Oh Hey There - An Update on Life as Head Girl and What's On My Cinematic Mind

Hey guys, here's a voice from the past (like a month and a half ago or whatever). Does everyone remember me? If you're a little confused about me popping up in your feed/twitter/timeline etc etc etc, when I departed the blogging world on the night of the Oscars I told you it wasn't forever. I may not have blogged all of March, and this will probably be my only post for April but I'm still here, chugging away. The reason? I'm having my first weekend off in like, forever, thanks to a kidney infection which has slightly chucked my life off the rails for the past two weeks. And by that I mean I've been forced to do this strange thing called 'relaxing'. Which basically means that my parents and the doctor force me to stay home and I do more work. Hmmmm.

Anyways, this has been a crazy insanely busy term. I could probably count the amount of free lunch times I've had in the past 11 weeks on my left hand. Not that I'm complaining; I effing love being busy. Well, mostly with the extra-curricular things. School work is just the same as last year. Here's some cool things that happened in the last 11 weeks:

Got my name up the top of the prefects board, which still freaks me out immensely and every time I'm in the hall I admit to staring at it for a minute and wondering if I'm in real life or not. Kind of weird, but there you have it. Also, I'm on the main page of the school website. All these reminders steal freak me out just a little.

In this past week me and my fellow head prefects went to a Young Leaders day, which is where there were five inspiring speakers there to inspire us leaders of the future. I actually felt like a better person for going to it (aside from the fact that I was pretty sick throughout the day), since the quality of speakers was so great. The theme was 'heroes', which was all kinds of awesome because they had a whole lot of references to movies. They even had a whole lot of clips from The Help which almost made me cry. Anyway, movie stuff out of the way, that day was just what I needed after coming off the back off a rough week.

I took some pretty photos a few weeks back. I still like my photography when I get the chance to do it.

I'm hard at work with Stage Challenge with my Deputy Head Girl, Emma (who's birthday is today - happy birthday again girl!), and a team of totally amazing people. We've had a lot of ups and downs but we're finally right on track getting sponsors and getting our performance together. There's under two months to go until show date, which definitely means that I'll be so far removed from this world and my life will be Stage Challenge from here on in.

If there's one thing I've learned this term, it's that support from others has pretty much been the greatest thing ever. It sounds kinda corny but when I can't do twenty things at once there's always someone to do one thing for me. People are amazing.

However, this isn't just a post on my life as Head Girl. While my movie watching has taken a significant drop (by this time last year I was well over 100 movies already, but this year I'm around 80), I've still been keeping an eye on the movie world. So here's ten movie related things that have been on my mind for the past few weeks:

Only God Forgives trailer - There's no way that I can't compare this to Drive, it looks just a great as that. But what I love most, aside from all of the red, is Kristin Scott Thomas looking so badass. I've always loved that woman (does she ever age?), but she looks especially fantastic here. And then there's that slow motion shot of Ryan Gosling in his suit getting ready to beat the crap outta some guy. That's the stuff dreams are made of (okay, the violence isn't really necessary but you get where I'm going).

Jessica Chastain being adorable on Facebook - every time Jessica posts something on Facebook I want to cry. But when she posted this super cute photo of her in front of a billboard showing her YSL Manifesto campaign on the River Seine, I was so unbelievably happy for the entire week. How adorable is she? The perfume is pretty amazing, too - I have a sample that I got last week tucked in my blazer pocket. Birthday present, maybe?

The Bling Ring trailer - I've watched it 500000000 times and I still can't get enough. Sofia Coppola is perfection. Emma Watson looks stunning. Yeah, I can't handle waiting for it.

Spring Breakers - I just wanna see this so bad. Don't ask me why, because I really don't know. It just looks so different and out there. Plus, it didn't help that Alex at And So It Begins was so inspired by the movie that he came up with this awesome FYC for the Lammies.

The Great Gatsby's everything - I have the tiniest feeling that this won't be very good but it is one of my favourite directors adapting my favourite book with my favourite actor playing my favourite character. And there's also my favourite singer, Lana Del Rey, featuring a new song in the latest trailer. To go along with that, the production design looks stunning. One day I'm gonna get rich enough to make a house that has everything in this slideshow. LOL.

Skyfall being more and more entertaining every time I watch it - I wasn't the biggest fan of Skyfall upon it's release and now I finally know why: it is so unbelievably flawed it is actually kind of great. I really don't care that much for the story but Adele's perfect song and Roger Deakins' perfect cinematography (along with sassy Daniel Craig and Ralph Fiennes) are the things I obsess over, and kind of detract from the really stupid decisions in the film.

