Hollywood happenings

this journal has moved...

2007-03-25T02:00:19Z

Hi guys, just lettting you know that if you would like to keep reading this Journal, you'll have to move to www.tinseltowntalk.net to read more entries as this journal has now moved. So hope to see you guys over there!

anna nicole mysteriously dies

2007-02-10T03:43:38Z

Happier Times: Anna Nicole and son Daniel

Former stripper, playmate and alleged 'gold digger' Anna Nicole Smith, a regular in trashy headline news, has been found dead in her Florida hotel room, reportedly due to drugs and alcohol. This marks the end of a tragic year for Anna Nicole who just last September lost her own son, Daniel, to the same thing - just hours after giving birth to a daughter who's paternity is not yet known, despite Anna Nicole listing now-husband Howard K.Stern as the father on baby Dannielynn's birth certificate.

While the exact cause of death has not been determined, it is thought that Anna Nicole had been quite unhappy since Daniel's death and may have committed suicide. Anna became particularly depressed in the past few weeks as Daniel was due to turn 21 on January 22 this year.

Anna Nicole's nurse found her unconscious in her hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel in Florida but paramedics were later unable to revive her. There were also reports on Entertainment Tonight that her temperature had been running at fever-level for the past few days and she had been suffering flu-like symptoms. Whether this was due to sickness or was self-inflicted will be found through an autopsy to be conducted in the next few days.

Anna Nicole, also known as Vickie Lynn Marshall, owes her claim to fame through her marriage to oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall, whom she married in 1994 at 26. He was 89, 63 years older than her. The following year he died and Anna was painted in the press as only marrying the man for his money. When he died Anna Nicole fought his family for her right to his estate which is estimated at $1.6 billion. She lost in 2002 but the case was reopened a few years later. She was still fighting when she died, leaving Marshall's inheritance to now be decided by the courts.

Anna Nicole was known for her outgoing personality and was featured in 1992 in Playboy magazine, later becoming the 1993 Playmate of the Year and posing naked for it. She has also been in a few Hollywood movies including 'Naked Gun 33 1/3' and was also in an episode of former hit show 'Ally McBeal'. She also had her own talk show 'The Anna Nicole Show'. She was often compared to tragic actress Marilyn Monroe, whom she idolised. Strangely enough, both Marilyn and Anna Nicole died in similar circumstances and at similar ages.

The investigation into Anna Nicole's death continues.

stone captures hearts in 9/11 story

2007-02-08T12:26:05Z

Emotional performance: Michael Pena (Crash) as Port Authority Policeman Will Jimeno

New to DVD February 15th - World Trade Center

When Oliver Stone's latest film 'World Trade Center' was released in the United States in early August, it was considered highly controversial and insensitive to the victims of 9/11 and their families. While it was released just short of the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington DC which left over 3000 people dead, many Americans considered it too soon for films dealing with the subject to be made, and Hollywood in particular was painted as being exploitative of the tragedy.

However, 2006 was the year for the release of various films depicting events that occured on September 11th, including plane drama 'United 93', a fictional account on what may or may not have happened on the hijacked United Flight 93 which crashed in Pennsylvania after a revolt from the passengers, killing all on board but potentially saving the Capitol or the White House in Washington DC.

Despite the fact that Stone is known for epic films like 'Alexander' and controversial films such as 'The people vs. Larry Flynt', it is clear that there is no intention to be controversial, blockbuster-like or even political (besides the few typical 'God bless America' comments) as this film represents the personal and emotional side of the day. The story focuses on the real life account of Port Authority Policemen John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Pena) as they are trapped under the rubble of the fallen twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, and their families who are waiting at home to see if they are alive or dead.

The men, who are usually stationed at Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan, are called with many other firefighters and policemen to the burning buildings but become trapped when one of the towers collapses above them. The story then becomes a fight for survival as the men battle not only the second building crashing down on top of them, but frightening occurances like fireballs shooting seemingly from nowhere.

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Maria Bello give fantastic, heart-felt performances as Will and John's wives who anxiously watch the images on TV with the rest of the world and wonder if they will ever see their husbands again. Stone uses real footage from the day of the buildings on fire and when they fall as well as the aftermath as the news catapulted around the world.

A gripping performance by all that ensures that September 11th will be remembered not for the tragedy, but for the heroism and will to live by these two men and the other people who were pulled alive from the wreckage. A film not to be missed, but be prepared for tears.

