Matt vs. the Academy

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...

Here we are again, only a mere three and a half months since the last verdict... Sarcasm aside, I will obviously need to pick up the pace a bit. At this rate, it will take another 20 years to finish this project. Not ideal. Nonetheless, we're all having fun, right? The nominees for Best Picture of 2006 are: Babel The Departed Letters from Iwo Jima Little Miss Sunshine The Queen The five contenders for 2006 are quite an impressive bunch. All five are engaging and thought-provoking, and any of them could appropriately be named my favourite. But a five-way tie is not what this verdict is about, so... Little Miss Sunshine is quirky and lovable, and while its climax is deeply moving, it doesn't quite match the consistent intensity of the other films. Call it the comedy curse, but such is the tendency of those who give out accolades, even insignificant ones like mine. I will remove The Queen from the running also, for similar reasons. It's not a com...

As we finally wind down the current year of review, don't forget to cast your vote for the next one. Just use the poll sitting on the right hand side of your screen. The final nominee to ponder from 2006's Best Picture competition is... Little Miss Sunshine Directors : Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris Screenplay : Michael Arndt Starring : Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, Alan Arkin Academy Awards : 4 nominations 2 wins, including Best Supporting Actor (Arkin) and Best Original Screenplay The dysfunctional Hoover family is certainly unique. Dad Richard (Kinnear) is a less than successful motivational speaker with a disdain for losers. His long-suffering wife Sheryl (Collette) tries to keep the family together as best she can. When their naive daughter Olive (Breslin) is unexpectedly selected to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant in Redondo Beach, California, the family packs into their yellow and whit...

And the Oscars have come and gone for another year. There were a couple of minor surprises - Meryl Streep winning again for the first time in almost 30 years, and the editing team of Angus Wall and Aussie Kirk Baxter scoring back-to-back wins in Film Editing. It was also nice to see Billy Crystal again. He's like a comfortable blanket. It just feels  like the Oscars when he hosts. My predictions were not too embarrassing. I correctly pegged 16 winners, one better than last year, so I'll take it. For a chuckle, take a look at the menu for my annual Oscars party . The next nominee from the Best Picture competition of 2006 is... Letters from Iwo Jima Director : Clint Eastwood Screenplay : Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis (based on the book Picture Letters from the Commander in Chief by Tadamichi Kuribayashi, edited by Tsuyuko Yoshida) Starring : Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryo Kase, Shido Nakamura, Hiroshi Watanabe, Takumi Bando, Yuki, Matsuzaki ...