These are some new photos of Cate Blanchett launching “The Oasis: Homeless Short Film Competition” in Sydney, Australia yesterday. It’s a funky name for a competition, right? It makes it sound like the homeless people are making the films? But they’re not. The competition is actually for young, aspiring Australian filmmakers to create three-minute movies about the plight of homeless youths. The winner gets $25,000 – for their school. Blanchett told the media:

“Film and theatre and the visual arts I really strongly believe have an exceptional and unique capacity to spread important social issues and help produce change in our community. I’d like to encourage school students – both primary and secondary – to not only pick up a camera and participate in the competition but to use the education resource and to delve into the issues and make outstanding films. Films that raise awareness, tell really inspiring stories and provide solutions that not only touch our hearts, but provoke us into making real action… These kids who pick up these cameras will be the strategists and policy makers and artists of the future.”

[From Contact Music]

Sure. I guess there are worse things, totally. But I’m just saying: funky name.

In other Blanchett news, she has a new film coming out! It’s that weird/cool looking one called Hanna, with Eric Bana doing a German (?) accent and Blanchett doing a Southern accent and Saoirse Ronan as Hanna, the teenage assassin. I actually want to see it, just because I like everyone involved. And it actually looks like a solid action-thriller. But I’m worried about it too – the movie opens on Friday and Cate has barely done anything to promote it. I can’t even find any premiere photos – will there even be a premiere? I need a heavy dose of Blanchett boob frame!!! Here’s the trailer:

So I’ll have to settle for that and these weeks-old photos of Cate in a fabulous red suit.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Look, I know there will be many people who hate Cate Blanchett’s lilac and yellow Givenchy gown. I get it. It’s not a standard-issue “pretty” gown. Maybe I don’t even “get” this dress. But I know one thing: I love Cate, and I rarely think that she can do wrong. Cate isn’t always “Wow, that’s gorge” on red carpets, but you will always talk about what she’s wearing. Cate makes you think. Cate is beautiful and ethereal and she actually gives a crap about true fashion, true craftsmanship, and truly looking unique on a red carpet. So… the “portrait boob” dress. I LIKE Cate’s boobs in an old-timey photo frame. I like the idea of this dress. I even like some of the bead work, and I love the skirt. The back is… complicated. I do not care for this from behind, but whatever. She’s La Blanchett, bitches. She’s like my favorite alien, Tilda Swinton, only Tilda’s Alien Brain doesn’t compute “normal fashion” while Cate’s actually does.

Oh, and I did love Cate’s hair and makeup. Bitch is flawless from the neck up! Even my mom called to say that she loved Cate’s hair. It’s very Helen Mirren, isn’t it?

Cate also had one of my favorite moments from the ceremony – her little aside, “That’s gross” when viewing the scenes from the “Best Makeup” nominees. It’s still cracking me up.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

WooHoo! This is just what the doctor ordered. New Cate Blanchett photos! Huzzah! Cate got all dressed up and dolled out in New York last night. She attended an event for Van Cleef & Arpels. It was a gala called Set In Style: The Jewelry Of Van Cleef & Arpels. She wore Balenciaga, and jewelry by Van Cleef, of course. The dress is… slightly boring, but I love it. The fit is good, and Cate could make a potato sack look fashion-forward, so I’m not really complaining. I love a good v-neck/cap-sleeve ensemble. It’s a cut that flatters many women, especially us busty ladies (which Cate is not). I think Cate probably wanted to wear something simple and elegant so that people would pay attention to the jewels. And they are fabulous.

Here’s my complaint, though: Cate’s hair and her lipstick. Remember Cate in Switzerland last month? She wore a meanswear-inspired suit and too-bright coral lipstick. And now this lipstick, which is still an awful shade of coral. I am worried that Cate is developing a mid-life lipstick trauma.

As for her hair… well, Cate isn’t a hair person. I would have love to see her do a shaggy Mick Jagger thing in a dirty blonde. I think she would look years younger like that. This style is much too matronly. But I will say this – in these photos, she’s looking like the love child of My Favorite Alien, Tilda Swinton, and My Forever Biscuit Emma Thompson. And that’s wonderful.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

It’s been forever and a day since we’ve had new Cate Blanchett photos. She’s been in Australia for a while, doing plays and being a mom and running a theatre with her husband. So these photos are so wonderful – she was in Switzerland to shill a watch, just like Gwyneth was. But notice the difference in style – where Goopy looked like a greasy mess clinging to youth through Botox and a frilly, girly dress, Cate looks stylish, classic, mature-yet-ageless and impeccable. The outfit is Dries Van Noten – I love when she wears a menswear-inspired look. So chic.

A few more people were there for this watch launch or whatever. Matthew Fox is rocking new facial hair. I kind of hate it.

And Elle Macpherson overdressed completely. She’s trying to draw attention away from La Blanchett, and it’s just not happening. You have to be a delusional, narcissistic bitch to think that you can draw attention away from Cate.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

If you just heard a high-pitched squee, that was me reading that Orlando Bloom may reprise his role of Legolas in the upcoming film version of The Hobbit.

How is that possible, the Tolkien purists ask. I don’t care, I respond. Orlando back in a blonde wig and pointy ears surpasses any trivialities like the absence of Legolas from the book version of The Hobbit.

Galadriel isn’t in The Hobbit either, yet Cate Blanchett is returning for Peter Jackson’s film version.

E! News confirms that the Elven star of The Lord of the Rings trilogy [Orlando Bloom] is in talks to appear in Jackson’s Hobbit adaptation.

As Legolas didn’t feature in the original book, speculation starts to swirl as to what the filmmakers have in store for the Aussie [sic] actor. Lost-like flashforwards perhaps?

He won’t be alone.

The filmmakers announced that the Academy Award-winning actress [Cate Blanchett] will reprise her role as Galadriel, the grandest elf of all, in The Hobbit.

In a statement, director Jackson says: “Cate is one of my favorite actors to work with, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have her reprise the role she so beautifully brought to life in the earlier film.”

[E! Online]

It’s not a complete abomination of Tolkien to have Legolas and Galadriel return for The Hobbit, since they are thousands of years old and therefore alive during Bilbo’s adventures. Plus, Legolas is a Mirkwood elf prince, and Mirkwood is the forest Bilbo treks through.

It’s been years since I read The Hobbit, but if I recall correctly (and I’m sure Tolkien fans will correct me if I’m wrong), the Mirkwood elves were drunk and sort of douchebags. It’s movie canon that Legolas has never been drunk before (in a great deleted scene with Eomer and Gimli), so it will be interesting to see how Peter Jackson reconciles the two.

It will also be interesting to see who they cast as Legolas’s father, Thranduil. I nominate Johnny Depp.

Now if only they can work Viggo Mortensen back in as Aragorn, I will send them a kidney and a first-born child and all the money I ever earn for the rest of my life.

Part one of The Hobbit will be out in 2012 and part two in 2013.

Photos via AllMoviePhoto

I just love Cate Blanchett. I love everything she does, I love when she speaks, I love looking at photos of her, I love how amazing she is. These are photos of Cate looking fabulous, of course, in Sydney. She did an event to highlight her work to turn the Sydney theatre district “green”. A rooftop solar installation began construction on the Sydney Theatre Company this week – that the company that Cate and her husband Andrew Upton are directors of. It’s great work, and Cate has put her time and money where her mouth is – but I just can’t over how she’s able to even look fabulous in a hard hat. She’s wonderful.

Cate Blanchett donned a hard hat, commando boots and a smart grey jacket to [promote] the green credentials of the Sydney Theatre Company. Construction commenced this week for a rooftop solar installation, partially funded by the Department of Climate Change, at the theatre at Pier 4, in Sydney’s Walsh Bay.

“Perhaps this whole area stretching from Barangaroo along Hickson Road and all the way to the Opera House [could be done up],” Blanchett said. “We could be well on our way to becoming the first green arts precinct in the world.”

Seventy per cent of the theatre’s energy needs will be provided by the solar panels and Blanchett says all of the companies at The Wharf would benefit from the green power.

“It’s not just the Sydney Theatre Company benefiting from the support of the Department of Climate Change but every single cultural company down here,” she said.

The project, Greening the Wharf, has been the vision of the Sydney Theatre Company’s artistic directors – Blanchett and her husband, playwright Andrew Upton.

“It’s our hope that Greening the Wharf increases awareness of climate change and demonstrates there is a wide range of measures that can be taken to reduce our carbon footprint,” they said in a statement.

It has taken three years of planning and fundraising to get the $5.2 million project off the ground. Blanchett joined MPs at its launch on the theatre’s roof. NSW Arts Minister Virginia Judge praised Blanchett for campaigning for the project, jointly funded by the federal and state governments.

“It’s a real testament to her perseverance, a lot of people have ideas but to stick in there and make sure it happens, we are all going to be blessed because of that effort, energy and vision,” she said.

“This is also a great initiative as all levels of government and agencies working together to get the best possible outcomes for the taxpayers of NSW.”

NSW Environment Minister Frank Sartor also reaffirmed the State Government’s commitment to renewable energy projects.

“We’ve got dozens of these projects around the state and we are starting to change the culture of use of energy and water,” he said. “Hopefully, over time, we will reach a more sustainable place.”

[From ABC News]

It sounds like an excellent initiative. I didn’t even know Cate was involved in any environmental causes, honestly. But she’s been trying to make this happen for three years? Good for her.

Cate Blanchett is the cover girl for the June issue of W Magazine, probably to promote Robin Hood (which only came in #2 at this weekend‘s box office, having been beaten by Iron Man 2). She’s photographed by Craig McDean (slideshow here). What do you think? I think quite a bit of Cate’s ethereal beauty, and I think she could make a burlap sack look interesting and high-fashion. But does this photo shoot do her any favors? She could easily pass for a woman ten or even fifteen years younger, sure. But I think they’ve styled her to look like Tilda Swinton on a normal day. As far as the interview goes, if you already love Cate, you’ll enjoy it. Cate’s not really the best interview, but she’s far from the worst. To me, she always comes across as really normal and well-adjusted. The full article is here, and here are some highlights:

Cate Blanchett on her inaccurate public perception: “I’m so misunderstood! I’m not focused on what other people think of me. Some people get you and some people don’t, and to spend your life trying to make people understand how deep and complex and varied you are—I think that way lies madness.”

Blanchett on her husband’s influence: “My husband keeps me really honest. I remember him saying to me after I made Elizabeth, ‘Sweetheart, you’ve probably got about about five years.’ He was preparing me for the time when the work dries up, as it invariably does.”

Blanchett’s husband, playwright Andrew Upton, on his wife as a coworker: “She challenges, but she’s not aggressive. I can tend to be a bit scattergun. She’s quite practical in the end, so I often just fire off, and she’ll sort of pick up the pieces or choose the best bits. She would be the first and pretty much only person I would seriously seek counsel from. We’re fairly brutal with each other.”

Blanchett on working with her husband: “We’re really open. I have friends—she’s an actor/writer married to a director—and she was horrified when we said we were going to work together. She said they don’t talk about work because they don’t want to venture into the territory of being criticized by you partner. But I know what to do with the criticism.”

On having all boys: “Everyone says, ‘Oh, you must have [been trying] to have a girl,’” she says, adding that she’s open to having another child, regardless of gender. “If the next one was a boy, then that’s just our lot! It’s true you do get a bit demented [with three boys].” But, she adds, “the chaos of it is great.”

On taking a break from film acting: “Before I made a film, I thought it was easy,” she says. “I thought, They all get so much time, so they can get a perfect moment, and then assemble a series of perfect moments. Then you get on set, and you realize it’s a completely different form of concentration [from theater], because you are used to the grand arc of a story and a film is made so piecemeal. To hold the whole story in your head—I found that kind of impossible and terrifying at first.” She managed to master it obviously, but she grew weary of making back-to-back movies. “It was thrilling for a while, but to maintain that pitch and momentum, I just couldn’t do it,” she says. “I think the height of ridiculousness was when I was playing Elizabeth in The Golden Age while preparing to start shooting I’m Not There. I literally finished filming Elizabethan grandeur on Friday, flew to Montreal and started being Bob Dylan on Monday.”

Backpacking in the Middle East when she was 19 years old: “I’d love to see if the Oxford Hotel in Cairo is still around—some pretty dodgy things were going on there! There was one guy there who’d been in bed for three years just waiting for a package to arrive from Pakistan.” Her giggling becomes uncontrollable. “I don’t know if the package ever came! He had to have gotten bedsores!”

[From W Magazine]

See? She’s interesting, but it’s not in any kind of tabloid way. She says nice things about Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, but makes a point of saying her favorite actors are Geoffrey Rush and Judi Dench and Hugo Weaving. She’s funny and interesting, but we really don’t know much about her, which is a cool way to go considering her fame and talent.

W Magazine photos courtesy of W online.

This just a post about the fashion porn at Cannes. The photos just came in from the big opening night premiere of Robin Hood, and evidently, every woman (save Dame Helen Mirren) thought the Cannes Film Festival was a cotillion. Big skirts. Big, big, massive skirts. And pageant hair. Ugh. Let’s start with the only one who looked effortless and chic, my Dame Helen. I would wear this dress in a heartbeat. Except that on me (or anyone else) it would look like a plain black dress (although there’s some detailing on the left neckline and shoulder). Look at Helen’s body in this thing. She’s crazy sexy.

Now, on to the cotillion. I have to give it to Cate Blanchett – if you’re going to do a big f-cking dress, why not do it this way? With a big f-cking eagle/hawk of doom imprinted on your couture. Do you think Cate saw this and was like “Fabulous. The bird of prey, please.” I’m thinking it’s Gaultier, but I could totally be wrong. It’s McQueen. I was wrong.

Next: Eva Longoria. WTF? I didn’t realize the Cannes red carpet was her wedding march. And just FYI to Eva: Charlize and Penelope can make the big tiered/ruffled skirts work, but you can’t. Plus, they were making it work three years ago. Not now.

Kate Beckinsale (who is on the Cannes jury) is trying to do the same Charlize/Penelope thing, and her failure is epic. Plus, the bodice goes on too far, so it makes it seem (to my allergy-drug-addled mind) like Kate has a big, lavender-haired vadge. That veers to the right. It’s so bad I almost missed my boyfriend Benecio del Toro in the corner of the photo. Mmm…he could check out my big lavender vadge. What?

Russell’s wife (I forget her name, Mrs. McAngryPants, whatever) looks over it. She’s all “I wish I was drunk right now.” Russell’s all “I am drunk right now.”

Photos from the Robin Hood premiere in Cannes on May 12, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Here are some new photos of Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett at the photo call for Robin Hood. Robin Hood is the opening film at the Cannes Film Festival, and it’s also going to be Cate’s big “comeback” after more than a year spent doing theatre stuff in Australia and Washington. I’ve missed Cate, haven’t you? Especially on the red carpet. We needed her to be our great fashion icon. Cate was prepared too – delivering a great fashion moment in a very interesting, beautiful pale pink suit. Russell looks like he would rather be in a bar, or that he’s just come out of a bar.

Anyway, Russell and Robin Hood director Ridley Scott sat down for an interview with The Daily Telegraph. Russell is still trying to convince us that he’s not a hyper-aggressive toolbox, like he did in his GQ UK interview. The full Telegraph piece is here, and here are some of the highlights:

Russell on the character of Robin Hood: “We never assume that he is a charitable person, he’s not. He’s totally about looking after himself but he develops into this other thing, mainly driven by the desire, I suppose, to be loved by Marion.”

Russell on working with Ridley Scott: “I love working with him. On a film set with Ridley Scott I trust in the fact the infrastructure is there, I trust in the fact that even though he’s making an expensive movie it will not cost one dollar more than it needs to because he has a very responsible attitude to where the money’s being spent. He knows how many severed heads he’s got in the effects department; he knows what he can use and how quickly he has to move, and I really respect that.”

Russell on his image as an aggressive bully and a “difficult” actor: “When you read it in black and white it sounds like I was being ridiculously aggressive, but one of the main misunderstandings is that I’ve been sold as an angry person and that’s just not true. I like to put a lot of effort into what I do and that comes with a certain amount of energy, especially when you’re weary and it requires you to dig deep inside yourself… I certainly have a temper that can flare up, but having a temper is a completely different thing from being an angry person.”

[From The Telegraph]

Do I buy that Russell is just a misunderstood guy who has maligned in the press? Not really. I do think he’s such a talented actor, and I also think he’s probably a total douche unless he considers you a friend.

By the way, the tales of Robin Hood’s disastrous film production have already come out, but here’s another piece of “what were they thinking?” info. While everyone knows that it was a very expensive film to make, and that it went over budget, new information indicates that it ended up going about $80 million over-budget. Originally, it was thought that it cost $155 million to make, but the actual budget is rumored to be $237 million. And that’s before the promotional and marketing costs! Good Lord. They really need this movie to be a hit.

