Saudi FM calls Indian, Pakistani counterparts to discuss developments    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Arabia cracks down on fraudulent Hajj campaigns, urges pilgrims to use official channels    Nammos Amala Resort to open soon with Saudi-Greek designs    Saudi Arabia completes 674 Vision 2030 initiatives, achieves 93% of KPIs as ninth-year milestone marked    Literature Commission inaugurates Saudi Pavilion at Muscat Book Fair    Saudi Minister of Culture holds talks with his Costa Rican counterpart in Jeddah    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    MHRSD: 80% of recruitment offices are non-compliant with regulations    At least 50 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza    Teenage girl killed in French school stabbing attack    Trump claims meeting with China after Beijing denies any trade negotiations    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Jennifer Lopez dazzles in Jeddah with a Formula 1 performance    Saudi Arabia open to expanded 64-team World Cup in 2034, says sports minister    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Film Commission launches 'Cinema' initiative to enhance content    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Historic Oscars for Winslet
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 19 - 02 - 2009

WIN or lose at Sunday's Oscar ceremony, British actress Kate Winslet will enter Academy Award history. Winslet, 33, will either walk past her chief rival, Meryl Streep, to collect her first Oscar for her performance as a woman with a secret Nazi past in “The Reader,” or share the dubious title of biggest loser for having been nominated for the coveted honor, and lost, six times.
The betting in Hollywood ahead of the February 22 ceremony for the world's top film awards is that Winslet should be getting her acceptance speech ready.
“I think it is her time. When Academy members are voting, they are going to be thinking not just of ‘The Reader' but of ‘Revolutionary Road,'” said Hollywood.com movie critic Pete Hammond, when talking about the two movies starring Winslet that were released within weeks of each other in 2008. “That is pretty daunting when you have two great performances like that back to back,” Hammond said.
The three other best actress nominees are Anne Hathaway as a resentful sister in “Rachel Getting Married,” Melissa Leo in border smuggling drama “Frozen River” and Angelina Jolie playing a mother searching for her child in “Changeling.”
Winslet, who parlayed art house success into international stardom in “Titanic” in 1997, has already picked up two Golden Globes for her role as a German woman with a teenage lover and a secret in “The Reader” and as a frustrated 1950s American housewife in “Revolutionary Road.”
She has also won BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Awards, and in emotional speeches, she has expressed shock at her wins after smiling bravely from her seat so often in the past.
“Kate is way overdue. One more loss and she will be tied at six as Oscar's biggest losing actress with Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter. And at the age of 33, that would be terrible,” said Tom O'Neil of awards website TheEnvelope.com.
“Kate has a solid lead. She is in a Holocaust movie, speaking with a foreign accent, she ages dramatically and she looks great naked -- all key elements for a win,” he said.
It's tough to lose
Streep, 59, a two-time Oscar winner has a record of her own as the most-nominated actor or actress ever in Academy Award history with 15 previous nods.
Although a popular winner at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in January for her role as a suspicious nun in “Doubt,” the last Oscar Streep took home was for 1982's “Sophie's Choice.”
Streep admitted last month that losing was tough. “When you lose you think ‘my work wasn't any good,'” Streep told the ABC news program “Nightline.” “But it's an honor to be nominated, and it is! It is. But you just feel worse when you lose than you did before you got nominated.”
Streep's turn in “Doubt” -- a tense drama of suspected sex abuse in the Catholic Church in the 1960s -- was a reminder of her versatility in a year that also saw her comic turn as the singing mom in musical blockbuster “Mamma Mia!”
“I thought it was a wonderful performance,” said film scholar Richard Schickel of Streep's work in “Doubt.” “But people say Meryl always gives a good performance.”
Jolie, Hathaway and Leo are considered long shots, yet O'Neil notes that Academy voters often are full of surprises and anything could happen Oscar night.
“These 6,000 or so Oscar voters are bullheaded contrarians,” he said. “Every time we think we've got them figured out, they remind us how eccentric they are. And that's what makes the Oscar race fun.”


Clic here to read the story from its source.