The Oscars proved last night that Hugh Jackman can sing, dance and handle spontaneity like a true professional of Broadway Theater. He kept pace with the award show moving rapidly and smoothly with a few technical glitches, which were not his fault.
My favorite parts of the telecast were the actor awards presentations where former recipients introduced the nominees and presented the awards. I thought, Shirley Maclaine’s presentation to Anne Hathaway stood out among the other almost equally worthwhile presenters.
Best moments of the telecast:
My favorite winner and most deserving was Kate Winslet for Best Actress in The Reader. Penelope Cruz is a talented and inspiring woman who lovingly accepted the award for Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. And I loved Danny Boyle’s impersonation of Tigger as he accepted his Oscar for Best Director for Slumdog Millionaire.
It can’t go without mention of Ben Stiller’s parody on Joaquin Phoenix recent escapades in the media and talk shows.
Variety shares some of the back stage moments here, which is worth a quick visit to get a feel for the overall celebration of film at the Oscars.
Forest Whitaker will present Screen Actors Guild’s 45th Life Achievement Award to James Earl Jones at the 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards,
The ceremony will be simulcast live nationally on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, 7 p.m. CT and 6 p.m.
Whitaker joins a growing roster of actors who will honor their colleagues at the 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards that already includes Christina Applegate, Angela Bassett, Jon Hamm, John Krasinski, Eric McCormack, Kyra Sedgwick and William Shatner.
The Screen Actors Guild is honoring James Earl Jones for his career achievement and humanitarian accomplishments. Past recipients of SAG’s Life Achievement Award include Charles Durning, Julie Andrews, Shirley Temple Black, James Garner, Karl Malden, Clint Eastwood, Edward Asner, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier, Kirk Douglas, Elizabeth Taylor, Angela Lansbury, Robert Redford and George Burns.
Slumdog Millionaire won four Golden Globe awards tonight that included Best Film in the Drama category. The best actor in the Drama category went to Mickey Rourke The Wrestler which also earned Best Original Song for Bruce Springsteen.
My favorite of the whole night was Kate Winslet taking two Golden Globes as supporting actress in The Reader and as best lead actress in Revolutionary Road, Drama category.
A poignant moment stood for the late Heath Ledger who posthumously took the supporting actor award for The Dark Knight.
For a complete list of winners and details, click here.
The winners are Nicole Belletiere (2), Kathy Scott (54), Veronica Sandberg (65). Congratulations!!! See you at the Golden Globes tonight!!
The 2009 Golden Globes air Sunday, January 11th at 8:00PM/7:00PM Central on NBC with the Red Carpet Arrivals and Preshow at 7:00Pm/6:00PM Central For a complete list of nominees, photo, video and more visit: Golden Globes
The Producers Guild of America has announced its nominations with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight,Frost/Nixon, Milk and Slumdog Millionaire as contenders for PGA’s top feature award.
The PGA’s announcement appears to be of the norm with nominees for its Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award include Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall and Cean Chaffin for Benjamin Button; Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven and Emma Thomas for The Dark Knight; Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner for Frost/Nixon; Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen for Milk; and Christopher Colson for Slumdog Millionaire.
The group also announced its documentary feature nominees, which the category was launched last year. The nominees are Simon Chin for Man on Wire, Julie Bilson Ahlberg and Errol Morris for Standard Operating Procedure (a Screenhead giveaway), and Carl Deal and Tia Lessin for Trouble the Water.
For a complete list of nominations, go to PGA official website here.
The National Society of Film Critics named their winners this weekend with Waltz with Bashir honored the best picture of 2008. Sean Penn (Milk) and Sally Hawkins (Happy Go Lucky) awarded the best acting honors.
The awards were made known Saturday in New York.
The inventive Waltz depicts the story of one Israeli soldier’s viscous nightmares of the 1982 massacre of Palestinian civilians by Christian Phalangists at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.
For a complete listing of the winners, go to LA Times by clicking here.
Artist Colin McGreal completed the poster in association with Famous Frames. The vibrant artwork features the world’s most famous golden orb flanked by parallel rows of palm trees that give a sense of the iconic Los Angeles setting for the event recognized worldwide as “The Party of the Year.”
”The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards” will take place Sunday, January 11, 2009 at The Beverly Hilton with a live telecast airing on NBC at 8 PM (EST) and produced by Dick Clark Productions in association with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
The first major award of Oscar season has sent ripples of surprise across Hollywood. The National Board of Review, a collection of cultural elite, acdemics, and wealthy supporters of moving imagery, have announced its yearly award winners. The NBR awards always lean towards the arthouse crowd, and are rarely indicators of the Golden Globes and the Oscars, but last year they were the first to award No Country for Old Men for its brilliance, and we all know how well that film was received.
This year the presence of Danny Boyle’s Indian-based drama Slumdog Millionaire probably surprised many by being named as best film of 2008. The premise (a young Indian boy wins the local version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire) sounds pithy at first, but the consistently glowing reviews suggest this film has more heart than a hundred blockbusters. Could this Slumdog go all the way to the Oscars? We can only wait and see.
It seems as if Italian cinema may face a return to former glory days, with the announcement of the European Film Awards nominees this week. Leading the pack are two Italian films, both nominated for five awards. The first is Il Divo, a biopic of Italian politician Paolo Sorrentino (played by Toni Servillo), dealing with his ties to the Mafia. The other is Gomorra, another film dealing with Italian organised crime, but this time looking at how pervasive the mafia is in the Naples region. Having seen the latter, the disappointing decision to be intentionally cold and unsympathetic of every character leaves me hoping that Il Divo will surprise.
Other multiple nominees include Entre Les Murs, winner of the Cannes Palm D’Or this year, over-rated horror flick The Orphanage, and Hunger, Steve (not THE) McQueen’s directorial debut concerning Irish Republican terrorist Bobby Sands’ hunger strike for his political status. The latter receives a rightful nomination for Michael Fassbinder as Sands, although he may lose out to Toni Servillo. Possibly the most interesting of the films, the animated Waltz with Bashir ,which covers a particular massacre during the Lebanese war, received noms for best film and screenplay.
It’s also good to see Mongol get a nomination int he category it most definitely deserves: cinematography.
The winners will be announced on December 6th, but for the full list of nominees, go here.
an. 25, 2009 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, 7 p.m. CT and 6 p.m.
The first major award of Oscar season has sent ripples of surprise across Hollywood. The National Board of Review, a collection of cultural elite, acdemics, and wealthy supporters of moving imagery, have announced its yearly award winners. The NBR awards always lean towards the arthouse crowd, and are rarely indicators of the Golden Globes and the Oscars, but last year they were the first to award 
It seems as if Italian cinema may face a return to former glory days, with the announcement of the European Film Awards nominees this week. Leading the pack are two Italian films, both nominated for five awards. The first is 
