The Oscars - Hits and Misses

Best Dressed - Charlize Theron

Hey Everyone! After the first hour of the Oscars, I thought I was golden and deserved my own special award for accurately predicting the winners. I was 4 for 4 at that point. Cate Blanchett, Morgan Freeman, The Incredibles, and even a win for Lemony Snicket amongst all those tech wins for the Aviator. I should have turned off the tv then. Not only because my predictions went haywire, but because the show itself was utterly boring from there on out (I did eke out one more win for Best Original Screenplay - Eternal Sunshine so that put me at 50%). The telecast itself went over by only 10 minutes, but it felt like it went on for decades. The subsequent winners (Hilary, Clint, Jamie, screenplay for Sideways and more Clint) disappointed me and there was no hint of outlandishness or spontaneity for the last two hours of the show. Every year I get excited about this thing, and after it's over, every year I wonder why I even bother. Thankfully I had a book to keep me occupied during most of the show since for some bizarre reason I decided to watch it live. Anyway, here's my best and worst:

Best moments:
Morgan Freeman's win - and his short, classy speech. This guy continues to serve as a role model for Hollywood - both in acting and general behaviour.
Jamie Foxx's speech - I wasn't pulling for Jamie, as I believe he's the first guy to win for lipsynching, but he sure knows how to give a speech. I was blown away by his speech at the Golden Globes, and last nite he hit on some of the same themes, but still gave an original and heartfelt speech (the only one that deserved a replay for me).
Sidney Lumet's speech - I liked that he thanked the movies in general. Like he said, who do you thank for lines like "Here's looking at you, kid". But boy does it leave an impact.
Roger Mayer's speech - He got the humanitarian award. Usually these things bore me. But he gave a great speech and I loved how he recognized his wife of 52 years.

Worst Moments:
The opening montage - I love montages! But this one was so horrible and it set the tone for the rest of the most boring Oscars in recent memory. It was aimed at the ADD crowd, I guess, because seeing one image at a time was just not in the cards. During all this visual madness (multiple shots of Charlie Chaplin and Spiderman) I was also forced to try to connect the dots between Dustin Hoffman's tedious reading of the most banal commentary imaginable....The oscars are where the past meets the future. Just like the movies. What does that mean??!!
Chris Rock - His opening monologue had some funny lines. But after saying he wasn't going to bash Bush, we got to hear the world's longest metaphor comparing the Iraq war to The Gap. He then said some really weird things about Passion of the Christ. Way to win over middle America there, Chris. After the opening monologue tho, Rock uttered maybe one funny line. He should have just left the building and let the offscreen announcer take over for all he contributed.
The set - TVs everywhere. On the ceiling, on the floor. It drove me nuts. Again, I guess they thought it would help keep us awake.
Hilary Swank's speech - If you didn't hear her speech at the Globes or the SAG awards, you probably thought last ntie's was pretty good. I thought it was pretty repetitive. How many times can she tell Chad Lowe he's her everything....... Arrgh. She has this thing memorized and delivers it well. But after hearing it verbatim for the third time, I was bored silly.
Jude Law - In his monologue, Rock went off for some reason on Jude Law. It really made no sense, but when Sean Penn was announcing the Best Actress award, he rebuked Rock for his comments and said what a great actor Law was. Once we saw Rock again, he made a phony threat towards Penn. Good for Penn for calling Rock out on something he said. I just have to wonder what Jude must have been thinking over in England during all this.
Too many sound awards - They tried to speed the show up by giving some awards in the audience and even by making all the nominees for some categories come on stage so they could be even more publicly humiliated when they lost. My big complaint - the sound awards. There are like 15 of these! Figure out a way to give them out at a different occasion. We only need one sound award presented at the ceremony itself.
Beyonce - Sure she has a pretty voice. But I hated all these songs but the French one at the beginning. Why is she the only girl allowed to sing? Does she have some weird non compete clause attached to her? By the time she sang her 3rd song I'd about had it. They need to cut the songs all together and turn this sucker out in 2 hours tops.

