 LONDON: Titanic stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have been voted the most romantic movie couple ever.The 36-year-old US heartthrob and the stunning British actress, 35, appeared opposite each other in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster Titanic, which was based on the tragic sinking of the infamous ship in 1912. More than 500,000 movie fans offered their opinions in a poll for ABC TV and People magazine, with the results airing on US TV. According to statistics, almost a quarter of voters considered the ill-fated destiny of Rose and Jack to be the most passionate, as the couple's love blossoms while one of the most horrific maritime disasters in history plays out. |
Winslet, Dicaprio voted most romantic onscreen couple
Auto Tune the Oscar!
Televised live in around 200 countries with a viewer ship of 37.63 million this time, Academy awards surely stand out to be the most watched award ceremony across the globe. While the Grammy gossips were still in the air, there was an anxious wait for the Oscars as it marked the end of the award season. However, evaluating on the scale of suspense and thrill, the awards only had a little element of excitement and were more or less what we call "predictable"
The star-spangled night’s featured co- hosts were Anne Hathaway who seemed to go a little overboard with excitement while James Franco appearing disinterested at best. And besides that Marilyn Monroe drag and "NY..Wassup" hail, Franco did not do much to create the stir.
The predictable award sequence shot off with Collin Firth receiving the award for the Best Actor for "King’s speech", and while Natalie Portman was already the uncontested winner of the Best Actress category for her role in Black Swan, Jeff Bridges made it a point to call out each nominee's name individually to commend their performances. For Portman, it seemed she wanted to make sure everyone is aware of her first pregnancy as she gave a sweet call out to her fiancé and choreographer of the film, Benjamin Millepied, thanking him to give her “the most important role” of her life!
It appeared that this time, the awards distribution followed a pattern of acknowledging well structured, grand and predictable films, and so even though "Inception" did stand as a powerful contender, King’s speech won awards in all four major categories; Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. For the rest of the categories "Inception" and "Social Network" safely secured three awards each, while Black Swan bagged one award for the Best Actress.Other significant films to receive awards were "Alice in the Wonderland", "The Fighter" and "Toy Story 3".
The evening showcased glamorous stars who religiously followed the trails of the red carpet with sprightly bright colors, sleek and minimalistic designs and form-fitting attires. Red seemed to be the Oscar color as Hathaway sported two red dresses (out of ummm…4..5..Forgot the count) and Sandra Bullock wore a strapless red dress; not to forget Hudson who posed her petite frame in a tangerine colored evening gown.
One of the Oscars stage histrionics was Melissa Leo who appeared flabbergasted and overly surprised, and made sure she carried that look for quite some time - seemed a bit too much of theatricality for her age. Moreover,Sandra Bullock with her loud and flirtatious remarks on the best actor nominees ,as usual, managed to receive audience’s laughs and lauds. Also, Scarlett Johansson and Matthew McConaughey as they presented the award for the sound achievement asserted quite a bit on the "Soounndd" part to make it "Sooundd" more amusing.
One thing worth mentioning is A.R Rehman’s presence and his nomination for "If I Rise" from 127 hours. He and his wife, the demure couple, posed a lot of decency and something off the conventional made up, glitzy look. What was truly surprising was Mallika Sharawat in a no-cleavage look,while Aishwarya rai looked quite like she usually does, the pretty petite.
In two words, the entire event was predictable and underwhelming; and lacked the sensation and excitement that would have been there if the awards were organized a couple of months ago.
'Black Death' a treat for medieval history buffs
LOS ANGELES: You can't quarrel with that title, "Black Death." The film is black all right, pitch black, and death is everywhere.
The story is set in 1348, after all, when the plague began to sweep through Europe, decimating its populace by as much as half and spreading panic to every corner. Yet what a strange land for a horror filmmaker to pitch camp in since he has little to add when horror is a fact of everyday life.
Sure enough, Christopher Smith ("Creep," "Severance") plays with the notion of necromancers and demons lurking within the pestilence, but winds up retreating into a kind of historical morality tale told with documentary flourishes and a grim attraction to violence and cruelty.
All of which leaves "Black Death" without a reliable audience. Horror film buffs like to giggle as much as scream but there're no giggles here. To its credit, the film doesn't indulge in visual-effects devilry as a very similar plague film, "Season of the Witch," did just two months ago. So it's up to medieval history buffs to fill the theaters when it opens on Friday. Lots of luck.
The coincidence of storylines between "Season of the Witch" and "Black Death" is rather striking and in every instance Black Death is the superior film. In both films, the church, seeing its grip on the population severely loosened by this inexplicable plague, sends Christian knights into a remote region to determine if witches, demons or non-believers are the source of this frightening scourge.
In "Witch," church elders are portrayed as cartoon villains, capable of just about any evil in the name of a vengeful God, but the elders do get the bit about devils right -- kick-ass demons are out there bent on destroying humankind. In "Black Death," Smith and screenwriter Dario Poloni take aim at real horror -- painful infections and pitiless death that spread hysterical panic, which causes an already arrogant church to search for scapegoats as all semblance of civil and religious authority crumbles.
The focus here is on two "men of God" -- a knight, Ulric (Sean Bean), who truly believes his sword can slay with impunity in the name of the Father, and a naive monk, Osmund (Eddie Redmayne), whose outlook is more equivocal since he has already fallen for a woman and so realizes that things are never quite black or white.
The monk is to lead the knight and his motley crew of killers and mercenaries (which is all they really are) into an isolated marshland where, rumors insist, a community has mysteriously resisted the plague. This can only mean witchcraft and devil-worship. The intent of these soldiers is painfully clear from the mobile torture machine they lug along with them.
After a skirmish with highwaymen and an incident involving the monk's girl start to test the monk's devotion to his Old Testament God, the somewhat diminished group reaches a small village that essentially contains a hippie commune. Here free love and good health reign under the rule of a glamorous female cult leader (Carice van Houten). The men can hardly wait to start torturing and killing but the witch, sorry, woman, saw them coming long before they entered her village.
So the film orchestrates a test of will and faith between the bloodthirsty true believers and an almost equally bloodthirsty band of non-believers. You hardly know whom to root for, which is the movie's point but one that permits little emotional involvement with any of these lamentable human beings.
An all-British cast brings sufficient vigor to these roles, which includes John Lynch as the knight's second in command, Andy Nyman as the enthusiastic torturer, Emun Elliott as a mercenary warrior and Tim McInnerney as the commune leader's glibly smiling assistant. Germany's Sachsen-Anhalt region is perfect for the dark, brooding design and cinematography that rule out any colors other than which nature can provide in a swampy bog on an overcast day. A hand-held camera and the gritty details add to the sense that a documentary crew has somehow time-traveled back to the 14th century.
"Black Death" achieves its goal of reproducing a medieval Europe awash with rats, filth and rotting corpses and men of violence ready to rip apart the bodies of any who have the temerity not to be sick. It's a gloomy, despicable world and men of God only add to the problem.
The story is set in 1348, after all, when the plague began to sweep through Europe, decimating its populace by as much as half and spreading panic to every corner. Yet what a strange land for a horror filmmaker to pitch camp in since he has little to add when horror is a fact of everyday life.
Sure enough, Christopher Smith ("Creep," "Severance") plays with the notion of necromancers and demons lurking within the pestilence, but winds up retreating into a kind of historical morality tale told with documentary flourishes and a grim attraction to violence and cruelty.
All of which leaves "Black Death" without a reliable audience. Horror film buffs like to giggle as much as scream but there're no giggles here. To its credit, the film doesn't indulge in visual-effects devilry as a very similar plague film, "Season of the Witch," did just two months ago. So it's up to medieval history buffs to fill the theaters when it opens on Friday. Lots of luck.
The coincidence of storylines between "Season of the Witch" and "Black Death" is rather striking and in every instance Black Death is the superior film. In both films, the church, seeing its grip on the population severely loosened by this inexplicable plague, sends Christian knights into a remote region to determine if witches, demons or non-believers are the source of this frightening scourge.
In "Witch," church elders are portrayed as cartoon villains, capable of just about any evil in the name of a vengeful God, but the elders do get the bit about devils right -- kick-ass demons are out there bent on destroying humankind. In "Black Death," Smith and screenwriter Dario Poloni take aim at real horror -- painful infections and pitiless death that spread hysterical panic, which causes an already arrogant church to search for scapegoats as all semblance of civil and religious authority crumbles.
The focus here is on two "men of God" -- a knight, Ulric (Sean Bean), who truly believes his sword can slay with impunity in the name of the Father, and a naive monk, Osmund (Eddie Redmayne), whose outlook is more equivocal since he has already fallen for a woman and so realizes that things are never quite black or white.
The monk is to lead the knight and his motley crew of killers and mercenaries (which is all they really are) into an isolated marshland where, rumors insist, a community has mysteriously resisted the plague. This can only mean witchcraft and devil-worship. The intent of these soldiers is painfully clear from the mobile torture machine they lug along with them.
After a skirmish with highwaymen and an incident involving the monk's girl start to test the monk's devotion to his Old Testament God, the somewhat diminished group reaches a small village that essentially contains a hippie commune. Here free love and good health reign under the rule of a glamorous female cult leader (Carice van Houten). The men can hardly wait to start torturing and killing but the witch, sorry, woman, saw them coming long before they entered her village.
