This just in: to counter the widespread belief that the Motion Picture Academy is dominated by old white guys, the 82nd Academy Awards will be hosted by... two old white guys!  Okay, Alec Baldwin is barely past the half-century mark, and doing what many consider the best work of his career on "30 Rock," but Steve Martin will be eligible for Medicare next year.  (Man, now I feel old.)

Martin has proven his chops writing as well as performing, and it's a good bet they'll make at least a few references to the comedy "It's Complicated," which comes out this Christmas and stars Baldwin and Martin as rivals for Meryl Streep's affections.  And Baldwin will probably take a jab at his co-host by mentioning his 2004 Oscar nomination, as Best Supporting Actor for "The Cooler," a few times: Martin has never received a nod from the Academy, not even for his marvelous screenplay for 1987's "Roxanne."

As for hosting, Baldwin is something of a novice, but Martin hosted the Academy Awards in 2001, earning an Emmy nomination, and again in 2003.  Interestingly, when our Denise Quan interviewed Martin this May about his new bluegrass album, she asked him about a possible return as Oscar host.  His reply: "I don't think so... I did it twice, that was enough... as soon as you say yes to the Oscars, that's the only thing you think about for three months."  Guess we know what he'll be thinking about between now and next March 7.

The "mature" pair probably won't dance about the stage as Hugh Jackman did last year, though there's a good chance Martin will pull out his banjo at least once... and they're definitely both funny.  How do you think they'll do as Oscar hosts?

After Monday's news of Disney purchasing Marvel, what does this mean for the various Marvel film and stage projects? EW.com reports that Paramount put out a statement saying that this will not affect their multiple Marvel movie projects, including "Iron Man 2" and "Thor."

The troubled "Spider-Man" Broadway production is unlikely to get any help from Disney, reports Variety. Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox would like to "reboot" the "Fantastic Four" franchise. Writer Akiva Goldsman has been brought in to help accomplish that, according to Variety.

If you're looking forward to seeing how Seth Rogen handles being a masked crime fighter, you'll have to wait a little longer. Variety reports that "The Green Hornet" has been postponed until December 17, 2010.

Sequels and remakes on the way: "Bad Boys 3" is in the works, according to The Hollywood Reporter; a fifth "Rambo" is on the way, according to Variety; and a new series based on the '80s "Teen Wolf" movies is headed to MTV, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The expanded list of nominees isn't the only upcoming big Oscar voting change. Variety reports that Academy members will now have to rank their favorite Best Picture nominees, instead of just voting for their favorite.

This summer was the highest-grossing ever at the box office, over the previous record set in 2007, according to Variety.

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

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: 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

Sometimes it can be hard to talk to celebrities –- even when it’s your job.

Thursday night I attended the “Australians in Film” event at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. The red carpet was rolled out and I had my questions ready for the “confirmed” celebrity guests, which were to include Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Abbie Cornish and several others. I stood there for a good three hours with my photographer … and talked to THREE people. The biggest celebrity of the night was Jesse Spencer from the show “House.”

But no worries. There was a highlight to my night - I literally saw more celebrities walking and driving in behind us than on the red carpet. Josh Hartnett walked by, and then Topher Grace, and the producer next to me thinks she saw Robert Downey Jr. drive off in his car. At one point, I asked my cameraman to just turn around and shoot the hotel guests behind us. After all, that’s where the action was.

– Carolyn Sung, CNN Entertainment

Every year it's the same thing: You get together with friends, throw in a few bucks, look over the Oscar nominees list and make your picks.

The person with the most correct answers - or the most points (the Oscar pools I've been in give more points for picking best picture than, say, best animated short) - wins the pool. The tiebreaker, of course, is getting the closest to the ceremony's late-night ending time.

But a clever quartet of bloggers at PoopReading have come up with a twist on the old-fashioned Oscar pool. Call it Fantasy Oscars.

The four listed the 20 acting nominees, drafted each one fantasy-sports style, then cast their performers in movies based on titles provided by the party game Balderdash, making up all the plots.

The results are creative and hilarious. I hope some studio heads are reading - I'd actually pay to see some of these.

– Todd Leopold, CNN.com Entertainment Producer

P.S. And what are your Oscar picks? Send us an iReport.

The Oscars may have just lost a few million viewers.

“The Dark Knight,” which seemed to be gaining ground in the best picture race, didn’t get a nomination in that category. In fact, the only one of the Big Six categories it was tabbed for was best supporting actor, an honor for the late Heath Ledger, who died one year ago today.

It’s a surprise, since the film had done well among the motion picture guilds -– producers, directors and writers -– and had both critical praise and big box office in its favor.

Taking its place, apparently, is “The Reader,” which received nominations for best picture, best director (Stephen Daldry), best actress (Kate Winslet) and best adapted screenplay (David Hare). I haven’t seen “The Reader,” so I have no idea if it’s good or bad or something else, but its inclusion among the best picture nominees would seem to be as much a tribute to its master marketer, producer Harvey Weinstein, as its quality.

Now Hollywood may find out how many people care. Box office success has tended to mean rooting interest, which translates to good ratings.

Last year’s two leading best picture possibilities, “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood,” were terrific films –- but they weren’t huge hits in theaters. Consequently, ratings for the Oscars were the lowest since Nielsen started keeping track in 1974.

This year’s biggies, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Slumdog Millionaire,” have done well -– “Button” has topped the key $100 million threshold, and “Slumdog” just cracked the top 10 though it’s still in just 614 theaters. So the bigwigs at the Academy and broadcaster ABC are probably hoping their success -– along with the success of the other nominees -– spreads.

So, are you going to watch? What did you think of the nominations in general? Comment below or send us an iReport.

– Todd Leopold, CNN.com Entertainment Producer

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk” and “Slumdog Millionaire.” Those are the five films (or, rather, their directors) the Directors Guild of America nominated for its top honor today.

As EW's Dave Karger has written, this list looks awful familiar.

It should. Just a few days ago, the Producers Guild picked the same five films. It could be that opinion is hardening that these are, indeed, the five films that stand head and shoulders above the rest and that the Motion Picture Academy will follow suit when putting out the Oscar nominations for best picture (and best director) on January 22.

Left out? Director Sam Mendes and “Revolutionary Road,” for one. Clint Eastwood and “Gran Torino,” which will be reviewed by CNN.com’s Tom Charity tomorrow as it goes into wider release. (Spoiler: Tom likes it.) “Wall-E,” which apparently has been shunted into the “it’s just an animated film” box. You can probably reel off some of your own.

Of course, you never know. There always seems to be one film among best picture nominees that, as at least one movie critic used to put it, “directed itself,” with its helmer snubbed among best director nominees. (Last year, Karger points out, that film was “Atonement.”) We shall see …

– Todd Leopold, CNN.com Entertainment Producer