Tamman Tales #3: Oscars Edition
Hello! For the second year in a row, we have been running a 30-day Oscars movie community chat, and it was orchestrated by Amy, one of our designers and self-described movie buff. She ran our internal Oscars Slack chat in 2022 and took it to another level this year.
Amy thought of, researched, and asked multiple movie questions each day for one month. Amy crafted the questions with the goal of “finding common ground with everyone and getting the entire Tamman Team involved as much as they could. We’re all familiar with the movies, and it’s easy to relate to each other through them.
In addition, there was a contest leading up to the Oscars, where any team member could submit a piece of art from any of the movies that were up for an award in 2023. We’ll reveal some of the top entries later on!
Footloose and Fancy-Free
It’s amazing how we started on the topic of the 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon (which is the theory that everyone in Hollywood is connected to Kevin Bacon within 6 degrees of separation).
Transcript of the topic:
Amy:
6 DEGREES OF KEVIN BACON
In 1994, Kevin Bacon – he of The River Wild fame – said some famous last words: ’I’ve worked with everybody in Hollywood or know someone who’s worked with them.” The statement would see four college students invent a game called ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’ essentially that, somehow, everyone is connected to Kevin Bacon in 6 degrees of separation.
Transcript of the conversation:
Tobias Morrison:
One degree of Kevin Bacon. Tobias sends a Flickr link to an image of himself, Kevin Bacon, and Bacon’s bandmates.
Devon:
Story time?
Tobias:
Did you know Kevin Bacon was in a band?
Devon:
The only thing I know about him is his name and that he’s from Philly.
Sloan Miller:
Bacon Bros?!?!
Tobias:
I didn’t know he was from Philly. I do know he enjoys a few drinks when performing live.
Sloan Miller:
His father was a really famous urban planner for the city for several decades… I believe he designed the Ben Franklin Parkway and Love Park.
Sloan Miller:
Sloan enters a link into the chat of Edmund Bacon, Philadelphia architect and father of Kevin Bacon.
Sloan enters a link into the chat of Edmund Bacon giving a half-hour documentary about urban planning in Philadelphia.
Tobias:
Wait! I did know that. I love being reminded about things I have forgotten!
Liza:
Yesssssss this content!
Sloan Miller:
Enjoy 30 minutes of historical urban planning in Rome and Philly
Amy:
Glad you shared this photo Tobias, and um, it’s AWESOME!
Marty Molloy:
We still don’t know how you (Tobias) ended up in the fabulous Bacon brother’s trailer after the show?
Marty Molloy:
Were you in the band? Guest playing? Touring? I need to know!!!!!
Marty Molloy:
And that hair…!
Tobias:
Opening act. I was a hired gun for the handsome little solo artist on the left.
Amy:
Is that Kevin’s brother in the blue shirt? and is that anyone famous standing to Kevin’s right (our left)?
Tobias:
Yes, Kevin’s brother on our right. That’s Dave the drummer on the left. Not famous outside the Cleveland/Akron area as far as I am aware. He brought a DVD of Wild Things for Kevin to sign. I found that hilarious.
Amy:
Lol, I guess that’s one way to mix 2 of your favorite things!
It’s movie night. Do you go with your favorite movie or your most impressive movie?
We have got quite a range of favorite and supposed favorite movies here:
An underrated answer for a movie to impress someone? Twelve Angry Men
Transcript of question and answers:
Amy: Question of the Day is: What is your real favorite movie, and what movie would you claim is your favorite if you were trying to impress someone?
Marty Molloy:
Real Favorite: The Princess Bride
Impressing someone: Inception
Liza:
Real Favorite: Inception
Impressing someone: The Princess Bride
Carl:
Real Favorite: Almost Famous
Impressing someone: None
Ryan:
Favorite: Empire Strikes Back
Impressing someone: Shawshank (Editor’s note: such a great answer.)
Wally:
Real Favorite: Rocky Horror Picture Show
Impressing someone: Rocky Horror Picture Show
I live with INTEGRITY
Devon:
Real: The Prestige
Impressing: A Bug’s Life
You get a standing ovation! And you get a standing ovation! Everybody gets a standing ovation!
