Oscar Picks

Entertainment Weekly's Dave Karger makes his early Oscar picks.

Sasha Stone writes her thoughts on the race here.  In general I really like reading Sasha Stone's opinions on the Oscar race.  I appreciate her stance on supporting an Oscar contender based upon it's valuable qualities rather than supporting it because it doesn't have another film's seemingly negative qualities.

If I laid my thoughts down for the most likely top ten Best Picture contenders, at this point it would look something like this:

1. The Social Network

2. The King's Speech

3. Inception

4. True Grit

5. Toy Story 3

6. 127 Hours

7. The Kids Are All Right

8. Black Swan

9. Winter's Bone

10. The Town or The Fighter

Blue Valentine Update

I'm so happy! via awardsdaily.com

One Girl's Quest

I have called every movie theater in Buffalo hoping that Black Swan would show up in theaters close to the limited release date of December 3rd.  One manager of a theater that shall remain nameless didn't even know what Black Swan was.  Umm.. how are you the manager of a movie theater? As I moved onward down my list of movie theater phone numbers, I came to the indepedent cinema where with much sadness I accepted the news that Black Swan would not be appearing in a movie theater near me until December 22nd.  I was pretty upset about this because my boyfriend and I have been looking forward to this film for so long and we were hoping to see it together next time he was in town. Since that will not be happening...

I am now in Chicago and quite happy that Black Swan is out in theaters here already.  I'm going tonight and I can't wait!

The Social Network

The Facebook arrived on the University of Michigan campus sometime in 2004 - my sophomore year.  I was not one of the first to jump on the Facebook bandwagon, but sooner or later I came around.  A year later I may have known one or two people refusing to join and by the end of my senior year it expanded so widely that my high school sophomore brother was now a user. Additionally, thanks to a few of my closest friends I have some pretty hilarious Facebook memories.  My favorite being the take over of the campus starter account and the susbsequent email exchange with an administrator.  Every Facebook user on a campus is assigned a number that can be found in the URL.  A friend decided to see who the first account belonged to and discovered it was maintained by no one and only used to set up the usership for Michigan.  Obviously he decided to take it over and see what would happen.  A philosophical debate soon emerged fueled with my friend's smart-alec taunts.

The point is, I'm sure everyone my age has some story like this, some story that can be recalled to celebrate the role of Facebook in our lives. I know that The Social Network is Mark Zuckerberg's story, his creation, his genius, his decisions, his experience. But on some level this story belongs to me and my friends and the millions of students who postponed writing that paper at 3am to hit the refresh buttons on our newsfeed.

I went to see The Social Network again because I wanted to indulge in every witty line of Aaron Sorkin's amazing script and its impeccable delivery by Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, and Rooney Mara. And I wanted to marvel at each of David Fincher's scenes - of which not one is wasted. It is far easier for me to attribute a movie's strengths to acting or writing.  While both of those elements are worthy of great praise here, the instincts of the director shine through every well-crafted scene.  There is the perfect amount of subtle emotion delivered by Eisenberg, a toast to good writing, directing, and a talented actor.

There is a scene where Zuckerberg is required to go before the Harvard AdBoard to defend his actions surrounding his crash of the Harvard network.  Instead, he takes the time to state, "I believe I deserve some recognition from this board."  Clearly confused, one adminstrator asks for clarification, to which he says, "I believe I pointed out some gaping holes in your network."  Zuckerberg couldn't be more serious and the AdBoard is clearly baffled.  He walks away with a warning and probation period.  The delivery of this scene is matter of fact and sets a tone for Zuckerberg's future defense against both the Winklevoss twins and Saverin. Juxtapose this with a final scene of Zuckerberg hitting a refresh button in wait for Erica's acceptance of his friend request.  We see a genius mind full of creativity and willing to call attention to what should be his own glory.  We see a boy with the reminder of past mistakes and regret looming under the surface.  We see why he is where he is with work and relationships and it all makes a whole lot of sense.

Quick Takes

Secretariat ***/****

Easy A **.5/****

Love and Other Drugs ***/****

127 Hours ****/****

NBR Awards

So I guess I was pretty wrong about the NBR awards this year. I predicted a sweep just not for the right film!

From Awards Daily:
(my correct predictions in bold)

Ten Best

Another Year
The Fighter
Hereafter
Inception
The King's Speech
Shutter Island
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

Best Film: The Social Network
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Best Actress: Lesley Manville, Another Year
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

NBR Predictions

NBR Awards out tomorrow.  Here's my thoughts:

Top Ten


127 Hours
Hereafter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
Love and Other Drugs
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone


Best Picture: The King's Speech
Best Director: Tom Hooper
Best Actress: Annette Bening
Best Actor: Colin Firth
Best Supporting Actress: Helena Bonham Carter
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo
Best Breakthrough Actor: Jesse Eisenberg
Best Breakthrough Actress: Jennifer Lawrence