After last year’s slap heard round the world, the Oscars are back with a newly established crisis team in place and host Jimmy Kimmel, who has vowed not to be a victim of violence with a sure fire fight or flee strategy.
Airing live March 12, 2013 at 8PM E.T. the 95th annual Academy Awards recognizes the best and the brightest, (and traditionally the whitest) in the canon of filmmaking.
It is absolutely apropos that the Oscars would fall during Pisces season as the mutable water sign rules the realm of cinema and fantasies and projections of the literal and metaphorical variety.
Speaking of Pisces…Fresh off her Super Bowl win, pregnant Pisces powerhouse Rihanna will perform “Lift Me Up,” nominated for Best Original Song, at the awards ceremony. Presenters include daddy of the internet Pedro “daddy of the internet” Pascal, Harrison Ford, newly sober Cara Delevingne and possibly even fringe royal Sarah Ferguson at the behest of the Presley family.
With a wide swath of categories and contenders, including ten nominees for Best Picture, we’ve recommended a film for each member of the zodiac. Tune in and turn on.
In terms of archetypes, Aries is the rash, heroic, energetic jock of the zodiac. High on jet fuel and here to go fast, high five, play beach volley ball and kill the bad guys, this cardinal fire sign will find much to love about this sequel and in the case of ram Lady Gaga who recorded “Hold My Hand,” for the film’s soundtrack, something to sing about.
Directed by lunar Taurus Baz Luhrman and starring actor and Taurus rising Austin Butler, “Elvis” is pure visual maximalism, the love language of the sign that lives and dies by the ethos of more is more. A feast for the eyes, the film concerns itself with themes of dirty dance moves, greed, over indulgence, working to avoid feeling, exploitation and excess, highs and lows of the Taurean temperament.
Gemini is ruled by Mercury, planet of communication and exchange. In kind, Sarah Polley’s arresting film “Women Talking” based on the novel by Gemini Miriam Toews, beautifully and brutally showcases the need for, and power of, language. Add to this that Gemini represents the duality of the human condition and “Women Talking” investigates these extremes and asks how they can and cannot be reconciled.
As a cardinal water sign, the emotional depth and width of the average Cancer is absolutely oceanic. Rulers of the fourth house of home and ancestry they take the health and well being of their environment very seriously and will not hesitate to go to war to protect their own, themes touched on in James Cameron’s tree speaking, blue skinned aspirational alien sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water.”
Leo is associated with romanticism, idealism and the inner child. “All Quiet on the Western Front,” is a coming of age story that follows an idealistic young man, hoping to be a hero, as he is cast into the crude realities of combat. Leo is synonymous with art and fertility and war is the antithesis of life and creation, making this beautifully rendered, anti-war epic, a fierce, fitting film for the lion pride.
Virgo is the detail oriented, truth bound, bring the dirt of deceit into the light of day, detective of the zodiac. In kind, the documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” chronicles the life, times and personal vendetta of Virgo photographer Nan Goldin, a groundbreaking artist who fought tirelessly to bring attention and condemnation to the Sackler family, a clan of art world benefactors who knowingly propagated and profited from the opiate epidemic.
Astrology 101: Your guide to the stars
Libra rules the seventh house of partnerships and natives rely on their relationships with others to help them view and define themselves. They also really, really want to be liked. Enter Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” the tale of alienating affections, friendship gone awry and fingers taken off.
Scorpio is ruled by Pluto, planet of death and resurrection and “Black Pather: Wakanda Forever” follows the fallout of the death of King T’Challa, from mourning to the rise of the new, leather clad, steel clawed, female s(hero). Apropo, Scorpio is a feminine sign whose power color is black. A fixed water sign, Scorpio is one of the most vengeful signs in the zodiac and the antagonist of “Wakanda Forever” is an ocean dwelling demi god bent on revenge. Runner up for recommended viewing is “Causeway,” starring Jenneifer Lawrence and best supporting actor nominee Bryan Tyree Henree as a pair of poeple living in the aftermath of near death.
Directed by Sagittarius Steven Spielberg, “The Fabelmans” is a loose retelling of his origin story and the path of pain that led him to filmmaking. Archers are an adventurous sort who value truth, freedom and expansion, qualities young Sammy Fabelman explores from behind the third eye of his camera lens. Runner up honors go to “To Leslie,” as Sagittarius was voted sign most likely to win the lottery and this film follows the good luck and hard times of one such winner.
Ambitious to the point of obsession, Capricorn is the great builder of the zodiac. Rulers of the tenth house of purpose and public image, sea goats are concerned with control, command, professional reputation and building/leaving a legacy. All of these themes are present in Todd Field’s “Tár” which follows the life of a celebrated conductor that begins to unravel in the wake of scandal.
Aquarius is the cult leader of the zodiac, ruled by restrictive planet Saturn, enforcer of the old guard and Uranus, planet of chaos, usurpment, ship wrecks and desert island scenarios. For water bearers I prescribe “Triangle of Sadness,” a scathing satire about the hierarchy of wealth and the currency of survival. In keeping with Aquarian themes of community and control, the film tracks the rise of an unlikely leader and examines how power can be inverted and abused.
As the last sign in the zodiac, Pisces represents the aggregate of…everything. Ruled by Neptune, planet of dreams, delusions and all that can be and can be undone, people of the fish will feel at home in the weird, wondrous waters of “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” As previously established, Pisces is the everything bagel of the zodiac, a baked good that operates as its own existential entity in the film.
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girls guide” to strip clubs and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.