E-ROCK IN DA HOUSE

My Oscar ballot is below. Enjoy and let’s see how I do! Movies are in prefer of predicted placement

Best Picture:
Argo
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Life of Pi
Django Unchained
Zero Dark Thirty
Les Miserables
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Director (toss up for 1 & 2):
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
Ang Lee for Life of Pi
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Michael Haneke for Amour
Behn Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Actor:
Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln (a strong #1)
Hugh Jackman for Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix for The Master
Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook
Denzel Washington for Flight

Best Actress:
Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour
Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty
Naomi Watts for The Impossible
Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Supporting Actor (extremely unpredictable. Tightest race of the year anything can happen. No one has pegged Arkin but I figure the academy will want to award Argo as much as possible. Ballsy pick on my end.):
Alan Arkin for Argo
Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln
Robert DeNiro for Silver Linings Playbook
Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained
Phillip Seymour Hoffman for The Master

Best Supporting Actress:
Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables (an even stronger #1 than Daniel Day Lewis’s)
Sally Field for Lincoln
Amy Adams for The Master
Helen Hunt for The Sessions
Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook

Best Animated Film (also unpredictable):
Wreck-It-Ralph
Brave
Frankenweenie
Paranorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Best Foreign Film:
Amour (complete blowout)
not even worth listing the rest

Best Original Screenplay:
Django Unchained
Amour
Zero Dark Thirty
Moonrise Kingdom
Flight

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Argo
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Life of Pi
Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Costume Design:
Anna Karenina
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Snow White & The Huntsman
Mirror Mirror

Best Original Song:
“Skyfall” from Skyfall
“Suddenly” from Les Miserables
“Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from Ted
“Before My Time” from Chasing Ice
“Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi

Best Original Score:
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall
Anna Karenina
Argo

Best Documentary:
Searching for Sugarman
How to Survive A Plague
The Gatekeepers
The Invisible War
5 Broken Cameras

Best Documentary Short (historically difficult to predict):
Open Heart
Mondays at Racine
Incoente
Redemption
King’s Point

Best Makeup:
The Hobbit
Les Miserables
Hitchcock

Best Production Design:
Lincoln
Life of Pi
Les Miserables
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit

Best Film Editing:
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
Silver Linings Playbook

Best Cinematography (toss up between 1 & 2):
Skyfall
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Django Unchained
Anna Karenina

Best Sound Editing:
Skyfall
Life of Pi
Zero Dark Thirty
Argo
Django Unchained

Best Sound Mixing:
Les Miserables
Skyfall
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Argo

Best Visual Effects:
Life of Pi (strong, strong #1.)
The Hobbit
The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White & The Huntsman

Best Animated Short Film (usually hard to predict, this year an exception)
Paperman (solid #1)
Adam & Dog
Head over Heels
Maggie Simpson in the Longest Daycare
Fresh Guacamole

Best Feature Short Film (always hard to predict):
Curfew
Death of a Shadow
Henry
Asad
Buzkashi Boys

Predicted Oscar Count:
Argo-4
Lincoln-3
Skyfall-3
Les Miserables-2
Life of Pi-2
Amour-1
Anna Karenina-1
Curfew-1
Django Unchained-1
Open Heart-1
Paperman-1
Searching for Sugarman-1
Silver Linings Playbook-1
The Hobbit-1
Wreck It Ralph-1

Hello readers,

So I am currently home sick right now, and what do I do when I’m sick? Why of course! I watch television! So I’m going through the channels looking for something to watch, and I come across the Disney channel. I haven’t watched this channel since like 8th grade, so I was mildly curious of what was there. I watched about 15 minutes of this show called ANT Farm, and holy shit was it terrible. I don’t mean like “this is childish and stupid”, but it was just awful. It had no content, no depth, no characters, nothing. It was just a bunch of teenagers complaining and saying terrible jokes. And I mean TERRIBLE jokes. I figured that not every show on Disney Channel now could be like this, so I turned to my good friends Youtube and Wikipedia to find more info. And all be damned, I found that pretty much every show on there is like this.

