I've been made aware that my blogging as of late has been lacking. Apologies. To make up for it, I'm going to live blog tonight's Academy Awards. Enjoy!
12:07am - Ok, bedtime - thanks for playing everyone!
12:02am - Sorry Seth, I really wanted to like you as a host, but that was borderline disaster. No where near as bad as the Franco/Hathaway fiasco, but a disappointment none the less. And this song about the losers? Dreadful....
12:00am - Wait - they're going to ANOTHER commercial break before they end? IS ABC SERIOUS?!
11:59pm - Ben legit seems flustered. Good for him, but I thought The Town was better.
11:56pm - Argo wins Best Picture, Ben still gets his Oscar, Clooney gets a second. Poor Ang Lee, this is the second time in a row he's won Best Director but lost Best Picture. Bummer.
11:54pm - Oh boo. That totally wasn't live. Welp, here it is, comes down to this. WHAT IS SO FREAKING HARD ABOUT PRONOUNCING LES MISERABLES CORRECTLY?!
11:53pm - WHOA! This is a surprise...
11:48pm - DDL is the first actor to win 3 Oscars in the Lead Actor category. That's at least 5 standing ovations tonight - is that a record? And he's got that wry British humor - what's not to love about this man?!
11:47pm - Would LOVE to see Cooper pull an upset here, but this is Day-Lewis' to lose. He IS Abraham Lincoln.
11:45pm - Lawrence wins best actress, trips up the stairs on the way to collect her statue, gets a standing ovation, and Silver Linings Playbook goes home with at least one award. All is right with the world. 2 more...
11:41pm - Jean Dujardin doesn't seem as charming with that beard. This is a 3 way race between Chastain, Lawrence and Riva. I'm gonna give it to Lawrence. Silver Linings Playbook goes home empty-handed if she loses, which I don't see happening.
11:40pm - STOP CUTTING TO KRISTEN STEWART! Now I'm just getting angry.
11:37pm - THERE ARE THREE AWARDS LEFT. WE DO NOT NEED ANOTHER COMMERCIAL BREAK!
11:35pm - Nope. And Ang Lee gets a standing ovation to boot! Life of Pi was truly a spectacular film. Could this mean upset in Best Picture? Probably not...
11:34pm - Does Spielberg join the 3 Oscars club?
11:27pm - Quintin, we get it. You're anti-establishment. But you're at the Oscars. Fix your tie. Show some respect.
11:25pm - Another theme - Argo takes the top awards. For the record, Lincoln should have won this. Yeah, it was pretty talky, but the language was absolutely beautiful.
11:23pm - I'm sensing a theme tonight. Hey! Lets pair really tall women with men that are at least a foot shorter than them!
11:19pm - Six awards left, and they're all biggies; Original Screenplay (Amour), Adapted Screenplay (Argo), Actress (Lawrence), Actor (Day-Lewis), Director (Spielberg) and Picture (Argo). The only real lock is Actor, the rest could all go to Django, Lincoln, Riva, Lee and Lincoln respectively...
11:16pm - Bets that Adele gives the best speech of the night: even.
11:12pm - Original Song. Just give it to Adele. There's no competition. Seriously.
11:09pm - There they are! Side note: I'm a huge fan of Chicago, but really don't understand all the love it's getting tonight. Yes, it was the first musical to win Best Picture in 40 years, but I wouldn't call that groundbreaking. Presenting award for Score, should go to Life of Pi.
11:07pm - Is this celeb diving show for real?!
11:03pm - Like two sticks of buttah, lashed together in a roughhewn manner!
11:01pm - There it is!
10:57pm - In Memoriam. Apparently there is a committee that sits around a table and goes through lists of everyone that passed away to decide which 40 or so names get recognized on the telecast. How's that for morbid? Thought for sure they'd trot out Babs to sing "The Way We Were" when Marvin Hamlish's name comes up.
10:52pm - KStew couldn't cover up her sex bruise? Classy gal right there...
10:49pm - Daniel Radcliffe was shaking as he presented Lincoln with its first award of the night, Production Design.
10:48pm - Why does Kristen Stewart have a career? She looks like she'd be extremely unpleasant to work with.
10:38pm - NAILS! Can we just give Adele the Oscar and call it a night?
10:33pm - Pretty much game over. Argo takes editing. So far, Lincoln is 0 for 7.
10:32pm - Can someone please make sure whoever wrote the dialogue for the presenters never works again? Thanks, all of America
10:29pm - Editing is next. Whoever wins this (Argo, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook) will probably win Best Picture. If Argo wins, it's all over.
10:23pm - Apparently, there was a tie in 1994 for Best Live Action Short, but no one really cares about that. Can someone please give Anne the wrap it up signal?
10:21pm - Look out, here comes Anne. If anyone else wins, hell will indeed freeze over.
10:18pm - The last time there was a tie was in 1968, in the Best Actress category; Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl and Katherine Hepbrun for The Lion in Winter.
10:14pm - A tie?! Is that allowed?!
10:11pm - No shocker Les Misérables gets sound mixing, the live singing wasn't easy. In case you hadn't heart.
10:08pm - Also, we were promised Renee Zellweger, Queen Latifah and Richard Gere - where were they?!
10:06pm - Ok, we get it that the producers want Les Misérables to win. Not. Gonna. Happen. Russell wasn't so terrible, was he? And I do believe he got some entrance applause. Aaron Tveit and Samantha Barks should have been cast as Marius and Cosette, although I don't think I could handle Amanda Seyfried as Eponine.
10:02pm - GET IT SAMANTHA BARKS!
10:00pm - Ok, wasn't expecting that standing ovation, good for you. Ok, brace yourselves, here comes Les Miserab-less. Will Russell Crowe send them running for the exits? Probably, but I think Amanda Seyfried was worse. For the record, "Suddenly" was put into the film solely so they could earn a Best Original Song nomination. And can we please just give Anne Hathaway her Oscar? Girlfriend's been campaigning for like, 6 months, she must be exhausted.
9:58pm - CZJ was pretty good, but Jennifer Hudson, your 15 minutes were up an hour ago.
9:54pm - Les Miserab-less? Really Travolta? Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of to introduce this.
9:53pm - Here's the musical tribute. Better not disappoint.
9:52pm - REALLY?! The orchestra isn't even in the same building?! SERIOUSLY?!
9:51pm - Haven't seen Amour, but Hanke's last film, The White Ribbon was brutal.
9:49pm - Oh Seth. Had such high hopes for you, but this is going down hill fast. Assassination and Kardashian jokes? Really? And Jennifer Garner apparently has a hard time reading the teleprompter. Foreign Language film, Amour should take this...next...
9:32pm - Taking a break for a few. Shorts/documentary presentations. Need to go pack. Rejoin again soon.
9:27pm - First standing ovation of the evening comes less than an hour in. I still wish it was for Adele. Lame bond tribute. What are Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Dainel Craig all so busy doing that they couldn't come to the Oscars?
9:25pm - That's it?! That's the big reveal?! A Welsh singer to warble through a song from 1964?! #bringoutadele!
9:24pm - Not impressed with this Bond tribute. Unless the segue into Adele at the end.
9:20pm - wins, but WTF with those pink leggings? "Nobody did her makeup!" says my dad.
9:19pm - Anna wins costume. Make-up/hair styling next. Should go to Les Misérables team. Have to work hard to make those stars look ugly
9:16pm - We're into these craft awards for a while. Next acting award isn't scheduled to be given out for about another hour. #yawn. Costume design - Anna Karenina should take this
9:15pm - So that playoff was rough. Dude's company is going under and Academy plays that? Cold blooded.
9:09pm - This presenter banter is atrocious. Meanwhile, Life of Pi is 2 for 2 tonight. Its got 11 nominations coming into tonight, second only to Lincoln.
9:07pm - ScarJo isn't there cause she's busy being all moody with Ben Walker on 46th street in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. And does this cinematographer moonlight as an extra on the set of The Hobbit
9:05pm - AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!
9:01pm - First Best Picture montage. Les Misérables, meh. Life of Pi, amazing. Beasts of the Southern Wild, overrated. And thought it was interesting when talking about Beasts, the camera shot to the cast of Silver Linings Playbook
9:00pm - Brave? Really? First (of probably many) disappointments this evening.
8:59pm - Animated Predix - Frankenweenie
8:58pm - Paperman! 1/2 tonight! If you haven't seen it yet, check it out. Saw it before Wreck-It Ralph and it was absolutely beautiful. Adam and Dog was pretty good too
8:57pm - Animated Short - Paperman
8:55pm - And we're back - but this Paul Rudd/Melissa McCarthy banter is pretty terrible...
8:50pm - Christoph Waltz! Two Oscars in 3 years. Good for him!
8:48pm - Supporting Actor. Prediction - Robert De Nero
8:47pm - HA! Loved that closing projection.
8:45pm - Closing in on the 15 minute mark...getting a little tedious.
8:39pm - Ok, the thing with socks and Flight made me lol. The Theron/Tatum bit was pretty good, but the one with JGL and Harry Potter...not so much.
8:38pm - well, that was a little, ahem, flat...
8:34pm - FREE DON CHEADLE!
8:32pm - Aaaand there's the first Ben Affleck snub joke. It only took about 90 seconds.
8:31pm - RDJ can't clap?
8:30pm - IT'S STARTING! IT'S STARTING! I'VE WAITED 364 DAYS FOR THIS!
8:27pm - I think that Seth MacFarlane is going to kill this. So excited.
8:25pm - No Guts, No Glory predix - Argo loses Best Picture, Bradley Cooper wins Best Actor
8:22pm - Not going to lie. Excited for the Chicago performance with Renee Zellweger, CZJ, Queen Latifah and Richard Gere.
8:20pm - TEN MINUTES!
8:17pm - As much as I enjoyed DDL's performance in Lincoln, I thought Bradley Cooper was a revelation in Silver Linings Playbook. So good to see him play against the asshole type he normally plays.
