Oscars: Seth MacFarlane and Kristin Chenoweth to Perform After Best Picture Award
In what appears to be a format departure at this weekend's Oscar ceremony, this year's telecast host Seth MacFarlane and Kristin Chenoweth will put on a “special show closing musical performance,” according to the show's producers, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. “After the Best Picture award has been given, Seth and Kristin will perform a special number and we think it will be a 'cant miss' moment,” said Zadan and Meron. Other performers at this Sunday's Oscars include Jennifer Hudson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Dame Shirley Bassey, Norah Jones and Film Society's 40th Anniversary Chaplin Award honoree Barbra Streisand.
War Witch Actress Granted Visa to Travel to Oscars
16 year-old actress Rachel Mwanza, who stars in Foreign Language Oscar-nominated film War Witch has been granted a visa to travel from the Congo to attend this weekend's Independent Spirit and Academy Awards. She will also attend the Canadian Screen Awards on March 3. In the film, Mwanza plays a 12 year old who is kidnapped by rebel soldiers and enslaved to a life of guerrilla warfare in the African jungle. Forced to commit unspeakable acts of brutality, she finds hope for survival in protective, ghost-like visions (inspiring a rebel chief to anoint her “War Witch”), and in a tender relationship with a fellow soldier named Magician, played by Serge Kanyinda.
Sara Burns, David McMahon & Ken Burns's Central Park Five
Central Park Five Filmmakers Win Court Ruling Regarding Outtakes
A New York court has ruled for The Central Park Five filmmakers Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon against the city's attempts to subpoena outtakes from the film. The doc spotlights the notorious 1989 case of a Central Park jogger's rape and brutal assault that became a racially-charged spectacle that sent five accused but innocent men to prison for 15 years. The court ruled the doc filmmakers qualify as journalists with the benefit of Journalistic Privilege, Thompson on Hollywood reports.
Christian Bale Takes On Everest in New Film
Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur (The Deep, Jar City) will direct a new film based on actual events that took place in 1996 when three separate crews attempted to climb the world's tallest mountain. Christian Bale will star in the mountain-disaster movie, though his role is not clear at this stage, according to Deadline.
European Film Awards Head to Riga
The Latvian capital, named the European Capital of Culture for 2014, will host the 2014 European Film Awards on December 13, 2014. The annual awards event alternates between Berlin and another European city each year. Last year, it celebrated its 25th anniversary in Malta and will return to the German capital this year. The EFAs are presented by the European Film Academy and EFA Productions, Screen Daily reports.
