FILM/ "KING'S SPEECH" TOPS BAFTA AWARDS: With 7 wins, "The King's Speech" has swept the BAFTA Awards, held tonight in London. The pic won best film, outstanding British film, best actor for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter won best supporting actress and Geoffrey Rush picked up best supporting actor. The film also won for best score and best original screenplay. "The Social Network" beat "Speech" in the directing award, which went to David Fincher. "Social" also won for adapted screenplay and editing. Best actress went to Natalie Portman for "Black Swan," its only win out of 12 noms. "Toy Story 3" took home the best animated film award, while the Swedish version of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" won for best foreign film. "Inception" picked up 3 prizes - best sound, production design, and special effects. Tom Hardy, who starred in "Inception" won the Rising Star award. "True Grit" won 1 award for cinematography, "Alice in Wonderland" won best makeup and costumes, and "Four Lions" won the outstanding debut prize for director Christopher Morris. And finally, the "Harry Potter" were honoured for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema. The books' writer, JK Rowling, said: "It's been one of the best experiences of my life". Full details on this years BAFTA's can be found on the organizations website.
Charlize Theron is in final talks to star in Ridley Scott’s high-profile "Prometheus," from 20th Century Fox. The "event" film is slated for release on June 8, 2012. Theron will star opposite Noomi Rapace, star of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," and Michael Fassbender. "Prometheus" has morphed from being an "Alien" prequel to original sci-fi tentpole. Damon Lindelof is working together with Scott on the new script, which was originally written by Jon Spaihts and based on an idea by Scott.
TV&FILM/ HEIDI, THE OPOSSUM, TO MAKE TV DEBUT: Heidi, the cross-eyed, overweight opossum has won an unlikely starring role in coverage of this year's Oscars. Heidi is an opossum who became a German media sensation and now has a global following, with 300,000 Facebook fans. Officials at Leipzig Zoo, where Heidi lives, say she will appear on the "Jimmy Kimmel Show" on ABC on Oscars night. Details of her contract are confidential but it seems she will be predicting the award winners. Producers of the show may be hoping she can emulate the success of another German celebrity creature, Paul the Octopus. He won global fame during last year's football World Cup, correctly predicting the outcome of all 7 German games plus the Spain-Netherlands final. Heidi will not be going to Hollywood for the Academy Awards, her predictions will be filmed in Germany and used as part of ABC's Oscars coverage on February 27. On hearing the news of her Oscars role, one Facebook fan posted on Heidi's wall: "Please make sure those Hollywood producers treat you well." The zoo's director said Heidi's appearance fee will be donated to an animal protection charity. Heidi is on a diet of chicken and vegetables because zoo-keepers feel it would be good for her health and might even improve her eye condition. It's believed that her crossed eyes could be the result of a poor diet when she was young, fat deposits may have developed behind her eyes. Heidi was found as an orphan in North Carolina, with her sister Naira, and was brought up in a wild animal sanctuary. The opossum sisters came to Germany in May 2010 and have been in quarantine since. They are due to go on to display this summer and the zoo anticipates long lines. It was a photo in the German newspaper Bild in December which made her a star in Germany, while You Tube and Facebook helped her to global fame.
Betty Garrett, a comedic actress who was a fixture in such MGM musicals as "On The Town" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," a regular on the television series "All in the Family" and "Laverne &Shirley" and a star on Broadway and in Los Angeles theater productions, has died. She was 91. Garrett died early Saturday morning at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center of an aortic aneurysm. She made her first big splash in "Call Me Mister," a Broadway sketch comedy revue in which she sang the hit song "South America, Take It Away." Soon, Hollywood came calling. A MGM contract drew her west in 1947, and she spent the next several years making musicals, including 1949's "Neptune's Daughter" with Red Skelton and "On the Town" with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. In 1944, Garrett married actor Larry Parks, who had had success onscreen in "The Jolson Story" but whose film career ended with the Hollywood blacklist. The couple toured Britain with a vaudeville act. Parks died in 1975. Garrett was best known on TV for her roles on two popular 1970s sitcoms, as landlady Edna Babish on "Laverne & Shirley" and as Archie Bunker's neighbor Irene Lorenzo on "All in the Family." In recent years, she had performed a one-woman show, "Betty Garrett and Other Songs." She appeared frequently on the Theatre West stage. Her final shows there included "Nunsense," the Los Angeles premiere of Noel Coward's "Waiting in the Wings" and a revue, "Betty Garrett, Closet Songwriter". She is survived by her family.
Adele and Jessie J remain at #1 on the UK album and singles chart this week. Adele's "21" remains in the penthouse for the 3rd week in a row. The set is selling well and is likely to top her debut set, "19". New entries on the album chart include "Computers and Blues" by The Streets at #8, James Blake's self titled set at #9 and "Love Songs" by UB40 is new at #16. On the singles chart, Jessie J's "Price Tag," which features B.O.B, remains at #1 for the 2nd week. Rihanna's "S&M" is the hot mover, up 9 spots to #11 this week. New entries on the singles chart include "Champion" by Chipmunk in at #2 and "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga in at #3. Gaga's "Born" was only available on Friday, thus giving it only 2 days to chart. The single has a good chance of moving up to #1 next week.
THEATRE/ "IDIOT" TO TOUR: "American Idiot," the Green Day-scored Broadway musical fantasia about 3 suburban pals taking different paths in a post-9/11 world, will tour North America. According to a casting/audition notice, a touring production of the Michael Mayer-directed musical, with a score by Green Day, lyrics by front man Billie Joe Armstrong and libretto co-written by Mayer and Armstrong, will rehearse in the summer for an autumn launch. No casting, dates or cities have been announced for the tour. "American Idiot," now at Broadway's St. James Theatre and currently stars Armstrong as St. Jimmy. Kevin Adams and Christine Jones won Tony Awards for their scenic and lighting design, respectively.
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