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I answer a few questions including which Cate Blanchett performance I like best over at Film Experience.

Plus you'll find more of my articles here, at Film Misery.

Live Tweeting the Oscars

I will be at this party live tweeting the Oscars tonight. Follow me at twitter.com/ME_Says.

My Final Oscar Predictions

Best Picture
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The Kids Are All Right”
“The King’s Speech”
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”
“Toy Story 3″
“True Grit”
“Winter’s Bone”

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, “Black Swan”
David O. Russell, “The Fighter”
Tom Hooper, “The King’s Speech”
David Fincher, “The Social Network”
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, “True Grit”

Best Actor
Javier Bardem, “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges, “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg, “The Social Network”
Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech”
James Franco "127 Hours"

Best Actress
Annette Bening, “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman, “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams, “Blue Valentine”

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, “The Fighter”
John Hawkes, “Winter’s Bone”
Jeremy Renner, “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo, “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush, “The Kind’s Speech”

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter, “The King’s Speech”
Melissa Leo, “The Fighter”
Hailee Steinfeld, “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver, “Animal Kingdom”

Best Adapted Screenplay
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”“
Toy Story 3″
“True Grit”
“Winter’s Bone”

Best Original Screenplay
“Another Year”
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The Kids Are All Right”
“The King’s Speech”

Best Art Direction
“Alice in Wonderland”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I”
“Inception”
“The King’s Speech”
“True Grit”

Best Cinematography
“Black Swan”
“Inception”
“The King’s Speech”
“The Social Network”
“True Grit”

Best Costume Design
“Alice in Wonderland”
“I Am Love”
“The King’s Speech”
“The Tempest”
“True Grit”

Best Film Editing
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“The King’s SPeech”
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”

Best Makeup
“Barney’s Version”
“The Way Back”
“The Wolfman”

Best Music (Original Score)
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“Inception”
“The King’s Speech”
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”

Best Music (Original Song)
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong”
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours”
“I See the Light” from “Tangled”
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″

Best Sound Editing
“Inception”
“Toy Story 3″
“TRON Legacy”
“True Grit”
“Unstoppable”

Best Sound Mixing
“Inception”
“The King’s Speech”
“Salt”
“The Social Network”
“True Grit”

Best Visual Effects
“Alice in Wonderland”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I”
“Herafter”
“Inception”
“Iron Man 2″

Best Animated Feature Film
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“The Illusionist”
“Toy Story 3″

Best Foreign Language Film
“Biutiful” (Mexico)
“Dogtooth” (Greece)
“In a Better World” (Denmark)
“Incendies” (Canada)
“Outside the Law” (Algeria)

Best Documentary Feature
“Exit Through the Gift Shop”
“Gasland”
“Inside Job”
“Restrepo”
“Waste Land”

Best Documentary Short
“Killing in the Name”
“Poster Girl”
“Strangers No More”
“Sun Comes Up”
“The Warriors of Qiugang”

Best Short Film (Animated)
“Day & Night”
“The Gruffalo”
“Let’s Pollute”
“The Lost Thing”
“Madagascar, a Journey Diary”

Best Short Film (Live Action
“The Confession”
“The Crush”
“God of Love”
“Na Wewe”
“Wish 143″

Final ME_Says Awards

This long weekend I saw "Carlos" and I was tempted to add to my list of nominess particularly for Edgar Ramirez's performance. He is oustanding and clearly gives one of the year's best performances. But I'll stick to my previous nominations.

Best Film
For the win it was a battle between "The Kids Are All right" and "the Social Network" for me. Both are immensely enjoyable conemporary movies that comment on the way we live today. I've seen both several times already and they don't lose anything after multiple viewing. Here is my list in order.

The Social Network
The Kids Are All Right
Blue Valentine
Black Swan
Animal Kingdom
The Fighter
A Prophet
Rabbit Hole
Joan Rivers A Piece of Work
127 hours
Never Let Me Go

Bast Actor
Eckhart was just the most emotional performance of the lot. Gosling gave a fascinating heartfelt performance too.
Aaron Eckhart - Rabbit Hole
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
James Franco - 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine
Tahar Rahim - A Prophet

Best Actress
Almost all year I was with Bening as my fave of the year. But Williams' performance is stronger in my mind and I only saw her performance once.
Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Julianne Moore - The Kids Are All Right
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Emma Stone - Easy A
Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

Best Supporting Actress
What a fantastic list. While Leo was great and so in sync with Bale, Adams was my fave in The Fighter. Ultimately I went with Weaver because it was the more surprising performance. Not because I didn't know much about the actress but because I was constantly surprised by her character.

Amy Adams - The Fighter
Loretta Devine - For Colored Girls
Mila Kunis - Black Swan
Melissa Leo- The Fighter
Naomi Watts - Mother and Child
Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom

Best Supporting Actor
Because Ruffallo made it look so easy. He wasn't acting, he was just being.

Christian Bale - The Fighter
Matt Damon - True Grit
Andrew Garfield - Never Let Me Go
Armie Hammer - The Social Network
Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right

Best Director
Fincher period. The Social Network was entertaining, thought provoking and it had great music, amazing performances, snappy editing and I was wowed and amazed even in my third viewing. And behind all this was one man.
Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
Lisa Cholendenko - The Kids Are All Right
Derek Cianfrance - Blue Valentine
David Fincher - The Social Newtwork
David Michod - Animal Kingdom

Best Original Screenplay
Just love that movie and those characters.Beautifully written dialogue and honestly drawn characters.
Animal Kingdom - David Michod
Blue Valentine - Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis
The Fighter - Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
The Kids Are All Right - Lisa Cholendenko and Stuart Blumberg
A Prophet - Jacques Audiard


Best Adapted Screenplay
That dialogue, man. That fast fast dialogue.
127 Hours - Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle
Never Let Me Go - Alex Garland
The Social Network - Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3 - Michael Arndt
Winter's Bone - Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini

ME-Says Awards or If I Had An Oscar Ballot

I thought this was a great year for movies and particularly performances. I would have liked to have 8 noms for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress (where I cheated and put in 6). It was hard to decide who to take out. Sorry Barbara Hershey, Nicole Kidman, Amanda Peet, Patricia Clarkson, and Keira Knightley. And I didn't have a spot for Jim Carrey in Best Actor.

Best Film
127 hours
Animal Kingdom
Black Swan
Blue Valentine
The Fighter
Joan Rivers A Piece of Work
The Kids Are All right
Never Let Me Go
A Prophet
Rabbit Hole
The Social Network


Bast Actor
Aaron Eckhart - Rabbit Hole
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
James Franco - 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine
Tahar Rahim - A Prophet

Best Actress
Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Julianne Moore - The Kids Are All Right
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Emma Stone - Easy A
Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - The Fighter
Loretta Devine - For Colored Girls
Mila Kunis - Black Swan
Melissa Leo- The Fighter
Naomi Watts - Mother and Child
Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale - The Fighter
Matt Damon - Trur Grit
Andrew Garfield - Never Let Me Go
Armie Hammer - The Social Network
Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
Lisa Cholendenko - The Kids Are All Right
Derek Cianfrance - Blue Valentine
David Fincher - The Social Newtwork
David Michod - Animal Kingdom

Best Original Screenplay
Animal Kingdom - David Michod
Blue Valentine - Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis
The Fighter - Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
The Kids Are All Right - Lisa Cholendenko and Stuart Blumberg
A Prophet - Jacques Audiard


Best Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours - Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle
Never Let Me Go - Alex Garland
The Social Network - AAron Sorkin
Toy Story 3 - Michael Arndt
Winter's Bone - Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini

Hello Clarice

The new Modern Classics column is up over at Film Misery. In it I discuss The Silence of the Lambs, one of favourite movies. It contains what I think is the strongest most heroic female screen character in Clarice Starling.

I also think Jodie Foster was right in turning down the sequel. Clarice was not as strong nor as fascinating and behaved rather out of character.

I build the case for both arguments. Check it out and let me know if you agree.

A Love Letter to Kurt Hummel

Is there a more important character on network TV today than Kurt Hummel? I think not. In this time where many gay teenagers are finding themselves alone and confused, Glee offers this positive inspirational character.

Kurt is young, gay, out, proud, defiant, and above all completely and utterly himself. He might not always do the right thing, or feel comfortable in all situations. But he goes on living. Goes on trying things. Goes on being true to himself.

I wish there was a character like this in popular culture when I was growing up. We all know that being a teenager, and particularly a gay teenager, can be very lonely. I sought refuge in the writings of James Baldwin at that age. But I hope young gay men and women today can see themselves in Kurt. He's out there. On the most popular show on TV. He's is definitely and definitively part of the cultural conversation. Hopefully he's forcing teachers and parents and young adults to confront the sexuality question that looms large at that age.

But back to Kurt himself. I just love him. Love his relationships. Whether the tender and loving one that he has with his dad. The awkward and sometimes stalkerish crush he had on Finn. His rivalry with Rachel, his love and "us against the world" friendship with Mercedes. I love that he examines his surroundings and makes informed opinions about religion, high school and of course Lady Gaga.I love that he always tries new things and is never afraid. Whether demanding the right to sing "Defying Gravity", trying out for the football team and of course the right to dance to "Single Ladies' in a unitard.

And don't you just love his dad. He always stands up to him. Always with love and protection. He has no judgement, no disappointment. And above all he is wise and guides him. I teared up up in the scenes that accompanied 'I Want to Hold Your Hand" when they showed the tea party little Kurt had for this dad. How great is that? To encourage and love your kid that way at that age, forgetting how you thought they'd turn up, what you wanted them to become. Not a lot of parents are up to that challenge.

Chris Colfer is a most talented young man. I was so happy that he was nominated for an Emmy this year for season one. He gives Kurt such charm and appeal. And what a singer. What other 20 year old can give such pizazz to "Le Jazz Hot'' and such heartache to his version of 'I want to Hold Your Hand". And what an arc have the writers given him. Coming out, confronting his dad about his sexuality, having a crush on his straight friend, facing the uncertainty of a very sick parent. And all those songs, not just what I mentioned but he also covered John Mellancamp and did 'Rose's Turn" from Gypsy and Judy Garland's part in "Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy".

My favourite Glee cover is "I Want to Hold Your Hand". You can't tell, right? I only mentioned it here 4 times. Beautiful and full of emotion. It is on constant loop on my iPod.

Kurt, just as Rachel told you last week. "You might be lonely but you are not alone". I love you and I'm so happy that I get to spend time with you every week. Keep the faith, my friend.

Sorry for the Silence

The past couple of months have been very busy. At work, travelling out of New York City. But the main reason that I have not been able to update the blog is because I started contributing to Film Misery.

It's a great opportunity to be part of that site and to interact with its readers. You will find all my articles here. Please check them out and I'll be back here soon.

In fact the "Silence' in this title inspired me to write about a favorite movie of mine, The Silence of the Lambs. That will be my next article at Film Misey.

Best Actress is getting crowded

Black Swan premiered early today at the Venice Film Festival. Early reaction is very good. Almost unanimous praise. The more interesting question to me is whether Natalie Portman is now a front runner for Best Actress. The trippy trailer proved that this movie is a great showcase for her. Now the reviews are following, even the ones that had problems with the movie liked her performance. If she wins an award in Venice she could become unstoppable. After all Helen Mirren's march to Oscar 4 years ago started with a win in Venice.

Not so fast. This year's roster is already crowded. There's the new ingenue in Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone. The multiple nominated veterans from a bonafide art house hit in Julianne Moore and Annette Bening from The Kids Are Alright. Not mention movies being released later in the year for Oscar darlings like Anne Hathaway (Love and Other Drugs), Carey Mulligan (Never Let Me Go), indie stalwarts with confirmed festival buzz Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine) and Lesley Manville (Another Year).

I say Portman, a former nominee for Closer, is very close to locking up the nomination not the win. Not yet anyway. But a bit of advise for Bening, the front runner now in my opinion, go out and rock the vote, play the Jeff Bridges card from last year and you might just win. So far she's been laying low, which might be a good strategy but not for long.

Who do you think will win? Vote in the poll:

poll by twiigs.com