Stop Raining on Kirk's Parade

When you watched the Oscars, did you find yourself wondering who the hot guy was, wrestling with Kirk Douglas over his cane?  Much more interesting than Miss Golden Globes, don't you think?  He is none other than Omar Sharif, Jr., the grandson of Mr. Arnstein, himself.  Omar, Jr. an actor in Hollywood now, and you can read about him here.

The Triumph of the King

Hello, dear Lazy Circles readers, here is my stream of (un)consciousness, jotted down in real-time as I watched the Oscars, at least, when I wasn't filling my guests' champagne glasses.  And mine.

It's on!  James Franco and Anne Hathaway are entering the nominated movies, Inception-style, with my next husband Alec Baldwin and Morgan Freeman.  Nicely done, but why are they in Back to the Future?   

The bit with James' and Anne's "mominees" in the audience is cute.  Grandma Franco is a looker.  One senses that the show might be better with her as a co-host. 

What's that?  Why it's Tara's Theme.  Tara at sunset fills the stage.  a "two-time Oscar winner" is about to be announced.  OMG!  Could it be Olivia de Havilland?!?  Oh.  It's Tom Hanks.  He's fine and all, but why is he doing a tribute to Gone With the Wind?  Wait a minute, now he's doing a tribute to Titanic.  Same question.  This doesn't seem to be working.  Apparently, this is all for the cinematography award.  I'm not sure this was fully thought out (ed. note, "not fully thought out" will be a recurring theme for the evening).  The winner is Wally Pfister who is coming on stage with his readers on his forehead.  This is the shot that will accompany your obit, buddy.  Loose the glasses.

Kirk Douglas is presenting Best Supporting Actress.  He's pretty funny.  He's still got it. 

As the names are announced, Melissa Leo looks like she's on the verge of a nervous breakdown. 

Big surprise, she won.  She looks genuinely shocked.  She's the only one. 

The F-word!  Oops! 

She's going on and on.  Can't blame her, but she's kind of a ham, especially when she mugs with Kirk's cane.         

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Official Snubbed Presenters, Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake.  What makes him so cute?  He's kind of a nebbish, but incredibly F___able, know what I mean?

Justin does some lame bit with an app because the Oscars are, like, wired dude. 

Animated short:  The Last Thing. 

Animated feature:  Toy Story 3.  That's almost as big a shock as Melissa Leo.

Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem in ice cream suits.  That's a whole lot of man meat on one stage. 

 The Social Network wins screenplay.  Aaron Sorkin starts off by comparing himself favorably to Paddy Chayefsky.  No ego there.

Original screenplay goes to The King's Speech.  Surprisingly, David Seidler doesn't compare himself to Shakespeare.  Instead, the 73 year old says his father always said he'd be a late bloomer.  Charm is so much more appealing than ego.

Anne Hathaway does a great job with a cute song about hot Hugh Jackman.  She should be on Broadway, maybe in a show with Hugh Jackman!    

James Franco in Drag!

Sounds like a great idea, but I can't say it really worked.  Seems like a missed opportunity.  Anne looks great, though.

Anne seems to be doing all the heavy lifting tonight.  Does James Franco seem a little stoned to you?

Helen Mirren's gown is spectacular, as is her French.  I'm not a Russell Brand fan, but when he's on-stage with Dame Helen, he's almost bearable.  They present Best Foreign Film to In a Better World from Denmark.

Reese Witherspoon''s 60s hair and make-up are flawless. 

Shockingly, Best Supporting Actor is Christian Bale.  That's almost as shocking as Toy Story 3.  I really don't like his beard.  I love beards, but don't like his.

Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are on-stage together.  Beauty overload!  I hope you'll forgive me for including this shot from Australia instead of something from last night.

Original Score goes to The Social Network. I must say, Trent and Atticus are certainly cute.  Especially Trent. 

ScarJo and McConaughey.  That's a lotta hotness.

Sound Editing and Mixing, both to Inception. 

My friend Beth hates Marisa Tomei's gown.  In fact, Beth hates the dress, the hair, everything.  Beth is also the only one in the room not drinking, but I digress.  I like the neckline all right, but I have to agree with Beth about the rest.

The Goddess Cate Blanchett is giving the award for make up.  Her comment on the Wolfman clip:  "That's gross."  Is "that's gross" a make up insider term?  Wolfman wins.   

The Costume award goes to Colleen Atwood for Alice in Wonderland, making her a 3-time winner.   

President Obama likes As Time Goes By.  That seems random, kind of like a lot of things this evening.  

Kevin Spacey.  Over him.  

Randy Newman is performing a song that sounds like every song he's ever written.  Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so:

  

Mandy Moore has been resurrected and looks beautiful.  I wondered why Zachary Levi was at the Oscars. 

It's Jake!  And Amy Adams and her green tumor necklace.  Plus, Jake! 

Best looking male presenter:  Jake! 

Live Action Short:  God of Love.
Luke Matheny is stealing the show, even though he's sharing the stage with Jake!  "I should have gotten a haircut.  Adorable.  Love him.  Can he co-host next year?



Prepare yourselves, people.  It's OPRAH!!!  They are pulling out all the stops tonight. 

Best doc is not Banksy.  It's Inside Job.  Presented by OPRAH!!!

Here's Billy Crystal.  The audience seems to want him to take over, but he's just here to introduce a Bob Hope hologram.  Shouldn't there be a Johnny Carson hologram, too?  It's almost a tribute to former hosts, but it's not quite.  Like everything else tonight, it's almost but not quite.

Jude Law is still drop-dead gorgeous.  Robert Downey, Jr. is still annoying.  Their bit about Downey's past actually works, which makes it a stand-out tonight.

Inception wins Visual Effects and The Social Network wins Film Editing.  I feel like these awards were given out an hour ago.

JHud looks incredible.  I'm so glad the Best Song performances are back. 
Randy Newman won for the least distinguished song on the list.

Celine needs no introduction.  She does a nice job with the death reel.  Beth is horrified that they left off Corey Haim.  Why the diss, Academy?

Very nice tribute to Lena Horne by Halle Berry.

It's Hilary Swank in feathers.  Who needs more champagne? 

Kathryn Bigelow is a beautiful woman, but that red sweater dress does her no favors. 

Best Director:  Tom Hooper for The King's Speech. 

Annette Benning commands the stage.  She is stunning tonight.

Jeff Bridges should tone down the grizzled look. 

The shock of the night!  Natalie Portman wins Best Actress!  Almost as shocking as Christian Bale and Toy Story 3!  I kid.  It was deserved.

Sandra Bullock's little tribute to each Best Actor nominee was witty and fun.  Maybe she can co-host next year with Like Matheny and Grandma Franco. 

Colin Firth wins Best Actor for A Single Man.  "I've a feeling my career just peaked."  I love his wit.  I love him.  I love you Mr. Darcy!  

Anne Hathaway's Armani Prive liquid metallic gown is beyond.  I believe LC NY Bureau Chief Doug let her borrow it for the night.  It looks better on you, Doug!

Spielberg is presenting Best Picture to The King's Speech.  They kinda gave it away when the Best Picture clip reel featured Colin Firth's voice giving the actual king's speech over all the nominated films.  I'd be pissed if I was a producer for, say, Winter's Bone.   

The very handsome, beautifully groomed producer Iain Canning (top picture, in the middle), just thanked "my boyfriend, Ben."  Lovely.  Lucky Ben.  

Whew.  It was a marathon, but we did it!  It's ov...oh wait.  We have a chorus of kids from PS something or other singing Over the Rainbow.  They're a You Tube sensation!  See how hip the Oscars are?  

OK, now it's over.  Who wants more champagne?  

Quick Oscar Note

I have to dash off to work, but I wanted to give my brief take on the show.  I thought Anne Hathaway was great.  She's got a talent for broad humor and song-and-dance.  I love James Franco, but his appeal is more cerebral and subtle and not as suited to this sort of gig.  The show seemed disjointed and without a unifying theme.  It jumped from Gone With the Wind tribute to Bob Hope gimmick to the Kids from PS whatever.  When they cued up Tara's Theme and began to introduce a "two-time Oscar winner," I thought "Oh My God it's Olivia de Havilland!"   Instead, we got Tom Hanks.  Hanks is just fine, but why was he talking about GWTW?  That was the first of several moments that didn't feel thought through.  I loved that they brought back the original songs.  Now, I wish they'd bring back the parade of costume nominees.     

That's it for now, more later!

Oscar Red Carpet (almost) Live Blog!

As usual, I took notes with pen and paper since I don't (ahem) own an Ipad.  I looked for one in the LC gift bag, but alas, there was none. 

Here are my random thoughts on Oscar's red carpet:

Jennifer Lawrence was the first big celebrity to arrive and she looked spectacular in her red Calvin Klein gown.  Simple, young, sunny, classic California girl.  

Melissa Leo's lace and gold was bold if a bit fussy.  She dressed to win and she did.  The workmanship was stunning.  

Hailee Steinfeld looked like a beautiful princess in a one-of-a-kind Marquesa dress.

Who designed Mila Kunis' lavender and lace?  Fredericks of Hollywood?  Borderline vulgar. 

Michelle Williams' shimmery gown was very adult.  Quite a departure from her pixie look.  Her hair and makeup were flawless.

Amy Adams wore purple sequins.  Nice, but not a stand-out.  I don't get the green tumor necklace.

Jennifer Hudson was sexy and skinny in a red halter gown.  She has transformed herself.

Mark Ruffalo = Sex.  Sex with Sunshine, apparently.

Cate Blanchett is a goddess.  No one else could wear that dress. 

Scar Jo:  love the hair but I feel like I've seen that dress a hundred times.

Annette Benning:  classic and gorgeous.  Hollywood royalty.

Valentino himself!  He said Anne Hathaway was wearing "archival Valentino."  Whatever you call it, she looked amazing.

Sandra Bullock wore what my mother would call Go To Hell Red.  Love it.  Even the butt bow.  Obviously, Go To Hell Red was the color of the night.

Nicole Kidman wore a work of art.  Nicole Kidman is a work of art.  The rest of us mere mortals must bow to her.

Next up was Gwyneth Paltrow.  All kinds of wrong. 

Halle Berry looked like a dream.  She looked like a real movie star.

My best dressed?  Anne Hathaway, Anne Hathaway, Anne Hathaway, Anne Hathaway.  Just when you thought she couldn't look any more spectacular, she came out in another jaw-dropping gown.  The liquid metallic deep blue gown was incredible.  Then, the almost see-through black sheath she wore for the finale made our entire Oscar party scream! 

I'll have my full Oscar post tomorrow evening, including Anne Hathaway pics (as soon as I find some). 

Quote of the Day II

"I can see myself in it."

--Ryan Seacrest, on Melissa Leo's Oscar dress.  Don't let your slip show, Ryan. 

Quote of the Day (so far)

"'Super-annoying.  I mean, if she bought it at a store, that’s her right. There’s no way they gave it to her. I haven’t even checked because I can’t believe that they would do that. And also, Helena’s not sample-sized.' (Me-ow!)"

--Stylist Elizabeth Stewart, as quoted in today's New York Times (the "me-ow" was added by the article's author).  Ms. Stewart was referring to Helena Bonham Carter's Marc Jacobs dress that she wore to the SAG awards.  Stewart had previously dressed Freida Pinto in the same frock, resulting in a "Bitch Stole My Look" segment on Fashion Police.  Somehow, this makes me love Helena even more.

Stewart is styling it-girl Jennifer Lawrence for tonight's ceremony.  Look for a simple silhouette in red.   

It's Gay Super Bowl Sunday, so I assume there will be more quotable quotes before the day is out, hence this post's headline.

Shhh, You'll Wake James Franco

He's catching a cat nap before his Oscar hosting duties.

Quote of the Day

“I don’t agree with the concept of award ceremonies, but I’m prepared to make an exception for the ones I’m nominated for. The last time there was a naked man covered in gold paint in my house, it was me.”


--Banksy, in response to the Academy Award nomination for Exit Through the Gift Shop for Best Documentary Feature. 

Early Oscar Thoughts

I noted in the post below that there were few surprises in today's Oscar nominations, though LC NY Bureau Chief Doug cited Christopher Nolan's snub in the Best Director category for Inception.  It's rare that a Best Picture nominee wins without at least a Best Director nomination if not a win.  Yes, it happened with Driving Miss Daisy, but probably won't this year.  That means the real contenders for Best Picture are Black Swan, The Fighter, The King's Speech, The Social Network, and True Grit.  I believe it's between The King's Speech and The Social Network with Social Network more likely.  There's a bit of a backlash against Social Network by those who claim it's pure fiction so it doesn't have a lock.  This category could be interesting.  

Jarvier Bardim was an unexpected nominee for Best Actor, but I don't believe he'll win.  He does bring some much-needed diversity to the acting field, though.  Colin Firth should win.  If he falters, it's opens the field considerably.  James Franco is probably his toughest competition.

As much as I would love to see Annette Benning win her long-overdue Oscar as this year's Best Actress, I believe Natalie Portman's strong performance will pull her through.  I don't believe any of the other ladies have a real chance.  

I suppose we'll hear Christian Bale's name called for Best Supporting Actor and he'll bound up on stage with the happy/shaggy/nutty persona he's adopted for this year's awards season.  I suppose happy nutty Bale beats dour asshole Bale, but I find him annoying.  Mark Ruffalo is my personal favorite, but I think Bale has close to a lock. 

Melissa Leo seems comfortably ahead in the Supporting Actress race, and it's nice to see an actress of a certain age achieve stardom.  The fact that she and Amy Adams are both from the same film could work against her and perhaps throw it to Helena Bonham Carter for a lovely, subtle performance, but I doubt it. 

     

David Fincher is probably the lead contender for Best Director for The Social Network.  Best Picture and Best Director so often go together, so look for Tom Hopper of The King's Speech as his greatest competition. 

I realize that these thoughts are not exactly brilliant or ground-breaking, but it feels like the mystery and surprise have been leached out of the Oscars in recent years.  After a round of awards shows, the likely winners are obvious.  I'm always hopeful for a surprise, maybe a Ruffalo win for Supporting Actor, or Jacki Weaver for Supporting Actress.  Can you imagine if Michelle Williams' name was called for Best Actress or Toy Story 3 for Best Picture?  Jaws would drop to the floor.  Oh well, at least we have Helena Bonham Carter's outfit to look forward to.   

Oscar Noms!

And we're off!  Oscar season officially began this morning when Oscar-winner Mo'nique announced the nominations.  Their Royal Highness's have reason to celebrate as The King's Speech lead the nominations with 12, including one each for the King and Queen.  There were few surprises in the main categories and even those were mild, like Michelle Williams for Best Actress and Jarvier Bardem for Best Actor.  I was disappointed that Diane Warren's You Haven't Seen the Best of Me from Burlesque wasn't nominated in the Original Song category because I wanted to see Cher perform at the Oscars, but that's my only real quibble. 

Watch the nominations for yourself, then you can read the entire list after the video:

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”

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”

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”

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”

Animated Feature Film

“How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois

“The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet

“Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

Art Direction

“Alice in Wonderland”

Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”

Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

“Inception”

Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat

“The King's Speech”

Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr

“True Grit”

Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Cinematography

“Black Swan” Matthew Libatique

“Inception” Wally Pfister

“The King's Speech” Danny Cohen

“The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth

“True Grit” Roger Deakins

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

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

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

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

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

Foreign Language Film

“Biutiful” Mexico

“Dogtooth” Greece

“In a Better World” Denmark

“Incendies” Canada

“Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

Makeup
“Barney's Version” Adrien Morot

“The Way Back” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng

“The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

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

Music (Original Song)

“Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey

“I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater

“If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong

“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Best Picture

“Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers

“The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers

“Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers

“The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers

“The King's Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers

“127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers

“The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers

“Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer

“True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

“Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

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

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” Richard King

“Toy Story 3” Tom Myers and Michael Silvers

“Tron: Legacy” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague

“True Grit” Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey

“Unstoppable” Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing

“Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick

“The King's Speech” Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley

“Salt” Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin

“The Social Network” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten

“True Grit” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Visual Effects

“Alice in Wonderland” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi

“Hereafter” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell

“Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

“Iron Man 2” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

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

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