Picture of the Day...

The day after the (hopefully) last snowstorm of the winter. Yes, this was the snowstorm that kept me visiting my dad down in Florida for the weekend. Instead, I saw Journey's End at the Belasco and then The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Circle in the Square. This picture was taken when I was killing some time before seeing Spelling Bee (which was a great show).

(c) Kerri L. Berney 2007

Great movie alert... Night of the Hunter (1955)

I just noticed that my DVR was recording one of my favorite movies of all times... Night of the Hunter (1955). If you haven't seen it, you should. It stars Robert Mitchum, silent film star Lillian Gish and Shelly Winters. The only film Charles Laughton directed, it was based on a story by James Agee. At it's core, it's a version of Little Red Robin Hood, with the wolf as a killer in preacher's clothing and Robin as two Depression era kids (John and Pearl). Mitchum is deliciously evil as the preacher who woos a killer's widow in order to get to the money he hid. When he realizes the woman doesn't know anything about the murder, he dispatches her and takes off after the kids who have seen his true colors and run for their lives. They end up at Lillian Gish's place (Rachel Cooper) and join her happy brood of unofficial foster kids. Where the Preacher sees a dark and vengeful G-d (Old Testament, if you will), the Widow Cooper sees a G-d of light and forgiveness (New Testament, anyone?). As in any movie with good and evil, the two sides meet in a showdown and one of them gets it in the end.

Several years ago, it was adapted into a stage musical. Oh, and if you are looking for this on television, make sure you are watching the 1955 version, and not the made for tv version from the early 90s. Trust me. It's a mistake I made once and will never make again.

In the 60 years since this film was released, there have been many homages to it, owing mostly to the love and hate tattoos on the Preacher's knuckles (Do the Right Thing and The Simpsons are among the most prominent).

Cool Quotes...

Ben Harper: I got tired of seein' children roamin' the woodlands without food, children roamin' the highways in this here Depression, children sleepin' in old abandoned car bodies in junk heaps. And I promised myself that I'd never see the day when my young-uns had want.

Rev. Powell: [when he notices John staring at the words "love" and "hate" tattooed across his knuckles] Ah, little lad, you're staring at my fingers. Would you like me to tell you the little story of right-hand/left-hand? The story of good and evil? H-A-T-E! It was with this left hand that old brother Cain struck the blow that laid his brother low. L-O-V-E! You see these fingers, dear hearts? These fingers has veins that run straight to the soul of man. The right hand, friends, the hand of love. Now watch, and I'll show you the story of life. Those fingers, dear hearts, is always a-warring and a-tugging, one agin t'other. Now watch 'em! Old brother left hand, left hand he's a fighting, and it looks like love's a goner. But wait a minute! Hot dog, love's a winning! Yessirree! It's love that's won, and old left hand hate is down for the count!"

Rachel Cooper: You know, when you're little, you have more endurance than God is ever to grant you again. Children are humanity's strongest. They abide.

Icey Spoon: [about the conjugal bed] When you've been married to a man for forty years you know all that don't amount to a hill of beans. I've been married to Walt that long and I swear in all that time I just lie there thinkin' about my canning.

Icey Spoon: [about sex in marriage] A woman's a fool to marry for that. That's somethin' for a man. The Good Lord never meant for a decent woman to want that. Not really want it. It's all just a fake and a pipe dream.

Jennifer Garner's bike...

Sure, she is no longer portraying Sidney Bristow on ABC's "Alias" (three of the best tv seasons ever, unfortunatel, it lasted five), but I like to think that she still owns this bicycle, given to her by creator, JJ Abrams. I took a friend to lunch on the Disney lot, when Alias was still in production, so we could try stalking any Alias castmembers, but it was Christmas-time so most shows were on hiatus and besides I'm sure I would have chickened out anyway.

Postmortem...

As I mentioned earlier, I think Ellen did a great job. Yes, even better than Jon Stewart, mainly because I think she fit more into the Hollywood ideal of what a host should be. Although, I have no doubt that Jon Stewart would have had fun with Al Gore's film.

As to how I did with my Oscar picks, assuming we're just going to go with what I thought would win (as opposed to what I thought should win), I did not do well at all, going just 13 for 24, barely over 50%.

I did a little better with the pool I was in for work, going 18 for 24, but still not quite passing, and I did beat the other folks who guessed from my department. So, research group, eat your heart out!

And now, we have snowy conditions in NYC which means my commute tomorrow is gonna suck... Excellent...

Overall, good Academy Awards... though lose the America montage and start earlier and I think we can move that up to a solid great Academy Awards. Most of the folks I wanted to win won, and even with the categories I guessed wrongly on, I was never displeased with the result. And, so I end my blogging on the 79th Academy Awards with this...

RUN AL, RUN!

And the Oscar goes to...

BTW: Diane Keaton looks great!

And, The Departed wins!

Backstage, Spielberg gives Scorcese a hug even though he just lost the Oscar to The Departed.

And another Brit gets to give an acceptance speech. Good on you...

And so another Academy Awards comes to an end.

