BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

 

The Nominees Are:

• The Barbarian Invasions (Canada)


• Evil (Sweden)


• The Twilight Samurai (Japan)


• Twin Sisters (The Netherlands)


• Zelary (Czech Republic)

 

Erin’s Pick: The Twilight Samurai

Marisa’s Pick: Twin Sisters

 

The Winner Last Year Was: Nowhere in Africa (Germany)

 

I’m being arbitrary here, and I’m not sure if Marisa is or not…

 

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Lesson of the Day: Two different organizations using the same clipart for their ad campaigns doesn’t work. Example: Around campus recently there have been an abundance of signs with the Uncle Sam pointing image (believe me, you’ve seen it before). Most (sponsored by the Denison rugby team) say “I WANT YOU to join the Women’s Rugby Team.” However, the rest (put up by Computing Services) say, “I WANT YOU to get virus protection.” They use the EXACT SAME Uncle Sam image, and the EXACT SAME font. You tend to gloss over them because you don’t realize they’re for two different things, especially since the campus is saturated with signs for the women’s rugby team right now (Remind me to tell you about Liz’s sign war sometime).

 

Well, I went to Cherie and Punya’s Pride and Prejudice marathon yesterday. Although I wasn’t completely wrapped up in the plot (like everyone else watching it), I found that it was watchable. I have seen far worse (such as 75% of the History of Cinema movies; speaking of which, I recently found out that my professor from that class isn’t teaching at Denison anymore, which is weird because I saw him on campus one day a few weeks ago). Besides, there was a fencing scene (albeit a brief one). The only thing I felt awkward about was Colin Firth, or rather, everyone else’s reaction to him. The only other movie I’ve seen him in was Shakespeare in Love, but I understand he’s been in several other things. Anyways, all the girls I was watching Pride and Prejudice with (actually, there weren’t really any guys there) were absolutely sighing and swooning other Colin Firth, and several other girls who passed by (we were watching this in the lounge) commented on how they loved Colin Firth or how cute they thought he was. Meanwhile, I didn’t find him the slightest bit attractive (I’d label him as “average-looking,” although compared to the other guys in the movie, he was probably the best-looking of the bunch), and I felt really out of place. Since I was vastly outnumbered (and some of the girls were bordering on savage swooning), I decided to keep my observations to myself.

 

My parents sent me Lord of the Rings valentines. This is proof to me that they are (or at least my mom is) officially obsessed with LOTR. The thing I hate about valentines based off movies or TV shows is that they are invariably, unforgivably cheesy. These LOTR valentines are no exception. Examples include: A picture of Frodo holding the ring up accompanied by the caption “May this Ring true-Happy Valentine’s Day;” A picture of Gollum with the caption “Hope your Valentine’s Day is Precious;” A picture of Frodo and Sam with the caption “I’ll always be on your side! Happy Valentine’s Day;” and a picture of Boromir and Faramir’s father (I don’t remember his name) holding a chalice accompanied by the caption “Hope your Valentine’s Day is full of good cheer.” Actually, that last one borders on disturbing (if you’ve seen the movie, you’ll understand why). Last year my parents sent me Harry Potter valentines, which Marisa decided to pass out to everyone in the dorm. I was going to do the same thing last night, but Liz showed up before I got around to it. She just bought Alice in Wonderland on DVD, so we watched that. I hadn’t seen it in at least ten years, so it was interesting to see what I had and had not remembered (and how my demented mind twisted some of the things I remembered).

 

That’s all for now. I’ve gotten all my homework done, so I want to watch a movie before I go to bed. Trouble is, there are so many that I feel like watching. I’ve gotten it narrowed down to A Beautiful Mind, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Pirates of the Caribbean, Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Help. Then there’s those Stargate SG-1 episodes I have…

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

 

The Nominees Are:

• Girl With a Pearl Earring


• The Last Samurai


• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King


• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World


• Seabiscuit

 

Erin’s Pick: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Marisa’s Pick: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

 

The Winner Last Year Was: Chicago

 

This award, more often than not, goes to historical movies, but we like ROTK anyways.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

 

The Nominees Are:

• City of God


• Cold Mountain


• Girl With a Pearl Earring


• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World


• Seabiscuit

 

Erin’s Pick: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Marisa’s Pick: Girl With a Pearl Earring

 

The Winner Last Year Was: Road to Perdition

 

I’m telling you, ROTK was snubbed in this category. How they couldn’t nominate it is beyond my comprehension. I haven’t seen any of these movies, but I arbitrarily went with Master and Commander.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

 

The Nominees Are:

• Balseros


• Capturing the Friedmans


• The Fog of War


• My Architect


• The Weather Underground

 

Erin’s Pick: The Weather Underground

Marisa’s Pick: My Architect

 

The Winner Last Year Was: Bowling For Columbine

 

We’re still being arbitrary, since we haven’t heard of these, either. I just picked The Weather Underground because it’s also a weather website, and I just found the concept funny.

 

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A while back, I told you about the appearance at home of a cat that was identical to Monkey. I promised pictures, and here they are. They're not that good, but it's the best my mom could do:

 

This is the real Monkey-Face, who died in December 2002.

 

 

 

This is the Monkey look-a-like who showed up on our back step.

 

My mom hasn't decided if she's going to keep him yet or not. She let him back outside once, and he came back the following night.

 

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Has anyone heard of a 21-year-old pianist named Lang Lang? I have to go to his concert in Columbus in March for my 20th Century Music class. Actually, I had a list of concerts I could choose from, but I went with Lang Lang because Denison is providing discount tickets ($50 tickets for $5) and transportation, and I would be on my own for the other concerts. He's supposed to be really good. The concert is March 30, which is a Tuesday, so I'll have to miss fencing (), but my attendance record for fencing is stellar, so it won't be too much of a blow. It's also the day before the Joshua Bell concert at Denison. Joshua Bell is a violinist who's actually getting a good amount of press these days (for a violinist, at least). He's the primary player on The Red Violin soundtrack, and his current album seems to be consistently in the top 10 at Barnes & Noble. I saw him on Conan O'Brien one night, and thought he was really good. I guess that will just be a very musical week.

 

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

 

The Nominees Are:

• Asylum


• Chernobyl Heart


• Ferry Tales

 

Erin’s Pick: Ferry Tales

Marisa’s Pick: Ferry Tales

 

The Winner Last Year Was: Twin Towers

 

Once again, we are being arbitrary.

 

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Not much to say, other than that, except for one thing: I FINALLY BEAT ROSS IN FENCING!!!

BEST EDITING

 

The Nominees Are:

• City of God


• Cold Mountain


• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King


• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World


• Seabiscuit

 

Erin’s Pick: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Marisa’s Pick: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

 

The Winner Last Year Was: Chicago

 

Even though I was somewhat critical of the use of unnecessary fades at the end of ROTK, the montage while Pippin is singing is truly an editing masterpiece, and I stand by that. This category has been strange for the past couple years, because I’m starting to view it as an editor, not as a movie lover. Don’t worry; I’m not about to turn into a cinema purist…

BEST MAKEUP

 

The Nominees Are:

• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King


• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World


• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

 

Erin’s Pick: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Marisa’s Pick: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

 

The Winner Last Year Was: Frida

 

Again, another tough call (and wow, those nominees have really long titles). In the end, eyeliner and gold teeth won out over elf ears, although I’d say both movies have a fair chance of winning.

 

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I’m not watching the Grammys, but I did hear that Evanescence won Best New Artist, so at least someone I liked won something (the reason I don’t watch the Grammys is that usually there’s no one I like who’s nominated). Nothing else to say right now so I’ll leave it at that.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

 

The Nominees Are:

• Big Fish
  
• Cold Mountain
  
• Finding Nemo
  
• House of Sand and Fog
  
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

 

Erin’s Pick: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Marisa’s Pick: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

 

The Winner Last Year Was: Frida

 

Here’s something that confuses me. Last year, Two Towers was not nominated in this category (I remember Marisa being quite upset about that). I later read that it was because of some Academy policy about sequel scores being ineligible if they’re done by the same composer and the music is similar to the first movie. If that’s true, then shouldn’t Return of the King be ineligible as well? In any case, I do think that Two Towers has the weakest score of the three, so maybe it was as simple as that. I was kind of hoping that the Pirates of the Caribbean score would be nominated, but I wasn’t expecting it to. Return of the King has a good score, though. Big Fish being nominated just reminds me of a trend among the cinema purists: They all worship Danny Elfman (in addition, John Williams is “tolerable” to them, but don’t you even think about praising James Horner). The cinema purists drive me nuts (no offense to Danny Elfman)…

 

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Well, last week the girl next to me who was keeping the puppy was finally caught. There were three security guards standing outside her door last Sunday night, listening to the puppy cry and waiting for her to come back. She didn’t come back until after they left, but the RA had a talk with her. The girl ended up giving the puppy to one of the RA’s friends who lives in a satellite house (not to keep, just to take care of it). However, it seems to be back, because I can hear it carrying on next door.

 

The people in the hallway are being really loud. From what I can hear, they're getting ready to go to a "ghetto party," which is a hilarious concept if you know anything about Denison students.

 

I’ve acquired a bunch of Stargate SG-1 episodes, so I think I’ll go watch them now.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

 

The Nominees Are:

• “Belleville Rendezvous” from The Triplets of Belleville


• “Into the West” from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King


• “A Kiss At the End of the Rainbow” from A Mighty Wind


• “Scarlet Tide” from Cold Mountain


• “You Will Be My Ain True Love” from Cold Mountain

 

Erin’s Pick: “Into the West”

Marisa’s Pick: “Into the West”

 

The Winner Last Year Was: “Lose Yourself” from 8 Mile

 

“Into the West” is a really beautiful song that fits on two levels, both as an appropriate conclusion to the story and as a fond farewell to the fans, since this is the final movie in the series. I actually liked the song that Pippin sang in the movie slightly better, but I don’t think it qualifies because the lyrics were written by Tolkien decades ago, hence the song is not “original.” But I digress.

 

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Sorry for posting so late tonight, but I was busy. I went to Slayter to watch the Lion Dance and Kung Fu exhibition that the East Asian Club was sponsoring for Chinese New Year (Liz, Cherie, and I helped set up and attended the dinner last night. We also stayed to help clean up, which I wasn’t planning on doing, but I now have three boxes of rice sitting in the refrigerator). It was really impressive (just so you know, it was done by a group out of Columbus, NOT by Denison students). I met up with Liz, Cherie, Punya, and Madhu there, and afterwards, I felt like being social. Liz was doing something with her parents, and Cherie was going to the Winter Formal (which I had forgotten about-oops), so I invited Punya and Madhu back to my room to watch a movie. They decided on Pirates of the Caribbean. Neither of them had seen it before, and they loved it.

 

I found out on Tuesday that my senior project is only supposed to be ten to fifteen minutes long. I had expected it to be an hour or 90 minutes. That actually left me kind of disappointed, because I was planning on doing an adaptation of my “Code” story, and there’s no way I can fit it into 15 minutes. Actually, I plan on doing an honors project, which allows me to make my movie up to a half-hour long, and I might be able to manage that. Then I came up with an idea for another movie that might be easier to do. In my Research Practicum on Tuesday we watched some senior projects from years past. Only one person has ever done a science fiction movie (then again, the MTA major has only existed since 1996), and it was one of the ones we were shown. Apparently, the guy who made it had gotten grant money for wire harnesses and green screens, but he ran out of time before he could finish with the visual effects. In any case, the movie is very well-edited, but it has no originality at all. Basically, it’s a carbon copy of The Matrix. It doesn’t even try to disguise this fact. The names are different, but the plot and most of the scenes are exactly the same. The guy playing the “Morpheus” character even looks like Laurence Fishburne. I just can’t believe something that’s so obviously unoriginal was done as a senior project.

 

I also made some decisions regarding my “other” potential career track. I discussed this with my mom, and we decided that if I go to medical school, I will take a year off after I graduate from college before I do so. That may seem like a simple plan, but for some reason, I feel a lot better now that it’s settled.

 

Well, this blog is long enough. I’ll probably post tomorrow.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

 

The Nominees Are:

• Boundin’


• Destino


• Gone Nutty


• Harvie Krumpet


• Nibbles

 

Erin’s Pick: Destino

Marisa’s Pick: Nibbles

 

The Winner Last Year Was: The Chubbchubbs!

 

Marisa and I frequent animated short films about as often as we frequent live-action short films, which is never. Actually, we did see last year’s winner, The Chubbchubbs!, at the Sci-Fi Marathon, and it’s pretty funny. However, we’re being pretty arbitrary this year, although after I made my pick, I did come across a little bit of press about Destino.

 

 

Sorry for not posting sooner, but I was sick on Sunday and Monday, and yesterday I was just too tired. I watched the Super Bowl from about the middle of the first quarter on, which means I missed the pre-game show, but Styx wasn’t in it so I don’t consider that a great loss anyways (they played in the pre-game last year and three years ago). I wasn’t particularly rooting for one side or another, since both teams seem good to me (the weird thing about football is that, although I like watching it, there aren’t any teams I strongly love, but there are a few I hate with a passion). I did see the Janet Jackson boob shot and at first I thought it was a planned part of the show, because I saw something sparkle, which made me think she was wearing a pasty. Once I saw the news the next morning about CBS apologizing for it, I decided that maybe it was a nipple ring that I saw. Then came the talk about it being a “nipple shield” and speculation that she and Justin Timberlake secretly planned the thing, and now I’m back to being neutral about whether or not it was intentional (Liz thinks it was an accident). I do wish CBS/MTV/the Super Bowl people would drop the whole “family-centered event” thing, because it’s a double standard. Apparently, a one second shot of a breast will psychologically damage your kids and turn them into perverts, but Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” song is perfectly harmless and appropriate for the whole family (not to mention the scantily-clad women in the commercials). At least, this seems to be their train of thought. Don’t get me wrong. The breast shot (if it was intentional) was inappropriate, but not once did I ever think of the Super Bowl as being “family friendly,” and I’m not out to make it that way, either. It’s the hypocrites in the media that I’ve got a bone to pick with.

 

Well, it’s official. Laura and I are going to Disney World in July. She and my mom made the downpayment on Friday. Laura accidentally added an extra day to the package, which raised the price by about $200, but I decided I wasn’t going to complain about getting an extra day of vacation. We’re probably going to spend the next few months making mental lists of what we should do there. I haven’t been to Disney World since I was seven, and a lot has changed, especially with Epcot. I was a little bummed when I found out that Horizons, which was one of my favorite rides when I was there (although I remember very little about the ride itself; I just remember liking it) was torn down about three years ago. Mission Space is there now, and that looks exciting, so I probably won’t miss Horizons that much (most of the Epcot stuff that I remember is now gone, actually). At least this time I can actually enjoy the World Showcase, now that I’m old enough to appreciate it. Kids find the World Showcase to be extremely boring because there aren’t that many rides in that area. I know. I was one of those bored kids once. Now that I’m twenty, I’ll probably be fascinated by it.

 

I wish the Mulberry Lab had the VCR hooked directly into the computer, not through the DV tape player. The video jack is screwed up somehow, so occasionally the video cuts out, which really sucks when you’re trying to digitize something…