Oscars 2011: The highlights / The winners' reaction

The 83rd Oscars are history. All in all, British talent was acknowledged yet again, thanks to both The King's Speech and Inception, which scooped 8 awards altogether. Obviously the former was the big hit of the night, winning accolades for Best Film, Best Director and Best Leading Actor, while the latter won the technical categories, namely, sound and visual effects.

Having said this, I watched - as I've usually done the last few years - the ceremony live, and I told my C1 students this morning that I got bored to death. The hosting by Anne and James was appalling. To me they lacked chemistry on stage, as he looked totally uninterested while she was overexcited and, at times, sickly sweet. Nothing to do with the good old days of the great Billy Crystal - or even the acid humor of Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes for that matter. If they were trying to appeal to a younger, hipper audience, the ceremony producers failed to do so - and with a loud crash. To make matters even worse, every odds-on favourite won the Oscar in each category across the board, so there was no space for surprises - Javier Bardem? - that might have spiced up the event a little.

Anyway, enough of my words. An image is worth a thousand of them, it's said, so down below I'm embedding a couple of CNN clips. Firstly, a quick recap of the ceremony's highlights:

Then, the reactions backstage by the joyful winners:

Do you have any comments about the much-hyped annual event? Were you surprised / disappointed by any of the prizes awarded this year? Post your thoughts here, will you?

US TV Series: Gossip Girl

Luis (C1):

Last summer, I had to look after an old relative (my aunt Mercedes, an 89-year-old woman), so I spent many hours in the Clinico Hospital. A friend recommended me the series ‘Gossip Girl’. What amused me was juggling my old aunt with the youth of the main characters in the series. What would my aunt have thought if she had realised how the young girls in the series have fun?

Gossip Girl is an American teen drama, set in New York City. Narrated by an omniscient blogger, known as ‘Gossip Girl’, the series is about the lives of privileged young people from NY’s Upper East Side. It’s said that it doesn’t live up to the hype, but there’s no doubt that Gossi Girl has influenced some of the tastes in fashion, music and culture of adolescents in the US.

Each episode begins with a page on the Gossip Girl’s blog. Then, a recap of events relevant to the upcoming narrative is shown and the plot of the current episode is developed.

This is a YouTube trailer from the serious:

Gossip Girl is now in its fourth season. I must reckon that I just saw the first one and part of the second, but I am hooked on it. So I hope to post another entry by May, with some additional comments about forthcoming seasons. Probably by then I won’t get on well with any of the characters and I’ll be more objective. The main ones are:

- Serena Van der Woodsen, a finely-modelled blonde whose return to NYC unleashes a storm of events and wakes some feelings that were previously slept; her scandalous past is always implicit in the plot.

- Blair Waldorf, a long-haired brunette with a cruel, inquisitive look, and Serena’s longtime friend turned rival.

- Chuck Bass, a textbook bad boy; a womanizer and a charming, privileged party animal who has reasons to be so bad: a tormentous past as well as a set of giant complexes he has to face with.

- Nate Archibald, the cute, perfect ‘Golden boy’ brought up in a wealthy family, which has driven his footsteps to a life he doesn’t like. Chuck’s best friend and Blair’s significant ex-boyfriend.

- Dan Humphrey, a sort of outsider in this context; a boy with ideals, a great heart and manners, in love with Serena.

Apart from these characters, there are some parents, brothers and sisters, which significantly influences the events occurring in the drama: a domineering, absent father, a brother coming "out of the closet", a rebellious sister, etc.

Like in other TV series set in NY (e.g. Sex and the City), the city itself has a prominent role. Its crowded streets, its superb boutiques, its charming cafes and the glamourous night parties show us the intimate side of such an apparently well-known city. The city that, as Sinatra used to sing, doesn’t sleep.

Well, I’m afraid I have no choice to say goodbye but with this quote from the series:

“You know you love me"
X0 X0
Gossip Girl

The Road to the Oscars

As many of you probably know - and it makes me mad that I forgot to mention this in class, too many things in my head! - the 83rd Oscars are slightly over two days away, as the glamorous ceremony will be held this Sunday evening in L.A. , hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco.

