SUNNY MUNDI January 25, 2016

January 25, 2016

Uh oh..  the system is doing odd things again.   Or maybe it's me?  Spending half an hour trying to post yesterday while watching the Broncos squeek by the Patriots was pretty frustrating.  We'll see how this works out. 

"Remember" a fine little Atom Agoyan film with Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau (and chilling Dean Norris from  Breaking Bad) is a beautifully acted film released at exactly the wrong time for 2016 Awards.  I hope that at least the SAG Awards will remember it in nine months.  All this recent talk about 'diversity' focussed on folks who are black or brown or .  What about folks with wrinkles?  Age discrimination is less obvious and this year for awards we do have, at least the beautiful Charlotte Rampling up for an Oscar along with Stallone.  It is a shame that Will Smith was ignored for Concussion and Michael B. Jordan for Creed, as well.  As for The Academy, white male members well over sixty years of age rule the day, so that's probably the answer to that question.  For SAGAFTRA to not see the value in those performances might come down to just missing seeing the films? I have asked repeatedly how SAG Awards chooses the "nom-comm" and have been ignored.  I did hear years ago that there are three 'divisions' from SAGAFTRA: One third from the Film Society, one third from the general membership and one third from some elite group that is undefined.  They won't disclose how many actors are actually on the nominating committee, which seems to me to be less than transparent. Of the over 160,000 members of SAGAFTRA, I don't know if SAG Awards discloses how many actually vote.  In general elections, it's often less than thirty percent of eligible voters. 

What we should remember is that for  both the Oscars and the SAG Awards, only actors are nominating actors.  Only actors are voting for actors. I still wonder why the women have demoted themselves to the term 'female actor' for the SAG Awards.  If I was a woman, I'd be proud to be an "actress" but might bristle at 'starlet' which always rang a bit sexist.  Oh well.   

Discrimination, of course, is what all awards are about.   Of course, it's wonderful to be nominated...  Remembering Michael Keaton putting his prepared speech back in his pocket at the last Oscars only to sit back down is moving to me.  He's got a shot this year with Spotlight. My choice for Oscar. I voted for Spotlight for the SAG Awards.  We'll see soon!

El Nino (I am tilde ignorant.. sorry, but LOVE TildA Swinton) is either lying in wait or may be a bust.  We have the double whammy of being in a drought and at the same time very concerned for the mudslide/flood conditions that smack So Cal silly even when it rains a little bit. Still beats living in a trailer park in Oklahoma. 

Back to "Remember."  If the "Pawscars" or the "Patsys" are still giving awards to animal stars of the movies, the German Shepard in this film is mostly bark  over, but on camera is incredibly terrifying.  Acting wise, he plays dead very well, too. 

January 25, 2016

michaelsheehan 
P.S.   On a sunny day in the afternoon the hill across the way brightens up.  The "Shoe Factory" the large gray home that seems to be ready for a bout with the big green gorilla is easier to see and so is the Big Guy.  This close up emphasizes the details of the other shots that will comprise the installation.  I love my view of Adams Hill.

Big Green Gorilla vs. The Shoe Factory