Ambition and Diversity are the paths forward

Breaking the glass was the Oscar’s motto this season.  From women coming out to share their experiences of dealing with sexual harassment and assault in the workplace igniting the #metoo and #timesup movements; to film representing more people than the typical white, straight male with Jordan Peele’s satirical thriller, Get Out, starring a black protagonist, Daniel Kaluuya.  Women were finally portrayed and critically revered by a female director as Greta Gerwig crafted a touching and amusing coming of age story, Lady Bird, with Saoirse Ronan in the lead.

For the second straight year, a film depicted the dynamic of homosexuality in Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me by Your Name.  These films are able to give exposure to the life of the voiceless in a beautiful, touching way that resonates with all viewers.    

Director Christopher Nolan’s presence at the Oscars was long overdue, as he finally got recognition for constructing the most ambitious storyline of his career yet.  Instead of depicting the evacuation of Dunkirk beach with the redundant, dramatized story of war; Nolan goes off the rails and throws audiences into the intense, suffocating, hopeless, and triumphant moments of war with a script not heavily focused on dialogue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SpdtWx8__s

Dunkirk might not have won Best Picture, but out of all the movies, it and Get Out will be revered throughout history because of their unorthodox methods of storytelling contrary to Hollywood.

Even the Shape of Water, at its most simplistic level, is a love story about a mute woman and a fish creature.  But deep within del Toro’s beautiful and touching film is a story about isolation, love, and fear; all emotions that resonate with audiences.

Not only did this Oscar season see a focus on creative, unique storylines and an effort to highlight the work of women and minorities, but also it gave us a glimpse to the future of the film medium with Netflix producing a movie nominated for four Academy Awards: Mudbound.  No longer will films nominated for awards be solely available at a theater, but rather in audiences’ homes.  

Can we please make this like two hours

Alright time to complain.  There is no reason to make the Oscars run for almost four hours, simply mind-boggling.  Other than advertisement money, I do not see the benefit of ABC dragging this already somewhat silly premise of a show into four hours.  The audience at home doesn’t want to sit through it, but does because what the hell else is on TV on a Sunday night? The nominees in the crowd would also highly encourage a shrinkage in airtime, especially since the Academy chooses to not serve alcohol during the show.

Sufjan Stevens, Thank You

Stevens’ performance was the best musical showing of the night, as the soft-spoken multi-instrumentalist perfectly encapsulated the studio sound and emotions from Call Me by Your Name.  His performance wasn’t flashy, bombastic, or overdramatized.  It was raw, real, heart-wrenching and deeply engaging: music at its best.  Also, the song is four minutes long not two…

Star Wars, that was pitiful

I was fine with the Academy allowing characters from Star Wars: The Last Jedi to announce an award on stage, but wow, that was awkward.  Not awkward in a funny Ricky Gervais, David Brent, way, but more shooting for extremely uncomfortable.  

Jimmy Kimmel was great…until he left the show for reasons unknown to even himself….

Kimmel performed a strong monologue by not overdoing the jokes affiliated with #metoo and #timesup, but when he did punch, he damn well delivered.  The jet ski bit was amusing as well; even he understands the show is too long. Where things went sour was when he took some of the nominees across the street to surprise guests watching Wrinkle In Time at the TCL Chinese Theater.  Simply put, it was just extremely unnecessary.  

Award Shows are kind of stupid

Now, award shows like the Oscars do have their purpose.  In that, they highlight great achievements in art and give platforms to minorities of race and gender by honoring their work, like the Oscars awarding Jordan Peele whereas the Grammy’s failed once again.

However, sometimes people get too fixated on the awards themselves.  Yes, it’s fun to root for your favorite director or favorite movie, but I think Christopher Nolan and Paul Thomas Anderson aren’t going to lose sleep over an Oscar loss.  It’s refreshing and rewarding to have one’s work acclaimed and recognized by many, but to many people in the film business, awards are an afterburner to the art itself.  

The post Breaking the Fourth Wall: Oscars 2018: What we learned appeared first on KRUI Radio.

These movements echoed throughout Iowa City on Jan. 20, when over 900 women and men marched downtown.

A participant and Women in Business Member, Abby Gainer, said the Women’s March brought solidarity and comfort to her state of mind, saying too many times women get in this mindset that they are in the struggle and fight for equality alone.

“The march was great for solidarity and bringing light to the movement, but the most important thing women can do each and every day is to hold people accountable for saying something negative about a woman that has nothing to do with her personality, but her appearance and body,” Gainer said.

The Women’s March may have been a one-day event, but its ideas and aspirations are coming back to Iowa City- this time on screen.

Throughout the entirety of March, FilmScene will only be screening films made solely by women. On the arthouse theater’s website, it states this about the upcoming event:

“In order to celebrate talented local, national and international female artists, FilmScene proudly presents Women’s March. Showcasing films made exclusively by women throughout the entire month of March 2018, featuring new releases alongside classic cinema, films with local roots, and dialogues about the female perspective in the industry.”

The program director at FilmScene, Rebecca Fons, said female filmmakers should be spotlighted and showcased because of their lack of exposure in cinema. She said this idea hit center-stage when the Weinstein allegations came out on Oct. 5, causing FilmScene to discuss internally what its responsibility is as an exhibitor of film.

