Sam Heughan Makes Excuses For Why He Still Hasn’t Seen ‘Outlander’ Co-Star Caitriona Balfe’s Oscar-Nominated ‘Belfast’

Sir Kenneth Branagh has won the best original screenplay Oscar for Belfast, becoming emotional as he reflected on his journey to Academy Awards success. Sir Kenneth has notched up eight Oscar nominations over four decades of acting, writing and directing, spanning seven different award categories, itself a record, but until this year had always come away empty-handed.

After an iconic career spanning more than 40 years, Kenneth Branagh is finally an Oscar winner, taking home his first gold statuette for Best Original Screenplay for Belfast.The 61-year-old actor-writer-director won the Oscar overDon’t Look Up (Adam McKay & David Sirota),Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson),King Richard (Zach Baylin) andThe Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt).The film was based on his own experiences growing up in Belfast, with the filmmaker delivering a heartfelt speech after his first Oscar win. Oscar win:After an iconic career spanning more than 40 years, Kenneth Branagh is finally an Oscar winner, taking home his first gold statuette for Best Original Screenplay for BelfastBranagh had been nominated for an Oscar five times before this year, for Best Director and Best Actor for Henry V in 1990, Best Live Action Short Film for Swan Song in 1992, Best Adapted Screenplay for Hamlet in 1996 andBest Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for My Week With Marilyn in 2011.Branagh is also nominated this year for Best Director and Best Picture for Belfast, setting a record for being nominated in seven categories.

Video: How Ciarán Hinds went from studying law to Oscars race (Associated Press)Ukrainians in Poland make plea as Biden visit endsCeremony for Biden at Polish presidential palaceBiden meets Ukraine foreign, defence mins in PolandGrammys winner Hit-Boy still at 'top of the top'Desperate scenes at damaged Mariupol hospitalPope presides over special prayer for UkraineNebraska Congressman guilty in campaign probeNYC Amazon workers decide whether to unionizeAP Top Stories 5PAmazon gears up for dual union election resultsOfficials ID teenager who fell to death in FloridaDatabase tracks evidence of potential war crimesUkrainian troops push out Russian forces at a costDirectors of ‘jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy’ talk film reception, Ye’s social media activitiesBiden salutes US troops in Poland as the world's bestStreet artists paint their resistance to Ukraine warHe then paid tribute to those “lost along the way”, including John Sessions and Jim Dornan, the father of Belfast’s star, Jamie Dornan. “We miss them, we love them, we will never forget them,” Branagh continued.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features EditorThere’s going to be shocks at every Academy Awards ceremony, though no one could have predicted just how dramatic things would get this year after Will Smith took umbrage to a joke Chris Rock made about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.But in the end, there were very few surprises throughout the night, with most of the top awards going to the predicted frontrunners, particularly in the acting categories, which matched the SAG Award wins. Apple made history by being the first streaming service to win best picture with “CODA,” which also won best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor for Troy Kotsur — who goes into the record books as the first deaf winner in the category.Here are some of the surprises and snubs throughout the night: SNUB: “The Power of the Dog”Jane Campion’s Western went into the evening with 12 nominations, more than any other film.

taken home the Oscar for Best Director at the 2022 Academy Awards.She is the third woman to win the award.Campion, who was the favorite, beat out contenders Kenneth Branagh for his semi-autobiographical piece “Belfast,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” and Steven Spielberg’s musical “West Side Story.” “I love directing because it’s a deep dive into story yet the task of manifesting a world can be overwhelming. The sweet thing is I’m not alone,” the New Zealand-born filmmaker said in her acceptance speech.“On ‘The Power of the Dog’ I worked with actors I’m moved to call my friends.

The Best Director category made history again at Sunday nights Academy Awards with Power of the Dog helmer Jane Campion taking home the prize, marking the first time in Oscar history that a woman has won the award in back-to-back years. Chloe Zhao took home the prize last year for Nomadland, a film that would go on to sweep the Oscars including wins for Best Picture. Kathryn Bigelow was the first female director to land the coveted award for her 2010 war thriller The Hurt Locker.

Jane Campion is an Oscar winner once again! During Sunday's 94th Academy Awards, she took home the prize for Best Director for helming, besting Kenneth Branagh (), Ryusuke Hamaguchi (), Paul Thomas Anderson () and Steven Spielberg ().Campion's win marked the first time a woman has taken home the directing statuette in back-to-back years, following Chloé Zhao's win for at last year's ceremony.During her acceptance speech, Campion began in Maori, before sharing,«Big love to my fellow nominees. I love you all, you're all so extraordinary talented.»«I love directing because it's a deep dive into story, yet the task of manifesting can be overwhelming.

