NEBRASKA AT THE OSCARS
Join us March 10-15 for a celebration of Oscar-winning films from Nebraska-born filmmakers and stars! TICKETS: $10 General Admission | $5 Members & UNL Students
“It’s OSCAR time and several Nebraska-born professionals have a history with this award! Director Alexander Payne and noted actors Marlon Brando, Sandy Dennis, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, and Hilary Swank are the Nebraska originals who have been graced with this prestigious award. We are bringing you the films that elevated and revealed these talents; On the Waterfront, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, On Golden Pond, Affliction, Million Dollar Baby, and Sideways. They are serious works of story-telling with powerful messages. In the canon of powerful films, Nebraskans have made a formidable impact.”
ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
Tuesday, March 10 – 7:30 p.m.
Nebraska Connection: Marlon Brando (Omaha, NE)
Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), Best Supporting Actress (Eva Marie Saint), Best Director (Elia Kazan), Best Writing, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing
Marlon Brando gives the performance of his career as the tough prizefighter-turned-longshoreman Terry Malloy in this masterpiece of urban poetry. A raggedly emotional tale of individual failure and social corruption, On the Waterfront follows Terry’s deepening moral crisis as he must decide whether to remain loyal to the mob-connected union boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) and Johnny’s right-hand man, Terry’s brother, Charley (Rod Steiger), as the authorities close in on them. Driven by the vivid, naturalistic direction of Elia Kazan and savory, streetwise dialogue by Budd Schulberg, On the Waterfront was an instant sensation. (1 hour, 48 minutes, Not Rated)
“Marlon Brando’s performance in this film was masterful. Directed by Elia Kazan, this is one of Brando’s most powerful and influential movies, one that continued his immeasurable influence on American movie acting in the 1950s. The movie garnered 8 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress for Eva Marie Saint, and Best Screenplay.”
WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966)
Thursday, March 12 – 6:30 p.m.
Nebraska Connection: Sandy Dennis (Hastings, NE)
Academy Awards: Best Actress (Elizabeth Taylor), Best Supporting Actress (Sandy Dennis), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design
History professor George (Richard Burton) and his boozy wife, Martha (Elizabeth Taylor), return late one Saturday night from a cocktail party at the home of the college president, Martha’s father. Martha announces that she invited another couple, newly appointed instructor Nick (George Segal) and his timid wife, Honey (Sandy Dennis), over for a nightcap. When the younger couple arrive, the night erupts into a no-holds-barred torrent of marital angst and verbal tirades. (2 hours, 9 minutes / Not Rated)
“In Mike Nichols’ beautifully filmed masterpiece in black and white, the vulnerability of Sandy Dennis’ character, Honey, is seen as a masterclass in nuanced acting, capturing a complex, fragile, and surprisingly resilient character within the film’s intense psychological drama. Fun fact, all four actors in this Edward Albee drama were nominated for Oscar.”
ON GOLDEN POND (1982)
Friday, March 13 – 7:30 p.m.
Nebraska Connection: Henry Fonda (Grand Island, NE)
Academy Awards: Best Actor (Henry Fonda), Best Actress (Katharine Hepburn), Best Writing (Adapted)
Cantankerous retiree Norman Thayer (Henry Fonda) and his conciliatory wife, Ethel (Katharine Hepburn), spend summers at their New England vacation home on the shores of idyllic Golden Pond. This year, their adult daughter, Chelsea (Jane Fonda), visits with her new fiancée and his teenage son, Billy (Doug McKeon) on their way to Europe. After leaving Billy behind to bond with Norman, Chelsea returns, attempting to repair the long-strained relationship with her aging father before it’s too late. (1 hour, 49 minutes / Rated PG)
“With 50 years of on screen acting behind him, Henry Fonda gives us a soulful performance in what would be his last film. Mark Rydell’s directing brings together real-life father and daughter (Henry and Jane Fonda), reflecting the real tensions that existed between them. Buffered by the impeccable acting skills of Katherine Hepburn, On Golden Pond is a feel-good movie about aging, love, and family that skillfully brings heartwarming performances out of each actor.”
SIDEWAYS (2004)
Saturday, March 14 – 1:30 p.m.
Nebraska Connection: Alexander Payne (Omaha, NE)
Academy Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay (Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor)
Struggling writer and wine enthusiast Miles (Paul Giamatti) takes his engaged friend, Jack (Thomas Haden Church), on a trip to wine country for a last single-guy bonding experience. While Miles wants to relax and enjoy the wine, Jack is in search of a fling before his wedding. Soon Jack is sleeping with Stephanie (Sandra Oh), while her friend Maya (Virginia Madsen) connects with Miles. When Miles lets slip that Jack is getting married, both women are furious, sending the trip into disarray. (2 hours, 6 minutes / Rated R)
“Sideways is Alexander Payne’s fifth feature length film and stars Virginia Madsen, Paul Giamatti, Sandra Oh, and Thomas Haden Church. Set in the central California wine county of Santa Barbara in the picturesque Santa Ynez Valley, and the towns of Buelton, Solvang and Santa Maria, this comedy-drama is a wine-consuming road trip. Payne and his writing partner, Jim Taylor, know how to combine and layer the complexities of wine and the complexities of relationships…”
AFFLICTION (1997)
Saturday, March 14 – 7:30 p.m.
Nebraska Connection: James Coburn (Laurel, NE), Nick Nolte (Omaha, NE)
Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (James Coburn)
In a small New Hampshire town, washed-up cop Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte) has a troubled past, an abusive father (James Coburn), the contempt of his ex-wife (Mary Beth Hurt) and an unimpressive streak as a lawman. When hunting guide Jack Hewitt (Jim True) reports a businessman’s accidental death during a hunting trip, Wade believes he has a chance to turn around his life, if he can prove it was murder. Increasingly obsessed, Wade begins to lose his composure during the investigation. (1 hour, 53 minutes / Rated R)
“James Coburn, born in Laurel and Nick Nolte, born in Omaha, both give brilliant performances in this sobering psychological study of the precarious relationship between an abusive father and his two sons. Both were nominated for Oscars; Nolte for best actor, and Coburn for supporting actor (which he won).”
MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004)
Sunday, March 15 – 1:30 p.m.
Nebraska Connection: Hilary Swank (Lincoln, NE)
Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress (Hilary Swank), Best Supporting Actor (Morgan Freeman), Best Director (Clint Eastwood)
Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) is a veteran Los Angeles boxing trainer who keeps almost everyone at arm’s length, except his old friend and associate Eddie “Scrap Iron” Dupree (Morgan Freeman). When Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) arrives in Frankie’s gym seeking his expertise, he is reluctant to train the young woman, a transplant from working-class Missouri. Eventually, he relents, and the two form a close bond that will irrevocably change them both. (2 hours, 12 minutes / Rated PG-13)
“Directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby brought actress Hilary Swank her second Oscar for Best Actress. A powerful narrative with themes of suffering and choice, Maggie’s dream to become a professional boxer ends in heartbreak, but some would say, not in hopelessness. The film garnered four Academy Awards and is rated highly by many critics as one of the best movies on the 21c and in the top 10 of all films. (Aside: Swank won her first Oscar for Best Actress in Boys Don’t Cry (1999), which was a Nebraska story. The film was produced by Killer Films and shot in Texas.)”