Fortress Of Good Fortune

Fun facts: Not only is it the 80th anniversary of 1939, Hollywood's Greatest Year (The Wizard Of Oz, Gone With The Wind, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Stagecoach, Wuthering Heights, Young Mr. Lincoln, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Women, and many more), but it's the 60th anniversary of the 1959 Biblical epic, Ben-Hur, which won a record 11 Oscars.

I'm just guessing that the version of it made a few years ago won't be remembered in 60 years, ha! The 1959 film was the ol' Hollywood grandeur that also created the thundering chariot race without the benefit of CGI. They had to hire hundreds of extras to fill those stadium seats (and feed them, too!). In 1959, when you promised an epic, you didn't forget to deliver. Smaller moments and characterization would be included, but the Grand Sweep of the Epic was not forgotten.

Anyway, another '50s epic, The Ten Commandments, will celebrate its 63rd anniversary and it's doubtful that the Christian Bale version will be as fondly remembered or aired every Easter. Sometimes, people just want Grand Epics.

Yep, it's Oscar Night, my friends! :)

My fave, Christian Bale, is up for Best Actor. Here's hoping he wins. :)

Black Panther is up for Best Picture. I wish Wonder Woman had gotten a chance at that statuette, but I'll be thrilled if BP makes history for the superhero genre by capturing the award.

It is supreme irony that an industry that exists to entertain can't make their showcase awards show diverting. I guess it's the nature of the beast. Awful riffing by actors who can't improvise without a script to save their lives (once in awhile you get an exception), tedious 'comedy' sketches, song-and-dance numbers thrown in...you get the picture. And speeches thanking everyone in the universe isn't too exciting, though this year they tried to speed it up by a crawl screen giving us the particulars for each speech so that the recipient could be quicker. Even with all that, the darned thing ended at 12:05 A.M. EST. Yeesh!

Here's a thought: give us the categories we want (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Actress). Throw in Best Director and Original/Adapted Screenplay and Best Costume Design. The rest? Have them join that separate Oscar night. I really don't care about Sound Mixing and whatever. And cut the songs and the painfully unfunny bits. I know, dreaming, right? An awards show that's under two hours? Blasphemy!

I was pleased to catch glimpses of Christian Bale since he was up for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, though I didn't think he'd win. The heavy favorite was Sly Stallone for Creed, so it was a pleasant surprise when Mark Rylance won for his role in Bridge Of Spies. I wanted BoS to get recognition, and they snagged a major prize. Rylance was exceptional as Rudolf Abel, captured Soviet spy. He and Tom Hanks had great chemistry together. :)

Weird that Mad Max was even nominated for Best Picture. SF movies generally are not. They cleaned up in the technical categories, though. A shame that Cinderella didn't win for Best Costume Design or Bridge Of Spies for Best Set Design. Cinderella's ball gown alone was worth the price of admission! :) And that Berlin Wall set was pretty fantastic in BoS.

I think Chris Rock would have been better served to confine his #OscarsSoWhite comments to his opening monologue. Sometimes less is more.

Spotlight won for Best Picture. Even though it happened in my backyard, I haven't seen it yet. I'll probably catch it when it gets to TV.

Cute to see the kid actor trying to get a better look at the Star Wars droids on-stage. Sometimes even a kid actor is just a kid! :)

Christian isn't doing too badly for himself: three Oscar nominations and one win. Some Hollywood greats got neither!

Some great gowns, Christian looked great, and a few surprises. I drifted in and out of sleep for the latter two hours but saw the highlights. Another Oscars in the books. *yawn*

Hi, luvs!

Very bizzy lately so not much time to post. Some quick thoughts:

I was disappointed that American Hustle got shut out of the Oscars. Okay, Christian wasn't going to win Best Actor because Matthew McC. had that sewn up, but no Supporting Actor or Actress or Amy Adams for Best Actress? Not even Best Costume Design, for crying out loud? I did enjoy seeing Christian during the show, and loved Ellen's pizza bit! ;)

More deep freeze here.

*points up to icon*

I have a larger version as my current wallpaper. Seems to fit with my Bruce/Dick Muses lately. The AU is going well. Over 27,000 words written so far, and halfway done! Though Dick is not killed off in this one, ha ha, he and Bruce do face some danger in between all the romance and other good stuff. I think the icon pleases me because I love it when Bruce expresses his anguish over any hurt to Dick. I love it when Dick angsts over Bruce, but seeing Bruce (especially in canon) losing it when Dick is threatened or he thinks he's been killed (Infinite Crisis) is a definite kink for me. :)

Right now the AU is relaxing me as I write it, and the research is a blast, and the Steve/Diana story I finished is still simmering, waiting for revision, and I'm writing an Avengers tale inspired by an avengerkink prompt, so that's pretty much it for me fanfic-wise! :)

BTW, the story that icon comes from is a Bronze Age goodie in which Ra's Al-Ghul kidnaps Robin (he knows where to hit the Bat where it hurts!) and Batman swims the deepest ocean and climbs the highest mountain to get to him. Well, he did climb a very high mountain, flew for hours (and he hates long trips!) and fought a snow leopard, I believe, and this pic was on the cover. A great story with lots of Dynamic Duo banter when Batman shows up in the stronghold where Robin's being held. Tied up, of course. ;)

I saw a very enjoyable movie, American Hustle, with my sister this vacation week. I would highly recommend it. Set in the 1970s, it centers around the FBI sting Abscam. It stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Jeremy Renner. The first four have been nominated (Golden Globes) for Best Actor/Actress/Supporting and Jeremy should be, too. The film has been nominated for Best Comedy.

