Weekend roundup

Vive La "Revolutionary Road"
Friday, I drove down to Baltimore to see "Revolutionary Road" at The Charles Theatre. Kate Winslet won a best actress Golden Globe for her performance in the screenplay adapted by her husband (director Sam Mendes) from Richard Yate's novel about unhappy suburbanites. Winslet was convincing as April Wheeler, but I could see why she wasn't nominated for an Oscars. I wouldn't say that her costar Leonardo DiCaprio, aka Frank Wheeler, got snubbed either. The dialogue at the beginning of the movie was stilted and the blocking seemed more like a stage play than a movie at times.

Michael Shannon, who played the mentally unstable son of the Wheelers' neighbor, totally deserved his surprise supporting actor nom. He stole the show with his honest rants. The only times the audience reacted were when he was on screen. Kathy Bates was poorly cast as his mother, though. The movie had moments of brilliance, but fell just short of stunning. The original score and costumes were second to none. (It's nominated for art direction and costume design Academy Awards.)

Saturday, I spent the day running errands. I was in and out of the DMV in, like, 10 minutes flat. That has to be some kind of a record. Then, I headed to Best Buy. After listening to Andrew Bird's new CD "Nobel Beast" on MySpace for the last five days straight, I decided to splurge for the CD. A music store is a dangerous place for me. I spotted at least three other albums I wanted to buy on the spot. Luckily for my piggy bank, I was able to resist temptation.

Ooh La Lame
Saturday night, I decided to act like an adult and cook dinner for once. (My diet consists almost exclusively of cereal, oatmeal and soup.) The experiment turned out better than I planned. Afterward, I reverted back to acting like a college kid and hit up Ganfalloons with some friends. It turned out to be an international adventure, since I wore a beret and decided to parle Francais for a bit. When I got bored with that, it was time to play "guess the next song" from Granfalloons' canned playlist.

Sunday, I got a late start and ended up heading to Hanover for dinner and the late showing of "Milk." (It'd be convenient if more Oscar nominees were playing at Regal.) Sean Penn blew me away. I think he might win best actor even though he'll have to battle "The Wrestler's" Mickey Rourke. I was a little surprised that James Brolin was nominated for his supporting role. I didn't think his role had enough character development. I feel that James Franco or (my favorite character) Emile Hirsch should have been recognized instead.

Gus Van Sant's depiction of the last eight years of gay rights activist Harvey Milk's life was amazing. I felt like I was really transported back to 1970s San Francisco. I think he has a chance to win best director. I still hope "Slumdog Millionaire" wins best picture, though. I usually don't call it that early in the game when I have handful of movies left to see, but I just can't help it.