Hooray for Hollywood!

Good job on the Oscar hosting Hugh, but the Barbara Walters interview was... was... there are no words for your charming, warm, and completely engaging spot with Ms. Walters.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine? Yeah, bring it on!

And the Oscar goes to...

As noted in years past I usually am all over the Academy Awards. I print sample ballots, we vote, eat snacks and cheer on our favorites. This year I could barely maintain enough interest to stay awake and watch. Beanie went out to save the world at a friend's house which is code for playing video games and Shmoo was on a date. There sat GG and I with our steamed veggies and halibut. Call me crazy, but somehow, glitz, glitter and glamour is not the same with steamed veggies as it is with nachos.

Jon Stewart who is a fave in our household was not that funny. None of the nominees were particularly interesting. Oh the woes! Of course not having seen the majority of the nominated films may have had a teeny tiny bit to do with it. Maybe. We still want to see THERE WILL BE BLOOD, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and MICHAEL CLAYTON for instance. I don't think any of these were in our local theater more than two weekends. *sigh* Our multiplex has a tendency to cater to the 18-25 year olds.

GG is a big fan of Daniel Day Lewis so he was happy to see him win and has vowed we will be seeing THERE WILL BE BLOOD in the very near future.

I was glad to see Diablo Cody win for her JUNO script and surprised how humble and sweet she was in her acceptance speech. If you've seen any of her interviews you know she marches to the beat of her own drum and is quite an original.

All in all a bit of a dud.

And the Oscar goes to...

THE DEPARTED! Do you remember when we were all a buzz about this movie last fall? I did a post about it. While my family was also big fans of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE the male contingent was very happy that THE DEPARTED one for Best Picture.

How'd you do on your ballot? I got 14 out of 24 right...which is pretty amazing since I knew zilch about the tech awards or the documentary films. We had alot of fun. Did anyone have a party? Did anyone go down to be in the bleacher seats?

THE DEPARTED directed by Martin Scorsese

Holy jumpin' catfish! Wow! Was this ever a movie. We went yesterday because all the fully loaded testerone people I live with couldn't wait. I have the trailer here as well. While this is an acting tour de force...it is very violent. It has lots of tension, suspense, twists and turns. I didn't once think of Martin Sheen as President Josiah Bartlett (West Wing), or Jack Nicholson as well...Jack Nicholson. I'm not a particular Leo DiCaprio fan but he is absolutely excellent in this film. So is Matt Damon. I admire Scorsese's respect for his audience and allowing us to figure things out on our own.

So if you like intense films, and can stand the violence that goes along with many Scoresese films, you should race out to get your tickets to this one. I fully expect it will have Oscar contenders.

Some recent observations...

Observation #1: The Academy Awards were a big yawner this year. With the exception of the scary ribs/no boobs dress of Felicity Huffman, who I think is an attractive woman BTW, there wasn't much to dish about in the wardrobe department. Although there was the one scary moment when Jennifer Garner almost slipped and fell...TWICE!! *gasp* I like Jennifer and am glad she didn't end up on her keister in front of millions of people. However, for the first time in a long time I didn't much care about the outcome of one single category, and I'm an avid and ardent movie goer.

The LA Times had a great article on Sunday about how the nominees for men were much more interesting, and the actors who played them, than the women's roles and the women who played them. This is something I don't fault the actresses for. As the article noted, most of the reason for this is the public's demand for young, beautiful, perfect women acting in flat, boring movies cast in parts that are eye candy to their male counterparts. I'm paraphrasing here people. I'd put a link into the article, but after a quick look couldn't find it right off, so take my word for it, ok?

The article went on to say how the male roles had more substance than the women's roles. I agreed wholeheartedly. In fact, I had made much the same observation to the guy I live with when the nominations were first announced. Interestingly, the LA Times article also said that Hollywood had created this monster of wanting and demanding women to be and look younger. As a result show biz is cultivating actresses who look and act less and less interesting. I also agree with this observation.

Just think about some of our great actresses and recall how interesting their faces are...Bette Davis, Joanne Woodward, Jodie Foster, Lauren Bacall, Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Helen Hayes, Joan Crawford, Katherine Hepburn, Jessica Lange...women who repeatedly gave and give stellar and interesting performances. There isn't a skinny etheral beauty among them, but they are all "real" women. Here's hoping they get a chance to do some great work in the near future. Women in the movie business need to get more proactive (Katherine Hepburn was one of the first) and go out and find good scripts for themselves and make their own movies. I'm not being glib, I know they have their work cut-out for them. I just hope that women in entertainment will flout popular trends and do it!

Observation #2: It is way more fun to surf the web and read other people's blogs than settle down and write one after you've had a 10 hour work day. I am a shameless blog slut when it comes to a couple of my favorite sites...can't miss a day checking to see if there is a new post. On the other hand, I always have the best intentions to write a post of my own, but by the time I make my rounds I lose momentum and steam. I don't plan on giving up my blog but until my work load improves I won't be posting very often.

Observation #3: Just when you think a person you know can't get any lower or nastier...there is a new depth to which they will stoop. Sad but true. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. Maybe I'll post on the specifics someday, but for now this is all I can say.

Observation #4: Even when your son wears girl pants in size 0 (he is 15!) One can find a larger and looser "0" so one doesn't lose all hope for grandchildren someday.

Observation #5: There are no alcoholic beverages (more's the pity) served at bridal showers on a Sunday afternoon. Water and red punch were the available choices. Shades of childhood birthday parties. Yikes!! Not to mention (but I am of course mentioning it) my beautiful goddaughter of 22 years dumped her red punch on my lap and sleeve. It was a thrilling experience all around. I did win the word scramble and get some great hand soap and lotion, so all is not lost...except an afternoon of my life. *sigh* The red-stained punch soaked clothing was saved from permanent staining. Praise be!

Observation #6: It really is true that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". So my observation about this is that most "old adages" last to become "old adages" because there is some truth to them.

Until next time...Ciao!