I loved the speech for Best Costume Design. It’s true. Movies that win in that category are usually about victorian era extravagance and not truly brilliant work in movies that don’t require excessive lace.
Monthly Archives: March 2010
Pops Corn Live: Mo’Nique
Does anyone know anything about Mo’Nique’s husband? I want to know more. His facial expressions during her win have me intrigued. Who is that guy?
Pops Corn Live: Lifetime Achievers
Glad we got a few moments with Corman and Bacall.
Pops Corn Live: Adaptations
Adapted Screenplay category – I found this to be the toughest category to pick. Up In The Air?
Pops Corn: The High-Fiver
Who’s the short film groupie who keeps high fiving and back patting all the short film winners? I want more of that guy.
Pops Corn Live: Short Films
I love when they do stuff like this. Taking time to talk about things that don’t usually make it to prime time. The interviews with the past winners gave great context.
Pops Corn Live: The Hosts
Martin and Baldwin have an old timey thing going on. I’m kind of liking that.
Pops Corn: John Hughes Tribute
John Hughes tribute was touching and unexpected, particularly considering his non-existence in the Oscar world. Yet, it went on long enough, you’d think he was cinema’s undisputed master.
Pops Corn Live: Silent T-Bone
Robert Duvall couldn’t believe that T-Bone Burnett didn’t speak. Shocked!
Pops Corn Live: Favorite Close-Up So Far
Ed Asner, no contest.
Pops Corn Live: The NPH
Neil Patrick Harris’ song dropped a Dolly Parton boob reference – it’s like the CMAs, circa 1980 all over again! Good sign!
Pops Corn Live: Villanch Time
Get ready for the opening monologue. I can’t believe that Bruce Villanch is STILL one of the writers of the Oscars broadcast. He wrote for Osmond specials, Paul Lynde’s Halloween Special, he’s done it all. Oscar.com had some clips of the writers’ room – not a young bunch.
Pops Corn: Messy-Up
The top of many women’s heads are messy. Trend I’m not getting?
Pops Corn Live: Don’t Get Too Close
The red carpet interviewers on ABC seem like they were coached not to get too close the stars. The mic reach is reaching athletic competition proportions. Check it out.
Pops Corn Live: Oscar Pre-Show
When they interviewed the 5 Best Supporting Actress nominees at the same time, I was hoping they would do that for every acting category. Or, for that matter Best Cinematographer? But the Bullock and Clooney interviews indicate otherwise.
Pops Corn Live: Living Room Oscars
The carpet is more of an earth tone than red. I am wearing a thrift store sweatshirt by a designer named Gap. My date is free to chomp her apple right next time. Tonight, LIVE from my living room – The Oscars.
I’ll be opining and commenting throughout the night. Please join in and do the same.
Undomesticated Brooklyn: Dinner at 8
I was lucky enough to be a guest at Undomesticated Brooklyn’s dinner party last night. It was great fun but I don’t want to give too much away. It’s is her story to tell. Here is an excerpt from UB about last night. There is more to come:
Tonight is the Academy Awards, but last night was my night in the spotlight. There was no red carpet, but guests did get gussied up for my First Ever Dinner Party (and they all looked fabulous!)
I’ll give you the full report in due time (although there’s too much for just one blog post), but first, let me assure you that nothing burned and nobody was injured in the course of the evening. In other words, it was a big success!
After loading up on groceries at both Fairway and The Park Slope Food Coop on Friday, I started to panic…
“Do I have enough food?” I have never cooked for so many people before, so it was hard to judge how much to buy.
I resolved to pick up some last-minute items on Saturday, but I continued to fret.
“Should I serve the cheese at the end of the meal like the French or at the beginning of the meal?” I asked Avo.
Avo, who is an unabashed Euro-file (he crosses his sevens!) was surprisingly insistent that we should have a cheese table for people to graze on (paired with wine, of course) when they arrive. He even had the great idea of printing out labels for the cheese and sticking them on tooth picks so people know what they’re eating.
Deep in the Heart of Bklyn: When Tigers Fight, the Grass Suffers
An excerpt from our friend at Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn about the battle between ABC and Cablevision that will shut out the Oscars for some New Yorkers.
