My Oscar Monday

Well, I can pretend that I was out partying until all hours of the night at various star-studded affairs and say that is the reason for this fashionably late post, or I can tell you the sad truth; my sinus infection and NyQuil kicked my butt hard last night. I didn't wake up until 12:30 pm!!

Either way, I had already decided I was putting book love on a break for this week to give you my own reflections on last night 84th Annual Academy Awards. So, here's to hoping that late is truly better than never!

Billy Crystal as Host

While I was really looking forward to Eddie Murphy's hosting debut this year, you'd never hear me complain about the return of Billy Crystal to the event's stage. He was, as always, brilliant!

When Colin Firth came out to present the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, I turned to my husband and said, "Oh no! It's almost over!" He astutely pointed out to me that the fact that I did not feel like I was waiting forever and ever for the end to approach was a sure sign this was a good show.

We both credited Billy Crystal, of course, but I think he was just one piece of the puzzle for me. From the moment the show started with Billy Crystal's parody of the opening of the scene in The Artist, I was ready for Hollywood to recognize those who I loved and admired this year.

My Favorite Book to Movie

You may expect me to say Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2  was my favorite book movie of the year, but it was not. Unequivocally, it was my most anticipated book movie of the year and it did deliver on much of the excitement that had built up for so long, but it was not the best of the Harry Potter films and, in turn, not my favorite book to movie of the year. There was another. There was The Help.

I found out The Help was being made into a movie in the midst of me reading it. I thought that was a very good move, but I did not think Academy Awards at the time. When I saw the movie I was pleasantly surprised that the entirety of the book seemed to be captured. My husband, who had not read the book, got to know the stories and the characters as I had known them. The women who portrayed the women in the book seemed to come right off the page and on to the screen. Even then, after seeing the movie I didn't hink of Oscar.

Last night, when Octavia Spencer won Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Help I was extremely happy for her (as well as for all of the recognition The Help got throughout the award ceremony), however I was still unsure. My comment to my husband was, "It is so hard for me to tell if she deserved the Oscar, or if her character was just so well-written. I mean, does everyone just love her character?" In other words, does the Academy want to give the award to Octavia Jackson or to Minny Jackson? But in that question lies my answer, doesn't it? If the two are so intertwined, then Ms. Spencer did an award-winning job! (I think this sinus infection is affecting my comprehension of normal things!).

The Happiest Movie of the Year

I go to the movies for all types of reasons - entertainment, laughter, maybe to learn something, but every once in awhile there comes a film that in the midst of all of its other purposes all serves up a big giant serving of happiness. I'm not even sure this can happen every single year, but 2011 was one year that will go down in the books for me because this year was the year of The Muppets (which is coming on DVD on March 20th YAAAAY!!!). Let me say this as calmly as possible: if The Muppets did not win the Academy Award for best song this year, I am not sure I would have been able to watch the Academy Awards EVER again. In all honesty, there are a number of sings on that soundtrack that should have been nominated, so I thought they had it hands down, but this is the Academy so you never know...

I am happy to say that The Muppets won all of the Oscars it was nominated for this year!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

How many, you ask? Well... um... do numbers really matter? The movie is awesome and if you haven't seen it yet, you need to go buy is next month.

They won one Oscar. It was for this magnificent song, Man or Muppet:



I think I am a Muppet of a person, so this song really speaks to me personally.

THE Movie of The Year

I've written about this before. Now I feel a bit validated. Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of Best Motion Picture of the Year according to the Academy Awards and Nicole Rivera is The Artist. I was incredibly nervous about this one. While I believed that the film was beyond deserving of every nomination it received, I can't say that I have I huge amount of trust in the Academy's choices over the years. And when the night started with the Hugo love-affair, I thought, for sure my movie love of this year was doomed for sure.

Thankfully, I was wrong.

Although it seems impossible for a Scorscese film to be conquered on all fronts (Hollywood loves Marty!), The Artist pulled through with some pretty incredible wins for the night.

ORIGINAL SCORE

“The Artist” Ludovic Bource

COSTUME DESIGN

“The Artist,” Mark Bridges

BEST ACTOR

Jean Dujardin

BEST PICTURE

The Artist

In my eyes, this truly was one of the best films I have seen in a very long time. 

The Glitz and the Glamor 

I'm not normally one to ogle at the red carpet or to buy up magazines looking for the fabulous fashion from the big night, but there were two women last night that caught my eye whose looks I simply can't stop thinking about!

First, there is the dress that actually made me say, "Whoa!" Not only because of how beautifully it was worn, but because I felt like it has been ripped out of my own daydreams! It was worn by the beautifully adorable and hilarious Elie Kemper:

Are you kidding me right now?! THIS is how I imaged the fabric of Katniss Everdeen's interview dress in the Hunger Games would look. Did Elie Kemper find Cinna to be her stylist?! I am not even sure this still photo can do it justice. When I first saw the dress Kemper was being interviewed on the red carpet and she was moving in the sunlight - the changing colors as she moved were mesmerizing. I love, love, love this dress. Go Elie! You rock once again!

The second lady to catch my eye was another comedienne. What is it with these funny ladies? They are just masters at manipulating me - they make me laugh, they make me think, and now they make me WOW! Although my hair is short and spiky now, I spent many, many years with long luxurious locks desiring feminine yet fabulous up-dos. Tina Fey's up-do for last nights Academy Awards is exactly what I've been looking for:

 

The hair is completely out of the way without being tightly pulled or slicked down. I don't want to think about how much hair spray and stick stuff there might actually be up there, but the fact is, it doesn't look like there is any. The style looks natural, elegant and interesting (there's definitely something cool happening around the gathering of the bun). 

My Question to the Academy

My one disappointment was a long shot by far, but I still stand by my opinion that the Academy should have awarded Transformers for their sound and/or visual effects. That was, hands down, the most charged up, exciting movie of the summer for me and when I saw it was nominated I was so excited the Academy noticed. However, I lay claim that perhaps I don't know enough about sound editing or mixing to recognize that it was not clear winner. Here's what I do know: the team of film makers behind Transformers created sounds for actions that don't necessarily exist in my world and made them sound real, seamless and exciting to me. While this was not the first Transformers film, in terms of sound and visual effects I feel it upped the ante quite a bit. I saw Hugo, too and while I liked the movie, I can't say it moved me in such ways or caused me to wonder about the magnificence of the sound editing and mixing going on, so I am left wondering what exactly qualifies as the best sound and visual effects in a film and how do we determine that.

The Grand Finale

I don't have a grand finale, but, you know, neither do the Oscars. Well, at least not for those of us viewing at home - the attendees have the biggest party night of the year to top it all off - for us it's just Billy Crystal wishing us a good night and letting the credits roll. I suppose that's enough. For me, this year, it was. I can't remember the last time I jumped, cheered and high-fived so much during an awards show. I hope you enjoyed it too!

Did you watch the show last night? What did you think?

What were your best moments of the show last night?

Did you have any disappointments, any surprises?

Reevaluating My Own First Book Love

On Friday, while thinking about books, first book loves and all of the great stories I have come across so far from the people who have participated in the book love project, I suddenly craved more stories. Since I had also just signed up for a book exchange on Reddit (read about that coolness in my post at Word of the Nerd), I recalled that I was part of a pretty cool book community there and decided to ask my "big question": What was your first book love? of the reddit community. The discussion was amazing, so much fun and, most important of all, enlightening to me.

You see, while engaging in discussions with lots of other people about their first book love I was reminded of my own: The Monster at the End of this Book! When another redditor claimed it as their first book love, I was instantly swept away to multiple memories of laughs, rereads and sharing the book with my little brother. I responded on reddit with the following comment:

In all honesty I keep wondering if I should rewrite my own first book love story and write about this book. The only problem is that I don't readily recall when I was introduced to it, how I was introduced to it or when I first read it. I simply remember this book always being around, always reading it, always laughing and loving it. I cherished my original oversized copy of this book until it was destroyed in a flood we had here in 2010. If I EVER see the oversized version of this book again, I am grabbing it up. My husband just recently bought me the sequel to this book that came out recently pairing Grover with Elmo. Also a great book, but there is nothing quite like Grover laying bricks across the page.

It was part of the redditor's response that really struck home to me next:

It was like my little brain's Sixth Sense--the twist was just mind-blowing.

That was it! Or at least part of it... Not only was this book visually engaging, about a character I knew and loved, but, on top of all of that it had this wonderful twist in the end. It was great storytelling in all of its simplicity. Jon Stone, like any good mystery writer, had not held back anything, all the clues were there. In fact, everything was right on the cover, we readers needed to look no further. However, in our fascination with the lovable and furry Grover we could not not see what was plainly before us. As Mike Smollin's illustrations distracted us from the obvious page after page, our curiosity drove us to keep turning against all of Grover's pleas because, as scary as the conclusion might be, we thought, If Grover can do it, so can I.

I will not spoil the ending for those of you who have not yet had the joy of reading this book. I will, instead, share the book with you through the wonderful magic of YouTube. However, before I leave you with this techie treat I will say that there is some real reader magic missing in this translation. For the purists, I highly recommend that you find this book in its tangible form to read and turn the pages with your own fingers and hands. I will tell you personally I don't think anything made me feel so powerful as a child as my ability to pull down each of Grover's constructs. I believed him when he said I was strong.


