Journal #1: Bouncing Ideas

These past two weeks, I have been working with my partner, Amber, to create a revolutionary teen noir that will be worthy of student awards. At first, we had to come up with individual treatments. I found this very challenging, not knowing where to begin. I thought back to when I watched the movie Brick during a Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie marathon my friends and I had a while back. I also went on YouTube and searched for Veronica Mars clips. After watching these, I still did not feel motivated. I began to write my story, pausing for long periods of time and procrastinating. By the end of my treatment, I was not satisfied, but I knew that I would have the chance to rewrite it, so I left it. I was extremely unhappy with my story and plot when I turned it in the day after Oscar night.

It came as a relief to me when it was announced that we were to work in pairs. I immediately chose Amber as a partner since we had never worked together before and because I knew she was as dedicated as I to create something much more incredible than what I had first written. The first thing we decided was to turn noir on its side and make our lead character a female instead of a male, in effect making our femme fatale a male. Intrigued by our new idea, we went home and mulled over a plot line that would captivate anyone watching our film. We brainstormed for about 2 hours on Google Drive, chatting and jotting down the skeleton of our plot. This plot focused on a girl who wanted to be with a boy, doing anything she could to get him. In the end, however, the girl would find she had been manipulated by this boy, who was the puppet of the girl's sister. Excited with our progress, we shut down our computers and slept on our ideas.

The next day, I wrote the first half of our treatment, letting Amber finish the second half. We used notes and comments to communicate with each other, always revising our treatment and improving it. Although there are still some minor problems we must solve and some things we must rewrite, writing is revising, and there will be no complaining on either of our parts. We want to make our treatment (and screenplay) as incredible and enthralling as possible. Our goal is to live up to the teen noir feel in our own, unique way.

Our pitch went as well as I thought it would. We decided to use a poster as a visual in order to better explain our convoluted love square to the class. It was very effective, and the pitch went more smoothly than I had expected. I am excited to fix the kinks in the treatment and improve the plot even more than we have done already. Writing is my absolute favorite part of film, and being able to do it with an extremely creative, dependable partner is half the fun. I cannot wait to work more on this project and perfect it as much as possible!

Road to the Oscars #6: Miscellaneous Expectations

There are many things I hope I will see in the Academy Awards this year. The first thing I would like to address is the brilliant choice of making Seth MacFarlane the host. He very diverse man; while he is most known for his animated comedy show Family Guy, he is also a big band singer, a movie director, producer, and writer, and one of Barbara Walters' Most Fascinating People of 2012. Seth MacFarlane is a man that can bring levity to the Academy Awards in an edgy way that still maintains the class this important night in film calls for. MacFarlane's monologue at the beginning of the show is what I am most looking forward to this year at the Academy Awards, for he will not hold back. I hope he brings what Ricky Gervais brought to the Golden Globes the past few years, making the normally stiff awards ceremony a little lighter and looser for all who are present and who watch from their TV screens. If anyone can pull this off, it is Seth MacFarlane.

Another part of the Academy Awards that I enjoy is watching the various presenters succeed or fail in their teleprompter comedy. One presenter who I know will make me die of laughter is Melissa McCarthy, known best for her role in Bridesmaids and the newly released Identity Thief. Her blunt and comical lines will be sure to also loosen up the awards ceremony and give everyone watching a cause to laugh. I hope she does a skit at least half as funny as the Martin Scorsese Drinking Game from the 2012 SAG Awards. I have a good feeling she, like MacFarlane, cannot possibly disappoint.

One of the most important parts of the Academy Awards is the red carpet before the ceremony. Although I do not watch the red carpet pre-shows myself, one of my favorite guilty pleasures is watching Joan Rivers and the Fashion Police after major awards shows like the Oscars so I can see for myself the highlights of the red carpet without having to sit through hours of boring interviews. Joan Rivers' brutal commentary on every bad choice ever made in the world of fashion entertains me to no end and is exponentially better than judging for myself, for I do not possess her unique wit and fashion wisdom. Fashion Police the Friday after the Oscars is bound to be one of Rivers' best yet.

