Tag Archive for 'Oscars'

2010 Oscars Recap

My family has an annual tradition of watching the Academy Awards with our friends Lisa and Clay. We take turns hosting, and we love it when the party moves to Lisa’s house because she is the Silicon Valley’s very own Martha Stewart. (That woman can prepare a spread like I’ve never seen!) This year’s party was great, the food was amazing, the wine was delicious, the five-year-old daughter was awesome… and I won the most Oscar picks! All that said, here are LTV Mom’s highlights from this year’s Academy Awards:

Best Dressed Female: Well, this was the year of my favorite color: RED. I know the TV pundits and critics have been praising the metallics, but I am a red girl. So, my best dressed is the gorgeous Penelope Cruz, with Vera Farmiga as a close second (was that red or magenta?). That said, I love a RED LIP, so the awesome Sandra Bullock gets a special nod for her luscious red lips (and the Oscar award for Best Actress!)

Best Dressed Male: Duh, it’s George Clooney (even though he needs a haircut). I forget, where there other men at this year’s show? I do have to give a nod to my fantasy-BFF Neil Patrick Harris. I had no idea he was performing this year, and he is adorable as always. Like I always say, he and I would be GREAT friends!

Best Line: Maybe it’s my age, but the best line has to be Steve Martin pulling out the “I was born a poor black child” when referring to the movie Precious. That line received a round of laughter and a DVR rewind so we could hear it again! I do have to say I thought Steve and Alec Baldwin were great, and I would easily ask them back for 2011.

Best Moment: Again, maybe it’s my age, but the tribute to John Hughes brought tears to my eyes. I grew up on his movies. I still quote Ferris Bueller. And I am so glad to see the Academy honor the man who influenced my generation, even if his movies are not Oscar-worthy. I challenge you, read the list of John Hughes movies on IMDB… you will be surprised how many you have seen (and how many you love!) Watch the tribute HERE.

Best (or worst) Fast Forward Moment: Sandy Powell wins Best Costume Design for The Young Victoria and begins her speech with “I already have two of these.” Lame. The only redeeming moment is that I picked her win at random, because period pieces always win Best Costume Design.

Worst Speech: Easy. The “what the hell happened” moment when the team from Music by Prudence won Documentary Short. I’m not going to take sides on the drama, but you can read about it HERE.

Best Presenter: Easy, Sandra Bullock. “Dude, make me look good!” when explaining the role of the cinematographer during her presentation of the award for Best Cinematography.

Best Milestone: To quote Barbara Streisand, “The time has come!” Katherine Bigelow is the first woman to win Best Director for The Hurt Locker. Just awesome…

Best Wine of the Night: Easy. The red sparking wine from Mumm, recommended by my cousin Sheryl. (Thanks a ton, and you were so right, it was delicious!)

– LTV Mom

Photo Credit: Yahoo! Images and AP

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on March 10, 2010
in Film and Laptop Television
. 4 Comments

LTV Mom’s 2009 Oscars Recap

Best Picture 2009

Best Picture 2009

It’s no secret I am a huge fan of Slumdog Millionaire. After I saw the movie, I shouted: Bring on the Oscars! Needless to say, I loved this year’s Oscars show, and here an overview of LTV Mom’s highlights and lowlights:

Highlights:

  • Two words: Hugh Jackman. I though he was great! Loved the opening number, loved the song-and-dance routine (even if my lame brother-in-law disagreed!)
  • Loved Ben Stiller’s spoof on Joaquin Phoenix. Instant cult-classic.
  • Loved Tina Fey and Steve Martin’s presentation. It was smart and witty. (And Tina Fey looked beautiful.)
  • Best dressed: Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman and Alicia Keyes.
  • Loved the personal touch when they “big awards” were nominated. Especially loved Robert DiNero’s tribute to Sean Penn.
  • Watching the Oscars with dear friends and my family.  We always have a feast, some wine, lots of laughs, and a fierce competition to see who can get the most picks right! (Um, I did not win.)
  • My four-year-old daughter, who could clearly “get” that mommy loves Slumdog Millionaire, asked if she was old enough to see “Slum-aire Million-dog.” How cute is that?!

Lowlights:

  • No Bruce?
  • Mickey Rourke’s career is back, but his fashion sense is not.
  • Four words: Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s outfit.
  • Sorry, I did not like Marisa Tomei’s dress. I agree with Randolph Duke who said it looked like 100 napkins folded into a dress.
  • I hated Miley Cyrus’s dress.  Young or old, I don’t care… it was ugly.
  • I wish the production for Best Picture included clips of each movie that was nominated.

Anyone else have highlights (or lowlights) to share?

In the meantime, I am a working mom with few babysitters… back to watching movies on-demand or on TBS.

Photo Credit: Monica Almeida/The New York Times

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on February 25, 2009
in Film and Laptop Television
. 5 Comments

Slumdog Millionaire: Bring on the Oscars

I’m lucky enough to have an adorable 4-year-old daughter, a pretty cool husband, a home and a full-time job.  This means lots of crazy and few pre-baby habits like movies in actual theaters.  With the Oscars right around the corner, I wanted to plug the best movie I have seen in ages:Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.

When I saw the trailer for Slumdog Millionaire (of course, I have no idea where or when I saw the trailer, can’t remember that far back), I immediately loved the movie.  I turned to my husband and said, “that looks like the perfect movie for me.”  So when the movie came out, I arranged a babysitter, grabbed the hubby, and ran to the theater.  I am happy to report the movie did not disappoint, in fact, it lifted every ounce of my soul.

Just in case you have been living under a rock, Slumdog Millionaire is the story of a Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers.  (Credit IMDB.)

Along this journey, the audience learns lessons of life, love, happiness, struggle and loyalty.  This movie made my laugh, cry, think, and rejoice… just what I need for a perfect movie.

Of course, I can make the shallow comments like “if I could only look like Freida Pinto” or “Dev Patel is a-dor-a-ble” but I don’t want to cheapen the mastery of this film.  It’s not overly complex in storyline and character development, yet thought-provoking with beautiful imagery and clever dialogue.

If you are like me, and a movie in an actual theater is hard to come by, go see Slumdog Millionaire.  It’s worth the price of admission… and an overpriced babysitter.

– LTV Mom

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on January 27, 2009
in Film and Laptop Television
. 0 Comments