Another Academy Award Movie Nominee

We checked off another Academy Award movie nominee this evening. This time from the comfort of our home thanks to Amazon Instant Video.

Nebraska is about a son dealing with aging parents. It's amusing and sad at the same time. And it's disturbingly real made more so by being shot in black and white.

Everyone responsible for the making of Nebraska deserves recognition for a job well done. But I would still give the Oscar to Dallas Buyers Club.

However, I would give the Best Actress in a Supporting Role award to June Squibb for her role as the mother in Nebraska. Plan to see Nebraska if for no other reason than to see 84-year-old Squibb's outstanding performance.

Good Lunch, Good Movie

Today we had lunch at a new-to-us restaurant, Brio Tuscan Grille. We arrived around 12:30 p.m. and had to wait 10 minutes for a table. The space is very large so, right away, we suspected the food must be good.

We started with the Bruschetta Quattro, a $14.95 item we got free by simply submitting our email address through their website. (Well, actually, we started with the complimentary bread basket which was a little bit of heaven!) For entries, hubby got the Shrimp Mediterranean and I got the Risotto and Insalata. For dessert we shared a single serving of vanilla gelato as a final indulgence. Absolutely everything we ate was beyond delicious. We will definitely be back.

After lunch, we saw another one of the Academy Award movie nominees, Philomena, which is based on a true story. We thoroughly enjoyed it, but never expected we wouldn't. Has Judi Dench ever made a bad film? The only people I can imagine not liking Philomena are diehard narrow-minded Catholics. Fortunately for us, we're not one of them. But as good as Philomena was, I still feel the award should go to Dallas Buyers Club. Just one more week until we find out what the Academy thinks.

The snow is gone, temperatures are rising, our bellies are full with good food, and our minds and hearts have been challenged and touched by an excellent film. What a great day!

Our Young Public Speaker

This Tuesday, my grandson, Elliott, will be one of the handful of students from his school speaking to 200 educators attending the region's Leader In Me symposium. Elliott just turned eight and is only in second grade!

As is not unusual for children with above-average intelligence, Elliott is super sensitive and emotional, which sometimes causes, what we call, "breakdowns." With maturity, however, he's gotten much better at managing frustrations. A five-step approach the school counselor taught him has also been a big help. In fact, he's been doing so well this school year, Elliott is now mentoring two younger students with similar challenges, which is why he was chosen to speak at the symposium.

From very early on, it was obvious to me, his papa, and his parents that Elliott is a leader. Now it's obvious to many others, too. And I just love imagining the possibilities for Elliott's future.

The 3D Experience

In a continuing effort to see all the movies nominated for a 2014 Academy Award, today hubby and I saw our first 3D movie. At this point, it's getting harder to find a nominee in a theater. The AMC closest to us brought back Gravity for a short showing, but only in 3D. So we decided it was a good opportunity to experience 3D for ourselves.

First, the movie. The special effects were amazing as was Sandra Bullock's acting. But as much as Bullock's reaction to her situation was believable, the movie's plot was not. I believe Gravity was justly nominated for several awards, just not the one for best movie.

Now, regarding 3D. I don't believe it added anything to this movie. I definitely feel it wasn't worth the higher ticket price. Plus I found placing 3D glasses over my own glasses slightly annoying.

All in all, however, Gravity was an entertaining 91 minutes. And now we're left with just five nominees to see before the Oscar show on March 2. But unless at least four of the five become available through Amazon within the next two weeks, I don't think we're going to make it.