On Oscar Night

The public outcry for a blog about the Oscars was so loud (thanks, Casey!) that I thought I would oblige, even though I'm late. I did have a draft in my box regarding my favorite moment of the Oscars, but I decided the ceremony, as a whole, deserved a critique.



Jon Stewart
Best Joke: Regarding Norbit's nomination for make-up. "Too often the Academy ignores movies that aren't good."

Runner up: Regarding the effects of the Strike. "The Vanity Fair party was canceled out of respect for the writers. You know how you could also show respect of the writers? Invite them to the Vanity Fair Oscar party. They'd enjoy it."

Fashion
Best dress: Markéta Irglová, could be my girl crush though. It was modest and cool in the front and the back was cut out. I want it!











Runner up: Marion Cotillard, mermaid done right.














Worst dressed: Mrs. Daniel Day Lewis, one hopes this dress was worn ironically but I fear the worst.










Runner up: Cameron Diaz, why was she there again?










Speeches
Best: Markéta Irglová and Glen Hassard Glen "Make art! Make art! Markéta: "No matter how far out your dreams are, they can become true…fair play to those who dare to dream and don’t give up…" Cue my tears.

Runner Up: Marion Cotillard "Thank you life, thank you love. It is true there are some angels in this city." If anyone but her would have said this, my eyes would have fallen out from a violent eye roll. But she pulled it off (could have been the accent, could have been the genuine joy) and a new girl crush was born.

Second runner up: Tilda Swinton, "and George Clooney, you know, the seriousness and the dedication to your art, seeing you climb into that rubber bat suit from Batman and Robin, the one with the nipples, every morning under your costume, on the set, off the set, hanging upside-down at lunch, you rock,man." She is just creepy enough to make fun of George and get away with it. Pretty funny. . . and unexpected.

Moments
Best: John Stewart bringing Markéta Irglová back out after the orchestra mistakenly played her off. Very classy Jon.

Runner up: Daniel Day Lewis getting knighted with Oscar by last year's winner for The Queen, Helen Mirren. Funny and weirdly appropriate.


Awards:
Most deserved: Daniel Day-Lewis. He was the front-runner and for good reason. Even George knew it and conceded by giving him a kiss...

Runner Up: "Falling Slowly" from Once. After watching all the songs being performed, it was clear that all that over-produced musical muck deserved to get beat by simple piano and guitar.

What the hell?: Tilda Swinton, Best Supporting Actress. She was in the movie for like five minutes, and she is no Judi Dench. I was rooting for Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone. If you haven't seen that, stop reading and go watch. Now.

Not Cool: Producer Scott Rudin gave a heartfelt thanks to his partner "Thanks to my partner, John Barlow. Without you, honey, this is just hardware." We didn't get the obligatory reaction shot of John looking proud and teary, which we normally see when people (especially significant others) are name checked in thank yous. Get with it Oscar.

Best back stage report: From USA Today, Glen and Markéta played with their won statues. Glen said: “Let’s put them together, like if they are kissing each other.” Marketa: “But they are two boys!” Glen: “But this is Hollywood!” Ho ho ho. Those two.

Random: I was reading ew.com's live Oscar blog as I watched and it was also very entertaining. My favorite blog post of the night came when Javier Bardem won his well-deserved Best Supporting Actor award and he finished the rest of his speech in Spanish. Then on the blog, EW's Annie Barret did her own translation of what he said. "I am so sexy so sexy so sexy so sexy adios." Oh man, I laughed. Doubly so when Aggen decided to just text "Ovaries" to Jared, as a result of being immensely attracted to Javier Bardem.

On Afghan cuisine

Yum!

Honestly, no other words can describe the food I ate tonight.

I have no idea what the spices were, but I know that I'll have to experience them again very soon.

Dave and I decided to shake things up and give one of the city's very few Afghan restaurants a try. We decided on Khyber Pass in the East Village. It was all curtains, hookahs, plush couches, candles and fantastic cuisine. I hope to return in the VERY near future.

