A post for pre- Oscars 2016!

This year is not like any other year when it comes to Oscar predictions...this year, the awards like SAG, Globe and various others are going in a much varying way. It's not like a motion picture is winning it all and winning it everywhere like "Birdman" did last year.
I did give it a second thought that whether I should do it this year or not , since it's not so subtle as every year but then I though "C'mon, it's gonna be more fun this year, I get to use my gut feeling and all :p " So here you go guys, this is me trying to make oscar predictions like every year(though I had the draft ready for last year but failed to post it since I was travelling and all so )

Best Motion Picture:
This category had me quite irritated and excited at the same time. Spotlight which may win but won't coz you know, it's shot more like a documentary sort of a way and the voting might favor Spotlight and The Big Short but the real fight is indeed between " The Big Short " and "The Revenant" this year. Now you guys see the confusion that I was talking about previously. One subtle guess says "The Revenant" is the real deal this year but my gut feeling says "The Big Short" gets it this year.

Best Director:
This category's win will make Inarritu (Director of The Revenant) the first Director since 1950, to win 2 consecutive Academy in a row.

Best Actor:
Man, this guy has been the butt of all the social networking memes and jokes over the years, but make more jokes if you want right now 'coz after this time , you can't make 'em anymore because Leonardo DiCaprio will finally get an academy award this year. Yes, Finally! And that too for an oscar worthy performance not unlike other great actors who didn't get it when they really deserved it but eventually received  it for a performance less worthy when compared to their past roles. Fassbender may have been a strong contender but this time it's Caprio's year and Fassbender can wait.

Best Actress:
Brie Larson, for her absolutely brilliant performance in Room is hands down the most deserving contender in this category and she is going to get it this year.

Best Actor in a Supporting role:
Stallone after years when he returns in the Rocky franchise might actually really win this year with the only strong other contender  being Mark Rylance for his portrayal in Bridge of Spies. But frankly speaking I wanted either Ruffalo ( for Spotlight) or Hardy( for The Revenant) to win this year but you don't really always get what you want, do you?

Best Actress in a Supporting role:
Alicia Vikander for a terrific performance in The Danish girl should be winning it this year. Jury also might be quite impressed with her role in Ex-machine , so that's another plus point for her. And the only tough opponent being Kate Winslet for her fantastic role in Steve Jobs.

Best Cinematography:
With "The Revenant" again winning in this category too, Emmanuel Lubezki will be the first to win 3 in a row. His visuals are just too darn good to be ignored. Another chances here are "Carol" and maybe "Brooklyn" too.

Best Animated feature:
Inside out, will be winning it this year. Period. There's not much competition here in this category except "Anomalisa" being another great animated feature this year.

Best Sound Mixing/Editing :
These two has to go to Mad max for that epic background scores complementing the visual delight this movie had to offer. Also "The Revenant" is a great contender here too.

A post for Post-Oscars!

To say the least , 86th Annual Academy Awards was Bang on! :D

And If I say ,”Man , I’ll be damned if these are the academy award winners this year”, then that would be an understatement and that would make me a humble person. But then again , I am not that humble , right?....You guys know me. I am not :p
So , I am overjoyed to say “I told you so” :p
Yep , I am talking about the guesses I made via my previous blog post. To state the truth , I was literally flabbergasted while watching the event this morning (ya , I got up at 5:30 a.m. to see the Oscars .Thinking about that , if I would have got up during my academic years with the same dedication then probably I could have ended up as a scientist somewhere :p :p) to see , how accurate my guesses were and a lil.shocked too  o_O

Check out the following screenshot:

You guys can also watch the repeat telecast , which airs at 8:00 p.m.(Indian Time) today i.e. 3^rd  March on Star Movies. J

And the Oscar goes to....!

If you are a Movie Aficionado , you truly are as excited as I am then. And Academy awards are definitely the most prestigious award an entity on Celluloid can receive , not that the other awards are not important but an Oscar is indeed the maximum you can go.

