The Academy Awards Has Never Looked Better,

By Adrienne Papp

Who says there’s nothing new in Hollywood anymore?  Defying all current trends involving high octane, action hero 3D extravaganzas, it was movie of almost no words that made the biggest noise at the Oscars this year.  In a nod to old Hollywood and the nostalgia of early films, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave its most prestigious awards to a silent black and white movie made by a French creative team.  The Artist, an almost completely wordless film about Hollywood’s awkward transition to the talkies, took home coveted Oscars for best picture, best director and lead actor. It was the first time in Academy Awards history that a French actor (Jean Dujardin) and a French filmmaker (Michel Hazanavicius) had been honored with the top awards for acting and directing.

“I love your country!” Dujardin proclaimed as he accepted the award for his role as a silent film star whose career begins to slide as the film industry transitions to talkies. The Artist was also the only one of the nominees to be filmed entirely in Los Angeles, and the first silent film to received best picture award since the Academy Awards were first held in 1929, when Wings won the Oscar.

This year, for the 84th Academy Awards presentations on Sunday night, the production team of Brian Grazer and Don Mischer, used familiar industry veterans to set a tone that was classy and nostalgic rather than controversial or edgy. All in all, it was a night of delights and surprises, with a return of Billy Crystal as host, and was an especially good night for French filmmaking.

The show started with a comedy scene in which Crystal was forced to take on the role as host and was then catapulted into scenes from some of the year’s top nominated movies, a skit which included a full face kiss with George Clooney and a sudden meet up with Tom Cruise. That was followed with a song-and-dance medley gently satirizing each best picture nominee.

The Artist went into the awards show with 10 nominations, and eventually won 5, including statuettes for costume design and original score. Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s homage to cinema, which recounts the career of French film pioneer Georges Melies and is set in a Parisian train station, received 11 nominations. It took home 5 awards, all in technical categories: cinematography, art direction, sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects. The Iron Lady was the only other film to take home multiple awards with two honors, including Meryl Streep’s third Oscar.

Other films winning the coveted gold statue include The Descendants (adapted screenplay for Alexander Payne), A Separation (foreign film), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (film editing), Undefeated (feature length documentary), The Muppets (best song), Midnight in Paris (original screenplay for Woody Allen) and the short films “The Shore,” “Saving Face” and “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.”

In another historic win and striking a blow against ageism, Christopher Plummer, at age 82, became the oldest actor to win an Oscar. He won supporting actor for playing a widower who reveals that he is gay in Beginners.  ‘You’re only two years older than me, darling,” the always debonair Plummer said, holding the statuette over his head. “Where have you been all my life?”

In one of the night’s surprises, Meryl Streep won the Oscar for her uncanny portrayal of English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Much of the pre-show buzz had predicted the Oscar would go to Viola Davis for her role in The Help.  ”Oh, come on,” Streep said of the standing ovation she received. “When they called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America say, ‘Oh, no, not her again,’ “

Streep has been Oscar-nominated 17 times, more than any other performer.  She last won 29 years ago for her role in Sophie’s Choice, and also won in 1980 for Kramer vs. Kramer. The Iron Lady also won for makeup for Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland.

In the supporting actress category, Octavia Spencer took home the statuette for her role as Minnie Jackson in The Help.  She also received a standing ovation, and thanked longtime friend and author of The Help Kathryn Stockett during an emotional speech, saying “Thank you for putting me with the hottest guy in the room” as she looked at her statuette.

The broadcast ran more than 3 hours and was filled with skits and reminiscences about movie memories. The theater at Hollywood & Highland Center, formerly the Kodak Theater, was decorated as an old movie palace, and ushers dressed in vintage costumes handed out popcorn to the glamour stars in the audience.  A film montage accompanied by Cirque de Soleil performers showed classic scenes from some of the best movies of past decades.

Throughout the night themes of nostalgia and age were frequently honored with Crystal making jokes about both.  Acknowledging the advanced age of some of the winners and nominees, Crystal made a running joke about the demographically challenged Academy, noting at one point that with very senior nominees like Plummer and Max von Sydow, “we’re going to slam the 78-to-84 group.”

Behind the scenes stars were pampered with the all so famous gift bags. The various luxury lounges were full of products and services along with the latest Spotlights in magazines with features on Dr. John Demartini ( one of the stars of the popular movie, The Secret,) and one of the most useful products of our times, Cognition Ignition by David Litell, which not only the entertainment community needs badly, but the entire world with its fast paced life style.

As the curtain came down on yet another celebration of Hollywood and film, this year’s show was an example of what the entertainment industry does best, offering creativity and glamor in an event that sometimes surprises, always delights, and is a classy celebration of the motion picture arts that can be enjoyed by the rest of the world.

The Winners:

BEST PICTURE – The Artist

ACTRESS – Meryl Streep

ACTOR – Jean Dujardin

SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Octavia Spencer

SUPPORTING ACTOR – Christopher Plummer

DIRECTOR – Michel Hazanavicius

ANIMATED FEATURE -Rango

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – Midnight in Paris

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – The Descendants

ART DIRECTION - Hugo

CINEMATOGRAPHY – Hugo

COSTUME DESIGN – The Artist

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE) – Undefeated

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT) – Saving Face

FILM EDITING – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM – A Separation

MAKEUP – The Iron Lady

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE) – The Artist

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) – “Man or Muppet”

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED) – The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION) – The Shore

SOUND EDITING – Hugo

SOUND MIXING – Hugo

VISUAL EFFECTS – Hugo

About the Author of This Article:  Lady Adrienne Papp is a recognized journalist who has written for many publications including Savoir, Beverly Hills 90210, Malibu Beach, Santa Monica Sun, The Beverly Hills Times, Brentwood News, Bel-Air View,Celebrity Society,Celeb Staff, It Magazine, Chic Today, LA2DAY, West Side Todayamong many others. She is the President and CEO of Los Angeles / New York-based publicity company, Atlantic Publicityand publishing house, Atlantic Publisher. Adrienne writes about world trends, Quantum Physics, entertainment and interviews celebrities, world leaders, inventors, philanthropists and entrepreneurs. She also owns Atlantic United Films that produces and finances true stories made for theatrical release or the silver screen. Spotlight News Magazineis owned by Atlantic United, Incwith Adrienne Pappbeing the majority shareholder.

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Emmys 2010

By Adrienne Papp, M.Sc.

NBC’s Sunday night’s live of the 62^nd Emmy’s broadcast was a wonderful example of how to put entertainment back into the programming for industry award shows.

Hosted by Jimmy Fallon, the three-hour broadcast set a fun, humorous tone at the beginning, and kept things lively throughout the broadcast in a format which had been in danger of losing an audience for being overly long and tedious.

Fallon kicked off the ceremonies with a rousing “Glee”- inspired musical number with a cast that included Tina Fey (getting doused with a red slushee), Jon Hamm and the ubiquitous Betty White, which evolved into Fallon-as-Bruce Springsteen doing an inspired ensemble version of “Born to Run.” It was a fun and energetic way to kick off the festivities, and Fallon quickly proved himself to be a deft and likeable host.

Once the awards got rolling, it turned out to be a great night for newcomers, celebrating a new era of creativity across a broad range of both network and cable programming.

Jimmy Fallon Hosts the 2010 Emmy Awards

Big winners in key categories included first year comedy “Modern Family” (ABC) with six Emmys, which beat out heavily-nominated “Glee.” Fox’s musical comedy, which began the night with nineteen nominations, eventually took home four awards.  AMC’s “Mad Men” took home the Emmy for TV’s best drama for the third consecutive year.

Acting awards were given to Kyra Sedgwick, a first-time winner for her dramatic role in TNT’s “The Closer,” and Bryan Cranston won the Emmy for the third consecutive time for his role in AMC’s “Breaking Bad.” Comedy winners included Jim Parsons in “The Big Bang Theory” for CBS, and Edie Falco, a surprise winner for her role in Showtime’s dark comedy “Nurse Jackie.” Falco, now a three-time winner, became the first to win in both dramatic and comedy categories, with past awards for her role on “The Sopranos.”

Supporting awards went to Eric Stonestreet in “Modern Family,” Jane Lynch for “Glee,”

Aaron Paul in “Breaking Bad,” and Archie Panjabi for her work in the CBS drama “The Good Wife.”