8:14pm - That's it? That's what's in the mystery box? #underwhelmed. And Kelly Rowland better stick to her day job. "I have to axe y'all. What were y'all talkin about in the car on the way ovah hurr?". Still hate Jamie Foxx and the stupid tattoo on his head.
8:12pm - Holy side-boob, Anne.
8:07pm - Paging audio tech....
8:05pm - Cannot handle Adele's speaking voice. Stick to singing. And that dress? The less said the better...
8:02pm - How does one get selected to be a presenter? Celeb status is mandatory, obvi, but other than that? Or how about an invite for that matter. I'm looking at you, Jennifer Aniston.
8:00pm - THIRTY MINUTES PEOPLE! THIRTY. MINUTES.
7:57pm - Does anyone watch Once Upon a Time? That promo made me interested. Also, Kristin is the godmother of Royal Caribbean's new ship? IS THERE ANYTHING THIS WOMAN CAN'T DO?!
7:55pm - I want to hang out with George Clooney, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck...basically the entire cast of Ocean's 11.
7:53pm - Uncle Jesse puts in an appearance!
7:50pm - Seriously. Loving Kristin Chenowith as a co-host. BUT GIVE UP THIS STUPID MYSTERY BOX THING!
7:42pm - Where was this college program when I was at UMass?!
7:38pm - A+ to ABC for getting Kristin Chenowith for the pre-show. Her interview with Bradley Cooper is excellent. F for the #oscarmystery thing though.
7:33pm - Like the retrospect google put together, except it was scenes from the same 10-12 movies.
7:25pm - I lied. Charlize Theron/Ryan Seacrest is amazing. He's a munchkin!
7:21pm - Oh Anne Hathaway...this is your big night and you chose that? Also, props to Liev Schreiber for netting Naomi Watts. He's been making the rounds at all the parities this season, and goes from C lister to A lister by association.
7:16pm - This shot of Kristin Chenowith and Jennifer Lawrence is amazing. A midget and a giant. "Ohmigod you like 'Dance Moms'? IS THE POPE CATHOLIC?!"
7:13pm - Yup, still over Quvenzhané Wallis. And she's been cast as Willow Smith's replacement in Jay-Z's updated Annie. Yawn.
7:06pm - (switched over to ABC. There's only so much Ryan Seacrest can stomach). Kelly Rowland is one of the co-hosts? Why? Yes, Destiny's Child had a minor reunion at the Superbowl, but one reunion performance does not a relevant celebrity make. Glad that Robin Roberts is there though, such a great story.
7:02pm - Sorry, took a quick dinner break. Quick catch up: Amanda Seyfried sucks, she was atrocious as Cosette, and was a bitch during her interview. Stick to being Karen Smith. Cute that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Sally Field are dates for the evening (his meeting Dustin Hoffman was priceless). Jennifer Lawrence looks great, but stop pulling at your top. And whenever the guy from E! who is commenting with Kelly Osborune speaks I want to gauge my eyes out.
6:34pm - Channing Tatum, why are you here? Oh, you're presenting, I guess that's ok. And Reese Witherspoon, could you make Legally Blonde 3 happen? Totally over the girl from Beasts of the Southern Wild and her puppy purses. Thought it was one of the most overrated films/performances of the year.
6:27pm - Samantha Barks cleans up nicely. Eponine who?
6:21pm - (E!'s pre-show coverage) Jessica Chastain, whoa! Ryan Seacrest, did you comb your hair that way so that you feel taller? So many live tweeters/blogs to follow, not sure if I'll be able to keep up.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Do You Hear the People Sing?
It would be an understatement if I said that Les Misérables wasn't my most anticipated film of 2012. I'm a musical theater whore, and Les Misérables is in the pantheon of great musicals. It was part of the British invasion of Broadway in the 1980's (see also Cats, Miss Saigon and the current longest running musical in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera)
that became known for their lush, dramatic scores, opulent sets
(floating tires! A helicopter! Crashing chandeliers!) and their
simplistic, yet iconic advertising. They all ran for at least a decade
and were seen by millions of people around the world, myself included
(For the record, Miss Saigon is my favorite of the bunch). I
remember exactly when I saw it, May of 2002 at the Colonial Theater in
Boston. We were in the third row center, and I was completely enamored
with the production, especially the turntable and the barricade that was
vital to Act II. I had listened to the original Broadway cast recording
numerous times, and knew nearly every word, and was completely amazed
at seeing it come to life on stage right before me.
With their incredible success and familiarity, it was just a matter of time before they transferred to the silver screen. The Phantom of the Opera was first in 2004, no doubt trying to cash in on the recent success of Moulin Rouge! and Chicago, and crashed and burned relatively quickly. Musicals aren't easy to do on screen, let alone a well-known one that an entire generation grew up with.
I had incredibly high expectations, especially with the cast assembled. Hugh Jackman was the definition of a star in The Boy from Oz,
Anne Hathaway has an excellent voice, and a fair amount of actors with a
musical background rounded out the cast. The only question mark in my
mind was Russell Crowe (although I'm a huge fan-boy and I'd watch him
read the phone book), but I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. The
trailers that came out over the spring and summer only increased my
excitement to see it, and early buzz anointed Les Misérables as
the front-runner for Best Picture at the Oscars. There was extensive
coverage of the decision to have the actors sing live during filming
rather than record the musical numbers and add them in during post
production. The initial reviews from advance screenings after
Thanksgiving were near rapturous, and told of multiple standing
ovations, and tears streaming down the face of attendees at the films
conclusion. It scored well with some of the precursor awards, multiple
nominations at the Critics Choice, SAG and Golden Globe Awards and was
named Best Cast and among the top 10 films of 2012 by the National Board
of Review. The critics started weighing in and their response was less
than enthusiastic. Many cited director Tom Hooper's choice of two shots
for most of the film - the extreme closeup and the sweeping wide shot.
Many bemoaned the fact that it was bloated, and the performances were a
little more than self-indulgent, including the incredibly out of his
league Crowe as Inspector Javert. It didn't really matter to me, I was
planning on seeing it anyways, sure that I would love it.
Christmas night I went to Cinemaworld in Fitchburg ready to be enthralled. I was pretty surprised at how crowded it was, but as soon as the first notes of the prologue played I became totally engrossed in the film. For the uninitiated, Wikipedia describes Les Misérables as "...set in early 19th-century France, it is the story of Jean Valjean, a burly French peasant of abnormal strength and potentially violent nature, and his quest for redemption after serving 19 years in jail for having stolen a loaf of bread for starving relatives. Valjean decides to break his parole and start his life anew after a kindly Bishop inspires him to, but he is relentlessly tracked down by a police inspector named Javert. Along the way, Valjean and a slew of characters he becomes entangled with get swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists make their last stand at a street barricade".
I absolutely loved the first 90 minutes or so, but then it quickly went down hill. Truthfully, I don't think that's necessarily the fault of Tom Hooper, structurally Act II is much weaker than Act I until the finale, but he certainly didn't help. I did notice that most of the musical numbers were filmed up close and seemed to trap the actors. The sweeping wide-shots were also overused, and the CGI seemed to be a little too noticeable at some points. There was also way too much imagery created in the stage version that was attempted to be recreated for the film which simply did not work, most notably the barricade, it seemed incredibly small compared to the rest of the set pieces, and the death of a major character that was incredibly moving on stage, but was borderline ridiculous on film. There was also the reshuffling of some songs, that didn't really work for me either.
As for the performances, let's get this one out of the way first - Anne
Hathaway is just as good, if not better, than you've heard. She commands
the screen every time she's on it, and her rendition of "I Dreamed a
Dream" is simply heartbreaking. If she's not nominated and wins Best
Supporting Actress, I'm boycotting the Academy Awards forever (ok, so
that's a blatant lie, but seriously). She's THAT good. Hugh Jackman on the other hand, was a major disappointment. His physicality was incredible, but his voice was one note - loud. He completely ruined "Bring Him Home", which is supposed to start as a an almost quiet prayer and continue to build to an emotional climax, it's the money song for Valjean, and was a completely missed opportunity. Jackman pretty much belted out the entire thing, and didn't have anywhere to go. Most of the music seemed to be at the top of his register, and he seemed to be straining more than once. Color me not impressed. Ditto for Amanda Seyfried (who will always be known as Karen from Mean Girls), her vibrato/trill became incredibly irritating as the film went on. Russell Crowe, however, was somewhat of a surprise. Is he the best singer? Not by a mile, but I think that his voice worked well for Javert, rough and kind of untrained. I bought the CD yesterday, and his voice is starting to grow on me, I think that his version of "Stars" is actually pretty good. The other stand outs? Eddie Redmayne as Marius and Samantha Barks as the doomed Eponine were both excellent. Redmayne should be a star by now (he was fantastic in 2011's My Week With Marilyn) and Barks gave an excellent rendition of "On My Own", arguably the best known song from the musical. Aaron Tveit was also quite good (minus a ridiculous and completely unnecessary wig) in the somewhat thankless role of Enjolros. He's an amazing actor, I saw him as Gabe in Next to Normal and gave a tour-de-force performance as Frank Abginale in Catch Me If You Can. His final song in the show, "Goodbye" is incredible. He should have won a Tony for that performance, but I digress....
Overall, I thought it was good, not great. The score is excellent, the first 90 were amazing, and Anne Hathaway is well worth the price of admission alone. Three movies left to see, Django Unchained which I'm seeing Sunday, Zero Dark Thirty which FINALLY opens in Boston next Friday, and Amour which is TBD. Feel free to leave comments on your thoughts about Les Misérables below.
With their incredible success and familiarity, it was just a matter of time before they transferred to the silver screen. The Phantom of the Opera was first in 2004, no doubt trying to cash in on the recent success of Moulin Rouge! and Chicago, and crashed and burned relatively quickly. Musicals aren't easy to do on screen, let alone a well-known one that an entire generation grew up with.
