Reel Thoughts: The Academy Plays it Safe and Weird

Is the Academy scared of genitalia and cross-dressing, at least when they involve men? It would seem so, at least when you look at who did and didn’t get nominated for Best Actor this year. Snubbed were the handsome Michael Fassbender, whose full-frontal performance as a sex addict in Shame drew raves about how he “endowed” the role, and Leonardo DiCaprio, whose coy cross-dressing was more Norman Bates than La Cage aux Folles, in J. Edgar. As I noted in my Top 10/Worst 10 List, this was a year full of pretty good, but mostly not great, films and more amazing performances than we have seen in many years. This makes it anyone’s race to win, so predicting the winners will be hard.

On February 26th, the suspense will be over and we’ll see if The Artist scores the big prize (it should!) and which one of the fantastic actors and actresses nominated will get the ultimate reward for their work.

Here are my somewhat fearless predictions:

Best Picture:
The cloying Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Steven Spielberg’s gorgeous but plodding War Horse have no business vying for Best Picture, and Terrence Malick’s pretentious drama The Tree of Life felt like it took a lifetime to watch. That these three films took slots that could have recognized the quietly brilliant Win Win, the hilarious Crazy, Stupid, Love and the riveting Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one of the biggest crimes of the year. While Moneyball and The Help are popular hits, their nominations will be considered sufficient reward. The magical children’s film Hugo has the most impressive use of 3D ever, but even Martin Scorcese’s name isn’t going to earn a kid’s movie an Oscar. While Midnight in Paris was my personal favorite film last year, but it has faded from the voters’ minds. That leaves Alexander Payne’s touching family drama The Descendants and Michel Hanavicius’s amazing silent film The Artist.

My pick will be the Academy’s ultimate choice: The Artist.

Best Actor:
This category yielded the biggest snubs with Fassbender and DiCaprio being passed over in favor of Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the unknown but very deserving Demian Bichir for A Better Life. Brad Pitt’s nomination for Moneyball seems like a brazen attempt to draw in more male viewers with a sports-themed nominee, leaving the big decision between Jean Dujardin’s meticulously perfect and mostly silent performance in The Artist and George Clooney’s mature and subdued performance as a grief-stricken father dealing with a comatose wife in The Descendants.

Who should win: Dujardin’s old-Hollywood matinee idol performance was spot-on and deserves recognition for its difficulty and success. Who will win: I can see the Academy voters rewarding the popular Clooney for his performance in The Descendents, as well as for his sly work in The Ides of March.

Best Actress:
This is the most competitive race, and any one of these women deserves to win. And this is with Tilda Swinton’s snub for We Need To Talk About Kevin and Vera Farmiga’s transcendent work in Higher Ground overlooked. Rooney Mara as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will not win, since her film lacked nominations in most of the other major categories, and Michelle Williams’ touching take on Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn is losing a little steam with voters. Glenn Close’s amazing work as Albert Nobbs is not as popular as Meryl Streep’s uncanny work as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, an otherwise forgettable film. Viola Davis seems unable to give a bad performance (even in dreck like Extremely Loud) but her work as Aibileen in The Help was among her finest work yet.

Who should win: Streep anchored almost every moment of The Iron Lady, and she shows extraordinary complexity as a woman suffering from mental lapses who is holding on desperately to her past glories (and deceased husband). Who will win: Davis is the frontrunner, and The Help was much more popular than The Iron Lady.

Best Supporting Actor:
Max von Sydow was the best part of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, while Kenneth Branagh did a masterful job of bringing Sir Laurence Olivier to life in My Week With Marilyn. Nick Nolte won raves for the otherwise forgotten Warrior, while a newly svelte Jonah Hill surprised everyone with a toned-down but still comic performance in Moneyball. The best performance, however, came from Christopher Plummer as Ewan McGregor’s dying gay father in Beginners. His joy as he discovers the life he’d denied himself all his married life was wonderful to watch, even though we knew he would not have long to enjoy it.

Corey Stoll really should have been nominated as Ernest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris, but even then the person who should and will win is Plummer.

Best Supporting Actress:
This race seems to be The Help's Octavia Spencer’s to lose, although all five women gave vastly different and equally enthralling performances. Okay, so maybe Melissa McCarthy wasn’t exactly “enthralling” as the most obnoxious of the Bridesmaids, but Jessica Chastain in The Help, Berenice Bejo in The Artist and Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs were all highlights of their respective films. Chastain has had an amazing year, starring in The Debt, Tree of Life, Take Shelter and The Help, and Bejo was perfect as hopeful starlet Peppy Miller. McTeer’s performance as Hugo, a proud woman who lives a hearty and fulfilled life as a man in 19th century Ireland, was the finest supporting performance of the year, and one with special appeal to the LGBT community.

