Just one more round of eyes! That’s the collective sentiment the producers of this year’s Oscars may have wished for before green-lighting all the programming events during the live telecast on Sunday night. First glitch: the”In Memoriam” segment that erroneously presented a photo of a very-much-alive producer: Jen Chapman; instead of her colleague, costume designer, Janet Patterson. According to an email exchange with Variety, Chapman said: “I was devastated by the use of my image in place of my great friend and long-time collaborator Janet Patterson. Patterson was a four-time Oscar nominee and per Chapman, “It is very disappointing the error was not picked up.” Chapman had urged Patterson’s agency to confirm the use of her image with the Academy.
Fake News? No, just a blatant disregard for quality fact-checking. How mortifying and indignant it must be to explain to people in your industry, heck! your family and friends – that you are indeed still alive!
Jimmy Kimmel’s jokes and sketches – aimed to shock and get laughs were not the true surprises of the show, although the unsuspecting tourists entering the Dolby Theatre – had just the right amount of hilarity and awkwardness, past hosts/comedians have strived for and experimented with. The unexpected higlight: Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty mistakenly awarding LaLa Land the Best Picture Oscar instead of Moonlight and the mayhem that ensued was equal parts – priceless and embaressing. PricewaterhouseCooper (the global accounting firm administering the balloting for the Oscars for over 80 years) immediately took the blame hours later, but not before all the media outlets reported LaLa Land as the Best Picture for 2017 – and then retracted their stories. But the few minutes of confusion solidified the importance of fact-checking and how even the most prestigious of organizations can slip with this crucial journalistic tool.
It’s the fifth day of Kylie Jenner’s New York’s pop-up store being open and there are no signs of her customer/fan base waning down- to get their hands on the coveted beauty products. I was there to check out the scene at the pop-up’s Soho location on Mercer Street. I arrived around 11am to find a line-up of about 80 enthusiastic customers braving the cold temperatures, patiently waiting, while barricaded along the street until they were let inside.
As I made my way to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza on 47th and 2nd – the meeting point for the New York Women’s March, I was filled with anxiety, dread and just plain fear. I had attended a preliminary Women’s March meeting earlier in the week held by a group of professional women’s video and documentary filmmakers. “How to properly record immoral acts of violence?” “How not to get arrested.”What happens when you do.” These phrases kept lingering in my head throughout the week. I’m not a person who typically demonstrates. Yeah, I’ve been to a few Revlon Run/Walk 5Ks and previous March of Dimes walks and felt good about myself. Exercise was the motivator, really, and then yes, supporting the cause too – this was an after thought.
I had been interacting with teens, men, women in their 60s and 70s of various ethnicities being friendly to one another, courteous, singing and chanting alongside one another. We marched all the way up to 55th and 5th Avenue; 2 blocks shy of Trump Towers. I was disappointed at first that the cops had barricaded the streets, but then remembered what the march was about and how many people from different walks of life and age groups came out to protest for what they believe in. What a beautiful day!
Don't Suck My Collagen 