Who2 Editorial Blog

Notes and Commentary from the Editors

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to Host the Oscars

Martin: "I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin."

More from the LA Times and the Academy.

Labels: Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, The Oscars

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 4:50 PM Share on Facebook 0 comments

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Ideas for Oscar Rejuvenation

Defamer has some lively ideas for making the Academy Awards relevant again.

Included are scenarios titled Drink the Golden Globes Under the Table, Post-Modern Oscar, and... Logan's Run:

The tweens have taken over entertainment; how long does Oscar think it can hold out anyway? Show Oscar's commitment to staying relevant by terminating the careers of any actor over 35 on live TV.

Host: Vanessa Hudgins
Producer: The Kardashians
Ideal Best Picture Winner: New Moon
Opening Number: 50's style sockhop dance number as George Clooney, Angelina Jolie and all the old people in the audience are loaded onto the original Sputnik rocket and blasted into outer space.

More here.

Labels: The Oscars

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 10:10 AM Share on Facebook 0 comments

Monday, September 14, 2009

Nutty Moonman Drama at the VMAs

Kanye West got nutty at last night's MTV Music Video Awards. Taylor Swift was accepting her "Moonman" award for best female music video when Kanye grabbed the mic to deliver this semi-smackdown:

Yo Taylor. I'm, I'm really happy for you, I'm a let you finish... but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!

Followed by Kanye handing back the microphone, Swift looking confused, and reaction shots of Beyoncé and the audience with "What? Was that staged?" looks on their faces.

(If only John Wayne had done the same thing to, say, Audrey Hepburn at the 1953 Academy Awards. "Little lady, I'm happy for yuh. But Ava Gardner in Mogambo was one of the great performances of all time. Of all time!")

Later, in a nice dramatic touch, Beyoncé invited Swift onstage to finish her speech, and they shared a hug, to wild applause.


Which is why the MTV Awards seem like more fun than the Academy Awards these days. Didn't nutty things used to happen at the Oscars, too?

Labels: Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner, John Wayne, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, The Oscars, The Video Music Awards

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 6:57 AM Share on Facebook 0 comments

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Woody Allen, A Supporting Actor's Best Friend

It's the fifth time an Allen film has earned a performer a supporting-acting honor. Cruz joins past Allen collaborators Dianne Wiest, a dual Oscar winner for "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Bullets Over Broadway"; Michael Caine for "Hannah and Her Sisters"; and Mira Sorvino for "Mighty Aphrodite."

The Associated Press on Penelope Cruz's best supporting actress Oscar for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Labels: Diane Weist, Michael Caine, Mira Sorvino, Penelope Cruz, The Oscars, Woody Allen

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 6:14 PM Share on Facebook 0 comments

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Does Oscar Hate Tantrums?

So says The LA Times, weighing in on the Christian Bale fracas.

Labels: Christian Bale, The Oscars

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 7:03 AM Share on Facebook 1 comments

Friday, January 30, 2009

Which Is the Best Best Picture Ever?

Newsday is holding a vote.

First they're weeding it down decade by decade -- then those winners, plus a few wildcards, go head to head for the title of Best Best Picture of All Time.

Here were my votes:

The 1930s: Mutiny on the Bounty. Why? Because I haven't seen half the flicks (who's seen Cimmaron and Cavalcade lately, by the way?) and because I thought Grand Hotel was a bore. And because I give Mutiny extra points for sweeping shipboard drama. And because we all know Gone With the Wind is going to win anyway.

The 1940s: Geez, tough decade. Casablanca is possibly my all-time favorite movie. Plus: Rebecca, Mrs. Miniver, Gentlemen's Agreement, The Lost Weekend -- heavy, heavy hitters. Still, I'm giving my vote to... The Best Years of Our Lives. Because it makes me cry. And because of those incredible scenes with Harold Russell. And because of Frederick March as a struggling mensch. And because of the scene where Dana Andrews goes to the old junkyard and climbs into the plane. And because, again, we all know that Casablanca is going to win and I want Best Years to at least get a wild card.

The 1950s: The Bridge On the River Kwai. It's just too epic to avoid. Another great decade of "big" films: On the Waterfront, From Here to Eternity, Ben-Hur for pete's sakes. Hollywood hitting on all cylinders. If An American In Paris wins here, I'll freak.

The 1960s: Surprisingly bad decade! Ach, those musicals. (My Fair Lady? Best picture? Really?) I'm voting for Lawrence of Arabia just for Peter O'Toole. Runner-up would be... what? I can't bring myself to vote for The Sound of Music and I hated Oliver. In The Heat of the Night, I guess.

The 1970s: Another very tough decade. Every one a winner, really, except Kramer vs. Kramer. Patton especially rocks. But I'm giving my vote to The Sting because it's full of great actors having a great time. And: salute to Paul Newman.

The 1980s: Good lord, what a mess. Ordinary People? The Last Emperor? Some of these "winners" probably aren't even out on DVD. One nose-holding vote for Chariots of Fire, for no good reason at all.

The 1990s: Remarkable how little I care about these films. Shakespeare In Love gets my vote, because I wish all screenplays were so clever. (I'm in the minority here, I know. Tough.) The English Patient a half-hearted second; I loved it in the theater, it's true. Forrest Gump a distant, distant last.

The 2000s: Gladiator. Way to carry the story, Mr. Russell Crowe. The action scenes hold up, even if the Caesar melodrama doesn't. I didn't see The Departed or No Country for Old Men because I feared the unredeemed violence would get me down. (And I think I was right.) And who else you gonna vote for, Million Dollar Baby?

Most striking point: how chewing-gum-disposable most everything is from 1980 on. There are only a few movies there -- Shakespeare In Love is one -- where I would say now, "I'm fond of that movie." Very strange when you see them lined up like that.

A Beautiful Mind -- a well-made movie, interesting topic, but is it anyone's favorite movie? I can't believe it. (Not counting you, Ron Howard.) Every best picture winner should be the favorite movie of at least one person, somewhere, somehow. Or at least somebody's "My most thought provoking movie ever" movie.

Thanks for a fun little notion, Newsday.

Labels: Harold Russell, Peter O'Toole, Russell Crowe, The Oscars

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 9:22 PM Share on Facebook 0 comments

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Oscar Ennui for ABC?

Dark Knight wasn't nominated. But...

"Yes! The highbrow Holocaust film with lukewarm reviews is in the game!"

Mark Caro says the Oscar nominees are bad news for the broadcaster.

Labels: Mark Caro, The Oscars

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 3:42 PM Share on Facebook 0 comments

The Oscar Revenge of Benjamin Button

Make fun of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button all you want, but it pulled down thirteen nominations in the 2009 Oscar race.

Including best picture, best actor (Brad Pitt), best director (David Fincher), best phony old-guy makeup, etc, etc.

The ceremony is February 22nd. The other best picture nominees: Frost/Nixon, The Reader, Milk, and (our early favorite) Slumdog Millionaire.

Variety has the story and the full list of nominees.

Labels: Benjamin Button, Brad Pitt, David Fincher, Harvey Milk, The Oscars

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 7:41 AM Share on Facebook 0 comments

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