“The King’s Speech,” the tale of King George VI’s struggle with a stammer, leads this year’s Academy Award nominations with 12 nods, including best picture and acting honours for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.
The British drama has already won the prestigious Producers Guild of America Award – a good omen since the Producers Guild have correctly forecast the Oscar best picture 13 times in the past two decades. But it will have serious competition from “The Social Network,” which tells the story of the early days of Facebook and which dominated the Golden Globe awards and Critics Choice awards.
The Western remake “True Grit” is next in line in nominations with 10, yet its prospects for nabbing a coveted Best Picture trophy on Feb. 27 seem smaller. The film has largely been ignored in awards so far this season, and was completely snubbed by the Golden Globes earlier this month.
Also on the ballot for best picture are the boxing drama “The Fighter,” science fiction thriller “Inception,” the lesbian family tale “The Kids Are All Right,” the stranded hiker drama “127 Hours,” the independent film “Winter’s Bone,” and the animated feature “Toy Story 3.”
“The King’s Speech” star Colin Firth, seen by many as the front-runner for the Best Actor trophy, may have some competition from Javier Bardem, whose performance in the Spanish-language “Biutiful” has been celebrated by critics. Also in the running are Jeff Bridges for “True Grit,” Jesse Eisenberg for “The Social Network” and James Franco for “127 Hours.”
Natalie Portman, currently pregnant with her first child, is seen as a favourite for Best Actress, after picking up a Best Actress Golden Globe earlier this month. But also vying for the trophy is Annette Bening for her performance in the lesbian family drama “The Kids Are All Right.” Also in contention are Nicole Kidman for “Rabbit Hole”; Jennifer Lawrence for “Winter’s Bone”; and Michelle Williams for “Blue Valentine.”
Up for best director are Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech”; David Fincher for “The Social Network”; Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan”; David O. Russell for “The Fighter”; and Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit.”
Notably absent from that list are “127 Hours” director Danny Boyle and “Inception” director Christopher Nolan — a snub that is already generating buzz, given that the movie is up for eight other awards.
Canadian film “Incendies”, from Quebec director Denis Villeneuve, is up for Best Foreign Language Film. The film has already been named best Canadian film by Toronto and Vancouver film critics and has collected several awards on the festival circuit.
Canada hasn’t had a film nominated for a foreign-language film Oscar since 2007, when Deepa Mehta’s “Water” was in contention. And the last time a Canadian film won the category was in 2004 for Denys Arcand’s “The Barbarian Invasions.”
Yet “Barney’s Version,” based on the novel of the same name by Canadian legend Mordechai Richler, was snubbed from any big awards. The film did earn a nomination for best makeup.
Movie critic Richard Crouse says he was surprised to see both Christopher Nolan and Danny Boyle omitted from the best directors list. But he wasn’t surprised to see “The King’s Speech” earn so many nods.
“It will win a whole bunch of those,” Crouse told CTV’s Canada AM shortly after the nominations were announced.
“I mean, it is the kind of movie that the Academy likes. We always used to talk about how the Academy is old and out of touch and that’s changed a great deal. But still, this is the kind of prestige movie that the Academy likes and it’s the kind of biography that they like.”
This year’s 83rd Academy Awards will air live on CTV from Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre.
The show will break with recent traditions of using comedians as hosts. Instead, big-screen stars James Franco, a best-actor nominee for “127 Hours,” and Anne Hathaway will be co-hosts.
With just one day before the 82nd Academy Award nominations are announced, another organization is gearing up to “honour” cinema’s worst.
Sandra Bullock accepts the Golden Raspberry Award for worst actress at the 2010 Razzies.
The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation announced on their website their nominations for the 31st Annual Razzies, with sequels, adaptations and remakes taking centre stage.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and The Last Airbender, both of which are contenders for worst picture, were tied for the most nominations with nine each.
Others films that earned the dubious honour of being nominated for worst picture are the Twilight spoof Vampires Suck, the Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler action comedy The Bounty Hunter and Sex and the City 2.
Film critic Peter Howell of the Toronto Star, said that while the nominations were spot-on for the most part, they were a few glaring snubs.
“I agree with the Razzies although this year I have to say they missed a couple big ones,” Howell said.
“I would’ve put in Kevin Smith’s Cop Out for sure and Little Fockers; I can’t believe Little Fockers didn’t make the worst picture’s list,” Howell said.
Howell also gave his thoughts on a new category of the awards, “Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3D.”
“Clash of the Titans would certainly be high on that list. As long as they have Clash of the Titans in there, they got it covered,” Howell said.
Fellow film critic Richard Crouse of CTV’s Canada A.M. said the Razzies really put an emphasis on films and actors who made the headlines as opposed to who really deserves the Razzie for 2010.
“The Razzies really are more about making a splash than they are about truly celebrating the worst performances of the year,” Crouse said.
“Cher, Liza Minnelli and Barbara Streisand, sort of the battling divas who are vying for worst supporting actress, they all deserve a little slap on the wrist for doing awful work in movies this year,” Crouse said.
“But I kind of find it hard to believe they are the absolute bottom of the barrel,” Crouse said.
The Razzies will be handed out at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre on February 26, just one day before the Oscars.
For the full list of nominees, visit www.razzies.com, and be sure to check out www.thedailyplanet.com tomorrow for coverage of the 83nd Annual Academy Award Nominations.
Four-time Oscar nominated Director and Screenwriter Peter Weir graced Toronto with his presence today, doing Press for his already well-received new Film The Way Back. Known for acclaimed titles like Green Card, Dead Poets Society, The Witness, The Truman Show and more recently, Master and Commander, Weir is still at the top of his game with this latest effort.
Although I am unable to post my Review of The Way Back due to a Press Embargo which ends on Release Day, January 21, 2011, I can say for now that the journey for these Siberian Gulag Prisoners is grueling, and in effect cathartic. This fantastic Ensemble Cast including the likes of Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Saoirse Ronan and Colin Farrell put on some tour-de-force performances in an all-out fight for survival across Siberia.
As you might recall, Alliance Films was generous enough to give away passes here last week to a few lucky readers for tonight’s Screening at gorgeous Bell Lightbox and it was a pleasure for me to see some familiar faces tonight!
After visiting CBC for a taping of George Stroumboulopoulous Tonight (airing Thursday) earlier in the day, Weir was kind enough to do a Q&A for the Film, hosted by Canada AM’s Richard Crouse. Fielding questions from the Audience, Weir expressed that he has absolutely no regrets focusing attentions now on relatively more-Commercial releases, compared to some of his earlier work. Like Crouse, Weir is wowed by 16 year-old Atonement Star Saoirse Ronan’s professionalism and drive for perfection. The Australian Director concluded that Ronan who plays Irena, simply is an “Old Soul”. On the Film’s Lead Character Janusz played by Jim Sturgess, who delivers a career-best here, Weir acted jokingly insulted about a statement Sturgess made recently on how making this Film was like “making a Movie in the olden days”. In reality, Weir has adapted to the Digital Technology of this era, although he has no interest in making a 3-D Film at this time.
On Filmmaking, Weir feels that his own works are more emotionally rather than intellectually-driven and he gave a practical tip to aspiring Directors to at least try dabbling in Acting and Writing too seeing that they all go hand-in-hand. Equating the process to Working Out, he feels it is important always to remain in-form even if it is per say “writing a 50-word story”.
One longtime Fan in the Audience presented Weir with Roses, which he accepted graciously. When given the microphone, she went on to tell him that she has been a great Admirer since the ’70s and even wrote her Thesis about him. Not quite getting enough, she rushed-up again afterward with her Husband who snapped a Photo of her interacting with Weir, before he personalized a File Folder containing her Thesis. “You captured the sentiments of the Polish so accurately”, she proclaimed multiple times.
