OSCAR WEEK 2016: Day One

It’s Oscar® Week and who’s more excited than me?

No one, that’s who!

Between hockey games at Staples Center I’ll be spending a whole lotta time at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater participating in the overview symposiums. Take a look at this lineup:

February 23rd – OSCAR WEEK: SHORTS / Hosted by director Jennifer Yuh.

February 24th – OSCAR WEEK: DOCUMENTARIES /Hosted by Documentary Branch governors Kate Amend and Rory Kennedy.

February 27th – OSCAR WEEK: FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS / Hosted by Producers Branch governor Mark Johnson.

February 28th – OSCAR WEEK: RED CARPET and the LIVE SHOW / Hosted by Chris Rock from the Dolby Theatre.

I’ll try to be prompt sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning to deliver my annual Backstage at the Oscars column that always seems to capture the imagination the readers. (Okay, I may have over stated that one…) As a primer, bone up on the past year’s columns:

2015 2014 2013 2012

Oscars Week has me a little giddy over my Oscars notebook that’s coming in the mail. I highly recommend getting yours:

On an opposite note, I’m still reeling over the Academy suing the Oscar swag bag company over copyright infringement. What of the fitness training sessions with Jay Cardiello (valued at $1,400)? Or the year’s worth of Audi A4 rentals from Silvercar ($45,000)? Or my personal favorite, the $55,000 VIP all-access trip to Israel? My imagination goes wild for what you get for fifty grand in Israel! While my brain cramped up thinking of how I would pay $66,000 in taxes for the $200,000 swag bag was quickly quelled as I got to see how the Oscar statuettes are actually made…

Making of the Oscar Statuettes

All Making of the Oscars photos courtesy of Dorith Mous / ©A.M.P.A.S.

The 3D printed Oscar image is cleaned prior to making the production mold.

A rubber mold of the 3D print is made and used to make a wax pattern for each bronze Oscar casting.

The wax Oscars are reworked as necessary and attached to a plumbing system through which molten bronze flows into the ceramic shell mold.

After molten bronze is cast into the ceramic mold, the Oscars are cut loose from their plumbing systems and sanded and polished by hand.

The statues are then plated with 24 karat gold, given a final buff, and mounted on their bases. Since no one knows who the recipients are at this time, Polich Tallix staff will be on hand at the presentation ceremony to put nameplates on the bases after the Oscars have been presented.

Now, from the classy to the tasteless…

AD OF THE WEEK/MONTH/WHATEVER

“You can almost taste the Bush”

Are you kidding me? Are you pulling my leg? Who is the agency that decided to present this ad to Premier Estates Wine? Forget that, who advertising executive at the winery greenlit this series of ads.

I mean, is your wine as tasteless as your advertising? Are the wines as bad as their creepy, sexist, objectifying adverts? Really, what were they thinking?

Thankfully, the Taste The Bush ads, an innuendo-laden throwback to sexist airline ads for the Australian wine maker has been banned for being offensive and objectifying women after making an obvious reference to oral sex. Thank goodness!

The online ad for Premier Estates Wine showed a woman with a strategically placed glass of red wine, using the tagline ‘you can almost taste the bush’.

The ad stars a brunette model saying ‘take this exquisite Aussie shiraz, a mere £5.99 a bottle’ and then taking a sip and adding: “Mmm, Luscious, earthy, bursting with fruit and spice.” She then places the glass down on a table in front of her – right in front of her crotch – and says: “Australia practically jumps out of the glass – in fact, some say you can almost taste the bush.”

UGH!

Not outraged yet, take a look: