Chaos Is A Friend of Mine

Oscar Nominated Short Films - Animated

Let's look at the films nominated for Best Animated Short:

Day and Night (USA - 6 minutes)

I was surprised that I had already seen this film. It's a Pixar short and I believe played before Toy Story 3. Day and Night meet and are initially wary of each other but soon learn to appreciate their differences.

The Gruffalo (UK - 27 minutes)

This film is based on a children's book. A mouse is walking through the woods looking for a nut and must use his wits to escape the hungry predators he encounters along the way.

Let's Pollute (USA - 6 minutes)

A satire of the 1950s educational films, this films instructs us on how to be better polluters.

The Lost Thing (Austrailia/UK - 15 minutes)

A boy finds a bizarre looking creature on the beach. After he realizes it's lost, he sets out to find out where it belongs.

Madagasgar, Carnet de Voyage (France - 11 minutes)

A travel journey about a vacation in Madagasgar.

Day and Night was a fun short that appeals to both adults and children. The Gruffalo was a fun fable that I can see my boys loving and wanting to watch over and over. Let's Pollute was hilarious - it was my personal favorite. I felt like The Lost Thing had a message about belonging or something that I wasn't quite grasping. Travis (who works with animation) said there was no message, that the filmmakers had probably created the cool looking creature and then crafted a weak story around it just to showcase the creature. Madagasgar was the most visually interesting but even with the subtitles I had trouble understanding what was going on in it.

This is a tough one to predict. I'm kind of thinking that Day and Night will win just because it's a Pixar production and they tend to win in the feature length best animation category. But Hollywood is full of environmentalists who would love the humor in Let's Pollute. I'll go with Let's Pollute as my predicted winner in this category.

 

83rd Academy Award Nominations

Oscar nominations are out! I can't believe how many of the movies I've already seen - I've never been this ahead of the game when the nominations came out before. The bolded line are the movies I've seen. I'm going to feature the six major categories today and I'll post the rest tomorrow.

Best Actor In A Leading Role

Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
Colin Firth in “The King's Speech”
James Franco in “127 Hours”

Best Actor In A Supporting Role

Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
John Hawkes in “Winter's Bone”
Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush in “The King's Speech”

I'm glad Jeremy Renner was nominated only because I didn't think The Town was that good and now I don't feel like I watched it for nothing. There's no way he will win.

Best Actress In A Leading Role

Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter's Bone”
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Best Actress In A Supporting Role

Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King's Speech”
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Best Directing

“Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
“The Fighter” David O. Russell
“The King's Speech” Tom Hooper
“The Social Network” David Fincher
“True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

 Best Picture

“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The Kids Are All Right”
“The King's Speech”
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”
“Toy Story 3”
“True Grit”
“Winter's Bone"

Only three more to see! I'm seeing 127 Hours on Saturday (I hope I don't faint!) and I have Winter's Bone here from Netflix waiting for me.

 

 

 

2010 Golden Globes

The 2010 movie award season is upon us! Movie award season is my football season with the Academy Awards being the Superbowl. First up is the 2010 Golden Globes which airs on January 16 and is hosted by the funniest man IN.THE.WORLD - Ricky Gervais. Even if you don't like award shows, he will make watching worth your while.

The Golden Globes are a pretty good predictor of which films will be nominated for Oscars so I try to see as many Golden Globe nominated films as I can. Here are the major nominations (I've bolded the films that I've already seen.):

Best Motion Picture - Drama

Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

Halle Berry - Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

I really don't want to see Rabbit Hole - I can't stomach films in which bad things happen to children - so I'll be saving that one for last.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg - The Fighter

I'm also not looking forward to seeing 127 Hours after hearing that people are fainting during it - yikes! Although, hopefully I would have the good sense to just look away from the screen before I actually fainted. I do love James Franco though. I think it's hilarious that he will be both nominated for an Oscar and appearing on General Hospital in the same year. He is no snob. And also he and I share a birthday!

Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical

Alice In Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist

Interesting that The Tourist is in this category. I haven't seen it but it certainly doesn't look like a comedy or musical.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical

Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway - Love And Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie - The Tourist
Julianne Moore - The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone - Easy A

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical

Johnny Depp - Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp - The Tourist
Paul Giamatti - Barney's Version
Jake Gyllenhaal - Love And Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey - Casino Jack

Best Animated Feature Film

Despicable Me
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Tangled
Toy Story 3

Okay, so this isn't really a major award category. I just included it because I've actually seen three of the five films! Yep, that's the place I am in my life right now.

The Golden Globes also include awards for TV shows and TV movies and mini-series but since I don't watch a lot of TV I don't focus on the television side. The only show nominated this year that I watch is Mad Men.  Why isn't hot Vampire Erik from True Blood nominated? Such a shame!

Movie Review - The Twilight Sage: Eclipse

They just keep getting better and better! I thought Eclipse was the best Twilight Saga movie yet. I think both Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson must have taken acting lessons since New Moon. Kristen Stewart's performance especially was markedly improved. I didn't find her annoying at all which I didn't think would ever be possible after how annoying she was in Twilight.

This movie finally lets Edward have the sense of humor that he has in all the books. Robert Pattinson is even hotter when he's allowed to lighten up and smile a bit instead of being so gloomy all the time.

I thought Melissa Rosenberg did a great job of leaving out and condensing a lot of the controlling behavior in the first part of the book that makes Edward look like an ass and a lot of other parts that were repetitive in the book. I think the movie was more focused and faster-paced (in a good way) than the book. Now I'm really looking forward to seeing how the Breaking Dawn movie (or movies) turns out!

2010 Oscar Predictions

Below is who I think WILL win in the six major categories. My predictions are based on buzz and intuition.

BEST PICTURE

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Up in the Air
Inglourious Basterds
Up
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
A Serious Man

BEST ACTOR

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

BEST ACTRESS

Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart

DIRECTOR

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
James Cameron - Avatar
Lee Daniels - Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

Who do you think will win?

2010 Oscar Sunday

Oscar Day is here! Since my last Oscar post I've seen District 9, Precious and The Blind Side. I've closed out the Best Director category, which to me includes the only movies that are serious contenders for Best Picture.

District 9 was a very strange movie about an aliens who have inhabited South Africa since the 1980s. They look like giant bugs but are an intelligent life form. The South Africans round them all up and make them live in refugee camps. The parallels to apartheid pretty much hit you over the head - the message is not subtle. The movie had tons of gore and action but it had a pretty good story as well. It was good but not Best Picture caliber.

Precious is about a black high school girl living in Harlem in the 1980s. She is abused by both her parents and has two children as a result of being raped by her father. The message of this movie was don't be too quick to judge - you never know what's going on behind closed doors. It also explored the culture of poverty in ways that will hopefully open people's eyes. This was an excruciatingly hard movie to watch but worth it.

The Blind Side is true story about a wealthy white Memphis family that take in a homeless black teenage boy. Going in, I thought the movie would be totally cheesy but it wasn't. It was really well done and had me teary from beginning to end. If I wasn't already a foster parent, I would become one after seeing this movie.

Both Precious and The Blind Side show how it takes one-on-one help and mentoring to help someone pull themselves up out of poverty. It's not as simple as "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps." Throwing money at the problem doesn't solve it either, it takes people down in the trenches, doing the work.

BEST PICTURE

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Up in the Air
Inglourious Basterds
Up
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
A Serious Man

BEST ACTOR

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

BEST ACTRESS

Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart

DIRECTOR

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
James Cameron - Avatar
Lee Daniels - Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Up
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Ajami
El Secreto de Sus Ojos
The Milk of Sorrow
Un Prophete
The White Ribbon

BEST FILM EDITING

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

ART DIRECTION

Avatar
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

2010 Oscar Update

Since my last Academy Award post, I've seen Up In the Air and The Hurt Locker.

I give Up in the Air five stars. I loved that it didn't follow the typical romantic comedy formula and kept you guessing right up until the end. The montages of people reacting to getting laid off were real people who had recently been laid off in real life - that added a real and heart-breaking touch. I'm not sure that Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick really had Oscar worthy performance though. They were both great but were they that great? I'll need to see the movies their competition are in to know for sure.

I give The Hurt Locker four stars. It was a great action movie and I found myself on pins and needles the entire time. The anxiety of the bomb squad soldiers was palpable in almost every scene. I didn't understand a lot of the military jargon and subtext but I still really enjoyed this movie.

BEST PICTURE

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Up in the Air
Inglourious Basterds
Up
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
A Serious Man

BEST ACTOR

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

BEST ACTRESS

Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart

DIRECTOR

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
James Cameron - Avatar
Lee Daniels - Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Up
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Ajami
El Secreto de Sus Ojos
The Milk of Sorrow
Un Prophete
The White Ribbon

BEST FILM EDITING

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

ART DIRECTION

Avatar
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

2010 Academy Award Nominations

The 2010 Oscar nominations were announced yesterday morning. This year there are TEN best picture nominations so I have my work cut out for me. AMC Theaters has a Best Picture Showcase every year where you can see all five nominees in one day. According to their Facebook page, they will be revealing this year's showcase plans by the end of the week. I'm anxious to see when they will do - I'm thinking they'll spread it over two days.

