RACISM IN AMERICA - The Latest Against Asian Americans

"Asian American community battles surge in hate crimes stirred from COVID-19" PBS NewsHour 3/16/2021

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SUMMARY:  As the U.S. continues its battle against COVID-19, it is also battling a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans.  A recent report found that hate crimes against Asian Americans in major U.S. cities surged by nearly 150 percent in 2020 —even as the number of overall hate crimes fell.  Stephanie Sy looks at how the violence has marred one community, and how they are coming together in its wake.

 

 

"Actress Margaret Cho on why racism is a ‘deep well of shame’ for some Asian Americans" PBS NewsHour 3/20/2021

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SUMMARY:  For more on the history of and recent rise in anti-Asian American racism and hate crimes, Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy & Grammy-nominated comedian and actress Margaret Cho joins Hari Sreenivasan.  She speaks about her own family’s experience with racism in America, the model minority myth, and the way Asians are perceived in America.

2020 OSCARS - Best Picture

"What best picture Oscar for ‘Parasite’ means for foreign films" PBS NewsHour 2/10/2020

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SUMMARY:  Questions of diversity and inclusion among nominees still lingered at the Oscars on Sunday night -- but still, the Academy’s choice for the best picture of the year, “Parasite,” was a big deal.  Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times joins Amna Nawaz to discuss the significance of that pick, the first non-English language film to receive the honor, for Asian Americans in the entertainment industry.

OSCARS - 'Free Solo'

"The creators of ‘Free Solo’ on the daily ‘burden’ of their risky project" PBS NewsHour 3/5/2019

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SUMMARY:  Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi created the film “Free Solo,” which won the award for best documentary at the Oscars.  The film chronicles free climber Alex Honnold, who scales without ropes in Yosemite National Park.  Chin and Vasarhelyi discuss what it was like to work on a project where every day of filming occurred on the brink of death.

OSCARS - Best Picture 'Green Book' Complaints

"Why these 2 film critics think ‘Green Book’ complaints are ‘overloaded’" PBS NewsHour 2/25/2019

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SUMMARY:  The 91st Academy Awards represented an opportunity to celebrate cinematic triumphs and the racial and ethnic diversity of winners, but they weren't without controversy.  Amna Nawaz talks to Mike Sargent chief film critic of WBAI Radio, and Ann Hornaday chief film critic for The Washington Post, about the absence of an Oscars host, whether the right nominees won and how the event should evolve.

Green Book - Official Trailer

OSCARS - Regina King, 'If Beale Street Could Talk' Best Actress

"Oscar nominee Regina King says ‘Beale Street’ a reminder of black resilience" PBS NewsHour 2/15/2019

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SUMMARY:  Set in New York City in the 1970s, “If Beale Street Could Talk” is the film adaptation of a James Baldwin novel about Tish and Fonny, a devoted young couple almost torn apart by racism and wrongful imprisonment.  Jeffrey Brown sits down with actress Regina King to discuss her Oscar-nominated performance as Tish's mother in the film, pledging to work with women and the hardest thing about parenting.

OSCARS - 'Black Panther' Nominated Costume Designer

"How ‘Black Panther’ costume designer found inspiration worthy of a superhero" PBS NewsHour 2/13/2019

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SUMMARY:  When it comes to movies, we tend to focus on actors and directors.  But many other factors help determine whether a film resonates with audiences.  In commercial and critical blockbuster “Black Panther,” for example, superhero suits recall actual African heritage.  Jeffrey Brown talks to Ruth Carter, the movie’s Oscar-nominated Costume Designer, about finding inspiration and serving as an example.

OSCARS - 'Vice' Nomination

"Oscar-nominated ‘Vice’ is a character study on the quest for power" PBS NewsHour 2/11/2019

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SUMMARY:  Part comedy, part tragedy, the Oscar-nominated movie "Vice" is all raw politics.  The film paints a portrait of former Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne.  Jeffrey Brown sits down with director Adam McKay and star Amy Adams to discuss how they approached portraying the couple and how the film fits into the current political climate.

'Vice' Official Trailer (2018)

OSCARS 2018 - My Favorites

"The Shape of Water"
Best Picture




"Blade Runner 2049"
Best cinematography - Roger Deakins
Best visual effects - John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover




The classic "Blade Runner" (1982)
Which I love.

DOCUMENTARY - "Abacus: Small Enough to Jail"

"Documentary tells tiny bank’s David vs. Goliath story in 2008 financial crisis aftermath" PBS NewsHour 2/22/2018

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SUMMARY:  Only one bank was indicted in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, and it was a very small one.  The Oscar-nominated documentary "Abacus: Small Enough to Jail" tells the story of its prosecution for mortgage fraud and its ultimate acquittal.  Jeffrey Brown talks with director Steve James.

Official Trailer

SYRIA - 'The White Helmets' Oscar Winning Documentary Short

"Out of Syria's devastation, 'The White Helmets' offer moments of hope" PBS NewsHour 2/23/2017

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SUMMARY:  The daily destruction of Syria's civil war is at once shocking and now strangely familiar.  The Oscar-nominated documentary short “The White Helmets” aims to get beyond the numbness of the conflict by showing real first responders working to rescue victims from the ongoing assault on cities like Aleppo.  Jeffrey Brown talks with the film's director and producer.

ORLANDO VON EINSIEDEL, Director, “The White Helmets”:  What we found most extraordinary was who the rescue workers were, this group of everyday Syrian civilians who had decided not to pick up a gun, had decided not to leave Syria, and instead had decided to stay and every day risk their lives to save their fellow citizens.

And they’re builders, tailors, bakers, just normal people.  They’re truly real-life heroes.

BEYOND THE RED CARPET - "A United Kingdom"

"Why actor David Oyelowo made sure this love story became a movie" PBS NewsHour 2/17/2017

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SUMMARY:  In "A United Kingdom," a prince from southern Africa proposes to a British woman in late 1940s London.  Not only does race make the relationship fraught, but their marriage will have international consequences.  Jeffrey Brown sits down with actor and producer David Oyelowo to discuss the true, historical love story that got caught up in Colonial-era politics.

DAVID OYELOWO, Actor:  I'm not asking for an answer this very second.  All I ask of you is that you go away and think about it.

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  In 1947 London, Seretse Khama, played by David Oyelowo, proposes to Ruth Williams, played by actress Rosamund Pike.

ROSAMUND PIKE, Actress:  I know what you're asking.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.

JEFFREY BROWN:  Their races make the relationship fraught.  But there's more:  He is a prince in his tribe in Southern Africa expected to return to lead his people, and their marriage will have international consequences.

“A United Kingdom” is based on a true story, and it was Oyelowo who first learned of it in a book titled “Color Bar” by Susan Williams.  More than just the film's star, he was the producer who brought director Amma Asante and others into the project.

DAVID OYELOWO:  What was indisputable to me was the power of the love between these two people, and it was that very thing that helped them overcome so many of these insurmountable obstacles and odds that they faced.

And, you know, as someone who is a real believer in love myself, and I mean, love in the truest sense, not movie love.  I'm talking about the unglamorous stuff of sacrifice, of courage.

JEFFREY BROWN:  I must say this film has movie love, because it's love at first sight almost, right?

DAVID OYELOWO:  But, you see, the thing about that is that we even have a name for it, the meet-cute.  You know, we have turned it into something that is so fantastical and so inaccessible that it has become fairy tale-like.

But, actually, what can happen — it doesn't happen every day, admittedly — is that two people see beyond their race, see beyond their cultural differences and their national differences.  And they just — two souls meet.

We should be fighting for equality.  That is where we should be focusing our minds, not on the wife I have chosen, who means you no harm.

"A United Kingdom" Official Trailer #1 (2016)

BEYOND THE RED CARPET - "I Am Not Your Negro"

"Oscar-nominated film brings the prophecy of James Baldwin into today's world" PBS NewsHour 2/3/2017

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SUMMARY:  James Baldwin was one of the nation's most prominent novelists, social critics and civil rights activists of the 20th century.  Now his critiques of racism and segregation are the subject of a new Oscar-nominated documentary titled, “I Am Not Your Negro.”  Jeffrey Brown sits down with director Raoul Peck to discuss his tribute to a man he sees as a civil rights prophet.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Next, James Baldwin was one of the nation's most prominent authors, public speakers, social critics and civil rights activists.