“We hope to achieve edu-tainment, in that we’ll be showing people films, so you’re going to be entertained, but there’s a little bit of eat your vegetables too,” Fons said. “I think people will come away with a better understanding of female voices in the industry today, yesterday, and tomorrow.”

Part of understanding the #timesup and #metoo movements is becoming familiar with gender roles in the history of film.

With that knowledge Hanna Bonner, Executive Director of Bijou in Iowa City, said the movements have brought to life a history of gender discrimination in film, but one aspect of the movement that’s puzzling to her and many people is what to do with movie classics that currently appear as sexist, or misogynistic towards women; but in their release the subject matter was the status quo.

“I think it’s a complicated thing to reconcile your politics with things you take pleasure in viewing,” Bonner said. “Some of my favorite movies, maybe the gender politics don’t match my own politics, but the visual language and grammar is something I enjoy regardless.”

Since the Weinstein allegations came out, the entertainment world has been in a conundrum on what to do with problematic subject matter in films. For example, last Christmas CNN’s Carol Costello ran an opinion piece about the sexist nature of the Holiday classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, and if the movie should be retired.

She’s not alone on this idea, as throughout history people have sought to ban or censor art because of its offensive material. Just this past Monday, Feb. 12, a Minnesota school district banned Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” from the school’s curriculum because of their racist language.

Bonner said offensive material can be viewed if audiences are active spectators by critically engaging with what’s problematic in the content. The controversial subject matter is how people living today learn from the past. Rather than reading about it in a textbook, actually feeling characters’ emotions from specific moments in time is a fundamental way of learning about history.

“We can educate ourselves on what the tone and temperature was then,” Fons said. “In doing that, we can compare films from now and say ten years ago, and look at what’s changed and stayed the same.”

Understanding the patriarchal frame of cinema is only one aspect of being a better voyeur, the next step is exposure and highlighting the incredible work done by females in film over the course of history

FilmScene plans on doing exactly that this March with some events already planned, such as “Pioneer Wednesday” where the arthouse will screen movies done by women who worked to break the glass ceilings in film. Mondays are designated for contemporary movies directed by women, with most of the women being out of the mainstream spotlight. Saturday’s will be for local films directed by women and FilmScene will also be hosting an animation camp for young girls.

“It comes down to having options for representation, being able to see more of a spectrum of behavior instead of one type of way of portraying gender,” Bonner said.

The post Breaking the Fourth Wall: Iowa City’s FilmScene will continue marching for women appeared first on KRUI Radio.

This is the sound most people are accustomed to.  From the booming cannons in Pirates of the Caribbean to the endless seam of machine gun fire on the beaches of Normandy in Saving Private Ryan, diegetic sound is vital to not only one’s physical life, but to filmmakers as it is their way of setting a scene.  

However, that’s not sounds only responsibility in film, as the non-diegetic noises work to emotionally connect audiences to a film’s particular scene, theme, or character.  Like in James Cameron’s Titanic, composer James Horner crafts together a score that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of first witnessing the “unsinkable ship” with “Southampton.”

In the 21st century, no composer has affected his movies in such a way other than Hans Zimmer.  Zimmer has recently been nominated for ‘best original score’ at the Oscars for his work in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk.  In memory of his ongoing fantastic career, here are his 10 current best scores: 

10. “Variation 15”- Dunkirk

None of Zimmer’s soundtracks are more vital to a movie than his work in Dunkirk.  “Variation 15” is played at the film’s close, as the soldiers of Dunkirk beach are miraculously rescued by Operation Dynamo that called on the Royal Navy and British civilian boats to cross the English Channel at a time when Great Britain was on the brink of a Nazi invasion.  The score is uplifting and moving, however, ironic since the soldiers failed in France and retreated back home; establishing one of Dunkirk’s main messages: survival is victory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUpUUeqSsSo

9. “Drink Up Me Hearties Yo Ho”- Pirates of the Caribbean At World’s End

Pirates of the Caribbean: the 21st Century’s adaptation of Peter Seller’s hilarious, slapstick Pink Panther classics.  In “Drink Up Me Hearties Yo Ho”, Zimmer integrates all the best musical elements from the trilogy and combines them in a four minute anthem centered around the first movie’s theme, “He’s A Pirate.”

8. “Time”- Inception

“Time” is to Zimmer as “Creep” is to Radiohead.  No doubt the composer’s most well-known song, but not his best.  At the end of Inception, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Cobb, wakes up from an elongated dream state where he was able to achieve Inception, but more importantly got the much needed closure he so desperately desired from his dead wife.  In a building fashion, the score illustrates Cobb’s emotional state as he lands in LAX and slowly lets the situation sink in as he’s finally able to live a normal life and be with his kids again.

7. “No Time for Caution” -Interstellar

Interstellar is no doubt Zimmer’s best overall ensemble of scores with “No Time for Caution” perfectly capturing the intensity and high-stakes of the scene, as Matthew Mcconaughey’s Coop and Anne Hathaway’s Brand attempt the impossible by docking onto the rapidly rotating Endurance.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV1767i8X4Q

6. “Elysium”, “Honor Him”, “Now We Are Free”- Gladiator

Yes, this is not one score, but three.  However, the scores build off one another as “Elysium” evokes a celestial feeling as Russell Crowe’s Maximus lies in the sand, looking out at his dead family he’ll soon join.  “Honor Him” takes a step back from the mind of Maximus by illustrating the emotion of the Coliseum and sorrow of the audience as the great gladiator’s life is coming to an end.  Finally, it all comes together at the film’s close when Lisa Gerrad’s vocal harmonies increase in pace as does Zimmer’s sound inducing a melancholy, but more uplifting feel as Maximus reunites with his dead family.

