THE 93RD ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

After Regina King snatches an Oscar statue, she's followed with a tracking shot while strutting down a blue carpet in the beautifully transformed Union Station in DTLA as credits rolled featuring the evening's participants and crew, we became fully aware that the 93rd Annual Academy Awards was not going to be a conventional ceremony. This year's producers of the show, filmmaker, Steven Soderbergh with producers, Stacey Sher and Jesse Collins, had made it clear that this presentation was going to have a feel that was "cinematic". And while they may not have been exactly successful at the task at hand (showing very little cinema in the process), I will applaud them for their efforts of attempting to shake up the routine by offering a slightly adventurous Oscars event.

Tony Award–winning set designer, David Rockwell created a space for the show that was made up to look like an intimate, art deco ballroom much like the very first Oscar ceremony back in 1929. Ms King explained all of the protocols that were in place for ensuring safety measures had been met which included no trophy presenters and a minimum number of performers on stage to announce the awards. It was a diverse and multigenerational group of stars on hand that featured previous Oscar winners (Halle Berry, Rita Moreno, Reese Witherspoon, Marlee Matlin), last year's winners (Laura Dern, Brad Pitt, Renée Zellweger, Bong Joon-ho) and a few current nominees (Steven Yeun, Viola Davis, Riz Ahmed). Harrison Ford made an appearance to present Best Editing where he mumbled and appeared slightly out of sorts, leaving me to wonder how the seventy-eight year old actor is going to possibly do another "Indiana Jones" adventure. And in an odd attempt to personalize the nominees, the presenters told little tidbits about each one in several categories. But the Oscars are about recognizing their outstanding work in cinema which we probably should have seen instead of hearing about their previous experiences involving the movies.

Since all of the Best Original Song nominees had been performed on the pre-show, "Oscars: Into the Spotlight", there were surprisingly no actual entertainment segments between giving out Oscars. There was only a brief moment when comedian, Lil Rel Howery, who co-hosted the pre-show, came out to do a bit involving asking people if they could guess if a song had been nominated for an Oscar. With musical director, Questlove playing the tunes, the skit was going nowhere until he came to Glenn Close. After putting on "Da Butt" from Spike Lee's 1988 second feature, "School Daze", Close claimed to not only know the song but proceeded to demonstrate the dance. I'm sure the bit was staged yet it was still quite funny and the highlight of the show.

"Nomadland" expectedly took the top prize of Best Picture and Chloé Zhao became only the second woman to receive Best Director. But with the descion to shake-up tradition, the Best Picture winner was presented before Best Actor and Best Actress. And with Zellweger and Joaquin Phoenix presenting the categories they won last year instead of the opposite, the moves created plenty of confusion. In both cases, the winners were not expected. First, Frances McDormand was the victor in a very strong Best Actress race (and becoming the only three-time winner in this category), delivering a reliably short and quirky speech, while in a major upset, Sir Anthony Hopkins won for his amazing work in "The Father" instead of the sentimental favorite, Chadwick Boseman for his final performance in "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom". Since the eighty-three year old British actor chose not to attend (and was not allowed to use Zoom), this left Phoenix (who clearly looked like he would rather be anywhere else but on that stage) flummoxed, leaving him to simply mutter that he accepted for Hopkins and the show was over.

Days after the awards, many were complaining about the show, saying it was "boring" and "the worst Oscars in history". Now every one knows that trying to put together the Oscars is a thankless job under normal circumstances and considering the many unusual obstacles the producers had to face while trying to create a telecast, I think the show was actually quite commendable. It was definitely far from a perfect Oscar show and the need for a host became abundantly clear after the last three years without one. With millions getting vaccinated, society opening back up and movie theaters finally beginning to show signs of life, I think next year's Oscars will once again, for better or worse, be back to business as usual.

Here is the complete list of winners of the 93rd Annual Academy Awards:

Best Picture: "Nomadland"
Best Director: Chloé Zhao, "Nomadland"
Best Original Screenplay: Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, "The Father"
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Frances McDormand, "Nomadland"
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Anthony Hopkins, "The Father"
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Youn Yuh-jung. "Minari"
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Daniel Kaluuya, "Judas and the Black Messiah"
Best Cinematography: Erik Messerschmidt, "Mank"
Best Film Editing: Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, "Sound of Metal"
Best International Feature Film: "Another Round" (Denmark)
Best Documentary Feature: "My Octopus Teacher"
Best Documentary Short Subject: "Colette"
Best Animated Feature Film: "Soul"
Best Animated Short Film: "If Anything Happens I Love You"
Best Live Action Short Film: "Two Distant Strangers"
Best Production Design: Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale, "Mank"
Best Costume Design: Ann Roth, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Matiki Anoff, Mia Neal and Sergio Lopez-Rivera, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Best Original Score: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste, "Soul"
Best Original Song: "Fight for You" from "Judas and the Black Messiah" (Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas)
Best Sound: Phillip Bladh, Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Carolina Santana, "Sound of Metal"
Best Visual Effects: Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley, Scott R. Fisher and Mike Chambers, "Tenet"
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Tyler Perry and The Motion Picture & Television Fund

WINNERS OF THE 2021 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

As what could be an indication of what may happen on Oscar Sunday, filmmaker, Chloé Zhao and her drama, "Nomadland" lead the 36th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards with four awards including the Best Feature award. Zhao would win for Best Director and Best Editing and her partner, Joshua James Richards received Best Cinematography for the film. The Spirit Awards are usually held the Saturday before the Academy Awards but due to COVID-19, the show decided to delay the presentation of their awards, which honors the best in indie cinema, until today with Melissa Villaseñor from "Saturday Night Live" serving as host of the virtual ceremony. "Sound of Metal" also did well, receiving Best Male Lead for Riz Ahmed, Paul Raci taking Best Supporting Male and director, Darius Marder won for Best First Feature.

Here is the list of winners of the 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Feature: "Nomadland"
Best Director: Chloé Zhao, "Nomadland"
Best Screenplay: Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman"
Best Female Lead: Carey Mulligan, "Promising Young Woman"
Best Male Lead: Riz Ahmed, "Sound of Metal"
Best Supporting Female: Yuh-jung Youn, "Minari"
Best Supporting Male: Paul Raci, "Sound of Metal"
Best Cinematography: Joshua James Richards, "Nomadland"
Best Editing: Chloé Zhao, "Nomadland"
Best International Feature: "Quo Vadis, Aida?" (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Best Documentary: "Crip Camp"
Best First Feature: "Sound of Metal"
Best First Screenplay: Andy Siara, "Palm Springs"

OSCAR MADNESS

The Oscars are finally happening in a matter of days after a delay of almost two months. It appears that this year's show will attempt to be the closest to a traditional program despite the on-going threat of COVID-19 in our lives with Oscar producers, Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher and Jesse Collins taking every measure to make sure all nominees and participants will be safe during this Sunday's live event. I'm thrilled and can't wait to see this glamourous celebration of the moviegoing experience.

In the meantime, I'm going to share some interesting links that involve discussions on the long history and the potential future of the Academy Awards:

The New York Times takes us on the journey of how the Academy Awards evolved from a low-key fifteen minute ceremony to a three-hour plus event, with it's move to television in 1953 helping to create the grand spectacle of the show and solidify it's cultural importance.

NYT: From a 15 Minute Ceremony to a Marathon

Nate Jones of Vulture looks at the cultural and artistic debates involving the Oscars, which he reveals to be hardly a new development with these complaints about the lack of diversity, category fraud, cancel culture, political speeches and honoring "popular" movies have been previously discussed over the last seventy years.

Vulture: We’ve Been Having the Same Fights About the Oscars for 70 Years

The Los Angeles Times goes back to the Oscars twenty years ago with the three way battle between "Traffic", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Gladiator" with film critics, Justin Chang and Glenn Whip discussing how these ultimate choices have aged and the beginning of internationalism in the movie industry.

LAT: 2001 Oscars Heads Back to the Arena

LAT: 2001 Oscars Rewind: What Won and What Should Have Won

After a year of the proliferation of streaming channels and watching new films at home, what does this mean for the future of cinema and the Oscars? Wesley Morris of The New York Times examines the movies that were nominated despite the lack of traditional theatrical distribution and critical buzz from film festivals and the concern of more mid-budget titles bypassing movie theaters completely.

NYT: In the Year of Streaming, What Do The Oscars Mean?

And with two women nominated in the Best Director category this year (making that a total of seven in the ninety-three year history of the awards), Joy Press for Vanity Fair looks back at a time in the 1970's when female filmmakers like Claudia Weill, Joyce Chopra, Barbara Loden, Joan Micklin Silver, Penelope Spheeris, Martha Coolidge, Joan Tewkesbury and Julie Dash were emerging to make their first movies, thrilling and inventive works, and the difficult struggle for them in trying to continue with their careers.

VF: Promising Young Women

ARCLIGHT CINEMAS: AN APPRECIATION

It's been days since the announcement that Pacific Theaters which include Arclight Cinemas will not be reopening, an another victim of the deadly pandemic due to the over year-long closure. I'm still reeling from the shock that these glorious cinemas are no longer with us.

Arclight Hollywood, with the historic Cinerama Dome, was a very important part of my cinematic life as this was the theater I would attend regularly, going on average at least two times a week (sometimes more, sometimes less, largely depending upon my available time and what was out in theaters). And over the years, I had so many wonderful and memorable experiences at this complex and after leaving the theater, no matter if I loved or strongly disliked a film I had just watched, I was always in a great mood.

When I first heard about Arclight Cinemas back in 2002, I didn't know what to make of it. No overpriced stale popcorn or sticky floors with food trash scattered all over the seats that you had to remove yourself. This was a clean space, upscale and grand, that took the work of filmmakers seriously and presented their movies in the best possible conditions. I felt I had found my sanctuary. Arclight Cinemas was undeniably a true cinema lover's paradise.

I loved the staff, identified by the distinctive blue shirts they all wore, who were friendly, informative and would stand at the the front of the audience to introduce the film before each screening. There were roomy, comfortable seats and you could reserve them in advance, never having to worry about finding a place to sit. And there was their famous caramel popcorn, so delicious but I had to be careful and have it only occasionally. But what I really loved the most was that you could watch art house features and Hollywood blockbusters in the same location. The concept seemed like such a simple idea yet it was revolutionary, with many other cinema chains following what Arclight brought to the movie-going experience. And I was very proud to have been a founding member of the Arclight Membership program.

I'm really going to miss this theater but still feeling fairly confident that Arclight Cinemas will raise from the ashes at some point, hopefully in the same form. There are far too many great lovers of film from across the globe that loved this destination and that somebody will come along to rescue this important Los Angeles landmark.

GODZILLA VS. KONG (2021)

Written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein



Directed by Adam Wingard



Where & When: TCL Chinese IMAX Theater, Hollywood, CA. April 5, 2021 4:30 PM



I don't think since Joan Crawford and Bette Davis has a match-up battle between movie stars has been so hotly anticipated than with "Godzilla vs. Kong". Godzilla, a giant, dinosaur-like creature formed from radioactivity, has been repeatedly destroying Japan since 1954 while the very big gorilla, King Kong made his film debut in 1933 and is said to have been the inspiration behind the creation of Godzilla. 

Now this isn't the first time these two have waged war against each other. There was a Japanese produced film called, "King Kong vs Godzilla" made in 1962 with a heavily re-edited version released in the US the following year. With a low budget and guys fighting in monster suits, the film still became a box-office success. Now almost sixty years later, we have a rematch with "Godzilla vs. Kong" although these films have no actual connection. This new movie may have had the advantage of close to a $200 million dollar production cost and the advancement of visual effects technology but I would not necessarily be quick to assume that this is a better film. Without much going for it beyond the brief fights between King Kong and Godzilla, this film might have been more intriguing if there was a little more time and money invested on a coherent story and less on the finely detailed  (yet very impressive) images of these creatures duking it out.

 
With a loose connection to 2017's "Kong: Skull Island" and "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" from 2019, our story begins with Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), an anthropological linguist working for Monarch on Skull Island, being very concerned about Kong's agitative behavior. And while it could be that he's being held captive in an artificial jungle dome, the brilliant doctor concludes it must be something else. The only one Kong connects with is Dr. Andrews' adopted daughter, Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a deaf orphan who is the last of the island's native tribe.

Meanwhile, for some unknown reason, Godzilla attacks the Apex Cybernetics facility in Florida. But Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) may have some idea. He's the voice behind a conspiracy theory podcast and also an employee of Apex, who just happened to be at work during Godzilla's rampage. In the rubble, he discovers some strange, secret device, which confirms his theory that Apex is behind some sinister activity. Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown, who played the teenage character in "King of The Monsters") is a fan of Bernie's podcast and after deciding he's on to something, enlists her buddy, Josh (Julian Dennison, who you may remember as the star of Taika Waititi's excellent, "Hunt for the Wilderpeople") to borrow his brother's car and they head off to Florida.

Walter Simmons (Demián Bichir), the CEO of Apex, wants scientist and Hollow Earth specialist, Dr. Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård) to lead in an no-expense-spared search for a special power source only found in this location. Dr. Lind convinces Dr. Andrews to allow Kong to be their tour guide to Hollow Earth. And with a large team from Apex which includes Walter's daughter Maia (Eiza González), they travel by sea with a tranquilized Kong chained to a specialized barge. But Godzilla has other plans, with destruction and a major brawl clearly on her mind.

I can say with absolute certainty that no one who sat in front of "Godzilla vs. Kong" was expecting great, life-altering art. Audiences were largely anticipating plenty of mindless thrills and fun to get lost in for two hours. And with that, the film is generally successful. However I expect, at a minimum with even action-adventure films, some effort made to deliver competent storytelling that involves fleshed out characters with moments of lively humor to help lighten the tension. I know it can be done. I have seen quite a few super-hero adventures that have managed to accomplish this feat. But this script by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein is absurdly overwritten, confusing viewers with characters having lengthy, scientific-like discussions to explain what's going on, which doesn't help in any meaningful way. And it's not surprising that the humans in this story would take a backseat to the headliners yet our monster stars are really the only compelling characters given anything to emote.

Wingard, the director behind the supernatural thrillers, "You're Next", "The Guest" and third sequel to "The Blair Witch Project", is actually a competent filmmaker with a distinctive visual style and capable of getting solid performances from his actors. But that will take you only so far if your source material has not been fully realized. I'm sure all Wingard heard were the words, "King Kong", "Godzilla" and "fight" and he was in.

My advice for achieving maximum enjoyment from "Godzilla vs. Kong" is this: Ignore the body count of innocent citizens. Never mind the massive destruction of major cities. Don't even try to decipher the convoluted plot. Just stay for the simple pleasures of the monumental battle between two of cinema's legendary monsters.

2021 OUTFEST FUSION

This year's Outfest Fusion, the film festival which now goes by QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous and People of Color), will be a combination of streaming and drive-in screenings. Now in it's 18th edition and running from April 16th to 20th, the fest continues to showcase cinema and events focusing on the work of queer and trans filmmakers of color. This will include ten feature films, over forty short films, a dozen workshops and panels and the One-Minute Movie Contest.

Some film highlights include "All Boys Aren't Blue" from director, Nathan Hale Williams which explores George Matthew Johnson’s memoir on masculinity and queerness in relationship to Blackness, using different actors to represents Johnson at different stages of their life; Marion Hill's "Ma Belle, My Beauty" looks at two polyamorous women who were former lovers that are reunited at a country villa in the south of France, igniting old tensions and emotions; "Nowhere" tells the story of a thriving gay couple from Columbia living in New York City. But immigration complications threatens to severe their relationship in this feature from David and Francisco Salazar; and "Unapologetic", a documentary from Ashley O' Shay, focuses on two queer, black female organizers who challenge Chicago's administration on being complicit in violence against its African-American residents after several police killings.

And this year's honorees will be Michaela Coel, star and creator of "Chewing Gum" and "I May Destroy You", with the Fusion Achievement Award and singer, Andra Day, who received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her moving portrayal of jazz great, Billie Holiday in "The US vs. Billie Holiday", is the recipient of the James Schamus Ally Award which goes to a great supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community.

For the complete listing of films, events and to purchase tickets, please click below:

2021 Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC