My Picks for 2011 Oscar Academy Awards

The Academy is probably busy as of this very moment preparing for tomorrow's biggest and prestigious event in Hollywood, the 83rd Academy Oscar Awards. But before they unveil the winners that would shape the movie history for years to come, allow me to declare my own list of Oscar winners.

Best Animated Film is "Toy Story 3". With the absence of "Tangled" and "Despicable Me" in nomination list, it shouldn't be hard for the animators of Academy to be unanimous on this category, not even the threat of "How To Train Your Dragon" winning the Best Animated film as awarded by Annie Award, the prestigious award for animated feature films.

Best Original Song is "Coming Home" by Gweneth Paltrow, the original song from the movie "Country Song". The song got sweet melody and Gweneth's voice is really soothing to listen to. I personally like all the nominated songs but of course I have to pick one. I always thought that"I See the Light" of the animated movie "Tangled" as the best song, but that was before I downloaded "Coming Home".

Best Original Score, is "Inception". "127 Hours" and "The Social Network" got a pretty good scoring but "Inception" will take home the Oscar, all technical awards actually, so add the Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, and Best in Visual Effects. After being snubbed in Director category, Oscar would do anything to make it up with Nolan, because he really deserves it...and by the way add the Best Art Direction to it too.

Best in Cinematography and Best Adapted Screenplay is "The Social Network". There is no question in these two categories, it's clear that the Facebook story will take home these two awards.

Best in Original Screenplay would again be "Inception". Simply because it's the most unique and original story among other nominees.

Best Supporting Actress is Melissa Leo in "The Fighter". I almost didn't recognize her in this film, I knew she was in it but hardly notice her because they were other female casts in the film. But I did notice how great the actress was who played Mark Whalberg and Christian Bale mother, then I realized I was referring to the same person, Melissa Leo. She was just great, no other words, that's it.

Best Supporting Actor is Christian Bale in "The Fighter", who else could it be?. If Geoffrey Rush would win it only means bad luck for "The King's Speech".

Best Actress is Natalie Portman in "Black Swan". Well it wouldn't be easy for me 'coz I always think (up to this very moment I still hope for her to win) Annette Benning to win this year 'coz I really felt bad when she didn't in "American Beauty" last 1999. But it's unbelievable for Natalie not to win, 2010 is for her and 1999 is the year that was for Benning.

Best Actor is Colin Firth of "The King's Speech". I'm not really a fan of this British actor but I've seen a lot of his films in the past and his performance as a stutterer king deserves him to win the Oscar finally after being upset last year by Sean Penn.

Best Director is David Fincher. He did a great adaptation of Facebook story which become so phenomenal. It almost won all the critics awards, not just in US but in UK as well. I really like Tom Hooper (especially his previous film "The Damned United" is one of my favorite films) but David is more deserving. He still has so many things to prove.

Best Picture is "The King's Speech". The battle between American history and British history in Oscar will be over soon, and it would end with a very good speech from the 'King' . "The Social Network" developed the confidence after sweeping almost all the critics awards but the "King" proved its dominance in BAFTA and Guild Awards. It was a very tough competition indeed.

These are just my own prediction, whether they win or not I would still stand for it. I really spent time watching all of these nominated films so I would be able to come up with my fair conclusion. Click here for the list of nominees.

The Next Tree Days - A Movie Review

'The Next Three Days' is one huge film not just because of Oscar winner Russell Crowe is in it but also because it's written and directed by his fellow Oscar winner Paul Haggis whose works in the past were Oscar favorites. He is known for his work for 'Crash' which won the Oscar Best Picture in 2004, he also won the Best Original Screenplay and was nominated for Best Director. He has two other Oscar nominations which include two Best Screenplay for both Clint Eastwood films, the Best Picture "Million Dollar Baby" and "Letters to Iwo Jima". He also wrote the the latest James Bond film "Casino Royale" in 2008. Russell Crowe on the other hand won Best Actor for "Gladiator in 2001 and got two other nominations for "The Insider" and "A Beautiful Mind". The two joined forces last November hoping for another Oscar buzz. But unluckily the movie didn't turn out to be as planned. It was a boxoffice flop 'coz it was released along with the latest Harry Potter film, and got mixed reviews from critics. Judging from all these you won't be expecting too much from the film as you start playing it but don't be surprised if you'll get yourself glued to every scene after its first 25 mins.

John Brennan (Crowe) was a college teacher whose wife (Elizabeth Banks) was sent to prison when her boss was found dead after a serious argument with her. After three years, justice seemed unclear and John left with no choice but to plan on how to have his wife escaped with the help of a prison-break expert (Liam Neeson). Filled with edge-of-the-seat scenes, one after the other. Paul Haggis didn't waste any scene and took his time showing every detail that justified the implausible plot. Elizabeth Banks' performance was at her best so far, and Crowe as always is one of the finest actors in Hollywood, he never failed me, though I was a bit unhappy with "Robin Hood" I didn't really take it out on him, it was the story itself the made it boring which Ridley Scott didn't carefully work on.

One strong point of the film which made the thriller effective is how Director Paul Haggis played with audience's thoughts (those who are really watching closely) and that's when John Brennan's well thought-out plans worked, it was so smooth that it would appear like you know what would happen next. For those who want to watch the film, just a little tip, listen to Liam Neeson's character in the film, every word he said, his advised to Russel Crowe in the bar set all the thrilling mood, it was also the turning point of the film, so you have to start paying more attentions for the next scenes after that.

Most movie critics were not satisfied with this thriller film, but some of them really did find it gripping and terrific and I belong to the latter group who had seen every bit of the film that most of them missed. It was indeed an enjoyable ride, it was like watching Liam Neeson's "Taken" with a bit of Hilary Swank's "Conviction" drama.(4 out of 5 stars)

Movies, Food, Rewards

Almost done for the week, just three hours and couple of minutes more and I'm out for two-day off. Always looking forward for it, always think of it as a reward, whatever I do, may it be a dinner with friends, a movie date, or just at home cooking some of the dishes that can be found online, I always make sure it's enjoyable. I don't have plans for the next two days yet but it looks like movies and cooking are in placed already, I would just wait for the invitations of friends for future activities probably.

Last week, I watched a couple of recent films which includes the Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston comedy "Just Go With It" which I watched with friends in cinema, I also watched horror flick starred by Hilary Swank "The Residents", Jason Statham latest action movie "The Mechanics". I got to watch the latest movie of Woody Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" with greatest casts which includes Naomi Watts, Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin and Frieda Pinto. I also watched Rob Marshall's back-to-back musical films "Nine" and Oscar Best Picture "Chicago".

For last week menu, my sister cooked her favorite Sweetened Chicken Tosino while I tried the Creamy Chicken Curry which she didn't like much because of the butter. I did like it (of course) but I agree with her that I had put more butter in it and it was a bit oily and yellowish. I also think the curry powder that I bought wasn't the right type, didn't know that it was already a mixed powder with all the ingredients for chicken curry and not just the curry powder itself. I bought 3/4 kilo of chicken with 6 big slices, there were 3 slices left which we fried the next morning, yeah we are really good in recycling, it did taste good hehe..

I'm looking forward for another more rewarding rest days. More movies and we will try out cooking 'Beef Steaks' and some other menus in www.pinoyrecipe.net. Great day to everyone!

Completed the Billboard HOT 100 No.1 Songs from 1993 to Present

Just completed all the number one songs of Billboard Hot 100 since 1993 to present. I may haven't mentioned here but apart from movies I also love music. Now the Billboard Hot 100 has reached its 1000 number one songs I just couldn't wait to have them all. But of course that's a lot of songs, requires more space and of course the time and effort for searching and downloading them. Billboard Hot 100 started tabulating since 1958 and this week they reached the 1000th song with Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way'.

I've been collecting all Billboard Hot 100 songs ever since I got my first PC in 2006, so most of the songs are pretty new 'coz I though I would be ok with it, now the milestone for music has reached I have to go with it, need to have my own milestone too (hehehe). To date I collected 223 mp3 songs from 1993's Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" down to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way". I got hits from Alladin Soundtrack to Mariah Carey's multiple hits to Usher, Rihanna and Lady Gaga. Probably next weekend I'll complete the year up to early 80's. How will I listen to all these?I don't know yet hehehe. Happy Friday to everyone!

