Who Should Host the Academy Awards?

I recently posted that Brett Ratner should be let go as a producer of the Academy Awards, but President Tom Sherak stated he was on "thin ice" and one more mistake would prevent him from this honor.  Soon after this Ratner stepped down as a producer.  After Ratner stepped down there were rumblings that Eddie Murphy would soon step down as the host, because of his connection with Ratner.  Today Eddie Murphy pulled out of hosting the award show, and now the big question is, who will host the Academy Awards this year?  Here is my wishlist:

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert-Give the guy another chance!  I think in this climate, politics is always funny, and he has great wit.  When the Academy Awards are airing we will be in the midst of primaries, and I think this could aid in Stewarts humor. I think pairing hosts together works when they have chemistry (Baldwin and Martin), but pairing two people who don't know each other does not work that well (Hathway and Franco).

Hugh Jackman-Jackman can sing, dance, and he's pretty damn funny!  The man tries to be a big box office star, but I think his talent is in the world of theater and live performance.  Jackman has been one of the best Oscar hosts in recent years and I think he would be wonderful.

Billy Crystal-Crystal has grace, panache, and would bring the Academy Awards back to the old school ways.  I think the Academy Awards are classic, and when they placate to bring in younger viewers, they fail.  Crystal would be a great choice because he represents the present days Bob Hope.

Neil Patrick Harris-One of the best hosts I have ever seen.  Harris has never hosted the Academy Awards, but he has done a great job with the Tony's and Emmy's.  I think this would bring a newer, and fresher perspective to this award show, which would be a breath of fresh air.

Melissa McCarthy and Kristin Wiig-This is the year of women at the movies.  Films like Bridesmaids and The Help are doing amazing.  Why not bring in two women from the funniest film of the year?  Wiig and McCarthy did great work together on Saturday Night Live, and Melissa McCarthy was one of the best hosts they have had in a while.

Wanda Sykes-Sykes is edgy and can insult well; she has great comic timing.  I think she would be a great host, she could bring an edgier vibe to this show, which may be something the Academy Awards needs

My pick at the moment is Wiig and McCarthy.

West Side Story Celebrates 50 Years!

Today on lunch I watched last nights Glee, I have more or less given up on the show, but I watched the episode for two reasons: the Kurt and Blaine first time story, and because they were performing West Side Story for their school musical.  The only reason I would ever continue to watch Glee is because of Naya Rivera who plays Santana her Anita was brilliant, and she is a great singe.  Watching this episode reminded that theaters across the country would be honoring West Side Story's 50th anniversary tonight.

West Side Story is the story of two people Tony and Maria who fall in love. This modern telling of Romeo and Juliet describes not only their love but the story of the Sharks and Jets whose fighting aims to prevent their true love.This memorable movie musical is so heartfelt, raw, and emotional.  The dancing and singing is done so beautifully, and throughout the film I felt Tony and Maria's eternal struggle to find happiness was beautiful.

Rita Moreno who plays Anita gives one of the best performances I have ever seen in a movie musical.  Anita who plays Riff's (Maria's brother) girlfriend is one of the best roles, and she shines especially in the musical number "America."  Some of the other amazing numbers in this film are "Cool", "I feel Pretty" and of course the unessential "Tonight, Tonight."

West Side Story was nominated for nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 10.  The film won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor-George Chikiris, and Best Supporting Actress-Rita Moreno.  This was the first film to have two Best Director winners, Jerome Robbins and Tim Wise.

The singing for Maria was not done by the actress who played her in the film, Natalie Wood.  The person who actually did the singing was Marni Nixon, and Wood's singing was dubbed.  Many people talk about Wood's voice, but few people ever talk about Ton'y voice being dubbed also.  The person who actually sang for Tony was Jimmy Bryant.

Even with dubbing this films charm is undeniable.  I love the romance, and the dancing gang members.  I always want to be a Shark, and would dance around to this music.  This film is a timeless classic, it was one of the films that inspired my love of musicals.  Happy Anniversary!

"Rehearsing is for Fags"...The World According to Apologies

In a recent Q&A for the film Tower Heist, director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, X-Men: The Last Stand) was asked about his process, and if he had people rehearse; he stated "rehearsing is for fags."  Soon after this news story broke to the mainstream media Ratner issued an apology that went like this "“I apologize for any offense my remarks caused. [Not that they’re by definition offensive, just that somebody MIGHT have been offended.] It was a dumb and outdated way of expressing myself. [Not prejudiced, just “dumb.” Not homophobic, just “outdated.”] Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t have a prejudiced bone in my body. [Some of my best friends are fa—uh, homos, uh, sexuals.] But as a storyteller I should have been much more thoughtful about the power of language and my choice of words. [I’m a storyteller!]"


So why the major coverage? One of the reasons this is getting major press is because Ratner is slated to produce the Academy Awards this year, and people are calling for his resignation.  I have to say I agree with blogger Mark Harris, I am tired of this slow learning curve actors have had within recent years that you saying "Well I'm a comedian" or "I'm a storyteller."  I have to ask the question what was the purpose of the use of this word?  Why did Mr. Ratner use this specific term?  I myself have used the word here. Why shouldn't someone disagree with me for using the word here?


Ratner using the word is pointed and there was no reason for it to be used in the place of stupid or is for idiots.  What Brett Ratner meant was rehearsing is for, insert an analogous negative comparison.  I am tired of people claiming they are not prejudicial.  Using this word in this context is not as much about prejudice as it is about this "storytellers" lack of a strong vocabulary.  This storyteller who ruined the X-Men franchise (I am still furious about that).  People can chose the words they use, and if they chose wrongly or misspeak they can be penalized for the poor word choice.  I think this is a case where Ratner shot his mouth off and let his true lack of intelligence show.  When people use those words they do it out  of a lack of clarity.  I am sure Ratner is not a bad man, nor prejudice, but his concept of language is ill used.  


In the closing words of his apology where he searches for the words to describe the LGBT  population, he tries a mix of humor and discomfort.  In my mind the apology lacks sincerity, and this "master storyteller" can stick to crappy Jackie Chan films; he should not be allowed to continue on to represent the Academy Awards.

Academy Awards Best Picture Revisited: Inglorious Basterds (2009)

While on my trip home from Manhattan I watched Inglorious Bastereds.  It's now November, and award season is right around the corner.  Starting with 2009 I am going to watch a Best Picture nominee from every year, and analyze it's position in the Oscar race, and then talk about how it holds up looking back.

Basterd was the product of the genius, Quentin Tarantino.  Tarantino's early credits include being an extra in The Golden Girls where he was an Elvis impersonator.  Tarantino has moved far beyond this acting work, and has helped to shape film making today; his first major directorial work Reservoir Dogs is pretty solid.  Tarantino's most critically acclaimed work came in in 1994, Pulp Fiction.  Pulp Fiction earned the director two Oscar nominations for directing and writing; he won the award for best original screenplay.  After these two films Tarantino's career has continued to thrive, but his next set of nominations did not come until 2009 for Inglorious Basterds (writing/directing).

2009 was the first year the Academy went back to ten Best Picture nominees since the year of Casablanca in 1943.  The Academy never actually stated with directness why they went to ten nominees, but one of the things many award show gurus cite is the omission of The Dark Knight in 2008.  The switch to ten nominees was a cultural change, that was met with mixed reviews.  The rules have still continued to evolve.  The Academy stated that this this year there can be anywhere from between 5 to 10 nominees.  This will provide an interesting situation this year.

2009 was an interesting year for the Oscars where many people were focusing on the Avatar (big budget sci-fi extravaganze) vs. The Hurt Locker (the smaller scale war film).  In this epic battle for the big prize and other awards most people discredited Inglorious Basterds.  Basterds was nominated for Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz), and Best Original Screenplay.  Waltz was an early on front runner, and was poised to take the trophy throughout the entire awards season.  Basterds got a decent number of nominations in the technical categories.  Most of these categories were set to be split between The Hurt Locker and Avatar.  Many people predicted that Tarantino would win in the screenplay category again, but he was bested by Marl Boal's The Hurt Locker.  The Academy got it right!  The Hurt Locker deserved to be the big winner.

While re-watching Inglorious Basterds, I was not as enamored with this film as much as I was the first time I saw the movie.  It's sad that Tarantino's second nominations came from lesser work.  The Academy seems to be obsessed with honoring films that center around World War II, the holocaust, the Nazi's etc. and this film fits within this category.  Tarantino's Kill Bill Volume I and II were much better, but they did not gain any recognition.  I love Tarantino, but he did not deserve the screenplay win for this film.  Waltz was just as great the second time around, and I love how maniacal his character is portrayed, just brilliant.

The one thing I noticed this time was how much Diane Krueger impressed me.  Kruger played Bridget Von Hamersmark a German actress who was also a double agent for Allies.  Kruger's subtle looks in the sequence in the bar, and while she is being interrogated by Waltz are sheer brilliance.  Melanie Laurent who plays Shosanna was also great in this film; her scene where she interacts with Waltz, the man who murdered her entire family is chilling!  These two women deserved nominations for their work in this film, and it is sad that voters could not move past Tarantino's machismo aura of this film and recognize the actresses who did some of the best work in the film.

In the world where there are 10 nominees for Best Picture, I would have nominated this film, but looking back on the year there could have been five better films.  This was the year of The Hurt Locker, Up, Up in the Air, A Serious Man, District 9, Star Trek, and my personal favorite 500 Days of Summer.  Tarantino did a lot of interesting things within this film, but I would not cite this as his best best work.

Travels with Kevin Part 3: New York City Nightlife...Seems Like Old Times

I needed a weekend away from Boston.  I was in New York City/Long Island area for my friends wedding back in September, but miss out on going throughout the whole month of October.  I miss being in Manhattan.  When I come to the Manhattan I glow with radiance, this place just makes me happy.  I did not stay with any of my friends that live in Manhattan.  I stayed with a friend who lives in New Jersey; he graciously offered to host me.  There are probably two questions that come to your mind right now, maybe not, but I will pose them.  

Question 1: Why did I stay in New Jersey and not in Manhattan?  The answer is somewhat simple.  I stayed with my friend Dominic who lives Hoboken.  I wanted to catch up with and spend time with Dominic, this posed the best opportunity for me to spend time with him.  Dominic’s apartment is right by the Path, and getting into Manhattan can take as little as 6 minutes.

Question 2: Why not write about New Jersey? Sorry New Jersey, but this is my only section where I will insult you.  Who wants to write about Hoboken?  Not me.  I also was inspired by day and night time activities in Manhattan.

On Friday night I went out with Dominic and went to one of the new gay bars in Manhattan called Flaming Saddles.  One of my favorite things about this place is that new places are always popping up, especially bars and restaurants.  Places like Flaming Saddles fill a void in specific niche.  Flaming Saddles is a gay bar a la Coyote Ugly.  I will not be talking about the film Coyote Ugly.  After Flaming Saddles I went to G Lounge with my friends and we ended up at a diner to close the night.

After a long night out, I woke up early to meet my friend Keith to do the lottery and student rush for Broadway.  Keith and I were planning on trying to either see Priscilla Queen of the Dessert, Anything Goes, or Follies.  We lost the lottery for Priscilla, Sutton Foster was not going to be in the matinee for Anything Goes, so we ended up seeing Bernadette Peters in Follies.  Follies was an interesting show, the performances kept my interest. We stuck around Hell’s Kitchen after, and grabbed drinks for happy hour at Posh.  After Posh we grabbed food at Lime Jungle. The people who own this restaurant own one of my favorite places in the city, Empanada Mama’s.  I got my usual Sangria and some empenadas.

The night continued with Keith, my friend Monica, and Dominic and his friends at Gym Bar.   At Gym Bar I ran into the boy that made me sure of my sexuality, whether he knows this or not…well he does now.  His name is Derek.  I met Derek in my sophomore year of college, and he was the first boy I liked/ had a crush on.  Derek and I never dated, but we remained good friends throughout my years in college.  Seeing Derek transported me back to my college days.  This was on of those moments where you see someone from your past and you are genuinely happy about it.  The night ended great, and I was able to escape the world of Boston.

When I woke up this morning I thought about the film Seems Like Old Times (1980), not just because of

 Derek, but because going to Manhattan seeing old friends, and doing familiar things.  Now, I have to admit this is a rather silly 1980s comedy, but when I was growing up I loved this movie.  The films actual premise has little to do with anything that happened in Manhattan, but the films message is timeless.  The film stars Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, and Charles Grodin.  Hawn’s character Glenda is married to Ira (Grodin), but everywhere Glenda turns she encounters her ex-husband Nick (Chase).  Glenda tries to fight off feelings for Nick throughout the whole film, she’s been remarried and has a new life.  This husband is trying to make up for something she loves, but at the time it was not right.

This is how I feel about my current living situation.  I love New York, and I feel like living in Boston is just a passing ship in the night.  Seeing my old friends, and doing things that were my old routine felt amazing.  I remember how much I miss this city, and how much it feels like home. I love Manhattan.  There is something about going back, seeing great people, eating great food, and being in a place that truly makes a person happy.  In time I will be back, and I will get to share in the joy that is not repetition, but sense of comfort.

50/50 is Half Laughs and Half Tears

50/50 (3 out of 5 stars)

Directed by: Jonathan Levine (The Wackness)

Written by: Will Reisser

Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Anjelica Huston

The film starts with a plucky Adam played by the talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt running outside and taking his time because he feels a pain in his back.  Adam goes to the doctor and finds out that he has cancer on his spinal cord.  Adam now has to deal with many things in his life: a girlfriend who doesn't sleep with him anymore (Howard), a best friend who drives him around, but also uses his cancer to score girls (Rogen), a counselor who is more neurotic than capable (Kendrick), and overbearing mother (Huston). Adam is dealing with living with cancer at a young age, and how to cope with the different aspects of trying to survive physically and emotionally.

When I heard about this comedy film about a man diagnosed with cancer I automatically thought about the awful Judd Apatow film, Funny People, starring Adam Sandler and ironically Seth Rogen.  Funny People tried too hard to be both touching and funny.  50/50 does not try hard, it's a natural flowing film that is entertaining.  This film is based on a true story.  The writer of this film Will Reiser was diagnosed with spinal cancer, and he is actually friends with Seth Rogen.  Rogen helped Reisser produce this film.  I like that the film feels more genuine than other movies about similar topics.  Cancer is often talked about in a maudlin way, but the tears (if they come) in this film seem more natural.

Director Jonathan Levine tackles the screenplay in a realistic yet gritty style, forcing more reality within his shots.  I think there are weak moments in the film that often lack texture like Howard's character; she may have done this to Reisser in real life, but there were elements that centered around her character that I never connected with.  Prior to his cancer I never understood why the character would be with her.  Overall this was a solid film that made me laugh, cry, and feel as though there was a realistic portrayal of this disease.

Series Finales: The End of a Journey

Tonight when I got home from the movies I decided to finish watching the last two episodes from my favorite television show ever, Gilmore Girls.  As a huge fan of the show, I admire the way they wrapped everything up, sure some of it felt rushed, but I still get emotional every time I watch Rory (Alexis Bladel) say goodbye to her mother and best friend Lorelai (Lauren Graham) before she hits the road to be a journalist.

A shows series finale symbolizes the end of an emotional journey for fans.  Throughout the years characters from these television shows become a part of culture, and our lives.  I invested seven years of my life in Gilmore Girls, and have re-watched the entire series several times, and that emotional connection is always there.

TV shows start out like relationships.  As a show is starting you often test out the waters with the pilot, and see if their is any chemistry or if you think you can relate to the shows premise.  If you find that connection the first year of the show is the honeymoon phase,  You get excited to turn on the TV and watch this brand new show.  As the the years go on you continue to learn more and more about the characters, and you start to truly love, appreciate, and respect everything.  There is of course a point where the show may take stories in a direction you do not like, as if there is a fight, or if the show goes on longer than it should you could start to get bored with it.  Then the network/creator decides its time to pull the plug and the show is going to end.  Throughout the last season and last episodes there is this emotional feeling as though you are preparing for something important to leave your life.  Within that last episode there are often several emotional moments as the writers pay homage to the shows history, give the actors an opportunity to say goodbye, and gives the viewer a chance to see closure with the story (hopefully).

When my favorite shows have gone off the air I have remembered being bummed.  I was no longer going to be a part of the any new adventures in the land of Stars Hollow, watch the gang drink coffee at Central Perk in Friends, or watch four women sit around the table and eat cheesecake on The Golden Girls.  Watching my favorite shows leave TV has been a journey for me, like reading great literature, every journey must come to an end.