Oscars Oscars Oscars

The Oscars seem to be on everybody's minds, from Luke at www.lukecurtis.blogspot.com to Nathaniel at www.filmexperience.blogspot.com. I thought I'd offer my two cents in more than just comment form for who I predict being nominated. These early predictions (no precursors!) are fun. Some may come true, most probably won't. That's the best thing about the pre-precursor season: nothing is set in stone. So be prepared for a lot of text and, without further ado, here they are:

Best Picture (ranked from most likely to least likely):
Toy Story 3
The Kids Are All Right
The Social Network
Inception
The King's Speech
(Tier one above, tier two below)
The Fighter
Black Swan
Love and Other Drugs
Never Let Me Go
Somewhere

We know Toy Story 3 is in if they let Up in last year. Inception I have reservations about, if only because better films may come along, but it definitely captured the zeitgeist this summer, and it is Christopher Nolan's "time." The Academy felt so bad about The Dark Knight snub that they made the field ten-wide. They aren't ignoring Nolan again. The Kids Are All Right has probably had "front-runner" status for awhile (live-action films category) and I don't see any reason why it would lose its heat. The Social Network has gotten very positive early buzz, and its director (David Fincher) has been quite the news item because of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo business. He's safe. The King's Speech is the definition of Oscar bait. Royals, Geoffrey Rush, a true story, and royals. Lots of royals. I've only heard positive things, so I think it can pull off a nomination in a ten-wide field (I mean, An Education did last year and that was certainly less bait-y.)
The Fighter depends on the reviews. With good/great reviews, then the topic (boxer! inspirational!) it's in. Black Swan is probably the most potentially polarizing film on this list, but with ardent supporters (which it seems to have, are they Academy members?) it could break through. Love and Other Drugs feels like that Chocolat nom. waiting to happen. Except Chocolat was in the top 5, so why can't Love and Other Drugs be in the top 10? Never Let Me Go is the film I actually might have the least faith in for Oscar love, but Somewhere also seems iffy, but for different reasons. I give Never Let Me Go the edge because of the cast and that haunting trailer.

Best Director
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David Fincher, The Social Network
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Mike Leigh, Another Year
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Nolan has the whole "it's his time," as does Aronofsky. Nolan is probably the safer bet because his film has been released, grossed close to $700 million, and permeated pop culture. Black Swan probably won't come anywhere near $700 million (ah, in a perfect world!), but Darren Aronofsky can't be denied this many times.. can he? David Fincher seems to be a no-brainer, but Mike Leigh and David O. Russell are more long shots. Mike Leigh has pulled off this feat before (Vera Drake) where he gets nominated but his film doesn't, and given the warm reception Another Year has received, he might be safer than the film itself. And David O. Russell soars or sinks based on the reviews of The Fighter. Positive, he's probably in, negative, he's probably out.

More predictions in the coming days. What are your thoughts on my predictions so far?

Damn

It seems I have indeed lost ABC. I will find alternate ways of watching the broadcast, but it still sucks that I can't watch comfortably with a nice TV and a cozy couch to snuggle up in. But let's not dwell on the negative. Let's take a moment to look at something else lovely...

...and predictions will be up tomorrow!

What The Hell

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2010/03/01/cablevision-customers-in-new-york-area-may-miss-oscars-this-weekend/

I think I'd kill myself. Holy crap.

I'm Confused on Why I Love the Oscars

As the title says, I'm a bit confused as to why I love the Oscars, or cinema for that matter. I mean, I've been blogging for about four months, and I haven't given any background on myself as a lover of all things cinematical.

Well, it all started in 2007. What a weird year for film. The eventual Best Picture winner was, to put it nicely, crap that the Coen Brothers could have directed in their sleep, and almost nothing from that year (at least nothing that pops into my head immediately) will go on to be an instant classic. These were the first Academy Awards I watched. They sucked. Jon Stewart was given about 3 days to prepare and the films (besides Juno) were all meh. I also missed out on good awards shows like The Golden Globes (writer's strike) and the SAG Awards (not knowing these existed-ignorance). So why do I like film and awards season so much? Okay I'm going to try to remember what exactly turned me onto film now. This is going to be hard.

The name Salma Hayek keeps ringing a bell. All that is really coming back to me is this hate I had for not knowing who celebrities were. I think I lived under a rock. Before 2007, you could have asked me who Jennifer Aniston, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Katharine Hepburn, or Halle Berry was and I wouldn't have had an answer. Now I can't even imagine not knowing Katharine Hepburn or Leo; oh how times have changed. So from there I started Wikipedia'ing. I found out that you could click the name of somebody, and find out a whole lot out about that person. I was intriguied, and this is when my obsession with film came about. Once I started Wikipedia'ing the Oscars I was hooked.

