Oscars

OK I’m going to say this once: There is a difference between cursing, and cursing in context.

Last night the internet was up in arms over a tweet made by satirical online newspaper, The Onion, and an allegation that Family Guy creator and Oscars host Seth Macfarlane sexualized a nine-year-old.

Yesterday The Onion tweeted: “Everyone is afraid to say it but Quvenzhané Wallis (the nine-year-old Oscar nominated star of Beasts of The Southern Wild) is kind of a c***, right?,” and deleted it about an hour later after outrage spread like wildfire across the social network.

Continue reading "Dumb bastards on Twitter take Oscars tweet literally" »

Welcome to the preview of the 85th Oscars, and what a pageantry of Hollywood flash and glamour it’s going to be. The knives have been out early with manoeuvrings ol’ Abe would have been proud of. Already Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) and Ben Affleck (Argo) are directorial casualties, and there have been some interesting betting moves.

Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects: These are separate categories, but any visual award should go to The Life of Pi. Forget the period dramas, this film tantalised the eyeballs.

Best Costume: Anna Karenina is the hot favourite in front of Les Miserable, but the money has been for Les Mis. There could be an upset here and this is one category both films excelled in. Some may say it’s the only category Anna excelled in.

Continue reading "Our take on who will win at the Oscars" »

From time to time developments come along in popular culture that force me to reflect that perhaps I am getting a bit past it, and the modern world is becoming a bit confusing.

Such an example occurred this week when the actress Anne Hathaway was photographed emerging from a limousine in New York on her way to the premiere of the movie version of the musical Les Miserables.

For those who may have missed the photograph Hathaway was dressed, according to E! Online, in “a striking black column gown by Tom Ford with a voluminous cape for added drama’’ with `“edgy knee-high gladiator sandals’‘.

Continue reading "Aren’t you forgetting something Anne Hathaway?" »

Forget worthiness. The Oscars are as much about politics, payback and persuasion than talent and if there’s one town where money it talks, it’s Hollywood. So it’s worth looking at what the money has been saying in the last few weeks about the 84th Annual Academy Awards.

Best Animated
A controversial category as two of the contenders – A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita - never managed major releases while Spielberg’s Adventures of Tin Tin featured eye-popping animation and didn’t win a nomination. I would have chosen Puss In Boots but the dark and highly referential Rango is the raging hot favourite. Great visuals but this animated version of Chinatown meets Clint Eastwood lacks any originality.

Ah Hollywood, you’ve blown it again. Winner: Rango.

Continue reading "All the tears, trash and talent of the Oscars" »

Don’t be fooled. The end is coming, and it’s coming on Monday morning. At exactly 10am, Australian Eastern Daylight Time, The Internet will explode. Fact.

In a cruel confluence of major events, the Labor leadership ballot will clash with the Oscars, and Australia’s mass consumption of digital media will cause the webz to buckle under the weight of its own Wi-Fi. Or something.

And as the internet slips into oblivion, so too will human existence. Why? Because South Park said so. Plus hyperbole is fun. The Mayans have long predicted the crumbling of civilisation will transpire on December 12, 2012, which was confirmed by the 2009 documentary 2012.

Continue reading "Roll out the red carpet for a ruddy e-pocalypse" »

In 2002, a triumphant Nicole Kidman swooped gawkily onto stage to collect her Best Actress statue for The Hours.

With war raging in Afghanistan and memories of the 9/11 attacks still fresh, many had wondered whether the ceremony should even go ahead .

“Why do we come to the Academy Awards when the world is in such turmoil?” Kidman’s awkward question rang out over the auditorium. “Because Art is Important.”

Continue reading "It feels wrong to care about the Oscars" »

Follow The Punch’s updates of triumphs and faux pas from the Oscars red carpet with our stellar fashion correspondent Nedahl Stelio throughout the afternoon.

MOST UN-BLACK SWAN LIKE: MILA KUNIS

It’s more than that, it’s positively pretty. All lacey and lilac-y and girly and flowy, Mila, who not only managed to hold her own with Natalie Portman in the film, proves that she ain’t bad in the style stakes either.

For her very first Oscars, this is stellar choice. It says, “I’ve made it, kind of, but I’m not going to be flashy about it. I’m keepin’ it real.”

Continue reading "Oscars 2011: The good, bad and extremely good looking" »

Childhood is supposedly a time of joy and carelessness; an endless frolic of dimpled cheeks, flaxen hair and rubious joy (to paraphrase Irish poet George Darley).

The Academy Award-nominated Australian children’s book illustrator and author Shaun Tan sees things very differently.

Firstly, he acknowledges that children can concertina with hopelessness and misery just like real, live humans.

Continue reading "Revealing a darker side of childhood" »

It’s Friday @ The Punch

American Beauty, the movie directed by Sam Mendes won five Oscars including best picture today in 2000.

A red carpet in Los Angeles. March 7, 2010: A handsome yet self-conscious Australian actor, who happens to have recently starred in the highest-grossing film of all time, is stopped for an interview while walking the red carpet at the Academy Awards.

When asked the mandatory question put to all Oscar attendees: “Your clothing, please discuss”, he replies “Payless Shoes and a friggin’ kick ass suit.” 
Quizzed as to the suit’s designer (it’s all about the labels, darling, hence the “who” and not “what” are you wearing) he shrugs “some bloke”.

Right on cue, the media in the actor’s homeland conclude this response to be proof of his down-to-earth appeal and marvel over his grounded, humble attitude amid a sea of Hollywood shallowness.

Continue reading "Wacko the diddle oh it’s a dead-set dinki di Avatar" »

Whether you love or loathe the Academy Awards, there’s no doubt that winning one of those heavy gold statuettes can be a career-changing experience for those in the movie industry.

It’s not surprising then that the announcement that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has lifted the number of nominations for Best Picture from 5 to 10 for 2010 has drawn interesting responses from fans and critics alike.

Some film professionals are delighted that the pool of competitors is being deepened, declaring that this decision will allow more cinematic contenders to vie for what’s undoubtedly the most prestigious prize of the night. Hope for the Australian film industry has even been expressed – but apart from this year’s winner of Canne’s best film, Warwick Thornton’s Sampson and Delilah, that wish is more akin to chasing rainbows.

Continue reading "Double the chance of nomination for an Oscar" »