ANYWAY, I just realized it’s almost May and I’m amused by how different life is now compared to a year ago at this time.

A year ago today was my bridal shower. It was awesome. Now, a year later, I’ve gone shopping multiple times with Bre for HER wedding dress and started planning HER shower.

A year ago this week I was in the final stages of my capstone project. It was pretty much entirely done. I was finishing up the flash presentations and quickly finding a place to print the poster. It was my favorite project I did in college. It came together easily in a way, and stressed me out anyway. At one point last April, I spent 12 hours in the lab rotoscoping a background (that new CS5 roto tool would have been lovely). I had a successful capstone evening, met some key people, and felt kind of sad afterward that the main hurdle left to jump had been completed. No more academic challenges left.

A year ago next week I was heading to the one single interview I got out of 120+ applications and resumes I sent out. I got it out of pure luck, timing, and knowing someone. I’m still at that job and it’s been the best job I could have asked for as a brand new video editor as far as I can tell – low stress, no deadlines, a transition between the free learning environment of school and the harsh corporate world.

I had my interview on a Thursday, was offered the position on the following Friday, graduated on Sunday, and put in my two weeks notice at the zoo on Monday, coming up on a year ago in about two weeks.

In a little less than a month, it’ll be the anniversary of my last day at the zoo, and my first day of employment at my current job.

And then in a little less than 2 months, it’ll be our one year wedding anniversary. The wedding planning junk took up a lot of my spare time after graduation. This year I don’t have much of anything planned on the 14th. I wish we could go out of town again. When we left Vegas last year, we said we could go back in 3-4 years when it’s changed a bit. But now we both agree we want to visit again soon, and we don’t care about waiting. There’s still awesome stuff to see and do that we didn’t see or do yet.

So things are considerably less busy now as opposed to a year ago, which is totally fine with me. I wish we had the means to travel and actually use the paid time off we’re both accruing though. I have 55 hours burning a hole in my pocket. When used effectively (paired with a weekend), that’s a lot of 3/4 day weekends.

Scotty’s Brewhouse has a promotional-ish thing right now where if I tweet my receipt and blog 500 words, they’ll donate 20% to Komen Race for the Cure. Since I regularly tweet and blog, I figured this was an easy donation. I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to be blogging about, so I figured I’d talk about the evening we had at Scotty’s.

We met up with Cameron for his 21st birthday. He was very late, got out of class late, hadn’t packed, and realized he had a 5 AM flight to Vegas the next day to catch, so the partying wasn’t near as intense as it easily could have been.

I decided to drop off a cake at Scotty’s beforehand to attempt a bit of surprise and embarrassment. Scotty DM’d me the GM’s email addy to arrange it, Carla (or Karla) happily accepted it, and Kylee, our server, brought it out after Cameron arrived. It worked out perfectly great, and he was surprised to see it.

Here is the cake by the way. It comes from a web cartoon, Homestar Runner. It’s pretty old, but we all have always loved it. When Cameron was about 13 or 14, right before his voice changed, he could do the best Homsar voice. I made it my voicemail that whole year.

Anyway, I wish I had realized our server’s name was Kylee, because my name is obviously Kylee and I’ve only ever met 2 other people who spelled Kylee with two E’s instead of some other inferior way. She was a great server and a great sport. She also received a piece of my delicious homemade chocolate cake.

I really must get to Scotty’s on Wednesday nights more often. 1/2 price apps and awesome drink specials. A great segue into the remainder of your week. We got a $10 pitcher of margarita and a $9 pitcher of rum and coke. We shared an order of dill chips (obviously) and loaded fries. And we did a round of birthday cake shots – a little pricey, as specialty shots usually are – but perfect for a birthday celebration. We also managed to snag a table outside in the perfect weather, so it was a great experience.

