Oscars part deux

As we are only a few minutes away from the Grammy Awards, my favorite award show is again on my mind: the Oscars (of course).

Since I wrote last, I’ve seen a few more of the films nominated for best picture, actor, actress, etc. I just saw Drive last night, so it’s fresh in my mind. Maybe it’s because I just saw it, but I can’t get  that movie out of my mind. Between the music, the cinematography, the scorpion jacket and the man himself, Ryan Gosling, I was hooked after the opening scene. It’s super disappointing that it wasn’t nominated for more awards given how beautiful and haunting it was. I now understand my sister’s disappointment on nomination day when that didn’t even get as many nominations as Transformers 3.

I also saw Midnight in Paris this week, and loved it for entirely different reasons. The film was enthusiastically romantic and really brought be back to the days when Paris was the playground for folks like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso. While I’m not the biggest fan of Owen Wilson, I can appreciate him in movies like these, as well as his stints with Wes Anderson movies. Overall, the film was delightful.

The last Oscar-worthy movie I’ve seen since writing last was The Artist, which is by far to most talked about film of the year and the one to beat on the big day. I found that once I got past the initial novelty of a silent film about the end of the silent film area, it wasn’t that great of a story. Don’t get me wrong, it was done very well, but I judge movies largely based on plot, and it just didn’t hold up in that department. It did bring up some nostalgia for me because it reminded me of my recently deceased grandmother who grew up in that era. The film made me wish I had asked her about her younger years more.

So that’s my update on the Oscar films. I still have a few to watch that I’m not terribly excited about.

I still have to see Hugo, War Horse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Any thoughts? Are they worth seeing or should I skip it?

 

Oscar Nominations: initial thoughts

The official start of Oscar season was Tuesday’s announcement of the nominees! The biggest surprise for me was when I saw there were nine nominees. I was under the impression that the Academy was changing the process to get fewer nominees, but I guess I have a few more to see this year. (Not looking forward seeing War Horse though).

I was surprised by a few nominee choices (Melissa McCarthy– hilarious, but Oscar-worthy?) and snubs (poor Ryan Gosling). I haven’t seen Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close yet, but that seemed to be the biggest surprise among blogs and news articles. I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s definitely gotten mixed reviews, and some were downright bad. (As of 9 p.m. CT Jan. 25 it was only at 47% on Rotten Tomatoes). I blame it on the Sandra Bullock effect: the Academy loves her.

I was excited to see actresses from The Help and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo nominated, but I was disappointed to not see Charlize Theron nominated for Young Adult, which I thought was a great film. (Her co-star Patton Oswalt was great too).

I’m excited to see some more of the best picture nominees before the big day. I think the Artist is top on my list to see, and I’m going to try to accomplish that this weekend.

Lavilla

 

Justin as Elton? Sounds fabulous to me

When I heard the news earlier this week that J.T. might be playing Elton John in the biopic about the famous singer and performer, I was so excited. I’ve been listening to Elton and Justin Timberlake since I was a little kid, so it would be great to see them collaborate.

I can’t wait to hear the latest on this!

Lavilla

The most wonderful time of the year

Hi all,

It’s been a while since my last post. I was sick for a week and then you know how the holidays can be 🙂

Regardless, it really is the most wonderful time of the year. No, I’m not talking about Christmas, but awards show season! I’ve never been a huge fan of Christmas, but boy am I excited on Oscar Day. (I even planned a vacation around it last year).

I plan to tweet during the Oscars and will try to blog as much about it until the big day. I usually like at least see all of the best picture nominees, as well as some of the big movies for best actress/actor, etc. So far I have seen The Descendants and Moneyball, which I both loved.

The Descendents was a constant roller coaster ride, as I grieved for a character I had never even met. In the movie the main character, played by George Clooney, finds out that his wife was having an affair after she slips into a coma following a jet ski accident. The journey he takes with this daughters to find the truth and move on is haunting, sorrowful and often darkly humorous.

Moneyball is a great, smart movie about Billy Beane, the former manager of the Oakland A’s, and how he used statistics to improve his baseball team. It might sound boring, but the director made a great movie that both a lover and hater of baseball stats can appreciate. Plus, it has Brad Pitt in it, who I love. 🙂

Also on my list to see are:

Young Adult

The Ides of March

The Artist

Drive

New Years Eve (J/K … just making sure you are paying attention)

The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo

Midnight in Paris

My Week with Marilyn

Sherlock Holmes (okay, not super Oscar-worthy, but it should be entertaining)

Ones I should see because they will get nominated, but haven’t gotten great reviews so far:

J.Edgar

The Iron Lady (I’m just so burned out on bio-pics and British period pieces).

Am I missing a movie? Should I remove any from the list?

Lavilla

The Great Gatsby: A new take on an old classic

I was excited when Katie and I decided to start our blog with the greatest of great novels — The Great Gatsby. I recently re-read the book and identified with very different themes than when I read it in high school AP English. As a teenager, the love story between Gatsby and Daisy entranced me, as I’m sure it did most teenage girls. What I missed was the great social commentary on the excesses of the 1920s and American culture in general. It is a great ironic book for anyone who believes in the American Dream, but who acknowledges its pitfalls.

When I read most books, I tear through them as quickly as my brain can process the words, but The Great Gatsby is like a fine piece of dark chocolate (also one of my favorite indulgences). You have to enjoy it slowly and savor the flavors before it melts away leaving you satisfied, yet longing for more.

Beyond the larger themes, the novel is chock-full of witty one-liners. One of my favorite quotes from the book is a line Jordan Baker says during one of the many parties at Gatsby’s. Jordan is not one of my favorite characters, but when I read the novel for a second time, many of her quotes stood out to me.  At a party, Jordan says this to Nick:

“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”

It’s one of many quotes and passages within the book that sounds at first like a paradox or oxymoron, but actually makes sense in the end. If you think about it, at a small get-together, your conversation is much more intertwined with the group, while at a large party, you can get lost in your own little world with one or two other people.

Now when I think of The Great Gatsby, I think of the East Coast elite, and crab cakes are an iconic East Coast, upper class meal. I found a recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook for Tuna Zucchini Cakes and I think it’s a new take on the traditional crab cake:

Tuna Zucchini Cakes

½ cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon butter or oil

2 cans water-packed tuna, drained (5 oz each)

1 1/2 cup shredded zucchini (A small, six-inch zucchini should do the trick)

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup minced fresh parsley

1 teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon or more of pepper (I always add extra)

1 cup bread crumbs, divided

2 tablespoons canola or light olive oil

1.) In a small saucepan, saute the onion in the butter or oil until tender. Remove from heat. Combine onion, tuna, zucchini, eggs, parsley, lemon juice, seasonings and ½ cup bread crumbs. Stir and shape into six 1.2-in.-thick patties. Coat with remaining bread crumbs.

The uncooked version

2.) In large frying pan or skillet, heat oil. Cook patties for 3 min on each side or until golden brown.

Makes 3 servings

The finished product

The cakes are good with some horseradish sauce. Make some by combining mayo with plain horseradish, in a 2 to 1 ratio. (If you like it less intense, add more mayo).

I would pair the cakes with a spinach salad and oven roasted potatoes. (Cut up three or four red potatoes in bite-sized pieces, place in glass pan, add ¼ cup water, drizzle with olive oil, top with salt, pepper, oregano, dill, rosemary, garlic powder, onion powder. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350^o)

The tuna zucchini cakes should only take about 20 minutes, so if you do both, start the potatoes first.

Lavilla