Film Experience Blog

One of television's best annual traditions, Turner Classic Movies "31 Days of Oscar" (now showing!) sponsored a fine contest for us. I was able to choose 5 DVDs to give away to one lucky reader. I chose five films that Oscar sorta loved (multiple nominations) but couldn't settle down with (major losses) and I asked all contestants to write a note about the Oscarless situation that bugs them most. The winner and runners up were drawn randomly.

• 5 DVD PACK: Double Indemnity (1944), A Star is Born (1954), The Umbrellas of Cherbourgh (1964), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) and They Shoot Horses Don't They (1969)

And the Winner is...
SAM in Texas. Even if I hadn't drawn randomly, I would have had Sam's back on his favorite "snub" choice. Here's what he has to say...

My great Oscar snub is also my favorite actress: Kathleen Turner. Only one nomination? Really? Hilary Swank has two Oscars and Kathleen Turner only has one nomination? I'd like to see Swank tackle Peggy Sue and Romancing the Stone and Prizzi's Honor and make them all hits. If I were the Oscar God, I would have nominated Kathleen for Body Heat, a film that almost turned me straight (thank God for William Hurt's nakedness). If she can make a gay like me want her, she's a brilliant actress.

The Runners Up...
who'll receive an Oscar party pack from Turner Classic Movies are DAVID in North Carolina and CHRISTINE in Massachussets. They both picked two of Oscar's most frequently nominated but never winning players.

David says:

There are many celebrities that should have won an Oscar, but actor that comes to mind is (Sir) Richard Burton. Not only was he such an amazing talent, a ferociously brilliant actor, but also the fact that he was one half of the most famous couple in the world, or at least the 60's, while he was married to the great Elizabeth Taylor, cemented his status as one of Hollywood's biggest/greatest leading men. His iconic performances in such film classics as "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold", "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?", "Night Of The Iguana", and "The Longest Day" still linger on in the mind.

Christine picks the woman who shares Deborah Kerr's Oscar record for an actress (6 noms / 0 wins). (Yes, there were women who had it worse than Glenn Close and Julianne Moore)

It's probably too obvious, but I'm going to go with Thelma Ritter as an Oscar nominee who should have won at least once. Her line delivery alone ought to have clenched it for a lot of her films ("What a story! Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end!"). In addition, she was one of the last great old-school character actors, and it would have been nice to see her win for all of the Edward Everett Horton's and Iris Adrian's of the world.

I want to thank everyone who entered. It was great fun to read your entries and certainly provided food for thought. How is it that some people just can't get lucky with Oscar?

Here's a few fun bits from other contest entries. I didn't include any Julianne Moore quotes but you are correct in guessing that she was the most popular answer to this "i hate that they've never won!" query. Give or take Alfred Hitchock.

Robert on cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki

He utilized only natural light with a constantly moving camera for a period epic, and not only were the results not a disaster, The New World ended up arguably the most beautiful film of 2005.

Joseph on Joan Allen (another popular answer to this question)

an Oscar for her heartbreaking turn as the resilient Elizabeth Proctor (The Crucible) would've been really nice...And might I add that she's also kind of awesome in Death Race!

Sean on cinematographer Roger Deakins

I even watch The Man Who Wasn't There on mute!

Erica on Peter O'Toole

Lawrence of Arabia, for crissakes. Oh, sure, he has an honorary one, but those are basically Hollywood's silent excuse, both acknowledging that 'you probably deserved it more than anyone else of any year ever, but now you're too old, so please enjoy this montage of better days'.

Jose here to commemorate the anniversary of Virginia Woolf's birth.



Woolf said that every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works.
Since this isn't a literature site, what better way to examine this than the ways in which some of her works have been taken to the movies.

First up is Sally Potter's gender bending version of Orlando with Tilda Swinton as the title character. In this luscious reworking of Woolf's classic, Potter concentrates mostly on interpreting the author's groundbreaking prose and reflecting it through the film's sensuous visuals.
Few filmmakers would've been as brave as Potter and give in so much to the undeniable power of the text to a level where the film actually celebrates Woolf more than the director. Jane Campion's crush on John Keats in Bright Star comes to mind-in terms of literature taking over film so much-and if you haven't seen Orlando, what are you waiting for?

Even if at first glance she's only referred to in the title, the ghost of the British author hovers all over Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? her name is supposed to symbolize the fear of leading empty lives and existence out of illusion. While Edward Albee's play is notorious for its explosive nature (as opposed to Woolf's universe of inner conflict) it's feasible to say that the playwright's intention was precisely to make us wonder what would push us to release all those violent, damaging emotions from our minds.

