Oscar 2012 - WINNERS

The ceremony was wonderful. I haven't slept all night watching it and I was very exited about it.

Billy Crystal was the perfect host. I liked how Emma Stone, Chris Rock, Angelina Jolie, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis presented the nominees. And Robert Downey Jr. did great, when he said, "I'm filming a documentary called 'The Presenter'..."

It was a triumph of "The Artist". Three main awards now are coming to France. Yay! "Hugo", which had 11 nominations, won 5 Oscars in technical nominations.

I hate that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" was gracefully ignored. One of the highest rated films of the year, which kids and adults loved, didn't get any Oscar.

Christopher Plummer asked his Oscar, "you are only two years older than me, where have you been all my life?" And he became the oldest person who won the Oscar ever. Octavia Spencer got her statuette and was very emotional accepting it, which made me think about how I would act, if I won one myself. I just faint on the stage and that would be all. I liked Alexander Payne's speech, but why didn't Woody Allen show up? Michel Hazanavicius thanked even the dog Uggie. And  Meryl Streep didn't forget to joke about her being nominated for so many years.

Sacha Baron Cohen said, "I wanted to make something I'd like to watch. Happens that I like watch sick stuff." He disappointed me, when he dispelled 'ashes' over the red carpet. It was sick.

James Earl Jones, Oprah Winfrey and makeup artist Dick Smith got their honorary Oscars for working so hard for us. A tribute to those who passed away was very touching. I broke, when I saw Whitney Houston. So many talented people are gone, but I hope many talented people were born this year.

Many of the winners were predicted by me (and many people around the world), but I think it is a good thing. We knew who was great and the Academy Awards just confirmed it.

Best Picture

"The Artist"

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")

Best Actor

Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"

Best Actress

Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"

Best Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

Best Adapted Screenplay

"The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash

Best Original Screenplay

"Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen

Best Animated Film

"Rango" by Gore Verbinski

Best Foreign Language Film

"A Separation" Iran

Art Direction

"Hugo" Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

Cinematography

"Hugo" Robert Richardson

Best Costume Design

"The Artist" Mark Bridges

Best Documentary (Feature)

"Undefeated" TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Best Documentary (Short Subject)

"Saving Face" Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Best Film Editing

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

Best Make-up

"The Iron Lady" Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Best Original Score

"The Artist" Ludovic Bource

Best Original Song

"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie

Best Short Film (Animated)

"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

Best Short Film (Live Action)

"The Shore" Terry George and Oorlagh George

Best Sound Editing

"Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

Best Sound Mixing

"Hugo" Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

Best Visual Effects

"Hugo" Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning

Oscar 2012 - Red Carpet Live Coverage

I'm watching Red Carpet live here.

Stars are arriving. I will post pictures of my favourite people of the evening.

Check out the list of all nominees and my predictions.

Milla Jovovich looks stunning in this Elie Saab gown. She is a presenter of technical Oscars this evening. It is her first appearance at the Academy Awards.

"The Artist" couple: Bérénice Bejo and Michel Hazanavicius

More and more nominees arrive.

Christopher Plummer

Melissa McCarthy

Jessica Chastain

George Clooney flashes a smile while his girlfriend is chatting with journalists.

Kenneth Branagh

Michelle Williams

Rooney Mara

Glenn Close and Octavia Spencer

Viola Davis liked to be 'the voice of the film'.

Jonah Hill

Jean Dujardin is charming as always.

Colin Firth

Penélope Cruz

Gorgeous Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

That's all for red carpet!

Oscar 2012 - Last thoughts and new promo

It is left less than a day till we know all the winners of the 84th Annual Academy Awards. I will watch it live as I do it for 5 years now! Yes, my first ceremony was the one, where "The Departed" won an Oscar for Best Picture and Helen Mirren was named the Best Actress. I don't think I can ever forget it.

Many people, film fans, don't like Oscar awards for many reasons, but in my opinion, these awards go to talented people and films. And I like guessing who the winner will be. Someday I'm going to watch every ceremony since the 1st one, but I have no idea where I can find those videos.