Scotty’s has rapidly been becoming my place of choice to bring people due to the quality of service, awesome (and big variety) of food, and great drinks. Thanks to them for helping out with this birthday, and for keeping charities like Komen Indy in mind. And thanks to Scott Wise for engaging his customers via Twitter. I’ll be at Race for the Cure on Saturday working off the dill chips.

This was more than 500 words, oh well.

Instead of talking about it here, I’m grouping all of it on a tumblr.

I’m just recording thoughts, changes, and general observations throughout the whole thing. So then if it works really well, it’ll be documented. And if it fails, it’ll be documented.

It’s here, if you care to follow it. If not, I probably won’t mention it again until I finish it.

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision – no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener with almost infinite patience. You have complex feelings, and you take great care to express them. In love, you see relationships as an opportunity to connect and grow. You enjoy relationships when they are improving and changing. You can’t stand stagnation. At work, you stay motivated and happy… as long as you are working toward a dream you support. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher. How you see yourself: Hardworking, ethical, and helpful When other people don’t get you, they see you as: Manipulative, weak, and unstable

So I thought HM, It’s been 5 years since then. I wonder if it has changed? So I just did it (truthfully) and I got this:

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision – no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener with almost infinite patience. You have complex feelings, and you take great care to express them. In love, you see relationships as an opportunity to connect and grow. You enjoy relationships when they are improving and changing. You can’t stand stagnation. At work, you stay motivated and happy… as long as you are working toward a dream you support. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher. How you see yourself: Hardworking, ethical, and helpful When other people don’t get you, they see you as: Manipulative, weak, and unstable

Kind of nifty how that works out..

Lead actor
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
I think it’s pretty obvious Jeff Bridges will win. He’s “America’s treasure” or whatever and he hasn’t won an oscar yet.
My winner: Colin Firth. COME on, A Single Man was his greatest performance EVER.

Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
This dude is super scary. I look forward to seeing him in more movies this year.
My winner: Christoph Waltz

Lead Actress
Sandra Bullock in Blind Side
Ugh. It seems she’s got a lock on this unfortunately. I just don’t like her and most of her movies. I personally thought she looked sucky in this part from the trailers, but I haven’t seen the movie so whatever.
My winner: Carey Mulligan because 1) I actually want to see An Education 2) She was on the greatest episode of Doctor Who ever 3) I actually want to see An Education not because of #2

Supporting Actress
MoNique in Precious
I think she’s won every single award so far. I’m sure she deserves it but I haven’t seen Precious yet.
My winner: Would probably be Monique if I’d seen it but since I haven’t, Anna Kendrick.

Animated Feature
Up
I think it’s entirely possible with the voting system that a lot of categories could go entirely in wacky unexpected directions and Fantastic Mr Fox could beat Up, but it doesn’t seem THAT likely.
My winner: Up

Art Direction
Avatar
Avatar in some of these categories is kind of bizarre because it’s entirely CG. You have to wonder if the voters will embrace that an entirely CG piece is art directed just the same as one shot in a house. I think that if they do take the leap, it would be in this category.
My winner: Avatar

Cinematography
The Hurt Locker – Barry Ackroyd
This category was by far the most elusive. I just watched Hurt Locker last night and decided to pick that one. I was debating between that, Avatar, and White Ribbon. I’m not sure voters will go for Avatar since so much of the camera placement and shot construction relied upon the visual effects people – at this point, cinematography in a movie like Avatar is still a grey area. The White Ribbon won the ASC award, but that’s voted on by a bunch of cinematographers who have actually seen it. I think a more well known movie will get a lot of the vote from people who don’t really know good cinematography. However, I think it’s totally deserving to win.
My winner: The Hurt Locker

Costume Design
The Young Victoria
I haven’t seen ANY of the nominees, but period movies usually win this. The older the better
My winner: The Young Victoria

Directing
Katheryn Bigelow
I can see how Bigelow is getting so much attention and I do think this is her year entirely. Sure, James Cameron spent a fortune and a billion years of his time on Avatar and moved filmmaking to a whole nother level, but the craft of directing isn’t about that. It’s commendable, but I think the performances Bigelow got out of her relatively unknown-ish actors in Hurt Locker, and the realistic intensity she crafted, beats out the other films. And I loved Up in the Air, so it’s hard to skip over him for me, but HL was bad ass.
My Winner: Katheryn Bigelow

Documentary Feature
The Cove

Documentary Short
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant

Film Editing
Avatar
I heard these editors on a live chat Avid held, and I think they might win it.