The first Oscar film that I watched that year was Juno. I loved it. Still do. It's an ode to a pregnant teen backed by a smart (and hated by many) screenplay. I became obsessed with Oscar chances of this film, but didn't have much of an outlet until I eventually discovered Entertainment Weekly. Then I discovered film blogs. How I exactly came across "The Film Experience" I'll never know. I think I typed in "Oscars 2007 Predictions" and lo and behold the "Film Bitch Awards" came up. It took me awhile (a long while) to realize that the two blogs were written by Nathaniel. I mean, I knew they were connected, but how they were connected I wasn't sure. I was new to the game. Eventually I became obsessed with EW's Oscar watch, The Film Experience Blog, and had been dabbling in other blogs like Encore Entertainment until I finally realized "Hey, I want in on this." I had been writing for the school newspaper, and even the local newspaper, and thought "I can find another place to write: the web!" Even though I know most of my thoughts go out into cyberspace finding one reader if I'm lucky.

All throughout this process I slowly took over my dad's Netflix cue and added some delightfully old movies. I also discovered TCM and Netflix on demand available through my Xbox. I knew it had more of a purpose than just blowing people up 3 million times on Call of Duty 4. Katharine Hepburn was my first love. Even though the first film I saw of her (I think Woman of the Year) is not one of my favorites, she peaked my interest and remains my favorite actress to this very day. Still to this day I've been slowly discovering other greats (like Lauren Bacall and Greta Garbo) because I got a pretty late start in the game. I didn't come into this blog having seen a single Bacall or Garbo film and I'm still learning a ton about film, and it's more exciting than ever. It's a great escape from the mundane school work that 95% of school is comprised of (Proving AB is perpendicular to CQ? Really?)

As for awards season, who knows? Maybe it was the thrill that Diablo Cody, an ex-stripper, could win an Oscar for a film she decided to write one day. I think that that's it. I mean, that's a pretty good rags to riches story, and who doesn't love a good one of those?

I'm still learning so be patient. I mean, I still haven't seen a movie with Carole Lombard or Sophia Loren, but give me time. I'm getting there! Thanks for reading! Comment!

The PSATS and Kate Winslet?

So I was taking a Practice SAT this morning, and I get to the last part of the reading section and what do I find? The last reading section is all about novel to film adaptations. It started talking about Sense and Sensibility winning the Golden Globe, The Cider House Rules being a (yuck) good movie and winning Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars, and lastly about The Firm being a crap movie and making a lot of money, and a film based on the critically acclaimed novel Beloved failing to find an audience. What are the chances of this? And it has inspired me to list some of my favorite novel-film adaptations. I haven't read all of these, but nonetheless, I will list. Here they are, in some sort of order:

From Here to Eternity
Adaptation. (Does this count? I believe so. It's sort of based on The Orchid Thief)
Gone With the Wind
Dr. Strangelove
The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Last Picture Show
The Hours
The Godfather
Little Children
Ordinary People

Do you have any favorite novel to film adapations? Please, comment! Even if you don't!

Happy Birthday Sigourney!

Today Sigourn-gourn turns 60! Above, she's seen as her other-half, the ass-kicking female action star Ellen Ripley from the Alien series. Up next- Avatar, the new, "revolutionary" 3D spectacle from Aliens director James Cameron. Here's hoping for a second sci-fi Oscar nod for Sigourney! And to some more longevity in Hollywood, cause let's face it, who doesn't love Siogourney Weaver? She just makes everything better.

My least favorite, and most undeserved nominatons/wins for Best Supporting Actor since 2000. Why? Because, yet again it is another lazy summer day, so why not?




Paul Giamatti- Cinderlla Man
No matter how many films/HBO, Emmy-baiting minseries I see this man in, I will NEVER understand the appeal. Especially not here. After awhile you just want Russell Crowe to sock him. Awhile=3 minutes of screen time.

Ethan Hawke- Training Day
As far as I'm concerned, this film deserved zero nominations. How Denzel won for Best Actor over the likes of Tom Wilkinson or Russell Crowe I'll never know. Hey, that was the second time I mentioned Russell Crowe. Maybe I should tag him...

Jon Voight- Ali
Meh. Nowhere near Oscar-worthy.

Morgan Freeman- Million Dollar Baby
I'm happy to say Freeman can always be introduced as "Academy Award winner..." but for the wrong film and about 15 years too late. At times it's hard to understand what the hell he is even saying as he narrates the film that unfortunately allows Hilary Swank to be introduced as "Two time Academy Award winner..."

Javier Bardem- No Country For Old Men
Well, in a film that was over-hyped, nothing was more over-hyped than Bardem's one note performance as a scary (see: bad haircut!) sociopathic killer. This is one of the worst and dullest performances to ever be given an Oscar. If I had included EVERY Best Supporting Actor winner since the category was introduced, this would be in the top three.