Los Angeles, March 8 (The Jakarta Herald/Reuters) – Sandra Bullock won the best actress Oscar, and her first Academy Award, on Sunday for her role as a suburban mom who takes in a homeless black teen and guides him to a football career in the “The Blind Side.”

Bullock`s Oscar victory marks the high point in a career that has spanned more than 20 years, during which she became an American sweetheart blessed with a natural comic touch that propelled commercially successful films beginning with “Speed” through to last year`s box office hit, “The Proposal.”

“Did I really earn this or did I just wear you down?” Bullock (45) exclaimed as she took the stage to accept her Oscar, before saluting each of her four contenders.

The Washington, D.C.-area native became the queen of romantic comedies with her girl-next-door appeal before a deliberate shift in her career with a small role in the 2005 racial drama “Crash,” which she credits as the turning point when she began to take her film career more seriously.

She was an early longshot for an Oscar for “The Blind Side,” in which she plays a wealthy, strong-willed Christian woman who takes a black high school player into her family.

But her performance as the blond Memphis mother brought her a slew of awards, including a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award that greatly increased her Oscar chances and won over fans with her heartfelt confessions that she had not thought of herself as a good actress.

The Oscar she won for “Blind Side” was not the only first for Bullock, as the movie also became the first film with only a female lead ever to surpass $200 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales.

Bullock`s role in the sports drama is based on a real Tennessee woman, yet the Arlington, Virginia-born actress initially balked at portraying Leigh Anne Tuohy. She only changed her mind after meeting the woman who would eventually help bring her the movie industry`s highest honor.

It was a long road to critical acclaim for Bullock, the daughter of a German opera singer and voice coach. She spent some of her early childhood in Germany.

She took some time away from acting a few years ago after the success of “Miss Congeniality,” but during that break she met motorcycle maker Jesse James, whom she married in 2005, and started saying “no” to mediocre roles.

Then came “Crash,” the drama about bigotry and race in Los Angeles that won the best picture Oscar in 2006 and showed off Bullock`s serious side.

Last year was mostly a critical and commercial success for Bullock, although “All About Steve” earned her a Razzie win for the worst actress of 2009.

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Jakarta (The Jakarta Herald) – An Indonesian art troupe “Opera Jawa” is scheduled to stage an international art performance abroad in September 2010.

“We will stage art performances in several countries starting this September,” said the leading theater performer who is also a famous director, Garin Nugroho, said in Jakarta Saturday.

The art performance is adapted from his musical movie “Opera Jawa”, and stage in the Netherlands to Switzerland, Nugroho explained.

To get a maximum response from overseas audiences, members of the troupe have been engaged in rehearsals since the beginning of 2010, he said.

In focusing on the art performance, the famous director often away from his family, especially on Valentine`s Day today, Nugroho had to leave for Solo, Central Java, for a rehearsal.

The director who have often received international awards also mentioned that he decided to leave the film industry in 2010 to focus on overseas performances.

“I`m taking a leave in making films because I want to focus on the `opera Jawa` international performance, and will return to the film industry in 2011,” he said.
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Los Angeles (The Jakarta Herald/Reuters) – The new romantic drama “Dear John” unexpectedly ended the seven-week reign of “Avatar” at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, pulling in large numbers of young female moviegoers.

“Dear John” grossed an estimated $32.4 million in the three-day period since opening Friday, said distributor Screen Gems, the low-budget division of Sony Corp.

It had hoped for an opening of about $20 million on a weekend when many Americans forsake movies to watch the Super Bowl, traditionally the year`s most-watched television broadcast. The football championship starts around 6:25 pm in Miami.

“Dear John” stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as lovers whose romance is curtailed by the September 11 attacks. It is directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom and based on “The Notebook,” a novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Audiences for the film were 84 percent female and two-thirds were under the age of 21, Sony said.

The last romantic comedy to hit theaters was the widely panned “Leap Year” about a month ago. “The Lovely Bones,” another box office disappointment, also has made a play for young women after failing to get any traction during the annual movie awards season.

“Avatar” earned $23.6 million in its eighth weekend, taking its total to $630.1 million. James Cameron`s sci-fi blockbuster surpassed the $601 million haul of his 1997 release “Titanic” last Tuesday to become the biggest movie of all time in the United States and Canada.

The data are not adjusted for ticket-price inflation or for the higher cost of 3D engagements. The film was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp..

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Los Angeles (The Jakarta Herald/Reuters) – The new romantic drama “Dear John” unexpectedly ended the seven-week reign of “Avatar” at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, pulling in large numbers of young female moviegoers.

