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A double for Kate Winslet

BEVERLY HILLS (California): Heath Ledger got his Golden Globe and Kate Winslet came away with two at the 66th Golden Globes here on Sunday.

Mickey Rourke returned from the wilderness to earn the Globe for best dramatic actor in “The Wrestler,” a film whose comeback theme paralleled the actor’s own journey back into Hollywood limelight. “There ain’t no quit in me,” said Mr. Rourke, whose role as a washed-up wrestler with one last shot at glory re-established him as a viable star after he wrecked his career with bad behaviour in the 1990s. “I didn’t care about repercussions, and I paid the price for that. It took 13, 14 years for the doors to open up again.”

Ms. Winslet, previously nominated five times without winning at both the Globes and Oscars, won for her role as a woman in a crumbling marriage in “Revolutionary Road” and as a former Nazi concentration camp guard in “The Reader.”

“Revolutionary Road” was directed by her husband, Sam Mendes, and reunited her with her “Titanic” co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.

To Mr. DiCaprio, Ms. Winslet said: “I’ve loved you for 13 years and your performance in this film is nothing short of spectacular.” To Mr. Mendes, she added: “Thank you for directing this film, babe, and thank you for killing us every single day and really enjoying us actually being in such horrific pain.”

There was little surprise in the supporting-actor category. Virtually since he died nearly a year ago, Ledger has been the name on everyone’s lips for that award. Ledger won the prize for his diabolical turn as the Joker in the Batman blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” raising his chances to become only the second actor to win a posthumous Oscar. The first was Peter Finch, who won the best-actor Oscar for 1976’s “Network.”

Movie audiences have two train wrecks to thank for the epic visions of Steven Spielberg — a big one, and a little one.

Whether it’s killer sharks, man-eating dinosaurs, or the horrors of Omaha Beach on D-Day, Mr. Spielberg said Sunday night it was all in some way inspired by a train wreck filmed by director Cecil B. DeMille for his movie, “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

Mr. Spielberg accepted a lifetime achievement accolade that bears Mr. DeMille’s name during the Golden Globes. His acceptance speech traced his own history in Hollywood, as many of those who he had directed helped heap on the thunderous applause.

He recounted how his father took him to see “Greatest Show” in 1952 and that afterward, the young Spielberg resolved to recreate the epic crash with his own model trains. Only after several warnings from his parents — and committing a crash to 8mm film — was Mr. Spielberg satisfied.

Now 62, Spielberg accepted the honor bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association after a highlight reel of his films, including “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Schindler’s List” and clips from his “Indiana Jones” franchise.

“I’m feeling history tonight,” said Mr. Spielberg, acknowledging his wife and looking out on an audience that included some of his film’s stars, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.

— AP

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