Oscars 2013

For the first time in over a decade I am watching the Oscars with my daughter and her husband. I usually watch alone, often by design, but the invitation to spend the weekend and stay over through Monday was too tempting. We will talk fashion, speeches, production and general snark. My son-in-law is overseeing the Oscar Pool with his wonderful sense of humor. Of the 53 nominated films, I have seen 46. It was a good year for My Oscar Project. Below are my picks if I were to cast an Oscar ballot. I am Red Carpet ready, and wishing Seth McFarland a good show.

Linda's Oscar Picks

Best Picture  Argo
Best Director Michael Haneke - Amour
Best Actress  Jessica Chastain - Zero Drk Thirty
Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Best Supporting Actress - Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Best Supporting Actor- Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
Best Foreign Feature - Amour
Best Animated Feature - The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Best Documentary Feature - Searching for Sugar Man
Best Animated Short - Fresh Guacamole
Best Live Action Short - Curfew
Best Documentary Short - Mondays at Racine
Best Costume - Anna Karenina
Best Makeup and Hairstyles - The Hobit
Best Original Screenplay - Moonrise Kingdom
Best Adapted Screenplay - Lincoln
Best Original Song - Skyfall
Best Score - Argo
Best Cinematography - Skyfall
Best Production Design - Anna Karenina
Best Visual Effects - Life of Pi
Best Editing - Argo
Best Sound Editing - Zero Dark Thirty
Best Sound Mixing - Les Miserables

House of Cards

In a historic move, Netflix has dropped a complete season of 13 episodes of a political themed TV show on its Instant viewing queue. House of Cards is a political drama that is well written and skillfully acted. Kevin Spacey plays an ambitious congressman who is majority whip. He has interesting ways of manipulating people and events to his advantage. It took me three weeks to watch this series and I may go back and re-watch the beginning now that I am more familiar with the characters. I hope Netflix stays with this distribution model, I'm looking forward to Season 2.

Side Effects

In Stephen Soderbergh's latest film, Side Effects, a man getting out of jail for insider trading is in for a surprise when he finds out what his wife has been up to. The assumption of the vulnerability of mental illness gives her weapons that feed greed. Things are not as they seem in this thriller, almost like two films. I liked it.

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel

The roots of fashion journalism are explored in Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel. From the 20's to 80's her fabulous career in fashion is chronicled with beautiful photos and footage. Her work at Vogue was groundbreaking and shaped how we look at fashion today. Fantastic documentary.