Brit Marling - I saw Sound of My Voice the other day and I adored it, particularly Brit Marling. I've loved her since I saw Another Earth this time last year, but she just keeps getting better. Can't wait to see The East. I wanna be her.

Garrett Hedlund in On the Road - I'm still yet to read Jack Keruoac's original novel which means I can't really judge last year's adaptation as a whole, but if there was one thing I was impressed with, it was Garrett Hedlund's performance. He was on fire. Definitely one of the best performances of last year outside of Matty M, Logan Lerman and Jessica Chastain.

Matthew McConaughey domination is complete - Speaking of Matty M, he's in Christopher Nolan's latest! Already my most anticipated film for like, ever.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Smashed - Another great performance I saw recently was Mary Elizabeth Winstead's turn as an alcoholic in Smashed. Jennifer Lawrence ain't got nothing on that. Where was her campaign?

Schindler's List on Blu-Ray - I finally got my own copy of the 20th anniversary blu-ray of my second favourite film, which came just in time since my original copy has been watched a few too many times. I'm actually too scared to take it out of it's case, it is so pretty.

Roger Ebert - I was so saddened by the loss of Roger Ebert last week that I actually had to stop myself from crying when I found out at school. I've always adored his writing and it was a huge inspiration for many of the reviews you saw here back in the day. Ryan at The Matinee wrote a lovely tribute to him, which pretty much sums up my feelings towards Mr. Ebert. May you rest in peace.

So that's it, folks - I'll probably be back in a few months, but who knows? I'm greatly enjoying 'retirement', but I'll keep you all posted every now and again. Keep an eye on my Twitter and my Tumblr. Until then, everyone stay golden. What's on your cinematic mind, I'm missing these discussions!

Oscar Season is Over - And So is This Blog

I didn't really know how to appropriately title this post so I just went for the plain and simple truth. I was going to spend this post writing about the Oscars but considering I couldn't rustle up that many readers for my predictions, why bother with a whole lot of other stuff that other people will already be writing about which means I'd get cancelled out? Pardon me for my bitter tone, but this is pretty much the reason why I have to stop blogging so I can focus my energies on something that will be appreciated.

Anyway, as for the Oscars: pretty exciting. Apart from the Jennifer Lawrence win. That just dragged down everything. Don't get me wrong, I love her. I liked her in Silver Linings Playbook. But you can't tell me that's the best female performance of the year. Honestly. It is so weird that she's an Oscar winner now. I was so happy that Christoph Waltz won, though, that I actually cried in front of my class mates. I adore him. That made my year.

What also made my year was Jessica Chastain's dress. It wasn't as amazing as last year's dress but she looked like a total angel. Plus, Amy Adams looked like a total angel too. Must be the red hair that makes people instantly perfect.

Seeing Jean Dujardin again was nice, too. I can't believe it has been a whole year since then, I swear I'm still in 2011 mode.

This Oscars has made me a little sad, though, since this will be the last one where I'll be writing away about it and running home from school to watch it and stuff like that. It is just the little things that make this day special. Hopefully, though, next year I'll be celebrating a Chastain win (for The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) or maybe even Leonardo DiCaprio being recognised. I can dream.

For now, I'm shutting up shop here. Sorry to anyone who has commented in the past week - I literally have not had any time to reply and everything's a bit irrelevant now, isn't it? Alas, I've said plenty of thank you's in the past and I honestly can't repeat them enough. I'm really thankful of anyone who has taken the time to read the blog and comment and stuff. I am looking forward to having some free nights with lots of sleep and a few more movies in my life. Maybe I'll be back here again. Just keep an eye out in your feed.

If not, hopefully you'll see me at the Oscars in 20 years time.

AAN: Oscar Predictions - Acting and Best Picture

Welcome to the final part of my official Oscar predictions, the big one that this 2013 series of Annual Awards Nerdism has come down to. Tonight, I'll be looking at the Acting and Best Picture awards, complete with poetry. Enjoy!
PAST PREDICTIONS: Sound and Design, 'Bests' and Visuals, Writing and Directing

Just in case you need a refresher on the rankings:
Sparkling Silva - Who I want to win.
'Overjoyed' David - Who will win.
Loopy Looper - Who definitely won't win.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook / Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln / Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables / Joaquin Phoenix in The Master / Denzel Washington in Flight

There's no way this category can possibly surprise,
Daniel Day-Lewis is the winner in everyone's eyes,
Hugh Jackman may have been the perfect Jean Valjean,
Joaquin Phoenix may think that awards are wrong,
Bradley Cooper did everything right,
Denzel probably won't win for Flight,
But there's simply nothing they can do,
Day-Lewis will be adding another Oscar to his two,
For he is pretty much Abraham Lincoln,
And a surprise win would be wishful thinkin'.

