PREDICTING THE ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS!

I'm no expert, but I love movies and moviegoing.  I've seen most of the titles below and every year, I make my guesses.  It's fun to see how close I come.  I have to admit I'm intrigued to see how well James Franco and Anne Hathaway do as the hosts this year.  

Did you have a favorite movie this year?  Will you watch the Oscars?  Going to an Oscar-watching party?  This year there may not be any clear cut winners, but here are my choices underlined. See if you agree.  

Best Motion Picture of the Year



Nominees:


127 Hours (2010): Christian Colson, Danny Boyle, John Smithson


Black Swan (2010): Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin


The Fighter (2010): David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Mark Wahlberg


Inception (2010): Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas


The Kids Are All Right (2010): Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray


The King's Speech (2010): Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin


The Social Network (2010): Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Ceán Chaffin


Toy Story 3 (2010): Darla K. Anderson


True Grit (2010): Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin


Winter's Bone (2010): Anne Rosellini, Alix Madigan


Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role


Nominees:


Javier Bardem for Biutiful (2010)


Jeff Bridges for True Grit (2010)


Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network (2010)


Colin Firth for The King's Speech (2010)


James Franco for 127 Hours (2010)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role


Nominees:


Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right (2010)


Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole (2010)


Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone (2010)


Natalie Portman for Black Swan (2010)


Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine (2010)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role


Nominees:


Christian Bale for The Fighter (2010)


John Hawkes for Winter's Bone (2010)


Jeremy Renner for The Town (2010)


Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right (2010)


Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech (2010)


Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role


Nominees:


Amy Adams for The Fighter (2010)


Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech (2010)


Melissa Leo for The Fighter (2010)


Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit (2010)


Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom (2010)

Best Achievement in Directing


Nominees:


Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan (2010)


Ethan Coen, Joel Coen for True Grit (2010)


David Fincher for The Social Network (2010)


Tom Hooper for The King's Speech (2010)


David O. Russell for The Fighter (2010)


Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen


Nominees:


Another Year (2010): Mike Leigh


The Fighter (2010): Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Keith Dorrington


Inception (2010): Christopher Nolan


The Kids Are All Right (2010): Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg


The King's Speech (2010): David Seidler

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published


Nominees:


127 Hours (2010): Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy


The Social Network (2010): Aaron Sorkin


Toy Story 3 (2010): Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich


True Grit (2010): Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Winter's Bone (2010): Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini


Best Animated Feature Film of the Year


Nominees:


How to Train Your Dragon (2010): Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders


The Illusionist (2010): Sylvain Chomet


Toy Story 3 (2010): Lee Unkrich

Loves Western Romances

Voting has begun for the Best Western Romance of 2008!

Western Weddings, my anthology with Kate Bridges and Jillian Hart has been nominated!

If you cast your vote, you'll be eligible to win a very nice prize from their site. Vote here and good luck!

Juno ... the Movie

Was it ever explained why her parents named her Juno? I don't know, but I do remember her father calling her June Bug. That's cute.

It's a good thing we didn't rent this movie. There are rentals and then there are borrowed movies. We borrowed this movie from our son. I'm not saying I didn't like the movie, but I guess my expectations were very high. The actress played by Ellen Page got rave reviews and was nominated for an Academy Award. I expected Meryl Streep I guess.

Word of mouth is priceless and I heard nothing but great things about the movie. My daughter loved it. My friend loved it. Many people I know saw it on the big screen when the movie first came out and loved it.

The movie was different, unique in ways I can't describe, but it did remind me of the humor of The Office - another show that the critics and millions of people adore ... that I don't "get". I've tried. Oh, how I've tried. I want to fit in and say, "Yeah, I love The Office ... it's sooo funny." But I can't. I don't find it entertaining.




Getting back to Juno. I'll watch and enjoy a variety of movies because as a writer, I'm always learning. I study people. I study characters. To find their motivation. To see how they tick. So, in that regard I liked Juno. There were some funny moments. The writing was very good. I learned something from watching it and that's always a positive.




Juno was nominated as Best Picture along with 3 other Oscar noms and has been labeled, "A fresh, unusually intelligent comedy."

So there it is. I should have liked it more. I should have loved it!

But did I love Juno? No. Not even close. Like I said, it was engaging. I was mildly entertained. I observed and learned a little. But, I didn't "get" it. Aside from great acting on young Ellen Page's part, it was okay. Not my cup of tea, as they say. Maybe it was the mood I was in, but I don't really think so.

So, what about you? Have you ever expected to enjoy a movie or a book because your expectations were so high, only to be disappointed. What didn't you "get" that others did?