HOLLYWOOD WASN'T READY FOR CICELY TYSON

 There is a list of Black actresses who, unlike Caucasian actresses, received an Oscar nomination and then had to rely on television for good roles and steady employment. Why? Because Hollywood had no other good script offers for them after they'd achieved an Oscar nomination. That list includes Diahann Carroll, Beah Richards, Angela Bassett, Alfre Woodard, Margaret Avery of THE COLOR PURPLE, Marianne Jean-Baptiste of SECRETS & LIES, Taraji P. Henson, Gabourey Sidibe, Queen Latifah. With just two nominations, Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg was the most Oscar-nominated Black actress in Hollywood history for 20 years. However, she also had to turn to TV. Viola Davis tied Whoopi's record when she got her second Oscar nomination. Davis was in the Best Actress category for THE HELP. Davis was flummoxed when, after that second nomination, her mailbox was not exactly stuffed with script offers. Viola Davis turned to TV and starred on ABC's HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER. One of her stellar guest co-stars was also on that roster of Black actresses who went to television after getting an Oscar nomination -- Cicely Tyson.

I remember the Saturday afternoon I went to the movies to see SOUNDER (1972). When her famous running scene, in which she's reunited with her husband, ended, the audience gasped in awe at her performance. White and Black people in the audience. People applauded. I had tears in my eyes. Cicely Tyson lit up my young soul as that character, Rebecca, and as a Black artist. For her magnificent performance, one that showed her bring out the inner majesty of a Depression era sharecropper's wife down South, she received a Best Actress Oscar nomination. History was made. 

Three Black performances were up for the Oscar -- Cicely Tyson for SOUNDER, Paul Winfield was a Best Actor nominee for playing the jailed sharecropper husband in SOUNDER, and Diana Ross was in the Best Actress category for playing Billie Holiday in LADY SINGS THE BLUES. 

This was at a time when the edict from top Hollywood studios was "Black stories don't sell." Acclaimed director Norman Jewison (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, FIDDER ON THE ROOF, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, MOONSTRUCK) was slapped in the face with that reality when he could not get studio funding to film A SOLDIER'S STORY, based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play by a Black playwright. Like the play, the film would have a predominantly Black cast. Hollywood studios weren't interested unless he could add a White star in a heroic lead role. Jewison worked for less than his usual salary, got the film made his way and  A SOLDIER'S STORY was an Oscar nominee for Best Picture of 1984.

We must thank network television for giving Cicely Tyson the quality of roles that Hollywood should have after her Best Actress nomination for 1972's SOUNDER. On TV, we saw her extraordinary range and excellence in THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY IS MISS JANE PITTMAN (1974), ROOTS (1977), as Coretta Scott King in KING (1978) as Harriet Tubman in A WOMAN CALLED MOSES (1978) and as acclaimed 1970s Chicago educator Marva Collins in THE MARVA COLLINS STORY (1981).

 Watching Cicely Tyson in her network TV series work years before SOUNDER was a rule and religious experience in our South Central L.A. home.. We watched her with reverence and appreciation. In the recent network TV news tributes to Cicely Tyson, in which she was rightfully called "groundbreaking" and a "legend," we saw footage of her TV series work, we saw her holding Emmys for her TV work and we saw a clip of her on Broadway in a Tony-winning role. I noticed this especially in the ABC News tribute piece -- when it came to films, there were only two clips. One from 1972's SOUNDER and the other from 2011's THE HELP. 

Hollywood should have had several good script offers and opportunities for Cicely Tyson after SOUNDER. She should've had more than one Oscar nomination to her credits. But, she was a gifted Black actress at a time when Hollywood had yet to embrace diversity and inclusion. When the regal Cicely Tyson was bestowed an honorary Oscar in 2019, I feel it was not only for her artistry. It was also a mea culpa from Hollywood for not giving her the attention and opportunities it should have in the 70s and 80s. She was a great actress.

