Tag Archives: Oscars

Freida Pinto joins Woody Allen

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Even as the Slumdog Millionaire team recovers from its Oscar headrush, its stars are moving right along. Dev Patel has already signed a movie with Manoj Night Shyamalan, replacing actor Jesse McCartney for the villain’s role in The Last Airbender.

And now Freida Pinto, the film’s leading lady who has so far been wowing the world on the red carpet and across television interviews lining up to the Slumdog’s Oscar glory, has gone one better and signed up a film with director Woody Allen.

The 24-year-old Mumbai girl, who dumped her fiancé has landed with a spectacular breakthrough. Allen was thanked profusely by Penelope Cruz in her Best Supporting actress acceptance speech, for not just for giving her an award-winning role in his most recent, Vicky Christina Barcelona, but for ‘having written over all these years some of the greatest characters for women.’

Allen, a three-time Oscar winner (and a 17-time nominee) has frequently seen actresses go on to Oscar glory, most recently Cruz. Before her, Mira Sorvino won for Mighty Aphrodite, Dianne Wiest won for Hannah And Her Sisters and Bullets Over Broadway, and, of course, Diane Keaton won for Allen’s crown jewel, the magnificent 1977 picture, Annie Hall.

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, A Definite Oscar Favorite

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Among the biggest hopes in Oscars this year is the fantasy drama “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”. the movie has received 13 Oscar nominations in all including those for the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor as well as Best Supporting Actress.

the movie is about a man who finds himself aging backwards and relearns the meaning of life. His path crosses, time and again, with those whom he loves but Benjamin cannot have the luxury of long-term relationships because of his strange biological condition. Eventually he learns – and the audience with him – that it is not important how long we live. What is important is how we live and love during our days on earth which are forever shadowed by the eventual fact of death.

The movie was released on Christmas Day, 2008 in the US and garnered positive reviews from both critics as well as audiences. The director David Fincher, has been praised for telling a rich, fulfilling tale that is both an intimate love story as well as an epic on age, youth, loss and the essence of life. The cinematography seamlessly blends the earthen colors and shadows of a previous era with technical effects of Benjamin’s reverse aging. Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button delivers his best performance till date. The movie is definitely going to be a favorite at the Oscars on the coming 22 February.

“Slumdog” On Way to Best Oscar Boost Since 2004

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“Slumdog Millionaire” is set to get a $56 million boost from the Oscar nominations, the biggest since Clint Eastwood’s “Million-Dollar Baby” in 2004 saw sales rising by ten times after being nominated for the Best Picture in the Oscars.

“Slumdog Millionaire” might earn as much as $100 million during its run at the theaters in US and Canadian, according to a report compiled by researchers at Media by Numbers LLC. Till it was nominated by the Oscars in ten categories, including Best Picture, the movie had collected around $43.9 million.

Directed by Danny Boyle, the movie tells of young man’s aspiration to rise out of his dismal surroundings in Mumbai. He becomes a contestant in the Indian version of the television gameshow, “Who Wants to be a millionaire” but is hauled up by the police after a winning streak. The movie then proceeds in a series of flashbacks of his life as he explains how he knows the answers to the difficult gameshow questions.

The heart-warming movie has been attracting bigger audiences after the Oscar nominations in the US as compared to Brad Pitt’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” as well as the Holocaust drama “The Reader”. Media analysts suggest that in these times of recession the happy ending in “Slumdog Millionaire” may have something to do with the movie’s growing popularity.

SAG awards announced!!

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Glittering evening, super stars, shinning trophies, yet there were no surprises at 15th annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards, at least when the top prize was concerned! Continuing its string of awards from Critics Choice to Golden Globe, British director Danny Boyle’s Mumbai based ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ has already become everyone’s favorite. The frontrunner for Oscars this year, has added another feather to its cap, wining the topmost ‘Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture’ award at the glistering ceremony held on the 25th night at the Shrine Exposition Center, Los Angeles, California.

“It was already enough to be nominated, to win this is unbelievable, it is unbelievable”, said Anil Kapoor who collected the award on the behalf of the movie’s cast and crew.

Anil Kapoor who played the host of the show, ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’ in the movie, thanked the the director Danny Boyle and dedicated the phenomenal success to the child stars. “They deserve this award. It is the children that have done it, not us. This is on behalf of the children,” said an elated Anil Kapoor.

The award for the best actor (male) went to Sean Penn who was ‘shocked’ to win the award for his performance in ‘Milk’, beating Slumdog Millionaire’s 18 year old actor, Dev Patel. Meryl Streep won the lead actor (female) award for ‘Doubt’.

The best actor in the supporting role was awarded (posthumously) to the late Australian star, Heath Ledger, for his role as the joker in Batman blockbuster ‘The Dark Knight’. On the other hand, Kate Winslet was named the best suppoting actor (female) for the outstanding performance in The Reader. The role earlier also won her a Golden Globe and Oscar nomination this year.

‘30 Rock’, ‘Mad Men’ and John Adams were among the notable TV winners. AMC’s critically-acclaimed “Mad Men” won the best drama ensemble honor whereas NBC’s “30 Rock” made a clean sweep of the awards in the comedy series categories. The award for the ‘Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series, went to the favourite, ‘Heroes’ and to ‘The Dark Knight’ for the movie.

 James Earl Jones was honored with the guild’s prestigious lifetime achievement award.

Surprisingly The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, the movie which bagged 13 Oscar nominations and the critically appreciated  Frost/Nixon returned disappointed.

The stage is now all set for the Academy Awards!