My stomach was in a state of bliss for the rest of the evening. Yay for trying new foods!

Quotable #1

Location: My room, 123rd and Broadway

Players: Me, Aggen

Quote: "Will you dustbust my crotch?" Aggen says.

Action: I went to the bathroom to retrieve my Kone dustbuster (great design and functional, thank you Target). I proceeded to do as asked and in turn had to place the dustbuster in awkward positions

Response: "That dustbuster just violated me," Aggen says.

—Scene—

Celebrity Sighting

Celebrity sighted: Christian Siriano, Project Runway Season 4 contestant

Location: Avenue A and 7th St.

Info: My favorite of the current contestants, I spotted Christian walking down the street surrounded by about five friends. I heard his voice first and instantly recognized his distinctive haircut and glasses.

Notes: He's about my height and had flawless skin.

TimesCenter Talks: Breakthrough Stars

Jacky and I went to a talk at the TimesCenter this past Friday. It was a discussion tied into The New York Times Magazine's coverage of this year's breakout stars. The stars on hand were Juno's Ellen Page and Amy Adams, the world's worst mom from Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone. Jason Rietman, the director of Juno and also Thank You For Smoking was also there, I'm guessing The Times couldn't secure any of the other stars on their Breakout List, so Mr. Reitman graciously appeared, making for a trio of current Oscar nominees.

The discussion was best when the moderator wasn't speaking. I won't go into too many details, but let's just say it made me very confident in my ability to interview celebrities someday. Most of the questions began with the phrase, "So I read that . . ." Hey, do you're own reporting, they've already answered those questions once before.

Moving on . . . Ellen Page was adorable, Rietman hilarious and Amy Ryan just exudes talent and class. They showed small clips from Juno and Gone Baby Gone and I've got to admit that Page's performance does not warrant an Oscar nomination like Ryan's does. If you haven't seen Gone Baby Gone, oh my. Ryan disappears in her character of the mother of a kidnapped little girl and becomes all crass despicable trash, but in the most astounding and affecting way possible.

All in all the talk was entertaining. Now I can boast that I've shared space with three Oscar nominees at once. Thank you TimesCenter.

Once

I'm in love.

I haven't been hit this hard in awhile. It comes around rarely but when it does, it becomes an obsession. Many of you know it hit me hard in 7th grade, causing me to see Titanic more times then I'd care to admit. It's hit me with The Lord of the Rings, Garden State and Before Sunrise/Before Sunset, among others. And it has happened again with a little gem of a movie called Once, I'm just upset it has taken me this long to see it.

The blame lies with laziness. When Once was in theaters in New York, it was playing in only one theater and it was way downtown. Even though all I read about it said it was wonderful, I didn't manage to see it in theaters. So shame on me for being so lazy.

Now that I've seen it, the love affair has begun. If you haven't seen it, yet, rent it immediately. It follows a street musician and a young women he meets while playing as they become friends and decide to play music together. There is a scene when they are recording for the first time in a studio and the scene is almost one take of them playing the song. I haven't been enthralled like that by a single scene . . . ever. It's not just that the songs are good (I am a sucker for Irish songsmiths. Aggen even called the lead in this film a poor man's Damien Rice. I wouldn't go that far, but man he can wail!) But the passion in the scene gave me goosebumps. The movie is more than just a cute story, more than just sweet songs. It is about two people falling in love with music as they might be falling in love with each other. They don't need big budgets or grand gestures such as a chase to the airport. It just takes the two of them and a piano to create perfection.

