why does facebook think i'm baby hungry?

i was noticing the other day that facebook is like WAY too aware of my life. it knows all my secrets. like that i love cupcakes. it taunts me with side bar ads that say there are delicious cupcakes waiting for me in *my* area. its creepy. and makes me hungry. when i was a single, it was constantly telling me about all the hot singles in my area. when i listed myself as "in a relationship," it suddenly had info on engagement rings. what's with the push facebook? i was just in a relationship. were you trying to get me to itch for a ring? well it worked. i got "engaged" so the engagement rings turned to wedding photographers, flower guides, wedding dresses. now, i've been married for 8 months and all of a sudden, facebook thinks its time for yet another nudge. familyplanning.com and motherhood info keep popping up with baby bumps appearing in all the ads. what's up with that facebook? are you implying my biological clock is ticking and that after only 8 months of marriage, i need to be on the baby train?

you cant trick me facebook. not at least until i can get hubby to buy into all the baby names i love :)

it's oscar's season!!!

Almost better than christmas. For those who know me well, you know I LOVE the Academy Awards. It’s more like an obsession, really. Printing out ballots, drinking classy beverages and preparing way too complicated hors d’oeuvres, dressing up fancy. I can’t get enough of it. My infatuation no doubt stems from my love for film and my desire to dress in pretty things :) Any excuse to watch most of the movies released this year is a good one, right?

However, when casting my own votes for winners, I don’t like to solely predict what the Academy will pick, but rather what (or who) I think should win. I think I do this because no matter how old I get, I still hold on to the delusion that someday the Academy will beg me to be in their allusive group of overly critical-slash-politically-progressive individuals and they will be dying for MY opinion on what SHOULD win – not what necessarily will.

Anyway – this blog post isn’t so much about getting the “right” “predictions” as it is about casting my vote. Very little about getting it “right” and very much about doing it right – watch all the films and give my best evaluations. Based on the nominees, this is what I vote: (and I’m omitting categories I either don’t care about or have no educated opinion to provide.)

Best Short Film (Animated) Nominations:

‘Day & Night’ – Teddy Newton

‘The Gruffalo’ – Jakob Schuh & Max Lang

‘Let’s Pollute’ – Geefwee Boedoe

‘The Lost Thing’ – Shaun Tan & Andrew Ruhemann

‘Madagascar, carnet de voyage’ – Bastien Dubois

My Vote: Pixar always does a fantastic job with their animated shorts. The old man playing chess with himself, Jack Jack Attack, the bouncing sheep. I love them all. And while Day & Night has a beautiful message about accepting the beauty in something we don’t understand, and its lovely throwback to traditional animation is endearing, it’s hardly the best animated short of the year. But The Gruffalo! Tender with fantastic animation – combined with the sentiments of a children’s tale, make for the best animated short. Loved it.

Best Original Screenplay Nominations:

‘Another Year’ – Mike Leigh

‘The Fighter’ – Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson

‘Inception’ – Christopher Nolan

‘The Kids Are All Right’ – Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg

‘The King’s Speech’ – David Seidler

My Vote: The King’s Speech. The screenplay MAKES this film. Another Year? Yawn. The Fighter, albeit terrific, the acting was the standout. Inception? I don’t think anyone loved this movie for its script – although the plot was MORE than fantastic – the script itself was nothing more than mediocre. The Kids Are All Right could win this one, but i'm still gunning for King’s Speech. Who thought a speech impediment could be so inspiring? And Geoffrey Rush’s witty sarcasm? LOVE it.

Best Adapted Screenplay Nominations:

‘127 Hours’ – Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy

‘The Social Network’ – Aaron Sorkin

‘Toy Story 3’ – John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich

‘True Grit’ – Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

‘Winter’s Bone’ – Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

My Vote: The Social Network. Done and Done. Sorkin’s unbelievably witty prose deserves this win hands down.

Best Art Direction Nominations:

‘Alice in Wonderland’ – Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I’ – Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

‘Inception’ – Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias & Doug Mowat

‘The King’s Speech’ – Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr

‘True Grit’ – Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

My Vote: Although it may not win, it will be a shame for any film to win this award except Alice in Wonderland. If nothing else, the art direction was FANTASTIC. Each scene was a masterpiece. Exceptional. Extraordinary. Visually stunning in each and every scene. IF this doesn’t win, The King’s Speech will, if nothing else but due to the extraordinary task of dressing a set for 1930’s London, including a palace. Talk about daunting. I would be happy to see either film take this category.

