Movie theaters are not in an enviable position. All of the odds are against them, starting with the clientele. At any given showing the average moviegoer may have to deal with cell phones ringing, touchscreens illuminating the darkness as people text, restless children, teenagers making out, feet kicking seatbacks, loudmouths and more.

In an essay about hating the movie theater, I observed:

First and foremost, people suck. You ever use a public restroom and find that the person before you didn’t flush? You’d think that that simple action would be ingrained into everyone’s behavior since they do it on a daily basis at home. It should practically be reflexive by now. But, it isn’t. That bottom-of-the-barrel level of courtesy simply cannot be met by society and these are the same people you’ll be watching movies with….

The second problem with the movie theater is that when one of these offenders rears its ugly head, it’s up to the offended to resolve the situation. So now, a relaxing time at the movies has turned into a high-stress confrontation. As the offended, the chances of resolving the situation in an adult and peaceful manner look slim, since, after all, you are dealing with a person who thinks that answering their cell phone in a crowded theater is appropriate behavior. Yeah, try convincing them that flushing the toilet is a good idea, too, while you’re at it!

So you have a couple of other options. You can try to intimidate them, which will probably make the situation far worse, unless you’re in a much bigger group. You can move seats, but that’s tricky when you’re with people and you’ll also lose the prime real estate you’ve picked out. You can also leave and get an usher, which really sucks, because now you’ve definitely missed part of the movie and the usher will most likely be some zit-faced kid who’ll just tell the offender to “please keep it down.”

Bad experiences typically stick with people much longer than good experiences because people only expect good experiences, especially when they’re paying for one. Having to deal with other people’s inconsideration is enough to make movie lovers stay home and rent.

In the last two decades home entertainment has progressed by leaps and bounds with above average consumers able to own very respectable home theater systems. Even if the average high credit-rated consumer only owns a high definition TV and a Blu-ray or DVD player, sometimes that’s enough to keep them home, resulting in a greater number of below average consumers per capita filling movie theater seats, exacerbating the experience. Furthermore, the high value of home entertainment should not be underestimated. The clarity and bonus features on Blu-ray discs with an HDTV is simply amazing, especially when high refresh rates can make footage look almost tangible. The introduction of HDTVs and Blu-ray players with 3-D capabilities should have movie theaters further quaking in their boots.

Video games aren’t doing movie theaters any favors either. Not only are MMORPGs like World of Warcraft acting as huge free-timesinks, but even innocuous first-person shooters are keeping more butts on couches longer with their carrot-dangling achievement systems. Plus, video games have always strived to replicate the movie experience and modern games have done it, upping actual cinema by creating functional interactive movies.

The rental market is another force, sucking value from movie theaters. There are just too many ways to enjoy a vast selection of cinema at home. Drive down to the store and pick up some movies. Subscribe to limitless movies by mail. Stream limitless movies online. Today’s smartphones even allow owners to rent movies and watch them via their phones. It’s also worth lumping the thriving piracy community into this group, too.

Finally, the movie studios also seem to be actively working against the theaters as well; first with quick video release dates and second with mediocre films. When I was a kid it seemed like it took forever for a film to come to VHS. These days it’s just a couple of months. In some cases, the video release is uncomfortably too close to the theatrical release date, like with the recent Alice in Wonderland. Some UK theaters even threatened to boycott the film over the move. Then there’s the matter of entertainment value. Modern cinema seems to be on a disappointing trend of lackluster storytelling. This year’s crop of films – the summer batch most importantly – is a great example. They simply don’t have the storytelling that will really capture audience’s attentions and convince them to use their decreased spending power at theaters. Regarding a few recent films: The Karate Kid was almost a carbon copy of the original and the parts where it wasn’t didn’t work, especially with too young actors. Grown Ups had almost no story. The Last Airbender was poorly written, acted and directed. It takes a cynical mind to assume that audiences will simply watch whatever studios will throw up onscreen.

To combat all of this, theaters have been forced to raise ticket prices, diversify their offerings and adopt poorly implemented technology in an attempt to beat the home theater experience. Increased prices typically wouldn’t be an issue if they reflected an increased quality of entertainment, which most moviegoers will probably attest that that isn’t the case. Although, increased prices may reflect increased cost of doing business so I won’t berate theaters too much on this point. I also commend movie theaters that attempt to offer more services, like the Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood, CA and Gold Class Cinemas around the world. These theaters have embraced the old date package of dinner and a movie by providing restaurant service at the theater. The Arclight has a small, crowded restaurant area in the lobby and the Gold Class theaters actually provide high-end dining to customers while they watch their movie. In the latter example, however, the ticket price (roughly $25US) certainly reflects the extra service, which doesn’t include the price of the food items.

Unfortunately, other theaters aren’t able to offer the same services and are forced to settle for cheap alternatives. One theater I frequented during my college years required their staff to talk to the audience before rolling the film. This poor, acne-ridden soul explained the THX surround sound and how the chairs reclined, while also half-heartedly trying to pump up the audience while being heckled by college students – like me. Other theaters sometimes provide complementary live-action displays before the movie starts to set the mood. When I watched the opening of X-Men, the sad theater employees bounded up and down the aisles dressed in X-Men costumes. Wolverine stood in front of the screen with his mutton chops glued to his cheeks and his un-retractable blades sticking out of his knuckles while Mystique battled with Storm in some of the worst stage-fighting you can imagine. More recently, a team of Asian martial artists were hired to break boards and fight with glittery plastic swords at The Last Airbender screening as a way to make up for the lackluster fights in the actual film or to lower expectations or compensate for the dearth of Asian actors. Or all of the above.

The most disappointing move by theaters, however, is the adoption of 3-D. The concept of 3-D films is not an issue in and of itself. It’s when theaters charge exorbitant ticket prices for the technology that causes the problem, because the price of admission doesn’t fit the product. Most of the time, as Working Author contributor Lindsey Darden observes, it’s a 2-D film with 3-D glasses. Next time you watch a “3-D” film take off your glasses during the movie and see if there’s any real difference. Chances are you’ll be able to watch it just fine and it’ll look brighter to boot.

I sympathize with movie theaters and understand the choices they’re making in order to survive. With so many other sources competing within the same entertainment arena, a decrease in product value and a declining quality of moviegoer, it makes sense that movie theaters need to reinvent themselves. Theaters need to capitalize on their role as social gathering places. As such, I predict that movie theaters will take on more and more services, like renting out blocks of time for business presentations or church gatherings. A small coffee house could easily be installed in the lobby. Some theaters currently show big title fights to give boxing fans the feeling of being ringside with real live people without having to shell out big bucks. Whatever movie theaters decide to do in the name of self-preservation it certainly shouldn’t be nothing.

It was kind of a weird Academy Awards tonight and not one that people are going to remember because of the production. The reason to watch tonight was definitely because of the historic win for Directing awarded to Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker. The rest of the show was kind of a mess, ranging from sound issues to strange acceptance speeches.

I had a bad feeling for the evening as soon as the opening number with Neil Patrick Harris got underway. It seemed like this year’s ceremony was trying to capture the magic of last year’s musical opening with Hugh Jackman. The segment just seemed so random, especially since Harris wasn’t the host for the evening. It also seemed a little under produced.

