Oscar Stages Through the Years

Ask and you shall receive. Manuel here to take up Joel V's suggestion in the comments (for this post on the gorgeous graphics we saw on Sunday) and give us a look at past Oscar stages. I will hand it to Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, while NPH was only so-so (though thankfully willing to embrace the male gayze) and that ceremony ran way too long, they sure know how to make the telecast a stylish affair.

NPH amidst a stage that's giving us steampunk Oscar glam realness

This is Derek McLane's third time desigining the Oscar stage (he won an Emmy for last year's) and it's clear why Meron & Zadan love him, though please let us not speak of his designs for Peter Pan Live!

But, how well does this year's stage design hold up? Take a look at the last ten years of Oscar stages, which have in the last decade alone garnered 5 Emmys for Outstanding Art Direction for Variety, Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Program, nabbing a nomination every single year. Talk about a hot streak!

86th through 77th Academy Awards after the jump... 

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From the Vaults: Nathaniel's Audience with Julianne

It's your daily reminder that Julianne Moore is now an Oscar winner! I spoke to Julianne very briefly this season at a party for Still Alice. We laughed about her line reading of "Anne Hathaway. How does that work?" in Maps to the Stars (OPENING THIS WEEKEND!) which she told me she was horrified she had to say. Sorry Anne! Which only confirmed how nice she always is. Five years ago, though, I met Julianne for a sit down interview on The Kids Are All Right (2010). Here's how it went if you've started reading the blog only in the past few years. 

Originally Published on July 8th, 2010

The occasion was the release of The Kids Are All Right, Julianne's 48th movie and one of her very best. Julianne plays "Jules" the flighty wife of "Nic" played by Annette Bening. They've raised two children together. Nic had Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and soon thereafter Jules had Laser (Josh Hutcherson). It's one of Julianne's best comic performances in a career that's mostly been noted for her dramatic magic with internally shell shocked women. But it wasn't always accolades. Julianne's big screen career started twenty years ago this summer when the horror flick Tales of the Darkside was released. Inauspicious beginnings but no matter.

My history with Julianne doesn't stretch back quite that far. I first took true notice of Julianne in Benny & Joon (1993) when she was playing a former (bad) actress turned waitress. In one of the movies most endearing scenes, Johnny Depp mimics her horror performance that he's memorized as they watch it together. She nearly dies of embarrassment. Five years later, I did more than notice her. I fell madly in love in her next bad actress incarnation as porn star Amber Waves. Though two 'bad actress' roles began the obsession the woman herself is the polar opposite: she's one of the greats.

The first incarnation of The Film Experience was actually a print zine called "FiLM BiTCH" in the 1990s and Julianne Moore was the first iconic (literally) cover girl. I painted her as a religious icon. I met her for the first time in 2002 on the Oscar campaign trail for Far From Heaven but it was a simple 'hello, good luck' type of public event and my girl friend snapped this dorky photo which you can see after the jump with the full interview...

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Ask Nathaniel

Got a question you'd like answered? Here's an open thread to ask it. Perhaps your questions will inspire podcast discussions or future posts.If you don't have a question, how about healing words? (Note: Do not get sick! This is a nasty one, whatever I've got and it's taking forever to get over. Brutal winter we got here in the Northeast.)

Beauty Break: Random Oscar Night Gowns You Might Not Have Seen

Because they weren't on the stage but at after parties. Many beauties after the jump...

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Thoughts I Had... While Looking at 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Poster

Thoughts I had while looking at the Age of Ultron Poster as they come to me...

Wow, that's ugly! And since this movie would make a billion dollars even if they advertised with a giant stinky turd as the poster, you'd think they could be a little more creative. You can get away with anything, Marvel, so make it count. Revive the art of the movie poster... it's not like you don't know the important of a good "cover" for your comic books.

And don't make it so obvious that Samuel L Jackson is bored of his role. 

Where's Drew Struzan when you need him? His posters could assemble multiple characters, amplify their already potent iconography, be fun and beautiful all at once. If you love poster art of the 1980s, you should consider buying his coffee table book.

Who knew that the Black Widow was a fan of Tron: Legacy ? 

You can see The Vision floating up near the top. They let him keep that bright yellow cape though we don't know if his skin will be red and his costume green. Seems unlikely. That's a lot of primary colors for a movie! I don't know why but I now equate his relationship with The Scarlet Witch to with Doctor Manhattan & Silk Spectre so if there's not a CGI generated scene co-starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany with a bright red penis, I'm going to be disappointed.

Thor is about to hammer Captain America [ahem]

I hope the robots made of pixels have more character than those nameless alien pixels they battled at the end of the first movie.

I miss The Leftovers (I'm not the only one who was reminded of this). Come back Carrie & Justin

OMG remember The Rapture (1991)? Mimi Rogers was so amazing in that movie and it seems like no one has seen it. My Oscar nominees that year woulda been Foster/Davis/Sarandon/Rogers/Dern with apologies to The Bening! (What? It always comes back to best actress.)