Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
Last chance at Oscar glory!
With little time left until Hollywood’s big show, this could be your last chance to put in your picks on all those Oscars.
Will “Slumdog Millionaire” take home the Golden Boy for best movie, as is widely expected?
Can Mickey Rourke wrestle the best actor Academy Award away from Sean Penn, or might veteran Frank Langella slip in with a victory? And what happened to Brad Pitt?
Does veteran Meryl Streep have the clout to overpower British sweetheart Kate Winslet for best actress. Weigh-in now.
And follow us the rest of the night at Reuters.com, on the Fan Fare Blog and the Twitter we’ll have going throughout the show that begins in Hollywood around 5 p.m. pst/ 8 p.m. est.
Good Luck!
High hopes for Hugh at Sunday’s Oscars
The choice of Hugh Jackman to host the Oscars on Sunday has generated plenty of talk, because he is no comedian and Hollywood is wondering how a song-and-dance man like Jackman will fare at the high-pressure job, which usually goes to funny men and women such as Billy Crystal, Jon Stewart or Whoopi Goldberg.
But average folks on the Web think the Australian actor will do just fine. In a poll on celebrity news site PopEater.com, 85 percent of respondents think he will do either “great” or “OK”. Only 15 percent of the 31,000 respondents expect Jackman will be “terrible” at hosting the Oscars.
Jackman, who stars in the upcoming film “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, and who has hosted Broadway’s Tony awards, was chosen after last year’s Oscar broadcast, hosted by television’s “The Daily Show” star Stewart, hit a record low of 32 million U.S. viewers, compared to 39.9 million in 2007.
Oscar show producers are expected to bring a fresh look to the ceremony on Sunday, and have dropped the traditional comic opening monologue.
Web site Moviefone.com also conducted a poll and found that “Slumdog Millionaire” is the clear favorite to win the best picture Oscar.
A whopping 83 percent of respondents wanted the late Heath Ledger to win best supporting actor for his role as Joker in Batman movie “The Dark Knight,” while Kate Winslet was picked to win best actress for “The Reader” and Mickey Rourke to win best actor for “The Wrestler.”
I wrote this review about 3 months ago as I wanted to share my opinion and analysis of Slumdog Millionaire with a friend of mine after she had finally watched the movie and loved it too. She had initially refused to continue watching it, just a few minutes into in, as soon as Jamal jumps into the ditch full of s… Of course, upon my insistence she watched it and was very glad that she did. However, nearly three months later, and after the Oscars, this review/analysis can still hold its own. Read on…
Slumdog Millionaire is indeed a fantastic movie and it opens you up on so many fronts and addresses so many issues that any society, particularly India, grapples with, on a daily basis. These scenarios glare us in the face, yet we choose to believe that they do not exist. Then, we try to find comfort in the fact that as long as they do not affect us and our loved ones directly, we do not need to deal with them. It is really a good study in people’s perception of self.
To begin with, it’s a bold-faced study of India-in your face! Dirty, poverty-sticken, vibrant, and yes! Bollywood-crazy! Then you see the slums which have a life of their own. There is an order in that chaos. But, if you try to break that order, the consequences are immense! Then there is the plight of millions of poverty-stricken children who have to fend for themselves. And then there are various goons, at every corner, trying to take advantage of every situation and everybody-as is seen under the guise of orphanage in this movie.
The issue of organized-begging is addressed beautifully. How children are tortured and intentionally maimed in order to help the bigger cause of organized crime (begging is a multi-billion dollar industry in India).
Then there is the focus on the struggles of life in general and yet the addiction of “living life” keeps driving us all to live. Along the way, we care for each other in times of crises and struggles and we find out who our friends are. How some make it while others fall through the cracks! How we feel sorry for them and we just move on with our lives! How certain questions are left unanswered and how commitments are left at bay. How most of the relationships are not adhered to! How most of the promises are not kept!
Then there is the vibrancy of life. Full of color! No two people wear the same colored clothes in India, particularly the women. I love this aspect of India and Indians. Then there is the delicate balance of religions, which can rear its ugly head at the drop of a hat, as is evident by the beautiful capture of the communal riots at the start of the movie. All this and we have not even tried to scratch the surface of the theme of the movie – you can dream as big as your imagination! And, then some beyond!
