week 2: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR Blogathon!

We have now entered into the 2nd week of the 31 DAYS OF OSCAR BLOGATHON! Aurora (@citizenscreen) of Once Upon A Screen, Paula (@Paula_Guthat) of Paula's Cinema Club and Kellee (@IrishJayhawk66) of Outspoken & Freckled bring you this mega blogathon celebrating the very best in cinema! To coincide with Turner Classic Movie's (TCM) month-long broadcast of all things Oscar, 31 Days of Oscar...

The blogging trio decided to amp up the fun to this year's event by adding a different theme to each of the five weeks. And for this 2nd week, we celebrate all the various contributors that add flavor to a film... the writing, musical score and songs, costumes, choreography, the cinema photography, art direction... basically, anything goes this week. With so much emphasis generally placed upon the performances and overall direction of a film, we wanted to devote a week to all the talented artists and craftsmen of film that don't always receive such a bright spotlight. And yet, we all know these masterpieces would not be the classics they've become without them. So now we humbly sing their praises!

Here are this week's list of bloggers extraordinaire...

First up, we get all glammed up as Kimberly (@GlamAmor) from GLAMAMOR brings us her latest entry for Style Essentials with "Ava Gardner is Dressed to Kill in Vera West for 1946's THE KILLERS"

Continuing in a fashionable theme, Kay (@KayStarStyle) from MOVIE STAR MAKEOVER reminisces on the best red carpet style successes from the Oscars with "Retro Red Carpet Review" 

CAFTAN WOMAN (@CaftanWoman) revisits the fourteen original songs introduced by Bing Crosby, nominated for Best Song Oscars over the course of his film history in "Sing A Song of Oscar"  

Minoo from CLASSIC MOVIE HUB BLOG (@classicmoviehub) takes a twist on the auteur theory with cinematographer master "Gregg Toland: The Second Genius of CITIZEN KANE"

Margaret (@MargaretPerryKH) of the MARGARET PERRY Blog takes a look at the Oscar nominated writing partnership and long-lasting friendships between the Kanin/Gordon writing team and Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in "Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin write for the silver screen's dream team"

Fritzi (@moviessilently) of MOVIES SILENTLY reflects back on the writing of the uniquely categorized nominations of the very first Oscars in "The Silent Oscars"

Kelly (@popcornnmovies) of ...ON POPCORN AND MOVIES devotes her post to the beautiful 2005 film adaption that practically swept all the "art" categories with six Academy Awards nominations, "MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA... in need of no words..."

THE VINTAGE CAMEO (@vintagecameos) waxes melancholy on the Oscar categories that have gone extinct with "Forgotten Oscars: Best Dance Direction"

IMAGINEMDD (@ImagineMDD) gets musical with her favorite Oscar song winners: "15 Great Early Best Original Song Oscar Winners" 

Jack Deth posting on PAULA'S CINEMA CLUB lends huge kudos to 1976 Best Costume Design Oscar winners Milena Cannonero and Ulla-Britt Sonderlundin in, "Costuming BARRY LYNDON (1975) by Jack Deth"

Constance from SILVER SCENES Blog joins in with a delightful tribute to the entertaining editor with perfect comedic timing best known for his Disney films, "Editor- Cotton Warburton"

Victoria (@miss_vicki) of GIRLS DO FILM offers up a wonderful review of two films of the same story with Oscar winning results like Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design with, "The Spectacle of MOULIN ROUGE"  

Angela (@MaterialGirl850) over at THE HOLLYWOOD REVUE orchestrates a melodic perspective on the magical relationship between film and song with, "The Power Of An Original Song"

Thanks so much to all of our wonderful bloggers for contributing their splendid write-ups! Be sure to read and comment on their blogs. Here's the full schedule of each themed week...

WEEK 1 - the weekend of Feb 1-2 - the topic: (read all the posts here->) SNUBS! 
WEEK 2 – this weekend of February 8-9 – the topics are:  Music, Costumes, Cinematography, Writing, etc.  You name it, it’s in!
WEEK 3 – the weekend of February 15-16 – Actors!  Lead and supporting take center stage!
WEEK 4 – the weekend of February 22-23 – The Directors!  
WEEK 5 – the weekend of February 28-March 1 – THE MOVIES!  

That's right- with three more weeks to go, there's still more time to join in the blogging fun! Since we're taking turns hosting, you can submit topics either by leaving comments on any of our blogs, via twitter or by email.  We kindly ask that you please include the following:

• Title and link to your blog
• contact information
• Topic

It would also be great if you can include any of the event banners included in this post on your blog to help us promote the event.
SO – write to your heart’s desire!  Write one post or several on each topic.  But write!  And join us.

Happy Blogging, Oscar fans!

week 1: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR Blogathon 2014

The 2nd annual 31 DAYS OF OSCAR Blogathon has begun! To coincide with Turner Classic Movie's (TCM) month-long broadcast of all things Oscar, 31 Days of Oscar...


Aurora (@citizenscreen) of Once Upon A Screen, Paula (@Paula_Guthat) of Paula's Cinema Club and Kellee (@IrishJayhawk66) of Outspoken & Freckled bring you this mega blogathon celebrating the very best in cinema! The blogging trio decided to amp up the fun to this year's event by adding a different theme to each of the five weeks. For our first week, we're kicking it off by honoring the talented contributors of film who, despite arguable evidence to the contrary, were passed over for the coveted Academy Award.

So, here is a list of our talented participating bloggers asserting their best arguments in support of those unrecognized, we now bring you... "SNUBS."

First up, the VINTAGE CAMEO (@vintagecameos) blog discusses the snubbing of 'frequently nominated but consistently overlooked for the win' director "Oscar Snubs-Alfred Hitchcock": As she aptly states, "Academy’s notorious, career-spanning snub of Alfred Hitchcock—one of film history’s most enduringly entertaining AND well-respected filmmakers—is especially perplexing."

Next, our 31 Days of Oscar Blogathon co-host Aurora (@citizenscreen) of ONCE UPON A SCREEN brings to light, "The Snubbing of Barton Keyes." In review of the overlooked performance of Edward G. Robinson's iconic role in Double Indemnity (1944), Aurora writes: "Robinson’s depiction of the ruthless, irritable, funny, big-hearted, insurance adjuster with the “little man” who lives in his gut that serves as a warning when some claim seems “off,” is unforgettable."

Ruth of SILVER SCREENINGS (@925Screenings) offers up "Oscar Snub: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral." In defense of the screenplay that never received the Oscar nom, she adds, "The script has all the hallmarks of a great western: memorable lines, interesting characters, and authentic-looking sets."

The Gal Herself of ONE GAL'S MUSINGS discusses the Oscar snubs of Richard Burton in "Richard Burton's Bad Luck with Drunk Cowboys."  As she describes his predicament- he was "tormented by the choices he'd made... Burton believed that an Oscar would be tangible evidence that it all had been worth it."

A PERSON IN THE DARK gives us the "2 Oscar Snubs That Really Irk Me." FlickChick has "a list of gripes and grievances a mile long" but she's chosen to "just share 2 of the snubbed ones that really, really irk me" with the performances of Jean Hagan as Lina Lamont in "Singin' In The Rain" (1952) and Robert Preston as Toddy in "Victor/Victoria" (1982)

ImagineMDD (@ImagineMDD) evaluates the obvious oversight of "Bringing Up Cary Grant and Oscars" with a detailed breakdown of his remarkable yet snubbed performances. With 72 films- many as popular then as they remain now- it's hard to believe he only received 2 noms for Best Actor?!

Next up, Kelly (@popcornnmovies) over at ON POPCORN AND MOVIES provides a delicious serving of the many snub highlights over the years of Oscar history in "What Do You Want... Awards or Iconic?"  

One of the lovely Metzinger sisters, Connie, at SILVER SCENES Blog builds a compelling case for the snubbed yet grand sets in the film "Suez" (1938), "Set Design - Suez" (1938)  As Connie points out, "it remains an entertaining and thrilling spectacle."

Next, Marlee of PICTURE SPOILERS reveals a biopic view of Marion Benson Owens aka Frances Marion for her unsung works in The Second Annual Muse Awards: 31 Days of Oscar Blogathon 

Minoo on the CLASSIC MOVIE HUB BLOG justifiably argues for Oscar Snub- Myrna Loy. As Minoo scribes regarding one of Loy's most memorable roles... "The fact that Loy wasn’t even nominated for this touching, poignant and truthful performance is certainly one of the Oscars’ biggest snubs."

Finally, fellow 31 DAYS OF OSCAR co-host Paula of PAULA'S CINEMA CLUB passionately protests the Oscar Snub: Barbara Stanwyck in STELLA DALLAS. As Paula astutely observes, "I also think the realism of Stanwyck’s performance may have been another contributing factor. She is always so natural, and almost never seems to be acting."
  
Thank you for taking the time to read these fabulous SNUB posts from these participating bloggers. And be sure to let them know your '2 cents' by leaving a commentary on their blogs. There's still plenty of time to join the other weeks of 31 DAYS OF OSCAR...

WEEK 2 – the weekend of February 8-9 – the topics are:  Music, Costumes, Cinematography, Writing, etc.  You name it, it’s in!
WEEK 3 – the weekend of February 15-16 – Actors!  Lead and supporting take center stage!
WEEK 4 – the weekend of February 22-23 – The Directors!  
WEEK 5 – the weekend of February 28-March 1 – THE MOVIES!  

Since we are taking turns hosting, you can submit topics either by leaving comments on any of our blogs, via twitter or by email.  We kindly ask that you please include the following:

• Title and link to your blog
• contact information
• Topic

It would also be great if you can include any of the event banners included in this post on your blog to help us promote the event.
SO – write to your heart’s desire!  Write one post or several on each topic.  But write!  And join us.

Happy Blogging, Oscar fans!