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February 28, 2011  

oscars 2010: the mediocre, the bad, and the okay…

Well it brings me no pleasure to say that this year’s Oscar telecast was sort of a bust.  And I’m not talking about the ridiculously predictable winners (those should come as no surprise to any viewer who’s been around for the past few years).  It’s the fact that in my 17 times watching the Oscars, this was easily the most uneven, confusing, and poorly put together telecast thus far.  But, let’s start with the good moments…

Top 5 Best Moments of Oscars 2010
#5 – Presenters Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law
As most of the hosts’ banter went from painfully uninspired to just plain bizarre, it was refreshing to see some more old pros on the stage.  Downey Jr.  was charming as ever presenting Best Visual Effects with Jude Law, and it reminded (hopefully) the producers why you never leave the show in the hands of the kids…

#4 – Kirk Douglas gives the Oscar to Melissa Leo
In one of the more deserving wins of the night (in my humble opinion), Melissa Leo’s bad press was superseded by her great performance.  And thank goodness they were able to pull out at least some stops by featuring an actual legend during the telecast.  Kirk Douglas was charming and witty throughout, and Melissa Leo’s f-bomb at least provided some surprise for the evening…

#3 – Billy Crystal saves the day
Mr. Crystal (probably the all-time best host, in my book) put the flailing and unfortunate Franco/Hathaway duo to shame by appearing mid-way through the show to talk about Bob Hope.  He has just as much finesse and style as he did the last time he hosted.  The biggest downside to his typically hilarious and flawless appearance?  It just made me wish that he’d been hosting all along.  (Sorry Anne and James – Billy’s much more of a natural at this.)

#2 – Jeff and Sandra present the lead trophies
At last the show managed some prestige and some class.  Thanks to the eloquent words of Mr. Bridges and the effervescent charm and humor of Ms. Bullock, it felt like the Oscars again at last.  I’m just going to put it out there – if they insist on hiring celebrity actor duos as hosts, can we go for a Bridges/Bullock ticket next year?  They’re so natural on stage, and they’ve actually worked with many of the audience members.   I think the chemistry would be fantastic.

#1 – Cate Blanchett chimes in
After a series of missteps and odd choices in presentations and blips, Best Makeup provided a surprising breath of fresh air as Oscar vet Cate Blanchett gave her two cents following a particularly graphic clip from The Wolfman – “That’s gross.”  Definitely caused the biggest laughs of the night at our get-together.

…and the less fortunate portions
As for the reasoning behind the frustratingly hard-to-love ceremony, it seems to rest solely on choices made by the production team.  Where last year’s ceremony embraced the allure and elegance of the history of the Oscars with homages and speeches that had dignity and grace, the focus on youth culture this time around was a major backfire.  The Oscars should just come to realize that young Twitterers and Twihards will not be watching no matter what.  But us lifelong Oscarphiles will, so try catering to your demographic.

As much as I hate to say it, as Anne Hathaway and James Franco are wonderful actors, the two were a mess as hosts.  Between the awkwardly written banter and Franco’s apparent stoned state throughout, their moments on stage were a little too uneven for my taste.  In fact, as suggested by our roomful of viewers, Hathaway probably would’ve been better working solo, as her lone bits were far superior.  Franco really missed an opportunity by what appeared to be nerves, perhaps?

Aside from the hosts, who aren’t solely to blame, the camera work was a little strange.  Who were those random teenagers that kept showing up on screen?  Were they someone’s kids?  Whatever the reason, the night’s audience shots became a game of trying to locate any recognizable faces in a given frame.  One particular one had about a dozen folks in it, and the only one I knew was Kathryn Bigelow, tucked away in a corner.  And the Coen Bros. nose-picking fiasco was the pinnacle of the poor camera choices.  The whole night seemed to be going off without so much as a rehearsal beforehand.  All too messy and flaky it seemed.  And I will never forgive them for spending more time catering to kids with questionable taste by spending a good two or three minutes paying tribute to Twilight and then left the lifetime achievement recipients a mere few seconds of waving onstage before rushing to commercial.  That’s gross.

**How did you feel about this year’s awards?  Was I crazy to think they kind of stunk from a production standpoint?**
February 27, 2011  

oops! oscar predictions!

I know I’m terrible for waiting this long, but it truly slipped my mind!  Here are my hurried Oscar predictions for the night…

Best Picture – The King’s Speech
Best Director – Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)
Best Lead Actress – Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Best Lead Actor – Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
Best Supporting Actress – Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
Best Supporting Actor – Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Best Original Screenplay – The King’s Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay – The Social Network
Best Foreign Film – Incendies
Best Costume Design – The King’s Speech
Best Cinematography – True Grit
Best Art Direction – The King’s Speech
Best Film Editing – The King’s Speech
Best Visual Effects – Inception
Best Makeup – The Wolfman
Best Original Score – The King’s Speech
Best Sound Mixing – Inception
Best Sound Editing – Inception
Best Original Song – “We Belong Together” (Toy Story 3)
Best Animated Feature – Toy Story 3
Best Documentary Feature – Wasteland
Best Documentary Short – Strangers No More
Best Animated Short – Madagascar, A Journey Diary
Best Live Action Short – Na Wewe

February 26, 2011  

last chance to vote in the mock oscar poll!

Hello all – a reminder to all of you readers out there:  if you haven’t voted in the mock Oscar ballot poll yet, you have until midnight tonight to do so!  The winners will be announced tomorrow prior to the Oscar telecast.  If you want your voice heard for this first-ever Bloggers’ Choice Awards, then cast away!

February 17, 2011  

mock oscar poll (bloggers’ choice): PICK THE WINNERS!

The votes have been tallied!  After finalizing the mock Oscar ballot poll that I conducted, the nominees have been decided upon, and it’s time to choose your winners.  Through the lengthy process of following Academy procedures for tabulating, we were left with a few surprises.  Leading the nomination count pack was Black Swan with a sizable 11 nods, followed by The Fighter, The King’s Speech, andThe Social Network with eight apiece.  As far as big surprises go, the biggest came with frontrunner The King’s Speech missing out on a Best Picture and Best Lead Actor nod.  In addition, True Grit‘s haul was reduced from 10 to two in our balloting poll.  Academy favoriteBiutiful got nixed altogether, and confusion over its true status led Toy Story 3 to miss out on a screenplay nomination (How to Train Your Dragon led TS3 five to three).  And there was a bloodbath courtesy of Burlesque in the Original Song category – you guys love your Christina/Cher!  So let’s get to the nominations – and don’t forget to pick your winners!

Best Picture
http://i.polldaddy.com/poll.swf
Best Director
Best Lead Actor
http://i.polldaddy.com/poll.swf

Best Supporting Actress

http://i.polldaddy.com/poll.swf

Best Supporting Actor

http://i.polldaddy.com/poll.swf

Best Adapted Screenplay

http://i.polldaddy.com/poll.swf

Best Original Screenplay

Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Original Score
Best Costume Design
Best Original Song
http://i.polldaddy.com/poll.swf

Best Foreign-Language Film

Best Animated Feature
Best Documentary Feature
Best Visual Effects
Best Sound Mixing
Best Sound Editing
Best Film Editing
February 13, 2011  

best of 2010: take part in OSCAR-style ballot poll!

Hello all!  I’m opening the invitation to a poll I’m running to any and all that would like to participate!  I’m going to attempt to tally the votes of you wonderful readers and bloggers through an official balloting system, and we’re going to use Oscar’s method of bringing forth nominations (that really complicated mess of a system that I will try my best to fully understand and use appropriately).  So head on over to the poll to vote in any or all of the categories – your votes are much appreciated and much needed!  The announcement of the results will be made the week prior to the Oscars, when the poll closes.

January 27, 2011  

oscars 2010: what the acting nominees are up to in 2011

With the Oscar nominees now announced, it’s time to take a look at the upcoming projects of the newly bestowed honorees. Now, there are many project in the mix for the 20 people nominated, but only some have any stills released as of now. Check out the slideshow below for a preview of what’s to come from our prestigious 20…

January 25, 2011  

oscars have a few surprises yet…

Though Best Picture proved a pretty standard lineup (although not exactly with my predictions – more on that later) there were still a few surprises in this morning’s announcement. For starters, Julia Roberts still must have some swing in Hollywood, as the man she held a torch for, Javier Bardem, came in and pushed Robert Duvall out of the competition for Best Actor. Beyond that, John Hawkes (hometown Minnesota hero – woo!) snuck in for Best Supporting Actor, but unfortunately at the expense of Andrew Garfield. But you still gotta love the fun of a few surprises. A successful Oscar morning again!

[UPDATE]
Well it seems that the nomination leader – by my possibly incorrect count – is The King’s Speech with 12, True Grit managed 10, followed by The Social Network and Inception with eight each. The biggest surprises in the remaining category have got to be I Am Love in costume design (great choice, in my opinion) and the fact that 127 Hours went from “swiftly descending” to “six nominations.” And also, my proudest moment in predictions has got to be picking out The Tempest for costume design. Here’s how I did on predictions:

Best Picture (9/10)
Best Director (4/5)
Best Lead Actress (4/5)
Best Lead Actor (4/5)
Best Supporting Actress (4/5)
Best Supporting Actor (4/5)
Best Original Screenplay (5/5)
Best Adapted Screenplay (4/5)
Best Foreign Language Film (4/5)
Best Costume Design (4/5)
Best Cinematography (5/5)
Best Art Direction (4/5)
Best Film Editing (3/5)
Best Visual Effects (3/5)
Best Makeup (1/2)
Best Original Score (3/5)
Best Sound Mixing (4/5)
Best Sound Editing (3/5)
Best Original Song (3/4)
Best Animated Feature (2/3)
Best Documentary Feature (3/5)

…so all in all, better than last year’s predictions I believe, but just missing one on practically every category. Bummer Academy!

January 24, 2011  

final oscar predictions

Well it’s that time of year again… tomorrow morning’s announcement will bring us one step closer to Oscar night. So, though it seems hardly relevant this year due to precursor clean sweeps almost universally in most major categories (I’ll try to attempt making some bold choices here or there to avoid a yawn-fest, though I’ll probably regret it later), it’s time to make final predictions about what’s to come when Mo’Nique takes the stage tomorrow morning…

Best Picture
The Social Network
Black Swan
The King’s Speech
The Fighter
True Grit
Inception
Toy Story 3
The Kids Are All Right
Winter’s Bone
The Town

Best Director
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)
Christopher Nolan (Inception)
Ethan and Joel Coen (True Grit)

Best Lead Actress
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)

Best Lead Actor
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
James Franco (127 Hours)
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine)

Best Supporting Actress
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Amy Adams (The Fighter)
Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech)
Mila Kunis (Black Swan)
Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech)
Andrew Garfield (The Social Network)
Jeremy Renner (The Town)
John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone)

Best Original Screenplay
The King’s Speech
The Kids Are All Right
Inception
Another Year
The Fighter

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Social Network
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Rabbit Hole
Toy Story 3

Best Foreign Language Film
In a Better World
Dogtooth
Biutiful
Even the Rain
Incendies

Best Costume Design
True Grit
The King’s Speech
Black Swan
Alice in Wonderland
The Tempest

Best Cinematography
True Grit
Black Swan
The Social Network
Inception
The King’s Speech

Best Art Direction
Inception
True Grit
The King’s Speech
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan

Best Film Editing
The Social Network
True Grit
Black Swan
The King’s Speech
Inception

Best Visual Effects
Inception
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Alice in Wonderland
Tron Legacy
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Best Makeup
Alice in Wonderland
The Way Back
The Fighter

Best Original Score
The King’s Speech
Never Let Me Go
Inception
Alice in Wonderland
The Social Network

Best Sound Mixing
Inception
True Grit
Salt
The Social Network
Tron Legacy

Best Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
True Grit
The Town
Black Swan

Best Original Song
We Belong Together (Toy Story 3)
I See the Light (Tangled)
If I Rise (127 Hours)
Shine (Waiting for Superman)
You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me (Burlesque)

Best Animated Feature
Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon
Tangled

Best Documentary Feature
Waiting for Superman
Restrepo
Inside Job
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Enemies of the People

December 19, 2010  

december oscar talk

With the Globes and the SAG Awards nominees announced, it’s about time to make some revisions to the prediction round-up (in order of my confidence in their nomination likelihood).  Though very few adjustments were made from my November decisions in the Best Picture and lead categories, I decided to throw in a few wrenches in the supporting ones.  Share your thoughts!


Best Picture
The Social Network, The King’s Speech, The Fighter, Black Swan,
Winter’s Bone, 127 Hours, Toy Story 3, Inception, 
The Kids Are All Right, The Town

Best Lead Actress
Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right),
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone), Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole),
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

Best Lead Actor
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech), James Franco (127 Hours),
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Robert Duvall (Get Low),
Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter)

Best Supporting Actress
Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Amy Adams (The Fighter),
Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit),
Mila Kunis (Black Swan)

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale (The Fighter), Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech),
Bill Murray (Get Low), John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone),
Jeremy Renner (The Town)
October 7, 2010  

october oscar talk

Well, as the fall labors on, and my life continues to hang in limbo (the nomadic lifestyle – I don’t recommend it), October has arrived. And with it, a new batch of predictions from yours truly about the state of the Oscar race. So here are my latest predictions (in order of my confidence in their nomination potential) about the big six categories. Give me your input in the comments, compadres!

Best Picture

The King’s Speech, The Social Network, Inception, Toy Story 3,
Black Swan, True Grit, The Town, Another Year,
The Kids Are All Right, 127 Hours

Best Director

Christopher Nolan (Inception), David Fincher (The Social Network),
Danny Boyle (127 Hours), Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech),
Ben Affleck (The Town)

Best Lead Actress

Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right), Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Lesley Manville (Another Year), Hilary Swank (Conviction),
Diane Lane (Secretariat)

Best Lead Actor

Colin Firth (The King’s Speech), Robert Duvall (Get Low),
Jim Broadbent (Another Year), Jeff Bridges (True Grit),
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)

Best Supporting Actress

Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech),
Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom), Rebecca Hall (The Town),
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), Melissa Leo (The Fighter)

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale (The Fighter), Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech),
Bill Murray (Get Low), Andrew Garfield (The Social Network),
Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right)

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