Oscar Project 2016: Steve Jobs

Movie: Steve Jobs

I knew going in that I was likely to love this movie, and I did, just as expected. One of my Twitter friends semi-jokingly asked "Who is the audience Steve Jobs?" and my answer was: Me. Me exactly. I love tech history. I love movies about smart people making things. I love difficult complicated geniuses. I love Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet and Jeff Daniels. And while I can recognize his (many) problems, Aaron Sorkin's writing somehow just hits my brain in a way virtually no one else's does; almost every line makes me so happy I want to cry.

Availability: Available to buy or rent on Blu-ray/DVD or digital download.

Nominated in:

Actor in a Leading Role: Yes. Fassbender was great here - not every actor can make Sorkin's dialogue seem natural, and he did a great job of showing Jobs's complexities and how he evolved (and didn't) over time.

Actress in a Supporting Role: I thought Winslet was good but . . . not quite convincing enough to win this category. Part of it was the accent - it just never seemed natural or even and I'd have preferred if they'd just left it out.

Morning Coffee (9/30/15)

Me elsewhere: New Macbeth clip! I remain excited.

The next government shutdown fight, explained

This is completely horrifying on many different levels: The Police Told Her To Report Her Rape, Then Arrested Her For Lying

Ryan Adams’s 1989 and the mansplaining of Taylor Swift (Seriously. MAKE IT STOP.)

They exhumed Nicholas and Alexandra!!!

I have mixed feelings about this: Twitter Plans to Go Beyond Its 140-Character Limit

Training Midwives to Save Expectant Mothers in Chiapas

Yes: A Proposal to Change the Words We Use When Talking About the Civil War

Fascinating: Inside The Duggars' Deep Ties With A Once-Powerful, Now-Scorned Ministry

Want to see how a bunch of famous composers wrote treble clefs? Of course you do.

Ayn Rand's 'The Little Match Girl'

Morning Coffee (9/3/15)

Me elsewhere: I am SO EXCITED about Macbeth.

Escape from Boko Haram

This isn't exactly... comforting: How Donald Trump can win

Hulu has launched a mostly ad-free version for an extra $4 a month. I've been arguing with myself about upgrading but I'll probably give in.

Meanwhile, Netflix is losing a whole bunch of movies, but it's all according to plan

I love Aaron Sorkin and even I said "Oh no" at this headline.

Actual Hero Helen Mirren Calls Out Male Creators on Ageism: “Even Shakespeare Did That to Us”

This is fascinating if you have any interest in how TV gets made. Blood & Oil has TWO writers' rooms??

How Wine Bricks Saved the U.S. Wine Industry During Prohibition

Morning Coffee (5/4/15)

Me elsewhere: Here's your TV news for the week.

In case you somehow missed it over the weekend: The new British princess was born, and the Fug Girls have adorable pictures here and here.

Ooh, the Bartolomeo Cristofori Google doodle!

Only people who have read the Mortal Instruments series will care about this, but I am astonished by how like Simon the newly cast Alberto Rosende is in this video, and I continue to be astonished by the fact of TV shows based on books by people I know being REAL.

Sad news: Ben E. King has died. (And B.B. King is in hospice, which is also sad, and I mention here partially because I kept reading stories about these situations and thinking I must have misread or someone must have typoed the names or something but no, both.)

It's clearly time we all learn about Marilyn Mosby.

Britain’s Drift From the Global Stage Becomes an Election Issue

I'm pretty excited about the new Macbeth photos.

Gail Collins read Marco Rubio's books so you don't have to.

Morning Coffee (2/21/12)

Yeah, trying this format again. I don't know. We'll see.

I saw This Means War over the weekend. It was really cute, if you keep yourself from thinking about any of it at all. Alternatively, if you think about it enough to make it into a secret Star Trek movie, it actually makes a lot more sense.

I hate the news that Cirque de Soleil is performing at the Oscars - but they're not having any of the nominated songs performed. I don't even just care because of MUPPETS. It's the principle of the thing.

"First, Atlas shrugged. Then he scratched his head in puzzlement." Indeed.

Gilmore reunion! Kelly Bishop's going to be in Amy Sherman-Palladino's new show with Sutton Foster.

Also getting a new show: Mary McCormack of In Plain Sight and The West Wing. Yay.

Michael Fassbender as Cuchulainn? Sign. Me. Up.

The Justified drinking game could be dangerous.

Oscar Project 2012: Jane Eyre

Movie: Jane Eyre

I saw this back in March, but either because of the tone of the movie or the actual weather in Boston at the time, I thought I remembered seeing it in January or so, and so I was astonished both that it was eligible for this year's awards and that it was only nominated for its costumes. I thought it was one of the best movies of the year and one of the best literary adaptations I've ever seen. I was hoping for at least Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, and Directing nominations, and maybe an acting nod or two. Sigh. (Pondering: Does the Academy specifically dislike Fassbender? Only costumes for this one, no nominations at all for Shame or A Dangerous Method, and not even any technical ones for X-Men . . .) ANYWAY. This movie isn't for everyone, but if you like bleak Victorian Gothic stuff, as I do, you will love it.

Availability: I had to drive in to Boston to see this in the theater, but it's readily available on DVD now.

Nominated In:
Costume Design: Definitely deserved! The costumes were beautiful, but they also didn't fall into the common costume drama trap of dressing everyone like rich aristocrats regardless of the characters' actual backgrounds. I'm not an expert on early Victorian clothing, but I've read enough to be jarred when things are wildly inaccurate, and nothing in this movie bothered me. Also: The shawls! So many beautiful wool shawls!

Movies left: 54; Days left: 31
Have seen 11% of movies and 24% of nominations.
Movie posts I owe you: 5

Trailer: A Dangerous Method

This is one of those trailers that makes it look like there's an about even chance of the advertised movie being great or awful. And it's also one of those movies that just invites you to do some reading beforehand so you can be properly enraged by everything they've messed up. And I'm unconvinced by Keira Knightley's Russian accent. But on the other hand, it has Michael Fassbender and pretty clothes, so I'm inclined to be lenient.



(Thanks to Alyssa for tweeting the link to the trailer!)