I do not want to touch the Millionaire aspect of the movie – which really was all about mistrust and fame and money, which seem to be the values of any modern-day society. On the other hand the realities of life and the real-life experiences have prepared Jamal for one of the biggest challenges of his young life, yet the “powers that be” refuse to acknowledge the fact that this person may, just may, have the right answers to those questions, as is made apparent in the movie time and time again. In fact, that is the only aspect of the movie that I thought was overdone! My take was – I get it! He has been through all these situations in his life as part of his life-experiences, I get it, can we move on?
The most heart-warming moment for me was when Jamal is about to appear on the last day of Millionaire and how the entire India comes to a standstill! That sent goosebumps down my spine. It was so beautifully captured by the Director of the movie. People, irrespective of religious beliefs, in homes, shops, in the middle of the streets, etc, glued to TV and radio to see and hear what would happen to this boy from such a humble background. In him, the whole of India saw a little bit of themselves; a bit of hope; for themselves; for their own kids. Jamal was a feel-good story. He was the boy next-door. And, this all was captured beautifully by the Director and, of course, actors, etc.
But, how could you make a Bollywood movie without a song-and-dance number. It would not even be classified as an India movie. So, there it was – a colorful and melodious array of beats by A. R. Rahman at the Bombay V. T. railway station, with the hero and heroine (as they say it in India), in tow with hundreds of Indians (Bombayites), dancing to the beats. I thought it was quite cute. A. R. Rahman is turning into quite a genius!
I am so glad that such movies, with substance, have come out of India or with Indian themes recently. For me, it all started with “Lagaan”. Then, there was “Black”. Earlier this year, there was “Taare Zameen Pe” and now “Slumdog Millionaire”.
I hope Slumdog Millionaire wins big at the Oscars this coming year. I think Hollywood is moving toward breaking down barriers of language and culture. So, who knows, one of these days, a through-and-through Indian movie, of substance, just might do it! I will be happy.
I can understand the Oscar buzz surrounding Slumdog Millionaire but then there are other fantastic movies like Milk, Doubt, The Reader, Benjamin Button, etc. I hope Slumdog Millionaire wins big. I will be watching and rooting for it.
Oscar goes to the dogs?
Mickey Rourke has been vocal in recent weeks about his affection for his dogs, and he must be devastated by the death of his Chihuahua Loki.
Celebrities don’t usually bring their dogs along to the leading red carpets of the world but when they do — as Rourke did at the Venice film festival last year — their choices of breed can be surprising. Who, for instance would have matched Rourke, with his background in boxing, with a tiny Chihuahua?
We’re not sure which of the other leading Oscar nominees already owns a dog. But we wondered what a fantasy parade of celebrities and their canine friends might look like on Sunday’s big night.
Which dog would you choose as the potential best friend of Sean Penn, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway or Angelina Jolie?
I been hearing to my friends that it reflects your personality to the kind of pet you have..so if ever this celebrities owned their lovable dogs now and bring it to the Oscar…it will just show who they are!
Is a show of “risks” enough to save the Oscars?
Oscar organizers are promising a show filled with “risks” by changing the old formula of a comedian telling jokes and film award winners getting all teary when they accept the world’s top film honors. But will ”risk” be enough.
Stung by competition from other awards shows and simply more channels on TV, the Oscars in recent years have seen an almost steady decline in viewership to 32 million last year — the lowest audience ever — from 39.9 million in 2007.
Some have blamed not only the competition, but the movies that get nominated. Last year, the nominees included films such as dark dramas “No Country for Old Men,” which were little seen by audiences.
By contrast, the most recent telecast with huge viewership came when 2003′s box office smash hit, ”The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” swept through many categories and won 11 awards. Oscar watchers had believed that popular Batman movie “The Dark Knight” might land a best film nomination and lure fans to the telecast this year, yet in it’s place is little seen drama “The Reader.” Hmmmmmmm.
