Tag Archives: academy awards

Book Smart: Oscar Reads “Benjamin Button”

Anyone can see the movie; only smarties read the book. This year all five nominees for Best Picture are stolen from based on literary sources. We’re giving you a cheat sheet to all of Hollywood’s hippest reads.

First up is “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” Based on a 1921 F. Scott Fitzgerald story, it snapped up a whopping 13 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Brad Pitt, as a man born old who gets younger each day. Pitt took the “go-ugly” requirement for Oscar Gravitas (see: Charlize Theron, “Monster”) to a new level.

The original story is 26 pages, so director David Fincher and screenwriter Eric Roth had to add stuff so the movie wouldn’t be, like, 26 minutes. After the jump, a rundown of the movie versus the book… Keep reading »

Kate Winslet On Airbrushing

“[Young women] look at all of us, myself included, on these magazine covers and they think, ‘my God, how does she get skin like that?’ And I can tell you, I have so many blemishes under this makeup that have been so fabulously covered. I promise you. I promise you.

But I did realize a few years ago that no one actually talks about this retouching thing. It’s like a secret or something. I’m damned if it’s going to be a secret anymore. I really want these young women to know we don’t look like this.” – the gorgeous Kate Winslet to ABC News

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Book Smart: Oscar Reads “Slumdog Millionaire”

Anyone can see the movie — only smarties read the book. This year, all five nominees for Best Picture are stolen from based on literary sources. We’re giving you a cheat sheet to all of Hollywood’s hippest reads. “Slumdog Millionaire” scored 10 Oscar nods, which means we’re going to get to see M.I.A. wear something insane when she performs her nominated song, “O Saya,” on February 22. The movie focuses on Jamal, a chai-wallah, or tea boy, who wins the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” The story is based on Vikas Swarup’s Indian bestseller Q&A. However, more than the title has been changed. After the jump, how director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufroy fiddled with the original … Keep reading »

Who Is Anna Paquin, Anyway?

Anna Paquin has been steaming up the small screen with her role as Sookie Stackhouse on HBO’s “True Blood”. But we realized we know very little about this actress, except that she starred opposite Holly Hunter in “The Piano” at age nine and took on the role of Rogue in the “X-Men” franchise as a teen. That’s quite an expanse of time and we knew she had to have been up to something. You know, keeping her name out there. So after the jump find out how Paquin spends her time and who she spends it with. Keep reading »

Diablo Cody Rips Blogosphere A New One

Stripper turned Academy Award-winning “Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody has returned to ranting on her MySpace page, and this one’s a doozy. After she climbed out of Midwestern obscurity to win an Oscar, work with Spielberg, and garner the attention of the international media, the former blogger found herself a target for those who didn’t appreciate her writing abilities, her pole dancing skills, or her ascent to the top of the Hollywood pile. Keep reading »

Hookers On Film: Want A Best Actress Oscar? Play A Whore!

We’ve been thinkin’ about hookers lately, after last week’s poll and our new obsession with Secret Diary Of A Call Girl. After researching ladies of the night in films and TV, we’ve noticed an interesting trend — pricey call girls are incredibly fashionable, as Secret Diary suggested, but news that Darren Star would be producing an HBO based on Diary Of A Manhattan Call Girl proves it. Play a hooker in a relatively “serious” movie, and guess what? Oscar is the only man you’ll take home! (Your chances are even better if the director is Woody Allen.) After the jump we break it down with the help of a fun timeline of sex workers on TV and in the movies. Keep reading »

The Daily Hotness: Daniel Day-Lewis

I have a total thing for Daniel Day-Lewis. Yes, he has questionable style. But he’s also possibly the most amazing actor ever, which is especially impressive considering he left acting for a few years to become a cobbler in Italy. Did you know that? So cool. He’s sexy and manly, but obviously very much in touch with his feminine side, which explains the piercings in both ears and the somewhat fey use of scarves. Most of all, he seems like a really nice, genuine, unpretentious guy, which is rare amongst the best actors (look at Russell Crowe!). After the jump, a video from the press room interviews after the Academy Awards on Sunday, where Day-Lewis explains why he smooched George Clooney after winning and gives his impression of the rampant cult usage of his “I drink your milkshake, I drink it up”-line from There Will Be Blood. Which reminds me — the guy totally has a great sense of humor. Keep reading »

Which Film Should Go Home With Oscar Gold?

Oscar Music Strategy

Besides the opening monologue, the best part about the Academy Awards is the musical performances. My all-time favorite was Three 6 Mafia doing “It’s Hard Out Here For a Pimp,” from Hustle and Flow. Looking at this cool graphic, it seems like there might be a method for winning an Oscar for Best Song — including the words “love,” “heart,” dance,” or “remember” in your lyrics seems to help. (There are definitely exceptions, like the aforementioned tune.) Out of this year’s nominees, we’re rooting for “Falling Slowly” from Once, despite the fact that it contains none of these words. [Entertainment Weekly] Keep reading »

Hot Piece Of Ass: Javier Bardem

We finally saw No Country For Old Men, the Coen brothers’ movie thatjust got nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. It was a fantastic film due in part to the tremendous performance by Javier Bardem, who just scored a Best Supporting Actor nod, who plays the film’s psychotic villain, Anton Chigurh. Suffice it to say, he scared the pants of us, and not in a good way — but how quickly we forgot his character’s terrifying haircut when we started looking at pictures of him in real life. Ay carumba! Talk about smoldering. Penelope Cruz, his rumored girlfriend, is one lucky lady — she should just run like hell if he ever asks her to pick heads or tails. [IMDB] Keep reading »