78th Annual Academy Awards

Nominations are out today and I think I'm going to do both a prediction and my personal choice:

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) - Choice and Prediction. He deserves it. Trust me.
Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow)
Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain)
Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line)
David Strathairn (Good Night, And Good Luck)

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
George Clooney (Syriana) - Prediction. He did a lot of publicity for this movie and the Oscars are political.
Matt Dillon (Crash) - Choice. He was outstanding. I am still disgusted by his character thinking about it. Simply amazing.
Paul Giamatti (Cinderelle Man)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain)
William Hurt (A History of Violence)

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Judi Dench (Mrs. Henderson Presents) - Choice. Judi Dench can never do wrong in my eyes.
Felicity Huffman (Transamerica)
Keira Knightley (Pride & Predjudice)
Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) - Prediction. This one seems pretty clear. A lock.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adam (Junebug)
Catherine Keener (Capote) - Choice. Her and Phillip were excellent together.
Frances McDormand (North Country)
Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)
Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) - Prediction. Most people really liked her.

ANIMATED FEATURE
Howl's Moving Castle
Corpse Bride
Wallace & Gromit - Choice and Prediction. The sexual innuendo makes it my choice and everything else makes it the best animated feature this year. Corpse Bride, while I love Timmy B., was the Nightmare Before Christmas but worse. Howl's was a defenite decline in comparision to other work of the same authors.

ART DIRECTION
Good Night, And Good Luck
Harry Potter - Choice. I'm sorry I really have always liked the art direction in these movies.
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha - This is more of a hope that anything else. I just don't think Harry Potter can win and the otheres weren't memorable for me.
Pride & Predjudice

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Batman Begins
Brokeback Mountain - Prediction. Only because my personal choice has never been picked in this category ever. And I feel like Brokeback is going to get a lot of awards or people will be out for blood.
Good Night, and Good Luck
Memoirs of a Geisha - Choice. Did you see it?
The New World

COSTUME DESIGN
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Choice. I'm very sad it didn't get Art Direction.
Memoirs of a Geisha - Prediction. Movies like this always get costume design.
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride & Predjudice
Walk the Line

DIRECTING
Brokeback Mountain - Prediction without a doubt. Publicity says it all.
Capote
Crash - Choice. Hands down. I'm not saying Brokeback wasn't really good. Both films were extremely well executed, but...this movie did it for me. The ensemble was excellent and I always give that credit to the director.
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Darwin's Nightmare
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Murderball
Street Fight
March of the Penguins - Choice and Prediction. Otherwise I'm out for blood. Though I didn't see Enron and I have a feeling that's in the running.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT - Haven't seen enough of them.
The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang
God Sleeps in Rwanda
The Mushroom Club
A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin

FILM EDITING
The Constant Gardener
Crash - Prediction and Choice. I see very few flaws in this movie and I am very, very picky about editing.
Munich
Walk the Line

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM - Can't comment...not a good year for me and foreign films, I guess.
Don't Tell
Joyeux Noel
Paradise Now
Sophie Scholl - The Final Days
Tsotsi

MAKEUP
The Chronicles of Narnia - Prediction and choice. Pretty much the only thing that movie had going for it.
Cinderella Man
Star Wars: Episode III

MUSIC (SCORE)
Brokeback Mountain - Prediction. People always go for that type of music.
The Constant Gardener
Memoirs of a Geisha - Choice. I'm a John Williams fan through and through, but I didn't like Munich's score at all.
Munich
Pride & Predjudice

MUSIC (SONG) - I can't do this category. I never know what songs they're talking about.
"In the Deep" (Crash)
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" (Hustle & Flow)
"Travelin' Thru" (Transamerica)

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Badgered
The Moon and the Son - Choice and Prediction. I've seen all of these films, but I saw this one at NYU over the summer and met the creator. He gave a lecture. It was the most intense animated short I've ever seen. And I consider animated shorts my favorite category.
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
9
One Man Blind

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION) - No comment. I don't even know how to see short live action films.
The Runaway
Cashback
The Last Farm
Our Time is Up
Six Shooter

SOUND EDITING
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
War of the Worlds - Choice. I actually didn't hate this movie and the sound editing was pretty good.

