Oscar buzz

I just read the Oscar nominations for this year, and I had to write a new post immediately.
This is kind of a strange year for the Academy Awards. They've got a list of nominees this year that include the traditional Oscar big budget Hollywood production, and the low budget indie pics they've come to embrace over the last few years. Almost every year, I inadvertently see two or three of the Oscar nominated Pictures of the year. This year I happened to see "Finding Neverland" and "The Aviator."
I wasn't surprised that Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for "The Aviator", but Johnny Depp surprised me with "Finding Neverland." All his work is incredible. If he is nominated for "Finding Neverland", what about "Donnie Brasco?" I'm not complaining about his nomination, it's just strange that he's just now recognized for his consistent and prolific acting over the years. Personally, I think he should have been nominated for best actor for "Edward Scissorhands", "Ed Wood", and "Donnie Brasco." However, Finding Neverland is a solid and heartfelt performance by Depp, and I hope he wins.
BUT, I think we all know who's going to win best actor this year. Working at Universal, I was hearing Oscar buzz about Jamie Foxx long before "Ray" even came out. In fact, I was so turned off by all the Oscar buzz, I never saw the film. But, he probably deserves it and I wish him the best. He seemed to pour his heart and soul into it.
I'm kind of confused by the best supporting role nomination of Jamie Foxx for "Collateral."
He's going to have a tough time against Clint Eastwood, though. Eastwood's reputation and track record are incredible. I haven't seen "Million Dollar Baby", but it's on my list of the next one I want to see.
The most pleasant surprise in the acting categories is Alan Alda in "The Aviator." When I saw "The Aviator", his performance really imprinted on my mind. He really nailed it, and I hope he wins.
I was also surprised that Natalie Portman was nominated for "Closer." I think she should have been nominated for "Garden State." But, at least she's being recognized. She's teriffic.
I was curious to see how the Academy would recognize "Eternal Sunchine of teh Spotless Mind." I was thinking this might be Jim Carrey's year, but the writing was recognized. I'll take it.
Another curiosity was "The Passion of the Christ." While it did get recognized for the score, and makeup, ummm...what about Jim Caviezel? He had to portray a character that already has a lot of preconcieved baggage, AND make it applicable to the tone of the film. I think his portrayal was deep and human. If you've seen "The Passion of the Christ", I ask you: Did you ever for one second feel like you were watching an actor portray Jesus? I didn't. He totally threw himself into the role, and created the best film portrayal of Jesus I've ever seen. James Caviezel is my pick for this year's Oscar shaft.
Another milder Oscar shaft was Kate Winslet for Best Actress in "Finding Neverland." Wasnt' she awesome?
When I saw "The Incredibles", I knew it would get some kind of Oscar Recognition. I love love this film, and I hope it wins Best Original Screenplay, AND Best Animated Feature Film. I think it has a solid shot at both.
Does anyone doubt Best Song will be "Phantom of the Opera", "Learn to Be Lonely?" At least, I hope it wins.
I'm usually pretty good about predicting Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor. Everything else I'm hit or miss. I just pick my favorites and form my own opinions. If you have any Oscar thougts, please feel free to post a comment or two.

special request

The first section of this blog is inspired by a special request. Someone asked me to write about the death of Johnny Carson and how the upcoming Oscars affect my life.
First, Carson lived a quiet life away from the limelight ever since he left the show. Jay Leno payed a nice tribute to him a few nights ago on his show.But, when Leno first took over the show, there was some controversy because Jay didn't say anything about Carson on his first episode. I wasn't personally connected to it, though.
I got a call from my friend Les about five days ago. He said he got the offer of a lifetime from our mutual friend Ward.
Let me give you a quick update of who Ward is: he's also a starving artist type right down the road from me in North Hollywood. He does wardrobe design for the show "Nanny 911." He got hooked up with the responsibility of finding ushers for the Oscars to usher celebs from their limos down the red carpet!! So, Ward called Les and asked him to do it. So, Les Bradford is going to be one of six ushers escorting people down the red carpet on Oscar night. Ward WOULD have called me for the job, but unfortunately I'm not in Los Angeles anymore. I'm writing this blog from Knoxville, Tennessee. I'm kicking myself because I left two weeks too early to get the job. oh, well. You'll have to watch for Les on tv, though.
About five days ago, I went up to Las Vegas with my roommates. We stayed there friday night, which was insane! I don't encourage gambling, but I lost a great deal of money on nickel slot machines and the roulette table. Vegas is really amazing, but it's easy to lose a lot of money and/or dignity. I got to see Caesar's Palace, the Venetian, Havannah's, Stardust, and the Belagio. It was a blast.
I left Vegas with everything packed in my car, and headed for Arizona. I saw the Grand Canyon the next day. Then, I headed across the country, staying in bizarre roach motels along the way. I stopped in Nashville and visited a friend, then I made the rest of the trek to knoxville. I just got here late last night. I drove my CRX that has 170,000 miles on it. It's surprising that it made it that far!
Why did I move away from Hollywood? I'll write more on that later. I guess that deserves its own blog.
Oh, another note: Everyone is making a big deal about Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt breaking up. Last May, I heard from a friend that they had seen Brad Pitt with Angelina Jolie at a party. That in itself isn't that strange, but it was kind of strange that they were making out. So, I kind of saw the end coming for them a while ago. I was hoping that the story of Pitt and Angelina being together at that party was an exaggeration, but I guess it wasn't.
The rain storms a couple weeks ago were also really bad. You may have heard about some of the California rain storms on the news, or something. The problem is, most places don't have any kind of drainage system. So, the water pools up on the streets, and everything gets soaked. Driving is really dangerous. Buildings also aren't designed to withstand much rain, so everything starts to leak. Luckily, our apartment building was really solid. But, everyting else was kind of leaky.
That's my news from Hollywood, for now.

