Farrah Fawcett Gets the Death Shaft From Oscar
by Sue Millinocket
Ceremony fails to include cultural icon In Memorium
While perusing my MSN homepage today, it came to my attention that once again, Farrah Fawcett has received the Royal Death Shaft. This time at the hands of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. You know, the Oscar people. She was intentionally left out of the In Memorium section of yesterday’s broadcast. When questioned, some flunky replied that like every year, not everyone could be included. What a big giant pile of bullshit.
Farrah Fawcett was a cultural icon in the 1970s. Her poster turned many a boy into man and her signature hairstyle became the be-winged fantasy of every girl. Not only a TV personality, Fawcett was also a member of the Academy (a supposed requirement for inclusion in the ceremony) and made a decent number of big screen films. She died in June of 2009 after a prolonged battle with cancer.
Her death was news for about five minutes. You see, Michael Jackson happened to die shortly thereafter and Farrah never did get her day. I, for one, was sad to hear of her passing and felt for her family. She weirded out pretty well there for a number of years but had pulled it together during her illness. She was part of my childhood and died too young.
So why didn’t she even get her moment at the Oscars? The idea that “not everyone could be included” is a load. Michael Jackson was not a member of the Academy. He was not an actor. Yet there he was, just as big and freaky in death as he was in life. I guess Farrah just had the bad fortune to succumb to cancer at the same time as Sir Michael decided to force his shady doctor to off him with surgical anesthetic. Bigger scandal, bigger freak, bigger piles of money. I guess that’s what it really takes to be remembered by “your peers”.
Shame on you, Academy. You didn’t accidentally leave Farrah out, she got ousted by people you decided were more worthy and one in particular who did not even meet your own stated qualifications for inclusion. No, she was not the most talented actress in the world. She was also not a giant freak whose own idiocy resulted in her death. She was just a woman in her 60s who died of a disease that kills lots of regular people. Sure, she influenced the culture of the entire country in her heyday, but what the hell, not everybody can be included, right?
Comments CommentsThe Oscars are on……NOW!
by Sue Millinocket
Pre-Game warm-up
No Oscars are complete without some sort of pre-show fawning. Usually it’s a D-List television personality in a horrible outfit telling everyone that they look wonderful (even if – actually especially if – it’s a lie). We’re supposed to be “getting to know” the stars by hearing them give canned mini-interviews and being sort of charming. You know, pretending to be real people. I don’t watch those shows, since nausea is so easy to come by in this life.
But just in case you’re missing it, I’ll give my own little pre-show rundown. This evening for our Oscar event, I am wearing Red Flannel Pajamas by Land’s End. I am indeed delighted to be here and yes, just being nominated is thrilling! My stylist (mininocket, age 12) did my hair and make-up, recognizing that tousled and minimal is totally in this year. Watch for her, she’ll be a player in this business someday.
Please gather your treats of choice (2 giant cookies here in the House of Nocket), and settle in for eighteen hours of good, clean Oscar fun!
The Broadcast Event (aka: A Gala Evening Of Stars!)
First of all, I will be copying GG from Sonic Clash - I love his live post format. Thanks GG!
7:30 pm - Why are the big nominees all out there like it’s a cattle auction?
7:32 – Neil Patrick Harris was great in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog but this is sort of painful.
7:44 – Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin (has his fathead decreased? I think so!) have good chemistry, but are given some lame jokes. George Clooney does funny, funny stink-eye with Baldwin and Sandra Bullock looks adorable.
7:51 – Oh, for the love of God. Now I want to see The Blind Side. I am such a sucker. And Ryan Reynolds does not do serious well.
7:59 – Up wins animated film. Shocker. I wrote this before it was announced.
8:00 – Miley Cyrus and Amanda Seyfried usher in the first two hideous dresses of the evening. Their nannies should have put them in something more becoming. Are we not going to get to hear a wretched rendition of each song this year? Boooooo. I look forward to those.
8:12 – Robert Downey Junior appears. It’s the first RDJ sighting of the evening. I have no idea what award he’s presenting but he’s my hero in blues shades and bow tie. I am jealous of Tina Fey.
8:15 – WooHoo! The Hurt Locker – Best Original Screenplay. Totally deserved. Some of the best real-world dialogue I’ve heard in a long time.
8:17 – Molly Ringwald = Deer in the Headlights
8:28 – Zoe Saldana looks to be carrying a load of muppets in the train of her dress. Nice intro to the short films category that usually gets very overlooked.
8:38 – Ben Stiller makes me LOL. That in itself is noteworthy. He’s also making fun of James Cameron. Totally worth the time in the make-up chair.
8:59 – Supporting Actress goes to Mo’Nique – no one else even had a chance.
9:09 – Sarah Jessica Parker has a hair issue. Smoothing serum emergency!
9:18 – Baldwin and Martin bed sketch will be played on YouTube 8 zillion times. Minimum. Ditto the Snuggie shot.
9:22 – Zac Ephron really should go back to the Disney Channel. What is he, 5 years old? I scoff at him and his be-banged baby visage. And by the way, honey, your name is spelled with a “k” or an “h”. Someone had to tell him.
9:25 – First time Hurt Locker goes head to head with Avatar. Hurt Locker wins Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. Whee! Go HL!
9:37 – Oh my. The In Memorium always makes me cry a little. Throw James Taylor in there and I’m blubbering.
9:45 – Is Jennifer Lopez wearing bubble wrap?
9:54 – I choke as I admit that Avatar probably deserves the award for Visual Effects. I can still be filled with contempt for James Cameron, though.
