Tim Burton & Helena Bonham Carter + Marisa Tomei: The Oscars

Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter at the Academy Awards.

Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter on the Oscars’ Red Carpet

Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter sported matching hairdos upon their arrival at the 2011 Academy Awards ceremony held on Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

Tim Burton’s global blockbuster Alice in Wonderland, in which Helena Bonham Carter is one of the featured players (as the Red Queen), won Oscars for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction. Bonham Carter was a Best Supporting Actress nominee for Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech (as another queen, Elizabeth).

Career boosted by Oscar nomination

Helena Bonham Carter’s film career began in earnest in James Ivory’s 1986 Best Picture Oscar nominee A Room with a View, in which she romanced Julian Sands.

She kept on working without creating too much of a stir – e.g., Lady Jane, supporting roles in Ivory’s Howards End and Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite – until her Best Actress Academy Award nomination for Iain Softley’s The Wings of the Dove (1997), co-starring Linus Roache and Alison Elliott. That year, Bonham Carter lost the Oscar to Helen Hunt in James L. Brooks’ popular comedy-drama As Good as It Gets.

Besides Alice in Wonderland, among the Helena Bonham Carter films directed by Tim Burton are Planet of the Apes (2001), opposite Mark Wahlberg; and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), both opposite Johnny Depp.

Helena Bonham Carter’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar competitors this year were:

• Eventual winner Melissa Leo in David O. Russell’s The Fighter.
• Amy Adams in The Fighter.
• Hailee Steinfeld in Joel and Ethan Coen’s True Grit.
• Jacki Weaver in David Michôd’s Animal Kingdom.

Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter were married in 2001.

Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton photo: Ivan Vejar / © A.M.P.A.S.

Tim Burton.

Tim Burton, who seems to be wearing his glasses upside down, is pictured above on the 83rd Academy Awards’ Red Carpet outside the Kodak Theatre (itself located inside the Hollywood & Highland Center).

Though generally panned by critics, Burton’s Alice in Wonderland was a major international hit. The partial list of recent Helena Bonham Carter movies found earlier in this article also features a complete list of post-2000 Tim Burton films.

And here are a handful of notable pre-2000, pre-Helena Bonham Carter Tim Burton movies: Beetlejuice (1988) and Batman (1989), both featuring Michael Keaton; and Edward Scissorhands (1990), Ed Wood (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), featuring Johnny Depp.

Tim Burton photo: Ivan Vejar | © A.M.P.A.S.

Halle Berry Oscar dress showcase.

Halle Berry

Wearing a (partly) see-through white dress, Halle Berry arrives at the 83rd Academy Awards, held on Feb. 27, ’11, at the Kodak Theatre in the heart of Hollywood. Back at the 2002 ceremony, Berry won a Best Actress Oscar for Marc Forster’s Monster’s Ball, a psychological drama co-starring Billy Bob Thornton. This year, she was onstage paying tribute to singer/actress Lena Horne (Cabin in the Sky, Stormy Weather), who died last year.

The 2011 Oscars’ “In Memoriam” segment, which generally leaves much to be desired, featured brief clips showcasing those who died in the last year or so. Among them were Jill Clayburgh, Best Actress Oscar winner Patricia Neal (Hud), Blake Edwards, Mario Monicelli, and Forbidden Planet stars Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen. Some complained that the Academy chose to ignore troubled young actor Corey Haim, who also died last year.

Besides Monster’s Ball, Halle Berry has been featured in a couple of dozen movies since 1991. Titles include Mathieu Kassovitz’s Gothika (2003), with Robert Downey Jr.; Pitof’s Catwoman (2004), with Sharon Stone and Lambert Wilson; and Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), with Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, and James Marsden.

Halle Berry photo: Darren Decker / © A.M.P.A.S.

Marisa Tomei on the Oscars’ Red Carpet.

Marisa Tomei

Donning an old-fashioned blue dress, Marisa Tomei is seen above on the 2011 Academy Awards’ Red Carpet, just outside the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Tomei was a presenter at the Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony held some time ago. Clips from the ceremony were shown during the Oscarcast.

Like Halle Berry, Marisa Tomei has already taken home an Academy Award. She was the 1992 Best Supporting Actress winner for her performance in Jonathan Lynn’s comedy My Cousin Vinny, starring Joe Pesci.

Tomei would receive two other nominations in that category: for Todd Field’s In the Bedroom (2001), starring Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson, and Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler (2009), starring Mickey Rourke and Evan Rachel Wood.

Marisa Tomei photo: Richard Harbaugh / © A.M.P.A.S.

Reese Witherspoon black dress: Oscars’ Red Carpet.

Reese Witherspoon

Sporting a black dress, Reese Witherspoon is seen above on the 2011 Oscars’ Red Carpet, right outside the Kodak Theatre. Witherspoon presented the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to Christian Bale, who won for David O. Russell’s boxing drama The Fighter.

Last year’s Best Supporting Actress winner, Mo’Nique (Precious), had reportedly refused to come to this year’s ceremony.

Reese Witherspoon movies

The New Orleans-born Reese Witherspoon is a Best Actress Oscar winner for her performance as country singer June Carter in James Mangold’s Walk the Line (2005), co-starring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash.

Among her other movies are Roger Kumble’s Cruel Intentions (1999), with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe; Robert Luketic’s Legally Blonde (2001), with Luke Wilson; Andy Tennant’s Sweet Home Alabama (2002), with Josh Lucas and Patrick Dempsey; Seth Gordon’s Four Christmases (2008), with Vince Vaughn.

Following James L. Brooks’ box office disaster How Do You Know, costarring Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd, and Jack Nicholson, Reese Witherspoon will next be seen in Francis Lawrence’s circus drama Water for Elephants, opposite Twilight Saga actor Robert Pattinson and Oscar winner Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds, 2009).

Reese Witherspoon photo: Darren Decker | © A.M.P.A.S.

Cheryl Hines on the Academy Awards’ Red Carpet.

Cheryl Hines and Oscar statue

Garbed in a silky, glitzy, greyish-black dress, Cheryl Hines is seen above on the 2011 Oscars’ Red Carpet, standing in front of a giant-sized Oscar statue. Hines has been seen in a number of television series, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Brothers & Sisters, and Father of the Pride.

Her film work includes Herbie Fully Loaded, Good Night Vagina, Bart Got a Room, and Space Chimps.

Cheryl Hines photo: Darren Decker / © A.M.P.A.S.

Aron Ralston and wife Jessica Trusty: ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ author – filmed as ‘127 Hours’ – on the Oscar Red Carpet.

‘127 Hours’ hiker and mountain climber Aron Ralston and wife: Oscars’ Red Carpet

Aron Ralston and wife Jessica Trusty arrive at the 2011 Academy Awards, held on Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Ralston is played by James Franco in Danny Boyle’s generally well-received drama 127 Hours.

Franco, who co-hosted the Oscar ceremony with Anne Hathaway, was up for the Best Actor Oscar. Boyle (with Simon Beaufoy) was up for Best Adapted Screenplay and the film itself was up for Best Picture. 127 Hours didn’t win a single Oscar on Sunday night.

The Best Actor winner was Colin Firth for Tom Hooper’s period drama The King’s Speech, which was also chosen as the year’s Best Picture. Aaron Sorkin took home the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar statuette for David Fincher’s Facebook drama The Social Network.

127 Hours was adapted from Aron Ralston’s book Between a Rock and a Hard Place, in which he describes how he was forced to cut off one of his arms in order to free himself from under a rock.

127 Hours hiker and mountain climber Aron Ralston and wife Jessica Trusty photo: Darren Decker / © A.M.P.A.S.

Jesse Eisenberg: Oscar Red Carpet.

