(Reuters) - Japanese film director Nagisa Oshima, best known for the sexually explicit film 'In the Realm of the Senses' and 'Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence', has died from pneumonia, aged 80.
The Hollywood Reporter said Oshima died on Tuesday in Fujisawa, south of Tokyo, where he had been living since retiring from making movies.
The British Film Institute described Oshima as one of the major directors of the new wave of Japanese cinema in the 1960s whose politically charged films contrasted starkly with the stylistic conservatism of classical Japanese filmmaking.
A law graduate, he began his filmmaking career at the age of 26 with the 1959 movie 'A Town of Love and Hope'.
But his international notoriety was ensured in 1976 with 'In the Realm of the Senses,' a graphic portrayal of insatiable sexual desire between a hotel owner and one of his maids in 1930s Japan.
The film contained scenes of unsimulated sexual activity and had to be registered as a French production to bypass Japanese censorship laws. Its uncensored version remains unavailable in Japan.
Oshima won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978 for his film 'Empire of Passion,' another erotic tale.
He teamed up with British actor/singer David Bowie on the 1983 film 'Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,' based on author Laurens van der Post's experiences as a prisoner of war in Japan during World War Two.
Oshima suffered a stroke in 1996 but recovered enough to return briefly to filmmaking, making his final film 'Taboo' in 1999, a movie about gay samurai.
(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)
This news article is brought to you by SPACE NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Jodie Foster Kicks Open the Closet Door - What It Means for Gays in Hollywood
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Jodie Foster spoke frankly about her life as a lesbian Sunday night in a Golden Globes speech that thrust her into the center of the gay rights debate whether she likes it or not.
By deciding to address the subject of her sexuality in a spectacularly public setting, while also articulating a defense of personal privacy, she upended the casual way that other gay movie and music stars have been revealing their orientation in recent years.
They chose to nudge the closet door ajar by dropping the 'g' word in interviews - like 'The Big Bang Theory' star Jim Parsons - or by tweeting pictures of their significant others lounging on a couch, as 'Kyle XY' actor Matt Dallas did last week.
But Foster made coming out a big deal again, shattering her glass closet, while never actually saying the words, 'I'm gay.'
'When she decided to address her sexuality last night, however indirectly she did it, she was talking about gay rights at a critical moment,' Dustin Lance Black, the openly gay screenwriter behind 'Milk,' said. 'There is a case in that will be in front of the Supreme Court soon that will decide if gay and lesbian people will be allowed to marry. By coming out she sends a message to the country that we are everyone and everywhere. We're your friends, your neighbors and we're the people who have been entertaining you for the last 47 years.'
The speech itself was fascinating, because it was raw, but also grudging. Some gay activists have long agitated for Foster to speak frankly about being a lesbian and at various points, her speech seemed to be a challenge to any group who would seek to exploit her celebrity for its own ends. My life belongs to me, she seemed to be saying.
'I hope you're not disappointed that there won't be a big coming-out speech tonight because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age, in those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers and then gradually, proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met,' Foster said, as her two sons, Charles, 14, and Kit, 12, looked on from the audience. 'But now I'm told, apparently that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a prime-time reality show.'
Foster turned 50 last November and her discomfort with addressing her orientation may have been entangled in a different era in which being openly gay was a barrier that prevented actors and actresses from getting A-list roles. Over the past half century, acceptance of gays and lesbians has accelerated dramatically.
In a Pew survey conducted last October, 49 percent of respondents favored gay marriage, up from 39 percent four years earlier.
This greater tolerance has left stars like Foster and to a lesser extent people like CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who acknowledged that he was gay last summer after years of internet speculation, in an awkward position.
'It catches people like Jodie Foster in a bind,' said Larry Gross, the author of 'Contested Closets: The Politics and Ethics of Outing' who is also vice dean at USC's Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. 'What happens to them is at a certain point the culture moved past them and they find themselves standing out there in a semi-opaque glass closet. Everybody in the world knew that she was gay and it was becoming an embarrassment.'
Foster tried to explain her hesitancy while accepting the Cecil B. DeMille career achievement award Sunday by saying that it was related to issues of personal privacy. She noted that she has been in the spotlight for half a century, but also implied that she was uncomfortable with the tabloid coverage of celebrities and their obsession to open their private lives to scrutiny in everything from prime time interviews to personal Twitter streams.
'If you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler, if you'd had to fight for a life that felt real and honest and normal against all odds, then maybe you too might value privacy above all else,' she said. 'Privacy. Some day, in the future, people will look back and remember how beautiful it once was.'
