Matt vs. the Academy

For my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving! For everyone else, have a good Thursday. As I write this, Kat and I are about to head off with an Australian friend to another Australian couple's place to celebrate the entirely non-Australian holiday. But there's a large turkey involved, so how can we pass it up. Yesterday, on Thanksgiving Eve, I watched a somewhat forgotten Best Picture nominee, namely... Wilson Director : Henry King Screenplay : Lamar Trotti Starring : Alexander Knox, Charles Coburn, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell Academy Awards : 10 nominations 5 wins, including Best Original Screenplay Not a prequel to Cast Away , Wilson is a concise exploration of the political career of Woodrow Wilson from his days as President of Princeton University through his post as Governor of New Jersey to his election as the 28th President of the United States. Along the way, he must deal with the question of America's involvement in the Great War while simultaneously copin...

Without a washing machine in the building, Kat and I are forced to look elsewhere for our laundry needs. The easiest option is to take advantage of our local laundromat's highly convenient wash'n'fold service. Perfect for lazy husbands everywhere. You simply drop off your clothes in the morning and, just like magic, they are clean smelling and neatly folded when you pick them up in the evening. Now and then, I'll use the self-service washing machines to save a bit of money. Since the machines only take quarters, there is a handy change machine in one corner of the room. Pop in a dollar bill and out pop four quarters ... or so you would expect. Recently, upon operating this simple piece of machinery, I was mildly elated to receive five quarters for my one dollar investment. Ah, for the little wins... Yesterday, I embarked on the 1944 Best Picture journey by watching... Gaslight Director : George Cukor Screenplay : John Van Druten, Walter Reisch and John L. Balderston (b...

One more collection of nominees out of the way and, as I've come to expect from this project, not a dud among them. However, this decision proved to be a little easier than recent verdicts, for which my tired brain is grateful. The nominees for Best Picture of 1984 are: Amadeus The Killing Fields A Passage to India Places in the Heart A Soldier's Story Contrary to the diversity of some of the previous years I've examined, these five films can almost be similarly categorised ... well, perhaps with a little manipulation. Each deals at some level with the dastardly deeds to which human beings can subject one another. Racism features prominently in four of the pictures, the fifth being a more personal account of hatred. Consequently, 1984 was a powerful year for the Best Picture award. To be completely ruthless, A Soldier's Story left the smallest impact on me, which is more a credit to the other four films than a criticism of the Norman Jewison picture, for it is undoubted...

As I write this, the sun is almost below the horizon and it's only a quarter past four in the afternoon. Having lived my whole life, save the last six months, in Sydney, I'm used to daylight until at least well after five, even in the dead of winter. Here in New York City, however, I'm beginning to think, come January, it'll be dark by noon. I've never quite understood why Daylight Savings time isn't simply employed the whole year round. I mean, if it's okay to screw around with the time zones for the summer, why not for the rest of the year as well? In fact, why don't we just adjust the time zones themselves? Then we could dispense with Daylight Savings altogether... One day, I'll change the world. Just before the city was drawn into darkness, I viewed the final entry in the 1984 Best Picture race... A Soldier's Story Director : Norman Jewison Screenplay : Charles Fuller (based on his play "A Soldier's Play") Starring : Howard Roll...

One of the many benefits of living in New York City is that you can discover a new eatery every night (if you were so inclined) without ever having to dine at the same place twice. And there are restaurants specialising in just about everything. Yesterday, after a quick Google search for a place to eat near the location of our later plans that evening, Kat and I dined at S'MAC , a quaint little establishment whose menu consists entirely of variations of macaroni and cheese. Artery clogging, I'm sure, but delicious nonetheless. Before that culinary delight, I watched another nominee from 1984's Best Picture line-up... The Killing Fields Director : Roland Joffé Screenplay : Bruce Robinson (based on the New York Times Magazine article 'The Death and Life of Dith Pran' by Sydney Schanberg) Starring : Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich, Julian Sands, Craig T. Nelson Academy Awards : 7 nominations 3 wins, including Best Supporting Actor The Killing Fields relate...

I know I'm a week late to be discussing baseball, but has it not occurred to anyone in upper management at the MLB that it's possibly a bit of a misnomer to be calling the league's final battle the World Series. With only one team in the league that hails from outside the United States (and they're in nearby Toronto), it seems somewhat farcical to acclaim the winning team as the world champions. I guess when the MLB began, no other country was playing baseball, but even so, a bit of humility wouldn't go astray. World Series. I mean, really. Right, now that I've insulted America's pastime, which, incidentally, I enjoy watching in lieu of my beloved cricket , let's move on now to the latest Best Picture nominee from 1984 to be viewed, which was... Amadeus Director : Milos Forman Screenplay : Peter Shaffer (based on his play) Starring : F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice, Simon Callow, Christine Ebersole, Jeffrey Jones Academy A...

After a frustrating experience with the frustrating New York City transport system which left me waiting, frustrated, on a platform for thirty frustrating minutes before being told the train would never arrive, I was forced to call my director to explain why I was absent from today's rehearsal. Frustrating. The subway system here is usually more than satisfactory, especially in comparison to Sydney's equivalent, but then something frustrating like this happens and I lose all faith in it. Anyway, the frustration was alleviated when Kat and I walked to the nearby Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden for a bite to eat. Too cold for the impressive outdoor beer garden, we dined inside on the scrumptious Czech and Slovak food. As a schnitzel aficionado, I simply couldn't go past the Bohemian Schnitzel, a breast of breaded chicken stuffed with ham, cheese, egg and garlic. Simply heaven. Although, my arteries may have something to say about that. After a quick stroll through Astoria pa...