Catching Up with The Oscar Nominees

We spent much of this past weekend catching up on the movies that have been nominated for Best Picture of the Year by the Motion Picture Academy.  We saw three of them via the wonder of Streaming. Allow me to share my thoughts on them in the order in which we saw them.

"American Fiction" 

This movie found itself at the top of many critics' Ten Best lists for 2023, and it is a well deserved.  It tells the story of an African American writer, Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, played by Jeffrey Wright, who writes serious fiction and real novels.  However, he is having a hard time getting his newest novel published.  What is even more frustrating, the best seller lists are filled with novels by Black authors that are describing the "Black experience" in ways that White editors, publishers, and readers are just lapping up.  One night, Monk begins writing, as a lark, one such novel.  It is filled with gangstas, mutha-fuckers, thugs, and white cops beating up on Blacks.   And he writes it under a pen name, Stagg R. Lee, who is using the pseudonym because he is "an escaped fugitive", which only adds to the cachet of the novel.  Well, guess what happens?

His agent takes the manuscript, the publishers are fighting each other over it, and a Spielberg-type movie guy is willing to pay millions for the movie rights.  Funny complications ensue.

All of this takes place while Monk faces several family crises at the same time - the death of a family member, an aging parent slipping into the clutches of Alzheimer's Disease, and dealing with an estranged brother.

I would describe this as a "serious comedy."  The satirical nature of the movie is both smart and funny, and the family issues are relatable to all of us.

Four Stars from The Grandstander.

"Anatomy of a Fall"

German novelist Sandra, her French husband Samuel, and their eleven year old sone, Daniel, live in the French mountains near Grenoble, France.  She has been published, but he has a years long case of writer's block, and is now having to teach part time, all while working on renovating the attic of their home in order to turn it into a Bed & Breakfast to help with the finances.  Aside from Samuel's annoying habit of playing raucous techno music EXTREMELY LOUD and on a continuous loop while he works in the attic, all seems fairly normal with the family.

One day, though, Samuel winds up dead, the victim an accidental fall from that third floor attic window where he was working.  Before long, though, questions arise as to whether or not this fall was really an accident, and soon Sandra is arrested and put on trial for the murder of her husband.  What then ensues is a courtroom drama, and seeing the French court system in action was fascinating.  Flashbacks, investigations, a recorded conversation on a flash drive, and the testimony of eleven year old Daniel makes for a terrific movie. 

I was unfamiliar with any of the actors in this film, but I will give full props to Sandra Huller, who played Sandra.  She is nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, and if she wins it, it will not be an injustice.

Four Stars from The Grandstander.

"Maestro"

Or, as I prefer to call it, the "Bradley Cooper Vanity Project."

Cooper is certainly one of the better actors working in the movie biz these days, and he has proven himself to be a very good director, but this biopic of American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein has Oscar Bait written all over it and just screams of Cooper saying "Look at me acting and give me an Oscar!"  I guess he is getting his wish because he has been nominated for an Oscar in three different categories: Actor, Director, and Original Screenplay.

Which is not to say that he doesn't do a great job of portraying Bernstein.  He talks like him, looks like him, and man, oh man does he smoke like him.  That Bernstein lived to the age of 72 and didn't die of lung cancer is miraculous.   And a truly deserved Oscar nomination for Carey Mulligan, who I have never seen be anything less that great in anything, as Felicia Montealegre, Leonard Bernstein's wife.  Her scenes depicting her battles with cancer later in life were all too realistic, and were, speaking from my own personal experience, very difficult to watch.  Mulligan is also nominated for Best Actress, and, like the above mentioned Sandra Huller, she would be most deserving of the honor.

It's worth seeing, but be prepared for a LOT of Bradley Cooper acting.

Two and one-half Stars from The Grandstander.

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So, we have now seen seven of the ten Best Picture nominees, fifteen of the twenty acting nominees, three of the five directing nominees, and six of the ten screenwriting nominees.  Pretty good representation.  We are determined to see Past Lives, available on streaming, and Poor Things and The Zone of Interest, which are available only in theaters, but not showing anywhere currently in Pittsburgh, to my knowledge.  We want to see them before the Oscars are presented on March 10.

Of the seven Best Picture nominees that I have seen, here is how I currently rank them, if I were a voting member of the Academy:

1. Oppenheimer
2. The Holdovers
3. Anatomy of a Fall
4. Killers of the Flower Moon
5. American Fiction
6. Barbie
7. Maestro

This list will be updated as I see the other movies, and there will be my usual Oscars Prediction Post, too.  All my opinion, of course, and you know what is said about opinions and everybody having one.  