Best Costume Design Nominations:

‘Alice in Wonderland’ – Colleen Atwood

‘I Am Love’ – Antonella Cannarozzi

‘The King’s Speech’ – Jenny Beavan

‘The Tempest’ – Sandy Powell

‘True Grit’ – Mary Zophres

My Vote: I feel like movies about British monarchs always win this one. Although I think Alice in Wonderland is AH-MAZE-ING, I think period pieces like The King’s Speech really deserve the prize.

Best Sound Editing Nominations:

‘Inception’ – Richard King

‘Toy Story 3’ – Tom Myers & Michael Silvers

'Tron: Legacy’ – Gwendolyn Yates Whittle & Addison Teague

‘True Grit’ – Skip Lievsay & Craig Berkey

‘Unstoppable’ – Mark P. Stoeckinger

My Vote: Can Inception please win this one? I’m probably grasping at straws, but I want it to win more than visual effects. Any one of these could easily win, however, and I would be content.

Best Sound Mixing Nominations:

‘Inception’ – Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo & Ed Novick

‘The King’s Speech’ – Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen & John Midgley

‘Salt’ – Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan & William Sarokin

‘The Social Network’ – Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick & Mark Weingarten

‘True Grit’ – Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff & Peter F. Kurland

My Vote: Hmmm. I think Inception will probably be the most overlooked movie of the year and I’m surprised honestly that The Social Network made it on this list. I did not find the Sound Mixing to be extraordinary. My guess: King’s Speech. And I’ll be happy for it to win. The King’s Speech will sweep at the Oscars and I suspect this will be one of the categories it takes a broom to.

Best Foreign Language Film Nominations:

‘Biutiful’ – Mexico

‘Dogtooth’ – Greece

‘In A Better World’ – Denmark

'Incendies’ – Canada

'Outside the Law’ – Algeria

My Vote: Unfortunately, I haven’t seen ANY of these. Sad? Yes. Based on my research, however, and LOVE for Javier Bardem, I am going to vote for Biutiful. The way Dogtooth is filmed reminds me of an Orbit gum commercial, with a weird blend of sardonic humor and violence. I must say though, the line: “I hope your kids have bad influences and develop bad personalities. I hope this with all my heart,” has me intrigued. Incendies looks particularly interesting and I do hope to watch it. Outside the Law is sure to be an excellent piece, but surely the Academy won’t care all that much about a war that actually (*gasp) didn’t involve us.

Best Film Editing Nominations:

‘Black Swan’ – Andrew Weisblum

‘The Fighter’ – Pamela Martin

'The King’s Speech’ – Tariq Anwar

'127 Hours’ – Jon Harris

'The Social Network’ – Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter

My Vote: This one isn’t a particularly hard choice, with the clear frontrunner as The Social Network. I wouldn’t be disappointed to see 127 Hours win (truly a film led by its film editing) but I think The Social Network should, and will, take it. For a film to jump timelines as often as this film does, as FLAWLESSLY as this film does, it would really be a shame for any other film to take home Mr. Oscar.

Best Documentary Feature Nominations:

'Exit Through the Gift Shop'

'Gasland’

'Inside Job’

'Restrepo’

'Waste Land’

My Vote: So I desperately want Exit Through the Gift Shop to win. Clark Ludlow will know why. We love the idea of anything Banksy-related and a film that feeds his allure and intrigue? Sign.Me.Up. But it takes a while to get to him – too long. And then the film ends up not really being about him at all. disappointing. And Restrepo is probably a bit better of a choice, anyway. It has a much more profound story to tell, which expresses an accurate commentary of our time. LOVE YOU BANKSY, your hooded and voice modulated self, loved tracking your art all over LA… but… isn’t street art like so last year? (or better yet, so 1992?)

Best Animated Feature Film Nominations:

'How to Train Your Dragon’

'Illusionist’

'Toy Story 3’

My Vote: HOW ON EARTH DID DESPICABLE ME GET MISSED HERE???? I was not happy to learn this. I would hate to have the THIRD MOVIE in a trilogy win Best Animated Feature Film (albeit the best in the trilogy.) I am also surprised Tangled didn’t make it into the mix. It was fun, adventurous, and very refreshing to have Disney get back to its roots a little bit. How to Train Your Dragon was SUCH a cute movie. But I guess I’m going to have to settle for Toy Story 3 to take home the win, mostly because it would take a lot for me to vote for an animated feature not made by Disney… like the genius of Despicable Me.

Best Visual Effects Nominations:

'Alice in Wonderland’ – Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas & Sean Phillips

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I’ – Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz & Nicolas Aithadi

'Hereafter’ – Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Sephan Trojanski & Joe Farrell

'Inception’ – Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley & Peter Bebb

'Iron Man 2’ – Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright & Daniel Sudick

My Vote: Inception. Duh. Alice was really cool, and HP 7 – great, great, great. But Inception MUST win this category. It should win so much more, but it won’t, so this is the category it will rein supreme in. No one can argue that there is a single moment in this film where you aren’t thinking WOW – this looks so freaking awesome.

Best Original Song Nominations:

'Country Strong’ – Coming Home, Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges & Hillary Lindsey

'Tangled’ – I See the Light, Music by Alan Menken & Lyric by Glenn Slater

'127 Hours’ – If I Rise, Music by A.R. Rahman & Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong

'Toy Story 3’ – We Belong Together, Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

My Vote: My vote goes to Gwyneth. Because she’s lovely. Because the song is touching. Because although I need her to steer clear of becoming a middle-aged Miley Cyrus, I do quite enjoy her singing. Alan Menkin’s I See the Light is… well… just too Alan Menkin. If I Rise is eerie and indie and cool. But probably not something I would listen to outside of watching the movie itself. Randy Newman’s We Belong Together is just precious. And I love Toy Story 3. But I like that Country Strong’s Coming Home is bigger than the movie. If I heard it on the radio, I would want to listen to it. And I think it’s the only one this year that offers that. If that doesn’t win, my best guess is If I Rise.

Best Original Score Nominations:

'How to Train Your Dragon’ – John Powell

'Inception’ – Hans Zimmer

'The King’s Speech’ – Alexandre Desplat

'127 Hours’ – A.R. Rahman

'The Social Network’ – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

My Vote: Inception. Hands down. If Hans Zimmer made a film this year, the award MUST go to him. His score just resonates with you. No one can forget the resounding “DUN. DUN.” Paired with the film’s trailer. Clearly the standout. Most people, and probably the Academy, will disagree… but I stand by my vote.

Best Cinematography Nominations:

'Black Swan’ – Matthew Libatique

'Inception’ – Wally Pfister

'The King’s Speech’ – Danny Cohen

'The Social Network’ – Jeff Cronenweth

'True Grit’ – Roger Deakins

My Vote: SO HARD! Cinematography makes a movie. Inception. Wow. Black Swan. Incredible. The King’s Speech. Amazing. I’m going to have to go with Black Swan on this one because the Cinematography just plays such an integral role in the success of the film. He uses it seamlessly to contribute to the confusion and dark nature of the film. The story really is told through the eyes of this cinematographer and Black Swan deserves this win.

Best Supporting Actor Nominations:

'The Fighter’ – Christian Bale

'Winter’s Bone’ – John Hawkes

'The Town’ – Jeremy Renner

'The Kids Are All Right” – Mark Ruffalo

'The King’s Speech’ – Geoffrey Rush

My Vote: OH.EM.GEE. If Christian Bale doesn’t win in this category, they system is BROKEN. Sure, I loved Jeremy Renner in The Town. He was great. Geoffrey Rush, does he EVER deliver a poor performance? And he was positively brilliant in The King’s Speech. Very witty and clever in his role. I’ve heard a lot of buzz about Andrew Garfield being snubbed on the Oscar nod. Sure, he was good, too. And perhaps he deserved a nomination. But NO ONE deserves the win half as much as Mr. Bale. I love him in Batman. I love him in the Machinist. Heck, I even love him in The Newsies. But his portrayal of Dicky Ecklund in The Fighter is UNREAL. I remember watching him in the Machinist and seeing him transform into this emaciated ghost of a man, but in The Fighter, he BECOMES Dicky Ecklund. He’s funny albeit depressing and when he finally chooses to conquer his demons and face his mistakes, I find myself cheering him on. At the end of the movie you see the real Dicky for a few moments talking to the camera about his crack addiction and it really is unreal how Bale became this person. LOVED HIM.

