Curio: Hollywood's Garage Sale

Alexa here.  The 2012 Hollywood Legends Auction, held recently by Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, made some news because it included the first sale of Whitney Houston's belongings since her passing. I recently perused the catalog and was interested to see many items from Rue McClanahan's estate (Golden Girls caftans!) and artifacts from Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's life together (including some patio furniture). There were hundreds of interesting film curios, including costumes, original artwork and odd, lifelike mannequins. Also fascinating was how much many of the items went for.  Why did Debbie Reynolds' Singin' in the Rain Costume fetch $10,000 more than Natalie Wood's Gypsy ensemble? Who knows.  Here is a small selection of the hundreds. You can flip through the catalog here.

Orson Welles self portrait, sold for $8,960.

Eyes Wide Shut mannequins, sold for $1,408.

Cabaret, Cleopatra, Gypsy and more after the jump...

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Naked Gold Man: The Pitiable Tradition of The Backlash

Yesterday I was asked by a fellow writer to be quoted on a "who will win?" Oscar piece at another site. I said yes without hesistation but why are we always jumping ahead? We don't even know the nominee list yet! One particular way in which I find it hard to relate to my fellow Oscar pundits and even a lot of kindred spirit movie fans is this: Year after year there seems to be a enthusiasm for and a willingness to concede the race to a presumed frontrunner before nominations are even announced.

This "it's over before it's begun" atmosphere enables, no, encourages hostility and backlash against popular films and performances. The annual Oscar carnival, meant to be a celebration of Hollywood's perception of their own best work, becomes decidedly less magical and fun once the atmosphere turns hostile. It's both more fun and more accurate to view the Academy Awards as a two phase celebration which has numerous winners. In the first phase dozens upon dozens of films and talented individuals compete to find placement in traditionally five-wide shortlists. Several people emerge as winners, drawing attention to films and performances that are sometimes really worth the moviegoer's time. In the second phase the nominees go all Highlander with their golden swords. There can be only one. 

But why rush to the decapitations? 

George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) in "The Artist", a silent film superstar threatened by the "talkie" revolution in Hollywood

The film that has been labelled the winner before its secured a nomination this year is The Artist. Many have already said it's a done deal though nomination ballots don't go out for another 9 days. So the backlash has begun. It's an inevitable fact of frontrunner status as any year teaches us.

On backlashes, nostalgia and scarce originals after the jump

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