Oscars 2012

OK! Fifth of Seagram's Seven: check. Half-rack of Red Hook ESB (cold): check. Salad bar from Central Market (best in the city): check. Large sausage and onion from A-Pizza Mart: hot and fresh (just made it back). 

Best Picture - ARGO

Best Director - Steven Spielberg

Best Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis 

Best Actress:  Jennifer Lawrence

Best Supporting Actor - Robert DeNiro

Best Supporting Actress - Sally Field 

The man-cave is manned--let the bachelornalia begin.  I won't be blogging live, but will post everything once it's all over--

5:02pm  Apparently, the ceremony starts at 5:30pm this year.  Fine by me, but I was ready for a 5:00pm kick-off.

5:26pm  I absolutely revile the red carpet.  The anticipation of the ceremony itself is bad enough, but having to listen to all this drivel and pandering—looks like I have to go through purgatory to get to paradise—

5:52pm  Christ, Seth McFarlane can be both classy and puerile in the same moment.  The intro with William Shatner kept skirting the line between offensive and self-indulgent and some kind of tribute to filmmaking and Hollywood notables.  He strikes me as egocentric, despite being self-deprecating.

But Christoph Waltz for Best Supporting?!  I was pulling for DeNiro, but I’m perfectly happy for Waltz.  That’s two-for-two, Waltz nominations and win for being in a Tarantino movie.  Also, his acceptance speech had a few cool in-jokes.

6:10pm  Best Animated Short Subject to PAPERBOY, and Best Animated Feature to BRAVE.  Didn’t see either.

Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects to LIFE OF PI?  Fucking excellent!  Both very well-deserved.  Also, my first (two) correct predictions for the evening.

6:25pm  Best Costume to ANNA KARENINA?  Didn’t see that coming—but then again, didn’t see it.  Would’ve thought it’d go to LES MISERABLES, given the production value.  So no surprise that it picked up Best Makeup.

The James Bond tribute is less than thrilling.

6:36pm  Best Live Action Short Film to CURFEW, Best Documentary Short goes to goes to INOCENTE.  Then Best Documentary to SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN.  Didn’t see any of them.  But:  what’s up with the orchestra, when they want to play someone off, they use the theme from JAWS?  They’ve done that twice now.  (Though, the speech for Best Visual Effects guy certainly deserved to be played off.)

6:52pm  Michael Haneke wins Best Foreign Language Film for AMOUR.  No surprise there.

6:58pm  A tribute to the musicals of the last decade?!  Celebrating CHICAGO, DREAMGIRLS, and LES MISERABLES?  I have to say, this is turning out to be a year of non-events.  This in addition to Seth McFarlane’s hit-and-miss hosting.

Though, I’ll admit, the LES MISERABLES number really worked.  I still don’t think it’ll fare much better throughout the night. 

7:17pm  A tie for Best Sound Editing?!  That’s unprecedented, or so I believe.  So ZERO DARK THIRTY picks up its first award of the night.  And SKYFALL?  I know nothing about.

Best Sound Mixing to LES MISERABLES?  I can see that.

7:24pm  Anne Hathaway for Best Supporting Actress for LES MISERABLES?  I guess I can see that, too.

7:34pm  Best Editing for ARGO.  Yes, absolutely.  Hadn’t realized that the same guy, William Goldenberg, was also up for ZERO DARK THIRTY in the same category, and I would’ve applauded that as a win, too.

8:02pm  A moving In Memoriam tribute.  Raise my glass to Charles Durning, Ernest Borgnine, and Marvin Hamlisch.  Excellent rendition of “The Way We Were” by Barbra Streisand.

8:17pm  Adele wins Best Original Song for SKYFALL.  Don’t know what to make of that—other than the fact that the Bond tribute earlier was totally not worth it.

8:29pm  Best Adapted Screenplay for ARGO!  Wonderful!  Tarantino for Best Original Screenplay!!  Yes!!  My favorite win of the night!!

8:38pm  Jesus Christ!!  Best Director goes to Ang Lee for LIFE OF PI!!  I don’t think this much changes the odds for Best Picture going to ARGO, but I would’ve thought it’d go to LINCOLN, so this certainly changes the outlook.

9:03pm  Best Actress to Jennifer Lawrence, and Best Actor to Daniel Day-Lewis?
Well, yes, I predicted it, but still a great moment.

9:05pm Best Picture to ARGO!!  Sure, that wasn’t a hard one to call, but it’s still great to see that one win.

Well there you are, a fairly good shakeout for the year, and a could’ve-been-worse Oscar ceremony.  Still say Seth McFarlane was a decent choice to host, and he did the job justice, but there were a lot of low points.  Still better than some previous hosts I could name--

Oscars 2011

5:31pm

They started half an hour early this year!  I was barely back from A-Pizza Mart with my large sausage and onion in time for the kick-off.  Good thing I plan ahead (I almost got caught short by an early start in 2001, too, so I’m good to go this year--).  Pizza from A-Pizza (closest thing to what Godfather's *used* to be like--fuck you, Herman Cain), salad from Central Market, a slice of coconut cream pie for afters, a pint of Seagram's 7, and a refrigerator full of Red Hook ESB.  Ready as I'll ever be--

A very straight-ahead affair this year:  no big production numbers, just Billy Crystal’s opening bit where he walks through the year’s nominated Best Picture nominees.  No countdown from the red carpet, like in years past.  But this early start has me scrambling to get my laptop set up, and keep current on the awards as they're announced.  The pacing is pretty fast this time out.

5:44pm

First winners are Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction, both to HUGO.  I predicted both, since HUGO is such a sensory assault, whereas THE ARTIST is simply beautiful.  I think HUGO is going to be a big winner tonight.

5:55pm

Best Costume goes to THE ARTIST, which is fair.  I’d predicted HUGO, but only because I think that might sweep.

6:14pm

Octavia Spencer wins for THE HELP, and tearfully falls apart during her acceptance speech.  I didn't see THE HELP, but I figured if it picked up anything, this would be the category.

6:21pm

So they threw in a sketch by Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, and Catherine O’Hara?  A test group for WIZARD OF OZ back in 1939?  Cool, but…

6:26pm
Editing to GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, which I didn’t see--but I could see how a David Fincher film might win in this category--Fincher won last year with SOCIAL NETWORK.  SOUND EDITING and Best Sound Mixing both go to HUGO, which is picking up a lot of momentum:  could it overtake THE ARTIST and win in the top categories?
6:38pm
If you’re going to have a big dance number that celebrates movies, by all means have Cirque du Soeil do it.

6:45pm

Best Documentary acceptance speech got played off, and when that didn’t work they cut off the mic.  That might be an Oscar first….
6:49pm

Best Animated to RANGO, which was my pick:  Hollywood loves movies about itself, and RANGO was an homage to Hollywood westerns.  And a lot of fun to boot.

6:53pm
I hate Ben Stiller, generally; but I have to admit his Oscar presentation bits have been pretty good.  And again this year, with his time at the podium with Emma Stone.

7:03pm

Very classy acceptance speech by Christopher Plummer for Best Supporting Actor in BEGINNERS.  I had predicted Max von Sydow for EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, since Sydow has been around for almost 50 years. 

7:16pm

Best Original Score to THE ARTIST, which only makes sense (and I had predicted), since in an otherwise silent movie the score really stands out.

7:18pm
THE MUPPETS win for Best Original Song, as I thought, since the Academy likes movies about Hollywood.  Also, good presentation by Will Ferrell and Zach Galinifankis.

7:31pm
Best Adapted Screenply goes to THE DESCENDANTS, which makes me very happy, even more over my pick of MONEYBALL.  Alexander Payne gave a very nice speech, calling out his mother, he says, because Javier Bardem did when he won for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.  Best Original Screenplay goes to Woody Allen for MIDNIGHT IN PARIS.  That one was easy.


7:40pm
THE SHORE wins for Best Live Action Short Subject.  Never heard of it. 
SAVING FACE win for Best Documentary Short Subject.  Never heard of it.

THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE wins Best Animated Short Subject. –
7:55pm
Michel Hazanavicius wins Best Director for THE ARTIST.  So Scorsese loses again.  I’m still thinking that HUGO might pull ahead and win Best Picture, since Hollywood seems to like 3-D more than black-and-white.

7:58pm
And a standing ovation to James Earl Jones, Oprah Winfrey,and makeup artist Dick Smith.  Excellent.


