91st Oscars Recap

Artistry Magazine | March 15, 2019

The 91st Academy Awards opened with a ground shaking tribute to Queen, the subject of the Best Picture nominee, “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Adam Lambert of American Idol, accompanied by original band members, Brian May and Roger Taylor performed two of Queen’s iconic songs “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions”. 

As with any awards show, the laughs, whether intended or not, were plentiful. The first of many A-list presenters Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler presented the first award of the night, Outstanding Supporting Actress. In a string of jokes the three comedians gave a taste of what could have been, had they hosted the awards. Jason Momoa who starred in one of this year’s most popular films, “Aquaman”, presented the award for Best Documentary Feature to “Free Solo” alongside an unlikely companion, Helen Mirren. However, both actors took a backseat to the real star: Momoa’s pink scrunchie. In one of, if not the most awkward moments of the night, makeup artists Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe, and Patricia Dehaney struggled reading off of their pre-written acceptance speech after winning for their outstanding work in “Vice”. The three rattled off a seemingly endless number of names, forcing the production to play them off. While presenting the award for Costume Design, Best Actress nominee Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) and Brian Tyree Henry (“Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse”) came out dressed in an amalgamation of movie costumes as they presented the “subtle award.” McCarthy wore a costume inspired by “The Favourite” with a cape covered in fake rabbits and a puppet; Henry wore a red hat from “Mary Poppins”, while also sporting face paint inspired by “Black Panther”. Laura Dern (“Jurassic Park”) introduced a special look at the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, accompanied by an oddly placed ad for Marriott Bonvoy Hotels. In a call back to their cult classic comedy, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey gave viewers a look at “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Myers who had a small role in the film, had a line claiming that “Bohemian Rhapsody” would never be the song that teenagers would crank up the volume and bang their heads to, which was a reference to “Wayne’s World” in which the characters did just that. Starstruck actors Awkwafina (“Crazy Rich Asians”) and John Mulaney (“Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse”) presented two big awards, Best Animated Short to “Bao” and Documentary Short Subject to “Period. End of Sentence.” Keegan Michael-Key dropped into the Oscars, Mary Poppins style, umbrella and all, to introduce Bette Midler’s performance of “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns”. New best friends, having worked together on “Kong: Skull Island” and more recently, “Captain Marvel”, Samuel L. Jackson, and Brie Larson gave a giggly presentation for Best Original Screenplay to “Green Book”, and Best Adapted Screenplay to Spike Lee’s “Blackkklansman”. Poking fun at the nominees continued throughout  the night as Jackson joked about Lee’s passion for the New York Knicks, who had finally broke a losing streak that night. Lee’s acceptance speech was also censored for a noticeable moment, leaving watchers wondering what was said.

Despite a relatively blasè show, there were a few memorable moments. Regina King took away her first Oscar for her performance in “If Beale Street Could Talk”. King represented one of three nominations, and the only win for “If Beale Street Could Talk”, the follow up film from Barry Jenkins (writer and director of the 2017 Best Picture winner, “Moonlight”). Mahershala Ali, who also won an award in 2017 for his work in “Moonlight”, claimed a second Outstanding Supporting Actor award for his performance in “Green Book”. In one of the biggest surprises of the night, Olivia Colman won for Best Actress for her performance in “The Favourite”. Glenn Close was the favorite (excuse the pun) for her work in “The Wife”. Close, who has been nominated for seven Academy Awards since 1983, will have to continue to wait for her win. Best Actor was a race between Christian Bale for “Vice” and Rami Malek for “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Malek, however, pushed through and claimed his first Academy Award for his memorable performance as the late Freddie Mercury.

The award for Achievement in Costume Design went to Ruth Carter, marking the first of three wins for the groundbreaking Marvel film, “Black Panther”. Following up that win came “Black Panther”’s second, to Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart for Production Design. Beachler gave an emotional acceptance speech for her first Oscar, ending with a powerful quote, “I did my best, and my best is good enough.” On-screen couple Tessa Thompson and Michael B. Jordan presented the award for Best Original Score to their “Creed” composer Ludwig Göransson for “Black Panther”, in which Jordan played Erik Killmonger. Göransson had previously worked with “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler on “Creed”, “Creed II”, and “Fruitvale Station”, and Coogler was the first to receive his thanks in his acceptance speech. 

Despite losing the big award of the night, “Roma”, and specifically Alfonso Cuarón, took away awards in Cinematography, Directing, and Foreign Language Film. Cuarón continues the nearly six year trend of Mexican director wins, which includes Alejandro G. Iñárritu, and Guillermo del Toro. “Bohemian Rhapsody” stole technical awards for Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, and Film Editing, which were seemingly going to go to “First Man”, “A Quiet Place”, and “Vice”, respectively. Michelle Yeoh and Pharrell Williams presented the award for Best Animated Feature to a well-deserving “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse”, which was helmed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (“21 Jump Street”, “Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs”, “The Lego Movie”). Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper gave a steamy performance of their winning song, “Shallow” from “A Star is Born”. Julia Roberts presented the final award of the night, Best Picture, which surprisingly went to “Green Book”, and ended the night on an awkward note saying, “Well, apparently that wraps up the 91st Academy Awards,” and in a sense, that basically summed up the whole night.

Inside the ICA Watershed

Artistry Magazine | September 25, 2018

Sitting just across the harbor in East Boston is the Institute of Contemporary Art’s (ICA) newest attraction, The Watershed. A short ferry from ICA takes you to a unique gallery experience that gives you an appreciation for a lesser known part of Boston. By expanding the museum across the harbor, the ICA hopes to bring new visitors to East Boston and increase the accessibility of art to Bostonians and visitors alike.

Built out of a formerly condemned copper pipe facility at the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina in East Boston, the award-winning firm Anmahian Winton Architects transformed the old facility into the contemporary art space it is today, while still maintaining the industrial feel of the building. The industrial surroundings from the building’s former life contrast with the digital contemporary art. A unique rainbow of lights hanging from the ceiling marks not only a distinction from the location but also from other galleries. On top of being a space for art, The Watershed is also a space for education. There is an area for children to read educational books and try their hand at brain puzzles, in the hopes that it will bring younger audiences into the art world. The gallery also features a number of photographs of East Boston shot by local teens as part of the ICA’s digital photography program.

The Watershed, which opened its doors on July 4, plans to feature an artist every summer. For their first year, the gallery presents works from Diana Thater, an innovator in film and video art since the 1990s. Thater’s work focuses on the natural world and the threats it faces, using a unique blend of use of unusual camera angles, scale and colored lights to challenge the way that we typically view moving images. Her art interacts with the space in a novel way, transporting the viewer into a new world.

Upon entering the space, you are greeted by the first of Thater’s pieces, “Untitled Videowall (Butterflies),” (2008). The piece highlights the increasingly detrimental effect that human activity has on the environment, in this case, on the Monarch butterfly. The piece references the tragedy that Thater witnessed as millions of Monarch butterflies died from frost in migration from Canada to Mexico.

As you continue into the gallery, Thater’s “Delphine,” (1999) takes up an enormous presence in the space. Composed of four projectors and a stack of video monitors, the piece focuses on a pod of dolphins swimming in the Caribbean and interacting with the divers filming them. The projections spill across a corner of the space, off the walls, and onto the ceiling and the floor. The angles of the projections are uniquely distinct from similar forms of video art, as they disorient the viewer to make them feel as if they are swimming alongside the dolphins. The stack of video monitors depicts an image of the sun captured by a NASA telescope. “Underwater and outer space are two environments that human beings can enter, though ultimately not survive. In ‘Delphine,’ there are three kinds of bodies in space: dolphins moving through volumetric space; the sun spinning in a vacuum of black space; and the viewer moving through real space made volumetric by the artificial light filling the gallery and framing the projections” explains the Watershed’s guide.

A hallway contains the next pieces of Thater’s work, titled “As Radical as Reality,” (2017) and “A Runaway World,” (2017). The pieces are composed of a combination of screens and projectors. The subjects for “As Radical as Reality” and “A Runaway World” are the Northern white rhinoceros and the bull elephant respectively. Both of these animals could potentially face extinction, and Thater hopes to highlight the dangers they face. To further shed light on their endangerment, the animals were filmed at sunset to remind us that the sun is literally setting on these animals. Through these artistic choices, Thater highlights the need for conservation so that we do not lose these incredible animals.

The last of Thater’s pieces in the gallery are, “Day for Night One (Two and Four),” (2013). Utilizing in-camera double exposure, Thater depicts slightly moving images of flowers, a recurring element in her work, across three groups of screens. The multi faceted work references both classic cinema and experimental photography in its composure.     

Overall, the ICA Watershed offers a unique art experience, where you can not only learn more about art, but also have a conservation about nature and the city of Boston. The Watershed will close on Oct. 8 and will reopen with a different artist next summer.

The 70th Annual Emmys Recap

Artistry Magazine | September 18, 2018

Monday, September 17, marked television’s biggest night — 70th Primetime Emmy Awards on NBC. Known primarily for their work on “Saturday Night Live” as the stars of “Weekend Update,” Colin Jost and Michael Che took on the job of hosting this year’s show. With SNL boss Lorne Michaels producing the awards show, Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson were the first of many SNL cast members to make an appearance on stage. McKinnon and Thompson led a musical number claiming ‘we solved it!’ in reference to Hollywood’s long time diversity problem, since this year’s program boasted the most diverse list of nominees in Emmy history. During the number, Sandra Oh, nominated for her work in “Killing Eve,” was recognized as the first Asian woman to be nominated for lead actress. The number also featured Kristen Bell, Tituss Burgess, Sterling K. Brown, Ricky Martin, Andy Samberg, RuPaul, and John Legend. 

Unlike awards shows in the past years, this year’s Emmy Awards was not inundated with any societal problem in particular — instead, Jost and Che tackled a variety of topics. In a particularly pessimistic string of jokes at the start of the show, Jost and Che addressed sexual assault in Hollywood, the rise of streaming, and Roseanne Barr, just to name a few. 

One of the more prevailing topics of the night was the decline in viewership of broadcast television. For the first time, a streaming service, Netflix, topped the list in most nominations at this year’s Emmys, edging out longtime champion HBO. In addition, Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” took home five Emmys, the most of any show. Jost highlighted the fact that this year, Netflix will spend $8 billion on programming and have 700 original series. Jost and Che pondered where all of Netflix’s money comes from to make these shows, comparing the streaming service to an Instagram model who spends all her time in Dubai. The duo, of course, recognized their own network, NBC, for having the most nominations among broadcast networks, although undercutting the accomplishments by comparing NBC to being like “the sexiest person on life support.”

Some of the most memorable moments of the night included Amy Sherman Palladino’s back to back wins for Writing and Directing a Comedy Series for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” While presenting with his wife, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend was recognized for being the first black man to achieve EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status, winning for his performance in “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Creative Arts Emmys the previous week.  After winning the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Sketch Show, “Saturday Night Live” boasts an unprecedented total of 63 Emmys over its 44 seasons. Thandie Newton, winner of a supporting actress Emmy for her work on “Westworld,” said “I don’t even believe in God, but I’m gonna thank her tonight,” prompting a thunderous applause. After its absence from the 2017 Emmys, “Game of Thrones” reminds us that it is still the best, taking back the coveted Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. Tina Fey presented a touching in memoriam, played to a rendition of Amazing Grace by the late Aretha Franklin. Amongst these, the most incredible moment came when Glenn Weiss accepted his Emmy for, strangely enough, directing the Oscars, and proposed to his girlfriend, who thankfully said yes. All in all, the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards remains a momentous night to remember, both on the note of important advances in television media and prevalent societal issues.

Eighth Grade: Opening Night at the Boston Independent Film Festival

Artistry Magazine | April 27, 2018

Countless young people took cover from the rain inside the Somerville Theater on April 25 to watch an early screening of Massachusetts native Bo Burnham’s new movie, “Eighth Grade” at the opening night of the Boston Independent Film Festival. The film, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year, does a tremendous job encapsulating the essence of eighth grade and youth in present day, as writer and director Burnham searches for a way to depict his own childhood anxiety and how it was linked to the internet. He constructed the honest voice of young Kayla, played by Elsie Fisher, as a vehicle for his feelings. While Burnham has seen previous success from his widely known comedy specials, he claimed, in the Q&A that followed the screening, to be getting sick of his own face and wanted to break off from stand-up in order to express his feelings in a new way. 

Although Burnham was never a thirteen year old girl, he tapped into a genuine depiction of what the world is like now and how especially troubling it can be for young people. In fact, Burnham said, in the Q&A portion of the event, that he was violently aware of his position as a man telling a young girl’s story and, as such, collaborated with the star of the movie, Fisher. Burnham also said that while he was writing the film he “watched a lot of videos of kids talking online about themselves, the boys tended to talk about minecraft, [and] the girls tended to talk about their souls.” Inevitably, and hilariously, he found himself relating more to the girls. When talking about his choice of eighth grade specifically, Burnham said that “the internet makes eighth graders of us all,” and that eighth graders are “feeling things so purely and intensely, and [he] wanted to make a pure and intense movie.” 

The protagonist of the film, Kayla, is finishing her last week in eighth grade before going into high school. She struggles with friendships, self esteem, courage, among other trials and tribulations that go along with this volatile stage of life. The film opens on one of her YouTube videos in which we see her discussing the topic of being yourself. The ideas Kayla discusses in her video are then undercut when we see her applying makeup in order to post a picture of herself in bed with the caption claiming “I woke up like this.” The use of Kayla’s YouTube videos are a recurring element throughout the film where we see that she is giving advice that she clearly struggles with taking herself. The voice of the optimistic and wise YouTube-Kayla are put over scenes of her struggling to do what she is in fact telling others to do. Kayla is an inherently relatable character, whether you’re an eighth grade girl or not. 

The technical aspects of the film make it uniquely visceral and current. The music could be loud and overwhelming at times, giving off a feeling of anxiety but also serving to make Kayla’s story seem larger. Burnham chose to forego the typical orchestral score, in favor of a more electronic sound and so he chose Anna Meredith, a Scottish composer, to create the techno music for the film. Burnham wanted the film to look and sound digital and Meredith’s work helped immensely to get that point across. In terms of the look of the film, scenes involving screens were depicted in a fresh way. 

One of the most impressive aspects of the film is seen in Fisher’s overall performance. (known for her roles in “Despicable Me” as the unicorn obsessed Agnes, and “McFarland, USA”, as the spunky daughter Jaime White). One thing that Burnham noted is that while many of the YouTube video scenes may seem ad-libbed in fact, every “um, like, and or whatever” is written into the script. The fact that Fisher was able to work with such a particular script, and give a performance that feels so real is truly exceptional. Burnham remarked that once he found Fisher during the casting process, he knew had found someone vulnerable enough to play Kayla, but also strong enough to carry the whole movie. 

Overall, Bo Burnham and Elsie Fisher have created a uniquely heartwarming, while also heartbreaking film about the hardships of adolescence in the modern age.

The full movie is set to release on July 13.

The 90th Annual Oscars

Artistry Magazine | March 5, 2018

The 90th Academy Awards marks a historic achievement for not only the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but also for all actors, actresses, filmmakers and, of course, movie-goers alike. The award winners were essentially those who were favored to win. Jordan Peele won Best Original Screenplay for “Get Out,” Allison Janney and Sam Rockwell won their first Oscars for Best Supporting Actress in “I, Tonya” and Best Supporting Actor for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” respectively, and the historic Best Picture award went to immigrant filmmaker Guillermo del Toro for “The Shape of Water.” To make the moment even sweeter, “Bonnie and Clyde” co-stars Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway presented the award, getting redemption for their envelope mix-up last year. The most memorable award and accompanying speech of the night, however, came from Frances McDormand, winner of Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. McDormand, after giving her thanks, asked all women in the building who were nominated for an Academy Award to stand and be recognized. The joyous moment culminated in the final two words from McDormand, “Inclusion Rider.” 

A few other awards of note went to Roger A. Deakins, who won his first Oscar for Best Cinematography for “Blade Runner: 2049” after having racked up 14 nominations on such films as “The Shawshank Redemption” and “No Country For Old Men.” Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton’s won Best Live Action Short for their film “The Silent Child,” in which Shenton gave her speech in English and in American Sign Language, to honor the deaf subject of the film, and basketball star Kobe Bryant won Best Animated Short Film for “Dear, Basketball.” The night itself was filled with emotion, reverence, and memory, gracefully addressed by host Jimmy Kimmel, back again for the second year in a row. He had a few critical issues to address as well, including the Best Picture debacle of last year and the most present issue of the night involving sexual assault and inequality in Hollywood. “Last year, about a week before the show, the producers asked me if I wanted to do some comedy with the accountants, and I said, nah… so the accountants went ahead and did comedy on their own,” Kimmel said, poking fun at the people from PricewaterhouseCoopers, who are in charge of the envelopes for the show.

The monologue continued in a light-hearted tone as Kimmel highlighted the historic nature of the night, being the 90th annual award show. Pointing out the giant Academy Award that joined him on stage, Kimmel celebrated Oscar as being the perfect type of Hollywood man. “Just look at him, keeps his hands where you can see them, never says a rude word, and most importantly, no penis at all… he is literally a statute of limitations,” Kimmel said. Kimmel continued with criticism aimed at men when honoring the 13-time nominated film “The Shape of Water” saying, “We will always remember this year as the year men screwed up so badly, women started dating fish.” These joking statements were only a taste of what the men of Hollywood, and frankly the men of the world, faced during the ceremony. It was clear that the issue of sexual harassment is something that will remain on the forefront of media for time to come. 

Several presenters and attendees supported the movements that are helping to end sexual assault and harassment in America by wearing “Time’s Up” pins. Salma Hayek, Annabella Sciorra, and Ashley Judd, all of whom have accused Harvey Weinstein of harassment or assault, gave a tribute to inclusion and equality during the show. Artists Common and Andra Day included several activists on stage, including the founder of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke, during the performance of their original song, “Mighty River,” from “Mudbound.” Even Jimmy Kimmel directly encouraged people to join the students at Parkland at their protest on March 24 against gun violence, among other prevalent topics. 

In contrast to the dialogue concerning sexual harassment, Kimmel also focused on the wealth of entertainers who made history that night. Greta Gerwig, was the first woman to be nominated for Achievement in Directing in eight years for “Lady Bird,” Jordan Peele was named the third person in 90 years to be nominated for directing, writing, and producing in the same year for a debut film and first black filmmaker to be nominated for ‘The Big Three’ in the same year for “Get Out,” and Rachel Morrison became the first woman to ever receive a nomination for Achievement in Cinematography for “Mudbound.” Other notable nominations included Mary J. Blige, as the first person ever to be nominated for both Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Original Song for “Mudbound,” and Timothée Chalamet as the youngest nominee for Best Actor in almost 80 years for “Call Me By Your Name.”

As with any Oscars night, the awards show was filled with comedy and hijinks. A few strange moments and mishaps happened throughout the night, including many winners having to place their awards on the floor due to lack of a podium and the announcer mispronouncing “Oscar” while Frances McDormand walked to the stage to accept her award. Comedians Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph proved to be two of the best presenters the Oscars have seen. As they complained about their hurting feet and bathroom-centric roles,the two leading ladies riffed off one another. “Girl, my pinky toe fell off,” Rudolph said, as she held up a fake pinky toe, prompting a large laugh. To iterate the need for shorter acceptance speeches, Kimmel, in a “The Price is Right” fashion,  promised that the winner who gave the shortest acceptance speech would win a brand new jet ski, presented by Helen Mirren. Kimmel later sweetened the deal, adding a trip to Lake Havasu, in the end going to  Mark Bridges, winner of Best Costume Design for “Phantom Thread.” 

Overall, the 2017 Academy Awards marked a monumental milestone for Hollywood and people who love it. For 90 years, the Academy has honored women and men for achievements in filmmaking and, although this year marks one of the most diverse years in the show’s history, there is still much progress to be made to make the filmmaking community inclusive.