53 down, 4 to go. Well, not go.

Stumbling in the home stretch. I can relate.

My quest for Oscar-readiness has come to an end. There were 57 movies nominated, and I managed to see 53 of them. Of the remaining 4, two haven't been released yet (Ernest and Celestine, up for Best Animated Film, and The Missing Picture, Cambodia's nominee for Best Foreign Language Film), one is in that limbo world of "gone from theaters, but not out on DVD yet" (Mandela, up for Best Original Song), and one (All Is Lost, up for Best Sound Editing) is available online but I just don't feel like watching it. If I'd been able to see the other three, I'd watch it for the sake of completeness, but since I'm not going to get to the full 57, I just can't watch Robert Redford sail a boat around for two hours while saying almost nothing.

Does this look like a good time to you?

Still, 53 is a lot of movies, and while most of them were great, I did have to slog through some crap when it came to the technical categories. Sure, The Lone Ranger had great makeup and visual effects, but it was a terrible movie. Just bloody awful. Bad Grandpa was no prize either.

But I saw some very cool movies, including the final one I saw, Belgium's entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category: The Broken Circle Breakdown. Did you guys know there is thriving Bluegrass Music community in Belgium? Neither did I. This movie centered on a Belgian bluegrass band (alliteration!), and it was so strange to see. One moment the characters were speaking super Frenchy French, and then they'd pick up a banjo and a fiddle and start singing "Wayfaring Stranger" in perfect, Southern-accented English. They wore cowboy hats and everything. They named their child after Mother Maybelle Carter. I just stared in wonder for the first 45 minutes of the film. Then I promptly downloaded the soundtrack because it is good.

These people are Belgian. I am not even kidding. I love movies!

Until next February, when the 2014 nominees are announced...

Made glorious summer, indeed.

Last night I headed downtown to the Folger Shakespeare Library to see their production of Richard III. Oh, how I love that play, but can I take a moment to talk about the Folger? Do you know about this place? It has the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's works. There are 228 copies of the First Folio still in existence. The Folger has 82 copies. 82 copies! In comparison, the National Library of the UK, the country where Shakespeare was born, lived, and wrote, has two copies. Two. Yeah. This place is so cool, and they put on great Shakespeare productions.

The theater usually looks like this (reminiscent of The Globe, eh?) but for Richard, they put the stage where the seats are, and placed the audience on four sides around it.

The stage had lots of trap doors that they used for the many, many murder scenes. Characters were drowned, strangled, stabbed, etc. and then pulled under the stage. They also projected spooky light up from underneath the stage, which was particularly effective when the ghosts of all Richard's victims visit him on the eve of the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Quite fierce, and yet charming enough to break the fourth wall.

A couple of little redhead brothers played the Princes in the Tower.

Queen Elizabeth

Richard and the treacherous Lord Stanley

"Was ever woman in this humor won?"

The final tableau. Hideous iPhone photo in low light. Sorry.

The coolest thing is that, after Richard was dragged down through the trap door in the center of the stage ("My kingdom for a horse!"), the play ended with the tableau of his skeleton lying under the glass, just like it was recently found lying under a parking lot in Leicester. Macabre and delightful, just like this play.

"This is the only scene the producers were comfortable shooting with kids."

So, my Oscar-readiness plans have gotten sidelined by the Olympics and by becoming horribly ill (How long can one live on Coke and chicken soup? I'll let you know.) but I plan to get back on track soon. If you're unable to get to all the Best Picture nominees, perhaps this rundown will give you an idea of what you're missing.

His nature is too noble for the world: He would not flatter Neptune for his trident, Or Jove for’s power to thunder.

Tonight I went to an NT Live screening at the Shakespeare Theater and saw the best performance of Coriolanus I've ever seen, either on screen or live. Tom Hiddleston had the title role and thank goodness for that. He is so electric. Also, Mark Gatiss (Mycroft Holmes for my fellow Sherlock fans, Hilary Briss/Auntie Val/David Tatsyrup for my fellow League of Gentlemen fans) played Menenius, so that was just a bonus.

Also, I finally beat the evil Level 347 in Candy Crush, so it was a very successful evening.

Precious freezer space, preserved.

This is how I spent my evening, and the results are marvelous.

Thanks, Mom, for the canning lessons.

P.S. Who else is loving this figure skating team competition?

P.P.S. We got the first gold of the games! Let the medal count begin!

The Short Films

This past weekend I had the delight of crossing off ten items from my Oscar list. Ten! How, you ask? Well, they're the short films. Easily seen in the space of an afternoon, but major pay-off for the list-crosser-offer.

Some highlights:

Get a Horse

If you've seen Frozen (and if not, what's wrong with you?), you'll have seen this cute short that cleverly mixes classic Disney animation with modern work.

Room on the Broom

This is based on a beloved children's book, and it was such a delight. I really hope it wins. (The fact that it's narrated by my beloved Simon Pegg doesn't hurt matters.)

The Voorman Problem

This is my pick for live-action short. You may think it's because it has Martin Freeman, whom I adore, and Tom Hollander, whose name in the credits fills me with delight every time, but it's really because it's such a fun little short. It's about a man in a prison for the criminally insane who is convinced he's a god (and has convinced the other prisoners of the same), and the psychiatrist who is called in to treat him. And what a treat it was.

Do I Have to Take Care of Everything

This one's about a harried family trying to get ready for a wedding after they've slept in and various other things have gone terribly wrong. I think the picture says it all.