Buckets of Exposition

TV Week in Review: October 10 - 14

2010-10-17T22:52:00.000-05:00

This past week was an improvement over the previous week. Chuck, with its great writing and use of characters, had its best episode of the season so far. It also helped that Jeff and Lester were absent this week (I know, I know, most fans love Jeffster; I prefer the spy stuff). Parenthood maintained its high quality. Stargate: Universe improved. Glee, for a change, had a coherent story, good character development, better songs than its had recently, and a lack of the over-rated Sue Sylvester interference. It went from bottom two for three weeks in a row to number four this week.

The middle of the pack shuffled around a little this week with Hawaii Five-0 faltering a little but Cougar Town being a little better than usual. No Ordinary Family has potential -- I think -- but it still fails to really impress me. I'm beginning to lose my patience with The Event and Undercovers. The Event seems to be trying too hard to be a deep conspiracy and mythology show, but it's missing the mark a bit. Undercovers has the opposite problem in that it could use a little conspiracy or mythology because its procedural, mission-of-the-week format seems stale when compared to Chuck's already developed storyline. But, shows need time to develop, so I'm not saying I'm giving up on any of these shows quite yet.

Caprica is starting to feel just as dark and depressing as Battlestar Galactica, if not worse. And, with virtually every character being edgy, corrupt, troubled, or misguided, I'm having trouble finding a protagonist I can really invest in. Sanctuary opened its third season with the conclusion of last season's bizarre and disappointing two-part season finale about a giant sea spider named Big Bertha creating islands and causing a tidal wave in the Indian Ocean. I can't believe they spent three hours on that story, but I'm glad they can finally move on to something else which will hopefully be better.

I totally forgot to include the South Park season premiere from the previous week, but it wasn't great. This past week though it made fun of Jersey Shore which managed to feel funny and relevant even though I've never watched a second of Jersey Shore (and would never want to).

Week of October 10 - 14
01. (A-) Chuck (s4 ep04)
02. (B+) Parenthood (s2 ep05)
03. (B+) Stargate: Universe (s2 ep03)
04. (B+) Glee (s2 ep04)
05. (B) Fringe (s3 ep04)
06. (B) Cougar Town (s2 ep04)
07. (B) South Park (s14 ep09)
08. (B) House (s7 ep04)
09. (tie) (B) Survivor (s21 ep05)
09. (tie) (B) Mythbusters (s8 ep14)
11. (B-) Hawaii Five-0 (s1 ep04)
12. (B-) No Ordinary Family (s1 ep03)
13. (B-) Caprica (s2 ep02)
14. (B-) Undercovers (s1 ep04)
15. (C+) The Event (s1 ep04)
16. (C) Sanctuary (s3 ep 01)

Week in TV: October 04 - 08

2010-10-11T21:46:00.000-05:00

Last week was a big mash of mediocre. Since it was the third episode in the season for a lot of shows, hopefully they were just cost-cutting after blowout season premieres.

I know the 3rd episode of Chuck felt a lot like a "bottle show" with many scenes happening in air ducts of the new Buy More. It was still good, but a slight dip in quality compared to the first two episodes of season four and the 4th episode I just watched tonight. Hmm. At least part of that may be due to Jeff & Lester... They were back in full force last week, and the episode wasn't as good. They were completely absent this week, and the episode was awesome. There's more to it than that, but that makes feel better about being the only person on the planet who doesn't like the hijinks of the Buy More crew.

On the bright side, Glee had a slight upswing in quality this past week. I didn't like everything about the episode, but this time I had to fast forward through only two songs. Stargate: Universe redeemed itself too. Oddly, its 2nd episode was better than the season premiere.

Undercovers was by no means bad, but in the battle between Undercovers and imitation Nyquil, Undercovers couldn't keep me awake. I kept having to rewind parts of the episode because I kept dozing off. Undercovers has potential, but it needs some kind of spark that fellow spy show Chuck has. It's early enough that it may find it, but it's not there yet. And, for the record, I don't take cough syrup for fun. I was fighting a cold last week. Kids, don't do drugs; stay in school.

