The Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

I always like the different finds these awards showcase, so I want to share this, as part of the award season blog extravaganza! Again, I'll be posting winners as they're announced, though this one will be even harder to find!

Please check out www.spiritawards.com for full details! The Spirit Awards will air March 1 on IFC, at 10pm.

BEST FEATURE
12 Years a Slave
All Is Lost
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska

BEST DIRECTOR
Shane Carruth - Upstream Color
J.C. Chandor - All Is Lost
Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave
Jeff Nichols - Mud
Alexander Payne - Nebraska

BEST SCREENPLAY
Woody Allen - Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater - Before Midnight
Nicole Holofcener - Enough Said
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - The Spectacular Now
John Ridley - 12 Years a Slave

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Blue Caprice
Concussion
Fruitvale Station
Una Noche
Wadjda

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Lake Bell - In a World...
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Don Jon
Bob Nelson - Nebraska
Jill Soloway - Afternoon Delight
Michael Starrbury - The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Sean Bobbitt - 12 Years a Slave
Benoit Debie - Spring Breakers
Bruno Delbonnel - Inside Llewyn Davis
Frank G. DeMarco & Peter Zuccarini  - All Is Lost
Matthias Grunsky - Computer Chess

BEST EDITING
Shane Carruth & David Lowery - Upstream Color
Jem Cohen & Mark Vives - Museum Hours
Jennifer Lame - Frances Ha
Cindy Lee - Una Noche
Nat Sanders - Short Term 12

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy - Before Midnight
Gaby Hoffmann - Crystal Fairy
Brie Larson - Short Term 12
Shailene Woodley - The Spectacular Now

BEST MALE LEAD
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Oscar Isaac - Inside Llewyn Davis
Michael B. Jordan - Fruitvale Station
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford - All Is Lost

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Melonie Diaz - Fruitvale Station
Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Yolonda Ross - Go for Sisters
June Squibb - Nebraska

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
Will Forte - Nebraska
James Gandolfini - Enough Said
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Keith Stanfield - Short Term 12

BEST DOCUMENTARY
20 Feet From Stardom
After Tiller
Gideon's Army
The Act of Killing
The Square

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
A Touch of Sin (China)
Blue Is the Warmest Color (France)
Gloria (Chile)
The Great Beauty (Italy)
The Hunt (Denmark)

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Mud (Director, casting director, cast) - WINNER

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Given to the writer, director and producers of a feature made for under $500,000.
Computer Chess
Crystal Fairy
Museum Hours
Pit Stop
This Is Martin Bonner

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Recognises a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
Shaka King - Newlyweeds
Aaron Douglas Johnston - My Sister's Quinceanera
Madeline Olnek - The Foxy Merkins

STELLA ARTOIS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Presented to an emerging director on non-union features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Stella Artois.
Kalyanee Mam - A River Changes Course
Jason Osder - Let the Fire Burn
Stephanie Spray & Pacho Velez - Manakamana

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
The Piaget Producers Award honours emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.
Toby Halbrooks & James M. Johnston
Jacob Jaffke
Andrea Roa
Frederick Thornton

I may actually be able to watch the Spirit Awards - I'm looking forward to it. I wish I could watch the films on this list, but I feel they might be significantly harder to find than any of the other lists. Are you going to be watching any?

The Golden Globes Nominations

So, the Golden Globe nominations were announced, and I'm going to keep my tradition of tracking the award season on my blog! Here we go, for the 2014 Golden Globes. The 71st Annual Globes will be airing on January 12, 2014 - hosted once again by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Check out www.goldenglobes.com for full details.

BEST ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Matt Damon - Behind the Candelabra
Chiewetel Ejiofor - Dancing on the Edge
Idris Elba - Luther
Al Pacino - Phil Spector
Michael Douglas - Behind the Candelabra

BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
Chiewetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips
Robert Redford - All Is Lost
Idris Elba - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
Christian Bale - American Hustle
Oscar Isaac - Inside Llewyn Davis
Joaquin Phoenix - Her

BEST ACTOR IN A TV SERIES, COMEDY
Jason Bateman - Arrested Development
Don Cheadle - House of Lies
Michael J. Fox - The Michael J. Fox Show
Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory
Andy Samberg - Brooklyn Nine-Nine

BEST ACTOR IN A TV SERIES, DRAMA
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad
Michael Sheen - Masters of Sex
Kevin Spacey - House of Cards
James Spader - The Blacklist
Liev Schreiber - Ray Donovan

BEST ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Helena Bonham Carter - Burton and Taylor
Rebecca Ferguson - The White Queen
Jessica Lange - American Horror Story: Coven
Helen Mirren - Phil Spector
Elisabeth Moss - Top of the Lake

BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks
Judi Dench - Philomena
Kate Winslet - Labor Day

BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Meryl Streep - August: Osage County
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Enough Said
Amy Adams - American Hustle
Julie Delpy - Before Midnight
Greta Gerwig - Frances Ha

BEST ACTRESS IN A TV SERIES, COMEDY
Zooey Deschanel - New Girl
Lena Dunham - Girls
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Veep
Amy Poehler - Parks and Recreation
Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie

BEST ACTRESS IN A TV SERIES, DRAMA
Julianna Margulies - The Good Wife
Kerry Washington - Scandal
Tatiana Maslany - Orphan Black
Robin Wright - House of Cards
Taylor Schilling - Orange Is the New Black

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Frozen
The Croods
Despicable Me 2

BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE
Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity
Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave
David O. Russell - American Hustle
Paul Greengrass - Captain Phillips
Alexander Payne - Nebraska

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Blue Is the Warmest Color (France)
The Past (France)
The Hunt (Denmark)
The Wind Rises (Japan)
The Great Beauty (Italy)

BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
12 Years a Slave
Gravity
Captain Phillips
Rush
Philomena

BEST MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Nebraska
American Hustle
The Wolf of Wall Street
Inside Llewyn Davis
Her

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE
Steven Price - Gravity
John Williams - The Book Thief
Hans Zimmer - 12 Years a Slave
Alex Ebert - All Is Lost
Alex Heffes - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MOTION PICTURE
Atlas - Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion)
Let It Go - Frozen (Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez)
Ordinary Love - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., Brian Burton)
Please Mr Kennedy - Inside Llewyn Davis (T-Bone Burnett, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Justin Timberlake, George Cromaty, Ed Rush)
Sweeter Than Fiction - One Chance (Jack Antonoff, Taylor Swift)

BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE
John Ridley - 12 Years a Slave
Bob Nelson - Nebraska
Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell - American Hustle
Jeff Pope - Philomena
Spike Jonze - Her

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Daniel Bruhl - Rush
Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Rob Lowe - Behind the Candelabra
Josh Charles - The Good Wife
Aaron Paul - Breaking Bad
Corey Stoll - House of Cards
Jon Voight - Ray Donovan

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
June Squibb - Nebraska
Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Hayden Panetierre - Nashville
Jacqueline Bisset - Dancing on the Edge
Janet McTeer - The White Queen
Monica Potter - Parenthood
Sofia Vergara - Modern Family

BEST TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES
American Horror Story: Coven
Behind the Candelabra
Dancing on the Edge
Top of the Lake
The White Queen

BEST TV SERIES, COMEDY
The Big Bang Theory
Modern Family
Girls
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Parks and Recreation

BEST TV SERIES, DRAMA
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
House of Cards
Masters of Sex
The Good Wife

Whew! There's quite a different crop here than in previous years. I'm excited to see these awards! I'm also determined to actually see all the nominees - excluding the TV series, because there's no way I could catch up on all of those in time.

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Idris Elba have cleaned up here - both are nominated in TWO categories. That's the first time I've ever seen this! It should be a banner year. Also, why was I not INFORMED that Helena Bonham Carter played Elizabeth Taylor in a movie?! That is now an absolute must see for me!

I still have a problem with the fact that the Globes categorize musicals and comedies in the same category - as we saw with Les Mis last year, it is not a comedy just because it's a musical, and it shouldn't be going up against comedies. Musicals either need their own category, or they need to be included where appropriate. Unfortunately, that's probably not going to change any time soon. So, we'll just have to see how everything goes.

As always, I'm a fan of Jennifer Lawrence, and I am rooting for Coop to win something this year after being snubbed for Silver Linings last year. I cannot wait to see American Hustle; it looks great and it's David O. Russell, who usually hits it out of the park for me.

Keep checking back for more blog posts! I'll be covering as many award shows as possible, and hopefully culminating with the Academy Awards in February. (Seriously. I book off work so I can watch it and I run a live blog during the broadcast!)

