Favoring
Her blazing-crazy Black Swan performance aside, Natalie Portman‘s just-announced pregnancy has to boost her chances as a Best Actress contender, no? Who doesn’t love a pregnant woman at the Oscars? The dad, to whom Portman is reportedly engaged, is ballet choreographer and minor Black Swan costar Benjamin Millepied.
Natalie Portman is now officially off the market? Too sad for words. I’m guessing that this news, though, will put a stop to all the rumors that Portman had an affair with Aranofsky on set and was in part responsible for breaking up Aranofsky’s relationship with Rachel Weisz.
I thought Daniel Craig was responsible for that.
Here we sound like a sewing circle.
Good for Portman, but I guess she dropped that whole “I don’t believe in marriage” schtick real quick
Oh, the irony. The last pregnant woman to win an Oscar, if I’m not mistaken, was Rachel Weisz. And guess who’s kid it was.
if the ny post is to be believed, Portman was carrying on with Millipied during filming, breaking up his long-term relationship with another ballerina.
“It was as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.”
Worst news for hipster guys since Zooey Deschanel got engaged to that chubby nerd from Death Cab For Cutie.
Will someone please, please explain the love being thrown at this ridiculous, over-wrought, and risible film?
As to Portman, I’ve interviewed her, and in person she’s really tiny, and not as good-looking.
No. This is not good news for her. It doesn’t boost her chances. Annette Bening wins.
If she were already married, yes. But this is going to be tabloid fodder right and left. And voters will shy away most likely. Best guess.
@lbeale; Sorry, no.
And you should hear Portman describe YOU!
If my mom at Thanksgiving dinner is to be believed, Natalia Porter was knocked out by one of the dancing w/ the stars guys.
.
Kenny:
LOL
Not being married didn’t hurt Rachel Weisz.
A person would have a better chance of winning the lottery without buying a ticket, and then be killed by a sniper on the way to pick up their winnings, then they would of finding someone who actually thinks Annette Bening gave the best performance of the year. It would be a de facto Life Achievement award. Not saying it won’t happen. It is the Academy of Motion Picture Farts and Biases after all.
Her being preggers would help if the dude wasn’t a fugly bizarro version of Tom Hanks. Of course, Pitt hooking up with Aniston and Jolie didn’t enhance his Oscar prospects, so anything’s possible.
Portman is going to win because her performance was the most physically demanding amongst all the contenders (and her pregnancy is only going to highlight that). No matter whether she’s the best in the field, this strikes me as a slam dunk. The Black Swan is to Portman what Raging Bull was to DeNiro and what Monster was to Theron.
Pitt had a lot of goodwill behind him to get nominated for his role in BB — a performance that was lucky to get recognized, but certainly had no real shot of winning — but nice to see you’re primed to bring your own brand of crazy into 2011, Kakihara.
What ROTC said.
The real question is, will she regain her LOOK AT HER! heights of hotness ever again? In news that will no doubt repel body-image advocates and women’s groups, I thought her 95-lb BLACK SWAN weight was by far the most SMOKING HOT Portman has ever looked. YEP YEP.
Historically, once a hot chick celebrity goes the marm route, she’s off the List O’ Lex almost forver– UNLESS she can stage an ALBANIAN (as in Jessica, not the country of Belushi’s ancestors) COUP of REGAINED HOTNESS.
Most can never return, but I wish her well.
Why does anyone in showbiz EVER GET MARRIED EVER? It’s really, really, really, REALLY never a good idea, it never works out, and IN GENERAL no one should be married BEFORE AGE 36 anyway.
Also double the letdown: Based on the way the dude looks in the still at that angle, I thought at the very LEAST Portman was marrying Paul Walker or Carson Daly, which would be a little awesome.
Portman marry Carson Daly???? As if starring in a movie with Ashton Kutcher weren’t bad enough.