Best Supporting Actress Nominations:

'The Fighter’ – Amy Adams

'The King’s Speech’ – Helena Bonham Carter

'The Fighter’ – Melissa Leo

'True Grit’ – Hailee Steinfeld

'Animal Kingdom’ – Jacki Weaver

My Vote: This is a tough one for me just because while I actually really enjoyed all of their performances, none of them were CRAZY awesome. I think I would have to vote for Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit just for the mere fact that I was surprised by my adoration of her. She is clever and tough and I left the theater impressed by her. I attribute much of her success to the actual writers of the film – what witty banter they wrote for her! But she delivers it flawlessly and she gave a portrayal worth remembering. Sorry Amy Adams – just because you can go from being an animated princess to trailer trash who uses the f-bomb every other word – while believable, frankly, I just didn’t like you. I would be happy to see Helena Bonham Carter win anything because she is brilliant, always. But Melissa Leo might get the win – and she pulls off an insane drug-addicted, trailer park, manipulative mother better than the ones back home.

Best Actor Nominations:

'Biutiful’ – Javier Bardem

'True Grit’ – Jeff Bridges

'The Social Network’ – Jesse Eisenberg

'The King’s Speech’ – Colin Firth

'127 Hours’ – James Franco

My Vote: My hope against hope is that Colin Firth will take this golden statue for his role in The King’s Speech. While I think James Franco’s performance is OUTSTANDING (let’s face it, cutting your own arm off trumps a speech impediment any day) I think Colin Firth’s inspirational and moving performance as King George VI, combined with the beauty of the film, will win this award. Besides, I’ve been rooting for him since he played Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy in BBC’s Pride and Prejudice… Mr. Darcy deserves an Oscar.

Best Actress Nominations:

'The Kids Are All Right’ – Annette Bening

'Rabbit Hole’ – Nicole Kidman

'Winter’s Bone’ – Jennifer Lawrence

'Black Swan’ – Natalie Portman

'Blue Valentine’ – Michelle Williams

My Vote: If Natalie Portman doesn’t win this category, I really will be sad. I know the others were brilliant in their own right but I have to say her performance in Black Swan was riveting, chilling, and completely off-the-charts fantastic. I felt confused with her, powerful with her, frustrated with her. She made this deeply dark film fantastic. Now Academy – if you vote for your token faves, Nicole and Annette, I’ll beat you. I’m ready for Natalie to become the new Oscar favorite – because I think she’s lovely and brilliant and willing to really stretch herself. I’m bored with Nicole. I’m bored with Annette. Who cares about Jennifer Lawrence? And Blue Valentine only deserves a win for the most overly-hyped movie of the year.

Best Director Nominations:

'Black Swan’ – Darren Aronofsky

'The Fighter’ – David O. Russell

'The King’s Speech’ – Tim Hooper

'The Social Network’ – David Fincher

'True Grit’ – Joel & Ethan Coen

My Vote: This category is a little tricky. I’m disappointed that Chris Nolan didn’t get an Oscar nod. He awes and inspires me. And I would give him this category for basically any movie he’s ever done – and Inception really went above and beyond. I’m tired of cinematic geniuses being overlooked. I worry that Nolan will be our generation’s Alfred Hitchcock. *Sigh. But I digress. I’m ruling out True Grit, mostly because although I enjoy their films, I’m tired of the Coen Brothers taking everything. Although I feel each of the other movies would be good candidates, I hope that David Russell will take home the win. He evoked such resounding performances from each and every character in the film… he deserves it.

Best Picture Nominations:

‘Black Swan’

'The Fighter’

'Inception’

'The Kids Are All Right’

'The King’s Speech’

'127 Hours’

'The Social Network’

'Toy Story 3’

'True Grit’

'Winter’s Bone’

My Vote: Probably the toughest category, although c’mon, Academy. Stop putting token movies in the category. I loved Toy Story 3. But Best Picture of the whole year? Please. I was BLOWN AWAY by Black Swan. Natalie Portman is a goddess and her inner darkness just had me jumpy and confused. Really a masterpiece. The King’s Speech – talk about taking a droll topic and making it an exceptional work of art. Inception? Brilliant – Christopher Nolan never fails me. The Fighter and 127 Hours were equally riveting. Even Winter’s Bone has its good points, despite being about such a horrible topic that I’d really rather not watch an entire film devoted to. However, my vote goes to The Social Network – not because I feel like it is really the best picture made this last year, but because it tells the story of our generation. If nothing else, it’s a defining film, and to truly win Best Picture I feel you have to achieve a proper commentary on our times. The Social Network does this and more with a shining cast and witty script. If this one doesn't take it home, it will be The King's Speech.

Now go print off a ballot - and let me know what you think! I'd love to hear your predictions and thoughts! love to you all.