The Statuesque - Now Live!

It's been a long a time coming, but I'm happy to say that The Statuesque is FINALLY live!

Just how long a time? Roughly a year or so. I knew I wanted to evolve what I was doing on Oscargasms, and that opened the door for a new name which holistically encompasses Awards Season mania. And then, as I thought about it some more, I decided it was time to move away from Blogger for a more design-friendly alternative.

Reviews/retrospectives of two Best Actress performances that I hold near and dear to my heart kick it all off: Renée Zellweger in Chicago and Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose. The remainder of 1953's Best Actor and Best Actress lineups have been watched and reviewed and will be publishing very soon. I'm thrilled to be jumpstarting this new chapter, and I hope you'll check it out!

Statuesque (adjective): like or suggesting a statue, as in massive or majestic dignity, grace, or beauty.

Related words: beautiful, graceful, grand, imposing, majestic, regal, among others.

Six years ago today, I launched Oscargasms with the Herculean goal of watching and reviewing each and every performance nominated for the Best Actress and Best Actor Oscar. I was a college student then, one with ample free time, considerable flexibility, and a guilelessness that's very much evident in my early writing. 

We're now near the end of the decade. I've entered my late Twenties. I've watched and reviewed my way through 25 Academy Awards ceremonies. I've still got a long way to go, and I don't intend on stopping.

Oscargasms has been the portal to which I've funneled my incessant love of film and art, and I'm lucky that it has attracted any eyes at all. I'm in an interesting point in my life now - I've started anew in a brand new city. I want this portal to reflect the person I am today. And if I've learned anything these past few months, it's that change, as uncomfortable and bittersweet as it may be, is truly needed in order to infuse one's day-to-day - and one's sense of purpose - with more joie de vivre. 

And so with that, I present: The Statuesque. I'm having a lot of fun developing the new blog right now - with plenty of work left to go. It's my hope that everything you've ever enjoyed about Oscargasms will be bigger and better via The Statuesque - I'm excited to be sharing it later this summer!

Updates

The last few months have been a whirlwind. Now that the dust has settled (albeit slightly), I'm ready to fill you in!

Update #1: After 4.5 years in San Francisco, I finally made the move to Los Angeles last week. Herein lies my cornball moment: I've always loved LA, and living here has been a lifelong dream. "Why LA?" many a friend have asked in recent weeks. It's simple, really. When one spends the entirety of his life fawning over film, Oscars and movie stars through rose-tinted glasses...it's only natural that one would want to be close to the city that's emblematic of it all. So here I am! And I'm excited for what's to come, whatever that may be. 

Update #2: I've been sitting on this for quite some time now, and here it is: I'll be launching a new blog very soon. I'll still be pushing forward with Oscar-nominated performance reviews, kicking off the Speech Series, and the like, but it'll be all be housed under a new name. There's a lot that still needs to be done, so 1953 is paused for the time being. Once I carve out the time I need to sort everything out, I'll be back guns ablazing. Oscargasms has been an important creative outlet for me for the past six years, but I do want to ensure that such an outlet also reflects the individual I've morphed into in that time. So think of this new blog as an elevation of what you're already familiar here. 

More to come. I hope you'll join me on this new adventure!

Review: Richard Burton in The Robe

In writing about its 2009 Blu-ray release, The New York Times' Dave Kehr referred to The Robe as Richard Burton's "first important American film." That's fundamentally true: for this is a picture that symbolizes a call-to-action from an industry at a paradigm shift - as the first production ever released in CinemaScope, the film was a reminder to the public that the limits of television were finite, that entertainment of epic enormity could only be made possible via Hollywood filmmaking. The top-grossing film of 1953, The Robe is important solely due to the business virtues it represents. As a film, it's stodgy and forgettable at best.

1953: 26th Academy Awards

And the Nominees Were... 

• MARLON BRANDO, Julius Caesar
• RICHARD BURTON, The Robe
• MONTGOMERY CLIFT, From Here to Eternity
• WILLIAM HOLDEN, Stalag 17
• BURT LANCASTER, From Here to Eternity
• LESLIE CARON, Lili 
• AVA GARDNER, Mogambo
• AUDREY HEPBURN, Roman Holiday
• DEBORAH KERR, From Here to Eternity
• MAGGIE MCNAMARA, The Moon is Blue

Best Actor has a biopic problem

For months, Bradley Cooper had been pegged as a frontrunner for the Best Actor prize for his performance in A Star is Born. And why not?

Any of us who closely follow film awards — particularly those related to acting — know that they aren’t won simply on the basis of merit. For better or for worse, the annual rat race for these little gold statuettes can be equated to a cocktail with various ingredients, which include:

1. The amount of active campaigning one does throughout what is essentially a six month circuit, 
2. Whether or not the film and/or performance is any good, and
3. One's personal narrative: an overarching, supplementary account that may compel voters to think, "this person deserves it" 

Nominations 2018: Postmortem

It's a celebration! As is typically the case with Nominations Day, we were treated to some surprises this morning - some films lost momentum, some performances were snubbed, and some wishful thinking proved to be exactly that. In any case, you can find a few top-level thoughts on my end after the jump. And feel free to chime in with your own thoughts!

Final Predictions: 2018

The day is nearly upon us! The nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced bright and early tomorrow morning, and as per usual, I've thrown out my predictions for the top six categories after the jump.

Nomination day comes as the Academy tries to persevere through one of the more trying years in recent AMPAS history. In just six months, our boy Oscar has dealt with PR controversies ranging from the Best Popular Film debacle, the Kevin Hart hosting fiasco, in addition to SAG-AFTRA accusing the Academy of preventing actors from presenting on other award shows.

The road ahead almost certainly seems opportune for more criticism: will the ceremony's host-less format go swimmingly? Will this year's broadcast be the fifth consecutive year of declining ratings? Will they embrace Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody, thereby opening themselves up to the fury of Film Twitter?

We'll find out soon enough. I for one am always thrilled about nomination day, often times more so than the actual ceremony itself, as it typically presents a handful of big surprises in the major categories. So let's see what awaits us, and, as always, I'll be whipping up a post-mortem tomorrow.

The Verdict: Best Actress 1952

The Verdict: Best Actor 1952