Becker's World: Sy's Academy Awards
Sy Becker
Reminder Publications Photo
By Mike Briotta,
PRIME Editor
Looking for the best picks and pans before hitting the multiplex? For more than three decades, the incomparable Becker has been this area's go-to guy for silver screen selections.
Becker represents the last bastion of old-school movie reviewers - diehard fans who grew up on plot-driven cliffhangers and dramatic shoot 'em' ups.
If you think it's possible for a professional reviewer to tire of sitting in a darkened theater, week after week, watching celluloid images flash across the screen, then think again. Becker watches a staggering number of films each year, even by conservative estimates.
"I've never gotten tired of watching movies," he said. "I knew there was something wrong with me at age 8 when I made my aunt take me to three Broadway plays in one day. I've never put a limit on how many movies I watch in one week."
He's averaged more than 150 films annually. Add in recreational trips to the cinema, and the total is astounding - in a lifetime, he's already seen in excess of 8,000 films.
And yet, an invitation to see more movies is always met with an enthusiastic response. He quipped, "If you were to say to me, 'Sy, let's go to the movies,' I'd say, 'Sure, just not anything with Jackie Chan.' You can never see a good movie - or one that reaches you - too many times."
Radio Days
Since starting his TV career, Becker has found a very supportive local audience - which means he's never had to battle to keep his movie segment alive. "There's always a place for it," he said. "There's always an appeal to have something that is locally produced, on your air, which you don't have to use syndication for - it's yours."
His local segments were shown in other areas for a period of time in the 1980s when, as Becker described it, TV stations were flush with money and looking for more content. He quickly began providing taped reviews for Channel 8 WTNH in New Haven, and soon found himself being flown to Pennsylvania for on-the-spot movie reviews in Pittsburgh.
An expenses-paid trip to Baltimore, complete with Chesapeake Bay crab cakes would be the beginning of that era's end for Becker. An early 1990s recession meant no more suites at the Hilton at various cities up and down the East Coast, although he still had his regular gig at Channel 22. "I said, 'May this go on forever,'" he recalled. "But it didn't."
Becker is now in his 31st year with the station. He joined the ranks at WWLP in 1979 after a successful career in radio. "I've been through five owners and four news directors," he said. "They had a succession of news directors, and I have survived."
Rather than focus on his longstanding career in front of the TV cameras, though, he'd much rather talk about surprisingly great movies. Like many film buffs, he has his share of guilty pleasures: those movies that nobody else seems to appreciate, and may not be critically worthy either. Some of his top picks hail from the heyday of early filmmaking, and those movies are the Monogram Pictures of the 1930s.
"I like the films made by Monogram" Becker said. "All of those series had one thing in common-they were cheaply made. They were low quality, but you knew what you were getting into. They were very small and cheap films, barely an hour long. It's a clich , but they were as comfortable as that old pair of slippers that are falling apart."
He added, "Most of those movies are better stories than the ones made today. They were tight thrillers, almost all murder mysteries. They were well-written and well-crafted with clever plots. The less expensive they were, the better they were, because they had to do more with less."
Conversely, there are some modern-day films that are just so bad, there's no redeeming them. He's not afraid to shoot down a terrible flick, as it helps prod moviegoers into finding something better to watch.
"If a movie is that terrible, then there aren't any positives, and you have to present it that way," he said. The zingers he's doled out to bad films have become local lore around his office.
About the disaster movie "2012" he exclaimed, "It's no earth-shattering experience!" And regarding the film "Bugs" he opined, "You might find it.repellent!"
Going Hollywood
Becker's eyes widened as he recalled his favorite flicks of 2009. In expectation of the Academy Awards held this month, Becker anticipated a number of great showdowns, especially in the categories of Best Film and Best Actress.
"One of the best films of the year was 'Up in the Air,'" Becker said. "It actually confronts the subject of unemployment. Its lead character is as empty as you can find, but you like him anyway. You empathize with him because he has flaws and faults; and you could see yourself also falling off that same cliff."