“Dear John” grossed an estimated $32.4 million in the three-day period since opening Friday, said distributor Screen Gems, the low-budget division of Sony Corp.

It had hoped for an opening of about $20 million on a weekend when many Americans forsake movies to watch the Super Bowl, traditionally the year`s most-watched television broadcast. The football championship starts around 6:25 pm in Miami.

“Dear John” stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as lovers whose romance is curtailed by the September 11 attacks. It is directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom and based on “The Notebook,” a novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Audiences for the film were 84 percent female and two-thirds were under the age of 21, Sony said.

The last romantic comedy to hit theaters was the widely panned “Leap Year” about a month ago. “The Lovely Bones,” another box office disappointment, also has made a play for young women after failing to get any traction during the annual movie awards season.

“Avatar” earned $23.6 million in its eighth weekend, taking its total to $630.1 million. James Cameron`s sci-fi blockbuster surpassed the $601 million haul of his 1997 release “Titanic” last Tuesday to become the biggest movie of all time in the United States and Canada.

The data are not adjusted for ticket-price inflation or for the higher cost of 3D engagements. The film was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp..

(*)

Los Angeles (The Jakarta Herald/Reuters) – The new romantic drama “Dear John” unexpectedly ended the seven-week reign of “Avatar” at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, pulling in large numbers of young female moviegoers.

“Dear John” grossed an estimated $32.4 million in the three-day period since opening Friday, said distributor Screen Gems, the low-budget division of Sony Corp.

It had hoped for an opening of about $20 million on a weekend when many Americans forsake movies to watch the Super Bowl, traditionally the year`s most-watched television broadcast. The football championship starts around 6:25 pm in Miami.

“Dear John” stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as lovers whose romance is curtailed by the September 11 attacks. It is directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom and based on “The Notebook,” a novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Audiences for the film were 84 percent female and two-thirds were under the age of 21, Sony said.

The last romantic comedy to hit theaters was the widely panned “Leap Year” about a month ago. “The Lovely Bones,” another box office disappointment, also has made a play for young women after failing to get any traction during the annual movie awards season.

“Avatar” earned $23.6 million in its eighth weekend, taking its total to $630.1 million. James Cameron`s sci-fi blockbuster surpassed the $601 million haul of his 1997 release “Titanic” last Tuesday to become the biggest movie of all time in the United States and Canada.

The data are not adjusted for ticket-price inflation or for the higher cost of 3D engagements. The film was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp..

(*)

Los Angeles (The Jakarta Herald/Reuters) – The new romantic drama “Dear John” unexpectedly ended the seven-week reign of “Avatar” at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, pulling in large numbers of young female moviegoers.

“Dear John” grossed an estimated $32.4 million in the three-day period since opening Friday, said distributor Screen Gems, the low-budget division of Sony Corp.

It had hoped for an opening of about $20 million on a weekend when many Americans forsake movies to watch the Super Bowl, traditionally the year`s most-watched television broadcast. The football championship starts around 6:25 pm in Miami.

“Dear John” stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as lovers whose romance is curtailed by the September 11 attacks. It is directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom and based on “The Notebook,” a novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Audiences for the film were 84 percent female and two-thirds were under the age of 21, Sony said.

The last romantic comedy to hit theaters was the widely panned “Leap Year” about a month ago. “The Lovely Bones,” another box office disappointment, also has made a play for young women after failing to get any traction during the annual movie awards season.

“Avatar” earned $23.6 million in its eighth weekend, taking its total to $630.1 million. James Cameron`s sci-fi blockbuster surpassed the $601 million haul of his 1997 release “Titanic” last Tuesday to become the biggest movie of all time in the United States and Canada.

The data are not adjusted for ticket-price inflation or for the higher cost of 3D engagements. The film was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp..

(*)

Los Angeles (The Jakarta Herald/Reuters) – The new romantic drama “Dear John” unexpectedly ended the seven-week reign of “Avatar” at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, pulling in large numbers of young female moviegoers.

“Dear John” grossed an estimated $32.4 million in the three-day period since opening Friday, said distributor Screen Gems, the low-budget division of Sony Corp.

It had hoped for an opening of about $20 million on a weekend when many Americans forsake movies to watch the Super Bowl, traditionally the year`s most-watched television broadcast. The football championship starts around 6:25 pm in Miami.

“Dear John” stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as lovers whose romance is curtailed by the September 11 attacks. It is directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom and based on “The Notebook,” a novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Audiences for the film were 84 percent female and two-thirds were under the age of 21, Sony said.

The last romantic comedy to hit theaters was the widely panned “Leap Year” about a month ago. “The Lovely Bones,” another box office disappointment, also has made a play for young women after failing to get any traction during the annual movie awards season.

“Avatar” earned $23.6 million in its eighth weekend, taking its total to $630.1 million. James Cameron`s sci-fi blockbuster surpassed the $601 million haul of his 1997 release “Titanic” last Tuesday to become the biggest movie of all time in the United States and Canada.

The data are not adjusted for ticket-price inflation or for the higher cost of 3D engagements. The film was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp..

(*)

Los Angeles (The Jakarta Herald/Reuters) – The new romantic drama “Dear John” unexpectedly ended the seven-week reign of “Avatar” at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, pulling in large numbers of young female moviegoers.

“Dear John” grossed an estimated $32.4 million in the three-day period since opening Friday, said distributor Screen Gems, the low-budget division of Sony Corp.

It had hoped for an opening of about $20 million on a weekend when many Americans forsake movies to watch the Super Bowl, traditionally the year`s most-watched television broadcast. The football championship starts around 6:25 pm in Miami.

“Dear John” stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as lovers whose romance is curtailed by the September 11 attacks. It is directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom and based on “The Notebook,” a novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Audiences for the film were 84 percent female and two-thirds were under the age of 21, Sony said.

The last romantic comedy to hit theaters was the widely panned “Leap Year” about a month ago. “The Lovely Bones,” another box office disappointment, also has made a play for young women after failing to get any traction during the annual movie awards season.

“Avatar” earned $23.6 million in its eighth weekend, taking its total to $630.1 million. James Cameron`s sci-fi blockbuster surpassed the $601 million haul of his 1997 release “Titanic” last Tuesday to become the biggest movie of all time in the United States and Canada.

The data are not adjusted for ticket-price inflation or for the higher cost of 3D engagements. The film was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp..

(*)

Los Angeles (The Jakarta Herald/Reuters) – The new romantic drama “Dear John” unexpectedly ended the seven-week reign of “Avatar” at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, pulling in large numbers of young female moviegoers.

“Dear John” grossed an estimated $32.4 million in the three-day period since opening Friday, said distributor Screen Gems, the low-budget division of Sony Corp.

It had hoped for an opening of about $20 million on a weekend when many Americans forsake movies to watch the Super Bowl, traditionally the year`s most-watched television broadcast. The football championship starts around 6:25 pm in Miami.

“Dear John” stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as lovers whose romance is curtailed by the September 11 attacks. It is directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom and based on “The Notebook,” a novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Audiences for the film were 84 percent female and two-thirds were under the age of 21, Sony said.

The last romantic comedy to hit theaters was the widely panned “Leap Year” about a month ago. “The Lovely Bones,” another box office disappointment, also has made a play for young women after failing to get any traction during the annual movie awards season.

“Avatar” earned $23.6 million in its eighth weekend, taking its total to $630.1 million. James Cameron`s sci-fi blockbuster surpassed the $601 million haul of his 1997 release “Titanic” last Tuesday to become the biggest movie of all time in the United States and Canada.

The data are not adjusted for ticket-price inflation or for the higher cost of 3D engagements. The film was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp..

(*)

Los Angeles (The Jakarta Herald/Reuters) – The new romantic drama “Dear John” unexpectedly ended the seven-week reign of “Avatar” at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, pulling in large numbers of young female moviegoers.

“Dear John” grossed an estimated $32.4 million in the three-day period since opening Friday, said distributor Screen Gems, the low-budget division of Sony Corp.

It had hoped for an opening of about $20 million on a weekend when many Americans forsake movies to watch the Super Bowl, traditionally the year`s most-watched television broadcast. The football championship starts around 6:25 pm in Miami.

“Dear John” stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as lovers whose romance is curtailed by the September 11 attacks. It is directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom and based on “The Notebook,” a novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Audiences for the film were 84 percent female and two-thirds were under the age of 21, Sony said.

The last romantic comedy to hit theaters was the widely panned “Leap Year” about a month ago. “The Lovely Bones,” another box office disappointment, also has made a play for young women after failing to get any traction during the annual movie awards season.

“Avatar” earned $23.6 million in its eighth weekend, taking its total to $630.1 million. James Cameron`s sci-fi blockbuster surpassed the $601 million haul of his 1997 release “Titanic” last Tuesday to become the biggest movie of all time in the United States and Canada.

The data are not adjusted for ticket-price inflation or for the higher cost of 3D engagements. The film was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp..

(*)