2012 Oscar Nomination Predictions

Best Picture
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball


Best Actor
George Clooney
Leo
Dujardin
Fassbender
Pitt

Best Actress
Glenn Close
Viola
Rooney
Meryl
Michelle Williams

Sup. Actor
Branagh
Albert Brooks
Jonah Hill
Nick Nolte
Christopher Plummer

Sup. Actress
Berenice Bejo
Jessica Chastain The Help
Melissa McCarthy
Octavia Spencer
Shaileen Woodley

Director
Woody
Fincher
Hanazavicius
Payne
Scorsese

Orig. Screenplay
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
Young Adult

Adp. Screenplay
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
Moneyball

 Editing
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
War Horse

Cinematography
The Artist
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Tree of Life

Art Direction
The Artist
Hugo
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy
Tree of Life
War Horse

Sound Mixing
The Artist
Hugo
Super 8
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy
Tree of Life

Sound Editing
Harry Potter
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers
War Horse

Costume
The Artist
Jane Eyre
Harry Potter
Hugo
My Week w/Marilyn

Score
The Artist
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
War Horse

Foreign Film
Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Pina
A Seperation

Doc
Buck
Paradise Lost 3
Project Nim
Undefeated
We Were Here

Animated
Adventures of TinTin
Cars 2
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Visual Effects
Harry Potter
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The Tree of Life
Transformers

Makeup
Albert Nobbs
The Artist
Harry Potter
Hugo
The Iron Lady

Song
Hello Hello - Gnomeo and Juliet
Life's a Happy Song - Muppets
The Living Proof - The Help
Man or Muppet - Muppets
Pictures in My Head - Muppets

not predicting the shorts, cause I haven't seen any of them and haven't read anything about them. I'm hoping for 75% correct.

Awesomest Violin Ever

If I had ever learned to play the Violin, I hope it would have been on this one.

Scroll down for pics.

I Can Relate

This NPR Story cracked me up for a few reasons. Last Saturday after a few 4th of July parties in Santa Cruz, the Mullet Man and I were heading back to his apartment on beach cruisers and all I was trying to do was turn the bike around with my feet. I hadn't even started riding the bike yet! And I fell over scraping my face, shoulder and knee. Maybe I need to go back to class. Also, I had no idea there were adults out there that didn't know how to ride bikes. That's just insane to me. I wonder if any of my friends are closeted non-bike riders. It's okay guys, you can tell me.

A Quick Laugh

So I read the New Yorker. But I don't read it fast enough, so from time to time I go back to an old issue to read. For the most part it doesn't matter when you read the articles as most of them aren't exactly current events. I read this humurous piece and laughed my ass off.

enjoy

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2007/08/13/070813sh_shouts_brenner?currentPage=all

Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Okay, I'm not going to say much, but I really have the best intentions of blogging on a regular basis again. I hope I can do it. It's up to you guys to bug me if I fall by the wayside again.

So I'm just going to start with a quick review of the movie I went and saw last night. I was in the mood for something fairly mindless and I was successful.

Tony Scott is a Director that I have a love/hate relationship with, at times when at the top of his game he can deliver some real gems, i.e. Top Gun, True Romance, Enemy of the State. Other times he seems to be just going throught motions, i.e. Days of Thunder, and The Fan. And he's also made some not great movies that are just guilty pleasures, I still can't turn off Last Boy Scout if it's on. Either way, I try to see all his films and I have to say, Pelham did not dissappoint.

It's your run of the mill action movie and premise for the most part (it's a remake of the 1974 Joseph Sargeant film). But I found my eyes glued to the screen and not once wondering when the movie was going to end. And I owe almost all of that to the cast, Denzel Washington is one of the great actors working today and in nearly all of his films he is the Alpha Male. It was refreshing to see him in a role that was definitely not. An early scene where Denzel's character is put in a place, was a revelation to see, I couldn't think of a time where I had seen a character played by Denzel that was so broken by life.

John Travolta plays the main baddie. And I think at this point he should stick with it and pass on anything else. Yes, he's over-the-top, but he brought a couple things to the role that I hadn't seen before. And the rest of the cast was great as well. Luis Guzman and one of the other bad guys. John Turturro was mostly wasted but is always fun to watch, as the hostage negotiator. And in a fun twist, James Gandolfini as the Mayor of New York who added a bit of bluster and toughness to the role.

The updated script was by Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Mystic River) and he wrote a pretty mainstream action script. There were a few touches that were over-the-top and made me roll my eyes. Although, there were a few lines that really made me smile. Including one near the very end spoken by Gandolfini's Mayor regarding baseball, that shows the true face of politics that I absolutely loved.

Pelham 1 2 3 is not going to win any awards, but it knows this and doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't. It's an action film for modern day, what with our economy in tatters, and the way technology rules much of our world. It's a fun popcorn movie for summer.

B-

A Must Read

First off, I'm back again, hopefully for good this time. I don't have much time because I plan on getting home in time to watch Game 4 of the World Series (go Tigers!) starring Jeremy Bonderman from the great state of Washington. Hopefully it's not rained out again.

but I wanted to just write a little something about an article I read a few days ago. I knew like most of the rest of us, that by the time I am a Senior Citizen that we would be in a Code Red of sorts in regards to water on the planet. However, I really didn't know any facts and have never done any kind of real research in regards to this matter. Well this article from Michael Specter was extremely eye-opening. So if you have 15 minutes, I suggest you read it.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/061023fa_fact1

I hope you all have your halloween costumes, I was in the Haight yesterday, and it's a clusterfuck.

Currently Listening to "Rubies" by Destroyer (Dan Bejar's other "band" for all you New Pornographers fans out there)

The Suicide Watch Has Ended

A lot of my past readers have expressed worry that I might have offed myself. That the lack of a baseball season might have finally gotten the best of me. It is true that the months of Nov - Jan with their lack of baseball do put me into a serious funk. Luckily Hollywood's best films usually come out when the ball players are taking a break from the seasonal grind or down in Latin America trying to hone their skills. So at least I have something to wake up for.

So another baseball off-season has come and gone and I have survived. We are 3.5 weeks into the season and both of my teams are underachieving. I do think that both of them will end the season with winning records and at least one play-off appearance. I've been to 7 games so far this year, some have been disastrous as far as the results go, but they've all been entertaining in their own special way.

So hopefully I'm completely back from my hibernation. Things to look forward to in the coming week from my blog:

My Top 10 list of 2005 movies and an update on anything exciting that I should probably write a little about.

Also of note: Me and 9 others from work started a biggest loser competition for a 6 week period that began this past Monday. I will give you updates as we go, on my progress. The winner takes home $900. I weighed in Monday at 214. I just weighed myself again and am at 207. We are doing it based on %. So I guess that's 3.3. I'm shooting for 12%. So I need to be down to 188 by June 5th.

Currently Listening To: Rockies at Phillies (Top of 9. Colorado up 5-3)