Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Oscar thoughts...

Ok, I just saw The Departed and LOVED IT. Dustin and I went to see it and Volver on Sunday. Volver--I enjoyed the story and although I appreciate Penny's acting, I don't understand the nomination. In fact, there are a few nominations this year I don't get. Eddie Murphy for best supporting for Dreamgirls?? What? He's playing Donkey (Shrek) and his SNL James Brown. I didn't see anything special. Also for supporting, Mark Wahlberg? Go see The Departed and see if you think he deserves it? He's barely in it (not that that matters), but he was nothing comparedto Leo or Matt. Ridiculous. Let's go one by one.

You can follow along on the ballot: http://a.oscar.abc.com/media/2007/images/nominees/printballot_2007_2.pdf

Lead Actor- most likely it'll be Forest Whitaker. I have yet to see his movie.
Supporting Actor- Will they pick Eddie?? I want Djimon (Blood Diamond) or Jackie Early- Little Children (been hearing great things.)
Lead Actress- Helen Mirren is my guess. Judy Dench was equally as powerful though.
Supporting Actress- Jen Hudson (great job!! the only reason to see Dreamgirls.)Although I enjoyed both ladies from Babel.
Cinematography- Hmmm. Either Children of Men or Pan's Labyrinth are who I'd like to see win.
Costume Design- Dreamgirls...though Marie Antoinette caught my eye.
Directing- Hands down THE DEPARTED!!! Go Martin!
Doc Feature- I'd love it if An Inconvenient Truth won. We'll see.
Adapted Screenplay- The Departed
Original Screeplay- Little Miss Sunshine
Best Picture
- I'd be happy any of these really. The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine are my soft spots though. (Who knows, Babel could take it!)
Foreign Language Film- Pan's Labyrinth (this is a beautifull (yet horrific) film, go see it.)

I can't say enough about The Departed. I had a blast watching it! It's my personal best picture. Although I loved Miss Sunshine, it didn't have the same effect on me. I am very excited to see Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson and Forest in Last King. I might have to update this!

I'm getting my hip replaced during the Oscars--Feb. 25th! Can't believe it. So, I'll be cheering on an IV. Hey, at least I won't have to get up to go to the bathroom. hehehe.

More to come! (I plan on seeing some movies in the coming weeks)

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Oscar Noms!--my thoughts to follow.

1. Best Picture: “Babel,” “The Departed,” “Letters From Iwo Jima,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “The Queen.”
2. Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, “Blood Diamond”; Ryan Gosling, “Half Nelson”; Peter O’Toole, “Venus”; Will Smith, “The Pursuit of Happyness”; Forest Whitaker, “The Last King of Scotland.”
3. Actress: Penelope Cruz, “Volver”; Judi Dench, “Notes on a Scandal”; Helen Mirren, “The Queen”; Meryl Streep, “The Devil Wears Prada”; Kate Winslet, “Little Children.”
4. Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin, “Little Miss Sunshine”; Jackie Earle Haley, “Little Children”; Djimon Hounsou, “Blood Diamond”; Eddie Murphy, “Dreamgirls”; Mark Wahlberg, “The Departed.”
5. Supporting Actress: Adriana Barraza, “Babel”; Cate Blanchett, “Notes on a Scandal”; Abigail Breslin, “Little Miss Sunshine”; Jennifer Hudson, “Dreamgirls”; Rinko Kikuchi, “Babel.”
6. Directing: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Babel”; Martin Scorsese, “The Departed”; Clint Eastwood,H “Letters From Iwo Jima”; Stephen Frears, “The Queen”; Paul Greengrass, “United 93.”
7. Foreign Language Film: “After the Wedding,” Denmark; “Days of Glory (Indigenes),” Algeria; “The Lives of Others,” Germany; “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Mexico; “Water,” Canada.
8. Adapted Screenplay: Sacha Baron Cohen and Anthony Hines and Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips, “Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”; Alfonso Cuaron and Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, “Children of Men”; William Monahan, “The Departed”; Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, “Little Children”; Patrick Marber, “Notes on a Scandal.”
9. Original Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga, “Babel”; Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis, “Letters From Iwo Jima”; Michael Arndt, “Little Miss Sunshine”; Guillermo del Toro, “Pan’s Labyrinth”; Peter Morgan, “The Queen.”
10. Animated Feature Film: “Cars,” “Happy Feet,” “Monster House.”
11. Art Direction: “Dreamgirls,” “The Good Shepherd,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “The Prestige.”
12. Cinematography: “The Black Dahlia,” “Children of Men,” “The Illusionist,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Prestige.”
13. Sound Mixing: “Apocalypto,” “Blood Diamond,” “Dreamgirls,” “Flags of Our Fathers,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.”
14. Sound Editing: “Apocalypto,” “Blood Diamond,” “Flags of Our Fathers,” “Letters From Iwo Jima,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.”
15. Original Score: “Babel,” Gustavo Santaolalla; “The Good German,” Thomas Newman; “Notes on a Scandal,” Philip Glass; “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Javier Navarrete; “The Queen,” Alexandre Desplat.
16. Original Song: “I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth,” Melissa Etheridge; “Listen” from “Dreamgirls,” Henry Krieger, Scott Cutler and Anne Preven; “Love You I Do” from “Dreamgirls,” Henry Krieger and Siedah Garrett; “Our Town” from “Cars,” Randy Newman; “Patience” from “Dreamgirls,” Henry Krieger and Willie Reale.
17. Costume: “Curse of the Golden Flower,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Dreamgirls,” “Marie Antoinette,” “The Queen.”
18. Documentary Feature: “Deliver Us From Evil,” “An Inconvenient Truth,” “Iraq in Fragments,” “Jesus Camp,” “My Country, My Country.”
19. Documentary (short subject): “The Blood of Yingzhou District,” “Recycled Life,” “Rehearsing a Dream,” “Two Hands.”
20. Film Editing: “Babel,” “Blood Diamond,” “Children of Men,” “The Departed,” “United 93.”
21. Makeup: “Apocalypto,” “Click,” “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
22. Animated Short Film: “The Danish Poet,” “Lifted,” “The Little Matchgirl,” “Maestro,” “No Time for Nuts.”
23. Live Action Short Film: “Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea),” “Eramos Pocos (One Too Many),” “Helmer & Son,” “The Saviour,” “West Bank Story.”
24. Visual Effects: “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “Poseidon,” “Superman Returns.”
Academy Award winners previously announced this year:
HONORARY AWARD (Oscar statuette): Ennio Morricone
JEAN HERSHOLT HUMANITARIAN AWARD (Oscar statuette): Sherry Lansing

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

time for change

Over Christmas break (I still think of things in semesters), I saw an old friend from High School. His name is Jeremy and he sent me his blog today. He lives in New York and it's been so fun to read about his life and times. Go read his blog...it's great.

urbanjayhawk.com

He's inspired me to do more with my blog. I think I'm making it too complicated and it's really not too fun to read if you happen to stumble upon it. A lot of inside stories and meanings. It might be good to start out my second year of blogging by starting a new chapter. This is going to be a great year and it'd be nice if I had record of it.

It's FREEZING today in Chicago. Can I say I'm from Chicago if I live and work in the burbs? Some might say that's cheating. However, my life in times in Schaumburg isn't much of a draw. I'm headed into the city on Friday with Dustin to see Wicked. I'm so excited! I've wanted to see if for such a long time and he's taking me for my Christmas present. We saw Barbara Streisand together...he's my theatre friend. It's always nice to get dressed up and feel pretty. My day to day work attire gets so tiresome and leaves me feeling very unsexy. Dustin is always good at making our outings into dates and spoiling me. We've had so many adventures together...from Vegas to New York City...our relationship is actually pretty romantic! : ) I love that we've been to Central Park...rowing around in our little boat and walking the streets of Greenwich Village day dreaming that we'd live there someday together. For right now, we both live here. He needs to get a boyfriend in New York!

