Hollywood Digest

OSCAR RATINGS WERE UP

According to preliminary numbers from Nielsen Media Research, ratings for Sunday night's Oscars telecast were up slightly from last year's numbers -- drawing a 30.0 rating and a 46 share.

Last year's telecast had a 29.2 rating and a 43 share. A ratings point represents 1 percent of the estimated 105.5 million U.S. homes with TV sets, while a share represents the percentage of TVs tuned in to a particular show.

The preliminary figures are based on measurements taken in major markets. The final figures are expected to be lower after Nielsen accounts for viewing patterns in smaller towns and rural areas.

SPIRIT AWARDS NO MATCH FOR OSCARS

Although the traditional line between Hollywood productions and independent films has been blurred in recent years, none of the winners at Saturday's 17th Independent Spirit Awards went on to win Oscars on Sunday.

"Memento" and "In the Bedroom" -- independent films that competed with larger studio productions throughout most of this year's awards season -- dominated the proceedings at the Independent Spirit Awards.

The Independent Feature Project West presented its top three awards -- best feature, director and screenplay -- to "Memento." "In the Bedroom" director Todd Field won for best first feature, and Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson were named best actress and actor for their performance as a grieving couple who find it almost impossible to cope with the tragic death of their son.

"Memento" co-star Carrie Anne Moss won for best supporting actress. Steve Buscemi was named best supporting actor for his performance in "Ghost World," which also won a best first screenplay award for Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff.

"In the Bedroom" was up for five Oscars, but came away empty-handed.

"Amélie," the largest-grossing French movie in U.S. box-office history, won the Indie for best foreign film. "Amélie" was also up for five Oscars, including best foreign-language film. "No Man's Land," from Bosnia, took the foreign film Oscar.

'HONORS' FOR TOM GREEN

"Freddy Got Fingered" made Hollywood history on Saturday as one of the worst movies ever made as it took five Golden Raspberry Awards, including one for worst picture of 2001.

Writer-director-star Tom Green single-handedly accounted for four of those trophies. He was voted worst director and actor, worst screen couple -- with "any animal he abuses" in the picture -- and shared worst screenplay "honors" with Derek Harvie.

Mariah Carey was voted worst actress for her performance in "Glitter."

Charlton Heston and Estella Warren were named worst supporting actor and actress. Heston was singled out for three performances -- "Cats and Dogs, "Planet of the Apes" and "Town & Country." Warren was dishonored for her work in "Planet of the Apes" and for her role in "Driven."

Green's four Razzies tied him with Sylvester Stallone for the single-year record, but Stallone still holds the career record with 29 nominations and nine Razzie Awards.

CAN'T WATCH 'ELLIE' IF SHE ISN'T THERE

According to E! Online, NBC will take the new Julia Louis-Dreyfus comedy "Watching Ellie" off its primetime schedule after running the April 2 episode, and fill its Tuesday 8:30 p.m. timeslot with reruns of "Will & Grace" and original episodes of "Three Sisters."

"Watching Ellie" attracted 17 million viewers in its Feb. 26 premiere, but the audience has been eroding steadily each week since then -- down to just 9.5 million last week.

NBC executives told E! the network had planned to wrap the series early all along.

'BLADE II' FINDS RICH BOX-OFFICE VEIN

"Blade II" took in more than $33 million in its opening weekend, more than doubling the opening for the 1998 hit "Blade" -- in which Wesley Snipes first played the half-human, half-vampire character originated in Marvel Comics.

The computer-animated comedy "Ice Age" took in more than $31 million in its second weekend, finishing at No. 2 and running its 10-day box-office total to more than $88 million.

The 20th anniversary re-release of "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" opened with $15.1 million. That runs the picture's overall total up to $414.9 million, and puts it within $16.2 million of overtaking "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" for third place on the list of all-time U.S. blockbusters.

The Robert De Niro-Eddie Murphy cop comedy "Showtime" finished at No. 4 with $8.2 million, and a 10-day total of $26.9 million. "Resident Evil" rounded out the Top 5 with $6.6 million, running its overall gross to $28.8 million.