For the most part, the reaction among prominent members of the gay community has been positive, but there are some who insinuate that the relative safety in which Foster chose to address the issue had been fought and paid for by earlier generations of gay performers who opened up about their homosexuality at a time when their professional lives could have been snuffed out.
Wilson Cruz, the openly gay star of the 1990s drama 'My So Called Life' and now a strategic giving officer at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said he was heartened by Foster's remarks, but also conscious of her place in the history of the gay rights movement.
'I applaud anybody who opens up like that in a way that will effect million of people's lives for the better,' he said. 'One thing I did take umbrage with for personal reasons, is that I like to remember people who came out before it was safe. People like Harvey Fierstein, Ian McKellen and John Gielgud who risked their careers and their lives to do so.'
To that end, activists and public relations experts say that they do not anticipate Foster will be riding the main float at Gay Pride festivals anytime soon. Instead, they expect that after Sunday's air-clearing, the actress will remain fiercely protective of her privacy - something she had done since John W. Hinckley Jr. said that he had tried to assassinate former President Ronald Reagan to impress her while she was still a college student.
'I don't expect her to be the cover girl for gay and lesbian causes,' Howard Bragman, vice chairman of Reputation.com, and a publicist who has helped over a dozen actors with their coming out announcements, said. 'She may show up to a few events, but I don't think she will be that involved, and that's fine.'
Bragman said that on the scale of coming out announcements, Foster's ranked as a 'duh.' Though she had never been explicit about her orientation, she hadn't pretended to be a heterosexual. In fact, she had thanked her former partner Cydney Bernard as far back as 2007 at the Women in Entertainment Breakfast.
An industry awards gathering, though, is not the same thing as coming out on national television to an audience of 14.8 million viewers. Reaction to Foster's statements erupted almost immediately on Twitter and on other social media sites, with some griping about her decision to couple her speech about her 'modern family' with a plea for privacy.
To Bil Browning, a gay activist and the editor-in-chief of The Bilerico Project, that misses the point. Given Foster's iconic roles in films like 'The Silence of the Lambs,' not to mention her long-standing refusal to address the gay rumors, she had no choice but to command a global platform when the time came for her big reveal.
'Jodie Foster is somebody the gay community has always wanted to be an icon and she came out in a big way and now some people still aren't satisfied,' Browning said. 'Would they have been satisfied if she had just posted a picture of her girlfriend on Instagram? Given her status, I don't think she would ever have been allowed to just come out casually.'
Gay activists and chroniclers of the movement say that the 'coming out' process that has so bedeviled public figures like Foster may soon be an anachronism. As younger actors step into the spotlight, they will do so having grown up in a society that allows gays to serve openly in the military and is weighing the legality of permitting them to marry. The novelty of simply saying, 'I'm gay,' could soon seem quaint.
'We're on the verge of crossing or erasing what was an uncrossable line,' Gross said. 'There's a younger generation of actors, who have been out all their lives and can't imagine the enforced rigmarole of going on fake dates and ducking questions about their sexuality, who are coming on the stage. Like the Berlin Wall, the barrier is crumbling in front of our eyes.'
Or as Foster herself said in her Golden Globes speech last night, 'Change, you gotta love it.'
This news article is brought to you by SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
By deciding to address the subject of her sexuality in a spectacularly public setting, while also articulating a defense of personal privacy, she upended the casual way that other gay movie and music stars have been revealing their orientation in recent years.
They chose to nudge the closet door ajar by dropping the 'g' word in interviews - like 'The Big Bang Theory' star Jim Parsons - or by tweeting pictures of their significant others lounging on a couch, as 'Kyle XY' actor Matt Dallas did last week.
But Foster made coming out a big deal again, shattering her glass closet, while never actually saying the words, 'I'm gay.'
'When she decided to address her sexuality last night, however indirectly she did it, she was talking about gay rights at a critical moment,' Dustin Lance Black, the openly gay screenwriter behind 'Milk,' said. 'There is a case in that will be in front of the Supreme Court soon that will decide if gay and lesbian people will be allowed to marry. By coming out she sends a message to the country that we are everyone and everywhere. We're your friends, your neighbors and we're the people who have been entertaining you for the last 47 years.'
The speech itself was fascinating, because it was raw, but also grudging. Some gay activists have long agitated for Foster to speak frankly about being a lesbian and at various points, her speech seemed to be a challenge to any group who would seek to exploit her celebrity for its own ends. My life belongs to me, she seemed to be saying.
'I hope you're not disappointed that there won't be a big coming-out speech tonight because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age, in those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers and then gradually, proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met,' Foster said, as her two sons, Charles, 14, and Kit, 12, looked on from the audience. 'But now I'm told, apparently that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a prime-time reality show.'
