MAFFE - BEST PICTURE 2007

Oscar Talk - The SAGS and Race Relations

With all the bloggers getting upset about who wasn't nominated and who was put in the wrong category and so on, I would like to look at something a little different. Who was nominated. Race has always been a political hot button, and people walk on eggshells trying to be all PC about it. In reality Hollywood is a white American male world. No one can really argue with this without (to me) looking, shall we say, uninformed. However this year there is a vast amount of the acting talent that is not Caucasian. Could Hollywood finally be becoming a melting pot?
When you look at just the SAG noms alone, 40% of the main nominated actors are not Caucasian and 25% are non American Caucasians. Fantastic!! The awards are going Ethnic and Global! All other minority nominees in the ensemble category make up 42%. Not bad at all. To think that an actor could not get their name written down during the nomination process because of their race is something that was very common not too long ago. Could it be that people responded to the performance and did not see skin colour, or hear accents? They could have gone with any of these worthy white actors - Annette Benning, Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck, Michael Sheen, Mark Walberg, Catherine O'Hara, Emily Blunt, Aaron Elkhart and even Borat himself - but there were only five spots to fill.
Who ever was nominated and for what ever reasons they weren't, doesn't matter. This should be a time to look at the fact that, at least for the SAG’s this year, being white is not the sh*t.
I am sure if these norms translate into Oscar we will see alot of self-congratulatory articles creeping up in the press about the diversity of the year, but it only makes a difference if it continues. There is so much talent out there...CAST THEM!!!!
However next year Hollywood could prove me so wrong, as it has again and again.

Just a leaving thought. Does anyone else find it kind of funny, that one year after the Oscars went all homophobic on us, they hire a big ole dyke to host? I am excited to see what she does, but they can’t expect to build burnt bridges so quickly.

Oscar Talk - Screen Actor Guild Awards!!!

Well the ole acting guild has struck again. They do like to mix up the acting categories, notice Leonardo is considered supporting for The Departed. The winners will be announced at 8 p.m. Jan. 28 in a live ceremony presented on TNT and TBS.

SAG Nominees
Nominees (Film)

Best Actress
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children

Best Supporting Actress
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

Best Actor
Leonardo Dicaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Will Smith, Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Djimon Honsou, Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls

Ensemble
Babel
Bobby
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine

Hmmm, no Jack, no Letters from Iwo Jima, no Brad, no Ben, and no Borat! hmmmmm. Will discuss later.

Oscar Talk - Producers Guild Awards Announce!!

These guys sometimes pick movies that do not show up in the Oscar line up. Last year they had Walk the Line over Munich, and in 2005 they had The Incredibles over Ray. Here are the nominees.

Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

What is interesting is they have left out both of Clint's Oscar baiters. Which of these will be dropped from the Oscar for Best Picture?? Little Miss Sunshine and Babel are sure to get the ensemble nomination when SAG announces later today. Could Clint only end up with a Director nomination???? Comments please!

MAFFE - BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS 2007

Leaving off Adrianna Barraza - Babel, Sook-Yin Lee - Shortbus, Carrie-Ann Moss - Snowcake and Vanessa Redgrave - Venus was extremely difficult. I have no idea what I will do with the lead performances. I hate leaving people off, but at least I have let you all know I was thinking of them

MAFFE - BEST ACTOR 2007

I struggled to include Sasha Baron Cohen – Borat , Clive Owen – The Children of Men and Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson , but could not upset the top 5.

Back to blogging very soon!

Oh my God I am so stuffed. Mince pies, turkey, chicken, cassava pie, roast plain and sweet potatoes, roast parsnips, carrot and swede mash, gravey, cookies, brandy butter, brandy, champagne, wine, baileys, chocolates, stuffing, stollen, smoked salmon, salad, cakes, ginger bread, ginger bread men and spiced nuts. I am gonna need to butter myself to get through the door. Every year it com, and every year I am never prepared for the amount of food I will force myself to ingest. I mean I was eating when over stuffed, just because it was there! It was all worth it, and it was one of the best Christmas days I have had in a long time. You should have seen Jeremy's face when he got his light saber!!!! So worth it!! Here is a selection of the amazing gifts me and mine got this year!
A fantastic musical DVD
Jeremy is a geek
Red iPod Nano helping AIDS relief in Africa
The best gift I could have ever received
I book I will finally now read
A brilliant DVD which accompanies 'The best gift I could have ever received' nicely
Something to be creative with
My Toni
And finally my childhood obsession

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE!!

Well, it is that time of year again, only for the first time in 31 years I will not be at my family home, or be in Bermuda (my place of birth). So such traditions as a family Xmas eve dinner, gathering around the TV with Mark and Pheona and the family to watch ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ (animated version thank you!) and frantically trying to finish off the baking will not be happening today. Instead Jeremy and I plan to clean the apartment, do some last minute baking using the Williams Sanoma cookie press I was given years ago, go for a nice walk and a drink down the pub, and come home to a warm stew and watch A Christmas Story…….and maybe I will read him The Grinch…with voices and everything!!!
So to all my family and friends who may have a look at my blog tonight. Have a wonderful Christmas eve and may you not be woken by footsteps on your roof.

Music Video Backtrack 1

Oh, this so brings back memories. VH1 pulled this version as it was deemed too raunchy, and she released the performance video y'all saw. Considering the song was one of the first top 10 songs about lesbian love, I really don't understand why the VIDEO was the problem for American audiences. Oh Sophie B.....how I loved thee....(but my mate Robyn loved you more).

BEST DIRECTOR 2007

I LOVE Toni Collette!!!!

This woman is not only a brilliant actress and dancer, but a fantastic singer!!! Here is hoping she continues doing remarkable and amazing character work. Although I, and many, feel she is due for more serious consideration, she will never be an Oscar recognized actress as you never notice her acting. She just is the person on screen, the wife, the mother, the girl, but never the actress. This is the gift of a true chameleon. And just to think, she lost the part of Roxy Hart in Chicago to lemon face! Oh the horror!!!! oh.......and she was truely robbed for The Sixth Sense!!!! Angelina who?????
Here is a video stolen from you tube (with everything else on here) of her first single. Toni Collette and The Finish - Beautiful Awkward Pictures

I LOVE Jennifer Hudson!!!!!

What did I tell you y'all. I love this girl, and without even seeing the movie I hope she wins every award possible. Loved her from day one on American Idol to today. I even made a "Robbed" T-shirt with her picture on after she was voted off and wore it proudly. What I liked about her is the fact that she understood music history and she was so humbled by herself. I remember watching as she performed "Imagine" by John Lennon on American Idol. After finishing she broke down crying, and when asked why by the judges, she replied something like "It was my dream to perform on national television, and now I have." Ahhhhhhhhh bless.

Taken from her website:

"In a recent interview, I was asked how I reconciled being a Christian with performing at events for my gay fans. I find it upsetting that some folks equate being a Christian with being intolerant of gay people. That may, unfortunately, be true for some, but it is not true for me. I have talked often of my love and support of the gay community. I have said again and again that it was the gay community that supported me long before and long after AMERICAN IDOL, and kept me working and motivated. It is the gay community that celebrated my voice and my size and my personality long before DREAMGIRLS. Yes, I was raised Baptist. Yes, I was taught that the Bible has certain views on homosexuality. The Bible also teaches us not to judge. It teaches us to love one another as God loves us all. I love my sister, my two best friends and my director dearly. They happen to be gay. So what? While some search for controversy, I hope that my friends and fans who know me, know where I stand."
-Jhud

MAFFE - BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 2007

Well I like to keep five nominees and sometimes it is very difficult as if there is a shift in my mood then I may like to place in either Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls or Mark Wahlberg - The Deprated or Alan Arkin - Litttle Miss Sunshine and take out one of the above. However the hardest to leave off the list was Steve Carrell - Litttle Miss Sunshine. As of now I am happy with this line up, but I did feel Wahlberg, Arkin and Murphy were both very deserving of their nominations.

Bermuda-Land of Hypocrites

Take from www.365gay.com June 4th, 2006.
"(Hamilton, Bermuda) Hundreds of people have demonstrated on the grounds of Bermuda's House of Assembly, protesting against a wall of silence by legislators on a bill that would have added to sexuality to the Human Rights Act.
The bill was introduced by MP Renee Webb and sent to committee where Webb made an impassioned 90 speech.
"We in Bermuda need to ensure that we join the democratic countries of the world and fight for freedom for all of its people," she told committee members.
"I believe that Bermuda needs to move towards becoming a more compassionate society and not allow discrimination under the guise of any particular belief to take place."
When it came up for debate MPs without saying a word voted it down.
The majority of those who came out to demonstrate were not gay, rallied together by a Hamilton human rights group.
“I’m ecstatic that so many people came out and stood up for democracy,” said Webb, a former Cabinet Minister.
The inclusion of gays in the Human Rights Act was opposed by the island’s black church leaders.
One of those who voted against the measure was Patrice Minors a member of the cabinet. Asked by one protestor why she had opposed the bill Minors said defended herself saying that she voted according to her “Christian principles.”
Webb said she intends to reintroduce the bill next year, the earliest it could return to the Assembly."

This is where I grew up. It is funny how religion is so closely resembling Nazism.

Mini Review Number 3 - Pan's Labyrinth

Set during the Spanish Civil War, a bookish and curious little girl is taken up to the mountains by her sickly pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, who is the fascist captain of a military camp. Lonely and book-hungry, the young girl finds herself transported into a fantasy world, where she meets her guide, a faun, who reveals she is the long lost princess of his world. She needs to perform 3 tasks to prove she is worthy of her title before she and her unborn brother can come back to her kingdom. All while trying to avoid the nightmare of the war going on around her.
Dark, twisted and beautiful, this entwines fairy-tale fantasy with war-movie horror to startling effect. The idea that the most horrific monster is man himself even in a fantasy world where there are creatures that eat children speaks volumes about the world we live in today. Guillermo del Torro has crafted an exquisite fable about the innocence and the price one pays to preserve it. If only he had directed The Chronicles of Narnia.

Mini Review Number 2 - Happy feat....

The penguins seem to be the toast of Hollywood. They shuffled miles across the brutal Antarctic to the podium at the Kodak Theater to accept the best documentary Oscar in 2005 for The March of the Penguins, and they stole Madagascar from the singing dancing lemurs. Now Happy Feet arrives with a plucky penguin who dances his way to fame.
In Happy Feet, Mumble (Elija Wood) is born into a colony of Emperor penguins that specialize in singing. Every Emperor worth his ice can carry a tune but Mumble can't sing at all. However, he's a fabulous dancer who specializes in tap (of course…ballet or modern would be far to gay). This impresses his childhood sweetheart Gloria (superbly voiced by Brittany Murphy) but everyone else deems him a freak, and blames his abnormality for the lack of fish in the waters. His is sent away by his ‘flock’ and vows to find out why there are no fish, but more importantly prove himself to his colony and his family.
From here the film takes a ‘message movie’ route tackling how mankind is destroying the environment. This route is none to subtle either, but with the state of the environment as it is people need to be hit over the head with the message. I felt the environment message did not go as far, dark and frightening as it should have, children are impressionable and need to see the consequences of their and their parents actions. Out of the mouths of babes comes the truth....or so they say.
However the film does a fantastic job at representing the natural world of the penguins, their environment, the dangers they face and struggle to survive from egg to chick. Before you write it off as a message movie, remember it is a musical. There are musicals numbers around every turn and long after you leave the theater you will be humming ‘Somebody to love’ by Queen, and ‘Boogie Wonderland’ by Kool and the Gang – both of these sung amazingly well by Brittany Murphy. Hugh Jackman, Robin Williams and Nicole Kidman also supply songs by the like of Elvis, Prince and Frank Sinatra. Go see it, take the kids (or not) and buy the soundtrack…you won’t be sorry.