The Queen

The Queen finally came to town this weekend, so I managed to find some time in my uber-busy schedule to sneak in a Sunday matinee.

What an incredible film! I was predictably blown away by Helen Mirren's performance. She is just such a brilliant actress, never over the top, never hammy. She portrayed the Queen with such dignity and intelligence and just the slightest smack of vulnerability.

Michael Sheen was robbed! His Tony Blair was the perfect foil to Mirren's Queen. I loved the contrast between their lives -- the very proper British order of the Queen's Balmoral estate versus the "we have kids" chaos of 10 Downing Street with the toys on the floor and the kids' finger paintings on the wall. The conflict between his admiration for the Queen and his desire for modernization was so well played. He should have been an Oscar nominee. He provides the real heart of that film and being able to hold your own against Helen Mirren is no small feat.

Do I think I just saw the Best Picture of 2006? No. Of course, MY choice for the Best Picture isn't even nominated (United 93). I really don't see The Queen taking home Best Picture February 25, though. Giving Helen Mirren her long overdue Oscar and a likely screenplay nomination for Peter Morgan will be the Academy's way of recognizing a really fine, understated film.

The nominees are . . . .

Best Picture
The Departed
Babel
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
Comments: I went 3/5 here. I knew United 93 was a long shot, but I still really think it was the best picture I saw last year (as much as I did love Little Miss Sunshine and the snubbed Dreamgirls). In retrospect, this list seems obvious. The Academy loves Clint Eastwood, and Letters from Iwo Jima (which I've note seen) is a remarkable achievement from all accounts. (The New York Times called it close to perfect) As for Dreamgirls, it's a musical with a weak script dominated by performances. I've said it before: what made Dreamgirls one of my favorite films of 2006 was not the story or the music even (outside of "And I Am Telling You"). It was Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy. Their performances were breathtaking. Their performances overcame some definite second act problems (at least on Broadway you got an intermission after "And I Am Telling You") and some pretty horrid performances from Jamie Foxx and Beyonce Knowles (who only really shined during "Listen"). In the end, I'm actually kind of impressed that the Academy was able to separate the performances from the film and recognize the performances and the other elements of the show that actually made the film work as well as it did.

Best Actor
Forrest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Comments: I sort of went 100% on this. I thought Leo would get the nomination for The Departed rather than Blood Diamond, but I DID pick him as a nominee, so I could that as getting it right. Semantics, I know.

Best Actress
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children
Comments: I went 100% here. What can I say? I'm good.

Best Supporting Actor
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed
Comments: I went 3/5 here. I figured Nicholson would be the nominee from The Departed here. I mean, he's JACK NICHOLSON! And it was a pretty formidable performance. But Wahlberg was fabulous and his nomination is definitely deserved. And how awesome to see some love heading Jackie Earle Haley's way. Good ol' Kelly Lee finally made good! Who cares if he threw off my predictions? (And can I just say I'm secretly kind of happy to see Brad Pitt snubbed here? I am so sick of Brad Pitt!)

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel
Comments: Emily Blunt was my wildcard in this category, and the love didn't come her way. But how exciting to see Abigail Breslin on this list. Might she be the youngest nominee? I'll have to check to see how she stacks up against Tatum O'Neal, Anna Paquin, Haley Joel Osment, and Justin Henry.

Best Director
Martin Scorcese, The Departed
Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Paul Greengrass, United 93
Alexandre Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel
Comments: Another 100% for me! Woo hoo.

Best Original Screenplay
Babel
Little Miss Sunshine
Letters from Iwo Jima
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen

Best Adapted Screenplay
Notes on a Scandal
The Departed
Borat
Little Children
Children of Men
Comments: Borat? Really? How can a movie that is supposed to be largely improvised be up for a screenplay nomination when there's Thank You for Smoking out there? Or The Devil Wears Prada? I LOVED Borat, but there's something just a little fishy to me about it being up for a screenplay nomination. As for the original nominees, I missed Iwo Jima in the hopes that maybe Volver would get it, loving the beauty of 2 foreign language films being up for best screenplay. I got my wish. I just picked the wrong foreign language film!

Overall, I really don't have a ton of complaints. I ended up averaging about 82% overall. I'm pretty happy, though, with the list of nominees. The ones I was really hoping to see on the list are all there with the exception of United 93 for best pic. I sort of love the irony of Dreamgirls leading nominations but not having any for Best Pic or Best Director. I'm sure Matthew Knowles will find a way to claim it's racist, anti-Beyonce propaganda winning the day.

American Idol Night 2

So I finally got around to watching the Seattle auditions. They were pretty dreadful although I really don't think any of them was anywhere near the level of, say, a William Hung or that Keith guy from season 2 (the "Like a Virgin" guy . . . anyone else remember him?) Okay, that "bush baby" guy was pretty icky and that weird computer guy who couldn't find his stuff . . . wow!
Several of the people, though, I thought, "You know, I can see how these people think they're good singers." They weren't spectacularly BAD, just not good enough to be pop stars.

Favorite moments:

1. The "Bush Baby" line from Simon. We seriously rewound that and watched it about ten times. It was just the way he said it -- "bush baby." Priceless! The only thing . . . Bush Baby and his friend (who -- okay, I have to ask -- was he mentally challenged?) -- how many times is Idol going to ride that "they became the best of friends waiting on line to audition" pony? It feels like they've done it at least two or three times already. I am willing to bet those two end up with primo seats at the finale in May.

2. I loved the two Indian kids -- the brother and sister. They were adorable. Imagine the great drama of a final two that pits adorable teen dream brother versus cute, sassy sister. OH THE DRAMA! It'll never happen, but the ratings would be intense!

Overall, though, I kinda feel like Idol is off this season. The "good" ones haven't been THAT good and the "bad" ones haven't been that bad. Maybe America has run out of undiscovered talent and delusional misfits.

Colombian Idol?

A quick caveat: I am a day behind in watching American Idol. I DVR it, and I'm in tech rehearsal for the play I'm in (which opens TOMORROW NIGHT), so I'm pretty busy and having a hard time coming up with the roughly hour and a half block of time to watch Idol. I did see Tuesday's premiere, though.

Some thoughts:

1. Somehow, the people just didn't seem as freakishly bad in Minneapolis.
2. How many times did Simon say "Well, the people will like you?" Since when is that more important than talent? The people liked William Hung, too, but I didn't see him in Hollywood. The people also liked (a lot more than they deserved) John Stephens, Jasmine Trias, Nikki McKibben, Ace Young, Kellie Pickler, etc.
3. The locked left door to leave the audition room never stopped being funny. NEVER!
4. Would it have killed them to take that Cowardly Lion chick's poster? What a diss!
4. The Colombian Shakira wannabe (Perla?) prompted the following conversation last night between myself and my sister/roommate Julie:
MEL: Wow. A Latin American Idol. That would shake things up. Well, South American Idol. She's Colombian. It's like an Immigrant Idol. How appropriate.
JULIE: Great. Now we're outsourcing our American Idols! What's next?

Oscar Predictions

Okay, now that the Golden Globes are over, it's time to go out on a limb and predict who will and will not hear their names read next Tuesday. Before I start, I want to note that this year seems like it's shaping up to be the most predictable year as far as what will be nominated, making this task a little easier. Of course, there are always surprises, and hopefully, this year won't be any different. A lot of the winners have already been practically anointed via the 999 million critics awards that have already been given out, but again . . . maybe there will be surprises there, too! (Exhibit A: Crash. By this time last year, Brokeback Mountain was unbeatable. UNBEATABLE! And yet . . . Crash)

So . . . here goes . . .

BEST PICTURE
Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
United 93
Comments: The first three are probably givens. If they're NOT nominated, it will be a true stunner. Little Miss Sunshine seems destined to capture that "quirky indy" spot the Academy likes to have (plus, it's a darn fine film). United 93 is my "risky" prediction. The Queen or Letters from Iwo Jima may have a better shot, but I would love to see a film like United 93 get some recognition. I'm not beating the 9/11 horse here; I'm calling for recognition of a film that broke a lot of rules in going star-less, glitter-less. It's a stunning film and deserves recognition.

BEST ACTOR
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Comments: No, Leo won't snag 2 nominations in the same category. No, Sasha Baron Cohen will not be nominated, leading people to hope for another "anus bubble" -laden speech. Forest Whitaker has pretty much already engraved his name on this bad boy; the rest are just fillers anyway.

BEST ACTRESS
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Comments: The thing that kind of cracks me up about how the media is making such a big deal about how this year, the Best Actress race is the one with all the heat, is the fact that it's the same 5 names that keep cropping up, with the same winner being predicted just about every time. (Has Helen Mirren lost any of the pre-Oscar awards yet?) Granted, there are several other performances sitting out there worthy of this list (Maggie Gyllenhaal could be the spoiler here, but the question is who would she bump? Who COULD she bump?) but these five are the clear front runners. In any other year, any single one of them would be the favorite to win -- if it weren't for those pesky other 4, especially that Helen Mirren.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Brad Pitt, Babel
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamonds
Jack Nicholson, The Departed
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Comments: Neither Hounsou or Arkin snagged Globe nominations. Those are strikes against them here. Either one of them could easily be replaced by Ben Affleck's turn in Hollywoodland. The pre-Oscar heat on Affleck, though, seems to have cooled considerably while the buzz on Little Miss Sunshine at least snagging some nominations has become almost deafening despite its shutout Monday night at the Globes. Personally, I would almost prefer to see Steve Carrell get the supporting actor nod here. His work in Little Miss Sunshine was a notice to us all that he's more than just a reliable nutjob. He has depth. Arkin, however, is more likely to be the one voters remember. Plus, Oscar loves to reward these great actors who've been around for decades and pop up to remind us why they're such legends. Arkin's never won, hasn't even been nominated since 1969. He deserves some love as does Hounsou.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel
Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada
Comments: Again, Jennifer Hudson already has the space cleared off on her mantel; the rest are just fillers. Cate Blanchett could sneeze on screen and earn a nomination (and the fact that she has THREE movies out there to help her garner a nod doesn't hurt things). Abigail Breslin was the heart and soul of Little Miss Sunshine. Emily Blunt is the wildcard here, perhaps, but the fact that she's able to generate any amount of buzz in a film so dominated by Meryl Streep's brilliance has to be worth something. Anything.

BEST DIRECTOR
Martin Scorcese, The Departed
Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
Paul Greengrass, United 93
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Babel
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Comments: Eastwood and Frears become the best directors whose movies didn't make the cut. So why are Bill Condon and Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris the ones shut out, the directors who directed the best movies yet aren't best directors themselves? First off, I can't imagine Oscar rewarding a team effort -- it seems to almost go against the whole idea of best director. That eliminates Dayton and Faris. As for Condon, well, who knows? Dreamgirls is a fine film, but the strength lies in the performances of Hudson and Murphy more than the story or music or even the direction itself. And if Baz Luhrman can't get nominated for Moulin Rouge (a film so clearly the work of a great, visionary director), it's hard to make a case for the less artistic work of Condon. If United 93 does get shut out of the Best Picture race, Greengrass gets to play spoiler. I can see the movie not getting a nomination; I have a hard time picturing Greengrass getting snubbed as well.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen
Babel
Little Miss Sunshine
Volver
Comments: United 93's realistic style will keep it out of the runnint here, allowing Volver and Pan's Labyrinth to sneak in AND give the Academy the chance to recognize some great foreign films, especially Pan's Labyrinth which could be a Best Picture contender in a less crowded year. The rest of all Best Picture contenders and it's hard to imagine them being shut out here.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Little Children
The Devil Wears Prada
Notes on a Scandal
The Departed
Thank You For Smoking
Comments: Here's a chance for some "secondary" fine films of 2006 to get some love. In other years, Little Children or Notes on a Scandal would be shoo-in nominees for Best Picture. This year, not so much. Prada and Thank You for Smoking took good books and turned them into better movies. That will be recognized here.

The Globes

So the Golden Globes were Monday night. I watched them on fast forward thanks to my best friend DVR. Nothing like breezing through 3 hours of awards in just about an hour! Nothing like being able to skip right over Warren Beatty's apparently mindnumbingly long speech. (And seriously . . . why was Tom Hanks presenting that award? Why not Hoffman? Or Nicholson? Or let's make things even more squirmy and get Julie Christie or Diane Keaton out there to really comment on Beatty's "talents"?) Overall, the Globes were pretty dull -- no real surprises other than Beyonce not winning Original Song. (Seriously -- she lost to a penguin song. Granted, it's a penguin song by Prince, but it's still a penguin song!)

Thoughts on the winners:
Dreamgirls/Jennifer Hudson/Eddie Murphy: First off, could Jennifer Hudson have been any cuter? Does she have a career beyond this movie? Who knows? The fact remains, though, that when she is on screen in Dreamgirls, the movie belongs to her. When she's not, the movie suffers unless Eddie Murphy is there in her place. This film would be nothing without those two. Beyonce is vapid, Jamie Foxx is bland, and the rest of the cast is little more than background. The stories of Effie and Jimmy, though, are riveting, compelling storytelling, and Hudson and Murphy deserve all the praise that's being heaped on them for their work. I do have to say, though, I've been a little disappointed that more attention hasn't been paid to the typically fine work turned in by Danny Glover in the film, but it's hard to get attention not singing in a musical.

Streep vs. Mirren: The two have set themselves up as the ones to beat for the Oscar. As delicious as Meryl is in Prada, this is Mirren's year. This woman needs an Oscar now! Hillary Swank has two of those bad boys and Helen Mirren has none? Where's the justice in that? Meryl, though, gets best speech of the night. Yes, Hugh Laurie was funny, but Meryl was Meryl -- gracious, funny, and just a little bit smarter than everyone else in the room. Mirren gets Best Dress, though. Wow. Jane Tennison has the cleavage of a 30 year old!

Whitaker vs. Borat: My prediction is that this is Sasha Baron Cohen's last big moment in the sun for Borat. I have a hard time imagining that the Academy will nominate him. I could be wrong (it's certainly happened before), but even with a nomination, a win is highly unlikely. Is there anyone out there, then, who can stop Forrest Whitaker? I kinda doubt it. Maybe the Academy will finally reward Peter O'Toole for a lifetime of incredible work, amends for all the times they've passed him over. But has anyone seen Venus? Of course, has anyone seen The Last King of Scotland? No, but the buzz is on Whitaker's side. There's always Leonardo DiCaprio, and maybe the Academy will decide his time has finally come. Let's reward Leo rather than a guy who has finally broken out of the character actor world to dominate the screen in a movie no one saw. (If an actor dominates the screen in an empty theatre, does he make a sound?) Leo is probably Whitaker's big competition, but he may be hindered more than helped by the fact that he turned in two solid performances this year -- one in a fabulous film (a film dominated, though, by solid performances) and one in an okay film that is elevated by 2 solid performances -- one from Leo and one from Djimon Hounsou. My money's still on Whitaker to be cradling the bald guy in February.

Dreamgirls vs. Babel vs. The Departed: The fact that Babel only won best picture may be telling. Can you really be the best picture without also having the best director or best screenplay? It will probably be nominated, but a win? It would be a shocker, especially if the Academy gives Scorcese his looooooooooooooooooooong overdue Best Director award and Babel can't score a Screenplay win. Personally, I've grown weary of those loosely connected, sprawling dramas. Please don't let another one win this year, especially when there are so many more deserving films like Dreamgirls and The Departed and United 93 and Little Miss Sunshine. As a theatre lover, I'm pulling for Dreamgirls even though I know deep down that the other 3 I just mentioned are truly better films. But when was the last time that the Best Picture was really and truly the BEST PICTURE of the year? Can you honestly say that Crash was the best film of 2005? Better than Capote or Good Night and Good Luck or even Brokeback Mountain? (And I was probably the only person who saw Brokeback that didn't love it, but I still think it was a better film than Crash) It will surely come down to a battle between these 3, I think, and the fact that none of the 3 has tremendous buzz at this point, that none of them has already been anointed as the obvious winner, is pretty telling and just might make for an interesting night come Oscar Night.

Greetings

You know, I'm an opinionated person. I like to share my thoughts on things. So why has it taken me so long to jump on the blog train? Who knows? But the point is -- it's time. This is a chance for me to comment on things, mostly pop culture in nature. So here goes . . . !