Winslet's Back, With Eyes on Oscar

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»

'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»

Actors overcome 'dated' feel

(NEWSER) - Revolutionary Road, a 1950s-era drama about marriage, love, and angst, has its flaws, but ultimately it works, writes Kenneth Turhan in the Los Angeles Times. That’s largely thanks to stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio and director Sam Mendes, who overcome a storyline that seems “as dated as the language” used in the film. “Only a stone, frankly, would not be captured by the honesty and intensity of Winslet's performance,” he adds. 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»

Official explanation is a fake, but decision still isn't going over well

(NEWSER) - Here's the naked truth: The Chinese will not get the full Titanic effect. Kate Winslet's bare breasts in the 3D version of the movie are being censored in China. "Considering the vivid 3D effects, we fear that viewers may reach out their hands for a touch, and thus interrupt other people's viewing," explained a widely cited statement from China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television. Delicious as that explanation might be, Gawker notes that the quote is a fake, and probably originated here . Nevertheless, the decision to dull the Winslet flash isn't popular, notes MSNBC . "I've been waiting almost 15 years, and not for the 3D icebergs," grumbled a Chinese fan on an Internet forum. More»