 

3 Oscar Winners in THE LITTLE THINGS

 This is a tense murder mystery set in 1990 Southern California when folks still used rotary phones. The cast is headed by three Oscar-winning stars. There's Denzel Washington (Best Supporting Actor for GLORY, Best Actor for TRAINING DAY), Rami Malek (Best Actor for BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY) and Jared Leto (Best Supporting Actor for DALLAS BUYERS CLUB). From a publicity standpoint, that would give their new film a certain cachet. THE LITTLE THINGS is a good, not great, serial murder mystery that could provide some fine Saturday night at the movies entertainment. Most of its goodness comes from the performances of the three stars. Just like the title, it's the little things in Denzel Washington's creation of his character that are so expert. He plays Joe "Deke" Deacon. Now a sheriff in Bakersfield, he's called into duty in Los Angeles because a case he worked on could help solve a series of murders in L.A. Washington has a close-cropped haircut, he lets the gray show, he's thicker around the middle which is perfect for Deacon's character considering his marital and health history. He puts a lot of sugar in his coffee. He hasn't been working in a California location where folks are as much into physical fitness as in L.A.

 When he gets to L.A., he encounters cops on the force who know him. Apparently, he worked in L.A. years before he got booted down to Bakersfield. His LAPD replacement, with whom he has to work, is a young, assertive guy with a healthy ego named Jim Baxter, played by Rami Malek. It takes a while to relax into Malek playing this L.A. character because he seems oddly cast. This would've been a good role for Chris Meloni. But we've seen him as a cop for years on TV. I would've also considered Mark Ruffalo, Esai Morales and Lou Diamond Phillips for the role. However, with his large, expressive eyes that lean on you dramatically and his acting skills, Malek brings his best to the role. Jared Leto, as a scraggly-haired and creepily smart guy, seems to be a suspect. Leto nails the role.

 There's a color motif to Washington's character. In L.A., he's in a seedy green hotel and he's given green lighting one night as he lies on the bed gazing at police photos of the serial killer's young female victims. In a morgue scene, you see classic Washington acting as he talks to the corpse. There's regret at the unsolved crime and there's heartbreak behind his eyes. Personal heartbreak and self-anger. You get the feeling that solving this crime will be a redemption for him. He's talking to the corpse of Julie. He says "Life is too short, Julie." The green lighting in that cheap hotel room reminded me of a scene in Hitchcock's VERTIGO with Kim Novak and James Stewart.

 Deacon becomes obsessed with the scraggly-haired creepy guy (Leto) who drives a green car.

If you're familiar with the famed Hitchcock "MacGuffins," finding out who the killer is seems to be a MacGuffin in THE LITTLE THINGS. Early in the film, there's a flashback. We see Deke in a suit in L.A. as a detective on a murder scene. There are three dead women. But we met him in Bakersfield wearing a sheriff's outfit. What happened? As Jim Baxter says to him, "What is it your looking for in all of this?" Is he, indeed, seeking a redemption for something? One L.A. cop who welcomes him back later comments "Deke's got his own style." He does. He notices everything on a crime scene -- some things overlooked by others.

THE LITTLE THINGS is good but not great, as I wrote earlier. It's not a classic like THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. The ending is not as satisfying as that in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS or as well-developed script-wise as ZODIAC or SE7EN or even VERTIGO. The director and screenwriter of THE LITTLE THINGS is John Lee Hancock who also gave us THE BLIND SIDE. Nonetheless, the acting in this thriller does not disappoint.

THE LITTLE THINGS opens January 29th.

After you see THE LITTLE THINGS, watch the sweet 2011 romance comedy/drama LARRY CROWNE. Tom Hanks starred as a middle-aged company man suddenly down-sized. He's unemployed and broke. He decides to enroll in community college classes to learn new things and reinvent himself for the job market. He's single. Julia Roberts plays one of his teachers. She's recently divorced. Romance will ensue. In a small role with those two Oscar winners as one of the fellow students in Larry Crowne's class is a then-unknown young actor named Rami Malek. That was 2011. In 2018, Rami would play the late rock music great, Freddie Mercury, and he too would become an Oscar winner.

