2013 SAG Awards

So here are this year's nominees for the Screen Actors' Guild Awards! I AM NOW doing what I did for the Globes, where I update as winners are announced! Thank goodness for Global!

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
John Hawkes - The Sessions
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Denzel Washington - Flight

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Mirren - Hitchcock
Naomi Watts - The Impossible

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Alan Arkin - Argo
Javier Bardem - Skyfall
Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Nicole Kidman - The Paperboy
Maggie Smith - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Homeland
Mad Men

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY SERIES
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie
The Office

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Steve Buscemi - Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad
Jeff Daniels - The Newsroom
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Damian Lewis - Homeland

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Claire Danes - Homeland
Michelle Dockery - Downton Abbey
Jessica Lange - American Horror Story: Asylum
Julianna Margulies - The Good Wife
Maggie Smith - Downton Abbey

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Ty Burrell - Modern Family
Louis C.K. - Louie
Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory
Eric Stonestreet - Modern Family

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Amy Poehler - Parks and Recreation
Sofia Vergara - Modern Family
Betty White - Hot in Cleveland

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Kevin Costner - Hatfields & McCoys
Woody Harrelson - Game Change
Ed Harris - Game Change
Clive Owen - Hemingway & Gellhorn
Bill Paxton - Hatfields & McCoys

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Nicole Kidman - Hemingway & Gellhorn
Julianne Moore - Game Change
Charlotte Rampling - Restless
Sigourney Weaver - Political Animals
Alfre Woodard - Steel Magnolias

OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Bourne Legacy
The Dark Knight Rises
Les Miserables
Skyfall

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

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Dick Van Dyke

2013 Golden Globes

So this is obviously late, as I'm watching the Red Carpet arrivals right now, but I wanted to post them, and then I'll come back to this post and add the winners! I'll highlight them in blue!

BEST PICTURE - DRAMA
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Silver Linings Playbook

BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck - Argo
Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone
Helen Mirren - Hitchcock
Naomi Watts - The Impossible
Rachel Weisz - The Deep Blue Sea

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Richard Gere - Arbitrage
John Hawkes - The Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Denzel Washington - Flight

BEST ACTOR - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Jack Black - Bernie
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Ewan McGregor - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Bill Murray - Hyde Park on Hudson

BEST ACTRESS - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Emily Blunt - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Judi Dench - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook - YEEEESSS
Maggie Smith - Quartet
Meryl Streep - Hope Springs

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Nicole Kidman - The Paperboy

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin - Argo
Leonardo DiCaprio - Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

BEST SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal - Zero Dark Thirty
Tony Kushner - Lincoln
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained
Chris Terrio - Argo

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Dario Marianelli - Anna Karenina
Alexandre Desplat - Argo
Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimet and Reinhold Heil - Cloud Atlas
Michael Danna - Life of Pi
John Williams - Lincoln

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"For You" - Act of Valor
"Not Running Anymore" - Stand Up Guys
"Safe and Sound" - The Hunger Games
"Suddenly" - Les Miserables
"Skyfall" - Skyfall

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Amour
A Royal Affair
The Intouchables
Kon-Tiki
Rust and Bone

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Rise of the Guardians
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Wreck-It Ralph

CECIL B. DEMILLE AWARD
Jodie Foster

BEST TELEVISION COMEDY OR MUSICAL
The Big Bang Theory
Episodes
Girls
Modern Family
Smash

BEST TELEVISION DRAMA
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Downton Abbey
Homeland
The Newsroom

BEST MINISERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
Game Change
The Girl
Hatfields & McCoys
The Hour
Political Animals

BEST ACTRESS - TELEVISION DRAMA
Connie Britton - Nashville
Glenn Close - Damages
Claire Danes - Homeland
Michelle Dockery - Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies - The Good Wife

BEST ACTOR - TELEVISION DRAMA
Steve Buscemi - Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad
Jeff Daniels - The Newsroom
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Damian Lewis - Homeland

BEST ACTRESS - TELEVISION MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Zooey Deschanel - New Girl
Lena Dunham - Girls
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Veep
Amy Poehler - Parks and Recreation

BEST ACTOR - TELEVISION MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Don Cheadle - House of Lies
Louis C.K. - Louie
Matt LeBlanc - Episodes
Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory

BEST ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Nicole Kidman - Hemingway and Gellhorn
Jessica Lange - American Horror Story: Asylum
Sienna Miller - The Girl
Julianne Moore - Game Change
Sigourney Weaver - Political Animals

BEST ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Kevin Costner - Hatfields and McCoys
Benedict Cumberbatch - Sherlock
Woody Harrelson - Game Change
Toby Jones - The Girl
Clive Owen - Hemingway and Gellhorn

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Hayden Panetierre - Nashville
Archie Panjabi - The Good Wife
Sarah Paulson - Game Change
Maggie Smith - Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara - Modern Family

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Max Greenfield - New Girl
Ed Harris - Game Change
Danny Huston - Magic City
Mandy Patinkin - Homeland
Eric Stonestreet - Modern Family

One awards show down!

I think most of these, at least to me, were pretty obvious and I had called a few of them ages ago. (Like Brave, and Daniel Day-Lewis.) But there were a few surprises for me! Such as ARGO for Best Picture - I REALLY wasn't expecting that. Kudos to Ben and his team for that. (But remember to thank George next time you're on stage or Jennifer Garner is gonna have to do it for you! He's never going to live that down.)

Jennifer Lawrence was a nice surprise. I mean, I was DEFINITELY rooting for her, but the woman was up against Judi Dench, Meryl Streep and Maggie Smith. If she hadn't won, no one would have blamed her. But she DID, and I think that's a real testament to how important she's going to be to the world of Hollywood and films. I really admire her, and not just because of The Hunger Games. She is my Katniss, but she can also hold her own against greats like Robert De Niro. I haven't yet had a chance to see Winter's Bone but from what I've heard, she holds her own there too. I really love her, and I'm glad she's getting the recognition I personally believe she deserves. She's an extremely versatile actress, and she really gives it her all. (The fact that she's HILARIOUS and adorbs is a side point.)

Skyfall for best song was perfect. I haven't seen SKYFALL, and I have no desire to see it, as I don't like the James Bond movies or Daniel Craig as a general rule (except in THE JACKET; he was brilliant in that, mostly because not one person believed me when I said it was Daniel Craig.) YAY ADELE! She's amazing, and her speech was up there with Jessica Chastain's for the most genuine and awesome.

Let's just have some love time for Christoph Waltz. Love that man so much, and he's so brilliant, I'm glad he won! I wasn't sure about that category; Alan Arkin was a close second for me, and Robert De Niro getting no nomination was a big thing. But Christoph is awesome, love him! And yay for Tarantino getting Screenplay for Django - well deserved too!

Now. For the end of this, let's talk about how much I admire, respect, and adore Jodie Foster. I have always really liked Jodie; there has never been a time, as I've had with some other actors, where I didn't like them. (I really didn't like Leonardo DiCaprio for about 4 years after TITANIC came out. I think I hit my head really hard. Don't worry, I love him like crazy again.) I've always liked her, and I really hadn't seen her in very much, let alone any of her iconic roles. (I only saw SILENCE OF THE LAMBS in first year of university, 2008, and TAXI DRIVER last year, 2012.) But as I started paying attention to entertainment news and realising what she was doing, I followed her avidly. I still haven't seen most of her movies, because it's hard for me to find them (no downloading ever for the win!), but I always read any article about her I could find. She fascinated me, because she just didn't care what people thought of her, and she had been working for so, SO long. (Since she was THREE. That's a LONG time.) This speech only reinforced that. I had read her "defense" of Kristen Stewart - I didn't really find it a defense so much as a commentary on privacy. And her speech tonight was that as well; she didn't feel the need to tell people she was gay, because it's none of their business, and so she didn't really. She rambled a bit, mostly about privacy, but she did it well at the same time. She just said what she felt, and what mattered to her, and it worked. The bit about her mother also killed me; I teared up a LOT at that! It was beautiful, and it must be so hard for her to have to see her mother go through what she is going through, but it was just amazing that she said it didn't matter if her mom didn't understand; the important part was that she loved her. It was great, and it just made me realise, all over again, that this woman is strong, independent, and she does what matters to her. I can't wait to see other creations of hers, as well as eventually watching her entire filmography - as in, EVERYTHING. I love her. That's the point, obviously.

