Yay, awards season!

Oh yes, I am one of those…I love to watch award shows: the Golden Globes, Oscars, Screen Actors Guild Awards, The Emmys, etc. I’ve seen half of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture: Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained and Les Miserables. I think my picks are pretty much in line with most, but here’s what I’m thinking:

Best Picture– Argo. I haven’t seen it but I want it to win if only because Ben Affleck didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for Best Director. Usually whoever wins Best Director, their movie wins Best Picture. Who says it isn’t time to break tradition?

Best Actor– Hugh Jackman for Les Miserables. While Daniel Day Lewis was amazing in Lincoln, he just won for There Will Be Blood. He’s one of those actors we can take for granted. He will always put in a good performance. I think it’s time the academy gave someone else a chance. Musicals are Jackman’s forte, and if there’s anytime for him to be nominated (and win), it’s this year.

Best Actress– Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook. I think this is an award meant to go to her for her great potential. There’s something very, very raw about her acting. It’s almost as if she isn’t, and that makes a great actress. I’m sure Jessica Chastain is great in Zero Dark Thirty; I’m just not interested in seeing it. It’ll be between the two of them for sure.

Best Supporting Actor– Robert DeNiro for Silver Linings Playbook. It’s a subtle performance that has as much meaning as anything overwrought ever could. Acting just isn’t about crying, accents and weight gains, you know.

Best Supporting Actress– Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables. C’mon.

And…Best Song will go to Adele, of course. They’ll want to get to award her like every music award out there and the Golden Globes. Best Director will might probably go to David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook, if they have any gall to give it Best Picture. Best Animated Feature will go to Brave, of course. That will always go to the most commercially and critically successful, and it’s not like there’s much to choose from.

Aren’t most people who watch award shows kind of experts by now? There’s so much press leading up to every Oscars telecast, and anyone who even casually reads up on it should feel like they know who’s going to win. It doesn’t help that with all the awards that lead up to it help people forecast who wins. At least it’s still fun to act like a know it all about something, especially when it’s something that doesn’t really matter and is totally harmless.

Things I Can Look Forward To In 2013

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

A typical post- if for no other reason that giving myself something to write. If there’s anything I should do with this blog, it’s post more often. I don’t think I posted ten times last year.

Turning 30– of course. The big one. I’ve yet to decide what I want to actually do. I’ve got a little bit of time, at least.
The return of Community– Finally!! February 7= October 19. If you get that reference, you are pretty awesome.
Vamping up my apartment– It’s time for a change in where I live. I don’t plan on changing where I live, just what it looks like. I’ve been looking at the same decorations for way too long.
Time with friends– I have some friends getting ready for some major awesome things this year. I’m glad to be a part of them. There’s nothing greater than seeing people you care about be super happy.
More music, movies and good television– Just like every year. That’ll never change.

After that it’s a bit up in the air. I’m not planning out much, but looking forward to a lot. If there’s one thing I’m happy about, it’s that there is no Presidential election this year. Two years of one is enough. Anyone up for anything big? I’d love to see some comments.

Happy New Year

Every new beginning deserves some recognition of some sort, and even though we all recognize January and the potential of a new year, that doesn’t meant it’s not worth noting. We all have to start somewhere and make a conscious effort to begin anew. And whether you like it or not, new times are always coming. 2012 went by too quickly, and I didn’t accomplish much. I wrote, edited and got my name on a back cover, yes, but I didn’t necessarily venture out into anything new.  I got preoccupied with the mundane, the necessary and not the fun. But it’s a new time.

Rather than simply list resolutions or explaining why I’m against them or any similar argument seems moot at this point. I just want to try things and get away from my norm. That’s not to say I’m going to head off to Fiji and completely disconnect. I just want something in my life to be new. I’m months away from thirty, and now’s a good time as any to start fresh. I’d like some change in scenery, more varied company, and more time around people who give a damn.

Let it be known that I’m not interested in attaining the approval of those that can’t be bothered. What people forget is that noone is as naive or ignorant or unknowing as you assume and unless you want to end up alone forever, get your head of out where it doesn’t belong.  We all move beyond pettiness. We all grow up sometime. Eventually. Perhaps the problem is is that everything not decidedly concrete is subjective, and we spend so much time speculating and gossiping that we ignore progress and growth. Perhaps we’d rather assume everyone stays the same and make ourselves feel better by promoting our betterness and dismissing others’. Perhaps we all need to relax and give others’ the benefit of the doubt. This world would be a world of better if it gave more of a chance.

So here’s to growing up, not caring what others think, knowing who your true friends are and realizing you have so much going for you. Who wouldn’t be up for that?