Best Dressed Women:
Overall best dress, hair, everything - Charlize Theron
Next - Kate Winslet
Other favorites: Annette Bening, Salma Hayek (except for v bad bangs), Natalie Portman, Beyonce, and Jamie Foxx's daughter Corrine (very age appropriate and sweet with her white gloves and ballerina slippers).

Worst Dressed Women:
Easily Laura Linney - hated her hair, makeup, and dress
Renee Zellweger - hated her makeup, hair and dress were OK
Kirsten Dunst - the dress look v bad on her, but I like her new hair color and cut
Scarlett Johannsen - not a fan of the dress or the hair

Special Mention:
Drew Barrymore - She looked all grown up and quite beautiful. The dress was pretty, but nothing special, but I loved her hair and the brooch on the back of the dress.
Hallie Berry - For one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, she's got to stop it with these asymmetrical dresses. The dress was so close to being a top pick, but there was something weird about the bodice. Loved her hair though.
Emmy Rossum - She's the star of Phantom of the Opera which I haven't seen. Her dress was pretty this time, but I predict big things to come from her. Next year, she may steal the show.

Best Dressed Man:
Leonardo DiCaprio - He looked wonderful, and as creede said was the closest to capturing the old glamour of Clark Gable. Plus he had the world's most beautiful accessory - his girlfriend Gisele.

Worst Dressed Men:
Johnny Depp- We get it Johnny, you're not in the mainstream. I laughed everytime they showed him in the audience sitting next to his companion, Vannessa Paradis. She is a wonderful actress in her own right (Girl on the Bridge is a must), but she looks so serious and glum, like a French Wednesday Adams. When he would clap, she would look at him suspicously before slooowly clapping herself.
Orlando Bloom - What was with the weirdness with the bowtie underneath the collar? And the vest made him look like a penguin. Tres bizarre, Orlando.

Whew. Maybe next year will be better. Unfortunately, I'll be watching.
Aloha

Oscar Picks

Hey Everyone! It's one day and counting to the Oscars, so I decided to post my picks and see how in tune with the academy I am. A caveat, these are the films I think should win, not necessarily those I think will win.

Best Supporting Actor: Morgan Freeman - long overdue. He improves any movie he's in.

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett - she could have bombed trying to play Kate Hepburn, but triumphed instead. I also loved Natalie Portman tho in Closer. She was amazingly beautiful, so beautiful she made Julia Roberts look plain in comparison. A sentimental choice here would be Virginia Madsen. I could live with that too.

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio - I didn't know much about Howard Hughes before this film, but he convinced me that he was one amazing, but kind of crazy guy.

Best Actress: Annette Bening - Being Julia was a joy to watch, thanks to Bening. When I saw it in the theatre, the audience applauded at the end. Always a good thing. Women especially will love this film.

Best Director: Martin Scorcese - also long overdue. But this should be no pity oscar. It is much deserved for his ability to capture the details of the 30s and 40s.

Best Picture: The Aviator - yes, I'm looking for an Aviator sweep. I loved this movie - my favorite big movie of the year (my absolute fav was Before Sunset - catch it on dvd).

Best Animated Film: The Incredibles! I loved Shrek 2 as well, but The Incredibles was so much fun.

Best Screenplay (Adapted): Before Sunset - this one is easy for me. It's the only nom for my fav movie of the year. The writing was brilliant and was shared by the director, Linklater and the two leads, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. So smart, so bitter sweet. It was to me the most suspensful movie of the year. How Delpy is not up there with the best actress noms is beyond me.

Best Screenplay (Original): Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It's hard to beat Charlie Kaufman for originality. Some of the look of this movie made me a little dizzy (enough with the handheld already!), but I adored the concept and the dialogue.

All the other techy type awards will likely go to Aviator - costumes, sets, etc. And most will be deserved, but the darkhorse, Lemony Snicket, is nominated for costumes and art direction and a win for it in these two categories would we be well deserved. The visual look was extremely creative. Thomas and I went with my cousin Dillon over Christmas and the three of us were blown away. Dillon's 11 and said it was the best movie he ever saw. It wasn't dumbed down at all.

I hope at least some of my favs win. If not, I'll be content with looking at all the dresses.

Feel free to post your picks in the Comments section. You don't have to log in or anything to post a comment - it's quite easy and I'd love to hear from you.

Aloha

A new addition to the New family

Allison and her new adorable puppy, Cotton!

Hey everyone! Check out this pic of allison and her new puppy, Cotton. She's a springer spaniel and she arrived in her new home this past sunday. Isn't she the cutest?! I'm so jealous - our condo doesn't allow dogs, or you can bet i'd have one. until then, i'll enjoy making due with cotton and scout.

aloha

Oscar speculation

Hey everyone! All is well in Colorado. Lots of sunshine and none of the snow that they've promised us all week. It is going to be soooo hard to go into work tomorrow, but luckily there's a Junior Achievement bowling thing, so we all get to leave early - yippee! This has been a killer week for me given my new workout. I am bone tired and so sore. lifting weights is even worse than i remembered, but i've followed the plan to the letter so far. 80 more days (not that i'm counting ;). I did get some inspiration though from shaun who just placed first in his age bracket in an Arkansas triathalon and third overall - Congratulations, Shaun!!! I find all this amazing, especially considering that when i lived down South he wasn't even thinking of training for such events. i have no such grand plans as entering triathalons, but it's good to know if you set your mind to it these things are possible for the truly determined.

In other news i have taken up the age old art of knitting, thanks to the kit i received from my parents for Christmas and the teachings of larissa, world's best knitting teacher and all around gen x martha stewart without the annoying parts and jailtime. i finished my first scarf, blue to match my fleece, and am now learning how to purl, so i can start the second one for thomas. unfortunately, by the time it's done it will probably be spring. but there's always next year. i'm really enjoying the activity. since i have no creative ability, it's nice to finally find something that i can produce. watch out, a hand-knitted scarf may be in your future.

It's only 3 days and counting......to what? Oscars, of course. This is the entertainment junky's superbowl, tho i have to admit i prefer the spectacle of the golden globes. Still, you can bet i'll be replaying the oscars come sunday nite. if i start watching a good one hour late, i should miss most of the commercials. i'm heartbroken that joan and mellissa won't be covering the show for E this year. instead i'm stuck with star jones. she drives me absolutely nuts! as for the host, i usually think chris rock is pretty funny, tho i definitely don't agree with everything he says. here's one quote tho that cracked me up: “Bush lied to me, man. He said we got to move on Iraq because they’re the most dangerous regime on Earth. If they’re so dangerous, how come it only took two weeks to take over the whole country? You couldn’t take over the Bronx in two weeks. You’d need a month to get the Grand Concourse.” it'll be interesting. my favorite host in recent years was steve martin. he was funny and classy and witty all at the same time (tho no johnny carson or bob hope as my dad says). martin's also a great playwright (picasso at the lapin agile is hysterical if you ever get the chance to see it. einstein, picasso and my fav schmendiman all on one stage - it was so good i had to see it twice - just checked imdb to confirm a spelling and found there's a movie in the works!!!). i also loved both of his novels - shopgirl - it will be out as a movie soon starring martin and claire danes) and the pleasure of my company. both books are funny in a dark humor kind of way and a little sad.

anyway, the oscars! i have been highly neglectful this year and haven't seen all the films - ray and vera drake are two that i just didn't make it to. one because the runtime was too long (tho this in no way stopped me from seeing return of the king in all it's 3+ hour glory) and one because it just looked too depressing. i loved the aviator for recreating the 40s in all their glory so it's my pic, as is leo. i enjoyed the first 2/3 of million dollar baby and all the actors did great. as for best actress, i'm actually pulling for annette benning in being julia. it's a great role and she pulled it off with gusto. sideways - enjoyable, but soooooooo overrated. it is really just a romance movie for guys. i wouldn't mind virginia madsen getting the nod for best supporting, tho aviator's cate blanchett deserves it for her startling portrayal of kate hepburn. she truly captured her. i loved finding neverland, but don't think it's really good enough to win anything, but it was a wonderful movie, especially the play scene at the end with all the orphans.

i mostly watch the oscars to see what everyone will wear. kate winslet's really been impressing me lately, so i hope she comes away with best dressed. i also like to see which actor or actress breaks down sobbing, ala gwyneth and halle. hopefully this exercise in movie minutia wasn't too taxing, but it's hard for me to stop at this time of year. i'll be back early next week with my reaction to it all.

have a great wkend!

aloha.

Welcome to my galaxy

Hey everyone! My brilliant husband just set me up with a blog because I've been dying for a way to easily share pictures and other bits of information. The tool - blogger.com - is free, easy to set up and use, and it's owned by google so it's sure to be wildly successful. I highly recommend it so far. Anyway, I'll be periodically posting on my blog, so check it out to see pics, get the latest entertainment news (movie/tv reviews and commentary) and hear how my new Total Body Makeover is going.

A little more on the makeover. If you caught Oprah last week (and who didn't?!) you saw the show, the guy that wrote the book - Bob Greene - and her makeover team. The four teammembers lost 88 pounds in 12 weeks. Of course the guy lost 30, and the poor women split up the rest. But still. It was inspiring enough for me to give it a try. I got the book and it's exercise-focused. So if you're looking primarily for diet info, don't look here. He really only gives you 5 or so guidelines: No alcohol, stop eating 3 hrs before bed or as oprah says just set a cut off time - for me 7:30, drink tons of water (shocking), have a good breakfast, eat consciously (no more mindless munching in front of Gilmore Girls) and this one's oprah's - no white stuff (white sugar, white flour, white rice).

Regarding the exercise, you have to do a LOT of it and at high intensity. You have to do 30 min of cardio 5 days a week at a 7-8 intensity (for me that's around a 145 heart rate), 60 min of cardio 1 day a week, 6 days of functional exercises (stretching, crunches that take a surprising 30 minutes), and 3 days of weight lifting. This morning I rode the bike at a 140 heart rate for 30 minutes. I'm used to a 124 heartrate, so it was much more difficult. But I also burned about 60 calories more than usual. I then did the stretches. At lunch or after work, I'll do the weights. Hopefully they won't take more than 30 minutes as I detest weightlifting! I will only lift weights on Mon, Wed and Fri. And you get one day of the week totally off (Sunday for me). Of course I forgot to weigh before starting, but I'll do that tomorrow morning and hopefully this blog will keep me honest. I'll let you know if it's a lot of hooey.

On a much sadder note, I was shocked last nite to learn that Hunter Thompson shot himself. He is a favorite of mine, my family and my friends. I got to hear him speak in boulder several years ago with cyd and thomas and tho we had to wait aeons for him to begin and fire extinguishers were involved, i'll always remember his heartening message of "We're Doomed!". As one deluded girl asked that night, "Hunter, where have all the good times gone?" I also had the pleasure of visiting Hunter's stomping ground, The Woody Creek Tavern, outside of Aspen with Creede. Altho hunter was not in attendance, it was (and still is) worth the visit. I have to say the timing of his suicide surprised me. Hunter seemed to get much enjoyment out of his friend, Johnny Depp's portrayal of him in Fear and Loathing. Johnny is once again reprising Hunter in the upcoming The Rum Diary (2005 release date per imdb). You'd have thought he'd want to stay around to see the spectacle. He and his antics and musings will definitely be missed.

Not a good wkend for celebreties (check out the eulogy to Sandra Dee on cbk's website, www.cbrookskurtz.com).

Aloha.

Atlanta!

Check out these pics from my recent trip to Atlanta. I visited Cyd, and took the Gone With the Wind tour (something I highly recommend, especially if your guide is Catfish).

See all of the pictures here:

Sunday's Gone With The Wind Tour