Memo to the Academy (AMPAS) Pick a Woman for the Honorary Oscar

Lately I have been reading a lot about women, or the lack there of in film.  This is a simplistic way of saying women are de-valued in front of, and behind the scenes in the film industry.  I think the Academy Awards can play a big role in working toward changing this, but where is the root of the problem?  I have preached on this subject numerous times, but there were two articles which I have read recently, which highlight the flaws in the system, from critics to the Academy.

The first article comes from theweek.com, entitled  "Girls on Film: The Heat breaks new ground by not being groundbreaking" by Monika Bartyzel.  What I love about this article, and the film, is that The Heat is not meant to be a film that breaks the mold its meant to put a twist on the "buddy cop" genre using two women in roles that would be played similarly by men.  Critics have been trashing this film because it did not break new ground, but is merely a funny film with two women in more gendered male typologies.  Bartyzel states "The Heat strives to level the playing field and abolish the notion that women are so different than men — which makes it a window to an audience still applying gendered expectations to women behind and on the screen."  

Bartyzel makes an excellent statement within this article that critics are angry because women are basically not living up to their gendered roles, proving once again that even in the male dominated world of critics women are intended to be viewed from a specific vantage point.

The second article comes from Balder & Dash, and is entitled "DearHollywood: Hiring women directors could rescue could rescue the superhero movie. Love half the human race."  This article is written by Susan Wloszcyna, and highlights one of the most interesting facts about super hero films.  Today super films have Sundance, and obscure auteurs who started in independent film like Marc Webb.  Webb directed The Amazing Spider-Man, but his first film, and most memorable to many is (500) Days of Summer.  In this article Wloszcyna highlights if Webb can break through why can't women like Patty Jenkins (Monster).  Oh wait, Wloszcyna, points out the fact Jenkins was set to direct the sequel to Thor, but was replaced for "creative differences."

Like Wloszcyna I call bull, and there are numerous women out there who could handle a super hero movie, Sarah Polley, Debra Granik, Kathryn Bigelow, Lynne Ramsey, to name a few.  Women are notoriously put off, but it's time to change things, and the Academy can break the mold.

This year the Academy worked toward changing their demographics, and while this has helped with improvements on all levels from gender to race, there is a lot of ground to cover.  One area where they could up their female support (and honestly for people of color) is within the Lifetime Achievement or Honorary Oscar section.  Over the entire history of the Academy the only actresses to win an Honory Oscar (not including juvenile or choreographing Oliver) were:

1954-Gretta Garbo
1970-Lillian Gish
1975-Mary Pickford
1977-Margaret Booth
1981-Barbara Stanwyck
1990-Sophia Loren
1990-Myrna Loy
1993-Deborah Kerr
2009-Lauren Bacall

These women are icons of the screen, but surely the Academy can recognize other icons within this category.  Who are women who made a significant impact on film in the way these women did?  Some of these women have not won Oscars, so who would fit within that category, women like Angela Lansbury, Gena Rowlands,  Shirley Temple, Catherine Deneuve, and of course Doris Day.  There are also women who have won Oscars in this group like Loren, so someone like Julie Andrews, and Barbara Streisand might make sense.  Either way this category is long overdue for a women.

A Tribute to Great Films (and the Election): The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Many people would probably assume I would post about V for Vendetta on the 5th of November. Not so, the election movie that I am going to pay tribute to this month is The Manchurian Candidate (1962).  The film follows two soldiers whose platoon are captured during the Korean Conflict.  While in combat the soldier are kidnapped by the North Koreans and hypnotized to be under their control.  One soldier, Raymond Shaw, is set with a much more dangerous task through hypnosis.

This is one of my favorite films of all time, and is a brilliant critique of the Cold War, and the evolution of the American political structure.  Senator John Iselin represents a Joe McCarthy like character who is climbing the political stratosphere, and proclaiming there are Communist at all levels in the government.  The character is offish, and represents the power of manipulation that also effects some of the main two characters Major Marco Bennett (Frank Sinatra) and Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey). 

Shaw is Iselin's step son, and after he comes back from war, there is obviously something different about him; he comes back touted as a major war hero, a memory planted in his mind, and the mind of those he was serving with in Korea.  His status as a hero catpaults him to national celebrity bringing recognition to his step father, just the way his mother Mrs. Eleanor Shaw Iselin (Angela Landsbury) planned.

