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 ...