Tag Archives: Academy Awards

One Acclaimed, One Obscure: Two Terrific Movies on Netflix

There was a time when I saw every Academy-Award nominated Best Film, Actor, Actress, and screenplay nominee before the awards presentation. But when Best Film nominees expanded from five to ten, what had been a game became a chore. I … Continue reading

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Civilization: Chris Rock and Will Smith

A civilized person is one “…with inborn instincts inhibited.” That phrase stopped me short, even though it was embedded—mid-paragraph, page two—in Peter Schjeldahl’s review of “As They Saw It: Artists Witnessing War,” the current exhibit at The Clark (The New … Continue reading

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On Time

My object all sublime I shall achieve in time To make the punishment fit the crime The punishment fit the crime. The Mikado, 1885 One-hundred-thirty-six years since an operatic buffoon first pranced the stage bemoaning the consequences society inflicts upon … Continue reading

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Thanks to the Academy…

This Sunday night, the Oscars will be broadcast across America, across the World. The Academy Awards are our cultural State of the Union. The annual pulchritude parade reflects our social and aesthetic coherence—and dissonance—by applauding achievement in that squiggly gap … Continue reading

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Roma Contrarian

First impressions matter. When the camera finally pans up from the luscious opening visual of water on stone, more water on stone, even more water on stone; my imagination stirs at the wondrous places it might lift us up to. … Continue reading

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