Oscar Reality 2012

So here's the thing:

While Billy Crystal was a much, much, much more enjoyable host than last years' grating duo, this year's Oscar theme was.....boring.....

Outfits?  Okay.  Everyone looked beautiful, but aside from JLO's boobs popping all over the place (which I don't count as very unusual), no one wore anything too crazy.   Even this year's worst dressed really weren't that bad!  No one gave any crazy acceptance speeches, there was no heckling from the audience, and the host wasn't too cruel (here's looking at you, Ricky Gervais).  I almost wished Ricky had hosted.  At least then something would have happened!!

And the movies this year!  While I loved some of them, they were definitely a motley group.  The Artist was destined to blow them all away.  It was the only movie I was fully behind.  Tree of Life may be a cinematic achievement, but The Artist is and should be a fan favorite.

Favorite Dress?  Maybe it's just because I love her, but Emma Stone looked amazing in a red Giambattista Valli Haute Couture gown.  Appropriate, beautiful, and a great color for her.  She was also really funny when she presented.  Go Emma!

Favorite acceptance speech goes to Octavia Spence from The Help who thanked the academy for putting her up there with the hottest guy in the room.  Christian Bale...yummm...don't care that you're crazy.

Biggest upset was when Meryl Streep beat out Viola Davis for Best Actress.  I mean I know she's Meryl Streep, but Viola Davis was robbed.  She was the best thing about The Help and I think her chance won't come again.

Funniest moment goes to Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrel, with the ridiculous cymbol thing.  Well played.  It's silly, but I totally giggled.

All in all, while I'm happy for The Artist, come on America is this the best we can do?  We need to step it up.  Which brings me into this year's Oscar theme: nostalgia.

Each film is filled with the desire to leave the current time and enter another, most particularly in reference to children.  Midnight in Paris is the perfect example.  The main character desires to live in the 1920s, only to discover that those during that time wish to live in the time before.  Tree of Life is a flashback to a man's childhood while The Artist is an homage to a different era while its main character comes to grips with the changing times.  The Descendants has George Clooney grappling with both his progeny and his ancestors, while Moneyball has Brad Pitt fighting the ways of the old baseball system, yet being tied by love for his daughter.  Both Hugo and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close are about the loss of innocence, and young boys trying to regain a beloved father and a time when things were better.  And War Horse is about war destroying a happier time.  War Horse is a bit of a stretch--but really, so was the nomination.

I'm not sure what this means for our country as a whole.  Even though the economy seems to be rebounding, do we still look back at a supposedly better time?  Will we find, as many of these characters do, that the better time they remembered didn't really exist?  Children seem to be at the base of most of these stories, and are secretly the most powerful.  Perhaps the current generation fears and respects the younger one?

These are just conjectures.  If I wanted to go on, I could ask why the best film here was one by a foreign country and an entirely different society.  If anything, these films are largely confused.  They lack the vision of last year's group.  Perhaps that says more about our society than anything else.

This year, both cinematically and visually, the awards were a bit of a dud.  Better luck next year?

All The King's Men (1949)

"Jack, there's something on everybody. Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption. He passes from the stink of the dydie to the stench of the shroud. There's ALWAYS something." --Willie Stark to Jack Burden (All The King's Men, 1949)

I dragged my feet to watch this one, but unlike Hamlet, I was pleasantly surprised.  It wasn't my favorite film, but it was fast-paced, entertaining, and interesting to watch.  There weren't always easy explanations for some of the character developments, and I found Willie Stark much more compelling than our hero, Jack Burden.  But still a worthwhile watch, though I doubt I'll ever see it again.

The Plot
Minor reporter Jack Burden, played by John Ireland, is sent to cover the campaign of Willie Stark, a self-taught man from a small town in the south who is running for town treasurer.  Stark, played by Broderick Crawford, is convinced that he can fight the corruption running rampant in the city council.  Jack watches him get arrested for holding an illegal political rally, but after he is released, Stark takes Jack home to his family.  Jack meets Stark's elderly father, adopted teenage son Tom, and wife Lucy who is a former schoolteacher and Stark's inspiration.  Jack is impressed with Stark's honesty and integrity and after he leaves writes several favorable articles about him.  Stark later loses the race.

