Oscars '04 (or '05 depending on your POV)
mikeg...@gmail.com
(Eastwood's MOM was there?) and also some deeply surreal ones (Puff
Daddy telling the crowd to get down get real, or some such, with his
homie... Josh Groban!) Chris Rock was the equivalent of someone who
keeps telling you how wild and outrageous he is, rather than actually
being that; he made me miss Steve Martin, though his interviews at the
Magic Johnson theater were extremely telling. (I say, old man, what is
this White Chicks they keep mentioning?)
And we learned that Sean Penn is the most humorless person in the
world.
Nice tributes to Kazan and Roger Mayer, but I was extremely
disappointed in the retrospective thing. It was too short; it
apparently has a deadline too early to include Sandra Dee and Simone
Simon; it borderline-demeaned both Fay Wray and Janet Leigh by showing
clips where they're basically sexualized props for terror scenes
(perhaps unavoidable in Wray's case, so overwhelmingly identified with
one role, but Leigh was a major actress of her time who did make other
movies of note, folks!); and by only showing quick visuals from the
most famous movies of the folks involved, it picked the obvious cliche
(shower scene!) over what might have actually been interesting by being
less expected-- and running long enough, with some dialogue, to
actually show something of the actors' work. (But that would have
taken time, and this was a show on the run, willing to toss away the
chance to linger and be interesting in favor of constant busyness and
sensation-- in other words, exactly like a modern movie.)
And it lumped in Ronald Reagan and Marlon Brando, who clearly should
have each been given individual moments. Brando, the actor who changed
acting and then threw it away, deserved a thoughtful introduction by
someone like Martin Scorsese who could have put his complex and
contradictory career in some perspective. Reagan, the second-tier star
whose post-Hollywood career dwarfs Hollywood and changed the world,
would have been far more problematic for liberal Hollywood to deal
with; acknowledging what he accomplished might have even raised
questions over whether their opposition to him then as simpleminded and
dangerous might have modern parallels... no, far safer to run clips
without dialogue, and return the Oscars to their beginnings, in the
silent era. Robin Williams wasn't the only one with a piece of tape
slapped on his mouth last night.
mikeg...@gmail.com
not this year....
Ed Hulse
world.>>
I think most people knew that long before last night's snoozefest.
As for turning Wray and Leigh into "sexualized props"--well, maybe
Sean Penn isn't the only one who takes things too seriously. When
you're trying to assemble a brief montage like those memoriam
clips, you want the most iconic images possible. To the extent
most of today's Academy voters remember Wray at all, it's as Kong's
paramour, not the co-star of WEDDING MARCH. And while I agree
with you about Leigh's ability, nothing she ever did on film will be
remembered as long as PSYCHO's shower scene.
Nice point about Reagan, though.
lzcutter
Lumet montage during his presentation?
Lynn in Sherman Oaks
"As We Knew It: The Story of Classic Las Vegas"
Saving Las Vegas History one interview at a time
Bob Birchard
> Very tasteful Oscars last night with some genuine heartfelt moments
> (Eastwood's MOM was there?) and also some deeply surreal ones (Puff
> Daddy telling the crowd to get down get real, or some such, with his
> homie... Josh Groban!) Chris Rock was the equivalent of someone who
> keeps telling you how wild and outrageous he is, rather than actually
> being that; he made me miss Steve Martin, though his interviews at the
> Magic Johnson theater were extremely telling. (I say, old man, what is
> this White Chicks they keep mentioning?)
>
Chris Rock did manage to make one of the most tasteless comments of the
evening, though it seems to have gone unnoticed (i.e. no one laughed) when
he said something to the effect that the audience wouldn't be able to keep
its eyes off the next four presenters and out walked two nicely endowed
female stars (can't remember who at the moment).
And am I being overly cynical or did Jamie Foxx's tears over his
grandmother seem a bit rehearsed? It looked almost as if he was timing the
crowd during his tears and when he "recovered" that recovery was
instantaneous and led right to his exit line. He is a very good actor,
indeed, but he should not show his mechanics or the realism of the moment
will be lost.
--
Bob Birchard
Now available from the University Press of Kentucky
“Cecil B. DeMille’s Hollywood”
by Robert S. Birchard
I.S.B.N. # 0-8131-2324-0
http://kentuckypress.com/viewbook.cfm?Category_ID=1&Group=42&ID=1113
R H Draney
>
>As for turning Wray and Leigh into "sexualized props"--well, maybe
>Sean Penn isn't the only one who takes things too seriously. When
>you're trying to assemble a brief montage like those memoriam
>clips, you want the most iconic images possible. To the extent
>most of today's Academy voters remember Wray at all, it's as Kong's
>paramour, not the co-star of WEDDING MARCH. And while I agree
>with you about Leigh's ability, nothing she ever did on film will be
>remembered as long as PSYCHO's shower scene.
It could have been worse...they could have chosen to represent her with BYE BYE
BIRDIE....r
Stephen Cooke
I can't believe the two films they listed besides Russ Meyer's name were
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and.....FANNY HILL? Even Meyer disowned
that one. Unsexy AND boring.
No Faster Pussycat Kill Kill? For shame...
swac
mikeg...@gmail.com
of the
evening, though it seems to have gone unnoticed (i.e. no one laughed)
Especially coming after the bit with Adam Sandler and Rock which had
parodied (not especially well) the whole sexist comments thing. I
couldn't believe that he went back to that kind of joke after mocking
it. They noticed it at my house, and groaned.
In contrast to Foxx's overblown moment (which I agree was too
calculated by far-- remember he also said something to set it up about
how he would probably cry, yeah, you and Jerry Lewis during the
telethon) there was that great bit when (the richly deserving and
overdue) Morgan Freeman saw that he was on camera in the audience, and
just looked at the camera like a man sitting in the catbird seat.
Good for him.
tcd...@yahoo.com
Gossett Jr. in the audince, head back, mouth open fast asleep! (right
before the In Memory segment)
Ed Hulse
the
evening, though it seems to have gone unnoticed (i.e. no one laughed)
when
he said something to the effect that the audience wouldn't be able to
keep
its eyes off the next four presenters and out walked two nicely
endowed
female stars (can't remember who at the moment).>>
Bob, you can't remember Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz???
You're gettin' old, buddy....I could MAYBE understand a guy not
remembering Penelope, but Salma??!!!
You're right, though, it was tasteless. But no more so, in my
opinion, than his comparison of American soldiers killed in
the Iraq war to Gap employees losing their lives in a fictitious
conflict with Banana Republic.
R H Draney
As long as they got BTVOTD, I'm happy...I just wish I could have seen Roger
Ebert's face when they mentioned it....r
George Shelps
>when he said something to the effect
>that the audience wouldn't be able to
>keep its eyes off the next four presenters
>and out walked two nicely endowed
>female stars (can't remember who at the
>moment).
Yep, I caught that one, and agree...but
no one reacted,
The two actresses were Penelope Cruz
and Salma Hayek. Only the latter
was showing any cleavage.
William Ferry
--
Yours for bigger and better silents,
Bill Ferry
<mikeg...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1109619439.4...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
StormChaser
I managed to stay awake for the
proceedings (although members of the
Kodak Theatre audience could not).
Chris Rock's duty as host can best be
defined by the title of one of the movies
nominated "Sideways". That most cautious
of movements was his approach to the hosting
duties.
What's up with Jake Gylenhaal? He was all
up in Jamie Foxx's grill during a pre-ceremony
interview cheesing. An attempt to grab some
of the spotlight? A network piece on paparrazi
(buzzing insect) terrorism had one of them getting
a tip that Gylenhaal was in a store and was about
to leave. He slams on the gas and gets to the store
just as Gylenhaal is leaving. He gets his picture.
How much does he get for his effort? $150.00
Renee Zellwegger scared me a little.
I suppose the camera sees her face
differently in the one-dimensional realm.
