“Beasts of No Nation” and The Oscars should have collided, but they did not, and I can’t believe it.

January 22, 2016January 22, 2016That Asian-Looking Chick 2 Comments

As the dust settled at the end of this crazy week at work, I finally got to sit down and look at the list of nominees for Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards.

I’m happy with some of the big nominations. Mad Max: Fury Road and The Revenant were two of my favorite films of the year (of the Best Picture nominees, I hope Mad Max wins). I also enjoyed Bridge of Spies, Creed, and The Big Short.

I hope Amy wins for Best Documentary Feature.

I wish that Ex Machina got nominated for something more than a small award.

Moving on to OUTRIGHT SNUBS, Straight Outta Compton, another of my favorite films of 2015, deserved a Best Picture nomination, in my opinion. I also believe that Straight Outta Compton is worthy of a Best Director nomination, and why Jason Mitchell didn’t get nominated for Best Supporting Actor as Eazy-E is beyond me.

But the main questions in my head as I read the list of Oscar nominees were:

1). Why wasn’t Idris Elba nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Beasts of No Nation?

2). Why wasn’t Abraham Attah nominated for Best Actor for Beasts of No Nation?

3). Why wasn’t Beasts of No Nation nominated for Best Picture?

4). Why wasn’t Cary Joji Fukunaga nominated for Best Director for Beasts of No Nation?

5). Why wasn’t Beasts of No Nation nominated for Best Costume Design?

Idris Elba and Abraham Attah in Beasts of No Nation.

6). Why wasn’t Beasts of No Nation nominated for Best Cinematography?

7). Why wasn’t Beasts of No Nation nominated for Best Original Score?

(“A Song for Strika”)

At least Straight Outta Compton received a nomination for Best Writing – Original Screenplay. Beasts of No Nation received ZERO Oscar nominations. It was completely left out of the competition, and I’m incredulous. Who, exactly, is responsible for deciding what constitutes art in cinema?

Idris Elba’s searing performance as Commandant should be recognized. And young Abraham Attah? His performance as Agu hurt my heart so profoundly, I’m unable to shake the memory of it, or the pain I felt when I witnessed it.

That’s how Beasts of No Nation made me feel: Like a witness. Not a movie-goer, an audience member, an entertainment seeker. A witness. That is what good art can do. It can put us in the picture, in the moment, make us see and feel things we don’t necessarily want to see or feel; it can unflinchingly cast light on the abominable, because we need to see it. We need to acknowledge it.

A part of the brilliance of Beasts of No Nation is that somehow, overall, it manages to be poetic. Maybe at the end I was too emotionally spent to see it, but thinking back on it now that I’ve processed the film as a whole, the imagery in that last scene was poetry… and it was beautiful.

My personal feelings aside, Beasts of No Nation is next-level outstanding in every respect of film-making, and for it to have been excluded from the Academy Awards is a gross oversight. A colossal oversight. I would go so far as to say that it seems like a deliberate oversight, because anyone with eyes and a heart can see that it’s a masterpiece, and the movie-nominating people have eyes and hearts, do they not?

Idris Elba’s and Abraham Attah’s performances are performances that deserve Academy Award recognition.

Beasts of No Nation is difficult to watch, for sure, as I’ve said before. But art’s intention isn’t solely to entertain us. Good art in all of its genres makes us feel things, including real despair for real-life realities.

How is it that The Martian received a nomination for Best Picture, while Beasts of No Nation and Straight Outta Compton did not?

Two of my favorite movies of the year – both of which I thought were objectively stellar – were snubbed, and I can’t fathom why. I could go on and on about Beasts of No Nation, but there’s no need. I wrote a lot more about it after I saw it, so click here if you’re interested in reading that.

I’m actually so disappointed about the omissions on the list of Oscar nominees that I’m not even sure I want to watch the Academy Awards this year.

We got wrapped up in the Golden Globes and I have no qualms about sharing my thoughts.

January 15, 2016January 15, 2016That Asian-Looking Chick Leave a comment

Before I get started, I want to give a shout-out to @proselfdefence for sharing my post in the Arts & Entertainment section of The Martial Arts Daily. Thanks, guys!

In other blog-related news, I finally updated my “About Me” page. I admit I’d been avoiding it because of the “…we have two cats, Ronnie James and Nounours” part. Updating the page was painful, but it’s done, all shiny and current. I also added new category links in my sidebar [**points to the right**] in an attempt to organize this body of content, so you can check there if you’re looking for posts on specific topics.