While a few popcorn flicks certainly held sway over audiences once again in 2009, Becker pointed out that unheralded movies sometimes surprise the Academy. "You have the art movies giving Hollywood its problems," he said. One such film from 2009 that he believes has merit is a British film titled "An Education."
The big, blue elephant in the room, however, is "Avatar." Becker begrudgingly concedes it's the frontrunner for top honors. "I wouldn't be surprised if it walked off with Best Picture," Becker said. "There's a huge crescendo of support for 'Avatar.' But if it wins, it will be the first winner in history to not have any of its actors be nominated. There was always a very close relationship between the actors and the film."
He continued, "Years ago, George Lucas came along and changed everything to the point where special effects take center stage. Nobody says, 'What did you think about the lead actor in 'Avatar'? The lead actor, the hero, is a cipher. He's nothing, a nobody in this movie. That's a detriment to Hollywood."
Becker added regarding the preponderance CGI, or computer-generated images: "They've tried this with other movies and it didn't work. This one worked because James Cameron is a master; he's king of the video games. 'Avatar' should win awards for technical expertise, not Movie of the Year."
The competition for Best Actress should also be intense. According to Becker, both Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock cranked out stellar performances in 2009. Streep starred in both the romantic comedy "It's Complicated" and the so-called chick flick "Julie and Julia." Bullock played a tough-talking wealthy mother figure to a young black athlete in the feel-good sports film "The Blind Side."
Another hit that Becker thoroughly enjoyed was "Inglorious Basterds," by director Quentin Tarantino. "It's a fantasy about Jews killing Hitler, done with such brio and hubris," Becker said. "I think Tarantino tapped into something here in the way that he does it. The man who plays the Nazi, Kristoff Waltz, was amazing. While this is a revamping, a rehashing, of an earlier film, you can revamp in style." He added that Brad Pitt's deep Southern drawl was a shining example of "using an accent as a weapon."
Back To The Future
Appropriately, Becker has no interest in watching movies at home. Why would he subject the films to small-screen treatment? The local theater is already his second home, and he much prefers the unique experiences that one can only get from a real theater.
"I think that would be unfair to the movie to watch it at home," he explained. "I want to see it exactly as it should be seen. I sit in my Showcase seat with a crystal-clear screen. If you don't see it the way the theater audience sees it, it's not the same movie."
He continued, "In today's world, there are 15 or 16 screens at each multiplex. Some of these movies are not that good. But if you don't like one, then you still have a great many left to choose from."
Becker said that Hollywood has been in decline for decades in terms of generating exceptional storylines, but added that small moviemakers have taken on the mantle of delivering real dramas.
"Since the 1970s, Hollywood has been more selective, in a negative way, about the films they are willing to tackle," said the movie reviewer. "They will only go for super-CGI films, animation, irrelevant teen comedies, police drama and horror. But drama per se has vanished as a Hollywood staple. They will not invest in dramas."
He continued, "The news isn't all bad, however. As Hollywood has narrowed, someone has picked up the slack. Now you have to go to an art theater to see them." He said that Sundance Film Festival, for example, helps fill the void. "A good segment of the audience wants to see something dramatic," he said.
Becker spoke highly of so-called 'art-house' cinemas across the region that are quietly keeping alive the storytelling traditions of the past. He lauded many such films that are on view at Hartford's The Art Cinema and the Amherst Cinema Arts Center.
In the midst of all the Academy Awards hype over some of the biggest box-office successes this season, Becker noted a true "sleeper" movie that audiences seem to have grown to love lately.
"More recently, there's a film called 'The Young Victoria.' It came out earlier this year, and people can't stop seeing it," Becker said. "It's sophisticated, sharp and clever. It's gone from art-house cinemas to the multiplex."
That film details the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.
"It's wonderful when a film with no great anticipation - or even negative anticipation - surprises an audience that's not looking forward to it," Becker said.
It also proves that, after all this time, there are still pleasant surprises to be found at the cinema for a veteran movie reviewer.
"This is how Hollywood has changed over the years," he concluded. "They've effectively barred certain movies from the multiplex - but those movies are still being made.
"You can make a movie for next to nothing. But if it's a good story, people will still go see your movie."
And that's a wrap. Roll credits!