SOUND MIXING
The Chronichles of Narnia
King Kong - Prediction and choice. Another of the movies fine features...and these categories are rarely political anyway.
Memoirs of a Geisha
Walk the Line
War of the Worlds

VISUAL EFFECTS
The Chronichles of Narnia
King Kong - Prediction and choice. Narnia is a close second, but not that close either. I don't feel like an explanation is necessary if you saw it. King Kong looked good. On a side note, bad visual effects ruin movies for me.
War of the Worlds

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
Brokeback Mountain - Prediction. Publicity again. Politcs, god damnit.
Capote - Choice. I loved the wit and the structure of this movie. Movies like this are sually too slow for me, but the pacing of the events was perfect. The characters, although I supsect they were heavily added to by the great acting, were extremely interesting as well.
The Constant Gardener
A History of Violence
Munich

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
Crash - Prediction and Choice. Even if you don't agree about the execution..the source material was damn good. Some of the best lines and sequences I've ever seen.
Good Night, and Good Luck
Match Point
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana

BEST PICTURE
Brokeback Mountain - Prediction. Based on Golden Globes and the ridiculous amount of buzz regarding this film. It'd be a nice upset for it to lose, in my opinion though. I think any other year I would've said Capote, but this was just a tough year competition-wise.
Capote
Crash - I bet you saw this one coming. I really think this movie will be hailed as one of the finest films of at least the last couple of years in the not-too-distant future. And really wish Brokeback hadn't come out to steal away Crash's due through pure controversy.
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich

Immortality is the Theme

I guess it's always been one of my only sources of frustration: a lack of time. It's not simply enough to spend my time in a wise and/or enjoyable manner; I'm obsessed with being, I don't know, "up to date" in everything. I still try to see every movie that looks remotely interesting as they come out, scooping up the missed ones at the dollar theatre. I always have a giant pile of books to "get through." And lately I've been reading up a lot of art history, philosophy, photography, filmmaking, geography, and even science, but I still lack that feeling of completion. It feels very much like you're typical uphill battle, a hill that lacks a top. I have this problem filtering out things I really, really enjoy from the things I feel obligated to do/study/etc.

What worries me most is I know it's only going to get worse from here. Can you imagine me trying to decide on classes in college? It's going to be a nightmare. I think I'm going to have to figure out which things I can learn about on my own in a book and which things I should take actual classes in. I know it's ridiculously cliche but ther are quote so many things to experience and not enough time to do them. My list is endless...and the worst part is most of them are not one-time experience-type things. I don't want to just fly an airplane once...I want to make it a frequent thing. I don't want to just go rock climbing...I want to be a rock climber, golfer, hiker, biker, etc...

It takes a huge amount of time to just remember the things I want to do. I can't even imagine the amount of time it'll take me to do them. The funny thing is...I have an actual list. Written up and everything...a running list actually. It gets added to with a terrifying frequency. The travel alone will take a huge amount of time. I don't mean to make any of this sound like a chore or an obligation (although I think I used that exact word). I do genuinely enjoy the type of things I've discussed...that's, perhaps, the problem.

In truth, I hope I have a succesful career early, so I can, seriously, sort of vanish out of the public spot light and go on a classic adventure. I'll sail and rock climb and ski and race dogs and go flying and trek through the jungle and canoe and really see the world from a lot of perspectives. Then, maybe, I'll feel inclined to return to filmmaking and with any luck have a really unique world view and sort of infuse my work with that. It sounds hopelessly planned out and it's kind of funny to word it so exactly, but these are my...what do you call them?...hopes. I'm not sure how long the "adventure" will take. A year...five...ten...I expect I'll come across a stopping point. I genuinely want to live out of a bag and see where life takes me...no strings, contrainsts, etc. It's going to make family-age difficult, but that has never been a priority for me anyway.

