AAN: It Is All Over. And This is My 800th Post.

I only watched half of the Oscars. I decided not to go home 'sick' after all and I managed to not get my phone taken off me in class even though I checked it at least 20 times for winners. In fact, today has been an exciting day. In my English class, the teacher decided to ask the class for the 24 categories at the Oscars. Me being me, I knew all of them. As soon as the bell rung, I bolted out the door - and then the fire alarm went off, which was weird. I got home, found an online stream, but that got taken down. Luckily, a link I'd saved for last year's show worked this year. My life does not get more exciting than this.

All in all, even though I wasn't as excited this year, I was still jumping for joy all day at school. I'm sad it is over. I cried during the montage, because I'm going to miss the films like War Horse breaking my heart. Now, I will go through my year catching up on all of the films I missed - The Artist, A Separation, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy...I can't wait until May when they start rolling out all of the awards season movies on DVD. While I felt that last year was better, at least it wasn't The King's Speech fronting this year of film.

My thoughts on the winners:

-We all knew that The Artist was going to win Best Picture. But I was doubtful, considering how strong Hugo was at the start of the show. Hopefully the win will speed up The Artist's expansion in NZ.

-I AM SO UNBELIEVABLY PISSED THAT VIOLA DAVIS DID NOT WIN BEST ACTRESS. I wanted Rooney Mara to win (and what a clip they showed of her), but this was the year for Viola. Anyway, Meryl Streep is a goddess. I loved what Colin Firth said to her. I miss him winning things.
-Even though I haven't seen The Artist, I am so glad that Jean Dujardin won. Anyone but George Clooney. I loved Jean's speech, too, I learned a thing or two from that.

AAN: Oscar Predictions - Acting

Welcome to part four of my official Oscar predictions, which 2012's Annual Awards Nerdism has been coming down to. Tonight I'll take a look at the four acting categories, in poetic form again, of course.
PAST PREDICTIONS: Writing and Directing, the 'Bests' and Visuals, Sound and Design.

Just in case:
Happy Fassy - Who I really want to win.
Lowkey Loki - Who will really win.
Overwhelmed Owen - Who really won't win.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir - A Better Life / George Clooney - The Descendants / Jean Dujardin - The Artist / Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy / Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Having no Fassy caused a bit of strife,
there was a surprise nomination for A Better Life,
Gary Oldman finally got his first big nom,
and Brad Pitt was indeed the bomb,
the race comes down to two that are slick,
George Clooney or Jean Dujardin are everyone's pick,
but the Cloon has been awarded before,
and I can't say his work deserves an award,
so give it to the Frenchman, whose words are few,
even though I feel like Brad Pitt is probably due.

Only seeing two performances out of this category - Brad Pitt's and George Clooney's - it is a bit hard to properly pick a winner, but my money is definitely on Jean Dujardin. And to think I left him out of my initial predictions. I'm gunning for Brad Pitt, though, because he was fantastic in Moneyball...and you all know how I feel about The Descendants. It would be nice, and totally unsurprising, if Gary Oldman took this award, though.

AAN: The BAFTAs are Better than the Oscars.

There, I said it. I think I might just base my whole awards season around the BAFTAs and end it there. Because the Brits know where it is at. You won't find any Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close here.

I don't really have a tremendous amount of things to say about the BAFTAs since I didn't watch the show and they won't have a lot of impact on the Oscars at all. So just some sprawled thoughts on the winners - which may not make a lot of sense, since World War 3 is still going on in my head (okay, I think ever since I watched Trespass the excessive screaming from that movie has been stuck in my head wreaking all sorts of havoc).

-The Artist won Best Film. Can't say that was a surprise. Hopefully every cinema in NZ will take note so maybe it won't be playing in only nine cinemas and might actually come to Palmerston North before the Oscars. Just a thought.
-Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy for the Best British Film. I still need to see this movie...but no-one has found the kindness in their heart to drive me over to the cinemas. Eh.

-I'm going to change my name to Jean Dujardin. I like the way it rolls off my tongue...it sounds so sexy. I don't care if I'm a girl.
-So, I guess that means Jean Dujardin will win the Oscar? Anyone but George Clooney, baby. But I'm sad that Fassy didn't win, because I would have yelled 'SUCK ON THAT, OSCARS!' from the rooftops (...of Dannevirke, New Zealand).
-Oooh, Meryl Streep won Best Actress, just as I predicted it. I think the race is practically 50/50 between Davis and Streep...it'll be interesting to see who gets it. But you know me, my heart is with Rooney Mara all the way.
-Christopher Plummer got Best Supporting Actor. Usually I get sick of people sweeping all of the awards, but not Plummer. He was amazing in Beginners.

-I'm sorta surprised that Octavia Spencer won Best Supporting Actress, even though I'm not sure who else it could have gone to. Alas, my dream of seeing Jessica Chastain deliver an acceptance speech this season is quashed :'(

AAN: Where the Guild Awards Leave the Rest of the Season

With the Screen Actors Guild awards today, all of the guild awards have been given out and now we have a pretty good idea of who is going to win big at the Oscars. Let's start with the Producers Guild Awards, which were held over a week ago...

The Artist took the top award here, over Bridesmaids, The Descendants, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Help, Hugo, The Ides of March, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball and War Horse. The Producers Guild Awards are essentially what Best Picture is, just with better taste (no Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close here). So I guess you could say that The Artist has Best Picture all locked down. Which is fine. I remember how last year it was this set of awards that took The Social Network's Best Picture chances and shoved them down the toilet. I kinda resent them because of that, but the only Oscar chances that this award is shoving down the toilet is Hugo's, as that is also a front-runner to get the prize. But I doubt it can beat The Artist, because the force has grown too strong behind that one.

The Directors Guild Awards

Held yesterday, Michel Hazanavicius got this award for The Artist. Basically unknown to US audiences, Hazanavicius won over big-hitters Alexander Payne (The Descendants), David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Martin Scorsese (Hugo) and Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris). Isn't it a little bit like Tom Hooper winning last year for The King's Speech, over the likes of Christopher Nolan, Fincher, Darren Aronofsky and David O. Russell? Oh well, it is nice that they are rewarding foreign talent. However, I don't think that Hazanavicius has the Oscar under his beret just yet (I assume all French people wear berets, haha). After Scorsese's Golden Globe win, I wouldn't be too surprised if he took the award for his 'kids film'. His direction is pretty darn good (but what could we expect?) and he actually makes sense of the whole 3D thing. I think it will be a race between Hazanavicius and Scorsese down to the wire, and whoever gets the BAFTA will have the award locked down. But right now, I couldn't possibly pick a winner between them.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards

The first awards show (and probably the only show) I've watched this season in it's entirety provided a couple of fist-pumping moments for me. The first was when Jean Dujardin won Best Actor. No, I haven't yet seen The Artist, but anyone winning over George Clooney is good enough for me. I feel a bit mean for saying that, but in all honesty his performance in The Descendants wasn't what I would consider worthy of winning the awards. Getting nominated, sure, but winning? No. The second was when The Help won Best Ensemble. Unlike everyone else, I actually loved The Help, and thought that the performances in that film were wonderful. Outside of Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain, there were more performances that could have been nominated, like Bryce Dallas Howard's or Sissy Spacek's especially. Apparently it is naive or uneducated to say this, but that film definitely did have the best ensemble of the year, without a doubt.

Anyway, this set of awards have put a couple of things in perspective, but the rest still has a bit of a 'two-horse race' about it. We all know that Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spencer are going to get the Oscar. About the latter I'm feeling like there might be an upset - if The Artist hits big at the Oscars (which is will), then Berenice Bejo might be in with a chance. I would love to see Jessica Chastain getting something this season, though (just to see her perfect self up on that stage), but she has many years and awards ahead of her so I don't think she'll get much. However, I'm fairly sure that Spencer has it locked down. The leading categories, though, don't have a clear winner yet. Viola Davis may have won the award (as expected), but Meryl Streep could indeed still win - she's overdue for that third Oscar. Jean Dujardin has won a Golden Globe and this award, but let's not forget that George Clooney has got his Golden Globe and the Critics Choice Award. So they're basically neck and neck. I can definitely see Dujardin pulling the win over Clooney, given how much the Academy love The Artist and all. Which would be nice, for me. And let me just reiterate that The Help will not be winning Best Picture after the Ensemble win. Remember, they're rewarding the actors, not the film as a whole. So stop getting so touchy. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close still has the award locked down.

As for the awards show itself, it was just okay, pretty boring. I don't really know how you 'critique' awards show. But here are my favourite moments:

-The clip they showed of Maggie Smith for Downton Abbey (my life at the moment) was perfect. Best example of the Dowager Countess of Grantham.

-Any time in which Jessica Chastain was shown, particularly when Octavia won and when she was 'holding' Cicely Tyson onstage. She is a goddess.
-Owen Wilson's face when The Help won. I think I might have to change my 'Overwhelmed Owen' picture to that one, haha (someone GET ME A PHOTO OF THIS!!!)

-Armie Hammer's photobombing when Meryl Streep was on screen. He is such a loveable goofball, even if he did get arrested.

-The best of the best was when Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy came onstage to present Bridesmaids and their Scorsese drinking game. And then when Tina Fey took part with Steve Buscemi's wine. It is times like those when I wish I was an actor.

Otherwise, only one thing has changed for me today: I've become even further convinced that my life is inadequate because I am not Jessica Chastain.

What say you? Where do the guild awards leave the Oscar race?

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important."

Film: The Help
Year: 2011
Writer/Director: Tate Taylor
Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Ahna O'Reilly, Anna Camp, Sissy Spacek, Allison Janney, Mike Vogel, Chris Lowell, Mary Steenburgen.
Running time: 146 min.


I am a terrible person. The first thing you should know about me is that I am a terrible reader. I just never have enough time to dedicate to a book. On the odd occasion that I do end up reading a book, it's for either of these two reasons: a) I have to read it for school or b) I've seen the movie, and I'm interested in the book. Basically, I will really only choose to read the book if I've seen the movie. However, about a month ago I discovered that our school library had just put out 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett, and I knew I had to read it. Mainly because I was going to see the movie whenever it came out. I finished the book about three weeks ago, and I loved every single page of it. When it came time for me to finally see the movie, I had a very different experience. I knew what was going to happen, I was constantly on the look out for the stuff I liked in the book, and I was just hoping that everyone did a good job playing the marvellous characters in the movie. While there were some things missing, I loved the movie version of The Help just about as much as I loved the novel.