Oscar's Injustice

I think I am the most disinterested as I have ever been in this year's Academy Awards. I have seen none of the Best Picture contenders and am actually only interested in changing that fact for 4 of them. That, plus my being buried under schoolwork, plus my having only just returned from Vegas (more on that later) only yesterday, PLUS the outright snubbing of Deathly Hallows Part 2 equals a very uninformed Lauren filling out this year's RHI ballot. I am absolutely incensed that DH2 received only three nominations and, only in the technical fields at that. I know the Academy is a bunch of old, white dudes but if LOTR's final film can win 900,000 awards, including Best Picture, why can't Harry?! I am gobsmacked at its exclusion from any 'big' awards. It was the best-reviewed film of 2011 (according to Rotten Tomatoes) and had a pretty heavy 'For Your Consideration' push around the beginning of the year. Plus, the franchise has been nominated only 9 times over the first 7 films and has won ZERO Oscars thus far. Nada. Zilch. Bupkis. Inconceivable!!! The film should have garnered at least a pity nomination! Though such a thing wouldn't have even been necessary for anyone who saw the movie and watch Alan Rickman give such a fantastic performance as Severus Snape.

(S P O I L E R  A L E R T: Do NOT - I repeat, do NOT - watch this video [or read the small print below it] if you haven't yet finished the franchise, either books or movies-wise. That means you, Blackards.)



Dan once said in an interview that he, too, felt Alan should have been nominated, as he had the undesirable task of embodying a moment so beloved and imagined in the minds of millions of readers but that he did so brilliantly. And I agree 100%.

Dan thinks DH2 was snubbed because it was "too commercial" and maybe that's true. But I think the Academy writes it off as a children's story and just doesn't think about it at all. Which is a pity. Because the movies were (and are!) absolutely amazing and I think Dan should have at least had the courtesy of being nominated for carrying such a massive franchise on his young shoulders. The man became an excellent actor throughout his work in the films and he helped make them as wonderful as they are. His work should have been acknowledged in some way. And so while I think Rise of the Planet of the Apes may very well take the little bald man on Sunday night for Best Visual Effects, Robert and I stand by our man. Because Harry Potter will only be gone once those of us are no longer loyal to him.


And, now that I have stepped off my soapbox, here is this year's completed RHI ballot.

Wish us luck!

'11 Oscar Wrap-Up. In a Word: Meh.

I know, I know, I know - this post is ridiculously late, so much so that it has lost the little appeal it may have had had it been posted in a timely manner. I'm sorry. I have no excuse except the youzhe - school is sucking up all my time, I swear! (More on that later.) Plus, I must admit the Oscars were just not as shiny and alluring as they usually are this year. I don't know if it was because I hadn't seen most of the nominated films (Best Picture-wise we'd only seen Inception and Toy Story 3) or because I wasn't as up to date on my entertainment reading as I'd have liked but I just wasn't feeling it this year. Call me James Franco (hi-oh!). Even my two boyfriends winning didn't light my fire much (though I will say that they both gave excellent speeches in my opinion. Nice work, fellas! I just wish Christian had been clean-shaven...). If you read the comments from the last post, you know we didn't win the RHI poll this year and I gotta say, my spirit is pretty much broken on that front. Hopes? Dashed. Even with my more relaxed approach to filling it out, I choked. I really should have taken my own advice from last year and just thrown darts at random. Clearly, I am doomed to be an Oscar pool loser for the foreseeable future. Is my life just not the saddest thing ever or what? I don't even know how I get out of bed in the morning.

If you're interested, here are the best recaps I could wrangle. I miss Defamer. *sigh* (If you only pick one, I'd go with the Television Without Pity link.)

EW.com's 20 Memorable Moments

TWoP's Best & Worst

msn.com's Best & Worst

Oscar Ballot Predictions: 2011 Edition

We're goin' off the reservation this year, people!!! We haven't won an RHI pool for the past couple years so this year I tried my best not to get bogged down in awards won and whatnot and just tried to go with my gut. Although, as always, in those categories for which I have two top contenders Robert places the deciding vote. If I'm completely honest, I have to say I don't think we have a winning ballot this year but at least it was less stressful filling it out. ;o) Wish us luck!