Foreign Film
El Secreto de Sus Ojos

Makeup
Star Trek

Original Score
Up – Michael Giacchino

Original Song
The Weary Kind

Picture of the Year
Hurt Locker
I can see what the hoopla over this film is about. I do think it most accurately captures what Oscar wants for “best picture” and I’ll be really surprised if anything beats it. Second place – Up in the Air.

Animated Short Film
A Matter of Loaf and Death

Live Action Short Film
The New Tenants

Sound Editing
Avatar
Come on, they had to create all those bizarre sound effects.

Sound Mixing
Hurt Locker
The sound on this movie scared the poop out of me. The end.

Visual Effects
Avatar
Really?

Adapted Screenplay
Up in the Air
I can’t imagine anything will beat this…

Original Screenplay
Inglourous Basterds

I don’t think I have to say that I support the full repeal of the policy. It was a stupid compromise to begin with and we finally can get rid of it. I don’t know about you, but I have a huge problem with this:

“I know you volunteered to serve your country, sacrificing your life to protect our country and our freedom, but you’re a flamer so you need to leave.”

Really? REALLY?

I absolutely cannot put into words how it makes me feel when I hear religious people contemplating whether they should or shouldn’t support homosexual people. It’s like listening to people contemplating pieces of meat. Gay people are PEOPLE. PEOPLE who happen to be gay. They didn’t say hey, I’m a dude and I’m gonna get with a dude even though it’s a horrifying sin. It happens.

To lump gay people in with sexual predators and criminals, or people who cheat on their significant others, or any other number of bad sex related things, is incredibly offensive. You hold a lesbian couple in the same regard as a person who commits bestiality? How terrifically screwed up.

“But the Bible condemns it.” The Bible says a lot of stuff that you don’t pay attention to, and there are different interpretations of such passages. I’ve read them and I think it’s pretty clear what they’re saying (hint: NOT condemnation of homosexuality).

It’s NOT wrong. And no, I don’t feel this is up for discussion. Homosexuality is not bad. It is not wrong. Adultery is wrong. Molestation is wrong. Rape is wrong. Homosexuality is not wrong. Bisexuality is not wrong. Transexuality is not wrong. Being transgendered is not wrong. Human rights cannot be an opinion. If it were up to the public vote on human rights issues, do you think any number of changes would have occurred? Maybe with an extra 30 years tacked on.

Not long ago, we had separate drinking fountains for blacks. People used religion as a shield against feeling racist against black people. Now we’ve (kind of) moved past that era, and we’re on homosexuality. And you know, a lot of more forward thinking countries don’t GIVE a SHIT about this subject like the US does. They laugh at us for being so hung up on something like sexual preference. Crap like this keeps us from making real progress. Think about that when you are spending so much time thinking and praying over how you should treat gays: you could just accept it and move on and do something with real value!

If two people – ANY two people – are in a committed relationship, who are you to judge them? And you can say that you’ll shine God’s love onto them all you want, but you know that deep down, you are constantly thinking GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY and thinking about ways to “save them”.

Guess what? They aren’t the ones that need saving.

So the prompt for this is “ten”. Remember, this is just a solid 5 minutes of impromptu writing, so it carries no guarantees.

Alexander Hamilton gazed about the room.

She rubbed her thumb over his face. The perfectly curled ceremonial hair seemed to contrast the messy, small efficiency that surrounded her.