When not lit properly and at the mercy
of available lights the results can be ghastly.
I guess that coupled with her recent inflation
/deflation exercises can be quite taxing to the
body.
I love Beyonce. I really do. Singing three times,
however, has got to be a buy two, get one free deal.
Chris Rock's boys were in the house:
Jazzy Jay-Z
Snazzy P. Diddy
Saint Spike
White Guy Albert
Mickey Rooney was in the house.
One of the last silent stars still alive.
God bless him.
Having the nominees stand on stage and in the aisles to
receive their award was a tacky move by the organizers.
I do not see those awards as having any less value than the
other awards. The designers and technicians and indepen-
dent filmmakers work just as
hard as the stars and this moment in the spotlight is more
important to them than the stars who are seen all of the time.
For God's sake let them have their moment in the spotlight
and stop the #$%&*&$%## bean-counting!
Is it me or does anyone else agree that
Antonio Banderas has become a Latino caricature?
Did anyone catch his claws movements toward the
camera as he was entering the venue? I suppose he
was giving the Puss N' Boots gang sign.
"Million Dollar Baby" winner of Best Picture may seem
new to audiences today but other than a few rearrangements
it is warhorse material. Clint Eastwood likes to draw deep
into the well for his ideas. MDB invokes "The Champ"
while "Unforgiven" has a William S. Hart melodrama at its
core.
Mark
<mikeg...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1109605960.8...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
ChaneyFan
Lumet montage during his presentation?
My wife asked the same question and we decided (we think) that is is
the soundtrack from the movie CONTACT, but I would have to listen to it
again and compare to the movie to be sure.
Jon
mikeg...@gmail.com
new to audiences today but other than a few rearrangements
it is warhorse material. Clint Eastwood likes to draw deep
into the well for his ideas. MDB invokes "The Champ"
while "Unforgiven" has a William S. Hart melodrama at its
core.
My theory about Best Picture is that the award these days goes to
whichever movie seems most plausible as Best Picture of 1957. Thus in
the last decade or so we've had two westerns, three sword and sandal
epics, a boxing picture, a WWII romance, a musical, a Titanic movie, a
male version of The Three faces of Eve... a list, in short, that looks
far more like the typical moviegoing of when the Academy members were
children than it does of today.
That said, at least Eastwood's William S. Hart fetish is acknowledged
and knowledgable-- High Plains Drifter was as close to being an
outright remake of Hell's Hinges as was possible for the mid-70s.
Evelyn C. Leeper
Mark recognized it instantly as that--and he's *very* rarely wrong.
--
Evelyn C. Leeper
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
I found a kind of party terrorism pervading and oppressing
the minds of our best men. -James Garfield
Evelyn C. Leeper
> Is it me or does anyone else agree that
> Antonio Banderas has become a Latino caricature?
> Did anyone catch his claws movements toward the
> camera as he was entering the venue? I suppose he
> was giving the Puss N' Boots gang sign.
Jorge Drexler was apparently really put out by their using Banderas and
Santana to perform his song "Al Otro Lado del Rio" instead of Drexler,
since Drexler was there and had been the performer of the song in the
film. Which is why instead of a speech, he just sang as much of it as
his time would allow.
lokke...@yahoo.com
performance, after she got the Oscar for best supporting actor. Maybe
I was wrong. Maybe I was having a bad night when I saw her and thought
that Blanchett's acting ran from A to A prime, or something closer to a
Saturday Night Live skit. Then I talked to a friend of mine, someone
who has worked in films most of her life, and asked her about the
Oscars, and she said, "the only real terrible award was when they gave
Cate Blanchett the Oscar for playing Katherine Hepburn. It's a way of
giving Hepburn another Oscar and also also rehabilitating
Hepburn--making her warm and fuzzy and taking the cool starch out of
her."
So I'm sticking to my guns. Actors win Oscars by playing people with
physical disabilites, or by playing people who get the snot beat out of
them, or by playing people with physical disablities who get the snot
beat out of them ... or by playing famous people.
