Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Heath Ledger's "Silly" SAG Speech Blown Out of Proportion - But Could Cost Him Best Actor

The flap's a small one, but remember that Russell Crow's front-runner status in the 2002 race for Best Actor took a nose-dive after it was revealed he beat up the band director at the BAFTA awards that year. The eventual winner was Denzel Washington for "Training Day." So, from that perspective, the following may have sealed Heath's fate.

http://www.oscarwatch.com/

Much Ado About...Heath at the SAG

Apparently, there was some sort of commentary buzzing about Heath and Jake's awkward, giggly intro for Brokeback at the SAGs. People were left shaking their heads - Heath called in to the LA Times to explain why. But for some reason, the whole thing might been better off left alone. Nonetheless, OH NO THEY DIDN'T is running, so there you go.

Heath Ledger is in Oscar damage control after his bizarre giggling behaviour at the recent Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The Australian Oscar nominee raised eyebrows when he appeared on stage during the January 29 ceremony at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium with Jake Gyllenhaal to introduce their nominated film, Brokeback Mountain.

The job was simple.

Ledger and Gyllenhaal had to read a blurb from an autocue about Brokeback Mountain, just as actors from the four other nominees for the Outstanding Performance by a Cast SAG category - Crash, Capote, Hustle & Flow and Good Night, and Good Luck - were called on to do.

Ledger's behaviour, with Hollywood's A-List crowd sitting before him and a worldwide audience watching on TV, was odd.

Some wondered if, as the Los Angeles Times described it, he was performing "some kind of gay spoof".

Ledger was giggling, his body was slumped and his left hand was on his hip in a "teacup" position.

It is not the kind of behaviour that would impress the 5,798 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who will decide on March 5 if Ledger should be honoured with the best actor Oscar, ahead of the distinguished Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Ledger was apparently so horrified about the reaction to his SAG performance he called the LA Times to set the record straight.

"I am so sorry and I apologise for my nervousness," Ledger told the newspaper.

"I would be absolutely horrified if my stage fright was misinterpreted as a lack of respect for the film, the topic and for the amazing filmmakers."

Ledger blamed his behaviour on a mix-up.

He said he was sitting with his Brokeback Mountain castmates at the ceremony when he asked Gyllenhaal who would be introducing their film.

"I leaned over and asked Jake and he said, 'We are. Didn't you get the script?' I said, 'What?' I thought it was a script for the Directors Guild Awards a few nights earlier," Ledger said.

There was no time to rehearse as they were soon called on stage.

"I am not a public speaker and never will be ... I'm just not one of those naturally funny, relaxed actors who enjoy the spotlight and are so good at it," Ledger said.

"And this was really weird because we were basically introducing ourselves, like here's this brilliant cast and guess what, it's us."

That's why he acted like a giggly kid.

"How can you say all that stuff - 'two brave cowboys' - with a straight face", he said.

"It was just so surreal."

Ledger also explained what he described as his "teacup hand" position.

"I've stood like that since I was a kid," Ledger said.

"You can ask me mum. It's nerves I guess."

Ledger's apology came at a crucial time in his Oscar campaign.

Last Wednesday the Academy mailed the final ballots to the Oscar voters. Ledger's apology appeared in Friday's LA Times, the day most voters would have received their ballots.

It is a well known rule in Hollywood that Oscar nominees need to be on their best behaviour in the lead-up to the Academy Awards.

Russell Crowe's infamous confrontation with the TV producer of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) telecast in 2002 is part of Hollywood folklore.

Crowe was the favourite for the best actor Oscar for A Beautiful Mind, but after he blasted the producer for cutting short a poem he wanted to recite in his BAFTA acceptance speech, the New Zealand-born actor was snubbed by Oscar voters.

Crowe's blow-up that year also came at the worst time - when the Oscar voters received their final ballots.

Paramount's Pres Gail Berman The Target of Hollywood's Backstabbers -- And She Just Got There. Is Hollywood Too Sexist?


Paramount Pictures new President Gail Berman is described as tough, directive, well-spoken, and assertive -- and Hollywood apparently can't stand women like that. The person who brought many of our most-watched shows is being skewered for nothing having to do with the bottom line. It's a sign of how far we still have to go in America, but it's also a tale of a successful woman in a place that seems to elevate good business women, as much as it despises them.

Here's part of the story. For the rest, click on the title of this post.


Rough transition to film for TV veteran Berman

By Anne Thompson
In Hollywood, a rumor is like a hurricane: It starts from a small nugget of truth and can build into a disruptive force. Even when the person at the eye of the storm knows it's all bollocks, it's no fun.

Ever since Paramount Pictures president Gail Berman, the former Fox Broadcasting entertainment president, arrived on the Melrose Avenue studio lot, gossips have been predicting an end to her tenure even though it has barely begun.

That's because there is always an awkward period for a studio in transition, when the town still hasn't figured out the new rules of engagement. Which producers and directors are in or out? What kinds of movies does this new production chief like? A career TV executive like Berman -- while she brought TV watchers everything from "Arrested Development" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to "American Idol" -- is coming into the movie business with neither a track record of produced movies nor established relationships with filmmakers and stars. Hollywood is notoriously tough on outsiders. And women. Berman is both.

Gonzaga Students Asked To Stop Yelling 'Brokeback Mountain'

Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time...

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Fans of No. 5 Gonzaga have been asked to stop yelling "Brokeback Mountain" at opposing players.
The reference to the recent movie about homosexual cowboys was chanted by some fans during Monday's game against Saint Mary's, and is apparently intended to suggest an opposing player is gay.
The chants were the subject of several classroom discussions over the past week, and the faculty advisers for the Kennel Club booster group urged students this week to avoid "inappropriate chants" during the Bulldogs' Saturday game against Stanford, which was nationally televised on ESPN.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

ESPN"s Michael Smith Is a Cool Guy...We Met at Super Bowl XL

One of the pleasures of attending Super Bowls are the people you meet who are essentially comprise the nerve center of the sports industry. One of those people is a man I criticized not long ago - ESPN's columnist Michael Smith.

I met Smith as he was exiting the NFL Media Center's main entry way, and talked to him abou the inflamous column on minority hiring.

Smith explains that he believed the idea of just pointing out racism was not working anymore. It was time for a new message. Thus, his column.

Smith's not naive at all, but very well reasoned. But what's more is that we were able to quickly establish common ground. Both of us want to see an end to the problem of the lack of minority head coaches.

But the best gift of all was to be able to talk about our points of view.

Oakland Raiders Re-Hire Art Shell as Head Coach!


Finally! After nine candidates and seemingly forever, the Oakland Raiders will introduce their "new" head coach, Art Shell. It marks the first time in NFL history that a team with the same ownership has rehired a coach it let go years ago. (The Washington Redskins hired Joe Gibbs, but under a new ownership structure.)

The Raiders will introduce Shell at a Saturday press conference.

For the rest click on the title post link above.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Super Bowl XL - Steelers 21, Seahawks 10, Detroit A

I'm going to write and post a lot more on my trip, but I want to get my videos and picts done before I do. But I will take time to report that Super Bowl XL, my fourth Super Bowl, was certainly fun.

I missed going with my friend Beth Schnitzer and her two brothers, as they opted not to come for the first time in my history of attending this spectacle. Also, I invited my friend and co-writer Anja Crotts to come, but she too was captured by obligations back home.

That written, I had a lot of fun. I will report in much more detail, but the bottom line is...

1) Detroit is a great city that gets less credit than it deserves, especially as a Super Bowl Host City. It was a great Super Bowl City. My only complaint was the large number of downtowners who didn't seem to know where anything was located. This was a terrible problem which sent some up in arms!

2) Ford Field is simply -- until Arizona's new stadium is able to be evaluated -- the best place to play the Super Bowl.

More later..

Young Woman Beats The Boys at Wrestling - Michaela Hutchison is Alaska's Champion!


This is a true breakthrough in the liberation of Women around the World, and makes the guys who like athletic, strong, confident women happy to. Michaela Hutchison of Skyview High in Anchorage won the 103 pound Alaska state wrestling title Saturday.