The girl sat on her futon bed, surrounded by things strewn about. A magazine. Textbooks. Some papers. Laptop. Bills. Mostly bills. The studio was a box with a window, a desk, and little more. The closed door hinted at more, but only a small bathroom and kitchenette lay beyond it.

The girl sat perfectly indian style on the bed, looking at the ten dollar bill in front of her. She moved her hand back into her lap. She seemed far away as she met Alexander’s gaze back.

My last ten dollars, she thought.

How did this happen? Didn’t I plan? How can I survive the week on ten dollars?

The girl was young with light skin and dark hair. Her face was blank, but her eyes were disappointed. Disappointed in herself, mostly. In the corner of her room, out of sight, was a framed degree. She thought about all that time and money she spent in college. All that work for a better life.

And now I have ten dollars for 6 days. Not even $2 a day.

She decided to make a list of everything that wouldn’t be paid this week.

Car Payment – $200
Student Loan Payment – $145
Groceries – $50
Gas – $20

She stopped. She was overwhelming herself and hadn’t even gotten to the tough ones. Internet. Electricity.

I can’t go to work if I don’t have gas in my car. I can’t live in here without electricity. Can I go 6 days on bread and peanut butter? Yes, but the bread is going bad.

Stop.

She surveyed the room. Her belongings. Very few. Framed photos and signs of friends and family are absent. No one to help me, she thought.

She glanced back at the stiff, new ten dollar bill. Then she glanced out her window. The snowy wonderland outside beckoned mysteriously. It seemed so rich and new. So pristine. There was a whole world outside her tiny box and her tiny problems. She rose up from the bed, letting the papers fall where they may. Alexander hit the floor face down.

She opened her window, her only window, and stuck her head outside into the cold afternoon air. A biting wind blew her hair back. She seemed to take in this world and replace her own, if only for a moment. She closed her eyes and breathed the cold. She let the cold air into her mouth and lungs, nipping at her nose and eyes. The cold was pure, nearly unbearable pure.

She leaned back inside and slammed the window shut. Stood for a moment, returning her sense to the stuffy box she knew as “home”. She walked slowly back to the bed, a new glint in her eyes. Was it hope? Inspiration? Confidence? Or was it acceptance?

She returned to the bed, grabbing the thin, papery ten dollar bill as she sat back. She leaned against the wall and laid Alexander across her lap. She grabbed a pack of cigarettes from her side and took one out – the last one. Lit it. Took a drag. The smoke danced around Alex’s face. She lifted the bill up and held it between in thumb and forefinger delicately, looking closer and closer at the presidential portrait. He kept the same blase expression no matter what she felt. She felt a twinge of jealousy for a moment.

She took the lit cigarette out of her mouth and ignited the corner of the bill. The paper hesitated, then grabbed onto the fire and fueled it. The bill slowly transformed from currency to ash. The girl held the bill and watched it burn. Her face had warmed, but her eyes remained cold and determined.

Alexander’s face was turned to dust, but somehow he didn’t care.

My predictions are in bold.
EDIT: I read today that voting is being done this year preferentially instead of on a weighted basis, meaning that everyone gets an individual say rather than some people getting more of a say than others. So a lot of these races could end up funny. Therefore, I’ve changed some things up and added some more stuff.

Performance by an actor in a leading role

* Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
* George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
* Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
* Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
* Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)

I would LOVE for Coin Firth to win this for his outstanding freaking performance in A Single Man, but with all the buzz around Bridges and awards going to him, I would say it’s almost a sure thing that he’ll win.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

* Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
* Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
* Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
* Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)

I don’t think there will be any surprises here.

Performance by an actress in a leading role

* Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
* Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
* Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

I would say it’s between Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep for this one, and Bullock will win it unfortunately. Who knows, Streep could pull it off. I wish Carey Mulligan would so we could see a Doctor Who alum getting some American credit.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

* Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
* Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
* Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
* Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
* Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

I don’t think there’s going to be any surprises here either, she’s been winning everything. And she should. Gyllenhaal was somewhat of a surprise nominee, so she could come out of nowhere and snatch it up, but I doubt it.

Best animated feature film of the year

*
“Coraline” (Focus Features) Henry Selick
*
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Wes Anderson
*
“The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) John Musker and Ron Clements
*
“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS) Tomm Moore
*
“Up” (Walt Disney) Pete Docter

I think because Up is nominated for best picture, it would seem obvious it would surely win this category, but maybe the voters will go with Fantastic Mr Fox SINCE Up is nominated in the big category? Maybe..Also, the Secret of Kells totally came out of nowhere (probably due to the preferential voting), so maybe that will get favored?

Achievement in art direction

*
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg
Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
*
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro
Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
*
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
*
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
*
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Art Direction: Patrice Vermette
Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

This is a total guess. Avatar kind of mixes things up with a lot of these since its all CG, so you could argue that it’s even more art directed than the others because it’s totally made up.

Achievement in cinematography

*
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore
*
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.) Bruno Delbonnel
*
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Barry Ackroyd
*
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Robert Richardson
*
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) Christian Berger

I don’t think people will be able to take the leap for Avatar to get this award, and from everything I’ve read, Hurt Locker was excellent in this. Single Man needed a nomination here. And for art direction and costume design..But Avatar could get it. But I’ve read Hurt Locker did an amazing job capturing the essence of war. I DONT KNOW! I’m gonna go with that.

Achievement in costume design

*
“Bright Star” (Apparition) Janet Patterson
*
“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics) Catherine Leterrier
*
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Monique Prudhomme
*
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Colleen Atwood
*
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell

Another guess. Heavy period pieces tend to do well here don’t they?

Achievement in directing

*
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Cameron
*
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Kathryn Bigelow
*
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Quentin Tarantino
*
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Lee Daniels
*
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Jason Reitman

I’m positive Bigelow will get this. It’s almost certain. Anyone else winning would be a huge upset in my opinion.

Best documentary feature

*
“Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
A Magic Hour Films Production Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
*
“The Cove” (Roadside Attractions)
An Oceanic Preservation Society Production Nominees to be determined
*
“Food, Inc.” (Magnolia Pictures)
A Robert Kenner Films Production Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
*
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
A Kovno Communications Production Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
*
“Which Way Home”
A Mr. Mudd Production Rebecca Cammisa

I’ve heard great things about several of these, mostly The Cove.

Best documentary short subject

*
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
A Downtown Community Television Center Production Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
*
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
A Just Media Production Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
*
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
A Community Media Production Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
*
“Music by Prudence”
An iThemba Production Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
*
“Rabbit à la Berlin” (Deckert Distribution)
An MS Films Production Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Also heard great things about many of these…so..

Achievement in film editing

*
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
*
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Clarke
*
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
*
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Sally Menke
*
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Joe Klotz

This might change after I see Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds, but I’m going to go with Avatar on this one because I’ve seen a lot of articles about editing this film. I’ve also read Precious could possibly snatch this one up from nowhere. Hm..as an editor, my professional opinion is that I have no idea. My favorite editing was a Single Man which I figured wouldn’t get nominated.

Best foreign language film of the year

*
“Ajami”(Kino International)
An Inosan Production Israel
*
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Haddock Films Production Argentina
*
“The Milk of Sorrow”
A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production Peru
*
“Un Prophète” (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production France
*
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics)
An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production Germany

The only one also nominated in a regular category, seems certain.

Achievement in makeup

*
“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
*
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
*
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

District 9 absurdly missing from this.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

*
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Horner
*
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Alexandre Desplat
*
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
*
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer
*
“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino

The best by far, also deserves an oscar for LOST even though it’s a tv show. Lost deserves an oscar. I don’t care.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

*
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
*
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
*
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36″ (Sony Pictures Classics) Music by Reinhardt Wagner
Lyric by Frank Thomas
*
“Take It All” from “Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
*
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Randy Newman could win…ew.

Best motion picture of the year

*
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
A Lightstorm Entertainment Production James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
*
“The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
An Alcon Entertainment Production Nominees to be determined
*
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing)
A Block/Hanson Production Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
*
“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
*
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
A Voltage Pictures Production Nominees to be determined
*
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production Lawrence Bender, Producer
*
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
*
“A Serious Man” (Focus Features)
A Working Title Films Production Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
*
“Up” (Walt Disney)
A Pixar Production Jonas Rivera, Producer
*
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
A Montecito Picture Company Production Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

All signs point to a Hurt Locker win. I don’t think Avatar will win, and it shouldn’t.

Best animated short film

*
“French Roast”
A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production Fabrice O. Joubert
*
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Brown Bag Films)
A Brown Bag Films Production Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
*
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)”
A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production Javier Recio Gracia
*
“Logorama” (Autour de Minuit)
An Autour de Minuit Production Nicolas Schmerkin
*
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” (Aardman Animations)
An Aardman Animations Production Nick Park

Best live action short film

*
“The Door” (Network Ireland Television)
An Octagon Films Production Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
*
“Instead of Abracadabra” (The Swedish Film Institute)
A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
*
“Kavi”
A Gregg Helvey Production Gregg Helvey
*
“Miracle Fish” (Premium Films)
A Druid Films Production Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
*
“The New Tenants”
A Park Pictures and M & M Production Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Achievement in sound editing

*
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
*
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson
*
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman
*
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
*
“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

It seems like maybe this category favors the sounds in fantastical settings sometimes because it’s really hard to come up with that stuff. It could easily by Hurt Locker though.

Achievement in sound mixing

*
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
*
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
*
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
*
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
*
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects

*
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
*
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
*
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

If Avatar didn’t win for vfx, I would lawl.

Adapted screenplay

*
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
*
“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) Screenplay by Nick Hornby
*
“In the Loop” (IFC Films) Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
*
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
*
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Original screenplay

*
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Written by Mark Boal
*
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Written by Quentin Tarantino
*
“The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
*
“A Serious Man” (Focus Features) Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
*
“Up” (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter
Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

I could see Inglourious Basterds winning this, or a Serious Man for a Coen Brothers nod, though I heard that wasn’t the best film they ever did or anything.

PS I reserve the right to make changes to this as I see more of the films this month.

Yeah, you’re right. I should ignore everything he said about reducing the deficit, ending the wars, passing healthcare reform, improving education, building an infrastructure based off of clean energy, and ending the bullshit partisan games that are ruining this country before our apathetic eyes.

I mean what was I thinking? Charge bailed-out banks that still give out bonuses larger than their profits? Regulate the industries that freely brought the masses to their knees while lining the pockets of the few? Socialist bastard.

It’s been one whole year and has yet to wipe out the record deficit created by two wars and constant tax cuts placed into a budget unconstrained by all that “pay-as-you-go” nonsense. What the hell has he been doing this entire time? The de-regulated financial industry completely burned to the ground, I know, but still. He really should not have followed through with the bailout that the Bush administration created. So what if the majority of it has already been paid back? Would we be in an economic depression the likes of which we cannot even fathom? Well, yeah, but you bet your ass our deficit might have been a little bit smaller!

For a second I thought keeping our financial system going might have saved a job or two. Thank God the GOP opened my eyes. How wrong I was! I was even so naive as to think some of the job losses were a natural part of our country’s economic shift to a post-industrial state (in which case a revitalized emphasis on education would provide displaced industrial workers a place in our new economic structure). Obama is clearly at fault here. Put people to work rebuilding our crumbling roads, electrical grids and airports? Build nuclear power plants, wind farms, and solar panels thereby creating jobs and renewable energy we can generate ourselves? Jesus Christ, that hippy must think this is Mexico and it’s the 1960s again!

His pleas for bipartisanship were an absolute waste of breath. Work together? With people who feel differently about things than I do? Encourage a meaningful rhetoric underscored with mutual respect? This guy is crazy. It’s impeachment time. It’s almost as if he thinks government exists to serve something higher than itself. He clearly is delusional. Maybe even mentally ill. Really.