Christmas night I went to Cinemaworld in Fitchburg ready to be enthralled. I was pretty surprised at how crowded it was, but as soon as the first notes of the prologue played I became totally engrossed in the film. For the uninitiated, Wikipedia describes Les Misérables as "...set in early 19th-century France, it is the story of Jean Valjean, a burly French peasant of abnormal strength and potentially violent nature, and his quest for redemption after serving 19 years in jail for having stolen a loaf of bread for starving relatives. Valjean decides to break his parole and start his life anew after a kindly Bishop inspires him to, but he is relentlessly tracked down by a police inspector named Javert. Along the way, Valjean and a slew of characters he becomes entangled with get swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists make their last stand at a street barricade".
I absolutely loved the first 90 minutes or so, but then it quickly went down hill. Truthfully, I don't think that's necessarily the fault of Tom Hooper, structurally Act II is much weaker than Act I until the finale, but he certainly didn't help. I did notice that most of the musical numbers were filmed up close and seemed to trap the actors. The sweeping wide-shots were also overused, and the CGI seemed to be a little too noticeable at some points. There was also way too much imagery created in the stage version that was attempted to be recreated for the film which simply did not work, most notably the barricade, it seemed incredibly small compared to the rest of the set pieces, and the death of a major character that was incredibly moving on stage, but was borderline ridiculous on film. There was also the reshuffling of some songs, that didn't really work for me either.
As for the performances, let's get this one out of the way first - Anne
Hathaway is just as good, if not better, than you've heard. She commands
the screen every time she's on it, and her rendition of "I Dreamed a
Dream" is simply heartbreaking. If she's not nominated and wins Best
Supporting Actress, I'm boycotting the Academy Awards forever (ok, so
that's a blatant lie, but seriously). She's THAT good. Hugh Jackman on the other hand, was a major disappointment. His physicality was incredible, but his voice was one note - loud. He completely ruined "Bring Him Home", which is supposed to start as a an almost quiet prayer and continue to build to an emotional climax, it's the money song for Valjean, and was a completely missed opportunity. Jackman pretty much belted out the entire thing, and didn't have anywhere to go. Most of the music seemed to be at the top of his register, and he seemed to be straining more than once. Color me not impressed. Ditto for Amanda Seyfried (who will always be known as Karen from Mean Girls), her vibrato/trill became incredibly irritating as the film went on. Russell Crowe, however, was somewhat of a surprise. Is he the best singer? Not by a mile, but I think that his voice worked well for Javert, rough and kind of untrained. I bought the CD yesterday, and his voice is starting to grow on me, I think that his version of "Stars" is actually pretty good. The other stand outs? Eddie Redmayne as Marius and Samantha Barks as the doomed Eponine were both excellent. Redmayne should be a star by now (he was fantastic in 2011's My Week With Marilyn) and Barks gave an excellent rendition of "On My Own", arguably the best known song from the musical. Aaron Tveit was also quite good (minus a ridiculous and completely unnecessary wig) in the somewhat thankless role of Enjolros. He's an amazing actor, I saw him as Gabe in Next to Normal and gave a tour-de-force performance as Frank Abginale in Catch Me If You Can. His final song in the show, "Goodbye" is incredible. He should have won a Tony for that performance, but I digress....Overall, I thought it was good, not great. The score is excellent, the first 90 were amazing, and Anne Hathaway is well worth the price of admission alone. Three movies left to see, Django Unchained which I'm seeing Sunday, Zero Dark Thirty which FINALLY opens in Boston next Friday, and Amour which is TBD. Feel free to leave comments on your thoughts about Les Misérables below.
Monday, December 24, 2012
'Twas the night before Christmas....
Merry Christmas! Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year, good food, good friends and and good family.
So my last post I mentioned that I saw Pippin at the A.R.T. in Cambridge and was completely taken with it. So taken with it, that I have tickets to see it again after it opens on January 6th. Greater Boston on WGBH ran a piece on it last week, check it out:
The Mystery of Edwin Drood was also quite good, and enjoyed the day in New York. It was absolutely perfect weather, and I love the city at Christmastime.
Going to see Les Misérables on Wednesday, and pretty excited about it. There was an interesting article on Slate as to why the musical resonates with this generation. Not sure if I buy it, but it's a good read none the less. Also hoping to see Django Unchained at some point this week, and hopefully Zero Dark Thirty and Amour before I go back to PEI.
That's it for tonight, will write more later this week.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
So my last post I mentioned that I saw Pippin at the A.R.T. in Cambridge and was completely taken with it. So taken with it, that I have tickets to see it again after it opens on January 6th. Greater Boston on WGBH ran a piece on it last week, check it out:
Watch Dec. 18, 2012: Pippin' on PBS. See more from Greater Boston.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood was also quite good, and enjoyed the day in New York. It was absolutely perfect weather, and I love the city at Christmastime.
Going to see Les Misérables on Wednesday, and pretty excited about it. There was an interesting article on Slate as to why the musical resonates with this generation. Not sure if I buy it, but it's a good read none the less. Also hoping to see Django Unchained at some point this week, and hopefully Zero Dark Thirty and Amour before I go back to PEI.
That's it for tonight, will write more later this week.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Friday, December 14, 2012
Corner of the Sky
It's good to be home, even if it's for just a little while. Finished up with PEI for the time being last Friday and had a marathon day of travel, 4 airports, 3 states and two countries. Since it's close to the holidays, flight prices are ridiculously out of control. I had to go the most roundabout way to get from Charlottetown to Boston (Charlottetown - Toronto - Newark - Boston). I was able to go to the company Christmas party and catch up with some folks I haven't seen in a while, so that was good.
Finally got to see Lincoln over the weekend, and it was just as magnificent as I expected. More, actually. I wasn't expecting to be as moved as I was. The measure of any good film (especially one where you already know the outcome), is the suspense that it creates. Argo was a fantastic example of this, and Lincoln was done equally as well. Set in the last 3 months or so of his presidency, Lincoln deals primarily with the passing of the 13th amendment to the Constitution - outlawing slavery. The performances were uniformly excellent, and Daniel Day-Lewis is just as good as you've heard. He is Abraham Lincoln. The rest of the supporting cast was great as well, it was a variable who's who among the Hollywood elite. This could easily be Spielberg's best film since Saving Private Ryan, it really is that good. This past week it scored big with 13 Critics Choice (a record), 7 Golden Globe and 4 Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. I can totally see this film sweeping the Oscar nominations in a few weeks, with upwards of 13 or 14 nominations (the record is 14; All About Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997). The only few films left to see this year are Les Misérables (which has gotten pretty tepid early reviews), Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal's follow up to 2010's Best Picture The Hurt Locker) and Django Unchained. Hope to see Les Mis and Django between Christmas an New Year's, and Zero Dark Thirty ASAP. It's opening in limited release next Wednesday, but that might only be New York and Los Angeles. Hopefully it comes to Boston.
Tuesday night, Miss Alison Hay and I saw Diane Paulus' new production of Pippin at the A.R.T. in Cambridge. I saw her latest production, The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess a year ago on Broadway and it was outstanding. There had been rumblings since it was announced that this production would transfer to New York, since it hadn't been on Broadway since its original production in the 1970's. It was one of Stephen Schwartz first musicals (although he doesn't have to write anything ever again thanks to a little musical Wicked), and was directed by Bob Fosse. Naturally, I needed to get tickets. Basically, a mysterious acting troupe, led by a Leading Player, tells the story of Pippin, a young prince on his search for meaning and significance in life. I didn't really know a whole lot about it other than that, so I didn't really know what to expect. That was all for the better, I was completely taken with the show, and cannot wait to see it again. The acting troupe was/is a traveling circus, the set is a stylized circus tent, so it was like a production of Cirque du Soleil meets musical theater. Clearly, I was in heaven. The circus acts were outstanding, and it was a nice frame to the story. There were also quite a few clever magic tricks that only added to the overall excellence of the production. The score was great, and the re-worked orchestrations made it sound much better than the original recording from the 70's, which was a little to synth heavy for my liking. Hopefully this will get a cast recording. Matthew James Thomas was outstanding as the titular character, and Patina Miller (who I saw a few years ago in Sister Act) gave an excellent performance as the Leading Player. The rest of the supporting cast was quite good as well, but the real stand-out was the ensemble, consisting of seasoned Broadway performers and trained acrobats. The positions that they could contort their bodies into was nothing short of impressive. Seriously, there were multiple times I'm sure I was wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Hopefully this transfers to New York in the Spring. After the dismal start to this season, Broadway needs something like this for a boost. It's playing at the A.R.T. through January. The Boston Globe ran an excellent article on the production a few weeks ago; check it out to get a feel for the piece. Go see it. You won't be disappointed.
Speaking of New York, heading there tomorrow to see The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of the musical from the 1980's based on Charles Dickens last, unfinished novel. I don't know a whole lot about this one either, except that the audience gets to pick the ending. That's a gimmick enough for me, and it opened to rave reviews a month ago. I love New York at Christmastime, combination of my favorite holiday and one of my favorite cities in the world, there's nothing else quite like it. Will be getting up a little extra early though. Since I'm going to be going back and forth between the US/Canada for a while, I applied for the Global Entry program, which is essentially a customs pre-clearence and will cut down on my wait time at the airport. It can be used at any border entry into the US, and is good for five years. Anyway, you have to go to an airport for an interview and to get you finger prints taken, and the earliest appointment at Logan wasn't until mid-February. I was, however, able to get an appointment at Newark on Saturday at 10am. Figured since I was planning on being in the city that day anyway, might as well get it taken care of. So have to leave Ashburnham at 5am. Whatever, this will totally be worth it.
Flurry of awards activity the past week, with Critics Choice, SAG and Golden Globes. Right now things are pretty much status-quo as far as awards contenders go. Lincoln, Les Misérables, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty and Silver Linings Playbook have been popping up everywhere. If it there were still only five nominees for Best Picture, those would definitely be it. This has been an excellent year for film.
Finally got to see Lincoln over the weekend, and it was just as magnificent as I expected. More, actually. I wasn't expecting to be as moved as I was. The measure of any good film (especially one where you already know the outcome), is the suspense that it creates. Argo was a fantastic example of this, and Lincoln was done equally as well. Set in the last 3 months or so of his presidency, Lincoln deals primarily with the passing of the 13th amendment to the Constitution - outlawing slavery. The performances were uniformly excellent, and Daniel Day-Lewis is just as good as you've heard. He is Abraham Lincoln. The rest of the supporting cast was great as well, it was a variable who's who among the Hollywood elite. This could easily be Spielberg's best film since Saving Private Ryan, it really is that good. This past week it scored big with 13 Critics Choice (a record), 7 Golden Globe and 4 Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. I can totally see this film sweeping the Oscar nominations in a few weeks, with upwards of 13 or 14 nominations (the record is 14; All About Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997). The only few films left to see this year are Les Misérables (which has gotten pretty tepid early reviews), Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal's follow up to 2010's Best Picture The Hurt Locker) and Django Unchained. Hope to see Les Mis and Django between Christmas an New Year's, and Zero Dark Thirty ASAP. It's opening in limited release next Wednesday, but that might only be New York and Los Angeles. Hopefully it comes to Boston.
Speaking of New York, heading there tomorrow to see The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of the musical from the 1980's based on Charles Dickens last, unfinished novel. I don't know a whole lot about this one either, except that the audience gets to pick the ending. That's a gimmick enough for me, and it opened to rave reviews a month ago. I love New York at Christmastime, combination of my favorite holiday and one of my favorite cities in the world, there's nothing else quite like it. Will be getting up a little extra early though. Since I'm going to be going back and forth between the US/Canada for a while, I applied for the Global Entry program, which is essentially a customs pre-clearence and will cut down on my wait time at the airport. It can be used at any border entry into the US, and is good for five years. Anyway, you have to go to an airport for an interview and to get you finger prints taken, and the earliest appointment at Logan wasn't until mid-February. I was, however, able to get an appointment at Newark on Saturday at 10am. Figured since I was planning on being in the city that day anyway, might as well get it taken care of. So have to leave Ashburnham at 5am. Whatever, this will totally be worth it.
Flurry of awards activity the past week, with Critics Choice, SAG and Golden Globes. Right now things are pretty much status-quo as far as awards contenders go. Lincoln, Les Misérables, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty and Silver Linings Playbook have been popping up everywhere. If it there were still only five nominees for Best Picture, those would definitely be it. This has been an excellent year for film.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Richard Parker, meet Pat Solitano
Was able to see Life of Pi and Silver Linings Playbook this weekend. Both were exceptional, but for different reasons. I read Life of Pi in college, and remember reading it quickly, becoming completely engrossed in it. It was quite good, a great, modern-day adventure. Basically, Pi Patel survives a ship sinking in the pacific and spends 200+ days on a lifeboat with a bengal tiger. Questions of spirituality and self-discovery ensue.
There had been rumors of the book being turned into a film since it was published, but nothing ever really came of it. Apparently, Hollywood thought it was un-filmable. In comes Ang Lee (of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain fame) and blows everyone away. The previews made it look pretty intense, but that doesn't even begin to prepare you for the entire film. Shot with the skillful (and completely unobtrusive) use of 3D, stunning images jump off the screen. One quiet moment in particular, when Pi puts a note in a can in hopes that it will wash ashore and someone will find him, is particularly stunning. It's not special effects heavy, but the way it was filmed was incredible. The movie itself was a little slow getting going, but one it gets to the shipwreck and Pi and Richard Parker on the boat, the film takes off and doesn't let up. Some will say that it's a little gimmicky, but I fell for it hook, line and sinker.
Silver Linings Playbook was a pleasant surprise. It had gotten pretty good buzz coming out of the Toronto Film Festival (it won the people's choice award, which Slumdog Millionaire (a recent absolute favorite of mine) and The King's Speech (an absolute abhorrence of mine) picked up on their ultimate journey to the Oscar for Best Picture), but I was still skeptical, especially of Bradley Cooper. Thanks to The Hangover, I've placed him mostly as that ass-hole sidekick friend. Thanks for proving me wrong. He was an absolute revelation here, and, if he wasn't already a movie star, would be giving a star making performance. The fact that he was surrounded by an excellent ensemble didn't hurt either. Jennifer Lawrence was excellent as always, and Robert De Niro heads an excellent supporting cast and gives his best performance since Casino. David O. Russell has directed a great ensemble film. Highly recommended.
The study is going well, and I'll be finishing up here on PEI next week. I'll head back to Boston for two weeks to write the final report, come back up here to present it on December 21, and then home for Christmas for a while. Back to PEI to (hopefully) begin the campaign in January 2013. It snowed a little bit here today, and Charlottetown loves their Christmas decorations (and not ugly, tacky ones), so everything looks really pretty. So come visit!
Also, not sure if anyone still watches Survivor, but for some reason I got sucked into this season. It's beyond infuriating that Abi is still in the game, and I'm convinced it's rigged. I guess they need to keep her in, because she's the only semblance of a villain, but she still sucks. I hope she's gone next week /end rant.
There had been rumors of the book being turned into a film since it was published, but nothing ever really came of it. Apparently, Hollywood thought it was un-filmable. In comes Ang Lee (of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain fame) and blows everyone away. The previews made it look pretty intense, but that doesn't even begin to prepare you for the entire film. Shot with the skillful (and completely unobtrusive) use of 3D, stunning images jump off the screen. One quiet moment in particular, when Pi puts a note in a can in hopes that it will wash ashore and someone will find him, is particularly stunning. It's not special effects heavy, but the way it was filmed was incredible. The movie itself was a little slow getting going, but one it gets to the shipwreck and Pi and Richard Parker on the boat, the film takes off and doesn't let up. Some will say that it's a little gimmicky, but I fell for it hook, line and sinker.
Silver Linings Playbook was a pleasant surprise. It had gotten pretty good buzz coming out of the Toronto Film Festival (it won the people's choice award, which Slumdog Millionaire (a recent absolute favorite of mine) and The King's Speech (an absolute abhorrence of mine) picked up on their ultimate journey to the Oscar for Best Picture), but I was still skeptical, especially of Bradley Cooper. Thanks to The Hangover, I've placed him mostly as that ass-hole sidekick friend. Thanks for proving me wrong. He was an absolute revelation here, and, if he wasn't already a movie star, would be giving a star making performance. The fact that he was surrounded by an excellent ensemble didn't hurt either. Jennifer Lawrence was excellent as always, and Robert De Niro heads an excellent supporting cast and gives his best performance since Casino. David O. Russell has directed a great ensemble film. Highly recommended.
The study is going well, and I'll be finishing up here on PEI next week. I'll head back to Boston for two weeks to write the final report, come back up here to present it on December 21, and then home for Christmas for a while. Back to PEI to (hopefully) begin the campaign in January 2013. It snowed a little bit here today, and Charlottetown loves their Christmas decorations (and not ugly, tacky ones), so everything looks really pretty. So come visit!
Also, not sure if anyone still watches Survivor, but for some reason I got sucked into this season. It's beyond infuriating that Abi is still in the game, and I'm convinced it's rigged. I guess they need to keep her in, because she's the only semblance of a villain, but she still sucks. I hope she's gone next week /end rant.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Happy Thanks......
So Canadian's are weird. They don't have Thanksgiving. I guess it makes sense, the Pilgrims discovered America, right? Not our friends to the north. Anyways, I'm pretty sure that they have turkey in Canada, and also have a lot to be thankful for, but I digress....
Things have been going well here. I've been busy conducting interviews for the study I've been working on, and traveling all over the island. It goes without saying that I'm not a fan of nature, but I can't help but marvel at the sheer beauty here. Today I was heading out to one of the towns on the eastern coast of the island and coming over the hill you could see the ocean, with the land dotted by small houses. It was beautiful. I'm going back that way tomorrow, so I will make sure that I get a picture.
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I moved to a new hotel and it's awesome. I booked it online through hotels.com and got a good deal ($89 a night) and made the reservation for about 3.5 weeks. When I called to see if they had a fridge in the room, they surprised me. "We figured since you booked us for about 3 weeks, you'd want something more than just a room with a bed, so we upgraded you to a suite with a kitchenette". Score! I didn't get my hopes up too high, but when I got here on Monday, it was pretty, ahem, SUITE! I've got a full kitchen (stove, oven, etc), and a separate living room and bedroom. It's not huge by any means, but it feels like an apartment. There's also free breakfast, and the wireless is 10x better than where I was previously. There's a gym and concierge here too, which is also a plus. And! You can buy beer from the brewery across the street
Yesterday I survived my first trip to a Canadian grocery store. I say survived because I nearly had a heart attack when I was looking at the prices of food - SO EXPENSIVE! And not helping is the fact that the Canadian dollar is stronger than the US dollar ($1 CAD = $1.05 USD approx), remember when it was almost 2:1 in favor of the US? Yeah, that seems like ages ago.
Excited to see Silver Linings Playbook and Life of Pi this weekend, although surprised that Lincoln hasn't been released here yet. Saw Flight and Wreck-It Ralph two weeks ago; Wreck-It Ralph was cute, and the Pixar short before it, Paperman was excellent, I could have watched a full length feature about that. Flight, on the other hand, was a little disappointing. I'm over Denzel Washington being a bad guy that you're supposed to root for. He did it in Training Day, which I thought was great, and did it again in American Gangster, which was enh. It was about 30 minutes too long, and while I though the first 30 minutes or so were excellent, the rest kind of petered-out.
Hardest thing about this job? I MISS NEW YORK! I haven't been since July and am experiencing some serious withdrawals. Hoping to get there around Christmas to see The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Dead Accounts and the musicalization of A Christmas Story (fun fact, I was in Cleveland for 18 months and never went by the house used in the film, even though I drove by the street it's on about 1,000 times), and just spend some time in the city.
Hope everyone has a happy thanksgiving tomorrow, and have some extra turkey (dark meat, please) for me!
Things have been going well here. I've been busy conducting interviews for the study I've been working on, and traveling all over the island. It goes without saying that I'm not a fan of nature, but I can't help but marvel at the sheer beauty here. Today I was heading out to one of the towns on the eastern coast of the island and coming over the hill you could see the ocean, with the land dotted by small houses. It was beautiful. I'm going back that way tomorrow, so I will make sure that I get a picture.
