Masterpiece
*****
Excellent
**** 1/2
Very good
****
Good
**** 1/2
Just okay
***
Not for me
**
Definitely not for me
*

2012 Oscar nominations

The Academy Awards ceremony will be presented on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012.

Best Picture:
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“Moneyball”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”

 

Best Actor:
Demian Bichir, “A Better Life”
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Jean Dujarin, “The Artist”
Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”

 

Best Actress:
Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn”

 

Best Supporting Actor:
Kenneth Branagh, “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte, “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

 

Best Supporting Actress:
Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

 

Best Directing:
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”

 

Best Foreign Language Film:
“Bullhead” (Belgium)
“Footnote” (Israel)
“In Darkness” (Poland)
“Monsieur Lazhar” (Canada)
“A Separation” (Iran)

 

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants”
John Logan, “Hugo”
George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, “The Ides of March”
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, “Moneyball”
Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

 

Best Original Screenplay:
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”
J.C. Chandor, “Margin Call”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation”

 

Best Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Kung Fu Panda 2″
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”

 

Best Art Direction:
“The Artist”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“War Horse”

 

Best Cinematography:
“The Artist”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”

 

Best Sound Mixing: 
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”

Best Sound Editing: 
“Drive”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”

 

Best Original Score: 
“The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams
“The Artist,” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo,” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse,” John Williams

 

Best Original Song: 
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets,” Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio,” Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett.

 

Best Costume:
“Anonymous”
“The Artist”
“Hugo”
“Jane Eyre”
“W.E”

 

Best Documentary Feature: 
“Hell and Back Again”
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
“Pina”
“Undefeated”

 

Best Documentary (short subject): 
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
“God is the Bigger Elvis”
“Incident in New Baghdad”
“Saving Face”
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”

 

Best Film Editing: 
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”

 

Best Makeup: 
“Albert Nobbs”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
“The Iron Lady”

 

Best Animated Short Film:
“Dimanche/Sunday”
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
“La Luna”
“A Morning Stroll”
“Wild Life”

 

Best Live Action Short Film:
“Pentecost”
“Raju”
“The Shore”
“Time Freak”
“Tuba Atlantic”

 

Best Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Real Steel”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”

 

 

2012 ALA Notable List

http://www.ala.org/rusa/awards/notablebooks/lists/2012

FICTION:

Banks, Russell. Lost Memory of Skin. Ecco. 9780061857638
A surprisingly sympathetic exploration of the lives and treatment of sex offenders and how this reflects on our society.

Barnes, Julian. The Sense of an Ending. Knopf. 9780307957122
A 60-something retiree living near London searches through his memories to discern what role, if any, he may have played in a decades-old tragedy.

deWitt, Patrick. The Sisters Brothers. Ecco. 9780062041265
A darkly comic and quixotic quest western tale about two brothers whose divergent world views are presented in sparkling prose and originality.

Goldman, Francisco. Say Her Name. Grove. 9780802119810
Poetic novelization of the author’s struggle to cope with his young wife’s accidental death.

Harbach, Chad. The Art of Fielding. Little, Brown. 9780316126694
One man’s failure to attain perfection on the baseball field reveals the pain and beauty that life offers in this psychologically astute novel.

MacLeod, Alexander. Light Lifting. Biblioasis. 9781897231944
Seven fearless short stories explore the limits of physical and emotional endurance in muscular prose.

Obreht, Téa. The Tiger’s Wife. Random House. 9780385343831
After the death of her beloved grandfather, a young doctor navigates family history, folklore, and love across ethnic barriers in a war-torn country.

Ondaatje, Michael. The Cat’s Table. Knopf. 9780307700117
An adventurous 21-day ocean voyage filled with a rich assortment of characters and escapades resonates through a boy’s life on his way to a new life.

Phillips, Arthur. The Tragedy of Arthur. Random House. 9781400066476
In an adulthood marred by family dysfunction, an author who dislikes Shakespeare reluctantly finds himself in possession of the Bard’s lost gem. Or does he?

Russell, Karen. Swamplandia! Knopf. 9780307263995
An inventive story set in an alligator theme-park navigates boundaries between childhood and adulthood, imagination and reality, in an American landscape both familiar and surreal.

Torres, Justin. We the Animals. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 9780547576725
Searing portrait of a troubled, mixed-race working class family centers on the youngest son as he struggles to find his identity amid affection and abuse.

Trevor, William. Selected Stories. Viking. 9780670022069
These finely sculpted and timeless stories provide a greater appreciation for finding beauty in the minutiae of daily life.

NONFICTION:

Adams, Mark. Right Turn at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time. Dutton. 9780525952244
In this humorous travelogue, the author sprinkles historical anecdote with investigative reporting as he retraces the steps of early explorers into ancient Peru.

Bartók, Mira. The Memory Palace. Free Press. 9781439183311
Beautifully wrought memoir chronicles the 17-year estrangement of the author and her homeless, schizophrenic mother, and the painful reunion that brings them together.

Gleick, James. The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood. Knopf. 9780375423727
This comprehensive study, a melodious interplay between science and literature, documents the transmission of human knowledge from the talking drums to the Internet.

