..

And the winner is... YOU!

Here's how the Oscars can help every Actor...

from Beginner to Pro!

The Academy Awards are probably the most amazingly ingenious marketing and PR machine ever invented. They are PT Barnum at his best. Give the people what they want and they'll pay to see it. And why not? On May 16, 1929, the Hollywood film industry dished it out by holding the first awards banquet at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. It was hosted by Douglas Fairbanks and created as a way to honor all those who made outstanding contributions to the art and craft of film production. But they soon realized it was also a great way to publicize up-and-coming talent and new projects soon-to-be released.

As such, even today, the Oscars are not just a celebration of a past year's achievements, they are also an important barometer of who and what Hollywood believes will lead the trends in the year ahead. For actors, whether new to the game or seasoned pros, the awards are a way to predict where the industry may be heading in terms of casting. While I won't say the winners are rigged, we all know that award ceremonies can be very “political.” Meaning there is a deeper agenda at play than just entertaining the masses and patting each other on the back at the same time. If producers and studios know that certain actors and actresses have been very popular recently and have two or three films coming out in the next year or two, there is no better way to boost their appeal than to give or at least nominate them for best acting awards. That way, movie-goers will be much more likely to want to see them in their new films, and the box-office can sleep a little easier at night. Similarly, the Best Picture nominees give a hint at what kinds of “thematic material” the powers-that-be in Hollywood may potentially be giving preference to in the near future.

By watching these perhaps not-so-subtle clues, it's possible for actors to see trends and figure out where they can best focus their energies on the vast and ruthless landscape of casting. If there were absolutely no huge “historical epics” at the Oscars, then actors may not want to waste time submitting for any historical epics. If, on the other hand, small, intimate, and intense psychological dramas that take place in Sweden are big in the nominations, actors may want to watch for those kinds of casting notices and spend some time brushing up on their Swedish.

It's never, ever easy for actors to predict anything about their careers. But smart actors who want to take as much control as possible, will watch for every Hollywood trend and pattern they can discover to help inform their decision-making as they venture forward to audition for new film and TV productions. And in many ways, the Academy Awards are sending out a road map of which highways to travel on in the year to come.

   ~ Andy Clemence

© 2020, Andy Clemence

"Prologue to An Ending"

Into the streets of mourning
Out of the heart of the night
Where the world is wet for weeping
Behold, the godless white...

Of a day that dawns without a prayer
For a man who’s lost his soul somewhere
A man whose chosen
What he knows in
His heart cannot be right.

To run through the Fields of Forever
Where none have ever trod
To storm the Gates of Heaven
And steal the face of God.

Pray for the soul that slips away
To seek the night and shun the day
No black or white
No wrong or right
Only endless shades of gray.

For he has become the darkness
The man he was no more
As soulless as the shadows
That toil upon the floor.

Woe to him who laughs no more
for he shall mourn forever.
Woe to him who needs you
for you shall not be together.

Woe to me
for I am he
who deep within your breast
Forever cries
with open eyes
that sleep but never rest.

~ Andy Clemence

© 2017, Andy Clemence

Les Miserables - A Film Review

Les Misérables 

The Broadway Musical Goes Hollywood

 ~ A review by Andy Clemence

I faced a bit of a dilemma when I went to the Director's Guild in Hollywood last weekend to see an early screening of the new Les Misérables film. I didn't want to like it or dislike it just because it was Les Mis. I, along with millions of others, had seen the original stage musical on Broadway and loved it. The full-length international cast recording had not come out yet, so there was quite a bit of music I hadn't heard just from listening to the Original London Cast album. It was a fantastic experience. But as time progressed, my enthusiasm receded and my recollection became that I loved the first 40 minutes until the rest of the show then slid into an endless downward spiral of myopic ballads. So going into the film at the DGA, I didn't want to bring along any preconceived notions about it. I knew who the main cast was, and knew some of them could sing. I had also read about the experimental live mic technique they used so the actors could actually sing the performances real-time during the filming as opposed to synching the film's soundtrack in post-production.
I took my excellent seat in the twelfth row center and settled in as the curtain opened and the film began. First impression: okay, the music has been beautifully recorded in all it's full power and majesty. So far, so good. As the chorus of men began singing “Look Down,” it became clear that the live mic technique was going to work. Then Jean Valjean and Javert started singing and it did actually take a second to get used to the fact that the characters are singing in a very, very live and exquisitely realistic setting – a vast shipyard in the pouring rain. But thankfully only a second, because it is a through-sung musical after all and we'd be in for a lot of difficult listening otherwise. But the sound was excellent and the live singing worked beautifully.
It also became painfully obvious right away who could sing and who couldn't. I'm a fan of both Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe and think both are very strong actors. I knew Jackman has had a long and very successful musical theater career behind him and so would probably be able to handle the role of Valjean. Crowe however, I wasn't so sure about musically. As far as his intensity as an actor, he was completely riveting as Javert. But it's obvious immediately in the shipyard scene that he's going to have trouble singing this role. I actually felt a little bad for him. But be that as it may.
Despite my fear that I would succumb to the flawless history of Les Mis, the film is stunning. There are some minor flaws in a few places due to camera positioning, etc. But I was happy to see that for the most part, director Tom Hooper let the actors sing their main big pieces straight through with as little camera cuts as possible. He also kept the camera very tight on their faces when they reached their life-changing crisis moments, especially Valjean and Fantine.
Now, let me say, that if Hugh Jackman doesn't win an Academy Award, then no one should. His performance of “Valjean's Soliloquy (What Have I Done?)” is absolutely devastating. It's one of the most compellingly realized pieces of acting I've seen in years – and he was frickin' singing it live at the same time! I honestly don't think I can overstate this. This man is at the end of his rope and it makes you wonder about the source of life Hugh Jackman is tapping into. The depths of this actor's soul are stripped naked here. It is a raw and unrelenting display of a tortured creature. And although Valjean moves into a successful life as Mayor, Jackman never let's go of the shame and fear that continues to haunt him right up until his deathbed. I've seen all the contenders for this year's Best Actor and was very impressed by all of them. But seriously, there is no contest.
The other performance that just left me struggling to breath, is Anne Hathaway's Fantine. There have been many, many amazing renditions of “I Dreamed A Dream” over the years, making it an almost impossible act to improve upon. But I have never, never felt Fantine's agony like I did here. This is no performer pouring her heart out to give us a show-stopping musical number. This is a desperately ruined young woman allowing us access to what are possibly the final moments of her life. Again, Hooper stays extremely tight on Hathaway's face and if I recall, is done in one complete take. And as she continues to descend into the worst of all human conditions, her humiliation is unbearable. And like Jackman, Hathaway's soul is absolutely shattered here, splayed naked for the world to see. Credit has to go also to very subtle changes in her attire; cruel and demeaning things that others have plastered onto her body without her even knowing they're there. These touches of ridicule remind us that she is almost no longer a woman, but merely a painted object that can barely stand.
One more mention. I've seen Eddie Redmayne now in a couple things. I thought he was great in My Week With Marilyn (although it was a bit hard to get past the Bobby Kennedy resemblance). When I first saw him on the screen here in Les Mis as the love-stricken revolutionary Marius, I thought, “Oh, him again.” I had no idea if he could sing and his first few lines made me wonder. But that doubt was quickly put to rest. His performance in this film is excellent. The role of Marius is written in a consistently high register, but Redmayne's singing voice is both lyrical and emotional.
So there's my take on the new Les Misérables film musical. Production design by Grant Armstrong, Gary Jopling, Hanna Moseley, and Su Whitaker is striking. The cinematography by Danny Cohen is gorgeous. And the exquisite costuming by Paco Delgado just boggles the mind. I don't think the film itself is a Best Picture winner, but it's 100% faithful to the original Broadway show, seamlessly directed, and beautifully executed. Yes, there were some things that make it less than perfect, but a universal story backed up by a brilliant libretto and score and superb acting make it difficult to argue against.
I would also point out that this is a fully cinematic vision. It is a film in every sense of the word, and at no time did I have the impression that they were 'just filming the musical.' Considering that everything is sung, that's quite an epic achievement.
So happily, my dilemma was resolved. And I can safely say that all this praise is absolutely not just because it's Les Mis living up to it's reputation.

 ~ Andy Clemence
    December 14, 2012

One More Breath

Gift of Life, that grips my soul
And threatens yet to take me whole
Before I lift my face to death
Let me have just one more breath.

One more breath to taste the dream
That floats before my eyes unseen.
One last breath to say goodbye
To she who was my reason why.

Let me breathe for just a time
Without the ache that is always mine.
Let me breathe a moment more
So that my broken heart might soar
And learn again before I’m through
The happy secret I once knew.

Give me this and I will leave
Without a word and never grieve.
Just a smile within my heart
For all I’ve had right from the start.
Gift of Life, don’t cry for me
I’ve been blessed just to be.
Loved enough for eternity.

I give my future to the past.
Gift of Life, you are gone at last.

   ~ Andy Clemence

© 2012, Andy Clemence

Why is Friday the 13th... bad luck?

Friday the 13th (October), 1307 – the day in history when King Phillip of France ordered and began the mass arrest and torture of The Knights Templar all across France (and eventually Europe). Thousands were captured and imprisoned this day, then systematically tortured by the Inquisition. Ironically, most went willingly, thinking they had done nothing wrong and that God would stand by them. Finally, those who managed to survive the torture were burned alive as heretics. Thus ending once and for all the 200-year autonomy of the wealthiest, most powerful medieval Order of warrior-priests the world had ever known. The Knights Templar's influence is everywhere even now: they were responsible for the building of the great Cathedrals of Notre Dame, which were strategically laid out across Europe in the form of the constellation Virgo, the Virgin (don't believe that one? Check NASA satellite imagery); they created the first international banking system that is still in use to this day; the infamous 'skull and crossbones' adopted by pirates was originally the battle flag of the Templar Navy. Though a Christian Order, answerable to no one but the Pope at Rome himself, their original founders included French noblemen of Jewish ancestry and during the course of their phenomenal rise to power, they secretly welcomed all beliefs, and harbored strong alliances with Saracens and Jews alike in the Holy Land. They practiced many unusual secret rituals, many of which are still used today by the various branches of Freemasonry, including an ancient Egyptian 'living resurrection' ceremony. Two years after the Templars' spectacular fall from grace, their last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, after suffering endless forms of unimaginable torture at the hands of the Holy Roman Papal Inquisition, was taken to a small island in the center of Paris and with his best friend and confidant, was slowly and literally roasted alive over a spit while entire public masses gathered to watch his long, agonizing death.

Thus, to this day, Friday the 13th is still considered a day of 'bad luck.'


If you're interested, read a great book:

The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple

by Malcolm Barber. The definitive history of the Templars from the foremost Templar historian.

Courage

The man gazed curiously at the boy; he was so small, so frightened; cut, bruised, covered in dirt.

“You have a lot of courage, you know...” said the man.

The boy's downcast eyes filled with tears.

“No, I don't.” he said quietly. “I thought I could be brave. But I'm not. I thought I could do this, but I'm scared to death.”

The man gently placed a finger under the boy's chin, lifted his face, and saw the shame in the boy's eyes.

“Courage,” the man smiled, “has nothing to do with being brave. It's about being scared to death... and doing it anyway.”

  ~ Andy Clemence