Everybody knows that the the most important part of the Oscars is the red carpet. And maybe some of the big awards, but they save those for last. Everything in between is just the producers trying – sometimes desperately – to hold on to our attention. Last night, the parade of award presentations and acceptance speeches was sometimes adorable, sometimes boring and sometimes made us want to change the channel. Here are the best and worst presentations and acceptance speeches from last night’s show. Read More »

The most anticipated awards show of the year is finally here! The Academy Awards, while not as relaxed as the Golden Globes, are probably my favorite part of February. I love everything about awards shows: the red carpet, the dresses, the awkward candid shots of celebrities. I could certainly do without E!’s continuous coverage and gimmicks, but I really do love movie awards.

There have been so many great movies this year, but there can only be one winner in each category. Here are some of my predictions! Read More »

When the Oscar nominations come out every year, the biggest controversies usually revolve around the people who got snubbed, not those who actually got the nominations. This year, one of the biggest snubs was Michael Fassbender for Shame. He was nominated for a Critics’ Choice award and a Golden Globe, among others, but the Academy completely ignored him. Why? The LA Times thinks that Michael Fassbender’s penis ruined his chance at an Oscar. Really. It’s pretty well known that the Academy is a little stuffy, and they tend to be put off by racy scenes. So they may have overlooked Fassbender’s performance because of his full frontal nude scene.

Let’s face it – Michael Fassbender’s penis is a real problem. Here are a few more things that it has ruined. Read More »

As a reward for staying up late to watch the Oscars, I really feel I should be rewarded with any or all of the actresses’ makeup artists. And maybe a stylist. Getting up and dressed for school after a late night is a bit of a challenge when I’ve got major on-loan-dress-envy. While the awards themselves were a little awkward (Did James Franco meet up with Charlie Sheen before the show?), there were a few entertaining moments. For me, the best part was joining in on the College Candy liveblog Oscar party.

Seriously, it was the place to be last night….and about the only reason I even stayed awake for the “duh” awards at the end of the show.

But we all know we don’t watch the Oscars for the show itself. The fashion – from the dresses to the jewels to the shoes – is what really matters. Especially when it’s James Franco wearing all three. Anyways, in case you missed it or didn’t get enough of my quips during the liveblog, check out the most memorable looks from last night’s show. Read More »

Well girls it’s that time again.

Tomorrow night you’ll pop your popcorn and plop down on the couch to see yet another award show. The Oscars. The Academy Awards. The best of the best in award shows. (Or at least they seem to think so.) But with all the hype surrounding award shows lately I can’t help but think a regular night at the Oscars might not hold up that well against some of the drama we’ve had surrounding our award shows lately.

Embarrassed celebrities?
Outraged actors?

How can the Oscars compete with that? Well, I have a few ideas…

1. Get Ricky Gervais to host. I know James Franco and Anne Hathaway already have this gig covered but I think it would be great if Ricky Gervais at least got the chance to speak. I mean the man’s been a social pariah since the Golden Globes and I think it’s time he and Hollywood bury the hatchet. Sure, the celebs may not be ready for another round of Ricky’s hard hitting humor but I most definitely am. These celebs need to learn to take a joke and the only way they’re going to get a thicker skin is if they’re exposed to the abuse over and over again. What…too harsh?

2. Someone needs to pull a Kanye. I think it would work best if this were to take place during the winner of Best Picture’s acceptance speech. Let’s say The Social Network wins. Someone should step up just as Scott Rudin is thanking the academy and declare that they’re going to let him finish but Inception is the best film of all time, and could Christopher Nolan please tell him if the whole thing was a dream or not now? Because it’s been driving him crazy for months and he needs answers! And so do I. Read More »

[You may be wondering why, since I usually write about new releases, I have chosen to review Blue Valentine (which was released in late December most places) this week. Well, despite being out for a month, Blue Valentine remains a water cooler topic. The subject is no longer the MPAA’s original decision to give Blue Valentine an NC-17 rating (read my thoughts on that here), but instead it is Michelle Williams' nomination for Best Actress; more notably, it is her nomination compared to Ryan Gosling who did not receive a nomination for his performance. Aside from that, it is an Oscar-nominated film, which means that if you look hard enough, you can probably find a showing in your area.]

Blue Valentine is the story of a young couple in the process of falling into, and subsequently out of, love. The film masterfully goes back and forth between the two times, providing an amazing juxtaposition. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams play the couple and they deserve so much credit for their work in this film. Their performances make the audience see a transformation, while only truly acting infatuation and whatever the opposite of infatuation is.

When I was debating whether or not to see the film, specifically to see it alone, my friend told me I should and had an interesting comment. He said, “It’s the kind of movie that you don’t want to talk about after.” I was sold. And now I know exactly what he was talking about. The film is beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, and perfectly depressing. Read More »

The Oscar nominations are in.
And the claws are out.

Once the Academy Award nominations are public knowledge you expect there to be gossip, some hurt feelings, some angry fans, and some shocked directors. People have expectations, ideas about who should win and why. But there are so many worthwhile films and so few spots; it’s inevitable that some will get left in the dust. So you can expect a little hostility. Some discussion in the days ahead. But I have a feeling these nominations will leave fans talking for a while. The Academy left us all a little shocked and surprised as they dissed some fan favorites in favor of… True Grit?

But wait. It gets worse.

No best director nomination for Nolan, despite Inception‘s many other nods. No best actor nod for Gosling for Blue Valentine, even though co-star Williams was short listed for best actress. Timberlake and Garfield didn’t make it onto that list either, despite the success of The Social Network. And that’s just the first few.

Curious about who got the nod and who got the shaft? PopEater breaks it down for you.

Confession: I don’t do well with Westerns. And maybe that sentence makes no sense to you. But I’m thinking that the majority of people reading this review also conjure up images of confusing plotlines, boring shootouts, and racism when they hear the word “Western.” And if those generalizations don’t prove to you that I am not an expert on the genre, you can ask my TA from film class last semester and I’m sure he will tell you that my paper on Westerns last semester was…less than impressive.

But, all that being said, I loved True Grit.

In True Grit, a fourteen-year-old girl (Hailee Steinfeld) enlists the help of a U.S. Marshal (Jeff Bridges) to avenge her father’s death, with the on-and-off help of a Texas Ranger (Matt Damon). My love for this film probably had everything to do with the Coen brothers’ directing, the acting, and the actual worthwhile message.

Read More »

Black Swan is a psychological thriller starring Natalie Portman as Nina, a perfectionist ballerina who is cast as the Swan Queen in her company’s performance of Swan Lake. Throughout the film, Nina pushes herself to overcome every obstacle that appears to be standing in the way of her and her dream performance: a new free-spirit dancer threatening her role, a director pushing her to let loose, an overbearing stage mom, an accusatory forced-to-retire veteran ballerina, and what appears to be her own unraveling. Black Swan is exactly what a thriller of this nature should be, especially due to Natalie Portman’s performance and director Darren Aronofsky’s style.

Portman is getting a lot of Oscar buzz for her role of Nina, and she is deserving of a nomination acknowledging her performance. Thanks to her second-guessing attitude and innocence, Nina is immediately recognizable as the embodiment of the “virgin White Swan” that the director describes he is casting. But, the question is whether she can find that place inside of her and let go enough to play the Black Swan. As one would expect, sexuality plays an important role in this “transformation.” And the film isn’t afraid to really go there, so to speak. It is pretty common knowledge that Mila Kunis (who plays Nina’s rival, or the incarnation of the Black Swan, Lily) and Portman have a sex scene in the film. And it’s not subtle. In fact, some of Black Swan’s hardest to watch scenes are actually of that nature, because it can be excruciatingly uncomfortable to see Nina transform from such innocence (as Mila Kunis’s dad will tell you). But that is the reason that Portman will likely get an Academy Award nod for this role – she can convincingly go through Nina’s bizarre journey. Read More »

[Besides being the month of St. Patrick's Day and CollegeCandy's editor's birthday, March is Women's History Month. Instead of honoring the great women of our past, however, we at CC want to honor the women they inspired and who now inspire us. Every Wednesday this month we are going to highlight a woman who is currently dominating her field and showing us that we can really do anything. Like Chelsea Handler, the woman of late night comedy. These women are strong, powerful, famous, and doing their thing even better than their male counterparts, so let's give them the attention they deserve!]

If you are reading this right now, I think it’s safe to say you have a computer to procrastinate dabble into  the latest breaking news.  Fresh off the press is Kathryn Bigelow’s fantastic ‘Best Director’ win at the Oscars Sunday night for her recent film, The Hurt Locker. Talk about an amazing moment in Hollywood; her win for ‘Best Director’ marked the first ever win by a woman. This (and the fact she beat her ex husband in the race to Oscar victory) is only one reason we are in awe of this woman.

Here are five reasons Kathryn Bigelow is an inspiration to us all: Read More »