Ellen did a great job, even though it ended 45 minutes past what my DVR said it should.

Best Picture...

We're down to the wire...

Babel...

The Departed...

The Queen...

Letters from Iwo Jima...

Little Miss Sunshine...

George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppolla, and Steven Spielberg present the Best Director Oscar...

That was very funny. They start off talking about how great it is to win an Academy Award when Lucas pipes in with he's never won one. They start mocking him. He says it's better to give than to receive and they rejoin with it's better to give than to receive.

And Marty Scorcese wins!! Awww... that's awesome! Finally, he's tied with 3-6 Mafia!

And everyone seems genuinely happy! Spielberg says, "Hey, Mazel Tov," like a good Jewish boy. And he gets a standing O from the theater. Scorcese asks that they check the envelope. He thanks his reps, the producers, the crew, the cast... He thanks his fans... And his family. good job, Marty. And as he walks off, Nicholson captures him in a big bear hug.

Best Actor...

is presented by Reese Witherspoon who does look fabulous. Divorce agrees with her?

I do enjoy Ryan Gosling...

This is a very tough categry, but the Oscar goes to... Forest Whitaker!

Yay! I called that one.

Okay, but I did not know that he had gotten his start in entertainment by getting a scholarship as an operatic tenor. That's pretty cool.

For such a big guy, he sure is soft spoken.

How come he didn't get played off? He had kind of a long speech...

Another commercial...

cause we haven't had enough of these. And while I liked the Apple ad the first time I saw it, by time #3, it's really beginning to lose something. This is why commercials shouldn't air more than once per show. That said, yes, I still do want an Apple Iphone, but no, I won't be switching to Cingular to get it.

Didn't Jon Stewart last year come out on time? Or, close to it?

Yes, we could have lost the Salute to America through the movies montage. Unless, the producers did it so they could point to their patriotism when pundits from the right went off on their awarding so many Oscars to Al Gore's film?

And with running so late, did we really need this brief comic interlude by Ellen? Though, it was really funny, I agree.

Ellen Degeneres

was again very funny when she comes out and says that we're done and under time. Then she gets a voice in her earpiece saying that there are several awards left to present.

Philip Seymour Hoffman comes out to award the Best Actress Oscar...

While I love Meryl and hopes she wins, her role was not big enough to warrant a win in this category.

And the Oscar goes to... Helen Mirren... yeah... that's what I thought. And they're not wrong. Speeches are just more interesting when they're said by Brits. And, Aussies. And she gives a shout out to her fellow nominees (the only one to do so, I believe - well, maybe Adam Arkin did) and the filmmakers on The Queen. And then a shout out to Queen Elizabeth II.

And the dancers are back to do The Departed in the shape of a gun.

Bank of America commercial...

Assuming it was a national commercial, that was a great commercial. It's a mirror in the shape of the Bank of America logo and it shows the future (or possible future) of the person looking in the mirror. And it's a cross section of the American public (age, sex, race) and then the voice over says the future is full of possibility and Bank of America can help take you there...

And Jodi Foster is presenting...

the In Memorium tribute... I don't like how some people applaud during it. Especially for the folks who did the bulk of their work during the 40s and 50s, they might not be as well known today, so of course they wouldn't get the same amount of recognition, but that doesn't take away from their body of work. They should do like we're taught to in grade school... save your applause til the end.

Will Smith introduces...

Michael Mann's viewpoint of America through its movies... Which seems to be just a montage of other people's movies...

What's the point of this stuff? -Wendy
Good question. We're already 9 minutes late with five films to present. And while I personally love a good clip show, this is kind of silly... Plus, we haven't done in memorium yet either... So, we have another clip montage to get through.

And now, we have Kate Winslet introducing Best Film editing...
And the Oscar goes to Thelma Schoonmaker for The Departed... I like her, so I'm glad. I heard her speak once when I was just out of college. She's good people. And, the first person she thanks is Martin Scorcese and then the writer and the actors.

Jennifer Lopez is introducing...

Dreamgirls' Best Original Songs... (3 of them)

Jennifer Hudson leads it off with Love You I Do... she is good. She's got a full voice, though I think if she keeps bending over, she's gonna fall out of that dress...

And then Beyonce joins in... And then starts in on Listen. Which, in an interesting factoid she co-wrote, but was deemed not to have contributed enough, to qualify for an Academy Award. Jennifer Hudson joins in on this one. And then Beyonce finishes off alone.

Patience is sung by Anika Noni Rose and Keith Robinson.

John Travolta and Queen Latifah come out to give out the Oscar for Best Original Song...

And the Oscar goes to Melissa Etheridge. Yay for that one... I do think that Dreamgirls lost because they split the vote, but her song ("I Need to Wake Up") is great! And I like her speech. And I like that she kissed her wife and called her that when she thanked her from the podium. And she's right, we can become the generation that woke up and we can change!

It's 11:17 and

there are still six more awards to give out...

