Notes from an Owl

“I firmly believe in small gestures: pay for their coffee, hold the door for strangers, over tip, smile or try to be kind even when you don’t feel like it, pay compliments, chase the kid’s runaway ball down the sidewalk and throw it back to him, try to be larger than you are— particularly when…

Charlize dances with Magic Mike. With her short-cropped hair, high cheek bones, and long legs, Charlize Theron reminded EVERYONE why she’s QUEEN of Hollywood. Channing Tatum was also cute trying make his stripper dance moves look classy.

“Inocente” reminds us why arts and creativity are important.  The speech was   emotional: art can save someone and can come from anyone.It was a nice reality check,

The Tie! “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Skyfall” both receive wins for Sound Editing.  Not only was this a rare incidence, I’m glad Zero Dark Thirty didn’t go through the Oscars totally empty handed.  

Barbara Streisand sings about “memories.”  The In Memoriam piece at the Oscars has been awkward the past few years, but hearing Babs sing for the great Marvin Hamlich was a sweet moment.

Our favorite British songstress Adele Adkins becomes shy and cute when accepting the award for Best Song. 

Jennifer Lawrence falls but still charms.  It was cute to see JLaw take a second to say “f#@#” to herself but also to gather and savor the moment.

Daniel Day Lewis jokes with Meryl Streep. The notoriously serious actor displayed his comedic chops when he joked that he was going to play Margaret Thatcher and Meryl was going to play Lincoln before they decided to swap. These 2 share 6 Oscars!

Ben Affleck cries and closes out the night with emotional and inspiring words.  Everyone loves a comeback story.

So one of the tweets I read was: “Jennifer Lawrence tripped on the banana peel we all planted for Anne Hathaway.”

This is incredibly mean-spirited and it makes me feel disappointed in people.  Thankfully, Annie (yes, we’re on a first name basis) is a cool cat(woman) so all this hatin’ won’t really faze her.  On her big night, I will admit that she underwhelmed: all the way from her ill-fitting dress and flat hair to her “meh” acceptance speech. But let’s not forget, she was a powerhouse this year, and deservedly so.

1. She owned her role: Quality speaks (or sings) for itself.  Even though she was only in the film for ~20 minutes, Annie was the jewel of Les Miserables.  Tragedy, anguish, and despair were never more effectively and efficiently expressed.  She took the legendary “I Dreamed a Dream,” and made it her own.  Oh yeah, and she got her hair chopped off and lost a bunch of weight for the role: true commitment. 

2. Catwoman: equally impressive, she reinvented and brought new life to the iconic Catwoman, a role that could have easily been cheapened and massacred, with  ”wickedly delicious gravitas” according to LA Times. She embodied the precision, cleverness, and mysteriousness of Catwoman but also layered it with her own unique Anne-ness. She trained extremely hard to do all her own stunts, and made it look easy in a leather suit and heels. It was so sweet that she was such a big fan, and really chased this role.  Girlfriend is a hard worker and does it in style.

3. She sings, dances, does great impressions, raps, and does the splits all at that the same. Beat that!

4. Her hair is so cool.

5. She’s kind and compassionate.  She’s always looking to give to others.  During her own acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, she used valuable time to give Sally Field one of the sincerest compliments.  Sally was clearly moved.

In the end, 20, 30, 100 years from now, people will be inspired by her work, and that’s what really matters.  Hate does not inspire.  You keep smiling and singing, Annie!

Daniel Day-Lewis, Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway, and Cristophe Waltz are 2013’s Oscar winning actors. J-Law’s face is priceless. I’m so happy for all of them.

Good Night, And Good Luck

elaymade:

Whether it’s for a road trip, a friend or for my next run, making playlists is one of my favorite pastimes. I love the thrill of discovering new music, coming up with themes and finding just the right song to fade into the next.
I first saw prints by Old Star Press at Reform…

Saw the film, and I liked it.  I knew what I was getting myself into: more than 2.5 hours of all singing, Broadway-style, and all the over-the-top theatricality that comes with it.  If that’s not your thing, don’t dislike the film for those reasons.  There are multiple weak points, but many standout moments as well.  Anne Hathaway was fantastic and Hugh Jackman did an admirable job.  Let’s start with the good, and even great!

Hugh Jackman - carried the film, and I love the physicality he gave to Valjean. Even with the bad hairstyles, I enjoyed every frame Jackman was in, and was really rooting for his character the entire film.

Anne (“Annie”) Hathaway -  filled the screen, brought the emotional punch that the film need, and reminded us what true stage presence is.  I wish she had been in the film longer, but she definitely made use of her time, and commanded every scene she was in. Even though the film didn’t get too deep into the character of Cosette, I couldn’t help wanting wonderful things for her, because of the desparation and love I could feel from Hathaway’s Fantine.  

Gavroche - this little boy had the most noticeable British accent, but he was too darling, and was really one of the highlights of the much flawed 2nd half.

Lil’ Cosette - great casting by the director. This little girl is what holds the film together (Fantine’s love, Jean Valjean’s life changer, love of Marius), and they definitely found the right child actress. She’s beautiful, sweet, intelligent, and strong all in one.  SHe makes you want to fight for her, and fight for the film.

Eddie Redmayne - I don’t really have a thing for gingers, but I enjoyed Marius.  I think Fantine would have approved of Redmayne’s Marius.

Not to say he shouldn’t be given credit for his effort, but Russell Crowe was definitely the weakest link, and his singing should have been cut by at least 50%. Compared to the first 30 minutes of Les Mis - which is so powerful with Jean Valjean’s journey, Fantine’s demise, and the sad sweetness of lil’ Cosette - the rest of the film is lacking the emotional gravitas to overlook its flaws.  Despite the empathy for Eponine and Marius, the 2nd half of the film was overfilled with far too many characters and singing.  Yes, this is more a fault of the musical, than the film, but I think there was room be creative and to capture what the musical was missing.  Strong performances from Jackman, Hathaway, Redmayne, and the little kids, the visual imagery, and the grand scale of the production all make the film worthwhile and worth the price of admission.  However, there is a sense of, what could have been (if there were a different Javert, and more emotional moments in the latter half the film).