Thursday 30 January 2014

Across the Universe Podcast: Episode 19

Episode 19: And the Award Goes To

Though the 86th Academy Awards nominations were announced over ten days ago, people are still excited. Just this morning, the original song "Alone Yet Not Alone" got its nomination revoked. 

Listen as Sofia, Mette and I discuss the majority of the nominations. We talk snubs, wishes, people who should win and who will win and there's a fair amount of dissing as well.

There is no Interesting Movie of the Fortnight in this episode because it is a fairly long episode as it is. It will be back from our next episode :)

Content:
0:22- Chick-chatter
3:18- Trailer
3:47- Introduction to the Awards
5:25- Awards Ceremony/ Main discussion on the 86th Academy Awards nominations
1:24:15- Plugs and Goodbyes

Songs:
Karen O "Moon Song"
Idina Menzel "Let It Go"
Fiona Apple "Across The Universe"


Follow us at: facebook.com/acrosstheuniversepodcast
Write to us at: acrosstheuniversepodcast@gmail.com
Find us on iTunes: search for Across the Universe Podcast
Download episodes from: Our Dropbox page


Tuesday 28 January 2014

The Clock is Striking Twelve


We finally have a glimpse at what the Twelfth Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi, will wear in the show. 
Here's what Capaldi had to say about it-
"He's woven the future from the cloth of the past. Simple, stark, and back to basics. No frills, no scarf, no messing, just 100 per cent Rebel Time Lord."

Pretty fucking badass, if you ask me. I really like the blue and the red and the sensible shoes. It's a bit surprising how excited I am about him. Here's one of the reasons why-


LIKE ZOMG!!!

Now we just have to wait 8-9 months because hello, it's BBC.

Monday 27 January 2014

Thoughts

WAAZZZZAAAAA GUYSSSSSSS!! My weekly thoughts is back after a 2 month hiatus. Don't ask me why I stopped writing them. I started many but the news kept piling up and the thought of typing more just brought out the lazy ass in me. So now with the new year, I am going to start afresh with all the most recent movie stuff.

1) This is really the most important news- Paul Rudd is going to be Ant-Man in Edgar Wright's Ant-Man!!! Hurrah!!!!!! I lurve Paul Rudd and I really admire Wright for choosing actors like Rudd or Simon Pegg or Michael Cera, who aren't really "hero material" but they totally kick ass in his movies. Rudd will be playing Scott Lang and none other than Michael Douglas will play Dr. Hank Prym who in the comics is apparently the original Ant-Man and the guy who invents the technology that enables people to get minitiurized or whatever. The film will release in the 2015 during the slot when the Batfleck-Superman movie was going to come out. The latter has changed dates because of some reason that I don't care about.

2) Casting: Daniel Radcliffe continues to build an interesting career and his next project is Brooklyn Bridge about the brilliant but rookie engineer who has to oversee the building of the Brooklyn Bridge after the death of his father. There's a rumour that Gwyneth Paltrow will play his wife. I hope to god that does not happen because it is wrong on so many levels. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is going to star in the fictional take on renowned documentary Man on Wire. It is called To Reach the Clouds and it will be directed by Robert Zemeckis. The John Belushi biopic starring Emile Hirsch as the titular character has found its Dan Aykroyd in The Spectacular Now's Miles Teller. In spite of what I felt about the movie, I think Teller has great potential and this film sounds really interesting. Sarah Paulson has joined the cast of the Todd Haynes-directed Carol which will have Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara playing the leads. I love this beyond words. The Duchess of Ray Bridge herself, Margot Robbie is going to play Jane in the upcoming Tarzan movie that has Alexander Skarsgard donning the loincloth (hopefully!) and swinging from trees as our hero. This will obviously be a hot effing movie and I almost wish that it is R-rated because why not :)

3) Joe Wright's Pan is building up quite an ensemble. Hugh Jackman is going to play Blackbeard, the villain, and Garrett Hedlund is going to play Captain Hook who isn't apparently bad in this version. It was previously reported Hedlund would play Peter Pan which I thought was just strange, but Hedlund and Jackman will be a nice pair of hot pirates. Now we just have to cast Keira Knightley as Wendy or Tinkerbell.

4) So Quentin Tarantino wrote a first draft of a proper western, since Django Unchained wasn't proper enough or whatever, called "The Hateful Eight" but someone leaked it online, causing him shelve the project completely. While it is true that I will follow Tarantino to the ends of earth and he might be the only person who can get me interested in westerns, I am kind of glad because I want him to tackle new genres and give them his Tarantino-ian twist. It seems that is exactly what might be in store for us because he may be working on a script based on the Robert Blake case, about a 70s TV star who murdered his wife and was sued by his children. It could be a legal thriller, which in itself is a pretty cool genre, but what Tarantino will do with it is even more fun to speculate about. Could he possible go back to something like Jackie Brown even? Now I'm getting excited!

5) Rumour has it that Pixar might be making it's own Star Wars movie. I have nothing more to say other than I WANT IT NOW!!!!!!

6) The Sundance Film Festival just got over and many of the indies that we might be talking about the rest of the year till next awards season were shown. The films that have caught my eye the most are Whiplash, which won a number of prizes, starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons, Richard Linklater's epic that took twelve years to make, Boyhood, Anton Corbijn's A Most Wanted Man starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Fassy-in-a-head movie, Frank, the Belle and Sebastian movie, God Help the Girl, Life After Beth starring Dane DeHaan and a zombified Aubrey Plaza (which sounds so perfect!!) and vampire flick A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. Also, The Raid 2: Berandal has gotten some rave reviews so really excited about that one too.

7) Lately, I have been reading a lot on the inevitable Jennifer Lawrence backlash. I think it is a really interesting cultural phenomenon, or rather she is. For someone who was so widely loved this time last year, a lot of people seem to despise her at present. But this is balanced by an equally rabid group of fangirls who will like cut you, virtually of course, if you say anything bad about her. I find it fascinating because JLaw at present represents both sides of our "Tumblr" age. Also the fact the she is probably the only female towards whom there is such complete devotion. I get why people like her- she's funny, pretty, relatable, a good actor and she is part of one of the biggest franchises in the world right now. I also get why people don't like her- all those incessant Buzzfeed posts, Oscar + Catching Fire + American Hustle + another Oscar nomination which is definitely undeserved. The fact that both of these things have happened within the course of one year is kind of unfortunate, because she has at least 3 big releases in the next two years, Mockingjay parts 1 and 2 and X-Men: Days of Future Past, so she's not going anywhere any time soon. And the dissenting voices will become even louder if by any chance she does manage to win the Oscar because it will then definitely become a popularity thing. This will be bad for both parties, even though the fangirls may not realise it yet, because she *will* almost definitely peak then and we might have to wait quite a while before she can give her next great performance that people will care about. I for one am still a fan, of both Jennifer Lawrence, the actress, and Jennifer Lawrence, the personality. Even if she might be putting on a show, I like that a 23 year old can be both neurotic and charming and may not have everything figured out even though she's a huge star. It's affirming.

8) Score-wise: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have re-teamed with David Fincher and are going to score his upcoming thriller, Gone Girl. I still listen to The Social Network score and I just rewatched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its opening continues to give me chills. Also, Carter Burwell will score the aforementioned Carol (and not Clint Mansell, *who* scored Stoker. I'm and idiot) so that is awesome. Most importantly though, Danny Elfman will score Fifty Shades of Grey! Woo hoo! I'm so excited to hear the music between the spanking and the sex noises!!!!!!

9) Speaking of, the teaser poster of Fifty Shades of Grey has released. It looks a lot like Dhoom 3's poster, which is just an odd connection. I don't like the font but Jamie Dornan, if it indeed is him, has a nice suit and a nice butt. These are my observations.

10) Andrew of Encore's World of Film & TV is doing his Motifs in Cinema blogathon again and I will be taking part this time 'round. I will be looking at the "coming of age" movies of 2013.

11) TrailersStarred Up starring Jack O'Connell and Rupert Friend looks like a pretty intense film. I have loved O'Connell since his Skins days and this is a good year for him (he is the lead in Angelina Jolie's Unbroken). Karen Gillan stars in creepy horror flick Oculus. I was anyways going to watch it for Gillan but apparently it's also pretty good according to the TIFF'13 reports, so yaay. There isn't a trailer out yet but the clip from Fassy and Domhnall Gleeson starrer Frank looks really quirky and fun. Coming to television, Sam Mendes-produced Penny Dreadful has two teasers out (1, 2) and looks kind of generic but I love Eva Green and my 13 year old self still believes in Josh Hartnett, so I will be keeping an eye out for it. Finally, Hannibal season 2's trailer is out and it's beautiful. Can't wait for more murders that look like pretty works of art and Mads Mikkelsen in a bloody unbuttoned shirt!

12) Finally, Jonah Hill is living every girl's dream-
Forget getting Oscars for their performances in WoWS, they should be getting fucking Oscars for this! I heart them so much.
I also want to marry Leonardo DiCaprio.

Au revoir!

Saturday 25 January 2014

January Blind Spot- Rebecca

        “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderlay again.” I had spent years in my school learning up this quote for quiz tryouts. Therefore, I was always somewhat acquainted with the story and like all good children, had wanted to watch the movie instead of reading the actual novel.

        And so for my first ever Blind spot post, I decided to go with something a bit more familiar. Alfred Hitchcock’s first American movie, Rebecca is both an unusual and an obvious entry in the master of suspense’s oeuvre.


         A woman whose name we never find out is vacationing in Monte Carlo as a paid companion to a pompous old lady, Edith Von Hopper when she apparently saves the mysterious and aristocratic Maxim de Winter while he is overlooking a cliff. The two then keep meet again and the woman falls madly in love with Maxim and he too seems fond of her and they get married. They move to his ancestral house in England, the colossal Manderlay. The present Mrs. de Winter hopes to be happy there, but the place, the title the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, and most of all, the overwhelming presence of Maxim’s deceased ex-wife Rebecca make it impossible for her.


           Rebecca is kind of an odd film. It feels like two, maybe even three movies in one. The tryst between the future Mrs. de Winter and Maxim at the beginning, where they fool the farcical Von Hopper has a bit of a romantic comedy-esque essence to it. After the now-married Mrs. de Winter goes to Manderlay and meets Mrs. Danvers, it is a psychological suspense drama, and the last act where the mystery is solved is just that and very little else. Needless to say, where the film truly shines is the big chunk in the middle, with the strangest of battles between Mrs. de Winters, Mrs. Danvers and the aura of the titular Rebecca.


        I cannot recall if I have ever seen a movie where a person we never see has as pervading a presence as Rebecca de Winter. Not only are half the things in the gigantic Manderlay embossed with her initials, but every person who had ever met her or even otherwise, like Mrs. de Winter, seems to be obsessed with her. I wonder how modern psychologists analyze a character like Rebecca. Is she the perfect embodiment of an ex? Is it as much as a relief to us when *SPOILERS* her true nature is revealed as it is to Mrs. de Winter because we cannot accept someone that perfect? *END SPOILERS* Maybe it was just me who thought such things but I too was completely entranced by Rebecca. Three scenes stood out the most in the movie for me and two of them had to do with her (though an argument can be made for the third one as well). The first was when Mrs. de Winter enters Rebecca’s room for the first time. As Mrs. Danvers had said, it really was the most beautiful room in the whole house. It reminded me of the famous quote, “Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.” The juxtaposition of all the gorgeous things that Rebecca owned with Mrs. Danvers’ fanatical devotion and Mrs. de Winter’s horror was absolutely fantastic. And I read about how this film foreshadowed Hitchcock’s fetishization of clothes, but I don’t think I have ever seen anything symbolize a character so completely like that black negligee. The second scene was when Maxim reveals the truth about Rebecca to Mrs. de Winter and the way empty spaces are used to show what her actions and words had been is just remarkable. 


         The other character who I was fascinated by was Mrs. Danvers, played to terrifying perfection by Judith Anderson. Like the clothes, many believe that she was the first of the monstrous mother figures that populate Hitchcock’s movies. I thought a little differently of her. In my opinion, Mrs. Danvers was an obsessed lover. It would be interesting to contrast her with Mrs. de Winter because throughout most of the movie, I felt the latter was infatuated with her husband more than anything else. I think both Mrs. Danvers and Mrs. de Winter were in love with the idea of Rebecca and Maxim respectively than their real selves. Luckily for the latter, it ends in a happy communion, but for the former, there is only sadness and madness. Anderson plays her with stiff coldness but for that glimmer of crazy in her eyes, which really is quite frightening.


          Finally, the third woman in the triangle- Mrs. de Winter. At first, I thought I had forgotten what her name was but then I realised that we never find it out. It makes you wonder if this film is about her at all? I partly feel like this because of the performance. This was my first Joan Fontaine movie and I am a bit confused about her. She is almost awkward throughout the movie. She looks like someone who would be scared of her own shadow which was something that distanced me from the movie a little bit, in spite of it making sense within the context of the story. I don’t know if I can blame her because apparently Hitchcock totally terrified and bullied her on set (can you imagine all the tweets and blogposts were this movie made today?!). Having said that, once she did come on her own, I really liked her confidence and natural gracefulness.

         Among the rest of the cast, I thought everyone was pretty good. Laurence Olivier was hot, George Sanders was fun and the guy who played Ben was kind of scary looking. The men felt like secondary players to me and so there isn't any point going into greater detail.


           David O. Selznick produced this film and had he not been busy with Gone with the Wind, we would have had a very different end result. His influence can still be felt in the film, and because of this, Hitchcock decided to shoot only scenes he wanted to show in his movies for his future projects. I suppose it was this battle of wits between the two that gives Rebecca its uneven tone. But I will still call it a Hitchcock movie, not only because of the motifs mentioned above, but most importantly because of the suspense the central part of the film has. Those two scenes that I talked about: only someone who knows how to heighten tension and induce dread in the minds of the audience can pull them off so brilliantly and very few ever did like Hitchcock. He was the one who altered Mrs. Danvers character to make the psychological web of the movie more complex.


           The film is very stunning to look at. As I wrote above, I had read about this Manderlay from a very early age and it really looked as magnanimous as all that. Not only its huge exterior, but the lighting and space indoors are very striking. Some of the shots like the way rain gets reflected from the windows onto the rooms, Rebecca’s white room with Mrs. Danvers’ dark figure, and of course the closing scene (the last of the favourite scenes) are incredibly memorable. And while I was never struck by her beauty like I have been with other Hitchcock’s blondes, Fontaine’s profile is really lovely in some of the shots.

            I am glad that I chose Rebecca for my blind spot, and not solely because of cinephile reasons. I found there to be a lot to contemplate about this film. I loved how female-based this film was. The power struggle between Mrs. Danvers, Mrs. de Winters and Rebecca is unique in many ways and I almost wish that the film would have only been about that. I also like how it questions what it is that people fall for. Like for Maxim, it seems he marries Mrs. de Winter only because of how un-Rebecca-like she is. Therefore as superfluous as I feel her infatuation with him is, I think he also is more concerned with outer appearances, in spite of his experience with Rebecca. Why else does he mourn for Mrs. de Winter’s “funny young lost look” towards the end? And obviously, why is it that we never find out Mrs. de Winter’s name? I think it’s because of both the themes I just wrote about- Rebecca’s name has power in it, which Mrs. de Winter largely lacks, and that she’s the anti-Rebecca in Maxim’s life. Again, I would love to know if there is a feminist take on this and what that might be.


         Hence, as you can see, this film has been quite the brain fodder for me. In spite of flaws, there is a lot to love in it, from the look to Mrs. Danvers’ immaculate creepiness to Rebecca’s stifling aura to that perfect last shot. For those who haven’t watched it and are big Hitchcock fans, please do as soon as you can. And the people who have watched Rebecca before, what is your stand on these questions and theories of mine?



Note: This has been quite a meandering sort of review. It is also quite long, but I can’t promise if my future Blind spot entries will be the same. I have some tricky ones to look forward to (Lynch, Herzog) but it’s been nice to write something resembling a review after ages.

Wednesday 22 January 2014

Across the Universe Podcast: Episode 18

Episode 18: Sell Me This Movie

Guess who thought that she had published this post? Exams I tell ya'!!!!!!

Anyways, in this episode, Sofia, Mette and I basically fangirled over Martin Scorsese's newest, The Wolf of Wall Street.

Note: People who a) do not like the sound of my voice, b) do not like Leonardo DiCaprio, c) or aren't really fond of listening to three adult women freak out about Leonardo DiCaprio, this episode *might* not be for you. Everyone else, enjoy!


Content:
0:23- Chick-chatter (and mini-rant. People can forward to the next bit if they don't want to listen)
3:35- Trailer
4:13- Interesting Movie of the Fortnight
20:19- Main discussion on WoWS
1:11:28- Plugs and Goodbyes

Songs:
Smokestack Lightnin' "Howlin' Wolf"
Jimmy Castor "Hey Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You"
Fiona Apple "Across The Universe"



Follow us at: facebook.com/acrosstheuniversepodcast
Write to us at: acrosstheuniversepodcast@gmail.com
Find us on iTunes: search for Across the Universe Podcast
Download episodes from: Our Dropbox page

Thursday 16 January 2014

Dance, Leo! Dance!



I controlled myself from using the gif above in the Golden Globes post because I was hoping it could be better served if Leo got an Oscar nomination. AND HE DID!!!!!! I am so happy. I could barely sit through my first French class (Salut everyone).
As usual, the rest of the nominations are a mixed bag. For every Gravity nomination, there is an American Hustle nomination, literally. They each bagged 10 nominations followed by the 9 of 12 Years A Slave. Lee Daniels' The Butler got nothing, so yaay!


Expectations Vs Reality

Best Film: 9 out of 9- Really have to see this Philomania (yaay Steve Coogan's an Oscar nominee)

Best Director: 5 out of 5- Paul Greengrass was phenomenal so it's sad not to see him here.

Best Actress: 5 out of 5- Meryl Streep has 18 acting nominations now.

Best Actor: 4 out of 5- LEOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Did not expect the Bale nomination and that Tam Honks would get snubbed. I was so looking forward to writing Tam Honks throughout this award season.

Best Supporting Actress: 4/5 out of 5- since I did mention JLaw but it was more of a plea for her not to get nominated. I still love her but man, the backlash is going to be brutal.

Best Supporting Actor: 5 out of 5- Sad about no Franco but hellz yeah for Hill and Fassy (!!!!) getting nominated.

Best Original Screenplay: 4 out of 5- Forgot about Dallas Buyers Club.

Best Adapted Screenplay: 4 out of 5- Didn't predict Philomania but yaay for Coogan again. And the Before Midnight team, duhs.


Other thoughts-
  • Dallas Buyers Club got a nomination for editing? What?
  • No Stories We Tell :( I get that 2013 was an exceptional year for documentaries and I am going to watch as many of then as I can, but Sarah Polley's exploration of family and memories is so universal and touching, I really thought it had a chance.
  • Happy about The Grandmaster's cinematography and costume design nominations. Of course, Lubezki ought to win the former, but gosh, the clothes in the movie were lovely!
  • Of course films like Frances Ha, Spring Breakers and Stoker get nothing. Duh.
  • So happy for Barkhad Abdi. Inspirational stuff.
  • Yaay Karen O. and Arcade Fire are Oscar nominees!!
  • Pacific Rim didn't get nominated for Best Visual Effects? What the fucking hell? These people deserve to be eaten by kaijus.