Does anyone out there feel this way? Everyone, maybe? I have to know everything and more importantly sense (see, touch, smell, etc.) everything in person. The world is like this beautifully complex place and I want to hold it all in my memories at once...hopefully to relate it to others...to save them the "trouble" or inspire them to seek the same thing. I sort of understand that I sacrafice a lot of traditional experiences for this kind of lifestyle, but I think it appeals to me more. Maybe I won't own a big home and fill it with things and have children and all of these classic things, but...maybe there will be time for that too. Later. I mean, people live a long time. Not nearly long enough, but I've only wasted like a little more than a fifth of my life (hopefully) in Rochester...

It all boils down to being able to totally own someone in a conversation, I think. I totally want to be that guy with the crazy adventure stories...or that always has some opinion people are seeking...or whatever...it's a lot of work, though.And of course, lot's of pictures and journal entries to document it all...

I've been thinking a little more about it and I guess the only thing I really lack is a good travel partner. That's the key.

Seriously, does anyone else feel this way? Anyone? Hello? Any takers?

Shrug

I had to watch my little sisters today. It was alright. We watched a bunch of movies (The Muppet Movie and The Nightmare Before Christmas included). I just "put them to bed" although they seem a little old for that term to apply. I asked them to go to bed and they complied, especially since they were half-way alseep during the last movie. (By half-way asleep, I mean Alexa was completely asleep and Jordan was completely awake). Ba dum, bum ching. (That was a drum set...oh, nevermind).

I also had like a ka-billion hours of musical practice today. I could've left like four hours earlier than I did, but no one told me that and whenever I asked I was told to hang out for "a little bit longer." So, yea, I don't care that much anyway. I think things are making good progress, but it's hard to tell at this point in the game.

That's pretty much it. Probably wasn't even worth writing an entry. Ha. Maybe I'll get to work on some storyboards.

Hmmm, I wonder what's going on tomorrow...

Pictures of My Room (At My Mom's House)

Sorry! I am in a picture mood:

My room at my mom's house changes whenever my mom has a new idea for decorating it. Sometimes I'm suprised by changes. Right now it's a red, black, and white and semi-Asian themed.

There are two beds because my brother stays in there when he is home. Well, actually, it's very, very rare that we ever both sleep in there at once. Usually one of us is downstairs sleeping in the basement when he's home.

Yea...there's the desk I don't use, the dresser full of clothes I don't wear, the clock that isn't set to the right time and the plant I never water. Outside, though, is a bookshelf with a ton of classic books I want to read...eventually. Maybe this summer.

This picture, the asian symbol, is sort of the ispiration for my entire room. I think it's from Pier One or one of those scary places.


See? I wasn't joking about the Asian theme.

That stereo doesn't work, but I use the map over my brother's bed all the time. I'm in the process of marking all my roadtrip plans on there in the sense that I'd like to do it. I haven't actually started yet or anything.

These two, obviously, aren't in my room, but I took them a couple of days ago and though I'd pop them in:

I refuse, on principal, to rotate pictures.

It was nearly pitch black when I took this picture, but when I cranked up the shutter speed I was somewhat confused to find that the swingset was still casting a shadow. Must have been a light source somewhere, I guess.

Fiesta!

See, I was standing in the bathroom waiting to take a picture of whoever came in next, and, more or less, Megan was ready to take my picture.

Megan was, like, writing on people's hands. I wanted nothing to do with it, but Jeff was down (and, apparently, horny),

I can't remember if I promised pictures of Megan's suprise party or not, but if I didn't...here are some pictures from Megan's surpise party.

Kevin was putting the moves on Eric all night. Or at least that's how I remeber it.

Tony, Baglio, and Capizzi manned the futon when we retired to Dan's room later in the evening.

The light in Dan's basement, swirlified (that's a technical photographic term).

Dan's wall.

Eric, Kevin, and Heyman watching Arrested Development (the best show on television) on Dan's computer.

Dan, Heyman, Madelyn, Dan, and Traina lounging around.

Tony, Baglio, and Capizzi (Lemon-Squeezie) sitting on one of Dan's many, many futons.

Eric, Tony, Baglio, Eric, Capizzi (in Dan's room).

Traina has some sort affection for sea creatures?

Weird-looking Megan and Rick.

Dan's wall, spiraly.

Dan and Madelyn through Christmas tree lights.

In case you ever wanted to see what Dan's shower looks like.

Or his toilet.

Or his Madelyn (Table-view Madelyn).

Rick. Plain and complex.

Shrug. I was in the bathroom and thought I should take pictures...naturally.

Swishy Dan. For some reason, I actually really like this one.

Dan, Madelyn, Kevin, Megan, and Capizzi hanging out around the table...eating. Jeff, Heyman, Baglio, Eric, Traina, and I were all there too.

Table-view Dan.

Serial-Killer-Kevin follows through on his fourth murder, Megan.

Table-view Kevin.

Pictures of My Room

I was bored...

My guitar.


My bookself and the Indy wall.

My desk as seen by the floor (trying to hide my shoes).


My shoes, exposed.

My favourite thing on the wall.

My desk, the mattress on the far wall, etc. (That ball of fur is my cat).


My bed.

My chess board.


Again.

Underneath my desk.

My desk from above.

My bed, again, I think.


My bed as seen by the desk.

My wall.


My bookshelf is fully equipped with a Snapple bottle to hold change.

Cha-Ching!

I have a real financial crisis on my hands right now. First of all, Netflix charged me a week early, before I had the money to give to my Dad, which is annoying but not life threatening. He's not very happy about it, but if I pay him back it shouldn't be a problem. However, he hasn't seen the $76 charge I put on the account to pay for the labcoats and things...or the $13 charge for blank DVDs. I'm getting some money tomorrow to pay for the Netflix and DVDs, but it might be a few days before I get all the money for the labcoats. Especially since Kevin still hasn't been paid for the money he put into the prison set. (I wonder if my future credit is going to be this poor. Uh oh). Anyway, conclusion: I need a job.

We filmed Mr. Borland's first scene today. It was a lot of fun. We have a new way of recording sound, which is working masterfully. Good things for the future. We were really rushed, but still pulled out some nice takes. I can work with it most certainly. He was a good sport. He actually thanked us "for the opportunity." He's good at memorizing lines very fast. Have I mentioned that I have really high hopes for this movie?

I had musical practice for once today. Although it consisted of me running through the two scenes I am in in the first act and leaving after about twenty minutes. It's nice to remember that I'm actually a part of the show. In the next couple months I'll have a lot of rehearsing to do, but the way they've got it scheduled (heavy focus on the big numbers and not a lot of scene work) leaves my scene-oriented character under-rehearsed. I'm not complaining. I'm really busy with the movie right now anyway.

We had a "surpise" party for Megan today, but I couldn't be there for the actual suprising (due to the previous paragraph). Lots of pictures to follow tomorrow. For now I'm going to contemplate the inevitible lecture for my abuse of the credit account. It's for art, damn it!

Forecast

Just a list of (things that are in the mix/ideas I want to eventually follow up on):

1. Sandstorm, the Movie (of course) - Feature Length
2. Stage Crew, the Musical - Two Acts
3. Empty House, a 30-minute Short
4. Pecking Order, a 10-minute Short
5. The Foot Movie, a 10-minute short

Plus, for my Eagle project, I want to make a short documentary on organ donation. I have to figure out how that's going to work.

Summary: Oh, God.

I don't even understand writer's block. How do you get that? I've never had a lack of ideas...just a lack of time to polish/finish them.

Yawn! (That's Command Tense, Suckers)

I did fine on the Economics midterm (knock on wood). I was happy to realize that it is shorter than the average AP test, only two hours and ten minutes long. After the test, Tony, Eric, and I went to get scrubs and labcoats for the scene we're filming on Friday with Mr. Borland. We also left Mr. Borland a note in his mailbox to remind him:

"Dearest Borland:

We miss you terribly. Stop. War is not what we imagined. Stop. Just writing to remind you of our rendezvous this Friday at half passed two. Stop. Please send post to confirm. Stop. Like all things, this letter must stop. Stop.

Best regards,
Eric and Tim. Stop."