This time I hope "The Artist" takes three main statuettes - for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. Sorry, Bérénice Bejo, I enjoyed your performance so much, but I doubt you will win this year. Congratulations for winning the Cesar Award for Best Actress.

I will write about where you can watch the 84th Annual Academy Awards live later, and I'm going to make a real-time coverage again. Stay tuned and follow @ElenaStrBlogger on Twitter.

Watch this funny sketch about the Oscar etiquette.

Top-5 movies of the week - 03.02 - 09.02

It's been a while since I picked top-5 films of the week, but it's time to continue.

1."The Woman in Black"
I'm not a big fan of horrors, but for this one I waited really long. It's the first film for Daniel Radcliffe since Harry Potter series ended, which is very important, because he has to prove that he won't leave cinema for theatre, and is going to star in different kind of stories. James Watkins' "The Woman in Black" is a very dark and creepy story, so I hope to be scared a few times.
Trailer.

2."Albert Nobbs"
When I heard that Glenn Close is going to play a man I was astonished, but when I saw its first promotional pictures I understood how extraordinary this actress is. A woman dresses up like a man to succeed something in life, but when she falls in love, it threatens to destroy her whole life.
Trailer.

3."Chronicle"
We saw a few films about ordinary people, who want to become superheroes, but "Chronicle" is about people with real power, who doesn't want to save the world. It is the debut of the director, Josh Trank, but it looks like a good action/fantasy story.
Trailer.

4."The Grey"
Liam Neeson plays one of the unfortunate people, whose plain crushed somewhere in Alaska. They want to survive, come back and forget it all happened. But snow and wolves are their worst enemies, which aren't easy to conquer. Directed by Joe Carnahan, it promises to show us a horrifying life and death fight.
Trailer.

5."Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
This film must be the one, which surprised many critics, when it got a Oscar nomination for Best Film. But there are Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, who won a few Oscars in their lives. Besides, its director, Stephen Daldry, was nominated for his every film! Impressive team, isn't it?
This story is about the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, and the consequences. A little boy thinks that his father left some kind of message for him, which he desperately wants to find. So his New York City tour starts and can lead to an unexpected discovery.
P.S. Its trailer almost made me cry.
Trailer.

Posters - COLLIDER

Oscar 2012 - All Nominees

The full list of the nominees of the 84th Annual Academy Awards was announced this morning by Jennifer Lawrence, who was nominated for her performance in "Winter's Bone" in 2011.

"Hugo" has 11 chances to get an award; "The Artist" has 10 nominations; "Moneyball" and "War Horse" were honored with 6; "The Descendants" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" have 5 nominations each.

I'm going to see "The Artist" these days (it will be finally out in my country!), but I already know that I will hope it gets the Oscar in a month for Best Picture. My other predictions are selected with blue colour, but some nominations I left untouched, because I have no idea how they will choose winners for Film Editing, Best Documentary (I haven't watched none of them), Best Short Film or Sound Editing.

More about Oscar 2012!

Billy Crystal  is the Host, and the winners you will know on February 26.

The full list of nominees:

Best Picture
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"
"The Help"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"Moneyball"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Alexander Payne ("The Descendants")
Martin Scorsese ("Hugo")
Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris")
Terrence Malick ("The Tree of Life")

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in "A Better Life"
George Clooney in "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"
Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt in "Moneyball"

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis in "The Help"
Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"
Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte in "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain in "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
"The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
"Hugo" Screenplay by John Logan
"The Ides of March" Screenplay by George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
"Moneyball" Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)
"The Artist" Written by Michel Hazanavicius
"Bridesmaids" Written by Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
"Margin Call" Written by J.C. Chandor
"Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen
"A Separation" Written by Asghar Farhadi

Animated Feature Film
"A Cat in Paris"
"Chico and Rita"
"Kung Fu Panda 2"
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"

