lucky penny has her game face on… just days ago, she and her boy bestie (who pens culinary blog, it all starts with butter) were called to audition for a new show on the food network.

dinner party wars pegs three couples against each other to execute the perfect evening fête… shot with multiple camera set-ups (oh hello, big brother!) over 3 hour-long episodes until the winners are revealed. there is even a confessional room. wheeeeee! *claws ready, cat fight*

the twosome strategized over the most delicious dinner at the black hoof… bone marrow with toast, southern fried sweetbreads, raw horse sammy and caramel bread pudding for dessert.

they decided to prepare tuna tartare on a bed of crispy arrowroot (also known as taro). accompanied by an antipasto plate on a beautifully-dressed dining table. prosciutto and tulips were her idea! *wink*

said modestly of course, they killed the audition… fingers crossed.

lucky penny is a film geek. year after year, she has placed a close second (or third or fourth) in the oscars pool. even with a little friendly competition, she never likes to lose… always one to bet more with her heart than her head.

here is the list of nominees that lucky penny hopes will win an academy award:

best supporting actress—mo’nique in precious, or maggie gyllenhaal in crazy heart. lucky penny is quite torn, but ultimately mo’nique will bring home the little gold statue.

best supporting actor—best performance of the entire year: christoph waltz in inglourious basterds. that. is all.

best director—this is not a call for affirmative action at the oscars… only three women have ever been nominated, can you name them? the hurt locker‘s kathryn bigelow truly directed a great action movie to rival gladiator, braveheart or the departed. lucky penny is especially pulling for her to win over ex-hubby, james cameron.

best actress—lucky penny likes sandy bullock as much as the next romcom viewer, and does not think she deserves the oscar for the blind side. but she will undoubtedly win. in a perfect world, it would go to gabourey sidibe. she is still amazed and affected by her wrenching performance in precious.

best actor—there are so maaaaaany handsome men in this one. george and colin make her swoon, but she thinks that jeff bridges in crazy heart has this race won… and certainly deserved!

best picture—a category that has doubled in size, but not necessarily in quality of nominees. lucky penny’s vote is on the hurt locker, a raw movie with just as much spectacle as avatar.

the red carpet is by far the most entertaining part of the night. lucky penny’s all-time favourite oscar dress is penelope cruz in atelier versace from a couple of years ago… pink feathered skirt with an intricately corded bodice, everything a couture gown should be.

this sunday, follow @luckypennydaily on twitter for real-time updates as the evening unfolds.

lucky penny has had great loves in her life, but by far the longest is her love of film… which is why she was honoured to have been on the organizing committee of the reel artists film festival.

the festival was founded by ann webb, executive director of the canadian art foundation. an impeccably curated celebration of artists from canada and abroad runs through the weekend. free screenings for students. film schedule (from coville to yayoi kusama) and tickets are available here.

every good festival starts with a brilliant film, followed by a killer party. just like last evening at the royal conservatory of music. housed in a breathtakingly designed building on bloor street, where old meets new, was the screening of jean-michel basquiat: the radiant child.

a haunting poem quoted in the film, genius child by langson hughes:

this is a song for the genius child.
sing it softly, for the song is wild.
sing it softly as ever you can -
lest the song get out of hand.

nobody loves a genius child.

can you love an eagle,
tame or wild?
can you love an eagle,
wild or tame?
can you love a monster
of frightening name?

nobody loves a genius child.

kill him – and let his soul run wild.

director tamra davis shot hours of intimate, raw footage of her dear friend in the ’80s. following basquiat’s death in 1987, she tucked this all away in a drawer but finally felt compelled, 20 years later, to revisit her old friend.

jean-michel basquiat makes a compelling, seductive subject. his energy permeates the entire movie. it addresses his fast rise in celebrity within two short years… debbie harry bought his first painting, he briefly dated madonna, and was a protégé of andy warhol.

but for anyone familiar with the artist’s creations, it was amazing to see how he worked. naturally gifted and extremely learned, basquiat allowed cultural, literary and scientific influences to flow through him. what emerged was his interpretation on canvas.

the post-screening fête kept the spirit of basquiat. lucky penny, committee (all decked out in ports 1961 or dsquared) and guests danced the night away to blondie, madonna and run-dmc!

this probably explains… why her head now aches so?!

lucky penny had an enormous high school girl crush on dr. doug ross… although cute bf need not to know this when she suggested they take in a late-night screening.

directed by jason reitman (thank you for smoking, juno), up in the air stars the handsomely brilliant george clooney as ryan bingham, a corporate assasin hired to fire employees on behalf of lawsuit-cautious upper management.

detached from any responsibility, everything he needs is neatly folded into a carry-on suitcase. 323 days are comfortably spent away from home… if that being a sterile, lonely shoebox (with ketchup bottle and mini-airplane booze in the fridge). bingham even leads self-help seminars on how such burdens should be cut out of one’s life: “the slower we move, the faster we die.”

the film features formidable females that both charm and challenge him. graduated top of her class, natalie (anna kendrick) is a naïve, eager upstart who threatens his very way of life. she proposes how it may be more cost-effective to terminate people online. she tags along on his business trips, and he is determined to prove her theory wrong.

in a hotel bar, bingham meets alex (vera farmiga) who seems to have as casual an attitude towards relationships as he. she too lives with a wallet full of frequent flyer cards, and their mutual attraction stems from their syncing blackberries. at his sister’s wedding, bingham reveals a previously unseen vulnerability… might he be ready, as the tagline suggests, to make a connection?

a secret that lucky penny will never tell!

lucky penny and her bestie are not their usual graceful selves this morning. seated on a bench at bonjour brioche, they recount the debauchery from the night before, and honestly… are rather impressed with the list of attractive suitors. a possible new year’s date for her bestie?

slouched over a bowl of steaming hot chocolate, lucky penny dives into the most decadent french toast with a side of peameal bacon. her bestie prefers black coffee and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice avec une omelette provençale.

post-brunch, the girls opt to hide indoors for the rest of the day. preferably a dark movie theatre. like an afternoon matinee: a single man, directed by tom ford, starring colin firth and julianne moore.

set on the brink of the cuban missile crisis, it is a tale of a man, george falconer, paralyzed with grief after the death of his long-time lover. lucky penny knew that mr. ford would make sorrow look uniquely stylish, and he certainly doesn’t disappoint. every tailored suit, chiseled torso, jackie-o dress and winged eye is styled to perfection. the story follows professor falconer over the course of an ordinary day.

mr. ford uses a palette that shifts from black-and-white to vivid colour romantically illustrating great hope in the face of loss. but the film ultimately belongs to colin (always mr. darcy to us… sigh). there’s not enough space to describe how wonderfully brilliant he is… so let’s just say, hello oscar.