LOS ANGELES -- With her arms crossed and poised for action, "Wonder Woman" television actress Lynda Carter was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday as her most famous superhero character enjoys a big-screen revival.
Carter, 66, was introduced by longtime friend and CBS Corp. chief executive Leslie Moonves and Patty Jenkins, the director of last year's blockbuster film "Wonder Woman."
"It seems impossible but I have been in entertainment for more than 50 years -- do the math," Carter told the audience along Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles before the unveiling of the emblematic terrazzo and brass star.
"I have loved it all!" the former Miss World USA exclaimed.
Carter's "Wonder Woman" character, which first appeared on the pages of DC Comics in 1941 and debuted as a TV series starring the actress in 1976, is seen as a forerunner to the empowered heroines that are taking center stage in Hollywood.
Jenkins, 46, said Carter inspired her as a girl and showed her that she did not have to choose between being rebellious or feminine, or attractive or strong.
"Her Wonder Woman made me believe I could have whatever I wanted, and even more importantly, it made me unashamed to want it," Jenkins said.
"Wonder Woman" was only on U.S. television for three seasons, first on ABC and later on CBS where it finished in 1979. But the series, along with Carter's performance, have given "Wonder Woman" a long legacy as a feminist symbol.
At times choking with emotion, Carter thanked her friends and family for their support as well as a nod to the men who helped stand behind women's stories.
"From all of the wonder women out there, we love our men who stand with us and champion our causes and our voices," Carter said.
"This is a day that I shall never forget," she concluded.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and is major tourist attraction.
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LOS ANGELES -- "Wonder Woman" failed to conquer Oscar voters on Tuesday despite riding to one of the biggest box office hits of 2017 on a wave of female empowerment, making it one of the biggest snubs for Hollywood's highest honors.
The Warner Bros. movie, featuring Gal Gadot as the sword-wielding Wonder Woman, was the first stand-alone female superhero film since 2005 and earned some $825 million globally, making its filmmaker Patty Jenkins, 46, the highest-grossing female director in Hollywood.
But at Tuesday's Oscar nominations, Jenkins was left off the director's race and the film was snubbed in the best picture category, despite nods for other movies about women and made by women.
Instead, it was Guillermo del Toro's surreal fantasy romance "The Shape of Water" that led the Oscar nominations with 13 nods.
Speaking to Reuters, del Toro said that despite the omission of "Wonder Woman" at the Oscars, the impact of the film was "undeniable."
"Not only did ('Wonder Woman') break this archaic notion that this grand superhero-sized myth was done for 'the boys,' but it delivered it at a level of excellency that is a high watermark," the filmmaker said.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has traditionally disdained big action and superhero movies in favor of smaller art-house fare, like last year's Oscar champion "Moonlight" and this year's dark comedy "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," which landed seven nods.
Since 1990, only the 2003 fantasy epic "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" snapped that trend to win the top Oscar honor. Sci-fi movie "Avatar," still the biggest box office movie of all time, received a best picture nomination in 2010 but lost out to "The Hurt Locker."
SUCCESS FOR 'GET OUT'
This year's surprises include four nominations - including best picture, and best actor for Daniel Kaluuya - for Jordan Peele's "Get Out," in which an African-American man finds himself trapped at his white girlfriend's house with her strange family.
The $5-million horror movie from Universal Pictures became a box office success with more than $250 million globally and became a talking point around modern day race relations in America.
"I think that there's a piece of the black experience that is communicated in the film and through Daniel's performance that people of color recognize and haven't seen and that people not of color needed to see as well," Peele told Reuters.
Veteran actor Christopher Plummer, 88, was also a surprise contender in the supporting actor race for Sony Pictures' Getty kidnapping film "All the Money in the World." Plummer boarded the movie a month before its release, replacing actor Kevin Spacey because of sexual misconduct allegations.
Plummer stepped in after Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple men. Spacey issued an apology for the first reported incident, involving actor Anthony Rapp.
"Everything has happened so quickly of late that I am still a trifled stunned but excited by it all," Plummer said in a written statement of his nomination.
James Franco was excluded from the best actor race for "The Disaster Artist" after facing accusations of sexual misconduct earlier this month following his Golden Globe win.
Franco said the accusations were "not accurate." He lost out on Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild awards to Gary Oldman for "Darkest Hour."
Other snubs included Steven Spielberg in the directing race for press freedom movie "The Post," and its star Tom Hanks. "Mudbound" was left out of best picture and its filmmaker, Dee Rees, was also excluded from the directing race, but she landed a nod for adapted screenplay.
German film "In The Fade," which won the Golden Globe for best foreign language film and received praise for its lead star Diane Kruger, was left out of the Oscar foreign language race.
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LOS ANGELES - Press freedom movie "The Post," gay romance "Call Me By Your Name," World War Two film "Dunkirk" and superhero movie "Wonder Woman" were among 10 films of the year chosen by the American Film Institute (AFI) on Thursday, in a list likely to be echoed at Hollywood's high-profile awards shows next year.
Racial psychological thriller "Get Out," coming-of-age drama "Lady Bird," fantasy romance "The Shape of Water," romantic comedy "The Big Sick," dark comedy "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and social drama "The Florida Project" were also on the AFI's annual list.
The AFI's list is non-competitive with no overall winner. The movies are selected because they "advance the art of the moving image, enhance the rich cultural heritage of America's art form, inspire audiences and artists alike and make a mark on American society," the AFI said in a statement.
The list was announced as Hollywood's awards season moves into high gear with nominations next week for the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild awards. Oscar nominations will be announced in January.
The AFI list covered a wide range of movies spanning personal, political, racial and women's issues. "Lady Bird" and "Wonder Woman" are both directed by women, while "The Big Sick," "The Shape of Water" and "Get Out" were written and directed by people of color.
The AFI also picked its top television shows of the year, with HBO's medieval fantasy "Game of Thrones," female-led drama "Big Little Lies," Netflix's 1980s science-fiction series "Stranger Things" and Hulu's dystopian thriller "The Handmaid's Tale" making the list.
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Patty Jenkins will return to direct the 2019 sequel to this year’s hit superhero movie “Wonder Woman,” film trade publications said on Monday, after she became the highest-grossing female director in Hollywood history.
Jenkins, 46, will once again direct Israeli actress Gal Gadot as the titular superhero in “Wonder Woman 2,” scheduled for release on Dec. 13, 2019, publications including Variety and Hollywood Reporter said.
Movie studio Warner Bros did not comment on the news and has not given any further details on the sequel.
“Wonder Woman,” was the first standalone movie to star a female superhero since 2005’s box office dud “Elektra,” and the first to be directed by a woman.
It rode to the top of the box office in June on a wave of good reviews and female empowerment, and with $816.4 million at the worldwide box office, it is now the second-biggest movie of the year after the live action version of “Beauty and the Beast.”
Jenkins overtook Phyllida Lloyd, who directed 2008’s musical “Mamma Mia!,” for the title of highest-grossing female director.
Gadot’s Wonder Woman will next be seen in November’s superhero ensemble movie “Justice League,” alongside Ben Affleck’s Batman and Henry Cavill’s Superman.
“Wonder Woman,” the fourth film in Warner Bros’ current iteration of DC Comics’ cinematic franchise, helped boost profits for Warner Bros’ parent company Time Warner Inc.
Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Sandra Maler
source: news.abs-cbn.com
