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Aoife Barry reports from LA.
THE COUNTDOWN IS on: two days (LA time) to go until the 2023 Oscars take place and we find out if Ireland will take any statuettes home.
It’s a busy time for the nominees, and for the people putting the whole Oscars shebang together. Tight schedules are being kept to. A champagne carpet (no red carpet this year) is being rolled out while tourists mill around Hollywood Boulevard and watch on. There are many industry events to attend.
Last night, the big event for Irish nominees was the annual Oscar Wilde Awards. Traversing its ‘green carpet’ were figures from in front of and behind the camera – a smorgasbord of film industry stars and powerhouses amongst the up-and-comers.
JJ Abrams was there (his company, Bad Robot, hosts the event at its impressive Santa Monica HQ), holding what looked like a glass of whiskey and telling us about how much he loves Irish film.
Hollywood veteran Patrick Crowley (producer of the Bourne films) and his wife, actress Cathleen Summers, were there too. To what do they put down the current Irish success?
“I think it’s that no one tells stories like the Irish do, and movies are just storytelling. So when you see something like Banshees, there’s not much going on there they’re not getting along, and audiences are captivated by it and completely involved in it – there must be something coming out of those Irish writers, those Irish creators.
“And the movie looks as professional and incredible as any Hollywood movie. So then you begin to say ‘I’m more interested in Irish projects, it’s stuff I don’t know about’ – and that will continue to grow,” said Crowley.
The Irish Goodbye and An Cailín Ciúin teams were also on the green carpet, and their take on it all has been consistent – they’re there to enjoy the process. They all told The Journal that they’re focused on enjoying the nomination, rather than focusing on the big prize. It’s an attitude that will surely stand to them.
The biggest stars of the night – Kerry Condon and Jessie Buckley – didn’t spend as much time on the green carpet, but were awarded alongside Eve Hewson at the Oscar Wilde Awards. Inside, Condon told the crowd about the support she’d received from people like director Martin McDonagh, Dearbhla Molloy and Marie Mullen after moving to pursue her career in the US.
Buckley, meanwhile, punctured the Hollywood glam by admitting she finds the awards process “a bit bewildering”, saying “I usually get kind of squashed like some kind of sausage into a dress and I can’t wait to get home and have chips and tequila, and put my pyjamas on.” Hewson received her award for rising talent, and said the TV series Bad Sisters made her feel “proud to be an Irish woman”.
Also there was Samantha Mumba, who told us she’s been in the studio and is planning on releasing a new single in a few months. Based in LA, she said that when it comes to Irish confidence, “we’ve always had it – in the grand scheme of things Ireland is a very small country, but mighty, and I feel like it’s time. There’s so much talent – the crews in Ireland are the best crews I worked with, and I think it’s great they’re getting recognition.”
Director Lee Cronin (A Hole in the Ground) pointed out that a year like 2023 isn’t an overnight thing: “I think one of the interesting things is it’s actually many years of work it takes to have a fantastic year. I think it’s brilliant to see all the talent on show internationally making such waves.”
In terms of what the nominations say about Irish film, he said it shows “that there’s great storytellers in Ireland and irrelevant of where they come from, how they tell that story, they are able to tell stories that connect with international audiences.” Next up for him is the film The Evil Dead Rise, which comes out on 21 April.
LA stalwart Roma Downey said this year “put us on the map”. “I have to say, I cried me eyes out at the Quiet Girl,” she told us, describing Catherine Clinch as a “stunning” actress.
Champagne carpet
Before heading to the Oscar Wilde Awards, The Journal took a trip down to Hollywood Boulevard to take a look at the red carpet set up. Only it’s not a red carpet this year – it’s champagne.
It’s the first time since 1961 that it hasn’t been red, and at an unveiling on Tuesday, Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel joked: “I think the decision to go with a champagne carpet over a red carpet shows how confident we are that no blood will be shed.”
The Dolby Theatre is in the heart of tourist-trap Hollywood, and you’re able to mill around part of where it’s being set up. As you walk, you’ll spot people selling hot dogs, stores crammed with Hollywood merchandise like fake Oscar statuettes, the many theatres that dot the boulevard, and tourist trap shops.
Every few steps you’ll also notice the stars that make up the Hollywood Walk of Fame – some in less glamorous locations than others.
This year, there is a covered area over the Oscars entrance, so that it will feel like a glamorous night time event when the celebs arrive. At the moment, though, it’s not glam at all – it’s a work site.
Still, the big billboard photo of Jimmy Kimmel hanging over the site gives a hint of the glamour to come.
After taking in the site, we went to the nearby Loews Hollywood hotel, to pick up our credentials for the Sunday event. We’ll be sitting in the winners’ press room as they arrive in holding their statuettes.
The Oscars is a machine – impeccably organised (emails have arrived almost daily the past few weeks with updates for media), and with extremely friendly staff.
At a walk through yesterday, us media got to take in the press room before Sunday and get a sense of what is to come. For security reasons, we can’t take any pictures or video inside the building, but we can say the press room itself is a small hotel conference room kitted out with a stage, TV monitors, cameras, and rows of tables at which the reporters will sit.
There will be a sign language interpreter, and stenographers taking down every word out of the winners’ mouths. This year, there’ll also be a virtual component, with reporters able to ask questions virtually.
It was a surreal feeling to be welcomed to the ‘Oscars family’. Some of the reporters in the room have been reporting on the awards for decades.
Sunday is set to be a long but fascinating day – and hopefully with a bit of glamour too.
Join our liveblog on Sunday as we follow the Oscars from red carpet right through to the final award and reactions.
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I wonder why….nobody was allowed to have any other medical problem but Covid, I work in a hospital and they were nowhere near full capacity, none of them, public or private, and what on earth was the thinking behind stopping screening, bizarre.
@Jun Stone: A scandal of epic proportions.
@Jun Stone: the state of the health service in this country. We really need to get on top of this. It should our number 1 priority as a nation
@Jun Stone: two of my friends both had minor surgery recently without any problems. One was two weeks ago and the other was a month ago. They were ongoing issues causing discomfort but needed to be done. In the past they had been cancelled, as in last year, I must say I was shocked to hear they got them done while all I see are articles like this during covid. Are they just not, or were they just not preforming more serious surgeries /appointments etc?
@Jun Stone: If you work in a hospital then you should be more than aware that patients were admitted, patients were examined, fully investigated, scanned with CT and MRI, reviewed by multiple teams, received chemo/radiotherapy and operated on during lockdown. You may not have worked 24+ hour shifts during lockdown but I and my colleagues did.
@Philip Kavanagh: and many more (including myself) had follow up cancer scans cancelled. I had two appointments in two separate Dublin hospitals cancelled during the lockdown. One has been rescheduled so far
@Jun Stone: couldn’t agree more. Frankly, having looked at the IFR as things become more clear through proper testing, covid-19 seems to be not as infectious as we initially feared. Even the CDC in the US have released similar findings. I was actually in A&E in April in Castlebar and found that I was brought into the covid-19 triage setting despite having not had covid symptoms – I had chest pain suspected to be linked to heart issues which thankfully was found to be a bacterial infection. I also saw old people brought into the same ward even though they hadn’t been confirmed to have covid-19. So my opinion is if that practise is common to other hospitals then many cases were likely transmitted in the hospital. My great aunt has now fallen ill with a stroke as her routine check ups since her stent placement have ceased. My grandmother who has heart problems has also had her quarterly check ups cancelled indefinitely. All in all, in my circles I have seen lockdown cause more damage than covid-19. My mother had covid-19 in March and was sick with a bad chest infection for about 3 weeks but recovered with steroids. In fact, that’s what most people I know who’ve had say they have had. About 5 years ago I was out of work for 2 weeks and totally bed ridden with viral bronchitis, so I’m not really sure what to believe. I agree we should take measures but I’m not so sure lockdown is in the best interest of total public health in all its facets. I know people have used Sweden as an example but the deaths per million are more or less the same as Denmark. Anyway, let’s look after the vulnerable, and not forget that people with other diseases which need attention are also vulnerable!
@Anna: I’m not and cannot comment on individual cases. @Jun Stone claims that non-Covid patients were ignored or sacrificed on the altar of Coronavirus. I am saying from first hand experience that her comment is a lie designed only for click-bait. I would be very interested to know what hospital she works in and what her exact role entails. Her comment also implies that the hospitals (and therefore their staff) were doing half-nothing during the lockdown. Again so far off the mark, she clearly doesn’t know what she’s commenting on.
@Philip Kavanagh: and many had their vital routine follow ups cancelled . Two in my house included. Do not minimise that because it’s very serious . Simple but vital echocardiograms are cancelled , stress tests cancelled , all bowel cancer follow ups & screenings are cancelled. Breast check cancelled , need I continue ? Chemotherapy is not cancelled thankfully or aa&E but that’s about it in public hospitals .