After a few days of Orwellian-Outer Limits cable hijacking (“Do not attempt to touch your TV.We will control your horizontal”) where your default channel on start up was channel 1999, presenting a constant barrage of anti-ABC propaganda, countered by print and media ads from WABC with their own agit prop, WABC TV is finally off the air for some NYC cable customers. Although I am a big fan of cinema I am not a big Academy Awards show watcher. At the point, when I was maybe 10, and I realized that I was never going to there or a part of that scene, the voyeuristic/celebrity/fan quality of it embarrased me a little, and while I will tune in, I am more likely to watch the Super Bowl or sit through the entire World Series, even though I am not a devoted sports fan, than sit through the Oscars.
Tonight: Pops Corn Live Blogs the Oscars at 8pm
His pajamas are pressed for tonight’s big Oscar live blog and Pops Corn is ready for the Oscar broadcast. Isn’t he just the guy you’d want to sit next to on the couch while watching the big show? He’s OTBKB’s film expert, critic and Oscar connoisseur.
But who is Pops Corn?
Following an aborted, but valuable, film school education, the writer spent decades of self-disciplined cinema study finding ways to see movies for free or pay. Years of work within film and media industries includes stints with B-movie studios, high-art non-profits and as a major media company censor. A former and founding member of New York-based underground country band, The Inbreeds.
Tonight at 8PM: turn on the TV and follow OTBKB on your laptop, iPhone or Blackberry.
Smartmom Hands Over the Baton to Diaper Diva
Smartmom and Diaper Diva may be twins, but Smartmom has always felt like the elderstatesmom when it came to raising kids.
For Buddha’s sake, Teen Spirit is 13 years older than Ducky. That alone gives Smartmom the right to act like a big know-it-all, doesn’t it?
For many years, Smartmom was the Been-There-Done-That mom around her sister and she always thought she knew best what Diaper Diva should do when it came to Ducky.
It was probably really annoying. Actually, it was really obnoxious. But Diaper Diva was pretty nice about it. That’s probably because when Ducky was little, Diaper Diva was a typical new mom: a little nervous, a little jittery, a little bit, let’s call it what it is, ignorant when it came to the basics.
And boy did Smartmom love it when her sister asked for her advice. It made Smartmom feel like such a pro to give tips about teething, temperatures and the terrible twos.
Smartmom loved it when Diaper Diva followed her instructions word for word, like the time she bought the exact same Braun ear thermometer at Neergard or invested in the exact same kind of Maclaren stroller.
And then there were the times when Diaper Diva didn’t listen to what Smartmom had to say — something she lived to regret.
How about the time when Smartmom told Diaper Diva that she should get all the birthday party balloons in the same color so that the kids don’t fight.
“Read my lips,” Smartmom said. “Twelve purple balloons.”
But Diaper Diva didn’t listen, and at Ducky’s birthday party a gaggle of girls fought over two pink balloons.
There were tears and tantrums — and more than a few “I told you so’s.”
Then there was the time that Smartmom told Diaper Diva that it was a definite no-no to go backstage with Ducky before the Dance Studio’s recital at Brooklyn College.
“They don’t want parents back there, and she’ll probably get very clingy,” she warned.
Diaper Diva didn’t listen to Smartmom that time either. And when the rest of Ducky’s class was performing pirouettes, Ducky stayed stubbornly in Diaper Diva’s arms far away from the stage.
Well, that was then and this is now. Ducky is 5, and Diaper Diva is an experienced mom. Truth is, she doesn’t really need Smartmom’s advice anymore. And sometimes that makes Smartmom feel sad.
In fact, it doesn’t just make Smartmom feel sad. It makes her feel old and obsolete. It makes her feel invisible and without a purpose. She doesn’t know who she is when she isn’t being elderstatesmom.
Change is tough.
Diaper Diva doesn’t need Smartmom’s advice when Ducky has a fever. She knows all about Children’s Motrin and cold baths.
Diaper Diva doesn’t need advice about Ducky’s birthday parties. She knows the best hula-hoopers, children’s folk singers and party clowns.
Diaper Diva doesn’t need Smartmom’s advice about summer camps. She’s familiar with Park Explorers and Kim’s Kids and has actually researched, like, 10 other camps in the area.
Diaper Diva doesn’t need Smartmom’s advice about disciplining Ducky. Diaper Diva is actually an ace when it comes to setting limits and telling Ducky that she can’t buy junk eggs at Pino’s, those stupid little toys in egg-shaped canisters that they sell in those evil gum ball machines.
