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The 2010 Oscars was a magical night filled with beautiful dresses and many awards. The night started off with a promising surprise, as Neil Patrick Harris dazzled with a performance about Hollywood duos, Harris and his showman confidence makes him a hosting favorite for years to come, as he seamlessly continues to have great flair.

Hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin continued the good times when they started off the night with a message: Nobody is safe from ridicule. Their pointed and often hilarious monologue jokes, getting everyone from Meryl Streep to Zac Efron, brought a bit of edgy, insulting-yet-funny environment. It was far more MTV than ABC.

The presentation of the awards featured each nominee and brought back the focus to why the Oscars actually exist: To honor the actors and films. The intensity of the performances is the reason everyone gets dressed up.

And The Oscar Goes To…

The winner of the Oscar award for Best Lead Actor went to actor Jeff Bridges for his role in “Crazy Heart”. This was Bridges’ fifth nomination since 1971, and his first Oscar win in the category was presented to him by Kate Winslet. Bridges also picked up an award for the song “The Weary Kind” in “Crazy Heart”.

Oprah Winfrey was present to introduce Gabourey Sidibe of “Precious” to the Oscar’s audience, calling her “a true, American Cinderella”, and told the starlet she had a “brilliant career” ahead of her. Unfortunately for Gaby, Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for Lead Actress for her role in “The Blind Side”.

The awards for Best Director was between James Cameron for “Avatar”, Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker”, Quentin Tarentino for “Inglorious Basterds”, Lee Daniels for “Precious” and Jason Reitman” for “Up In The Air”. The winner is… Kathryn Bigelow, the first female to win this Academy Award.

“The Hurt Locker” took Best Picture, making the total of Academy Awards won with six. “The Hurt Locker” was nominated for nine total awards.

Mo’Nique won Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire. The best Animated Feature Film was Up, and Avatar won the award for Art Direction and Cinematography.

Though through the public eye all these movies are considered amazing movies that everyone must see, as Christians we need to take a step back and really as ourselves, Would the movies still win an Oscar with God?

It was down to the final two contestants.

One, an accomplished theater actor who previously toured the country with Broadway productions like Wicked: The Musical and the European production of Hair. His voice showed amazing range, his performances-flawless. The other, a singer-songwriter who performed in local bars and worked as a shoe salesman. A nice guy with an adequate voice yet limited range. All in all the two could not have been more opposite.  It was painfully obvious which performer should win a talent competition. Maybe that’s why American was shocked when the name of Kris Allen the shoe salesman beat out Adam Lambert the star. But don’t be too surprised because…

This… is…American…Idol!

Throughout its nine seasons so far, American Idol has consistently been the number one show on television, and is ranked the number three television broadcast of all time, behind only the Superbowl and the Academy Awards. Every winner of the show has enjoyed success, some more than others. Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry, and Carrie Underwood round out the top three most successful idols of all time, although Chris Daughtry did not win the show; he placed fourth. But apparently you don’t have win AI in order do great things. Jennifer Hudson starred in the movie Dreamgirls, and won an Oscar for her role in that film. Other post-idol alums who did not take the prize include Clay Aiken, Kellie Pickler, Elliot Yamin, and of course, Adam Lambert, all who are enjoying a successful career.

This year marks the return of Idol, with its ninth season in full swing. The top 12 have been chosen, and this year’s hopefuls are: Michael Lynche, Didi Benami, Casey James, Lacey Brown, Andrew Garcia, Katie Stevens, Tim Urban, Siobhan Magnus, Lee Dewyze, Paige Miles, Aaron Kelly, and Crystal Bowersox.

Obvious favorites for this season are Crystal Bowersox, who has a Janice Joplin vibe to her, Casey James, whom the ladies love, and Lee Dewyze, who has a certain rasp to his voice that you have to be born with.

This year’s Idol delivers more than new talent: after the departure of the beloved judge Paula Abdul, a replacement was necessary. The humorous charm of talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres was welcomed to the show this season. Ellen brings the opinion of the fan watching at home to the show, and always has something witty to say.

Most assuredly, Idol will bring many surprises this year, as it never ceases to do. Whether you have the pipes to sing “A Moment Like This,” or the guts to blabber your way through “Pants on the Ground,” this is the one show that can turn you into a star.

Tune in to Idol
Fox Channel 5, Tuesdays at 8:00 PM
&
Wednesdays at 9:00 PM

The Notebook and A Walk to Remember both captured our hearts with stories of undying love, causing us to remember what love really means. Now Nicholas Sparks’ latest book turned movie, Dear John, is sparking quite a controversy between book lovers and movie buffs.

Synopsis

Dear John is a story about John Tyree, a solder in the Army who falls in love with Savannah Lee Curtis. The book begins with John returning to his hometown of Wilmington, NC on a two-week military leave from the Army. As John is surfing one day he comes to the rescue of Savannah after she drops her purse in the water and John dives in after it saving her bag and all the valuable things inside. Savannah is a relief worker, rebuilding homes for hurricane-ravaged locals.

John and Savannah’s love quickly blossom and they proclaim their love after only three days. Two weeks later, John has to leave and return to Germany where his Army base is. But before parting, John promises Savannah that he will marry her one day and that he will come back after a year and visit her for two weeks, then he only has six more months left until he will be done with the Army. Savannah gives him a letter and the two promise to write, e-mail, or call whenever they can. They also promise to remember each other every time they see a full moon.

But then September 11, 2001 happens.

