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"King's Speech" leads Golden Globe nominations

By Bob Tourtellotte

BEVERLY HILLS | Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:14am EST

BEVERLY HILLS (Reuters) - "The King's Speech" led the film nominations for Golden Globe awards on Tuesday with seven nods, including best film drama, among a group of films in the race for Hollywood's top honors, the Oscars.

Close behind with six nominations each were boxing film "The Fighter" and Facebook movie "The Social Network," which also claimed spots among the best film drama nominees. Rounding out the list of five contenders in that important category were "Inception" and "The Black Swan," each with four nominations.

Nominees for best movie comedy or musical were "The Kids Are All Right," "Alice in Wonderland," "Burlesque," "The Tourist" and "Red."

The Golden Globes are given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and are one of the key film honors ahead of the Oscars, the world's top movie honors, given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Philip Berk, the president of the HFPA, called Tuesday's nominees "a wonderful mix" of films.

Notably absent from the nominees were widely touted "True Grit," and "Winter's Bone," which has been a critical darling among low-budget and independent films this past year. "True Grit" star Jeff Bridges had widely been expected to pull in a nod for best actor in a drama, yet he failed to make the list.

ACTORS AND ACTRESSES

In fact, it was "Social Network" star Jesse Eisenberg, portraying the website's founder Mark Zuckerberg," who landed in the category for best dramatic film actor against Colin Firth, who plays a stuttering British king in "King's Speech."

They are joined by James Franco in "127 hours," Ryan Gosling for "Blue Valentine" and Mark Wahlberg in "The Fighter," which has wowed critics in early screenings.

Best film drama actress nominees were Halle Berry in "Frankie and Alice," Nicole Kidman for "Rabbit Hole," Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone," Natalie Portman for "Black Swan and Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine."

Musical and comedy films also have nominees for acting, and in that arena Johnny Depp was nominated twice, for "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Tourist." He will compete against Paul Giamatti in "Barney's Version," Jake Gyllenhaal with "Love and Other Drugs," and Kevin Spacey with "Casino Jack."

Nominations for best actress in a musical or comedy were led by Annette Bening, whose performance as a lesbian mother in "The Kids Are All Right" has thrilled critics. She is joined by her co-star in "Kids," Julianne Moore, as well as Anne Hathaway for "Love and Other Drugs," Angelina Jolie in "The Tourist" and Emma Stone for "Easy A."

Foreign language film nominees were "Biutiful" from Mexico and Spain, France's "The Concert," Russia's "The Edge," "I Am Love" from Italy and Danish movie "In a Better World."

Unlike Oscar organizers, members of the Hollywood Foreign Press also give awards for TV, and leading the nominees in that arena was hit musical "Glee" with five nods overall.

"Glee" landed in the category for best TV comedy or musical, where it will be joined by five other shows including "30 Rock," "The Big Bang Theory," "The Big C," "Modern Family" and "Nurse Jackie."

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Hugh Jackman injured in Oprah TV show stunt in Australia

SYDNEY | Tue Dec 14, 2010 4:04am EST

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian movie star Hugh Jackman was slightly injured on Tuesday while performing a stunt during the taping of an Oprah Winfrey show at the Sydney Opera House.

Live television showed Jackman sliding down a cable from the top of the Sydney Opera House toward a giant outdoor stage, but he failed to stop, crashing into the stage's light rigging and hurting his face.

"That was so much fun, until the end," joked Jackman, famed for his tough Wolverine role.

Jackman, later sporting a small bandage under his eye, told Winfrey that the excitement of sliding down the cable caused him to brake too late.

"I came down waving to everyone, looking over Sydney Harbour, saw my dad, the kids and you (Winfrey), went to pull the brake and then boing," he said.

Entertainment reporters at the scene said Jackman was hit in the eye. Television showed Jackman holding some ice on his face and taking a swig of red wine. It was reported that Jackman suffered a black eye.

But Jackman was well enough to give Winfrey a lesson on eating Vegemite, a black yeast breakfast spread many Australians love. He spread some onto a biscuit and offered it to the TV chat show queen.

"I like it," declared Winfrey, before eating some more and washing it down with a glass of one of Australia's best and most expensive wines, the Penfold's Grange.

Winfrey, with 302 specially flown American guests in tow, is in Australia producing two TV chat shows, with Australian guests such as Jackman, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban and Olivia Newton John.

Winfrey's American guests have also filmed their travels around Australia to the Outback and the Great Barrier Reef. Their video journals will be part of the shows that will air later in the United States.

Australia has spent more than A$3 million ($3 million) bringing "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to Australia as a way to boost tourism. The TV show is watched by 40 million Americans and screened in 145 countries.

(Reporting by Michael Perry; Editing by Clement Tan)

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"Black Swan" in spotlight as Oscar season heats up

By Carl DiOrio

Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:40am EST

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Broad sellouts in limited release and early awards-season acclaim suddenly have lifted "Black Swan" into an Oscar best picture contender, just as the Natalie Portman vehicle prepares to spread its theatrical wings wide next weekend.

Academy Award nominations won't be announced until January 25, so the most immediate drama for the ballet-themed suspense thriller begins Friday, when Fox Searchlight adds more than 900 playdates for more than 1,000 total engagements.

"Swan" last weekend collected $3.3 million from just 90 domestic locations, good enough for No. 6 on the chart. Sales to date stand at $5.6 million.

Set in the competitive world of professional ballet, Swan was directed by Darren Aronofsky ("The Wrestler") with co-stars including Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel and Barbara Hershey.

"We knew it was challenging subject matter, but we made a bet on Darren Aronofsky and Natalie Portman," Searchlight co-president Steve Gilula said Monday. "What's been a very pleasant surprise is that is seems to be resonating with a broader audience so early."

"Swan" has been playing to audiences skewing about 55% female. "We keep hearing anecdotally about women who have seen it two or three times already," Gilula said.

Meantime, the American Film Institute named "Swan" one of 2010's 10 best movies during the weekend. That should bolter its Oscar credentials ahead of the Academy's 10 best picture nominations, though AFI considers only American productions and thus relegated much-praised British drama "The King's Speech" to a special award.

Also during the weekend, members of the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. swooned for "Swan" with a record 12 Critics' Choice Movie Awards nominations in categories including best picture. The one-two kudos coup, combined with another big weekend of limited play, sets "Swan" up nicely to draught off of its critical praise at the box office and simultaneously bolster its awards prospects by displaying even clearer commercial traction.

Fox Searchlight has made a habit of combining mass appeal with critical praise. The Fox specialty unit secured an Oscar best picture win with 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire," a gritty but entertaining Indian drama that rang up $141.3 million domestically. Its 2007 dramatic comedy "Juno" similarly boasted a critical and commercial combo when it was included among the Academy's then five-film list of best-picture nominees.

"Juno" lost the best-picture statuette to Miramax's "No Country for Old Men," which had broad critical support but considerably less commercial success. Searchlight also drew best-picture nominations for 2006's "Little Miss Sunshine" and 2005's "Sideways."

"Swan's" first weekend in wide release should produce a three-day sum well into the low double-digit millions. Depending on its screen average, "Swan" could even compete for third on the frame behind big-budgeted wide openers "Tron: Legacy" from Disney and "Yogi Bear" from Warner Bros. -- whose productions costs each ran more than 10 times the estimated $13 million spent on "Swan."

"That's unusual for us," Gilula said. "We do alternative film, and sometimes we are fortunate when they cross over to mainstream audiences. But our main goal is to bring to market films that are different. Some times they do cross over."

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