Oscars 2013: Recap

Some random thoughts from last night's Oscars as written down on the back of my picks. (Of which, I got 11/24. That is pretty good for me.)

--I loved that the guy who accepted the award for "Brave" was wearing a kilt.
--Playing the "Jaws" theme to get people off of the stage was hilarious.
--Has there ever been a tie before? History in the making.
--The "Sound of Music" bit before Christopher Plummer came on stage.
--The "Sound of Music" bit before Christopher Plummer came on stage. (Yes, I will list it twice because it was the highlight for me.)
--The Academy museum sounds pretty cool.
--Loved the quote from Nora Ephron in the memorial montage: "The hardest thing about writing is writing."
--Daniel Day-Lewis had a great acceptance speech.
--Jennifer Lawrence is pretty awesome.
--Michelle Obama presenting best picture.
--Ben Affleck. (Written in all caps)

Also:
--I love Anne Hathaway's hair. Did not love the dress but the back was neat.
--We played Oscar bingo with cards from How About Orange, and it was super fun.
--Seth MacFarlane was not as bad as he could have been. He had some funny moments and also some really questionable jokes, but overall, I was surprised that is wasn't the worst hosting I've ever seen.

Oscars Week 2013: Movie Reviews & My Picks

For the conclusion to our Oscars week, I thought I would (finally!) focus on the movies that I've seen this Oscars season. I was actually surprised there were so few that I'd seen, as I had wanted to see a lot of them (Anna Karenina, Argo, Hitchcock, Les Miserables, Lincoln, and Wreck-It Ralph). But here they are:

Brave: I was surprised by "Brave," as I didn't think the preview accurately prepared me for what the movie was actually about. But aside from that, I was surprised by the message that it put out there, and really liked that message, even though I didn't love the plot as much as I thought I would.

Flight: I was also surprised by "Flight," even though I did know that it took a different focus than I expected, even after being warned. I thought the acting was the main strength of the movie, as it seemed to be a story that really moved forward based on the characters vs. the plot. I will say that I kind of never want to fly again now.

Silver Linings Playbook: When previews for this movie started coming out, I knew I had to see it. And when it started receiving all of its "Oscar Buzz," I knew it wouldn't disappoint me. And it didn't. It wasn't predictable, which it could have been, because I think the relationship in the movie are complicated and real and I liked that.

***

So. After reviewing books and movies for this year's Oscars, here's how I would decide the Oscars Sunday. These aren't all of the categories, just the ones I had a strong opinion on based on what I've seen and read.

Best Picture: Silver Linings Playbook

Actor In A Leading Role: Denzel Washington, Flight (This was tough for me, as I really thought Bradley Cooper was fantastic in "Silver Linings Playbook.")

Actress In A Leading Role: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Actor In A Supporting Role: Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook

Actress In A Supporting Role: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables (Even though I haven't seen it, I love her.)

Animated Feature Film: Brave

Visual Effects: Life of Pi

Writing, Adapted Screenplay: Lincoln

Oscars Week 2013: Argo

The books I chose to read for this year's Oscar week were chosen somewhat at random, but in the end it worked out to be almost a science. I wanted to read books that had movies that were nominated for best picture. Because I don't like to see a movie before reading the book, I wanted these to be movies that I hadn't actually seen. It also went by what I could find at at the library.

And while I normally try to avoid book covers with the movie image on them, it's appropriate for this week to show you that cover with my review.

 

image source

The Book: Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off The Most Audacious Rescue in History, by Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio

Nominated For: Actor In a Supporting Role, Best Picture, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

 

Book Review: I think Argo was my favorite Oscar book I read for this week. It had less of a novel feel than the other two books. (I felt that Team of Rivals was a mix of novel and biography.) It was very straightforward and very interesting. I appreciated that there was some historial context in the beginning of the book to help frame the story, especially since I was not alive for the events that occurred in the book. I also liked that it seemed to me that I was getting an inside look at the CIA, like I was watching an episode of "Alias" maybe.

 

Book vs. Movie: I think everyone I know saw this movie except for me. I'm actually glad that I was able to read this book before the movie, as I think the context will help me enjoy the movie a little better. I was on the edge of my seat while reading the book, so I can only imagine how seeing these events unfold can be as impactful.

Oscars Week 2013: Team of Rivals

The books I chose to read for this year's Oscar week were chosen somewhat at random, but in the end it worked out to be almost a science. I wanted to read books that had movies that were nominated for best picture. Because I don't like to see a movie before reading the book, I wanted these to be movies that I hadn't actually seen. It also went by what I could find at at the library.

And while I normally try to avoid book covers with the movie image on them, it's appropriate for this week to show you that cover with my review.

 

image source

 

The Book: Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin

Nominated For: Actor In a Leading Role, Actor in a Supporting Role, Actress In a Supporting Role, Best Picture, Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Production Design, Sound Mixing, Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

 

Book Review: History is an interesting thing, and the point that Doris Kearns Goodwin best makes in Team of Rivals is that history relies on context, and we need that to understand the bigger picture. In the introduction to the book, she says, "Without the march of events that led to the Civil War, Lincoln still would have been a good man, but most likely would never have been publicly recognized as a great man. It was history that gave him the opportunity to manifest his greatness, providing the stage that allowed him to shape and transform our national life."

 

Yes. History gave him the opportunity to manifest his greatness. But this is something that we can't understand until there is context, and we can only see his greatness by looking at how this history, Abraham Lincoln's history, shaped his world and the world to come. When we look back at the decisions made by that generation, the lives they led, and the world they lived in, we have to look at everything to truly understand the history there. What I enjoyed about Team of Rivals was the amount of context Kearns provided, the details about all of the major players to help me understand more about this fascinating time in America's history, and the man behind it.

 

Book vs. Movie: "Lincoln" was one of the Oscar movies I wanted to see, and I can see how the movie would still be able to provide a lot of the context that Team of Rivals has, but in a visual way instead of a more biographical way. The movie would be able to show the time period and give us the context of history in a different way than the book does while still getting the same points across.

Oscars Week 2013: Life of Pi

The books I chose to read for this year's Oscar week were chosen somewhat at random, but in the end it worked out to be almost a science. I wanted to read books that had movies that were nominated for best picture. Because I don't like to see a movie before reading the book, I wanted these to be movies that I hadn't actually seen. It also went by what I could find at at the library.

 

And while I normally try to avoid book covers with the movie image on them, it's appropriate for this week to show you that cover with my review.

 

image source

The book: Life of Pi, by Yann Martel

Nominated For: Best Picture, Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound mixing, Visual Effects, Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Book Review: For no reason really, I have never picked this book up before now, even though it has been very well-received and I have seen it at the library often. I was glad that Oscar Week gave me the push I needed to check it out.

It took me a bit to get into the book, I will say, but only because the style and format was so different than what I normally read. However, I really enjoyed it once I got used to it, and I think that it is so applicable to the story, and the story wouldn't have been so engaging if it was written any other way. 

 

The best part of this book is the end's ambiguity. I love books that keep me up at night rereading, that make me want to ask people if they've read it so that we can talk about it, and that really keep me thinking long after the book is finished.

 

I also loved this quote, which I think perfectly summarizes the book:

 

"The world isn't just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding something, we bring something to it, no? Doesn't that make life a story?"

 

Book vs. Movie: I can definitely see advantages of a film adaptation for this book, as the story is so dependant on creating a visual world for the reader. (Though I did discover that there is an illustrated version of the book that I think I would really enjoy.) For people like me who don't have the best imagination, I think I would really enjoy seeing the scenes of the book; however, I will say that there are some scenes I'm not sure I'd be able to watch based on my reacation to reading them. 

 

I think that the advantage of seeing the ending vs. reading would help me understand the ending better, but I also wonder if if would take away something, as well.



Oscars Week 2013: The Nominees & Other Fancies

The Oscars are less than a week away, and I can hardly wait. So this week, I'll not only be talking about the movies, but the books behind some of the nominated films. If you need a primer on what's been nominated this year, here they are.

If you're anything like me, you're probably going to get distracted on that site for a while. My favorites:

Oscar Love Letters. "Gone With the Wind" and "The Sound of Music" in the same place? Yes.
Best Picture Oscar Statues. Love trying to guess what movie each statue represents.
Historical Timeline. Not only is it fun to go back in time, but I love that I can take the timeframe of my novel (1950s-1960s) and see what kind of movies and celebrities would be shaping pop culture then.
Oscar Questionnaires. It's not only fun to read the answers, but see who handwrote vs. typed and who had much to say and who didn't.

Now, that should hold you over for today. Be sure to check back tomorrow for my first Oscar book review.

Odd Numbers + A Look Ahead

I can't believe I haven't blogged since last year. (Last night, I said to Nathan, "I haven't been to the library since last year!" and he replied, "You love that joke, don't you?" Yes, yes I do. Even though I know it's pretty lame. So here I go, using it again.)

Among my other strange quirks (and horrible taste in jokes, based on above), I don't like odd numbers. Not even a little bit. (Well, except 5. I consider five to be an even number in my further strangeness.) But despite that, I've learned in my short-ish life that the odd years tend to be better than the even ones.

That's not to say that 2012 was bad. 2012 had a lot of good moments going for it: we were able to travel a ton (let's see if I can get it all in here: Denver, Washington, D.C., Key West, Denver (and Chadron and Rapid City), Denver, NYC, Key West. I feel like I'm missing a trip or two, though.) We spent lots of time with family and friends and had lots of visitors. Shelby learned how to be an agility dog and swim, and we learned what it was like to have a dog with no energy a few times. Our house got a lot of love--a new kitchen and landscaping most significantly--and our list of projects to complete is almost completely checked-off. (Does that mean we have to start over?) And we were able to celebrate weddings and babies and all sorts of other good news for our family and friends.

But. 2012 was still not my favorite year. It was a weird year, and it was also harder than other years, despite its greatness. I think that so far, 2013 seems like it will be pretty good. This year, we're going to Chicago. (and that's all we have planned so far. We are open to suggestions.) I'm going to finish my NaNo project. (33,000ish words to go to 50,000, so let's just say, 50,000 words to go!) And as far as resolutions, that's the only one I have, because it's the only thing that I know I really need to do.

(Though after looking over this post, maybe one should also be, use less ()s.)

(And learn how to spell parenthesis--is that right? Oh wait, spellcheck says yes. Now back down to one resolution again.)

Happy new year, to my readers. May 2013 be great for all of us!