2012 Oscar Nominations announced

The nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards was just announced more than 2 hours ago this morning. Lots of snubs here and there and none of our P&P actors are nominated, but a few of their co-stars and films have been nominated in the following categories below.

But first, the 84th Academy Awards will be presented by Billy Crystal on February 26th on ABC.   

And speaking of Oscar nominations, just have to mention here, Oscar Nominations flashback 6 years ago this month (Jan 31st), our very own favorite Pride & Prejudice film received four Oscar nominations, including one for its lead star Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Bennet) for Best Actress or Actress in a Leading Role and Dario Marianelli for Music (Original Score). Also, another P&P co-star scored an Oscar nod, Judi Dench for Actress in a Leading Role in Mrs. Henderson Presents. Joe Wright and the film got snubbed for Best Director and Best Picture noms. No win for any of their 4 noms and Reese Witherspoon won the Oscar for Actress in a Leading Role.

Here's a rundown of P&P 05's 4 Oscar Nominations (as well as Judi Dench) in 2006
Actress in a Leading Role
Keira Knightley in "Pride & Prejudice"
Judi Dench in "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Art Direction
"Pride & Prejudice" Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
Costume Design
"Pride & Prejudice" Jacqueline Durran
Music (Original score)
"Pride & Prejudice" Dario Marianelli

Anyway, here's a list of the 2012 Oscar Nominations featuring films (War Horse, My Week with Marilyn, Drive, etc.) from P&P actors that are nominated along as well as their co-stars (Michelle Williams)...


2012 Oscar Nominees

BEST PICTURE

• War Horse (Pip Torrens co-stars)

BEST ACTOR

• Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Colin Firth co-stars)

BEST ACTRESS

• Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn (Judi Dench, Pip Torrens, Peter Wight co-star)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn
  

BEST ART DIRECTION

• War Horse

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Janusz Kaminski –War Horse

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• Jane Eyre (Judi Dench and Tamzin Merchant co-star)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Alberto Iglesias –Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• John Williams –War Horse

BEST SOUND EDITING

• Drive (Carey Mulligan co-stars)
• War Horse

BEST SOUND MIXING

• War Horse

Book Review: Fitzwilliam Ebenezer Darcy (+ a Giveaway!)

I've recently read Fitzwilliam Ebenezer Darcy by Barbara Tiller Cole and I am posting my book review here.

But first, I would like to say that the lovely and amazingly generous Barbara Cole Tiller herself has offered another book giveaway here of her novel, which we previously had a giveaway here and picked the lucky Winner of Fitzwilliam Ebanezer Darcy book Giveaway!. If you didn't get to win last time, you have another chance to winning this one (like Mr. Darcy had his second chance of winning his one and only true love and soul mate Miss Elizabeth Bennet in the novel). Read more below for more giveaway details...

Synopsis

A Jane Austen/Charles Dickens crossoverstory, Fitzwilliam Ebenezer Darcy takesthe best of both classics and spins them into a delightful Holiday treat! F.E.Darcy has fallen into pitiful self-loathing and sorrowful angst-ridden despair;all of this due to his belief that he has lost forever the chance to marry theonly woman he has ever loved—Elizabeth Bennet. Seeing her son in such a state,the Ghost of Anne Darcy reaches out to him; informing him that three ghostswould visit him and give him hope. Will these Spirits provide him with thecourage to try again to win the esteem of his one true soul mate?

I really loved and enjoyed reading FE Darcy and must say that I had read this book in less than a day (and will be re-reading it more this holiday season!). It was a quick read, all because it was a short story and less than 150 pages. I would've loved for it to be longer, but it was a good length for this particular story as it was a delight and fun to read at the same time, which makes you wish it was longer... Barbara Tiller Cole did a great job writing this novel combining her two favorite authors Jane Austen and Charles Dickens into a wonderful crossover story of her own, which Fitzwilliam Ebenezer Darcy, as the book description says, takes the best of both classics and spins them into a delightful holiday treat. A delightful holiday treat, indeed! A brilliant idea to combine Austen and Dickens' classics into one great book.

I even read this and was listening to one of  my all-time favorite Christmas CDs (Mariah Carey's classic 1994 Merry Christmas album) to get into the story and the Christmas spirit. All I want for Christmas Is You is a perfect Christmas song for Darcy & Elizabeth especially when you listen to this song and read this book at the same time. Another great combo!

Though I felt very sad for Mr. Fitzwillam Darcy as he was miserable (and depressed...so not into Darcy being angsty...) for most of the story in this book, but it was necessary for this type of story. Also, it was nice to read his journey into winning back the love of his life, Elizabeth Bennet. I laughed and smiled at some of the funny and happy moments like when the three ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future visited him to help and give him hope of redeeming himself to Elizabeth, to win her back, and for him to finally be happy for himself as well as to have the happiness he deserves with the only woman he truly ever loved (the very lucky aforementioned woman, the lovely Miss Elizabeth Bennet) as he longed to be reunited with her and to be with her always. William Darcy's (as he liked to be called in the book) life for sure, wouldn't have been complete without his Elizabeth and so does she. These two are truly soul mates and a perfect match as Austen wrote it on her original Pride and Prejudice novel. I love that even when Darcy was miserable, so was she as they really loved and cared for each other despite their misunderstandings and slow road to admitting and showing their true feelings and love for each other and just get on and be together already. But it was all worth it at the end when they finally get together for a truly deserving love and happiness as I was rooting for both of them, all the way, to be reunited and be Mr. & Mrs. Darcy that they were destined to be.

I just love reading all about my favorite P&P characters especially Elizabeth & Darcy, be it in the original P&P novel or its prequels, sequels, variations, and this crossover one, which I've never read written in this way before until now. I'm very glad I did read this one as It was different than other sequels and variations I've read previously (which they were all great too) and this one is a must-read for this holiday season...just in time for Christmas too.

Overall, Fitzwilliam Ebenezer Darcy was a great book! Quite a page turner too and a fast-paced read with an interesting twist. I was hooked from the prologue to the epilogue. Wish it was longer, but other than that, It was a lot of fun to read. I highly recommend you check this book out and read it this holiday season.

Book Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)!

_________________________________________________________________

Giveaway of Fitzwilliam Ebenezer Darcy

Comment (with your name and valid email address) here about your favorite Pride and Prejudice prequels, sequels, variations you've read or tell us your favorite P&P adaptation along with your favorite Darcy actor below for achance to WIN a signed copy of Barbara Tiller Cole’s newest book, Fitzwilliam Ebenezer Darcy by midnight on Sunday ET, December 18, 2011. One lucky Winner will be drawn atrandom and announced on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011.Open to ALL participants/entrants worldwide! Good luck to all! 

 

Barbara Tiller Cole, an Atlanta native and thewriter of the popular book White Liesand Other Half Truths, presents this family friendly classic—a delightfulcombination of the best of her two favorite authors, Jane Austen and CharlesDickens. Barbara credits her parents with fostering a love for both of theseauthors. Each Christmas, Barbara’s father would sit and read Dicken’s classic A Christmas Carol to the family. Hermother consistently challenged her to improve her mind by extensive reading,Jane Austen style. This book is dedicated to the memory of Cliff and Jeanne andthe season they loved the best.

THE AUTHOR’S BLOG:

An Austen Adventure

Facebook Author Fan Page:

Barbara Tiller Cole

Barbara Tiller Cole’s Amazon Author Page:

Visit Amazon's Barbara Tiller Cole Page

(FEDarcy book cover courtesy of Barbara Tiller Cole)

Just For Fun: Elizabeth & Darcy Wedding Manips

First of all, the 2005 Pride & Prejudice film was already beautiful and amazing as it was (with the American "Mrs. Darcy" ending scene on it), but there's always at least one thing lacking or missing on it that I think would've made this film even more amazing and perfect. A wedding scene for Elizabeth & Darcy or for both Lizzie & Darcy and Jane & Bingley (either shown as a double or separate wedding scenes). Makes me wonder if they ever filmed a deleted "wedding" scene...perhaps they did...or perhaps they did not. Who knows? Except for Keira & Matthew and especially Joe Wright and his editor, right? But then again, they probably did not film it at all. Still, I couldn't help, but wonder if they had deleted and extended scenes for this movie (which were never released or included on the DVD and Blu-ray discs that have been released in the past...or maybe they were saving it for a special director's cut edition for future P&P 10th anniversary release or something...) somewhere out there in a dusty cutting room or in JW's secret vault, lol. Ok, this might be a wishful thinking on my part, but I can dream for those never-before-seen-deleted and extended scenes from my all-time favorite P&P movie, right? Also, an outtakes would be nice too as well as Matthew's audition and reading with Keira. Hopefully, Focus Features and Universal Pictures will release those essential never-before-seen footages for us devoted P&P fans someday in the near future. 

