Anybody care to talk OSCAR?

[mrsl]

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Last year, Klondike posted the following portion of a Bruce Davis news item: "The Kodak Theatre goes quiet as the big screen at center stage begins flashing images of actors and filmmakers who have died. A photo of Heath Ledger or Paul Newman might move the audience to spontaneous applause. Other images inspire deep sighs, as viewers reflect on the entertainers who have touched our lives."

Naturally he phrased it much better than I could have and that raised a question in my mind. I wonder if the academy requested (or made it possible to have silence) during the memoriam. I recall how odd I felt when there was a large reaction to Heath Ledger, but someone like Betty Hutton caused no reaction at all. It could simply be a time saving device but the silence seemed to offer a kind of equalizing effect on the reverence given to each person.

That said, I have to say I'm happy to see women enjoying their femininity again after a long, long dry spell. It's a pleasure to see the gowns again and the hair styles. My favorite part of the night is the pre-show on the red carpet where a lot of the ladies are in close up shots and tell who the designer is. I, for one was happy about Merle Streep, but I'm anxious now, more than ever to see Clooney's Descendants because having seen several clips from it, it looks like he was robbed.

One funny thing is that so many people complain to me about how I can stand to watch all the old black and white movies that I do, yet The Artist, in black and white took 5 awards, a couple of them the top ones.

Any comments?

[Lzcutter]

Anne,

I thought it was definitely better than last year's show. Billy Crystal seemed to be channeling his inner Bob Hope for all it was worth. I was surprised that Meryl Streep won. Like all the other pundits, I thought it would be Viola Davis. And I do wish George Clooney had won.

But you can't fault a winner who mentions Douglas Fairbanks in his acceptance speech. And I liked that Billy Wilder got a major shout-out when The Artist's creative team took the stage for their Best Picture Oscar.

Loved Christopher Guest and his ensemble giving their take on a focus group that had just seen The Wizard of Oz.

Note to the Academy, we all know that the movies are magic. That's why we go see them. Next year, instead of telling us that, try showing us.

And the In Memoriam, they could include Whitney Houston but not Harry Morgan or Ben Gazzara? And it would have broken the budget to include more film clips of those who are being remembered?

[CineMaven]

The Academy should hire the editors of TCM's year end memoriam. I don't care about Esperanza Spalding singing the memorial song. I want to see film of those that have passed on; I want to see them on film, moving. And no one does that better or more moving than those fantastic editors over at TCM.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Anne,

I thought the show was a long bore; infantile jokes and adolescent skits.... And, I just really don't know who most of those people are now.

I am glad Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spenser won; she looked great in the best dress of the night. I can live with Meryl Streep winning but hoped for Viola Davis this time. And, who is that French guy anyway??? I was pulling for Gary Oldman....

The only thing wrong with "In Memoriam" was that Elaine Stewart was missing. I can't forgive that....

I must say though that I laughed and cheered when Sasha Baron Cohn spilled all that Kim Jung Il stuff on Ryan Seacrest.... Yah!!! Both of them are overblown turds, but I despise RS because I think he stole Marjorie Main's place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame....

Larry

[movieman1957]

I never really watch any of the award shows but the two minutes I did see involved Robert Downey, Jr and Cameron Diaz, I think, and whatever that was was awful.

I did see a clip of Angelina Jolie and she looked nothing like herself and seemed quite determined to make sure everyone noticed her leg.

Hooray for Christopher Plummer.

[mrsl]

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Whoa, back up there Larry V. What do you mean when you say you think RS stole Marjorie Main's place? Do they actually replace some of those people?

Liz: My thoughts on George Clooney are strictly because the clips I've seen looked very promising to be OSCAR material, and not just because I still think he's the best thing to come along in years, and just keeps getting better as he gets older, like Cary Grant did. I wonder about this lady he's been with for quite a while now. He just doesn't seem like the guy to go for a starlet type, I see him more with a non-entertainment gal who will be 100% wife and mother, and that's the impression I've always gotten from him.

Also, I think you know my feelings on the Academy handing a statuette over to Woody Allen. Better they should hit him with it. I'll never get over my total dislike of that man. Sorry to you fans of his but I would feel the same way about my brother if he pulled off the prank that Allen did.

As for the memoriam, didn't Sandra Dee or somebody pass away relatively close to New Years Day recently who was not featured? I wonder what determines who is or is not worthy of mention.

Finally, I thought Angelina Jolie looked utterly ridiculous with her leg pose. I just wonder what she was trying to say with it. It can't be anything too high level or imaginative if that's the way she represents it. If she's saying ' I've outgrown all that stuff I did when I was younger and I'm a big girl now. ' Well, all she said to me was ' I have enough money now to do anything I want to do, including rub some noses in the dirt.' I've never been a fan of hers either, and this didn't improve my opinion a bit.
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[charliechaplinfan]

I didn't see the ceremony although if I wasn't here in Blighty but in america I would be curious just to watch one of these shows. As it is I only saw the clips.

I can't sayenough how delighted I am about The Artist winning all those awards, it's a truly wonderful movie experience and this comes from someone who doesn't usually rate very highly modern movies. I do really like George Clooney, Anne, if Jean Dujardin hadn't won I'd have wanted George Clooney to win, I think he's an actor with a soul who cares about his craft and I do think he will win one of these days, he's going to go from strength to strength I've no doubt of that. He is like Cary Grant, he does get better as he gets older and hopefully he will get more than an honourary Oscar to his name.

