Douglas Howe: January 2008 Archives

I love movies, music, books, blogs and just about anything in our culture that helps us be inspired to consider deeper meanings and messages in life. However, I'm getting confused lately at the new line-up of TV stars, which includes the likes of Obama, Hillary, McCain, Romney, and Huckabee.

A growing amount of television time in the morning, noon, afternoon, prime-time and late night used to be news but is now a kind of “newstainment.” I think some of these “news” reporters are acting more like television critics or entertainment reporters, and it’s showing, as they spend more time reviewing the TV appeal of the candidates than on their stands on the issues.

More and more, Barack Obama and John McCain have been praised in the media and considered “presidential” not as much for their political stances (which would be a matter for our Beliefnet political blogs) but rather for how well they’ve done on television. NBC’s Tim Russert and CNN’s Wolf Blitzer have both recently made strong comments about how much John McCain seems the inevitable nominee for President because he has appeared so “Presidential,” based on his strong ability to read a teleprompter.

There was a time—especially back in the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s, where Westerns made up a large portion of a year’s annual movies. From Roy Rogers to John Wayne to Clint Eastwood, from the days of cowboys-and-Indians to the towns of the spaghetti westerns, generations were enthralled and inspired.

But recently, well-done Westerns are few and far between. In celebration of the Western—an in acknowledgment to “No Country For Old Men” having so many Oscar nods—we present our list of the Top Ten Most Inspiring Westerns of the last 30 years:

10. “Unforgiven” (1992), with Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris. “Unforgiven” was beautiful, well-done and deep. It was a western-with-a-conscience, almost the anti-western. Its tragic ending and enduring questions made it wonderful for Oscar and inspiring in a bitter-sweet way.

9. “Dances With Wolves” (1990), with Kevin Costner, Mary McConnell and Graham Greene. Beautiful, enduring and Oscar-worthy, Costner’s redemptive tale somehow made a hero of a guy guilty of abandonment and treason. Some saw the hero-turning-Indian a farce, while others were deeply touched to see individual convictions rise above the mentality of the mob.

8. “Maverick” (1994), with Mel Gibson, James Garner, Jodie Foster. This was perhaps the most feel-good Western of the era, with even the bad guys seeming like good guys. But it sure makes for enjoyable watching, is family-friendly, and has a redemptive quality in its treatment of friends, romance and, in the end, family.

Did the Oscars just happen?

If you weren't watching, you might have missed it last night! There was the red carpet. Stars showed up. They wore designer clothes and had their hair done. All of the entertainment networks covered it. Almost no stars skipped it. It was everything Oscar usually is except for the extra long show, variety numbers, and celebrity host. Not a bad combination.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards had its most prolific ceremony in its history last night. And oh how lovely it was! As Julie Christie proclaimed, "how nice it is to receive an award from your own union!"

Ruby Dee won as Best Supporting Actress, beating a wonderful and talented field, all having done amazing jobs in their films. It was her first nomination (for "American Gangster") and it showed that the actors respected her work—not because she was African-American, or because her movie was African-American themed. Working with "Denzel…Cuba Gooding, Jr…. Roger Smith, Russell Crowe…Ridley Scott,…and so many in the company…" She was so gracious, and the crowd was with her. Her fellow actors stood to applaud her not because of her race or her creed or her popularity with the media, but because of her performance, which is how it's supposed to be.

No Jack Nicholson? No Angelina Jolle? No Denzel Washington, for either of his movies? And, possibly no Awards ceremony? What is the entertainment world coming to? Maybe, at least for one year, Oscar is growing up.

Welcome to the intrigue and interesting-ness of the 80th Annual Academy Awards, to be held February 24 at The Kodak Theatre. Of course, that schedule assumes that the writers’ strike will end or that a waiver will be granted to save the show. The nominations were announced this morning.

"Atonement," "Juno, " "Michael Clayton, "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" are the nominees for Best Picture. In another year, with perhaps less controversy existing in other cultural arenas, I think there’d be more chat about why two major African-American themed movies-- “The Great Debaters” and “American Gangster”-- were overlooked for Best Picture as well as the major acting categories. But given the looming writers strike, as well as the stock market drop and the presidential race, this issue may go quietly into the night this year.

I, for one, loved last night’s Golden Globes’ Awards presentation, even while everyone from entertainment television to fashion designers to hair stylists did not. The press conference style of handing out the awards was a wonderful change from the overdone hype we are usually subjected to.

“Authenticity” and “Simplicity” are two of my favorite spiritual characteristics, and this ceremony had both. In striking a vague resemblance to the inaugural Academy Awards ceremony which took less than an hour, this was a straight-forward event that wasn’t about hair, or fashion, or publicity, or a carpet.

It was, instead, a simple event that honored the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s choices for “Best” in several categories. There was no pre-show, show, critique of the show or after-parties. The only event was the event itself: nominees were announced, their work was shown in clips and the winners were announced.

And, afterwards, the only thing left for E-commentators and TV critics to debate was the choices themselves and their subsequent bearing on the upcoming Academy Awards.

The 2008 Golden Globes ceremony was the most authentic and simple expression of straightforward accolades that I’ve seen in a long time, and I hope the Academy follows suit. Perhaps it could even be a new trend, making it more about the films and less about the fashion and the hair. Maybe, like that first time back in 1929, they could just invite all of the nominees to dinner and then, as peers, hand out their awards to each other without the compulsory dance numbers, commercial interruptions and other bits that take the show into the wee hours of the morning.

The Holidays are over, but there’s still time to see one of the better holiday movies. And, it’s actually more relevant now (at the start of the new year) than it was over the holidays. The plot of "The Bucket...