Cate and Russell in Cannes on May 12, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Here are some nice photos of Cate Blanchett shooting a commercial for JVC in Italy on Sunday. There were a bunch of celebrities in town to shoot the ad – Matthew Fox and Kevin Spacey among them. What is JVC? Is it this – a Japenese electronics company? Or Jesuit Volunteer Corps? I don’t know. But Cate does look so pretty.

Cate is gearing up for the promotional tour for Robin Hood, in which she plays Maid Marion, if Maid Marion was, like, The Warrior Queen. They’ve got her in chain mail, they’ve got her doing archery, they’ve got her making out with Russell Crowe. All in all, she seems like a tough broad. Cate sat down for an interview with The London Times (full piece here) to promote the film. Here are some of the highlights:

On how motherhood has changed her career: “Anyone with children will tell you the same thing. Starting out as single women, our first questions about any job are, ‘What kind of role is it?’ and ‘Who will I be working with?’ But as soon as we have kids, we find ourselves asking, ‘How long’s the shoot?’ and ‘Can it be done in the school holidays?’ Suddenly, your attitude becomes very pragmatic. It has to, because shifting your household to another hemisphere is a major upheaval and there has to be a pretty compelling reason for you to do it.”

Why she took the part in Robin Hood: “To get the chance to work not just with Ridley, but also with Russell? I mean, c’mon, the dynamic duo! It seemed like a great way for us all to spend the summer back in the UK – and it was. In fact, it was thrilling. Our boys [Dashiell, 8, Roman, 6, and Ignatius, 2] had a ball. I went up in their estimation from the first night on set, when I was called on to shoot a flaming arrow, missed my mark and hit a light, which duly exploded. I mean, how many mums do stuff like that?”

On the new Maid Marion: “Rather than Robin simply coming to her rescue, Ridley was interested in depicting a woman who was completely unsentimental, who hardly knew her husband because he’d been away at war for ten years and who’d had to find her own means of survival. Then into her life walks this fellow and they form a bond.”

She doesn‘t hate Los Angeles: “I quite like Los Angeles. The underbelly of the city is really interesting to me. But a lot of my early film stuff ended up being shot around Europe and we headed for England instead. And now we’re back here and quite settled.”

She loves England too, where she lived for ten years: “[I miss] the seasons, definitely. I miss the cold. We were filming Robin Hood in Windsor Great Park, which I’d never visited before… That place is just divine. It could turn you into a tree-hugger. Friends, too, of course. And I miss Brighton a lot, which is where we were before leaving.”

Her sons go to school in Australia: “The boys go to the local state primary school and they love it there, love – like all kids – the routine of it.”

Cate on her all-boy family: “It’s loud. Really loud. So very loud.”

On her father‘s sudden death when she was a child: “One day he was just gone. Children adjust very quickly to circumstances, but I’m sure I’m still working out his absence in my head.”

On her boys: “There is that moment when you’re identifying something within your kids that reminds you of yourself and they catch you and say, ‘Stop looking at me funny!’ They don’t want that level of attention or sentimentality. But it is very touching when you see echoes of your parents, your brothers and sisters or your partner in them. Touching and strangely comforting, in fact. It completes some kind of circle, somehow.”

On how motherhood changed her: “It toughens you up and makes you more pragmatic, yet at the same time it turns you into a bowl of mush. You see a child in distress or a puppy waiting to cross the street and you just want to weep. Maybe that mix is good for an actor. I guess the great thing is that it increases your ability to switch on and off. The work is no longer the only thing in your life. Other things count – and count more.”

On meeting her husband, Andrew Upton: “At first, he thought I was aloof and I thought he was arrogant. It just shows how wrong you can be. Once he kissed me, that was that.”

[From The London Times]

I think it’s little sad that Cate doesn’t have a daughter. Obviously, she completely loves and adores her sons, and that’s not what I’m talking about at all. I just think Cate’s the kind of woman who would absolutely love having a daughter, someone she could play dress up with and do girl things. I can’t even imagine being a mom to three (Aussie) boys. How does she not wander around, covered in mud and spitballs and frogs?

Cate & Kevin Spacey on the set in Italy, filming a JVC commercial on May 9, 2010. Credit: Fame Pictures.