Overall, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin did an adequate job hosting, but also seemed a little unnecessary to the ceremony. Having co-hosts was a novel idea, but they came off more as a two-man stand-up routine rather than as actual hosts. Their opening dialog was on the corny side and if the idea was to skewer the nominees they should have really gone for it rather than just poke fun. That way George Clooney’s reaction would have been funny instead of just weird. What was going on with that guy, anyway? He barely cracked a smile.

Regarding the sound: Am I crazy or was the sound just going haywire the whole evening? I could have sworn I heard a constant hiss or a high-pitched whine or sometimes random tapping. Whatever it was it was terribly distracting.

What was up with that tribute to horror movies? That was kind of random. Why not highlight action movies since they’re the tent poles that hold up the studios? What about comedies? Aren’t those important too? And why was Edward Scissorhands in that montage?

The interpretive dancing for the Original Scores was very disappointing. When the dancers started pop locking for The Hurt Locker I had to guffaw at the idea for a mashup called The Pop Locker. The dance numbers could have been so much cooler. I liked the contrast of b-boys and ballerinas, but their moves barely represented the films. Imagine how much cooler The Hurt Locker number would have been if the dancers surrounding the solo dancer exploded outward like, I don’t know, a bomb? Is that too on the nose? The whole thing reminded me of the joke dance number at the beginning of the 2009 Oscars when Hugh Jackman and company make up some silly dance because he hadn’t seen The Reader and didn’t know how to represent it.

The best presenter for the evening was Ben Stiller. It almost verged on crashing and burning, but his full commitment saved the day. Furthermore, the whole lo-tech fishing rod gag was beautiful irony juxtaposed with Avatar’s hi-tech visuals. Overall, Ben Stiller sold the bit and he was one of the few highlights in the evening.

The worst presenter was Cameron Diaz. She looked a little flighty and couldn’t sell the comedy even with Steve Carell helping her along. Runner-up for worst presenter was Elizabeth Banks who seemed a little too excited to be on stage. As a side note, the winners for technical awards totally got the shaft this year with their 5-second clip and group photo-op.

Acceptance speeches were adequately good, with Kathryn Bigelow delivering the most genuine of them all for her win in Directing for The Hurt Locker. I’m glad Sandra Bullock won for Leading Actress. She’s one of those journeyman actors that have never seemed to get that role that lets them really show off their chops. It’s nice to see her finally get a strong role and knock it out of the park.

I’m also happy to see Jeff Bridges win for Leading Actor, but his acceptance speech was all over the place and lasted way too long. It seemed like even he got bored of it when he sighed somewhere near the end. Someone needs to explain to me who that woman was that pulled a Kanye West during the acceptance speech for Music by Prudence. I didn’t even know what she was talking about and the poor guy she hijacked the microphone from did a great job controlling his disbelief and anger at losing his moment.

I will say that I’m very impressed that Avatar didn’t win Best Picture. I’m not complaining, of course, since Kathryn Bigelow is a stunning woman and I’d much rather see her on stage than Cameron.

Update #1: I can’t believe I left them out, but I really enjoyed Tina Fey’s and Robert Downey Jr.’s presentation for Original Screenplay. As an aspiring screenwriter I look forward to that conflict with front-of-the-camera talent. Also, since I’m getting a lot of hits from Google searches for “oscars bad sound” and “weird George Clooney” I see I’m not alone in my opinions.

Update #2: I’m hearing that the reason for the weird Kanye West moment during the acceptance speech for Music by Prudence is that there’s some kind of producing dispute. I’ll update again if I find out more.

Partnering with KIIS-FM and MySpace, Walt Disney Studios invited several musical artists who contributed to the Almost Alice album – “imaginative compositions brought to life by the fantastical world of Alice in Wonderland” – to perform a short set in the main courtyard of the Hollywood & Highland Center. Manny on the Streets from local radio station KIIS-FM hosted the event onstage while MySpace personality Roslynn Cobarrubias and YouTube personality Philip DeFranco interviewed each artist before they performed. A giant JumboTron hung above the stage to display the performances and interviews in crystal clear high definition for the crowd that gathered against the railings of every level, like spectators in a Roman coliseum. In the courtyard below, fans were invited to dress in their best Alice in Wonderland costumes, which ranged from simple, store-bought affairs to elaborate, just-like-the-movie getups. Costumes were judged by Academy Award-winner Colleen Atwood who is also the costume designer for the film. The Ultimate Fans – both in costume and plainclothes – crowded the stage and rocked out to each of the sets.

First up was Estonian singer-songwriter Kerli. She was dressed in a sexy black and white dress with what appeared to be a panda head stitched to the front of her skirt. She performed her single Walking on Air as well as two tracks from the Almost Alice album: Tea Party and Strange. For the latter piece, a harpist joined Kerli onstage dressed in white and covered in white makeup for a visually stunning performance. Between songs Kerli threw candy into the audience, which had fans diving over each other.

Never Shout Never took the stage next with the current members of his touring band “The Shout.” He played three songs: What is Love?, Jane Doe and Sea What We Seas. The last song is supposedly a track on the Almost Alice album, but Never Shout Never is curiously not listed as one of the contributing artists nor is Sea What We Seas one of the tracks. Nevertheless, he put on a show that had the young girls screaming. In a show of bravado, he even stopped the last song after the first few measures in order to ask the crowd to hold up their cell phones in place of lighters.

Metro Station had a slightly longer set, playing four songs consisting of Kelsey, 17 Forever, Shake It and Where’s My Angel. The last song is their contribution to the Almost Alice album. Metro Station was obviously a crowd favorite and they started getting cheers when they appeared on the JumboTron before taking the stage. Once they started playing, co-frontman Trace Cyrus – Miley Cyrus’ half-brother – got the crowd amped with his trademark high-energy antics.

Rounding out the performances was two-man group 3OH!3, which was the biggest draw for the evening. In fact, shoppers at the local Hot Topic were given wristbands for an exclusive meet-and-greet with the group and were given access to the preferred viewing pit in front of the stage. The group’s energetic performances were stretched over five songs: Starstrukk, Hit It Again, Don’t Dance, Don’t Trust Me and their Almost Alice contribution Follow Me Down. Despite having absolutely nothing on stage to accompany them, 3OH!3 still got the crowd moving and throwing up the group’s signature hand sign.

The lucky fans that were admitted into the viewing pit were also granted a sneak preview of select footage from the upcoming Alice in Wonderland film at the El Capitan Theater across the street. Everyone else got to enjoy the recently and temporarily remodeled Hot Topic, which had been re-imagined as a setting out of the Alice in Wonderland film. Giant trees grew out of the front of the store. Oversized mushrooms towered over customers. There was even an Alice lookalike wandering the premises.

Throughout the evening, recorded interviews with the cast of Alice in Wonderland punctuated the performances. The cast shared their thoughts on the film, their characters and their experiences during production. After the last band exited the stage, everyone was pleasantly surprised to see the cast appear live on the JumboTron for interviews with the hosts of the event. The hope that the cast would actually step out on stage was palpable in the audience. Sure enough, director Tim Burton walked out onstage to introduce select actors, which included Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas, Michael Sheen, Mia Wasikowska and, of course, Johnny Depp. The roar of the crowd was deafening.

Check back for more Working Author coverage of Alice in Wonderland.

When I was younger, romantic comedies were probably my second favorite film genre. As a guy who did not easily command the attention of the girls I admired, I yearned for evidence that I could be desired for personal aspects that went beyond my physical appearance, which to this day leaves much to be desired. So it made sense that I gravitated towards romantic comedies, which often show awkward underdogs landing women that are several echelons out of their league by being able to offer something more valuable and genuine than looks, riches or popularity.

