Showing posts with label 2013 Oscars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2013 Oscars. Show all posts

Oscars 2013 - The Best of 2012 Honored

Posted by Unknown On Wednesday, 25 February 2015 0 comments

So to write a recap here…I thought about writing an article and following a format…and then I thought, NO. I’m the Common Guy; it’s time for stream of consciousness random bullet points. So here you go, take them for what they are worth!
Let’s start at the beginning….

Seth MacFarlane
There are MANY that are blasting Seth today, but I’m not one of them. MacFarlane’s current stuff was funny and edgy, but much less harsh than Ricky Gervais’ Golden Globe hosting turns. Sure some say, it’s just the Globes…these are the OSCAR’S. Well Seth’s performance will get a lot more of the youth than the James Franco and Anne Hathaway turn of a couple of years past. That said it started a lot stronger than it finished. Some of Seth’s jokes did cross the imaginary line in the sand. And the final song about the losers…sorry that was terrible. Overall – If I were to grade him, it’s not a bad first effort…B-

Argo
I loved seeing Argo win! It was my top film of the year and the Academy seldom sees eye to eye with me. I’ve seen many argue that Argo didn’t deserve the award and to those haters, wow, I just don’t get it. And sorry...but I loved Ben Affleck (as an aside the Critics' Choice Movie Awards win for Ben and Argo was one of the only groups that voted BEFORE the Oscar Snub).

Daniel Day-Lewis
Amazing…the guy has comic timing too. If you’re acting in a year that he is…don’t do your best performance ever because it just won’t be good enough.

Jennifer Lawrence
The fall…oh the fall…sure she almost took a header up the stairs, but she still looked good doing it. I think she was real when she got there, and that’s the big thing. Plus she DID deliver a really good performance.

Life of Pi
Ang Lee takes home the gold in the directing category and I felt that was the surprise most likely to happen. After the earlier awards for the film, you could see the love and it became more evident that the voters love the film.

What’s With The Cameras?
Many times when the winner was up or even the presenters came on stage you could hear a very evident sound in the background. It was the shutters of cameras. Really? We expect more from the Oscar telecast…and for those who are going to get down Seth’s throat…this was just one of the show annoyances that seemed to take place.

It’s A Tie
Ok…that was cool. Sure it wasn’t in a major category, but that is cool to see and from what others are saying it’s the 6th one in Oscar history.

The Song Awards Category
They give the awards, and say we heard from all of the two earlier than we get two clip packaged songs, and a final performance…really? And this same show is celebrating music in the movies?

Music Numbers
Ok, speaking of music there are two totally different thoughts I have on the numbers throughout.
  • 1.    Look they were all a different form of fantastic on the surface. Shirley Bassey with Goldfinger and Catherine Zeta Jones, Jennifer Hudson and the cast of Les Miserables really nailed their songs.
  • 2.     WHY WAS THERE SO MUCH EMPHASIS ON THEM? That’s the bigger question I have. In fact someone tweeted that at one point I believe it was 36 minutes of telecast with 2 awards. Do the Grammy’s do extended movie clips of some of the best music in movies of the year? It’s movies people, and while they were spectacularly done…if we kept to movies, we might not have to run REALLY long.
  • 3.     Adele knocked her number out of the park, and I exclude that from my criticism of the music numbers because it WAS a nominee on this night.

The First Lady
No matter your political view, you should be appalled by that “twist” at the end. This is not a late night talk show, it’s the Oscars. If you want to have her walk out with Jack, that’s one thing, but that last award is always presented by a monster movie star (at least in my lifetime), someone iconic with the industry. Michelle Obama is not that type of person. And I’d feel the same way if it were Hilary Clinton, Laura Bush, or even Barack Obama himself, this is not the place to insert someone like that. If they wanted her to be a part of the humanitarian award of the night…I could see it. But instead this was just clunky and out of place. The scene behind her looked terribly staged and hey it was Midnight out there on the east coast.

And Finally…the In Memoriam Segment
First let me say…this is not about POLITICS. But I’m sure I’m going to anger a number of my liberal friends by saying this but the Barbara Streisand performance was overkill to the extreme. Let me get this out of the way first, like with the musical segments…Streisand sang beautifully. HOWEVER, this was a segment about those who passed, NOT BARBARA STEISAND. The segment has always been one to build applause throughout to the most iconic individuals we lost this year. Instead we end with Marvin Hamlisch (love him) but the focus is all Steisand NOT those who had passed. There were no Hollywood individuals in the background that passed there was just Barbara and all about her. The Academy has done the someone singing live in the background before, but usually there was an occasional inset of the singer, or a split screen that occasionally went back to the singer. This was just OVER THE TOP and out of place to no end.

Overall 
The show wasn’t awful…I liked Seth for the most part, but felt the clunky organization of the night and the removal of focus on the Best Picture nominees was a real letdown. I could go on for ages, and reserve the right to do so, but I need to run off to a screening of a 2013 title now...so I bid you all good day. 

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Oscar Noms on the Day of the Critics' Choice Movie Awards

Posted by Unknown On Saturday, 10 January 2015 0 comments
Well here it is...Oscar noms this morning...on the day of the Critics' Choice Movie Awards. That means some of the below candidates are going to be in a VERY good mood at tonight's award show on The CW at 8ET/7CT.

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

Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight

Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin, Argo
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hofman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained


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

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook

Animated Feature Film
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph

Cinematography
Seamus McGarvey, Anna Karenina
Robert Richardson, Django Unchained
Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi
Janusz Kaminski, Lincoln
Roger Deakins, Skyfall

Costume Design
Anna Karenina
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Show White and the Huntsman

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

Documentary Feature
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Searching for Sugar Man

Documentary Short Subject
Inocente
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption

Film Editing
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Foreign Language Film
Amour
Kon-Tiki
No
A Royal Affair
War Witch

Makeup and Hairstyling
Hitchcock
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Mierables

Music (Original Score)
Anna Karenina
Argo
Life Of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

Music (Original Song)
Before My Time, Chasing Ice
Everybody Needs a Best Friend, Ted
Pi's Lullaby, Life of Pi
Skyfall, Skyfall
Suddenly, Les Miserables

Production Design
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Unexpeted Journey
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln

Short Film (Animated)
Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head Over Heels
Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"
Paperman

Short Film (Live Action)
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew
Death of a Shadow
Henry

Sound Editing
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty

Sound Mixing
Argo
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

Visual Effects
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Marvel's The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Writing (Original Screenplay)
Amour
Django Unchained
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty

The ceremony is Sunday, Feb 24 at 7E, 4P LIVE on ABC.

What do you think?

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