5. “A Watchful Guardian”- The Dark Knight

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy is hands down the magnum opus of the superhero genre.  Arguably the best moment in the entire series, besides any scene with Heath Ledger, is the end of The Dark Knight.  It’s here that Batman becomes, as Commissioner Jim Gordon describes, “the Silent Guardian, Our Watchful Protector, A Dark Knight.”  Throughout this ending scene, it’s Zimmer, not Oldman, who makes this moment the best of the trilogy.   

4. “160 BPM”- Angels and Demons

Back in sixth grade I went on a summer vacation with my family to Michigan.  In the previous weeks leading up to the trip, my family was consumed by Dan Brown’s religious thriller Angels and Demons.  As someone who grew up Catholic and was fond of the historical aspect of Catholicism, I instantly fell in love with Brown’s book as the story’s pace rapidly shifts around a series of murders in Vatican City.  Director Ron Howard adapted Brown’s book, and picked Zimmer to score the film.  Zimmer flawlessly mimics the pace of the book in “160 BPM” with a raucous chorus and bombastic instruments.

3. “S.T.A.Y.”- Interstellar

Before telling Zimmer any of the major plot points of Interstellar, Christopher Nolan tasked him with scoring a thematic piece for the entire film based on a note Nolan delivered to Zimmer illustrating a father-son relationship.  From there, Zimmer crafted the entire ensemble of scores by himself while Interstellar was in production.   This thematic piece is S.T.A.Y., the cornerstone of the father-daughter relationship in Interstellar.  It’s in this song that the audience truly connects with Cooper.  Regardless of being lost in dimensions, the simple-heartfelt, consistent back and forth rhythm is extremely touching.  

2. “The Oil”- Dunkirk

Structurally, Dunkirk can be a confusing movie.  Nolan tells the evacuation through three different narratives that are distinguished by location and time.  Throughout the movie, the narratives oscillate back and forth sometimes revealing events in one narrative before they’ve yet to surface in another.  The climax of Dunkirk occurs when all three narratives sync in location and time resulting in arguably the most cathartic moment in cinematic history.  Zimmer’s score, “The Oil”, brings this unprecedented moment to life with a steady horn that exponentially gets louder as the narratives become solely one storyline.  When that moment comes alive on screen, I recommend turning your volume up to full blast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SpdtWx8__s&t=135s

1. “Chevaliers De Sangreal”- The Da Vinci Code

After I read Angels and Demons, I quickly got my hands on the closest Dan Brown book I could find.  Luckily, one was easy to obtain after a controversial appearance in the national spotlight: The Da Vinci Code.  Unlike Angels and Demons, this book represents more aspects of the psychological thriller, questioning topics that for many Christians are absolute facts: Christ’s divinity.  People were angry with Brown for trying to undermine the Catholic Church with conspiracy theories, but they’re missing the point.  Instead, The Da Vinci Code encourages readers to question things in life that are structured as certainties.  

Growing up Catholic, this story opened my eyes to a world where faith wasn’t black and white, but instead a never ending cycle of doubt. But that’s okay, as Zimmer’s score “Chevaliers De Sangreal” in Ron Howard’s film adaptation perfectly captures the idea that faith isn’t believing in historical truths, but rather a feeling.     

The post Breaking the Fourth Wall: Best of Hans Zimmer appeared first on KRUI Radio.

For many, politics and entertainment are meant to be in distinct categories and politics shouldn’t enter our areas of entertainment. The way that I’m defining politics in this article isn’t as a policy related discussion or by our political party but it includes the political issues of woman rights, social issues, and race.

The biggest examples of people being upset when celebrities talk about political issues have always been when celebrities chose a platform in which millions of U.S. viewers were watching like the Superbowl and the Academy Awards.Speaking about these issues with a large audience allows for people to listen and hear what the discussion is about.

An example of woman’s rights, more specifically, the pay gap between men and women, being discussed by a celebrity on a big platform is Patricia Arquette’s 2015 Oscar Acceptance Speech. The speech started out normal before finishing with the statement that it was time for women to receive equal rights within America. This speech was received in both positive and negative ways.

Positive reactions consisted of people supporting her remarks and continuing the conversation over the pay gap difference as well as Meryl Streep’s and Jennifer Lopez’s reaction at the actual event itself.

Arquette was able to get the discussion about woman’s rights out on a bigger scale than if she had said these statements in an interview. Even if that interview was on a top talk show it wouldn’t have received the same amount of attention that her 2015 Oscar Speech did. Twitter hashtags were made to continue promotion of her comments on social media.

Negative reactions towards her comments were also abounded as many people felt like Arquette shouldn’t have discussed this at the Oscar’s and others felt like her opinion was wrong.

Arquette was thus able to start a debate about women and their rights as human beings. However, when she was asked to expand on her comments, Arquette made it obvious that she was advocating for equal rights and equal pay for white woman and not all women.

When asked to clarify her comments, Arquette stated, “It’s time for women in America and all the men, all the gay men, the people of color, to fight for us now.” While she was promoting woman’s rights, Arquette failed to realize that being a woman, a person of color, and be a part of the LGBTQ community could all be attributes of a single person. Reactions towards her failure to discuss intersectionality were quick.

Even after her comments, many still applauded Arquette because any discussion was good enough. Since Arquette’s Oscar Speech, many have continued the discussion of woman’s rights and equal pay. While Arquette may not have realized that she didn’t include intersectionality in her speech, many others have.

An example of race being discussed in a popular entertainment event includes Beyonce’s 2016 Super Bowl 50 halftime show.
(Watch it here.Skip to 7:04 to view Beyonce’s performance).

Her performance was deemed political from her song choice, outfit choice, and the entire performance as a whole. Her performance was considered by some to be pro-black and anti-police alongside many other things. Reactions varied from those who supported Beyonce’s support of people of color and were thrilled that someone with her stance in our society spoke out. Others were upset at Beyonce’s support for the Black Lives Matter movement and for what they believed to be an “anti-police” performance.

Reactions against Beyonce’s Performance:

Anna Kooiman, at the time, was the host of Fox News’ “Fox & Friends”:

“Beyonce got a police escort there and then gives a salute to the Black Lives Matter movement.”

National Sheriffs’ Association Executive Director Jonathan Thompson:

“Art is one thing, but yelling fire in a crowded theater is an entirely different one.”

“At this point, I think the NFL had a serious error in judgment.”

Rudolph Giuliani, former New York City Mayor.

“I thought it was really outrageous that she used it as a platform to attack police officers who are the people who protect her and protect us.” Also stated that he would have preferred a “decent wholesome entertainment.”

Reactions in Support of Beyonce’s Performance

The article titled “Why the Outrage Over Beyonce’s Super Bowl Performance is Completely Ridiculous.” 

Jessica Williams in response to Rudolph Giuliani saying that the performance wasn’t “wholesome’ enough for middle America.”

“Are you saying you can’t talk about race issues to middle America? What are they, so delicate and unaware and maybe so white that Beyonce is too much for them?”

Damon Young, Editor-in-Chief of www.verysmartbrothas.com

“I think that you’re hard-pressed to find that demonstrative an example of performative blackness on stage, on such a high profile stage”

—

While the reactions to both the examples above are split, with some in support and others against. It’s clear that both of them managed to do one thing.

Keep the discussion alive.

The public attention span is very short. Meaning that when something happens, we talk about it for a few days, weeks, or months and then we move on to the next thing. Injecting politics in entertainment whether that be in award shows or sports shows is a good time to get the voice out even if some people are against this.

Politics within our entertainment is a good thing in the sense that it allows for a bigger pool of opinions to be heard. It’s also a way for us to be confronted with the issues that we may not want to discuss. Politics within our popular culture ensures that we are consistently aware of what is happening around us.

What’s your opinion? Do you believe that politics have a place in entertainment or do you feel that politics and entertainment should be kept separately?

Fill out this short survey below and voice your opinion! It’s anonymous!

https://uiowa.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3OEWB9AW4TtvgPj

The post Living in White America: Politics in Popular Culture appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The most enthralling part of this experience was his medium. The entire soundtrack was just a guy playing drums really really well. My father had been a part of a heavy metal cover band when I was a child, so I have a pretty good amount of nostalgia attached to a drumkit.

When I walked into the Englert, I noticed that there were a lot of people waiting in line to buy tickets, as though they’d decided to attend last minute. A lot of people were standing around and talking as well, most of them middle-aged or older. The theater itself was comfortably vacant in the sense that it wasn’t crowded, but there were enough people there that it was still busy.

When the event started, Sanchez came onto the stage and was greeted with applause. He began by telling us he wanted to explain his history as a drummer and how he came up with the Birdman soundtrack.

He tells the audience about growing up in Mexico City and that he’d been drumming since he was five years old. He pursued drumming as he moved to the United States and that he became a US citizen two months ago. “The timing on that couldn’t have been better,” he proclaims with the loudest laughter that would take place that night.

He discusses that the director, producer, and writer of Birdman, Alejandro González Iñárritu, was particular about how he wanted the soundtrack to sound.

They would sit in a studio and work through each and every scene to make sure that it was how Iñárritu liked it but was also improvised to Sanchez’s liking. He then told us that he improvised all the time during these live performances and that we would be hearing things no one else had. A performance that was completely unique.

As the movie begins, it’s easy to tell how tied the drums are to the film. The first seconds of the movie reveal a quote, the letters revealed a bit at a time. With every beat Sanchez made, a new set of letters were revealed. There was such a clear amount of precision involved with the soundtrack, that it was easy to forget that it was being performed in front of us.

As the scenes of the movie continued, the percussion created the largest intensity in a way that none of the actors could’ve. Sanchez knew the movie forward and backward and was able to use his drums to elaborate on the film. They drew out movement in the scene, literally as the characters made gestures and slammed doors, and figuratively with their emotion.

The beginning of the credits was very similar to the intro when it came to the letters appearing with the beat of the drums. I thought about how it would be such an honor to know how my name sounded to Antonio Sanchez.

As the credits kept coming, Sanchez kept playing and created the most influential and intense part of the performance. At this point, I think he was improvising since there was nothing going on in terms of plot anymore. He was moving so fast and making such detailed rhythms that would change every two seconds. He was playing like nobody could tell him what to do, like his kit shared some kind of extension cord that connected to his mind. He just knew what he was doing, but gave off the impression that he was just experimenting with sound at the same time.

