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I'm blogtastic today.

I don't know about you guys, but I for one am planning to watch the Oscars with Reel Grrls this Sunday. It's going to be mad fun!



Scarecrow Video, a local Seattle gem of a video store, just name-checked the Reel Grrls Oscar Party Oscar Party (coming up this Sunday, Feb 22, 4:00 PM at Central Cinema - get your tickets now!) on their BLOG! Definitely check it out - madamecrow has some great suggestions for your Oscar viewing pleasure.

I don't know if I'm going to post my predictions here like I did last year - I don't know if I want it documented for posterity that I tend to go down in a blaze of glory when it comes to Oscar predictions. Plus I've hardly seen any of the films. Except The Wrestler, which you need to see immediately because I know you haven't yet. Yes, you, I mean you. OK I have also seen Slumdog Millionaire but I am not even going to put a link because obviously you have already seen it. And I am grinchy enough to be all "meh" about Slumdog! I know, someone should come after me with burning pitchforks or whatever. Clearly I have no soul.

Anyway, all this is to say that if you want to prep your ballet, you can start HERE.

And start picking out your outfit for the big night!

le louvre - janvier 2009

It's been almost a year... and I'm just going to jump right into what I feel like saying.

I visited the Louvre for the first time ever about a week and a half ago. I've spent plenty of time in Paris, and the Louvre just always seemed like too big an undertaking. It was just so easy to fill my days sipping coffee or wine and meandering through boutiques and galleries - who needs an overwhelming museum packed to the rafters with tourists?

I wish now that I could regain the opportunity to while away my hours in this place. It seems cliche to be so captivated by such an obvious Parisian attraction, but what can I say - it's captivating.

I was struck with a certain sense of familiarity when I entered the great hall of the Louvre - unbelievably, a memory of having been here before, bubbling up through 24 years of mental mud and silt that had settled on top of it. I remember being afraid here - frightened by images of men agonizing in snake pits and lions dens, corpses laid out grey-faced and wept over, massacres of babies.
In truth, I've been here before. I was four.

As an adult, I am actually moved when I turn a corner and stumble upon De la Croix's le 28 juillet, La Liberte. I peek through a narrow, rectilinear doorway and see the Mona Lisa peering bemusedly back through a completely improbably parting in the crowd.

I've never been here, but I've been here. It's true for everyone I think.

I wander without a destination or objective - a horrible approach to this vast labyrinth of masterpieces. I stare at The Wedding Feast at Cana for a while and wonder that the artist chose to make Jesus look so sad and alone. Isolated in the middle of it all. Mary too. They stare off into the middle distance.

Oscar Predictions 2008

Oh Lord, already I am completely sucking at my predictions. Oh well. Here's how it's shaking down. I'll put an O for Oscar on the ones that won. So far I am O for like 5,000.

I thought I had a fighting chance of actually beating the potentially-unbeatable-and-oh-so-smug-about it Diana in the annual Oscar ballot smack-down this year. But when I sat down to fill the ballot out, it was really hard to separate my thoughts of what *will* happen from my predictions of what *should* happen. And then there is always the fun of defying the pundits and going for the longshot (echoes of the current political situation, anyone?).

Anyway, lest I try to deny my predictions in the future, here they are for posterity (and if I'm right in the end, I will have a glorious record of it here!)

I can't wait for tomorrow night.

80th Annual Academy Awards

Sunday, February 24, 2007
Prediction Ballot

Name: Maile____________ Total Points: __52_____/100

OK, MY PERFORMANCE WAS PRETTY BAD OVERALL BUT I'M NOT ASHAMED TO PUT IT UP HERE. WORTHY WINNERS ALL.


10 Points: ___10_____

Best Motion Picture of the Year
“Atonement” (Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster)
“Michael Clayton” (Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent)
X “No Country for Old Men” (Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen)
“There Will Be Blood” (JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi)
“Juno” (Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith)

8 Points: ____0____

Achievement in Directing
Julian Schnabel for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
Jason Reitman for “Juno”
Tony Gilroy for “Michael Clayton”
O Joel & Ethan Coen for “No Country for Old Men” DANG I THOUGHT I HAD THIS IN THE BAG. WELL THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST KICKASS FILMS OF ALL TIME SO WELL PLAYED, COHEN BOYS.
X Paul Thomas Anderson for “There Will Be Blood”

