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.

that being said, i still love awards season and here are my predictions in bold:

1. BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
a. AVATAR
Lightstorm Entertainment; Twentieth Century Fox
b. THE HURT LOCKER
Voltage Pictures; Summit Entertainment
c. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg GmbH Production; The
Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures
d. PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
A Lee Daniels Entertainment / Smokewood Entertainment Group Production;
Lionsgate
e. UP IN THE AIR
Paramount Pictures; Paramount Pictures

2. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE –
DRAMA
a. EMILY BLUNT
THE YOUNG VICTORIA
b. SANDRA BULLOCK
THE BLIND SIDE
c. HELEN MIRREN
THE LAST STATION
d. CAREY MULLIGAN
AN EDUCATION
e. GABOUREY SIDIBE
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE

3. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
a. JEFF BRIDGES
CRAZY HEART
b. GEORGE CLOONEY
UP IN THE AIR
c. COLIN FIRTH
A SINGLE MAN
d. MORGAN FREEMAN
INVICTUS
e. TOBEY MAGUIRE
BROTHERS

4. BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
Watermark Pictures; Fox Searchlight Pictures
b. THE HANGOVER
Warner Bros. Pictures; Warner Bros. Pictures
c. IT’S COMPLICATED
Relativity Media, Scott Rudin Productions; Universal Pictures
d. JULIE & JULIA
Columbia Pictures; Sony Pictures Releasing
e. NINE
The Weinstein Company/Relativity Media/Lucamar Productions/Marc Platt Productions; The
Weinstein Company

5. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE –
COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. SANDRA BULLOCK
THE PROPOSAL
b. MARION COTILLARD
NINE
c. JULIA ROBERTS
DUPLICITY
d. MERYL STREEP
IT’S COMPLICATED
e. MERYL STREEP
JULIE & JULIA

6. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE –
COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. MATT DAMON
THE INFORMANT!
b. DANIEL DAY-LEWIS
NINE
c. ROBERT DOWNEY JR
SHERLOCK HOLMES
d. JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
e. MICHAEL STUHLBARG
A SERIOUS MAN

7. BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
a. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS
Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation; Sony Pictures Releasing
b. CORALINE
Laika, Inc.; Focus Features
c. FANTASTIC MR. FOX
American Empirical Picture; Twentieth Century Fox
d. THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
Walt Disney Pictures/Walt Disney Animation Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
e. UP
Walt Disney Pictures/PIXAR Animation Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

8. BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
a. BAARIA (ITALY)
Medusa Film; Summit Entertainment
b. BROKEN EMBRACES (SPAIN)
El Deseo SA; Sony Pictures Classics
c. THE MAID (CHILE)
(LA NANA)
Forastero; Elephant Eye Films
d. A PROPHET (UN PROPHETE) (FRANCE)
Chic Films/Page 114/Why Not Productions; Sony Pictures Classics
e. THE WHITE RIBBON (GERMANY)
(DAS WEISSE BAND – EINE DEUTSCHE KINDERGESCHICHTE)
X Filme Creative Pool/Les Films Du Losange/Lucky Red/Wega Film; Sony Pictures Classics

9. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A
MOTION PICTURE
a. PENÉLOPE CRUZ
NINE
b. VERA FARMIGA
UP IN THE AIR
c. ANNA KENDRICK
UP IN THE AIR
d. MO’NIQUE
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
e. JULIANNE MOORE
A SINGLE MAN

10. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A
MOTION PICTURE
a. MATT DAMON
INVICTUS
b. WOODY HARRELSON
THE MESSENGER
c. CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER
THE LAST STATION
d. STANLEY TUCCI
THE LOVELY BONES
e. CHRISTOPH WALTZ
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

11. BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
a. KATHRYN BIGELOW
THE HURT LOCKER
b. JAMES CAMERON
AVATAR
c. CLINT EASTWOOD
INVICTUS
d. JASON REITMAN
UP IN THE AIR
e. QUENTIN TARANTINO
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

12. BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
a. NEILL BLOMKAMP, TERRI TATCHELL
DISTRICT 9
b. MARK BOAL
THE HURT LOCKER
c. NANCY MEYERS
IT’S COMPLICATED
d. JASON REITMAN, SHELDON TURNER
UP IN THE AIR
e. QUENTIN TARANTINO
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

13. BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
a. MICHAEL GIACCHINO
UP
b. MARVIN HAMLISCH
THE INFORMANT!
c. JAMES HORNER
AVATAR
d. ABEL KORZENIOWSKI
A SINGLE MAN
e. KAREN O, CARTER BURWELL
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

14. BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
a. «CINEMA ITALIANO» – NINE
Music & Lyrics by: Maury Yeston
b. «I WANT TO COME HOME» – EVERYBODY’S FINE
Music & Lyrics by: Paul McCartney
c. «I SEE YOU» – AVATAR
Music by: James Horner, Simon Franglen
Lyrics by: James Horner, Simon Franglen, Kuk Harrell
d. «THE WEARY KIND (THEME FROM CRAZY HEART)» – CRAZY HEART
Music & Lyrics by: Ryan Bingham, T Bone Burnett
e. «WINTER» – BROTHERS
Music by: U2
Lyrics by: Bono

15. BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. BIG LOVE (HBO)
Anima Sola Productions and Playtone in association with HBO Entertainment
b. DEXTER (SHOWTIME)
Showtime Presents, John Goldwyn Productions, The Colleton Company, Clyde Phillips Productions
c. HOUSE (FOX)
Universal Media Studios in association with Heel and Toe Films, Shore Z Productions and Bad Hat
Harry
d. MAD MEN (AMC)
AMC
e. TRUE BLOOD (HBO)
Your Face Goes Here Entertainment in association with HBO Entertainment

16. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES –
DRAMA
a. GLENN CLOSE
DAMAGES
b. JANUARY JONES
MAD MEN
c. JULIANNA MARGULIES
THE GOOD WIFE
d. ANNA PAQUIN
TRUE BLOOD
e. KYRA SEDGWICK
THE CLOSER

17. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES –
DRAMA
a. SIMON BAKER
THE MENTALIST
b. MICHAEL C. HALL
DEXTER
c. JON HAMM
MAD MEN
d. HUGH LAURIE
HOUSE
e. BILL PAXTON
BIG LOVE

18. BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. 30 ROCK (NBC)
Universal Media Studios in association with Broadway Video and Little Stranger Inc.
b. ENTOURAGE (HBO)
Leverage and Closest to the Hole Productions in association with HBO Entertainment
c. GLEE (FOX)
Twentieth Century Fox Television
d. MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
Twentieth Century Fox Television
e. THE OFFICE (NBC)
Universal Media Studios, Deedle Dee Productions, Reveille LLC

19. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES –
COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. TONI COLLETTE
UNITED STATES OF TARA
b. COURTENEY COX
COUGAR TOWN
c. EDIE FALCO
NURSE JACKIE
d. TINA FEY
30 ROCK
e. LEA MICHELE
GLEE

20. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES –
COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. ALEC BALDWIN
30 ROCK
b. STEVE CARELL
THE OFFICE
c. DAVID DUCHOVNY
CALIFORNICATION
d. THOMAS JANE
HUNG
e. MATTHEW MORRISON
GLEE

21. BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. GEORGIA O’KEEFFE (LIFETIME TELEVISION)
Sony Pictures Television
b. GREY GARDENS (HBO)
Specialty Films and Locomotive in association with HBO Films
c. INTO THE STORM (HBO)
Scott Free and Rainmark Films Production in association with the BBC and HBO Films
d. LITTLE DORRIT (PBS)
Masterpiece/BBC Co-production
e. TAKING CHANCE (HBO)
Motion Picture Corporation of America and Civil Dawn Pictures in association with HBO Films

22. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR
MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. JOAN ALLEN
GEORGIA O’KEEFFE
b. DREW BARRYMORE
GREY GARDENS
c. JESSICA LANGE
GREY GARDENS
d. ANNA PAQUIN
THE COURAGEOUS HEART OF IRENA SENDLER
e. SIGOURNEY WEAVER
PRAYERS FOR BOBBY

23. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION
PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. KEVIN BACON
TAKING CHANCE
b. KENNETH BRANAGH
WALLANDER: ONE STEP BEHIND
c. CHIWETEL EJIOFOR
ENDGAME
d. BRENDAN GLEESON
INTO THE STORM
e. JEREMY IRONS
GEORGIA O’KEEFFE

24. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A
SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. JANE ADAMS
HUNG
b. ROSE BYRNE
DAMAGES
c. JANE LYNCH
GLEE
d. JANET McTEER
INTO THE STORM
e. CHLOË SEVIGNY
BIG LOVE

25. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A
SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. MICHAEL EMERSON
LOST
b. NEIL PATRICK HARRIS
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
c. WILLIAM HURT
DAMAGES
d. JOHN LITHGOW
DEXTER
e. JEREMY PIVEN
ENTOURAGE

kyleesportfolio.com/blog.html is my “professional” blog where I record thoughts about my profession and keep it less personalish, more business. I could probably copy/paste that stuff here if I thought about it, but I usually don’t.

new blog, as of last night: filmgrimage.wordpress.com. it goes alongside the pro blog, but it’s a personal journey type of a thing, so it’s also to be kept separate. “film-grimage is a long journey or search of great filmic significance. A journey to a shrine of the importance of cinema, in any capacity.” But you can read about it on the site. We made the word up.

also, new life goal. nathan has decided to join me actually. this is the fourth year i will be participating in the 500 festival 5K. i’ve always walked it. we’ve always had a fair amount of ease doing so. this year, i want to attempt to run the whole thing. other internet nerds with a sedentary lifestyle have used the couch-to-5K program with great success, so i have loaded up the iphone app and i’m trying to figure out a place to run that isn’t crowded or icy. i think we can do it. it’s only three miles.

but that’s not the point. i was thinking about that tag when i was coming home today. it seems that everything that has made me who i am today happened in the last ten years. i know so much development and character building happened from age 0-13, but it feels like everything i can recall has happened in the last ten years.

i think about where i was ten years ago. i was 13. i had been using a computer for a year. i hadn’t even started high school yet. i knew some of the things i wanted, but i didn’t know how i would ever obtain them. i didn’t know what i wanted to do as a career. i was always interested in the big city, and i hoped that maybe i would end up in new york. i calculated that if i went to a 4 year college, i would graduate in 2009. it seemed like forever from then. there were parts of life that i read about on the internet that seemed beyond what i would ever do – simple things that adults take for granted, like going to a really nice coffee shop, or having a hobby outside of what you could convince your parents to let you do.

i feel like despite all the obstacles that have come up and still continue to come up, i am living the life that the 13 year old me would have LOVED. i have achieved a lot of what i dreamed for. i changed everything about my life.

today, i got up at 10 am and made myself and my husband breakfast. i got ready and went to yoga at a studio downtown, and took a class led by my friend. the first friend i ever met in indianapolis, actually. then we sat while we did paperwork and chatting in the empty locked up studio, and went to find some food downtown. we navigated up and down sidestreets and talked about our favorite local places. we sat in a pub next to conseco and talked about yoga for two hours. then i came home to my cats, my nice apartment, my mac laptop and flatscreen tv and i await the arrival of friends to ring in 2010 together.

i find the fact that i’m living the life the 13 year old me would have died for to be very comforting. even though i’m not where i want to be yet, it’s nice to see some progress and take a step back to see what can happen in ten years.

here’s to being a millionare in 2020

Also, I turn 30 in 2017. WAT.

Anyway, here’s a little year in review in photos, since that’s the best way to review anything anyway.

January: Started work on my senior capstone and final semester of college.

February: Did little else than work on my massive pile of homework, wedding related tasks, and capstone. Yikes that was a huge to do list.
March: Finished shooting my capstone, went to Michigan with Aaron and Katie to shoot a documentary

April: Spent an absurd amount of time in the labs rotoscoping and editing my capstone and documentary, made fun of conservative tea parties, had my bridal shower thrown for me by BreAnne, had my last day of school ever.


May: Participated in capstone night, graduated from IUPUI, had my bachelorette party, got a job in video production and ended employment at the zoo ( )



June: Had a pre-wedding celebration with family at the zoo, got married to Nathan, went to Vegas for our honeymoon



July: Settled in normalcy and a fulltime job, moved to a two bedroom apartment on the far northside, discovered the greatness of geocaching


August: Saw Austin get married

September: Began baking more regularly as a hobby, got the opportunity to use a DSLR for portraits (yoga portraits for Amanda, senior pictures for Katee, photo coverage of Nathan’s dad’s wedding). Turned 23.

October: Picked apples and baked even more

November: Not a whole lot.
December: Not much, other than found out one of my favorite people, BreAnne, is now engaged.

It seems this year was completely insane until we moved, then it settled into regular ol’ life again. I’m hoping that next year we manage to have the resources to get out of the state a couple of times, if only for a weekend. Then we can have something to look forward to in 2010 since otherwise we’ve achieved a lot of milestones for a while.

I would really like to travel by air at least once this year. I would love to go to Comic-Con in San Diego. I would also love to go to the Lord of the Rings concert at Carnegie Hall in NYC in October. Katee is officially enlisted in the army (she leaves on July 5th lol), which means we might have the opportunity to drive or fly (I’m thinking drive) to southern Oklahoma in early September if she goes straight into Basic without much waiting in Reception. Nathan is applying to go back to school this fall as well. So we have some things that could possibly be coming up to look forward to, which is nice. At this point, on the second or third official day of winter, I’m really just looking forward to the first spring thaw – not the teaser where one day is 65 and the next day it snows, I’m talking the first day in an official trend of warm weather. That alone almost makes me love spring more than summer.