drifters and strangers

This thursday night I was closing up at Puccino's. it was just a few minutes before 9 PM, and two middle aged men walked in. They ordered their pizza, and they were really friendly. Of course, as part of my job, I was friendly to them, too. As I was checking out one guy at the register, he began asking me about beer prices. "Sir, to be honest with you, I have no idea what beer costs around here." He looked at me with a strange look in his eye. Then, he hesitated. He had something on his mind. He asked me, "Sir, are you a Christian?" I thought this was odd.
"Yeah. Yeah, I am."
Then, he asked me where I went to church. He said, "I can tell you're a Christian. You just have a certain look on your face. you seem to live a really clean life."
Crazy, huh? In the middle of LA, far from the Bible belt, this was a strange occurance. But, an encouraging one nonetheless.
So, later that night, I returned to my apartment. My roommate Andy was there with our friend Benj. Andy had rented from Odyssey video a Japanese zombie musical. I'm not making this up. So, we watched the last chunk of it, then we set off to Odyssey to return it. The returns have to be back by midnight, so we just made it in time. We returned to the apartment. My friend Benj does a lot of extra work in film and television. He was sharing some interesting stories with us. We were watching Conan O'Brien, having a delightful time. Around 1 am, we were about to call it a night.
There was a soft knock at our apartment door.
Now, I must clarify at this point that apartment buildings in LA are surrounded with gated fences. So, the only real possibility when someone knocks on your door is that it's either a neighbor, or the UPS man. My first thought was that it was our neighbor downstairs and we were being too loud, or something. I looked through the peep hole, and it was the figure of a man. So, I thought it was the man who lives directly below us.
I opened the door, and it was definitely not our neighbor. It was a scraggly looking white man in his mid to late twenties. He looked like he hadn't showered in days, and his grimey hand was covered with blood. He stammered, "Hey, man,...I'm locked out of my car. Mind if I use your phone to call my Mom?"
Um...ok. I handed him our apartment phone, and he began making a call. I told him he could come in. Don't ask me why I invited this guy into our home. I was tired, and not thinking clearly.
He walked in, and while he was on the phone, asked if he could wash his hand off in our bathroom. He went in the bathroom, washed his hand off, and came back out. He left a message to someone he apparently thought was his mother. I asked him what his name was, and he told me his name was Belinda. He sat down on our couch, and asked if he could stay long enough to wait for someone to call him back. I agreed, and we continued watching Conan. My roommate Doug came home, and started up a conversation with "Belinda." This guy told Doug that he was a Chiropracter. He then began telling Doug about humans floating in water as the most effective way to expand their muscles.
I was beginning to get the feeling this guy was someone who shouldn't be in our apartment.
He asked if he could borrow a lighter, then he went back into our bathroom and shut the door.
To make a long story short, the guy asked for a ride at 1:40 in the morning to some house near Warner Brothers. Benj and Andy drove him to some place in West Hollywood and dropped him off. He was clearly a druggie who had no idea where he was. He was also high as a kite and I'm surprised he could string sentences together.
We think maybe he jumped the fence of our apartment complex. Or, a door was left propped open that he walked through. I'm glad the guy was harmless.
I also saw a black man in his mid forties yesterday in West Hollywood with kakhi pants hiked up to his chest, no shirt, a little radio, and a stroller full of clothes. He was on the sidewalk, dancing to "My Perrogative" by Bobby Brown for an imaginary audience.

