#the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar

[blackgirlslivingwell]

Legendary Actor Louis Gossett Jr. Passed Away At Age 87 Rest In Peace RIP

[mimi-0007]

FATHER & SON: James Earl Jones with his Father Robert Earl Jones on Stage in the 1962 Production "Moon on a Rainbow Shawl."

Robert Earl Jones (February 3, 1910 – September 7, 2006), sometimes credited as Earl Jones, was an American actor and professional boxer. One of the first prominent Black film stars, Jones was a living link with the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, having worked with Langston Hughes early in his career.

Jones was best known for his leading roles in films such as Lying Lips (1939) and later in his career for supporting roles in films such as The Sting (1973), Trading Places (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), and Witness (1985).

Jones was born in northwestern Mississippi; the specific location is unclear as some sources indicate Senatobia, while others suggest nearby Coldwater. He left school at an early age to work as a sharecropper to help his family. He later became a prizefighter. Under the name "Battling Bill Stovall", he was a sparring partner of Joe Louis.

Jones became interested in theater after he moved to Chicago, as one of the thousands leaving the South in the Great Migration. He moved on to New York by the 1930s. He worked with young people in the Works Progress Administration, the largest New Deal agency, through which he met Langston Hughes, a young poet and playwright. Hughes cast him in his 1938 play, Don't You Want to Be Free?.

Jones also entered the film business, appearing in more than twenty films. His film career started with the leading role of a detective in the 1939 race film Lying Lips, written and directed by Oscar Micheaux, and Jones made his next screen appearance in Micheaux's The Notorious Elinor Lee (1940). Jones acted mostly in crime movies and dramas after that, with such highlights as Wild River (1960) and One Potato, Two Potato (1964). In the Oscar-winning 1973 film The Sting, he played Luther Coleman, an aging grifter whose con is requited with murder leading to the eponymous "sting". In the later 20th century, Jones appeared in several other noted films: Trading Places (1983) and Witness (1985).

Toward the end of his life, Jones was noted for his stage portrayal of Creon in The Gospel at Colonus (1988), a black musical version of the Oedipus legend. He also appeared in episodes of the long-running TV shows Lou Grant and Kojak. One of his last stage roles was in a 1991 Broadway production of Mule Bone by Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, another important writer of the Harlem Renaissance. His last film was Rain Without Thunder (1993).

Although blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s due to involvement with leftist groups, Jones was ultimately honored with a lifetime achievement award by the U.S. National Black Theatre Festival.

Jones was married three times. As a young man, he married Ruth Connolly (died 1986) in 1929; they had a son, James Earl Jones. Jones and Connolly separated before James was born in 1931, and the couple divorced in 1933. Jones did not come to know his son until the mid-1950s. He adopted a second son, Matthew Earl Jones. Jones died on September 7, 2006, in Englewood, New Jersey, from natural causes at age 96.

THEATRE

1945 The Hasty Heart (Blossom) Hudson Theatre, Broadway

1945 Strange Fruit (Henry) McIntosh NY theater production

1948 Volpone (Commendatori) City Center

1948 Set My People Free (Ned Bennett) Hudson Theatre, Broadway

1949 Caesar and Cleopatra (Nubian Slave) National Theatre, Broadway

1952 Fancy Meeting You Again (Second Nubian) Royale Theatre, Broadway

1956 Mister Johnson (Moma) Martin Beck Theater, Broadway

1962 Infidel Caesar (Soldier) Music Box Theater, Broadway

1962 The Moon Besieged (Shields Green) Lyceum Theatre, Broadway

1962 Moon on a Rainbow Shawl (Charlie Adams) East 11th Street Theatre, New York

1968 More Stately Mansions (Cato) Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway

1975 All God's Chillun Got Wings (Street Person) Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway

1975 Death of a Salesman (Charley)

1977 Unexpected Guests (Man) Little Theatre, Broadway

1988 The Gospel at Colonus (Creon) Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Broadway

1991 Mule Bone (Willie Lewis) Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway

FILMS

1939 Lying Lips (Detective Wenzer )

1940 The Notorious Elinor Lee (Benny Blue)

1959 Odds Against Tomorrow (Club Employee uncredited)

1960 Wild River (Sam Johnson uncredited)

1960 The Secret of the Purple Reef (Tobias)

1964 Terror in the City (Farmer)

1964 One Potato, Two Potato (William Richards)

1968 Hang 'Em High

1971 Mississippi Summer (Performer)

1973 The Sting (Luther Coleman)

1974 Cockfighter (Buford)

1977 Proof of the Man (Wilshire Hayward )

1982 Cold River (The Trapper)

1983 Trading Places (Attendant)

1983 Sleepaway Camp (Ben)

1984 The Cotton Club (Stage Door Joe)

1984 Billions for Boris (Grandaddy)

1985 Witness (Custodian)

1988 Starlight: A Musical Movie (Joe)

1990 Maniac Cop 2 (Harry)

1993 Rain Without Thunder (Old Lawyer)

TELEVISION

1964 The Defenders (Joe Dean) Episode: The Brother Killers

1976 Kojak (Judge) Episode: Where to Go if you Have Nowhere to Go?

1977 The Displaced Person (Astor) Television movie

1978 Lou Grant (Earl Humphrey) Episode: Renewal

1979 Jennifer's Journey (Reuven )Television movie

1980 Oye Ollie (Performer) Television series

1981 The Sophisticated Gents (Big Ralph Joplin) 3 episodes

1982 One Life to Live

1985 Great Performances (Creon) Episode: The Gospel at Colonus

1990 True Blue (Performer) Episode: Blue Monday

[geekcavepodcast]

Louis Gossett Jr. dies at 87

He was the first Black man to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and also won an Emmy for his role in "Roots." No cause of death has been released just yet.

Our condolences go out to his family, friends, and fans.

[walkingthroughthisworld]

James Earl Jones - US Army

by Blake Stilwell

Jones was an exceptional cadet, a member of the Pershing Rifles Drill Team and the National Society of Scabbard and Blade. The same performance ability that let him excel with the Pershing Rifles led him to the Michigan's School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He knew he wanted to be an actor, but he once referred to his fellow cadets as "the only semblance of a social life."

He initially left the university without completing his degree. With the Korean War raging at the time, he thought he would be sent overseas. But it ended in an armistice later that year, and although he returned to graduate in 1955, Jones' life took a different course.

After graduating from college, he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for the Officers Basic Course and to attend Ranger School. Jones was assigned to the 38th Regimental Combat Team, where he led the setup of a cold weather training command at Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado.

"Our regiment was established as a training unit, to train in the bitter cold weather and the rugged terrain of the Rocky Mountains," Jones told the Army in an interview. "I took to the physical challenge, so much so that I wanted to stay there, testing myself in that awesome environment, mastering the skills of survival.

"I loved the austere beauty of the mountains and the exhilaration of the weather and the altitude. I didn't mind the rigors of the work or the pioneer-like existence. I thought it was a good life."

Jones was a good officer and soon was promoted to first lieutenant. When the time came to decide whether the Army should be his career, his commanding officer asked him a poignant question: "Is there anything you feel like doing on the outside?"

His father, Robert Earl Jones, had been an actor performing in plays on stage while James was a young man. Jones told his commanding officer he had always thought about following his father's path. His commander told him he could always come back to the Army, but he should pursue his dreams.

After his discharge, Jones moved to New York City, where he studied acting at the American Theatre Wing using his GI Bill benefits while working as a janitor to support himself.

His first acting jobs came in Michigan at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, where he had once worked as a carpenter and stagehand. Just two years later, he was a lead actor. By 1957, he was on Broadway. In 1964, he made his film debut as Lt. Lothar Zogg, a B-52 Stratofortress bombardier in Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."

James Earl Jones' first leading role was in the 1970 film "The Great White Hope," a part he'd previously played on stage. His performance led to his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, making him the second Black man to receive the nod.

After a career spanning more than 60 years, Jones has been called "one of the greatest actors in American history" and "the best known voice in show business." He received the National Medal of the Arts from President George H.W. Bush, Kennedy Center Honors from President George W. Bush and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. He also has achieved the "EGOT" -- winning at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award.

But after a lifetime of success, he still remembered his time in the Pershing Rifles as some of the best years of his life. Jones died at his home in Dutchess County, New York on Sept. 9, 2024. He was 93 years old.

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Scottish actor Ewen Bremner, born January 23rd 1972 in Edinburgh.

