Welcome to Lauren's blog!

Here are my predictions for who will (or SHOULD) win an Academy Award this year.

I've seen almost every single movie on this list (minus foreign films and documentaries)
but I've seen the shorts and pretty much everything else.
And yes, it took me a while to watch all of these.

(My predictions are in bold, I know it's kind of hard to see)

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films)
Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal)
Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features)
Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

Sean Penn is great. Gotta love him.


Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Josh Brolin in “Milk” (Focus Features)
Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder” (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt” (Miramax)
Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.)
Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

Was there really any question that he would lose?

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” (Universal)
Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Meryl Streep in “Doubt” (Miramax)
Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)

Angelina Jolie was amazing in Changeling, but Anne Hathaway was great also so really, if either of them won I would be satisfied. Melissa Leo comes in a close third. Kate Winslet was great also aaaah this is the only category that truly everyone deserves it.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Amy Adams in “Doubt” (Miramax)
Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company)
Viola Davis in “Doubt” (Miramax)
Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)


Best animated feature film of the year
“Bolt” (Walt Disney), Chris Williams and Byron Howard
“Kung Fu Panda” (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount), John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton

Wall-E= love.

Achievement in art direction
“Changeling” (Universal), Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
“The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
“Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt


Achievement in cinematography
“Changeling” (Universal), Tom Stern
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Claudio Miranda
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister
“The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle


Achievement in costume design
“Australia” (20th Century Fox), Catherine Martin
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Jacqueline West
“The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor
“Milk” (Focus Features), Danny Glicker
“Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Albert Wolsky


Achievement in directing
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Fincher
“Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Ron Howard
“Milk” (Focus Features), Gus Van Sant
“The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Stephen Daldry
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle


Best documentary feature
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)” (Cinema Guild), A Pandinlao Films Production, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
“Encounters at the End of the World” (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment), A Creative Differences Production, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
“The Garden” A Black Valley Films Production, Scott Hamilton Kennedy
“Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall in association with Red Box Films Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
“Trouble the Water” (Zeitgeist Films), An Elsewhere Films Production, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

Even though I didn't see any of these, I know a lot about Man on Wire and I hope it wins.

Best documentary short subject
“The Conscience of Nhem En” A Farallon Films Production, Steven Okazaki
“The Final Inch” Vermilion Films in association with Google.org, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
“Smile Pinki” A Principe Production, Megan Mylan
“The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306” A Rock Paper Scissors Production, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde


Achievement in film editing
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lee Smith
“Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
“Milk” (Focus Features), Elliot Graham
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens

Best foreign language film of the year
“The Baader Meinhof Complex” A Constantin Film Production, Germany
“The Class” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haut et Court Production, France
“Departures” (Regent Releasing), A Departures Film Partners Production, Japan
“Revanche” (Janus Films), A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production, Austria
“Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel

This is a random guess, because I don't know much about any of the foreign films.

Achievement in makeup
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal), Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz


Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Alexandre Desplat
“Defiance” (Paramount Vantage), James Newton Howard
“Milk” (Focus Features), Danny Elfman
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Thomas Newman

Ohhh gosh it could be Benjamin Button or Wall-E. This is gonna be a tough one!


Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
“Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

I don't remember which one is which, but it'll be either of those.

Best motion picture of the year
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), A Kennedy/Marshall Production, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
“Frost/Nixon” (Universal), A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
“Milk” (Focus Features), A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
“The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti and Redmond Morris, Producers
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production, Christian Colson, Producer

Obviously! :)


Best animated short film
“La Maison en Petits Cubes” A Robot Communications Production, Kunio Kato
“Lavatory - Lovestory” A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production, Konstantin Bronzit
“Oktapodi” (Talantis Films), A Gobelins, L’école de l’image Production, Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
“Presto” (Walt Disney), A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Doug Sweetland
“This Way Up” A Nexus Production, Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

La Maison en Petits Cubes and Oktapodi were so adorable also but I have to give it to Presto.



