Les Oscars 2009

Hard to believe it's Oscar time again! Going to a fun 1st Birthday party for Matteo tomorrow afternoon then coming home to watch Les Oscars (and all the red carpet action!) Here are my Oscar picks - you can play along at oscars.com

CATEGORY, Who SHOULD WIN, Who WILL WIN
Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire, Slumdog BETTER win!!
Otherwise, I have no pick
Best Director, Danny Boyle, Danny Boyle
Best Actor, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke
Best Actress, Anne Hathaway, Kate Winslett (6th nom-ok I get it)
Best Supporting Actor, Heath Ledger, Heath Ledger
Best Supporting Actress, Penelope Cruz, Penelope Cruz
Best Adapted Screenplay, Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog), Slumdog
Best Original Screenplay, In Bruges (hilarious), Mike Leigh (Happy Go Lucky) 6th nom
Best Score, Slumdog, Slumdog, which means
Best Song, should be Jai Ho (been listening to it on my iTouch all day), Peter Gabriel WILL win for Down to Earth, the theme from WALL-E
Best Animated Feature, WALL-E, WALL-E
Best Doc Feature, Man On Wire, Man On Wire (loved it at Hot Docs)
Best Short Film, Manon sur le Bitume (was at CFC Shorts in Toronto)
Best Foreign Language Film, Waltz with Bashir, Waltz with Bashir
(France's The Class is too long and reminds me too much of teaching)
Batman (The Dark Knight) will win for Best Sound, Best SFX
Anything else? Costumes? Art Direction? Wanted will win Sound Editing

Hugh Jackman is getting his dance number overwith at the beginning of the show and sharing the stage with the stars of HSM3 (High School Musical 3) and Mamma Mia.

Not excited for the dancing but definitely excited to see Hugh carry the 3+ hour spectacle. I think he'll be great - I'll be watching the evening (and the fashions) intently.

Would love to hear your pre-Oscar predictions or post-Oscar blather - please post! Kisses to Les Boys and everyone else in Oscarland (or dreaming of being there) xxMM

excitement, drama
haikugirl loves Oscar night
tell me all your picks

BAFTAs and IDC

BAFTAs will be handed out tonight. Here are the nominees.

Been keeping my head down working on editing projects for my editing course at George Brown. In addition to the class assignment (which I'll post when it's done so you can see it) it has also inspired me to go back through the Marathon Women footage that Tamara and I shot in March 2007. Will post a link to that trailer soon.

IDC 2009 is coming up in a month. haikugirl is signed up again for 5 days of mad filmmaking. On Friday night the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) screened the Toronto entries from last year at the NFB. Great to see team haikugirl's Secret Swinging on the big screen and always interesting to see the diversity of the entries.

Slumdog sweeps the Golden Globes!

Of course I was delighted to see Slumdog Millionaire - my top film of 2008 - win BIG at the Golden Globes. YAY! Best Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Director and Best Picture - Drama. Whoohoo! Vicky Christina Barcelona won for Best Picture - Musical or Comedy - I've been wanting to see that (Richard is not keen for Woody.) Kate Winslett certainly went on too long in BOTH of her speeches but good for her for winning. And Mickey Rourke won Best Actor - wow. Still not sure if I want to see The Wrestler. My former Director was very disappointed that Leonardo didn't win for Revolutionary Road. He thought it was "wrenching" and recommends seeing it when you feel "solid" about your life and relationships. I know it won't be an upper - even darker than American Beauty. Does Sam Mendes only do depressing stories of suburban angst and decay? Will check out RR one blustery afternoon this bone-chilling winter.

Toronto temperatures now -21C (-30 with wind chill) so we're catching up to Winnipeg, where Harry Connick Jr and Renee Zellweger shot New In Town as a stand-in for small-town Minnesota. [The discussion boards on this are funny - people saying "that's not what Minnesota is like" - well maybe because they shot it in Winnipeg!?] I just found out large parts of Across the Universe were also filmed in the 'Peg. Will have to see it again with an eye to locations...

Happy New Year!

Wow - 2008 just swooshed out the door and now it's 2009!

Had a wonderful relaxing Christmas (my brother joined us from Oakville for Christmas Day now he's in frigid Winnipeg) and I've been working in between (during STBW "sucks to be working" week.) Took off Dec 31 for my b-day and had a nice lunch at Holt Renfrew Cafe with fellow December birthday friends Pavlina & Mary and then off to see Milk at Varsity. Sean Penn is outstanding - definitely Oscar-worthy. Heard Mickey Rourke was dissing Sean in a text message calling him a homophobe. Both are nominated for Golden Globes along with Brad Pitt who is amazing (and gorgeous) in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Guess we'll see on January 11 who wins and on January 22nd when Oscar noms are announced.

P.S. Was very sad to read that John Travolta's son Jett died while they were on vacation in the Bahamas. Attention Celebrities: don't go on vacation in the Bahamas! Bad things happen.

The week of January 5 is my last week in my current job - on January 12 (all bleary-eyed after watching the Golden Globes on Sunday the 11th) I'm off to a 6 month secondment as Senior Project Advisor with the the Ministry of the Environment helping the Environmental Programs Division expand their use of new media. I am really excited about this new opportunity and will keep you all updated - promise! Plus I'm taking a digital video editing course at George Brown College on Monday nights - hoping to get my chops up before the next International Documentary Challenge March 5-9, 2009. It's going to be a busy year!

haikugirl wishes
you & yours Happy '09
Have an awesome year!

Golden Globe Nominations - YAY!

Golden Globe Nominations were announced at 8:36 this morning - very exciting! Several of the nominated films are not even out yet (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on Dec. 25 and Revolutionary Road on Dec 26)

Delighted that my current fave movie Slumdog Millionaire is nominated for Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score. Can't wait to see all the films and watch the GG on January 11th - 2009 is around the corner!!!

Slumdog Millionaire

Danny Boyle's latest film Slumdog Millionaire is
A. an audience favourite B. multi award-winning
C. not to be missed D. pure genius

Finally saw Slumdog Millionaire on the last day of November at Varsity. It's fully 120 minutes long but is so brilliant that it flies by. Director Danny Boyle did Trainspotting, Millions and Sunshine but this film won the People's Choice at TIFF, and was named 2008's best film by the National Board of Review and the British Independent Film Awards.

Brilliantly constructed, the film shows breakout actor Dev Patel as Jamal Malik on the Hindi version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Accused of cheating, no one can believe a slumdog "chai walla" can know the answers to question after challenging question. More and more of Jamal's life story is revealed with each question, and we see how his life experiences point him to each "final answer".

Three orphans (Jamal, his brother Salim and their young friend Latika) stick together through thick and thin like the three muskateers. With 3 actors portraying each character at various stages of their lives, the resulting performances are gripping and poignant. I LOVED THIS MOVIE! Sure, there are queasy bits (torture, hardship) but the story is irresistible. Slumdog Millionaire will make you laugh, cry, hide your eyes, reflect on your relationship with your siblings and maybe even believe in redemption (if you don't already). See it today and generate even more Oscar buzz!

Slumdog Millionaire
Brilliant film by Danny Boyle
haikugirl's top pick!

TIFF a bust | 13 days till Scotiabank Half

Ran 16K on Saturday morning before having breakfast at Fran's then saw RocknRolla, Guy Ritchie's new film. That last burst was the best of the fest for me, next to Les Plages d'Agnes and The Secret Life of Bees. I like the impressions of Agnes' film by a fellow blogger. More of haikugirl's reviews to come. TIFF '08 was frankly a bust. Now to see the ones I missed this fall (coming soon to a theatre near you!)

My half-marathon race is less than 2 weeks away and I fell behind in my training during the fest but back at it now. Have a look at the gorgeous marathon medals for this year's event. I'll be getting the silver antique finish one on the right... provided I run 21K on Sept 28th!

Lance Armstrong is my new best friend

...only he doesn't know it yet because we haven't met. But I hear his voice motivating me after my runs and boy does it feel great!

Now that I have been using my Nike plus (Nike+) system with my iPod I have been synching my runs and watching my progress online. It is motivating to see a chart of your run. I have also set challenges for myself (doing 12 runs in 4 weeks and logging miles to help North America win the Battle of the Continents and boost the mileage for the Women vs. Men). Just like those video game players who play with a headset at home against people around the world, you can "compete" with other runners virtually through the nikeplus.com website

The best part is whenever you finish a run, if you have improved Lance Armstrong comes on afterward and congratulates you. Yes, Lance Armstrong. Yes, wirelessly. It is the coolest thing. Even after my crappy run last Saturday, I ended my workout and suddenly heard: "This is Lance Armstrong. Congratulations! This is your longest workout yet!" And then today, I ran 4K after work with the Running Room and heard: "This is Lance Armstrong. Congratulations! You just achieved a new PR for the 1 mile distance." [Note: PR is Personal Record, the new term for Personal Best] I told my fellow runners: "Lance Armstrong just talked to me again. He told me I did a new PR for the mile." Apparently Paula Radcliffe comes on also. Can't wait! Yay me! Yay Lance Armstrong!

HBC Run for Canada

Ran 10K on July 1st in the HBC Run for Canada. I really like this event - it's a great way to spend Canada Day running along the lakeshore and we had gorgeous weather. After taking 1 hour and 20 minutes to do my 10K with Mary, I watched Tomas and Luisa run a swift 1K in the Kids Fun Run. After the races we headed into Ontario Place for a bagel and fruit then left Dori and her kids on the waterslides. Looked like fun but R and I headed home to chill and get ready for the BBQ.

Click this link to search race times. Richard finished in under an hour and I ran nearly 5 minutes faster than last year's HBC (2007 Chip time: 1:24:40, 2008 Chip time: 1:20:15). THANK YOU MARY for getting me through! Jean (founder of JeansMarines) and Jan (our coach from last year) were 1st and 2nd in the Womens 60-69 age group and my race partner Mary was 9th out of 17. WAY TO GO! Congratulations to everyone who finished and got the beautiful silver medals from the Royal Canadian Mint. Even the kids got medals with their T-shirts (so worth it for the $24 registration fee). Will post photos soon!

HBO's Recount

Recount tells the story of an unbelievable time in U.S. history: the Florida recount following the 2000 presidential election. Chock full of A-List actors (Kevin Spacey, Tom Wilkinson, Dennis Leary, and Laura Dern playing crazymaking Katherine Harris among others) these performances are sure to be honoured at next year's Golden Globes. This film is gripping, shocking, and a sad reminder that sometimes, even when you win, you can't win.

Check out the Recount trailer and comments online and see this if you get a chance. Even though we know how it ends, it's stunning to relive the dramatic twists and turns. And despite the obvious point of view of Writer Danny Strong, you still learn more than you thought you knew, or at least get most of the facts with better packaging. Triumph of the rule of law my A**!

HBO's Recount
sure to be rewarded at
next year's Golden Globes

IDC Screening at Hot Docs

Hot Docs is a wrap!
Great to meet the filmmakers
See you all next year...

Met fellow filmmakers from around the world on Saturday night April 26 at the Duke of York pub on Prince Arthur before heading to the IDC Screening at Innis Hall. Despite the sudden TTC strike, the house was almost full and it was great to see the diverse selection of 14 finalists. Enjoyed Bend and Bow by my friends at Team Profluence (about the Saw Lady of New York). I also really liked Click, Whoosh about Polaroid cameras by the Real Grrls of Seattle (they won the $1000 IDC prize), Ars Magna about the high art of anagrams and I=me2 by Year of the Rooster about 2 twin brothers who are also filmmakers (Kevin won best editing). Their film Dante's Massage won Best Sound Design in the 2006 National Film Challenge. Also great to met Tony, Dinah, Joanne & Evan from Team It Donned On Me and congrats to them for picking up 2 IDC awards for directing and cinematography. Their film Stick and Pound about Melanie DeMore and the art of stick pounding made us want to go out and try it (I think it would be a positive stress buster). Interesting to see Beholder by Eric Daniel Metzgar, a New York filmmaker and Independent Spirit Award nominee whose also had his feature doc Life. Support. Music. about Jason Crigler's miraculous recovery screen at this year's hot docs. Also liked Ghost Bike by Team GO! of Toronto. They had the same genre/theme of Art/Change as team haikugirl this year. The music for Ghost Bike was by Tim Vesely of the Rheostatics. Richard was very pleased to meet Tim on Saturday night and the music had a haunting quality that matched the film perfectly. Kind of like the way Curbside Lapse created the atmosphere for Marathon Women!

Visit haikugirlmovies for the complete list of 2008 IDC winners and CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE!

Doc Challenge Judging Details

I checked Purolator and our package 9060053402 was received by IDC Producer Doug Whyte in St. Louis, Missouri. As films come in, they check paperwork and digitize the films to go in their on-line judges’ screening room. Round 1 Judges (30 documentary professionals from across the world) watch and rate all of the films (122 teams from 16 countries). The 12 top rated films from Round 1 will premiere at the Hot Docs International Documentary Festival in Toronto in April. Finalists will be notified by the end of march to make travel arrangements. The Round 2 Judges (3 influential international documentary professionals) will select the Grand Prize Winner from the 12 finalists and announce it at the Hot Docs screening. Each finalist will receive two free passes to Hot Docs (~$1,000 value) and the Grand Prize Winner will receive $1,000.

They're accepting late films until March 13 - they'll put them on the IDC website but not enter them in the judging. They are also accepting behind-the-scenes footage so they can make a Making Of film...

Less than 30 hours to go!

Less than 30 hours remain in our weekend filmmaking competition the International Documentary Challenge. Saturday we wrapped our 3rd successful day of shooting after 2 great interviews and 2 awesome Bacchus rotis. The SNOW was UNSTOPPABLE! At least 30cm (12 inches) overnight and all day. Every 3 hours when we moved Erin's car we had to spend 10 minutes cleaning it off the accumulation was so bad! It took me over 30 minutes to walk from the Dundas West subway in all the snow to our first interview shoot. En route I saw a crime scene on Roncesvalles and got Lost in the Barrens trying to navigate the back alleys of the neighbourhood. If I froze to death at least they'd find my footage. Back at home at night I made some delicious broccoli soup (this weekend, it's all about the food!) and a few phone calls then settled down to capture footage but was falling asleep in front of the computer. Spent a moment chatting online with my friends in Team Profluence in New York and am sending positive vibes to Team Whoretoculture in DC. GOOD LUCK EVERBODY! SEE YOU IN TORONTO!!!

Sunday morning and I'm using OneZone, the largest WiFi zone in Canada, at my old familiar Starbucks at College & Yonge before I meet Erin at Ryerson to keep capturing and start editing. It's crunch time babies and we are gonna rock the edit lab! Our genre is ART and our theme is CHANGE and our goal today is to whittle 11 hours of tape into a compulsively watchable, award-winning short doc!

Team haikugirl ROCKS
AWESOME interviews and art
shooting in the snow

OSCARS - Two Degrees of Separation

There are two degrees of separation between me and a 2008 Oscar Winner. Cynthia Wade won for her documentary short Freeheld about a dying female police lieutenant who is fighting to leave her pension benefits to her domestic partner. Cynthia was a cinematography prof for my friends Ted and Dana at The New School University. What a thrill for Cynthia - congrats! And hers was the category announced by soldiers in Iraq and presented by Tom Hanks which is very special (not like Diablo Cody who picked up her Oscar from lame-o Harrison Ford!)

