Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

As both a film critic and devoted movie buff, I get excited about the “super bowl for movie fans,” the presentation of the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, which takes place this Sunday. More often than not I make Veal Oscar and crack open of a bottle of bubbly to enhance my enjoyment of the night. (Check out my predictions here.)

However, the ratings for the telecast have been declining in recent years, as not enough casual movie fans are hanging around to wait for the winners to step to the podium for their golden boys.

The Academy decided this year to try and draw more fans by increasing the best picture nominations from five to ten. The idea was that this would open up the nominations to more mainstream, popular movies. Surveys conducted by the Academy showed that movie fans were tired of seeing movies they didn’t see — and didn’t want to see —winning all the major prizes. Well it worked, as The Blind Side, District 9 and Up joined the expected nominees like The Hurt Locker, Avatar and Inglourious Basterds.

Sandra Bullock

Will The Blind Side win? Not a chance, but Sandra Bullock is the best actress frontrunner for her wonderful performance in the film.

Personally, I think giving out Oscars to movies that were brilliant, even if they weren’t big box office hits, is the way it should be. The ideal behind the Academy Awards is to honor movies that try to do more than earn a boatload of cash. When popular movies are also brilliant examples of artistry, that is the ultimate win win situation for the Academy.

Back in 1998, the success of Titanic, the top grossing movie of all time, gave the Oscar telecast its best ratings in more than 20 years, 57.25 million viewers; by comparison when No Country For Old Men won in 2008, the numbers of viewers was 31.76 million. Both were wonderful, Oscar worthy movies. One was a love story; the other was dark and sad. Dark and sad movies just aren’t going to be major box office hits.
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On Tuesday, Feb.16, the Greater Atlantic City Concierge Association (GACCA) and the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority Foundation (ACCVAF) teamed up to host a charity wine tasting/art show at the Carisbrooke Inn Bed & Breakfast in Ventnor. The inaugural fundraising event was held to help award scholarships to hospitality majors at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey or Atlantic Cape Community College.

The initial goal was to provide enough funding for two scholarships, but due to the overwhelming response to the event four scholarships will now be awarded with the presentation taking place at the Atlantic City Hosts Awards on May 12 at Historic Boardwalk Hall’s Adrian Phillips Ballroom.

Over 80 people attended the fundraiser, enjoying the food, wine and atmosphere as well as a display of six local artists’ works ranging from pottery to serene beach scenes. The participating artists were Chris Ford, Steve Kuzma, William McKensie, Marie Natale, Sue Van Duyne and Michael Waters.

GACCA and ACCVAF would also like to thank the following sponsors for their contributions: Donna Albano, Craig Puchalsky, Donna Vassallo, B.F. Mazzeo Fruit & Produce, Carisbrooke Inn Bed & Breakfast, Ovations Food Service and Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino. — Jon Heacock

John Emge, Executive Director of The United Way of Atlantic County, presented an award to music legend B.B. King following a concert at Caesars on Saturday (Feb. 13). The “Community Appreciation Award” was given to  King on behalf of United Way for the many contributions he has made to the charity’s annual Auction for the Community, including several autographed guitars over the past several years. This year’s auction will take place Friday, March 19 at Bally’s Atlantic City, and all proceeds will benefit United Way of Atlantic County.

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

My mind couldn’t come together for one topic this week, so in the tradition of jazz music, I’m going to do a couple of riffs on the two topics floating around in my brain. Let’s start with the Oscar nominations.
I’m feeling pretty good about the Academy Award nominations and my predictions. I pretty much nailed all the major categories; my only miss in the acting ranks was supporting actor Christopher Plummer (The Last Station); he took the spot I thought might go to Oscar co-host Alec Baldwin (It’s Complicated). And while other prognosticators thought

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Julianne Moore would take the final supporting actress spot for A Single Man, I went against that conventional wisdom and decided the Crazy Heart surge would push Maggie Gyllenhaal into that final spot. I was right.

The ten nominees for best picture suggest that perhaps the decision to expand from the traditional five might actually work and bring more viewers back to the Oscar telecast. This was my weakest category, although I’m sure my top five (The Hurt Locker, Avatar, Up in the Air, Inglourious Basterds, Precious) would have been the only five in a normal year. I loved Sandra Bullock’s performance in The Blind Side and it is a solid film but not truly Oscar worthy as a best picture nominee. District 9 was okay but overrated, and while I thought Carey Mulligan was brilliant in An Education, the film was good but not excellent. I have no problem with Up being nominated; it was one of my favorite films of the year. I have to confess I didn’t see A Serious Man.
My one crushing disappoint was that former Margate resident Scott Neustadter failed to get an original screenplay nod for 500 Days of Summer, despite the fact that he earned a WGA (Writers Guild of America) nomination. I loved the film and his screenplay, co-written by Michael H. Weber.

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Peyton Manning

Is it just me, or is the Super Bowl failing to create much buzz this year, especially in our area? I don’t hear many people talking about it, even though it should be an entertaining showdown between two of the most prolific scoring QBs in the game, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning.

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Martin Scorsese, flanked by Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.

It’s a good thing that the Golden Globes don’t always mirror what will happen at the SAG Awards and more importantly, the Academy Awards.

For Oscar watchers, the GGs last night came up with some choices I don’t expect will be repeated by the Academy Awards. There are under 100 members in the HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association), compared to around 6,000 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In addition, the Oscars don’t have a comedy/musical division for best actor/actress.

Watching the Golden Globes is strictly for stargazing and since the HFPA puts on a lavish show, a ton of stars do show up from both film and television.

Topping my list of unexpected wins was James Cameron’s Avatar picking up Globes for best drama and for Cameron as best director. As much as I admired his film and the brilliance of its updated technology, as well as a good story, I really expected the director’s prize to go to Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker or Jason Reitman for Up in the Air. I also figured that either Hurt Locker or Up in the Air would win the drama prize.

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Chefs Alfie Lockette (left) and John Perrone of Ovations Food Service accept the first place award at the second annual Chef Challenge on Monday.

Four chefs from Ovations Food Service won the second annual Chef Challenge on Monday, Jan. 11, during the Philadelphia Candy Gift & Gourmet Show at the Atlantic City Convention Center.
The challenge involved six teams from the area producing four-course meals, with chocolate being a mandatory ingredient in each course. The Ovations team won by combining chocolate with lobster tail, duck, venison and in a tiramisu for dessert.
Ovations provides food service at the Atlantic City Convention Center and Boardwalk Hall. For their efforts the team won a $1,000 top prize. Other teams participating included Caesars Atlantic City, Sonsie Restaurant, Trump Taj Mahal, Showboat Casino and the Knave of Hearts.
The Ovations team consisted of chefs Jamie Kirk, Gary Brosi, Alfie Lockette and John Perrone, and served a panel of six judges who each represented candy manufacturers exhibiting at the show. Ovations also paired each course with a wine selection.
The Caesars team placed second for a $500 prize, and the chefs from the Taj Mahal placed third to win a portable induction cooktop.

William J. Marino, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey (HFNJ), announced on Tuesday, Dec. 29, that more than $1.9 million in grants was awarded to 96 organizations in 2009, including 38 organizations in the fourth quarter.
Among those receiving fourth-quarter grants from the HFNJ were the South Jersey AIDS Alliance in Atlantic City, which received $15,000 to support its Healthy Relationships Plus Program, and the South Jersey Cultural Alliance in Pleasantville, which received $7,500 to support its Arts for Students Project. The Healthy Relationships Plus Program uses intervention in a small group environment to help build the skills needed to disclose HIV status to family, friends and partners, and also teaches safe sexual behaviors. The Arts for Students Project provides disadvantaged students in Southern New Jersey with quality arts experiences, enabling students in grades K-12 to attend symphony concerts, theatre, dance performances, arts and cultural exhibitions.
“I am proud to announce that since the Foundation’s inception in 2004, it has awarded nearly 500 grants totaling over $18 million to charitable organizations across the state,” says Marino in a release to the media.

The unofficial start of the Oscar Awards season begins in September at the Toronto Film Festival. Now the season has begun in full tilt, buzz-worthy mode with the announcement of award nominations and winners from the Washington, D.C. Film Critics Association. The rest of the major critics associations will soon follow. As expected, two flicks at Toronto are in the mix, Precious and Up In The Air, as well as another film that played there, An Education. DC winner George Clooney should go on to win the best actor Oscar for Up In The Air, although another prime candidate is Morgan Freeman for Invictus.
Here are the DC nominations in the main categories, with the winners in bold. (For the complete list, go here.
I’d also like to congratulate Margate native Scott Neustadter, who earned a nomination from the DC critics for his delightful screenplay for the film 500 Days of Summer.

Best Film
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up
Up in the Air

Best Breakthrough Performance
Anna Kendrick, Up in The Air
Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

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I want to send a shout out and congrats to the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority (ACCVA) whose Web site has been honored with two awards presented by the International Academy of Visual Arts. The Web site was honored with a Silver Award in the 2009 W3 Awards, and with a 2009 Award of Distinction in The Communicator Awards.

Receiving nearly 3,000 entries, The W3 Awards honors outstanding Web sites, Web Marketing, and Web Video created by some of the best interactive agencies, designers, and creators worldwide. The W3 Awards are recognized as the first major Web competition to be accessible to the biggest agencies, the smallest firms, and everyone in between.

Atlantic County Freeholder Alisa Cooper (pictured left with Sebastian Cutaia, vice chairman of the Columbus Day Committee, and Gennaro Consalvo, chairman of the Columbus Day Committee) was the recipient of the 2009 Humanitarian of the Year award given by the Columbus Day Committee of Atlantic County. After a mass at St. Michael’s Church, Miss Cooper received the award at festivities at Columbus Park in Atlantic City. Cooper was selected as this year’s recipient because of her charitable activities as she has generously volunteered her time, energy and talents for many causes and organizations throughout South Jersey.
Owner of the music and entertainment agency Alisa Cooper Orchestras, she is also a music educator in Egg Harbor Township and has been an Atlantic County Freeholder since 2006. Cooper is also a Commissioner on the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and holds membership in numerous civic, professional and religious organizations in Atlantic County and throughout the state. She resides in Linwood with her husband, Doug Little, and their son, David Cooper Little.