Oscar Marathon + Paperlegends

[geeklover80]

I spent most of last weekend and the beginning of this week practically sequestered finishing up my merlinreversebb fic. So I didn't have time to catch up on the movies I still have to see before the Academy Awards, so I'm catching up on that this weekend. Of the best picture nominees, I'm not going to be able to see Django Unchained, which I wasn't too gung ho for anyway, or Amour, not playing anywhere near me.

I've seen The Impossible, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Les Miserables. I still have to see Argo, The Sessions, and Zero Dark Thirty.

Having now seen Beasts of the Southern Wild, I can see what all the fuss was about with that little girl Quvenzhane Wallis. She is outstanding in it and as cute as a button.

I tend to having kind of dueling sides to my personality. Like I can be equal parts cynical and idealistic. The Impossible managed to beat down my cynical side. There were times during the movie where I thought "Come on, no one would do that in the real world" and a lot of the climax hinges on a series of coincidences, but it didn't take me out of the movie or make me less sympathetic because I really came to care about all the characters, engrossed in their struggles, and really invested in seeing them triumph. It has been a really, really long time since I full on cried during a movie and that happened three times with TI.

I tend to not believe in the "if youve already won an Academy Award, then you shouldn't be nominated any more" but I would remove any one of the nominees from the supporting actor category, who have all won before, and put in Tom Holland and/or Ewan McGregor. EM's phone scene in the middle of the movie is one of the scenes that I cried at. And the kid, Tom Holland, is amazing throughout. He's so natural and feels like a real kid, but also really shows you how fast he has to grow up in this situation. it's a very fierce and moving performance.

I think with Les Miserables my more cynical side came out to play. Warning: SPOILERS within for Les Miserables. I really didn't have a problem with the beginning of the movie, but at about the halfway point I was fidgeting and checking the time. The fact that I felt pretty horrible during the last part of the movie, probably didn't help matters, but by the time Russell Crowe's Javert kills himself (which I don't completely get) I was ready for them to wrap it up, like PRONTO. When the movie was over, as soon as the credits began, a lot of people in the audience cheered, but I just wanted out of there.

I'd already been kind of spoiled about all the death at the end, but I didn't realize that about 90% of the major characters died. It felt like it all happened so they could do that "Yay, we're all dead" reprise song at the end. When Hugh Jackman's Val Jean dies, his daughter Cosette and her husband Marius hug and there was something about the way he was holding her that I half expected her hand to slip down dramatically and the camera to pan to her dead eyes. The movie is that bleak, that it wouldn't have surprised me. It wouldn't have even bothered me that much. I'm not a big believer in love at first sight stuff in movies and TV, and never have been, so I was so not invested in Marius and Cosette's grand love. I'd heard a lot of buzz about Amanda Seyfried in the movie, but Cosette is kind of a thankless role.

Anne Hathaway's I Dreamed A Dream is amazing. But I'd still give the Academy Award to Sally Field. Partly because Anne Hathaway has been kind of annoying this awards season, but because Sally Field's Mary Todd was just a more layered character. Fantine is just tragedy after tragedy. There's not a lot of range.

Anyway, on to paperlegends. I finally signed up. Now I just have to pick one of my ideas or go with the crazy idea of attempting to do both.

I made the mistake of looking at the prompts over at merlin_muses. Ugh so much goodness over there. Damn you, Merlin fans and your amazingly creative minds!

Stacey

Comments

[oflittleuse.livejournal.com]

Yay paperlegends! \o/ There's a lot of people signed up this year, which is exciting.

And yeah, I've quickly glanced at merlin_muses and I'm trying to stay away ... lol. Need to focus on what I currently have on my plate before I add too much else. :)

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

There's a LOT of really interesting prompts and people signed up for PL. Even if half of them drop out, it's still going to be massive.

I have so much stuff I'm already signed up for and trying to concentrate on that, but some of those prompts are far too tempting.

Stacey

[dante-s-hell.livejournal.com]

OMG! There are such lovely prompts at merlin_muses. I totally know how you feel about that.

:-)

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to tell myself to concentrate on what I've already got on my plate, but I know I've been sucked in and will be there at 7am to claim something.

Stacey

[millionstar.livejournal.com]

Congrats on signing up for PL!

I never knew merlin_muses existed until now. Ugh, there's not enough time to do all the things I would like to do. I've come to the realization that I'm going to have to scale back a bit, sadly.

I'm curious to see Lincoln and Argo - Zero Dark Thirty is pretty interesting.

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

You're handling it the smart way. If you've got to much going on, best to scale back. I have not learned that lesson yet.

Lincoln is better than I thought it would be. There are parts that drag, but they manage to wring so much tension, even though we all know how it turns out.

Stacey

[teprometo.livejournal.com]

GOOD LUCK ON PAPERLEGENDS! I have to try to figure out how to balance writing that with finishing my Redux fic and writing my Perverse Bang fic. Plus volunteering. *sighs* I'll get it done! I WILLLLLLL!

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

Have to do the same balancing act. And like a masochist, I just signed up for merlin_muses.

Thanks!

Stacey