Question: Renee Zellweger has been nominated for an Oscar three years in a row. Can you tell me how many other times this has happened? Has anyone ever pulled it off more than three times in a row? Thanks!Answer: William Hurt and Russell Crowe have both been nominated for best actor three times in a row, Hurt for Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), Children of a Lesser God (1986) and Broadcast News (1987) — he won for Kiss of the Spider Woman — and Crowe for The Insider (1999), Gladiator (2000) and A Beautiful Mind (2001). Crowe won for Gladiator. And just for the record, Zellweger's three-in-a-row nominations were for Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Chicago (2002) and Cold Mountain (2003); the third time was the lucky one for her.
In the past, Elizabeth Ta
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More than a capsized ocean liner is askew in this halfhearted attempt to remake a true camp classic: 1972's pinnacle of disaster cinema The Poseidon Adventure. You remember, the one where a cruise ship is turned on its head by a monster wave and the wellheeled survivors climb to the top — er, bottom — of the sinking ship to get out. It's Titanic on steroids.
Sadly, this listless three-hour TV remake (Sunday, Nov. 20 at 8 pm/ET, NBC) — a new feature version is expected next year — wastes way too much time on a terrorist-bombing subplot that feels like amateur night on 24. An explosion, not Mother Nature, sends the S.S. Poseidon topsyturvy, and it often seems as if the entire catastrophe was arranged so cheating husband Steve Guttenberg (who's all wet from the start) can see the light.
In a nod to the new century, one of the survivors is an Australian reality-show
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Well, you certainly can't say nothing happened this week, huh? Caesar, in Egypt, has to deal with boy-king Ptolemy, Cleopatra's brother. ("I think I can handle a small boy and an eunuch," he says when asked if sticking around to "settle things" is a good idea after being presented with Pompey's head as a gift.) Of course he can, and how bad do we want to see him give that annoying little gnat a good slap, kick or series of both? But we get something better — a brilliantly done fight scene when Lucius and Pullo are sent to rescue Cleo from the assassins her little brother hired, followed by a hilarious sex scene and its aftermath when she demands Lucius sleep with her, and he sends Pullo in to do the deed. And it doesn't slow down from there. She manages to look amazing when dumped out of a piece of burlap and onto the floor. And it's clear that Caesar, and
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Summer may be over, but for the next few months, sandals will remain in fashion. Also swords. And tunics, which have a way of dropping at a moment's notice.
HBO has transported us, at no small expense, to ancient Rome, and who'd be foolish enough to refuse? Think Deadwood with baths, or the Sopranos breaking bread with the I, Claudius crew. Far from a stuffy costume epic, Rome (Sundays at 9 pm/ET) is a feast for the eyes and an orgy for whatever other senses may be stimulated by a ripping good story.
As is often the case with HBO shows — I didn't get hooked on Deadwood until more than midway through the first season — the 12-episode Rome unfolds slowly, with the feel of a classic miniseries. It may take a few episodes for viewers to sort out the enormous cast of nobles and brutes, and to fully appreciate the sprawling, brawling pageant of debauchery, savagery and treachery. I've seen six hours and can't wait for the re
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