Ennio Morricone: The Ecstasy of Gold(en statues)

This year's Oscar nominees yielded my worst-ever predictions ballot, with only seven correct picks.

But one correct selection was for music from "The Hateful Eight," inspiring a wave of Olympic memories. 

I was so pleased to see Ennio Morricone win the Academy Award for best score. His walk to the stage instantly took me back to meeting and interviewing the Italian legend 10 years ago!

Morricone's from-the-heart acceptance speech translated as genuinely appreciative of the honor and of the company he keeps; it was classy he gave a shout-out to fellow nominee John Williams -- attending for his 50th Oscar nod -- who shared box seats for the ceremony.

Of course, Williams also had a cameo in that decade-ago conversation I shared with Morricone. Here's the story from that day that seems not so far in the past.

The date was February 13, 2006, and in Torino, Italy, working at the Olympics, I enjoyed the good fortune of a morning off to attend a five-ringed press conference featuring Morricone on stage. 

The composer of more than 500 soundtrack songs and scores -- including the legendary "Dollars Trilogy" westerns, "Cinema Paradiso" and the haunting "Gabriel's Oboe" from "The Mission" -- was giving Italian media a preview of his concert to take place at the Olimpiadi Invernali Medals Plaza that evening (the same stage where then-recent "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson also performed, and where Whitney Houston attempted but struggled to sing a few nights later).

Hosted by the Torino Departments of Culture, Tourism and Film, the press conference was mostly for domestic reporters in the Piemonte Media Center. This was my very first "blogger Nick" press conference where I talked my way in sans credentials and senza blog (you read that right, this blog was not yet launched but partially inspired by the day's memorable events -- from those Games, I relied on a patient co-worker to relay daily updates as the word blog was barely in my lexicon).

Most of the press conference was in Italian, but the hosts were kind enough to deploy a translator, and when the media Q&A began, I was not shy to raise my hand and get called on by the one and only Ennio.

My question was a two-parter paraphrased here: Many Olympic films now have famous soundtracks, and the Olympics enjoy several soundtracks written by a famous film composers. Have you ever met ["Chariots of Fire" composer] Vangelis or John Williams, and were you, Mr. Morricone, ever invited to compose Olympic music or Olympic movie music?

Morricone maintained eye contact during my entire question, then he answered with a sincere gaze, which I captured on camera during his response (see photo at left). 

To the surprise of many, including the translator beside me, Morricone responded in English, first thanking me for the question, then explaining that he did not meet Vangelis but he had met John Williams a few times. 

Morricone said he did not compose music for sports movies, nor had he received an Olympic composing invitation, but that he was honored to perform for athletes that evening. 

He said he vaguely recalled speaking with Williams not long after the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (at which Williams' main Olympic themes debuted), but Morricone could not remember it being more than a brief conversation. They did not "compare notes" (I've wondered for the past 10 years whether Ennio knew this was a possible pun, and the extent to which it was expressed accidentally or on purpose). Next question!

I was stunned and could barely write his responses in my notebook fast enough.

He went on to take several more questions, at ease with a full room of microphones and cameras ... you know ... wait for it ... paparazzi. 

As the Q&A wrapped up, Morricone was surprised to learn the event hosts planned to present him with a certificate (or diploma?) for his Olympic performance. 

The composer graciously accepted the honor with sincere appreciation, just like his Oscar speech in Hollywood.

The press conference also yielded an etiquette lesson I've respected since 2006. 

After the formal event wrapped up, I made my way to the stage to express gratitude to Morricone. 

As we shook hands, and he thanked me for the question, I awkwardly held up my notebook to request his autograph. 

He signed the book, but Morricone was none too pleased to learn I was both an international (non-Italian) "journalist" and a poser at that (!!!). (Sidebar: The notebook is buried somewhere in the Nick archive, but when it's located I will post a photo of the autograph.)

To this day I have not asked for a single celebrity autograph (book signings notwithstanding) since Morricone's; rather, I've tried instead to enjoy the conversation or experience without the awkward-for-anyone approach with pen in hand. 

In case officials at the Rome 2024 Olympic bid committee are tuned in and reading this, I think it's a matter or national interest and pride for the team to invite hometown hero Morricone to compose a bid project soundtrack that could carry them to an Italy Olympic Opening Ceremony in eight years. 

It would be lovely to hear an Ennio sports soundtrack on the heels of his big night in L.A., and an Olympic theme could just be the perfect Morricone magnum opus. 

Academy Award image via Oscars.com photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.All other photos by Nicholas Wolaver copyright Nicholas Wolaver. Roma 2024 logo via Roma2024.org. 

Not So, Big O, for Oscar Nominations

The new Academy Award nominations are now circulating for consideration, and without surprise, a couple of major release films with Olympic connections -- "Foxcatcher" and "Unbroken" -- emerged on the short list of potential award recipients.

Neither made the cut for best picture, but as noted in reviews for each film, I concur with the Academy that these films were good but not great overall, with excellent specific parts of the film (i.e. acting, cinematography) worthy of Oscar attention.

"Foxcatcher" gripped five apt nominations: Best actor for Steve Carell, best supporting actor for Mark Ruffalo, directing for Bennett Miller, makeup and hairstyling with Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard, and best original screenplay forE. Max Frye and Dan Futterman.

I scratched my head about the original screenplay nomination as I thought Mark Schultz's book was the basis of the film. When I posted a question to Schultz's Facebook page, the response was, "The screenplay is the script written from the book and other research" to which I replied my original question was poorly worded. We'll see where the follow up conversation leads.

Meanwhile, "Unbroken" was selected in cinematography, sound mixing and sound editing. Though there will likely be chatter about Angelina Jolie and the film being "snubbed" for bigger categories like best picture and director, I did not feel this was a snub. Rather, its a good film (with technical excellence for which its nominations are appropriate) but not a great one.

The real "snub" from this blogger's perspective was in the best feature documentary category. I cannot believe the Academy left out the Roger Ebert-centric film "Life Itself" from the nominees. This is really disappointing, especially in a category the Academy got right so many times previously (with "One Day In September" or "Man On Wire" and "Bowling for Columbine" as great past picks). Oh, well -- "Life Itself" remains an outstanding film.

Let the Oscar ballot office pools commence!

Image via CBS

Oscar Comes To Atlanta

Watching the Academy Awards presentation tonight, it was good to see an array of nominated films take home some hardware.

Honorees for "The Fighter," "The Social Network" and "The King's Speech" appeared on my ballot, and it was good to see Melissa Leo, Christian Bale and Colin Firth victorious. Big relief to see that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross earned statues (bravo!).

Though it was pleasing to see a longtime actress favorite, Natalie Portman, as winner for "The Black Swan" I was rooting for Annette Bening's amazing, emotional performance in "The Kids Are All Right."

Biggest disappointment of the evening: Twenty-time nominee Randy Newman winning for original song (in my opinion, his was the least original, again).

Another letdown was that Winona Ryder received no nominations for her twisted character in "Black Swan" (she stabbed herself in the face with a nail file, for crying out loud!).

Going into the evening, I maintained that "The Social Network" might take home best picture, and though "The King's Speech" is excellent, the moodier tone of the former seemed more contemporary.

"The King's Speech" themes of friendship and British connections remind me of best picture from 30 years ago, another U.K. great (which some say 'saved' British cinema), "Chariots of Fire."

I was just seven years old when "Chariots of Fire" won best picture of 1981, and I still enjoy vivid memories of viewing this film on the big screen with my dad and my grandmother.

What a treat it was to again experience "Chariots of Fire" in a theatre last Thursday when the premiere 30th anniversary presentation, including Q&A with the film's Oscar-nominated director, Hugh Hudson, appeared as the centerpiece of the 2011 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.

Interviewing Hudson during the film was an extraordinary treat.

In our one on one conversation in the lobby of Regal Cinemas Atlantic Station (with thanks to the AJFF's P.R. team at MS&L), Hudson explained that sport played an important part of his upbringing.

"I was always interested in sporting achievement," said Hudson. When asked about his earliest Olympic memories, he said, "I went to the 1948 London Olympics and have memories of Fanny Blankers-Koen. I saw her run!"

Hudson said that athleticism and the Olympics were not the intended themes of "Chariots of Fire;" rather, the "timeless story of youth standing up for [their] beliefs ... for their own sense of freedom, [and] refusing to have ideals diverted by their elders."

I asked Hudson to reflect on great Olympic films that preceded his, and the extent to which he studied Olympic films or film makers prior to "Chariots of Fire." Hudson replied that Leni Reifenstahl's "Olympia" was "breathtaking" and he also cited "Tokyo Olympiad" by Kon Ichikawa as influential.

"[But] they were pure documentaries," said Hudson, who added that the use of slow motion in those films made it to "Chariots of Fire" but with more criticism for his work.