After the terrorist attacks John re-enlists in the Army, and though promising to wait, Savannah falls in love with another breaking John’s heart. When John returns two years later, he discovers that Tim, Savannah’s husband has been diagnosed with cancer and is barely surviving. Sacrificially, John pays for better medical treatment and Tim lives, leaving Savannah looking up at the moon, proving her unending love for John.

Rewind

Wait?! Back up! Is that what really happened? Because none of that was in the movie. And so the controversy begins. The ending in the movie is completely different than the book. In the movie, Tim dies, and the movie ends with John and Savannah hugging outside of a restaurant. Okay?? No marriage ceremony, no kiss, so…huh? Unfortunately the movie leaves audiences in the dark long after the lights come back on.

It’s the same old, “Did you read the book?” scenario. If an individual saw the movie without reading the book, their opinion would probably be more gracious. But for the avid readers, the movie was a disappointment.

So the question stands. What ending would have better suited the movie? Regardless, the movie should have provided some closure as to what happens to John and Savannah. We can only hope for deleted scenes and alternate endings to be featured on the DVD.

Dear John,
Your producer needs a new screenwriter.
From, Your Viewers

Tons of artists are dropping their albums. Two of the most anticipated albums of the year are Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster and Adam Lambert’s For Your Entertainment. Both made big splashes in the music industry with their riding in the car with the top down feel.

Lady Gaga’s songs are always upbeat and fun to listen to. And while Adam also has upbeat songs on his album, there are some beautiful ballads highlighting his impeccable voice on his debut album.

Lady Gaga’s The fame Monster sold a cool 174,000. Taking the edge over Lady Gaga, Adam Lambert’s For Your Entertainment sold 198,000 albums.

As the Holiday season approaches some of the best albums that you can be blasting out of your car or home are, Faith Hill – Joy to the World, Sheryl Crow – Home for Christmas, Elliott Yamin – My Kind of Holiday, Andrea Bocelli – ‘My Christmas’, and David Archuleta – ‘Christmas From the Heart’.

If you’re thinking of hitting the theaters this Christmas season, the biggest movies this winter are:

• New Moon (obviously)
• 2012
• Disney’s a Christmas Carol
• The Blind Side
• Sherlock Holms

The Blind Side is an amazing inspirational story about a homeless teenager who is taken in by a family and is later recruited into the NFL. The movie based on a true story about Michael Oher. It’s a great movie and is only rated Pg-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references.

The best Christmas movie to go see is Disney’s A Christmas Carol. It is a cute Disney movie that will warm up your Holiday.

Whatever you decide to listen to or watch for the Holidays, remember to not lose focus on what really matters; the birth of Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!

As Bella lies on the floor, lifeless and bleeding, Edward realizes he has two choices: let her become a vampire or suck the vampire venom out of her arm. He questions himself, wondering if he can resist drinking all of her blood.

If you haven’t heard about the Twilight Saga yet, you must be living under a rock because Twilight has become one of the most popular books of the 21st Century. With over 70 million books sold worldwide and translated into 37 languages; it has easily become a hit.

Stephanie Meyer, the author of Twilight, says she first came up the idea for Twilight when she had a dream about a human girl and a vampire who thirsted for the girl’s blood. With no plans to ever publish the book Stephanie Meyer wrote the first installment to the Twilight Saga. With encouragement from her sister, she sent her manuscript to different publishing companies. After denying seven publishers she finally settled with Little Brown Books for $750,000. Twilight first arrived on the scene in 2005 and within the first month, it was #5 on the New York Times Best Selling List.

Turlock Christian Sophomore, Marley Burton, believes she was one of the first to jump on the Twilight bandwagon, “I read Twilight when it first came out, before it was popular, and then I found out through all the media madness that there were three other parts to the saga.”

The four books include: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. But that’s not all. The movie rights for the franchise were purchased by Paramount Pictures and put into production by Summit Entertainment. Even though the first movie was kind of a disappointment, released in theaters on November 21, 2008, it still managed to gross $35.7 million its opening day. By September 19, 2009, the film has grossed $383,520,177 in the worldwide box office and, as of July 12, 2009 it earned $157,078,128 in North American DVD sales.

Turlock Christian Senior, Demsina Babazadeh, thinks that regardless of how much money the Twilight movie made, it still was dissatisfying, “Well, to be honest the first movie was kind of a letdown. I don’t think they captured the chemistry between Edward and Bella at all”.

Fortunately, the movie sequel for New Moon, is expected to be better, in fact one actor in particular is adding to the film’s frenzy. “I am so excited for New Moon, because of Taylor Lautner,” says TC Sophomore, Mary Sargisian.

As with many cult movies there are various opinions about the Twilight books and movies both abroad and here on the TC campus. “I love the twilight series,” says Sargisian, “It is defiantly one of my favorites.”

Disagreeing, Senior, Hiliary Sharp, shared reasons why she decided not to read the saga. “Although I think the whole idea behind Twilight, the vampire-romance, is interesting, I don’t agree with some of the moral qualities hiding beneath the romantic exterior. A dangerous, and addictive, secular theme is played out within the saga: that there is a person out there that will give you satisfying, eternal personal fulfillment and will complete your life”.

Sharp makes a good point. The Bible commands us in Proverbs 4:23 to “guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. And Romans 12:2 Warns us not to “conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Definitely a warning that all twilight heart throbs should be aware of.

Regardless of whether you’re a Twilight groupie or not; one thing is clear, the Vampire genre is back and it has found a way to turn blood into a great deal of money.