Bremner has worked with many of the most respected directors in world cinema, including Danny Boyle, Mike Leigh, Ridley Scott, Joon-Ho Bong, Werner Herzog and Woody Allen. Hen has established himself by creating unique characters in critically acclaimed films, as well as going toe to toe with many of Hollywood's biggest stars.

Ewen had worked widely in theatre, television, and film for years before being cast in his breakout role in Trainspotting, by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle. He was the first to be cast in the role of Mark Renton in Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre production but lost out to Ewan McGregor in the film version, instead he was handed the role of Spud Murphy and earned screen immortality with his character's infamous "speed fuelled" job interview scene.

Prior to Trainspotting, Bremner gave a striking performance in Mike Leigh's Naked, fellow Scot Susan Vidler played his girlfriend Maggie in this excellent film.

In 1999, Bremner received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a schizophrenic man living with his dysfunctional family in Harmony Korine's Julien, Donkey-Boy. Filmed strictly in accordance with the ultra-realist tenants of Lars Von Trier's Dogma 95 movement and starring opposite Werner Herzog, Bremner played Julien its eponymous hero, requiring him to assume an American accent. He then worked with director Michael Bay in his high-profile 2001 war film Pearl Harbor, proving his versatility once again by portraying the role of a wholeheartedly patriotic American soldier fighting in WWII. The following year, he stepped back into fatigues for a supporting role in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down, while rounding out the next several years with roles in high-profile Hollywood releases such as The Rundown, Disney's Around the World in 80 Days), AVP: Alien vs. Predator, Woody Allen's Match Point, the comedy Death at a Funeral directed by Frank Oz, and Fool's Gold starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson.

This past few of years proved to be a busy when Bremner was invited to join the DC Universe in the Zack Snyder-produced feature Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins, co-starring Gal Gadot and Chris Pine. Ewen also reprised his unforgettable role as Spud in the highly-anticipated sequel to Danny Boyle's cult classic, T2: Trainspotting

Bremner appeared in the TNT Drama Series Will with Shekhar Kapur. The series told the story of the lost years of young William Shakespeare after his arrival to London in 1589 but only lasted one season. Other notable film credits include Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Perfect Sense starring again alongside Ewan McGregor, Great Expectations, Jack the Giant Slayer, and Snowpiercer starring alongside Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton. Further credits include Exodus: Gods and Kings, Wide Open Spaces, Mojo, Mediator, Faintheart, Hallam Foe, Sixteen Years of Alcohol, and Snatch.

In television, Ewen has worked on many acclaimed productions including David Hare's Worriker trilogy starring Bill Nighy for BBC, Jimmy McGovern's Moving On and also his Australian mini-series Banished, Strike Back for Sky TV, Dominic Savage's Dive, the Dylan Thomas biopic, A Poet In New York and the adaptation of Day of the Triffids for the BBC. Other noteworthy series appearances include portraying legendary surrealist Salvador Dali in the U.K. television drama Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali, and a guest spot on the successful NBC series, My Name is Earl, not to forget an early appearance in Taggart way back in 1990.

Latley Ewen has been one of a number of Scottish actors who are backing a campaign to reopen the Film House cinema in Edinburgh, he has a couple of projects on the go just now, Bluefish, which takes us around the globe to tell stories of people trying to break out of their bubbles of isolation, which I take to mean the Covid pandemic, he also has a film on the go called Roo, but there is nothing to report on that just now.

[destinyc1020]

I'm sorry, but we are not going to pretend that a British white man working with black people is the same as a black woman working with black costars. Again I recommend people to listen to the interviews of Halle Berry and Angela Bassett about how few roles they were offered after winning the Oscar for Best Actress (Halle) and being a Best Actress nominee (Angela, for a performance that was the best in its year). Racism in Hollywood runs deep and Black women are relegated to supporting roles or to "black projects". Plus Z has to contend with the issue that she's light-skinned, so being the lead of a majority-black project would be frowned upon. She's trying to establish herself as a lead adult female dramatic actress and she just released a couple of months ago her first widely released theatrical movie where she's the lead. Z herself said that even after her Best Actress Emmy win what she was being offered was two-dimensional "girlfriend" roles. And let's remember that her first movie that had limited theatrical release and where she was a lead she had a dark skin black love costar (a movie she co-financed).