8:07pm
A moving In Memoriam segment, that mostly listed people even I don’t recognize.  Which is not to speak ill of the deceased, but I could only raise my glass respectfully to Peter Falk and Sidney Lumet.  And here’s to them—

8:20pm
OK, so Best Actor goes to Jean Dujardin for THE ARTIST.  I was pulling for George Clooney, I thought his performance in THE DESCENDANTS was more nuanced.  Here's hoping the Academy voters were appreciating the subtleties of silent film acting, rather than just the novelty.  This adds to THE ARTIST’s sweep, but I’m still holding out that Best Picture may go to HUGO.

8:40pm
Best Actress goes to Meryl Streep, who gave a very gracious acceptance speech.  This is another one (after Best Makeup) that shows the Academy likes performances that highlight familiar likenesses.

THE ARTIST as Best Picture is consistent with Oscar predictors, but is still less than a win I’d thought for HUGO.  I don’t mind it, though.  And I'm willing to bet that Scorsese is happy with it too:  no doubt in my mind he loves THE ARTIST.

And that was the shortest, tightest Oscar ceremony I can remember.  I, for one, don't want to know what Brett Ratner and Eddie Murphy would've done with it.

As for my predictions:  I called 13 out of 21 winners (I didn't hazard a guess on the short subjects, since I hadn't seen or read anything about them).  Not bad, better luck next year.

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards

Has it really been a year since I've posted anything to this blog? Whatever became of me? (Facebook, that's what--) I know I wanted to put up a picture of the '86 Chevy Nova junker I was driving after my car died, then post a follow-up on the '90 Honda Civic I got at the impound auction. In the summer I got a roommate--and just last week, she moved out. Very sad.

But, it's Oscar time again, and I'll try to get mini-reviews of the contenders up on my other blog, Russ and His Reviews. Meanwhile, here are my notes from last night (I couldn't blog live, as my laptop no longer does internet).

THE OSCAR TELECAST

5:49pm
Great opening montage sequence of all the Best Picture nominees, followed by a fairly good tongue-in-cheek montage based on INCEPTION, that the hosts are in former host Alec Baldwin’s dream. Off to a good start.

And the first Oscar of the night goes to—ALICE IN WONDERLAND, for Best Art Direction. I’d guessed INCEPTION, didn’t see ALICE IN WONDERLAND. But, a moment later: Wally Pfister wins for Best Cinematography for INCEPTION! I’d picked Roger Deakins for TRUE GRIT, but I’m happy to be wrong on this one.

6:08pm
Kirk Douglas as a presenter? He’s not so photogenic or personable in his 90’s. At times embarrassing, he did redeem himself with his delayed reading of Best Supporting Actress name. And it’s Melissa Leo for THE FIGHTER! As I’d predicted—along with everyone else. She was odds-on favorite, and much deserving. First histrionic speech of the evening, and she even had to be bleeped! That might actually be an Oscar first, I’ll have to check on that.

Best Animated Short Feature went to something I’d never heard of, Best Animated Feature went unsurprisingly to TOY STORY 3.

6:20pm
Best Adapted Screenplay goes to Aaron Sorkin for THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Fair enough, though I’d guessed TRUE GRIT. He started to get played off, and justifiably so. Still, it’s a good win and I’m glad he’s gotten some recognition.

Best Original Screenplay goes to THE KING’S SPEECH. Good and well, I’d hoped for INCEPTION, still have to see what kind of night is developing. David Seidler so far has given the best acceptance speech.

6:35pm
Best Foreign Film goes to IN A BETTER WORLD, don’t know anything about that.

Best Supporting Actor to Christian Bale, much deserved for THE FIGHTER, a movie that I hope does well tonight. He also plugged a .com in his acceptance speech, which I’m pretty sure is an Oscar first.

6:51pm
And now Trent Reznor has an Oscar?!! Fuck yes!! But what the hell: in his tuxedo and lugubrious and all, you wouldn’t guess this is the guy from Nine Inch Nails. In its own way, this is incredible.

Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing both go to INCEPTION. Yes!! Hope this signals some larger Oscar sweep, though that’s unlikely.

7:03pm
Best Makeup goes to THE WOLFMAN. Didn’t see it, but I have no doubt Rick Baker is much deserving.

Best Costume to ALICE IN WONDERLAND, when I thought it might be TRUE GRIT.

7:24pm
Best Documentary goes to INSIDE JOB, no surprise there.

7:37pm
Best Visual Effects to INCEPTION. Fuck right.

Best Editing to THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Fair enough, it was actually my prediction (though I could make arguments for BLACK SWAN or TRUE GRIT or THE FIGTHER as well.)

7:49pm
Best Song goes to Randy Newman for TOY STORY 3. No great surprise there either. Good acceptance speech, though.

7:58pm
And a respectable elegy to those who passed this last year, even if it was by Celine Dion. I drank to Arthur Penn and Dennis Hopper.

8:04pm
Tom Hooper for Best Director for THE KING’S SPEECH? Really? Best call out to mother in acceptance speech, though—

8:28pm
Best Actress to Natalie Portman!!! Damn right. But Best Actor to Colin Firth for THE KING’S SPEECH? Oddly enough, I’d been more for Jesse Eisenberg for SOCIAL NETWORK.

8:39pm
THE KING’S SPEECH wins for Best Picture. I’m disappointed, but not quite outraged.

The fact that they’re concluding this broadcast with a chidlren’s chorus of “Over the Rainbow", however—

The 82nd Academy Awards -- Live!

5:11pm Game time. Red Hook, Black Velvet, and Southern Comfort (for special toasts) fully stocked; sausage and onion pizza and dinner salad from Absolute Pizza up the street. Here we go.

Last minute predictions:

Best Picture: AVATAR
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, CRAZY HEART
Best Actress: Gabourey Sidibe, PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
Best Adapted Screenplay: Geoffrey Fletcher, PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIE
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Eleven minutes to kick off....

5:53pm Campy opening song and dance number by Neil Patrick Harris, followed by a refreshingly good opening monologue by Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. Martin has hosted twice before, first time he was really annoying and second time was pretty good. He's shaping up pretty well this time around.

First Oscar of the night goes to Christoph Waltz for INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, no real surprise there. And presenter Penelope Cruz slipped and said "And the winner is...", not the established "And the Oscar goes to...".

6:07pm Best Animated Feature goes to UP, as I'd hoped--I wouldn't mind seeing it being a spoiler and grabbing Best Picture if AVATAR and HURT LOCKER split the vote. I thought UP was amazing in every way, and it's the nominee that I have the fewest problems with.

Best Song goes to "The Weary Kind" from CRAZY HEART, which I was also pulling for. Though I much preferred "A Hold On You" from the same movie, I thought that was excellent, and I don't much like country music.

6:26pm Mark Boal wins Best Original Screenplay for HURT LOCKER. Interesting, I didn't think it had much of a story. I'd guessed Tarantino for INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, simply because I thought it was novel. No complaints.

And a warm tribute to John Hughes from the brat pack he introduced to audiences. I was never a big fan, but I have to admit he did some good work.

6:47pm I didn't see any of the nominees in the short subjects categories, so I didn't have a pick there. I would've guessed Nick Park, but that's only because he's a known entity, and I don't know the others.

I also haven't seen any of the nominees for Best Makeup, so I can't say whether STAR TREK deserved it or not.

7:03pm YES!! Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress go to PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE (Geoffrey Fletcher and Mo'Nique, resp.). This is a film that deserves more attention, so I'm enthusiastic that they got recognition. I'm hoping this bodes well for a win by Gabourey Sidibe as Best Actress, and builds momentum for a spoiler in the Best Picture category.

Best Costume goes to THE YOUNG VICTORIA, didn't see it but it was a period piece so that's no surprising. I'd've guessed COCO BEFORE CHANEL, simply because it was a movie about costumes/fashion. Didn't see that either, though, so I couldn't say.

7:31pm Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing both go to HURT LOCKER. As they should. And a tribute to horror films that was refreshingly inclusive. I'm just disappointed that the Governor's Award to Roger Corman didn't get more attention.

7:42pm Best Cinematography to AVATAR, and rightly so.

And a great retrospective of those who died in 2009.

8:00pm Best Original Score goes to UP. Cool.

Best Visual Effects goes to AVATAR. Really? Never would've....

8:11pm And Editing goes to HURT LOCKER. Again, no surprise.

8:37pm Best Actor to Jeff Bridges for CRAZY HEART. Most excellent, though I hate the new hagiographic presetation they're doing now, where five presenters get up and laud the nominees. Guess it's a trade off for the fact that they're now allowed to say "And the Oscar goes to..."

9:05pm What an evening! Sandra Bullock for THE BLIND SIDE, didn't see it.

Best Direction goes to Kathryn Bigelow, and Best Picture goes to HURT LOCKER. Excellent!

