• Todd Gilchrist talks to the Oscar-winning composer of “The Last Emperor,” Ryûichi Sakamoto. [Cinematical]
• John Lopez, like everyone else, I imagine, is already forecasting a major Oscar presence for Steve Spielberg’s Abraham Lincoln film. [Little Gold Men]
• Exclusively revealing the 33 animated shorts qualifying for this year’s Oscar race. [Cartoon Brew]
It’s not as formal an honor as one of the Governors’ Awards they dished out last week, but nonetheless, Thursday will find the Academy still in a laudatory mood as they cross the Atlantic to celebrate the career of boundary-busting British producer Jeremy Thomas. AMPAS is holding a Thomas tribute evening in London, with Keira Knightley, Stephen Frears and Cannes festival director Thierry Fremaux among those taking part.
It’s heartening to see the Academy acknowledge a globally-minded career that has largely been dedicated to shepherding milestone films most of their voters wouldn’t touch with a bargepole: Nicolas Roeg’s “Bad Timing,” David Cronenberg’s “Crash” and “Naked Lunch,” Nagisa Ôshima’s “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” Jonathan Glazer’s “Sexy Beast” and so on.
He’s still busy, to: two of his productions, “Essential Killing” and the superb “13 Assassins,” were in competition at Venice in September, while 2011 will see him renew his partnership with Cronenberg for the eagerly awaited (by me, at least) “A Dangerous Method.”
Catch up with the idea behind this series here.
So sorry for the hiatus with this column but I took a break last week to focus on the top 10 horror films list and am a day late this week because I was stuck shooting all day yesterday. I’m sure you’ve all been missing it intensely.
But where were we? Ah, the late-80’s. A time when Hollywood fluff like “Moonstruck” and “Fatal Attraction” were up for Best Picture, but lost to, what else, a historical epic from an acclaimed director. Bernardo Bertolucci’s, “The Last Emperor,” swept the 1987 ceremony, winning nine Oscars from nine nominations, the largest haul since “West Side Story.”
1988 belonged to “Rain Man,” but is perhaps more notable for Kevin Kline’s slapstick work in “A Fish Called Wanda” earning him a rare statue for a comedy. Every argument with an Oscar nerd since regarding comedic performances sees them bring it up as a precedent. Didn’t help Jim Carrey, Eddie Murphy or Sacha Baron Cohen though.
The ceremony itself is infamous for an opening number that involved Snow White and Rob Lowe singing some awful duet. Why this particular number, in a vast sea of awful numbers throughout the course of Oscar history, has been singled out is beyond me. And probably beyond Rob Lowe as well.
But now it’s my turn to do some singling out.
UPDATE: Okay, this is what happens when you skim emails too quickly and don’t do the research on your own. I’ve corrected the statistical errors on my part. THIS should be on the money:
Not sure if this bit of trivia has already been consumed and digested, but thanks to Jeremy who sent it in weeks ago. We’ve already talked at length about “Slumdog Millionaire”‘s Cinderella season marking the winningest awards streak of all time (Oscar, BAFTA, PGA, DGA, WGA, SAG Ensemble, ACE, ASC, CAS, ADG, CDG, USC Scripter — hell, even an MPSE honor). But the film’s Oscar victory Sunday night also marked only the the fourth time a film won Best Picture, Best Director and a screenplay award without a member of the cast being nominated. The others were “Gigi” in 1958, “The Last Emperor” in 1987 and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” in 2003.
I’ll read more carefully next time, I swear.
Other interesting stats contributed by Speaking English and The Z:
• “Slumdog” is the first film to win Best Picture and Best Cinematography since 1999’s “American Beauty.”
• It is also the first Best Picture winner since 1984’s “Amadeus” to win 8 Oscars.
• Additionally, it is the seventh film to win 8 Oscars after “Gone With the Wind,” “From Here to Eternity,” “On the Waterfront,” “Cabaret” and the aforementioned “Amadeus.”
• This was the first year since 1994 that all acting winners had been previously nominated.
• Sean Penn is the only actor to win twice this decade. (Tom O’Neil also notes he is the ninth male actor to win two lead Oscars after Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-Lewis. Twelve actresses have taken two.)
• With Penelope Cruz’s victory, Woody Allen is now third behind William Wyler and Fred Zinneman for most performances directed to an Oscar with seven, Chad tells us.
Anything else?
In 1996 I remember sitting in a packed screening room watching “The English Patient”; it was close to the end when Ralph Fiennes leaves Kristin Scott-Thomas in the cave, promising to come back, never to return, leaving her (through no fault of his own) to perish.
I couldn’t help thinking at the time: “For fuck’s sake woman, DIE so we can all go home.” I hated the film — hated it, hated it, hated it — and yet the reviewes were pretty much raves. Of course the damned thing won nine Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. I did not believe the love connection between the leads (there was no heat) nor that anyone, quite frankly, could fall for an ice queen like Scott-Thomas, much less risk their life for her.
And yet all around me was this avalanche of praise. Even the person I did a TV show with named the film the best of the year. I went with “Trainspotting.” “The English Patient” was being hailed as this great historical epic while I championed “The Crucible,” which Fox fumbled in releasing, and as the critic who disliked the film, I looked very silly.
I admire the craftsmanship with which Anthony Mingehlla made his film, but I think he surpassed it with “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and the wonderful “Cold Mountain.” And of course “The Englsih Patient” was not the first critically acclaimed film I disliked, nor will it be the last, but it does put one in an odd position. You second guess yourself (sometimes) and wonder if you missed something along the way.
It’s a debate that never gets old regarding the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. When is it going to clean house regarding shady rules that seem to fly in the face of what the organization sets out to do each and every year: honor the best in cinematic achievement?
The foreign film committee had a major shakeup last year, and promises of attention were made, but it’s high time the same happened with the musicians. One of the rules seems poised to become a serious talking point later this season, however.
Within Rule 16B of the Academy’s eligibility guidelines — launched into infamy last year when the caca hit the fan regarding Jonny Greenwood’s “There Will Be Blood” score — you’ll find the key language:
Only the principal composer(s) or songwriter(s) responsible for the conception and execution of the work as a whole shall be eligible for an award. This expressly excludes from eligibility…scores assembled from the music of more than one composer.
Specifically, it’s Rule 16B-5f. And it will likely affect two promising works of film music composition this year.