The Full Belmonte, 3/28/2022
“LOS ANGELES — In an Academy Awards ceremony where an onstage altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock overshadowed the honors, ‘CODA’ from Apple TV+ won the Oscar for best picture, becoming the first film from a streaming service to be welcomed into that rarefied Hollywood club.
The 94th Academy Awards on Sunday had a freewheeling, irreverent tone from their start, with ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences laboring to prove that the Oscars could be lively and culturally relevant. By the ceremony’s end, it was certainly a night for the Hollywood ages.
An emotional Will Smith won the best actor Oscar for his performance in ‘King Richard’ as the fiery, flawed coach and father of the tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams. Moments earlier, the ceremony had been derailed when Smith strode onstage from his seat and — in what at first seemed like it could be a preplanned bit — slapped Chris Rock, who had just cracked a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
‘Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait. ‘Rock said, a reference to her shaved head. She revealed her alopecia diagnosis in 2018. Demi Moore famously shaved her head to star in the 1997 film ‘G.I. Jane.’
After the altercation, Smith returned to his seat and angrily shouted twice at Rock to ‘keep my wife’s name out of your’ mouth, using an expletive that was bleeped by ABC. Rock tried to regain his composure, and a stunned audience, both in the theater and at home, tried to figure out what had happened. Rock recovered enough to present the best documentary award to ‘Summer of Soul.’ But even an emotional acceptance speech by the film’s director, Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson, could not hide the fact that many in attendance were rattled.
‘Right now, we’re moving on with love,’ Sean Combs said, arriving onstage soon afterward to introduce a celebratory montage from ‘The Godfather.’
It was Smith’s first Oscar. He was previously nominated for best actor in 2007 for ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ and in 2002 for ‘Ali.’
‘Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,’ Smith said in accepting the award, a clear reference to what had just taken place. ‘Art imitates life.’
With tears running down his face, he also apologized to the academy and his fellow nominees. But not to Rock. “I hope the academy invites me back,” Smith said.
'To do what we do, you have to be able to take abuse, people talk crazy about you,” Smith said. ‘In this business, you’ve got people disrespecting you. Have to smile and pretend it’s OK.’
‘CODA,’ a dramedy about the only hearing child of a deaf family, beat a rival streaming-service film, ‘The Power of the Dog’ from Netflix, for the top prize. For an industry in turmoil, with tech giants like Apple and Amazon upending entertainment-industry business practices and threatening Hollywood power hierarchies, the win by Apple TV+ was a seismic moment. Television and film have been merging for years, but lines of demarcation remain, with the Oscars as one.
Patrick Wachsberger, a ‘CODA’ producer, thanked Apple from the stage for backing the low-budget film, noting that the company was ‘able to basically put this everywhere in the world.’
The best actress Oscar was awarded to Jessica Chastain for ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye.’ It was her first Oscar, having previously been nominated in 2013 for ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ and in 2012 for ‘The Help.’ During her speech, Chastain spoke about suicide, ‘bigoted legislation’ being enacted across the country and hate crimes around the world. ‘In these moments, I think about Tammy Faye and her radical acts of love,’ Chastain said. ‘I see it as a guiding principle that leads us forward. Anyone who feels hopeless and alone, know that you are unconditionally loved for the uniqueness that is you.’
It was a humiliating night for Netflix, which has poured wheelbarrows of cash into Oscar campaigns over the last few years. Netflix had a leading 27 nominations going into the ceremony. It left with one win, for Jane Campion’s direction of ‘The Power of the Dog.’ Campion became only the third woman to win in the directing category. (Kathryn Bigelow won in 2010 for “The Hurt Locker,” and Chloé Zhao, was named best director for “Nomadland” last year.) Campion was the first woman to be nominated in the category more than once, having been given a nod in 1994 for ‘The Piano.’
‘It’s a lifetime honor,’ Campion said, after beginning her speech in Maori, the language of the Indigenous people of New Zealand, where she is from.
