Kate Winslet has separated from her director husband Sam Mendes after nearly seven years of marriage. Speakesy wonders if there is a Best Actress curse as four of the last seven Best Actress Oscar winners have split with long-term partners after winning. Kate Winslet won Best Actress in 2009 for her role in The Reader. ITN says the couple split earlier this year. Take a look:
Walmart Tops Interbrand's U.S. Retail Brand Rankings
Walmart has topped the list of the Interbrand Design Forum's annual rankings of the most valuable U.S. retail brands. Walmart was followed by Target and Best Buy. You can acccess a Scribd version of Interbrand's report on Interbrand's website at designforum.com.
Here a list of the top 25 U.S. retail brands according to Interbrand.
Kathryn Bigelow: First Woman to Win Best Director Oscar
The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow became the first women to win a Best Director Oscar when she won the Academy Award Sunday night. Kathryn is also holding a Best Picture Oscar in the photograph above. It has taken an extraordinarily long time for a woman to win on Oscar in the Best Picture category. The award was presented by Barbra Streisand. A powerful, character driven movie about one man's addiction to war, The Hurt Locker deserved the Best Picture win. If you haven't seen it, be sure to pick up the DVD. Jeremy Renner is fantastic in it, and Evangeline Lilly has a small part.
Kathryn definitely deserved the win. During her acceptance speech Kathryn dedicated the Oscar to the troops. She said, "I'd just like to dedicate this to the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily basis in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world. And may they come home safe." The red rubber bracelet on her arm is a reminder of the charity she supports, The Wounded EOD Warrior Foundation. The non-profit organization provides assistance to wounded Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians and their families in the form of financial relief. The film centers around members of a team of EOD technicians stationed in Iraq.
Kathryn Bigelow talked to E News very briefly after the Oscars at the Governors Ball. Take a look:
Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor for his role in Inglourious Basterds. Waltz had the best acceptance speech of the night as he told a story about how director Quention Tarantino's film came to be and about how the cast helped him find a place in the film. Waltz explained how Tarantino's unorthodox methods of navigation made the film happen. You can watch the video of his speech here.
Best Buy Carries Three Samsung Laptops Exclusively
Best Buy started carrying three Samsung laptop models exclusive today. The three models include the 14 inch R480 ($729.99), 15.6 inch R580 ($829.99) and the 17.3 inch R780 ($929.99).
The R480 model has an Intel Core i3 processor, 500GB storage, 4GB RAM, 14 inch LED backlit LCD, Intel GMA 4500MHD, Blue-ray drive, HDMI out, WiFi
The R580 model has an Intel Core i5 processor, 500GB storage, 4GB RAM, 15.6 inch LED backlit HD screen, NVIDIA GeForce 310M, Blu-ray, WiFi
The R780 model has an Intel Core i5 processor, 500GB storage, 4GB RAM, 17.3 inch LED backlit HD screen, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M, DVD drive, WiFi, Bluetooth
Windows 7 Home Premium runs on each of the laptops. You can find more information about these three laptop models here.
George Clooney is nominated for Best Actor for his role in Up in the Air. Clooney joked with TV Guide that he is going to win. He said, "Let's face it. I'm winning this thing. It's all me. Everybody says so." He also says he doesn't care for his co-stars Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. Take a look:
Ten Best Picture Nominees Leads to Campaign Frenzy
There are ten films up for Best Picture this year instead of five. There have always been campaigns to influence voters but the extra films up for the Oscar has made the race for Best Picture much more intense. We have already seen one Hurt Locker producer punished for distributing a disparaging email about Avatar. The campaigning won't let up until Sunday night when we find out who wins. There is a lot of stake because the movie named Best Picture usually gets big box office boost as a result. Take a look:
Mission Impossible Style Heist at New Jersey Best Buy
News.com reports tha there was a Mission Impossible style heist at the the South Brunswick, N.J., Best Buy store. The Star Ledgerreports that the acrobatic thieves cut a hole in the roof and traveled down a 3-inch gas pipe to get to the computers. The thieves never touched the floor as they took laptops from the store's racks. The thieves were not seen on security cameras and never set off any motion sensors.
"High level of sophistication," said Detective James Ryan, a police department spokesman. "They never set off any motion sensors. They never touched the floor. They rappelled in and rappelled out."
The Star Ledger says the thieves escaped with $26,000 in laptops.
Mo'Nique's career has taken quite a jump from roles in films like Soul Plane to her Oscar nominated role in Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire. Mo'Nique was nominated in the Actress in a Supporting Role and she is favorite to win. Mo'Nique has given some uplifting and gratious acceptance speeches at past awards so you can look forward to a similar speech if she wins Sunday night. CNN's Kareen Wynter takes a look at the career of Mo'Nique in the clip below. Take a look:
Best Buy plans to soon launch a video on demand service called Blue Sky Video by Best Buy. Home Media magazine says the new release rentals on Best Buy's VOD service will be priced from $3.99. A Dow Jones story says Reward Zone Premier Silver members will be offered one free download per month.
Best Buy launch of Blue Sky Video was confirmed in a tweet earlier today by Sarah at Reward Zone. Best Buy will be competing with a number of companies for video download marketshare including Walmart, Amazon.com, Apple, Netflix, Blockbuster and Time Warner Cable - to name a few.
Best Buy to Begin Selling Panasonic 3D TVs This Month
Best Buy has announced plans to begin selling Panasonic 3D television sets at its Magnolia specialty stores this month. Dealerscope reports that Best Buy and Panasonic will be hosting a media event in New York City on March 10th. Panasonic unveiled four 3D Plasma HDTVs at the Consumer Electronic Show in January. Panasonic's TC-PVT25 series won the 2010 Best of CES award at the 2010 CES show. You can read more about Panasonic 3D TVs here.
AppleInsider reports that Apple COO Tim Cook said recently that the Apple iPad will be available at Best Buy when it goes on sale in March and April.
Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, spoke at the Goldman Sachs annual tech conference in San Francisco Tuesday afternoon. He said the iPad will launch in retail, online education and other direct sales from Apple, but will also include the company's assisted sales from partners like Best Buy.
The announcement suggests AT&T stores could also offer iPad sales, though Cook did not specifically mention Apple's wireless partner in the U.S. Overseas, Apple's premium resellers will also offer the iPad at brick-and-mortar locations.
"Initially it will be around places with really great assisted sales," Cook said. "Over time it will expand."
Apple faces a lot of competition from other tablets so they will need retail partners to sell the iPad. Even with other retailers selling the device, Apple should still have lots of people coming into its stores this spring to check out the iPad. Even people not buying the device may want to get a first-hand look at the sleek new tablet with the ridiculous name. Reports have suggested that Apple has room to lower prices if early sales are not where it wants them to be.
Best Actress Oscar Winner Will Also Get $7,000 Compact
Peoplereports that the Best Actress winner at this years Academy Awards show will also win the L'Oreal Paris and Carelle compact pictured above. The $7,000 compact is composed of amethyst rose de France stones. The compact is also embellished with several shooting stars and encrusted with pave diamonds.
Best Picture Themed Dishes Created For New York Oscars Party
The following movie themed dishes for the ten films up for Best Picture were made for the Academy's Official 2010 New York Oscar Party. The Academy's Official 2010 New York Oscar Party will be held in the GILT at the Palace Hotel. The courses were made by GILT Executive Chef Justin Bogle and GILT Executive Pastry Chef David Carmichael. There are some very clever and tasting looking decious. The dish for The Hurt Locker is our favorite looking dish.
Inglourious Basterds Canapes (Hiramasa and Blood Orange Ceviche)
A Serious Man Canapes (Matzo Balls with Roasted Chicken Consomme). This dish was also for The Blind Side.
An Education First Course (In Beets - Raw, Roasted, Frozen Candy Cane Beets, Roasted Golden Beets and a Beet Sorbet.).
The Hurt Locker Second Course (Foie Gras Bomb - Coco-Curry, Passion Fruit, Peanut).
District 9 Third Course (Alaskan Spot Prawns).
Up In The Air Fourth Course (Long Island Pekin Duck).
Precious Petit Fours (A Sapphire Colored Chocolate Truffle).
Avatar Fifth Course (Inverted Blueberry Pie).
Up Petit Fours (Raspberry, Passion Fruit and Casis Pate de Fruit Baloons).
Scottish Terrier Named Sadie Wins Best in Show at 2010 Westminster Dog Show
The 2010 Best In Show Trophy was awarded to "Ch Roundtown Mercedes Of Maryscot," a.k.a. "Sadie," a Scottish Terrier. Sadie was very excited about her win. Take a look:
Best Buy plans to soon launch a video on demand service called Blue Sky Video by Best Buy. Home Media magazine 
AppleInsider 