Burden's article about Willie Stark

Jack goes to his home to visit, a place called Burden's Landing.  His mother is a fragile alcoholic, his step-father arrogant and verbally abusive.  Jack meets with his neighbor, an elderly judge of good character and a strong influence on Jack.  He and Judge Stanton's niece Anne, played by Joanne Dru, are childhood sweethearts, and her brother Adam is a doctor and one of his best friends.  Jack proposes marriage to Anne Stanton, but she says that while she loves him, she knows he still has to find himself.  She promises to wait for him while he goes out and discovers what he wants to do.

Jack and Anne

Meanwhile, Stark loses the election, but with help from Lucy, gets his law degree.  Later, when corrupt politics leads to faulty engineering in a local school, the collapse of a fire escape leads to the death of several children.  This act galvanizes the people, and they turn to Willie Stark to file suit against the builders.  Stark now finds himself the figurehead of a reform movement.  Worried that Stark's popularity will lead to more votes for a reform candidate for Governor, corrupt politician convince Stark himself to run, thinking this will split the vote and give their own candidate the win.

Sadie talks it over with Willie.

Jack travels with the campaign, but he, and the voters, are unimpressed by Stark's dull, factual speeches.  Jack tries to help Stark one evening with his speech, but political aide Sadie Burke, who has been dispatched to keep an eye on Stark, tells him the truth--he's not really running.  Sadie, played by Mercedes McCambridge, gets him drunk, but then watches in amazement the next morning when he gives the best speech of his career, gaining the support of the crowd.  He tells them the facts, but emphasizes he is just a "hick"  like them.  He loses the race, but learns what he must do to win.  Jack quits when he is told to stop writing positive pieces about Stark.

Willie's run for governor.

Four years later Stark has won the race for Governor, and hires Jack as his aide.  He has won by making deals with anyone who will help him, but on a trip to Burden's Landing with Jack convinces everyone that good can come of making deals with evil.  Judge Stanton agrees to take the position of Attorney General, and Anne is particularly impressed by Stark.  Stark pushes through red tape to help the poor and to build schools, stadiums, and a new hospital--all while dealing in corruption.  Judge Stanton resigns when face to face with Stark's perfidy.

Jack, Willie, and Judge Stanton

Stark tells Jack to dig up information on the Judge to use against him.  Jack refuses, but still ends up finding blackmail on the judge.  While he decides what to do with the information, Sadie informs him that Anne has been cheating on him with Stark.  Jack confronts Anne, who doesn't deny the affair.  Rather than betray the judge, he gives his blackmail notebook to Anne and walks away.

Anne has an affair with Willie.

As Stark's public life becomes more and more extravagant, his personal life is having problems.  His wife is icy and diffident, and his son is increasingly reckless.  After he accidentally kills a girl while driving drunk, he publicly admits his guilt, despite his father's attempts to cover up the incident.  Willie offers the girl's father a bribe, which he refuses.  Later, Stark insists his son Tom play in an important football game, although he is still recovering from the accident.  Tom ends up paralyzed, as he is further injured in the game.

Willie Stark and Jack Burden

Adam refuses to head up Stark's new medical center, until Jack and Stark threaten to reveal incriminating information about the judge.  Later the father of the girl killed in Tom's accident ends up dead, and Judge Stanton accuses Stark.  As impeachment proceedings begin, Stark demands that Jack reveal publicly what he knows about the judge.  Jack goes to Judge Stanton and begs him to stop the proceedings, only to discover that someone has told Stark who then went to tell the Judge.  Judge Stanton commits suicide, and Jack realizes it was Anne who told Stark.  He quits his job in disgust.

When Stark is not impeached, Adam shoots Stark and then is killed himself by the police.  Jack tries to get Anne to reveal what she knows about Stark to the crowd, but she refuses.  Stark dies in Jack's arms, still not knowing why he was shot.

Willie Stark

The History
In 1947, Robert Penn Warren won the Pulizter Prize for his novel about political corruption, based loosely on the life of Huey P. Long, former governor of Louisiana and that state's U.S. senator in the mid-1930s.  All the King's Men was soon picked up by writer-director Robert Rossen, who purchased the film rights himself.  He wrote the screenplay and shifted the focus of the novel from the Jack Burden character (played by John Ireland) to Willie Stark.  The film was produced by Rossen's own production company but distributed by Columbia Pictures.

Robert Rossen

Rossen was a Jewish New Yorker, who came to Hollywood in 1937 to make pictures.  He was also a member of the Communist party from 1937-1947, which he explained later as being "dedicated to social causes of the sort that we as poor Jews from New York were interested in."  Though this would later get him into trouble with the HUAC, he split with the Communist Party in Los Angeles when they severely criticized his beloved project, All the King's Men.  As it was, Rossen had to put in writing his political tenancies for Columbia's studio head Harry Cohn, denying that he was a Communist Party member.

Merecedes McCambridge and John Ireland

With the backing of Cohn, Rossen offered the part of Willie Stark to John Wayne, who violently rejected the script as being "unpatriotic" and accused Rossen of making a film that that threw acid on "the American way of life."  The role would go to Broderick Crawford, a supporting actor who saw a great role and jumped on it.  He stayed up late watching films of Huey Long, and poured his heart into his performance.  Mercedes McCambridge, a radio actress, got her big break into films when she threw a temper tantrum and stormed out of the audtition room, irritated by how long the actresses were being made to wait.  Giving them a piece of her mind worked--the producers thought her temper the perfect match for Sadie's.  Cohn's critiques of Rossen's script included scrapping a framing structure that was difficult for audiences to follow, and several improvements in the relationships and motivations of characters.  Even after edits, Cohn refused to support the film, despite its great reviews.  He also refused to promote it in Los Angeles in time for the Oscars.  Rossen poured all of his money into publicity for the film.

Harry Cohn

Rossen had some stiff competition for the award this year, mostly in war films.  Battleground and Twelve O'Clock High both won accolades for their realistic portrayals of war.  William Wyler directed Olivia de Havilliand in The Heiress, based on Henry James's novel Washington Square.  This was his first film since Oscar-winner The Best Years of Our Lives, nearly three years previous.  When asked why he had waited so long, he quipped, "Well if I don't make any picture at least I'm not making a bad one."  The studios were still having a tough time competing with both the advent of television and the loss of their theaters.  When it looked as though they would be unable to support the Awards for a second year in a row, Hollywood moguls traveled to New York to convince their bosses that investing in the Awards paid off in publicity and increased world-wide business.  After that successful pitch, the Academy now had the funds to reserve the Pantages Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard for a glamorous Awards show.

Pantages Theatre during the 1949 Oscars

Newly minted star Paul Douglas, fresh off Oscar nominated A Letter to Three Wives, was the host and began the show with a warning against long speeches.  "I'll thank in advance all the writers, grips, hairdressers, cameramen, front offices and producers," he said, "And we'll also assume the without your mother the whole thing might not have been possible.  Just thank your lucky stars, the voters and no one else."  Highlights of this year's awards included a performance of "Best Song" winner "Baby It's Cold Outside," Ronald Regan's performance of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and a special award given to Fred Astaire by his partner, Ginger Rogers.  Olivia de Havilland walked off with her second Oscar for "Best Actress."  The remaining awards were split between the previously mentioned films, but with seven nominations, All the King's Men had three wins.  Mercedes McCambridge won for "Best Supporting Actress," Broderick Crawford for "Best Actor," and "Best Picture."  McCambridge encouraged "all beginning actresses" to "never get discouraged," while Broderick Crawford held the statue in silence before finally saying, "If my heart was to stop beating for a moment..."

Broderick Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge get their Oscars.

While none of the wins were unexpected, everyone had a good time at the once-again glamorous awards.  Broderick Crawford's wife got in the car immediately, worried the Academy had made a mistake, while Merecedes McCambridge accorded her win to her "lucky dress."  Olivia de Havilland was on top of the world with her second win, only to immediately drop her agency when they refused to let her husband approve all her advertising.  She never made another Oscar-worthy film again, and got a divorce in 1952.

Sean Penn in All the King's Men

All the King's Men was remade in 2006 with Sean Penn.  In 2001 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. To date, it is the last Best Picture winner to be based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.  While the re-make was mildly successful, the film has never achieved great popularity in modern times.

The Verdict?

In Preparation for Oscar Night

Well!  The Oscars are officially here and my preparations are in order.  Oscar ballots?  Check.  Yummy snack recipes? Check.  Preparation by seeing all the Best Picture nominated films?  Check and check! 

And while I didn't quite finish up my own project (sadly, I just didn't have time for everything), I'm feeling pretty prepared for the Oscars.  Ten films in one month!  You must be proud.  I know I am.