The direction from John Frankenheimer, along with Geroge Axelrod's script are amazing.  Frankenheimer builds this mysterious tension that is unlike anything that had been done before. The combination of this script and direction takes you on a journey where you have to confront what is real and what is not.  Who can you trust, and who is pulling the strings within the government.  Politics is a dangerous/dirty game, and this film proves that there is always more than meets the eye.  This is a beautifully directed intense thriller with some great characters.

While I have never thought Sinatra to be much an actor (great singer) he stretches himself here more than he did in any film, even his Oscar winning role in From Here to Eternity.  The most stunning performance comes from Angela Landsbury whose dark turn as Mrs, Iselin is one of the best villains to grace the screen; she is cold calculating, and manipulative as she gets her son to do things in order to further her husbands political capitol.  Watch this film and you will have a hard time picturing her in Cabot Cove.

This film showed people for the first time a different representation of the American political system, filled with corruption.  The Manchurian Candidate focused on a system that allowed someone like John Iselin to be the Vice Presidential candidate because scarred people into thinking there was no one better.  Sounds like what Mitt Romney is doing with his "plan" for the economy.  The 2012 Presidential Election has had a winding path, and while I always encourage people to vote, I can't support their vote for this man who is just not going to take this country in the right direction.  Tomorrow is a scary day, and I will be on the edge of my seat.

Politics has become a different game, and this film shows the birth of the change, who controls what and how it effects the American system.  The film was re-made in 2006, and while there may be have been a few changes the message is timeless.

A Tribute to Great Television: Murder She Wrote

What do Gabe Kaplan and Lynn Redgrave have in common, they both were guest stars in the first season of Murder, She Wrote.  Murder, She Wrote was the story of a women named Jessica Beatrice (JB) Fletcher who was widowed and instead of just sitting around starts to write mystery novels.  Jessica lives in the small town of  Cabot Cove, Maine and is surrounded by a group of colorful character including Seth Hazlett the local doctor.

You know her story, or if you don't you need to watch or refresh your memory.  Jessica also seems to find murder wherever she goes, whether its in her small home town or in New York, Paris, Montana, New Orleans, and many of her other exotic travels destinations. While many could view the show as a bit out dated/campy today there is something to said about a show like this that remained on the air for 12 years.  I think part of the show's success was the simple formula, and a class act star, Angela Lansbury.

Prior to being on the show Angela Lansbury was a major star on screen and stage.  Many people probably do not know that this woman is a three time Academy Award nominee; she was was nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actress category for the films Gaslight (1945), The Picture of Dorian Grey (1946), and her most famous film role in The Manchurian Candidate (1962).  Unfortunately she did win for any of these roles, but I would have picked her to win for The Manchurian Candidate; she is brilliant in that film.  Throughout these years Lansbury had roles in both film and television.  My first memory of her was in the 1971 film Bedknobs and Broomsticks where she played a witch named Mrs. Price.  This was one of my favorite films growing up and I remember loving Ms. Lansbury even as a small child.  In her post Murder She Wrote days many people probably know her as the voice for Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast (1991).

Lansbury's real pride and joy has appeared to be theatre; she has worked on plays musical from 1957 through the present day.  Lansbury's first play was Hotel Paradiso.  In 1966 she took the lead role in the musical Mame, and received her first Tony Award win.  Lansbury's second Tony win came from the 1969 musical Dear World.  In 1971 Lansbury won her third Tony for playing Rose in Gypsy, one of the most iconic roles in the history of musical theatre.  Lansbury's fourth Tony came from originating the role of Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd in 1979.  Lansbury has never stopped and up to this day she is still performing on Broadway.  In 2009 Lansbury tied the record for the most Tony wins (5) for her work in the revival of the play Blithe Spirit.

Lansbury has clearly had an incredibly transcendent career, and the culminating tie in to all of this is a television show on CBS that last twelve years, Murder, She Wrote.  With its clever theme music, and sometimes predictable plot the show was a charming reminder of simple quality television during its time.  The only thing that makes me mad about this is that Lansbury was nominated for her performance every year, but she never won for this show; she has had to settle for a few Golden Globes, and the show won Best Drama at the Golden Globes as well.

My favorite part about this show and the 80s was that executive producers, directors, and writers knew how to create vehicles for people who were 50 plus years old.  During this decade we had the rise of other shows (including this one) like The Golden Girls, Matlock, Newhart, and many more. There are very few shows today that know how to incorporate or build shows centered around this population as though they were actual people.  Murder, She Wrote took a woman and made her an incredibly active heroine.