Oscars 2014

Yes, it's time for my annual Oscar predictions. I feel like I haven't done near as much research as normal this year (aka I've yet to read my EW Oscar Prediction Issue), so we'll see how this goes...

Best Picture: American Hustle
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity
Best Documentary Feature: 20 Feet From Stardom
Best Documentary Short: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Best Animated Feature: Frozen
Best Foreign Language Film: The Great Beauty (Austria)
Best Original Screenplay: American Hustle
Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
Best Cinematography: Gravity
Best Make-Up: Dallas Buyers Club
Best Production Design: Gravity
Best Animated Short Film: Room on the Broom
Best Live Action Short Film: Helium
Best Visual Effects: Gravity
Best Costume Design: American Hustle
Best Film Editing: American Hustle
Best Sound Mixing: Inside Llewyn Davis
Best Sound Editing: Lone Survivor
Best Original Score: Saving Mr. Banks
Best Original Song: "Let it Go" - Frozen

Feel free to share some of your Oscar predictions in the comments, and I'll be back tomorrow to share my results.

Edit: So I wound up with 13/24, which is about what I've been averaging these past few years. Interestingly enough, I did guess several of the smaller categories correct based only on which name I liked the best!

Oscars 2013

As I'm sure you're probably aware, tonight is Oscar night! And if you've been here long enough, you know that each year I post my Oscar predictions. So without any more hoopla, here are my predictions for tonight.

Best Picture: Argo
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Best Director: Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Best Documentary Feature: The Gatekeepers
Best Documentary Short: Mondays at Racine
Best Animated Feature: Frankenweenie
Best Foreign Language Film: Amour (Austria)
Best Original Screenplay: Michael Haneke - Amour
Best Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio - Argo
Best Cinematography: Life of Pi
Best Make-Up: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Best Production Design: Life of Pi
Best Animated Short Film: Fresh Guacamole
Best Live Action Short Film: Buzkashi Boys
Best Visual Effects: Life of Pi
Best Costume Design: Lincoln
Best Film Editing: Argo
Best Sound Mixing: Skyfall
Best Sound Editing: Argo
Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat - Argo
Best Original Song: Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth - "Skyfall" - Skyfall

Edit: For those curious I finished with 11/24. Not my best outing overall, but I did at least get the majority of the major awards correct.

MMR

Argo
Back when Argo was first the theaters, the boy and I never took the time to go see it. But with it getting so much Oscar talk, they brought it back to the movie screens, and we finally had a chance to see what all the fuss was about.

I wound up being a pretty big fan of it. For something where you really already know how it's going to end, I found the whole movie really suspenseful. I also thought they did a great job setting the scene for the history behind the Iran/US relationship, but also really getting a feel for the whole era.

While the boy didn't come out and say he liked it, he did at least say he completely got why people seemed to love it. And while I haven't seen every film nominated for Best Picture, out of the ones I've seen, this is what I'd expect to win.

If you haven't seen Argo yet, while it's back in theaters, I think now would be a great time to see it.

Monday Movie Review

Silver Linings Playbook
I'm not really sure what to say about this one. It was somewhat of a quirky and interesting movie, but still one I enjoyed. I am a little surprised that it's getting so much Oscar talk, not necessarily that it doesn't deserve it, but it isn't the type I normally picture as "Oscar Winner."

I did like Jennifer Lawrence it in, and would be happy it she won an Oscar for this. How crazy would it be if suddenly The Hunger Games started an Oscar winning actress? I don't see that happening for any of the Twilight kids anytime soon.

Also with a fun cameo in this was Julia Stiles. I can't say I loved her character, but was happy to see her in a movie again.

I don't necessarily think this is a movie that has to be seen in the theaters. But if you're looking to see the Oscar movies before the award show, you may want to see this sooner rather than later.

It's Oscar Time!

I completely forgot that the Golden Globes were even on tv, and I'm not making that mistake tonight. No I don't have an elaborate Oscar themed meal planned, but I have still made my predictions. It's an odd year for movies, and there's nothing I'm dying to see win. But I guess we'll see how I do!

Best Picture: The Artist
Best Actor: George Clooney - The Descendants
Best Supporting Actor: Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn
Best Actress: Meryl Steep - The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer - The Help
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
Best Documentary Feature: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Best Documentary Short: The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
Best Animated Feature: Chico & Rita
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
Best Adapted Screenplay: Steven Zailian, Aaron Sorkin, and Stan Chervin - Moneyball
Best Cinematography: War Horse
Best Make-Up: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow - Part 2
Best Art Direction: The Artist
Best Animated Short Film: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Best Live Action Short Film: Time Freak
Best Visual Effects: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow - Part 2
Best Costume Design: The Artist
Best Film Editing: The Artist
Best Sound Mixing: Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Best Sound Editing: Drive
Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource - The Artist
Best Original Song: "Man or Muppet" - The Muppets

Oscar Follow-Up

If you go through my picks below, I wound up going 12 out of 24 of my picks for a 50%. Better than last year's 8 out of 24, but not quite 2009's 17. Granted I did make a feel sentimental choices like picking Harry Potter, and both of my Supporting choices, and if I went more with what I truly thought would wind I could have done better. But let's hope this increase of last year's picks continues and my choices are even better next year!

How did you do with your Oscar picks?

And the Winner is...

Yes it's my annual Oscar predictions! Here's to hoping I'm guessing right. And I'd love to hear your final predictions too!

Best Picture: The King's Speech
Best Actor: Colin Firth - The King's Speech
Best Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech
Best Actress: Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams - The Fighter
Best Director: Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
Best Documentary Feature: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Best Documentary Short: Strangers No More
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Foreign Language Film: Biutiful
Best Original Screenplay: Christopher Nolan - Inception
Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorking - The Social Network
Best Cinematography: True Grit
Best Make-Up: The Wolfman
Best Art Direction: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow - Part 1
Best Animated Short Film: The Gruffalo
Best Live Action Short Film: The Crush
Best Visual Effects: Inception
Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland
Best Film Editing: 127 Hours
Best Sound Mixing: Inception
Best Sound Editing: Toy Story 3
Best Original Score: Inception
Best Original Song: "We Belong Together" - Randy Newman - Toy Story 3

Monday Movie Review

The King's Speech
To quickly summarize, the movie is about England's King George VI's ascent to the throne and how he has to overcome a speech impediment. Not necessarily the most exciting of topics, but it turned out really good. It's not too surprising if you look through my book reviews that I'm a fan of the English monarchy. So it wouldn't be unexpected that I enjoyed the movie, but what you might find a little more out of the ordinary was that the boy enjoyed it as well.

The movie brought up an interesting point about how the monarchy, and I'm sure the rest of the world, had to change with technology. Before radio and television, the king might have to give a speech to his advisers, but with the new mediums the speech went worldwide. A generation before the fact that the king had a stutter might not matter, but knowing that he was going to be broadcast worldwide it was suddenly an issue.

As for the movie itself there were a lot of funny moments, which is the main thing that kept the boy watching. Colin Firth was really good, and I'd be surprised if he doesn't win an Oscar for this. Helena Bonham Carter was excellent too, as was Geoffrey Rush. Any even the little girls who played Princess Elizabeth (aka Queen Elizabeth II) and Princess Margaret were adorable.

In my opinion, this is probably an Oscar front runner. While it is a historical piece, I wouldn't call it "stuffy", and think that even if you're not a fan of this type of film you could be pleasantly surprised.

Monday Movie Reviews

This was a weekend of two great movies, both of which I'd recommend and both of which I'd see again. And interestingly, while I enjoyed each, both are almost exact opposites.

The Fighter
This one was actually based on a true story, except I really had no background so I wasn't sure what to expect. The boy does follow boxing so he knew what was to expect, and he found it quite amusing to feed me incorrect information about what to come, which in a way made the ending a bit of a surprise.

In general I'm not a huge fan of boxing movies. I just don't really enjoy seeing people get injured on screen and cringe every time it happens. But there was enough happening outside the ring for me to enjoy the movie. I really liked Amy Adams in this, although I love her in almost anything she is. I thought it was crazy when they showed footage of the real Mickie and Dickie over the credits how much Mark Whalberg and Christian Bale sounded like the men they portrayed. In a way it's not the most typical Oscar movie, but boxing movies have done well in Academy Awards in the past, and I expect this one to do so as well.

Tron: Legacy
Overall this movie was just fun to watch. We saw it in 3-D which I really think is completely worth it. The movie was actually preceded by a warning that the parts of it were in 2-D, which I think was a great idea. It's not necessarily the most novel idea, think of it as the Wizard of Oz, but with 2-D vs. 3-D instead of black & white vs. color. But while it isn't completely original, as far as I know it the first time they done it with 3-D.

While the plot might not have been the most original either (it really reminded me of an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark from back in the day), it was just a lot of fun to watch. It was followed by action scene after action scene, but each still each seemed even more exciting than the last.

This was definitely a strong weekend at the movies. I would easily recommend either one of these, I guess it just comes down to which one you would prefer to watch.

Inception of the Sorcerer's Predators

Predators
I had never seen any type of Predators movie and was quite content keeping that streak alive. And yet somehow I wound up seeing this movie. Clearly it wasn't my choice.

Before we saw the movie the boy gave me a quick recap of series. Basically the Predator alien love to hunt, and its not so much about reaching the target but the game of it. So the movie wasn't bad for the type of the movie it was. According to the boy it's the best Predator movie after the first. Topher Grace was the highlight of the movie for me, but even he wasn't enough for me to really enjoy it.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice
I'm a little surprised at how poorly this movie has done considering how enjoyable the movie was. The movie is basically "inspired" by the Sorcerer's Apprentice scene in Fantasia. When I saw inspired I mean, they wanted to turn that scene into a live action and somewhat were able to create a movie that it somewhat "fit" into. But the big scene was a lot of fun, and as expected one of the high points of the movie.

Overall I think fun is the best way to sum up this movie. They tried to throw in an interesting back story with Merlin, and there's a bit of a romantic story. But overall I think its hard to turn something so small as a single Mickey short into a full length Disney movie. I wouldn't call it the best film of the summer, but it's definitely the type of movie to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Inception
Believe the hype with the one. It really is as good as everyone is saying. In the simplest terms possible it's about being able to escape into the dream world. But really its so much more than that. It makes you question what real and what's an illusion in your current life. And then there's the ending! You're going to want to see this mainly so you can question the ending with everyone else. (As for me, I like to say it has a happy ending.)

What I was surprised to see was the wide range of demographics in the theater itself. There were groups of guys and groups of girls, older couples, as well as high school students. That's actually a good way to describe the movie since it had something for everyone. There was some romance, good action scenes, as well as the fact that it really makes you think. Like I said, its definitely worth it, and I wouldn't be surprised if people are still talking about it come awards season.

So in case you couldn't tell during my reviews, I'd say skip Predators, wait for dvd on The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and go see Inception now.

~Shoshanah

More Oscar Fun

Yes, I picked Best Director correctly, but everything else not so much. I wound up predicting only 8 out of 24 correctly. Pretty abysmal for me, especially considering last year I wound up with 17 out of 24. And I could be wrong but I believe it was 14 the year before. So it was clearly an off year for me. Granted I knew Mo'Nique was probably going to win for Best Actress, but I still needed to put Anna Kendrick down. And while Sandra Bullock's win and Avatar's loss were a little surprising, but it was the smaller categories that really lost it for me. Of course the boy wound up picking 15 correctly, so there goes my winning streak. Although he put a good bit of research into his choices, and went with the odds on favorite in each category, so as he told me last night, I didn't lose to him, I lost to the American people.

Moving past the winners, I think I was a little disappointed with the actual show. I think it's because I hype it so much in my mind, that it can't quite live up to expectations. There were still things I liked, for example that the kept the best actor and actress personal introductions. But other things that felt a little off. Even just little things, for example when Kristen Stewart said horror hadn't made an appearance at the Oscars since 1973 with The Exorcist. Except Silence of the Lambs won Best Picture in 1991. You could say maybe they don't consider it an horror film, except they still included in the montage.

Overall it wasn't a bad ceremony, but I just felt like the magic wasn't really there. Hopefully next year brings the magic back for me! Anyone else get that feeling, or were you still a big fan of the show? What parts were your favorite or least favorite?

~Shoshanah

It's Oscar Time

I have to say I'm a little disappointed that I decided not to go all out for the Oscar tonight like I did last year. But I think its partly because the best picture nominees didn't quite lend themselves to food. Whereas last year we were able to have Slumdog Millionaire Chicken Tika Masala.
I guess this year I could have gone with Avatar Blueberries?

Even though I have no fancy feast prepared it doesn't mean I'm not just as excited. Nor does it mean I didn't think long and hard about my Oscar picks. Here's to hoping to beat the boy for the third year in a row with my Oscar predictions. And without further adieu, here are my thoughts on who will hopefully win!

Best Picture: Avatar
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Best Actress: Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Best Supporting Actress: Anna Kendrick- Up in the Air
Best Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air
Best Original Screenplay: Up
Best Foreign Language Film: Ajami (Israel)
Best Cinematography: The Hurt Locker
Best Visual Effects: Avatar
Best Sound Mixing: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Best Sound Editing: Up
Best Live Action Short Film: Miracle Fish
Best Make-Up: The Young Victoria
Best Film Editing: The Hurt Locker
Best Documentary Short: The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Best Original Song: Randy Newman, "Down in New Orleans" - The Princess and the Frog
Best Original Score: Up
Best Costume Design: The Young Victoria
Best Documentary Feature: Food, Inc.
Best Art Direction: The Young Victoria
Best Animated Feature: Up
Best Animated Short Film: Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty

Wish me luck! And let me know your picks in the comments, not necessarily for every category, maybe one or two. Or give me to picks for everything if you'd rather do that.

~Shoshanah

Hometown Tourist

I already told you about the trip to Disneyland the boy and I took, but that's not the only bit of sightseeing we did while we were there.

We also went to Hollywood & Highland, where I tried to take a picture with the Hollywood sign. (Except a silly palm tree got in the way.)
But if you look really closely you can see the start of the H behind one of the trees. Also at Hollywood & Highland is the Kodak Theater, which hosts Oscars every year. Which is why they have this walk of fame set.
Every best picture nominee is listed in chronological order in black writing on the side along with the year it won. This is also where they put the red carpet that all the celebrities walk down to go to the show.

Speaking of movies, we also went to the Warner Brothers lot. (I think this was the first time I'd ever been.)
We went to their own site museum which had props and costumes from some of their movies including Casablanca, Million Dollar Baby, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and even smaller films like Music & Lyrics.

Although my favorite tourist-y part was lunch a Philippe's.
It's funny because whenever I order French dip sandwiches at a restaurant, I'll remember I don't like them most places. But I absolutely love them at Philippe's. Seriously, there are the world's best french dip sandwich. If you're ever in Los Angeles I highly recommend them!

Its funny because living somewhere you tend not go to a lot of the tourist attractions. But now that visiting California has become more of a vacation instead of actual permanent home, I'm doing a lot more tourist-y things. Also there's the fact I want to have the boy experience so many of the things I love about Southern California.

Anyone else have a few tourist locations you'd tell people to visit if they visited your hometown?

~Shoshanah

Did You Hear About Sherlock Avatar Up in the Air?

Yes, I did see quite a few movies in the past week or so. I think the best way to do it is to end with the movie I would recommend the most. Get ready!

Did You Hear about the Morgans?
A cute premise overall. A couple on the verge of divorce winds up having to go into witness protection TOGETHER in the middle of NOWHERE. Not the most original plot, but who's seeing this movie for that. The only real reason to see it are the actors. First there's Sarah Jessica Parker, whose character could be Carrie Bradshaw. Then there's Hugh Grant, and I don't think there's a movie I don't love him in. I thought they were great together. I think this would be the perfect movie to watch when its on TV on a lazy Sunday, but don't think you need to run out and see it before its out of the theater.

Sherlock Holmes
While this movie is only my third choice its more because the top two are so good, not that there's anything lacking in this. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this, or if I would enjoy it. But I was definitely pleasantly surprised. I do like being able to see how Sherlock Holmes is thinking when he's explaining how he solves a case. But even more so when he starts to plan out his actions in a fight. Then there's also Rachel McAdams, and while its not my favorite performance of hers, I don't think I've seen a movie she's been bad it. Its definitely worth going to see in theater... at least assuming you've already seen the next two movies.

Up in the Air
I knew basically what this movie was about before I saw it. George Clooney is a guy who goes around the country firing people and he mentors Anna Kendrick (aka Jessica from Twilight), but I wasn't quite sure how they were going to be able to turn that into a whole movie. Yet, they did and it wound up being a great movie. Both Anna Kendrick are really good, and definitely does deserve the Oscar nominations they are likely to get. Also interesting is the fact that some of the firing scenes include real footage of real people getting fired. While I did enjoy the movie throughout, it wasn't till the end I realized how much I loved it and how much it truly spoke to me. I would definitely recommend this, especially to all the other 20-somethings like me.

Avatar
This movie does live up to all the hype. First the images and scenery alone almost make up a good movie. And the 3-D is definitely worth it, so much so that at times you lose yourself and feel like you are actually part of the movie. But the movie and story itself are just as good as all the special effects. The boy loved it because it had more than enough fighting for me. I loved it because it had a great love story. Although, without trying to give to much away, I would have expected a slightly different ending coming from James Cameron. Interestingly enough, while this is a science fiction movie it wouldn't surprise me if it does wound up winning a Best Picture. I would definitely say this is another must see.

Yes, I do realize 2 out of these 4 movies I consider to be must see. But I do think if you see them you won't be disappointed. Anyone else have any must see movies they've seen? Or do you disagree with my choices?

~Shoshaanh

P.S. I'm answering all your questions tomorrow. So if there's anything else you want to know be sure to ask a questions here.

And the Oscar goes to...

ME! My picks finished 17 out of 24. Not so bad if I do say so myself. the Boy went about 13. So 3-peat for me. Unfortunately, there was no official bet this year. Just pride. (Last year the winner got to pick the movie and where we had dinner the next weekend and the loser paid.) I'll have to remember that next year.

So, my special dinner. I picked a food for each Best Picture nominee. So were pretty self explanatory (Milk?) others not so much. Well to the right we have Slumdog Millionaire Chicken Tika Masala.


The Reader Biscuits. Both uncooked and post oven.


Frost (en Peas) Nixon. O.K. This was a bit of a stretch. But I mean can you think of something better?


Milk. duh. Technically I didn't drink this. I don't do milk. The Boy does though and he drank more than my share, easily


Benjamin's Buttons.


Just for fun here's a plate of it all together!

Moving on to the actually ceremony though. I did like the intros they did for the Actor and Actress awards. Especially for Best Actress. I mean each nominee was almost in tears after hearing such nice things about themselves.

A weird thing I did notice though, is when anyone won there was no, "This is so-and-so's first win out of so many nominations." I do so how it could be a little monotonous hearing it every time. But still I want to know! How many times was Kate Winslet nominated before? How many foreign language Oscars has Japan won before? Did the sound guy with 17 nominations finally get his first win?

I did like the musical bit. Especially when Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens started singing bits from HSM3. Yeah, I had a bit of a tween moment.

I'm not sure how I felt about the 2008 movie montages. I get how by showing montages of classic movies every year it gets a little old. But seeing clips from "Forgetting Sarah Marshal" at the Oscars? It just seems a little off.

I think my favorite dress was probably Sarah Jessica Parker's. And I like Alica Keys' (at least I think it was her). Robert Pattinson looked hot, but very vampire like of course. And of course I loved how they brought the whole Slumdog cast up on stage, especially because you were able to see the kids on stage!


I figure one last picture of the two of us to end things off!

~Shoshanah

Oscars '09

The Oscar are on tonight! I'm so excited. I love award shows in general, but the Academy Awards are my favorite. I don't think I have missed a show since 5th grade. I have a special meal all planned out. I will be posting pictures don't worry. And I am going for my 3rd year in a row win. (Last year I beat the Boy with my picks, the year before we tied. So technically I am undefeated.) So here, officially, are my picks for the Academy Awards 2009:

Best Actor: Sean Penn - Milk
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Best Actress: Kate Winslet - The Reader
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz - Vicky Christina Barcelona
Best Animated Feature Film: Wall-e
Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Costume: The Duchess
Best Director: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Documentary Feature: Trouble The Water
Best Documentary Short: The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306
Best Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Foreign Language Film: Waltz with Bashir
Best Make-Up: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Music (Score): Slumdog Millionaire
Best Music (Song): "Down to Earth" - Wall-e
Best Picture: Milk
Best Short Film (Animated): La Maison en Petits Cubes
Best Short Film (Live Action): Spielzeugland (Toyland)
Best Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
Best Sound Mixing: Wall-e
Best Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Writing (Adapted): Slumdog Millionaire
Best Writing (Original): Wall-e

Yes, I know I made some risky choices. Milk for Best Picture and Best Actor, could really curse me. But I don't know... it might work out that way. Also since I picked Milk for Best Picture I really should have picked it for Best Writing. I guess it could be better than to go 1 and 1 there than 0 and 2. (Of course 2 and 0 would be the best.) So cross your fingers for me!

~Shoshanah

P.S. The picture is me and my sistah (aka my godsister, bff and all that other stuff) outside the Chinese theater. Which is now right next to the Kodak Theater. Which is where the Oscars are! See it makes sense! We're with Judy Garland's hand prints. Who did not win Best Actress for Wizard of Oz. Instead it went to Vivian Leigh for Gone With the Wind. Which, yes, makes sense.