Ah, mid-week already; Friday here we come!
Re: Oscars – was rooting for “Letters from Iwo Jima” – but, really, it was a latecomer to the Oscars race, and the sentiment was for Scorcese. Sentiment didn’t help Peter O’Toole, as the award did go to Forrest Whittaker (who, every time I see him, I remember the time when he was hosting the most recent incarnation of “The Twilight Zone” – he did a nice job as the host, even if the show was otherwise irritating as it re-hashed old plots that even the recent incarnation of “The Outer Limits” did a better job of doing; oh, and let me not go into how Whittaker was interesting as the sensitive psychic of the original “Species” – for a cheesy movie, it did have a pretty good cast – Ben Kingsley!).
Kudos also to Helen Mirren, Jennifer Hudson; “hmm” about Alan Arkin getting Best Supporting (I always thought it was kind of silly that they made him the bio-dad of Adam Arkin’s character on “Chicago Hope” – ok, they are real-life father and son, but it undermined how I liked the Adam Arkin character of season 1…). Well, Eddie Murphy doing “Norbit” must not have helped him toward getting Best Supporting; better luck another time, Murphy.
I liked the screenplay award segments, where they read portions from the script before announcing the winner. That really reminded us that there’s a writing process along with the acting and directing and technical stuff. The dancers who posed as silhouettes – that was SO unnecessary and made the show long and bloated. I’m probably one of the few who don’t mind award speeches – I mean, what’s an award show for if you don’t have speeches? But, the whole nonsense of “Artistry” in celebrating films – gets overdone. Even the Oscars attendees don’t look like they’re having much fun, so what’s the fun in it for me? I can see why Golden Globes are more entertaining for tv – plus, the attendees get to drink mucho alcohol to make themselves feel better, so they lose their inhibitions too. Actually, Clint Eastwood seemed way mellow, and Al Gore looked like he was having too much fun. Oh, well. Time for next round of movies.
Am a little behind on “Heroes” again – but did catch the last ten minutes… my goodness, what an episode. Not exactly the best-written show (the lines are a little trite), but there’s action and drama and not pointless – it’s an actual tv serial that seems to be heading to a point, for goodness sake! (not like how I got lost with Lost or how I lost patience with Prison Break).
Watched the “To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports” on Tuesday night. Daily News’ tv critic David Bianculli gave it a four out of four star rating. NY Times’ Alessandra Stanley notes:
Mr. Woodruff, who makes a point of saying he was privileged to receive the “best civilian and military care in the world,” wants viewers to know that veterans with traumatic brain injuries who rely solely on Veterans Affairs medical centers do not always receive the same quality of care.
“To Iraq and Back” is remarkably compelling, mostly because the documentary, while moving, is not just a heart-wrenching portrait of one man’s courageous struggle. Mr. Woodruff and his wife, Lee, have published a book about their experience, “In an Instant: A Family’s Journey of Love and Healing,” and will soon be telling their inspiring tale to Diane Sawyer, Oprah Winfrey and others.
On this ABC News special, Mr. Woodruff tells his story with candor and restraint, then turns the focus to the men and women who return badly wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan and do not heal as thoroughly.
I was initially wary of watching it – to be reminded of the mess this war has been and continues to be? (ok, trying not to get all political…) – and it’s all the more poignant – ABC News tacking on the “Reports” subtitle – pardon for being a cynic, but that subtitle reminded me of the Peter Jennings Reporting documentaries and how Woodruff himself was supposed to be the Jennings successor. Except, of course, things happen – Iraq happened.
Woodruff’s story – and the story of the veterans of our era – seeing it portrayed was quite powerful. Watching Woodruff interview the Secretary of the VA – and seeing the Secretary squirm ever so in trying to answer very real questions. Wondering if it’ll inspire effective action; our veterans deserve the best help this country can offer.
On a more cheerful front: In my recent on-line readings, I was reminded that, once upon a time, NY Times’ Frank Bruni was a political reporter before he became the new food critic. But, I’ve noticed that as time passes, he’s turning out to be quite talented as a food critic writer: his review of the steakhouse at the Penthouse Executive Club (Penthouse? umm, strip joint/fine food? What?) describes tantalizing food very well and has much humor. Like, laugh out loud humor. (I’ve noticed that Bruni really does that with the steak places – there was that one column that he did awhile back where he really got a kick out of the gorging at a bunch of steak places – I think it was Brooklyn’s Peter Lugar’s). Got to hand it to him – I wish I could be a writer like that with the touch of humor and goodwill.
Oh, and Mark Bittman does it again – the NY Times posted the video of him demonstrating how to bake quickbread – and he makes a funny point of how white bread, when wet, is only good for invalids (even that may be debatable) or for paste. Paste?! Ah, the Minimalist strikes again!