The only word that I can come up with to describe the performance is “phenomenal.” The movie itself was captivating, naturally, since it won Best Picture at the Oscars in 2015 along with three other awards. I left not understanding it, and I found it enthralling but obscure and fascinating but also really bizarre. The cinematography was beautiful, and probably the most appealing part of viewing it.

However, Sachez put his entire soul into playing his set and made a specific effort to put on a spectacular show. I can tell that he could have sat there after the credits had rolled past and drummed for us forever. Going to the Englert last night wasn’t about watching a movie, it was about listening to the music that was designed with it. I wish it could’ve gone longer.

Listen to the Birdman soundtrack here or on Spotify below.

The post Show Review: BiRDMAN LiVE with Antonio Sanchez @ The Englert Theatre appeared first on KRUI Radio.

While certainly entertaining in an overtime Super Bowl, “Holy crap” sort of way, this ultimately serves to take away from Moonlight‘s stunning victory. Sadly, it is entirely plausible to think that this whole controversy will be better remembered than the film itself. Taking away how it won though, the victory is nothing short of the largest Oscar upset in memory.

La La Land was set up in every way possible: it is a film about Hollywood, it is a fairly easy watch (which means the Oscar voters are far more likely to open their screener and watch it), and it actually made money. In short, it is popular.

Moonlight is a million dollar budget movie that is a hard watch for some. A coming-of-age journey about a gay black man in Miami would have seemed out of place as recently as last year’s Oscars. Remember #OscarsSoWhite? Moonlight‘s victory marks a David vs. Goliath strike against heavy Oscar favorites, and is a huge step forward for film awards on the whole, as Moonlight is the first Best Picture winner with an all black cast.

Best Picture controversy aside, 2017’s Oscars were fair in terms of the distribution of awards. La La Land did not really deserve a clean sweep in thirteen categories, but it did have great musical numbers, a very Hollywood look, and fantastic direction. So it won in the music categories, cinamatography and production design, and in direction (Emma Stone also took best actress). Moonlight had great performances, was well written in its elegance and simplicity, and was an overall important film. It won its awards accordingly.

Seemingly every major film nominated won in an appropriate category. Fences and Manchester by the Sea were propelled by profound acting, and won Best Supporting Actress and Best Actor respectively. Arrival and Hacksaw Ridge even won some well deserved praise in various technical categories. The major awards on the whole were not too surprising.

Of course everyone has their own picks and predictions that may have been upended by the Academy. I for one would have liked to see some love for Lion and Hell or High Water, two movies that went overlooked by most Academy voters as well as movie watchers on the whole. And as much as I enjoyed Zootopia, I will fight anyone who tries to convince me it was a better movie than the morally deep and visually stunning Kubo and the Two Strings.

The drama and the disappointments are part of what make the Oscars enjoyable. Could you imagine what would have happened if the Best Picture mixup had happened the other way around? No doubt, Twitter would have imploded from all the Hollywood haters coming out to bash La La Land. But you can’t deny it would have been something to see.

Either way, it is another Oscars in the books. Good movies were fairly awarded. Jimmy Kimmel did a serviceable hosting job. No one will ever forget Moonlight winning Best Picture. Hopefully this will draw more viewers to Moonlight and the other nominated films, as the stories they seek to tell are far more important than the media stories surrounding them.

The Movie Dude reviews limited release movies, independent films, and smaller theatrical releases.

The post The Movie Dude: Oscars Recap appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Trouble With the Curve

I know this movie is relatively new, but it has already become one of my favorites. Clit Eastwood plays a main character and also a producer of the film. I consider myself an old school baseball fan, which is another reason this movie is so appealing to me. The movie, unlike say Moneyball (a movie which I love), Trouble with the Curve glorifies the old way of scouting baseball players. Gus Lobel (Eastwood) is able to outsmart modern scouts and their holy metric stats with good old fashioned scouting. Another reason I like this movie so much is Amy Adams portrayal of Gus Lobel’s daughter Mickey. Her knowledge of the game of baseball eclipses even John Flanagan (Timberlake) a former baseball player in the film. I would recommend this film to any old school baseball fan.

Miracle

I recently watched this movie for the first time, and I immediately fell in love with it. This is a story that stretches beyond sports. Some consider it more of a patriotic movie than a sports movie. At a troubling time in the US, the nation rallied around this hockey team full of amateurs. It’s a classic underdog story that America seems to love so much, especially when it comes to sports. I wasn’t alive during the actual game, but the way the movie is produced it feels as if they used actual game clips. Seeing some of the scenes matched up with the actual plays in the real game is quite fun to see. It’s hard not to feel that wonderful American pride flow through your body when you hear the audio actual clip of Al Michaels famous call at the end of the game, “Do you believe in miracles!? YES!?”

The Sandlot

        I mean how can you have a list of the greatest sports films and not have The Sandlot. I loved The Sandlot when I first saw it, and I still love it to this day. I honestly have never met anyone who said they didn’t like this movie. I could probably write an entire article on all the famous quotes that have come from that movie. This movie is about a bunch of kids growing up on baseball, something many can relate to. And on the off chance you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it be your next film.

