oSCARS 2011 CON'T

by the numbers so far...

Best Short Doc Film...

no idea...

...strangers no more karen goodmn and kirk smon, sorry, baby in other arm

Best short feature:

God of Love... great speech from luke matheny

OSCARS 2011 CON'T

Technical awards. So underrated. I love those guys...and Franco just destroyed their achievement...Nice.

Makeup achievement:

...Rick Baker and the Wolfman crew! Too bad the movie wasn't better.

Costume design: Alice in Wonderland?

Yep, Coleen Atwood. I don't know how she wouldn't have been selected. When she goes big, she is amazing. I really loved the King's Speech costumes though. Obviously they weren't as flashy, but they were so spot on and comprehensive.

Best song:

Montage of people talking about their favorite songs somewhere in LA. Oh, surprise Obama clip touting As Time Goes By...

Spacey breaks into song, claims to be Clooney... and introduces the first nominated song. Randy Newman again. What is an Oscar telecast without a Randy Newman song? Refreshing, that's what.

Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi for Tangled. Who new Levi could sing like that? hunh.

Annd break!

OSCARS 2011 CON'T

Seriously, pimping ABC? Great, let's limit more speeches...

Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, the World's least offensive Aussies. Not that I consider Aussies offensive.

History of sound in movies.

Ladies and Gentlemen, John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra! Not really... :(

Best original score: Hmmm, Social Network for it's minimalist glow? Or Inception's bombast?

And it goes to... Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The lead singer of Nine Inch Nails just won an Oscar. God, the 90's were soooo long ago.

ScarJo and Matt Mcmo.

Best Sound Mixing: I think Inception has to win this one.

...Inception! That film did so many things right...

Sound editing: Inception two in a row... maybe.

...Inception again! I really don't know how they would have given them mixing and then not have given them editing.

OSCARS 2011 CON'T

Best Supporting Actor! Bale's to lose and Rush's to steal.

Bale was amazing... so good.
John Hawkes may slip in on a split vote.
So could Jeremy Renner...

God, I love this category.

Ruffalo is the only one that doesn't make a lot of sense. He was good, but it wasn't anything he hadn't done before.

Goes to... Batman! Holy hand grenades Batman!

So the next Batman film has 4, count them 4, Academy Award winners. Bale, Freeman, Caine, Cotillard. Oh, and 5 if you count the production team!

Break!

OSCARS 2011!!!

I think I finally get to watch the Oscars after last years debacle left me wildly unsatisfied. In China you get the Golden Globes and the Grammy's, but not the Oscars. So this year, STAR Movies made a special point of covering the awards and here we are.

I am not a fan of the 10 best picture category as I think it lets in some films that have no business being considered and splitting the votes from the creme de la creme. However, you do get the much needed omissions that end up getting rewarded in Screenplay and Director's categories.

James Franco doesn't really seem to care that he is hosting. Weird. Anne Hathaway is throwing herself into every joke.

Best Art Direction: Alice in Wonderland takes the bald dude. Awkward acceptance where the guy puts a tiny mad hatter hat on the statue.

Best Cinematography: True Grit is the favorite here...

Wally Pfister for Inception! Wow, what an upset. I wonder if Inception will clean up in all it's other categories. After this, Pfister goes onto the next Batman movie.

We're back...



They roll out Kirk Douglas to remind everyone that he is indeed Spartacus. He is presenting best supporting actress.

Really strong category as always. Amy Adams continues to be the most consistently awesome actress working today. Melissa Leo was also great in The Fighter. I thought Hailee Steinfeld was good, but not the revelation everyone else said she was. Douglas has hijacked the awards...

Melissa Leo for The Fighter! Great win for an actress who has paid her f'n dues. She looks great. She is just completely overwhelmed by the moment. Every actor dreams about this ...OH she dropped the F-bomb! Congrats Melissa! She and Kirk need to go on the road.

Back to awkward humor from Franco and Anne. BTW, James Franco may only be referred to as Franco from now on. Got to keep the meta up.

Timberlake is evidently Banksy.

What are Kunis and Timberlake talking about? Stupid inside jokes.

Best Animated short: The Lost Thing.

Sorry, had to warm a bottle. Great acceptance speech.

Best animated feature:

Toy Story 3's to lose.

Annnnnd... Toy Story 3. Pixar just keeps knocking them down. Suck it Dreamworks!

Break!

Back again, a look at the first "Aren't we awesome awards".

Bardem and Brolin in matching tuxes. Odd. Bardem...oddest looking-good looking man.

Best adapted screenplay: Has to go to Social Network. Sorkin's dialogue is always razor sharp...