2010 Oscar Follow-Up

Well, you can pretty much refer to last year's wrap-up post and you'll get a feel for how I felt about last night's ceremony. It was long. It was boring (though I liked Steve and Alec as hosts well enough. They weren't super hilarious but they did make me chuckle here and there). There was no prospect of hot men. And I lost the RHI pool AGAIN. I came in third. THIRD!!!! It was my poorest showing in recent memory. So poor, in fact, that I'm not even going to waste my time scanning and uploading the scored ballot. I missed nine categories!! (And no, not because I picked Avatar for everything. In fact, I only picked Avatar for 4 categories, 3 of which it actually won. I have some skill, people.) Disgraceful!!!! Seriously. And many of my misses really stung because there were several categories where I waffled between two options and picked the one that didn't win. Annoying! Next year I should just close my eyes and throw darts.

Since I am typing this up during my 'official' break time, it's going to be short and sweet. Here are a few good links to tide you over in lieu of my biting commentary:

MSN Best and Worst

Television Without Pity Best and Worst

Thank you, TWoP. In their very first slide they said "...we still held out hope that there'd be one or two big upsets somewhere. And we suppose there were -- in Best Foreign Language film (El Secreto de Sus Ojos beat The White Ribbon) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Precious over the expected Up in the Air)." THANK YOU! A small slice of vindi-cay-shee-own. (That would be 'vindication' in non-King of Queens speak.) I think Maria* thought I was a wackaloon because I picked Up in the Air for Best Adapted Screenplay but I'm telling you - the thing was a lock according to every major media outlet!!! And The White Ribbon was supposed to win a couple of awards, not totally flame out! Very upsetting. Why oh why oh why do I bother to do any research at all. I am my own worst enemy.

EW.com's 16 Best Oscar Moments


* Maria was kind enough to come over and watch the Oscars with me while Robert is out of town. It's no fun shouting at stupid, ugly and/or boring people on TV alone! So it was nice to have company. :o) Plus, she thought the same stuff was boring as I did so I didn't have to sit through the boring writing categories this year (Robert!).

Oscar Ballot

I know, I know, I'm posting this uber-late this year but here you are - this year's Oscar ballot complete with (Robert's and) my winner predictions:

It IS officially Robert's ballot so he does actually get input; if I'm torn between two contenders, I let him be the deciding vote. Of course, he takes my opinion very seriously so I have a lot of influence but still... ;o) I'm not super confident about this year's pool - I don't have a good feeling about winning - but I'm also not super jazzed about the Oscars this year (see?! Turning 30 has drained the fun from my life!!) so I won't be TOO, too crushed to lose. Crushed but not too crushed.

Wish us (me) luck!!!

Movie Morsels 44: Oscar Montage

I don't know if anyone stuck around the Oscars long enough - I sure didn't! - but ABC ran some footage from a few upcoming movies during the credits. There's no dialogue (just a musical overlay throughout) but there are clips from Sherlock Holmes, Funny People, The Taking of Pelham 123, Public Enemies, Julie & Julia, The Soloist and Up. Well, since Public Enemies was featured, I had to post it. :o) Johnny Depp (or Johnny Deaf as my niece calls him) looks mighty tasty!

The Oscars Sucked Balls

It was long. It was boring. I didn't really care about any of the movies. The montages stunk. Hugh never took off his shirt. Neither did Daniel Craig. And I, er, Robert LOST THE F*%@ING RHI OSCAR POOL!!! Ugh. And what's worse, I, or rather, he tied for second place with two other people! This whole year is shaping up to be a big pile of dog doo, I tell you. Some dumb-ass loser bitch* whose name shall be withheld won - she only missed 2 categories for Pete's sake! At first I thought she might be a cheater... She must have had access to some inside information. That is the only way to explain her correct selection of La Maison en Petis Cubes and Smile Pinki. Then I realized she picked Milk for the Best Picture win. Clearly, she just stumbled into a gigantenormous pile of good luck. No skill!!! Then again, I - I mean, Robert - clearly have... has... no skill, either, so who am I to judge? Boo.

Unfortunately for you, today is the first day of my (at least) month-long sentence working in the call center every day. :o( As such, my Oscar recap will be less robust than usual. (I'll also probably update it throughout the day, so check back in on this post a couple times...) But that's probably just as well. My spirit is broken. Sigh.

I didn't even get any good photos of me writhing around in emotional and/or physical pain this year. Here I am in a coma during the presentation of the screenwriting awards. Robert bitches and moans about the stupid montages throughout the whole friggin' ceremony, but I dare try to fast forward through the screenwriter nominee presentations with the "cool" type-y overlay and he has a snit fit!! Mr. Writer Man feels some sort of weird kinship with movie writers, I guess, and insisted that we watched every last minute of the screenwriting award presentations. It was painful.

Here I am about 2 hours into the ceremony when I realized that whore* Ms. X hadn't yet missed any categories. I'd been grading each ballot fairly quickly - and by flipping up only one corner so as to move through the stack more efficiently - so I never really saw anyone's name or how many total categories they had wrong at any given point. Needless to say, I was QUITE displeased to discover that my ass was getting kicked. (My eyes are actually open in this photo, just FYI.)