Transcript of the conversation:
Amy:
Happy Wednesday! Today, we are doing trivia. I said it last year and I’ll say it again… in this day of having information at your fingertips, I ask that you refrain from looking up an answer to a question. I ask instead, that you do it the old fashioned way – think about it and then throw out your best guess. With that said, here is the first question. (Answer will be revealed toward the end of the day).
QOTD: Who was given the longest standing ovation in Oscar history (12 minutes) while receiving an Honorary Oscar Award in 1972? Also, just for fun, who do you think deserves a 12 minute standing ovation today?
Liza:
Would you consider it cheating if one were to google ‘who was alive in 1972?’?
Liza:
Realizing that’s not really going to help narrow it down actually
Carl:
Charlie Chaplin
Liza:
QA on QA violence, Carl (Editor’s note: Carl works in QA)
Carl:
I loved Chaplin (1992) with Downey Jr.
Amy:
Liza, I would not consider that cheating. That’s a different search than what the question asks. (Smiley face)
Carl:
No one deserves 12 minute standing ovation nowadays. Sadly, Hollywood is dying in the wake of the internet age
Marty:
Honorary award in 1972…Chaplin is a great guess, but to offer another guess, I’m going with Orson Welles.
Marty:
I think there are a number of people worthy of a 12 min standing ovation, it would need to be someone whose impact is universal and legendary…
Marty:
He only recently died, but Paul Newman comes to mind. And then the impact that Robert Redford has had with the creation of Sundance and what that has meant for the explosion of independent filmmaking both come to mind.
Marty:
Oooh and maybe Ken Burns… he’s totally created a documentary style and storytelling process that has reshaped the genre.
Marty:
Spielberg and Hanks will also get them someday.
Marty:
Okay I’m done.
Devon:
Audrey Hepburn
Suddenly, we are so into bad movie plots.
Transcript of the conversation:
Amy:
Today’s topic is Poorly Explained Movie Plots. Describe a movie’s plot in the worst possible way
Example 1: Factory tour gone wrong. Everybody was either injured or ejected.
Example 2 (because it’s so fun): A nun bangs her boss, renounces her faith, and flees the county.
Marty Molloy:
Two people meet. They can’t stand each other. Then discover they need each other and are more alike than previously thought. Friends (minor characters) knew it all along.
Emma:
A girl has really vivid dreams after getting a concussion.
Devon:
A guy playing dress-up really hates the British government.
Devon:
A young man tries his hardest to destroy a gift of jewelry from his uncle
Sloan Miller:
A criminal tells a story about criminals committing crimes.
Do it for the Future You
Transcript of the conversation:
Amy:
QOTD: In the movie 13 Going on 30, Jenna Rink is magically transported 17 years into the future. If you had the choice to be transported to the year 2040 for a week, would you do it?
Adding to this question… when you’re in the year 2040, you are 17 years older than your age today.
Marty Molloy:
This is a sneaky question Amy… it’s the ol’ is it better to see your future so you can change things if needed or whatever… ugh… no, I don’t think so. It’s just too tempting to learn things that I think I can control and then I can’t and move from this timeline to a darker one. The law of unintended consequences is just too precarious.
Liza:
I think I would give into temptation and do it. If only to scare myself into taking better care of my body in the present day.
Devon:
I’d rather not know, it takes the fun out of life.
David:
I will absolutely try to leverage my knowledge of the future for personal/interpersonal gain and cause rippling butterfly effects beyond my comprehension. As long as I don’t Mad Max it though, it should be good.
Tobias:
I feel like the air quality is probably better here. And although I should be retirement age in 2040, I have a feeling they will have ratcheted that up to the mid-70s by then. So, no thanks.
Well, I guess magic doesn’t help with everything.
We have our final question, and it was a real doozy. Amy asked: Sometimes, a character can be really annoying or really lovable, depending on how you view it. I will list out 4 characters today (1 every 2 hours). Let us know if you love ’em or hate ’em. Optional: Feel free to explain why.
