Argo focuses on a humiliating episode that most Americans would like to forget.  On November 4, 1979, at the climax of the Iranian revolution, militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage.

But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans managed to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador.  Knowing it was only a matter of time before the six were found and likely killed, a CIA “exfiltration” specialist offered a risky–and ultimately successful–plan to smuggle them out of the country.

While Argo wrings cheers from American audiences for the winning of this small victory, it cannot erase the blunt truth of the Iranian hostage crisis: For more than 14 months, American diplomats waited helplessly for release–while America proved unable to effect it.

By contrast, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln celebrates a far greater victory: the final defeat of human slavery in the United States.

And it teaches lessons about the past that remain equally valide today–such as that racism and repression are not confined to any one period or political party.

At the heart of the film: Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) wants to win ratification of what will be the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. An amendment that will forever ban slavery.

True, Lincoln, in 1862, had issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This-–in theory-–freed slaves held in the Confederate states that were in rebellion against the United States Government.

But Lincoln regards this as a temporary wartime measure.

He fears that, once the war is over, the Supreme Court may rule the Proclamation unconstitutional. This might allow Southerners to continue practicing slavery, even after losing the war.

To prevent this, Congress must pass an anti-slavery amendment.

But winning Congressional passage of such an amendment won’t be easy.

The Senate had ratified its passage in 1864. But the amendment must secure approval from the House of Representatives to become law.

And the House is filled with men-–there are no women members during the 19th  century-–who seethe with hostility.

Some are hostile to Lincoln personally. One of them dubs him a dictator-–”Abraham Africanus.” Another accuses him of shifting his positions for the sake of expediency.

Other members–-white men all-–are hostile to the idea of “equality between the races.”

To them, ending slavery means opening the door to interracial marriage–especially marriage between black men and white women. Perhaps even worse, it means possibly giving blacks-–or women–-the right to vote.

To understand the Congressional debate over the Thirteenth Amendment, it’s necessary to remember this:  In Lincoln’s time, the Republicans were the party of progressives.

The party was founded on an anti-slavery platform.  Its members were thus reviled as “Black Republicans.”

And until the 1960s, the South was solidly Democratic.  Democrats were the ones defending the status quo–slavery–and opposing freed blacks in the South of Reconstruction and long afterward.

In short, in the 18th century, Democrats in the South acted as Republicans do now.

The South went Republican only after a Democratic President–Lyndon B. Johnson–rammed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress.

Watching this re-enactment of the 1865 debate in Lincoln is like watching a rerun of the recent Presidential campaign.  The same mentalities are at work:

• Those (in this case, slave-owners) who already have a great deal want to gain even more at the expense of others.
• Those (slaves and freed blacks) who have little strive to gain more or at least hang onto what they still have.
• Those who defend the privileged wealthy refuse to allow their “social inferiors” to enjoy similar privileges (such as the right to vote).

During the 2012 Presidential race, the Republicans tried to bar those likely to vote for President Barack Obama from getting into the voting booth.  But their bogus “voter ID” restrictions were struck down in courts across the nation.

In the end, however, it is Abraham Lincoln who has the final word.  Through diplomacy and backroom dealings (trading political offices for votes) he wins passage of the anti-slavery amendment.

The movie closes with a historically-correct tribute to Lincoln’s generosity toward those who opposed him–in Congress and on the battlefield.

It occurs during Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address: “With malice toward none, with charity for all….To bind up the nation’s wounds.  To care for him who shall have bourne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan….”

Listening to those words, one is reminded of Mitt Romney’s infamous comments about the “47%: “

Well, there are 47% of the people who…are dependent upon government, who believe that–-that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they’re entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you name it.”

Watching Lincoln, you realize how incredibly lucky we were as a nation to have had such leadership when it was most needed.

An army of Oscars.  Am I the only one who thinks they look minutes away from coming life, lifting their swords, and wreaking havoc (but only upon the losing nominees)

Tonight, the film world turns its weary eyes toward a dapper bald man named Oscar, who will be going home with at least 24 different people (because there are 24 categories). Wow. That Oscar is a real man-whore. I refer, of course, to the 85th Academy Awards, which, by the way, is now officially just called The Oscars, effective this year. But do we even still care about the Oscars? And if so, why?  Joaquin Phoenix sure seems to think they are pointless, and Johnny Cash can’t be wrong because if he is and you tell him that he’ll kill you just to watch you die, even if you are not at the moment in Reno, Nevada.  So, maybe it is best to start by answering the question of whether or not I personally care about the Oscars.

The Oscars have always been at least kind of fun for me.  As someone who gravitated more and more toward the subject of history throughout grade and high school, the Oscars were a natural fit for me.  It is 85 years of film history broken down into memorizable names, dates, and events. What’s not to love?  Beyond hitting a history student’s sweet spot the way baseball does for statisticians, the Oscars also seemed a valuable resource to determine which classic films were mandatory viewing.  I also admit to slightly using the Oscars to utilize annoying know-it-all’isms.  For example, you could ask me if I had seen the newest Jim Carey movie and I could respond, “No, but do you know which movie won Best Picture in 1960?”

This all, of course, horribly misses the point of the Oscars. Because, as everyone knows, the real point of the Oscars is…is…wait, I know this one. I want to say to keep those damn unions in line. No, that’s why the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was founded by Louis B. Mayer. So, why do the Oscars even exist again? Because Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., the first president of the AMPAS, decided they needed to have “awards of merit for distinctive achievement.”  That is all fine and good for 1927, but Fairbanks had no way of knowing the Oscars would, with alarming consistency, historically fail to award films, performances, and directors that history ultimately deemed to be classic. As such, talking about the Oscars often means talking about the things you liked which they either failed to nominate or did nominate but gave the award to something else (I’m looking at you Crash and Shakespeare In Love).

This upset Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture in 1998. Truth be told, I only saw it for the first time last year.  Glorified Shakespeare porn? Yeah. But, dangnamit, it’s delightful.

The Oscars are a cross-sectional snapshot of the majority opinion of the AMPAS’ membership at the time of the voting window allotted them before the actual show.  Based on Entertainment Weekly’s annual profiles of anonymous AMPAS members and their explanations of the who and why of their voting we’re dealing with some serious response bias issues here. So, yeah, the methodology (spelled out in more detail here) features some severe, inherent limitations, but expecting AMPAS to pass the academic smell test for rigorous scientific standards is a bit much.  Relatedly, historical mistakes have certainly damaged the validity of the awards. However, it is still fun to talk about, right?  That’s what I thought until…

I remember the cinephile faux pas well.  A sophomore in college, I had just asked my Writing About Film course instructor whether or not he had watched the Oscars over the weekend.  My fellow students made not a noise while the Big Giant Brain, an odd-sounding but truly affectionate nickname I had developed for the professor whose level of film knowledge I so admired, paused presumably to ponder my wide-eyed query.  What followed this pause was a rather respectful and articulate, “No, and here’s why…,” but what I heard was, “You watch the Oscars?  Get out!  There is no room for your kind among the true film lovers of the world!”  Again, he in no way actually said that, but his intelligent breakdown of subjective vs. objective and rejection of the Oscars based upon its shaky presupposition of bestowing objective greatness upon that which is inherently subjective made me feel wholly inadequate.

Maybe the Big Giant Brain was right, which is about what you’d expect given that nickname. Why are we even attempting to award art in this manner? Even if you can accept the notion of awarding art being valid the method by which the Academy does it is flawed, as described above.  So, why do we even care about the Oscars?  We know why Hollywood cares.  The Oscars can have a beneficial impact on a film’s box office and can make a person’s career.  However, again, why do we care.

I’ve seen arguments that if you like film you watch the Oscars, you just do, the same way an American football fan watches the Super Bowl.  But why?  There are any number of answers.  Tradition (i.e., we care because we’ve always cared), celebrity-worship, the competition, the build-up during awards season, validation (the thing we like winning an award validates our view of it), to see how the host does (i.e. the spectacle of it all), etc. I think a lot of is due to tradition and that the Oscars still feels like a big event, even after so many other awards shows have become televised occasions in the recent past. As part of that event atmosphere, the Oscars make for a communal experience. For example, have you ever entered into Oscar ballot competitions? Holy crap! It’s like March Madness but with movies instead of college basketball. In fact, one of my most enjoyable Oscars viewing experiences came when everyone in my family completed ballots beforehand and were keeping score throughout the show to see who would have guessed correctly most often. I don’t even recall who won, just that we were all guessing blindly in the short film categories.

So, should I now, in closing, give you my picks for who should/will win?  Nah.  But I’ll tell you which of the nominated films I’ve seen I liked the most, and it is far and away Silver Linings Playbook.  It is in several ways as much of a standard Hollywood movie as Argo, particularly the standard genre manipulation and plotting of the last act.  However, it just askew enough to still work and feel fresh, and I find its treatment of mental illness respectful and enlightening (others do not share this opinion).  Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence as the romantic pair at the center of the film deliver astounding lead performances, and will now undoubtedly endure a wishful public longing for the two to become a couple in real life (which ain’t going away since they play a married couple in a movie coming out later this year).  And for the first time since I can’t remember when I was genuinely moved by a Robert De Niro performance.  Two of my favorite scenes from any films of last year come from this movie, one being De Niro’s bedside chat with Cooper about wanting to spend time together and Jennifer Lawrence watching Cooper read a letter said to be from his estranged wife.

Jennifer Lawrence & Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook. A perfectly framed shot from the film. Dysfunctional in foreground, seemingly functional in background.  Not subtle, but effective.

So, should the Oscars bestow awards upon Silver Linings Playbook it shall validate my view of the film, and if not it will prove just how stupid they are.  Wait, that doesn’t really make any sense, does it?  But, then again, that’s just the Oscars for you.

Related articles

• Oscar Psychology: Who We Love Watching The Oscars (huffingtonpost.com)
• Oscar the Grouch (shakebakeandparty.com)

1.1981 - Reds was nominated for 12 categories and yet it was outrun in the race for Best Picture by Chariots of Fire!  Sometimes a race is won in the final sprint to the finish line. Must be the case here.

2. 1998-Titanic, a pathetic remake riddled with special effects drowned out L.A. Confidential  and Good Will Hunting.  Sad but true.

3.1988 – The Academy was Moonstruck by Cher’s outstanding performance and she went home with Oscar and Glen Close and Meryl Streep went home with their husbands.

4. 1999 – He scampered over chairs, he jumped around on stage – Roberto Benigni won Best Actor and none were more surprised than Tom Hanks.  Hanks was the favorite for his role in Saving Private Ryan.

5. 1994 – There really is a pattern here. The Academy seems to vote more often for feel-good, loveable or the down and out rise to good fortune through their courage, fortitude and a measure of luck.  And that’s how it went the night in 1994 when Quentin Tarantino was “Gumped” by Robert Zemekis.   Pulp Fiction must have been just too avante-garde for the Academy voters.

6. 1980 – Martin Scorcese made his first feature length film in 1967 and didn’t win an Oscar for his directorial achievements.  In 1980 he lost Best Director to Robert Redford who won it for Ordinary People and he lost it for Raging Bull.

7. 2008 – More than an upset, the fact that The Dark Knight wash’t even nominated! Slumdog Millionaire took home Best Picture and it was an entertaining movie which took audiences to a part of the world they rarely see.  No dispute here, BUT shouldn’t The Dark Knight have been on the table with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, The Reader and Frost/Nixon?

8. 1969 – Oh how I remember this one!  John Wayne wins Best Actor for his role of a cowboy (wow that’s a switch) in True Grit and Dustin Hoffman and John Voight who were spectacular in Midnight Cowboy.

9. 1985 – Another surprise ! The Color Purple was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won NONE!

10. 1968-Oliver,  won Best Director and Best Picture.  It was a buoyant musical retelling of the story of Oliver Twist and sent Stanley Kubrick’s startling and innovative science fiction epic  2001: Space Odyssey  home hungry.

Best Actress Academy Awards (Photo credit: cliff1066™)

Sometimes a dark horse emerges and at the last moment, streams past all the other contenders and snatches the top prize.  Do you remember these well-known Oscar upsets?

1. 2006 - Crash beats out Broke Back Mountain for Best Picture! WTF? Crash was interesting and full of racial and social tension but when it was announced that it won Best Picture, there were some audible gasps and best of all, do you remember that Jack Nicholson, who announced the winner, raised one of his famous eyebrows in a betcha didn’t see that coming!

2. 1943 - What were they thinking???  Paul Lukas won the Best Actor Award for his role in Watch On The Rhine.  And Humphrey Bogart LOST for his role in Casablanca.  OMG!!

3. 1999 – Shakespeare in Love  was a fine movie, with great costumes but did you expect it to beat out Saving Private Ryan?  I mean really? Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Edward Burns????

4. 2002 - Who beat out Nicholas Cage, Jack Nicholson, Daniel  Day-Lewis, and Michael Caine for Best Actor?  Adrien Brody! He was relatively unknown compared to the heavy-hitters he was up against.  If his win was a surprise, imagine what Halle Berry was thinking when he grabbed her and planted a great big kiss on her mouth and when they tried to stop his acceptance speech, he said NO. Then gave an anti-war speech and received a standing ovation for it.

5. 1994 - Schindler’s List won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing and 5 more Best categories, BUT Ralph Fiennes did NOT win Best Actor.  Tommy Lee Jones took the top prize with his role in The Fugitive.  Jones was good as a cop but seriously?  Fiennes was Oscar-worthy as the odious Nazi, Amon Goth.  I can only imagine how awful that night was for him as Schindler’s List racked up win after win.

6. 1991 – It was not a good night for Goodfellows!  Dances With Wolves snapped up the Best Picture Award.  The other nominees were Godfather Part III, Awakenings and Ghost.  And yet another “you lose” for Martin Scorcese.

7. 1942 – Only time will tell and it did…How Green Was My Valley won Best Picture over……are you ready? Citizen Kane!  Consistently on the top of greatest movie lists for years, in 1998 AFI declared Citizen Kane to be the number one greatest movie ever! Better late than never??

8.1977 – Should we have been surprised when a feel-good-loser-wins-in-the-end-against-all-odds movie punched its way to Best Picture and in doing so knocked out Taxi Driver and All The President’s Men? YES! OMG, Taxi Driver? DeNiro?

9. 1993- This was the night the wild card entry won! Marisa Tomei played the sassy and saucy Mona Lisa Vito in My Cousin Vinny.  And Vanessa Redgrave and Miranda Richardson went home empty-handed.

10. 2010- No list of Oscar upsets would be complete without mentioning Kathryn Bigelow.  She was the first female to win Best Director for The Hurt Locker and truly upset her ex-husband James Cameron who was the favorite to win with Avatar!

Academy Awards night has been full of surprises and upsets many times over and this list is by no means complete.  Perhaps I can post another list before the big night!

If it seems this week like I’m taking a bat to the Academy’s pinata….it’s because it’s an annual tradition.  I love the Oscars in theory, but in practice they make me a little bit more unbalanced than I traditionally am (which is wobbly at best).  The nominating process is probably the worst.  Seeing movies that I love (and I think I clearly have demonstrated that I love movies) totally ignored is why I consume more ibuprofen during the week the nominations come out than food. 

But ok, we’ve gotten past that, past most of the show.  We’re at the goal line.  We’re hailing the new BEST PICTURE!  That which will be engraved outside the Kodak Theater and included in endless montages for decades to come.  And then a drunk Elizabeth Taylor slurs out, “gllllllllllllaDIATOR!!!”  I like Gladiator.  I don’t mean to pick on it, but it was the perfect combination of bad choice mixed with jaw-dropping presentation.  It has been awhile though.  Don’t recall?

Ok so it was the Golden Globes.  They picked the same thing at the Oscars and I got to show that clip again.  In chronological order, here are the five worst decisions.

1. 1941 – How Green Was My Valley
I’m not sure.  Was it greener that CITIZEN KANE?  Or even Sergeant York or
The Maltese Falcoln?  It’s nice to see that horrid decisions are nothing new since what is unanimously regarded as the greatest picture ever made didn’t win.

2. 1956 – Around the World in 80 Days
The King & I and The Ten Commandments or this.  Have you seen this?  Read the book.  Wonderful book.  Rex Harrison made some incredibly bad movies.

3. 1981 – Chariots of Fire
I don’t care if you wanted to go serious with On Golden Pond or frigging awesome with Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Both are way more deserving than one of the most overrated and slllllllllllllllowest movies ever made.

4. 1997 – Titanic
I had to take a stand on this or Forrest Gump (Shawshank should have won) and I think I’ll get less hate mail for pointing out that the other four nominees were
Good Will Hunting, The Full Monty, As Good As It Gets, and-what should have won-LA Confidential.  Plus we’d have all been spared James Cameron’s “king of the world” moment.

5. 1998 – Shakespeare in Love
Saving Private Ryan.  This is one of the only times in my life that I’ve thrown    something at the TV set.  Literally thrown something.  Shakespeare is a cute  movie.  Saving Private Ryan was arguably the best film of the decade and one  of the most important films in cinema.  Miramax did literally buy this one and fifteen years later it’s still the worst one I’ve ever watched.

Believe me, we could go on, but I think I’ve made my point.  The Academy screws up.  I can’t believe Crash and Million Dollar Baby are Best Pictures, but in those years they didn’t even nominate the best pictures.  This year is fairly hopeful in that most of the films nominated ARE worthy of the honor.  What I’m saying really is, the odds of an alarm clock being embedded in my flatscreen come Sunday night are lower than normal.

