Winter Doldrums

There are 3 things that I haven't been able to get off my mind all day.  Neither of these three things are particularly interesting, however because it's the dog days of winter and not much else is happening, these are the three things I'm planning to write about this evening.

1. How exactly does a presenter that's paid to read a piece of paper announce the wrong name at the Academy Awards?  I mean, how does that happen?  With all the technology today, we haven't figured out a way around handing 2 giant movie stars the wrong envelope. I feel as this has never been an issue before, but for some reason in the last few years it just started happening.  

However, I must hand it to the poor La La Land people for handling all of the awkwardness with grace and class.  

2. The People vs. OJ Simpson is so good, that I'm literally angry at myself for not turning it on sooner.  I was 10 when the whole OJ thing happened, so I remember bits and pieces - how could I not?  It was on every station at every time of the day for months. But I definitely wasn't aware of details.  So not only is The People vs. OJ Simpson entertaining but it's also enlightening.  And the cast couldn't be any better.  Ryan Murphy is super skillful at placing the right people in the right roles.  You cannot take your eyes off of anyone. They're all so talented!  I'm only 4 episodes in and I'm already sad that it will end in 6 episodes.  I'm now trying to pace myself just to make it last.

3. I love living in the future.  Somehow we haven't mastered the art of handing people the correct envelopes, but I can click a few buttons and watch an amazing show on British television from the comfort of my American sofa.  I'm so happy Broadchurch is back on my television screen.  Talk about talented casts.  This is another show where you can't pull your eyes away for a second because of the uber-talented cast and the intriguing story.  This year's story line - revolving around the sexual assault of a woman in town - has been handled with so much respect and grace.  Everyone involved seems to have made the decision that awareness and treatment of this epidemic is extremely important which is nice to see.  Such great television, that I'm so happy I don't have to wait the 10 weeks for that I usually do.

Oscar Sunday

The Oscars are definitely not my favorite awards show, but it's one of those things you just have to watch. If for no other reason than to stay in the know for tomorrow when everyone will be talking about it.

After an hour in, I'd say that Jimmy Kimmel is doing a pretty good job.  I'm not his biggest fan, but he's pretty funny.  His shtick with Meryl Streep was sweet and even though she looked like she'd rather not be the center of attention, it was a nice way to honor her.  I'm also a big fan of the shower of candy via parachutes.  Too cute!  And what I'm loving is that the focus isn't solely on race this year - because it doesn't have to be.  There are so many people of color nominated this year, which is fabulous to see.  After last year's disappointing whitewashed ceremony, this year's ceremony is a sight to see!

I have no stock in who wins however, since I haven't seen a single movie nominated.  I've only heard of about 3 of the movies.  But based on what I've heard, Mahershala Ali definitely deserved his award and his speech was heartfelt, which always gets me.  However, since we've only had an hour of awards so far, that's the only big award I've seen so far, so I can't say yay or nay to any other award yet.

The biggest excitement was Lin Manuel Miranda performing which he did beautifully.  The young woman that sang his song was super talented and did a beautiful job with the song. And I have to give it to her, even after getting struck in the head with "waves" behind her, she kept singing so go her!

So that's my analysis so far!  Cutting edge material if I do say so myself : )

Oscar Night Thoughts...

~ NPH is letting me down.  While funny, he's not nearly as funny as I thought he would be.  That's just unfortunate!

~ I've only seen one of the movies nominated and it hasn't won a single award it's been nominated for so I'm not holding out much hope that Benedict will win this evening.

~ Apparently, The Grand Budapest Hotel, is loved by everyone seeing as it nabbed 2 of the first 3 awards.  It just looks odd to me.

~ Love JK Simmons and really wanted him to win.  So glad he did! But while his message to "call your mom" is very sweet, why is he using his Oscar speech to say it?

~ The joke NPH made about the Oscars being about "the best and whitest" was a little too on the nose, but was pretty perfect!

~ Where in the world did Jack Black come from and what in the world did he add to that opening number?

~ Not sure who the Foreign Language film winner was, but Yay for him for playing off the play off music.  Way to go dude!

~ Is there honestly a song called "Everything is Awesome" being performed at the Oscars by Andy Samberg? Love Legos, but what?!

~ And most importantly, why is this man already married?  Shouldn't he have been waiting to marry me?  I'm fairly certain he never fell madly in love with me, because he just hadn't met me yet... : )

May I Have the Envelope Please?

I haven't seen a single movie nominated for an Oscar this year except Frozen (which, let's be honest doesn't really count).  I do however want to see 2 of them (Philomena and Captain Phillips) which is a bigger number than usual, so I think that sort of counts.  But I've been looking forward to the show for weeks, and not just because Benedict Cumberbatch is presenting.  I've been looking forward to seeing Ellen host - she's pretty much the perfect choice.  Last year's host was vulgar and above all else, mean.  Aside from being one of the funniest comedians in the world right now, Ellen's kind and light and never goes for the jugular while still managing to be funny. 

We're about 30 minutes in now and she hasn't completely hit it out of the park yet, but she's been on and had some great one liners.  I'm hoping for some sort of musical number though.  What can I say?  I was always a huge Billy Crystal fan. 

Then of course there's the fashion.  After 2 hours of listening to the breakdown by Giuliana Rancic, a purple haired Kelly Osbourne (if she thinks purple hair is fashionable, why is she being allowed to judge others' fashion?) and king of all awards shows Ryan Seacrest, I have a few favorites.  I'm not sure they'll be on the top of the lists tomorrow, but these are the  the ones I'd kill to wear walking the red carpet.
 

After the host and the fashion, I suppose I should say something about the awards.  Like I said I've not seen any of them, so I can't really play favorites.  I'm not sure who should or shouldn't win, but I like to judge them on their acceptance speeches or their presentation duties.  So without further ado...

Jared Leto has given one of the most eloquent and intelligent speeches I've ever heard, and I'm fully behind him winning all the awards he has.  From the pictures I've seen, he seemingly completely transformed himself and threw himself into the part.  What's even better is that he seems like a genuinely nice guy.

Jim Carrey while not as funny as he thought he was, was a pretty good choice to intro the animated films.

I haven't a clue who this Pharrell Williams dude is but he looks a lot like Michael B Jordan. However, his song was pretty catchy, and I loved him heading into the audience and dancing with some leading ladies.

Yay Frozen!  I'm at a 100% view vs. win rate.  Go me!

It took until the Outstanding Cinematography for someone to mention George Clooney? That's blasphemous!

I'm pretty sure that Zac Efron meant inspiration instead of aspiration...

I'm noticing quite a bit of stumbling over words that are most likely clearly written on cue cards.  Shouldn't actors be better at this whole reading thing by now?

At some point in time, Jason Sudeikis moved from goofy SNL comic to all out stud.  How did that happen?

The Voorman Problem lost.  I haven't seen that one either, but I would have liked to see at least a little love for the Brits.

You look away for 10 seconds, and some random winner starts belting it out on stage.

I'm not sure but I think Kevin Spacey, just insulted DC.  What the heck, dude?!

I think there's a mandate that requires Tyler Perry to be at every single awards show, even if he has nothing to do with anything nominated.

Why does Brad Pitt think a greasy mo-hawkish thing is stylish?

Love U2!  I can't believe Idris Elba or Mandela the film wasn't nominated.  What a snub!

I'm thinking this right here is the best part of the whole show

After an hour and a half of non-actory little categories (no offense!), I'd like to know if the supporting actor category is our prize before having to sit through 2 more hours without any big categories...

Go Lupita!  Though I think she may have been perplexed by Liza Minnelli hugging her.

Who wants pizza?  I love it!

That was a great tribute to Harold Ramis from Bill Murray.  

All the awards fro Gravity, would be a lot more interesting if George Clooney had shown up.

Wow, Whoopi, that's a lotta look...

Glinda Ellen!

And the only reason I'm still up - Benedict Cumberbatch presenting!

This hero showcase is geek-tastic.

I never realized just how many other awards there are besides the ones everyone talks about around the water cooler on Monday morning.  I think I've reached my breaking point on the boredom scale, so I'm off to bed.  This is exactly what DVR's are made for : )

     

Sunday Loves

1. Kristin Chenoweth's Oscar Dress: My absolute favorite of the evening, Gorgeous!

2. George Clooney at the Oscars: Even with his Paul Bunyan-esque beard, he's the handsomest man in the room.  Though I'm slightly biased, he can do no wrong in my book : )

3. My new tea shelf in the kitchen.

4. Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes courtesy of Chef Dad.

5. Lazy Sundays.