As is my yearly tradition, I will be live blogging the Oscars tomorrow night, starting at 8:30 Eastern. Be here, because otherwise you risk not being here.
PAD
As is my yearly tradition, I will be live blogging the Oscars tomorrow night, starting at 8:30 Eastern. Be here, because otherwise you risk not being here.
PAD
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*Drops a pin and then remembers there’s no floor because this is Cyberspace.* D’oh !
Sadly, the only thing I’m really interested in about the Oscars this year is the Billy Crystal opening.
Wait so the Oscars are the same date as the NBA All Star weekend? Who the hëll are the marketing geniuses who came up with that idea? I mean granted its not the same target demographic but still…
Well at least it’s an excuse to not having to watch all these celebs blowing themselves. Except Robert Downey, hes cool in my book.
Of course the NBA All-Star game is an offense to the name of basketball so I don’t see how it is anymore worthy of respect than the Oscars?
After all, it’s not a REAL basketball game since no one bothers to play defense.
I like how you make a smartass comment about no1 playing defense, considering Dwayne Wade quite literally broke Kobe’s nose clothslining him from a drive to the basket and how it looks very possibly as if Kobe might have a concussion.
Try again.
Wait so the Oscars are the same date as the NBA All Star weekend? Who the hëll are the marketing geniuses who came up with that idea? I mean granted its not the same target demographic but still…
Well at least it’s an excuse to not having to watch all these celebs blowing themselves. Except Robert Downey, hes cool in my book.
Personally, I’m more interested if the movie JACK AND JILL will sweep the Razzies this year. (I also noticed Adam Sandler didn’t discuss it at all when he was on THE DAILY SHOW, but what could he really say about it? “Yeah, it’s me in drag and a lot of jokes about how ugly and strong I am as a woman. It took five minutes to write and will probably make more money than all the Best Picture nominees combined. So anyway…”)
This is off topic. But back in the day Spiderman 2099 was one of the first comics I ever bought and it was the only one I HAD to get every month. I was wondering if there was any way I could send you some of them to sign for my kids & myself. Thanks.
In my 20s and 30s I treated the Oscars like a true event. I would go out of my way to see the nominated films before the broadcast, I would even take a vacation day from work if I was working during the telecast. Nowadays, in my 40s, life gets in the way, and I am completely out of the loop.
But I’ll still make a point of watching the Oscars and following Peter’s live blog. And I’ll probably be like most folks and bìŧçh about it. (too long! pointless musical numbers!)
Can’t wait!
I just got back from seeing “The Artist” for the second time. I was the only one in the theater.
When they announced, two years ago, that they would have 10 Best Picture nominees so they could have movies that did well at the box office as well as art house movies, I thought to myself “No, they’ll just find 10 art house movies.” That’s pretty much what happened this year, even if there are only nine nominees this year.
I have seen all of the Best Picture nominees. (Wasn’t medicated enough to enjoy “The Tree of Life.”) Only saw about three nominees for each acting category. (The weekend I planned to see both “Albert Nobbs” and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” both of them were no longer playing locally.)
And, last weekend, a local library branch ran all of the animated and live-action short subjects (not counting the documentaries), so I know what to actually root for this year. (Sadly, the viewings were ruined by a woman who had to keep her cell phone on and then talk as she SLOWLY left the theater to finish the conversation. I don’t THINK they’ve found the body yet.)
Finally, yesterday, I got the new “Entertainment Weekly,” which had an interview with Billy Crystal about hosting the Oscars. (“Ninety minutes into it, you’ve got a lot of people who’ve lost, so it gets grim,” or something like that.)
Anyway, I’m as ready as I can be right now. And I’m participating in the usual local newspaper Oscar contest.
I’ve only seen one Best Picture Nominee. That was The Help. Of the other nominees, I might see The Descendants.
Best Actor – Probably just The Descendants with George Clooney and Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Best Actress – Saw Viola Davis in The Help and want to see Rooney Mara in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Supporting actor – Saw Nick Nolte in Warrior and though I probably won’t see Beginners, I’d love to see Christopher Plummer win.
Supporting actress – Saw Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain in The Help but no interest in the other movies.
“I thought to myself “No, they’ll just find 10 art house movies.” That’s pretty much what happened this year, even if there are only nine nominees this year.”
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I wouldn’t say that. Really, only The Artist and The Tree of Life can be considered arthouse movies. Other than those two, it’s actually a pretty mainstream group of films. There’s nothing arthouse about Moneyball or The Help or Extremely Lame and Incredibly Cloying.
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I’ve only seen eight of the BP nominees. I tried to rent The Help, but it’s been at the top of my Netflix queue with a “Very Long Wait” label ever since the nominations were announced. And I haven’t seen any of the Best Actress nominees. Somehow they managed to nominate five films that I had zero interest in seeing.
Hmm, can’t seem to shake the period habit.
My wife has the same complaint, Robert.
For what it’s worth, here’s who I think is probably going to win. (That is, who I picked for the local Oscar contest.)
Best Picture: The Artist (One strange point: When I saw it again today, previews before the movie included “Mirror, Mirror” and “The Three Stooges.” Don’t know how much those will appeal to the audience for “The Artist.”)
Best Actor: Jean DuJardin. Yeah, it’s possible George Clooney will take it. But I think DuJardin will win and Clooney will settle for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Best Actress: Viola Davis. I liked Meryl Streep, and think she’ll join the Three-Oscar Acting Club someday (previous members include Walter Brennan, Ingrid Bergman, Jack Nicholson and Katherine Hepburn, who went on to win a fourth). But “The Iron Lady” didn’t impress that many critics. Neither did “The Last King of Scotland,” but Forrest Whittaker went on to win as Idi Amin — who some people might compare to Margaret Thatcher.
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer. I did rent and watch “Beginners” last week, and thought it was okay. His only competition seems to be Max Von Sydow for “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” but it seems to be Plummer’s to lose.
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer. I would’ve liked to see Melissa McCarthy win an Oscar to go with her Emmy of a few months ago. But I think comedy’s going to lose to drama, not for the first time.
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Ides of March. As I said, this will be Clooney’s win.
Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris. Don’t expect the winner to show up to collect it.
Best Director: Michael Hazanvicius. Because Best Picture and Director usually go together.
Best Animated Feature: Rango. To be honest, however, I have seen neither “A Cat in Paris” nor “Chico & Rita.”
Best Original Song: “Man or Muppet.” There’s only two nominees this year, but, dammit, it’s time a Muppet song won an Oscar! (“Rainbow Connection” lost to “It Goes As It Goes?” PUH-lease!)
That’s what I picked. The prize is $100 gift certificate (to what, I don’t know), a year’s subscription (in my case, an extension) to “Entertainment Weekly,” and something else. Wish me luck.