Jesse Eisenberg

Best Actor nominee Jesse Eisenberg arrives at the 83rd Academy Awards. Eisenberg was shortlisted this year for The Social Network, in which he plays ambitious Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

The Social Network was the early Best Picture favorite this awards season, being named the best film of the year by nearly every North American film critics group. The King’s Speech, however, ended up winning the top Hollywood guild awards and came out victorious at the Oscars as well.

As mentioned above, Colin Firth was the year’s Best Actor.

Jesse Eisenberg photo: Darren Decker / © A.M.P.A.S.

Cate Blanchett and Michelle Williams: Old Hollywood glamour at the Oscars, with a purple-garbed Scarlett Johansson in the background.

Cate Blanchett and Michelle Williams at the 83rd Academy Awards

A bit of newfangled Old Hollywood glamour as five-time Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett, who presented the 2011 Oscars for Best Costume Design and Best Make-Up, and two-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams are seen chatting backstage during the live broadcast of the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, held on Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

Cate Blanchett Oscar nominations

Cate Blanchett took home the 2004 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her work in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, in which she plays Katharine Hepburn opposite Leonardo DiCaprio’s Howard Hughes.

Blanchett’s other Oscar nominations were the following:

• Best Actress for Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth (1998).
• Best Supporting Actress for Richard Eyre’s Notes on a Scandal (2006).
• Best Actress for Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007).
• Best Supporting Actress for Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There (2007).

Michelle Williams Oscar nominations

This year, Michelle Williams was a Best Actress Oscar nominee for her performance in Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine, co-starring Ryan Gosling.

Williams had previously been shortlisted in the Best Supporting Actress category for Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (2005), starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, and featuring one of this year’s Oscar ceremony hosts, Anne Hathaway.

Photo of Cate Blanchett and Michelle Williams: Rick Slayer / © A.M.P.A.S.

Cate Blanchett at the Academy Awards.

Pictured above is Cate Blanchett wearing a sleeveless gown while on the 83rd Academy Awards’ Red Carpet just outside the Kodak Theatre. Presenter Blanchett’s off-hand remark about some of this year’s Best Make-up Oscar contenders – “gross” – was greeted with quite a bit of laughter.

Rick Baker and Dave Elsey took home the Oscar statuette for their work on Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman.

Additionally, Cate Blanchett presented the Best Costume Design award, which went to Colleen Atwood for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

Cate Blanchett photo: Darren Decker / © A.M.P.A.S.

Michelle Williams: Oscar Red Carpet.

Best Actress nominee Michelle Williams, donning a slinky white gown, is seen above on the 2011 Oscars’ Red Carpet.

This year’s Best Actress winner was Natalie Portman for Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. Williams and Portman’s fellow nominees were:

• Annette Bening in Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right.
• Jennifer Lawrence in Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone.
• Nicole Kidman in John Cameron Mitchell’s Rabbit Hole.

See also: “Blue Valentine NC-17 Rating Irks Harvey Weinstein.”

Michelle Williams photo: Ivan Vejar / © A.M.P.A.S.

Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-lee Furness, Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban at the Oscars.

Wolverine Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-lee Furness at the Academy Awards

Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-lee Furness, along with Best Actress nominee Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban, are pictured above arriving at the 83rd Academy Awards, held on Feb. 27, ’11, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

Stage and screen actor-singer Hugh Jackman was the Oscar ceremony host a couple of years ago, while this year Nicole Kidman was a Best Actress nominee for her performance as a bereaved mother in John Cameron Mitchell’s Rabbit Hole, co-starring Aaron Eckhart and Dianne Wiest. More on Kidman further below.

Recent Hugh Jackman movies

The most recent film efforts of the Sydney-born Hugh Jackman were Gavin Hood’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), in which he has the (second half of the) title role, and Baz Luhrmann’s epic romance Australia (2008).

