Kennedy Center Honors 2015

The annual Kennedy Center awards are given to people in the performing arts who have made an impact on American culture. Usually there are 5 recipients per year, but this year, there are 6  (Sources: Rolling Stone.com, Washington Post), a welcome change, I think; I'm sure there is a large backlog of worthy recipients - why not open it to 10?

This year's  honorees include:

George Lucas, creator of Star Wars and Indiana Jones. A filmmaker receiving a Kennedy Center distinction is rare; in the past 40 years, only a handful have been selected: Steven Spielberg, Billy Wilder, and Martin Scorsese are among the few.

Rita Moreno, a consummate performer who has excelled on the stage and screen for over 60 years. (Oscar-winner for West Side Story).

Cicely Tyson, another consummate actor of stage and screen for over 60 years, with a legacy of legendary film (Sounder) and television performances  (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Roots, King, A Woman Called Moses)

Also honored: from the field of popular music: The Eagles and Carol King, and the field of classic music: conductor Seiji Ozawa.

The Kennedy Center televisions specials are always some of the most entertaining and classy shows on television. Not only do you get to learn about the career of a lesser-known performer from those influenced by them, but you also get to enjoy a variety of performances in one program: where else can you see a ballet performance, a classical piece, a Broadway performance, a soliloquy or monologue from a play, and a rock performance in on program?

Magic in the Moonlight (2015), The Help (2011) and Birdman (2014)

The first movie I ever saw with Emma Stone was in an OK 2009 Matthew McCaunaughy comedy called Ghosts of Girlfriends past where she plays a "ghost" version of Matthew's first girlfriend - a nerdy 90s teen.  Her character was funny and one of the best things about the movie. Easy A (2010) was her next film which I enjoyed too, and found some of the gags to be hilarious.

She co-stars in Woody Allen's last film Magic in the Moonlight, which came out last year (2014). I enjoyed this movie, especially  all the period sets and costumes. Stone really impressed me in this movie as the clairvoyant who may or may not be a fraud; I thought she was very appealing and likable. I liked Colin Firth in it too, and though he and Stone were sort of cute together, even though he is about 25 years older. Still, it reminded me of the Cary Grant movies of the 1960s.

Then I watched The Help (2011) for the first time early this year, and also enjoyed that film. Stone is the glue that holds the film together - she is as a young writer documenting the life of maids in the American South of 1963. Octavia Spencer is great and so is Bryce Dallas Howard, even though her character is so racist. But the glue holding all of the stories together is Emma Stone, and she has some heartbreaking emotional moments when she learns more about the maid who raised her (Cicely Tyson).

The next movie I watched with Emma was Birdman, which won a bunch of awards earlier this year. Her big scene in the movie comes when she has a verbal fight with her dad (Michael Keaton),

but later is shown bringing him flowers when he's in the hospital, and then looking out the window to what--I have no idea. I suppose people will be talking about that for ever.

The latest movie to feature Emma is Aloha (2015), which was released a few weeks ago but I have still not seen it; she has a supporting role in it.

Her next film is Irrational Man (Woody Allen's new film), and she co-stars with Joaquin Phoenix (I don't care for him too much).