84th Academy Award Nominations

In spite of having watched 31 movies last year, I didn’t see very many on their first release so it’s hard to work up excitement for this year’s Oscars. And unless ABC runs the ceremony live on its website, I won’t be watching it either. This is what happens when you decide to save money by cancelling cable/satellite television. Oops.

I may make a slight attempt to get to the theaters to see some of the nominated films and performances. I’d like to see War Horse at any rate. Nothing else has jumped out at me as a must-see in the theater. If you’ve seen any of the nominees and consider the theater experience critical to appreciating the movie, let me know in the comments.

Without further ado, here’s a list of some of the nominees. For other categories, check out the Oscars website.

Blog Award Meme

So, this blog award meme thing is going around. The Versatile Blogger Award. I have no idea how it started (Google has failed me), but it’s making the rounds in a big way. Google returned about 1.7 million hits on “versatile blogger award.”

More importantly, I received one. And I am all about getting the ribbon for participation, screw rewarding people for winning. Honey, you just to need show up. Don’t even worry about crossing the finish line.

83rd Academy Award Nominations

Sadly, the Academy is sticking with the 10 nominations for Best Picture in 2011. It’s a little harder this year to pick out the five that shouldn’t be there (possibly because I’ve only seen a handful of the nominated films), but I’m an all or nothing kinda gal. If you expand one category to 10, shouldn’t you expand all categories to 10? I mean, if the Academy is doing it to increase ratings, wouldn’t fans of Anne Hathaway (Love and Other Drugs) or Leonardo Dicaprio (Inception) tune in if they were inlcuded in the best actor nominations? Maybe for the 84th Oscars.

Until then, here’s the list of the nominees for 2010 films (and the official 2011 posters). For other categories, check out the Oscars website.

I know I’ve got a lot of movies to watch in the next 33 days. How about you? Leave a comment about your pre-Oscar watching plans or your predictions for the winners.

And the Nominees Are …

The Mystery Writers of America announced the nominees for the Edgar Awards this week. Sadly, I have read none of them. Never saw the TV episodes. Although I did read The Washington Post articles that became the book about Chandra Levy and recommend that.

Guess I have more books to add to my to-read list. And the list reminds me to pick up more literary magazines because I enjoy them, they’re well put together and they could use everyone’s support.

Read on for the nominees. And happy 202nd birthday, Mr. Poe.

Who Loves Movies?

I love movies.

I love their ability to make me forget my feet are sticking to the floor and I’m not quite tall enough for a theater seat to be comfortable. I love being caught up in a good story and disappearing into someone else’s vision of the world … or a world that doesn’t exist outside of the filmmakers’ imagination and the audience’s suspension of disbelief.

I love the feeling after a good movie ends. The lights come up in the theater and you blink as your eyes adjust. Are they adjusting the change in lighting levels or the switch from living in the world on the screen to the physical one around you? 

I love movies, sometimes without discrimination. I love popcorn movies that have no hope of making the world a better place, that just take me on a great ride. I love movies that make me think, that inspire me. I’ve laughed so hard at movies that I had to hit pause on the DVD player so I didn’t miss something. I’ve also had to hit pause because I was crying too hard. I’ve walked out of theaters capable only of saying “wow.”

This is not to say that I haven’t wanted to walk out of theaters before a movie ends. I’ve even done that once. I don’t love all movies. Some aren’t good. Some are just downright bad and become the movies against which I measure other movies’ lack of quality. Is it Reindeer-Games bad? Is it Cloverfield bad?*

My love of movies extends to some awards shows. I pay attention to what and who are nominated. I root for my favorites, which typically don’t have a chance at taking home the statue. I try to see as many of the nominated films as I can.**

This morning, I watched the Oscar nominations. I haven’t seen most of the movies this year (it was a year for Redbox, Netflix and Showtime at my house), but will not let that stop me from making some early judgments and predictions. The list of nominees in major categories is after the jump, along with what/who I think will and should win. My impression of “should win” is based on absolutely nothing related to the art of filmmaking.

This year’s Oscar poster.***