Wednesday, December 30, 2009
movie review: NINE
OK. NINE might not be a ten or even an 8 1/2. It is not particularly emotionally engaging, and perhaps the musical sequences are overly-edited; maybe there's only one memorable tune:"Be Italian " which is stuck in my head, and maybe it's because I'm half Italian, but I loved watching this film, flaws and all, and I think you might too. Andiamo.
Ciao bellas!
--stay tuned!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Movie reviews: AVATAR/CORALINE(even better)
All of which leads me straight to the ravishing stop-action animated film CORALINE, the first ever to be shot in 3D. Like AVATAR, CORALINE also deals with a virtual world, but unlike James Cameron's one-dimensional inter-planetary adventure, director Henry Selick's (THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS) journey is endlessly kaleidoscopic, the 3D truly in service of a multi-dimensional universe and an infinitely-layered story. CORALINE resonates far beyond the borders of the movie screen. The story is deceptively simple. An unhappy little girl with a name no one pronounces correctly,(!) has just moved into a new house and discovers a secret door to a world where everything is perfect. The images of her tumbling through what looks like a birth canal and popping up into a house where mom is making her favorite foods, and dad is singing songs while leading her through an astonishing garden of unearthly delights beggar the imagination. The visuals are eerily stunning, accompanied by music as dangerously seductive as siren-song to mythical voyagers. It's Carmina Burana and Enya with a backwards twist. The film packs the deep punch of fairy tales from Hansel and Gretel to Hamlet (which it references as well as Alice In Wonderland and her Cheshire cat, contemporary video games, Fellini's movies, and Jung's forays into the collective unconscious. In short, CORALINE must find herself by navigating the treacherous corridors of her worst fears, here played out in a tricky mirror world of her own desires. What more can I say? Plenty. But I'm starting to foam at the mouth. Let's just leave it at "holy shit--what a great film. " (What are the odds that quote will appear in the ads?)
More tomorrow.
--stay tuned!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
slouching toward 2010
Which leads me back to the security arrangements I'm sure to encounter at the airport today. We are packing food for the flight (1. we have many leftovers that couldn't be left; 2. there is nothing edible offered on an airplane.)We will be packing chicken sandwiches and potatoes. So are the potatoes a liquid or a gel? Will they be confiscated? Probably. I remember once they confiscated my eyelash curler. Who knows--maybe I would have curled someone to death. They can't be too careful. But that powder and syringe that Abdul was carrying? No problem. I feel safer already.
I love to end the year on a good rant.
More to come!
--stay tuned!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Just cut and paste:
http://ak.imgag.com/imgag/product/preview/flash/pdShell.swf?ihost=http://ak.imgag.com/imgag&brandldrPath=/product/full/el/&cardNum=/product/full/ap/3173936/graphic1
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good night!"
--and stay tuned!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
BAKING, STREEPING, POLISH-ING
But while we are on the subject of Streep--and who isn't these days, I will say--and I said it this summer as soon as I saw her performance in JULIE & JULIA--that she WILL win the Oscar for Best Actress this year. She's brilliantly funny in the part, and luminous in the about-to-be released IT'S COMPLICATED which I have seen and will review soon--along with NINE (yes) AVATAR (yes) A SINGLE MAN (yes).
I am also getting ready for our big traditional Polish Christmas Eve with Polish relatives (yes, "Kulhawik" is Polish and is actually pronounced "kool-HAH'-veek") arriving from Connecticut. We'll be sitting down to the whitest dinner west of Bialystok--no meat--just fried fish, herring, boiled potatoes, pierogies (like Polish ravioli), sauerkraut with mushrooms, and maybe some "oplatki" and white bean soup to kick things off; there'll be enough gastro-combustible foods at that table to blow a new tunnel through the big dig. I can't wait.
And before I go, here's another sneak peak at a trailer for SHREK FOREVER due out next May. I like the fat pussycat. I have one just like her. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIlv9OgRnTM
Goodnight--
and stay tuned!
Monday, December 21, 2009
SNEAK PEAK AT 2010
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/ironman/
Goodnight--
and stay tuned!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
ON THE LAMB
Cindy and I have sought out the best places to eat all over New England. One night we ended up in an amazing little restaurant someone had recommended up a side street in Brattleboro VT. We were on foot and were sure we were lost. We kept passing by this old (and we thought abandoned) railroad car on the side of the road, until we realized that it was our destination. We walked up two cement steps, opened the door, and there before us was a gorgeous dining car, all candlelight, silver, and white linen, and the chef in his open kitchen turning out exquisite French cuisine. Does anybody know if this restaurant is still there??? I don't remember what it's called.
If I know Cindy (and I have known Cindy since she walked into my religion class when we were 14 years old at the Academy of Our lady of Mercy, Lauralton Hall. As teenagers, we used to stay up past midnight, cook up a whole pound of spaghetti with butter and cheese, and consume every strand--while also devouring a movie.) that lamb she's preparing for the lucky friends with whom she is staying will be delicious.
HLWT (Have lamb. Will travel.)
Goodnight--
and stay tuned!
BLIZZARD
In '78 I was an English teacher at Brookline High, and I remember being part of a telephone chain, calling teachers to say there'd be no school tomorrow. I remember thinking "tomorrow?" this thing is BIG!!! I was telling everyone "tomorrow" was just the beginning; make that three days--this thing is winding up and going nowhere, fast. Then it turned out to be A WEEK out of school--surpassing my wildest dreams.
It was insane. We saw the craziest things. People skiing down Mass Ave. Snow banks piled to second story windows. The guy next door --he was from Africa--he was trying to shovel his car out from under a six foot snowbank with a dust pan. Governor Mike Dukakis declaring a state of emergency while wearing a turtle neck sweater on TV--then we knew it was serious. Funny how years later, Mike in an army helmet atop a tank would make a different sort of sartorial impact.
So I'm waiting for it to snow. It's well after midnight. I think I just saw a few flakes. They're talking blizzard. I'll probably stay up and watch for awhile --Harvey is talking about a "wall of white." I've got that old feeling. Maybe I'll grab an aluminum chair and give my brother a call.
Goodnight--
and stay tuned!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
CHRISTMAS POPS /MY FAVORITE THINGS
But this week one of my colleagues asked for a list of favorite movies from all of the Boston Film Critics--and tonight, after two glasses of wine, I dashed off a few of mine:
Fanny and Alexander, The Celebration, Local Hero, Flesh and the Devil, The Parallax View, The Year of Living Dangerously, Reds, Call Northside 777, The Whole Wide World ,The Dead Zone.
And of course no list of mine would be complete without THE GODFATHER (1 & 2). There are many others. I will name them eventually. Would love your reactions! Have you seen these????
Goodnight
and stay tuned!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
STARS REACT!/"THE HURT LOCKER" RE-RELEASED!
It will be playing at the following:
AMC Liberty Tree Mall – Danvers
AMC Harvard Square – Cambridge
**************
The stars (or their publicists) are reacting to their good news! Here is a list of "official" statements from Fox Searchlight Golden Globe nominees:
STATEMENTS
Jeff Bridges, Actor, CRAZY HEART
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
“The Hollywood Foreign Press has been mighty fine to me over the past 30 years, and this year is especially sweet. I’m happy to share this nom with my buddies T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham for our CRAZY HEART theme song, and with our writer-director Scott Cooper and co-stars Maggie, Bob and Colin who helped make Bad Blake such a genuine character. I would like to dedicate this recognition to the memory of the late, great Stephen Bruton who brought his musical touch to every part of the picture.”
“THE WEARY KIND,” CRAZY HEART
Music & Lyrics by: Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
Ryan Bingham
"A year ago, I would have never imagined that I would be receiving such amazing news this morning – and I couldn’t be more excited! It’s already been such a remarkable experience being a part of this film, and working alongside such incredible talents as T Bone Burnett, Jeff Bridges, & Stephen Bruton. To be recognized today by the Hollywood Foreign Press for “The Weary Kind” – together with musical legend T Bone Burnett – is such an honor! What amazing company to be a part of."
T Bone Burnett
“Crazy Heart is a particularly meaningful and personal film to all of us who have worked on it from the very beginning. For the HFPA to recognize us with a nomination for “The Weary Kind” is a real honor, and to be included in the company of this incredible group of songwriters is truly gratifying.”
Robert Duvall, Actor/Producer, CRAZY HEART
“This is a film that certainly deserves any and all recognition that it gets, both the film and Jeff Bridges performance.”
Rob Carliner, Producer, CRAZY HEART
“We’re thrilled the HFPA has recognized an iconic American actor in an iconic American role.”
Mason Novick, Producer, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER
BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
“It’s an amazing honor to be included with all of these great films. Thank you to the HFPA for acknowledging our hard work and for recognizing everything that the cast and crew put into this film. I think it is very exciting that we can be a small, character driven film and still stand out and be recognized in a very competitive field. This was a year with a lot of big comedies and I’m glad that our movie stays with people.”
Jessica Tuchinsky, Producer, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER
BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
“We are so thrilled by this amazing acknowledgement and that people are responding to our little movie. I hope I can speak for everyone that worked on it--we truly love it and are proud to get this nomination . I am so grateful that the hard work of Marc Webb, Neustadter & Weber, Joseph and Zooey is being recognized.”
Steven Wolfe, Producer, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER
BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
“I’m so proud and excited that our film has received this nomination. What a great way to start the day! The making of “500 Days of Summer” has been an especially rewarding journey for me and I’m so thrilled to see the creative work by Mark Webb, Scott Neustadter & Michael Weber and the entire team has been embraced by so many”.
Marc Webb, Director, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER
BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
“It makes me humbled, honored, fidgety and warm that (500) has been acknowledged by the HFPA. Our team has a had a lot of fun so far - and we promise to drink a lot of vodka for the show.”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Actor, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
“These days it seems like the world's becoming one big international family and that's a good thing! That said, I'm particularly happy and grateful to be honored by The Hollywood Foreign Press, an association defined by it's international, or shall we say 'global' character. Movie making is so collaborative, the work I did in (500) DAYS OF SUMMER wouldn't even exist if not for the film's director Marc Webb, screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, and of course, my dear friend and sister-in-craft, Zooey Deschanel.”
Wes Anderson, Writer/Director/Producer, FANTASTIC MR. FOX
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“I am very touched to have received a Golden Globe nomination. I have always enjoyed meeting with the members of the HFPA over the years, but this is my first nomination, and I am very pleased that they like Fantastic Mr. Fox. It is wonderful acknowledgement of the work of my many, many very skilled collaborators on this stop-motion film!”
Jason Schwartzman, Actor, FANTASTIC MR. FOX
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“It’s such an honor for the film to be nominated especially considering the competition. I’m very proud for Wes and everyone who worked so hard to transform such a unique book into such a unique film.”
George Clooney, Actor, FANTASTIC MR. FOX
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
"Not a bad way to start a Tuesday."
Goodnight--
and stay tuned!
WATCH WGBH TONIGHT!!
So watch tonight at 7PM on WGBH.
More later...
stay tuned!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Some of the surprises? INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS received 4 nominations, including best picture and director for Quentin Tarantino. I mean the film was a kick-- no one takes his time building up a scene, then slowly extracting every last ounce of dramatic tension from it better than Quentin. But here it's in service of an outlandish and juvenile wish-fulfillment fantasy.
And how about Sandra Bullock being nominated in two categories for Best Actress?--one for the drama THE BLIND SIDE, and the other for the underrated comedy THE PROPOSAL. She was actually quite believable in both.
LA STREEP was nominated for two best actress performances as well, both comedies--IT'S COMPLICATED, which I saw tonight, and in which she glows as a giddily romantic girl of a certain age, and JULIE & JULIA-- for which I am predicting she'll win, unless she cancels herself out.
UP IN THE AIR (with the most nominations-six) stars George Clooney in an enormously charismatic performance; he will win, I think. The movie may also win Best Picture: Drama. It's toughest competition is the Oprah and Tyler Perry-backed film PRECIOUS which has had a lot of buzz. THE HURT LOCKER --the best of the three--will most likely lose. But I do think comedian Mo'Nique in her first dramatic role may win best supporting actress as the abusive mother in PRECIOUS. As for the heartbreaking debut performance of Gabourey Sidibe as the eponymous "Precious"? She has only to beat Carey Mulligan as the knowing ingenue in AN EDUCATION.
I think NINE will take Best Picture: Comedy or Musical category, if for no other reason than Sophia Loren who is featured here singing, walking, breathing, and driving around Rome in an open convertible with Daniel Day-Louis. It is the Hollywood Foreign Press Association who votes, after all.
Find out the results Sunday January 17, on "The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards" broadcast live coast to coast from the Beverly Hilton Hotel, 8-11PM (EST) on NBC!
Goodnight--
and stay tuned!
Monday, December 14, 2009
MOVIE REVIEW:THE HURT LOCKER
I finally saw it myself, and was deeply moved by its truth. It is a perfectly calibrated drama directed by the gifted Kathryn Bigelow. She's crafted a silently explosive (forgive the pun) thriller about the impact of war on an elite American military unit in Iraq whose expertise is ferreting out hidden bombs, and delicately dismantling them-- before they are dismantled. The film is based on the observations of screenwriter Mark Boal, a journalist who was actually in the field observing this ultra-dangerous work. There is little dialogue, and much tension; it resonates long after the film has ended, and works its way into the psyches of these soldiers long after they've left the battlefield. I have never seen a movie that so clearly communicates the adrenaline rush of war and its attendant addictive nature, as well as the sense of alienation experienced by those who return home; they suddenly find themselves lost in the landscape of everyday life, now rendered absurd. The film is not marred by politics; rather, the screenplay very closely observes an extreme state of being, and shows us its devastating effects.
The title itself is multi-layered: what is "the hurt locker"? Is it merely the suit worn to protect against the blast? Is it the literal box where the sergeant keeps the souvenirs of his death- defying missions, as a reminder that he has survived? Is it a metaphorical refuge from fear and pain? Or is it the place of fear and pain where he is forever locked in?
The movie may be many things, but it is not marred by politics; instead, it chooses to look very closely and clearly at an extreme state of being, while letting us experience the fall-out. This is one of the great things that movies can do: they let us in on the truth of an experience we might never have access to any other way. Only then can we decide what to do with that knowledge.
Golden Globe nominations are out tomorrow--I can hardly wait to see what comes up!
Good night--
and stay tuned!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS AWARDS!!
But first--A NEWS FLASH--the stars are out tonight!!! A BIG METEOR SHOWER called the "Geminid" meteor shower (because they emerge from the sky near the constellation of Gemini) is visible from 9PM till dawn, but best around midnight EST!!!
Now here's the latest on our earthbound stars. The big winner to emerge today in Boston is the
gripping war drama about an American military bomb-disposal squad in Iraq,
THE HURT LOCKER (it got my vote)and picked up a total of FIVE awards:
BEST PICTURE
BEST DIRECTOR--Kathryn Bigelow
BEST ACTOR--Jeremy Renner
BEST EDITING--Chris Innis and Bob Murawski
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY-- Barry Ackroyd
(THE HURT LOCKER was also named best picture by the L.A. Film Critics and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, as well as winning the 2008 Venice Film Festival's Grand Prize.)
BEST ACTRESS: Meryl Streep for her hilarious turn as the belovedly dotty French Chef Julia
Child in JULIE & JULIA.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: comedian Mo'Nique as the abusive mother of an obese teenage daughter and incest victim in PRECIOUS. PRECIOUS, in an odd turn of events, also tied for BEST ENSEMBLE CAST with a film a universe away in theme, style, and setting--STAR TREK!
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz as the meanest Nazi on the planet in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
BEST SCREENPLAY: Joel and Ethan Coen's A SERIOUS MAN
BEST DOCUMENTARY: THE COVE a heartbreaking dirty secret about the routine slaughter of dolphins
BEST ANIMATED FILM :The sappy "UP" (did not get my vote)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "SUMMER HOURS" (I fell asleeep)
BEST NEW FILMMAKER: Neill Blomkamp for DISTRICT 9 (this is worth a look)
That's it for tonight--Happy Hanukkah! I'm going out to look at the stars!
Goodnight--
and stay tuned!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
GOING DUTCH/ THEATRE REVIEW:A.R.T.'S BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
http://producten.hema.nl/
It got me thinking about some of my favorite things, people, and serendipitous occurrences-- Dutch.
One of my absolute favorite painters?--Vermeer.
One of my favorite actresses? Meryl Streep.
Once upon a time I had a housekeeper, a young Dutch woman who was actually a painter--Katya Esser--and one of her paintings currently hangs in my kitchen.
I once ran into Susan Sontag in an elevator in Amsterdam while covering a story on Vincent Van Gogh.
And of course, Dutch cocoa.
But enough. Tonight I saw a kickin' gospel musical at the A.R.T. --BEST OF BOTH WORLDS, part of the Shakespeare Exploded series--directed by Diane Paulus their fabulous new artistic director. Imagine Shakespeare's THE WINTER'S TALE (one of his more farfetched yarns) infused with R & B and rotating local gospel choirs! Grab the kids, grab granny-- and go! You WILL have a blast. It's a great story for a cold winter's night, about love and loss, death and redemption, all giving way to a glorious resurrection of the soul! And what soul--the voices will bring you to your feet--it's on at the Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square until January 3!!!
Tomorrow I vote with the Boston Society of Film Critics and I will post our year end selections right here on this blog BEFORE YOUR CAN READ THEM IN THE PAPER!
Good night--
and stay tuned!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
MOVIE REVIEW: UP IN THE AIR
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
MGM GRAND/ MOVIE REVIEW:BROKEN EMBRACES
Friday, December 4, 2009
MOVIE REVIEW: INVICTUS
Tomorrow--Penelope Cruz in BROKEN EMBRACES!!!
Goodnight--
and stay tuned!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
THE YOUNG VICTORIA
Emily (MacInnes) Somers, created, directed and choreographed this in Portland last week for her Medline glove division as a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. This was all her idea to help promote their new pink gloves. I don't know how she got so many employees, doctors and patients to participate, but it started to really catch on and they all had a lot of fun doing it.
When the video gets 1 million hits, Medline will be making a huge contribution to the hospital, as well as offering free mammograms for the community. Please check it out. It's an easy and great way to donate to a wonderful cause, and who hasn't been touched by breast cancer?Just click on the link below.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
A DEATH IN THE FAMILY
Saturday, November 28, 2009
UKRAINE'S GOT TALENT
Friday, November 27, 2009
DOUBLE FEATURE: NEW MOON/AN EDUCATION
To begin, there's NEW MOON which doesn't have a chance in hell of being nominated for an Oscar. It's the second installment in the ongoing teen vampire saga that has grabbed a certain segment of the female population by the throat and, well, you know. While the first one conveyed a modicum of sexual hunger, the second one truly sucks. It's all sublimated teen sexual desire, frustration dramatized to a fare-thee-well, literally. This time, Bella has two guys hardly able to contain themselves. There's Edward (Rob Pattinson) the gorgeous pale hunk of a vampire who dares not get too close to his lady love, lest he release the beast within and ruin her forever. In fact, he leaves! Re-enter Jacob (Taylor Lautner) the hairy, pumped-up Native American with a mouthful of dangerously white teeth, who dares not get too worked up around Bella lest he rip her face off and scar her for life. There's a lot of anguished mumbling, and funky dream sequences, and much leaping about in the forest, and bad acting, and references to Romeo and Juliet, though Shakespeare never did utter the likes of, "So. You're a werewolf." I went with my 81 year-old mother visiting for Thanksgving who kept saying, "what's going on? Why is his skin so white?"
There's a different sort of teen movie out there, which isn't really a teen movie at all: the completely winning--and very smart AN EDUCATION starring Carey Mulligan as a precocious 16 year old London teenager during the 60's who's bursting at the seams in her stuffy little middle class rowhouse. She dreams of Paris, sex, art--and Oxford! She meets an older, urbane Jewish businessman (Peter Sarsgaard) who sees her promise and offers to show her the world. What happens is enough to make you squirm, but don't avert your eyes. Though Nick Hornby's screenplay doesn't let anyone off the hook, it subtly redeems these characters, and gently guides our heroine through the moral complexities of her youthful odyssey. And Carey Mulligan? She's been compared to Audrey Hepburn. They share a certain innocent sophistication, but Mulligan is less beautiful and has stepped into much murkier moral territory. She's subtle and compelling on screen and may just be nominated for best actress for her role here.
I'm on a cinematic roll the next two weeks!
Goodnight--
and stay tuned!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
“And it was never but once a year that they were brought together anyway, and that was on the neutral, dereligionized ground of Thanksgiving, when everybody gets to eat the same thing, nobody sneaking off to eat funny stuff—no kugel, no gefilte fish, no bitter herbs, just one colossal turkey for two hundred and fifty million people—one colossal turkey feeds all. A moratorium on funny foods and funny ways and religious exclusivity, a moratorium on the three-thousand-year-old nostalgia of the Jews, a moratorium on Christ and the cross and the crucifixion for the Christians, when everyone in New Jersey and elsewhere can be more passive about their irrationalities than they are the rest of the year. A moratorium on all the grievances and resentments . . . for everyone in America who is suspicious of everyone else. It is the American pastoral par excellence and it lasts twenty-four hours.”
—Philip Roth
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Celtic Woman/THE BLIND SIDE/Adam Lambert
Monday, November 23, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
info at http://melanomafoundationne.org
Tonight I am off to see the Boston Lyric Opera Company's production of CARMEN at the Shubert Theatre!
Also--There are two magazine articles on me this month--check out the Fall 2009 issue of NORTHWEST LIFE--I'm on the cover!
And please read Dana Farber's PATHS OF PROGRESS--I'm featured on the back page. Many people know I am a three-time cancer survivor--melanoma and ovarian. Given that medical history, I am grateful to be here-- and blogging!!! No kidding. Entering the Blogosphere is beyond huge for me. I have been holding back all this time, but now feel like I have much to say.
If you have no idea who I am, please check out my bio:
Arts & Entertainment Critic
Joyce Kulhawik, arts and entertainment critic, has been an integral part of the region’s cultural landscape since 1978. Kulhawik has been instrumental in focusing attention on local artists and events, as well as covering all aspects of Broadway and Hollywood. Paul Newman, Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, and Barbara Streisand are among the many entertainment luminaries she has interviewed for WBZ-TV. Kulhawik is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics, and serves on the selection committee for The Elliot Norton Awards, Boston’s local theater awards, Kulhawik also serves on the board for the Massachusetts sports and entertainment commission.
Kulhawik was co-host of the weekly nationally syndicated movie review program “Hot Ticket” with veteran movie critic Leonard Maltin, and during the 1999-2000 television season, she was a continuing co-host on “Roger Ebert & The Movies,” the popular nationally syndicated film review program.
A three-time cancer survivor, Kulhawik was called upon to testify before Congress on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of The National Cancer Act. Since 1983 she has served as the Honorary Chairperson for the American Cancer Society’s “Daffodil Days,” helping to raise millions of dollars in the Society’s largest statewide spring fundraising event. The American Cancer Society has honored Kulhawik with its National Bronze Medal Award for her work. Kulhawik accepted the 1994 Gilda Radner Award from the Wellness Community in Greater Boston “for engendering inspiration in cancer patients via her own valiant fight with the disease.”
In 2009 Kulhawik was awarded the StageSource Theatre hero Award for her service and inspiration as a champion of Boston area theatre and the arts. Kulhawik also received the 2009 Boston Globe Arts Champion Award by the Boston Center for the Arts.
In 2008 Kulhawik received The Emerson College Award of Distinction. She was also recognized by the Boston City Council with a special resolution in honor of her 30-year career reporting on arts and entertainment in the Boston area, and her commitment to raising cancer awareness. Kulhawik was also named a member of the Boston/New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Silver Circle. This honor is given to distinguished individuals who have made significant contributions to television over the course of at least 25 years. In the spring of 2007, she was also inducted into the MCC Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Kulhawik received the Community Spirit Award at the 2006 New England Women’s Leadership Awards, the longest running event in Boston honoring the achievements of women.
In May 2002, Kulhawik received an Honorary Doctorate in Communications from her alma mater, Simmons College in Boston. Kulhawik also received a 2001 Boston/New England Emmy Award for WBZ-TV 's Outstanding Team Coverage of Ground Zero. Kulhawik also starred in the WBZ-TV Emmy award-winning promotion “The Look” for Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.
In 1994 the Berklee College of Music honored Kulhawik for her many contributions to the Boston arts community by establishing a $25,000 newly endowed scholarship in her name, in perpetuity. In 1995 the Lyric Stage Company honored Kulhawik with their Arts Support Award. In 1990 she was the recipient of The Boston Theatre District Award, which is presented annually to a Bostonian who has made a significant contribution to the stage, screen, and/or television. Previous recipients include Lee Remick, Bette Davis, Ray Bolger, Jane Curtin, and Jane Alexander. Additionally, Kulhawik was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by her high school, The Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, Lauralton Hall, in 1982.
Kulhawik joined WBZ-TV in 1978 as an associate producer and tipster for “Evening Magazine.” In 1981 she became the station’s arts and entertainment reporter covering all aspects of art, entertainment and pop culture and played a key role in the public service campaign, “You Gotta Have Arts!” As part of the campaign, Kulhawik hosted the station’s Emmy Award-winning “You Gotta Have Arts!” magazine program during its one year run, as well as three specials, the first of which received an Emmy Award in 1982. She also presented “Arts Breaks,” sixty-second spots featuring local artists, museums, and cultural events. From 1982 through 1985 Kulhawik served as co-anchor of the station’s “Live on 4” newscast.
Kulhawik received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English & Secondary Education from Simmons College in 1974. One of the top two graduating seniors at Simmons, Kulhawik received the prestigious Crown Zellerbach Award and a full fellowship from the University of Vermont, where she received her MAT in English/Education in 1977. She taught English at Brookline High School from 1976 through 1978 and at the Boston Architectural Center from 1977 through 1979.
A talented musician, Kulhawik plays the piano and has sung professionally. She was the soloist and organist for seven years at her parish church in her home state of Connecticut. She resides
with her husband and daughter in the greater Boston area.
That's it for today. I promise not to be so longwinded in the future.