JULIANNE MOORE FOR BVLGARI

Although Julianne Moore's Oscar campaign this year for her fantastic work in Tom Ford's A Single Man has ended, she perhaps got the best one-up of all on those other nominated actresses - looking amazing.  She was selected as the face for Bvlgari's 2010 spring line as announced late 2009 and her ads for the fashion house have finally surfaced.  Combing through my Tweets today, I see that supermodel/media mogul Tyra Banks is a huge fan of the ad seen to the left, describing it "DIVINE!".  I'd call it tastefully provocative.  At 49 years old, Moore is still the epitome of ageless beauty and grace and showing no signs of stopping.

But above being gorgeous, she is actually wonderful in-person also.  I had the pleasure of meeting Moore back in September 2006 while she was in town promoting husband Bart Freundlich's Trust The Man at TIFF.   After the screening had ended, I actually got to chat with her at good length about acting and how much her performance in Far From Heaven, for which she actually received an Oscar nomination, had touched me.  She gave me a big hug and even remembered my name as she waved goodbye to me.  I will never forget that moment.

THE NEW YORK TIMES PORTRAITS: THE BEST PERFORMANCES OF 2009

 

The New York Times has released their annual portraits for The Best Performances of 2009 and they are absolutely gorgeous.  The series was photographed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.  These are just a few of the many portraits featured on their website right now.  Seen above are Tobey Maguire & Jake Gyllenhaal (Brothers), a barely recognizable Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Sam Worthington & Zoe Saldana (Avatar), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), Penélope Cruz & Daniel Day-Lewis (Nine), and Colin Firth & Julianne Moore (A Single Man).  Impeccable.

DEAR JOHN HANDS AVATAR A GOODBYE LETTER

Exceeding all expectations, Sony Screen Gems' Dear John finally handed seven week Box Office champion its first defeat taking in $32.4 million.  The tearjerker confirms Vanity Fair's recent prediction that Amanda Seyfried is indeed a bankable star.  Although  recent effort Jennifer's Body tanked, her overall body of work including Mean Girls, Mamma Mia and now this monster, place her at the top of her pack.  Of course, I'm sure heartthrob Channing Tatum might also have had a small part in bringing the girls out to the theatre too!

I'm honestly tired of writing about Avatar, but still being able to pull in $23.6 million in its eighth week of release and landing in second is a mighty impressive feat.

The weekend's only other debut, Lionsgate's From Paris With Love came in third with just $8.1 million.  The action drama stars John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and marks a significant loss for its studio, which invested $52 million in the picture.

Fox Searchlight's Crazy Heart appears to be getting the right amount of buzz in time for the Oscars, jumping from 14th to eighth spot with $3.7 million in its first weekend in wide release.  Its star Jeff Bridges has been popping up allover the place of late, including landing a spot on the upcoming charity remake of We Are the World.  This was no doubt due to his impressive performance in this film as a washed-up country singer.

Other Oscar contenders outside the Top Ten like An Education, A Single Man, Precious and The Last Station all experienced gross spikes landing in 16th, 18th, 21st and 22nd spots respectively.  Click on each of these films' names to read reviews I posted about them.

OSCARS 2010 NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED: A BATTLE OF THE SEXES AND THE EXES

The 2010 Oscar nominations were announced this morning and not only will this year be a Battle of the Sexes, but also a Battle of the Exes.  Director James Cameron (Avatar) will be going head-to-head with his former wife Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) in major categories like Best Director and Best Picture.  Each director garnered an astounding nine nominations. 

For the time ever, the format of the Best Picture category has been ammended to include ten films this year.  This year's nominees include:  Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air, Avatar, An Education, The Hurt Locker, The Blind Side and District 9.  Although my heart leans towards The Blind Side as a personal favourite, in all probability this will be Avatar's year.

Finalists in the Best Actor category are: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).  Make no mistake about it, it's all about Bridges in this category.

Nominees for Best Actress are: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) and Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia).  I think most of my readers will agree as per a recent poll here, that this will be Bullock's year.

