Uncle Barkey's Bites Travel

CJ En ter tainm en t, Un iversal Pictur es “Parasite” (top) and “1917” are up for Best Picture.

If anyone told you back in October that “Joker” would end up with the most nominations at the 2020 Academy Awards, there’s a good chance that you’d think they were a crazy person. Well, 11 nominations and $335 million later, that zany prediction is now a reality.

However, there aren’t many people calling “Joker” the best movie of the year. That discussion is reserved for “Parasite” and “1917,” which are thought to be the two movies duking it out for this year’s Best Picture Oscar. The only way this category gets controversial is if any of the others win over those two, in particular, the divisive “Joker” or “Jojo Rabbit,” neither of which were overwhelming critical darlings.

Award shows aren’t exactly thrilling television and when you add in the fact that several of the awards this weekend are foregone conclusions, it adds up to a snoozer. Renee Zellweger is an absolute lock for Best Actress, even though the other four nominees (Cynthia Erivo, Scarlett Johansson, Saorise Ronan, Charlize Theron) are all arguably deserving. If you were a bettor, this would be as close to sure money as you can get on Sunday.

Best Supporting Actor is almost as big of a lock as Best Actress. Brad Pitt’s stoner with a history of being a bad husband (a self-admitted “stretch” for him) in “Once Upon A Time In…Hollywood” is the front runner. Tom Hanks and Anthony Hopkins have some long odds and since Al Pacino and Joe Pesci could split votes for their performances in “The Irishman,” Pitt is a safe choice. This critic would like to see Florence Pugh holding Oscar gold as the Best Supporting Actress for “Little Women,” but alas, it’s probably going to go to her co-star. Laura Dern is so great in “Marriage Story” that many have forgotten how fantastic she was in “Little Women.” Leave it to Dern to overshadow herself.

Directing is a bit tougher to predict. Could we see Bong Joon Ho win for “Parasite” but lose out on Best Picture? It could be reversed for Sam Mendes and “1917.” While “Parasite” is fantastic, Mendes should win out here just for the fact that he and cinematographer Roger Deakins (who should also take home a statue) pulled off the one-shot genius that is “1917.” Even though there’s little doubt about Best Actor, the winner is surely to be divisive. Joaquin Phoenix should win his first Oscar for “Joker,” but there’s going to be a load of people not happy about it. It’s become such a hot button topic due to its themes that people are overlooking the fact that it’s a movie that is fully satirizing and attacking the very culture that critics claim it promotes. Phoenix is definitely aware of that fact and milks it for all that it is worth, which makes him deserving of the win.

Snubs? Adam Sandler’s role in “Uncut Gems” is arguably the most egregious, followed closely by Jennifer Lopez in “Hustlers.” Their respective categories have nominees that can easily be removed, but who gets replaced in the Best Director field for Greta Gerwig? That’s a tougher call.

By Ed Bark unclebarky@verizon.net

It’s been quite a while since we random nibbled. So, let’s remedy that.

Booties were shaken and some viewers got all stirred up during Sunday’s Super Bowl LIV halftime show.

Did Jennifer Lopez, 50, and Shakira, 43, put on an empowering performance by showing that, as women of a certain age, they’ve still “got it?” Or, for shame, did they resort to objectifying women with an overtly sexual display? The “social media” realm of course got all lathered up over what J Lo and Shakira brought to the table before the Kansas City Chiefs rallied to beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 on Supie’s actual field of play.

J Lo also is getting ripped by PETA for wearing a feather flag that may have cost many birds their lives. These are the times we live in. No wonder this month’s Oscar telecast is going hostless for the second straight year. I mean, who wants these jobs?

As a Caucasian male “boomer,” I’m hesitant to comment on the halftime show because clearly, I’m not “woke” enough in the view of America’s burgeoning group of ageists. Not that I’ve ever asked anyone to get off my lawn … or even eaten creamed spinach.

That said, maybe the Super Bowl halftime show should revert back to marching bands made up in equal parts of men, women and people of color. The first 20 Super Bowls were dominated by marching bands and, urp, Up With People. Then again, in today’s climate, they’d be shredded, too.

• • • Showtime returns two series of note on Sunday, Feb. 9.

“Homeland” starts its eighth and final season with the ultra-resilient Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) rebounding from seven months of confinement in a Russian gulag without her mind-stabilizing drugs. In what seems like a finger snap, she’s dispatched to Afghanistan in hopes that her previous experiences can somehow rejuvenate impaired peace talks that seemed to be on track until they weren’t. Mentor/overseer/manipulator Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) again both uses and invigorates his star CIA player.

Based on seeing the early episodes, “Homeland” is largely out of gas after the drama’s exhilarating early seasons. It seems like time for it to go with the

Shakira and Jennifer Lopez from Super Bowl halftime show. FOX

hope that Carrie at long last achieves her own inner peace.

The other returnee, “Kidding,” in comparison is just getting started with the premiere of its second season. The first one ended with Jim Carrey’s Jeff Pickles impulsively running over his estranged wife’s live-in boyfriend, and on Christmas Eve no less. Back-to-back halfhour episodes show that “Kidding” remains one of television’s oddest and adventurous comedies. Carrey’s darkly sensitive portrayal of a longtime children’s show host is in keeping with the most daring work he’s ever done. And the imaginary worlds he oftentimes lives in are still something to see, if not entirely grasp. • • • Amazon Prime continues to churn out firstrate original series such as “Fleabag,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Jack Ryan.” But the streaming service also can be a treasure trove of earlier music documentaries (including several on various stages of The Beatles) and TV shows from the vault.

Those who recall “The Merv Griffin Show,” for instance, might well want to revisit some of them. He wasn’t a particularly hard-hitting interviewer, but his guest lineups are enough reason to dive right in. Amazon offers 38 fulllength compilations from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. A majority of the guests, plus the host himself, were seldom without a lit cigarette back then. This is particularly evident during earlier black-andwhite shows that also feature Merv’s droll British sidekick, Arthur Treacher. Episode 9 includes 1966 visits by a very young Richard Pryor, whom the host calls “Richie,” and a well-established Jerry Lewis after his partnership with Dean Martin had ended. A giggly Pryor clearly reveres Lewis and tells him so repeatedly. Lewis in turn is full of himself, but also quick on the ad lib trigger during a prolonged segment in which he leaves Merv’s desk to take

questions from the audience. Unfortunately, he’s particularly insulting to one young woman. It was cringe-worthy back then, too.

Another early show features boozy, gabby Tallulah Bankhead (a big fan of the old New York Giants) and the team’s all-time star player, Willie Mays. He had since relocated with the team to San Francisco at the time of this appearance on Merv’s then New Yorkbased show. Bankhead keeps popping questions while a glib Mays rolls with it. His latter-day reputation as a disagreeable sourball is not at all evident here.

The cavalcade of guests also includes, to name just a few, Bette Davis, Jack Benny, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Jane Fonda, John Glenn, Lucille Ball, Steve Martin, Warren Beatty, Andy Warhol, Phil Spector, John Wayne, Joan Rivers, Moms Mabley, Ronald Reagan, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Muhammad Ali, Minnie Pearl and James Michener.

All of them were given ample time to talk in those days. And it can still be something to see.

Ed Bark, who runs the TV website unclebarky. com, is a past member of the national Peabody awards board.

By Michael Wald wald.world@yahoo.com

My flight back to Dallas from Mexico City was delayed. It was the last flight out for the night. I would have to find a place to stay for the evening.

When this happens, the airport hotels fill up quickly as an entire plane load of people are all looking for a hotel room. And when this happens, there are probably other flights that get cancelled as well for the same reason.

When an airline flight is delayed due to weather, it is not the airline’s responsibility to reimburse you the extra costs you incur. That’s what travel insurance is for. Lesson One: Buy it! It’s cheap and can usually be purchased when making your flight reservation or you can buy an annual policy if you travel a lot. When a flight is delayed for reasons within the control of the airline, the company should issue you vouchers for hotels or put you up and also pay for meals until the next flight.

Originally, the airline gave a weather reason for the cancellation, so no hotel vouchers were being given out. I rushed to find a room using my cellphone. Booking. com popped up first on a Google search to secure a reasonably priced airport hotel for the night. Shortly after that, the airline started giving vouchers for hotel rooms because the crew had “timed out.” This happens when the crew has worked the maximum number of hours that they are allowed to work in a 24-hour period under regulations. Since there was no crew even if there had been another flight that night, the airline rightfully took on the responsibility. But, I was unable to get the benefit of the hotel voucher because I had already booked a room. So, I would have to save my hotel receipt and submit a travel insurance claim. As it turned out, the airline secured rooms in the same Mexican brand-name hotel that I had.

The hotel turned out to be nothing short of terrible. A drilling noise kept reoccurring throughout the night, making sleep difficult. I asked the hotel to refund my room, but the hotel explained that I used an agent to book, so the hotel cannot refund money. I called the online service and learned Lesson Two: Booking.com and other online services contract out their last-minute hotel bookings with fine print that apparently says these services come without any customer service, and that’s according to customer service! So, if you use a booking service and have a problem, you’re on your own.

I had struggled to sleep for most of the night, so by the time I complained, it was within an hour of when I had to awake to catch my re-booked flight. The hotel offered to change the room but given the short time, it wasn’t worth doing. Lesson Three: Complain early about problems with your room.

At the gate for the flight, I learned other passengers had the same noise problem with their room, so this was probably a known issue at the hotel.

Before I headed to my flight, I sat down to discuss the situation with the night manager, a low-level employee but the highest-ranking employee on duty early in the morning. If you ever have a problem, the manager explained that 40 percent of the hotel bookings are through online booking services. The manager explained that had I booked directly he would have refunded up to 50 percent of the price. So, Lesson Four: Book directly whenever possible.

Eventually, the manager placated me by offering a free upgrade on my next visit. I had already decided I would never stay at this hotel again. But, with a free upgrade, I may give it another try someday.

MIC HAEL WALD Experienced travelers know ins and outs.