Who will win: Spencer. Who should win: My vote goes to McTeer.

Best Director:
Martin Scorcese charmed us with Hugo, Terrence Malick dazzled us while boring us silly with The Tree of Life, Alexander Payne touched us with The Descendents and Michel Hanavicius and Woody Allen took us back to 1920s Hollywood and Paris, respectively. All five directors transported us to perfectly revealed worlds (even if Malick’s was slumberland), but Hanavicius managed to succeed in a genre not seen since the late twenties.

The Artist was a masterpiece of a silent film, so as much as I loved Midnight in Paris, I think that Hanavicius should and will win as Best Director.

By Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Reverend's Reviews: Going Crazy

Tourists and locals alike adorent Paris's famed Crazy Horse cabaret. Ranked alongside the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre as a must-see when visiting the City of Lights, the club's burlesque-style celebration of the nude female form has been running strong since its founding in 1951.

Frederick Wiseman's new documentary Crazy Horse, now playing the US art house circuit, gives viewers an unparalleled backstage look at the production. Not unlike a Gallic version of the new TV series Smash, the film intersperses extended discussions amongst the show's directors, producers and designers with brilliantly-conceived musical numbers. The best dance showcased here is set in a whirling, airborne hoop illuminated by a stained-glass lighting effect. Other elegantly erotic -- and frequently sapphic -- pieces are featured (the more shadowy interludes often reminded me of Maurice Binder's classic James Bond title sequences), as well as some numbers devoted to pure kitsch/camp.

The central conflict explored by Wiseman is between Crazy Horse's director-choreographer Philippe Decoufle and the production's financiers. After decades of little change, Decoufle wants to shut the club down for an extended period of re-design and renovation. The producers are understandably hesitant, tending toward the old "Why fix something that isn't broken?" argument, but eventually give in. Wiseman uses this showdown to compose a modern chapter in the classic, never-ending saga of art vs. commerce.

Wiseman is a celebrated, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker responsible for 37 documentaries, including the highly-acclaimed Titicut Follies, Public Housing and La Danse-Le Ballet de l'Opera de Paris. He tends to let the camera run with an apparent minimum of cuts and filmmaker interference, preferring to use the editing room to focus and finesse his findings. Wiseman's efforts in his latest work to show both the passion and the exacting process behind Crazy Horse gets tedious at times (the film runs well over two hours). Still, Wiseman provides a more thorough, less sensationalistic show business expose than most documentarians before him. Crazy Horse should be required viewing for adult students of direction and choreography for both theatre and film thanks to it's excellent treatment of the critical subject of artistic choices.

I was amused by insiders' frequent references in the film to Crazy Horse as "The Crazy," as well as when they identify talent who seem to have a particular understanding or appreciation of the club's aesthetic as simply "Crazy." Prudes and some gay men may object to the display of women's breasts and genitalia in Crazy Horse (there is a pair of male performers involved in the production but they are clothed). Call me crazy, but those who take issue ought to instead recognize the artistry and appreciate this troupe's dedication to achieving it over 60-plus years.

Reverend's Rating: B+

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reel Thoughts Interview: Wickedly Talented

To look at Kyle Dean Massey’s resume, you, like him, might marvel at how in 2011, he played “a dead teenager, a Winkie Prince and a tap-dancing cowboy. Now let’s start all over.” Massey is a much sought-after actor who starred as the lead singer in Altar Boyz, as the “dead son” in Next to Normal and then as an aspiring country music singing cowboy whose main rivals were drag sensation Varla Jean Merman and hilarious out comedian Leslie Jordan. The show’s title Lucky Guy didn’t prove prophetic as the show closed quickly on Broadway. The good news is that it is bringing Massey back to Arizona as Fiyero, the gorgeous “Winkie Prince” who falls for the not-so-popular Elphaba in Wicked.

I spoke with Massey,  the handsome star and strong anti-LGBT bullying advocate, while he was finishing a long stop in Los Angeles.  “It’s always different,” Massey explained, about how coming back to the show on tour compares to doing Wicked on Broadway. “The chance to get to do the show in different cities has an effect on it as well. You learn that people in different cities are going to react differently, and that makes it exciting.”