So the film orchestrates a test of will and faith between the bloodthirsty true believers and an almost equally bloodthirsty band of non-believers. You hardly know whom to root for, which is the movie's point but one that permits little emotional involvement with any of these lamentable human beings.
An all-British cast brings sufficient vigor to these roles, which includes John Lynch as the knight's second in command, Andy Nyman as the enthusiastic torturer, Emun Elliott as a mercenary warrior and Tim McInnerney as the commune leader's glibly smiling assistant. Germany's Sachsen-Anhalt region is perfect for the dark, brooding design and cinematography that rule out any colors other than which nature can provide in a swampy bog on an overcast day. A hand-held camera and the gritty details add to the sense that a documentary crew has somehow time-traveled back to the 14th century.
"Black Death" achieves its goal of reproducing a medieval Europe awash with rats, filth and rotting corpses and men of violence ready to rip apart the bodies of any who have the temerity not to be sick. It's a gloomy, despicable world and men of God only add to the problem.
Cooper dazzles in 'Limitless'
 Bradley Cooper shows he can truly act, truly command a screen - and not just swagger and preen and flash that sexy smile - in "Limitless," and his performance goes a long way toward making this sci-fi thriller more entertaining, and more plausible, than it probably should be.Cooper stars as Eddie Morra, a struggling and depressed New York writer living in a cluttered, rundown apartment. He's already divorced and his latest girlfriend, Lindy (Abbie Cornish), has just dumped him. These early scenes, in which he stumbles around the city in a shlubby, stubbly haze, reveal a depth we hadn't seen from Cooper in his previous films, like "The Hangover," "The A-Team" and "He's Just Not That Into You." And that makes them just about as exciting in their own way as the ones featuring the amped-up version of Eddie we'll see later on. One day, he runs into his former brother-in-law, Vernon (Johnny Whitworth), on the street. Turns out Vernon is a pharmaceutical rep with a new wonder drug called NZT, which allows you to tap into your full brain potential. Eddie thinks, why not? He's got nothing to lose. Suddenly, he's not only pounding out chapters on his long-languishing novel, he's cleaning up, picking up new interests, learning new languages and wowing everyone he meets. He loses weight, gets a haircut, buys some stylish new clothes and looks like ... well, he looks like Bradley Cooper. More importantly and more realistically, though, he does the thing we'd all do with frighteningly expanded brain power: He turns it into a way to make millions of dollars. Fast. Director Neil Burger, whose first feature was the intriguing "Interview With the Assassin" from 2002, moves the story forward with an infectious energy. "Limitless" recognizes the insanity of Eddie's predicament and has a little fun with it - that he's seemingly unstoppable, even as he sinks deeper into addiction and discovers some troubling side effects. Burger didn't need to rely on some of the visual tricks he employs, though - words dropping from the ceiling to indicate a break in Eddie's writer's block, or multiple Eddies accomplishing tasks around the house. The fact that Eddie's world is brighter, faster and more sensory is enough. Still, Cooper is surprisingly good as the down-and-out version of his character in the beginning, and as the wildly improved version of himself on NZT. Robert De Niro is quietly fierce (and does some of his best work in a while) as the financial guru who's fascinated by Eddie, and has a couple of scenes with Cooper in which he reminds you of just how formidable he can be. Cornish, meanwhile, probably doesn't get enough to do as Eddie's on-again, off-again girlfriend, who's skeptical of the new him. You could probably scour the film for deeper themes: an indictment of the pharmaceutical industry, or our need to have it all and have it now. You could pick the script apart for impossibilities. But why bother? It's much more enjoyable to shut your brain off and have a good time. (AP) |
It’s tough to work with Will: Jada
 LONDON: Jada Pinkett Smith has revealed that things can "get a little sticky" when she worked with her husband Will Smith.The actress, who currently stars in and executive produces the TV medical drama Hawthorne, said she valued the Men In Black star's input on the show - but admitted it wasn't always easy to take his advice. "It's not easy working with your husband, I'm going to be straight up about that! But when we work together, we always get great product," Jada said. "It's not easy in the process and as we go along it gets easier, but yeah, it's sticky, it gets a little sticky." Jada was full of praise for her Oscar-nominated husband's suggestions for the show, which will air in the UK on Sony Entertainment Television from April 7. "My husband is a big-time ghost producer... he is a master-structuralist as far as story is concerned. There's no one better in the business than him in my opinion," she added. "He understands the pulse of what people want to see, how to create the maximum emotional impact, you know, in act breaks. He, starting last year, was very very involved in Hawthorne and so he's been my knight in shining armour as far as the show's concerned." |
'Source Code' an intriguing sci-fi saga
 LOS ANGELES: His career is only two movies old, but director Duncan Jones seems to specialize in science fiction that reminds you very much of other movies."Moon" (2009) certainly evoked "2001" for many critics and now he delivers "Source Code," a dead-ringer for "Groundhog Day," only without the laughs. Still if you're going to redo a classic -- after 18 years that's not too far-fetched a designation, is it? -- "Source Code" makes several clever adjustments, the most important being the insertion a ticking clock into a series of events running in a continual loop. Its four main actors play sharply delineated characters, not with much depth but, hey, who has time for depth when Chicago is about to blow up? "Source Code," which premiered at the South by Southwest film festival in Texas, could develop into a minor hit for Summit Entertainment, thanks to the fine casting, a sense of claustrophobia and an intriguing race against time. The film opens April 1. Jake Gyllenhaal awakens to find himself on a commuter train approaching the Windy City. A pretty and chatty seatmate, Michelle Monaghan, takes up a conversation begun apparently several minutes earlier but the man has two problems: He has no idea who she is and, much worse, who he is. A quick trip to a toilet mirror confirms his worst fears: He is in another man's body. The last thing the Air Force captain remembers, he was flying a plane in Afghanistan. The film gradually reveals the hero's true situation: His mind is in the control of a government project dubbed "Source Code," which allows him to relive the last eight minutes in the life of a man who died on that commuter train, as did all passengers, when a bomb exploded. His mission is to continue to relive those eight minutes until he can identify the bomber and prevent a much greater attack threatened against the city later that day. Putting him through these minutes over and over again is a slightly cold and cerebral scientist (Jeffrey Wright), and therefore a slightly sinister one, and his loyal-to-a-point assistant (Vera Farmiga), who is much better at empathizing with the poor captain than her boss. As in "Groundhog Day," the protagonist can change events within the prescribed time frame so that in each go-around he comes away with more clues about the mystery of the bomber. Each foray into the immediate past also further insinuates the man into the lives of both his fellow passenger and his female government controller. The question hanging over all this, of course, is whether the hero can prevent the deaths of the passengers as well as capture the bomber. Wright's scientist insists this is not possible, as "Source Code" does not represent time travel but rather "time reassignment." No prevention of disaster is possible; all the captain can do is identify the culprit so he can be captured before reaching Chicago. The Gyllenhaal character, despite exhaustion over having to be killed time after time, believes otherwise. Farmiga's skeptical officer isn't so certain either way and Monaghan, of course, is clueless about her impending fate. Ben Ripley's screenplay gives Jones plenty of tension to work with, enough so that the director throws in aerial shots of the train and a few exterior scenes in train stations to relieve the audience of what amounts to a three-set movie -- the train, control station and a weird capsule where Gyllenhaal's character retreats between episodes aboard the train. In the end, filmgoers will either buy into the implausible events or not. Not helping in this matter is an ending that renders much of this nonsensical, one that strives for a "feel good" moment, but at the expense of too much logic flying out the window. As a consequence, "Source Code" reminds you somewhat of an old B sci-fi'er where ideas trump VFX and sci-fi dazzle. The small nuances -- a spilled cup of coffee or a wallet left behind -- mean more than a fiery bomb or the unwieldy explanation behind this government experiment. The movie boils down to one character, acting under enormous pressures of space and time, racing to solve a mystery. In this case, that may be good enough. (Reuters) |
Jennifer Aniston plans non-comedy movie projects
 MEXICO CITY: Actress Jennifer Aniston says some non-comedy movie projects are in her future, including a film based on the true story of an all-female country-western band that formed at a Texas prison in the 1940s.Aniston says the band was "sort of the Dixie Chicks of their time." No production or release dates have been set for the project, tentatively titled "The Goree Girls." After starring in a string of romantic comedies such as "Just Go With It," Aniston may be turning her sights to more serious fare. Another project, tentatively called "Counterclockwise," may focus on the studies of Ellen Langer, a renowned Harvard psychology professor. Aniston was in Mexico City on Thursday to promote her new perfume, which bears her name. (AP) |
'Rango' tops box office
LOS ANGELES: Depp's "Rango," an animated tale about a chameleon who becomes sheriff to clean up the town of Dirt, earned $38 million to top North America's weekend box office, industry data showed Sunday."Rango," hailed by critics as clever and eccentric, proved in its debut weekend to be another successful pairing of Depp with director Gore Verbinski, who helmed the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise.
