Tonight: The Academy Awards!

How did the Academy Awards Start?

Viewers can stream the 2021 Oscars through the ABC app.

You can live stream the 93rd Academy Awards by visiting the ABC website, or by downloading the ABC app.

The app is available on all major streaming platforms, including Roku, Google Play, and Apple.

Tonight is an interesting and innovative presentation that allows for a live show with links from around the world while still staying Covid-19 safe, with vaccinated guests.

Find out more about tonight’s show, who’s nominated, and more by clicking right here.

History of the Event

The Academy Awards (officially rebranded as “The Oscars” in 2013) originated in 1929, as a means to acknowledge outstanding achievement in the motion picture industry.

There was a small, private dinner ceremony on May 16, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California—under 300 people attended. An after-party at the Mayfair Hotel followed the main ceremony. Fifteen artists, directors and film-industry professionals were honored, but in contrast to later ceremonies, the winners had already been announced to the press three months earlier.

The tradition of the surprise reveal started with the second awards ceremony, in 1930, and the sealed envelope was introduced in 1941, after a newspaper leaked the news prematurely (the papers were given winning names early, with the agreement that they wouldn’t publish until 11:00 pm the night of the big event.)

The first Best Actor award went to Emil Jannings, for “The Last Command” and “The Way of All Flesh.” It’s interesting to note that the early awards were given for all the work done by the recipient during the qualifying period, unlike modern awards, which are typically given for one specific film project. Life time achievement awards are one exception to this modern trend.

Another difference of interest to film enthusiasts pertains to the Foreign Film category. Foreign films were honored with special achievement awards until 1957, at the 29th Academy Awards Ceremony, when the Foreign Film Category was added to the repertoire.

To date nearly three thousand Oscar statuettes have been awarded to a wide range of film professionals and personalities.

While the Oscars honor outstanding achievement in motion pictures, the following major awards honor outstanding achievement in other entertainment and media venues:

  • Grammy Awards – Music industry
  • Emmy Awards – Television
  • Tony Awards – Stage Performance

The Significance of Easter

Significance of Easter

The management team of Face Activities wishes our members and visitors, and their families, a very Happy Easter!

Easter is the most important holiday in Christianity. It’s celebrated by 2.2 billion Christians world-wide. Traditional Christians worship the divinity of Jesus, and Easter Sunday is the day, according to the Bible, when Jesus rose from the dead, revealing himself to be a divine figure. Easter, at its essence, actually defines Christianity.

Easter is the culmination of “holy week,” including many religious events. Most well known are Palm Sunday (a celebratory day) commemorating when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey (a symbol representing a peaceful King) and Good Friday (a day of fasting and penance), commemorating his crucifixion and death at the hands of the Romans. The joyful holiday of Easter, commemorating his Resurrection, caps the holy week with an exuberant feast.

As with Christmas and other Christian holidays, many pagan elements have worked their way into modern Easter celebrations. This blending of traditions was encouraged by the early church, which sought to incorporate diverse religious and cultural groups into the religion by adopting and repurposing the ancient religious holidays and culturally specific imagery of these groups. For this reason rabbits and eggs, which were common pagan fertility symbols throughout Europe, have their place in the modern holiday.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Silent Night, Bloody Night, a film by Theodore Gershuny, 1972

Silent Night, Bloody Night, a film by Theodore Gershuny, 1972

Silent Night, Bloody Night, 1972

A film by Theodore Gershuny

“A man inherits a mansion, which once was a mental home. He visits the place and begins to investigate some crimes that happened in old times, scaring the people living in the region.” (IMDB)

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