Finally, I cannot wait to see the stunned, ecstatic faces of all those who get the honor of holding an Oscar above their heads. Although the speeches are rather lengthy at times, my favorite part of any awards show is the initial shock, surprise, and outright happiness that appears on every winner's face. The knowledge that your work is being recognized for such an esteemed honor is an unimaginable feat, something I hope to experience down the road in my future film career. I pray that one day I will be one of those shocked, exuberant faces, saying their thanks in front of the world to their family, God, and of course every single person who they've ever worked with just to make the speech sound longer. The joy that is witnessed at the Academy Awards is by far my favorite part.

This year's Academy Awards will be one of the better ones, in my opinion, due to the brilliance of host Seth MacFarlane, presenters like Melissa McCarthy, fashion wows and blunders, and the happiness that exudes from every single winner of these beloved awards. Hopefully, my high expectations will be met!

The 85th Academy Awards airs this Sunday, February 24th, at 5pm PST (8 EST) on ABC. For a list of nominees and more information, visit the official website of the Academy Awards.

Road to the Oscars #5: Best Picture

The nominees for Best Picture this year are all outstanding films that are most definitely worthy of this award. The nominees are Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty. Although all the films that I have seen in this category are spectacular (minus Les Misérables), there is no question in my mind that this award deserves to be handed to Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, and George Clooney for Argo.

Argo is a historical piece that takes place in 1979 during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, where one CIA operative comes up with a plan to create a fake movie in order to save six US Embassy workers trapped in Tehran. The film is by far the best I have seen in the past few years, creating a realistic world full of suspense and tension that kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire ride. I felt my stomach clench at the last moments when the 6 and Mendez, Affleck's character, almost didn't make it on the plane that would take them to safety. I laughed every time Alan Arkin exclaimed, "Argo fuck yourself!" The range of emotions I felt from this movie was unlike any other, making me feel connected in unexplainable ways that will forever be remembered by me.

Another piece of the beauty of Argo was the way it illustrated why Iran hates the United States so much. At the beginning of the film, it is explained that the United States and Great Britain placed a puppet of a leader in charge of Iran. This puppet did not care for the Iranian people and abused them in heinous ways, something the previous leader who the United States and Britain got rid of never did. This evil ruler was never checked by the nations who placed him there, causing the Iranian people to develop a great hatred for the two countries. Before, I had not understood specifically why the Iranians want to see the end of America; because of Argo, I now know why.

A cynical reason of mine for why Argo will win Best Picture is because of the fine line it walks between showing the mistakes and true nature of the United States while still keeping the movie "feel-good" and pro-America, a line that Zero Dark Thirty so obviously crossed. Although I commend Zero Dark Thirty for its boldness and illustration of the (partial) truth behind Osama bin Laden's murder, many will not feel the same way, and thus many will not vote for it to be chosen as Best Picture. Argo's slightly comedic yet intense take on the Middle East issues is brighter and less condemning than Zero Dark Thirty. It has a "happy" ending, one that resonates with the general American populace much more strongly and buoyantly than the eventual murder of Osama bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty. This is the main reason why Argo will succeed over the brilliantly done Zero Dark Thirty.

In my opinion, Argo has Best Picture in the bag. Its outstanding acting, story line, overall cinematic quality, and generally pro-America attitude will all contribute to the film's success in this category, even though it was not nominated for Best Director as it should have been. When it wins, Ben Affleck can finally say to the Academy who didn't nominate him: "Argo fuck yourself!"

Road to the Oscars #4: Best Actress

The category of Best Actress in a Leading Role has two record breakers this year. The first record broken is done by Emmanuelle Riva, the oldest woman to be nominated for this category at age 85 (for the movie Amour).  The second record broken is done by the 9-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis, who is the youngest actress to be nominated for this category (for the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild). The other three outstanding nominees are Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook, Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty, and Naomi Watts for The Impossible.

