Does anyone else miss last year’s awards season if only for the distinct lack of Helena Bonham-Carter? I miss having lots of photos of HBC looking wacky and gorgeous and completely odd/beautiful. So these are a special treat! Last night was a special BAFTA event held in LA – the “Britannia Awards”. HBC won BAFTA’s “Artist of the Year” Award, so congrats to her. I’m assuming the ensemble is Vivienne Westwood. I especially like her crazy hair and I like the hatlet/fascinator.

Here are some more photos from the BAFTA event… Skeet Ulrich, looking super-strung out. I feel like he’s a blind item, right?

Alan Cumming’s eye makeup is better than Duchess Kate’s. There, I said it.

Morgan Freeman: Not Boning His Step-Granddaughter Since 2011!

I love Helen Mirren so much, but this dress is BAD.

Andrea Riseborough in Marchesa. Meh. It looks like her vadge is a tissue box.

Dennis Haysbert is a big hunk of beautiful.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

New photos! Happening right now – the world premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, in London. The star of the red carpet? Of course, it’s Emma Watson, in her absolutely gigantic Oscar de la Renta ball gown. What’s with all of the princess-styles today? Anne Hathaway and now Emma. Emma is young enough to pull off the princess thing without it going “sickly sweet” in my opinion. I like the De la Renta – I think it would be better for an awards ceremony, but considering this is the last world premiere of one of the biggest franchises the world has ever seen, it’s totally appropriate to go all out for the red carpet. Honestly, this looks like something Penelope Cruz would attempt, and although I love Penelope, it’s better on a young girl.

What do you think of Emma’s hair? I feel like it’s at an awkward stage. Some will say that it’s super-fashionable and cute and even rocker-chic. It just looks awkward to me, though.

The “other” star of the red carpet? Helena!!!! God bless her. I love her so much. I’m assuming the dress is Vivienne Westwood, but lord knows who did the fascinator.

And lastly, we have a little Tom Felton, for those of you who get hot for him. I could see it.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Don’t hate me, but I was seriously disappointed in Helena Bonham Carter. She wore Colleen Atwood – the dress was velvet and taffeta, and it had a big bustle on the back. I disliked the velvet strapped-cardigan thing, and the dress was really wrinkled, and… I don’t know. If HBC wants to go kooky and silly, she should. If she wants to go classy and elegant, she should. What I hate is this in-between crap. It looks like she got in a fight with herself over how crazy she should go.

BUT – good hair. And I loved her Union Jack calf-detail (I think it was just a tied-on flag). And I loved how many cutaways there were for HBC and Tim Burton – the camera was on them constantly throughout the ceremony. Loved HBC’s reaction shots, and I love that she doesn’t feel it necessary to hide her bitchface. I also had so much sympathy for all of the women who were nominated in Best Supporting Actress – Kirk Douglas as presenter… and the way he dragged it out. That was just cruel to the ladies.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Here are some photos of Helena Bonham Carter and Colin Firth promoting The King’s Speech at the Berlin Film Festival. I love how Helena looks completely over it before she even steps on the red carpet. As I write about HBC more and more, I’ve begun to realize how child-like she is, and I don’t mean that in a patronizing way. I think she’s child-like in the way that she doesn’t really feel the need to put on a “professional” face and act like she’s having the time of her life on every red carpet. She’s bored, and she looks bored, but she still does her job and gives good interviews and shows up like a good girl who is being told what to do. At this point, I really think HBC is doing all of this to support Colin, who she clearly adores. Colin is the one who puts on his “professional” face and acts like each red carpet is another magical journey. They’re both lovely, in different ways.

I’m not sure about HBC’s dress. I’m assuming it’s Vivienne Westwod, just because that’s what it looks like and Helena wears so much VW. I like that the dress and shrug are a little bit crazy and fun – it gives me high hopes that she’s really going to bring it for the Oscars. I seriously cannot wait.

Photos courtesy of WENN & Fame.

