Winslet has the look sewn up
Fittingly for a film called The Dressmaker, Kate Winslet looks impossibly stylish in Jocelyn Moorhouse's new film, which has just finished shooting in Victoria. She even turns carrying a sewing machine into a fashion statement. Described as a "bittersweet 1950s comedy", the film features Winslet as talented dressmaker who returns from Europe to the country town she fled as a child, with Judy Davis as her eccentric mother and Liam Hemsworth as a charming local. The cracking cast also includes Hugo Weaving, Rebecca Gibney and Shane Jacobson. Moorhouse, best known for Proof and How To Make An American Quilt, is directing her first film since the collapse of Eucalyptus in 2005. She describes the shoot as a delight and says she is thrilled to be sharing a first photo of Winslet in the film. "It says everything about the character, a beautiful talented misfit, a dressmaker, returning home to right the wrongs of the past," she says. The film is adapted from a novel by Rosalie Ham that Moorhouse describes as "Unforgiven with a sewing machine".
Female lead for Pirates depends on 'chemistry tests'
So who will be the female lead when the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie starts shooting in Queensland in the first quarter of next year? Already confirmed are Johnny Depp returning as Captain Jack Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa, Javier Bardem as a villain and Australia's Brenton Thwaites (Malificent) as a British soldier who teams up with Sparrow in the fifth instalment in the series. Variety reports that Disney is testing various actresses over the next week including Lucy Boynton (Miss Potter), Gabriella Wilde (Endless Love), Jenna Thiam (The Returned), Kaya Scodelario (Maze Runner) and Alexandra Dowling (The Musketeers). The character will have a romantic storyline so the studio will do "chemistry tests" with Thwaites to see who best fits the role.
The Sapphires to be animated
The hit musical The Sapphires was so successful that it is natural the producers would aim to build on its success. After all, the upbeat film about an Aboriginal girl group took more than $14 million at the Australian box office. And while nothing has been announced yet, Short Cuts believes the producers are developing an animated TV series based on the film.
