If I Made The Rules

As someone who has watched all* of the Oscar-nominated movies for the last four years, if I could make some additional rules for the Oscars, they would look like this:

1. A category needn’t nominate a certain number of movies if there aren’t enough qualified movies to fill the category.  I’m looking at you, Animated Features.  This year, all of the movies nominated for Animated Feature were mediocre.  Perhaps only three animated movies this year deserved to be able to say they were Oscar-nominated: Wreck-It Ralph, Frankenweenie, and Brave (and really, I’m just including Brave because it won.  It wasn’t a good movie, and it sucked even more because it was a Pixar movie, and Pixar should do better than put out a mediocre movie).  ParaNorman wasn’t terrible, but it certainly doesn’t deserve the “Oscar-nominated” title.  Pirates! Band of Misfits WAS terrible.  Please, Academy, don’t feel like you have to nominate five movies just because there are five slots.  Have some standards.  [So, after doing some research on this category, I’ve found what I think is the problem.  Animated movies are scored numerically by committee members, with 10 = excellent, 8 = good, and 7 = fair.  A film has to have an average score of 7.5 in order to be nominated.  In my view, movies that can only be described as “somewhere between fair and good” have no business being nominated for Oscars.  Ideally, all nominated movies would be excellent or very good, but I can see how some movies that are just “good” might slip in.  But really, movies where the average vote is less than “good” simply are not worthy of the honor of having an Oscar nom to their credit.]
2. In order for an Academy member to be able to vote in a category, they need to have seen all the movies in that category.  Otherwise, it just becomes even more of a popularity contest than it already is.  Seeing every movie in a category should be a minimum qualification to be able to vote in that category.  The Foreign Language category has this standard, and it adds an additional element of integrity to the category.  If it’s not too difficult for me to see all of the nominated movies in a category, surely it’s not too difficult to ask the Academy members — who often get free DVD screeners of the movies mailed to them — who want to vote for movies in that category to do the same.  
3. No presenter should be associated with a film that is nominated for the category in which he or she is presenting.  The cast of The Avengers, including Samuel L. Jackson, presented for Best Visual Effects, for which The Avengers was a nominee, and for Cinematography, for which Django Unchained was a nominee.  I don’t want to feel like the presenters have a horse in the race.  It really wouldn’t be that hard to mix up the presenters and the categories.
4. All of the nominated movies should be available to be seen prior to the Oscars, whether in the movie theater or released on DVD.  Because I live in DC, I’m able to see all of the Foreign Language nominees at National Geographic and all of the Documentary Features at the National Archives.  Two of the short film categories — animated and live action — have been available in other theaters for a few years, and for the second year in a row, a local theater has also played the documentary shorts. Nevertheless, there are generally a small handful of movies that I am not able to view through Netflix, On Demand, or in the theater each year.  I — and I believe others — would be willing to pay to see these movies in some form.  Please make that an option for us.
5. Make a damn decision already on whether to have performances for all the nominated Original Songs.  The nominated songs traditionally have been performed at the Oscars since 1946, with only three exceptions: 1989, 2010, and 2012 (thus depriving me the pleasure of seeing Jason Segel, Jim Parsons, and some Muppets together on stage at the Oscars).  Making the decisions on whether to have the performances on an ad-hoc, year-by-year basis makes it seem as though the Academy is making a judgment call on which songs are worthy of being performed.  Either all Oscar-nominated songs are worthy of being performed at the Oscars, or none of them are.  But you know what NOT to do?  Don’t perform some of them live (“Skyfall”, “Suddenly”, and “Everybody Needs A Best Friend”), and then just play a few second snips of the other two on the big screen at the Oscars.  It’s in bad taste.

</Oscar rant>

*I’ve missed about half a dozen films in these four years, mostly because they were not available via Netflix, On Demand, in theater, or elsewhere.  I missed it this year by one movie (damn you, Chasing Ice!) and last year by two movies (I think).  The prior year I successfully (though not easily) saw all of them.

Much Ado About Nothing: My (Very Un-PC*) Thoughts About the Reaction to the Sexism in Simon Borg’s Statement

Today my Twitter feed blew up because Simon Borg, who is a writer and editor on the league website and co-hosts two podcasts, said on Extra Time Radio that women who were super-fans (to be distinguished from “casual fans”) were not appealing to potential male partners.  The people I follow on Twitter, including Women United FC, proceeded to tweet about it all day.

I get — and agree — that someone who even arguably represents MLS shouldn’t make such statements.  

However, the extent of the reaction to it implies that instead of being the perhaps-misguided opinion or badly-phrased rambling of one person — which it was — the statement represented the feeling of many and was a normative statement that women should not be soccer super-fans and instead they should be focused on finding a potential mate — which it was not. 

If Simon Borg feels that women super-fans aren’t attractive, then all that it means is that he won’t go out with a superfan.  Women superfans clearly wouldn’t want to go out with him — or anyone who shared his thoughts — anyway.  I don’t think that there are any women out there today who think “Oh crap, if being a soccer superfan isn’t going to help me catch a mate, then I really shouldn’t be a superfan.”

Perhaps I’m being too harsh.  Perhaps it is harder for women in some soccer circles to fit in, and they feel that they have to fight their way in and justify their position there.  That has never happened to me.  I have neither felt ostracized nor special because I am a woman soccer super-fan.  There are lots of women soccer super-fans in my group, most of them much more knowledgable about soccer than I am.  

I went to undergrad at The College of William and Mary, and while I was there, Margaret Thatcher was our Chancellor.  During our orientation week, we had a Q&A session with her.  Someone asked how it felt to be the first woman Prime Minister.  She replied “I do not consider myself a woman Prime Minister.  I consider myself a Prime Minister.” **  

I do not consider myself a woman soccer super-fan.  I consider myself a soccer super-fan.  

By harping on how outraged we are by one person’s statements, women emphasize the “otherness” in us — an otherness that I have never really found to exist.

I’m not saying that there are no differences at all between men and women.  Men’s soccer jerseys don’t fit women as well.  Yet US Soccer, until this year, hasn’t put out its men jersey in a women’s cut.  And even this year, when the women’s jerseys match the mens’, US Soccer isn’t releasing the women’s jersey until July, so those of us who would like to wear one to the USMNT World Cup Qualifying games (or local viewing parties for them) are just out of luck.  There are pictures on Facebook for the women’s jerseys, but they are not on the US Soccer website yet.  Where’s the outrage over that?  Instead of focusing on something tangible, the pro-woman energy has all been focused on one person who put his foot in his mouth.    

And really, if one man isn’t attracted to women soccer superfans, so what?  I don’t think the general sentiment is limited to the male gender.  Plenty of women (and I think I’m allowed to say this because I was one of them, prior to finding soccer) aren’t attracted to male super-fans (of any sport) either — the term “sports widow” exists for a reason.  My schedule is dictated by soccer games.  It takes up my weekends.  It takes up my free time.  It takes up my vacation time and money.  I’ve told close friends and family that I can’t take vacations with them because I’m saving money and leave time for soccer trips.  I can imagine that that might not go over so well with a non-soccer-supporting partner.  If any non-soccer superfan didn’t want to date me because I am a soccer superfan, then 1) he isn’t someone I would want to date anyway, and 2) I’d kind of understand it.

The unique aspect is that this statement is coming from (what I presume is) a fellow soccer superfan.  I would think that soccer super-fans would be more attracted to other superfans, not less.  But if for one person it happens to be less attractive, then … to each his own.

—

* I can see how this post might be offensive — I’m sorry.  I’m not a feminist, and I always feel kind of guilty for my anti-feminism, like I’m betraying my peeps.  So again, sorry.  

** This is not a wholehearted endorsement of everything Margaret Thatcher says, I just particularly like this statement and this sentiment.

The Happiness Project

Lately I’ve been in a bit of a funk.  I’m blaming it on the earthquake.  And I’m telling myself (and my friends who have been nice enough to listen to me complain) that all the life changes that have happened recently — losing my mom, losing my job, realizing that “good” friends sometimes aren’t really what they seem, fighting with the movers over moving my mom’s stuff, realizing that I’m going to have to give notice to move out of my place way before I’ll find a new place to live, thinking about moving again in November — are finally starting to catch up with me.

To try to counteract my funk, I picked up a book called The Happiness Project that a friend gave to me for my birthday this year.  I figured I could use a little happiness in my life right now.  It can be pretty cheesy, and the author’s cheerfulness annoys the shit out of me, and there are whole chapters that aren’t applicable (cough — husband, kids — cough) but the basic principal is sticking with me — no matter how much seems to be wrong externally right now, there are things I can be doing that will make me tangibly happier.

Such as: Get my ass out of the house and go to the gym.  Spend some time clearing the clutter from my life.  Spend time with good friends.  Engage in intellectual growth.  I can handle the last two things; it’s the first two things that I need to work on.

Earlier today I found out that a friend had been put on the “travel team” at work.  I’m incredibly happy for her, of course, but also insanely jealous.  I’ve thought about sending her work an unsolicited resume and cover letter begging them to hire me.  (If anyone at C’s office is reading this now: I’d be perfect for your travel team.  I don’t have a husband, kids, pets, or houseplants to keep me from going places.  I would go anywhere — everywhere — with not only acceptance but enthusiasm.  I’d go to India as quickly as I’d go to Geneva.  I’d work a gazillion hours a day.  You wouldn’t have to fly me back and forth every few weeks — I’d be happy to stay in ____ ON MY OWN DIME during my “off” time.  Though, of course, some back and forth would be nice, because I could really use the extra frequent flier miles. 😉  )

I’m not a strict believer in karma.  Bad things happen to good people for no reason.  Nevertheless, I can’t shake some sense of “things are happening this way for a reason.”  That doesn’t mean that I actually believe that there’s a divine being up there watching out for me and pulling the strings certain ways.  Maybe it just helps to remind me that I should make the most from a situation instead of complaining.

My point is that it occurred to me that maybe I wasn’t supposed to have a job right now that lets me travel 100% of the time.  Maybe there are things here that I need to stay here to do.  Maybe it’s so that I can go on vacation with S over Christmas; if I had a travel job, I would bet that I couldn’t dictate that I have that week off.  (Granted, at this point, if I have any job, I can’t dictate that I have that week off.  But I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.)  Maybe it’s so that, in preparation for going on Christmas vacation with S (Bonaire, anyone?), I can take a class and get certified in scuba.  Maybe it’s so that I can take a class in Portuguese.

When this last thought hit, I went online and pulled the trigger on the Portuguese class I’ve been eyeing for the last week.  Registered, paid for it, bought the books.

I think the author of The Happiness Project would give me a gold star.

I’d hire me.

So, as most of you probably know — and by “you” I mean the 1.5 persons who actually look at this blog (I know who you are) — I am currently in the job market and looking for work.  As part of an application for a contract attorney (ie, document review temp work) position today, I had to write my own bio.  It had to be centered around my doc review experience, of course, but I found that I could still use my bio from my old employer (which I could still find on its website, though not very easily).

I think I actually look pretty good on paper.  I mean, I’d hire me.

And I’m not saying that in a “I look good on paper but when I get to work I goof off” kind of way — I am consistently (five out of my last six jobs) hired on a temporary basis, and then, by showing that I don’t mind putting in the time and hard work, given a longer term position, more responsibilities, offer to stay on past my original commitment, etc.

So here’s my bio.  If you know anyone who might be in a position to hire me, please let me know!

Molly Thompson has worked in the e-discovery field as a contract attorney in Washington, DC, and in Charlotte, North Carolina, for many projects since 2007.  She has reviewed documents for substance and privilege in cases involving antitrust and mergers, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, communications law, and municipal derivatives and SEC regulations.  She is proficient in many brands of e-discovery software, including Concordance, Relativity, Ringtail/Axcelerate, and iConnect.  She is often selected from a pool of reviewers to help conduct the second-level, quality control reviews for a project, and she also has served as a team leader, providing technical and substantive assistance to other team members.  Previously, Molly served as a law clerk for federal judges in Greenville, North Carolina, and Seattle, Washington, and she practiced law in a medium-sized law firm in Los Angeles, California, focusing on general business litigation.  She is a member in good standing of the State Bars of the District of Columbia, California, and North Carolina.  Molly holds a B.A. in History and Philosophy from The College of William and Mary and a J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law, where she was a Staffwriter on the Washington and Lee Law Review.

Molly has also worked as a Program Manager for Meridian International Center, a non-profit exchange organization, where she managed logistical and programmatic aspects of Meridian’s Global Service Leaders Initiative and assisted with developing and implementing new initiatives, private projects, and Department of State grants.  Previously, Molly worked on political campaigns at the state and national levels and she interned for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois.  In her free time, Molly enjoys soccer and traveling, and she has recently visited Singapore, Paris, South Africa, and the Caribbean.

Around the World in Books

The idea for this map came from a similar map I saw in the bookstore Politics and Prose, in DC, which indicated some of the best books set in each country around the world.  My goal is to read a book about (or set in) each country.  Green is for books I’ve read, red for ones I haven’t read yet, and yellow for ones I’m currently reading.

When RFK’s A-Rockin’…

A sold-out RFK Stadium, in a sea of blue.

Dear USMNT, I love ya, I love ya, I love ya, and where you go I’ll follow, I’ll follow, I’ll follow….. but I was blown away by the El Salvador game last night.

The atmosphere at the El Salvador game was incredible; it was the most incredible in-stadium atmosphere I’ve ever seen.  The World Cup last year had a more incredible atmosphere outside the stadium itself — around the stadiums before the games, decked-out fans of all nations were partying and singing together.  But inside the stadiums at the World Cup, the supporters sections rocked while the rest of the stadium sat and clapped politely.  At RFK last night, many fans in the upper sections were standing.  Fans in the lower sections were standing on seats.  Dozens and dozens of El Salvador flags were waved when the fans got fired up.  40,000+ fans chanted “Si, se puede.”

El Salvadorian fans and flags... and the occasional Panama fan.

There wasn’t a specific El Salvador “supporter section” where the hard core fans sat to cheer.  They didn’t need it.  The entire stadium was filled with hard core fans.

The stadium stopped serving beer before the ES-PAN game started.  I didn’t hear one person complain.  They were here for the soccer.

An El Salvadorian fan wears an ES flag and carries a US flag.

At the tailgate before the game, my roommate and I wandered around, walking through the El Salvador section.  We got several chants of “USA!” from El Salvador fans.  Later, while walking to the stadium, groups of El Salvadorians came up to us and started chanting “USA!”  We answered with “El Salvador!”  It continued…. “USA!” “El Salvador!” “USA!” “El Salvador!”  It was beautiful.

Many El Salvador fans wore both ES and US gear and flags.

I was absolutely blown away by the way the El Salvador fans could pack a stadium, cheer on their team loudly even from the top deck, be gracious about the lack of adult beverages available, and be civil, polite, and even friendly towards the opposing team’s fans that were standing beside them — even after the opposing team won.

@SoccerByIves Ives Galarcep

RFK Stadium keeps on rocking. Hope I can someday cover a USMNT game where a 45K+ stadium is rocking filled with USA fans. #SomeDay

 

I, too, dream of a day when the US can rock a stadium like El Salvador rocked RFK.  We have so much to learn from them.  Tragically, however, most of the US fans had left the stadium before the second game started.  (Also, unfortunately, once you left the stadium, you couldn’t get back in.  Any ideas of popping out for a breath of fresh air were thwarted.)

Of my immediate group of friends, a handful of soccer buddies stayed, and my friend-of-a-friend Will stayed.   Given the overwhelming number of El Salvadorian fans, we wanted to catch the first 20 minutes or so of the game to see what it would be like.  We loved it so much, we stayed for the entire match, including two 15-minute overtime periods and then the deciding penalty kicks.

Will speaks some Spanish, and so we talked to the El Salvadorian guy sitting beside us.  When the beverage guys came through our section selling Diet Cokes, our new El Salvadorian buddy bought both of us one, then wanted to get his picture with us.

When a guy with a drum came through, he and the drummer both encouraged me to go bang on it, so I did.  They didn’t even mind my lack of rhythm, only appreciating the fact that I had stayed to cheer them on.

(By the end of the game, I was wearing all three scarves that I had brought with me — my new AODC scarf, my new “Who’s Your Daddy?” scarf made by the Screaming Eagles in honor of the game being held on Fathers Day, and the USMNT team scarf from the last time the USMNT had played at RFK, against Costa Rica in October 2009 (my first soccer game).  During the US game, Cristina and Shaun each wore one of my scarves so they could hold them up at the appropriate moments.)

Speaking of the US game…. it also rocked.

American Outlaws Tailgate

My day started when my roommate and I arrived at Lot 8 at 10:00 am to help set up.  After I’d received several emails pleading for additional tailgate volunteers, I quashed my “but I’d rather just hang out with my friends” thoughts and decided to volunteer.  It was the best decision I could have made.  Even though it was Tiffany’s first game, she wanted to volunteer with me.  Because she’s awesome like that.

So after getting a bite to eat and wandering around the rest of the tailgate for a bit, we headed to the beer tent and went on PBR duty.  The Screaming Eagles know how to organize the hell out of a tailgate — one row of people poured beer into pitchers, a second row poured beer from pitchers into cups, and the third row handed the cups to the thirsty masses.  We got to be in that third row.

I couldn't help but stop to take a picture as we served beer to this guy.

I felt like a beer angel, handing out cups of tasty tasty adult beverages to appreciative and friendly fans of all shapes, sizes, and costumes.  Tiffany and I had a rhythm going, and we worked our best to get PBR in everyone’s hands as soon as possible.  Before the kegs of other beers (we had PBR, Miller Lite, Bell’s Two-Hearted, Bell’s Oberon, and Guinness) were kicked, we and the Miller Lite guy were promoting our beers like carnival callers. “Get your PBR here! No lines! Ready now!” “Miller Lite here! Chock full of hops!”  It was one of the best times I’ve had a tailgate, and I hope to be back to volunteer to pour beer in the near future.

And then there was the game itself.  Craziness.  I was a little shocked that Bradley didn’t start Donovan.  Yes, he got back into DC at 7 am from his sister’s wedding, and yes, he has been playing sub-par lately.  But he’s allegedly the star of the US team.  And we couldn’t bench the star, even if he is a Cristiano Ronaldo and has been experiencing an awful lot of C-Ron-itis in his general “fatigue” and “sickness” that has kept him from playing in several games this season.  But Bradley sacked up and benched him for the first half, and guess what — it worked out just fine.  (Whew.)

And on the wedding subject: according to Grant Wahl, 85% of people said “family first” and had no problem with Donovan and Dempsey going to their sister’s weddings the night before the Quarterfinals of the most important tournament except for the World Cup for the USMNT.  Where was this “family first” feeling from the sisters?  Were they putting “family first” by scheduling their wedding during the Gold Cup?  Their brothers might not have been allowed to go to their wedding at all.  If they could go, they would go at the expense of 1. missing the last US practice before the game, 2. arriving in DC weary after a long night and late flights, 3. potential career repercussions (Donovan finding that out the hard way — that he actually would be benched, and hey, what do you know, the US could play decently without him), 4. the financial expense of private planes, paid for by USSF?  ::stepping off soapbox::

Tiffany loves Tennessee.

Saved my favorite photo for last.  We sat right in front of a guy repping a Tennessee jersey.  Tiffany, being from Tennessee, LOVED it, and I was able to snap this awesome picture.

As a post-game note, I was browsing the Twitters after the game and came across this awesome shout-out:

NutmegRadio Nutmeg Radio

Excited for Bedoya. And some girl is rocking a TIM Howard goalkeeper jersey.

 

That “some girl”?  That was me.  🙂

Also, to those who did not make it to the game with me, whether through actual sickness (last minute flu, check; antibiotics-resistant strep gotten from the hospital after you got hit by a cab, check), interfering weddings (though you know what my feelings are towards that one — see above), or general C-Ron-itis (JOKE. It’s a joke.) — you were missed.

Onward and upward.

Tripper Map

Let’s see if this works.  It’s a program that’s supposed to take my photos from Flickr and make a map out of them.  The main reason I’m trying this one instead of using Flickr maps is that I can get the pics to appear on the map just by tagging them with a city and country name.  Keeping my fingers crossed that this works and is as cool as I think it will be.

Update: Several hours after writing this post, I’ve gotten it to work. Apparently, WordPress hates Javascript and Flash and I can’t embed code for these, but there’s another website called Vodpod.com that will let me somehow embed Flash and gives me a code that will work for WordPress. … yes, I know, blah blah blah GEEK blah blah blah. I don’t really understand it either.

Now that I’ve gotten it to work, I’m going to go back and tag some pictures. Hopefully it will update dynamically. Update: it does. I’m impressed.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Charlie Davies Served Me a Half Smoke

Charlie Davis trying to ask me if I've ordered, while I'm trying to snap his picture

I knew that I had left today’s schedule open for a reason.  DC United announced yesterday that Ben Olsen (the coach), Dax McCarty (the newly-announced captain), and Charlie Davies (DCU’s recent catch, and the hottest news of the MLS off-season) would be serving free half smokes at Ben’s Chili Bowl today from 6:00 – 7:00 pm.  They took over Ben’s for the day and renamed it Ben Olsen’s Chili Bowl.

Now, I love me some Ben’s Chili Bowl.  And I seriously love me some DC United.  And I’m a total sucker for anything free.  It was a match made in heaven.

Ben’s Chili Bowl is within walking distance of my new digs in Columbia Heights, so after work, I changed into my DCU gear and headed down to U St.

When I got there at 6:05pm, the line was already around the corner.  The first stop for me, though, was at the table outside where they were giving free “Ben Olsen’s Chili Bowl” t-shirts to anyone who bought game tickets there or checked in to “Ben Olsen’s Chili Bowl” on Foursquare.  So I showed them my check-in, collected my shirt, and went to the end of the line.  I finally got in the door around 6:25.

For anyone who hasn’t been to Ben’s (and seriously, if you haven’t, why not? If it’s because you don’t live in DC, then come visit me, and I’ll take you), the line inside doubles back on itself.  So as I started getting close, I started snapping pictures.  (Side note: I had JUST bought a new camera, as my old one met its death at the 2010 Love Asylum Christmas party.  In my haste to get something cheap rather than shell out the $250 to get the camera I actually wanted, I apparently overlooked the fact that image stabilization is actually pretty important.  I wasn’t using the flash on my new camera and the pics were coming out badly, so I switched to my phone camera before I got within decent picture-taking range.)

As I came to the front of the line, Charlie was right in front of me and I was trying to get a good picture of him.  And then I realized that he was actually talking to me.  I was in a little disbelief (I get star-struck fairly easily), so he had to repeat what he was saying, and he was asking what I wanted to eat.  As he was asking me, he kept flashing a ridiculously cute grin.  I had seen pictures of him before, but it had never really hit me that the boy is seriously good-looking.

So he made me a chili half-smoke, and smiled as he handed it to me, with the cameramen taking pictures the whole time. (I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t make it into any of the pictures — I’m not exactly feeling photogenic these days, and I know I had wide eyes and a silly grin.)

I knew the bar that they were all going to afterwards, but I decided that 1) it might have been a little creepy to stalk them there, and 2) even if I did, I’m sure I wouldn’t have gotten as good a story as I already had gotten.

In full disclosure, I’ve been a little ambivalent about Charlie Davies.  More than just ambivalent — when it was first announced that he was coming to DC, I was not a fan.  I had first heard of him shortly before the US – Costa Rica World Cup Qualifier in DC a year and a half ago, which was the first soccer game I had ever attended.  I was saddened by the news of his horrific accident, and I began following on him on Twitter, hoping for a speedy recovery and amazed at how fast his recovery was progressing due to his hard work at rehabilitation.

And then I heard the news from France — he had been pulled over while driving 125 miles an hour.  Within a matter of hours, the news was revised.  Charlie Davies was not actually driving, he was lying down in the passenger seat.  When the cops pulled them over, the driver asked him to switch places, as the driver was from France and thought his license was suspended and that he would go to prison while Charlie, an American, would be okay.  So Charlie switched places.

I was disappointed and disheartened, and I unfollowed him on Twitter.  It was a bad judgment call, I thought.  How could he have not been paying attention to a driver going so fast?  Didn’t he learn anything about being in a car with a reckless driver?  Didn’t he realize that he had a reputation, a career, a life to protect?

Then they announced that he was coming to DC United.  I wasn’t thrilled, but I only spoke up to close friends about it because the mood of DCU supporters was overwhelmingly positive.  And slowly, over time, I was coming around.  The news that Charlie was coming to DC United had put a new energy into DCU fans.  It was the biggest news of the off-season.  The energy kept building, especially as Ben Olsen worked hard in putting together a team that looked young, dedicated, and promising.  I knew that this energy would translate into how our team does on the pitch this year.  Stories came out about how Charlie’s amazing recovery was inspiring to others.  I started following him again on Twitter, and I was impressed at how enthusiastic he was to be coming to DC and how dedicated he was to the team.

And then, today, he served me a half smoke.  As he was grinning at me, I knew that he had won me over.

So now I’m back at my apartment, capturing all my thoughts while they’re still fresh.  And as soon as I finish, I’m changing into my gym clothes and heading out to work off the best damn chili half smoke I’ve ever had.

Oscar Picks and Predictions, part 2

It was just brought to my attention that I have less than four hours to finish these before the Oscars start, so here they are!

Film Editing

Pick: The King’s Speech

Prediction: The King’s Speech

Foreign Language Film

Pick: Incendies

Prediction: In A Better World

I greatly enjoyed Incendies — it had a terrific plot and story development.  I’m predicting In A Better World, even though I haven’t seen it and don’t even know what it’s about, because it appeared to be the fan favorite of the crowd at the National Geographic Global Glimpses series, and from what I’ve heard, the crowd tends to make pretty accurate predictions as to the winner.  I enjoyed Biutiful and Hors la Loi, but I didn’t find either of them particularly outstanding.  Both of them made you both like and dislike the main characters.  In contrast to other categories, Academy members must have seen every movie in order to vote on it, so the fact that a movie may have popular or critical opinion behind it (in this case, Biutiful) is not as important for this category.

Makeup

Pick: The Way Back

Prediction: The Wolfman

I think the Academy will be more likely to favor the movie that “goes big” on makeup, but I prefer the subtlety that the makeup artistry in the other two movies, in depicting age (Barney’s Version) as well as the effects of weather — both extreme hot and extreme cold — on a person (The Way Back).  The Way Back has a place in my “Best Oscar Nominated Movies You Haven’t Seen” list.  I’m a sucker for an “incredible journey” type story, especially one that portrays the beauty of the natural landscape so well.

Music (Original Score)

Pick: 127 Hours

Prediction: 127 Hours

If it wasn’t clear from the outset that 127 Hours would be nominated for the Oscars, I would have avoided this movie based on the plot alone (as well as rumors of people fainting or getting sick in the theaters).  But I’m glad I went.  127 Hours was impeccably done in every way — acting, directing, cinematography, and especially sound.  The soundtrack was incredibly cool — I literally  left the theater saying, “that was an incredible story, and pretty gross at times, but MAN I loved the soundtrack.”  But that’s not entirely surprising, given that the soundtrack is by A.R. Rahman, responsible for the Oscar-winning soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire.

Music (Original Song)

Pick: Country Strong

Prediction: 127 Hours

It pains me to write that the song from Country Strong is my pick because the movie — whose plot line and actors had so much potential — sucked so badly.  (Yes, that’s my official review: it sucked.  Which is why I don’t write reviews for a living.)  Almost my entire reasoning behind that pick is that it integrally featured in the movie, as many award-winning songs have done in the past (Lose Yourself, It’s Hard Out There for a Pimp).  Also, it’s been a while since I saw 127 Hours, but I don’t remember  one song in particular so much as the score as a whole.  However, I think the Academy will be able to look beyond A.R. Rahman.

Short Film (Animated)

Pick: The Lost Thing

Prediction: Let’s Pollute

The Lost Thing is my pick because it blended animation, story, and theme so well.  It was very creative, as was Day & Night, a Pixar film.  (I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if the Academy gave it to Pixar.)  Let’s Pollute was a sarcastic social commentary film, which was well done and accessible.  I’m guessing that the Academy will go for it for those reasons, based on their 2010 pick of Logorama.

Short Film (Live Action)

Pick: God of Love

Prediction: Na Wewe

Four dark, emotionally difficult, films, and one light romantic comedy.  My pick is the light romantic comedy.  It probably helped that it was last in the arrangement of films.  Prediction is Na Wewe, a movie about the genocide in Burundi.

Sound Editing

Pick: Inception

Prediction: Inception

I’m strong on my prediction on this one, but I’m a little hesitant on my pick…. I actually liked Unstoppable, and sound played a really important role in certain scenes.

Sound Mixing

Pick: The King’s Speech

Prediction: The Social Network

I think both of them did very well in this category, having scenes that relied on the volume of sounds.  I felt like the King’s Speech depended on this element as almost part of its plot line.

Visual Effects

Pick: Iron Man 2

Prediction: Inception

I feel like the Academy is going to want to give some awards to Inception, and this is a freebie they can give.  I think that this category is usually reserved for high-tech special effects, which for me would limit it to either Harry Potter or Iron Man, but I think that sequels are not really good candidates for awards.

Oscar Picks and Predictions (part 1)

It’s that time of year, folks.  Time to make my picks and predictions for the 2011 Oscars.  I’ll try to keep this short and sweet.  For some quick background info, I’ve seen all but 2 of the Oscar-nominated films.  Those 2 are The Tempest and In A Better World.  (Though honestly, I haven’t yet watched the last half hour of Animal Kingdom, and Another Year wasn’t engaging enough to garner my full attention.)

This post is part 1 (the second to follow before the Oscars tomorrow, with any luck).

Best Picture

Pick: The King’s Speech

Prediction: The King’s Speech.

The King’s Speech was clearly the best movie of this lot.  It managed to tie together a period piece, an inside look at royalty, and a story of overcoming physical challenges into what was, essentially, a bromance.

Actor in a Leading Role

Pick: Colin Firth

Prediction: Colin Firth

James Franco is a very close second.  127 Hours was very close to a “one man show,” and it was heavily dependent on the strength of Franco’s acting.

Actress in a Leading Role

Pick: Natalie Portman

Prediction: Natalie Portman

Although some found Black Swan too far afield for their liking, I thought that it was tragically beautiful.  Portman played the role perfectly.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Pick: Geoffrey Rush

Prediction: Christian Bale

I think Christian Bale clearly has the critics’ pick for this category, and there’s no denying that he transformed himself into this role impeccably.  However, I think the role that Geoffrey Rush played was actually more nuanced, and less stereotypical.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Pick: Hailee Steinfeld

Prediction: Hailee Steinfeld

There’s no question that Hailee Steinfeld stole the show in True Grit.  She simply WAS her character.  My slight hesitation with my pick is whether her character strength came from her acting or the strength of the screenplay.  Regardless, she is significantly better than my two picks for runners-up in this category — Melissa Leo and Jacki Weaver.

Directing

Pick: The King’s Speech

Prediction: The King’s Speech

In my opinion, all of these are strong nominees.  My pick and prediction for this category this year are simply tied to the “Best Picture” category.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Pick: The Social Network

Prediction: The Social Network

For my pick, 127 Hours is a very close second.  It took immense talent and skill to write a movie that focuses intensely on just one character for the majority of the movie.  My pick is ultimately for The Social Network, because nobody does such a fantastic job with dialogue and character interaction as Aaron Sorkin.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Pick: The King’s Speech

Prediction: The King’s Speech

I think the writing here was incredibly because, as I mentioned above, it managed to seamlessly blend together so many strong themes.  I paused to consider whether Inception’s screenplay came close, as it obviously contained large amounts of creativity and analysis.  Ultimately, though, I think the nuances required to make A King’s Speech work tips the scale in its favor.

Animated Feature Film

Pick: How to Train Your Dragon

Prediction: Toy Story 3

There’s no real question that this category will go towards Toy Story 3, especially as it also made into Best Picture category.  (Which, in my opinion, was undeserved.  With 10 slots, some are suggesting that one will likely go to an animated film, or at least, that the 10th spot is an animated’s nomination to lose.  Which does a disservice to the outstanding animated movies that have occupied this slot in the last two years — Up and Wall-E.)  One who hasn’t seen The Illusionist might think — oh wow, a foreign animated movie must have been really good to have made the list.  Not so.  If you want to watch a great foreign (or even specifically, French) animated movie that came out this year, go for A Town Called Panic instead.  In general protest to the dominance of Pixar Films (although yes, they are fantastic), and to the Toy Story franchise in general as being the gold standard, my pick is with How To Train Your Dragon.  It was super cute, well done, and really, you just can’t beat the title.

Art Direction

Pick: Alice in Wonderland

Prediction: Inception

I think the academy will, on principal alone, want to give this category to a film more “serious” and less cartoonish than a story-book tale.  But while the art directors of Inception did an amazing job at creating a realistic dream world, I found Alice to be wondrously visually compelling.

Cinematography

Pick: The King’s Speech

Prediction: Black Swan

After giving most of the gold to The King’s Speech, the Academy is going to want Black Swan to come away with something.  I’m a visual person, and Black Swan provided some stunning visuals.  However, I personally think that The King’s Speech did a technically better job at cinematography.  While it would have been easy to shoot such a story with run-of-the-mill cinematography, the camera work went out of the way to film in a way that was creative and reinforced the movie’s themes.

Costume Design

Pick: Alice in Wonderland

Prediction: The King’s Speech

The momentum of The King’s Speech will carry over into this category, and it’s a British period piece, so therefore it must win, right?  The costumes in I Am Love would also be worthy of an Oscar.  Alice, however, is my favorite, because there is so much room to play with the costumes in Alice, and the costumes take full advantage of this license.

Documentary (Feature)

Pick: Waste Land

Prediction: Gasland

This category was, on the whole, my favorite category of movies this year.  I would highly recommend each of these movies.  Several of them — Gasland, Restrepo, and Inside Job — fall into the category of “movies everyone should see”… to learn about the environmental effects of our quest for a domestic energy source, to see firsthand the realities of the war in Afghanistan, and to learn about the consequences of deregulation and one of the causes of our current recession.  Of these, my opinion in that Gasland has the edge because it’s forward-leaning, offering a clear “we can stop this” attitude.  Exit Through the Gift Shop is fascinating and compelling.  But Waste Land…. Waste Land is beautiful.  It’s a beautiful story of the artist who wants to affect change outside himself.  It’s a story of his beautiful art.  And it’s a story of the beauty inside each person, regardless of income level or occupation, that is captured so poignantly by the artist, and ultimately by this movie.

Documentary (Short Subject)

Pick: Strangers No More

Prediction: Sun Come Up

My personal vote is for the most optimistic of these, a story of a school that brings together children of all nationalities and backgrounds to build international understanding in the hope for a better future.  But my guess is that the Academy will pick the relatively new issue of climate refugees (persons required to leave their islands because of rising sea levels) to highlight.

More after the break…