John Wayne's Tears

A few weeks back I spent my morning at John Wayne airport, people watching and engaging in creativity. I wrote this short, short story while there.

John Wayne’s Tears

“Hey Pilgrim.”

I look up, searching for the person attached to this voice. No one. Just myself. I go back to reading.

A minute later.

“Excuse me ma’am.”

I look up and see, to my amazement, the statue in front of me speaking. To me. His body is frozen, caught mid-pace, but his stony face is alive, and trailing down his cheek, a lonely tear. He looks up at me, pleading with his eyes.

He is the strong, manly cowboy, the image of courage; tough as nails. And here he is, stuck in the marble palaces, while he was made for the country. His was a life of freedom, but now he cannot move, is forced to listen to the babbling of the masses as they go on their own adventures. The adventures he can no longer take part in.

I’m struck by the tragedy of the man who epitomizes the phrase “don’t fence me in”, and yet is captured in bronze, fenced in by marble columns and concrete parking structures, forever trapped in the airport he vehemently despised.

I look up again, feeling a new sense of sympathy and respect, as another tear rolls down.

Guest Blog

My two good friends Cate and Julie started a blog last summer called Twenty Pieces. It's a great site, with explorations on life with 20 pieces of clothing. I wrote a guest piece that went up today about shoes. Please read and check out the rest of the site. Click here to visit their site.

Oscar Thoughts, Briefly

I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed as I consider this year's Oscar telecast. I didn't come in with huge expectations, but still, had hopes it would be a bit better than this.

Where to begin. Well, the nomination for sound mixing does not go to the guys working on sound for the show. I hate to be harsh on what I am sure is a team of trained professionals, but the whole show was tinny and at times, hard to hear.

Billy Crystal's opening short was kind of funny, but nothing to write home about. And his Oscar song provided a few laughs, but nothing of the gut busting variety.

I was touched by Octavia Spencer's win. Sure, she was pretty much a shoe in, but her real emotion and surprise was endearing.

It was fun to see the Christopher Guest crew (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind) assembled for "The Wizard of Oz" focus group sketch (which reminds me, when will he put out another one of his improv-riffic gems). It didn't feel like a great fit for the show itself, but I did enjoy it.

I love Tina Fey and was so excited to see her presenting, but feel as though the writers could have done much more with her presence. That was a disappointment. And what was with Bradley Cooper's creepy mustache? I was waiting for him to drive up in a van offering little kids candy.

Huh, "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" for best editing? Didn't see that one coming. I did however, enjoy that particular acceptance speech. "We're editors - so thank you." What else needs to be said.

The Academy is loving "Hugo". I really need to see this movie. Another funny acceptance speech moment occurred when one of the two winners said "Hugo" and the other responded, "No, Hugo". My nerdy, witty heart delighted in that moment of fun wordplay.

So, there isn't time for the Best Original Songs to be performed, but there is time for a performance by Cirque du Soleil?

Ben Stiller is dwarfed by Emma Stone. Their bit is really funny. Maybe one of the bigger laughs for me of the night. The other moment that had me rolling was when Rose Byrne and Melissa McCarthy took a swig after saying "Scorsese". Marty looked properly surprised and confused. Oh, and then there was the moment when the Moby look-a-like popped out his leg like Angelina Jolie. I tip my hat to you sir.

No Woody Allen. I was glad to see him win for "Midnight in Paris". It was such an original concept and full of Allen's wonderfully neurotic dialogue.

Oprah got an honorary Oscar? James Earl Jones definitely deserves it. His voice is iconic, but Oprah? I started doing my Oprah imitation at that point. "Everybody here gets an Oscar. You get an Oscar, and you get an Oscar..."

I was disappointed to see Viola Davis lose. Although, I do love Meryl, so it's not as big a disappointment. But still.

I was happy to see "The Artist" win. I enjoy seeing a story told well and with such style and creativity.

Of course, the real highlight of the evening was winning my family's Oscar bet. So, I get the privilege to pick dinner at the restaurant of my choice. Wow, I didn't think I'd get so worked up over this award, but I'm so grateful, and surprised and overwhelmed. You like me. You really like me.