Matt Damon's thriller "The Adjustment Bureau" debuted at number two, taking $21 million, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations. It is based on a 1954 short story by Philip K. Dick ("Minority Report" and "Blade Runner").
Damon's character challenges his fate, which is closely managed by a team of mysterious men who do all they can to keep him on his predetermined path. Emily Blunt co-stars as Damon's love interest.
"Beastly" debuted in the third spot, with $10 million, after beastly reviews of the teen romance starring British heartthrob Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens ("High School Musical") in a modern take on Beauty and the Beast. Critics cited subpar acting and clunky dialogue.
Raunchy comedy "Hall Pass" fell from first to fourth place, taking $9 million for the tale of married guys whose wives let them have affairs. It was directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly.
Falling three spots to fifth was "Gnomeo and Juliet," which made $6.9 million, giving it a four-week total of $84 million. The G-rated animated retelling of Shakespeare's play features the voices of James McAvoy and Emily Blunt.
Liam Neeson's thriller "Unknown" was sixth with $6.6 million in its third week. The Irishman stars as a botanist who tries to piece together his life atfer a car crash.
"The King's Speech," which last weekend won several Oscars including best film, was next with $6.5 million, giving it a total of $124 million in 15 weeks.
The British royal drama was in a virtual tie with Adam Sandler's romantic comedy "Just Go With It," which earned $6.5 million in its fourth week.
Teen heartthrobs battled for the bottom slots.
The chiseled-tummied Pettyfer stars in "I Am Number Four," which was number nine, with $5.7 million in its third week. Pettyfer plays a teenaged alien refugee hiding on Earth from evil invaders who killed his family.
Shaggy-headed Justin Bieber was next, as his "Never Say Never" concert documentary was tenth with $4.3 million. The Canadian pop star turned 17 on March 1. (AFP)
'Mars Needs Moms' needs stronger story
 LOS ANGELES: Robert Zemeckis' performance capture system, which turns life-action into animation, gets quite a workout in Disney's "Mars Needs Moms," which opens on Friday.Its characters, both human and Martian, tumble through space, slide down chutes, chase along corridors that turn every which way and dance around mountains and into caverns created out of huge mounds of trash. The process has also lost those weirdly inhuman faces that plagued "The Polar Express," Zemeckis' first foray into performance capture. In fact, so many things in this unique kind of animation, especially the designs and all its many details, keep getting better and better. So why does "Mars Needs Moms" feel so slight? Other than "Beowulf," his most successful performance-capture film to date, Zemeckis has chosen to deploy this system in children's films. Which is just fine as far as that goes, but where the technical advances and story sophistication in his "Beowulf" pointed toward James Cameron's "Avatar," "Mars Needs Moms" points toward a ride at Disneyland. This film from Zemickis' ImageMovers Digital and, appropriately, Walt Disney Pictures will certainly be a treat for younger family members. But for teens on up the generational scale, the interest level will plummet. For that matter, it will be interesting to see how "Mars" in its first week fares against "Rango," an animated film with considerable sophistication and outreach to older audiences, in its second weekend. As with his "A Christmas Carol" movie, Zemeckis paints himself into a digital corner by ignoring adults. "Mars" does do one thing much better than "A Christmas Carol," however: It has emotions. After all, it is based on a children's novel by cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, who admits the book came in reaction to a disobedient son expressing keen dissatisfaction with even having a (nagging) mother. Consequently, the entire story about a mom kidnapped by Martians and her rescue by her young son bubbles over with emotions. It's an illustrated laundry lists all the things moms do for their kids -- and that would include the laundry. For this film, Zemeckis turns directing chores over to Simon Wells, who directed "The Time Machine" and co-directed the animated "The Prince of Egypt." Wells and his wife Wendy adapted the Breathed book with nearly every plot turn driving home the point that kids need moms. Milo, age 9, is the focal point. He is enacted by Seth Green and voiced by a much younger Seth named Seth Dusky, age 11. The estimable Joan Cusack is Mom but since she spends most of the time under lock and key, the major roles fall to an extremely funny Dan Folger as Mars' only other human, a disheveled techo-wiz named Gribble; Elisabeth Harnois as Ki, a rebellious young Martian who learned English watching '70s sitcoms; and Mindy Sperling as the humorless, nasty Martian leader whose body appears as mummified as her heart. Designer Doug Chiang has a grand time turning the Red Planet into a giant fun ride from those loopy Martians with triangular heads, no real noses and otherworldly bodies and gaits to an underground world of stark simplicity and sterility. Women run the place while men -- Gribble calls them the Hairy Tribe Guys -- get tossed down chutes with the garbage as they're apparently the most expendable resource on the planet. The entire movie is set up as a race against the clock by Milo to save his mom but the film finds time to take in the Martian civilization in passing, a gag-filled and mostly lighthearted re-imagining of our own world if women ruled. (It is odd though how a movie meant to glorify moms is so riddled with anti-feminist concepts. These are, of course, Martian females not human ones but still ...) Anachronistic dialogue rules for the most part as not only does Ki brim with the hep lingo of the Flower Children era, but Gribble, who is thirty-something, is stuck forever in the '80s when he left planet Earth. The movie shrugs off any real attempt at science fiction other than oxygen helmets for the surface of Mars. The characters still dash around those surfaces in short sleeves in what should be an 87 degrees climate and make the round trip from Earth to Mars, which should take about 18 months, in a half minute. The skill level of this motion capture animation is getting better all the time. So "Mars" is accomplished at every level. But the three most important things in movies are story, story, story so the movie never comes off as the considerable achievement it truly is. (Reuters) |
`Battle: LA' conquers box office with $36 million
 NEW YORK: Hollywood would like to skip spring and head straight to summer.The summer-style blockbuster "Battle: Los Angles" performed like one at the box office, opening to a strong debut of $36 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The film stars Aaron Eckhart as a veteran soldier leading a platoon of Marines in combat against invading aliens. For Columbia Pictures and Sony, the sci-fi action film recalls its 2009 Oscar-nominated hit, "District 9." "Battle: Los Angeles" hasn't received nearly as good reviews, but it benefited from a 68 percent male audience and a very successful marketing campaign. "It's kind of like having a summer film in the spring," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Sony. "From the beginning, this was a film we were excited about." Bruer added that there's "definitely a connection" between "Battle: Los Angeles" and "District 9," which opened to $37.4 million and was also helmed by a South African filmmaker. Neill Blomkamp directed "District 9," while Jonathan Liebesman directed the similarly handheld-heavy "Battle: Los Angeles." In its second week of release, the animated Western spoof "Rango" came in second, adding $23.1 million for a cumulative total of $68.7 million. The critically acclaimed Paramount Pictures film appeared on its way to surpassing $100 million. The weekend's other new releases didn't fare as well. "Red Riding Hood," the updated fairy tale starring Amanda Seyfried and helmed by "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke, debuted to $14.1 million for Warner Bros. Worse was Disney's animated 3-D family film "Mars Needs Moms!" It opened to a disappointing $6.8 million, well below expectations. With a voice cast including Seth Green and Joan Cusack, it also opened on more than 200 IMAX screens. Based on the book of the same title by Berkeley Breathed, "Mars Needs Moms!" had an estimated production budget of $150 million. Such a poor start means it's likely to be a significant loss for Disney, though that pain is somewhat alleviated by its surprise hit, "Gnomeo & Juliet." It has taken in $89 million in five weeks. Overall, moviegoing business was still down from the corresponding weekend last year. Since November 2010, such down weekends have been the norm except for one up weekend. The box office for 2011 was 21.5 percent off last year's pace. Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian said the weekend business was "good news for aliens, bad news for the overall box office." "It's a cyclical business, but this is a long downturn," said Dergarabedian. "The industry is holding its collective breath for summer to start." With myriad blockbusters planned for both the summer and holiday seasons, Hollywood has reason to expect better business as the year continues. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday. 1. "Battle: Los Angeles," $36 million. 2. "Rango," $23.1 million. 3. "Red Riding Hood," $14.1 million. 4. "The Adjustment Bureau," $11.5 million. 5. "Mars Needs Moms!" $6.8 million. 6. "Hall Pass," $5.1 million. 7. "Beastly," $5.1 million 8. "Just Go With It," $4 million. 9. "The King's Speech," $3.6 million. 10. "Gnomeo & Juliet," $3.5 million |
Lady Gaga launches Japan relief bid
 WASHINGTON: Superstar Lady Gaga on Friday launched a bracelet to support relief in Japan as top names in the entertainment world offered condolences after the mega-quake and tsunami.Lady Gaga asked her legions of fans -- whom she calls "Little Monsters" -- to buy a bracelet on her website saying, "We Pray for Japan," for donations of $5 or more. All proceeds will go to relief efforts, she said. Other pop stars offered condolences. R&B icon Alicia Keys wrote on her Twitter account that she woke up early in the morning with "a song in my heart," although she was not yet sure what it would be. "My heart breaks for Japan," she said. Canadian teen idol Justin Bieber called Japan "one of my favorite places on Earth." "It's an incredible culture with amazing people. My prayers go out to them. We all need to help," Bieber wrote on Twitter.(AFP) |
`Battle: LA' conquers box office with $36 million
The summer-style blockbuster "Battle: Los Angles" performed like one at the box office, opening to a strong debut of $36 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The film stars Aaron Eckhart as a veteran soldier leading a platoon of Marines in combat against invading aliens. For Columbia Pictures and Sony, the sci-fi action film recalls its 2009 Oscar-nominated hit, "District 9." "Battle: Los Angeles" hasn't received nearly as good reviews, but it benefited from a 68 percent male audience and a very successful marketing campaign. "It's kind of like having a summer film in the spring," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Sony. "From the beginning, this was a film we were excited about." Bruer added that there's "definitely a connection" between "Battle: Los Angeles" and "District 9," which opened to $37.4 million and was also helmed by a South African filmmaker. Neill Blomkamp directed "District 9," while Jonathan Liebesman directed the similarly handheld-heavy "Battle: Los Angeles." In its second week of release, the animated Western spoof "Rango" came in second, adding $23.1 million for a cumulative total of $68.7 million. The critically acclaimed Paramount Pictures film appeared on its way to surpassing $100 million. The weekend's other new releases didn't fare as well. "Red Riding Hood," the updated fairy tale starring Amanda Seyfried and helmed by "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke, debuted to $14.1 million for Warner Bros. Worse was Disney's animated 3-D family film "Mars Needs Moms!" It opened to a disappointing $6.8 million, well below expectations. With a voice cast including Seth Green and Joan Cusack, it also opened on more than 200 IMAX screens. Based on the book of the same title by Berkeley Breathed, "Mars Needs Moms!" had an estimated production budget of $150 million. Such a poor start means it's likely to be a significant loss for Disney, though that pain is somewhat alleviated by its surprise hit, "Gnomeo & Juliet." It has taken in $89 million in five weeks. Overall, moviegoing business was still down from the corresponding weekend last year. Since November 2010, such down weekends have been the norm except for one up weekend. The box office for 2011 was 21.5 percent off last year's pace. Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian said the weekend business was "good news for aliens, bad news for the overall box office." "It's a cyclical business, but this is a long downturn," said Dergarabedian. "The industry is holding its collective breath for summer to start." With myriad blockbusters planned for both the summer and holiday seasons, Hollywood has reason to expect better business as the year continues. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday. 1. "Battle: Los Angeles," $36 million. 2. "Rango," $23.1 million. 3. "Red Riding Hood," $14.1 million. 4. "The Adjustment Bureau," $11.5 million. 5. "Mars Needs Moms!" $6.8 million. 6. "Hall Pass," $5.1 million. 7. "Beastly," $5.1 million 8. "Just Go With It," $4 million. 9. "The King's Speech," $3.6 million. 10. "Gnomeo & Juliet," $3.5 million. (AP) | ||
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Ten most bizarre Oscar moments
LOS ANGELES: ”The King’s Speech” was crowned best picture Sunday at the Academy Awards ceremony, with the monarchy drama leading as expected with four Oscars and predictable favorites claiming acting honors.
Colin Firth as stammering British ruler George VI in ”The King’s Speech” earned the best-actor prize, while Natalie Portman won best actress as a delusional ballerina in ”Black Swan.”
The boxing drama ”The Fighter” claimed both supporting-acting honors, for Christian Bale as a boxer-turned-drug-abuser and Melissa Leo as a boxing clan’s domineering matriarch.
”The King’s Speech” also won the directing prize for Tom Hooper and the original-screenplay Oscar for David Seidler, a boyhood stutterer himself.
”I have a feeling my career’s just peaked,” Firth said. ”I’m afraid I have to warn you that I’m experiencing stirrings somewhere in the upper abdominals which are threatening to form themselves into dance moves.”
Among those Portman beat was Annette Bening for ”The Kids Are All Right.” Bening now has lost all four times she’s been nominated.
”Thank you so much. This is insane, and I truly, sincerely wish that the prize tonight was to get to work with my fellow nominees. I’m so in awe of you,” Portman said.
Network censors bleeped Leo in the US for dropping the F-word during her speech. Backstage, she jokingly conceded it was ”probably a very inappropriate place to use that particular word.”
”Those words, I apologise to anyone that they offend. There is a great deal of the English language that is in my vernacular,” Leo said.
Bale joked that he was keeping his language clean. ”I’m not going to drop the F-bomb like she did,” he said. ”I’ve done that plenty of times before.”
But the Oscars, being a global affair, were telecast elsewhere in the world with Leo’s words uncensored. Viewers who watched the show on Star Movies, a major channel available throughout Asia, heard the F-word loud and clear.
British-born Hooper, a relative big-screen newcomer best known for classy TV drama, took the industry’s top filmmaking prize over Hollywood veteran David Fincher, who had been a strong prospect for his Facebook drama ”The Social Network.”
The prize was presented by last year’s winner, Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to earn a directing Oscar.
”Thank you to my wonderful actors, the triangle of man love which is Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and me. I’m only here because of you guys,” Hooper said, referring to his film’s male stars.
Leo’s win capped an unusual career surge in middle age for the 50-year-old actress, who had moderate success on TV’s ”Homicide: Life on the Street” in her 30s but leaped to big-screen stardom in her late 40s, a time when most actresses find good roles hard to come by.
In disbelief when she took the stage, Leo said, ”Pinch me.” Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, who presented her award, obliged with a little pinch on her arm.
Bale earned the same prize his Batman co-star, the late Heath Ledger, received posthumously two years ago for ”The Dark Knight.” At the time, Bale had fondly recalled a bit of professional envy as he watched Ledger perform on set like a whirlwind as the diabolical Joker while the film’s star had to remain clenched up as the stoic, tightly wound Batman.
”The Fighter” gave Bale his turn to unleash some demons as Dicky Eklund, a boxer whose career unraveled amid crime and drug abuse. Bale delivers a showy performance full of tics and tremors, bobbing and weaving around the movie’s star and producer, Mark Wahlberg, who plays Eklund’s stolid brother, boxer Micky Ward.
The screenplay win capped a lifelong dream for ”King’s Speech” writer Seidler, a boyhood stutterer born in London in 1937, a year after George took the throne. Seidler, who overcame his own stutter at age 16, had long vowed to one day write about the monarch whose fortitude set an example for him in childhood.
Seidler thanked Queen Elizabeth II, daughter of King George, ”For not putting me in the Tower of London for using the Melissa Leo F-word.” The film includes two scenes where the king spouts profanity in anger to help force out his syllables.
The Oscar for adapted screenplay went to Aaron Sorkin for ”The Social Network,” a chronicle of the birth of Facebook based on Ben Mezrich’s book ”The Accidental Billionaires.” ”The Social Network” also won for musical score for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and for film editing.
The sci-fi blockbuster ”Inception,” which came in with eight nominations, tied with ”The Kings Speech” with four Oscars, all in technical categories: visual effects, cinematography, sound editing and sound mixing.
”Inside Job,” an exploration of the 2008 economic meltdown, won for best documentary, which proved an uncommonly lively category this time.
The Oscar buildup featured speculation about whether Banksy, a mystery man of the street-art world, might show up for his awards entry, “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” If he was at the Oscars, he did not declare himself.
But it was the topic on most people’s minds the last two years, the economy, that resonated among Oscar voters. “Inside Job” director Charles Ferguson subjected Wall Street players, economists and bureaucrats to a fierce cross-examination to depict the economic crisis as a colossal crime perpetrated on the working-class masses by a greedy few.
“Forgive me, I must start by pointing out that three years after our horrific financial crisis caused by financial fraud, not a single financial executive has gone to jail, and that’s wrong,” Ferguson said.
“Toy Story 3,” last year’s top-grossing release and a contender for best picture, won the fourth-straight animated-feature Oscar for Disney’s Pixar Animation unit. Pixar has produced six of the 10 Oscar recipients for animation since the category was added, including “Finding Nemo,” ”WALL-E” and last year’s winner, “Up.”
It was an odd backdrop for a Pixar win, the Oscar ceremony using visual effects to present the award in front of a re-creation of Far Far Away, the fairy-tale realm of Disney rival DreamWorks Animation’s “Shrek” movies. The original “Shrek” won the first Oscar for feature animation, but unlike the durable “Toy Story” franchise, the “Shrek” series finished with a critical dud, last year’s “Shrek Forever After.”
Reuniting voice stars Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, “Toy Story 3″ was the latest follow-up to the 1995 film that launched today’s era of feature-length computer animation.
The Oscar for foreign-language film went to Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier’s “In a Better World,” a saga of two broken families that centers on two teenage boys struggling with violence at school and plotting revenge.
The Lewis Carroll update “Alice in Wonderland” won the first prize of the night, claiming the art direction Oscar. It also won for costume design.
The show opened with co-hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco inserted into a montage of scenes from best-picture nominees, built as a series of dream sequences reminiscent of “Inception.” The footage included such guests as Morgan Freeman and last year’s Oscar co-host Alec Baldwin.
Franco started off telling Hathaway how beautiful she looked. Hathaway shot back, “You look very appealing to a younger demographic, as well.” – AP
Oscar win highlights plight of Africans in Israel
AVIV: Students at the Bialik-Rogozin school in a rundown Tel Aviv neighborhood have survived genocide, war and famine. But they were all smiles on Monday after learning that a documentary about their plight had won an Academy Award.
”Strangers No More” puts a human face on Israel’s absorption of African migrants – an issue that has divided the country as the government plans to deport hundreds of children, including students at the school.
When news of the Oscar for best short documentary arrived early Monday, the school jumped into action, festooning the building with balloons and banners and hosting a visit by the mayor.
Both students and faculty said they hoped the sudden attention would persuade the government to cancel its deportation plan.
”Hopefully, thanks to the Oscar, people will see that these are children with dreams like all other children,” said vice principal Mirit Shapiro.
Israel has been grappling with how to handle an influx of migrants since they began arriving in 2005.
Tens of thousands of Africans, most from Sudan and Eritrea, have since infiltrated across Israel’s long desert border with Egypt.
Since then, Israel has become a magnet for asylum seekers and migrants desperate for jobs in the industrialized world. Many found their way to the impoverished neighborhoods of south Tel Aviv, home to Bialik-Rogozin. The area has so many migrants that Israelis have named it ”little Africa.”
The government has scrambled to stop the flood of migrants by erecting a fence along the 130-mile (220-kilometer) Egyptian border and a massive detention center in the remote southern desert.
The Interior Ministry, which oversees immigration, now says it is poised to begin implementing a Cabinet decision to deport thousands of those deemed to be in the country illegally, including hundreds of children.
Some deportations of adults have already taken place, and tens of thousands of Asian workers who entered the country legally but have overstayed their visas are also marked for expulsion.
The plight of the children has especially resonated among Israelis, since the kids speak Hebrew, consider themselves Israeli and many have known no other life.
For migrant advocates, the Oscar could not have come at a more opportune moment. ”If they are good enough to represent Israel at the Oscars, they are good enough to remain part of the country,” said Yonathan Shaham of the ”Israeli Children” foundation.
The movie follows the story of three children at the school: Mohammed Adam, a refugee who escaped the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region; Johannes Mulugeta, whose first day at school is captured in the film; and Esther Aikpehae, a girl who fled South Africa with her father after her mother was killed in unclear circumstances.
Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon’s 40-minute documentary details their struggle to acclimate to life in Israel, slowly unveils their stories of hardship and interviews the dedicated teachers guiding them.
The school had a United Nations feel to it on Monday, with children dashing through the hallways and a square interior courtyard featuring the 48 flags of all the students’ countries of origin.
Aikpehae, a precocious 12-year-old girl with piercing eyes and long black hair, speaks fluent Hebrew and excels in the sixth grade. But because she has been in the country less than five years, she is among those eligible for deportation. She said her only hope was to stay in her beloved school.
”It’s not like every other school,” she said in English. ”There is Muslims, there is Jews and there are Christians and we all live in peace.”
The movie already appears to be making an impact, with some of Israel’s most powerful figures rallying in support of the school.
Education Minister Gideon Saar sent his congratulations, saying the school represented ”education at its finest.”
And President Shimon Peres called the school to send his best wishes.
”You have brought us a double dose of happiness,” Peres said, noting the achievements of the school and the favorable depiction of Israel.
Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry, refused to discuss the movie.
Israel grants automatic citizenship to Jews but doesn’t have a firm policy for the migrants. The government took a step toward resolving their status by issuing a set of guidelines in August that would allow certain families to remain.
The criteria grant permanent residency visas to children of migrants if they have parents who entered the country legally, attended school, spoke Hebrew and resided in Israel for at least five years. Haddad could not provide figures on how many would qualify.
Adam, the 19-year-old Darfurian refugee featured in the film, says his dream it to study law in Israel. In Sudan, he watched his father and grandmother shot to death before his eyes. After just three years in Israel, he has graduated from high school, mastered the Hebrew language and is now studying at a post-high school seminar. His status in Israel remains uncertain, but he is optimistic.
“It’s thanks to the school,” he said. “Now I want to stay and get a university degree.” – AP
EU drops Hollywood studios probe
 BRUSSELS: European regulators dropped a probe into deals done by major Hollywood film studios that it feared would stifle access to digital screens for low-budget European movies."I am pleased that Hollywood studios considered our legitimate concerns and modified the contracts so that cinema-goers can watch both Hollywood blockbusters but also small budget and art-house films with the latest state-of-the-art technology," said Joaquin Almunia, European Union competition commissioner. "As the majors concerned have modified those contracts, all ends well, like in a good film," Almunia's spokeswoman added. Almunia's office said that an antitrust investigation probing investment deals concluded during the switchover from film projection to digital cinemas had closed after the big producers changed the terms of contracts signed. "Several major US Hollywood film studios revised contract provisions relating to the financing and installation of digital projection equipment in cinemas," the commission said in a statement. "The changes proposed by major Hollywood film studios will make it easier for independent and art-house distributors to have access to cinemas equipped with digital equipment," it said. Brussels said it is estimated that half of all European screens, more than 18,000, will be digital by the end of 2012.(AFP) |
On Oscar Night, The King's Speech Reigns Supreme
Success has many cousins. Just a few minutes after the end of the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony — with The King's Speech picking up four out of a possible 12 Oscars, for Best Picture, Actor, Director and Original Screenplay — the Stuttering Foundation of America e-mailed a press release: "Stuttering Reigns King at Oscars." "It is an eloquently golden night for people who stutter," proclaimed the foundation's president, Jane Fraser. "The King's Speech has been a godsend for the entire stuttering community."
But the Academy's mission is to tie the industry's so-so present with its more glamorous past. It's really designed for the geriatric set, the elderati, if you will. So this year's show opened with an evocation of one 1939 classic, Gone with the Wind, and ended with another, as the fifth-graders from P.S. 22 in Staten Island, N.Y., sang "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz. The first star presenter was stroke-hobbled, 94-year-old Kirk Douglas, who flirted with Best Supporting Actress winner Melissa Leo, saying, "You're much more beautiful than you were in The Fighter," to which she replied, "Hey, you're pretty good-looking yourself. What're you doin' later on?" (For the kids, Leo detonated an F bomb, which Franco and Hathaway quickly picked up on.) There were clips from the luncheons held for the winners of the technical awards and for special honorees Francis Ford Coppola, Kevin Brownlow, Jean-Luc Godard and Eli Wallach (the lifetime achievement tributes were scrapped from the main proceedings). The in memoriam segment, with its glimpses of last year's deceased artistes while Celine Dion sang live, reminded viewers that they're all gonna die.
It's really a miracle that hundreds of millions of people still watch this stately parade. You'd have thought by now that the Academy would take a cue from shows like American Idol and, instead of simply announcing the winners, have a public countdown. Especially in the Best Picture category, now stuffed with 10 nominees, it would add welcome suspense to slice off the bottom five by midshow and then eliminate other nominees one by one until just two were left standing. But no, that would be too ... entertaining. To make the evening even more obscure, at least half of the awards categories cover either crafts that the mass of film fans don't care about or films they haven't heard of and will likely never see.
By coincidence or design, the ceremony played to the moviegoing majority. Every feature film given an Oscar, except for the foreign-language and documentary winners, earned more than $100 million at the worldwide box office. The two top-grossing pictures of 2010 snagged two prizes each: Toy Story 3, for Best Animated Feature and Song ("We Belong Together" by Randy Newman, which was his second win and 20th nomination), and Alice in Wonderland, for Best Art Direction and Costume Design. Inception, another international smash, took four Oscars in the craft categories. The King's Speech is closing in on $250 million worldwide, and The Social Network (Best Adapted Screenplay, Editing and Score) is not far behind. The Fighter (Best Supporting Actor and Actress for Christian Bale and Leo) and The Wolfman (Best Makeup) are each $100 million–plus grossers. So there was no need, when a winning film's name was announced
That also meant precious few upsets. All the odds-on-favorite actors, including Black Swan's Natalie Portman and Colin Firth of The King's Speech, won as expected. But for those predicting a King's Speech sweep of six or seven Oscars, the show generated some nail biting. With just four awards to go, the front runner had won only for Best Screenplay. When it lost to The Social Network in a couple of categories, like Best Editing, which often mirrors the eventual winner of Best Picture, fans of the Facebook film dared to hope for an upset — a dream dashed when Tom Hooper won for Best Director. That yanked the proceedings out of its Inception-like state and into reality, as the Stuttering Foundation's poster film roared back to take Best Actor and Picture
With few surprises in the main categories, viewers looked for enlivening moments of wit or stumbling. The host tandem didn't provide much of either. While Hathaway poured frantic charm into the gig, providing cheerleader whoops after nearly every introduction, Franco seemed to be there under protest. The famous multitasker was more attentive to his tweets and vlogs than to his gig and, as if one-half of some secretly feuding duo, barely glanced in Hathaway's direction the entire evening.