Sunday evening wasn’t just about screeching music at the Grammys! Across the pond, it was BAFTA night. The BAFTAs are Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars, although the BAFTAs aren’t really a harbinger of the Oscars the way the Guild awards are. Generally, the BAFTAs offer more support to British films and British talent, but some Yanks do make a dent. That being said, The King’s Speech did very, very well at the BAFTAs, as I expect it will do well at the Oscars too. TKS took home three of the acting awards: Colin Firth for Best Actor, and Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush in the Best Supporting categories. It also took Best Film, Best British Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Music. Well done! Oh, and when HBC won, she said: “I’m so used to losing that it’s kind of a strange feeling to win. It’s very nice, but children, if you’re watching, it’s not about the winning. It still feels nice.” Here’s the list of winners, via Entertainment Weekly:

BEST FILM: The King’s Speech
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM: The King’s Speech
LEADING ACTOR: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
LEADING ACTRESS: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER: Four Lions, Director/Writer Chris Morris
DIRECTOR: The Social Network, David Fincher
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The King’s Speech, David Seidler
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
ANIMATED FILM: Toy Story 3
ORIGINAL MUSIC: The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat
CINEMATOGRAPHY: True Grit, Roger Deakins
EDITING: The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Alice in Wonderland, Robert Stromberg and Karen O’Hara
COSTUME DESIGN: Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS: Inception, Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb
MAKE UP & HAIR: Alice in Wonderland
ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING AWARD: Tom Hardy

Yes, Tom Hardy. I can’t find any photos of him, unfortunately. I’m not even sure he was there – Natalie Portman didn’t even fly in to accept her award either! Boo. But as I was glancing through the backstage photos – where the winners and presenters pose together afterwards – I found some lovely photos of my darling Gerard Butler. Plus, Helena Bonham Carter was going all cougar on James McAvoy… which is something I would pay a lot of money to see. Somebody needs to put the two of them together in a movie. Also: HBC’s dress was relatively normal! My theory: she’s saving up the Fashion Crazy for the Oscars. I can’t wait!

Photos courtesy of WENN.

These are photos of everybody’s favorite whackadoodle Helena Boham Carter at the Oscar luncheon yesterday. She looks… almost normal. Everything matches, and she’s even wearing pearls – which Vogue notes are the “Kailis Scarlet pearl strand” and “Kailis Cascade Rose Pearl earrings (they’re from Australia). I even like the dress, although it might have been a bit more flattering if it was just a few inches longer, in my opinion. Anyway, HBC is one of the ladies to watch at the Oscars, not because everyone thinks she will look great, but because everyone can’t wait to see how crazy she looks. HBC knows what’s up too, and she’s having fun with it.

Helena Bonham Carter has warned that her outfit for the Oscars this month “will probably be a catastrophe” – but vowed to at least wear shoes of the same color.

The actress, known for her exuberant clothes and hair – and wearing one red shoe and one green at the recent Golden Globes awards show – said her partner Tim Burton knew how difficult it is to guess what she was going to wear.

“I have no idea,” she said, when asked what she would wear for the February 27 Academy Awards. “Of course I want to have fun … It’s probably going to be a catastrophe. But it’s like, I’m gonna go for it. I’m so indecisive .. I promise I’ll wear the same colored shoes,” she added at a lunch for nominees vying to win an Oscar at the climax to the multi-billion dollar movie industry’s annual awards season. I can suddently I go off piste. But we’ll wait and see. And quite frankly, as my boyfriend knows, it’s right up to the last minute it can go wrong at any time .. It’s a mystery to me at this point.”

Bonham Carter is among five nominees for best supporting actress for her role as King George VI’s wife – the late Queen Mother – in British historical drama “The King’s Speech,” which is frontrunner for a brace of Oscars. The actress, who was accompanied by her mother to the lunch, said preparing for the role had been difficult, because she only had three weeks to research after finishing on the latest Harry Potter movie.

“As we all know, the Queen Mother lived for such a long time, so every biography is at least five inches thick,” she said.

To save time she took a shortcut by talking to royal biographer Hugo Vickers, who “gave me the lowdown,” she said, adding: “And I was trying to get beneath the sort of public service that we all know. It’s difficult because I didn’t think particularly, ‘God, I’m a dead ringer to the Queen Mother.’ I thought well I’ve got to catch some kind of essence, but without being a patronizing impersonation. So it was a fine line … it was daunting.”

[From The Telegraph]

I loved HBC’s portrayal of the Queen Mum – I thought Helena brought a wonderful mix of humor, heart, grit and affection to the role, and the royal family should be thankful that King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and their relationship, were handled with such respect. Speaking of, the reigning Queen Elizabeth (daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) screened The King’s Speech privately, and producers say that Liz was “moved” by the film. Sweet.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

This is kind of a boring story (to me), but when HuffPo threw some photos up of Helena Bonham Carter’s magnificent, corset-clad rack, the post got over 200 comments. THAT is the power of all-natural boobs, especially when they’re attached to someone so friggin’ odd/cool. Anyway, these are photos of Helena at the Directors Guild Awards on Saturday- Helena definitely toned it down, wearing matching shoes and a pretty average (for Helena) dress. But the dress had some kind of built-in corset, and when Helena was asked about who she was wearing, all she could talk about was her tits.