8 Points: ___8_____

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
George Clooney for “Michael Clayton”
XO Daniel Day-Lewis for “There Will Be Blood”
Johnny Depp for “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Tommy Lee Jones for “In the Valley of Elah”
Viggo Mortensen for “Eastern Promises”

8 Points: ____0____

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett for “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
X Julie Christie for “Away from Her”
O Marion Cotillard for “La Vie en Rose” THE MOST CHARMING ACCEPTANCE SPEECH EVER! FELICITATIONS MA BELLE!!
Ellen Page for “Juno”
Laura Linney for “The Savages”


8 Points: ___0_____

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Casey Affleck for “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”
O Javier Bardem for “No Country for Old Men” VERY MUCH DESERVED. A SUPERLATIVE VILLAIN.
Philip Seymour Hoffman for “Charlie Wilson’s War”
Hal Holbrook for “Into the Wild”
X Tom Wilkinson for “Michael Clayton”

8 Points: ___0_____

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
X Cate Blanchett for “I’m Not There”
Ruby Dee for “American Gangster”
Saoirse Ronan for “Atonement”
Amy Ryan for “Gone, Baby, Gone”
O Tilda Swinton for “Michael Clayton” ONE OF THE BEST ACCEPTANCE SPEECHES EVER. TOTALLY WORTH LOSING 8 POINTS OVER. I KNEW CATE WASN'T GOING TO WIN BUT I JUST WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE HER AWESOMENESS BY VOTING FOR HER.

7 Points: __7______

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
XO Director Stefan Ruzowitzky for “Counterfeiters” (Australia)OMG I ACTUALLY GOT SOMETHING RIGHT THAT WAS WORTH MORE THAN 2 POINTS.
Director Joseph Cedar for “Beaufort” (Israel)
Director Andrzej Wajda for “Katyn” (Poland)
Director Sergei Bodrov for “Mongol” (Kazakhstan)
Director Sergei Bodrov for “12” (Russia)

7 Points: ___7_____

Best Documentary Feature
“No End in Sight” (Charles Ferguson and Audrey Mars)
“Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience” (Richard E. Robbins)
“Sicko” (Michael Moore and Meghan O'Hara)
XO “Taxi to the Dark Side” (Alex Gibney and Eva Orner)ANNE'S COUSIN'S MOVIE! THANKS FOR GETTING ME 7 POINTS ANNE!
“War/Dance” (Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine)

5 Points: ___5_____

Best Original Screenplay
XO Diablo Cody for “Juno”
Nancy Oliver for “Lars and the Real Girl”
Tony Gilroy for “Michael Clayton”
Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco and Brad Bird for “Ratatouille”
Tamara Jenkins for “The Savages”

5 Points: __0______

Best Adapted Screenplay
Christopher Hampton for “Atonement”
Sarah Polley for “Away from Her”
X Ronald Harwood for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
O Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “No Country for Old Men”
Paul Thomas Anderson for “There Will Be Blood”


5 Points: __5______

Achievement in Music Written for a Motion Picture (Original Score)
XO “Atonement” (Dario Marianelli)
“The Kite Runner” (Alberto Iglesias)
“Michael Clayton” (James Newton Howard)
“Ratatouille” (Michael Giacchino)
“3:10 to Yuma” (Marco Beltramil)

3 Points: ___0_____

Achievement in Cinematography
“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Roger Deakins)
X “Atonement” (Seamus McGarvey)
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Janusz Kaminski)
“No Country for Old Men” (Roger Deakins)
O “There Will Be Blood” (Robert Elswit)

3 Points: __3_____

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
“Persepolis” (Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud)
XO “Ratatouille” (Brad Bird)
“Surf’s Up” (Ash Brannon and Chris Buck)

3 Points: __3______

Achievement in Music Written for a Motion Picture (Original Song)
XO “Falling Slowly” - “Once” (Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)YESYESYESYESYES! MAKE ART.
“Happy Working Song” – “Enchanted” (Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz)
“Raise it Up” – “August Rush” (Music and Lyric by Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas)
“So Close” – “Enchanted” (Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz)
“That’s How You Know” – “Enchanted” (Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz)