 

The Oscar Nominations

Some personal observations in the wake of the announcement of the Academy Award nominations earlier this week.

• The hue and cry from the general movie going public was the "snub" of Greta Gerwig, who did not receive a nomination for Best Director for "Little Women."  Personally, I am not remotely qualified to judge all of the movies and directors out there, but "Little Women" was one of the best movies that I saw last year, and I would have loved to see Ms. Gerwig snag a nomination, if not the Oscar itself.  Whether sexual politics were involved in the nominations is an argument that I will let others fight.
• I have seen four of the nine Best Picture nominees: "Ford v Ferrari", "The Irishman", "Little Women", and "Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood."  All are worthy nominees.  Of these four, my personal favorite was "Once....", and it would get my vote, although I would be delighted if "Little Women" grabbed the top prize.
• My thoughts on the five Best Picture noms I have not seen:
• "Jojo Rabbit" - A story where Hitler is played as comic imaginary friend, does not appeal to me, although enough people whose opinions I respect say don't let that turn me away from this one.  I may need to see this one.
• "Joker" - Everything that I have heard about this one tells me that it is just not my kind of movie.  Doubt that I will see this.
• "Marriage Story" - The story of a marriage falling apart.  A custody battle for the kid.  Oh, yeah, THAT'S something I want to see.  I am also told that it is writer/director Noah Baumbach's own personal story, so I want pay to see his self-therapy?  Mrs. Grandstander watched this and she said it was "okay", but she also said that she knows that I wouldn't like it.  I don't care how good the acting is, and I am sure that it is, I don't want to sit through her people's misery.
• "1917" - I am not drawn to this one, although I am intrigued by the idea of how it was shot in a series of long continuous takes.   I will probably check this out at some point.
• "Parasite" -  I am also not drawn to a foreign language film with subtitles, but, again, enough folks whose opinions I value say that this is really a good one, so I may try to catch the one.
• A big surprise was the lack of love shown by the Academy for "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood."  Its only nomination was for Tom Hanks for Best Supporting Actor.
• Speaking of Best Supporting Actor, that is the category that can best  be described as a true All-Star Ballot: Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, and Brad Pitt.  All have Oscars on their resumes (although's Pitt's is as a producer, not an actor).  The front runner for this one appears to be Pitt, and I hope that he does get the win.  
• No love for Robert De Niro for "The Irishman"????
• Scarlett Johansson get nominated for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.  When this has happened in the past, the actor usually snares the Supporting award.
• "The Irishman" garnered ten nominations, and it will be interesting how the Academy will treat this one since it is a Netflix production.  Will be there anti-Netflix, anti-Movies-made-primarily-for-streaming-services bias?  That will be an interesting storyline to follow.  (This applies to "Marriage Story"  and "The Two Popes" as well.)
• My guess is that the Best Director winner will be between two of Hollywood's darlings, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.  Two factors will tilt it towards Tarantino, I think.  One, the anti-Netfix factor against Scorsese, and two, Tarantino's movie as almost a love letter toward Hollywood, and Hollywood loves to honor itself, so QT finally gets his Best Director Oscar.
• The Best Actor/Actress categories seem to be fait accomplis  for Joaquin Phoenix ("Joker") and Renee Zellweger ("Judy").   Nominated for a fourth time, I would love to see Saoirse Ronan win her first Oscar, but it will be hard to top Zellweger's performance.
• The Academy could make up for Gerwig's Best Director snub by awarding her the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, although Steven Zallian could get this one as a way to honor "The Irishman".
• The Original Screenplay award could go to Tarantino if he doesn't get the Director Oscar for "Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood."  That has happened for him in the past ("Pulp Fiction" and "Django Unchained").
• Every year there is a movie that gets a ton of nominations in different categories but ends up getting shut out on Oscar night.  What will be that movie this year?  I fear that it could be "Little Women."

The Grandstander will put forth some official predictions as the night of the awards draws nearer.  In the meantime, a couple of plugs for my favorite movies of the year....

Oscars in the Rear View Mirror

Before giving you my annual Academy Awards predictions, I thought it might be fun to take a look back at what and who won Oscars ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and sixty years ago as the Motion Picture Academy prepares to anoint the Best of 2017.

I am only going as far back as 1957 because, well, I just didn't feel like going any further, but it's easy  enough to look this stuff up yourself if you are  so inclined.  Just click on this link:

http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org

I will give you the Best Picture and the four Acting Awardees.  I will also include that other Best Picture nominees, and you can decide for yourself if the Academy "got it right" in that particular year.

2007

Best Picture: "No Country for Old Men" over "Atonement", "Juno", "Michael Clayton", and "There Will Be Blood"

Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis

Actress - Marion Cotillard

Supporting Actor - Javier Bardem

Supporting Actress - Tilda Swinton

My $.02.  I got nothing for this year.  I must not have gone to the movies much in 2007.

1997

Best Picture: "Titanic" over "As Good As It Gets", "The Full Monty", "Good Will Hunting", and "L.A. Confidential"

My $.02 - "Titanic" was the right choice, but "L.A. Confidential" was pretty damn good, too.

Actor - Jack Nicholson

Actress - Helen Hunt

Supporting Actor - Robin Williams

Supporting Actress - Kim Bassinger

1987

Best Picture: "The Last Emperor" over "Broadcast News", "Fatal Attraction", "Hope and Glory", and "Moonstruck"

Actor - Michael Douglas

Actress - Cher

Supporting Actor - Sean Connery

Supporting Actress - Olympia Dukakis

My $.02 - Cher won for "Moonstruck" over Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction".  Are you kidding me????  And has anyone ever watched "The Last Emperor" a second time?

1977

Best Picture - "Annie Hall"  over "The Goodbye Girl", "Julia", "Star Wars", and "The Turning Point"

Actor - Richard Dreyfuss

Actress - Diane Keaton

Supporting Actor - Jason Robards

Supporting Actress - Vanessa Redgrave

My $.02 - The Academy rarely, if ever, rewards comedies, but this year two comedies were nominated for Best Picture, and the two lead acting awards went to actors in a comedy.  Also, while Annie Hall is one of my all-time favorites, you wonder if, in retrospect, Star Wars would have been a more deserving winner, considering all that it has spawned over the last forty years.  

1967

Best Picture - "In The Heat of the Night"  over "Bonnie and Clyde", "Dr. Doolittle", "The Graduate" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"

Actor - Rod Steiger

Actress - Katherine Hepburn

Supporting Actor - George Kennedy

Supporting Actress - Estelle Parsons

My $.02 - George Kennedy won for "Cool Hand Luke", but we all know that he should have won it several years later for playing Joe Patroni in "Airport".  Seriously, though, 1967 may just have been one of the greatest years ever for American motion pictures.  Please click on and read this post of mine from May 4, 2014 and see if you agree:

https://grandstander.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-movies-of-1967.html

1957

Best Picture - "Bridge on the River Kwai" over "12 Angry Men", "Peyton Place", "Sayonara", and "Witness for the Prosecution"

Actor - Alec Guiness

Actress - Joanne Woodward

Supporting Actor - Red Buttons

Supporting Actress - Miyoshi Umeki

My $.02 - "12 Angry Men" and "Witness for the Prosecution" are both great movies, but this year's winner, "Bridge on the River Kwai" was and remains an absolute masterpiece. It was on TCM just two nights ago and I watched it - again! - and was riveted by it - again!  It is one movie that never, and I mean never, gets old.  Alec Guiness was absolutely brilliant in this one, as were William Holden, Jack Hawkins, and Sessue Hayakawa.  If you have never seen this one, stop what you are doing RIGHT NOW and find some way to watch this one.

I didn't bother going list all of the other nominees for the Acting Awards, and that would make for far too lengthy a post, but as I said, you can look them up easily enough in the link I posted above, and you can have a lot of fun debating the merits of THOSE awards over the years as well.

And just to go back to the beginning, here are the Best Pictures for the previous years in these ten year cycle:

1947 - "Gentleman's Agreement"

1937 - "The Life of Emile Zola"

1927-28 - "Wings"  (the very first Best Picture winner!)

Coming later this weekend....The Grandstander's predictions for the Oscar winners of 2017.

Oscars Post-Mortem

So, they gave out the Oscars last night, and how can you write anything about it without focusing on the incredible screw-up at the end.

You know what happened: Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty announced "La La Land" as Best Picture, the "La La Land" folks were all on stage making their emotional acceptance speeches, they were then told that no, they had not won, that Beatty was given the wrong envelope, and that neither Dunaway nor he had the aplomb to realize the mistake, and stop the proceedings (I guess that actors really do need scripts), and that "Moonlight" was actually the Best Picture of 2016.

Everyone was quite gracious about it, but I do feel bad that the people from "Moonlight" were robbed of that magic moment of hearing their name called for the big prize.  How that all happened may never be fully known, but as the hoary old Hollywood cliche goes, someone is never going to work in that town again.