This list doesn't have every category, just the ones I consider to be the major ones. The movies I've already seen are in bold:

BEST PICTURE

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Up in the Air
Inglourious Basterds
Up
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
A Serious Man

BEST ACTOR

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

BEST ACTRESS

Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart

DIRECTOR

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
James Cameron - Avatar
Lee Daniels - Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Up
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Ajami
El Secreto de Sus Ojos
The Milk of Sorrow
Un Prophete
The White Ribbon

BEST FILM EDITING

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

ART DIRECTION

Avatar
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Countdown To the Golden Globes...

Award show season is here! I love the Golden Globes and the Oscars. Every year I try to watch as many of the nominated movies as I can. This year will be a challenge because we have three kids in the house now and one of them is a baby. Not too many people are willing or able to babysit three small kids. I've been focusing on the movies on DVD or pay-per-view for now.

Here are the Golden Globes nominations - the movies I've seen are in bold:

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

AVATAR
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
UP IN THE AIR

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

EMILY BLUNT - THE YOUNG VICTORIA
SANDRA BULLOCK - THE BLIND SIDE
HELEN MIRREN - THE LAST STATION
CAREY MULLIGAN - AN EDUCATION
GABOUREY SIDIBE - PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

JEFF BRIDGES - CRAZY HEART
GEORGE CLOONEY - UP IN THE AIR
COLIN FIRTH - A SINGLE MAN
MORGAN FREEMAN - INVICTUS
TOBEY MAGUIRE - BROTHERS

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
THE HANGOVER
IT’S COMPLICATED
JULIE & JULIA
NINE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

SANDRA BULLOCK - THE PROPOSAL
MARION COTILLARD - NINE
JULIA ROBERTS - DUPLICITY
MERYL STREEP - IT’S COMPLICATED
MERYL STREEP - JULIE & JULIA

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

MATT DAMON - THE INFORMANT!
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS - NINE
ROBERT DOWNEY JR - SHERLOCK HOLMES
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT - (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
MICHAEL STUHLBARG - A SERIOUS MAN

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS
CORALINE
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
UP

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BAARIA (ITALY)
BROKEN EMBRACES (SPAIN)
THE MAID (CHILE)
A PROPHET (UN PROPHETE) (FRANCE)
THE WHITE RIBBON (GERMANY)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

PENÉLOPE CRUZ - NINE
VERA FARMIGA - UP IN THE AIR
ANNA KENDRICK - UP IN THE AIR
MO’NIQUE - PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
JULIANNE MOORE - A SINGLE MAN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

MATT DAMON - INVICTUS
WOODY HARRELSON - THE MESSENGER
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER - THE LAST STATION
STANLEY TUCCI - THE LOVELY BONES
CHRISTOPH WALTZ - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE

KATHRYN BIGELOW - THE HURT LOCKER
JAMES CAMERON - AVATAR
CLINT EASTWOOD - INVICTUS
JASON REITMAN - UP IN THE AIR
QUENTIN TARANTINO - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE

NEILL BLOMKAMP, TERRI TATCHELL - DISTRICT 9
MARK BOAL - THE HURT LOCKER
NANCY MEYERS - IT'S COMPLICATED
JASON REITMAN, SHELDON TURNER - UP IN THE AIR
QUENTIN TARANTINO - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

There are still a lot of movies to be seen. Unfortunately most of the nominated movies aren't available on DVD yet. Travis and I are working on a plan to get a babysitter and go see Avatar. I have a feeling it will be nominated for quite a few Oscars too so it's a good one to see.

Weekend Cooking: Julie & Julia Movie Review

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads every weekend. Here's what she says about it:

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Travis and I watched Julie & Julia last night as part of our Christmas vacation Golden Globe nominee marathon. I thought it was a really fun movie. I didn't know much about Julia Child before I watched this and I was surprised at her charm and wit. Meryl Streep is spot-on in her portrayal of Child and the director did a great job of making her look gigantic compared to everyone else. (Child was six foot two inches tall.) Amy Adams is adorable as always. Her character Julie's blogging is actually entertaining and fun to watch. I wonder how much of the drama related to her blog was real and how much was embellished for more exciting storytelling. I recommend this movie to anyone looking for a fun, charming movie and especially to bloggers and/or foodies.