Oscars 2015 Live Blog

The murder's row of best picture nominees

Photo Credit: The Guardian

It's live blog time! For the third year in a row I'm going to give my thoughts of the Oscars as they happen! Now full disclosure I don't know how long I'm going to last with this due to various different things going on tonight but I'm going to try my best to keep going all the way through... So here we go Oscar time!

5:31- Literally less than a minute and we have a musical number this is going to be a long night...

5:39- Meh that was fine I guess at this point it's NPH's gimmick to do long elaborate music numbers. Bad American Sniper joke followed by a really awkward Smerfs 2 knock at the end brought it down a bit...

5:45- Best supporting actor right off the top. All these nominees are good picks looking back at it but J.K. Simmons is the best with a bullet. Winner is: J.K. Simmons! No surprise to be had here absolutely deserved that was one heck of a great performance. Good speech, the usual thanks before a nice bit about calling parents and telling them about your love for them.

5:47- I don't like NPH so far hopefully he gets better... Who am I kidding it's generally all downhill from here... Why do we have to spend time on NPH's Oscar picks? They are doing that idiotic thing that the globes does where they do pointless video packages for each of the nominees... But yay Liam Neeson! 

5:51- Musical number #2 it's that song from that film I completely forgot existed... Anyways good time to start making dinner... also if this continues this is going to be a long night...

5:57- J-Lo and new Kirk are out to present best costume design... Winner is: Milena Condenaro (I think that's how you spell it although I'm not sure) for Grand Budapest Hotel! Duh... Short speech move on.

6:00- NPH is really not funny!!!! Also Reese Whitherspoon (emphasis on the Spoon part) is out to present best makeup. Winner: The people from the Grand Budapest Hotel! Short speech so at least we are now back into the positive on the awards to musical numbers ratio...

6:10- Foreign film time! Winner is: IDA! Great film and great pick! He's getting played off super hard! But he keeps going atta boy!! Crowd cheers him for his guts! This man rules! Maybe we'll get one less musical number because of him!!

6:13- More pointless video packages! 

6:17- Everything is awesome... The exception being this show... 

6:23- Admittedly that was the most fun musical performance so far can't wait to see The Lego movie win best picture later tonight.... Oh wait... 

6:25- Short film time... Another time to continue making dinner will be back in a sec...

6:39- I'm back now with pasta, that should make me less grumpy! Probably not... Looks like I miss shots the Govenor awards recap and another musical number. In other words absolutely nothing... 

6:43- They are doing a Birdman joke... It's actually ok... NPH is out in his underwear cracks a joke about actors being dedicated...

6:47- Sound Mixing and editing time! Sound mixing goes to Whiplash!! Good pick! Man the guy speeking looks a lot like Mark Ruffalo!

6:51- Sound editing goes to American Sniper! Can't really comment...

6:52- Supporting actress time! Go Patricia Arquette!!!! Winner: Patricia Arquette! Yay! She is very great in Boyhood! She reads a speech off of a big piece of paper! Gives a great crowd pleasing finale about woman's rights! Yeah go women! And go Patricia Arquette!

7:01- Another musical number... Time to clean up from dinner...

7:04- That was quick... Visual Effects time! Winner is: Interstellar! Well deserved! That film was utterly gorgeous!

7:07- Animated Short so back to cleaning for me... Will probably be back in about 2 minutes...

7:10- Well three minutes as I write this... It's the category that should have been won by The Lego Movie.. Otherwise known as best animated feature... Also the Rock! Winner: Big Hero 6! This award is null and void in my eyes this year because it didn't celebrate the best animated film...

7:20- There was a speech from the director of the academy... Better then another musical number I guess... Production design is won by The Grand Budapest Hotel as expected... I'm beginning to fade and it's only 7:30...

7:24- We are cancelling the apocalypse!!!! It's Stringer Bell!! Cinematography time technically we have an hour to go how are we going to be done on time? Winner Birdman! I missed the name will update in a moment... Anyways this is his second win in a row and a really deserving one for the second year in a row! Here is to a potential third straight win!

7:31- In Memoriam time...

7:36- No we don't need a live performance after In Memoriam we just want the In Memoriam... Having the performance takes the focus away from the honoring of these people... Am I the only one who thinks this?

7:41- I'm beating a dead horse but going to break with Jennifer Hudson instead of the actual people being honored makes me angry...

7:44- Ok I've composed myself it's editing time! Winner is Tom Cross for Whiplash. Good pick making musical performance look great is no easy feat... Good speech as well...

7:47- More video packages... Terrence Howard is blundering and playing with his mic..

7:50- Documentary feature time... Winner is Citizen Four! No surprises to be had here. Never saw Citizen Four sadly. They never showed it on HBO in Canada.. That's about all I have to say at this point I'm really fading.

7:58- A song to celebrate Martin Luther King 50 years after his assassination...

8:13- I'm back sorry had to switch computers... Where are we?

 8:13- This did not get published apparently but I really really liked the tribute to MLK but wish it was the only musical number on the show period...

8:15- Why are we paying tribute to the Sound of Music?????

8:17- This show is never going to end is it? I hate this show so very much....

8:22- Lady Gaga did a decent job but that's beyond the point this should never have been a thing on this show...

8:23- Ladys and Gentlemen it is 8:23... 8:23!!!!! And we are only at best score... I cry a single tear... Winner is Alexander Desplat for The Grand Budapest Hotel! Hm of all the things that film did very well the score was not one that I noticed as much. But a good short speech and off to the races we go!

8:26- Ok we are on to screenplay! Original Screenplay first! Go Boyhood! Winner is:  Birdman! Because why not... I didn't think the script was the strongest part of Birdman but I guess we have the lock for Best Picture...

8:36- Adapted Screenplay Winner is Imitation Game! Predictable winner but a great speech! Stay weird people!

8:39- We are now nearly 10 minutes over and the end seems so far away. By my count we have The two main acting awards and directing and picture. This is the show that never ends...

8:41- We are over three freaking hours in and NPH is still not funny. Best Director is up I'm pretty sure this is a lock for Birdman but I can hope for Boyhood can't I? Winner is: Yup Birdman wins! All things considered this is well deserved if there is one thing that Birdman will be remembered for it is its directing. Inarittu is great on the mic. Also Why is everyone so surprised on Twitter about this win? This was the film that was always going to take most of the main categories...

8:47- Boyhood is going to leave with one award isn't it... 

8:48- Best actor time! I think Keaton is a lock isn't he? Or is it Redmayne? Personally I'm rooting for the snubbed Jake Gyllenhaal is that allowed? Anyways Winner is: Eddie Redmayne! Hm good for him I guess... Personally I could come up with many better performances. His speech is wonderful though and he may have won me over more with this speech then he did in the entire film. 

8:54- Alright! Mcconaughey is out for best actress otherwise known as that award that Julianne Moore will win... Winner is: Julianne Moore! I would say the most obvious winner of the night but that would mean that there had to be some surprises... PS why they pretty much showed the final scene in Gone Girl as Rosamond Pike's nomination video because apparently the producers hate the audience (well not that there haven't been plenty of signs of that).... Julianne Moore is very good and deserves the Oscar...

9:00- No why do we care about his stupid Oscar predictions?????? IT'S ALREADY 9:00!!!!!!! 

9:01- NO ONE CARES GET TO BEST PICTURE!!!!! 

9:02- THIS BIT SUCKS! 

9:04- Best Picture time over three and a half hours into the broadcast... Go Boyhood even though it's not going to win! Winner is: Birdman! Not surprising. I did really like the film and put it on my top 10 so not too much complaining from my end... Thank goodness this show is over though... Zadan and Meron never need to produce another Oscar telecast ever again... It was too long and put the focus on music instead of films... Also I really didn't like NPH and felt he didn't suit the telecast... I'm off to crash now goodnight everyone!

That's just me though. what did everyone else think? 

Better Call Saul “Uno” Review: Down on your luck

 Jimmy making a statement with a check on Better Call Saul

Photo Credit: AMC TV

Brief thoughts on the premiere of the Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul as soon as I stop buying bacon…

“There are no shortcuts”

-Chuck

Better Call Saul is not Breaking Bad.

And that’s not a bad thing at all, one of the things I feared going into Better Call Saul was that Gilligan and Gould would try and make a show that was Breaking Bad just with a less fascinating character at its centre. Luckily for the duration of the premiere that seems not to be the case, Better Call Saul seems on the trail to develop its own voice and judging from the premiere it’s going to at least be a fun voice to listen to.

That’s not to say that “Uno” doesn’t borrow good things from Breaking Bad. First and foremost the direction of Vince Gilligan is present in full force. The show retains the beautiful look of its predecessor while at the same time playing around with different ideas. Shots are still crisp, beautiful and often there is a unique angle or two to sink our teeth into. One of the things I like most in the premiere is that scenes take their time and last longer than one would normally think, really getting the most out of interactions and sequences that under any other hand might be secondary or not thought through.

Ultimately slow and steady seems to be the pace Better Call Saul will occupy in general. The quote from earlier “there are no shortcuts” was the philosophy of Breaking Bad and it seems to be the philosophy here. The premiere seems to cover all angles of the meteoric rise Jimmy McGill and it seems to want to do it with the patience and care that was trademark of the show’s predecessor. This is not a show that is going rush the journey, and we are going to see the evolution of this character in the most precise way possible.

Now onto differences and specifics. “Uno” suggests a show that is much more openly comedic than Breaking Bad ever was. Sure Breaking Bad was a very funny show at times but it was always within a dark framework, where as “Uno” suggests that Better Call Saul will insert darkness amidst comedy. Many of the perilous situations that Saul finds himself in (more on that in a moment) are set up through comedic set pieces. It’s the tone and the way plot is delivered that ultimately differentiates the show and turns it into its own show independent of Breaking Bad.

Those comic set pieces are seen throughout “Uno.” The climax of the episode itself involves to stoner skaters trying to make a bit of a buck for both Jimmy and themselves before it ends up going downhill. Heck just watching Jimmy attempt to makes some money is funny in very sad ways, from trying to defend college kids who were sexually harassing store props (I have no other way of putting that) to him trying to get his sick brother to try and cash out from his own law firm. It all works to set up the tragically funny world that Jimmy inhabits that constantly seems out to get him, from the bad kids in public court to the skaters that somehow end up not being run over by the old lady picking up her kids from school but instead a gun wielding Tuco.

And we all know where this story ends. In case one forgot “Uno” even provides a great pre-credit teaser showing the boring gray (literally) life Sual currently leads as a manager of a Cinnabon in the middle of an indiscreet mall. But ultimately it’s going to be about how and why Saul got there and judging from “Uno” the journey is going to be a lot of fun.

Some more musings:

• I’m going to try and do small weekly reviews of this show on Tuesday Mornings. I don’t have AMC at the moment so I’m trying to watch via Itunes season pass. It wasn’t great for this episode (which is why this is up as late as it is) but hopefully it gets easier as the weeks role on.

• On the note of Tuco showing up I feel as though I’m going to be uneasy when parts of Breaking Bad creep their way into the show. I did groan a little when the gun touting adversary ended up being Tuco but I guess we’ll see where it’s going before I judge.

• Of course Mike is always the exception to that feeling of unease. The more Mike the better.

• Also a buddy cop show with Saul and Mike is potentially the greatest thing ever.

• I love the slow build of the court scene post credits which involves a silent court room for a minute or two while Saul talks over his plan to himself in the empty bathroom. A wonderful comedic setup.

• It’s funny with the how relevant the fake accident skaters are because of the Russian dashcam videos that are being released.

That’s all for now folks… Until tomorrow! It’s a two episode week!

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?