| Posted by Lou | The time is 12.19pm here in Christchurch, NZ |

I was about to blog my complete disagreement that The Social Network "defines a generation". This theory was put forward by Rolling Stone's film reviewer Peter Travers, and then widely repeated by other media.

However, it seems that the generation has already reacted, with bloggers including [star of the film I actually think was the best of the year] Joseph Gordon-Levitt pointing out the untruth and limited nature of this claim.

I particularly enjoy his final comments, which manages to ably and humbly put the fuddy-duddies in their place:

So who’s gonna make the movie about us? I don’t know, but if I had to guess, it’ll be some group of kids who’ve never physically met, living in all different places, all far from Hollywood, trading ideas, uploading videos, and working together via one or another social network.

This brings me to the key thing that has fucked me off about this whole thing: I have not seen, read or heard one single person of my generation rave about The Social Network as really connecting with what it is like to be us. This seems to be a case of an older generation attempting to define our own... which to me says more about them than it does about us.

I would go further to say that I think the film is gathering so much acclaim and so many awards from older generations because it is a reasonably traditional "boy gets rich" story told in a reasonably familar way. This does not speak to the cultural shift, explosion of narrative forms and storytelling means that really define what is going on with us youngsters. (I actually read a review that called the film "innovative" - wtf.)

But perhaps I found The Social Network to be a bit meh (well-made, yes - but engaging? No.) because I come from the half of the population entirely relegated to a pathetic non-role within its story (again, something which to me defines an older generation rather than my own!). This point forms Reason #5 of this film bloggers' rebuttal.

We know the Academy want to give Fincher an Oscar, but hopefully before they submit the ballot papers a few of the voters pause to reflect upon what the generation they're forcing this definition upon really think about "their" film.

| Posted by Lou | The time is 11.08am here in Invercargill NZ |

Well this year I've actually seen a fairly good whack of the Oscar Films, which in some ways is bad as it makes me feel more peeved at the snubs and the dumb nominations. Therefore rather than being just my choices, this is going to contain a lot of moaning about the filter through which the Academy is viewing the year in cinema.

Apologies that it's not Bel going first - she would have made it all nicely laid out with bullets and videos and stuff. I can't be arsed.

With apologies to the many technical practitioners I have deleted for the ease of reading my unformatted lists...

Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
Colin Firth in “The King's Speech”
James Franco in “127 Hours”

This is the biggest no-brainer of all time. Colin Firth is going to win. He deserves to win. (In fact, I thought he deserved to win last year too after I saw A Single Man.) In second place I would put James Franco, who was absolutely magnificent in 127 Hours.

What I'm peeved at is the snub of my third place getter, Ryan Gosling. He was fantastic in Blue Valentine, and is one of the few Hollywood stars who uses his charm and good looks to..... make small indie films by first-time filmmakers. This has been recognised before with his nomination for Half Nelson, but I really genuinely thought this one deserved a nod too (as Michelle Williams has gotten for it in the lady category).

So has anyone seen Biutiful? Has anyone heard of Biutiful? I'm not saying nominations should only go to films we have heard of, but with Javier having a previous Best Actor nomination for a little foreign-language film (hold the phone - I thought Javier had been (rightfully) nominated for the (heart-wrenching) film The Sea Inside, but it seems it was actually Before Night Falls (in 2001, when Russ won for Gladiator)... which I've never heard of, to be honest) and having picked up an Oscar two years ago for Best Supporting Actor in No Country For Old Men, perhaps he could get a rest? It smacks a little bit of favouritism.

Though incidentally, the BAFTAS have made the exact same choices in this category so perhaps I should shutthefuckup and stop being such a Ryan Lover?

Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
John Hawkes in “Winter's Bone”
Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush in “The King's Speech”

This is a tough one - but I think Christian Bale will get it (for a film I can't bring myself to go see as it looks like one I'd roll my eyes through).

I just can't understand Mark Ruffalo's nomination. I like Mark Ruffalo, but actually thought his performance in this film (which I will moan about more later) was a bit shit.

Actress in a Leading Role

Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter's Bone”
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Nicole Kidman?? Are you kidding??

I'm going for Natalie Portman and really hope she gets it as I fear they'll do their Hollywood mates thing and give it to Annette Bening undeservedly for a shite film.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King's Speech”
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

This is a tough category - I'm sort of torn between thinking they'll give another to an actor from The Fighter, and thinking that Helena was amazing as "The Queen Mum - the early years", and thinking that it'd be cool to have a youngster win it out of nowhere (Hailee Steinfeld).

But as I have only seen one of these films I'm going to have to go for it and hope that after years and years and years of being in everybody consciousness as an Interesting Actor, Helena gets something to put on the mantlepiece to show for it. Plus surely the Americans would love to have the headline potential of "The King and Queen of the Oscars" etc?

