The second and final day of the 1980 Retro Hollmann Awards. Can Raging Bull maintain its status as the most-winning flick of the year? Let's find out...
It's easy to award the transformation of John Hurt into John Merrick for The Elephant Man. So I will!
In second place, intense forearms, unflattering hair buns, and other recreations of cartoon icons in Popeye. In third, blood, broken noses, and 15 years in Raging Bull. In fourth, primitive man and a mass of God knows what in Altered States. In fifth, blood, ghost-white faces, and salt-and-pepper doublng in Kagemusha.
Best Original Song, Best Actress, Best Picture, and more...after the jump.
A total number of 65 films were screened for the 1980 retrospective - including 22 Oscar nominees, eleven Razzie nominees and five Oscar-Razzie nominees (overlap is not uncommon). And so the moment has come: the nominees for the 1980 Retro Hollmann Awards.
I present the 18 categories in the order in which I figured out my lineup:
After 65 films, 10 Oscar categories, and five re-castings, I am ready to divvy out the awards for 1980....in due time. The nominees tomorrow, the awards later on in the week.
Until then, my personal top ten of the year. The complete list of films screened follows at the end. How many have you seen?
American Gigolo
Dir/Scr: Paul Schrader
Cin: John Bailey
Neon noir with a special hatred for Beverly Hills, a place where the wealthy surround themselves with beauty, until it becomes inconvenient. The clothes, the sets, the attitude, all influenced how we see this decade. Genuine suspense, and a strong and sexy performance from Richard Gere at its center.
Taking a brief break from film to take part in a grand blog party called Freeky Fridays. Started by two sisters who are very near and dear to me, Freeky Fridays is a weekly prompt focused on positivity, good vibes, balloonity, named Freekware, a clothing line whose proceeds benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. And for why that is...well, that's not my story to tell. You can learn all about Freeky Fridays, Freekware, and its origins at Concrete Jane or Dr. Princess, sister bloggers and keepers of the flame. I really do ask that you read both sisters' posts so that you have a full appreciation of the legacy they're keeping.
Anyway. This week's prompt: If you were making a positivity playlist, what three feel good songs would you include?
It's a difficult question for me, really, since no matter how amped the disco beat may be, most of the songs I listen to are not uplifting. I'm not depressed all the time or anything, but some of the best songs are about longing and love lost and mistakes. I don't write the songs, I just listen to them. "Born to Run" came to mind, but I have a problem with categorizing "someday we'll escape this hell-hole" as feel-good. Goal-oriented, maybe, but not feel-good. My recent Roy Orbison kick offers nothing ("Only the Lonely", "It's Over", "Crying"...good God, and this before his wife and kids were killed). My favorite musicals are about sadness and regret: Follies, Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd. And, of course, it would be difficult to place my favorite song of all time, the apologetic disco number "Everlasting Love", on a feel-good playlist, despite its upbeat tempo. Pledge that eternal love all you want, Carl Carlton, she still hasn't said she'll come back to you.
Then there's the fact that most of the music I listen to is by Philip Glass, John Adams, Alexandre Desplat; in other words, instrumental. Do these count as songs? Because I listen to them a lot more than I do anything with lyrics.
And only three? If I'm making a playlist, it's got to at least last me the twenty minute walk to Dunkin' Donuts and back. So, yes, I went for more than three. Indeed, I went and made the playlist:
1. Opening from Mishima - Philip Glass
You know, I've never seen this biopic, and I know the guy ritualistically killed himself or something. But this music feels like you've achieved the unachievable. The music reminds me of riding the monorail at Disney: those chimes of excitement when you catch a glimpse of the park, building up as it comes further into view, and that huge rush of bells when you see that EPCOT ball and the World Showcase, before calming down so you can disembark.
Eleven other tracks after the cut, including Hollmann Award winners, ELO and a very special final track...
Was tagged here by Andrew to participate in this "meme about music". And so I cannot resist!
1. Open up your iTunes, music player, spin the CD, whatever, hit shuffle and tell us what is the first song to play?
"Opening" by Philip Glass, originally written for Mishima, but appearing on my iTunes from The Truman Show.
2. Name your top five favorite bands/musicians of all time.
Oh, let's see. Philip Glass, The Beatles, ABBA, The Decemberists and The Spice Girls.
3. What was your first CD to own? (8 track, record, CD, MP3 for the newbies) Pure Disco 2, a compilation of hits ranging from "I Will Survive" to "Love Rollercoaster". I think it was third or fourth grade, and my sister's boyfriend at the time presented it as a birthday gift. Still listen to it.
4. Of all the bands/artists in your cd/record collection, which one do you own the most albums by?
Actual CDs? The Beatles, with six. As for my iTunes: Philip Glass, with 46.
5. What was the last song you listened to?
"On My Way to Canaan's Land"
6. What song would you say sums you up?
I don't know. I mean, like, who can really be summed up in a song, man? Maybe "Little Person" from Synecdoche, NY? Or "Applause" from Applause? Kind of different, but somewhere in the middle is me.
7. What's your favourite local band or band that originated from your hometown?
We've had a few come from here, but I guess Marilyn Manson is the one I would play before anyone else. This even surprises me, but he's damn good at what he does.
8. What's the greatest concert you've ever been to?
The free Weezer concert at FSU. Incredible.
9. What musician would you like to hang out with for a day?
Philip Glass, obviously. He's so interesting! I'd love to just pick his brain.
10. What was the greatest decade for music?
There's never been a bad one. I have a number of songs from Cole Porter, Gershwin, Backstreet Boys, Bob Dylan, Electric Light Orchestra, ABBA, Lily Allen, Nat King Cole, The Beatles, etc. I love it all.
11. What is your favorite movie soundtrack? Xanadu, hands down. From the opening "I'm Alive" to the titular finale, it's a non-stop trip to pleasure town. "The Fall" has to be one of my favoritest songs ever written, "Dancin'" is why musicals exist, and "Don't Walk Away" is powerful.
12. What's the most awful CD/record/etc. you've ever bought?
Don't even have to think about this. Holiday Hounds, a collection of Christmas songs as performed by the "dogs barking" setting on a keyboard. It's gratingly, ears-bleeding awful, and a good argument for why you shouldn't make midnight trips to Wal-Mart after partaking of a questionable buffet.
13. What's your favorite band t-shirt or poster?
Like, that I own or what? I have a sepia-tinted Beatles one from their Sgt. Pepper's period. It's pretty cool.
14. Rolling Stones or The Beatles?
The Beatles. Please. Rolling Stones is a glorious rock band. The Beatles refuses to be kept to one genre.
15. What is the one song you would most like played at your funeral? Your birthday? While on a romantic date?
The answer to the first two is my all-time favorite song of all time, "Everlasting Love", as performed by a string quartet (funeral) and Carl Carlton (birthday). As for a romantic date, I'm pretty partial to "Don't Walk Away" from Xanadu.