Some Early Sophia Loren

 If you have Netflix, I've got a treat for your eyes. A 1955 Italian comedy starring a new actress named Sophia Loren. I'll tell you right now, she is absolutely luscious in this movie. In her stellar film career, she did some of her best work -- some of her most memorable work -- under the guidance of master director Vittorio De Sica. He directed her in the wartime drama, TWO WOMEN, which got her the Oscar for Best Actress of 1960. He also directed her in YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW, which has her famous stockings striptease for Marcello Mastroianni, and MARRIAGE ITALIAN STYLE. Plus De Sica directed the classics BICYCLE THIEVES (1948), UMBERTO D. (1952) and THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS (1970). Hard to believe that Vittorio De Sica never received an Oscar nomination for Best Director with those classics to his credit. In addition to directing, Vittorio De Sica was a good actor. In fact, the one Oscar nomination he did get was in the Best Supporting Actor category for the remake of A FAREWELL TO ARMS (1957).

Vittorio De Sica acted opposite Sophia Loren. One of their pairings highlights the 1955 subtitled comedy, SCANDAL IN SORRENTO. After 30 years of military service, a man returns to his hometown to find that a young widow who sells fish in the village now lives in his house and doesn't want to leave. His brother is a Father. He's a priest who refers to the young woman as "that coquette." The priest arranges for his brother, the Marshall (De Sica), to stay in the home of a prim, proper, obsessively neat and extremely Catholic woman. The priest orders his brother not to flirt -- because he's too old.

 The young widow who sells seafood is, of course, played by Sophia Loren. The moment you see her for the first time as she calls out "Fresh fish!," you go "Wow." No one ever looked that gorgeous wearing a simple dress and holding a basket of fish. No one. This is Sophia five years into her film career. Her character, named Sofia, is beautiful, manipulative, street smart, independent, lively and lovable. When she meets the dashing and debonair Marshall, he falls for her immediately. She flirts with him to keep from being evicted. That causes a town scandal. She uses her beauty and smarts to stay in the house and get a local suitor a job. He's a young fellow who loves Sofia, but the lovely widow seafood seller is her own woman who says "No one can rule me." Because she plans to get what she wants from the Marshall, she hides her affection for the local suitor.

This is a merry little romp that runs about 90 minutes and shows that, early in her film career, Sophia Loren had a charisma and star quality that illuminated the screen. Stardom was inevitable. The camera loved her. And she could act. She and Vittorio De Sica have definite chemistry. He had the gift for playing screen comedy. A highlight of the movie is when the Marshall and Sofia go out on a date and do the Mambo. To get a glimpse of Loren's gorgeousness in this comedy, here's a short clip,

Sofia has a little buddy named Titino. He was played by the kid actor Gaetano Autiero.  If the little boy actor sounds familiar, he also played Mauro, the little Italian buddy to Katharine Hepburn's tourist character, in David Lean's SUMMERTIME (1955). Directed by Dino Risi, SCANDAL IN SORRENTO is subtitled in English and currently on Netflix.

On ESCAPE TO THE CHATEAU

 I discovered this documentary series about a year and a half ago on TPT, the Twin Cities PBS station. It immediately became weekend viewing for me because it's so entertaining, pleasant and soothing. It's called ESCAPE TO THE CHATEAU and gives you something fresh and new in the field of home renovation show. The show focuses on Dick Strawbridge and his wife, Angel. These two make marriage look fun -- just like the Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep characters did in JULIE & JULIA, the Nora Ephron comedy biopic about PBS TV chef Julia Child. Dick, a former military man, looks like and has the sweet spirit of a Santa Claus. He loves to repair things, grow things in a garden, and cook. More than anything, he loves Angel who has a bit of a resemblance in look and style to Bette Midler in the 1970s before she made THE ROSE. Dick and Angel have two adorable little kids.

 The British couple purchased a worn-down 19th century French chateau with plans to restore and renovate its many rooms. They'll live in it and be able to rent it out for weddings and such. It's a big, big chore but Angel's decorating ideas are truly bright and whimsical. Dick's very handy around the place and appears to be a great cook and gardener. The warmth of this married couple really lights up this fun show.

ESCAPE TO THE CHATEAU with Dick and Angel is like a good glass of wine on the weekend while your relaxing. Check for this British import on your local PBS station or HGTV. 

MORE FRAN LEBOWITZ

 Earlier this month in my VIVA FRAN LEBOWITZ post, I wrote how much I loved the first episode of her PRETEND IT'S a CITY documentary/interview production with interviewer Martin Scorsese currently on Netflix. This weekend, I went back for Episode 2 and Episode 3. I loved them too and laughed a lot.

 I've been a Fran Lebowitz since the late 70s when I read her METROPOLITAN LIFE followed by SOCIAL STUDIES. I've had dinner with her. She was a guest on my old VH1 talk show in the late 80s. One of the things I love about her is that she's whip-smart without being pompous. She makes sense and doesn't follow trends. She's a down-to-earth intellectual who has something to say. The second episode is "Cultural Affairs" and she has some razor sharp comments about art and artists. Do people today have the discipline and focus to become artists? In her youth, she wanted a cello. But she had to realize she didn't have the talent to be a cellist. She would not become an artist by playing the cello.

We see Fran, in clips, being interviewed by Alec Baldwin and Spike Lee. We see Fran interviewing one of the best friends, the late literary artist Toni Morrison. Fran uses author Edith Wharton to make further points about artist to Martin Scorsese. Scorsese directed an adaptation of Wharton's THE AGE OF INNOCENCE. This is probably the only documentary/interview episode that goes from talk about Edith Wharton to clips of Marvin Gaye. Fran Lebowitz is a Motown and jazz fan. Her story about her friendship with volatile jazz great Charlie Mingus is priceless. So is her comment on art versus profit after the auction of a Picasso painting.

In my VIVA FRAN LEBOWITZ post, I wrote that she was one a New York City cabdriver. She talks about that job experience in Episode 3, "Metropolitan Transit." In this episode, she accurately and with great humor skewers the NY subway system. There's footage of her in subway stations. One of my stop of 20 years -- the 23rd Street at 7th Avenue station. I lived on the corner of 21st Street at 7th Avenue. 

About her being a cabdriver, one interviewer who asked her about that is Toronto's late, great TV interviewer, Brian Linehan. Scorsese picks up the topic and Fran cites a wild cab ride Griffin Dunne takes in Scorsese's 1985 dark comedy, AFTER HOURS, as being on-the-money. I had a cab ride like that with married friends visiting NYC from Baltimore in the late 80s. I lied to our speeding cab driver, "Slow down! She's pregnant!" It worked. He slowed down.

About the subways: If, before the pandemic, I could've written for whatever travel guides go overseas, I would've advised foreigner "Do NOT visit New York City on the weekends. Some subway trains will be out of service, others will skip scheduled stops and the city has removed many token booths with employees who could give you directions." Instead of fixing all that and more, some stations were closed for...remodeling. Art work was installed on the walls. I kid you not. Fran has funny verbal fire for the subway system.

She is never at a loss for words. And we are lucky for that. Go to Netflix and enjoy.

 

See MINARI

 I just saw an absolutely beautiful film and I enthusiastically suggest that you see it too. The film is called MINARI and much, but not all, of it is subtitled. It's not a foreign film. It's an American film about a Korean-American family that has relocated to a rural section of Arkansas. MINARI, written and directed by Korean-American Yale graduate Lee Isaac Chung, make me think of Vincente Minnelli's classic musical, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, starring Judy Garland.

 "Don't run, David!" is what he constantly hear Jacob and Monica Yi shout to their little boy. He has heart murmur and need occasional medical visits. Jacob has relocated his wife and two kids to the Ozarks where he plans to be a vegetable farmer and sell his produce to local markets. Monica is more of a city girl. They were in California, then Seattle and now rural Arkansas. She'd prefer a city with "a big mall and a good school" for the kids. The action takes place during the Ronald Reagan administration. Jacob has his farm and hires a guy to help. The guy is a polite and harmless, yet he's a serious Jesus freak. There are no nearby neighbors and the only contact with other Korean-American that Jacob and Monica have is at work. They work in a chick hatchery. Monica's Korean mother comes to live with them. At first, David does not like her because she's not like a real grandmother. She's not Americanized. David is an American boy who likes pasta and Mountain Dew. Grandma doesn't bake cookies or anything else. She makes an old Korean broth and says "It has everything. Even deer antlers." Her identity is fully and solely Korean.  It's Grandma who, during a walk in the woods. introduces to the minari plant. She tells him that it can grow anywhere.

MINARI is a tale of assimilation. The Yi family has to assimilate into predominantly Caucasian Arkansas territory. They're the only minority family at the local church. Grandma has to assimilate into her Korean-American family. While Jacob is driven to pursue his American Dream, Monica is unhappy in the country and guilty that she hadn't paid more attention to her mother. David wants to make a friend. His big sister seems a bit weary at always being the dependable, helpful older child. However, after all their setbacks, disappointments and heartbreaks, they all come to realize that the most important thing is not relocating to purse the American Dream, it's being together as a family that really counts -- just like the Smith Family in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS. More importantly, the Yi family will prove to be like the qualities of the minari plant.

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 MINARI is blessed excellent performances. There's Steven Yeun from the WALKING DEAD television series as Jacob, Han Ye-ri as Monica, Noel Kate Cho as Anne, the oldest child, and Alan Kim as David. He is the most adorable child actor to hit the big screen in some time. Youn Yuh-jung is Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee material for her performance as the grandmother.. Will Patton, whom I remember opposite Kevin Costner in the 1987 mystery thriller NO WAY OUT, plays the Jesus-loving farm aid. Here's a trailer.

It's a simply told yet powerful American story with layers of depth and relevance. This semi-autobiographical film from director/writer Lee Isaac Chung is wonderful and worth your time.  Brad Pitt is executive producer. MINARI opens theatrically on February 12. It's available on video-on-demand February 26. The film has received great reviews from ENTERTAINT WEEKLY, VANITY FAIR, ASSOCIATED PRESS, ROGEREBERT.COM and INDIE WIRE. The Black Film Critics Circle picked it as one of the Top 10 Films of 2020.

Movies You May Have Missed 2

 I'm back again with film suggestions for you viewing pleasure. These are movies you may have missed during their theatrical releases. This first one is a must-see for Michael Keaton fans. He gives one of his strongest performances as the man who made Big Macs popular. 

 Michael Keaton is at his dramatic best in THE FOUNDER (2016). He plays Ray Kroc, the struggling Southern California salesman who became one of America's most successful businessmen as head of the McDonald's corporation. Back in the 70s and 80s, Kroc was in the spotlight a lot as an American success story, a man who gave us an All-American product -- the hamburger with fries. But the story of how a guy with the last name "Kroc" gave us a franchise called "McDonald's" was always vague if not ignored completely. Why weren't we eating a "Big Kroc" instead of "Big Mac"?  Well, the business started in Southern California with a burger stand owned by two men -- the McDonald Brothers. Ray is in his early 50s and not having much on the road selling milk shake machines. When Ray hits the burger stand, he notices all the teens hanging out having burgers and shakes. Ray may not be a success as a milk shake machine salesman, but he's persistent. He's quick to seize upon any opportunity that can make his dreams bigger/ The McDonald Brothers are polite, conservative men. Ray tells them to franchise. He has a vision. It's a vision they don't share. Ray is ambitious and has ideas that we like. We start to see the dark side of persistence in pursuing the American Dream. He will make his vision, his dream come true. Even if he has to be ruthless. This look inside burgers and buns is also a cautionary tale. 

Directed by John Lee Hancock (THE BLIND SIDE and SAVING MR. BANKS) with an intelligent screenplay by Robert Siegel, THE FOUNDER boasts several good performance. The cast includes Laura Dern, Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch. Here's a trailer.

THE FOUNDER can be seen on Netflix.

