Matt vs. the Academy

As has become the norm lately, I've left the gap between posts grow so much that I now have too many things to talk about in my little preamble here. Especially considering that it's coming into awards season and there will be lots to talk about in the coming weeks. On that note, the first thing to mention is that Kat and I were lucky enough to be among the first audience to see the finished version of Les Miserables. Director Tom Hooper introduced the special screening, commenting (perhaps with hyperbole) that he had only completed the movie at 2 a.m. that morning. The film is quite simply amazing. With all the singing recorded live (rather than having actors pre-tape them, then lip-sync on set), the emotion of the incredibly dramatic songs is, at times, overpowering. This has Oscar written all over it. Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman, particularly. Two acting gigs to mention. First, I shot a guest role on an episode of Law & Order: SVU last week. I play Counselor Andy Gu...

Another long delay between posts. Così  has finished, and Australian Made Entertainment has already begun preparations for its next production, Speaking In Tongues . So busy have I been in the interim that it took a hurricane to shut down everything else I've been doing and free up enough time to watch another movie. Although, it's now taken another week to actually write about it. Fortunately, Kat and I, and our houseguest Susie, who clearly chose a horrible time to visit New York, were all safe and sound in our apartment during the storm. Even more fortunately, we never lost power, unlike many others in neighbouring counties and states, who lost that and a whole lot more. We're feeling very lucky. So, with the winds blowing and the DVD player still working, we watched the first of 1942's Best Picture nominees... The Talk of the Town Director : George Stevens Screenplay : Irwin Shaw, Sidney Buchman, Dale Van Every, Sidney Harmon Starring : Car...

My good intentions of wrapping up this year of review quickly have clearly failed. Who would have thought producing a play would be so all-encompassing?  Così , the play in which Kat and I are acting in and producing is now in its final week and I'm finally beginning to come up for air. We've had some great reviews  and wonderful audiences, so if you're in New York City, get your tickets to the madness. We play until Sunday. Now, at long last, let's review the latest contenders... The nominees for Best Picture of 1971 are: A Clockwork Orange Fiddler on the Roof The French Connection The Last Picture Show Nicholas and Alexandra All five are extremely entertaining films, fine examples of their respective genres, and interestingly, all five essentially end on downers. Perhaps the Academy was feeling depressed in 1971. Between getting kicked out of their hometown, failing to catch the bad guy and being executed, the protagonists in these films don...

Rehearsals are well under way for Cosi , the first production of Australian Made Entertainment , the theatre (and eventually, film) company that Kat and I recently formed. We begin performances on September 7 in New York City, only three and a half weeks away, so if you're going to be in the area, get your tickets now . We now turn our attention to the final nominee from the Best Picture race of 1971... The Last Picture Show Director : Peter Bogdanovich Screenplay : Larry McMurtry and Peter Bogdanovich (based on the novel by Larry McMurtry) Starring : Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan, Clu Gulager, Sam Bottoms, Sharon Taggart, Randy Quaid, Joe Heathcock Academy Awards : 8 nominations 2 wins, for Best Supporting Actor (Johnson) and Best Supporting Actress (Leachman) Contrary to my usual rule, my viewing of The Last Picture Show was of the director's cut, not of the original version that ...

It's not often the timing works out that one of the nominees from a year I'm currently reviewing happens to be scheduled for a retrospective screening in New York City during that time. Such was the case with the next subject of review, which had a one-day only engagement at BAM Rose Cinemas , which, if memory serves, is a Matt vs. the Academy first. Of course, had I been speedier with my look at the rest of the nominees, I would have been entirely finished with the current year of review and missed the opportunity all together. In any case, it certainly was a thrill to see this picture up on the big screen. In fact, I worry that it may give this film an unfair advantage in my final verdict, since the experience of watching a movie in a darkened cinema is far more all-engrossing than watching on a smaller screen at home, susceptible to all sorts of distractions. Advantage or not, here are my musings on this nominee from the 1971 Best Picture race... The French...

It's been a busy few weeks as Kat and I have been getting all the pieces together for the inaugural production of our theatre company, Australian Made Entertainment . In September, we will be presenting Cosi , a classic Aussie comedy about a bunch of mental patients who cobble together a performance of Mozart's opera, Cosi fan tutte. If you can't make it to New York in September, you could always check out the film version , which I believe is also available on Netflix. In any case, be sure to 'like' us on Facebook to keep up to date with our progress. After a hectic week, I managed to squeeze in a viewing of another Best Picture nominee from 1971's contest... A Clockwork Orange Director : Stanley Kubrick Screenplay : Stanley Kubrick (based on the novel by Anthony Burgess) Starring : Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Adrienne Corri, Miriam Karlin, Godfrey Quigley, Anthony Sharp, Warren Clarke, Aubrey Morris, Michael Bates Academy Awards : 4 nomin...

As New York suffers through its current heat wave, being inside a theatre is a pleasantly cool place to be. On July 4th, Kat and I, along with a few friends visiting from out of town, took in a show, and what better show for Independence Day than Gore Vidal's The Best Man . The play itself was a little long and static (they still found time for two intermissions) but the star-studded cast made it all worth it. At 81 and 86 respectively, James Earl Jones and Angela Lansbury are as captivating as ever. And they share the stage with a veritable who's who of the sitcom universe - Will & Grace's Eric McCormack, Night Court's John Larroquette and Murphy Brown's Candice Bergen. Meanwhile, in an air-conditioned apartment, I take a look at 1971's next contender for Best Picture... Fiddler on the Roof Director : Norman Jewison Screenplay : Joseph Stein (adapted from his book of the Broadway musical, which was based on stories by Sholem Aleichem) Starring ...