This week is just another week of pain for me I'm afraid. I'm so frustrated by my hip and my inablility to do daily tasks. Walking to the printer and getting a copy is on my nerves. My surgery is soon...I can't wait. The thought of doing about anything is hard for me. I'm not someone who suffers in silence. When I'm in pain, everyone knows. I don't like that about myself...but I'm not making big strides to change either. I'm sure my blogs will get a bit boring during my month at home...maybe I should do movie reviews during that time.

Im moving desks at work...near the BIG windows that look over the forest preserve. I'm excited about it actually. I love looking out the window and day dreaming. I used to go there for lunch sometimes. I love trees and forests. I'm afraid it will just keep the odd thoughts that trickle into my brain at a steady flow. I'm sure my co workers think I'm on drugs...I made a silly comment on how much I miss my neices and nephew and how I'd love it if they were Littles (like the cartoon) and could play around on my desk while I'm here. I guess that is a bit strange, but I think it's fun to think about.

Tonight is suppose to be date night. It's been a bit difficult to keep it going while Jason is so hard at work. It brought it up though...so we'll just have to see. I think we're going to see Babel. If we do, I'll review it. We saw Notes on a Scandal and Pan's Labyrinth over the weekend. I enjoyed them both...but they were each very disturbing in their own way. Jason wasn't thrilled about having Judy Dench's face in almost every frame of Notes...I think he would've rather had Cate's. Go see them though. They're worth seeing.

More to come.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Is this familiar?

You know who I'm writing to...is this crazy or what? You could've written this over and over the last 5 year of your marriage. Thank God you're out of it.

"Used To You"

I'm still here because
I've got nothing else to do
you're an asshole
but I'm getting used to you
I like the fact that
you talk incessantly
I got a thing for assholes
who tell good stories

I think that drinking
is the only thing that you do right
you're gonna self-destruct
I think that's what I like
you like me so you try and make me
feel like shit
I think it's kind of funny yeah
I kind of enjoy it

if you're gonna do it, overdo it
that's how you know you're alive
go ahead, take yourself a coma nap
take a puddle dive

you said, this is my bedroom window
you said, this is my view
you said, lie down here with me
and see the things that I do
like you were trying to tell me something
about the way you live
like you would give me something
if you had something to give

and for all your talk
you don't say much that's real
I think I know more than you
about the way that you feel
I understand your anger
and your apathy
I think if I was you,
you're who I'd be

I'm still here
'cause I got nothing else to do
you're an asshole but
I'm getting used to you
I could love you, yeah
I've entertained the thought
but I could never like you
so I guess I'd better not

Ani...

"Asking Too Much"

I want somebody who sees the pointlessness
and still keeps their purpose in mind
I want somebody who has a tortured soul
some of the time
I want somebody who will either put out for me
or put me out of misery
or maybe just put it all to words
and make me say, you know
I never heard it put that way
make me say, what did you just say?
I want somebody who can hold my interest
hold it and never let it fall
someone who can flatten me with a kiss
that hits like a fist
or a sentence, that stops me like a brick wall
because if you hear me talking
listen to what I'm not saying
if you hear me playing guitar
listen to what I'm not playing
and don't ask me to put words
to all the spaces between notes
in fact if you have to ask, forget it
do and you'll regret it
I'm tired of being the interesting one
I'm tired of heving fun for two
just lay yourself on the line
and I might lay myself down by you
but don't sit behind your eyes
and wait for me to surprise you
I want somebody who can make me
scream until it's funny
give me a run for my money
I want someone who can
twist me up in knots
tell me, for the woman who has everything
what have you got?
I want someone who's not afraid of me
or anyone else
in other words I want someone
who's not afraid of themself

do you think I'm asking too much?

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

My Year

2007, the year of a new hip, a new last name and a new family.

At 32, my life is taking form. Growing up, I never envisioned this. I've been slow to mature.

But, I'll take it.