But it was a great awards show, with some surprises as well as obvious wins and events. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were great; I love those two. And the random Bill Clinton appearance was also awesome!

I'm loving that this awards season, I actually get to watch everything! SAG awards are up next, on Jan 27th, unless I figure out that another one is before that! (I think it's the next big one, anyway.) I'll be livetweeting and updating for that too.

I Hope It's Beautiful Over There

At least, it better still be January 10th when I post this. Maybe I'll keep this short instead.

To anyone who hasn't read a book by John Green, today is just a normal day. Maybe they're experiencing their own problems, so maybe it isn't a normal day. But if they haven't been introduced to John Green and his novels, then January 10th isn't laden with the same kind of significance.

For me, or the me that read Looking for Alaska in 2009 (wow, that seems so long ago now!), I was pretty sure this day wouldn't be the same. It took me a long time to find Alaska (the novel), but the instant I read the last word of that first part of that novel, I knew that date would be forever burned into my memory. Alaska truly affected me, and I've never been able to express, exactly, why. Maybe it's the power that I find in John's writing; maybe it's the content; maybe it was the time at which I found the book, and the community the book opened up to me. Alaska's story was something I could really relate to, and the fact that she was never seen as she should have been - just as herself, rather than as this perfect person through Pudge's eyes, or as an imperfect person, through her own eyes. I think it also affected me because we never, ever got her whole story, not from herself. I still think, in a way, she didn't know her whole story. Every time I read the book (which I unfortunately wasn't able to do this year, since my copy is in storage, the library here is not great,  and I didn't have the money to buy another copy just to have another copy), I see something else in Alaska, and in those who are telling her story and surround her. Because of all this, it's probably pretty evident that I have a deep connection to this novel. Because I want everyone ever to read this book, I won't lay out word for word why January 10th is an important date for anyone who's read this story, and been affected by it enough to remember what happened and what it meant.

Perhaps this was also the fates conspiring, but I finished reading a biography of Grace Kelly today. I found a lot of correlations; today, I was just finishing up, and had therefore reached the point in her life (as told by the author, also a friend of hers) where Judith Quiney was relating how she had been affected by Grace's accident, and also what had happened. (I had known, for instance, that she had died in a car accident, but I hadn't been entirely aware that she had suffered a stroke at the wheel.) But in the same way that Alaska is almost held up as a perfect person to Pudge, Grace was held up to the world as a perfect princess. And neither woman was truly perfect, and neither felt as though they were supposed to be where they were. (That's how I feel, anyway.) From reading this biography, and maybe I just made the connections because Alaska was on the brain, but I really connected the two women. Grace was forced - by herself, rather than entirely by public opinion, despite what people have said about any inner struggles she had - to hold everything in; to be, always in the presence of anyone, even close friends, Princess Grace. She was compassionate and loving, but she was that all the time. In the same way, Alaska, though being herself, held herself to a much higher standard than would have been healthy. (I'm not sure that's the correct word, but nothing else is coming to mind at the moment.) Pudge didn't help by holding her to be such a perfect idea, and the public, as well as Grace's intimates, didn't help her by holding her to the same ideal of perfection. It really struck a chord today, and how hard Alaska's story truly is. We still don't know the truth, and though we know more of the truth about Grace's accident (with the stroke, and the fact that Stephanie was in the car), we still won't truly know what was in either of their heads. (Not that they're the same, but there's a connection there, at least to me right now.) Alaska was in that labyrinth, and maybe she found the only way out, or maybe she's still waiting.