The touching AppleTV+ drama has snuck up from behind over the last two weeks, winning both the hugely important SAG Best Ensemble Award and the Producers Guild’s top prize. Suddenly, it’s the one to beat.The first part of director Denis Villenueve’s adaptation of the sci-fi novel was, by far, the most impressive cinematic experience of the year. “Belfast”  “Don’t Look Up”  “Drive My Car” “King Richard” “Licorice Pizza” “Nightmare Alley” “The Power of the Dog” “West Side Story” Awards season has been a coronation for Campion ever since her esoteric Western bombarded the festival circuit.  Anderson’s movie is moving, funny and visually gripping.Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast”Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car”Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”Smith gives one of his best performances in years, as the fascinating and complex father of Serena and Venus Williams. Javier Bardem, “Being the Ricardos”Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”Andrew Garfield, “Tick, Tick … Boom!”Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”Chastain was the underdog until she won the SAG Award.

Oscar-nominated flick you should screen.Hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes, this year’s Academy Awards ceremony recognizes outstanding contributions in film and will hopefully help the show rebound from last year’s record low ratings.With 10 contenders (with some staggeringly long run times among them) for Best Picture, there’s a lot of cinema to sort through. Fear not.

Never enough steam! Bridgerton is full of smoldering looks and stolen embraces, but the Netflix series is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sexy period dramas.

Sam Heughan sparked a fan-frenzy yesterday as he revealed he is set to release a new book.The 41-year-old actor promises to take readers on a journey as he looks back on his past experiences while undertaking a new adventure in his native Scotland.The Outlander star took to his Instagram to share the update with his 3.6 million followers.He uploaded a picture of a book cover featuring the title “Waypoints”, but a banner across the image pointed out that the “final cover” was yet to be revealed.The book will be released on October 25 and will describe Sam’s “attempt” to climb Ben Nevis.Sam wrote in the caption: “Ready to come on a journey with me?!A post shared by Sam Heughan (@samheughan)“So excited that my new biography ‘Waypoint’ is available for preorder NOW!”He went on: “Join me as I hike 100miles from my home to the base of the highest mountain in the UK, Ben Nevis and ‘attempt’ to climb it.“Along the journey I reflect on stories from my life, with personal insight plus my hopes, dreams and plans for the future.“I can’t wait to share this personal journey with you.x”Sam also added a link to pre-order his book, a feature that is now available in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.Fans of the Jamie Fraser actor were overjoyed to hear the good news and took to the comments section to congratulate the author.Lorna.hiscock said: “Preorder was completed 2 days ago.“Looking forward to reading another story of yours.”1584952Gengargano added: “Ordered my copies already!!!“Can’t wait to read and sip on my Sassenach Tequila.” (sic)Deedee.andrews1 wrote: “I didn’t know what your new book was about.

Sam Heughan delighted his fans yesterday by announcing that he will be releasing his new biography called 'Waypoints'.

Beyoncé, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Reba McEntire and Sebastián Yatra will perform their Best Original Song nominations at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, taking place on Sunday (March 27) at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre.Beyoncé will perform ‘Be Alive’ (co-written with Dixson) from King Richard, which is up for five other awards including Best Picture and Best Actor. The announcement comes after, earlier this week, rumours emerged that the singer was planning a surprise live performance for this year’s awards ceremony.Eilish and Finneas will perform their theme song from latest Bond film No Time to Die, which is also up for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects.

, director Kenneth Branagh is telling his most personal story yet, about a young boy and his family living in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the 1960s, at the beginning of the period known as «The Troubles,» in which division between factions of Catholics/nationalists and Protestants/unionists led to violent clashes, riots and bombings. Branagh, who grew up in Belfast, before moving away at age 9 to escape The Troubles, found his star for the film in 11-year-old Jude Hill, who plays Buddy, a wide-eyed, fun-loving character based on the director and screenwriter himself. is seen through Buddy's eyes — and Hill marveled about seeing his face on a massive Hollywood billboard when he joined ET's Denny Directo for an in-studio chat this week.«It's kind of crazy,» the young actor admitted. «I mean, my face, and a bunch of people seeing it every single day.

Wyatte Grantham-Philips editorAfter a year off, the U.S.-Ireland Alliance’s 16th Oscar Wilde Awards returns on March 24, moving to the Ebell of Los Angeles from its longtime home of Bad Robot studios in Santa Monica.The awards celebrate contributions in entertainment notably from creatives who are Irish (and some who are not). This year’s honorees are Adam McKay, Kenneth Branagh, Jamie Dornan and Dónall Ó Héalai.“The whole purpose of the event is really to build ties between the industry in Northern Ireland, Ireland and the U.S.

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David Heuring When the ASC launched its awards in 1986, a single statue was given for feature film cinematography, presented by Gregory Peck to Jordan Cronenweth for his work on Francis Ford Coppola’s “Peggy Sue Got Married.” Now, 36 years later, the American Society of Cinematographers Awards is returning to the smaller scale of yore even as it promises to celebrate a wide range of image-makers. The ceremony will take place on March 20th at the ASC Clubhouse, the org’s modest, if stylish, headquarters in Hollywood, rather than in a cavernous ballroom.

Caitriona Balfe‘s new movie, Belfast, was released in theaters in November, and yet Sam Heughan still has yet to see it.

Sam Heughan is a master of all trades - acting, writing, charity and even spirits!