2012 Oscars Picks

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile.  We moved and things have been crazy.  We didn't get internet until a couple of days ago.  This Sunday is the 2012 Oscars, and there are several interesting races.  Here are my Oscars picks for the major categories.

Best Picture: 
War Horse  
The Artist 
Moneyball
The Descendants
The Tree of Life 
Midnight in Paris  
The Help  
Hugo  
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

I think the winner will be The Artist, because it's the type of movie Academy members love - small and artsy.  If The Artist wins, it will be another Best Picture winner that very few people have actually seen, like the Hurt Locker and the King's Speech.  The last major blockbuster to win Best Picture was The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. 

Best Actress: 
Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"

This is a two-woman race between Meryl Streep and Viola Davis, and I think Viola Davis will pull it out in the end.  

Best Actor: 
Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

Like the Best Actress race, this is a two-man fight to the finish between George Clooney and Jean Dujardin. Both men won Golden Globes, and Dujardin won the SAG, but people generally love George Clooney.  He is one of the few true movie star and actor.  

Best Supporting Actress: 
Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids" 
Octavia Spencer, "The Help
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"

There is no way Octavia Spencer will lose this one.  She has won every major award in this category, and will come home with the Oscar.  I hope this will enhance her career instead of sinking her into obscurity like other previous Supporting Actress winners: Mira Sorvino, Marisa Tomei, Marcia Gay Harden, etc.  

Best Supporting Actor: 
Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"
Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte, "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Max von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Christopher Plummer has also swept the awards season, so he will win Sunday night.  

Best Director: 
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"

Despite the presence of legendary directors Scorsese, Allen, and Malick, Michel Hazanavicius should walk away with the trophy.  

Animated Feature: 
"A Cat in Paris" 
"Chico & Rita" 
"Kung Fu Panda 2" 
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"


Rango will probably take the prize here, although Puss in Boots might pull an upset.  

Art Direction:
"The Artist," Production Design: Laurence Bennett, Set Decoration: Robert Gould
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," Production Design: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"Hugo," Production Design: Dante Ferretti, Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"Midnight in Paris," Production Design: Anne Seibel, Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
"War Horse," Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales


I would like Harry Potter to win.  What Stuart Craig and Stephenie McMillan accomplished not only in the last movie but throughout the series are nothing short of remarkable.  I have a feeling, though, that Hugo will actually take the prize.  

Cinematography: 
"The Artist" Guillaume Schiffman
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Jeff Cronenweth
"Hugo" Robert Richardson
"The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki
"War Horse" Janusz Kaminski

The Artist's cinematographer will probably take this one, although there are strong supporters for the Tree of Life. 

Costume Design:
"Anonymous" Lisy Christl
"The Artist" Mark Bridges
"Hugo" Sandy Powell
"Jane Eyre" Michael O'Connor
"W.E." Arianne Phillips


The Artist will win this one.  

Film Editing: 
"The Artist" Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
"The Descendants" Kevin Tent
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"Hugo" Thelma Schoonmaker
"Moneyball" Christopher Tellefsen


Another win for the Artist.  

Makeup: 
"Albert Nobbs" Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"; Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng 
"The Iron Lady" Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland


Again I would love for Harry Potter to win, but it's probably going to be Albert Nobbs.  What they did to Glenn Close to transform her into a man is remarkable. 

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


John Williams is competing against himself, but he will probably lost to The Artist.  

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


An Oscar for the Muppets!

Sound Editing: 
"Drive" Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Ren Klyce
"Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
"War Horse" Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing: 
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
"Hugo" Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
"Moneyball" Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick; "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
"War Horse" Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson


Sound Editing and Sound Mixing usually go to the same movie, and in this case I think Hugo will take the prizes.  

Visual Effects: 
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
"Hugo" Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
"Real Steel" Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier


If it isn't clear, yet, I would love for Harry Potter to win every category that it's entered, including this one. However, the Academy might award the incredible work done to bring the apes to life in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): 
"The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
"Hugo" Screenplay by John Logan
"The Ides of March" Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
"Moneyball" Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin  Story by Stan Chervin
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan


The Descendants have this one.  It's a consolation prize for Alexander Payne for losing the Best Director and Best Picture. 