Now that the blog house-keeping updates are out of the way, I can focus on the shameless frivolity that’s the subject of this post. (“Shameless” is my favorite kind of frivolity.) If you fellow pop culture fanatics are curious about my thoughts while watching the 2016 Golden Globes last Sunday, read on.

[Thoughts during the pre-show interview with Leonardo DiCaprio]:

Alejandro González Iñárritu actually dragged his cast around the world – including to the southern tip of Argentina – so as to be able to constantly film The Revenant in the snow and the freezing cold? DiCaprio should win. Also, great film, The Revenant.

[Thoughts during the main event]:

Kate Winslet collects the ceremony’s first award, and she’s already delivered the most poised acceptance speech of the night… even though she seemed genuinely shocked that she won!
Not to be mean or anything, but is Jane Fonda aware that her dress looks like it should be covering a Kleenex box in Great-aunt Lottie’s bathroom?
YES Maura Tierney wins for The Affair!! She deserves it, and not just for that awesome scene where she’s drunkenly singing “Changed the Locks” in her underwear.
OH NO HE DID NOT. (Quentin Tarantino)
Jamie Foxx: “OH YES HE DID.” (In so many words. Okay, in one word.)
Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt’s skit while introducing The Big Short – LOL
Aziz’ fake bookcover about “Losing Graciously to Jeffrey Tambor” hahaha!! Aziz is hilarious.
Why didn’t Aziz win for Master of None?? ROBBED.
So that’s what they mean when they say someone is “dripping in diamonds.” (Helen Mirren)

thatasianlookingchick.com-HelenMirrinGoldenGlobes2016_MarieClaireUK

Dame Helen Mirren at the 2016 Golden Globes

Helen Mirren gets more beautiful every year. How is that even possible. #AgingGoals
YES Lady Gaga wins for American Horror Story: Hotel!!
What is this music? Why aren’t they playing American Horror Story’s awesomely weird and creepy, noise-infused main title sequence tune as Lady Gaga goes up to the stage? This is the music that identifies AHS:

Totally impressed with Lady Gaga’s graciousness and humility in delivering her acceptance speech. It’s all the more endearing in contrast to her fabulously eccentric and commanding music persona. I LOVE HER.
(Madonna is probably so chagrined right now)
Of course the James Bond song wins for Best Song.
Um… is Ricky Gervais bringing the same glass of beer every time he comes up to the podium, or is he on his fifth beer?
Mr. Robot won over Empire?! NO.
The hell… The Martian is a comedy? Did I miss something? Did I fall asleep during the part that was so hysterically funny that the whole movie had to be classified as a comedy?
DENZEL! DENZEL!! Apparently we’re not the only ones who call him, simply, “Denzel.” Love that Tom Hanks pointed that out.
This montage of Denzel’s work is really beautifully done.
Denzel seems speechless accepting his Cecil B. DeMille Award, but still… DENZEL!
YES Sylvester Stallone wins for Creed!!
YES Taraji P. Henson wins for Empire!! COOKIE!!

Tariji P. Henson as Cookie in “Empire”

Hahaha Tariji handing out cookies on her way up.
Where is Ricky Gervais’ glass of beer?
Matt Damon wins “Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy” for a movie that isn’t a comedy. I’m a big fan of Damon’s, but in my opinion, Steve Carell should have won for his role in The Big Short.
Did they classify The Martian as a Comedy so Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio wouldn’t have to compete with each other for Best Actor in a Drama? Because they both deserve Best Actor awards. But so did Steve Carell.
Come to think of it, I wouldn’t have classified The Big Short as a Comedy, either.
Maybe the definition of “comedy” has changed and we didn’t get the memo.
YES and BRAVO to Alejandro González Iñárritu and Leonardo DiCaprio for their awards for The Revenant!!
Aaaaand The Revenant wins Best Motion Picture! Well-deserved. We saw it last month, and we couldn’t believe how DiCaprio wasn’t even recognizable by the end of the movie. You know it’s a great performance when DiCaprio no longer looks like DiCaprio.

[/thoughts]

NOW.

While I’m here, I just want to take a minute to see if I’m getting this straight:

In 2000, there’s a movie starring an actor with comedic acting roots. He plays a character who meets disaster during a storm, and he ends up marooned on a deserted island. He must try to survive physically, mentally and emotionally. He befriends a volleyball named “Wilson.” Wilson the volleyball is the actor’s co-star. The movie is labeled a Drama.

In 2015, there’s a movie starring an actor with dramatic acting roots. He plays a character who meets disaster during a storm, and he ends up marooned on a deserted planet. He must try to survive physically, mentally and emotionally. He meets disaster upon disaster until he’s finally saved in a hair-raising, dramatic rescue mission. The movie is labeled a Comedy.

