"Road to Perdition" (Plus: Posthumous Oscars)

75th Annual Oscars ~ 10th Anniversary Special
On this very day 10 years ago, one of only two posthumous Oscars for the past decade in film was handed out. It went to Conrad Hall for his lensing of Road to Perdition (the other was Heath Ledger's). So here's one from the vaults since we did a Hit Me With Your Best Shot on it just last year. If you click on these shots, deemed best by our 'hit me' club and arranged here in narrative order, you can read more about them and why they were chosen.

It's a strange symmetry that a film as funereal as Road to Perdition would be a member of the Posthumous Oscar wins club. Here's a list of all 13 of them:

• Sidney Howard, Adapted Screenplay - Gone With the Wind (1939)
• William A Horning, Art Direction - Gigi (1958)
• William A Horning, Art Direction - Ben Hurt (1959)
• Sam Zimbalist, Best Picture - Ben Hur (1959)
• Eric Orborn, Art Direction - Spartacus (1960)
• Walt Disney, Animated Short - Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968)
• Raymond Rasch & Larry Russell, Best Score - Limelight (1972)
• Peter Finch, Actor - Network (1976)
• Geoffrey Unsworth, Cinematography - Tess (1980)
• Howard Ashman, Best Song - "Beauty & the Beast" from Beauty & The Beast (1991)
• Thomas Goodwin, Documentary Short - Educating Peter (1992)
• Conrad Hall, Cinematography - Road to Perdition (2002)
• Heath Ledger, Supporting Actor - The Dark Knight (2008)

Art director William A Horning is the only double posthumous winner though acting legend James Dean and Disney's brilliant comeback-making composer Howard Ashman both received more than one posthumous nomination.

Two TV Takes: "Southland" & "Bates Motel"

As I wait anxiously for the next great TV series to arrive -- where are you? -- I thought we should talk a little about two very different shows and the axis of Concept and Execution. Mad Men gets "A"s in both but most TV shows have to struggle through by leaning on one or the other. Having a good and/or original concept can win you a lot of leeway if your execution is problematic (see: Smash) but what of the inverse? Enter... Southland now in its 4th season. On the surface and at its core Southland is just another police procedural. You've seen it before and you will see it again.

So why the hell is Southland so damn good?

"How to Be Awesome"
The answer is all in the Execution. more...

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The Hermione Granger Franchise

Today's Must Read
If you're interested in the Harry Potter series or gender you must read this editorial "In Praise of Joanne Rowling's Hermione Granger Series". As most of y'all know I'm not really a Potter person and this article gets at my biggest problem with it. Honestly I hate the "Chosen One" crutch in genre stories... from Potter to The Matrix to Star Wars to The Bible it's so hard to escape. It usually excuses lazy characterizations and plotting. Even two franchises that I could hardly love more (Terminator and Buffy) rest on it. I wish I could declare a cross medium moratorium on it for at least 5 years. Wouldn't you love to see what kind of fictional heroics might emerge if writers couldn't use it? And wouldn't it be better for our global character if we defined heroism & specialness through something other than accidents of birth or (the worst!) predetermined fate?

Mini-Posterized: Tina Fey

With Admission opening tomorrow and a Posterized for the ridiculously prolific Paul Rudd on its way, I thought we'd look quickly at Tina Fey's film career. It has to be quick since it's so short. Though Tina has appeared in a few other pictures in tiny comic roles and done a couple of voice parts for animated features, these three are her claim to cinematic fame...

How many have you seen?

The correct answer is "all" even though the first, Mean Girls (2004), is the only keeper. The problem with Baby Mama and Date Night, which both have LOL moments if far far too few of them, is that Tina didn't write them. She's a solid actress but her true gift is writing (witness: 90% of the brilliant seven years of 30 Rock and 100% of Mean Girls). Fey was WGA nominated for Mean Girls (well deserved) but the movie shamefully garnered no more Awards Heat. Oscar looked the other way (boo, you 6000 whores) and even the Golden Globes didn't recognize a great comedy when they saw it because they had to find room for, um, Phantom of the Opera (ugh) and Ray (zzz). But then, high school comedies, even the undisputed champions of the genre, never get awards respect.

What would you like to see Tina Fey do with her Post 30 Rock years? Another series, more movies, just writing? Or perhaps you're a non-discriminatory Fey Lover... whatever she does, you'll want to go to there. 

Smash: "Musical Chairs"

"Smash", the confused conflicted self-sabotaging TV Show rife with behind-the-scenes drama is about "Bombshell", a  confused conflicted self-sabotaging Stage Musical rife with behind-the-scenes drama. The TV series has gone so meta lately it's now devouring itself live. Which is turning it into must-see or at least can't-look-away television again.

Backstage at "Liaisons," another show within the show, slumming movie star (Just Jack) has read the online bitching about the show he's starring in and turns to Ivy (Megan Hilty) his supporting actress...

That's "Smash" in a perfectly nutty nutshell. more...

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