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Yesterday I survived my first trip to a Canadian grocery store. I say survived because I nearly had a heart attack when I was looking at the prices of food - SO EXPENSIVE! And not helping is the fact that the Canadian dollar is stronger than the US dollar ($1 CAD = $1.05 USD approx), remember when it was almost 2:1 in favor of the US? Yeah, that seems like ages ago.
Excited to see Silver Linings Playbook and Life of Pi this weekend, although surprised that Lincoln hasn't been released here yet. Saw Flight and Wreck-It Ralph two weeks ago; Wreck-It Ralph was cute, and the Pixar short before it, Paperman was excellent, I could have watched a full length feature about that. Flight, on the other hand, was a little disappointing. I'm over Denzel Washington being a bad guy that you're supposed to root for. He did it in Training Day, which I thought was great, and did it again in American Gangster, which was enh. It was about 30 minutes too long, and while I though the first 30 minutes or so were excellent, the rest kind of petered-out.
Hardest thing about this job? I MISS NEW YORK! I haven't been since July and am experiencing some serious withdrawals. Hoping to get there around Christmas to see The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Dead Accounts and the musicalization of A Christmas Story (fun fact, I was in Cleveland for 18 months and never went by the house used in the film, even though I drove by the street it's on about 1,000 times), and just spend some time in the city.
Hope everyone has a happy thanksgiving tomorrow, and have some extra turkey (dark meat, please) for me!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Oh, Canada!
So I've been MIA for over a year. What's happened in those past 15 months? I was working on a project in Cleveland, which was a major life change, met some truly amazing people, and raised close to $160,000,000. Yes, one hundred and sixty MILLION dollars. It was tough being so far away from my friends and family, but I think it was the best worst decision I've made.
Which brings us to now. My new assignment is with a client on Prince Edward Island. Yes, Canada. So since I'm here in a foreign land (well, it's really not that foreign, but more on that in a minute), I might as well chronicle my time here. And I really need to keep up with writing, even if it's something as informal as this.
Anyway, I arrived on PEI last Tuesday after a marathon day of traveling. Turns out that PEI is one of those "you can't get there from here" places. Case and point - I flew from Boston to Toronto to Halifax to PEI. I went west to go northeast. Air Canada was pretty sweet, they had in-seat entertainment and ports to charge you iphone/ipad. The in-flight movie was Magic Mike, which actually wasn't terrible! It didn't take itself seriously at all, dare I say, I actually enjoyed it!
There's really not a whole lot on the island in the "off season" but it looks like it's going to be great come the summer. I was also surprised at how "American" it is. I'd been to Montreal once, and everything there is in French. I'd also visited the Canada pavilion at World Showcase at Epcot, so I was expecting lots of plaid, wilderness and Moose. Not so much.
On PEI, there's pretty much everything that is in the States (Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Home Depot), with a few differences, Dunkin Donuts is replaced by Tim Horton's (worry not, I found the one Starbucks on the island, praise Jesus), ESPN and SportsCenter are replaced with TSN and SportsCentre, they use the metric system, they have coins that are worth more than .50, and it costs a fortune to use my phone (I ended up getting a Canadian cell phone - does that make me an expat?!). However, there is free wifi almost everywhere, which is a major plus. Also a major plus? They have ABC, CBS and NBC and they're the Boston affiliates!
I'm pretty excited to spend some time here. I'll be here for the next 3-4 weeks conducting a feasibility study, and then if all goes well, the campaign will start in January and run through early to mid July, 2013.
If you feel like getting in touch with your inner Anne of Green Gables (I swear, that girl is EVERYWHERE on this island), or want some really good mussels, come visit. For those of you that can't, feel free to live vicariously through this blog.
Until next time....
Which brings us to now. My new assignment is with a client on Prince Edward Island. Yes, Canada. So since I'm here in a foreign land (well, it's really not that foreign, but more on that in a minute), I might as well chronicle my time here. And I really need to keep up with writing, even if it's something as informal as this.
Anyway, I arrived on PEI last Tuesday after a marathon day of traveling. Turns out that PEI is one of those "you can't get there from here" places. Case and point - I flew from Boston to Toronto to Halifax to PEI. I went west to go northeast. Air Canada was pretty sweet, they had in-seat entertainment and ports to charge you iphone/ipad. The in-flight movie was Magic Mike, which actually wasn't terrible! It didn't take itself seriously at all, dare I say, I actually enjoyed it!
There's really not a whole lot on the island in the "off season" but it looks like it's going to be great come the summer. I was also surprised at how "American" it is. I'd been to Montreal once, and everything there is in French. I'd also visited the Canada pavilion at World Showcase at Epcot, so I was expecting lots of plaid, wilderness and Moose. Not so much.
On PEI, there's pretty much everything that is in the States (Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Home Depot), with a few differences, Dunkin Donuts is replaced by Tim Horton's (worry not, I found the one Starbucks on the island, praise Jesus), ESPN and SportsCenter are replaced with TSN and SportsCentre, they use the metric system, they have coins that are worth more than .50, and it costs a fortune to use my phone (I ended up getting a Canadian cell phone - does that make me an expat?!). However, there is free wifi almost everywhere, which is a major plus. Also a major plus? They have ABC, CBS and NBC and they're the Boston affiliates!
I'm pretty excited to spend some time here. I'll be here for the next 3-4 weeks conducting a feasibility study, and then if all goes well, the campaign will start in January and run through early to mid July, 2013.
If you feel like getting in touch with your inner Anne of Green Gables (I swear, that girl is EVERYWHERE on this island), or want some really good mussels, come visit. For those of you that can't, feel free to live vicariously through this blog.
Until next time....
Monday, August 15, 2011
Cleveland Rocks
I've made a major life change - I've moved to Cleveland. Yes, Cleveland Ohio. Well, that's somewhat of a misnomer. Last week I started a new job with a consulting firm, and my first assignment is working on the campaign of the Diocese of Cleveland. I'll be here for about a year and a half, until December, 2012. I figured that since I'd be away from home, it was a good excuse to start blogging again. So here goes.
I'll be working with numerous parishes across the Diocese helping them raise money for their own parish as well as the diocese as a whole. First up, I'll be working with some parishes in Akron, home of the one and only LeBron James, for most of the fall.
It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm really excited to start something new. I think it will be incredibly rewarding, both professionally and personally. And the contacts I'm going to make and experinces I'm going to have are going to be priceless.
A fellow co-worker and I arrived this morning. It was an interesting (and somewhat depressing) ride from the airport in my rented Toyota Carolla. I felt like I should be peddling and it's a pretty small car. For the first few weeks I'm here I'll be staying at a hotel while I find an apartment, which I hope to do this week. It's a nice hotel, and the room is ENORMOUS.
Coolest thing about Cleveland so far? The Avengers is shooting right next to my office! Apparently, it's cheaper to close off a main street in Cleveland and dress it up to look like New York for a month than it is to actually shoot in New York. I will say, the attention to detail is pretty incredible. And I saw a giant explosion today when I was waiting at a light - it was pretty neat. AND! On the way to Akron I passed a White Castle and a Waffle House. Must make it a point to stop there in the not too distant future.
I'll be working with numerous parishes across the Diocese helping them raise money for their own parish as well as the diocese as a whole. First up, I'll be working with some parishes in Akron, home of the one and only LeBron James, for most of the fall.
It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm really excited to start something new. I think it will be incredibly rewarding, both professionally and personally. And the contacts I'm going to make and experinces I'm going to have are going to be priceless.
A fellow co-worker and I arrived this morning. It was an interesting (and somewhat depressing) ride from the airport in my rented Toyota Carolla. I felt like I should be peddling and it's a pretty small car. For the first few weeks I'm here I'll be staying at a hotel while I find an apartment, which I hope to do this week. It's a nice hotel, and the room is ENORMOUS.
Coolest thing about Cleveland so far? The Avengers is shooting right next to my office! Apparently, it's cheaper to close off a main street in Cleveland and dress it up to look like New York for a month than it is to actually shoot in New York. I will say, the attention to detail is pretty incredible. And I saw a giant explosion today when I was waiting at a light - it was pretty neat. AND! On the way to Akron I passed a White Castle and a Waffle House. Must make it a point to stop there in the not too distant future.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Hey Baby - I Think I Wanna Marry You
Well, I'm not marrying anyone, but someone IS getting married. Last Wednesday morning I was awakened from a blissful sleep by my obnoxious alarm right on cue at 6am. As I do every morning, I check my phone to see if I had any missed text messages. Turns out I did. I had two missed messages from my sister. I clicked on them, and the first picture was of a fancy looking ring, followed by another that said "i'm engaged!". I sat upright in bed and read it again just to make sure - yep, my little sister is growing up and getting engaged. I had figured it was coming, but it still caught me totally off-guard (maybe it's because I saw this all before 6:05am). I frantically called my parents to confirm, and they said yes it's true.After my initial shock wore off, I was really excited for her. Matt is really great, he treats her right, and she's incredibly happy. When I saw her afterward, she was beaming. I've never seen her so happy.
The plan is for sometime next May with a low-key ceremony/reception somewhere out near my parents. And I get to be a groomsman - huzzah! I told Matt how much it meant for him to ask me (I think Jess and I have grown a lot closer as we've gotten older), especially since they're only each having 3 people in the wedding party. Sure is exciting, and I know that my parents (and me too) couldn't be prouder. I guess I have to get to work....
Friday, February 4, 2011
Is it just me, or is it hot in here?
I'm sure most of you have heard of Groupon. I don't usually buy their deals (even though they're usually pretty ridiculous) unless it's a. a restaurant I've been to before or b. something that I might actually use. Anyways, last week they had an AMAZING deal, $20 for 20 classes (retail cost of $240) at Bikram Yoga Merrimack Valley. I had heard a lot about Bikram Yoga, and how it was supposed to be really good for you, stretches your body, good injury prevention, etc, but had never tried it. So I decided, "what the hell, might as well try it, and even if I go once, I'll have made it worth it."