As if sensing that their hosts would need help, producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer called on earlier emcees, one from the grave. Alec Baldwin, who shared duties with Martin last year, played a character in the clever opening sequence, directed by Troy Miller, that planted Hathaway and Franco in an Inception scenario. Hugh Jackman, the 2009 host, served as the brow-furrowing subject of a Hathaway song. (The lady's got Broadway chops, as she proved in an Encores! revival of Carnival nine years ago, but the bit was too insidery and totally pointless.) Billy Crystal, host of eight Oscar shows, dating back to 1989, was given an entire segment to pay tribute to 18-time host Bob Hope, who died at the age of 100 in 2003. On tape, Hope got off one of the evening's best-targeted jokes: "The suspense is fabulous. And all the praying: thousands of voices saying, 'Let it be me. And if not me — not him.' "
We were left with these random epiphanies and moments: onetime Nine Inch Nails bad boys Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, while accepting the Oscar for Best Score for The Social Network, earned another prize for Best Behaved Winners by thanking the Academy, their director and their wives and kids ... the remark by Dave Elsey, a co-winner with Hollywood makeup legend Rick Baker, "It was always my ambition to lose an Oscar one day to Rick Baker. This is better" ... the strange outbreak of prop comedy, with Douglas doing his shtick with a cane and an Alice in Wonderland winner placing a tiny Mad Hatter chapeau on his statuette's head ... the tornado entrance of Harpo-haired Like Matheny, winner in the live-action short category, who thanked his mother for doing craft services on the film (Best Director winner Hooper also thanked his mom) ... and 20-time nominee Newman's typically dyspeptic thank you, in which he noted that "at the lunch for the nominees, they have a Randy Newman chicken by this time," and then chastised the Academy for nominating only four songs. "You could find a fifth song from someone," he groused. "But hell with it — it might have beat me."
Really, the show had something for everyone, except the stutterers, to complain about.
Oscar winner Colin Firth
There are some calls that a woman of a certain age simply cannot refuse. And right up there, with “could you test this exceedingly expensive moisturiser?” and “perhaps you should see this Maldives hotel” comes: “We need to talk about Colin.”
Yes, Colin Firth. Progenitor of a million female fantasies in a wet white shirt and breeches, political activist, faithful spouse and, now, Oscar winner. What is left to say?
Well, plenty. Because as the airwaves frothed with Firth-filled adulation following his Best Actor award, across the country women were nodding across their cornflakes and muttering: “Yeah? Tell us something we don’t know.”
American Academy: we were there 20 years before you, marvelling at his acting tour-de-force in Tumbledown; sniggering at his lack of underwear in Hope Springs; forgiving him his Lord Henry Dashwood in What A Girl Wants (nobody’s perfect).
Firth is the movie star Hugh Grant could have been if he a) gave the impression of loving acting, and b) actually did some.
And he is almost impossible to dislike. Even as his Golden Globe win was announced last month, he was a hair’s breadth from national treasure status. Pitching his speech just this side of self-deprecating luvvie, he joked that winning had saved him from the worst of his mid-life crisis and ownership of a Harley Davidson.
Likewise, as he picked up his Oscar yesterday he confessed to a “stirrings in the abdominal region” (cue gulping and a vaguely glazed expression from female audience members) – which turned out to be a compulsion to dance. But here, of course, Firth was again playing to his audience – look at me! The repressed Englishman threatening to do something spontaneous!
For there was a time when it looked as if Firth might box himself in as Hollywood’s go-to stiff upper lip. His turn as Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones’s Diary was self-referential and funny. By the time of the sequel, The Edge Of Reason, it seemed a little hackneyed. He took a succession of roles – The English Patient, Love Actually, Hope Springs, Mamma Mia! – in which he veered close to becoming our stereotypical repressed Englishman.
But in recent years, unlike Grant, Firth has been brave enough to take on parts that hint at something more complex. His role as George Falconer, mourning his gay lover in Tom Ford’s A Single Man won him his first Oscar nomination (he lost to Jeff Bridges). He packed so much silent pain into a few seconds of George VI that I was surprised to find myself weeping at the cruel lot of a member of our royal family.
But the acting is only part of Firth’s appeal. He is what Lawrence Dallaglio recently described as “that most dangerous of things – the Englishman who isn’t afraid of showing his feelings”.
And just as some sentences are harder to write than others, so we report that 15 years in, he has found true contentment with his wife Livia and their two children, Luca and Matteo. Speaking on a chat show last week he said he could never be unfaithful, and unlike most Hollywood stars, you believe him. Before he met Livia, he claimed, journalists would find it hard to dig up more than two girlfriends.
Even former partner Meg Tilly, with whom he has an adult son, wrote publicly after his success in the Golden Globes: “Our happy hats off to a member of the family. We are so pleased for you! … Jubilant hugs and kisses from all of us.”
All this aside, it would be easy to parody the Firths. They traded their home in Hackney for one in Islington’s Barnsbury. A long-time Liberal Democrat (he recently withdrew his support as a result of the “profoundly disillusioning” U-turn on tuition fees), his wife professes to wear only ethical dresses to awards shows. He guest-edited Radio 4’s The Today Programme, looking at the efficacy of international aid.
What offsets this almost overwhelming worthiness is Firth’s own intelligence, humour and tendency towards self-deprecation. He describes his attempt at editing Today as “a sobering experience”, and, yesterday, joking that his career had peaked, said he would like to try comedy next, “to continue my long tradition of making a fool of myself.”
But interviewed in the wake of his success by (an uncharacteristically giggly) Sarah Montague, Firth admitted that for many his enduring appeal will always stem from his brooding Darcy and wet breeches.
And, perhaps befitting a man on the cusp of middle age, he says that, contrary to public opinion, he is “not remotely bothered”. In fact, he says with some grace, that he feels lucky. “Mr Darcy will be alive and well for the rest of my life… I would hate to see that tag leave me.”
Not much chance of that, Colin. Not much chance of that.
Review: 'The Adjustment Bureau'
As a writer on "Ocean's 13" and "The Bourne Ultimatum," Nolfi was well positioned to interest Matt Damon in playing a politician (changed from an insurance salesman in the short story) who learns that he's nothing more than a puppet on a string controlled by a secret hidden organization that thinks it knows best. In the event, David Norris is a perfect role for Damon, as he plays a working class Red Hook guy with a bad boy past who's become a popular people's congressman and, at the outset, is on the brink of election to the Senate. He's a bright, if at times too frank young man who knows the ropes and can handle himself physically if needed. But when he loses due to a last-minute tabloid revelation of a youthful indiscretion, David is alone in the men's room rehearsing his concession speech when a vision appears -- that of a beautiful young woman (Emily Blunt) emerging from a stall. After three minutes' exposure to her smart chatter (enhanced by her British accent) and topped by an impulsive, passionate kiss, he's hopelessly smitten. She dashes out, David is left confounded and her presence in the bathroom is not the only mystery of the evening: Who are these strange, slim men with hats buzzing about in the background? Not long after, with David now a senior partner at a venture capital company, he's thrilled to encounter the woman, Elise, on a bus and their rapport is again instantaneous and intense. But why does one of the hatted men (Anthony Mackie) risk life and limb chasing the bus through lower Manhattan and why does the other one (John Slattery), with the help of uniformed goons, apprehend David back in the office, handcuff him to a chair in a huge garage (weirdly accessible through a door on the building's upper floors) and tell him to behave or else, "We'll erase your brain?" Because, as Slattery's Thompson, says, "We are the people who make sure things go according to plan." In other words, they're members of the mysterious elite at the core of every conspiracy theorist's dreams, the godlike manipulators who dictate the way of the world. Part of their pre-determined plan is that David must never see Elise again. Although he can't get her out of his mind, for three years David obeys the edict. Then, just as he's launching a fresh attempt at the senate, David spots Elise by chance on the street and, after some strenuous explanations as to why he's never contacted her, wins her trust and love once and for all. From here, at about the one-hour mark, when David's defiance has forced the Organization's big cheese (Terence Stamp) to personally impress upon him the perilous consequences of his transgressions, the film shifts into desperate chase mode, as David, with some key inside assistance, learns how to slide between alternate physical worlds as he chases all over (and under) New York to find Elise and elude his determined pursuers. The thematic impulse behind "The Adjustment Bureau" is a familiar one, that true love is worth more than anything else this life has to offer. The keys to Nolfi putting it over effectively in this real world but quasi-sci-fi context are his great success in making the connection between David and Elise so convincing and worth fighting for, and his skillful characterization of "The System" not as some portentously portrayed evil outfit but as a pragmatically run operation dedicated to saving humanity from itself. Lightness of touch is not what one expects in fictional portrayals of monolithic entities bent on world domination, so the subtle tone Nolfi maintains here represents something fresh and welcome. Equally responsible for keeping the viewer on the film's side is the excellent rapport between Damon and Blunt. Incorporating known aspects of Damon's personality -- his political interests, athleticism and thoughtfulness -- into the role helps David quickly assume three-dimensional stature. Damon also strongly conveys the character's wounded side as well as his sense, when it comes to Elise, of bewilderment and persistent hope. It's a satisfying, full-bodied performances. For her part, this is the best Blunt has been onscreen since her early work in "My Summer of Love" and "The Devil Wears Prada" and certainly the film in which she seems most vibrant and alive in a romantic pairing; Elise sasses and tests David at every turn up to the point when she allows herself to become vulnerable and honest. For the film to pay off, it's imperative that you believe in these two despite it all. And you do. Slattery and Mackie cut striking yet borderline foppish figures as Organization men variably committed to keeping their charges in line, while Stamp makes the desired impression with his big entrance. Visually, the film is sheerest pleasure. Ace cinematographer John Toll soaks the countless New York locations for all they're worth, capped by a beautiful top-of-the-world climax. If there are visual effects here (other than for the nifty portable electronic maps the bureau men use to track their prey), they're undetectable. Thomas Newman's score helps accentuate the buoyant feel, despite some repetitiveness. |
2011 Oscar Awards: The Highlights and the Complete List of Winners
Top 10 films opening number showcased Franco and Hathaway's acting chops as they were hilariously transposed into scenes from this year's nominated movies. James Franco to Jesse Eisenberg's Mark Zuckerberg: "You just lost a Facebook friend! And tell those Winklevoss twins to stop giving me the stink eye!"
