Busy

I h ave a million things to blog…okay, a million is probably an exaggeration, but still.

I took a bunch of pictures over the weekend that I have yet to upload. Soon.

Visiting with the family was good. It was my grandpa’s birthday, and so we had a little family get-together. My aunt and cousin who live in Maryland were there, so it was great to see them.

Of course, I left some things behind…a hairbrush, and a book that I was reading. Feh.

Also slightly annoying…I had been hoping my wedding dress would arrive before the weekend so that I could go and try it on. Alas, the bridal shop called me *yesterday* to tell me that my dress had come in. (You can read about my ongoing shoe quest over at my wedding blog, should you care about that sort of thing…) Rand and I have been plugging away at the wedding details, which I will write about in more detail over there.

We stayed up to watch the Oscars Sunday night, and I wasn’t as bored as I thought I would be. I may go into more detail, but here are the highlights (as far as I’m concerned):

  • The musical numbers. Loved all of them. I haven’t seen any of the movies that had songs nominated (Enchanted, August Rush, Once), but I want to see them all!
  • Jon Stewart bringing the woman who won for Once back onstage to give her acceptance speech since she was so rudely played off. Awesome.
  • Diablo Cody! Whoo! She made me cry.
  • Jennifer Garner being the picture of grace and style. She looked so adorably excited when Diablo Cody won.
  • The cute French girl winning best actress.
  • Ratatouille winning best animated feature.

Hmm…there’s probably more, but I’ve already forgotten. Sadly, I forgot all about joining Eden’s Oscar group and making picks this year. I tried to log in and do it at 8 on Sunday, but I was denied. Denied! Ah well.

Worked yesterday, and am working today. Work is good, but I’m so tired. Want sleep.

And now, I must prepare for a room full of 6th graders. Later!

In the news

Stephen Watson wrote an article on online fantasy leagues. He contacted me after seeing that I “won” the Oscars.com piggyhawk group. (I got 14 picks right; the highest in my group). I think he was disappointed to learn that all I actually won was bragging rights. He did, however, say he was going to come to me for help with his office Oscar pool next year. 😉

He did quote me:

“It’s a way to get involved and feel like you’re part of something, instead of just watching it,” said Erin Nappe, a college writing instructor from Williamsville who writes the Erin-Go- Blog! Web log. Last month, Nappe played — and won — in an Oscars fantasy league.

You can read his full story here, at the all new! Buffalo News website.

Oscar picks–how I did

Best Picture THE DEPARTED
Actor in a Leading Role Forest Whitaker|THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
Actor in a Supporting Role Eddie Murphy|DREAMGIRLS Alan Arkin|LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (I had Alan Arkin and changed it…)
Actress in a Leading Role Helen Mirren|THE QUEEN
Actress in a Supporting Role Jennifer Hudson|DREAMGIRLS
Animated Feature Film HAPPY FEET
Art Direction PAN´S LABYRINTH

Cinematography CHILDREN OF MEN PAN´S LABYRINTH (this kind of shocked me.)
Costume Design DREAMGIRLS MARIE ANTOINETTE
Directing THE DEPARTED
Documentary Feature AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
Documentary Short Subject THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT

Film Editing THE DEPARTED
Foreign Language Film PAN´S LABYRINTH THE LIVES OF OTHERS (what? I so didn’t expect that.)
Makeup PAN´S LABYRINTH
Music (Original Score) BABEL

Music (Original Song) “Love You I Do” – DREAMGIRLS “I Need to Wake Up” – AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (this was a total guess, but I was completely sure it was going to be ONE of the three Dreamgirls songs! I was wrong.)
Short Film (Animated) MAESTRO THE DANISH POET
Short Film (Live Action) THE SAVIOUR WEST BANK STORY
Sound Editing APOCALYPTO LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
Sound Mixing APOCALYPTO DREAMGIRLS
Visual Effects PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN´S CHEST
Writing (Adapted Screenplay) CHILDREN OF MEN THE DEPARTED
Writing (Original Screenplay) LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Anyway, whoo! for me (and Rand!). I got 14 picks right. And although most of the show was a big snoozefest, I was glad I was watching to see Martin Scorsese win. It was pretty obvious when Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Francis Ford Copppola came out to present that he was going to get it.

Other thoughts…I have no interest in seeing The Queen, but Helen Mirren totally made me want to see The Queen. She was stunning. I also enjoyed Ellen’s hosting. Hm. That’s it for now. Maybe more later.

Oscar picks

Inspired by Eden, I joined her group at Oscar.com and made my own predictions. Rand helped. Here they are:

Best Picture     THE DEPARTED
Actor in a Leading Role     Forest Whitaker|THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
Actor in a Supporting Role     Eddie Murphy|DREAMGIRLS
Actress in a Leading Role     Helen Mirren|THE QUEEN
Actress in a Supporting Role     Jennifer Hudson|DREAMGIRLS
Animated Feature Film     HAPPY FEET
Art Direction     PAN´S LABYRINTH
Cinematography     CHILDREN OF MEN
Costume Design     DREAMGIRLS
Directing     THE DEPARTED
Documentary Feature     AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
Documentary Short Subject     THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT
Film Editing     THE DEPARTED
Foreign Language Film     PAN´S LABYRINTH
Makeup     PAN´S LABYRINTH
Music (Original Score)     BABEL
Music (Original Song)     “Love You I Do” – DREAMGIRLS
Short Film (Animated)     MAESTRO
Short Film (Live Action)     THE SAVIOUR
Sound Editing     APOCALYPTO
Sound Mixing     APOCALYPTO
Visual Effects     PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN´S CHEST
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)     CHILDREN OF MEN
Writing (Original Screenplay)     LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Of the nominated films, I’ve seen The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine, Children of Men, An Inconvenient Truth, Cars, and Borat. I think I’d still like to see Babel, Pan’s Labyrinth, Jesus Camp, and maybe a couple of others.

I really, really think Scorsese’s due. Of course, I thought that last time…but I think The Departed is a better film than The Aviator was. I wanted to vote for Mark Wahlberg for supporting actor, but I just don’t think he’ll actually win. His performance was great. I did my best to make real predictions, but I guessed on all the short films and the music/sound categories.

My biggest WTF? of this Oscar season has got to be Notes on a Scandal. I don’t get it. I saw the trailer and thought it looked absolutely dreadful. I asked what Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett were doing in this movie. Here’s a bit of a chat I had w/Eden on the subject:

Eden: well it’s probably in watching the interaction
Eden: a pedophile teacher versus a psychotic lesbian?
LOL
me: bwah
well, that screams “Oscar” to me!

Wanna join in the fun? Here’s the info on Eden’s group:

Stephanie (that’s me) has invited you to play the Predict the Oscar Winners Sweepstakes at OSCAR.com.You and a guest could be headed to Hollywood for an all-expensepaid weekend and watch as your favorite stars arrive at next year’sAcademy Awards! Seated in the bleacher seats in the Red Carpet arrival
area, you will be able to watch as the stars strut for the cameras and
the fans!

Log on to OSCAR.com, make your predictions, then join your group
using the information below:

URL: http://predict.oscar.go.com/predict/frontpage
Group Name: Piggyhawk
Group Password: joaquin

Then tune in Sunday February 25, 2007 at 5PM PT/8PM ET to see if your predictions come true!

Crash wins

It was the only movie (nominated for any major awards) that I saw this year. So, yay. It was a very good movie. Shocking that something that came out so early in the year was the big winner.

Reese looked beautiful, and was graceful and charming. Good thing she remembered to thank Ryan, because that would not have been a good sign. 😉

Jennifer Garner…um, perhaps more support would have been in order? Yeesh.

Songs. Wow. Those were it? The best original songs in film in all of 2005?? And why, oh why, do you make us sit through them?

I might have more thoughts, but those are the main ones.

Oh, and look for a full report (with photos) on the Boston trip later!

Oscars, part II

Well, overall I didn’t fare that well…I got 11 picks right. But the only two *big* ones I missed were Martin Scorsese and Annette Bening. Honestly, I really thought this was going to be the year Oscar said “Okay, Marty…here’s your Oscar.” I was wrong. And Annette Bening was wishful thinking. I hold no hatred in my heart for Hilary Swank, but I really *wanted* the older, graceful, absolutely radiant Bening to win. I haven’t seen either movie, so I can’t grumble too much about that.

And someone tell me…what’s with the whole “to win a best actress Oscar, you must play homely/a man or man-like/disabled/hooker” deal?

The ones I missed were ones I honest-to-goodness guessed on. Animated short? Documentary? Score? Eh…no clue. How does one go about seeing the live-action shorts, anyway? Hmmm…

Mostly, I didn’t think the show was all that exciting. I didn’t even cry during the tribute montage. I did tear up during Jamie Foxx’s acceptance speech, though. Sniff.

Obligatory Oscar Post

I’ve been formulating a post about the Oscars for several weeks now, but am just now getting around to writing it. I’m having a good Oscar year…I’ve seen three of the best picture nominees…The Aviator, Finding Neverland and Sideways.

I enjoyed all of them. I know that the only one that has any chance of taking away the top award is The Aviator. And that’s only if it beats Million Dollar Baby, which I have not seen. In fact, I didn’t have any particular desire to see it until I kept hearing how *amazing* it is. I can’t say I really understand the voting whims of the Academy, so I tend to make my predictions based on instinct rather than claiming any sort of insight.

I’ve joined in Eden’s Oscar group for picking the winner. I’ll let you know how I did. 😉 Here are my picks for the major awards:

Best Picture: Million Dollar Baby
Director: Martin Scorsese for The Aviator
Actor: Jamie Foxx
Actress: Annette Bening
Supporting Actor: Morgan Freeman
Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchette
Animated Feature: The Incredibles
Writing (Adapted): Sideways
Writing (Original): Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I guess on most of the other categories, even documentary, because I know so little about them.

Somewhere around here, I had made a list of the Oscar-nominated movies from the past five years that I still haven’t seen. I don’t know where it is at the moment. For this year, I still want to see Million Dollar Baby, The Incredibles (ahem), Hotel Rwanda, Closer, Being Julia, Maria Full of Grace, Kinsey, Shrek 2, and possibly Ray.

Let’s roll out the red carpet, shall we? 🙂