Oscar Buzz

No, this isn't about my predictions for who the Oscar will go to. As a matter of fact, I'm watching the Academy Awards as I type this- and I'm feeling the adrenaline buzz I get every year. I love the Oscars!

While I do appreciate the beautiful dresses to a certain degree, I don't care too much for the red carpet hoopla prior to the ceremonies. No, what I love about the Oscars is the acknowledgment of creative genius in all areas of movie making. When I see a great movie I steep in the complete experience- great direction & vision, cinematography, production, music, and an actor who can transcend their celebrity.

My definition of an amazing acting performance IS when the actor so completely portrays the character that the viewer forgets which actor is playing the part. Some examples of this (in my opinion) are: Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot (or anything else he does), Jamie Fox in Ray, Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain, Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind, The Insider, etc. (again, anything else he does), Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice, The Devil Wears Prada, etc. (anything she does), Gary Oldman in Sid & Nancy... okay, so I could go ON... I have a whole list of actors who seem to always lose themselves in their roles. Then, there are a few actors who are always excellent AND you always know who the actor is... Jack Nicholson is one of those, Judi Dench (for the most part), Emma Thompson (love her!), Laura Linney, Denzel Washington, etc. Well anyway, I digress... I love great acting...

And then there's those "Oscar Moments"- sometimes it is an acceptance speech that makes me feel like I, sitting on my couch in my jammies, have just won something, too. Sometimes it is the host who captures the audience with quick wit, or due to their incredible writing team who writes their schtick. Sometimes it is a great comic moment by a presenter. Some of my most favorite recent comic moments have been by Will Farrell... the year he presented the Oscar for Best Makeup- hilarious! And the time he and Jack Black wrote lyrics to the music that swells to cut off a long acceptance speech- genius!

I love the Oscars so much it is a secret (not so secret now) dream of mine to actually win an Oscar...for what I'm not sure yet- probably that great screenplay I haven't written yet, but God only knows! Well, even if I never win an Oscar...it would be pretty cool to be a part of the Oscar Production somehow... maybe as a seat filler? ;-) In a nutshell, I love movies for the way they embrace and celebrate humanity and I love the Oscars for the way creative humans are celebrated.