Last Saturday morning Miss Alison Hay, Meggin Elizabeth and I hauled over for their noontime class. The staff were extremely welcoming as we entered the studio. I knew it was going to be hot, but I didn't really know how hot. Apparently, 105 degrees hot. We put down our mats and towels and waited for class. There are 29 poses (I think) that are performed twice during the class. Some are simple (Cobra, or something, where you lay on your stomach and lift your feet) and others are ridiculous (Lamppost, balancing on one leg and holding your other leg straight out in front of you). But, the good thing is, as long as you try, that's really all they care about. It got pretty hot (I think at one point it got up to 113) and I sweat. A LOT. I was tried and sweaty when it was over (90 minutes) but felt pretty good. Meg and I went back on Sunday for round 2.
I weighed myself before and after class on Sunday and I lost 1.5 pounds. Awesome and kind of gross. Will I keep going? Probably - it will increase my flexibility and I'm hoping it will help with the running injury prevention. This may just be the honeymoon phase of our relationship, but I'm going to ride it out while it lasts...
Last Saturday morning Miss Alison Hay, Meggin Elizabeth and I hauled over for their noontime class. The staff were extremely welcoming as we entered the studio. I knew it was going to be hot, but I didn't really know how hot. Apparently, 105 degrees hot. We put down our mats and towels and waited for class. There are 29 poses (I think) that are performed twice during the class. Some are simple (Cobra, or something, where you lay on your stomach and lift your feet) and others are ridiculous (Lamppost, balancing on one leg and holding your other leg straight out in front of you). But, the good thing is, as long as you try, that's really all they care about. It got pretty hot (I think at one point it got up to 113) and I sweat. A LOT. I was tried and sweaty when it was over (90 minutes) but felt pretty good. Meg and I went back on Sunday for round 2.
I weighed myself before and after class on Sunday and I lost 1.5 pounds. Awesome and kind of gross. Will I keep going? Probably - it will increase my flexibility and I'm hoping it will help with the running injury prevention. This may just be the honeymoon phase of our relationship, but I'm going to ride it out while it lasts...
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
And the Nominees are....
They're here! They're here! The nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards!
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
BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem as Uxbal, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth as King George IV, The King’s Speech
James Franco as Aron Ralson, 127 Hours
BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening as Nic, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman as Becca, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman as Nina Sayer, Black Swan
Michelle Williams as Cindy, Blue Valentine
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale as Dicky Eklund, The Fighter
John Hawkes as Teardrop, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner as James "Jem" Coughlin, The Town
Mark Ruffalo as Paul, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue, The King’s Speech
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams as Charlene Fleming, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth, The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo as Alice Ward, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross, True Grit
Jacki Weaver as Janine Cody, Animal Kingdom
BEST ANIMATED FILM
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3
BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David O. Russell, The Fighter
BEST ART DIRECTION
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 CINEMATOGRAPHY
Black Swan, Matthew Libatique
Inception, Wally Pfister
The King’s Speech, Danny Cohen
The Social Network, Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit, Roger Deakins
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
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 DOCUMENTARY
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 Aynley
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
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
BEST EDITING
127 Hours, Jon Harris
Black Swan, Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter, Pamela Martin
The King’s Speech, Tariq Anwar
The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) (Algeria)
Incendies (Canada)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Dogtooth (Greece)
Biutiful (Mexico)
BEST MAKEUP
Barney’s Version, Adrien Morot
The Way Back, Eduoard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk, Yolanda Toussieng
The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
BEST SCORE
127 Hours, A.R. Rahman
How to Train Your Dragon, John Powell
Inception, Hans Zimmer
The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat
The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
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
“We Belong Together,” Toy Story 3, Randy Newman
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
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
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
The Confession, Tanel Toom
The Crush, Michael Creagh
God of Love, Luke Matheny
Na Wewe, Ivan Goldschmidt
Wish 143, Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite
BEST 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
BEST 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
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
Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Iron Man 2, Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick
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
The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler
BEST 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
Films with multiple nominations:
The King's Speech - 12
True Grit - 10
Inception, The Social Network - 8
The Fighter - 7
127 Hours - 6
Black Swan, Toy Story 3 - 5
The Kids are All Right, Winter's Bone - 5
Five Observations
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
BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem as Uxbal, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth as King George IV, The King’s Speech
James Franco as Aron Ralson, 127 Hours
BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening as Nic, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman as Becca, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman as Nina Sayer, Black Swan
Michelle Williams as Cindy, Blue Valentine
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale as Dicky Eklund, The Fighter
John Hawkes as Teardrop, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner as James "Jem" Coughlin, The Town
Mark Ruffalo as Paul, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue, The King’s Speech
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams as Charlene Fleming, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth, The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo as Alice Ward, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross, True Grit
Jacki Weaver as Janine Cody, Animal Kingdom
BEST ANIMATED FILM
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3
BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David O. Russell, The Fighter
BEST ART DIRECTION
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 CINEMATOGRAPHY
Black Swan, Matthew Libatique
Inception, Wally Pfister
The King’s Speech, Danny Cohen
The Social Network, Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit, Roger Deakins
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
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 DOCUMENTARY
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 Aynley
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
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
BEST EDITING
127 Hours, Jon Harris
Black Swan, Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter, Pamela Martin
The King’s Speech, Tariq Anwar
The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) (Algeria)
Incendies (Canada)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Dogtooth (Greece)
Biutiful (Mexico)
BEST MAKEUP
Barney’s Version, Adrien Morot
The Way Back, Eduoard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk, Yolanda Toussieng
The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
BEST SCORE
127 Hours, A.R. Rahman
How to Train Your Dragon, John Powell
Inception, Hans Zimmer
The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat
The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
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
“We Belong Together,” Toy Story 3, Randy Newman
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
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
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
The Confession, Tanel Toom
The Crush, Michael Creagh
God of Love, Luke Matheny
Na Wewe, Ivan Goldschmidt
Wish 143, Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite
BEST 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
BEST 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
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
Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Iron Man 2, Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick
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
The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler
BEST 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
Films with multiple nominations:
The King's Speech - 12
True Grit - 10
Inception, The Social Network - 8
The Fighter - 7
127 Hours - 6
Black Swan, Toy Story 3 - 5
The Kids are All Right, Winter's Bone - 5
Five Observations
- The lack of a directing and editing nomination for Inception. Not completely surprised by the snub in the director category (the Academy loves them some Cohen brothers), but I was sure it would pick up an editing nomination and win. The last 20 minutes is a masterclass in editing.
- The 11 nominations for The King's Speech. Just goes to show that if you have a period British film, you're guaranteed double digit nominations. I think the tide is turning in favor of The King's Speech over The Social Network. Shame.
- Black Swan has a nomination from every major guild, yet only ended up with 5 nominations. Clearly it didn't sit well with voters.
- The fact that Waiting for Superman and The Tillman Story aren't Oscar nominees while Salt and Unstoppable are? Ridiculous.
- Javier Bardem's nod for Biutiful was a surprise (kind of came out of nowhere), and I guess in the future I should go with the SAG nominee over the Golden Globe nominee (John Hawkes over Andrew Garfield in Supporting Actor).
Monday, January 24, 2011
Happy Oscar Nominations Eve!
This is it friends. Tomorrow is my 3rd favorite day of the year (behind Christmas and my Birthday), Oscar nominations! I'm going to cut to the chase and get right down to predictions.
Best Picture
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Eight of them are locked and loaded, and there are 3 films vying for the last 2 spots, 127 Hours, The Town, and Winter's Bone. I give the edge to The Town for being a crowd pleaser that had great box office, and 127 Hours for Danny Boyle's masterful direction and James Franco's tour-de-force performance. I'm sure I'll probably be wrong about one of them (I got totally (ahem) BLIND SIDED by The Blind Side last year).
For Your Consideration: How to Train Your Dragon, Shutter Island
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
David O. Russell is the most vulnerable, and could easily be replaced with Joel and Ethan Cohen for True Grit or Danny Boyle for 127 Hours. This was the line-up at the DGA though, and they all turned in solid efforts, so I'm fully expecting a repeat line-up tomorrow morning. Nolan will finally get his Oscar nomination, but the prize is Fincher's for the taking.
For Your Consideration: Ben Affleck, The Town
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Netowrk
Colin Firth as King George IV, The King's Speech
James Franco as Aron Ralson, 127 Hours
Mark Wahlberg as Micky Ward, The Fighter
Bridges, Eisenberg, Firth and Franco are pretty much locks. I've been reading about a lot of love in Hollywood for The Fighter, so I'm going to guess that Wahlberg gets swept up in the adoration for his quiet and understated performance. Watch out for Robert Duvall in Get Low and an absolute shocker (in a good way) would be Ryan Gosling for his performance in Blue Valentine
For Your Consideration: Aaron Eckheart as Howie in Rabbit Hole
Best Actress
Annette Benning as Nic in The Kids are All Right
Nicole Kidman as Becca in Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly in Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers in Black Swan
Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross in True Grit
This is between Benning and Portman, so the rest of the nominees are just filler. I also think this is where Hailee Steinfeld shows up, even though the studio is pushing her for supportive. Voters can put her in whatever category they want, and they've been known to move a performance like hers to lead (see Kate Winslet in The Reader and Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rideer), she's the female lead in the movie.
For Your Consideration: Michele Williams as Cindy in Blue Valentine
Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale as Dicky Eklund in The Fighter
Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network
Jeremy Renner as James "Jem" Coughlin in The Town
Mark Ruffalo as Paul in The Kids are All Right
Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue in The King's Speech
Bale is on a streak right now, and I'm going to predict him for the nomination and the win. The 5th slot is up for grabs, between Andrew Garfield and John Hawkes. Garfield was nominated for the Golden Globe and Hawkes was nominated for the SAG. I'm going to stick with Garfield, but I won't be surprised if it's Hakwes name that is read tomorrow morning.
