As a guy who’s been a “Star Trek” fan since his 1975, building phasers-with-Legos pre-school days, I’m really looking forward to seeing what J.J. Abrams does this May with his take on the famed franchise. I caught up recently with Chris Pine, who plays Captain Kirk in the film. (Kirk is by far Pine's biggest role; previous credits include parts in "Smokin' Aces" and "The Princess Diaries 2.") I asked him if his version of the character resembles the friendly, fun-loving man of action we’re used to seeing.

“I think that with this Jim Kirk you'll get the flavor of the old,” Pine said. “I tried to bring my own take to it and do justice to what Mr. [William] Shatner did before, but you get to see the full spectrum of Jim Kirk. There's the young, bold, brash, cocky [quality] and I think there's a maturity that happens within the arc of the character in the movie that's really fun that I think people will respond to.”

But what about Leonard “Bones” McCoy? I’ve always had a fondness for the cantankerous, mint julep-sipping country doctor. For my money, some of the best character moments of the original series involved him and Kirk. I think my favorite is from the episode “The Immunity Syndrome.” (I told you I was a Trek geek!) Spock is in a shuttle craft trying to escape a giant space amoeba. He’s pleading with them to leave him behind and save themselves. Bones replies, “Shut up Spock, we’re rescuing you!” and both he and Kirk give the absent Spock a funny “so take that” nod.

In Abrams’ film, Karl Urban of “Lord of the Rings” and “Bourne Supremacy” fame is assuming the role made famous by the late, great DeForest Kelley. Pine says Urban was up to the task.

“Yeah, Urban is, oh, he's fantastic. I think when people see what Karl did with the role they're going to be blown away,” Pine said. “I mean, it was a shock when I found out that he was doing it, he's such a great-looking guy. He's such a leading man and to take on this classic character role … he is like the doppleganger of DeForest Kelley. But he brings his own Karl sensibility to it so people will really enjoy it.”

– Douglas Hyde, CNN Entertainment Producer

As you can imagine, this party - which has raised over $150 million over the years to fight AIDS - is full of a number of gay men. They, as as well as all the other guests, just screamed with joy when Sean Penn got the Oscar.

One AIDS activist sitting at my table, a man who lives in San Francisco, explained how the production of "Milk" came to the city and engaged the gay community in the shooting of the film, including giving history lessons to those who grew up after the Milk story.

– Sarah Holbrooke, CNN Senior Editorial Producer, at the Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar party

There are a lot of great-looking people in this room. But one of the most outstanding is Kate Beckinsale, whose hair is absolutely a confection. It's a tower of black glossy curls, and while it has much more volume than her slender face, it all works.

She's sitting at a table that burst into spontaneous applause as Jerry Lewis finished his acceptance speech.

– Sarah Holbrooke, CNN Senior Editorial Producer, at the Elton John AIDS Foundation party

The party is in a huge tent - it has "never been air-conditioned," says host David Furnish. It's gotten pretty hot in here. Luckily the portable toilets are just outside where it's considerably cooler - so, as you can imagine, the lines are long.

Among those inside and outside the party: an exuberant Ricki Lake and Elle Macpherson, who was thrilled when Heath Ledger won.

– Sarah Holbrooke, CNN Senior Editorial Producer, at the Elton John AIDS Foundation party

Sir John is making his way around the room with his partner David Furnish and they are personally greeting every one of the 700 guests here. Elton is wearing two diamond necklaces and sunglasses inside but you can still see the sparkle in his eyes.
– Sarah Holbrooke, CNN Senior Editorial Producer, at the Elton John AIDS Foundation party

Editor's Note: CNN Senior Editorial Producer Sarah Holbrooke is attending the 17th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) Academy Awards Viewing Party at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California. She'll be filing dispatches from the party throughout the evening.

Sharon Stone just arrived with a great structural hair up-sweep and an elegant long black gown. Certainly not sporting anything from the Gap this Oscars. I will try to find out what she's wearing - it's lovely, and so is she.

Three women arriving separately are each wearing cherry-red gowns - different styles but almost exactly the same color. Definitely red is the trend thus far, although of course black dominates.

- Sarah Holbrooke

Stay in tune with the Oscars by coming to the Marquee Blog and watching CNN on Sunday!

CNN.com’s Jacque Wilson is live-blogging from the red carpet starting at 5 p.m. ET, and “Hollywood’s Gold Rush” will air live on CNN Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET. While hosts Brooke Anderson, Kareen Wynter and AJ Hammer look over the red carpet, you’ll have an opportunity to comment on the gorgeous gowns, natty tuxes or out-of-place fashion faux pas. So watch the show and come by the blog — your comment may appear on CNN!

Editor's Note: Tim Farley, an Atlanta software engineer and creator of Whatstheharm.net, requested tickets for a "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" show last month. Much to his surprise, he received two tickets for the February 20 program, O'Brien's very last "Late Night," as the host is moving to the "Tonight" show in a few months. Here is Tim's report.

