Stars gather as 'King's Speech' eyes Oscars crown

HOLLYWOOD: British royal drama "The King's Speech" got another boost on the eve of what supporters hope will be its Oscars coronation Sunday, as stars gather for the climax of Tinsel Town's annual awards season.

The movie, nominated for 12 Academy Awards including best picture and best actor for Colin Firth, won best foreign film at the Spirit independent movie awards, barely 24 hours before the main Hollywood show.

Ballet thriller "Black Swan," nominated for five Oscars, won best film at the Spirits as well as best actress for Natalie Portman -- who is frontrunner in that category on Sunday.

With less than 24 hours to go before the annual awards mega-bash, stars were fine-tuning their acceptance speeches -- fingers crossed -- and preparing to don their gowns and tuxedos for the Oscars red carpet.

While "The King's Speech" is the frontrunner, no one is taking anything for granted as rivals including Facebook movie "The Social Network," classic Western remake "True Grit" and boxing movie "The Fighter" vie for Oscars glory.

That said, Firth is considered all but certain to be named best actor for his portrayal of Britain's King George VI, helped by Australian voice coach Lionel Logue -- played by Geoffrey Rush -- to overcome his crippling stammer.

David Fincher could well be named best director for "The Social Network," which tells the story of how Mark Zuckerberg created the game-changing website from a controversial start while a Harvard student, some critics say.

"The Social Network" started the awards season as favorite, taking four Golden Globes in January. But the British royal film has since swept up a series of prizes, in the US as well as at Britain's BAFTAs.

On Sunday the 10-strong shortlist for best film also includes hi-tech thriller "Inception," "127 Hours" -- about a hiker forced to amputate his own arm -- and "Toy Story 3," widely tipped as best animated feature.

Others hoping for a touch of Oscars gold include Britain's elusive graffiti artist Banksy, whose film "Exit Through the Gift Shop" is nominated for best documentary Oscar. The movie won the Spirit awards prize Saturday.

The best foreign film contest is between Mexico's "Biutiful" -- whose star Javier Bardem is also up for best actor -- "Dogtooth" from Greece, Denmark's "In a Better World," "Incendies" from Canada and Algeria's "Outside the Law."

Actors James Franco and Anne Hathaway will host the Oscars show, while organizers this week released more details of who will present awards, the latest including Helen Mirren, Bardem, Mila Kunis and Amy Adams.

The Oscars weekend also provides an excuse for endless festivities, ranging from Elton John's traditional bash in west Hollywood to one reportedly co-hosted by Madonna and Demi Moore.

Once the big show is over, the real fun starts: Oscars after parties -- and after parties -- go on well into Monday, as Hollywood recovers from its annual awards season binge.

Before that, though, some of the Hollywood's finest were preparing to cringe Saturday night when the traditional Golden Raspberry Awards -- or Razzies -- were to be revealed.

Stars including Jennifer Aniston, Ashton Kutcher, Robert Pattinson, Miley Cyrus and Barbra Streisand are on the shortlist for the Razzies, billed as "saluting the worst that Hollywood has to offer each year."(AFP)

'King's Speech' gets new Oscars boost

LOS ANGELES: British historical drama "The King's Speech" got yet another boost to its Oscars hopes Sunday, winning its second top prize in 24 hours at Hollywood's latest awards ceremony.

The movie about King George VI's stammer won best ensemble prize and best actor for Colin Firth at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards, while Natalie Portman won best actress for her role in ballet-themed thriller "Black Swan."

The awards for Firth and Portman are their latest for those roles, and seem to cement them as frontrunners for best actor and actress Oscars.

Others honored at the SAG awards -- chosen by actors for their peers -- included Briton Christian Bale for best supporting actor and Melissa Leo for best supporting actress, both in boxing movie "The Fighter."

The latest triumph for "The King's Speech" came a day after its director Tom Hooper won best director at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) awards on Saturday night.

The understated royal movie, also starring Helena Bonham Carter and Australian Geoffrey Rush -- is nominated in 12 categories for next month's Oscars show, the climax of Hollywood's annual awards season.

Blockbuster Facebook movie "The Social Network" was an early favorite for Oscars glory, and came out on top at the Golden Globes earlier this month, taking four prizes to a disappointing single gong for "The King's Speech."

But insiders point out that the Globes are chosen by a few dozen foreign journalists at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), whereas all other awards are voted on by those in the industry.