My thoughts on the rest of the night:

• The opening number by Justin Timberlake was dazzling and fantastic.  Nothing else for the rest of the show topped it.
• Host Jimmy Kimmel's nine minute opening monologue was also terrific.  He nailed it.  After that, all the host needs to do is to keep the show moving and stay out of the way, and Kimmel did that as well as anyone.  However, note to all future Oscars hosts: Stop with the jokes about how long the show is running.  Bob Hope was doing that sixty years ago, and it ceased being funny after the first five or six years he did it.  Enough already.
• After the Best Picture announcement snafu, Kimmel was also great in taking the blame for it.  "I just knew I was going to screw this up.  I know that I'll never be back here again."
• To borrow a baseball analogy, the pace of play of the show was moving quite well right up until Viola Davis' long, drawn out, and tearful acceptance speech.  She was the equivalent of a Jeff Locke 37 pitch first inning, to use another baseball analogy.
• Speaking of Davis, her Supporting Actress victory was the closest thing to a lead pipe cinch leading up to the night that were was.  So, was her sense of wonder, and  tearful, emotional speech sincere, or was she "acting"?
• The bit with the people from the tour bus was wonderful. 
• The bit with the movie candy parachutes was fun. Once.  Doing it twice was pushing it, and doing it a third time was REALLY pushing it.
• Best dress of the night: Amy Adams.
• The "Inspiration" bits were nice, but why only three of them?  Of course to do any more would have really dragged out the show.
• I didn't predict her win, but I am quite happy that Emma Stone won Best Actress Oscar.  She's just so damn cute.
• Denzel Washington sure didn't look happy what Casey Affleck was announced as Best Actor.
• Damien Chazelle, you've won a Best Director Oscar at age 32.  Now, go out and buy yourself a tux that actually fits you.  I know that "skinny suits" are the height of hipster fashion these days, but he absolutely could not have been comfortable in that thing he was wearing last night.

As happens quite often, a terrific movie with a passel of nominations gets shut out completely.  It happened with "The Martian" last year, and last night it happened with "Hidden Figures".  The test of time is what will really determine what the best picture of any given year is.  What movie will we all most likely want to pull off of the DVD shelf ten or fifteen years from now? "Moonlight", "La La Land", or "Hidden Figures"?  Or something else entirely?  I am betting that everyone of us has seen "Caddyshack" and "National Lampoon's Vacation" more than whatever movies won for Best Picture in the year that they were released.

Oh, about my predictions.  I broke even at 5-5.  In the categories of Actor, Supporting Actress, Director, Original Screenplay, and Documentary Feature, I believe I had that.  Missed out on Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, and Original Song.  So, it you bet with me, you didn't actually lose money.  However, no prediction season is a success if you whiff on the winner of Best Picture, and I haven't been right on that one since "Argo" five years ago.

The Winners!

Ali, Stone, Davis, Affleck

Oscars Thoughts and Predictions

I have been completely silent on the subject of the Academy Awards for a couple of reasons.  One, the nominations were announced when we were on vacation in Florida, so I was unable to strike while the iron was hot, as it were, and once we got back home, well, I just never found the time to do so.  Two, I have been unable to see all of the nominated performances, or even a lot of them, so I go on the theory that No Prediction is better than an Uniformed Prediction.

Still, what fun is that, so I've decided to blow some smoke anyway.  Here goes.

Nine films have been nominated for Best Picture.  I have seen four of them: "Hell or High Water", "Hidden Figures", "La La Land", and "Manchester by the Sea".  Of the remaining five, I do want to see "Fences", and I kinda sorta want to see "Arrival". "Hacksaw Ridge", "Lion", and "Moonlight" all fall into the category of "Didn't see it, don't wanna see it."

BEST PICTURE:  I am saying that the winner will come from among the four movies that I have seen.  If we used The Grandstander's standard of What Movie Am I Most Likely To Watch Again And Again Over The Years, then the winner would be "Hell or High Water" in a landslide, but I am going to call this one for another terrific movie, which is also one that I will watch more than once, "Hidden Figures".

ACTOR: Once again, I have only seen two of these nominees, Ryan Gosling and Casey Affleck.  I believe that it will come down as a race between Affleck and Denzel Washington.  Washington has already won two Oscars, but will he benefit from Hollywood reacting to last year's #oscarssowhite controversy?  Possibly, but I say that the Oscar this year goes to Casey Affleck.

