Please, No Oscar for 'Manipulative' Reader

Couple separated, plan 'joint parenting'

(NEWSER) - Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes have separated, ending a nearly 7-year marriage. They "are saddened to announce that they separated earlier this year," they said through their lawyers. "The split is entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement. Both parties are fully committed to the future joint parenting of their children." The Oscar winners have a son, and Winslet has a daughter from a previous marriage, People notes. More»

Some execs remain opposed to expanded Best Picture nominee list

(NEWSER) - The point of doubling the number of Academy Award best picture nominees this year was to draw more viewers to the show. The pitfall: Hardly anything Oscar worthy has emerged, writes Kim Masters for the Daily Beast. And while most nominees hit theaters later in the year, 30% fewer films will come out this year than during that time in 2008. More»

Dark Knight , Wall-E would have been in running

(NEWSER) - We should all thank the Academy for its decision to double the number of Best Picture nominees next year, writes Lane Brown in New York. A few reasons why:

• More “crowd-pleasing hits” will be in the running, meaning a ratings jump—which in turn means more exposure for the lesser-known gems.
• Comedies will finally get a chance to take center stage.
• We’ll see more Oscar campaigning, meaning more ad money: “Journalism, consider yourself saved.”

'Nazi porn' asks use to 'empathize with mass murderer'

(NEWSER) - Mounting criticism of The Reader as an apologia for the Nazis is seriously undermining Kate Winslet's chances for an Oscar, reports the Telegraph. Critics have blasted the film as "Nazi porn," and the author of a book on Hitler charged in a recent article in Slate that it "asks us to empathize with an unrepentant mass murderer." Winslet plays an illiterate concentration camp guard who later seeks redemption by learning to read. More»

(NEWSER) - Even for a seasoned actress like Kate Winslet, the role of Nazi guard Hannah Schmitz in The Reader was a game-changer, writes Brad Balfour in the Huffington Post. “I sort of walked away like some car crash victim who somehow hadn't been hurt on the outside,” Winslet said. Her character is an illiterate, unrepentant German who seduces a 15-year-old, and her preparation ranged from a study of the Holocaust to a reading class in New York. More»