“Oscars: Natalie Portman on pregnancy, baby names and life changes (and her movie) - Los Angeles Times” plus 1 more

Oscars: Natalie Portman on pregnancy, baby names and life changes (and her movie) - Los Angeles Times

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Natalie Portman may have just won her first Oscar, but most reporters who had the chance to interview her had one subject on their minds: her pregnancy.

Journalists lobbed numerous questions at the "Black Swan" actress about said life change when she came backstage after her lead actress win.

One reporter started out by asking if she and fiance Benjamin Millipied would name their baby Oscar. "That's probably — definitely — out of the question," Portman responded.

Then, to "what was the baby doing during the show?" the actress said, "The baby was definitely kicking during the song portion of the show. A little dancer."

And on how her imminent motherhood might change the roles she'd take, Portman said, "I have no idea. One of the exciting things about becoming pregnant is that I'm expecting a complete unknown, a complete miracle."

Portman did make the rare move of interpreting her film, particularly its (spoiler alert) ambiguous ending, in which Portman's Nina Sayers appears to kill herself.

"I don't necessarily see it as a death at the end as many people do," she said. "I really see it as this young woman's coming of age that she becomes a woman. She starts out a girl and becomes a woman by killing the child version of herself."

RELATED:

Red carpet photos

Oscar scorecard

Complete coverage: The Oscars

— Steven Zeitchik

twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

Photo: Natalie Portman. Credit: Associated Press.

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Movie fans still love ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ - Times-Leader

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Posted: February 28
Updated: Today at 4:50 AM

Animated 3-D twist on 'Romeo and Juliet' tops box office for third week.

JAKE COYLE AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK — Wherefore art thou, Gnomeo? Atop the box office, that's where.

Walt Disney's "Gnomeo & Juliet," an animated 3-D twist on "Romeo and Juliet," took in $14.2 million in its third week of release, leading the box office on Oscar weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. In a lighthearted, G-rated version of the Shakespeare drama, the film uses garden gnomes in roles usually reserved for heavyweights of the stage.

It was a surprising upset win for "Gnomeo," which bested underperforming debuts from Owen Wilson and Nic Cage.

The Farrelly brothers' R-rated comedy "Hall Pass" earned $13.4 million for Warner Bros. Cage's 3-D action film "Drive Angry" took in just $5.1 million for Summit Entertainment.

The Liam Neeson thriller "Unknown" earned $12.4 million in its second weekend of release, bringing its cumulative total to a solid $42.8 million for Warner Bros.

In its third week of release, Paramount's 3-D Justin Bieber concert documentary, "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never," took in $9.2 million. To boost repeat business from die-hard Bieber fans, the film was re-edited by director Jon Chu in a "fan cut," made using suggestions from the teen pop star's rabid following.

But the weekend belonged to "Gnomeo," which didn't take no. 1 until this weekend. "Gnomeo," whose lead characters are voiced by James McAvoy and Emily Blunt, has now earned a total of $75.1 million.

"It is one of those wonderful little benefits that you don't see coming," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution at Disney.

Viane credited the unlikely success of the film to good word-of-mouth, the lack of family film competition in the marketplace and that a G-rated film built on afternoon moviegoing need worry less about audiences staying home Sunday night for the Academy Awards.

"When most people are sitting down to watch the Oscars, we will have had the vast majority of our business," said Viane.

Academy Awards weekend is historically a weak moviegoing time, though some moviegoers use the chance to catch up on Oscar-nominated films still in theaters. The best picture favorite "The King's Speech," from the Weinstein Co., saw its grosses jump 17 percent over last weekend's. It added $7.6 million in its 14th week of release to boost its total to $114.5 million.

Results were poor for Cage's "Drive Angry," which follows the weak debut of his "Season of the Witch" in January. That film opened to $10.6 million. The heavily promoted "Hall Pass," which stars Wilson and Jason Sudeikis, also underperformed.

"It's a tough weekend because you don't really have a full Sunday," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros. "It's very difficult to project on Academy Sunday."

Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian, however, notes: "Kids don't care about the Oscars. They just want to go to the movies."

Though the unexpected success of "Gnomeo" is good for the moviegoing business, it was still a down weekend for Hollywood, with the total box-office less than the corresponding weekend last year. That has been a common theme in 2011. Grosses are down 21 percent from last year.

"As the industry celebrates its best of last year, we're definitely still in this box-office malaise," said Dergarabedian.

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