Interesting fact: The real life Will Jimeno stars in the movie as a policeman

3 and a half stars

Mirren faces dilemma with Oscar vote form

2007-02-08T06:46:16Z

Every vote counts: Helen Mirren at this year's Oscar luncheon votes for herself

Think back to the day's of high school. Imagine a scenario where you have just been nominated for class captain. You get a ballot form to vote for five people in the class. One of the names is you. Do you vote for yourself, or is that odd? Oscar hopeful Helen Mirren (The Queen) knows just how it feels.

As a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her outstanding work as an actress, Mirren, along with the other 6000 members from all walks of motion picture life including actors, costume designers, cinematographers, composers, directors, makeup artists, producers and writers, received the ballot form listing all categories and all nominees - their vote determining who will take home an award on February 25.

So with her recent nomination, when it came to ticking one of five boxes in the 'Best Actress' category, she was faced with a predicament - should she tick her own box?

"An awful moral dilemma descends on you. You think ’I can’t vote for myself!’... I tell you it’s an awful moment", Mirren said at this week's Oscar's luncheon, making devil horns with her fingers above her head in the process.

Does this mean that she ticked her box?

"You know what I did" she laughs.

""You cannot vote for yourself, it's venal - but then you think, 'What if it's the only vote I get? What if its the one vote that will make the difference?"

But Mirren shouldn't be too worried. With a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award already secured, an Oscar win could almost be considered as a sure thing for her.

Only 16 days to go!

The 79th Annual Academy Awards - February 26 at 7:30pm on Channel 9

following the Oscar road

2007-02-05T12:27:23Z

It was like they were from a dream - The trio making up the Dreams from the movie 'Dreamgirls' perform

The 13th Screen Actors Guild Awards have been held in Los Angeles, with many of the favourites taking home the honour, including Golden Globe winners Helen Mirren (The Queen) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland). However, the big surprise of the night saw comedy 'Little Miss Sunshine' stealing the best picture award from drama 'Babel' and Martin Scorsese's 'The Departed'. The film also won for 'Best cast' which included Australian Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear. Veteran Julie Andrews (The Sound of Music) was the receipient of this year's Lifetime Achievement Award, joining the impressive past honour role which includes Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and Clint Eastwood.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is an American actors union representing nearly 120,000 actors across all sorts of mediums including film, TV and even things like music videos and commercials. To become a member of the SAG, an actor must have worked in the industry or be a member of other actors or artist unions. Paid members are then selected to nominate films, actors and TV shows from a ballot form with nominations formed from 4400 of the SAG membership. The awards are now in their 13th year and while not telecast or publicised like the Golden Globes or, indeed, the Academy Awards, it has become one of the leading awards ceremonies and usually serves as a 'crystal ball' on who will be the lucky receipients of Hollywood's highest honour that year.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards pushed Golden Globe Best Supporting Actress Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) further towards a real dream and also increased hopes for Martin Scorsese, with the admired director taking home the Best Director award for 'The Departed', starring fellow Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio.

Also taking home the honour were Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls), Hugh Laurie (House) and Chandra Wilson for Grey's Anatomy.

Only 19 days remain until the nail-biting wait will be over to see if the Golden Globes and the SAG awards really have painted a picture for this year's Academy Awards ceremony.

Watch the Oscars on March 26th from 7:30pm on Channel 9.

nominations in for the anti-Oscars

2007-01-26T13:51:02Z

Not an impressive performance: Tim Allen as Santa Claus with Jack Frost (Martin Short)

Following Wednesday's release of nominations for this year's Academy Awards, nominees were also announced for the Razzies - but it isn't something to be proud of...

The Golden Raspberry Awards, known more commonly as the Razzies, were created in 1980 by John Wilson celebrating the 'berry worst' of what the film world has to offer and so have been nicknamed the 'anti-Oscars', being held one day before the Academy Awards. The Razzie awards will be holding their 27th ceremony this year.
Up for an...um...award this year is the sequel 'Basic Instinct 2', the latest offering from King of the psychological thriller M.Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs) with 'Lady in the Water', and the third 'Santa Clause' movie, starring ex-TV funnyman Tim Allen. With the Nicolas Cage thriller 'The Wicker Man' also scoring a nomination, it seems that the public, or at least the 700+ members of the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation, just weren't in the mood for a scare this year.

As for Worst Actor, 'The Hot Chick' star Rob Schneider, Tim Allen and Nicolas Cage will battle it out for the title while sisters Hilary and Haylie Duff will compete with Jessica Simpson and Lindsay Lohan for Worst Actress. However, the girls will all be competing with 'Basic Instinct' temptress Sharon Stone, who scored a record seven nominations this year for her performance in 'Basic Instinct 2'.