The only thing about it being January is there are no flowers. I haven't seen any white flowers today (besides in Rosianna's brilliant tribute she posted today), but it's not necessary. Alaska's always on my mind, whether at the fore or not.

This is also the anniversary of the publishing of John's other book that affected me greatly. The Fault In Our Stars was very affecting. (All of John's books have been affecting and brilliant but these two are the ones that really did it.)

This is to commemorate Alaska, and also to thank John for bringing me this to think upon, remember, and thrill to. So many emotions run through me in regards to these topics. Despite my rambling, I hope that was communicated.

Thanks to Liane Graham for encapsulating my feelings in song better than anyone ever could:

I hope you're somewhere warm and white, like the flowers in your car
That you've escaped this labyrinth of suffering wherever you are
I've got a piece of you tucked away inside my mind
Memories of your  poetry and drinking your cheap wine

Thomas Edison's last words were, 'It's very beautiful over there,'
I don't know where there is, but I believe it's somewhere
And I hope it's beautiful, like you

Because I Have No Life

As the title suggests, I have no life. Hence why I am squirming with excitement as I read the Oscar noms. I like to have a record of them somewhere, and I might as well use this blog for that purpose this year!

BEST PICTURE
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook -- Rooting for him!
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln -- Prediction for win but I'm often wrong with this category
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Denzel Washington - Flight

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty -- Maybe? I've heard she's phenomenal
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook -- Probably not; she was great but maybe not typical Oscar?
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts - The Impossible

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Alan Arkin - Argo
Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook -- Rooting for him! Such a brilliant performance
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained -- I WANT

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams - The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables -- Prediction for win but again, could be wrong
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph

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 -- Prediction for win
Les Miserables - Paco Delgado
Lincoln - Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror - Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Huntsman - Colleen Atwood -- I love Colleen Atwood though

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

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Searching for Sugar Man

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Inocente
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption

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

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

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

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

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Before My Time" - Chasing Ice - Music and lyric by J. Ralph
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" - Ted - Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
"Pi's Lullaby" - Life of Pi - Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
"Skyfall" - Skyfall - Music and lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
"Suddenly" - Les Miserables - Music by Claude-Michel Schonberg; 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 Groupman (Production Design); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)
Lincoln - Rick Carter (Production Design); Jim Erickson (Set Decoration)

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head Over Heels
Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"
Paperman

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew
Death of a Shadow
Henry

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

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

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

WRITING - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo - Written by Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild - Screenplay by Lucy Alibar and 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 and Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty - Written by Mark Boal

So there we have it. I'm excited about this year's Oscars, mostly due to the fact that for the first time in four years, I've got access to a television with satellite and am therefore able to watch the ceremony!

Every time the Oscars are on, I get a little excited once it's actually the day of the show. I love watching awards shows, since they're so multi-faceted for me. I love to look at the clothes, both the good and the...well, the interesting choices. (Sometimes I cannot understand what people were thinking when they put something on, but it doesn't necessarily mean that their choice is bad; it's just different. I don't call designers bad because I dislike what they put together.) I love the commentary, although I like some people's better than others. (Looking at you for the "other", Ben Mulroney and Ryan Seacrest...) I love the interviews, and since Jennifer Lawrence will be at this year's show (or at least, I hope she will be, although I'm assuming she will be, since she's nominated), I'm looking forward to that greatness; I love that girl. I wasn't home to watch the awards the last time she was at the ceremony. Anyway, I also love just the anticipation. I pay attention to each category; a lot of people only truly care about the big ticket categories: Best Picture, the acting, directing and writing. I take an interest in the others. The only ones I don't really care about, personally, would be the animated films, since I'm not a big fan of animated films as a general rule.

I always try to see the films in question, at the very least the ones up for Best Picture, although I always want to see the short films and the documentaries but they're harder to find. I don't think I've ever seen all of the films nominated, though; one day! It makes me feel more well rounded and more prepared going into the ceremony, or even just speculating on who or what will win what category. But at least from the films I have seen, I can kind of speculate. (It's always speculation, although generally it's pretty easy to tell which films will sweep or which actors/actresses will dominate, due to who generally wins. Mostly.) For instance, this year, I've seen Les Mis, Djagno Unchained, Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, out of the Best Picture noms. Not a lot, unfortunately. I was glad to see that Jen Lawrence got a nod, as did Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. I thought they were all brilliant in Silver Linings, and I didn't know if Jennifer Lawrence would get a nod, despite everyone saying she would. I guess the masses were right! I had some predictions, and most of them came true (Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, for instance, as well as Wes Anderson for Moonrise Kingdom writing, Anna Karenina for costumes and production design, Les Mis for sound mixing), but because I haven't seen some of the movies, I wasn't sure what to expect in some areas.

Anyway. I'm rambling. So now y'all can see how invested I get in these awards! I'm not sure why; never have been sure why, probably never will be. I don't really care about the reason; I get interested, perhaps about the ways awards are distributed, perhaps how the Academy works, perhaps how most of the same people win awards every time they're nominated (Meryl Streep, anyone?), perhaps just about the hugeness of the ceremony. I'm not a big fan of the U.S. as a country sometimes, and I'm glad I don't live there, but they do have the majority of the world's films, and as someone who loves watching films and dissecting some of them, and learning the history of them, and the fact that some of my favourite actors and actresses have been American, I know they're the hub of something that I'm a big fan of, so it doesn't matter. (Not that all the movies I watch are American; I have a few Canadian movies, and I'm a huge fan of anything British.) But they do throw the biggest parties, in the form of awards shows, that I love watching, and they've given some great people to the world. (I'm reading a biography of Grace Kelly right now, so that may have something to do with that particular ramble, as well as the ramble trying to communicate the history and legacy of the Oscars, and how important they still are.)

ANYWAY ANYWAY. So Oscar nods are out! I've put some predictions there but I try not to do too many predictions in categories where I haven't seen the majority of the movies. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is Seth MacFarlane as host. I can't stand him on Family Guy, so we'll see how that goes.

Another post can be expected later tonight, as it is January 10th, but I'll get into that later, once I've had time to organise my feelings about it. This post was not a great consolidation of thoughts haha.

2.5 Years Is Kind of a Long Time

So usually I don't post about stuff like this, but for today, I'm going to lift that. Just to express my wonder at how fast 2.5 years can pass, and also how 2.5 years doesn't seem long enough.

It's my anniversary today, for 2.5 years. I never, ever really and truly thought I would get to this point with anyone, let alone with the best person I've ever met. I've had long relationships but I would invariably, after a matter of months, get to the point of being unhappy, wanting to change everything about the other person, or just wanting out. I haven't gotten to that point, and I've stopped waiting, because I don't think it's coming.

That's about as far as that's going to go, since I don't exactly air my personal life on the Internet and the person this is directed at already got his own blog post (also not long - sometimes I'm not good at feelings!), so yup. I just wanted to put it somewhere, and this is my blog, and I can post what I want. So there! (No one was arguing. Because who knows how many people actually read this?)

But yeah. 2.5 years is a long time. But also feels like it's not the right measurement, like I've been here for so much longer. In a good way.

I've written a couple of sappy posts. I think it's about time to write about some history. I'll have to set that up in the next few days. I work tomorrow and Wednesday and that usually means I don't wanna write a blog post, but maybe Thursday or Friday, since I'll be stuck at home without a car for both days!

Just putting this here because I wanna.