First I must say that Phineas and Ferb gets a pass. Phineas and Ferb was I think the last new show that came on while I watched Disney Channel, and even now it’s pretty witty. Nice work on them. Everyone else though, we have some issues. Here’s the thing about Disney channel: I think every kid between the ages of like 2 and 12 watches it. No one likes to admit they do, but they do. Because of that, every single child is forming the same sense of humor, and is kind of looking to these shows to see how they should act. Now that is kinda effed up in its own right, but that’s another conversation. What concerns me is that the people who watch this channel, which like I said is pretty much everyone under 13, is gonna be a stuck up brat who complains all the time and makes terrible jokes. I know what you’re thinking, this is what every middle schooler is, but let’s not make it stick.

I remember the days when Disney Channel played actual television shows of quality. Sure, they were kids shows. Sure, they were kind of stupid. They had substance though. As stupid as Lizzie McGuire could be, they dealt with actual issues that actual kids faced. And they didn’t cast these prissy models with no comedic timing either. They cast kids who slightly could act and looked like someone I would see every day. Sure Suite Life of Zack and Cody was about spoiled kids who lived in a hotel (I cannot relate at all), but they at least dealt with issues of having a twin or having separated parents. Sure, That’s So Raven often had terrible jokes and was unrealistic as hell, but everyone on there knew how to act and the show dealt with real issues, including race. It’s pretty ballsy to deal with race on a kid’s show if you ask me. Even Hannah Montana, which I find to be pretty terrible, had redeeming factors.

I really have to be thankful that there was some quality programming there, because as much as we hate to admit it, the way we all act is somehow correlated to what we see on the magic box. Most people I knew grew up with Disney Channel, and most of those people are thankful for it. We actually took something away from it. Now, like I said, it’s just models complaining and making terrible jokes. So with that said, if you still watch this shit for some odd reason: don’t. Seriously, stop it. I know that an older person reading this would be insulted by the fact that I even suggest you watch this, but considering I had a successful advertising campaign on a middle schooler’s profile picture, I have no idea who’s reading this. If you want to watch something childish yet entertaining: watch the old stuff. It’s not even that old. Go back to like, 2009. You’ll be an actual human because of it. If you are old enough to kind of be over Disney channel though, then watch HBO. Really awesome channel. Also Homeland is amazing.

E-rock, who like Corey, is in da house.

Hello readers,

so as you may or may not have read, I attempted to guess the Oscar nominations this morning. Well, this was one of the most surprising nomination ceremonies I’ve ever seen. There were more upsets, surprises, and snubs than any year. Some of them were great for the people who got surprise nominations, but someone getting a surprise nomination means someone else gets left out, and in the Best Director Category, there was an unforgivable crime. I am referring to Ben Affleck not getting nominated for Best Director. 

Argo, which is my favorite film of the year, took a story that everyone pretty much knew the end to, and made it thrilling as hell. The pacing, the acting, the story, the locations, everything was superb. This is all mainly due to Ben Affleck’s amazing directorial effort. I honestly walked into Argo expecting a boring, slow movie about government. I walked out with my heart beating a million beats a second and saying “BEN AFFLECK BETTER WIN AN OSCAR”. And he didn’t even get nominated? That my friends, is pure bullshittery. Not only did Ben Affleck superbly direct this film, but this also risks that he does more acting instead of directing, which is no bueno. I hate to say it, but he’s really not a great actor. In fact, I think the only thing that I didn’t really LOVE about Argo was his performance. He was good and solid, but nothing drawdropping, but his direction was. So now I wonder why he got snubbed, and I think I have the answer. This is something I call The Chris Daughtry Theory.

The Chris Daughtry Theory is simple. Let’s all do a throwback to 2006, American Idol Season 5. It is between Chris Daughtry and Katherine McPhee to be eliminated. Chris Daughtry was amazing the night before, McPhee was meh. Guess who gets eliminated? Daughtry. How? This is where my theory comes in. I believe when voting, people often feel vote safety, if you will. This means that as a country, we all assumed Chris Daughtry would have plenty of votes to be safe, so we piled them on to Elliot Yamin who was not quite as secure. Because of this, Elliot Yamin I believe got the most votes that night, and Daughtry was sent home. I think this happened here. It was so assumed that Affleck would get nominated, that voters listed their #1 as someone more obscure, deserving, but obscure. So with that said, I offer the following message. When voting for something, always vote for your #1. Even if you think you’re throwing away your vote, you aren’t. Unless its for the People’s Choice Awards…those are rigged. But in any other instance. And to the Oscar voters: Argo F—k Yourselves.

E-rock, who’s in da House

Hello readers,

so tomorrow morning is always one of my favorite mornings of the year. At 8:30 AM EST (5:30 in the west coast), Emma Stone and Seth McFarlane will take the stage and announce the nominees for the academy awards. From about Thanksgiving to Spring break, my entire life is consumed with Oscar tracking, so tomorrow morning is one of the biggest days of the year. These nominations are absolutely humongous deals. This announcement takes an actor, and makes him an Academy Award Nominated Actor. That may sound obvious, but it is a level of esteem and achievement that is unparalleled. So who will be joining this prestigious club of Oscar Nominees that includes members like Jonah Hill and Eminem? Here’s who I think. I will list the people/movies I believe will be nominated alphabetically, and also a few potential “spoilers”. These “spoilers” are right on the cusp nominations that you shouldn’t be too shocked to hear tomorrow morning. These are arranged in the order I think they would be nominated. With that said, lets start with the biggest one of them all: 

Best Picture (There can be anywhere between 5-10 nominees, and I’m forecasting 8)

• Beasts of the Southern Wild
• Argo
• Django Unchained
• Les Miserables
• Life of Pi
• Lincoln
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Zero Dark Thirty

Potential Spoilers: Amour, Moonrise Kingdom„ Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Master, Skyfall

Best Director

• Ben Affleck for Argo
• Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
• Ang Lee for Life of PI
• Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
• Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained

Potential Spoilers:Tom Hooper (Les Mis), Michael Haneke (Amour),David O Russell (Silver Linings Playbook), Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master)

Best Actor 

• Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook
• Daniel Day Lewis for Lincoln
• John Hawkes for The Sessions
• Hugh Jackman for Les Miserables
• Denzel Washington for Flight

Potential Spoilers: Joaquin Phoenix (The Master), Jean Louis Trintignant (Amour), Richard Gere (Arbitrage), Jack Black (Bernie)

Best Actress

• Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty
• Marion Cotillard for Rust & Bone
• Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook
• Emmanuelle Riva for Amour
• Naomi Watts for The Impossible

Potential Spoilers: Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Rachel Weisz (The Deep Blue Sea), Helen Mirren (Hitchcock) 

Best Supporting Actor

• Alan Arkin for Argo
• Robert DeNiro for Silver Linings Playbook 
• Leonardo DiCaprio for Django Unchained
• Phillip Seymour Hoffman for The Master
• Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln

Potential Spoilers (Supporting Acting and Screenplay always have surprises): Christoph Waltz (Django), Mathew McConaughey (Magic Mike), Javier Bardem (Skyfall), Eddie Redmayne (Les Mis)

Best Supporting Actress

• Amy Adams for The Master
• Sally Field for Lincoln
• Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables
• Helen Hunt for The Sessions
• Nicole Kidman for The Paperboy

Potential Spoilers: Maggie Smith (Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Judi Dench (Skyfall), Ann Dowd (Compliance), Samantha Barks (Les Mis)

Best Original Screenplay

• Django Uncahined
• Looper
• The Master
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Zero Dark Thirty

Potential Spoilers: Amour, Flight, Magic Mike

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Argo
• Beasts of the Southern Wild
• Lincoln
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Silver Linings Playbook

Potential Spoilers: Life of Pi, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Les Mis

Best Animated Film

• Brave
• Frankenweenie
• Paranorman
• The Rabbi’s Cat
• Wreck-It Ralph

Potential Spoilers: The Painting, Rise of the Guardians, Madagascar, The Lorax

Well, there we go. These are my official predictions for the nominations, and by tomorrow morning we will know. For reference, last year of the candidates I said that would be “nominated”, I guessed 36 correctly, and 7 incorrectly. Thats about 84%, and thats pretty damn good if you ask me. Additionally, 5 of the candidates I listed as “spoilers” got nominated, so I’ll give myself a full point for all that and give me last year around an 85% success rate. Hopefully this year we can match it or beat it? If you disagree with me, I’d love to hear your thoughts in my inbox. Thanks for reading.

E-rock, who’s in da house

edit-here’s a link to my post from last year: http://e-rockindahouse.tumblr.com/post/16381825140/oscar-nomination-predictions