Oh yeah speaking of the Oscars, Renee Zellweger -- WTF. While the actress often looks like she just chomped into a handful of Sour Skittles, last night her eyes seemed to have collapsed into tiny black holes orbiting Alpha Centauri. And what was with mean Richard Gere trying to get her to read on stage? It was obvious girlfriend did not want to wear reading glasses, and was too shy to say anything about it. Either that or she had found the stash James Franco had hidden at the Dolby Theater a couple of years back.
Author Helen Fielding will publish a third Bridget Jones novel. The book is scheduled for release in fall 2013.
Shelf Life reports that fans can also look forward to a Bridget Jones musical and a third Bridget Jones film called Bridget Jones’s Baby. It has been confirmed that lead cast members Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth will return for this movie. Fielding will be involved with both adaptation projects.
The Guardian had a quote from Fielding about the new book: ”She’s still trying to give up [drinking and smoking], she’s still on a diet. She’s trying a bit harder, and is a bit more successful, but she’s never really going to change.”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
photo from www.peterrabbit.com
Over holiday break, I finally watched the movie Miss Potter, starring Renee Zellweger as Beatrix Potter. It was a sensational movie, and I watched it with awe and amazement. Mostly because it was fascinating to see how Beatrix Potter created her books and fought for her books and didn’t even know how much money she had made from her books! If you are a writer of children’s books, I highly recommend watching this movie (especially if you’re an author/illustrator).
Your children may have a treasury of Beatrix Potter books on their bedroom shelves. These are popular gifts to give when children are born or at their first birthdays. Some of the other volumes besides Peter Rabbit (1902) are:
#The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin (1903)
# The Tailor of Gloucester (1903)
# The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (1904)
# The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904)
# The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (1905)
# The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan (1905)
# The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher (1906)
and many, many, many more!
Why do people still love the cautionary tale of Peter and his siblings: Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail, over 100 years after Beatrix Potter wrote and illustrated it? In my opinion, her drawings are wonderful, timeless, and bring her characters to life. Everyone can relate to really wanting to do something naughty like Peter, and sometimes not being able to resist an adventure even when your parents warn you not to do it. Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail provide the “good” example, which children often find themselves also following–thank goodness for their parents. Let’s face it: Peter Rabbit is fun. Beatrix Potter is a wonderful illustrator and storyteller. Those kinds of things are just not going to die.
Parents and teachers have been using Peter and his friends Jeremy Fisher, Benjamin Bunny, and Squirrel Nutkin to discuss right and wrong actions, childhood dilemmas, story elements, and illustration techniques for a century. Let’s hope that this trend continues for another century, at least, Beatrix sticks around! Make sure to check out this great website, The World of Beatrix Potter for more information with a special section for parents and teachers.
BTW, there’s still time to win a copy of Ellen Jensen Abbott’s book, Watersmeet, by leaving a comment on Tuesday or Wednesday’s post until 8:00 p.m. CST.
I think Zellwegger was seriously buzzed. If you watched her when the others with her on stage were speaking, she was a bit ‘drifty’.
As for Seth McFarlane, he was just what we expected, talented, funny, and a bit on the bad boy side. It’s the Oscars and folks really do need to lighten up because it aint like these folks are curing cancer. Along those lines, I think Daniel Day Lewis’ was awesome with his version of Streep playing Lincoln.
Glad to see Brave get the nod-it was well deserved but then again, all the nominees in the animation categories were amazing.
I’m just happy that Katniss and Catwoman won. Take *that* . . . dog people?
I was mightily disappointed at the 50 Years Of Bond “tribute” (if ya wanna call it that). Fifty freaking years of those films – it’s one of the biggest film franchises EVER – and they couldn’t or didn’t choose to get all the Bond actors on stage for a group bow? I would have settled for Craig by himself! (I really wanted to see Lazenby, who’s gotten short shrift like forever up there hearing some applause. )
Nothing against the great Shirley Bassey (she’s still got it), but more could and should have been done to honor 007. If I want to see a clip montage, I can go to YouTube…
“…and they couldn’t or didn’t choose to get all the Bond actors on stage for a group bow?”
I had heard that the show runners actually tried to get the surviving Bond actors together, but Brosnan was rumored to be the one who opted out of the idea.
Sad though when the night’s biggest laugh was 2+ hrs in–by Daniel Day Lewis. I say let him host it next year. Lol!
First, mean -spirited remarks on Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere and James Franco. Then, announce disliking Seth McFarlane’s mean-spiritedness… yeah, whatevs.
Zellweger’s eyes have been gradually closing for the past few years now. The squint used to be cute, now it’s just disturbing in a “did she get plastic surgery on her cheeks or something?” way.
“I had heard that the show runners actually tried to get the surviving Bond actors together…”
“Surviving” Bond actors? Who of the Bond actors isn’t still with us? Unless you’re counting David Niven which I suppose is OK, even if his stint as Bond isn’t usually counted…
Nikki Finke said it was Connery who refused to show up, as well as Brosnan, both over feuds with the Broccolis.
I hate broccoli
@Tommy Raiko: Yep, I was referring to Niven and Barry Nelson, who was actually the first actor to play James Bond, in the televised version of Casino Royale.
While I was certain I was going to hate McFarlane, he totally won me over. The sock puppet rendition of Flight was hysterical, the we saw your boobs song was great, and I loved both the Wilkes-Booth joke and the follow-up. I liked all the singing and dancing, too.
Yeah, I read that on Deadline also – about the various spats the Bond actors have with the Broccolis. But they could have had CRAIG at the (literally) very least.
Glad to know I’m not alone in McFarlane not being my cup of tea generally. I agree that he did a professional job, but I thought overall his material was weak and the opening a bit interminable.
I agree that the Bond retrospective was kind of weak, but thought Shirley Bassey was the first highpoint of the show — in fact, she appeared to have brought the house down, receiving a standing ovation. In fact, it set the tone for the rest of the evening because, overall, I thought the music numbers were the strongest parts of the show.
I actually couldn’t watch the Oscars because of Seth McFarlane. I find hi stuff so aggressively un-funny and off-putting that every time Family Guy comes on I literally leap for the remote. Not that I haven’t tried watching the show (Jesus Christ it’s ubiquitous) but I have never EVER laughed at anything I’ve ever seen on Family Guy, American dad or Cleveland Show.
And it’s not that I don’t like irreverent or even mean humor. It’s just that the stuff’s not funny. South Park? Now THAT’S funny. And the South Park episode where the kids encounter the Family Guy writing staff said it all about the show eats up way too much valuable TV real estate that might be going to a nice Futurama re-run, Kroll Show, or any number of things that are actually funny.