Who’s getting the O-scars this time? : The Tribune India

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Who’s getting the O-scars this time?

We have set our ultra-vision binoculars at the Oscars where foreign film Oscar nominees have united to decry ‘fanaticism in US’.

Who’s getting the O-scars this time?

John Legend



We have set our ultra-vision binoculars at the Oscars where foreign film Oscar nominees have united to decry ‘fanaticism in US’. The six directors, whose movies have been nominated for best foreign-language film at this year’s Oscars, have condemned “the climate of fanaticism and nationalism” in the US and other countries.

The group includes Asghar Farhadi, the Iranian director of The Salesman, who in the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order attempting to enforce a travel ban from seven predominantly Muslim countries, said he would boycott the Academy Awards ceremony in protest.

Rebels for a cause

The collective statement was signed by Farhadi along with Martin Zandvliet (‘Land of Mine’), Hannes Holm (‘A Man Called Ove’), Maren Ade (‘Toni Erdmann’) and Martin Butler and Bentley Dean (‘Tanna’). However, this is not the first time that The Academy Awards had a tryst with political protests. In several acceptance speeches, the reference to political issues have stirred a storm in the cup since 1973, when Marlon Brando was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in The Godfather. But Brando famously boycotted the Oscars, and in his place sent Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather. She refused the award on Brando’s behalf, as a statement against the stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans in film and television, as well as the federal government’s long-standing failure to honor the treaties it had made with Native American nations. Then in 1978, actress Vanessa Redgrave had been dealing with public outcry for The Palestinian, a documentary she produced and narrated, which presented a sympathetic portrayal of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.

And in 2003, filmmaker Michael Moore’s documentary Bowling For Columbine won, it was just days after the United States had commenced its invasion of Iraq. Moore, a rather vociferous critic of then-President George W. Bush, said, “We live in fictitious times…We live in a time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president…We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons.”

Catching the viral fever?

Taking a cue from #oscarssowhite, this year, #oscarssosgeist has gone viral. Not to miss, Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscars Selfie! 2014 Oscars host, Ellen DeGeneres, gathered some of the top stars in the room that night to take one ridiculously star-studded selfie. “If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever,” DeGeneres tweeted. “#oscars.” The post, including Bradley Cooper, Channing Tatum, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lawrence, Lupita Nyong’o (and her brother) went viral immediately, and has 3.3 million-plus retweets, and 2.1 million-plus likes to date. Also, Jennifer Lawrence had a trip to remember at the Oscars in 2013 when she tripped and fell while accepting her first-ever Best Actress Oscar (for The Silver Linings Playbook). And since we are in love with the idea of love, we’re punctuating it with a kiss! Here’s to Adrien Brody who made making a history back in 2003 while accepting his Academy Award for Best Actor. The Pianist star casually made his way to the stage and shockingly planted one on presenter Halle Berry.

A radical fashion statement

They didn’t give two hoots to the ‘conventional’ notion of what looks good to the fashion police. Sometimes, it is not about looking pretty. So, here’s to Barbara Streisand in Arnold Scaasi, 1969, for her revolutionary black dress. Then there’s Björk in Marjan Pejoski, who 2001 wore a white swan dress. And, who could forget Diane Keaton turning heads in full coattails and a coordinating bowler hat, recalling a fedora-wearing Céline Dion, who for one of her own Oscar moments was outfitted in a white tuxedo with jacket worn back to front. Before that, Demi Moore walked the red carpet in spandex bike shorts with a metallic brocade train behind her. And we’d give it to Gwyneth Paltrow, who in 2002 did her part to free the nipple in a see-through Alexander McQueen. Also, Angelina Jolie, in 2012, sent struck a pose in a strapless Atelier Versace gown that put a slit cut up to there on full display.

—Compiled by Amarjot Kaur

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