Failing Miserably with My Oscar Picks

Watched the 47-hour Oscar telecast last night. Why is it when it seems as though the show's producers are sincerely making attempts to trim the program's time, it seems even longer?

The good: Kate Winslet winning her first Oscar, Winslet's father loudly whistling so she could locate him in the crowd, Tina Fey & Steve Martin cracking up the place, Ben Stiller doing a spot-on Joaquin Phoenix and those cute-as-a-button Slumdog Millionaire kids who were collecting stars' autographs.

The so-so: Enough with the camera shots of Bragelina (particularly when Jennifer Aniston was on stage, steps away from them . . . just tacky), the too-long dance number (even though the HSM duo was very earnest) and, while I loved the individual speeches to the actor/actress nominees -- it was like giving each actor, most of whom would go home without a statue, a thoughtful, touching, individualized gift -- it tacked on too much time. The Academy Awards ended after midnight. My DVR stopped recording just when they were making the mini-speeches about the Best Actress nominees, so I was lucky to be able to switch over to live TV so as not to miss too much.

As for my own personal Oscar picks? Per usual, I stunk at predicting the winners, while my husband -- a casual pop culture observer who I force-march through countless films, particularly of the indie ilk -- thoroughly trounced me. I'd selected the top nine categories and out of those, I successfully identified four winners. The husband? He got seven of the winners.

Among those I accurately predicted: Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire; Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (though you'd have to have been a moron to bet against a Ledger win); Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Best Animated Feature, WALL-E.

I know what you're thinking . . . how could such a self-professed Winslet fan have bet against her to win for The Reader? Well, I thought that perhaps the Academy voters didn't want to go with the "sure thing." Plus Winslet's on the cover of this week's Time Magazine (printed BEFORE the Oscars were aired) under the headline, "Best Actress." I thought it seemed TOO predictable. I decided to be wild and pick Meryl Streep for Best Actress for Doubt. My bad.

I also thought that while Sean Penn collected raves for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, that voters would go for the feel-good comeback story that is Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. Wrong-o. As for picking the WALL-E Original Screenplay and The Reader Adapted Screenplay, incorrect on both counts.

Oh well. So I'm not very good at prognosticating when it comes to contests like this, which is why I always fare so poorly with my brackets during the NCAA men's basketball tournament. I tend to overthink all my choices, then allow my own personal biases to seep in. Bet you want me in your basketball pool, don't ya?

Image credit: Time Magazine.

An Entire Day of Best Picture Nominees, Could You Handle It?

Now I love movies as much as any movie fan. And, as a sucker for major creative awards shows (Golden Globes, Oscars, Emmys), I'm usually anxious to see for myself the films and TV programs the critics and those who bestow awards think were outstanding in a given year.

So when I read about AMC Theaters' Best Picture Showcase event on Saturday, February 21 -- where all five of the films nominated for Best Picture will be shown consecutively, starting in the morning and running until late into the evening -- you would think I'd be all over that. For $30 you get a ticket to all five movies -- Milk, The Reader (See still photo above), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon -- and a free large popcorn with unlimited refills, but come on, how much popcorn can you eat in one day?

The first film starts at 10:30 in the morning, the last film starts at 9:45 p.m. That's a long haul, particularly if all you've eaten is popcorn all day, or those overpriced, microwaved pizzas. Maybe I'm showing my age here, but I don't know that I could stay awake for approximately 10 hours of movies. That's a lot of movie.

If you had the free time to devote an entire Saturday to Best Picture nominees, do you think you could make it through a marathon like this one? I've heard of people doing a marathon watching of 24 -- staying awake for nearly 24 hours to watch an entire season of the Jack Bauer drama -- but at least those folks watch the program in private homes. This movie marathon would be 10+ hours in a movie theater.

Image credit: Universal Studios via New York Observer.

My Awards-Bait Movie Wish List: Films I Want to See Right Now

Around this time of year, I start getting movie lust. As all the awards' bait is released, I begin making lists of films I want to see, knowing that, I likely won't get the chance to see most of them.

Why? Because I don't get to go out as frequently as I'd like to with The Spouse as finding babysitting for three kids is oftentimes tough, particularly in the holiday season, plus it's expensive.

I wind up making lists in my head after the Golden Globe and Oscar award nominations are released and get all psyched about seeing the movies, but by the time they're finally released on DVD months later when it's springtime and I'm in the middle of my kids' crazy spring sports schedules, they feel dated and my excitement has waned.

However while working on a column about Golden Globe nominations last week, I decided that this year will be different. Before the Oscar awards ceremony, I'm hoping to see:



-- Revolutionary Road with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as a disillusioned couple in the 'burbs in the 1950s (seeming very Mad Men-ish if you go by the trailer).
-- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in a fantastical tail involving a man aging backwards.
-- The Reader with Winslet starring as a former Nazi guard who had an affair with a much younger man.
-- Nothing but the Truth with Kate Beckinsale who plays a journalist who's jailed for protecting her sources.
-- Doubt with Meryl Streep coping with a scandal in a Catholic school where her character's a nun and headmistress.
-- Frost/Nixon with Frank Langella, about the famous Nixon TV interviews.

After reading about the films, I've also grown interested in reading the books from which they were adapted such as Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates and Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I read The Reader by Bernhard Schlink many years ago after it became an Oprah book club selection. However those books are going to have to take their places behind some of the Mad Men-inspired books I've wanted to peruse, like Frank O'Hara's Meditations in an Emergency and The Best of Everything.

Any of the new movies coming out at the end of the year that you really want to see?