This 62^nd Emmy broadcast also celebrated the creativity now existing across a broad span of specialty programming.  HBO’s 10-part mini-series “The Pacific,” produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, won eight Emmys, while HBO’s lower key drama “Temple Grandin,” based on the true story of a woman’s triumph over autism, was also a big winner, and took acting awards for Claire Danes and David Strathairn.  Al Pacino also took home his second Emmy for his role as Dr. Jack Kevorkian in HBO’s “You Don’t Know Jack,” which was also based on a true story. There are many more of those nerve shaking yet true stories to be made, whether by HBO or not, such as the true story of the exceptional, soulful and beautiful Debra Pauli.

Debra Pauli's story is another true story that has award winning potential once produced.

In one of the more serious moments of the show, George Clooney was honored with the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his fundraising efforts to help the country of Haiti. Clooney noted humorously that he had “offered to go to south Sudan and have a wardrobe malfunction ( to attract media attention.) But it was pointed out to me that I’m 49, and the consensus was that it would just be upsetting. And kind of sad.” He then spoke more seriously about the need to remember the ongoing needs that natural disasters create, saying that he hoped someone watching the Emmys would find a way to “keep the spotlight burning on these heartbreaking situations that continue to be heartbreaking long after the cameras go away.”  It was an inspiring comment from one of the classiest people in Hollywood. The Emmy Awards itself is a sponsor of the Stand Up To Cancer Foundation, which is also supported by many stars in Hollywood.

Among the upsets of the evening was “Top Chef” upending “The Great Race” in the Reality Competition category after TGR had won seven straight times, and the fact that “Lost” won just a single Emmy despite twelve nominations. “Lost” and other departing shows “Law & Order” and “24” were however feted in a comical musical tribute.

Overall, this Emmy broadcast was a true celebration of the talent and creativity expressed in programming for the previous season.  Jimmy Fallon as host was an inspired choice, and sponsors like AT&T, Infinity and Avon, besides the many swag bag controbutors, can be proud of supporting an entertainment industry which continues to reinvent itself in unique ways, offering a wealth of creative talent to America and the world.

About the Author of This Article:  Adrienne Papp is a recognized journalist who has written for many publications including Savoir, Beverly Hills 90210, Malibu Beach, Santa Monica Sun, The Beverly Hills Times, Brentwood News, Bel-Air View, Celebrity Society, Celeb Staff, It Magazine, Chic Today, LA2DAY, West Side Today among many others. She is the President and CEO of Los Angeles / New York-based publicity company, Atlantic Publicity and publishing house, Atlantic Publisher. Adrienne writes about world trends, Quantum Physics, entertainment and interviews celebrities, world leaders, inventors, philanthropists and entrepreneurs. She also owns Atlantic United Films that produces and finances true stories made for theatrical release or the silver screen. Spotlight News Magazine is owned by Atlantic United, Inc with Adrienne Papp being the majority shareholder.

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“Getting Older is Better than Being Dead” – George Clooney

By Adrienne Papp

Academy Award winner George Clooney, quit his job as a broadcast journalist at the age of 21 and slept in a friend’s closet in his first year in Hollywood before he broke into television, and later into films. He is notorious for having a witty, wry sense of humor, which comes out at every turn in this interview. Clooney’s playfulness is obvious on screen and off as he shares one of his tricks he pulled on a friend, Matt Damon. Once Damon, while vacationing in Clooney’s villa at Lake Como in Italy, and desperately wanting to lose 30 pounds after a movie role, was exercising twice a day and only ate salad. To get a good laugh, Clooney hired a woman who took in an inch or so almost daily from Damon’s pants without him knowing. He kept on wondering how it was possible in God’s name that he seemed to be gaining weight as his pants were getting tighter and tighter while he was eating next to nothing and exercising vigorously. Having no children Clooney certainly seems to have found a way to entertain himself with his friends just the same.

Right around the corner he has three movies coming out almost simultaneously:  The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Men Who Stare at Goats, and Up in the Air. He is now filming The American.

“That is pure coincidence,” he says referring to the current trio, “because they’ve been made over the past two years. However, there’s no doubt that some people will be thinking ‘That Clooney fella –– does he NEVER stop?’ But I can assure them that I do, and that I am pretty pernickety about projects these days.”

Contemplating his graying hair the 48-year-old actor says with a laugh: “It’s an interesting thing to watch yourself grow older on screen. I was watching Up in the Air and I thought, ‘Jesus, who’s the old gray- haired guy?’ And it was me. I never wear make-up for movies and it’s starting to show.”

“But I’m kind of comfortable with getting older because it’s better than the other option, which is being dead. ”

Up in the Air, is a romantic comedy drama, and The Men Who Stare at Goats, is a black comedy.

In the Up In The Air, Clooney portrays a businessman, Ryan Bingham, who leads an empty life out of a suitcase with a job that has him traveling around the country firing people. Just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles and just after he’s met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams, his company does the unexpected: ground him. This story about a man who is ready to make a connection is arriving this December to theaters. “It’s a bit close to my own persona so I knew I’d have to take that baggage on, and it would be okay” he says.

In The Men Who Stare at Goats, a war-comedy in which Clooney portrays Lyn Cassady, a guy who claims to be a former member of the U.S. Army’s First Earth Battalion, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions.  A reporter in Iraq might just have the story of a lifetime when he meets Cassady, as he is trying to lose himself in the romance of war after his marriage fails, and certainly gets more than he bargains for from Cassady as he reveals the existence of a secret, psychic military unit whose goal is to end the war as we know it.

The film is based on a book by Jon Ronson, a British journalist, which tells true insights of various psychic phenomena. The film, which will be released in November costars Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey and was co-produced by Clooney.

“The script had been around England and Hollywood for a while and it wasn’t going to get made because things started working against it,” he says. “We worked our magic to get it independently financed. From the very beginning it was one of those projects where I had to go to Ewan and Kevin and Jeff and everybody and say, ‘Let’s all just jump in and do this and have some fun.’ We made up stuff in the script that we thought was funny, but the weirdest stuff in the film is the true stuff.”

Both Up In The Air and The Men Who Stare At Goats received great critiques at the Toronto Film Festival last month and Oscar talk is already building around Clooney, who previously won and Oscar for his role in Syriana.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox is an adventure animation about angry farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with a sly fox, and look to get rid of their opponent and his family.

Clooney, seems to have fallen in love with the concept right away.

“How could you not? I’ve been a huge fan of Roland Dahl for as many years as I can remember, and I love working with Wes Anderson.  Wes told me that it was the first book that he ever really appreciated as a kid, and when you hear something like that, you have to find out what all the fuss is about.  I wasn’t disappointed.  And then it was also Wes’ first foray into stop-motion animation, so I was a sucker for it from the beginning, as soon as I was asked to voice Mr. Fox.”

Clooney has a villa on Lake Como where he rides his Piaggio motorbikes and races his speedboat.  He loves to entertain and is an enthusiastic host to his friends.

“Tons of people have stayed and everybody shows up for dinner,” he says. “I’ve had some of the most fun dinners ever there. We have wild, fun evenings of interesting people telling interesting stories. I relate to nothing but joy and happiness there and getting the villa has been the greatest thing I’ve ever done for myself.”

Clooney was briefly married to Talia Balsam in 1989, and remained determinedly single ever since. He has been recently linked with Elisabetta Canalis, a presenter on Italian television, but his focus remained his own production company.  He produced and starred in a string of films, including the Oceans 11 series, and received a best actor nomination for Michael Clayton.

“I’ve been lucky enough to do a few films that will last longer than an opening weekend and those films are the ones I’m proud of. But I have to be honest and admit that I’m much more successful now than I ever dreamed that I’d be. It’s all icing on the cake from here on in, but you know that I still don’t feel that where I am now is a success? …, but, I’m very comfortable with what I’m doing ” he says.

George Clooney and I share the same motto: When someone says ‘‘Trust me’’, in this industry, it’s probably wise to get it in writing!

About the Writer: Adrienne Papp is a recognized journalist who has written for many publications including Savoir, Beverly Hills 90210, Malibu Beach, Santa Monica Sun, The Beverly Hills Times, Brentwood News, Bel-Air View, Celebrity Society, Celeb Staff, It Magazine, Chic Today, LA2DAY, among many others. She is the President and CEO of Los Angeles/New York-based publicity companies, Atlantic Publicity andAtlantic Publisher. Adrienne writes about world trends, Quantum Physics, entertainment and interviews celebrities and world leaders. She also owns Spotlight News Magazine.

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