by Jonathan Poritsky March 8th, 2010 §
The statues are all distributed, the corks are all popped, and now it is time to talk about the 82nd Academy Awards in the past tense. We’ll get to who won, but first off I’d like to talk about who lost: the viewing audience. This has to be one of the worst awards broadcasts in recent memory. Overlong and underwhelming, the only thing interesting in the show was actually finding out who won, which is weird because that often takes a backseat to the rest of the spectacle.
Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were charming, albeit neutered, hosts. They farmed the opening number out to Neil Patrick Harris, which was predictably fine, but it seemed like a complete redux of his bouts as Tony and Emmy host. On paper it sounds poignant, but in practice it felt stale. I long for the days when Billy Crystal would superimpose himself into the top nominated films. I can understand the new hosts wanting to move forward with an original spin, only this felt like a step backwards. Read on…
by Jonathan Poritsky March 7th, 2010 §
I’ve been mostly quiet on the subject of the Oscars this year. Instead of throw my hat into the race, I’d like to offer up what I’ve noticed of the ways my friends and colleagues have approached the subject. After all, it is basically the Super Bowl of film events. So insane has the madness surrounding the Oscars become, that there is an entire swath of calendar, getting longer and longer every year, known as “Awards Season”. In the end, I encounter a few interesting characters in real life and on the web every year surrounding the Oscar madness. Here’s a peek at who they are. Read on…
by Jonathan Poritsky February 2nd, 2010 §
The candler blog was born in March of 2009. In the past year, we’ve written a whole lot about cinema, and I’m proud to say we’ve covered most of the top 2010 Oscar contenders on these pages. We even had a strong opinion back when AMPAS upped the number of Best Picture nominations to 10. There are still some holes and we’ll fix that soon. For now, catch up on our thoughts on the year’s biggest films and share your what you think in the comments. Read on…
by Jonathan Poritsky January 18th, 2010 §
If I were still fifteen, I no doubt would be walking around with my head held high today. My two favorite movies would have walked off with Best Motion Picture Golden Globes last night. Not only would I proclaim the inevitably of Avatar’s snag of Best Motion Picture — Drama, but I would rejoice in the courage and forward-thinking of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) for recognizing the genius that is The Hangover, which won for Best Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical.
But I’m not not fifteen anymore. Nor am I jaded, befuddled or disappointed. Snark and derision have no place here; let us appraise what these two big wins at the Golden Globes mean. Read on…