So , yeah they are just a couple of days away , and I had this urge to write a post depicting my excitement and off course some guesses are on the way too.

Like we do for our home awards like IIFA ,Stardust etc. For me , Farhan Akhtar’s role in the Biopic was a clear winner and also a definite favorite for many too. Wasn’t sure about the best actress in a leading role , my top considerations would have been Sonakshi Sinha for Lootera and Deepika for Ram-leela I guess. But was sure about the Best film though , It had to be Bhaag Milkha Bhaag for it’s direction and screenplay . I personally wanted “The Lunchbox” to win the Best film award, but then again since I know how the Jury have been in the past years, odd were against it. A little commercial touch has to be there , to make it to the top. People say , Indian audience needs to be mature now, I say “Jury , you guys be mature first”. My best Bollywood films from the year 2013 are : The Lunchbox , Madras Café , D-day and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. And the movie that I can watch again and again, has to be Yeh Jawaani hain Dewaani , don’t know why but lately that movie is definitely my feel good movie after Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara .:D

Now, coming back to the 86^th Annual Academy Awards , the year 2013 has indeed had some epic roles/performances  and there have been movies being tagged as “Cult” Classics. Plus  the movies this year being nominated are not particularly that exact “Oscar type” material as many may see. It’s like when I ask one of my friends  to tag along for a academy award nominated movie , he says“ I am not in for that slow,  boring , sadistic stuff man , I would rather sleep here on this couch”. It is the case with many , most of us think that an Oscar movie has to be Slow and extremely boring . But that is definitely not the case ,ones who appreciate it as a work of art rather than just  a commercial stuff would know the difference for sure. And what I could feel this year was , most of the movies being nominated are equally enjoyable too. Like American Hustle , The Wolf of Wall Street, Gravity, Her, Nebraska ….these movies were intriguing and engaging to almost everybody.

And from last couple of years , I do make sure I watch every single movie nominated for the academies. It’s kind of a ritual now. :p At least all the ones being nominated for Best Picture, I make sure I cover ‘em.”Watch ‘em all before the Red Carpet event”. So unlike last year I successfully watched every single one of ‘em this year . It gives you a feeling of content when you are actually watching the award ceremony and you can know who’s being acknowledged for what.

So here are my guesses or let say my gut feeling about the main event.

Best Picture – 12 years a slave

Best director – Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity

Best Actor Male – Matthew McConaughey  for Dallas Buyers Club

Best actor Female – Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine / Sandra Bullock for Gravity

Best Actor Supporting male – Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actor Supporting female -  Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle

Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen/Original Screenplay -  Her

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year – Frozen

Best Achievement in Cinematography – Gravity

Best Costume – American Hustle/The Great Gatsby

Phewww….that’s a hell lot of guesses . Yeah , let’s see what’s in store for us.

Sadly ,there are chances that  Leonardo Di Caprio will miss out again , after yet another worthy performance for the Academy Award.  The Aviator and The Wolf of wall street are his career best performances so far,according to me.  On one side we have Leonardo Di Caprio , who hasn’t got an Oscar yet , and on the other hand we have Meryl Streep being nominated for the 18^th time now, though she has won 3 Oscars. Yep , you heard that right , 3 Oscars for real. Caprio , it’s not like your career has been torpedoed by other performers , it’s just hard luck man . We all know you are one of the finest actors and we do understand your level of frustration too (by the sarcastic  comments he made on some actors) , so there….there…I sincerely wish ,you get it this year.

P.S. – I know people , for whom watching an Oscar winning movie scares the living daylights out of ‘em. But it is not true from a last couple of years atleast. They are deserving and equally enjoyable too. J

I still consider myself as naïve in watching some serious stuffs , but over the years I have learned to enjoy ‘em .

So do watch ‘em if you get a chance. :D

Another Important thing : When can you catch the event screening live?....If you are in India then make sure you do ‘ve a strong …strong cup of coffee for the event ‘coz you gotta tune into Star Movies  at 5:30 a.m.3^rd Feb March 2014 Indian time and 2^nd Feb March 2014 8:30 p.m U.S. time.

P.P.S – Eagerly waiting for “And the OSCAR goes to….” J

Liebster III , IV & V . :D :D :D

Readers …I feel you & I feel for you too. I know for sure that you are terribly bored of reading the post where I am showing my excitement after winning another award & go on with the rules,trivias,yippity yappity stuff..blah ..blah..& blah. I thought I wouldn’t post a yet another thank you post acknowledging the award but then again I realized eventually that I owe it to the awesome fellow bloggers who nominated me on the first place,who consider me worth the appreciation & might be expecting at least a post. So for them , I am actually ok to be considered as a bore for a while but trust me readers , I will make it up to you soon & in sometime soon will post some worthwhile kick-ass reading material. (Even this one is, if you can bear with me for some minutes :p)

 

Liebster III – Now if I say , I got nominated for a liebster by a national bestselling author , would you believe me. Nope you woudn’t ,’coz I am just a rookie , a newbie.Even I can’t believe it myself. But trust me when I say , yep I did get a nomination from such a great , supportive , awesome fellow blogger who happens to be the writer of the national bestseller “The other side of the bed”. He is none other than Bhavya Kaushik. And do checkout his wonderful space”Walking barefoot on broken glass” here . Thanks Bhavya for the award & the continuous support & suggestions you gave to make my blog better.This person has always answered to every single query that I have chipped in , nomatter how busy he is ..he surely get backs to you. You are humble & a great human being. Keep rocking.

Answers to Bhavya’s Q’s

1.     Why did you start blogging?
      Sometimes I have this urge to write .Needed a channel to jot down my thoughts & make it a worthwhile read for others.

2.      How did you choose the title of your blog and how is it relevant to what you write?
      I came across this word when I was going through an article & I kinda liked the sound of it. Couple of years later when I decide to start a blog , don’t know why but this seemed to be an apt title ‘coz I am a total movie freak. I love books..more like a bibliophile who has a good reading habit(I try :p). Travelling has always fascinated me..have led a trekking group more than once now & I kinda feel I am good at the travelling thing. I like trying new delicacies. So there were so many things & “Aficionado” seemed an apt title for the blog.

3.     If you could travel anywhere in this world, where would you go?
      Now this has to be the toughest one. Because I want to see the world atleast 80% before my last breath. For the time being I would settle with let say , Buenos Aires ,Argentina. Just have a lot of good reviews from my peer group.

4.      What is your favourite book and why?
      Haven’t read many yet ..but so far City of thieves by David Benioff which I read recently comes to my mind. His writing style is quite impressive & I am a fan of this author who happens to be the writer of “Game of Thrones” , Stay ,Troy , 25^th hour. All the work that I have enjoyed a lot.

5.      Who is your biggest inspiration?
      A Traveller. Eventually he/she tends to be at peace with anything to everything in life. I Like that. A specific inspirational figure :I would have to say “Sachin Tendulkar”. He is calm, composed, determined,ethical & specially down to earth after being such a famous/known person in India & across the world.

6.      If you were writing an autobiography, what would the title be?
     The title would say something like “ Hey you! Nikhil here”

7.     Do you have any short term/ long term goals that you’re working towards?
     Short term…hmm…to be good at whatever that I am doing right now,make my loved ones happy & to be a lil.responsible :p Long term  - Want to write a lot. Travel a lot . Live life “ a lot”. J

8.     If you could pick one character from a book to be your best friend, who would you pick and why?
          It certainly would be the genie(Jinn) from The Arabian Nights. I used to admire his loyalty &    friendship towards Alladin.

9.     How long have you been blogging? What was the experience like?
      It’s almost 3 months. And the experience has been “Legend” …wait for it …”dary”.. Legendary , awesome & great. My blog is 3 months old & so far I have won 5 Liebsters & 3 Versatile Blog Awards.:)

10.  What is one of your fondest childhood memories?
      I used to purchase a lot of gums,wafers & stuffs just for the free stuff that you get as an offer or   something. The happiness when I get my hands on ‘em..ahh.. .Simply amazing!

                          
                                         Thanks again , Bhavya. It means a lot ! :D

Liebster IV -  They say three’s the charm but fourth is a lot better. I got nominated by a true fanatic Divya , the blogger of “Fanatic’s Farce”. She has a lovely blog & is a Big boss fan as well. Her writing according to me is elegant & simple yet so powerful. Do checkout her blog to know more.

Answers to Divya –

1)       What is your favourite place and why?

Dehradun , ‘coz I did my engineering there & have so many awesome memories attached to that place plus it is indeed the best place to settle down once you grow old. As in a tourist destination , would love to go to England sometime.

2)       What would be that one wild thing you intend to do in your lifetime?

Hmmm…that’s “actually” tough to answer. I intend to do a lot of wild things(remaining from the list :p) in my complete lifetime. I am not sure whether it counts as a wild thing but I  always wanted to have a tiger or a jungle animal as a pet. I am not sure it’s allowed here but I would love to. Or would like to cover all the countries in this world before my last breath. ;) Now one of’em atleast is a wild thing.:p

3)       How do you define serenity? Illustrate with examples.

According to me ,Serenity is when you feel content & happy. I mean..at peace even if it’s for a moment. I feel like that when I am visiting some place that I have always wanted to check out , getting my hands on a book that I always wanted to have , listening to a song that I feel like putting on repeat ,watching my all time fav.movies on a holiday afternoon after brunch & offcourse some quality time with my family.  

4)       If you were to ask only one question to an alien, what would that be?

Are you guys actually that brilliant & intelligent or it’s just the movies that creates the hype ? :p

5)       Light shades or dark colours? Reasons?

Dark colors. ‘coz I think it looks awesome.

6)       What is your dream job?

Not one. Would like to juggle between a part time traveler ,Writer ,movie critic ,software guy i.e. A full time Aficionado. I don’t think they have jobs for people like me. 

7)       Describe your favourite birthday experience.

Every b’day has something special but one that stands out is when I surprised my mom , by knocking on my home door an hr before my b’day, when I was actually suppose to be miles away from home.

8)       Given a chance, what will you change about the planet earth?

Would love to change it’s revolution in such a way that Nights become longer than Days :p

9)       What do you do when you have absolutely free time?

Hmm…I watch movies.

10)   What is it that you don’t like in someone?

Not living their life to the fullest. Life is definitely worth being lively.

Liebster V – Five is my lucky number by the way. I have always lived with this thought. It’s either 14 or 5. So , yaa…my fifth nomination came from the lovely journalist Parvathy from “Speak Out”.I like her writing style which expresses rich & subtle meanings so easily. I love reading the real time experiences that she shares so wonderfully.If you don’t believe me just check out “Speak Out” to see what I am talking about.:)

Answering the questions asked by Parvathy –

1.      What is more important -- being competitive, or being compassionate?

Being compassionate.

2.      Why did you start blogging?

To fulfill my urge to write.

3.       How does blogging help you?

Helps me satisfy the urge as mentioned in the previous answer. I feel content.

4.      If you could change something about you, what would it be?

Naah …nothing I am just perfect :p

5.      Who is person you think about when you close your eyes?

It depends on the moment when /where/why I am closing my eyes.

6.      What is your favourite dish?

Steaks in any form is my fav. dish.

7.      Which is your favourite sitcom?

Friends/The Big bang theory.

8.      Which book are you reading now?

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

9.      What are your hobbies?

I am a movie freak who loves reading books, playing cricket, table tennis & visiting places.

10.  What does this award mean to you?

It makes me realize that starting a blog was definitely one of the best decisions that I have made in my life so far.

