Wyman: And the nominees are ...

The nominations for the 86th annual Academy Awards to be presented on March 2 have been announced.

Let the controversies begin their swirling.

Honestly, people. I am shocked that anyone feigns to be shocked themselves at anything the Academy does. If the history of the Oscars has taught us anything, it is that there will be that some films and actors will be wrongly snubbed, and there will be films and actors included in the nominations that will lead you to ask yourself if the voters watched the same movie you did.

With regard to the Best Picture category, there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth about this year's nominees. As you may know, several years ago, the Academy agreed to nominate 10 films instead of the traditional five as Best Picture. So this year, of course, they nominated nine (The reasoning behind this expansion, no doubt, was so that more films could put "Nominated for Best Picture" on the front of their DVD), which of course led the non-selected moviemakers to claim they had been cheated. Why was there not a 10th?!

Of the nine incredibly mediocre nominees, there are no exceptional surprises, in my opinion, of a film that should not be here. Only one, Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street," opened to mixed reviews. Perhaps Hollywood's fawning all over Scorsese has hit new heights, or there is still guilt for ignoring his truly great films like "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas" but "The Wolf of Wall Street" is not even close to Scorsese's best work. However, as a side note, he would be best served if he would move on from his Leonardo DiCaprio-obsession and find a different lead actor once in a while.

While I could provide a list of considerable length that are better than the majority of nominees, "August: Osage County" and "Mud" stick out this year. "A:OC" was adapted from a stage play by Tracy Letts that garnered him the Pulitzer Prize, and the film had a cast that was a marvel to watch. In fact, were "August: Osage County" on this year's list of nominees, I would make it my favorite for the year (not to win; just my favorite).

"Mud" is a wonderfully brilliant film starring Matthew McConaughey as a fugitive on the run, and he gave just as brilliant of a performance as he did in "Dallas Buyers Club." If you have not seen it, do so.

The list of films not quite as good as "August" or "Mud" yet better than most of the nominees are substantial. The film "The Way, Way Back," starring Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, and Liam James, and the Coen Brothers movie, "Inside Llewyn Davis", which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, stand out because of their critical success. However, "Saving Mr. Banks" should be here, as well as Emma Thompson who was snubbed for her role in this film. Her co-star in the film, Tom Hanks, did not merit a nomination for his performance as Walt Disney, but he should have been nominated for Best Actor for his role in "Capt. Phillips."

"All is Lost" and "Blue Jasmine" deserve honorable mention as films that are just as good as the nominees.

The only film I am glad that did not make it, yet had Oscar-buzz, was "Lee Daniel's The Butler." There is no depth to the level of hatred I have for this movie that continues to grow as time moves past.

Obviously with such a blasé class , there is no clear front-runner for the Best Picture category. Much will depend on the marketing arms of each film between now and March 2, I am sure. To be honest, I am almost more excited to see how Ellen DeGeneres, who I think is the funniest person on the face of the earth, does as this year's host.

Mediocre movies such as "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Nebraska" should hold hope and gratitude that their movies were nominated with such a mediocre class. And if you can figure out the reasoning on how the Academy is going to vote, let alone who and what will win, well then, you deserve an Oscar too.

Peoria Symphony to celebrate movies in concert

With the Oscar nominations out and American filmdom gearing up for its biggest party of the year, the Peoria Symphony Orchestra will celebrate movies at its next concert, Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Peoria Civic Center.

"Matinee at the Movies" will feature some of the best known songs from a variety of films, including "Titanic," "Gone With the Wind," "The Sound of Music," "Casablanca," "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Harry Potter."

Super hero fans will enjoy music from "Superman," Spiderman," and "Batman" while those into sci-fi movies will get a dose of "Star Trek," "Star Wars" and others.

The concert will be emceed by local radio celebrities Greg Batton and Dan Diorio from WMBD Radio. A pre-concert reception begins at 2 p.m. and will featured Batman, Spiderman and other costumed characters. Those attending are invited to wear their own costumes and participate in a costume contest that is part of the festivities.

In celebration of the family-oriented concert, the Symphony is offering a special Family Four-Pack, which includes two adult tickets and two children's tickets for $50. These must be reserved by calling the Peoria Symphony box office at 671-1096 or visiting at 101 State St.

Regular ticket prices are $26 to $51 for adults and $11 for students.

While movie scores may not be what some expect at a symphony concert, most of the music in a movie is scored for and played by an orchestra. Also, the Academy Awards presents an Oscar each year to a composer of musical scores as well as original song.

"All of these composers are very sophisticated in their ability to capture the emotional content of the visual scene in sound and music. That's their art form," said Maestro George Stelluto, music director for the Peoria Symphony Orchestra.

Among the composers of the music to be played Sunday is John Williams ("Star Wars," "Superman," "Harry Potter"), one of the most prolific film music composers of all time. A multiple winner of the Academy Award for original score, Williams is nominated yet again this year for "The Book Thief."

Other composers include James Horner ("Titanic"), Neal Hefti ("Batman), Max Steiner ("Casablanca," "Gone With the Wind") and Hans Zimmer ("Pirates of the Caribbean).

Stelluto noted the importance of music to a film, what it adds to the experience. "It would be an interesting experiment if somebody were to just watch a movie without the musical sound track, to see how much they were missing," he said.

The next Peoria Symphony concert will be Valentine's Day, Friday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. in the Civic Center Theatre. Titled "Romance," it will feature vocalists Ryan Lanning, a tenor, and soprano Linden Christ. Tickets for that concert are on sale.

Watson: The Stones' rock film kicked it; Aerosmith up next

The Peoria Riverfront Museum enjoyed a good turnout for the first-ever Thursdays Rock concert film series last night (Jan. 16), and the featured band, The Rolling Stones, hit it out of the park. The event was sponsored by the museum and 95.5 GLO.

The new Stones' film, "Sweet Summer Sun - Hyde Park Live" will be hard to top. I'd not seen The Stones in over two decades and didn't know what to expect from this film, culled from two shows last summer in London. Amazingly, The Stones still have it, and musically are as strong as ever, which does not compute due to their advanced ages.

The film is shot with God only knows how many panning and zooming cameras and on the Giant Screen Theater's massive screen you see close-ups and facial expressions you could never enjoy seeing The Stones live. You see snappy quick cuts of young hotties singing along to songs that were laid to vinyl before they were born. And the four skinny Stones really seem to be enjoying themselves, smiling throughout the 19-song performance, backed by world class singers and musicians.

Mick Jagger had boundless energy, skipping and dancing and pointing, while singing and shouting the vocals. Keith Richards, the crowd favorite, played his guitar as sharply as ever, dangling a cigarette from his mouth. I liked the Keith ashtray cam and his Greatful Dead patch on his guitar strap, things you'd never see live. Ron Wood was magical on his guitar, making me think he should be on every list of Guitar Gods. And the quiet, precise Charlie Watts was his usual unflappable self. Former Stone Mick Jones returned for a couple songs at the site where he played his first Rolling Stones live show 44 years prior.

The theater was a co-star of this event. The "brightest screen" in America is mammoth and the surround sound is pure. I wouldn't have minded a bit more volume.

Next up is Thursday night's Aerosmith concert film, "Rock for the Rising Sun," shot in 2011 in Japan after the earthquake and subsequent tsunami blasted the country. The Led Zeppelin reunion show from 2007, "Celebration Day" wraps up the series on Thursday, January 30th. Tickets are just $10.

Is it the next best thing to being there? I could argue it's BETTER than being there live.

'A Piece of My Heart' at Corn Stock Winter Playhouse

It has been well documented through the decades how the war in Vietnam affected the men and boys who fought there in the name of democracy; not only on the field of battle but in their own hometowns after their return.