At the uniform shop where we got the labcoats the guy who rung us up wanted to give us a card to "remind us of the shop when we have other costume needs." REMINDER: He asked us to bring a DVD of the movie when we're done. I think it'd be fun to actually do that. I know it's a little weird, but it was fun to pretend to be a professional. It makes me look forward to, I don't know, doing this whole process with money and prestige. Maybe that'll happen someday. There are just so many things with this movie where if we had more people or more money or more time it could be so much better.

I spent the rest of the day at home. I got some things done, i.e. storyboards for Friday's scene. Now I'm at my mom's house where everyone goes to bed at 8 o'clock and I'm bored for the rest of the night. Well, there's always work to do. So I'm never really bored anymore. Lazy, perhaps.I have a bad feeling that I'll end up at home all day tomorrow. Not out of a lack of opportunity, merely a lack of ambition. There are worse fates. I really should get a jump on preparation for the upcoming scenes. Ha.

There are a bunch of classes that I never got a chance to take at this school that I wish I could've. Lot's of them: Government, Psychology, Environmental Science, European History...I haven't taken a class I regret or thought was a waste of time (I think I've done a pretty good job prioritizing), but I wish there was more time in the day. I think my life is going to be like that. I can't think of a field of study I wouldn't want to pursue in college. I like being a busy person. I like doing everything. I like being constantly up to my neck in work with no end in sight. I can't even decide on one langauge I'd like to study. Hopefully...before I'm dead, that is...I'd like to be fluent in German, French, Russian, Mandarin or Cantanese, Arabic, Spanish, and Portugese. The list (of things I want to do) goes on and on. I defenitly have my whole heart in the filmmaking angle, but I hope I have time to puruse other things...time to explore the world a little bit. Basically, I want to have one of those lives that so inspire me. People like Mr. Borland who have done lots and lots of things -- a laundry list of accomplishments, jobs, hobbies, pursuits. I'm really excited to...live. Freely, that is. To have some control over my life...or, more accurately, to have a less controlled life. I want to toss myself into the wind and keep floating. God willing, I'll never settle.

Boring entry. Happens.

Sestina

I need to spend less time on the computer, I think. I don't get very much done...at all...ever. I don't even do anything on the computer even. I just read news sites and end up getting lost in wikipedia or something. Hours vanish. Now it's 10 o'clock, I want to go read, but I should probably study for the economics midterm tomorrow. What to study though? The concepts are all obvious...I can figure out almost anything by graphing it, but I always mess up on something specific. I can't study that. Just have to be more careful...

But mostly I don't care. I'm really excited about the Olympics. I love the Olympics, especially the winter ones. I was really hoping that New York City would win the bid for the summer ones (especially since I'll be there), but what can you do?

English midterm today. There was an excellent poem on it.

Sestina by Elizabeth Bishop

"September rain falls on the house.
In the failing light, the old grandmother
sits in the kitchen with the child
beside the Little Marvel Stove,
reading the jokes from the almanac,
laughing and talking to hide her tears.

She thinks that her equinoctial tears
and the rain that beats on the roof of the house
were both foretold by the almanac,
but only known to a grandmother.
The iron kettle sings on the stove.
She cuts some bread and says to the child,

It's time for tea now; but the child
is watching the teakettle's small hard tears
dance like mad on the hot black stove,
the way the rain must dance on the house.
Tidying up, the old grandmother
hangs up the clever almanac

on its string. Birdlike, the almanac
hovers half open above the child,
hovers above the old grandmother
and her teacup full of dark brown tears.
She shivers and says she thinks the house
feels chilly, and puts more wood in the stove.

It was to be, says the Marvel Stove.
I know what I know, says the almanac.
With crayons the child draws a rigid house
and a winding pathway. Then the child
puts in a man with buttons like tears
and shows it proudly to the grandmother.

But secretly, while the grandmother
busies herself about the stove,
the little moons fall down like tears
from between the pages of the almanac
into the flower bed the child
has carefully placed in the front of the house.

Time to plant tears, says the almanac.
The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove
and the child draws another inscrutable house."

But, man, school...what a...Today Dana asked me if I'm counting the days yet. I'm not, but I'm sure that won't last long...

Whatever. Some more pictures:

Fire.


Irondequoit Bay.


Light Through Trees.