At least Helena Bonham Carter has a sense of humor about her kooky fashion sense. When UsMagazine.com caught up with The King’s Speech actress at Saturday’s Directors Guild of America Awards in Hollywood, the 44-year-old Brit got cheeky while describing her ensemble.

“Today I’m wearing huge breasts,” she deadpanned. “No, it’s a corset. They’re still real — if you get a proper corset.”

The actress — who shares two children with boyfriend of 10 years, Tim Burton — admitted she isn’t really as busty as the dress made her seem.

“It’s amazing what a corset will do. I’m not all that well-endowed. These are my Golden Globes,” she said while pointing to her chest. “Who needs Golden Globes when you’ve got these?”

[From Us Weekly]

She does have a nice rack. And no, they’re not huge, but they look good in a corset-bustier situation. How I wish she would go back to making costume dramas all the time. I love her in period costume. She just seems to belong in a corset and petticoat.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I am firmly on Team Helena Bonham-Carter for this year’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar race, although I know Melissa Leo is likely the one to beat. I adored Helena in The King’s Speech, and I’ve grown to love her in real life. She’s fun, she’s sassy, she’s witty and she’s cool. She doesn’t take herself too seriously, and she doesn’t take the awards season, with all of its fashion drama, too seriously either. Helena just spoke to People Magazine about why she wore two different colored shoes to the Globes, and why fashion rules are made to be broken:

The King’s Speech star — and Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress — Helena Bonham Carter is the first to admit she’s made a few fashion mistakes on the red carpet but that’s not stopping her from dressing up in non-traditional styles.

“Sometimes I get it right and I sometimes I get it wrong,” Bonham Carter, 44, tells PEOPLE. “But fashion is all about having fun. I think fashion has been hijacked by the fashion industry creating rules on what one should wear and I feel like breaking the mold and seeing that the world won’t crumble.”

Known for her eclectic fashion choices, Bonham Carter raised a few eyebrows by attending the Golden Globe Awards wearing one red and one green shoe simply because she wanted to.

“Why not wear mismatching shoes? Who says we can’t? I was just having fun,” says Bonham Carter. “For me, fashion is all about fantasy and putting unlikely things together. That’s what I love. I genuinely love dressing up.”

One person Bonham Carter praises is Lady Gaga for her daring fashion choices.

“I love the way she dresses. She’s like a work of art,” she says. “Anybody who is inventive, different or has fun like her, I love and admire. I’m amazed that she’s able to stand up in some of those shoes she wears.”

When asked what it’s like to be compared to the “Bad Romance” singer, Bonham Carter demurs, saying “I feel honored to be compared to her but I would probably be called Lady Haha. She’s fantastic.”

So what can we expect on the red carpet at the Kodak Theatre come Feb. 27?

“Maybe I will wear the exact same [Vivienne Westwood] dress I wore at the Golden Globes but with matching shoes,” she says with a big laugh. “Or put the shoes on my head!”

[From People]

God, don’t give her any ideas, people. You know she’ll do anything. She would totally get Vivienne Westwood to fashion a headpiece made out of mismatched shoes. She would totally wear a trash bag and bucket to the Oscars, just for laughs. And while I respect Helena’s attitude and her indomitable fashion sense, wouldn’t it be interesting, JUST ONCE, to see Helena dressed impeccably and beautifully? Wouldn’t that be the real shocker?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

The King’s Speech is a marvel of economy. Do not go into the film expecting a BBC miniseries with elaborate costumes and set pieces, with lush scenic views of the beauty of England. The majority of the film is set in a series of small, suffocating rooms. Most of the film is trained tightly on the actors’ faces, mainly Colin Firth. Oh, and by the way – The King’s Speech is maybe the best film of the year. I’m just throwing that out there.

In case you need a refresher about the general plot, here you go: Colin Firth plays Albert/George, HRH The Duke of York, the second son of King George V. For historical context: Albert/George rises to the throne of the United Kingdom when his brother, The Prince of Wales-turned-King Edward VIII (played by Guy Pearce) abdicated the throne in favor of marrying the American divorcee Wallis Simpson. The Duke of York became King George VI, coronated in 1937. King George VI led Britain through World War II and died of lung cancer in 1952, after which his older daughter became Queen Elizabeth II, who still reigns today. Historically speaking, the film was very accurate, although I did wonder if they took some liberties with the relationship between the two brothers, the Duke of York and the Prince of Wales. From what I’ve read, the two were very close until Wallis Simpson came along, and when Edward abdicated, King George was very generous to his older brother. The film makes Edward out to be rather cruel and rather pussy-whipped. Maybe that’s true, I don’t really know.

The film begins in the years preceding Edward’s abdication, when very little was expected of the Duke of York beyond his naval career and the odd public speech. The public speech provides difficult for the Duke – he’s had a terrible, crippling stutter since childhood. Various royal-sycophant specialists are brought in to cure his stutter, to no avail. His wife, Elizabeth, the Duchess of York (played by Helena Bonham Carter), seeks out the help of a working-class, Australian speech therapist named Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush).

For the most part, the film is about Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush’s relationship, and honestly, those are the best scenes. The two men are wonderful together, and the relationship is complicated and riveting. That being said, Helena Bonham Carter is absolutely enchanting, and when she’s not on screen, you actually miss her. I wanted to see more of her – she and Colin Firth had a very easy, sweet chemistry together, which likely mirrored the real “love affair” marriage of the real King and Queen. Also, it’s just friggin’ wonderful to see Helena in a period film that doesn’t involve crazy Tim Burton costumes. She’s so pretty, and she gave a very light-yet-powerful performance as the loving wife who will do anything to help the man she loves. So much of the performance was in the closeups of her face, the emotions in her eyes.

Now, let me just say this: if Colin Firth doesn’t win an Oscar, it will be a major travesty of justice and all that is holy. Helena was wonderful, Geoffrey Rush was a joy, Guy Pearce was eye-catching and fascinating, but Colin Firth brought everything home. He needs an Oscar just for the extraordinary vocal work he did – he completely changed his voice, and his stutter was authentic, painful, half-choking, half-sobbing. Beyond the voice work, Colin was just nailing it right and left. He’s such a big man, and he was able to project a physical weakness, an extreme discomfort and “smallness” when his stutter choked him. One of my favorite parts was where Lionel was having the prince do vocal exercises, using curse words to loosen up. Hearing a string of expletives come of his mouth was so funny, so touching, so wonderful. Sigh… I love Colin Firth.

So, all in all, I would totally recommend this movie to everyone. Even kids (not little kids, but I think teenagers would like it). It’s wonderful. And Colin is going to win. He has to.

Promotional stills courtesy of All Movie Photo. Poster courtesy of Collider.

Surprisingly, Helena Bonham Carter seems to have given a rather charming interview to OK! Magazine. It’s Helena, you know? She’s not the type to vie to “sell” her exclusive interviews to People Magazine. The context of the piece is to talk about Helena’s Golden Globe nomination, and to talk about fashion. But Helena lets some little gems out, including the revelation of her Charlie‘s Angels dreams:

HBC on the awards season: “It’s a very exhausting process, but it’s flattering. Then it’s the dress thing! I’m not into all this “What are going to wear?” Then you end up talking about it all the time.”

HBC on all of the free clothes: “But you can’t enjoy it because it’s all at the same time. Why can’t it spread out over 50 years?”

On what being nominated for or winning an award means: “[When I was nominated for an Oscar in 1998] I suddenly became more mainstream, more attractive to Hollywood. I became a name. It certainly did [change my life financially]… you get all this intensive exposure and become very marketable – yet it only lasts about two months.”

On losing the Oscar in 1998: “It felt like my name never came… then it was my turn, and it was so quick, and Helen Hunt won. I felt relieved I didn’t have to go up and give this big speech. I just wanted to get a drink.”

On living with her mother until she was 30: “At the end, I managed to move out. I lived with my mother because of pure laziness.”

On not being romantic: “I’m not extremely romantic. It’s all a game. Because of my roles, people believe I am.”

On not being very political: “If you’re passionate, why not? But when I’ve been asked, I’ve always felt embarrassed. Why is my opinion more important than in any other profession? But for charity, if my name can raise money, then sure.”

What she’s scared of: “Age and death – and definitely failure and rejection.”

What she wanted to be when she was little: “I dreamed of being one of Charlie’s Angels.”

[From OK! Magazine, print edition]

I’m kind of in love with her, honestly. She throws out clever one-liners, she’s self-effacing, she’s funny and honest and kind. When the Oscar nominations come out, Helena will likely be up for Best Supporting Actress for The King’s Speech – and people are saying Helena’s biggest competition is little Hailee Steinfeld of True Grit. While I don’t want to make a little girl cry, I have to say: Team Helena. Friggin’ Winslet has an Oscar, so why not give one to the original First Lady of Corsets?

Photos courtesy of WENN.