3 Points: ___0_____

Achievement in Art Direction
“American Gangster” [Arthur Max (Art Direction); Beth A. Rubino (Set Decoration)]
“Atonement” [Sarah Greenwood (Art Direction); Katie Spencer (Set Decoration)]
“The Golden Compass” [Dennis Gassner (Art Direction); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)]
O “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” [Dante Ferretti (Art Direction); Francesca Lo Schiavo (Set Decoration)]
X “There Will Be Blood” [Jack Fisk (Art Direction); Jim Erickson (Set Decoration)]

2 Points: ___0_____

Achievement in Visual Effects
O “The Golden Compass” (Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood)
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier)
X “Transformers” (Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier)


2 Points: ___2_____

Achievement in Makeup
OX “La Vie en Rose” (Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald) FINALLY I PICK A WINNER! ONLY WORTH TWO POINTS, BUT I'LL TAKE THEM
“Norbit” (Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji)
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Ve Neill and Martin Samuel)

1 Point:¬¬¬¬___1______

Best Documentary Short Subject
XO “Freeheld” (Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth)WOMEN DIRECTORS OH SNAP!! PLUS I SAW FIONA OTWAY, SEATTLE FILMMAKER, FRIEND OF REEL GRRLS AND TOTAL BADASS IN THE BACKGROUND!!!
“La Corona (The Crown)” (Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega)
“Salim Baba” (Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello)
“Sari’s Mother” (James Longley)


1 Point:¬¬¬¬___0______

Best Live Action Short Film of the Year
“At Night” (Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth)
“Il Supplente (The Substitute)” (Andrea Jublin)
O “Le Mozart des Pickpockets” (Philippe Pollet-Villard)
X “Tanghi Argentini” (Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans)
“The Tonto Woman” (Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown)

1 Point:¬¬¬¬__0_______

Best Animated Short Film of the Year
“I Met the Walrus” (Josh Raskin)
X “Madame Tutli-Putli” Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski: people you must see this film! It is completely amazing.
“Meme les Pigeons vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons go to Heaven)” Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse
“My Love (Moya Lyubov)” Alexander Petrov
O “Peter & the Wolf” Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

1 Point:¬¬¬¬___1______

Achievement in Film Editing
X0 “The Bourne Ultimatum” (Christopher Rouse)WOOT! ONE POINT FOR ME!!
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Juliette Welfling)
“Into the Wild” (Jay Cassidy)
“No Country for Old Men” (Roderick James)
“There Will Be Blood” (Dylan Tichenor)

1 Point:¬¬¬¬___0______

Achievement in Sound Editing
O “The Bourne Ultimatum” (Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg)
X “No Country for Old Men” (Skip Lievsay)
“Ratatouille” (Randy Thom and Michael Silver)
“There Will Be Blood” (Christopher Scarabosio and Matthew Wood)
“Transformers” (Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins)




Bonus: 2007 Razzie Awards!!
Worst Motion Picture of the Year
Bratz
Daddy Day Camp
I Know Who Killed Me
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
X Norbit


Worst Actor in a Motion Picture
Nicolas Cage in “Ghost Rider”, “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” and “Next”
Jim Carrey in “The Number 23”
Cuba Gooding, Jr. in “Daddy Day Camp” and “Norbit”
Eddie Murphy in “Norbit”
X Adam Sandler in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry”


Worst Actress in a Motion Picture
Jessica Alba in “Awake”, “Fantastic Four” and “Good Luck Chuck”
X The entire cast of “Bratz”
Elisha Cuthbert in “Captivity”
Diane Keaton in “Because I Said So”
Lindsey Lohan in “I Know Who Killed Me”


Worst Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Orlando Bloom in “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”
Kevin James in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry”
Eddie Murphy in “Norbit”
X Rob Schneider in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry”
Jon Voight in “National Treasure”, “September Dawn” and “Transformers”


Worst Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
X Jessica Biel in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry”
Carmen Elektra in “Epic Movie”
Eddie Murphy in “Norbit”
Julia Ormond in “I Know Who Killed Me”
Nicolette Sheridan in “Code Name: The Cleaner”


Worst Screen Couple
Jessica Alba & either Hayden Christensen in “Awake”, Dane Cook in “Good Luck Chuck” or Loan Gruffudd in “Fantastic Four”
Any Combination of Two Totally Air-Headed Characters in “Bratz”
Lindsey Lohan & Lindsay Lohan in “I Know Who Killed Me”
X Eddie Murphy (as Norbit) & either Eddie Murphy (as Mr. Wong) or Eddie Murphy (as Rasputia) in “Norbit”
Adam Sandler & either Kevin James or Jessica Biel in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry”