Smartmom can’t give Diaper Diva advice about bedtime either because, well, her kids were (and still are) night owls. But Ducky has always been a great sleeper, and Diaper Diva has always been firm about putting her to sleep, after three books, at 8 pm.
And about that three books thing, Smartmom lost that battle early on. She was never able to limit the number of books she read at bedtime. Well, she tried. But Teen Spirit, and then OSFO, always pushed the envelope.
Smartmom can’t even give Diaper Diva advice about PS 321, the beloved elementary school where she sent her children. For one thing, Smartmom doesn’t know all the new teachers. And Smartmom is way behind the eight-ball when it comes to all the newfangled traditions like 100s Day, the 100th day of school when the kindergartners are required to create an artwork using 100 of something.
Smartmom isn’t Expertmom anymore. So it’s lucky Smartmom isn’t having any more kids because she’d never hear the end of it from Know-it-all, er, Diaper Diva. Truth be told, she’s the smart mom now.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
The Weekend List: The Ghost Writer, First Saturday, Oscars with Pops Corn
FILM
–Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer at BAM; Brooklyn’s Finest and Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton at the Pavilion
–Sunday, March 7 at 8 PM Pops Corn live blogs the Oscars right here on OTBKB!
MUSIC
–Saturday, March 6th at 8:30 PM indie music with Moshe Hecht at the Jewish Music Cafe
–Saturday, March 6th at 10 PM Find out what happens when New York jazz musicians play and improvise around the melodies of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan at Barbes in Park Slope
–Sunday, March 7th at 8PM Nerissa Campbell’s Oscar party and concert at Puppets Jazz Bar in Park Slope.
THEATER
–March 6-7 at 8PM and through March 13th: Brave New World Repertory presents The Crucible by candlelight at The Old Stone House in Park Slope.
Through March 28th A Life in Three Acts at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Dumbo. “Hilarious and touching… a priceless repository of mischief and mimicry, honesty, wisdom and defiance” – The Times.
POETRY
On Sunday, March 7th at 7PM (before the Oscars) the Brooklyn Lyceum Writers Series presents poet Edward Hirsch reading from The Living Fire. He is the author of eight collections of poetry and four prose books, among them How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry, a national best seller.
MUSEUM NIGHTLIFE
On Saturday, March 6 starting at 5PM until midnight, First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum features special programs, and access to the exhibitions.
CNN: Babies in Bars, Again
The kids in bars issue seems to be back for a flash. CNN weighed in on that subject recently and even quoted FIPS. Here’s an excerpt from the CNN piece:
…the divide remains wide in the blogosphere. Around 150 readers weighed in recently when someone posted on the Brooklynian, a neighborhood blog, the simple query: “Which bars are child free?” One writer shared the tale of a drunk father standing at a bar while his beer sloshed on his stroller-strapped kid’s face. Another poster announced a bar crawl in which “no crawlers” would be allowed.
The public debate about babies in bars ignited about two years ago when the bar Union Hall, a popular stomping ground, banned strollers from the premises, Gross said.
“At a certain point, owners said, ‘Hey, enough,’ ” he explained. “Strollers take up a lot of room, especially the nice strollers. Your average Bugaboo is a beast.”
This ban on buggies in a neighborhood where “kids rule” caused an “uproar,” said Erica Reitman, the 36-year-old married — but not a “breeder,” she insists — marketing director who is behind the blog F****ed in Park Slope. “There wasn’t a march on the street, but there could have been. [Union Hall] relented under pressure and got rid of the policy.”
Drinking With Divas – Andrea Weber
Over Aviations at Prime Meats, Sarah Deming talked with the enchanting Andrea Weber about her career in modern dance and the legacy of the great Merce Cunningham.
Sarah: When did you know you wanted to dance?
Andrea: At my first dance recital at age four. I was mad because I wasn’t the tallest so I didn’t get to be in the center of the line. I could tell the center was the best place to be. As I got older I realized what a hard life dancers had, and I tried to do other things, but dance was the place where I felt like myself. My dad and I made a deal that if I got into Juilliard, I would make a go of it, and I did!
Sarah: What attracted you to Merce’s work?
