Editorial: On Classic Hollywood and Historical Perspective

Posted on April 27, 2019 by gary loggins

TRIGGER WARNING: Tonight’s post has been cancelled so I can present the following editorial. All views expressed are mine alone. Not all of you will agree with me. If you’re too sensitive, please just keep it moving. For the rest of you, read on…

*sigh* I shouldn’t even have to be writing this.

The New York Yankees baseball team have stopped playing Kate Smith’s immortal “God Bless America” at their games. Hockey’s Philadelphia Flyers have followed suit, and Philly’s Wells Fargo Arena has gone so far as to remove a statue of Ms. Smith from the premises. Meanwhile, at Kentucky’s Bowling Green University, plans are afoot to rename the Gish Sisters Movie Theater, named after pioneering film stars Lillian and Dorothy Gish.

What’s going on here, you may well ask?

Let’s start with the venerable Kate Smith. For those of you unfamiliar, Kate Smith was a popular songstress whose…

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The African-American Film Critics Association Honors Moonlight

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Moonlight picked up yet another precursor victory today when the African-American Film Critics Association named it the best film of 2016!

Check out all of the AAFCA awards below:

BEST PICTURE – MOONLIGHT – (A24)

BEST DIRECTOR – BARRY JENKINS, MOONLIGHT – (A24)

BEST ACTOR – DENZEL WASHINGTON, FENCES– (Paramount)

BEST ACTRESS – RUTH NEGGA, LOVING – (Focus Features)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – MAHERSHALA ALI, MOONLIGHT – (A24)

BEST ENSEMBLE – THE CAST OF HIDDEN FIGURES (20TH Century Fox)

BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE 2017 – JANELLE MONAE, MOONLIGHT AND HIDDEN FIGURES

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM – MOONLIGHT (A24)

BEST ANIMATION FILM – ZOOTOPIA (Disney)

BEST SONG – “VICTORY” from HIDDEN FIGURES (20th Century Fox)

BEST DOCUMENTARY – 13TH (Netflix)

BEST FOREIGN FILM – TANNA (Lightyear Entertainment)

BEST SCREENPLAY – AUGUST WILSON, FENCES – (Paramount)

AAFCA Top 10 Films of 2016 in Order of Distinction

1. “Moonlight”
2. “Fences”
3. “Hidden Figures”
4. “Lion”
5. “La La Land”
6. “Birth of a Nation”
7. “Loving”
8. “Manchester by the Sea”
9. “Hell or High Water”
10. “Queen of Katwe”

The Second Annual Academy Awards: 1915

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Jedadiah Leland

Continuing to reimagine Oscar history one year at a time, LMB and I take a look at what 1915 could have been.

Through the Shattered Lens Presents The Oscars

John Wilkes Booth (Raoul Walsh) flees after shooting Abraham Lincoln in D.W. Griffith’s Birth Of A Nation

The second annual Academy Awards were handed out on January 20th, 1916. For the second and final time, the ceremony took place in the Empire Room of the Waldorf Hotel in New York City. Just as in the previous year, the awards were handed out after dinner and a speech from Academy President Mack Sennett. Again, the winners were announced before the actual ceremony and were given certificates of achievement. According to contemporary reports, the winners who were present all gave brief acceptance speeches but nobody bothered to record what anyone said.

As in the previous year, winners were selected by a jury of distinguished citizens. The 1915 jury consisted of: