So here's where my hackles raise a bit, and I step on some toes. I don't care about the cool-kid Oscars. The acting, directing, and picture awards don't really excite me. I've got my own secret version of the Big Five, and this category is one of them. My Big Five favorite Academy Awards are for Art Direction, Cinematography, Costumes, Editing, and Special Effects. Continue reading

Sorry to break up the Big Five (or six), but I went into this planning to work in order according to the official nominations list, and I'm sticking to it.It's sort of lovely, like finding a super-easy question buried in your calc final with four minutes left of class. Cartoons! Continue reading

Is there even a question here? I still do really, really want to see Dreamgirls, but it certainly won't happen in the next two days, or likely even until the movie is released on DVD. That said, I am positively certain that this is the year of Jennifer Hudson. Continue reading

Why does this keep happening? Especially in Best Actor, there's this STACK. Last year, two actors turned in Oscar-worthy roles, but only PSH won. And of course, this is just par for O'Toole's track record of being nominated opposite and losing to giants (Ben Kingsley’s Gandhi, DeNiro for Raging Bull, Brando as the eponymous Godfather, Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch, etc.). Continue reading

Oscar Night is my all-time favorite holiday, but it can creep up on me. (Halloween is a close second). I am a giant dork for movies. I'm also a ridiculous cinema-snob. While I know that Tremors and The Lion in Winter are not on the same level, I'll defend one's merits just as relentlessly as the other's. (They are equally quotable!) Yup, I like movies. Continue reading

According to the list-order posted on oscars.org, we're on Best Actress. And here's the CRAZY thing: The five nominees this year have 29 nominations and just three wins between them. Let that sink into you head for a moment: twenty-nine nominations. Of course, fully half of those belong the Meryl Streep (14, breaking her own record), and Penélope Cruz is up for her very first golden boy. Continue reading

The short answer is I have no idea, but that's no fun. So let's take a look. Continue reading

Here's another small voice adding itself to the whirlwind. That's not quite accurate—my voice has been here in the blogosphere all along, for the past six or seven years, in various other guises. I'm starting anew for several reasons. The most relevant (and the simplest) is that as I attempt to build a career for myself, as I feel out what I want to do and where I want to be… Continue reading