You may also remember that Javier Bardem is nominated again, this time for the top notch award of best leading actor, no less. Yet, he doesn't seem to stand many chances - nor does Biutiful in the Foreign Language Film category - since King's Speech star Colin Firth is the odds-on favourite in all bets. It remains to be seen how many accolades the box-office hit, critically acclaimed British flick will scoop, apparently quite a few on paper ...

Anyway, I've just watched this interesting feature called "The Road to the Oscars", which I'm embedding down below courtesy of the official web oscar.go.com and I urge you to visit if only to see a wealth of film clips in original version.

I was wondering if you would also like to enter a small competition, just for the sake of fun, you know, though I can spice it up with an enticing prize, maybe a DVD or something, like I did foe the Christmas quiz, remember? The thing is that, why not, I'll email you a printable ballot containing the 24 main categories so that you can play the prediction game and see how many winners you guess right, right?

Then you would send me a message by Sunday evening - a word document, say - with your own choices, and we'll see who was more accurate in their predictions, right? Let me just say I'll be recording the ceremony live on Pro7, the German TV channel - as I've been doing for the last 6/7 years - so that you'll be able to see it too when I edit the stuff.

Fair enough, to whet your "Oscar appetite", here's the short feature I told you about at the beginning of this entry. I just loved listening to British director Kenneth Brannagh, an Oscar nominee himself in the past, with his precise, elegant English accent, appraising this year's nominees in the live action short film category. Will you hear the piece too?

Raquel (C1): Variety is the spice of life

I am really fond of TV series, specially American ones, and I´m sure most of you have heard of or watched productions such as The Sopranos, The Wire, The Big Band Theory, MadMen, How I Met Your Mother, Lost, Six Feet Under, The Walking Dead… I must confess that I have seen some of them in the dubbed version instead of the original one. Nevertheless, I try to keep watching at least one English speaking series on a regular basis. As you may have noticed about the titles above, I do not concentrate on a particular theme, as I usually take advantage of viewing a chapter to escape from the daily routine, forget about the issues I´ve been working on all day long and relax while travelling to a completely different world.

Having said this, as far as watching TV series is concerned, it is variety (hence the title of this entry) that helps you find the adequate series for each moment. Now, the real reason why I’m writing for the blog is that I’ve recently come across two amazing British series that I feel I should recommend you. I’ve watched the first season of both of them in original version and they are entirely different from each other. They have nothing in common but the fact that they are both set in England; they are called Downton Abbey and Misfits.

Downton Abbey is set in the years prior to First World War and is about a well-off family and their servants. It perfectly reflects what life at the beginning of the 20th century was like. The plot can be divided into two parts which are necessarily interconnected: The vicissitudes of an upper class family who needs to find an heir to their fortune (at that time girls could not inherit) and the daily routine of their servants, who fight to increase their power at the house and improve their future. The wardrobe, the setting, the atmosphere, as well as the language are all magnificent. It follows the style of Jane Austin’s novels or the film Gosford Park.

Misfits takes place nowadays and the main characters are five outsiders who are struck by lighting during a thunder storm while they were doing their community service. After being thunderstruck they suddenly gain special powers such as reading people’s thoughts, becoming invisible, turning back time or looking younger. Mind you, this is not the typical superheroes’ series, but it deals with the troubles of five young delinquents who are not such “bad boys” though of course none of them is a saint either. Apart from the plot, I find it really interesting because of the language itself. The characters’ accents are not “the Queen’s English”, and they use a wealth of slang words. However, it is not that difficult to understand them and a great opportunity to get used to a wide variety of accents. Click on this link (unfortunately the clip cannot be embedded) to see the series promo on E4, a digital pay-TV channel in the UK.

So if, all in all, you enjoy watching TV series, I hope you give them a go because I believe they deserve it.

Is this Lady going "Gaga"?

Happy Sunday everyone!

You know, last night I timer-recorded on my DVD, as I usually do at weekends, Jay Leno's Show on NBC, which I've seen this morning with my kids, and LGG was Jay's special guest on St Valentine's Day. You know I'm not that fond of the Gagas and the Biebers but I can honestly say she's becoming a total freak, both physically as much as a person, kind of the self-destructive transformation M. Jackson went through in his prime. Let me explain why I've got this weird theory. This is, courtesy of DailyMotion, the same interview I recorded last night, featured barely a week ago, the day after her much-hyped recent appearance inside an egg (actually a vessel, according to herself) at the Grammies, where she scooped 3 awards:

Then, this is her again, but 14 months earlier, talking to the same host on the occasion of launching Bad Romance from the Fame Monster album:

I don't know what you guys think, but at the time she looked to me like a "fresher rose", so to speak, a healthier-looking person, you know. The look in her eyes, her physical presence, the way she sings ... nothing to do with her somewhat ghoulish, I daresay, image today. I mean, I really couldn't care less how she goes about her business or what she does to herself, but I just wonder ... if this is the price to pay for worldwide fame, I take pity on these showbiz celebs, I really do.

OK folks, sorry to bore you with my reflections on the glitz and glam of music mega-stars but at the end of the day, believe me, it's all for the sake of English! And Jay and Gaga speak the language, don't they? Will you post your comments anyway?

Now, as far as Gaga's work is concerned, what's all this controversy that she's ripped off Madonna's 1990s hit "Express yourself" in her latest single, Born this way (which Teresa duly emailed me a couple of days ago)? Mm, interesting lyrics the song contains ... I don't like the music, though. Fancy listening to the stuff? No worries ...

Actually, now you can watch the long-awaited, much hyped videoclip of the song, which was premiered only yesterday on YouTube (where else!?). "This is the manifesto of Mother Monster", Lady Gaga recites ... "As the wombs numbered and the mitosis of the future began, it was perceived that this infamous moment in life is not temporal, it is eternal. and thus began the the beginning of the new race, a race within the race of humanity, a race which bears no prejudice, no judgment, but boundless freedom", she explains in a voiceover with dramatic scenes of a child birth in space. "But on that same day, as the eternal mother hovered in the multiverse, another more terrifying birth took place: the birth of evil." Wow, I guess this lady might one day soon become the master of the ... multiverse? But enough of this speech. Just watch, a scary sight to behold, this latest Gaga videoclip!

This video I've just found on the BBC claims that Lady Gaga is also a savvy business woman. With an army of more than 8 million Twitter followers, she seems to understand the digital media better than most artists today and has arguably taken product placement and marketing tie-ups to a new level. Her latest venture is to promote a range of cosmetics which helps fund AIDS research. This woman (lady, more like!) will stop at nothing to eventually become the first woman President of the USA, mark my words!

MY FIRST VISIT TO LONDON by Javier Torres (NA)

Last week, some friends of mine and me went to London to spend some days after a period of nerves and sleepless nights because of our January exams. This was a trip which we had prepared for months and one on which we had pinned all our hopes.

We left Spain on a Wednesday morning. From the moment we took off, we knew that London was going to surprise us, but not as much as it eventually did. After having been on a plane and suffered the tedious London traffic jams, we finally got to Picadilly – the place where our hostel was -, at seven in the evening, or thereabouts. We made ourselves comfortable and decided to go to Covent Garden, a bustling, crowded area near Picadilly where very different street performances take place. The day had been completely tiring, but after all the evening wasn’t a waste

of time.

Being university students, we didn’t have much money to spend, but we discovered that there are many things to see for free, so we weren’t going to find a gap in our pocket at the end of the trip. London offers a lot of fascinating cultural events with its various historical buildings and monuments, but above all its splendid museums. The National Art Gallery has many beautiful paintings, for example by Rubens; The Tate offers you the latest in modern art; The British museum is well known for its Egyptian and Greek sections, with mummies and the Parthenon rebuilt inside the museum; and last but not least, the Science museum, which shows how we (human beings) have been developing technologically in the different periods of history.

