The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Musical comedy ‘The Sapphires’ sparkles at Aussie Oscars Posted: 30 Jan 2013 04:44 AM PST  Actor Russell Crowe arrives at the 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California January 27, 2013. — Reuters pic Awards host Russell Crowe, an Oscar winner for "Gladiator," led a star-studded evening whose theme was pride in Australia's outsized success on the international film stage. "The Australian academy may be small but over the years we have won more than 60 BAFTAs and Oscars," said Crowe at the second annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts awards, affectionately known as the "Aussie Oscars." Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman and Jeffrey Rush were all on hand for the event at Sydney's Star casino, leading guest presenter Jeremy Renner to joke: "You can't throw a bottle out the window in Hollywood without hitting an Australian." The Sapphires, a possibility for next year's Oscars, tells the story of four women from a remote Aboriginal mission who are catapulted on to the world stage as Australia's answer to the Supremes when a kind-hearted manager, played by O'Dowd, hears their powerful voices and sends them to entertain troops in Vietnam. "Films find their way because of a certain strength," Kidman told Reuters. "The Sapphires is such a unique story and it's great music and great talent." Director Wayne Blair's debut film also won for direction, cinematography, editing, best production design, costume design and sound. Best Young Actor went to Saskia Rosendahl for her role in the Australian-German film "Lore", about a teenage girl who leads her younger siblings across Germany at the end of World War Two. Rosendahl was just 17 when the film was made. The awards weren't without controversy after the director of "Bait", the 3D shark-in-a-supermarket horror-comedy that was Australia's highest grossing film internationally last year, accused the academy of snubbing his movie. While The Sapphires was Australia's top-grossing film domestically, with more than A$14 million (RM45 million) in ticket sales, Bait snagged more than $41.8 million worldwide, more than half of that in China. "It was never going to get best film or best director, but how can the cinematography, the visual effects, the editing, the sound design, the production design — we built a supermarket and put it underwater, for goodness' sake — be overlooked?" said Kimble Rendall to the Sydney Morning Herald. Prior to last year, the awards were known as the Australian Film Industry (AFI) awards. — Reuters |
| Rushdie’s film promotion visit to Indian city cancelled after protests Posted: 30 Jan 2013 04:39 AM PST  British author Salman Rushdie. — AFP pic Around a hundred protesters congregated outside the city's airport ahead of the Indian-born author's visit today, airport officials said, the latest in a string of recent clashes over freedom of expression in India. Rushdie's 1998 novel "The Satanic Verses" is banned in India due to its depiction of Islam, and the author was forced to abandon a visit to the Jaipur Literature Festival last January after protests and death threats against him. "We will not allow him here. He is hated by all Muslims in the world. I thank the government of West Bengal for listening to us," said Idris Ali, chief of the All India Minority Forum, referring to the state of which Kolkata is the capital. "We protested under the banner of the group Milli Ittehad Parishad, an umbrella organisation of several Muslim groups." said Ali, who has previously led protests against Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, whose novel "Shame" attracted widespread condemnation from Muslim groups. "The event has been cancelled," a company official at the PVR Group, which is promoting and distributing "Midnight's Children", told Reuters on condition of anonymity as he was not permitted to speak to the media. The official declined to comment on whether the police or local authorities had requested the cancellation of the event. Rushdie's cancellation comes amid protests against Indian actor and director Kamal Hasan's "Vishwaroopam" film, which Muslim groups say target their beliefs. The joint commissioner of police in Kolkata declined to comment when asked if Rushdie's event was cancelled for security reasons. "The matter went to the home secretary but from police there is no version on whether we had refused or agreed to offer security to Rushdie," Javed Shamim told Reuters. — Reuters |
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