With less than two months to Kate’s 35th birthday, Kate Winslet Fan has now launched a way for you to express your admiration for your favorite actress. You may submit simple birthday wishes, links to a video inspired by Kate, poems, drawings or whatever you want.

To pay tribute to the wonderful Kate Winslet and to celebrate her 35th birthday and the success of 2009 films Revolutionary Road and The Reader and the upcoming The Catch, Contagion and, of course, the HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce, Kate Winslet Fan decided to launch a Birthday Page in honor of one of the best actresses of her generation.

Be sure to click on the image above to reach the 2010 Kate Winslet Birthday Project and submit your birthday message for our Kate!

The Television Critics Association HBO Executive Session was held yesterday. HBO Co-President Richard Plepler and Programming President Michael Lombardo answered questions regarding the upcoming HBO programming, including Mildred Pierce. A clip was also screened for the press and it sounds like the material was impressive.

From HitFix.com:

Mildred Pierce looks handsome and like the winner of many, many Emmys.

Lombardo tells us that Mildred Pierce has finished shooting. Todd Haynes has been on a two-week break and will begin editing now. HBO is eying March/April of next spring for a premiere. Lombardo says that it’s a “relevant look at a woman struggling to survive in a period of economic distress,” that the Cain novel feels “remarkably modern.” His own memories of the film are of it being campy and dated. He says that the miniseries will *not* be noir-ish in the way the film is.

Also, check out this newly released HBO press release, courtesy of The Futon Critic. It states that Mildred Pierce will be released in March 2011.

2011 will see an impressive roster of award-winning talent come to HBO as HBO Films and HBO Miniseries present two new films and a much anticipated miniseries, and production starts in February on a period biopic in San Francisco. Among their illustrious awards, the actors and filmmakers associated with these projects have garnered four Oscars(R) and 28 Oscar(R) nominations, eight Golden Globes and 38 Golden Globe nominations, and 13 Emmys(R) and 49 Emmy(R) nominations, not to mention recognition from such guilds as SAG, DGA, PGA and WGA.

“We are particularly proud of the filmmakers who have come together around Mildred Pierce,” says Kary Antholis, president, HBO Miniseries. “Todd Haynes, Kate Winslet and the rest of the team are creating a miniseries in five parts that is at once lush, appealing and searingly resonant in the current American economic landscape.”

Oscar(R) and Golden Globe winner Kate Winslet stars in the title role of the HBO Miniseries presentation Mildred Pierce, along with SAG Award nominee Guy Pearce, Golden Globe nominee Evan Rachel Wood, Gotham Award winner Brian O’Byrne, SAG Award nominee James LeGros, Oscar(R) nominee Melissa Leo, Oscar(R) and Golden Globe nominee and Emmy(R) winner Mare Winningham and Golden Globe and Emmy(R) nominee Hope Davis also star. Directed by Oscar(R), Golden Globe and WGA nominee Todd Haynes from a script by Haynes and Jon Raymond, Mildred Pierce is the epic story of a proud single mother struggling to earn her daughter’s love during the Great Depression in middle-class Los Angeles.

The five-part miniseries, produced in association with MGM, will follow the story laid out by James M. Cain in his 1941 novel of the same name. Emmy(R) nominees Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler, John Wells and Todd Haynes executive produce; two-time Emmy(R) winner Ilene Landress co-executive produces. Mildred Pierce will debut in March 2011.

Kate Winslet, Aishwarya Rai and Lin Chi-ling were pictured filming a new commercial for Longines Watches Dolce Vita collection in Rome, Italy on July 20. Longines is one of the most reputed watch brands in the world. As I’m sure most of you figured this out just seeing the photo above, this shoot is based on the Fellini masterpiece La Dolce Vita (1960).

Kate is the latest to join the bandwagon of celebrities endorsing Longines after celebs like Aishwraya herself, US athletes Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, and Taiwanese actress Lin Chi-ling.

The ladies were spotted running through the streets of Rome together with posh cars around and the lovely weather complementing their lovely looks and attire.

Kate Winslet today finds herself targeted by a German film-maker with a dark tale to tell. Director Bernd Eichinger is all set to make a film about the Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch – and he wants Winslet to star.

According to the Daily Express newspaper, the Oscar-winning actor is Eichinger’s first choice to take the role of Kampusch, who was 10 years old when she was abducted on her way to school. For the optimistic Eichinger, age is clearly just a number, and nationality but a label: English-born Winslet turned 34 last birthday.

Following her capture, Kampusch spent eight years living at the home of her captor, communications technician Wolfgang Priklopil, before finally escaping in August 2006. For much of that time, she was imprisoned in a cellar beneath the garage, although neighbours also reported seeing her in the garden. At one stage, she even accompanied Priklopil on a brief skiing holiday.

Following her escape, Kampusch likened the experience to being “a poor chicken in a hen house”. But, she added: “I was also spared a lot of things. I did not start smoking or drinking and I did not hang out in bad company.” She now works as a talkshow host on Austrian TV.

Eichinger, 61, remains best known as a film producer. His recent credits include the Recident Evil and Fantastic Four pictures, along with the Oscar-nominated German drama The Baader Meinhof Complex.

Mildred Pierce, starring Kate Winslet, is filming around Myrtle Ave between 68th and 70th Sts in Glendale, Queens. (Thanks Jerry)

Check out new, gorgeous photos of Kate Winslet filming Mildred Pierce in Merrick, courtesy of The Herald.

HBO is remaking the 1945 classic Mildred Pierce, with Academy Award-winning actress Kate Winslet now playing the lead. And the film’s being shot, in part, on Henry Street in Merrick.

The film, set during the Great Depression, follows a divorced, single mother, Mildred Pierce, who decides to open a restaurant, which causes strain in her relationship with her elder daughter, Veda.

The Herald stopped by the set this week to grab a few shots of Winslet & Co. on set.

Kate Winslet hit her head and was badly bruised while playing basketball with her kids Sunday night. Filming of Winslet’s new HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce was suspended yesterday [Monday] so she could recover. A source said, “She fell after being hit by a basketball and suffered bruising that couldn’t be covered with make-up, so the entire production was halted Monday.” A rep for Winslet — who has kids Mia, 9, and Joe, 6, and announced the end of her marriage to Sam Mendes in March — confirmed the mishap and said, “She is fine.”

The biggest announcement among them is that Steven Soderbergh will be releasing his virus thriller Contagion, starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Marion Cotillard in 3D on October 21, 2011. Having spoken with Soderbergh about 3D this time last year, he told ComingSoon.net how he had been suitably impressed when he was given an early sneak peek at James Cameron’s Avatar, so it isn’t too big a surprise that he has decided to give it a go with his next big movie.

Also, according to New York Times, Mildred Pierce is scheduled to be broadcast in February 2011 so us Kate fans can look forward to two projects from our favorite actress next year. Can’t wait!