I would love for Daniel Day-Lewis to not win for this one (although I haven't seen Lincoln still so I can't judge), but that's not going to happen. There's a sliver of hope for Bradley Cooper if he were to ride on the Silver Linings Playbook wave, even though he lost the Spirit award today. He's still the best thing about that movie. By far. I'm more on Team Jackman, though.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty / Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook / Emmanuelle Riva in Amour / Quvenzhane Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild / Naomi Watts in The Impossible

This category caters for the young and old,
But it is pretty hard to tell who'll take the gold,
Naomi Watts brings up the rear,
Quvenzhane Wallis is the spoiler to fear,
Jennifer Lawrence has won most of the awards,
But Jessica Chastain has won lots on her own accord,
While it is very much a race between these two,
Picking Riva seems like the thing to do,
Since all of the others have many chances left,
Riva should win for her beautiful portrayal of death.

This is a very difficult category because there are likely winners coming from every corner. Jennifer Lawrence supposedly has the award locked up but I don't want to believe it since I'm not the hugest fan of her performance in Silver Linings Playbook and she just doesn't seem like a clear winner. Jessica Chastain is supposedly her arch-nemesis in this race and she looks like a better winner, especially because she won just about every critics award (but that didn't mean too much for Kathryn Bigelow). However, as much as I love J-Chas, I can't see her winning just yet. I do, however, envision Emmanuelle Riva winning, which may seem like a longshot to some but again, I'm not dismissing this whole Amour takeover. Let's be honest here - Riva is by far the most deserving. I'll probably end up being wrong, but I'm not sold in Jennifer Lawrence winning tomorrow.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Alan Arkin in Argo / Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook / Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master / Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln / Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained

How to pick a winner when they've all won before?
And there aren't even any surprise awards to go to Amour,
Long ago this was Leo DiCaprio's to win,
But his spot was taken by Alan Arkin,
There won't be an acting award for Argo,
But there might be one for Robert De Niro,
His gold lining will make it three,
Though he could be beaten by Tommy Lee,
This would only make Jones sad of course,
But Philip Seymour Hoffman is the dark horse,
I think they'll go for Christoph Waltz again,
For being Django's bounty hunter friend,
Hopefully he has the award within his reach,
Because all I want is another Waltz acceptance speech.

I'm going to put my money (lol, wut money) where my mouth is and wager that Christoph Waltz will take the award. I mean, he's taken the Golden Globe and the BAFTA, and the only reason he didn't get the SAG was because he wasn't nominated - thanks to the down-to-the-wire release date for Django Unchained. So he's looking like the best prospect out of a wide open field. However, I can see Tommy Lee Jones taking it away because he just seems like the kind of performer the Academy would go for. I have heard whispers about De Niro and Hoffman being possible winners, and I definitely wouldn't dismiss them. The only person I would dismiss is Alan Arkin. I could be wrong about that, though.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams in The Master / Sally Field in Lincoln / Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables / Helen Hunt in The Sessions / Jacki Weaver in Silver Linings Playbook

I don't really need to put this into a rhyme,
Anne Hathaway has won every time,
And certainly nothing will change,
There's no one close in range,
This isn't Amy Adams' year,
Jacki Weaver's presence leaves nothing to fear,
They certainly won't go for Helen Hunt,
Sally Field seems like an unlikely punt,
While Hugh Jackman won't win his,
Anne Hathaway will fly the flag for Les Mis.

LOL to anyone who thinks that Anne Hathaway won't win. And LOL to anyone who thinks she doesn't deserve it.

Best Motion Picture of the Year 

Amour / Argo / Beasts of the Southern Wild / Django Unchained / Les Miserables / Life of Pi / Lincoln / Silver Linings Playbook / Zero Dark Thirty

Here we are, the Best Picture of the Year,
It seems that Argo will get the most cheers,
Even without a Best Director nom,
Which could be where it will all go wrong,
Les Mis probably won't hit the right note,
Life of Pi will miss this boat,
Beasts of the Southern Wild was a nice debut,
But it's chances here are small and few,
I still think there'll be a surprise from Amour,
Though Lincoln's chances are coming to the fore,
Silver Linings Playbook is the big entry from Weinstein and Co,
And could look to take it from Argo,
But my favourite has had a lot of hate,
Zero Dark Thirty seemed to be the favourite out of the gate,
As the season has gone on people have liked it less,
So it won't be the big winner in the press.

