Viola Davis for Best Supporting Actress!

Wow! The seventh film I have watched from the "25 Films to Watch Before Oscar Night" is DOUBT. What a great film. It's based on the the Broadway play by John Patrick Stanley. He also translated it to the screen and directed the movie. This film will definitely receive multiple Oscar nominations. My prediction is based on my opinion and upon the various accolades it has already received.

Overall, the cast's acting was phenomenal. However, the standout and scene stealer is Viola Davis who plays Mrs. Miller. She's only on the screen for a mere 18 or so minutes, but it's definitely worth a nod for holding her own and going toe-to-toe with Meryl Streep in the outdoors walking scene to her place of employment. It was visibly cold the day of shooting and the scene is an emotionally charged one. Her emotions were so wrapped up in character that she didn't even bother to wipe her running nose throughout her dialogue. She just left it until the end. I thought it was genius. It may or may not have been a conscious act, but I don't think it really matters. The scene worked. She is GREAT! Check out the scene below.

The Cat Girl that has a Chihuahua

What if you had a college degree and a post-graduate degree (we're talking esquire here people) and lived in a 100 square foot room with two big ass orange/white cats and one doodoo brown chihuahua (that's still using pee pads to defecate and urinate on...missing most of the time) all the while having to sleep in the scent of used cat litter?

What if you lived with a close friend of mine that has endured the messiness that is the 2nd bedroom of the townhouse you both rent?

What if I stayed over one night, while in town, and you weren't there and said close friend opened the door to your room so I could finally understand how horrible the hardly describable smell that lingers out of your room?

Well, if this were you, I'd tell you that you were one BIG OLE STANKY MESS and should know better than to:

A. Not crate a puppy, thus house breaking the poor thing (he is cute....just a product of bad training)

B. Not clean out cat litter boxes on a daily basis (hell twice a day should be more like it)

and

C. Not offer to repair damages made by cute chihuahua to said friend's belongings immediately

Shame, shame, shame! big, big, BIG OLE MESS....but not as big as J!!

Master Manipulator

I've always felt you were a Master Manipulator, J. What I didn't realize were the extent of your dealings. You've always expressed to me that you are "crazy" and now I truly believe that you are. You need serious help (which I'm sure you realize, but ignore). You played with my heart, my emotions, my relationships/friendships with other people, and most of all my LIFE. The awful thing is that you did the same to a dear friend of mine at the SAME time (we compared notes today). What a fucking cliché. I feel like I'm in an episode of Gossip Girl. You're the Stupid Girl that Shirley Manson sings about in Garbage's hit song from the 90s.

I'm so happy I backed off from you when I did. If I had found out the truth two months ago I'd be devastated. However, now I just feel pity for you. I'm a true believer that people CAN change. Hopefully you will seek help and can indeed change. ....OR maybe some people are just bad apples and you're part of that batch.

What I do know, right this second, that you are indeed a BIG OLE MESS. By far the biggest one of anyone I personally know.

Fringe

How heinous were those University of Texas band uniforms last night at The Fiesta Bowl? My first Big Ole Mess of 2009 is The University of Texas' Marching Band. Fringe on band uniforms ain't right. Burnt orange (urrrange) is a God awful color too. The combination of the two is painful to the eyes! =)

Another Big Ole Mess from the Fiesta Bowl is Ohio State. Why oh why do you continue to CHOKE in the BCS games Buckeyes? I was rooting for ya.....mainly because the Texas band looked ridiculous and I hate burnt orange.

EW's "25 Movies You Should See Before Oscar Night"

The list of 25 movies to see before Oscar night from EW's list are as follows:

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. Milk
4. Frost/Nixon
5. The Dark Knight
6. Doubt
7. Revolutionary Road
8. WALL-E
9. The Wrestler
10. Gran Torino
11. The Reader
12. Rachel Getting Married
13. Changeling
14. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
15. Tropic Thunder
16. Happy-Go-Lucky
17. The Visitor
18. I've Loved You So Long
19. Frozen River
20. Nothing But the Truth
21. Man on Wire
22. Synecdoche, New York
23. The Duchess
24. Defiance
25. Australia (why is this on the list?!)

So, I've seen 6 of the 25 movies so far. Here's my take on the six:

The Curious Case Benjamin Button was good. I was expecting something profound but didn't get that in the end. It was very Forrest Gump-ish in the way the story was told. I did enjoy it overall despite the 2 hours and 45 min run time. It won't win Best Picture though. Brad Pitt may get nom for Best Actor and Taraji P. Henson (Queenie) for Best Supporting Actress

Rachel Getting Married was good if you like deep family drama with superb acting (Anne Hathaway is really good...should be a lock for a Best Actress nomination.

The Dark Knight was awesome. I loved it. It was a long one but a great ride! Heath Ledger is a shoe-in for Best Supp. Actor Oscar...might get Best Picture nomination.

Wall*E....my favorite by far. I hope it will get a Best Picture nomination. I don't think people realize how much goes into making animated movies these days. The first 30-40 minutes of Wall*E are dialogue free and it's just beautiful. Who would've thought that 2 robots and a roach would be so entertaining. Of course it will win Best Animated...something is seriously F'd up at the Academy if it doesn't!

Milk....really moved me. I had no idea about Gay history...this is Gay History 101. Sean Penn can play anyone...he's a chameleon....he's the male Meryll Streep. He should win Best Actor...and this will get nom for Best Picture...go see it!!

Slumdog Millionaire.......loved it. The way the story is told is very cool. I believe what has captivated most American audiences with this film is learning how life is in India. I know that not all of India is slum-ridden, but wow....I had no idea. The directing is quite amazing and with large a large extras cast it must have been very challenging to coordinate all the large scenes. Slumdog has won most of the critics Best Picture and Best Directing awards....not sure if Oscar will give it to them though. If it does win it will be a triumph for a Bollywood movie. Everyone should see this.

Next on my list is Doubt. I see it tomorrow night.

Resurrection

So, it's been 3 years since my last blog post. WTF! This blog is getting resurrected! I'll go ahead and call myself out for being a Big Ole Mess for not posting in EONS. I've been inspired by my friend who shared his blog with me last night. It's a private blog, but I forgot how much fun (and therapeutic) it is to write. I'm getting back to some things in life that I like! So, here goes!