Oscar Showdown 2011

It's that time of year again (year 83 to be exact) when the Hollywood elite recognize the best in film. A big change this year is with the hosting duties. Instead of hiring a comic which has been the case for decades to varying degrees of success, actors Anne Hathaway and James Franco will host. I think this is a good change that makes sense and they will do well. Now I'll sum up some of the more competitive categories and name my picks to win.

The Best Actress category is strong this year and there is a good chance an American actress will win this year. In recent years, the Brits (Kate Winslet, Helen Mirren) have been winning the gold. The top two nominees are Natalie Portman ("Black Swan") and Annette Bening ("The Kids Are Alright"). I have seen both films, liked them both and I think Natalie's performance stands out. Her character starts out as a regular prima ballerina and ends up almost at the brink of insanity because of extreme ambition. I warn you though, the ending of this movie is kind of weird and definitely needs repeat viewing. Annette's performance looks better when not compared to another, but may suffer lack of votes since it was given in a mostly comedic film. Oscar tends to reward dramas with hammy performances.

From here we can look at the Best Supporting Actress category. The Academy for some reason likes to use this category to provide a surprise win to an up and coming actress. Some of the youngest winners of acting Oscars have been nominated in this category and again one or more of the nominees here is younger than 18. Your guess is as good as mine who will win this year, so here are the nominees: Amy Adams "The Fighter", Melissa Leo "The Fighter", Helena Bonham Carter "The King's Speech", Hailee Steinfeld "True Grit" and Jacki Weaver "Animal Kingdom". I can tell you the young "True Grit" actress has all the buzz right now, try watching these movies before Sunday to make up your mind.

The Academy has decided to keep the ten film nominee format for the biggest award of the night for Best Picture. The nominees are "True Grit" "Social Network", "The King's Speech", "Black Swan", "The Fighter", "Inception", "127 Hours", "Toy Story 3", "The Kids Are Alright" and "Winter's Bone". According to current speculation "The King's Speech" is coming out of nowhere and seems to be the favorite pick after winning big at awards ceremonies that have already been held. I wouldn't mind seeing "Social Network" win. It was a well produced film depicting something and someone that has forever changed the way the world communicates in the 21st century. I plan to hunker down and begin Oscar Sunday watching the "E" channel's pre-show which begins at noon. Check back in later when I plan to have a recap done of the night's fashions and the ceremony. If I'm in the mood I may even live blog.

Maxwell - Whenever Wherever Whatever

Cupid's Playlist

Monday is everyone's day to celebrate Love and it is the day yours truly came into the world. Above is one of the great songs to get you in the mood. I also recommend listening to Sade's current offering "Soldier of Love" and look for a compilation CD initially sold at Starbucks titled "Sweetheart" on iTunes. I like the track by Rogue Wave covering the song "Maps".
Here are some good love songs:
"Ain't Nothin Like the Real Thing" Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell,
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" Diana Ross and the Supremes
"Don't Wanna Lose You" Gloria Estefan
"When You Love A Woman" Journey
"Biggest Part of Me" Ambrosia
"Anything" Jaheim
"If" Bread
"I Got You Babe" Sonny and Cher
"Until the End of Time" Justin Timberlake and Beyonce'
"Suddenly" Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard

Volkswagen Commercial: The Force

Super Bowl Ads 2011: The Good, Bad and Ugly

Annually, whenever we are all getting ourselves worked up to enjoy watching the Super Bowl, many people associate the fun of watching the game with the commercials that are shown during the contest. Some people don't. This particular blog isn't for those people.
This year's bunch of commercials included the usual kind. Ads featuring the E*trade babies, Doritos, Ford trucks and pizza to name a few products. Overall the opinionof most casual viewers and those in the media was that this year's offerings were not particularly good or original. A couple of standouts were the commercial starring Faith Hill for Teleflora (a nice Valentine's Day tie-in with someone representative of football)-sidebar-I think Jane Lynch's (Glee) spoof of Hill's opening theme song for Sunday Night football is hilarious and one of the best sketches of the past season of Saturday Night Live. The whole episode was classic, check it out on Hulu. There was also Roseanne taking Betty White's place in a Snickers bad ad. That was the main trend. Ads featuring celebrities. But isn't that the trend every year? Eminem plugged for Chrysler and repped for Detroit. Kim Kardashian was in a semi-sexy commercial for shape up Skechers.
Super Bowl weekend held a funny coincidence for me that I didn't realize until the day after the game. I didn't even see this commercial while I was watching the game. One of the most endearing, cute ads on Sunday had a tie to one of yours and my favorite movies (that I decided to watch out of the blue over the weekend). The VW Passat ad with the little kid in a Darth Vader costume trying to invoke "the Force" around the house. Ad executives know that if they expend a decent effort and include something that has a "Star Wars" reference, that movie franchise's faithful fans will gush worlwide. This a movie that defined a generation and has almost endless pop culture appeal. Back to the movie I watched which was the last (technically third installment of the "Star Wars" saga) "Revenge of the Sith" released in 2005. This is the only "Star Wars" movie I own. I'm a little too young to have been swept up in the popularity of the first movies that were made, so I think "Sith" is the most important film of the series. "Star Wars" director George Lucas has stated many times that the movies are essentially the story of Anakin who eventually devolves into the Dark Lord, Darth Vader. Everything in the saga comes back to this character. It is about his rise while becoming a Jedi and his fall into evil. The story was also meant to be a statement on the relationships of fathers to sons. Everything that was produced relating to the franchise over the past 30 odd years was leading up to the ultimate payoff of seeing Anakin's dark transformation into Darth Vader. Those old enough to remember seeing the first movie "A New Hope" in 1977 will tell you the Darth character stole the movie, caught people off guard and fans left the movie wanting more back story.
Now back to the commercial. Since everyone know that Darth Vader was such an imposing, evil character ( one of the most resonating villains in cinema along with the Wicked Witch of the West) it's really amusing to see a short, young person attempting an impersonation. The kid in the commercial is portrayed by two 6-year-old boys who made the rounds on daytime TV Monday. One of the boys has an inspiring story. He has overcome numerous surgeries since birth to repair a heart defect and is still in treatment at L.A.'s Children's Hospital. You can still see the interview with his Mom on the Today show.msnbc website.
Check back here for my annual Oscar awards roundup where I'll give you the rundown on my favorites, the movies that have the most momentum and the one category that always surprises but probably shouldn't.