Oscar trophy trend, fact or fiction?

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt almost certainly are strong contenders in the best actor award category — shining, word has it, in their respective upcoming movies, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Revolutionary Road.”
But they and others might be up against a subtle force they can do little about in the best actor race: Oscar award voters tend to favor actors playing real people.

In the past six best actor races, there were three years in which an actor playing a real person was nominated for an award alongside actors portraying fictional characters, and each time the actor playing a true-life person won the award. You have to go all the way back to the awards for 2001 to find a counter-example: Denzel Washington’s victory for playing Alonzo Harris in “Training Day,” which bested Will Smith as Muhammad Ali and Russell Crowe as John Nash. Otherwise, it was actors playing real-life figures — Ray Charles, Idi Amin, Truman Capote — who took the statue award.

This year that means if even one from among the stellar group that includes Frank Langella (as Richard Nixon), Sean Penn (as Harvey Milk) and Josh Brolin (as George W. Bush) lands a best actor award nomination, everyone else will have to weigh that added factor.

Best actress favors real personnages even more; the statuette award has gone to women playing real people six of the eight years this decade. But with frontrunners such as Meryl Steep, Nicole Kidman and Sally Hawkins taking on fictional roles this go-round, this year may break form.

It’s hard to pinpoint what makes Oscar trophy award voters tilt this way. But one likely factor is a frame of reference: Philip Seymour Hoffman acting and sounding like Capote probably will move the voter more than Terrence Howard’s acting and sounding like Djay from “Hustle & Flow,” a person the Academy Award member has never seen outside the movie (and hasn’t seen at all if they’ve never seen the movie).

Plus, there’s the impersonation factor: How could a voter not think Jamie Foxx is good; he even looks like Charles.

It wasn’t always this way. In the 1990s, fictional characters bested real people in the best actor award category seven out of nine times they went up against one another. And an actress playing a real person won the award only twice in the 1990s.

So what’s changed?

For one thing, the rise of celebrity culture. The TMZs of the world have made it harder to separate actors from their roles since we now know them as real people — unless they’re playing other real people, in which case voters can identify with the person they’re playing.

Even if DiCaprio and Pitt are unable to buck the recent trend favoring real-life portrayals, they can take solace in the likelihood they’ll have other shots at the top prize award. But the seeming voter bias toward real-life bios could also impact a few once-in-a-lifetime performances. Those include the comeback for Mickey Rourke, whose Randy the Ram in “The Wrestler” is a tragic figure to rival Willy Loman; Richard Jenkins, whose understated Walter Vale in “The Visitor” is exquisitely subtle; and Christian Bale, whose Batman in “The Dark Knight” is so darkly evocative.

Originally written by Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter

RHYDDINGS Business and Enterprise School headteacher Barry Burke gave his farewell prize night speech last night.

Mr Burke became head of the Oswaldtwistle school in 1999. In 2005 it was named as one of the fifth most improved schools in the country.

At the end of this term Mr Burke will leave to take up the post at a new inner city academy in Manchester.

Mr Burke told patrents and pupils: “Tonight is the last time I’ll speak to you as headteacher of Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School.

“As you know, I’ve been given the opportunity to take some of the ‘Rhyddings Magic’ and plant it in a new school in Manchester.

“So you see, it’s really your fault I’m leaving at the end of this term.

“After all, you’ve demonstrated to the world that Rhyddings’ students improve their performance year on year with your year group achieving the best all round set of results ever, and that makes me look good!

“And just like Joe Calzaghe’s decision to ‘quit’ while he’s at the top, I’m able to leave Rhyddings at the pinnacle of my teaching career – all because of your outstanding success.”

Mr Burke thanked pupils, staff, governors and parents and added: “I’ll take my Rhyddings ‘snapshots’ with me to make me happy when times get tough and call on the support of my friends when I inevitably meet those apparently insurmountable obstacles.

“Standing on the shoulders of giants, like those in Rhyddings, has made me successful but, more importantly, happy.”

>> PRIZEWINNERS

100 per cent attendance: One year, Katie Collins, Kirsty Evans; five years, Daniel Duckett; Art and Design: Aqsa Munir; Business Studies: Daniel Duckett; Engineering: Liam Koral; English Language: Farheen Mohammed; English Literature: Nafisa Tahir; French: Rebecca Entwistle; Geography: Katie Collins; Health and social care: Leanne Slattery; History: Farheen Mohammed; ICT: Kirsty Ormerod; Mathematics: Daniel Duckett; Media Studies: Sameena Waheed; Performing Arts: Emma Ward; Physical Education: Danny Wilkinson; Religious Education: Zisham Abid; Science: Rebecca Entwistle.

Technology (Catering): Katie Collins; Graphics: Louise Pike; Product Design: Aqsa Munir; Technology, resistant materials: Drew Owens; Textiles: Zakkeha Begum; Travel and Tourism: Louise Pike; Urdu: Zisham Abid.