You’re drunk, movie-classifying people. Get a Lyft and go home.

2015 Favorites!

January 5, 2016January 13, 2016That Asian-Looking Chick Leave a comment

Today, instead of “December Favorites,” I’m diving right into my top favorite little things (some not so little!) of the year that just ended. These are my favorites of the favorites… if some of them are from December, you wouldn’t have seen them here before.

If you’re curious or you just enjoy these “Favorites” posts, read on! Here are the things I loved the most in 2015:

1). Favorite cruelty-free skin care products: Burt’s Bees coconut & pear moisturizing lip balm, The Body Shop camomile waterproof eye and lip make-up remover, The Body Shop honey & oat 3-in-1 scrub mask, Lavanila Laboratories The Healthy Sunscreen SPF 40 face cream, Tarte Maracuja C-Brighter eye treatment, Alba Botanica Hawaiian facial cleanser pore purifying pineapple enzyme, and Alba Botanica Hawaiian facial scrub pore purifying pineapple enzyme.

2). Favorite T.V. series: Empire, The Affair, American Crime, Better Call Saul, Hannibal, The Good Wife, American Horror Story: Hotel, Jessica Jones, Modern Family, Scream Queens, and Master of None.

3). Favorite films: Ex Machina, Mad Max: Fury Road, Southpaw, Straight Outta Compton, Beasts of No Nation, Bridge of Spies, Creed, The Revenant, Soaked in Bleach (documentary), and Tyke Elephant Outlaw (documentary).

4). Favorite cruelty-free cosmetics: Too Faced Born This Way foundation in Nude, e.l.f. Essential volumizing & defining mascara (black), Burt’s Bees 100% natural lip crayon in Redwood Forest, e.l.f. High Definition powder in Shimmer, Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage concealer in Light Neutral, and Flower by Kenzo l’Elixer (perfume).*

5). Favorite foods: Dave’s Killer Organic Bread in 100% whole wheat, Arrowhead Mills organic buckwheat pancake & waffle mix, any natural no-added-B.S. creamy peanut butter, Lara fruit and nut bars, fresh pineapple, fresh artichokes, pasta with garlic and olive oil, and Sting ‘n’ Linger habanero salsa.

6). Favorite random thing: New footwear for the gym… Asics Gel-Venture 5 running shoes.

7). Favorite random events: Setting up our home gym in the garage, adopting our little girl kitty Nenette, going to Drag Bingo, and plastering my (work) Mac with a Microsoft Windows Ninja Cat Riding a Tyrannosaurus Rex laptop sticker.

2015 Highlights: Outfitting our garage as a home gym in January and adopting Nenette on the 4th of July were definitely high points!

*****

Four images and a video clip:

We’re enjoying our home gym immensely now that it’s not 110 degrees. The heat kept us out of the garage all summer. This year, we have a plan for making the space tolerable during the hot months, so we won’t have to stop training in there for so long.

Home gym in the garage, one year later.

(I’ll go into more home gym detail in a future post!)

Meanwhile, Nenette says, “Don’t breed or buy while homeless animals die. Adopt a pet and save a life.”

Stocking stuffers! Nenette laying next to her new wicker ball, hugging her new mousie.

What really happened to Kurt Cobain? The makers of Soaked in Bleach lay it all out. They don’t draw a conclusion, but the evidence, if it is what they say it is, is damning. This excellent documentary reveals details surrounding Cobain’s death that shocked us, quite frankly. I highly recommend this film, even if you don’t know or care about Kurt Cobain or Nirvana or music.

The final episode of Hannibal was glorious…

Maybe the most beautiful scene I’ve ever viewed in a television series. (Hannibal)

And The Affair? Its opening sequence’s images paired with the music and lyrics of Fiona Apple’s song (“Container,” which she wrote specifically for The Affair) become increasingly spooky and suggestive of clues as the story develops. By the middle of Season 2, we found ourselves replaying the opening from time to time, stopping and starting to search the images for answers. It’s haunting. It gives me chills. I love it.

(Don’t even get me started on Maura Tierney’s great performance, especially when she sings Lucinda Williams’ “Changed the Locks” in S2, Episode 4.)

HOWEVER, if I had to pick just ONE series as my current number one favorite, I’d have to say it’s Empire. If you’re a Shakespeare fan, you’ll love it, too, or you’ll at least see where I’m coming from. And Taraji P. Henson as Cookie is phenomenal.

*Kenzo’s perfumes aren’t tested on animals, and I’m glad because this perfume I’m wearing now was a gift. I adore the fragrance. I wouldn’t want it to collect dust.