Month: February 2016

(CNN) — “Spotlight” grabbed the limelight at Sunday’s 88th Academy Awards.

“Mad Max: Fury Road” may have won more honors, leading all films with six. “The Revenant” won some major prizes, including the first Oscar for actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

But when the last award of the evening was read, it was the little film about Boston Globe investigative reporters digging into a sex abuse scandal involving Catholic priests that was left standing.

“This film gave a voice to survivors,” producer Michael Sugar said. “And this film amplifies that voice, which we hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican.”

It was one of just two awards “Spotlight” took home. The film also won for Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer’s original screenplay.

But until that moment, it looked like “Revenant,” about a vengeful trapper in the 1820s, was going to go all the way.

Alejandro González Iñárritu notched his second straight Oscar in the directing category; he’s the first person to pull off that feat since Joseph L. Mankiewicz in 1949-50. The film’s Emmanuel Lubezki also kept a streak going, winning his third straight Oscar for cinematography.

But the big story was DiCaprio, who finally won an Oscar with his fifth acting nomination.

After taking some time to thank Iñárritu, co-star Tom Hardy and director Martin Scorsese, among others, DiCaprio put in a plug for environmentalism.

“Climate change is real. It is happening right now; we needed to go to the tip of South America to find snow. … It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species,” he said. “We need to support leaders around the world who speak for indigenous people, for humanity, the voices who have been drowned out by the politics of greed. Do not take this planet for granted. … I do not take this night for granted. Thank you.”

Some shockers

Though most awards were expected, given the expertise of close-watching Oscar handicappers these days, the night wasn’t without its shockers.

Mark Rylance won best supporting actor for his performance as a Soviet agent in “Bridge of Spies.”

The category included Sylvester Stallone, who was widely believed to be the front-runner for his performance as Rocky Balboa in “Creed” — 39 years after he first played the role in “Rocky.”

“Writing’s on the Wall,” Sam Smith’s song from the James Bond film “Spectre,” won best song — an announcement that came not long after Lady Gaga brought the house down with a performance of her nominated song, ” ‘Til It Happens to You.”

After a streak of technical awards to “Mad Max,” “Ex Machina” won for visual effects.

Ennio Morricone, the legendary composer of such film scores as “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and “The Untouchables,” finally won an Oscar, his first in six nominations. It was for Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight.”

And, in perhaps the biggest shock of all, the show was rather brisk, lasting just over 3½ hours. That’s actually longer than some shows of recent years, including the 2011 show with James Franco and Anne Hathaway, but given the program’s propensity for pushing four hours, it’s not something to be taken for granted.

Rock comes out hard

Perhaps that was at least partly due to the host, the no-holds-barred Chris Rock.

Rock wasted no time in taking on #OscarsSoWhite and diversity issues that had been in the news since the nominations were announced in mid-January.

After the obligatory montage of the year’s movies, Rock came out and said he’d counted at least 15 black people in the video — and, just like that, he was off.

“If they nominated hosts, I wouldn’t even get this job,” he said. “You’d be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now.”

Noting the lack of black nominees through most of Oscar history, he pointed out that in the ’60s, “black people did not protest because we had real things to protest at the time. We were too busy being raped and lynched to worry about best cinematography.”

And “In Memoriam,” the yearly segment of people who had passed away in the previous year, would get an addition, Rock said.

“In the In Memoriam package, it’s just going to be black people shot by the cops on the way to the movies.”

Some of his lines earned gasps from the audience, and the New York Daily News believed he had gone too far.

But his stint appeared to have gone well overall.

Rock went back to the Magic Johnson Theaters in Compton to ask African-American moviegoers about the year’s nominated films. Almost none of the patrons had seen them.

And he even helped his daughter sell Girl Scout cookies.

Beating the bear

In the other major awards, Brie Larson won best actress for her performance in “Room,” and Alicia Vikander won best supporting actress for her work in “The Danish Girl.”

“Inside Out” won best animated feature.

In recent weeks, it appeared that “The Revenant” would top them all. The film featured gripping photography and DiCaprio’s intense performance and made a set piece of a vicious bear attack. It had won some major prizes, including the Directors Guild prize for Iñárritu, and the Motion Picture Academy rarely splits honors between director and picture.

But “Spotlight,” which had been quietly collecting honors of its own, came through on deadline.

The 88th Academy Awards aired from Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre.

(CNN) — Who knew a tattoo could lead to such an embarrassing gaffe?

That was case during the Oscars Sunday when a beauty website attempted to pay a compliment — and it went terribly wrong.

In a tweet commenting on celebrity red carpet looks, the company, Total Beauty, confused comedian and actress Whoopi Goldberg, 60, with media mogul Oprah Winfrey, 62.

Total Beauty, a Los Angeles-based company that posts fitness tips, tweeted a picture of Goldberg on the red carpet at the 88th Academy Awards, her tattooed shoulder on display, along with the caption: “We had no idea @Oprah was #tatted, and we love it…”

In a year in which Hollywood’s treatment of racial issues has been under the spotlight, social media reaction to the blunder — confusing two powerful African-American women in the media — was swift and merciless.

The tweet was swiftly deleted, but not before critics had had their say.

“(H)ave you even seen a black person before?” asked one Twitter user.

“You could not have picked a worse year for a gaffe like this one. #OscarsSoWhite,” tweeted Steven Nelson, professor of African and African American art history at UCLA, referring to the diversity controversy that overshadowed the ceremony.

In an apology tweet, Total Beauty company said: “We’d like to apologize to Oprah and Whoopi, as well as everyone we’ve offended. It was our error, and there are no excuses.”

It subsequently tweeted it would use the mistake as an opportunity to donate $10,000 to a charity of Goldberg and Winfrey’s choice.

What did Winfrey make of the embarrassing mix-up?

Her best friend and CBS “This Morning” co-host Gayle King took to Instagram, showing Winfrey looking puzzled while holding a cellphone with Goldberg’s picture.

The caption read: “@Oprah & favorite daughter watching #Oscars & seeing @totalbeauty snafu! We all love @whoopigoldberg but we don’t all look alike Jeeeze!”

So far, there’s been no comment from Goldberg on the error.

There is nothing new about #OscarsSoWhite. Once upon a time, Hollywood’s diversity battle stretched as far as The White House.

For the second year in a row, there are no people of color nominated for Oscars in any acting category. In protest, a social-media storm erupted, as did a black-celebrity-endorsed boycott.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences— led by Cheryl Boone Isaacs, its first African-American president— responded with plans to diversify the Oscar-bestowing organization’s membership by 2020.

This self-correction is a departure from March 1969 when Clifford Alexander, President Lyndon Johnson’s head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), led hearings on Hollywood’s hiring practices.

Back then Sidney Poitier was a rare bright spot. With the 1963 film “Lilies of the Field,” he became the first black performer to win the Best Actor Oscar. And, in 1967, he starred in three major films: “To Sir, with Love” and multiple-Oscar nominees “In the Heat of the Night” and the interracial love story, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”

TV anomalies at the time included Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura on “Star Trek” (1966–1969) and Diahann Carroll starring as a widowed nurse raising her son in “Julia” (1968-1971).

Behind the scenes, people of color were scarce and the film industry, Alexander recalls, barely noticed.

“People who testified on behalf of the industry really didn’t quite seem to get the point that it was important in the production of a product or in the depiction of people that it be reflective of some sense of what the real world was like” he said.

“The kinds of artificial and direct barriers that they put up were extraordinary,” said Alexander, who later became the first black Secretary of the Army. “At least, I think, what our hearings did was to point those out. We didn’t have any enforcement power, but we recommended that the Justice Department bring ‘pattern and practice of employment discrimination’ suits against the industry.

“Unfortunately, at that point, you had Richard Nixon coming in as president and he did nothing about it. But our hearings did cause the embarrassment, which is a good factor sometimes, of the industry and therefore many of the positions were at least opened up for the first time.”

Under a federal mandate, studios like Disney, Paramount and Universal— and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Union— established job-training programs that were advertised through minority-oriented newspapers and radio stations between 1970 and 1977. However, these programs evaporated after Alexander’s departure.

Pioneering film publicist Rosalind “Roz” Stevenson, whose career spanned from 1982 to 2008, didn’t benefit directly from the EEOC’s actions, but recalls their positive impact.

“The Writers Guild had a program called The Open Door. There was a program for accountants,” Stevenson said plus training for make-up artists, camera operators, costumers, assistant directors and more.

Hollywood even scoured historically black colleges and universities for talent, says Stevenson, who is starting a documentary on behind-the-camera players, such as her hairstylist husband, Robert,

a 16-year Academy member and Emmy winner; sound mixer Willie D. Burton, a two-time Oscar winner; and Cheryal Kearney, an Emmy winner and Hollywood’s first black set decorator.

Those possibilities encouraged the Compton, California, native who began as an actress.

“Once I landed in the publicity department, I felt that was something I could do well and be really happy doing,” said Stevenson, “I learned that the studio had a program that would support me in becoming a publicist.”

As a senior publicist at Universal, Stevenson, one of Hollywood’s few high-ranking publicists of color, led national and local TV, radio publicity and African-American campaigns, including “Jurassic Park,” “The Best Man,” “Erin Brockovich” and “The Hurricane,” for which Denzel Washington received a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

Through RSPR— her own PR firm targeting black audiences— Stevenson boosted “Ray“ (which scored Jamie Foxx his Best Actor Oscar), “American Gangster” and “The Pursuit of Happyness.” In all, she publicized nearly 800 films, including the Rocky and James Bond franchises at MGM.

Despite these successes, critics warn there is no happy ending yet.

“Hollywood is still run by white men,” said Dr. Darnell Hunt, director of UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, home of industry scorecard The Hollywood Diversity Report. “So, basically, you have white men making decisions about what’s viable, what’s bankable, what we should spend our money on, and they surround themselves with other white men. So, you get this echo chamber and very little consideration of different perspectives when decisions are made.”

Until this reality changes, critics insist Hollywood will remain #OscarsSoWhite.

Comcast, Smithsonian Channel and Major League Baseball partnered to present a private, premiere screening of “The Hammer of Hank Aaron.” The screening took place on Wednesday, February 17, 2016, at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture located at 830 E. Pratt Street in Baltimore. The event also included a VIP reception, a panel discussion, and a Q&A session.

“The Hammer of Hank Aaron.” is part of Smithsonian Channel and Major League Baseball’s MAJOR LEAGUE LEGENDS series, which tells the stories of four players who transcended the national pastime and left legacies as true American icons: Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ted Williams.

(Photo: Ursula Battle)

Damion Thomas, Sports Curator for Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and David Royle, Executive Vice President of Programming and Production for Smithsonian Channel answering questions.

“The Hammer of Hank Aaron” features extensive newly captured interviews with baseball icon Henry “Hank” Aaron, who was born on February 5, 1934, in Mobile, Alabama. The film details his upbringing in Alabama, and the influence Jackie Robinson had on his life. Robinson was the first black baseball player to integrate Major League Baseball.

“He was telling the whole world, no matter who you are, black or white, if you can play the game, give him a chance,” said Aaron who recalled cutting school to hear Robinson speak at a Mobile, Alabama drug store. “And I thought that by him coming into the league, that if you give him an opportunity, you are going to have to give me an opportunity.”

The film also provides a rare and personal glimpse into the life of Aaron as he reflected back on how he hit bottle caps with homemade sticks as a youngster, and how his softball and baseball talents eventually caught the attention of a scout with the Negro League’s Indianapolis Clowns, who offered him $200 a month to play for the team.

“I left Mobile with two dollars in my in my pocket, and a satchel with one pair of pants,” recalled Aaron. “And I think they were my sister’s pants, and I went to Spring Training with the Indianapolis Clowns.”

After quick success with the Clowns, Aaron signed with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. In 1957, he won the Most Valuable Player Award of the National League, and would crush a home run to clinch the National League pennant for the Braves, who would go on to defeat the New York Yankees in the 1957 World Series.

In 1966, at the height of the Civil Rights era, the Braves would relocate to its epicenter in Atlanta. While the film highlighted Aaron’s crowning achievements, it also served as a painful reminder of the racism and hatred that accompanied the Jim Crow-era in which he played. Some of the film’s most riveting moments occur after Aaron recalled the death threats he and his family received as he drew closer to unseating Babe Ruth as the all-time home run king.

“It was overwhelming,” said Damion Thomas, sports curator for Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Some people were congratulating him, while some people were threatening him. Hank Aaron received about 900,000 pieces of mail, which would probably take up the space in this room.”

However, Aaron did not allow the threats to stop him from earning his place in baseball history. On April 8, 1974, he hit homerun number 715, breaking Ruth’s record of 714. Aaron would finish his 23-year career with 755 career home runs. A 25-time All-Star selection, he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.

“As a kid, I heard Hank Aaron speak, and it really had an impact on me,” said Lameteria Hall, who attended the screening. “Watching this film 40 years later was very filling. The film talked about Aaron’s sad and happy moments, but as a kid, I only saw happy. I’ll never forget when Hank Aaron spoke to us. He was such an inspiration.”

“The Hammer of Hank Aaron” will kick-off the Smithsonian Channel and Major League Baseball’s MAJOR LEAGUE LEGENDS series, and will premiere February 29 at 8 p.m. on the Smithsonian Channel.