85 Years of Oscars by ollymoss.com (click to enlarge)

Sunday night will see the usual meat parade of celebrities march down the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, in their excessive ball gowns and ever-so-slightly personalised tuxedoes, before giving each other gold man-shaped pats on the back for being ever so special – or so the cynics would have you believe.

There are those amongst the cinephiles of this world who do feel the Academy Awards are a meaningless black hole of self-congratulation and commercialism, and they may be right in many respects. But they can’t take the fun away. For the more optimistic film fanatic, the Oscars provide the one night of the year where every person in the world (or so it seems) cares just as much about the movies as we do. Who cares if they cheapen it – at least they care!

The somewhat bold decision by the Academy to have the unpredictable and untested Seth MacFarlane host could well prove a trump card or a bright red self-destruct button. At the very least the quality of lampooning should be stepped up a notch from previous years. Other events of the night differ in the levels of excitement they inspire. A tribute to 50 years of James Bond should provide a quality showreel. A tribute to Hollywood musicals of the last 10 years will surely have less life in it than the roll call of the recently departed.

So how are the awards lining up? Well…

Best Picture

For a long time there this was anyone’s game. Les Misérables seemed a lock, before anyone saw how blandly it was shot. Lincoln was also an early call, which took a dip and then rose back up to the top of the charts. Zero Dark Thirty appears to have waterboarded its own Oscar hopes. Django Unchained has been greeted with bewildering raves from critics and audiences, but it is surely a little eccentric and excessive to warrant a win. Life of Pi and Silver Linings Playbook, both fine films warmly received, seem to have been pushed out by their more realistic and historically themed peers. Amour is the token nod to a master filmmaker, which is all-but-assured the Foreign Language Oscar. Beasts of the Southern Wild feels like a similar nod to a newly shining star in Benh Zeitlin, but don’t count it out completely – it’s been a huge hit with critics and would tickle the liberal hearts of Academy voters.

Have… have we won yet?: John Goodman, Alan Arkin and Ben Affleck in Argo

But realistically if anything is going to give Lincoln a run for its money it’s Argo. Ben Affleck’s light espionage drama has crept back into pole position after waltzing home with pretty much every best picture (or equivalent) award at every awards show thus far. Despite Affleck not being nominated for Best Director, it is unwise to count Argo out – with no best picture/director split since 2005, the Academy is well overdue such a discrepancy, although it would be the first film to win Best Picture with a directorial nod since Driving Miss Daisy in 1989. Evidently, stranger things have happened.

Should win: Beasts of the Southern Wild

Will win: Argo

Best Director

Making history: Steven Spielberg directing Lincoln

This seems an easier one to bite, what with Lincoln one of the top two Best Picture contenders. Steven Spielberg has already a Best Director statue without a Best Picture twin, for Saving Private Ryan, and his work on Lincoln is more than deserving. But so does Ang Lee, for Brokeback Mountain, and Life of Pi is assuredly the work of full-blooded auteur. David O. Russell seems an unlikely candidate, if only for the scale of his film, and that goes double for Michael Haneke. A Benh Zeitlin win would be a coup and a half. He should be very proud just to be there.

Should win: Ang Lee

Will win: Steven Spielberg

Best Actor

Abolition impossible: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln

I won’t insult your intelligence by writing anything here. Other nominees include Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master), Hugh Jackman (Les Mis) and Denzel Washington (Flight).

Should win: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Will win: Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Actress

The Oscar Games: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook

Now here’s a proper contest. So much to play for. Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) and Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) are fighting to be crowned the new Queen of Hollywood. Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) is fighting to be the new Princess. Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) is fighting for one last great honour. Naomi Watts (The Impossible) is fighting to stay in movies and not be condemned to television. The tide against Zero Dark Thirty seems to be squeezing Chastain’s hopes, and she will no doubt be back for more in the years to come. Lawrence is here a second time, and seems the likely winner. Riva and Wallis would both be record holders, oldest and youngest winners respectively. With a performance as strong as she gave in Silver Linings however, the same year her Hunger Games was such a surprise hit, Lawrence seems the best bet.

Should win: Emmanuelle Riva or Quvenzhané Wallis

Will win: Jennifer Lawrence

Best Supporting Actor

Oscar, the grouch: Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln

Coming out of the Golden Globes, Christoph Waltz has momentum behind him, but his character Dr. King Schultz, the highlight of Django Unchained, is perhaps a little too similar to Hans Landa, the character who previously won him this award for Inglourious Basterds. Alan Arkin already has his tokenistic Best Supporting award for Little Miss Sunshine, so he seems an ill-fit. Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook) gave his finest performance in over a decade, but it was hardly the finest supporting performance of the year. The disdain the Academy has shown for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master will work against Philip Seymour Hoffman. This one has to go to Lincoln’s Tommy Lee Jones.

Should win: Philip Seymour Hoffman or Tommy Lee Jones

Will win: Tommy Lee Jones

Best Supporting Actress

Fantinetastic: Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables

There was a lot of talk early on about Sally Field’s performance in Lincoln making her a likely winner, but the performances of Day-Lewis and Jones (and Spader!) have undermined her hopes considerably. Amy Adams gave a chilling performance in The Master, but it is perhaps too dark (and complex) for the Academy’s tastes. Helen Hunt (The Sessions) is surely just delighted to back in the A-list. Jacki Weaver was definitely in Silver Linings Playbook, but I don’t remember a lot else about her performance. No, this is as assuredly Anne Hathaway’s win as anything could be. If Les Mis didn’t convince you of that, surely this video will.

Should win: Amy Adams

Will win: Anne Hathaway

Best Original Screenplay

Tarantino has already taken a few trophies for his Django Unchained script, a fact which continues to baffle me. Mark Boal will no doubt suffer the Zero Dark Thirty backlash. John Gatins (Flight) and Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom) seem like seat fillers, but count neither out just yet, especially the latter. This is the one category where Amour could really step-out of the woodwork, and not just be another Best Foreign Language Picture winner and nothing more. Here’s hoping.

Should win: Michael Haneke

Will win: Michael Haneke

Best Adapted Screenplay

With so many exceptional adaptations this year, this could turn out to be the most exciting and unpredictable race of the lot. Chris Terrio (Argo), David Magee (Life of Pi) and Tony Kushner (Lincoln) have all done remarkable work in their adaptations, while David O. Russell has written a truly charming yet affecting work from Silver Linings Playbook. But in terms of transmogrifying a source material into a work of cinema, there seems no greater nominee than Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin’s script for Beasts of the Southern Wild, from Alibar’s one-person play Juicy and Delicious. But who the hell knows that the Academy wants!? Usually everyone, so why is this so hard to call?

Should win: Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin

Will win: Chris Terrio or David Magee

Best Animated Feature

Tall order: Wreck-It Ralph

Here’s another unpredictable little venture. DreamWorks’ confusing but beautiful Rise of the Guardians didn’t even make the grade, leaving an odd band of five vying for the Oscar here. Brave is decidedly a weaker entry in the Pixar canon, but it is at times breathtaking to behold. A respectful nod to the studio with a win, or a “must do better” note sent home to the parents? That would leave the major contenders Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie and Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph. The former has the artistry, the latter the ideas – but both suffer from weak third acts. ParaNorman could scrape in, but its poor box office makes it the most forgettable of the quintet to the untrained eye. That could leave Aardman’s superb The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (I won’t be caught dead using its American title), but it has been largely overlooked in previous awards nominations. Another tough one to call, especially for one that film fans are so surprisingly passionate about.

Should win: The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (aka Band of Misfits)

Will win: Wreck-It Ralph

Best Animated Short

Love-struck: Paperman

Disney’s utterly delighting Paperman goes up against the surprisingly sweet Simpsons short The Longest Daycare. Both feature playful acts of defenestration, but the former is surely the forerunner in this contest. That said, it would be nice to see PES’s remarkably inventive Fresh Guacamole win. I mean, just look at the damn thing!

Should win: Paperman

Will win: Paperman

Best Foreign Language Film

Waiting for the end: Jean-Louis Trintignant in Amour

Amour

Moving on.

Best Documentary Feature

Due to unfortunate release schedules in these parts and unfortunate me schedules in my own life, I have not seen any of the nominees. Searching for Sugarman seems a firm bet based on word of mouth, but that’s all I can offer.

Best Documentary Short

See above, only shorter!

Best Original Score

This one could get interesting. Skyfall is a surprise nomination for Thomas Newman, and Dario Marianelli seems a wild card for Anna Karenina. Alexandre Desplat’s Argo score was one of the year’s better, while John Williams’s Lincoln was but a pleasant shadow of what the man used create in his prime. In terms of evoking a mood and sounding truly original, nothing should beat Mychael Danna’s Life of Pi score. Although the absence of both Beasts of the Southern Wild and Cloud Atlas from this category is definitely disconcerting.

Should win: Mychael Danna

Will win: Mychael Danna

Best Original Song

That Adele is so hot right now. Not much chance of that going any other way. Expect the manner in which Seth MacFarlane handles his nomination in this category (for ‘Everybody Needs a Best Friend’ from Ted) to be the making or breaking of his performance on the night.