Greenblatt, Stephen. The Swerve: How the World Became Modern. Norton. 9780393064476
Meditation on the power of literature, examining how a medieval book hunter’s serendipitous discovery of an ancient prose poem provides a theoretical bridge to the Renaissance.

Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. Random House. 9781400064168
An Olympic runner’s physical and inner-strength is tested by the experience and aftermath of a plane crash, 42 days at sea, and Japanese imprisonment.

Hitchens, Christopher. Arguably: Essays. Twelve. 9781455502776
Polymath and public intellectual displays his considerable range and biting wit in these thoughtful, incisive pieces that provoke and challenge.

Homans, Jennifer. Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet. Random House. 9781400060603
Elegant, authoritative work traces the evolution of classical dance from the 16th century to today, highlighting social and cultural dimensions of this traditional art form.

Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Strauss, Giroux. 9780374275631
Entertaining look at the complexities and oddities that characterize our mental processes from the only psychologist ever to have won the Nobel Prize for Economics.

Marable, Manning. Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention. Viking. 9780670022205
Definitive work on his life and transformation from petty thief to charismatic leader of during the turbulent civil rights era.

Millard, Candace. Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President. Doubleday. 9780385526265
Era of great corruption and change in U.S. history is illuminated through the tragic story of two men – one destined for greatness, the other a madman.

Mukherjee, Siddhartha. Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. Scribner. 9781439107959
The history of these diseases and their treatment is examined through the stories of those seeking to discover a cure and the individuals affected.

Reitman, Janet. Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 9780618883028
An investigation of the origins, personalities, and controversies of this uniquely American religious movement.

POETRY:

Rimbaud, Arthur. Illuminations. Translated by John Ashbery. Norton. 9780393076356
A vigorous new translation of the French prodigy’s last poems as rendered by one of America’s finest contemporary poets.

Bartlett, Jennifer, Sheila Black, and Michael, Northen. Beauty is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability. Cinco Puntos. 9781935955054
Collection of poems and essays that provides insight into the lives of the estimated 50 million Americans with disabilities.

Sunday Salon 01.22.12

Anybody else like football? I’m a nut for it, especially for the Denver Broncos, who’ve been my team since childhood. They had a great run this year until they were beat to a pulp by the Patriots last week. For that reason, I’m rooting for the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Go Pats — get revenge on those Giants for 2007-08!!

I’ve been slow in getting reviews up, but I finally put up one for A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore, the inaugural Orange Prize winner. Gothic. Disturbing. It’s also hard to find, which is why I am giving this book away to someone who has not read it yet. Be aware, though, the book is not in that good of shape. I got it used from somewhere — I can’t remember where. So please don’t expect a book in pristine condition; I just wanted to make it available for those who want to read it but can’t find it. To win the book, please comment on this post. You MUST have a blog to enter. Entries will close at 1:00 am CT on 1/29.

As for the rest of my Orange January reading, I’m changing my plans a bit to include When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka and Room by Emma Donoghue. Hope to get both of those finished by the end of January.

I’m starting to think about my February reading, too, which will probably include some Canadian authors or 1001 list titles. What will you be reading?

A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore

1996 Winner of the Orange Prize

My plan is to read all of the Orange Prize winners, so I had no clue what this book was even about when I started reading it. Let me just say I was pleasantly surprised by the writing style and the gothic mood of the book. However, much of the subject matter is disturbing, so I became increasingly uncomfortable as the novel went along.

Cathy and Rob are brother and sister who have been abandoned by their parents and are being raised by servants in their grandfathers’ home. Though they are ‘rich enough’ to have servants and enough food to eat, their property is in a continual state of needing repairs. The siblings’ relationship is complex — they’ve really only had each other for most of their lives. Throw in a potential suitor or love interest and jealousies arise on both sides. As the novel progresses, the mood darkens considerably.

The book certainly has similarities to Wuthering Heights, one of my all-time favorite books; but of course, who can live up to a Bronte? As uncomfortable as I was with some of the plotlines of the book, I felt that Dunmore did not go far enough in her treatment of Cathy near the end. When she took this character so far for 2/3 of the novel, and then wrapped it up in the way she did, I just felt like it didn’t ring true. Ironically, if the ending had been darker than it was, I would have appreciated the book more.

A Spell of Winter is definitely worth reading if you’re an Orange Prize reader or if you have an affinity for Wuthering Heights. Just be aware that the subject matter is very dark and depressing.

1996, 313 pp.

**** 1/2

Orange January 2012

Books I plan on reading for Orange January:

  • A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore (1996 winner) — already started
  • A Crime in the Neighborhood by Suzanne Berne (1999 winner)
  • When I Lived in Modern Times by Linda Grant (2000 winner)
  • Home by Marilynne Robinson (2009 winner)

Is there any risk of brain damage?


“Well, technically speaking, the operation is brain damage, but it’s on a par with a night of heavy drinking. Nothing you’ll miss.”

How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d; — Alexander Pope

One of my favorite movies, that I just watched for the 20+ time. I’ve been watching a lot of TV and movies lately, to the detriment of my book reading. However, I do plan on participating in Orange January, so hopefully that’ll get me back on track.

I’m still alive, just (possibly,temporarily) brain dead. See you soon, though!

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