Overall I think they're doing a great job with the awards show, but would it have killed them to start it at 8 p.m.? It's already going to run over and so it's not going to end until midnight. Maybe the folks in LA are taking the day off tomorrow (though since it's three hours earlier, they really don't need to), but us New Yorkers have to get up for work. Okay, so this wasn't a problem last year when I was running on Pacific Time, but I'm fickle.

Best Original Score...

Gosh, Hugh Jackman is dreamy. And Penelope Cruz who co-introduced with him looks smashing, as always.

Babel wins! Yay Gustavo! I thought The Queen would win, but I wanted Babel to win, so that's kind of cool.

I am really enjoying Ellen Degeneres. She's doing a lot of interaction with the audience, and that's cool.

The 60 second recap of what the Academy does was pretty impressive.

And Kirsten Dunst and Toby Maguire are introducing Best Original Screenplay...

Again, I'm liking what they're doing with the presenters reading the stage direction, character and then letting the movie run. Wow... Michael Arndt was the assistant to Matthew Broderick and quit his job to write this movie. That's pretty cool... And he thanked his family who actually drove across country in a VW Bus with a broken clutch.

The dancers are back to introduce The Devil Wears Prada... Wow... They made the logo of the shoe...

An honorary Oscar goes to...

Clint Eastwood introduces and gives a nice little introduction about Ennio Morricone who has done a bunch of the scores you know and love, including the first film Clint Eastwood ever starred in, A Fistful of Dollars. Morricone is being given an honorary award, though I can't figure out which one. And Celine Dion is singing a song to one of his scores, I believe.

And I just looked it up, the award doesn't actually have a name. It's just called an Honorary Award. Which I think is kind of silly. With all the thousands of important and talented folks who have worked in Hollywood over the past 100 years, they couldn't come up with someone to name this thing after.

Anyway, apparently Morricone went to school with Sergio Leone and that's where they started their partnership. And he's giving his acceptance speech in Italian, but since I can't speak Italian, I'm not sure what he's saying. But, he just spoke for 3 minutes and Eastwood's translation was only about 25 seconds. He wants to thank the Academy. And thank his co-workers. And he wants to thank the other artists whose work has never been recognized, but who are just as talented and work as hard. He's going to stay as dedicated and this is not going to be an end point for him, but a beginning. He dedicates the Oscar to his wife, Maria. Which gets a huge round of applause, as well it should.

Best Documentary

(short subject)...

Haven't seen any of these, I'll admit. But, I read an article about Recycled Life and the story behind that is great.

And the Oscar goes to The Blood of Yingzhou District. Again, I know nothing about this and heard nothing about it, so it didn't even figure into my thinking. But, congrats go out to the winners.

And Jerry Seinfeld is introducing Best Feature documentary. As to what he has to do with the film industry, I have no idea. But, he's funny, so I'm being entertained and that's to the good. He's taking on the theater announcements that ask you to pick up your trash. I don't agree, but good for him for saying so...

And he finally gets to the nominees... I really have to see the rest of these movies...

But, Al Gore's films wins! Yay, An Inconvenient Truth... Run Al Run!! Davis Guggenheim is the producer and the weird looking guy that neither me nor my sister could place him. Go, Davis!

Now, run, Al run!!!

Naomi Watts and Robert Downey Jr introduce...

visual effects...

And the Oscar goes to... for Pirates...

Ha! Totally called that one. Again, Superman's special effects were horrible. And I heard Posiedon was not good.

Liked the shout out to Ellen's suggestion on how to give a speech even though it didn't get a laugh.

Best foreign language film seems to be up next...

And after a neverending montage, it's introduced by Clive Owens and Cate Blanchett...

The winner is Lives of Others (Germany). I'm honestly stunned. I just assumed that Pan's Labyrinth would win cause so many people said nothing but good things about it. Huh... oh well...

And Ellen is doing shadow puppets...

And is eaten by the snakes on the plane that turn into an actual plane. Loving it...

George Clooney is introducing the Best Supporting Actress nominees...

Okay, the man is seriously handsome and sexy and good looking and smart and funny and good lord, talented. He is seriously our generation's Cary Grant...

I'm all nervous for this category...

The winner is Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls!

Wendy just asked me how she could be surprised that she won, but two years ago she was being mocked by Simon Cowell and now she just beat out Cate Blanchett for the Oscar and she was just hugged by George Clooney. And she nearly breaks down... but she's being played off as she finishes. And doesn't forget Jennifer Holliday...

More Ellen in the audience

Ellen bypasses Clint Eastwood's wife so that Steven Spielberg can take a picture for her MySpace page...

SO FUNNY! She asks him to take two cause the first one didn't come out too well... Ha! Asking Spielberg for a redo. I love that he and Eastwood have good senses of humor.

Gwyneth introduces Best Cinematography... Is that her real hair? Or does she have extensions in?

Pan's Labyrinth wins... Got that one wrong. But again, I've seen none of these films, so I took a shot in the dark. And guessed wrong. Bah! And this Guillermo fellow is getting played off, and honestly his voice made me sleepy, so I'm not quite sure what he said.

And the dancers did Little Miss Sunshine and made a bus out of themselves.