Oscar Nominees 2013

Wow, what a difference a year makes! Last year at this time, The Artist was winning pretty much everything it was nominated for, but, this year the Oscar race is wide open. Which, in my mind is always much more exciting. Equally exciting was the nomination telecast itself, which was hosted by the dreamy Emma Stone and this year’s Oscar telecast host, Seth McFarlane.

Yes, you heard me right, the reading of names from a prompter was actually very exciting this morning! Funny too! I laughed out loud several times, but, my favorite moment was when Stone announced the Best Supporting Actor nominees. After every name she said: “Nominated Before.” And they were! The category is full of previous winners. Crazy! And hilarious to make fun of it too. Honestly, I was a bit worried about Seth McFarlane hosting the show this year, but, if he’s as funny and original as he was this morning, then, bring that shit on, baby. He was on fire! And, he even scored a Best Song Oscar nomination for his movie Ted.

Anyway, most of the major nominees are names we’ve been hearing all season, Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi, Argo and Les Miserables all did really well in several categories, but, the biggest coup in my mind was all the Oscar love for Amour, which scooped up nominations for Best Foreign Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture! Wow! I can’t remember the last time a foreign film did that well. Good on, you guys!

Also very excited to see Naomi Watts score a Best Actress nomination for her fine work in The Impossible, even if poor Ewan McGregor got overlooked…again! Grrr! Also totally overlooked was John Goodman, who shone in at least three major movies I can think of and would have made a perfect rookie addition to the Best Supporting Actor category. Also totally robbed was John Hawkes for his superb work in The Sessions. He was awesome (as was his co-star Helen Hunt, who did score a nomination this morning for the same movie). If you ask me, I’d say Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) stole more than a loaf of bread this time around, he also stole John Hawkes Best Actor nomination. Sorry, Hugh, you were great, but, I’m just saying…

I was also stoked to see David O. Russell back in the Best Director race after losing out on a DGA nomination early this week. In fact, the only holdovers from the DGA’s nominations are Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg. I can’t even remember the last time the lists were that different. And though I’m sorry Ben Affleck didn’t score a nomination for directing Argo, I was excited to see Russell back in the running as well as the Beasts of the Southern Wild dude and Michael Haneke for Amour. Neither of which I’ve seen yet, so, I’d better get busy!

Anyway, in the end, I think I’m rooting for Silver Linings Playbook the most. The movie is fantastic and has really crept up on me over the past few weeks since I saw it. Like a lot of my favorite movies, it really sticks with you and that’s always good. Also, it scored nominations in every acting category, as well as nods for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, which is a good sign. Especially in year with no clear frontrunner. So, go, Silver Linings Playbook!

Dying to hear what movies you loved or hated this year and, more importantly, what you thought was overlooked. So, feel free to comment away. And to see a full list of this year’s nominees, click here.

Date Night Movie: “The Impossible”

As I’ve mentioned a few times, Mrs. Yeti and I don’t get out much these days, but, when we do, we see movies. And this past weekend, we saw an amazing one. The Impossible is the true story of one family’s struggle to survive the devastating tsunami that swept through Southeast Asia back in 2004. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts turn in truly Oscar-caliber performances (there is one scene with Ewan on a cell phone that will literally rip your heart out!) but the boy who plays their eldest son, Tom Holland, is also incredibly good in a star-making turn.

That said, The Impossible is extremely graphic and very disturbing and is most definitely not for kids. Three people at our screening actually left the theatre in the first half hour, and these are supposedly jaded Hollywood types. Ha, losers! What’d they think they were coming to see? Wreck It Ralph?

Anyway, the movie is beautifully written by Sergio G. Sánchez and is directed by Juan Antonia Bayona, the same mad Spanish geniuses who teamed up to scare the hell out of us a few years back with The Orphanage. And just as he did in that movie, Bayona uses sound like no one else in the business. Seriously, sometimes the sounds are more harrowing and horrific than anything you’re seeing onscreen in this film. It’s pretty amazing. And the visuals are just as stunning, despite the gruesome events they’re often focusing on.

I won’t kid you and say this is an easy movie to sit through, Mrs. Yeti said she loved it, but that it was so real and troubling for her to watch, especially as a mother to a young child, that she could never watch it again. But, she said the exact same thing about Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue and we watch that all the time, so, you never know.

So, if you’re on the market for a truly inspiring, deeply-moving film this holiday season, then this is the date night movie for you. But, bring lots of Kleenex. Like, a whole box. Trust me, you’ll need it.

The Impossible opens in limited release on December 21st.