All Entries in the "Red Carpet" Category

Helena Bonham Carter VS Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga and Helena Bonham Carter are without a doubt two of the most interesting ladies in their field of expertise. Both Carter and Gaga know how to wow the crowds with their out-of-this-world fashion sense, and what’s even better is that both of these ladies could care less about the press. These two “fashionistas” know how to take acting and music to a whole new level. Could you imagine the topic of conversation if these two were on a coffee date?

As far as their careers go, Gaga and Carter understand that settling for what’s expected is not going to make audiences take notice. Instead, they both take on difficult schedules and roles in order to gain the press and attention needed to boost their careers.

Helena Bonham Carter has been in the business for just about 30 years. So you better believe Carter knows exactly what she’s doing. Because of her roles, she’s had the ability to connect with a wide range of audiences from the Harry Potter fans to those who enjoy historical films. She knows how to play it classy with roles such as Queen Elizabeth and Ophelia, and she knows how to play down right scary with roles such as Bellatrix and Red Queen. Some of her roles include:

• Ophelia- Hamlet
• Marla Singer- Fight Club
• Ari- Planet of the Apes
• Mrs. Bucket- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Bellatrix Lestrange- Harry Potter Films
• Mrs. Lovett- Sweeney Todd
• Red Queen- Alice in Wonderland
• Queen Elizabeth- The King’s Speech

Lady Gaga, on the other hand, appeared on the scene in 2008 with her hit single “Just Dance”. And after that the rest was history. Her mesmeric beats has propelled her lyrics into the minds of millions.  ”Poker Face” went on to prove  that Gaga was not just a one-hit wonder, but instead was a cultural phenomenon. She’s broken several records and holds the crown for having the most Twitter/Facebook followers and the most YouTube views.

These two have quite the fashion sense when it come to red carpet events. Sure… they may hold the crown for number of times on the “Worst Dressed” list, but they defiantly know how to get people talking. Carter had this to say about Gaga’s fashion:

“I love the way she dresses. She’s like a work of art. Anybody who is inventive, different or has fun like her, I love and admire. I’m amazed that she’s able to stand up in some of those shoes she wears.”

“I feel honored to be compared to her but I would probably be called Lady Haha. She’s fantastic.”–Helena Bonham Carter

The passion and level of commitment from these ladies are incredible. Both Gaga and Carter could care less about the judgments from other people; their goal is to focus on the task at hand and to give their audiences 100% every time they perform.

 

 

 

James Franco Looks High, “The King’s Speech” Trumps All, Oscars… More Like MTV Movie Awards

Last night millions of people tuned into what’s been noted as “The Worst Oscars Ever.” The 83rd Annual Academy Awards, hosted by James Franco and Hathaway, was nothing short of a disaster. In fact it was closer to a snooze fest. Cheesy lines, awkward and forgettable moments, and a disconnected Franco made the night seem longer that it actually was… and it was pretty long. But there were some moments that brought life back into what was supposed to be a “young and hip” awards show but turned out to be an upscale MTV Movie Awards. Here are my top five best, and awkward/worst moments of the Oscars:

Best Moments of the Oscars:

1. The Opening Comedic Montage starring James Franco, Anne Hathaway, and a Slew of Nominated Films:

I’m going to admit, this was probably the best thing I saw from Franco and Hathaway last night. It wasn’t necessarily fresh or innovative, but it did set the mood… and a misleading one at that. It was funny, but it was shortly after that that many of us realized the show was going down hill. I’ll get to Hathaway and Franco in a little.

2. Sandra Bullock, Billy Crystal, and Kirk Douglas

If it wasn’t for these three, the Oscars would’ve been a for sure drag. Once again “Sandy” shows that she’s a natural when it comes to speeches. Her announcement for the “Best Actor” nominees was fresh and fun. Too bad it happened at the end of the show when the only thing keeping people tuned in were the last three awards. Can we please get Billy Crystal to host again. I mean he should have just stayed up there and finished the show. The crowd went bonkers when he appeared, once again a little too late if you ask me. Last but definitely not least, Kirk Douglas, age 94, upstaged Franco—whose eye’s were more squinted than Douglas’—and provided more spunk and energy in his five minutes than Franco did during the whole show.

3. Musical Performance by Florence Welch, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Anne Hathaway

Florence sounded and looked stunning as she sang the words of A.R. Rahman’s “If I Rise” from 127 Hours. Gwyneth did a nice job as well. I only wish she would’ve started singing “F-U” by Cello Green. That would’ve been a show stopper! And Anne Hathaway’s musical number was cute.

4. The King’s Speech Beating Out Social Network

I was a little worried Social Network was going to win like crazy at the Academy Awards like it did at the Golden Globes, but I was happy to see The King’s Speech trump all. A little disappointed Black Swan didn’t win more than it did, but I can live with that.

5. Musical Version of Harry Potter, Twilight, Toy Story 3, and The Social Network

 

Worst/Awkward Moments of the Oscars:

1. Anne Hathaway and James Franco:

These two just didn’t cut it. James Franco looked as if he smoked something before the show. He wasn’t focused on the camera at all. And Anne Hathaway was way too hyper. But she probably would’ve done much better had Franco given her something to work with. The opening of the show wasn’t bad, but then they got into their own personal lives and their mothers which was sweet, but lasted a bit too long. The Academy’s goal of relating to a younger audience was a big mistake.

2. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Face When Singing:

She did an awesome job, but she looked as if she was in pain when singing.

3.  Tom Hanks talking about Gone With the Wind:

OK I understand it’s a great film, but that was 60 years ago. I could see if this was the 50th or 100th Academy Awards… but it was the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.

4. Mellisa Leo Dropping the F Bomb:

Enough said. This is what brought the Oscars down to the level of the MTV Movie Awards, along with all the Twilight and teen film references.