Andrea: A friend told me to take his class. I was resistant at first, because I thought it was unemotional. But I went, and I fell in love with the technique and with Merce. My body was suited to it. I was too tall for ballet, but Merce loved tall dancers. I felt an electricity – I loved taking on something so difficult.
Sarah: How do you deal with the perfectionism the work demands?
Andrea: Merce used to say that when you teach a class there should be something that everyone can do and something that no one can do. Sometimes he would ask us to do something absurdly difficult – jump, jump, jump, then hold a crazy position for twenty seconds – but he was always more interested in the trying than in the success. The wobbles were okay. Realizing this has been a huge breakthrough for me, not only in dance but also in life. Right now I am looking for the fragility in the work. I’m trying to focus on the path between points.
Sarah: What’s the view of gender in Merce’s work?
Andrea: I think he was very traditional. There is this clear message in the dance: Man supports woman. The main duet is almost always between a man and a woman, and it’s almost always tender. He was influenced by ballroom dance. I feel very female in Merce’s work.
Sarah: Do you think the work is difficult for audiences to understand?
Andrea: It’s only difficult if the audience thinks there is something to understand. There is no story. If you can let go and stop making it mean something, then you can have the experience. Merce created events. If people walked out, they walked out. I think he died okay with being misunderstood.
Sarah: He’s famous for choreographing dance that is independent of the music. How much attention do you pay to the music when you’re dancing?
Andrea: It depends. Sometimes I zone it out, and sometimes I’m deeply affected. I had this solo one night in Italy, and the first time I did it, the music was very loud and jazzy. The next night it was total silence. I remember thinking, “People can’t tell me this work isn’t emotional, because it’s emotional for me.”
Sarah: Do you see God in the operations of chance?
Andrea: I feel God’s presence in those moments when it all just works. I’m at peace with it not always being magical, but sometimes it is, and that keeps me going. I do feel that I was supposed to meet Merce and do his work of chance. Whether that’s God or not, I don’t know.
Sarah: What did Merce teach you?
Andrea: When I first joined the company, he put rocks in my hands, and he said, “Feel the weight in your arms when you dance.” I think I made him laugh. I always felt sort of goofy around him. The last time I saw him, a few of us visited him at home and we had just come from a Bollywood dance class. We did a dance for him while he lay there and he said, “I can see why that’s so popular. Bravo.” He was ready to make up new steps even on his deathbed. In a strange way, I feel like his passing has made things clearer for me. I’m one of the oldest dancers in the company now. Before he died I’d been considering retiring. But now I need to see it through the next two years.
Sarah: What happens after two years?
Andrea: The company will disband. Merce specified that we should do a Legacy Tour for two years, concluding with a show at the Armory on December 31, 2011 with $10 tickets. He also left instructions that the dancers be helped with their transitions. If his wishes are followed, this will set a precedent for how all dancers everywhere should be treated. Merce didn’t want the company to outlive his ability to create new works. It’s sad, but we have to move forward. As he always said, “It’s like putting one foot in front of the other.”
THE AVIATION
Crème de violette gives this cocktail a futuristic silvery color reminiscent of a Merce Cunningham unitard. Mixologist Damon Boelte says, “I’ve been lucky to have had quite a few Merce dancers at the bar. I think of this as their official cocktail.”
2 ounces Plymouth Gin
1/2 ounce Maraschino liqueur
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
2 dashes Crème de violette (optional but delicious)
Shake all ingredients very well over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry. Beware: if you drink more than two, you may start to act avant-garde.
Sunday at 8: The Oscars with Pops Corn
Wouldn’t it be fun to watch the Oscars with OTBKB’s film expert and critic, Pops Corn? Isn’t he just the guy you’d like to be sitting next to on the couch trading Oscar stories, film facts and critiques of the Oscar presenters and winners?
Well, here’s your chance. Sort of.
Pops will be live blogging the Oscars live on OTBKB on Sunday night starting at 8PM (no, I don’t think he’ll be live blogging the Barbara Walters Special). But he wouldn’t miss the red carpet for anything. Pops will be online posting every 15 minutes or so exactly what he’s thinking and feeling about the broadcast, the ceremony, the movies, Alec, Steve, the audience and all the rest.
Don’t miss Oscar night with OTBKB’s Pops Corn. 8 PM on OTBKB.