A new Oscar-nominated documentary opening today explores his life and legacy.

Jeffrey Brown has our look.  It's part of our series Beyond the Red Carpet.

And a warning:  It contains offensive language.

JAMES BALDWIN, Author/Civil Rights Activist:  There are days — this is one of them — when you wonder what your role is in this country and what your future is in it.

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  His words never really went away, but the writer James Baldwin, speaking here on public television in 1963, feels as relevant as ever.

JAMES BALDWIN:  I'm terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart, which is happening in my country.  These people have deluded themselves for so long, that they really don't think I'm human.

NARRATOR:  “The story of the Negro in America is the story of America.  It is not a pretty story.”

JEFFREY BROWN:  The clip is from a new documentary that draws a portrait of the artist, though not as a traditional film biography, and of the fractured and racially divided world he shone a searing light on.

NARRATOR:  “I was free only in battle, but never free to rest.”

JEFFREY BROWN:  It's called “I Am Not Your Negro.”

RAOUL PECK, Director, “I Am Not Your Negro”:  James Baldwin is probably, for me and for many other people, one of the most extraordinary authors in this country, black or white.  And he is somebody who changed my life.

ARTS - At the Oscars 2016

"‘The Revenant,' ‘Mad Max' win big at Oscars" by Corinne Segal, PBS NewsHour 2/28/2016

Leonardo DiCaprio and Alejandro G. Inarritu pose with their Oscars earned for “The Revenant.” Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters

Leonardo DiCaprio took home his first Oscar Sunday for his role in “The Revenant” after five previous nominations.

DiCaprio used his acceptance speech to call for action on climate change.  “Climate change is real, it is happening right now, it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together to stop procrastinating,” he said.

“The Revenant” director Alejandro González Iñárritu also took home the award for Best Director, his second year in a row to win the award after winning last year for “Birdman.”  He is the first director in 65 years to win the Best Director award two years in a row.

“Mad Max: Fury Road,” the story of a road warrior fighting to survive in a dystopian wasteland, took home most of the 10 awards for which it was nominated.  George Miller's fourth installment of the “Mad Max” franchise won a large portion of the production awards, including Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing.

“Spotlight,” a movie about the Boston Globe's investigation of sex abuse within the Catholic Church,” won for Best Picture in a field packed with eight nominees.

In between the award presentations, Host Chris Rock kept the focus on the Oscars' lack of diversity, which drew criticism after no non-white actors were nominated in the acting categories last month.  In his opening monologue, he called the ceremony the “White People's Choice Awards” and called for more opportunities for black actors.  “We want black actors to get the same opportunities as white actors,” he said.

Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy, echoed that message in a statement mid-ceremony.  “Everyone in the Hollywood community has a role to play in bringing in the vital changes the industry needs so we can accurately reflect the world today,” she said.

Read the full list of winners in bold below:

Best Picture
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

Best Director
Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Adam McKay, The Big Short
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Lenny Abrahamson, Room

Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Matt Damon, The Martian

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

Best Supporting Actress
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Best Adapted Screenplay
Drew Goddard, The Martian
Nick Hornby, Brooklyn
Adam McKay and Charles Randolph, The Big Short
Phyllis Nagy, Carol
Emma Donoghue, Room

Best Original Screenplay
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, Spotlight
Matt Charman, Joel & Ethan Coen, Bridge of Spies
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley, Ronnie del Carmin Inside Out
Alex Garland, Ex Machina
Andrea Berloff, Jonathan Herman, S. Leigh Savidge, Alan Wenkus, Andrea Berloff, Straight Outta Compton

Best Foreign Language Film
Son of Saul (Hungary)
Mustang (France)
A War (Denmark)
Embrace the Serpent (Colombia)
Theeb (Jordan)