And, honestly, for him to claim that “just saying no all the time” isn’t leadership? Really, Mr. Obama? And what has just saying “Yes” all the time gotten you, sir? “Yes, we can have health care for all” “Yes, we can make it affordable to go to college” “Yes, we can become energy independent” “Yes, we can end the war and bloodshed in Iraq and Afghanistan” It got him nothing but the 6th largest margin of victory ever in a presidential election and the largest margin of victory ever for a non-incumbent. If you think that a presidential election is a true mark of public opinion, well, there is just no hope for you.

What I don’t think he understands is that most of the problems he wants to solve have been around for decades! They were passed down to us by generations of politicians unwilling to take the risks associated with making touch decisions. He really expects us to just put an end to this tradition? Mr. Obama, why do you hate America?

Listen, Obama, and listen good: People have always died because they cannot afford medical treatment. The military is something we have always blindly poured money into. We have always been willing to sacrifice any number of our rights in the name of defeating terrorism. The national debt has always grown while the gap between rich and poor has expanded. The quality of our education has always gone down. Women have always made less than men in equal positions. Homosexuals have always been forbidden from marrying. Special interests have always grown more and more influential within our government. You think we want to change that? No, Mr. Obama, we like it this way. We aren’t about to let you meddle with our way of doing things.

Bob McDonnell allowed me to see the light when he said “Today, the federal government is simply trying to do too much.” I see now how ignorant I was in expecting my government to solve the problems that have a direct impact on myself and future generations. Doing nothing is the answer (and you can’t spell “nothing” without “no”).

So, Mr. Obama, you take your socialist, left-wing, nazi, fascist, anti-American, Muslim, gay agenda and shove it up your ass.

If I want healthcare I’ll go to Canada. If I want an education I’ll go to China. This is AMERICA. You just make sure I always have a job with benefits and a gun and then you shut the hell up.

1. I love editing in Final Cut. I am very aware of the shortcomings of FCP, but Avid and Premiere have similar or worse shortcomings. It’s exciting to be in the middle of a growing industry. When I was 15ish and reading Moviemaker magazine, there were articles about how the prospect of shooting real movies just on video is coming and how amazing that will be. I distinctly remember reading these things. It’s cool to be at a point where I could possibly process and edit RED camera footage..film quality video.
2. I hate winter. Especially January. All I want to do is sit around, eat, and sleep. It’s like hibernation. january is the WORST.
3. I have a lot of books to read and they’re all about video.
4. I really want to see Romeo and Juliet at the IRT. It just opened this week. I haven’t seen the play in its entirety since I was in it in 6th grade. I had to read it in high school but I knew it so well I doubt I actually did read it. For the record, I played Lady Montague and I had approximately three lines. That was the only play I was in that had actual costumes that didn’t suck.
5. Speaking of which, I miss being in plays. I don’t know that I could actually be in them anymore because I enjoy behind the scenes so much. And also after I quit waitressing my memorization skills have disappeared completely. It would be fun to be in a smaller play, probably. Unless I have developed crippling stage fright.
6. TV has improved so much since I was little, I think. I mean, in the 80s, would you buy a television music score and listen to it? I don’t think so. The production quality and level of storytelling is completely amazing.
7. I love editing an audio file to cut parts out or make a loop. I love when I just make a cut where I THINK it might work and it actually becomes perfect.
8. I’m still trying to figure out where to run. I am running all three of those freaking miles in May.
9. I’m hoping to be able to volunteer with the Indianapolis International Film Festival this year.
10. It’s pretty sickening how ignorant Americans are about Haiti. I mean when they say that we shouldn’t send aid there because people need aid here. Someone should try watching CNN once in a while.
11. Which leads me to my next statement. I know it’s a really cliche, young, naive, liberal thing to say but…if I had the chance, I really would move to a different country.