Sulkyblue's Blog

Every year I try to watch as many Oscar nominees as possible so that I can guess the winners and get on my high horse about who should have won. This year there are a total of 121 nominations across 24 categories and 60 films, or 42 feature length films if you exclude the shorts and films only nominated for a song. I only saw 18 of those films, which given that I made a significant effort, doesn't seem a great number, although those 18 do cover 64 of the nominations, just over half of the total.

Broadly I think the nominations were ok if a bit underwhelming. There are a few standout performances which makes it sad that there can't be multiple winners, but I don't think there are any categories that I'd get particularly energised about if my pick doesn't win. Well unless there's a complete surprise! I've mentioned a few suggestions for people/films that were overlooked in a few categories, but although I haven't always called them out, I think it's a shame Belle, Calvary and Pride didn't get any nominations.

It's hugely disappointing that the Academy couldn't find and that the industry couldn't offer more people that didn't fall into the "white male" categorisation. I'm not assigning blame for that, or thinking it's a conspiracy, just that it's a very sad statement to have to make in 2014 that there are no non-white actors or actresses and no women directors, screenwriters or cinematographers.

NB - unless otherwise indicated, links are to my database of films reviews.

Short story, here are my preferences and picks. A dash indicates that I haven't really got a preference.

Category	My Pick	What will win
Best Picture	Whiplash	Boyhood
Best Director	Richard Linklater	Alejandro González Iñárritu
Best Actor	Eddie Redmayne	Michael Keaton
Best Actress	-	Julianne Moore
Best Supporting Actor	J.K. Simmons
Best Supporting Actress	Patricia Arquette
Best Original Screenplay	The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Adapted Screenplay	The Imitation Game
Best Animated Feature Film	Big Hero 6	How to Train Your Dragon 2
Best Foreign Language Film	-	Ida
Best Documentary	-	Citizenfour
Short Film (Animated)	-	The Dam Keeper
Short Film (Live Action)	-	The Phone Call
Documentary Short	-	Crisis Hotline
Best Original Score	-	The Grand Budapest Hotel
best Song	Glory from Selma
Best Sound Editing	-	American Sniper
Best Sound Mixing	-	Whiplash
Best Production Design	The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Cinematography	Birdman
Best Makeup and Hairstyling	Guardians of the Galaxy	Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Costume Design	-	Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Film Editing	Whiplash	Boyhood
Best Visual Effects	Guardians of the Galaxy	Interstellar

( Long story... )

41 books this year! a massive improvement on last year's utterly embarrassing 10, but a little behind the previous year's count of 49. All of the books were new to me, although there's a number of things I want to re-read it always feels a more pressing task to read new things.

After last year's truly embarrassing book count I reinstated my page count targets, which I acknowledge is a bit daft but it's a method that actually works to get me to read more. I initially set myself a target of 50 pages per day (on average) but after a couple of months realised that I wasn't going to hit that target and decreased it to 40 a day. My reading was far from regular though, alternating bursts of activity with stretches where I might not pick up a book for a week. I hadn't added the numbers up during October and November and thought I was miles away from hitting my goal, but on December 28th I discovered I was 750 pages short of my target, which seemed too close to let go. So despite actually being out for 2 of the 4 remaining days, I burnt through the pages to come in dead on target at about 11.30 on New Year's Eve. Not exactly a resounding success, but a very exact one. It did remind me that spending a whole day on the sofa with a book was just as enjoyable as burning through a box set.

I think I shall keep the 40 page target this year again as I do find it motivates me to read and that I actually enjoy the reading when I force myself to do it. It's not necessarily logical, but it does work for me.

E-reader
I finally gave in and got an e-reader this year, a basic Kindle. My primary motivation was so that I could go back to sharing books with my housemates who made the shift almost entirely 'e' last year. I really missed being able to easily follow their recommendations and thanks to some sort of technical wizardry we can now have a shared library again which has greatly contributed to the number of fantasy and sf novels I've read, particularly from new authors.

I'm still not completely convinced though. I certainly love the size and weight of the thing, which makes reading on crowded tubes a doddle and allows it to slot into the smallest of bags or even pockets without thought. I usually try to have a fiction and non-fiction on the go at the same time and this would be a great way to allow me to switch back and forth, but I never managed to synchronise so that both my on-the-go books were on the kindle. The ease of purchasing is also a big plus, instantaneous delivery anywhere there's wifi and plenty of cheap or even free books on offer.

But there are downsides. The biggest one for me is that I still love visiting bookshops. I just don't buy the same breadth of stuff online as I do from wandering around a Waterstones and seeing what draws my eye. I also love owning books and having them on my bookshelves (although that's constantly battling with lack of space). From a practical point of view I have some issues with the kindle user-interface when it comes to things like footnotes and just the lack of ease for flicking back and forth to double check things.

To me, the practical ease is in constant conflict with the fact that I just love BOOKS. So I'll probably continue to alternate back and forth.

Authors
There are a total of 35 authors, two books each had two authors, there were five authors I read two books for and one author I read three books. 18 of those authors were new to me (including the trilogy writer and two of those I read twice) which at 51% is a little bit down on previous years. The gender balance is pretty poor with only 8 women (23%). All the books were written in English which I'm a little disappointed by, 57% british authors, 40% American, two Canadians and a South African.

Non-Fiction
I read 10 non-fiction books this year, 24% of the total which is exactly the same ratio in 2012. It's a percentage I'm quite happy with given that they tend to be longer and require more concentrated reading. Actually there was an eleventh one, a book on Agile project management, but I failed to review it at the time and now can't find it (it wasn't anything spectacular). I'm also quite pleased with the diversity of subjects a couple of work related books, a bit of history, a bit of culture, biographies, some science and a couple about language.