So, I'm pretty sure this is it. This is my earliest book memory and, as both my parents have passed on, I have no one to ask if there is one that I connected with before it. However, as I said on reddit, I don't remember the first time I read this book. I don't recall if it was read to me, with me or by me on my first read. What I do know is that this book is in my forever memory, as if I never lived without it. I know that when I saw it float by me in my basement flood I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach. I know that I can still read this book today and capture a moment of childhood within its pages.

I don't think I could ask much more from a book. Therefore I have a couple of thank yous to dole out:

Thank you Jon Stone, not only for this book, but for all of your work on Sesame Street.

Thank you Mike Smollin for drawing such a lovable Grover and such believable brick walls.

Thank you Grover, for being just as scared as the rest of us, and showing us how silly that can be!

What are your impressions of The Monster at the End of This Book?

How do you feel about the read aloud videos like the one here in comparison to a tangible book?

If you would like to share your story of your first book love, e-mail me at blogwithnv@gmail.com!

 

The Muppets Magic - Alive and Well

I have just returned from seeing the best movie of 2011.

Am I biased?

Maybe.

However, I argue that my expectations were so high that perhaps this declaration should be taken with some weight. The movie I am writing about here is none other than The Muppets.

The Muppets have a special place in my heart. I was raised with the Muppets. The Muppet Show was my first experience with appointment TV. The Muppet Babies were my motivation to wake up early on Saturday mornings. The Muppet Movie was the first ever film I saw in the theater, just before I was three years old. The Muppets have taught me to never give up, always be positive, to sing a little song to make the day a little happier, and that laughter is a universal language understood by all creatures.

Tonight I went to see the new Muppet movie wondering if, after a twelve year hiatus, the Muppet magic could still be captured. I am elated to say it can and for this reason Jason Segel will forever be one of my creative heroes!

From the first scene in the movie, it is unquestioningly Muppet Mayhem! The movie was fantastic. When I think of Muppets I think of music, laughs, lots of fur, a Muppet dream, a major conflict and show that simply must go on! All of these things are alive and well in The Muppets. It is evident that this movie was created by fans who not only know the Muppets, but also get them.



To quote Animal, I say you should "SEE MOVIE! SEE MOVIE!"

If you don't want to take our word for it, here are five other reviews for The Muppets rolled up into one!

Have you seen The Muppets yet? 

If so, what was your opinion?

If you took your kids to the movie, how did they respond?

What if #16 [Writing Prompt]

Each week the Rivera Runs Through It blog presents a different "What If...?" question for you to explore.
 At the bottom of this post is a place for you to link up your own post about this week's question. If you have arrived at this post and the inlinkz tool is closed, or you don't have a blog, then please leave your response (or link) in the comment section below using DISQUS.

Happy pondering to everyone...

What IF #16:

What if it/they never existed?

For me, it was the Muppets. For my little brother it was Star Wars. My husband had GI Joe and his brother had Japanese entertainment (DragonBall Z, Pokemon and the Power Rangers). 


What are these things?


Those childhood obsessions that consumed so much of our thoughts, playtime and imaginations. I venture to guess that the influences these have had on us, even as grown-ups may be deeper than we even imagine. Let me give you some examples:

• I have a tendency to look to the silly, fun and colorful aspects of life. I also tend to talk to animals a lot. I seem to think that all furry things have a basic concept of the English language.
• My brother joined the military and then the police force. He is constantly fighting good versus evil.
• My husband is very creative. How does this relate? When you have GI Joes the way you play with them is by imagining scenarios in which they all participate.
• My brother-in-law is currently living in Japan. I truly wonder if he had not been exposed to Japanese culture in his youth if he would be as interested in pursing a career and new life in that country!

These are all very broad-strokes examples. Without telling you each of these life stories, I don't know how else to express the influence I see within each one of them. The fact is, our childhood obsessions framed us and our understanding of the world. I, personally plan to take some time to think about how I would be different if the Muppets didn't exist (even though this is a thoroughly heart-breaking perspective for me to take!). 

You may have guessed by now what inspired this question - THE MUPPETS ARE COMING BACK TO THEATERS THIS MONTH!! (I have become very Muppet-minded as of late!).


So I turn the question to you: What was your childhood obsession? What if it never existed? 

• How would this have changed your childhood?
• How do you think this would change your perspective of the world today?
• Are there any negative aspects you picked up from your obsession?
• Based on this, are there any current childhood "obsessions" you would like to steer your own children away from?

Write your story. Link up below!

For a list of all of the What if questions asked so far, 

see The What If Prompts