Is Lake Forest or Lake Bluff Home to a Future Oscar Winner?

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The Academy Awards can make a superstar out of an unknown. Take Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who each won an Oscar for "Best Original Screenplay" for the film Goodwill Hunting in 1998. From then on, the childhood buddies became household names. In fact, the Affleck-produced film Argo is up for seven awards at this year's 85th annual Oscars, airing at 6 p.m. Sunday on ABC. A Star is Born Every community, no matter how big or small, has star potential. Oscar winner Marlon Brando once lived in Libertyville and attended Libertyville Township High School, according to his obituary in the Chicago Tribune.  Actors Vince Vaughn and Lauren Holly are from Lake Forest. Beloved Brady Bunch dad Robert Reed was born in Highland Park. Lake Forest and Lake…

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Oscars 2013: The Complete Academy Awards Nominations List

This year's contenders were announced Thursday at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Who's got your vote?

Director Steven Spielberg's historical drama "Lincoln" earned a leading 12 nominations Thursday for the 85th Annual Academy Awards, followed by Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" with 11, while the musical "Les Miserables," directed by Tom Hooper, and David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook" tied with eight nods each. "Lincoln" was nominated for best picture and gave Spielberg his eighth best director nomination. A win would be his third in the category. It's the eighth film Spielberg has had in the running for best picture (''Schindler's List'' won in 1994). "Lincoln" also garnered a best acting nod for two-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln and supporting acting nominations for Sally Field—a two-time best actress winner who played …

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Patch Chatter

2013 Oscar Nominations: Which Film Should Win Best Picture?

Django Unchained, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi and Les Misérables were among the nine films nominated for the 85th Academy Awards.

The Academy Awards announced the 2013 Oscar nominees Thursday morning. Patch wants to know, which movie do you think should win the Oscars for Best Picture? Do you agree with the Oscar nominees? Who would you have included or scratched off the list? Tell us in the comments section below. Can't make up your mind? Watch the movie trailers above.  For a full list of the nominations for the 85th Academy Awards, visit: Oscar.go.com

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Lake Bluff Oscar Party Hooks Attendees With Guessing Game

Benton's 35th annual gathering shares love of movies.

Tim Haskett has never had his name inscribed on an Oscar trophy, but that may change tonight. For the past 22 years, the Lake Forest High School choral director has attended his former teaching colleague’s Academy Awards viewing party. Each of those years Haskett has competed in Jim Benton’s Oscar guessing game for award winners, but has never claimed victory. The prize for guessing the most categories correctly is the winner’s name inscribed on an Oscar statue Benton carved from Balsa wood.  “I kind of kid around with [Benton] to say, ‘Before I die, I want my name on that trophy,'” Haskett said. Benton, a Lake Bluff resident, has been hosting an Academy Awards viewing party since 1976, when he offered to have a small gathering in his …

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