And the winners were...

I bet there are more than a few gripes out there today about this year's Oscars, but at least we cannot complain about the emcee.
Ellen DeGeneres was peppy, funny and apparently, not intimidated by the event or its titans. A precious moment: when DeGeneres told Steven Spielberg how to frame a photograph of her. The nerve! How about when she started vacuuming? That's bringing the gala right down to where it belongs _ it's just another back-patting ritual by the self-celebrating movie industry.
My gripes? I know it's anarchic to say this, but Forest Whitaker's good performance as Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland'' still couldn't hold a candle to Ryan Gosling's or Leonardo DiCaprio's.
And Helen Mirren's impersonation of Queen Elizabeth was graceful, even kind, but best of the year? Do yourself a favor and see "Little Children,'' written by shore vacationer Tom Perrotta, for nominee Kate Winslet's lovely performance as a philandering wife.
In the supporting acting categories, Alan Arkin's win was thrilling and Jennifer Hudson was so thrilling in "Dreamgirls,'' I think she's deserving. And I'm heartened to see that "The Lives of Others'' prevailed over "Pan's Labyrinth,'' for best foreign language film. And that "Happy Feet'' took the best animated feature award over the weak "Cars.''
Onward to next year!

Local boys night

Thelma Schoonmaker, who just won the editing Oscar for ""The Departed,'' thanked a bunch of people including Rob Legato, who was raised in Asbury Park and Ocean and is a graduate of Ocean Township High School. Rob won the visual effects Oscar in 1997 for "Titanic.'' Schoonmaker thanked him for his visual effects work on "The Departed.''

A Trend?

Could a trend be afoot? "Pan's Labyrinth'' has just won the first two Oscars _ for makeup and art direction. A sweep might be in the works for this film, which could include best froreign language film, which would be bad news for ""The Lives of Others,'' also nominated, from Sony Pictures Classics. Tom Bernard, Navesink, is co-president of the company.
We'll see.

R.I.P. Anna Nicole

Feb. 9, 2007

When a person's death makes the front page of newspapers _ above the fold in the Asbury Park Press today, in the news round-up of the New York Times _ you figure they've accomplished something.
As the Associated Press said of Anna Nicole Smith, who died yesterday at 39, "she was famous for being famous.''
For me, Anna Nicole would have been just an annoying blip except that her disturbing TV reality show marked the beginning of the end of a long friendship. My buddy couldn't get enough of the show, I found it terribly threatening and a sign of American pop culture dragging us irrevocably into the abyss. We fought over his fandom and my disgust _ end of friendship.
'Wonder how many lives Anna Nicole and her weird cultural contribution so affected.

Wimp factor

Feb. 6, 2007

Can an Oscar be THAT important? Guess so, if the rumor mill is to be believed. Information on screenings of Eddie Murphy's new movie, "Norbit'" was withheld from myself and several other news outlets based in the metropolitan area. Even after calling publicists for the film from Dreamworks Pictures, no one called back to extend an invitation. Why?
The buzz is that Eddie's people want to limit the number of reviews, on the assumption that any bad press now would hurt his chances for votes for the Academy Award.
File this under the Oh Brother! category.

And the winners should be

Feb. 2, 2007

Your turn: are you happy with the Oscar nominations? Or are you furious that a certain person or movie was snubbed?
Personally, the only two nominees that really impressed me for originality were Ryan Gosling receiving a best actor nomination for "Half Nelson,'' and "Little Miss Sunshine'' getting a best picture nomination.
In a rational world, Toby Jones and Daniel Craig (for "Infamous'') would have received nominations; Annette Bening for "Running With Scissors;'' Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear for "Little Miss Sunshine;'' '' Demi Moore for "Bobby,'' and "Casino Royale'' for best picture. What? Yes, this is the best Bond movie since the very early Sean Connery days.
What's your beef?