Oscar Night

Well, tonight is the big night and so here is my list of who will and who should win tonight.

Actor in a Leading Role

will win Colin Firth

should win Colin Firth

Actress in Leading Role

will win Natalie Portman

should win Natalie Portman

Actor in a Supporting Role

will win Christian Bale

should win John Hawkes

Actress in a Supporting Role

will win Melissa Leo

should win Melissa Leo

Director

will win Tom Hooper

should win David Fincher

Original Screenplay

will win David Seidler, The King’s Speech

should win David Seidler, The King’s Speech

Adapted Screenplay

will win Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

should win Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Best Film

will win The King's Speech

should win The Social Network

My favorite films of 2010

Social Network

All things being equal(which of course their not) this is my favorite film of the year. Not to jump on the band wagon with all the other individuals and organizations that have named it the year's best, but simply because it really is a great film.

Jack Goes Boating
A solid performance that we've come to expect from Philip Seymour Hoffman, but it's as director here for which he deserves the accolades. This film is quirky and touching with characters you really become invested in.

Shutter Island
I'm not the biggest fan of the horror genre but Martin Scorsese makes Scorsese films whatever genre he happens to be working in. Simply amazing filmmaking.

The Kings Speech
I didn't love this film as much as some, but great performances from Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter and a wonderful script landed it on my list.

Alice in Wonderland
No one uses the medium the way Tim Burton and here he's back with his buddy Johnny Depp - come on, what's not to love!

The Fighter
The performances in this film are what makes it work for me. Not the best directed or written film you'll see, but Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo all deserve Oscars.

Toy Story 3
Animated or not one of the most touching, funny and just plain entertaining films of this or any year. Anyone who doesn't see this film just because it's animated is really missing out.

Black Swan
I loved this film for a number of reasons - because I've spent a bit of time shooting ballet myself in the past few years, because I've been a Natalie Portman fan since Beautiful Girls and because Aronofsky has the ability to pull us in and make us a bit uncomfortable at the same time.

Please Give
A little film from earlier in the year. Cathrine Kener who's worth watching even in a so so film, this time in a really good one. Funny, touching and relevant.

True Grit
This film makes my list because, just the thought of bringing the Brothers Coen and Jeff Bridges back together was something to be excited about. Yes, this is the most "normal" film the Coens have done and sure there's a bit of the "Dude" in Bridges' Rooster Cogburn - but hey, it's all good.

Solitary Man
Since he found his way back in the great film Wonder Boys a few years back Michael Douglas has perfected the lovable scoundrel. Solitary Man is another great performance in a solid film.

Christmas in California

Season Greetings from Sunny, Laguna Beach California. Here's wishing a Merry Christmas to you and yours on this special day. Health, happiness and much Love to all!

Hello from Princeton

Back in New Jersey for a short visit, so this morning I'm writing to you from the stately lobby of ye ol' Nassau Inn in the heart of Princeton's Palmer Square. I'm sitting across from a huge fireplace that has a quiet flame dancing inside it and with the cold wind blowing outside this morning, it's a welcome sight. Princeton is all wrapped in its Holiday Best, and not much has changed since I called this town home. Though I lived here for the better part of twenty years and left just a little over five years ago, it seems like a lifetime away.

Walking through the hall here in the Inn where I would frequently stop by a bank of phones to check my office messages, I found an empty wall that now holds only a framed reproduction of a painting - how the world and my life has changed in such a relatively short time. Ohh, my cell's ringing! have to go.

Hail the Holiday Season!

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone and now we are up to our waist in the holiday season. Happily, as of Friday past, Christmas music is socially legal, though I have to admit that since the Sounds of the Seasons cable music channel began the Christmas tunes right after Halloween, I've been a regular listener. Embrace the spirt - faux and sincere, it's all good!

By the way, when did it's all good become interchangeable with no problem? I first remember it from a visit to So. Cal. a few years ago when one of the indigenous surfer types uttered it. I embraced it there as part of the native speak but suddenly it is everywhere and when I received said response in an email from a business associate yesterday I thought to myself that it simply doesn't work here. Here in the east where short pants and flip flops are appropriate - maybe four months a year - the traditional, No Problem, or Don't Worry About It or the slightly more formal - Don't Give It A Second Thought should still be the response of choice. Listen, I'm the least formal guy in the room, the embracer of pop culture in all it's smudged glory, but please, a bit of decorum must reign or we'll have anarchy in no time flat!

Now get out the plastic decorations, inflate those vinyl Santas and Reindeer for the front lawn and crank up the xmas tunes - believe me, it's all good!

A Performance & Film that Holds Up

Reading about Jill Clayburgh's death yesterday brought to mind so many of her great performances from the 70's and 80's. Foremost on that list is one of my favorite films - An Unmarried Woman. This morning I pulled the DVD from the shelf and watched it again and unlike so many movies of that period - it really holds up. Even though it reflects a cultural time that is long past and takes place in a New York that no longer exists physically, it still rings true. The sense of people in relationships and the feeling of being in New York. Do yourself a favor and watch it, even if you saw it when it came out, give it another look. You'll be glad you did.

Bad Blogger, Bad, Bad Blogger!

Okay, I'll admit it, I've been avoiding you. I promise it wasn't intentional, time just kept getting away from me. I have been busy - really!

Okay, I'm a lazy, new fall TV season watching, slug. You have to admit for the first three months or so, I was keeping up, a new entry every day . . . or at least a couple a week. Well, it was only a matter of time I guess . . . anyway, to catch everyone up I've been wrapping up one film, shooting two others, shooting and editing two more shorts and in between time spending a week in New York where Will Barnet: Tracing the Soul of the Work played to a very enthusiastic crowd at the Art Students League. So all in all, October was a busy but productive and successful month.

Now November is here and it looks like winter in fast on its way. Temps only creeping into the low 40s and our old friend Indian Summer is nowhere in sight. Oh well, time to embrace the change, layer up and start producing - I have three films in the works with the hope that the financing for them will soon follow. So while I wait for the funds to complete, I'll keep shooting. Be well dear readers, I promise I'll be more attentive in the coming weeks.

Glorious October!

Time to breakout the fall jackets, ready ourselves for cooling temperatures and turn up the creative juices! For me October has always been the start of a season of books, movies and music. Even at 50 plus the cool air and falling leaves still take me back to a walk across the quad to the dinning hall, late nights in the design studios or Friday nights in uptown Oxford, Ohio. While I know it's only a short time till we're in the arms of old man winter, I can't help but celebrate the opening of my favorite month.

CIFF

Nice turnout last night at the opening of this year's Camden International Film Fest. Plenty of creative energy flowing inside the opening night reception and I'm sure more to come as the weekend progresses.

The rain passes through tonight bringing the real fall-like temps, break out the sweaters!