Listed roughly in order of quality:

• Life on Air by David Attenborough - an extraordinary life, eloquently and entertainingly told.


• David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell - fascinating, challenging and entertaining as always.


• The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas - useful for anyone working in or adjacent to programming, it's got some interesting ideas and is very readable, although maybe a little less practical than Refactor Your Wetware


• The Etymologicon and The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth - both are very entertaining to read, although I confess to not really being able to retain any of the information in them.


• Hatchet Job: Love Movies, Hate Critics and It's Only a Movie by Mark Kermode - Hatchet Job is by far the better book offering an insight into the practical and ethical lives of critics. It's Only a Movie is less well structured, but both have a refreshingly frank and self-deprecating tone and are filled with entertaining anecdotes.


• Tricks of the Mind by Derren Brown - some bits are entertaining, some bits are informative, but as a whole the book's a bit of a mess and far from Brown's best.


• A Little History of Science by William Bynum - I don't know who this book was aimed at, it was way to patronising for adults of even young adults, but the fast and furious delivery of facts across a huge range of subjects isn't going to engage younger readers. Really disappointing.


• Seventeen Equations that Changed the World by Ian Stewart - far too complex and mind-numbingly boring.

Fiction
I read 31 fiction books this year. Three of them are part of ongoing series that I pick up in hardback as soon as they are released (Pratchett's Discworld, Aaronovitch's Rivers of London and Brust's Jhereg) and I'm still slowly trudging through O'Brian's Master and Commander Series. There are a couple of other authors whose new books I pick up with varying speed - Baxter, Rowling, Atkinson, Doctorow and Gaiman, and a couple that flutter around the edges like Bacigalupi and Willis.

Many of the new names on my list are thanks to my housemates reading and their commitment to new sf and fantasy writers. We don't always agree, but their picks are always interesting and prompt enthusiastic discussions. Given that most of the books on my reading list this year were recommendations from them, it's not surprising that 26 of the books could be considered sf or fantasy of some sort, although with even authors like Atkinson taking a swerve towards the genre side of things they seem to be coming from all sides!

I've rated 18 of the 31 books 'good' or 'outstanding' this year which at 44% is pretty high. The real standouts for me though were:

• Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch - The Rivers of London series continues to excel, even when taken out of London.


• Life After Life by Kate Atkinson - A real showcase for Atkinson's ability to write fantastic characters


• Wool by Hugh Howey - un-put-downable. Not necessarily a hugely original idea, but extremely well written. Sadly the other two books in the series (Shift and Dust) didn't quite live up to the very high standards, but made a satisfying trilogy.


• Nine Goblins by T Kingfisher - a hilarious dry sense of humour and wonderful characters, just a shame it was so short.


• The Deaths by Mark Lawson - the characters are somewhere between annoying and hateful, yet the book is completely compelling. A very impressive trick.


• The First Fifteen Lives of Henry August by Claire North - a stunningly well developed concept at its heart which is beautifully explained.


• Redshirts by John Scalzi - an exceptional piece of writing that has the passion of a fan and the awareness of an insider, a clever, surprising, satisfying and elegantly short joy.

At the other end of the spectrum there were three non-fiction books that fall into the category of 'very disappointing':

• The Incrementalists by Steven Brust and Skyler White - I love Brust but this book was a mess. It's a complex concept badly explained leaving this 350 pages of technicalities.


• Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow - not a book, but a political agenda looking for a structure. I broadly agree with Doctorow's politics on this, but the opposing point of view is given such a weak and brutal voice, and the 'heroes' are such a bunch of Mary Sues that I was just left feeling I'd been suckered into listening to someone rant on a soapbox.


• Constellation Games by Leonard Richardson - inferior in every way to Ready Player One, the universe was poorly developed, characters less engaging, plot muddled and had none of the nostalgia for video games.

And the rest:

• Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi - much better edited than The Windup Girl, more punchy for the young adult market but losing none of the beautiful world building.


• Proxima by Stephen Baxter


• Zoo City by Lauren Beukes


• Hawk by Steven Brust - Vlad's running a caper and Kragar is back!


• The Dresden Files: Storm Front by Jim Butcher - the only reason I didn't get lost in this series is that I was reading the Kadrey series instead.


• Hawkeye - My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction - I love this approach to the character, it really felt like Joss Whedon's kind of hero, but I just don't get on with the graphic novel/comic format.


• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman


• Burton and Swinburne in the Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder


• Sandman Slim and Kill the Dead by Richard Kadrey - an interesting series with a nice style and great central character, (the author is definitely a fan of the TV series Supernatural, as I am)


• The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian


• The Truth by Michael Palin


• Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett


• The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling - definitely proves Rowling is more than just Potter. Stunningly depressing.


• Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss


• The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes


• The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club by Duncan Whitehead


• Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis - utterly engrossing but actually not very good. Massively too long and the plot relies on the 'smart' characters to be idiots.

Originally posted on my website

This is my second visit to London Zoo this year and I wouldn't usually return so frequently, but the lure of tiger cubs was too strong. The cubs were very obliging and were out playing and one even suffered the indignity of a thorough washing from mum. Frustratingly the visitors to the zoo were slightly less obliging and I did spend a fair amount of time being shoved about and having my view blocked by various people and their technology (taking photos on an ipad, good grief). Still, it was a fun day out and I managed to get some photos that I'm quite pleased with. There are more photos available at Flickr.