Finally getting a moment to speak to Weir, he was kind enough to pose for a Photo together and I kept it short and sweet, seeing how many others were hoping for a moment with him. An honour, indeed.
According to movieweb.com, 648 movies were released in 2010. Here are some of 2010’s releases you may have missed but are worth a look.
Scott Pilgirm vs. The World
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World stars Michael Cera as a 22-year-old Torontonian who must defeat his girlfriend’s Seven Evil Exes if he wants to be with her. It’s a wild ride that nails the pop culture zeitgeist but also tells a universal human story.
Cyrus
Cyrus is an odd movie. It’s about a lonely guy, the woman of his dreams … and her quirky son played by Jonah Hill. Not quite a comedy, not quite a drama, it falls somewhere in between. Just like real life.
Splice
In Splice, a creature goes from newborn to troubled teen in just a matter of weeks. Starring Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody, it’s giddy good fun; the rare sci-fi flick that revels in its B-movie roots while also offering up something to think about.
Harry Brown
Michael Caine has rarely been better than he is in Harry Brown, a gritty Teabag Western about an old man in the Elephant and Castle section of London who strikes back after a gang kills his best mate.
Flipped
Rob Reiner’s Flipped is coming-of-age Rashômon filtered through Leave it to Beaver with a dash of The Wonder Years thrown in for good measure. In other words, it’s a touching, but idiosyncratic film about growing up.
Get Low
Get Low, the unlikely story of a man arranging his own funeral, took on three hankie status as Robert Duvall played an old man looking back on his wasted life.
The Disappearance of Alice Creed
This kidnapping drama features three characters, three, maybe four sets and one hundred minutes of unrelenting tension. It’s a nasty little piece of work, remorselessly bleak but carefully crafted enough to be intriguing.
Winter’s Bone
Winter’s Bone should be seen not only for its uncompromising story of an Ozark girl who will do anything to keep her family together, but also for the breakout performance of its star, Jennifer Lawrence.
Defendor
In Defendor, Woody Harrelson plays a man whose rich inner life spills out into his real life. By day he’s dead-end-job-Arthur but at night he’s superhero Defendor. Gritty and funny, Harrelson breathes life into a role that could easily have fallen into cliché.
Marwencol
Marwencol, a documentary about a man with a severe brain injury who creates his own world as therapy is one of the funniest, most touching and inspirational films of the year.
Most Canadians know actor Bruce Greenwood for his work in big-budget American films like Star Trek. But long before he played JFK in Thirteen Days the affable Canuck got his start playing a scuba diver with two lines on the locally shot show, The Beachcombers, and often returns home to work with directors such as Atom Egoyan.
“The Beachcombers was a great lesson in how not to pad your resume,” he told an intimate crowd gathered at the Whistler Conference Centre before relaying a funny tale about fudging his diving experience. A comedy of errors ensued resulting in crushing head pain and a dropped mask, which forced a grip to strap on a tank, jump in the water and retrieve it from the ocean floor.
It was a casual conversation about his experiences with plenty of humorous anecdotes about autographs, interviews, acting and even Sly Stallone freaking out on the set of First Blood after missing his mark. (Greenwood played Guardsman #5). “Is this being recorded?” he asked afterwards.
There was also a funny moment when interviewer and film critic Richard Crouse asked Greenwood if he remembered any negative reviews. “Greenwood’s choppy acting style lends nothing to the production,” he deadpanned, before sarcastically adding, “No, I don’t.”
Another funny yarn involved a friend calling Greenwood up to ask if he’d seen the Today show following the release of the film Double Jeopardy. The friend told him that film critic Gene Shalit had ripped him on the show, claiming Greenwood “ruined the movie”. Greenwood was crushed and, after he hung up the phone, had a lengthy conversation with his wife before deciding he had to just let it go. After many painfully silent hours the friend called him back and said, “I got ya!”
Canadian-born funnyman Leslie Nielsen is being remembered as the fun-loving actor who somehow turned a 30-year career in drama into another 30-year career in deadpan comedy.