Best live action short film
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)” (Hamburg Shortfilmagency), An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production, Reto Caffi
“Manon on the Asphalt” (La Luna Productions), A La Luna Production, Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
“New Boy” (Network Ireland Television), A Zanzibar Films Production, Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
“The Pig” An M & M Production, Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
“Spielzeugland (Toyland)” A Mephisto Film Production, Jochen Alexander Freydank

New Boy was absolutely adorable.


Achievement in Sound Editing
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Richard King
“Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
“Wanted” (Universal), Wylie Stateman

Hmmm Slumdog or Wanted, Slumdog or Wanted......let's go with Wanted.


Achievement in sound mixing
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
“Wanted” (Universal), Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Slumdog or Wanted, Slumdog or Wanted...let's go with Slumdog?


Achievement in visual effects
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
“Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan


Adapted screenplay
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
“Doubt” (Miramax), Written by John Patrick Shanley
“Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Screenplay by Peter Morgan
“The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Hare
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy


The Reader comes in a close second.


Original screenplay
“Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Courtney Hunt
“Happy-Go-Lucky” (Miramax), Written by Mike Leigh
“In Bruges” (Focus Features), Written by Martin McDonagh
“Milk” (Focus Features), Written by Dustin Lance Black
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

Happy-Go-Lucky was adorable, but I didn't get a chance to see In Bruges so I can't make a completely educated guess :/



WELLLL LET'S SEE HOW EVERYTHING GOES! :)

This is what I tend to do:
-come home from classes
-sit around and watch tv, read, play online, watch all my youtube subscribed videos for the day, browse around on facebook
-do some laundry, maybe clean
-make food
-kick it with my aunt
-kick it with friends
-walk down to get coffee
-go to the library

Oh yeah..we are missing all the academic work required for college courses...

for some reason I don't do ANY work for like 3 or 4 days and then it all piles up and I just spend ALL day completing it.

wouldn't it be easier to just do an hour a day, and then not be bombarded? ohhh noooo, we just like to make everything complicated and stressful.

NEW GOAL: instead of spending 8 hours doing homework once or twice a week, we are going to attempt to do homework every single day and spread out the misery over time.

will it be easier?
time will tell! :)


and yes, I do get good grades for those of you wondering why a procrastinating crazy kid like me is going to college. hahhaa, I get everything done (ON TIME) it's just a matter of WHEN I actually end up completing it...which is often at very strange hours in the middle of the night.

ohhh goodness.

As I sit here eating my stuffed bell pepper and guava kern, I've realized I spend a lot more time thinking about all the things I need to do, instead of actually doing them. Funny how that happens. I spent from 7-11pm last night thinking about how I had some homework due at midnight and how I needed to get to it. It ended up taking me about 15 minutes to do, and I turned it in at 11:45pm. Why do I do these things? It only took me 15 minutes! Goodness gracious.

I've been reading and watching movies a lot lately. As any good movie viewer would do, I am trying to watch every movie nominated for an Academy Award. Not just the ones up for best picture, but every movie nominated for something. I also have a large list of movies in general that I need to see....some past sundance ones, etc. Thank goodness for all the stickies on my macbook! (AND I GOT A NEW MACBOOK WOOOO HAPPY DAYS).
So far I've seen:
-Frozen River
-Slumdog Millionaire
-Rachel Getting Married
-Wall-E
-Wanted
-Kung Fu Panda
-Happy-go-lucky

I know, I know. I have a lot to see still. But HEY, I have until February 22 to get caught up.

Here comes the sad melodramatic part of my entry...
My dearly beloved ipod that I've had for years is now dead to me. Since I've stolen so much music and movies from everyone else, I was smart in not updating my ipod with all the new itunes. If this happens, all your music gets deleted from your ipod. Unfortunately, when I got my new laptop, the itunes automatically started updating my ipod and while I was saying "NO CANCEL, CANCEL, CANCEL!" it was just too late. 4,000 songs and 15+ movies gone forever. GONE. FOREVER. Years of music, gone. Luckily, Holly sent me some essentials and Mo sent me a mix cd that conveniently arrived the day this happened. SO, my plea is that everyone I know will send me some music or a burned cd, and I can start building back up my itunes.....trying to get my songs back....that are gone.....FOREVER. rather upsetting, I tell you! Such a tragedy.

