Entertaining Posts

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Foreign films navigate rough waters to reach Oscars

By Mary Milliken

BEVERLY HILLS, California | Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:26pm EST

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) - Acclaimed Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu knew he was in a bad way when the film critics who loved his drama "Biutiful" kept calling it bleak, dark and depressing.

Those adjectives scared off distributors, particularly in the United States, where the director said "everyone was really afraid of the film" about a dying man played by Javier Bardem.

It took four months to find a U.S. distributor, but now "Biutiful" is playing in major cities and is a front-runner

for best foreign language film at Sunday's Oscars, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Bardem, the Spanish Oscar winner, is nominated for best actor.

But the director of "Babel and "21 Grams" still said it was "very tough."

Gonzalez-Inarritu is the most well known of the five directors who met Saturday for a pre-Oscar symposium, but like his fellow nominees he suffers the stresses of making films far from the comforts of the Hollywood studio system.

Whether it is hard-to-digest subject matter or shoestring budgets, these directors fought some epic battles on their way to Hollywood's biggest night.

The Greek director of bizarre family drama "Dogtooth," Yorgos Lanthimos, works on a laughably low budget but now can't get state financing because of Greece's debt crisis.

Algeria's Rachid Bouchareb of "Outside the Law" had to fight to get his film screened at Cannes due to political opposition in France to his depiction of the Algerian fight for independence.

Susanne Bier, the Danish director of "In a Better World," about young boys battling bullies and split families, used her financial limitations to get a sharper focus on the boys.

Canada's Denis Villeneuve, director of the dark drama "Incendies" filmed partly in the Middle East, edited before he shot to reduce waste on the cutting room floor.

PARTICULARLY GRIM YEAR

Every year, the Oscars briefly shine their spotlight on the exotic world of foreign-language films, which often provide a departure from mainstream commercial movies and the widely palatable productions of the United States.

This year is no different. The foreign-language films up for Oscar contention are indeed bleak, dark and depressing.

In fact, of the 66 films submitted to the Academy, only one was a comedy. The day Sweden's "Simple Simon" screened for the selection committee, it was met with loud cheering, but no nomination, alas.

"Winter's Bone" seeks indie film honors

LOS ANGELES | Sat Feb 26, 2011 12:50pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Winter's Bone," the grim saga of a 17-year-old girl searching for her father in drug-ravaged middle America, could find plenty of acclaim on Saturday at the art-house world's version of the Oscars.

The drama goes into the 26th annual Spirit Awards with seven nominations, leading a field that includes several films with which it will compete at the Academy Awards on Sunday.

The lesbian family comedy "The Kids Are All Right," the ballerina melodrama "Black Swan," and the mountain misadventure "127 Hours" also have multiple bids at both events.

Each year, a handful of Spirit winners usually goes on to earn Oscars thanks in part to the success of low-budget films in the mainstream arena. But the awards ceremonies otherwise could not be more different.

The Oscars take place at a theater in a Hollywood shopping mall. Black tie is obligatory, and everyone is supposed to be on best behavior at an event oozing with seriousness.

The Spirits, famed for their relaxed and boozy atmosphere, are returning to their traditional locale on Santa Monica Beach after an ill-fated switch to a downtown Los Angeles parking building last year.

The stars dress casually, and deliver alcohol-fueled acceptance speeches inside a big marquee. But a cold snap could dampen spirits a little. The two-hour event begins at 2 p.m. PST.

MEAT ON THE 'BONE'

The Spirit Awards honor low-budget American films based on such criteria as original, provocative subject matter and the degree of independent financing.

"Winter's Bone" will go head-to-head for best feature and director against "The Kids Are All Right" (five nominations), "Black Swan" (four) and "127 Hours" (three).

Critics raved about director/co-writer Debra Granik's depiction of a rural mountain community dotted with methamphetamine labs, and it also picked up four Oscar nominations.

In a career-making role, 20-year-old actress Jennifer Lawrence plays a woman who struggles to care for her disabled mother and two younger siblings. When they face eviction after her father fails to make a court appearance, she must confront her violent neighbors to find out what happened to him.

Lawrence will compete for female lead prize at the Spirits and the best actress race at the Oscars. Indeed, all four of her Oscar rivals received Spirit nominations. "Black Swan" star Natalie Portman is the Oscar favorite.

Among the male headliners, only "127 Hours" star James Franco will compete at both events for his role as a trapped hiker forced to amputate his own arm. He will also co-host the Oscars with Anne Hathaway.

The Spirit Awards make a point of honoring up-and-coming filmmakers with categories for best first feature and first screenplay. This year, Lena Dunham is competing in both races with "Tiny Furniture," a black comedy that grossed a grand total of about $400,000 at the box office.

But her portrayal of a freshly minted college graduate entering adulthood armed only with a useless degree and self-esteem issues caught Hollywood's attention. She is now developing a series at cable channel HBO.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Friday, February 25, 2011

Oscar producers say show comes with youthful edge

By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES | Fri Feb 25, 2011 8:17pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - When the curtain comes up on the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday, the show's producers hope to reconnect movie fans with Hollywood history as well as use technology and imagery to engage younger fans of the future.

Producers Don Mischer and Bruce Cohen hired James Franco, 32, and Anne Hathaway, 28, to host the show and all week, the pair have put out teaser videos on the Web of them "training" for their hosting duties and avoiding a "wardrobe malfunction." In one, they mimic John Travolta and Olivia Newton John in a song-and dance number from the musical "Grease."

