MY PICKS FOR THE 84TH ACADEMY AWARDS

The 84th Academy Awards Official Poster

Being less than a week away, I've compiled my picks for the 84th Academy Awards. Admittedly, I haven't seen the Documentary and Short Film nominees so I am unable to comment.   I predict another sweep for The Artist, specifically for Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role, Directing, Costume Design and perhaps a couple technical categories.  Although I think Viola Davis did a fantastic job on The Help, I still feel at this point Meryl Streep should edge her out for Actress in a Leading Role based on her powerful portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

Cannot wait to pop the Champagne and celebrate another year of Cine-memories!

Here are my picks:

BEST PICTURE
The Artist


ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jean Dujardin
The Artist


ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Meryl Streep
The Iron Lady


ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Octavia Spencer
The Help


ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Rango
Gore Verbinski

18TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS RECAP

Viola Davis - 18th Annual SAG Awards

The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were held at The Shrine in Los Angeles earlier this evening, with Winners being determined by 2,100 Actors voting to honour their Peers for their brilliant work.  Viola Davis was Queen of the Red Carpet in a gorgeous white Marchesa dress, while her The Help Co-star Emma Stone looked stunning also in a black Alexander McQueen number.  Although the Ladies of Bridesmaids won over the audience re-enacting a drinking game on-stage around the word "Scorese", it was the Cast of The Help which was awarded Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Viola Davis was a bit of a surprise winning Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in The Help (defeating Meryl Streep) and Jean Dujardin for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in The Artist. Both wins for further solidify that they too just  might win Best Actress and Actor at next month's Academy Awards.

A recurring theme among tonight's SAG Award Winners was that it's never too late to be recognized.  For one, 82-year-old Christopher Plummer earned his first SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Beginners.  Some also might have been surprised that 90-year-old veteran Actress Betty White won Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for Hot in Cleveland, beating-out Julie Bowen, Sofia Vergara, Tina Fey and Edie Falco. Another late to gain recognition is 62-year-old Jessica Lange, honoured for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series with American Horror Story.  

"THE ARTIST" SWEEPS CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS

Jean Dujardin, Star of The Artist

The Critics have spoken, indeed! The Broadcast Film Critics Association held their 17th annual Critics' Choice Awards earlier this evening and if you weren't convinced of The Artist's Oscar chances, you'd better think again. The Film by Michel Hazanavicius was awarded Best Director, Best Costume Design, Best Score and also Best Picture.

The Ladies of The Help also were well-represented, winning Best Actress with Viola Davis, Best Supporting Actress with Octavia Spencer and also, the Award for Best Ensemble Cast.

George Clooney walk award with Best Actor for The Descendants, while Acting Legend Christopher Plummer won for his work as Best Supporting Actor in The Beginners.  Note the irony in namesake: The Beginners... The Descendants... get it?

Although not yet updated, Photos and Winners will be posted on the Critics' Choice Awards Website.

See Photos from the Red Carpet over at Zimbio.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

"EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE" - MOVIE REVIEW

Still from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Nine year-old Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) loses his Father Thomas (Tom Hanks) tragically as a result of the September 11th World Trade Center attacks. Before his passing, Thomas leaves behind a mysterious Key in his closet, leading Oskar to go an on all-consuming search throughout the five Boroughs of New York City to find its accompanying Lock.
This quest however, happens without his grieving Mother Linda's (Sandra Bullock) knowledge and along the way, Oskar gets a bit of unlikely help from an Elderly Gentleman (Max von Sydow) who is renting a room from his Grandmother (Zoe Caldwell). The Boy must face and conquer his own personal demons in unraveling this great Mystery in honour of his beloved Father.

Director Stephen Daldry (The Reader, The Hours) truly can do no wrong and such is the case with the intense, detailed and heartfelt Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, an Adaptation of the bestselling Novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.  Despite already an impeccable Cast, all eyes migrate to Breakout Star Horn, a discovery from Game Show Jeopardy. The young Actor handles the quiet nuances required of his Role with equal dexterity as its more melodramatic moments.  A true indication of his ability comes in a particularly tricky and verbose scene where he is paired with von Sydow, rattling off his lines with the skill and conviction of a true Professional beyond his years.  Horn holds his own beautifully in key tender moments with Oscar-caliber talents Bullock, Jeffrey Wright and Viola Davis.

ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF "THE HELP" ON DVD/BLU-RAY COMBO PACK

Official Artwork for The Help

Even though it came out this past August, I'm still v. much in love with THE HELP and I am a genuine Believer that it will be a force come Awards Season. Buena Vista Home Entertainment will be releasing the $193 million grossing Film on December 6, 2011.  Together, we want to give you a chance to win a copy of it on DVD/Blu-ray Combo Pack.

The #1 New York Times Best Seller by Kathryn Stockett comes to vivid life through the powerful performances of a phenomenal ensemble cast. Led by Emma Stone, Academy Award-nominated Viola Davis (Best Supporting Actress, DOUBT, 2008), Octavia Spencer and Bryce Dallas Howard, THE HELP is an inspirational, courageous and empowering story about very different, extraordinary women in the 1960s South who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project -- one that breaks society's rules and puts them all at risk. Filled with poignancy, humor and hope -- and complete with compelling never-before-seen bonus features - THE HELP is a timeless, universal and triumphant story about the ability to create change.

Watch the Trailer in full below:

THE CAST OF "THE HELP" WALK RED CARPET AT BEVERLY HILLS PREMIERE

The Cast of The Help

The Red Carpet Premiere of Dreamworks/Disney's The Help was held last night at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills and the entire Principal Cast showed up! Gorgeous.

Are Bryce Dallas Howard and Jessica Chastain (far right, front row) toying with us by standing beside one another?  Both Actresses often are confused for the other and maybe after this Film's released we'll finally be able to get it right!

See more Photos from the Red Carpet last night by Alberto E. Rodriguez for Getty Images.

The Help is in theatres today. Read my Review here!

(Photo credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

THE HELP - MOVIE REVIEW

Still from The Help

Set in the 1960s at the height of the African-American Civil Rights Movement, The Help is based upon the best-selling Novel of the same name by Author Kathryn Stockett. The Story centers around Skeeter (Emma Stone) who returns home to an oppressive Jackson, Mississippi after completing College studies with the aspirations of becoming a Writer. Getting a job at a local Newspaper, originally she is hired as a Ghostwriter for a mundane Housekeeping Column.  

After learning that her Mother Charlotte (Allison Janney) mysteriously dismisses the Maid who helped raise her Constantine (Cicely Tyson), Skeeter becomes fixated on some of the blatant social injustices these Black Maids face even at the hands of Skeeter's own Society-type Peers.  Secretly, Skeeter enlists the help of Aibileen (Viola Davis) who is the Maid of her Friend Ahna (Elizabeth Leefolt), to compile a shocking Tell-All based upon first-hand accounts from these Women's experiences with their Employers.

Writing this Book however, isn't an easy task as Skeeter must gain the trust of Aibileen and also other Maids like the fearful Minny (Octavia Spencer), who is at the mercy of tyrannical and influencial Employer Hilly Holbrook; Hilly also happens to be a Friend of Skeeter.  The Help focuses on the story of Skeeter, Minny and Aibileen - three Women who are brought together by the division that comes with Racial Segregation.  Ironically, they also are connected together on a much deeper level by the injustices of this division in this thoughtful look at a pivotal point in American History.

Although Director/Writer Tate Taylor might not be a familiar name now, he will more than likely be remembered for this career-defining piece.  The Help brings together one of the strongest Female Ensemble Casts perhaps since 2002's The Hours and together with Author Stockett, Taylor gives these Actresses some meaty material to work with.

NEW TRAILER FOR "THE HELP" STARRING EMMA STONE

Just days after releasing those new Stills from Disney's The Help, this two and a half-minute Trailer surfaces today for the Movie. Ooh - just watch Bryce Dallas Howard get all up in the Drama with Emma Stone  - pure Ginger Fire.

Viola Davis then lays the Smackdown on troublesome Howard, telling her with Southern conviction, "You are a Godless Woman".  Somebody please fan me down because it sure gets hot down in Mississippi.

The Help hits theatres this August.

NEW STILLS FROM "THE HELP" STARRING EMMA STONE

Still from The Help

Although it’s not due in theatres until August, Disney has just released some new Stills from upcoming Drama The Help starring the magnetic Emma Stone.  The Film which studies Race relations in the ‘60s in a small Mississippi Town, is said to be a heart-warming tale about an unlikely Friendship being formed – shocking in a time when racial segregation was ever-prevalent. The Film is based upon the Novel of the same title by Kathryn Stockett.

The Help stars a female Cast of heavy-hitters including Sissy Spacek, Viola Davis, Allison Janney, Bryce Dallas Howard and also Jessica Chastain. The latter many of us will be excited to see this May in Fox Searchlight’s The Tree of Life with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.

Check out another Still below:

EAT PRAY LOVE REVIEW

You will have an uncontrollable urge to eat Pasta and Thin-Crust Pizza after seeing this. Sony Pictures' Eat Pray Love might take a few liberties with the Elizabeth Gilbert memoir in which it is based upon, but overall it succeeds as a movie-going experience.

Eat Pray Love, directed by Glee's Ryan Murphy, follows the story of successful writer Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) who decides that she is no longer satisfied with her marriage, leaving her husband Stephen (Billy Crudup). As predicted by a Medicine Man named Ketut (Hadi Subiyanto) whom she visits in an off-chance in Bali, she will lose everything before going on a year-long journey, which brings her back to him full circle.  He predicts she will gain everything back again in due time, but in order to do so she must complete this said journey. Thus, in finding herself, she takes a transcontinental trip leaving her life, possessions and friends like Delia (Viola Davis) in New York.  She travels to Italy, India and finally Indonesia. 

Liz is forced to face her biggest inner-demon - that is - finding and loving herself. Along the way though, she gets involved with an alluring young actor in David (James Franco); learns Italian while gaining much weight from Italy's sumptuous cuisine; masters the art of Meditation in India while befriending a no-nonsense Texan named Richard (Richard Jenkins) and finally finds love in Indonesia unexpectedly with a world-traveling Brazilian hunk Felipe (Javier Bardem).  All play a pivotal role in teaching her life lessons.  Oh, yeah.

VIDEO: TRUST (2010) TRAILER - DAVID SCHWIMMER FILM

Friends star-turned-Director David Schwimmer is definitely taking it to the next level with his new film Trust, about a girl who befriends a boy on the Internet... only to realize he's a Pedophile. Of course, things go tragically wrong and the rest of the film is about her father's fight for justice and her breakdown. Heavy stuff.

The trailer has just been released on the TIFF website as the film will be screening at this year's festival. Trust stars Clive Owen, Viola Davis, Catherine Keener and newcomer Liana Liberato as the young victim. Check it out below:

CATHERINE ZETA-JONES WINS BIG AT TONYS

Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-Jones added a Tony to her Trophy Cabinet after winning the coveted award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for her performance in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. Although she was absent for much of the crucial evaluation period for Voters due to a Virus, there was no doubt that Mrs. Michael Douglas' performance left enough of an impression to carry her through.

Many of Hollywood's biggest names showed up to the Awards last night at Radio City Music Hall in New York City including Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Lucy Liu, Cate Blanchett, Kristin Chenoweth, Naomi Watts, Liev Schrieber, among others.  In addition to Zeta-Jones, other Hollywood film actors took home key awards like Scarlett Johanssson who won Best Featured Performance as an Actress for her turn in A View From a Bridge, while Denzel Washington and Viola Davis also won Best Performance by a Leading Actor and Actress respectively for Fences. Red won the evening's top honour of Best Play and Memphis won for Best Musical.  Click here for a full list of winners.