Cate Blanchett
A luminous Aussie actress able to embody markedly disparate characters, Blanchett made her mark in her homeland as a formidable leading lady on stage at the Sydney Theatre Company. In 1998, with only...
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BirthDate BirthPlace |
05/13/1969
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
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Blanchett quits Sydney Theatre Company
January 23, 2012 10:00am ESTThe Oscar-winning actress and her playwright husband Andrew Upton joined the drama group in 2009 as co-artistic directors and CEOs, and they have turned the company's fortunes around since taking on the project. However, the couple will now step down in 2013 after one more season. A statement from STC chairman David Gonski, obtained by the AAP, reads, "As they announced at the launch of the 2012 season, it was always their intention to only stay for two terms. We asked Cate and Andrew to stay on but we respect their decisions to leave in two years' time to pursue other professional interests. "As co-artistic directors and CEOs, with inspirational leadership, Andrew and Cate turned around the STC's finances and made it a sustainable business while taking it to new artistic heights. They are a couple not only of extraordinary talents and profile, but they have a strong business sense and a strong financial rigour."
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Winslet to present top Aussie award to Pearce
December 22, 2011 4:00am ESTPearce will be one of three guests of honour, alongside basketball player Luc Longley and musical duo Air Supply, at the ninth annual G'Day USA Los Angeles Black Tie Gala on 14 January (12). G'Day USA Organising Committee Chairman Wally Mariani says, "We are thrilled to have Kate Winslet present her Mildred Pierce co-star Guy Pearce with the Excellence in Film & Television Award at this year's G'Day USA Los Angeles Black Tie Gala, especially the night before the Golden Globes, when they are both nominees." The prizegiving is part of the three-week G'Day USA Australia Week programme. Previous honourees include Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Naomi Watts.
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Stewart is Hollywood's most lucrative star
December 07, 2011 6:15am ESTThe 21 year old has topped Forbes magazine's rundown of the most bankable stars, netting an estimated $56 (£35) for every dollar (£0.66) she was paid for her last three major films. Stewart's co-star and real-life boyfriend Robert Pattinson came third in the Best Actors for the Buck list, pulling in $39.43 (£25) for every $1 he received, while Anne Hathaway was in second place, earning $46 (£29) for every $1. Rounding out the top five are the stars of two massive blockbuster franchises - Daniel Radcliffe of the Harry Potter movies and Transformers star Shia LaBeouf - while Robert Downey, Jr., Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp complete the top 10.
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MindFood: Is George Clooney Too Famous to Give a Great Performance?
November 16, 2011 7:14am ESTGeorge Clooney's new movie The Descendants opens this Wednesday, but thanks to a lengthy run on the festival circuit—including the prestigious Toronto and New York Film Fests—buzz is already snowballing for the Hawaii-set familial dramedy. Clooney stars as Matt King, a lawyer appointed as the trustee of a sizable portion of Hawaiian land. As his family weighs their options and the moment of decision-making draws nearer, King's life is thrown into chaos when his wife suffers from a boating accident that leaves her in a coma. Caring, for the first time, for his unconscious wife and their two kids, King uncovers an unimaginable secret—his wife was having an affair. That's heavy material, and for one of Hollywood's best actors, a meaty part to chew on. In the hands of director Alexander Payne (Election, About Schmidt, Sideways), King's journey of self-discovery wavers fluidly between moments of despondency and comedy, relishing in the rare instances when one finds amusement in a nightmare situation. Unfortunately, even with all the praise to the filmmakers and stars, I think there's something that stands in the way of the movie truly resonating: George Clooney. That's a painful admission. As I said, Clooney is a powerful creative talent, but after seeing his performance in The Descendants, I've realized he may be his own worst enemy, fame costing him his chameleon quality. He can nab great roles in Hollywood, but his status prevents him from shining. Looking back to his career, I've concluded that there are three types of Clooney movies: 1. Clooney as a kooky character—aka a crazy version of George Clooney (From Dusk Til Dawn, Leatherheads, any Coen Bros. collaboration). 2. Clooney as a charismatic, handsome badass—aka a George Clooney version of George Clooney (Ocean's 11, Michael Clayton, The American). 3. Clooney as a Regular Joe—aka an emotional version of George Clooney (Syriana, Up in the Air, The Descendants). It's this third category where Clooney's real life presence begins to interrupt his on-screen persona. He delivers a solid performance in The Descendants—regardless of the categorization of his movies, the man's always enigmatic—but no matter what Clooney conveys on screen, he'll always be larger than life. He's been named "Sexiest Man Alive" by pretty much every magazine in existence. He's flown around the world to protect social rights and raise money for charities. He acts, writes, directs, produces and is always in the Hollywood spotlight. But he's anything but a Regular Joe. That's not fair and it definitely shouldn't be the case, but no matter how much I'd like to separate actor from his characters, with stars this big, it's impossible. That's the struggle of a leading man, and why someone like Brad Pitt has makes the smart decision to take the occasional supporting role. Pitt has never shied away from colorful supporting roles—the stoner in True Romance, a mental patient in 12 Monkeys or a goofball personal trainer in Burn After Reading. He shows off his range so that when he comes back to a subtle, grounded role (like this year's Moneyball), the transition appears seamless and the effort more demanding. George Clooney sticks to variations of George Clooney. Sometimes it works wonders—last year's The American, a movie about Clooney's face, is a work of art. Other times, like in a movie where I'm supposed to believe his wife cheated him, it doesn't. That's the perk of beginning and striving to remain a "character actor." Is there any role Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney, Steve Buscemi, Cate Blanchett or a handful of other men and women couldn't easily slip into? They're certainly on the radar, but flown low enough never to hit true movie stardom. Clooney is nothing less than brilliant when he's playing variations of the slick, confident persona his celebrity self has developed, but when it comes to tackling the ins and outs of true character drama (i.e. plots that don't involve economic conspiracies, assassinations, etc.), he'll always be his own blockade. Some actors have found ways around the burden of their own fame. Look at Johnny Depp, an indie hero who rose to A-List status after an energetic performance as Captain Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates of the Caribbean and hasn't looked back since. And I'm not sure he could—Finding Neverland was a stretch for the actor, who, these days, sticks to kooky, Burton characters. Depp, for me, has become aware of how fame, in some way, tarnished his rep, and his course of action was to go bigger and crazier. I don't want George Clooney to do that. I like him too much. But I'm not sure what Clooney can do to shake of this career hardship besides voluntarily stepping out of the eye of the public (a near impossible task). And, let's be honest, there's no reason for him to do that—whether he's truly excellent or simply okay in a movie, the masses will flock to his movies and Hollywood will laud him with awards. The Descendants is an enjoyable attempt for Clooney to break his own mold, and that's enough for a man with the clout to do whatever the heck he wants. It's a paradox: I'll see all his movies, I'll praise him when he delivers, but in the end, it's my own damn fault I'll never see a great George Clooney performance. ="font-style:>
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Two New Terrence Malick Films to Star Bale, Blanchett, Gosling, Mara and More
November 01, 2011 1:35pm ESTThe Terrence Malick we all grew up with was known for making one heavy, introspective movie every eight years or so, and doing God knows what in the interim period. But those days are behind Malick. The Tree of Life was all anybody was talking about in the days between Black Swan and the OWS protests, which might be the prompt for the director to churn out two new films right away. Malick is currently working on Lawless (hopefully a Xena biopic...but, whatever it really is will probably also be good) and Knight of Cups (named presumably for the tarot card character). If the prospect of two upcoming Malick films is not enticing enough for you, listen to the casting: Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett are set to star in both movies. Lawless will also star Ryan Gosling, breakout heroine Rooney Mara, and Haley Bennett (Marley & Me). Knight of Cups' cast will include Isabel Lucas, who had a role in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and the upcoming Immortals. Bale and Blanchett aside, Malick is clearly interested in newcomers to Hollywood notoriety. Before this (very fruitful) year, Gosling was primarily known as "that guy from The Notebook;" the actor has barely begun a career that promises a good deal of adventurous surprises. Mara is in the same boat. Her name is becoming more and more house-held, and perhaps this immediate plunge into a cerebral Malick film will ensure that this great young actress does not become solely identifiable by her Dragon Tattoo role. As for Bennett and Lucas, we have yet to see the full range of their ability. Hopefully, and very likely, Lawless and Knight of Cups will give all involved a chance to expand their image and showcase their talent. Source: Variety
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New in Blu 9.7.11
September 07, 2011 8:32am ESTNew Releases: Clash of Empires (Image, $18.99) Click here to but it The Entitled (Starz/Anchor Bay, $20.99) Click Here to Buy It Everything Must Go (Lionsgate, $21.49) Click Here to Buy It Fringe: The Complete Third Season (Warner Brothers, $42.99); Click Here to Buy It Hanna (Universal, $19.99) Click Here to Buy It The Movie: It had faded from my memory while summer’s blockbusters took the stage, but a rewatch on Blu-ray has reminded me that Joe Wright’s Hanna is one of my favorite movies of the year. The film is such a complete, singular action-flick; this bizarro, CIA conspiracy-infused fairy tale about what happens when a teenage girl breed to be an assassin re-enters the world. Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana are all great in it, but the real stars of this movie are the Chemical Brothers. Their score is a living, breathing Siamese twin fused to every aspect of this movie and, because of that, I think it gives more to the world of Hanna than Daft Punk did to the world of Tron: Legacy. It’s always there, lurking in the corners like it’s ready to start bouncing off the walls at any minute. Sometimes you can’t even tell what’s part of the score and what’s a sound effect, which combined with Wright’s sharp visuals essentially makes Hanna a feature-length music video. And while that’s normally something I’d probably gripe about, it just works here. Everything about Hanna just works for me. The Features: There are a number of worthwhile making-of features on here, the most interesting of course being the one on how the Chemical Brothers put their entirely electronic (meaning no live instruments whatsoever) score together. There’s an impressive bit on the training Saorise Ronan went through, as well as the producers and writer talking about how they went about creating a fairy tale out of a CIA story. The most informative bit of the disc, however, is Wright’s feature-length commentary, which reveals a lot about how the film’s meticulously choreographed fight sequences came to be. Buy It If: You’ve got a good sound system and you want to give it a full body work out. Oh, and if you want to watch a kick-ass action movie with style to spare. A Horrible Way to Die (Starz/Anchor Bay, $23.99) Click Here to Buy It A Horrible Way to Die is probably not the film you’re expecting from that title, and particularly that cover art, but if you prefer horror movies that are more meditative than they are gory, this flick about a serial killer that escapes police custody and tracks down his ex-girlfriend is a must watch. It’s worth seeing alone just for the gut-wrenching performances from Amy Seimetz and AJ Bowen. The Office: Season 7 (Universal, $37.99) Click Here to Buy It Though I obviously haven’t been able to test it out to see what the quality is actually like, there’s an interesting feature on this Blu-ray that will let you stream new episodes of The Office through BD-live once they begin to air. Catalog Releases 40 Days and 40 Nights (Lionsgate, $9.99) Click Here to Buy It Big Momma's House (20th Century Fox, $22.49) Click Here to Buy It Big Momma's House 2 (20th Century Fox, $16.99) Click Here to Buy It Children of the Corn (Image Entertainment) (Image, $12.99) Click Here to Buy It Dressed to Kill (MGM/UA, $15.99) Click Here to Buy It Genevieve (VCI, $22.49) Click Here to Buy It Hellbound: Hellraiser II (Image, $12.99) Click Here to Buy It Hellraiser (Image Entertainment) (Image, $12.99) Click Here to Buy It The Hills Have Eyes (1977) (Image, $12.99) Click Here to Buy It Scarface (Limited Edition Steelbook) (Universal, $34.89) Click Here to Buy It The Movie: Scarface is an incredibly well made, superbly acted portrait of a psychopath whose only goal in life is to be at the top. The disc is a fascinating time capsule of a film that sells the ‘80s out as a crazed, coked-out era of excess and commercial decadence. Even more baffling is that the film’s main character, who also happens to be its most self-destructive, went on to become this bizarre, unlikely icon to hip hop stars. For some reason they’ve made him synonymous with the American Dream, which is certainly understandable because Montana does have an admirable arrogance that allows him to stand defiant against all that surrounds him. But it’s like those that made him fashionable twenty years after-the-fact only bothered to watch the first third of De Palma’s film. They somehow missed the rest of it, where he breaks all of the golden rules he once had respect for and in turn brings down his entire empire. It’s like idolizing a squirrel for standing bravely in front of a speeding car. The Features: The bulk of these features have all been ported over from previous DVD releases of the film, but there’s reason enough to pick it up on Blu-ray for the first time. For starters, the audio mix is amazing, fully absorbing you into the poppy, synthy world of the ‘80s. Secondly is the video, which got a lot of love in the HD transfer department (just watch the funny special feature on the TV version of the movie to see the difference in quality). And thirdly is a new, exclusive to this Blu-ray, 40-minute segment that examines how and why Scarface went on to become a phenomenon. I wish it had more of an emphasis on how hip-hop culture has made Tony Montana one of their own, but it’s still an enjoyable look at how the film found its fanbase after a weak theatrical response. Plus, you’ll get to hear De Palma say he’s seen real mountains of coke on tables like it’s no big thing. Oh, Hollywood in the ‘80s... Buy It If: You’re a die hard Scarface fan, obviously. At $35, it’s a bit steep right out of the gate if you happen to have never seen the film, but it’s definitely worth a rent in the near future. Scream Trilogy (Lionsgate, $19.99) Click Here to Buy It Straw Dogs (MGM/UA, $16.99) Click Here to Buy It United 93 (Universal, $26.91) Click Here to Buy It
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Hanna Review