My Blog Will Be Updated More - SAG Award Nominations

It's award season - and that means my blog becomes active again! I swear I will be publishing more posts over the course of 2014, with actual content. But in the meantime, here we go into award season, and that means it'll all culminate with my liveblog of the Academy Awards in February.

Here we go with the Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations! The 20th Annual SAG Awards will be airing January 18. I'm hoping to try to watch them and do a live blog like I do for the Academy Awards, but that will depend on me finding the channel they're on! Check out www.sagawards.org for full information.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
12 Years a Slave 
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Dallas Buyers Club
Lee Daniels' The Butler

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Chiwetel Ejiofor, as Solomon Northup - 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks, as Capt. Richard Phillips - Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey, as Ron Woodrof - Dallas Buyers Club
Forest Whitaker, as Cecil Gaines - Lee Daniels' The Butler
Bruce Dern, as Woody Grant - Nebraska

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Meryl Streep, as Violet Weston - August: Osage County
Cate Blanchett, as Jasmine - Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, as Ryan Stone - Gravity
Judi Dench, as Philomena Lee - Philomena
Emma Thompson, as P.L. Travers - Saving Mr. Banks

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Michael Fassbender, as Edwin Epps - 12 Years a Slave
Barkhad Abdi, as Muse - Captain Phillips
Jared Leto, as Rayon - Dallas Buyers Club
James Gandolfini, as Albert - Enough Said
Daniel Bruhl, as Niki Lauda - Rush

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Lupita Nyong'o, as Patsey - 12 Years a Slave
Jennifer Lawrence, as Rosalyn Rosenfeld - American Hustle
Julia Roberts, as Barbara Weston - August: Osage County
June Squibb, as Kate Grant - Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey, as Gloria Gaines - Lee Daniels' The Butler

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY SERIES
30 Rock
Arrested Development
Modern Family
The Big Bang Theory
Veep

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Steve Buscemi, as Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson - Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, as Walter White - Breaking Bad
Peter Dinklage, as Tyrion Lannister - Game of Thrones
Kevin Spacey, as Francis Underwood - House of Cards
Jeff Daniels, as Will McAvoy - The Newsroom

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jessica Lange, as Fiona Goode - American Horror Story: Coven
Anna Gunn, as Skyler White - Breaking Bad
Maggie Smith, as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham - Downton Abbey
Claire Danes, as Carrie Mathison - Homeland
Kerry Washington, as Olivia Pope - Scandal

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alec Baldwin, as Jack Donaghy - 30 Rock
Jason Bateman, as Michael Bluth - Arrested Development
Don Cheadle, as Martin 'Marty' Kaan - House of Lies
Ty Burrell, as Phil Dunphy - Modern Family
Jim Parsons, as Sheldon Cooper - The Big Bang Theory

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Tina Fey, as Liz Lemon - 30 Rock
Julie Bowen, as Claire Dunphy - Modern Family
Edie Falco, as Jackie Peyton - Nurse Jackie
Mayim Bialik, as Amy Farrah Fowler - The Big Bang Theory
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as Vice President Selina Meyer - Veep

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Matt Damon, as Scott Thorson - Behind the Candelabra
Michael Douglas, as Liberace - Behind the Candelabra
Rob Lowe, as John F. Kennedy - Killing Kennedy
Al Pacino, as Phil Spector - Phil Spector
Jeremy Irons, as King Henry IV - The Hollow Crown

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Angela Bassett, as Coretta Scott King - Betty & Coretta
Helena Bonham Carter, as Elizabeth Taylor - Burton and Taylor
Elisabeth Moss, as Robin Griffin - Top of the Lake
Holly Hunter, as G.J. - Top of the Lake
Helen Mirren, as Linda Kenney Baden - Phil Spector

OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
All Is Lost
Fast & Furious 6
Lone Survivor
Rush
The Wolverine

OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A TELEVISION SERIES
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Game of Thrones
Homeland
The Walking Dead

This should be fascinating. I am surprised, yet pleasantly so, by James Gandolfini's posthumous nomination. Not sure if that will be a deciding factor, but it's nice to see one of his last pieces being so well received. And as always, I love the inclusion of the stunt performances. Usually there are writing awards, but I haven't seen any mention of those nominations as of yet. I'll update this blog post if I get more information!

Review: Women Who Kill: Profiles of Female Serial Killers

Women Who Kill: Profiles of Female Serial Killers by Carol Anne Davis

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



This book was full of glaring errors, grammatical, spelling-related, and factual. (The factual can be forgiven, almost, due to being written thirteen years ago, though I do believe some of the information about some of the killers and their partners was probably available, but there are many interpretations since no one in the public can know exactly what happened.) However, I seriously could not get past the extremely poor editing. (If there WAS an editor, they need to be sacked immediately.) The spelling was terrible - and speaking of the spelling - if you're writing a true crime book, and talking about ANY killer, who people know well, you might want to spell their name right. (Bernardo, not Barnardo. Yes, I'm Canadian, but spell your subjects' names right, come on.) There was no excuse for the spelling. And there was no excuse for the grammar, and the lack of proper punctuation drove me up the wall. It makes for a very distracting read.

I also felt that I wasn't really getting any information or insights. It felt like a Wikipedia account of these women, and if I want that, I'll go to Wikipedia. (Though I never want that, as I abhor Wikipedia.) It had no insights into their psyches. You could tell she tried, but it was the same recycled theories, and a lot of it was very generalized, and a lot of it was obviously her own bias intruding, and she was judging the women without analysing them. Her discussion of feminism, and women being considered to be gentle and nurturing, would have been more interesting if she had actually discussed that and hadn't just repeated the same information about the women over and over.

All in all, I was very disappointed, and also very glad I didn't pay to read this. Poorly edited books will always get scathing reviews for me, and she lost credibility the first time she spelled someone's name wrong. (As she often mixed up victims' names and spellings of those names, as well as perpetrators' names.) It was a good idea, but the long chapters were on the most famous cases, and I would have liked to have seen more information on the lesser known people, but I don't believe enough real research was done to enable that.



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My Blind Spot

This was originally intended to be a private post for my partner, on the blog I share only with him, since we have had this discussion multiple times. But then I decided - why do I have a blog if I don't write about personal decisions and matters?

This post is not meant to incite anything. I do not judge anyone else for their beliefs; this is just where the series of events in my life has led me, and I just wanted to put it down somewhere.

This is going to deal with a rather sensitive subject - that of religion. Which is why I had that disclaimer.

I wasn't really raised with anything resembling a religion. My parents went to church, but only occasionally. We usually went on Christmas. (In fact, the last time I remember going to a church for a real service was on Christmas when I was somewhere around six. I just remember my grandpa singing "The shepherds wash their smelly socks" during the songs. Oh, let's not talk about that; gotta wait for A Walk to Remember to have a good cry!) I went with a good friend to a few services at her Kingdom Hall, and those experiences gave me the pleasant result of not hating Jehovah's Witnesses on sight, and I do not insult or mock them. I have NEVER encountered a pushy person in that faith - the entire congregation was very welcoming and a happy bunch, and I was allowed to go even though I was not remotely thinking of converting to that, since I was quite young. So I really just don't get that whole hate for them; it really is all about the people you meet.

Anyway.

My grandmother on my dad's side still goes to church more regularly than anything else and we always used to say grace at Thanksgiving and Easter and such. (Now we mostly just sing Johnny Appleseed. Well, everyone else sings it; I don't, for reasons this post as a whole will make clear.) So it's not like I never had the chance, or my parents were violent atheists, or anything. I had great parents who didn't force us to do anything. (Except soccer; even if they say I wanted to play, I maintain I was forced. I really didn't like playing soccer.)

But my feelings on religion and spirituality for myself are very clear to me. Scratch that; they've only become very clear to me over the last few years. I do not like the idea of organised religion, even with my family belonging to the United Church. (Which is a very laidback group, when compared to other groups.) I just really...dislike it, and I am not a fan. I just cannot believe in the concept of having to follow this set of rules that some unseen, unknowable being set down. I don't like having to go somewhere to hear those rules. I like the idea of church as a community, but as a rule for me, organised religion is not something I like. (And this is coming from someone who has never once had a bad experience with any kind of organised religion; I've only met nice people! Unless you count the Westboro Baptist Church, but believe me, they are not what I base this on. I have felt this way since before I knew who they were.) And that turned out to be a lot harder to explain than I thought it would. I just don't like the idea.

I've considered so many religions. I have researched MANY. My family's, Jehovah's Witness, even Scientology! (Yes, seriously.) I have attended other people's meetings and churches. In short, I have tried to gather as much information as I could about these kinds of things. And what did I end up with? None of them made sense for me. And I TRIED to make them make sense; I felt lost for a really long time, felt that I had to belong to some religion. But I just didn't get it.

I guess you could say it's my blind spot. Maybe because I tried so hard to find a religion that worked for me, I'm beyond done, and I never want to try to find another one. It's not that I'm not open to it for others; practise whatever you want, that is so important, to have freedom to believe what you want. Of course! But for me, religion is my blind spot. I don't want it. Am I afraid of being taken over, of having to give up too much? Of not keeping any of me? (This is an idea I read today in Elizabeth Hay's Late Nights on Air.) Maybe. I don't really know. All I do know is that it's important to me not to engage in any kind of belief system; after all, I don't want to be a hypocrite.

Now, this will sound lame, but when I watched DONNIE DARKO, that changed. I have the director's cut (meaning it is significantly longer, and has deleted scenes included) and when I watched it, there is a discussion between Donnie and his therapist about whether he is an agnostic or an atheist.

"Donnie. An atheist is someone who denies altogether the existence of God. You're
an agnostic. An agnostic is someone who believes that there can be no proof of the
existence of God, but does not deny a possibility that God exists."

I used to take this as an example of what I was, without doubt. I was agnostic. But in the past couple of years, as I've moved away from the idea of one God, that doesn't seem as true. However, it is still true at its core; I believe there is something, some kind of something (yeah, really specific, but this is what not being sure does to me) "up there" or out there. However, I do not believe there can ever be proof, and I cannot do blind faith. I can't just believe; I'm not a scientist, but I need some kind of proof before I can leave my life in something else's hands. (I just can't believe that there's this one "supreme being" who kills whenever it wants. Death does fine as its own force without bringing someone's "plan" into it, to me.) So if that fits the agnostic definition, then that works for me. However, I've recently come to think, "Hey. I don't need a label." And I don't. I don't go for any kind of organised religion, and I believe there could be a separate power working out there, but there is no proof, and because I just can't blindly believe in any kind of supreme being, then I'm just my own person. I don't know what happens, if there's an afterlife, if it's a reincarnation, if it's anything, I'll find out when I get there.

There are some things that have resulted from this. Now, I get uncomfortable when there's any mention of God or Lord or anything like that. (If someone says God bless you, I stammer and just kind of walk away. I can't even say bless you when people sneeze.) There certainly won't be any mention of God or any other type of religious figure or figures at my wedding or in my vows. (Not even as a joke or reference to literature.) I've already decided that if I have kids (I want kids, but you never know if your body will cooperate until you try, and I certainly haven't tried yet) they won't be christened. Is any of this bad? I don't know; I never talk about religion unless I am very close to the person. But this is a core part of me; THIS is my core belief, rather than a belief in some kind of figure I don't truly understand. And this is about me and my comfort. I'm more comfortable not believing in the tenets of a religion. I'm more comfortable this way, and if I learned anything in my last two years of university, it was that me being comfortable in my own skin made my life infinitely better than trying to please or obey other people.

So there you go, Greg.

Review: How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale

How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale by Jenna Jameson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I wonder how many people judged me for reading this. There's a very stereotyped view of "porn stars." And Jenna Jameson is, at least to me right now, the most famous (maybe infamous?) porn star. But she is also one of the most successful, and hey, she has her own COMPANY. She's not just a girl on camera anymore.

I really loved this book. I found the hardcover for about $8, and after reading, I probably would have paid full price. (Or at least more than $8.) I know that Jenna wrote it with someone (Neil Strauss, who I have sort of heard of before), so I don't know how much of the writing was actually her own. But it was WONDERFULLY written; it was so incredibly engaging, as evidenced by the fact that I read this quite long book in a day. (I was sick in bed but still, a day.) Engaging, and addicting, and set out so clearly. There were a lot of things happening, as her life was quite full (of both good and bad events), in different years, but I was able to follow the timeline with little trouble. (And this is way more important than you would think; I hate when I have to go back every few pages to figure out which year we're in.)

Jenna Jameson's life was really hard (and she addresses the fact that people always ask her if it was, because they literally can't rationalize another reason that she would pick the career she did if she wasn't abused as a child, for some reason) but the book is funny and straightforward. She embraces her life, and her mistakes, and as a result, herself. It's an empowering book, as she empowered herself for most of her career; she got what she wanted, and I think it's an important book to read. It doesn't matter that she's in porn; I might be biased, because to me, there is nothing wrong with her choice of career (people have this horrible conception of it that I do not share; it is safe and that's most important), but even if you feel uncomfortable about it, this is not a story about someone who has sex for a living; this is a story about a woman who fought her way to the top of the industry of her choice, by herself (for the most part, but also with the support of female friends), and she left the jerks behind. I was inspired and simply enjoyed this book.

And for all of you nervous about it, there is not THAT much mention of sex in the book. Obviously, there's a fair amount, but it's tastefully written and again, straightforward, which is the best way to handle it. There are also lots of pictures, but again, I see nothing wrong with them. In the end, this is a great book, about a strong woman, and I really liked it.



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Review: Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire

Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



This book was probably the hardest history book I have had to get through - not including some Canadian history textbooks - and I'm still unsure as to the absolutely exact reason why. I think it may have been the writing style; at the same time as it was very, VERY dry and very textbook (and you know something's dry when they're talking about sexual scandal in what feels like a monotone voice), there were also many, many typos and run-on sentences that really bothered me. I just felt there were better ways to construct sentences, and I don't know if it was meant to be a stylistic choice - as the writing at the time, such as the writing that Georgiana composed herself, wasn't in keeping with modern grammar rules - or if there were just a lot of unfinished thoughts. Foreman also seemed, to me, to be a contradictory writer. She seemed to go from judging Georgiana very harshly to lifting her up onto a pedestal. The end of the book had this happen very intensely, when Foreman talked about how we cannot apply modern heterosexual or homosexual ideas to these eighteenth century relationships - yet the main focus of your book WAS applying those ideas to those relationships. (At least that's what seemed to be happening for the majority of the book for me; that and talking about how women shouldn't have gone near politics, yet applauding Georgiana for standing out, and then judging her again for retreating after she was shamed for it repeatedly.) There seemed to be a lot of flipping back and forth, and Foreman didn't seem to make a real decision on how she viewed Georgiana.

There was one lucid observation that was interesting to me: "The propensity of women's historians to ignore high politics, and of political historians to ignore women, has resulted in a profound misunderstanding of one of the most sexually integrated periods of British history." I really loved this, because it is really true. I haven't delved as deeply into women's history as I would like - in university history courses, you tend to focus on more well known accounts, and I never did get to take a really good gender in history course - but I feel, from what I've read, that this is true. Despite women in politics being a real thing - just because they didn't sit in the House did not mean they weren't present and working harder than the men in Parliament - it's rarely discussed, and I thought that was a great point to include. I do just wish she had been as decisive about the rest of her views on the rest of Georgiana's relationships. I think there's more to Georgiana's life than I learned here - since the majority focused on her life as it related to men and really painted her as completely idiotic with money and then occasionally painted her as a heroine in politics, which was very confusing - and though I didn't entirely enjoy this, I think I'll be seeking more information elsewhere.



View all my reviews

Just Go to Bed

Why do I find it so hard to go to bed sometimes? I'm tired, I'd love to sleep, yet I keep refreshing Twitter, hoping to see a reason to procrastinate. Even if I'm thwarted, I make my usual round of my usual sites, hoping for something. Why is that?

Maybe I think if I don't go to sleep, the new day doesn't have to come. But there's nothing really unpleasant in the new day, at least not tomorrow. I mean, I do have to work a long shift tomorrow, but that's not terrible. I'm not trying to avoid it, at least not actively. Why do I want to put off the day?

Maybe I don't want to start another day of not having the things in my life that I want. (Being in a long distance relationship, and having severe marriage and baby fever will do that to a person.) I'm tired of days passing without my life settling down, without settling in for the long haul.

Is that why I can't sleep? You'd think it would be the opposite; that I would want to sleep, make the days come faster and pass faster, so that the days when I finally get to settle into a steady life happen faster. Yet when it comes down to it, it seems that I put off sleeping as long as possible. I sometimes don't want the new day to come, with its reminders that my life is okay, and though I'm happy, I'm not in the place I want to be, with the person I want to be with.