Should win: ‘Skyfall’

Will win: ‘Skyfall’

Best Sound Editing/Mixing

Stop pretending you care.

But for what it’s worth I’m calling both for Life of Pi.

Best Production Design

As was the style at the time: Lincoln’s stellar production design

Another potential shocker that could turn up just about anything. Certainly Anna Karenina was intriguing to behold, and Life of Pi did some remarkable things with its visuals. But bigger is surely better in these sorts of categories, so The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Les Misérables and Lincoln seem the better calls.

Should win: Anna Karenina or The Hobbit

Will win: Lincoln

Best Cinematography

Shadow play: Roger Deakins’s cinematography in Skyfall

Will win: Claudio Miranda

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

“It’s the beards”: The dwarves of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Oh right, this is still an award. Um… The Hobbit? Actually, going by traditional winners Hitchcock will probably nab this. But no, I’m saying The Hobbit. If only for making Christopher Lee look in his 60s (he’s 90!).

Should win: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Will win: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Best Costume Design

All dressed up and somewhere to go: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michelle Dockery and Keira Knightley in Anna Karenina

2012 was the year of not one but two dreadful Snow White films, but both deserve a bit of credit for the costume work, and here that credit is. The late Eiko Ishioka could well receive a posthumous Oscar for her work on Mirror Mirror, but the film was so frankly despised it seems improbable. Snow White and the Huntsman seems even less likely a winner. With Les Mis vying for a top spot with Lincoln in terms of historical realism, the eye-melting costume work of Anna Karenina, by Jacqueline Durran, has a very good shot at stealing the title, especially if diamonds can count as costuming.

Should win: Anna Karenina or Mirror Mirror

Will win: Anna Karenina

Best Editing

There were no standout examples of editing nominated this year, and thinking back on 2012 it’s hard to think of anything exceptional that has been cut from the list, either. Zero Dark Thirty was the real disappointment, after the phenomenal editing Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker displayed. Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook were both edited efficiently but without flair. While Tim Squyres tied Life of Pi together beautifully, the energy created by William Goldernberg’s editing of the opening 10 minutes of Argo more than makes him deserving of the award.

Should win: Life of Pi or Argo

Will win: Argo

Best Visual Effects

Film school: Life of Pi’s astonishing whale

Snow White and the Huntsman gets another nod here, and will go home empty-handed and undeserving. The Avengers and Prometheus will cancel one another out, leaving this a battle of scale versus creativity. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey could win out through sheer force of everything, but it seems unlikely to beat Life of Pi’s controlled, fluid and never utterly in-your-face world building. All the orcish hordes of Middle Earth can’t compete against the colossal might of a leaping whale.

Should win: Life of Pi

Will win: Life of Pi

And that’s the lot of them. How right I’ve been we’ll see on Sunday night. It’s the predictability of the Oscars that makes the upsets all the more shocking, and entertaining, so with any luck, for my sake at least, I’ve been very, very wrong.

If all goes to plan I’ll be live-blogging the event, so be sure to check back here, or follow my Twitter feed. It’s gonna be a long, fun night.

Well, maybe not fun. But long. Definitely long.

I always get annoyed at this time of year, as everyone, their cat and the cat’s veterinarian insists that they know better than the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.  The Academy consists of filmmakers, writers, producers, directors, actors, cinematographers, editors, make-up artists, production designers, sound engineers, visual effects artists and so on, yet any random blogger or Facebook poster somehow knows better than they do.  The Academy members have opinions like the rest of us, and are possibly better informed about what counts as “good” cinematography, editing or sound mixing than lay people.  But if they do not, I hardly think my opinion or that of any one else is superior to that of AMPAS.  The awards presented are based on the opinions of the voters, so they are only opinions like any other.  You may disagree, which is fine, but that doesn’t make your opinion better.  I am not so arrogant, so I offer no position on who should win, but on who I believe will win, and why.  On a similar note, here is an example of how an actual Academy member has voted.

Right, rant over.  The critics awards, the Golden Globes, the PGA, the DGA, the BAFTAs and the WGA have come and gone.  On 24^th February the 85^th Annual Academy Awards take place, so it’s time to get predictions in.  The votes have all been cast so the decisions are made, and results kept under security comparable to that of nuclear missile launch codes.  The presentation of other awards can indicate the way the Oscars will go, so here are my predictions for the 85^th Annual Academy Awards.

Picture

Amour: Margaret Ménégoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Michael Katz

Argo: Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney

Beasts of the Southern Wild: Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald

Django Unchained: Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone

Les Misérables: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh

Life of Pi: Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David Womark

Lincoln: Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy

Silver Linings Playbook: Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen, Jonathan Gordon

Zero Dark Thirty: Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison

Prediction – Argo

A month ago I would not have believed it, but if the Oscars follow the other awards, as they usually do, Argo will be the first film to win Best Picture that is not nominated for Achievement in Directing since Driving Miss Daisy in 1989.  Based on its track record, I predict Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Grant Heslov will add to their collection this Sunday.

Of the nine nominees, I have seen seven, and they are all strong films.  Les Misérables is a fine musical, but its strengths seem to mostly derive from the music, its cinematic elements working less effectively.  Django Unchained is a strong story, firmly directed, that takes an interesting approach to screen violence, but is overlong and indulgent.  Silver Linings Playbook and Life of Pi are the lighter films though both deal with serious material.  Silver Linings Playbook presents people with mental illness in a way that is neither indulgent nor patronising, not asking for our sympathy yet generating it anyway, which is impressive.  Life of Pi is a meta-fictional bonanza with extraordinary technical accomplishments, but perhaps a little whimsical for the Academy members’ taste.  Lincoln is an impressive “important” film, that presents its worth themes as a cracking political drama.  Argo is a great comedy thriller, balancing many disparate elements and promoting international co-operation, and it’s based on a true story, which the Academy love.  Zero Dark Thirty is a fantastic thriller that had me clenched in my seat as the events unfolded, which is impressive as the end result was of course known.  Like Argo, ZDT is based on a true story, but a much darker one and the controversy around the film has likely hurt its chances.  It’s a shame that arguments other than cinematic quality influence Academy voters, but on the other hand it demonstrates social awareness, which not a bad thing.

In several ways, Argo fits the bill for a Best Picture winner – positive true story; America gets to be a hero without doing anything nasty; it’s politically correct as the film does not present the Iranian revolution nor Iranians in a negative light; and it pokes fun at Hollywood itself.  A win for Argo will prove that Hollywood does have a sense of humour about itself!

Achievement in Directing

Michael Haneke for Amour

Ang Lee for Life of Pi

David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook

Steven Spielberg for Lincoln

Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild

Prediction – Ang Lee

This is the hardest category to predict, because the obvious contender isn’t nominated.  Ben Affleck has won the Golden Globe, the DGA and the BAFTA, and all well deserved.  Unlike his previous directional efforts, Gone Baby Gone and The Town, Affleck did not write Argo and it is not about his hometown, so Argo proves that he can handle different material and, with such a range of tones and concerns in Argo, the film is a triumph of direction.  But AMPAS have not nominated him, which means the field is fairly open.  Not completely, however.  Michael Haneke is a long shot, especially as Amour is very likely to win Foreign Language Picture.  First time nominees do occasionally win, so Benh Zeitlin has a chance, but a very small one considering the weight of the other nominees.  David O’Russell has a slightly better chance, since Silver Linings Playbook is a very honoured film, the first film since Reds in 1981 to be nominated for Best Picture, Directing, Screenplay and in all four acting categories.  Furthermore, SLP has superb direction, generating pathos and bathos with excellent balance, judgement and pace.  A win for O’Russell would be well deserved.

However, I think this category comes down to the two previous winners.  Steven Spielberg won Achievement in Directing in 1993 for Schindler’s List and again in 1998 for Saving Private Ryan.  Interestingly, Saving Private Ryan, unlike Schindler’s List, did not win Best Picture.  Similarly, Lincoln is unlikely to win Best Picture, so it could be a repeat performance of 1998.  That said, Spielberg might pull an upset and pick up both a third Directing Oscar, and a Best Picture win as well.  If I had a vote, it would go to Spielberg.

However, I think it more likely that Ang Lee will win a second Oscar.  He previously won in 2005 for Brokeback Mountain, which missed out on Best Picture.  The reason I think he is likely to win over Spielberg is simply that Life of Pi is a more directed film than Lincoln.  Spielberg himself has said that he took a backseat and let his camera record the actors’ performances of Tony Kushner’s script, rather than employ the range of directorial tricks he has developed over an illustrious career.  Life of Pi, however, is a very mobile film, directed to within an inch of its life.  It uses 3D in a remarkable way, creating depth of field and utilising different planes within the frame, and this was clear to me even though I saw it in 2D.  A great assembly of visual effects, both seascape and character, combined with a meta-fictional story about storytelling, which can appeal to all ages, adds up to a film that is a remarkable achievement in directing.  Therefore, I predict that Ang Lee will pick up his second Oscar.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln

Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables

Joaquin Phoenix for The Master

Denzel Washington for Flight

Prediction – Daniel Day-Lewis

No contest really.  If Daniel Day-Lewis doesn’t win this after his success at the Golden Globes, the SAG and the BAFTAs, the sound of jaws hitting the floor will drown out the applause for the surprise winner.  If there were a runner-up prize, I’d predict Hugh Jackman.  But let’s be honest, Day-Lewis has this in the bag.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty

Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook

Emmanuelle Riva for Amour

Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild

Naomi Watts for The Impossible

Prediction – Emmanuelle Riva

This is another tough one, as the results have been varied.  Both Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain picked up Golden Globes, but the BAFTA went to Emmanuelle Riva.  Chastain also picked up the SAG, which might give her a slight edge as most of the acting members of the Academy are also guild members.  Of the two I’ve seen, I would pick Chastain because of the steady change her character goes through over the course of Zero Dark Thirty, from brittle to steely to drained.  But age could be a factor here.  Riva is the oldest Best Actress nominee in the history of the Academy, and at the age of 85 is unlikely to be nominated again.  And it was only a few years ago that Marion Cotillard won Best Actress for Ma Vie en Rose, so being in a foreign film is no embargo either.  Furthermore, Riva is playing a character suffering from a disability, which the Academy loves (see previous winners Cotillard, Jamie Foxx, Daniel Day-Lewis, Kathy Bates, Anthony Hopkins).  I have not seen Amour, but based on age and type of performance, I predict that Riva will be the recipient of Best Actress this year.  And I certainly hope she does, as February 24^th will be her 86^th birthday, and there could be no greater gift than that.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Alan Arkin for Argo

Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook

Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master

Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln

Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained

Prediction – Christoph Waltz

A two-horse race, but a very fine set of performances from some very fine actors.  Everyone here has at least one award (and De Niro has two), so who is going to add to their collection?  Based on awards already given, Tommy Lee Jones received the SAG award, while the Golden Globe and the BAFTA went to Christoph Waltz.  I predict the Academy will follow suit, and Waltz will be thanking Quentin Tarantino again come Oscar night.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams for The Master

Sally Field for Lincoln

Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables

Helen Hunt for The Sessions

Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook

Prediction – Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway has won every award available for her stunning performance in Les Misérables, and there is no reason to suspect that will change at the Oscars.  Hopefully her laryngitis will have cleared up by the time she has to make her speech.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Amour, Michael Haneke

Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino

Flight, John Gatins

Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola

Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal

Prediction – Quentin Tarantino

A fistful of impressive screenwriters, and the only non-contender is John Gatins.  Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola have an outside chance, as do Mark Boal and Michael Haneke.  It’d be interesting for Amour to pull off some upsets, but I predict this will go to Tarantino.  Three years ago, Tarantino and Boal competed for this award, and Boal was victorious for The Hurt Locker.  This time, I think QT will get his second award, eighteen years after winning for Pulp Fiction.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Argo, Chris Terrio

Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin

Life of Pi, David Magee

Lincoln, Tony Kushner

Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell

Prediction – David O’Russell

Benh Zeitlin is doing well, having this nomination as well as various others (shared, obviously).  That said, I think he’ll have to make do with the nomination, as there are some very strong contenders in this category.  Much of Argo’s power comes from its screenplay, which details the complex events without getting bogged down in detail.  Life of Pi was touted as unfilmable, so to have made a screenplay out of it is a feat in itself.  Lincoln has attracted a lot of admiration, but of all the awards Silver Linings Playbook is up for, this is its best chance to win.  David O’Russell has already won the BAFTA, although the WGA went to Chris Terrio.  SLP has many great features, but its screenplay may be its best element, delicate yet harsh, warm and witty but filled with pain and suffering.  It seems unlikely that a film nominated in all the major categories will leave with nothing, so I predict Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, will got to David O’Russell for Silver Linings Playbook.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Brave, Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman

Frankenweenie, Tim Burton

ParaNorman, Sam Fell, Chris Butler

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!, Peter Lord

Wreck-It Ralph, Rich Moore

Prediction – Brave

Pixar’s reign over animation looks set to continue, as Brave picked up the Golden Globe and the BAFTA.  I predict it will receive the Oscar as well.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Amour (Austria)

War Witch (Canada)

No (Chile)

A Royal Affair (Denmark)

Kon-Tiki (Norway)

Prediction – Amour

Anything can happen, but I expect Amour will get some amour from the Academy.

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Anna Karenina, Seamus McGarvey

Django Unchained, Robert Richardson

Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda

Lincoln, Janusz Kaminski

Skyfall, Roger Deakins

Prediction – Life of Pi

Roger Deakins is long overdue an Oscar, and with Skyfall he did something remarkable with digital cinematography.  But in this extremely technical category, I predict the Academy voters will reward the latest advance in 3D cinematography, Life of Pi.  3D may not be the next big thing in cinema, but it is a major development in cinematography and, like Avatar and Hugo in previous years, I anticipate this award going to the major 3D movie, Life of Pi.

Best Achievement in Editing

Argo, William Goldenberg

Life of Pi, Tim Squyres

Lincoln, Michael Kahn

Silver Linings Playbook, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers

Zero Dark Thirty, William Goldenberg, Dylan Tichenor

Prediction – Argo

It is a common pattern that the winner of Best Picture also wins Achievement in Editing – note all of these nominees are up for Best Picture as well.  Since Argo is the frontrunner to win Best Picture, I predict it will also win Editing.  Furthermore, much of Argo’s tension and humour is generated by its editing, so it is fitting that it should win this award.

Best Achievement in Production Design

Anna Karenina, Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent, Simon Bright

Les Misérables, Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson

Life of Pi, David Gropman, Anna Pinnock

Lincoln, Rick Carter, Jim Erickson

Prediction – Les Misérables

Tough call, as the production design on all of these is impressive.  Period films often pick up this award, so Lincoln, Les Misérables and Anna Karenina are all possibilities.  It is hard to draw a line between visual effects and production design in Life of Pi, so that is less likely.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has a good chance, as the design of Middle Earth is breathtakingly realized.  It could go many ways, but I predict Les Misérables.

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Anna Karenina, Jacqueline Durran

Les Misérables, Paco Delgado

Lincoln, Joanna Johnston

Mirror Mirror: The Untold Adventures of Snow White, Eiko Ishioka

Snow White and the Huntsman, Colleen Atwood

Prediction – Anna Karenina

Another one that often goes to costume dramas, unsurprisingly.  I predict Anna Karenina.

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

Hitchcock, Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Martin Samuel

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Peter King, Rick Findlater, Tami Lane

Les Misérables, Lisa Westcott, Julie Dartnell

Prediction – Les Misérables

Les Misérables pulled off the remarkable feat of making the impossibly gorgeous Anne Hathaway look ugly, so I see it attracting an award here as well.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Anna Karenina, Dario Marianelli

Argo, Alexandre Desplat

Life of Pi, Mychael Danna

Lincoln, John Williams

Skyfall, Thomas Newman

Prediction – Skyfall

I so want Skyfall to win awards that I don’t care what they are.  John Williams’ score for Lincoln is masterful, but I barely remember the music of Argo or Life of Pi.  Thomas Newman has already won a BAFTA, and I predict he will win the Oscar as well.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Chasing Ice, J. Ralph (“Before My Time”)

Les Misérables, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer (“Suddenly”)

Life of Pi, Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayshree (“Pi’s Lullaby”)

Skyfall, Adele, Paul Epworth (“Skyfall”)

Ted, Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane (“Everybody Needs a Best Friend”)

Prediction – “Skyfall”

And Original Song should be a no-brainer – Skyfall again.

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

Argo, John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, José Antonio García

Les Misérables, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes

Life of Pi, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Drew Kunin

Lincoln, Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Ron Judkins

Skyfall, Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Stuart Wilson

Prediction – Les Misérables

At the Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards, Life of Pi picked up sound editing, music in a feature film and sound editing, dialogue and ADR in a feature film.  Its chances of picking up awards on Oscar night are pretty good.  That said, Les Misérables picked up the BAFTA, and pulls off the impressive feat of balancing live-recorded singing with the other parts of the soundtrack.  Could go either way, but on the night I pick Les Miserables.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Argo, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn

Django Unchained, Wylie Stateman

Life of Pi, Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton

Skyfall, Per Hallberg, Karen M. Baker

Zero Dark Thirty, Paul N.J. Ottosson

Prediction – Life of Pi

I pick Life of Pi for this award.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Avengers Assemble, Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Daniel Sudick

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White

Life of Pi, Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik De Boer, Donald Elliott

Prometheus, Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley, Martin Hill

Snow White and the Huntsman, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Phil Brennan, Neil Corbould, Michael Dawson

Prediction – Life of Pi

Life of Pi, easily, because it uses its effects in a rich and immersive manner.  Ang Lee’s film has already won other awards for its effects, and I predict it will continue its winning ways.

Best Documentary, Feature

5 Broken Cameras, Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi

The Gatekeepers, Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky, Estelle Fialon

How to Survive a Plague, David France, Howard Gertler

The Invisible War, Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering

Searching for Sugar Man, Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn

Going out on a limb, because it has won some awards already, Searching for Sugar Man.

Best Documentary, Short Subject

Inocente, Sean Fine, Andrea Nix

Kings Point, Sari Gilman, Jedd Wider

Mondays at Racine, Cynthia Wade, Robin Honan

Open Heart, Kief Davidson, Cori Shepherd Stern

Redemption Jon Alpert, Matthew O’Neill

No idea.

Best Short Film, Animated

Adam and Dog, Minkyu Lee

Fresh Guacamole, PES

Head Over Heels, Timothy Reckart, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly

Paperman, John Kahrs

The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare, David Silverman

I’d be very pleased if The Simpsons picked up an award, so I’ll speculatively predict that it will.

Best Short Film, Live Action

Asad, Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura

Buzkashi Boys, Sam French, Ariel Nasr

Curfew, Shawn Christensen

Death of a Shadow, Tom Van Avermaet, Ellen De Waele

Henry, Yan England

No idea.

If I’m right, Life of Pi and Les Miserables will be the big winners this year, each potentially winning four awards.  If Ang Lee wins Directing, that will put him in the unenviable position of having won Directing twice, but neither time having his film win Best Picture.  Conceivably, upsets could be pulled and Pi might have a big sweep, collecting Adapted Screenplay and Picture as well, or I might be very wrong and Lincoln sweeps the board, collecting Supporting Actor, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Picture.  I think this unlikely, but then again, this is Hollywood, where, as we all know, nobody knows anything.

I look at the world with tired eyes, but my perceptions do not react harshly to outside phenomenon. The world literally moves at a slower pace. This feeling may not be enlightenment at all, but in illness, my actions do not carry with them much desire.

My children may be fighting in the other room, and I walk past them quietly to pour a drink. Stillness keeps me from screaming.

Maybe I am not ill enough. What if my legs were decapitated in an accident? That’s real pain! My guess might be that my brain, when ill, moves into a different mode to protect the body. I keep thinking of the pain Tom Hanks feels in the film Saving Private Ryan. Hanks is near death, and the viewer watches the scene with a gritty realism, a desaturation of color, and at a lower frame rate. Is death a slow movement or a fast ride?

Is enlightenment like a slow ride in the limo or a frenetic fear and panic before it–nirvana–slowly rises upon us? I don’t know.

Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, my vajra master, practices the highest levels of Tibetan Buddhism. From what I can tell, he moves at his own pace. He once said practicing the highest teachings is like being a bird flying over the earth and watching the world’s movements.

My feet are still on the ground, and my illness causes me to feel like a slow turtle stepping quietly across an empty road. Maybe awareness itself is the difference between an illness and enlightenment. My illness reduces my ability to see the depth of nirvana awareness, even though I still don’t react to negative emotions during this current illness phase.

I wonder now what chemicals in the body are released during stages of enlightenment and illness. At some point, the cognitive psychologists will measure these elements, but I, on the other hand, simply have questions.

I know one final outcome of illness and enlightenment: Khenpo Gangshar taught that illness can be one path toward enlightenment. Therefore, my slow turtle feet walk the path. When I arrive, I will let you know, except I have a crazy notion now why turtles need to live so long! Getting there requires continuous movement on the path. Keep walking!

3 January 1999, Southland, Melbourne

Another strip of me and my sister Susan, this time before seeing the movie Saving Private Ryan. Sue was pregnant in this picture. We shall see more of my sister and the manifestation of this state in a future post.

This strip is part of the series Photobooth 41 Year Project. You can see all the posts that document the series by clicking here.

Even though there’s a certain level of grace we should give the academy, I’m going to go ahead and state that they really messed up by not – at least – nominating The Dark Knight Rises. I understand that filmmakers created some of the best films our cinemas have seen in recent years, but come on.

Just like everyone knows that Saving Private Ryan should have won Best Picture over Romeo In Love (some of you didn’t even realize that’s the incorrect title, which proves my point), everyone also knows that The Dark Knight should have been nominated in 2008. It would have been considerate of the Academy to at least admit their obvious error, by nominating TDKR.

I know the TDKR has received its fair share of criticism. Many people have pointed to the obvious plot-holes in the film and other minor issues with the story, but that is EXACTLY why TDKR should have been nominated. That is, it actually had a story to critique! When was the last time a comic-book adaptation had a decent story? You never hear people picking apart The Avengers or The Amazing Spider-man, but they’ve elevated their expectations of TDKR because it’s a higher caliber film.

You see, the Academy failed to nominate this film, because they honestly didn’t know what to do with a comic-book-action film that was actually just as good, or better, than many of the other dramas released. The Academy had never seen a superhero portrayed in this way and it caught them off guard. They were ready to admit that it was a good action film, but they were completely blind to the fact that these films have forever changed actions films.

They would also be hard-pressed to name a trilogy that has been complete as this one. My friend James Harleman states, if you didn’t like The Dark Knight Rises, you didn’t like The Dark Knight. These three films possess some of the most consistent, tightly woven story-lines to ever grace the silver screen. And what recognition does Christopher Nolan get? Nothing. What about the fact that Christian Bale actually portrays three characters in every film, any notoriety? Nope. What about the fact that almost every comic-book action film has used the Batman trilogy as a template for super hero movies, does that account for anything? Guess not.

It’s hard to measure the difference these films have already made and will continue to make, but the fact that they have changed filmmaking is worth far more than a golden statue.

What does this have to do with theology? Everything. Anytime someone makes a unique piece of art, and a timeless piece at that, it is something we should take notice of and appreciate. Christopher Nolan obviously has a gift and used many gifted actors and filmmakers to hone his story, but that’s what we should applaud. Any gift we have is a grace. There is a Giver who bestows the gift and the lengths at which we strive to sharpen those gifts, gives glory to the Giver. We don’t need an Academy to tell us that.

The Academy Awards and I have a contentious relationship.  By “contentious” I mean that I have-without exaggeration-stood outside the Kodak Theater.  Walked up to the second floor, where the entrance to the auditorium in which the awards are held and pointed backwards at the cascading glass wall of the names of past best pictures and screamed, “CRASH???  THE ENGLISH PATIENT???  SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE???  MILLION DOLLAR BABY???? WTF, OSCARS!?!”  It is at this point that the security at Hollywood & Highland usually starts edging toward me so I pretend to have Tourette’s and wander off, but for some reason this show just makes me insane….er.  By the way in those respective years it should have been: The Incredibles, Jerry Maguire, Saving Private Ryan, and 25 other films before Million Dollar Baby. 

Breathe.  Breathe.

Sorry, there’s going to be more on this as we draw closer to whatever fresh hell the show will put my nervous system through as Seth MacFarlane captains this year’s disaster.  Does anyone think that’s going to go well?  Has anyone in the Academy seen Family Guy?  I think it’ll be worth watching purely for the inevitability of Clint Eastwood slowly getting up out of his chair (the one next to him will be empty of course), walking up on stage, and beating MacFarlane to death with cold precision.  Ok, yes, actual suggestions.

1. ADD AN ENSEMBLE AWARD.  This is just a no-brainer.  There’s no award for casting, which is itself ridiculous, but in this day of movies with giant talented ensemble casts, why not add this to recognize movies with such depth to the cast that no one ends up getting singled out.  The SAG Awards do it.  It’s good TV too to have the whole cast up there all bouncy and such.

2. NO. MORE. BEST. SONGS.  Adele had damn well better win for Skyfall this year, but after that, can this category.  It’s embarrassing most years.  The rules for it are insane.  No song that plays purely over the closing credits can be nominated.  Wuh uh?  How many songs are actually IN non-musical movies?  Most of those don’t count because they’re from musicals adapted to the screen and if they’re from pre-existing material, they don’t count either.  It needs to go and it will cut 20 minutes of painful musical numbers from the broadcast.

3. MONTAGE CAP AT THREE.  You get three.  Three montages.  Yes, that includes the death parade.  So two, really.  Choose your montage well.  Everyone loves a montage or two.  No one wants 12.

4. MAKE THE TECHNICAL AWARDS GO BACK TO 5 NOMINEES.  Or did you all feel good about the Oscar-winning film, The Wolfman?  No?  Five nominees.  And unless you can explain to me in one sentence the comprehensive difference between the two sound awards, cut one and add an award for casting or stunt work. 

5. NO LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT/SPECIAL/HONORARY AWARDS.  Exile them to the Scientific and Technical Awards.  I don’t care how talented the person is, I don’t want 30 minutes of the show devoted to tearful applause and awkward speechifying.  That’s what the other 3.5 hours are already allotted for.

I have more suggestions.  These were the polite ones.  Will any ever be implemented?  These are the same people who erased the memory of Rob Lowe and Snow White by having Anne Hathaway and James Franco host in polar opposite states of drug affectation, so probably not.  But if they do, you now know whom to thank.

How bad do you want to see Eastwood do that?

Nominated for the Palme d’Or and winner for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998, this film follows not necessarily the rise (some, but not all of it), but certainly the fall of Cahill highlighting his greatest criminal achievements and his single biggest mistake. In a country well-known for its many characters, Cahill ranks up there. A Robin Hood of sorts, Cahill was notorious for many reasons – he fought the Dublin Corporation for tearing down his home in the slum Hollyfield section of Dublin and won giving his family a better place to live than where he was to be relocated, he engineered the largest heist in Irish history at the time, he and his crew robbed Russborough House of its most prized paintings including those by Rubens, Goya and Vermeer‘s Lady writing a Letter with her Maid. He took care of his own and didn’t give a damn about anyone else. And when someone like this exists they make enemies in many arenas and usually meet an untimely end. After making a deal to sell the above mentioned paintings to the pro-England paramilitary the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) who in turn sold the paintings to buy guns to fight the Irish Republican Army (IRA), his death sentence was put into motion and on August 18, 1994, an IRA gunman shot and killed him.

The real General – Martin Cahill

And that’s the scene that opens the film. Shot in exquisite black and white (or you can watch in desaturated color on the DVD) by Seamus Deasy, the film captures the bleakness of Cahill’s story punctuated by the opening scene. The slums of Hollyfield are all the more desolate, the violent acts perpetrated by Cahill and his crew and against them are surprisingly more visceral, and the unconventionality of Cahill’s family situation – he was married to Frances (played by the gorgeous Maria Doyle Kennedy) but also carried on an amorous relationship with her sister Tina (Angeline Ball) – all the more crisp.

Brendan Gleeson as The General – your man’s a fuckin’ dead ringer, no?

Boorman does such a wonderful a job of painting a full portrait of Cahill, detailing his entry into crime from an early age as well as his love for his future wife Frances. By showing us his evolution as criminal, his fight against authority and his struggle to protect and provide for his family and those loyal to him, we as viewers become quite attached to Cahill, going so far as to root for him to survive and succeed. However, Boorman has to remind us that Cahill, despite his likeability, is a ruthless criminal and will do what it takes to protect himself at all costs. Take into account the scene in which he disciplines Jimmy (Eanna MacLiam) for supposedly skimming from the pool of stolen gold he was driving to a fence in England. Shortly after handing out groceries and other necessities to local people in need, Robin Hood-esque Cahill literally puts the hammer down on Jimmy as he nails his hand to a billiards table, a brutal reminder that even though Martin takes care of his own, he also holds nothing back should they cross him.  

Martin with the loves of his life – Frances (Maria Doyle Kennedy, left) and Tina (Angeline Ball, right)

Martin’s relationship with the police plays a large role in the film, particularly with Inspector Ned Kenny (played by Jon Voight, who starred in Boorman‘s Deliverance). A composite of several gardaí members who surveilled and pursued Cahill, Kenny is constantly moved to cover the areas where Cahill lives and plies his trade. It is an interesting game of cat and mouse between the two, Cahill usually getting the better of Kenny. Despite their roles, you can see that Kenny has genuine respect for Martin, whom he wishes would turn straight to avoid ending up in prison for life or worse yet falling to a bullet. Kenny warns Martin after he hears of his possible involvement with the UVF that he has signed his own death warrant, but of course Martin won’t hear of it, convinced he can outsmart the IRA.

Listen to me Martin…you’re in a deep, deep hole. Ned Kenny (Jon Voight) tries to talk sense into Cahill.

As his crew succumb to drugs, the overwhelming pressure that the media spotlight on Martin brings them because of their association with him or other personal missteps, the walls close in on Martin. Sick with diabetes and his family the only thing to insulate him from the dangers of his world, Martin is vulnerable for the first time since he was a boy. And it cost him his life.  With accusations of collaboration with gardaí, the IRA got to Martin and took his life, ending his reign as The General.

Perhaps the biggest triumph of this film is the casting of Brendan Gleeson in the lead role as Cahill. He is on the top of his game and you can see him totally inhabit this character. And damn if he doesn’t look just like the real Cahill. It’s a shame that he is more well known for his role as Mad Eye Moody in the Harry Potter films than for his roles in this or In Bruges (in which is he is unbelievably good as well). This film is nowhere near as successful without him playing Cahill.

This is my favorite film of 1998, beating out Malick‘s The Thin Red Line by a nose and is far superior to the bulk of the films that were feted that year, among them the awful Shakespeare in Love and Saving Private Ryan (which is about 30 minutes of good and 140 minutes of terrible). It spectacularly covers the antics for which Cahill was so well-known even if it, like most biopics, takes some license. If you want to see a short interview with Cahill to get an idea of what he was like, here it is:

This film is streamable on Netflix should you have access to it, although it is some color-enhanced abomination, not the original black and white film.

Here’s the trailer:

THE REAL STORY: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

Steven Spielberg‘s “Saving Private Ryan” is one of the greatest war films ever made, capturing the sheer horror and brutality of combat. The film is famous for its realism, but how much of this epic drama is truly accurate? Was there a real Private Ryan? Uncover the real story behind this Hollywood blockbuster as we conduct tests with weapons experts and gain insights from war historians. Then hear the moving testimony of soldiers who landed at Normandy and meet the families whose tragic stories inspired the film.

<< BACK TO SERIES HOME

1: The Matrix

As with all films on this list I could watch them again and again. I must have watched The Matrix hundreds of times but no matter how many times I watch it, I always learn more and more bits of the story. It’s so complex and mind boggling that it took me at least twice watching to to slightly get what was going on. It’s a film like no other..

2: Full Metal Jacket

I absolutely love war films and ever since I stayed up in the early hours of the morning one night as a little kid and watched this film, I always wanted to know the name of it, for months I never knew what film it was, but when I did I couldn’t stop watching it. The feel the film gives is amazing and is unlike anything today.

3: A Beautiful Mind

This is a very deep and tragic film, it’s not one which I have watched alot, I have probably only watched it three or four times, I have to be in a particular type of mood, its a very inspiring film that definitely has its place within my top five.

4: Road to Perdition

Many people say that Scarface or Godfather is there favourite gangster film. I can honestly say that this is mine, especially as Tom Hanks stars in it. As the film progresses it’s as if you are with them along their journey, this is another deep film and definitely one which I can watch again and again.

5: Kontroll

This is a little known Hungarian film and I have placed it within my list because of how artistic and different it is. It has quite an unusual story and has extremely quirky characters, as well as an amazing soundtrack. This is another film I often recommend if you don’t mind reading subtitles.

And there you have it, my (sort of) top five list!

Thanks for reading!

Good things to read.

In 2006 Bush entered a reading competition with adviser Karl Rove and although Rove read more in that year – 110 to Bush’s 95 – he claims the former president “lamely insisted he’d lost because he’d been busy as Leader of the Free World.”  What was on that list?  Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, Swanson’s Manhunt, Philbrick’s Mayflower, Crichton’s Next, and Campus’s The Stranger.

Good things to watch.

Virgin Media reported that the former president enjoyed both Black Hawk Down and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.  Roger Ebert said that Bush’s favorite movie was Field of Dreams but IMDB.com lists it as Saving Private Ryan.

Good things to use.

The former president has been “living as invisibly as possible” according to a recent New York Magazine story, “working diligently on his golf game at the Brook Hollow Golf Club in Dallas, showing up at a Rangers baseball game, or being spotted eating a steak in one of his favorite restaurants. While the rest of the world judges his years in office, he’s taken up painting, making portraits of dogs and arid Texas landscapes. “I find it stunning that he has the patience to sit and take instruction and paint,” says a former aide.”  How does it look, take a look.

This would not have been possible without the urgings from my boyfriend to watch them, because according to him, “Who hasn’t watched Star Wars?!”

Yes, yes, I grew up in a family that didn’t really place movie-watching as a must-do thing in our daily lives. Growing up, I also didn’t watch very many movies, or TV for that matter…. Well, besides the stereotypical ones like all the Disney movies, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Power Rangers, Batman, Digimon, and even Monster Rancher. Maybe I just liked Cartoons.

Anyhow I compiled a list of movies I’ve never seen (but should’ve) from 1980s onward, and I’m writing it here for my own safe keeping. My goal for this year is to finish this list! And maybe even add more once people suggest more too!

Star Wars!

