Best of Hollywood 2009

Ankita Shukla No matter how much news Bollywood creates, it still exists to be the second cousin to the biggie Hollywood. 2009 saw massive successes as well as the ever-so-famous heartbreaks and sensations. Here’s a look at some of the most memorable ones: Slumdog Millionaire ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ ought to be the biggest Hollywood newsmaker of 2009, at least from an Indian point of view. Though released in 2008, Danny Boyle’s drama unleashing Mumbai’s dingy underbelly created more news in 2009 thanks to the fact that it collected maximum Academy Awards, making it completely impossible to ignore. Oscars The Oscars created much a buzz like always. ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ swept the Oscars, garnering a staggering eight awards (as mentioned before) including the ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Picture’. Sean Penn and Kate Winslet won the ‘Best Actor’ and ‘Best Actress’ for their performances in ‘Milk’ and ‘The Reader’ respectively. Roman Polanski The ‘Prince of Dark Cinema of Hollywood’ Roman Polanski had to finally bid goodbye to his much loved independence on 26th September 2009 after being on the run for long. He was finally arrested by the Swiss authorities for raping a minor back in 1977. Though the trial is still to meets its end, Samantha Geimer, the victim has gone on record saying that she has forgiven Polanski and does not want a trial. John Travolta John Travolta made news for a rather sad reason. The actor was bereaved as he lost his young son Jett aged 13 died due to a seizure in January while the family was on holiday in the Bahamas. Jett, who had a history of seizures reportedly suffered from Kawasaki disease in early childhood. Around the same time, three people were arrested in connection with a multi-million dollar extortion plot against the Travolta family around the circumstances of Jett`s death. Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Lohan was again in news, obviously not for her professional achievements but purely due to her personal inadequacies. LiLo finally broke up with her girlfriend Samantha Ronson in April 2009. Sources suggest that Lindsay was more interested in focusing on her career and less interested in her relationship with Ronson. The last straw came when Lohan was not invited to Ronson`s sis, Charlotte`s, party and this upset Lohan to the hilt and hence came the break-up. What’s strange is that LiLo is still rumoured to harbour feelings for Sam. Watch out this space in 2010, who knows LiLo and Sam might be an item then! Twilight Saga: New Moon New Moon, the second installment of the Twilight series based on the novels by Stephanie Meyer set many Box Office records, including the biggest single day domestic gross with USD72.7 million. Not only did it set the BO on fire, but it also gave Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart the much-required break, making them heartthrobs overnight. Avatar It’s James Cameron’s comeback directorial venture after his multiple Oscar-winning ‘Titanic’. The 3-D sci-fi epic ‘Avatar’ is the most expensive flick ever made with a whopping USD 230 million (Rs1,200 crore) budget. ‘Avatar’ was shot using the Fusion digital 3-D camera developed by Cameron and Vince Pace. Paranormal Activity An independent horror film written and directed by Oren Peli. ‘Paranormal Activity’ has set the record for being the most profitable independent film ever made having earned over USD 100 million already though it was made on a miniscule production budget of USD15,000. This one turned out to be one of the most watched flicks of 2009. Patrick Swayze Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2008, Swayze spent a major amount of early 2009 in appealing to general public for donations for the initiative ‘Stand Up to Cancer’ putting up a brave front all this while. But, he lost his battle to the disease on September 14 and became a part of just our memories. Brangelina Though Hollywood’s super couple- Brangelina didn’t adopt a destitute child (Thank God!) this year, but a book- sort of an unauthorized biography of the couple created a havoc of sorts due to its revelations. ‘Brangelina: The Untold Story of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’ painted a fairly unflattering picture of Angelina suggesting how conniving the actress is. It predicts the end of Brangelina’s union and indicates that since Angelina didn’t want to be called a home wrecker, so, she spread those nasty rumours about Jennifer Aniston not wanting to have kids as opposed to focusing on her career. Some say this is what the truth is; we can just guess, wait and watch. Frieda Pinto One person, who seems to have benefited maximum from the fortunes of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is Frieda Pinto. The actress is still basking in the glory of Danny Boyle’s hardwork. Pinto was announced as the new `face` of L`Oréal. Besides this she was also featured in the ‘Most Beautiful People List’ and ‘List of World`s Best Dressed Women’. If that wasn’t all, the actress made enough news as she was spotted with beau Dev Patel at innumerable occasions holding hands and indulging in PDA. Jude Law ‘Alfie’ star Jude Law became a father for the fourth time, thanks to his brief relationship with model Samantha Burke. Sophia Lee was born as a result of Jude’s short liaison with Burke. There was an initial denial from Law, but alas a DNA test did the honours and gave little Sophia a daddy! Johnny Depp Johnny Depp became the highest paid Hollywood star as it was announced that his take home salary for the next installment of the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ series will be some 33 millions pounds. That sum will be the highest salary paid in Hollywood history ever. The figure is apparently more than double the fees paid to A-list stars, like Tom Cruise, Will Smith and Harrison Ford. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes Cruise Tom Cruise and wife Katie Holmes had something more to do than their bizarre Scientology rituals this year. There were speculations about Holmes’ increasing demands as well as her negotiated fee for providing a sibling for the couple’s daughter, Suri. Katie has apparently asked Tom for money if he wants her to support his chosen religion- Scientology. Some even said that she was eyeing a role in the next installment of ‘Mission Impossible’. Well, hubby dear wasn’t far off too! Cruise is apparently ready to pay up to US D5.5 million to Holmes to get pregnant, with a 2 million dollars bonus if she conceives by 2011. Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper split Well there seems to be a big question mark surrounding ‘Bridget Jones’ Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper. The on and off couple were in news purely coz Renee has been single for long and people have always had high anticipations attached to her relationship status. Romour mills suggested that Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper had called it quits after their brief flin,g but what’s strange is the fact that the duo has been spotted together even after the supposed split. Bradley had apparently told Renee that he wasn`t ready for a serious relationship and that they should start seeing other people. Let’s see what comes out of their on-off union in 2010.