Animated Feature Film

“How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
“The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
“Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

One would think Toy Story 3 considering it has a Best Picture nomination. In fact, isn't this a bit silly as a category cross-over?

Art Direction

"Alice in Wonderland"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1"
"Inception"
"The King's Speech"
"True Grit"

Um... golly... I actually really loved the Production Design of The King's Speech, but I'm going to go for True Grit (unseen as of the time of writing) as I think it should get something, and it looked awesome in the preview.

You would think any awards for Harry Potter will wait until Part 2 has been unleashed on the world.

Cinematography

“Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
“Inception” Wally Pfister
“The King's Speech” Danny Cohen
“The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
“True Grit” Roger Deakins

Sight unseen, I'm going for Black Swan on this one.

Costume Design

“Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
“I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
“The King's Speech” Jenny Beavan
“The Tempest” Sandy Powell
“True Grit” Mary Zophres

Is The Tempest out? I wanted to see that... Um, well, perhaps Alice? No idea really...

Directing

“Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
“The Fighter” David O. Russell
“The King's Speech” Tom Hooper
“The Social Network” David Fincher
“True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Where is Christopher Nolan?! Come on people, Inception was universally loved and acclaimed... Surely these people can look beyond the timing of film releases?? And how long is it since we had a blockbuster that was clever and well-made and so loved by all types of people?? Sheesh.

I fear that Fincher might get it even though The Social Network seems to have only been loved by a handful of critics and not by the people who it supposedly defines, but I'm going to put my money (and hope) on Hooper. If I can't have Nolan.

Hooper turned a film about speech therapy into an entertaining laugh-out-loud, cry-into-your-sleeve kind of film that people look forward to seeing (it is the first film in years I have rushed out to see on the opening day), so actually I think he deserves it. (Though not quite as much as Nolan does.)

Documentary (Feature)

“Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
“Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
“Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
“Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

No idea whatsoever so in order to score some points with Bel I'm picking Banksy :) Plus Hollywood is so insecure they'll surely want to look cool by going for him? And create a little false intrigue as to who will collect it? (Well, obviously the primary filmmaker dude will, but you know...)

Documentary (Short Subject)

“Killing in the Name” Nominees to be determined
“Poster Girl” Nominees to be determined
“Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
“Sun Come Up” Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
“The Warriors of Qiugang” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Sharp eyes might figure out why I have randomly selected this one.

Film Editing

“Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
“The Fighter” Pamela Martin
“The King's Speech” Tariq Anwar
“127 Hours” Jon Harris
“The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Oooooh tough one! Actually I would have gone for Inception, but again it has been snubbed. I'm going to do a bit of a left-fielder and go for 127 Hours as I thought the editing was one of the primary ingredients making it an entertaining and horrific film.

Foreign Language Film

“Biutiful” Mexico
“Dogtooth” Greece
“In a Better World” Denmark
“Incendies” Canada
“Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

I'm basing this purely on the Best Actor nom for Javier.

Makeup

“Barney's Version” Adrien Morot
“The Way Back” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

I've seen one of these so I'm picking it! Even though I don't really remember there being much to the make-up...

Music (Original Score)

“How to Train Your Dragon” John Powell
“Inception” Hans Zimmer
“The King's Speech” Alexandre Desplat
“127 Hours” A.R. Rahman
“The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

I think I need to give something to The Social Network, so randomly this is going to be it.

Music (Original Song)

“Coming Home” from “Country Strong”
“I See the Light” from “Tangled”
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours”
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3"

Gotta love a Disney song - let's just hope it's the PS22 choirdoing the singing!

Best Picture

“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The Kids Are All Right”
“The King's Speech”
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”
“Toy Story 3”
“True Grit”
“Winter's Bone"

I genuinely thought Inception was the Film of the Year. It was innovative, stunningly imagined, well acted, and had emotional punch alongside the massive workout for your cognitions. But it's not going to win. Which is a shame.

I hope - hope - it is The King's Speech because I really do not want The Social Network to take this title. It would just emphasise how up their own arses the Academy are and how much it is about the marketing. Do you know anyone who loved The Social Network? Who left the theatre saying "wow, that was really about us" ? No, you don't, because everyone kinda went: "Well, I guess it was fine - it was nicely shot and all... Justin Timberlake was quite good... um, yeah."

What the fuck is The Kids Are All Right doing here? It just a self-congratulation from the industry to the industry for being so gosh darned liberal as to have made a film about lesbian parenting. But heck we'll just ignore that the film isn't actually all that great, and that it shies away from depicting lesbian sex despite a keenness to portray heterosexual and gay-man sex in all its detail. High fives Annette and Julianne - you're straight but you played gay! But perhaps you could have, oh I don't know, gotten a bit more sexual with each other? You know that lesbians get it on, right?

Short Film (Animated)

“Day & Night” Teddy Newton
“The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
“Let's Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe
“The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
“Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Dubois

I nearly had a heart-attack seeing "Day & Night" and thinking it was the Tom Cruise film being nominated for something, shudder.

I have no idea obviously so am going to go with... the one named after a cartoon film that I recently watched and liked.

Short Film (Live Action)

“The Confession” Tanel Toom
“The Crush” Michael Creagh
“God of Love” Luke Matheny
“Na Wewe” Ivan Goldschmidt
“Wish 143” Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

???

Sound Editing

“Inception”
“Toy Story 3”
“Tron: Legacy”
“True Grit”
“Unstoppable”

Inception has gotta fucken win something.

Sound Mixing

“Inception”
“The King's Speech”
“Salt”
“The Social Network”
“True Grit”

Well it is about sound and all?

Visual Effects

“Alice in Wonderland”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
“Hereafter”
“Inception”
“Iron Man 2”

Inception all the way.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

“127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
“The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
“Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
“True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Winter's Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

(I can't bring myself to delete writers' names.)

This is a tough one, but I'm going to say The Winter's Bone as it sounds like it was bloody good and I really don't want them to go with the obvious choice.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

“Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
“The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
“Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
“The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
“The King's Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

Again, I think this should be Inception. I hope it's not The Kids Are All Right. I'm guessing The King's Speech.

| Posted by Bel | The time is 9.36am here in Wellington NZ |

Oscar buzz already? Oh yes, folks. The NY Times has cranked up a notch with a 'Hollywood Issue' which includes an online album The Scene Makers which translates to their endorsements for Oscar acting nominations.

The accompanying video gallery called Fourteen Actors Acting  [NSFW if you count Natalie Portman taking off a dress to reveal underwear as NSFW, but you could just skip that one] is a big scale production, featuring minute-long performances from each in stunning black and white with an orchestral soundtrack, recorded in Prague. Classy!

Some thoughts:

• Michael Douglas looks like a character from a David Lynch film. I mean that in the very best way.
• The word 'rapture' came to my mind when watching Tilda Swinton's performance. Interesting to read that it was an interpretation of Joan of Arc.
• Javier Bardem can smash my crockery any day!! Mmm-hmmm! *snaps fingers*
• I cannot waaaaaait to see Black Swan!! It's showing at The Embassy. Yuhessss.

This project made me think of Sam Taylor-Wood's photographic collection Crying Men. I was unimpressed when I saw this at Wellington's City Gallery a few years back (loved her other work), as none of the emotion supposedly being expressed in the images had any integrity. You knew it was all actors, so of course all the crying was just... actor crying.

Whereas these 'short films' or whatever they are, embrace the medium and the art, as the title evokes. It is reminescent of Andy Warhol's Screen Tests, which was recently developed into 13 Most Beautiful, a stage show with live music.

Posted by Bel. The time is 2.34pm here in Wellington NZ

The Hollywood Reporter, um, reports that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has spent a "frantic" 24 hours searching for iconic French director, Jean-Luc Godard.

They have not yet been able to notify him that he has been awarded an honorary Oscar and I'm sure you all noticed, on account of how the world stopped turning and all.

MISSING! Merde.

They have apparently tried to contact Godard via phone and fax and emails to one and all. He hasn't got back to them!!

I don't know about you, but generally after I send the second unanswered text message to a person about something, I take the hint and assume they ain't in the mood to party. Instead, people are pointing out that the only other person to miss out on picking up their honorary Oscar was Audrey Hepburn... because she WAS DEAD.

Godard's disdain for Hollywood is as integral to his work as jump cuts and pretty women. From 1960's Breathless (probably the best known and most 'accessible' of his films) to Socialisme, which screened at Cannes this year, he has never had much nice to say about the USA.

This belated tip of the hat, coming in his 80th year, may not mean as much to him as it does to the agitated administrators in downtown LA.

Extra for experts: Jean-Paul Belmondo bonaza. Ooh la la!

Posted by Lou. The time is 10.48am here in London.

I am totally freaking stoked that:

a) The Hurt Locker so comprehensively cleaned up that nobody can say "it's because she's a woman" to Kathryn's deserved triumph; and

b) James Cameron's ego has been put back in check (or as Bel would say, the Academy have very much told him to SIT BACK DOWN).

But more importantly... how did we do?

Lou - 13/20

Probably one of my best efforts ever, thanks to the Ideal Scenario occurring for The Hurt Locker.

Correct:

• Best Picture - The Hurt Locker - HIGH FIVES
• Best Director - Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker - HIGH FIVES WITH A JUMP AND A WOO AND A BIG HUG
• Best Actor - Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart - though I knew Jeff would win, having now seen A Single Man I feel for Colin as he totally killed in that role
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds - the traditional "quirky" acting performance reward - and well-deserved
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Mo'Nique, Precious - it couldn't have not happened
• Best Animated Feature Film - Up - I soooo want to see this!
• Best Art Direction - Avatar - well deserved :) Mental note: YouTube this for Kiwi accent action
• Best Documentary - The Cove - not sure I can bear to see this... but feel I should - which sounds like the perfect combination for a winning Best Doc
• Best Film Editing - The Hurt Locker - totally well deserved for editing together the most tense film I have ever seen
• Best Music (Score) - Up - I repeat: I soooo want to see this!
• Best Music (Song) - Ryan Bingham, Crazy Heart - am going to watch this on a long-haul flight - may get teary over the song due to long-haul fragility
• Best Visual Effects - Avatar - well deserved
• Best Writing (Original Screenplay) - Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker - awesome - I love when young, heartfelt, passionate writers win this award

Wrong:

• Best Actress - Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side (I said Meryl) - on one hand I think it's a bit of a farce, but on the other hand it's totally in-keeping with Oscar's history of awarding a person known for populist films an Oscar for going into "serious" territory. And on the other hand (I have three hands, apparently) it's not like there was a stand-out lead female performance this year.
• Best Cinematography - Avatar (I said Inglourious Basterds) - a mostly-animated film winning this has confused my understanding of cinematography.
• Best Costume Design - The Young Victoria (I said Bright Star) - I like that the woman acknowledged in receiving this that it's easier to win for period dramas
• Best Foreign Language Film - Argentina's El Secreto de Sus Ojos (I said France's Un Prophete) - am genuinely surprised by A Prophet not winning this one and now eager to see the Argentinian film that toppled it
• Best Sound Editing - The Hurt Locker (I said Avatar) - generally I get sound wrong as I don't really have an appreciation for or understand of "good sound"
• Best Sound Mixing - The Hurt Locker (I said Inglourious Basterds) - ditto
• Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) - Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious (I said Nick Hornby, An Education) - happy to get this one wrong :)

Posted by Bel. The time is 11.45am here in Wellington, NZ.


Okay, people! Today's the day! If you, like poor ole Lou and me, are trapped somewhere with obscured seating (aka NO ACCESS TO A TELLY AT ALL) then kia kaha and let me know what live blog you have found as I plan on having several tabs open and giving my F5 button a good pummelling.

For a last dose of hype, here are some fun links I couldn't help but dive upon like Sarah Palin with a free goody bag:

How an Oscar Statuette is Made

A step-by-step insight to the process and some interesting (to me!!) facts. Did you know they weigh 8 and a half pounds? I don't know how to convert that to kilos, but it sounds like a lot!

The creation of the awards is not the only artwork going on in Los Angeles. British graff artist D*Face has made his mark, installing these 6 foot tall sculptures around the city with the inscription: Beauty Is Only Skin Deep.

Women & Hollywood has steadfastedly tracked the build up to the Academy Awards from the perspective of the achievements of female filmmakers. A fever pitch of excitement about Kathryn Bigelow's opportunity to break the 82 year all-male grasp on the Best Director Oscar culminates in a post with some talking points about just what this means...

And let's finish with pondering on whether or not James Cameron is a facist. This article from GOOD (a website I highly recommend) goes back to Susan Sontag's review of Nazi propagandist Leni Reifensthal’s late career photo essay, The Last of the Nuba and points out how it could very easily become a review of Cameron's Avatar, with its parallels in idealism of the primitive and presumed moral superiority.

Wow, and my main problems with the film had been to do with the fact that in the future boys still have dumb tribal art tattoos and that his wheelchair was an antique, with design apparently having not changed for over 200 years!

Posted by Bel. The time is 4.15pm here in Wellington, NZ.


Up In The Air is an okay film. Your mum will probably like it. There's no sex in it (one bottom! ooh err! (not George's, calm down)) and quite a bit of the f-word, but not much more than on most telly shows that screen after 8.30pm these days.

It's fairly competently shot, with some pretty aerial photography and nice typography. (I'm not being flippant. Typography is important to me, very important. Lou can verify this.)

I've seen better use of airport architecture in, um, pretty much every other film featuring an airport, but I guess maybe they weren't too concerned with cinematography. E.g. Sam Mendes' Away We Go had a breath-taking shot of an airplane reflected and refracted on the exterior of an airport and Wayne's World has that fantastic scene where they lie talking on the car bonnet while the jet takes off above them. Oh yes. I went there. Just put Wayne's World up above this Best Picture nominated flick.

Because this film is really not that great. Thank You for Smoking was pretty good in terms of an American's stab at satire, although ultimately it left you with a hollow feeling; a slick movie about spin, that twisted your feelings but left you with nothing to grab on to. Juno was such a step up, with a solid emotional core and an actress the lead the film in a progressive arc - although still many people couldn't connect with the jargony dialogue, distancing them from the characters.

Up In The Air suffers a worse fate: characters that are not worth caring about, in a world seemingly populated with relevant issues, but actually buffered and drifting along.

 

Ryan Bingham* (George Clooney) travels around all over America all the time. His job is to go in to workplaces and fire people on behalf of their employers. This works out great for him, because he has Commitment Issues and doesn't like his family or women or anyone apparently - even though he is portrayed as being incredibly charming and, well, George Clooneyesque.

When a young upstart (she's totes Gen Y! gross!) comes on board with a plan to do it all via video conference, the Cloonster is tres upset because he won't be able to avoid his Commitment Issues any more. But also there is a love interest on the scene. She says, "Imagine I am you but with a vagina". I would not think that would be a good pick up line, but it seem to do the trick.

There are lots of short inserts of people being made redundant. At first I thought, "Oh, wow, yes - America's slow slide into financial ruin, how pertinent" but then by the end of the film it just felt glib. It had been a movie about the elite, about those who care about luxury, about privilege. Gen Y quits her job - and there is no reaction to this being an incredibly precarious move in light of the awful economic conditions, because, no, this is not a film about the economic conditions, despite its half-hearted attempt to gesture in that direction

And to top it off, the film is a goddam 100 minute infomercial. The product placements are all so integral that we forget that the logos and the name dropping are all highly sort after, complexly negotiated and extremely expensive advertisements. We get just an embedded reference to how Hilton's something something preferred customer card is just tops, delivered by our friend George on that huge screen as we munch on another handful of popcorn.

 

I also felt the portrayal of the women in this film was pretty average-to-downright-shocking. The scene where they talk about their "perfect men" had me literally howling. Who writes this shit?? (Oh, that's right...)

This is not a Best Picture movie. If George Clooney wins Best Actor for this, I will throw myself down on the ground and hammer my fists and feet into the carpet like a hysterical wee toddler. His talent is wasted here. This is Ocean's 11 level acting for him.

And it is yet another demonstration of the bigoted, misogynistic, creaking and decrepit system that is Hollywood that both (both!) women in this film have been nominated for Best Supporting Actress, taking two of the five slots. You cannot tell me that the Academy scaled far and wide and could not find women performing better roles than these in the last year...


* Did anyone else find it weird that this character had the same name as Ryan Bingham the singer? I realise no one else had heard of him until Crazy Heart got nominated last month, but still... weird.


...


Oh look: Ryan Bingham himself finds it weird. But he got to hang out with George Clooney. And he made the rookie mistake of being drinking at the bar when they won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Awesome.

Posted by Bel. The time is 3.42pm here in Wellington, NZ.

How excited are you? I am average-to-mediumly excited. Probably more excited than you, if we are doing this on a scale of normal-people-excitedlyness. But probably not as excited as Gabourey Sidibe, waiting to hear back if Justin Timberlake is free to be her date for the big night!

There has been lots of things going on as the Academy Awards approach. Apparently Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep were co-awarded Best Actress at the Broadcast Film Critics Association’s Critics Choice awards, which resulted in this display of mutual joy:

Who is that in the background? It kinda looks like, um, Amy Poehler's husband. Will Arnett, is that his name? He is totally digging it, anyway.

Kathryn Bigelow continues to advance strongly upon that gleaming statuette engraved with 'Best Director'. She scooped up the BAFTA, being the first woman to do so, and whilst wearing a smokin' hot disco mini.

 

I would like to see James Cameron attempt any kind of acceptance speech in heels that high. Yowzers.

As well as the continued bickering and battling about whether or not this is a battle of the sexes/exes, there have been other controversies surrounding the 82nd Academy Awards.

Novelist Walter Kirn wrote the book Up In The Air, the film version of which, starring George Clooney, has been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, amongst other things. (Ohhh, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress x2, you know...) And yet this creative originator received a big ole snub, with no golden ticket to the Oscars ceremony.

Perhaps, as a writer myself, I'm a little biased. I've often wondered how it would feel to have material taken and crafted into something different by people who work in another media. But clearly this has gone on to be a huge success. And as the man himself said, "I want to be there in the same way you want to be at your high school graduation or your best friend’s birthday party." Awwhh! Poor dude.

Maybe the Cloonster could've taken along a cardboard cutout of him??

But, fear not, Kirn took to Twitter and his plaintive tweets finally wrangled him a ticket to the ceremony - as well as a bunch of extra publicity.

Some are already doing the red carpet rounds, and Livia Firth is documenting the awards season frenzy, as well as doing her best to keep it enviromentally sound.

Who's that you ask?

Oh, well, she is just the woman married to THIS GUY:

Haha - that was the internet equivalent of kicking Lou in the ovaries.

Livia Firth (or Mrs Colin Firth, as the mail that arrives at their gracious home might sometimes be addressed) is blogging for Vogue UK on her 'Green Carpet Challenge'.

It is a great insider's view to all the faffing about and trying on of frocks and so on that goes with these kind of events - but to see someone dedicated to thinking about sustainable products and ethical fashion at the same time is really refreshing.

  

She also comes across as quite funny and smart. (Sorry, Lou.) (I do think she should have gone with that greenish frock and not the yellow for the BAFTAs, if that helps.)

Posted by Lou. The time is 11.45 here in London, UK.

**Best Original Screenplay pick adjusted on 22 Feb after discovering that A Serious Man is not A Single Man - ooops**

For me the Oscars this year are all about two people:

Kathryn Bigelow.

Mo'Nique.

Here are my picks for (nearly) all categories - based on having only seen around a third of the key films, mind you.

Actor in a Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
• Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

I completely disagree with Bel - I think it'll be Jeff Bridges. Cloonster's performance is too run of the mill (to my mind, getting nominated for that role is their show of Clooney love as it's not so much of an Oscar role I don't think), and he won for Best Supporting a couple of years back. Of course my private fantasy is that Darcy, oops, I mean Colin Firth, will win and accept in dripping wet clothes, including the all important white shirt.

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Matt Damon in “Invictus”
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

I definitely reckon Christoph Waltz. He was awesome. And I can't see Inglourious Basterds picking up anything except one or two technical awards at best, so this will be the show of love for Tarantino.

Actress in a Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
• Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

I'd gone for Sandra until reading Bel's point that Meryl hasn't won in more than 20 years...

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
• Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

This for me is the one certainty. It has to be Mo'Nique. Not only is it the most talked about film performance of the year, but it's one of the best supporting performances I've ever seen, full stop.

Animated Feature Film

• “Coraline” Henry Selick
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
• “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
• “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
• “Up” Pete Docter

Up. Definitely Up.

Art Direction

• “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Hmmm... have only seen Sherlock Holmes from this set. Am going out on a limb to say Avatar...

Cinematography

• “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
• “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
• “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
• “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

I never get Cinematography right, but maybe this year...

Costume Design

• “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
• “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine” Colleen Atwood
• “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

*insert grumble about Bright Star being overlooked in every other category*

Directing

• “Avatar” James Cameron
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
• “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
• “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Kathryn Bigelow deserves it, and I really can't see them having the audacity to not break the historical drought for woman filmmakers when they're handed the opportunity to do it via the same sort of war film that has won for men time and time again.

Documentary (Feature)

I'm copy and pasting from Bel's post so don't have the noms, but from memory The Cove is nominated and it is my choice.

Documentary (Short Subject)

No idea.

Film Editing

• “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
• “District 9” Julian Clarke
• “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

I'm going for this one based on the superb tension of the film which is a lot to do with the editing... maybe?

Foreign Language Film

• “Ajami” Israel
• “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
• “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
• “Un Prophète” France
• “The White Ribbon” Germany

(Disclaimer: even though I hate French cinema)

Makeup

• “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
• “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

??

Music (Original Score)

• “Avatar” James Horner
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
• “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
• “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
• “Up” Michael Giacchino

Hmm no idea

Music (Original Song)

• “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
• “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
• “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by c and T Bone Burnett

Based on seeing the song in Bel's post. Reminds me of the wonderful song (Falling Slowly - one of my all-time favourite songs) from Once that came in and blew the big commercial "made to be number one hits and win Oscars, not actually to advance the film" songs and the bloated celebrity performances of them out of the water with their authenticity and visceral appeal.

Best Picture

• “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
• “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
• “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
• “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
• “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
• “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
• “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
• “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Oooooh I don't know!! In the past it has generally gone to the same winner of Best Director, but actually in the past decade or so there have been several anomalies. Um um um... um... I have a little theory that Precious could sneak in based on the new voting methods, but post- Avatar winning the Best Drama Golden Globe I think there will be a reactionary movement in support of The Hurt Locker.

Short Film (Animated)

No idea.

Short Film (Live Action)

As above.

Sound Editing

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
• “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
• “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
• “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Um... I think it was one of the Oscar-nominated gaffer folks from King Kong who told us the difference whilst we were hanging out in the room full of King Kong sound effects props (like the old washing machine they used to make the boat creaks). Whilst I remember the person and the place I can't remember the actual difference thing... Is it that the missing is all about the layers of sound, and the editing... no wait, that would be editing... um... *googles* Aha, I was on the right track - mixing is the actual layering of the sounds together - like volumes etc - and editing is the creation of the actual sounds.

Sound Mixing

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

I have no reasoning to back up this choice beyond loving the sound of his baseball bat hitting the tunnel as he slowly emerges...

Visual Effects

• “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
• “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
• “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

I'm saying Avatar because it is Weta right? So this would be another Kiwiland Oscar...

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

I'm torn! I can't choose! Heart says Precious, brain says An Education... oooh actually now I'm thinking Up in the Air... hmmm... no, I'm going to go with An Education. This is a fantastic category, btw. With the what-the-fuck exception of District 9.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
• “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
• “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Changed to The Hurt Locker

Posted by Bel. The time is 10.22am here in Wellington, NZ.

What's not to love about this time of year? From the day Oscar nominations are announced to the evening (afternoon over here) of the ceremony itself, I love revelling in the awards season.

Yes, okay, the Academy is dominated by self-interested old white dudes and Hollywood is a creaking outdated system of narrow-minded films but... squeee! Fun!! The frocks, the gossip, the underdogs, the rivalries...

New Zealand's link to the Oscars is tenuous this year, with PJ's The Lovely Bones ignored on all fronts except Stanley Tucci's performance. The short film The Six Dollar Fifty Man just scooped a top honour at the Sundance Festival, but we won't have a repeat of seeing any of our local filmmakers on the red carpet at the Kodak Theater.

There is still a lot to like about the 82nd Academy Awards, particularly as, for only the 4th time ever, a woman has been nominated as Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker. And with her film up for an Avatar-equalling total of nine awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, there seems a real chance that a female could take out this award for the very first time.

Kathryn Bigelow has a good laugh at James Cameron
busting out that "King of the woooorrrld!" line for one last time.

The Women & Hollywood website has a very interesting piece on female writers responding to the nominations (including current girl crush and all round awesomenessest Manohla Dargis), whereas I am just going to go through the list and tell you my Unfounded Opinions.

Actor in a Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
• Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

The Academy are gonna vote for the Cloonster. You know it, I know it.

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Matt Damon in “Invictus”
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
  

The Nazis were the only non-laughable thing in QT's mess of a movie (that and how pretty it was - see the Cinematography nom).

But, despite this and my secret crush on Woody, I don't wonder if they might go soft and give it to 80 y.o. Plummer who has never had a prize!

Actress in a Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
• Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

I rolled my eyes and went 'Meryl Streep? Agaaain?' but have since read that it's been over 25 years since she's actually won an Oscar. And otherwise they might have to give it to a fat black girl.

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
• Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Two women from the same movie? Srsly? Were they like, 'Hmm. Crap. Ladies... ladies... Surely they did some movies around the place... Hmm dunno. Let's just stick in another one what that was in that Clooney movie.' Sigh.

Do we think Mo'Nique could actually take this one out? Her role is certainly the most hearty of any of these.

Animated Feature Film

• “Coraline” Henry Selick
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
• “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
• “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
• “Up” Pete Docter

Gah. I really don't like that this is a different category - or maybe it's more that films from this category can be in Best Picture as well. Dumb! Surely this is a bad thing for Up??

If Fantastic Mr Fox wins, I am personally flying over to wherever animal-hater Wes Anderson lives and hiding outside his house until I can throw a bucket of red paint over him and yell out "FUR IS DEAD!" whilst shaking my fist manically.

Art Direction

• “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Sherlock Holmes was bang-on in terms of look and feel (yes, I think you could almost use that term), recreating an amazing world. But I imagine that that mad ole bugger Gilliam went hard out too so who knows...

Cinematography

• “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
• “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
• “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
• “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Harry Potter?! LOLZ (Although it was one of my favourite trailers of 2009.)

Costume Design

• “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
• “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine” Colleen Atwood
• “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Jane Campion's only toe in the door :( And she's up against Chanel!

Directing

• “Avatar” James Cameron
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
• “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
• “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Please, please, pleeeeease Kathryn Bigelow. Or Lee Daniels, even. It's the first time there's been a black director of a Best Picture nom - even more history in the making!

Yes, that's political, but hey you can't tell me the whole damn thing's not political. They talk about 'campaigning' for an Oscar for pete's sake!

Documentary (Feature)

No one in New Zealand ever gets to see these so not relevant.

Documentary (Short Subject)

As above.

Film Editing

• “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
• “District 9” Julian Clarke
• “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

Always tough. Editing is something you're not supposed to notice in a film, and now that we've gotten over that boisterous 90s music video style, you can't even be self-consciously stylistic in a film without coming across like a prat...

Foreign Language Film

• “Ajami” Israel
• “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
• “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
• “Un Prophète” France
• “The White Ribbon” Germany

The White Ribbon is Michael Haneke, right? In the bag.

Makeup

• “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
• “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Star Trek!! For all the awesome spocky ears!

Music (Original Score)

• “Avatar” James Horner
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
• “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
• “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
• “Up” Michael Giacchino

I never notice this. Unless it is awful. The only name I recognise here is Zimmer's. Although I think I shall recall "Desplat" from now on... heh heh..

Music (Original Song)

• “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
• “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
• “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by c and T Bone Burnett

Randy Newman! Twice! Dear me. I think he must have some kind of overarching contract wherein he is obligated to churn out music for the Oscars just to pad out this category and provide the ceremony with light entertainment.

I have spent time trying to find an embeddable video or even link to the DEFINITIVE Family Guy clip featuring Randy Newman but have failed and thus am very unhappy.

However I'd like to put my money on the song from Crazy Heart. Why? Oh just because Ryan Bingham is going to make Alec Baldwin cry during the telecast, that's all.

Best Picture

• “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
• “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
• “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
• “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
• “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
• “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
• “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
• “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Ahhhhh!!!

I like the extended list format - sure, it was done just for the ratings but regardless it does open up the field and make things a bit more exciting.

I'm still banking for The Hurt Locker but would also love to see a thought-provoking and beautiful film that deals with people and relationships, like Lone Scherfig's An Education, take the top prize over something full of spectacle and melodrama like Avatar, District 9 (which I enjoyed on the big screen, but thought was a very transparent parable), or even The Blind Side.

Short Film (Animated)

No one in New Zealand ever gets to see these so not relevant.

Short Film (Live Action)

As above.

Sound Editing

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
• “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
• “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
• “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

You guys! Controversy!! Up has been nominated for sound editing but not for sound mixing. And GET THIS: Transformers got the nod for sound mixing but not for sound editing!! Can you imagine the UPROAR!

(Someone once actually explained the difference between the editing and mixing of film sound to Lou and I and why it was so fundamentally different that it required separate Academy Awards but, lordy me, I have no recollection and quite possibly immediately tuned out at the time. Lou?)

Sound Mixing

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Awh man it's gon be DRAMZ. Greg, Gary and Geoffrey ("Team G") are very upset re the overlooking of their editing skills right now.

Visual Effects

• “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
• “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
• “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Avatar. But I haven't actually seen it yet, so don't hold me to that.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

What the feck is District 9 adapted from? The history books of South Africa??

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
• “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
• “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Usually a good call is made in this category. We, of course, do not refer to the year Crash was chosen over both Syriana and Good Night And Good Luck. In general, we do not refer to Crash at all. Please note.

Oh and no, QT, no. Sit back down. You had no right, personally or politically, to write that revisionist piece of delusional claptrap and the Jews that run Hollywood do not take kindly to what you have done.

Well then. Much to be done before 7th March. I haven't even heard of this film The Messenger and I really do need to join the queue and go see Avatar in 3D.

I shall soon be downloading my official ballot form (ooOOoooh they've been redesigned this year!) and plotting my choices. Then, how to wrangle the afternoon off so I can fully indulge in the gratuitousness of the Western film industry apex?

Posted by Bel. The time is 9:03pm here in Wellington, NZ.

Lou has already reviewed this over at reduced to banality and she may cross-post here. But I thought, as a connoisseur of WWII films thanks to my freakishly obsessed husband, I would rehash it too.

"The eggs are green? WTF?!"

I enjoyed director Stephen Daldry's film The Hours and I thought The Reader had a similar feel and colour palette - soft and unassuming, yet with strong emotional peaks. However both films left me unaffected in the long run, which is hugely disappointing, particularly when The Reader is dealing with such interesting subject matter.

I, of course, thought Ms Winslet was fab in this, mostly because she throws the viewer into such uncertain territory. Why do I feel sorry for a person who has committed such fucking despicable crimes, even as she stands in a courtroom, blabbering them out?! For the same reasons, I don't like her chances of finally nabbing that long-awaiting Oscar.

Daldry has copped a bit of flak for allowing an adapted tale of WWII to also be about sex and romance - with a Nazi - and for his lead female character (the aforementioned Nazi) to be portrayed in a 'sympathetic light'. I think we have grown past an age where we need to have the baddies wearing black cowboy hats and the goodies in white. If anything, it is more important now than ever, than we examine how such evil come to power and how normal everyday members of our societies were caught up amongst it.