The Unofficial Peter O'Toole Pages!

(USA Today)

...1. Will this be the year the long-overdue are finally Oscared?Magic 8 Ball says: Outlook goodThere's a long line of deserving folks who have come close to nabbing a statuette and have yet to do so, including Peter O'Toole (seven previous nominations, one honorary Oscar), The Departed director Martin Scorsese (five nominations for directing, two for screenplay), Annette Bening (three nominations) and even acclaimed The Queen director Stephen Frears (one nomination). This could be the year that ends at least one or two losing streaks, says Dave Karger, Oscar guru for Entertainment Weekly.While Forest Whitaker, star of The Last King of Scotland, who has never been nominated, and The Queen's Helen Mirren (two previous nominations) are leading the early race for best acting (see below), O'Toole is also gaining momentum for his turn in Venus as an aging actor whose life is turned upside down by a brash teenager."It does seem like a lot of the top contenders have been in the discussion in years past and never won," Karger says. "And (O'Toole) is really coming on strong. Maybe this will be the time for some of them." —S.B."

Posted by Hamish at 08:51 AM | Permalink

(Guardian Unlimited)

John Malkovich, Peter O'Toole, Damian Lewis, Saffron Burrows, Stephen Dillane, Anna Massey, Michael Madsen, Darryl Hannah and Virginie Ledoyen are among the all-star cast that will appear in Love and Virtue, an epic film about Charlemagne by Chilean arthouse director Raoul Ruiz. Dillane will portray the Frankish king and Holy Roman Emperor, Lewis will play a court knight who falls for Ledoyen's character, while Malkovich and Madsen will play barbarian marauders. The script is based on the epic poems The Song of Roland and Orlando Innamorato. Filming is to begin in March on location in Belgium and Luxembourg, before moving to London.

Posted by Hamish at 09:09 AM | Permalink

Seville worships 'Venus'By EMILIANO DE PABLOS

MADRID — Peter O'Toole-starrer "Venus" took the top Golden Giraldillo at the 3rd 100% European Seville Film Festival, which wrapped Saturday.Directed by Roger Michell ("Notting Hill"), "Venus" turns on three aged friends and the relationship of one of them, Maurice (O'Toole), a jobbing actor, with an 19-year-old girl. Prize comes with Euros 60,000 ($76,800) for the Spanish distributor."Venus" beat out "The Lives of Others," the Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck helmed pic about the secret police in East Berlin, which won the Silver Giraldillo and $38,400. "Others" is Germany's Oscars entry.Running Nov. 3-11, with a special focus on Italian cinema, the Seville event ratched up 80,000 admissions, 23% more than last year.

Posted by Hamish at 04:14 PM | Permalink