Don’t discount the chance that No Strings Attached might be her Norbit. But it might not be that bad. It all depends on whether or not Kutcher actually tries to, you know, ACT, and inhabit a character, and give a performance and all that pesky stuff.
Lex: No fan of Closer Portman?
“Not being married didn’t hurt Rachel Weisz. ”
Portman is a much bigger star and this will be all over the tabs. Another factor: her character is not likable. The two together……Weisz’ character was incredibly heroic and likable. Jennifer Lawrence could sneak in and win – heroic, likable, beautiful….
This guy should change his name to “Cash Warren II.”
I’m not even excited about No Strings Attached or Thor or that stupid stoner knight movie anymore, except in a swan-song to hotness kind of way.
Eh, Team Kunis anyway.
In all fairness, this Millepied guy is definitely better-looking than that above pic suggests. And at least she didn’t get knocked up by Devendra Banhart.
For the record, I don’t think that movie will hurt Portman. I just wanted a chance to make fun of that nonactor Kutcher. Has anyone ever gotten so far with so little talent?
^Everyone currently on Jersey Shore.
Brendan Fraser is definitely up there, but I give him a pass for Bedazzled and the first Mummy movie.
Ryan Seacrest has less talent than Kutcher, who is at least occasionally funny.
This has nothing to do with anything, but I would like it very much if someone would put Portman in a *good* sequel to the Professional.
Soon, please.
I wish instead of posting these things and leaving it at that, Jeff (pregnancy = Oscar voters love you!), you’d say exactly WHY it locks up the Oscar, and why this is shitty, pathetic thinking.
Congratulations on the Portman baby, though. Probably a better gift than a little golden statue. If you like kids.
Curious timing for this news. Interesting paternity as well. Right before Oscar ballots go out. Hmm… Hate to be cynical, but …
I also don’t get why her pregnancy is supposed to be this big Oscar boost. What’s the reasoning behind it – maternal feelings amongst the female Academy members? Subconscious rewarding of someone creating the next generation? Throwing a little extra Portman’s way so her kid has a little better chance of success? The chance of a baby bump on the Oscar stage getting more housewives to watch?
And lazarus makes a great point about how unhappy the hipsters are that Portman’s engaged, which frankly I find fucking hilarious. Um, if you have a fantasy of being with Portman that has 0.0% chance of happening, why is it suddenly impossible to have that fantasy when she’s engaged? Like it’s any more unlikely you’ll be able to break up her marriage in your fantasy world?
“Don’t discount the chance that No Strings Attached might be her Norbit.”
i love how this nonsensical narrative about ‘Norbit’ being the thing that cost Murphy the Oscar has become commonly accepted wisdom. Murphy was unpopular before ‘Norbit’ came out and refused to campaign and was in competition with a beloved old man.
Also: Arkin had a statistical advantage for having been nominated in the higher acting category before. This helps Supporting Actresses more than Supporting Actors, but in a year where the front-running performance is as non-stand-out as Murphy’s was, it’s a strong edge.
from the way that Rashad actually treats DZ seriously, and the nonsensical points he makes (especially now, citing ‘Bedazzled’), I’m gonna call this now — Rashad is DZ trying to gain respect under a different alias. The flaw being, he’s still saying stupid shit.
That’s pretty eerie, Bobby…I actually had the exact same thought sometime last week.
Although, I must say, I ultimately shot it down b/c if that were actually the case, I think there would be a lot more copy-and-pasting resulting in total agreement on both of their parts. I mean, I don’t see how he would be able to resist the appearance of acceptance, if even from one (fictional) poster.
Portman’s pregnancy just underlines the fact that she has time for more shots at the Oscar, like she has time to have more kids. Bening is 60, well-liked and overdue and this may well be her last shot. And BLACK SWAN is still too screwy for the Academy to give it more than nominations.
Just because someone is well-liked does not mean they deserve an Academy Award. By all accounts, George Romero is one of the nicest, most down-to-earth guys in the movie biz. Doesn’t mean he should win an Oscar, or even be nominated (although, for my money, DotD was by far a better-directed piece of filmmaking than Heaven Can Wait — yeah, I said it).
By the way, what exactly do we think Bening is “overdue” for? Scrolling through her filmography, I don’t really see a lot of great performances. The Grifters, sure, she was great in that, and that was a genuine breakout for her. I was frankly a little underwhelmed by her work in Bugsy and the “patriotic” American President/American Beauty double feature. What else are we left with? I actually dig her in Mars Attacks!, but I’m almost certain that’s not what anybody has in mind when they say she’s overdue.
Dawn of the Dead is one of the very best movies ever made. But the Academy is not going to honor something with so much wanton bloodshed removed from a historical context, as there is far more gore in Braveheart than any of the Dead films.
Hopefully a dark horse candidacy will emerge in later years suggesting Romero be eligible for a Thalberg award, or whatever it’s called. Fuckin’ Knightriders, man.
If Brian Austin Green ever knocks up Megan Fox, Lex may have to be put on suicide watch.
Bobby why would I be DZ?
And Bedazzled is a fun movie. Hurley is sexy as hell and Fraser is actually funny in several of situations like the basketball player, and the drug lord.
Rashad, you would be DZ because you have the same bordering-on-autism attention to useless detail and “I am the first person to say this” delusions of grandeur. Also, you started talking about “good guys” and “bad guys” in relation to Do The Right Thing, which was when I decided you ride the shortbus. While wearing a helmet.
@CitizenK, Romero is well-liked but he’s a Hollywood outsider, Bening is reportedly well-liked in Hollywood by Academy voters and if she’s nominated it will be her fourth nomination, so in that sense she’s “overdue.” My half-assed speculations are just based on my layman’s knowledge of Oscar politics and the way the planets seem to be aligning right now, not the quality of her performances. I do think she was pretty great in BUGSY, THE GRIFTERS and AMERICAN BEAUTY. I don’t have any opinion about her performances in BEING JULIA and THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT since I haven’t seen them, but a lot of people seemed to like them and I think she’ll get an Oscar for her body of work.
Regarding DTRT, it’s blatant race manipulation in a film by a racist. The blacks are meant to be viewed more sympathetically when their actions are more reprehensible than Sal’s. I don’t believe I ever said good guys and bad guys in the hero and villain sense, but in the way Spike tried to portray the characters.
Whoops, found out Bening is actually 52, not 60. Always feels like it’s worth your life to add years to a woman’s age, even when that woman has no inkling of your existence!
No matter whether she’s the best in the field, this strikes me as a slam dunk. The wholesale hair extensions black Swan is to Portman what Raging Bull was to DeNiro and what Monster was to Theron.
The point of DTRT is that nobody is meant to be the sympathetic party. I revoke your right to ever speak about Spike Lee again.
I love how NO STRINGS ATTACHED is somehow NORBIT when it looks fine.
True, it’s not Norbit-bad, in terms of look, but Kutcher in it guarantees the same kind of low-rent entertainment value.
Rashad, I have Spike Lee right here and he’s got something to say to you:
“Rashad, my man, you know nothing of my work. Please never speak of it again.”
Portman should not be hard to find onscreen next year during her pregnancy absence. I just noticed that in addition to the three 2011 Portman films listed on IMDB (“Thor, Your Highness and No Strings Attached”), the trailer for her independent film “The Other Woman” is now online, according to the Huffington Post. I believe Portman plays an office worker who seduces her married to Lisa Kudrow boss.It looks kind of interesting if you like small films about people in the big city.
Even though I have qualms about BS, if the Oscar is between Portman and Bening, it has to go to Portman. I don’t understand the praise for Bening, who gives a good but minor performance in what is essentially a supporting role. Moore, Ruffalo, and Wasikowska are all on screen more. Portman carries BS.
Bening should win for Mother and Child.