Tuesday, March 16, 2010

'Titanic' Divorce

New York dailies aren't exactly known for their subtlety.



This makes me feel bad for being somewhat glib yesterday. For all the cutesy in this headline -- "Kate Winslet jumps ships" -- it feels inaccurate. Kate has always been a lousy tabloid star in that she's famous for her talent and work first rather than any personal life drama or flamboyance. So I highly doubt this divorce will be catastrophic for anyone.

Unless they're implying that Kate's departure is an iceberg for Sam Mendes career.

*

27 comments:

James T said...

Why do you think they are talking about either one's career? I think they're just saying "divorce" in any silly allegoric way they can think of.

mrripley said...

I have gone off Kate I would like to see late 90's Kate back the risk taker.

James T said...

Was The Reader and Revolutionary Road lazy choices? Really? You must really hate the recent choices of Meryl, then.

NoNo said...

Aww, poor Kate and Sam. Maybe they should've waited until Friday afternoon to announce there split? Or possibly the day after Oscars while Hollywood was still on their high.

RJ said...

I am still trying to get back to the Kate Winslet obsession I had before all that 'The Reader' nonsense. I'd really like to see her in something weird. Kirsten Dunst 'turning Japanese' video weird.

NATHANIEL R said...

RJ... maybe rent ROMANCE & CIGARETTES. isn't she supposedly wild in that one?

NATHANIEL R said...

i also find that when missing dangerous Kate brilliance, HOLY SMOKE! is always the solution.

Unknown said...

I truly believe Sam Mendes had a negative influence on Kate's career in the 2000s. The pre-Mendes Kate Winslet didn't mind working with up-and-coming or arthouse directors (Ang Lee, Jane Campion, Michael Winterbottom, Kenneth Branagh, and a pre-'Lord of the Rings' Peter Jackson).

Beginning around 2002 when she met Sam, Kate's career took a different direction. With the exception of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Romance & Cigarettes" Kate's choices became more traditional and Oscar-baity. That fire that made Kate interesting began to fade, at least for me. While excellent in 'Revolutionary Road', 'The Reader', and 'Little Children', those weren't exactly risky, just literary pieces meant to win awards.

Yes, I'm sadden by any divorce, but Winslet will be working with Todd Haynes, Steven Soderbergh, and Peter Farrely next so things are looking up! :)

The Pretentious Know it All said...

*Sigh.* I knew this would happen once Winslet won her Oscar. People are starting to turn on her. Frankly, it bores me a little. Given how steady she was before her Oscar, I don't see Winslet suddenly morphs into this terrible, unlikeable actress that people seem to be projecting onto her...or maybe I'm projecting. I get really defensive when it comes to Winslet. I actually see her winning again, even if it's decades later.

Ishmael said...

I can't think of any reason why Mendes should be blamed (if indeed there's any blame to be appointed) for Winslet going for Oscar baity roles. She obviously really, really, really wanted one. Which is fair enough, but how would it have anything to do with him? And why would this negatively affect his career from now on? He did sort of manage OK on his own once upon a time.

Peggy Sue said...

Oh! First Susan & Tim and now this! Who would you say is the coolest Hollywood couple now?

PS I don't get all "The Reader" hate

Alex said...

As long as my Sam & Jessica don't split...

Kyle said...

I would call that "Iceberg" for Sam's career "Away we Go" but that's just me.

notanotherblog said...

TKNKiA: I think people are more careful now about how they portray Kate Winslet in the media. They were bitchy to her when she divorced Jim and when she made that drunken speech at the Globes.
They know now that if they manage to piss her off into obscurity, we'll lose a great actress. And who wants that?

The angle they're giving her now is the "Successful Woman who Can't Find Love" that Halle Berry got five-ish years ago.

But yeah, I don't expect a lead Oscar win from her until 2020. How long did Katharine Hepburn win her second one, anyway?

ZiZo said...

Be careful, Sandra Bullock

FrenchGirl said...

she had the same image trouble during her first divorce because it's only image trouble:she was the perfect down-to-earth perfect marriage woman
and be happy she must work with Todd Haynes in a "mildred pearce" HBO series

mrripley said...

oh no i think she gets one earlier than that (2020) and this time does a daniel day lewis where everyone goes "wow" she really is THAT good!!

I don't think people are turning on her it just seems she was gunning for the oscar after esotsm and it became wearing.

I liked her in the reader and thought she would've won for rev rd but i think we were all waiting so long for it that it was an aniti climax 'cos she won for a good but not great performance it would've been like meryl winning for j and j this year we would love to see her up there just not for merely good work.

Lara said...

I loved her, but during that extensive Oscar campaign two things happened that not only cooled me down a little bit but turned me off: first, that Charlie Rose interview she gave with some of her cast and crew members from The Reader.
Second, the first interview she gave for a British mag after she won the Oscar where her favourite topic once again were her body issues and where she said something along the lines "look at me, old classmates, I have an Oscar and where are you know". I could literally see her sticking out her tongue. And that 20 years after she left school. Seriously, how insecure can one be?

The Charlie Rose interview was for me a disaster. She didn't get Hannah, she couldn't explain why she took the role (guess saying Nazi roles win Oscars was a little bit too obvious) and she had no grasp of that time of history in post-war Germany. None. I felt so uncomfortable watching her. I don't need actors to get PhDs before shooting a movie, but she could have at least read up a little bit on her role.

