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Motion Picture Academy Condemns Violence, Opens Formal Review Into Will Smith Case

Roger Friedman
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Motion Picture Academy Condemns Violence, Opens Formal Review Into Will Smith Case

The Motion Picture Academy is opening a formal review into the act of violence that took place on their stage last night.

The Academy issued a condemnation of violence as well.

In a statement they said:

“The academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night’s show,” the organization said in a statement. “We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our bylaws, standards of conduct and California law.”

There is some sentiment on line that the Oscar Will Smith received should be revoked because of his behavior. Frankly, it’s amazing he hasn’t been arrested. If he’d done that in a Broadway theater during  performance, for example, he’d have spent the night in the pokey.

Smith’s acceptance speech for his Oscar tried to rationalize his behavior by saying he was defending his family. But what kind of role model is that? The Academy will have to decide if they’re going to condone what happened up there on the stage.

Smith felt no contrition. Not only didn’t he apologize to Chris Rock, he went out and partied all night. Vanity Fair welcomed him, photographed him, and encouraged him.

 

Shame? Forget It! Will Smith Partied Like Crazy After Live TV Violence, Took Family Portrait

Roger Friedman
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Shame? Forget It! Will Smith Partied Like Crazy After Live TV Violence, Took Family Portrait

Shame? Contrition?

Nope, doesn’t exist for Will Smith.

After slapping out Chris Rock on live TV and tossing around profanities, Smith partied like crazy post Oscars.

Armed with his gold statue, Smith went to the Governors Ball and the Vanity Fair party. I would hazard a guess he went on to Jay Z’s party at Chateau Marmont where limos lined Sunset Boulevard at 3 in the morning.

At Vanity Fair, Smith participated in a family portrait which the magazine is using to promote itself on social media. He danced and carried on with impunity.

But this is how we got here in the first place. Smith is insulated from reality and the world around him that he thought he was above them enough to jump up on that stage and hit someone on live TV. Sure, he cried a little bit — he’s a good actor — but he left the Dolby Theater not one bit chastened from what happened.

Some reporters latched onto a ridiculous idea that “P Diddy talked Will and Chris Rock into a truce” or some garbage like that. But what Smith did made turn on a dime violence seem normal and acceptable. You commit an act of violence and are rewarded with a gold statue. It’s no different than Trump saying he could walk down Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and get away with it– and be elected President. Is it?

 

Oscars Ratings Up Sharply in Early Returns, Numbers from Will Smith Travesty Not in Yet

Roger Friedman
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Oscars Ratings Up Sharply in Early Returns, Numbers from Will Smith Travesty Not in Yet

Even without the Will Smith-Chris Rock fight, the Oscar ratings were up sharply from last year.

The early numbers suggest 13.73 million people watched the show from 8 to 11 pm. That’s up from the dismal 10.4 million from last year.

The Smith slap-punch freak out on live TV didn’t happen until after 11, so we won’t know until later today or tomorrow who stuck around to see it from 11pm to when the shoe ended around 11:40pm.

Even taking out 8 categories and moving them to an unseen first hour, the Oscars still ran three hours and 40 minutes, longer than last year’s show.

Every year critics bemoan the length of the show, but imagine if the whole thing had started at 8pm. It wouldn’t have been over until after midnight. That’s unacceptable.

But nothing is more unacceptable than what went on between Smith and Rock. Rock’s joke was innocent enough considering that Jada Pinkett Smith has put their family’s personal business on display. She has a talk show on which she’s discussed their infidelities and sex lives. Her close cropped haircut, even if she has alopecia, shouldn’t be an issue.

But Will Smith’s response to Rock’s joke is mind blowing. It’s mostly that he felt superior enough to be above the law and and the rules of civility to jump up on the stage as if it were a World Wrestling competition. He demeaned himself and the Oscars. There is no way to defend what he did.

 

Will Smith is the Only Oscar Winner to Skip the Press Rooms After the Academy Awards

Roger Friedman
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Will Smith is the Only Oscar Winner to Skip the Press Rooms After the Academy Awards

Will Smith was the only Oscar winner not to appear before the press after the Academy Awards.

Smith punched out Chris Rock on live TV, then won the Oscar and gave an acceptance speech. He apologized to the Academy but not Rock for leaping out of the audience, jumping on stage, and punching Rock. The comedian had made an innocent joke about Smith’s wife’s haircut looking like “GI Jane.”

People at the Oscars are still in shock. But if Smith isn’t addressed in some way, many are wondering if this isn’t normalizing violence. It’s a quandary. But I think Smith will have this follow him around for a long, long time.

 

CODA Wins Best Picture: Apple is First Streamer to Win, Picks Up 2 Other Awards As Well

Roger Friedman
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CODA Wins Best Picture: Apple is First Streamer to Win, Picks Up 2 Other Awards As Well

“CODA” is the Best Picture for 2022, winner of the Oscar.

Bought by Apple at Sundance in 2021, “CODA” is the first streaming movie to win the award. Apple becomes the first streaming service to win Best Picture.

It’s an incredible moment in movies and the Oscars.

“CODA” also won Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur, and Best Adapted Screenplay by Heder.

Will Smith Wins Best Actor After Hitting Chris Rock on Stage During the Academy Awards

Roger Friedman
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Will Smith Wins Best Actor After Hitting Chris Rock on Stage During the Academy Awards

In tears, Will Smith has accepted Best Actor at the Oscars for “King Richard.”

Twenty minutes earlier, Smith lost control of his temper, went on stage and punched out Chris Rock. The comedian had made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett, having a short hair cut.

Despite what Smith said in his acceptance speech, his behavior was completely unacceptable. It was violent and showed a complete lack of restraint.

He’s apologizing to the Academy and his fellow nominees. But not to Rock. “Life imitates art,” he said, “I look like the crazy father.”

This was a first for the Oscars, and remarkable live TV.

 

Will Smith Stops Oscars for Real, Goes on Stage and Punches Chris Rock Over Joke!

Roger Friedman
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Will Smith Stops Oscars for Real, Goes on Stage and Punches Chris Rock Over Joke!

No joking: Will Smith just went on stage and punched Chris Rock at the Oscars. Rock had made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, and Will lost it for real. It stopped the show and will now become legendary.

CODA Wins Best Picture: Apple is First Streamer to Win, Picks Up 2 Other Awards As Well

UPDATING Oscars 2022 Winners: Jessica Chastain Will Smith, Ariana DeBose, Troy Kotsur, Jane Campion,”Encanto,” “Drive My Car,” 6 For “Dune”

Roger Friedman
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UPDATING Oscars 2022 Winners: Jessica Chastain Will Smith, Ariana DeBose, Troy Kotsur, Jane Campion,”Encanto,” “Drive My Car,” 6 For “Dune”

Eight categories of the Academy Awards will be given during an untelevised hour between 7 and 8pm Eastern. We’ll try and post the winners as they’re announced…the main show begins at 8pm Eastern/5pm Western.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye wins Best Makeup & Hairstyling, which means Jessica Chastain is certain to win Best Actress.

Best documentary short goes to Queen of Basketball director Ben Proudfoot

Best live action short goes to… The Long Goodbye which makes Riz Ahmed  an Oscar winner!

The Oscar for Best Short (Animated) goes to “The Windshield Wiper.”

“Dune” wins Best Score for Hans Zimmer, and Best Editing by Joe Walker. And production design, too. Three Oscars so far.

 

UPDATING LIVE Venus and Serena are showing off their chests. Beyonce is performing from tennis courts in Compton. Her song is terrible, and lifts its first lines from “We Are Family.” Her segment was taped. It’s not even LIVE. And so we begin…

Good stuff from the trio of hosts Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall and Amy Schumer...Amy gets her own monologue and it’s very good.

BEST ACTRESS: Jessic Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Ariana DeBose “West Side Story: beautiful speech

CINEMATOGRAPHY: “Dune”

VISUAL EFFECTS: “Dune”

Strange James Bond tribute. Judi Dench is here and no mention of her. No reunion of living Bonds. No Barbara Broccoli or mention of her dad. Weird.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: “Encanto”

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Troy Kotsur, “CODA”

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: “Drive My Car”

COSTUME DESIGN: “Cruella” (I predicted this last year)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: “Belfast” by Kenneth Branagh

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: “CODA” Sian Heder (CODA just basically won the Oscar)

 

 

 

Exclusive: “Top Gun: Maverick” Features a Scene Between Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer “That Will Make You Cry”

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: “Top Gun: Maverick” Features a Scene Between Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer “That Will Make You Cry”

click here for Oscar Updates– the Oscars begin at 5pm Eastern

 

On the ground here in Hollywood, living the dream…

Lot of talk about “Top Gun: Maverick,” the long awaited sequel to a movie from the 1980s.

Sources tell me that there is a scene between Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer “that will make you cry,” I was warned. Kilmer has survived throat cancer but cannot speak. Nevertheless, he was included in “Maverick” to replay his character from the original film, “Iceman” aka Lt. Tom Kazansky.

The whole has apparently seen the movie at least a year ago. They’ve since waited and waited for the release thanks to pandemic delays.

I asked about the Lady Gaga theme song that plays in the middle of the movie. In the original “Top Gun,” the big song was “Take My Breath Away,” a record you can’t get away from even now on oldies radio.

Said my spy, a little cryptically: “The song is good, but some of us felt it comes in the wrong place in the movie. By the time it plays, the point it’s supposed to make has already been made.”

Well, I’m up for a Lady Gaga song at any time in the movie, in any movie. So we’ll have to wait and see. “Maverick” will unfurl at the Cannes Film Festival in mid May and open two weeks later in June around the world.

And Now, to the Oscars Most Pressing Questions: Who Will Win? Who Will Lose? Who Will Watch?

Roger Friedman
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And Now, to the Oscars Most Pressing Questions: Who Will Win? Who Will Lose? Who Will Watch?

The night– or here in LA, the afternoon — of the season is here at last.

The Oscars: who will win? who will lose? who will watch?

Will Apple become the first streaming service to win Best Picture, with “CODA”? Will “CODA” be the first acronym film since “MASH” to pick up a lot of awards?

Will anyone explain the ending of “The Power of the Dog” to the audience?

Will Netflix’s tenacious campaigning finally yield a winner?

So many questions!

Maybe the biggest one is Who will win Best Actress? For months Nicole Kidman was in the lead with “Being the Ricardos.” Then the focus switched to Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye Bakker. In the last two weeks suddenly there is a flurry of interest in Penelope Cruz from “Parallel Mothers,” a movie shabbily treated by the Spanish film board– they didn’t submit it for nomination!

Plus, there are the internal controversies with the Oscars, particularly the non televised “Golden Hour” that the TV audience — and the press– won’t see. Eight categories will be given awards, but everyone will have to wait until the show begins on ABC to learn the winners.

The show will look different, more like the Golden Globes, with nominees seated at tables in the front rows instead of theater seats. How will that go over? And will Adele appear to present, sing, or just stay home? Her Las Vegas fans will be paying attention to that one.

So we wait…and see.. and wait for the ratings tomorrow, which are sure to launch a thousand protests that the End has come.

Me? I’ll be asking myself, Was it worth all the stress and money and exhaustion, and to miss the opening night on Broadway of “Plaza Suite”? Well, at least I know I’m COVID negative. I’ve had three tests in two days!

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