Although streaming services like Apple TV+ and Netflix drew the most nominations, old-fashioned theatrical movies dominated much of the ceremony. The big-budget, science-fiction blockbuster ‘Dune’ won six Oscars, including one for Greig Fraser’s cinematography. ‘Encanto,’ released exclusively in theaters before moving to Disney+, was named best animated film. ‘Dune,’ a remake from Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment, pushed aside the Netflix western ‘The Power of the Dog,’ which had been favored to win the cinematography prize. And Ariana DeBose took home the best supporting Oscar for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story.’…
In an important step for representation in Hollywood, Troy Kotsurbecame the first deaf man in academy history to win an Oscar for acting. Voters honored his heart-tugging supporting performance in ‘CODA’ as a fisherman struggling to relate to his hearing daughter. Until Sunday night, Kotsur’s ‘CODA’ co-star Marlee Matlin was the only deaf person to win an acting Oscar. She received her gold-plated best actress statuette in 1987 for ‘Children of a Lesser God.’…
As expected, the Oscar for best song went to Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell for ‘No Time To Die,’ while ‘Drive My Car’ received the prize for international feature. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, who directed ‘Drive My Car,’ was unceremoniously cut off by the ‘play off’ music while giving his speech. Kenneth Branagh won his first Oscar for his ‘Belfast’ original screenplay, which revisits a moment from his childhood in Northern Ireland; Sian Heder won for her adapted ‘CODA’ screenplay.” Read more at New York Times
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a meeting of the European Council this month. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/AFP/Getty Images)
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a rare interview to four Russian journalists on Sunday. A short time later, the Kremlin ordered them not to publish it — the latest example of the steps being taken to censor any news that might cut through the pro-government narrativeabout the war on Russian state television.
In the 90-minute interview, Zelensky called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet him in a neutral country for eventual negotiations to end the war. He denounced the destruction of his country and called on Russians to ‘support the truth.’ Zelensky also said he is open to Ukraine effectively renouncing its ambitions to join NATO in a potential peace deal with Moscow, as the bloody invasion enters its second month.” Read more at Washington Post
“Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams plan to meet in Turkey this week with large differences remaining on terms for a potential cease-fire deal after more than a month of fighting.
Ukraine halted all humanitarian corridors Monday citing information pointing to planned Russian ‘provocations.’ Heavy explosions were heard in several Ukrainian cities overnight, including Lutsk in the west, where Russian rockets hit an oil facility, according to regional governor Yuriy Pohulyayko.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Joe Biden’s remarks calling for the removal of Vladimir Putin were ‘alarming.’ The White House insisted the U.S. isn’t seeking regime change after Biden said the Russian president ‘cannot remain in power.’” Read more at Bloomberg
“Ukraine is entering a new round of peace talks with Russia this week, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he will accept a neutral, non-nuclear status for his country in order to reach an agreement. However, he said any decision would be put to a vote among the Ukrainian people, and the country’s sovereignty is not in question. Russian missile strikes continued to pummel Ukraine over the weekend, including more around the city of Mariupol, which Russia wants to capture because of its strategic port. Ukraine’s military intelligence head says Russia’s assault on the capital city of Kyiv has failed, and instead of capturing the government, Russian President Vladimir Putin could now be aiming to cleave Ukraine in two – like North and South Korea.” Read more at CNN
“The FDA is expected to greenlight additional Covid-19 booster shots for adults over the age of 50 as early as next week. Once that happens, the CDC will likely make a “permissive recommendation,” which means the additional shots won’t be officially recommended, but will be available to those who want them. Booster shots have already been recommended for adults who are severely immune deficient, and some health experts have pointed out many other adults are already getting a fourth shot even though they haven’t been officially designated for that use.” Read more at CNN
“President Biden today will propose more than $32 billion in new spending to fight crime, putting a price tag on his State of the Union call to fund — not defund — the police, Axios' Hans Nichols reports.
Why it matters: Biden wants to show America he's addressing rising crime, which threatens Democrats' fortunes in the midterm elections.
The budget proposal, out at 11 a.m. ET, will include $20.6 billion for the next fiscal year for Justice Department discretionary spending on federal law enforcement, crime prevention and intervention. That's $2 billion more than the $18.6 billion enacted for the current fiscal year.
The expanded discretionary spending would increase resources for federal prosecutors and give additional resources to state and local law enforcement to put more police on the beat.
It would more than double the funding for community policing through the COPS Hiring Program. It also would add $500 million for so-called community violence interventions — a tenfold increase.
It would pay for 140 ATF agents and investigators working on gun-trafficking strike forces, and 160 ATF investigators working on gun-dealer compliance.
It would significantly increase funds for law enforcement agencies to trace firearms found at crime scenes.
Between the lines: The president has been looking for ways to distance himself from progressives over how to combat crime, and to convince swing voters he understands their concerns about feeling unsafe.
The budget includes a ‘billionaire's tax’ to pay for $1 trillion in deficit reduction over a decade.
A new minimum tax on the wealthiest Americans would require households worth over $100 million to pay at least 20% of their income in taxes, the White House said.” Read more at Axios
“WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol released a report on Sunday laying out reasons to charge two allies of former President Donald J. Trump with criminal contempt of Congress for their participation in efforts to overturn the 2020 election and their subsequent refusal to comply with the panel’s subpoenas.
In a 34-page report, the panel argued that the allies — Peter Navarro, a former White House adviser, and Dan Scavino Jr., a former deputy chief of staff — were closely involved in efforts to keep Mr. Trump in power even after he lost decisively at the polls.