@Laurel Didn’t: Did you treat Covid patients? Did you make the decision to put them on Airvo or bipap or just intubate them? Did you prone them? Did you send them for CTPA because you had a gut feeling that they had lung clots? Have you spent the last month calling patients who were admitted with Covid (and were lucky to survive) to hear how they are still short of breath, suffer from fatigue, have not gotten their sense of smell back, etc., etc.)? I lived in Sweden, I speak Swedish and I worked in a Swedish hospital. Sweden has had 523.71 deaths per million. Denmark has 103.36 deaths per million. You’re either not good with statistics or you’re just lying.
@Isabel Oliveira: I’m not minimising anything. And I certainly will not be accused of taking missed scans and screening as not being serious. I meet and treat patients everyday. Also believe it or not, frontline workers have health issues and families too. The delays in screening and treatments affect them also. What I said is that the health service did not simply grind to a halt for months. Patients were investigated and treated, and the best was done in an extraordinary situation.
@Sam Glynn: that was the plan, everyone public patient and no electives to be carried out? There may have been some underlying concerns re your friends procedures even though they may appear to have been minor?
@Philip Kavanagh: of course they were! nobody’s implying that nothing happened in hospitals during Covid but where I work and the affiliated public hospital were not operating to capacity and my husband also works in a private hospital, different one to me, and it was also not operating to capacity, maybe different where you work.
@Philip Kavanagh: do not twist what I said I work in a private hospital for a consultant, running clinics and booking procedures and theatre for same…no clinics were run during the Covid pandemic period and only cancer ops were done. The hospital was not full. No routine screening was done . Hope that answers your question. I’m early 60’s and not bothered about ‘clicks’!!!!
@Isabel Oliveira: you know me, I don’t lie…hope your well.
@Jun Stone: So you do admin in a private hospital….You don’t examine, admit, work-up, treat and care for patients. You have no idea what issues patients were presenting with to ED during lockdown. And I am not twisting your words – to quote “nobody was allowed to have any other medical problem but Covid”. Click bait at its most obvious.
@Philip Kavanagh: actually my daughter is a doctor in yet another hospital here in Dublin treating Covid patients. Try not to be so condescending, I may be ‘just admin’ in your opinion but I have first hand knowledge of what actually went on in the hospital I work in as I have been working all through the pandemic.
@Philip Kavanagh: I appreciate your points Philip and I humbly acknowledge that I am not a doctor nor have I treated covid patients. But I did ask the team in Castlebar how busy they were and their response was not full capacity. Where are you getting your info about Sweden? Japan is another example – low deaths. Seasonal influenza causes up to 650,000 deaths per year according to the WHO. Currently we have 560k from covid-19 and given how deaths have been terribly reported perhaps it’s less in reality. Philip we’re not denying that it’s a nasty bug to catch, but given the perspective the aforementioned figures grant, I’m not pro lockdown at all. Re Sweden, I’m comparing Scania with Hovedstaden and Sjealand. Most comparable in terms of locality, demographics etc.
In the VHI or Laya … no problem … you can jump the queue …
If you can pay … get seen today.
If you cant pay .. join the long delay!
Yet EVERY taxpayer pays for the public health service to the tune of €19 Billion a year .It is 11% of GDP .. whereas other countries spend far less at avg of 9% of GDP
What a despicable 2-Tier society is Ireland!
Sign the Petition and demand that this abomination be fixed and fast.
Counting trolleys is a laugh … put a few production engineers in charge of that place and get proper metrics and processes in place … 4 procedues per day v 8 in private hospitals v 16 in other EU countries ….
@Neuville-Kepler62F: Signed and shared.
@Neuville-Kepler62F: It’s not going to happen, the various imbedded unions will stand in the way of any meaningfull progress, it would probably be cheaper if the government paid for all our private health care at this stage. No government over the past 30 years has ever been able to tackle the problems in our health service.
@Alan: but they all said they would.
@Neuville-Kepler62F: Very good comment te how inefficient public hospitals are compared to private ones. We are spending an absolute fortune on healthcare as a country and not getting good value at all. Our doctors and nurses are wonderful. The organisation is a shambles.
@Alan: .. interesting idea. outsource all current public health to private management. Dont limit to Ireland.. look at outsource to other EU countries. Nothing should be discounted at this stage to sort out the sorry mess. – Belfast Bus!
Where is MM now and O Brien his lackey
That figure was already in the hundreds of thousands long before we’d ever even heard of Covid-19. Trying to blame appalling waiting lists on this pandemic is a bit rich, and ignores almost twenty years of similar numbers.
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