Sam Smith grabs a Grammy (or four) –
Hours after the BAFTAs in London saw favourite Eddie Redmayne pick up the top actor award, Grammy’s favourite Sam Smith wins four trophies at the Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Smith won record of the year and song of the year for “Stay with Me”, artist of year and best new artist. Beck won album if the year for “Morning Phase”. Sam Smith posted this photo in Instagram with the words “The best night of my entire life”. List of awards below
He later tweeted:
Dr Who is expert on exiting when being chased by a bear –
British actor David Tennant makes a successful debut as a contestant on BBC Radio 4’s Just a Minute making it through a full 60 seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation. The former Doctor Who and Broadchurch star talked for one minute on the subject of “Exit, Pursued by a Bear” without once being interrupted on his very first appearance on the show and it is thought to be the first time in nearly 50 years of the show that a debutant has made it through the 60 second challenge. David Tennant DIY store prepares for Fifty Shades of Grey specialist advice –
With the film version of Fifty Shades of Grey about to open, Britain’s biggest DIY store B&Q have told their staff to prepare for a big rise in demand for rope, cable ties and tape. It is also providing copies of the book to all 359 stores which can be lent out to staff so they can be ready for “sensitive” questions about the products.
Samsung TVs are listening in –
Samsung warns that it’s smart TV voice activation feature could be recorded by Samsung or the developers of the software. Because the TV is always “listening” for instructions in voice mode and is likely to be connected to the internet any conversations could in theory be recorded.
Oscars 2016: Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins Academy Award –
Leonardo DiCaprio has finally won his first Oscar for survival epic The Revenant, after six nominations. He was named best actor at the 88th Academy Awards, with Brie Larson named best actress for Room. Spotlight took home the best picture Oscar with Mad Max: Fury Road picking up the most awards of the night, with six accolades. Mark Rylance won the best supporting actor Oscar, with fellow Briton Sam Smith winning best original song. The ceremony had been boycotted by some Hollywood figures protesting about the lack of ethnic diversity among this year’s nominees, as all 20 nominees in the best acting or supporting acting categories are white. Host Chris Rock addressed the controversy head on as he launched the ceremony, and it was a theme that was returned to several times during the night. Rock commented he had “counted at least 15 black people” in the montage that opened the ceremony, before welcoming people to the “white People’s Choice awards”. Among the winners for Mad Max: Fury Road – nominated for 10 Oscars including best director for George Miller – was British designer Jenny Beavan, for best costume design. The Revenant won three of the 12 awards for which it was nominated. Alejandro Inarritu also won best director and Emmanuel Lubezki won his third Oscar for cinematography in a row, having won in 2015 for Birdman and 2014 for Gravity. [BBC] See List of the Day Leonardo_DiCaprio
French cleaners scrub off street art –
Citizens of Reims in northern France have lost a brand new artwork commissioned for the town, after the anti-graffiti squad scrubbed it off. The town hall commissioned a street art mural by the country’s top graffiti artist, C215, showing a sulking boy slumped against a wall. But there was a slight hitch – the town’s cleaning department were not told not to remove it. C215, whose real name is Christian Guemy, seemed quite relaxed about it. The artist told AFP news agency what surprised him was that it was cleaned up by the same city that commissioned him. The town hall had apologised, he said. [BBC]
Video of the Day –
Fastest robot to solve a Rubik’s Cube – Guinness World Records
List of the Day –
Full list of winners at the 88th Academy Awards
Best picture
Winner: Spotlight
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Best actor
Winner: Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
Bryan Cranston – Trumbo
Matt Damon – The Martian
Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl
Best actress
Winner: Brie Larson – Room
Cate Blanchett – Carol
Jennifer Lawrence – Joy
Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
Best supporting actor
Winner: Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Christian Bale – The Big Short
Tom Hardy – The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight
Sylvester Stallone – Creed
Best supporting actress
Winner: Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl
Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara – Carol
Rachel McAdams – Spotlight
Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs
Best director
Winner: Alejandro Inarritu – The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson – Room
Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
Adam McKay – The Big Short
George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
Best adapted screenplay
Winner: The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room
Best original screenplay
Winner: Spotlight
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Straight Outta Compton
Best animated film
Winner: Inside Out
Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There
Best foreign language film
Winner: Son of Saul – Hungary
Embrace of the Serpent – Colombia
Mustang – France
Theeb – Jordan
A War – Denmark
Best animated short
Winner: Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay’s Super Team
We Can’t Live without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow
Best cinematography
Winner: The Revenant
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Best costume design
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
The Revenant
Best documentary feature
Winner: Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom
Best documentary short
Winner: A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Body Team 12
Chau, Beyond the Lines
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
Last Day of Freedom
Best editing
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
The Big Short
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best live action short
Winner: Stutterer
Ave Maria
Day One
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)
Shok
Best make-up and hair
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
The Revenant
Best original score
Winner: The Hateful Eight, Ennio Morricone
Bridge of Spies
Carol
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best original song
Winner: Writing’s on the Wall, Sam Smith – Spectre
Earned It, The Weeknd – Fifty Shades of Grey
Manta Ray, J Ralph & Antony – Racing Extinction
Simple Song #3, Sumi Jo – Youth
Til It Happens To You, Lady Gaga – The Hunting Ground
Thirty-six people are believed to have died at a coal mine where a methane gas leak triggered three explosions and the collapse of the mine in Vorkuta, Russia. (NDTV)
South Korean opposition lawmakers’ anti-terrorism bill filibuster, which stops all other legislative business, extends its world record to 115 hours Sunday afternoon, easily besting Canada’s 58-hour session in 2011. The major issue is giving South Korea’s intelligence agency powers to monitor private communications. This parliamentary session is set to end March 11, with elections on April 13. (Reuters)
Swiss citizens vote on four referenda, including one, proposed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, that would automatically expel foreigners who commit two minor crimes. Current law calls for deportation of non-citizens convicted of murder or sexual violence. (BBC)(AFP via The Guardian)
David Tennant