September 06, 2011 7:58am ESTThe initial previews of Hanna brought memories of a very dissimilar movie with a pretty similar subplot: Kick-Ass. In that movie Nicolas Cage trained his preteen daughter to be a deadly fighter. In Hanna Eric Bana does the same for Saoirse Ronan. However Kick-Ass was a lively (yet macabre) comic book farce and Hanna looked to be a pitch-black action film without much in the avenue of story or character. Sure they'd drag us along with questions about the girl's origin and compel us with the life-affirming dedication that the CIA Agent (Cate Blanchett) hunting Hanna has to her mission. Perhaps some interesting action but little else would this movie offer. Thankfully my preconceptions were proved to be all wrong. Hanna was far more than an unusual twist on an action film. Although the movie does have its weaker points Hanna is above all an intriguing and beautifully shot movie. The development of Hanna as a character is sensational. She doesn't spend her screen time taking orders from her father Erik Heller and killing nameless soldiers. A good deal of the film has her learning about the modern world with which she has no actual experience. The strongest scenes in fact were the lighter ones: Hanna in her travels befriends an English family—the first people with whom she has managed to form any relationship. All of the acting performances are impressive especially the supporting ones. The family members are hilarious but not caricatures—they're believable as a family. Tom Hollander as Isaacs the "unlicensed" assassin is creepy and horrifying but not superhuman. Even more provocative than its performances is the film's direction. You will be hard-pressed to find a more beautifully and precisely shot film. The scenes of action comedy tenderness and tension are all shot to perfectly capture the mood. The Hanna DVD available today has a fair deal of interesting bonus features. Director Joe Wright gives humble and interesting but sometimes overly pragmatic commentary on the film and on a small featurette called "Anatomy of a Scene." In addition there are two Deleted Scenes and an Alternative Ending all worth watching if only to see Hanna's character further developed. The movie is a delightful surprise and the DVD offers genuinely interesting bonuses that help the viewer to understand this unique complex film.
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Blanchett launches rainwater collection system
September 02, 2011 10:15am ESTThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button star headed to The Wharf to lend her support to the Sydney Theatre Company's latest green initiative, which captures rainwater from the roof and stores it to service the building's showers and toilets. Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton, who both serve as artistic directors at the Sydney Theatre Company, were both on hand for the big unveiling and she commended locals for taking action to save one of the world's most precious resources. She said, "We're all pleased to bring this innovative engineering technology into our creative lives today and indeed to be a showcase of how such systems can function to great economic and societal benefit. "The entire project has been made possible through a unique collaboration with private philanthropists, corporate and government support, both state and federal, who really understand the incredible opportunity that greening this amazing arts precinct represents not only for the organisations down here but for the city of Sydney and the state... So, have a shower or use the loos (toilets)."
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Newton-John condemns Australian mining industry
August 04, 2011 10:15am ESTThe Grease star, who also serves as the United Nation's Goodwill Ambassador for the Environment, recently lashed out against industry bosses in an open opinion piece for The Sunday Age publication, in which she detailed her concerns about "fracking" - a controversial method of extracting natural gas from below the Earth's surface. She wrote, "As a long-time advocate for the environment, I am greatly concerned about the continued health of Australia and its people. That is why I am horrified to learn of the extensive plans for coal seam gas and shale gas exploration here. Until recently, I was unaware of the hidden dangers lurking in this so-called clean natural gas exploration... "In America, some of the chemicals used in these operations are suspected to be cancer-causing agents. There have been reports of serious health and environmental damage from these mining practices... "We should be demanding our politicians call a halt to coal seam mining and fracking until we know what harm these chemicals will do to our water, our soil, the air we breathe, our animals, our trees, our rivers, and our food chain for generations to come." Newton-John isn't the only star to voice her concern about the issue - Australian actress Cate Blanchett spoke out against the practice earlier this year (11).
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Rush reigns at Aussie theatre awards
August 02, 2011 5:00am ESTRush received the Best Actor in a Play award for his turn in an Aussie reprisal of The Diary of a Madman at the annual performing arts prizegiving, held at the Sydney Opera House. Accepting the honour, Rush told the audience, "We first did this (production) in '89 and it's been a hell of a journey." The play also won Best Original Score and Best Director for Neil Armfield. Cate Blanchett was also a big winner - she was named Best Actress in a Play for her role in her Sydney Theatre Company's production of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. Family-friendly stage show Mary Poppins won eight Helpmann Awards out of its 12 nominations, including Best Musical, and Best Male and Female Actors in a Musical for its leads Matt Lee and Verity Hunt-Ballard.