Worst Remake or Rip-off
“Are We Done Yet” (Remake of “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House”
“Bratz” (A rip-off if there ever was one”
“Epic Movie” (Rip-off of every movie it rips off)
“I Know Who Killed Me” (Rip-off of “Hostel”, “Saw” and “The Patty Duke Show”
X “Who’s Your Caddy?” (Rip-off of “Caddy Shack”)


Worst Prequel or Sequel
“Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem”
“Daddy Day Camp”
X “Evan Almighty”
“Hannibal Rising”
“Hostel: Part II”


Worst Director
X Dennis Dugan for “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry”
Roland Joffe for “Captivity”
Brian Robbins for “Norbit”
Fred Savage for “Daddy Day Camp”
Chris Siverston for “I Know Who Killed Me”


Worst Excuse for a Horror Movie
“Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem”
“Captivity”
“Hannibal Rising”
“Hostel: Part II”
X “I Know Who Killed Me”

Reel Grrls is Goin' to Sundance - With Your Help!

Hey y'all,

It is with great pride, enthusiasm, and excitement that we announce that Reel Grrls is making a trip to the 2008 Sundance Film Festival!

The Sundance Institute awarded us with a ticket package that covers films and panels for grrls and chaperons, but we need to raise the money for travel, lodging and food.

If you are looking for a good cause to support this holiday season, visit the Reel Grrls website and click on the donate link under the Sundance announcement. We only need to raise about another $1000, so every little bit helps! You can make your secure, tax-deductible donations via PayPal and know that you did a good deed.

Thank you from the bottom of my cinephilic little heart,

Maile

PS: Santa is watching!

Thanks Lex

My friend Lex, who is living everyone's dream of a "pretirement" involving a 2+ year trip around and around the world (OK, that's definitely my dream, anyway), just shared this poem:

"The Journey"

One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice-- though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. "Mend my life!" each voice cried. But you didn't stop. You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible. It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones.

But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do-- determined to save the only life you could save.

by Mary Oliver

At the risk of being dorkier than ever...

My daemon is a mouse?? Can this be?

Philip Pullman fans, please comment:

Ridiculosity

Oh My...

First ridiculous thing: I haven't posted in MONTHS! Note that the last post I made was when I had just started my new job. Turns out that working kind of takes away from my blogging time. Not to mention my traveling time, which is what I mostly used to write about here. Plus lately I am blogging quite a bit at reelgrrls.blogspot.com, so chigggety-check that out.

Second ridiculous thing: It's my day off; the sun is shining; and I'm sitting inside in my PJs and fooling around on the computer. Clearly that ridiculosity will impact the length and quality of this post, 'cause I need to get outside!

Third ridiculous thing: And this is AMAZINGLY ridiculous! I had to document this for posterity. You know when something totally ridiculous happens to you, and there is no one there to witness it, and you are like, "did that really happen?" even though you are standing there, dripping wet in ridiculosity, a sodden testament to the fact that it did indeed occur? Anyway, picture this: I am walking from the ferry to where I had parked my car. It was about 7pm, pitch dark, pouring rain. The walk takes me about 7 minutes if I am walking really fast, which I was. I was listening to my iPod on shuffle, and Bob Marley's "Exodus" came up, which I thought was weird because a Bob Marley song had played like two songs prior and it's not like there is that much Bob Marley on my iPod. But anyway I was listening to "Exodus" and holding my iPod to my chest in one hand, because I didn't have pockets, and in my right hand I was holding my umbrella, which wasn't doing the most satisfying job of keeping me dry but let me tell you it was POURING. I stepped in a puddle and found to my extreme disappointment that my embarassingly expensive but totally killer boots were not, in fact, quite waterproof, and I was fretting about my sock feeling kind of wet and squishy on my right foot when suddenly a wave broke right over my head. Honestly, it was like someone took a gigantic bucket of icewater and dumped it all over my body. I was so focused on my own internal monologue that I hadn't noticed the immense black puddle of water I was walking by, nor the sedan speeding toward it. I was right in the path of the tidal wave of black rainwater and fallen leaves it triggered when it hydroplaned across the puddle.

My hair was soaked, my mascara streamed down my face, my umbrella drooped in acknowledgement of its uselessness, and my boots were filled to the brim with water. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I may have done a little of both.