After several months of planning, my talented wife Kat and I have finally launched our theatre company. Australian Made Entertainment will concentrate on producing Australian plays in New York City (and, considering my love of film, we will inevitably branch into movie-making as well). We have a theatre booked for our first show later this year, so stay tuned for more details. This blog will undoubtedly feature more announcements on behalf of the company but, in the meantime, visit our website , like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter . Kicking off our look at the Oscar nominees for the Best Picture of 1971 is... Nicholas and Alexandra Director : Franklin J. Schaffner Screenplay : James Goldman (based on the book by Robert K. Massie) Starring : Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman,  Harry Andrews, Tom Baker, Michael Bryant, Maurice Denham, Jack Hawkins, Ian Holm, Curd Jürgens, John McEnery,  Roderic Noble,  Eric Porter, Michael Redgrave, Alan Webb, Irene Wort...

The last year of review took me about three and a half months. I've knocked off about a month this time around, so hopefully that's a sign that things will move at a swifter pace from here on in... But don't quote me on that. The nominees for Best Picture of 1959 are: Anatomy of a Murder Ben-Hur The Diary of Anne Frank The Nun's Story Room at the Top Five nominees with vastly disparate subject matters, united by their intensity and thought-provoking themes. Despite this excess of gripping drama, it was the epic that presented itself as the clear front-runner, no doubt due to its legacy. Perhaps not coincidentally, the other four films all offer conclusions that could in some sense be described as unsatisfying - not because of any error in the filmmaking, but rather that they're simply just downers of varying degrees. Each of the lead characters essentially fails to achieve what they really want, or if they do, they then realise it wasn't actua...

On Sunday night, my short film, Clicked , had its screening in competition at the Hoboken International Film Festival , although technically, the cinema at which it screened was actually located in Hoboken-adjacent Jersey City. As could be expected late on a Sunday evening in Jersey City, the turnout was not spectacular, a circumstance accentuated by the large auditorium. Nevertheless, the few movie-goers in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves and, post screening, I was even able to speak to one such attendee, who was modestly complimentary of the film, so I'll take it. A light rail and four trains later, Kat and I made it back to Astoria, stopping in for an early breakfast at our favorite local haunt, Sanford's . Nothing quite like an egg, bacon and cheese sandwich at two in the morning. Now we turn to the final nominee from the race to the 1959 Best Picture Oscar... Anatomy of a Murder Director : Otto Preminger Screenplay : Wendell Mayes (based on the play by ...

It's hard to believe that it's already tech week for The Taming of the Shrew  and that we open in three days. If you're in the New York area in the next three weeks, be sure to pop along and say hi. We now take a look at another Best Picture contender from 1959... The Nun's Story Director : Fred Zinneman Screenplay : Robert Anderson (based on the novel by Kathryn Hulme) Starring : Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, Edith Evans, Peggy Ashcroft, Dean Jagger, Mildred Dunnock, Beatrice Straight Academy Awards : 8 nominations 0 wins The Nun's Story, as its title suggests, is the story of a nun. Gabrielle (Hepburn) is a stubborn young woman who, for some reason, chooses to enter a Belgian convent with hopes of serving as a nurse in the Congo. She endures the brutal identity-stripping training, struggling to keep up with what is expected of her, but thrives during science class as she learns all about tropical diseases. Despite topping the class, Sister Luke, ...

Last week, I began rehearsals for Titan Theatre Company 's production of The Taming of the Shrew, opening at the end of this month. In an unexpectedly exciting twist, the first read through was held at the historic club known as The Players . Over 120 years old, the club was the brainchild of famed 19th century American actor Edwin Booth, whose bedroom still exists on the upper floors of the club, reportedly untouched since his death in 1893. Quite a step back in time, let me tell you. Along with its incredible roster of famous past members, The Players is also noted for being the location at which Actor's Equity was covertly formed. We turn now to another of the Academy's picks from 1959 for Best Picture... The Diary of Anne Frank Director : George Stevens Screenplay : Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett (based on their play, which was based on "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank) Starring : Millie Perkins, Joseph Schildkraut, Shelley Winters,...

There is one major pitfall of the infrequency with which I've been updating this blog as of late. Too many newsworthy events occur in between posts for me to devote the appropriate amount of space to informing you about each of them. So, here's a brief summary of my news for the past couple of weeks: Fresh off the New York City premiere of my short film Clicked, of which I wrote about last time, the film has now been selected for the Hoboken International Film Festival, screening in the first week of June. On top of that, I'll be beginning rehearsals later this week for a local production of The Taming of the Shrew, in which I will play Grumio. If I manage to decrease the delay between each post in the coming weeks, I'll give more details for those events, but in the meantime, the next Best Picture nominee from the 1959 Oscars is... Room at the Top Director : Jack Clayton Screenplay : Neil Paterson (based on the novel by John Braine) Starring : Simone Si...

On Monday night, my short film Clicked , which I wrote, directed and starred in, had its New York City premiere as part of the NewFilmmakers Spring Festival Series . A proud moment, indeed. It was quite a thrill to see it up there on the big screen along with a real audience that wasn't just the cast and crew. And there is nothing quite so satisfying to hear a room full of people laugh at something I wrote on a page four years ago. Yes, it took that long to finish the damn thing. Somehow, it took longer to complete my short film than it did to complete what is perhaps the most well-known epic film of all time, the film to which all other epic films are compared and the first 1959 Best Picture Oscar nominee for us to discuss... Ben-Hur Director : William Wyler Screenplay : Karl Tunberg (based on the novel "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ" by Lew Wallace) Starring : Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O...