``Wow, this is quite surreal,'' Tan said on stage at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood accepting his award.
``Our film is about a creature that nobody pays any attention to and it is wonderfully ironic.''
The win continues a strong tradition for Australians in the category, with Adam Elliot's claymation short animated film Harvie Krumpet taking out the Oscar in 2005. Although Hollywood star Nicole Kidman and underdog Jacki Weaver both lost out in their respective categories, Aussies had plenty to celebrate with British-Australian co-production The King's Speech taking the top honours for best picture, best actor for Colin Firth and best director for Tom Hooper. Geoffrey Rush may have lost to Christian Bale in the best supporting actor category, but the veteran Australian actor still had the opportunity to get up on stage and collect the best picture award for The King's Speech, which he shared with several other producers including Aussie Emile Sherman.
(Above) Ok, yeah, I know she didn’t win an Oscar but Scar Jo looked so darn hot how could I NOT include this pic? My fave outfits with Sacr Jo, Mila Kunis, Cate Blanchett, Mandy Moore and Natalie Portman.Other Australians to win at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards were Kirk Baxter in the editing category for The Social Network and make-up artist Dave Elsey for his work on The Wolfman. Ben Snow and Joe Farrell missed out on the award for Visual Effects for Iron Man 2 and Hereafter respectively. Fan favourite Natalie Portman won the best actress award for Black Swan, giving a tearful acceptance speech, with The Fighter's Melissa Leo claiming best supporting actress.
Actors Anne Hathaway and James Franco took over the hosting duties from Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin last year, but the online community was not happy with their performance. Twitter was flooded with negative comments about the duo, calling for British comedian Ricky Gervais to host in 2012 after his notorious Golden Globes performance.
The rapper turned actor found critical success in best picture Oscar-winner Crash and nominee Hustle & Flow. He said the ``smart money'' is on his No Strings Attached co-star:
The 16-year-old actor from Sydney has spent his first year in Hollywood starring in blockbusters such as I Am Number Four and Flipped. He throws his support behind an animated contender:
As a two-time best director Academy Award nominee and the man who directed Helen Mirren in her award-winning turn in The Queen, Frears knows all about the selection process and his bet is on a fellow Brit for best actor.
The star of upcoming Australian film Wasted On The Young and recipient of the Heath Ledger Scholarship tips Ledger's The Dark Knight co-star:
As one third of legendary hip hop group De La Soul, Posdnuos aka Plug One is an influential force in the music industry. But he's also an avid movie lover who has been following the Oscars race closely:
Best known for his boundary pushing films Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus, Cameron Mitchell is behind the raw drama Rabbit Hole, which scored Nicole Kidman a best actress nomination:
The former Underbelly actor and star of shark thriller The Reef has his fingers crossed for one of the few Australians in the field:
"It's a little cheesy, but that's fine.'' Australian actor Callan McAuliffe is talking from his Los Angeles home about his new film I Am Number Four, the Michael Bay produced blockbuster about an alien in highschool. McAuliffe's character Sam befriends said alien, play by Alex Pettyfer, and the pair team up to fight an evil horde of creatures invading the town. It's a fantastic role for the 16-year-old Sydney lad, who has spent the last year and a half trying to break into the Hollywood market after bit parts in Packed To The Rafters and Blue Water High.
McAuliffe said fans of producer Michael Bay will be expecting ``explosions'' and they won't be disappointed, with plenty of stunts and special-effects. And although his character didn't get to do ``any dangerous stuff''', McAuliffe said he did get to shoot a gun.
Most kids get their first job when they're 13 or 14. Texas native Madison Pettis started work at the age of six on kids favourite Barney & Friends. After landing several commercials, Madison and her parents moved to Los Angeles a few years later to try and crack the Hollywood market. Within a few weeks she landed a role on prime time series Jericho and auditioned for her first feature film The Game Plan. It's a role she won and one that first introduced mainstream audiences to her bubbly talent. She starred alongside Dwayne `The Rock' Johnson as his long-lost daughter, Peyton, and although most kids would find that pretty intimidating, not Madison.
She's a regular face on the Disney channel, having played the younger sister to High School Musical's Corbin Bleu in Free Style and starring in Mostly Ghostly, based on the popular Goosebumps series of books by R.L. Stine. That's not to mention her recurring voiceover work on animated shows such Phineas & Ferb and Special Agent Oso. Set to premiere in early 2011, Madison will also voice the role of Izzy, the only girl pirate on Disney Channel's new series Jake and the Never Land Pirates.
Although Madison (all grown up and above) is considered a star in her own right, she says she's still a fan and gets ``star struck'' just like everyone else.
Sheffield said Larry Crowne (above) will be the company's first title to secure a widespread studio release in both art-house cinemas and multiplexes nationwide. Pinnacle's slate also includes Chinese-American film Snow Flower and The Secret Fan, starring Hugh Jackman; underworld action flick Drive, starring Oscar nominees Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan; The Hole 3D, directed by Gremlins filmmaker Joe Dante; and The Bang Bang Club, the true story of four photographers documenting the last days of apartheid, starring Ryan Phillippe, Taylor Kitsch and Malin Akerman. Pinncale will also distribute Australian films The Reef, starring Gyton Grantley; documentary Cane Toads: The Conquest 3D; and the animated family film Oakie's Outback Adventure.
It’s a shame I Am Number Four has been promoted as a supernatural romance reminiscent of Twilight, but with Aryan poster children Alex Pettyfer and Dianna Agron (above) as the teenage lovers. Really, it’s more of an action blockbuster in a similar vein to the hits of Michael Bay, who serves as producer.
Directed by D.J. Caruso (Disturbia, Eagle Eye, Taking Lives), I Am Number Four is what it is; an alien action blockbuster with romance at its core. Kind of like E.T, minus the bicycles.
Performance wise Pettyfer continues his role as the latest action boy template; he slots nicely into any big budget flick but never leaves an impression. Agron is memorable, but her monotone voice is more irritable than it usually is on Glee. There are some genuinely awesome sci-fi moments, mainly thanks to the original looking Mogadorians and their horrific pet creatures. With tattooed scalps, gills where cheeks should be, fangs and a looming 7ft-plus physique, they’re creepy enough as it is. Yet their manner and interaction add an extra `eek’ factor. Their hunter creatures too are fantastically freaky and obviously the result of a dozen dinosaurs and a Predator thrown into the blender. It also packs a clever original score from Trevor Rabin, which helps build tension, and is complemented by a too-cool-for-school soundtrack from the likes of Beck, The Black Keys, Kings Of Leon, Adele and The Temper Trap.
I Am Number Four opens in cinemas on Thursday, February 24.
As far as `out there' concepts go, Bait takes the cake; a freak tsunami traps shoppers at a coastal Australian supermarket inside the building along with a pack of tiger sharks. Sure, it sounds ridiculous, but you can't deny it sounds like ridiculous fun and in 3D to boot. Also filmed at Warner Roadshow Studios, it stars a cast of Aussie actors making waves overseas including Julian McMahon, Sharni Vinson, Xavier Samuel, Phoebe Tonkin and Lincoln Lewis. Australian filmmaker Kimble Rendall, who's best known for his assistant director credits on The Matrix films and Casanova, steps up to the director's chair along with Russell Mulcahy (Resident Evil: Extinction). Bait is out September.
As one of the most successful rapper-turned-actors, Chris `Ludacris' Bridges has starred in Oscar-winning films such as Crash and Hustle and Flow. That's not to mention blockbusters like 2 Fast 2 Furious, RocknRolla and Max Payne, or his illustrious career as a Grammy-winning, platinum-selling rap artist. It would seem hes done everything, but there was still one thing on Bridges to-do list; a romantic comedy.
Bridges is one of the few rappers who has been able to forge a successful career as an actor and be taken seriously in dramatic roles, unlike Ja Rule, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Ice Cube, DMX or Sisqo.
But unlike his peers, Bridges never intended to make the leap into movies. While working on the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack, it was Boyz N The Hood director John Singleton who pushed Bridges to join the cast.
For a film that examines grief and the nature of loss, it's reliant on solid performances from the ensemble cast - particularly Kidman and Eckhart who are both convincing as parents experiencing grief in very different ways. Although Kidman scored a Golden Globe nomination for her performance, Eckhart is just as deserving (arguably more so) as his portrayal is gutsy and relentless. The standout is undoubtedly newcomer Teller as the quiet and thoughtful teenager still haunted by the accident. His interpretation of the character is stoic and powerful, creating some of the most moving moments in the film. Dianne Wiest, Tammy Blanchard and and Sandra Oh are also strong in minor roles.
Rabbithole is out Thursday, February 17.
You know that kid in high school who was ridiculously talented but a little too genius to be able to fit in with the cool kids? British director Christopher Nolan is the film industry equivalent of that kid.
That’s a good question. Iconic director Stanley Kubrick, with whom Nolan’s work has been closely compared to, never won an Oscar for best director or best picture despite being behind classics such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket. The reality is the Academy isn’t able to handle the conceptually and intellectually challenging genius of a film such as Inception and a mastermind such as Nolan.
This time a year ago, director Alister Grierson had James Cameron looking over his shoulder as he plunged actors into a flooding cave system, had them jump from rock walls and, ultimately, die in dramatic fashion. That was called a week day on the Warner Roadshow Studios set of 3D action adventure film Sanctum. Now, 12 months and $30 million later, Sanctum is screening in cinemas worldwide and putting audiences through the same terror its cast members experienced.
Fearless is something the audience will certainly not be while watching Sanctum as the characters are forced through the tiniest of underwater spaces in claustrophobic 3D. Grierson said he enjoyed setting up the audience to expect one type of film, before flipping it ``on its head.''
Although there's no doubt us Aussies know all about 3D action adventure film Sanctum, Universal Pictures are resorting to some interesting methods to sell the film in the US. The studio have put together a mobile screening room which has been travelling the country showing 3D scenes of the film, complete with an introduction by executive producer James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar, Aliens).
Burleigh Heads local Grierson filmed the $30 million film at Warner Roadshow Studios last year. It follows the misadventures of a group of explorers who become trapped in an underwater cave system. Although Sanctum is set to do big things here in Australia when its released on Thursday, it's set to be a marketing challenge in the US thanks to the largely Australian cast, with the exception of Ioan Gruffudd, and the R rating. The Hollywood Reporter is also reporting ``some people'' think Sanctum is an IMAX 3D companion piece to Cameron's underwater documentaries Ghosts of the Abyss or Aliens of the Deep. Sanctum will receive one of the widest releases for an Australian film in years when it opens worldwide this week.
So, these are the first titles to be added to my 2011 reading list and yes, I've included graphic novels in here. I want to try and read more `classics' this year so I'm throwing one in every three or four reads. This month it was 1984, which was pretty grey albeit genuis right up until the last sixth of the book, and Jane Eyre, which I loved and is now one of my all time favourites. My favourite on the list though is probably the Tiny Book Of Tiny Stories from the collaborative crew at 
