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oscar part 2

Best Picture
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood


Will Win: I would probably say No Country for Old Men, given that it's literally all anyone talked about between November and December of 2007, and Javier Bardem, and the evocativeness and the scariness and the moral ambiguity. Yeah, that stuff is all there, and good for the Coens. But I think that between now and late February, more and more people will see There Will Be Blood - the more weird and the more ambitious of the two movies - as a more sophisticated iteration of what No Country for Old Men is trying to say about the degradation of twenty-first century America. Opening so late and only expanding now, There Will Be Blood has the air of freshness about it, and not the weird, constructed, so-this-is-how-the-kids-talk-nowadays "freshness" of Juno. (I've never heard a movie so widely described as "delightful," a red flag in and of itself.)

Should Win: I mean, I like Cormac McCarthy and I love the Coen brothers (Barton Fink is my third-favorite movie ever). And I think Atonement was far better than did everyone I respect, although teenage Briony's sassy bowl cut needed some work [picture of Romola Garai.] But I'd give the Oscar to the man who made my first-favorite movie ever (Boogie Nights) and who has crafted a portrait of a man's obsession whose style matches its substance.

Robbed: I really thought The Diving Bell and the Butterfly would be nominated in place of Atonement, and it would have been a totally worthy nominee. Go see it! But the best movie not on this list was Zodiac, which takes There Will Be Blood's obsessiveness about obsession to a new, almost freakishly auteurish place.

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Events

01/10/2009


Apply now and keep everyone updated on the artistic pulse of the Columbia campus! Postcrypt Art Gallery is looking for a dedicated webmaster to maintain the official Postcrypt site, www.postcrypt.info. Please e-mail jenny@postcrypt.info with your name, year and school, experience, and statement of interest.

The application deadline is January 10, 2009.


01/24/2009

Contact email: info@eastasiareview.org

The Columbia East Asia Review is currently accepting submissions for its 2009 edition. Research papers from all disciplines and majors are welcome. For more information and submission details, please visit us at www.eastasiareview.org

or e-mail us at info@eastasiareview.org. The deadline for submissions is January 24, 2009.
East Asia Review Website


01/24/2009

Contact email: helvidius@columbia.edu

Publish that senior thesis! In its 20th year of publication, the Journal of Politics & Society is inviting submissions for its 2009 edition, which will be distributed in Barnes & Noble and Borders. Please email essays to helvidius@columbia.edu or visit http://www.helvedius.org
for more info. Deadline: January 24, 2009, all disciplines welcome.


01/26/2009

Contact email: cujh@columbia.edu

Positions on the editorial board are competitive, and choices are made by a committee of current editorial board members. To apply, send the following materials to cujh@columbia.edu with the subject line: Prospective Editor Application

Include your name, year, and majors and specializations;

A list of courses taken in the history department, or related courses relevant to the field of history (Philosophy of History; Historical Sociology, etc);

A writing sample of 5 to 7 pages, double-spaced, 12 point font dealing with a historical topic; it may be an excerpt from a larger paper, include a brief abstract if necessary;

An estimate of your availability for the Spring 2009 Semester; include other commitments and positions, and your ability to commit to the extensive reading and editing that a position on the editorial board requires.

The DEADLINE for all applications is JANUARY 26th, but we encourage you to prepare your application and send it right away. Email it with writing sample attached to: cujh@columbia.edu


02/01/2009

Contact email: periwynkle@gmail.com


Do you like to read and write about books, attend literary events/exhibitions, and frequent cafés and bookstores for readings by authors and poets? If you answered yes to any part of the above question, you should write for Spectator Books! My name is Yin Yin Lu, and I am the new Spectator A&E Books Editor. There are many benefits and inimitable opportunities for Books writers besides being able to see your name in print: interviewing all sorts of published writers, from debut novelists to Nobel Peace Prize winners, attending events at the NYPL, Symphony Space, book festivals, and museums for free, and getting free review copies of books before they are released! Last semester, for instance, I interviewed Lytton Smith and Karen Russell, both published graduates of the Columbia MFA program, attended a talk with critics James Wood and Daniel Mendelsohn at the NYPL, and heard Malcolm Gladwell speak at the New Yorker Festival.

Besides being exposed to these exciting opportunities, another reason you should write for Spectator Books is that it is not a long-term commitment - you can contribute as often or as little as you like. You can start your own column, write a recurring feature, or submit an article once every few weeks (or once the entire semester). Moreover, articles are flexible in terms of length and style, depending on whether they are features, reviews, or pieces for the Eye (Spectator's weekly arts and features magazine). Or you can post reviews of any length or style anytime you want on Spectacle, A&E's new and amazing blog.

There really are no obligations to being a Spec Books writer besides actually writing the articles that you want to. I will be sending e-mails with pitches and other information every week, and holding biweekly meetings at the Spec office, but those are not mandatory and are just an opportunity for me to assign pitches and meet my writers.

Completely enticed? Mildly interested? Still uncertain and would like more information? Whatever the case, e-mail me at periwynkle@gmail.com.


02/09/2009

Contact email: cufilmproductions@columbia.edu

Columbia Undergraduate Film Productions is launching our inaugural Production Season to write and produce original short films for our Film Festival!

CUFP Production Season will consist of intensive Screenwriters' Workshops and Directors' Workshops to offer you full creative and logistic support from your peers as you make your films on campus! We are looking for talented writers and directors who are passionate about film to create fresh, interesting material for our film festival.

Ideal candidates will be enthusiastic about film, dedicated to the workshop process, and excited to work on short films in a CUFP workshop setting. Workshops will be late Sunday afternoons and some Monday evenings.

The DEADLINE for Writers' Applications is Friday January 23.
The DEADLINE for Directors' Applications is Monday February 9

All Applicants: Send an e-mail with your name, e-mail, phone number, and school and class information to CUFPproductionseason@gmail.com. Please write a short personal statement (why are you interested in CUFP Production Season? How will you benefit from the workshop process?). Make sure to include all relevant experience with film and writing and/or directing.

**Writers: Please attach a screenwriting sample in Microsoft Word format. Writing sample should be maximum 5 pgs and should give us an idea of your narrative style and genre interest. It does not have to be the short film you will work on in workshop, but if it is not please include pitches/ideas for a short film you would like to workshop.


02/15/2009

Contact email: rhapsody@columbia.edu


Rhapsody in Blue, Columbia's urban affairs journal, having successfully, if belatedly gotten its first semester magazines in hand, is going to try again.

We're back to North America this semester. We need pitches from you. We want thoughtful, interesting, fun pieces that say something about cities. What are you interested in writing about? The first step is to send us a pitch--a paragraph about what you want to talk about, how will you do it? Pitches are due February 15. You'll hear from us if it's a go and drafts due a month later.

Old issues are on our website if you'd like to see more. Great opportunity to publish ideas from class, etc.

Send an email by us with any questions. Our FIRST MEETING for anyone interested in learning more about writing, editing, web or layout will be Wed, JAN 28, at 7:30, Broadway Piano Lounge. Also stay tuned for the study abroad blog, which should be going somewhere this semester. Let us know if you're interested in that as well.


01/6/2010

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