On Oscar: Best Picture

I'm praying the Writer's Strike ends in time for Oscar night. The debacle that was the "Golden Globes" shouldn't happen to the Oscars. However, I will accept the cancelation of the show if the writer's don't get a deal that treats them right. I support the writer's all the way. Damn the man (the man being the AMPTP). But enough about that. Now my thoughts on the best picture nominees. (Spoilers to follow)

Atonement
I bucked my usual protocol and read the book before seeing this film. If you haven't seen or read it, just know that there is a very steamy sex scene (see picture) and reading it on the subway, surrounded by strangers, made for an awkward ride home—he, he, if only they knew what I was reading. Anyway, the film. I'm glad I read the book first, but as adaptations go, this one included all the parts I wanted to see and enlightened me on parts of the book I missed. I was very impressed with the young actress who played Briony. She was perfect and I was glad to hear she will also be appearing in Peter Jackson's (!!!) adaptation of The Lovely Bones. So Atonement, overall it was very well made. Much as been made of the over 5 minute tracking shot and I'll admit it was solid. But we've seen long tracking shots used before, and used to better effect. The film felt balanced in following each story line, whereas the book felt like to dwelled on the war too much, so I was happy with that. Kiera Knightly and James McAvoy were both well cast, especially McAvoy. And the aforementioned sex scene surprised me. I can't recall another sex scene of that kind not employing some kind of music. The lack of music was a little jarring, but in a good way. Romance, sweeping score (that used a typewriter!!), and a tragic ending? Sold.

Juno
Otherwise known as this year's Little Miss Sunshine, which makes me predisposed to settle into the backlash against it. Even though I actually really enjoyed it. Note: I said I enjoyed it. I didn't say it was funny. As has been noted in my Dan's blog, I too was disappointed in what was promised and then delivered with Juno in regards to comedy. It was sold to me as a female response to Knocked Up and I believed in all the hilarity that sell line implies. I was wrong. It was humorous in a chuckle kind of way, but there were no great belly laughs to be had. Tears? Yes. Who wouldn't well up when Michael Cera gives you a well-timed spoon after you give birth, and then give up, his child? Nevertheless, does Juno deserve to be in this category? No. In my collection next to Superbad or This Is Spinal Tap? No. In my collection next to Love Actually and When Harry Met Sally...? Um... yes.

Michael Clayton
The only one of our nominees that I saw after the nominees were announced, and thus Michael Clayton was doomed to disappoint. Disappoint may be to strong a word. Doomed to be deemed as no big deal. I enjoy George Clooney in a suit as much as the next guy and Michael Clayton gives us plenty of that along with plenty of intrigue, scheming and corporate greed. Tom Wilkinson's nomination is well deserved, he fully creeped me out. As much as I'd like to see George win so I can hear his acceptance speech (if the show goes on), I believe he has been outclassed this year by better actors, in far better films. Better luck next time Georgie.

No Country For Old Men
Ah, the Cohen Brothers. You've done it this time. I've never been as struck by the power of silence like I was here. Javier Bardem embodies that power by barely speaking throughout the entire film. But when he does...oh my! A voice stuck somewhere between a croak and a growl. The film's silence is matched only by its bleakness, both in landscape and in relative outlook. Complete unadulterated evil gets me every time. Tommy Lee, the only beacon of good, is a broken shell of a man who can't understand the madness that surrounds him. The editing of the three stories is impeccably sharp and (sigh), I could go on and on; but I won't. I'll leave that to the Academy.

There Will Be Blood
There wasn't really that much blood, which was a pleasant surprise. Another surprise, the more I think about this film, the better it gets in my head. I'm still determined to see it again before Oscar is passed out, but the feelings it left with me makes it my favorite for a Best Picture win. But WHY? That is what I've yet to put my finger on, and others around my can relate. Could be the fluidity of the editing. Could be the brilliance of its unconventional-sounding score. Most likely it has a lot to do with Daniel Day Lewis. The scene in the church when he admits he has abandoned his son gives me chills just writing about it. The agony in his cry and on his face, mixed with his contempt for his confessor deserves the Oscar he most definitely will get. Maybe it has to do with the fact that it seems a truly American tale, in the way The Godfather and, begrudgingly, Citizen Kane do. Whatever it is, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Hollywood will be toasting milkshakes to Day-Lewis and crew with an Oscar. If not, there should definitely be blood somewhere.