LAST NIGHT AT THE OSCAR'S ~ KATE WINS !!

SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE OSCAR'S, THERE WERE NO JOKES, NO LAUGHS, BUT A LOT
OF SERIOUS MOMENTS OF LAUDING ACTORS AND THEIR TALENTS BY FORMER ACTORS.
THIS HAD NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE, AND YOU COULD SEE IT BROUGHT EXCITEMENT
AND THRILLS TO THE NOMINEES TO BE SO COMPLIMENTED BY ICONS OF FILM.

For each category of actors, best, and supporting, a group of famous
winners from the past stepped forward, and each one personally addressed
one of the nominees, as a one on one so to speak, and told them of how
impressed they were with their work. You could see the thrill of
the words on the nominees faces. It was a brilliant stroke by the
director of the awards. It is something that each actor will carry
with them for the rest of their lives, to be personally complimented
by someone famous as Shirley MacLaine, or Robert DeNiro, a different
star for each nominee and seen by the millions of viewers.






































Because of the lack of a comedic host, song and dance man Hugh Jackman did his best
to entertain the audience of celebrities and their families, but a little humor might
have gone a long way to quicken the pacing of the show, and keep the excitement going.
As it was, I found myself drifting off, changing channels, watching scenes from a film
playing on TCM, watching bits of Oliver Twist on PBS, and then coming back to the
awards. Not my usual habits at all! But that's how it was for me. For you, it may
have been more to your liking. I was very happy to see Kate win her Oscar, god
knows she deserves one, and I had to laugh when she told Meryl Streep she'd just have
to "suck it up," commenting that godesses like herself couldn't believe they were in
the same company with Meryl.

Slumdog Millionaire and it's director Danny Boyle won the prize.
Kate Winslet and Sean Penn won best actor.
Penelope Cruz and Heath Ledger won best supporting actor.
Steve Martin and Tina Fey had a nice little performance,
and Heath Ledger's family accepted the award on his behalf.
Beyonce` and Hugh Jackman did a musical number with dancers.

The best part of all for me, was that towards the end of
the show, for the first time EVER as far as I can remember,
there was plenty of time for each performer to thank all the
people they wanted to thank, without any music or "hurry up"
people waving them off. Which proved that it CAN be done!

Jiva

ROAD TO THE OSCARS 2009 ~ SUNDAY NIGHT

80 YEARS OF OSCARS ~ 80 YEARS OF FILMS









Tomorrow night at eight o'clock EST, The Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences will present once again, the awards for movies made in 2008. It's one of my favorite nights, not so much because it's fun to see the Red Carpet arrivals, although I certainly do enjoy that, but what has always fascinated me about the awards (and I've been watching them ever since they came on TV), is the emotional effect that films have on the viewers. Just like Gone With The Wind, [I'm watching it right now on Turner Classic Movies], what we learn from films can be transforming to our souls, to our lives. Indeed, certain films do earn the right to be awarded the highest honors for the emotion and stimulation they bring to us, sometimes changing the way we see the world. Film is the medium through which all things are possible.



HERE IS A MONTAGE OF THE 80 BEST PICTURES


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Oscar Nominees:

Best Picture
'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'
'Frost/Nixon'
'Milk'
'The Reader'
'Slumdog Millionaire'

Best Director
Danny Boyle 'Slumdog Millionaire'
Stephen Daldry 'The Reader'
David Fincher 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'
Ron Howard 'Frost/Nixon'
Gus Van Sant 'Milk'

Best Actor
Richard Jenkins 'The Visitor'
Frank Langella 'Frost/Nixon'
Sean Penn 'Milk'
Brad Pitt 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'
Mickey Rourke 'The Wrestler'

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway 'Rachel Getting Married'
Angelina Jolie 'Changeling'
Melissa Leo 'Frozen River'
Meryl Streep 'Doubt'
Kate Winslet 'The Reader'