Anyway, since there weren't any deleted "wedding" scenes or stills to post here, lol...I thought just for fun, I'd make some P&P fanarts with photoshop manipulation (manip) of Darcy & Lizzie's fantasy wedding (since I've been and still in the manip arts mood lately, lol) and what it would look like at least in pictures or through fanarts (from my own imagination or at least on the ones I've attempted to have tried and done here, lol). The April royal wedding of the equally beautiful young royal couple Prince William & Catherine Middleton (The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge) inspired me with starting this P&P wedding manips idea (I tried and made quite a few manips from their royal engagement and wedding below....they're not that good, but you get the idea, lol). Fortunately, Keira Knightley had done some or rather many period movies where some of her characters wore wedding dresses (ie. Pirates 2, The Duchess, King Arthur, Silk, Doctor Zhivago, and even Love Actually). As for Matthew Macfadyen, he had done other period films as well and I would've used at least one or two of his other characters' stills, but I just love his Darcy character and look overall...whether he looks serious, sad, or happy...I'd still used any of them, lol. I guess, I'm just biased when it comes to his Darcy character. After all, I love P&P and this blog is about it and his Darcy is part of it...and besides, a few of his Darcy stills actually matches a few of KK's serious, sad, and happy facial expressions in the images of hers I've attempted to used in some of the manips here. I've mostly used her Pirates (2) movies and King Arthur stills where her characters Elizabeth Swann (Pirates 2 had the best images stills of her in a wedding dress and her name's Elizabeth Swann too...just removed the last name and insert Bennet and viola...we got Miss Elizabeth Bennet in a bridal costume! lol)...and her Guinevere character in King Arthur, where she was wearing a wedding dress for the wedding scene with Clive Owen's King Arthur. The beautiful wedding dresses for KK's characters in those two films just looked great when I manipped them with MM's Darcy (which were not easy to do, but I kept practicing and had continue to take Lady Catherine's only good advice and practiced some more, lol). You can see the result of the manip arts I came up with and if they turned out good (or not). They're not the best ones, but...hey, at least I tried...and you get the idea of what I was aiming for!)...

Elizabeth & Darcy - The (Second) Proposal scene

Save The Date

Elizabeth Bennet  (The Bride)
(images I've used for wedding manips)

Fitzwilliam Darcy (The Groom)

Fitzwilliam & Elizabeth: The Wedding Manips

 

Miss Elizabeth Swann Bennet & Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy

Elizabeth & Darcy

Elizabeth & Fitzwilliam: Royal Inspired Engagement Manips

Fitzwilliam & Elizabeth: Royal Inspired Wedding Manips

Pemberley Ball 2011

Last year I attended (virtually, at least) the Pemberley Ball 2010, which I've posted all about it here. It was a lot of fun! I had a great time and even surprisingly (and unexpectedly) won one of the book giveaways (The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview), which I loved and enjoyed reading. Great book!

This year, Velvet (aka Lady Vee) at vvb32 reads is hosting (again) her third annual virtual...

PEMBERLEY BALL 2011
November 14-19, 2011

- an interactive blog party
- a Darcy love-fest
- prize trinkets

Check out the Pemberley Ball schedule and while you're there, join the fun party and sign the Pemberley Ball guestbook to join the party and fun festivities for a chance to win those lovely prize trinkets and Austen/Darcy related book giveaways.




I am attending again this year, of course. My Pemberley Ball 2011/party name is once again, Miss Lizzie Evening (my alter-ego for the evening's Ball, which I previously and randomly picked here, lol... last year when I first attended the Pemberley Ball 2010)...

My ball gown (this year is quite different from last year and) is another exact replica of...

The dazzling burgundy silk-taffeta one-shoulder gown that Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley wore at the 2006 Oscars. She was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice)

At the Pemberley Ball 2011, which has already started, I just had the pleasure of meeting and interacting (once again) with the handsome Mr. Darcy and the beautiful Miss Elizabeth...aka Mr. & Mrs. Darcy, the master and mistress of Pemberley.

 

Just For Fun: More of my Pride & Prejudice Manip Arts (Part 2)

 

A little slow on P&P Actors News today, so I thought I'd keep you all entertain with posting more of my amateurish attempt on P&P fan manip arts...since I'm still in the mood for it, lol. I must say, Lady Catherine's advice had been beneficial (probably the only advice I'll ever follow from her, haha!) and I'm improving with it as I go along...still learning and practicing though. I've had a lot of fun doing these newer ones.

Check them out and let me know what you think. Feedback is very much appreciated, of course. So, feel free to leave your comment. Take a look at them below and enjoy!

  

 Little Dorrit/P&P Crossover: Arthur Clennam & Elizabeth Bennet?
(Watch out Mr. Darcy!)

 Inspired by Keira's upcoming Syfy miniseries  
(see the original image of this here) comes Darcyland...lol!

View more of my P&P Fanmade Manip Arts on FB!