Podcast: Past (first Oscar nights), Present (Oscar aftermath), and Future

Nathaniel welcomes back Nick Davis to talk about making peace with Oscar night such as it was. It's the only Oscar podcast you'll hear that doesn't discuss The Incident! Instead we talk about our first Oscar nights as children as well as what we liked about Sunday's show (yes, there were a few things) and then the conversation drifts towards what's next. What do we hope to see from some of the actors and directors in the future?

You can listen to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify or download the attachment below. 

Oscar Aftermath

Showbiz History: Drew makes history on SNL and more...

6 random things that happened on this day, November 20th, in showbiz history

1982 Drew Barrymore hosts SNL in the year of E.T.'s mega-pop culture dominance. She's still the youngest host of all time. She was just 7 years old and one of the first jokes was about her famous family's alcoholism "Milk? I'm a Barrymore. Get me a drink... and make it a double!"  (Julia Louis-Dreyfus was on the show back then ?!?)

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Answer me these questions three

Yours truly is sick-sick-sick today so please inspire me right out of this cold by answering questions. First Which movie cures illness? What makes you feel so good that you leap right out of the metaphoric bed with the ability to run a maraton. This is the time when we really wish A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood had already arrived in screener form. 

Been thinking about the greatness of Debra Winger in Terms of Endearment. In all the the years since, I have never heard an audience sobbing its heart out like they did over her last scene with her boys. pic.twitter.com/CoMLUa7wxZ

— Farran Nehme (@selfstyledsiren) November 14, 2019

On Twitter today there was a brief shout-out to Debra Winger's Terms of Endearment performance... and it reminded that one of the very first time I heard someone discuss the art of acting in passionate detail was a Siskel & Ebert special 'if we picked the Oscars' or some such. They were split on Shirley or Debra in Terms. What's the first time you were ever enthralled listening to people talk about acting? 

Finally I promise to write about this year's Oscar race in the morning. Which category do you most want to discuss?

Best Sound Mixer Kevin O'Connell: 21st time's the charm

Tim here. Somewhat overlooked in all the furor over the rightfully furor-inducing parts of the Oscars on Sunday, a little bit of history was quietly made.

When the four-member team from Hacksaw Ridge took to the stage of the Kodak Theater to accept the award for Best Sound Mixing, the worst losing drought in the history of the Academy Awards ended. Kevin O'Connell received his first nomination in that category in 1983, for the subdued domestic drama Terms of Endearment, which perhaps unsurprisingly lost to The Right Stuff. 33 years and 21 nominations later, in a career including 209 films to his credit as a mixer, he finally picked up his very first statue on Sunday. You may remember him as the guy who thanked his late mom for helping him to get his first job in the industry, and who asked as thanks only that he'd mention her one day as he accepted an Oscar.

Whatever feelings one might have about the film, it's hard not to be excited on O'Connell's behalf...

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Golden Globe Ballots Due. (And Other Celebratory Reminders)

The members of the HFPA (The Golden Globes) have to turn in their ballots today with nominations announced on Monday. In the less celebrated corner of Precursor World the BFCA Critics Choice ballots are also due for the winners. My own votes are all over the place as I don't do lazy sweep voting but judge each category separately as one should. The Critics Choice Awards are this Sunday evening -- watch it live -- and the Golden Globe nominations are announced Monday morning. But movies, as events to celebrate, are more than just temporal things. You can celebrate anything you'd like across the time continuum via the happy things known as anniversaries and birthdays...

On this day in history as it relates to showbiz

1854 Alfred Tennyson published his famous war poem "Charge of the Light Brigade" - it would be made into a movie three times, most famously with Olivia de Havilland and Erroll Flynn in the Thirties.
1902 Margaret Hamilton, The Wicked Witch of the West herself, was born in Cleveland Ohio. She really should've been nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, don'cha think?...

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