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By LANE FILLER lfiller@leader.net
Friday, March 07, 2003 Page: 3
Oscar may be short in height, but he’s mighty in stature. Smooth as
polished steel and shines like a beacon, too. He brings glamour, wealth and
fame wherever he goes.
Everybody who’s anybody in Hollywood wants to meet Oscar in person, take
him home and show him off. And just about everybody elsewhere has at least a
passing interest in tracking his whereabouts via television. In fact, he
trails only the Super Bowl for the most-watched program in the United States.
Diminutive yet muscular Oscar personifies the Academy Awards, and local
movie buff Ann Detrick misses him dearly.
When the 62-year-old Philadelphia native moved to Shavertown five years
ago, she knew she’d mourn the loss of proximity to her two sisters and two of
her four grown children. She just didn’t know she’d miss her Oscar so much.
At one time Ann and Oscar were quite close. Like many in the City of
Angels, she threw swanky parties for him and took his advice on what movies to
see. Oscar was the man in L.A., showing people how to dress and where to go.
For Ann and everyone in her circle, conversation centered on Oscar.
Oh, she still keeps up with him. Oscar’s always in the news, on TV, in the
papers, after all. Like a long-ago love – platonic, as Ann has been happily
married to Dr. Earl Detrick for four decades – she watches his every move from
afar. Oscar has one big throwdown every year, and she still participates in
it, albeit mostly alone in front of her television.
But to be fair, Oscar does visit on occasion, even the Wyoming Valley.
This year, to see Ann, he took the “Road to Perdition” via “Chicago.”
As old friends sometimes will, he brought with him a new friend, a Mexican
artist named “Frida.” Together they spent “The Hours” catching up on old
times, leaving Ann glad, yet sad. Sad, really, for what’s been lost.
For 35 years Ann and her husband, a Wyoming-born area native, lived in
Southern California. For a few years they even called Hollywood their home.
Ann adores movies, whether in the theater, the VHS machine her children
call hopelessly outdated or the newer DVD player. She eventually sees every
major Academy Award nominee and forms strong opinions about nearly all of
them.
“You just don’t have the same feeling or access here,” she lamented. “In
Los Angeles, this is such a special time. It was like my sisters and I were a
team, judging the movies themselves, the gowns and the speeches … .”
Alas, this will be Ann’s fifth year without a party for Oscar.
“I just don’t have enough people to attend who are as interested in the
actual event as I am,” she explained.
Still, she faithfully makes her picks.
“I loved `The Hours’,” Ann began. The Virginia Woolf-inspired tale of
three women coping with life’s darker side was nominated in nine Academy
categories. “I just thought Julianne Moore was fantastic, and of course Meryl
Streep is always wonderful.”
Next up was “Road To Perdition,” a gangster period piece starring Tom
Hanks.
“I think Paul Newman might get a sentimental (best supporting actor)
nod,” Ann said. “He is just such a big part of Hollywood, and he did a great
job in a very good film.
“As for `Chicago,’ I’m one of those people who claim they’re not big on
musicals, but I think they did a beautiful job with this one. Renee Zellweger
was simply amazing.”
Ann met “Frida” at the F.M. Kirby Center, which film fans thank for
bringing in movies that otherwise might not have made it here at all.
(The Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock was the first area film house to show
“Frida,” the historical tale of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, passionately
romanced by the commitment-phobic Diego Rivera. As well, the Dietrich was the
first area cinema to offer “The Pianist,” which will give the glitzy
blockbuster “Chicago” a fight for Best Picture.)
Ann and Oscar’s relationship may be built on love, but finances support Dan
Jones’ connection with him. He and Oscar are business partners.
As manager of the Gateway Cinema in Edwardsville for the past 15 years,
Jones knows that where Oscar leads, profit follows.
“It does make a difference, nominations and awards,” Jones said. “With
the publicity and recognition comes a bump in interest and ticket sales.”
Among Oscar nominees, the Gateway is now showing “The Pianist” and
“Chicago.” Both are doing brisk business, and Jones described the crowd at
the Gateway, particularly last weekend, as excellent.
He sees movies in bits and pieces, by ducking in and out of his theaters.
Over time, he will put the movies together in his head and form an opinion.
As a fan, Jones likes “The Pianist” and “Chicago” for awards. He also
liked “Gangs of New York,” which the Gateway screened earlier in the year.
That 1850s-era film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis and was
nominated for 10 awards.
“It did disappointing business for us, but it was a good movie,” Jones
said of “Gangs.” “It was just so violent, I think that turned a lot of
people off.”
Not everybody loves Oscar, as any powerful man will make enemies. Oscar has
strong opinions, so others are bound to find fault.
Mike Catrone, for example, does not count Oscar among his friends. Truth be
told, the two are barely on speaking terms. Catrone, of Kingston, nearly
always disagrees with Oscar about what constitutes a good movie.
He saw “Daredevil” at the Gateway on Monday night and loved it, which
essentially means no official recognition is due.
“The last movie I liked that won anything big was `Rocky’ (Best Picture in
1976),” he said. “I’m not into movies where people sit around in
100-year-old clothes moaning about the pain of life. I don’t need to go to the
movies for that.
“When I go to see a picture, I’m looking for action and excitement, an
escape. I like James Bond, I like the `Diehard’ films, I love the `Lethal
Weapon’ series. It would never even occur to me to go see `The Hours’ or
`Chicago.’ I mean, who cares?”
But one can respect Oscar without following him blindly. Even friends can
agree to disagree.
Stephanie Wylam, a 19-year-old student at Penn State Worthington Scranton
and an employee at Montage Mountain’s Cinemark, has an up-and-down
relationship with Oscar. She respects him but doesn’t always follow his lead,
knowing he can be a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to lighter fare.
Oscar, for example, might shower affection on a musical such as “Chicago”
because it’s expensive and enormous, but he will not deign to notice slapstick
or teen films.
Oscar is no child. In fact, as war looms on our horizon, it’s the
Holocaust-inspired “The Pianist” that could be just what he hungers for.
Wylam loved “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (nominated for six
awards, including Best Picture) but also raves about the “tiny car scene” in
“Just Married,” an Ashton Kutcher-Brittany Murphy comedy that will never
make Oscar’s invitation list.
(In that film, Kutcher rents a subcompact car for a European honeymoon, not
realizing it will be approximately as large as a covered lawnmower. Bad things
happen but not the kind of bad things that limousine-loving Oscar enjoys.)
“I also really loved `My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ (nominated for Best
Original Screenplay but snubbed for Best Picture),” Wylam said. “ `Gangs of
New York’ was a great concept, but I did not like Leonardo DiCaprio in it. He
couldn’t maintain an Irish accent, so they made a dumb excuse about how he
lost it in an orphanage.”
So there you have it. Yes indeed, when Oscar beams onto the small screens
around the world on March 23, he can be assured that right here in the Wyoming
Valley folks will be glued.
At the very least, he has a long-lost friend, a dedicated business partner,
a respectful acquaintance and a disdainful enemy.
Not too shabby for an out-of-towner.