Cate Blanchett channels Dusty Springfield

Occasional Sydney resident Cate Blanchett made a surprise visit last week to New York's famous Stonewall Club to aid the Newtown Action Alliance. And - in Givenchy of course -  looking sensational, she lip-sinced to Dusty Springfield's famous hit You Don't Own Me and we have the video for your viewing pleasure:

Cate conquers New York

Hugh Jackman, Deborah Lee Furness and Wendi Murdoch at the Park Avenue Armory

Currently on display at the Art Gallery of NSW is the new video installation by renowned German artist Julian Rosefeldt (pictured below) which features Cate Blanchett .
The work presents a series of monologues that Rosefeldt has created by editing and reassembling a collage of artists’ manifestos, from declarations penned by the futurists, dadaists and situationists, to the musings of individual artists, architects, dancers and filmmakers such as Sol LeWitt, Yvonne Rainer and Jim Jarmusch.

Blanchett performs these ‘new manifestos’ while inhabiting 13 different personas – among them a school teacher, a newsreader, a factory worker and a homeless man – to explore the power and urgency of these historical words in our world today.
It's on until 19th February 2017 and Whispers will be attending a special viewing next Tuesday. Hopefully there will be some guests of the caliber who turned up in New York as the Gum Leaf Mafia invaded the Park Avenue Armory for a special US screening. As you can see from our exclusive photos it was movie star heaven.

Birthday Boy

It's a very Happy Birthday to former Prime Minister Bob Hawke (pictured here in our exclusive snap on Friday with Labor leader Bill Shorten) who turns 87 today (well yesterday actually). The former union leader won the 1983 general election in a landslide and at one stage was the most popular PM in Aussie history. He was eventually rolled by his (former) loyal deputy Paul Keating.
Whispers often runs into the Silver Bodgie as he is affectionately know, at various social functions and we have featured him on these pages over the years. Always popular with the electorate and he always greets you with a cherry smile and more often than not, a risque joke.
Below: Bob with John Singleton at the opening of Singleton's The Worker's Bar in Balmain (reputedly where the Labor Party was created in 1891) and with wife Blanche d'Alpuget at her book launch Hawke, The Prime Minister, the best selling Australian political biography of all time.

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Photo roundup:
Matty Bennett and partner Rupert Noffs are creating a foodie storm in New York with their successful restaurant The Lucky Bee as celebs pour through the doors- below with gorgeous Victoria's Secret model, Megan Williams

 At the AACTA Awards on Wednesday night at Star City: Claudia Karvan * Mel Gibson * Ky Baldwin * George Miller * Paul Hogan * Cate Blanchett * Hugo Weaving

At the Golden Globes

 













Ricky Gervais on introducing Mel Gibson : “I’m in the awkward position of having to introduce him again. Listen, I’m sure it’s embarrassing for both of us. I blame NBC for this terrible situation. Mel blames…we know who Mel blames. Listen, I still feel a bit bad for it. Mel’s forgotten all about it apparently, that’s what drinking does. I want to say something nice about Mel before he comes out. So: I’d rather have a drink with him in his hotel room tonight than with Bill Cosby.” Then after Gibson came out on stage, Gervais asked him, bleeped out for TV: “What the f–k does ‘sugar t-ts’ even mean?’”

They're back !!!

Tropfest attracts the biggest stars in the business

 Admittedly Whispers has been a critic of Tropfest in the past. But overall, it really is a fantastic event.

Tropfest founder John Polson & Jamie Foxx- a Tropfest fan

How pleasing then to announce that reports of
Tropfest's death have been greatly exaggerated (we are guilty too). Fortunately they have found a new sponsor and the event will take place on Sunday February 14th this year. The location will be Centennial Park and the weather should be perfect at that time of the year instead of the original December date which really can be quite humid.. And that's a Very Good Thing. And congrats should go to Tropfest found John Polson for persevering in the face of adversity.
# A few years ago Whispers was privileged to lunch with actor and Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx at Royal Randwick. Foxx enthused about Tropfest which he had just attended calling it the very best short film festival he had ever attended : "I intend to tell everyone back in LA about how fantastic it is" said Jamie.
For more details, bookings etc go to the Tropfest official website here.

Cate in Black. Again

The faces on the paparazzi said it all. Superstar Cate Blanchett a great supporter of the local ACCTA Awards was in black again. It may have been a gorgeous Armani gown but as one well known snapper said : "one pic of Cate in black is pretty much like another. They just don't sell very well."

He probably has a point. Look at our snap of Blanchett at the ACTTA Awards 3 years ago in that amazing red dress. This pic taken by your humble scribe has been used over and over in European glossy magazines.
 Below is our snap of Cate at the Helpmann Awards earlier this year. Black again.

The other disappointment for the media was the expectation that Harrison Ford would attend the awards. Hardly, he has a huge Star Wars launch to attend tonight at the Opera House.

