National Board Of Review Honors Up In The Air, Clooney, Freeman, Mulligan

“Director Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air was chosen the best film of 2009 and Clint Eastwood was named best director by the National Board of Review on Thursday in the first big awards of Hollywood’s Oscar season.” Eastwood and actor Morgan Freeman, playing Nelson Mandela, won for Invictus; Carey Mulligan took best actress for An Education.

The Golden Age Of Australian Actresses

Judy Davis’s performance in My Brilliant Career was “destined to become a cultural watershed, one whose effects we can feel when we go to the movies or turn on our TVs. In fact, 30 years on, we’re currently living in an era that will be remembered for being dominated by great Australian actresses.” Think Blanchett, Kidman, Watts, Collette, Griffiths, Cornish …

Glenn Gould, Sex Symbol

The directors of a new documentary about the famously, erm, eccentric pianist argue “that his awkwardness combined with his passion was a turn-on for many women.” Exhibit A in their case (and in the film) is Cornelia Foss, who left her husband (composer Lukas Foss) for Gould. (The affair didn’t last.)