Well, I'm signing off now. And a Good Oscar Night to you!

Oscars, 3-D

In the Oscars they always save the Best Picture category till the end of the show. But I shall defy Oscar protocol and begin this post with my thoughts on Best Picture. Ha ha! Can you handle the chaos? This last post is a rag tag group of categories, in no way exhaustive.

Best Picture

"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"The Help"
"Moneyball"
"War Horse"
"The Tree of Life"

First off, what is this nonsense with up to 10 nominations in the Best Picture category? Ugh. You begin to see the most ridiculous films up for best picture. Really “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”? Sentimental malarkey! I was excited to see “Midnight in Paris” on the list. I don’t think it should win, but I really enjoyed this film. I saw it the week after I got back from Paris, and swooned through Allen’s love letter to that magical city. I still want to see both “Hugo” and “The Tree of Life”. “War Horse” is on my maybe list (I’d prefer to see the stage production, which features some amazing horse puppetry) and I enjoyed both “The Help” and “Moneyball”. However, for me it really comes down to “The Artist” and “The Descendants”. And yet, they are such vastly different films that it is challenging to compare them. “The Artist” was beautiful on so many different levels and it was such an interesting experience watching a film almost entirely without sound. It succeeded in being sincere, genuinely funny, gut wrenching, and sweet (but not in an emotionally manipulative way). And to do that without sound? That’s great storytelling. Then there’s “The Descendants”. There were such real emotions in this film. There’s this great scene at the end with George Clooney and Judy Greer that was devastating, watching a woman fall apart with grief, pain and betrayal.

Best Actor
Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

I was a little surprised by some of the nominees here. I read that Michael Fassbender was expected to be nominated for “Shame”, but it goes to show that an NC-17 rating can alienate your voters. I actually was completely unaware of “A Better Life”. Brad Pitt did a fine job in “Moneyball” and I have a lot of respect for Oldman, but again, as in the Best Picture category, it comes down to “The Descendants” and “The Artist”. And again, they are such different performances. I’m not the hugest fan of Clooney (I don’t have any beef with him, but neither do I think he’s the cat’s pajamas), but he does such a lovely job in “The Descendants”. They way he contains the grief of his friends and family elicits such true sympathy for his character. There’s a subtlety to his performance that makes his emotions and responses so believable. Dujardin is so charismatic and is able to express so much with his facial expressions, without being campy. Piece by piece, he is torn down throughout the film and you are right there with him. I saw this film that had a terribly acted scene in which there was no emotional progression. The actors went from calm to raging in seconds, but you felt that lack of a movement to those heightened places. Dujardin masters emotional progression and does so without dialogue. Now that’s skills.

Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
JC Chandor, "Margin Call"
Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, "Bridesmaids"

Argh! Another challenging category. At the end of the day, I think Michel Hazanavicius will get the win on this. And I wouldn’t be disappointed if that happened. However, I really do think “Midnight in Paris” is such an original story and deserves more recognition in this category especially. While I loved “The Artist” the story itself is not that innovative (we’ve seen the downfall of a celebrity story many times, of course not with the style and panache of “The Artist”). “Bridesmaids” was a blast, but there definitely were some lagging moments in the story structure. Actually, as I look back on these last few sentences, I realize I just want “Midnight in Paris” to win. It’s probably one of Allen’s more accessible films. With Allen, you tend to either love him or hate him. But “Midnight in Paris” seems to have defied that tendency, as evidenced by it being his most profitable film.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, "The Descendants"
John Logan, "Hugo"
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, "The Ides of March"
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, "Moneyball"
Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughn, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

I’m leaning towards “The Descendants”, although my brain crush Aaron Sorkin is nominated, so I wouldn’t be sad to see him win.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Real Steel"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

Harry! He’s gotta win something, right? No love for Harry Potter this year. I’m a little disappointed, but I get it. It just better not be Transformers. I can’t stand Michael Bay.

So, enjoy the Oscars tomorrow, if you plan to watch. What are you most looking forward to? Do you have any Oscar traditions?

Oscars, Part Deux

I best catch up. The Oscars are this Sunday and I have so many posts needing to be published. Today I have my thoughts on the Supporting Acting categories (AKA, the sympathy/make-up awards). And for dessert, a brief thought on best song.

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"
Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte, "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Max Von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

The Academy Awards does this thing where they nominate famous actors who have been around for decades. Sometimes the performance is deserving, but most of the time it feels like a life-time tribute. It’s like when Judy Dench won for her performance in “Shakespeare in Love”. Her overall screen time had to be less than five minutes. That’s a glorified cameo role. Sure, she was playing the Queen of England and she is great in most of her films (and should have won for her performance in “Mrs. Brown”), but was it really deserving of the award for best supporting actress? I think not. And this is what we see with the nominations of both Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow. Plummer did a good job in “Beginners”, but I actually found myself more intrigued by Ewan McGregor’s performance (in case you forgot, he was not nominated). From all appearances, Plummer’s going to win.

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

It’s nice to see the academy break out of the mold and nominate a comedic performance. Melissa McCarthy was hilarious and I was glad to see her get the nomination. Now, she won’t win. We all know this. Even though you’ll see some unexpected wins in the supporting categories, the Oscars still skew for the dramatic. There are some wonderful performances in this category and I’d be happy if any of these women won (except Janet McTeer, because again, what is with this “Alfred Nobbs” nonsense?).

Best Original Song
"Man or Muppet," The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio," Rio; Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Muppets. Hands down. I have much love for Bret (one half of Flight of the Conchords, New Zealand’s number two folk band) and “Man or Muppet” is such a perfect blend of sincerity and hilarity.

Winter in the Manglos House

This time of year brings back years worth of memories from life in the Manglos household. It was an exciting time, full of speculation, good food and wagers. And one man. Oscar.

In my family the big television event every winter was the Academy Awards. The excitement started around December, when the studios would release all their Oscar hopes for the world at large. My family would pick our favorites, wait for nominations, and even occasionally watch some of the other award shows. Then, there was the ballot. Each year the newspaper would print a ballot in the Show section (this was before you could print one out online…yes, I am old). Every family member would sneak away with the ballot and make their picks.

The night of the show my Mom and I would watch all the pre-shows and Dad would go to pick up dinner. We loved to see what the stars were wearing and eagerly awaited Billy Crystal’s monologue (and yet, I’m not too excited that he’s hosting this year – go figure). There would be sad moments, when your pick for supporting actress lost, and cause for joy when your guess on Documentary Short Subject happened to win. But the absolute best moment was when you realized you had the most wins on your ballot and could jump, yell and gloat around the house. Not that I ever did that… Plus, the winner was awarded a dinner at the restaurant of his/her choice.

I don’t always get to watch the Oscars these days, but there’s still that sense of excitement as it approaches. So, here are some thoughts on this year’s nominations and more. I’ll try to post one category every few days. However, I’m not going to look over every category. Because who really cares to hear my thoughts on Best Sound Editing. I don’t even know if I have much to say on that category except it’s usually the place where lame action films sneak in (Hello “Transformers” 3, 4, 8 – which one are they on now?).

Today, I’ll begin with Best Actress:


Best Actress
Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"

I really want Viola Davis to win! There, I said it. Her facial expressions alone in “The Help” were so brilliant and conveyed so much. You looked into her face and saw her story. I think Davis’ main competition will be Meryl. And I get it. She is a fabulous actress. In everything she’s in. Even “Mama Mia”. Yes, I like that movie. It has ABBA and is set in the Greece isles (even Pierce Brosnan’s awful singing couldn’t ruin it for me). She is supposed to be excellent as Margaret Thatcher, even though I’ve heard the movie itself is a bit of a dud. But still, I want to see Davis win.

Michelle Williams did a great job as Marilyn Monroe and really fleshed her out past her bombshell persona. As for Glenn Close, she is a talented actress, but did anyone even see “Albert Nobbs”? How did she get nominated? I’m still confused on that one.

What are your thoughts on this category? I'd love to hear!

(Note: The picture in this post is of Jack Palance doing his one-armed push ups on stage. One of my favorite Oscar moments. Celebrity egos + alcohol = hilarity)