When asked the extent to which the International Olympic Committee, British Olympic Association or other Olympic entities engaged Hudson before, during or after the success of his film, Hudson said they never contacted him (I found and still find this hard to believe since the film screened at several Games since 1981). Hudson said, "Going into Barcelona [in 1992] I wrote a script" and "had a part in Spain" that fell through, but he declined to provide more detail because he "might still use that idea."

After talking about the impact of early Olympic films on his career, I followed up with questions about Hudson's impact on Olympic films that followed his. Hudson said he enjoyed Steven Spielberg's "Munich" and it reminded Hudson that he planned to attend the Munich Games in 1972, but instead he only watched the Games on television. Hudson added he did not attend a Games since 1948, and that organizers for London 2012 are not in contact with him.

HELLO, are there any London 2012 publicists reading this? Golden opportunity awaits!

(Disclosure: Some P.R. elements of London 2012 are organized by Edelman, the agency where I work.)

The last question I was able to pose to Hudson before his next interview of the AJFF concerned the iconic opening and closing sequence of "Chariots of Fire" during which the mesmerizing, Oscar winning theme song by Vangelis is played. Hudson confirmed my suspicion, since elementary school in 1981, that the beach runners were up to their ankles in "freezing cold water in March" (later, during the audience Q&A, seen in the video below, Hudson also explained the scene involved several takes and a quirky miracle of film making led to a second filming that captured more dramatic waves pouring into the shoreline; he also shared more detail about his friendship with Vangelis).

During the audience Q&A, I also learned that Hudson married a "Bond Girl" from the James Bond film "The Living Daylights" -- Maryam d'Abo answered two questions outside the Atlanta screening of "Chariots of Fire," explaining that the first time she viewed Hudson's film she was a drama student -- with Colin Firth -- and she met Hudson several times during the 1980s before he remembered her (they married in 2003).

I found Hudson to be pleasant and conversational, offering to share his popcorn during our theatre chat. It would be tremendous to see the 30th anniversary edition of "Chariots of Fire" on the big screen in several cities now through London 2012. If it is screening near your favorite theatre, guaranteed, it is the best picture in town.

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver at the 2011 AJFF
 

Blue Christmas

"Avatar" has been on the brain of late. Almost everyone's brain, it seems.

Close to home, at my desk in fact, it's been mostly "Avatar" as my Edelman team worked on some events to support IMAX auditoriums opening at AMC Theatres in New Jersey and Florida.
So it was an easy decision to purchase a ticket to "Avatar: An IMAX 3D Experience" for one of the first local Metro Atlanta theatres -- I took in the film at midnight this morning. Great stuff!

While watching "Avatar" unfold, numerous adjectives came to mind to describe it: Original. Creative. Spectacular. Surprising. Miraculous. Awesome. Awe-inspiring. Jaw-dropping. Stunning. Dazzling. Amazing. Breathtaking. It was fun to later read many of these words in the reviews of my favorite film critics.

First thoughts exiting the theatre: Yes for Oscars, but only for effects and soundtrack.

"Avatar" really delivers on the entertainment front -- beautiful scenery, excellent score and thought-provoking themes. Several times there were subtle (or not so subtle) references to superb films of the past. It is likely I will have to see it a few times to really absorb it all.

My lone "complaint" or negative criticism of "Avatar" is that during the mental compilation of all those adjectives, I realized that the words coming to mind to describe the film actually, consistently have more syllables that most of the dialogue.

It seems a shame to me that the writing for "Avatar" never tee'd up an Academy Award-worthy actress like Sigourney Weaver, one of the "Avatar" co-stars, to deliver a thoughtful monologue, lesson or detailed point of view. Rather than empower her with captivating words and emotions, as in Weaver's performance in "Death And The Maiden," for example, James Cameron & Co. gave Weaver's "Avatar" scientist a lot of monosyllable exclamations and pseudo-surly (and almost monosyllable) banter.

And regarding Weaver's chain smoking for dramatic effect: WTF!?! Totally unnecessary -- they might as well have had her carrying around a shot glass of bourbon. Or, hey. How about some Na'vi crack?

More than once I also sensed there was a LOT of stuff filmed for "Avatar" that got scrapped to cut it down to just more than two hours and forty minutes. In the mad rush to showcase action-action-action there was not a lot of character development. But the action does deliver. Fortunately, the dialogue (one syl la ble at a time as it was) in "Avatar" was not a distraction as was the comically-stupid script of the "Star Wars: Episode II" action scenes.

