'The Hurt Locker' big win at the Oscars
The Iraq-based war drama 'The Hurt Locker' was named best picture at the 82nd Academy Awards and also got the best director Oscar for Kathryn Bigelow.
'This is the moment of a lifetime... it is so extraordinary to be in the company of such powerful filmmakers. I really want to thank the Academy. The secret to filmmaking is collaborating and I had a truly extraordinary group of collaborators. I want to dedicate this to all men and women in the military who risk their lives on a daily basis,' Bigelow, dressed in a steel grey gown, said after accepting the award.
Producers Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro won the best picture award for the film that stars Jeremy Renner as Staff Sgt. William James who carries out one of the most dangerous military assignments - bomb defusing. While James thrives on the job's risks, the head of his support team, Sgt. JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), becomes increasingly worried by recklessness in James's behaviour.
'This is something beyond our dreams. To be standing here was something that we never imagined. Thank you for honouring us,' said Boal after getting the award.
'Alice in Wonderland' stands very tall in theaters
"Alice in Wonderland" held the golden key to box office receipts, smashing multiple records during its first weekend of worldwide, and easily surpassed the opening stand of all-time champ "Avatar" in North America, distributor Walt Disney Co said on Sunday.
Director Tim Burton's 3D update of the Lewis Carroll tale sold $210.3 million worth of tickets worldwide. Moviegoers in the United States and Canada contributed $116.3 million, the sixth-biggest opening weekend ever, according to research firm Box Office Mojo.
Disney said the better-than-expected North American bow set new records for a film released in both March and the first quarter, traditionally a quiet period for major films.
It is also the best performance by a non-sequel, and established new benchmarks for a 3D and Imax Corp big-screen title. Imax said its screens accounted for less than 2 percent of the total, but 10.5 percent of sales. Moreover, it is Burton's best debut, surpassing the $68.5 million start for his 2001 remake of "Planet of the Apes."
Pundits had conservatively forecast an opening weekend above $75 million. The last movie to reach that level was "Avatar," which opened at $77 million in December on its way to world domination.Disney officials declined to predict whether "Alice" would approach the lofty heights of "Avatar," now at $2.6 billion worldwide and counting.
"ALICE" BOUNCES "AVATAR" OVERSEAS
"Alice" also opened in more than 40 foreign countries, earning $94 million and ending the 11-week reign of "Avatar." Top markets included Britain ($16.8 million), Italy ($13.9 million), Russia ($12.3 million), Australia ($9.2 million) and South Korea ($4.9 million). An equivalent comparison with "Avatar" was not immediately available, though James Cameron's hit opened to about twice as much in Russia and South Korea.
Johnny Depp, Burton's frequent collaborator, stars as the Mad Hatter, while Australian actress Mia Wasikowska plays Alice. Burton's girlfriend, Helena Bonham Carter, and Anne Hathaway round out the headliners as the Red Queen and White Queen, respectively.
Reviews were mixed, with critics more enthused by the movie's visual splendor than its narrative essence. The opening marks a fillip for Disney, whose studio chief was ousted last September after a disappointing spell at the box office. Even with its big Pixar cartoons, Disney spent the last two years at or near the bottom of the big-studio pack in terms of market share. Paradoxically, "Alice" was developed under the previous regime.
Alone among the big studios, Disney does not disclose production budgets, but "Alice" reportedly cost more than $200 million to make.
The only other new release in North America was the cop drama "Brooklyn's Finest," which opened at No. 2 with a solid $13.5 million. The ensemble includes Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes. It was released by Overture Films, a unit of Liberty Media Corp.
Martin Scorsese's thriller "Shutter Island," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, fell to No. 3 with $13.3 million after two weeks at No. 1; its total rose to $95.8 million. The film was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.
"Cop Out," a buddy-cop comedy starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, dropped two to No. 4 with $9.1 million in its second weekend. The total stands at $32.4 million. The film was released by Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc.
"Avatar" rose one place to No. 5 with $7.7 million in its 12th weekend, taking its total to $720.2 million. The 20th Century Fox film will vie for nine Academy Awards later on Sunday.
The only other Oscar contender in the top 10 was Fox Searchlight's "Crazy Heart," which rose one place to No. 9 with $3.4 million, also in its 12th week. Pundits overwhelmingly favor Jeff Bridges to take home the best actor Oscar for playing a washed-up country star. Both Fox and Fox Searchlight are units of News Corp.
Sandra Bullock wins best actress Oscar
After being named named worst actress for 'All About Steve' at the Razzie Awards this weekend, Sandra Bullock bagged best actress Oscar for playing a high society woman who adopts an orphaned black boy in 'The Blind Side' at the 82nd Academy Awards.
'I have so many people to thank but not enough time. But I want to thank my family and my family of the film, everyone who showed kindness and also those who were mean. I want to thank my mom...,' said Bullock, who broke into tears while giving her acceptance speech.
Bullock, who got the best and worst actress awards back to back, beats Helen Mirren ('The Last Station'), Carrey Mulligan ('An Education'), Gabourey Sidibe ('Precious') and Meryl Streep ('Julie & Julia').
Shilpa Shetty leads campaign to save BBC Asian Network
Indian actress Shilpa Shetty - one of the most recognised faces in Britain -- and many leading British Asian personalities have led over 100 prominent people in a campaign to save the BBC Asian Network, whose closure was announced earlier this week.
In a letter to the BBC Trust chairman, Sir Michael Lyons, Shetty, actor-writer Meera Syal and Olympic boxer Amir Khan have called for the radio station to be saved. Signatories include cricketer Vikram Solanki, film director Gurinder Chada, and Sir Mota Singh.
The letter published today in The Guardian, expresses the signatories' "profound shock" at the BBC's decision to shut the national station. It says that the eight-year-old digital broadcaster provides a "key platform" for the national Asian community "and offers creative British Asian talent an outlet which is demonstrably under-represented in the more mainstream BBC. This would all be tragically lost if these proposals are agreed."
The decision to shut both the Asian Network and 6 Music were part of a strategy review announced by the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson. It said the Asian station's output was expensive in terms of cost per listener and its output was said to be "inconsistent".
The station, which broadcasts mainly in English but also has programmes in Hindi/Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujurati and Mirpuri, has also lost around 20 per cent of its listeners over the last three years, totalling an average of 360,000 listeners a week at the end of last year.
Amitabh Bachchan to grace Marathi literary meet
The 83rd All India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, a prestigious literary event in the state's cultural calender, will be graced by Amitabh Bachchan.
The actor has accepted an invitation to grace the event to be held from March 26-28, a press release issued by the organisers today said.
Bachchan who would be attending the concluding session of the Sammelan on March 28, is expected to recite some Hindi and Marathi poems at the literary meet which attracts hundreds of writers and lovers of literature.
Farah Khan's 'Tees Maar Khan' to release Christmas Eve
Director-choreographer Farah Khan is set to release her next venture 'Tees Maar Khan' on Christmas Eve this year. She says the Akshay Kumar-Katrina Kaif starrer is a fun-filled action comedy perfect for the holiday season.
'I'm really happy that we will be releasing 'Tees Maar Khan' on Dec 24, Christmas Eve 2010. It is a very kid-friendly, holiday season kind of film, full of fun, big dance numbers and action comedy. It's just the kind of film you'd want to watch in the holidays,' Farah said in a statement.
The decision on the film's release date was taken by Farah's home production Three's Company Pvt Ltd and Akshay Kumar's Hari Om Productions, which is co-producing the movie.
Farah, whose last film was 'Om Shanti Om', is still filming 'Tees Maar Khan' and Akshay says audiences will be in for a treat.
'The film 'Tees Maar Khan' will be our gift to audiences this holiday season. It's a great film with a great script and with Farah you know you're in for a treat with larger-than-life scenes, great music, hilarious dialogues...the movie will make you laugh uncontrollably,' the actor said.
Most of the films released during Christmas like 'Welcome', 'Ghajini' and '3 Idiots' have been runaway successes. The combination of ace director and choreographer Farah Khan, Bollywood's box office king Akshay Kumar and the gorgeous Katrina Kaif is expected to priovide a real treat to the audience, said an industry insider.
How to predict who will win the Oscar
While the Best Actor and Actress nominees at the Oscars are preparing to look exceptional for the red carpet, many similarities have been noticed among the winners of the coveted trophy in all these years.
BBC has predicted what type of winner usually takes home the golden statuette.
Researchers conducted an in-depth study of best actor and actress winners over the past 81 years.
And they concluded that the average age of Best Actor winners is 44, almost 10 years older than the average for female winners at 36 years of age.
They found that the gender gap widens when one looks at the proportion of winners aged over 40 - 63 percent for men, whereas only 26 percent of winning women in the leading role category are beyond 40.
The Academy boasts a history to vote for Americans, and following closely are British thespians who fare better than all other nationalities combined-20 percent of male winners and 18 percent of female winners hail from the UK.
Only one non-white woman has picked up the Best Actress gong in the award's history - Halle Berry, for 'Monster's Ball', while among male winners, 93 percent have been white.The Academy tends to favour younger women, but younger actors are under-represented-Adrien Brody being the only leading male winner aged under 30, who picked up his Oscar for 'The Pianist' at 29 years of age.
But 27 women have picked up the Best Actress gong while in their 20s, which makes up 33 percent of the female winners. And there's one genre that tops the list for both sexes- 49 percent of female winners and 28 percent of male winners starred in romance films. Women who act in thrillers are generally well received by the Academy's voters, and the same goes for men who take the lead in war films.
Academy's voters even give preference to actors playing a character with physical, mental or auditory/visual disabilities.
Katrina awaiting the release of her next film 'Rajneeti'
Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif, who will be seen in a new 'avatar', donning a de-glam look in her upcoming film 'Rajneeti', says her instincts and script prospects take precedence while choosing a movie.
"I go by my instincts and the potential of the script, and I am looking forward to the release of 'Rajneeti' this year where I get to share screen space with some of the finest talents of the film industry," the 25-year-old actor said.
'Rajneeti', a political saga, directed by Prakash Jha is scheduled for a June 4 release.
The success of 'New York', in which she played a serious role unlike her successful comedies, has not changed the way she handles her career, the actress said.
Katrina is currently shooting for Farah Khan's 'Tees Maar Khan' with Akshay Kumar, a co-star with whom she has given most of her hits.
Also, she has been recently signed as the brand ambassador of Lux.
"Lux is an iconic brand synonymous with beauty and film stars, and it will be a wonderful association for both of us. The idea of using our national flower lotus with enhanced beauty oils was good," she said.
On her own skin care regime, Katrina said she makes it a point to remove her make up very carefully. "Besides, I am careful with the kind of products I use and endorse," she said.
