My Current Oscar Picks

I posted this on facebook earlier. There are a few of the Oscar noms that I haven't seen yet. Maybe I'll go back and review the ones I have seen. We'll see.




This is how I'd like things to shake out. I haven't seen all the noms yet though, and I'll update accordingly when I do.

Best Picture (disclaimer: I haven't seen Precious): I would love to see UP win. But I don't think it's even Pixar's best film so. I'm going to have to go with Up In the Air. I'm not really thrilled with most of my options. (runner up: Inglorious Basterds)

Best Actor (disclaimer: I haven't seen Crazy Heart or A Single Man): Seeing Colin Firth win for A Single Man would be great. He's very talented, as is Jeff Bridges, who lacks recognition and has certainly been around the block. But as I haven't seen those films, I have to go with longshot Jeremy Renner for Hurt Locker. (runner up: George Clooney for Up in the Air. I love Morgan Freeman but he doesn't really deserve this nom.)

Best Actress (disclaimer: I haven't seen The Last Station or Precious): Another category that I'm not thrilled with the noms. Streep is good, but, she's always good. Bullock was good, but I don't think her movie was Oscar worthy. So I'll go with Carey Mulligan for An Education. You watched her go from girl to a woman right before your eyes. (runner up: Streep for J&J until I see the other 2 films.)

Best Supporting Actor (disclaimer: I haven't seen The Last Station): Here's a good category! Good performances all around. Obviously Waltz will win for Basterds but my pick would be Woody Harrelson as the crusty Army vet in The Messenger. Tucci certainly was creepy in Bones though. (Runner up: Waltz for Basterds)

Best Supporting Actress (disclaimer: I haven't seen Crazy Heart or Precious): Mo'Nique will win for Precious from what I hear, can't wait to see Maggie in Crazy Heart but I'm going to pick Anna Kendrick in Up In the Air til I see the other two. Didn't think Farmiga was anything special. (Runner up Penelope Cruz for Nine, subject to change.)

Best Director (disclaimer...still haven't seen Precious.): Kathryn Bigelow needs to win for Hurt Locker. Nuff said. (Runner up: Cameron for Avatar. Man's got big dreams, luckily he had a lot of money to help bring them to fruition.)

Best Animated Film (disclaimer: the only movie I've seen in this category is Up): so...I pick Up. and out of love of stop motion animation I'll say Fantastic Mr Fox for runner up.

Snubs:
*If you're going to recognize District 9, you should be recognizing Sharlto Copley for Best Actor for his helpless and desperate performance.
*Mark Walhberg (yeah I said it) was pretty great in Lovely Bones (best supporting actor category is pretty full though.)
*Daniel Day Lewis in Nine for Best Actor. This man can do anything. I'm not saying he'd win, but damn he was good.

Not sure I see anything else really GLARINGLY overlooked, but we'll see.

General Info Post

So here is my first post, we'll call it a get to know you post. My name is Rachel, im nearly 25 years old, and I live in New Hampshire. I spent the past three years managing a local movie theatre chain, before we ran out of cash and closed down. I now work retail, which most days makes me want to stab my eyes out with a boxcutter. I miss the theatre every day. For starters, I love local business, and having money go towards someone who's not some big shot corporate CEO. Second, I've always loved movies. Working at the theatre just cultivated that love. I miss FILM. I miss coming in the morning and running film through projectors, even popping popcorn and getting ready for the day. It was cool to know that if you cut off one frame of film, it was something like 1/36th of a second, and it was likely nobody would even notice. I miss the hum and heat of the projectors.

But I'm not saying that makes me qualified to write movie reviews. That's one of the blessings of the internet though, you don't need talent to do a damn thing. However, I'm in school to teach English. I think that proper spelling is key, so I can emphatically say that you're not going to be reading a blog full of typos if anyone ends up reading this. You WILL, however, be reading prose from someone who is darn opinionated. I welcome discussion! I think the best part about not agreeing with people all the time is the conversations you get to have with them. I may not always agree with people, but I'll listen (and probably shake my head and sigh :)).

A few things that I find to be important background notes on myself:

*I'm Jewish and proud of it. I frequently joke about this. I feel if you can't poke fun at yourself, you have no business poking fun at others. I won't tolerate hatespeak of any kind. Please take that elsewhere.
*I tend to lean a little to the left...politically speaking. And that might be an understatement. But again, nobody agrees on everything :)
*There are few things I like more than a good healthy dose of sarcasm. Sometimes that can be hard to detect over the internet.
*I'm the kind of girl that has always been one of the guys. I'll watch romantic comedies, but don't expect me to get too weepy, I'd rather kick back with a beer and watch a good sports flick anyday!

So uhhh. I guess I'll blog away now! Hopefully I'll find some followers along the way, but, no matter, I'll at least have fun talking to myself.