10:15 – I did not take unscheduled naps during either Documentaries or Foreign Films. There’s a first time for everything. I might even seek out and watch The Cove. No guarantee I won’t have a nap while watching, though.
10:32 – Ah, Jeff Bridges. I knew you would win Best Actor for Crazy Heart, but it still does my heart good to see The Dude with that statue in his hand. Wiping a little tear right now. Cool speech, man.
10:45 – Carey Mulligan gets the award for most superfluous close-up audience shots. She’s cute, but we’ve seen her about 25 times. Also, please shut up, Oprah.
10:50 – Go Sandra! Go Sandra! Go Sandra! When did she kiss Meryl Streep?
10:53 – Barbra Streisand seems to be sporting a doily around her neck. Way to go, style icon!
10:55 – Yay!!!! First woman ever to win Best Director. First ex-wife of James Cameron to kick his smug ass in front of the whole world. Katherine Bigelow rocks!
10:58 – Awesome. The Hurt Locker gets Best Picture without pulling a single punch in showing an ugly war in an ugly way with an incredible cast and unflinching honesty. Nice work, Academy.
Post-game wrap up
Not a bad broadcast. Nothing extraordinary or shocking, but some well deserved wins and a relatively tight format that did not include Rob Lowe singing. No, we will never forget that. My biggest complaint is that there was not nearly enough Robert Downey, Junior. Sleep tight, movie watchers!
Comments CommentsShall we have an Oscar Party? Yes we shall!
by Sue Millinocket
Academy Awards. Live Blog. Movie rewind. Be There.
So yeah – I’m live blogging the Oscars tonight. Never live blogged anything before so why not start with something massive and overwhelming? Yes, those were my thoughts exactly. But I’ll be watching, you’ll be watching, we might as well watch together. And no, I will not refrain from off-topic fashion related commentary. It’s in my nature, I cannot fight it.
I’ll be starting about 15 minutes before the broadcast – Central Time. Yes, there will be coverage of what I am wearing and eating – one must have a pre-show, after all…
Comments CommentsAlice in Wonderland Hauls in Beaucoup Bucks
by Sue Millinocket
It may be weird and creepy, but it’s a big ol’ cash cow for Tim Burton
I still completely stand by my assessment that Tim Burton’s new Alice in Wonderland looks creepy and crappy. But according to Box Office Mojo, the thing made 116 million smackers in its opening weekend. What the what? (Thank you, Tina Fey).
I totally don’t get the appeal – of either the original story or this very weird looking version. Johnny Depp is pretty – but not here. The story is for children so I suppose desperate parents stuck in an endless winter (well, at least in the Midwest) are looking to get out of the house with their kids. Maybe adults have fond memories of the story. But memories lie, people! The story makes no sense and adding Tim Burton just ups the creep-factor.
But number don’t lie. $116 million. Is the movie really that good? Why does everyone want to see it? Someone please, explain this to me – I’m losing faith in humanity. A 3-D cheshire cat just can’t merit that big of a payday.
Comments CommentsScorsese Nails Shutter Island’s Big Twist Ending
by Sue Millinocket
Unfortunately, he drives the nail through the story’s soul
I was really looking forward to Shutter Island. Loved the book, liked the trailers, went in optimistic. And I wasn’t entirely disappointed. Disappointed enough to come here and bitch, though. Told you yesterday that I would and I do like to keep a promise.
If you’ve seen or heard anything about the movie, you know that there’s a big twist ending. I already knew the ending and it is indeed a nice, juicy twist. The kind of twist M. Night Shyamalan dreams of being able to write (and keeps trying, again and again, like the Energizer Bunny on crack and with too much funding). Martin Scorsese keeps his film version of Shutter Island true to the book, but somewhere along the way he manages to lose its soul.
A good twist ending leaves you with something – shock, sadness, fear, delight at the ingenuity of it all, whatever. It should pack a punch and leave you wide eyed as you put all the pieces together and realize how the twist was there all along, you just weren’t looking in the right places. But even the best twist in the world will fail if the actors and director don’t succeed in making us care about the story.
That’s where Shutter Island trips and falls. It’s all there, just like it is in the Dennis Lehane novel. But I don’t care. Leonardo DiCaprio and Scorsese utterly fail to engage me on any sort of emotional level. That ending should pack a huge whallop – it does in the book. Any time you break out The Big Twist there will be naysayers that nitpick and decry the plausibility of it all, but that’s not what it’s about - I put my disbelief on the shelf when I paid my money and walked onto the theater. It isn’t the facts of the ending that suck, it’s the execution.
I’m not going to ruin this ending for anyone, but I will say that by its very nature this film should engage the viewer as a human drama as well as a psychological thriller. But Scorsese doesn’t play it that way, he seems more interested in the nuts and bolts than in imbuing the film with the necessary humanity to make us care when the end arrives. DiCaprio is far too dry and wooden in his performance to make up for the frigid direction.
It’s sad, really – there are a lot of good things about Shutter Island the movie (yeah, I’ll review it and tell you those later) but the emotional impotence of the entire film makes the rest pale and uninteresting. Apparently others disagree, since the stupid thing is still topping the box office. I would like to think that’s because there isn’t all that much new out there and that the trailers are really good. Don’t be fooled – it’s all style and no dramatic substance. The big twist feels like an technical exercise. Read the book instead and rent the movie when it comes out on DVD. Maybe Scorsese will explain how he sucked the soul out of the story in the commentary.
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