Final Oscar Predictions; Trump's Obsession; How Big Media Wins in a Tech War

What's news: Oscar voting ends at 5pm PST today. In the meantime, go inside Trump's obsession with the show and read the tale of the only Academy member to be thrown out for sharing screeners. Plus: Michael Wolff's latest on how big media benefits from a tech war. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman. [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( February 21, 2017 What's news: Oscar voting ends at 5pm PST today. In the meantime, go inside Trump's obsession with the show and read the tale of the only Academy member to be thrown out for sharing screeners. Plus: Michael Wolff's latest on how big media benefits from a tech war. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman. OSCARS BET: WHO WILL WIN? It's time! The final predictions from awards analyst Scott Feinberg are in.[All categories:]( BEST PICTURE La La Land. Save for the best ensemble SAG Award, for which this two-hander understandably wasn’t nominated, all remotely predictive precursors — the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice and guild awards, including the Producers’, also using a preferential ballot — have backed it. BEST DIRECTOR Damien Chazelle, La La Land. Every indication — including the prizes of the Golden Globe, BAFTA and especially the Directors Guild — forecasts the result. BEST ACTOR Denzel Washington, Fences. Even though Casey Affleck looked unbeatable, his uneven acceptance speeches, chatter about years-old legal troubles and a more famous opponent who gave a showy turn and beat him at the SAG Awards suggest he’s vulnerable. BEST ACTRESS Emma Stone, La La Land. It’s been 12 years since this award went to a star of a best picture winner, but it’s hard to imagine Stone not being rewarded by the Academy — as she was by SAG, Golden Globe and BAFTA voters — for beautifully singing, dancing and acting in their favorite film. BUT WHO SHOULD WIN? Chief film critic Todd McCarthy makes his closing arguments for who deserves to take home the gold. He thinks La La Land is worthy of best picture. [All categories.]( Why Not to Share Screeners Here's a cautionary tale: Godfather actor Carmine Caridi, the only AMPAS member to be expelled for sharing DVD screeners, reflects on his Oscar infamy: "[I was doing a guy a favor, and he screwed me.](" "Everybody does it, OK?" Caridi tells Scott Feinberg in a new feature. By "it," Caridi means lending out screeners sent by distributors to Academy voters for Oscar consideration. The problem for the long-divorced resident of West Hollywood: He loaned videos to a man who turned out to be one of the most notorious movie pirates in history. Starting in the late '80s, distributors began sending VHS (and later DVD and Blu-ray) copies of awards hopefuls to Academy members. But with piracy issues mounting, then-MPAA chief Jack Valenti, acting on behalf of studios, imposed a ban on all screeners. [What happened next.]( Elsewhere in film... ► Warner Bros unveils King Arthur trailer. See the new teaser for Guy Ritchie's big budget stylized take on the story, with Charlie Hunnam playing the monarch. [Watch here.]( ► Fox debuts Predator reboot cast photo. Director Shane Black has shared [a look](at his team of alien hunters, including Trevante Rhodes, Sterling K. Brown, Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn and Keegan-Michael Key. ► Disney teases new Avatar theme park attractions. The "World of Avatar" is set to make its debut this summer in Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. The park has released [two new videos.]( ► Frantz wins French Academy's producers' prize. Eric and Nicolas Altmayer took home this year’s Prix Daniel Toscan du Plantier, the honor for [best producer of the year](, for Frantz, which scored 10 Cesar nominations. ► R.I.P., Gerald Hirschfeld. The veteran cinematographer who shot the films Fail-Safe and Young Frankenstein in beautiful black and white, died Feb. 13 at 95. [Full obit.]( John Irving: Get political in your Oscar speech. The Cider House Rules author, who gave a pro-choice speech for his 2000 screenplay win, wants winners to speak their mind: "In our community, [tolerance of intolerance is unacceptable.](" Trump's Silicon Valley War Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Reed Hastings openly challenge a president who may scrap net neutrality and curb globalist growth as Rupert Murdoch and more see opportunity in the chaos, Michael Wolff writes in his [new column](: Tech moguls made and lost a one-side political bet. As much as the media (now having its own existential moment), tech went all in for Hillary, it is curiously the "dishonest media" that might benefit most from the Trump effect — both from the president's indifference or even hostility to tech and from the backlash against Trump himself. [Irony?](The anti-media president could well end up as the best thing that has happened to media companies in a long time. In this view, tech may be caught between an increasingly unfamiliar world in Washington wholly dominated by the Republican Party — which owes nothing to the tech industry — and rising liberal outrage over fake news and social media bigotry. ↱ [Uber taps Eric Holder to investigate discrimination](. The Former U.S. Attorney General has been brought on to help investigate claims of gender discrimination after a former employee posted a scathing account. ↲ Meanwhile, in TV... ► NBC's Taken, reviewed. Clive Standen tries to live up to Liam Neeson in a series prequel, premiering Feb. 27. The takeaway: "[Lacks a particular set of skills.](" ► WGN America plans Jack Daniels whiskey drama. Breaking Bad actor Aaron Paul is set to start in the drama, in [development]( with Andrew Colville (Mad Men, Lone Star) penning the script and exec producing. ► Paramount TV taps Keith Cox to lead development. TV Land's Keith Cox is expected to be tapped [to lead](development at the rebranded Spike TV, while Spike's executive vp originals Sharon Levy is poised to exit the company. ► CBS' The Good Fight early ratings. The spinoff drew [7.2M viewers]( in its one-time-only network airing. It drew a 0.7 rating among adults 18-49 — down five-tenths from the 1.2 rating drawn by The Good Wife's final season premiere. ↱ [The secrets of successful game show hosts](. Alex Trebek, Chris Hardwick and more insiders open up about the "Four Ts" required to win with viewers. ↲ ► Netflix plans to disrupt reality TV with Ultimate Beastmaster. The streaming service's first competition series, which features contestants tackling a 600-foot-long obstacle course, will be released in [six different versions]( worldwide. ► David Cassidy reveals he has dementia. The former Partridge Family star [told]( People he's struggling with memory loss, and because his family has a history of dementia he had sensed "this was coming." ► R.I.P., Brenda Buttner. The host of Bulls and Bears on Fox News died after a battle with cancer, the network said Monday. She was 55. [Full obit.]( Milo Yiannopoulos dropped by CPAC, Simon & Schuster. The publisher announced Monday that "[after careful consideration](," it had canceled the book deal with the hard-right figure. He Really Wants Hollywood's Respect W. Keith Campbell, Ph.D., the author of The Narcissism Epidemic, suspects that behind Trump's bluster is a yearning to be taken seriously by Tinseltown. In a guest column, he writes: "[I'm seeing Trump as a Hollywood geek.](" What else we're reading... — "Still many ceilings here." Carolina A. Miranda on a new UCLA industry study: "Women and minorities have made modest gains in front of and behind the camera but remain significantly underrepresented." [[The Los Angeles Times](] — "Goodfellas, therapy and almost turning down The Sopranos." Danny Leigh profiles Lorraine Bracco, who "talks about fighting with Martin Scorsese ... and her dad scaring Dustin Hoffman at the Oscars." [[The Guardian](] — "Trump made me forgive Shia LaBeouf." Sarah Moroz profiles Daniel Clowes: "The graphic novelist who created Ghost World and David Boring is solitary by nature, but ... he’s ready to call any enemy of Trump his friend." [[Daily Beast](] — "#OscarsSoWhite creator on Hollywood’s progress." Aisha Harris interviews April Reign, who says: "I stand ready to work with anyone who is interested in continuing this conversation and making concrete change." [[Slate](] — "#OscarsSoOrange." A chat between two opinion columnists: "Frank Bruni and Gail Collins banter about Donald Trump Oscar Night and bask in a Moonlight glow." [[The New York Times](] Today's Birthdays: Sophie Turner, 21, Ellen Page, 30, Jordan Peele, 38, Tituss Burgess, 38, Jennifer Love Hewitt, 38, Kumail Nanjiani, 39, Kelsey Grammer, 62, Anthony Daniels, 71. Follow The News Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2017 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( February 21, 2017