Foster turned 50 last November and her discomfort with addressing her orientation may have been entangled in a different era in which being openly gay was a barrier that prevented actors and actresses from getting A-list roles. Over the past half century, acceptance of gays and lesbians has accelerated dramatically.
In a Pew survey conducted last October, 49 percent of respondents favored gay marriage, up from 39 percent four years earlier.
This greater tolerance has left stars like Foster and to a lesser extent people like CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who acknowledged that he was gay last summer after years of internet speculation, in an awkward position.
'It catches people like Jodie Foster in a bind,' said Larry Gross, the author of 'Contested Closets: The Politics and Ethics of Outing' who is also vice dean at USC's Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. 'What happens to them is at a certain point the culture moved past them and they find themselves standing out there in a semi-opaque glass closet. Everybody in the world knew that she was gay and it was becoming an embarrassment.'
Foster tried to explain her hesitancy while accepting the Cecil B. DeMille career achievement award Sunday by saying that it was related to issues of personal privacy. She noted that she has been in the spotlight for half a century, but also implied that she was uncomfortable with the tabloid coverage of celebrities and their obsession to open their private lives to scrutiny in everything from prime time interviews to personal Twitter streams.
'If you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler, if you'd had to fight for a life that felt real and honest and normal against all odds, then maybe you too might value privacy above all else,' she said. 'Privacy. Some day, in the future, people will look back and remember how beautiful it once was.'
For the most part, the reaction among prominent members of the gay community has been positive, but there are some who insinuate that the relative safety in which Foster chose to address the issue had been fought and paid for by earlier generations of gay performers who opened up about their homosexuality at a time when their professional lives could have been snuffed out.
Wilson Cruz, the openly gay star of the 1990s drama 'My So Called Life' and now a strategic giving officer at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said he was heartened by Foster's remarks, but also conscious of her place in the history of the gay rights movement.
'I applaud anybody who opens up like that in a way that will effect million of people's lives for the better,' he said. 'One thing I did take umbrage with for personal reasons, is that I like to remember people who came out before it was safe. People like Harvey Fierstein, Ian McKellen and John Gielgud who risked their careers and their lives to do so.'
To that end, activists and public relations experts say that they do not anticipate Foster will be riding the main float at Gay Pride festivals anytime soon. Instead, they expect that after Sunday's air-clearing, the actress will remain fiercely protective of her privacy - something she had done since John W. Hinckley Jr. said that he had tried to assassinate former President Ronald Reagan to impress her while she was still a college student.
'I don't expect her to be the cover girl for gay and lesbian causes,' Howard Bragman, vice chairman of Reputation.com, and a publicist who has helped over a dozen actors with their coming out announcements, said. 'She may show up to a few events, but I don't think she will be that involved, and that's fine.'
Bragman said that on the scale of coming out announcements, Foster's ranked as a 'duh.' Though she had never been explicit about her orientation, she hadn't pretended to be a heterosexual. In fact, she had thanked her former partner Cydney Bernard as far back as 2007 at the Women in Entertainment Breakfast.
An industry awards gathering, though, is not the same thing as coming out on national television to an audience of 14.8 million viewers. Reaction to Foster's statements erupted almost immediately on Twitter and on other social media sites, with some griping about her decision to couple her speech about her 'modern family' with a plea for privacy.
To Bil Browning, a gay activist and the editor-in-chief of The Bilerico Project, that misses the point. Given Foster's iconic roles in films like 'The Silence of the Lambs,' not to mention her long-standing refusal to address the gay rumors, she had no choice but to command a global platform when the time came for her big reveal.
'Jodie Foster is somebody the gay community has always wanted to be an icon and she came out in a big way and now some people still aren't satisfied,' Browning said. 'Would they have been satisfied if she had just posted a picture of her girlfriend on Instagram? Given her status, I don't think she would ever have been allowed to just come out casually.'
Gay activists and chroniclers of the movement say that the 'coming out' process that has so bedeviled public figures like Foster may soon be an anachronism. As younger actors step into the spotlight, they will do so having grown up in a society that allows gays to serve openly in the military and is weighing the legality of permitting them to marry. The novelty of simply saying, 'I'm gay,' could soon seem quaint.
'We're on the verge of crossing or erasing what was an uncrossable line,' Gross said. 'There's a younger generation of actors, who have been out all their lives and can't imagine the enforced rigmarole of going on fake dates and ducking questions about their sexuality, who are coming on the stage. Like the Berlin Wall, the barrier is crumbling in front of our eyes.'
