Ben Stiller as an Avatar Na'vi presenting the Oscar

By Robin Rowe

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 3/8/2010 – With the pressure of 41.5 million watching, the biggest Oscar audience in five years, who provided the best acceptance speech moments?

1. “We had this fantasy of making our film our way with the talent that we hoped to have, and hopefully, we would find a distributor and somebody might even like the movie,” says screenwriter Mark Boal receiving the award for Best Picture for The Hurt Locker. “So to be standing here, this was really, truly, honestly never part of anything we even imagined in our wildest dreams.”
2. “Thank you, Mom and Dad,” says Jeff Bridges receiving the Oscar for Best Actor for Crazy Heart. “They loved show biz so much and I feel an extension of them. You know, this, this is honoring them as much as it is me.”
3. “Did I really earn this or did I just wear you all down?,” says Sandra Bullock receiving the Oscar for Best Actress. “And Meryl, you know what I think of you and you are such a good kisser.”
4. ”I would not be standing here if it wasn’t for Mark Boal, who risked his life for the words on the page,” says Kathryn Bigelow receiving the Oscar for Best Director for The Hurt Locker, “and wrote such a courageous screenplay that I was fortunate enough to have an extraordinary cast bring that screenplay to life. I’d just like to dedicate this to the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily basis in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world. And may they come home safe.”
5. “I was a reporter back from Iraq with the idea for a story about these men on the frontlines of an unpopular war,” says screenwriter Mark Boal receiving the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for The Hurt Locker. “To our amazing cast and crew, and most of all to one extraordinary individual and visionary filmmaker. Kathryn Bigelow, this belongs to you.”
6. “Oscar and Penélope, that’s an über bingo,” says Christoph Waltz upon receiving the Oscar from Penélope Cruz for Best Supporting Actor in Inglourious Basterds.
7. “Boy, never did I dream that making a flip book out of my third grade math book would lead to this,” says director Pete Docter receiving the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film for Up. “Thanks so much to Disney and to Pixar Animation Studios for believing in this oddball film.”
8. “In a world in which most of us are told and tell ourselves that we can’t,” says Elinor Burkett receiving the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject for Music by Prudence. “Liyana, the band behind this film, teaches us that we’re wrong. Against all odds they did, so we can.”
9. “I’m sorry I’m drawing a blank right now, but I thank everyone,” says screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher receiving the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. “I wrote that speech for him,” added host Steve Martin.
10. “First, I would like to thank the Academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics,” says Mo’Nique receiving the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Precious. “Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey because you touched it, the whole world saw it.”
11. “I don’t want to step on your tail,” says Mindy Hall receiving the Oscar for Best Makeup for Star Trek from Ben Stiller wearing Avatar Na’vi vivid blue skin makeup and sporting a long tail. “It’s hard to follow that face. We had an amazing staff of artists, over 40. We share this with you and we’ll be giving your names backstage at that backstage Thank You Cam.”
12. “Thirteen years ago, the doctors told me I wasn’t going to survive, and I thought that this dream of standing here would never come true,” says Robert Stromberg receiving the Oscar for Best Art Direction for Avatar. “And, here we are. Jim, every day we went to work, we knew we were working with a genius.”
13. “I already have two of these, so I’m feeling greedy,” says designer Sandy Powell in an Edith Head moment while receiving the Oscar for Costume Design for The Young Victoria. “I’d like to dedicate this one to the costume designers that don’t do movies about dead monarchs or glittery musicals. The designers that do the contemporary films and the low-budget ones…but I’m gonna take it home tonight.”
14. “When I was nine and I asked my dad, ‘Can I have your movie camera, that old, wind-up 8-millimeter camera that was in your drawer?’”, says Michael Giacchino receiving the Oscar for Best Original Score for Up. “And he goes, ‘Sure, take it.’ And I took it and I started making movies with it and I started being as creative as I could, and never once in my life did my parents ever say, “What you’re doing is a waste of time.’”
15. “I want to thank the Academy for not considering Na’vi [the language in Avatar] a foreign language, first of all,” says Juan José Campanella receiving the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos). “And for letting us spend three great days in the company of incredible filmmakers.”

By Gabrielle Pantera

A Kid for Two Farthings, a lost classic

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 3/8/2010 – A Kid for Two Farthings is being published by the Bloomsbury Group as a “lost classics” of the early 20th century. A Kid for Two Farthings is Wolf Mankowitz’s 1953 novel based on his experiences growing up Jewish in London’s East End. The story explores the life of Joe, a six-year-old waiting to join his father in Aftrica. Joe lives with his mother in the East End of London’s poor immigrant community Whitechapel.

In A Kid for Two Farthings, the tailor Mr. Kandinsky tells Joe that a unicorn can grant any wish. Joe finds a unicorn that he buys for two farthings and brings home. Although the adults see that the unicorn is really just a goat, they perpetuate Joe’s belief that it’s a unicorn. Will Joe’s belief be strong enough to make miracles happen?

Despite a misstep with James Bond, Mankowitz had a very successful career as a novelist and playwright. Mankowitz was a screenwriter on the first Bond film, Doctor No, until he insisted on having his name removed because he thought the film would be a flop. In 1962 Mankowitz had introduced his friend Cubby Broccoli to James Bond rights-holder Harry Saltzman. Mankowitz later collaborated on the screenplay for the Peter Sellers spoof Bond movie Casino Royale.

A Kid for Two Farthings was turned into a film in 1955 by Carol Reed. Mankowitz wrote the screenplay.

In his autobiography Kicking Against the Pricks, Oscar Lewenstein describes the stage company Lewenstein/Mankowitz Productions, formed in 1955 with Mankowitz. One of their productions was Moby-Dick – Rehearsed, the Orson Welles’ adaptation of the Melville classic.

Other books by Mankowitz include Make Me an Offer and My Old Man’s a Dustman.

Make Me an Offer was made into a film in 1954. In 1958 Mankowitz wrote the book for the hit West End musical Expresso Bongo.

A Kid for Two Farthings is an uplifting story of unwavering faith and belief in miracles by a six-year-old. It makes you realize that believing in something can create miracles. Mankowitz shows the harsh reality of life in the poor part of town. There’s a great relationship between Joe and Mr. Kandinsky, who tells Joe stories to enliven their days. This book is for anyone who wants to believe again.

Wolf Mankowitz was born in 1924. He died of cancer in 1998 in County Cork, Ireland. His ashes are at the Golders Green Crematorium, the same location that holds the ashes of Peter Sellers.

A Kid for Two Farthings: A Novel (Bloomsbury Group) by Wolf Mankowitz (Author)

Trade Paperback, 144 pages, Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (December 22, 2009), Language: English, ISBN: 9781608190485

By Robin Rowe

Sandra Bullock wins Oscar for The Blind Side

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 3/8/2010 – “Did I really win this,” asks The Blind Side star Sandra Bullock, “or just wear you down?” Bullock recognized each of the nominees and noted that Meryl Streep is a “good kisser.” Sandra Bullock had planted an open mouth kiss on Meryl Streep when they tied for the Best Actress win at the 15th annual Critics’ Choice Awards in January.

I share this award with these extraordinary women and my ‘lover’ Meryl Streep,” says Bullock ”Everyone who was kind to me when it wasan’t fashionable, I thank you. George Clooney, who threw me ina pool years ago, I still bear a grudge.”

Other nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role include Helen Mirren in The Last Station, Carey Mulligan in An Education, Gabourey Sidibe in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, and Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia.

By Robin Rowe

The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow, first woman to win Oscar as Best Director

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 3/8/2010 – “This is the moment of a lifetime,” says The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow. “I would not be standing here if it was not for Mark Boal who risked his life and wrote such an extraordinary screenplay.” Mark Boal also won an Oscar tonight for Best Screenplay.

“I think the secret to directing is collaborating,” says Bigelow as she thanks her producers, actors and crew. ”I thank the people of Jordon who were so hospitable to us.” After accepting the award for Best Director, Bigelow was called back to the stage to accept the award for Best Picture.

Kathryn Bigelow is the first female director to win an Oscar. A hundred years ago, many women, including Mary Pickford, were directors. By the end of the Twentieth Century, there were almost none. That’s changed in the last few years as many female directors have emerged making major motion pictures.

In winning for Best Director and for Best Picture, Kathryn Bigelow beat ex-husband James Cameron and Avatar in both categories. Other nominees for Best Director include Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds, Lee Daniels for Precious, and Jason Reitman for Up in the Air.

By Robin Rowe

Hurt Locker wins two Oscars for sound

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 3/8/2010 – “Catherine, what an incredible movie and thank you for your friendship,” said The Hurt Locker sound editor Paul N.J. Ottosson. The sound editor is the one who brings together the sounds for a film. The sound mixer is who takes those sounds and mixes them into a soundtrack on a sound stage. Traditionally, the sound editor and the sound mixer are two different union positions. Technology has blurred the lines. Times have changed.

Ottosson, who had just won for Sound Editing, was called back to the stage to accept the award for Best Sound Mixing. “You have to say something!” somebody told him in a stage whisper. “This is a little embarrassing, a spoil of riches.” Accepting the Sound Mixing award with Ottosson was Ray Beckett.

Other nominees for Sound Editing include Avatar (Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle), Inglourious Basterds (Wylie Stateman), Star Trek (Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin), Up (Michael Silvers and Tom Myers). Other nominees for Sound Mixing include Avatar (Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson), The Hurt Locker (Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett,  Inglourious Basterds (Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano), Star Trek (Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin), and  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson).

By Robin Rowe

Star Trek, Spock's pointed ears win 2010 Academy Award

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 3/8/2010 – “Thank you, J.J. Abrams,” says Star Trek makeup designer Mindy Hall. “Your vision inspired us. Your insistensce on perfection brought us here. We have an amazing staff of artists who we’ll we sharing their names with the backstage cam.” On stage to accept the award for Best Makeup for Star Trek were Barney Burman and Joel Harlow.

Other nominees for Best Makeup include Il Divo with Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano, and The Young Victoria with Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore.

By Robin Rowe

Pixar Up wins 2010 Oscar for Best Animated Feature

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 3/8/2010 – ”My advice to young filmmakers is it’s what you do with the tools,” says Pixar Animation chief John Lasseter. “It’s how you tell the story.” Pixar’s Up, the favorite to win, took home the 2010 Oscar for best picture for director Pete Docter.

Other nominees include Coraline (director Henry Selick), Fantastic Mr. Fox (director Wes Anderson), The Princess and the Frog (directors John Musker and Ron Clements), and The Secret of Kells (direcrtor Tomm Moore).

By Robin Rowe

Hurt Locker wins best original screenplay

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 3/8/2010 – “I was a reporter back from Iraq who thought this story might make a movie,” says Hurt Locker screenwriter Mark Boal. “I would like to dedicate this to the troops…and my father. He passed away a month ago.”

Other Academy Award nominees for Writing Original Screenplay include Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino, The Messenger by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, A Serious Man by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Up by Bob Peterson and Pete Docter with story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, and Tom McCarthy.

By Robin Rowe

Christoph Waltz wins 2010 Oscar

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 3/8/2010 – The 2010 Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role went to Austrian actor Christoph Waltz for Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds. Waltz, who was brilliant in the challenging role of playing a cheerful Nazi, was the favorite to win.

“If he doesn’t win I’ll be pissed off,” said Tarintino on the red carpet earlier today. “Had I created a part that couldn’t be done? We were starting to lose hope that we could find someone to play the role until this man waltzed into the room.”

“I had never hear of Christoph befere, but he blew me away…literally,” said co-star Diane Kruger. “He killed me [in the film].”

Other nominees included Matt Damon in Invictus, Woody Harrelson in The Messenger, Christopher Plummer in The Last Station, and Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones.

By Gabrielle Pantera

Sherlock Holmes, the American Years, before he returned to England

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 3/5/2010 – “I thought this tied in well with Sherlock’s ability to pick up the smallest clue,” says Sherlock Holmes Cutting For Signs author Rhys Bowen. “I read about the Shadow Wolves, the members of the Tohono Odom tribe on the border who are used by US customs because they are so famous for their tracking skills and how they can read a blade of grass accurately. The most amazing research was finding out that the Shadow Wolves were sent to Afghanistan to hunt for Osama Bin Laden.”

Sherlock Holmes: The American Years is the third anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories edited by Michael Kurland. Set between 1870 and 1880, ten stories chronicle Sherlock Holmes’ time in America. They’re written by ten top mystery writers, with a forward by Leslie Klinger.

Bowen’s next book will be a Molly Murphy novel set in New York Chinatown. Boewn’s website www.rhysbowen.com has details of her touring schedule and a trailer of her new Houdini book, The Last Illusion. She blogs at www.jungleredwriters.com and www.theladykillers.com.

“A lot of my early research was all thrown out along with the first, failed version of the story,” says Sherlock Holmes The Sacred White Elephant of Mandalay author Michael Mallory. “After laboring over the story for a couple months and having completed about 10,000 words, I had to accept that it simply wasn’t working. It was veering off into several wrong directions all at the same time. I tore it up and started all over again, with much better results. A story occasionally crashes and burns.”

“I began thinking about it when Michael Kurland asked me to contribute a story to the anthology,” says Mallory. “This is the third in a series of anthologies he’s done, each one taking a particular angle on the character of Sherlock Holmes. For this one, the stories depict him as a very young man journeying through America. The original stories by Conan Doyle imply that he spent some time in the U.S. before launching his career as a consulting detective.”

“The challenge issued was to have Holmes meet up with a celebrated person of the time,” says Mallory. “Each of the authors were allowed to choose our own location and celebrity. I picked Bridgeport, Connecticut, the home base of P. T. Barnum. We each wrote our stories separately, though I had a preview of Richard A. Lupoff’s contribution, which he emailed me. In addition to being a very fine writer, Dick is a friend. Several of us in the book know each other.”

“In the case of the Sherlock anthologies, I was recommended to Michael Kurland by another author, who knew of my magazine stories,” says Mallory. “I don’t have an agent for writing and never have had one, primarily because the areas in which I work do not require an agent. I write mostly short stories, magazine and newspaper articles, and coffee table nonfiction books. Agents can’t make any money on individual short stories or journalism so they don’t bother with those, and for coffee table books publishers tend to seek out the writer, not the other way around.”

Mallory’s first book was part of a horror series for kids called FrightTime. Warner Bros. asked him to write a coffee table book about cartoon-maker Hanna-Barbera after they acquired the company. Mallory had written many articles on the animation industry. That led to a relationship with publisher Levin & Associates and writing more books for them. Mallory’s editor moved to Rizzoli when the company was sold, and continues to publish his coffee table books. Mallory writes his own press releases and publicity materials. “More and more, authors are expected to be one-man-bands these days,” says Mallory.

“For Sherlock Holmes: The American Years, Michael Kurland is the editor who deals directly with the authors,” says Mallory. “He was responsible for coming up with the idea of the book, selling it to the publisher, in this case St. Martin’s Minotaur, gathering the contributors, and accepting the stories.” The book’s house editor is Keith Kahla.

Michael Mallory was born in Port Huron, Michigan, and currently lives in Los Angeles. He’s writing a new Amelia Watson novel and shopping around a novel he completed last year that’s not part of a series. Mallory’s web address is www.michaelmallory.com.

Sherlock Holmes: the American Years is an enjoyable collection of stories. Fans of Sherlock Homes will enjoy following the young Holmes leaning the craft of deduction. The personalities in all the stories are strong. You see the beginning of Holmes personality emerging.

The story follows the exploits of young Holmes on adventures in America. The first story is Inga Sigerson Weds, where a teenage Homes and his sister cross the Atlantic to attend their first cousin’s wedding in New York and save a famous person in history in the process. My Silk Umbrella by Darryl Brock has Holmes encounter Mark Twain at baseball match. In Michael Mallory’s The Sacred White Elephant of Mandalay, the detective meets P.T. Barnum. In Rhys Bowens Cutting For Signs, Holmes saves a member of the Tohono Odom Indian tribe who saved him from death.

• Sherlock Holmes: The American Years
• Hardcover: 368 pages, Publisher: Minotaur Books (February 2, 2010), Language: English
• ISBN: 978-0312378462