So let's stop the silly comparisons equating the experiences of white men and black women in Hollywood. They will necessarily have very different paths

Ohhhh....here we go again..... 🙄😒

Nobody is saying that Z has the same exact opportunities that her white, male, counterparts do. I think everyone realizes that Hollywood is still racist and colorist to some degree.

Nobody is even saying that she is getting a plethora of great roles her way after 2 Emmy wins. Most woc don't get that luxury after we win awards. Another thing is that even white women in Hollywood get regulated to girlfriend and "hot girl" roles in the industry. The roles for women in HW can be sucky just all around.

What SOME Z fans are saying however is that OTHER Black actresses in Hollywood can work with Black actors in films, and so can Z. I think the excuses are starting to seem a little side-eye worthy at this point.

Halle has worked with Black people in her film career. THEE Viola Davis just did "The Woman King" with a fully Black cast. She was also in HTGAWM with other Black cast members.

Many fans just don't see why Z can't do the same? 🥴🤷🏾‍♀️ That's all fans are saying. I also don't think that Z playing one of the leads in a fully Black film would be as horrible as you might think. People will see a movie if it looks interesting, point blank. Plus, Z already gets flack from racists for playing MJ in the Spiderman Franchise, so what's the difference?🤔 She will continue to ignore the nonsense from ignorant people, and continue to do her. That's what you do! Almost EVERY actor has gotten some hate for being linked to a role. It doesn't change the fact that the film keeps filming, and it eventually releases (and most ppl change their mind about the actor in the role rofl 🤣).

Not only that, but plenty of biracial women have played in lead roles in "Black" films before. Halle has done it before. 🤷🏾‍♀️ Thandie Newton has done it before. Jurnee Smollett has done it before. And not only that, but the Black community LOVES Z. They'd support her if the film is done well.

I don't think that anyone is trying to compare Z to White, British men in Hollywood. They're just saying how it's kinda sad that even her bf has worked with more BW in films than even she has, and yet, she's the one who's always preaching about working with "Black Creatives".

I'm pretty sure Z will one day work with more Black creatives in Hollywood in her films, so that's why I'm not even worried. But to act like it's not a little strange to continue to make excuse after excuse, after excuse is a little naïve to me. When do you stop making excuses? 🤔

[dewitty1]

Louis Gossett Jr, first Black man to win supporting actor Oscar, dies aged 87

Louis Gossett Jr, the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar, and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries Roots, has died. He was 87.

“It is with our heartfelt regret to confirm our beloved father passed away this morning,” Gossett’s family said in a statement, adding: “We would like to thank everyone for their condolences at this time. Please respect the family’s privacy during this difficult time.”

[trendfilmsetter]

Louis Gossett Jr. has passed away at the age of 87.

Gossett Jr was the first black man to win Best Supporting Actor at the 1983 Academy Awards as well as the second black man to win an Oscar.

Rest in peace🙏

[futileexercise]

RIP

[afrotumble]

Louis Gossett Jr, the first black man to win an Oscar for best supporting actor, dies at 87 | Ents & Arts News | Sky News

May he rest well 🙏🏾

[tvfavorites]

Louis Gossett Jr., First Black Man To Win Supporting Actor Oscar, Dies At 87

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries “Roots,” has died. He was 87. Gossett’s nephew told The Associated Press that the actor died Thursday night in Santa Monica, California. No cause of death was revealed. Gossett always thought of his early career as a reverse Cinderella story,…

[denimbex1986]

'Along with its spellbinding portrayal of a morally complex American figure and harrowing depiction of the meticulous creation of nuclear bombs, Oppenheimer is an exhilarating cinematic showcase that audiences have not experienced in years. The new film by Christopher Nolan is being celebrated for its dense cast of movie stars and sturdy character actors. There is plenty of justified acclaim for the likes of Cillian Murphy as the titular role, Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, and even Jason Clarke as Roger Robb, but a cast this expansive and eclectic is prone to overshadow dynamic supporting performances, such as the brilliant performance by Dane DeHaan.

Dane DeHaan Is Part of a Hugely Talented Cast in 'Oppenheimer'

As news hit the public about the film's production, many were transfixed by the deep bench of its supporting cast. The extensive cast is a testament to Nolan's refraining from writing composite characters. It wasn't about who was starring in Oppenheimer, but who wasn't. Anticipation for Murphy receiving the promotion to leading status in a Nolan film and Downey finally emerging out of the post-Tony Stark shadow was paramount. He granted actors like Josh Hartnett and Alden Ehrenreich a revival after years of mainstream dormancy. Kids of the 2000s were baffled, but intrigued by the casting of Josh Peck and Devon Bostick in this austere historical biopic. On top of all this, Oppenheimer will also remind everyone why Dane DeHaan was one of the hottest assets in Hollywood not so long ago.

DeHaan, most known for his entrancing leading role in the Gore Verbinski film, A Cure for Wellness, Josh Trank's found footage superhero thriller Chronicle, and a handful of indie productions, had the makings of an off-kilter but captivating movie star. His appearances in films such as The Place Beyond the Pines, Lincoln, and Lawless equally shaped DeHaan as a reliable character actor. With his piercing blue eyes and gaze of inscrutability, the actor could undermine his boyish good looks with an internal sinister quality. A big break for DeHaan was unfortunately compromised by the unfavorable reception to Amazing Spider-Man 2, where he played Harry Osborn. The box-office bomb that was Luc Besson's Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets in 2017 certainly didn't help matters either. His quick rise to fame in the 2010s appeared to have completely dissipated until he received the call from the master director of populist sentiments with ostentatious thematic structures, Christopher Nolan.

Who Does Dane DeHaan Play in 'Oppenheimer'?

In the new film about J. Robert Oppenheimer and his coordination of the creation of the atomic bomb under the Manhattan Project during World War II, DeHaan plays Major General Kenneth Nichols. He worked as a civil engineer on the Manhattan Project and subsequently joined the Atomic Energy Commission following the war as a military liaison. In 1953, Nichols was elevated to the general manager of the AEC, which was led by Lewis Strauss, who also spearheaded an investigation into Oppenheimer's loyalty to the United States as a result of his past ties to the Communist Party.

Like many of the roles played by recognizable faces, including Oscar-winning actors such as Casey Affleck, Gary Oldman, and Rami Malek, DeHaan doesn't have that much screen time. However, as is the case with the rest of the steep cast, it is not about what DeHaan brings to the plot but rather the presence he conveys. Captured in exquisite black-and-white photography, his reserved menace is tapped into throughout the film. From his first appearance, he is strikingly unmistakable with the glasses, slicked-back hair, and military officer uniform.

Oppenheimer is filled with countless mesmerizing shots under the eye of Nolan's cinematographer, Hoyte van Hoytema. In the same wavelength of under-the-radar magnitude, a scene involving a meeting between Oppenheimer, Strauss, and other AEC officials features a quick and subtle shot of a floral arrangement being moved aside, which reveals Nichols sitting in a seat previously blocked by the object. He is seen glaring into the soul of Oppenheimer, as the film has established to be following from the physicist's perspective. The reveal has the suddenness of a jump scare, and with this seemingly innocuous shot, Nolan shows that a minor character with nefarious intentions for our protagonist is lingering, waiting for his moment.

In the film's somewhat divisive third act, which intercuts between Oppenheimer's security hearing, a more-or-less character deconstruction covertly ordered by Strauss, and the confirmation hearing of Strauss' appointment as Secretary of Commerce by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Nichols plays a subdued, yet crucial role. Strauss, who resents Oppenheimer for dismissing his concerns regarding the Soviet Union's progress in manufacturing atomic weapons, digs up the physicist's alleged ties to communism, notably surrounding his romantic relationship with Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh), to effectively deny his influence in bureaucracy.

While in Los Alamos, New Mexico, the location of the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer wants to hear the status of his government clearance and he asks Nichols, who was in charge of security parameters of the site. In choice words, he informs the soon-to-be father of the atomic bomb that he is overstepping his boundaries with this inquiry. The U.S. military-industrial complex, and by proxy, him, ultimately determines the fate of Oppenheimer and the entire project. The doctor triggers suspicion among his military superiors when a colleague of his is believed to have leaked intel to the Soviets regarding the Manhattan Project. At this moment, Nichols operates as a sobering reminder of Oppenheimer's obligation to serve under a master in the U.S. government. His virtuosic mind for quantum theory does not run the show here.