Nevertheless, producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon (“Dreamgirls”) promise a show with a lot of risk-taking and they’ve hired song-and-dance man Hugh Jackman to lead the way. But we wonder whether that will be enough? Or are Oscar voters simply out of touch with mainstream moviegoers who thrill at movies like “Dark Knight” and “Gran Torino”? Put more simply, will you tune in on Feb. 22?
Mickey Rourke?! Too old for me, Evan Rachel Wood says
Mickey Rourke has been feeling a whole lotta Hollywood love recently — but his “Wrestler” co-star Evan Rachel Wood wants to make clear that none of it, physically, is coming from her.
Rumors that Wood, 21, and Rourke, 52, were involved in a romantic relationship were fueled by reports that they were seen kissing at a Screen Actors Guild awards party in Los Angeles at the weekend.
Wood played the estranged daughter to Rourke’s Oscar-nominated, lonely, washed-up character in the comeback movie “The Wrestler”.
But on Thursday she told Rolling Stone magazine that she was distraught at the rumors.
“Im upset because I feel disrespected by the press and by Mr. Rourke,” she said. “Just because I’m single doesn’t mean that you can take advantage of me. It’s unfair that the performances might suffer because of all these distractions.”
Wood, whose two year romance with rocker Marilyn Manson, 40, ended in November last year added; “I’m not attracted to him (Rourke). He’s too old for me. Nothing ever happened and nothing ever will.”
Ouch!
EVANRACHELWOOD.NET DESPITE WHAT SHE SAY’S, EVAN IS ALL OVER MICKEY IN THE PHOTO SHOOT.( go to the photo section on the web site to see for yourself .)
SHE WANTED ATTENTION THEN BLAMES IT ON HIM. – NO CLASS
Mickey Rourke stays outside WrestleMania ring — for now.
(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)
“The Wrestler” star Mickey Rourke appeared to back off an earlier boast that he would enter the ring against pro wrestler Chris Jericho, when the two appeared together Tuesday night on the CNN interview show “Larry King Live.” But World Wrestling Entertainment, the company presenting WrestleMania XXV in Houston on April 5, said on Wednesday that Rourke is still in talks to possibly join the bout. If Rourke is planning to make an appearance, it would be hard to judge from his exchange with Jericho on “Larry King.” Jericho said that Rourke made “a mistake” on the red carpet at Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards when the actor announced he would take on Jericho at WrestleMania.
“If he got his wish and had a confrontation with me at WrestleMania, I think the ending of the Jericho-Rourke movie would not turn out very well for Mr. Rourke, as it did in ‘The Wrestler,’” Jericho said. Rourke responded by appearing to back off his red carpet trash talk against Jericho, without mentioning the episode. ”Perhaps I did put my foot in my mouth,” he said. When Larry King asked Rourke if he will wrestle Jericho, Rourke said no. ”It’s not my world, I was a professional fighter. Would I box him in a boxing ring or a bare-knuckle match? Yeah,” Rourke said. “Wrestling? That’s his world, that’s what this man does.”
That did not please Jericho, who told Rourke he had no respect for the actor. So will the two actually end up fighting in the ring?
The WWE is playing up the spat for all it’s worth, even without pledging that Rourke will show up at WrestleMania. ”You never know what’s going to happen at the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania,” said Robert Zimmerman, a spokesman for the company.
The whole thing is obviously a publicity stunt……going to be very entertaining though
Hopefully more entertaining than Big Show v Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather at last years ‘Mania…..
“Wrestler” Mickey Rourke jumps into the ring — for real
(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)
Actor Mickey Rourke has turned himself into one of Hollywood’s comeback kings with an Oscar-nominated performance in “The Wrestler.” Now, the actor is planning to take on opponents larger and tougher than movie critics — he wants to fight in World Wrestling Entertainment’s WrestleMania match in Houston on April 5. Rourke made the announcement on the red carpet at the Screen Actors Guild awards on Sunday night. The news was reported by celebrity news outlets Access Hollywood and E! News. Rourke even fit in a bash against pro wrestler Chris Jericho, telling a reporter that he “better get in shape.” Rourke was stuck in the Hollywood wilderness for years because of on-set troubles and run-ins with the law. He gave a salty acceptance speech when he won a best actor award for “The Wrestler” at the Golden Globes on Jan. 11, and it’s clear that being back in the limelight has not taken the edge off Rourke. The question is: how will he fare in the ring? He is, after all, just an actor.
I just caught The Wrestler tonight.
I have to say it was the BEST movie I’ve seen in a while. Mickey Rourke’s stellar performance struck a cord with me. Especially the relationship (or lack thereof) between Mickey and his only daughter. I was in tears!
My ex-husband has a similar strained relationship with our oldest daughter and= Rourke’s performance is one I will never forget.
I’ve yet to see MILK but I truly believe Mickey deserved an OSCAR for sure for such a wonderful performance.
I would love to meet the man to shake his hand and let him know how much I appreciate his dedication to his craft.
All the best,
Suzan
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.
here i thought Mickey Rourke would never show up in public again, and there he was, winning big at the Golden Globes
Toronto talks Oscar, but do movie fans listen?
A lot of buzz at the Toronto film festival inevitably is about which movies may compete for Oscars as Hollywood begins its months-long campaign for film honors that often — although not always — bring stars fame and movie studios money.
Taken together with film festivals in Venice and Telluride, Colorado, which annually occur in late August and early September, the Toronto event is a key Oscar campaign launch site. But sometimes the movies suffer a critical backlash if they are too widely hyped. Other times critics jump on a movie’s bandwagon and propel the film forward.
A few titles winning early praise here at Toronto, mostly for their performances include: Mickey Rourke as a washed up professional wrestler being urged to make a comeback in a big match in “The Wrestler”; Anne Hathaway playing a drug abusing woman who checks out of rehab to attend her sister’s wedding in “Rachel Getting Married”; and Greg Kinnear portraying the man who invents the intermittent windshield wiper and must battle automakers over his patent in “Flash of Genius.”
There is little doubt that singer Alicia Keys will garner a lot of media attention for a supporting part in coming-of-age drama “The “Secret Life of Bees,” as will the film’s star, young Dakota Fanning. But whether critics and Oscar voters adore the overall film seems to be a tossup among the film pundits here at the Toronto festival. Two films that clearly have stood out in the early festivals are “The Wrestler,” directed by Darren Aronofsky, and “Slumdog Millionaire” from director Danny Boyle, telling of young Indian boy who aims to be a millionaire by competing on a TV game show.
At a Toronto news conference, we asked Kinnear how he saw “Flash of Genius” playing out during awards season, and here was part of his answer: “What I’m most excited about is that the movie’s being talked about.
“You know I think it’s a little provocative in terms of how people register this film and the fact that they recognize it, as (director) Marc (Abraham) said, he took this project out to studios and you tell studios you’re going to make a movie about a guy who invented the intermittent windshield wiper — not a lot of bites…
“It’s an unconventional film and it’s hard to get these kinds of pictures noticed. It really is, especially in a world where 7 or 8 or 12 movies are coming out in a weekend now. So we’re obviously grateful to be here and grateful to anybody who in any way is referencing what you’re talking about right now,” Kinnear said
Rourke’s Venice success shows we love a comeback
If we are honest, most of us would admit that we derive a certain pleasure from seeing someone famous fall from their perch, be it with a critical flop, a personal problem or a bout of odd behaviour in public.
How refreshing, then, to see the world-weary entertainment press genuinely rejoicing in Mickey Rourke’s comeback in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler”, which won the Golden Lion for best film at the Venice festival over the weekend. There were no snide asides among reporters as we waited in a hotel lounge by the Adriatic Sea to interview the 51-year-old. Noone complained about where they would rather be or how their head was still reeling from the night before (it was mid-morning).
No, instead there was broad agreement that Rourke had pulled it off. For most of the last 15 years the actor and former boxer has been a peripheral figure, a Hollywood outcast with a reputation for bad behaviour on set and off it. Now he is being universally lauded for an honest and touching performance as a washed up wrestler whose personal problems and professional decline poignantly reflect Rourke’s own life.
And to cap it all, he gave candid answers, with the odd expletive thrown in, suggesting that for the first time in a while he is happy where he is. He told us he believed it was the best film he’d ever made, and indicated that, as a team player from now on, there is plenty more to come.
