The Envelope In Print: The Golden Globes Preview (November 19, 2008)

November 19, 2008

COVER STORY

Nicole Kidman reunites with Baz Luhrmann for 'Australia'

There's something undeniably screen-goddess-ish about Nicole Kidman, perfectly assembled and surprisingly tall as she strides into a suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel. After a camera crew shuts off its bright lights, the remaining dim table lamps giving her a warm, glamour-shot glow, she relaxes on the couch and confesses her passions.

November 19, 2008

CONTENDER Q & A

Sally Hawkins, star of 'Happy-Go-Lucky'

Mike Leigh's latest film, " Happy-Go-Lucky," centers on the unsinkable Poppy Cross, a teacher who tries to make everyone around her happier. It is an effort rebuffed by some, welcomed by others and at times even difficult to watch. In dealing with an unstable homeless man and a troubled driving instructor, the potential for danger hovers closely. But God apparently protects fools, children and the decidedly cheerful. Poppy walks a fine line between grating and endearing, even down to the little laugh that punctuates her sentences. For her performance, Sally Hawkins has captured critics' hearts, winning the Silver Bear for acting at the Berlin Film Festival, and a recent nomination for a British Independent Film Award. As is Leigh's method, the cast went through six months of rehearsals, creating the characters from scratch. Hawkins, a British actress who also had a small role in Leigh's "Vera Drake," talks of the process of creating her character, the unexpected hoopla that resulted and the importance of being joyful.

November 19, 2008

AWARDS

Comedies get little respect from Academy Award voters

Do the Golden Globes have anything to teach the Academy Awards? Maybe one thing: How to lighten up.

November 19, 2008

CHANNEL ISLAND

Tv Glows In Globes' Embrace

The TV industry always pays close attention to the Golden Globes because of its long tradition of championing series that are later embraced by Emmy voters and a wider viewership.

November 19, 2008

A MOMENT WITH ...

'Last Chance Harvey' 's Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson

Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson are not at their best.

November 19, 2008

GOLDEN GLOBES

Winners and losers in a possible SAG strike

The Golden Globes paid a steep price last year when the 14-week writers strike prevented the award show from going on. The possibility of another strike, this time by the Screen Actors Guild, whose contract expired this summer, would be devastating to the Globes, which had to announce winners last year at a televised news conference rather than at an award gala. And then there's the Oscars. Can you imagine a Hollywood that didn't get to walk that that red carpet? Ugly, isn't it? The timing for picket lines just couldn't be worse considering the current state of the economy, making the subject even more of a hot-button issue. But what would a strike really mean in layman's terms? Who might benefit and who might suffer in the event of a walkout?

November 19, 2008

A MOMENT WITH...

'The Duchess' herself, Keira Knightley

As no one who has seen "The Duchess" has failed to observe, there are certain parallels between Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, and Keira Knightley, the actress who plays her. The wife of the influential Duke William Cavendish, Georgiana was greeted by throngs of admirers everywhere she went, her actions instant fodder for the nation's gossip columns. She exploited her public profile to lend support to the liberal Whig party, and her extravagant fashions, which echoed those of her friend Marie Antoinette, were rapidly copied in high society. She even managed to change the way people spoke, creating a fashion for her husband's "Cavendish drawl," which rendered her name as "Georgaina." She was, in short, the 18th century equivalent of a movie star.

November 19, 2008

CONTENDER Q & A

Dev Patel, 'Slumdog Millionaire'

The London suburb of Harrow isn't exactly the slums of Mumbai. But Dev Patel's journey from ordinary suburban teenager to feature-film star is only marginally less eventful than the one undertaken by his character in "Slumdog Millionaire," a Dickensian love story from director Danny Boyle that is set against the rapidly modernizing backdrop of present-day India. A teenage taekwondo champion, Patel was dragged to a television audition by his mother, which got him the role of Anwar, a sexually frustrated Muslim teenager, on the hit UK series "Skins." As Jamal, "Slumdog" is his first film role but it's hardly an entry-level position: The movie follows Jamal's life journey through a blend of comedy, action, romance and drama, and even includes a pure Bollywood-style dance number. The charismatic Patel acquits himself with star-making ease and charm that helped make "Slumdog" the audience favorite at the Toronto Film Festival.

November 19, 2008

IN CONTENTION

Golden Globe-trotting fun

Warren Beatty once famously said, "The Golden Globes are fun; the Oscars are business." But there was no merriment last time, when the writers strike torpedoed the Globes ceremony and such winners as Jeremy Piven ("Entourage") had to accept his award in his driveway from a delivery boy. Nominations will be announced on Dec. 11 and, if a SAG strike doesn't hit this year, winners will accept Globes back at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11.