Last but not least, today would be a good day as any, to re-watch Nicole Kidman's Academy Award winning performance as Woolf in The Hours.
Brilliant beyond the fake nose, Kidman has rarely been as introspective and haunting. She might've made one very controversial Oscar winner, but like Woolf's literature her performance doesn't fade, doesn't wither and probably will never grow old.

Are you a fan of Virginia's literature? Do you like how cinema has interpreted her?

Today's birthday list doesn't make me feel celebratory so much as oscarighteously furious. Perhaps I should explain. It's only the four first birthday boys whipping me into a golden frenzy. Then things calm down.


Todays Birthdays 11/10
1889 Claude Rains, never won an Oscar. This despite being a great screen actor, whose filmography reads like a catalogue of Golden Age greatness. He's an actor who made indelible contributions to not 1, not 2 but 7 Best Picture nominees, a number that doesn't even reflect films like Notorious, Now Voyager, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, Mrs. Skeffington or The Greatest Story Ever Told. He didn't even get an honorary statue!
1925 Richard Burton, never won an Oscar. This despite winning exactly as many nominations as Liz Taylor won husbands.
1928 Ennio Moriccone has never won an Oscar. This despite being a world reknowned composer, being worshipped by film fanatics and revolutionizing how people scored Westerns.
1932 Roy Scheider never won an Oscar. This despite giving one of the truly great performances of an entire decade (All That Jazz -- more on that great film) replete with them. And it was a biopic performance no less! All That... plus Jaws and The French Connection.


1944 Tim Rice, clever lyricist of movie songs you know and love (or loathe) from their ubiquity
1949 Ann Reinking, sometime actor, great dancer
1955 Roland Emmerich, world (and cinema) destroyer: Day After Tomorrow, 10,000 BC and 2012. Ugh
1960 Neil Gaiman, prolific brilliant author. Go, Coraline!!!
1977 Brittany Murphy acts "I hope not sporadically"
<--- 1977 Won Bin (or Bin Won if you prefer) actor, gorgeous creature, star of two recent Korean Oscar hopefuls: Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War and this year's buzzy Mother
1978 Eve, rapper, fledgling actress, Hurl Scout
1982 Heather Matarazzo, actress, Anne Hathaway foil, out lesbian, Dawn Wiener
*

MattCanada reporting from the Toronto International Film Festival

I was very excited for Le Refuge because François Ozon is one of those world cinema directors I always enjoy. However, despite great performances and beautiful cinematography, it left me cold. The story of a pregnant drug addict (Isabelle Carré) forming a relationship with the dead baby-daddy's gay brother (Louis-Ronan Choisy) seemed too oblique to me. Maybe it's just that I like a few more histrionics, but to be perfectly honest, by the time the film ended I felt very little. Le Refuge is technically accomplished but I just couldn't connect with the film, didn't like any of the characters and their journeys and tribulations seemed petty and misguided. The last part especially suprised me because I think overcoming someone's death and bringing new life into the world is monumental and should carry an intense emotional weight. Therefore, it really is a 'tribute' to screenwriters Ozon and Mathieu Hippeau for making them seem utterly unimportant.

When a movie doesn't work for my first and last series -- sometimes the movie star's mug will be the first thing you see or the last (or both) -- I'm gonna use it elsewhere when it's amusing. SPINOFF SERIES ALERT!

Screenshots from halfway through the movie in question. We're about sixty-six minutes in for this one.

Look, he's my donkey!

This made me guffaw when I jumped to the halfway point of the DVD. See, Jesus cured this little crippled boy but he seems more excited about that ass than his newly working legs. Regardless, Richard Burton is so impressed you can totally tell he's going to convert to Christianity even though it will cost him his life. At the end of The Robe [*SPOILER*] Burton will walk up into heaven while a chorus sings "Hallelujah".

Subtle!

Be great. Be beautiful. Ride a horse. Get married. Get divorced. Act like a total diva. Wear something spectacularly sexy, preferrably white. Make people want more.


