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Stargazers interested in snagging a bleacher seat along the red carpet during next year's Oscar ceremony will have one week beginning Monday to enter an online lottery.

The online registration will begin at 9 a.m. Monday and end at 9 p.m. Sept. 20.

Only 700 bleacher seats are available for the March 7 event.

In early October, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will notify the winners, who will then be required to submit additional information for security information and final approval.

According to the academy, as many as 20,000 people have applied online in past years for a shot at the coveted seats.

In addition to sitting along the red carpet prior to the Oscars, winners will also be invited to watch the telecast at a nearby private location, according to the academy.

By The Associated Press
The mid-movie dash to the restroom can turn us into calculating Hussein Usain Bolt wannabes: Ah, this looks like a lull -- time to dash.
When we return to our seats, we pray the answer to "What did I miss?" isn't "Darth Vader is really Luke's father" or "the girlfriend is really a guy."
The Web site RunPee.com can help with such anxious guesswork.
The site provides recommended opportunities to race to the restroom. It tells you when the action or romance wanes, and gives you a cue ("Baby O.J. is taken from Bruno") for your exit.
The site tells you how long you've got and even summarizes what you missed. Since early July, RunPee.com is available as an iPhone app, too.
Launched in August 2008, RunPee took off earlier this summer. It's been one of the season's runaway hits -- a clever idea that has spawned a lot of word-of-mouth from moviegoers.
"Helping your bladder enjoy going to the movies as much as you do," the site boasts.
It was created by Dan Florio, a 42-year-old Flash developer who got the idea during the three-hour-plus "King Kong" remake in 2005.
Florio, who lives in Orlando, Fla., with his wife, does everything for the site, though he gets some help from his wife and his mother. He's become a regular opening day attendee of movies, busily taking notes in the back row.
Friday, he sat through a double feature of "Funny People" -- which runs nearly 2½ hours -- and "Aliens in the Attic."
"I never intended to refocus my energies on this," says Florio. "And I never thought that I'd be seeing every single movie that comes out, either."
The site averages 3,000-6,000 visitors a day, Florio says. The iPhone app is available on iTunes for $1. It's not a huge moneymaker (Florio estimates he'll make $800 this month) but is providing him a little extra cash.
He believes that not only do moviegoers benefit from the service, but theater owners do, too.
"Lots and lots of people comment: 'Ah! I can get that 64-ounce drink now!'" Florio says.
Florio designed the site to be wiki-based with break times submitted by users, but it has turned out that he has done most of the work. Finding the right moments and recording the correct time is more work than it might sound -- most moviegoers leave their stopwatches at home.
"It's not fun," says Florio. "I would literally have to pay someone to do this."
Generally, the better the movie is, the harder it is to find a break.
There are, of course, limits to the usefulness of RunPee. But it has also found friends in cyberspace like WhereToWee.com, a site in the works that tells you where the nearest restroom is.

Thinking of taking a road trip down to San Diego to check out your favorite characters at Comic-Con 2009? Check the searchable schedule their Web site to find out when Stan Lee, Ludacris, Freddy Kruger and the Wonder Pets will appear at the convention.

Looking for something to keep your kids busy this summer without breaking the bank? Check out some of these summer movie programs geared toward kids.

AMC Theaters runs $1 movies during its "Summer Movie Camp" every Wednesday at 10 a.m. The Southbay Galleria 16 in Redondo Beach and the Del Amo 18 are participating this year. Here's the schedule:

June 17: Space Chimps
June 24: Kung Fu Panda
July 1: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
July 8: Tale of Despereaux
July 15: Horton Hears a Who
July 22: The Spiderwick Chronicles
July 29: Nim's Island
Aug. 5: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

The Promenade Stadium 13 in Rolling Hills Estates participates in Regal Cinema's "Free Family Film Festival." Every Tuesday and Wednesday during the program, movies are free at 10 a.m. for kids and their parents. Here's the movie schedule:

June 23-24: Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G)
Inkheart (PG)

June 30-July 1: Everyone's Hero (G)
Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (PG)

July 7-8: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)

July 14-15: Kit Kittredge: American Girl (G)
Igor (PG)

July 21-22: Doogal (G)
Surf's Up (PG)

July 28-29: Space Chimps (G)
Hotel For Dogs (PG)

Aug. 4-5: The Tale Of Despereaux (G)
Nim's Island (PG)

Aug. 11-12: Charlotte's Web (G)
Kung Fu Panda (PG)

Pacific Theaters don't have a kids program, but they do have Monday Morning Mommy Movies at the El Segundo theater each week at 11 a.m. Here's the spiel:

Moms, Dads and Caregivers - here's your chance to see a first run adult-themed movie...with your baby! No one will mind if your baby cries, everyone will have a baby and all babies cry. So pack up your diaper bag and stroller, and we'll see you at the movies!