Or as Foster herself said in her Golden Globes speech last night, 'Change, you gotta love it.'
This news article is brought to you by SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Monday, January 14, 2013
''Argo'' scores sweet Golden Globe victory with two top awards
BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) - Iran hostage drama 'Argo' scored a sweet double victory at the Golden Globe awards on Sunday, winning best movie drama - the night's top prize - and best director for Ben Affleck on a night that left front-runner 'Lincoln' with just one trophy.
Musical 'Les Miserables' won the contest for best comedy or musical, as well as acting awards for stars Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway.
But elsewhere, it was a night of surprises at Hollywood's second biggest awards show after the Oscars in February.
Actress Jodie Foster publicly acknowledged for the first time that she is gay, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton appeared at the glitzy ceremony.
Yet the big story was the defeat of Steven Spielberg's drama about U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's battle to end slavery - which went into Sunday's ceremony with a leading seven nominations - and the triumph of Affleck in the director's race.
Affleck was overlooked in the directing category when Oscar nominations were announced last Thursday, although 'Argo' was short-listed for best film at the Oscar ceremony to be held on February 24.
'Argo' combines the true story of the rescue of U.S. diplomats from Tehran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 under the guise of making a movie, with a satire on Hollywood.
'Argo' producer George Clooney told reporters backstage on Sunday that he was disappointed at Affleck's personal snub by the Academy Awards voters.
'I think he did a phenomenal job with the film. I felt that he should have been nominated, but you can't figure out what goes on in the Academy and he's still nominated for best picture...It's disappointing, but we're not out of the water just yet,' Clooney said.
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS SOLE VICTOR FOR 'LINCOLN'
British actor Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays Abraham Lincoln, got the only Golden Globe win for 'Lincoln,' which has a leading 12 Oscar nominations.
Instead, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the Golden Globes, showed their admiration for Quentin Tarantino's slavery era Western 'Django Unchained.'
'Django' won two awards - for Tarantino's screenplay, and Christoph Waltz's supporting actor turn as a dentist turned bounty hunter.
'Wow! ... This is a damn surprise, and I am happy to be surprised,' Tarantino said, accepting his screenplay award.
The Golden Globes are sometimes seen as an indication of sentiment ahead of the Oscars, but the two voting bodies are very different and Oscar nominations were announced this year before Sunday's ceremony.
In other key races, Jessica Chastain, won, as expected, for her role as a young female CIA agent who tracks down Osama bin Laden in thriller 'Zero Dark Thirty.'
'I have wanted to be an actor since I was a little girl...To be here now is a beautiful feeling to receive this encouragement and support,' Chastain said.
In the best comedy or musical category, Jennifer Lawrence won best actress for 'Silver Linings Playbook' while was best supporting actress.
'Thank you for this lovely blunt object that I will ever more use as a weapon against self-doubt,' said Hathaway as she accepted her trophy. The actress lost 25 pounds in weight and chopped off her long brown hair to play tragic heroine Fantine in 'Les Miserables.'
JODIE FOSTER PRAISES HER CO-PARENT, EX-LOVER
Comedians Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, hosting the Globes for the first time, scattered around jokes about some of the top Hollywood stars in the audience, along with impersonations of Johnny Depp and Julianne Moore.
Foster, 50, who won Oscars for 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'The Accused' was given a lifetime achievement award, and publicly acknowledged that she is gay.
'I hope that you're not disappointed that there won't be a big coming-out speech tonight because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago (to friends and family,' Foster said.
Foster said she had never felt the need to bare her soul in public but praised her co-parent and the woman she called her 'ex-partner in love.'
Clinton got a standing ovation from the A-list Hollywood stars when he appeared to introduce clips from 'Lincoln.'
As the former president left the stage, Poehler quipped: 'Wow! What an exciting special guest! That was Hillary Clinton's husband! That was exciting.'
Unlike the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes also honor television dramas and comedies.
On Sunday they chose Showtime terrorism thriller 'Homeland' as best drama series, and the show's Damian Lewis and Claire Danes as best actor and actress.
'Girls' won best comedy series and Lena Dunham, its star and creator, won best comedy actress. Don Cheadle was named best actor in a comedy series for playing a devious management consultant in 'House of Lies.'
HBO's drama 'Game Change' about Sarah Palin's 2008 run for U.S. vice president won best TV film, while Moore won for her portrayal of the polarizing former Alaska governor, and Ed Harris won for his portrayal of Republican presidential contender John McCain.
(Additional reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy and Mary Milliken, Editing by Stacey Joyce)
This article is brought to you by ONLINE MONEY MANAGEMENT.
