And the BAFTA Winners are/plus Carrie Ann/Bruno – Dance War 02/12/08

Hi Everyone:

Hope everybody had a good weekend.  Let’s see what ‘exciting’ things I did!

Movies:

Watched The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert F. Ford on Saturday.  It starred Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck.  It was a dark, depressing movie that certainly didn’t ‘glorify’ Jesse James even though he had a heckuva ‘fan base’!!!  Bottom line, Jesse wasn’t much of a nice person and Robert Ford wasn’t all bad.  The soundtrack was done by Nick Cave who was popular in the 80s.  At the end of the movie, this guy is in a bar where Robert Ford is, and starts to sing this ‘tale’ about Jesse and Robert.  Not only did the guy have no voice but he looked pretty rough!  Turns out…it was Nick Cave!  Who knew!  By the way, this movie runs 166 minutes for those of you who want to spend $4.99 on ON DEMAND.  You certainly get your monies worth with this one….

On Sunday, I watched 3:10 To Yuma again.  I had seen it in the movies but, hey, it’s Russell Crowe!!!  I thoroughly enjoyed this movie from the vantage point of my couch.  When I saw it in the movies, my friend and I thought the sound was deafening.  At home, you can adjust it which made it more enjoyable.  I also caught a few things watching it a second time that I missed at the movies.  I came away the first time with a marginal thumbs up but watching it again, I give it a BIG Thumbs Up.  It runs 123 minutes and I recommend it.  The original with Glen Ford years ago was good but this gives you more action and a little bit more background into the outlaw, Ben Wade….

Also watched TORCHWOOD on BBC on Saturday night.  How do I love this show…let me count the ways!

On Sunday night, I watched the HBO premiere movie, Bernard and Doris.  I thought it was very well done.  Ralph Feinnes and Susan Sarandon both did great jobs.  It’s the story of Doris Duke, the tobacco heiress who was known as the Richest Little Girl In The World when her dad left her all his money in his Will.  Doris was one smart cookie, when it came to  money, (not men!).  By the time she passed away she had increased her father’s inheritance to her by FOUR fold!  Not bad.  Good movie.  It’s also ON DEMAND to watch whenever….

The Grammys were on Sunday night.  Didn’t watch much because, let’s face it, at my age, 80% of these kids are people I’ve never heard of!  I DID like the Beyonce/Tina Turner duet though.  I tell ya, for a gal with the life that Tina had, she looked darn good considering she’ll be 70 this coming November.  She’s still got the legs and can move around enough to keep up with Beyonce who is one HOT gal.  Who won what, couldn’t tell ya.  I do know that Amy Winehouse ’smoked’ the competition.  Amazing!

Roy Scheider passed away over the weekend.  He was 75. (makes ya feel old, huh?)  Cause of death was not revealed but he had been treated the last two years at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for multiple myeloma.  He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the French Connection (a movie which Gene Hackman won Best Actor) and then again for Best Actor in the movie, All That Jazz (a bio of choreographer and director, Bob Fosse)…one of my faves!  However, the movie he will be remembered the most for is JAWS.  This movie was the first genuine blockbuster which brought in over $100M.  Who will ever forget the scene where Roy, playing the Police Chief at Martha’s Vineyard, MA, is standing in the boat and looks over to see the shark raise its head out of the water and Roy says, “I think we’re gonna need a bigger boat!”  An absolute classic!

Well here it is Tuesday, the 12th and the WGA and AMPTP have come to an agreement and it goes to vote.  Let’s hope this is over by the end of the week.  The representative for the WGA said that they didn’t get everything they were striking for but they did get enough so that the future looks bright for all of them.  They well deserve it.  Our shows could be back on the air by April.  You have no idea how this thrills me.  I absolutely refuse to watch My Dad VS Your Dad….it’s bad enough that I’ve been watching Moment of Truth(?).  House/Bones….where are you????

Lets do some BAFTA Awards held in England over the weekend.

BEST PIC

American Gangster

Leben der Anderen(?)

No Country for Old Men

There Will Be Blood

Atonement – WINNER

BEST ACTOR

George Clooney

James McAvoy

Viggo Mortenson

Ulrich Muhe

Daniel Day Lewis – WINNER (for There Will Be Blood)

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett

Julie Christie

Keira Knightly

Ellen Page

Marion Cotillard – WINNER (for La Vi en Rose)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Paul Dano

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Tom Wilkinson

Tommy Lee Jones

Javier Bardem – WINNER  (for No Country..)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett

Kelly MacDonald

Samantha Morton

Saoirse Ronan

Tilda Swinton – WINNER (surpise…for Michael Clayton)

BEST DIRECTOR

The Coen Brothers for No Country

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Diablo Cody for Juno

Actually, I have another review for you:

Carrie Ann and Bruno – Dance Wars – 02/11/08 Semi-Finals

I stopped watching this for a few weeks but jumped back on last night.  Bruno was down to four on his team as opposed to Carrie Ann who had her full 6 member team.

It was Latin Week and first up was Team Carrie Ann who danced The Conga (Miami Sound Machine) – I wasn’t impressed even though I’ve said from the beginnng (when I used to watch this) that I liked Elizabeth.  I didn’t think it was a good dance routine.  Singing was strong though.

Liked the outfits.  Bruno gave them an OK in his review.

Then came Team Bruno who did Sway.  He had only the 4 so he had them as couples and they brought it on.  They were sensational.  The singing and the dancing both were great.  Congrats Bruno on your hardwork.  Carrie Ann told them they ‘finally’ got it right!  That was a ‘kinda’ compliment.  By the way, Phillip sounded great.

Bounced around.  There’s a website called:  www.dancingdeer.com that looks like it has the most delicious baked goods.  They were doing an interview with the CEO and boy was she interesting.  It made $10.5M last year with about 100 employees.  Worth a looksee!

OK, here we are back to Round Two

Carrie Ann’s Team danced to Marc Anthony’s, I Need To Know.

I love this song but I still think they left a little to be desired.  It’s not that they’re bad, it’s just that I think at this point, with all the hard work they’ve done, they would have been better.  When Drew Lachey asked Carrie Ann how her team had done she started with the tears…puhleez!  Bruno gave them a good review.

While all this competition was going on, Phillip’s mom couldn’t make any of the shows because of the money.  Her church took up a collection so she was able to make the trip.  Phillip was thrilled to see her.  A lot of the other team members were lucky enough to have family members in the audience each week so this was special for him.

For Bruno’s second dance, he chose Wind Up.  This group did another great job.  I think, in the long run, it was better for Bruno to have just the 4 because it gave you a chance to see the talents of each one.  Good Job Bruno.  If someone is sent home on your team this week…there’s no justice!

Well, guess what….it was Carrie Ann’s turn to send someone home and it was Alyssa.  Next week is the Final Round where the winners will be named and they will get a contract!  Also, Drew will be announcing the cast of the new Dancing With The Stars!!!

Talk to you later in the week with my AI review.

Joanie