Art Direction
"The Artist" Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"Hugo" Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"Midnight in Paris" Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
"War Horse" Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography
"The Artist" Guillaume Schiffman
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Jeff Cronenweth
"Hugo" Robert Richardson
"The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki
"War Horse" Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design
"Anonymous" Lisy Christl
"The Artist" Mark Bridges
"Hugo" Sandy Powell
"Jane Eyre" Michael O'Connor
"W.E." Arianne Phillips

Best Documentary (Feature)
"Hell and Back Again" Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
"Pina" Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
"Undefeated" TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Best Documentary (Short Subject)
"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement" Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
"God Is the Bigger Elvis" Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
"Incident in New Baghdad" James Spione
"Saving Face" Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom" Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing
"The Artist" Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
"The Descendants" Kevin Tent
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"Hugo" Thelma Schoonmaker
"Moneyball" Christopher Tellefsen

Best Foreign Language Film
"Bullhead" Belgium
"Footnote" Israel
"In Darkness" Poland
"Monsieur Lazhar" Canada
"A Separation" Iran

Best Make-up
"Albert Nobbs" Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
"The Iron Lady" Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Best Original Score
"The Adventures of Tintin" John Williams
"The Artist" Ludovic Bource
"Hugo" Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse" John Williams

Best Original Song
"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio" from "Rio" Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Short Film (Animated)
"Dimanche/Sunday" Patrick Doyon
"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
"La Luna" Enrico Casarosa
"A Morning Stroll" Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
"Wild Life" Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Best Short Film (Live Action)
"Pentecost" Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
"Raju" Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
"The Shore" Terry George and Oorlagh George
"Time Freak" Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
"Tuba Atlantic" Hallvar Witzø

Best Sound Editing
"Drive" Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Ren Klyce
"Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
"War Horse" Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Best Sound Mixing
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
"Hugo" Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
"Moneyball" Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
"War Horse" Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Best Visual Effects
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
"Hugo" Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
"Real Steel" Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Make-up Pre-Nominees for Oscar 2012

The Academy announced 7 films, only three of which will get a chance to fight for a golden statuette for Best Make-up. I'm glad to see in this list my favourite film of the previous year, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2". Its creators did a wonderful job with fantastic realistic make-up. They turned Warwick Davis into a goblin Griphook and later into Professor Flitwick; drew thousands of wounds while the battle of Hogwarts was taking place; and in the end those artists made 20-year-old actors look twice older.

"Anonymous" and "The Artist" deserved to be in this list either, because the appearance of the characters perfectly matched the time, when the events happened. And "Albert Nobbs" is a remarkable film to be nominated for the make-up, because Glenn Close really looked like a man there. Amazing work.

More about OSCAR 2012!

The only thing is a bit weird that they included "Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life", which was out in 2010, not in 2011. It must impress the academics very much.

"Albert Nobbs"
"Anonymous"
"The Artist"
"Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Hugo"
"The Iron Lady"

You will know all 84th Academy Awards nominations on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. And winners will be announced on February 26, 2012.

Oscar 2012 - Trailer and Poster

The first 84th Academy Awards trailer arrived. Many talented actors are very busy now, but they found some to film a very remarkable promo video. Megan Fox and Josh Freeman, who worked together on the first two "Transformers" films, are traveling around the world in the search for perfect Oscars host. I think they wanted to make Megan and Josh a bit like Scully and Mulder from "The X-Files". But it was not a good idea. We know the Host is Billy Crystal, but he looks funny with that hair. But now he lives in Mongolia and is very lonely without his Oscar job. Poor guy, isn't he?

Mr. Crystal was the Host for many times by now, but I've never watched this event with him. I think thanks to him Oscar 2012 will be fun.

The ceremony will take place on February 26, 2012.

More about OSCAR 2012!



Films featured on this poster: "Forrest Gump" (1994), "The Godfather" (1972), "The Sound of Music" (1965), "Gone with the Wind" (1939), "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989), "Giant" (1956), "Gladiator" (2000) and "Casablanca" (1943). I watched almost every film and I think everyone should see those all of them.