Oscars!!

Hi friends! Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year. I actually just considered the idea of moving my birthday to oscar day, because I unfortunately was born on one of the most unfortunate days to be born and have always hated my birthday, and what better day to have it than oscar day! Anyway, I've been extremely lazy about writing up my feelings on all of the movies I've seen. It's not like I haven't seen any movies, either. I think we've seen most of the films that have been nominated for something. We've definitely caught all of the best picture noms, so here are my thoughts on those:

Avatar -- it was certainly impressive to look at, and given the ticket sales, I'm 99% sure if you're reading this, you saw the movie. The storyline was nothing special, but it was easy to follow, which is what a lot of people go for in movies.

Hurt Locker -- I wasn't the biggest fan, but I would LOVE to see a woman win best director, so I'm pulling for Kathryn Bigelow.

Precious -- this was a really hard movie to watch, but everyone was fantastic in it!

District 9 -- one of the few blockbusters I will admit to really enjoying!

A serious man -- typical dark Coen brothers movie, so of course Toney and I loved it.

Up in the Air -- my pic for best picture even though it won't win. It was REALLY great, and also had amazing performances.

Up -- we all know I loved this one!

Blind Side -- I really wanted to hate it, but I really actually loved it. I'll even admit that Sandra Bullock was amazing, even though I really want Meryl Streep to win.

Ingluorious Basterds -- I'm pretty sure if you know me and read this blog, you know my feelings on this. (If you don't know, I heart Tarantino, and I hearted this movie).

An Education -- another surprisingly great movie! I thought it was fabulous, so everyone should go see this.

All in all, I liked all of the best pictures. I think best picture and best director will be split this year between Avatar and The Hurt Locker. I want to say director will go to Kathryn Bigelow. It's about time a woman won the award, and even though I didn't like the movie, it got GREAT reviews and a lot of people loved it. I think Avatar will take best picture because of it's giant ticket sales and sort of epic leap forward as far as how it was made and the years that were spent going into its production.

I'll be taking notes during the ceremony, so check back later!!!

Oscar Noms!!! (it's my favorite time of year!)

Here are the big ones ... I didn't include some of the smaller categories, but you can find them here: http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/82/nominees.html


Actor in a Leading Role

* Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
* George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
* Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
* Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
* Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role

* Matt Damon in “Invictus”
* Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
* Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
* Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
* Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role

* Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
* Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
* Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
* Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
* Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role

* Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
* Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
* Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
* Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
* Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Animated Feature Film

* “Coraline” Henry Selick
* “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
* “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
* “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
* “Up” Pete Docter

Directing

* “Avatar” James Cameron
* “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
* “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
* “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman
Foreign Language Film

* “Ajami” Israel
* “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
* “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
* “Un Prophète” France
* “The White Ribbon” Germany

Music (Original Score)

* “Avatar” James Horner
* “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
* “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
* “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
* “Up” Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)

* “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
* “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
* “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture

* “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
* “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
* “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
* “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
* “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
* “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
* “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
* “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
* “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

The Golden Globes ... (yay for Meryl and Jeff!)

Mo'nique – supporting actress for Precious. So gracious, and so deserving. If y'all haven't see this movie, Mo'nique plays the most hideous person you can possibly imagine, and after watching her tonight it's amazing how different her personality is from the character she portrayed.

Toni Collette – lead actress in a TV series (comedy or musical); I've never seen the United States of Tara, but I do like Toni Collette! ☺

John Lithgow – supporting actor tv series; I heart Dexter! I haven't seen his season yet, but I can't wait!!!!

Best animated feature film – Up; not surprising, but I was pulling for the Fantastic Mr. Fox for an upset.

Michael C. Hall – lead actor in a drama series; this was a TOUGH category, but he's SOOOO amazing in Dexter that I think he was the right choice!

Julianna Margolis – lead actress in a drama series; I've never watched The Good Wife, but she was great on ER back in the day.

Best original song – The Weary Kind from Crazy Heart; I like when the underdogs win these categories. It seems fitting that a movie about a broken musician should win best song.

Best original score – Guy from Up! It was a really sweet score.

Amy Adams is preggo!!! I love her, so that made me happy.

Best miniseries/TV movie – Grey Gardens; Again, I didn't see this, but I heard it was pretty phenomenal.

Meryl Streep – best actress in a comedy/musical; I mean, her main competition was herself, so OF COURSE she was going to win. I love her. I love that everything she is in earns her a nomination. She is the best actress of all time. In my opinion.

Kevin Bacon – Best actor in a tv movie for Taking Chances. I love that he and Keira Sedgwick are such an amazing couple. I haven't seen Taking Chances, but we all know Kevin Bacon, so good job!

Drew Barrymore – best actress in a tv movie for Grey Gardens; she beat out her co-star Jessica Lange, and how sweet was it that Justin Long was there with her?

Best Screenplay – Jason Reitman for Up in the Air. Great movie, great story, so it had to be a great screenplay.

Alec Baldwin wins AGAIN (for the 3rd time) for best actor in a comedy series. He's unstoppable.

Best foreign language film – The White Ribbon; I'm going to have to see this movie. I've heard amazing things about it, so it's on my list! (Did anyone else see our governor in the audience?)

Best Drama Series – Mad Men! SUCH AN AMAZING SEASON this year, so well deserved!!!!

Chloe Sevigny – best supporting actress in a tv series. I wanted Jane Lynch, but that's ok.

Christoph Waltz – best supporting actor in a movie (Drama); anyone who saw Ingluorious Basterds knows why. He was amazing.

Robert De Niro and Leo presented Martin Scorsese with the Cecil DeMille award. The thing I like about Scorsese (as a person) is that he knows his movie history. He was naming off past directors and their work, and George Lucas was making faces like "who's that?" Scorsese knows his stuff, and he's lost enough times to be humble even though he's magnificent. Just like Meryl. ☺

James Cameron – best director for Avatar; I had him picked, but part of me was hoping for Kathyrn Bigelow for the Hurt Locker. I didn't even LIKE the Hurt Locker that much (don't judge me), but I like when women directors win, and James Cameron is a big jerk. He did give props to Katherine (his ex-wife), though, so that was nice of him at least.

Glee – best musical/comedy TV series!! I HEART GLEE! So that made me happy.

Best Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical) – The Hangover??? I mean it was funny, but seriously?

Best actress in a movie (drama) – Sanda Bullock???? What is going on!?!?!?!??!

Best Actor in a movie (comedy) – Robert Downey, Jr. for Sherlock Holmes. He was awesome, so I feel better about that one.

Best actor in a movie (Drama) – Jeff Bridges; I haven't seen it, but I hear he deserves it. And he's the Dude.

Avatar for best picture; not shocking considering the pull it's brought in. I think Up in the Air was a better movie, but I think these awards shows are really hurting for public interest, and James Cameron gave us a blockbuster that is cutting edge and amazing to watch. I agreed with his director award, but I think best picture could have (and should have) gone to one of the more original storylines with amazing casts rather than one that just looked pretty.

Invictus!

I assume anyone who reads this blog knows me pretty well, and you probably are aware of my love for Clint Eastwood. The first time I read about this movie, I couldn't even contain my excitement. In my opinion Morgan Freeman was born to play Nelson Mandela; he was the right age and has the right smile, and everyone knows the man can move anyone with his voice. By the same logic, Clint Eastwood is probably one of a very few directors who could make an inspiring movie that isn't overly cheesy, and more importantly, make an underdog team winning secondary to the overall theme of the movie. I kept reading reviews that he didn't touch on the racism or the gritty hard details of what was going on in post-apartheid South Africa, but I felt like that's not what Invictus was about. It was about the beginnings of bringing people together, and more importantly it was about forgiveness. Eastwood touched on the tensions between Africans and Africanas, and you could certainly feel it at the beginning, and as the movie went on, we saw the black and white security guards playing rugby together, and the chips on the shoulders disappear as the Springboks rugby team becomes a nationwide common interest. The movie was relatively simple; there was barely a soundtrack, and there were no crazy special effects. It was just focused and driven to succeed. Eastwood didn't build up a lot of suspense for the games; I knew going into it that they were going to win. It was the moments where we saw people come together that I felt like people were "winning" (without sounding too cheesy).

I read about how Invictus was more about rugby than Mandela, but I think this was Eastwood's way of making us feel the way Mandela made his countrymen feel. "The inspirational true story" of whatever is almost always about a sporting event. Sports are a means of bringing people together, both as spectators and as players. Whether it's a backyard game of soccer, summer league swim meet, little league baseball, high school football, college basketball, or the olympics, sports are fun and challenging and you're always cheering for someone. Invictus was no different from Rudy as far as inspiration goes, except that we were cheering for Nelson Mandela to channel the hopes of the rainbow country into one event for one day. Anyone who has followed Mandela's life knows he inspired his people, and that it wasn't easy, but this was a true story, and on this one day he managed to achieve something that could not have been done by anyone else in history. That's what Clint Eastwood wanted us to feel.


There is a scene where Mandela and Francois Pienaar sit down for tea, and Mandela asks the rugby star how he motivates his team. He says simply that he leads by example, which is exactly how Mandela motivated his country. He spent 27 years in prison, and came out smiling that signature smile rather than being bitter and vengeful. At 72 years old, he could have been, and absolutely had a right to be, the quintessential bitter old man, but instead he refused to settle for anything short of compassion for his people.

Overall, Eastwood managed to capture the feelings of years and years of Mandela's efforts into a single movie, and I think that the emotions he evoked from this movie create a whole new dimension of directorial success.

I'm reposting the poem "Invictus" because it's not hard to imagine how a poem like this could have been written for a man like Mandela.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

and the winner is...

Lil' C wanted to bring the "buck" back, the hip hop boys get together and dance to my current favorite song Beggin' by MadCon.

I made an executive decision to not write about every dance the judges request because I've already commented on them previously and my blogs get too long, so unless it was different, I won't mention it.

Mary wanted to see Ryan and Ashleigh choreograph their own Jive (to a song that Lacey Schwimmer used in DWTS when she was paired with Lance Bass. Don't ask me why or how I remember that). It was pretty cute; Toney and I are wondering if one of them will be a pro on DWTS like Lacey, Dmitry, and Chelsie.

Next Leona Lewis sang the theme to Avatar (which is supposed to be really great); I'm not sure what she was wearing, or whether she and James Cameron are hoping for another "My heart will go on" type of theme song, but I wasn't a fan of this one. It was nominated for a Golden Globe for best original song, so who knows.

The Groovaloos were on!!!! I love them. They are amazing. I loved them when they won that stupid international dance competition show (The world of dance) that was only on for one season. I hope Legacy joins them.

Russell came out crying because his knee was messed up and Cat's mic was off, but she's the best hostess ever, so she was cool about all of it. Ryan was holding Russell up when Cat announced he was the first one off tonight.

Adam Lambert … oh I loved him so much when he was on American Idol, and I was nervous about this song after all the weirdness with the album cover and the controversy with his dance moves on live TV, but the song was pretty good. It reminded me of some of 80's rock ballads (Bon Jovi or White Snake?), but better.

Second off was Ashleigh. I'm pretty sure she and Ryan were only in the top six so people could see them dance together, which did make me tear up a bit, so I can't complain.

Adam requested the Travis Wall Mr. and Mrs. Smith routine with Ellenore and Legacy. I just want to say that on every blog and even on this show that listed people's favorite dances of the season, Ellenore is in consistently more dances than anyone else. Ellenore came in 4th, which is pretty awesome even though I think she should have come in higher.

WHOA Kathryn was 3rd. I didn't expect that.

I wasn't watching J.Lo until Cat pointed out old faces, so then I rewatched it and thought I spotted Karen from this season, Katee from season 4, and Kayla from last season. That made me happy since I don't like J.Lo much.

And the winner is …. RUSSELL!!! I do love when underdogs win! He just ripped off his shirt. And his knee looks ok now; it's amazing what adrenaline will do!

Alice in Wonderland FULL TRAILER!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!

SYTYCD Finals!

Ryan and Kathryn – samba

Ok; we get it. Ryan is hot (and apparently an "Italian stallion"). Kathryn is hot. This was a pretty amazing dance. The judges were really excited about it. Adam said the show should be called "the rise of Kathryn."

Ellenore and Jakob – Tyce DiOrio broadway

Those were some HIGH kicks! And Leaps! These two are my favorites, and I love Tyce's choreography, so this was a great routine for me. The judges were super enthusiastic and complimented both of them.

Russell and Ashleigh – Sonya's contemporary jazz

I felt like Russell looked amazing, but Ashleigh wasn't hitting it quite right for me. I think it's because she makes weird faces or they had wind blowing on her the whole time. The judges basically said that Ashleigh looked nice, but Russell was outstanding.

Ellenore and Ryan – Jazz

Ellenore makes an amazing robot person. She blew Ryan away. Nigel said it was more techno than jazz so he was uncomfortable, but that they did what was asked of them. Mary said she loved it because it was different. Adam called Ellenore Gary the choreographer's muse and that Ryan was a great utility player in the relationship.

Ashleigh and Jakob – Foxtrot

It looked pretty nice. Nigel said Ashleigh was fantastic, but overall the routine wasn't as strong as others tonight. Mary said Ashleigh did the style beautiful and that Jakob needs a little work on something. Adam said Ashleigh was lovely and that they showed each other off beautifully.

Ellenore and Russell – Paso Doble

Wow. That was probably my favorite paso on this show. Ellenore played the cape well. ;) Nigel said Russell was passionate and fiery, but nowhere near as passionate as Ellenore. Mary called Ellenore a Spanish vixen who fired it up, and while Russell didn't have that technique down like Ellenore, but he was on fire tonight. Adam said Rusell was great, and Ellenore was magnificent.

Jakob and Kathryn – contemporary Dwight and Desmond

This was a really beautiful dance; Jakob is just amazing, and Kathyrn looked fantastic too. They got a standing ovation from the judges and the crowd. I don't know much about dance, but I remember watcing Desmond Richardson on YouTube when the judges compared Will of season 4 to him, and I was blown away by him. I just had to share that. I love Desmond and Dwight and wish they did more choreography for the show.Nigel said they just stopped the show and called Kathryn his favorite girl. He said that Jakob should join Desmond's company. Mary was crying, and Adam was also close to tears.

Ryan and Ashleigh – Travis Wall contemporary

So we finally get to see the married couple dance, and of course they put them at the end so everyone will remember the dance. It was sweet. Nigel said they did well tonight. Ryan was crying because he loves his wife. Mary said this night will be a great memory for them. Adam asked how it felt for them, and Ashleigh said (through tears) that it was perfect. Adam said it was worth watching them for the tenderness of the dance.

Russell and Kathryn – Hip Hop

Ruseell just hits it so much harder then Kathryn, but she held her own. Nigel said it was great. Mary screamed, and Adam was also excited about it.


Overall, I think Ryan and Ashleigh should go first, and I think Jakob will win the whole thing. I don't know which way it will go between Ellenore and Kathryn; I would like to say Ellenore will be the top girl, but it depends on the voting, and the judges sure were loving on Kathryn tonight.

Some favorites: