Mike Nichols...AFI Life Achievement Award! Hollywood Star-studded turn-out...

 

They flowed in - a veritable "who's who" of the Hollywood elite - megastars flanked by respected film directors, power-brokers chatting up the studio brass, and a host of precious friends who were there to bestow glowing tributes on a legendary director.

Mike Nichols, of course!

Meryl Streep said it best when she noted what it was like to work with the likeable seasoned pro.
"All I can say is that I was always happy on the set."

Individuals who have been graced with his presence are usually bowled over by his great ability to communicate (his sensitivity to actors and their needs is legendary, for instance).

Over the years, Diane Sawyer's hubby whipped up a number of entertaining celluloid hits, such as "Barefoot in the Park", "Spamalot", the gut-wrenching "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" starring Elizabeth Taylor, "Carnal Knowledge", and - who could forget? - the Graduate.

Nichols has nabbed a slew of prestigious awards over the years.

For example - he scooped up an Oscar for directing the Graduate; a Drama Desk Award for Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park" (stage), an Emmy Award for "Angels of America" (musical), and a Tony award for helming "Spamalot"

In toto, the jewels in his dazzling Crown of Glory, are Mr. Nichol's legacy.

AFI MISSION

AFI is America's promise to preserve the history of the motion picture, educate the next generation of storytellers, and honor the artists and their work.

In sum, the prestigious National institute fosters leadership in screen education - and in the process - celebrates excellence in the art of film, television and digital media.

AFI trains filmmakers at its world-renowned AFI Conservatory, preserves the legacy of America's film heritage through the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and AFI Archives, explores new digital technologies at AFI Digifest, and honors artists and their work through a variety of programs and special events.

For 37 years, the AFI Life Achievement Award has remained the highest honor for a performer to be blessed with.

AFI offers film enthusiasts a variety of events throughout the year including:

AFI FEST
(the longest-running International film festival in Los Angeles (sponsor/AUDI)
AFI Discovery Channel Silverdocs
(A documentary festival in Silver Spring, Maryland)
AFI Silver Theatre
(year-long programming in the Washington DC, area

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Whitney Houston...whacked wash-out performance stalls comeback trail! Rusty pipes crack sound barrier...

Media outlets were awash with all the tawdry details!

No sir!

Whitney Houston's much-ballyhooed comeback concert - staged outdoors to accomodate throngs of excited fans and hopeful industry-insiders  (broacast live! on Good Morning America to far-reaching rapt audiences around the globe) - was anything but the triumphant return the former Diva (and her handlers who- no doubt - wrung their hands in dismay along the sidelines) was shooting for.

Critics far-and-wide not only trounced the troubled crooner's lackluster stage performance - but also shed an unflattering spotlight on a once-glorious voice that now cracked and faltered and wheezed from the get-go - casting doubts on her songbird future.

Whitney was quick to blame an alleged hours-on-end interview (the day before) with Oprah Winfrey for ravaging her golden pipes - and ultimately - snatching the wind out of her sails the following day at the ill-fated concert that brought the curtain down on her lofty dreams of a place in the sun once again.

The Oprah excuse was ludicrous, at best.

Granted, it is wholly possible to suffer a strain from too-much blabbing.

For example, last year at a Film Festival in Dallas, I chatted up so many filmmakers and members of the press one long drawn-out media event, that my own pipes caved in for about a half-a-day or so.

But, in that circumstance, I was straining to make myself  heard over a few dozen voices in a packed overheated screening room.

In a one-on-one interview - with quiet on the set - it is highly doubtful that Ms. Houston would ever encounter a smidgen of circumstances inclined to rob her of her ability to vocalize thereafter in any capacity.

Drugs - whack, for instance - just might, however!

Notwithstanding the obvious, Houston's decision to perform in the specific venue chosen for the - um - auspicious occasion -  live on stage, outdoors, before a huge crowd in an open-park setting - was (quite simply) a bad career move.

For starters,  the accoustics for a concert under the foregoing circumstances, would be pretty much non-existent. 

Consequently, any vocalist worth their weight, would have been battling the elements to rise up and be heard above the din (to their detriment).

A smaller more-intimate stage would have been preferable.

Here, Houston was forced to charge about a wide-open expanse like a galloping horse in search of a proper gait to build on, with a hope and a prayer.

Well, they shoot horses, don't they?

But, there's always studio work, Whitney.

And, a dollop of sweetening in the sound-mixing phase,  to take the edge off that crack in your voice!

Save going cold turkey, I guess.

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