DeHaan Conveys a Quiet Menace in a Brief Amount of Screen Time

In the timeline presenting the legal face-off between Oppenheimer and Strauss, Nichols enlightens the latter on the former's questionable background. Taking place in the early 1950s, when the second Red Scare led by infamous Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy was rampant in the political climate, Nichols is dauntingly representative of the paranoia at the heart of the bureaucratic system, as he feeds Strauss with the indictable information of Oppenheimer's loose communist ties. DeHaan conveys a particular brand of government sleaze in his brief performance — a deplorable superior officer who uses power to maintain control at all costs. He precisely embodies the government's lack of integrity depicted in the film, the kind that expresses no remorse for deploying weapons of mass destruction, but aggressively upholds a moral panic over political alignment.

DeHaan's performance crystallizes an important overarching theme of the film. The collision of idealistic groundbreaking science colliding with the military-industrial complex amounts to Robert Oppenheimer being a helpless figure, contrary to Nolan's claim that he is the most important individual in the history of civilization. The power and influence that figures like Nichols possess is a rude awakening for hopeful pioneers like Oppenheimer, who is immensely conflicted with his ego and the monstrosity that he created, and Strauss, who fancies himself more as an advocate for science rather than an empty-suit bureaucrat. Both of them are expendable in the eyes of the suppressive system carried out by Nichols.

Despite his prowess and inclination towards spectacle-driven action and science fiction, Christopher Nolan allows Oppenheimer to excel as a chamber drama featuring dynamic performers talking in legal hearings. The film is the closest instance of Nolan directing an Aaron Sorkin script (many have cited The Social Network as a fitting companion piece to this film). Banding together this plethora of compelling screen presences to discuss nuclear physics and yell in suits over eyewitness testimony is an ingenious way of exploiting their respective untapped abilities. It is refreshing to see this volume of familiar and respected faces on screen, even in a limited amount of screen time such as Dane DeHaan, who brilliantly portrays a general conveying the overbearing power of the military-industrial complex, sometimes with just a glare.'

[iphyslitterator]

2023 Oscars Trivia (Post-Ceremony)

Like last year, the Best Picture winner had a big night: Oppenheimer won 7 awards, as did Everything Everywhere All at Once. This post will use the word "consecutive" a lot.

This is the second consecutive year that a film won 7+ awards. The last time that happened was 1996-1998 (The English Patient; Titanic; Shakespeare in Love).

This is the second consecutive year that a film has won multiple acting awards. The last time that happened was 2003 & 2004 (Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby). The only other time consecutive Best Picture winners won multiple acting awards was 1953 & 1954 (From Here to Eternity and On the Waterfront).

Four consecutive Best Picture winners have won for acting, the longest streak since 1998-2002.

Oppenheimer is the first film since The Artist (2011) to win both Best Picture and Best Actor.

Oppenheimer is the 6th film to win both male acting awards and the first since Dallas Buyers Club (2013). The last Best Picture winner to win both male acting awards was Ben-Hur (1959).

Three of this year's acting winners have starred in superhero films: Emma Stone was Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man, Cillian Murphy was Scarecrow in the Nolan Batman movies, and Robert Downey Jr., of course, is Iron Man.

Oppenheimer is the highest-grossing Best Picture winner since The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

Three Best Picture nominees went home empty-handed: Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, and Past Lives.

Killers of the Flower Moon is the third Scorsese film to receive 10 nominations and 0 awards (Gangs of New York, 2002; The Irishman, 2019).

Diane Warren continues to hold the record for most Original Song nominations without a win (15) and continues to be the woman with the most Oscar nominations without a win. She has lost six in a row.

Bradley Cooper is now tied for 8th place among individuals with the most nominations without a win (12).

Despite several nominations -- Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro for Killers of the Flower Moon, and Matteo Garrone's Io Capitano for International Feature -- none of the men behind Goncharov took home an Oscar.

This is the 8th consecutive year with at least one black winner, extending the record.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph is the 10th black woman to win Best Supporting Actress -- the first acting category to hit double digits.

This is the fourth consecutive year with at least one non-white acting winner (Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan in 2022; Will Smith and Ariana DeBose in 2021; Daniel Kaluuya and Youn Yuh-jung in 2020) -- the longest streak ever.