Blanchett received the Longford Lyell Award for outstanding contribution to Australian screen at the ceremony in Sydney.

 

Cate Blanchett is the Toast of New York

Mary Mapes*Cate Blanchett*Robert Redford* Dan Rather (Truth is about Mapes & Rather)

 Cate Blanchett's latest film has premiered in New York City. "Truth" was filmed in Sydney's Western Suburbs earlier this year. Whispers reported on the fact that one of the Shuttle's most searched for personalities Sharon Sargeant (right) had a small role in the flick. So impressed were the 2 stars of the film -Cate Blanchett and the legendary Robert Redford - that Blanchett said to Sargeant after her scene :"you were perfect, just perfect". And Redford requested Sargeant share his limo back into central Sydney to discuss the film with her.    

Now one the USA's most famed chroniclers of society Liz Smith is raving about Cate Blanchett in Truth. She said this:
"What the movie couldn't do without is Cate Blanchett. To say this is a great performance, would be a laughable understatement. I don't know

Liz Smith

if the real Mary Mapes is as volcanically intense and charismatic as Blanchett, but after seeing herself portrayed by Cate, she might have wished she was, or had been, during her five months battling CBS and the rest of the media...I would go so far as to say that Blanchett's performance, from beginning to end, makes her recent Oscar win for "Blue Jasmine" seem like rehearsal footage! You cannot look away from this woman, who needs nothing but her eyes, her mobile mouth, and her cheekbones to rivet. (I know — you can't really "act" with your cheekbones, but somehow, Blanchett seems to.) Even if you are a staunch conservative, go see "Truth" just for Cate's amazing performance"
So you heard it here first : expect Cate Blanchett to be nominated for an Academy Award.
But it gets better. Liz Smith has also discovered Noni Hazelhurst who also appears in Truth and had this to say:     "But aside from the pyrotechnics provided by Miss Blachette, there is another great female performance. Her name is Noni Hazlehurst, whose face is familiar to me, but whose credits are not on the tip of my tongue. She portrays Stacy Keach's wife, who urges him from the start not to "get involved."
Ms. Hazlehurst delivers a scene toward the end of the movie, in which she upbraids Mapes and her crew, for dragging her ill husband across the country to "explain" himself, to agree, on camera, that he lied. "So, don't you dare ask me 'how is he!'" This confrontation cannot last more than two and a half minutes. It sears the screen. Judi Dench won an Oscar for eight minutes as Queen Elizabeth in "Shakespeare in Love." Noni Hazlehurst could be carrying home an award for her splendid two and half!

The Aussie actor starring at New York Fashion Week

 Ed Oxenbould & Olivia DeJonge

 New York Fashion Week, one the highlights of the social calender in the Big Apple is in full swing. Among the 200 designers showing are Australian locals Dion Lee, Zimmerman, Rebbecca Valance and Bec & Bridge. Another Aussie has also taken centre stage with the director M.Knight Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense") premiering his new low budget flick The Visit in NY to co-incide with the fashion galas.
The Visit is the "terrifying story of a brother and sister who are sent to their grandparents' remote Pennsylvania farm for a week long trip." 
And starring in the film with Olivia DeJonge as one of the teenagers is young Melbourne actor Ed Oxenbould who at just 14 years old is a veteran of local TV shows like Puberty Blues and Underbelly. Made on a budget of just $5M The Visit has already taken over $50M at the box office and looks set to launch Oxenbould on a US film career.
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Also a box office success and almost rivalling The Visit has been Joel Edgerton's The Gift with serious talk of Edgerton picking up an Oscar this year at the Academy Awards. The Gift was written, directed and starred Edgerton.
right : Cate Blanchett & Joel Edgerton at the Sydney Theatre Co
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# And we have broken a few records ourselves here at Careless Whispers & the Social Shuttle with a staggering  13,200,379 views on Google!




Below is a clip from The Visit 

Bling & Rings & Things with Cate Blanchett

 Our favourite Malaysian gossip writer Kee Hua Chee has written of his great coup in obtaining a one on one interview with Aussie actress Cate Blanchett :  "like all ordinary unknowns all the way to superstars, no-one is immune to Dato Kee Hua Chee's shirt painted with his face !. Superstar Cate Blanchett ordered her personal videographer and cameraman to take this rare photo of her examining the shirt of a journalist for the time in her life !. Big honour for me" . Gee, the last time Whispers encountered Cate was at a Sydney Theatre Company party and she asked us where we got our (craggy) leather jacket from. Cate was in Kuala Lumpur to promote a beauty product presumably for big bucks. 
According to Chee he was given access to Cate  "due to his bling & rings & things, other top editors from across the world had to settle for a big press conference ". Chee covers the buzzy social scene in Malaysia for his own blog wearing some pretty colourful outfits more often than not, painted with his own image. We need this man in Sydney !
Below : some of Kee Hua Chee's outfits ,

Tropfest time

 December 7th is the date for the 2014 Tropfest short film contest where budding film-makers present their efforts. All the Hollywood stars in the above photo have been supporters from day one and been judges at Tropfest so you are in good company. Take a picnic rug, chairs and umbrella to Centennial Park and settle in for the day- it's free !. There will be as usual plenty of food and drink outlets available and a chance to hobnob with movie celebrities. It's a fun day out!