Later, Best Supporting Actor Christian Bale ("The Fighter") delivered an infomercial during his acceptance speech, while "The Social Network" writer Aaron Sorkin talked over the cut-off music for at least a minute. And a svelte and sequined Oprah presented the award for "Best Documentary."
As for musical entertainment, Gwyneth Paltrow performed the theme song from her flick, "Country Strong." This is getting to be a tradition.
And fashionwise, it was a very good year. From Scarlett Johannson's stunning amethyst lace gown to Gwyneth Paltrow in shimmery, gold Calvin Klein to Reese Witherspoon in Armani and sparkly green earrings, the ladies of the evening were dressed to the nines.
But on to the real reason for this shindig. Here are the 2011 Oscar Winners:
Art Direction
"Alice in Wonderland" -WINNER
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1"
"Inception"
"The King's Speech"
"True Grit"
Cinematography
"Inception,Black Swan," Matthew Libatique
"The King's Speech," Danny Cohen
"The Social Network," Jeff Cronenweth"True Grit," Roger Deakins" Wally Pfister -WINNER
actress in a Supporting Role
Melissa Leo in "The Fighter"-WINNER
Amy Adams in "The Fighter"
Helena Bonham Carter in "The King's Speech"
Animated Short Film
"The Lost Thing," Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann-WINNER
"Day & Night," Teddy Newton
"The Gruffalo," Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
"Let's Pollute," Geefwee Boedoe
"Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)" Bastien Dubois
Animated Feature Film
"Toy Story 3" Lee Unkrich-WINNER
"How to Train Your Dragon" Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
"The Illusionist" Sylvain Chomet
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
"The Social Network," Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin-WINNER
"127 Hours," Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
"Toy Story 3," Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
"True Grit," Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"Winter's Bone," Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini
Writing (Original Screenplay)
"The King's Speech," Screenplay by David Seidler -WINNER
"Another Year," Written by Mike Leigh
"The Fighter," Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
"Inception," Written by Christopher Nolan
"The Kids Are All Right," Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
Foreign Language Film
"In a Better World," Denmark -WINNER
"Biutiful," Mexico
"Dogtooth," Greece
"Incendies," Canada
"Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)," Algeria
Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in "The Fighter"-WINNER
John Hawkes in "Winter's Bone"
Jeremy Renner in "The Town"
Mark Ruffalo in "The Kids Are All Right"
Geoffrey Rush in "The King's Speech"
Music, Original Score
"The Social Network," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross -WINNER
"How to Train Your Dragon," John Powell
"Inception," Hans Zimmer
Sound Mixing
"Inception," Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick-WINNER
"The King's Speech," Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
"Salt," Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
"The Social Network," Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
"True Grit," Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
Sound Editing
"Inception," Richard King-WINNER
"Toy Story 3," Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
"Tron: Legacy," Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
"True Grit," Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
"Unstoppable," Mark P. Stoeckinger
Makeup
"The Wolfman," Rick Baker and Dave Elsey-WINNER
"Barney's Version," Adrien Morot
"The Way Back," Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
Costume Design
"Alice in Wonderland," Colleen Atwood-WINNER
"I Am Love," Antonella Cannarozzi
"The King's Speech," Jenny Beavan
"The Tempest," Sandy Powell
"True Grit" Mary Zophres
Documentary (Short Subject)
"Strangers No More"-WINNER
"Killing in the Name"
"Poster Girl"
"Sun Come Up"
"The Warriors of Qiugang"
Live Action Short Film
"God of Love," Luke Matheny-WINNER
"The Confession," Tanel Toom
"The Crush," Michael Creagh
"Na Wewe," Ivan Goldschmidt
"Wish 143," Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite
Documentary (Feature)
"Inside Job," Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs-WINNER
Visual Effects
"Inception," Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb-WINNER
"Alice in Wonderland," Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
"Hereafter," Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
"Iron Man 2," Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick
Film Editing
"The Social Network" -WINNER
"Black Swan"
"The Fighter"
"The King's Speech"
"127 Hours"
Music , Original Song
"We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3," Music and Lyric by Randy Newman-WINNER
"Coming Home" from "Country Strong," Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
"I See the Light" from "Tangled," Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
"If I Rise" from "127 Hours," Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
Directing
"The King's Speech," Tom Hooper-WINNER
"Black Swan," Darren Aronofsky
"The Fighter," David O. Russell
"The Social Network," David Fincher
"True Grit," Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Actress in a Leading Role
Natalie Portman in "Black Swan"-WINNER
Annette Bening in "The Kids Are All Right"
Nicole Kidman in "Rabbit Hole"
Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone"
Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine"
Actor in a Leading Role
Colin Firth in "The King's Speech"-WINNER
Javier Bardem in "Biutiful"
Jeff Bridges in "True Grit"
Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network"
James Franco in "127 Hours"
Best Picture
"The King's Speech," Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers -WINNER
Later, Best Supporting Actor Christian Bale ("The Fighter") delivered an infomercial during his acceptance speech, while "The Social Network" writer Aaron Sorkin talked over the cut-off music for at least a minute. And a svelte and sequined Oprah presented the award for "Best Documentary."
As for musical entertainment, Gwyneth Paltrow performed the theme song from her flick, "Country Strong." This is getting to be a tradition.
And fashionwise, it was a very good year. From Scarlett Johannson's stunning amethyst lace gown to Gwyneth Paltrow in shimmery, gold Calvin Klein to Reese Witherspoon in Armani and sparkly green earrings, the ladies of the evening were dressed to the nines.
But on to the real reason for this shindig. Here are the 2011 Oscar Winners:
Art Direction
"Alice in Wonderland" -WINNER
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1"
"Inception"
"The King's Speech"
"True Grit"
Cinematography
"Inception,Black Swan," Matthew Libatique
"The King's Speech," Danny Cohen
"The Social Network," Jeff Cronenweth"True Grit," Roger Deakins" Wally Pfister -WINNER
actress in a Supporting Role
Melissa Leo in "The Fighter"-WINNER
Amy Adams in "The Fighter"
Helena Bonham Carter in "The King's Speech"
Animated Short Film
"The Lost Thing," Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann-WINNER
"Day & Night," Teddy Newton
"The Gruffalo," Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
"Let's Pollute," Geefwee Boedoe
"Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)" Bastien Dubois
Animated Feature Film
"Toy Story 3" Lee Unkrich-WINNER
"How to Train Your Dragon" Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
"The Illusionist" Sylvain Chomet
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
"The Social Network," Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin-WINNER
"127 Hours," Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
"Toy Story 3," Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
"True Grit," Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"Winter's Bone," Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini
Writing (Original Screenplay)
"The King's Speech," Screenplay by David Seidler -WINNER
"Another Year," Written by Mike Leigh
"The Fighter," Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
"Inception," Written by Christopher Nolan
"The Kids Are All Right," Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
Foreign Language Film
"In a Better World," Denmark -WINNER
"Biutiful," Mexico
"Dogtooth," Greece
"Incendies," Canada
"Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)," Algeria
Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in "The Fighter"-WINNER
John Hawkes in "Winter's Bone"
Jeremy Renner in "The Town"
Mark Ruffalo in "The Kids Are All Right"
Geoffrey Rush in "The King's Speech"
Music, Original Score
"The Social Network," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross -WINNER
"How to Train Your Dragon," John Powell
"Inception," Hans Zimmer
Sound Mixing
"Inception," Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick-WINNER
"The King's Speech," Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
"Salt," Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
"The Social Network," Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
"True Grit," Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
Sound Editing
"Inception," Richard King-WINNER
"Toy Story 3," Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
"Tron: Legacy," Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
"True Grit," Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
"Unstoppable," Mark P. Stoeckinger
Makeup
"The Wolfman," Rick Baker and Dave Elsey-WINNER
"Barney's Version," Adrien Morot
"The Way Back," Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
Costume Design
"Alice in Wonderland," Colleen Atwood-WINNER
"I Am Love," Antonella Cannarozzi
"The King's Speech," Jenny Beavan
"The Tempest," Sandy Powell
"True Grit" Mary Zophres
Documentary (Short Subject)
"Strangers No More"-WINNER
"Killing in the Name"
"Poster Girl"
"Sun Come Up"
"The Warriors of Qiugang"
Live Action Short Film
"God of Love," Luke Matheny-WINNER
"The Confession," Tanel Toom
"The Crush," Michael Creagh
"Na Wewe," Ivan Goldschmidt
"Wish 143," Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite
Documentary (Feature)
"Inside Job," Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs-WINNER
Visual Effects
"Inception," Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb-WINNER
"Alice in Wonderland," Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
"Hereafter," Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
"Iron Man 2," Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick
Film Editing
"The Social Network" -WINNER
"Black Swan"
"The Fighter"
"The King's Speech"
"127 Hours"
Music , Original Song
"We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3," Music and Lyric by Randy Newman-WINNER
"Coming Home" from "Country Strong," Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
"I See the Light" from "Tangled," Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
"If I Rise" from "127 Hours," Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
Directing
"The King's Speech," Tom Hooper-WINNER
"Black Swan," Darren Aronofsky
"The Fighter," David O. Russell
"The Social Network," David Fincher
"True Grit," Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Actress in a Leading Role
Natalie Portman in "Black Swan"-WINNER
Annette Bening in "The Kids Are All Right"
Nicole Kidman in "Rabbit Hole"
Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone"
Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine"
Actor in a Leading Role
Colin Firth in "The King's Speech"-WINNER
Javier Bardem in "Biutiful"
Jeff Bridges in "True Grit"
Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network"
James Franco in "127 Hours"
Best Picture
"The King's Speech," Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers -WINNER
Oscars’ Red Carpet (Parallel Universe)
WAS it good for you — the Academy Awards that is, which last Sunday continued its long tradition of getting it wrong? It was for me, even if the Academy’s habit of rewarding mediocrity, especially if it comes with a British accent, remains intact. Then again I was closer to the action than usual, having finally admitted, if only to myself, that I wanted to walk that tawdry red carpet. I wanted to seeChristian Bale, Natalie Portman and most of all David Fincher win in person or on the screen inside the Kodak Theater. I wanted to watch “The King’s Speech” go down in flames. Oh, well. Forget it, Jake — it’s Hollywood.