For this highly competitive category, I am betting that Jessica Chastain receives the Academy Award for her role as a strong, independent woman named Maya leading the charge against Osama bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty. I was floored by her outright amazing performance in this movie. Her progression from an innocent new recruit, immediately disgusted by the methods of torture her fellow Americans use, to an obsessed woman on the hunt for the biggest terrorist against our young nation is portrayed flawlessly by Chastain. The inevitable effects of hunting for the same man for a decade takes a toll on Chastain's character, mostly in psychological ways, and it takes a killer actress to demonstrate that to the audience.

My favorite Jessica Chastain scene in Zero Dark Thirty is Maya's reaction when she discovers that her best friend, Jessica, is killed by members of Al-Qaeda. Her sense of loss is short-lived, for she knows she has a mission she must complete. She wants to mourn Jessica, but it would be a waste of her friend's life if she did not continue the hunt for Osama bin Laden. This major character death completely shifts Maya's mindset, setting her on a deeply personal path to avenge Jessica's death along with the deaths of numerous Americans when Al-Qaeda brought down the Twin Towers.

I felt connected to Chastain's character throughout the entire film, mourning as she lost friends and acquaintances, becoming frustrated when she couldn't find Abu Ahmed, and celebrating with her when bin Laden was finally in a body bag . It takes a true actress to accomplish this sense of connection with the audience, but Chastain has no problem with it, once again proving her worthiness of receiving the Academy Award for Best Actress.

There is little doubt in my mind that Jessica Chastain deserves the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Her competition is tough, for all the women in this category are phenomenal actresses, but I know that Chastain can pull through and get the votes to receive this esteemed honor. She, above all others, deserves it.

Road to the Oscars #3: Best Actor

The Academy Award category for Best Actor in a Leading Role is competitive as always this year due to the four five shining nominees that were chosen by the Academy: Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook, Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln, Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables, Joaquin Phoenix for The Master, and Denzel Washington for Flight. All of these men are extremely talented and are worthy of receiving this award.

Although I have already written about Lincoln, this post is meant to describe who I believe will win the Academy Award in the category, and it would be wrong of me to disregard my hunch that Daniel Day-Lewis will receive the award just because I had already written about Tommy Lee Jones. Day-Lewis's enrapturing performance as the charismatic, strong-willed, kind, and incredible man Abraham Lincoln, who many consider the best President of the United States in history, simply cannot be ignored. Day-Lewis flawlessly displayed all the qualities of one of the most respected men in history, from his clear sense of grief due to his deceased son to his laugh as he told a joke about a picture of George Washington in a British man's bathroom to a room full of young men. Day-Lewis's performance was absolutely the reason the movie will forever be remembered for Americans everywhere.

My favorite aspect of Day-Lewis's performance was the way he spoke as Abraham Lincoln. Many of his previous movies had him using deeper voices (for example, There Will Be Blood), and this shift in voice for the beloved president is not only befitting for the character, but actually believed to be historically accurate. Lincoln was supposedly a soft-spoken man, and Day-Lewis captures this in his portrayal effortlessly, making the man only seen by the world in pictures truly come to life. The little things in Day-Lewis's acting, such as this, make him worthy of this Academy Award.

The one performance in this category I did not really enjoy was Hugh Jackman's in Les Miz. I found myself instantly bored by his performance, not nearly as connected as I felt to Day-Lewis or Washington or Cooper. My favorite scenes were the ones he was not in, though I must say he was easier to watch than Russell Crowe. I pray that Jackman does not receive this award.

Basically, I feel that Daniel Day-Lewis deserves to be recognized for his work as Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln, Spielberg's historical fiction masterpiece about the most beloved president in American history. Without Day-Lewis portraying the man, the film would have fallen flat, especially due to its length. This incredible performance paralleled with Les Miz and Hugh Jackman's dull portrayal of Jean Valjean truly illustrates Day-Lewis's acting genius. I hope that Day-Lewis wins this award for his outstanding performance in Lincoln!