It's sad that she and Mendes split, especially for the kids. All the best to them.

Burning Reels said...

Excuse my ignorance, but what does Kate have planned with Soderbergh and Farrelly?

The Best Actress curse is surreal...it keeps happening, again and again!

Fever said...

Now the word is that Sam Mendes has/had a "too close" relationship with Rebecca Hall that Kate Winslet didn't approve of. And the plot thickens.

Thomas said...

I don't think that anyone truly dislikes Kate Winslet. People are just still (somehow?) pissed off about her win.

She'll be nominated at least 2 more times this decade, I bet.

Anonymous said...

errrrrrr, if Sandra Freaking Bullock has one Oscar for that crapfest called Blind Side I have no idea why people would get mad at Winslet for having one.

At least Kate at some point in her career ACTUALLY gave one Oscar award performance.

NoNo said...

I think the difference between the backlash of Kate and Sandra is that Kate made it seem she desperately needed an Oscar. Which was odd because she's still so young and it was pretty obvious that she was a better actress than several winners. I think it's going to be a long time until she wins another one. It's clear that her first was a career win an they gave it to her out of obligation. I'm sure looking back Kate would've done the whole awards season differently despite the end result.

Sandra (and her people) on the other hand played the whole thing right. She knew that she didn't deserve to win one it was pretty clear to me that she wanted it as much as Kate. So she played the "Aww Shucks!" game that ironically Paul Haggis did with Crash.

Sandra knew she was the frontrunner but played herself as an underdog to Streep who was an unworthy but grateful. Kate, unintentionally, played herself as this great talent who has been neglected for years. It came across as both insecure and pompous at the same time. So it's easier for some people to begrudge Kate and let Sandra off the hook.

I still love Kate and I think maybe she should've had her Titanic reunion under Scorcese and not Mendes. Here's hoping she gets her mojo back!

NATHANIEL R said...

NoNo -- Kate will *obviously* get her mojo back. She's a Great Actress. I wish people would stop with the backlash. But the Greats always have to deal with that. See also: Nicole Kidman.

and you're very right about the way each of them played it.

Unknown said...

I guess the Best Actress curse will continue with Sandra also if this new is real. I cannot believe it; hope it's not true.

http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2010/03/jesse-james-cheating-on-sandra-bullock-michelle-mcgee/

Unknown said...

Oops..sorry; here is the article:

Jesse James Accused of Cheating on Sandra Bullock with Michelle McGee in "Bombshell" Scandal

Tens of millions saw Sandra Bullock thank her husband, Jesse James, as she accepted her best actress Oscar for The Blind Side this month. Little did we know ...

She might have chosen different words had she known about his torrid 11-month affair with tattoo model Michelle McGee, which In Touch Weekly alleges today.

The worst part of the scandal, if you buy it, is that McGee, who goes by the nickname "Bombshell," says James told her he and Sandra were no longer together.

“I would never have hooked up with him if I thought he was a married man,” Michelle said. “He gave me the impression they were separated.” The impression?

Whatever impression he made, it was lasting. With Sandra in Atlanta shooting The Blind Side, Michelle says she had sex at least once a week with James.

Sandra Bullock: Betrayed!

Is Sandra Bullock's husband guilty of the ultimate betrayal?

Far from a one-night stand, the Monster Garage star's relationship with Michelle was McGee "intimate and highly charged." We're talking prolonged boinkage people.

Michelle even says she called Jesse, who apparently does not wear underwear or condoms, by a special pet name, the Vanilla Gorilla, as he's "so well-endowed."

Okay, we really hope this story is made up for Sandra's sake and for our own. We may need to poach the In Touch writer who came up with that for a job at THG.

As for how they met, McGee said she "sent West Coast Choppers a friend request" because she hoped to snag a modeling gig there. Jesse James personally replied.

From the start, it was never about business.

“He started saying, ‘Do you want to hang out?’” A week after he got in touch, Michelle drove two hours from her San Diego home to West Coast Choppers in L.A.

After taking Michelle on a tour, “We ended up on the couch,” she says. “He wanted to watch movies, but I asked him, ‘So what’s going on with you and Sandra?’”

“He said, ‘She doesn’t live here. She has a house in Austin. She is filming, I can’t talk about it.’” Assuming he and Sandra were separated, Michelle did her thing!

“We had intimate relations two or three times,” she said, and began what she calls a serious relationship, meeting up for sex at least twice a week for five weeks.

James has previously made headlines for his turbulent relationship with ex-wife and porn star Janine Lindemulder, but that was nothing compared to this. Man.

If this report is true, all we can say is this:

Bad Vanilla Gorilla. Bad.

vg21 said...

Nono, I don't think Kate Winslet should be satisfied with the assurance that she is better than many (other) Oscar winners. If she is so much better, why shoudn't she want to win? And how is it more appealing to win an Oscar while claiming taht you don't even deserve it?

Why are people so insecure that they feel offended when somebody has self-esteem and is fully aware of their abilities and what they deserve but they feel e.g. Sandra Bullock's win justified just because she said in her speech she actually did not deserve it? I don't get it. Kate Winslet is an extremely talented actress and deserved to win, and it seems a little strange she had to have 6 nominations (and 6 Oscar-worthy performances) before she got one while Sandra Bullock got hers for the first time, though it is unlikely she is ever going to be nominated again. This double standard is really unfair.