My rants on the Oscars 2011

Please be warned:  this is a complete rant.  If you want to read something serious about movies, you are in the wrong place. 

What do Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids are All Right, The King's Speech, 127 hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit and Winter's Bones have in common? If you said they are all nominated to win an Academy Award this year you are correct, good job.  That was an easy one, even I could get that one.  I have another question for you, if you took that same list of movies and took away Toy Story 3, what do those movies have in common?  Any guesses, come on.....  Answer: I haven't seen any of them.  Guess what?  I'm still llooking forward to the Oscars on Sunday night.  I'll probably watch most of the show and then either fall asleep on the couch or just throw in my towel and go to bed.  Even if I fall asleep or go to bed, I'll still know who won Best Movie, Best Director and Best Actor/Actress before morning.  I'll know because I have a wonderful wife, every man's dream.  Guess what she'll do after the Oscars are over with?  She'll crawl into bed and ever so seductively whisper in my ear who won.  Then we'll both crash so get your minds out of the gutter!! 

Even though I haven't seen those movies doesn't mean I won't.  At this period in our lives Dana and I are about one year or so behind seeing movies.  We'll catch a few in the theaters, but mostly we catch them after they are released to on-demand or DVD/Blue Ray.  I'm trying to think what the last movie she and I saw in the Theater's together was.... I'm seriously thinking here, um................................................................................thinking.........................................................................................
.....thinking.......................................  I give up.  OH Wait I know this one it was called DAMN it just slipped my mind, it was the one with Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem, I just opened up another tab in my browser and am going to look it up on IMDB.com.  I can't believe I don't remember the name.  EAT PRAY LOVE!!! Yea I remember.  Sorry to let you down guys (people of the male persuasion that are reading this) , I know it was a chick flick, but you know what it was a nice date movie to watch with my wonderful wife.  Besides that, she now thinks she owes me one.  Of course she doesn't but I'm not going to throw away a free opportunity to watch some gratuitously violent, crazy man show.  Anyway, I actually liked Eat Pray Love it was an enjoyable movie.  I certainly digress.

Even though we don't see many movies in the theater's it's still nice to take some time out from reality and enjoy a good Oscars show.  Anne Hathaway and James Franco are a couple of cool kids, they could be great hosts.  Even if they flop, they are both nicer to look at than the Golden Globe host Ricky Gervais.  Although he had the humor thing going for him at the Golden Globes (most of the time).

This is really funny, I don't actually have a point to this posting, except to generally say that even though I don't see a lot of movies until they've left the big screen, I do enjoy them.  They are a better escape than drugs and alcohol, that's for sure.  One last point before I close up, I did see Tangled on the big screen.

With all the issues in the world right now, protests and riots in Libya, Bahrain, Tunisia, Egypt and all the protests (and soon to be riots)  in the US about collective bargaining for the Unions, if you are one of the people fortunate enough to have the night off from protests, rioting, worrying about gas prices, wars, finances, hunger, sickness, cancer or anything else go ahead and watch the Academy Awards.  Of course that basically excludes us all.  We all have something or someone in today's crazy world that is affected by something serious.  So if you are a movie buff, or just in the need of a couple hour escape, go ahead and do it.  Enjoy them... I will.

OK People Let's get your comments flowing.  Give me your votes on who is going to win the Big 4 - Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress.

 BEST MOVIE

• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids are All Right
• The King's Speech
• 127 Hours
• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winter's Bone

Best Director

• Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
• David O. Russell - The Fighter
• Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
• David Finchner - The Social Network
• Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - True Grit

Actor in a Leading Role

• Javier Bardem - Biutiful
• Jeff Bridges - True Grit
• Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
• Colin Firth - The King's Speech
• James Franco - 127 Hours

Actress in a Leading Role

• Annette Bening - The Kid's are All Right
• Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
• Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
• Natalie Portman - Black Swan
• Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

Is Michael Douglas truly doing well or is he just acting?