Apart from museums, London is a multicultural city where a vast variety of nationalities (from Indian to Chinese) and styles live together, which gives it a special atmosphere. Picadilly Circus is the area that

never sleeps; Covent Garden is the place where street art and performances take place; Camden Town is the lively suburb that you can’t fail to visit. Its extremely original shops and the street markets (selling clothes, books, food, etc) will compel you to buy a souvenir; and if you can afford anything, you shouldn’t leave London without going to Oxford Street and world-famous Harrods.

As you see, London lets you enjoy urban life in many ways. But you can also go sightseeing because there are many buildings and monuments steeped in history. The best places I visited were:

Trafalgar, an enormous square where you can find the prestigious National Art Gallery - the equivalent to the Prado Museum in Madrid - and which contains many monuments celebrating the English victory in the namesake battle.

Near Trafalgar and close to the river Thames are some of London't most recognizable landmarks: Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben – the latter with a golden clock on the top. These buildings represent the harmonious coexistence between history, elegance and modernity in the same city.

Crossing the river Thames is London Eye, a huge wheel that boasts an awesome panoramic view of London – if you want my advice, going at night is the best bet.

Other sites worth visiting are the magnificent Tower of London - displaying the Queen’s lush Crown Jewels and where Anne Boleyn was locked away - and indeed the iconic Tower Bridge.

Buckingham Palace is nice too, but personally I liked the lovely surroundings better than the palace itself; last but not least, if there’s time to go on a picnic, Hyde Park is a haven of tranquility and the ideal place to chill out.

London is a wonderful city where you can do whatever you want. It’s a good idea to travel there to have fun and practice English too, so I encourage all of you to go, and if you have already been, why not go again?

Javier Bardem talks to Jay Leno

Jay, one of the most famous late night hosts on American TV, congratulates Javier Bardem on the arrival of a baby boy with Penelope while our international actor tells Jay that he doesn't like cars and actually hates to drive (to Jay's amazement!)

I know Cristina López, one of my C1 students, is a diehard fan of the Spanish heartthrob, but I'm sure many of you will have fun watching the interview too.

It's always nice to hear a fellow countryman speak rather fluent English despite the occasional mistakes, isn't it? The interview is split into two parts so this is the second excerpt. Well, in this bit Javier recalls how he used to play rugby (a much better sport than the Super Bowl, Jay!) and once he got his nose broken in a bar fight ("a guy decides to have fun with my face" - Jay looks a bit puzzled, because in L.A. "it means a whole different thing" - he he!)

Isn't it funny when he says he cannot speak Spanish any more because he doesn't know the meaning of the word "flasher" in his own language. Fortunately someone in the audience knows better!

The song of a generation: Don McLean's American Pie

A day like today, 52 years ago, "the music died". That's how Don McLean put it in 1971, as he wrote one of the most famous songs in rock history, remembering the death, 12 years before, when he was only a teenage paper boy, of one of his musical heroes, the great Buddy Holly. He tragically was killed in a plane crash together with fellow musicians Ritchie Valens and Jiles Richardson. It was indeed an untimely death, at the tender age of 22, and the news had a big impact on McLean.

To understand the importance of American Pie in US culture, suffice it to say that it was included by the American government within an educational project called "Songs of the Century" and listed at #5 no less.

Legend has it that the song summarizes the history of R'n'R from 1959 to 1970 as it seemingly contains numerous references to rock stars, from Bob Dylan to the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Janis Joplin ... the list is endless, as well as to landmarks in American history, like the Vietnam War, the hippy movement, the space race ... You know, Don has been asked constantly about the meaning of the song's lyrics, but he's always refused to do it by simply saying (quote): "You will find many interpretations of my lyrics but none of them by me ... sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence." Which has only added more legend to the song, I guess.

Well, judge by yourselves by watching the clip below. I'm sure you've heard the tune many times, but probably not paid much attention to the lyrics, except maybe the famous chorus. I dare you try to find all the references I mentioned above ...

An 8-minute jewel that I never get tired of listening to. Enjoy!