Golden – Jon The Blogcentric

My Predictions for the 2020 Golden Globes

25 February 202127 February 2021Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

The Golden Globes are happening unusually late in the year. Keep in mind 2020 was no ordinary year. It either cancelled everything out or held it up. What can I say? A pandemic can do that. The pandemic has caused a lot more films intended for big-screen release go to the small screen. Even those with huge big-screen releases intended had to have a limited big-screen release with it then relegated to streaming services. That in turn led to the Academy to be more forgiving towards online films this past year. This in turn will make all the other awards shows, including the Golden Globes, more forgiving to the films. Nevertheless the show must go on and February 28th it will!

The weird thing is I’ve only seen two of the films in contention for the Golden Globes. You gotta love quarantines and lockdowns. But you also gotta love streaming services too! Anyways here are my predictions:

FILM:

Best Motion Picture, Drama
Winner: Nomadland
Most Likely Upsetter: Promising Young Woman

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Winner: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Most Likely Upsetter: Hamilton

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Winner: Riz Ahmed, Sound Of Metal
Most Likely Upsetter: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Winner: Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Most Likely Upsetter: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Winner: Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
Most Likely Upsetter: Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Winner: Maria Balakova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Most Likely Upsetter: Michelle Pfeiffer, French Exit

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Winner: Leslie Odom Jr., One Night In Miami
Most Likely Upsetter: Sacha Baron Cohen, Trial Of The Chicago Seven

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Winner: Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Most Likely Upsetter: Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy

Best Director
Winner: Chloe Zhao, Nomadland
Most Likely Upsetter: Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
Winner: Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Most Likely Upsetter: Chloe Zhao and Jessica Bruder, Nomadland

Best Foreign-Language Film
Winner: Another Round (Denmark)
Most Likely Upsetter: La Llorona (Guatemala)

Best Animated Feature Film
Winner: Soul
Most Likely Upsetter: Wolfwalkers

Best Original Song, Motion Picture
Winner: “Io Se (Seen)”, The Life Ahead
Most Likely Upsetter: “Speak Now”, One Night In Miami

Best Original Score, Motion Picture
Winner: Trent Reznor, Jon Batiste and Atticus Ross, Soul
Most Likely Upsetter: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Mank

Those who know me well enough know I will predict the winners for the television categories but not predict the most likely upsetters. So my predictions for the winners:

TELEVISION:

Best TV Movie or Miniseries: Small Axe

Best TV Series, Drama: The Mandalorian

Best TV Series, Comedy: Schitt’s Creek

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama: Jason Bateman, Ozark

Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy: Ramy Youssef, Ramy

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama: Olivia Colman, The Crown

Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy: Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek

Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie: Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True

Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie: Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie: John Boyega, Small Axe

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie: Julia Garner, Ozark

And there you have it. Those are my predictions for the 78th Golden Globe awards. Winners to be decided on Sunday evening. It would not only be interesting to see who wins, but how the show is conducted in these preventative circumstances. Anyways a pandemic won’t stop the fun. It may limit things, but it won’t stop the fun!

My Predictions For The 2019 Golden Globes

4 January 2020Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Golden Globe

This year’s awards calendar has events happening sooner than usual. The Oscars are happening February 9th, which is two or three weeks sooner than expected. Not this coming Monday, but the Monday after will announce the Oscar nominees. This year the Golden Globes are having their winners decided while most of us are still on holidays! Nevertheless it is a good time to focus on what the winners are and who the heavy favorites for the Oscars might be.

Once again, I will make my predictions for the winners with the ‘Most Likely Upsetter’ prediction reserved strictly for the film categories. So here we go:

FILM:

Best Motion Picture, Drama
Winner: The Irishman
Most Likely Upsetter: 1917

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Winner: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Most Likely Upsetter: JoJo Rabbit

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Winner: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Most Likely Upsetter: Adam Driver, Marriage Story

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Winner: Eddie Murphy, Dolemite Is My Name
Most Likely Upsetter: Taron Egerton, Rocketman

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Winner: Scarlet Johannson, Marriage Story
Most Likely Upsetter: Renee Zellweger, Judy

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Winner: Awkwafina, The Farewell
Most Likely Upsetter: Cate Blanchette, Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Winner: Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
Most Likely Upsetter: Brad Pitt, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Winner: Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Most Likely Upsetter: Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers

Best Director
Winner: Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Most Likely Upsetter: Boon Jong-ho, Parasite

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
Winner: Boon Jong-ho & Han Ji-won, Parasite
Most Likely Upsetter:Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Best Foreign-Language Film
Winner: Parasite (South Korea)
Most Likely Upsetter: The Farewell (U.S.A.)

Best Animated Feature Film
Winner: How To Train Your Dragon: Homecoming
Most Likely Upsetter: The Missing Link

Best Original Song, Motion Picture
Winner: “I’m Gonna Love Me Again”, Rocketman
Most Likely Upsetter: “Stand Up”, Harriet

Best Original Score, Motion Picture
Winner: Hildur Gudnadottir, Joker
Most Likely Upsetter: Randy Newman, Marriage Story

Those who know me well enough know I will predict the winners for the television categories but not predict the most likely upsetters. So my predictions for the winners:

TELEVISION:

Best TV Movie or Miniseries: Chernobyl

Best TV Series, Drama: The Crown

Best TV Series, Comedy: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama: Bill Porter, Pose

Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy: Bill Hader, Barry

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama: Jodie Comer, Killing Eve

Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag

Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie: Jared Harris, Chernobyl

Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie: Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie: Andrew Scott, Fleabag

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie: Emily Watson, Chernobyl

And there you have it. Those are my predictions for the Golden Globes. Some may appear to be locks but anything can happen Sunday night. Ricky Gervais is hosting so we’ll see who wins.

Golden Globes 2018: My Predictions

6 January 2019Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Golden Globe

This year’s Golden Globes will be hosted by Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh. I’ll admit it’s awfully late for me to post my Golden Globe predictions, but I have been lacking the drive this holiday season. A late-minute alerting made me get myself into action. To start things off, here are my predictions for both the winners and their respective most likely upsetters in the film categories:

FILM:

Best Motion Picture, Drama
Winner: A Star Is Born
Most Likely Upsetter: BlacKkKlansman

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Winner: The Favourite
Most Likely Upsetter: Green Book

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Winner: Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born
Most Likely Upsetter: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Winner: Christian Bale, Vice
Most Likely Upsetter: Viggo Mortenson, Green Book

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Winner: Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born
Most Likely Upsetter: Glenn Close, The Wife

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Winner: Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Most Likely Upsetter: Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins Returns

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Winner: Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Most Likely Upsetter: Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Winner: Amy Adams, Vice
Most Likely Upsetter: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Director
Winner: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Most Likely Upsetter: Peter Farrelly, Green Book

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
Winner: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Most Likely Upsetter: Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie & Peter Farrelly & Vanessa Taylor, Green Book

Best Foreign-Language Film
Winner: Roma (Mexico)
Most Likely Upsetter: Shoplifters (Japan)

Best Animated Feature Film
Winner: SpiderMan: Into The Spiderverse
Most Likely Upsetter: The Incredibles 2

Best Original Song, Motion Picture
Winner: “Shallow”, A Star Is Born
Most Likely Upsetter: “All The Stars”, Black Panther

Best Original Score, Motion Picture
Winner: Marc Shaiman, Mary Poppins Returns
Most Likely Upsetter: Marco Beltrami, A Quiet Place

Those who know me well enough know I will predict the winners for the television categories but not predict the most likely upsetters. Especially since this year’s crop of nominees come mostly from new shows for this season. So my predictions for the winners:

TELEVISION:

Best TV Movie or Miniseries: American Crime Story: The Assassination Of Versace

Best TV Series, Drama: The Americans

Best TV Series, Comedy: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama: Matthew Rhys, The Americans

Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy: Bill Hader, Barry

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama: Sandra Oh, Killing Eve

Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy: Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie: Darren Criss, American Crime Story: The Assassination Of Versace

Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie: Regina King, Seven Seconds

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie: Henry Winkler, Barry

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie: Thandie Newton, Westworld

And there you go. Those are my predictions for tonight’s Golden Globe awards. Winners to be revealed starting 8pm EST. That’s less than an hour!

Golden Globes Turn 75: And My Predictions

7 January 2018Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Today will be the awarding of the Golden Globes. This year isn’t just any Golden Globes, but the 75th to take place.

A Very Brief History

Some of you may wonder how did the Golden Globes come to be? Firstly, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was founded in 1943 by Los Angeles-based journalists to give a more organized process of distributing cinema news to markets outside the U.S. The following year, they formed their own film awards, the Golden Globes, to give their opinions of who are the best of the year. While the AMPAS Academy consists primarily of professionals in their respective film field, the Golden Globes would be the decisions of these journalists.

The very first Golden Globes held back in 1944 consisted of six categories: Best Picture, Best Director and the four acting categories. Their decisions for the winners would be three for six with the Oscar winners. The Song Of Bernadette was chosen as the Best Picture winner while the Oscars went for Casablanca. Same thing with Best Director; Globes chose Bernadette director Henry King while the Academy favored Casablanca director Michael Curtiz. The acting categories almost completely matched each other as Globe-winners Paul Lukas, Jennifer Jones and Katina Paxinou would also win the Oscars later. Only Supporting Actor winner Akim Tamiroff from For Whom The Bell Tolls wouldn’t win an Oscar, despite being nominated.

Over the years, the Golden Globes would grow in popularity as their matches would be very close to that of the Oscars. They would also include cinematography categories temporarily and even a Best New Star category, which would be retired after the 1983 awards. The eighth Golden Globes would see the Awards giving separate awards for Best Picture and lead acting in both drama and comedy or musical. Something that still continues today. The Golden Globes would start to include awards to television starting in 1955: six years after the Emmy awards were created.

The Golden Globes would eventually become the second-most coveted film or television awards with only the Oscars or the Emmies being more coveted. It’s not to say it hasn’t been without its controversies, and not just because of hosting done by the likes of Rickyy Gervais et al. The make up of the Hollywood Foreign Press is often under question for their qualifications. Also their tendency to favor glitz and glamor at times have made people wonder at their choices. Even how in cases where one actress who did an interview for the HFP would later receive an award would get some people wondering. There was even suspicion at the 1981 Awards when Pia Zadora won Best New Star for her performance in Butterfly. Some claim that Meshulem Riklis, her millionaire husband at the time, paid the HFP to have her win. However nothing has been proven. Also it goes to show that there’s no such thing as an impartial judging body for any awards show. The Oscars and the Golden Globes are no exceptions to that. Nevertheless they still remain the most coveted.

And My Predictions For This Year

This year’s Golden Globes will be hosted by Seth Meyers. Some are saying he can be as controversial as Ricky Gervais tonight. This year’s Globes have fourteen categories for film and eleven categories for television. To start things off, here are my predictions for both the winners and their respective most likely upsetters in the film categories:

FILM:

Best Motion Picture, Drama
Winner: Dunkirk
Most Likely Upsetter: Call Me By Your Name

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Winner: Lady Bird
Most Likely Upsetter: Get Out

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Winner: Gary Oldman, The Darkest Hour
Most Likely Upsetter: Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Winner: James Franco, The Disaster Artist
Most Likely Upsetter: Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Winner: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Most Likely Upsetter: Sally Hawkins, The Shape Of Water

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Winner: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Most Likely Upsetter: Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Winner: Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Most Likely Upsetter: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Winner: Alison Janney, I, Tonya
Most Likely Upsetter: Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Best Director
Winner: Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape Of Water
Most Likely Upsetter: Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
Winner: Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Most Likely Upsetter: Guillermo Del Toro & Vanessa Taylor, The Shape Of Water

Best Foreign-Language Film
Winner: The Square (Sweden)
Most Likely Upsetter: Loveless (Russia)

Best Animated Feature Film
Winner: Coco
Most Likely Upsetter: Loving Vincent

Best Original Song, Motion Picture
Winner: “Remember Me”, Coco
Most Likely Upsetter: “Mighty River”, Mudbound

Best Original Score, Motion Picture
Winner: Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk
Most Likely Upsetter: John Williams, The Post

Those who know me well enough know I will predict the winners for the television categories but not predict the most likely upsetters. So my predictions for the winners:

TELEVISION:

Best TV Movie or Miniseries: Big Little Lies

Best TV Series, Drama: The Handmaid’s Tale

Best TV Series, Comedy: Black-ish

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama: Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us

Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy: Aziz Ansari, Master Of None

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama: Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale

Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy: Pamela Adlon, Better Things

Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie: Robert De Niro, The Wizard Of Lies

Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie: Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie: Christian Slater, Mr. Robot

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie: Laura Dern, Big Little Lies

And there you go. Those are my predictions for tonight’s Golden Globe awards. Winners to be revealed starting 8pm EST.

VIFF 2015 Review: Hadwin’s Judgement

3 October 2015Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Hadwin's Judgement is about Grant Hadwin and why he committed his act of what some would call 'ecoterrorism.' — Hadwin’s Judgement is about Grant Hadwin and why he committed his act of what some would call ‘ecoterrorism.’

British Columbia, especially Greater Vancouver, is known for people using radical and even destructive methods to make their statement heard on an issue. One such person who’s lesser known in Grant Hadwin who cut down a beloved tree on the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1997. The documentary Hadwin’s Judgement traces Hadwin’s path from logger to radical to his mysterious disappearance.

The film is almost like a biography of Grant Hadwin and the moments in his life that changed him forever. Grant Hadwin was born in West Vancouver. He came from a logging family and eventually found himself working on the Queen Charlotte Islands. However he soon developed an anger when he saw how much forest was being cut down from the island and how fast with the modern cutting methods. He writes letters of complaints to businesses. He even tries to start his own business which makes products out of decayed wood or wood long cut down but it doesn’t succeed.

Doug Chjapman plays Grant Hadwin in re-enactments with no dialogue but says it all with his mind. — Doug Chapman plays Grant Hadwin in re-enactments with no dialogue but says it all with his mind.

The deforestation of the area along with his mental instability takes his toll on him and he cuts down the sacred tree of the island– the 1000 year-old Kiidk’yaas (The Golden Spruce)— to send his message. He awaited trial with many a person angry at him. However Grant pursues a kayaking trip up the Boeing Strait. He is never seen again although his broken kayak, letter in lamination and tools have been found intact. He has still never been found dead or alive.

The film is mostly a documentary featuring people who mostly knew Grant during his lifetime. It features co-workers to friends to a local photographer who photographed him swimming just before his disappearance to John Vaillant who wrote an award-winning book on him. It also interviews people of the Haida Gwaii who knew the tree. The Haida Gwaii consider trees to be sacred so it’s no wonder the chopping of that tree would hurt them deeply.

However the film doesn’t just present people interviewed. It also provides people first-hand knowledge of the Haida Gwaii people, their legends and their beliefs. It provides insight to Grant’s feelings around the time and includes narration of the letters he wrote in his protests. It even includes moments in Grant’s life re-enacted by actor Doug Chapman playing Grant. Doug never utters a word of dialogue in his acting but it’s like you’re reading Grant’s mind just with the looks on his face. You could see why Grant would lose his patience with what was happening and do what he did. It still remains a question. Was it Grant’s attitude to the deforestation of the area? Or was it a mental imbalance? Or both? Even I myself wondered if he valued trees so much why would he cut the sacred Golden Spruce down? I later assumed Grant did it possibly to say to all those logging companies: “You want wood so bad? Here’s your wood, bastards!” That’s my belief to why he did it. People snap.

Despite the storytelling, narration and re-enacting of Grant’s moments, the best attribute of the documentary has to be the cinematography. Right from the start, you see images of the rain forest, an aerial view of Queen Charlotte Island and a panoramic shot of the forest. Already images of beauty that tell what this island is all about and why the island’s natural features are important. It’s not just beautiful images like those that make the film but the uglier images too. The film includes footage of the tree cutting mechanisms through all angles. You can see just how they can cut down a whole tree in seconds. You can see why through such mechanisms looms the threat of deforestation. So much cutting in so little time. The film also shows the ugly aftermaths of all the trees cut down. There’s one panoramic view that not only shows a wide forest but of a cut-down area. That’s one of the many eyesores. Other eyesores include closer shots of land that used to be forests, images of piles of dry dead wood and the biggest of all: the Golden Spruce down on the ground with its leaves soaking in the river. Even single images like that of a freighter full of logs tells the story of the land and why Grant Hadwin was compelled to make such a judgement. Shots that included Grant also provided for the storytelling including the site of his broken kayak.

Sasha Snow did a great job in creating a documentary that gives people’s opinions of Grant through all angles and even re-enacts some of his key moments. Sasha not only includes those that know him but the local Haida Gwaii and author Vaillant. Sasha made a lot of smart choices in telling the story such as having an actor act out Grant’s moments instead of showing photographs. In fact we only see one photograph of Grant in the film right at the very end.

Hadwin’s Judgement is more than a documentary. It takes you inside the person, the land, the people of the land and the economic pressures of the times. I don’t know if the film completely supports Hadwin’s decision but it provides the reasons why he did it.

Elizabeth Taylor 1932-2011

29 March 2011Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

I’ll start by asking a series of questions. When you think of the term movie star, who comes to mind? Or what comes to mind? Is it their captivating looks? is it their ability to epitomize fame and fortune? Is it their ability to win crowds to the big screen time after time? Is it a presence that captivates the audience in their seats? Or is it their ability to do great acting time and time again? Do the standards of those that deserve the term movie star change over time? Or are the standards of a movie star timeless? When you think of the term movie star, how many from the past deserve that title? How many current actors deserve to have such a title bestowed upon them?

On Wednesday morning, we lost one who deserved to fit the term movie star in any or possibly every definition of the term. Her name was Elizabeth Taylor. She’s possibly one of the last of a breed that fit the term movie star as we know it to a tee. She had the looks, she lived large in more ways than one, she was able to attract crowds to the theatres and grab hold of their attention, and she knew how to give wonderful acting performances time after time.

Her acting career started early. She was discovered and signed on by both MGM and Universal at the age of ten. She had a great career as a child actor in gems like Lassie Come Home and Jane Eyre but it was her performance in 1944’s National Velvet that was her signature turn as a child actor. She was also successful in making a transition to adult actor almost immediately when she starred in 1950’s Father Of The Bride. Her career as an adult actress would accelerate starting with her role in 1956’s Giant opposite Rock Husdon and James Dean. She would then be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress four years in a row starting with 1957’s Raintree County opposite Montgomery Clift, 1958’s Cat On A Hot Tin Roof opposite Paul Newman, 1959’s Suddenly, Last Summer opposite Montgomery Clift and finally a Winner for 1960’s Butterfield 8 which she acted opposite then-husband Eddie Fisher. In 1960, she became the highest paid actress in Hollywood and more starring roles continued, including for 1963’s Cleopatra, 1967’s The Taming Of The Shrew and her second Best Actress Oscar winning role in 1966’s Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? Soon after, the movies she starred were flopping and her bankability faded. It wouldn’t stop her from acting in movies, television and stage. Her last movie role was in 1994’s live-action version of The Flintstones. Immediately after, she announced her retirement from films.

She also had one-of-a-kind winning looks. Her looks were definitely that of a movie star. Even at a young age, you knew she had a face for the screen. The smooth face and glowing violet eyes. You could tell in her earlier moviesthat she had the looks. Even in adolescence, she matured with grace and beauty and would have the looks perfect for Hollywood’s Golden Age. She also knew how to live the glamorous life. She was always seen with the most glamorous dresses and was renowned for her huge collection of jewelry including huge diamond rings and diamond necklaces. She even launched two fragrances in the 1990’s.

She also had the ability to be the subject of much publicity, both while active in her acting career and after. She was known for her eight marriages to seven husbands: starting with hotel mogul Conrad Hilton and ending with Larry Fortensky. Her relationship and eventual marriage to Eddie Fisher made headlines because it interfered with his marriage to Eddie Fisher. She married Richard Burton twice over a period of twelve years. Only her marriage to Michael Todd lasted until his death. She was known for her weight gain battles, frequently lampooned in Joan Rivers’ standup comedy material. She had well-publicized substance abuse battles that included a stay at the Betty Ford Clinic where she met her final husband Larry Fortensky. Her friendship with Michael Jackson also made tabloid headlines. Fact: she is the godmother of Michael’s two oldest children. She also battled constant health problems and they would always make for good tabloid copy. She broke her back five times and had two hip replacements. She also battled life-threatening illnesses like a brain tumor, two bouts of pneumonia and numerous heart problems.

Despite her life of luxury and her questionable relationships, she was also one who knew how to use her celebrity to attract a cause. She supported AIDS causes starting in 1984 when they were not popular but became more active after her friend actor Rock Hudson died of the disease in 1985. She founded or co-founded two major AIDS charities and promoted major AIDS fundraising events. He also devoted herself to many causes relating to Israel and Zionism. She herself converted to Judaism in 1959. She would use her celebrity for many fundraising events and for awareness for the causes she believed in. In turn, she has been awarded humanitarian awards during her life. She was even named a Dame in 2000.

When she died on Wednesday, many believe we lost the last great movie star of Hollywood’s Golden Era. Although that’s disputable, we did lose a one-of-a-kind. She had the picture perfect looks for Hollywood but she delivered solid acting every time. What mistakes she made in her personal life, she made up for in her charm and grace. She lived every inch of the definition ‘fame and fortune’ but was still in touch with what was happening in the world. Many leading ladies came before her and many have come since but she will never be equaled. Elizabeth, we’ll miss you.