Field of Dreams

        The fact that I am a die-hard White Sox fan, currently live in the state of Iowa, and am a mere hour and a half away from where they filmed this movie, it would almost be a crime for me not to include this movie on this list. Putting all of that aside, this is still a great movie that any sports fan can thoroughly enjoy. The imagery used to describe baseball throughout is what made me fall in love with this movie. But there are other reasons that make this film memorable, and I highly recommend this movie to anyone who has yet to see it.

Space Jam

I know, I know, Space Jam is a weird one to put on this list, especially with great movies like Rudy, Remember the Titans, Hoosiers, Caddyshack, among many others failed to make the list. But again this list consists of my personal all-time favorite sports movies, and I remember how much I loved Space Jam. Michael Jordan to me is one of the greatest sports figures to walk this earth. I share a name with him albeit it’s my first and his last, but I still felt a sort of connection with him that way, not to mention the fact that he played for my team, the Chicago Bulls. So naturally I loved this movie as a kid. Even now I still enjoy the movie, I watched it this past winter break and still danced when the Space Jam song game on. I still watched in awe and disbelief as Michael Jordan dunked from half court to the tune of R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly.” While this may be more of a childhood movie, I still think this movie can be enjoyable for the older crowd; I mean who doesn’t like Bugs Bunny?

        Like I said in the last paragraph, I left many great movies off this list, many movies that I love; however, these five are the five that have constantly reminded me why I love sports so much.

The post The Five Best Sports Movies appeared first on KRUI Radio.

My assignment of watching a movie each day this year has taken a serious blow. Professional football season has begun. I enjoy just about every major sport including college football, but when the NFL season starts, it seems that all I have time to do is either watch football, analyze football teams, or watch talking heads overanalyze football teams. Still, this movie thing has got to get done.

I could have just watched a bunch of football movies, but any of the ones worth watching are about high school or college ball. God knows I am not wasting my time writing about Draft Day. So instead I decided to look at my list of movies and see which ones resemble which teams in today’s NFL landscape. I am a bit of an asshole when it comes to football, so if I go hard on your team, sorry. Just keep in mind I’m a Detroit Lions fan.

The Dallas Cowboys are the entire modern DC Comics film franchise. America’s Team. Not a great nickname considering most people you know probably find the Cowboys and their fans to be insufferable. Year after year, the Cowboys come out of training camp as one of the most hyped teams in the league. Even when their quarterback breaks his back in the preseason and they have quite literally no defense, they are still supposed to win it all.

Just like Man of Steel, Batman Vs. Superman, and now Suicide Squad, it seems impossible for the Cowboys to live up to the hype. These movies (and the Boys) always come primed and ready to become financial successes, but no one really made sure to bother that they would be good or even entertaining. Yes, I am very excited for 2017’s Wonder Woman, and yes I still think the Cowboys will suck next year.

The Baltimore Ravens are director Ridley Scott. Both have celebrated and storied pasts. Both won their respective industries’ highest honor in early 2001 when the Ravens won the Super Bowl and Scott’s Gladiator won the Oscar for best picture. Most important of all, no one has any idea what to expect of their next effort. Scott’s last movie, The Martian, won awards, made tons of money, and was hailed as an unmitigated success. He is also responsible for instants classics such as Blade Runner and Alien. Recent flops however, like Prometheus and Exodus, have shaken viewers’ confidence much like the Ravens’ last season. Much like Scott’s recent films, the Ravens could go 6-10 with a sluggish season or 10-6 with a playoff berth or better.

Finally, my Detroit Lions are the film Requiem for a Dream. Year after year I find myself coming back to football just as excited as the year before, even though my favorite team is historically one of the worst in the NFL. They were the only team to post a winless 0-16 season after all. Much like the lives of four people who are tragically ruined by drugs in Requiem for a Dream, my world seems to come apart each fall. I keep coming back to my Honolulu Blue-clad team with high expectations that are set simply to be crushed almost instantly. The fact that I can even make a comparison between being a Lions’ fan and a drug addict shows just how bad my team is. At least I will have more time to watch movies when they start the season 1-7 and the sweet high of football season wears off.

For those interested to take a look back into some of the greatest football matches, then you should take a look at the history of St James’ Park here.

Watch and Talk is a column that discusses movies. They are not always reviewed, but are simply talked about. Watch and Talk looks at the various cultural aspects and impacts of films.

The post Watch and Talk: Are You Ready for Some Football? appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Due to the lack of Latinos who have made been recognized for their talent I want to use this article to acknowledge the Latino actors, actresses, directors, composers, and cinematographers who have won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a Primetime Emmy or all three.

The Academy Awards

The honor of being the first Hispanic actor to win an Academy Award belongs to Puerto Rican Jose Ferrer. He also was the first Hispanic actor to be nominated more than once. He won Best Actor in a Leading role in 1950 for Cyrano de Bergerac.  Mexican-American Actor Anthony Quinn won Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1952 for Viva Zapata! thus becoming the first Mexican actor to win an Oscar. He also won this category in 1956 for “Lust for Life“.

Javier Bardem, a Spanish actor, won an Oscar in 2008 for Best Supporting Actor in the film No Country for Old Men. Another Puerto Rican to win an Oscar was Benicio Del Toro who won Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2000 for the film Traffic.

Emile Kuri, who was born in Mexico, was nominated for Best Art Direction eight times and won twice. He won for The Heiress (1949) and for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). In 1995, Argentine painter and film set designer Eugenio Zanetti won Best Art Direction for Restoration. 

Emmanuel Lubezki is a Mexican cinematographer who has been nominated in the category of Best Cinematography a total of eight times. He won for Gravity in 2014, Birdman in 2015, and this year, 2016, he won for the The Revenant.  Another Mexican to win the award for Best Cinematography is Guillermo Navarro who won in 2006 for Pan’s Labyrinth.

Mexican production designer Eugenio Caballero and Spanish film set decorator and art director Pilar Revuelta won Best Art Direction for Pan’s Labyrinth in 2006. Chilean-born cinematographer Claudio Miranda won the award for Best Cinematography in 2012 for his work on Life of Pi.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, a Mexican Director, has won Best Director a total of two times, the first in 2015 for Birdman and the second in 2016 for The Revenant.  He became the third director to win this category back to back and the first Latino to do so.  Alfonso Cuaron, a Mexican director, won both the Best Director and Best Film Editing awards for Gravity in 2014 after having been nominated in the categories of Best Film Editing, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Luis Bacalov, an Argentinian-Italian composer, won the award for Best Music-Original Score for the film The Postman. Argentine composer, Gustavo Santaolalla won Best Music-Original Score in 2005 and 2006 for his work on Brokeback Mountain and Babel.  Uruguayan musician Jorge Drexler won Best Music-Original Score in 2004 for The Motorcycle Diaries. He was the first Uruguayan to be nominated and the first Uruguayan to win an Academy Award.

Rita Moreno, a Puerto Rican actress, won Best Supporting Actress in 1961 for the film West Side Story. She was also the first Puerto Rican to be nominated for this category.  In 2008, Spaniard actress Penelope Cruz won Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona becoming the first actress from Spain to be nominated and win this category.  Another winner of the Best Supporting Actress category is Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong’o for her role in 12 Years A Slave in 2014. Brigitte Broch, a German-born Mexican, won Best Art Direction in 2001 for Moulin Rouge!. Mexican make-up artist Beatrice De Alba won Best Makeup in 2002 for her work on Frida. 

Counting up all these Latinos results in a total of 21 Latinos who have won an Academy Award in the categories of Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Music-Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography and Best Makeup.

For a look at Latino/as who have been nominated for an Academy Award click here.

The Golden Globes

Rita Moreno, the Puerto Rican actress, won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for West Side Story for her role as Anita in 1961. Luis Puenzo, an Argentine director, won a Golden Globe in 1985 for the film The Official Story.

Edward James Olmos, a Mexican actor, has won two Golden Globes. The first in 1986 in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for his role in Miami Vice and he won the same award again in 1995 for his role in The Burning Season.

In 1990, Cuban actor Andy Garcia won a Globe for the category of Best Supporting Actor for the film The Godfather Part III for his role as Vincent Mancini. Nuyorican actor Jimmy Smits won a Globe for Best Actor in a TV Drama Series for his role as Bobby Simone on the show NYPD Blue.

Pedro Almodovar, a Spanish screenwriter, producer, and director, has won two Golden Globes in the Best Foreign Language Film category. One in 1999 for All About My Mother and another in 2002 for Talk to Her. Benicio Del Toro won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Traffic (the film which also earned him an Oscar.)

Alejandro Amenabar, a Spanish-Chilean director, won a Golden Globe in 2004 in the category of Best Foreign Language Film for The Sea Inside. (Which featured Academy Award Winner Javier Bardem). Mexican director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu earned a Golden Globe in 2006 for Babel. He has also won Golden Globes for Best Screenplay for Birdman and Best Director for The Revenant. 

In 2007, America Ferrera took home the Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series for her role as Betty in Ugly Betty. Continuing with Latino winners at the 2007 Golden Globes, Javier Bardem won Best Supporting Actor for his role in  No Country for Old Men. (Which also earned him an Oscar.)

Last year, in 2015, after eight years of no Latina winning the category of Best Actress in a Television Series or Comedy, Gina Rodriguez took home the Globe for her role as Jane in Jane the Virgin. (A show that has good representations of Latinos.)

This year Oscar Isaac, a Guatemalan actor, won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in A Limited Series or Motion Picture for his work in the HBO movie Show Me A Hero. Gael Garcia Bernal, a Mexican actor, won the Globe for Best Performance in a Television Series Musical or Comedy for his role in Mozart in the Jungle. (The show won Best Comedy Series.)

Counting up all the Latinos and Latinas only a total of 14 have won a Golden Globe.

The Primetime Emmy Awards

The talented Rita Moreno has two Emmy awards to her name. She won the Individual Performance – Variety Or Music Program award in 1977 for The Muppet Show and in 1978 she won Outstanding Lead Actress – Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series for The Rockford Files.

In 1978, Ricardo Montalban won an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Series for How the West Was Won. In 1985, Edward James Olmos won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role in Miami Vice.

Jimmy Smits has been nominated for an Emmy 12 times but has only won once. He won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role in L.A. Law.  Colombian actor John Leguizamo won the award for Individual Performance Variety or Music Program for his one-man show Freak in 1999.

In 2002 Kenny Ortega won Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program for his role in the XIX Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. In 2006, he won Outstanding Choreography for the film High School Musical. In 2007, America Ferrera won in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Ugly Betty.

In total, there are 7 Latinos who have won a Primetime Emmy.