Co-starring Nicole Kidman, the $130 million-budgeted Australia did middling business in North America, but became a major box office hit in its titular country – and a notable one in Spain and the United Kingdom.

Some of Hugh Jackman’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine co-stars are Liev Schreiber, Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, and Ryan Reynolds.

Deborra-lee Furness movies

Actress Deborra-lee Furness has been featured in nearly 20 films in the last 25 years. Titles include the following:

• A Cry in the Dark / Evil Angels (1988).
  Director: Fred Schepisi.
  Cast: Meryl Streep. Sam Neill. Deborra-lee Furness.
• Jindabyne (2006).
  Director: Ray Lawrence.
  Cast: Gabriel Byrne. Laura Linney. Max Cullen. Chris Haywood. John Howard. Deborra-lee Furness.
• Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010).
  Director: Zack Snyder.
  Voice Cast: Abbie Cornish. Joel Edgerton. Anthony LaPaglia. Miriam Margolyes. Helen Mirren. Sam Neill. Deborra-lee Furness. Barry Otto. Geoffrey Rush. Ryan Kwanten. Richard Roxburgh. Emily Barclay.

Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-lee Furness were married in 1996.

Photo of Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-lee Furness, along with Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban: Ivan Vejar / © A.M.P.A.S.

Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban on the Oscars’ Red Carpet.

Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban

Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban, a popular country singer in the United States, are seen above on the 2011 Academy Awards’ Red Carpet, just outside the Kodak Theatre, itself found in the Los Angeles suburb of Hollywood.

One of the evening’s contenders, Kidman lost the Best Actress Oscar to Natalie Portman for her performance as an unstable ballerina in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller Black Swan. Their fellow competitors were:

• Annette Bening for Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right.
• Michelle Williams for Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine.
• Jennifer Lawrence for Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone.

Prior to Rabbit Hole, Nicole Kidman had been nominated for two Academy Awards: Stephen Daldry’s The Hours (2002) and Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! (2001).

Kidman took home the Oscar statuette for The Hours. The 2001 Best Actress Oscar winner was Halle Berry for Marc Forster’s Monster’s Ball.

Keith Urban

For those not into American country music, the New Zealand-born, Australian-raised, multiple Grammy winner Keith Urban is probably best known as one of the former judges of the television show American Idol.

Keith Urban song albums include Golden Road (2002), Defying Gravity (2009), and Get Closer (2010).

Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban wed in 2006. Kidman had been previously married to Tom Cruise (1990–2001), her leading man in Tony Scott’s Days of Thunder (1990), Ron Howard’s Far and Away (1992), and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (1999).

Photo of Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban: John Selig / © A.M.P.A.S.

Robert Downey Jr. and wife Susan Downey on the Oscars’ Red Carpet.

Robert Downey Jr. & wife Susan Downey

Robert Downey Jr. arrives with wife Susan Downey for the 83rd Academy Awards. Downey Jr. has been nominated for two Oscars:

• Chaplin (1992). Best Actor, as Charles Chaplin.
  Director: Richard Attenborough.
• Tropic Thunder (2008). Best Supporting Actor.
  Director: Ben Stiller.

At the 2011 Oscarcast, Robert Downey Jr. and his Sherlock Holmes and (the upcoming) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows co-star Jude Law presented the statuette for Best Visual Effects – following a visual effects-like introduction featuring a virtual-reality Bob Hope, a frequent Academy Awards host of years past.

The winner of this year’s Best Visual Effects Oscar was, as expected, Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi adventure Inception. The honorees were Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, Pete Bebb, and Paul J. Franklin.

A major international blockbuster, Inception stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, and Michael Caine.

Robert Downey Jr. and wife Susan Downey wed in 2005. He had been previously married to musician and actress Deborah Falconer (1992–2004).

Photo of Robert Downey Jr and wife Susan Downey: Ivan Vejar / © A.M.P.A.S.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.) website.