Befriend Michael Jackson. Watch Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? again. Watch National Velvet. Watch A Place in the Sun. Be highly quotable. Get married. Flaunt every piece of jewelry you own. Donate to an AIDS charity. Nurse a sick friend. Get divorced. Show everyone your wicked sense of humor. Fall in love with Montgomery Clift in glorious black and white (any of his movies will do). Ask your best friend to refer to you as "Bessie Mae" for the rest of the day. Get married. Scream "I was the slut of all time!" at the top of your lungs. Survive the loss of someone you loved no matter how hard that is to do. Pretend you've won an Oscar. And another. Drink people under the table. Love dogs. Get married. Polish her star at 6336 Hollywood Blvd. Watch Cleopatra... or at least half of it (okay, maybe a third). Get divorced. Read Elizabeth. Watch the original Father of the Bride. Get married. Get divorced. Get remarried. Get redivorced. Buy a pair of violet contact lenses. Let your passions rule you. Play a game of ping pong.


Don't take yourself too seriously. Role play "Liz and Dickie" with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Get married. Be fabulous. "Tell mama all". Name a perfume after your favorite thing. Gain lots of weight. Watch Giant. Watch Suddenly Last Summer. Watch Reflections in a Golden Eye. Steal something from someone who reminds you of Debbie Reynolds. Descend into "erotic vagrancy"! Give them something to talk about when you leave the room. Photoshop yourself onto the cover of 14 People magazines. Invite people over and play "get the guests" or "hump the hostess", your choice. Watch The Flintstones. Watch Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Watch The Taming of the Shrew. Imagine how Sherilyn Fenn might play you in a TV movie. Study Kabbalah.


Be sexy. Seek a voice role on The Simpsons. Work towards making lots of "all time greatest" lists in whatever it is that you do and actually deserve the honor. Make the world a better place. Get divorced. Go to a gay bar with friends. Jump on a plane to Hawaii. Excite the tabloids. Be legendary. Have a tracheotomy. Survive pneumonia. Have a hip replaced. Have a tumor removed. Survive cancer. Throw your back out. Call yourself "Mother Courage" and mean it. Survive everything.
*

So I went to Equus on Broadway. Let me back up a bit...

I generally disapprove of stunt casting and I'd been frustrated that people were so gung ho about seeing Potter's wand. It's all anybody talks about when talking about this classic which would lead one to believe that no one had ever seen a penis before. Or not seen one since the 70s. Sad for them.

Equus, for those of you who weren't alive in the 70s when the play caused a ruckus, is the story of a boy who commits an unthinkable atrocity in a stable and is sent to a psychiatric ward for treatment. It's a weighty tale with fascinating ideas thrown around about psychological imprinting, fetishistic sexuality, religion, reparative therapy and adolescent development. Yet all you ever hear about is the dick. Now, I'm totally for onstage / onscreen nudity so I don't wanna sound like a prude but all I could think was this: if people are expecting Daniel Radcliffe's penis to be as meaty as the play they're going to be disappointed. Even if he's hung like a, well...


I was going to be all annoyingly smug and skip the production until they brought in a real stage actor to replace Daniel Radcliffe. But my best friend wanted to see it for his birthday so off we went.

Mea culpa. Radcliffe ain't half bad. He's not even a third bad. It's not quite an award worth stage performance but he holds his own and he's definitely been growing as an actor with so much on the job training. At the very least he's ingeniously cast (yes, Virginia, stunt casting can work) and his physicality, speech, everything... completely sells that precarious and awkward space inbetween boy and man. Which is exactly where the part of Alan Strang, the young man who loves horses to death, needs to live. Richard Griffiths (who you'll know from the film and stage version of History Boys or as Uncle Dursley in the Harry Potter franchise) handles the constantly monologuing psychiatrist role like the consummate stage professional he is (Richard Burton and Peter Firth were both Oscar nominated for the psychiatrist and boy roles in the film version although one of them was marked "supporting", natch).

What's more the production is staged beautifully, eery horse masks top smart costumes and the lighting design is TONY worthy. The supporting cast is good, too. The gorgeous Lorenzo Pisoni plays two key roles and Radcliffe himself is amusingly enamored and not just onstage. Kate Mulgrew is terrific in the small but tricky role of Hester, the psychiatrist's confidante. The only weak spot was the actress playing the mother. She didn't seem to understand the nuances of her role, missing key moments and overplaying others.

All in all it's a very good production of a great play. Equus belongs on stage, where it can stay more abstracted, so if you've only seen it on film, try and catch this production. And if you want a really unsettling double feature, chase it with last year's unnerving experimental doc Zoo on DVD. B+

George: How about 'Hump the Hostess', huh? How about that? How about Hump the Hostess? Do you wanna play that one? You wanna play Hump the Hostess, huh?
Nick: Calm down!
George: Or do you wanna wait till later to get her off into the bushes?
Honey: [completely sauced] HUMP THE HOSTESS!
Nick: Just shut up, will you?

*

When I read that Deborah Kerr had died, a wave of guilt washed over me. I never knew her. (I mean that in the moviegoing sense of course)

As a child I connected Deborah Kerr only to The King and I and though I delighted in the "Shall We Dance" sequence and "Getting to Know You" I was, like those Oscar voters before my time, all about Yul Brynner. Well, Yul and Marni Nixon (but you already know of my fixation for that heard but not seen songbird)

As a seasoned thirtysomething awards nut, I've long since come to regard Kerr primarily through the mirror of her Oscar losses: 6 of them in the Best Actress category, the record. When it comes to movie stars only Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton suffered through more "we love you, but..." devotion from a teasing Academy. I am ashamed to say it but I even began to view her as a proxy jinx: Annette Bening keeps losing; Natalie Wood never won; Julianne Moore is forever a bridesmaid. All three of these lovely women -- three of my favorite actresses of all time -- have starred in Kerr's role in remakes of her films.

In truth the Oscars got in my way (as they do sometimes). I have never really given Deborah Kerr a fair shake. Maybe her passing can prompt Kerr agnostics like myself into a deeper investigation of her work. Help me along by sharing your favorite Kerr performances in the comments...

Related: From Here to Eternity & The Next Deborah Kerr?

Movies ~ Cinemathematics shares some feelings about the horror genre. Which happen to mirror my own. The Descent and Carrie are discussed.
Cinematical on the strange case of Bug's journey to the silver screen. Will Lionsgate release this thing? You may recall that I am rather obsessed with this movie. Whenever I read about it on the blogosphere I feel like I'm just about the only person who saw the excellent play.
European Films and GreenCine Daily offer up the European Film Award Nominations. A whole lotta love for Volver and The Lives of Others ... which are expected to be battling it out for the Foreign Language Oscar, too.

TV ~After Ellen on the success of Rosie's revamp of The View

Stage ~ MNPP freaks out about the poster for the new stage production of Equus starring Daniel Radcliffe. I love it. See, if you're not into Harry Potter --which I am not-- this is not psychologically damaging at all. It's just, well, disturbing. And all things Equus should be. If you haven't seen the Richard Burton film, you really should. And for a hilarious trip down memory lane here is The Onion's piece on Equus from January.

Gossip ~ Wow on Nicole Retchie. I normally care not a whit about the 'famous for being famous' set. But I thought this post was funny primarily because it made me feel better about my boring-ass job. Seriously now, how much would it suck to be a celebrity publicist? Worst job ever.

Upcoming Blog-a-Thons ~They're exhausting if you host them but if you're a participant or reader, they're informative, enjoyable, and reliable discussion-starters. Blog-a-Thons arriving in the next two months on other blogs (I've done my time in 2006) include:

• Alfred Hitchcock ~November 15th, 2006
• Film Criticism ~ December 1st - 3rd, 2006
• Supporting Actresses of the Year ~January 7th, 2007. StinkyLulu, ever excited by women in the margins, is hosting. He wants one --just one!-- actress from the past year in film highlighted by each participating blog. Sort of a "for your consideration" ad for Oscar voters if you will.
• Contemplative Cinema ~January 8th, 2007

A 74th birthday wish to one of the great movie stars of all time, Elizabeth Taylor. Today's starlets can kiss her white diamonds. Before Angelina Jolie, JLo, and the rest of the silver screen/tabloid stars, La Liz was creating the template for all impossibly beautiful, slightly wild, man-loving, charitably minded, marriage happy, and wealth flaunting superstars to come.



Best performance: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf(1966).
Why I fell for her: A Place in the Sun(1951). "tell mama everything..."
Underappreciated great work: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof(1958) and Giant(1956).
Liz Sites: Reel Classics Liz Page * Classic Movies Tribute * Immortality * Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation* Acting Divas * Husbands of...*
Another reason to love La Liz: Montgomery Clift, the best friend.
Best Liz husband: Richard Burton (twice over).
Best Liz Scandal: Eddie Fisher & Debbie Reynolds.
Recent moment to savor: The December 2000 Golden Globe Awards "y'all. y'all. y'all...Gladiator!"
Funny point-of-comparison: Joanne Woodward who has but 1 marriage [to Paul Newman, Liz's Cat co-star-- the marriage is still going strong] to Liz's 8 is also celebrating a birthday today. She's 76.

The best Liz quote: (that sums it all up)
"I've been through it all, baby. I'm Mother Courage."