For once I've had a relatively busy month! Aided by having the last week and a half off work I've done a bit of a tour of the southern counties visiting the Whitfield's and their increasingly adorable offspring in Cambridge (twice actually) and the Moore clan in Wiltshire. Both visits involved cream teas and sitting in the sunshine, which I consider a great success. I also caught up with some former colleagues at The National Portrait Gallery for dinner and some evening picture viewing which I heartily recommend. Oh, and I went to a recording of The News Quiz which is always entertaining, I'm still mystified how they edited nearly 2 and a half hours of content down to 28 minutes.



Baking
Most of my baking this month has been about wedding cakes, I think by the end of the rehearsals, samples and the actual wedding I'd made 14 Victoria Sponges and frankly I'll be happy never to make another one. Sarah did me a massive favour and asked for macarons for her birthday instead of a cake... but I couldn't get the cartons of egg whites I usually do, so rather than throw away egg yolks I also made bakewell tart. And a quiche, because I had cream left over. And I couldn't turn up in Wiltshire empty handed so I made two varieties of shortbread. I have some kind of sickness.

Films
I only made it to the cinema once this month, but what it lacked in quantity it more than made up for in quality with the absolutely superb How to Train your Dragon 2, beautiful animation, cracking storyline, wonderful characters and fantastic dialogue.

I'm continuing my rewatching of Disney films and polished off another 11 this month! High points were Lilo and Stitch, Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Tarzan. Low points were Pocahontas (the story was never going to work) and The Black Cauldron (disjointed and cheap feeling). Moderately unremarkable were Brother Bear, The Fox and Hound, Peter Pan, The Rescuers, Oliver and Company and Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Other films caught on dvd were Gold Rush (not Chaplin's best), R.I.P.D. (budget Men in Black), The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (bogged down), Forrest Gump (much deeper than I remember), Frances Ha (hateful characters), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (some nice bits, but a slow start).

Books
I just missed my page count target for the month, finishing 18 pages under. Overall so far for the year, I'm about 350 pages ahead, but of course that is on my revised target of 40 pages per day. I also failed to read any non-fiction this month, but that's mostly because I got completely engrossed in Wool by Hugh Howey and refused to put it down for anything else. It's not a massively original story, but it is extremely well told and is a very satisfying page turner. I'm half way through the second book at the moment though and it's not so gripping.

I also read Zoo City by Lauren Beukes and Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey, fairly similar in many ways with just slightly alternate universes, noir overtones and mysterious characters. Sandman Slim was the better book, pulling the tropes off (although Supernatural fans will get a lot of deja vu) while Zoo City doesn't quite seem to fully commit to itself.

Television

• The Big Bang Theory: Season 7 - excellent highpoints, but lots of surrounding mediocrity and some painful low points.
• I cheated and did quick reviews of Castle Season 6, NCIS LA season 5 and Criminal Minds season 9 as they are all largely unchanged from previous seasons, good news for NCIS and Criminal Minds, but Castle needs to step its game up.
• Penny Dreadful: season 1 - enjoyable, distracting and disposable, does exactly what it sets out to do.
• Grey's Anatomy: Season 10 - a good year for Grey's with characters moving forwards not round in circles.
• Orphan Black: Season 2 - Utterly stunning.
• The Americans: Season 2 - the quality of the drama has improved, but I think it's at the loss of some of the lighter elements, which I rather missed.

"Things I did in June. Um... Crap, I'm really not sure that I actually did anything! I don't even seem to have gone to the cinema. I went to Kew Gardens for a picnic, but spent the whole day just sitting eating and chatting, which was lovely, but not really of blog worthy report. I didn't even go to Cambridge, they came to me for once! I finished Batman Arkham Origins, and frankly that isn't really worthy of the pixels taken to write that sentence. I'd like to say July will be more exciting, but given it's nearly half way through by the time I'm writing this, I wouldn't get your hopes up.



Baking
I did bake some stuff at least. I'm doing a wedding cake in a couple of weeks so have been practising my Victoria sponges. I never really make them, or chose them, always going for other more exciting cakes, but I forget how tasty a fresh Victoria Sponge can really be. After some experiment I'd say fresh whipped cream and raspberries are best (strawberries are a bit too wet and slippery), although they're logistically harder as the cream doesn't keep. So I'm going to have to assemble the cake on site which is a bit tricky. I'll report back next month!

For the picnic, despite only being 4 adults and 3 children I made sausage rolls (shop bought pastry, I felt dirty), mini spinach and feta pies (also shop bought pastry, I don't feel bad about that, I draw the line at making filo!), chocolate biscuits from a random book that weren't really all that amazing and an apricot and marzipan loaf from the Great British Bake Off Showstoppers book that was so good I made another one the following week.


Films I watched

The Emperor's New Groove had some sharp dialogue and stylish animation but the plot was a pickle.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – I thought this was a spoof at first, it got better and Pine and Knightly are good, but Branagh badly misjudged the direction and the Russian accent.

Ender's Game – love the book, great performance from Asa Butterfield, but the script and adult performances were phoned in.

Robocop – somewhat muddled tone and subject left me mentally switching between watching an action shootup and a psychological thriller.

Double Indemity – a group of hateful characters left me disconnected from the elegant plot.

Shakespeare in Love – I remembered it as a middling romantic comedy, but I'd either missed or ignored the actually rather clever writing.

For a Fistful of Dollars – I like spaghetti westerns more than I do normal westerns... but not much more.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Excellent adaption of the book, but that means it carries the same structural issues. Lawrence is superb, I wish she had better male leads to bounce off.

Prisoners - another film ruined by bloated runtime. The tension of the issues, the stylish direction and the powerful acting was utterly undermined.

Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - fine, but nothing more.

Inside Llewyn Davis - rather charming, I even liked the music.

