"Parasite" and Other Oscars Thoughts

The surprising, or maybe not-so-surprising, sweep by the South Korean film "Parasite" at the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday night (in case you missed it, "Parasite" won four Oscars: Best Picture, Best International Film, and Bong Joon Ho won for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay) prompted me to finally get around to watching the movie last night.  My pal Dan Houston said that this was a movie that, more than almost any other movie he saw, stayed with him and made him think for a long time after he saw it, and I agree.  It hasn't been a full twenty-four hours since I saw it, and I most certainly am still thinking about it, and it will stay with me for some time, I'm sure.

Friend and neighbor Barbara asked me on Facebook last night "What is it about?"   A question with a lot of answers. It's about a family of con artists. It's about class distinctions in South Korean society, and the vast differences between the rich and the poor, distinctions that certainly exist in these United States as well.  It's about  desperation and longing for a better life.  It's about the cluelessness of the upper classes to the society around them.

It's about all of those things and it is told in a very interesting manner.  In the beginning, it's almost a comedy as we see a family of con artists worm their way into the household and take advantage of a wealthy family.  There are laughs to be had there, no doubt about it.  Soon however, things take a dark turn, and then an even darker turn after that.  Call it a Tarantino-esque turn of events.  Director Bong Joon Ho definitely pays an homage to Quentin Tarantino, whether intentionally or not, I don't know, as "Parasite" winds to a startling conclusion.

I don't want to give away anything else, but I will tell you that this is a movie worth seeing.  And don't let the subtitles scare you away.  Within the first five minutes, you won't even think about the fact that you are reading them. 

Do I think it was the Best Movie of the year?  No, my vote still goes to "Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood", but I am not going to say that "Parasite" was an undeserving winner, either.

Three and One-Half Stars from The Grandstander.

*********

Some other thoughts on the Oscars......

• The Academy spread the honors around.  In spite of "Parasite" winning the four big awards other movies got their beaks wet as well.  "1917" won three, "Once Upon A Time ..In Hollywood", "Joker", and "Ford v Ferrari" won two each, and "Little Women" and "Jojo Rabbit" took home one each, so that was nice.  The fact that "Parasite" beat out an All-Star Ballot of other really, really good movies for Best Picture is yet another tribute to it

• As always seems to happen, one heavily hyped movie gets shut out on Oscar night.  This year it was "The Irishman."  Ten nominations, Zero wins.  One has to wonder if this was about the film's artistic merits relative to the competition, or was some anti-Netfilx backlash involved in these outcomes?
• The Oscars remain an important event, and it is the one awards show that I will always watch, but I have to admit that as a television show...Meh.  Every year the Producers of the show promise that this year  it will be better, different, and more entertaining, but for the most part, it never is.
• I'm glad that it opened with that Steve Martin/Chris Rock monologue.  That was funny.  After that, I didn't miss the absence of a nominal "Host" for the show with one exception.  As I get older, more of the actors and performers on the show are unrecognizable to me.  Could a voice over announcer telling us who is coming out there, or maybe puting the names on screen as they come out be too much to ask?
• Speaking of performers, what was with the Eminem bit?  I read that when Marshall Mathers and his movie "8 Mile" won Oscars in 2003 for Best Music and Best Original Song, he was a no show at the ceremony.  So why the make-up do-over now, in 2020? His performance of "Lose Yourself" on Sunday was certainly dynamic, and the audience, except for Martin Scorsese, seemed to love it.  (The shot of the stone-faced Scorsese during this was one of the high points of the telecast!)  I liked it, but, again, why was it presented on this year's telecast?
• Tom Hanks was called upon to read a bit about the Motion Picture Academy's new museum that will open to the public later this year.  Did you notice how he ended his talk?  As he was walking away from the mic, he said "I am Spartacus."  Leave it to Tom Hanks to make an absolutely perfect tribute to Kirk Douglas, who died a few days before the ceremony.
• As for notable presenters, the only ones that stick out two days after the fact, were the bit that Maya Rudolph and Kristin Wiig did and James Cordon and Rebel Wilson 's self-deprecating one in their "Cats" costumes.
• To be sure, it was fun seeing Elton John perform, but I continue to maintain that the telecast would be improved if they didn't bother performing all five of the nominated Original Song nominees.