But while those men and boys left a piece of themselves in southeast Asia — and so, so many left their souls behind as well — the women who volunteered to help the U.S. cause in Vietnam did not go unscathed. They went just as wide-eyed and innocent; they returned just as damaged.

It is the effects of the war on the women that is the subject of “A Piece of My Heart,” a searing drama by Shirley Lauro that opens Friday at Corn Stock Theatre Winter Playhouse in Upper Bradley Park.

The play is a compilation of the stories of 26 American women who went to Vietnam. The characters are nurses, a career Army WAC, a Red Cross worker and an entertainer. The play shows the innocence going in and, in graphic words and expressions, the day that innocence was lost as they faced for the first time the horror of the war.

“This play shows some history of that war that doesn’t get told very often. But it is a part of history that cannot and should not be ignored,” said Amy Williams, who is directing the show that runs Friday and Saturday, Jan. 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m., then Jan. 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 26 at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and can be reserved by calling the Corn Stock box office at 676-2196.

“Compared with other stories about Vietnam we really hear very little about the women who served there, what they went through. This is a very strong piece about young women who were so innocent about war and were so shocked by what they went through,” said Williams, who is directing an adult play at Corn Stock for the first time. She has directed children’s shows at Corn Stock and she co-directed “12 Angry Men” at Peoria Players last year.

She submitted “A Piece of My Heart” because she’d read it before and was touched by the stories the women shared. “We grew up with the Vietnam War going on and being shown on our television every night but I really came to realize what it was about later. This is, I think, an important play. I hope our audiences will get a good understanding of what these women went through. Our younger audience members may get an important history lesson from it,” Williams said.

She added the process of directing the play has been more enjoyable by the cast of eight people, none of whom are old enough to have been part of the Vietnam era.

“That really has not been a problem because each cast member has really connected with the characters they are portraying. They’ve taken direction well and they are giving their all to the characters. I can’t ask for more than that,” she said.  

The cast includes community theatre veterans as well as newcomers.

Jasmyne Providence, who was impressive in the musicals she performed at Corn Stock’s tent the last two summers (Motormouth in “Hairspray” and Auntie Em in “The Wiz”) tackles the tough, yet tender career soldier Steele in this play.

Mindy Watkins, a native Peorian singer and songwriter, uses her skills as a winger, guitarist and actress in the role of Mary Jo, who comes to Vietnam with the USO to entertain the troops. Watkins’ most recent play was this past summer in “Company.”

Lisa Chamberlain, a veteran on stage and back stage of many shows, portrays Whitney, the Red Cross volunteer who learns the hard way not to give too much of herself while in Vietnam while struggling to maintain a cheerful demeanor for the troops.

Kristen Connor plays Army nurse Sissy, perhaps the most innocent of the bunch before the offensive and other events forced her to grow up quickly. Connor, a real-life nurse in Peoria, is making her Corn Stock debut but performed this year in “Meet Me in St. Louis” at Peoria Players.

Umiko Post is on stage for the first time since high school but takes on the role of Leeann, another nurse who had no idea what to expect when she went to Vietnam. Friends with Sissy before deployment, their determination to stay together got them sent to one of the most troublesome spots in country.

Lorelei Lawson is making her Corn Stock debut in the role of Navy nurse Martha. Her superiors tried to keep her from going to Vietnam because of her lack of experience, but she insisted with no knowledge of what was ahead.

The play has numerous male roles and they are being handled by two actors. They are Alex Larson, who was seen in “Evil Dead” at the Winter Playhouse in the fall and is directing “Superior Donuts” in March; and Ian Munk, a 13-year veteran on the U.S. Army who is making his stage debut. Munk has already served two overseas tours in Kuwait and Afghanistan and will be deployed again later in the year.

Williams said one of the things that makes “A Piece of My Heart” more powerful is that it doesn’t leave off with Vietnam. Rather, the second act of the drama depicts what these women faced when they returned home.

“Post-traumatic stress disorder was a very real thing for them, also. They faced the same types of issues the men did,” she said. “It didn’t end there for anybody.”