Oscars

[Oscar Nominee list] I love watching the Oscars. Seriously. The other awards shows tend to bore me, even if they are movie-related. This year's ceremony itself could have been more interesting, and maybe this is because the writer's strike cut deeply into the creative time needed, but I think it would be better to maybe hand out a couple fewer ones during the televised part, and let the artists speak a little longer. I know that 3/4 of them might drone on and on but then others provide some real memorable highlights (the ones from past events that they kept showing).

Not to discount the other creative achievements, but acting is such a fascinating talent to have. It's hard to imagine how these people (method actors) become possessed by those extraordinary characters, and are then able to store away that "person" inside in order to become "themselves" again. It's especially hard to imagine when the character is so deeply disturbed.

Daniel Day-Lewis... good grief, he is unbelievable!! They say that when he plays a role, he pretty much stays in character all the time until it's finished. He has played a couple of the scariest characters I've ever seen: Daniel Plainview (that he just won the Oscar for) and The Butcher in Gangs of New York. That character and the most recent one seemed to be somewhat similar to me, at least in temperament. This one was possibly even more psychopathic. An even more frightening character than that one was the one Javier Bardem played (Anton Chigurh) and won the Best Supporting Actor for it. So many great performances, and I've been meaning to mention this one:

Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose. I remember Edith Piaf being on the Ed Sullivan show, and I really couldn't have cared less about seeing her then. I was too young for her and didn't care for that style of music. But don't miss this performance for those reasons. It is worth seeing. Marion was amazing, and Edith Piaf was a fascinating character who lived during my lifetime but I knew nothing about.

Obligatory snark: Original songs... I loved the winner from the movie "Once", but those 3 songs from the movie Enchanted were, in my opinion, dreadful! Luckily they were also forgettable. I think I am probably out of sync with the general public here. So what's new?

Haven't seen all the nominees yet. The thing that makes me hesitate to see Juno is the fact that it's been hailed as the "feel good movie of the year". Something about that phrase makes me want to see just about anything else. Besides, I've already been exposed to a spoiler on the ending. grrrr. We will rent it.

And bravo to the films we've seen lately that do not have neatly packaged Hollywood endings, that choose instead to make you think and discuss. Now that No Country for Old Men has won Best Picture, I'm hoping this becomes a trend.