ACTRESS: I have seen two nominated performances, Meryl Streep in "Florence Foster Jenkins", and Emma Stone in "La La Land".  I love them both, and both were great performances, but the buzz seems to be heaviest for Natalie Portman in "Jackie", and I say that Miss Portman takes home her second Oscar come Sunday night.

Supporting Actor: Again, only saw two of the five nominees, so this prediction is based solely on personal preference:  Jeff Bridges wins for "Hell or High Water".  Lucas Hedges, the kid in "Manchester by the Seas" was terrific, and I'd have no problem if he won, but Bridges was just SO good, and this award will be a way for Hollywood to honor this terrific movie.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Michelle Williams gave a wonderful performance in "Manchester By The Sea", but the one category that seems to be a slam dunk this year is a win for Viola Davis in Fences", so Davis it is.

DIRECTOR: "La La Land" was everybody's darling to sweep the Oscars this year, but in recent months, it has been hit with a strange and bitchy sort of Hollywood backlash.  I mean, have you read some of those "this movie really stinks" types of stories?  Unfair, but I think it will hurt the the movie, Ryan Gosling, and Emma Stone in the voting. However, Hollywood will honor this movie by naming Damien Chazelle as Best Director.

ORIGINAL SONG: The Oscar goes to "How Far I'll Go" from the movie "Moana" written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda.  Why? Because it was written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and at the age of 37, Miranda will now have achieved an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), plus a Pulitzer Prize.  It's good to be Lin-Manuel Miranda.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:  Never made a prediction in this category before, but what the hell, I am calling for Ezra Edelman's amazing five part, seven and one-half hour documentary, "O.J. Made In America" to win the Oscar.

And here are two more predictions for you.  Strictly semi-educated guesses on my part:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Kenneth Lonergan, "Manchester By The Sea".

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: August Wilson, "Fences.

There you go.  Ten predictions will make it easy to calculate my winning percentage.  As always....Watch, But Don't Bet.

"Spotlight" - I Believe I Had That....and Other Oscars Thoughts

Your Best Picture of the Year, and as predicted by The Grandstander, "Spotlight".  Terrific movie and a deserving winner, and I am glad that it won.

Indulge me while I boast a bit about my Oscars Predictions.  As seen in this space yesterday, I made predictions in nine categories, and was correct in six of them, including the biggie, Best Picture of the Year.  Doesn't always work out that way, but I had it going for me this year, it seems.  For the record, I missed on Adapted Screenplay, Director, and Supporting Actor.

Some other Oscars observations....

• The elephant in the room, the #OscarsSoWhite issue, was capably addressed by Chris Rock in his opening monologue.  Then, as often happens in such events, it was beat to death throughout the show.  As NPR's Scott Simon observed on Facebook, as soon as the issue became a comic prop, the message became hopelessly diluted.
• Chris Rock did what a host has to do....a good opening, then he kept the traffic moving.  His comic bits were okay. I thought that his interviewing movie goers in Compton was pretty funny.  As for the Girl Scout cookie bit, cute, and if they REALLY sold $65,000 with of cookies in that auditorium, then too many people were walking around with too much cash in their pockets.
• I thought the speeches of the four acting winners were well done.  Classy.
• For the second year in a row, the single best performance  on stage was turned in by Lady Gaga.
• Fashion trend - women wearing over sized eyeglasses with very dark frames.  It's not a bad look.
• Another fashion note - Best dress of the night was that backless number worn by Rachel McAdams.  Gorgeous.

• Final fashion note.  What was up with Kate Winslett's hair?
• "Max Max: Fury Road".  Six Oscars.  Really?  As my friend Dan Bonk observed, they could give it a thousand Oscars, and I'm still not going to go see it.
• I've said it before and I'll say it again, they need to ditch the Oscar for Best Original Song.  All it does is eat up a lot of time during the telecast.  In fact, the nominated songs were so mediocre (to be kind), that only three of them were actually performed during the show, thank God.

I will close by saying that two of the best movies that I saw all year, "The Martian" and "Brooklyn" received no love at all from the Academy.  Multiple nominations, zero Oscars. It's to bad, but it happens.  I sometimes like to go back and look at past Oscars Awards for any given year.  It is interesting to see that sometimes movies that win big, become quickly forgotten, while the movies that they beat are still being watched and loved by audiences.  For example, in 1995 and 1997 "Forrest Gump" and "The English Patient" beat out, respectively, "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Fargo".  Of those four movies, which two would you rather watch today?  Twenty years from now, when people look back on the 2015 movie year, I am guessing that they will still want to watch "Spotlight", "The Martian", "Brooklyn", and "Bridge of Spies".  Those same historians may be scratching their heads over "Mad Max" and "The Revenant".  Time will be the ultimate judge of what the Best Movies of 2015 were, and I think that this year, the Academy got it right for the most part.