Best Documentary Feature
Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

Best Animated Feature
Inside Out
Anomalisa
Shaun of the Sheep
When Marnie Was There
Boy and the World

Best Film Editing
Hank Corwin, The Big Short
Jason Ballantine and Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road
Stephen Mirrione, The Revenant
Tom McArdle, Spotlight
Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Original Song
“Earned It” from Fifty Shades of Grey
Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio
“Manta Ray” from Racing Extinction
Music by J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty
“Simple Song #3” from Youth
Music and Lyric by David Lang
“Til It Happens To You” from The Hunting Ground
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga
“Writing's On The Wall” from Spectre
Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith

Best Original Score
The Hateful Eight
Carol
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Bridge of Spies

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant
Edward Lachman, Carol
Robert Richardson, The Hateful Eight
Roger Deakins, Sicario
John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Costume Design
Sandy Powell, Carol
Sandy Powell, Cinderella
Paco Delgado, The Danish Girl
Jenny Beavan, Mad Max: Fury Road
Jacqueline West, The Revenant

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared

Best Production Design
Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Sound Editing
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Sound Mixing
Benjamin A. Burtt, Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Ben Osmo, Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff, Mad Max: Fury Road
Mac Ruth, Paul Massey, Mark Taylor, The Martian
Chris Duesterdiek, Frank A. Montaño, Jon Taylor, Randy Thom, The Revenant
Drew Kunin, Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Bridge of Spies

Best Visual Effects
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Short Film, Live Action
Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont, Ave Maria (Incognito Films)
Henry Hughes, Day One (American Film Institute)
Jamie Donoughue, Shok (Eagle Eye Films)
Benjamin Cleary, Stutterer (Bare Golly Films)
Everything Will Be Okay

Best Short Film, Animated
Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay's Super Team
We Can't Live Without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow Tomorrow

Best Documentary, Short Subject
Body Team 12, David Darg and Bryn Mooser
Chau, beyond the Lines, Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah, Adam Benzine
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Last Day of Freedom, Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman

THE OSCARS - A White Boys Club 2015?

"How the Oscars’ lack of diversity reflects who runs Hollywood" PBS NewsHour 1/15/2015

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SUMMARY:  For the first time in 20 years, all of the Academy Award nominees for leading and supporting acting roles are white.  Gwen Ifill asks Mike Sargent of Pacifica Radio and Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post about the surprises and snubs of the 2015 Oscar nominations, and what it says about power and diversity in Hollywood.

GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  It took only minutes after this year’s Oscar nominations were announced this morning for the criticism to begin.

Much of the reaction centered on what was missing, namely, diversity among nominees for actor, actress, directing and screenwriting.  For the first time since 1995, all of the actors nominated for lead and supporting roles are white.  One prominent snub, the civil rights film “Selma,” which snagged a best picture nod, but nothing for its director, actors or writers.

What, if anything, does any of this tell us about the Academy or about the films themselves?

For that, we turn to two film critics, Mike Sargent of Pacifica Radio and Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post.

Welcome to you both.

So, Ann Hornaday, what do today’s nominations tell us about the kinds of films that Hollywood is making and the kinds of films that Hollywood is awarding?

ANN HORNADAY, The Washington Post:  Well, at least for today, it looks like it’s kind of a boys show.

And even when you look at the best picture nominees — and, gratifyingly, “Selma” did make it into the best picture — to be nominated for best picture.  But so many of those are movies are journeys undertaken by men, either the great men of “The Theory of Everything” and “Imitation Game” or the young man of “Boyhood” or the actor of “Birdman.”

So it is a striking sort of tableaux of men and their stories being represented in that group.

MEDIA - 2013 Oscars Around the Corner

"Oscar Front-Runners and Wild Cards in a 'Good Year' for Grown-Up Movies" PBS Newshour 2/21/2013

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SUMMARY:  Hollywood's biggest night is just around the corner.  This year's Academy Award-nominated films include both mainstream blockbusters and darkly-themed foreign and independent movies.  Ray Suarez talks with New York Times film critic A.O. Scott about why this a "good year for mainstream movies that grownups might want to go see."