Oscars Archives - Page 6 of 9 - Ramblin' with Roger

Agree to disagree

Aren’t there objective facts anymore?

One of my favorite bits on the most recent Academy Awards was when Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, costars of the violent comedy The Nice Guys, being released in May 2016, presented the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Gosling gives an inane definition of the category.

Crowe corrects him, explaining the category represents a screenplay adapted from another source such as a novel, play, short story, or TV show.

Gosling replies, “Agree to disagree. Let’s not fight, come on, we have two Academy Awards between us, it’s beneath us to argue.”

“Wait, you’ve won an Oscar?” asked Crowe, surprised.

“Well not when you put it like THAT, but you have two Academy Awards, so technically there’s two between us!” Gosling explained. “Can we go on and give this award so more people can have Oscars like we do?”

Crowe insists that he only has one award, but Gosling repeats, “Agree to disagree.”

“Look, mate, you can’t go around just saying—” Crowe responds, before Gosling cut him off to announce the nominees.

Crowe DOES have but one Oscar, for Gladiator (2000), though he had been nominated two other times, for The Insider (1999) and A Beautiful Mind (2001).

The bit, which you can watch here or here. I found it funny because it’s painfully true.

“Agree to disagree” is actually a reasonable position to take when it comes to opinions. But FACTS? Aren’t there objective facts anymore? They seem to be lost, quite often these days. We’re in a world where we seek, to quote a recent blog title, “News that agrees with you.”

Another thing I liked at the Oscars was the Best Picture winner. “Spotlight” Gets Investigative Journalism Right, the Truthout article says. Getting the story correct was important in 2001 and 2002 when the story was based. The reporters didn’t always get it right, but the goal was the truth.

And Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy won her second Oscar for best documentary short, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, a film about “honor killings”, which are anything but honorable.

And Forget Leo, Ennio Morricone finally won an Oscar after 500 movie credits.

Oscar nominated shorts for 2015

“‘Prologue’ seems to exist for no other reason than to show off the drawing talent and enthusiasm for over-the-top gore of its creator.”

Every year, I try to watch at least one set of Oscar-nominated shorts. On Presidents Day, The Wife and I were going to see the live-action movies at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany, but the child watcher didn’t pan out. So, my spouse saw the live-action at 1 p.m. and I saw the animated items at 4 p.m. Then, the next day the Wife and the Daughter saw the animated set.

Don’t know if I’ll ever see the live-action shorts, because they’re now showing only at 9:30 p.m., and that’s not my best time of day to go out to the movies.

Animated

SANJAY’S SUPER TEAM
USA
7MINS/2015

Director: Sanjay Patel
Producer: Nicole Paradis Grindle
Synopsis: Patel uses his own experience to tell the story of a young, first-generation Indian-American boy whose love for western pop culture comes into conflict with his father’s traditions. Sanjay is absorbed in the world of cartoons and comics, while his father tries to draw him into the traditions of his Hindu practice.

Tedium and reluctance quickly turn into an awe-inspiring adventure as the boy embarks on a journey he never imagined, returning with a new perspective that they can both embrace.

This is the new short film from Pixar Animation Studios, and it’s fine, not great, but I don’t much enjoy the uneven playing field that Disney holds. In any case, this will almost certainly not win.

WORLD OF TOMORROW
USA
17MINS/2015

Director & Writer: Don Hertzfeldt
Synopsis: A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of her distant future.

OK, THAT was a terse description. Here’s a slightly more enlightening take:
This ‘Future Emily’ takes the toddler on a journey through space and time, discussing the nature of memory, consciousness and immortality, and explaining the ways in which the world will change, for better, and for worse.

Many folks think this film will win the Oscar, and I thought it was thought-provoking. My bride said that there was a piece of dialogue that she thought was reminiscent of something from Thorton Wilder’s Our Town. Specifically, it had to do with that Emily noting that people are not appreciating life when we’re living it.

HISTORIA DE UN OSO(BEAR STORY)
CHILE
11MINS/2014

Director:Gabriel Osorio
Producer:Pato Escala
Synopsis: An old, lonesome bear tells the story of his life through a mechanical diorama.

I LOVE this one! It’s the favorite of both my spouse and myself. It works at several levels. Here’s a review:
“The story itself is rather simple. But the sadness in the bear’s life—the empty table he leaves every morning, the pictures of his absent family on the wall, the disheveled home of a man who has no reason to clean anymore—betrays something deeper and darker in the background. The short packs an emotional wallop if you let it.”

WE CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT COSMOS
RUSSIA
16MINS/2014

Director & Writer: Konstantin Bronzit
Producer: Alexander Boyarsky
Synopsis: Two cosmonauts, two friends, try to do their best in their everyday training life to make their common dream a reality. But this story is not only about the dream.

No dialogue yet conveys the bond beautifully.

Unfortunately, the director says film pirates are “killing” this short.

Now, these animated items are rather short, so they add a few other stories.

From the shortlist of possible nominees:

IF I WAS GOD…
CANADA

Creator: Cordell Barker
Synopsis: What would you do if you were 12 and suddenly found yourself charged with God-like powers? Would you use them for good? For bad? Perhaps a little of both?

Here’s an interview with Barker.

THE SHORT STORY OF A FOX AND A MOUSE
Nicely rendered. The Daughter’s favorite. See this video.

Then a couple of other videos, one involving a bunch of meerkats and a vulture that looked very Disney.

Before the fifth nominated film, there was a warning about nudity and violence, inappropriate for children.

PROLOGUE
UK
6MINS/2015

Director: Richard Williams
Producer: Imogen Sutton

Synopsis: “Prologue” describes an incident in the Spartan-Athenian wars of 2,400 years ago. In it, a small girl bears witness as warriors battle to the death. The dialog-free project utilizes natural sounds to complement the intense animation entirely animated by Richard Williams himself.

OK, I get it. War is hell. But I agree with this assessment:

“‘Prologue’ seems to exist for no other reason than to show off the drawing talent and enthusiasm for over-the-top gore of its creator, and therefore really has no place amongst the ranks of the previous four short films.”

I told my family NOT to stay for this last piece, and they abided by my suggestion.

Live-Action

My wife thought three of them were real downers.
AVE MARIA
PALESTINE/FRANCE/GERMANY
15MINS/2015

Director:Basil Khalil
Producers: Eric Dupont, Eric Fantone
Synopsis:The silent routine of 5 Palestinian nuns living in the West Bank wilderness is disturbed when an Israeli settler family breaks down right outside the convent just as the Sabbath comes into effect.

This was apparently a quite charming comedy.

DAY ONE
USA
25MINS/2014

Director: Henry Hughes
Producer: Michael Steiner
Synopsis: Inspired by a true story, DAY ONE depicts a new translator’s first day accompanying a US Army unit as it searches for a local terrorist. As she quickly discovers, her job will bring up brutal complexities as gender and religious barriers emerge with lives hanging in the balance.

This was tough to watch, reportedly.

ALLES WIRD GUT(EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY)
GERMANY/AUSTRIA
30MINS/2015

Director, Writer & Producer: Patrick Vollrath Synopsis: A divorced father picks up his eight-year-old daughter Lea. It seems pretty much like every second weekend, but after a while, Lea can‘t help feeling that something isn’t right. So begins a fateful journey.

No, everything will NOT be OK.

SHOK (FRIEND)
KOSOVO/UNITED KINGDOM
21MINS/2015

Director & Writer: Jamie Donoughue
Producers: Harvey Ascott, Eshref Durmishi, Howard Dawson
Synopsis: The friendship of two boys is tested to its limits as they battle for survival during the Kosovo war.

War is fodder for many live-action shorts.

STUTTERER
UK/IRELAND
12MINS/2015

Director: Benjamin Cleary
Producers: Shan Christopher Ogilvie & Serena Armitage
Synopsis: Apart from his aging father, Greenwood has only one connection to the external world in the form of an online relationship. Every night, often for hours at a time, he exchanges messages with Ellie. On the eve of their six-month anniversary, Ellie messages Greenwood and tells him that she has traveled to London to surprise him. She asks if he would like to take things “offline” and meet in person for the first time. The image above is taken from the moment just after Greenwood gets that earth-shattering message and is suddenly facing a daunting proposition with everything at stake.

While consequential, this was not nearly so heavy as the others.

Oscar night 2016

Son of Saul is a film I have no desire to see.

It’s an odd thing that I always record Oscar night, which will be a week from today, on the DVR. I never watch it in real time, and it usually takes me five or six days to get through, by which time I know, of course, who won.

Sure I can find the “best moments” online – and I’ve stopped trying to hide myself from those – but I seldom watch them when they just pop up, because I like to see these things in the context of the evening.

Actress Jada Pinkett-Smith announced her boycott of the Academy Awards because, of the twenty acting slots, none of the nominees were black. Or Hispanic. Or Asian. Director Spike Lee and Jada’s husband Will Smith followed suit.

Larry Wilmore did a bit on The Nightly Show that wasn’t terribly funny, but had elements of truth. Blacks get nominated when they are slaves (12 Years a Slave), or still feeling the sting of slavery (e.g., the Help). The joke is that the filmmakers should have made Michael B. Jordan in Creed, or the cast of Straight Outta Compton, more tied to their slave roots.

When there’s a lack of diversity, in any organization, there’s a recognition that “something” should be done. Continue reading “Oscar night 2016”

Q is for queen playing: Helen Mirren

The Audience was not the first time Helen Mirren has played QEII

Our local cinema of choice, The Spectrum, did something different for them; they showed a series of recorded plays from National Theatre Live!, the “groundbreaking project to broadcast the best of British theatre live from the London stage to cinemas across the UK and around the world.”

It IS essentially a filmed play, but because of the camerawork, and perhaps the unseen audience, it felt more like being AT a play than merely watching one on screen. “National Theatre Live launched in June 2009 with a broadcast of the… production of Phèdre with Helen Mirren.”

My first NTL experience was seeing Helen Mirren playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience, a role for which she would eventually gain her first Tony award for the Broadway adaptation. Indeed, The Wife and I saw this production shortly after the Tony win, in early July 2015.

Why else did this theater magic work? The “butler” in the play announced certain information, like a fire marshal might before the play. There were costume changes just off-stage. There was an intermission, during which we learned about the various costumes.

Perhaps my favorite part was at the end, listening to Helen Mirren being interviewed by director Stephen Daldry, recorded during her run of the American production in 2015. We learn that while the play is mostly the same when it comes to her meeting with most of the Prime Ministers, the writers kept putting in current references when the current PM, David Cameron, has his audience with the Queen. She also shared a tale about a time when Bill and Hillary Clinton were present, and she, teasingly, really directed a snarky line about the US Presidency right at the 42nd occupant.

Of course, The Audience was not the first time Helen Mirren has played QEII. She won an Oscar for playing the title role in the 2006 movie, The Queen. She has also played the title character in the TV miniseries Elizabeth I (2005); The Queen (voice) in The Prince of Egypt (1998); The Snow Queen (voice) in The Snow Queen (1995); and Queen Charlotte in The Madness of King George (1994). Coincidentally, she was born at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital in West London in 1945.

ABC Wednesday – Round 17

Helen Mirren is 70 (tomorrow)

Mirren’s paternal grandfather was in the Imperial Russian Army and fought in the 1904 Russo-Japanese War.

In June 2015, Dame Helen Lydia Mirren won the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play. Here is her acceptance speech.

I had forgotten that she had been nominated for Tonys twice before. In her win for The Audience, she portrayed Queen Elizabeth II. Playing the same personage, she won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2006 in The Queen. Like much of her stage work, the role was developed in the West End, London’s equivalent to New York City’s Broadway.

She had won the first of her four Emmy Awards in 1996, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special, for Prime Suspect: The Scent of Darkness, making her a Grammy shy of an EGOT. I’ve watched her in much of her seven seasons of Prime Suspect.

She’s done a great deal of voice work. On TV, she was Becky’s Inner Voice on Glee and a caller on Frasier; in the movies, the dean in Monsters University (2013), and the queen, per usual, in The Prince of Egypt (1998).

I think of her primarily as a film actress, but I’ve not seen as many movies as I would have thought. On-screen, I’ve seen her in:
2014 The Hundred-Foot Journey
2006 The Queen
2003 Calendar Girls
2001 Gosford Park
1999 Teaching Mrs. Tingle
1994 The Madness of King George (playing Queen Charlotte)
1985 White Nights
1973 O Lucky Man! – here’s the O Lucky Man! trailer

From the Wikipedia:

“Mirren was born Helen Lydia Mironoff in … London. Her father, Vasily Petrovich Mironoff (1913–1980), was Russian…and her mother, Kitty (née Kathleen Alexandrina Eva Matilda Rogers; 1909–1996), was English.

“Mirren’s paternal grandfather, Colonel Pyotr Vasilievich Mironov, was in the Imperial Russian Army and fought in the 1904 Russo-Japanese War. He later became a diplomat and was negotiating an arms deal in Britain when he and his family were stranded during the Russian Revolution. The former diplomat became a London cab driver to support his family and eventually settled down in England.

“Helen’s father… anglicised the family name in the 1950s and changed his name to Basil Mirren. He played the viola with the London Philharmonic before World War II, and later drove a taxi cab… before becoming a civil servant with the Ministry of Transport.

“Mirren’s mother was a working-class Londoner… and was the 13th of 14 children born to a butcher whose own father had been the butcher to Queen Victoria… Mirren was the second of three children; she was born three years after her older sister Katherine (“Kate”; born 1942), and has a younger brother…named Peter Basil…

“Mirren married American director Taylor Hackford (her partner since 1986) on 31 December 1997, his 53rd birthday…. The couple had met on the set of White Nights. It is her first marriage, and his third (he has two children from his previous marriages). Mirren has no children and says she has “no maternal instinct whatsoever.”

“On 11 May 2010, Mirren attended the unveiling of her waxwork at Madame Tussauds London.”

Her Bio piece.
CBS Sunday Morning February 2015 (updated in June 2015).