Skyview girl's win makes U.S. history
WRESTLING: Hutchison's state title against the boys at 103 pounds is unprecedented.
By VAN WILLIAMS
Anchorage Daily News

Published: February 5, 2006
Last Modified: February 5, 2006 at 05:56 AM

Armed with cameras and video camcorders, nearly 2,000 people packed Chugiak High on Saturday night to watch Skyview's Michaela Hutchison make history.
Flash bulbs popped when Hutchison took the mat in the 103-pound final of Alaska's big school wrestling championships. When the wrestlers were introduced, Hutchison received a roaring applause.
But the best was yet to come.
Led by chants of "C'mon Michaela" and "Girl Power," Hutchison blew the roof off the place when she earned a thrilling 1-0 victory over Colony's Aaron Boss to become the first girl wrestler in the nation to win a state title against boys.
Hutchison, a sophomore who entered the state tournament ranked No. 1 in her weight class, completed her historic run by scoring an escape with 16 seconds left in the match to beat Boss for the second time in as many weeks.
As time wound down and Hutchison and Boss locked together in the middle, the crowd started counting down "3 ... 2 ... 1" before letting out a deafening roar. Hutchison didn't show much reaction -- she was more concerned with stopping her nose from bleeding.
Family and friends mobbed Hutchison after she walked off the mat while the crowd honored her accomplishment with a standing ovation.
"They were helping me," Hutchison said of the crowd's support. "It was awesome."
Hutchison was a crowd favorite before she even took the mat, in large part because she was trying to do what no girl had ever done -- beat the boys.
Skyview coach Neldon Gardner said Hutchison's victory was one of the highlights of his coaching career. He has coached countless state champions, but this one stood out.
"After 23 years of coaching you remember a lot of things. I'll never forget this one," he said. "I can't think of anybody more deserving than Michaela. She works as hard as any boy I've ever had."
Lathrop's Leah Bachert, a girl wrestler at 112 pounds, called Hutchison a role model.
"I look up to her because she's proving everybody wrong," Bachert said. "She's showing everybody that girls can be just as tough as guys."
Beating the boys has been something Hutchison has dreamed about since she started working out with the Skyview High as a seventh grader. She was close last year, losing in the 103-pound final.
Across the nation, other girls have been close too.
Last year, 17 girls nationwide qualified for high school state championships that included boys. One of them, Deanna Rix of Maine, finished second at 130 pounds. Michaela's sister, Melina, placed third at state six years ago.
Now Hutchison is in a class by herself.
"I don't care about (the significance) right now," she said. "I was excited to get done with the season. I'm been waiting for this for a while."
Hutchison's victory rivals other historic wins by women in male-dominated sports. Remember Libby Riddles? In 1985, she became the first female musher to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Riddles, along with four-time winner Susan Butcher, changed the rules of the game forever.
And Hutchison might do the same -- at least in Alaska.
Kent Bailo, director of the U.S. Girls Wresting Association, believes Hutchison's victory will help girls wrestling become a varsity sport. He estimates 4,000 to 5,000 girls wrestle in high schools nationwide. Yet, only Hawaii and Texas currently offer it as a girls sport. But Alaska might be next.
"I think coaches would want girls to have their own varsity sport," Bailo said. "Their boys would be so embarrassed if a girl won state. The coaches don't want girls taking away their medals."
Boss shouldn't feel embarrassed about losing to Hutchison. She's been No. 1-ranked at 103 all season. Hutchison finished the season with a 45-4 record that included 33 pins, one shy of the state single-season record.
Other boys who have wrestled against Hutchison said it was no big deal to lose to a girl, especially one as talented and tough as Hutchison. Kodiak's Tucker VanMatre was pinned by her in 47 seconds at the region championships two weeks ago.
"It was quick," VanMatre said. "She got me in an arm bar and turned me (over)."
Did she catch you by surprise?
"No," VanMatre added. "I expected it. She's good."
Hutchison was born to wrestle. She's one of 10 children and the third in her family to win a state title, joining brothers Zeb and Eli.
"They love the sport more than any other family I know," Gardner said. "This is a result of that dedication."