The Oscars!

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by JazmenFlowers

child I have. oh my.

Yeah, he has a rather nice behind doesnt he?

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by cliffdweller

Oh my god, he was so hot in that movie, and I hate admitting that because he was a lunatic psycho killer, but geezus that man is gorgeous.

I trust you saw Sunshine?

[Rickypt]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Well, not really. I mean when considered in the historical context of the world, I'd say that though not stellar, it is not that bad and all signs indicate it got better as the world got better. I mean is there any question that the world and the Academy as a subset of that are far less racist (and even homophobic) than they were 15-20 years ago So, I think Clooney correctly asserted that.

I thought Clooney was trying to say that the Academy has been way ahead of everyone else on things like racism. Which it isn't.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by Rickypt

I thought Clooney was trying to say that the Academy has been way ahead of everyone else on things like racism. Which it isn't.

Well, considering they gave an Oscar to a black actress in 1939...I'd say they were (emphasis on the past tense)...but, then, between 1939 & Sidney Poitier, how many decent roles were there for black actors/actresses? Not many. That's not the Academy's fault...that's the film studios'.

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I trust you saw Sunshine?

Sunshine? I've never heard of it, do tell!

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by Rickypt

I thought Clooney was trying to say that the Academy has been way ahead of everyone else on things like racism. Which it isn't.

Well, it kind of has been. His point was it gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 for Gone With the Wind. In 1939, most of the country refused to eat or even watch movies with black people (that was not just in the South - though it was worse there) - So, that was a huge thing that happened 20 years before the Civil Rights movement, etc. -

Then, he noted Hollywood's awareness of AIDS, which I truly believe were it not for Elizabeth Taylor and her tireless efforts would have been largely ignored far longer than it was. Finally, I think he was commenting on his flim and how it will raise awareness to politics, which Hollywood has been doing since the Silent era.

So, I conclude that though there is room for significant improvement, Clooney correctly concluded Hollywood and the Academy Awards are somewhat ahead of the curve.

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Well, it kind of has been. His point was it gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 for Gone With the Wind. In 1939, most of the country refused to eat or even watch movies with black people (that was not just in the South - though it was worse there) - So, that was a huge thing that happened 20 years before the Civil Rights movement, etc. -

Then, he noted Hollywood's awareness of AIDS, which I truly believe were it not for Elizabeth Taylor and her tireless efforts would have been largely ignored far longer than it was. Finally, I think he was commenting on his flim and how it will raise awareness to politics, which Hollywood has been doing since the Silent era.

So, I conclude that though there is room for significant improvement, Clooney correctly concluded Hollywood and the Academy Awards are somewhat ahead of the curve.

Good points Jason. I agree with you.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by cliffdweller

Sunshine? I've never heard of it, do tell!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145503/

Lots of nudity!!!

[Richard B]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Well, yes...but, 99.99% of the characters on the screen aren't really the actors doing their OWN character creation. They're STILL attempting to create the character vision of the director or writer, correct? Unless the actor himself wrote the screenplay or the adapted work, or is also the director, that is.

That's generally true. A character is worked by the director's vision of how he wants to see a character. However, that's why he casts a certain actor...to bring it to life. I've brought my own ideas of a character into the mix that a director never thought of and actually likes. It really is a collaboration. Writer's don't have much leadway in what happens once filming begins, in fact they get alot of rewrites during filming. Especially if a way a line is written that, say, just doesn't work or sounds odd once spoken as opposed to written.

Another very hard aspect of film acting over stage acting is continuity. First day of filming could be the last scene of a film. Gathering up emotions and being spot on immediately without that momentum of character build-up you get on stage is really difficult. Knowing how hard PSH worked on Capote really blew me away. He really deserved his Oscar. I was also rooting for Capote for BP.

[Rickypt]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Well, it kind of has been. His point was it gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 for Gone With the Wind. In 1939, most of the country refused to eat or even watch movies with black people (that was not just in the South - though it was worse there) - So, that was a huge thing that happened 20 years before the Civil Rights movement, etc. -

Then, he noted Hollywood's awareness of AIDS, which I truly believe were it not for Elizabeth Taylor and her tireless efforts would have been largely ignored far longer than it was. Finally, I think he was commenting on his flim and how it will raise awareness to politics, which Hollywood has been doing since the Silent era.

So, I conclude that though there is room for significant improvement, Clooney correctly concluded Hollywood and the Academy Awards are somewhat ahead of the curve.

All good points. I'm not sure I can give Hollywood the credit on AIDS that Clooney did, but you're probably right that things would have been even worse without the work of a couple of champions in Hollywood.

[stargazer99]

Originally Posted by wondergirl9847

He's getting slammed all over the media, but I thought he was hilarious. Loved the ads and hearing Stephen Colbert's voice in them. Hee!

The audience aren't used to a funny host, I guess...they didn't know what to do with themselves.

I agree. I'm not going to listen or reading any more reviews, because they don't know what they're talking about. A lot of the reviews I've read/heard are based on the fact that the audience (a/k/a "stiffs with sticks up their butts") weren't very responsive to him. Apparently, audience reaction is more important to critics then the actual performance. Hell, many of the reviewers probably didn't even pay much attention to Stewart himself.

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by stargazer99

I agree. I'm not going to listen or reading any more reviews, because they don't know what they're talking about. A lot of the reviews I've read/heard are based on the fact that the audience (a/k/a "stiffs with sticks up their butts") weren't very responsive to him. Apparently, audience reaction is more important to critics then the actual performance. Hell, many of the reviewers probably didn't even pay much attention to Stewart himself.

I thought he did a good job too.

[GypsySorcerer]

Originally Posted by DavidMn

regarding Titanic, how the hell did Kim Basinger win over Gloria Stewart?

I actually thought Kim Basinger was really, really good in LA Confidential, although I would have gone for Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights.

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

I actually thought Kim Basinger was really, really good in LA Confidential, although I would have gone for Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights.

Oh dont get me wrong, I liker Kim's performance, but I think Gloria should have won it hands down.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by Rickypt

All good points. I'm not sure I can give Hollywood the credit on AIDS that Clooney did, but you're probably right that things would have been even worse without the work of a couple of champions in Hollywood.

I was trying to google a list of all African American actors nominated, but cannot find one. It would be interesting to see.

Regarding AIDS, Hollywood on the whole did not really know how to handle that crisis, which to its credit, neither did the world in say 1980-81. I remember that era and thinking at like 13 or 14 years old that we were all going to die becuase it spread by air or saliva. There was not really much info. out there and you had to did for it because there was no 24 cable news and no internet.

Here is a pretty cool article about the famous Hudson Dynasty kiss and how it helped raise awareness and educate people.

http://www.theallineed.com/news//0510/019822.htm

Rock Hudson: Movie star who galvanised the fight against AIDS

An ailing and skeletal shadow of the movie star who had for decades hidden his homosexuality from his adoring public, announced he was battling the terrifying virus just two months before it took his life at the age of 59.

"I can at least know my own misfortune has had positive worth," Hudson said on his deathbed, shortly before the disease overcame him on October 2, 1985.

The shocking announcement on July 25, just two months and 10 days before his death, changed the public perception of the disease forever by putting a familiar face to AIDS.

"He was the first person worldwide and in the US that the average American citizen could identify as someone who had AIDS," Craig Thompson, executive director, AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), told AFP.

Or as E-Online put it: "Until then, in the minds of the mainstream, AIDS was still the province of sodomites, Haitians, junkies and other marginalized people, not upstanding Americans like movie stars."

Hudson, who was born Roy Harold Scherer Jr. in Winnetka, Illinois in 1925, made his movie debut in 1948's "Fighter Squadron" and rose quickly to become one of Hollywood's most sought after actors.

In the 1950s and 60s he starred in a string of romantic comedy's with Doris Day and became an iconic heartthrob. His most memorable role was opposite his friend Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean in the epic 1956 film "Giant."

But his homosexuality remained a tightly-guarded secret. "In those times, if it was known that he was homosexual, it would have ruined his career," said Hudson's friend, famed US newspaper columnist Liz Smith.

Studios chiefs rallied and arranged for him to marry studio secretary Phyllis Gates in 1955.

For three decades, Hudson made women swoon by maintaining a carefully-crafted public image. Until he revealed he had AIDS, that is.

The announcement, made by his publicist while he was receiving experimental treatment in Paris, came at a great personal price for a man who had spent his life maintaining his screen persona as it also revealed his true sexuality.

"I hope I die of a heart attack before they find out," Hudson said when he was diagnosed.

At the time, just 12,000 people, mostly gay men in San Francisco and New York, had been diagnosed with the disease that would become a global pandemic, and little was known about it.

"You'd go to parties, and people would have really negative things to say about how afraid they were of getting AIDS from shaking hands with somebody," Liz Smith told AFP. "I mean, people were just ignorant," she said.

But Hudson's admission would help shatter misconceptions about the disease and helped portray sufferers as victims and not as plague spreaders.

But the immediate reaction to the announcement was far from positive. In late 1984, Hudson had guest starred in the hit US television series "Dynasty," passionately embracing co-star Linda Evans in one episode.

The announcement that he had AIDS sent the world's press into a frenzy over whether Evans could have been infected with the deadly virus.

"This kiss with Linda Evans: the transmission by saliva was debated and continues to be debated all the way up to this day. I don't think the people's reaction was necessarily overreaction," Thompson said.

Evans was one of the few people at the time who was not angry at Hudson, saying he held back during the passionate scene for fear of infecting her.

But the cast and crew were alarmed Hudson's physical decline and his sudden inability to remember his lines.

After his treatment in France, Hudson flew back to California to die. "It was shocking and horrible," Liz Smith recalled.

But while his death marked a huge loss for cinema and Hudson's friends, it warned the world of the looming danger AIDS posed the world.

"He was so beloved," said the APLA's Thompson. He was one of those people behind the scenes that Hollywood genuinely liked," he said explaining that Hudson's death spurred celebrities and governments into joining the fight against AIDS.

Elizabeth Taylor, who devoted most of the last two decades to the AIDS crusade, summed up Hudson's contribution to the fight shortly after her friend's death: "Please God, he has not died in vain."

___________________________________________________________

In the end, everyone could have done more. However, I think through Elizabeth Taylor (and others), so much good was done and so many lives were saved by prevention.