Nielsen died in Florida Sunday night after suffering from pneumonia, surrounded by friends and family. He was 84.
Nielsen spent almost three decades in scores of serious Hollywood and TV roles, but he will “surely” be best remembered for his iconic comedic roles.
The Regina-born actor grew up in Canada’s North, but left his abusive family at the age of 17 to try his hand at acting in New York.
As a six-foot blond with good looks, he worked steadily, mostly in TV on such series as “Rawhide,” “Gunsmoke,” and “The Fugitive,” as well as in such well-known films as “The Poseidon Adventure.”
But Nielsen’s career only really began, many might argue, when he joined the cast of “Airplane!” in 1980. At the time, Nielsen was 54 — an age when many Hollywood actors’ careers are winding down.
Canada AM film critic Richard Crouse says what made Nielsen so brilliant in that role was the way he took cues from the melodramas he’s built his career on and turned it into comedy.
“He got this role in ‘Airplane!’ and they told him, ‘Play it safe. Don’t go for the joke; let the jokes come to you. Be the leading man you’ve always been. Just say extremely funny things’.”
“He was 54 years old but it led to the next 30 years of his life,” says Crouse. “He was working until, literally, weeks ago. This guy never stopped working. He enjoyed working.”
“Airplane!” became a huge hit, filled with classic comedic scenes that allowed Nielsen to use his deadpan delivery for laughs.
When Nielsen’s character asks character Ted Striker to fly the plane they’re aboard, Striker replies, “Surely you can’t be serious.” “I am serious,” Nielsen responds, “and don’t call me Shirley.”
Nielsen followed up “Airplane!” with the role of Det. Frank Drebin in “The Naked Gun,” a film series send-up of the cliches of “Dragnet” and other cop shows. With George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson and Priscilla Presley co-starring, Nielsen had another hit on his hands, leading to sequels “Naked Gun 2 1/2” and “The Naked Gun 33 1/3.”
In his later years, Nielsen worked on stage, in advertisement work and film. The naturalized U.S. citizen returned often to Canada for work, appearing in “Men With Brooms,” “Due South,” “Robson Arms.”
Actor and filmmaker Don McKellar featured Nielsen in an episode of his cartoon TV series, “Odd Job Jack.” Though he met the actor only a couple of times, he says he was always impressed.
“He reinvented that funny straightman for his generation, you see some of that oblivious straight guy in Steve Carell and Will Ferrell,” McKellar told The Canadian Press.
“Robson Arms” producer, Brian Hamilton, said Nielsen always kept the film set atmosphere light with his mischievous sense of humour.
“He didn’t take himself, or anyone else, too seriously and he was someone who lightened the tone on sets constantly, even when we were under stress or a tight time frame,” Hamilton told CP.
“He was always the one to crack a smile and keep everyone in a light mood and frame of mind.”
Those who worked with Nielsen knew the prankster kept with him a hand-held whoopee cushion that always helped to bring some laughs to any dull day.
Crouse says he himself has been the victim of that whoopee cushion.
“About a year and a half ago, I hosted a panel with him at the Fan Expo in Toronto. And every time I would come near him, he had a little flatulence device that he would hit,” Crouse remembered.
“That was his thing; he had it with him all the time. Thirty years he carried this thing around and he was legendary for it. So every time I went near him, he would make the sound, and then he would look at me kind of disdainfully. And then with perfect timing, he would look at the audience with that ‘What am I supposed to do with this guy?’ look. And it got a huge laugh every single time,” Crouse said with a laugh.
Nielsen has stars on both Hollywood’s and Canada’s Walk of Fame and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002.
He is survived by two daughters, Thea and Maura, and his fourth wife, Barbaree.
Okay, in the interest of full disclosure, Hart Hanson did not casually take us aside during Monday’s Canadian Film Centre Test Pattern Series to give a fellow Canadian TV Addict the scoop of the century! That said, what he did do was offer up a tantalizing clue — that if one were to read between the lines — may have inadvertently revealed a time frame for Booth and Brennan’s inevitable coupling.
Allow us to explain.
During the question and answer period that followed Hanson’s interview with moderator Richard Crouse, we took it upon ourselves to ask the BONES showrunner to elaborate on his plan to replace the unrequited sexual tension between Booth and Brennan with something of equal power should he ever decide to go there.
“I know what my theory is, what it will be, I have for about 2 years, and I still think that’s the thing should that day ever arrive,” explained Hanson. “Or I’m completely lying and I’m never going to do it and I have no plan! It’s one of those two things.”
Fortunately for us, moderator Richard Crouse wasn’t about to let Hanson off the hook that easy, following up our question with an equally probing one, “If the ratings fell off, is that when you make a change like that?” And while Hanson was characteristically cagey as to the exact date, his answer did infer that “a change like that” would only arrive during the final season, as the story of BONES comes to a close.
“I’m really hoping that I have an inkling of when we will be done. You know, any number of things can happen. You have actors on contract for seven years when they come in to do a network test, so if David [Boreanaz] or Emily [Deschanel] all of sudden said, ‘I want a million dollars an episode,’ that could kill the show. Actors are just the most high profile, but the business stuff keeps changing and it changes every few years and it can become not as an attractive business proposition for News Corp. to do BONES,” said Hanson. “Or creatively, we could stagnate or start dropping. You know, you drop 20% in the ratings, the writing may be on the wall depending what else is in the shoot. Say everything that FOX put on the air this season had done better than BONES, that puts us in a weaker position and I would be thinking that maybe this is our last season.”
Last night, your very own TV Addict was fortunate enough to attend The Canadian Film Centre’s Test Pattern Series honoring native countryman Hart Hanson. Entertaining, informative and armed with a surprisingly spot-on Australian accent, Hanson wowed the audience of loyal BONES fans as he spoke candidly about the glorious highs and dizzying lows that comes with running one of the most popular shows currently on the air. Highlights of which we’ve tried our best to capture in our live blog below.
7:50PM: Moderator Richard Crouse (who did a bang up job by the way) introduces Hart Hanson and muses that it must be nice for the BONES showrunner to watch an episode — which in this case was “The Maggots in the Meathead” — with an audience. “It’s terrible, every possible weakness in the show is manifest,” said Hanson half-jokingly. “But it is really nice to hear people laugh since we think of BONES as a romantic ‘Crimedy’.”
7:53PM: In the first of what would turn out to be a series of fun facts that were “news to us,” it was revealed that the genesis of Hanson’s involvement with BONES was not so much as a result of his passion for forensics, but rather the fact that he owed 20th Century Fox a pilot after bailing on a legal drama. “It was a very fast shotgun marriage because I didn’t want to do a forensic or a procedural show. In fact, I incorrectly thought that ship had sailed,” explained Hanson. “There’s a million forensic shows. surely there is was no more room for a straight procedural? But I was wrong, there was plenty of room and it helped us to find our niche.”
7:55PM: From the department of “Well, Duh!” comes Hanson’s theory as to why the show is so popular with woman. “I don’t think David Boreanaz hurts, especially if every once in a while he takes his shirt off!” Being sure to add on a more serious note how much co-star Emily [Deschanel] resonates with the audience, “I promised Emily before she took the job that the number of times Booth would save her would be very small. I had to promise that to her and I meant it.”
7:57PM: Hanson credits the idea of kicking off each episode with a signature horrible or baffling occurrence to smarter than a fifth grader Fox exec Craig Erwich. Also calling co-executive Producer Stephen Nathan his right hand man. “Stephen Nathan is an old hippie, a song and dance man who actually played the original Jesus in Godspell. He’s a real f*ck the man kind of guy and loves to argue, so putting him up against Fox’s Standards and Practices is one of the real joys of my life.”
8:05PM: Good News: Like most reasonably sane people, Hart Hanson detests serial killers! Bad News: Network execs love them because American television audiences can’t seem to get enough of them. An obsession which interestingly enough resulted in one of Hanson’s biggest BONES regrets that we’ll affectionately refer to as The Gormogon Incident. “It was just bad showrunning,” admitted Hanson. “The original plan was to have Zack be a victim of the serial killer, but then there was a writer’s strike. There are no excuses in TV, but along came the strike, which not only curtailed our year, but didn’t allow us to do the story as it originally had been laid out. And then I felt very bad for the actor [Eric Millegan] because he was going to lose his job by being killed. So I thought if I’m making him the apprentice, he’d be able to come back every once in a while and make up that money. I probably should have killed him, but I didn’t have the heart.”
8:10PM: Fun Fact, according to researchers nestled deep inside the Fox mothership, studies have shown that
it only takes three episodes of BONES for a viewer to get hooked. Now, by no means are we condoning the use of physical force to tie down friends and family members to watch the show, we’re just letting you know that according to Hanson, “People watch one and they go, ‘That’s alright.’ Two, they say, ‘That’s a nice show.’ But if you watch three, ‘We’ve got you’.”
8:12PM: Attention Entertainment Weekly Editors who are currently seeking votes for the most under-appreciated entertainer of the year. “I know I’m bias, but I honestly believe Emily [Deschanel] is the most underrated actress on TV,” said the showrunner. “Every year we have to watch lovely Mariska Hargitay go up and get the Emmy while I’m thinking, “She didn’t throw the crab at anyone [referring to a hilarious scene in the episode we just screened]. She didn’t have to say dialogue that would kill a normal human being and then make you weep a little.”
8:15PM: What’s the only thing more challenging than dealing with a legion of incredibly vocal fans? Coming up with creative ways to murder people on a weekly basis! Said Hanson, “What I have to do now working on a murder show is get the writer to tell me the story from the murderers point of view, because it drives me insane when the killer doesn’t have a motive. And quite frankly, after 108 episodes, it’s getting harder and harder to not repeat ourselves.” Which naturally gives us an idea for an impromptu completely off-the-top-of-our-head pitch assuming Hart Hanson is reading this… ready: When a television writer is found murdered, his twitter feed provides the only clue, transporting Booth and Brennan into the increasingly bizarre world of online fans who may-or-may-not have taken their obsession with a fictional character’s love life a little too far! Just an idea, no pressure, but feel free to have your people call our people anytime.
8:18PM: And since we’re on the subject of passionate fans, the main event, or at least the portion that Hanson’s 25,000 twitter followers are probably most curious about is on the subject of Booth’s latest love interest, Hannah. “I came into the Hannah story knowing where it goes, but Katheryn [actress Katheryn Winnick] is more interesting than we thought, so we make adjustments,” teased Hanson coyly. “I’m being as oblique as I possibly can, there are people who are starting to notice that maybe Hannah was brought in to be another foil for Brennan as much as she was for Booth. That’s true and I’m glad that people are starting to notice that when they stop shouting and there’s a lot of shouting about Hannah. I know where it goes, I know how it ends, but we have made some adjustments to how it plays out.”
8:22PM: Needless to say, everyone has an opinion on how they’d like to see the Booth and Brennan relationship play out. Including the very vocal head of the ABC Network (Australia’s Broadcast Network), who at a recent Fox Party for its international clients had this to say, “Don’t let ‘em f*ck!” recounted Hanson complete with a fairly credible Aussie accent. “I’m not kidding, He just kept saying that I better not let them f*ck and that they’ll all tune out the minute I let them f*ck!”
8:25PM: “I actually don’t believe in the MOONLIGHTING curse, but it doesn’t mean that it won’t look like I do. The trick is, the main thing to BONES when it went from being a murder show to being a way to figure out how to replace the unrequited sexual tension between two people with something else of equal power and that is easier said than done,” said Hanson on the subject that just won’t ever seem to die. “That’s what happens, and it better work. If I’m wrong and I have them get together tomorrow and what I think is the thing that will replace it, if I’m wrong, then the show will go off the air, a lot of people will lose their jobs, and it will be very very sad.”