The committee is set to hold a public vote on whether to recommend the charges on Monday. A contempt of Congress charge carries a penalty of up to a year in jail. A recommendation from the panel would send the matter to the full House, which would then have to vote to refer the charge to the Justice Department.
Mr. Navarro and Mr. Scavino are among a handful of Mr. Trump’s closest allies who have refused to sit for interviews or turn over documents even as more than 750 witnesses — including other top White House officials — have complied with the committee’s requests.” Read more at New York Times
“New York City is undergoing a two-week plan to clear out homeless encampments around the city and connect unhoused people to social services. City officials say this phase focuses on about 150 specific encampments, and areas will be reinspected and recanvassed in following phases. People involved in the multi-agency effort visited encampments last Friday, giving people there a 24-hour notice to clear out the sites. About 650 such encounters are now being made every night, officials said. In the first week of the plan, 22 people expressed willingness to enter a shelter. Homeless advocates have denounced the plan, saying it fundamentally misunderstands the situations faced by unsheltered New Yorkers. One advocate said the process is ‘tired and cruel,’ and chases people out of the city rather than providing them a place to live safely. New York Mayor Eric Adams maintains makeshift housing is dangerous, and shelters are far safer.” Read more at CNN
“A fire near Boulder, Colo., that had burned nearly 190 acres as of Sunday morning prompted the authorities to evacuate 19,000 people over the weekend, officials said. About 1,600 people and nearly 700 homes remained in an evacuation zone on Sunday.
The wind-fueled wildfire, which was named the NCAR fire because it started near the National Center for Atmospheric Research, was 21 percent contained, the authorities said at a news conference on Sunday. No damage or injuries were reported.
More than 200 firefighters were in the air and on the ground trying to keep the fire away from neighborhoods.” Read more at New York Times
“Search crews have found the second of two flight recorders from a passenger plane that abruptly plunged to earth in southern China, killing 132 people, officials said on Sunday, nearly a week after the disaster.
Flight recorders, which collect crucial information, including the pilots’ communications and data on the plane’s engines and performance, could help explain why China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 lost more than 20,000 feet in altitude in just over a minute before crashing into a hillside in the region of Guangxi. Chinese authorities confirmed on Saturday what had been all but certain: that none of the people aboard the Boeing 737 had survived.
Searchers have been digging into the muddy earth to look for evidence, and a team dug the second recorder from the hillside, after spotting a telltale flash of orange from its case, Zheng Xi, a firefighting official helping to oversee the search, told a news conference.” Read more at New York Times
“Four people were fatally injured early on Sunday morning when a driver crashed a car into an encampment of homeless people in Salem, Ore., the authorities said.
Two people who were at the encampment died at the scene, and two others died at a hospital, according to a Salem Police Department statement.
Two other people from the encampment were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, the police said.
The driver, Enrique Rodriguez Jr., 24s of reckless endangerment, the police said.” Read more at New York Times
“BEIJING (AP) — China began its most extensive lockdown in two years Monday to conduct mass testing and control a growing outbreak in Shanghai as questions are raised about the economic toll of the nation’s ‘zero-COVID’ strategy.
China’s financial capital and largest city with 26 million people, Shanghai had managed its smaller, past outbreaks with limited lockdowns of housing compounds and workplaces where the virus was spreading.
But the citywide lockdown that will be conducted in two phases will be China’s most extensive since the central city of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected in late 2019, first confined its 11 million people to their homes for 76 days in early 2020. Millions more have been kept in lockdown since then.
Shanghai’s Pudong financial district and nearby areas will be locked down from Monday to Friday as mass testing gets underway, the local government said. In the second phase of the lockdown, the vast downtown area west of the Huangpu River that divides the city will start its own five-day lockdown Friday.” Read more at AP News
“Israel hosted a summit with four Arab countries and the U.S., a sign of a realignment among Middle Eastern powers driven by fears of a nuclear Iran.” Read more at New York Times
“Gangs in El Salvador killed at least 62 people, gunning down anyone on the street.” Read more at New York Times
Axios Visuals
“The 2022 men's Final Four is full of ‘Blue Bloods,’ all of whom suit up in blue, Axios Sports editor Kendall Baker writes.
Why it matters: An upset-filled tournament will conclude with a battle of juggernauts.
Three of the four all-time winningest programs will face off in New Orleans next weekend (sans Kentucky) — along with Villanova, which has won two of the past five titles.
Duke: 2,214 all-time wins (4th) ... 17 Final Fours (t-3rd) ... 5 championships.
UNC: 2,294 wins (3rd) ... 21 Final Fours (1st) ... 6 championships.
Kansas: 2,328 wins (1st) ... 16 Final Fours (5th) ... 3 championships.
Villanova: 1,817 wins (19th) ... 7 Final Fours (t-10th) ... 3 championships.
Photo: Abbie Parr/Getty Images
Above: Stanford Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer cuts down the net after defeating Texas, 59-50, to advance to the Final Four.
Half the women's Final Four is set. Stanford and South Carolina dance to Minneapolis, along with winners of tonight's ESPN doubleheader:
Louisville vs. Michigan.” Read more at Axios
“CHICAGO — The No. 1-seeded Kansas Jayhawks overcame inconsistent shooting and a halftime deficit against Miami on Sunday to seize a 76-50 victory, winning the Midwest region and advancing to the Final Four.
For a time, an upset had seemed within reach for 10th-seeded Miami, which had already ventured deeper into the bracket than any prior Hurricanes team. Facing a talented but slump-prone Kansas lineup, it held Ochai Agbaji,a national player of the year finalist, to 6 first-half points. The Jayhawks missed every 3-point shot they attempted before halftime and converted only one-third of their first-half free throws.
But immediately after the intermission, Kansas regained its footing.
Agbaji, who finished the game as the Jayhawks’ leading scorer with 18 points, nabbed a steal from a Miami attacker, then launched a long pass to Christian Braun, who slammed the ball through the hoop to tie the game at 40 and enliven the pro-Jayhawk crowd at Chicago’s United Center. On the next Kansas possession, Braun, a junior guard, hit a 3-pointer, his team’s first of the night, giving the Jayhawks a lead they never relinquished.” Read more at New York Times
“Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski refused to let his players ponder the possibility of facing North Carolina for the first time in the NCAA Tournament after the Blue Devils had punched their Final Four ticket with a win over Arkansas.
They have no choice but to think about it now.
The Tar Heels took care of the last of the underdogs Sunday by rolling past 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s, setting up a Final Four for the ages in New Orleans: Duke-Carolina for the first time in the tourney, and in retiring Coach K’s final appearance on college basketball’s biggest stage. The winner gets Kansas or Villanova for the national championship.” Read more at AP News
“SPOKANE, Wash. — The reigning champions are back in the Final Four. No. 1-seeded Stanford beat No. 2 Texas, 59-50, on Sunday to reach its 15th N.C.A.A. tournament national semifinals.
The Cardinal were cheered on by a Spokane Arena crowd decidedly in their court thanks to fans of the Hull twins, Lexie and Lacie, who grew up in Spokane. Lexie Hull was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points on 7 of 14 shooting.
The game was chippy, physical and fast from the tip-off, with each side blocking shots and making tough looks. It was exactly the pace and style the Longhorns sought, though Stanford still found ways to score. Lexie Hull particularly seemed to feed off the crowd’s enthusiasm for her and her sister, scoring 5 points in the game’s first six minutes and finishing the first half with 12.” Read more at New York Times
Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz pictured in 2015. Photograph: David Sillitoe/the Guardian
“Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, the husband and wife musicians who were core members of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, have survived a serious car crash after a collision with a drunk driver.
According to a post from Frantz on Facebook, accompanying an image of their wrecked Ford SUV, the incident happened two weeks ago on US Route 1. He wrote:
We were struck head on by a drunk driver who was driving on the wrong side of the road. Incredibly, we walked away from the collision. Tina had a Cat scan and suffered three fractured ribs and a fractured sternum. She’s been in a lot of pain but she will get better with time. I give thanks to our guardian angels and to the Ford Motor Company for building a car that protected us from getting killed.
A representative for Weymouth told Pitchfork that she was ‘a bit banged up in the accident but is resting and doing well. With the type of injury she had, rest is a key part of the recovery process. Chris is taking good care of her.’
On drums and bass respectively, Frantz and Weymouth were the rhythm section of Talking Heads, who blended a range of styles including punk, funk and rock before crossing over into the US pop mainstream with hits including Burning Down the House and Road to Nowhere. The pair, who married in 1977, also formed Tom Tom Club in 1981, a funk and new wave group known for songs such as Wordy Rappinghood and the much-sampled Genius of Love.
Frantz wrote about their long marriage and musical life in the 2020 memoir Remain in Love.” Read more at The Guardian
“A 68-year-old woman died after she was pulled from the Colorado River during a boating trip in the Grand Canyon on Thursday, according to National Park Service officials.
Grand Canyon National Park officials were alerted by a personal locator beacon of an emergency situation shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday near Hance Rapid in the eastern part of the Grand Canyon National Park, according to a National Park Service news release.
Mary Kelley, of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was on a multi-day private boating trip when she ‘entered the river at the top of Hance Rapid.’ Members of her group pulled her from the water and found her unresponsive, according to the park service.
Group members began CPR on Kelley until park rangers arrived with a helicopter and other emergency equipment. The rangers were unable to resuscitate Kelley.” Read more at USA Today
“Lives Lived: Martin Pope’s research laid the foundation for organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs, now used in mobile phones, solar panels and televisions. He died at 103.” Read more at New York Times