And the Winner is....

Everybody has a favorite season.  Some people love the bustle of the holiday season.  Others live for the warm weather of the summer season.  I,  personally, lust over Award Season.  Yup, Award season, those magical months between the Golden Globe nominations in November and the Academy Awards in late February/early March.  And seriously, what’s not to love?  Award Season is filled with everything I enjoy in life: movies, fashion, competition, parties and gossip.

Now, I don’t like to go into Awards Season unprepared.  Throughout the year, I make a point of seeing every movie released that has even a whisper of Oscar talk about it.  However, my real work begins in December when a slew of great movies are given wide distribution.  And with very few exceptions, I see every movie that is nominated for an Academy Award in every major category, including: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director,  Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay, Cinematography and Documentary Feature.

And Oscar night is a big deal for me.  I am glued to the television for every second of the telecast with my Oscar checklist by my side.  Six years ago, I actually made the devastating mistake of scheduling my second wedding the same weekend of the Academy Awards.  And for a couple of weeks, I seriously considered changing the date even though the venue had already been booked.  Luckily, my amazingly wonderful, now ex-husband No. 2 didn’t complain when we spent the first full night of our honeymoon in our beautiful honeymoon suite, eating room service, sprawled out on our king-sized bed, listening to the ocean outside our room and watching the Oscars (which of course includes the two-hour fashion pre-show on E! Television).

Now, without further adieu, below are my predictions for the 83rd Academy Awards to be televised on February 27^th:

Best Picture
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

My Prediction:  The winner is Social Network.  I don’t necessarily believe that this was the best film of the year, but it is definitely David Fincher’s year.

Best Actor
Javier Bardem, Biutiful

Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

James Franco, 127 Hours

My Prediction:  The winner is Colin Firth.  Ok, so I’ve been in love with him since A&E’s Pride and Prejudice and everyone one knows my weakness for men with accents, but I feel that his performance was nothing short of amazing.

Best Actress
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

My Prediction:  The winner is Natalie Portman.  Like my Best Picture prediction, I don’t necessarily believe that her performance was the best this year (that honor SHOULD go to Annette Bening), but everyone loves a happy ending and what better ending could there be for the cute girl who fell in love on set with the film’s choreographer who also just happen to knock her up!

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

My Prediction:  The winner is Christian Bale.   All I have to say is WOW!  The Fighter is an enjoyable movie to watch especially for Bostonians, but Bale’s performance alone is worth the price of admission.    

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech

Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

My Prediction:  The winner is Jacki Weaver.   There has to be at least one upset every year!

Director
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David O. Russell, The Fighter

Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David Fincher, The Social Network
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, True Grit

My Prediction:  The winner is David Fincher.   Again, its Mr. Fincher’s year!

Adapted Screenplay

 127 Hours

 The Social Network
Toy Story 3

True Grit
Winter’s Bone

My Prediction:  The winner is The Social Network.  Aaron Sorkin’s witty, fast-paced script leaves the other screenplays in the dust.

Original Screenplay
Another Year
The Fighter

Inception

The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech

My Prediction:  The winner is The King’s Speech.   It’s an interesting, true story which was truly a pleasure to watch unfold even if you already knew the outcome.  

Cinematography
Black Swan
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

My Prediction:  The winner is Black Swan.  No matter how much I didn’t like this movie, I must admit that it was beautiful to watch.    

Documentary Feature
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land

My Prediction:  The winner is Inside Job.  I think that both Exit Through the Gift Shop and Inside Job were equally phenomenal, but ultimately the Inside Job about the U.S. financial collapse will win top prize.    

My Love Affair with Tattoos

My Dad always told me to never bring home a boy with an earring, a motorcycle or a tattoo.  Of course, my first husband had two out of the three, but I digress.  When I was in high school only bad boys had tattoos.  Girls, you know the type, those irresistibly hot guys that wore leather, drove motorcycles, and who you would never consider bringing home to your parents.  Tattoos just didn’t exist in the world of a good catholic girl from the ‘burbs. 

Flash forward 20+ years and tattoos are everywhere.

I got my first tattoo at the brink of turning 30 years old.  I was in Florida, visiting my dear friend Susan, for New Year’s.  And it was not just any New Year’s, but the big one baby, the turn of the century, a new millennium.  On January 1, 2000, having survived the hoopla of Y2K, a group of us went to a flea market.  It was at that flea market that I made the split decision to get a tattoo.  I felt a tattoo was the perfect way to mark a new beginning for me.  I was looking forward to a year full of great adventures….turning 30 years old, a month long trip to India & Nepal, and dating again after nursing a broken heart for the previous six months.  

It has been 10 years since that first tattoo and I currently have 10 tattoos.  And I have no regrets.  I love my ink.  Each and every tattoo has special meaning to me.  They are indelible mini works of art which are as much a part of me as my black hair or freckles.

I’ve accepted the fact that there will always be people that will have pre-conceived notions about me based on my tattoos.   I have had guys tell me that they aren’t interested in dating me because of my tattoos.  And ironically, just as many guys who want to date me because of my ink.  This fact just makes my life easier.  It’s an easy way of weeding out the bad eggs because I’m not interested in dating someone that isn’t willing to accept me for who I am.  And at the moment, I am a girl who loves tattoos.