Week of October 04 - 08
01. (B) Parenthood (s2 ep04)
02. (B) Chuck (s4 ep03)
03. (B) Hawaii Five-0 (s1 ep03)
04. {tie} (B) Fringe (s3 ep03)
04. {tie} (B) House (s7 ep03)
06. (B-) Stargate: Universe (s2 ep02)
07. {tie} (B-) No Ordinary Family (s1 ep02)
07. {tie} (B-) The Event (s1 ep03)
07. {tie} (B-) Caprica (season 2 premiere)
10. {tie} (B-) Survivor (s21 ep04)
10. {tie} (B-) Cougar Town (s2 ep03)
10. {tie} (B-) Glee (s2 ep03)
13. (B-) Undercovers (s1 ep03)

Oh, and since I'm already one episode into the current week of October 11 - 15, I'm going to go ahead and say tonight's 4th episode of Chuck was at least an A-.

Week in TV: September 27 to October 01

2010-10-11T21:10:00.000-05:00

I'm two weeks behind on rating episodes, so I'll skip the commentary and just stick to my ranks & grades...

Week of September 27 to October 01
01. (B+) Chuck (s4 ep02)
02. (B+) Parenthood (s2 ep03)
03. {tie} (B) Hawaii Five-0 (s1 ep02)
03. {tie} (B) Fringe (s3 ep02)
03. {tie} (B) House (s7 ep02)
06. (B-) No Ordinary Family (series premiere)
07. {tie} (B-) Survivor (s21 ep03)
07. {tie} (B-) Undercovers (s1 ep02)
07. {tie} (B-) Cougar Town (s2 ep02)
10. (B-) The Event (s1 ep02)
11. (B-) Stargate: Universe (season 2 premiere)
12. (B-) The Colony (s2 ep10; season 2 finale)
13. (C+) Glee (s2 ep02)

This Week in TV: September 20 - 24

2010-09-25T11:29:00.000-05:00

This past week was a big premiere week for a lot of new & returning shows. Overall, it was pretty good.

I was most excited to see the return of Chuck, and while the season 4 premiere itself wasn't mind-blowing, it showed just how well the writers are keeping the forward momentum started back in the season 2 finale. From the previews they showed after the episode and some spoilers I've read online, I get the feeling I'm going to like the direction the show takes this year. I like that Chuck & Sarah are truly together and will remain that way all season (and hopefully the duration of the entire series) and that the will-they/won't-they nature of their relationship is finally over.

Hawaii Five-0 was the last show I got around to watching but had the 2nd best episode of the week. I don't know if I'll retain interest in a procedural cop show week after week, but they had an impressive premiere. I still don't see how they pulled off one stunt in which the main character does a running slide across the trunk of a car while that car is simultaneously rear-ended by another car -- and with the slider looking like the main character, not a stunt man. My guess is there was some CG work involved, but it sure looked seamless. In addition to the stunts, the story, characters, performances, casting, dialogue, and scenery were all good too.

Parenthood remains strong. There’s not even much I can elaborate on. In general, I just love the actors, the characters, and the storylines so far.

Fringe focused it's season 3 premiere almost entirely on the over-here Olivia stuck in the over-there universe. Consequently, there wasn't enough time with over-here's Walter or Peter to give the episode sufficient quirkiness or heart. However, the cab driver character that helped Olivia evade her captors helped out in the heart department by becoming a trusted sidekick, even if he was forced into it. Supposedly, the show is going to alternate episodes between the two universes, so next week we should get more time with the over-here Walter & Peter and the over-there Olivia (a.k.a. Bad Olivia, Bolivia, Not Olivia, Nolivia, Faux-livia) who's secretly embedded herself over here.

Warehouse 13 ended its 2nd season with an episode that had a goofy plot, the disappointing revelation of the H.G. Wells character as being neither good nor evil but just plain insane, and the equally disappointing split between Pete and his girlfriend played by the gorgeous Paula Garces (who may replace Lauren Graham as having the best hair ever). Maybe the split isn't permanent and she'll return next season. I hope so. Despite the goofy plot, I've come to appreciate the show for its quirky characters, increasingly frequent comic relief, and occasionally clever dialogue. The characters have also bonded well enough that they feel like a family. Myka leaving Warehouse 13 is no doubt temporary, but it made for a nice bit of tension at the end.

As for the other shows... Undercovers seems to have potential. Cougar Town is no better or worse than it was before. The Event was pretty good although a little boring until the end, many viewers have complained online about the story bouncing around in time too much, and I think I may already have a plausible theory as to what the big "event" is. House was well-acted, well-produced, and well-directed as usual, but I just don't buy the new romantic relationship between House & Cuddy. I hope it hasn't jumped the shark. I continue to have a love-hate relationship with Glee, and the season premiere was all over the map. I really don't think the writers quite know what to do with the characters, but they're determined to take them in completely different directions every single episode.

My ranks & scores for this week's shows:

01. (A-) Chuck (season 4 premiere)

02. (B+) Hawaii Five-0 (series premiere)

03. (B+) Parenthood (s2 ep02)

04. (B) Fringe (season 3 premiere)

05. (B) Warehouse 13 (s2 ep12, season finale)

06. (B) Undercovers (series premiere)

07. (B-) Cougar Town (season 2 premiere)

08. (B-) The Event (series premiere)

09. (B-) House (season 7 premiere)

10. (B-) Survivor (s21 ep02)

11. (B-) The Colony (s2 ep09, penultimate episode)

12. (B-) Kate Plus 8 (s1 ep04)

13. (C+) Glee (season 2 premiere)

Best Moments:

Chuck: A captured & tied-up Sarah trying to type an urgent text message to Chuck using her toes.
Hawaii Five-0: Several mind-blowing stunts, most involving vehicles, but the best one being the trunk slide explained above.
Parenthood: Adam walks in his front door to see his wife consoling a sobbing friend who’s going through a separation, that woman’s son jumping on a trampoline indoors, and his own son being hyper and making constant noise with an annoying whistle. Adam just backs out quietly, goes out to his car, reclines the seat, and listens to the radio.
Parenthood: Adam comes home another night to see his house messy but empty. A note from his wife says she’s taken the kids, including the annoying trampoline kid, out to eat so that he can have some quiet time. He reclines on the sofa with a beer and starts to watch TV but realizes something isn’t right. Next, you see his family at the restaurant, and Adam walks in and joins them.
Fringe: Even after Olivia let him go, the cab driver still hung around to see what happened to Olivia.
Warehouse 13: Claudia starting to cry because Artie got shot. They really are forming a pseudo father-daughter type relationship.
Warehouse 13: Pete getting emotional and not being able to hear the rest of Myka's resignation letter after she calls him the best big brother she never had. They could have gone the romantic route with Pete & Myka, but I very much prefer them continuing with their relationship being more like brother & sister.
House: Any scene involving Cuddy without her clothes on (and, there were several).
Glee: The short cheerleader with Down Syndrome (I think) delivering some hilarious commentary during Finn's embarrassing audition for the Cheerios squad.
A "You Again" commercial during Glee: Betty White, co-star of the new movie "You Again," saying, "Okay, I'm going to level with you... Glee Club was for dorks."

My Top "100" List of Greatest TV Characters of the Last 20 Years (Well, The Top 38 I've Finished Ranking So Far)

2010-09-18T19:26:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, when Entertainment Weekly published their list of 100 greatest characters of the last 20 years, I started making my own list of best TV characters. I had to stop because I got so bogged down in my own grading system that I found it too hard to narrow down to 100 and then properly rank them -- without driving myself crazy. When I last left off, I had only nailed down the top 38.

Now, the TV Guide Network has assembled their top 25 greatest TV characters, but you have to watch to learn who they picked. So, I thought I'd publish my list, even if it's not finished yet. I don't have 100 ranked yet, but I have more than TV Guide. So, below is my top 38 all-time best character list. Maybe, I'll actually finish the list some day. And, if I do, I can't guarantee the top 38 will still be in this same order. But, for now (and yes, I am a geek)...