Moral of the story: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES UPDATE YOUR IPOD EVER.


Well, I have quite a bit to accomplish today. Homework, cleaning my room, laundry, setting up the DVR to record my shows all week. aahaha :)
Hopefully it doesn't snow tomorrow, like it did this morning. Snow is sosososo inconvenient! I long for some 60 degree weather!

how crazy your life is? Like, how everything can totally fall into place? How you can get your hopes so high, and even though there is a chance that they will be crushed, you are so ecstatic at the idea of adventure that you can't imagine it not working out? You get so set on a goal, that you HAVE to make happen. You NEED it to work out, or you don't know what you'll do. If you aren't living life with goals that you sometimes imagine "to good to be true," you aren't living to your full potential, because as corny as it sounds...if you want something bad enough, you will find a way to get it.

One of the biggest things I hear quite often about myself is that I am a "do-er." That I'm a "go getter." That I "march to the beat of my own drum." That I make these "crazy plans" like deciding to move out of state, leaving my school and a well paying job, friends,family, and a month and a half later I'm on an airplane heading to Washington. Why, you ask? Why not, I say. I may be broke, and not have a car, and fall down in the snow while trying to read (see my previous post) but at least I'm enjoying my life. At least I find excitment often. At least when this year is over, I will be able to say that 2009 was the year of adventure.

So make plans, kids. GO CRAZY (well not that crazy...)!


WEELLLLL ANYWAYS, completely unrelated to this topic butttt:
Yesterday I started and finished one of the greatest books I have ever read. It's those authors who know how to make you care for and love a character, that when the book is over, you feel like you know them. You get sad at the fact that this is fiction, and that this isn't a real person. I'm not talking "Twilight" status and being in love with "omgg the amazing Edward Cullen". I enjoyed reading that book, it was entertaining...but as far as the way it was written and the depth of the characters.....SUCH A CRAPPY BOOK. Anyways, if you want to discuss Twilight with me I would be more than happy to share my opinions with you.
BACK TO THE REALLY GOOD BOOK:
Looking for Alaska by John Green. Read it. Yeah, yeah it's a book about teenagers and angst and love and hate and death and pranks and summer and boarding school. It's also about the quality of life, adventure, full of good quotes, and one of those books that makes you think about the way you live.

Easily one of the best books I've ever read.....easily. I guess that's why its won all those awards....hahaha.


That's all for now, if everything works out like we have it planned so far, in summer I'll be living in a crappy apartment, eating top ramen, while I document a video about the rats running through the building. (Just kidding about the rats....I hope). We'll see where the road of life takes us! :)

I learned how to walk and read at the same time! It's not as easy as it sounds, but it definitely makes time pass quicker when one is walking miles at a time. And this conveniently goes hand in hand with my new goal for this year of reading more.

On the other hand, do not under any circumstances walk in the SNOW and read at the same time. There are large puddles you will step in, or a slick driveway you will slip on. If you can't see where you are putting your foot down...just save the book for at home in a safe environment. ahahhaa.

I really like this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbI7cCp0v6w

So, I've been in Seattle for about 3 1/2 weeks. Some days it feels shorter, some days longer but I will for sure be home March 21-29. I already have my plane tickets.

Everyone is always asking me "How's Seattle?!" or "How's the weather in Seattle?!" or "How's school in Seattle?" It's not that I'm sick of these questions, because I enjoy knowing that people care about me and are wondering how I'm doing, it's just a bit exhausting explaining all the good and bad things about being in Seattle 17 times a day to everyone who asks. I feel bad just saying "ohh Seattle is good....school is good..." so I figured I would write some things in this blog for everyone to read.

THE GOOD:
1. I really am enjoying my new college. I like the classes I'm taking, it's a newer school (I believe) so a lot of the buildings are really nice and are much less ghetto than some previous colleges I have attended...hahaha. So far I really like the quarter schedule, and it will be cool coming back from spring break with completely new classes.

