Operation Oscar 2013

This Sunday is the 85th annual Academy Awards. My best friend Heather and I have successfully succeeded in seeing every film nominated in the major categories--Best Picture, Directing, Acting and Writing. I've also managed to see a few others as well. Here's a rundown of the major categories with my favorites and predictions. I've also posted some additional commentary in each category.

In each category, I've ranked each nominee from my favorite to least favorite.

Best Picture

It's always hard to rank the films and compare them because they're so different. I would say I loved the first four films on my list. I really liked Zero Dark Thirty as well. If I were making this category on my own, I wouldn't have had more than five nominees (unless I added something that wasn't nominated). Life of Pi was pretty good, but when I think of it in terms of the others in this category, it just wasn't as good for me. I can't see myself ever wanting to watch Beasts, Amour or Django ever again.

For me, Lincoln is the stand out film of the group for a few reasons. It's a gripping story and I love that it focuses on such a specific time period in President Abraham Lincoln's life. It would be hard to make a movie about his entire life more than likely because there is so much to him as a person. I felt that the legislation and topics covered in this movie were compelling. The acting in this movie is superb and I felt like the writing was exceptional as well.

Argo is incredible as well. Another well written story and good acting. Les Mis is just an epic production. It's a touching story and the acting and singing are wonderful. I'm also a big fan of Silver Linings Playbook and I think in any other year it would be higher on my list.

1. Lincoln
2. Argo
3. Les Miserables
4. Silver Linings Playbook
5. Zero Dark Thirty
6. Life of Pi
7. Beasts of the Southern Wild
8. Amour
9. Django Unchained

Prediction: Argo
It looks like Ben Affleck's snub in the directing category (more on that later) prompted a big backlash and surge of support for Argo. It has been pretty dominant throughout the awards season, and I expect it to win. Lincoln appears to have the second best shot to win.


Best Director

Out of the nominees, I think Spielberg's directing in Lincoln is the best. David O. Russell and Ang Lee did great work as well. I would round out this category with Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow for Argo and Zero Dark Thirty. In my opinion, those films are much better directed than Beasts or Amour.

1. Lincoln - Steven Spielberg
2. Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell
3. Life of Pi - Ang Lee
4. Beasts of the Southern Wild - Benh Zeitlin
5. Amour - Michael Haneke

Prediction: Lincoln - Steven Spielberg
There seems to be the thinking that Spielberg may be "too big" for this category by some experts. It's sort of the Meryl Streep affect. People assume you have won the award so many times you don't need another one--even if you are the best in the field. (He has seven nominations and two wins, neither of which are a record for what it's worth.) I still think he's the favorite to win. But, this category is a wildcard. I wouldn't be too surprised if Russell or Lee won.

Best Actor

Great performances by everyone in this category! I just think Daniel Day-Lewis was superior. His performance was perfect. It would be really cool to see a win by Bradley Cooper or Hugh Jackman though. I'm a fan of both of those actors and they were great in their roles this year.

1. Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
2. Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
3. Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
4. Denzel Washington - Flight
5. Joaquin Phoenix - The Master

Prediction: Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
This is the category I'm most confident in predicting. I would be shocked if anyone other than Daniel Day-Lewis won.

Best Actress

I had to think about this category for a while. The women are usually hardest for me to rank, because I usually love them all. Once again, I think everyone in this category did a great job. But, if I had to pick who I thought gave the best performance, I'd go with Emmanuelle Riva.

1. Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
2. Naomi Watts - The Impossible
3. Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
4. Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
5. Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Prediction: Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
This category seems to be locked up by Jennifer Lawrence. It's looked like her toughest competition would be from Jessica Chastain, but there seems to be a late surge of support for Emmanuelle Riva, especially after her BAFTA win. I can honestly say I'd be happy with any of those wins, but I'd put my money on Lawrence.

Best Supporting Actor

Another really strong category in my opinion. Once again it came down to me picking the best, and I just don't think anyone did as well as Tommy Lee Jones did in Lincoln. He was exceptional in the role.

1. Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
2. Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
3. Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook
4. Alan Arkin - Argo
5. Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master

Prediction: Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Fun fact--all five of these men are Oscar winners. This category seems to be the most fluid and most experts are split on Tommy Lee Jones and Robert De Niro. I'm predicting Tommy Lee Jones based on the way the awards season has gone so far, but a win by De Niro or Christoph Waltz would not surprise me.

Best Supporting Actress

For me to rank Sally Field number two in any category has to mean whoever is above her did something extraordinary, and in my opinion Anne Hathaway was extraordinary in Les Mis. Field was also incredible, as was Helen Hunt. I thought Jacki Weaver did a great job too. I'm an Amy Adams fan, but this wasn't her best role in my opinion.

1. Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
2. Sally Field - Lincoln
3. Helen Hunt - The Sessions
4. Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook
5. Amy Adams - The Master 

Prediction: Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
I think Anne Hathaway has this race locked up as well and I'll be very excited when she wins. Field and Hunt, both previous Oscar winners, could surprise though.


Best Adapted Screenplay

This was a tough category to rank as well. (I wish I had read the original of each of these adaptions, but unfortunately I haven't yet.) I'm giving the edge to Lincoln just because it was so exceptional. Silver Linings Playbook and Argo are really well written too.

1. Lincoln - Tony Kushner
2. Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell
3. Argo - Chris Terrio
4. Life of Pi - David Magee
5. Beasts of the Southern Wild - Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin

Prediction: Argo - Chris Terrio
Argo seems pretty solid in this category. Lincoln and Playbook seem to be second and third in terms of chances to win.

Best Original Screenplay

Zero Dark Thirty was my favorite out of these movies and I think it was the best written script. Flight was an interesting story too. I didn't particularly care for the others. In terms of writing, Amour did at least have some emotional dialogue and scenes. 

1. Zero Dark Thirty - Mark Boal
2. Flight - John Gatins
3. Amour - Michael Haneke
4. Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino
5. Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola

Prediction: Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino
This category seems to be one of the most up in the air. I'm thinking it's going to come down to Django and Zero with Amour being the dark horse that could potentially sneak in and win.

I also want to plug the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower in this post. It had some Oscar buzz mostly for it's writing. It was nominated for a Writer's Guild of America award for Best Adapted Screenplay. I definitely think it should have been nominated for an Oscar in place of Beasts. I loved everything about this movie though. I'd also have nominated it for Best Picture and could easily see Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller getting acting nominations.

So, there are my thoughts on the major categories. Agree? Disagree? What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know.

Republican Ridiculousness

                The Republican Party reached an even further height of ridiculousness over the last week. It probably shouldn’t come as a shock, but one would think at some point enough would be enough.

                Study after study and article after article have shown the Republican Party’s spiral into extremism. Congress is more partisan than ever and it’s pretty much solely because Republican elected officials keep trying to out-crazy one another by shifting further and further to the right.

                It’s no longer enough to just throw out facts, science and Democratic Party ideas, Republicans are rejecting their own ideas now if President Barack Obama or any other Democratic elected official embraces them. Take for instance the Affordable Care Act, which is essentially made up of Republican health care proposals from the 1990s. After Democrats proposed it, Republicans disparagingly renamed it Obamacare and fought it tooth and nail.

                Now, Republicans in the U.S. Senate are opposing Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel—a Republican. Hagel worked for Republican Congressman John McCollister of Nebraska in the 1970s and was an organizer for Ronald Reagan during his 1980 presidential campaign. Later, Hagel was elected to the U.S. Senate from Nebraska in 1996 and re-elected in 2002, both times as a Republican. While in the Senate he had a reliably conservative voting record including supporting the Iraq War.

                Hagel also has a lengthy military resume. He served in the United States Army during the late 1960s. While serving in the Vietnam War he earned two Purple Hearts. He also served in the Reagan administration as a deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration.

                On Thursday, Republicans voted to filibuster Hagel’s nomination. Only four Republican senators voted to proceed with an up or down vote on his nomination. It is the first time in history that a Secretary of Defense nominee has been blocked by a filibuster.

                So why are Republicans blocking one of their own? It’s mostly out of spite.

                Republicans have expressed concern over comments Hagel made in which he referred to the “Jewish lobby” and supposedly made remarks that the U.S. State Department was beholden to Israel.

                Anyone that pays attention to American politics knows that any seemingly negative remark towards Israel isn’t tolerated. Republicans and Democrats alike both try to out-Israel each other on a regular basis. I personally think Hagel’s comments were pretty accurate, and there is no legitimate cause for offense.

                Republicans also are concerned that Hagel would be too weak dealing with Iran. Republicans show their lack of foreign policy knowledge far too often when it comes to Iran. Hagel was repeatedly asked in confirmation hearings about Iran and also the Benghazi consulate attack (which Hagel had nothing whatsoever to do with). What he wasn’t asked much about is Afghanistan, a country where America has almost 70,000 troops.

                Ending the war in Afghanistan will be one of the most pressing issues with the Department of Defense over the next few years as troops are expected to mostly be withdrawn by the end of 2014.

                Republicans aren’t particularly concerned with those details though. They’re more upset that Hagel was an outspoken critic of George W. Bush as his Senate career was winding down. Hagel didn’t like the way Bush handled the Iraq War (like most Americans) and opposed the troop surge. Hagel also refused to endorse Sen. John McCain in 2008 when he was the Republican Party’s nominee for president.

                McCain and his Senate pal Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have led the charge to derail Hagel’s nomination. It is likely that after more questioning Hagel will have the votes to be confirmed later, but Republicans have already done what they wanted—embarrass the president—except they’ve only embarrassed themselves.

                Also this week, 22 Republican senators, which is about half of the Republican caucus, voted against the Violence Against Women Act. Read that sentence again to make sure you got that. All 22 nay votes on VAWA were from Republican men. The handful of Senate Republican women voted in favor of the resolution.

                Notable nay votes include potential 2016 presidential candidates Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida and John Thune of South Dakota.

                Rubio went for the trifecta of embarrassing moments over the last week with his votes against Hagel, VAWA and the Republican rebuttal to Obama’s State of the Union Address.

                Put aside the awkward sweating, dry mouth and sip of water, and the speech was still a disaster. I compare it to Paul Ryan’s speech accepting the Republican nomination for Vice President at the Republican National Convention last summer. The speech was filled with fabrications and lies. Rubio seemed to be responding to a presidential address that only happened in his mind.

                If Republicans want to be taken seriously as a party and as an alternative to Democrats, they’re going to have to do better than this. I don’t see that happening any time soon, especially not after this week’s fiascos.

Valentine's Day

                Most people fall into one of two groups when it comes to how they feel about Valentine’s Day. It all depends on whether or not you’re single or have someone to call your Valentine when February 14 rolls around each year.

                For those that are in a relationship on this date, Valentine’s Day is usually a day they enjoy. It’s a day to show their love for that special someone in their life and vice versa.

                For single people, it’s typically a day to wallow in despair and sneer at anyone who dares crack a smile or show any semblance of happiness.

                Of course not everyone falls neatly into these categories. There are those in and out of relationships who don’t care to participate for a number of reasons—chief among them being the commercialization of the holiday.  They believe Valentine’s Day is a retail-made holiday serving the chocolate, flower and greeting card industry.

                I’ve got news for those people—every single holiday in America is commercialized.  If you let the commercialization of holidays take the enjoyment out of it for you, you’re not going to have much in life, or any holiday, to celebrate.

                I prefer to chart my own course when it comes to Valentine’s Day. I am single this year as of February 14 and I have been the past several times February 14 came around. That doesn’t really bother me though.

                You see, I happen to love Valentine’s Day in spite of my singleness. I won’t pretend that there aren’t times I wish I had something incredibly romantic going on, but I don’t let it ruin the day. Maybe it’s because I am a romantic at heart. Maybe’s it’s because I believe the sappy Hollywood movie, fairytale ending will happen for me one day.

                It’s not just my optimism that makes the day special. Think about it like this—Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love. It doesn’t have to be romantic love. Any type of love will do. An entire day devoted to celebrating love sounds pretty marvelous to me.

                I may not have romantic love in my life, but I certainly have an abundance of love in my life, and for that I am grateful.

                For starters I have a family that loves me. I’ve got my mom, dad, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and more that love me. Sure, family relationships can be complicated, but I don’t doubt the love that’s there.

                I also have an incredible best friend. It’s hard to put into words the relationship that we have. I try to explain it to people often, but I don’t know that there is a suitable word that really fits. We call each other soul mates because of the deep bond we share.

                The love I have for her is something I couldn’t live without, and I know that I am loved by her as well. I’m lucky to have her.

                I’m also extremely lucky to have a job working with people I love. There are many people I get to see on a daily basis who are not only co-workers, but friends as well. These people make the 40 hour work week not seem like such an imposition of time when truthfully there are plenty of places most people would rather be than work.

                Outside of family, my best friend and co-workers, I have other friends who I love and who love me in return. Some I may not see often or even get to speak with often. Some are friends that have come in to my life and slipped out for whatever reason. But, they served a purpose in my life at the time and their love is still cherished.

                I won’t be having a fancy, romantic dinner tonight. I won’t be cuddling up next to anyone at home. But, I’m glad that doesn’t mean I’m not loved and it doesn’t mean I don’t have a lot of relationships to be appreciative of in my life.

                I’m very blessed to have so many people to love and be loved by in my life. I hope that I show these people my feelings always, but on a day like today it’s especially good to recognize them.

                Before you declare February 14 Singles Awareness Day or get in a funk thinking of what might be missing, take a moment to remember all the love that does exist in your life. That’s what I’ll be doing, and all that love sure puts a smile on my face.