There are quite a number of people mad at the Academy for excluding the late Corey Haim in the In Memoriam segment last Sunday night. Corey Feldman is one of the most vocal. Worst Previews reports:
uring Sunday’s Academy Awards, Haim as once again left out of the tribute. Feldman reached out to TMZ, stating: “Corey’s films have earned the industry over a half a billion dollars, and his work remains an inspiration to young artists worldwide. “
One thing everyone agrees on when it comes to the Oscars. The montage of the talent lost from the last Oscar telecast to the present is always moving- and there’s always a few of them who you don’t know passed away. But there are some actors and other talents that we do know about that get overlooked in the tribute. Not a pic of character actor James Gammon. They even forgot Oscar winner actress-producer Lisa Blount! (Who I met along with her husband Ray McKinnon at the 2001 Austin Film Festival)
As usual, The Academy says that they can’t get to everyone, and that’s true. That said, I remember that one year (81st Oscars) where they kept cutting away during the tribute so you could see the performer. I recall how it irritated me so. I think Celine Dion has a great voice and she had a lovely dress. I’ll give you that. However, I have to ask: for the brief pause during the tribute to get a close up of Celine,*with all due respect and nothing against her or that moving song*—couldn’t any of the same time be used for one more actor, producer, director, someone? Yes, there would have been someone still missed, no doubt. But I think two or three could have been put in.
One thing about the montage to know: talent that passed on in the last few months are most likely to make that cut (such as Pete Postlethwaite.) and cinema legends (Lena Horne; I expect Jane Russell next year) and it is a shame that not everyone is gotten to.
People say the montage goes by too fast; it is tough to know if the Academy forgot or had to put someone out to put someone in. I say we, the movie fans do remember those mentioned and those not. It is better to remember how these talents lived and used their crafts to give us fond memories, then to focus on their passings.
-DjS