The third choice was Severus Snape. What followed was more contentious than a quidditch game.
Transcript of the conversation:
Amy:
3. Severus Snape from Harry Potter
Emma: Gives the thumbs down emoji.
Devon:
Certified Severus Snape fanboy.
Cheryl: Gives 3 heart emojis and says “Always.”
Sloan Miller:
“‘Albus Severus,’ Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train, ‘you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.'”
Emma:
His good deeds don’t make up for the fact that he was horrible to the children entrusted to his care (also that he only decided to change sides when he found out Lily was going to die, and he was happy to let her husband and son die – he only wanted to save her). He eventually did the right thing, but for solely selfish reasons, and he was cruel and bitter the whole while. Yes, he was bullied and had a bad family life, but I don’t think that’s an excuse for his behavior.
Marty Molloy:
Despite the merits of Emma’s impassioned and well-written feelings on Snape – as a character… he’s one of my favorites in the canon. I am not ashamed to admit that I was genuinely shocked with this arc. For purposes of Amy’s question – decidedly not annoying.
And the Snape fandom continues!
So throughout the day, the question of who loved or hated Harry Potter’s Severus Snape and why kept going. Fandom is important, y’all.
And to continue the Snape-slacks.
Transcript of the entire conversation:
Emma:
His good deeds don’t make up for the fact that he was horrible to the children entrusted to his care (also that he only decided to change sides when he found out Lily was going to die, and he was happy to let her husband and son die – he only wanted to save her). He eventually did the right thing, but for solely selfish reasons, and he was cruel and bitter the whole while. Yes, he was bullied and had a bad family life, but I don’t think that’s an excuse for his behavior. (Repeat to reference the starting place for the rest of the conversation.)
Emma:
(I’m bringing my whole self to work with this comment.) Uses a happy, crying face emoji.
Collin:
I was reading this article about the new Hogwarts PS5 game, and it talked about how the Harry Potter canon is like a poorly stacked house of cards waiting for the slightest breeze. This argument is a fine example of that.
Bill:
SPOILER ALERTS!
Marty Molloy:
Really interesting take on Monsieur Snape. You’re clearly not wrong, but are you perhaps too easily dismissing his own troubled past? I mean hurt people, hurt people, right? The fact that his own pain and then being ‘undercover’ as it were for so long that the part of him that had to be evil, was so for the greater good?
Ryan:
Ryan uses a gif of Professor Severus Snape, where Snape is clapping and the words “Snape Approves” in white text appear.
Devon:
Just because someone does bad things doesn’t make them a bad person, and just because they do good things it doesn’t make them a good person. Snape is definitely a complex character, and I think it would be an injustice to lump him into the simple notion of a good or bad guy.
Emma:
Absolutely he’s a complex character. Per the original question, I would say he squarely does not fall in the “lovable” camp (to me).
Devon:
I gotta rep Slytherin because I am one. Real recognize real, and he’s a real one.
Emma:
And referencing Marty’s comments, he’s hurt people hurt people point (agreed, and very appropriate in this case), I will add to the conversation something I heard once that really stuck with me: “your mental health is not your fault, but it is your responsibility”
Marty Molloy:
And as we all know, well supported people, support people well.
Devon:
He supported that bozo Dumbledore to his death pretty well too.
Devon:
the weak must fear the strong
Marty Molloy:
Can I just say that this thread basically means we should have much more Harry Potter themed questions.
Movie Art Submissions
Some of our favorite parts of the Oscars are the arts and cinematography categories. So it’s natural that we received some submissions from some of our staff about movies they love.
From Jose, we have a hand-drawn video about the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once.
From Andrea we have art and a pin design for the movie Halloween 4:
Listed Links
Here are the links listed throughout our journey:
Half-Hour Philadelphia Architecture Documentary starring Edmund Bacon
Hogwarts Legacy vs Harry Potter
They weren’t listed above, but here are some bonus links we wanted you to enjoy:
