My Love of Oscar

Okay, so I tied for third in the office Oscar pool. I would have done far better if the person who organized it didn't weight the categories differently. Last year, each successful prediction was worth one point. This year, Best Picture was worth five, smaller technical awards were worth one, and the acting and more prestigious awards fell somewhere inbetween. So even though I picked the surprise win of Marie Antoinette for costumes, I also didn't pick The Departed as best picture. Oh well. I believe the pot was worth a whole $20. I made $26 last year, so I'm still the biggest winner ever.

Some thoughts:

• The Dreamgirls medley was slightly more interesting than the actual movie.
• Helen Mirren was smokin' hot. Not just for her age. She rocked that gown. And totally deserved her win.
• Apparently the Academy is also slightly creeped out by Eddie Murphy (I thought it was just me). Even though he was my pick (I was trying to be strategic; it wasn't a wish list), I was so happy for Alan Arkin. In fact, I bought Little Miss Sunshine today in his honor.
• I love Ellen. I don't care what the critics say, I think she was pleasantly non-offensive. The awards just felt so grown up and classy. I can hardly remember the year of Chris Rock...
• Marty Scorsese deserved it.
  
• I had no idea Clint Eastwood spoke Italian. And I wouldn't mind a photo of him with me on myspace (Ellen's strength: audience interaction).
• When did Jack Nicholson first grab that front-row seat? How does he manage to reserve it every year? And what's with his new Britney-esque (read: no hair) 'do?
• Al Gore has an Oscar. This cracks me up. He was actually one of the most charismatic personalities there.
  
• Oh, Ryan Gosling. You didn't win, but Will Ferrell sang to you. And you sat beside Meryl Streep. So really, you did win.
• I called the screenwriting awards. Now I just need to write something. Or show up on Canadian Idol. But my worst nightmare may come true and I'll have to fend off the advances of Ben Mulroney. So. Much. Gel. (Nah, there's less Ben-hating than there used to be. I think I just want his job).
• Forest Whitaker thanked God. Jennifer Hudson thanked God twice. I'm glad Denzel's not the only one...
  

And semi-Oscar-related thoughts:

• The Independent Spirit Awards were fun. And Ryan won (as did his Half Nelson costar, Shareeka Epps). Best song tribute ever: the Dusty Springfeld-esque "was a crack-headed teacher man." Yeah, go see Half Nelson if you want to see a great indie film.
• Christian Bale is on the cover of GQ. He'll be at the Oscars one day soon.
  
• I swear, people, it's all about Breaker High (Ryan) and Newsies (Christian).
• I bought Little Miss Sunshine and The Devil Wears Prada today. They were super-cheap at Shoppers Drug Mart. Who would have thunk it?
  
• I tried to watch Gone With the Wind yesterday afternoon. But I fell asleep during the opening credits. I guess I was more tired than I thought. I will watch it in 2007. Promise.
• Today, I discovered that pretty much my entire office has an obsession with Ryan Gosling/Rachel McAdams. Someone saw Rachel (pink hair and all) on the subway this weekend (she was working in TO), and all of a sudden, everyone has a McGosling sighting. They know where they eat, where they live, where they rent their DVDs. We are a sad bunch. Boys included. At least I fit in...

Since I stayed up way too late last night, I'm aiming for an early night tonight. Around 2 in the morning, a car alarm in the parking lot outside my window went off. It was one that also accompanied a flashing light. Needless to say, I was a bit of a mess this morning.

Nadine's Predictions

Okay, folks, what you've all been waiting for: 2007 Oscar Predictions from yours truly.
I handed in this list with my toonie at work, so I've got some serious cash riding on its success.

In alphabetical order:

Actor - Leading
Forest Whitaker - THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

Actor - Supporting
Eddie Murphy - DREAMGIRLS

Actress - Leading
Helen Mirren - THE QUEEN

Actress - Supporting
Jennifer Hudson - DREAMGIRLS

Animated Feature
HAPPY FEET

Art Direction
DREAMGIRLS

Cinematography
CHILDREN OF MEN

Costume Design
MARIE ANTOINETTE

Directing
Martin Scorsese - THE DEPARTED

Documentary Feature
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

Documentary Short
TWO HANDS

Film Editing
UNITED 93

Foreign Language Film
PAN'S LABYRINTH

Makeup
PAN'S LABYRINTH

Original Score
THE QUEEN

Original Song
"Listen" - DREAMGIRLS

Best Picture
BABEL

Short Film - Animated
THE DANISH POET

Short Film - Live Action
ERAMOS POCOS (ONE TOO MANY)

Sound Editing
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

Sound Mixing
DREAMGIRLS

Visual Effects
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST

Screenplay - Adapted
THE DEPARTED

Screenplay - Original
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Wednesday

The week is more than half over. For this reason alone, I could celebrate. The weather has also been non-painful, which means that I've actually been getting a little exercise. And Vitamin D. So good.

There was a moment at work today when I put my head down on my desk and muttered to no one in particular (and heard by only a few trusted co-workers), "I don't know if I should kill somebody or take up drinking." And then I went back to work. I did not kill anyone. I did have a Jones soda, though. I figure I'll start with the bottle shape and move up from there :)

On a much lighter, non-doomed note, my name is featured in Variety! Okay, so it's just a passing credit at the end of the Sleeping Dogs review (which is a pretty big deal in the first place), but somehow I was credited as the art director. I am considered "above the line." I am no one's assistant. Of course, this title is completely exaggerated (they gave the actual art director the title of production designer), but I'll take what I can get. Man, I should print that out and put it in a portfolio. I made vomit out of soup and bought polyester suits from Value Village. I love promotions that happen after the fact: no added responsibility.

I ended up getting out of work by 3:15, which was a nice way to end my stressful morning. I also finished my spectacular eggplant & turkey casserole I made this week. Maybe I should go to some Martha Stewart academy. And now I'm mulling over Oscar nominations, trying to make my predictions for the office's pool. I won last year and have a handbag named Oscar to show for it. Unfortunately, the bag's pretty much worn out, so I'm feeling the pressure to win again. I'll post my predictions before the awards air.

Why am I still not on IMDb? My dreams are so small....

Tomorrow

I know that single people are supposed to hate Valentine’s Day, but I don’t. I never have. The only semi-annoying memories I have from the day revolve around me trying to get past awkward adolescents making out by my locker in high school. Apart from that, I’m all for the chocolates, the extra love songs on the radio, and the flimsy My Little Pony cards floating around.

Some joys of Singles’ Awareness Day:

• The “Perfect 10” valentine Ian gave me in kindergarten. I don’t even remember who Ian is, but that card rocked.
• The construction-paper heart envelopes we made every year to hold our cards and goodies. During class time. Public school rocked.
• The candygram from Christian Bale.
• The year I convinced someone that my boyfriend didn’t believe in sending chocolates. I had some sympathy for about five minutes. Until the guy realized that I didn’t have a boyfriend the day before.
• “Boy Free Since ’83.” I made that shirt in university. I could have made a fortune selling them.
• Oh, the Campus Crusade Love Panel. So much fun. Too bad I wasn’t on it. The single girl always got scooped up shortly after.
• The red and pink Smarties box hidden in my luggage when I went to Quebec in grade 8.
• Candy is pretty. And then it goes on sale.
• My grandma gave me a valentine on Sunday. Care Bears. It’s a nostalgia hug.
• Chick flicks are on TV, and I don’t have to worry about comparing the lead with the guy beside me.
• It’s a quasi-holiday that breaks up the winter. Sure, you don’t get the day off, but the mall makes you feel like there’s a holiday anyway.
• If you don’t spend the day with a significant other, it keeps the day free from messy memories of Valentine’s being spent with an ex. I’ll never get weirded out by memories of watching TV on the 14^th.

Jessica Simpson Is No Ebert

Jessica Simpson confuses me. I realize that's not the most shocking revelation, but the other day, I ran across an interview with her that really stumped me. I shall share my bewilderment with you all.

First, some background: I'm a fan of The Notebook. I don't really care if you don't. Sure, it's unapologetically sappy and sentimental and a little idealistic, but it also looks at the other side of "happily ever after." It looks at love as something worth fighting for. It doesn't exempt it from some pretty painful stuff.

My love for the Ryan Gosling/Rachel McAdams team aside, I think the opening line pretty much sums up the flick/book:

I am a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough.
Book.

The movie makes me cry. And then makes me want to get married so I can grow old and die with someone. It does not make me want to get divorced. At all. So this is why I'm confused:

Simpson and Lachey, 33, starred in the MTV reality show, "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica." She filed for divorce in December 2005, after three years of marriage.

She made that decision, she says, after watching the 2004 romance "The Notebook" on a plane ride home to Texas. "I just figured out the statement," she says of the movie, starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as star-crossed lovers. "It was about that moment of desperation. I needed to breathe."

Source.

Has Jessica Simpson ever seen a movie before? "I figured out the statement." She must have some sort of film interpretation skill that is so beyond mine. I thought it was about enduring love. What statement? That she should leave her husband? "Moment of desperation"? Sure, Allie realizes that the man she's about to marry may not be "the one," but this conclusion is reached BEFORE marriage. And then they stick it out together.

My brain hurts just trying to make sense of her.

I wonder if she thought the statement in Braveheart was that she should conform to corrupt authority. I mean, clearly Wallace's fate was meant as a cautionary tale...

My Brain is Tired

I’m not very good at blogging consistently. By the time I sit down at my computer, I’m tired of both computer screens and the thoughts that have been mulling in my head all day. Therefore, my exhaustion robs you of my brilliant insights. I’m also hesitant to write much about other people, as I read this article about a guy who started dating a girl who blogged about her sexual conquests and found himself as that week’s topic of discussion. Not that anyone in my life would have such a thing to fear…

I just wanted to clarify as to why these entries are so Nadine-centered. Besides, it’s my blog. Straight from my brain. I find the “me”-ness appropriate.

Today’s thoughts:

1. Only Rachel McAdams can get away with pink highlights.

2. Thanks to JPod, I’m now wondering about the personal life of Ronald McDonald.

3. If you buy frozen chicken that says “seasoned,” it means that there’s salt added. So don’t add your own. You will be thirsty for the rest of the week.

4. Abigail Breslin brought cookies in her purse to the SAG awards. We would totally be best friends if I was 10. Or if I was 23 and lived in L.A.

5. There’s a lady on the subway who wears the most impractical stilettos every morning. And they click in a way that tells me they’re cheap and uncomfortable. I like my big black winter boots. Super sexy.

6. My hair is growing out, making the unevenness of my last cut incredibly obvious. You know when grade-schoolers decide to cut their own hair? That’s my current look.

7. The blond Bond was quite entertaining. I did find it amusing that the writers, in attempting to redeem some of the predictable objectifying-of-women stuff found in most Bond films, chose to have 007 naked far more often than any of the women.

8. When they say that Pan’s Labyrinth is an adult fairy tale, they mean, “This will scar your children.” And if you can’t stand to watch a man stitching up his own sliced-open face, you shouldn’t go either. Squirming aside, it was pretty amazing.

9. I turned down a month-long trip to the Philippines because I didn’t actually want to work when I got there. My boss first interpreted it as my being scared to go alone. He then interpreted it to mean that I don’t like training in general, and that someone else should take over for me in Toronto as well. Training English majors in Ontario is very different from training quasi-English-speakers in the Philippines. But that’s my boss.

10. I have a new cell phone. So far, it has not randomly died in the middle of a conversation.

11. I would like to be British when I grow up.

12. I check my email too often.

13. Katie Holmes has apparently turned down the Batman sequel. Part of me doubts she was officially offered it. And part of me isn’t really into brainwashing husbands. If I ever marry Tom Cruise, please shoot me. If you can find me…

14. Sometimes I work on really cool stuff at work and I’m not allowed to tell you about it. But most of the time, I work on really crappy stuff and I’m still not allowed to tell you about it. I will say that I worked on Joan Crawford’s last feature film and it was craptastic to the utmost degree.

15. Most touching breakup line ever: “I’ll always remember you as the guy who gave me my first burrito.” Nineties TV rocks.

16. I wish I knew how to play poker. And had poker friends to play with. And was a celebrity so I could play poker with my friends on TV.

17. Anyone catch the musical Scrubs episode? Pure brilliance. Now I want a musical CSI.