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Entertainment behind the scenes
“Avatar”, “Precious”, Clooney, Cruz? Who should get movie awards?
The Hollywood awards season is shaping up nicely after a week of critics awards and nominations for top movies and performances from the Golden Globes organizers and the Screen Actors Guild.
So far , the movies with the biggest momentum behind them seem to be “Up in the Air”, with George Clooney, harrowing urban tale “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”, Quentin Tarantino’s summer box office hit war fantasy “Inglourious Basterds”, the much-talked about sci-fi epic “Avatar”, glittering musical “Nine”, Iraq war drama “The Hurt Locker” and British coming of age movie “An Education”.
Clooney, Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan, Colin Firth, newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, Emily Blunt, Helen Mirren and Jeff Bridges are among the names that keep popping up for acting honors. But which of them are most likely to be in the running for the most coveted honors — the Oscars — when those nominations are announced in February?
Only a few weeks ago, Bullock’s performance in “The Blind Side” looked to be too mainstream for audiences tastes, but after nominations for both Golden Globes and SAG Awards this week, she looks like a lock on a best actress nomination. Blogger Anne Thompson on IndieWire calls her “the big news of the week. … it’s a classic case of a comic actress going serious in a drama.”
Colin Firth — once an awards militant, now a convert
Honesty from actors tends to be in short supply around Hollywood’s awards season. Most respond to questions about possible Oscar or Golden Globe nominations with the standard line about “the honor” of simply being nominated.
So it was refreshing when British actor Colin Firth — still perhaps best known as the deliciously wet-shirted Mr Darcy of “Pride and Prejudice” fame – admitted that he used to boycott award ceremonies. Until he did just that and lost out to a rival.
Golden Globe sponsors give $1.2 million to charity
It’s billed as Hollywood’s biggest party, and many people think of the Golden Globe Awards show as just another way that Tinseltown’s collective ego gets a good stroking.
But, contrary to what is likely popular belief, Hollywood does have a heart — sometimes. And the Hollywood Foreign Press Association annually proves it when they give some of the money they earn from putting on the Golden Globe Awards to film schools and other non-profit groups.
Golden Globes: raised finger gets thumbs down
(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)
When a camera caught “The Wrestler” director Darren Aronofsky jokingly making an obscene gesture on the Golden Globes telecast on NBC, as the star of his movie ribbed him from on-stage, viewers on the East Coast of the United States saw it live.
The Parents Television Council saw it too, and now they’re seeing red.
Tim Winter, president of the council, said in a statement that the middle finger given by Aronofsky to actor Mickey Rourke is “yet another example of arrogant behavior by some who seem intoxicated by being controversial, rather than eager to celebrate with the viewing audience some of the best artistic performances of the year.”
NBC declined to comment on the PTC criticism, and a representative for Aronofsky was not immediately available.
During the Sunday night broadcast, viewers on the West Coast did not see Aronofsky’s gesture because the telecast was blacked out for those two seconds. NBC could black out that portion of the show for West Coast viewers because for them it was playing on a tape delay, unlike on the East Coast 
where it was carried live.
In another controversial moment on the show, “Slumdog Millionaire” producer Christian Colson said an obscenity on stage at the end of his acceptance speech, but the audio was dropped and viewers did not hear it.
Winter credited NBC with eliminating some of the graphic profanity from the show. But he also said that, given the show’s content, it should not have had a rating designating the program safe for children.
From London: “The Golden Gloats”
It’s that time of year again. Right about now the British media is either wringing its hands in despair over the state of UK cinema or blowing its trumpet loudly in praise of its prodigious acting and directing talent as the movie awards season gets underway.
Kicking things off was the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, and, judging by reaction on this side of the pond, we could re-name it the “Golden Gloats”. True, Brits and their films did fare pretty well this year, but I wonder if it’s not better to hold off until the big one — the Oscars.
“Slumdog” was top dog at Globes, but is it all bark, no bite?
“Slumdog Millionaire” walked away with four Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night, including best film drama, setting it on a solid path to Oscar glory. But there is still a long way to go. It was only three years ago that “Crash” was shut out of many Golden Globe nominations, but it made a comeback at the Screen Actors Guild awards and went on to claim that year’s best picture Oscar.
Why? One reason is because actors make up the biggest branch of voters at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and they loved “Crash.”
Golden Globes fashion: hits and misses
The Golden Globes were back this year, and no one was more excited than the stars themselves, who celebrated by walking down the red carpet in all their finest. But whose primping and preening paid off the most? And who fell horribly flat?
US Weekly Fashion Director Sasha Charnin Morrison listed Anne Hathaway and Angelina Jolie as two of her favorites, saying Marisa Tomei and Renee Zellweger’s looks were “clunkers.” Meanwhile, style expert Michael O’Connor said his top choices were Eva Mendes and Drew Barrymore.
Anne Hathaway wins Golden Globe for speculation
(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association had to explain itself when the Web site for the association’s Golden Globe Awards briefly indicated that “Rachel Getting Married” star Anne Hathaway had won a best actress award.
The mix-up happened on Thursday, when a star appeared on the site next to Hathaway’s name under a list of actresses nominated for best performance in a drama movie. But not so fast – the awards show does not happen until Sunday. Ooops!
“In the process of preparing for Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Web team inadvertently marked a nominee as a winner,” a statement at GoldenGlobes.org says. “The mistake was immediately corrected.”
The other nominees are Angelina Jolie for “Changeling,” Meryl Streep for “Doubt,” Kristin Scott Thomas for “I’ve Loved You So Long” and Kate Winslet for “Revolutionary Road.”
Hathaway, 26, became a major star with the 2001 movie “The Princess Diaries,” a Disney movie aimed at young girls. She has matured in roles since then and she plays a drug addict with haunting past in “Rachel Getting Married.”
On Thursday night, Hathaway and Streep shared their combined best actress win at the Critics’ Choice Awards. And the slip-up does make one wonder whether the HFPA tipped its voters’ hand, or if the other Golden Globe nominees have a chance. Thoughts?
Hollywood’s best movie contenders — did they get it right?
Hollywood’s movie awards season got seriously underway with the Golden Globe nominations on Thursday. But have those who pick the best movies and actors of the year got it right?
Some pundits are already crying foul over the absence of Australian actress Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt’s co-star in ”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, from the Golden Globe contenders, not to mention the fact that the San Francisco gay drama “Milk” got just one nomination, for actor Sean Penn.