I can't be that common for a movie to take Best Actor, Director and Film, I wonder how often this has happened before?

I can't be enthusiastic about Meryl Streep's win, I would have liked Viola Davis to have won, I've already said on another thread what I think of such a film being made about Mrs Thatcher who is still alive although not fully in charge of her faculties and unable to stop the project going forward. I feel it's bad taste and has been made in part because she was such a strong character in real life that it was bound to be a role that would have a shot at the Oscar. It was only yesterday that I saw some footage of The Iron Lady, Meryl Streep doesn't sound anything like Mrs T so heaven only knows why they made that choice.

Has anyone seen The Help? I'd like to read the book before I see the movie. Anyone seen Hugo? I'm curious about both.

The supporting actor category had me torn in two, Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow in the same category, what a pity they both couldn't win, at least one of them did. Christopher Plummer is meant to be a bit cantankerous in real life but I loved his speech.

[moira finnie]

Christopher Plummer is meant to be a bit cantankerous in real life but I loved his speech.

I wonder if he might be perceived as getting testy on occasion because the press and public sometimes appear to think that the only thing he has ever done was The Sound of Music--though it is his stage work that has really shone over the years. While the guy never seems to cease working in whatever medium offers him an interesting role, from the movie industry viewpoint, his work might seem minor and ancient history to the amnesiacs, bean-counters, and ignoramuses who tend to be decision makers in that business. Plummer has made some good, some awful, and some daring appearances on screen in leading and supporting roles: The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Murder By Decree, Dolores Claiborne, Nicholas Nickleby, and The Last Station, among others. Part of the trouble might be that he's often the best thing in a load of bilge (if anyone saw his performance as Tolstoy in the lame The Last Station you know what I mean). His style is rooted in the larger-than-life manner of an earlier generation (as the actor acknowledged in his autobiography) and his range encompasses the classics and the contemporary, making him even harder to categorize neatly as the world media tends to like to pigeon-hole people. Last year Plummer finally filmed his one man theatrical show as Barrymore (2011), which won him a Tony Award in 1997 and was a smash all over again when he revived it on stage in Toronto in 2011. Unfortunately, the filmed version, imagining the introspective thoughts of John Barrymore as his powers fade away, appears to have no distributor at this time. Here's hoping the leading man's win as Best Supporting Actor at least enables this production to find a niche somewhere.
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[movieman1957]

Alison:

I know a couple of people who have read "The Help" and liked it very much. As far as the film goes "The Bride" and I watched it last month and while there was some good parts I thought it a little tedious after a while and too long. Good performances though. Some tightening of the film would have helped but we didn't care for it that much. There's a good story there and at times some of the characters behavior is disturbing but it wasn't one we enjoyed.

[charliechaplinfan]

Thanks Moira, I like Christopher Plummer and agree with your assessment of his work, I didn't know about his show Barrymore, I hope it will get a release. He is testy about A Sound of Music, a little like Carrie Fisher with Star Wars, he probably wonders why people would want to see the film again and again and again. I will say that although I've only seen TSOM twice, he is the best thing in it, who wouldn't cross the Alps with him but I have at least branched out and seen more movies with him in, he never fails to deliver even when everyone else does.

Thanks Chris, that's what I'd heard about the movie, the book has had really good reviews I think I'll try that first.

[CineMaven]

Don't forget, a book is not a film. I enjoyed the film.

[charliechaplinfan]

I will catch Hugo, with the kids if I can.

Re The Help, I'm one of the people who can read a book then see the movie but find it difficult the other way around and if I see the movie I might never read the book. I like to capture the characters in my own head before seeing them. But I will see the film.

I just wish Meryl Streep had won for something else, I do like her as an actress and have enjoyed so much of her work, it's just this one role that I find distasteful.

I haven't seen Angelina Jolie, I don't find Brad Pitt attractive but I think you've put into words why I don't find Pitt attractive and why I do find George Clooney attractive.

[movieman1957]

I saw a clip and Jolie was scary. Pasty white and so concerned about us seeing her leg. I don't get it.

[mrsl]

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I've read the book The Help and will wait for the movie to reach HBO, but my only trouble with reading any book first is forming my own picture of the characters, then being unhappy with the final decision on actors to play them. I couldn't and still can't accept Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes although he portrayed the poetic dreamer beautifully and I never thought of anyone else who I would have chosen anyway. I read recently that Margaret Mitchell had Errol Flynn in mind for Rhett, but the description of Rhett at the bottom of the stairway at 12 Oaks on the day of the BBQ, is an inch by inch picture of Clark Gable.

Anyway, my oldest grand daughter purchased a copy of the 50th anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, for my birthday, which I plan to sit and watch again but have decided to read the book first. I thought I had read it a long time ago, but in reading the first few pages, I realized I had it confused with some other book. But after all the times I've seen the movie, I want to read the book first because I understand the movie (although quite close to the story, still lacks some of the pertinent events regarding Boo and some of the other characters). I want to see what I've missed all these years.
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