Reading
Two non-fiction and two fiction in June, not bad! The two non-fiction were a mixed bag, The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth is a good book for short commutes (or I guess a bathroom book) as the information comes thick and fast, but with a lot of humour. When I tried to read in longer installmants though it overwhelmed. A Little History of Science by William Bynum suffers from trying to cover too much too briefly and seems to be targeted at a very young audience, but I'm not sure that anyone who didn't find the language patronising would be able to engage with the subject.
I continue to work through the backlog of ebooks from my housemates so am reading a lot of sf and fantasy. Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane didn't work for me as well as his other works have, I thought the concept wasn't as solidly built and didn't really connect to the characters. Paolo Bacigalupi's Ship Breaker however was a really punchy interesting work with a fascinating world behind it. It was a little disjointed at times, but it was a fun read.

Television
I'm stuggling to keep up with my reviewing as many series come to an end, so there's a bit of a backlog. I've recently posted:

The Good Wife: Season 5 – practically perfect in every way

Game of Thrones: Season 4 – far from perfect, but better.

Agents of SHIELD: Season 1 – a very long way from perfect, but it had some good moments

Mad Men: Season 7 part 1 – utterly non-perfect. I'm calling it, this show is awful

Happy Valley – Back to perfection

Last weekend, when there was an astonishing overlap of good weather and a bank holiday I took a trip to the London Wetland Centre in Barnes. I've been there a few times over the years and would always describe it as 'lovely' although never spectacular. As an unadventurous Londoner, just being outdoors in nature is novel to me and the Wetlands Centre manages to be within easy reach of a central tube station (a short bus from Hammersmith) and wonderfully peaceful. There are a scattering of unusual birds in the main area and I'm sure lots of interesting things out in the main wetlands which you could see if you spent age behind an expensive pair of binoculars, but for the most part I just saw mallards, seagulls and coots.

Here's some of my photos, more at flickr:

My brother and I were looking for a low stress 3 day getaway, we prefer travelling by train as it's so much more relaxing than flying and we decided to be 'adventurous' and depart the country. We somewhat randomly opted for Brussels which had the benefits of being surprisingly cheap, only 2 hours via Eurostar and a country neither of us had been for. We also discovered that Good Friday is not actually a public holiday in Belgium, so it fitted perfectly with our preferred dates of Wed-Fri of the week before Easter weekend.



( Wednesday - Mini-Europe, the Atomium and the Grand Place )

( Thursday - Cathedrale, Royal Palace, Art of the Brick )

( Friday - European Quarter, Cinquantenaire Park, Comic Strip Museum )

Overall

Frankly, Brussels was rather disappointing, although in hindsight I don't know what I expected. It pretty much lacked any stand-out sites, those that attempted were fatally flawed one way or the other – the Atomium was cool outside and terrible inside, the Grand Place was kind of impressive to look at but all superficial, the Royal Palace wasn't even open!

Secondly Brussels, and potentially Belgium as a whole, lacks any real culture or personality of its own. It makes sense when you realise that it's basically a chunk of land that declared independence less than 200 years ago and has spent a chunk of that time occupied by Germans. So it's a bit Dutch, a bit French and a bit German, but really not really anything. It all just felt a bit second tier, nothing impressive or noteworthy enough for a capital city.



I think they're missing an opportunity with the EU. Mini-Europe was actually one of the highlights of the trip for me because it stretched beyond Belgium and covered the whole of the EU. Why not expand that, give each country its own building or part of the city for a museum or cultural centre. Even Europeans are unlikely to ever visit all of the countries in the EU, so Brussels could act as the tourist centre, bringing bits of those countries together. The Atomium, which is on the front cover of many of the Brussels guides is a hang over from the World Fair, why not make Brussels a permanent European Fair?

I'm not sorry I went to Brussels, it's still somewhere I can tick off, another country I've visited. It may not have anything particularly outstanding to see, but as a generic weekend break it's pretty good – it's relatively cheap to get to and while you're there, the food is good, everyone speaks English and the city is easy to get around. It's hardly overwhelming praise, but it's not nothing.

Every year I make an attempt to both watch and predict the Oscars. Last year I'm rather smug about the fact that I predicted 20 out of 24 winners. This year I'm not quite so confident and despite my best efforts there are a fair number of the films that I haven't seen, (the numbers in brackets for each category are the number I've seen).

Best Picture

• American Hustle – I was not blown away by this. I thought the story was clumsy and the tone all over the place. The acting was solid, but more about the hair than anything else.


• Captain Phillips – this is the film I'm most frustrated about not seeing.


• Dallas Buyers Club – amazing performances and a fascinating story, but mediocre writing actually left me rather bored at times.


• Gravity – a phenomenal film. It's the only film I've ever rated at 10/10 because I couldn't find a fault with it. That said I can see that while the technical ambition and achievement is astonishing, the story itself is not as challenging.


• Her – I haven't made it to see this yet, but based on comments from a trusted source it's an interesting idea somewhat pushed beyond its limits


• Nebraska – I think this film went out of cinemas before the nominations came out and in isolation there wasn't anything about it that made me want to cough up the cash to go see it.


• Philomena – a beautiful film, very well told. It balances the humour and drama of the events far better than American Hustle, I laughed out loud and had a bit of a sniffle.


• 12 Years a Slave – I'm going out on a limb here, but I felt this film was over-rated. It's an incredible story, but I don't think the film did enough with the raw material to make the film itself outstanding. The performances were incredible, but I thought the writing was episodic, many of the characters were simplistic caricatures, the direction aimed for discomfort rather than engagement and I found the whole thing too long and somewhat boring.


• The Wolf of Wall Street – It may be petty to be put off a film based on its runtime, but I just couldn't quite bring myself to commit so much time to a film that I didn't really want to see.

What I'd like to win – Gravity. This is a film that knew exactly what it wanted to be and delivered exactly that. It's a disaster movie, one woman against all odds. Yes, it is a bit silly at times, the Clooney character is a bit on the nose, but those are all part of the genre.
What will win – 12 Years a Slave. Personally I thought the film had problems, but I seem to be in a minority there. Even the people that acknowledge the flaws still say it's an important film, but I would say it's an important story and a good, but not outstanding film.


Best Actor in a Leading Role

• Christian Bale (American Hustle) – He was fine, but I don't think you should win an Oscar for putting on weight and a terrible haircut.


• Bruce Dern (Nebraska) – Didn't see, sure he was great.


• Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street) – I didn't see it, but from the trailers, past performances and what I've heard he did a good job playing a scumbag and giving him depth and interest without necessarily making him sympathetic.


• Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) – the plodding direction of the film gave Ejiofor plenty of screen and time to act in and he never disappointed. Easily the best thing in the film.


• Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) – A wonderful performance, he's been on stunning form recently and is finally getting the praise he deserves.

Who I would like to win – Chiwetel Ejiofor. A great performance and seemingly a thoroughly nice chap.
Who will win – Matthew McConaughey, and they may not be wrong about that choice.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

• Amy Adams (American Hustle) – Good performance, nothing outstanding beyond the incredible amount of cleavage her costumes revealed


• Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) – I didn't much like the film and the character herself is horrible, but Blanchett's performance was impressive.


• Sandra Bullock (Gravity) – on the surface this seems a quite simple performance, playing to Sandra Bullock's strengths of likeability, dry humour and emotions bubbling just below the surface. But once you factor in that the majority of the film she carries by herself and the incredible physicality of the role and I think this was a phenomenal achievement.


• Judi Dench (Philomena) – always reliable and she absolutely breaks your heart here. Personally I could've done without the accent, but she's so funny, so sweet and so strong that I'll forgive it.


• Meryl Streep (August: Osage County) – In many ways a role and performance much like Blanchett's, horrible but impressive. The theatricality of the film made this a more flamboyant performance though which is slightly less appealing somehow.

Who I would like to win – Sandra Bullock, it feels like her achievement is greater. Her performance came while surrounded by technology and restrictions and literally and figuratively in a vacuum. The others all felt like they were ‘just' wonderfully good actresses.
Who will win – Cate Blanchett, this one seems to have been a lock for a long time.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

• Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) – Didn't see the film, but he was amazing in the trailer and has been receiving praise left right and centre for holding his own against Tom Hanks


• Bradley Cooper (American Hustle) – solid performance, nothing special


• Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave) – I was frustrated by his character which I felt was caricatured, over the top and simplistic. It was however a good performance


• Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street) – no idea. Is this nomination more about the fact that people think he's purely a comedy actor and are surprised when he does drama. Mind you that should have got out of their system with his nomination for Moneyball


• Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) – while McConaughey is the powerhouse of the film, Leto is the heart. He brings both the humour and the heartbreak to the film and is just wonderful.

Who I would like to win and who will win – Jared Leto. This doesn't feel like a particularly strong line-up to me, the only two of note being Leto and Abdi, part of me would like Abdi to win because of the narrative of it, but without seeing his performance I suspect Leto's is the stronger.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

• Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine) – she's great. I thought at first she was going to have the easy role in the film, the only likeable person there, but actually thanks to her rather weak will she's not particularly likeable either. But she was considerably more sympathetic than anyone else, and that's entirely down to Hawkins


• Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) – the best thing about the film imho. She delivered the tone I wanted more than anything else, funny on the outside, dramatic on the inside.


• Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave) – hell of a start to a career. Phenomenal


• Julia Roberts (August: Osage County) – She and Streep form a fascinating and powerful duo on the screen, playing up the similarities and the conflict that brings in a family. A great performance.


• June Squibb (Nebraska) – no idea I'm afraid.

Who I'd like to win – Lupita Nyong'o, like Barkad Abdi she has a great story and she's more than deserving.
Who will win – I think it will likely go to Jennifer Lawrence, she's pretty popular at the moment and I think it's likely one of the few awards American Hustle will get.

Best Animated Feature

• The Croods – I wasn't bothered about this film at all and only rented it because of its appearance here, but I was really charmed by it. A quirky mix of modern and caveman, plenty of laughs, colourful design and some nice messages.


• Despicable Me 2 – The funniest film I've seen in ages, even the mere sight of a minion can leave me laughing out loud. The supporting story isn't anything special, but the little yellow guys are the stars of the year.


• Ernest & Celestine – haven't seen it


• Frozen – Disney at its finest. Everything about it is beautiful, the story and characters are fresh and empowering, the humour is lovely, and the graphic design breath-taking. I saw it with a cinema full of kids and their parents and I'd be hard pushed to guess who loved it more.


• The Wind Rises– haven't seen it

What I'd like to win and what will win – although I adore the minions, the rest of the film around them was just good, while Frozen was absolutely outstanding so gets my vote, and I suspect the vote of the academy.

Best Cinematography

• The Grandmaster, Gravity, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska, Prisoners

Gravity is the only one of these films that I've seen and from what I've seen of the trailers for the others, I don't think they are really in the same league.

Best Costume Design

• American Hustle, The Grandmaster, The Great Gatsby, The Invisible Woman, 12 Years a Slave

Gatsby? Don't really know. None of these really seem that outstanding to be honest.