Writing (Original Screenplay): 
"The Artist" Written by Michel Hazanavicius
"Bridesmaids" Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
"Margin Call" Written by J.C. Chandor
"Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen
"A Separation" Written by Asghar Farhadi


Woody Allen might pull this one out because he's Woody Allen, but my money is on Michel Hazanavicius to win his second Oscar here.  

Grammy Awards

Tonight's Grammy Awards had several great performances. The most anticipated was Adele, who was performing for the time since her throat surgery. She sounded great singing Rolling in the Deep, and was definitely Queen of the Grammys with her six wins, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year.

Nicki Minaj had a great, elaborate set with stained glass, priest, altar boys, choir, and being lifted in the air on cables. It was a fun performance of her new single, "Roman Holiday," and will probably generate some protests. She also showed up on the red carpet with a guy dressed as the Pope. We also spotted Ade and Kathyn from So You Think You Can Dance dancing backup for Nicki Minaj.

Of course Whitney Houston's death hovered over everything. Jennifer Hudson did a beautiful job singing "I Will Always Love You" as a tribute. Everyone was talking about her during the red carpet and LL Cool J started the show with a tribute to her followed by a short video tribute. What a sad ending to a beautiful singer. May she rest in peace.

Perfect Snack for the Oscars

Eleni's, a New York bakery, is making Oscars-themed cookies in honor of the Academy Awards.  There's the Best Picture collection:

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/02/08/if-you-only-consume-one-box-of-oscar-themed-cookies-this-year-pick-these/#more-182322

Best Actor:

http://elenis.com/store/product/best-actor/?cat=148

Best Actress:

http://elenis.com/store/product/best-actress/?cat=148

They also come in cupcake form:

http://elenis.com/store/product/oscar-cupcakes/?cat=148

I've only ever had Eleni's red velvet cupcake, which was amazing, and they do make incredible-looking cookies.  Their New York collection makes a great gift:

http://elenis.com/store/category/shop-by-theme/new-york-city-theme/gift-boxes-new-york-city/

I think I'm going to have to pick up some of these cookies for the Oscars.  :)  Too bad I can't send them to kdipity, who will totally appreciate them.

The Voice Season 2

Mr. Y and I started watching the Voice season 2.  So far the talent has been really amazing, and the coaches have been really funny when fighting each other.  We've been yelling "Jar!" every time Adam or Cee Lo makes a douche-bag comment, in honor of New Girl's Schmidt. 

On tonight's show was a contestant named Angie Johnson. She's a sergeant in the Air Force and shot to prominence because of this YouTube video, which reached millions of viewers.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBaskRZDbNA

Tonight they explained that Carson Daly saw the video and tweeted about it.  He was the one who got Angie on the show.  Cee Lo picked her to be on his team, which I think is a good fit.  She's definitely one of my early favorites, along with single dad Jesse Campbell, former Mousketeer Tony Lucca (Christina didn't recognize him at first), and Lindsay Pavao.  

Giants Win the Super Bowl!

What an exciting Super Bowl!  The Giants just won 21-17 against the Patriots.  It was a pretty nail-biting game, with a lot of mistakes and a lot of amazing plays on both sides.  I'm not a true Giants fan, but being a Raiders fan, I hate the Patriots.  Plus I live in New York, so if my team isn't involved, I'll cheer for the New York team.  This game started with a rare safety when Tom Brady was called for intentional grounding while standing in the end zone.  I thought the Giants blew it when Eli had to burn two timeouts in the second half without getting anywhere, but Mario Manningham's catch was right up there with David Tyree's catch from four years ago.

The halftime show featuring Madonna was pretty fun, too.  She did Vogue, Music, samples of Party Rock Anthem and Sexy and I Know It with LMFAO, her new single Give Me All Your Luvin' with Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., and then joined Cee-Lo Green for samples of Open Your Heart and Express Yourself before ending with Like A Prayer complete with a big choir.  Much better than last year's show with the Black-Eyed Peas.

Kelly Clarkson kept it simple with the Star-Spangled Banner - no crazy runs or notes.  I think she learned her lesson from Christina Aguilera.

Yay Giants!

Elmo Part II

One more Elmo-related video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLS_ZnsA0fc

This one is old, but it never fails to make me cry.