"Social Network" named best film by key group

By Bob Tourtellotte

NEW YORK | Thu Dec 2, 2010 4:34pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facebook film "The Social Network" picked up four awards, including best movie, from a key industry group in the first major honors of Hollywood's awards season, helping to narrow the list of this year's Oscar contenders.

The National Board of Review, a U.S.-based group of movie industry watchers and film professionals, gave best director to "Social Network" maker David Fincher, and its best actor award went to Jesse Eisenberg, who portrays Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Aaron Sorkin won for adapted screenplay.

The movie offers audiences a fictional portrayal of the rise of the social networking website from an idea dreamed up in a college dormitory to its first one million users.

Among other top awards, the National Board of Review gave its best actress trophy to Lesley Manville for "Another Year," which tells of one year in the life of a married couple.

Christian Bale was named best supporting actor for his work as a faded, drug-addicted boxer in "The Fighter" and Jacki Weaver claimed best supporting actress with her role in Australian crime film "Animal Kingdom."

The National Board of Review was formed more than 100 years ago as a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting movies as an art form and entertainment, and each year is the first U.S. group to pick a best film from Hollywood's major studios.

In fact, it names a list of top 10 movies, and many other industry groups closely eye that roster to help establish their own picks heading toward February's Oscars, the world's top movie honors from the Beverly Hills-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

THE TOP 10

Making the top 10 list this year are director Mike Leigh's "Another Year," "The King's Speech" which tells of England's King George VI's struggle to overcome stammering, indie darling "Winter's Bone," animated comedy "Toy Story 3" and "The Fighter." Rounding out the list are "Hereafter," "Inception," "Shutter Island," "The Town" and "True Grit."

Notably absent from the list were several films that have been highly touted ahead of awards season, including director Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan."

While the group's awards and list are closely watched, they are not always indicative of which movies will win Oscars. Last year's National Board of Review best film pick was "Up in the Air," and while it was nominated for the best picture Academy Award, it did not win.

In other key categories, the National Board of Review gave its best documentary award to "Waiting for 'Superman'" which looks at the faltering U.S. educational system.

France's "Of Gods and Men," about Cistercian monks facing off against religious fundamentalists, was named best foreign language film.

Disney-Pixar comedy "Toy Story 3" was picked best animated film, and best original screenplay went to Chris Sparling for his independent film "Buried," about a man buried alive.

"Winter's Bone" star Jennifer Lawrence, who portrays a girl searching for her father in a drug-infested community of rural Arkansas, was given an award for breakthrough performance, and director Sofia Coppola was given a special honor for her "Somewhere."

The National Board of Review's awards will be given out at a banquet on January 11 in New York City. A full list of winners can be found at www.www.nbrmp.org.

(editing by Christine Kearney)

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Aretha Franklin to undergo surgery, reason undisclosed

DETROIT | Thu Dec 2, 2010 3:11pm EST

DETROIT (Reuters) - Soul singer Aretha Franklin was scheduled to undergo surgery on Thursday for an undisclosed reason, a Detroit City Council member who organized a prayer vigil for the "Queen of Soul" said on Thursday.

Franklin, 68, a multiple Grammy award winner, in early November canceled her concert and personal appearances until May 2011 on the orders of her doctors.

Councilwoman JoAnn Watson said she organized a prayer vigil held on Wednesday for the singer to bring "people who know and love and admire Ms. Franklin" together before the surgery.

Franklin gave permission for the vigil and even picked the location, in front of the Spirit of Detroit statue by Detroit's city hall, Watson said.

"We are not prying into the circumstances, the details of the surgery," Watson said. "We just wanted her to know that we stand with her in prayer and love and support."

A publicist for Franklin said the singer sent a letter of thanks to supporters for the vigil. The publicist declined further comment.

Franklin, who sang at U.S. President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009, was admitted to a Detroit hospital in October for undisclosed reasons and released a few days later.

The singer also canceled two concerts in the summer after sustaining minor injuries in a fall at her home.

(Reporting by David Bailey; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Ellen DeGeneres would be best holiday party guest: poll

NEW YORK | Thu Dec 2, 2010 2:13pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Americans would invite comedian Ellen DeGeneres to a holiday party, take a vacation with actor George Clooney and ask first lady Michelle Obama to decorate their Christmas tree, a survey released on Thursday suggests.

The first lady got 38 percent of the vote among Americans asked who should decorate their home for the holidays, followed by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin with 22 percent, according to the study conducted for HomeGoods stores.

Given a list of celebrities to select from, 39 percent of Americans picked DeGeneres as their No. 1 cocktail party guest, followed by comedian Whoopi Goldberg with 29 percent and talk show hosts Kelly Ripa with 21 percent and Kathie Lee Gifford with 11 percent.

As for a holiday getaway, 43 percent said they would like to spend a day at Clooney's Lake Como villa in Italy, 27 percent chose Oprah Winfrey's Santa Barbara estate, 20 percent picked the French chateau of actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and 11 percent liked rapper Jay-Z and singer Beyonce's New York City home, it said.

Following the first lady and Palin on the decorating wish list, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner got 16 percent, comedian Joan Rivers 13 percent and entertainer Lady Gaga 11 percent.

The survey was conducted for HomeGoods, owned by TJX Companies Inc., from September 2 to September 8 using 1016 interviews among U.S. adults nationwide. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.07 percentage points.

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Angelina Jolie defends Bosnian directorial debut

By John Irish

PARIS | Thu Dec 2, 2010 7:40am EST

PARIS (Reuters) - Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has hit back at criticism of her directorial debut, saying most people back her portrayal of a love story between a Serbian man and Bosnian woman on the eve of the 1992-95 Balkans conflict.

Speaking in Paris ahead of next week's premiere of a very different film -- romantic action comedy "The Tourist" in which she stars with Johnny Depp -- Jolie said her intention had never been to stoke controversy with her movie set in wartime Bosnia.

Bosnian victims of sexual violence during the 1990s have written to the United Nations, for which the Oscar-winning actress is a goodwill ambassador, saying she didn't deserve the position and did not know enough about the ethnic conflict.

"There's one person who has a gripe," Jolie said.

"The absolute majority of the people, population, the cast, prime minister, president have been extremely supportive," she said, adding that 95 percent of the film's cast had lived through the war.

Jolie has described her movie, which is still untitled, as a love story between a Serbian man and a Bosnian Muslim woman on the eve of the 1992-95 war in which 100,000 people died.

The production team has cut back on filming plans in Bosnia, however, moving some scenes from Sarajevo to be shot in Budapest, after a Bosnian minister canceled the filming permit in October, citing incomplete paperwork.

The move came after the minister met with female victims of the Bosnian war who said they objected to details of the plot.

Jolie, who also wrote the screenplay, said she had initially set out to just write to express her frustrations over how long the international community took to intervene in conflicts.

"It kept leaning toward Yugoslavia at the time, I wanted to learn more about it and the people, the more I read and learnt I was drawn to that part of the world," she said.

"I met artists from that part of the world and found they were extraordinary for what they'd gone through, so I wanted to give them a platform."

The "Tomb Raider" star has asked women war victims in a letter to hold judgment until they have seen the film in which she said "there are many twists in the plot that address the sensitive nature of the relationship between the main characters."

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

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Eminem and R&B singer Bruno Mars lead Grammy nominees

LOS ANGELES | Wed Dec 1, 2010 11:47pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Eminem, riding high on the comeback trail after spending several years battling drug addiction, led the field of Grammy contenders on Wednesday with 10 nominations.

The 38-year-old hip-hop star will compete for the three big awards of album, song and record of the year, as well as in a host of rap categories.

Other leading nominees for the major music awards included rising R&B star Bruno Mars with seven nods, while rapper Jay-Z, flamboyant pop star Lady Gaga and country group Lady Antebellum picked up six nominations each.

Canadian teen idol Justin Bieber, mobbed by young girls everywhere as one of the hottest new commodities in the music world, led a strong international field for best new artist. He will compete for the coveted award alongside a compatriot, rapper Drake; two British bands, Florence & The Machine and Mumford & Sons; and American jazz singer Esperanza Spalding.

Winners in all 109 categories will be announced during ceremonies in Los Angeles on February 13.

Rock bands were largely missing from the leading categories, as pop, hip-hop and country artists grabbed the spotlight.

Indie Montreal-based band Arcade Fire will fly the flag for the rock genre in the album of the year race. Its third release, "The Suburbs," will vie for the Grammys' top honor with Eminem's "Recovery," Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now," Lady Gaga's "The Fame Monster" and pop singer Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream."

Songs nominated for record of the year, a category that honors the artist and the producer, were "Nothin' On You," by rapper B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars; "Love The Way You Lie," by Eminem featuring R&B singer Rihanna; "F*** You," by funk singer Cee Lo Green; "Empire State Of Mind," by rapper Jay-Z & R&B singer Alicia Keys; and "Need You Now," by Lady Antebellum.

Three of those songs -- Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie," Green's "F*** You" and Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" -- were also cited for song of the year, a songwriter's award. The field was rounded out by "Beg Steal Or Borrow" performed by singer/songwriter Ray LaMontagne, and "The House That Built Me," performed by country singer Miranda Lambert.

EMINEM COMEBACK STRIKES CHORD

Grammy voters love to reward artists making career comebacks, especially if they have overcome an addiction or other personal setbacks along the way, and Eminem fulfills those criteria.

The rapper, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, went almost five years between studio albums. He spent much of his time holed up in his Detroit home battling an addiction to prescription medication, and nearly died of a methadone overdose in 2007.

Eminem returned to the limelight in May 2009 with "Relapse," one of the biggest sellers of the year. It also won two Grammys in January, bringing his career tally to 11.

He returned in June this year with "Recovery," which spawned two chart-topping singles, "Not Afraid" and "Love the Way You Lie." The latter tune revolved around a dysfunctional relationship and struck a chord with women, a demographic hitherto underrepresented among Eminem's fan base. It spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart during the summer.

He has never won the album of the year award, and famously lost the race in 2001 to an unheralded album by veteran rock duo Steely Dan.

Bruno Mars, whose real name is Peter Hernandez, reached the top of the Hot 100 with "Just the Way You Are" in September, days after he was arrested on a cocaine charge in Las Vegas. The song marked his first charting single as a lead artist and it spent four weeks at No. 1. He previously went to No. 1 in May as the featured artist on B.o.B's "Nothin' On You."

( Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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