Cord Jefferson is the 8th black screenplay winner, and this is the 6th such win (all but one were for Adapted Screenplay).

This is the fourth year in a row that a woman has won a screenplay award (Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall, Sarah Polley for Women Talking, Sian Heder for CODA, Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman) -- the longest streak ever.

Both screenplay wins were the only wins for their films, and both wins included the film's director. This is the 9th year in a row that a director has won for Original Screenplay, and the 6th year in a row for Adapted Screenplay; both are records.

Kiyoko Shibuya is the third woman and first woman of color to win for Visual Effects (Suzanne M. Benson for Aliens, 1986; Sara Bennett for Ex Machina, 2015).

Neil Corbould, nominated for The Creator, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part I, and Napoleon, is the first person to lose for Visual Effects three times in one year (don't worry, he's already won twice).

Billie Eilish (22) and Finneas O'Connell (26) are the youngest people to win multiple Oscars ("No Time to Die" from No Time to Die, 2021).

At 35, Emma Stone is the 8th-youngest person and woman to win two acting Oscars, and the 7th-youngest to win Best Actress twice.

Cillian Murphy is the first Irish Best Actor winner.

Christopher Nolan was the only individual to win multiple awards (Picture and Director).

Christopher Nolan is the first white man to win Best Director solo since Damien Chazelle (La La Land, 2016). Including Daniel Scheinert for Everything Everywhere All at Once, this is the first time since 2010 & 2011 that white men have won Best Director in consecutive years (Tom Hooper for The King's Speech; Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist), and that consecutive Best Picture winners have had a white male director.

The Zone of Interest is the first film from the United Kingdom to win Best International Feature. It is the fifth Best Picture nominee in six years to win in this category, and the third in a row (Drive My Car and All Quiet on the Western Front).

20 Days in Mariupol is the first Ukrainian film to win an Oscar.

Takashi Yamazaki is the second director to win for Visual Effects (Stanley Kubrick for 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968).

Godzilla Minus One is the first Godzilla film to win an Oscar and the first Japanese film to win for Visual Effects (Tora! Tora! Tora!, 1970, was an American-Japanese co-production). Previously, the only Asian Visual Effects winner was Taiwanese-American Doug Chiang (Death Becomes Her, 1992).

This is the second time that only one non-Best Picture nominee won in a main category (i.e. excluding Animated, Documentary, International, shorts). The other time was 1997 (Best Makeup for Men in Black); notably, that was the year Titanic tied the record for most awards.

This is the second year in a row that the most-nominated film a) won Best Picture and b) won the most awards of the night. The last time consecutive most-nominated films won the most awards was 2016 & 2017 (La La Land and The Shape of Water); the last time consecutive most-nominated films won Best Picture was 2009 & 2010 (The Hurt Locker and The King's Speech).

This is the second consecutive year that multiple films have won 4+ awards (Everything Everywhere All at Once and All Quiet on the Western Front). The last year with multiple 4+ winners was 2014 (Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel), and the last time it happened consecutively was 2010 & 2011 (The King's Speech and Inception; The Artist and Hugo).

This is the third consecutive year that three or fewer films have won multiple awards, the longest streak since 1956-1960.

Two couples shared wins: Christopher Nolan & Emma Thomas for Best Picture, and Justine Triet & Arthur Harari for Original Screenplay.

Christopher Nolan & Emma Thomas are the third couple to share a Best Picture win (Richard D. Zanuck & Lili Fini Zanuck, Driving Miss Daisy, 1989; Peter Jackson & Fran Walsh, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003).

Justine Triet & Arthur Harari are the third couple to win for Original Screenplay (Muriel & Sydney Box, The Seventh Veil, 1946; Earl W. & Pamela Wallace, Witness, 1985).

Toshio Suzuki is the second Asian winner of Animated Feature, and Hayao Miyazaki is the first Asian to win twice (Spirited Away, 2002).

The Boy and the Heron and Spirited Away are the only two hand-drawn animated films and the only two non-English-language films to win Animated Feature.

Pixar has lost Animated Feature three years in a row, its longest drought ever.

Holly Waddington is the first person since Mark Bridges (The Artist, 2011) to win Best Costume Design for her first nomination.

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Scottish actor Ewen Bremner, born January 23rd 1972 in Edinburgh.