Now, this doesn't mean I've seen every movie nominated for every category.  Far from it.  In fact for a ceremony that has nominated ten films for Best Picture, it hasn't always pulled from those films for the other major categories.  For example; Javier Bardem has been nominated in the Best Actor category, while Biutiful was not nominated for Best Picture.  Same for Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole.  But I digress...

I am so glad I've seen them all.  It's like actually doing my homework before class.  I feel prepared and excited for the show, and I can beat the pants off everyone else in my Oscar pool.  I hope.

Below, I have ranked the films in order of "winability," with the first being the one I think will win, and the last being the one I know won't win.  Read on.

The King's Speech
It was a close call for me between The Fighter and The King's Speech.  The King's Speech is a great movie (as I've already documented).  And for sheer light-heartedness there's nothing better.  You will absolutely leave this movie smiling and feeling better about life.  And you will like it, I promise. The acting is great, the costumes are beautiful, and you feel smarter for having learned something about history that you can bring up at the next cocktail party.  But there is a grittiness I missed with this movie.  A connection I had trouble making, no matter how likeable the cast.  This feels like a beautiful fairy tale.  But for Oscar gold I think this film will sneak in and win.  The Academy has been going for mass appeal lately.


The Fighter
This movie, on the other hand, is about as far from a fairy tale as you can get.  Unless we're talking wicked stepsisters.  The film is not perfect.  Christian Bale is so good in his role that he far outshines the other cast members, making you forget who the real protagonist is.  Everyone, in fact, seems to be out for what they can get, throwing their excellent acting chops around in order to eat up these gritty roles.  I feel bad for Mark Wahlberg, he has to play the straight man to the colorful crazies around him.  Although I must say Mark Wahlberg plays an excellent Mark Wahlberg.  Despite its imperfections, or perhaps because of them, this film gets to me in a way that The King's Speech doesn't.  I know these people, I feel for them, and I am riveted by them.  Every failure felt like a sucker punch, and I waited on the edge of my seat, desperate to know the ending.  They are both so different, and so good, it is hard to tell.  But while I think The King's Speech will win, The Fighter is the better movie.

The Social Network
I was surprised to hear that until recently, this film was the heavy favorite to win best picture.  Maybe I have an inherent dislike of David Fincher, brought on by my first film teacher.  He's got this kind of cheap thrills vibe that drives me nuts, and I feel that he relys more on camera and plot tricks than character development to get through his films.  Like a "look what I can do" attitude.  I thought the best thing about this movie was Jesse Eisenberg.  He is vulnerable, confused, socially inept, and trapped inside a cruel, sarcastic shell.  He made me love an essentially unlikeable character.  The rest of the film was entertaining, and it held my attention the entire time.  But Award worthy?  Like a friend recently said, "It was great and everything...but at the end of the day...it's about fucking facebook!"  Good point.  This movie can't win, because then I'm not sure I would trust the direction our society is heading in anymore.  What's next?  Twitter: the next revolution.

Black Swan
I was torn between this movie and 127 Hours, but I felt that if we were picking the Academy's favorite, this one seemed more their style.  Wow, this movie was hard to watch.  I don't think I can even look at my cuticles anymore without getting queasy.  This movie is trippy, confusing, and gratuitous--exactly what you would expect from the man who brought us Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky).  Manohla Dargis from the New York Times said it best when she called this film, "visceral and real even while it’s one delirious, phantasmagoric freakout." I felt like the scenes were leaping off the screen and ripping my own skin off.  Although, I have to wonder, Mr. Aronofsky, if you know women that well.  Because though I am dragged on a journey through one woman's increasingly twisted mind, she seems to me to be an incredibly two dimensional character.  She's a neurotic, insecure, workaholic virgin who looks so fragile you could snap her like a twig.  She's got a mother than reminds me of Mrs. Danvers and a psychosis that is never explained.  And really?  Gratuitous lesbian scene?  Is she so frigid because she only likes women or is this your way of being artsy?  Or perhaps I'm missing the point.  All I know is I spent the entire film in a state of acute discomfort, and unlike 127 Hours, it did not pay off in the end.  However Natalie Portman was brilliant in the role, and she's a lock to win for Best Actress.  She makes her character more than the cliche she was meant to be.  And she did all her own dancing.  Sorry, Black Swan fans.  I don't think I'm erudite enough for this.

