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Kate Winslet Eyes a Cable TV Miniseries

BuzzSugar — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:30:58 -0700

First an Oscar, now an Emmy? Well, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. But it seems Kate Winslet will be starring in Mildred Pierce, a TV miniseries that's currently being shopped to various cable networks, including HBO.

The miniseries is based on a James M. Cain novel about a woman who becomes desperate to keep her family afloat during the Great Depression and ends up opening a chain of restaurants, which - as Variety puts it - "leads to backstabbing, romance and murder." The book was adapted into a 1945 film that won Joan Crawford her first Oscar.

Todd Haynes is writing and directing this new adaptation of Mildred Pierce, and HBO looks like the most likely network to land the rights to air it, though no deal is done yet.

Some people seem surprised that Winslet would do TV at the peak of her career, but I'm really not. Why? Two words: Helen Mirren. The grand dame of British actresses has done both TV miniseries and big-screen films for years now - and I'd think Winslet could do worse than follow in Mirren's footsteps. But what about you? Do you think it's a wise move?

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:30:38 -0700

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue.

The Reader
If you didn't catch this provocative movie about the Holocaust (and so much more), now is your chance to do so. This is the performance that won Kate Winslet the Golden Globe and the Oscar and if you bring this movie home it won't be hard to see why.

She's mesmerizing as Hanna Schmitz, a German woman who strikes up an affair with a teenager named Michael Berg. In college, Berg learns that Hanna harbors many secrets when she goes on trial for Nazi war crimes. Ralph Fiennes plays an older Michael who struggles to reconcile his feelings for the woman he had an affair with, while comprehending the crimes she's committed.

Special features include deleted scenes, "Adapting a Timeless Masterpiece: Making The Reader," Kate Winslet talking about how to play an aging Hanna Schmitz, and the trailer.

One more up next so read more.

The Spirit
First of all, that's kind of a funny DVD cover, right? Scarlett looks a little out of it, Eva is windblown in a way that makes me laugh, and it's like Samuel L. Jackson needs a gun in each hand to do some hard thinking. Anyway, Director Frank Miller has a way of dividing people so if you weren't a fan of Sin City you likely won't enjoy this movie. If you do like the look and feel of this guy's movies, then you may want to add this title to your queue.

Here's the description of the plot: "After rookie Central City cop Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) is murdered, he's mysteriously reborn as masked superhero the Spirit. Setting out to rid the streets of crime, he finds his archnemesis in the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), whose quest for immortality imperils the entire city."

Special features include a never-before-seen alternate ending to the film.

Where Will We See the Oscar Winners Next?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:30:03 -0800

The Oscars did a great job of getting me psyched for some upcoming films - but when will we see this year's Oscar winners on the big screen next? Here's a rundown of what Sean Penn, Penelope Cruz, Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle, and more are working on now.

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From the Press Room: Kate Winslet and Sean Penn

BuzzSugar — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:34:42 -0800

A visibly overjoyed Kate Winslet, winner of the Best Actress award, came back to the press interview room where, as she said with awe, "It's only dawning on me now that I've won an Oscar . . . Oh, my God." She was so gleeful, in fact, that she raced off the stage and threw her arms around a man who clearly has been interviewing her for years - as he said, since she was a 17-year-old girl from Reading. When he asked her how she felt, she crowed, "Like a little girl from Reading! . . . To have been here and lost, I can tell you winning is a lot better - really, a lot!"

She said many more things - including a saucy little shoutout to Susan Sarandon - and so did this year's Best Actor, Sean Penn. For some of their post-win comments, read more.

Kate, on getting flak from other Brits for being emotional in her acceptance speeches: "I really don't care and quite honestly it makes me sad that my own country can't be happy for the successes of their own kind."

Kate, on believing in fate: "Well, look at this [statue] . . . Yes I do. I do, I do! . . . I feel like a very unlikely hero here, you know. I was not the privileged kid that things like this could possibly happen to."

Kate, on working in Germany: "I have never worked with a more solid group of actors and crew members in my life . . . They were all so committed in a way that was almost startling . . . It really is about working as a team and working to an end . . . I'd really love to go back to Germany and work again."

Sean, on his relationship with Mickey Rourke: "I've known Mickey for over 25 years. We've had, for the most part, a very close friendship. He's somebody that I've alternately looked up to, I've directed . . . I've admired. He had me, almost throughout The Wrestler, weeping . . . What's sensational about him is what's always been sensational about him . . . he's simply one of the most poetic talents in acting."

Sean, on what it means to him, bringing Harvey Milk's story to screen: "That means a lot to myself and anyone involved . . . anyone who believes in equal rights for a human being . . . It's very simple."

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Oscar Nominee: Revolutionary Road For Best Costume Design

BuzzSugar — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:30:17 -0800

As we gear up for the Oscars, I'll be featuring the nominees for Best Costume Design. It's a big year for this category as the films nominated represent vastly different historical periods. Be it 18th-century England or San Francisco in the '70s, these films include some gorgeous threads. Today's featured movie is Revolutionary Road.

While Mad Men gave us a weekly dose of 1950s/early-1960s fashion over the Summer, Revolutionary Road brought the era's aesthetic to the silver screen in all its classically tailored glory. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio play a married couple who appear to have everything, even though a storm of discontent brews below the surface. The immaculate costumes created for the actors, with their delicate pastels, only make the movie's sad and disturbing subtext that much more powerful by contrast.

To see a gallery of the costumes for yourself, just read more.

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Photos courtesy of Paramount Vantage

Buzz Brainteaser

BuzzSugar — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:30:43 -0800

Welcome to Buzz Brainteaser, the trivia feature on BuzzSugar! Every weekday I'll test your knowledge about TV shows, music, and movies. If you enter in the correct answer, you win points! Kate Winslet won not one but two Golden Globes this year! This is the first year Winslet has won the award after earning five nominations (before this year).
For what mid-1990s movie did Kate Winslet receive her first Golden Globe nomination?
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Revolutionary Road: A Scenic and Unsettling Journey

BuzzSugar — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:30:33 -0800

When I first read Revolutionary Road, I thought it might be too multilayered to make a good movie. But I held out hope that Richard Yates's 1961 novel of suburban discontent could really triumph visually, with its lush '50s setting, dark humor, the awkward embarrassment of characters realizing life hasn't turned out the way they planned, and the quiet resentment that breeds.

When I heard Sam Mendes was directing with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio starring, I really yearned for this movie to be great - which probably explains why I was somewhat disappointed by an otherwise thoughtful film. To read my bittersweet reaction, read more.

Revolutionary Road is incredibly artful, capturing the romance of the city, the seduction of the country, and the stifling effect either place can have on unfulfilled lives. DiCaprio and Winslet deliver aching performances as Frank and April Wheeler, two wannabe bohemians who feel obliged to move to the suburbs when their first kid arrives. As with the book, it's difficult to sympathize with the protagonists even as we identify with them; we resent them for how much they resent each other.

The novel chronicles the minute details of the Wheelers' lives from the moment they meet, and blessedly, Mendes makes some tough choices in order to keep his movie at two hours. It begins when the Wheelers are already settled with two kids, showing snippets of their younger selves in flashbacks. Some of the moments where Mendes chooses to linger - such as in the fastidiously drawn-out final scene - are brilliant. But other choices left me wanting more context. Even my boyfriend, who has not read the book, agreed: The movie is missing something to help us understand why the characters act the way they do.

It's easy to imagine how the book was totally unsettling when it was released, and the movie is not without haunting and hard-to-swallow realism. But suburban funk is such a common theme nowadays that we need to know the characters beyond broad strokes. For instance, Frank gets a job where his dad worked primarily because he appreciates the irony. This isn't explained in the movie, but for me, knowing how the Wheelers got themselves into this situation makes the story even more tragic. The heart-wrenching scenes of the couple arguing would be far more poignant if we knew them better. Thankfully, DiCaprio and Winslet can communicate on their faces what the script can't always say.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Vantage

The Votes Are In: Best Dramatic Movie Actor and Actress of 2008

BuzzSugar — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:30:09 -0800

It was a good year for actors to showcase their dramatic acting chops, though in these Best of 2008 polls, there were two clear winners who each won by quite a few votes. Your picks for the year's best dramatic actress and actor are. . .

Best Dramatic Actress of 2008
Kate Winslet, The Reader and Revolutionary Road

Winslet is favored above all other actresses in this category, and I can certainly see why. As is the case in every role Winslet takes, her focused and riveting work in both of these movies is truly something to behold.

In second place is Angelina Jolie for her heart-wrenching performance in Changeling followed by Anne Hathaway for her role in Rachel Getting Married.

You could probably have guessed who would win this year's poll for best dramatic actor, but to see it in writing, read more.

Best Dramatic Actor of 2008
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Ledger wins this poll by a landslide for his mesmerizing performance as the Joker to Christian Bale's Batman in The Dark Knight. I look forward, with bittersweetness, to seeing Ledger's final performance in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, hopefully next year.

At the moment, Robert Pattinson and Sean Penn are practically neck-and-neck for the No. 2 spot, with Pattinson winning by just a few votes.

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Movie Preview: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes in The Reader

BuzzSugar — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:30:23 -0800

This historical drama starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes was recently given an earlier release date of Dec. 10, 2008 (in limited release), possibly in the hopes that the movie will prove to be Oscar bait. From the looks of this trailer, that logic may be good.

The Reader takes place in postwar Germany where "a young man's decades-long obsession with an older woman runs headlong into a war crimes trial, where he learns an awful truth."

Winslet appears to be perfect for this role, and I was really impressed with The Hours, which is another of director Stephen Daldry's films, so I'm curious to see this movie. To watch the trailer, read more.

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Movie Preview: Revolutionary Road

BuzzSugar — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:29:08 -0700

I have been waiting anxiously to see what a movie version of Richard Yates's classic novel, Revolutionary Road, might look like. Back when the casting news (a Titanic reunion for Winslet and DiCaprio) first appeared, we hadn't heard of a TV show called Mad Men and we didn't have a drama set in this time period unfolding - complete with spectacular costume and set design - in our homes Sunday after Sunday. So now that we have this film, all about the repression and the ennui of living in suburbia during this era, will audiences be as interested if it's not about the Drapers?

Perhaps the cast and the director (Winslet's husband, Sam Mendes, who directed another movie about suburban frustration, American Beauty) will help to lure people in. I personally think everyone should read the novel first, as it quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. The trailer shows pretty much all you need to know about the story, so to check it out, read more.

Revolutionary Road - Trailer | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

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