The M.A.Y.A. Years: February 2007

I am proud to say that I have won whatever Oscar pool I have been in five out of the past six years. The one year I didn't do so well was the year I put money on it. I learned my lesson.

this year, the Oscars have snuck up on me. I FINALLY finished all the best picture films this week, so I feel set to make my official predictions. Come back tomorrow night, so I can gloat. Yay.
Oh, I'm only going to put the major categories. I didn't get to see all the animated shorts. Sorry.

Best Picture:
Should win: Little Miss Sunshine. Truthfully, this wasn't that great of a year for movies. Of course, I saw some phenomenal stuff, but as a whole...eh. However, I saw Little Miss Sunshine up in Monterey during a spontaneous trip before school started. It was in this small theater with a bunch of old people. Oh man, it was AWESOME. I have never heard a more pleased group of geriatrics. It was great. This is a typical comedy format, but the writing and acting give it freshness and vitality.
The other movies were good. I really liked Letters from Iwo Jima and it makes me want to see Flags of our Fathers. I dug The Queen...it was a lot different than what I expected. The Departed was a hoot, even though the film burnt out in the cheap-o theater I saw it in. I liked Babel, but wasn't that impressed, really.
Will win: Most likely Babel, but I'm going to go on a limb and say that Little Miss Sunshine will pull off the upset. I think it might happen.
The REAL best movie of the year: Pan's Labyrinth. Oh good lord was that amazing!!!!

Best actor:
Should win: I didn't see Venus, but I'm gonna say Peter O'Toole because it's a tragedy that he never won for Lawrence of Arabia.
Will win: Forest Whitaker. Dude, he rocked it in Last King of Scotland. That movie would have been a shell of a story if it wasn't for his performance.

Best Actress:
Should win: Helen Mirren. She was Queen Elizabeth II. I saw the actual Queen when I was in England. Mirren had her down to a tee. On the other hand, Kate Winslet is the best actor/actress this side of 30. Little Children was unbelievably good...worthy of a best picture nod.
Will win: Helen Mirren.

Best Supporting Actor:
Should win: Alan Arkin. He gave a level of depth that is very nuanced in this movie. A close second is Jackie Earle Haley who put in a haunting performance in Little Children. He's not only a feel-good story, he's really a great actor.
Will win: Eddie Murphy. Honestly, his performance was good, but not great, but he'll win.

Best Supporting Actress:
Should win: Jennifer Hudson. The only lock in any of these categories. Aside from her, Dreamgirls was highly overrated.
Will win: Jennifer Hudson.

Best Director:
Should win: Martin Scorsese. If he doesn't win, there is no justice in the world.
Will win: Scorsese, or else the mob is putting a hit on all the Academy voters.

Best Documentary:
An Unconvenient Truth. I don't care if you agree with global warming or not, go see this movie.

Best Foreign film:
I would like to take this brief opportunity and thank Guerillmo Del Toro for sticking to his guns and creating one of the best freaking movies I have seen in quite a while. I would also like to thank the country of Mexico for allowing such great directors to come into being. And I would finally like to the thanks the parents of Maribel Verdu for having sex and creating her. (She plays a crucial role in Pan's Labyrinth. Also, if you've seen Y Tu Mama Tambien, which I highly recommend you do, then you'll understand.)
Oh: Pan's Labyrinth better win this category.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Should win: Borat. Borat should have also been nominated for best picture and Sasha Baron Cohen should have nominated for best actor. He would had won if that would had happened. Alas, this great movie only gets some due in this category.
Will win: The Departed.

Best Original Screenplay:
This one is actually a toughie. All the screenplays were very cool and rather strong.
Should win: Pan's Labyrinth.
Will win: Probably Babel.

OK, as a last bit: here's my picks for the top five movies of the year. Like I said, this wasn't that strong of a year, but there were some really good movies.

1. Pan's Labyrinth. Just too good to be overlooked.
2. Borat. The genius is not in the character, but in the mirror it shows America.
3. The Fountain. I lot of people hated it. I loved it. I loved it for its purity and for its vision.
4. Little Children. What made this so good was that this could really happen and does happen. Everywhere and anywhere.
5. Little Miss Sunshine. Too good, too cute.

I stumbled across Alicia's Story yesterday. It's a series in the San Francisco Chronicle written by a M.A.Y.A. battling one of the rarest forms of cancer: alveolar soft part sarcoma. Alicia was first diagnosed almost two years ago, at age 23 (three years after her own mother died of breast cancer), and she chronicles every test and treatment and emotion along the way.

At the end of chapter one, Alicia wrote: "If I get through this, this story will help me remember the important moments along the way, the details, the dizzying emotions. And, in the worst of all circumstances, if I go through this life-changing ordeal and my body just wears out and I die, I will die a writer. The one thing I've always wanted to be."

Read it. You won't regret it.

Alicia's Story