Here is my bucket list for 2013 must-see movies:

• Indiana Jones
• The Godfather
• Back to the Future
• Gremlins
• Superman
• James Bond
• Conan the Barbarian
• Shawshank Redemption
• Fight Club
• Forrest Gump
• Schindler’s List
• Hannibal Lecter
• Silence of the Lambs
• Rocky
• Saving Private Ryan
• Alien
• Goodfellas
• Green Mile
• Jaws
• Terminator
• V for Vendetta
• Tremors
• Groundhog Day

It’s a huge list. Let me know if you have any other suggestions!

Cinematography

• Anna Karenina (Seamus McGarvey)
• Django Unchained (Robert Richardson)
• Life of Pi (Claudio Miranda)
• Lincoln (Janusz Kaminski)
• Skyfall (Roger Deakins)

While all of these people have been nominated before, Richardson (3 times) and Kaminski (2 times) are the only previous winners.  While I thought Django, Lincoln and Skyfall were all very well shot, my gut is telling me Life of Pi.  While I haven’t seen it yet, the commercials have given me an Avatar visual vibe, and cinematography was one of the three Oscars that movie won.  Odds are, it’ll happen here again.  My second choice is Lincoln, because Kaminski’s two previous wins were also Spielberg movies (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List) while Richardson failed to win in his last Tarantino collaboration (Inglourious Basterds).

Costume Design

• Anna Karenina (Jacqueline Durran)
• Les Miserables (Paco Delgado)
• Lincoln (Joanna Johnston)
• Mirror Mirror (Eiko Ishioka)
• Snow White and the Huntsman (Colleen Atwood)

Atwood is a three time winner of this award, but I’m inclined to select Durran in this category.  Period pieces always seem to take this award home, and while I’ll be rooting for Les Miserables or Lincoln to win this one, they have bigger fish to fry, so I’m predicting the Academy tosses a bone to Durran instead of first time nominees Delgado or Johnston.

Documentary Feature Film

• 5 Broken Cameras (Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi)
• The Gatekeepers (Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky and Estelle Fialon)
• How to Survive a Plague (David France and Howard Gertler)
• The Invisible War (Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering)
• Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn)

I haven’t seen any of these, so I made an educated guess based on the synopses for each film, and the fact that Chinn previously won for Man on Wire which is an outstanding documentary.  These all sound good and interesting, but I’m taking a shot in the dark and I know it.  The Invisible War was narrowly my second choice above How to Survive a Plague.

Documentary Short

• Inocente (Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine)
• Kings Point (Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider)
• Mondays at Racine (Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan)
• Open Heart (Kief Davidson and Cori Sheperd Stern)
• Redemption (Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill)

Again, I haven’t seen any of the nominees, but this short seems right up the Academy’s alley.  Could be totally off base, however.

Film Editing

• Argo (William Goldenberg)
• Life of Pi (Tim Squyres)
• Lincoln (Michael Kahn)
• Silver Linings Playbook (Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers)
• Zero Dark Thirty (Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg)

While Michael Kahn has three Oscars in this category, and all of them came from collaborations with Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, Raiders of the Lost Ark), I think this award is Argo’s to lose.  The tension is built throughout the film, and the climax is just so well edited, that even if you feel you know how it’s going to end, your heart will be pounding.  That scene in particular is why I’m thinking it will win this award.

Foreign Language Film

• Amour (Austria)
• Kon-Tiki (Norway)
• No (Chile)
• A Royal Affair (Denmark)
• War Witch (Canada)

This seems like a no-brainer considering Amour is nominated for Best Picture.  I haven’t seen any of these, but if anything beats Amour, it would be pretty surprising.

Makeup and Hairstyling

• Hitchcock (Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel)
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane)
• Les Miserables (Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell)

King previously won this award for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, so it stands to reason that The Hobbit will take this award this year.  While many were disappointed with the return to Middle Earth, the makeup was very well done once again.  If The Hobbit doesn’t win, expect Les Miserables to snag this award.

Production Design

• Anna Karenina (Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer)
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent and Simon Bright)
• Les Miserables (Eve Stewart and Anne Lynch-Robinson)
• Life of Pi (David Gropman and Anna Pinnock)
• Lincoln (Rick Carter and Jim Erickson)

This appears to be a two-horse race between Anna Karenina and Lincoln, but I’m giving the nod to Lincoln.  I could be off base, but if Lincoln expects to win Best Picture, it needs to win a few of these types of awards.  Keep an eye out on this category, if Lincoln goes home empty handed, it could be an indication of how the end of the night will go.

Short Film (Animated)

• Adam and Dog (Minkyu Lee)
• Fresh Guacamole (PES)
• Head over Heels (Timothy Reckhart and Fodhia Cronin O’Reilly)
• Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare” (David Silverman)
• Paperman (John Kahrs)

Paperman seems to be the runaway favorite in this category, but any of these could take the award home come Oscar night.  However, the smart money seems to be on this one.  I would be surprised if this doesn’t earn a golden statuette.

Short Film (Live Action)

• Asad (Bryan Buckley and Miro Jarjoura)
• Buzkashi Boys (Sam French and Ariel Nasr)
• Curfew (Shawn Christensen)
• Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw) (Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele)
• Henry (Yan England)

Haven’t seen any of these yet (a familiar trend in some categories), but based on the descriptions and the lack of previous winners, my money would be on Curfew.  Just an educated guess, however.

Sound Editing

• Argo (Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn)
• Django Unchained (Wylie Stateman)
• Life of Pi (Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton)
• Skyfall (Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers)
• Zero Dark Thirty (Paul N.J. Ottosson)

I think Zero Dark Thirty will take this one.  I felt this was well done in the movie, but we’ll see if that opinion is right.  Not much else to say about this.

Sound Mixing

• Argo (John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia)
• Les Miserables (Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes)
• Life of Pi (Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin)
• Lincoln (Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins)
• Skyfall (Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson)

While all the nominated teams feature previous winners, I would be surprised if Les Miserables doesn’t win this award considering it’s a musical.  That element aside, I feel that it was mixed very well and should be the frontrunner for this award.  Again, this is an award to keep your eyes on, because the winner here could possibly be an indication for Best Picture.

Visual Effects

• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White)
• Life of Pi (Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott)
• Marvel’s The Avengers (Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick)
• Prometheus (Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill)
• Snow White and the Huntsman (Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson)

While I will be rooting for The Avengers to take this prize, considering it’s the only nomination that it earned, I can’t see anything except Life of Pi winning this award considering that was what it was mainly praised for.  The Hobbit’s special effects team has been rewarded several times, and while the effects were more ambitious in this film than in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I still think that Life of Pi will take it.  However, I can’t give enough praise to The Hobbit and The Avengers, because Gollum and the Hulk were almost good enough to win this award even without the other effects.

Tune in for the rest of the predictions soon.

Hope you liked this post, and I hope you like what else I have to say.

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Not because of the actual game.  On Saturday night I had to ask Joey who was even playing.  But more because of the commercials and the food and the beer and the Beyonce.

But the whole weekend in general was pretty good.  There was a lot of party prep going on, which I was totally okay with.  Except the part where I spent a couple hours in the kitchen, making Jell-O shots and chili and washing dishes and my back felt like it was going to break.  I will never be a professional chef.

I was in a spring cleaning mood on Saturday.  Wait, it isn’t spring yet?

For years, a giant pile of torn out Cooking Light recipes has been floating about at my parents’ place and on Saturday morning, I sipped a cup of hot tea, watched a new episode of the Pioneer Woman and ripped out all the bookmarked CL recipes I had.  I am my mother.

I also cleaned out and shined up all my jewelry.  So exciting!

What I don’t have pictures of, but did occur, was some beautiful Colorado weather and an outdoor run.  I basically thought I was going to die as I ran up the final hill back to my apartment but I was proud of myself when it was all said and done.

This weird snack plate made it into my mouth at some point, between cutting onions for chili and mixing gelatin with condensed milk for Jell-O shots.  And I coerced Joey and my family to go out for burgers on Saturday night.  Weird how Larkburger happened to be right next to Smart Cow.

Oh.  And I finally watched Saving Private Ryan.  I thought it was really good but it was definitely one of those highly-acclaimed award-winning movies that you see once and then never really need to see again.  Those just aren’t the kinds of movies I like to re-watch.

As for the game.

We had lots of chili.

And lots of Jell-O.  I think we still ran out before half time.

And our chili bar rocked.  Frito pies, chili mac, chili dogs, chili cheese fries, nachos and toppings galore.  I think Jenn and I were the only ones to eat my veggie chili and I don’t even care because that just means I get all the leftovers.  Also, I accepted a million compliments on the chili Joey actually made.  Whatever.

And guys!  Beyonce?!  Come. On.  I don’t even know what to say except…FIERCE!  If you ask me, she was the clear winner of the game.

So what I’m really trying to say is, I had a good Super Bowl weekend and I hope you did too!

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What did you do for the Super Bowl?

What was the non-football-related highlight of your weekend?

Best Super Bowl commercial??  As usual, it’s too loud and I’m too distracted to fully pay attention to any of them, so I have to go back later and re-watch them all.