This is almost certainly Argo's, but I still don't see it as a clear winner. It is quite the bummer that I don't get to see this until the day after the Oscars. I haven't seen Lincoln and Life of Pi either - they just didn't entice me enough to get my ass over to the cinema. Out of the others, though, I'd rank them like this:
6. Beasts of the Southern Wild
5. Les Miserables
4. Silver Linings Playbook
3. Amour
2. Django Unchained 
1. Zero Dark Thirty
I suppose it is quite the controversial choice to have Zero Dark Thirty topping the range, but it is just everything I want in a movie. Plus, it is possibly the most challenging (aside from Amour) of all the nominees, so if it won, I'd be immensely happy. This is Argo's to lose, though, and I wouldn't be surprised if either Lincoln or Silver Linings Playbook took it away.

What do you think? Who do you think will take out these awards?

AAN: Oscar Predictions - Writing and Directing

Welcome to part three of my official Oscar predictions, the big one that this 2013 series of Annual Awards Nerdism has come down to. Tonight, I'll be looking at the Screenplay and Directing awards, complete with poetry. Enjoy!
PAST PREDICTIONS: Sound and Design, 'Bests' and Visuals

Best Achievement in Directing

Michael Haneke - Amour / Ang Lee - Life of Pi / David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook / Steven Spielberg - Lincoln / Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

All of the awards have gone to Ben Affleck,
None of the other directors have had an effect,
So this is just a case of wait and see,
A safer bet would probably go with Ang Lee,
Benh Zeitlin had a good debut with Beasts,
But he doesn't have a chance in the least,
David O. Russell won't turn silver to gold,
Since his spot in the race left some out in the cold,
Steven Spielberg's done this all before,
So I have a feeling the Academy will love Amour,
To some this may seem like the longest shot,
But I think Michael Haneke is the best we have got.

Yeah...I'm predicting Michael Haneke to take this out. I could go down the more traditional path and go for Ang Lee (which is likely to happen), or even David O. Russell who could get caught up in the Silver Linings Playbook tidal wave, but I have been envisioning this Amour takeover since day one and I'm not about to take my chips down. This is pretty much the most exciting category we have, though. 

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Michael Haneke - Amour / Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained / John Gatins - Flight / Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola - Moonrise Kingdom / Mark Boal - Zero Dark Thirty

Will this category have more love for Amour?
They probably won't be loving Flight, that's for sure,
As they were looking for the best original script,
They seemed to love Moonrise Kingdom's indie hit,
Tarantino is back with his drama about slaves,
Throughout the season the awards have come in waves,
If there's one script that has all the control,
It is Zero Dark Thirty's written by Mark Boal,
It will be tough for that to take the prize,
So Django will be the winner in my eyes.

I think Django Unchained pretty much has this in the bag (pun fully not intended). I would like to see Zero Dark Thirty take it out for the meticulous attention to detail. I have a feeling that Moonrise Kingdom could be a spoiler.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Chris Terrio - Argo / Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild / David Magee - Life of Pi / Tony Kushner - Lincoln / David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook

If we were going by the Best Picture rule,
Argo will be the biggest fish in the pool,
Lincoln took on the story of Honest Abe,
And he's also emerging as a category fave,
Silver Linings Playbook could possibly spoil,
Especially since the Academy treated it like a royal,
So this is a three way tie,
Since they won't go for Life of Pi,
Nor for the magic of Beasts of the Southern Wild,
Since the best part about that is probably the child.

I'm fairly sure that if Argo goes for Best Picture, then it will probably have to win this category too, since it is M.I.A everywhere else (such a strange predicament we have here). However, If I were to leave this for chance I would say that this is very much a race between Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook - and I hope that the latter will be given the edge. A seriously good screenplay right there.

What do you think? Who do you think will take out these awards? Tomorrow I'll be back with the acting awards and of course, Best Picture. See you then!

AAN: Oscar Predictions - The 'Bests' and the Visuals

Welcome to part two of my official Oscar predictions, the big one that this 2013 series of Annual Awards Nerdism has come down to. Tonight, I'll be looking at the 'Bests' (Best Animated Feature Film of the Year, Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, Best Documentary - Features) and the Visuals (Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Editing, Best Achievement in Visual Effects). NOTE: I'm not going to attempt the awards for the Shorts because I'll end up looking like a fool.
PAST PREDICTIONS: Sound and Design

The 'Bests' Awards

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Brave / Frankenweenie / Paranorman / The Pirates! Band of Misfits / Wreck-It Ralph

Looks like this will be another Pixar year, even if every man and his dog is intent on calling Brave a bad film because it isn't as good as every other Pixar film. To be honest, this is still one of my absolute favourite films of 2012, mainly because it has a better message than most other animated films. And yeah, that's all I have to say about that. I'll be a little surprised if Brave loses. Plus, it'll be exciting when it does because then Brenda Chapman will be the first woman to win the award. Exciting!