Just Go With It

Had another good time with Enzo, Joebert and Lecel yesterday. Chui wasn't able to make it so it was just the four of us. The last time we went out on a movie date (we watched "Little Fockers") it was Joebert who was not around.

We watched in Trinoma Cinema (again!), same cinema (Cinema 7) where Little Fockers was shown, and this time its with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston comedy film. Though there were other movies shown which includes "Bulong", "My Valentine's Girl", "127 Hours", "The Mechanic", "Vanishing in 7th Street" and "The Rite" but we decided to watch "Just Go With It" because I have watched already the three movies that they wanted to watch. Enzo and I wanted Jason Statham's The Mechanic but the two ladies (assuming Joebert is a real lady hehe) with us didn't want the action flick. With my brainwashing power I was able to convince them to watch Adam Sandler's movie.

The film was of course funny, what would you expect from Adam Sandler (though he had one serious movie in the past)?. As what said in the movie, it was pretty stupid but just go with it. The movie didn't require you to think, you just need to go with each scene and laugh the whole time. There was no room for you to be inspired or to learn from what they went through except of course not to tell too many lies but everyone knows that.

For anybody interested to know about the plot of the film here it is. Danny (Sandler) is a surgeon who always tells women that he is married to take advantage of them. It was a pretty safe move for him to hook up and break up. But when he met the super hot 23-yr old Palmer (Brooklyn Decker) who doesn't want to be with married man, he thought Palmer was the right woman for him. So he went a head and live with this piled up lies. He asked his longtime friend and personal assistant Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) to pretend as his wife to win Palmer's heart and you probably know what will happen next. It's too predictable. What surprised me in the film is Nicole Kidman's role and the little Bailee Madison. Thought Nicole would just make a cameo in the film, didn't know that she had more scenes and she is really stunning, very beautiful as always, and really funny. Bailee on the other hand started to get more attention than any other kids star in Hollywood and she is really good, seen her in two movies last year "Letters To God" and "Conviction". Brooklyn Decker is super hot, I can still picture her out with some of her scenes. Meanwhile Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler are still in with the usual role they get, nothing new.

'Just Go With It' is not bad a movie if you are looking for fun without expecting too much from its plot or actors. It's something that you would enjoy the most when you go out with friends or family probably. (2 stars out 5)

Perseverance and a good faith really work

We just moved to a new room, again!..it's a smaller room this time, we had to let go of the bigger one 'coz it's just too expensive for Php 5,000.00 a month, just for a room without the water and electricity (imagine that!), I was fine with it before since my cousin was paying the half of it, but now, since she's back to Zamboanga and it's just me and my sister left I have to shoulder everything basically, so we need to cut down the expenses, my sister is still on the job seeking process now, though I don't really pressure her to get one, I want her to enjoy her stay here in Manila.

And since we moved to a smaller room I have to go back to using my pre-paid internet, Globe USB Modem connection (we got free wi-fi in the previous room) and 'coz of it I may not be able to update my Facebook so often like I always did (as if somebody would care...lols!). I may not be able to post here in my blog so timely. But that's ok, I'll be subscribing to unlimited broadband soon, I just don't know which one is better and something that my pocket will agree with hehe..

At work, everything is a bit better, lesser stress, though sometimes I get frustrated with the shifting schedule, I was only given two split off for two weeks, imagine that? so what I did I was out during the rest day of my supervisor, I mean rest days, I was out for two days too, so I was still able to get a four-day off for two weeks, I deserve it, I work my ass off the whole week and I deserve a rest, and I got bunch of movies to watch, screw the people who work on schedules, they should do something about it, though I shouldn't get deducted with it, but I don't really mind if they will, actually. So far they haven't asked to answer for it, not sure if they just ignored it or maybe they haven't noticed it, but it's quite impossible, don't really care anyway, I have all my reasons for it.

My sister and I are doing great so far, it's like bonding everyday, though we just stay at home, cooking any food we like, watch movies, talking about our life before in Zamboanga, reminiscing how sweet and hard at the same time for all of us back there, those were the days where we didn't much care and it's funny that we now realized how deprive we were before, perseverance and good faith really work (Alhamdulillah!). 'Til next time, timing out from movie stuff for now, great day everyone!

