2015 Best Supporting Actor, J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"

source: imdb.com

You've seen him as:

• Dr. Emil Skoda from Law & Order,
• J. Jonah Jameson from the Spider Man films (Sam Raimi's versions starring Toby Maguire)
• Will Pope in The Closer,
• Mac MacGuire in Juno,
• Professor Nathaniel Burke from the Farmers Insurance TV ads.

All great character roles.  

OK, it helps that he spent his teenage years in Columbus (Worthington), Ohio as his father was a music professor at Ohio State from 1969 to 1974.

But tonight, his role as the driven, intense music teacher Terence Fletcher in Whiplash, earns his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor. 

Congratulations Jonathan Kimble Simmons.

Dame Helen Mirren - BAFTA Fellowship Recipient

Congratulations to Dame Helen Mirren for receiving a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Fellowship. Ms. Mirren has been a favorite of mine for many years. I included her as one of my "girl crushes" from a November 2007 blog entry.

Despite her wonderful Oscar winning performance in "The Queen", I consider Helen Mirren's strongest role in television when she portrayed the balls-busting Jane Tennyson in the TV series, Prime Suspect. Tennyson's character was based on former police officer Jackie Malton, who was a script consultant for the Prime Suspect series. 

What I admired most about Jane Tennyson was her strength and vulnerability in a male dominated workplace. 

If you're an Amazon Prime Member, the full Prime Suspect series is available on Instant Video for free.

The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien

image source: Wikipedia

The film "The Sessions" received very favorable reviews when it was released last year, which included a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Helen Hunt. Based on the true life story of Mark O'Brien (portrayed by actor John Hawkes), I am reminded of another Academy Award connection, director Jessica Yu, in a blog entry I wrote on May 4, 2012.

Ms. Yu received an Academy Award in 1997 for Best Documentary, Short Subject for her film, Breathing Lessions: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien.  As described from Wikipedia, "The documentary explored his spiritual struggle coping with his disability; he had to use an iron lung much of the time due to childhood polio."

image source: Lemonade Factory Press

A poet and journalist, Mr. O'Brien attended UC Berkeley in his iron lung, co-founded a small publishing house, Lemonade Factory Press, and was an advocate for the disabled. Despite his disability, he lived a very fulfilling life. Something many able-bodied people have yet to accomplish.

Mark O'Brien died in 1999 at the age of 49.

Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone

image source: eonline.com

A few hours ago, 22 year-old Jennifer Lawrence was awarded her first Oscar for Best Female Lead Performance in "Silver Linings Playbook". This was her second nomination in 3 years. Her co-stars Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver also received nominations.

Prior to "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The Hunger Games", Ms. Lawrence caught the attention of film critics in "Winter's Bone", which garnered her first Academy Award nomination in 2011. She portrayed a 17 year-old teen who becomes the primary caregiver for her mentally ill mother, younger sister and brother.



For me, I liked "Silver Linings Playbook" very much but thought her performance in "Winter's Bone" carried much more depth and nuance (trailer clip attached). I saw it online last year and found it on a cable network it over the weekend. See it if you can. The film shows a grittier, poorer side of rural America we don't see too often.