As for me, I am looking forward to watching my newly purchased Blue-Ray of "Spotlight", perhaps as early as this afternoon.

Old Movie Review - "Separate Tables" (1958)

Last month I set my DVR to Turner Classic Movies showing of the 1958 drama, "Separate Tables", mainly due to the fact that this movie took down two acting Oscars, David Niven for Best Actor and Wendy Hiller for Best Supporting Actress, and I finally got around to watching it yesterday.

The story takes place in a second rate seaside hotel/boarding house, run by Hiller, and it centers around the goings on of the characters who are residing there.  Niven plays a retired British Army officer, who is soon exposed as a somewhat unsavory person whose foibles are soon exposed, much to the chagrin of Deborah Kerr, the mousey spinster who pines for him but who is heavily influenced by her domineering mother.  The other story line involves an American ne'er do well played by Burt Lancaster, who is engaged to Hiller, but whose life gets complicated when his glamorous ex-wife, played by Rita Hayworth, suddenly shows up at the hotel.

Sound soap-opera-ish to you?  Well, yeah, it sort of is, but the movie (and the play upon which it is based) does address several issues of a sexual nature that must have seemed fairly shocking at the time of its release, and any movie with two Oscar winners in it, plus the always terrific Lancaster, is well worth watching.  In addition to the two acting awards, "Separate Tables" was nominated for five other Oscars, including Best Picture (it lost out to "Gigi").

David Niven was really quite good in it as the stiff-upper-lipped Brit, and he should really be proud of that Oscar win because here were the other nominees of 1958 whom he beat out for the Academy Award - Spencer Tracy, "Old Man and the Sea", Paul Newman, "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof", and Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis, both in "The Defiant Ones".  That is a list of Hollywood royalty right there.

As is usually he case, TCM host Robert Osbourne had the following interesting "inside" dope about this movie.  The play by Terrence Rattigan upon which it is based was actually two one act plays that centered on the two story lines, the one with Niven and Kerr and the one with Lancaster and Hayworth.  When performed on stage, two actors played both parts in the separate acts of the play.  The studio wanted to do the same thing with the movie using then husband and wife team of Sir Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh in the roles.  However, one of producers of the movie was none other than Burt Lancaster, and he wanted the role he eventually played.  When push came to shove, the Oliviers were out, and Niven, Kerr, Lancaster, and Hayworth were in.  The rest, as they say, is history.

"Birdman" Soars on Oscar Night

The big winner at the Academy Awards last night was, of course, "Birdman".  Winning four biggies - Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Director, and the biggest of all, Best Picture.

We finally saw "Birdman" on Saturday night through the magic of OnDemand. It was interesting, and it certainly was different, filmed in a unique manner, and the performances by the actors were quite good, but Best Picture?  I'm not so sure.

Of course, as I mentioned in a post the other day, I had only seen two other of the Best Picture nominees, "Grand Budapest Hotel" and "The Imitation Game", so who am I to offer a judgement of the relative merits of "Birdman" compared to the other seven nominees, but here's one yardstick that I use in judging a movie: How likely am I to  watch this movie over and over again as the years roll by?  Using that standard, I can honestly say that I will probably watch "The Imitation Game" several times as we go forward, but I am not sure if I will ever go out of my way to see "Birdman" again. Once was enough.

(Interestingly enough, I made a Facebook post on Saturday night expressing these sentiments about "Birdman", and it generated a moderate number of comments, about 75% of them leaning towards my point of view, for whatever that might be worth.)

The Oscar winning director of this movie, Alejandro Inarritu, in accepting his award, said, and I am paraphrasing here, that the test of time will be the ultimate judge of what the Best Movie of 2014 really was, but for this moment in time, it's "Birdman", so congratulations to all concerned.

A note on that "test of time" notion.  The Best Pictures of 1995 and 1997 were "Forrest Gump" and "The English Patient".  In those years, two of the movies that "lost" the Oscar were "Shawshank Redemption" in 1995 and "Fargo" in 1997. Of those four movies, which two would you rather watch if given the choice today?

As for the Oscar show itself....