Full frontal nudity and show tunes. As Gershwin wrote, "Who could ask for anything more?" Olivia Colman won the Best Actress Oscar for her fierce dramatic performance as sickly, 18th Century Queen Anne in THE FAVOURITE (2018). She followed that by playing another queen, Queen Elizabeth II, in the dramatic series, THE CROWN. Did you know that before those dramatic royal roles, she got a lot of laughs on British TV sitcoms? She coupled with one of her fellow sitcom actors, Robert Webb of PEEP SHOW, in the Fox Searchlight mockumentary comedy, CONFETTI (2006). This is not a highbrow comedy but it is entertaining. CONFETTI was directed and conceived by Debbie Isitt. 

The mockumentary follows three couple in a contest to win the high-profile "Most Original Wedding of the Year" competition. Martin Freeman, also a British sitcom veteran, is half of the couple that loves show tunes. Olivia Colman and Robert Webb play the nudist couple. I saw this comedy at a cineplex. On the big screen, Webb's testicles looked to be the size of Texas watermelons. Click onto the link below to see a CONFETTI trailer:

https://youtu.be/i2egth4DI5o.

CONFETTI can be streamed on Amazon Prime.

CLEMENCY is one of the many fine, recent films from a woman director. Alfre Woodard is the star of this indie feature. Woodard is in the group of several good Black actresses who received an Oscar nomination and then had to turn to TV for steady employment. Hollywood did not stuff her mailbox with other good script opportunities after her Oscar nomination. Her Best Supporting Actress nomination came for 1983's CROSS CREEK. CLEMENCY did not receive nearly the amount of press attention it deserved when it opened in 2019. Alfre Woodard should have been a Best Actress Oscar nominee for her performance in CLEMENCY. She plays a woman dealing with the bruises sustained on an emotional rollercoaster ride. She's a prison warden dealing with another upcoming execution. The job, with its executions, begin to scar her psychologically and emotionally. The job affects her marriage. Wendell Pierce stars as the warden's husband. There's a strong supporting performance from Vernee Watson, currently a regular on the CBS sitcom BOB 💓 ABISHOLA. Aldis Hodge, who delivers a touchdown performance as NFL star Jim Brown in ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI from director Regina King, plays the convict whose execution the warden must oversee. Here's a trailer.

CLEMENCY was written and directed by Chinonye Chukwu. You can stream it on Amazon Prime.

To me, the word "iconic" is overused today. It's attached to some things that are popular but not really iconic. The classic sitcom, I LOVE LUCY and Lucille Ball's performance as Lucy Ricardo truly were iconic. After 15 years in Hollywood movies, TV made her a bigger and richer star than movies had. In recent entertainment news, there was the reported item that Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem are under consideration to play Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in a dramatic feature about their marriage from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

In her post-1940s lifetime, Lucille Ball was called "The Queen of Comedy." When I was a baby boomer kid, it was noted that I LOVE LUCY reruns aired every hour of the day somewhere in the world. For as much as she made me laugh -- and she made me laugh a lot -- my favorite Lucille Ball movie is a drama. It's a 1942 drama called THE BIG STREET. Lucy stars opposite Henry Fonda in a movie based on a short story by Damon Runyon. There's at least one character in this feature who reappears in the Broadway musical, GUYS AND DOLLS, also based on the writings of Damon Runyon.

In THE BIG STREET, Lucille Ball plays a lovely but bitter and hard-boiled Manhattan nightclub singer. She really becomes a bitch on wheels. Life's not been easy for her and she's the kind of dame who plans to marry for money instead of love. She's seen how love can be disappointing. She winds up crippled and broke and friendless. The only one who comes to her aid is a nightclub busboy (Fonda). Like Ratso Rizzo in MIDNIGHT COWBOY, she's broken physically and emotionally and wants to get to Florida from New York City. THE BIG STREET proved that Lucille Ball could lock into a serious character, get raw and real. Her bitterness and vulnerability are believable. Her last scene puts tears in my eyes every time. Here's a trailer.

THE BIG STREET can be streamed on YouTube and Amazon Prime. I hope you enjoy the movies.