P.S. – Bhavya , Divya & Parvathy . My apologies. I am extremely sorry for the delay caused. I know it’s almost a month since the nomination. But I do accept this award with great pleasure, honor & gratitude. Thanks for the support. J J

NOTE: I just got to know about a rule recently. It says,you can’t share your liebster more than once. So yeah..I won’t be nominating anyone but frankly speaking I wanted to. Anyways, will keep the names intact for the next big thing. J

My Second Liebster this week!...Double happy & double honoured.:)

Now isn’t this awesome. Last Saturday I got an Indimail from Bhumi of “Hey Listen Wait” saying , I was one of the nominees chosen by her for the Liebster Blog Award. I was damn happy that I being a newbie  got this appreciation or let say a memento of confidence & support  from a fellow blogger . It felt so good that yaa, my  blog is being noticed. I was sure that this can’t get any better but I didn’t know what’s in store for me the next day.

Then comes the people’s favorite day of the week “Sunday”. Started off pretty normal & then around evening I saw a comment on one of my posts from the diva :Manpreet , from “the glamorous diva” in which she says that, She’s nominating me for a liebster on her blog & this time I was like, “Man , you are on a roll or what!”. Best weekend (Blog wise :p) ever.

So here I am with my second Liebster Blog Award & I can’t be more happy writing this post. Blogging for me has always been  like satisfying the urge to write , to jot down the random pondering thoughts , to share , to bring to you fellow bloggers some worthwhile reading material . Can’t thank you guys enough for the support.

The Liebster Blog Award: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely. Started in Germany(probably) & is used to highlight new/recent/lesser known blogs or let say blogs with less than 200 followers.

This is how it works

To accept the award, you must complete the following:

»   Link back to the persons blog that have nominated you

»   Nominate 10 more bloggers whom you feel are deserving of more subscribers & you pass the award on to them.

»   Answer all questions posted by the nominator

»   Create 10 questions for the nominees

»   Contact the nominees and let them know that they have been nominated for the Liebster

Now it’s me…Answering the questions by Manpreet ..

>If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why?

Hmmm…..maybe an Island with all the possible amenities  or a house most likely at Malibu facing the sea ‘coz I always wanted to do that .:p

> What is your favorite meal.

Steak for dinner .:D

> What is the first thing you do in the morning?

Hit the snooze button( at least 5 times :p)

> The girl next door or the wild one??

It depends on, how wild is the girl next door .:D

> Is there anything about yourself that you would like to change or are totally uncomfortable about?

Hmm….nothing as such….I am just Perfect ..:p :p…naah…not even close. I would wanna change how I lose my temper at times.

> Do you have a pet?

Nope ,  Always wanted one, I am a dog person by the way. But my grandparents do have but I don’t think that counts.

> Best book you have read recently?

City Of Thieves by David Benioff

> love or money?

Tough one….just kidding….love would be the logical answer straight from my heart but like they say:”Say  money is not important once you are sure that you have earned enough”:p :D

My nominees for the Liebster Blog Award(in no particular order) are as follows:

Vivek - http://vivexperiment.blogspot.in/

Kathy - http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com/

Neha - http://storywala.blogspot.in/

Vaisakh  - http://themuseumpiece.wordpress.com/

Namrata  - http://namratakumari.wordpress.com/

Harsh - http://www.buildvocab.com/

Maniparna - http://maniparna5002.wordpress.com/

Ankita - http://hummingwords.blogspot.in/

Mansi  - http://www.eatpraylovemovies.com/

Aayesha - http://aayesha1611.blogspot.in/

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Questions for my nominess are:

>In a dilemmic situation , would you listen to your heart or your brain & why?

>Choose between an “Unlimited internet connection for a month” & “1 month of your favorite food delicacy”?

> 5 rare random facts that most people don’t know about you?

> Fictional character(from a book/movie/tv show) that you think closely resembles you.

>Congratulations , you have been just given the opportunity to travel back in time. Which year or occasion & why?

>Coke or Pepsi?

>First thing you would do if you win the lottery (amount can be the maximum you can think of right now):D

>One thing that annoys you the most?

> Something that you would love to do but are too afraid to?

> A superpower or a lot of money….and justify your choice?

Stop!!!...:)

Thanks again!

Congratulations to the nominees!:):D

Start cracking the answers now.

Write on!:)