It's Oscar Weekend and Part of Me Says "Who The Hell Cares?"

Remember when Wayne's World did an Oscar Episode and made fun of Jonathon Demme, Dances with Wolves, and Joe Pesci?  That was back when the Oscars basically ruled my entire spring semester.  I was constantly pouring over Entertainment Weekly and Premiere magazines, analyzing the pundits picks and wanting to be as accurate as possible in my Oscar picks.  Sometimes I hosted Oscar parties at my house - but that ended after a while, when I fully realized that my guests actually thought my Oscar parties were social occasions.

Yes, I liked to listen to every joke, every presenter's bit, every acceptance speech, and every musical performance.  No talking unless it's a commercial.  And god help my guests - or anyone else in the room - if I got a pick wrong or was devastated over a major upset.  

Those days are long gone.  I still see way more movies than the average american person, but since becoming a runner and being a more active outdoors person, I see way fewer movies than I used to.  I'm lucky if I see half of the Best Picture Nominees.  And these days, that could still only be four movies.

This year, I did exactly see half of them:  BOYHOOD, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, THE IMITATION GAME, and WHIPLASH.

I fully anticipate seeing BIRDMAN before the big night, thanks to Corey's VUDU account :)

Oscar picks - i still make them, although I'm not exactly as hard-core about them as I used to be.  I do a little bit of research, I consider the other award shows and critics choices.  I like being right but I'd rather see the "right" person win.  I sure do cry more during acceptance speeches.  And find that there are far fewer surprises, too.  Remember when Juliette Binoche won for THE ENGLISH PATIENT and beat out Lauren Bacall?  Or when Roberto Bengini jumped on his chair when he won for LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL?  I don't feel like those moments happen any more.  So I have to settle for when super interesting people like Colin Firth or Christian Bale or Penelope Cruz or Natalie Portman win.  Don't get me wrong - I really love Meryl Streep.  But all she has to do is make a movie these days and she gets nominated for an Oscar.  And I love Robert Duvall, too, but he's played the same character since he won for TENDER MERCIES back in the 80's.

So, yeah, maybe I'm watching this year out of habit.  Maybe because my friend Amy invited me to watch the show with her family this year.  Maybe because I have hopes that NPK will be a tremendous host.  Or maybe because I'm excited to see Tegan and Sara on national television.  And while I used to make a huge to-do about my picks, this year I'm just going to spout on my "wish list".
1.  Haven't seen STILL ALICE but have loved Julianne Moore ever since she was in THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE.  It'll be nice to see her finally get a statuette, but I would have voted for Reese Witherspoon because I think that WILD was one of my favorite movies of last year.  Definitely the one that inspired me the most.

2.  Only saw one Best Actor performance from this year, so would have voted for Benedict Cumberbatch.  Still, to see Steve Carell nominated for something unfunny, that's pretty cool.

3.  If you think I'm not secretly voting for Edward Norton to win Best Supporting Actor, you are a damn fool.  He IS, after all, in the Top Ten of my "List" and one of my very favorite actors.  But, J.K. Simmons kicked major ass in WHIPLASH and it will be a very deserved win.

4.  Yeah, I would've voted for Laura Dern as well.  Same reason as Reese.

5.  Sorry, I'm gonna get on my soapbox at some point, as usual, about the Best Original Song nominees.  "Glory" from SELMA seems poised to win this year...and good for John Legend and Common, both of whom I respect greatly.  But it's my understanding that "Glory" is another Original Song Nominee that was written to stick at the end of the film during the credits and has nothing to do with the plot of the film.  Enter "Lost Stars" from BEGIN AGAIN, which was my favorite summer film and EVERY!  SINGLE!  SONG! from that film rocks big time.  The song is an integral part of the plot of the film and one could argue that it's the emotional core of the relationship between Kiera Knightley and Adam Levine in the film.  So it totally should win on that basis...but sadly it probably won't.  Still, it's a luscious bonus that we can hear Adam Levine perform the song live.  What fun that will be.

Okay...that'll get me through for this year.  Any suggestions for what I should bring to Amy's house for Oscar snacks?  