5. Obama Stating that His Favorite Movie Song is from Casablanca

This was random and completely unexpected and not in a good way.

6. James Franco Appearing in a Dress:

This was just awkward. He didn’t play it up and instead just stood there. He definitely did not get the response he was looking for.

How did James Franco & Anne Hathaway do as Oscar Host?

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards chose two of the most talented actors in the business, James Franco and Anne Hathaway. The Academy’s reason for choosing who they did: So the  show could appeal to “younger audiences” (and frankly I was quite tired of hearing that  fact repeated throughout): Franco said, ”You look so young and hip.” Hathaway replied, ”You look very appealing to a younger demographic yourself.” Wow, way to win over the “younger crowd”.

If you’re asking me… I’ll put in my two cents at the end. If you’re asking the rest of America… Franco and Hathaway were “boring”, “amateurish”, and “stale”. Well Academy looks like your plan for finding hosts who were “young and hip” back fired. Here’s what the reviewers had to say:

New York Times:

“At times, the prolonged effort to pander to younger viewers was downright painful. … A little like the attempt to graft Generation Y technology to old-fangled Hollywood panache, their stage personas clashed: Mr. Cooler-Than-Thou and Miss Eager-to-Please never really synched.”

The Hollywood Reporter:

“In what could go down as one of the worst Oscar telecasts in history, a bad and risky idea — letting two actors host — proved out in spectacularly unwatchable fashion on the biggest of all nights for the film world.”

The Washington Post:

“Turns out hosting Oscars is when the dude decides to take a rest. The only required trick for Franco and Hathaway was to manage to not look like they were doing one of those flirty commercials for a phone plan. (He’s so laid back! She’s so hyper! And now they get unlimited 4G downloads and texting! etc.)”

The Academy took a chance and now they know what to and what not to do again. Having Franco and Hathaway work together was not a good choice. Their chemistry was off in the sense of timing and personalities. Hathaway was quirky and hyper, while Franco seemed to be under the impression that his camera was off to the side. Basically, he just wasn’t focused and came off a bit too relaxed.

I wish they didn’t push the whole “young and hip” idea so hard. I mean we (the younger generation) are watching; and we’ve been watching. We don’t need misleading news about Twilight in order to make us turn on our televisions and watch the show. For example, Bruce Cohen told Ryan Seacrest:

“Robert, Taylor, and Kristen will not be on the show but, the next best thing is going to happen and it will blow people minds.”

Hmm? Next best thing? Not from what I saw. Funny? Yes. “Mind blowing…” Not at all.

Were their funny moments during the show? Yes. But oddly enough the pair’s best moment was off of the stage when they did their short comedy skit at the beginning of the Oscars.

Did you guys enjoy Hathaway and Franco? Post a comment below and check out the opening comedy skit below:

 

Will the Non-Fictional Characters Swoop the Oscars?

With the Oscars only a couple of days away, people are buzzing in from all over the net sending in their predictions for The 83rd Annual Academy Awards. But as we all know it’s the Academy who has the say so, not the people. Taking a look at past winners in several different categories—Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress—the Oscar has went to the movies/actors who’ve portrayed real people on the big screen.

For this years Oscars, the movies based on real events are: 127 Hours, The Fighter, The Kings Speech, and Social Network. Now does this mean that these movie will take home the Oscar Sunday night? No, not at all, but they do have a pretty good chance. Over the past decade, alone, 15 Oscars have been presented to non-fictional characters and movies.

So just how difficult is it to portray another person on film? Pretty difficult if you ask James Franco, who played daring mountain climber, Aron Ralston:

“Well, we did a bunch of things. Let’s see, I met with Danny I think in maybe October or November of last year and then soon after that, he told me I should go on a diet because, first of all, Aron was in great shape but also he lost 40 pounds while he was there from water deprivation mostly. So of course we couldn’t do that over the course of filming, but one thing we could do was I could get down to a very thin state and then for the early scenes we could do various things with makeup.”–Interview with ScreenCrave

You have to take into consideration that if the person is still alive, there’s even more pressure to get the character right. Many actors go through extreme physical transformations to get as close to the character as possible. Christian Bale—nominated for “Best Supporting Actor” for The Fighter— is no stranger when it comes to intense diets, whether he’s getting into shape for Christoper Nolan’s Batman or loosing weight in The Machinist. For The Fighter (nominated for seven Oscars including: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Editing) Bale lost 1/3 of his body weight for the role of Dicky Eklund.

But not every actor meets the person whom they are playing (which is absolutely insane if you ask me). For the Social Network, actor Jesse Eisenberg, nominated for “Best Actor”, didn’t meet the real Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerburg, until the night when Eisenberg  was chosen to host Saturday Night Live.

“He was so sweet,” said Eisenberg. “The fact that he agreed to come on and do that with me, after what must be a very weird few months of having a movie out about yourself, and to not be involved with it and not be in control of it, I could only imagine if it was me, it would be a little uncomfortable. It was so wonderfully generous to come and do that.”–Jesse Eisenberg interview with TODAY

The director of King’s Speech, Tom Hooper, said that he had a tough time telling the story about the father of Queen Elizabeth II:

“I think it is more difficult telling a story about real people, particularly iconic real people, than to tell stories about fictional people,” he said. “When you are telling stories about invented people, no one is ever going to have an issue. They will have an issue if it is a bad film, but they are not going to go, ‘But that character will never do that.’”–Tom Hooper interview with TODAY

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards start this Sunday, February 27. Red Carpet coverage starts at 7 pm EST. The ceremony start at 8 pm EST.

The 83rd Academy Award Nominees are…

The 83rd Academy Award Nominees are…

Who do you think should win? Vote Below!