And here I am about a half-hour later when I discovered Ms. X had gotten one wrong. Can you see the unadulterated glee in my face?!!! Ah, that was a sweet moment. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

Since I am somewhat limited as to the amount of time I can spend on my recaps, I will just link you to some of my preferred sites' recaps...

• MSN.com's Best and Worst (always a favorite)
• EW.com's Best and Worst slideshow
• Defamer's Top 10 Moments (complete with video clips - if you missed Ben Stiller's Joaquin Phoenix impersonation, you can catch part of it here.)
• TWoP's Best and Worst (oh, how I miss Fametracker this time of year...)
  

Oh, and here's a question for you: Am I the only person who thought Reese Witherspoon's whole difficult costar spiel was a jab at Joaquin Phoenix? When Reese presented the Best Director award, she had the little speech about how directors often coax difficult actors out of their trailers and she ended with "Not that I'm talking about myself. But you know who you are. Ben Stiller." Stiller, by that point, had already come out and done his whole Joaquin impersonation. Now, I took that as a little pop toward Joaquin when Reese worked with him on Walk the Line - their mutual disdain was well-documented on the gossip blogs during the making of the film. I mean, she even made a little "Hmmm" face after she said it. Plus, I don't even think she's ever worked with Ben Stiller! But I read about the remark on two different sites and neither mentioned that they thought it was about Joaquin. Am I totally retarded here or what?

* I'm sure Ms. X is a very nice person. I'm just bitter and shriveled inside, that's all.

Oscar Ballot '09

Okey dokey - here it is. Robert's (and my, duh) annual RHI Oscar ballot. I don't have a ton of confidence going into this year's ceremony but oh well!


I'll be sure to post all the thrilling photos of our score-keeping during the ceremony early next week! :o)

Oscar Watch '09

I know - I still have to post my official ballot for this year. I'm working on it... It's tough, though, because (and I am embarrassed to admit as much ) I haven't seen any of the nominated films for Best Picture. I've barely seen any of the nominated films PERIOD! I've seen The Dark Knight, Tropic Thunder, Wall-E, Presto, Iron Man and Wanted and... that's it. So, you know, I'm almost qualified to vote in the Sound Editing category. :oP Crap! This has just been a very meh year for me cinematically, I guess. I am failing in my one skill. This distresses me greatly.

But, anyway, my point is I'll get the ballot up as soon as possible. Until then, here's a little scoopage I picked up over at EW.com re: some of Hugh Jackman's singing partners:

EW has confirmed reports that Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Beyonce, Amanda Seyfried, and possibly Mamma Mia's Dominic Cooper will indeed perform with Hugh Jackman this Sunday on the Academy Awards.

I also know that Rob Pattinson is going to be at the Oscars in some capacity - most likely presenting - to hype the March DVD release of Twilight. Word on the street is Rob did not want to come and do it because he needed to "fulfill a few longstanding commitments with old friends. Unfortunately professional pressures forced a change in plans. Summit, having just seen a box office bomb with Push" strong-armed him into giving a little face time at the Oscars as advertising. This will surely distress Zac Efron, since rumor has it he views Rob as his mortal enemy. It will never happen but a teen hearthrob throw-down would make the Oscars MUCH more interesting, wouldn't it?!

Oscar Noms

Okay. I know someone somewhere will wander to my blog to see my reaction to this morning's Oscar nominations. But I have a confession to make: I don't care very much. Inconceivable! I know! But with everything that's going on I have fallen weeks behind in my magazines and am thus not really up on predictions, prognostications, etc. (I am at least current in my Web gossip so don't worry that I'm having a meltdown or anything!) The only visceral reaction I had to the announcements was to the inclusion of The Reader in the Best Picture category. Now, I haven't read much lately but what I have read roundly pooh-poohed the film. In fact, msn.com summed up the nomination best: "[The nomination of] "The Reader" shocks the world. Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress. Yet again, Hollywood proves that anything about the Holocaust gets recognition. Even if it sucks."

And so, since I have nothing of any real value to offer, I give you this.

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos

(Yes, I will brush up on my knowledge for my annual Oscar pool... though, I still haven't received my prize for winning last year [ahem, ROBERT!]...)

Oscar Wrap-Up

As much as I love the Oscars, the morning after is a little stressful for me. So many recaps, so little time! I really have to have a systematic approach to checking all of my favorite sites or else I get all bumfuzzled and convinced I'm missing something incredibly interesting or hilarious. This year, though, the recaps are much like the writers' strike-hindered ceremony was - a bit muted. Actually, there was a striking dearth of biting commentary. Still, I persevered and found a precious few tidbits that made me smile. My favorites?

(1) I will try to keep my opinions on John Travolta to myself, (if you spend any time with me in real life, you know what they are already, anyway!). However, recently the man has been sporting what can only be called fuzz hair. Dust hair. Ron Popeil spray-on hair. It's ridiculous. You know that old game where you had a face, some magnetic shavings and a magnet? And you made funny facial hair on the guy? That's John Travolta's hair. Anyway, when I saw this "Red Carpet 'Ugly' Moment" (and the one that followed) on Gawker.com, I felt vindicated!

Spray-On Hair Party and Matching Hairlines

(2) Also from Gawker.com: Old Country for Old Men ?

(3) Diablo Cody disses the annual 'Million Dollar Shoes' (Defamer.com): "I honestly though they were just sparkly shoes. Mr. Weitzman did mention that the diamonds were real when I tried them on, but I'm not Nancy Rockman, Expert Gemologist." UPDATE! She may be a big, fat, hairy liar!! DiabloShoeGate'08

(4) Much to my chagrin, no one referenced Jennifer Hudson's botched attempt at pronouning Javier Bardem's name. "Har-vy-air"?! Really? You're an Academy Award winning actress and you can't practice one dude's name? Maybe it was hard to see the prompter over her, um, ample assets ... or maybe she attended the Brett Favre/Sade School of "Where's That 'R'?" Name Pronunciation.

(5) I used to love the 'Television Without Pity' site but ever since it "merged" with Bravo, it's kind of sucked. It's just not the same and I. Don't. Like. Change. Plus, the people who run TWoP also ran Fametracker.com, a site I also adored, but since the merger they've put the latter on permanent hiatus. Mew. Anyway, Fametracker used to have a Galaxy of Fame feature that I really liked and that has been absorbed by the new TWoP, it appears. I stumbled across it yesterday in my vigorous post-Oscar Web scouring and it was funny. Not laugh-out-loud hilarious but funny. Now that I've really built it up for you ... Oscars 2008 Edition GoF (The Diablo Cody rant is pretty good. As is the riff on Tilda Swinton).

WE WON!

Hooty-hoo!!!! That’s right, baby … we won!! And all of Robert’s parts are still intact, you’ll be glad to know. :o) The only award he really messed me up on was Best Actress – he didn’t want to pick Marion Cotillard because he thought she was “annoying” in the movie. However, I can’t pin all the blame on him because if I hadn’t thought Julie Christie had a real shot of winning, I wouldn’t have let him pick her.

We won the RHI pool with a total score of 17 out of 24 categories correct, which is respectable, I suppose, but not my finest hour to be sure. I am disappointed that I didn’t do better, especially since I could have had a few more categories right had I stuck with my first choices. (I had a TA in college that always told me never to second-guess; stick with whatever was your gut feeling – never erase!) Still, I am a wee bit competitive and am pleased as punch to have come out victorious, no matter the score! ;o) I admit, I take the Oscar pool a bit too seriously … I am well aware that it doesn’t have any bearing on my everyday life but I have a rep to protect, you know?! I take pride in my one skill, however fluffy it may be, and I revel in being right. Sue me.

I do get very animated watching the broadcast and usually scream, shout, flail and punch Robert quite a bit throughout the night, (my voice is a bit scratchy this morning, that’s for sure). Robert thought it was HI-larious and took a bunch of pictures of me. Nice guy. The last one isn’t even of me being upset about the Oscars – I had stubbed my toe (granted, in one of my fits, but still …) and was writhing in pain. I’d best teach myself to self-Heimlich because if all Robert’s going to do is laugh and take photos of my suffering, I’m going to have to take care of myself.

Oscar Ballot

It's that time of year again - Oscar time!! Wheeeeeee!! My friend, Karina, does not understand my love of all things entertainment but I think most of you know me well enough to know that I pride myself on my random entertainment knowledge. And that every year Robert Half's Corp. Comm. department has an Oscar pool that Robert (and I think most of you know me well enough to know that when I say "Robert" I mean "me") has won or been very close to winning almost every year. Robert prides himself on his Oscar ballot prowess ... :o) So, without further ado, here are this year's picks:

Now, because it is technically Robert's ballot, if I have a category narrowed down to two choices I can't decide between, I let him be the tie-breaker. So, if Tanghi Argentini wins and that causes him to lose the RHI pool, Robert will have considerably more room in his pants. I'm just saying ...