As of the time of this post the full interview with Michael Douglas is not on the internet.  If it becomes available I will post it here.  Take a look at the seven minute teaser if you missed the full interview and come back to see my comments.

This whole story is one I can sink my teeth into.  Besides the fact that I’ve always liked him as an actor and person,  the Michael Douglas cancer story and mine have many parallels.  I’ve kept tabs on it and was excited to see the recent interview with Matt Lauer that was aired on Sunday, January 23rd 2010 at 7:00 on Dateline.   Michael and I have a lot of similarities, we both had neck cancer, we had the same treatment regime and, to date, similar results.  Not to mention we are both good looking Hollywood Superstars.  Did I stretch our similarities a little bit?  I may not be a Hollywood Superstar, but I think I’m destined for that, just as soon as I change my career from I.T. to acting.  Was Michael’s experience similar to mine?  Is he doing as well as he seems?  

Did you see it?  Good.  Right off the bat I’ve got to say, he looks great.  The timing of his cancer discovery and treatments run about one year after mine.  I understand the place he is in right now.  When Matt Lauer asks him “How he feels now?”  His response is about how he feels about his cancer, he is relieved the tumor is gone and talks about his follow up visits.  Later in the interview he talks about how he is working out and getting healthy again.  He seems to be doing well.  What he probably does not realize (or maybe he does), is that he is going to feel even better in the months to come.  The physical and mental decline is pretty quick with this treatment regime.  Within a couple months you go from feeling normal (depending on your cancer) to feeling like last night’s leftovers heated in a microwave.  On the healing side, when treatments are done you think you are feeling better within a couple of months and that’s going to be the best you feel.  You are just grateful that you are making improvements.   However, to build up all the muscle, stamina and mental prowess takes time.  My doctors told me I should wait a year or more before I really determine how well I’m going to feel.  Now, at thirteen months out of treatment, I feel like a new man compared to two months out of treatment.  At that time thought I felt great.  We will see Michael continue to feel better.  My thoughts are that when he really starts feeling better he is going to want people to know and show his face a lot more.  Maybe even another movie.  Apparently he has those plans in the works, as he is going to play Liberace in a movie about the famous entertainer’s life.  Not a part without lots of singing.  

It disturbs me that he had to experience what he calls the “macabre enjoyment of watching me go down”, by the paparazzi.  It’s like they wanted to see and record his decline.  Hopefully, they can redeem themselves by recording his rise from the ashes as well!!  That’s one aspect I’ve never had to go through, the photographers. I wonder if being in the spotlight like that helps the healing process because you want to prove that you are doing better or if it makes you want to hide more.

Another part of his process that I could relate to is the level of support from his wife and kids.  I know it sounds weird to say that.  After all, families are supposed to support each other in bad times.  But when you actually experience it happening to you, it humbles you.  I think he got that point across pretty well during his interview.  I loved to hear how he handled the kids, they actually went to see some of his radiation treatments, as did mine.  Sometimes the fear of the unknown is worse than the truth about the treatments.  Children are very literal and appreciate the strait talk. 

He touched on how hard it is to go through something like this but never went into detail about it.  Most people probably don’t want to hear that.  I did though.  For one, I would be able to relate on a personal level.  I also think it would be doing a good service for other people that are going to have this type (and any type) of cancer.

  

Michael has been presented with an opportunity to be a spokesman for something that he probably never thought about before.  He can use his celebrity to really bring awareness to cancer.  He can be a poster boy for showing the positive that can come from this terrible disease.  Lastly, his public profile can bring hope to many who have yet to travel the same tough road that he had to go down.

I can say I’m overjoyed that Michael Douglas is doing as well as it seems.  I wish he and his family continued healing and success.   Even though he didn’t elaborate too much during his interview, I am certain that he thinks about all the people that aren’t as fortunate as he and I.

I’m curious what your thoughts are.  Were you a Michael Douglas fan before this?  Are you now?  Did his experience change that view?  Or maybe you just don’t care about this.