Welcome to my newest creation - Rosie's Reviews. I started this venture on YouTube in the form of video reviews, but given the work involved in producing videos (and my less-than-stellar home Internet), I'm moving this review concept to a blog, thanks to encouragement from my friend, Ashley.
My original blog, Ruminations and Reflections, will continue. I'll link reviews there to this blog, but that blog is like my child that will turn 11 this April. I launched it at a time when I was creatively dry and needed an outlet. Badly. It will always remain my "first born." This blog will be devoted entirely to reviews. After my recent Oscar challenge and the in-depth look I had at many movies and performances, my friend, Ashley, suggested devoting a blog to my reviews. She was a faithful viewer to my YouTube channel (of about 10 others) and she suggested it just when I was ripe for the picking. Like I have time for another endeavor, but Carpe Diem, I say!
You'll find reviews of books, movies, makeup, restaurants, and all other assorted products. Be sure to interact. Comment and leave your thoughts if you've read the book or seen the movie, or used the product. Also, include comments of things you'd like reviewed. I tried that tactic on my YouTube channel, but with 10 viewers, you don't get much response. I'm hoping my promotional ability for blogs and my writing prowess will attract readership here that is engaged. So, to recap - comment, engage, and lastly, share! Word of mouth and social sharing is the best way to get the word out. Writing is one of my passions and reviewing things is high on the list of things I love to write. The Oscars spurred that along.
Speaking of The Oscars, I'm blurry-eyed today from staying up until the bitter end last night to watch the Oscars, but so glad I did. Overall, my picks percentage was 63% correct. For the top five awards, I came in at 80%. You can catch up on my predictions here.
The only real surprise was Best Supporting Actor, Mark Rylance, for Bridge of Spies. I loved that movie, and ironically this award was the only one it would receive all night. I thought his performance was good, but not award-winning. He didn't even make my long shot pick. There would have been something magical if Sylvester Stallone had won.
Spotlight was my long shot pick for Best Picture so I was far from surprised. That movie. Wow. Nothing epic or spectacular, just hard-hitting journalists doing their job, fighting for victims that had been kept silent. The movie moved me. I've said that more often than not. No one but God is God. No priest or pastor. The manipulative ways the Catholic priests used their power to molest children was abominable. Thank you to the team that brought us this movie and thank you to the cast who executed it so well, and continue to shine a light on the issue and victims.
A word on the snubbing of African Americans and diversity within the Academy. I think the opening monologue would have been sufficient to address it and move on, yet the theme continued throughout the show. I doubt Chris Rock was the creator of that, as I'm sure the Academy produced much of that on their own as a jab at themselves. As I watched the presenters and acceptance speeches, the diversity (though maybe not always in skin color) was striking. I don't even see skin color when I'm watching a movie or making an assessment of performance. Did their role shine bright? Then, great, give them a nomination. If we were to watch an Academy Award show in 1956 and compare it to today, we'd all say many obstacles and barriers have been torn down.
I'll close with my prediction for Oscars 2017. Yes, I'm already looking ahead. I'm putting it in writing to prove I didn't jump on a bandwagon months from now. "The Founder" - a movie about Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's. The starring role is played by Michael Keaton, directed by John Lee Hancock who directed The Blind Side and Saving Mr. Banks. It's going to have strength at the next Academy Awards. Tom Hanks was offered this role, yet turned it down, and Michael Keaton accepted the role. The same thing happened in 1993 when Michael Keaton was offered the role of Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia and turned it down. Tom Hanks played that role. And won an Oscar. Could the tables turning be an indication of another Oscar winner? We have a year to wait and find out.
