Dinner with Oscar

And now, the dishy dishes from my Oscar Party, as photographed by my beautiful girlfriend:


The Black and White Cookie Side
Two different colors, one great taste! Which is more than I can say for the film!


An Eclair
My mother wasn't keen on my ideas for An Education: bananas and/or cherries. So, when we learned that one of the guests was bringing this bunch of eclairs -- which, by the way, are absolutely my favorite edible thing on all the Earth -- I knew this wonderful British film could still have a representation! Because they go to Paris!


Fantastic Mr. Punch
My girlfriend offered this, a recipe from her cousin. It's champagne and some natural flavors: raspberries, oranges, blueberries, etc. This was the real big hit of the evening, and it was gone before Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin finished their opening dialogue.


The Hummus Locker
I can't explain it, really.


Inglorious Saurkraut [sic, but maybe on purpose?]
Sauerkraut balls, a recipe from Great-Aunt Dusty. Balls of sauerkraut which are then fried into deliciousness. They were easily the most popular food at the party.


Julie & Julia Simply Love This Pate
Surely this is self-evident. Look how delighted Meryl and Amy look.


Precious Chicken Fingers
I know what it sounds like. But she eats fried chicken, and chicken fingers were as close as we could get without completely destroying the family's diet. I also requested pig's feet, but most of the party vetoed this.


A Serious Latka [sic]
Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay
Third or fourth batch? Mom makes amazing "potato pancakes". Wish she loved the movie as much as I did.


Up with Jellybeans
So, this recipe, jellybeans on toothpicks, came from a woman's magazine my mother was reading about Oscar treats. This led to my mother wanting to try it, which led to us hosting the Oscar party. So Mom and I came up with some appetizers, Dad made the posters, and my sister puts them on standees.


Up in the Air to Get Peanuts
Like its namesake, this Oscar treat was not popular, but the party wouldn't have been complete without it.

Alas, we had no ideas when it came to Avatar, for after accidentally suggesting Hypnotiq, Mother then quickly nixed the idea. As for District 9, we just weren't going to commit to the expense of crawfish.

Any Oscar appetizers of your own you'd like to share?

The 2010 Oscar Nominees Are....

8:38 AM is such a specific time to do this. I've been up since 8:00AM, after finally trying to get some sleep at 6:30. I'll probably go straight to bed after this, but come on! It's like Christmas morning, Happy Birthday and Easter baskets rolled into one! Hell, last year I was almost late to class on account of this, but it was awesome when my roommate and I came in with the news.

Hey, Ben Lyons! I wanted to get to know someone that's not you! He just said Meryl Streep will get nominated for The Blind Side, alongside Sandra Bullock for....then he look shame-faced, but rather than correct himself, they plow right on with the talk, talk, talk. Hey, Ben Lyons! I want to take a 2x4 to your head!

Ah, here we go! New Presidente Tom Sherak and the beautiful Hollmann Award Nominated Actress Anne Hathaway.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo'Nique, Precious

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

ACTRESS
Sanrda Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

ACTOR
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Camon & Moverman, The Messenger
The Coen Bros, A Serious Man
Docter, Peterson & McCarthy, Up

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Blomkamp & Tatchell, District 9
Hornby, An Education
Armstrong, Blackwell, Ianucci & Roche, IN THE LOOP
Fletcher, Precious
Reitman & Turner, Up in the Air

FOREIGN
Ajami
El Secreto de sus ojos
The Milk of Siorrow
Un Prophete
White Ribbon

ANIMATED
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Princess & the FRog
Secret of Kell
Up

BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Holy fuck, Maggie Gyllenhaal is an Oscar nominee! I didn't think that Cruz nom was really gonna happen. District 9 nominated for Picture, which is cool; The Blind Side also, which is....huhn? But Invictus is left out, thank the Lord. Up and A Serious Man made it, too. In the Loop and The Messenger getting screenplay noms is one of the best things to happen this year! I like that lineup for Adapted Screenplay! Secret of the Kells, which barely got a release and which no one has heard of, gets that Animated Feature spot over Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

The other nominees, via the Oscar official site:

ART DIRECTION
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker
Christian Berger, The White Ribbon
Bruno Delbonnel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Mauro Fiore, Avatar
Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds

COSTUME
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

DOC FEATURE
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

DOC SHORT
China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of the Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin

EDITING
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

MAKEUP
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

SCORE
Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders, The Hurt Locker
Alexandre Desplat, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Michael Giacchino, Up
James Horner, Avatar
Hans Zimmer, Sherlock Holmes

SONG
"Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog
"Down in New Orleans" from The Princess and the Frog
"Loin de Paname" from Paris 36 (!!!)
"Take It All" from Nine (!!!!)
"The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart

ANIMATED SHORT
French Roast
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death

LIVE ACTION SHORT
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants

SOUND EDITING
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up

SOUND MIXING
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

VFX
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek


So little love for Star Trek, actually. Just four tech noms. Strange. Paris 36 and "Take It All" came from nowhere. And I am VERY upset with the full snub at (500) Days of Summer. Not even original screenplay? Disappointing.

The Blind Side

The Blind Side is a bizarre experience. On the one hand, I came away from the movie thinking well of it, reflecting on Bullock's performance with favor. On the other hand, I never found myself completely enthralled during the film itself. Is it that I have grown tired of the sports genre? Is it that, because the subject of the film is playing football currently, there was little suspense to be had? What was in the film that left me wanting?

And then I realized. I mean, I realized it during the film, but I confessed it to myself after the fact: these actors are terribly limited. Not Sandra Bullock, mind. No, she was quite wonderful in the movie, and I can easily understand her Globe and SAG nominations. Here is a no-nonsense Southern gal actually following her Christian values. She reminds me of my aunt, my other aunt and my mother. Certainly, Bullock's performance is no problem.

The supporting cast is quite good, too. Indeed, even Tim McGraw does well, and he's not even an actor. Ray McKinnon and Kathy Bates do what they need to, and are downright charming as they do so. Adriane Lenox's cameo as Michael Oher's biological mother breaks the heart. It is the one scene in the film that I got completely involved in emotionally. She is concerned for the son she hasn't seen, but knows that his life is better without her. Damn fine acting.

Methinks it is the lead. It must certainly have been difficult for writer-director John Lee Hancock and casting director Ronna Kress to find an actor that not only fits the physical requirements, but can also do a passable job of playing the role. Quinton Aaron is not the worst actor I've ever seen, but he's not very good, either. He has all the spirited recitation of a child reading aloud. When one compares his performance to that of another who played a quiet ghetto teen working their way up: Gabourey Sidibe in Precious. And while many have complained that she does not have much to do in the role (which is bull, she is amazing), just one look at Aaron's performance makes her look like Meryl Streep. Not terrible, just terribly dull.

And it's a shame, because so much of the movie works. Hancock has an assured touch and his screenplay is a simple thing that works despite the many instances of Family Banter. You know: the dialogue that's supposed to convince us these actors are a real family. It works some of the time; other times it feels written. Overall, though, the writing is fine. Besides the performances of Aaron and Jae Head, there is little to complain of. Everything is executed just right.

Maybe that's it. It's all too damn pat, like a carefully put-together homemaker catalog. It's a perfectly harmless little film, and that's fine. Not every movie has to be a testament of everything that is art and cinema, like Public Enemies. Not every family film has to have an edge to it like Fantastic Mr. Fox or Where the Wild Things Are. But a movie does have to transport you, to take you into its world and make you live alongside its players. The Blind Side just misses this.

But why not see it? I can't imagine anyone regretting it. I mean, you could do better -- may I recommend Up in the Air? -- but you could do much, much worse.