Slavery drama '12 Years A Slave,' Gravity' top winners at 86th Oscars

March 3, 2014
Los Angeles, Mar 3: Steve McQueen's slavery drama "12 Years A Slave" that unflinchingly portrays America's dark past was crowned the best picture while Alfonso Cuaron's 3D space thriller walked away with the maximum seven trophies at the 86th Academy awards here today.

While 3D film "Gravity" walked away with most of the golden statuettes out of its 10 nominations thanks to its technical brilliance, the Academy's over six thousand voters bestowed the top award on "12 Years A Slave" out of the nine best picture nominees.

Best actor and actress Oscars went to Matthew McConaughey and Cate Blanchett for their roles "Dallas Buyers Club" and "Blue Jasmine" respectively.

The acclaimed film, based on the memoirs of Solomon Northup, a freeman forced into slavery, touches upon a topic that has been missing in Hollywood cinema for a long time.

Lupita Nyong'o and John Ridley brought the other two trophies for "12 Years A Slave" in the best supporting actress and best adapted screenplay categories.

In her emotionally-charged speech, Lupita thanked McQueen for his honest portrayal of a dark issue, saying: "It does not escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's. I want to salute the spirit of Patsey, for her guidance and for Solomon... Thank you for telling her story and your own."

Both producer-director McQueen and co-producer Brad Pitt also paid tribute to the heroic story of Northup.

McQueen dedicated the honor to those who suffered slavery and "the 21 million who still endure slavery today."

"Everyone deserves not just to survive, but to live. This is the most important legacy of Solomon Northup," McQueen said as he accepted the Oscar from Will Smith.

"It has been an absolute privilege to work on Solomon Northup's story," Pitt added.

Cuaron's film had a clean sweep in technical categories by winning film editing, sound editing, sound mixing, visual effects, cinematography and original score besides winning the best director award for the Mexican helmer. He also shared the editing award with Mark Sanger.

Cuaron thanked his leading lady Sandra Bullock after winning best director trophy.

"Sandy, you are 'Gravity'. You are the soul, heart of the film, the most amazing collaborator and one of the best people I've ever met. George Clooney, for your absolute trust."

oscarBlanchett, who won best actress for playing a broke but snobbish heroine in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine', Allen, whose is once again facing sexual abuse allegations from his adopted daughter.

Blanchett, who received a standing ovation, joked, "Sit down. You're too old to be standing."

"I'm here excepting an award in an extraordinary screenplay by Woody Allen. Thank you so much, Woody, for casting me. I truly appreciate it," Blanchett said while also mentioning fellow nominees.

True-story of AIDS activist Ron Woodroof brought actor Matthew McConaughey his career's first Oscar in the best actor category.

McConaughey, who lost around 20 kgs of weight to pull the character off, said he needs three things everyday.

"Something to look up to, something to look forward and something to chase."

Jared Leto won the best supporting actor Oscar for his fearless portrayal of a transgender woman suffering from AIDS in "Dallas Buyers Club." The actor-musician mentioned the people in Ukraine and anti-government protesters in Venezuela.

"To all the dreamers out there... in places like Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say, we are here. And as you struggle to make your dreams happen, to live the impossible, we're thinking of you tonight," Leto said.

"Dallas Buyers Club" also won the make-up and hairstyling award.

Crime drama "American Hustle" was the biggest loser at the Academy as it went empty handed despite its 10 nominations so did Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street" which failed to garner any award despite the buzz surrounding Leonardo DiCaprio's performance.

The 86th Academy awards were held at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.

Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the award ceremony was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres.

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News Network
May 19,2020

Washington, May 19: Actors Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox are going their separate ways after 10 years of marriage.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, 46-year-old Green, on Monday announced the news during an episode of his podcast 'With Brian Austin Green' where he emotionally opened up about the breakup with Fox.

The 'Beverly Hills 90210' star revealed that they simply grew distant at the end of last year while Fox was away shooting a film.

Green recalled Fox saying during the conversation they had after she returned from filming, "She said, 'I realised when I was out of the country working alone that I feel more like myself, and I liked myself better during that experience and I think that might be something worth trying for me.'"

Though feeling "shocked" and "upset" at first, Green admitted that he couldn't be upset with her for being honest.

He said, "Neither one of us did anything to each other. She's always been honest with me. I've always been honest with her. We've had an amazing relationship. I will always love her. And I know she will always love me and I know as far as a family what we have built is really cool and really special."