I'm really excited that Falling Slowly won Best Song for Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. We saw them live at the Danforth Music Hall in November and it was a magical performance. I also thought Jon Stewart was sweet when he let Marketa come back to deliver her acceptance speech after the music cut her off. You go girl! (Marci's web research after the concert said she's 19, he's 37 and they're together.)

Overall I liked the Oscars - heard from several people they thought the show was boring. I thought the red carpet was boring this year but the show was okay. Some of those presenters are sure looking old tho' -

Oscar Watch & Marathons

After dinner Saturday night with the M-Club at Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, woke up to start watching all-day "Road to the Oscars" coverage, beginning with a great edition of Sunday Morning on CBS including a humorous comparison of the Oscar race to the 2008 Election. Most of my Oscar picks mirror the popular choices but I also like comparing "who will win" to "who should win". I agree with most of the Independent Spirit Award winners - and can't wait to see the fashions on the red carpet later today. In just a few hours, I'll be comfortably in my basement in my cone of silence watching the red carpet fashion parade on the new big screen. Hope you are able to catch all the festivities.

Then the excitement continues tomorrow night with the screening of Marathon Women at the NFB. Enjoy and send me your Oscar picks and pans!

Congratulations to the anonymous haikugirl reader who just completed a mountain marathon (see Comments). Don't worry - I'm told irritability is a common side effect of dehydration - my own Marathon Recovery was pretty manageable. Enjoy this encore link to the Flora London Marathon "day after the marathon" video and keep running!

SAG Awards

Saw most of last night's SAG Awards. The Screen Actors Guild is always a strong predictor of Oscar results and last night's winners are making me reshuffle my own Oscar picks. No Country for Old Men won for Best Ensemble Cast and Julie Christie won for Best Female Actor in a Leading Role for Away From Her. Daniel Day Lewis's performance in There Will Be Blood was hailed as "the performance of the century". A bit extreme but he gave a nice speech and dedicated his award to Heath Ledger. Will definitely be tuning into the Oscars on February 24th with my scorecard in hand. Meanwhile, SuperBowl Sunday is coming to my new big screen TV this weekend! Go Patriots!

Oscar Nominations and more...

The Oscar nominations were announced live this morning sometime after 8:35am. I think the Academy did a good job recognizing the best work of the year with only a few surprises. Delighted for Ellen Page that she was nominated for Best Actress - quite an achievement for such a young woman. I think Best Supporting Actress will be Cate Blanchett but I think it should be Saoirse Ronan - she played evil so well in Atonement I hope she gets it. If both she and Ellen get the Oscars, they must break some combined youth record! I think they will honour Viggo Mortensen with Best Actor because Eastern Promises got no other major nomination. I think Juno will get Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay will go to either Joel and Ethan Coen or Sarah Polley for Away From Her - what an honour for her! PT Andersen annoys me (sorry Jan) so I am not pulling for him or Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. Thrilled that Ratatouille got several nominations including Best Animated Feature - that was one of my favourite Christmas presents. Enchanted has 3 out of 5 Best Original Song nominations but I think it should go to Falling Slowly from the beautiful movie Once featuring Glen Hansard of the Frames with Marketa Irglova. Congratulations and Good Luck to all the Oscar nominees! Please send me your comments and predictions! (the printable list makes it easier to review and ponder before the February 24th show)

Funny to see the stars at Sundance in the cold raving about the chance to wear jeans and down parkas - it's getting colder here in Toronto so we could definitely set their fashion trends. Sam spent an icy weekend visiting us but we did buy a gorgeous 46" Samsung LCD HDTV on sale at BestBuy. SWEET!

This morning's telecast seemed disappointingly blurry - even on both HD TVs. No one else I talked to seemed as disturbed as me but the broadcast seemed more like web quality even though I was watching an HD channel. No matter - it's always an exciting 5 minutes.

Very sad and shocked to hear of Heath Ledger. So young and full of promise - a terrible loss.