• Bung Jong Ho was called to the stage four times to accept the various awards that he and his film won.  As he spoke through his  interpreter, he came across to me, anyway, as an engaging and very sincere  guy, so, good for him and his successes.
• As for prediction, I went 4-4 on Sunday.  I missed on Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, and Adapted Screenplay.  I hit on all of the Acting awards, but none of them - none! - were a surprise.  All went according to chalk, which certainly contributes to a less than exciting telecast.  As always, I present  a tribute to the four acting winners....

Brad Pitt, Laura Dern, Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger

As they say in the movie biz, that's a wrap until next year.

"Miss Saigon"

Show Number Four of the 2019-20 "Broadway in Pittsburgh" series arrived this week, and last night we attended "Miss Saigon."  This show debuted in London in 1989 and on Broadway in 1991.  It has been revived in recent years and is touring nationally once again.

Based on the Pucini opera "Madame Butterfly", it tells the story of life in a Vietnamese brothel, run by an incredibly sleazy character known as The Engineer, in 1975, just before the fall of Saigon that ended the war in Viet Nam.  An American Marine, Chris, visits the establishment one night and falls in love with a seventeen year old orphan girl, Kim,  just recruited off of the streets by The Engineer.  

Saigon falls, the Americans evacuate by helicopter, which is depicted by a simply breathtaking bit of stagecraft, and, alas, Kim is unable to gain access to the American embassy and leave with Chris.  

Flash forward three years to a reunified Viet Nam, Chris is back in America and happily married, although he still has nightmares about his time in Viet Nam, The Engineer has seemingly been "re-educated" by his Vietnamese captors, and Kim is working as a bar girl in Bangkok, and, oh, yes, she has a three year old son by Chris.

I have really oversimplified the plot line here, but let me assure you that seeing this show was an incredibly powerful experience.  A large and incredibly talented cast (as they always are in the Broadway Series) and very moving and emotional songs and performances.   This is one that will stay with you for awhile after seeing it.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

I know that when this show first toured, we saw it in Pittsburgh.  This would have been in 1992 or 1993.  However, in spite of how I just said that it was show that "will stay with you", my only memory of seeing it back than was the scene with the helicopter.  As I watched this show unfold last night, I had absolutely no memory of its storyline.  Funny how that is.  Perhaps an almost thirty years younger Grandstander just wasn't emotionally equipped to handle a tale as complex as "Miss Saigon" back then.  Maybe I've grown up a bit over the years.

Four shows into this season, here are my rankings of the shows thus far:

1. A Bronx Tale
2. Miss Saigon
3. Jesus Christ Superstar
4. Mean Girls 

It's Oscar Time!!

I needn't tell you that this coming Sunday night is that annual night when Hollywood congratulates and pats itself on the back - Academy Awards Night.  For all the self-congratulatory b.s. that takes place on that night, it is still the "Granddaddy of All Awards Shows", and it is the one such show that I will watch from beginning to end.

As I have done in past years, I will offer you my predictions for the winners in eight categories. The number in the parenthesis is the number of the nominees in the category that I have actually seen.  Actually, all of the various awards shows leading up to the Oscars (Golden Globes, SAG, PGA, DGA) serve as indicators of how the Academy will vote.  It makes predicting these rather simple (sometimes), and it often leads to a dull and predictable Oscar show, but what the hell. You never know when a Jack Palance will do one armed push-ups on stage, or whether or not Warren Beatty will open the wrong envelope, so you gotta watch anyway.

Here goes....

