Oscar Rankings and Predictions

The Oscars are this Sunday... finally! While I'm happy this year is a bit unpredictable, it's also not fun because I KNOW I'm going to lose on my Oscar ballot at my party this weekend. Anyway, this is the first year that I've seen almost everything nominated in the main 6 six categories (I'm only missing 4 out of 34). So, here are my rankings in each of those categories (from best to worst, obviously) as well as my (probably) terrible predictions.

Best Picture
01. Zero Dark Thirty
02. Argo
03. Beasts of the Southern Wild
04. Django Unchained
05. Silver Linings Playbook
06. Life of Pi
07. Lincoln
08. Les Miserables
09. Amour (N/A)
Who Will Win: It seems momentum has shifted away from Lincoln (the borefest) and towards Argo. The only problem with this is that I actually would like it if Argo won so it probably won't. None of the films I have wanted to win has done so in the past few years. So I'm going with Lincoln because that (besides Les Mis pulling off some super upset) is the option that would piss me off the most.
Dark Horse: I think Argo, Silver Linings Playbook and Life of Pi could all conceivably win in this category. (And I would prefer any of those to Lincoln).

Best Director
01. Ang Lee - Life of Pi
02. Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild
03. David O'Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
04. Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
05. Michael Haneke - Amour (N/A)
Who Will Win: Since Ben Affleck has won every other award and he's not even nominated here, again, it's hard to say. I'm thinking it's down to Spielberg and Lee at this point.
Dark Horse: Michael Haneke is a bad ass and so revered that he could probably pull off the upset.

Best Actor
01. Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
02. Denzel Washington - Flight
03. Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
04. Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
05. Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Who WilL Win: Day-Lewis has got his third Oscar all locked up.
Dark Horse: I guess if there's an upset, it will be Phoenix. But besides Adele winning Best Song for Skyfall, this is the nights biggest lock.

Best Actress
01. Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
02. Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
03. Q. Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild
04. Naomi Watts - The Impossible
05. Emanuelle Riva - Amour (N/A)
Who Will Win: Again, who even knows. This category seems pretty wide open between Lawrence vs. Chastain vs. Riva.
Dark Horse: I'm still leaning towards Watts pulling off the big upset. Anyone with kids will likely vote for her.

Best Supporting Actor
01. Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
02. Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
03. Robert DeNiro - Silver Linings Playbook
04. Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
05. Alan Arkin - Argo
Who Will Win: I have no freaking idea... Jones??
Dark Horse: Again, I can see any one of these guys winning. This has to be the most wide open, unpredictable category of the night.

Best Supporting Actress
01. Amy Adams - The Master
02. Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
03. Sally Field - Lincoln
04. Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook
05. Helen Hunt - The Sessions (N/A)
Who Will Win: Hathaway, who will give another terribly earnest speech which will remind me again why I just can't give in to liking her.
Dark Horse: Field could certainly win this thing. But this seems like a two person race more than anything.

Oscar Nominations and Thoughts

Best Picture
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
THOUGHTS - Once you see the director category, it's pretty plain that Lincoln already has Best Picture wrapped up. Call it a day. There are at least five movies on this list better than Lincoln, but whatever.

Best Director
Michael Haneke - Amour
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Behn Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild
THOUGHTS - No Katherine Bigelow, no Ben Affleck?!?! WHAT?!?! Glad to see Zeitlin in there though.

Best Actor
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Denzel Washington - Flight
THOUGHTS - Now I don't feel so bad about missing out on the Sessions since John Hawkes was replaced with Phoenix. But I've seen all these movies and this seems about right.

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Q. Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild (Sorry, too lazy to check spelling!)
Naomi Watts - The Impossible
THOUGHTS - This sounds about right. Happy to see Wallis in there. I'm calling it now - Watts is going to win this thing.

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - Argo
Robert DeNiro - Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
THOUGHTS - I was hoping this category would have a few surprises - LEO! JASON CLARKE! EWAN! But, whatever. It's fine. Go DeNiro!

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook
THOUGHTS - They must have loved Silver Linings, huh? I love anyone from Animal Kingdom, and Weaver in particular so I'm glad she bumped out Kidman for the final spot.

Other random thoughts - No Perks of Being a Wallflower in Adapted Screenplay and no Looper in Original and that bums me out. But I am ready to hear the phrase, "Academy Award Winner Adele" re: Original Song.

Oscar Predictions

Oscar nominations are announced on Thursday so here is my yearly attempt at trying to guess what they will nominate in the main six categories.

Best Picture
-Best Picture can range anywhere between 5 and 10 nominees, so it's kind of difficult to guess the exact number. I'm going with 9.
THE SHOO INS
Argo
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
THE PROBABLES
Amour
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Moonrise Kingdom
Skyfall
FYC - The Perks of Being a Wallflower, maybe the best coming of age story ever filmed.

Best Director
Ben Affleck - Argo
Katherine Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty
Michael Haneke - Amour
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
FYC - Behn Zeitlin, who brought to life one of the most vivid, beautiful stories of the year.

Best Actor
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
John Hawkes - The Sessions
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Denzel Washington - Flight
FYC - Richard Gere, who charms and schemes his way through Arbitrage.

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Naomi Watts - The Impossible
FYC - Brit Marling, who is devilish and entrancing in Sound of My Voice.

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - Argo
Robert DeNiro - Silver Linings Playbook
Leonardo DiCaprio - Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
FYC - Nate Parker, who KILLS it in Arbitrage.
NOTE - I know the DiCaprio thing is far fetched at this point, but I have to hold out hope.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Nicole Kidman - The Paperboy
FYC - Samantha Barks, who gives the superior performance in Les Mis, and is arguably the only good thing about the whole mess.

Tomorrow - Top Ten Directors and Ensembles and coming soon reviews of The Impossible and Zero Dark Thirty!

Golden Globes Nominees & Thoughts

Subtitled: It Seems Like the Only Person Who Wants to Give Jason Clarke Any Loving is ME!

Best Picture - Drama
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
Thoughts - Glad to see SOMEONE finally liking Django Unchained. I'm psyched to finally see it next week!

Best Actor - Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Richard Gere - Arbitrage
John Hawkes - Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Denzel Washington - Flight
Thoughts - Richard Gere??? THAT changes everything!

Best Actress - Drama
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone
Helen Mirren - Hitchcock
Naomi Watts - The Impossible
Rachel Weisz - The Deep Blue Sea
Thoughts - I guess I'll have to suffer through The Deep Blue Sea. I attempted to watch it a few months ago but only made it through 20 minutes. I can't imagine how anyone sat through it long enough to figure out whether or not Weisz was good or not.

Best Picture - Comedy or Musical
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Silving Linings Playbook
Thoughts - Despite my love for Ewan McGregor, I really have NO interest in seeing this Yemen fishing movie.

Best Actress - Comedy or Musical
Emily Blunt - Salmon Fishing in Yemen
Judi Dench - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Maggie Smith - Quartet
Meryl Streep - Hope Springs
Thoughts - Guilt Trip must be REAL bad if even the Globes didn't nominate Streisand in this category.

Best Actor - Comedy or Musical
Jack Black - Bernie
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Bill Murray - Hyde Park on Hudson
Ewan McGregor - Salmon Fishing in Yemen
Thoughts - I really thought Bernie was insufferable. And I've heard that Hyde Park on Hudson was terrible. This category is a bit cray.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Nicole Kidman - The Paperboy
Thoughts - Kidman again! Perhaps this is the list that will transfer over to the Oscars?

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - Argo
Leonardo DiCaprio - Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
Thoughts - Finally, Leo!

Best Director
Ben Affleck - Argo
Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained

Screen Actors Guild Awards - Nominees and Thoughts

Critics groups have been announcing their nominees and winners for weeks now, but today marks the real start of award season as the Screen Actors Guild Awards announced their nominations. I'm told that Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained did not get their screeners out in time so that may be why there isn't a lot of love for them (disappointingly). Anyway, here are the movie nominees along with my thoughts on the whole things.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
John Hawkes - The Sessions
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Denzel Washington - Flight
Thoughts - Right off the bat, the big omission is no Joaquin Phoenix for The Master, a performance that some thought early off would be an Oscar winning sure thing. While I liked his performance a whole lot, I prefered the other performances from that film so maybe his weirdo ticky warts and all performance was more divisive than people first thought.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Mirren - Hitchcock
Naomi Watts - The Impossible
Thoughts - I've seen NONE of these movies. I would like to see at least 4 of them (well, really, all of them) but unfortunately I live in the sticks so it's going to take a while. Based on my eagerness for Zero Dark Thirty, however, I'm rooting for Jessica!

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin - Argo
Javier Bardem - Skyfall
Robert DeNiro - Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Thoughts - Kinda shocked and surprised to see Bardem for Skyfall. I thought he was great in the movie but not award worthy great. Sort of like Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises. The two male performances I'm most eager about this year failed to make the cut too - Jason Clarke in Zero Dark Thirty and Leonardo DiCaprio in Django Unchained. Hopefully, it was just because a lot of people didn't get their screeners and these two can still gain some Oscar traction.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Nicole Kidman - The Paperboy
Maggie Smith - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Thoughts - Shocked by the inclusion of Kidman. I guess all these awards nominations and critics groups are really trying to make me sit through The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, huh? Fine, I'll do it!

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Thoughts - Les Mis and Silver Linings have the star studded casts, Marigold has the respected older actors, but literally every working character actor in Hollywood was either in Argo or Lincoln, so I'm pulling for one of those two.

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Bourne Legacy
The Dark Knight Rises
Les Miserables
Skyfall
Thoughts - Anyone this awards season who includes The Dark Knight Rises in anything at all is okay in my book.

Academy Awards 2012 Winners

Well, for being such a film buff, I am notoriously bad at picking the winners at the Oscars. Once again, Dane kicked my ass on our yearly ballots. However, I think I should get some kind of bonus because I did predict the top 6 awards perfectly! I even predicted the Meryl Streep surprise!! Yay. Here is the full list of winners from last night:

Best Picture - The Artist
Best Director - Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actor - Jean DuJardin, The Artist
Best Actress - Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress - Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Cinematography - Hugo
Best Art Direction - Hugo
Best Costume Design - The Artist
Best Make Up - The Iron Lady
Best Foreign Film - A Separation
Best Film Editing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best Sound Editing - Hugo
Best Sound Mixing - Hugo
Best Documentary Feature - Undefeated
Best Animated Feature - Rango
Best Visual Effects - Hugo
Best Original Score - The Artist
Best Original Song - Man or Muppet, The Muppets
Best Adapted Screenplay - The Descendants
Best Original Screenplay - Midnight in Paris
Best Live Action Short - The Shore
Best Documentary Short - Saving Face
Best Animated Short - The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore


Now, of course, what REALLY matters. BEST DRESSED!! Click on the name to follow the link...

3. Jessica Chastain

2. Emma Stone

1. Michelle Williams

Oscar Predictions

Tomorrow is my favorite movie related day of the year - Oscar Nomination Day! Yes, I love it even more than the actual Oscars. By then, you pretty much know who is going to win (barring any upsets - I LOVE upsets), but nominations are usually at least a little surprising. So, I'm going to try my hand at predicting the nominees. I am notoriously VERY bad at this but I'll give it a try anyway. Keep in mind, this year they changed the Best Picture rules. I don't completely understand them but there could be anywhere between five and ten nominees. I'm going to go with seven...

Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: The riveting, thrilling roller coaster that was Drive.

Best Actor
George Clooney - The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio - J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Michael Fassbender - Shame
Brad Pitt - Moneyball
SURPRISE SNUB? - I really have a feeling Fassbender is going to get snubbed. Don't know why but he could be replaced by Ryan Gosling for Ides of March or Drive.
FYC - Michael Shannon, who gives the years absolute best performance in Take Shelter.

Best Actress
Viola Davis - The Help
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton - We Need to Talk About Kevin
Charlize Theron - Young Adult
Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn
POSSIBILITY - I was tempted to go with the majority and predict Glenn Close over Charlize but I'm going with my gut.
FYC - Rooney Mara's performance in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was nominee-worthy.

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks - Drive
Jonah Hill - Moneyball
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - The Ides of March
Christopher Plummer - Beginners
POSSIBILITY - It's very possible Hoffman won't get in but I have a feeling about him and the Oscars have nominated him for lesser work.

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo - The Artist
Jessica Chastain - The Help
Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer - The Help
Shailene Woodley - The Descendants
FYC - Wishful thinking but I'd love to see some Judy Greer love up in here!

Best Director
Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist (I hope he loses just because I hate spelling his damn name)
Terrence Malick - The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne - The Descendants
Martin Scorsese - Hugo
SPOILER ALERT - The Oscars LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Spielberg...
FYC - If this category could somehow edge the French guy out for David Fincher and Payne for Bennett Miller of Moneyball, this would be filled with some of my favorite directors of all time.

Golden Globe Predictions

The Golden Globes are Sunday night so here are my predictions on who will win!

Best Movie - Drama
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse
Who Will Win - I'm going to do a little wishful thinking and say Hugo. But don't count out The Descendants or The Help!

Best Movie - Comedy / Musical
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week With Marilyn
Who Will Win - If The Artist doesn't win I will be shocked even though Bridesmaids is the only really outright laugh out loud comedy listed there.

Best Actor - Drama
George Clooney - The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio - J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender - Shame
Ryan Gosling - The Ides of March
Brad Pitt - Moneyball
Who Will Win - Did you see the HOTNESS of this category? Honey, we ALL win! (But, seriously, Clooney).

Best Actress - Drama
Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis - The Help
Rooney Mara - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton - We Need to Talk About Kevin
Who Will Win - When in doubt, always go with Meryl!

Best Actor - Comedy / Musical
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Brendan Gleeson - The Guard
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 50/50
Ryan Gosling - Crazy Stupid Love
Owen Wilson - Midnight in Paris
Who Will Win - If Dujardin doesn't win, I will be shocked.

Best Actress - Comedy / Musical
Jodie Foster - Carnage
Charlize Theron - Young Adult
Kristin Wiig - Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn
Kate Winslet - Carnage
Who Will Win - Look, Michelle's performance as Marilyn Monroe was my favorite female performance of the year. I am 85% sure she is going to win an Oscar in a month. But given the crazy, unpredictable nature of the Golden Globes, part of me really, really, really wants Wiig to win!

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks - Drive
Jonah Hill - Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen - A Dangerous Method
Christopher Plummer - Beginners
Who Will Win - Plummer!!

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo - The Artist
Jessica Chastain - The Help
Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer - The Help
Shailene Woodley - The Descendants
Who Will Win - I'm sensing there is going to be some ridiculous level of love for The Artist so I'm kind of leaning with Bejo. This category seems wide open though and I'm personally pulling for either Chastain or Woodley.

Best Director
Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
George Clooney - The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
Alexander Payne - The Descendants
Martin Scorsese - Hugo
Who Will Win - Again, it depends on the love of The Artist. I could see Payne winning here, but I'm going with Hazanavicius. I think the Globes are going to love The Artist.

Golden Globe Nominees

Best Picture - Drama
The Descendants
War Horse
The Ides of March
The Help
Moneyball
Hugo
Thoughts - Nice line up, I guess. My personal favorite of the year (so far, anyway) is Hugo and it's in there so yay!

Best Picture - Comedy
The Artist
50/50
Bridesmaids
My Week With Marilyn
Midnight in Paris
Thoughts - LOVED Midnight in Paris. So glad it's there. Also happy to see Bridesmaids and 50/50 which was definitely underrated.

Best Actor - Drama
George Clooney in The Descendants
Brad Pitt in Moneyball
Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar
Ryan Gosling in The Ides of March
Michael Fassbender in Shame
Thoughts - This has got to be the hottest and best looking Best Actor line up ever, right???

Best Actress - Drama
Viola Davis in The Help
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
Thoughts - Glad to see Rooney Mara get some love. So excited to see her take on Lisbeth.

Best Actor - Comedy
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Brendan Gleeson in The Guard
Owen Wilson in Midnight in Paris
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50
Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid, Love
Thoughts - YAY Joseph Gordon-Levitt!! Also, yay for Gosling being a double nominee during his best year ever. Too bad they left out his actual best performance of the year (in Drive, of course).

Best Actress - Comedy
Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Jodie Foster in Carnage
Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids
Charlize Theron in Young Adult
Kate Winslet in Carnage
Thoughts - I love me some Michelle, Jodie, Charlize and Kate but I am TOTALLY pulling for Kristen Wiig!

Best Supporting Actor
Albert Brooks in Drive
Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen in A Dangerous Method
Thoughts - Glad Jonah is getting some love and although I didn't see A Dangerous Method, I am madly in love with Viggo so hopefully he will be there looking all sexy.

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo in The Artist
Octavia Spencer in The Help
Jessica Chastain in The Help
Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs
Shailene Woodley in The Descedants
Thoughts - This category could have just been all Jessica Chastain, right? The Help, The Tree of Life, Take Shelter, etc.

Best Director
Martin Scorsese for Hugo
George Clooney for The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Thoughts - My love for Marty vs. my love for Woody. What is a girl to do??

Random thoughts on TV nominees:
American Horror Story as a Best Drama nominee... really?
New Girl nominated for Best Comedy!
The best actor on television, Bryan Cranston, will hopefully win! (But no Kyle Chandler for Friday Night Lights).
Zooey's inevitable Best Actress in a Comedy win will be adorable and annoying, probably.

Oscar Wrap-Up!

First of all, so glad last night wasn't a sweep by The King's Speech, which ultimately only took home four awards (although they were four big ones) which was the same number taken home by the clearly superior Inception. Second of all, I did fairly badly with my predicting since I went gutsy in the big six and had absolutely NO idea about the categories I usually have NO idea about (documentary short, live action short, animated short, etc.). I tried to Live Tweet the Oscars but halfway through realized by tweets via text were being uncooperative and gave up the ship.

The Red Carpet Arrivals - As the director loving geek that I am, I was hoping to have E! talk to such handsome, brilliant men as David Fincher and Darren Aronofsky. Instead, they chose to speak to the dude from Chuck (he's fine but it's the OSCARS) and Florence Welch for 25 minutes each (I love her too but, again, NOT an Oscar nominee). Maybe Ryan Seacrest doesn't know who David Fincher / Darren Aronofsky are? Wouldn't surpise me. There were a lot of great dresses (and I will name my best dressed at the bottom of the page) including: Scarlett Johansson, Hailee Steinfeld (whose been killing it all award season), and the top half of Halle Berry's dress. Everyone talked about how great Natalie Portman looked but it was sort of EH for me. I mean, she's arguably the most beautiful woman in the entire world and she wears such ugly clothes. It's a waste and a shame. Also worst dressed? E! thought she looked amazing but Gwenyth Paltrow = yuck!

The Winners -
-Best Picture: The King's Speech (I picked this correctly, although up until Best Director was announced, I thought The Social Network was going to take it. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Borefest 2010 won out in the end!)
-Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan (I picked this also and YAY! She totally deserved it!)
-Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech (Also picked correctly. His speech was about as boring as his movie!)
-Best Director: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech (I picked Fincher and I thought it could happen too. Whatev. Fincher will win next year for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Hooper will never direct a movie that any of us will talk about ever again.)
-Best Adapated Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, THe Social Network (Another one right! Sorkin is crazy smart. It's hard to believe that a movie involving two of the most brilliant people in Hollywood managed to lose Best Picture.)
-Best Original Screenplay: David Seidler, The King's Speech (Another one right / another win for the borefest!)
-Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3 (Another one right and actually this is the first one I got correct while watching the show live.)
-Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter (I picked Steinfeld over Leo. I find it hard to believe that anyone actually likes Melissa Leo. Like, you could be a fan of hers until you hear one of her acceptance speeches and then you want to punch her in the face, I think, right?)
-Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter (Another one right and yay!)
-Best Editing: Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter, The Social Network (Another correct prediction. Editing, to me, is what keeps a movie going and entertaining and alive. That said, there's no way borefest 2010 could have possibly won this category.)
-Best Cinematography: Wally Pfister, Inception (I picked Roger Deakins for True Grit but I'm not mad that Inception took the prize. That was an excellent movie also. It's just sad that Deakins, an amazing cinematographer currently has 9 nominations and 0 wins! He's like the Annette Bening of cinematographers.)
-Best Original Score: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, The Social Network (Another one right! And, also, yay!)
-Best Art Direction: Alice in Wonderland (This was the first award of the evening and I thought for sure The King's Speech would take it on its road to Sweeps-ville. Eventhough I thought this movie was terrible, I was so happy it won over borefest!)
-Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland (I predicted this one since it was the only nominee with pretty dresses!)
-Best Visual Effects: Inception (No brainer!)
-Best Make-Up: The Wolfman (I was going to pick this and then I picked Barney's Version instead because I thought the Academy was classy enough to not give awards to shitty movies. I was wrong.)
-Best Sound Mixing: Inception (No brainer!)
-Best Sound Editing: Inception (No brainer!)
-Best Song: We Belong Together, Toy Story 3, Randy Newman (Honestly, all of these nominees sucked. I chose the song from 127 Hours instead but Newman gave a funny speech so I guess it's okay that he won!)
-Best Documentary Short: Strangers No More (These are the categories with which I have NO knowledge so I typically just pick the one with the coolest sounding title. I forget what I picked but it certainly wasn't this!)
-Best Live Action Short: God of Love (Again, didn't pick this one! I think this is the guy with the crazy, curly hair who gave the super funny, super cute acceptance speech? If so, yay him! Best acceptance speech of the night!)
-Best Animated Short: The Lost Thing (Again, didn't pick this!)
-Best Foreign Language Film: In a Better World (I picked Dogtooth here. Cooler title!)
-Best Documentary: Inside Job (I forgot that the Academy is old and un-fun and not young and hip because I picked Exit Through the Giftshop.)
Ultimately, I was 13/24 which was super pathetic, not nearly as good as my ass kicking predictions last year but whatever. At least it was better than 50%, yeah? And for the first time ever, Dane and I TIED in our predictions, so that was fun!

Best Dressed - It's a tie...
Jennifer Lawrence
and
Mila Kunis

That's a wrap on the movies of 2010. Now onward to 2011!

Oscar Predictions

The Oscars are Sunday so here are my predictions in the major categories...

BEST PICTURE
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
Who WILL Win - Unforunately it looks like Sunday night is going to be all about THE KING'S SPEECH, a movie I dislike even more than Slumdog Millionaire when it won everything two years ago. How such a colassal bore of a movie is going to beat some of the better movies of the year is beyond me. I guess at the end of the day, the Academy really is a group of old fogies who are out of touch with society.
Who MIGHT Win - The Social Network is obviously a close second. In fact, it might even upset and if so the sounds you hear will be me shrieking with joy!
Who SHOULD Win - The Social Network. It was the best movie of the year, hands down. But also, I'd prefer just about anything winning over The King's Speech, including Inception, Black Swan, The Fighter and even 127 Hours.
Who was SNUBBED - Since animation has its own category, I'm not a big proponent of having animated films in Best Picture. Instead, how about including The Town? It was awesome. We could even kick The Major Bore / King's Speech out and include Blue Valentine instead. Now, that's a Best Picture group I could get behind.