Musical 'Les Miserables' won the contest for best comedy or musical, as well as acting awards for stars Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway.
But elsewhere, it was a night of surprises at Hollywood's second biggest awards show after the Oscars in February.
Actress Jodie Foster publicly acknowledged for the first time that she is gay, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton appeared at the glitzy ceremony.
Yet the big story was the defeat of Steven Spielberg's drama about U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's battle to end slavery - which went into Sunday's ceremony with a leading seven nominations - and the triumph of Affleck in the director's race.
Affleck was overlooked in the directing category when Oscar nominations were announced last Thursday, although 'Argo' was short-listed for best film at the Oscar ceremony to be held on February 24.
'Argo' combines the true story of the rescue of U.S. diplomats from Tehran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 under the guise of making a movie, with a satire on Hollywood.
'Argo' producer George Clooney told reporters backstage on Sunday that he was disappointed at Affleck's personal snub by the Academy Awards voters.
'I think he did a phenomenal job with the film. I felt that he should have been nominated, but you can't figure out what goes on in the Academy and he's still nominated for best picture...It's disappointing, but we're not out of the water just yet,' Clooney said.
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS SOLE VICTOR FOR 'LINCOLN'
British actor Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays Abraham Lincoln, got the only Golden Globe win for 'Lincoln,' which has a leading 12 Oscar nominations.
Instead, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the Golden Globes, showed their admiration for Quentin Tarantino's slavery era Western 'Django Unchained.'
'Django' won two awards - for Tarantino's screenplay, and Christoph Waltz's supporting actor turn as a dentist turned bounty hunter.
'Wow! ... This is a damn surprise, and I am happy to be surprised,' Tarantino said, accepting his screenplay award.
The Golden Globes are sometimes seen as an indication of sentiment ahead of the Oscars, but the two voting bodies are very different and Oscar nominations were announced this year before Sunday's ceremony.
In other key races, Jessica Chastain, won, as expected, for her role as a young female CIA agent who tracks down Osama bin Laden in thriller 'Zero Dark Thirty.'
'I have wanted to be an actor since I was a little girl...To be here now is a beautiful feeling to receive this encouragement and support,' Chastain said.
In the best comedy or musical category, Jennifer Lawrence won best actress for 'Silver Linings Playbook' while was best supporting actress.
'Thank you for this lovely blunt object that I will ever more use as a weapon against self-doubt,' said Hathaway as she accepted her trophy. The actress lost 25 pounds in weight and chopped off her long brown hair to play tragic heroine Fantine in 'Les Miserables.'
JODIE FOSTER PRAISES HER CO-PARENT, EX-LOVER
Comedians Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, hosting the Globes for the first time, scattered around jokes about some of the top Hollywood stars in the audience, along with impersonations of Johnny Depp and Julianne Moore.
Foster, 50, who won Oscars for 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'The Accused' was given a lifetime achievement award, and publicly acknowledged that she is gay.
'I hope that you're not disappointed that there won't be a big coming-out speech tonight because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago (to friends and family,' Foster said.
Foster said she had never felt the need to bare her soul in public but praised her co-parent and the woman she called her 'ex-partner in love.'
Clinton got a standing ovation from the A-list Hollywood stars when he appeared to introduce clips from 'Lincoln.'
As the former president left the stage, Poehler quipped: 'Wow! What an exciting special guest! That was Hillary Clinton's husband! That was exciting.'
Unlike the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes also honor television dramas and comedies.
On Sunday they chose Showtime terrorism thriller 'Homeland' as best drama series, and the show's Damian Lewis and Claire Danes as best actor and actress.
'Girls' won best comedy series and Lena Dunham, its star and creator, won best comedy actress. Don Cheadle was named best actor in a comedy series for playing a devious management consultant in 'House of Lies.'
HBO's drama 'Game Change' about Sarah Palin's 2008 run for U.S. vice president won best TV film, while Moore won for her portrayal of the polarizing former Alaska governor, and Ed Harris won for his portrayal of Republican presidential contender John McCain.
(Additional reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy and Mary Milliken, Editing by Stacey Joyce)
This article is brought to you by ONLINE MONEY MANAGEMENT.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
"Lincoln," "Argo," Tina Fey, Amy Poehler on Golden Globes menu
BEVERLY HILLS (Reuters) - Hollywood's biggest stars turn out on Sunday for the 70th Golden Globe Awards, with 'Lincoln' and Iran hostage thriller 'Argo' in a close race for the top honor, best movie drama.
