March 2

On Netflix:

A.C.O.D. (Adult Children of Divorce) - This indie dramady tells the story of Carter, a young man who has managed to make a life for himself while avoiding conflicts with his divorced parents who have ruined almost every event in his childhood.  The cast includes Indie favorites: Richard Jenkins and Catherine O'Hara as Carter's parents. Carter is played by Adam Scott who looked very familiar and when I looked him up found that he is in the TV series " Parks and Recreation."  Although I have never seen the show, I guess I've seen him in promos.  Amy Poehler, another P and R regular, has a co starring role in the film as well.  At the end of the film, I asked myself if I liked it and could not answer directly.  I think I am ambivalent about it because I really didn't care about the characters and when that happens you have no investment in the film and don't care.  For that reason, I would tell you to wait until it is on an Indie channel on television to see it.

Nebraska - I was fortunate to get this DVD as soon as it was released by Netflix and could see it before the Oscars tonight.  Not quite sure what I thought of it.  It was poignant and I loved the evolving relationship with Woody and his son Davy.  The music really enhanced the story and the mother who is also up for an award tonight was a hoot.  An Academy Award movie, not sure; good performances yes.  For those of you who do not know the story it is about an aging father who thinks he's won a million dollars and his son agrees to take him to Lincoln Nebraska to claim his prize.

On Netflix and HBO:

Gangster Squad - I thought I would not like this, but to my surprise it was quite good.  It does have quite a bit of violence, but it is based on true events that led to the capture of Mickey Cohen, a gangster from the east coast, who want to set up his operations in Los Angeles.  Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn and Emma Stone star in this film. The make up of the entire gangster squad made for an enjoyable film.

At Ford's Theater:

Violet - We attended the final performance of Violet at Ford's Theater. The play has been on Broadway (perhaps off Broadway) before and is now in preproduction as a one act play that will star Sutton Foster in the spring. The DC version starred our favorite local actress Erin Driscoll who did a wonderful job with the role.  The actor playing Flick had a marvelous voice and Erin's husband James Gardiner did a good job with his role as Monte.  Did you ever see a play where the actors were better than the material?  I believe this was the case in this production.  The first act dragged a bit, while the second act was very good.  It will be interesting to see what the New York critics say about the new reworked one act production.

The Oscars are on tonight and here are my predictions and ones I think should win, but probably won't:

Best Picture - 12 Years a Slave (I did not see the film, but it is the one with more meat than the others)  If Gravity wins I will be disappointed as I thought it was very well done, but  the story left me flat.  The director of Gravity should win to give the film the honor.

Best Actor:  Matthew McConaughey (I did not see this one either, but all the hoopla says he will win it)  I personally thought Christian Bale was terrific in American Hustle as well as Leonardo DiCaprio in Wolf of Wall Street.

Best Actress:  Cate Blanchett simply stated she was marvelous!  That being said Judy Dench in Philomena was wonderful and Amy Adams was terrific in American Hustle.  Although not even nominated Emma Thompson was wonderful in Saving Mr. Banks

Best Supporting Actress:  Lupita Nyong'o once again all the hoopla surrounding her.  June Quibb was a hoot in Nebraska  I will be upset if Jennifer Lawrence wins as I did not think her performance was that outstanding.

Best Supporting Actor - Jared Leto - Again for all the hoopla, but I loved Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips..