Watch the Oscar-Winning Animated Short Film: Mr. Hublot
Posted on March 9, 2014 at 8:00 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT3C2kdMHOs
Related Tags:In this charming story, a man finds his life transformed by a robot pet.
Trailer: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Posted on March 5, 2014 at 8:00 am
One of the most touching moments of the Oscars was the award for a documentary short called “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life.” It is the story of Alice Herz-Sommer, the world’s oldest Holocaust survivor, who died at age 110 just before her story was celebrated at the Oscars. She was born in Prague. Her parents’ friends included Kafka and Mahler. After the Nazis invaded, she was sent to Theresienstadt with her son. That camp was notoriously used to mislead Red Cross inspectors and others and she performed in over 100 concerts for visitors.
Her husband died in Dachau. After the war, she emigrated to Israel, and later lived in London. “I am Jewish,” she said, “but my religion is Beethoven.” A book about her life, A Century of Wisdom: Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the World’s Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor,
Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed accepted their Oscar for the film on Sunday night and spoke movingly of their admiration and affection for Herz-Sommer. I hope this award helps make their film widely available.
Oscars 2014: Best and Worst Moments and List of Winners
Posted on March 3, 2014 at 12:13 am
Highlights of the Oscar award show:
Ellen DeGeneres was a great host, funny and irreverent but respectful of the event and the fans. The photo that brought down Twitter was a hoot. But the pizza thing was not so great.
The incomparable Darlene Love lifted her voice and our spirits by singing her acceptance speech when 20 Feet from Stardom
Pharrell Williams sang “Happy” and got the stars in the front row to do what all of us at home wanted to do — get up and dance with him. 
Jared Leto, best supporting actor winner for “Dallas Buyer’s Club,” made up for rambling and clumsy responses to some of the other awards with a heartfelt tribute to his mother, to the people with AIDS whose struggle was portrayed in his film, and to others struggling around the world.
Lupita Nyong’o’s elegance and beauty was exceeded only by her graciousness and eloquence in giving the night’s most moving acceptance speech. “No matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.”
Two marvelous commercials:
The Muppets appeared for Lipton tea with an improbable tribute to “Midnight Cowboy” — and reminded us that their new movie is opening this month.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_LJVfKN2iIPepsi Mini had a better tribute to the magic of movies than the Oscar broadcast’s clip reels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCXr7ECpGQgThe tribute to the Wizard of Oz on its 75th anniversary included all three of Judy Garland’s children, Pink singing “Over the Rainbow” in a beautiful dress that recalled the ruby slippers, and Ellen appeared in Glinda’s gown.
The youngest ever achiever of that most elusive of goals was Robert Lopez, who shared the Oscar for Best Song with his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, for “Frozen’s” “Let It Go,” and now has the honor of the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). Their rhyming acceptance speech was charming and touching.
The Academy finally did the right thing with the In Memoriam tribute to those we lost over the past year, silencing the audio so there were no distracting bursts of applause.
Winners got time to say what they wanted to say without being interrupted by the orchestra. Much more civilized.
Low points:
That blanket of roses motif on the stage was distracting.
The “Hero” theme was poorly handled. I am as big a fan of movie clip reels as anyone but these were contextless and not very dynamic.
Did Whoopi borrow the Julia Roberts dress from the Golden Globes that everyone hated?
John Travolta weirdly mangled Idina Menzel’s name — twice.
And the Oscars went to….
Do the Oscars Overlook Movies About Young People?
Posted on February 26, 2014 at 3:59 pm
My friend John Hanlon has a thoughtful piece on CNN.com about the way the Oscars and other movie awards overlook stories about young people and performances by actors in their teens and twenties.
It’s unfortunate but undeniable that award shows — and the Oscars in particular — have a history of ignoring great movies made for and about young people.
In 2013 alone, several such films received raves from critics, earning spots on “best of” lists. “The Kings of Summer” and “The Way, Way Back” scored approval ratings of 76% and 85% of critics, respectively, on RottenTomatoes.com, while “The Spectacular Now,” written by the duo behind 2009’s underappreciated “(500) Days of Summer,” earned the approval of 92% of critics.
“Short Term 12” received a 99% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, a higher ranking than any of this year’s best picture nominees. “Spring Breakers,” starring James Franco and Selena Gomez, may have divided some moviegoers, but the film was also lauded for its provocative depiction of disaffected youth. And it’s not for nothing that “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” was the top grossing film of 2013.
Yet not one of these movies earned a single Oscar nomination.
And he was nice enough to quote me:
Film critic Nell Minow (the Movie Mom) also observed that “Oscar voters skew older.”
“They are more interested in stories about grown-ups and more likely to have relationships with actors and filmmakers who are 30 and older,” Minow said via e-mail.
Vote for Your Oscar Favorites on Rotten Tomatoes
Posted on February 19, 2014 at 5:05 pm
You can vote for your own Oscar favorites on Rotten Tomatoes. And you can see how your pick compare with fans across the country.