Hollywood, Lay Off the 'Burbs

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) - Willing Davidson knows his complaint isn't original. But he can't help asking in Slate, "Why does Hollywood take our favorite novels and turn them into crap?" In Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road, readers see their own hopes within those of his characters; in the movie, character replaces plot "and the result lands with a wet flop." This is typical: "There's so much plot to get in that there's no time to tell the story" (even if 2 hours feels interminably long enough). More»

Benjamin Button , Frost/Nixon lag as Oscars near

(NEWSER) - Kate Winslet and Slumdog Millionaire won big at last night's BAFTA ceremony—one more sign that the actress and film are steaming toward Oscar wins, reports the Independent. Here's the line up for the British awards:

• Winslet won Best Actress for The Reader, competing against her own second nomination for acting in Revolutionary Road.
• Danny Boyle's Slumdog clinched 7 BAFTAs, including awards for Best Film and Director.

Actress reunites with DiCaprio, stars in two films likely to earn her some hardware

(NEWSER) - Kate Winslet isn’t a demure lady, she just plays one on the screen. The foul-mouthed, roll-your-own-smokes former “fat girl” was ecstatic to be the youngest actress with five Oscar nominations two years ago, but “you bet your (expletive) ass” she wants to actually win one this time around, the 33-year-old tells Vanity Fair. She’s got a shot with two upcoming films, one with famed on-screen flame Leonardo DiCaprio. More»