Massey came out with a moving “It Gets Better” video because the Arkansas-born actor wanted kids to know that he came from the same background and now he’s on Broadway. “It’s a disservice to the younger generation not to speak up. What motivated me to make mine was to make it for young gay theater kids.”

Having played the lead of Altar Boyz and now the romantic lead in every tween girl’s favorite musical Wicked has made Massey a teen idol. I asked him which show had the bigger groupies, and he responded that the “Altarholics” were more interested in the performers, while Wicked’s fans are more focused on the show itself. “People get very nervous at the stage door. They’ll ask to take a picture and you can literally see them shaking. That’s the great thing about theater, you can wait by the stage door and meet whoever you want, right after you’ve seen them on stage.”

Asked for the reason for Wicked’s popularity in the LGBT community, Massey replied, “Not to stereotype, but it’s based on The Wizard of Oz. What little gay boy wasn’t obsessed with that movie... I mean, come on,” he said laughing. "The music is very accessible and it’s just spectacular. It just hits on every level. Gay audience, straight audience, there’s something in there for everyone.”

“People identify very closely with one or the other girls, or even my character, who’s changed for the better. It’s just about allowing yourself to be different and how “different can be good” and how you have to look past some things in order to figure out what you think is best or good, or right or wrong.”

“Fiyero is a Winkie prince, and he’s always compared to JFK Jr. He’s royalty and he’s kind of a playboy. Everyone knows who he is, like the male version of a Kardashian. He’s just famous for being famous. He hasn’t done anything and isn’t motivated, he’s always had the means to make people do what he wants. He meets Elphaba and he is so intrigued that he doesn’t “work” on her, that his tricks don’t work on her, and so consequently, he listens to her and learns from her and by the end, he realizes that he wants more than just getting everything he wants, he wants to do good.”

“That show was certainly not smooth sailing,” Massey admitted about Lucky Guy, where Varla Jean Merman played a conniving country star and Leslie Jordan was her partner. “But Jeffrey (Roberson, Varla Jean's alter ego) and Leslie were serious pros. They are both so talented and they brought so much to the table. Leslie was constantly telling stories and I was thinking “You’ve got to be kidding. You’ve got to write a book!” I got to have a lot of fun scenes with Varla. She tried to seduce me, it was just campy and over-the-top and we got to have a good time.”

Xanadu, starring Cheyenne Jackson, was another highlight for Massey, who played a roller-skating muse. “That show was so fun, it was really like the little show that could. No one thought the show was going to run, and here we were getting Drama Desk and Tony Award nominations and appearing on all the morning shows. I don’t think that I’ve had more fun on a show ever.”

Tempe audiences will be the last to see Massey in Wicked, for now. Gammage is his last stop on the tour, but you can also see him on an upcoming episode of the CW show Heart of Dixie, where he plays a stripper who drives a party bus.

When told about Arizona Governor Janice Brewer’s “tiff on the tarmac” with President Obama, the photo of which has been photo-shopped to make Brewer into the Wicked Witch of the West, I asked Massey if all witches are redeemable or just Elphaba. “Well, Glinda is the one who’s redeemable, because Elphaba was always good. Some people, you can’t. Some people are too far gone, that’s for sure,” he said, laughing.

The Wicked tour is now playing through March 11 at ASU Gammage in Tempe, Arizona. For more information on these and future tour dates, visit the official Wicked website.

Interview by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Reel Thoughts Interview: One Day in Sedona

When you attend the Q & A with esteemed director Peter Bogdanovich at this year’s Sedona Film Festival, the moderator may look familiar to TV fans. Glenn Scarpelli, the Sedona-based entrepreneur who owns the Sedona NOW station in the scenic Red Rock community, is the same guy who starred as Alex in the latter seasons of the hit sitcom, One Day at a Time (dust off your Tiger Beat magazines if you don’t believe me). He went on to play Audrey Hepburn’s son in Bogdanovich’s 1981 film They All Laughed, which will screen at the Festival. Scarpelli also famously came out of the closet in 2005 in a VH1 countdown show of Awesome Child Stars after having left acting at eighteen to avoid living a double life.

I reached Scarpelli in Los Angeles and he related his latest news, and why you shouldn’t hesitate to say hello when you see him.

NC: First things first, thank you for coming out publicly. It is so cool to learn that the kid from One Day at a Time owns a TV station with his husband in Sedona! I understand you have another business that Movie Dearest readers would like to check out. Tell me about Green Love Lube, how it came about and something funny about the journey bringing it to market.

GS: It seems it's time for a catch up. (My husband) Jude (Belanger) and I are in the process of a divorce after 14 years. We are still great friends and still own the TV station together but we have grown apart on a personal level. We were legally married in California before the whole Prop 8 debacle and now have to get legally divorced. I am still a great supporter of LGBT rights and Marriage Equality, but one thing we need to know in our community is "Marriage Equality" can also mean "Divorce Equality". All's fair in love and war. I have been the type to always remain friends with my exes and Jude is no exception. We've shared so much and no one can ever take that away from us! We will always love each other but I am embracing the single life again... and loving it!

Having said all of that, Green Love Lube has been absorbed by a larger company and is now branded as Aloe Cadabra. We loved being on the ground floor of creating an organic Aloe Vera based personal lubricant and enjoyed all the 'testing" of the product along the way... (Laughing)

NC: In They All Laughed you played Audrey Hepburn's son, were directed by Peter Bogdanovich and worked with Ben Gazzara, John Ritter and Dorothy Stratten. What was the experience like for you? How did Dorothy Stratten's tragic murder affect you and your costars on the film?

GS: I am so excited that Patrick Schweiss has invited They All Laughed to be screened at this year's Sedona International Film Festival with Peter Bogdanovich joining us as recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Shooting that film was certainly one of the greatest experiences of my life. Working with the names you mentioned holds a place of deep gratitude in my heart. When we wrapped on the film, Audrey gave me a present: tapes of her favorite classical music. She really introduced me to an appreciation of such pieces. Her note said, "To my only movie son". I am thrilled to have held that title. Audrey never played a mom in any other feature film.

We also lost John a few years back, but nothing was as sad and shocking as the horrific murder of Dorothy Stratten three weeks after we wrapped. I, along with the entire company, was distraught. She was the sweetest person with such a vital and successful career to look forward to. I don't even know how Peter edited the film after that. Her death created an ominous energy to this lighthearted comedy. I wonder what this film would have been had Dorothy lived. I guess we'll never know.

NC: A lot of people grew up with One Day at a Time, It made you a Tiger Beat idol and you released an album. What was it like, and how did knowing you were gay temper your success?

GS: When I was cast on One Day at a Time it felt like I won the lottery. The show had been on the air five years (it ran a total of nine) and I was a huge fan. Being able to go to work day in and day out on the set of such a great sitcom was a dream! Yes, there were the teen mags and teen idol stuff that came with it but as girls "swooned" all I could think was: “Do any of you have cute brothers?” (Laughing)

I had never been with a guy at that point but for sure knew that day would be apparent. At 18 (shortly after the show ended) I fell madly in love with Gary Scalzo, a talent manager from New York City. I was in no way, shape or form going to lie about who I was just for my career. Back in those days (the 80's) being an "out" actor just didn't happen. So I left acting officially, moved back to New York and wet to NYU Film School. So basically I left my thriving career because I was gay. I refused to play the games. I was out in my personal life for decades before I came out publicly on VH1 in 2005. I'm so happy to live a free and honest life. If anyone out there is afraid to 'come out', don't be. Do it! It's a true expression of our self love, and we deserve it!

Lately I have been throwing my hat back in the ring regarding acting and just shot a comedy pilot for Comedy Central called The Gregory Brothers. I'll let you know if it gets picked up. I'm just so thrilled I can be out and an actor! Times are changing and I like what I see.

NC: You own Sedona Now Network and live amongst the Red Rocks. What inspires you both about the town and the people that live there? Why start a TV station? What causes are you passionate about?

GS: My first partner died of AIDS in 1992. I nursed him until his last breath. I was 26. The week after his passing I moved to Sedona for the first time! Sedona nurtured me during a very tough time of mourning. Sedona has played a very important role in my life through the years. It offers me centering, healing, peace and rejuvenation.

I have been back and forth between LA and Sedona for two decades. I officially moved to Sedona with Jude in 1999. I wasn't sure what I would do for a career. It's not like there's a lot of TV jobs available. So I decided to create one for myself. Sedona NOW TV, Channel 18 in Sedona, first aired on April 4, 2002. We will have been on the air 10 years this April. I'm very proud of the station and the work we do. I'm also very proud to have been a Sedona Internationall Film Festival Media Sponsor for a full decade. The station has also been nominated for four Rocky Mountain Emmys for our documentary work and one for me as interviewer (interviewing Nick Nolte at a Film Festival Event).

I (and the station) have always been very supportive of Equality Arizona (I emceed their Gala a few years back) and the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS in Phoenix (I have emceed their Night for Life gala too). Two amazing organizations that Arizona should be very proud of.

NC: I think people will be surprised to know that you started your career as a child on Broadway with Anne Bancroft and then Al Pacino before One Day at a Time, and that you have also stayed close with Bonnie Franklin, your "Mom". Who really affected your life the most among the people, Peter Bogdanovich included, with whom you worked?

GS: Working on Broadway with Anne Bancroft in Golda (directed by the late great Arthur Penn) and then with Al Pacino in Shakespeare's Richard III were beyond anything I could have dreamed of. Golda was my Broadway debut at age nine. I look back and see how the universe was putting me through acting school by giving me the opportunity to work with the industry's greats. I carry to this day lessons of professionalism I learned from these legends. No college course could ever teach me more. I also had the pleasure of working not only with Peter but Martin Scorsese as well. He directed me in an episode of an NBC anthology series called Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories. He taught me to never underestimate your audience. He said that audiences are very smart and subtleties go a long way. I've never forgotten that.

And yes, Bonnie! She has been a close friend and adopted family member for over thirty years. The One Day at a Time creative work experience was special. Bonnie and the cast were very much a part of the writing and re-writing of each episode. Bonnie really took the lead responsibilities. She included me, even at age fourteen, to partake in these writers meetings. She said, "I want you to come in with notes about Alex" (my character). She said, "Even if you don't know what to say keep asking yourself the question: would Alex do these things and why?" I learned so much from those writers meetings. I am forever grateful to Bonnie for that. By the way, Mackenzie Phillips will be at this year's Film Festival too.

NC: How has time treated They All Laughed? I didn't know that Wes Anderson led the commentary with Peter Bogdanovich for the film's DVD release. Can you give us a sneak peek of something you'll talk about when you do the Q & A with Mr. Bogdanovich at the Festival?

GS: They All Laughed, which didn't do much box office 30 years ago, has certainly gained legs over time. Funny story: I was at the TV Land Awards back in 2006-ish and Quentin Tarantino was also a presenter. I am a huge fan so I went over to him to introduce myself. I said, "Mr. Tarantino, my name is Glenn Scarpelli". He stopped and looked at me and said, "Glenn Scarpelli from They All Laughed?" I was friggin floored. What? No way! He then explained that They All Laughed was one of the main reasons he is a director today. Peter is his idol. He studied that film and even did an homage to it in Kill Bill: Vol. 2. I was blown away.

I've been getting a lot of that lately about this film. Peter has said that it certainly is his most personal piece and favorite movie he ever made. Again I am so happy to have been a part of it. The Sedona International Film Festival will also be screening the 40th Anniversary of The Last Picture Show on Saturday, February 18th followed by Peter's Lifetime Achievement award. They All Laughed will be screened on Sunday, February 19th followed be a Bogdanovich Q & A which I will moderate. We will discuss of course Audrey Hepburn! I know it was a dream of Peter's to have directed her. We will also discuss some of the unique ways the film was shot. For instance, there is a whole sequence shot on New York's 5th Ave that involved hidden cameras and all natural background talent. No extras! How Peter pulled this off was remarkable.

NC: What was the most challenging thing about deciding to come out? Were your parents and family supportive, or did that contribute to your decision to stay in the closet? Knowing what you went through, how do you feel about what kids are going through today, trying to come out and sometimes being bullied?

GS: I have already addressed some of my "coming out stuff" but let me say in regards to bullying. We must always walk our truth and be kind and loving to ourselves. We don't need any one else's approval or opinions about who we are! It's true that when I came out to my family it certainly was a journey, specifically with my parents, but over time they came to understand and accept me. They have shown their love for me over the years and I'm grateful for that. As the campaign says, it does get better.

But I think the most important lesson in coming out is to have self acceptance, self awareness and self love. It's really not about anyone else. We, in the LGBT community, deserve happy, fulfilled and passionate lives. We are loved, no matter what books or Dogma might say. We are loved! We can be beacons of light to help wake up those around us that carry ignorance and fear, but coming out is something we do for ourselves. Remember, the truth sets us free. I am so happy to have shared my truth today with all of you! If any of you make it to the Sedona International Film Festival, make sure you find me and say "hi". Especially if you’re cute and single... (Laughing)

The Sedona International Film Festival celebrates its 18th birthday on February 18th, so it is safe to say that it is finally legal. This year features over 145 films, documentaries and animated films, some of which specifically address LGBT issues, and many others that are just amazing films that the LGBT community will also love. For more information, visit their website.

Interview by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.