Check It. The Fighter on DVD, and The Kind Diet in paperback.

The Fighter is out on Blu-ray and DVD today. It did very well all through awards season, scoring seven Oscar noms, and two wins--for Christian Bale (Best Supporting Actor) and Melissa Leo (Best Supporting Actress).

Also out today--Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet in paperback, made with soy ink and recycled paper. She will be signing at the Grove's Barnes & Noble tonight at 7:30 p.m.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: thegeekgeneration.com

Check It. Oscar Night.

Happy 82 Annual Academy Awards evening, readers! This is a scene of the setup at Hollywood and Highland this afternoon just before the red carpet began.

Cheers!

-- the BEAT of young los angeles

Photo credit: the BEAT

Do It. A guide to Oscar-watching.

It's finally here. Thanks to the Winter Olympics, this year's Academy Awards were delayed until this Sunday, and frankly, I'm a little beat from enduring those extra two weeks of Oscar campaigning. But the wait's over, and here's how you can celebrate:

- Cinefamily's Awards-Watching Party + Fundraiser!: Don't laugh at the Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin jokes at home by yourself! Get out there and join your Cinefamily friends for a live telecast, preceded by a screening of TVTV Looks at the Oscars, a bizarre docudrama starring Lily Tomlin. They're also boasting cocktails for every Best Picture nominee, but they may need a little help. The proceeds from the $15 go towards future Cinefamily events.
Sunday at 4 p.m., Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., Fairfax District.

- Pourtal's Red Carpet Worthy Food & Wine Tasting: A Precious cocktail at Cinefamily may be too much to handle. If so, how about some wine? Santa Monica's hip wine bar Pourtal has an Oscar-themed food and wine pairing with appropriate courses: truffle mac n cheese (Best Actress), roasted duck (Best Actor) and a chocolate bar brownie bite (Best Picture), all just for $25 per person. There will also be a live screening. Dine like a star!
Sunday night at Pourtal, 104 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica.

- Or if you're so obliged to stay in, you can still drink like the stars. Per LAist, here's the official Oscar cocktail:

The Moet Golden Glamour

.25 oz. Vanilla Liqueur
1.5 oz. Passion fruit juice
4 oz. Moet and Chandon Imperial Champagne
Mint sprig for garnish.

Mix together vanilla liqueur and passion fruit. Top with champagne. Garnish with mint.

Happy Oscar-ing!

-- Chau Tu

Check It. A Prophet.

A Prophet--the film that swept (won nine of 13) France's equivalent of the Academy Awards, the Cesar Awards, Saturday night in Paris, is an Academy Award contender for Best Foreign Film ... and is definitely worth seeing.

An IMDb user review simply says "Best. Movie. Ever."

I don't want to create too much hype, but from someone who usually gets quite frustrated with films that have a running time much over two hours, each minute of the the two hours and forty minutes of A Prophet was enthralling and necessary.

Tahar Rahim, the 28-year-old French star of the film, was really amazing. His transformation from start to finish definitely put him in award territory. Writer/director Jacques Audiard (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) has something to be really proud of here--a film about prison, crime, race, and inmate hierarchy that's as moving as it is intriguing.

A Prophet is playing at the Landmark (West L.A.), the ArcLight (Hollywood) and Laemmle Theatres in Encino and Pasadena.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: www.enjoyfrance.com