Oscars begin with wins for 'Precious'

HOLLYWOOD - Gritty independent drama "Precious" won two Oscars here Sunday as the 82nd Academy Awards got under way at Hollwyood's Kodak Theater in front of a galaxy of stars.

Director Lee Daniels's film about an obese, illiterate, sexually abused teenager from Harlem won Oscars for best supporting actress and best adapted screenplay at a new-look awards show.

Mo'Nique won the supporting actress prize for her performance as an abusive parent, making her only the only the fourth black actress in history to win an Oscar following Hattie McDaniel, Whoopi Goldberg and Halle Berry.

The 42-year-old paid tribute to trailblazing "Gone With the Wind" actress McDaniel in her acceptance speech.

"I want to thank Miss Hattie McDaniel for enduring all that she had to so that I would not have to," Mo'Nique said.

In other early awards, Austria's Christoph Waltz scooped the first honors of the night in the best supporting actor category for his portrayal of a sadistic Nazi officer in Quentin Tarantino's World War Two film "Inglourious Basterds."

"Oscar and Penelope -- that's uber bingo," a delighted Waltz said after receiving the famous golden statuette from Spanish siren Penelope Cruz.

"There's no way I can ever thank you enough but I can start right now -- thank you," Waltz added.

"Up," about an elderly gent who ties balloons to his home to live his dream of seeing the wilds of South America, took the award for best animated feature.

Earlier hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin kicked off the proceedings with a wise-cracking intro which saw several nominees introduced from the audience.

Spotting "The Hurt Locker" director Kathryn Bigelow, nominated for best director alongside ex-husband James Cameron, Martin couldn't resist a gag.

"She was so pleased to be nominated with (Cameron) she sent him a gift basket with a timer," Martin said.

"He reciprocated by sending her a Toyota," Baldwin chimed.

All eyes are on the David v Goliath battle between the low-budget "The Hurt Locker" -- made for around 11 million dollars -- and "Avatar," which cost around 500 million dollars and is the highest-grossing movie in history with earnings of over 2.5 billion dollars to date.

Both films have nine nominations each, including best picture and best director. Bigelow's film about a US Army bomb disposal squad has emerged as favorite after winning a series of awards leading into the Oscars.

The movie won an early Oscar Sunday for best original screenplay, with writer Mark Boal paying tribute to US troops in his acceptance speech.

"I would also like to thank and dedicate this to the troops, the 115,000, who are still in Iraq, 120,000 (in) Afghanistan, and the more than 30,000 wounded and 4,000 who have not made it home," Boal said.

Front-runners have emerged in most of the acting categories, but Sandra Bullock could face a stronger-than-expected challenge in the best actress race.

Bullock, who won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for her part in the drama "The Blind Side," faces competition from Meryl Streep ("Julie & Julia"), Carey Mulligan ("An Education") and Gabourey Sidibe ("Precious"), who was nominated for US cinema's top honor for an actress in her debut film.

In the best actor category, popular veteran Jeff Bridges is expected to claim his first Oscar at the fifth attempt.

The 60-year-old has already snatched prizes at the Golden Globes and SAG awards for his heart-wrenching portrayal of a washed up country singer in "Crazy Heart."

Other nominees include George Clooney for "Up In the Air," Morgan Freeman for "Invictus," Jeremy Renner for "The Hurt Locker" and Britain's Colin Firth for "A Single Man."

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The Oscars will be replayed on VELVET CHANNEL 53 on March 8 at 7 p.m. with an encore telecast on March 13 at 7 p.m.

Pacquiao hurts Roach's chin in gym

HOLLYWOOD – For 15 rounds non-stop, Manny Pacquiao went for the kill.

And a good number of times, he caught his master, Freddie Roach, on the chin or just too hard on the body, and made his two-hour workout at the Wild Card Gym look like the real thing.

“Sorry coach, sorry,” said Pacquiao as he backed off after one of his right hooks glanced the chin of his trainer.

But Roach, who celebrated his 50th birthday Friday by putting on his three-inch body armor and working the mitts with Pacquiao, really didn’t mind. He’s gotten used to it anyway. Even if it hurts.

“He hurts me and knocks the wind off me sometimes,” he said.

But it’s all part of his job, and Roach would like to see Pacquiao do the same against Joshua Clottey on March 13 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. In fact, he sees Pacquiao winning by knockout.

“Kill the body,” was Roach’s constant reminder during their 15-round session with the mitts. He believes that Clottey, bigger but older, has never been hit to the body as hard as Pacquiao would hit him.

On top of the ring, they worked on the different angles and on running rings around Clottey and at the same time planting solid blows to the side of the body and to the head which they hope would work.

“There’s nothing he can do when you’re not standing in front of him,” said Freddie during breaks that never lasted more than five seconds.

“There’s nothing he can do. Take advantage of that.”

They were almost whispering to each other as they map out the plan, always looking for something new, always looking for ways to make things better and making things worse for the opponent.

“We’re not going to leave a pattern,” said Roach on top of the ring. He wants Pacquiao to keep Clottey guessing all night, guessing where his punches are coming from and guessing what his next move would be.

Pacquiao was just having a good time on the ring when Roach, after 15 rounds non-stop, said it’s time to call it a day.

“Uno-mas. Uno-mas (One more. One more),” Pacquiao kept on repeating.

But Roach would have none of it.

“When will you ever get tired? Go get water. I need to rest,” he said.

And then it was over.

“Masaya kami (We’re happy),” said Pacquiao, who earlier in the morning ran up Mount Lee, the tallest peak in Los Angeles, and ended up looking down at the very famous landmark, the Hollywood Sign.

“Lumampas pa ako doon sa sign. That was my longest run in training and it took me more than an hour to get to the top. It was like running a marathon uphill. Grabe talaga,” he said.

Notes: The birthday song filled the Wild Card Gym after the two-hour workout, and Manny Pacquiao presented Freddie Roach with a birthday cake. Roach blew the candles and made a wish: Knock Clottey out...Each of the 87 persons who joined Pacquiao’s weight loss contest had to sign a waiver prepared by Dr. Allan Recto just to make sure that the boxing superstar won’t be held liable if something happens to any of them. Pacquiao has offered $3,000 to anyone who’d lose 15 percent of their body weight inside three weeks. Dr. Recto said it’s no joke. Most of those who joined the contest, you see, are non-athletes, just plain individuals, and trying to lose so much weight in so little time may cause them harm. Some of them are said to be starving themselves to death just to get the money. Based on Dr. Recto’s official list, there are those needing to lose as little as 15 lb and one as much as 40 lb. “We prepared the waiver to make sure no one sues Manny if something bad happens to him or her,” said Dr. Recto. As an icing on the cake, Pacquiao has offered another $20,000 to the one who will lose the most in weight, percentage wise. The final weigh-in is set Sunday. Get the ambulance ready.

Gossip writer out of job after "Wolverine" review

Host Hugh Jackman speaks on stage during the 81st Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2009.

LOS ANGELES - Columnist Roger Friedman is out at FoxNews.com after reviewing an illegally downloaded copy of Fox's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" last week.

Friedman, who wrote the Fox411 column for FoxNews.com, met with Fox News executives Monday. Following the meeting, the company issued a statement saying the parties had "mutually agreed to part ways immediately."

Friedman could not be immediately reached for comment.

By admitting to having downloaded the film, which doesn't arrive in theaters until May 1, Friedman earned a big thumbs-down from News Corp., Fox News' parent company.

The trouble began Tuesday when an illicit copy of the film made its debut onto the Web. Fox immediately condemned the theft and copying of an unfinished workprint of the film and enlisted the FBI and the Motion Picture Assn. of America to track down the perpetrators.

Downloading a copy of the film himself, Friedman wrote a positive review that appeared in his Fox411 column Thursday.

"I doubt anyone else has seen this film. But everyone can relax. I am, in fact, amazed about how great "Wolverine" turned out. It exceeds expectations at every turn," he wrote.

But he also described how easy it is to download any film or TV show and joked he might decide to catch up on some other recent films via illegal downloads.

Fox -- pointing that out Fox News is a separate business under the News Corp. banner -- responded Friday, "This behavior is reprehensible and we condemn this act categorically, whether the review is good or bad."

Parent News Corp. issued its own condemnation, saying, "Roger Friedman's views in no way reflect the views of News Corp.," and adding, "Once we learned of Roger Friedman's post, we asked Fox News to remove it, which they did immediately."

After word began to circulate late Saturday that Friedman had been removed as well, News Corp. amended its statement, adding that Fox News had "promptly terminated Mr. Friedman."

But the columnist's status still appeared unclear Sunday afternoon.

Friedman would not comment except to say, "Reports of my death have been extremely exaggerated."

"This is an internal matter that we are not prepared to discuss at this time," a Fox News spokesperson said, leaving the entire matter in question.

Twenty-four hours later, Fox News and Friedman had gone their separate ways.