Boom, Social Network. Aaron Sorkin in his first win. Camera lingers on Jessie Eisenberg lovingly.

Best original Screenplay: King's Speech... David Seidler (Sp?) Yes, spelled correctly.
Great speech from an old pro. I get pissed when their speeches get interrupted by the producers telling them to wrap it up. Why? So I can watch more montages and awkward comedy that no one in the viewing audience gets? It is an award show! Let them talk!

Break!

Hey, Anne Hathaway sings, let's have her waste time and sing!

Ah, Franco in a dress...

And token Charlie Sheen joke.

Russel Brand, Great British Comedian of the moment.

Best Foreign Language Film:

Oscar goes to... In a Better World, Denmark. This was the favorite. A film about the human process of revenge and anger. I really want to see this.

Goodbye Ronnie.

Ron Santo died today. I feel sad of course, but mostly I am just angry. I know that isn't any way to live life, but in this case I think some anger needs to be released, because the Santo family is too classy to do it themselves.

Ron Santo played 14 seasons for the Chicago Cubs. He was one of the greatest third basemen of all time. He was never elected to the Hall of Fame. Journalists had years to put him in, then the Veteran's committee had their opportunity. Through arrogance, derision, our outright jealousy they denied him his place while he lived. Now, more than likely, Ron will be inducted posthumously. That is an outrage and and an offense of grand proportion. Ron developed diabetes at 18 and played his entire major league career with the condition. He never had the medication or the treatment that would have prolonged his career or could have prevented the amputations that robbed him of both of his legs a few years ago. He put up numbers that rank him as one of the best players of all time, period. The stats don't lie people.

Ron smiled through it all. He never let the insult get him down. He was the epitome of class to the very end. Ron deserved better. The Hall of Fame is filled with racists, cheaters, junkies, and others whose entire existence never held a candle to Ronnie's. He was a champion of the game, and he was champion in life.

So I find myself standing for his defense. After Ron ended his playing career, he became an announcer for the Cubs on the radio. Ron was the voice of the fan. The heart of every bleacher bum was Ronnie. He called the games as his emotions dictated. It was never in-depth, but it was always from the heart and it was never mean, never cruel. I don't know if Ronnie had it in him to be spiteful.

Those members of the Veteran's committee who never voted for him before but will vote for him now should be ashamed. Through their own arrogance, they have denied a man his reward for a lifetime of love dedicated to the game. Ron deserved the chance to speak before the assembled throngs of Cooperstown. He deserved to see an ocean of Cubbie blue filling the lawn to applaud his induction. I have always felt that if you earn your seat in Cooperstown, you deserve it from the day you hang up your spikes. I don't believe in the absolute sham of voting that exists today. No one will ever care about how may votes it takes to get into the Hall. The only thing that matters is induction. We will never know who kept Ronnie out, but I can take a guess. They were people who built their own careers off the greats that played with them. They had teammates who enhanced their stats and helped win them championships. They held it against Ronnie that he never won a World Series. Which, the last time I checked was impossible to do by oneself in the game of Baseball.

My heart weeps for the Santo family. Ronnie's number hangs from the foul pole at Wrigley to wave until the game of Baseball is wiped from human history. The city of Chicago has lost a legend. They have lost a role model. They have lost a beloved friend. Fans of all teams knew and respected Ronnie. They feel his loss almost as dearly as Cub fans do. He will be greatly missed and his legacy will live on. The young man, the Cub, the embodiment of joy in the game of Baseball clicking his heels in the summer of '69 will never be forgotten.

We love you Ron. In our hearts and minds there is no one better.

Time flies when you are sleep deprived...

What day is today? Is it Wednesday? Thursday? Halloween? I really don't know from day to day anymore. For anyone not in the know, my wife and I celebrated the birth of our first child last month and it has been a blissful blur of days ever since. So much so that I haven't time to jot down my thoughts. I am beyond happy to have a child in the house, and I love my wife even beyond the bordering on silly levels at which I loved her before. While we have plenty of ups and downs as any new parents do, the change to your life is truly indescribable until it happens to you. I had all these preconceptions of what fatherhood would be like, but nothing prepared me for the moment. The wave of emotions and realizations that wash over you is all-encompassing. Every parent has a World of hopes and dreams for their child and we are certainly no different. Keeping perspective through all of that has been a priority. I am trying very hard to enjoy all the small moments of every single day and appreciate just how wonderful those quiet, serene moments are as I stare at him in amazement. Every time he looks up at me and squeezes my finger I can't help but feel that I would move mountains for him if I could.