Midwinter

What a day. By noon it was warm enough to open the windows in my bedroom and in the living room (I have southern frontage). The Seattle TIMES reports it got up to 57 today. Perfectly clear sky, no breeze. I got out the denim shorts, for the first time since October or so, and took the bike out of storage downstairs, then rode up to the filling station to firm up the tires. Then cycled around for a bit, flexing my quads some, not wanting to overdue it. No jacket, just a flannel over my t-shirt, and a small backpack--I was going down to Fred Meyer's for some sundries, figured I'd do some light shopping. I'm almost out of paper towels; this is only the second roll I've had to buy since My Crazy Ex-Roommate moved out last April, whereas she'd burn through a roll in three weeks. And I've had a hell of a time matching the second light bulb in the bathroom, since I want to switch to those econo-bulbs and I had to replace a tungsten; could never get the color temperature/brightness to match the one I have now. Today, success.

Perfect riding weather today: cool and sunny, but no breeze. Even now, drawing up on 7:00pm, it's too stuffy in here for me not to open a window or two here in the living room. And it's February, technically midwinter here. The east coast and the midwest are buried in snow, and I'm wearing my denim knee-lengths. Don't tell me it's global warming--our summer was fairly mild as well. And to think, someone recently took me to task for preferring "horrible rainy climates". Sure, it'll be down to the 30s overnight, the temperature will drop fairly fast now that the sun is down, but the days will be just fine. That's another thing: first sunset of the new year, I got to watch the sun go down while having a beer on the couch. Bachelorhood at its finest.

Now I'm having leftover almond fried chicken and rice from Julie's Garden, before I walk down to the liquor store for more Black Velvet and Red Hook. Then it's downtown, shoot some pool and get in some pinball. This lion in winter is having a capital time. Ain't life grand?

Pork Windfall

My car is out of commission, so this last weekend my Marxist-Leninist Ex-Roommate drove me down to Tacoma to check out a 1989 Mazda 626 I saw on Craigslist. (I decided not to go for it, but anyway.) While we were down there, he was gracious enough to drive me on a grocery run for my mother, whom I hadn't seen since Christmas (due to my Honda needing a distributor and coil, probably not worth the cost of repair).

As I was loading several bags of Safeway groceries into his car, I happened to notice a shopping cart left up against the lamp post next to us. It had a plastic bag left in it, seems that someone was loading up their car in a hurry and left one of their purchases behind (it was raining fairly hard, so that's not surprising). I looked around, to see if there was anyone nearby who would claim it...no one. I checked the bag: it was a Family-Pak of country-style pork ribs. Almost seven pounds' worth.

OK, found food is one thing. But this wasn't pre-packaged, it was in that butcher department shrink-wrap on a styrofoam tray. Anyway, I grabbed it and took it home.

Upon further inspection, it had a package date of the 24th, the same day I found it, and there weren't any obvious breaks in the plastic. It seemed to be a perfectly good pack of meat, just left behind for a few minutes outside in the rain.

So I got into it: last night I cooked up a pot of garlic rice, and threw two of the ribs into a casserole dish and baked at 425F for a while. Came out great, and was a great dietary boost, since I've had a sore throat the last few days, and could use the nourishment.

Today I stopped at Uwajimaya and picked up the biggest baking potato I could find, made some mashed potatoes while I baked some more ribs. Excellent.

And I called my mother, asked her how she makes that pork rib soup, with the barley. She went over it, think I'm going to try and cook up a pot of that before throwing whatever pork I have left into the freezer (individually wrapped in wax paper).

Pork largesse! Is "porciferous" a word (yet)?

Bring Out the Biker In Me

Did something tonight I've been meaning to do for months: I got My Crazy (Ex-) Roommate's bike from down in the basement, and took it out. It's been fuckin' years since I rode a bike.

Had to inflate the tires, but the seat was at just the right height (MC(E)R being just an inch or two shorter than me). Rode down to 85th and back, then up to 121st. Learned that Greenwood for the most part rises very subtly as you go north, and consequently is slightly downhill on the way south. I used to ride my bike all over Tacoma, right up until I bought my first car in '96, at age 28. Since then, I've kinda fallen out of practice. Had a bike here at the apartment a few years back, but it got stolen. So tonight was kind of a throwback to earlier times; it was great to ride through some of the nearby neighborhoods, the evening cool and dark. Here's hoping I get back into the habit.