At the Archibalds

 The Archibald portraits never disappoint and an invite to the opening night is much sought after. Pictured above left is the NSW Art's Minister Troy Grant with the youthful NSW Premier Mike Baird and the director of the NSW Art Gallery Michael Brand on the far right. Below is the winning portrait on the left, a painting of Penelope Seidler by Fiona Lowry (it picked up $70,000), Rodney Pople's Barry Humphries, Tonya Bright & Zoe Young and Kate Benyon with 'Sangeeta and Fuji'.

# The Shuttle was once invited to a party at Harry & Penelope Seidler's magnificent harbour side duplex that overlooks Luna Park in North Sydney. Asking for the gents, Penny responded "upstairs and down the hallway and through the door with the Picasso on one side and the Van Gogh on the other".  Below-more portraits.

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Two snaps have come to our attention. One is a pic sent to us from our good pal Joan Rivers currently on a European tour. She's just about to join a queue to get into The Vatican. The other a sharp eyed reader has sent with a query : there is a remarkable resemblance between the popular (?) Speaker of the House of representatives Bronwyn Bishop MP and the famous Australian housewife & megastar Dame Edna Everage. Are they perchance related ?. I think we should be told.

Picture Post

at the State Theatre for the launch of The Rover : Guy Pierce, David Michod & Robert Pattinson

At the Gold Dinner for the Children's Hospital at the Carriageworks which raised over $1.1M : Helen Coonan

Backstage at the Tony Awards in New York : Hugh Jackman, Idina Menzel and Clint Eastwood

Cate Blanchett at the State Theatre for the Sydney Film Festival premiere of How To Train Your Dragon 2

An Evening with Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett’s triumphs are extraordinary: two Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, three BAFTAs, three SAG Awards and four AFI Awards for her film work, and many other honours for her stage work. She was awarded the Centenary Medal for Service to Australian Society through Acting, named one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential People in 2007, and in 2012 was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des arts et des lettres by the French Minister for Culture. Cate and Anne Summers will talk candidly about her life, her acting accomplishments and her views on everything from raising sons as a feminist in today’s world, to her fears about climate change, to why it is that women are still not treated equally.

Book now for what will be a unique and engaging evening with renowned actor Cate Blanchett.

Mother of All Balls

 The Sydney Town Hall was the venue for Saturday night's Mother Of All Balls, the brain child of actor Rachel Ward. The MoAB raises much needed funds for the YWCA's mentor program for kids from broken and troubled homes and it's become a must attend event pulling in big names from the Australian film industry. In the past drop-in guests have included Sam Neill, Cate Blanchett, Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe and Quentin Tarrantino.
In our lovely snaps : Rachel dances with husband, actor Bryan Brown (currently starring in the ABC's Old School on Sunday nights) and one of Sydney's brightest and cleverest publicists Sally Burleigh looks sensational with a very handsome Mathew Collett.

Final Last Word on the Oscars

How could we not mention our favourite media mogul Rupert Murdoch who tweeted just yesterday his distress that New Yorkers had the temerity to elect a Democrat mayor and that the city was now being run by "leftie incompetents" !.
Fortunately Rupert still made it to the Oscars with a new flame on his arm- Juliet de Baubigny who was named by Vanity Fair as 2013's as 'Silicon Valley's Most Stylish Person'!. One Big Question : Murdoch's News Ltd newspapers ripped into Cate Blanchett when she made some global warming comments last year. Will they still interview her now she has picked up the movie world's top gong ?

Winners..

So far..Cate Blanchett looking sensational on the 2014 Academy Award's red carpet in Giorgio Armani and Catherine Martin who has picked up the gong for Best Costumes for hubby Baz Luhrman's The Great Gatsby (pictured holding the brolly at the Sydney premiere)

The Look at the ACCTAs

Jackie Weaver                               Delta Goodrem                            Cate Blanchet                    Lara Bingle

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Cate in Another Designer Gown

Cate Blanchett in a black Givenchy halterneck gown at London première of Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.

Cate of Many Colours

Cate Blanchett attended the Paris premiere of her Woody Allen film Blue Jasmine last night in an amazing spider-web style Karl Lagerfield dress. Contrast it with the orange creation she wore at the Sydney premiere and the amazing red dress she wore at this year's AACTA Awards.