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (2) - I'm calling this for Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood, as this will be a way to honor him if they don't award him the Director Oscar (as has happened to him twice in the past).  Dark horses in this one: Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns for 1917 and Rain Johnson for Knives Out.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (4) - Greta Gerwig for Little Women.  A way to make up for snubbing her for a Best Director nomination.

DIRECTOR (4) - I think this comes down to either Tarantino or Sam Mendes for 1917.  Mendes has won all the significant awards leading up to this point, but I think that Hollywood will honor a movie that is, essentially, about Hollywood itself and give one of their favorites his first Oscar in this category, so I'm calling this one for Quentin Tarantino.

SUPPORTING ACTOR (5) - In a category that is loaded with Oscar winners (Hanks, Hopkins, Pacino, and Pesci), Brad Pitt, who has won as a Producer, gets his first Acting Oscar for Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS (1) - Thus is the category that I am least qualified to judge, so I am only going by what the previous awards' tea leaves spell out: Laura Dern wins for Marriage Story.

ACTOR (3) - This one seems to be a slam dunk for Joaquin Phoenix for Joker.  He played a loathsome character in a loathsome movie (at least to me), but he played it extremely well, so his victory seems inexorable.

ACTRESS (2) - I have to say that I would love to see my favorite young actress Saoirse Ronan win for Little Women, but I cannot deny that Renee Zellweger's portrayal of Judy Garland in Judy is fully deserving of the Oscar that she will win on Sunday night.

PICTURE (6 of the nine nominees) - The movie Joker received the most overall nominations this year with eleven, and I have to say that I just can't see it.  I found it to be an ugly and grim movie, but, as my pal Bill Montrose used to say, what the hell do I know?  My Number One and Two favorite movies of the year were Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood and Little Women, and I would be delighted if either of those movies took home the Best Picture Award.  However, every indicator seems to say that 1917 will take home the grand prize this year, so that is my prediction as well.  It's not my choice, but it will not be an undeserving winner, either.

So there you go.  As always, watch, but don't bet.

Oh, and I have also done in event years, let me stir up some memories by looking back at past Oscar winners in ten year intervals (Best Picture, Actor, Actress)

2009

The Hurt Locker

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

1999

American Beauty

Kevin Spacey, American Beauty

Hillary Swank, Boys Don't Cry

1989

Driving Miss Daisy

Daniel Day-Lewis, My Left Foot

Jessica Tandy, Driving Miss Daisy

1979

Kramer vs. Kramer

Dustin Hoffman, Kramer v. Kramer

Sally Field, Norma Rae

1969

Midnight Cowboy

John Wayne, True Grit

Maggie Smith, The Prime of Miss Jean Brody

1959

Ben-Hur

Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur

Simone Signoret, Room At The Top

1949

All the King's Men

Broderick Crawford, All The King's Men

Olivia de Havilland, The Heiress

1939

Gone With the Wind

Robert Donat, Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Vivian Leigh, Gone With the Wind

1929

The Broadway Melody

Warner Baxter, The Cisco Kid

Mary Pickford, Coquette

To Absent Friends - Kirk Douglas

Actor Kirk Douglas died yesterday at the age of 103, and if anyone can be said to have had a good run, it was Kirk Douglas.  As the Associated Press obituary put it, his life spanned almost the entire history of the motion picture business.  His profile in IMDB lists 95 acting credits for Douglas, the first one dating back to 1946.  He was a three time Academy Award nominee, but never a winner, although he was given a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 1996.

I will only cite two of my favorite of Douglas' movies for this piece. 

In Billy Wilder's 1951 "Ace in the Hole", Douglas played a reporter for a second rate newspaper who created what we would today call a "media circus" with tragic results when a man was trapped in a mine in a small backwater western town.  Many film historians cite Douglas' role in this movie as a classic case of when the Oscars "got it wrong" by not even nominating Douglas for this great performance.