The City of Torrance screens family movies in some city parks for free on Saturday evenings during the summer. Bring your own popcorn, lawn chairs and blankets and see a flick under the stars. Follow the links for more info. Here's what's showing:
July 18: Back to the Future
Aug. 1: Singin in the Rain
Aug. 15: Ratatouille

Redondo Beach also sponsors a similar Outdoor Family Classic Film Festival. Here's the line-up:
July 24: West Side Story
July 31: On the Waterfront
Aug. 7: The Searchers
Aug. 14: Breakfast at Tiffany's

RELATED LINKS:
Database of fun stuff to do with kids in the South Bay
Database of South Bay restaurants with kids eat free deals
Calendar listings for family-friendly South Bay events

Maybe you didn't watch the game, maybe you're a huge fan of Conan O'Brien, or maybe your friends say you missed the best commercial while you were getting a drink. You can catch them online. Hulu.com seems to have most -- if not all -- of them. Here is a collection of direct links to some highlights:

The movie "Monsters vs. Aliens" and soft drink manufacturer SoBe combined for back-to-back ads demonstrating 3-D technology. Without the glasses, the effect was evident, yet harmed by a fuzzy screen.

Bob Dylan and will.i.am bridge generations on a version of Dylan's "Forever Young" for Pepsi.

Racer Danica Patrick takes her fifth shower of the day for Go Daddy Group Inc.

Conan O'Brien on a cheesy commercial he thought was only for Sweden.

Hyundai wins an award, sending competitors into screaming fits.

Ed McMahon and MC Hammer make a pitch for Cash4Gold.

Some of these commercials showed a hard edge seldom seen in Super Bowl ads, said Tim Calkins, an analyst at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

The economy "is forcing advertisers to really think about how they are going to drive sales," Calkins said. "What they're doing is really focusing on differentiation."

Wannabe stargazers can bid on red-carpet bleacher seats for the Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony in an online auction that will continue through Monday.

Ninety seats with views of the stars arriving at the Shrine Auditorium Jan. 25 are up for grabs in the auction benefiting the charitable SAG Foundation. A gift bag from People magazine is included.

The seats are available in 15 sets of two and 15 sets of four.

Another auction, of items connected with nominated actors, will begin Jan. 23. Past auctions have included autographed scripts, posters, wardrobe pieces and props.

Want to hear Cameron Crowe's thoughts on winning an Oscar or see how king-sized movie posters are assembled? How about a sneak peek at some of the exclusive exhibitions held at the film academy's Beverly Hills headquarters?

The newly revamped Web site of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which launched Tuesday. Film fans of all kinds are welcome, said AMPAS Executive Administrator Ric Robertson.

"It's for almost anyone with an interest in movies," he said. "Depending on the level of interest, there's something there for just about everybody."

The site is more than an extensive homage to the Academy Awards. Visitors can learn about the academy's vast film and script archives (both open to the public), discover educational programs for young filmmakers, glimpse artwork from upcoming academy exhibitions (Fellini's sketches are on view now) and meet the people who vote on the Oscars via video.

There's also a link to Oscars' YouTube page and a chance to receive automated Oscar trivia questions each day from now until the Academy Awards are presented Feb. 22.

"The Academy Awards is this wonderful, huge phenomenon, and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't know what that is," Robertson said. "In a way, that makes it difficult for us to let the world know all the other stuff the academy does."

That's one of the reasons the organization embarked on an eight-month effort to overhaul its site. The group aims to spread the word about its year-round events that encourage appreciation of movies and the folks who make them in a way that appeals to film fans and filmmakers alike.

"We really serve very distinct constituencies: the research community, journalists and the industry," Robertson said. "But the academy is also an incredibly dynamic organization dedicated to movies, and it has an incredible amount to offer to those who just love movies."

Ever been at a dinner or cocktail party where the bon mots are flying
in every direction and you aren't even sure what a bon mot is? Then
this link Great film speeches will provide you with a fund of clever lines that were produced by writers who could
have, as some did, hold their own at the Algonquin Round Table. It
also could be the source for a your own personal trivia-pursuit game based on the
movies. The site truly proves that all most
Americans know about life they learned at the Bijou.

Do you lack the time to see what LA.COM film reviewers Bob Strauss and Glenn Whipp have to say before heading to the theater? Then head to The Four World Film Review Web site, where movie buffs are encouraged to keep it brief.

Visitors to the site are encouraged to add their own reviews, provided they're four words or less. They can also vote on the reviews themselves, with the higher-rated critiques getting better play on the site.

The reviews themselves run the gamut from the absurd to the sublime. A recent McClatchy News Service listed these favorites:
"Thinner" (1996): Girth, interrupted.
"The Wizard of Oz" (1939): Lion, Witch, wide road.
"The Departed" (2006): Many covers, brains blown.
"The Dark Knight" (2008): Insane clown's posse.
"Psycho" (1960): Norman prefers clean kill.

From our wire services:

Movie fans eager to see their idols up close will be able to enter a lottery for seats along the red carpet on Oscar night.
Beginning Sept. 22 at 9 a.m., movie buffs and star-gazers can enter an online lottery conducted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a chance to win one of 300 available seats along the 500-foot-long walkway in front of the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
Following the stars' arrivals, the winners will be invited to watch the Academy Awards telecast at a nearby location.
The lottery will be open for one week only. Applications can only be made online, at www.oscars.org/bleachers.
Applicants can register for up to four seats, but only one form will be accepted per person or group.
People whose names are selected will be notified in early October. They then will have to submit additional information for security purposes prior to final approval.
Winners will receive a confirmation letter in early December.
In previous years, as many as 20,000 fans have applied online for the bleacher seats.
The Academy Awards ceremony for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be held on Feb. 22, 2009.