The 'Impact Point' star shared that they intend to "still do family vacations and holidays as a family and really make that a focus for the kids."

Green went on to say that it's hard to adjust to the change and he doesn't want himself and Fox to "be at odds": "She's been my best friend for 15 years and I don't want to lose that."

He added: "There's this sense of loss of, 'How do I go on with this big part of my life that I've always known and loved and shared changing?' What does that landscape look like? What does that life look like?' ... Megan and I talked a lot about it, and it's a big concern for both of us." Aware of the scrutiny around their age difference, Green defended Fox, saying "she's really a responsible person. ... She really loves the kids and cares about what their life and their experience is."

The couple share three children together 7-year-old Noah, 6-year-old Bodhi, and 3-year-old Journey, and Green said that they are only concerned about controlling how the separation will truly affect their children.

After photos circulated online of Fox and Machine Gun Kelly, whose real name is Colson Baker, hanging out -- Fox and Baker are co-stars in the upcoming film, 'Midnight in the Switchgrass,' Green said Fox and Baker are "just friends at this point."

He said, "She met this guy, Colson, on set. I've never met him. Megan and I have talked about him. I trust her judgment; she's always had really good judgment."

Green emphasised that despite what tabloids can say, he didn't want the public to categorise Fox and Baker as "villains or that I was a victim in any way."

Fox and Green started dating in 2004 and married in 2010. Fox had filed for divorce from Green in 2015, but the couple later reconciled.

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News Network
March 4,2020

New Delhi, Mar 4: Miss World 2017 Manushi Chhillar, who is all set to make her acting debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Prithviraj, says she's has always been interested in history.

"While growing up, I was really interested in history, the tales of grand kingdoms and larger than life historical heroes. I had always been fascinated with the story of Prithviraj and Sanyogita and life came to a full circle for me when I was offered this film," Manushi said.

Directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Prithviraj is based on the life and heroism of the king Prithviraj Chauhan. It stars Akshay in the title role while Manushi plays Sanyogita, the love of his life.

For Manushi, being offered Prithviraj by Aditya Chopra was a sweet coincidence. She reveals, 'While growing up, I was really interested in history, the tales of grand kingdoms and larger than life historical heroes.'

The glamourous girl, who has been voted the most desirable woman in the recent past, reveals that she is 'blessed' to be playing the role of the gorgeous Rajput princess.

'When I was given the narration of the film, I had a smile on my face thinking that I’m listening to a story that I had been most interested about reading in school. Prithviraj and Sanyogita is a fascinating story and a beautiful chapter in the history of India and I’m blessed and fortunate to have got the opportunity to bring Princess Sanyogita’s story to life,' she says.

Manushi’s Bollywood debut is being directed by Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi who directed the biggest television epic 'Chanakya', based on the life and times of the most influential political strategist of India, and the multiple award-winning Pinjar.

'Prithviraj' will release worldwide in Diwali 2020.

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News Network
May 20,2020

Mumbai, May 20: Doing his bit to help people in need during the ongoing coronavirus crisis, and the lockdown 4.0 phase, Bollywood actor Salman Khan has initiated ''Being Haangryy''- food truck facility to distribute, provide ration to needy.

To feed the affected people in Mumbai, the food truck with the words ''Being Haangryy'' written on it, was seen in Mumbai roads on Wednesday, where volunteers are providing huge bags of ration. A long queue of people was standing near the truck to get the essentials.

Many videos of the truck moving around the city providing ration kits to the people in need, surfaced on the internet from earlier this month.

However, the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor has not announced this initiative himself on his personal social media accounts.

The Sultan actor is staying at his Panvel farmhouse with his nephew Nirvaan Khan and other family members ever since the lockdown was announced.

Earlier, the 54-year-old actor urged people to take up the ''Anna Daan'' challenge and donate to the underprivileged ones who are worst affected by the COVID-19 lockdown.

After urging people to take up the ''Anna Daan'' challenge, the actor posted a video on Twitter, that features him and Iulia Vantur, Jacqueline Fernandez among others loading the bags filled with ration on to a truck.

Khan actively posts videos on his social media handles to raise awareness about the importance of social distancing during COVID-19.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

@jacquelinef143 @vanturiulia @rahulnarainkanal @imkamaalkhan @niketan_m @waluschaa @abhiraj88

A post shared by Salman Khan (@beingsalmankhan) on

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