Golden Globe nominees Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Steven Spielberg, Bradley Cooper, Richard Gere, Denzel Washington and singer Adele will be A-list presenters, along with George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Julia Roberts and 'Twilight' movie star Robert Pattinson.
Eyes also will be on comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who are jointly hosting the event for the first time and who have promised 'the sloppiest, best-ever' Golden Globes ceremony.
'Lincoln,' Spielberg's account of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's battle to end slavery, heads into the evening with a leading seven nominations.
But it faces strong competition from 'Argo,' and Quentin Tarantino's spaghetti Western-style slavery drama, 'Django Unchained,' which have five apiece from Globe organizer, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).
With Osama bin Laden movie 'Zero Dark Thirty' and visually arresting shipwreck tale 'Life of Pi' rounding out the best dramatic film contest, pundits say it's hard to predict which film will come out on top.
'They really seem to like Tarantino at the HFPA,' said Pete Hammond, awards columnist for entertainment industry website Deadline.com.
'But I am guessing it will come down to 'Argo' versus 'Lincoln.' They like them both enormously at the HFPA, so I think it's a battle to the finish for those two,' Hammond told Reuters.
EARLY OSCAR NOMINATIONS STEAL GLOBE'S THUNDER?
The Golden Globes, which will be broadcast live on NBC television, is Hollywood's second-biggest awards show after February's Oscars, or Academy Awards. But its influence on that race has been sapped this year because Oscar nominations were announced three days ago, instead of a week after the Globes awards show.
Unlike the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes have a separate category for film comedies or musicals, and they also honor television dramas and comedies.
This year the lavish screen version of hit stage musical 'Les Miserables' is meeting strong competition from comedy 'Silver Linings Playbook' about a man with bipolar disorder (Cooper) and a young widow (Jennifer Lawrence).
Both actors are also in the running for a Golden Globe trophy for their performances, along with 'Les Mis' stars Jackman and Hathaway.
In the television categories, Fey and Poehler are likely to have some fun at their own expense.
The former 'Saturday Night Live' comedy show colleagues will compete against each other for the best comedy actress trophy thanks to their starring roles in TV shows '30 Rock' (Fey) and 'Parks and Recreation' (Poehler).
The women will bring a fresh vibe to the festivities after three years in which acidic Briton Ricky Gervais has cracked the jokes.
'I think Tina and Amy may reserve their sharpest jabs for each other, and overall keep a little bit of a friendlier tone. I don't think they will go into the night wanting to skewer anyone, except maybe each other,' said Dave Karger, chief correspondent at Fandango.com.
Poehler jokingly told Entertainment Weekly last week that Globes evening 'is just the right amount of weird for us,' and that the duo would 'kind of encourage people to go off their meds for one night.'
Television shows competing for best drama on Sunday include Emmy-winning terrorism thriller 'Homeland,' and its stars Claire Danes and Damian Lewis,' along with cooks and countesses drama 'Downton Abbey,' 'Boardwalk Empire,' 'Breaking Bad,' and newcomer 'The Newsroom.'
The best comedy/musical series race features 'Modern Family,' 'Girls,' 'Episodes,' 'The Big Bang Theory,' and 'Smash.'
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Xavier Briand)
This news article is brought to you by MOVIE GOSSIP NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Golden Globe nominees Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Steven Spielberg, Bradley Cooper, Richard Gere, Denzel Washington and singer Adele will be A-list presenters, along with George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Julia Roberts and 'Twilight' movie star Robert Pattinson.
Eyes also will be on comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who are jointly hosting the event for the first time and who have promised 'the sloppiest, best-ever' Golden Globes ceremony.
'Lincoln,' Spielberg's account of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's battle to end slavery, heads into the evening with a leading seven nominations.
But it faces strong competition from 'Argo,' and Quentin Tarantino's spaghetti Western-style slavery drama, 'Django Unchained,' which have five apiece from Globe organizer, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).
With Osama bin Laden movie 'Zero Dark Thirty' and visually arresting shipwreck tale 'Life of Pi' rounding out the best dramatic film contest, pundits say it's hard to predict which film will come out on top.
'They really seem to like Tarantino at the HFPA,' said Pete Hammond, awards columnist for entertainment industry website Deadline.com.
'But I am guessing it will come down to 'Argo' versus 'Lincoln.' They like them both enormously at the HFPA, so I think it's a battle to the finish for those two,' Hammond told Reuters.
EARLY OSCAR NOMINATIONS STEAL GLOBE'S THUNDER?
The Golden Globes, which will be broadcast live on NBC television, is Hollywood's second-biggest awards show after February's Oscars, or Academy Awards. But its influence on that race has been sapped this year because Oscar nominations were announced three days ago, instead of a week after the Globes awards show.
Unlike the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes have a separate category for film comedies or musicals, and they also honor television dramas and comedies.
This year the lavish screen version of hit stage musical 'Les Miserables' is meeting strong competition from comedy 'Silver Linings Playbook' about a man with bipolar disorder (Cooper) and a young widow (Jennifer Lawrence).
Both actors are also in the running for a Golden Globe trophy for their performances, along with 'Les Mis' stars Jackman and Hathaway.
In the television categories, Fey and Poehler are likely to have some fun at their own expense.
The former 'Saturday Night Live' comedy show colleagues will compete against each other for the best comedy actress trophy thanks to their starring roles in TV shows '30 Rock' (Fey) and 'Parks and Recreation' (Poehler).
The women will bring a fresh vibe to the festivities after three years in which acidic Briton Ricky Gervais has cracked the jokes.
'I think Tina and Amy may reserve their sharpest jabs for each other, and overall keep a little bit of a friendlier tone. I don't think they will go into the night wanting to skewer anyone, except maybe each other,' said Dave Karger, chief correspondent at Fandango.com.
Poehler jokingly told Entertainment Weekly last week that Globes evening 'is just the right amount of weird for us,' and that the duo would 'kind of encourage people to go off their meds for one night.'
Television shows competing for best drama on Sunday include Emmy-winning terrorism thriller 'Homeland,' and its stars Claire Danes and Damian Lewis,' along with cooks and countesses drama 'Downton Abbey,' 'Boardwalk Empire,' 'Breaking Bad,' and newcomer 'The Newsroom.'
The best comedy/musical series race features 'Modern Family,' 'Girls,' 'Episodes,' 'The Big Bang Theory,' and 'Smash.'
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Xavier Briand)
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Saturday, January 12, 2013
Sony Pictures executive: "Zero Dark Thirty" "does not advocate torture"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sony Pictures executive Amy Pascal lashed out on Friday at a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) who accused Osama bin Laden film 'Zero Dark Thirty' of promoting torture and urged fellow Academy members not to vote for it in the Oscars race.
In a strongly worded statement, Pascal said the 'attempt to censure one of the great films of our time should be opposed.'
'We are outraged that any responsible member of the Academy would use their voting status in AMPAS as a platform to advance their own political agenda,' said Pascal, who is co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and chairman of its Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group.
'This film should be judged free of partisanship,' she said, adding that the film 'does not advocate torture.'
Pascal's comments came in response to Academy member David Clennon's remarks at a rally against the torture of terror suspects in Los Angeles on Friday.
'I believe that the film clearly promotes a tolerance for torture,' Clennon told local ABC TV news affiliate KABC, adding 'I hope that my fellow members of the Academy will consider the morality of each nominee.'
Clennon, an actor who appeared in 1980s TV series 'thirtysomething,' also wrote an opinion piece earlier this week criticizing the film.
'At the risk of being expelled for disclosing my intentions, I will not be voting for 'Zero Dark Thirty' - in any Academy Awards category,' Clennon wrote on progressive news website Truth-out.org in a January 9 posting.
''Zero' never acknowledges that torture is immoral and criminal. It does portray torture as getting results,' he added.
The 6,000 members of the Academy are urged not to reveal who they cast their votes for. Academy Award winners are revealed at a ceremony in February, the highlight of Hollywood's award season.
The Academy on Friday declined to comment on Clennon's remarks.
'Zero Dark Thirty' won five Oscar nominations, including a nod for best picture, despite coming under attack in Washington over its source material and claims by politicians that it depicts torture as helping the United States find and kill the al Qaeda leader in May 2011.
Among the film's nominees were actress Jessica Chastain and screenwriter Mark Boal, but director Kathyrn Bigelow surprisingly failed to make the Oscar best director shortlist.
Sony Pictures Entertainment is a unit of Sony Corp.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)
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In a strongly worded statement, Pascal said the 'attempt to censure one of the great films of our time should be opposed.'
'We are outraged that any responsible member of the Academy would use their voting status in AMPAS as a platform to advance their own political agenda,' said Pascal, who is co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and chairman of its Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group.
'This film should be judged free of partisanship,' she said, adding that the film 'does not advocate torture.'
Pascal's comments came in response to Academy member David Clennon's remarks at a rally against the torture of terror suspects in Los Angeles on Friday.
'I believe that the film clearly promotes a tolerance for torture,' Clennon told local ABC TV news affiliate KABC, adding 'I hope that my fellow members of the Academy will consider the morality of each nominee.'