I looked, but could find no obvious nor subtle "Avatar" connection to the Olympics, except to ponder what sports contests might be played on Pandora, the planet in the film.

Of course, athletics (specifically long jump, high jump, marathon and sprints), archery, equestrian (on the horse-like and dragon-style creatures of "Avatar"), and shooting (on the human side) would be other-worldly options.

Maybe the Na'vi Olympiad will make the cut for "Avatar II -- The Sequel" (or would that be aptly titled "Avatar's Avatar" for part two?).

Avatar photo via this blog

Good Sports at Atlanta Jewish Film Festival

Last Sunday a packed theatre in north Atlanta experienced the documentary "Run For Your Life," which is an excellent film about the man who made the New York City Marathon (disclosure: an Edelman client) what it is today.

During the next couple of days, I'm looking forward to at least two more screenings during the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (disclosure: a pro-bono client of Edelman, the P.R. firm where I work).

Tomorrow night, during the "Short Programs No. 2" session, one film titled "My Olympic Summer" should be enriching. This 12 minute short by an Atlantan -- Daniel Robin -- apparently portrays how his parents' marriage evolved for the better as world events unfolded at the 1972 Olympic Games of Munich (apparently the Olympic Village hostage crisis brought his mom and dad closer in some way -- an review from a critic in U.K. sheds some light). It will be interesting to draw comparison of this personal story to the Oscar winning documentary "One Day In September," which is among my top documentaries and top Olympic film rankings.

For fun, and completely out of the Olympic realm, also planning to screen "Bart Got A Room" as I am itching to see William H. Macy (will he or won't he nail his performance as the Jewish parent of a teenager with the same skill that he had as a Minne-SO-tan in "Fargo" a few years back?).

Hope to see some of you Atlantans in the audience.

Olympic Movie Music

A few months back I posted some notes on Olympic films and their Oscar-winningness. A couple of days ago at an Edelman training event in Chicago, one of my colleagues -- Monte -- explained the inspiration for his cool movie soundtrack blog and website, which both ROCK!

In just a couple of days since starting to scan ReelSoundtrack.com, several Olympic film scores and tunes have come to mind as research suggestions (in some cases, I've been trying to find the tunes for years).

For instance, though I did locate recordings of most of the "One Day In September" tunes by Philip Glass and Moby (his tune "God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters" also appeared in "Heat," which had a couple of establishing shots including Los Angeles Olympic venues) , and Vangelis' tunes for "Chariots of Fire" are easy to find, it's been tougher to track down other instrumentals from "For Your Eyes Only" (Roger Moore's ski chase through Cortina Olympic venues).

Cheers to Monte for renewing my quest to find some of these recordings!

Oscar Loves The Olympics

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been kind to films with Olympic themes.

Oscar smiled four times on one of my all-time favorite films, "Chariots of Fire" (to paraphrase Second City Television/SCTV's 1981 spoof, "More than a soundtrack"). Two major releases of the last 10 years also spotlighted the 1972 Games, with a best documentary Oscar to "One Day In September" (outstanding -- and the entire film is available on YouTube) and nominations for Steven Spielberg's "Munich" (which, by the way, is a high-budget REMAKE of a lesser known 1980s TV film on the same topic, "Sword of Gideon." ).

Other summer Olympic films of note, though not close to Oscar, include "Jim Thorpe - All American" and "Tokyo Olympiad." The 1936 feature documentary "Olympia" by Leni Riefenstahl, did not qualify for a gold statue, but it did win an honorary gold medal from the International Olympic Committee, according to the director's official website.

By my count, more feature films are out there regarding the Winter Olympics (though Oscar has been icy to these titles): "Cool Runnings," "Ice Castles," (OK, this one WAS nominated for Best Song ... you know the song, right?) "The Cutting Edge," and even "Blades of Glory" each had five-ring connections (some with better results than others).

It came as no surprise when someone told me that even James Bond has an Olympic connection. In "Goldfinger" that derby-clad Odd Job was played by Olympic Silver Medalist Harold Takata.
And who could forget Roger Moore's Olympic venues chase scene in "For Your Eyes Only" filmed at Cortina D'Ampezzo, host of the 1956 Winter Olympics?

Should be interesting to see how often these titles (summer Games films in particular) show up on cable during Beijing, or whether PBS replays "16 Days of Glory" by Bud Greenspan on their programming.