Oh What A Night!

Every time I pop onto Blogger to post something, I end up getting sidetracked reading other people's blogs and the blogs that they follow. Oh well, it's great reading, these little glimpses into other people's lives. It's quite fascinating.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the Oscars last night. I thought Hugh Jackman did a great job. His opening number with the "hand-made" props was fabulous. They really let him do what he does best, namely act and sing. His tribute to the musical was great fun and I liked the Judd Apatow film with Seth Rogen and James Franco. Tina Fey and Steve Martin were the best presenters by far. It's too bad they came so early in the show because no one else lived up to them.

It's weird to see actors with absolutely no chemistry presenting awards together. I'm thinking of Daniel Craig and Sarah Jessica Parker who presented 3 awards, was it? It wasn't just weird, it was painful since they didn't seem to realize they were on the same stage together. I wonder who thought that would be a good pairing.

I've been reading the comments made on several post-show articles in the New York Times. It cracks me up when people go on and on about how much they hate the show or how boring it was. I wonder what made them keep watching. If the show was that awful why didn't they turn it off? Then, on top of not liking the Oscar show, they read an article about it and have to post a comment. If you hated it why read about it? Are you exploring new forms of torture? Am I supposed to give them an award for being such a martyr? Reading the Monday morning quarterbacking is almost as much fun as watching the Oscars themselves but without the fondue and cocktails.

So I liked the show for the most part. But then if it gets boring I tend to amuse myself by calling a neighbor or chatting with Brian. Plus I called the Penelope Cruz win so I'm happy. But now I'm in a quandary: for the past month I've been frantically watching the nominated movies, what do I do now?

And the Oscar Goes To...

I think it's time to post a few of my picks for the Academy Awards this Sunday. I'll be watching with Brian and we're planning on having fondue. I found a new recipe in Bon Appetit that I want to try. Of course we'll have cocktails!

Back in upstate New York, I used to throw Oscar parties for all my girlfriends. It worked out well because none of the husbands wanted to watch the show so they all came over and Brian played bartender. I'd decorate the entire house with a red carpet and objects depicting the Best Picture nominees (a wine bottle for Sideways, a record for Ray, etc.). My friends all brought a dish inspired by the nominations. The year of Lost in Translation we had a lot of Japanese food. Nothing wrong with that. So we ate, drank, chatted and occasionally watched the show. I always insisted on silence during the monologue though. And this year, with Hugh Jackman hosting, there might not even be a monologue! So I'm curious to see what will happen since they are promising some surprises. But "they talk a lot, don't they..."

Okay, so here are some picks (and should wins):
Picture/Director: Slumdog Millionaire: Should win and will win, great film. And I think Danny Boyle will take home director. I can't see a split this year.

Actress: Kate Winslet will win. It's her year and it is a holocaust film (check out the first episode of Extras where she parodies her quest for an Oscar by doing a holocaust film), although I didn't really enjoy The Reader. I wish Melissa Leo would win because Frozen River was such a great film.

Actor: So difficult. I could give to one of three men: Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke and Frank Langella. I think Mr. Rourke might take it because of his backstory but Mr. Penn does have a chance. So if I had to choose, I think I'm going to with Sean Penn, just because he did a better job and the Academy has been known to award talent.

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger. The guy was good. Scary good and crass as it might sound, it's now or never.

Supporting Actress: I have no idea but let's go with Penelope Cruz. She did a good job in Vicky Christina Barcelona (she's a great actress in Spanish films). And, I think people like her.

Animated Feature: Wall-E but honestly, I liked Kung Fu Panda better.

Foreign Film: Waltz with Bashir. I didn't see any foreign films this year but this one has gotten the most press. There might be an upset with The Class but it being a French film, it's a longshot.

Original Screenplay: Milk. I haven't heard any buzz on this category but I think people will go for Milk although it'd be great if Frozen River got it. Courtney Hunt, the writer/director of Frozen River cobbled together money to make this film and now it has two nominations. So exciting. Maybe they could make a movie about Ms. Hunt making this movie.

Adapted Screenplay: Another category I haven't heard much about but I doubt they will give it to Slumdog Millionaire so I'm going to go with Frost/Nixon and don't ask me why. It might be because I didn't like the other nominated films as much.

As for the other categories I don't think I could even begin to make a guess. We'll have to see what happens on Sunday night. I'm without a computer as my laptop sort of fell apart. I'll do a re-hashing on Monday though, don't worry!