here’s the greatest hits of wins and fails from my 3 years of waiting tables:

• taking cover in the walk-in during a tornado warning
• crack addict cleaning out his crack pipe in the bathroom
• working with a russian girl and an indy homeless guy, and seeing them spontaneously break out in a conversation in fluent french.
• a giant lady eating enough food for 3 people while feeding her kids vienna sausages, then cleaning up the sausages and congealed gunk from the floor when they left.
• cleaning up a giant pile of kid puke in the middle of a dinner rush. and getting a 10% tip from the kid’s mom who helpfully stated “i’m a nurse. you should wear gloves when you clean that up.” no kidding, and thanks for the assistance nurse vaginaface.
• seeing a hamburger thrown at a crying server.
• working circle city classic 10AM-10PM and walking home with $25 ($5 of which was from 1 lady). also not being able to go out the front door because there were so many people, and walking home while being called racial slurs (CC classic is an african-american event attended largely at night by younger people).
• having an idiot server try to pass me a tray of shakes into my non-dominant tray hand and having them fall all over in front of corporate vps (they knew what happened and left me a huge tip)
• being called out during lunch rush by the overall vp of operations for the company and having him tell me i was the best server he’d seen in a long time. after every other employee and manager had been pestering and butt-kissing him hardcore the whole time, while i just smiled and said hello. my short manager was so mad.
• working gencon. 6PM – 9AM a couple of nights. making so much money. walking to work that evening, then walking home to my apartment downtown. this was 2 weeks after i moved out of my parents house. it was an amazing sense of freedom and independence to work 14 hours and then walk home with hundreds of dollars to my own place, seeing what the city is really like early in the morning on a sunday.
• lots of other crazy customers. the stalker who would only let kathy wait on him. playboy who liked to look at playboys while he ate. white girls, the black guy who looked at white girl porn and touched himself. the campus crusade, who came in huge numbers and left huge tips for me and mandy. the first crazy customer i had in indy, who hated mustard and screamed it looked like baby poop.
• meeting dakota fanning, ron artest, a couple of random other people. seeing the mayor leave a cheap ass tip.

it was a good time. i think everyone should wait tables at some point. you learn a lot about society.

the first one i started in september – regular blood donations. i have been meaning to schedule my next donation since i’ve been eligible for a month now, but i got sick and i have to wait until i’m better before i can actually donate again. i can’t remember if i blogged about blood donation. in short, everyone who meets the basic requirements should be donating blood regularly. it takes like a half hour to an hour maximum depending on your blood flow and the crowd at the center. your blood can be split into three different products, which means it can help save three different people. you’re eligible to donate again roughly every two months. it’s really not painful and if you’re “afraid of needles”, suck it up. it might be YOU in the ER one day bleeding by the gallonful.

the other thing is i joined: the national bone marrow donor registry (www.marrow.org). bone marrow is needed to save people dying from diseases like leukemia and cancer. according to the website, 70% of donors do not have family members who are an eligible match. if you were in a situation where your loved one was in desperate need of bone marrow to save their life and there was no match, i’m sure you would hope that everyone that possibly could would join the registry.

what being in the registry means: i will be a send a kit with cotton swabs in which i will take cell samples from the inside of my mouth. i’ll send the kit back and be officially entered into the registry. when a patient needs bone marrow, a search will be done on the registry. if i’m a match, i’ll be contacted (usually with other people), brought in for further information, tested, and then selected from the final batch of people who matched to donate bone marrow. i can back out at any time.

bone marrow donation isn’t painful. there are two ways this is done. the website explains this in technical terms, but basically the first way is similar to plasma donation. you’re given an injection for 5 days to bring the bone marrow stuff into your blood stream, and then it’s separated out like plasma (the parts they don’t need are put back in you). the other way is outpatient surgery. bone marrow is removed from your pelvic bone – you aren’t put under, just regional anesthetic. some discomfort while walking is common, but there is no pain during the procedure itself.

i’ve been pondering becoming a part of this registry for a while, and i never really read enough into it to see what a bone marrow donation was like. i always assumed it was really painful. knowing that it’s just a minor inconvenience makes it even easier to join. also, there is usually a $50 fee to join to cover processing, but a promo code is attached to the form right now that makes joining the registry free.

i think everyone should look at that website and consider participating. imagine if your son or daughter or friend or whoever was dying, and a bone marrow donation from an anonymous donor saved their life. you can’t imagine the kind of desperation a family goes through when they know they need a tissue donation and just can’t find someone to do a simple outpatient procedure.

being a poor young person, it’s nice to still have some kind of charitable act to offer to the world.

(i’m also an organ donor but i think i’ll hang on to all of those until i’m not using them. )