Tonight during the 84th Academy Awards® ceremony Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash have just won Oscars® for Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay featured in the filmThe Descendants.
The Descendants, a film written and directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways), is a story of one family linked to the islands through family ancestry. This modern family is in the midst of a tragedy: their mother and wife is in a coma due to a serious boating accident. Matt King (George Clooney), family patriarch and bewildered parent, is thrust into being a real parent to his two daughters for the first time. With kids in tow, he searches for the man that was having an affair with his wife and prepares his extended family for the sale of their last piece of property that they own in an untouched part of Kaui. Matt's journey brings him closer to his children and helps him decide on the future of their last piece of paradise.
Alexander Payne is an adept screenwriter that has the rare gift of mixing tragedy and comedy. Co-star of The Descendants Judy Greer remarked about Payne in an interview last November “I just love his tone in films. He can have you laughing and crying in one scene. He is a master of manipulation – in the very best way.”
Other Nominees were:
- Hugo – John Logan
- The Ides of March – George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
- Moneyball – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, story by Stan Chervin
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan
This is Jim Rash and Nat Faxon’s first Academy Award® win and nomination. This is Alexander Payne’s second Academy Award® win and sixth nomination. Alexander Payne is also nominated for Best Director and Best Picture as producer for The Descendants. His previous Oscar® was won in:
- 2005 - Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay for his film Sideways
The Academy Awards® hosted by Billy Crystal is telecasted around the world live from the Hollywood and Highland Center from Hollywood, California into over two hundred countries.
Check back here for a recap of the entire Academy Awards® ceremony including the winners and the fashion from the night.
For Up To Date News on the Oscars®, please see Kay's Facebook page: 84th Annual Academy Awards
Whatever your movie choice this week, please remember your movie theater etiquette: silence your cell phones & no texting, please don't talk during the film and remove your children if they become a distraction to other audience members. Don't forget that laughing, crying and cheering are always approved behavior and even encouraged. And please don't come to the movies ill, and please return when you are well!
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-Kay Shackleton is a film historian with special focus on Silent Films, see her work onSilentHollywood.com
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