Many of the movie’s scenes were filmed in Central Massachusetts in a city called Worcester.

BTW, there is a comics connection here: Christian Bale, Amy Adam, and Jeremy Renner have all played comics characters: Bruce Wayne, Lois Lane and Clint Barton. :)

( Read about the local color that isn’t New York or Los Angeles. Slightly spoilerish but nothing major. )

Want a break from superhero movies or action flicks that rack up the body count? Tired of comedies that rely strictly on bodily fluid and sex jokes? Then American Hustle might be for you!

( Review: Major Spoilers )

Google Chrome took about five hours to download, but it finally did. I just tested making an entry and then editing it. Looks like it works! I'll test again tonight.

Not liking the new editing interface and I'm gonna HATE the new friends list when they don't allow us to keep our own version. But, I'm back in the game (so far) and will probably start posting some stories that I was just not able to do in the past few weeks.

Quickie Oscar notes: loved Anne Hathaway getting an Oscar! She and Christian match now. ;)

Lovely gowns. But is it me or did the red carpet lack star power? Some recognizable stars but kind of meh, too.

Seth McFarland: not my cup of tea.

Bill Shatner as Jim Kirk: I enjoyed the bit! And he doesn't look bad for an 82-year-old guy, either. :)

I did like Argo winning Best Picture and Daniel Day-Lewis winning Best Actor for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, which I thought was outstanding.

LJ note: I might just post really long stories to A03 in the future. Stuff like the Big Bangs. Just too much aggravation doing it here now and with my poky dial-up...

I can easily import my bookmarks though I might hold off. A lot of them could be discarded and it's kind of cool to have a clean slate to just bookmark really important stuff. ;)

Tom Brady signed a VERY team-friendly contract, signing for less than half his market value in order to keep his team competitive (salary cap). That's my boy! :)

Thanks to all who gave me hugs during my travails. Always appreciated, as were the offers of help! *hugs you all* :)

I had a great birthday! Quiet but a perfect fall day. My sister gave me all kinds of goodies: gift cards for Subway and the movies, a magazine with lots of great pix of my man Christian, and chocolate! What’s not to love about that combo? ;)

She also gave me a funny Star Trek card. I laugh every time I open it! :)

Pizza was the order of the day: chicken, bacon, and ranch sauce. Heaven! ;)

And my fannish friends? Well, one of the best things about the day was all the fantastic, thoughtful gifts I received! THANK YOU all! It’s wonderful to know people are thinking of you on your special day. :)

I received:

Cheerful Greetings from:

lilacs_roses, nrrrdy_grrrl, eternal_moonie, realpestilence, ctbn60, phoenixnz (Yummy Birthday Cake!), romennim, elenarain (Sweet Clark!), ilovetobefree (Sparkly Hearts ‘N’ Roses!), khylara, paxwolf, rileyc (The World’s Finest, including Robin! and Steve/Diana! Woot!), svgurl (Sexy Tom Brady!), me_ya_ri, saavikam77, jen_rock and lauramcewan

Lovely Virtual Gifts from:

ctbn60 (Box of Candy), northernwalker (Orchid & Chocolate Torte), kittymayhem (Box of Candy) and northern_star (Cupcake)

Fantastic Wallpaper from:

delorita (Christian as Bruce from The Dark Knight Rises!)

Fabulous Fic from:

Pizza, a wonderful Steve/Diana drabble by starsandsea

Ambrosia At the Cheesecake Factory, a marvelously charming Steve/Diana ficlet by mithen

This was my first visit to the movie theater since Aurora, but aside from a few minutes of nervousness all was perfectly normal. I entered the theater and no one searched my bag, but it was a small purse, not a backpack or anything like that. The only difference I could see was that the ticket takers had walkie-talkies and the car marked Security outside is usually around, anyway. There were about two dozen people for the very early matinee.

If you don’t want to be spoiled, DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW! There will be MAJOR SPOILERS!

( I knew this movie would break my heart )

While I will always love Batman Begins best, I would say this movie was a worthy entry into the Nolanverse trilogy and would recommend it to any Bat or Christian Bale fan.

Last year all of us Christian Bale fans were eagerly awaiting the awards show to see if our guy would win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Dicky Eklund in The Fighter, and he did! This year I'm more interested in the movies rather than individual actors. Have fun with the poll! :)

[Poll #1821503]

[Error: unknown template qotd]

Well, it's no surprise that I loved Johnny in Public Enemies! ;) Suave, smooth, and with a hint of vulnerability underneath the pinstriped suit, he really sold that movie. And his one scene with Christian sizzled so much, it launched a fandom! ;)

I've enjoyed him in all the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies (haven't seen the latest yet) and Alice In Wonderland and he's always been the best! :)

Happy Birthday, Johnny! :)