Helen from Texas: statistic #85743837

I drive a 1991 honda CRX. If you're not sure what that is, just imagine a bigger-than-average go cart. That's what it is. I love that car, but it's not working right now. It won't start. I'm not really a mechanic, or something, so I have no idea what's wrong with it.
Yesterday, I had to walk to work. LA and surrounding regions are experiencing strange weather, so of course it's been pouring rain here for three or four days. And it's cold rain. So, I made my way down Ventura Boulevard, then made a left onto Lankershim. I met a woman at a crosswalk across from Universal. She was a tall Puerto Rican woman, probably late 20's, with shades. She approachedf me and asked me how to get to the tram that goes up to Citywalk. It just so happened that that was where I was going. Her mother was with her, too. Her mom was a character directly from Napoleon Dynamite. She simply nodded in agreement with everything her daughter said. I told them they could walk with me to the tram. It's rare to find someone who's that friendly on the street.
I quickly learned that Helen was new in town, and she was from Texas. She was here to persue acting, obviously. She excitedly listed a string of celebrities she had seen since being there, and all her acting plans. I told her I had been here about a year. She was really excited to meet someone who was here trying to break into the acting world.
The confrontation with this woman did strange things to my soul. We walked down Citywalk, and she was soaking up all the sites in awe. She couldn't ask questions fast enough. We talked about Studio City, Jay Leno, reality TV, extras casting, and Burbank. She enthusiasticlly told me she was going to start looking for an agent immediately. I felt like a wise sage imparting wisdom upon a new student. She said and thought all the things I thought when I first moved here. I told her, "You have to be really patient." She shook her head quickly and told me she had heard that. I knew in my heart that she had no clue. I also told her, "You know, you're competing with millions of people. It's tough, and you're basically treated like a commodity, and that's if you're lucky." She quickly explained to me that she heard all the stories, and she knew what she was getting into. She had no idea.
Helen may or may not stay in Hollywood. But, as I walked into the pizza joint, and she was standing in the middle of Citywalk, smiling and waving with her mother, I felt like I was talking to myself one year ago. All those fresh hopes and dreams slowly becoming realized. I knew that if she stayed long, she would experience intense rejections, elation and success, pride and humility. She would come full circle to truly realizing all the stereotypes. They wouldn't just be strings of cliches, but actual experiences she could talk about. I knew that most likely, there would be a day when she would realize that being at home is more important than her circle of superficial aquaintances. She would face the fact that real relationships are far more precious than imaginary fantasies.
if you want to check out Citywalk at Universal, click here.

The Great Odyssey

I feel really freaked out and saddened by all the deaths in East Asia. That's a terrible situation, and I wish Americans could do more. But, the damage has already been done, and the aftermath is horrible.
On a lighter note, I also want to make a comment on Blockbuster's new "no late fee" policy. It's a great idea, inspired by the legacy of the "netflix" popularity. But, I want to use this opportunity to clarify to the world that "Odyssey Video" here in North Hollywood is THE GREATEST video store that has ever, or ever will exist. You may say, "Evan, that's a ridiculous and bold statement. Could it possibly be true?" Yes. It's true. "Why?" you ask. I'll tell you. Every tuesday and thursday, all their new release DVD's are only 99 cents. You read that right. 99 cents. No Blockbuster monthly fee can compete with that. Rent at your leisure. 99 cents. Now, if you know me, you probably also know that there's more to the story other than the cheap new release rentals. That alone makes it far better than Blockbuster. But what pushes it over the edge to being the greatest video rental entity on the planet today? Odyssey video, ladies and gentlemen, has a vast collection of obscure 70's and 80's horror films on VHS. 99 cents. Every day. That's right. They have obscure made-for-tv Halloween specials from the early to mid 80's that are not available anywhere else. They have the entire "Dark Shadows" horror soap opera from the 60's/70's available on VHS for rental. They have absolutely low budget zombie films that look like they were filmed on someone's home video camera in 1985.
I have discovered treasures at Odyssey video that can be found nowhere else. I saw a film about an astronaut who returns to earth from a space mission, and his face begins melting. He goes insane, staggering through the woods, and terrorizing the suburbs until a grizzled old military detective and a NASA official finally stop him. I have seen a classic film entitled "Wicker Man", in which a Scottish detective visits an island to search for a missing girl. The island ends up being a bizarre 70's cult, and they enslave the man in a giant wicker man. The film is filled with bizarre hippie anthems and creepy hippie folk cult music. It's brilliant. I've seen low budget vampires, zombies, ghosts, rubber puppet creatures, evil demon rock bands, scarecrow monsters, werewolves, aliens, various crazed slashers, and even rednecks with shotguns. It's an addiction. My roommates and I love watching and evaluating them. It's great.
In a related story, I rented "Unforgiven" starring Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and Gene Hackman. It's a western that was made in '92 and it won some Oscars, including Best Picture, I think. I watched it late that night, and the next day when I got to work, one of the actors in the movie was in Puccino's Pizza. It was the guy that played the biographer in the movie. I couldn't believe it! I wanted to talk to him and tell him I loved him in "Unforgiven". how freaked out do you think he would have been? I never would have known it was him if I hadn't just watched that movie. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to him, so the story is basically over.
I hereby proclaim Odyssey is the greatest video store in existence, and it shall never be rivaled.