Page 1 Roundup (03/05)

The Daily News: ‘The Shape of Water’ wins big at Oscars as show embraces #MeToo movement

Daniela Vega, ‘A Fantastic Woman’ star, becomes first openly transgender Oscars presenter

Special counsel subpoena demands communications from Trump, his campaign staff: report

Wait, aren't all Florida schoolteachers white nationalists?

Mental illness and megalomania are a terrifying combination

The New York Times: Europe once saw Xi Jinping as a hedge against Crazy Donald -- not anymore 

New York Post: Frances McDormand honors female nominees with best actress win

The Washington Post: Former Obama chief of staff said top Senate Republican ‘watered down’ pre-election Russia warning

He thought it was a blister. Now his foot has been amputated.

Reuters: Those are some impressive poles

The Wall Street Journal: Surprise! Your city has a flag and it’s terrible

Academy Books

Mildred, Fierce

This is how you dominate the Oscars news cycle, kids. From HERE.

'Women' and Children First

I'd go the movies way more often if every film could be as thoughtful and smart as "20th Century Women." If it were up to me, Annette Bening would finally receiver an Oscar, and Lucas Jade Zumann and Elle Fanning would at least be nominated for their nuanced performances. 

'Spotlight' on Academy Awards

It's nearly 2 p.m. and I just peeked at the Oscar winners. The only major motion picture I saw last year -- which was the only one I wanted to see -- won Best Picture, so there's that. Full list of winners HERE.

Page 1 Roundup (02/29)

Did he go too far?

Taylor Made

Sweet story in The Hollywood Reporter about one of Elizabeth Taylor's sons, who reveals where he keeps her Oscar for "Butterfield 8." (Shirley MacLaine is still reeling about losing to a tracheotomy!) Read HERE.

P.S. Her Oscar for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" resides in Santa Fe, N.M.

2015 Academy Awards Nominees Announced

The Oscar nominations were announced this morning and I'm happy TO READ that I'm not the only one who was completely underwhelmed by the films of the past 12 months. Truth be told, I was only able to work up the energy to see one of the nominees -- "Spotlight" -- which was good but didn't strike me as being anything Academy Award-worthy. Even the documentaries, which I usually cannot get enough of, left me cold, although I know I should give Amy and Nina a chance. Let me know if you think I'm missing out on something big.

I had been invited to a screening of "Carol" but couldn't make it. My friend who did go gave this review, which was enough for me to wait for cable ...

The movie was pretty good. Gorgeous to look at cuz it was filmed in Super 16mm and costumes were by Sandy Powell. I thought Rooney Mara (sp?) was great, but Cate overacted a smidge at times—You can never take your eyes off her, but I wonder if she's better calibrated for the stage.

Best Picture

The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

Supporting Actor
Christian Bale – The Big Short
Tom Hady – The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo – Spolight
Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone – Creed

Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Best Director
Adam McKay, The Big Short
George Miller, Mad Max Fury Road
Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamsson, Room
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

Best Original Screenplay
Matt Charman, Joel & Ethan Coen, Bridge of Spies
Alex Garland, Ex Machina
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley, Inside Out
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, Spotlight
Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, Straight Outta Compton

Best Adapted Screenplay
Adam McKay and Charles Randolph, The Big Short
Nick Hornby, Brooklyn
Phyllis Nagy, Carol
Drew Goddard, The Martian
Emma Donoghue, Room

Cinematography
Ed Lachman, Carol
Robert Richardson, The Hateful 8
John Seale, Mad Max Fury Road
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant
Roger Deakins, Sicario

Best Original Score
Thomas Newman, Bridge of Spies
Carter Burwell, Carol
Ennio Morricone, Hateful Eight
Jóhann Jóhannsson, Sicario
John Williams, Star Wars the Force Awakens

Costume Design
Sandy Powell, Carol
Sandy Powell, Cinderella
Paco Delgado, The Danish Girl
Jenny Beavan, Mad Max Fury Road
Jacqueline West, The Revenant

Best Foreign Language Film
Embrace of the Serpent
Mustang
Son of Saul
Theeb
A War

Best Makeup
Mad Max Fury Road
The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
The Revenant

Film Editing
The Big Short
Mad Max
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars The Force Awakens

Original Song
Earned It from Fifty Shades of Grey (The Weeknd)
Simple Song #3 from Youth (David Lang)
Writing On The Wall from Spectre (Sam Smith)
Til It Happens To You from The Hunting Ground (Diane Warren and Lady Gaga) Manta Ray from Racing Extinction

Animated Feature Film
Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep
When Marnie Was There

Animated Short Film
Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay’s Super Team
We Can’t Live without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow

Live Action Short Film
Ave Maria
Day One
Everything Will Be Ok
Shock
Stutter

Documentary
Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

Best Documentary Short
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Body Team 12
Chau, Beyond The Lines
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres Of The Shoah
Last Day Of Freedom

Visual Effects
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars the Force Awakens

Production Design
Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant

Sound Editing
Mad Max Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars The Force Awakens

Sound Mixing
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars The Force Awakens

They Make Mistakes, Don't They?