TOM FORD THROWS A JAB AT ANNIE LEIBOVITZ?

Quite possibly the sexiest man alive, fashion icon and now director Tom Ford, stated this in the December/January 2010 issue of Interview Magazine: "For most photographers today—I won’t necessarily mention names—you see a picture of 10 people in a magazine, and none of those people were shot together. They take the best head from here, stick it on the best body from that shot, move that over there, and you fill in, which is fine, but that’s a different kind of art—an impressionistic way of interpreting something. I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing, but it’s a different way of working."  Read the rest of the interview by director Gus Van Sant here.

My guess is he's referring to financially-troubled celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz? But wait, wasn't Leibovitz the same cut-and-paste photographer who shot this iconic photo of Ford for Vanity Fair with Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley?  Hmm.

Ford is still actively promoting his Oscar-contender film A Single Man, which is also his directorial debut.  Click here to see more pics I got of Ford, in addition to the one above, plus a review from the TIFF screening and press conference of the film back in September.

GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

Up in the Air and Glee lead this year's pack of Golden Globe Awards nominees. The former garnered a total six nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in the motion picture categories, while the latter earned four in the television categories. Following closely behind Up in the Air with five nods is Rob Marshall's musical Nine, due in theatres on Christmas Day, while James Cameron's Avatar got four. Golden Globe darlings including 30 Rock, Mad Men and Big Love all earned three nominations behind Glee.

The motion picture acting categories are highly competitive this year and notably, personal favourites Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep each received two nominations. Bullock is nominated for her stellar performance in The Blind Side (Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama) and also The Proposal (Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy). Meryl Streep will be competing against herself for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy with Julie & Julia and the soon to be released It's Complicated; her 24th and 25th Golden Globe nominations and surely just two of many more to come.

The match for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama is heated one with some really evenly-matched nominees including George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), Tobey Maguire (Brothers) and Jeff Bridges (A Crazy Heart). The same can be said about the very competitive Best Supporting Actress category which will be pitting Mo'Nique (Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire), Pénelope Cruz (Nine), Julianne Moore (A Single Man) and co-stars Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air).

TIFF DAY 5 - WHIP IT AND A SINGLE MAN REVIEWS

Before I comment on anything TIFF-related, please let me state my opinion on Kanye West regarding some inappropriate comments made during Taylor Swift's MTV VMAs acceptance speech. Just click this link, as it says it all really. He's not even worthy of being Summer's Eve. He's generic Life brand!

Now that this is out of the way....

I caught Whip It earlier today. The film is directed and produced by Drew Barrymore, starring Ellen Page (Juno). I loved it and I am very certain that it will be a massive hit. The comedy features the right combination of genuinely touching moments, laughs and action to give it crossover appeal. The film centers around Bliss (Page) who is pressured by her mother Marcia Gay Harden to enter the local beauty pageant circuit. Finding little joy in this, she finds inspiration in competitive roller skating and secretly joins a team played by an all-star female cast that includes Barrymore, Kristen Wiig, Eve and Zoe Bell. It is from competitive roller skating that Bliss finds a true defining passion, but she must come to terms with having to gain her mother's acceptance in this new life choice. The story leads up to a Roller Derby championship match that pits Bliss' team against fierce opposition from a team led by Juliette Lewis. Grade: A

Screenwriter Shauna Cross attended this morning's screening and explained to the audience during the Q&A that all the actors had trained rigorously for this film and it showed! Completely and utterly amazing. A must-see. The film opens October 2, 2009.

I'll be getting some snaps of Barrymore, Lewis and Page tomorrow for you all. Can't wait.

Later in the day I was able to get in close with Jennifer Garner, Ricky Gervais, Rob Lowe and Julianne Moore. Garner was especially wonderful taking the time to sign autographs for anyone asking for one and when things got a little crazy, she showed concern for everyone's safety, assuring everyone to remain calm; she's wonderful. Her new film with Gervais and Lowe, The Invention of Lying, is getting mixed reviews at the festival. Check out that bling on Garner's hand!

Enjoy these pics I got earlier: