The Great Gatsby Trailer

The highly anticipated trailer for The Great Gatsby was released yesterday, and in true Baz Luhrman style, it's decadent, beautiful and surreal. I am so excited! Carey Mulligan is my ultimate girl crush. She's just so lovely.

The Great Gatsby opens this Christmas and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, and Carey Mulligan.

Golden Globes 2012 Best and Worst Dressed

Interesting notes about last night's Golden Globes awards:

• I'm kind of tickled by the fact that Madonna and Johnny Depp decided it was cool just to speak in accent.
  
• Why was Elton John so sad/mad last night?
• David Furnish, Elton John's hubby, reeeeeeally didn't like Madonna's acceptance speech last night. Someone sounds a little upset about their significant other losing out to Madge. It's okay, David Furnish, the sooner you accept the fact that Madonna is the queen of anything and everything, the better you'll feel.
  
• Ricky Gervais was surprisingly toned down last night. Perhaps he thought he went a little too far last time?
• I kind of lost it during George Clooney's acceptance speech for best drama actor for The Descendants. When he referenced Michael Fassbender's full frontal nudity in Shame and how he could play golf with an appendage other than his arms, I just about fell over. Oh lordy, Fassy and Clooney. *fans self*
  
• Overjoyed by Homeland's win for best television drama and Claire Danes' win for best drama actress. Well deserved. Now can we fast forward time to the premiere of season 2?
• Stomping my foot like an angry child over Amy Poehler's loss in the best television comedy actress category. WHY is she always shafted? I feel like this injustice is especially heightened because of this Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. All I did was have a dream that my queen Amy would finally be acknowledged for her flawless work on Parks and Recreation.
  

Now onto my picks for this year's best and worst dressed.

Best:

Claire Danes in J. Mendel: You can always count on Claire Danes to look classy and put together. She just looks like a winner.
Emma Stone in Lanvin: Emma wins for best color choice of the night. That eggplant and burgundy against her red hair is perfection. I just wish she would have gone for a different belt or perhaps accessorized more to tie it in to her look.


Shailene Woodley in Marchesa: I love that Shailene is dressing her age, but still looks sophisticated and classy.
Charlize Theron in Christian Dior Haute Couture: Charlize is a flawless goddess. That high slit and those killer legs are insane. Plus, everyone loves a good sparkly headband.


Nicole Kidman in Atelier Versace: First thought: Nicole's body is ridiculous. It defies human nature. How old is this woman? How many children does she have? Damn, seriously. She does Atelier Versace justice, for sure.
Evan Rachel Wood in Gucci Premiere: I'm not normally an advocate of feathers on the red carpet, but it just works on Evan Rachel Wood. She's one of my favorites on the red carpet, because she never goes for safe, and she never goes for expected. Love her.


Michelle Williams in Jason Wu: Michelle Williams always just looks so darling. No exception here.
Tilda Swinton in Haider Ackermann: Tilda just kills it in Haider Ackermann. KILLS. SLAYS. Only Tilda could pull off a look like this. On anyone else, it would look like a disaster. On Tilda, it looks incredible.



Worst:

Sarah Michelle Gellar in Monique Lhullier: Ooh girl. This is what happens when you let your daughter pick your dress. Charlotte is adorable, but she's just a 2 year old! She'll point at a garbage bag if it means she'll be able to have an extra cookie tonight.
Lea Michele in Marchesa: See, this is my issue with Lea Michele. Year after year, awards season after awards season, she always dresses so much older than her age. I just don't get it. It's like she wants to look like a 40 year old woman.


Amanda Peet in Marc Jacobs: I appreciate Amanda Peet doing a throwback of S/S '06 Marc Jacobs, but this look just fell flat on the carpet. This would, however, be a great look for a Little House on the Prarie themed party.
Jessica Biel in Elie Saab Couture: I'm convinced Amanda Peet and Jessica Biel got on the phone prior to arriving and decided to coordinate grandma wedding dress style. I want to try and understand this look, but all I can think of is how hot and sweaty she must be under all that lace.


Naya Rivera in Vera Wang: This dress is just not doing anything for Naya, which is such a shame because she has such a beautiful body.
Piper Perabo in Theyskens Theory: I just don't even understand what's going on here.


Zooey Deschanel in Prada: I see where Zooey was going with this dress, but her hair is just so wrong. It's too perfectly coiffed, like an American Girl doll.
Madonna in Reem Acra: It pains me to put my girl Madonna on this list, and I love it from the waist up, but then when my eyes follow the length of her body, a look of absolute horror just crosses my face every single time.

Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" Trailer

Finally, a new Wes Anderson movie for me to obsess over! Set in the 1960's on an island off New England, Moonrise Kingdom is about two young lovers who run away together, which causes various search parties to mobilize in order to find them. I kind of love it already.

Also, are you kidding me with this cast? Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, and obviously, no WA movie would be complete without Jason Schwartzman. Insane. So excited for this movie!

Best of 2011

(Cinema 2011 -- A beautiful montage of movies in 2011)

I love making lists because I'm just that kind of neurotic, obsessive person who likes to categorize, organize, and catalog. Frankly, lists just wrap things up in a bow and make them look pretty, and hey -- I'm all for that. Always.

Now that's it's 2012, and seeing as the world may end this year (yeah, I'm also just that kind of paranoid, conspiracy theory believing person too), I thought it'd be best to reflect on my 2011.

Top Movies of 2011 (all in no particular order):

• Drive - This may be my favorite, although I may be just slightly biased as I will basically watch anything with Ryan Gosling in it, as made obvious by this list.
  
• Midnight in Paris
• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
• Bridesmaids
• Moneyball
• 50/50
• X-Men: First Class
• Contagion
• The Ides of March
• Crazy, Stupid, Love
  

Top Film Performances of 2011:

• Michael Fassbender in Shame
• Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Rooney Mara in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
• Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in Moneyball
  
• Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids
• Ryan Gosling in Drive

Top Television Shows of 2011 (a mix of returning and new):

• Homeland - Definitely my favorite of the year. A brilliant piece of work. This is definitely Claire Danes' best performance ever.
• Parks and Recreation
• Fringe
• Shameless
• New Girl
• Happy Endings
• Revenge
• The Walking Dead
• The Big C
• Breaking Bad
• Suits - A real dark horse. I realize there was a huge uproar following Patrick J. Adams' SAG nomination, but this show is truly great, as is he as the lead. Really surprised at this little USA dramedy. Really entertaining.
  

Top Television Performances of 2011:

• Claire Danes in Homeland
  
• John Noble in Fringe
• Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation
• Glenn Close and Rose Byrne in Damages
  
• Jessica Lange and Evan Peters in American Horror Story
• Laura Linney in The Big C
• Madeleine Stowe (ultimate ice queen) and Emily VanCamp in Revenge
• Ty Burrell in Modern Family
• Adam Pally and Damon Wayans Jr. in Happy Endings
  
• Emmy Rossum and William H. Macy in Shameless
  

A Golden Globes and SAG Awards Nominations Rant (aka a thinly veiled Parks and Recreation fangirl post).

I do this every year, but I feel as if I'm particularly annoyed with this year's Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations. After the nominations were announced, I was about two vodka tonics and several heavy breaths away from a good old fashioned hair flying, crazy eyed, foot stomping temper tantrum. But HFPA and SAG, it's just not fair!

It's clear to me now that both lists of nominations are invalid because they exclude Parks and Recreation from their best comedy ensemble/series categories. Seriously now, seriously?! Where's Seth Myers and his SNL Weekend Update bit when you need him?

Season three of P&R was perfection, and there's not even a shred of embellishment in that statement. I mean, come on people -- flawless cast, a comedy that favors optimism instead of insult, Leslie freakin' Knope, Ron effing Swanson, all on a pretty little platter.. for god's sake, what more do you want?! At least the HFPA came to their senses and nominated Amy Poehler for best actress in a comedy series. So that's one less reason to hurl my TV across the room come awards night. The real disrespect comes from the SAGs, because the nominations come directly from their peers. And when you're snubbed altogether, that just hurts. Damn.

It also hurts when you've been edged out of a Golden Globe nomination by a show in its infancy that's barely even had nine freaking episodes. I mean, I love Zooey Deschanel and I love New Girl, but let's not pretend that playing a weird, quirky, yet lovable indie girl is a far stretch for Zooey. If that's worth a Golden Globe nomination, maybe I should star in a show about a nerdy Asian girl who is pressured by her parents to become a doctor/lawyer and get married in order to populate the world with even more overachieving children and overbearing parents.

I've come to some conclusions about these snubs. Clearly, the SAG voters who did not nominate P&R nor Amy Poehler are either:

1. all blind,
2. all jealous of the comedy gold that is Parks and Recreation,
3. are all receiving bribes from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk,
4. or all of the above.

Sounds about right, no?

On the upside, Claire Danes has been nominated for Homeland and that makes me beyond happy because girlfriend is certifiably crazy on that show and it is awesome. Thank you for getting something right, HFPA and SAG!

First Hunger Games Trailer

Okay, okay! I've been MIA, I know. I think it may be because I fell into the black hole of Missoni for Target. I spent a good month stalking Targets and eBay looking for those precious Missoni items. Now that I've gotten my hot little hands on everything I wanted, I can come back to the real world. Aaand the good news is that in the real world, we finally have a Hunger Games trailer! I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a little bit obsessed with this franchise. That's right. No shame in a grown woman this obsessed with a young adult series. I'm looking at you, TwiMoms.

Hunger Games releases in theaters on March 23, 2012.

The Royal Totoraums

This is pretty much the best thing ever.

via Fanartica

Lionsgate Releases motion poster for "The Hunger Games"

Who's ready for this movie?!

That's right, I READ YOUNG ADULT. Deal with it.

"Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" First Official Teaser Trailer

Sony has finally released the first official trailer for David Fincher's highly anticipated Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. This comes after last weekend's "leak" of the redband trailer that had everyone talking. There are suspicions that Sony leaked the trailer themselves in order to gain buzz on the Internet, and obviously, it worked, because it spread like wildfire. That's not to say we haven't all been waiting with nail biting anticipation for the trailer anyway. Everyone knew from the get-go that this movie would be huge considering David Fincher's theatrical style when given these kinds of juicy movie plots, and judging by the trailer, we probably won't be disappointed by the outcome, especially if Karen O continues to collaborate with Trent Reznor on the score and soundtrack. No disappointment here. None. Nada. Zilch. Karen O's cover of Led Zepplin's "Immigrant Song" is INSANE. Fincher's direction isn't so shabby either.

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is based on the wildly popular Millennium Trilogy books by Stieg Larrson. The books have since been adapted into movies by the Swedish cinema, but this is the first American adaptation with David Fincher directing, Rooney Mara starring, and score produced by Trent Reznor, all of whom worked with Fincher on his last Academy Award nominated feature, The Social Network.

Here's the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo book synopsis from Amazon.com:

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo releases in the US on December 21, 2011.

Check out the trailer below. It doesn't explain anything plot-wise, but it sure as hell looks cool, and I guess David Fincher can get away with that.

Floating "Up" House Scene Recreated in Real Life

How amazing is this?






Incredible, right? These pictures make me giddy! Just look at how huge and colorful those balloons are! Makes my inner eight year old squeal with delight!

This unbelievable feat was created by the brilliant team behind National Geographic and a group of talented scientists and engineers. The house measures approximately 16'x16'x18' and it reached an altitude of approximately 10,000 feet.

Check out the house in action:

Oscars 2011 Recap: Winners and Best/Worst Dressed

Thoughts on last night's show:

• Oh boy. Last night's live show was like watching a sinking ship. Anne put up a valiant effort, but even she could tell it was going downhill fast and poor thing, she had to hold it together while James was somewhere off in nonchalant-land thinking about some homework assignment he missed. Don't get me wrong, I love me some James Franco and I appreciated his live-tweeting, but he seemed like he wished he was somewhere else last night, which leaves me to think things were happening in the background which threw the whole show off. I mean, I seem to recall him saying there would be some punchy musical numbers, but Anne was singing about Hugh Jackass up on that big stage all by her herself.
  
• Billy Crystal was the highlight of the night. Please host every show from now on Billy, pretty please.
• The musical parodies of The Social Network, Harry Potter, and Twilight? So awkward and out of place. Did I miss something? Was this the MTV Movie Awards in disguise?
• The Oscar folks recruited Anne and James to host the show in order to draw in ratings from a younger demographic, yet ratings were down 10% from last year. Oops.
• Disappointed that there were no shakeups this year. All the wins were exactly as predicted, and usually, we have a couple of surprises here and there. I'm still raging mad that Hailee Steinfeld didn't get the best supporting actress win she so deserved, and don't even get me started about best director. Fincher was robbed.
• Melissa Leo. Oh, Melissa Leo. First with the Oscar campaign she started for herself, and then with that blatantly rehearsed acceptance speech? I get it, Melissa, you can act.
• My heart breaks for The Social Network, especially for Jesse Eisenberg (although Colin is brilliant and shall from now on only be referred to as King Colin) and David Fincher. I can only hope that another project comes along that will eventually turn into an Oscar win for both of them.
  
• Last night's Oscar telecast was so depressing in so many ways for me that I had to pop in Love Actually to make myself feel a little better. That should pretty much sum up how I felt about the show right there.
• My Oscar ballot tally: 19/22 (I omitted best live action short and best documentary short subject)
  

The full list of winners and my assessment of the best and worst dressed below:

BEST PICTURE
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
WINNER: The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
WINNER: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
WINNER: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
WINNER: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David O. Russell, The Fighter

BEST SONG
“Coming Home,” Country Strong, Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light,” Tangled, Alan Menken, Glenn Slater
“If I Rise,” 127 Hours, A.R. Rahman, Dido, Rollo Armstrong
WINNER: “We Belong Together,” Toy Story 3, Randy Newman

BEST EDITING
127 Hours, Jon Harris
Black Swan, Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter, Pamela Martin
The King’s Speech, Tariq Anwar
WINNER: The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Alice in Wonderland, Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1, Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
Hereafter, Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
WINNER: Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Iron Man 2, Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Exit Through the Gift Shop, Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
Gasland, Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
WINNER: Inside Job, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Restrepo, Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
Waste Land, Lucy Walker and Angus Aynley

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
The Confession, Tanel Toom
The Crush, Michael Creagh
WINNER: God of Love, Luke Matheny
Na Wewe, Ivan Goldschmidt
Wish 143, Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Killing in the Name (Nominees TBD)
Poster Girl (Nominees (TBD)
WINNER: Strangers No More, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
Sun Come Up, Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
The Warriors of Qiugang, Ruby Yang and Thomas Lenno

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
WINNER: Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood
I Am Love, Antonella Cannarozzi
The King’s Speech, Jenny Beaven
The Tempest, Sandy Powell
True Grit, Mary Zophres

BEST MAKEUP
Barney’s Version, Adrien Morot
The Way Back, Eduoard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk, Yolanda Toussieng
WINNER: The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

BEST SOUND EDITING
WINNER: Inception, Richard King
Toy Story 3, Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
TRON: Legacy, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
True Grit, Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
Unstoppable, Mark P. Stoeckinger

BEST SOUND MIXING
WINNER: Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, and Ed Novick
The King’s Speech, Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen, and John Midgley
Salt, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan, and William Sarokin
The Social Network, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, and Mark Weingarten
True Grit, Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, and Peter F. Kurland

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
127 Hours, A.R. Rahman
How to Train Your Dragon, John Powell
Inception, Hans Zimmer
The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat
WINNER: The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
WINNER: 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

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) (Algeria)
Incendies (Canada)
WINNER: In a Better World (Denmark)
Dogtooth (Greece)
Biutiful (Mexico)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Another Year, written by Mike Leigh
The Fighter, Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; 
Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception, written by Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right, written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
WINNER: The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 Hours, Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
WINNER: The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3, Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
True Grit, written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter’s Bone, adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

BEST ANIMATED FILM
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
WINNER: Toy Story 3

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Day & Night, Teddy Newton
The Gruffalo, Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
Let’s Pollute, Geefwee Boedoe
WINNER: The Lost Thing, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary), Bastien Dubois

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
WINNER: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Black Swan, Matthew Libatique
WINNER: Inception, Wally Pfister
The King’s Speech, Danny Cohen
The Social Network, Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit, Roger Deakins

BEST ART DIRECTION
WINNER: Alice in Wonderland, Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara
Happy Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1, Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
Inception, Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat
The King’s Speech, Eve Stewart, Judy Farr
True Grit, Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Best Dressed:

My two favorites up first:
Mila Kunis in Elie Saab: Mila is annoyingly gorgeous in every way and in this dress, she just gets even more annoying because she is perfect in it.
Cate Blanchett in Givenchy Couture: Cate is my top pick for best dressed. I am OBSESSED with this little Givenchy number with the crazy beading and armor-like cut-out in the front. It's gorgeous. It's like a couture ninja (and I when I say ninja, I'm totally picturing the Mortal Kombat ninjas) get-up and I love it.



Gwyneth Paltrow in Calvin Klein: If anyone can do simplicity well, it's my Gwynnie. This dress is like a silver waterfall. It's dripping with pretty.
Jennifer Laurence in Calvin Klein Collection: First thoughts. 1) Damn Jennifer Laurence has a banging body and 2) time to hide the snacks and hit the gym. I think Jennifer did a great job at keeping classy and keeping it sexy as all hale.



Hailee Steinfeld in Marchesa: Okay, how perfect is this dress on Hailee? She's like a mini Audrey Hepburn. This outfit is literally styled perfectly, from the thin hairband, to the neat, sleek hair, and the adorable little champagne pumps -- age appropriate and lovely, just lovely.
Mandy Moore in Monique Lhullier: I think this dress is gorgeous, but it would be so much more perfect if it were a shade darker than Mandy's skin color. She's just a tad too pale in it, but nonetheless, it's a gorgeous puff of a dress.



Hilary Swank in Gucci Premiere: The gag reflex is usually on autopilot when I see an excess of feathers, but this dress has the perfect balance of texture. Not too much, not too little. I also have a slight weakness for dip-dye, so I can't deny Hilary's beauty in this ensemble.
Michelle Williams in Chanel Couture: Michelle with her pixie cut and simple, yet lovely Chanel couture reminds me so much of Twiggy it's ridiculous.



Worst Dressed:

Nicole Kidman in Dior Couture: I just -- I just don't even know what to make of this hot mess. It's just atrocious. It baffles me as to why Nicole even chose this dress. She looks like a tacky, embroidered napkin, except I fear even that that may have looked better on her. Nothing could save this outfit, not even a life raft.
Jennifer Hudson in Versace: See, I respect the fact that J Hud wanted to show off her new bangin' body, but this dress is doing nothing for her except exposing a whole lot of boob. Imagine how gorgeous she would have looked in that Calvin Klein number that Jennifer Laurence wore. What a shame.



Anne Hathaway in vintage Valentino: I wanted to love this dress, I really did. I squinted my eyes, I tried to make justifications in my head, and at one point.. it was a 'it's vintage... I love it, right?!' kind of moment. See, folks-- this is a perfect example that just because it's vintage doesn't mean it's amazing. Or even remotely amazing. In the end, the bubble butt just couldn't be justified away.
Reese Witherspoon in Armani Prive: I think I understand where Reese was going with this, but in the end in just ended up looking like a bad high school prom outfit, and we all know that 60's high ponytail updo didn't help either.



Halle Berry in Marchesa: Tell me the bottom of this dress doesn't look like her kid ran around amok with some tulle and some super glue. You can't, can you?
Marisa Tomei in vintage Charles Edwards couture: This dress was gorgeous, but the bust line wasn't working for Marisa.



Jacki Weaver in Collette Dinniga: I'd say this is pretty self-explanatory.
Melissa Leo in Marc Bouwer: Really now, Melissa, really now? A doily with giant shoulders and a mandarin collar? This is what you wanted to accept your Oscar in?


Let's hope next year will be better!

Oscars 2011 Ballot

Tonight's the night! It's Oscar Sunday! You know I'll be glued to my TV like the true nerd I am (nail biting and all) watching the year in movies come to its close. I managed to watch all ten best pictures in just the nick of time, and I have to say, they were all very well deserved of their Oscar noms. My pick for best picture of the year? Definitely The Social Network. That's not to say that they will win tonight because The King's Speech (another great movie this year -- and I say great, because while it was well acted and scripted, it was not the year's best) has given them quite a run for their money. I can only imagine what it would be like sitting in a room with both Harvey Weinstein and Scott Rudin as they each attempted to lobby for their respective movies. Alot of spit flying, I assume.

Alrighty, so here's my 2011 Oscar ballot! Hurry on up and put your bets in for tonight, people!

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

• Who will win: Colin Firth -- it's pretty much in the bag at this point. He's swept awards across the board, and he will finally get the Oscar that has eluded him. I loved Colin in this movie, but honestly, I thought he was better last year in A Serious Man. He broke my heart in that movie. Beautiful, just really beautiful.
  
  
• Who deserves to win: See, I'm torn here between Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network and Colin Firth. I was really blown away by Jesse in TSN. The way he delivered Aaron Sorkin's acerbic, quick-witted screenplay was nearly a masterpiece. No one could have done it better.
  

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

• Who will win: Christian Bale -- another sweep this awards season, although I'm not sure it's completely warranted. Bale is notoriously known as a method actor and that's exactly how he prepared for the The Fighter. He transformed his body into the body of a gaunt, crack addicted boxer who has fallen on hard times. In my eyes, his performance was too much of a gimmick, a little too show me, show me, and a parody, if you will. However, since Hollywood has pretty much been jumping on the The King's Speech bandwagon these days, Geoffrey Rush might just win.
  
  
• Who deserves to win: Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech. Geoffrey was flawless in this movie. Without the heart that he delivered in his role, the relationship between himself and the king would have fallen apart, and subsequently, so would have the rest of movie since that strong bond was exactly what the plotline rested upon.
  