38. Ranger Marcus Cole (Babylon 5)
37. James "Sawyer" Ford (Lost)
36. Attache Vir Cotto  (Babylon 5)
35. Chief of Staff Leo McGarry  (The West Wing)
34. Attorney Douglas Wambaugh  (Picket Fences)
33. Detective George Francisco (Alien Nation)
32. Colonel Jack O'Neill (Stargate: SG-1)
31. Dr. John "J.D." Dorian  (Scrubs)
30. Benjamin Linus  (Lost)
29. Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Lost)
28. Admiral William Adama  (Battlestar Galactica)
27. Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls)
25. (tie) Judge Henry Bone (Picket Fences)
25. (tie) Dr. Juliet Burke (Lost)
23. (tie) Dr. Jack Shepherd (Lost)
23. (tie) John Locke  (Lost)
22. Press Secretary C.J. Cregg  (The West Wing)
21. CIA Agent Chuck Bartowski  (Chuck)
20. Detective Vic Mackey  (The Shield)
18. (tie) Dr. Sam Beckett  (Quantum Leap)
18. (tie) Attorney Ally McBeal  (Ally McBeal)
17. Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly TV series / Serenity feature film)
16. Dr. Gregory House (House, M.D.)
15. Attorney John Cage (Ally McBeal)
14. Attorney Allan Shore (The Practice & Boston Legal)
13. Lieutenant Worf  (Star Trek: The Next Generation & Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
10. (tie) Lieutenant Commander Data (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
10. (tie) Constable Odo  (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
10. (tie) Luke Danes (Gilmore Girls)
09. Commander Susan Ivanova  (Babylon 5)
08. Security Chief Michael Garibaldi  (Babylon 5)
07. Captain John Sheridan (Babylon 5)
06. Captain Jean-Luc Picard  (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
05. President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet  (The West Wing)
04. Lorelai Gilmore (Gilmore Girls)
03. Ambassador Delenn  (Babylon 5)
02. Ambassador Londo Mollari  (Babylon 5)
01. Ambassador G'Kar  (Babylon 5)

And, without listing the individual characters, the remaining candidates for a future top 100 will likely come from the following additional shows:

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Commander-in-Chief, Crusade, Fringe, Highlander: The Series, Jericho, Leverage, Men In Trees, Moonlight, The O.C., The Practice, South Park, and The 4400.

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So, who do you think are the best TV characters??? Where do you agree or disagree with my list? Let me know.

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And, in case you're wondering what my overly-analytical, super-neurotic grading system is...

Using Apple Numbers (the Mac version of MS Excel), I kept a spreadsheet of my list of characters, the shows they were in, my grading categories, etc...

- I listed the total number of TV seasons in which each character appeared in one or more shows
- I listed the number of TV movies and/or feature films in which each character appeared in a separate column
- I graded each character on a scale of 1 to 13 in the following five categories (with 13 = A+, 9 = B, 5 = C-, 1 = F, etc.)

Significance: How significant was the character to the overall concept and/or story arc of the show.
Depth/Eloquence: How "deep," emotional, multi-faceted, and/or articulate was the character.
Character Development: How much did the character grow, change, improve, evolve, devolve, cope with, or have their backstory revealed.
Performance: How well did the actor/actress play the role.
Like-ability: How likable, cool, relatable, honorable, or humorous was the character.

Lastly, the Overall Weighted Score for each character was, rounded to two decimal places, the sum of the following:

6 X Significance
5 X Depth/Eloquence
4 X Character Development
3 X Performance
2 X Like-ability
1 X Longevity (square root of # of TV seasons plus square root of # of movies, rounded to 2 decimal places)

I let Pages do the calculating & sorting for me. All I had to do was plug in the numbers.

Ambassador G'Kar from Babylon 5 got a perfect score of 13 in the "big 5" categories and a decent 3.97 in Longevity, for a total of 263.97. I made him the standard bearer because there was no way he wasn't going to be in the #1 spot.

Lead characters (Pres. Bartlet, Vic Mackey), "captain" type characters (Picard, Sheridan, Mal, Adama, O'Neill), and characters for whom a show is named (Lorelai & Rory Gilmore, House, Ally McBeal) automatically got a 13 in Significance. Because they each represent the culture of an entire race, I also gave 13s to the three main alien ambassadors from Babylon 5. Usually, if a non-lead character was part of an ensemble but in the opening credits for most seasons, they got somewhere between 10 & 12 in Significance.