• I thought Neil Patrick Harris did a good job as host.  After the opening number, the host's job is to just keep things moving and introduce the next presenters.  I thought his opening number was quite good, and he did as much as can be expected in his role as traffic cop in keeping the show moving.
• Even thought I didn't see their performances - yet - I was glad to see Julianne Moore, Patricia Arquette, and J.K Simmons take home the Oscar.
• I am sure that Eddie Redmayne was deserving of his Best Actor Oscar, but I was sorry to see that Pittsburgh guy Michael Keaton did not get the nod.  One question to which we may never know the answer - if he had won, would Keaton have taken the gum out of his mouth that he was chewing all evening when he made his acceptance speech?
• How awesome was Lady Gaga in that "Sound of Music" tribute?  People have long said that Lady Gaga is not a gimmick, but a serious musical talent, and she proved it last night.  Tremendous performance. 
• And having Julie Andrews come out right after that number was terrific, perhaps the best moment of the night.
• How about John Travolta?  He was good sport in taking a beating for his mispronunciation of Idina Menzel's name last year, but WHAT HAS HE DONE TO HIMSELF?  Another Hollywood poster boy for Plastic Surgery Gone Wrong.
• The Neil Patrick Harris "Oscar Predictions in a Locked Briefcase" gimmick went on way too long, perhaps, but, tell me, how exactly did they do that?

I will conclude with another comment on "Birdman".  One thing I did like about it was seeing the divide that exists between Broadway and Hollywood, and the perception among actors and critics as to which is the "more important" art form.  In one scene, the New York Times critic contemptuously tells Riggan Thomson (Keaton) that "you're not an actor; you're a celebrity".  Great line, but not a new one.  In the fabulous 1982 movie "My Favorite Year" screen star Alan Swan, played by Peter O'Toole, has an anxiety attack when he realizes that he will be appearing on LIVE television. In the course of his panic he screams out, "I'm not an actor, I'm a movie star."  One of the great lines in movie that as full of them.

Oscar Thoughts

Regular readers may have noticed that I have been silent on this year's Academy Awards, and, in fact, I am much more detached from the ceremonies this year than in past years.  There are couple of reasons for that.  

First, the announcement of the nominations came out when we were on our vacation in Hawaii last month, so I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention.

Secondly, and more to the point, I have seen very few of the nominated movies and performances this year.  I have seen only two of the Best Picture nominees, "Grand Budapest Hotel" and "The Imitation Game", only three of the ten acting nominees, Benedict Cumberbatch,  Rosamund Pike, and Kiera Knightly, and only one of the movies with a Best Director nomination, "Grand Budapest Hotel" for Wes Anderson.  Based upon what I have read, none of these nominees will take home an Oscar tomorrow.

So, going on the theory that an uninformed opinion is worse than no opinion at all, I am going to forgo my traditional Oscar Predictions this year.  Be still your hearts.

I will be watching the show tomorrow, and I will be pulling for Michael Keaton ("Pittsburgh's and Montour High School's own!") to win the Best Actor Award, and I will no doubt have some thoughts on the whole proceedings come Monday.

The Movies of 1967

When the Pirates fell behind 6-2 against the Blue Jays last night, I disgustingly switched channels to Turner Classic Movies and watched the Best Picture Oscar winner of 1968 (for movies released in 1967), Norman Jewison's "In The Heat of the Night", starring Sidney Poitier and Best Actor winner Rod Steiger.

 

A terrific movie in 1967 when it was released and still a terrific movie in 2014.  Some classic lines...."They call me MISTER Tibbs" and "I've got the motive which is money and the body which is dead"....just a great story with some terrific performances all around.

When the movie, which was shown as part of TCM's "The Essentials" series concluded, co-hosts Robert Osborne and Drew Barrymore spoke about what a watershed year 1967 was for motion pictures and that this was symbolized by the Academy Awards that year.  That prompted me to do a little research.  In addition to "Heat" the other Best Picture nominees were....

"Bonnie and Clyde" 

"Doctor Doolittle" 

"The Graduate" 

"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" 

From the vantage point of 2014, the only outlier among these nominations was "Doctor Doolittle", which no one talks about much today, but the other four were all amazing movies, still relevant today and still considered among the best movies ever made.

And it didn't stop there.  Steiger took home the Oscar for Best Actor, but his competition included Warren Beatty for "Bonnie and Clyde", Dustin Hoffman for "The Graduate", Paul Newman for "Cool Hand Luke", and Spencer Tracy for "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". How's that for an all-star ballot?

Katherine Hepburn won for Best Actress for  "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", and her competition was Anne Bancroft for "The Graduate",  Faye Dunaway for "Bonnie and Clyde", Dame Edith Evans for "The Whisperers", and Audrey Hepburn for "Wait Until Dark".  Again, another all-star ballot.