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

• Who will win: Natalie Portman in The Black Swan. Natalie has won every major award this awards season in this category and we will see her on Sunday night, waddling up to that podium, preggers and all. Let's just hope her dress will be better than all of the other red carpet choices she's made this awards season. Hey Natalie, just because you're pregnant doesn't give you a pass to wear terribly ill-fitting bags that you think pass for dresses.
  
  
• Who deserves to win: Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine. Michelle blew me away in this movie and she completely deserves to win. I'm disappointed that Natalie has consistently won for The Black Swan, because while the movie was thrilling and beautiful, her performance was not exactly Oscar worthy. Now don't get me wrong, Natalie was great in the movie, but I didn't leave the theater feeling altered by her performance, like I did after seeing Michelle in Blue Valentine.
  

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

• Who will win: Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit, although let's be real here -- everyone knows Hailee was undoubtedly the lead in True Grit. Another flawless performance this year. I was truly amazed by her performance in the Coen brothers' remake of this classic western. She completely deserves to win and I suspect she will, although she'll have tough competition from Melissa Leo, who has consistently won for her role in The Fighter.
  
• Who deserves to win: Hailee Steinfeld
  

Animated Feature Film
“How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
“The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
“Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

• Who will win: Toy Story 3 -- pretty obvious, right?
• Who deserves to win: Toy Story 3

Art Direction
“Alice in Wonderland”
Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Inception”
Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
“The King's Speech”
Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr
“True Grit”
Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

• Who will win: Alice in Wonderland. I'd say this would be well deserved considering the fact that the production and set designers had to create a whole new fantasy world, and one that reflected Tim Burton's crazy eye for imagination, no less.
  
• Who deserves to win: Alice in Wonderland
  

Cinematography
“Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
“Inception” Wally Pfister
“The King's Speech” Danny Cohen
“The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
“True Grit” Roger Deakins

• Who will win: True Grit, Roger Deakins -- Roger has been nominated several times in this category and I suspect he will win this year. True Grit was visually arresting and the story was really brought to life thanks to Deakins' amazing eye for cinematography.
  
• Who deserves to win: True Grit, Roger Deakins
  

Costume Design
“Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
“I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
“The King's Speech” Jenny Beavan
“The Tempest” Sandy Powell
“True Grit” Mary Zophres

• Who will win: Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood. Colleen is a previous winner in this category and she will most likely win again this year for her whimsical costumes in Tim Burton's take on Alice.
  
• Who deserves to win: Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood.

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

• Who will win: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech. Just when I thought The Social Network was riding high on its Oscar wave, The King's Speech caught up and surpassed the latter in the race towards Oscar after securing wins at the PGAs, SAGs, and DGAs. After nabbing the top prize at the DGA, I'm pretty certain Tom Hooper will win for The King's Speech.
  
  
• Who deserves to win: David Fincher, The Social Network. How can you watch this movie and not feel a deep appreciation for Fincher's work? It was artfully directed and fantastically paced, and I stand by that for all time.
  

Documentary (Feature)
“Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
“Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
“Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
“Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

• Who will win: I can't really speak about these documentaries with much knowledge, but from what I've been hearing, Inside Job, a documentary about Wall street and the financial crisis that ensued after a corporate world meltdown, will win.
  
• Who deserves to win:
  

Documentary (Short Subject)
“Killing in the Name” Nominees to be determined
“Poster Girl” Nominees to be determined
“Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
“Sun Come Up” Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
“The Warriors of Qiugang” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

• Who will win:
• Who deserves to win:
  

Film Editing
“Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
“The Fighter” Pamela Martin
“The King's Speech” Tariq Anwar
“127 Hours” Jon Harris
“The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

• Who will win: The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter. Anyone who can make a bunch of nerds writing code and battling over millions inside a conference room look not only appealing, but fast paced and exciting, deserves to win an Oscar.
  
• Who deserves to win: The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter.

Foreign Language Film
“Biutiful” Mexico
“Dogtooth” Greece
“In a Better World” Denmark
“Incendies” Canada
“Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

• Who will win: Having not seen any of these movies, I still suspect Denmark's In a Better World will win, considering they won the same prize at the Golden Globes earlier this year.
  
• Who deserves to win:
  

Makeup
“Barney's Version” Adrien Morot
“The Way Back” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

• Who will win: I'm thinking The Wolfman here, because that's the movie that consisted of the most makeup work, and I suspect that's usually what Academy voters usually look for in this category.
  
• Who deserves to win:
  

Music (Original Score)
“How to Train Your Dragon” John Powell
“Inception” Hans Zimmer
“The King's Speech” Alexandre Desplat
“127 Hours” A.R. Rahman
“The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

• Who will win: The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Words cannot express how much I loved the score in this movie as it was so critical in every scene. Just a really hauntingly beautiful piece of work. You can't listen to the score in this movie and not feel moved by it.
  
• Who deserves to win: The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
  

Music (Original Song)
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

• Who will win: "We Belong Together", Randy Newman. The Academy just loves some good 'ole sentimental music by Randy Newman, especially if he wrote it for a fantastic animated franchise, such as Toy Story.
  
• Who deserves to win: "Coming Home" from Country Strong.
  

Short Film (Animated)
“Day & Night” Teddy Newton
“The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
“Let's Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe
“The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
“Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Dubois
Short Film (Live Action)
“The Confession” Tanel Toom
“The Crush” Michael Creagh
“God of Love” Luke Matheny
“Na Wewe” Ivan Goldschmidt
“Wish 143” Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

• Who will win: "Day and Night"-- I predict this adorable little animated short that played before Toy Story 3 in theaters will win.
  
• Who deserves to win: "Day and Night"
  

Sound Editing
“Inception” Richard King
“Toy Story 3” Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
“Tron: Legacy” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
“True Grit” Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
“Unstoppable” Mark P. Stoeckinger

• Who will win: Inception. I'm thinking Inception will pick up sound editing and mixing, as these two awards usually go together.
  
• Who deserves to win: Inception
  

Sound Mixing
“Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
“The King's Speech” Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
“Salt” Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
“The Social Network” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
“True Grit” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

• Who will win: Inception
  
• Who deserves to win: Inception
  

Visual Effects
“Alice in Wonderland” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
“Hereafter” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
“Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
“Iron Man 2” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

• Who will win: Inception, simply because the visual effects team managed to roll up a street like a piece of paper.
• Who deserves to win: Inception
  

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
“The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
“Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
“True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Winter's Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

• Who will win: The Social Network by Aaron Sorkin -- totally and undeniably deserved win, and not to mention pretty much locked in.
  
• Who deserves to win: The Social Network by Aaron Sorkin
  

Writing (Original Screenplay)
“Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
“The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
“Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
“The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
“The King's Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

• Who will win: The King's Speech -- I suspect Oscar voters will jump on The King's Speech bandwagon to up its Oscar count come Sunday night.
  
• Who deserves to win: The Kids Are All Right -- a lovely screenplay with fantastic character development. I can't really speak confidently in this category though, because I haven't seen Another Year, which I hear had an amazing screenplay.

Best Picture
“Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
“The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
“Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
“The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
“The King's Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
“127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
“The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
“Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
“True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
“Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

• Who will win: The King's Speech. It pains me to have to admit that this movie will most likely win. For awhile I was convinced The Social Network would take home the top prize, but the Weinstein Company must be in overdrive this Oscar season because they've really managed to come from behind and take the reins during this awards season.
  
• Who deserves to win: The Social Network. Scott Rudin is one of the best producers out there and I was really hoping that he'd edge out Harvey Weinstein in this Oscar race. The Social Network is not only the best of the year and a social commentary of modern times, but it's the kind of movie that defines a generation. It's not just about a bunch of nerds coming up with the concept of Facebook, it's about the proliferation of social networking and how it has fundamentally altered the way we communicate today. Not only that, but it was terrifically acted, directed, and edited. Even the score was phenomenal. Shouldn't all of that be the basis for a best picture win? I guess not in this day and age. It seems pretty obvious to me that Academy voters would rather vote for a movie with older actors playing historical figures who have to overcome some kind of challenge or hurdle, rather than a bunch of fast-talking, witty nerds who set out to change a little something called the Internet.
  

Oscars 2011 Promo w/Hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco

First promo for the 2011 Academy Awards, hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco.

Cute!

Newsweek's Oscar Roundtable

Who else is excited about the Oscar nomination announcement tomorrow? I know I am, but I'm a geek, and you know I've already made a mental ballot. Look out for Oscar nominations at 5:30am Pacific, 8:30 Eastern.

Check out Ebert's Oscar nomination predictions. They're pretty much in line with my own thoughts, except instead of Justin Timberlake in The Social Network for best supporting actor, I'd go with Andrew Garfield instead. His performance was undoubtedly better. All of Ebert's other predictions, however, seem pretty sound.

In honor of the upcoming Oscar nomination announcement, I'm posting the Newsweek Oscar Roundtable featuring Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole), Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right), Colin Firth (The King's Speech), Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine), and James Franco (127 Hours). There are multiple videos, but I'm only posting a few, although they are all worth watching. Check out the rest of the videos and the transcript on Newsweek's website.

Cinema 2010

Last year I posted Kees van Dijkhuizen's 'Cinema 2009' mashup of 342 movies in 2009. With the year's end upon us, Kees released 'Cinema 2010' today. Amazing! The most astonishing part? This kid is only in high school! Great music choice, and an incredible number of movies featured. I really applaud this level of dedication, hard work, and attention to detail. What a fantastic way to wrap up this year in cinema.

Check out this interview with Kees. Definitely doesn't sound like your average high school student.

2011 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Nominations

After the travesty known as the Golden Globe awards nominations announcement yesterday, my spirits have been lifted by today's 17th Annual SAG awards nominations announcement this morning. Considering the Golden Globes have become somewhat of a joke in recent years, I wouldn't count on them for any early Oscar predictions. I would, however, put my money on some of these SAG nominations. SAG nominations have been pretty consistently on par with Oscar nominations and eventual wins. Last year alone the SAG and Oscar ballots were almost exactly identical in the 4 categories they share with a 19/20 match. The winners of the 4 SAG categories went on to nab the Oscar. The SAGs are easily my favorite awards show, right behind the Oscars because I almost always agree with the nomination choices, and it's not as flashy as the Golden Globes.

However, with all that said, there are some noticeable snubs, but that's just the name of the game. So many great actors, and only 5 nominee slots in each category. Can't win 'em all. I am surprised to see both Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling left out of the best actor and best actress race for Blue Valentine considering they both received Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globe nominations. Mark Wahlberg was also left out from the best actor race for The Fighter, but the rest of the cast received SAG recognition. Not surprising though, considering how tight the best actor race is this season. Colin Firth (The King's Speech) is looking pretty good for the win right now. I'm disappointed to see that Andrew Garfield didn't make the cut for best supporting actor in The Social Network, although he received a GG nomination yesterday. Justin Timberlake has also been left out of SAG and GG ballots, despite his hard push during this awards season.

The one, huge point of contention I have with this year's list of nominees has to do with the television categories. While I pretty much agree with all of the nominations, I would REALLY love to know what the hell happened to Toni Collette's and Laura Linney's nominations for The United States of Tara and The Big C. This is a huge disappointment. I can only be comforted by Glenn Close's nomination for Damages, a show that was left out altogether by the Golden Globes.

Now on with the good. The SAG has recognized the Coen brothers' True Grit and finally put them on the awards map with a best actor nomination for Jeff Bridges and a best supporting actress nomination for Hailee Steinfield. I'm pleasantly surprised by Mark Ruffalo's nomination for The Kids Are All Right, and I'm glad to see that Hillary Swank is being recognized for her work in Convinction, a movie that hasn't been able to gain momentum this awards season. This is good news for all of the above nominees as they have now earned a much needed boost into Oscar territory.

The SAG awards ceremony will take place on January 30. Here's the full list of nominations:

FILM:

Male Actor, Leading
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Robert Duvall, Get Low
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 hours

Female Actor, Leading
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Hilary Swank, Conviction

Male Actor, Supporting
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Jon Hawkes, Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Female Actor, Supporting
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Cast in a Motion Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network

TELEVISION:

Male Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries
John Goodman, You Don't Know Jack
Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack
Dennis Quaid, The Special Relationship
Edgar Ramirez, Carlos
Patrick Stewart, Macbeth: Great Performances

Female Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries
Claire Danes, Temple Grandin
Catherine O'Hara, Temple Grandin
Julia Ormond, Temple Grandin
Winona Ryder, When Love Is Not Enough
Susan Sarandon, You Don't Know Jack

Male Actor, Drama Series
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House

Female Actor, Drama Series
Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Julianna Marguiles, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Male Actor, Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Steve Carell, The Office
Chris Colfer, Glee
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family

Female Actor, Comedy Series
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Jane Lynch, Glee
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland

Ensemble, Drama Series
Boardwalk Empire
The Closer
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men

Ensemble, Comedy Series
30 Rock
Glee
Hot in Cleveland
Modern Family
The Office

STUNT ENSEMBLES:

FILM
Green Zone
Inception
Robin Hood

TV
CSI: New York
Dexter
Southland
True Blood

LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:
Ernest Borgnine