“Hooray for Hollywood,” is this weekend’s mantra at Site
for Sore Eyes Berkeley. We are gearing up for the annual Academy
Awards (or Oscars).
As has been the case for the last few years, there are nine
nominations for Best Picture. Those of us at the Berkeley store who are avid
movie goers have compared notes, and have noticed an interesting coincidence
among the nominees. Can you guess what that is? That’s right…eyewear, which is
everywhere in today’s nominated pictures.
Many people go to the movies and notice the acting; some
notice the cinematography. Others may take note of costume design. While we
appreciate all of the creative aspects that go into movie-making, we were
amazed at the fact that so many characters in these nominated films wore
eyewear of some kind or another. (What can we say other than it’s an
occupational preoccupation.)
Since many films were period pieces, let us start with “12
Years a Slave.” This film is based on the harrowing true-life story of Solomon
Northup, a nineteenth century African American who is kidnapped from his New
York home and sold into slavery in New Orleans. Featured in this film is Paul Giamatti, as a villainous slave trader
who wears a pair of very old-fashioned spectacles.
Fast forward to the twentieth century with “American
Hustle,” a caper flick that is loosely based on an FBI sting operation in the
late 1970s, featuring the motley trio of Christian Bale as a con
artist (sporting a pair of tinted aviator eyeglasses), Amy Adams as his partner
in crime (looking cool in round tinted shades), and Bradley Cooper as a hip FBI
agent (in aviator shades).
“The Dallas Buyers
Club” (set in 1985) tells the story of Ron Woodruff, an AIDs
victim-opportunist-activist (Matthew McConaughey), and his unorthodox and
questionable methods to obtain medication for this disease. He forms a
profitable but awkward business partnership with a transgendered lady named
Rayon (Jared Leto). Sunglasses seem to be the one and only
accessory that these two have in common.
Now, we go onto the 1990s, with Martin Scorcese’s “The Wolf
of Wall Street.” This biopic chronicles the rise and fall of superstar
stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonard DiCaprio, reveling in Ray-Bans) and
his partner in finance (and fraud), Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill, looking smart in round tortoise
shell eyeglasses).
Going from the color, glitz and excess of “American Hustle,”
and “The Wolf of Wall Street” we journey to the heartland of “Nebraska.” This
black-and-white film focuses on Woody Grant (Bruce Dern in rimless spectacles) and his
quest to claim what he believes is a Mega Sweepstakes Prize. Trying to look out
for Woody is his long suffering wife, Kate (June Squibb in rectangular-framed
eyeglasses).
Another story of an independently-minded senior who is on a
mission brings us to England, where we meet “Philomena” (played by Dame Judi
Dench in sturdy, sensible eyeglass frames) who is
tirelessly searching for her long lost son. A down-on-his luck journalist
(Steve Coogan), who is helping her in this quest, learns of how interesting a
human interest story can be.
For something completely different, meet Theodore (Joaquin
Phoenix) a writer who gets by wearing non-descript horn-rimmed frames in “Her.” These frames
portray that Theodore is smart – and smart meets system (as in operating system
by the name of Samantha). Human being and cyber soul develop a bond…
Drama on the high seas navigated to the screen this year
with Tom Hanks (in wire-frame specs) in his portrayal of real
life naval hero “Captain Phillips.” Taking place aboard an unarmed container
ship, Captain Richard Phillips runs the gamut in everything protecting his
crew, battling pirates, and even being held hostage in ransom negotiations.
From the vastness of the ocean, we conclude with a journey
to the vastness of outer space, where fellow astronauts Sandra Bullock and George Clooney (sporting
helmets that were no doubt equipped with very sophisticated Google Glass-types
of visual devices) traded snappy chatter while watching each other’s backs in
the suspense adventure, “Gravity.”
So…what are your
picks for this year’s Best Picture winners? Thanks for reading. Keep
your sites on healthy vision, and enjoy the Oscars telecast!
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