The Oscars, chosen by some 6,000 members of the illustrious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will unveil their laureates this year on February 27.

Firth, accepting his SAG award Sunday, underlined the value he attached to being honored by his fellow actors.

"Until today, I would say probably if ever I felt I had a trophy which told me that something's really happening for me, it was my SAG card, you know, to be a part of this extraordinary collective," said Firth, accepting his award.

"Growing up in England, it's not something you expect to see in your wallet, really," he said. "And so it has this glow, and I used to flash it around hoping it would get me female attention, entry into nightclubs..."

"And it didn't, not a bit. I'd like to thank, looking at whose here, I'd like to thank security for letting me into the building," he joked.

'King's Speech' crowned head of Oscar nominees

BEVERLY HILLS: British historical drama "The King's Speech" was crowned the Oscar frontrunner Tuesday, earning 12 nominations for the multibillion-dollar film industry's top honors.

The understated royal film starring Colin Firth as a stammering King George VI beat rivals including "True Grit" and Facebook film "The Social Network," in nods for the 83rd annual Academy Awards to be held February 27.

"True Grit," the Coen brothers' take on the classic Western, garnered 10 nominations while eight each went to hi-tech thriller "Inception" and "The Social Network," which had been tipped as Oscar favorite.

"Your head spins when you hear the news," Firth told the Today Show after the nominations were announced, joking that his career had gone into orbit since he was first nominated for best actor Oscar last year.

"It's almost like I was fired out of a cannon this time last year and I'm still orbiting Pluto,' he joked, adding: "It's quite extraordinary."

Firth's rivals on the shortlist for the best actor Oscar are Javier Bardem for "Biutiful," Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network," James Franco in "127 Hours," and Jeff Bridges in "True Grit."

The British actor, who lost out to Bridges for best actor last year, joked when asked whether he would have to kneecap the "True Grit" star to prevent the same thing happening.

"Something has to be done," he quipped.

Best actress nods went to Annette Bening in "The Kids Are All Right," Nicole Kidman in "Rabbit Hole," Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone," Natalie Portman in "Black Swan" and Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine."

"The King's Speech" won Oscar nods for best film, three acting categories, as well as for directing, editing, musical score, art direction, cinematography, costume design, sound mixing and original screenplay.

Firth, who won a Golden Globe earlier this month for his performance in the British movie, is widely tipped for a best actor at the Oscars show next month, the climax of Hollywood's annual awards season.

And Helena Bonham Carter, who plays his royal wife, was nominated for best supporting actress, while Geoffrey Rush, who plays the speech therapist who helps the king, was also nominated, for best supporting actor.

"That's the best thing about it, to be going together, to have the royal flush that's the most gratifying," Firth told the Today Show,

The British movie's Oscars nomination success was welcomed by the Stuttering Foundation, saying the film "has brought overwhelmingly positive attention to the plight of people who stutter.

"'The King's Speech' gives the stuttering community a hero who inspires and a movie that promotes understanding and acceptance of the complexities of stuttering," said its president, Jane Fraser.

Facebook blockbuster "The Social Network" had been tipped to earn the most Oscar nominations, after winning four awards at the Golden Globes on January 16.

But industry observers had noted that the British royal movie could do better at the Oscars because it is better suited to the tastes of the 6,000-plus members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The British movie also got a small boost over the weekend when it won best picture award at the Producers Guild of America awards.

The Oscar nominations were announced by last year's supporting-actress winner Mo'Nique, joined by the Academy president Tom Sherak.

The 10 films nominated for best picture Oscar were: "Black Swan," "The Fighter," "Inception," "The Kids Are All Right," "The King's Speech," "127 Hours," "The Social Network," "Toy Story 3," "True Grit," and "Winter's Bone."

Nominated for best animated film -- an increasingly high-profile award as technology helps create stunning blockbuster family movies -- were "How to Train Your Dragon," "The Illusionist" and "Toy Story 3."

'King's Speech' leads BAFTA nominations

The King's Speech has picked up the most nominations for this year's BAFTA Film Awards.

The picture, depicting King George VI's struggle to overcome a crippling stammer, is nominated in 14 categories, closely followed by Black Swan, with 12 nods, and Inception, with nine.

Golden Globe winner Colin Firth will battle it out alongside Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Javier Bardem (Biutiful), Jeff Bridges (True Grit) and James Franco (127 Hours) for the title of 'Leading Actor'.

The 'Leading Actress' prize will be contested between The Kids Are All Right duo Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, Black Swan's Natalie Portman, Hailee Steinfeld of True Grit and Noomi Rapace from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

The 'Director' category finds British directors Danny Boyle (127 Hours), Christopher Nolan (Inception) and Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) facing off against David Fincher (The Social Network) and Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan).

The King's Speech is also up for the 'Outstanding British Film' along with 127 Hours, Another Year, Four Lions and Made in Dagenham.

Book tells inspiring tale behind King's Speech film

LONDON: Based on a treasure trove of royal letters, appointment cards and photographs, a new book on the remarkable life of Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue fills many of the gaps left by the hit film "The King's Speech."

Lionel's grandson Mark Logue was consulted for the script of the movie, starring Colin Firth as the stammering King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as his elocution coach, widely tipped for Oscar glory at the Academy Awards next month.

His involvement encouraged him to return to hundreds of documents about his grandfather's inspiring story, resulting in the book "The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy" which he wrote with journalist Peter Conradi.

At his home in London, Mark Logue sifted through piles of letters, including several from the king to Lionel which reveal a surprising level of intimacy between the king and, to use Lionel's own words, a "common colonial."

An appointment card covered with Lionel's tiny writing shows how the future king visited his Harley Street practice 82 times between October 1926 and December 1927, and describes the royal's "very flabby" waist as well as his speech impediment.

A scrapbook of press cuttings, photographs of Lionel and his wife Myrtle at King George VI's coronation, Christmas cards from the royal family and Lionel's own diary attest to his pride at having helped the monarch through his tumultuous reign.

But Lionel also had a sense of being someone from another country and another class.

"Here we've got a man in his mid-40s, emigrating from Australia with his young family and setting up in the heart of the British medical establishment in Harley Street, very much an outsider," Mark Logue said in an interview.

"Within two years he's treating the king's son. Then he's kind of catapulted into the center of the royal family when he (the Duke of York) becomes king.

"All the time I think he's had this sense that he's an outsider, but also proud of it. He says in his diaries, frequently, that the king sought his advice ... as a commoner -- what does a common man on the street think," he added.

The King's Speech

Among tried-and-true formulas for an effective, Oscar-candidate movie, the most reliable often concern either the activities of an ordinary person facing extraordinary circumstances or those of an extraordinary person challenged by the ordinary. Like The Queen before it, The King's Speech, a stately, carefully crafted specimen of a satisfying formula movie well positioned for the awards attention being heaped upon it, opts for the second variation and grounds the emotional drama in historical fact. In a performance of nuance and soul that would be more astonishing only if we hadn't become almost spoiled by expecting such quality from him, Colin Firth plays Prince Albert, who suddenly became Great Britain's King George VI when his older brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne in 1936. King George was royalty, true. But he was also a private man whom his family called Bertie — and Bertie had a debilitating speech impediment that tormented him for much of his life. Even a king can have a common stutter, this sturdy backstairs-at-the-palace drama assures. Even a king could do with some trusted help. Even a king must find his own voice.

In this monarch's case, unlikely help arrived in the person of Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a highly unorthodox, self-taught Australian speech therapist who ended up as much in the role of an informal shrink as that of an unlicensed pathologist. The king's resourceful wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) — the future Queen Mother — found Logue and introduced the two. And at least as dramatized history would have it, the relationship got off to a rocky start. Firth is front and center in this intelligent crowd-pleaser, and he endows Albert-turned-George with a poignant dignity even while exposing his past as a lonely little boy who grew up stammering in the shadow of his imperious father and dashing brother. But Firth's triumph is seamlessly linked to his generous give-and-take with Rush (agile and expressive as ever) and Bonham Carter (a gentle ball of fire). The trio is grounded in turn by the well-written (if sometimes stagy) screenplay of David Seidler, a journeyman TV writer now 73 years old, who was himself a childhood stutterer. And as directed by Tom Hooper (who presided over HBO's Emmy-winning series John Adams), The King's Speech is simultaneously cozy and majestic.

It's also, truth to tell, a little square. The title carries a double meaning: The king's speech itself is trapped inside the stuttering man and needs coaxing by Logue to emerge. And also, the movie climaxes with the fateful speech King George made to his subjects, rallying them on the eve of World War II. Lest the audience miss a cue, Hooper and soundtrack composer Alexandre Desplat count on the ringing grandeur of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony — the famous second movement, no less — to amp the emotions. With instincts like these, Oscar speeches are bound to follow.