After Watching the 2014 Academy Awards on March 2, 2014

Mike and I watched the 86^th Annual Academy Awards telecast on March 2, 2014, and loved how Ellen’s presence made it all the more endurable.  I wish they would give Ellen Degeneres a ten year contract to host the Oscars, because we deeply enjoy watching her.  She poked fun at actors, ordered pizza for them, and took selfies with them, and avoided making too many uncomfortable jokes about the serious films nominated this year.  The few LGBT-friendly jokes she made were very funny.

Mike and I liked that “Gravity” swept the Oscars, by winning 7 Academy Awards this year, but we didn’t like how many good films like “The Butler” and “The Great Gatsby” were shut-out or snubbed.  It is a historical year for multi-cultural film-makers.  Alfonso Cuaron became the first Latino and first Mexican to win “Best Director” when he won for “Gravity,” and “12 Years A Slave”  became the first film by a Black director to win “Best Picture,” and Lupita Nyong’o became the first “Mexican-Kenyan” win an Oscar.  Lupita was born in Mexico to Kenyan parents.  She now lives in Brooklyn, New York. 

Mike and I decided to make a turkey dinner for Oscars night, because we like using the leftovers to make cranberry turkey salad sandwiches with diced apple and chopped peanuts, with mayo and mustard.  We are still eating those delicious sandwiches!  We also drank a bottle of Sonoma County California wine, which was delicious.

Mike was a little frustrated that the Oscars started at 7:30pm Chicago time this year, ending at 11pm.  He had a restless night’s sleep, and ended up calling in sick at work.  That was okay, because we got to watch all the post Oscars shows on television, like Lupita Nyong’o and Jared Leto on Ellen’s show. 

Lupita’s speech at the Oscars was very moving.  Tears came to our eyes, as tears came to her eyes, and she said with great meaning and sincerity, “no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.”  Lupita Nyong’o understands the difficulty of her role as an abused slave, in an important film that may be too difficult to watch more than once. 

When John Ridley won for screenplay, he didn’t mention the director, Steve McQueen, making people believe that there is a rift between them, over credit for the screenplay.  Ridley took all the credit himself, and said backstage, that he’s very thankful for Steve McQueen, who made that Oscar possible.  John Ridley is being haunted by a controversial article he wrote for Esquire in 2006, where he spouts racial stereotypes of African Americans, and calls them the “n” word.  He seemed to have claimed that African Americans can’t make it in the U.S. without help from “white” America.  I think that is only partly true, and his wording is misrepresentation, and slightly mis-guided.  Many Black and African American artists have all accepted that the only way to succeed is by treating whites fairly, and assimilating into American culture.  Where Ridley is wrong, is that the culture of poverty and the culture of the educated are not just part of Black America, but exists everywhere where poverty exists.  John Ridley is only the second African American writer to win an Oscar for writing, which is still very admirable, but he needs to watch his opinions!  Maybe time and working on “12 Years a Slave” have changed him, and his opinions.  I’m willing to give him a second chance.

Mike and I loved the performances at this year Oscars, laughing when many people in the audience got up to dance to Pharell Williams’ Oscar nominated song “Happy.”  Also, I was very touched by Pink’s rendition of “Over the Rainbow,” and Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings.”  They made the “In Memoriam” part of the Oscars all the more moving.  I love hearing just about anybody sing “Over The Rainbow,” because it such a beautiful song, written at the beginning of World War II.  After listening to the lyrics carefully, I have decided that “Over The Rainbow” is about wanting and dreaming of a better world.  We can all relate to that.  I dream of a world without sexism, racism, extreme-poverty, homophobia, classism, and fairness for the way animals are treated. 

Some of the racist(“12 Years A Slave”), sexist(“American Hustle,” and “Wolf of Wall Street”), and homophobic(“Dallas Buyers Club”)  comments made in this year’s Oscar nominated films made me feel we live in an imperfect world, filled with people who make “rash” comments without thinking about them.  Fortunately, these movies make people talk about it, and try to work it out.  We need more conversations about fairness and equality for all. 

I think that is why “Gravity” won so many Oscars, because it is not sexist, and represents women as an intelligent heroine, who finds ways to save herself. 

Sandra Bullock made over $70 million dollars from that movie, because she had it in her contract to get 15 percent of the gross profits, and the movie went on to make 700 million dollars worldwide and counting!  Not a bad argument for equal pay for women!

I was very confused about the Ron Woodruff character in “Dallas Buyers Club” because of all the negative comments he makes in the film.  Dallas Buyers Club is a very complicated "character" story, about people living and dying of AIDS, that challenges the view to care about them, because they are dying. I was very turned off by Ron Woodruff's homophobic, and Transphobic remarks in the film, which Gay Rights Activists say should not be tolerated. When you put their trashy lifestyles aside, and all the negative comments, you have to decide as a viewer to care for them, because they are going against the system of pharmaceutical company greed, to get experimental drugs to people to keep them alive. That's the true message of the movie, despite the fact that Mathew McConaughey says that it is not a "message" film, which is why he didn't acknowledge AIDS in his acceptance speech. Jared Leto's character, which was made up, to make people care about Ron Woodruff in the slightest, showed us how quickly AIDS killed some people. Leto is more sensitive to the GLBT community, as McConaughey is not. McConaughey thanked God, his family, and himself in his Oscars acceptance speech, but it was self-serving because he didn't acknowledge AIDS or even the people who helped him make the film!  McConaughey’s speech didn’t change Mike’s slight distaste for him. 

Jared Leto’s speech acknowledging the 36 million people who have died of AIDS in the world, and his speaking up for the LGBT community to feel pride, was good enough for me, to make me like him.  His appearance on Ellen made me believe that he’s a good guy, who wants to speak out for fairness and equality.

In the end, Cate Blanchett won an Oscar for “Blue Jasmine” despite all the Woody Allen controversy, of something that happened so long ago.  I like Cate Blanchett for playing Blanche DuBois in “A Streetcar Named Desire” on the Sydney stage.

Robert Lopez, a Filipino American, won an Oscar for his song “Let It Go” for the popular Disney movie “Frozen.”  This makes me want to see the film, which also won an Oscar for “Best Animated Film.”  When Idina Menzel sang the song at the Oscars, John Travolta goofed up her name extremely, by introducing her as “Adele Dazeem.”  This goof up became the talk of the internet, because everyone that it was funny.   Idina even hugged John after her performance, shrugging off the mistake.

Finally, this has been the year of the “snub” and also the “shut-out,” because many films won no awards this year.  “American Hustle” won none of the ten Academy Awards it was nominated for, making it one of the biggest shut-outs in Oscars history! 

I’m glad they acknowledged Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Roger Ebert in the Memoriam.  These are two intelligent people that will be missed.  I do miss Roger’s presence on the internet and in the newspapers.  I still look up his reviews on the website dedicated to him and his reviews, to read what he said about a past film that Mike and I have watched together in recent times.

As Roger Ebert wrote in an inscribed book to me, “See you at the movies!”

You can read my blog, about Oscar nominated films in the past few years, at www.RubenandMike.Blogspot.com

My response to 2013 films nominated for Oscars, for the 2014 Academy Awards

Mike and I have been watching movies nominated for Academy Awards this year, and we think some great performances and movies were snubbed this year.  When we saw “The Butler” last year, we thought that Oprah and Forest Whitaker would definitely be nominated, but they weren’t.  We also thought that Tom Hanks would be nominated for “Captain Phillips” because he makes you care for his character quite a bit.  Emma Thompson’s performance in “Saving Mr. Banks” is still one of my favorite performances from last year!  Her difficult fussiness challenged some of the sexism of the Disney production teams, and, yet, makes us aware that Disney made people more sensitive to women with some of his films, like Mary Poppins, which talked about the “suffragette” movement!   I wish the Academy voters would have nominated “Saving Mr. Banks” instead of “The Wolf of Wall Street!”  I have no interest to watch “Wolf” after reading the reviews that said it is a great, sardonic look at American frivolity, and yet, seems like a movie with too much testosterone or masculinity, like some violent action hero movie, where women are just sex objects.  That’s also one reason Mike and I didn’t like “American Hustle” too much, because the women are seen as sex objects by some of the characters, especially the Bradley Cooper character.  The writing was witty, and the set design for “American Hustle” is stunning, and the costumes, and hair, especially the hair, made me want to get a haircut after viewing the film!  I hate when my hair looks bushy like the seventies!  I really like “Silver Linings Playbook” much better,  because of Jennifer Lawrence’s sweet character, that wouldn’t give up on Bradley Cooper’s character, because she deeply cared for him, despite his obsession for his ex-wife!

Mike and I did enjoy watching “Philomena,” because of the liberal journalist played by Steve Coogan, who was also nominated for his excellent screenplay!  Steve Coogan character is just after a juicy story at the beginning of the film, by wanting to expose the cruelty of the Irish Catholic Church, who sold thousands of babies on the “black market,” sometimes without the consent of the mothers.  “Philomena” moved us so much because the impact of the era were millions died of AIDS is still so heart-rending, and painfully honest!  I couldn’t help and cry for these characters, despite Philomena’s humble choice to continue being a Catholic after all she’s been through, and the conservatism of some of the characters!  AIDS still hurts until this day!  And because I am living with HIV, and not dying of AIDS because of life-saving medication, makes it all the more poignant!  If only some of those very talented people, only lived a little longer, they would have been woken up from the dead like Lazarus with this medication!  Philomena was shown at the Vatican, and the real Philomena Lee got to meet the Pope, who personally apologized for the cruelty she lived through because of these cold hearted nuns!  I feel better that there is a kinder, gentler Pope in Rome, who cares about the very poor, and the sick(he once kissed the feet of people living with HIV/AIDS!)

“12 Years a Slave” is also an excellent film, and deserved the nine Academy Awards that is was nominated for.  Though it might have a difficult time sweeping the Oscars because of the Academy voters might vote for other films.  Lupita N’yongo is my choice to win the best supporting actress Oscar this year, because she portrayed the tormented slave very powerfully, and her performance is the most noble, and “serious” of all the other Actors nominated!  It’s no wonder that not many movies have been made about the slavery era, but the torture that they lived through is not easy to depict, and watch, and, yet, is so important to remember history.  It’s hard to believe that these kinds of atrocities happened, but they did, which makes them even deeper, and more important.  I hope one day to come across Solomon Northup’s book titled by the same name, and see what he saw, when he was captured, and forced into slavery!  Like Anne Frank, the torturers did not know they are torturing someone smart enough to write his personal history and experience of the times in torment!

 British actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor, definitely deserves a chance at winning this Oscar for Best Actor!  I think they might give it to Matthew McCaughney, for his portrayal, of AIDS stricken straight man in “Dallas Buyers Club.”  McCaughney has been winning at other Awards shows, and so has, Jared Leto, who brilliantly plays a transgender person stricken with AIDS in the same film.  Mike is not a big fan of McCaughney, but we might see that movie anyway, because we like Jared Leto’s sensitive speech at the Screen Actors Guild Award, where he sensitively acknowledges that AIDS is a terrible disease that nobody deserves to die from( I don’t care how wicked people think of your life!)  Leto also thanked all transgender people in the world for their “inspiration!”  Michael Fassbender also has a chance for winning an Oscar, because of the chilling way he portrayed the slave driver as a real life “monster.”  Academy voters sometimes rewards these “monster” performances, like Christoph Waltz, or Charlize Theron in the movie “Monster,” and Kathy Bates in “Misery!”  Rewarding the “monsters” does give me a chill of discomfort though!

Speaking of monster performance, Meryl Streep was so convincing as the verbally abusive Violet Weston in the movie “August: Osage County” that I think that she definitely transformed herself to become this character, which is just plain remarkable!  I had to watch her being interviewed on Jimmy Kimmel one night, just to make sure that she is not like Violet Weston at all, no not at all.  She is, in fact, very sweet, and loved the Beatles when she was 15, and got to see them at Shea stadium where she held up a sign that said, “I Love You Paul!”  Hahahaha!  I like Meryl!  I hope the Pulitzer Prize winning play and movie doesn’t make us believe that the U.S. is becoming more isolated, less educated and verbally abusive to each other as portrayed in “August!”  It is almost frightening, watching Julia Roberts character swear so viciously at her mother!  I don’t think I’ve ever seen Julia be vicious in any film!  It’s almost campy, but too serious to laugh without a little discomfort.

Mike and I spent the last week watching the trilogy, "Before Sunrise," "Before Sunset," and "Before Midnight," and really enjoyed them. The first of the films(which all star Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as Jesse and Celine) is probably my favorite, because the conservations that this couple has seems so real, and terribly romantic, yet realistic as well! The first is set in 1994, and the others were filmed nine years apart each, up to 2013, where the actors are older, wiser, and little more cynical with age! We see the actors age, not always gracefully, but love how their connection is so deep! Mike likes the second one the most, because it filmed in Paris! The scenes in Paris are so lovely, and fluid, and the romance is not on the screen, but in-between the words of their dialogue. The last two were nominated for Oscars for writing, which made me interested in them. Critics praised them, calling them classics in realism and film! The last one, Before Midnight, we rented at the redbox, and it's the hardest to watch, because the couple are going through emotional difficulties, but it still leaves you hopeful that time transcends all the difficulties of age, and people in love still choose to stay together!

Mike and I also got to see “Nebraska,” which is a brilliant, quiet little indie movie that packs a punch!  Will Forte’s character, makes you care somewhat for this “senile” old man who is determined that he holds a winning lottery ticket!  It’s a great father/son road movie, that makes you laugh, and annoyed with these people at the same time, and feeling that they are somehow terribly real in some parts of the world!  I don’t like the fact that the old man uses the word “co—ksucker” because that’s very homophobic!  That moment in the film made me slightly uncomfortable!  I still cared enough about the son characters to like this film.  Speaking of homophobic rants, Alec Baldwin, an actor I detest, made the news once again for calling a photo-journalist a “f—g” and other homophobic names!  That is so irresponsible and stupid in my book.  Someone on facebook said that being homophobic has nothing with being “phobic” or afraid.  Being homophobic means you're being a Gay hating jerk, throwing prejudiced words around mean-spiritedly and hatefully!  

I’m happy Bruce Dern and June Squibb were nominated for “Nebraska” a film that reminds me of “Paper Moon” and “Last Picture Show!”

I had trouble watching Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” because Alec Baldwin is in it, who plays a womaniers were filmed nine years apart each, up to 2013, where the actors are older, wiser, and little more cynical with age! We see the actors age, not always gracefully, but love how their connection is so deep! Mike likes the second one the most, because it filmed in Paris! The scenes in Paris are so lovely, and fluid, and the romance is not on the screen, but inbetween the words of their dialogue. The last two were nominated for Oscars for writing, which made me interested in them. Critics praised them, calling them classics in realism and film! The last one, Before Midnight, we rented at the redbox, and it's the hardest to watch, because the couple are going through emotional difficulties, but it still leaves you hopeful that time transcends all the difficulties of age, and people in love still choose to stay together!zing pig in it too!  Woody Allen has been in the news lately because Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Dylan Farrow continues to confront the public with allegations that Woody molested her as a child!  Very disgraceful, and disgusting to think about, and I’m afraid there is a element of truth in it!  Yet, we know that Allen is not a serial sex offender, otherwise he would be in jail right now!  Dylan just wants to tell her story, and Allen deeply denies the allegations, despite the fact that he married one of Mia Farrow’s adopted daughters, which lends credibility to Dylan Farrow’s story.  It’s been so long ago that it’s past the “statute of limitations” so it won’t go to trial, even though both Allen and Farrow deserve a fair trial!

Woody Allen’s films about complicated relationships, are still so interesting to watch, that I’m thinking this scandal has left him and the Farrow family with a deep sense of disgust!

Cate Blanchett has a good chance of winning an Oscar for “Blue Jasmine,” which is still a powerful performance, about a woman whose life unravels into homelessness and mental illness, because of her husband’s scandal.  How true this sounds to Woody’s life, and his terribly interesting homage to “A Streetcar Named Desire” is still very interesting to watch.  One critic says, you don’t know if you want to cry for Cate Blanchett’s character or tell her to snap out of it! 

Mike and I are still yet to watch “Her” and “Gravity.”  We definitely want to see "her," because critics praised Phoenix’s performance,  an actor I like because he was born on Puerto Rico!  We also want to see “Invisible Woman” because I am a big fan of the Charles Dickens novels and stories!  I also want to see Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom.  I think U2 might win an Oscar for their song "Ordinary Love," a song I like and have been listening too, while shaving!  They won a Golden Globe for it too!  What happened to Coldplay's song "Atlas" which was snubbed!  The Academy actually revoked a song for the film "Alone Yet Not Alone" because the songwriter, who was once a member of the Academy, wrote to Academy members telling them to support the song, which is favoritism!

Some great films only got minor nominations, like Saving Mr. Banks and The Book Thief, which have both been nominated for Best Original Score!  John Williams has been nominated so many times, 49 I’m pretty sure, that only Walt Disney has more nominations in history than him!  Mike and I were lucky enough to hear and see John Williams conduct music he wrote for the movies at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra!  And I was deeply moved by all the beautiful music he wrote, and excited too!  E.T. is still my favorite John Williams score, and he conducted some of that score at the CSO to my delight.  Mike loved it too!

Thanks for reading my blog, and see you at the movies, like Roger Ebert once inscribed in a signed book for me!

Our response to the classic trilogy films "Before Sunrise," Before Sunset," and "Before Midnight."

Mike and I spent the last four days watching the trilogy, "Before Sunrise," "Before Sunset," and "Before Midnight," and really enjoyed them. The first of the films(which all star Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as Jesse and Celine) is probably my favorite, because the conservations that this couple has seems so real, and terribly romantic, yet realistic as well! The first is set in 1994, and the oth...ers were filmed nine years apart each, up to 2013, where the actors are older, wiser, and little more cynical with age! We see the actors age, not always gracefully, but love how their connection is so deep! Mike likes the second one the most, because it filmed in Paris! The scenes in Paris are so lovely, and fluid, and the romance is not on the screen, but inbetween the words of their dialogue. The last two were nominated for Oscars for writing, which made me interested in them. Critics praised them, calling them classics in realism and film! The last one, Before Midnight, we rented at the redbox, and it's the hardest to watch, because the couple are going through emotional difficulties, but it still leaves you hopeful that time transcends all the difficulties of age, and people in love still choose to stay together! Peace, Love, and Best Wishes, Ruben and Mike.

Response to the 2013-2014 Oscar Nominations

Many are feeling the disappointment that I call "the year of the snub." Social media is filled with many comments reflecting this disappointment. Everyone listing the movie they wanted to see win: Emma Thompson(Saving Mr. Banks), Tom Hanks(Captain Phillips), Oscar Isaac(Inside Llewyn Davis), Joaquin Phoenix(Her), Oprah and Forest Whitaker(The Butler), Robert Redford(All Is Lost). All that tough competition left a lot of people out of the Oscars this year. I thought Coldplay would be nominated for Best Song too for "Atlas!" Movies with testosterone must be the choice of the Academy of voters, who are mostly white men! What do think of all this? I'm still planning to see some of the movies nominated.

The Oscar nominations have been announced. The nine nominated films for Best Picture, and the most nominated films are:

American Hustle (10 nominations)
Gravity (10 nominations) mostly in technical awards
12 Years A Slave (9 nominations)
Nebraska (6 nominations)
Captain Phillips (6 nominations)
Dallas Buyers Club (5 nominations)
Her (5 nominations)
Philomena (4 nominations)...
The Wolf of Wall Street (4 nominations)

The most noticed snubs are: Inside Llewyn Davis, The Butler and Saving Mr. Banks, which were not nominated for Best Picture.

More snubs: Idris Elba(Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom), Oscar Isaacs(Inside Llewyn Davis), Harrison Ford(42), which were not nominated in the acting categories.

Also left out: Fruitvale Station, Rush, The Great Gatsby

  Read the complete list of nominations on Wikipedia or go to: http://oscar.go.com/nominees/

 Peace, and Best Wishes, Ruben and Mike.