Academy Award Nominations :Cate Blanchett - Everything You Need To Know

   Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress and theatre director. She was born on 14th May 1969 to parents June and Robert "Bob" Blanchett. She attended Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School and then Methodist Ladies' College, from where she graduated. She studied Economics and Fine Arts at the University of Melbourne.

   Before entering theatre she enrolled herself at the "National Institute of Dramatic Art" and graduated in the year 1992. Her major role at the theatre came with her role in the David Mamet play "Oleanna" in 1993. Her portrayal of this role won her "Sydney Theatre Critics' Best Newcomer Award". She also appeared in few miniseries like the "Heartland" and "Bordertown" and telemovies like the "Police Rescue".

   She made her first international film debut in 1997 with the movie "Paradise Road". Through her first role in the lead came with another movie, the same year, "Oscar and Lucinda" which was an adaptation from the novel by Peter Carey, which won the 1988 Booker Prize. This movie gave her, her first nomination for Australian Film Institute Award as Best Leading Actress for the role. She also won the AFI Award as Supporting Actress for her role in the romantic comedy "Thank God He Met Lizzie" in 1997.

   Her breakthrough in the international films came with the movie "Elizabeth" for which she won the Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and won the British Academy Award (BAFTA) and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama. She also worked in the movie "The Lord of the Rings". The movie holds the record being the highest grossing film trilogy of all time.

   Her role in the film "Aviator" won her "Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress" in 2005. In 2007 she was named the most successful actress by Forbes magazine and was also tagged by the Times magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

   In 2007 for her role in "I'm Not There" she won the Volpi Cup Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival and the Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe Award. Blanchett also received two Academy Award nominations; Best Actress for Elizabeth: the Golden Age and Best Supporting Actress for the movie. She became the eleventh actor to receive two acting nominations in the same year and the first female actor to receive another nomination for the reprisal of a role.

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Watch the Speculated Oscar Nominees on Satellite TV

   This week the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences completed its annual duty of getting the ball rolling towards Oscar season. With the festivities officially 'kicked off,' the nomination ballots are out, with the number of members at nearly 6,000 individuals. These prestigious awards often have a controversial outcome, but for real fans of the Oscars, that's just part of the fun of speculating and getting ready for the hours' long awards show each year. Of all the hundreds and hundreds of possible contenders that could be voted best film, just ten will have the honor of a nomination, and only a few really stand a chance of winning. Spending some time watching satellite TV in the lead up to the Oscar race, especially those top award winning movie channels, will yield a slew of movies that network officials think stand a fighting chance.

   Watching the 'big show' is just more fun when you've seen the films being discussed isn't it? Most people don't have time to watch all the nominated movies in the short time before they are released and the Oscars event, that means it's time to get started with some speculation. With only about a month falling between the wards nominations and the actual awards, there's never a time like the present to hunker down in front of the television and catch some of these top films in high definition on satellite.

   Coming from the Disney camp, there has been a lot of push behind two films specifically, Secretariat, and Toy Story 3. Critics all across the board are getting behind the film that was more anticipated, and somehow continues to be, than box office figures would belie The Social Network. While it may not have been a fan favorite in the theater, the internet generation and main audience is probably to blame for simply downloading pirated versions of the movie and calling it a day! Other big favorites for Best Picture include Hereafter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, Love & Other Drugs, Miral, Somewhere, The Tree of Life, The Way Back, Rabbit Hole, True Grit, Fair Game and London Boulevard. Just that list alone is a project to get through before the end of February, but if you've already seen most of this years' most acclaimed movies, it may be time to move on to other lists.

   The anticipated nominees for Best Director do not yield anything that's not already on the Best Picture list, but the Best Actor and Actress categories have a few like Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine, and Natalie Portman in Black Swan. Best Supporting Actor comes up with some originals with Bill Murray in Get Low, Rebecca Hall in The Town, and Naomi Watts in You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.
As with any other Oscar year there are a number of repeats that make the list of what to watch more manageable. Just to be sure you don't miss a thing, try a combination of internet and satellite TV research, searching out the best movie channels. Within a week of two you will have seen every potential Oscar nominee on the list and can declare yourself a real Oscar Expert!

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Academy Award nominations-Custom 3D: A History of Pixar

   Before 1995, Pixar was just another research studio doing custom 3D graphics, well known in the CG community, but not elsewhere. Then Woody, Buzz and a cast of memorable computer-generated characters burst on the scene, stealing our hearts and making Pixar a household name.

   Pixar's history begins, sort of, in 1984 when John Lasseter left his animation post at Disney Studio and joined George Lucas' special effects computer group, which became Pixar just two years later. In 1986, Steve Jobs buys the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm, Ltd. for $10 million, naming the firm "Pixar."
The company produces four short computer-generated releases in 1986-89. In 1989, Pixar creates its first commercial, "Wake Up" for Tropicana. The company also begins its impressive award-winning stint in 1989, when its short release "Tin Toy" wins an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

   Pixar puts five commercials on television during 1990, including ads for Volkswagen, Trident, Pillsbury and Lifesaver. Commercial success continues for the firm in 1991-95 when it put 56 more commercials, including the memorable Listerine bottle in a boxing ring, on the air.Pixar and Disney team up in 1991 to produce and distribute three animated films. The company went public in 1995, selling 6.9 million shares at $22 a share. It is the biggest initial public offering of the year and raises $140 million.

   On Thanksgiving Weekend 1995, "Toy Story" rolled into U.S. movie theaters. The fist fully computer-animated feature is the highest grossing film of the year, pulling in $362 million worldwide.Pixar ends its work in commercials in 1996, producing nine ads during its final year. The awards come rolling in during 1996 as Lasseter is given a Special Achievement Award at the Oscars and three members of the "Toy Story" production team earn the Science and Engineering Academy Award for Digital Image Compositing. The film also earns two Golden Globe and three Academy Award nominations.

   Disney and Pixar enter into an agreement to produce five movies, and two Pixar staffers earn Scientific and Engineering Academy Awards in 1997."A Bug's Life" is released in 1998, setting Thanksgiving weekend records and earning worldwide acclaim."Toy Story 2" debuts in 1999 and is the first animated sequel to gross more than the original. The film picks up a Golden Globe and two Grammy awards in 2000.

   In 2001, Lasseter signs a 10-year deal to only provide work for Pixar. "Monsters, Inc." is released and reaches $100 million at the domestic box offices in just nine days and becomes the third highest grossing animated film of all time. When it is released on DVD and video in 2002, it is the year's top seller."Finding Nemo" is released in 2003 and becomes the top-grossing animated film of all time. It becomes the No. 1 DVD of all time in sales in 2004. Also in 2004, "The Incredibles" is released.

   In 2006, the Walt Disney Co. acquired Pixar and "Cars" is released. The following year, "Ratatouille" is released to box-office and critical acclaim. It is the sixth-highest grossing film of 2007. "Wall-E" is released in 2008 and brings in six Academy Award nominations, a Pixar record. "Up" soars into theaters in 2009 and grosses $731 million worldwide.

   The toys were back in town again in 2010 as "Toy Story 3" was released. Its $110 million opening weekend sales set a record for June openings. By this point, Pixar has established itself as a leading firm in custom 3D graphics.

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