The Oscars proved last night that Hugh Jackman can sing, dance and handle spontaneity like a true professional of Broadway Theater. He kept pace with the award show moving rapidly and smoothly with a few technical glitches, which were not his fault.
My favorite parts of the telecast were the actor awards presentations where former recipients introduced the nominees and presented the awards. I thought, Shirley Maclaine’s presentation to Anne Hathaway stood out among the other almost equally worthwhile presenters.
Best moments of the telecast:
My favorite winner and most deserving was Kate Winslet for Best Actress in The Reader. Penelope Cruz is a talented and inspiring woman who lovingly accepted the award for Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. And I loved Danny Boyle’s impersonation of Tigger as he accepted his Oscar for Best Director for Slumdog Millionaire.
It can’t go without mention of Ben Stiller’s parody on Joaquin Phoenix recent escapades in the media and talk shows.
Variety shares some of the back stage moments here, which is worth a quick visit to get a feel for the overall celebration of film at the Oscars.
Actor Joaquin Phoenix recently left acting to pursue a radically different career – music. Rap music, in fact.
Keeping that in mind, Casey Affleck, a close friend of the Gladiator and Signs actor, is set to direct a documentary feature on Phoenix’s new career. Phoenix is currently working on a new album that is being produced by Sean Combs.
Phoenix is scheduled to make his first public performance this Friday at a Las Vegas club. Affleck will officially begin his shoot there.
Set in the insular world of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, Two Lovers is a classic romantic drama, with Joaquin Phoenix giving a raw and vulnerable performance as Leonard, a charismatic but troubled young man who moves back into his childhood home following a recent heartbreak. While recovering under the watchful eye of his parents (Isabella Rossellini and Moni Monoshov), Leonard meets two women in quick succession: Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), a mysterious and beautiful neighbor who is exotic and out-of-place in Leonard’s staid world, and Sandra, the lovely and caring daughter of a businessman who is buying out his family’s dry-cleaning business.
Leonard becomes deeply infatuated by Michelle, who seems poised to fall for him, but is having a self-destructive affair with a married man. At the same time, mounting pressure from his family pushes him towards committing to Sandra. Leonard is forced to make an impossible decision – between the impetuousness of desire and the comfort of love – or risk falling back into the darkness that nearly killed him.
Actor Joaquin Phoenix recently left acting to pursue a radically different career – music. Rap music, in fact.