An incubus of viral plague

So since around I'll say Saturday I've become, as Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestley so lovingly names her first assistant Emily (Emily Blunt) in 'The Devil Wears Prada', "an incubus of viral plague". Anyways yeah I more or less died on Saturday at a friends house and because of that have done absolutely no blogging. Here I am! It's the Thursday before Oscar night and I'm scared out of my mind because of two reasons: 1) 'Slumdog Millionaire' has the possibility of winning nine total awards, and 2) Sean Penn has the possibility of losing Best Actor to Mickey Rourke. I'm hopeful though, because I know that the Academy has been a fan of surprises, and hey, maybe they'll throw us a bone and break the hearts of Danny Boyle and crew! How lovely that'd be.

So now I will rest up, watch some 'High School Musical 3' (thanks Mom) and whether or not I have to bring a doggy bag for my vomit, I'm seeing 'Frost/Nixon' before Sunday. See you guys then!

BAFTA Winners

BEST PICTURE: Slumdog Millionaire
BEST DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
BEST ACTRESS: Kate Winslet, The Reader
BEST ACTOR: Micky Rourke, The Wrestler
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
BRITISH FILM: Man on Wire
ANIMATED FILM: WALL•E
CARL FOREMAN AWARD: Steve McQueen, Hunger
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: I’ve Loved You So Long
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Martin McDonagh, In Bruges
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire
VISUAL EFFECTS: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
MAKEUP and HAIR: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
PRODUCTION DESIGN: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
SCORE: AR Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
SOUND: Slumdog Millionaire
EDITING: Slumdog Millionaire
COSTUMES: The Duchess
RISING STAR: Noel Clarke
SHORT ANIMATION: Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP: Terry Gilliam

Sigh. I guess we're in for a BAFTA repeat come Oscar night. I'll be so upset if Rourke does indeed take Actor, as I'm sure you're all aware. And I still just DO NOT GET the 'Slumdog' sweep.

I can't wait to look back on this and laugh.

Variety asks "Is Milk Coming Up on the Outside?"

While reports of the inevitable Slumdog Millionaire backlash may be overstated--the hugely popular movie is still charging forward to some major Oscar wins on February 22--here's a new Oscar slant: Slumdog and its main rival, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, split the vote and Milk takes the best picture win.

I would die of sheer happiness. I'm not trying to get my hopes up too high or anything, but god...if we're celebrating a victory on February 22nd, that would make me one hell of a happy boy.

One hell of a happy boy.

More here.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

So I hadn't seen Jason Reitman's 'Juno' since probably December of 2007. I found it severely overrated but modestly charming at the same time. Gave it a B, and called it a day. Last night it was on HBO and I caught the first 30 minutes or so...really enjoyed it. Had a snow day today, so I woke up and watched the whole thing thanks to On Demand.

I completely loved it! How the hell does that happen? I found it one of the most annoying films of the decade and now I adore it? I don't know, I think it was probably that I didn't have an annoying tween-filled audience in back of me this time talking, screaming, and laughing at inappropriate parts. That coupled with the, lets face it, kind of overly hipster dialogue made for a horrendous movie going experience. It was like a totally new movie this go around. Oh and, naturally, I cried at the end (Jennifer Garner's final scene). If there is ever a movie with some sort of thematic elements that doesn't make me cry, I will be shocked.

Well, it appears that I've seen the light. I say that just a touch self-ashamedly.

Ebert endorses 'Milk'

So as usual, Roger Ebert as chosen a film to endorse through Oscar voting (usually with positive outcomes for that said film in the winning department), and this time it's...'Milk'! I'm so excited that he's done this, but is it too late? Is it the best timing possible? All I know is that I'll have died and gone to heaven February 22nd if Van Sant's masterpiece takes home the big one. No more blog posts for me, unless they have computers in heaven.

I especially love the karma that stems from that fact that if 'Milk' were to conquer over 'Slumdog,' then that would mean that it would be like Ebert correcting his mistake of backing 'Crash' over 'Brokeback' back in 2005. We all know what happened then... Just, please God let good conquer over evil (also known as Jamal Malik) this time!

Of the five nominees, "Milk" was far and away my personal leader in Elevation. I think it worked because Gus Van Sant's direction, Sean Penn's performance and Black's screenplay earned the right to that final shot. It didn't exploit it, it deserved it.

Amen.

A few words on ... 'The Wrestler'

This was amazing. Absolutely amazing. I was bawling my eyes out by the end, which seems to be happening a lot these days. Mickey Rourke was sensational. I can't even imagine this movie without him. That being said, I still don't think that he is better than Sean Penn in 'Milk,' but whatever--he's one of the closest seconds that I can recall. Marisa Tomei was great as well. Very sad. I mean the whole thing is just really depressing, which I have to say kind of surprised me. From the trailer I was expecting something much more saccharine, and thankfully it wasn't at all (minus the Evan Rachel Wood scene that was basically a repeat of the ending to 'Thirteen').

I loved this to pieces. Aronofsky's best film to date.

Oh dear.

I (sadly) saw 'My Bloody Valentine 3-D' instead of 'The Wrestler' today. It was, without a doubt, one of the most poorly acted, scripted...anything movies I've seen it quite some time. With that said, it was also one of the most hysterical and endlessly quotable. I'm assuming that the filmmakers didn't have that in mind, but whatever. Kerr Smith fortunately is still really cute and Jensen Ackles isn't so bad either, so at least there was eye candy for moi.

All I'm going to say is that if you want to see it, you might as well just see it now. It'll more likely than not lose some, or rather all, of its "wonder" when on the small screen. The gimmick, added to the comicality of it all, overall made it a fun time out.