Awards Season

There is a school of thought that says that Emma Thompson should win every award under the sun so that we may have the pleasure of hearing her acceptance speech. She thanked the Academy this way upon winning Best Screenplay in 1996 for Sense and Sensibility – “Before I came, I went to visit Jane Austen’s grave in Winchester Cathedral to pay my respects, you know, and to tell her about the grosses.

The crowd, congregating in the hotel-size kitchen, was exuberant, hyper and noisy. Just what you’d expect at a party in a producer’s mansion on top of the Hollywood Hills! Okay, I thought: “Been there, done that.

Daniel Brühl doesn’t know what time it is anymore. “I’m in Vienna, jumping up and down.

The short list for the Foreign Language Oscar category released today includes entries from nine countries: Belgium, Bosnia, Cambodia, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy and Palestine. Only two of those (the Italian and Danish films) are also represented in the five nominees for a Foreign Language Golden Globe.

While she seems such a grand and welcome presence on our cinema screens these days, it is hard to believe that it wasn’t until 1997, after decades as the doyenne of British stage and TV, that Dame Judi Dench broke out to cinema audiences worldwide with her starring role in a movie playing Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown, for which she received her first Golden Globe nomination and subsequently won.

Matthew McConaughey, who first gained attention for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused, is known for his dedication to his craft. The 44-year-old Texan easily vanishes into whatever role he plays, whether it’s a criminal defense lawyer operating his practice out of a Lincoln Town car in The Lincoln Lawyer, a police officer moonlighting as a contract killer in Killer Joe, a strip bar owner who clashes with his star stripper in Magic Mike, or an overconfident, eccentric and jaded stockbroker in The Wolf of Wall Street.

.

He has played a stockbroker, a detective, a president, an adventurer, a lawyer, a judge, a drug czar, a divorcee and very often a man with a penchant for dangerous women. But no role took as much courage as slipping into the sequined clothes of Liberace in Behind The Candelabra:"When I was younger I couldn’t have played that part.

Catherine “Cate” Blanchett, 44, is one of the world’s most acclaimed actresses and one who continues to surprise and electrify at every turn, be it in film, on television or on stage. This exciting awards season sees Blanchett gracing nomination lists galore for her searing turn in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, widely acknowledged to be his best film in a while.

The 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards Nominations delivered the usual set of silver screen successes and upsets, however, it was event announcers Olivia Wilde and Zoe Saldana, whose style earned an honorable mention. Expectant mom and bride-to-be Olivia Wilde proved maternity attire is as fashionable as it is fierce thanks to her mostly-ebony ensemble.