Citizen Brand

Paul Newman

Let's take a break from the chaos that is our political scene this week and pay homage to an authentic American, Paul Newman.  Newman , one of the finest actors and humanitarians of any generation, died today at the age of 83.

If Paul Newman was in a movie, you knew it would be good.  And he kept it real for decade after decade performing a wide range of characters, each of them memorable in their own right.  He wasn't one of those actors who succeeded because he played the same character each movie.  He could play the good guy, the bad guy, the sentimental guy or the tough one.  Every one was believable.  And he made everyone else in the movie with him better.

If all he had accomplished in his life was his movie career, we would still be honoring him.  But he accomplished so much more.  He and his wife, Joanne Woodward, were married for 50 years plus.  Woodward is a fantastic actress in her own right.  He loved fast cars and was in racing for a time.  But I believe he would tell us his most important achievement was Newman's Own.  

The food company he started as "a lark" with a friend has turned into perhaps the greatest example of cause branding by a company ever.  100 percent of the proceeds from the more than 150 food items manufactured and sold by Newman's Own goes to charity.  100 percent.

Paul Newman may have died, but he left a legacy that will live forever through his movies and through his philanthropy.  Here's looking at you, kid.  Thanks.

La Vie En Rose

Let's end the suspense early for the Oscar for Best Actress next year.  If Marion Cotillard  is not delivering an acceptance speech in Hollywood in 2008, then it will be a crime.  Her performance as the legendary French singer, Edith Piaf, in the incredible film La Vie En Rose, is honestly one of the greatest performances I have ever seen.  My wife has always been a huge fan of Edith Piaf, so we thoroughly enjoyed this great film by Olivier Dahan.

There have been a lot of bio-pics, particularly of singers, recently.  But this is not an actress doing an impression of someone famous.  Marion Cotillard truly lives the tortured yet beautiful life of Edith Piaf.  Of course, the music is amazing and makes the movie even more enjoyable.  Piaf's voice is haunting, inspiring and reassuring all at once.  If you have not ever heard her sing, listen here or here and most especially listen here to one of her final performances.  This last song is one that inspired her to perform one last time toward the end of her life.  As she said, if she could not sing, she would not want to live.

As is usually the case with a film like this, it is being shown on a limited number of screens so you may have to hunt around for it.  It's worth the hunt.  Edith Piaf ended her life with an anthem called "No Regrets."  Her life was a full one and through this film, we have a chance to better understand her and her music.

And the Oscar goes to.....

I doubt I have much to add to the hundreds of thousands of words being written and broadcast about the Oscars, but here goes.  I do love movies and have to admit that I'm a sucker for award shows.  I had the incredible pleasure, along with my wife, to actually attend the Screen Actors Guild awards earlier this month.  The SAG Awards have always been billed as the best party among all the awards shows and Char and I can now attest to it.  Of course, we have no pictures since they are pretty picky about taking cameras in to these awards gatherings.

We had a wonderful weekend and want to thank our great host, Lisa Paulsen, president of one of our Barkley clients, the Entertainment Industry Foundation.  It was amazing to see hundreds of familiar faces, none of which you knew personally of course.  The fun part was seeing all those character actors that you recognize at a drop of a hat, but couldn't name them if your life depended on it.

So now back to the Oscars.  I think it was a great year for movies.  Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker turned in world class acting performances and are sweeping every award in site.  And perhaps Martin Scorsese will finally win the Oscar for his masterful direction of The Departed.  Of course he should have won for Raging Bull, Goodfellas, or Taxi Driver just to name three.  When you look at Scorsese's entire body of work, it makes you wonder why he hasn't won two lifetime achievement awards already.  He has to win this time.

Best film?  What a diverse and wonderful category it is this year.  I loved The Departed and have already made my case for Martin Scorsese for best director, but I have to say that my vote for best picture this year has to go to Babel.  This was simply one of the most intense and interesting films I have seen in a long time.  It is a movie I look forward to watching again and again because it was so intricate, that I know there will be things I missed the first time.

My second best picture vote would go to Little Miss Sunshine.  It was unique, funny, poignant and satirical all at once.  That isn't easy to do.  Plus Alan Arkin is simply one of the finest actors ever.  If you have never seen the original movie - The In-Laws - with Arkin and Peter Falk, you are missing one of the all time classic comedies.  Burn the remake that Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks did a few years ago.  And I think the world of both of them, but that is another remake that should have never happened.

There is my take on the 79th annual Oscars.  But as an added bonus this year - please enjoy this jog down memory lane.  It was the 61st annual Oscars and the opening of the show is one for the ages.  Enjoy this.  If it doesn't make you laugh, nothing will.  And watch to the end.  It's worth it.