In later, more recent years, I’ve moved away from the romance genre for the most part. I started to notice an insidious theme underlying the true love that was being promoted via the main story – someone else was being screwed over so that the main couple could be happy. Consider The Notebook and the fate that befalls Lon (James Marsdon). He thought life was peachy until Allie (Rachel McAdams) sees a recent picture of her old boyfriend, Noah (Ryan Gosling), from seven years ago and suddenly she cheats on Lon and calls off the wedding. I suppose this would be OK if Allie had a longer history with Noah rather than three months and if Lon was a jerk rather than an all around great guy. Also consider Sleepless in Seattle. Here’s poor Walter (Bill Pullman) losing his fiancée, Annie (Meg Ryan), because his name is too formal and because Annie hears some guy’s voice on the radio. Now I understand that the point of these films is to focus on the “true love” of the main characters, but how can people not realize that that love is built upon a foundation of broken hearts?

That’s not to say, however, that romantic comedies (I’ll steer clear of romantic dramas for now) can’t be compelling cinema with a wholesome story that doesn’t present a romantic zero-sum game. Here are five romantic comedies that I enjoy, that I can think of and that I can remember enough of their plots to share them today. In no particular order:

Online infidelity.

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) has an Internet relationship with Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan). They don’t disclose any personal information or exchange pictures. Their attraction is solely based on personality. In real life, they each have their significant others and are business rivals. When Joe discovers that Kathleen and his Internet “friend” are one and the same he makes a concerted effort to win her heart, but it’s difficult when Kathleen is in love with his Internet persona, but despises him in real life.

This movie almost didn’t make the list, mainly because Joe and Kathleen are essentially cheating on their real life relationships. Granted, it’s not physical – it’s not sexual in any way – but it’s the other side of cheating: the emotional side. Rather than addressing what’s missing in their real life relationships that’s forcing them to seek this virtual relationship, the two “heroes” sneak around online, typing furiously while their pulses race through their veins. Fortunately, the film redeems itself by having these characters break up with their real life significant others in a natural way that is independent of the main love story. Everything else about the movie is top notch. The cast is great, the vignettes are poignant and the comedy is fun. Furthermore, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan just make for a great couple and who doesn’t want to see that?

Sometimes you don't know what you want.

Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)

I’ve only seen this movie once, but this John Hughes film had a lasting impact on me, because the main character, Keith (Eric Stoltz), reminded me of me. He’s a high school student that’s enamored with a beautiful and popular girl named Amanda (Lea Thompson). Keith doesn’t know exactly how to win her over so he teams up with local tough-chick Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson) and concocts an elaborate plan to romance Amanda into liking him. Forgive me if I’ve butchered the plot. Like I said, I’ve only seen this movie once and I was a child at the time.

Anyway, what really got this movie stuck in my head back then was the fact that Keith was an artist, like I was an artist, and we both drew portraits of the girl we wanted. I loved the scene with Keith getting himself into detention just to be with Amanda who also got detention that morning. Little does Keith know, however, that Amanda used her charms to get out of detention, leaving Keith with the dregs of high school. Through his artistic ability, Keith befriends a skinhead (Elias Koteas) who carves a relief into his desk to join Keith’s artistry. Now that I think about it, I do recall being disappointed with the ending. I should probably give it another viewing to see how I feel about it now.

"What fucking Ian guy?!"

High Fidelity (2000)

Rob Gordon (John Cusack) can categorize everything in his life within a Top 5 list. When the film starts, he’s going through a break up with his live-in girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle), but refuses to be affected by it, believing that she doesn’t even make his Top 5 list of relationships. The story is a path to self-discovery as Rob sorts out his feelings with his friends Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (Jack Black) and copes with the reality that Laura is with a new guy named Ian (Tim Robbins).

High Fidelity appeals to me on many levels. First, I like the way the story is presented, with a narrator that’s prone to fantasizing onscreen and continually breaks the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience. Furthermore, I like how the film presents modern day relationships. They’re messy, complex and confusing. It’s very rare to find someone who’s perfect for you, but that’s why relationships require work and commitment to keep it going.

"I'll have what she's having."

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) and Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) are polar opposites when it comes to personality. Strangely, they keep running into each other throughout various stages of their lives. In this weird, roundabout manner they discover that the path to true love is sometimes arduous and not always straight.

This is one of those ubiquitous films that I had to include to keep my credibility. On the other hand, When Harry Met Sally still holds up today in both the romance and the comedy departments as well as the general presentation. In 1989 the social truths like “men and women can’t be friends, because sex gets in the way” and “all women fake orgasms” were groundbreaking and refreshing. Today, they’re foregone conclusions. Nevertheless, you get to see Billy Crystal in his prime and the short interviews with the fictional couples presented documentary-style give the film just enough texture to make the story a classic.

Why we give Vince Vaughn a pass on all his recent films.

Swingers (1996)

Mike (Jon Favreau) is going through the recovery process of a tough breakup. It’s been six months, but he still can’t get over his ex-girlfriend. His friends, Rob (Ron Livingston), Trent (Vince Vaughn) and Sue (Patrick Van Horn), encourage Mike to get back into the dating game with mostly terrible results. Swingers follows Mike as he turns the corner in his single status and decides he’s ready to pursue a new relationship, but in his own way and in his own time.

This is another one of those ubiquitous choices, but I’m sure that many people who appreciate romantic comedies probably wouldn’t include Swingers as part of the genre. I think that’s the case because there’s no real romance – at least not for most of the movie. I include it in this list because pursuit and transition are big parts of modern day relationships and not many movies cover these aspects. For a lot of young guys who are still in the pursuit stage of their lives, Swingers is a reflection of their reality. I know that I caught myself yelling, “That’s SO true!” more than a couple of times when I watched this movie for the first time.

Apparently love transcends social status.

Notting Hill (1999)

Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) is currently the most famous actress in the world. William Thacker (Hugh Grant) is no one. By chance, Anna walks into William’s travel book shop and they strike up an impulsive romantic relationship. Unfortunately, Anna’s celebrity life is complex and doesn’t permit for the convenient relationship that William is looking for. Nevertheless, perhaps their common desire for a normal life together can surmount the tremendous obstacles that keep their love from blooming.

First of all, I know this is #6 on a Top 5 list. It’s my list and I can break the rules if I want. Secondly, if I had to pick a favorite romantic comedy it’d have to be Notting Hill. Not only is it tremendously funny, but the acting is pitch-perfect all around. Well, maybe that’s overstating things, but I think the acting is close. My favorite scene is the birthday dinner as these average, normal people adjust to having an A-list celebrity sitting with them. (It’s remarkably close to how I felt during my first few roundtable interviews.) The tone in that scene is amazing and the emotional current ebbs and flows from touching to comic to deadly serious, back to lighthearted in the end. Also, who can’t appreciate the stylized, one-take, transition scene with Hugh Grant walking along as the seasons change around him? Finally, one point of contention with the ending: I’ve never seen that many journalists with their own SLR cameras at a Press conference.

Vin Diesel sings. Really.

Strays (1997)

Rick (Vin Diesel) is a player. He runs around with his player friends and they pick up as many chicks as they can and sleep around. Rick, however, has a pretty good head on his shoulders and is trying to turn his life around with a new, wholesome girl he meets, Heather (Suzanne Lanza). Unfortunately, his lifestyle and his learned behavior keep getting in the way.