For Your Consideration: Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur in Inception
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams as Charlene Fleming in The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth in The King's Speech
Marion Cotillard as Mal in Inception
Mila Kunis as Lily in Black Swan
Melissa Leo as Alice Ward in The Fighter
Supporting Actress is usually where the surprises occur, and I'm going out on a limb with Marion Cotillard. She was magnificent in Inception and deserves recognition. If she doesn't make the cut, look for Jacki Weaver from the Australian film Animal Kingdom.
For Your Consideration: Dianne Wiest as Nat in Rabbit Hole
Best Original Screenplay
Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz and John McLaughlin, Black Swan
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids are All Right
David Seidler, The King's Speech
Eric Johnson, Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy,The Fighter
Best Adapted Screenplay
Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle, 127 Hours. Based on the novel "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" by Aron Ralson.
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network. Based on the novel "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich
Ben Affleck, Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard, The Town. Based on the novel "Prince of Thieves" by Chuck Hogan.
Michael Arndt, Toy Story 3. Based upon characters created by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich.
Joel and Ethan Cohen, True Grit. Based on the novel "True Grit" by Charles Portis.
I'm fully expecting a few surprised. Tune in tomorrow morning at 8:35am to see the announcement life. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight!
Best Picture
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Eight of them are locked and loaded, and there are 3 films vying for the last 2 spots, 127 Hours, The Town, and Winter's Bone. I give the edge to The Town for being a crowd pleaser that had great box office, and 127 Hours for Danny Boyle's masterful direction and James Franco's tour-de-force performance. I'm sure I'll probably be wrong about one of them (I got totally (ahem) BLIND SIDED by The Blind Side last year).
For Your Consideration: How to Train Your Dragon, Shutter Island
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
David O. Russell is the most vulnerable, and could easily be replaced with Joel and Ethan Cohen for True Grit or Danny Boyle for 127 Hours. This was the line-up at the DGA though, and they all turned in solid efforts, so I'm fully expecting a repeat line-up tomorrow morning. Nolan will finally get his Oscar nomination, but the prize is Fincher's for the taking.
For Your Consideration: Ben Affleck, The Town
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Netowrk
Colin Firth as King George IV, The King's Speech
James Franco as Aron Ralson, 127 Hours
Mark Wahlberg as Micky Ward, The Fighter
Bridges, Eisenberg, Firth and Franco are pretty much locks. I've been reading about a lot of love in Hollywood for The Fighter, so I'm going to guess that Wahlberg gets swept up in the adoration for his quiet and understated performance. Watch out for Robert Duvall in Get Low and an absolute shocker (in a good way) would be Ryan Gosling for his performance in Blue Valentine
For Your Consideration: Aaron Eckheart as Howie in Rabbit Hole
Best Actress
Annette Benning as Nic in The Kids are All Right
Nicole Kidman as Becca in Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly in Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers in Black Swan
Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross in True Grit
This is between Benning and Portman, so the rest of the nominees are just filler. I also think this is where Hailee Steinfeld shows up, even though the studio is pushing her for supportive. Voters can put her in whatever category they want, and they've been known to move a performance like hers to lead (see Kate Winslet in The Reader and Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rideer), she's the female lead in the movie.
For Your Consideration: Michele Williams as Cindy in Blue Valentine
Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale as Dicky Eklund in The Fighter
Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network
Jeremy Renner as James "Jem" Coughlin in The Town
Mark Ruffalo as Paul in The Kids are All Right
Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue in The King's Speech
Bale is on a streak right now, and I'm going to predict him for the nomination and the win. The 5th slot is up for grabs, between Andrew Garfield and John Hawkes. Garfield was nominated for the Golden Globe and Hawkes was nominated for the SAG. I'm going to stick with Garfield, but I won't be surprised if it's Hakwes name that is read tomorrow morning.
For Your Consideration: Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur in Inception
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams as Charlene Fleming in The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth in The King's Speech
Marion Cotillard as Mal in Inception
Mila Kunis as Lily in Black Swan
Melissa Leo as Alice Ward in The Fighter
Supporting Actress is usually where the surprises occur, and I'm going out on a limb with Marion Cotillard. She was magnificent in Inception and deserves recognition. If she doesn't make the cut, look for Jacki Weaver from the Australian film Animal Kingdom.
For Your Consideration: Dianne Wiest as Nat in Rabbit Hole
Best Original Screenplay
Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz and John McLaughlin, Black Swan
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids are All Right
David Seidler, The King's Speech
Eric Johnson, Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy,The Fighter
Best Adapted Screenplay
Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle, 127 Hours. Based on the novel "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" by Aron Ralson.
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network. Based on the novel "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich
Ben Affleck, Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard, The Town. Based on the novel "Prince of Thieves" by Chuck Hogan.
Michael Arndt, Toy Story 3. Based upon characters created by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich.
Joel and Ethan Cohen, True Grit. Based on the novel "True Grit" by Charles Portis.
I'm fully expecting a few surprised. Tune in tomorrow morning at 8:35am to see the announcement life. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Snowmageddon
Ok, so it's really not THAT bad outside, there's just a lot of snow. It was nice when we had the blizzard the day after Christmas, it was gone by New Years day. These past two storms? not so much. It's not that I don't like snow. I do, it makes everything look pretty. I just don't like plowable amounts of snow. Like, say more than 3 inches at a time. It can come, look nice for a few days, then melt.
It's a pretty slow day at work - I feel like that always happens on snow days. Plans for Spain are starting to fall into place (less than a month!). I'm excited to go to Barcelona, we didn't get to go there when I went with my family in high school. That trip was more of southern Spain; Málaga, Seville, Granada, Toledo and Madrid. I'm hoping that when get to Barcelona we get to see a Barça game - that would be sweet. The only thing is they don't decide if they're going to play Saturday or Sunday until about a week before the game. If the game is on Saturday, we're out of luck, we don't get there til Sunday morning. Hopefully it pans out. Emily asked what I was doing to brush up on my Spanish. Nothing, as of yet, but I'll probably watch some trashy telenovela on Univision.
It's a pretty slow day at work - I feel like that always happens on snow days. Plans for Spain are starting to fall into place (less than a month!). I'm excited to go to Barcelona, we didn't get to go there when I went with my family in high school. That trip was more of southern Spain; Málaga, Seville, Granada, Toledo and Madrid. I'm hoping that when get to Barcelona we get to see a Barça game - that would be sweet. The only thing is they don't decide if they're going to play Saturday or Sunday until about a week before the game. If the game is on Saturday, we're out of luck, we don't get there til Sunday morning. Hopefully it pans out. Emily asked what I was doing to brush up on my Spanish. Nothing, as of yet, but I'll probably watch some trashy telenovela on Univision.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
27
Wednesday was my 27th birthday. I officially entered my late 20's. I don't really know why, but it was a pretty difficult pill to swallow. Maybe part of it is because I look at some of my other friends my age, they're married, own homes (or condos), are having kids, etc. But then I realize that I don't really want any of that, at least not right now. Maybe the owning a condo part, but no thanks with the kids.
Anyways, we went to Sacco's Bowl Haven in Davis for some beer, pizza and, you guessed it, bowling. It was really fun even though I'm an absolutely atrocious bowler. The food was pretty good, but the place was hipster central. Something I can get over? Probably, but my eye-rolls will be audible for the time being.
Anyways, we went to Sacco's Bowl Haven in Davis for some beer, pizza and, you guessed it, bowling. It was really fun even though I'm an absolutely atrocious bowler. The food was pretty good, but the place was hipster central. Something I can get over? Probably, but my eye-rolls will be audible for the time being.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
An explanation
So where have I been the past four months you might ask? I've been busy, not quite feeling myself, and sadly, the blog has suffered as a result. The past week at work has been painfully slow, so I decided what better time to reacquaint myself with my blog. What have I been up to? Here's a quick month by month rundown:
September
Started off great. Headed west for Labor Day weekend to San Diego to hang out with Brian Gilb and run the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon. Did ok (finished in 2:45) for not really training. The middle of the month brought a devastating blow. George Parks, director of the UMMB and one of the reasons I went to UMass, died suddenly on the way to Michigan. I was shocked and saddened, and was pretty much in a haze my entire trip to Michigan. After the UMMB performed at The Big House, I expected him to jump out of the stands. Sadly, that never happened. The following Monday, I was on my way to work and there was a brief mention of his death on 98.5 and I burst into tears. It wasn't pretty.
October
Oakmont kicked into high gear and we had a competition and I also went with Nick LaPete to NYC to see Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and American Idiot (yes, for the 3rd time. Billie Joe Armstrong was in it. Couldn't pass it up) the first weekend. The rest of the month was pretty uneventful. Went to a wedding of a friend in Providence which was fun, and Oakmont was crowned USSBA Division III Open New England champions again.
November
Started out the month with a trip to NYC and Annapolis with the Marching Spartans to see The Phantom of the Opera and compete in the USSBA National Championships. was ok, and the band came in 12th in Nationals. Not bad, but they could have done better. Paid a return visit to NYC the following weekend to catch Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice, which was pretty awesome. I was supposed to run in the Philadelphia Half Marathon, but because of my stress injury, that didn't happen. Went to Philly anyways and went to the Eagles/Giants SNF game thanks to Rachel. I don't really like football, but it was cool to go to a game (it was actually my 2nd professional game, saw the Lions/Eagles play when I was in Michigan. I've seen the Eagles more times than I've seen the Patriots). November ended with a great Thanksgiving, and my leg starting to get better.
December
My favorite month of the year - I love the holidays. Decorations, Christmas trees, being the one month it's socially acceptable to listen to "All I Want for Christmas Is You" on repeat, etc...Marathon training started again for the Museum team. I won't be running, but I'll train with them during the winter. Jess and I both ran the Somerville Jingle-bell 5K and got accepted into the NYC Half Marathon in March. Nick Druar and Miss Alison Hay and I did some awesome community service with Harpoon Helps and UMass got blown-out by BC at the Garden (that all happened on the same day). And of course, last week was CHRISTMAS! I got a sweet blu-ray player and a new pair of running shoes.