Best Directing

• American Hustle (David O. Russell), Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón), Nebraska (Alexander Payne), 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen), The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)

What I think should win and who will win – I think Cuaron's achievement on Gravity was astonishing. As I said for Sandra Bullock about acting, he not only did all the usual exemplary directing things, but he did it while surrounded by technology and indeed taking direction and special effects to an entirely new level. Personally I felt that McQueen's direction was nothing particularly special, but even if I'm completely wrong, I think the Academy will still recognise Cuaron's achievement.

Best Documentary Feature

• The Act of Killing, Cutie and the Boxer, Dirty Wars, The Square, 20 Feet from Stardom

Of all these Cutie and the Boxer was the only one I managed to catch in time, it was a fascinating and very carefully created documentary, but it didn't scream Oscar winner at me. However given the subject matter and innovation I think The Act of Killing will win this one.

Best Documentary Short

• CaveDigger, Facing Fear, Karama Has No Walls, The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall

I couldn't find any of these online, and am guessing The Lady in Number 6 just based on a bit of reading.

Best Film Editing

• American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, 12 Years a Slave

If American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave or Dallas Buyers Club get an award for editing I'm going to cry, each of them was too long and too chuggy, utterly failing to keep me engrossed in the film. That certainly was not the case for the lean 90 minutes of Gravity, and I can't imagine the same is true for Captain Phillips so I don't mind either of these winning. On a coin flip I'll put Captain Phillips.

Best Foreign Language Film

• The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium) – A lovely and heart-breaking film. Relatively accessible thanks to the heavy use of English language music and pretty universal themes.


• The Great Beauty (Italy) – I lasted less than half an hour before giving up in horror. It's the kind of film that certain people rave about and I just don't get, all shouting and loudness with no discernable plot.


• The Hunt (Denmark) – powerful and depressing to watch, but I found it was slightly undermined by relying too heavily on clumsy misunderstandings, although it just may be naïve of me to believe that people wouldn't be that quick to turn on their friends. Mads Mikkelson's performance is stunning.


• The Missing Picture (Cambodia) – I haven't seen


• Omar (Palestine) – I haven't seen

What I would like to win – based on just 3 out of 5, I think The Broken Circle Breakdown is the stand out.
What I think will win – I think The Hunt may have the edge due to it being heavier subject matter and Mads Mikkelson being a familiar face.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

• Dallas Buyers Club, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, The Lone Ranger

It's weird that American Hustle isn't on this list given that frankly it's a film entirely about hair. It's also depressing that Lone Ranger and Bad Grandpa get to describe themselves as "Oscar nominated". Surely it's got to go to Dallas Buyers Club?

Best Original Score

• The Book Thief (John Williams), Gravity (Steven Price), Her (William Butler, Owen Pallett), Philomena (Alexandre Desplat), Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)

At 89 John Williams' collects his 49th nomination and despite having no idea what the music was like for The Book Thief, I'd rather like him to win just because he's a legend. I have to say none of the films I saw had particularly standout scores, but then that's part of the point I guess. Saving Mr. Banks made good use of the themes from Mary Poppins, but that seems like cheating. I'll guess the winner will be Gravity.

Best Original Song

• Happy (Despicable Me 2) – a nice enough pop/easy listening tune, I have to admit I didn't even realise it was original. Nothing special.


• Let It Go (Frozen) – I loved this song when I heard it and have had it repeatedly come back into my head ever since. It's powerful and a perfect moment for the film.


• The Moon Song (Her) – all plinky plunky and whispery. Somewhat insufferable.


• Ordinary Love (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom) – A U2 song. Nothing more or less.

Let it Go should and will win. I hope. Please not U2.

Best Production Design

• American Hustle, Gravity, The Great Gatsby, Her, 12 Years a Slave

My logic with production design is always that creating something new is harder than re-creating a current or period setting, so by that logic American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave and Gravity are all benched. Although Great Gatsby is a period piece it's taking that to a new level, “luhrmannising" everything for 3D, HD and bling, so I think I'll opt for Gatsby (although Her also looked fantastic from the trailer).

Best Animated Short Film

• Feral, Get a Horse!, Mr. Hublot, Possessions, Room on the Broom

I was really pleased to see Room on the Broom on the list, I thought it was utterly charming. The only other one that I've seen is Get a Horse which was on the front of Frozen, I must confess to be being initially dismissive because of the old style of animation, but it was cleverly integrated to 3d in the end. So I'd like to see Room on the Broom win, but I think that Get a Horse will.

Best Live Action Short Film

• Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me), Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything) , Helium, Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?), The Voorman Problem

No idea, Helium seems the popular choice though

Best Sound Editing

• All Is Lost, Captain Phillips, Gravity, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Lone Survivor

Gravity. The Hobbit didn't seem anything special, and I haven't seen the others, but Gravity's sound was phenomenal from the opening moments where the distant voices appear.

Best Sound Mixing

• Captain Phillips, Gravity, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Inside Llewyn, Lone Survivor

I neither know nor particularly care what the difference is between sound editing and mixing, so I think this will also go to Gravity.

Best Visual Effects

• Gravity, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Iron Man 3, The Lone Ranger, Star Trek Into Darkness

All were impressive, but Gravity will and should walk this one. I'd have nominated Elysium over Lone Ranger, I think Neil Blomkamp's use of completely integrated and gritty effects is innovative, just a shame the rest of the film around them wasn't up to the same level.

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Before Midnight, Captain Phillips, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street

When it comes to assessing adapted screenplays I always want to have read the original AND seen the adaption, because to me this should be as much about the difficulty of conversion, as about the quality of the eventual output. I suspect 12 Years a Slave was the biggest challenge and the likely winner, although I thought the final film had some sizeable flaws (several extremely simplistic characters), personally I'd rather see Philomena win.

Best Original Screenplay

• American Hustle, Blue Jasmine, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, Nebraska

I'm pretty ambivalent about these nominations. American Hustle and Dallas Buyers Club had significant flaws in the writing, and Her I hear pushed suspension of disbelief too far. Nebraska I don't know, so by default my vote goes to Blue Jasmine, despite the fact that I didn't really like it. I suspect however the winner will be American Hustle.

Unemployment may be bad for the bank account, but it's certainly good for the film watching, with nearly 7 months off work, 2013 was my most unemployed year ever and correspondingly a record breaker for number of films watched, with an unlikely total of 187, more than a film every other day. (See bottom of page for full list and links to individual reviews.) 90% of them were films that were new to me which is quite satisfying. It really wouldn't be possible to watch that number of films without a subscription service and I continue to endorse Lovefilm, with 144 of my films coming from there which comes out at roughly 80p per film (and I watched a fair amount of TV via either dvd or streaming as well). I still get the vast majority of my films via post (mostly blu ray), as the online availability tends to be fairly limited. There's usually *something* I don't mind watching, but it's rarely something from high on my list.

Cinema
I'm a bit surprised to see I've clocked up 27 cinema visits this year. Given the 80p per film from Lovefilm, the cinema is a phenomenally expensive experience in London (my 'local' is now over 11 quid for a non-3D film) and given the general public and questionable service the stuff around the actual film can be far from pleasant. But for pure experience of film, you still can't really beat it. I specifically avoided 3D most of the time, unwilling to pay the extra for and often poorer viewing experience. The exceptions were Gravity which while not necessarily better in 3D, certainly wasn't worse, and Frozen which I saw in 2d but think that the animation style would have been quite impressive in 3D.

Ages
Nearly a quarter of my films were from 2013, exactly a quarter were from 2012 and 56% of the films overall were from the 2010s. 15% were from the 2000s, 11% from the 90s and then a gradually decreasing scattering all the way back to one film from the 1930s. I'm actually quite pleased with that distribution. Over the years I've really tried to watch older films and so have really made quite a significant dent on the list of classics and find it harder and harder to find films from the past that I want to watch.

Genres
Trying to label the genre of films is increasingly hard as everything seems to be a mixture. Do you need wizards and magic to be fantasy, or do you just need some weird dream sequences (Beasts of the Southern Wild?) Should a comedy be defined as something that's supposed to be funny, or something that's actually funny? On basic assessment 20% of the films I saw this year were 'comedies' but I laughed in very few of them and the funniest films by far were the animations I saw. It was a pretty low year for science fiction (just 7% compared to 30% last year) and although the number of documentaries and world films were high (4 and 12 respectively) the percentages were less impressive (2% and 6%).

Quality
The average rating of the films I watched this year was 6.37, almost dead on the overall average of 6.35. Just under half of the films rated 7 or higher which I count as 'good', and 48% were middling (5-7) which leaves only 8% (15 films) as in the pretty miserable range. I'm a bit surprised it's that low, it felt like I regularly had to slog my way through awful offerings from people who should know better, but in fact the vast majority of films were actually at the very least, watchable.

2013 Films
43 films were from 2013, plus another half dozen or so that are technically 2012, but weren't released in the UK until 2013. The standout film of the year was Gravity, and in fact if my ratings are to be believed, it's the standout film of cinema in general. It's the only film that I've ever awarded a ten out of ten to, and I agonised for a long time over whether I should do so, but in the end, I couldn't think of a single thing that I didn't like about it, even after a second watch. I suspect it will drop eventually, but for now it's the most perfect film I've ever seen. That's not to say it's necessarily got the highest aims, it is at it's heart a disaster movie with spectacular cinematography, but I was utterly and completely engrossed and entertained for the entire 90 minutes of it's perfect runtime.

The only 9/10 films were actually all from 2012 in the US but I saw them in cinemas in 2013. Wreck-It Ralph was a seemingly effortless combination of originality, character and story, while Lincoln was an acting masterclass from Daniel Day Lewis, and in addition to being predictably fascinating, it was surprisingly humorous. Life of Pi was technically released in the UK just within 2012, but I saw it in the cinema early in the new year and was suitably impressed that the unfilmable book was so beautifully translated to the screen.

There were about a dozen 8s, interestingly they were almost all 'entertaining' films, rather than necessarily 'worthy' ones. Despicable Me 2 has unceasingly made me laugh over and over again at even the faintest hint of a references to the minions ("pfft, bottom", "eh... no.", "banana?!") and Frozen a beautiful and original story and songs that I haven't been able to get out of my head. Iron Man 3, Olympus Has Fallen and Pacific Rim were all massively entertaining romps, while Philomena, The Kings of Summer and About Time were all much more understated character pieces that drew me in and had me reaching for the tissue box. Side Effects was another film that, like Gravity, took its genre (psychological thriller) and elevated it to something beyond expectations while Warm Bodies and Robot and Frank both managed to completely avoid all traditional genres to form original and charming films that defy categorisation. Finally Behind the Candelabra and Pitch Perfect were both jaw droppingly engrossing and entertaining.

At the opposite end of the spectrum there were a few real turkeys, frequently scuppered by their over-indulgent run-times and lack of good editing. I had pretty low expectations for The Lone Ranger and it certainly met them, but the disappointment I felt at The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was crushing. It was just dull. The plot was stretched out paper thin and they failed to fill in the gaps with interesting characters, instead just using fairground ride action and melodramatic exposition. Mind you, Sharknado won the prize for the lowest rating, and that couldn't have been saved by reducing the runtime unless it was reduced to 20 seconds with someone just reading the title and premise out.

In the middle were a few "could have been better". World War Z was a perfectly fine "Brad Pitt saves the world from zombies" film, but wasted the amazing premise and structure of the book on an unrecognisable story. Star Trek Into Darkness was a rollicking action adventure spoilt by utter laziness when it came to pulling the plot together into something that made sense. The Great Gatsby on the other hand had a solid story (obviously) but I actually felt Luhrman was too subdued in his style!

Other viewing highlights
There were a number of recent films from the last couple of years that I picked up via Lovefilm. Hotel Rwanda (2004) was a devastatingly powerful film which taught me a lot about a story I knew embarrassingly little of, Don Cheadle's performance was just incredible. One Hour Photo (2002) demonstrates why Robin Williams is wasted in comedy as he's phenomenally creepy in this very well put together 'little' thriller. Margin Call is a relatively small film that people may have missed, but it has a great cast (Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Zachary Quinto) and is an informative look at the early days of the financial crisis. Perks of Being a Wallflower is another indie film that was easily missed in cinemas (I even tried to see if and couldn't find it) but is a charming and vibrant look at misfit teens.

Older films that I finally caught that actually live up to the label of classics - Dial M for Murder, Gregory's Girl and Local Hero. They're badly dated now of course, but each manages to raise above the imitators and descendants admirable. On the documentary front two standouts are Man on Wire and The The Imposter, both about French men performing amazing feats of nerve and balance - one a tightrope walker, the other a conman.

Other viewing lowlights
I waited until the full series was available before watching the Twilight film, but as it turned out I needn't have bothered waiting because I barely made it through the first film. I found the books thoroughly entertaining, but the film somehow manages to emphasise all the worst elements and the casting is cataclysmically awful.

Some 'classics' that turned out to be miserable - Blue Velvet (no idea what was happening and thoroughly unpleasant to watch), Hello, Dolly! (budgets over chemistry), La Dolce Vita (horrifically dull) and Gone in 60 Seconds (1974) (boring exposition followed by boring car chase). There were also a few of last year's critically acclaimed films that I was distinctly underwhelmed by - Zero Dark Thirty (utterly muddled messages and storytelling), Berberian Sound Studios (pretentious nonsensical mess) and Amour (stunning performances, utterly tedious)

( Full list of films, ratings and links to reviews )

My summer holidays this year have been rather undramatic compared to the almost overwhelming excitement of the Olympics last year. Most of my activity has been puttering back and forth to Cambridge to visit the doubled-in-number Whitfield clan, and while Cambridge and the surrounding villages are lovely, and there have been plenty of cream teas involved, my trips haven't exactly been holiday-esque. So I was particularly delighted when my brother declared that we had to go somewhere, and then completely blew me away by organising the whole thing himself! We weren't up for anything particularly adventurous (or expensive) so we settled on a two day visit to York.



One of the best things about that destination was the extremely easy travel arrangements. A tube journey to King's Cross then a couple of hours non-stop to York. We treated ourselves to first class (Grand Central Railways) which was worth it for the peace and quiet, although was somewhat lacking in pampering (tea/coffee/juice, a couple of packets of biscuits and a free copy of The Times on the way back). A lovely way to travel, so much less stressful than flying or driving.



We had a lovely 36 hours or so in York, a wonderful mixture of seeing the sights and just chilling out in different and pleasant surroundings. It's a very compact city, nothing is really more than 15 minutes walk away, and most of the routes take you through the lovely little narrow streets (I feel I should have an address on Little Shambles). We stayed at the "Hampton by Hilton" which was nice enough - not particularly luxurious but friendly, bright, clean and functional.

A few highlights:
The National Railway Museum which is right next to the station in an old depot. It's free to get in (although you're encouraged to buy a £6 guide or make a £3 donation) and is truly impressive. There are dozens of trains on display, all beautifully maintained and polished. I'm not much of a train geek, but this is the kind of place that can easily convert you. If I were being critical, I'd have liked slightly more structure to the exhibits so you could see the chronology, and also a more modern exhibit on how steam trains worked (there was a very cool full scale cutaway, but the information boards were badly done). I heartily recommend it, even the "warehouse" where they just have all their additional stuff on shelves, was oddly compelling.



York Minster - The building is literally stunning, it's wildly out of proportion with the rest of the city, and looms into view at street junctions, dominating every view. Unfortunately a few bits are covered in scaffolding and the whole of the east window is out being restored, but on the plus side there were some fascinating exhibitions on the astonishing care and attention the restorations are being done with. I was particularly amused to see the Blue Peter Bosses in the south transept, I remember entering that competition!



The Jorvic Centre - I'm often not a big fan of museums, I get bored easily and tend to spend more time thinking up better ways to deliver the information. The Jorvic Centre however has an excellent reputation and it's reasonably well deserved. Taking us round the panoramas and recreations in little cars like the rides at Disney was a really good way of not just forcing us to pay attention, but structuring the information as a story. The second section was well staffed with experts so you could listen to them enthusiastically and knowledgeably talk about the science of the archeology and the history of the Vikings. The whole thing was quite a lot shorter than I expected, but really well put together.

York's Chocolate Story - a relatively new addition to the city and a bit hidden, but it was a real highlight for me. You're taken on a guided tour which starts off with a history of some of the famous names in chocolate that were based around York (Terry, Rowntree, Tuke and Craven) with a brilliant use of video, then you learn how chocolate is made, play with some yourself and get a live demonstration from an expert chocolatier. Everyone involved was really interesting and charismatic and there were plenty of samples available.