| Zoe Saldana On Vanity Fair Controversy: ‘It’s Just A Matter Of Time’ | February 11th, 2010 |
Vanity Fair drew some flack last week for its lack of diversity on the cover of their annual Hollywood issue with many wondering why actresses like Zoe Saldana or Gabourey Sidibe failed to make the cut. Access Hollywood caught up with the “Avatar” star on Tuesday night and the actress weighed in on the uproar.
“I feel like we can spend a lot of time bashing our beautiful country, but we don’t give it enough credit,” Zoe told Access at the Cinema Society and HBO screening of HBO’s “How To Make It In America” in New York City.
The actress explained that though the magazine might not be the best representation of Hollywood, she’s hopeful the media will catch up with the reality of what constitutes the fabric of the country.
“Our pace might be a little slow and it might not be on par to how we, as American civilians, would like it to be, but it is still an amazing country,” Zoe continued. “So, when I look at magazines like Vanity Fair and Vogue, I know that it’s just a matter of time, the same way Obama took his time and he got to office and became President… it’s just a matter of time until magazines, the media, our art, our culture, our colloquial lifestyle, tags along to our today reality.”
Zoe said despite our cultural shortcomings, she’s proud to call America home.
“I’m a first generation American,” she explained. “I was taught by my mother, who was an immigrant, to be very grateful to this country. It is no different than when you have a dysfunctional family – it can be very dysfunctional –but it is still your family… and America is still ours. I think we can waste a lot time throwing it down the drain and not knowing the amazing things about this country.”
From Access Hollywood
| “Avatar” actress Zoe Saldana is pleased there will be a sequel to the movie | February 5th, 2010 |
Avatar actress Zoe Saldana says she is glad there will be a sequel to the movie as she knows she still has a job.
The 31-year-old plays the role of Na’vi princess Neytiri in James Cameron’s new movie and the director has confirmed that there will be a sequel.
Saldana also starred as Uhura in the Star Trek re-make earlier this year and that has also had a sequel confirmed.
She told E! Online: ‘I mean, I’m just grateful that between Star Trek II and Avatar II, I’m employed.
‘Jim [Cameron] has proven once again that even though he takes a decade between his projects, he promises to deliver you the most amazing adventure ever.’
From Monsters and Critics
| Was ‘Avatar’’s Zoe Saldana Snubbed By the Oscars? | February 4th, 2010 |
Well, James Cameron thinks so at least. Sure most of us would agree that if honors were being handed out for Avatar’s acting, then obviously Michelle Rodriguez’s five-line cameo deserves to be the front-runner. But Cameron’s likely pleading his case with thesp Zoe Saldana in mind, arguing that despite being made up, Photoshopped, and CGI’ed, Saldana’s ability to remind all of us that inside our organs, there lies something squishier–feelings!–should’ve earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination.
Cameron tells the New York Daily News, “People confuse what we have done with animation. It’s nothing like animation. The creator here is the actor, not the unseen hand of an animator.” (Slate wondered, pointedly, yesterday, ”How is Avatar not an animated film?”) It sort of sounds like Cameron’s saying the audience couldn’t separate actual actors from animated characters, rather than thinking maybe the acting wasn’t exactly Avatar’s strength.
At the same time, Cameron’s staying realistic about Avatar taking home any of the nine prizes it’s nominated for. “If we get nominated, I believe it’s very unlikely that we will win because I made such a jackass of myself last time. Although there might be some curiosity about what I might do,” he says. Last time, you’ll recall, there was talk about being the king of the world and the world was like, “Wrap it up, Jimmy, these quaaludes are starting to kick in.”
But here’s another possibility: Maybe Avatar is getting some version of the Lord of the Rings treatment–that is, upon getting wind that this could become the first big franchise of this decade, the Academy has decided to hold off on acting prizes. But that’s still inconsistent with the film’s possibly undeserved Best Picture nomination. LOTR didn’t enjoy that until after the series had wrapped with The Return of the King. Awards or not, Avatar–Cameron’s labor of love for nearly 15 years–is getting one thing that many Oscar nominees, post-telecast, will fail to enjoy: Major box office $ucce$$.
From BlackBook
| ‘Avatar’s’ actors snubbed by Oscars, and James Cameron blames himself | February 4th, 2010 |
The cast of “Avatar” is feeling blue.
The box-office behemoth may have gotten nine Academy Award nominations this week, but none were for its actors – and “Avatar” director James Cameron thinks the Oscar snub is totally unfair.
“People confuse what we have done with animation,” Cameron told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s nothing like animation. The creator here is the actor, not the unseen hand of an animator.”
More than 15 years in the making, “Avatar” used groundbreaking CGI technology to tell the tale of a futuristic conflict between humans and the blue-skinned Na’vi tribe of Pandora, including an innovative method of capturing the actors’ facial expressions.
But Cameron’s hi-tech wizardry apparently put off Oscar voters who, Cameron believes, didn’t consider the film’s performances to be actual “acting.”
“We made a commitment to our actors that what they would see up on the screen were their performances, not somebody else’s interpretation of what their performance might or might not be,” said “Avatar” producer Jon Landau.
Despite the Oscar dis, one movie expert believes “Avatar” may also be breaking new ground in the way people look at acting from now on.
“This is very much the first film of the 21st century,” film professor Richard Brown told The Hollywood Reporter. “What we need to do is expand our concept of what the word ‘actor’ means. It’s unfair to take performances as good as these and not designate them as actors.”
From the New York Daily News
| ‘Avatar’ passes $2 billion worldwide | February 3rd, 2010 |
“Avatar” kept its hold on the top spot in the domestic box office as it passed the $2 billion mark in worldwide gross, according to Box Office Mojo, a Web site that tracks box-office revenues.
The movie also continued to close in on one of the few box-office records it has not yet attained — all-time biggest domestic gross, which is still held by “Titanic.”
The weekend marked the seventh-straight weekend that “Avatar” was number one at the box office.
“Avatar” continues to draw still-solid audiences in the Sacramento region, though much smaller than the sold-out shows during its first few weeks. The blockbuster is showing at seven theaters in the Sacramento region.
On the all-time domestic gross list, “Avatar” has pulled in $595 million, second to “Titanic’s” $600.8 million, which “Avatar” should pass this weekend.
“Avatar” also climbed the list of all-time domestic grosses, taking inflation into account. The movie was 26th on that list last week and 21st this week. To break into the top 20, “Avatar” will need to pass Disney’s “Fantasia,” which has an adjusted gross of $619.5 million.
From Biz Journals
The Losers
Death at a Funeral
Takers
Avatar
Star Trek
The Skeptic
