Emmanuelle Riva's Oscar Birthday And The 100 Oldest Living Oscar Nominees

Emmanuelle Riva at the NYFCC Awards earlier this weekGuess who has a birthday on Oscar night this year? Emmanuelle Riva! What fortuitous timing.

The legendary French actress of Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) fame, was Oscar-nominated just a few days ago for her haunting downward spiral in Michael Haneke's Amour (2012) and on her 86th birthday she could become the oldest winner of any competitive acting Oscar. Christopher Plummer, who turned 83 last month, currently holds that record for his win last year for Beginners. Riva's abundantly well deserved nomination makes her, at this writing, the 64th oldest living Oscar nominee or winner, just a few days younger than American screen legend Sidney Poitier.

So, as we gear up for Oscar night, I thought it was time to look back with gratitude on our elders. Let's pay homage to the Oscar nominees and winners that are still with us. Investigate these talents with your DVD queues and perhaps they'll feel the vibes of new fans "discovering" their cinematic contributions. That would have to be a sweet (and deserved) sensation. 

I'm posting today, not just due to the discovery that next month's Emmanuelle Riva Birthday Celebration will involve all the biggest stars in the world, but because it's January 12th, on which we always say happy birthday to #1 on this list. I hope you enjoy!

100 OLDEST LIVING OSCAR NOMINEES/WINNERS

Happy 102nd Luise Rainer! Celebrate The Oldest Living Oscar Nominees!

2020 NOTE - Louise Rainer lived to be 104!!! Here's the updated list of list of Oldest Living Oscar Nominees or Winners

The double Oscar winner (The Great Ziegfeld and The Good Earth) turns 102 today!  She's the oldest living Oscar nominee or winner! Her most recent appearance was just four short months ago when she showed up for her star ceremony in Berlin. They now have a "Boulevard des Stars" much like Hollywood's walk of fame and as the only German Best Actress winner (Hollywood and the media who nicknamed her "The Viennese Teardrop" promoted her as Austrian for obvious reasons in the 1930s), she was a natural for inclusion.

happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear Luise,
happy birthday to you
.......and many more ♫

Odets and Rainer in Hollywood. Odets also romanced actress Frances Farmer (as seen in the Jessica Lange picture "Frances")Luise is on record as saying that she doesn't believe in the Oscar curse and her short-lived Hollywood career was her own doing.

"The Oscar jinx! There is no Oscar jinx. I couldn't carry the burden of being the middle of the universe. I had to withdraw and find myself".

My favorite anecdote about Luise is that her husband during those heady Oscar years activist / screenwriter / playwright Clifford Odets (Luise was not his only actress romance) was so furious with her for flirting with Albert Einstein at a party that he took a photo of Einstein and chopped off Einstein's head with a pair of scissors. Hee! But also: flirting with Albert Einstein at a party???. What storied lives those Golden Age movie stars lived. You can read a lot more about Luise's life at this comprehensive unofficial fan site. 

My friend Nick is also discussing Luise's odd legacy and one of her lesser known films today on this historic occassion. As per usual he puts her efforts in brilliant context.

Throw Some Rice, Share Some Link

Before we begin today's news roundup, we must throw some rice. From The Godfather we know that the Coppola's can throw a hell of a wedding. Wish the newlyweds well: Mrs and Mrs Sofia Coppola / Thomas Mars.

The Film Doctor on Luc Besson's Colombiana
The Wrap Pedro Almodóvar will guest direct the AFI Fest and present a 25th anniversary screening of Law of Desire (which is only Nathaniel's favorite Almodóvar, don'cha know) 
IndieWire 10 things that festival season will tell us 'bout the awards race 
Twitch Film has the trailer to the new Hrithik Roshan epic: color, musical numbers, tons of violence. Bollywood always goes all out. 

And no, I'm not sharing The Hunger Games teaser which you can see on roughly 93% of all blogs on the internet today. Someone's gotta take a stand for their .0000000000001% of the film blogging world! Basically Jennifer Lawrence runs through a forest while we learn in narration that she's good at hunting. Then she fires an arrow at the logo. That's it. Search for it yourself if you're a slave to movie marketing. Seriously, that movie: Calm down! I've never felt this exhausted by a movie trying to become an event before. It will probably work which is why movies spend so much on P&A but wouldn't it be cool if audiences got to decide which films were events AFTER SEEING THEM. 

just for fun
The New Yorker "I'm Sorry" by Paul Rudnick
Michael Musto on the VMA Tribute to Britney Spears 
YouTube Hurricane Irene brings back streaking. nsfw
Playbill OMG Carol Channing is releasing a new album at 90 years young this winter. Go see Carol Channing: Larger than Life, a new documentary, if you get a chance. It's fun. 

Links: Carrey, Turner, Pearce, Jordan (Hal), Thurman

Serious Film Jim Carrey's Oscar snubs. Will Mr Popper's Penguins bring more?
Variety Will The Hurt Locker team triumph again? Turns out the movie Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal were already working on to shoot this summer was about the very team that just killed Osama Bin Laden.
The Film Doctor questions why Fast Five is so popular... and attempts to answer.
i09 worries about Green Lantern in advance. Too much mythology?
Hollywood Reporter Wait. I thought Soderbergh was retiring? And now he's doing Magic Mike, a male stripper drama with Channing Tatum?

AV Club Remember when we were discussing Guy Pearce and why he doesn't get major parts? Well Ridley Scott to the rescue. Pearce has been cast in Prometheus, the is-it-or-isn't-it-an-Aliens-sequel?
Scott Feinberg likes Kathleen Turner in The Perfect Family. Will it find distribution and warm reception outside of Tribeca's fest?
La Daily Musto bizarre story about the Tribeca screening of the documentary Carol Channing: Larger Than Life. I was there and was very close to this row where Security was called. It was quite odd but here's the whole story.

Remember when Nicole Kidman did a commercial for Schweppes? Now Uma Thurman is making bank with the beverage. Here it is.

How many of my favorite actresses will they employ?