Richard Crouse is the host of Richard Crouse’s Movie Show on the Independent Film Channel and Richard Crouse at the Movies on CFRB NewsTalk 1010 in Toronto. He is the regular film critic for CTV’s Canada AM and is also the author of six books on pop-culture history, including The 100 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen and Reel Winners. He hosts an IFOA reading and interview with John Waters, the American writer, filmmaker, actor, and visual artist; Waters will be reading from his latest book, Role Models. Friday, Oct. 22, 8 p.m. in Fleck Dance Theatre.
Globe and Mail: Can you recall your first hosting gig?
Richard Crouse: It seems I have always been hosting something, in one form or another. As a kid, I’d always throw on a suit and gladhand at my parent’s parties. Later, as a bartender, I tried to get my customers kibitzing and chatting amongst one another. I guess I was training myself for dealing with difficult (although usually more sober) interview subjects yet to come.
I can’t remember the first of the live Q&As I hosted. I do 100 or so a year. There have been memorable ones, though. Glen Hansard doing an impromptu version of his (soon-to-be) Oscar winning song Falling Slowly with some back-up singers recruited from the audience sticks out. Harrison Ford calling me Canada’s most “beloved film critic” made me smile. And Paper Heart star Charlene Yi re-enacting the final scene of her movie live on stage was hilarious and touching.
G&M: Like an editor who remains invisible to the reader, I suspect the mark of a good host is one who lets the subject shine in his or her best light. What’s the trick to staying in the conversation while removing yourself to make room for their responses?
RC: I make a point of never making the interview about me. No questions starting with “What I liked about . . .” or “I think what you did . . .” Who cares what I think? The audience paid their money to see what the guest has to say. If they want to hear from me they can tune into my radio show or look me up on Facebook. My job is to make the guest as comfortable as possible so I can then draw out answers from them that will be entertaining (hopefully), enlightening (with any luck) and interesting (fingers crossed!).
G&M: On Friday you’ll interview John Waters. In a phone interview with Waters this past summer, you note that there are people in his book Role Models who could easily be dismissed, yet Waters treats them respectfully. And in a New York Times review of the book, Tom Carson suggests that Waters hasn’t been “undone by the realization that he’s not outrageous anymore.” As someone who has watched Waters career, do you see an evolution in character, or are we just now seeing beyond the fringe to a regular (if extraordinary) man?
RC: I’m not sure if it is John Waters who has changed or if it is the world that has gone through a transformation. His early films may have been intended to shock but instead of being outrageous for the sake of it, I always felt he was trying to slap the conservative post-war generation in the face, waking them up to the fact that there is an unseen and marginalized assortment of people that make up the grand mosaic of American life. Job well done. It worked. Now the kinds of characters he focused his camera on in the beginning of his career are mainstream figures, much less outrageous now than then.
Role Models is an extension of the film work, just much more personal. Reading about the characters he has befriended and/or simply admired from afar gives us a great deal of insight into his own character and why he felt it so important to stray far from the middle-of-the-road.
G&M: If you could concoct a cocktail comprised of the ingredients for a perfect evening — audience, interviewees and host — what would they be and what would it be called?
RC: I’d have a handpicked audience huddled around the bar at Southern Accent on Markham Street (still the best bar in the city) listening to my conversation with Hunter S. Thompson, Keith Richards and Andy Warhol, who, of course, would be accompanied by Superstar Candy Darling. We’d listen to Cajun music and discuss the creative process in a night I’d call “Why Do You Hate Freedom? A Look Into the Heart of an Artist.”
“The King’s Speech,” the tale of King George VI’s struggle with a stammer, leads this year’s Academy Award nominations with 12 nods, including best picture and acting honours for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.
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