Aussie Oscars are a star turn

IT IS grooming itself to contend with the Academy Awards in the US and the BAFTAs in Europe and yesterday the AACTAs – the new-look awards show formerly known as the AFIs – beefed up its star power with actress Mia Wasikowska confirmed to attend next Tuesday’s event.

The Adelaide-raised actress, who yesterday missed out on an Oscar nomination for her turn in Jane Eyre, will join an increasingly-impressive guest list at the Sydney Opera House awards ceremony headed by Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett and Jacki Weaver.

It’s understood Toni Collette and Naomi Watts may also turn out to support the event dubbed the “Aussie Oscars” — which will be held in Sydney for the first time and are scheduled to capitalise on the international awards circuit buzz.

Awards executive producer John Leahey admits attracting big names is crucial if the awards ceremony is to compete on a world stage.

“And we are finding that most Australians working overseas are tremendously open to doing things for the event,” Lee told Confidential yesterday.

“If someone can’t attend it’s not for any lack or desire. Everyone has been supportive and we want to set the foundations as high as we can. But of course, scheduling is everything.”

Rumours have swirled that Leonardo DiCaprio may also make an appearance next Tuesday night, as it’s understood he may be in Australia re-shooting scenes for The Great Gatsby. Confirmed guests include Miranda Kerr, Anthony and Jonathan LaPaglia and Rachael Taylor.

- DailyTelegraph.com.au

LOWERING alcohol and raising quality – now that’s cool, writes Tony Love.

Jacob’s Creek sparkling and white winemaker Rebekah Richardson is not about to get up on a Hollywood stage and accept an award for her latest production, Cool Harvest. She’s leaving that for Oscar nominee actress and celebrity Naomi Watts who has just finished filming a very slick ad campaign for Bek’s just-released Australian wines.

Cool Harvest is one of the biggest new launches the well established and increasingly ubiquitous Jacob’s Creek brand has done in many years, according to Rebekah.

Securing a celebrity endorsement with the profile of Naomi Watts was about mirroring the wines’ light and fresh personnae, says Rebekah.

“She’s relaxed and has that Australian way,” Rebekah says.”She epitomises what the wine is all about.”

Getting the message across in such a Hollywood manner also focused the winemaker in making sure she got the wine right as well.

It’s story is just as engaging as its lead star.

Continue reading this entry » »

To finish off our big updates for today, I’ve added screencaps from the recently released international teaser trailer for The Impossible. It looks intense!! I can’t wait to see this movie.

I’ve also added screencaps from the Dream House trailer.

I just need to add the missing new film rumours news, then the site will be all caught up on missing 2011 things! I’ll be adding screencaps from Fair Game and Dream House in time.

• The Impossible > International Teaser Trailer Screencaptures x53
• Dream House > Trailer #1 Screencaptures x14

Screencaps from Naomi and Liev’s ultra-cute appearance on Sesame Street are now up in our Gallery! Naomi and Liev taught Elmo all about the word ‘exchange‘, with some very funny examples! Check out the caps in our Gallery, and a video of their segment further down this post. This is one you won’t want to miss…

• Sesame Street – 2011 x180

Naomi appeared on the Jimmy Fallon talk show last October, to promote J Edgar. I’ve now added screencaps to our Gallery, and as I couldn’t find an embeddable video of it anywhere online, I decided to edit the video I have and upload it for you, so you can now download it from our Video section. It was a nice little interview, and Naomi told a funny story about taking her kids fishing, and then talked about working with Clint Eastwood on the movie.

(Our Video section looks a bit messy at the moment as I am trying to make it work with our current layout! The videos in there still work though, so please try to ignore the messy layout and just enjoy the vids )

• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon > October 24th 2011 – Screencaptures x359
• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon > October 24th 2011 – Show Stills x3

Ewan McGregor has admitted that reading the script for forthcoming action-drama movie The Impossible left him “crying” his eyes out.

The Scottish actor – who burst on to the scene with the success of his portrayal of heroin addict Mark Renton in 1996 drama Trainspotting – was cast in the role of a dad trying to locate his missing family among tens of thousands of strangers following the terrifying Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.

However, the 40-year-old confessed that he had some fears over taking the part – and these concerns only became more intense after reading the heartrending script for The Impossible.

McGregor did, though, eventually agree to play Henry in the film, with the chance to portray an onscreen father for the first time the deciding factor.

The actor spoke to Seven magazine about his concerns for the forthcoming movie, saying: “I was very wary about this film. It’s a story about something terrible that happened in recent history, where many, many people lost their lives, and the idea of making a movie about it didn’t sit very well on my shoulders.

“But I’ve never really explored being a father in a film before, and I’ve been a father for 15 years, so I agreed to read the script…

“I was just crying my eyes out – and that’s why I think it’s valid to make the film because it’s all about the human spirit and a unique look at what makes us tick.”

The December 26, 2004, tsunami left over 230,000 people dead as it hit 14 countries following a massive Indian Ocean earthquake.

Naomi was featured in last week’s issue of French Elle, in a short but sweet 2 page spread. They used a really beautiful, previously unseen photo from her 2011 shoot for California Style magazine. I can’t tell you what the article says, but hopefully our French speaking visitors will enjoy it! Thanks to Mirik, I’ve been able to add scans to our Gallery for your viewing pleasure:

• Elle (Fr) – January 6th-12th 2012 x2

Again, catching up on last years news, although this is a particularly old one, from May last year! Naomi was announced as a new face of famed hair care brand Pantene, and since July she has appeared in print adverts in US magazines, as well as various online features and marketing. The official press release is further down this post with more information. You can also find videos from the campaign below, as well as photos and screencaps in our Gallery.

“We fell in love with Eva and Naomi for their unparalleled honesty and willingness to share their truth as women. And we really connected around the idea that beauty is for sharing—that women should support each other to help us all look and feel our best.”

- Caitlin Ewing, Creative Director and Pantene Writer at Grey NYC

• Adverts > Pantene

I just remembered I didn’t completely finish catching up on last years missed photos/news! Late last year it was announced Naomi was to be the face of a new Jacob’s Creek range, entitled Cool Harvest. To promote the range, Naomi was photographed for the campaign by her brother. I’ve now added photos from the campaign to our Gallery, and further down this post are various news articles with information and quotes on the range and Naomi’s involvement.

“We feel we have the perfect ambassador for the Cool Harvest range – someone who resonates with our target market and who can genuinely talk to the campaign platform of ‘embracing true friendships’.”

- Simon Thomas, Deputy Managing Director for Pernod Ricard UK

• Adverts > Jacob’s Creek

After finishing our Media section yesterday, I have now whizzed through our Web/Site section! Again, all pages have been re-added, as well as updated and tidied up. This section is not very interesting to most visitors, understandably, but if you wish, browse through it to find out about our site, look at our previous layouts, see who’s helped us build the site, etc.

More notably, however, if you’re feeling generous and want to help Blue Jewel out, check out our Contribute page to find out what we’re looking for to help build this site up even further – we’d really, really appreciate your help! Don’t forget to browse our affiliates to find some more great celebrity fansites. And if you’re looking for something in particular here, want to browse our news & updates archive, or just want to see a list of our pages, head on over to our Site Search page, designed to help you find what you need.

Interact section updates and Dream House screencaps coming in the next few updates!