One Direction: Not Your 90s' Boy Band

Hi. My name is Rachel. I’m 25 years old and I have a confession. I…like...One Direction. Yes, the British Boy Band…One Direction. I know, I know. As a 25 year old girl/woman, I should be scoffing at their legions of fangirls screaming and crying their hearts out, all their pop infused songs, and the simple fact that they are a boy band. But, while sitting in the dark theater with my 11 year old niece (who by the way is not a One Direction fan, but is now), I thought man…this guys are…real. I must say, curiosity got me in the theater, and the niece was the excuse. I’ve always found myself randomly humming their songs and when I caught myself I thought “why are you humming this? They’re like 12 years old.” Then that music video for “Little Things” came out and I was unable to turn away from Zayn Malik’s crooning and those puppy dog eyes…but I digress. While watching One Direction: This Is Us, I thought damn…they are not your average boy band. They’re actually pretty edgy.


 Don’t get me wrong, I am still a Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC hardcore fan. But when you compare my generation’s boy bands (BSB, *NSYNC, 98 degrees, etc), I must say I enjoy the fact that One Direction does not appear to be a “brand.” I appreciate that they all don’t dress alike, that they can’t dance worth shit, that they are goofy (seriously those boys are funny…especially Niall…keep off, my niece loves him), and don’t hide the fact that they have tattoos. I like that while they are grateful for their careers as mega pop stars, they find that a mob of teenage girls running after them, screaming, and crying… a bit…strange.

One of the nicest moments was seeing them at home. Harry returned to the bakery where he worked with some cool old ladies…one squeezed his “bum.” Niall came home for a football game and his brother’s wedding. Zayn likes to spray paint art on his walls at home. Louis and his Nan had a cute moment where she said she’ll get her ear plugs ready to see him in concert. While, Liam still gets creeped out by the giant cardboard cutout his mom bought because she misses him, while he’s on tour. All of these moments are what makes One Direction…normal.


 So yes, I am 25; I ventured out of my comfort zone, and genuinely learned to enjoy these boys. Would I see them live in concert? Let’s not take it that far. But they’re talented, the music is catchy, and there is something genuine about them. What can I say? I’m not a fan, but I can give props where they’re deserved. If you’re curious like me…One Direction: This Is Us, is in theaters now.

Now, onto serious film blogging.

Oscar Nominations 2013: Hits and Misses

Youngest Best Actress and first time nominee, Quvenzhane Wallis.
 Photo courtesy of zimbio.com

 

 

Bright and early this morning, this year’s Oscar host, Seth MacFarlane and star of the upcoming movie, The Gangster Squad, Emma Stone announced the nominees for this year’s Oscars.  If the nomination ceremony was any indication, audiences and nominees alike should be on the edge of their seat for what’s to come from Seth on awards night.

The nominations were pretty straightforward, although there were a few pleasant surprises and some surprising snubs.  In the Best Actress race is Quvenzhane Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild.  She becomes the youngest nominee ever in her category! This is Wallis’ feature film debut and she’s a PHENOMENAL actress.  Best of luck and congratulations to her!  She is joined by Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook, Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty, Emmanuelle Riva for Amour, and Naomi Watts for The Impossible.  Beasts of the Southern Wild is the debut for director Behn Zeitlin who is nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. 

Though it was all good for the first timers, such as, Riva, who is the oldest nominee in her category for the Michael Haneke film, Amour, others were unfortunately passed up; the first of them being Leonardo DiCaprio.

After seeing “Django Unchained,” I must say that though I liked all of the performances, I LOVED Leonardo DiCaprio!  With the screenplay, Tarantino’s direction, and Leo’s natural talent, his role as slave master, Calvin Candie, was his moment to shine and break away from the usual, “tortured, serious, pensive, man with a permanent scowl on his face” roles.  For the first time, in a long time, I enjoyed and was interested in his performance.  Comedy suits him well and I hope to see a future DiCaprio/Tarantino collaboration.   Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a stellar performance and it is unfortunate, much like last year with Michael Fassbender in Shame, that it is greatly overlooked.  Okay, rant done. The nominees for Best Supporting Actor, which unfortunately does not include, DiCaprio is: Robert De Niro (my Bobby D!) for Silver Linings Playbook, Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master, Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained, Alan Arkin for Argo, and  Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln. 

The next two entering snub city are directors Ben Affleck for Argo and Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty.  Though I have not seen these two films, many critics predicted Affleck and Bigelow to pull nominations for Best Director.  This would have been Bigelow’s second time to be nominated for Best Director and it would be the most nominations for a woman director.  Instead, the category saw, Steven Spielberg for Lincoln, first time nominee Behn Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild, Michael Haneke for Amour, Ang Lee for Life of Pi, and David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook . 

Despite these snubs, I am excited to see the happenings of the Oscars.  Will the neck and neck race between Anne Hathaway and Sally Field in the Best Supporting Actress category, be a first win for Hathaway and a third win for Field?  Or, will the Academy hear the hoofs of a dark horse approaching?  Either way, it’ll be…interesting.  Here’s a link to the full list of nominees:

oscar.go.com/nominees

Oscar Predictions 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I lay in total boredom, here are some late night Oscar Predictions. It'll be fun to see who the Academy nominates.  Tune in on Thursday, January 10th, 2013 at 8:30am eastern/5:30am pacific for the official Oscar nominations.

Best Picture                

·         Argo

·         Django Unchained

·         Les Miserables

·         Life of Pi

·         Lincoln

·         The Master

·         Zero Dark Thirty

 

Best Director of a Motion Picture

·         Ben Affleck - Argo

·         Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty

·         Ang Lee– Life of Pi

·         Steven Spielberg - Lincoln

·         Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained

 

Best Actor in a Motion Picture

·         Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook

·         Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln

·         John Hawkes – The Sessions

·         Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables

·         Denzel Washington – Flight

 

Best Actress in a Motion Picture

·         Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty

·         Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook

·         Emmanuelle Riva - Amour

·         Naomi Watts – The Impossible

·         Rachel Weisz – The Deep Blue Sea

 

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

·         Alan Arkin - Argo

·         Robert De Niro – Silver Linings Playbook

·         Leonardo DiCaprio – Django Unchained

·         Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

·         Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln

 

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

·         Amy Adams – The Master

·         Sally Field - Lincoln

·         Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables

·         Helen Hunt – The Sessions

·         Nicole Kidman – The Paperboy

 

Best Original Screenplay

·         Paul Thomas Anderson – The Master

·         Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola – Moonrise Kingdom

·         Mark Boal – Zero Dark Thirty

·         Michael Haneke - Amour

·         Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained

 

Best Adapted Screenplay

·         Stephen Chbosky – The Perks of Being a Wallflower

·         Tony Kushner – Lincoln

·         David Magee – Life of Pi

·         David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook

·         Chris Terrio - Argo