NATALIE PORTMAN WINS AT SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS

Hilary Swank & Natalie Portman at 17th Annual SAG Awards

Yes!  Two of my favourites together at last.  Natalie Portman and Hilary Swank exchange greetings on the Red Carpet at tonight's Screen Actor's Guild Awards in Los Angeles.  Portman dressed in Azzaro and over $2 million in jewels from Tiffany & Co. showed off that growing Baby Bump loud and proud.  Swank opted for Versace in a colour she really should be seen in more often.

Of course, Portman won Best Actress for Black Swan in her first-ever SAG nomination in the category, beating out previous Winner Swank for Conviction.  The top honour of Best Ensemble Cast Award went to Tom Hooper's The King's Speech, including Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter.  The Film has displayed a stunning late kick this Awards season, possibly overthrowing The Social Network as the favourite for Best Picture at the Oscars late February.

 For a complete list of Winners, click here.  Check out more Photos from tonight's Red Carpet over at Zimbio (Tip: you must see Mila Kunis' Alexander McQueen number).

(Photo credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

17TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

Still from The Fighter

Nominees for the Screen Actors Guild Awards have just been announced and perhaps this is a better indication of what's to come for the Oscars than the randomness of Monday's Golden Globe nominees.  Honouring the v. best performances in Television and Film, the SAGs will air Sunday, January 30, 2011 on TBS.

The Fighter ties The King's Speech in leading all nominees with four nods each. Surprisingly, The Social Network only earned two nominations this time - Oustanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture and Oustanding Performance by an Actor in Leading Role in a Motion Picture.

Both Robert Duvall for Get Low and Jeff Bridges for True Grit finally get some recognition this Awards season in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role alongside favourites Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network, Colin Firth for The King's Speech and James Franco for 127 Hours.

"SAW VII 3-D" THRILLS THE BOX OFFICE

Still from Saw VII 3-D

It's almost becoming too easy with its annual Halloween release, but Lionsgate's Saw VII 3-D, yes part VII, not only contains a lot of killing, but made a killing also.  The Horror flick took in an estimated $24.5 million from 2,808 screens this weekend. It is said that this will be the final installment in the series. We'll see about that.

Slipping to second is last weekend's Champion Paranormal Activity 2, which took in approximately $17 million. In two weeks, the sequel has made $66.5 million for one of the most profitable franchises in history for Paramount.

Surprisingly, Red is hanging tough still in third with $10.7 million. The film is still showing at 3,349 theatres, impressive considering it has actually been on illegal downloading sites for a couple weeks already.  Now who said studios were suffering from downloading?

Jackass 3-D although losing a bit of its edge with moviegoers, is still doing well in fourth spot with $8.5 million in its third week, putting it just past the $100 million mark domestically.

The Town in its seventh week is still in the Top Ten amazingly with $2 million earned this weekend and a total $87.6 million in its run so far. Congratulations, Ben Affleck!

Mr. Will-W.:Pop Maven favourite Conviction got its wide release finally this weekend in a paltry 565 theatres, earning $1.9 million in tenth spot. Despite some great reviews and tons of promotion, this one inexplicably still isn't connecting with moviegoers. Why?

CAST OF "THE SOCIAL NETWORK" HONOURED AT HOLLYWOOD AWARDS GALA

The Social Network's Rashida Jones, Josh Pence, Jesse Eisenberg,
,Justin Timberlake, Max Minghella and Andrew Garfield

Congratulations to the cast of David Fincher's The Social Network who were honoured at the Beverly Hilton last night for the 14th annual Hollywood Awards Gala.  And Awards season still hasn't begun yet! The Actors won the  Ensemble Acting Award and my guess is that they're likely to win the Screen Actor's Guild Award for Best Ensemble Cast on Sunday, January 30, 2011 too.

Other Actors honoured last night include:

JULIETTE LEWIS INJURED IN HIT-AND-RUN

Juliette Lewis at TIFF 2010

The immensely talented Juliette Lewis was injured sadly Wednesday night after having been involved in a Hit-and-Run after the premiere of Conviction in Beverly Hills at Samuel Goldwyn Theatre.  Police are still looking for the Offender, but it is said that the Driver who hit Lewis' vehicle had run a red light. 

To send your well wishes, you can Tweet her here.  Fortunately, a friend updated her Twitter reassuring us that she is fine.

Lewis, who partied hard in Toronto a few weeks ago during TIFF, delivers a phenomenal performance in Conviction as an Alcoholic Perjurer, which you have to see to believe.  I wouldn't be surprised if this bad Karma leads to good fortunes Awards season. 

(Photo credit: Mr. Will-W.)

HILARY SWANK AT PREMIERE OF CONVICTION IN BEVERLY HILLS

Hilary Swank at Premiere of Conviction

Check out Hilary Swank rockin' the Chanel at the Bevery Hills premiere of Tony Goldwyn's Conviction, not coincidentally held at Samuel Goldwyn Theatre.

Although I'm no Make-up Expert, I must say that the green glittery eye make-up isn't photographing well - it probably looked much better in-person. Loving her fashion sense though as she is taking more risks since winning that second Oscar for Million Dollar Baby and becoming single.

I saw the film at TIFF last month and loved it. If you haven't checked out my review and pics from the Toronto Premiere, by clicking here. Conviction gets released (pardon the pun) October 15, 2010.

INSTYLE MAGAZINE CONVICTION TIFF PARTY

Below are just a few of the faces seen tonight at the InStyle Magazine Party for Tony Goldwyn's Conviction. Just after midnight Betty Ann Waters, whom the movie is based upon, could be seen stumbling onto the street inebriated completely, before she and her friends were loaded onto an SUV to head off to Queen Street hotspot Sweaty Betty's for drinks. How fitting.

Aaron Eckhart

Jon Hamm, Jennifer Westfeldt

Justin Long

A separate SUV came prior to load what would be a star-studded ride including Hilary Swank, Justin Long, Juliette Lewis, Sam Rockwell and Tony Goldwyn.  As always, Lewis was out-of-it.  But hey, it's a party!  Hopefully she'll be coherent for her 9 AM Press Conference for the film.  

And of course Aaron Eckhart was a complete surprise as were Mad Men star Jon Hamm and his partner Jennifer Westfeldt.  Hamm is one of those people who I just seem to have no Photo-luck with, first accidentally deleting a perfectly lovely shot of him from Friday at The Town's Press Conference and now after taking a perfect photo together, it turned out that our photo was blurry!  Help!  I need a Photoshop Doctor.  This is an emergency!!  

HILARY SWANK CONVICTION TIFF Q&A VIDEO

As posted yesterday, I had attended the world premiere of Tony Goldwyn's Conviction and here's a clip of the Q&A I recorded where the Director discusses his casting choices.  You can also see how amazing Hilary Swank looked also!

HILARY SWANK AT TIFF PREMIERE OF CONVICTION (REVIEW & PICS)

Hilary Swank & Mr. Will-W.

One of the films I looked forward to seeing most at TIFF 2010 is Tony Goldwyn's Conviction, formerly know as Betty Ann Waters. Let's face it though - its parallels to Erin Brokovich are undeniable: unlikely woman hero defeats the legal system with hard work, love in her heart and undying.... conviction.  The film received its world premiere earlier today at the VISA Screening Room.

The film stars double-Oscar winner Hilary Swank as a single mother with a waitressing job who put herself through Law School to have her innocent older brother Kenneth (Sam Rockwell) released from prison. He was serving a life sentence for a murder he did not commit. It sounds unbelievable, but it really happened.

Although the film doesn't quite soar to the same tearily emotional you-can-do-it heights The Blind Side did, it is a satisfying journey and an eye-opening portrait of how many changes have been made in  the Legal system and the impact DNA identification has had on it.

Swank rarely disappoints despite having taken a few missteps lately like Black Dahlia and Amelia, but she is back in familiar territory again here as a tortured soul with a fighting spirit. She is my co-favourite Actress alongside Kate Winslet and it was an extreme honour to have been one of the few who got to meet her and believe me, many were trying to get to her, a vision of gorgeousness in a back-revealing blue number.

Supporting performances from Clea Duvall, Ari Graynor, Melissa Leo and Juliette Lewis also are stellar across the board, with Lewis somehow managing to steal the show in one scene and a mouth full of rotting teeth.  She plays an ex-girlfriend of Kenneth's who winds up testifying against him in court.  Minnie Driver plays Abra Rice, Betty's best friend who also studies to be a Lawyer and the chemistry between her and Swank is wonderful. Rockwell is endearing in this endless emotional rollercoaster and one cannot help but fall in love with his vulnerability.

TIFF 2010 TITLES ANNOUNCED

Yes! The titles TIFF 2010's Special Presentations and Galas have just been announced and this is going to be a good one.

This year we just might be expecting stars like Sam Worthington, Jon Hamm, Ben Affleck, Woody Allen, Naomi Watts, Marion Cotillard, Aaron Eckhart, Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, Paul Giamatti, Emma Stone, Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Hall, Colin Firth, Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling, Helen Mirren, Evan Rachel Wood, Kevin Spacey, Ryan Philippe, Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman and oh, so many more to be in the city this September!

I'm particularly excited to see Blue Valentine, The Town, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Black Swan, Never Let Me Go and of course Conviction, which I've been going on about forever. But as always, I love measuring the buzz and discovering hidden surprises too!  What are you guys excited to see?

For a complete list of Special Presentations and Galas, click here. Exciting stuff!

THE O.C.'S PETER GALLAGHER SPOTTED IN TORONTO

The O.C. fans will find comfort in knowing that veteran actor Peter Gallagher, who played Sandy Cohen on the popular Teen Drama series, is already at work on a new project.  Gallagher has been in Toronto since April filming Spy series Covert Affairs, which also stars Coyote Ugly's Piper Perabo, who although lovable has struggled to carve a niche in film.  The show premiered on USA Network just two weeks ago and production is scheduled to continue until the end of August.

Gallagher was seen in Yorkville with a male friend earlier this evening walking eastbound to grab a bite.  He was shocked that people recognized him and had items for him to autograph, thus stopping for a moment to pose for photos and autographs.  His friend joked what an attractive young man he once was, as Gallagher signed an older photo of himself.  

The actor will be appearing in two big releases later this year including Burlesque alongside Christina Aguilera and Cher, plus the eagerly anticipated Oscar contender Conviction starring Sam Rockwell and Hilary Swank.  Busy Man.

Look below for more pics I got of Gallagher:

VIDEO: NEW CONVICTION TRAILER

Check out this latest trailer for Fox Searchlight's Conviction (formerly Betty-Anne Waters). Seriously, I cried like a baby at the theatre when it played during the Pre-Show and it so did one of my BFFs Habeyah. Doesn't this look epic?  Grab a Kleenex.  You've been warned.