'Bulong' shows a new face of local horror and it's enjoyable

Had a little bonding time with my younger sister and my niece last Monday in a movie house in SM Megamall. We laughed our heads off with Vhong Navarro and Angelica Panganiban's horror-comedy film "Bulong". Apart from being so funny, the plot was pretty new, though it involved 'kulam' and 'demonyo' theme but the story as a whole was presented in a unique way,far better than the previous horror films produced locally. It was beautifully acted. Vhong surely never fails to make you laugh and we always see him doing that for a quite a while now and he is getting better each time but to my surprise Angelica did as great as he did. She is even better as comedienne than a serious actress I supposed. Chito S. Roño scared our asses off with 'Feu Shui' and "Sukob" and this time he will give you a fright that you won't forget that you find yourself bursting with laughter almost in every scene. Though the effects were really poor (as expected with low-tech and limited production budget) and the scoring was a bit unpolished but the film was very enjoyable. You'll leave the cinema smiling and you won't mind if a friend of yours will invite you to watch it again and again.

A decent horror flick..better than 'Shelter' and 'Paranormal Activity 2'

Vanishing on 7th Street is a horror film that combines supernatural, mystery and apocalyptic style of scaring people who are really into scary movies which is somehow a bit of unique style considering horror films nowadays are either about exorcism or ghost stories with long hair and black eyes (lol). With decent performances from Thandie Newton, Hayden Christensen and John Leguizamo, the film is just as good as it is. It's not really scary but thrilling, and though some happenings remained unanswered until the end, the film ended just fine. Nothing really especial about it though (except for the plot perhaps) but it was satisfying 'coz it's not predictable and you would really wanna seat though it once you started.

Four group of people found themselves in a bar as they looked for the people they love. They were just four of the few people left in 7th Street alive as others were vanished mysteriously in the dark (with their clothes and other stuff they wear left behind). As soon as they realized that the darkness devoured these people and power is running out, they have to do all things necessary to keep at least a spark of light with them to survive. Directed by Brad Anderson, who directed Christian Bale's The Machinist, Vanishing on 7th Street, though it could have been better, it's a good horror flick that I have watched this year so far, compare to non-sense 'Shelter' and 'Paranormal Activity 2'. (3 out 5 stars)

"Due Date" is as funny as Hangover

My first movie of the month of February is from Todd Phillip's Due Date which features the new comedy duo, the star of Hangover Zach Galifianakis and Mr. Tony Stark himself Robert Downey Jr. They were really both funny, I got myself laughing the whole time.

A father-to-be Peter (Downey Jr.) bumped into an aspiring actor, Ethan (Galifianakis) who wanted to make in it Hollywood. Both were heading to LA. While on the airport their stuff was switched and was confiscated because of some weeds and was enough for the two to be on the No-Fly list. The two had to take the road together unfortunately and that's where all the fun and catastrophes begun. Supported by the power casts which include Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye, Maid of Honor), Jamie Foxx (The Kingdom, Law Abiding Citizen), Danny McBride (Up In The Air, Land of The Lost) and Juliet Lewis (Conviction, The Switch) and Todd Phillip was in the film too (with Juliet Lewis and Zach Galifinakis scene).

The movie didn't much live up to Todd Philip's previous film, The Hangover, but the film was not a disappointment either when it comes to box office gross. The critics got mixed reviews too and Rottentomatoes was a bit unhappy with it, gathering only 42% (as opposed to be at least 60% to be considered to be as a good film) but for me I enjoyed it just like I enjoyed "The Hangover" because the lead actors didn't fail me at all. 'Till next movie experience, good eve everyone!

Little Trivia: This film is the third movie of Director Todd Philip with Juliet Lewis in it, the first one was 'Starsky and Hutch' followed by 'Old School'. They're working on the fourth one now which is "The Hangover 2" with Zach Galifianakis who had two movies together (Hangover and Due Date)

My Rating (3.5 stars out 5)

World Wide Box Office Gross: $209.7 million

Production Budget: $65