At approximately 5:40 AM, on January 15th, 2015, in the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, USA, the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards were being announced. President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Cheryl Boone-Isaacs, and actor Chris Pine were on stage reading out the nominees from a teleprompter. Pine has just finished reading off the nominees for Best Costume Design.

"and Jacqueline Durran for Mr. Turner."

It's now Boone-Isaacs's turn, and she's reading off the…

Stephen Sondheim, the man, died today, at the age of 91.

Stephen Sondheim, the artist, the writer, the composer, is still very much alive. As the endless tributes to him pour out, it becomes so very clear the broad, broad influence and impact this man has had to the world of musical theatre and those who love it.

Perhaps I'm not the best person to be writing something like this, talking about the immense impact he can have on a…

"There are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity."

That's a quote from The Grand Budapest Hotel, one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies. However, I wanna use it as a way to talk about different aspects of The Phoenician Scheme.

First, I think the quote serves as a good thesis of this film. Zsa-Zsa Korda is looking to the most unscrupulous people who are investing in…