Ladypipes No-Bullshit and Yet Completely Biased Thoughts About the 2015 Oscar Nods

Disclaimer:  This blog is going to be slightly snarky and COMPLETELY subjective and opinionated.  Just wanted to warn you.

I can't ever remember a time when I did not mark my calendar for the Oscar Nomination announcement and woke up at 5:30am to check out the nominees.  I used to make predictions, email them to my friends, make bold comments on Facebook, etc.  My entire spring semester was scheduled around when the Oscars were on, what kind of party I'd be having, reading up on the front runners, and completely analyzing my own selection of "Oscar Picks".

These days - I still have plenty of opinions but I see way fewer movies and just not as jazzed up about who got nominated for what as I used to be.  Still, there was something about this morning's nominations that resonated with me, so naturally i have to say SOMETHING about it.  

So, without further adieu, here are ten reflections on this morning's Academy Award Nominations:

1.  Run, don't walk, to see WHIPLASH as soon as you find it playing in your town.  It is exceptional.  If you thought JK Simmons was evil and sadistic as Vern Schillinger on "OZ" (HBO Series, from 1997-2003), you ain't seen nothin' yet.  And Miles Teller is AMAZING.  It's truly the little indie that could...and never mind that my neighbor was the Construction Coordinator on this film...AND my hubby worked one day breaking down the set.  Very cool.  

2.  If you are a grown woman who either (1) lost their mother; or (2) ever cheated on someone, then you MUST MUST MUST see WILD.  I'm super frustrated that it was NOT nominated for Best Picture or Best Adapted Screenplay, but I will settle for acting nominations for Reese Witherspoon and especially Laura Dern.  WILD will also be the next book I buy....although I have to read FINDING ULTRA first!

3.  Don't get me started on Best Original Song.  I get pissed about this every year, I just need to let it go already.  But THANK GOD that "Lost Stars" was nominated.  BEGIN AGAIN was my favorite movie of the summer, and EVERY SINGLE SONG on that soundtrack is brilliant.  Me, personally, I would have nominated "Tell Me If You Wanna Go Home".  Best scene in the whole film!

4.  Best Animated Feature:  sorry.  Who fucking cares?  

5.  Don't get me wrong - I love Meryl Streep.  But is there some law of nature that says if she's in a period piece, musical, or movie where she uses an accent that we have to nominate her?  Granted, I haven't seen INTO THE WOODS, but couldn't we maybe hit up Jessica Chastain for A MOST VIOLENT YEAR or even Rene Russo for NIGHTCRAWLER?  I guess not.  Sad face.

6.  How much more excited could I be about Wes Anderson FINALLY getting a Best Director nomination?  I dig this guy SO much and his movies are so quirky and so NOT Hollywood.  Glad to see he's getting some love from the snooty academy.

7.  Bradley Cooper is a fucking force of nature.  The first time I remember seeing him in a movie was when he played that total prick in WEDDING CRASHERS.  And then I had to remember...he was an actual student of The Actors Studio and asked questions of the guests that were interviewed by James Lipton on the Bravo show.  It's amazing that this is his third consecutive nomination - and while I'm pretty sure that Michael Keaton will win, it would be SO cool to see Bradley get a statuette on his third trip to the rodeo.  I think that was how it went down for Russell Crowe, although he won for the wrong movie.  

8.  OH MY GOD!  I've actually seen 50% of the Best Picture Nominees!  Of course, AMC will structure their Best Picture Showcase in a way that I won't be able to knock out the other four in one sitting.  One can hope....

9.  I haven't seen LIFE ITSELF, the documentary about Roger Ebert, but who was the asshole that managed to keep that off the ballot.  If the fucking film community isn't going to accept his legacy as probably the greatest film critic of all time....well, I'm completely at a loss for word.  Sick, utterly wrong, and truly disappointing.  

10.  Today - right at this moment...I'm rooting for Richard Linklater, every actor in the Best Actor Category (sorry, that's not ideal, but I can't help it), Julianne Moore, Ethan Hawke, every actress in the Best Supporting Actress Category - except Meryl (sorry, that's not ideal, but I can't help it.), and "Lost Stars".  And assuming we have an antenna by February 22nd, rooting for NPH to be a bang up host.

Sorry for alll the foul language.  I'm on a roll....