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin 'Milk'
Robert Downey Jr. 'Tropic Thunder'
Philip Seymour Hoffman 'Doubt'
Heath Ledger 'The Dark Knight'
Michael Shannon 'Revolutionary Road'

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams 'Doubt'
Penelope Cruz 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'
Viola Davis 'Doubt'
Taraji P. Henson 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'


Jiva

FAMED DIRECTOR SYDNEY POLLACK 73

CLEARLY, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, HE WAS OUR GREATEST COMTEMPORARY FILM DIRECTOR. HIS FILMS LEFT A MARK ON SOCIETY, AND WILL BE CLASSICS ETERNALLY.

This Property Is Condemned

I CANNOT BELIEVE HE IS GONE. YESTERDAY. A MAN WHO KNEW HOW TO REACH INSIDE YOUR SOUL AND TOUCH THE MOST SENSITIVE NERVES OF YOUR EXISTENCE.

Three Days of The Condor

BACK IN 1971 I SAW A FILM CALLED THE SWIMMER WITH BURT LANCASTER. IT WAS A TRULY FASCINATING FILM, AND I WATCHED IT MANY TIMES. I LEARNED THAT MR. POLLOCK HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THAT FILM BRIEFLY. UNCREDITED.

The Swimmer

THEN THERE WAS THE LONG LIST OF OSCAR CONTENDERS AND STORIES THAT MADE ME

LAUGH, WEEP, THINK, AND BE CAPTIVATED.

The Way We Were

He was in 77 films as himself; he was a cinematographer in one; he was an actor in
32; he produced 47; and he directed 32.

Here is a list of his most notable films as director:

This Property is Condemned 1966 Natalie Wood, Robert Redford

The Swimmer 1968 Burt Lancaster, Janice Rule, Kim Hunter

They Shoot Horses Don't They? 1969 Jane Fonda, Gig Young

The Way We Were 1973 Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford

Three Days of The Condor 1975 Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway

Absence of Malice 1981 Paul Newman, Sally Field

Tootsie 1982 Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lang

Out of Africa 1985 Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Michael Kitchen

Havana 1990 Robert Redford, Lena Olin

The Firm 1993 Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman

Sabrina 1995 Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond

Random Hearts 1999 Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas

Sketches of Frank Gehry 2005 Barry Diller, Michael Eisner, Sydney Pollack

Tootsie

and when he died there were four projects in development. Apparently he had been suffering from cancer the last nine months, which I doubt few people knew. If I had known, I would have sent him a note.

Out Of Africa

So long for now, sadly...

Jiva

THE OSCARS !

I love the Academy Awards, I think I've been watching them ever since they first came on television! I was watching them when no one was watching them. I'd shut off the phone, fix some snacks and a drink, and settle down for a wonderful evening of red carpet arrivals, and all those excited winners and deflated losers. I loved trying to guess who would win, I'd root for my favorites and cheer them on, and become extremely agitated if they won, yelling YES YES! and even more so if they lost, as I'd be shouting at the screen, asking the academy how they could have voted for someone else. It was my favorite TV viewing night of the year.

And now it appears that the rest of the world has caught up with me, as now it is viewed by billions of people the world over, thanks to satellites and the prosperity of so many families that have TV's in their homes. Yes, the world is catching up to the United States in prosperity, thanks mostly to our exporting of democracy and captialism to other countries, they are enjoying the same benefits we enjoy.

The Oscars represent everything that is part of that great American Dream. It represents the best work of people who dream dreams, people who want to demonstrate what's possible. It's the people who create reality by creating fantasy, because not far behind these films comes the creation of similar ideas in life. Film is a medium so profound, it takes the old saying about a picture being worth a thousand words, and translates into a film being worth a million words. Films can wake us up out of our complacent stupors. Films inspire, motivate, and create nostalgic looks back in time. Film is the art of the Twentieth Century, and hopefully, it will continue for another hundred fabulous years. The billions of people who watch The Oscars, they are dreamers too.



Jiva