     And that's it. Au revoir and bonne nuit!

Wednesday 15 January 2014

HELLO OSCAR NOMS!

           Yes, I know that the Oscar nominations are almost upon us, but it's a blog tradition and it brings me joy. I will list all of my choices for the Oscars in the Film, Director, Acting and Screenplay categories. I still haven't seen Nebraska, Inside Llewyn Davis, Philomania, Fruitvale Station and All is Lost which I think are the only other possible Oscar contenders.


Best Film: I'm going to go with 6 nominations though we don't know how many there will be. 

Mine- 1) Gravity
2) Frances Ha
3) The Wolf of Wall Street
4) Her
5) Stoker
6) Spring Breakers

Special wish that has no chance- Not that 50% of my list has any chance, but still, I wish foreign films like The Lunchbox, Wadjda or Blue is the Warmest Colour (which should really, really get consideration) were included.

Theirs- 12 Years A Slave, American fucking Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club and Nebraska will make it in. From my list, Frances Ha, Stoker and Spring Breakers probably won't get any nominations, *especially* not here. If the Oscar voters are really impressed, also watch out for Lee Daniels' The Butler, Inside Llewyn Davis, Rush and Philomania.

Winner- It's between 12 Years A Slave and Gravity. If American Hustle wins this, I will probably punch a hole through my TV.


Best Director: I think there's going to be a split between Best Film and Best Director this year too.

Mine- 1) Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
2) Edgar Wright, The World's End
3) Harmony Korine, Spring Breakers
4) Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
5) Martin Scorsese, WoWS

Special wish that has no chance- The daring that took to make Wadjda, Haifaa Al-Mansour should definitely get some award.
Theirs- Steve McQueen for 12 Years A Slave, which is fair even though I have liked his other work much more. The adorable Spike Jonze might make it in with Her and David O' Russell is apparently the new Oscar favourite so yeah, him. The Oscars also love the Coen brothers so I won't be surprised if they are nominated for Inside Llewyn Davis.

Winner- Cuarón. It really is a no-brainer.


Best Actress: This can see a repeat of last year's Best Supporting Actor category with all past winners being nominated.

Mine- 1) Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
2) Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Colour
3) Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
4) Sandra Bullock, Gravity
5) Brie Larson, Short Term 12

Special wish that has no chance- Scarlett Johansson for Her. It's kind of like Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs. Her presence permeates through the whole film, and to do that with just your voice is amazing.

Theirs- Amy Adams will become a 5-time Oscar nominee with her role in AH. Then there are the British greats, Emma Thompson for Saving Mr. Banks and Dame Judy Dench for Philomania. It's the Oscars so a Mery Streep nomination is never shocking. My poor Greta and Adèle and Brie have no chance in hell.

Winner- "'Blue Moon' was playing- you know the song, 'Blue Moon'..." Queen Cate is in it to win it.


Best Actor: I thank Stevee Taylor for reminding me who should get nominated.

Mine- 1) Leonardo DiCaprio, WoWS
2) Leonardo DiCaprio, WoWS
3) Leonardo DiCaprio, WoWS
4) Leonardo DiCaprio, WoWS
5) Leonardo DiCaprio, WoWS

Special wish that has no chance- If this was the actual line-up, Leo would win! Anyways, I spoke about how Tye Sheridan and Simon Pegg deserved to be in that category.

Theirs- The real travesty is that Leo might not even be nominated, at which point I will start a week-long marathon of crying and cursing. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT, ACADEMY?! They will definitely nominate Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years A Slave, Tam Honks for Captain Phillips, Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club, Bruce Dern for Nebraska and the maybes for that fifth spot (GIVE IT TO LEO, YOU BITCHES!) include Robert Redford for All is Lost, Michael B. Jordan for Fruitvale Station, Forest Whitaker for The Butler, the beautiful Joaquin Phoenix for Her and Oscar Isaac for Inside Llewyn Davis.

Winner- If it was me, there is *only* one winner. But in case said winner doesn't get nominated because there are a lot of idiots in the world, I would really like to see Tam Honks win.


Best Supporting Actress: For once, I don't want to see JLaw get anything.

Mine- 1) Scarlett Johansson, Don Jon
2) Shailene Woodley, The Spectacular Now
3) Lea Seydoux, Blue is the Warmest Colour
4) Emma Watson, The Bling Ring
5) Sarah Paulson, 12 Years A Slave

Special wish that has no chance- What I said at the beginning of this category.

Theirs- Pretty certain no one from my list will make it in. Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years A Slave is loved by most people. Apparently June Squibb is fantastic in Nebraska so her. Julia Roberts in August: Osage County who just missed my list. Oprah with her Oprahness might make it in for The Butler. And finally, Sally Hawkins, who really was lovely in Blue Jasmine.

Winner- Though I liked Paulson more, Lupita is a stunning woman and that Oscar will look very nice with her.


Best Supporting Actor: *the forgotten category* I forgot to include this the first time I published this post. Guess that means something.

Mine- 1) James Franco, Spring Breakers
2) Jonah Hill, WoWSThis is the End
3) Matthew Goode, Stoker
4) Jake Gyllenhaal, Prisoners
5) Matthew McConaughey, WoWS/ Mud

Special wish that has no chance- Hiddles as Loki? Pwease.

Theirs- I don't think my list will make it in at all. As I said, I've lost interest in this category. Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club is a sure-shot. John Gandolfini for Enough Said, Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips, Fassy for 12 Years A Slave, Daniel Bruhl for Rush and Bradley Coooper for AH all seem like good bets. They are *all* very good, but come on, ALIEN!!!!!

Winner- Leto. Shoulda been Franco.


Best Original Screenplay: I never finished reading any of these so guesses abound.

Mine- 1) Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
2) Jonás Cuarón and Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
3) Spike Jonze, Her
4) Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine
5) Nicole Holofcener, Enough Said

Special wish that has no chance- I'm going to go with The World's End, 'cuz it's hilarious, badass and deeply affecting.

Theirs- Again, the Coen brothers are a big favourite, and so is Alexander Payne for his work in Nebraska. American Hustle might make it in here so boooo. I do think that all my picks do have some chance so let's keep hoping.

Winner- Possibly Jonze. Which is awesome because he's like cute but looks hot in a suit and seeing him win will be nice.


Best Adapted Screenplay: I've read The Great Gatsby. That's it.

Mine- 1) Terence Winter, WoWS
2) Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater, Before Midnight
3) Abdellatif Kechiche and Ghalia Lacroix, Blue is the Warmest Colour
4) Tracy Letts, August: Osage County
5) Sofia Coppola, The Bling Ring

Special wish that has no chance- Does Much Ado About Nothing count? If it does, then Joss Whedon! Please!

Theirs- 12 Years A Slave and Captain Phillips will definitely be in there. 

Winner- I really want WoWS to win this- "I WILL NOT DIE SOBER!"


Special mention: Best Costume Design- I have v.v.v.v. strong feelings about this category this year so here it goes.

Mine- 1) Stoker
2) Laurence Anyways
3) Spring Breakers
4) The Bling Ring
5) Blue Jasmine/ Frances Ha/ WoWS

Theirs- 12 Years A Slave, which I'm okay with, and a whole lot of other movies with period settings. I really wish they would consider contemporary movies in this category. Sure Stoker or Spring Breakers don't have the extravagance of the clothes in The Great Gatsby, but the clothes are actually a big part of the movie, both aesthetically and symbolically. Both The Bling Ring and Blue Jasmine costumes speak about the lifestyle of the people in the movie more than "oh they wore this because everyone else at the time wore it". Frances's clothes reflect the way she matures. Laurence Anyways is brighter and flashier than all the American Hustles in the world and again, the clothes mean something. And whoever put Leo in that blue suit in WoWS just needs all the awards.


      So um, that's it! Let's wait and watch how the Oscars step over and crush all my hopes and dreams.

Monday 13 January 2014

"Like a supermodel's vagina, let's all give a warm welcome to Leonardo DiCaprio." GOLDEN GLOBES ARE HERE!

   
        Hi guys! My favourite awards happened again! I enjoy the Golden Globes a lot. I know most people hate them because they're like oh so cool and above it, but I have a lot of fun with them and I end up loving most of the winners, even more than the Oscars (nominate Leo, you mofos!).

1) So they didn't show the red carpet again, which is highly annoying. My internet speed sucks right now and it really is a candle pain in the ass to google red carpet arrivals at 6 in the morning. And it's so cold here too. I wanted to sleep but like any female person of 21, I *needed* to see pretty/ugly/weird (Paula Patton wtf) dresses.
2) Fun fact: my exams are in 5 days and I haven't studied a thing and I should be getting up at 6 to study but obviously I have my priorities straight.
3) Elisabeth Moss looked fantastic! So sleek and shiny and geometric. And man, I want shoes like that! Hers was my absolute favourite look of the evening.
I also really loved what Queen Cate, Emma Stone, Lupita Nyong'o and Caitlin FitzGerald wore.

4) Um, what were Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Watson wearing? Yes, I get that "Lawrencing" is now a thing, but that was one weird-ass looking dress. And Watson's clothes made me feel uncomfortable. It was so strange. Either wear pants or wear a dress, god! I love both of these women, but noooo.
5) However, JLaw did photobomb Taylor Swift, so all's forgiven.

6) SEXYFASSYSEXYFASSYSEXYFASSYFEXYSASSYSESSYFAXY *brain dead due to Michael Fassbender's sexiness*

7) Scruff was a general trend among the hot, HOT men- Fassy, Idris Elba, Chris Pine (my scruffy god), Leo and the man with the best face on earth, Joaquin Phoenix.

8) Fun fact: Everytime they showed Joaquin Phoenix laughing during the show, my heart sang a song à la Her.

9) The show finally begins. Amy and Tina are there making jokes and everything is as beautiful as always. Some choice jokes.
"Welcome to the 71st Annual Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's Lee Daniels' The Butler Golden Globes Awards."
"We are hosting the Golden Globes for the second time because this is Hollywood and if something kinda works, they'll keep doing it until everybody hates it."
"American treasure, Tam Honks." (I'm going to use that throughout this awards season, I promise)
"Meryl Streep, so great in August: Osage County, proving there are still great parts in Hollywood for Meryl Streeps over 60."
"Gravity is the story of how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age." - Best. Thing. Ever.
"For his role in Dallas Buyers Club, [Matthew McConaughey] lost 45 pounds, or what actresses call, being in a movie."- This too. BEST.

They cut to Jennifer Lawrence for the Amy Poehler intro. Her reaction was hilarious.

The Julia-Louis Dreyfus intro deserves a whole lot of applause on its own. Smoke that e-cigarette, gurrrlll!
Points to Reese Witherspoon for being such a sport.

10) I love Amy and Tina hosting this much because they do point out things like in the case of Clooney and McConaughey that are so incongruous in today's pop-culture, but they do it with enough charm to get away with it.
11) Also, they really got it in for Tam Honks, Martin Scorsese and most of all, Matt Damon this year. Wonder why. Still, it was funny.
12) So the first award was Best Supporting Actress and Jennifer Lawrence won that. Her speech was really sweet, almost as adorable as her date, Nicholas Hoult. I just want to say that I really do think that she did a great job with the one dimensional character she got in American Hustle and used all of her god-given star power and charisma to flesh out that role the best she could. However, she should really not be getting any awards this year. There are far, far superior performances that *should* be getting attention but aren't. If you just go with the kind of character she played in AH, there were Scarlett Johansson, Emma Watson and Margot Robbie, all of whom would have been a better choice. I blame Harvey Weinstein.
13) The next award went to Jacqueline Bisset who went into shock a little bit and as touching as it was originally, it became kind of super awkward to watch, especially with all the qualudes jokes that immediately started on Twitter.
14) Oh Margot Robbie and Jonah Hill came to present the Best Picture nomination for The Wolf of Wall Street except the teleprompter was showing the wrong stuff and then they started explaining it and Robbie got all embarrassed. It was hilarious and so cute. Some backstage person, who just reached the highest point of their life then, gave them a written speech and they continued. I really like Robbie :)
15) Bryan Cranston and Breaking Bad won Best Drama Actor and TV Show (Drama) and it was so well-deserved and brilliant and then Aaron Paul wrapped up the latter speech with "Yeah bitch, thank you!" I have never missed a term of profanity more in my life. So annoyed he didn't get the Best Supporting Actor award. BITCHES!

16) The way they kept playing all the people off was super-annoying and disrespectful. Just calm your tits, orchestra.
17) They brought the real life Philomania Philomena and Nicki Lauda to present their respective films, Philomena and Rush. I greatly respect the Globes for doing that. For all the claims of it being a show pandering to Hollywood royalty, it is the only award show which actually brings all these people who are so far removed from all that glamour and on whose normal, exciting, amazing lives, we get a lot of the movies. Bravo, I say.

18) The song categories were presented by P. Diddy (is that what he's called now?), Usher the third, Duke of Doucheville or something like that, and Kate Beckinsale, aka the oddest trio ever. Beckinsale looked positively vampiric. Someone wants another Underworld sequel, holla! They gave both the awards to All is Lost. Diddy was seriously pissed and tried to hug Bono, out-awkwarding Bisset by a mile.

19) AND NONE FOR TAYLOR SWIFT, BYE! (No, it will *never* get old)
20) Amy Adams won Best Comedy Actress for what seemed to me the only dramatic part in American Hustle. Seriously, with or without the hideous British accent, Sydney was a sad and dark character. Still, I do love Adams so I will pretend she got it for all the other times she's deserved to win. I wish actual comedic performances like those by Greta Gerwig and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, or if we are going the "dramedy" way, Julie Delpy would have won :( Anyways, RDJesus gave the award so yippee!
21) The Miss Globe this year was Kevin Bacon's and Kyra Sedgwick's daughter. That was the boring bit. Then Tina Fey came and introduced Mr. Globe, her son with someone in the audience- Randy.          
SO FUNNY! (look at Idris saying yes *swoons*)

22) Robin Wright won for House of Cards and thanked David Fincher. We should all thank Fincher just for existing.
23) Best Supporting Actor went to Jared Leto. Like uh duh. I've already lost interest in this category. For a tiny second, I thought maybe Fassy would win (since Hill isn't nominated- booooo), but nope. And then Leto went up and started talking about waxing again- like shut up about that already! Yes, I think you have very pretty eyes and very nice hair and are generally hot and your performance in Dallas Buyers Club was rather good, but now, you are just annoying me.
24) I started watching the Game of Thrones season 4 trailer during Leto's speech. Jorah, I have missed your sexy sexiness.
25) Oh then my own Khaleesi, Emma Thompson came on stage with her shoes in one hand and a martini in the other, to present the Best Screenplay. I would go to war for her.

26) Spike Jonze won the award for Her! YAAAAYYYYYYYY!! Spike Jonze has overtaken Paul Thomas Anderson for the being second sexiest director (Fincher being the first, duh). He's so cute and attractive and I want him.
27) Andy Samberg went Best Comedy Actor for Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Leo shook his hand :) His speech was the best of the night. It was like a parody of a speech but it was still honest. I loved it. Also, all the SNL people looked so happy.

28) The Great Beauty won Best Foreign Film. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! That movie was so over-the-top, it made my brain bleed. Also, it didn't star Adèle Exarchopolous and Lea Seydoux so we all know who the real winner is here.
29) Real-life Disney prince and princess, Chris Pine (unffff) and Emma Watson came to present Best Animated Feature, which went to Frozen and thus it was all very apt.
Let's take a moment to appreciate him again.

30) Khaleesi from the show, Emilia Clarke and Chris O' Donnell (I think :/) came to present Best Comedy Actress and it FINALLY went to Amy Poehler for Parks and Recreation. Apart from one award that will come up later, this was my favourite win of the night. I love her and her performance and her speech was hilarious too. Aubrey plaza was jumping out of joy (April Ludgate would not approve). Also, ew who wants to kiss Bono? He's like 80 years old.
31) The Woody Allen tribute happened next. He won the Cecil B. Demille Award, and Emma Stone gave the introduction. I cried during the montage of his films. Since Woody doesn't come to award shows, his cinematic other half, Diane Keaton (who just rocked her tuxedo), accepted on behalf of him and she sang a song, like Annie Hall would, in appreciation.
"Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold. A circle is round, it has no end. That's how long you're going to be my friend."

It was so beautiful. She also spoke about how Woody has written such incredible roles for women over the years, and then the camera just panned across the room and there were indeed so many "Woody" actresses there. 179 actresses have been in his movies. Like wowsers. I cried here too. I really love Woody. If anyone deserves to live forever, it is him. I seriously want to meet him just once in my life. Also, kind of amazing that Stone and Keaton both came. Hopefully, it is a sign.

32) Ben Affleck's ugly chin came next, with the rest of him, to present the Best Director award which went to Alfonso Cuarón. Woo hoo! I literally fist-pumped the air when his name got announced. He seems like a wonderful person.
33) Then came THE award. I had started losing faith about Leo winning Best Comedy Actor because of this America Hustle sweep, but bless the film gods, LEO WON! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!! He pointed out how weird it was that he won for his comedic performance, thanking his " fellow comedians" but seriously, no one has made me laugh more in a movie. I wish Kate Winslet was there though. Then Leo could have declared his love for her like she did all those years back and the world would become an even better place. #JackandRose4eva

34) Still, the HFPA seemed pleased as punch with American Hustle, presenting it with Best Film Comedy/Musical. Just so wrong. I am going to start hating on AH because of all this unnecessary love. It is not the best film of any genre, except if wearing bad wigs or showing too much cleavage or blowing up an oven were genres. Please let it not become a frontrunner. It shouldn't even get an Oscar nomination.
35) Then Golden Globe winner Leonardo DiCaprio came to present Best Dramatic Actress. His intro (title of the post) was AWESOME. Seeing him present the award to Cate Blanchett was great. I think both of them have done similar work this year- using all of their talent and charisma and then just going batshit crazy with it. Cate is so graceful and beautiful. I don't think I could ever look directly at her. She's like the sun. Also she questioned the horrible play-off music-
"I just wondered if people at home can really hear this music or do they suddenly just think that you're just getting really fast because you're having a panic attack."
Followed by this cracker of a line-
"Plying me with vodka in the way Judy Garland was probably plowed with barbiturates."
How do they come up with this stuff?

36) Jessica Chastain came next to present the Best Drama Actor, which she gave to Matthew McConaughey (somewhere, Stevee Taylor was dancing). I admit I didn't listen to his speech but yaay! I am going to pretend the award is for WoWS, Magic Mike and Killer Joe instead.
37) Also, let's all give an award to Margaret for drunk-tweeting the Globes. It was beautiful.

37) And finally, Johnny Depp with bleached blonde hair came and presented Best Picture Drama (since Drama is soooo superior to Comedy), which went to 12 Years A Slave. A lot of people were relieved. I'm okay with it. I totally think that they will split the Best Film and Best Director at the Oscars too, 12 Years A Slave taking the former and Cuarón for the latter.

      And that was it. Yaay for Fassy coming on stage for *something*. There was no Gosling again and aww, no Hiddles even though half the Avengers were there. The only wins I am pissed with were American Hustle, The Great Beauty and Jon Voigt. Still, Leo, Amy, Spike and Woody were more than enough to make up for all that. Plus, so many shots of happy Joaquin. Anything that makes Joaquin happy, makes me happy. Now onto Ellen to wrap this up.


Be still, my beating heart.