Johnny Carson - Jimmy Stewart - Beau Poem (via spockster59)
I love you, Jimmy Stewart. I love you, dogs.
Laura picks the Oscars
Here are my picks for the Oscars:
BEST PICTURE The Hurt Locker
BEST DIRECTOR Katheryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
BEST ACTOR — Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart
BEST ACTRESS — Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR — Christoph Waltz for Inglorious Basterds
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS — Mo’Nique for Precious
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY — Inglorious Basterds
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY — Up In The Air
BEST ART DIRECTION — Avatar
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE — Up
BEST FOREIGN FILM — The White Ribbon
BEST DOCUMENTARY — Food Inc
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT — Music By Prudence
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT — The Door
BEST ANIMATED SHORT — A Matter Of Loaf And Death
BEST SCORE — Up
BEST SONG — “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart
BEST SOUND EDITING — Avatar
BEST SOUND MIXING — Avatar
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY — Hurt Locker
BEST MAKEUP — Star Trek
BEST COSTUME DESIGN — Coco before Chanel
BEST FILM EDITING — The Hurt Locker
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS — Avatar
Best Picture Show
For the first time in…I can’t remember how long…I have seen all of the Best Picture nominees. What is ridiculous about that fact is that there are now ten nominees. I spent way too much money at the movies this year. That said, because I’ve seen them all and because I feel like it, I’m going to give quick reviews for all ten Best Picture nominees.
I’ll start off by saying that I think Crazy Heart should have been nominated over the Blind Side. I liked Star Trek and can understand why it wouldn’t have been picked, but I was a little surprised that didn’t get a nod.
Avatar - I give this movie a B-. Note: that grade is only as high as it is because of the special effects. The visuals were amazing and I think James Cameron deserves the praise he is getting for the visuals. Take the visuals out and I give the movie a D. The acting is not good and I felt little chemistry between the Na’vi and the humans. The plot is terrible and pretentious and irritated the hell out of me. I know that some people feel that you should be able to go to a movie and enjoy it on a “dumbed down” level, not over-think things. That’s fine, but a Best Picture should be an all -around Best Picture and Avatar was not that. I think James Cameron could possibly win Best Director and Avatar will sweep all technical Oscars for which it received nominations.
The Blind Side - This movie gets a B-. It’s a successful at being a feel-good movie. It was a movie made for the masses and succeeded at reaching a large audience. I may be up-selling it because I’m (unfortunately) a little biased. I was shocked this movie got nominated and I think it’s nomination shows that it is a weak year for movies. Besides Sandra Bullock and Quinton Aaron, the acting from supporting roles is far from spectacular (and, in the case of the young son, extremely irritating). The dialogue is not super great. I think most other years, this movie gets passed over.
District 9 - This was my favorite sci-fi flick of the year, although Star Trek was probably more entertaining (as far as special effects are concerned). I enjoyed the special effects but I was more struck by the acting of Sharlto Copley (Wikus). I also think that it succeeded at getting the audience to think without necessarily rubbing an agenda in the audience’s face. I thought it was a really interesting and original story. I give it an A-.
An Education - I really, really liked this movie, although I can see why it might affect females more than males in the audience. I enjoyed the costumes, props and scene design and I thought Carey Mulligan was brilliant. I think the Best Actress award will go to Meryl Streep or Sandra Bullock, but if they end up canceling each other out it could and should go to Mulligan. All of the supporting actors were top notch. It might be slow or boring for others, but it was right up my alley. I give it an A-.
The Hurt Locker - I saw this movie before it had a ton of hype. It’s very intense, difficult to watch at times. I know others disagree but I felt like it’s a war movie without trying to get you to feel one way (or another) about the war from a political standpoint. The acting is fantastic and I think this is one of the best directing jobs I’ve seen in a long time. The Hurt Locker gets an A and it is my pick for Best Picture. Kathryn Bigelow should win Best Director for this film.
Inglourious Basterds - This turned out to be one of my favorite Quentin Tarantino movies. My sister thought it was way too gory but, uh, it’s a Tarantino movie so what do you expect? The writing is great, I wish it would win for Best Screenplay. It’s beautifully directed. Hey, it’s a movie Brad Pitt is in where I’m not hoping that he’ll just shut up. And Christopher Waltz? Do I even need to address him? I give this movie an A-.
Precious - Precious is not fun to watch. At all. I think Loren, Courtney and I left this movie and let out a collective “ugh.” The acting in this film is incredible. I can’t remember a time I hated a character so much played by someone I really love. Mo’Nique was amazing. I hope she continues to get these sorts of roles because she’s really fantastic. I already wrote a post addressing the white guilt issue, so I won’t go into that here. I give this movie a B.
A Serious Man - I was really shocked when this got nominated because I have heard so many mixed reviews for it. I have a feeling that if the Coen brothers were not well-known, this movie would have been ignored. It’s incredibly funny and incredibly dark, and I can see why most people would hate it or not see the point but I loved this movie. Michael Stuhlbarg is incredible in the lead role and I wish he would have received more attention for his acting. This screenplay is probably my favorite screenplay of the year, but I think it will lose out to Up in the Air. I give this movie an B+.
Up - The first fifteen minutes of this movie is absolutely heart-wrenching. I think the last time I felt so attached to an animated character (I didn’t ever see Wall-E) was maybe Mufasa or Simba in the Lion King, but the feeling I had here goes beyond that. I’m not a huge fan of animated movies but I absolutely loved this movie. I give it an A and it was, without a doubt, my favorite film of the year.
Up in the Air - I did not care about this movie. I spent most of the movie either bored or annoyed and waiting for something amazing to happen. That’s the danger of seeing a movie after the critics rave so much. I think that if any other person had been in George Clooney’s role, the movie would have failed. Anna Kendrick, however, was pretty great in her role and she deserves her supporting actress nomination (but will lose to Mo’Nique). I don’t love the screenplay but I think it will win for screenplay because it appears to be some sort of critic’s darling. I give this movie a C+.
![thedailywhat:
Threadless Tee of the Day: 79 days later, Hillary White’s inspiringly re-imaginative “Friendly Beasts” design finally gets the greenlight from Threadless, and is now available for purchase.
[threadless.]](http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ky99dxz6oX1qzpwi0o1_500.gif)
Threadless Tee of the Day: 79 days later, Hillary White’s inspiringly re-imaginative “Friendly Beasts” design finally gets the greenlight from Threadless, and is now available for purchase.
[threadless.]
Violet, Violet
Violet: Charlie Brown, we’ve been feeling awfully guilty about not giving you a Valentine this year. Here, I erased my name from this one. I’d like you to have it.
Schroeder: Hold on there! What do you think you’re doing? Who do you think you are? Where were you yesterday when everyone else was giving out Valentines? Is kindness and thoughtfulness something you can make retroactive? Don’t you think he has any feelings? You and your friends are the most thoughtless bunch I’ve ever known. You don’t care anything about Charlie Brown. You just hate to feel guilty. And now you have the nerve to come around one day later and offer him a used Valentine just to ease your conscience. Well let me tell you something, Charlie Brown doesn’t need your—
Charlie Brown: Don’t listen to him! I’ll take it.
I love Violet, she was my character when I was in ‘You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.’
Put it in, Put it in, Put it iiiiiiiiiiin
I did something this week that I’ve wanted to do for years now.
I went to my first hockey game. My friend Christine found Blackhawks tickets for $30 somehow and we went on Tuesday night. I had to miss Lost, so that should tell you how important this was to me. I’ve only been a fan of the Blackhawks for about a year now, but I really enjoy hockey and going to a game has been on my Chicago bucket list for a while.
This is what it looked like when we first walked in. The United Center is pretty big but not overwhelming like I thought. I was able to keep track of the puck the entire time, so it’s not like you’re squinting to see what’s going on. We sat in the third tier behind the Blackhawks goal for two periods, so the seats were pretty decent (especially at that price).
It was Tony Esposito Heritage Night when we went on Tuesday. He got to come out with his granddaughters and drop the puck.
Before coming to the game, my friend Ryan told me to make sure that I was there in time for the national anthem. He never told me why, but it’s because it’s a tradition for Blackhawks fans to cheer loudly throughout the national anthem. I thought it was funny, though I could see some people finding it offensive. Meh, don’t go to a Blackhawks game then.
The Blackhawks played the Dallas Stars who scored 3 goals but didn’t really dominate offensively. The Blackhawks had control of the puck most of the time, so that was fun to watch and anticipate goals (the goal anthem is this song by the Fratellis…basically you just scream ‘put it in’ and dance around a bit when they score).
Blackhawks and Stars tied, went into overtime and ended in a shootout. It took four tries, but the Hawks won!
I really had a great time. I love sporting events but this was just so much fun. We had some jerks in our section who were a little too drunk, I think I would have enjoyed it even more if I had had more to drink… alas, it was a weeknight. Ticket prices look to be really high for the rest of this year so I probably won’t be going back anytime soon, but I plan to go to another Blackhawks game next season.
