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Oscars roundup

The Academy Awards will be presented on ABC on Sunday, March 7 at 5 p.m. The best picture nominees (there are 10 this year) include “Inglourious Basterds,” a historical fantasy about Jewish World War II commandos, and “A Serious Man,” about a troubled Jewish college professor. Also, the Israeli “Ajami” is nominated for best foreign language film. But there are Jewish angles that go well beyond those three movies.

 

Composers

James Horner, 56, is nominated for best original score for “Avatar.” Horner, who won two Oscars (best score and song) for Cameron’s “Titanic,” is the son of the late Harry Horner, an Austrian Jew who went on to become an Oscar-winning art director. James’ mother comes from a prominent Toronto Jewish family.

Randy Newman, 66, and Maury Yeston, 64, the grandson of a cantor, vie for the Oscar for best original song. Two Newman songs from “The Princess and the Frog” are nominated, while Yeston is up for a song he composed for the film version of his musical “Nine.”

 

Actors

Actress Lauren Bacall, 85, was given an honorary lifetime Oscar this year. The presentation was made at a special ceremony last November. Bacall’s friend of 65-plus years, Kirk Douglas, 94, praised Bacall at the ceremony.

Bacall, by the way, is still remarkably active. She is the co-star of “Carmel,” a comedy-drama that was filmed last year in Monterey County. It will open in theaters later this year.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, 32, whose mother is Jewish, is nominated for best supporting actress for role as a journalist who helps a down-and-out country singer (Jeff Bridges) turn his life around in “Crazy Heart.”

An honorable mention goes to Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, who seems a lock for best supporting actor for his performance as an SS officer in “Inglourious Basterds.” Waltz isn’t Jewish. However, his American ex-wife is — and their son is studying in Israel to be a rabbi.

 

Writers

Ethan and Joel Coen are nominated for best original screenplay for “A Serious Man.” Their competition includes Mark Boal, 37, a journalist who penned “The Hurt Locker,” a film about the Iraq war that is a best picture nominee.

Also nominated in this category is Israel-raised Oren Moverman, 44, the director and screenwriter of “The Messenger,” also about the Iraq War. (The Coens and Boal are also nominated in their roles as co-producers of films up for a best picture Oscar).

Jason Reitman, 32, is up for three Oscars for “Up in the Air” — best director, best adapted screenplay and as the co-producer of a film nominated for best picture.

 

Documentary sidelight

On Feb. 12, j. ran a profile of Berkeley filmmaker Rick Goldsmith, who is Oscar-nominated for his documentary “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.” Goldsmith noted that most people are surprised to learn that Ellsberg was raised a Christian Scientist by Jewish parents who had converted to that faith.

Intrigued, I checked a couple of Ellsberg bios and I was surprised to learn that Bernard Barker, who burgled Watergate and Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office, was Jewish. In 1972, he interrupted an Ellsberg speech — screaming at Ellsberg that he was “a disgrace to the Jewish people.” Ironic, nu?