It's a weird conundrum, and it certainly doesn't happen all the time. You can tell it's happening right now, because I'm writing this blog post and not going to bed. It's been one of those days, and I think I'm afraid it'll be another one of those days tomorrow.

Bloglovin'?

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/8928417/?claim=udzsru65thp">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>


I am really, really, terribly bad at keeping up with blogs that I actually like reading! I had shied away from an RSS feed because I really didn't know what it did, and I have little to no patience for figuring out what it did. I still am not entirely sure, although I plan on getting a thorough tutorial at some point soon. (Because I should really figure all that out!)

But then, Kayley Hyde (@kayleyhyde) mentioned Bloglovin' on Twitter. I decided to check it out, and I actually LIKE IT! I can keep track of blogs, and though I'm still getting used to it and sifting it out, I do like that they're just all there in a row so I can read them (or not read them, as the case may be) and actually see updates.

Mostly just using this because I want to see what claiming your blog does, but still, it's exciting to discover new things, and after the Twitter chat I participated in tonight (check out @socapott, or the hashtag, #socapott, to see what was discussed, it was super fun!), I feel more technologically advanced. (Even though I am really, really, REALLY not.) So yup. Liking Bloglovin' so far, though; clean layout, simple, which is all I need!

I promise (mostly myself, because I have no idea what kind of audience this has) that I will do a REAL blog post soon.

Relationship Prison?

I recently read an article from Thought Catalog entitled "Why Being Single Is Completely Awesome." I thought, going in, that it would maybe be an affirmation of why you don't need another person to complete you. Maybe it'd help some people feel better - and that's damn true - you don't need someone else to live your life, and you definitely shouldn't always be on the path of looking for another relationship. You can either let it happen or just take some time for yourself.

It certainly seemed to start out like that. I really liked this sentence: "Being single doesn't necessarily disregard the importance of companionship and love." That's great, because being single doesn't mean you're an unwanted, bitter spinster (also mentioned in the opening of the piece). It doesn't mean that finding love is no longer important; to me, being single just means that you're in your own place for the moment, and being in love might even be something you're not looking for right now. And that is fine, and even good; being single SHOULD be completely awesome! Again, I liked this: "...but they also know that being in a relationship is not the end-all-be-all of your awesomeness." That's a great message, because sometimes, that's how relationships are treated, that you can only be happy, only be your best person, in a relationship. That's not true at all, and it's great to get the opposite message to that out there.

So why am I writing about this? And why is this titled Relationship Prison? Because the author's five kind of justifications or reasons really, really bothered me. It made bad, abusive relationships to be the norm; that was the message that jumped out at me while reading.

I have been in a relationship for almost three years, but I was also single for a long time before this relationship, and these descriptions of relationships were never what I thought of when thinking of being in a relationship. And now that I'm in a committed relationship, it is definitely not what I think of my relationship being; because I'm happy.

The first reason - well, that made some sense. You can be enamoured of people, and go on dates, and maybe find that next great love, and you're single so you're not  blocked from going on those dates and finding those other people. Sure. There's that. (At least it's not advocating cheating.)

But the next ones? I could find nothing good. This sentence: "You don't have to check in with someone if you want to travel or spend an exorbitant amount of money..." That's not okay. Addressing the first part: if you have any relationships, friendships, family ties, etc, you're going to have to check in with SOMEONE if you're going to travel. And there shouldn't be a rule in your relationship that the two of you must ALWAYS travel together. That doesn't make any sense. It makes it sound like you're kept under lock and key, having to check with your partner if it's okay for you to do something, and that's a bad relationship. The second part, about the money - if the money you're spending is coming out of your personal bank account, where you earn the money you receive, it shouldn't be up to your partner to say you can't spend money. That's a bad relationship. As long as the money isn't coming out of a joint account for the two of you, and as long as you pay your share of the bills (mortgage, rent, Internet bill, whatever), it should always be your decision to spend too much money on something. This sounds like a very controlling relationship, not to be able to do those things. I can see where their intent with this was, but in the end, all the things mentioned here, including not being able to see your family on holidays (it's called split time between families - my parents did it and still do it with our separate sides of the family!), just sound like a bad relationship that you don't want to be in.

The next part was depressing to me; that the person you're with could always wake up and leave you, and when you're single, you don't have to worry about that. It's a little sad, and if you're single, no, you don't have to worry about that. But it could happen with friends, too. And if you're sincerely worried, every day, that your partner is going to wake up and leave, that's not good. You're not in a good place if you're sincerely worried about that, every day. What REALLY bothered me about this, however, was the way they made it sound. "There will always be struggles, and you have to realise that being completely invested in another person without anything or anybody else in your life is dangerous because that person could leave you one day - and what would you be left with?" You're in a bad relationship if that is how your relationship works! If you have no other friends, and you don't go out unless you're together, and if you'd have nothing, a la Bella Swan in NEW MOON, if the person left? That's a bad relationship! (No one on Earth can pretend that Bella and Edward were not in a co-dependent, abusive relationship. Not the best thing to aspire to, and saying you'd be left with nothing if the other left - that's what TWILIGHT was ABOUT.)

The next reason given bothered me, because you can be independent in a relationship. You don't have to be married/in a relationship to be happy, to function, to be independent, go to school, work for yourself, whatever. That didn't make sense to me; it seemed to be saying if you're in a relationship, you must rely on someone else to help make every single decision; and if you're single, you can do what you want. If you're in a relationship, you should always have the option to do what you want; you should, of course, communicate your decisions and ideas to your partner, but you shouldn't be hobbled just because you're in a relationship and can no longer make any decisions. That's a bad relationship.

The last reason perhaps bothered me the most. "You can do what you want on the weekends." Again, I'm sorry, why can't you do what you want on the weekends anyway? Yes, in a relationship, you  may have some commitments, family and otherwise; but even if you're single, you're going to have those commitments sometimes. Being in a relationship does NOT mean you can't watch Netflix by yourself, or that you can't hang out with your best friend all the time. It mentioned that you don't have to shave; again, it's a bad relationship if you can't choose to do something. If I didn't feel like shaving my legs, my partner would not force me to do it because he preferred it. I can see what they MEAN; I don't like a big, bushy beard because it scratches my face when we kiss, but if he wanted to keep it, I wouldn't say, "We're in a relationship, you have to listen to me, I won't let you do that." You're adults in this relationship, presumably; continue to make your own decisions! And if you are referring to your partner as the "old ball-and-chain" - you are in a bad relationship.

You shouldn't feel like that about someone you profess to love! If you want to refer to them like that, and you feel like you're being controlled, and they don't let you do what you want or make your own decisions, you should get out. Your relationship should not be a prison. (Which is EXACTLY what ball-and-chain refers to. Imprisonment.) I know that is all easier said than done, but I mainly didn't think it was fair of this piece to make it sound like if you get in a relationship, that's how it's going to be, when happy, stable relationships do not have either partner treated in ANY of these ways. If it's so, you MAY be in a bad relationship. I also know people who spend their time together, and they're fine, but they can go off by themselves if they want to, as well.

I just felt this article did not depict relationships fairly, accurately, and seemed to be promoting singledom by disparaging relationships. Maybe I took it too seriously. But this is my blog, my opinion, and it really bothered me. So I decided to write about it. I may not be Laci Green, qualified to discuss relationships so deeply, but I do have common sense and what I consider to be a good heart, so I think that can qualify me.

The Thought Catalog article

As an addition, check out Laci's newest Sex+, about relationships!

International Women's Day...and Jane Fonda

As seems to happen with this blog a lot, I'm diving into writing this post with no real plan, hoping I'll figure it out along the way. That could go either way, but I figure, it's my blog and I started this so I could get better about posting my opinions where people could see them. Sure, they may be unpopular or too mainstream to some, but they're my opinions, and I'm trying to learn not to compromise my true feelings.

Today is (apparently, I'm really bad at keeping myself informed of these things) International Women's Day. (I'll get to how I actually feel about days like this later.) It's probably a good idea to have started reading Jane Fonda's memoir, My Life So Far.

I'll admit this flat out: I've always known who Jane Fonda was, but I only ever really knew the name and, later, that she was the daughter of Henry Fonda. Also that she used to do fitness videos. For a long time, the only thing I'd really seen her in was Monster-in-Law. (Not the greatest thing to know her for, although she was still great, despite that movie being absolutely ridiculous. And not in a good way.) Now, it's not that I've seen her in  anything else - so no, I haven't started working out with her, either - but it's more that I've been listening to her, interviews and just what she has to say. Now I've begun reading her autobiography, and I can't stop reading it. (Seriously, it was hard to tear myself away to do this blog post!)

I had no idea she worked with young girls and boys, in order to make sure they truly understand the ideas of sex and their bodies. I'm delighted to find that out, as I think work of that order is extremely important, particularly when there's so much that can be romanticized or sexualized to an extreme (such as porn or even people's treatment of fictional characters and famous actors/actresses), and young women and men can be learning the wrong thing. Jane Fonda is coming from a place of pain; there was a lot that happened to her as she was growing up. She was put in uncomfortable positions, and she didn't understand what happened to her body, and with the home life she had, there was no one to take her hand and soothe her through it, and explain it properly. This is really affecting to me, and to hear that she works with young women and men is amazing.

One of the greatest parts of the book (so far, I'm nowhere near finished yet, and I'm sure she'll continue to talk about some things that I deeply relate to as the book progresses!) is when she writes freely about the problems she's had sexually and physically, and with her vagina. (Hopefully you can continue to read this post after that - the vagina being such a taboo topic in today's world is such a problem, that she, and Laci Green particularly, are being great about addressing and keeping it matter of fact!) She freely says her vagina was a pain in the ass, which is awesome, because hey, sometimes they are! But what was more affecting about the problems she was writing about was that she had no one to tell her what was wrong, or to even ASK her what was wrong, as by these points, her mother had begun trips to medical centres and was having her own deep seated problems. (One of the most intense things was when she said she was glad she hadn't had her period, because that would mean she was a woman, and she didn't want to be a woman, didn't want to end up like her mother. When she finally got her period, and her stepmother, with the best of intentions, said "Now you're a woman!" she wrote one of the most affecting things I've ever read: "I don't want to be a woman. Women are destroyed." That will stay with me forever.)

One of my favourite parts is when she's talking about how versatile our vaginas are, and what they can do. She really addresses the fact that we are other, and no one ever wants to talk about how, let's face it and take a page out of Laci Green's book here, magical vaginas are! (Seriously. Think about it.) I'll share this quote here, which I love.

"While some of you are probably wishing that was one epiphany I hadn't had, it's important for women and girls to be able to talk about the most complex parts of themselves. It can represent an important owning of ourselves. Vaginas are, after all, very talented and versatile. They can stretch, shrink, give birth, feel and give pleasure. In 2001, just before coming briefly out of retirement to perform in The Vagina Monologues at Madison Square Garden, I said to Barbara Walters on 20/20, "If penises could do half of  what vaginas can do, there'd be postage stamps honoring them and a twelve-foot-tall bronze statue of a penis in the Rotunda of our nation's Capitol." Instead, because vaginas belong to the other gender, they have been raped, pried, cut, sewn up, objectified and generally denigrated down through the centuries - the sorts of things one does to (apparent) objects of fear that men have so often needed to dominate."

This also really resonated with me. It's an old argument, that if men had to deal with the shit we have to deal with, everything would be a much bigger  deal (both good and bad), but I just liked how she communicated it here. It is SO important for girls and women to be aware of what vaginas can do and how versatile and essential they are. It is an important owning of ourselves, and they're so complex. (Jane writes of examining her vagina with a mirror, which is something Laci Green also encourages, and that really brings back the whole idea of complexity! So much going on.) Maybe the guys I know will get up in arms over this - or they won't read this - and I'm not, by any stretch, trying to say that all guys hate vaginas, but no one can deny they are a taboo subject. (When Laci Green was on Dr. Phil to speak about slut shaming, they bleeped her saying vagina but didn't bleep anyone who said ass or anything else that could be deemed offensive.)

I mostly just wanted to talk about how I'm developing more admiration and a connection with Jane Fonda's writing, but it is International Women's Day. I guess now is a good time to talk about how this kind of irks me, in the same way that Valentine's Day irks me. You only have to tell me you love me, and shower me with material affection, for one day, and then you're off the hook the rest of the year, because that's the only day that matters! When, really, I believe in showing love (and I try to show love, but no one is perfect, of course, and sometimes it's hard) every day that you can. It's the same here. Oh, here you go, girls, you get one day where everyone remembers you are people, and we'll spread it all over the Internet, but tomorrow, everything goes back to normal, and we'll remember you're still not paid the same wages as men and that your rights as people are still being contested all over the world in terms of legislation. (Although I was excited about the Violence Against Women Act that Obama signed the other day. We can make small steps forward, I'm not discounting that.) Just the fact that someone, somewhere, decided there needed to be one special day for women, where everyone could pat them on the head and say, "Good job for being a woman!", makes me mad. (Same with Valentine's Day. "Good job for being in a relationship.") We'll remember you for one day, and watch women-centric things and read women-centric things for you today, but we won't continue to do so later on!

Yes, most people will probably say I'm missing the point, but it's something I've been thinking about a lot as the years pass and I grow into myself and decide what I believe. And I believe I really dislike having special days for stuff like this, stuff that should be addressed and talked about every single day, not one day out of the year.

End rant.

Independent Spirit Awards 2013

Sure, the Oscars are over and the Spirit Awards were right before them, but I still wanted to share them. I think these awards are truly where I'd want to be; these films are just a bit different. Awards shows are also just endlessly fascinating for me.
Also it demonstrates my growing frustration with Bradley Cooper not getting enough love, and my excitement that Matthew McConaughey won for Magic Mike.

BEST FEATURE
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Bernie
Keep the Lights On
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom)
Julia Loktev (The Loneliest Planet)
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On)
Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Roman Coppola & Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom)
Zoe Kazan (Ruby Sparks)
Martin McDonagh (Seven Psychopaths)
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias (Keep the Lights On)

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Fill the Void
Gimme the Loot
Safety Not Guaranteed
Sound of My Voice
The Perks of Being a Wallflower

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Rama Burshtein (Fill the Void)
Derek Connolly (Safety Not Guaranteed)
Christopher Ford (Robot & Frank)
Rashida Jones & Will McCormack (Celeste and Jessie Forever)
Jonathan Lisecki (Gayby)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Yoni Brook (Valley of Saints)
Lol Crawley (Here)
Ben Richardson (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Roman Vasyanov (End of Watch)
Robert Yeoman (Moonrise Kingdom)

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Originally Best First Feature Under $500,000)
Breakfast with Curtis
Middle of Nowhere
Mosquita y Mari
Starlet
The Color Wheel

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Linda Cardellini (Return)
Emayatzy Corinealdi (Middle of Nowhere)
Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Smashed)

BEST MALE LEAD
Jack Black (Bernie)
Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
John Hawkes (The Sessions)
Thure Lindhardt (Keep the Lights On)
Matthew McConaughey (Killer Joe)
Wendell Pierce (Four)

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Rosemarie DeWitt (Your Sister's Sister)
Ann Dowd (Compliance)
Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
Brit Marling (Sound of My Voice)
Lorraine Toussaint (Middle of Nowhere)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Matthew McConaughey (Magic Mike)
David Oyelowo (Middle of Nowhere)
Michael Pena (End of Watch)
Sam Rockwell (Seven Psychopaths)
Bruce Willis (Moonrise Kingdom)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
How to Survive a Plague
Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
The Central Park Five
The Invisible War
The Waiting Room

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Amour (France) MY EDIT: Also, Germany and Austria.
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Turkey)
Rust and Bone (France/Belgium)
Sister (Switzerland)
War Witch (Canada)

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Starlet

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
David Fenster (Pincus)
Adam Leon (Gimme the Loot)
Rebecca Thomas (Electrick Children)

STELLA ARTOIS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel (Leviathan)
Peter Nicks (The Waiting Room)
Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims (Only the Young)

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Mynette Louie
Derrick Tseng
Alicia Van Couvering

JAMESON FIND YOUR AUDIENCE AWARD
Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives
Breakfast with Curtis
History of Future Folk

Ramblings (As Usual) - on Jennifer Lawrence

I ramble a lot. And one of my favourite topics on which to ramble is definitely Jennifer Lawrence. Mostly, my rambling is pretty incoherent, and mainly centers on the "I want to be best friends and hang out with Jennifer Lawrence forever and ever and ever." I'm a big fan. I have been since Hunger Games was announced (yes, I'll admit it, I wasn't entirely familiar with her before Hunger Games, I'M SORRY), and she is Katniss for me, just like Emma Watson is Hermione for me. But I truly fell for her during the multiple interviews of hers that I've watched. (I've really watched a lot. It's almost unhealthy.) She was funny, she said what she was thinking, and she said what I was thinking half the time! I've never been able to relate to an actress in Hollywood in such a deep way. (And then I saw SILVER LININGS and I was done. Brilliant movie, and I might write a blog post about it later talking about how I definitely don't think it's offensive at all, but that's a whole other topic.)

The main focus of these ramblings, tonight, though - I've been seeing a lot of J-Law hate popping up. It's mostly in comments sections of articles about her. It's been about how she doesn't think about what she says, and she says terrible things sometimes. I've just been thinking about that since I saw it and I just wanted to write a ramble about it. (Because I'm not even going to try to pretend that this will be at all in the realm of making sense.)

Yes. I'm a huge fan of Jennifer. I've almost memorised her filmography (that seems to be a thing I do when I'm a fan of someone, for whatever reason), and I watch any interview she's doing and I read any article she's mentioned in. (Well, not any - I prefer to read articles/watch videos of her being her hilarious self or actually talking about great stuff, rather than talking about who she was wearing.) However - just because I am a huge fan, it does not mean I am a fan of absolutely everything that comes out of her mouth. She has said stuff that I definitely do not agree with, and that, yes, has made her look extremely bad. She's usually hilarious, but sometimes, she says stuff that I do not agree with. (The prime example being that whole calling her cat Chaz Bono on Ellen - that was really, really bad and I cringed the entire way through that interview.)

And though I won't defend her for the inappropriate things she's said, I do think that she's said (to reference Silver Linings, in a way, shamelessly) a lot more appropriate things than inappropriate things. She's been funny and just completely humbled by everything. She's also been really smart. If you haven't watched her press conference after winning her Academy Award, you should, because her answer to that first question, where she comments on the stigma of mental illness, is brilliant. Even in describing Katniss, she has mostly been right on target, really great about that character, understanding that character, and commenting on different things she's encountered by playing that character. (Yes, she said that Katniss was essentially a boy hero with a vagina; but in a way, I'm actually interested in that, because isn't she right? Isn't Katniss this supposed person with no real feelings to get in the way, saving the day through violence? That's what she seems to be at first, but she becomes so much more than that, and I think Jennifer's mentioned more on that in other interviews, and taking one comment that wasn't worded in the best way isn't really indicative of how she views that character or strong women in general. Not that I really think Katniss is that strong, either, which is why she's so fascinating and layered to me. See? Rambling.)

I think one of the main problems that people have is that Jennifer does say anything that crosses her mind. (Being her publicist must be absolutely exhausting.) One of my favourite moments with her recently is that the first thing she said to Ryan Seacrest was that she was hungry and did he know if there was food there? Come on, that was GREAT. Everyone else was reserved; Jennifer, I find (and this whole blog post is a personal opinion that you can leave or take), is very much out there, and very relaxed. And I think that's a big part of why she's so looked up to and has captured so many hearts and imaginations. (Meaning people everywhere just want to hang out with her at all times.) She's bumbling, she trips (not even meaning the whole time she fell at the Oscars, she trips all the time anyway), she doesn't speak that well, she gets extremely starstruck and doesn't hide it; in the end, it's like she's a real person. To me, she's more real than any star - I feel like I can get closer to her than any other actress I still look up to. (Obviously, I still don't know her, but it's a nice feeling and it does draw you to anyone, especially celebrities, when you feel like you relate on a deep level to them.)

But one of the main things I find is that she doesn't speak very well on her feet, and I think that's where a lot of her statements that people take offense to come from. Sure, she can be hilarious when she's trying to think on her feet and get something out quickly and coherently - that's where most of her side splitting slip ups have come from - but she can also say something in completely the wrong way. Her filter doesn't seem to be that great, probably stemming from nerves or her brain working too fast - I cannot speak very well on my feet either; people ask me questions, if I don't think them through carefully and speak carefully, I end up with badly worded sentences - and that doesn't help. (Seriously, her poor publicist.) I love her still, but she does say things that do not sound at all good. I'm not trying to say I'm her best friend, of course, and I know she doesn't mean anything she says; she probably does mean what she says. People just aren't used to hearing stuff like that come out of a celebrity's mouth, even though a lot of people (including the one criticizing her) might have said similar things in their life. She's only human and though she can be hilarious, sometimes her words don't come out well, or she says the wrong thing. So the hate that is coming at her (and it's interesting that all this hate is only coming at her now, after she's won an Oscar, and not during all her interviews for Hunger Games or anything - the only backlash I saw was after the Ellen interview) seems quick to judge. She's said some bad things, but I still believe the bad things are far outnumbered by the good things. Maybe you'd say I'm blinded because I'm a fan, and I've got her on a pedestal, but I think she prevents that. She'd fall off a pedestal, just like I would, so if she says something I don't like, I don't pretend I like it. I don't defend her for it. But I don't think it's fair to say she's a horrible person and a horrible role model because she's said a few iffy things, and it's definitely not fair to completely discount the great things she has said, if you'd only look for them.

I mostly felt like just rambling on about her in general, and how I seriously just want to get in my sweatpants and hang out with her and watch movies, but it turned into talking about how she can't speak very well on her feet. What a weird thing. I still love her, and if you don't agree with that, well, that's fine. Lots of people love, say, Seth MacFarlane (although maybe not so many after Sunday; most of those jokes were in pretty poor taste, although not nearly as bad as I was expecting), and I can't stand the man. Everyone's allowed to be a fan of whatever and whoever they want; I just wanted to talk about how I felt about the hate I'm seeing for Jennifer lately, in terms of what she says.

Academy Awards 2013 - The Big One!

All right! The Oscars are almost here - SUNDAY! - and we're almost done with the awards season! (And I will probably stop posting these kinds of posts. Maybe. Or I'll just revert to detailing the Internet awards. Although I will probably also be watching the Canadian Screen Awards on March 3rd, so there's that.) But because this is the big one - I'll update as I watch the ceremony! (I should be good to watch this one - the nice thing about a huge awards show is that more channels have it, and I'm not relying on one Canadian channel that might screw me over. Looking at you, Global.) I also livetweet - @Annoying_Dana.

EDIT: This is tonight!

Now, I do already have a post with the nominees in it, but it also has a long ramble about why I love the Oscars, and I want to keep that, so go check that out (http://danabettyjune.blogspot.ca/2013/01/because-i-have-no-life.html) and meanwhile, this post will be kept just for nominees and updating! (It's my blog, I can do what I want, right?)
Here we go! (Again.)

VISUAL EFFECTS
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
Life of Pi - Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer, Donald R. Elliott
Marvel's The Avengers - Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick
Prometheus - Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley, Martin Hill
Snow White and the Huntsman - Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould, Michael Dawson

WRITING: ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo - Written by Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild - Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi - Written by David Magee
Lincoln - Written by Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook - Written by David O. Russell

WRITING: ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Amour - Written by Michael Haneke
Django Unchained - Written by Quentin Tarantino
Flight - Written by John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom - Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty - Written by Mark Boal

SHORT FILM: LIVE ACTION
Asad - Bryan Buckley & Mino Jarjoura
Buzkashi Boys - Sam French & Ariel Nasr
Curfew - Shawn Christensen
Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw) - Tom Van Avermaet & Ellen De Waele
Henry - Yan England

SOUND EDITING
Argo - Erik Aadahl & Ethan Van der Ryn
Django Unchained - Wylie Stateman
Life of Pi - Eugene Gearty & Philip Stockton
Skyfall - Per Hallberg & Karen Baker Landers
Zero Dark Thirty - Paul N.J. Ottosson

SOUND MIXING
Argo - John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Jose Antonio Garcia
Les Miserables - Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes
Life of Pi - Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill, Drew Kunin
Lincoln - Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Ronald Judkins
Skyfall - Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Stuart Wilson

MUSIC: ORIGINAL SONG
"Before My Time" from CHASING ICE - Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from TED - Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
"Pi's Lullaby" from LIFE OF PI - Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
"Skyfall" from SKYFALL - Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
"Suddenly" from LES MISERABLES - Music by Claude-Michel Schoenberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Anna Karenina - Sarah Greenwood (Production Design), Katie Spencer (Set Decoration)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Dan Hennah (Production Design), Ra Vincent and Simon Bright (Set Decoration)
Les Miserables - Eve Stewart (Production Design), Anna Lynch-Robinson (Set Decoration)
Life of Pi - David Gropeman (Production Design), Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)
Lincoln - Rick Carter (Production Design), Jim Erickson (Set Decoration)

SHORT FILM: ANIMATED
Adam and Dog - Minkyu Lee
Fresh Guacamole - PES
Head over Heels - Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare" - David Silverman
Paperman - John Kahrs

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Amour - Austria
Kon-Tiki - Norway
No - Chile
A Royal Affair - Denmark
War Witch - Canada

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Hitchcock - Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Martin Samuel
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
Les Miserables - Lisa Westcott, Julie Dartnell

MUSIC: ORIGINAL SCORE
Anna Karenina - Dario Marianelli
Argo - Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi - Mychael Danna
Lincoln - John Williams
Skyfall - Thomas Newman

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
5 Broken Cameras - Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi
The Gatekeepers - Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky, Estelle Fialon
How to Survive a Plague - David France, Howard Gertler
The Invisible War - Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering
Searching for Sugar Man - Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Inocente - Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine
Kings Point - Sari Gilman, Jedd Wider
Mondays at Racine - Cynthia Wade, Robin Honan
Open Heart - Kief Davidson, Cori Shepherd Stern
Redemption - Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill

FILM EDITING
Argo - William Goldenberg
Life of Pi - Tim Squyres
Lincoln - Michael Kahn
Silver Linings Playbook - Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers
Zero Dark Thirty - Dylan Tichenor, William Goldenberg

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Anna Karenina - Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained - Robert Richardson
Life of Pi - Claudio Miranda
Lincoln - Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall - Roger Deakins

COSTUME DESIGN
Anna Karenina - Jacqueline Durran
Les Miserables - Paco Delgado
Lincoln - Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror - Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Hunstman - Colleen Atwood

DIRECTING
Amour - Michael Haneke
Beasts of the Southern Wild - Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi - Ang Lee
Lincoln - Steven Spielberg
Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Alan Arkin - Argo
Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams - The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Brave - Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
Frankenweenie - Tim Burton
ParaNorman - Sam Fell, Chris Butler
The Pirates! Band of Misfits - Peter Lord
Wreck-It Ralph - Rich Moore

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts - The Impossible

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Denzel Washington - Flight

BEST PICTURE
Amour - Margaret Menegoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, and Michael Katz, Producers
Argo - Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, and George Clooney, Producers
Beasts of the Southern Wild - Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
Django Unchained - Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
Les Miserables - Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
Life of Pi - Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
Lincoln - Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
Silver Linings Playbook - Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
Zero Dark Thirty - Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers

2013 BAFTAs

So it was time for another awards round - the BAFTAs! As per usual, I'm sharing the nominees, and the winners are highlighted in blue!

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"Argo" - Chris Terrio
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" - Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin
"Life of Pi" - David Magee
"Lincoln" - Tony Kushner
"Silver Linings Playbook" - David O. Russell

MAKEUP AND HAIR
Anna Karenina - Ivana Primorac
Hitchcock - Julie Hewett, Martin Samuel, Howard Berger
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Findlater
Les Miserables - Lisa Westcott
Lincoln - Lois Burwell, Kay Georgiou

ANIMATED FILM
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman

ORIGINAL FILM MUSIC
Argo - Alexandre Desplat
Anna Karenina - Dario Marianelli
Life of Pi - Mychael Danna
Lincoln - John Williams
Skyfall - Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Anna Karenina - Seamus McGarvey
Les Miserables - Danny Cohen
Life of Pi - Claudio Miranda
Lincoln - Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall - Roger Deakins

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Amour - Michael Heneke
Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino
The Master - Paul Thomas Anderson
Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty - Mark Boal

COSTUME DESIGN
Anna Karenina - Jacqueline Durran
Great Expectations - Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
Les Miserables - Paco Delgado
Lincoln - Joanna Johnston
Snow White and the Huntsman - Colleen Atwood

OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA
Tessa Ross

DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck - Argo
Michael Haneke - Amour
Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Anna Karenina
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Seven Psychopaths
Skyfall

DOCUMENTARY
The Imposter
McCullin
Marley
Searching for Sugar Man
West of Memphis

OUTSTANDING DEBUT OF A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Bart Layton, Dimitri Doganis - The Imposter
David Morris, Jacqui Morris - McCullin
Dexter Fletcher, Danny King - Wild Bill
James Bobin - The Muppets
Tina Gharavi - I Am Nasrine

EE RISING STAR
Elizabeth Olsen
Andrea Riseborough
Juno Temple
Suraj Sharma
Alicia Vikander

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Anna Karenina - Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
Les Miserables - Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson
Life of Pi - David Gropman, Anna Pinnock
Lincoln - Rick Carter, Jim Erickson
Skyfall - Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock

EDITING
Argo - William Goldenberg
Django Unchained - Fred Raskin
Life of Pi - Tim Squyres
Skyfall - Stuart Baird
Zero Dark Thirty - Dylan Tichenor, William Goldenberg

SHORT ANIMATION
Here to Fall - Kris Kelly, Evelyn McGrath
I'm Fine Thanks - Eamonn O'Neill
The Making of Longbird - Will Anderson, Ainslie Henderson

FELLOWSHIP
Sir Alan Parker

SHORT FILM
The Curse
Good Night
Swimmer
Tumult
The Voorman Problem

FILM
Argo
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

SOUND
Django Unchained - Mark Ulano, Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti, Wylie Stateman
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Tony Johnson, Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Seamnick, Brent Burge, Chris Ward
Les Miserables - Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Jonathan Allen, Lee Walpole, John Warhurst
Life of Pi - Drew Kunin, Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton, Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill
Skyfall - Stuart Wilson, Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Per Hallberg, Karen Baker Landers

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Amour
Headhunters
The Hunt
Rust and Bone
Untouchable

LEADING ACTOR
Ben Affleck - Argo
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
The Dark Knight Rises - Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Peter Bebb, Andrew Lockley
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
Life of Pi - Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer, Donald R. Elliott
Prometheus - Richard Stammers, Charley Henley, Trevor Wood, Paul Butterworth
Marvel Avengers Assemble - Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick

LEADING ACTRESS
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Helen Mirren - Hitchcock
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin - Argo
Javier Bardem - Skyfall
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - The Master
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Judi Dench - Skyfall
Sally Field - Lincoln

Invitations to Join the Academy

We're closer to the Oscars! This entire post is taken from oldfilmsflicker.tumblr.com. (Please check Marya Gates out - her website is cinema-fanatic.com. She is one of the smartest writers and I love her posts.)

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 176 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2012 to the Academy’s roster of members. ”These film professionals represent some of the most talented, most passionate contributors to our industry,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “I’m glad to recognize that by calling each of them a fellow Academy member.” Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003. The 2012 invitees are:

ACTORS
Simon Baker - "Margin Call," "L.A. Confidential"
Sean Bean - "Flightplan," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"

Bérénice Bejo - "The Artist,"  "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies"
Tom Berenger - "Inception," "Platoon"


Demián Bichir - "A Better Life," "Che"
Jessica Chastain - "The Help," "The Tree of Life"
Clifton Collins, Jr. - "Star Trek," "Traffic"
Bryan Cranston - "Contagion," "Little Miss Sunshine"
Jean Dujardin - "Les infidels," "The Artist"
Richard E. Grant - "The Iron Lady," "Withnail & I"
Jonah Hill - "Moneyball," "Superbad"
Ken Howard - "J. Edgar," "In Her Shoes"
Diego Luna - "Milk," "Y Tu Mama Tambien"
Margo Martindale - "Secretariat," "Million Dollar Baby"
Melissa McCarthy - "Bridesmaids," "The Back-Up Plan"
Matthew McConaughey - "The Lincoln Lawyer," "A Time to Kill"
Janet McTeer - "Albert Nobbs," "Tumbleweeds"
S. Epatha Merkerson - "Mother and Child," "Terminator 2: Judgment Day"
Sam Rockwell - "Cowboys & Aliens," "Noon"
Andy Serkis - "The Prestige," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
Octavia Spencer - "The Help," "The Soloist"
Lili Taylor - "Being Flynn," "High Fidelity"
Nia Vardalos - "For a Good Time, Call...", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"
Kerry Washington - "Django Unchained," "Ray"
Michelle Yeoh - "The Lady," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"

DESIGNERS
Laurence Bennett - "The Artist," "Crash"
David Brisbin - "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," "Dead Presidents"
Scott Chambliss - "Cowboys & Aliens," "Mission: Impossible III"
Wendy Chuck - "The Descendants," "Sideways"
Maria Djurkovic - "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," "The Hours"
Sanja Milkovic Hays - "Battle:  Los Angeles," "Mission to Mars"
Mayes Rubeo - "Avatar," "Apocalypto"
Anne Seibel - "Midnight in Paris," "The Devil Wears Prada"
Sharon Seymour - "The Ides of March," "Friday Night Lights"
Sammy Sheldon - "X-Men: First Class," "V for Vendetta"

CINEMATOGRAPHERS
Florian Ballhaus - "Mr. Popper's Penguins," "The Devil Wears Prada"
Oliver Bokelberg - "Win Win," "The Station Agent"
Anna J. Foerster - "Anonymous"
Larry Fong - "Super 8," "300"
Alwin Kuchler - "Hanna", "Proof"
Toyomichi Kurita - "Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family," "Waiting to Exhale"
George Mooradian - "Crazy as Hell," "Nemesis"
Guillaume Schiffman - "The Artist," "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies"
Terry Stacey - "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," "Friends with Money"

 DIRECTORS
Joseph Cedar - "Footnote (Hearat Shulayim)," "Beaufort"
Jean-Pierre Dardenne - "The Kid With a Bike (Le gamin au velo)," "The Child (L'enfant)"
Luc Dardenne - "Lorna's Silence (Le silence de Lorna)," "The Son (Le fils)"
Philippe Falardeau - "Monsieur Lazhar," "It's Not Me, I Swear! (C'est pas moi, je le jure!)"
Asghar Farhadi - "A Separation (Jodaieye Nadar az Simin)," "About Elly (Darbareye Elly)" -- ALSO INVITED TO THE WRITERS' BRANCH
Rodrigo Garcia - "Albert Nobbs," "Mother and Child"
Michel Hazanavicius - "Les infideles (The Players)", "The Artist" -- ALSO INVITED TO THE WRITERS BRANCH
Kasi Lemmons - "Talk to Me," "Eve's Bayou"
Terrence Malick - "The Tree of Life," "The Thin Red Line"
Michael R. Roskam - "Bullhead (Rundskop)"
Wong Kar Wai - "My Blueberry Nights," "In the Mood for Love"

DOCUMENTARY
John Battsek - "The Tillman Story," "One Day in September"
Amy Berg - "Bhutto," "Deliver Us from Evil"
Simon Chinn - "Project Nim," "Man on Wire"
Marshall Curry - "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front," "Street Fight"
Johanna Demetrakas - "Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche," "Bus Riders Union"
Daniel Junge - "Saving Face," "The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner"
Mary Lampson - "Kimjongilia," "Harlan County, USA"
Sam Pollard - "Gerrymandering," "4 Little Girls"
Glenn Silber - "El Salvador: Another Vietnam," "The War at Home"
Lucy Walker - "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom," "Waste Land"

EXECUTIVES
James Amos
Michael Bostick
Richard Brener
Howard Mark Cohen
David C. Glasser
Jeffrey B. Goldstein
Frederick Huntsberry
Jon Jashni
Michael Marshall
Tony Safford
Gregory Silverman
Nigel Sinclair

FILM EDITORS
Kirk Baxter - "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "The Social Network"
Nicolas De Toth - "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," "The Sum of All Fears"
Scott Hill - "Zookeeper," "Bruce Almighty"
Dan Lebental - "Iron Man 2," "Elf"
Glen Scantlebury - "Transformers," "Bram Stoker's Dracula"

MAKEUP ARTISTS AND HAIRSTYLISTS
Mark Coulier - "The Iron Lady," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
Linda Flowers - "The Hunger Games," "The Social Network"
Toni G - "Salt," "Monster"
Amanda Knight - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2", "Mission: Impossible"
Tami Lane - "Superman Returns," "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
Wendy Aylsworth
Kyle Cooper
Patrick Crowley
Bud Davis
Chris deFaria
Sarah Katzman
John Kilkenny
Heidi Levitt
Kerry Lynn McKissick
Elizabeth Sayre
Michael Tadross
Mary Vernieu

MUSIC
Ludovic Bource - "The Artist," "OSS 117: Lost in Rio"
Alberto Iglesias - " Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," "The Constant Gardener"
Conrad Pope - "My Week with Marilyn," "The Rising Place"
Ryuichi Sakamoto - "Love Is the Devil," "The Last Emperor"
Theodore Shapiro - "The Big Year," "I Love You, Man"

PRODUCERS
Letty Aronson - "Midnight in Paris," "Match Point"
Michael Barnathan - "The Help," "Rent"
Jean Brehat - "London River," "Days of Glory (Indigenes)"
Susan Cartsonis - "Beastly," "What Women Want"
Tracey Edmonds - "Jumping the Broom," "Soul Food"
Dede Gardner - "The Tree of Life," "Running with Scissors"
Grant Heslov - "The Ides of March," "Good Night, and Good Luck." -- ALSO INVITED TO THE WRITERS' BRANCH
Thomas Langmann - "The Artist," "Mesrine: Public Enemy #1"
William Packer - "Think Like a Man," "This Christmas"
Aaron Ryder - "The Raven," "The Prestige"
Peter Saraf - "Our Idiot Brother," "Little Miss Sunshine"
Mary Jane Skalski - "Win Win," "The Station Agent"

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Larry Baldauf
Cindi Berger
Matthew P. Brubaker
Brian Daly
Rebecca Kearey
Adam Keen
Katie Martin Kelley
Eric Kops
Derek McLay
Michelle Sewell
Mark Woollen

SHORT FILMS AND FEATURE ANIMATION
Paul Cichocki - "Brave," "WALL-E"
Eric Daniels - "Tangled," "Meet the Robinsons"
Amanda Forbis - "Wild Life," "When the Day Breaks"
Emily Hubley - "The Toe Tactic," "Pigeon Within"
Willliam Joyce - "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," "Meet the Robinsons"
Marv Newland - "CMYK," "Tete a Tete a Tete"
Floyd Norman - "Waking Sleeping Beauty," "Mulan"
Jonas Rivera - "Up," "Cars"
Michelle Steffes - "The Interview," "Day Labor"
David Verrall - "Dimanche/Sunday," "Madame Tutli-Putli"
Jennifer Yuh Nelson - "Kung Fu Panda 2," "Madagascar"

SOUND
Erik Aadahl - "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "Monsters vs. Aliens"
Deb Adair - "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance," "Moneyball"
Stephen M. Bartkowicz - "Tyler Perry's Good Deeds," "Red State"
John T. Cucci - "Snow White & the Huntsman," "Prometheus"
Chuck Garsha - "Misery," "Die Hard"
Mildred Iatrou - "The Green Hornet," "The Tree of Life"
Tim LeBlanc - "For Greater Glory," "Something Borrowed"
Bo Persson - "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Fanny & Alexander"
Gary L.G. Simpson - "Captain America: The First Avenger," "The Bourne Ultimatum"
Philip Stockton - "Hugo," "Brokeback Mountain"

VISUAL EFFECTS
Scott Benza - "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "Iron Man"
Greg Butler - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
Sheena Duggal - "The Hunger Games," "Spider-Man 3"
Christopher Evans - "Hugo," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Ben Grossmann - "Hugo," "The Italian Job"
Dan Lemmon - "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," "King Kong"
John Rosengrant - "Real Steel," "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"
Eric Saindon - "Avatar," "X-Men: The Last Stand"
R. Christopher White - "The Lovely Bones," "Jurassic Park III"
Guy Williams - "Marvel's The Avengers," "Avatar"
Joss Williams - "Hugo," "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

WRITERS
J.C. Chandor - "Margin Call"
Asghar Farhadi - "A Separation (Jodaieye Nadar az Simin)," "Beautiful City (Shahr-e ziba)" (ALSO INVITED TO DIRECTORS BRANCH)
Michel Hazanavicius - "The Artist," "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies" (ALSO INVITED TO DIRECTORS BRANCH)
Grant Heslov - "The Ides of March," "Good Night, and Good Luck." (ALSO INVITED TO PRODUCERS BRANCH)
Stephen King - "Pet Sematary," "Creepshow"
Oren Moverman - "The Messenger," "I'm Not There."
Annie Mumolo - "Bridesmaids"
Nicholas Stoller - "The Muppets," "Get Him to the Greek"
Peter Straughan - "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," "The Men Who Stare at Goats"
Kristen Wiig - "Bridesmaids"

Additionally, the Academy invited Fritz Gabriel Bauer, Lee S. Berger, Ronald Bernstein, Ariel Emanuel, Jean-Marie Lavalou, Bryan Lourd, Dale Oliver, Jeremy Plager, John B. Quinn and Steve Weinstein to Associate membership. Associate members are not represented on the Board and do not have Academy Awards voting privileges.

Three individuals (noted above by an asterisk) have been invited to join the Academy by multiple branches. These individuals must select one branch upon accepting membership.

New members will be welcomed into the Academy at an invitation-only reception in September.