It’s that time of year again, and the show starts in an hour, which is traditionally when I like to dump my over-opinionated Oscar picks on an unsuspecting world.
Best Picture – Avatar. Usually this category is a popularity contest, so Avatar should win handily. Of the nominees, I think Up and An Education are the best films. Precious was amazing in many ways, but a bit over dramatic at times. Repetitive thematically, but grounded in some of the best acting this year. Hurt Locker was also incredibly well made, although I thought the theme was a bit derivative of most war films. I would have loved to seen the war adrenaline junkie angle explored more in depth.
Best Actor – Jeff Bridges is due. This a tough call. Colin Firth is amazing, as is Morgan Freeman. Clooney’s turn in Up in the Air is great as well, but it doesn’t stand out IMHO as much as the others. It would be nice to see Jeremy Renner come from behind and take it all.
Best Actress – Sandra Bullock. The Academy loves to give the statuette to America’s Sweetheart. And, not being nominated has been a matter of lackluster roles for Sandy B. It’s surprising she hasn’t jumped into a character role like this in the past. Gabourey Sidibe should be the winner dead to rights. Her performance dusts all others for sheer emotional power and raw intensity. Alas… If she does win, it will be the great single moment of this years awards. And, truth is: when an established actress who is not established as a strong character actress (like Bullock) wins, it usually means they disappear for several years. See: Mira Sorvino, Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow.
Director – Katheryn Bigelow will win as she took home the DGA. This category is rather weak this year IMHO. Pete Docter’s absence for Up is glaring.
Actor Supporting Role – Christoph Waltz will probably win. But, it should be Christopher Plummer for two reasons: he’s a gentleman and he has never been nominated before, which is a crime. A really hard call, since I’d love to see Stanley Tucci take it home as well. All great performances.
Actress Supporting Role - Mo’Nique will take it home for sure. An amazing and dramatic performance.
Animated Feature – Up. In many ways, the best film of the year. Nearly perfect.
Cinematography – Barry Ackroyd’s work in The Hurt Locker is mind bending numbing and electric and gritty without losing the narrative. Not an easy task.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, Gil Scott-Heron was one of those people who everyone listened to and waited to hear what he was going to say next. He was that relevant and eloquent and personal. “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised“, “Home Is Where the Hatred Is” and “Message to the Messengers” are arguably some of the greatest political and social commentary put to music ever. And, his contribution to “Let Me See Your ID” on the anti-apartheid album Sun City still stands out as one of the great raps during that time.
Then he disappeared into the hole that is Rikers Island for drug possession. But, all things come around and now he’s back. A must read interview with Gil Scott-Heron in Salon is here, and he’s released a new album. Gil manages to reach into the depths once again. Here’s the video for “Me and the Devil“.
Death is a paradox. It’s a primal force so powerful and frightening that we really don’t talk about it very much. It’s too painful. It’s dark and dour, yet at the same time, it has a way of reminding us – sometimes in brutal and sometimes in amazingly subtle ways – not only of the fragility of life, but of its beauty and simplicity. It’s a cliche of course, but that doesn’t make it untrue. Death is the mythological door to other worlds, simultaneously beautiful and ugly, fraught with fear and imbued with wonder all at the same time. And, sometimes it can precipitate a profound moment of change.
For me, this transformation occurred in the early 90s when I lost a friend to trajic circumstances and within a few months found myself working side by side with Johnny Depp, who coincidentally, had also lost someone close to him.
On October 31, 1994 at around 1AM Depp’s friend and fellow actor and musician River Pheonix died of a speedball (heroin mixed with cocaine) overdose on the sidewalk outside of the Viper Room, the club that Depp owned until a few years ago. At the time of Pheonix’s death, Depp was on stage at the club, performing with his band. River Pheonix’s last moments alive were inside the club, listening to Depp’s band, and doing drugs in the bathroom. A few months later, in January, a friend and co-worker of mine named Chance Helburn died in his apartment from an overdose of drugs. Also a speedball. Both deaths were a shock to the system. One day you were talking to them on the phone, the next, they were gone.
River was only 23. Chance was only 25. Both were talented and loved with bright futures and lives ahead of them, and their deaths were the opening scene of what was to be one of the most clarifying experiences of my life. I suspect that Depp would say the same thing.
So, it’s with more than a hint of irony that I find the recent reports of Johnny Depp’s death amusing because Depp had long ago moved away from such a path. It wasn’t his destiny. With luck and work, I’m pretty sure that Johnny Depp is a man who will more than likely die of old age surrounded by family. I can’t be entirely certain of it, but I’d bet the farm on it. Why? Well, because I was there when he was at the crossroads, when he saw his choices laid out before him, and he had begun to change as I was also changing. He’d lost something, a part of his life, a friend, and it shook him to his bones. I went through a similar expereince but fortunately for me, the eyes of the worlds press were not staring, watching and waiting.
Thus, it was in the summer of 1995 that I found myself at the New York City Bellevue Morgue standing next to Johnny Depp as we both got an up close look at the harsh, pungent, unapologetic, unflinching finality of death.
You don’t have to be Ansel Adams to take great photos with your cell phone camera. It’s simply a matter of knowing what your gadget can and can’t do, and applying some basic rules of photography.
The first digital cameras on cell phones were more of a novelty than useful, the photos were blurry and overexposed or underexposed if taken under less than optimum lighting conditions. The results were disappointing to say the least.
But, cell phone cameras have improved immensely over the past few years and most of the new phones on the market come with a camera that boasts at least 2.0 MB resolution, allowing for a bit of versatility. While it’s certainly true that a cell phone camera can’t compare to a nice robust digital camera like the Nikon D90 in terms of resolution, lens or speed, that doesn’t mean that you can’t get some stellar shots with your cell phone camera by following a few rules:
- Great light means great photos. The small lens and aperture in cell cameras means that there is not much room for light reflection, and low light means less detail is captured. While this can be used to your advantage with experimental photos (more on that later) it’s not very conducive to crisp clear photos, so shoot in natural daylight when possible. If you’re shooting at night, look for brightly lit areas. One of the best times to get great results is to shoot at dusk during “magic hour” as the contrast between light and shadow is very dramatic, and colors pop. Finally, turn off the flash. More often than not the low quality flash on cell phone cameras creates unwanted artifacts like hot spots.
- Explore the limitations and the positive advantages of your cell phone camera. Know what it can and can’t do. The best way to do this is to shoot test shots under different lighting conditions: interior and exterior daylight (both sunny and cloudy), night exterior and night interior. The process will help you to know what type of light works best with your cell phone camera – and what light does not work – to obtain the results you’re looking for. If your cell camera has manual exposure settings, give them a try and turn off the auto shutter. You will be surprised at how good a photo will come out with a little tweaking and the proper light.
- Be creative. You have a cell camera with great resolution and not that great of a lens, but that doesn’t mean you can’t push your gadget to the edge with a little experimentation. For two years I used the LG EnV (2.0MB) to take photos and I found that a few fun tricks led to some interesting results. To compensate for the flat lens, play with angle – left and right and forward and back – which gives the photo a bit more depth. And, since cell phone cameras don’t have high speed shutters, movement within a locked frame (such as the taxi cab in this shot) can be used to dramatic effect. Also, moving the camera in circles or spinning on the lens axis while you click the shutter is fun way to create experimental photos. The results can be wonderful. Play with your cell camera, see what it can do.
The great thing about digital technology is it’s affordable. You can take photo after photo at relatively no cost. If your cell phone has a MicroSD slot, I highly recommend purchasing a memory card to increase storage capacity. They are affordable and give you the ability to take literally thousands of photos and transfer them to your computer with ease.
The final rule is the most important: have fun. Photography is simpler than it appears to be, it just takes a little practice and patience. And, with a cell phone camera at your fingertips, you never know when the next great moment of inspiration is going to strike.
What I see in NYC. The news stand in my neighborhood referenced in the radio segment. They carry about 200 magazines and a hundred newspapers from around the world.
Also, Douglas has an interesting conversation with Paul Krassner that touches on how issue oriented satire has changed over time from Lenny Bruce to Jon Stewart, conspiracy theories in the real world and Krassner’s new book Who’s to Say What’s Obscene:Politics, Culture & Comedy in America Today.
Please listen to the entire show. The segment below runs five minutes.
A lot of musicians have covered this Screamin’ Jay Hawkins classic. And, his original is hard to beat, although it feels a little novelty like. Nina Simone gives it a go and nails it as always.
Original version of song and video for Bowie’s classic, from the promo film “Love You Til Tuesday“. I love the camera work in it. And, the design is a lot of fun. One of my favs.