This movie is just barely a romantic comedy and I don’t even care for it that much. I just threw this movie on this list for those people who had a problem with me going to six. IN YOUR FACE! HERE’S #7! Also, I just think it’s absolutely hysterical that Vin Diesel is in a romantic comedy. He even serenades a girl. Check it out if you want to see Diesel’s early work.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

In the film, John (John C. Reilly) is depressed after finding out his ex-wife is getting re-married. Luckily for John he meets Molly (Marisa Tomei) and they hit it off until Molly’s 21-year-old son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill), enters the picture. Cyrus and Molly have a very deep connection that may not allow John to build something with Molly.

Cyrus recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and the cast and crew celebrated with a party at the Bing Bar in Park City, UT on Saturday, January 23, hosted by Tequila Don Julio and Movieline.com.

Maria Tomei looked absolutely gorgeous that evening as she chatted the night away with co-stars John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill. Tomei’s boyfriend, Logan Marshall Green, was always close by. The couple were rarely apart and burned the dance floor together before being the last two to leave the party.

Jonah Hill and Danny McBride.

Other highlights of the evening included Jonah Hill who showed up to the Cyrus party with his significant other and met up with party guest Danny McBride. The two posed for a couple of quick pictures. Kristine Elezaj passed the time taking shots of Don Julio with musician QuestLove from The Roots. Finally, Tomei and Reilly were both given vintage bottles of Don Julio. Nothing says appreciation like fine liquor!

Marisa Tomei and a vintage bottle of Don Julio tequila.

Marisa Tomei is the life of the party!

Kristen Elezaj and QuestLove burning the tables.

John C. Reilly looking dapper.

“It is nearly impossible to think of certain films without remembering their music scores.  Casablanca, Laura, An Affair to Remember, The Magnificent Seven – the list is endless,” said TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne.  “Our list celebrates the most memorable and groundbreaking soundtracks, the ones which took the art of film music to new levels and made the most lasting impact on the world of movies.”

Musical artists from a variety of genres chimed in on TCM’s 15 Most Influential Movie Soundtracks.  Rap artist and actor Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, who worked with Isaac Hayes on the film Hustle & Flow, said Hayes’ Oscar^®-winning work on the movie Shaft continues to be influential.  “The soundtrack to Shaft was more than music being laid onto a film,” Ludacris said.  “It was the actual credible atmosphere of the film.  Isaac Hayes made you feel the relevance of black music culture within the film with his choice of sounds, instrumentals and words.”

Ludacris praised Hayes’ impact on other artists.  “When I make songs specifically for films, I want them to have the kind of impact the music did for Shaft,” Ludacris said.  “It defined the film and the times.  It was a black film, black music and black culture in perfect balance.”

Country music star Dierks Bentley said a specific score resonates with him.  “The music in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, to me, was just as big a part of the movie as the story itself,” he said.  “The main theme, with that shimmering electric guitar and vocal grunts, kills me even now when I hear it.  It’s perfectly suited for the movie.”

Chart-topping rock artist Rob Thomas said music contributes to film by developing a scene.  “There is a certain beauty in laying a musical bed and how it builds itself into the scene, creating a lasting moment,” Thomas said.  He also film music has had an influence on the concert hall.  “Classical presentations that people listen to will always include Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.  But as generations grow older, there will also be John Williams and Danny Elfman.”

Music has played a vital role in film since the earliest days of silent movies, when live accompaniment ranged from a single pianist to a music-hall ensemble.  By the latter half of the 1920s, it was possible to include recorded music on film, starting with the first synced sound score, which was used for Don Juan in 1926.  Later, Max Steiner’s groundbreaking work on 1933’s King Kong featured the first fully original score composed for a feature film.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, film music was dominated by a combination of songs from musicals and lush orchestral scores for dramas and comedies, often in a classic, romantic style.  As rock and roll arrived in the 1950s, movies started featuring new songs, notably with the 1955 drama Blackboard Jungle.  The use of pop-music compilations grew over the decades, with such movies as The Graduate (1967), Saturday Night Fever (1977) and The Big Chill (1983) proving to be groundbreaking.  Throughout all eras, full orchestra scores remained popular.  In the 1970s, such scores actually enjoyed a resurgence, thanks in part to the popularity of composer John Williams (Jaws, Star Wars).

In selecting the 15 Most Influential Film Soundtracks, several aspects were considered, including the impact they have had on how music is used onscreen to tell a story and on the methodology of song selection.  Their influence is also defined by their impact on pop culture.

Here are the films from TCM’s list of 15 Most Influential Movie Soundtracks, listed in chronological order:

King Kong (1933) – Composer: Max Steiner

Historians disagree over who wrote the first fully symphonic film score, but most credit Max Steiner for either the 1932 Polynesian romance Bird of Paradise or the legendary King Kong.  Certainly the latter film established Steiner as one of Hollywood’s top composers and demonstrated how much an original score could enhance a film’s emotional hold on its audience.  When penny-pinching executives at RKO insisted Steiner score the film with stock music, the film’s co-director, Merian C. Cooper, reached into his own pocket to provide $50,000 for the score.

Alexander Nevsky (1938) – Composer: Sergei Prokofiev

Composer Sergei Prokofiev started working on his Alexander Nevsky score while the picture was still in the editing stage.  Prokofiev and Soviet auteur Sergei Eisenstein built the montages together, with the director even adjusting his editing to fit the score, particularly for the famous half-hour battle on the ice that would inspire such later films as Spartacus and The Empire Strikes Back.  Prokofiev and Eisenstein’s collaboration would inspire such later director/composer teams as Alfred Hitchcock/Bernard Herrmann and Steven Spielberg/John Williams.  Eisenstein had hoped to record the score for this legendary epic with high-fidelity techniques he had observed in Hollywood.  But when Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin rushed the film into release prematurely to help foster anti-German sentiments, the recording was substandard.  A year after the film’s premiere, Prokofiev turned his score into the 40-minute Alexander Nevsky Cantata.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) – Composer: Bernard Herrmann

Eerie and haunting, the score Bernard Herrmann created for The Day the Earth Stood Still set the style for future science fiction films, from It Came From Outer Space (1953) to Blade Runner (1982).  Although Miklos Rozsa in Spellbound (1945) introduced Hollywood to the electronic instrument known as the Theremin, Herrmann was the first to use it to create an all-electronic score.  He did so by combining two Theremins with electronic organs, vibraphones and amplified strings, among other instruments.  The jarring sounds perfectly captured the anxieties underlying this tale of a UFO landing in the middle of Washington, D.C.  Herrmann also recorded on multiple tracks, long before stereophonic sound was widely used in Hollywood.  He even played some cues backwards to create an unearthly masterpiece.

Blackboard Jungle (1955) – Music Adaptor: Charles Wolcott

MGM brought Hollywood into the rock ‘n’ roll era with Blackboard Jungle.  In search of the kind of music teens like the film’s potential delinquents were listening to, director Richard Brooks borrowed a few records from star Glenn Ford’s son Peter.  When Brooks heard Bill Haley and his Comets perform “Rock Around the Clock,” he found the perfect theme song, which also became the first rock song ever used in a Hollywood feature.  Thanks to Blackboard Jungle, the song hit #1 on the Billboard charts, eventually selling 25 million copies and becoming what Dick Clark called “The National Anthem of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) – Composer: Elmer Bernstein

When producer-director Otto Preminger set out to buck the Hollywood system, he went all the way.  Not only did Preminger challenge the censors by tackling the then-forbidden topic of drug addiction, he also defied the blacklist by hiring the politically suspect Elmer Bernstein.  Bernstein suggested that jazz was the perfect musical style to reflect leading man Frank Sinatra’s battle with addiction.  From the trumpet riff over the titles to a jittery motif as Sinatra falls back into drug abuse, The Man with the Golden Arm was the first Hollywood film with an all-jazz score, setting the style for future films set in the urban jungle of crime, drugs and despair.  Bernstein himself would return to the jazz score for The Sweet Smell of Success (1957) and A Walk on the Wild Side (1962), before staking a claim on Americana with To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), widely considered one of the best film scores of all time.

Psycho (1960) – Composer: Bernard Herrmann

It seems only natural that one of the most iconic sequences in film history – the shower scene from Psycho – should be accompanied by one of the screen’s most iconic musical cues.  Bernard Herrmann’s screeching violins have taken on a life of their own in the years since they heralded Marion Crane’s death.  Like John Williams’ Jaws theme, they have become an instant signifier of menace, quoted in everything from Psycho’s many imitations to episodes of The Simpsons.  Originally, director Alfred Hitchcock wanted to use a jazz score and show the shower scene in silence.  Herrmann showed him a better way to generate suspense, impressing the master so much that Hitchcock doubled the composer’s salary.  Later, Hitchcock said, “Thirty-three percent of the effect of Psycho was due to the music.”

A Hard Day’s Night (1964) – Musical Director: George Martin; Songs: John Lennon, Paul McCartney

With its mix of pop rock and kaleidoscopic visuals, the first Beatles movie set the tone for the swinging London films of the 1960s, inspiring everything from romantic comedies to social dramas to spy films.  Synergy had been an important factor in musical careers since Bing Crosby used his movies, radio show and records to sell each other in the ‘30s.  In the ‘50s, Hollywood developed starring vehicles for rockers like Elvis Presley and Fabian.  But it was the Beatles who found the perfect wedding of visual and musical styles, thanks in no small part to Richard Lester’s rapid cutting, hand-held camera effects and Alan Owen’s pseudo-documentary script.  Scenes cut to the rhythms of songs like “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “This Boy” paved the way for the MTV generation.

Goldfinger (1964) – Composer: John Barry

With the third James Bond film, Goldfinger, composer John Barry helped carry the screen’s most popular and long-lived series beyond box office success.  He created a musical soundtrack and hit song (the first of many for the Bond films) that dominated the charts for months.  As in two earlier films, Barry used Monty Norman’s James Bond theme, which he had first arranged for Dr. No (1962).  This anticipated such other iconic character themes as those in The Pink Panther and Rocky.  Barry also mirrored the action perfectly, going heavy on the brass to reflect the film’s metal-obsessed villain.  Barry capped it all with the title song, the first of three in the series sung by Shirley Bassey.  Her chart-topping performance set the standard for future Bond films.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) – Composer:  Ennio Morricone

Ennio Morricone scored Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965), but it was their third film together that brought Morricone international fame.  His spare arrangements, like the film’s two-note opening theme based on a hyena’s cry, as well as his use of such unconventional instrumentations as the ocarina, gunfire and wordless vocals, created a distinctive, frequently imitated style.  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was also the first film on which Leone and Morricone developed the main themes before shooting started.  Leone would play the music while shooting, helping the actors to find performing rhythms in sync with their character’s musical motifs and even developing camera movements in time to the score.

The Graduate (1967) – Composer: Dave Grusin; Songs: Paul Simon

Mike Nichols invented a new way to score a movie when he decided to use previously recorded songs from Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel for this 1967 tragicomedy about aimless youth.  Although Nichols hired Simon to write three new songs for the film, most of the score consists of earlier hits like “The Sounds of Silence” and “Scarborough Fair.”  The only new song, “Mrs. Robinson,” was originally written as a tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt and wasn’t even finished when the duo recorded it for the soundtrack.  The music helped The Graduate strike an emotional chord with Simon & Garfunkel’s many young fans.  The music provided, in historian Sam Kashner’s words, star Dustin Hoffman’s inner monologue.  Nichols’ use of the songs to underscore mostly silent scenes anticipated the development of music videos and inspired many filmmakers, most notably John Hughes (Sixteen Candles) and Cameron Crowe (Say Anything).

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – Musical Consultant: Patrick Moore; Music Editor: Frank J. Urioste

Rockets revolve in space to the tune of Johann Strauss’ “The Blue Danube” waltz; light streams reflect on an astronaut’s helmet as he plummets through space to the otherworldly music of Gyorgy Ligeti; the sun, moon and Earth align perfectly to the thundering brass of Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra.  These are some of the most famous weddings of visuals and music in film history, and they happened by accident.  Stanley Kubrick had commissioned a score for his 2001: A Space Odyssey from Alex North, with whom he worked on 1960’s Spartacus.  But during filming, the director used classical recordings to set the mood, then incorporated them for a scratch track when MGM’s executives requested a sample reel.  The results were so spectacular that Kubrick decided to use a new type of film score composed entirely of commercial recordings of classical music.  With 2001’s success, the classical score became a cinema staple, something Kubrick himself would return to for A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Barry Lyndon (1975).

Shaft (1971) – Composers: Isaac Hayes and J.J. Johnson

From the first bars of the title theme – featuring rapid rhythm on the hi-hat cymbal and the trademark “wah-wah” guitar of funk music – the audience for Shaft knew it was in for something different.  Not only did the film re-set film noir conventions in the inner city, but Isaac Hayes’ score created the sound that would dominate the blaxploitation genre.  Some historians have even cited his title theme, with two and half minutes of instrumentals preceding Hayes’ vocals, as an influence on the development of disco.  Beyond producing a hit album – the first double album of original film music from an R&B star – Shaft and its chart-topping theme made Hayes the first black Oscar® winner in one of the music categories (and in any category other than acting).  This opened the door for future winners like Stevie Wonder and Lionel Richie while creating an iconic theme that’s probably better known than the film that inspired it.

American Graffiti (1973) – Music Coordinator: Karin Green

With scenes written to feature rock classics from the likes of Billy Haley and His Comets, The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, and The Platters, George Lucas’ coming-of-age comedy introduced nostalgia to the screen as never before.  The film used its golden oldies soundtrack to re-create the early ‘60s, contributing to what Roger Ebert called “a brilliant work of historical fiction.”  Lucas modeled his script on his memories and his own vintage record collection.  When the cost of music clearances for the 43 songs he wanted left no money for a traditional score, American Graffiti became the first film to boast a music coordinator rather than a composer.  Its success launched a wave of nostalgia that would inspire the TV series Happy Days and films like Grease and Animal House.

Saturday Night Fever (1977) – Composers: Barry, Maurice & Robin Gibb and David Shire

When John Travolta strode down the New York streets at the opening of Saturday Night Fever, the music and visuals captured a generation’s drive to “feel the city breakin’ and everybody shakin’ and we’re stayin’ alive.”  The juxtaposition of the Bee Gees’ lyrical, rhythmic songs with the working-class angst of Tony Manero and his friends make the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever one of the most powerful in film history.  Thanks to a combination of perfect timing and astute marketing (this was one of the first films to use cross-platform marketing, so the soundtrack album and movie sold each other), the music achieved iconic status.  For years after the film’s release, popular songs like “How Deep Is Your Love” and “If I Can’t Have You” dominated the airwaves and record charts, and the hit soundtrack was the world’s best-selling record album.

Star Wars (1977) – Composer: John Williams

Before John Williams signed on for Star Wars, director George Lucas was planning to use classical music in the fashion of 2001: A Space Odyssey.  But when Lucas’ friend Steven Spielberg convinced him to go with Williams, the composer gave him a rich blend of familiar musical styles, with a title theme inspired by Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s intro to King’s Row (1942) and leitmotifs inspired by Igor Stravinsky, Gustav Holst and even Benny Goodman (the model for the Cantina Band).  The result went on to be voted the greatest score of all time by members of the American Film Institute.  Thanks to Star Wars, movie-going was once again a feast for the ears, paving the way for more lush, romantic scores from the likes of James Horner (Titanic), Ennio Morricone (The Mission) and Williams himself (E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler’s List).

Eli Roth, Diane Kruger and Lawrence Bender

Bill Paxton and Kathryn Bigelow

The 2009 Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards was presented by Movieline.com and held at The Highlands nightclub at the Hollywood and Highland Center. The stars were out in full-force, with attendees including Eli Roth, Bill Paxton, Zooey Deschanel and more. New Moon co-stars, Nikki Reed and Anna Kendrick, also attended as presenters. They were spotted practicing their speeches for each other. Apparently, they were both nervous about being in front of a live audience and Nikki mentioned that she is terrified of public speaking, which is why she does film instead of stage work.

The ceremony began with an introduction by Matthias Breschan, the president of Hamilton International Ltd. His remarks concerned how Hollywood is able to manipulate time as it sees fit and he joked about feeling like The Time Traveler’s Wife. Breschan’s rough speech was simply a way to highlight Hamilton’s longstanding relationship with Hollywood. The night’s event showcased the Hamilton Ventura which was the watch Elvis Presley wore in Blue Hawaii. So it made sense that the host for the evening was former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell.

Nikki Reed and Anna Kendrick

Highlights of the night included seeing extra footage of the highly anticipated film Avatar as well as a behind-the-scenes featurette for New Moon. The best presentations came from Bill Paxton and Christoph Waltz who both delivered emotional speeches straight from the heart and without any visual aids. Paxton recounted working with True Grit Director Kathryn Bigelow 20 years ago on Near Dark, a film about Southern vampires. “[Kathryn] gave true meaning to the words ‘the South shall rise again,’” Paxton joked. Waltz also shared a production experience about lifetime achievement honoree Sally Menke. When Waltz worked with her on Inglourious Basterds he had performed his role with a private rhythm of 3:4. “It was…for me, personally. Nobody needed to know,” he said. “And when I saw the film, I discovered that Sally had cut the whole scene in 3:4. And I was moved, because I felt understood.” On the flipside, the best acceptance came from costume designer Ann Roth whose speech veered close to hopelessly meandering, but then came together when she stated plainly, “I never thought of myself as ‘behind’. I always thought of the actors as behind my costumes.” The audience roared in approval.

Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Strangely, the tone of the evening was largely subdued as compared to last year’s Behind the Camera Awards, which may have been due to the lack of comedies represented this year. Also, last year’s audience was understandably giddy over President Obama’s win and some honorees interjected politics into their acceptances. This year, even with a film about the Iraq war – The Hurt Locker – being recognized, there was almost no mention of any political events, save the quick reference to healthcare by 500 Days of Summer co-screenwriter Michael H. Weber.

It truly does take a team to produce the movies that we all know and love and no one better illustrated that point than actors Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. When presenting the screenwriter award to Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, the two actors mimed a scene to show us what film would be like without a script. The impromptu skit, while cute, ran entirely too long like a cringe-worthy SNL bit. It just goes to show that even award presentations sometimes needs a team to ensure they go over well.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel miming

Zoe Saldana

Diane Kruger

Anna Kendrick

The Complete List of Honorees and Presenters

Host: Elvis Mitchell

Dana E. Glauberman, film editor, Up in the Air, by Jason Bateman & Anna Kendrick

Susan MacLeod, special visual effects, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, by Nikki Reed

Garrett Warren, stunt choreographer, Avatar, A Christmas Carol, by Zoe Saldana

John Myhre, production designer, Nine, by Rick Yune

Ann Roth, costume designer, Julie & Julia, by Tippi Hedren

Lawrence Bender, super producer, Inglourious Basterds, by Diane Kruger

Drew Petrotta, property master, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, by Jonathan Tucker

Sally Menke, lifetime achievement, w/.Christoph Waltz introducing taped message from Quentin Tarantino

Christian Berger, cinematographer, The White Ribbon, by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, screenwriters, 500 Days of Summer, by Zooey Deschanel & Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Kathryn Bigelow, true grit director, The Hurt Locker, by Bill Paxton

I screened Orphan the other night. It was an excellent film for its genre and I recommend it to fans of horror thrillers. There’s a lot about the film that I like and one of the aspects I enjoyed is how it touches on all the fears that are inherent with children. These fears are not the superficial kind that a person feels walking down a dark street in an unsavory neighborhood. These fears are more deep seated and relate to the wild unpredictability of children, their natural curiosity and their fathomless cruelty.

Zealotry + Children = Scary!

Children don’t understand moderation, so all of their actions are going to be extreme. Children are going to pile on the food instead of practicing portion control. They’ll scream for assistance instead of asking politely. That’s why park rangers will warn you to stay away from baby rattlesnakes since they inject all of their poison upon biting victims, because they don’t know any better. So when children are the villains in a horror movie it follows that they’ll cut you to ribbons instead of merely stab you once, giving you a chance to survive.

Children also have no moral compass and are free to explore their curiosities no matter how vile. They torment and torture animals, set things on fire and break fragile objects just to see something new. As such, children are a constant danger to everyone around them and themselves when parents aren’t around to slap idle hands away from electrical outlets, sharp objects or filthy things.  In a horror film, the “something new” children might want to see could be your brain and the demented children will have no qualms splitting your head open to accomplish that goal.

In real life, children aren’t typically feared on an external level because they’re physically weak, mentally stupid and usually have adults around that are responsible for them. On a fictive level, it’s easy enough to create plausible plots to circumvent these protections. Strength is rarely necessary to kill someone – perhaps in a standup fight, yes, but all a child has to do is create an “accident” situation or simply wait until you fall asleep. Mentally precocious children also aren’t that rare. Effective horror film monsters don’t have to be geniuses; they just have to be smart enough to take advantage of situations. Children learn how to manipulate people at an early age. As for parents or stewards, children are masters of detecting when authoritative eyes are on them and when they’re not. They can easily slip away to perform their dark deeds and be back before they’re missed.

Remember, even Satan was a child once.

On top of the natural dangers that children are, there’s also a feeling of helplessness that adults must necessarily feel when dealing with children – especially ones that aren’t their own.  All of the rules work to protect children and any adult violating those rules will find other adults quickly intervening. In an episode of King of the Hill, a new family moves into the neighborhood and the adolescent son is a holy terror. Hank, the main character of the show, wants to deal with the child, but can’t do anything directly as an adult. He tries reasoning with the parents, but they simply discount their son’s behavior as being “gifted.” Hank eventually solves the situation by having his own son terrorize the newly moved-in couple in the same manner, forcing them into the same helpless situation. Additionally, children are above suspicion when something truly horrific like murder is involved, allowing children to hide in plain sight, making them some of the best killers to grace the silver screen.

Lastly, children are freaky in and of themselves. Who knows what they’re going to do and why? It doesn’t help that horror movies tend to give children supernatural powers as ghosts or turn them into the spawn of Satan. In the film The Last King of Scotland as Nicholas is about to be hung by his skin on a pair of nasty hooks at the hands of Idi Amin, Nicholas says, “You’re a child. That’s what makes you so fucking scary.” I couldn’t agree more.

Big children are even scarier!

Apparently, M. Night Shyamalan is directing the movie version scheduled for 2010. According to Nicole Sperling at Entertainment Weekly:

M. Night Shyamalan has found the cast for The Last Airbender, his upcoming live-action film based on the popular anime-inspired Nickelodeon series. The youthful group is mostly filled with unknowns who are likely to be household names by the time Paramount opens the first in its potential three-film franchise in July 2010. After an open casting call in Texas, Shyamalan discovered karate star Noah Ringer and offered him the part of Airbender’s 12-year old hero, Aang, an Avatar with superpowers who must stop the Fire Nation from destroying the world. Twilight‘s Jackson Rathbone has been asked to play Aang’s pal Sokka, while Nicola Peltz (Deck the Halls) will star as his sister Katara. Genial singer Jesse McCartney, meanwhile, is negotiating to play against type in the role of the Fire Nation’s evil prince Zuko.

In short, the main Asian characters are being played by prototypical White people. This has obviously caused a bit of a stir in the Asian community. As a Filipino male, when I first heard about this, I found it hard not to see it as just another blatant act of scrubbing out the “yellow” and replacing it with a more eye-pleasing White. Then I saw a picture of the characters.

I don’t know about you, but if I saw this cartoon without knowing where it was from or that the characters are supposed to be Asian, I’d think they were a bunch of White kids. I mean, look at how wide their eyeballs are! Natural blue eye color? C’mon. How many Asians have that going for them? So even though his last two films were disappointing on almost every level, I’m going to give Shyamalan a pass on the casting of Avatar. If anything, the artists are the ones that need a talking-to.

Wherever the fault lies, the end result is the same: Cool/interesting roles – even the ones that are specifically made for Asians – have once again been given to White people.

Actors Needed: Asians Need Not Apply

An average cross-section of America.

If you’re not Asian, it’s probably difficult for you to understand our frustration. You probably watched Friends on NBC and thought that it was perfectly plausible that six, young middle-class people living in Manhattan, New York would have no Asian acquaintances or any contact with minorities for that matter.

If that’s the case, then there’s definitely a problem, because if you’re going to buy that, then the entertainment industry has carte blanche to concoct any kind of ridiculous plot contrivance to get the yellow out. Take, for instance, Die Another Day.

What every Asian male wishes he looked like.

Here we have Colonel Moon played by the clearly freakish and alien-looking Will Yun Lee. He undergoes a drastic cosmetic procedure to turn himself into the handsome and debonair Gustav Graves played by the normal-looking Toby Stephens who has approximately 90% more screen-time than Lee.

I know. It’s fiction, right? In that same movie James Bond drives a car that can turn invisible. The whole Asian-to-White thing was just a gimmick. OK, I’ll buy that. Then comes along a movie like 21, which was based on the MIT card-counting team populated mostly by Asians. Here’s a great comparison from the site Chasing the Frog.

I haven’t seen the movie, but I’ve read that there are Asians in that film and they’re characterized as goofy and maladroit. I’m sure it’s not to the point of Mickey Rooney’s performance in Breakfast at Tiffany’s…

…but I bet it isn’t encouraging either.

We do, however, have all of the karate masters on our side. I don’t care where you’re from or what your racial make-up is, Jackie Chan or Jet Li fight scenes are undeniably cool. Unfortunately, they’re getting up there in years and there doesn’t appear to be any newcomers to replace them. I think it’s going to be a while before Tony Jaa makes his American transition mainly because of his English and his high-pitched voice. Furthermore, I think The Matrix has revived America’s faith in White people performing martial arts believably that seemed to have died off with Jean-Claude Van Damme’s and Stephen Seagal’s careers. With this resurgence of White-Fu and no one to take up the Asian mantle, we may be stuck with Jason Statham and Matt Damon in Transporter 11 and The Bourne Dead Horse Beating respectively.

Asian Role Models in the Media or Lack Thereof

The American-Asian male experience is just like any other male experience, only more so. It’s a constant struggle for identity, masculinity and coolness. It’s just harder for us, because we don’t have anyone to show us the path. Our friends had television and movies to provide role-models they could identify with. Our Black and Hispanic friends had sports stars and rap artists. Our White friends had everyone else. We had our fathers. That’s alright, I guess. We all turned out to be hard-working, intelligent, successful individuals. However, our fathers couldn’t provide everything that we were looking for as boys and young men. Instead, our heroes were all Caucasian, because that’s what we saw on television. We identified with White men, emulating their actions. So when we saw White guys with White girls on TV, it was only natural that we be attracted to White girls too. This wasn’t a problem when we were kids, because we didn’t really comprehend race. We were all just lumped into one giant, writhing mass of children.

Then we grew up. Suddenly, glass divisions sprouted all around us and we were viewed as these social miscreants that were good at math, ate dog and knew karate. The change was dramatic. It was like showing up to a house party, taking a turn through the wrong door and ending up locked outside in the rain. How the heck does something like this happen?

It happens because for better or worse, America views television and film as a reflection of reality to a large degree. With that in mind, it’s a wonder that White people ever have low self-esteem. They’re represented as people that can go everywhere and be anything. Want to be a samurai? No problem. We’ll just rewrite Dances with Wolves, setting it in post-American Civil War Japan and cast Tom Cruise. If you’re Japanese and want to be in the Civil War, you’re cast as a “Chinaman” extra building railroads as the White lead (probably Tom Cruise) rides by on his horse and kicks you.

If White people ever feel inferior to another person, that other person is probably White. Now I don’t bear White people any ill will for being White and I don’t think they need to feel inferior to me, Asians or any other race. I’m just pointing out that the entertainment industry is clearly biased in their favor.

Asians, however, get to deal with the likes of Joan Rivers reminding the world that all Filipinos eat dog. When she was still aired on local channels several years back, she made an off-color statement right before a commercial break, stating (and I’m paraphrasing here), “[During the commercial break] You’ll have enough time to wash your dog, walk your dog or, if you’re Filipino, eat your dog.”

On her blog, as recently as June 22, 2008, Joan Rivers writes:

Everyone keeps telling us to be patient and that he will come around, but I think I know my Max best.

He will NEVER like Sam. Unless, of course, she is in a pot down the hall in my Filipino neighbor’s kitchen.

Then, of course, there’s Rosie O’Donnell speaking perfect Mandarin – or is it Cantonese? I can never tell.

I’m told that she does Blackface pretty well too. She kicks off her shoes and socks, rolls up her pant legs and plops down on a porch, pushes her lips out and grins, while double-fisting a slice of watermelon in one hand and a fried chicken leg in other. Non-Blacks tell me it’s quite the riot and shouldn’t be taken seriously or as something offensive, but unfortunately this performance never makes it on air.