Also making an appearance under the 'Worst Supporting Actor' category is Kate Bosworth for her performance as Lois Lane in last year's 'Superman Returns' as well as Kate's 'Blue Crush' co-star Michelle Rodriguez for 'BloodRayne'.

No matter what the results may be though, this is one award both Hollywood starlets and hopefuls never hope to be nominated for!

and the nominees are...

2007-01-24T06:07:13Z

Worthy of an Oscar nomination - Cate Blanchett in her performance in 'Babel, also starring Brad Pitt (above)

Oscar nominations have just been announced and Australia is up for two big awards including Best Actress (Cate Blanchett for 'Babel') and Best Animated Film (Happy Feet).

Staying true to form by following a very similar pattern of nominees to that of this year's Golden Globe awards, the 79th Academy Awards ceremony, held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood at 5pm on February 25th (L.A time) this year, will tell an interesting tale.

Both Golden Globe winners for Best Actress Helen Mirren (The Queen) and Best Actor Forest Whitaker (The last King of Scotland) are up for an Oscar in the same category, however, Mirren may have some competion ahead of her with fellow Golden Globe winner for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) also nominated to take home the award.

Up for Best Actor are Golden Globe nominees Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond) and Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness). Veteren actor Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia) is also in the running for the award for 'Venus'.

Competing for the Best Movie category are 'Letters from Iwo Jima' (the second film in the 'Flags of our Fathers' series), 'The Departed','The Queen', comedy 'Little Miss Sunshine' and 'Babel', a tale told from the perspectives of four different families on four continents.

2005 Best Director winner Clint Eastwood is striving for the award again, nominated for his direction of 'Letters from Iwo Jima', however many hope that maybe this is the year for celebrated director Martin Scorsese, who, despite being nominated several times for an Oscar (the last time was in 2005, losing to Clint Eastwood for 'Million Dollar Baby'), has never won. However, having won the Golden Globe for the category this year for 'The Departed', Scorsese's luck may just be changing.

Watch the 79th Academy Awards on February 26th on Channel 9 to see if Scorsese and Australia have luck at the Oscars and for all of your Hollywood scandals, celebrities and dress hits and misses. Watch this space!

Mirren wins big for playing Elizabeth - both of them!

2007-01-23T12:27:53Z

She doesn't look like no cold fish in this dress - Helen Mirren at the Golden Globes last week

British Actress Helen Mirren has beaten four Hollywood A-list stars to take home this year's Golden Globe Best Actress gong for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in 'The Queen'. Mirren had also won earlier in the night for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I in the TV movie 'Elizabeth I'.

'The Queen', set around the time of Princess Diana's death in August 1997, is told from the perspective of Queen Elizabeth as she faces ridiculed by both the press and the public for apparently being unfeeling of Diana's untimely death.

A side of the Queen the public has never seen, Mirren was praised for her portrait of Elizabeth, with the film shedding a new light on the monarch, who has always been depicted by the media as cold-hearted. When Princess Diana was killed in a car accident, newspapers reported that the Queen had not broken her silence because she was glad that Diana was dead. It had been, after all, no secret that the two did not get along.

'The Queen', however, aims to show Elizabeth for what she is outside of the public eye - strong, duty-driven and family-orientated - a woman who prefers not to 'wear her heart on her sleeve'.

While the movie is only based on a script by Peter Morgan and is not fact, it is a comfort to see that our Queen, while larger than life to us 'commoners', is also human.

With the Hollywood Foreign Press giving Mirren the nod for her performance, it is now expected that she will also be in the running for an Oscar for the role when nominations for Hollywood's 'night of the year' are announced in Los Angeles today .

Check out the Academy Awards website from Wednesday to see who is up for an Oscar this year. The 79th Annual Academy Awards will screen on February 26th in Australia.

o.c to go out with a bang

2007-01-12T06:20:07Z

Fab Cast: The O.C Season One Cast from left: Mischa Barton, Adam Brody, Melinda Clarke,
Rachel Bilson, Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan, Benjamin McKenzie, Samaire Armstrong

Fans of cult teen drama 'The O.C' were shocked last week when the show was axed in the middle of its fourth season. Teens all over the world will mourn the loss on February 22 when the 16th and final episode will screen in the U.S after four years.

Beginning in 2003, 'The O.C' offered viewers a glance into the world of the rich society that dominates Newport Beach, located in California's Orange County. A boy from the wrong side of the tracks, a geek who is in love with the unreachable girl, the beautiful girl but troubled girl next door and the complicated lives of their parents: the show was unlike anything that had graced our screens before.

