Nine and a half weeks remain before the polls will close on Academy nominations — the drop-dead hour being 5 pm on Saturday, 1.13.07. In other words, three or four weeks from now (figuratively speaking) and the whole nommie-nommie Phase 1 thing will be over and done with.
Nomination ballots are being mailed out 12.26.06. The locked-down nominations will be announced on Tuesday, 1.23 — ten and a half weeks hence. And then Phase 2 kicks in for a mere four weeks (literally) with the final polls closing at 5 pm on Tuesday, 2.20.07 . The Oscar telecast — i.e., the vaguely underwhelming letdown at the end of the road — will happen on Tuesday, 2.25 starting at 5 pm Pacific.
No slam against comedian Ellen DeGeneres, but the producers should have hired the great Sarah Silverman for the job, especially after her killer performance at last March’s IFP Spirit Awards. She’s brilliant — she gets everything as it is right now.