Warning: The following is light on spoilers, but there are a couple. – Todd Leopold, CNN.com Entertainment Producer

This past January 20 was a great day for many people, but I had an extra reason to celebrate. On that day I received an unusual e-mail from NBC. There had been a special lottery announced to obtain tickets to the final tapings of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." I had sent in a single request to enter my name. I was rewarded with a pair of tickets to tonight's broadcast, his final show in New York.

I made arrangements to fly from Atlanta to New York with my brother. As long-time fans of the program, we were not going to miss it. Others were equally enthusiastic. Hundreds waited on line in the frigid February New York weather for a mere chance at a standby ticket. We talked to several who had actually camped overnight - one of whom got in line so early he had to figure out how he'd watch THURSDAY night's show. (He finally watched on his laptop, tapping into a wi-fi connection.)

Some 31 standby tickets were issued.

Taping began at 5:30 p.m. Eastern. We met others in the audience who had traveled from Minneapolis, Alaska and Canada to see the broadcast. It was a fantastic ending sure to please fans of the show. The White Stripes performed, but the other guests on the program were left as a last-minute surprise. One recognizable gentleman stripped to lime-green short shorts and danced to some music, to Conan's horror. (Those of you who watch the show regularly will know who this is already.)

One thing you won't see on air was the crowd of almost a dozen friends of the show, including current and former writers, gathered by the stage door to watch the taping from up close. This included former head writer Robert Smigel, who was snapping photos of the proceedings with a digital camera.

Conan continued his trend (started on Monday) of demolishing his set and handing out hunks to the audience. Some of the pieces were so large they had to be further chopped up with an axe. And he ended the program with an off-the-cuff and teary "thank you" to everyone who had helped him.

It was all well worth the price of admission (to reference an old Johnny Carson joke) – and well worth the plane ticket, too.

–Tim Farley

The 81st annual Academy Awards will be presented Sunday night, and we have two questions.

1. CNN.com’s Tom Charity has already made his winners’ picks. What are yours? Comment below or send us an iReport.

2. It’s no secret that Oscar ratings are in decline, whether for lack of a rooting interest, boredom with endless awards shows or exhaustion with celebrity culture (or all of the above). What would YOU do to mix things up and make the Academy Awards worth watching from beginning to end?

Also, stay in tune with the Oscars by coming to the Marquee blog and watching CNN on Sunday. CNN.com’s Jacque Wilson will be live-blogging from the red carpet, and “Hollywood’s Gold Rush” will air live on CNN Sunday night at 7 p.m. Eastern. While hosts Brooke Anderson, Kareen Wynter and AJ Hammer look over the red carpet, you’ll have an opportunity to comment on the gorgeous gowns, natty tuxes or out-of-place fashion faux pas. So watch the show and come by the blog - your comment may appear on CNN!

– Todd Leopold, CNN.com Entertainment Producer

Editor’s Note: CNN’s Jacque Wilson is in Los Angeles for the first time to cover the Academy Awards. Follow her blog updates from the event Sunday right here at CNN.com/marquee.

Michael O'Connor looks over some goodies.

No girl can turn down jewelry. So when accessory style expert Michael O’Connor invited me to observe several of his Oscar appointments, I jumped at the chance - if for nothing else than to be in a room with $30 million worth of “ooooh.”

O’Connor is a liaison of sorts between celebrity stylists and accessory designers. He gathers jewels he thinks his clients will like so that the stylists don’t have to run to a bunch of different designers. In return, they take $34,000 watches off his hands.

In this economy the celebrities are cutting back, O’Connor said. He expects red-carpet walkers to veer away from bling and head toward classic pieces that "can stand the test of time."

That, of course, means platinum.

For fabric, O’Connor sees less red, more black, white and dark blues. But simple colors don’t mean the process is any easier. Stylists take weeks putting together the perfect outfit for their client. The neckline affects the hairdo, which affects the necklace, which affects the earrings, which affect, again, the hairdo. And then when the celebrity changes his or her mind the day before the event, O’Connor gets a call at midnight.

"Celebrities are just like you and I," he told me. "They wake up in the morning and say, 'what was I thinking when I bought this outfit? It makes my butt look fat.' Or gives me no chest, or height or whatever."

Funny, I say that about every outfit I wear.

And just when I was about to head out the door, my head spinning from the sparkle, in walked the stylist for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. She knew what she wanted and it didn’t include anything that dangled, had rubies or was too white-diamond. "Angie," she said, wouldn’t/couldn’t/shouldn’t wear that.

Thousand-dollar baubles aside, I’m still shocked that I was in a room with someone who could call Angelina Jolie "Angie." Can the Oscars on Sunday really top that?

– Jacque Wilson, CNN.com Associate Producer