The 1986 Best Picture nominee A Room with a View – my personal favorite among the James Ivory-Ismail Merchant productions – will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “Great To Be Nominated” series. The screening will take place on Monday, July 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
A Room with a View has so much going for it that even its two inadequate leads – Helena Bonham Carter and Julian Sands – can’t ruin the spirit of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s adaptation of E.M. Forster’s novel about a young English girl (Bonham Carter) torn between two men, a much-too-English drawing-room dolt (Daniel Day-Lewis) and a romantic adventurer (Sands).
This meticulously produced romantic drama received a total of eight Academy Award nominations, winning for Art Direction (Gianni Quaranta, Brian Ackland-Snow; Set Decoration: Brian Savegar, Elio Altamura), Costume Design (Jenny Beavan, John Bright) and Writing – Screenplay based on material from another medium (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala). Its other nominations were for Best Picture (Ismail Merchant, producer), Actor in a Supporting Role (Denholm Elliott), Actress in a Supporting Role (Maggie Smith), Cinematography (Tony Pierce-Roberts) and Directing (James Ivory).
Two shorts will be screened prior to the feature: Chuck Workman’s Oscar-winning live action short Precious Images, which celebrated the Directors Guild of America‘s 50th Anniversary via clips from dozens of American movies, and John Lasseter’s Academy Award-nominated animated short Luxo Jr., which marked Pixar’s first foray into the animated film world.
I haven’t seen Luxo Jr., which revolves around the relationship between a father-lamp and his son-lamp, but I can vouch that Precious Images has a number of great moments – plus quite a few that left a lot to be desired. Those who don’t know all that much about American film history will think that Workman’s choices couldn’t have been better; those who do will surely realize that Workman included in his compilation quite a bit that was new (in 1986), forgettable, and repetitive, leaving out countless masterworks, quasi-masterworks, and semi-masterworks of Hollywood’s more distant past.
Passes for the remaining screenings in part four of “Great To Be Nominated” are $30 for the general public and $25 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. A $5 discount is available for those who wish to renew their passes from parts one, two or three of the series. Individual tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Passes and tickets may be purchased by mail, in person at the Academy during regular business hours or, depending on availability, on the night of the screening when the doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets also may be purchased online at www.oscars.org/events. There are no minimum order requirements and no transaction or processing fees. Tickets may be purchased online until noon PST on the day of the event.
Curtain time for all features is 7:30 p.m., and pre-show elements will begin at 7 p.m. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call (310) 247-3600.
‘The Color Purple’: Steven Spielberg Racism & Sexism Drama Screening
Steven Spielberg’s 1985 Best Picture nominee, the sappy melodrama The Color Purple, will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Great To Be Nominated” series. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple tells the story of a young, homely black woman’s inner and outer struggles while coming of age in the early 1900s. The film will screen on Monday, June 25, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Actress Margaret Avery (who created quite a stir at the time of the Oscar nominations), and producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, will join Desreta Jackson (Young Celie) and supervising sound editor Richard L. Anderson for a panel discussion following the film. (See also Screening of The Color Purple in New York City.)
The Color Purple received a remarkable 11 Academy Award nominations, including best picture. Even more remarkably, it failed to win a single statuette.
The nominees were:
Best Picture (Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Quincy Jones, producers), Actress in a Leading Role (Whoopi Goldberg as Celie), Actress in a Supporting Role (Margaret Avery), Actress in a Supporting Role (Oprah Winfrey as Sofia), Art Direction (J. Michael Riva, Robert W. Welch; Set Decoration: Linda DeScenna), Cinematography (Allen Daviau), Costume Design (Aggie Guerard Rodgers), Make-Up (Ken Chase), Music Original Score (Quincy Jones, Jeremy Lubbock, Rod Temperton, Caiphus Semenya, Andrae Crouch, Chris Boardman, Jorge Calandrelli, Joel Rosenbaum, Fred Steiner, Jack Hayes, Jerry Hey, Randy Kerber), Music Original Song (“Miss Celie’s Blues [Sister]”, Music by Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton; Lyric by Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton and Lionel Richie), and Writing – Screenplay based on material from another medium (Menno Meyjes).
Richard Condie’s Oscar-nominated live-action short The Big Snit, about a married couple fighting over a game of scrabble while a nuclear war is about to begin, will be screened prior to the feature. The Big Snit was produced by the National Film Board of Canada, always an assurance of quality.
Passes for the remaining screenings in part four of “Great To Be Nominated” are $30 for the general public and $25 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. A $5 discount is available for those who wish to renew their passes from parts one, two or three of the series. Individual tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Passes and tickets may be purchased by mail, in person at the Academy during regular business hours or, depending on availability, on the night of the screening when the doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets also may be purchased online at www.oscars.org/events. There are no minimum order requirements and no transaction or processing fees. Tickets may be purchased online until noon PST on the day of the event.
Curtain time for all features is 7:30 p.m., and pre-show elements will begin at 7 p.m. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call (310) 247-3600.
Photo: © A.M.P.A.S.