But once Season Three came along, it was clear that 'The O.C' was running out of good story-lines for particular characters, none more evident when popular character Marissa Cooper (played by Mischa Barton) was shockingly killed off at the end of the season.
When interviewed on Rove Live soon after, Mischa stated that she didn't think her character had anywhere left to go after a drug overdose, stealing, problems with alcohol, running away and being sexually abused, amongst other issues.

Despite many of the show's fans speculating that the Fox network's decision to put 'The O. C' up against popular medical drama 'Grey's Anatomy' this season would be the end of the show, there was still hope when the fourth season turned out to be better than expected. However, despite fans being impressed by the new attitude and new characters of the show, producer Josh Schwartz said in an interview that it was time to leave Newport. "I feel like, because this season is so strong, I would love to go out creatively on top".

So what can we expect from the final episodes?

"There will be a pregnancy. There will be a most-unexpected new love triangle. There's going to be a fight for the love of a certain woman. And there's going to be some surprises for the Cohen family, and some really big decisions for everybody to make. The finale is going to deliver real closure to these characters. It's going to be the finale we had always planned to do."

Any fan should be happy with that.

let the race begin!

2007-01-11T12:07:30Z

Robin Williams accepts his award for Funniest Man at this week's People's Choice Awards

The Oscars race is officially on with the People's Choice Awards, held this week, kick starting the 2007 awards season.

While not nearly the calibre of the Academy or Golden Globe awards ceremonies, the night is looked on with respect, and winners this year couldn't be more worthy.

Big winners include Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest, with the film taking out favourite film and best drama. The film also scored with its stars - Johnny Depp taking out best male actor and, with his on-screen unrequited love interest Keira Knightley, also won best couping.

Other winners included Jennifer Aniston, ex-boyfriend Vince Vaughn, current headliner Cameron Diaz and a new and improved Robin Williams for funniest man.

The road continues this Sunday when the 64th Golden Globes take place in Los Angeles with Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith and Judi Dench up for an award. The ceremony, along with the upcoming Screen Actors Guild awards, has long been thought to be a big indicator in not only who will get nominated for an Academy Award but who will also win one.

Only time will tell. The 79th Annual Academy Awards will take place on February 28th. Start placing your bets!

64th Annual Golden Globes - Starts 7:30pm Tuesday on Channel 10

history comes to life in museum

2007-01-10T05:03:21Z

Larry (Stiller) gets more than her bargained for when he takes a job as a museum night guard

From the director of Cheaper by the Dozen and the latest Pink Panther film comes 'Night at the Museum', starring
funny man Ben Stiller, joining up once again with buddy Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers).

Larrikin Larry (Stiller) has a good heart but has trouble keeping down a proper job, prefering to chase invention ideas that always end up being invented by other people. When his ex-wife (Kim Raver) threatens to take his son, Nick (Jake Cherry) away until he can get settled, Larry finds a job as the new night guard at New York's famous Natural History museum. In this scenario, the museum is struggling against dismal sales and customers who just aren't interested in history anymore. Like recent hit flick 'Happy Feet', the filmmaker aims to make museums seem 'cool' again by asking kids to let their imagination run wild.

Larry gets more than he signed up for once the doors have closed on the museum at night when he finds that everything around him from animals to models of ancient cities comes to life. Suddenly, he is being chased by raging dinosaurs made only of bones and talking to famous historical figures long-dead such as former American president Theodore Roosevelt (played by Robin Williams). As Larry says 'This is so not worth $11.50 an hour!'

After quitting twice and nearly getting fired, Larry realises that he has to work with history, not against it, especially when the musuem is threatened by three disgruntled former guards (played by veteran actors Mickey Rooney, Dick Van Dyke and Bill Cobbs).

A fun comedy that serves as a good afternoon treat for the kids.

3 and a half stars

welcome!

2007-01-10T01:36:40Z

Hey guys. So I have to create a website to write ten stories written for the web for one of my classes, so what better than to create another Live Journal?

This journal will contain stories that I have written about, as the journal title suggests, Hollywood happenings - anything from reviews of movies I've seen, my own version of a story that has already been written but has not been turned into webpage form with my own research (such as hyperlinks to related websites) and things like that. I'd really like to know what you guys think so feel free to comment. If it turns out to be a success I might even keep writing in it after this assignment is done.

And finally, this isn't a journal detailing the happenings of my life, if you are interested in that you can go to jess2903