The Oscars might be an orgy of self-congratulation, and as absurd and amusing as ever. Yet they also make visible some of the changes rocking the movies and the news media. Attending the show allows you to pull back the curtain to see how this particular movie-media machine works, starting with the mind-blowing security that can bring to mind 9/11 airport safety measures, what with the concrete barricades and metal detectors. Getting there is half the excitement, or so it seemed gliding down Hollywood Boulevard, past the clubs, restaurants, tattoo parlors and, of course, a Scientologyoutpost.
First, though, we had to get past the cops who stopped and searched our car blocks from the Kodak Theater and wondered if the cat litter that we had recently bought and neglected to remove from our hatchback might be fertilizer, presumably for a bomb. “It’s not fertilizer,” I yelped, as my Oscar dreams started to fade. But we made it inside and walked the red carpet, well, the right side of that magic carpet, which, divided by stanchions, runs parallel to the one Annette and Warren strolled on. Once inside, my husband and I grabbed our free Champagne ($18 a bubbly pop after the show starts) and hiked up to the second mezzanine.
The results seemed preordained. “The King’s Speech” is a pudding of a movie, easy in, easy out, and its lack of chew is ideal for those porcelain veneers twinkling in the dark at the Kodak. “The Social Network,” by contrast, requires you to listen, watch, think, which isn’t often demanded of movie viewers. Academy members might be the ultimate film insiders, but there’s no reason to believe that they’re different from most moviegoers, who, used to facile entertainments, have voted for “The King’s Speech” ($114 million domestic box office and counting, as of Tuesday) over “The Social Network” (just under $97 million). Truly, considering the Academy’s track record (“A Beautiful Mind,” ad nauseum), the surprise was that “The Social Network” was even in contention. As a friend said, “If you combine regiphilia with disability, you’ve got a winning ticket.”
I knew the fix was in. Yet I wanted to go to the awards, because after 17 years of living in Los Angeles my curiosity had gotten the best of me. I also understood that, love them or hate them, the Oscars matter. These days movies are a small piece of the market-share pie for the multinationals that own the studios. And the biggest movies are part of a consumption continuum, which begins as a comic book (or a best seller or video game) briefly becomes multiplex fodder (and toys and more video games) before being turned into home entertainment. Some of those movies are good, a lot are lousy, which is why the Oscars are important. It’s a public ritual that sustains the romance that the business of movies isn’t exclusively about product.
Like a lot of people I grew up watching the Oscars. I loved them, or did until I started writing about movies for a living and began to grasp how many good ones were overlooked each year. The films I cared about were rarely nominated, though this changed somewhat with the independent film wave of the 1990s. In 1997, when Emily Watson was nominated for best actress for her role in Lars Von Trier’s “Breaking the Waves” alongside the eventual winner, Frances McDormand (for “Fargo,” from the then-independent stalwarts Joel and Ethan Coen), the Oscars felt different. The independents were invigorating a moribund big-screen scene.
Now the Coens make movies at major studios, and nominally independent filmmakers are part of the mix alongside mass-market Hollywood, with movies that first show at the Sundance Film Festival like “Winter’s Bone” and “The Kids Are All Right” sometimes ending up at the Oscars. The young star of “Winter’s Bone,” Jennifer Lawrence, was never going to win best actress, but her nomination made the Academy look good because it suggested that (debatable) quality matters to it more than box office figures. And Ms. Lawrence is a pretty young woman who looks lovely on screen and on magazine covers, as evidenced by the latest Vanity Fair, where she’s co-starring on the cover, one of her biggest roles to date.
Magazine covers have always been part of the movie machinery. But now the auxiliary parts — the magazines, television shows and red-carpet appearances — often seem more important than the actual movies. That’s especially true for women working in a field where comic books and super heroes rule. A few years ago Nina Jacobson, who then ran Disney, noted that it had become harder for young actresses to be the next Meryl Streep, adding, “It’s easier to show up on the red carpet in a borrowed dress.” It’s no wonder that this year the Academy extended the ABC “Oscar’s Red Carpet Live” show from 30 to 90 minutes, bumping it to feature-length status.
That the studios reserve much of their resources to releasing juvenilia and pricey junk also helps explain why the Oscars are now so crucial, culturally and symbolically if not in ratings terms. Last year most of the Top 20 highest-grossing movies were aimed at the youth market, and a quarter of these were animated features. Junk like “Clash of the Titans” pays the bills, but money alone has never kept the industry chugging. For that you need films like “True Grit,” movies that speak to a mass audience intelligently, and are more than a sum of business calculations. Audiences need movies that they can excitedly recommend to friends and assure them, no, really, it’s very good — and so does Hollywood.
Once upon a time the Oscars were a little affair, or as intimate as a party with famous people ever gets. The first ceremony, in 1929, was held in a hotel ballroom, and the winners had been announced three months earlier. In 1953 television — the movies’ feared new rival — turned the Oscars into a national event. And just in time too, since the old studio system, already collapsing, needed all the help it could get holding onto the audience’s attention that was gravitating to watching Uncle Miltie on the tube. The Oscars became a television event, a Super Bowl with screen stars, and now the awards are also a social media experience, as almost 400,000 Twitterers this year proved.
Much is made about how all-things-celebrity has infiltrated the news, but even before gossip columnists like Hedda Hopper put her hooks into readers, the movies were helping peddle copy. One thing that has changed is the volume of Oscar coverage. In 1948, when weekly movie attendance reached its peak with an estimated 90 million souls, The New York Times published four articles on the awards. Over the decades, as attendance plunged, the paper published more on the Oscars. In all of 1988 it ran 14 pieces on the event, fewer than the number of articles that it ran last week. Weekly movie attendance meanwhile now hovers at under 26 million. Americans don’t love movies as they once did, but they, and the news media, still dig the Oscars and all they offer: the glamour, the history, the bigger-than-life spectacle and the rest. The industry understands this, and, at last, so do I.
So I went and had a good time, even if I would have seen more of the actual show if I had watched it on television at home. But inside the Kodak Theater, surrounded by people who were just happy to be there, the show and its two moderately, unsurprisingly flailing hosts were the least of it. (Even from our nosebleed seats the performance artist also known as the movie star James Franco looked as if he’d rather be anywhere else.) What mattered was the effort it took to get to the Oscars and that we were there. (Part of that ordeal for me involved finding something to wear, which I did in a frenzy at noon on Sunday.)
Going to the Oscars also pulls back the curtain in other ways, for as much pleasure as there is in gaping at movie stars like Jeff Bridges, to see him kick back with his family at the official post-awards party, the Governors Ball, is a reminder of this man who, with no visible effort, creates characters like Rooster Cogburn in “True Grit.” For much of the year the American movie industry, and Hollywood in specific, works overtime to remind you that it churns out industrial products like “Tron Legacy,” another of Mr. Bridges’s recent movies. But once a year the industry hosts a party, puts on its fancy clothes and invites the world to come, partly to sell the goods but also as a reminder that movies are also made by people for the pleasure and delight of those who like to watch.
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