Skip to main content

Oscar Success Stories: Gary Oldman, James Ivory and Roger Deakins



Was watching Oscar yesterday. Noticed two lovely things in particular which gladdened my heart. You see, this wasn't first Oscar just for beloved Gary but two more renowned Hollywood perfectionists. Best Adapted Screenplay award went to James Ivory who has been writing and directing films for eternity now. Under the Aegis of fabled Merchant-Ivory Productions of whose he was one part, he gave us memorable gems in form of 'A Room With A View', 'Howard's End', 'Remains of the Day'. Ismail Merchant, his closest friend, didn't win the Oscar as well although all of these above mentioned film of theirs scored tons of nominations. However, their favorite writer, Ruth Pravar Jhabwella, did win the Oscar for them (for Remains of the Day). James Ivory, a man in his late 80s, received a thunderous applause and standing ovation from Oscar crowd. He remembered both Jhabwella and Merchant and that was heart-touching. It was his fourth nomination and although there was a strong possibility he couldn't win his Oscar (considering the competition), Hollywood through its appreciation of his craft made his evening special. Lovely stuff!!

The second fairy tale ended when Roger Deakins, a whopping 14 time Oscar Nominee (yes, you read that right, 14 times) won his Oscar for Blade Runner 2049 in the best cinematography category. Now this guy is creating blinding visuals for us for last 30 years and his groundbreaking work in Blade Runner 2049 finally brought him the coveted trophy. They say dreams do come true but how, 90th Oscar told us perfectly.


And we have talked enough of Gary, so let's leave it at there (although it could have been his 7th Oscar win, or at least the nomination).

A royal three fingers salute to the craftsmanship of these three legendary motion picture icons....

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

P.S. Hoffman & Joaquin Phoenix: The Master

My infatuation with the movies is well known but my involvement with the actors and their characters is even more heartwarming. There are innumerable movies that I saw simply because they featured my favorite actors, however they themselves were not great. Examples could be infinite, however for the sake of this article I'll have to produce something here. Anger Management for Jack Nicholson (boy, isn't he a legend?), Swing Vote for Kevin Costner, Snatch for Brad Pitt, Legends of the Fall (Brad Pitt), Leon: The Professional, Immortal Beloved, Bram Stroker's Dracula, State of Grace & Prick up your ears; all for Gary Oldman (mind you, he is a chameleon). Meanwhile, I started accumulating some of the finest performances by some of the legendary actors of all time. Very recently, as anyone who follows me regularly knows, I grew very much fond of the craft and artistry of Daniel Day-Lewis. He is a fine, fine actor whose study and impersonation of a character is often pictur...
Post a Comment
Read more

BBC's India's Daughter: An Indian Response

I assume you all have watched BBC's Documentary on Nirbhaya a.k.a Jyoti Singh (I don't know whether I'm legally entitled to speak up her name publicly in India or not, but let's take the risk). It goes by the name 'India's Daughter' in India, but at the same time, it's banned here. Though it was released way back on 4th March and I downloaded it right away on the very next day for my relatives but only yesterday, I got to watch it and that's only because Meryl Streep vouched for it for an elusive 'Oscars Nomination'. That's not to say that I was skeptical of its content or plot but somewhere I was afraid that I couldn't quite grasp its central idea. So let me tell you that if you are a parent or a certain male chauvinist, you can certainly do away with a strong stomach for it will certainly test your strength of character. Awaneendra who was accompanying Jyoti that fateful night, was when asked later to comment on this documentary, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Film Essay: Room (2015)

This is an appreciation post for Oscars Best Feature Film Nominee, the number 7th, Room (2016). Every once in a while in English-speaking world, a courageous director comes up with an audacious project that blows your mind away and you just couldn't fathom what you really experienced. These words might sound hollow if I am going to describe the authenticity of Room (2015). Whatever I shall be writing hereafter shall in no way do justice to the brilliance of this movie and I cannot possibly come up with any more adjectives to ornament it for they all would fall short. So let me narrate you the experiences of my fellow colleagues who are more popular, widely read and certainly more accomplished than me: Rotten Tomatoes: Led by incredible work from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, Room makes for an unforgettably harrowing – and undeniably rewarding – experience. Richard Roeper (Chicago Sun-Times) : The most impressive piece of filmmaking I've seen in 2015, and one of the best...
Post a Comment
Read more