Oscar Nominations: The 50 Biggest Best Picture Blunders From 1968-2009  

Not a lot of time to weigh in, but I'd definitely agree with Nos. 26 and 39 and add "Raggedy Man" (1981) "Diner" (1982) to the list. 

(Click to ENRAGE)

Apparently I'm not alone in my "Diner" thinking -- it made a similar list of what would have been nominated if 10 pictures had been picked every year HERE!

Page 1 Consider (03/03)

Op-ed: Seth MacFarlane Isn't the Problem

Finally, someone smart enough to get it. (YES, I said smart enough.) Victoria Brownwoth writes that the host wasn't being a chauvinist on Oscar night. He was calling out Hollywood's long-ingrained chauvinism. Bravo, Victoria. Read HERE.

'Room for One More?"

Who Wore It Best?

 Via Tom Selleck's Mustache Facebook page.

Seth's a Winner, but Oscar Stinks

My review of the 2013 Oscars: Seth MacFarlane Fan Club President Seth MacFarlane was hilarious. The celebrities and their tone-deaf speeches -- no, you didn't just discover a cure for cancer -- were insufferable, and who remembers "Chicago" as being a classic???.The nominees weren't so hot to begin with -- I thought 2012 was a particularly weak film year -- but the winners left me even more cold. Christoph Waltz?? Anne Hathaway?? Quentin Tarantino?? Ang Lee? (For "Brokeback Mountain"? Yes. For "The Life of Pi"? No.) Just pathetic. (And did John Travolta suffer a traumatic brain injury? It was like he was pronouncing every word for the first time.) Wanted Bradley Cooper to win, but at least Daniel Day Lewis was hilarious. The ONLY good things were when Jennifer Lawrence won -- which she TOTALLY deserved -- and "Argo," of course. And if you don't agree with me that Seth was smart and funny, did you get a load of his closing song, "The Losers"?!!!!

UPDATE: Sounds like Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times saw the same broadcast I did. Read HERE.

Oscar Gets Grouchy With Ben

 Ben Affleck totally would have gotten nominated for best director if he hadn't cut his shirtless scene in "Argo" down so much. Bad directorial move, Ben.

So what do we think? Ben obviously got robbed. Glad "How to Survive a Plague" got recognized, but no "Central Park Five" or "West of Memphis"? The song "Skyfall"?!!! As I made my list of the year's 10 best films, all I could think was what a weak year it's been. Normally I struggle to cut it down to 10, with a dozen honorable mentions. This year was easy sailing.

Best Picture: 
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Lincoln"
"Les Miserables"
"Life of Pi"
"Amour"
"Django Unchained"
"Argo"

Best Director: 
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"
Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"
Michael Haneke, "Amour"
Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Actor: 
Daniel Day Lewis, "Lincoln"
Denzel Washington, "Flight"
Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"
Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"

Best Actress:
Naomi Watts, "The Impossible"
Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"
Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

See the full list HERE.

Oscars Photo Wrap-Up

Bad Boys: Ryan Phillippe and James Franco clean up nicely.

Dueling Divas: Anderson Cooper, rather dapper in "black tie," and Madonna, looking very good at nearly 50, partied into the night at the Vanity Fair afterparty.

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Ryan Phillippe looked like a man on a rampage, while Reese Witherspoon's too-obvious hair extensions brought her look down a bit.

Just for Men: Clive Owen is always handsome, but I'm ashamed to admit that Adam Brody, whose character on "The O.C." was so annoying that I stopped watching it, is growing up nicely.

Cherish: Madonna seems to enjoy being with her hubby, Guy Ritchie. (Wouldn't you?)

It Takes Two: McSteamy Eric Dane and his equally steamy wife, Rebecca Gayheart, at the Vanity Fair party at Morton's in West Hollywood. And hunky Hugh Jackman brought his mom as his date (aawww!).