School Trophies: Moore Trophy for service to the school: Mark Braysford; Governors’ Trophy for service to the community, Annabel Johnson; Rhyd-dings Trophy for effort, Moinuddin Anwar; Banks Trophy for achievement, Emma Ward; Mim’s Trophy for extra-curricular perfor-mance, Christopher O’Connor; Rhyddings Trophy for outstanding academic achievement, Rebecca Entwistle.

Originally posted by Catherine Pye

Trophy case continues to grow at Hazel Green – Lady Trojans earn crown at Madison County tourney

NEW MARKET – Hazel Green claimed its second volleyball championship in four days Tuesday by winning the Madison County Tournament at Buckhorn.

But the Lady Trojans hope the hardware they collected to go with its Scottsboro Invitational trophy are merely accessories.

“We still have to work very hard to get where we need to be to get to state,” said Jordan Corder, named tournament Most Valuable Player after Hazel Green defeated Madison County 25-11, 25-18 in the final.

Hazel Green will have to battle Class 6A, Area 16 foes Buckhorn and powerhouses Huntsville and Grissom to reach state.

“We all have to work very hard,” Corder said, “but we all want it really bad.”

Hazel Green had a first-round bye Tuesday, then defeated New Hope 25-11, 25-11 in the semifinals.

In combined matches for Hazel Green (31-9), Jordan Owens had 16 kills and three aces, Chelsi Bryant had eight blocks and Corder had 29 assists and 15 digs.

Madison County advanced to the final with a 25-21, 25-15 victory over Buckhorn.

In combined matches for Madison County (20-20), Jenna McCulley had 17 assists, Mary Catherine Nichols 13 kills and Denise Crawford 14 digs.

For the Lady Bucks (16-21), Kayla Tickles had eight assists, Kelsey Smith seven kills, Courtney Turner seven digs and Ryan Espy five blocks.

New Hope advanced to the semifinals with a 20-25, 25-22, 15-6 victory over 6A Sparkman, then lost to Hazel Green.

New Hope coach Shelia Mitchell said her team appeared distracted.

“It’s homecoming week,” she said. “We couldn’t seem to get any momentum going.”

The Lady Indians (20-11) have lost to Hazel Green three times this season, but Mitchell said her team put up a better fight in previous matches.

“We can stand on our own when we come ready to play,” she said.

In combined matches for New Hope, Justina Craft had 17 kills and Rachel Warren had 14, Audrey Shubert had 26 assists and Taylor Wilkerson had 15 and Kaity Ange added 11 digs.

Chelsi Carter and Owens joined Corder on the All-Tournament team as did Buckhorn’s Jessica Olsen, Sparkman’s Rachel Kummer, New Hope’s Shubert and Kraft and Madison County’s McCulley and Nichols.

Mike Easterling

Bob Jones splits: The Lady Patriots defeated Austin 25-13, 25-21, 25-9 to improve to 28-11 overall and 5-0 in Class 6A, Area 15.

Bob Jones fell to top-ranked Pelham 25-20, 25-21 in another match.

Bethanie Thomas led Bob Jones with 20 kills and Lindsey Ortner added 13 digs.

Lee sweeps: The Lady Generals defeated East Limestone 25-19, 14-25, 25-20, 25-13 and Johnson 25-15, 25-11, 25-12.

Lee was led by Haley Hangartner with 20 assists. Hannah Waters added eight aces, Kyanna Sales 20 kills and Crea Minor eight blocks.

Columbia comes up short: The Lady Eagles fell to Athens 25-10, 25-10 and Ardmore 25-8, 25-9.

Lady Falcons take two: Host Catholic (16-11, 3-2 in 3A, Area 15) defeated West Limestone 23-25, 25-12, 25-8, 25-14 and Randolph 25-13, 25-16, 25-6.

Lauren Gilmore led Catholic with 23 kills and Suzanne Balzar had 30 assists. Natalie Stevenson added five aces.

Madison Baptist wins at home: Madison Baptist defeated Valley Fellowship 25-21, 25-14, 25-12 to go 6-12 on the season.

Guntersville wins three: Guntersville defeated Boaz 25-13, 25-9; Albertville 25-19, 25-16 and Arab 25-22, 25-15. The Lady Wildcats moved to 37-3 with the three wins.

Originated from Huntsville, Times

BragThis.com, the social network for sharing bragging rights, announced release of a social awards and trophies feature in its latest set of upgrades. The awards and trophies system adds further pats on the back to BragThis.com users. BragThis.com webmasters can award users for accomplishing specific goals or giving notice to bragging rights of special merit.

New York, NY (PRWEB) September 16, 2008 — BragThis.com, the social network for sharing bragging rights, announced release of a social awards and trophies feature in its latest set of upgrades. The awards and trophies system adds further pats on the back to BragThis.com users. BragThis.com webmasters can award users for accomplishing specific goals or giving notice to bragging rights of special merit.

With the launch of the awards system, BragThis.com gave out 3 initial awards. 1st to Boast 50 Stars was awarded to the user that first totaled 50 stars or points for posting their bragging rights. The Master Builder award was given to a user for automobile ingenuity. Finally, the He’s on Fire award was given to a talented billiard player who posted a video of a trick shot. Awards add to the total point score of a user and can be posted to their favorite social network such as MySpace.com or Facebook.com.

BragThis.com launched in mid June and is off to a promising start. Executive Manager Michael Evan Reiss states that “the statistics are very positive from the users we have had during this beta period.” BragThis.com boasts an average of 6.41 pages/visit which according to Google is 210% of the average for smaller sized social networks*. Also, 8.5% of BragThis.com’s visitors viewed 20 or more pages*.

Mr. Reiss believes the site is poised for significant growth in the social network market share, but not until several additional key features are installed and tested. These new enhancements will be heavily responsible for driving first time visitor traffic and expanding the existing revenue streams already in place.

About BragThis.com
Created by entrepreneur and technology enthusiast Michael Evan Reiss, BragThis.com is the latest venture of Advertology, LLC. BragThis.com is a social boasting website that explores the activities of its users in an entertaining and humorous fashion. BragThis.com is currently released as a Beta; several new features and greater levels of interactivity are scheduled to be released at later dates.

Originated by Google Analytics

Tony Kushner, the award-winning playwright who has spent much of his time in recent years writing Hollywood scripts, is the first recipient of a newly created $200,000 prize for playwriting, by far the largest theater award in the nation, and one of the biggest cash awards in any of the arts.

Times Topics: Tony KushnerThe unusually generous prize, named the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, will be formally presented on Wednesday. It was created with an eye toward attracting talented playwrights and bolstering the status of their profession.

“We wanted to make a splash,” said William Zabel, who is on the board of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, which is issuing the award. “We want people to realize the theater is important, and that a playwright who gets the award is important to our society and our culture. We wanted to create something that was really significant, like the Pritzker Prize in architecture or the Pulitzer in journalism.”

The Pritzker carries a $100,000 cash prize; a Pulitzer is worth $10,000.

Mr. Kushner already has a Pulitzer, which he won for his two-part epic, “Angels in America,” as well as two Tony Awards, an Emmy and an Olivier Award (the British version of the Tony) for best musical. His works include “A Bright Room Called Day,” “Slavs!” and “Homebody/Kabul,” and the musical “Caroline, or Change,” written with the composer Jeanine Tesori.

Surprised and thrilled to be the first recipient of the new prize, Mr. Kushner said, “Playwriting is in a lot of trouble now,” adding that even someone who has “a string of successful plays cannot make a living at it.”

Mr. Kushner pointed to himself as a case in point, since he now divides his time between New York and Hollywood, working on a screenplay about Abraham Lincoln for Steven Spielberg, and another about Woody Guthrie. The screenplay for Mr. Spielberg’s “Munich,” written by Mr. Kushner and Eric Roth, was nominated for an Oscar.

Mr. Kushner said that he planned to put the money away “to buy me time to work on plays,” which he hopes to do full time when he finishes the two films.

Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Public Theater and one of the judges, said that while there were many extremely qualified candidates, the committee wanted to pick a person who would be “universally recognized in the theater community as the right choice.” Mr. Kushner’s talent, seriousness and status as a public intellectual quickly made him the consensus choice, Mr. Eustis said.

Mr. Eustis originally commissioned “Angels” at the Eureka Theater Company in San Francisco and directed both parts when they had their debut in 1992 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

In addition to his own work, Mr. Kushner has adapted and translated classics, including Pierre Corneille’s “Illusion,” S. Y. Ansky’s “Dybbuk” and Bertolt Brecht’s “Good Person of Setzuan” and “Mother Courage and Her Children,” which was performed in Central Park in 2006 with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline. He also wrote the English-language libretto for the opera “Brundibar” by Hans Krasa.

The trust, which was created in 1986 with part of the fortune Mr. Steinberg made from real estate, has donated more than $40 million to support regional theaters, leadership courses, scholarships, playwriting commissions, producing and more, said James Steinberg, a son of Harold and Mimi’s.

“Theater ought to be at the center of American culture,” he said, adding that the award was a way to honor playwrights and raise the visibility of theater.

Mr. Steinberg said his parents always loved the theater, and took him and his two siblings often. Even as a child, he sat through O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” Now he said he sees at least 100 productions a year.

The Mimi, as the trophy is nicknamed, was designed by David Rockwell and will be awarded every two years. In the alternating years the trust will issue two $50,000 awards for playwrights who are just starting out; the first is to be presented next year.

Originally written by Patricia Cohen