It is the first time in Oscar history that a man and woman have been co-hosts, and Hathaway is the youngest ever emcee for the show, beating out Donald O'Connor who was a co-host in 1954, Cohen told a news conference on Friday.

He and Mischer insisted that when they first thought about bringing Franco and Hathaway on board as co-hosts, they hadn't thought about trying to appeal to younger audiences. But as they developed the show, their hosts' youth naturally lent itself to ideas that would appeal to younger audiences.

"As we've been putting the show together, we've naturally come up with things that go that way," Cohen said. "We all feel it's a real exciting thing. This is the next generation of moviegoers," he said.

In recent years, viewership has been eroding for the Oscars telecast, which is annually the second most popular TV show in the United States. Last year's telecast was the most-watched in five years with about 42 million viewers, but a large part of that was due to the popularity of best film nominee "Avatar," which had scores of younger fans.

The telecast generally sees viewership increase when popular movies are up for awards. The high-water mark was 1998 when 57 million people tuned in to watch smash hit "Titanic" win best film. The low was 2008 when about 32 million tuned in for a victory by adult drama "No Country for Old Men."

The producers and the show's organizers at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences generally only provide a few glimpses of what will be staged, and on Friday, they were characteristically quiet on details.

One element they did discuss was the lack of elaborate sets on stage, and the use of contemporary technology -- Twitter, Facebook and cameras backstage and on the red carpet streaming video on the Web.

Cohen said one aim was to connect audiences with what made them love movies in the first place. For instance, when the award for best animated film is given, the show will hearken to the winner of the first animated Oscar, "Shrek" in 2001, by showing images of that film's fairy tale landscape setting.

"Hopefully," added Cohen, "it gives a fun, exciting context to the Oscars."

One element the producers hope to avoid are the long, boring acceptance speeches with many "thank yous" read word-for-word from stars looking at notes on pieces of papers.

Mischer said those speeches cause viewers to turn the TV channel, but when stars get excited or speak from the heart, audiences stay tuned. "They want to see when people are moved, or touched," Mischer said.

The Oscars air live in the United States on the ABC TV network on Sunday, February 27 at 8 p.m. est/5 p.m. pst, as well as in some 200 countries worldwide.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

Dior suspends Galliano after booze-fuelled bar spat

PARIS | Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:40am EST

PARIS (Reuters) - Christian Dior suspended star fashion designer John Galliano on Friday pending an inquiry into drunken insults he hurled at a couple in a bar.

Just a week before Galliano was due to present Dior's catwalk collection, Paris police were called to a bar in the fashionable Marais district on Thursday evening where they found Galliano barking insults at a couple after a drinking session, a police source told Reuters.

Galliano was taken to a police station for a sobriety test that revealed he was over the legal limit. Police then escorted the Dior star home, the source said, without specifying the nature of the alleged insults.

"Dior affirms with the utmost conviction its policy of zero tolerance toward any anti-Semitic or racist words or behavior," Dior Chief Executive Sidney Toledano said in a statement.

"Pending the results of the inquiry, Christian Dior has suspended John Galliano from his responsibilities," the fashion house, part of billionaire Bernard Arnault's LVMH luxury empire, added.

Christian Dior, which hired Galliano as its star designer more than a decade ago, is due to present its autumn-winter collection in Paris next Friday, March 4.

A spokeswoman for the group declined to comment on whether the show would go ahead as planned.

UK royal couple visit university where love bloomed

By Toby Melville

ST ANDREWS, Scotland | Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:14am EST

ST ANDREWS, Scotland (Reuters) - Prince William and fiancée Kate Middleton returned to the university where they met and fell in love on Friday with an official visit to St Andrews on the east coast of Scotland.

It was at the picturesque university that they got to know each other in 2001 as undergraduates studying art history. They went on to share a house on the outskirts of town, and their romance blossomed.

Ten years on, and the royal pair are one of the world's most famous couples, their every move scrutinized by the international media as preparations are made for their wedding in London's Westminster Abbey on April 29.

Friday's visit to mark the university's 600th anniversary follows their first official outing as a couple on Thursday, where Middleton's apparently nerveless appearance was lauded in the royalty-obsessed British media.

"Glamorous Kate Middleton sparkled at her first official engagement," wrote the Mirror tabloid's royal reporter Victoria Murphy, reflecting the media's generally gushing tone.

PREPARATION FOR FUTURE

This week's visits, which follow several months of relative anonymity on the Welsh island of Anglesey where the couple have been living, will go some way to preparing 29-year-old Middleton for life as a prince's bride, and eventually queen.

On Friday she wore a red coat with black trim and belt and the prince, 28, donned a dark blue suit. Middleton's hair was down, rather than tied back as it had been on Thursday when she also wore a feather fascinator.

William, second in line to the British throne, is patron of the 600th Anniversary Appeal which aims to raise 100 million pounds ($160 million) to secure the future of University of St Andrews and fund scholarships making it accessible to all "regardless of background or circumstance."

The new scholarship, worth up to 70,000 pounds ($112,800), will meet the costs of tuition, accommodation and living expenses for a four-year undergraduate degree in science, the arts, medicine or divinity.

It will be presented as a wedding gift to the couple during their visit.

St Andrews enjoys a reputation for being Britain's "top matchmaking university" -- around one in 10 students meet their spouses there, officials say.

With no nightclubs, students tend to socialize at dinner parties or "society" balls, contributing to its reputation as a peculiarly upmarket seat of learning.

The 600th anniversary marks the formal charter granted by Bishop Henry Wardlaw in February 1411 and the achievement of full university status conferred by Pope Benedict XIII by Papal Bull in 1413.