So it was the Oscars last night, where we got to watch Billy Crystal act smug about being considered relavent by somebody. Also Christopher Plummer finally won something. Also there was this – the Cirque du Soleil’s incredible, film-themed performance – which works out well, thematically. Take a look.
Just in time to co-incide with the 500th episode of “The Simpsons,” Matt Groening, the show’s creator, has been given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Simpsons aired its first episode on 19 December, 1989, so I’d say it was a long enough wait. There was also doughnuts.
In what must be some of the creepiest news to emerge (this week) from what is admittedly a pretty weird place, a number of human body parts have been found scattered around the famous Hollywood Hills sign in Los Angeles. The LAPD says a severed human head was found in the area yesterday, and since then the discovery of “pairs of hands and feet” has also been reported.
This shouldn’t be surprising to anybody, but it’s probably good to be reminded. A study by USC’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism that surveyed the top 100-grossing movies of 2009, and found that only 32,8% of the 4 342 speaking characters were female. Let us remember that 2009 was the year that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen came out.
Somewhere is somewhere between the vapid neon encounter that is Lost in Translation and the decadent, sprawling nothingness that is Marie Antoinette. All of these films were directed by Sofia Coppola, daughter to legendary The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola.
Street artist, Banksy, who has been nominated in the best documentary category for Exit Through The Gift Shop, has been told by the Academy award chiefs that he can’t attend the Oscars in disguise. Once again proving that the Academy are really just like a retiree committee, only richer.
By which I mean, Banksy has been hitting various billboards and street-corners in Los Angeles with culture-bending graffiti. As ever. I mean it’s a little weird that the anti-establishment dude has been promoting his Oscar nomination, but on the up-side, we get some pretty cool art out of it.
I can only assume that Will Smith is doing this to punish me for not watching Hitch. I mean, he remade The Karate Kid with his son as the lead, which was fine (awful) except for the part where there was no karate. And now he’s remaking Annie, with Jay-Z’s help. Look out for the ‘Hard Knock Life’ rap.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association went out of their way to market this year’s Golden Globe Awards as a showcase for stupidity. They nominated a guy who thinks Russia’s music unites the world and a movie that tanked at the box office. Then again, that’s what we’ve come to expect from the Oscar’s ugly cousin.