2. I've made some friends in my classes, and I have some friends up here from before I moved, so that's been cool.

3. GREEN GREEN GREEN EVERYWHERE! I love the Pacific Northwest. It's beautiful. It has the most beautiful trees, and it's hard to just say "ahhh it's gorgeous" unless you've been here.

4. The Seattle atmosphere is awesome. I'm about 15 minutes (driving) away from downtown which is the home of the Seattle Art Museum (went there last weekend) and the world famous Pike Place Market, as well as many "first" stores (first starbucks, first sur la table, etc.). Restaurants, boutiques, stores, it has everything. I'd love to live in the smack dab of downtown.

THE BAD:
1. Okaaayyy so around where I live is not that exciting. The main street I live off of has a ton of construction going on 24/7 because there are no sidewalks, and the roads are really really crappy with the most massive potholes I have ever seen. The other main street I live off of is basically a much much more run down version of San Carlos (in San Jose). There are a bunch of run down video stores and tiny casinos and restaurants and laundromats and motels and prostitutes. As long as you don't walk around outside at night you are fine! :)

2. It is freaking cold. I like cold weather, but to Californians cold weather is between 50 and 60 degrees. It is 30-40 degrees here on average and though it hasn't rained that much, if it does start a downpour, in these frigid temperatures it turns to snow. You need about 3478927453953 layers of clothing on to go outside or you will FREEZE. So no, it hasn't rained too much, but yes it is freezing and you go days and days at a time without even seeing the sun. The sun is nice to see but even if it is out, the air is still very cold. Someday I'll be able to go outside and not see my breath....someday.

3. The bus system is beyond unreliable. I am constantly late to my first class (9:30am) because the buses run SO LATE in the morning. The bus drivers are very nice, but their cheerful "good morning" as I get on the bus each morning does not help my situation of losing partipation points in french. grrrrr. There are also some very odd characters that ride the bus. Hahahaha. To San Jose people reading this, it may seem like a petty grievance I am complaining about, but when you are waiting outside in the FREEZING COLD with your hands and feet and face completely numb AND you are late to school because the bus is running 30 minutes behind...it's quite annoying. If only I had a car up here. Sigh.

Well, if anyone has any specific questions feel free to ask me, just know that if it's a general "How's Seattle?" question, I will probably be pointing you towards this blog. I really will try and update more frequentley.

Now time for some ANTM, leftover sushi, and getting a library card.

Ciao<3

This year strangely enough, did not feel like Christmas at all. Maybe it was because it was the first time we have had an odd family situation, or maybe it was because I didn't do any of the typical "Christmas" things such as making cookies, driving around looking at lights, or going to Christmas in the Park. Anyways, maybe December 2009 will be more festive.

On the plus side, I got pretty much EVERYTHING I asked for on my Christmas/birthday list (besides a new laptop and a really expensive phone).

Since my birthday was on the 23rd (which was also very uneventful), I'm just going to combine all my birthday/Christmas gifts into one list

-Black leggings
-3 books I wanted
-The Office Season 1-4 dvd set
-Black vest
-AA hoodie in mermaid green
-V-necks
-A heart necklace
-Random makeup stuff
-Socks and underwear! :)
-Starbucks gift card
-Barnes and Noble gift card
-Cheesecake factory gift card
-My new house keys for Seattle
-$$$
-Magazine subscription to Nylon
-Picture frame
-Daisy by Marc Jacobs perfume


and I bought my new phone (EnV2) and switched to verizon on Christmas eve so that was also a present that I happened to purchase for myself.

Last night I also ordered online from AA a cranberry hoodie, wide belt, and terry robe. THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE LAST THING I AM BUYING UNTIL AFTER MY TUITION FOR SCHOOL IS ALL PAID. ahh stressful times.

Overall, presents wise it was a very good holiday season, but I guess there was just not enough cheer.

Moving on to 2009.