Mike Nichols took home the Best Director Oscar for "The Graduate" by beating out this Who's Who among movie directors: Arthur Penn, "Bonnie and Clyde", Stanley Kramer, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", Richard Brooks, "In Cold Blood", and Norman Jewison, "In the Heat of the Night".

And consider this.  Sidney Poitier, who was NOT nominated for any acting award, starred in two of these great movies, "In the Heat of the Night" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", AND he starred in a third big hit movie of 1967, "To Sir With Love".  Talk about a body of work in one year!

I am sure that film buffs out there could probably come up with a year that was equal to or greater than 1967, but it won't be easy.  

Post-script:  "In the Heat of the Night" ended on TCM in time for me to switch back to the Pirates game in time for me to see the Pirates rally for two runs in the eight inning and beat Toronto, 8-6.  Perfect ending!

Post Oscar Thoughts

The 86th Academy Awards are now history.  My thoughts and comments.....

• If you go by the numbers, "Gravity", with seven Oscars, was the big winner, but those were all in technical categories but for one, Alphonso Cuaron for Best Director.  The BIG winner, any way you slice it, was "12 Years a Slave" which won for Best Picture, Supporting Actress, and Adapted Screenplay.
• I have not seen "12 Years a Slave", and I am not sure that I have the fortitude to sit through what I know is a very intense and disturbing story.  I suppose that I will make the effort to see this on DVD at some point, but seeing man's inhumanity to man is not my cup of tea.
• I do look forward to seeing "Dallas Buyers Club" to catch the Oscar winning performances of Matthew McConaughey and Jarred Leto.
• One of the big stories of the night was the complete shutout tossed at "American Hustle".  That was a "wow", in my opinion.
• For the most part, the acceptance speeches were short and gracious. One big exception - the performance by the husband-and-wife songwriters who won for Best Original Song.  Talk about an ego driven hey-look-at-us moment.
• I loved Ellen DeGeneres as hostess of the show.  She was funny and transitioned between presenters well.  I even liked her shtick - taking selfies and having pizza delivered - although that no doubt rankled people who take these things way too seriously.
• I thought the show itself moved quickly enough and was entertaining. 
• Enjoyed all four performances of the Best Song nominees.
• I am no fan of the movie "Wizard of Oz", but the song from it, Over the Rainbow, is simply the best song from a movie ever, and Pink's rendition during the Wizard Tribute was great.
• Always enjoy, if that's the right word for it, the "In Memoriam" feature that they do.  I had it wrong.  I figured the last person to be featured, and thus get the long lingering shot, would be Shirley Temple.  Instead, it was Philip Seymour Hoffman, and I have no problem with that.
• Anybody else note how many of The Grandstander's Absent Friends were included on that tribute?
• Loved the shout out that Bill Murray snuck in for Harold Ramis when he was presenting.  Well deserved, but he'll probably get his wrist slapped by the Academy for going off script and doing it.
• The there was an interesting Oscar-contest-within-the-contest-award for Most Horrifying Plastic Surgery.  Despite strong efforts from Goldie Hawn and John Travolta, the Award went easily to 81 year old Kim Novak, and it wasn't even a fair fight.
• It's always neat to see so many big movie stars in one place, but I was also struck by who was NOT there last night.  Perennial stars and attendees - and past Oscar winners - Jack Nicholson, Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, and Michael Douglas weren't there, but the two biggest absences were George Clooney and Tom Hanks.  What do you think the deal was with that?  
• In the case of Hanks, I can hazard a guess as to why he decided not to be there.
• Non-winners Martin Scorsese and Sandra Bullock seemed to take their losses the hardest judging by the looks on their faces.

As for my predictions, I had a not-good-not-bad record of 6-4.  I got all four acting awards and the Best Director right, but I missed on the song, both screenplay awards, and Best Picture.  When you miss on the Best Picture, you can't say you had a good night.

I will frame this whole thing by saying that in warming up for the Oscar show, I spent yesterday afternoon watching "Bridge on the River Kwai" on Turner Classic Movies".  This movie won seven Oscars in 1957 including Oscars for Picture, Actor, Director, and Screenplay.  I don't know how many times I have watched this movie over the years, and yesterday afternoon, I found it to be as compelling, suspenseful, and entertaining, if not more so, than it was the very first time I saw it.  I wonder if, fifty-seven years from now, movie watchers will be able to say the same thing about "12 Years a Slave", "Gravity", or any of the other seven movies nominated for Best Picture last night.