Golden Globes 2010 Predictions: Best Actress – Drama

2010 Golden Globe Predictions: Best Actress – Drama

Annette Bening, Mother and Child
A middle-aged woman must come to terms with her past

Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Radical ideologue Leo Tolstoy’s wife Sofya has to put up with him

Carey Mulligan, An Education
In 1960s London, a teenager falls for a man in his 30s

Michelle Pfeiffer, Chéri
An older courtesan gets back on the job

Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
An abused pregnant teen tries to take control of her life
 

Hilary Swank in Amelia (top); Penélope Cruz in Broken Embraces (middle, upper); Emily Blunt in Young Victoria (middle, lower); Natalie Portman in Brothers (bottom)

Not that long ago, there was a time — a very long time, stretching from the early [...]

2012 Smashes Box Office

Roland Emmerich’s apocalyptic actioner 2012 destroyed its competition at the North American box office this weekend with a solid $65 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Sony’s 2012 opened at 3,404 locations Friday, scoring an explosive average of $19,095 per theater while easily beating the $35.8 million opening gross of Emmerich’s previous film 10,000 B.C.
Starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, and Danny Glover, 2012 follows a group of individuals trying to survive a series of cataclysms as the world is about to come to an end.

Pirate Radio, this week’s other wide release, made it only to No. 11, with $2.8 million from ticket sales [...]

PRECIOUS Music: Q&A with Composer Mario Grigorov

The son of a concert pianist and trumpeter, Bulgarian-born, Austrian-trained composer Mario Grigorov has been creating film music for two decades, having become particularly busy in the last ten years or so. Among his movie credits are Leonardo Ricagni’s 29 Palms (1999) and El chevrolé (2002), Alison Thompson’s documentary The Third Wave: A Volunteer Story (2007), additional music for Alex Gibney’s Oscar-winning Iraq War documentary Taxi to the Dark Side, and a number of short films.
Grigorov’s other music credits include the albums "Rhymes with Orange" and "Aria on Café del Mar," musical scores for numerous commercial outlets, and even playing in the Shah’s Symphony Orchestra in Iran, where Grigorov lived for six years. "Both on disc and onstage," [...]

AFI FEST 2009: PRECIOUS, THE WHITE RIBBON, AJAMI

Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire by Lee Daniels (top); The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke (middle); Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi in Vincere by Marco Bellocchio (bottom)

Among the Sunday, Nov. 1, highlights at the AFI FEST 2009 at the Chinese Theater complex in Hollywood are:

Lu Chuan’s historical drama City of Life and Death, winner of the Golden Shell for best picture at the San Sebastian Film Festival
Claude Chabrol’s psychological mystery-drama Bellamy, his first collaboration with Gérard Depardieu
Lee Daniels‘ Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire, a strong possibility for the Oscar 2010 best picture shortlist and the Sundance 2009 US Narrative Jury Prize winner
Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winner and potential Oscar 2010 contender [...]

London 2009: Gabourey Sidibe, JJ Feild, Veronica Echegui

Actress Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe, a potential Oscar 2010 best actress contender, arrives at the premiere of Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire during the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival at the Vue West End on October 23. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

Actor JJ Feild arrives at the premiere of Paul King’s Bunny and the Bull during the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival at the Vue West End on October 23. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

Actress Veronica Echegui arrives at the premiere of Bunny and the Bull. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

A view from the National Gallery during the London Moves Me Outdoor Screening as part of the Times BFI 53rd London [...]