127 Hours

Speaking of visceral.  I saved this movie for last, because, let's face it, I really did not want to see a man saw off his own arm with a blunt knife.  This was the best movie that I never want to see again.  I spent 1/3 of this film with my sweater over my face.  But once you get over the physical shock of seeing this film, you realize it's once of the best movies you'll ever hope to see.  James Franco managed to make being trapped alone under a rock the most intense, riveting experience I can remember having with a film.  This film is about watching a man who knows he is going to die alone in a matter of days.  James Franco crumbles, he fights, he finally carves his own tombstone into the wall of rock besides him.  Though you know the ending, watching someone who knows he's about to die is a wrenching experience.  Though I think Firth will win for Best Actor, Franco gives him a run for his money in this film.  Although the director had a little too much fun with his hallucination special effects.  Just chill and let Franco do his thing, okay?  You're distracting me!  Note: do not see this movie if you are claustrophic, hemaphobic, acrophobic, have high blood pressure, are pregnant or do not possess a sweater to cover your eyes at pertinent times.

True Grit

I happen to like Westerns, so I had fun with this film, which is actually a remake of an old Clint Eastwood movie.  Something about the spurs, the horses, the rugged...countryside?  Maybe I just have a thing for manly men toting guns.  It's possible.  Not that either Jeff Bridges or Matt Damon are particularly attractive in this film.  Jeff Bridges is a curmudgeonly old drunk with a secret heart of gold and a quick trigger finger.  Matt Damon is bearded in a way I never though to see, playing a Texas Marshall with high morals but questionable follow through.  Also, did anyone else notice he came off vaguely as a child predator?  Not enough to condemn him, but just enough to creep me out.  And then of course there is Hailee Steinfeld, who plays the precocious 14-year-old bent on revenging her father's death.  She's the best part of the movie.  She's funny, sharp, and just when she starts to get annoying, vulnerable enough that you forgive her.  The scenery is beautiful, the plot is fun, but the ending fell a little flat for me.  Not enough to secure Oscar gold in my opinion, but with enough tender, funny, unexpected moments that it deserves to be up there.  Though Westerns don't have the best track record for actually taking home the statuette.

Winter's Bone

This movie dragged.  It could be because, unfortunately, I'm not that interested in the Ozarks.  Or perhaps it's because the entire 100 minute movie can be sumed up in one sentence.  17-year-old Ree must find her meth-dealing father because he put up his house and land for bail and if he doesn't appear, Ree, her two younger siblings, and their catatonic mother will be homeless.  That's it.  Ree spends the entire movie stomping around wildernesses trailer parks trying to find him, dead or alive.  I did enjoy the chillingly beautiful scenery, and the way everything seemed to take on a grey, somber cast.  The performances were fantastic as well, and this movie has some great characters.  John Hawkes gives his breakout performance as Ree's uncle, and actress Dale Dicky does a wonderful job as the haggard wife of one of Ree's relatives.  Jennifer Lawrence's performance as Ree is perhaps the best in the film.  She is a true hero, fighting to save her family without a lot of options.  Unfortunately for her, I couldn't really get over how pretty she was.  It's not her fault, but everyone else in this movie looks so beat, her classically beautiful features stand out far too much, even in men's flannel.  It was long, cold, and depressing, but certainly this is what Oscar films are made of.

Inception

One thing that hurts this movie is that it was so popular...six months ago.  Unless fantastic, the farther a movie is from the ceremony, the less likely it is to win for Best Picture.  I enjoyed this film.  It's well crafted, intelligent, and full of incredible special effects.  The downside?  The movie is more about the intricate plot than the actors.  It's probably why none of them were nominated.  At the end of the day, this film is about director Christopher Nolan.  And I'm okay with that.  I'm also okay with Leo DiCaprio just phoning in his performance.  Come on, they're inside multiple subconsciouses!  The streets move vertically!  Will a sci-fi thriller from Comic Con win for Best Picture?  Nope.  Is it awesome? Absolutely.  Reference the latest line from Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock: "I never sleep on planes; I don't want to get incepted."

