Inside PBS Blog

If you've got Oscar mania, or are craving more insight into the making of this year's nominated films, don't miss PBS'  huge collection of interviews with many of the year's nominated artists. US Weekly and People magazine may have a lock on the best-dressed coverage, but look no further than Tavis Smiley and Charlie Rose for in-depth conversations with nominated actors, producers and directors.

Charlie Rose offers up interviews with Frost/Nixon's Frank Langella, Doubt's Meryl Streep, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button's Brad Pitt.

And Tavis Smiley spoke with nominees Mickey Rourke, Sean Penn, Marisa Tomei, Ron Howard, and Danny Boyle.

Here's Sean Penn talking about his role in "Milk".

Tavis' Young Voices blog underscores the relevance of Milk in America today. Referencing California's Proposition 8, which has gained national attention for denying same-sex couples the right to marry, blogger Jeremy Freed writes,
"As far as we have come in the decades since Milk campaigned so tirelessly for equal rights regardless of sexual orientation, it is now more obvious than ever that his struggle goes on."

Digging deeper into the Tavis archives, you can also watch clips of interviews with best actress nominee Melissa Leo, from the indie film Frozen River , who talks to Tavis about "playing ugly"; Doubt playwright John Patrick Shanley; Milk's Josh Brolin; and musical artist M.I.A.

M.I.A.'s song "Paper Planes" is almost its own character in the best picture-nominated "Slumdog Millionaire," and the artist told Tavis "it just looked like the most expensive, well-directed video I could have had for my song," when she saw how the song was used in the film.

While we're talking music: check out NewsHour's Art Beat blog, which offers a look at the music from the animated documentary Waltz with Bashir, along with audio of several instrumental pieces from the film.

And speaking of documentaries, over on the POV blog, writer Tom Roston takes us through the nominations in this category. We're proud to note that one of them, Betrayal, is scheduled to air on PBS in 2009.

Last but not least: if you're a teacher looking to incorporate the Oscars into your lesson plans in an innovative way this week , NewsHour Extra offers up an exercise on free speech and the Academy.

Here's to Oscar, and here's to the PBS programs that celebrate excellence in filmmaking year-round.

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