Showing posts with label The Academy Awards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Academy Awards. Show all posts

Monday, February 27, 2012

And the winners are...

The 84th Annual Academy Awards


Last night the tension and buildup finally came to a close as abc broadcasted the 84th Academy Awards. It was a night of glamour, humor, excellence and in my case good friends and a lot of cheese.  


(In the awesomeness of the evening, I foolishly didn't take any pictures of my own. These are merely examples of what was served.)

The red carpet was full of Stars in beautiful gowns and Studs in handsome tuxedos. Favorites of the night included Gwyneth Paltrow, Octavia Spencer and Michelle Williams. 

Overall the results were consistent with the predictions. The Artist took home its fair share of wins. And Hugo walked away with most of those oddball awards that you are never sure who to vote for. Rango won for best animated feature just going to show that maybe I actually should have watched that movie. 

Meryl Streep takes the win for best acceptance speech. She was witty, eloquent and beautiful while accepting her third (well deserved) academy award. 



Emma Stone was by far the most charming presenter of the evening. She is truly adorable, proving once again why she is always making the list as my favorite actress. I love oddballs and Emma Stone is truly quirky. 


I think Billy Crystal was hosting but I honestly can't remember. That must mean that he was neither horrendous nor stellar. However, the show flowed at a good pace perhaps thanks to him. 

Overall, the night was a success! 

This year I may have just been a viewer. But mark my words -- one day, I will serve on the official Academy and I will be amongst those people that all of the celebrities are thanking. One day. 

Now for the list of winners: 

Best Picture: "The Artist"
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, "The Help"
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, "The Descendants"
Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Best Cinematography: Robert Richardson, "Hugo"
Best Art Direction: Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schavo, "Hugo"
Best Costume Design: Mark Bridges, "The Artist"
Best Makeup: Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland, "The Iron Lady"
Best Foreign Language Film: "A Separation"
Best Editing: Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Best Sound Editing: Phillip Stockton and Eugene Gearty, "Hugo"
Best Sound Mixing: Tom Fleischman and John Midgley, "Hugo"
Best Documentary: "Undefeated"
Best Animated Feature: "Rango"
Best Visual Effects: "Hugo"
Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource, "The Artist"
Best Original Song: Bret McKenzie, "Man or Muppet"
Best Live Action Short: "The Shore"
Best Documentary Short: "Saving Face"
Best Animated Short: "The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore"

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Teaser Trailer Thursday (3)


This week's nominees are...

Best Picture

The Tree of Life
Starring: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and Sean Penn
Director: Terrence Malick


War Horse
Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson and 14 horses as Joey the War Horse
Director: Steven Spielberg


Animated Feature Film

Puss in Boots
Voices: Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek
Director: Chris Miller


Foreign Language Film

Belgium, "Bullhead"
Starring: Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeroen Perceval 
Director: Michael R. Roskam


Monday, February 6, 2012

Music Monday (2)

This Year's Music (Original Song) nominees.

  • "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets"
    Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie


  • "Real in Rio" from "Rio"
    Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; Lyric by Siedah Garrett



    Classic Winners: Music (Original Song)

"Moon River" from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" 
by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer
(1961)


"Falling Slowly" from "Once"
by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
(2008)

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Teaser Trailer Thursday (2)

This week's nominees are...

Best Picture

The Descendants
Starring: George Clooney and Shailene Woodley
Director: Alexander Payne


Moneyball
Starring: Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill
Director: Michael De Luca


Animated Feature Film

A Cat In Paris
Voices: Dominique Blanc and Bruno Salomone
Director: Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli


Documentary Feature
If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front


Stay tuned for reviews...

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Books and Movies

A new trend in cinema these days seems to be the book to movie film. Almost as though any book that is written should one day expect to make it to the big screen. 


This year's Academy Award Nominees are full of books turned to movies.
It just goes to show that some of the best movies once were some of the greatest books! 

"Hugo" -- "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selnick 
11 Nominations
 "The Descendants" -- "The Descendants" by Kaui Hart Hemmings
The Descendants5 Nominations
  
"The Help" -- "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
The Help4 Nominations
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" -- "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling 
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 23 Nominations

 "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"-- "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson
5 Nominations
"Moneyball" -- "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" by Michael Lewis
Moneyball6 Nominations
 "My Week with Marilyn" -- "My Week with Marilyn" by Colin Clark
My Week with Marilyn2 Nominations
"The Iron Lady" -- "The Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, from Grocer's Daughter to Prime Minsister" by John Campbell
The Iron Lady2 Nominations

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" -- "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer 
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close2 Nominations
"Albert Nobbs" -- "Albert Nobbs: A Novella" by George Moore
Albert Nobbs3 Nominations
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" -- "Tinker Tailor Solider Spy" by John Le Carre
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy3 Nominations
"War Horse" -- "War Horse" by Michael Morpurgo
War Horse6 Nominations
 "Jane Eyre" -- "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre1 Nomination

Whether experienced via a book or a movie, these are excellent stories.


Monday, January 30, 2012

Music Monday (1)

Hi there. I took somewhat of a blogging hiatus over the weekend to focus more of my attention on writing. I was productive--finally. Usually when I fall out of writing for a bit, I start a new project. The project tends to be one I don't plan to go anywhere, but I write it in hopes that it will jostle my creativity and reawaken the writing passion. It helped. I was able to write over 5,000 words this weekend, which felt really good.

But...in Academy Award related news...I have now viewed  5 out of 9 of the Best Picture films.

Today's Post: Music Monday

Some of my favorite categories at the Oscars are the Music related awards

 This year, the nominees are:


Music (Original Score)

  • "The Adventures of Tintin" John Williams
  • "The Artist" Ludovic Bource
  • "Hugo" Howard Shore
  • "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Alberto Iglesias
  • "War Horse" John Williams

  • Music (Original Song)

    • "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets"
      Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
    • "Real in Rio" from "Rio"
      Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; Lyric by Siedah Garrett

      Stay tuned each Monday for another featured soundtrack.

      Winners over the Past 10 years:

      2001 - Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Tan Dun
      2002 - The Lord of the Rings: Felloswhip of the Ring, Howard Shore
      2003- Frida, Elliot Goldenthal
      2004 - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Howard Shore
      2005 - Finding Neverland, Jan A. P. Kaczmarek
      2006 - Brokeback Mountain, Gustavo Santaolalla
      2007 - Babel, Gustavo Santaolalla
      2008 - Atonement, Dario Marianello
      2009 - Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman

      2010 - Up, Michael Giacchino



      2011-  The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross