Vicarious Clairvoyance

2011 Oscar nominees currently available on DVD

2012-01-25T16:08:00.000-08:00

A Better Life
Beginners
Bridesmaids
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II
Hell and Back Again (Also available on Netflix Instant Play)
The Help
The Ides of March
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (Also available on Netflix Instant Play
Jane Eyre
Kung Fu Panda 2
Margin Call
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
Rango
Real Steel
Rio
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life
Warrior

Nomination Upsets I would love:

2012-01-23T21:09:00.001-08:00

Best Picture:

Beginners
The Muppets
Contagion

Best Actress:

Jodie Foster - Carnage

Best Actor:

Daniel Radcliffe - Harry Potter (which I did actually predict)

Best Supporting Actress:

Kate Winslet - Carnage
Kate Winslet - Contagion

Best Original Screenplay:

The Muppets
Certified Copy

Best Picture predictions

2012-01-23T20:47:00.000-08:00

This category's nominations are being done a little different this year, so I think it first deserves a bit of explanation. There can be anywhere from 5 to 10 nominations depending on the Academy's number 1 votes. In order for a movie to be nominated, it has to get at least 5% of the Academy's number 1 votes, after that their number 2, 3, and the rest of their votes are taken into account. So, for this category I will not only be predicting which movies will be nominated, but also how many movies will be nominated. Here goes nothing.

The first 5:

The Artist
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris

If there's 6:
War Horse

If there's 7:
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

If there's 8:
Moneyball

If there's 9:
The Ides of March

If there's 10:
Drive

I'm predicting there will be 9 nominees. In other words, I don't think Drive will be part of that 9. However, if I'm wrong and there's 10, I think it will be number 10.

Best Direction

2012-01-23T20:31:00.000-08:00

Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
Alexander Payne - The Descendants
Martin Scorsese - Hugo
Steven Spielberg - War Horse

Best Actress predictions

2012-01-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis - The Help
Elizabeth Olsen - Martha Marcy May Marlene
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn

Best Actor predictions

2012-01-23T20:09:00.000-08:00

George Clooney - The Descendants
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Michael Fassbender - Shame
Brad Pitt - Moneyball
Daniel Radcliffe - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II

Every year, I usually go out on a limb at least once. Daniel Radcliffe almost definitely won't be nominated, but I genuinely believe he deserves to be.

Best Makeup Design predictions

2012-01-23T19:26:00.000-08:00

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II
The Iron Lady

Best Song prediction

2012-01-23T19:16:00.000-08:00

If there is three:

Life's a Happy Song - The Muppets
Lay Your Head Down - Albert Nobbs
The Living Proof - The Help

If there is five:

Hello Hello - Gnomeo and Juliet
Pictures in My Head - The Muppets

Best Art Direction predictions

2012-01-23T19:08:00.000-08:00

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II
Hugo
Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Original Screenplay predictions

2012-01-23T17:09:00.000-08:00

50/50
The Artist
Beginners
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris

Best Supporting Actor Predictions

2012-01-23T17:02:00.000-08:00

Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill - Moneyball
Nick Nolte - Warrior
Christopher Plummer - Beginners
Christoph Waltz - Carnage

Best Animated Feature predictions

2012-01-23T16:53:00.000-08:00

If there's three nominations:

The Adventures of Tintin
Rango
Rio

If there's another two:

Cars 2
Kung-fu Panda 2

Best Costume Design predictions

2012-01-23T16:44:00.000-08:00

The Artist
Captain America
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris

Best Cinematography Predictions

2012-01-23T13:30:00.000-08:00

The Artist
Hugo
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Adapted Screenplay Predictions

2012-01-23T13:27:00.000-08:00

The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
Moneyball
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best Supporting Actress Nomination Predictions

2012-01-23T12:44:00.000-08:00

Berenice Bejo - The Artist
Jessica Chastain - The Help
Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer - The Help
Shailene Woodley - The Descendants

Oscar Categories for which I will be predicting the nominees:

2012-01-23T12:33:00.001-08:00

Today I am predicting which people and movies will be nominated for Academy Awards tomorrow morning. I'll be creating blog posts for individual categories (links will be posted on twitter). As much as I'd like to predict nominees for all categories, there are some that I'm just not well informed enough to do (Shorts, Foreign, Sound, etc.). These are the categories I will be predicting by midnight tonight:

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Original Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Animated Feature
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Original Score
Best Make-up Design
Best Original Song

My Dream Roles

2011-11-30T02:31:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Tanika Little, I've decided to make a list of my dream rolls. This has been a bit more of an emotional experience than I'd originally planned because it maid me realize how much I miss acting, and it might just inspire me to actually start auditioning for things again. Luckily, most of these are roles that don't require me to be too young (in fact, I believe most are aged 30-60) so I have plenty of time.

In no particular order:

Martin Dysart - Equus
John Proctor - The Crucible
Joe Pitt - Angels in America
Ned Weeks - The Normal Heart
Ned Weeks - The Destiny of Me
Any Character in - The Laramie Project
Paul Bratter - Barefoot in the Park
Serge - Art
Biff - Death of a Salesman
Edmund - Long Days Journey Into Night
Drummond - Inherit the Wind
Brady - Inherit the Wind
Father Flynn - Doubt
Howie - Rabbit Hole
Walker/Ned - Three Days of Rain
Tom - Dinner With Friends
Gabe - Dinner With Friends
Cyrano - Cyrano de Bergerac
Jason - Medea
Adam - Next Fall

and a few from musicals that I have very little intention of ever actually playing cause of the whole singing in front of people thing:

Bobby - Company
Jamie - The Last 5 Years
Officer Lockstock - Urinetown
Horton the Elephant - Seussical
Hunter - [title of show]
Jeff - [title of show]
Mark Cohen - Rent
Princeton - Avenue Q
Dan Goodman - Next to Normal
Cliff - Cabaret
The Baker - Into the Woods
Albin - La Cage aux Folles

Best Picture prediction 12/9/11

2011-11-30T01:10:00.000-08:00

I've decided to create a weekly chart of what I think will be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. I haven't seen several of these yet, so these are just for fun at this point (as opposed to later when it's for serious). There can be anywhere from 5 to 10 nominees this year, the starred line is where I'm predicting the cutoff will be.

1. The Artist
2. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
3. War Horse
4. The Descendants
5. Hugo
6. Midnight in Paris
7. The Iron Lady
************************
8. Young Adult
9. Moneyball
10. The Help

I haven't been blogging...big surprise!

2011-06-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe I made a big deal about how I was going to change the direction of this blog and was actually going to start blogging...but I haven't. I think this is mostly because I've been busy, but also because this is largely going to be tied in to my school work in my new major at University of Utah. Since this isn't something that's going to begin until August, I think it would be a good idea to give an update on what my current artistic plans are for now and the future.

I'm currently finishing up first block classes of summer semester at UVU. Two of the classes are generals, but there is also an Art History to the Renaissance class (for review) and a Drawing 1 class. I decided to take the drawing class because I thought it would be a good idea to have at least minimal experience in the actual creation of visual arts. It has been a very good experience so far, despite it being very different than I'd originally hoped. There's only one week of class left, but I plan on taking pictures of the works I've turned in as well as some sketches and posting them with explanations of my experiences in the class.

I decided over the last year or so that what I want to do when I grow up is to be an Art History professor, hence the change in major to Art History. I plan on at least minoring in Theatre and possibly minoring in French as well. I'm very excited for school, and hope that it all works out well. Hopefully I'll be updating this blog regularly now...

Changing Direction

2011-04-11T15:50:00.001-07:00

I've decided I'm re-working this blog. It's no longer going to be a movie blog, but rather an art blog. My life focus has shifted from just film to all forms of art, so it seems appropriate to change the focus of this blog.

Oh, and I'm actually going to start blogging :P

poor Salt

2010-07-20T05:15:00.000-07:00

I have a theory about the movie Salt starring Angelina Jolie. I think it will bomb. Not because it's a bad movie, but because it looks like it could be a bad movie and because of when it's coming out. If it had come out a month ago, it would be a sure success, because there were NO good movies other than Toy Story 3, and I don't think the two would really compete with eachother. Now, however, it is coming out the week after Inception, which has killed in the box office and I think will probably do even better in its second week.

Oliver Stone Collection

2010-07-17T03:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I work at a movie store. Isn't that cool?! FYE on University Parkway in Orem.
Anyway, I see all sorts of great deals on movies all the time, so I think I'm going to start sharing them hear, and maybe if I get some followers they can take advantage of them.
Sadly the deal I got today is no longer available because we're out of the product, but I still had to share. I bought an Oliver Stone Collection with 13 of his biggest movies (including Platoon, Wall Street, and...well, 11 of his other biggest movies), and I got it for just $9.99!

Taylor Awards updated

2010-07-16T01:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, so, I got all excited about reviving this blog, and yet I don't have anything at this moment in time to write about. So, I'm going to open things up with an updated list of The Taylor Awards. In case I haven't told you before, what they are is my personal picks for the best picture of each year, starting with the year I was born. Some earlier years I don't feel like I've seen enough movies in to make an educated decision, so the awards for those years are pending. Those years are currently filled mostly with animated films I grew up with, and honestly, I'm not sure that will change, because I loves me some good animation.

1990 - Edward Scissorhands
1991 - The Silence of the Lambs (pending)
1992 - Aladdin (pending)
1993 - The Nightmare Before Christmas (pending)
1994 - The Shawshank Redemption
1995 - Dead Man Walking
1996 - Fargo
1997 - Titanic
1998 - The Truman Show (pending)
1999 - American Beauty
2000 - Almost Famous
2001 - tie: Amelie; Moulin Rouge!
2002 - The Hours
2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2004 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2005 - Brokeback Mountain
2006 - Little Children
2007 - Into the Wild
2008 - WALL-E
2009 - A Single Man

Revival

2010-07-16T00:56:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I'm reviving this blog. Anytime I want to talk about movies, it's going to be here. It will be comprised of reviews, experiences, thoughts, and bursts of excitement about something. It will be better this time, trust me, and I will be better at updating it. Now I'm kind of glad I didn't really have followers.

The Year So Far...

2009-08-01T01:29:00.000-07:00

So here's a very quick review of some of the big-name movies I've seen this year:

Watchmen
Very interesting and psychologically engaging. The action scenes were thrilling and the montage towards the begining was excellent. The soundtrack was phenominal, aside from an awful version of the brilliant song Hallelujah (it made for one of the most awkward sex scenes I've ever seen)...(I've just learned that the version in the movie is actually the original Leonard Cohen version...weird)

Coraline
The story was fun and somewhat thought provoking and the visuals were absolutely beautiful. I would definitely recommend it, although I wish it had given a little more explanation on the world of the "other mother".

Star Trek
I'm a big Star Trek fan, and I think it's great that there's finally one with the amazing graphics that we're now capable of. The script was fun, and engaging, and....well, just see it, you won't regret it.

Up
Best movie so far this year. Pixar at it's best. It is one of the most beautiful and heartwarming stories I've ever seen.

The Proposal
As far as chick-flicks go, it's not bad. It's very predictable towards the end, but that shouldn't come as a surprise. It is however, one of the funniest chick-flicks to come out in awhile and is truely touching at times. (the dance scene in the forest is just plaine weird though...)

Harry Potter 6
It captures the fun everyday life of Hogwarts very well I thought, and it's one of my favorites that I've seen of the movies (haven't seen five yet...and three is probably my favorite). However, the sixth book is my favorite in the series, and the movie cuts out the very thing that makes the book my favorite. In the book, you start to understand where Voldemort came from and how he became the powerful wizard he is through the memories that Dumbledore shares with Harry. In the movie, you only see two of those memories, and even they aren't that expository. You do however get to see what Ron would be like drunk and what Harry would be like if he smoked some pot...that was entertaining.

Academy Award Song Performances

2009-04-10T02:23:00.001-07:00

Okay this is just a bit of venting I've been holding in for a month and a half. What the hell was wrong with the Academy Award producers this year when it came to the song performances. Based on the performances, it's no question why Jai Ho won, it was the only one of the three nominated that reached it's full performance potential that night.
The brilliance of O... Saya in my opinion is the combination of AR Rahman's Indian sounding wails with MIA's english rap. Unfortunately in the performance, the song was cut off right before MIA would have started singing. It would have been awesome to have seen the two of them perform that song live. MIA lived up to her name, probably because she'd given birth only three weeks before. But seriously, if she can perform at the Grammy's hours before giving birth, she can perform at the Oscars weeks after.
O... Saya was cut off by a performance of my personal pick Down to Earth (which currently holds the record for most played song on my itunes). They really had a good idea going here. I can just imagine it in the Academy Awards planning meeting.
"Well, it sounds kind of African, let's have an African chorus sing in the background"
It really was a good idea, until some jackass interupted the meeting and said, "Hey, I have an idea. Instead of Peter Gabriel, let's have some random dude that can't sing"
"Oh that would be wonderful." the commitee would chime in, " Totally unexpected and original".
Seriously, what the hell?
Oh, and don't even get me started about The Wrestler not even being nominated. I'm fine with it not winning...but them cutting down to three nominations when they could have included it in the usual five? What's that about? I suppose it's a good thing though, they probably would have got Britney Spears to sing it instead of the obvious Bruce Springstein.

The Taylor Awards

2009-02-12T21:50:00.000-08:00

Stupid title, I know. Basically The Taylor Awards are something I came up with a couple years ago to express my personal opinion of what the best movie that came out that year was. I decided to choose one for every year that I've been alive. This is a little difficult for the earlier years seeing as how I haven't seen as many really good ones from those years, so for now I only have them for years I feel I've seen enough from and I'll add more to the list gradually as I see more. So this is my list so far.

1990 -
1991 -
1992 -
1993 -
1994 - The Shawshank Redemption
1995 -
1996 - (tie) Fargo; The English Patient
1997 - Titanic
1998 -
1999 - American Beauty
2000 -
2001 - Amelie
2002 - Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2003 - Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
2004 - (tie) Hotel Rwanda; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2005 - Brokeback Mountain
2006 - Little Children
2007 - Into the Wild
2008 - TBA

There's still a few more I need to see this year before I feel I can make an educated decision, but so far the main contenders are WALL-E, The Visitor, Frost/Nixon, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading and possibly The Reader (I wasn't sure how I fealt about The Reader when I first saw it, but the more I think about it, the more I like it...I'm going to have to see it again before I make my decision)

Of the ones I've seen, I'm pretty sure it's going to be WALL-E (seriously, I had know idea how brilliant that movie was going to be. It's definately my favorite Pixar...closely followed by Finding Nemo). I still need to see In Bruges; Synechdoche, New York; Frozen River; Happy-Go-Lucky; Gran Torino; Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day; Tell No One; and Rachel Getting Married (and the last 10 minutes of The Visitor) before I make my decision. Of those, the only one that I think really has a chance of taking first is Synechdoche, New York...but I want to be sure, cause I never thought WALL-E would get even close to my favorite...although I'm pretty sure Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day won't even make the top ten...it's just that it was one of the few movies that came out in the first few month of 2008 that I was actually interested in seeing (why I didn't see it then is beyond me)

Wall-E

2009-02-12T02:31:00.000-08:00

This movie was brilliant. I figured I would like it, cause most Pixar films are spectacular (aside from Cars), but I never thought I'd like it as much as I did. It had so much to say and it said it so beautifully...I really am having a hard time articulating the feelings I have for this beautiful, beautiful film.
...there are some things I really have to do right now, so I'm going to leave it at that for now, but I just had to get it out there that this is one of my favorite movies ever!...

Oscars

2009-02-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

I'm so pumped for Oscar night this year! I've already seen all the nominees for Best Picture and only have to see a few more before I've seen all of the nominees for the big 8 (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay).

I'm really torn as to what is going to win. I personally think the best was probably Benjamin Button or Frost/Nixon...but I kind of have a thing for The Reader, even though a few technical things really bugged me. I liked Slumdog Millionaire a lot, but I think that it's getting a lot of hype that may or may not carry through to Oscar votes. I do think it could easily win Best Director however. Milk was good, I really did like it, but I don't think it had Oscar standing...in the Best Picture category at least. I think that Sean Penn has a good chance of getting Best Actor (it's between him and Mickey Rourke...I haven't seen the Wrestler yet though). I'm a little pissed that Josh Brolin is up for Best Supporting Actor and Emile Hirsch isn't. Josh Brolin was good, but Emile Hirsche was excellent (I'm still a little disapointed that he wasn't recognized for Into the Wild...or that Into the Wild wasn't up for Best Picture...another bit of genius from Sean Penn). I suppose the Best Supporting Actor Category doesn't matter too much this year however...The New York Times called the nominations "The Four actors who are going to lose to Heath Ledger" and I'm pretty sure I agree. Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt were both brilliant (haven't seen Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder yet), but Ledger's was one that would have been remembered as brilliant for years to come even if he hadn't passed away.

Ledger winning Best Supporting Actor is however one of the few awards that will be easy to predict. Almost all of the others are very close. I'm thinking that Best Actress should go to Kate Winslet (my favorite actress) but I haven't seen Rachel Getting Married yet, so I can't be sure. It should be a fun year, and I'm looking forward to putting together my predictions and seeing the outcome on the 22nd.

Just in case you don't follow them as religiously as I do, here are the big 8 nominations:

Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Roth
Doubt, John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, Peter Morgan
The Reader, David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire, Simon Beaufoy

Best Original Screenplay
Frozen River, Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh
In Bruges, Martin McDonagh
Milk, Dustin Lance Black
Wall-E, Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon

The Reader

2009-01-19T00:17:00.000-08:00

Overall I thought it was a really good movie and definitely worth seeing. The story is unique and compelling while not being too out there (not that being too out there is a bad thing).

This is one of the strongest performances I've seen by Kate Winslet (or any actress for that matter) and it proves her versitility as an actress. She herself admitted that there was nothing in her past life that she could draw from for the character Hannah Schmitz. She just couldn't figure out how to relate to her, but she had to understand her. Her difficulty to understand this character sometimes shows through, because as an audience, it is hard for us to understand her...but I actually think that this is a good thing. In most of our realms of experience, we cannot fathom why she would act the way she does, and that is part of what makes the film so intriguing
I think that Kate Winslet deserved the Golden Globe she got for this role and deserves to win the Oscar as well.

The film is very thought provoking and brings up such complex issues as affairs, vices, justice, literacy, and dealing with the past.

There was some confusion however when it came to the passage of time. It would cut between scenes and it would often be unclear if it was several months later or just a few moments, and I don't think it was intentional most of the time. It was usually pretty easy to figure out though after a minute or two at most. Overall it was a good movie.

my movie blog

2009-01-19T00:03:00.001-08:00

I'm just going to get right down to the point. This blog is going to be about movies. Whether it be my personal movie reviews and recommendations, Academy Award Predictions, movies I'm looking forward too, or whatever, it will always be something (at least vaguely) relating to movies...so yeah...enjoy.