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
Joel and Ethan Coen - True Grit
David Fincher - The Social Network
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
David O. Russell - The Fighter
Who WILL Win - I'm going with DAVID FINCHER. He's been making amazing movies for decades and I'm glad people are finally noticing. I have already accepted the fact that the film probably won't win Best Picture but I'm telling you right now, if Fincher loses I am going to flip my sh*t!!!
Who MIGHT Win - Honestly, if its the King's Speech sweep everyone is predicting than Hooper might just steal it from a much more deserving director.
Who SHOULD Win - Fincher, hands down. He can turn a movie about Facebook into a bad ass film and that's saying a lot!
Who was SNUBBED - Christopher Nolan!!!! This is two Oscars in a row for him being snubbed. First with The Dark Knight and now with Inception. I don't understand the hate for him, frankly. He rocks!

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem - Biutiful
Jeff Bridges - True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours
Who WILL Win - This is probably the only category that is one hundred percent in the bag. It's COLIN FIRTH all the way.
Who MIGHT Win - I honestly don't think any of these other guys have a chance.
Who SHOULD Win - My vote would go to either Eisenberg, who was truly impressive in a star making turn, or Franco, who completely carried a film the way only Tom Hanks could previously pull off.
Who was SNUBBED - I personally think the Academy tends to snub Leonardo DiCaprio quite a bit. He was snubbed for Titanic, Revolutionary Road, The Departed, and now Shutter Island AND Inception. He deserves an Oscar, so give one to him already!

BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine
Who WILL Win - I think this might be a close race also, but I think it's going to be NATALIE PORTMAN. She's won everything else and deserved to. Her performance is amazing and I don't feel like there has been a shift in her momentum.
Who MIGHT Win - There's a very good chance that Bening could upset. And the sad fact of the matter is that she doesn't deserve to win. People always talk about how she's been snubbed so many times, never winning. But every time she lost it was to someone who was better than her. If she wins this year it's just because people feel bad for her.
Who SHOULD Win - Portman, definately. Her performance was terrifyingly personal and dark and emotional and just perfect.
Who was SNUBBED - Julianne Moore, who I thought was the better half of the acting team in The Kids are All Right.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale - The Fighter
John Hawkes - Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner - The Town
Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech
Who WILL Win - This is another close race. There's a chance for a lot of upsets on Sunday. However, I'm going with CHRISTIAN BALE. I honestly don't know how anyone could watch his performance (the best or second best performance of the entire year) and not vote for him!
Who MIGHT Win - I feel like Geoffrey Rush is gaining traction. I do believe his performance in The King's Speech was the best thing about the boring ass movie, I don't think he was as good as Bale. In fact, I would prefer to see the categories switched a bit because I feel like Firth was often supporting Rush, not the other way around. Either way, Rush could be the huge upset of the night!
Who SHOULD Win - Hands down, Bale. All of these men gave fantastic performances this year and I can't really complain too much about this stellar category. It's just, Bale was better.
Who was SNUBBED - I personally would have switched out Mark Ruffalo in favor of Andrew Garfield's soulful performance in The Social Network, but that's just me.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom
Who WILL Win - I would like to say that I predicted this category way before Roger Ebert and all those other critics jumped on my band wagon! I've been saying for months that the tables have turned, Melissa Leo is out and HAILEE STEINFELD is in!
Who MIGHT Win - This is really a category where anything could happen. Weaver gave the best (or second best) performance of the entire year - but did enough people see it? Carter could win on the tailcoats of the most beloved movie of the year - but she didn't have a whole lot to do! The Fithter ladies were both stellar - but could they split votes? Any of these women could win, realistically.
Who SHOULD Win - Weaver. Like I said, she and Christian Bale are duking it out in my head over who gave the better performance of the year. Weaver is quietly menacing, a sweet ole' grandmother who will unhinge her jaw and swallow you whole.
Who was SNUBBED - Since I was entirely unimpressed with Helena Bonham Carter, who I typically love, but who had very, very little to do in the King's Speech, I would probably switch her out in favor of any of the ladies from Black Swan - Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, even Winona Ryder.

Oscar Nominations

Oscar nominations were released yesterday. Here is a run down of the most important categories, as well as my thoughts...

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
Thoughts - This is pretty much what everyone thought, I think. Except for the fact that Winter's Bone does NOT deserve to be there. I could argue the same about The Kids Are All Right, two movies that are good but not best piture worthy and seem like one step above something that should be on Lifetime (not that there is anything wrong with lifetime!!). Kind of suprised The Town didn't sneak in there.

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
David O. Russell - The Fighter
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
David Fincher - The Social Network
Joel and Ethan Coen - True Grit
Thoughts - Who the hell does Christopher Nolan have to sleep with to get an Oscar nomination for Best Director already??? Maybe the voters are intimidated by his brilliance??? I don't know!

Best Actor
Javier Bardem - Biutiful
Jeff Bridges - True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours
Thoughts - Bardem really came out of nowhere to score that nomination, yeah? Still, I'm all about Eisenberg although I really don't think he has a chance.

Best Actress
Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine
Thoughts - This is pretty much the way I thought it would go. Go Natalie!

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale - The Fighter
John Hawkes - Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner - The Town
Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech
Thoughts - WTF Ruffalo!! I liked him in that movie a whole lot, but where did that come from? Also, John Hawkes totally came out of nowhere but I'm okay with that. He's awesome and totally deserving and unappreciated. Psyched he's in there. Not so psyched about the shunning of Andrew Garfield who was AMAZING in The Social Network and should defintely have taken Ruffalo's spot! None of this matters, of course, since it's Bale's Oscar to lose.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom
Thoughts - Steinfeld instead of Mila Kunis isn't very surprising. I sort of saw that one coming. I just watched Animal Kingdom last night and Jacki Weaver was INCREDIBLE!! So, so, so good. I will no longer cheer for either of the ladies from The Fighter. I am soooooo all about Weaver!

Golden Globe Predictions

Maybe it's because I've been forced to watch football every Sunday for the past four months, but I am even more excited than normal for Sunday's Golden Globes Awards. Pretty girls in pretty dresses! Handsome men looking sexy in suits! Plus, this year was the best year for movies since 2007. There are three movies heavily nominated that I truly LOVED this year. Here are my predictions...

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
Who WILL Win - I feel like everything is done to The Social Network and The King's Speech. I feel like the Globes are going to go with The King's Speech on this one though.
Who MIGHT Win - Read Above.
Who SHOULD Win - This category includes all three of the movies I loved this year. Plus, I liked The Fighter a whole lot also. I really wouldn't be upset if anything but The King's Speech won. However, The Social Network is too good to pass by.

Best Actress - Drama
Halle Berry in Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman in Black Swan
Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine
Who WILL Win - Portman. Since the Globes break down Drama and Comedy, she doesn't even have to contend with Annette Bening.
Who MIGHT Win - Portman.
Who SHOULD Win - Portman.

Best Actor - Drama
Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Colin Firth in The King's Speech
James Franco in 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter
Who WILL Win - Firth.
Who MIGHT Win - There could be a Franco upset... but I doubt it.
Who SHOULD Win - Eisenberg, who gives the best performance of his career and the second best performance of the year!

Best Movie - Comedy or Musical
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist
Who WILL Win - The Kids Are All Right, because it's the best out of this crappy group of nominees.
Who MIGHT Win - The Kids Are All Right.
Who SHOULD Win - Easy A... oh, wait.

Best Actress - Comedy or Musical
Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway in Love and Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie in The Tourist
Julianne Moore in The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone in Easy A
Who WILL Win - Bening has it wrapped up, thanks to Portman being in the Drama category.
Who MIGHT Win - Just Bening.
Who SHOULD Win - I preferred Moore in that particular movie and I also preferred Stone to both of them.

Best Actor - Comedy or Musical
Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp in The Tourist
Paul Giamatti in Barney's Version
Jake Gyllenhaal in Love and Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey in Casino Jack
Who WILL Win - Johnny Depp... but for which one, is the question... My money says Alice in Wonderland.
Who MIGHT Win - Depp for The Tourist.
Who SHOULD Win - I've only seen two of these performances but I preferred Gyllenhaal.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams in The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter in The King's Speech
Mila Kunis in Black Swan
Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom
Who WILL Win - Leo will take it home.
Who MIGHT Win - I guess Adams could steal.
Who SHOULD Win - Probably Jacki Weaver. I haven't seen Animal Kingdom (although I want to very badly) but apparently she takes no prisoners in her role.

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale in The Fighter
Michael Douglas in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield in The Social Network
Jeremy Renner in The Town
Geoffery Rush in The King's Speech
Who WILL Win - Bale.
Who MIGHT Win - Bale.
Who SHOULD Win - Bale.

Best Director
Darren Aronofksy - Black Swan
David Fincher - The Social Network
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan - Inception
David O. Russell - The Fighter
Who WILL Win - I think Fincher is going to win Best Director even if The Social Network doesn't win Best Film.
Who MIGHT Win - Hooper is probably second choice.
Whe SHOULD Win - Fincher, Aronofsky or Nolan, really.

Best TV Series - Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
The Walking Dead
Who WILL Win - I'm going Boardwalk Empire.
Who MIGHT Win - The terribly overrated Mad Men.
Who SOHULD Win - My newest obsession Dexter!

Best Actress - Drama
Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss in Mad Men
Piper Perabo in Covert Affairs
Katey Sagal in Sons of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick in The Closer
Who WILL Win - Margulies.
Who MIGHT Win - Moss.
Who SHOULD Win - Sagal, but I guess in her case it's just nice to be nominated.

Best Actor - Drama
Steve Buscemi in Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall in Dexter
Jon Hamm in Mad Men
Hugh Laurie in House
Who WILL Win - Buscemi.
Who MIGHT Win - I feel like this is the only category where it is absolutely anyone's game.
Who SHOULD Win - Hall because I love him.

Best TV Series - Comedy or Musical
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
The Big C
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie
Who WILL Win - Modern Family.
Who MIGHT Win - Glee.
Who SHOULD Win - Modern Family.

Best Actress - Comedy or Musical
Toni Collette in United States of Tara
Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey in 30 Rock
Laura Linney in The Big C
Lea Michelle in Glee
Who WILL Win - Linney? I have no idea.
Who MIGHT Win - Any of these people, probably. I have no idea.
Who SHOULD Win - I only watch Glee, so Michele!

Best Actor - Comedy or Musical
Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock
Steve Carell in The Office
Thomas Jane in Hung
Matthew Morrison in Glee
Jim Parsons in The Big Bang Theory
Who WILL Win - Carell, maybe, since it is his last season.
Who MIGHT Win - Parsons.
Who SHOULD Win - Parsons.

Best Supporting Actress
Hope Davis in The Special Relationship
Jane Lynch in Glee
Kelly MacDonald in Boardwalk Empire
Julia Stiles in Dexter
Sofia Vergara in Modern Family
Who WILL Win - Lynch.
Who MIGHT Win - Vergara.
Who SHOULD Win - Either one of those ladies, honestly.

Best Supporting Actor
Scott Caan in Hawaii Five-O
Chris Colfer in Glee
Chris Noth in The Good Wife
Eric Stonestreet in Modern Family
David Strathairn in Temple Grandin
Who WILL Win - Colfer. He does comedy and drama on Glee so well.
Who MIGHT Win - Stonestreet, if the Golden Globes people love Modern Family as much as I do.
Who SHOULD Win - Michael Pitt from Boardwalk Empire. Oh, wait.

Golden Globe Nominations

Best Picture - Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
Thoughts - My two favorites of the year are here (The Social Network and Inception). I'm pretty stoked to see Black Swan and The Fighter. The King's Speech looks, probably, like the most boring movie of all time. No love for Shutter Island!

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

Best Actor - Drama
Jesse Eisenberg- The Social Network
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg - The Fighter
Thoughts - No love for DiCaprio this year who gave not one, but TWO amazing performances (maybe the awesomeness of each canceled each other out??). Also, what strikes me about both of these lead acting categories is how very young it skews. Who are the oldest people here? Kidman, Berry, Firth? They are hardly ready to join AARP. And finally, go JESSE!!!! (Not only does he give the best performance of the year, imho, but also you just know his acceptance speech would be equal parts adorable and awkward).

Best Picture - Comedy or Musical
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist
Thoughts - Really??? This is the best they could do??? I mean, I guess The Kids Are All Right in a really pretentious kind of way but there were far better comedies than this load of crap.

Best Actress - 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
Thoughts - I dislike more than half of these people. I'll be with the haters cheering for Julianne or Emma!

Best Actor - 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
Thoughts - This is pretty much the most pathetic category of all time.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech
Mila Kunis - Black Swan
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom
Thoughts - Go Mila!

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale - The Fighter
Michael Douglas - Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield - The Social Network
Jeremy Renner - The Town
Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech
Thoughts - I am pleasantly surprised to see Renner in there. He was the best thing about The Town and I really thought he would get overlooked now that all the big guns are coming out. Also, go Andrew! If Jesse Eisenberg didn't give the best performance of the year, then Andrew would have!

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
David Fincher - The Social Network
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan - Inception
David O. Russell - The Fighter
Thoughts - Three of my fave directors are nominated here. You have no idea how happy it makes me to see directors who are usually way too weird for mainstream to dominated this category. As long as Aronofsky, Fincher or Nolan win, I'll be happy.

And, since I'm toying with making this a movie / TV / music blog (thoughts??), here are the TV nominations as well...

Best TV Series - Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
The Good Wife
Man Men
The Walking Dead
Thoughts - I don't watch The Good Wife. I want so very badly to watch The Walking Dead but, alas, I must wait for DVD. I may be the only person on the planet who thinks Mad Men is overrated. I love Dexter so freaking much but I am currently two seasons behind. So that leaves the BRILLIANT Boardwalk Empire as my choice for winner!

Best Actress - Drama
Julianna Margulies - The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men
Piper Perabo - Covert Affairs
Katey Sagal - Sons of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer
Thoughts - KATEY F-ING SAGAL!!!!!!! I love her so much on that show. Go Katey!!!!

Best Actor - Drama
Steve Buscemi - Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall - Dexter
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Hugh Laurie - House
Thoughts - They should just call this category "the usual suspects." I could care less about the last two on the list. Hall and Buscemi are so super good. But, really, Cranston has the best role on TV and he knocks it out of the park every freaking second of every minute of ever episode. As long as Breaking Bad is on TV, he should be rightfully winning every award ever. They should probably even just invent awards to give to him.

Best TV Series - Comedy or Musical
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
The Big C
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie
Thoughts - I do love me some Glee but I also think that Modern Family is the absolutely best show on TV.

Best Actress - Comedy or Musical
Toni Collette - United States of Tara
Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Laura Linney - The Big C
Lea Michele - Glee
Thoughts - I love Laura Linney? I don't watch that show though. Honestly, I don't really care.

Best Actor - Comedy or Musical
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Steve Carell - The Office
Thomas Jane - Hung
Matthew Morrison - Glee
Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory
Thoughts - It would be nice for Carell to win for his final season on the show, yeah?

Best Supporting Actress
Hope Davis - The Special Relationship
Jane Lynch - Glee
Kelly MacDonald - Boardwalk Empire
Julia Stiles - Dexter
Sofia Vergara - Modern Family
Thoughts - I really hate MacDanald's character on Boardwalk Empire although I did like her very much in No Country For Old Men. Maybe that's the sign of a super great performance? Either way, I'm all in for Lynch!

Best Supporting Actor
Scott Caan - Hawaii Five-O
Chris Colfer - Glee
Chris Noth - The Good Wife
Eric Stonestreet - Modern Family
David Strathairn - Temple Grandin
Thoughts - Oh, there is so much epic fail in this category. First of all, Stonestreet is great as Cam on Modern Family but Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell) and Ty Burrell (Phil) are the superior performances by far. That was my tiny, little problem with this category. As for the giant, gleaming, awfulness??? Boardwalk Empire has the best, THE BEST, supporting actors in the business and not a single one of them was nominated!?!?! No Michael Pitt?? No Michael Shannon?? No Shea Whigham?? No Michael Stuhlbarg?? No Stephen Graham?? No Vincent Piazza?? It's a freaking shame. For a category that got so very much wrong at least they got Chris Colfer (the best actor on Glee by a mile) so very right.

Golden Globe Nominations

Golden Globe nominations were announced this morning. Here is the list of nominees:

Best Picture, Drama
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air
Thoughts - The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds are two of my favorites. Avatar reminds me too much of Ferngully but I'm trying to stay open minded about it. Precious is going to be a critics darling this year. I really need to see Up in the Air.

Best Actress, Drama
Emily Blunt - The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Thoughts - I can see this being a knock-down drag-out fight between Mirren and Mulligan.

Best Actor, Drama
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Tobey Maguire - Brothers
Thoughts - I really need to see Up in the Air. I'm glad Maguire found a way in there because I thought he did an excellent job in Brothers. But where oh where is Jeremy Renner?!

Best Picture, Comedy or Musical
(500) Days of Summer
The Hangover
It's Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine
Thoughts - (500) Days of Summer is another of my personal favorites. Also, I'm very pleasantly surprised to see The Hangover in this bunch.

Best Actress, Comedy or Musical
Sandra Bullock - The Proposal
Marion Cotillard - Nine
Julia Roberts - Duplicity
Meryl Streep - It's Complicated
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Thoughts - Meryl nominated against herself! The way it should be. Also pleasantly surprised to see Bullock and Roberts in there.

Best Actor, Comedy or Musical
Matt Damon - The Informant!
Daniel Day-Lewis - Nine
Robert Downey Jr. - Sherlock Holmes
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - (500) Days of Summer
Michael Stuhlberg - A Serious Man
Thoughts - I have loved Joseph Gordon-Levitt for so long that is sooooo nice to FINALLY see him getting props for how AMAZING he is.

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo' Nique - Precious
Julianne Moore - A Single Man
Thoughts - I REALLY need to see Up in the Air. Also, you should know my position on Mo' Nique by now.

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Thoughts - Christoph Waltz is nothing short of amazing. At first glance, I thought Woody was getting nominated for Zombieland and thought, "He wasn't supporting in that movie!"

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
James Cameron - Avatar
Clint Eastwood - Invictus
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Thoughts - I really hope Bigelow wins this and not just because she's the only lady in the group. The Hurt Locker is amazing and so is she.

Best TV Series, Drama
Big Love
Dexter
House
Mad Men
True Blood
Thoughts - At least someone shows True Blood love. I'm talking to you, Emmys.

Best Actress, Drama
Glenn Close - Damages
January Jones - Mad Men
Julianna Margulies - The Good Wife
Anna Paquin - True Blood
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer
Thoughts - I stopped reading at Glenn Close because that's all you realy need to know.

Best Actor, Drama
Simon Baker - The Mentalist
Michael C. Hall - Dexter
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Hugh Laurie - House
Bill Paxton - Big Love
Thoughts - I don't watch any of these...

Best TV Series, Comedy or Musical
30 Rock
Entourage
Glee
Modern Family
The Office
Thoughts - GLEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best Actress, Comedy or Musical
Toni Collette - United States of Tara
Courteney Cox - Cougar Town
Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Lea Michele - Glee
Thoughts - Rachel from GLEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best Actor, Comedy or Musical
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Steve Carell - The Office
David Duchovny - Californication
Thomas Jane - Hung
Matthew Morrison - Glee
Thoughts - Mr. Shue from GLEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best Supporting Actress
Jane Adams - Hung
Rose Byrne - Damages
Jane Lynch - Glee
Janet McTeer - Into the Storm
Chloe Sevigny - Big Love
Thoughts - Sue Sylvester from GLEE!!!!!!!!!!

Best Supporting Actor
Michael Emerson - Lost
Neil Patrick Harris - How I Met Your Mother
William Hurt - Damages
John Lithgow - Dexter
Jeremy Piven - Entourage
Thoughts - I've never seen Dexter but I think John Lithgow would make the greatest serial killer ever so he should win and so should the person who decided to cast him!

Tomorrow (or Thursday) Top 10 Actresses of the Decade!

March movie preview + more Oscars

March Movie Preview


March 7
10,000 BC - Is this the movie that makes Camilla Belle the star she's meant to be? I mean, she's hotter and more talented than, let's say, Lindsay Lohan. Somehow I doubt this movie is going to be anything spectacular, however.
The Bank Job - Stars Jason Statham and more. About a 1971 robbery that took place at Lloyd's Bank in London. Although it claims to be based on a true story, it seems a big far fetched to me.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - And THIS is what I'll be checking out! Amy Adams and her infinite cuteness (I've already forgiven you for the Oscars, Amy) + Frances McDormand and her infinite comic timing = I Can't Wait!
Paranoid Park - Gus Van Sant's movie about a bunch of skateboarders... hey, remember when Larry Clark made a movie about a bunch of skateboarders. It was called 'Wassup Rockers' and I'm sure it was better than this is going to be.
Snow Angels - The cast is pretty impressive: Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Angarano, Olivia Thirbly. I do love Sam and Michael and it's directed by David Gordon Green who did All the Real Girls. Probably worth checking out.


March 14
Horton Hears a Who - Oh animated films, our love affair has never begun, hence, this is a skipper for me.
Funny Games - It opens in limited release but I can't wait for this movie. Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet as clean cut, polite, crazy mad men? Talk about perfect casting. They are all blonde haired, blue eyed and they'll cut you! I want this movie NOW!
Never Back Down - Proof that I will be able to get my movie made when I move to Los Angeles. Apparently they just make anything these days.


March 21
Drillbit Taylor - Owen Wilson looks hilarious in this movie! I just hope it's not one of those movies that shows all the funny parts in the trailer.
Shutter - Another PG-13 horror movie about ghostly images in photographs... wasn't that called The Ring? Well, I guess that was video tapes, whatever. Stars Pacey, I mean, Joshua Jackson.


March 28
21 - The best thing about Across the Universe, Jim Sturgess teams up with Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey for a movie about MIT geniuses who count cards and win millions in Vegas. Actually looks pretty good.
Stop-Loss - Yes! The world's prettiest cast (Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Abbie Cornish, Victor Rasuk, etc.) stars in Kimberley Pierce's follow up to Boys Don't Cry. It's about Iraq and all that. It doesn't matter what it's about, honestly, because with a cast like that, I'll see it if it's about printing telephone books.




Oscars
This is the last you will hear about the Oscars in this blog for a long time... promise! But, at least it's not about THIS years Oscars. It's about NEXT years Oscars. A friend of mine has a web site where he always predicts who will be nominated in the major categories a year in advance. He challenged me to do my picks as well. When Oscar nominations are actually announced, we shall see how terribly badly I did with my predictions! So, here goes nothing...


Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost / Nixon
Milk
Revolutionary Road


Best Director
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost / Nixon
Sam Mendes - Revolutionary Road
Gus Van Sant - Milk
Joe Wright - The Soloist


Best Actor
Benicio Del Toro - The Argentine
Leonardo DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road
Jamie Foxx - The Soloist
Frank Langella - Frost / Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk


Best Actress
Nicole Kidman - Austrailia
Keira Knightley - The Duchess
Julianne Moore - Blindness
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road


Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - The Soloist
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Sheen - Frost / Nixon


Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - Doubt
Kathy Bates - Revolutionary Road
Cate Blanchett - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Catherine Keener - The Soloist
Dianne Wiest - Synecdoche, N ew York



Yeah, I'm confident about none of this!

Oscar Wrap Up

Full List of Winners...
Best Picture - No Country For Old Men
Lead Actress - Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
Lead Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Supporting Actor - Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
Supporting Actress - Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Director - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men
Foriegn Langauge Film - The Counterfeiters
Adapted Screenplay - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men
Original Screenplay - Diablo Cody, Juno
Animated Feature - Ratatouille
Art Direction - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Cinematography - There Will Be Blood
Sound Mixing - The Bourne Ultimatum
Sound Editing - The Bourne Ultimatum
Original Score - Atonement
Original Song - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, "Falling Slowly" from Once!!!!!!!!!!!!
Costume - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Documentary Feature - Taxi to the Dark Side
Documentary Short Subject - Freeheld
Makeup - La Vie En Rose
Animated Short Film - Peter and the Wolf
Live Action Short Film - Le Mozart des Pickpockets
Visual Effects - The Golden Compass

I went 4/6 in the major categories for the second year in a row, totally screwing up the actress categories. I should have known better in the Best Actress category. The Oscars love their hot young things no matter how awful they were in the movie they are nominated for (see also: Halle Berry - Monster's Ball). I wouldn't have gone Tilda though. Overall, I was a very, very disappointing 8/24. Ha. I vow to do better next year!

Here are my personal best and worst moments from the Oscars:

Best Red Carpet Moment - Gary Busey goes all crazy and scares poor Jennifer Garner! I feel bad for Jennifer Garner but, hey, at least it was unpredictable, right!?

Worst Red Carpet Moment - Rumored couple Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz did NOT walk the red carpet together. You know... maybe it's a good thing since if they did, the world might explode from two much hotness.

Best Jon Stewart Joke - In reference to Norbit's Best Makeup nomination - "Too often the Academy ignores movies that aren't good."

Best Jon Stewart Joke #2 - In reference to Cate Blanchett's virsitility, Stewart mentioned her roles as Queen Elizabeth and Bob Dylan and then pointed out a role we may not know about. In No Country For Old Men, when Josh Brolin is being chased by the bull dog, Blanchett played the bull dog!

Best Presenters - James McAvoy and Josh Brolin who are both unbelievably hot, charming and downright funny.

Best Presenters #2 - Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen who came out to "fill in" for Dame Judi Dench and Halle Berry and then proceeded to fight over who got to be Halle Berry. I don't really think the joke went anywhere but it was still funny.

Worst Presenter - Jerry Sienfeld as the bee from Bee Movie. No one liked your movie, Jerry. Get over it.

Best Musical Moment - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova bring down the house with their soulful beautiful rendition of "Falling Slowly."

Worst Musical Moment - Three numbers from Enchanted? Each worse than the last? Actually, no, Amy Adams up there by her lonesome overenuciating and her trying her best to be cutesy was sort of painful.

Best Acceptance Speech - Javier Bardem who managed to be humble, charming, funny and sexy all at the same time. He even said half of his speech in Spanish. I have no idea what he said (something about Spain, ha) but he sounded sexy while doing it and it made his mama cry!

Worst Acceptance Speech - Diablo Cody who fancies herself a hipster chick but managed to say nothing more exciting than, "This is for the writers." Honest to blog, Diablo! Homeskillet, that was one doodle that can't be undid. (You know, I guess I'm glad she won because I don't know who else I would have voted for if I could vote but I will always hate her for those two lines alone).

Now it's time for the really important stuff...

Worse Dressed Male - Colin Farrell
Oh, Colin. You know it's bad when I (the person who loves long messy hair, beards, stubble etc.) think it's time to clean it up a little bit. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to iron your suit. I still love you though... even if you haven't made a good movie since Phone Booth.

Worst Dressed Female - Diablo Cody
I was fine with the leopard print dress, really. I get it, you're different. You have a tattoo of a naked lady on your arm and I'm fine with that. Even the skull and cross bone earrings I can handle. I'm a modern woman, I get it. Then you got on stage to accept your award and I saw that the slit of your dress went up all the way to your ******. Seriously, this is a classy event not a strip club. Tacky.

Best Dressed Male - Viggo Mortensen
This man is unbelievably sexy and he makes the beard work for him. I love the striped tie. And I love the long jacket. I love when men don't just wear normal tuxes for these shows and do something a little different.

Best Dressed Female - Keri Russell
In a sea of red and black, Keri wore a pretty pale pink / gray dress (I have no idea what color it actually is) but I loved it anyway. THIS picture doesn't do it justice though.

Oscar Predictions!!

So, Sunday is my favorite night of the year - Oscar night! I always try my best to predict who is going to win in the big six categories and I usually do fairly well. Last year, I was 4 for 6 (I predicted Eddie Murphy eventhough I wanted Alan Arkin and I was stupid enough to not pick The Departed for Best Picture eventhough it was the best and my favorite movie of the year). Anyway, I hope to go 6 for 6 this year. Here are my predictions...


Best Picture
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Who WILL win - No Country For Old Men has won all the major awards so far this year and is heavily favored. Plus, surprisingly, it actually deserves all the praise and awards!
Who MIGHT win - There Will Be Blood topped pretty much every critical top ten list of the year. Then there is Juno which is beloved, the biggest nominated money maker and the only nominee NOT super depressing!
Who SHOULD win - Honestly, I'd be satisfied with No Country, There Will Be Blood or Juno walking away with it. Or Atonement for that matter. They are all great films (I still don't love Michael Clayton the way everyone else apparently does). But I'm slightly more enamored with There Will Be Blood than the others.
Who got SCREWED - Into the Wild. I mean, did people watch that movie? They couldn't have because from a purely impartial stand point, it was better than at least two of the nominated films. Of course, I think it was the best movie of 2007 but whatever.


Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country For Old Men
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman - Juno
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Who WILL win - I think this is the Coen Bros. award to lose.
Who MIGHT win - I could see a PTA or Schnabel upset happening.
Who SHOULD win - Again, I love There Will Be Blood slightly more than No Country so I'm pulling for Paul Thomas Anderson and his oil epic.
Who got SCREWED - Sean Penn. And I'm not just saying that because I love him. Into the Wild was his labor of love and it was epic and beautiful. To nominate Reitman over Sean Penn is just a joke to me.


Best Actor
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
Who WILL win - Daniel Day-Lewis will drink your milkshake and take your Oscar too!
Who MIGHT win - Umm... these guys just don't have a chance. Start practicing your gracious loser face and your "It's an honor just to be nominated..." speech.
Who SHOULD win - Day-Lewis. No doubt!
Who got SCREWED - My boyfriend Emile Hirsch. But then, I'm not sure who I would change him out for. It's a strong category. Who am I kidding? I'd get rid of Clooney in a heartbeat.

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away From Her
Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose
Laura Linney - The Savages
Ellen Page - Juno
Who WILL win - I think this is essentially a two horse race - Christie and Cotillard. I'm not sure who is more favored or whatever. It's essentially Cotillard's mimicry and great physical transformation vs. Christie's legendary status paired with the clearly superior performance (ha!). I'm going Christie.
Who MIGHT win - Cotillard, obviously. Then there's the Ellen Page factor. The Academy loves young actresses so she's got a chance.
Who SHOULD win - Christie. But I'd be happy with Page as well.
Who got SCREWED - In my interesting / crazy little world, Cotillard and Blanchett would be bumped for Christina Ricci in Black Snake Moan and Ashley Judd in Bug.

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
Who WILL win - Bardem. It'll be his 3 millionth totally deserved award this year.
Who MIGHT win - They love to honor veterans in this category (see also: Alan Arkin last year) so watch out for Hal Holbrook who is holding it down for Into the Wild all by his lonesome.
Who SHOULD win - Bardem, friendo.
Who got SCREWED - Paul Dano. He totally held his own against the master actor Daniel Day-Lewis. He was pure gold in that movie and Hoffman just outright stole his spot here!

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Ruby Dee - American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
Who WILL win - You know what? This is the only category where I can really see any one of them taking it home. But after the SAG upset, I think I'm going to have to go with Ruby Dee.
Who MIGHT win - Again, any one of them. However, I think Blanchett and Ryan have been the frontrunners all season.
Who SHOULD win - Blanchett. All of these ladies give fine performances but none of them play Bob Dylan.
Who got SCREWED - It would be nice to see Jennifer Garner for Juno or Catherine Keener for Into the Wild... but it's a pretty solid category.

In summary.... Who I think WILL win
Best Picture - No Country For Old Men
Best Director - Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men
Best Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood
Best Actress - Julie Christie for Away From Her
Best Supporting Actor - Javier Bardem for No Country For Old Men
Best Supporting Actress - Ruby Dee for American Gangster

Oscar Nominations, Cloverfield, 27 Dresses

Oscar Nominations were announced today -

Best Picture
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Thoughts - While I am glad that Atonement did not get snubbed, I am fuming mad about all the Into the Wild snubs!

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country For Old Men
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman - Juno
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Thoughts - People actually saw Into the Wild and it's brilliance, yes? Because these people obviously didn't actually watch Juno. I mean, the direction is nothing to write home about. Sean Penn's direction on the other hand...

Best Actor
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
Thoughts - No Emile! Big surprise. However, I can't be that upset because Tommy Lee Jones was nominated instead and I loved his performance in that film!

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth the Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away From Her
Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose
Laura Linney - The Savages
Ellen Page - Juno
Thoughts - Finally! A category I am happy about. No Angelina Jolie! Hooray!

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
Thoughts - I can't complain too much here.

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Ruby Dee - American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
Thoughts - Can't really complain much here either. Although I am a little upset that Kelly MacDonald didn't get any love but whatever. That pales in comparison to how pissed I am about the whole Into the Wild snubbing!


Cloverfield - For the most part, Cloverfield is a surprinsgly good little movie. I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I know a lot of people hated it, but I absolutely loved how it was filmed. The shaky camera lends to the realism. I didn't find it annoying in the least. It actually really feels like you are watching someone's home movie that was found after the fact. If it was all steady camera shots, then it just wouldn't be as effective. I thought the basic premise was pretty solid, although I have a few problems with the way things panned out ultimately. 1) While you did develop feelings for most of the characters, I didn't really care at all about the girl these people risked their lives for. There needed to be a little more development there. I needed to somehow see that this Rob fellow actually cared about her. I really don't think the movie delivered that. 2) It was your typical 'Stupid or Seemingly Smart People Doing Things that Are Ultimately Stupid.' I can let that slide, however, because, really, movies like this aren't really made about smart people. There would be no movie then. Smart people would get the hell out of dodge. They wouldn't risk their lives for some slutty girl (that's how I viewed her because, like I said, the movie gave me no reason to care about her at all). 3) The monster. My main problem with monster movies is always, always, always the monster. When we exited the theater, the people I went with said, and I quote, "Gee whiz! I'm so glad they actually showed the monster." I disagree. Actually, I couldn't disagree more. Bits and pieces of the monster would have been find but as soon as I see a monster, it completely takes me out of the moment. The film did a really great job of making everything feel as real as possible. But the whole monster thing just does nothing for me. As soon as I see a great, big, ole monster, anything immediately goes from being intense and realistic to just plain silly. (I had the same problem with The Mist a few months ago). No matter how well the CGI is done, monsters will always seem silly to me. There's something to be said for letting things to the imagination. If we didn't see the monster, we could have all created something in our minds that would have been more terrifying than anything J.J. Abrams and his pals could cook up. However, I don't want anyone to think I didn't like the movie because I mostly did. In fact, I recommend it. You should definitely check it out. And keep your eyes peeled for that last scene and look to the right of the screen (see if you can see something falling into the ocean). It is J.J. Abrams after all. Conspiracy theories must spread like wild fire!
Grade: B-

27 Dresses - And then there's this. First, let's talk about the good points. No movie ever suffered from having Judy Greer involved. In fact, it's really time for her to move on from the 'best friend / bitchy rival' thing she's been doing for, well, ever. Honestly, she should be getting every role that goes to Leslie Mann. If I ever write a script, I will make sure that it has roles for Judy Greer and Allison Janney! Also, James Marsden is really just crazy attractive. He's charming and, well, really sexy. What with those blue eyes, gorgeous smile and chiseled cheek bones. Well, I'll see anything that involves James Marsden. Another good point was that the usually annoying beyond all belief Katherine Heigl actually wasn't as bad as I imagined. I didn't completely hate her in this movie (although I still pretty much did). And that's where all the goodness stops. The movie is paint by numbers romantic comedy. You can see where it's going based soley on the previews. It's marginally funny and marginally interesting. Even the big 'Let's dance on a bar and sing Bennie and the Jets' scene (which is cute and funny, thanks to Marsden mostly) can't save this stinker. Every tired romantic comedy cliche is there and in full force. Also, there is a major lack of chemistry between Marsden and Heigl. Just because they are both pretty doesn't mean they are going to have chemistry (see also: The Nanny Diaries starring Scarlett Jo and Chris Evans). There are many scenes that should be edited down to be tighter and funnier. Instead they just drag on and on and become way too talky. Maybe I'm just a little too much of a modern woman or maybe I just completely missed the point but what I took away from the movie was this message - No matter how beautiful, intelligent or interesting you are, you are only really complete as a woman when you find a man who can take care of you and that makes you happy. As a feminist woman, I frankly find that offensive. (Believe me, I know this isn't the first romantic comedy to spout that message but it's the first in a long time where it comes across so heavy-handedly).
Grade: D+

Short reviews of other movies I saw recently...

The Bucket List - Basically, it's cliched and predictable. However, whatever part of this movie that works only does so because of the likeability and charm of Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. It can be argued that Jack is becoming like Diane Keaton and only playing versions of himself at this point. However, when anyone talks shit about Jack, I like to evoke the 'Chinatown Clause' which pretty much states he was so magnificent in that movie (along with tons of others) that we are never allowed to say a bad word about him ever. I love you Jack!
Grade: C+

Death Sentence - Ah, Kevin Bacon. I love you, I really do, but homeboy needs to start picking some better films that really showcase his talent and not just his ability to kick major ass. The director behind Saw directs this near-disaster. I don't know why he thought shooting in stairwells and parking garages was a good idea. It makes everything feel a little claustrophobic to be honest. Bonus points for giving the great and underrated Matt O'Leary something to do!
Grade: D+