Combining the numbers results in only 42 Latinos  who have won either an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, an Emmy or all three. Comparing that to a total of 117 (30 Golden Globes, 31 Oscars, 56 Emmys) people who identify as either African American or Black who have won one, two, or all three of these awards. When researching the number of Asians and Pacific Islanders that have won these acting awards, I couldn’t find any information for the Golden Globes or the Emmys but a total of 38 have won Academy Awards. The majority of all the awards won by people of color are typically behind the scenes.

A total of 2,947 Oscar statues have presented meaning that only 90 awards have been handed out to non-white people. With an estimation of about 1,898 Golden Globes having been handed out means that only 88 (excluding number of Asian people since I couldn’t find number of Asian winners) awards have been handed out to people of color. About 1,742 Emmy Awards  having been handed out that means that only 63 (excluding number of Asian people since couldn’t find a number for Asian winners) have been handed out to non-white people.

If we add everything up means that 241 awards out of 6,587 have gone to people of color. People of color aren’t winning acting awards because for some reason Hollywood still believes that the white man should portray a person of color. Just take a look at this article which describes multiple times in which white actors were cast as a different race.

Latinos, African-Americans, Asians, and other minority groups need opportunities to portray intellectuals instead of criminals and maybe white actors shouldn’t accept roles meant for people of color. If we aren’t given the chance, how will we ever succeed?

Check out the Huffington post’s article 16 Times Latinos Were Honest Hollywood’s Lack of Diversity to get some perspectives from talented Latinos.

This is the seventh article of the column titled “Living in White America.” Every month there will be a new article discussing how one immigrant group, Hispanics/Latinos, live in America. This column will have articles dealing with anything and everything that concerns Hispanics/Latinos, this could include political and social talks. Some articles may discuss a culture of a different Hispanic/Latino group and interviews with a variety of Hispanics /Latinos will be added as well as interviews with non-Hispanics asking for their opinion. Discrimination against Hispanics and Latinos has gone on long enough and now it’s time people get a look into a world they dislike so much. 

The post Living in White America: Award Winning Latinos appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The story revolves around self-help author Michael Stone, who is incredibly lonely, and to whom everyone’s voice sounds the exact same. While never explicitly stated, this clearly an allusion to the Fregoli delusion, which affects its victims with similar symptoms (Kaufman wrote the original play under the name Francis Fregoli, and the hotel that serves as the setting is called The Fregoli). While he is traveling to Cincinnati on business, he meets Lisa, the one person who has a unique voice. The film tracks their relationship, and Stone’s increasingly loose grip on reality.

One of Anomalisa‘s biggest talking points has been its animation style; the film uses stop-motion to capture photos of 3-D printed models. Click here to see an article explaining the process. Stop-motion is a form of animation that largely fell out of style decades ago, but every so often a director resurrects the form for a major motion picture (like Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox). The 3-D printed models make push the medium to a new level of realism that hasn’t really been seen on a large scale before. However, this newfound realism has the film precariously perched on the sharp descent of the uncanny valley. The film is in an uncomfortable no-man’s-land between overtly stylized and creepily realistic.

Luckily, directors Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman are smart filmmakers, and use this facet of the animation to their advantage. There are numerous visual gags throughout the film that call attention to the artificiality of the models. It also stylistically emphasizes the unreal-ness of Stone’s increasingly powerful delusions.

However, the models also serve some more subtle purposes. In particular, they allow for a visually unique take on sex and bodies. By making the bodies un-real, the film is actually able to have a more frank and honest depiction of real human sexuality. Gone are the “perfect” bodies of Hollywood actors/actresses; instead, they are replaced with more “normal” looking bodies, especially for the characters’ ages. Although it is true in most every scene, the sex scenes in particular highlight just how artificial the bodies are. However, this artificiality is so highly contrasted with their intensely human characters and interactions, that it strongly emphasis just how relatable the characters are.

On the subject of “relate-ability” of the characters, there’s a problem that needs to be addressed. With the #OscarsSoWhite discussion brewing up so much controversy, and possibly even resulting in some changes to the Academy’s system, Anomalisa is a particularly un-diverse film. In the whole of the movie, I counted one single person who was not speaking English. This individual walked past Michael in the hallway for a split second, so the audience only viewed them from behind. With the possible exception of this individual, every single other character I remember in the film was white. There were a few women who were prominent characters in the film, but their importance was tied directly to their (usually sexual) relationship to Michael.

Of course, this is totally understandable in a film that closely follows only one character. Of course other characters in the story will only be important due to their relationship to the protagonist. But do we really need another story about the personal issues of old rich white guys?

Now, perhaps the film is also an in-depth look at mental illness, and thus breaks it away from the typical glut of whiteguyprobs movie. I didn’t really get that vibe, but maybe that’s just me. I’ve also heard some say that it is a sort of commentary on male (and white) privilege, which I can maybe begin to see. But again, if we want a film that discusses the effects of white privilege, do we really need to first and foremost focus on the effects of privilege on the privileged? This is definitely an issue that needs further discussion, but it’s a discussion far too large for a small weekly column to tackle. Nonetheless, it’s something important to consider.

Click here to see if Anomalisa is playing in a theater near you. Check out the trailer for the film below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT6QJaS2a-U

The post Cinema Spotlight: Anomalisa appeared first on KRUI Radio.