Still, if having a weird-sounding language and being accused of eating dog are the worst negative Asian examples in the media, then things aren’t that bad. After all, I live in a country where a good percentage of people find it odd that I eat mushrooms and get angry over instructions written in multiple languages. When I worked at the Olive Garden, one guest actually wrote in a complaint about the menus being half-written in Spanish. The guest was wrong, of course. The menus are written in half-English and half-Italian being an Italian restaurant. That’s neither here nor there. The point is, minorities are going to have negative stereotypes and these two – sounding weird and eating weird food (even potentially dog) – weren’t insurmountable.

Then American Idol chose to define the Asian male by highlighting William Hung:

It was Rooney’s Mr. Yunioshi all over again: bucked-toothed and unintelligible, except this time he’s a civil engineering major. I doubt American-Asian kids were watching and saying to themselves, “I want to be just like that!” When Idol Gives Back, I’d like them to send Hung out to Africa and see if all the kids are willing to hold William Hung dolls, like they did for Carrie Underwood. It’s doubtful.

The movie front is really no better for positive Asian male role models. Even in martial arts films – the hallowed ground of Asians – the Asian male is still boxed in by social mores. Take Jet Li for example. Here he is in three American films, playing a badass, kicking ass, taking names and saving the female lead. In Kiss of the Dragon he saves the beautiful Bridgette Fonda and her daughter from a life of drugs and street-walking, but in the end, they’re just friends. She doesn’t even offer to turn a free trick for him.

In Unleashed, arguably Li’s best dramatic performance, there’s zero sexual tension between him and the spunky Kerry Condon. In fact, Li’s character, Danny, seems deathly afraid of intimate contact with her.

Finally, there’s Romeo Must Die, where Li acted opposite of the late Aaliyah. Here, expectations ran high for an Asian-African romance in the end. The bad guys even taunt Li’s Han Sing about “not getting into her panties.” Furthermore, it seemed likely Sing would get his sexual reward because Aaliyah was a fellow discriminated minority. Alas, all Sing gets at the end is a hug. It made me think of a big sister hugging her younger brother at a funeral.

Now, replace Jet Li with Jason Statham in any of those roles and you tell me if he isn’t taking all three to the boneyard at some point in each of the films.

Basically, Asians in America still aren’t viewed as normal people by the entertainment industry. As such, they don’t know how to define us or represent us, so they attach stereotypes to everything we do. Do you remember that shaving commercial a few years back? It had an Asian guy shaving and I remember thinking, “Hey! That’s pretty normal!” Then suddenly some ninja-dudes bust into the commercial and the Asian guy has to karate-fight them off. I wish I could find the video, because it’s hilarious. Also, I can’t be sure, but I don’t think it has the ubiquitous beautiful White woman stroking his freshly shaven smooth face at the end, but I think we’ve all come to expect that at this point.

So what’s the answer here? I don’t think there’s a realistic or practical one. See, I don’t think the entertainment industry is excluding/replacing/stereotyping Asians out of some racist agenda. Entertainment is a business. I’m sure they’d exploit Asians if they brought in the ratings or the box office sales. As it is, America isn’t interested in the Asian-American experience. The unrealistic solution is for people to make a concerted effort to boycott films and shows that misrepresent Asians and actively and financially support positive Asian productions. I don’t think that’s going to happen since there’s no reason for non-Asians to care and I think most Asians are too wrapped up in assimilating to want to make waves.

I guess scenes like this from the excellent film Full Metal Jacket will have to be our standard-bearers for a while longer:

It’s one of the entertainment industry’s cruel realities that fame and recognition should fall almost entirely on the people who stand in front of the camera. As soon as a movie ends, people get out of their seats and make for the exits as the names writ large of the scores of people who made the movie possible scroll by. Even the Academy Awards relegates the more technical roles to a separate ceremony, which is just barely recapped at the main event. “It’s not that these people are unsung heroes,” one host for the evening said, “it’s that they’re not sung [about] enough.”

The Behind the Camera Awards looks to change that, at least on a small scale. Jointly presented by Hamilton Watches and Hollywood Life, this annual event recognizes the key people in the film industry that don’t get the recognition they deserve. The 2008 Behind the Camera Awards took place on the top level of the Hollywood & Highland Center in the swank night club The Highlands. With the Kodak Theater just around the corner, it doesn’t get more “Hollywood” than this, but the awards ceremony was surprisingly low-key.

Intimacy and brevity set the mood and pace for the evening. To kick off the awards, Matthias Breschan, the president of Hamilton International Ltd., delivered a short introduction and quoted Alfred Hitchcock. “‘The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder,’” hesaid. Then Breschan added, “I think the same goes for speeches.” Afterwards, he relinquished the stage to Ben Lyons, who keptthe ceremony upbeat and light, and even made a few self-effacing jabs about “coming from a dubious cable program” and regrettably “not being Ryan Seacrest.” The audience, numbering upwards 100 people on the generous side and composed mainly of friends and family, definitely had a good time.

The stars came out to honor their friends and colleagues – in that order – and displayed a level of naked tenderness that isn’t always apparent at larger functions. Celebrities included Harrison Ford, Ryan Phillippe,Anne Hathaway, and more. While presenters brought notes which they folded out in front of them, the celebrities often strayed from them to recount a personal anecdote. Lucy Liu lauded Russell Bobbit – Property Master on Iron Man -- for his ability to find the perfect prop, even when it dashed her inventor aspirations. Christopher Nolan shared a pet phrase regarding his long-time cinematographer Wally Pfister, threatening to “send him back to the honey wagon to cry.” Pfister jokingly acquiesced in his acceptance speech.

A few of the attendees became the highlights of the event. The best presenter of the evening was definitely Jonah Hill, who chided Hollywood Life for their supposed decision not to play music while people walked on and off stage. “It’s great that you can hear everyone walk around and breathe.” Then, in a departure from standard presentation speeches, Hill simply recycled a speech he wrote and dedicated to his grandmother for his bar mitzvah, but edited Super Producer Shauna Robertson’s name in place of his grandmother’s. It was the perfect comedic relief for the mid-ceremony slump. The best recipient was unequivocally Stop-Loss True Grit Director Kimberly Peirce, whose politically charged acceptance had the crowd hooting and hollering. “How crazy is it to actually like your president?” she exclaimed. Afterwards, celebrities and media guests adjourned upstairs for an open-air dinner catered by Wolfgang Puck.

In a fair world, the honorees at the Behind the Camera Awards would command the same gravitas their front-of-the-camera counterparts wield. They’d be appreciated by moviegoers and their names would be enough to convince people to watch their films. Until that time, they’ll have to be satisfied with evenings like this and the undeniable heartfelt thanks of their friends and colleagues – in that order.

The Complete List of Honorees

Russell Bobbitt, Property Master, Iron Man

Martin Laing, Production Designer, City of Ember

Jenny Lumet, Screenwriter, Rachel Getting Married

DRAC Studios, Achievement in Special Make Up Effects

Albert Wolsky, Costume Designer, Revolutionary Road

Shauna Robertson, Super Producer, Pineapple Express

Jim Page, Film Editor, Eagle Eye

Kimberly Peirce, True Grit Director, Stop-Loss

Wally Pfister, Cinematographer, The Dark Knight

Doug Coleman, Stunt Choreographer, Get Smart