Road to the Oscars #2: Best Supporting Actress

The Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role is filled with extremely talented women, namely Amy Adams for The Master, Sally Field in Lincoln, Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables, Helen Hunt for The Sessions, and Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook. However, unlike the race for Best Supporting Actor, this category seems like much less of a competition.

I am nearly certain that Anne Hathaway will take the Oscar in this category for her role as Fantine in Les Misérables. The sheer emotion that Hathaway displays in the musical-turned-screenplay is worthy of this prestigious award. Live singing "I Dreamed a Dream" in merely one shot as beautifully as Hathaway did in the film is impossible for about 99% of the human population, and the fact that she accomplished this so perfectly proves how amazing and versatile an actress she truly is. She also demonstrates her dedication to the project in the way she allowed her hair to be cut disproportionately during the film in order to stay true to her character. Her performance drew me to tears and was one of the redeeming qualities of this rather long and tiresome movie. Also, it doesn't hurt her chances that she successfully grabbed the Golden Globe in this category for the same role. I have a strong feeling that the Academy will give this award to Hathaway.

The only other actress in the running who could potentially beat Hathaway in my opinion is Sally Field for her role as Mary Todd Lincoln in Lincoln. However, the Academy will probably not want to continue Sally's winning streak of 2 awards for 2 nominations, giving Hathaway the advantage once again.

Once again, I have noticed buzz about how Amy Adams should win this award, even though she probably will not. Since I have still not seen The Master, I cannot form my own opinion, though I am a big fan of Adams and am sure she could do no acting wrong (except for Night at the Museum 2).

Examining the actresses in this category carefully, it is evident to me that Hathaway already has the award for Best Supporting Actress in her back pocket. Her incredible, emotion-driven, dedicated performance will have the Academy shedding tears just like the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. It is almost a sure win for Anne Hathaway, and it is very much deserved for this accomplished, stunning actress.

Road to the Oscars #1: Best Supporting Actor

In what may be the closest race of the 2013 awards season, the nominees for Best Actor in a Supporting Role this year are all Academy Awards veterans: Alan Arkin for Argo, Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook, Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master, Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln, and Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained. Each man has proven himself worthy of the nomination, and regardless who wins, this category can't go wrong.

My prediction is that Tommy Lee Jones will take the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a confident and self-assured radical Congressman in Lincoln. Jones' stellar performance in this Spielberg blockbuster captivated and charmed me. His portrayal of Thaddeus Stevens was definitely one of the highlights of the movie and will remain in my memory for time to come. I also feel that Jones deserves this award because of his believability. Not once did I think to myself during the film, "Tommy Lee Jones is incredible," for I didn't see him as Tommy Lee Jones; I saw him as Thaddeus Stevens. I laughed with Stevens; I was near tears when all seemed to be hopeless for the Thirteenth Amendment and, along with the pivotal document, Stevens. I sympathized with Stevens as he fought for what he believed (and what we know) is right, despite the myriad obstacles. Had Jones not delivered an incredible performance, I would not have felt the range of emotions I found myself dealing with during Lincoln. Because of these reasons, I believe that Tommy Lee Jones will take the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Although I have not seen The Master, I have heard it is an incredible film, and many critics are saying Philip Seymour Hoffman deserves to win this award. Thus, I would like to mention his performance here and say that I would love to see this movie in order to better make my prediction. However, I still feel that the Academy will pick Jones even though critics enjoyed Hoffman's performance since the Academy tends to have a soft spot for Steven Spielberg. I am sure The Master is an incredible movie, but until I have seen it, I can't judge for myself.

In conclusion, it seems to me that Tommy Lee Jones of Lincoln will take home the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Although the other contenders, namely Alan Arkin, Robert De Niro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Christoph Waltz, are all worthy of the esteemed award, I feel that Jones should be the one to hold the golden trophy in his hand and make his acceptance speech on February 24th. Hopefully, my prediction comes true, and Jones will get the glory he deserves!