Whats on tap for 2011? FINALLY seeing Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark and the final performance of In the Heights in January, a trip to Spain in February, the NYC Half Marathon in March and a whole lot of other stuff.
My resolutions for 2011? I know this one has come up before, but this time I'll have help behind me, but my goal is to become financially responsible and get out of debt. I also have a goal to get back into my old running habits and try and do a half marathon a month, with the end goal being running Boston again in 2012. I think two is enough, and those are pretty major.
And what would a blog update be without some film chat? Here are some quick takes over the past couple months:
The Kids are All Right - wasn't impressed, and thought it was pretty MEH. C
The Town - Ben Affleck's sophomore directorial effort and it was excellent. One of my top 10 of 2010. A
The Social Network - pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this, Aaron Sorkin's dialogue is razor-sharp. I can't wait to see it again on blu-ray January 11th. A
127 Hours - Heart-stopping. Danny Boyle can do no wrong and James Franco was outstanding. A-
Black Swan - Don't even know where to start. I saw this a month ago and am STILL thinking about it. Natalie Portman is a revelation. Darren Aronofsky, you've arrived. A
The Fighter - Christian Bale gives a (pun intended) knock-out performance, as well as the rest of the leading cast. A-
The King's Speech - Good, not great. Colin Firth was excellent, but after all of the hype, I was expecting more. B+
Winter's Bone - Just caught this on DVD and I was riveted for most of it (it got off to a slow start). Jennifer Lawrence was great. B+
Seeing True Grit tomorrow and Blue Valentine sometime next week and my movie-going in 2010 will be complete. A couple of films to catch up on once they're on DVD/blu-ray, namely Animal Kingdom, Get Low and The Tilman Story.
That's about it for this re-start. My goal is to update once or twice a week in the coming year. Next post will probably be my top 10 of 2010, followed by a review of the highly anticipated (and highly problematic) Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark.
Happy New Year!
September
Started off great. Headed west for Labor Day weekend to San Diego to hang out with Brian Gilb and run the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon. Did ok (finished in 2:45) for not really training. The middle of the month brought a devastating blow. George Parks, director of the UMMB and one of the reasons I went to UMass, died suddenly on the way to Michigan. I was shocked and saddened, and was pretty much in a haze my entire trip to Michigan. After the UMMB performed at The Big House, I expected him to jump out of the stands. Sadly, that never happened. The following Monday, I was on my way to work and there was a brief mention of his death on 98.5 and I burst into tears. It wasn't pretty.
October
Oakmont kicked into high gear and we had a competition and I also went with Nick LaPete to NYC to see Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and American Idiot (yes, for the 3rd time. Billie Joe Armstrong was in it. Couldn't pass it up) the first weekend. The rest of the month was pretty uneventful. Went to a wedding of a friend in Providence which was fun, and Oakmont was crowned USSBA Division III Open New England champions again.
November
Started out the month with a trip to NYC and Annapolis with the Marching Spartans to see The Phantom of the Opera and compete in the USSBA National Championships. was ok, and the band came in 12th in Nationals. Not bad, but they could have done better. Paid a return visit to NYC the following weekend to catch Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice, which was pretty awesome. I was supposed to run in the Philadelphia Half Marathon, but because of my stress injury, that didn't happen. Went to Philly anyways and went to the Eagles/Giants SNF game thanks to Rachel. I don't really like football, but it was cool to go to a game (it was actually my 2nd professional game, saw the Lions/Eagles play when I was in Michigan. I've seen the Eagles more times than I've seen the Patriots). November ended with a great Thanksgiving, and my leg starting to get better.
December
My favorite month of the year - I love the holidays. Decorations, Christmas trees, being the one month it's socially acceptable to listen to "All I Want for Christmas Is You" on repeat, etc...Marathon training started again for the Museum team. I won't be running, but I'll train with them during the winter. Jess and I both ran the Somerville Jingle-bell 5K and got accepted into the NYC Half Marathon in March. Nick Druar and Miss Alison Hay and I did some awesome community service with Harpoon Helps and UMass got blown-out by BC at the Garden (that all happened on the same day). And of course, last week was CHRISTMAS! I got a sweet blu-ray player and a new pair of running shoes.
Whats on tap for 2011? FINALLY seeing Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark and the final performance of In the Heights in January, a trip to Spain in February, the NYC Half Marathon in March and a whole lot of other stuff.
My resolutions for 2011? I know this one has come up before, but this time I'll have help behind me, but my goal is to become financially responsible and get out of debt. I also have a goal to get back into my old running habits and try and do a half marathon a month, with the end goal being running Boston again in 2012. I think two is enough, and those are pretty major.
And what would a blog update be without some film chat? Here are some quick takes over the past couple months:
The Kids are All Right - wasn't impressed, and thought it was pretty MEH. C
The Town - Ben Affleck's sophomore directorial effort and it was excellent. One of my top 10 of 2010. A
The Social Network - pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this, Aaron Sorkin's dialogue is razor-sharp. I can't wait to see it again on blu-ray January 11th. A
127 Hours - Heart-stopping. Danny Boyle can do no wrong and James Franco was outstanding. A-
Black Swan - Don't even know where to start. I saw this a month ago and am STILL thinking about it. Natalie Portman is a revelation. Darren Aronofsky, you've arrived. A
The Fighter - Christian Bale gives a (pun intended) knock-out performance, as well as the rest of the leading cast. A-
The King's Speech - Good, not great. Colin Firth was excellent, but after all of the hype, I was expecting more. B+
Winter's Bone - Just caught this on DVD and I was riveted for most of it (it got off to a slow start). Jennifer Lawrence was great. B+
Seeing True Grit tomorrow and Blue Valentine sometime next week and my movie-going in 2010 will be complete. A couple of films to catch up on once they're on DVD/blu-ray, namely Animal Kingdom, Get Low and The Tilman Story.
That's about it for this re-start. My goal is to update once or twice a week in the coming year. Next post will probably be my top 10 of 2010, followed by a review of the highly anticipated (and highly problematic) Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark.
Happy New Year!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Climbin' in your windows...
two of the funniest videos ever. you need to watch them in order.
and
you can thank me later...happy friday!
and
you can thank me later...happy friday!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Pacey-Con
True confession: in high school, I was a big fan of Dawson's Creek. I bought into the drama of being a teenager at Capeside. I got completely caught up in the lives of Dawson, Joey, Pacey, Jen and Jack. Didn't really watch through college, but, like a good viewer, I did watch the finale, and am still kinda pissed that Joey ended up with Pacey.
Today, I came across this from Funny or Die and laughed out loud.
Poor Joshua Jackson. Seriously though, this dude has had an amazing career and created some of the most memorable characters EVER - Charlie Conway, Pacey Whitter and Peter Bishop (I don't watch Fringe, but I hear he (and the show) is quite good). I'd go to Pacey-Con.
Today, I came across this from Funny or Die and laughed out loud.
Poor Joshua Jackson. Seriously though, this dude has had an amazing career and created some of the most memorable characters EVER - Charlie Conway, Pacey Whitter and Peter Bishop (I don't watch Fringe, but I hear he (and the show) is quite good). I'd go to Pacey-Con.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Paradox
Without question, the film that I was looking forward to most this summer is Christopher Nolan's Inception. Not a whole lot was known about the film before it's release except that it had an impressive cast, was a sci-fi thriller and had some incredible visual effects. The tagline on the poster, Your mind is the scene of the crime, didn't really help too much either. Nolan is notorious (try saying that 5x fast) for keeping his films top-secret, so why would Inception be any different.There are few films I feel like I have to see the day they're released, and this was one of them. I knew people would be talking about it, there would be spoilers galore, my twitter feed would blow up with comments/theories and I don't have the self control to stop myself from reading them. It seemed my only option was to see a midnight screening.
I had a wedding to go to in Cleveland (that's a whole 'nother post) over the weekend, so midnight screening it was, but that didn't exactly pan out. Fortunately, I had 5 hours to kill on Saturday after the ceremony before the reception, so I found a movie theater near the hotel and spent the afternoon ready to be wowed. It. Was. Awesome.
Basically, Inception is Ocean's 11 meets The Matrix with a little bit of Alfred Hitchcock thrown in for good measure. The premise is fascinating; the idea that a professional "dream hacker" could break into your dreams and plant ideas into your subconscious that could eventually come to fruition in the real world. Leonardo DiCaprio plays said hacker, and assembles a team (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy) to try and help Korean businessman Saito (Ken Wantanabe) defeat a rival company, headed by Fischer (Cillian Murphy). The group delves into Fischer's subconscious and a thrilling caper ensues.
There were cries that this film is a game-changer and could revolutionize cinema forever (hm..where have we heard that recently?). While I don't necessarily agree with that, because when you get down to it Inception is a glorified heist film, I do think that it's an incredibly well made film. The visuals are amazing, and the sheer originality of the script is borderline brilliant. Yet another marvel? Nolan's direction and Lee Smith's awe-inspiring work editing the film - he basically has the editing Oscar sewn up for simultaneously balancing the multiple levels of the film and keeping it totally coherent. There were a couple times where I could feel my heart beating faster during the more intense sequences, and it's been a while since I've become that involved with a film.
Another reason it's so great? It's inspired INTENSE debate and discussion, and you almost have to see it twice. I did. Initially for the visceral experience, and then again to actually appreciate it and pick up on things you missed the first time. It's a complete mind-bender, I'm sure you'll say (in your best Keanu Reeves voice) "whoa" more than once.
It's my favorite film of the year so far (How to Train Your Dragon is next) and I can easily see it scoring multiple Oscar nominations. Among them Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography, Visual Effects, Score, and if there is any justice in my world, a Best Supporting Actor nom for Joseph Gordon-Levitt (and maybe one for Marion Cotillard too).
See it. See it twice. See it in IMAX. You won't be disappointed and you'll be talking about it for days.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Coming Attractions...
Ben Affleck's sophomore directorial effort is released this fall. It was shot in and around Boston. I cannot wait to see this - might even do a midnight screening.
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