And The Oscar Goes To...

Like Billy Hoyle (pictured above) in White Man Can’t Jump, I was in the zone this morning. I plowed through my long run with relative ease. I almost pushed myself to run a half-marathon, but I decided to stop myself at 10 ½ miles. I was definitely aided by a new addition to my workout playlist – Wolfmother.

During my run, I kept thinking that the guitar player reminded me of Slash, who is my favorite musician of all time. Well, turns out that Andrew Stockdale, the guitar player of Wolfmother, played on Slash’s recent solo album. I thought that was pretty cool.

Anyway, tonight is one of my favorite nights of non-sports television – the Academy Awards. I’ve seen 90% of the movies nominated for best picture this year (sorry, I didn’t get around to seeing Winter’s Bone). I’m going to run you through my definitive list of Oscar winners in the six biggest categories.

Actress in a Supporting Role:

· Amy Adams – The Fighter

· Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech

· Melissa Leo – The Fighter

· Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit <--- WINNER

· Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom

First off, I would have been tempted to vote for Hailee Steinfeld in the Best Actress category. The success of True Grit was most dependent on Steinfeld mastering the intense dialogue. The scene where she is bartering with a county judge over her murdered father's belonging was beyond impressive. She also blew Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges off the screen, which isn’t an easy feet.

Actor in a Supporting Role:

· Christian Bale – The Fighter <--- WINNER

· John Hawes – Winter’s Bone

· Jeremy Renner – The Town

· Mark Ruffalo – The Kids Are All Right

· Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech

Lock of the night. Christian Bale’s depiction of crack addled Dicky Eklund is the type of performance the Academy usually eats up. I just hope somebody doesn’t interrupt his speech, sending him into another psychotic rant. Although he isn’t going to win, I think Jeremy Renner was amazing in The Town.

Actress in a Leading Role:

· Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right

· Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole

· Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone

· Natalie Portman – The Black Swan <--- WINNER

· Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine

Admission: This is my weakest category. I have only seen two of the actresses’ performances – Natalie Portman and Annette Bening; however, I feel confident in saying that Natalie Portman deserves this award. Portman’s transformation from the white swan to the black swan was remarkable. Early in the movie, she is so weak, meager, and, unbelievably, unattractive. By the end of the movie, she is unrecognizable as the black swan.

Actor in a Leading Role:

· Javier Bardem – Biutiful

· Jeff Bridges – True Grit

· Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network

· Colin Firth – The King’s Speech

· James Franco – 127 Hours <--- WINNER

All the buzz is that Colin Firth is going to win this award. While I think he is a worthy candidate, James Franco should win this award. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, Franco really nailed his representation of Aron Ralston. Additionally, Franco’s supporting actor was a rock, not Geoffrey Rush.

Best Director:

· Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan

· David O. Russell – The Fighter

· Tom Hopper – The King’s Speech

· David Fincher – The Social Network <--- WINNER

· David and Ethan Cohen – True Grit

I’m probably in the minority, but I don’t think that Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, or Armie Hammer (what a name!) are great actors. I think they were all propped up in how Fincher used them in the movie. Additionally, Fincher seamlessly was able to incorporate the fast-forward litigation scenes without losing the audience, which can prove very tricky ***cough*** LOST: Season Six ***cough***

Best Picture:

· Black Swan

· The Fighter

· True Grit

· The Social Network

· 127 Hours

· Toy Story 3

· Winter’s Bone

· The King’s Speech <--- WINNER

· Inception

· The Kids Are All Right

I just can’t find a flaw with The King’s Speech. The exchanges between Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush are truly gripping. Also, while I am by no-means an expert on set design, Lionel Logue’s (Geoffrey Rush’s character) office really added to the movie in a tangible way. Trust me, I wanted to pick Social Network. I really did. However, for me, what separated the two movies was the ending. I was somewhat disappointed with the ending of Social Network. In stark contrast, Colin Firth’s final speech had me hanging on every word. I was emotionally invested in the outcome of that speech. I would have been crushed if Bertie (Firth’s character) hadn’t nailed it.

"If you train hard, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to beat." - Herschel Walker

Day #15: 10.55 miles – 81 min.