R H Draney
>
>So I'm sticking to my guns. Actors win Oscars by playing people with
>physical disabilites, or by playing people who get the snot beat out of
>them, or by playing people with physical disablities who get the snot
>beat out of them ... or by playing famous people.
Or all three at once, like Martin Landau (assuming heroin addiction is
considered a physical disability)....r
Stephen Cooke
On 2 Mar 2005 lokke...@yahoo.com wrote:
> I was having second thoughts about how I didn't like Cate Blanchett's
> performance, after she got the Oscar for best supporting actor. Maybe
> I was wrong. Maybe I was having a bad night when I saw her and thought
> that Blanchett's acting ran from A to A prime, or something closer to a
> Saturday Night Live skit. Then I talked to a friend of mine, someone
> who has worked in films most of her life, and asked her about the
> Oscars, and she said, "the only real terrible award was when they gave
> Cate Blanchett the Oscar for playing Katherine Hepburn. It's a way of
> giving Hepburn another Oscar and also also rehabilitating
> Hepburn--making her warm and fuzzy and taking the cool starch out of
> her."
I didn't pick Blanchett for that reason...I thought Sophie Okanedo would
get it for Hotel Rwanda...just because I thought the film deserved
*something*. I like Blanchett, and I think she did her best, but I think
it's impossible to try and play Hepburn without coming off like a
caricature, no matter how hard you try and dial it down. You're still
going to have echoes of Martin Short somewhere in the back of your head.
Even though Sophie was playing someone who existed in real life, she
seemed to be playing a full-blooded original character, created from whole
cloth, which is what good actors do best.
> So I'm sticking to my guns. Actors win Oscars by playing people with
> physical disabilites, or by playing people who get the snot beat out of
> them, or by playing people with physical disablities who get the snot
> beat out of them ... or by playing famous people.
Man...do I envy whoever gets to star in The Christopher Reeve Story.
swac
W. Lydecker
the actresses.
lokke...@yahoo.com
problems with the script.
The young man she falls for is such a cad, and so obviously a cad, that
we have to think she's delusional. I so much wanted something,
anything about him to make us understand her attraction. Even feeding
pigeons in the park would have been something. His only good point is
his seeming fascination with her, which isn't enough. Instead he just
gets caddier. Then when she gets even, by being a total bitch, then we
have no one left to root for, except as a revenge script, but we don't
have the emotional connection to make the revenge pay off.
What's more frustrating is I could smell the provenence of this script
a mile away ... Written as a "vehicle" for a woman of a certain age, it
completely revolves around making the lead character look good. Sold
as a vehicle script, bypassing certain roadblocks, produced and filmed
without attention to a few plot points that could have made it a much
better story. An example of how so many films today are product
placement, in this case middle-aged star actress product placement.
comed...@netzero.com
mikeg...@gmail.com wrote:
> In contrast to Foxx's overblown moment (which I agree was too
> calculated by far-- remember he also said something to set it up
about
> how he would probably cry, yeah, you and Jerry Lewis during the
> telethon)
Well, I think Jerry's emotions during the telethons are heartfelt. Why
wouldn't they be? He's very close to the cause, which is of course
more important than the Oscars.
PAUL FITZPATRICK
W. Lydecker
awe of you is enough.
R H Draney
>
>
>"Eric Grayson" <filmspam...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>news:070320051757385399%filmspam...@earthlink.net...
>> OTOH, Cate's Kate was not what I'd call amazing. It was OK, with good
>> moments and screechy ones.
>
>That's a pretty good description of Katherine Hepburn.
Not much screech on her, but what was there was cherce....r
George Shelps
>his is still outstanding for being one of
>the most uncanny I've seen for capturing
>a character.
Agreed. As a Lugosiphile who knew
at least one person who was close to
the Ed Wood circle, I concur.
(Off-topic, I thought Thomas Jane's
Mickey Mantle in Billy Crystal's
61* was also an uncanny capture)
Stavros Moschos
"R H Draney" <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
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