Showbiz History: "Roots" takes America by storm and Tom Cruise nabs a "Magnolia" win
Saturday, January 23, 2021 at 10:10AM 7 random things that happened on this day, January 23rd, in showbiz history
1962 François Truffaut's new wave classic Jules et Jim is released in France and Canada. It makes it to the US a couple of months later though it's not immediately embraced in the US. In the UK it's a different story and the film receives two BAFTA nominations: Best Film and Best Foreign Actress for Jeanne Moreau. And it was Moreau's 34th birthday that day, too...
1976 Sidney Poitier (then 48) marries Joanna Shimkus (then 32) who had co-starred in this 1969 film The Lost Man. They're both still with us so happy 45th anniversary to the couple!
click to embiggen - image via National Archives
1977 The epic miniseries "Roots" about slavery in the US, which takes place over a one hundred year span from the mid 18th century to the aftermath of the Civil War begins on ABC. A new episode will arrive daily for 8 nights. It remains one of the most watched television events of all time with numbers that are unfathomable by today's standards: Over 100 million people watched.
1983 The A-Team premieres becoming one of the most popular shows on television. Former film star George Peppard leads with Tim Dunigan 'Faceman', Dwight Schults 'Howling Mad Murdock' and Mr. T (B.A. Baracus) making up the rest of his team. It will run for five seasons.
1988 The 45th Golden Globes are held with The Last Emperor and Hope and Glory taking the Best Film prizes and LA Law and Golden Girls reigning in TV. Yes, unfathomable as it may seem, Moonstruck lost Best Motion Picture Comedy! If you've ever wondered why Sally Kirkland pulled that famous disappointed face when she lost the Oscar to Cher after her hardworking campaign for a brilliant performance, this night is probably why. We recently spent a lot of time discussing 1987 and we had great fun doing so.
1993 The 50th Golden Globes are held with Scent of a Woman and The Player taking the Best Film prizes (neither of which repeated the top win at the Oscars) while Northern Exposure and Roseanne were the TV champs. A Few Good Men and Aladdin had led the nominations but only Aladdin won any prizes (Score and Song).
2000 The 57th Golden Globes are held with American Beauty and Toy Story winning the film prizes and HBO utterly dominating TV with both Sopranos and Sex and the City triumphant. The Best Supporting Actor nominations were the only exact match of the forthcoming Oscar lineups. Tom Cruise won the Globe for Magnolia (yay...and can we talk about how ridiculously hot his haircut was at the time?) but was unfortunately beaten by Michael Caine, a previous winner, come Oscar night. (Second Oscars are such a waste unless the person *really* deserves them.)
Today's Birthday Suit
Happy 29th birthday to Colorado born Irish actor Jack Reynor (Glassland, Sing Street, Free Fire). Remember that insane ritualistic sex scene in Midsommar? Next up for Reynor is Cherry (2021) with Tom Holland and then the action thriller Borderland with John Boyega.
Today's showbiz birthdays: Director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine, Place Beyond the Pines), Rutger Hauer (Bladerunner, Sin City), Richard Roxburgh (Moulin Rouge!, Van Helsing), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting, Wonder Woman), Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU), Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver, Stargate SG-1), 40s favourite Dan Duryea (The Little Foxes, Scarlet Street), Tiffani Thiessen (Saved by the Bell), Julia Jones (Westworld, Twilight Saga), Rob Garrison (Karate Kid, Prom Night), David Patrick Klly (Twin Peaks, Dreamscape), western star Randolph Scott (Roberta, Ride the High Country), Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers, Airport 77), Spain's Ariadna Gil (Pan's Labyrinth, Belle Epoque), Oscar winning producer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty), Japan's Shin-ichi Chiba (Kill Bill, The Street Fighter), and dance legend Chita Rivera (Chicago, Sweet Charity) who turns 88 today. Happy birthday Chita!
Reader Comments (23)
Tom Cruise is a good actor, but he needs to be directed by someone like Stone or P.T. Anderson,
I agree with the Academy, Caine is my winner . The British actor is fantastic even in movies that are not so great.
Midsommar was utterly disturbing.
The A-Team, iconic on its own right, mediocre series, AWESOME cast. I mean, all four actors are PERFECT casting for the roles and the series got the best out of each one.
I really watched the show for the cast, not for the plot, which usually was beyond ridiculous, and the violence was so bland... did anyone die on the action scenes if the A-Team was involved?
I always love the opening lines of Jules et Jim even if it's not my favorite Truffaut film:
Tu m’as dit ‘’Je t’aime’’, je t’ai dit ‘’Attends’’. J’allais dire ‘’Prends-moi’’, tu m’as dit ‘’Va-t-en.”
(You said, "I love you." I said, "Wait." I was about to say, "Take me." You said, "Go away.")
Ewen Bremner is one of my favorite actors. Tickled to see him in First Cow. I will always remember him as Penguin in Conquest of the South Pole. I named our cat after one of the characters of that strange but memorable film.
Magnolia is one long film that I always watch every year. Some characters are more memorable for me than others: Melora Walters, the 2 Phillips (Seymour Hoffman and Baker Hall), and John C. Reilly.
My brother was into The A-Team more than I do but I like all of Hannibal's team which also includes Dirk Benedict (Faceman) and Melinda Culea (Amy).
Supporting Actor 1999 was SO competitive...
I never saw The Cider House Rules so, I can't judge on Michael Caine's merit to win, but...
Tom Cruise probably gave his best perfomance (maybe along his Lestat in Interview with the Vampire?) in one of 1999's masterpieces...
Michael Clarke Duncan was absolutely a revelation, in a film that I consider way superior to The Shawshank Redemption (way more focused, way more interesting, way less cliched).
Haley Joel Osment (despite not being his best performance, that would be AI) was the performance of the year, probably, in terms of worldwide impact.
Jude Law, like Caine, I can't comment, never saw The Talented Mr. Ripley (I disliked the old french version with Alain Delon, and was never interested in the film, despite the cast)
... and the snubs!
John Malkovich in Being John Malkovich
Brad Pitt in Fight Club
Hugo Weaving in The Matrix
William H. Macy and John C. Reilly in Magnolia (and arguably, Hoffman and Robards as well)
Rhys Ifans' scene stealing turn in Notting Hill
Danny de Vito in Man on the Moon
Chris Cooper in American Beauty
@Owl
Ewen Bremner is also one of my fave actors... in my opinion he should have TWO Oscars at home, at this point, for both performances as Spud in both Trainspotting films. Irony being, at the theater play, he was not Spud, but Renton, and had to switch roles to Spud, because Boyle wanted his friend Ewan McGregor as the lead. I did not know that he is in First Cow, so that is an added reason to look forward to it.
It's a shame how much he is wasted in Hollywood, but still, he's the best thing in Alien vs Predator, Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down and some other works he made in blockbusters.
@Jesus Alonso
I co-sign what you said about Bremner in the two Trainspotting films, especially in the second one. His performance is so intense and moving--those last few scenes, especially. Bafta (Scotland) chose him as best actor than Ewan McGregor which says a lot.
I'm also a huge Ewan McGregor fan, btw.
@Owl
I also love McGregor and was in delight to learn that both are actually very close friends (and have acted a lot, together!). It's one of my fave on screen duos of all time... so great chemistry together.
MAGNOLIA is easily my favorite film of 1999 and it has fierce competition (Fight Club, Ameican Beauty, The Sixth Sense , All about my Mother, The End of the Affair etc) call me carzy but I've always thought CRUISE ranges from very good to terrific , on my book he shoulld've had two Oscars on his shelf by now ( Jerry Maguire & Magnolia), he was shamelessly robbed for Magnolia, it's an impressive performance in a movie that is still in conversation 20 years after its release
Oscars from time to time makes me wondering what the f**k they were thinking: Jones over Fiennes (1994), Hanks over Newman (1995), Sarandon over Stone (1996), McDormand over Watson (1997). Hunt over Dench (1998), Benigni over Norton (1999) Witherspoon over Huffman (2006), Hudson over Blanchett (2007), Bridges over Firth (2010), Bullock over Mulligan (2010), Firth over Bardem (2011), Streep over Williams (2012), Lawrence over Chastain (2013), Stone over Portman (2017),
The 2000 supporting actor Oscar should have been Jude Law's.
1999's Supporting Actor winner is Osment from the nominees and Plummer from the snubs.
Regarding sexy Tom hair a topic I can really get into but nothing beats the Mission Impossible buzzcut esp if it's wet.
For me it is Jerry Maguire for which Tom Cruise should have won the Oscar. It refines his movie star charisma to its essence, just like Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich.
And I love Moonstruck for sure, but I may love Hope & Glory even more. I know I'm pretty much alone on that around these parts.
If there is ever a supporting actor smackdown start with 1999
Jude Law over both Caine and Cruise for me, and it's not close. But I'll join the others who are saying Cruise should've won Jerry Maguire. I like Geoffrey Rush, but it's too bad that didn't happen.
Osment or Law over Cruise and Caine, most definitely.
I'd give Cruise prizes (not necessarily Oscars) for Jerry Maguire, Tropic Thunder and Edge of Tomorrow.
I know it sounds crazy to disagree about a Caine’s Oscar win and of course he gave a commendable and sweet perf in The Cider House Rules (the crying while listening the “white lie” almost moved me to tears), still I would be happy if Cruise’s three could have find his moment with Ampas at least once
Perhaps I waited to long to watch Jules & Jim and my expectations were too high because while I liked the film I wasn't enraptured as so many had led me to believe I was going to be. I'd much rather revisit The Bride Wore Black or Fahrenheit 451 if I'm in the mood for Truffaut.
Dan Duryea is undervalued. Having managed over the years to see all his films his typing as a lowlife villain, which he was exceptionally expert at, cut the full scope of his ability short.
I really felt sorry for Reynor is that endless and pretentious movie- hope he gets better role in better movies
Roots... yeah... that was a movie white kids didn't forget because when they went to school. They got beaten up by all of the black kids.
I love the A-Team. I pity the fools who don't like that shit. I AIN'T GETTIN' ON NO PLANE FOOL!!!!!
Magnolia and Eyes Wide Shut I think are the last movies Tom Cruise ever did where he was challenged as an actor and succeeded while Minority Report, Edge of Tomorrow, and Tropic Thunder are the rare moments where he does act and do well. Other than that, he's just a poor man's Jackie Chan as far as stunt work is concerned and is now one of those guys who does the Derp-de-Derp films.
Why does Sally Kirkland look like a Kristen Wiig character?!
thank you for the shout out for Tom's haircut. his shiny chocolate brown mane possibly never looked so good. he really looks beautiful there. and since he lost for jerry maguire (a travesty...it's a perfect performance), he certainly should have won that year for magnolia (cider house rules is a terrible movie and caine is so hammy and bad in it).
There was a tremendous snow storm that blanketed the Midwest that week, so everyone stayed home and watched "Roots". STILL incredilbly powerful television.
"The Sixth Sense" would not have worked as well without Osment's performance. Supporting Actor 1999 is equal to Supporting Actor 1993. Everyone nominated deserved it.
Agree that everyone nominated in 1993's Supporting Actor deserved it; not everyone in 1999 did. If you add John Malkovich and Christopher Plummer, and remove Michael Caine and Michael Clarke Duncan, then everyone deserved it.