Post Title. 01/16/2012
Clooney, Streep big winners at Golden Globes Los Angeles (CNN) -- George Clooney and Meryl Streep appear to be main contenders in the 2012 Hollywood award season after Sunday night's Golden Globes. But the winners of the best film drama actor honors face competition from a silent film star and an actress who brought Marilyn Monroe back to life. Clooney's "The Descendants" won for best drama film, while Clooney received the best actor in a drama film award. "The Artist," a black and white silent movie, was chosen best comedy or musical film, while its lead Jean Dujardin won best actor in a comedy or musical movie. The movie's music also won for best original film score. The Globes set the stage for a Meryl Streep versus Michelle Williams best actress showdown at the Academy Awards in six weeks by handing both women best actress honors. Glitz, glam on the Golden Globes carpet Kelsey Grammer, wife expecting twins Streep won the drama film best actress Globe for her portrayal of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in "Iron Lady," while Williams carried home the comedy or musical film Globe for playing movie legend Marilyn Monroe in "My Week With Marilyn." Since the Globes separates dramas from comedies -- unlike the Academy Awards -- Williams, Streep, Clooney and Dujardin were not competing against each other in the 69th annual Golden Globes award show. "Thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for putting in my hand the same award that Marilyn Monroe herself won over 50 years ago," Williams said in her acceptance speech. Oscar nominations will be revealed later this month and the Academy Awards follows at the end of February. Other films expected to be Oscar contenders also got a share of the Globes spotlight. Woody Allen's "Midnight In Paris" lost out to "The Artist," but Allen did win for best film screenplay. The 3-D family movie "Hugo" was also passed up, but Martin Scosese got the best director award for making the film. Who ruled the red carpet? The civil rights-era movie "The Help" claimed the best supporting actress award for Octavia Spencer. Spencer, who played a maid in the movie, quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in her acceptance: "All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance." Although the "Help" characters are fictional "they represent scores of real people," she said. "The narrative itself is part of our fabric," Spencer said backstage. "It's important to keep the younger generation abreast of how far we've come, because this is really foreign to them." Christopher Plummer won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor in a film for his role in "Beginners." Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures Of Tintin" won the Golden Globe for best animated feature film. The best foreign-language film honor was awarded to the Iranian film "A Separation." Pop icon Madonna took home a Golden Globe for writing the best original song in a movie. Her "Masterpiece" was written for "W.E." She offered fitness advice to reporters backstage. "The best thing for your bum is dancing," the Material Girl said. Early in the broadcast, host Ricky Gervais took quick aim at the Hollywood Press Association, the group that hired him to perform hosting duties for a third year. Gervais, in his opening monologue, compared the Golden Globes to the Oscars, "but without all that esteem." The Globes are to the Oscars "what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton. A bit louder, a bit drunker and more easily bought," he joked. The group of about 85 writers invited Gervais to host the telecast again this year despite -- or because of -- the controversy stirred last year by his take-no-prisoners jokes. Unlike the Oscars, the Globes also honors television shows with 11 categories. Showtime's "Homeland" was the only TV show to win two Globes. It won best drama series, while Claire Danes won the best actress in a drama series award. Kelsey Grammer's Golden Globe may not be the biggest award given out Sunday night, but the actor may have been the happiest backstage where he revealed his wife is expecting twins. Grammer won for best actor in a television drama series for his role as a corrupt Chicago mayor in the Starz series "Boss." In the television comedy or musical series categories, ABC's "Modern Family" won best series, while Laura Dern won best actress for her work in HBO's "Enlightened" and Matt LeBlanc won best actor for Showtime's "Episodes." PBS's "Downton Abbey" won for best made-for-TV movie or mini-series. Kate Winslet won the Golden Globe for best actress in a made-for-TV movie or mini-series for her role in HBO's "Mildred Pierce." It was Winslet's third Globe. She won two in 2009, for "Revolutionary Road" and "The Reader." Winslet was asked backstage her opinion of reports that Lindsay Lohan was in negotiations to portray the late Elizabeth Taylor in a film. "I'm not going to go there, dude," Winslet said. "It's kind of a hot zone." British actor Idris Elba won best actor in a made-for-TV movie or mini-series for "Luther." Backstage, he acknowledged that he's talked to producers about possibly becoming the next James Bond. "Of course, I would be honored to play the part if it comes along," Elba said. The TV best supporting actor and actress awards went to Peter Dinklage for HBO's "Game of Thrones" and Jessica Lange in "American Horror Story" on FX, respectively. Sidney Poitier led a tribute to actor Morgan Freeman, who was presented the Golden Globe's "Cecil B. DeMille Award." "You illuminate your presence, you infuse the characters you play with a real life three-dimensional aura," Poitier said. "You become the character, the character becomes you. So begins a process that captivates your audience." Freeman, speaking backstage, said it was watching Poitier as a teenager that steered his path. "Most of us need something to guide ourselves and Sidney has been my beacon, my guiding star," he said. Thousands mourn veteran Turkish Cypriot leaderNICOSIA - Agence France-Presse  AA Photo Turkish Cypriots gathered early in the morning outside the hospital where the former leader died on Friday night at the age of 87, with his successor Mehmet Ali Talat and Turkish Cypriot premier among the crowd at the ceremony. Denktash's coffin, wrapped in Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flags, was later transferred from the hospital in northern Nicosia to the presidential palace where it will lie in state. Turkey, the only country to recognise the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on the divided island, is expected to send a large delegation headed by President Abdullah Gul for Tuesday's funeral. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu are among those expected to attend. Denktaş suffered a blood clot to the brain last May that left him partially paralysed. In July, he received treatment at a military hospital in Ankara but his condition failed to improve. HDN * Assad offers 'amnesty' for opposition Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has offered amnesty to anyone accused of alleged crimes in connection with the last 10 months of anti-government unrest and resulting violence. Assad has made similar decrees on three previous occasions in May, June and November. Sunday's announcement was made on the official SANA news agency and broadcast on state television. Since the outbreak of the uprising against Assad's rule in March, Assad has freed 3,952 prisoners, according to SANA. The opposition claims there are thousands more in Syrian prisons and said that 26 people had died on Sunday, including a policeman and soldier killed by security forces for refusing to fire on protesters. The new amnesty decree was granted "for crimes committed in the context of the events taking place since March 15, 2011, till the date of issuing the decree", SANA reported. It encompasses those who have peacefully demonstrated, evaded Syria's military draft or carried unlicensed weapons and ammunition. But the "fugitives" covered by the decree must turn themselves in to authorities by January 31, SANA said. The United Nations estimates at least 5,000 people have been killed since initially peaceful protests against Assad's government were met by a brutal security crackdown, sparking an ongoing armed conflict in which both the military and the opposition, which includes army defectors, have conducted attacks. Assad heading for 'dead end' Meanwhile on Sunday, the secretary-general of the United Nations called on Assad to end the crackdown against anti-government protesters. "Today, I say again to President Assad of Syria: Stop the violence. Stop killing your people. The path of repression is a dead end," Ban Ki-moon said in a keynote address at a conference on Arab world democracy in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Ban also said that the revolutions in the Arab world showed that people would no longer accept tyranny. "The lessons of the past year are eloquent and clear. The winds of change will not cease to blow. The flame ignited in Tunisia will not be dimmed. Let us remember as well, none of these great changes began with a call for a regime change. First and foremost, people wanted dignity," he said. Ban also discussed the crisis in Syria with Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, in the Lebanese capital on Saturday, a spokesman for Ban said. "They discussed a range of regional matters, in particular the situation in Syria as well as Iran and Cyprus," said Martin Nesirky. "The secretary-general said the dangerous trajectory of the crisis in Syria was a source of grave concern." Turkey shares a 910km border with Syria, its former ally, and has strongly condemned the Syrian government's crackdown on dissent. Call for dialogue The statements from Ban came as Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, called on the Syrian opposition to respond positively to President Bashar al-Assad's "reform plans" and urged dialogue to resolve the ongoing crisis. Addressing a party rally in the town of Baalbek by video link, Nasrallah, who has been in hiding since 2006 for fear of assassination, said: "We call on the Syrian opposition inside and outside Syria to respond to the calls of the dialogue by President Assad and to co-operate with him in implementing the reforms he has announced, which are very important reforms. "We can resolve Syria's problems and we call openly for the return of calm and stability and for arms to be laid down and for resolving issues through dialogue." Nasrallah called on Arab countries, Turkey and Iran to participate in resolving the crisis in Syria. "We call for the unification of efforts by the Arab countries and the Arab League and the influential Muslim countries in the region, Iran and Turkey, to help end the crisis in Syria and not drive people into corners and drive the situation towards an explosion," Nasrallah said. He also dismissed a UN call for his staunchly anti-Western and anti-Israeli group to disarm, saying it was determined to maintain a military capacity to defend Lebanon. ALJAZEERA * Costa Concordia accident: So what DID cause the cruise ship to hit the rocks?There's a scene in the disaster movie The Towering Inferno in which Steve McQueen’s fire chief rails against architects for building office blocks higher and higher with scant regard for public safety. So what would he have made of the gigantic, floating hotels that pass for modern cruise liners? In the past decade, the size of the passenger ships cruising the world’s oceans has doubled. The biggest of these monsters weigh more than 225,000 tons and carry more than 6,000 passengers. Even the Costa Concordia is no minnow. As the 26th largest passenger ship in the world, its 13 passenger decks are stacked on a vessel nearly 1,000 ft long and 100ft high above the water. When it set sail from Italy on Friday, it resembled a floating office block, rather than a conventional ship. For years, there have been concerns within the shipping industry that these ocean-going behemoths are too big, that their crews are poorly trained and that their officers are too reliant on electronic navigation aids. Crucially experts have warned that the construction and safety standards in place for modern cruise ships were designed for vessels half their size. So how did the Costa Concordia come to capsize within yards of the shore? Last night there were at least three conflicting theories about what happened. What is certain is that, soon after the voyage began, passengers heard a bang and the ship was plunged into darkness. The first theory is based on the captain’s account of events – that he hit an uncharted rock and reacted by bringing the vessel into safer shallow waters off the island of Giglio. There it was damaged again on rocks and rolled on to its side. Under International Maritime Organisation rules, captains are supposed to use the ship itself as a ‘lifeboat’ and return to port for evacuation. The second is that there was a massive electrical failure which affected the ship’s navigation equipment, or a computer failure that sent the navigation systems haywire causing it to go too close to shore where it hit the rocks. A third theory is that it was old-fashioned human error – or even recklessness – that allowed the vessel to ground in shallow waters. The investigation will look into every decision, order and event that led up to the sinking and will take months to come to a conclusion. On paper, human error remains the prime suspect. It is the main cause of 80 per cent of shipping accidents and the crew may simply have become distracted or lost concentration early on in the voyage, allowing the vessel to drift to the coast. ... Daily Mail - UKCommentsLeave a Reply | AuthorAKIN AKAMAÇ Archives |
RSS Feed