Oscar Prediction 2007

Well, I know I am in the LAST minutes before the annual Academy Awards 2007 will be presented! When you read this article, you and I are supposed to know all of the results. However, as the biggest fan of Hollywood movies, I am going to predict who will win tonight!!

Among nominated movies, I have watched Volver、Babel、The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine, United 93, The Devil Wears Prada, Letters from Iwo Jima, and Dreamgirls. I REALLY have wanted to watch The Queen and Notes on a Scandal!! But while we were having severe weather conditions, they finished in the theaters.

I am going to present TWO kinds of predictions today. First, winners who are supposed to win tonight. It means many critics, TV shows, or enthusiastic movie fans predicted like that. I can say..."The real prediction."

Second, winners whom I hope to win. I would say..."The dream prediction."

Let's start "The real prediction" first! The Oscars go to...

The Best Picture: The Departed
The Best Director : Martin Scorsese(The Departed)
The Best Actor: Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
The Best Actress : Helen Murren (The Queen)
The Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls)
The Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson(Dreamgirls)

Next, my "dream" Academy Awards! Winners are...

The Best Picture: Letters from Iwo Jima
The Best Director: Clint Eastwood ( Letters from Iwo Jima)
The Best Actor: Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
The Best Actress: Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada)
The Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls)
The Best Supporting Actress: Adriana Barraza (Babel)

The orange names are in both of the "real" and "dream" predictions. Except for two awards, all of them are different!

I know American people don't like movies with captions like Letters from Iwo Jima, nor movies talking about other countries. That's why not many people predict The Queen as the best movie. However, I hope Letters from Iwo Jima gets the best picture award! That is not because I am a Japanese...maybe... I was so impressed how greatly this movie used some motifs effectively, and the actors were great! I have watched all movies which were nominated with "the best director award." I think Clint Eastwood(The first picture: this image is from http://www.nikkeibp.co.jp/sj/column/i/21/ ) did a fantastic job! He doesn't speak Japanese, but he selected all of the Japanese actors by himself. Also, he talked and discussed it a lot with Ken watanabe, who is the main actor in the movie to overcome the communication barrier between the American and Japanese movie staff. Additionally, his main message in this movie series ( Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers,); "There is no hero in the situations of wars. We are all human beings who have the same feelings even though we are divided into allies and enemies." is tremendously great. I think he described exactly this message in this movie.

I like Babel and Little Miss Sushine as well, but...I am not so impressed with them like Letters from Iwo Jima. They are a little bit..dull to me. The Departed (the second picture. The image is from: http://beingtheremag.com/blog/?m=200610) is an exciting move. I think the actors did great jobs. But I don't remember which role the nominee of the "best supporting actor award" is, and this movie is too bloody. I don't like the movies whose characters die a lot because the producers want to make them exciting. In the Letters from Iwo Jima, many people also die, but the movie has an..."elegy," like "We should fight for our country." (I feel it maybe because I am a Japanese. ) But, in the Departed, I felt that they killed people in vain! Oh, it's just my opinion.

I have no idea about who will get the best actor award because I haven't watched any nominated movies. However, when I watched the trailer of the Last King of Scotland, Forest Whitaker (the image is from: http://www.filmtotaal.nl/module.php?section=newsDetails&newsID=8587&titel=The_Last_King_of_Scotland)seemed )seemed good. So, I vote for him. I am sorry Leonardo Dicaprio has become a nominee the third time, but not many people predict that he is going to win.

Maybe Helen Mirren will get the best actress award. But unfortunately, I haven't watched The Queen. The Devil Wears Prada is one of my favorite movies, and Meryl Streep (The image is from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/you/article.html?in_page_id=1908&in_article_id=406321 )is fantastic! She acted as a solitary & strict fashion icon REALLY greatly. Among nominees, I watched Volver. Penelope Crus is an amazingly beautiful actress and she did a GOOD job. But not so GREAT like Meryl Streep.

I have watched three of five movies of the best supporting actor nominees. I agree with many other movie fans. I think Eddie Murphy (The image is from: http://www.cinemovies.fr/fiche_cast.php?IDfilm=10400 )is stunningly outstanding. It was like "Only HE can do this role." He acted as an eccentric popular singer. His songs also...you should watch Dreamgirls! Also, we shouldn't forget Alan Arkin(Little Miss Sunshine)! He is also GREAT!!!

Jennifer Hudson (The image is from: http://www.570news.com/news/entertainment/article.jsp?content=e011533A) is also good at singing. However... WATCH the Americal Idol! This season, there are so many high-quality amateur singers!! Last week, an African American girl sang one of Jennifer's song in this movie. Then, I was amazed! "Wow! Sorry Jennifer, but she is better than you!!" Jennifer Hudson was also a contestant of the American Idol in 2004 season. She wasn't successful at that time. I am glad she took this second chance, and many people have praised her good job. I know she is great, but I think she is not great enough to be an Oscar winner. When I watched Babel, I was attracted to Adriana Barraza (The right picture. The image is from: http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=279202) 's acting. She was not so outstanding. Nobody predicts she is going to win. However...when she was in trouble in this movie, I was drawn into "her world." I felt it was like her REAL situation. I think her acting skill is great.

But it depends on the Oscar voters' perspectives.! If many voters think winners should act well AND influence a lot of the Hollywood world, maybe Jennifer Hudson will win. I know many winners in the past were selected not only because of their acting, but also their popularity. It is reasonable! Popular actors can bring many people to the movie theaters!! I also hope a Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi (The left picture. The image is from: http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/5161/Events/5161/RinkoKikuc) will win... but as a TV host said yesterday, "Rinko KIkuchi! Sorry, nobody knows you! So you are out!!" Unfortunately, probably it will be true.

Three hours later!? The Academy Awards Show will start... My predictions will come true!? Which one? The real prediction? or the dream prediction!? I suppose you know already!!!

I MADE IT!

Yeah! I made it!! I received the TOEIC result. I took it in Sapporo, last month. Then, I got...a 900 score! Was it my biggest resolution this year? Yes! I fulfilled it even though it's just the second month of the year! (You know, it seldom happens to me...)
The picture is not clear, but it says my listening score is 455(It hasn't changed from the one of two years ago...that's why I always think my listening is not good!!), and my reading score is 445.
Last October, my score was 815... It's been just three months, and I haven't prepared a lot this time! What happened? Probably, my adjustment to the old TOEIC in the U.S. was not succesful last time. Also, I have studied mostly using Japanese reference books. So, I saw some famillar questions from those books in the Japanese TOEIC.
Anyway, now, one of my dreams of "getting a full score on the TOEIC" has become realistic to me! If I get more 90 points, it would be a full score! I should work harder to get them, generate some strategies, and teach those to people who work on the TOEIC in Japan!!

I learned two things from this result.
1. We should have the HIGHEST objective in OUR field. Before I came here, my TOEIC score was 450. It was hard for me just to listen to and read English at that time. I thought "I want to get an 800 score before I go back to Japan! But maybe it's too difficult for me..." However, after I got this score, I started to think about "getting a full score, and being a TOEIC teacher someday." If I had been satisfied with an 800 score, I wouldn't have thought I could get a 900 score. If we kept seeing higher positions, the height we could jump would be higher...I guess. However, the objective should be realistic.
Ten years ago, I studied to be a kind of lawyer. However, it was TOO hard for me and it was not MY field! That was unrealistic. So... have the highest objective in YOUR field!!

2. Dreams (or resolutions) could be changed. Sometimes we should be flexible.
Just after I came here, I only wanted to be involved in WEDDINGS like I used to be. However, even though I hoped... the wedding business requires communication skills. Language is an important key of the communication. So, I went to English schools everyday. Sometimes it was frustrating that I couldn't speak well, or couldn't understand what people said. Also, I was not sure it was OK If I wasn't in actual wedding scenes.
However, the more I went to Elglish classes, the more I was impressed how classes changed depending on a teacher. I have met many English teachers...more than 15? maybe... A few of them were not good teachers (even though they were good people.) They didn't think about how they can improve their students' English, or didn't like to have questions... But some teachers are...REALLY admirable people! What makes them different? The answers are...( I know, they sound TOO dramatic..)love,passion, and professionalism, I think.
I want to put what I learned from those great teachers to account after I go back to Japan. I know it is hard for me to compete with professional people in the English educational field using GENERAL English because my English career has just started. But getting a full score on the TOEIC is realistic a dream to me ( I know it takes time! though...), so I want to make it "my field!" (Oh! Of course I want to continue my wedding emcee job! Weekends: wedding emcee, weekdays: TOEIC teacher, is my ideal life!)
My point is...we can take advantages of where we live, or whom we meet. Our dreams could be changed by their influence!
Thus,be flexible and take the advantages as much as you can!

Surviving in this world is not so easy...but having a dream can be a nice REFRESHMENT in our lives. Even though some will never come true!? No, it can be true! I want to believe so...