In "Seven Days in May" (1964; directed by John Frankenheimer), Douglas played a high ranking military officer who became aware of a military coup to overthrow the President that was being plotted by megalomaniac Army General Burt Lancaster.  Douglas was torn between loyalty to his friend, or loyalty to the US Constitution.  He was terrific in this one, as were Lancaster and Frederic March.

There are dozens of other great movies that comprise the legacy of Kirk Douglas - "Spartacus", "Gunfight at the OK Corral", "Lust for Life", and "Paths of Glory" to name only a few.  However, one of Douglas greatest achievements was his willingness to stand up to the demagoguery that was McCarthyism and the shameful "Hollywood Black List" that it produced when he brought writer Dalton Trumbo out of the shadows of the blacklist, enlisted him to write the screenplay for "Spartacus" and gave Trumbo full on-screen credit for his work on that movie.  Not an easy thing for a then young actor to have done in that day, and Douglas deserves credit for doing that, as much as for any performance he ever gave.

RIP Kirk Douglas.

Now THIS is what a Movie Star

should look like!

Chiefs Win!

When the Chiefs took possession of the ball deep in their own territory with about eight minutes remaining in the game and trailing San Francisco 20-10, Joe Buck made the comment "Well, the Chiefs have the 49'ers right where they want them", referring to how the Chiefs had come back from double digit deficits in their prior two playoff wins.  It was a throwaway line for a cheap chuckle, but it seems that everybody's favorite play-by-play guy Buck was rather prescient, as the Chiefs proceeded to score a TD, force a three and out by San Francisco, score another TD, force the Niners to turn it over on downs, and then score another TD.  Presto change, a 10-20 deficit was now a 31-20 lead for Kansas City.  All in the space of about five or six minutes of game time.  It was pretty amazing as you watched it unfold.

In case you missed it, my Grandstander prediction post on Saturday ended with these words: 

"Oh, yeah, the Chiefs to win it in a high scoring affair.  An MVP for Mahomes, and good Guy Andy Reid finally gets a win in the Big One."

I believe I had that!

Some other quick comments.....

Mahomes was not as sharp and spectacular as we have become used to seeing.  He was off target early, and he did throw two interceptions, but then there were those final eight minutes.  It reminded me of John Facenda's line about the Steelers in the Super Bowl IV highlight film.  Allow me to paraphrase.....(imagine Facenda's Voice-of-God tones with NFL Films music playing in background) "Patrick Mahomes wasn't always great.  He was only great when he had to be."

Commercials.  To be honest, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention.  I liked the "Pahk the Cah" commercial for some self-parking car.  I didn't realize until I read in the paper this morning that Molly Ringwald was in the avocado commercial (need to look that one up).  It seems that MC Hammer is going to finance his entire retirement by playing the washed-up, forgotten, 15-minutes-of-fame guy in Super Bowl commercials; nice work if you can get it.

After watching Shakira bumping-and-grinding and J-Lo pole dancing, I made the following comment on Facebook:  "Next year the NFL should just hire fifty or so people from the porn film industry and let them have at it on the stage for the half-time show."  Four seconds of Janet Jackson's exposed bosom seems so long ago...and so innocent!

The Chiefs not only won the game, but they easily covered the 1.5 point spread, which gave me a winning ticket.  In football wager that I made at the Rivers Casino this football season, I finished with a record of 27-18, a winning percentage .600.  If only those wagers were for $500 or $1,000 each, instead of my usual five or ten bucks (twenty on the Super Bowl!), I'd be leaving for Hawaii tomorrow morning.  It was a fun experience making these legalized wagers throughout the season.  It certainly added to my interest in many of the games, even with my penny ante wagers.  I'll look forward to doing it again come next season, although I am under no illusions that I will be able to duplicate such successes come 2020.

Despite the travails of the Steelers this year, I cannot recall enjoying a football season quite as much as I enjoyed this one.  I will miss it now that it is over.  True, the XFL opens up this coming weekend, and I suppose that I will give it a shot, but, C'MON, MAN, I have no high expectations for that.