Toy Story 3

We all know this movie is only on here so that the Academy can show how in touch they are with popular films.  Also, lest we forget, this movie made over a billion dollars world-wide.  One of my friends, when hearing the nominees, said, "Is this their new thing?  Nine regular movies and then whatever Pixar made that year?"  Yup.  Don't get me wrong, I loved this movie.  And I will also admit that I sobbed through the last 5 minutes of the film when I watched it over Christmas, which earned me a disgusted look from my younger brother as he walked past.  This film is the perfect blend of sweet and humorous, with enough intelligence to keep an audience of any age interested.  But at the end of the day, this is an animated film for children.  I just can't put it in the same category of the other films.  This is why the animated movie category is there.  Which this movie is also nominated for.  So what's the point of this nomination again?

The Kids Are Alright

The kids may be alright but I'm not sure this nomination is.  It's not a bad movie but it definitely has its problems.  I'm told its a spot on representation of L.A. yuppies.  I'm not told why I'm supposed to care about L.A. yuppies.  And the only thing that makes this movie hip is the fact that the main couple is a lesbian couple.  Think about it--if Annette Bening were a man we would have another middle of the road family drama.  But because it is "exploring" a new family dynamic, suddenly this film is artsy and cool.  Bening just comes off as an unlikeable tight-ass whose character doesn't really mature.  Julianne Moore is a floozy who can't quite get her life together or take responsibility for her actions.  And Mark Ruffalo...well I love him in anything so I'll lay off him.  The kids are much more interesting than the adults in this film, but unfortunately we don't get to see all that much of them.  The ending is inconclusive, without any of the characters really growing at all.  I thought it pretentious and confused, with a few minutes of witty and unique levity that kept me from hating it completely.  This movie made me feel lukewarm.  Warning: don't see this film with anyone whom you would be uncomfortable watching graphic sex with.

So there it is!  My take on the nominated films this year.  I think The King's Speech will win the day, although The Social Network or The Fighter may sneak up from behind and snatch the award instead.  As far as the other categories, Natalie Portman will win for Best Actress, hands down.  And if Christian Bale doesn't win for Best Supporting Actor, there is no justice in this world.  I would have pegged Colin Firth as the Best Actor winner, but I thought James Franco pretty incredible, and Jesse Eisenberg might just surprise you.  Supporting Actress is a three way split between Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, and Helena Bohnam Carter, although I think Leo will squeak through.  And Best Director is any man's game, although I think the Academy may give it to Fincher (shudder).  Here's a link to the academy's own ballot: print and play with friends!

My theory in this blog so far has been that the movies nominated for Best Picture say something about the time in history that those movies were made.  Casablanca (1942) is all about finding the inner hero within oneself and never giving up the fight--all during World War II.  Rebecca (1940) on the other hand, is all about being trapped in a slowly declining hell of one's own making, right when America was beginning to be drawn into the war.  Every year, too, someone tries to come up with the theme of the Oscars.  Last year, it was "the military."  A few years before that, it was all about the foreigners.  So this year I spent some time coming up with a theme of my own for the films nominated, and how that applied to the current mood of America today.

I think this year's theme is a journey.  Each of the main characters above are on some kind of mission, or hero's journey, to get something they desperately need.  The King needs to loose his stutter; the fighter needs to win a match.  The geek needs to be socially accepted (and create facebook) while the ballerina needs to dance her part and the hiker needs to get out from under that rock alive.  One young girl needs to avenge her father's death, while another needs to find her father.  The dreamer needs to get home to his children and the toys needs to escape daycare.  And finally, the children need to find their father while their parents need to find themselves.

In the end, each person finds what they are looking for, but with an unexpected cost.  They find the end of their journey, only to find that the journey, or the ending, is not quite what they expected.  Last year, I think the films were a confused mixture of fantasy and despair, in the wake of crippling financial crisis.  We were either trying to escape the world we lived in or give in to the feeling that it was never going to get better, all the while wallowing in nostalgia.  This year, the characters are moving forward.  The endings may not be happy, but the goals are achievable.  We are getting there, and there is hope now, where there wasn't a year ago.

The king may be finally able to speak clearly, but only after going on an emotional journey with a strange speech therapist, something he wasn't expecting.  And the ballerina finally dances perfectly, but only after losing her mind and stabbing herself.  Goals are attainable, just maybe not in the way we once thought.  People are beginning to take changes again, to hope, and to realize that their goals are possible if they broaden their expectations of where they want to go.  In this way, I've decided the nominees represent a journey, a goal achieved, and most of all, hope in the face of the impossible.  It's not necessarily positive, but it is heading in the right direction.

That's enough for now!  Enjoy the show and I'll be back again later with my thoughts and highlights.  And the winner is...