Sunday 2PM: Parents for Climate Protection in Park Slope
On Sunday March 7th at 2 PM, Parents for Climate Protection and Beth Elohim Environmental Committee is having their 4th Annual Family Gathering (free and open to the public) in support of climate protection at Beth Elohim at 271 Garfield Place in Park Slope.
They’ve got something of interest for young children, teens and adults:
For young children: Tiffany Threadgould of RePlayGround will show kids how to turn scrap materials into fun and useful objects.
For teens: The Alliance for Climate Education will present a spirited multi-media presentation, including music, live narration, video and animation to educate and empower teens to take action on climate change.
For grown-ups, they’ve put together a panel discussion sure to enlighten and inspire, entitled: After Copenhagen: The Science and Policy of Climate Change
Continue reading Sunday 2PM: Parents for Climate Protection in Park Slope
Easy-Bake Orchestra is Ultra Cool
The Easy-Bake Orchestra, a 17-piece jazz orchestra had me at hello.
I mean picture the scene at the Music Theater Group @ One Arm Red: a large group of sax players, trumpeters, trombonists, a piano player, drummer, bassist and conductor/composer Joshua Shneider arranged in a Dumbo loft with deep blue walls, double height vaulted ceiling and amazing acoustics.
It was just too awesomely cool.
And the music was sublime. It’s swing music on its head with an avant-garde vibe. Unexpected harmonies, surprising rhythm changes, ravishing, swelling and sweeping soundscapes. It could be the soundtrack of a an eccentric — and jazzy — New York life.
And when bluesy vocalist Saundra Williams joined them on “Cute Little Nightmare” an infectious song written by Shneider the whole audience was swooning.
I’m just saying: you just gotta catch this group next time they play. That’s what I plan to do. And I’m taking Hepcat this time.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
List of New Gowanus Polluters That Will Have To Pay for Clean Up
Superfund sounds like a fund but its not. It’s just a list, put out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), of the most toxic sites in America.
Remember Love Canal. That’s when Superfund started.
Superfund doesn’t have the money to pay for costly clean-ups that go on for years. But it’s their job to identify the polluters, who are responsible for the mess and go after them. They are, truly, the Toxic Avengers.
That can, of course, be a little tricky. Some of those companies aren’t even in business anymore.
Last summer during initial meetings about Superfund status for the Gowanus, the agency identified Con Ed, National Grid, Chemtura, the U.S. Navy for some World War II-related uses and the City of New York as major polluters of the Gowanus.
All the usual suspects in these parts.
But now there are more. Plenty more. On Thursday night at the meeting at PS 58 on Smith Street, the EPA revealed more polluters. Walter Mugdan, the regional director of the Superfund program, and an impressive leader for this endeavor, announced that Kraft Foods and Citigroup might have to foot part of the bill for the $500-million that could take as long as 12 years.
Yowza.
Here is the list of new names:
Amerada Hess Corp.
Bayside Fuel Oil Corp.
BP America, Inc.
Chevron Corp.
Exxon Mobil Corp.
Seagrave Coatings Corp.
Patterson Energy Group
E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Co.
Honeywell International Inc.
Kraft Foods Inc.
Rio Tinto Alcan Inc.
Unilever USA, Inc.
AkzoNobel Polymer Chemicals LLC
ConocoPhillips Co.
Fuqua Enterprises, Inc.
Citigroup, Inc.
Algrun Metals and Minerals, Corp.
NL Industries, Inc
United Capital Corp.
Universal Fixtures, Corp.
Pops Corn Live Blogs the Oscars on Sunday Night on OTBKB at 8PM
Wouldn’t it be fun to watch the Oscars with OTBKB’s film expert and critic, Pops Corn? Isn’t he just the guy you’d like to be sitting next to on the couch trading Oscar stories, film facts and critiques of the Oscar presenters and winners?
Well, here’s your chance. Sort of.
Pops will be live blogging the Oscars live on OTBKB on Sunday night starting at 8PM (no, I don’t think he’ll be live blogging the Barbara Walters Special). But he wouldn’t miss the red carpet for anything. Pops will be online posting every 15 minutes or so exactly what he’s thinking and feeling about the broadcast, the ceremony, the movies, Alec, Steve, the audience and all the rest.
That’s Oscar night with OTBKB’s Pops Corn. Don’t miss it!