk away with an award this year