I will end this post as I usually end my Super Bowl wrap-up posts.....Pirates pitchers and catchers report in nine days!!

To Absent Friends - Bob Shane

Bob Shane

1934 - 2020

The Original Kingston Trio

Nick Guard, Shane, Nick Reynolds

(Guard died in 1991, Reynolds in 2008)

When my friend Dan told me about the passing of Bob Shane, 85, the last surviving member of the original Kingston Trio, he asked if this would deserve an Absent Friends post.  I was ambivalent at first, but I feel the need to do so after reading the lengthy obituary for Shane that appeared in the New York Times.  Have I even mentioned that the news obituaries in papers like the times and the Washington Post are often the most interesting reading in the papers?

Shane, along with Nick Reynolds and Nick Guard formed the original Kingston Trio in 1957 and for a period of about six or seven years, they were about as big as anybody in the world of popular music.  They had fourteen albums appear in Billboard Magazine's Top Ten, and five of them reached Number One status.

Record executives categorized them as "folk singers" although the Trio's breezy style was looked down upon but folk "purists" such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.  On the other hand, it can be said that the popularity of the Kingston Trio opened the doors and pave d the way for 1960's folk singers such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul, and Mary.  Shane always thought that the Trio was more than just folk, anyway, and wasn't all that comfortable with being pigeonholed as pure "folk singers."

Nevertheless, they rode their successes, and like many American pop music acts, the British Invasion led by The Beatles and other groups steamrolled over them, and the original Trio was pretty much out of business by 1967.

Here's a Fun Fact That I Did Not Know:  In 1961, a song writer named Ervin Drake wrote a song for the Trio called "It Was A Very Good Year", and the Trio, with Shane as lead vocalist, sang the song as a part of their act for many years, long before a guy named Sinatra had a big hit record when he recorded the same song.

Shane, who some called the "sex symbol" of the Trio, continued to perform, and he and various iterations of the Kingston Trio were always popping up here and there.  Shane took great pride when he said that he had probably performed live before over ten million people over the course of his long career.  As well he should have.

RIP Bob Shane.

For your listening pleasure, here's Shane performing one of my favorite Kingston Trio songs, "Scotch and Soda"...

Super Bowl Prediction

Like many of you out there, I, too, am looking forward to the annual exercise in bacchanalia that is the Super Bowl.  As is my custom, I will not wear myself out by watching the five or six hours of pre-game bullshit that will be shown on Fox, ESPN, or other networks.  As has been our custom, we will either head out to the movies in the afternoon, or watch one on TV to "prepare" for the game.  I will probably tune into the Fox telecast around 6:00 to catch a bare minimum of pre-game hoopla and then settle in to watch the game, which is set to kick off at 6:30.

I am offering one interesting "prop bet" for your consideration:

The Over/Under on number of Vituperative Comments about Joe Buck Across All Social Media Platforms has been set at 1.7 Billion (with a B) Snide-Snarky-Hateful Comments.  I'd definitely go with the OVER on this one.

As for the game, I am looking forward to a competitive and exciting game.  Great defensive team in San Francisco.  Explosive offensive team in Kansas City.  The 49'ers can run.  The Chiefs have perhaps the best and most exciting offensive force in football in quarterback Patrick Mahomes. 

I think it's going to be a fun game to watch, and I'm calling it for the Chiefs to win their second Super Bowl, and even fifty years after they won their first one in Super Bowl IV....

(Allow me to interrupt here with a personal memory.  I watched the Chiefs defeat the Vikings in that long ago Super Bowl on a black and white TV in a dormitory at Slippery Rock State College.  Lots and lots of water under many bridges since then.)

....okay, where was I?  Oh, yeah, the Chiefs to win it in a high scoring affair.  An MVP for Mahomes, and good Guy Andy Reid finally gets a win in the Big One.

Enjoy the Game, everyone.