Oscar Moments
Larry, Curly and Moe?
Mexican directors Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Alfonso Cuaron shook up Oscar night with an incredible 16 nominations between them, leading some to compare the group to another renowned trio of filmmakers: Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and John Ford.
Del Toro, for one, wasn't buying it.
"I was thinking more like Larry, Curly and Moe," joked the director, whose film "Pan's Labyrinth" garnered six nominations, including foreign-language film and screenplay.
"We need like six of us for one Scorsese," Alfonso said. "The great thing is to be sharing this moment together." His film, "Children of Men," was nominated for three Oscars.
Inarritu was up against Scorsese in the best director category for his film "Babel," which was nominated in six other categories, including best picture.
Leo's "Green" Arrival
No gas-guzzling limos for Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio.
The environmental activist rolled up to Oscar's red-carpet frenzy Sunday in an eco-friendly — and very trendy — hybrid car, a Toyota Prius. The "plug-in hybrid" can travel more than 100 miles on a gallon of fuel, according to the environmental group Global Green.
DiCaprio, nominated for a best-actor Oscar for his role in the drama "Blood Diamond," was among several celebs who arrived at Sunday night's Oscar show in low-emission vehicles.
"We need our leaders in Washington to listen to the growing chorus of scientists and experts saying that we must put in place binding emission reductions to combat global warming," DiCaprio said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Other stars taking part in Global Green's fifth annual "Red Carpet-Green Cars" campaign included Penelope Cruz, Forest Whitaker, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ryan Gosling and former vice president-turned filmmaker Al Gore and his wife, Tipper.
Turnabout Is Fair Play
Davis Guggenheim played the dutiful date 10 years ago when his wife, Elisabeth Shue, was Oscar-nominated for "Leaving Las Vegas."
His payback came Sunday.
"Now she's my date, so it's kind of fun," said Guggenheim, who directed "An Inconvenient Truth," the story of former Vice President Al Gore's commitment to reversing the effects of global climate change. It was nominated for a documentary feature Oscar.
"I told him to just try to stay in the present and keep reminding himself that he's actually here," Shue said.
Sound Engineer's Loss Sets A Record
Sound engineer Kevin O'Connell didn't take home an Oscar on Sunday night but he did put his name in the record book for most Oscar losses — 19 — without a win.
"I'm already checked into therapy tomorrow," the good-natured engineer said as he arrived for the show.
O'Connell and two other engineers were nominated in the sound mixing category for "Apocalypto." They lost to the engineering team that worked on "Dreamgirls."
O'Connell said before the show his 83-year-old mother planned to watch from a San Fernando Valley hospital.
"I would like this to happen while she's still around. I'm sure she'd like it to happen while she's still around," O'Connell said.
Still, he managed to find a silver lining in nearly two dozen losses.
"I've definitely gotten more mileage out of losing than winning," he said. "Everybody kids me, then they all say, 'We really want you to win.' I think they're tired of looking at my mug on TV."
Clint, Can You Do Me A Favor?
Ellen DeGeneres got some laughs out of giving some direction to two Oscar-winning directors.
During a break in the awards action, DeGeneres walked into the audience at Sunday's Oscar show and cozied up to Clint Eastwood to ask for a favor.
"I want to take a picture for MySpace, do you mind if I get a picture with you?" she asked.
When he agreed, she asked Steven Spielberg, sitting a couple seats away, to do the honors and handed him her camera. Then she had him take the picture over again.
"Make it more even on both sides" she said, handing Spielberg back the camera for another try.
Earlier in the evening, DeGeneres went into the audience to approach Oscar-nominated director Martin Scorsese with a script. She described it as a cross between Scorsese's "Goodfellas" and the Martin Lawrence comedy "Big Momma's House."
The title? "Good Momma."
Jack Nicholson Sports A New Do
Is Jack Nicholson playing Lex Luthor in the next "Superman" movie? Maybe he'll be Daddy Warbucks in a remake of "Annie." Or perhaps he's going to the same hairstylist as Britney Spears.
As host Ellen DeGeneres walked onto the stage at the beginning of Sunday's Oscars, the camera found its way to an applauding Nicholson, who appeared wearing his signature sunglasses and sporting a very non-signature shaved head.
Turns out the extreme haircut was just devotion to craft.
Nicholson and co-star Morgan Freeman are filming director Rob Reiner's film "The Bucket List," a buddy comedy/drama about two terminally ill men who flee a cancer ward to complete a list of things they want to do before they die. It is scheduled for release in November.
By BETH HARRIS