Clennon, an actor who appeared in 1980s TV series 'thirtysomething,' also wrote an opinion piece earlier this week criticizing the film.
'At the risk of being expelled for disclosing my intentions, I will not be voting for 'Zero Dark Thirty' - in any Academy Awards category,' Clennon wrote on progressive news website Truth-out.org in a January 9 posting.
''Zero' never acknowledges that torture is immoral and criminal. It does portray torture as getting results,' he added.
The 6,000 members of the Academy are urged not to reveal who they cast their votes for. Academy Award winners are revealed at a ceremony in February, the highlight of Hollywood's award season.
The Academy on Friday declined to comment on Clennon's remarks.
'Zero Dark Thirty' won five Oscar nominations, including a nod for best picture, despite coming under attack in Washington over its source material and claims by politicians that it depicts torture as helping the United States find and kill the al Qaeda leader in May 2011.
Among the film's nominees were actress Jessica Chastain and screenwriter Mark Boal, but director Kathyrn Bigelow surprisingly failed to make the Oscar best director shortlist.
Sony Pictures Entertainment is a unit of Sony Corp.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)
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Friday, January 11, 2013
"Gangster Squad" takes $650K in midnight showings, battle with "Zero Dark Thirty" awaits
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Warner Bros.' 'Gangster Squad' grossed $650,000 in midnight showings Thursday night, a strong start to what should be a weekend-long fight for the box-office crown.
Ruben Fleischer's tale of cops and organized crime in mid-20th century Los Angeles will duke it out with Kathryn Bigelow's 'Zero Dark Thirty,' the Oscar contender that expands to almost 3,000 screens this weekend.
Box office experts projected 'Zero Dark Thirty' would eke out the win before the weekend began, though it remains a close race with both movies looking at openings of about $20 million.
'Gangster Squad,' which stars Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Sean Penn, has a breezy action feel, and runs under two hours. Despite a strong cast, reviewers have not responded warmly to the film, which charts at 43 percent on Metacritic and 34 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Academy rewarded 'Zero Dark Thirty' with five Oscar nominations on Thursday buffeting its pursuit of viewers despite its two hour and 37 minute length.
Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment.
This news article is brought to you by GAMING NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Ruben Fleischer's tale of cops and organized crime in mid-20th century Los Angeles will duke it out with Kathryn Bigelow's 'Zero Dark Thirty,' the Oscar contender that expands to almost 3,000 screens this weekend.
Box office experts projected 'Zero Dark Thirty' would eke out the win before the weekend began, though it remains a close race with both movies looking at openings of about $20 million.
'Gangster Squad,' which stars Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Sean Penn, has a breezy action feel, and runs under two hours. Despite a strong cast, reviewers have not responded warmly to the film, which charts at 43 percent on Metacritic and 34 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Academy rewarded 'Zero Dark Thirty' with five Oscar nominations on Thursday buffeting its pursuit of viewers despite its two hour and 37 minute length.
Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment.
This news article is brought to you by GAMING NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Famed Hollywood movie house renamed TCL Chinese Theatre
(Reuters) - Hollywood's landmark Grauman's Chinese Theatre has a new name after a Chinese company purchased naming rights to the famous movie house and tourist destination.
The one-time site of the Academy awards will now be called the TCL Chinese Theatre following a 10-year deal with Chinese TV maker TCL Corp, its owners said on Friday.
Opened in 1927, the building had been named for Sid Grauman, a Hollywood showman who helped finance the theater's construction. The theater hosted red-carpet premieres for 'The Wizard of Oz' and other classic films and now is the site of about 40 movie premieres annually.
The landmark draws about 4 million viewers each year. It is fronted by an ornate Chinese pagoda and the hand and footprints of famous film stars captured in cement.
The deal with TCL will fund upgrades and preservation of the historic site, theater owners Elie Samaha and Donald Kushner said in a statement.
(Reporting By Lisa Richwine)
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The one-time site of the Academy awards will now be called the TCL Chinese Theatre following a 10-year deal with Chinese TV maker TCL Corp, its owners said on Friday.
Opened in 1927, the building had been named for Sid Grauman, a Hollywood showman who helped finance the theater's construction. The theater hosted red-carpet premieres for 'The Wizard of Oz' and other classic films and now is the site of about 40 movie premieres annually.
The landmark draws about 4 million viewers each year. It is fronted by an ornate Chinese pagoda and the hand and footprints of famous film stars captured in cement.
The deal with TCL will fund upgrades and preservation of the historic site, theater owners Elie Samaha and Donald Kushner said in a statement.
(Reporting By Lisa Richwine)
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