Bremner has worked with many of the most respected directors in world cinema, including Danny Boyle, Mike Leigh, Ridley Scott, Joon-Ho Bong, Werner Herzog and Woody Allen. Hen has established himself by creating unique characters in critically acclaimed films, as well as going toe to toe with many of Hollywood's biggest stars.

Ewen had worked widely in theatre, television, and film for years before being cast in his breakout role in Trainspotting, by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle. He was the first to be cast in the role of Mark Renton in Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre production but lost out to Ewan McGregor in the film version, instead he was handed the role of Spud Murphy and earned screen immortality with his character's infamous "speed fuelled" job interview scene.

Prior to Trainspotting, Bremner gave a striking performance in Mike Leigh's Naked, fellow Scot Susan Vidler played his girlfriend Maggie in this excellent film.

In 1999, Bremner received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a schizophrenic man living with his dysfunctional family in Harmony Korine's Julien, Donkey-Boy. Filmed strictly in accordance with the ultra-realist tenants of Lars Von Trier's Dogma 95 movement and starring opposite Werner Herzog, Bremner played Julien its eponymous hero, requiring him to assume an American accent. He then worked with director Michael Bay in his high-profile 2001 war film Pearl Harbor, proving his versatility once again by portraying the role of a wholeheartedly patriotic American soldier fighting in WWII. The following year, he stepped back into fatigues for a supporting role in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down, while rounding out the next several years with roles in high-profile Hollywood releases such as The Rundown, Disney's Around the World in 80 Days), AVP: Alien vs. Predator, Woody Allen's Match Point, the comedy Death at a Funeral directed by Frank Oz, and Fool's Gold starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson.

This past few of years proved to be a busy when Bremner was invited to join the DC Universe in the Zack Snyder-produced feature Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins, co-starring Gal Gadot and Chris Pine. Ewen also reprised his unforgettable role as Spud in the highly-anticipated sequel to Danny Boyle's cult classic, T2: Trainspotting

Bremner appeared in the TNT Drama Series Will with Shekhar Kapur. The series told the story of the lost years of young William Shakespeare after his arrival to London in 1589 but only lasted one season. Other notable film credits include Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Perfect Sense starring again alongside Ewan McGregor, Great Expectations, Jack the Giant Slayer, and Snowpiercer starring alongside Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton. Further credits include Exodus: Gods and Kings, Wide Open Spaces, Mojo, Mediator, Faintheart, Hallam Foe, Sixteen Years of Alcohol, and Snatch.

In television, Ewen has worked on many acclaimed productions including David Hare's Worriker trilogy starring Bill Nighy for BBC, Jimmy McGovern's Moving On and also his Australian mini-series Banished, Strike Back for Sky TV, Dominic Savage's Dive, the Dylan Thomas biopic, A Poet In New York and the adaptation of Day of the Triffids for the BBC. Other noteworthy series appearances include portraying legendary surrealist Salvador Dali in the U.K. television drama Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali, and a guest spot on the successful NBC series, My Name is Earl, not to forget an early appearance in Taggart way back in 1990.

More recently Ewen has been in the, in my opinion, very funny series Our Flag Means Death, the film Canyon Del Muerto about the worlds first female archaeologist and the highly rated Freedom's Path, set in the US Civil War, it is due out soon.

[the-music-stories-blog]

The Fountainhead  , 1949

The Fountainhead is a 1949 American black-and-white drama film produced by Henry Blanke, directed by King Vidor, and starring Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey. The script was written by Ayn Rand.

Roark is a brilliant architect.  However, he always has to go his own way, even if it means damaging his career.  At the start of the film, we watch Howard Roark losing one opportunity after another. Also, he takes menial work as a quarryman to finance his projects. He falls in love with heiress Dominique (Patricia Neal), but ends the relationship when he has the opportunity to construct buildings according to his own wishes. Dominique marries a newspaper tycoon (Raymond Massey) who at first conducts a vitriolic campaign against the radical Roark, but eventually becomes his strongest supporter.

The stormy and subversive character of Roark dynamizes the script which contains, in addition to love with Dominique, a trial, a suicide and a debate between two opposite philosophies: individualism vs. collectivism.

The reviews for this movie are divided, some people liked it a lot and some didn't like it at all. What is your opinion ?

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