In Depth/Eloquence, only G'Kar and Boston Legal's Allan Shore got 13s. Londo Mollari, Delenn, Lorelai Gilmore, President Bartlet, Captain Picard, and Judge Bone all got 12s.

In Character Development, only G'Kar and Londo got 13s. Delenn, Sheridan, Worf, Luke Danes, Odo, Locke, Jack, Sawyer, Rory Gilmore, Willow Rosenberg (Buffy:tVS), and Duncan McLeod (Highlander: The Series) got 12s. And, yes, I struggled with whether to give Worf a 12 or 13. With his other categories high, a 13 in Char Dev pushes him into the top 10, which I felt was crowded enough already. But, part of me thinks he still deserves it.

For Performance by the actor/actress that played them, I gave 13s to G'Kar, Londo, President Bartlet, Ben Linus, Juliet Burke, House, Allan Shore, and Admiral Adama. I gave 12s to Delenn, Lorelai Gilmore, Vic Mackey, Ally McBeal, Picard, Data, John Cage, Emily Gilmore, Sam Beckett, Capt. "Mal" Reynolds, and Judge Bone.

For Like-ability, I only gave 13s to G'Kar and Dr. Juliet Burke (in retrospect, I may have had Lost fever at the time), and I gave way too many 12s to list. (If I ever try to finish the top 100, this may be the category I need to go back and tweak the most.) Characters meant to be obnoxious, annoying, morally ambiguous, or downright villainous got low to mediocre scores in Like-ability, but characters like Sawyer, Douglas Wambaugh, Ben Linus, Vic Mackey, House, and Londo Mollari still made top averages thanks to high scores in other categories.

And, the winners of the Longevity Score were:

5.32 Lt./Lt. Cmdr. Worf (7 seasons ST:TNG; 4 seasons ST:DS9; 4 feature films)

4.74 Cartman, Kyle, Stan, and Stan's dad from South Park (14 seasons; 1 feature film)

4.73 Capt./Major/Lt. Col./Col. Samantha Carter (10 seasons Stargate: SG-1; 1 season Stargate: Atlantis; 2 DVD movies)

4.65 Most of the cast of Star: The Next Generation (7 seasons; 4 feature films)

4.61 Kenny from South Park (absent one season compared to the other boys)

4.58 Teal'c from Stargate: SG-1 (same as Samantha Carter minus the year on Atlantis)

4.45 Dr. Beverly Crusher from ST:TNG (same as others except absent in season 2)

4.41 Dr. Daniel Jackson from Stargate: SG-1 (same as Teal'c except absent in most of season 6)

4.00 Captain John Sheridan from Babylon 5 (4 seasons; 3 TV movies; 1 DVD movie)

3.97 G'Kar, Delenn, Garibaldi, and Dr. Franklin from Babylon 5 (5 seasons; 3 TV or DVD movies each)

3.83 Col./Gen. Jack O'Neill from Stargate: SG-1 (8 seasons; 1 DVD movie; not counting the Kurt Russell version from the feature film that started the franchise)

3.74 Leopold "Butters" Stotch from South Park (14 seasons)

3.65 Londo Mollari from Babylon 5 (5 seasons; 2 TV movies)

3.61 Tweak from South Park (13 seasons)

3.46 Chief Miles O'Brien (5 seasons ST:TNG; 7 seasons ST:DS9)

Movie Review: Toy Story 3

2010-07-04T09:30:00.000-05:00

Toy Story 3 dares to explore what happens when kids outgrow their toys. The toys, who are sentient unbeknownst to their owner, must face their fate. Do toys go to college with the kid, to the attic, to another home, or just the junk yard?

This movie explores every angle. It does it with fun, humor, heart, and even one particularly scary moment that only makes you appreciate the characters even more.

The movie integrates a ton of new characters (see the poster attached to this review) but without detracting or devaluing the established characters we know & love. And, it has a nice way of re-introducing the core characters in a very funny & exciting opening scene.

I was a little surprised that I wasn't quite moved to tears by the emotional ending. Maybe I will be upon repeat viewing in private. There is one scene, however, involving a tortilla -- yes, a tortilla -- that is so bizarrely hilarious that it triggered tears of laughter. For humorous subplots, a close 2nd goes to -- without getting spoilery -- a very different kind of Buzz Lightyear. ;)

This movie is a perfect way of wrapping up the Toy Story trilogy but could also work as a stand-alone story. It's equally great for kids & adults. Like all Pixar movies, it looks amazing.

About the only very minor flaws are that the point of the plot is driven home a little often, to the point that it feels like beating a dead horse, and that the evil Zurg doesn't make a cameo until the closing credits (I was hoping for a Zurg & Buzz father-son reunion). My only other complaint is that the movie didn't send me out of the theater "pumped" about it afterwards, but I can't deny a quiet appreciation for how well it was made.

I may change my mind later, but my initial gut reaction is that the movie deserves a letter grade of "A" which in my scale translates to 5 out of 5 stars. And, in terms of Pixar movies, TS1 & TS2 are a little lower down the list for me, but I think TS3 is 2nd only to Finding Nemo.

Letter Grade: A

5-Star Scale: 5 out of 5 stars

My Favorite Episodes of Lost - Season 6

2010-05-23T18:20:00.000-05:00

Season 6. It had so much potential. It had so much to prove. It had so much to live up to after the stellar season 5. Sadly, I don't think it did. It's been a good season, but it's been a frustrating season too. It's been exciting and has had some big revelations, but it also hasn't totally felt like Lost. All the cryptic stuff that happened at the Others Temple felt a little "off." I haven't been thrilled with the sometimes significant switch in focus from our Losties to Jacob and the "Man in Black." Maybe I'm just jaded because of what happened to Juliet. ;) I do like the sideways universe, but I'm not sure exactly what it's purpose is in terms of storytelling, but I guess/hope we will find out later tonight.

Season 6 - Favorites

[6.01] LA X (Part 1)
[6.02] LA X (Part 2)
[6.07] Dr. Linus

Season 6 - Honorable Mentions

[6.04] The Substitute
[6.05] Lighthouse
[6.06] Sundown
[6.08] Recon

I loved the two-part / two-hour season premiere because of the introduction of the sideways universe. It had a lot of "Easter Eggs" with old characters, sometimes ones who had died, coming back for an appearance in the new timeline. I like seeing how some things turned out the same, how some things turned out completely opposite, and how somethings were similar but with a twist. It was very amusing, very nostalgic.

"Dr. Linus" was, by far, the most Lost-like episode of the series. It contained a redemption storyline, it showed parallels between the prime timeline and the alternate timeline, it had some of our characters back on the beach, and I think it's the only episode of the season to have a classic music montage near the end (I love those). This felt like the old classic days of Lost. Too bad it couldn't last...

I liked "The Substitute," "Lighthouse," and "Sundown" because of the information we learned about the numbers, Candidates, and Jacob's use of the lighthouse mirrors to observe the Candidates. Actually, I don't even remember right now why I liked "Sundown," but I marked it an 8 out 10 at GEOS.tv at the time, so I must have liked it.

I got a real kick out of the Sawyer-centric episode "Recon." It was so cool seeing him be a police officer with Miles has his partner. While I would have been *thrilled* to see Juliet in this episode, having James hook up with Charlotte (who looks much better off-island) was a decent consolation prize.

No, "Ab Aeterno," the Richard-centric episode, is neither a favorite nor an honorable mention. Maybe once I get some distance from it, I'll like it better. I will admit, it had some great production quality. Out of *all* the episodes, it was the one that felt the most like a movie. It had some of the most beautiful vistas of the island since season 1. It had a great, romantic love story between Richard and his wife. And, Nestor Carbonell should get an Emmy nomination for carrying this episode with excellence. *But*, in the final season, when there's such little time to conclude so many subplots and solve so many mysteries, I do not care enough about Richard to see him get an entire episode when the only thing we learn about him that is important in the grand scheme of things is that Jacob made him immortal -- something we *already* knew.

My Favorite Episodes of Lost - Season 5

2010-05-23T14:40:00.000-05:00

Season 5. The best season of Lost, by far. One of the best seasons of TV, out of all my favorite shows. This is the season in which Lost peaked.

Season 5 - Favorites

[5.08] LaFleur
[5.09] Namaste
[5.10] He's Our You
[5.11] Whatever Happened, Happened
[5.13] Some Like It Hoth
[5.14] The Variable
[5.15] Follow the Leader
[5.16] The Incident (Part 1)
[5.17] The Incident (Part 2)

Season 5 - Honorable Mentions

[5.01] Because You Left
[5.02] The Lie
[5.03] Jughead
[5.04] The Little Prince
[5.05] This Place Is Death
[5.06] 316
[5.07] The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

Yes, that's no mistake. I count every episode of season 5 as either a favorite or an honorable mention except [5.12] "Dead Is Dead." Even that episode was still decent. The season is just that good.

Basically, season 5 is the time travel season. On the island, Locke, Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, Miles, Daniel Faraday, and Charlotte are bouncing around in time. According to Lostpedia, they experienced at least 14 time flashes. In those flashes, one or more people each got to witness the birth of Aaron, the washing ashore of Rousseau's science group on the island, the presence of an atom bomb on the island in the 1950s, and the Tawaret statue being intact on the island in an earlier century.

I love the time flashes. The only thing better is when the time flashes stop, and the survivors join the Dharma Initiative in 1974. It was great seeing James (hard to still call him Sawyer at this point) taking up a respected leadership position and even better to see him in a relationship with Juliet. It's funny; after three seasons of developing the Jack/Kate/Sawyer love triangle (and, maybe a few months of Juliet just barely making it a "love trapezoid"), all it took was a few scenes of seeing James and Juliet together for their relationship to be just as believable as Sun and Jin's or Desmond and Penny's.

When Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid time flash back to 1977, after the other Losties have lived comfortably in the Dharma Initiative for three years, there's this horrible sense that fun time is over. The game is back on. While the final hours of season 5 aren't as action-packed as season 4, it's even better because of the tension between characters, the philosophical aspect of fate vs. free will, the nostalgia of seeing the Swan station being built, and the big question as to whether the group could -- or should -- try to change their pasts. And, the final moments of the episode are the most jaw-dropping and gut-wrenching of the entire series, and again, it's because of the believability of the James/Juliet relationship and how much Juliet was my favorite character.

Other highlights of the season include: Hurley trying to write The Empire Strikes Back for George Lucas, finding Rose and Bernard (with Vincent) who are hiding from both Dharma and the Others because they have "retired," Miles getting to interact with his dad and finding out he wasn't so bad after all, the horror of knowing that Eloise Hawking killed her own son, getting to see Hurley drive a fully intact Dharma van, and Hurley asking Miles questions about time travel that some of the audience were probably wondering too.

My Favorite Episodes of Lost - Season 4

2010-05-23T13:49:00.000-05:00

Season 4 really picked things up. Setting an end date was the best thing the producers could do because it increased the pace and gave the overall story arc a destination to work toward. Unfortunately, this season was reduced in episode count because of the writers strike. However, that may be a good thing for two reasons: (1) We got extra hours in seasons 5 and 6 to compensate. (2) Season 4 was ultimately a season about shuffling characters back and forth making us wonder the whole time how the Oceanic Six became the Oceanic Six.

Season 4 - Favorites

[4.05] The Constant

[4.13] There's No Place Like Home (Part 2)

[4.14] There's No Place Like Home (Part 3)

Season 4 - Honorable Mentions

[4.03] The Economist

[4.07] Ji Yeon

[4.12] There's No Place Like Home (Part 1)

"The Constant" is generally regarded as one of the best episodes of the series. Instead of us seeing a flashback of Desmond's character, we actually follow his character as he bounces back & forth in time. This serves as more proof that Desmond is special when it comes to properties of space, time, and consciousness. And, it gives us one of the series' most emotional moments as Desmond reunites with his love Penny albeit over the phone. Hearing Penny's voice helps ground Desmond such that he gets his memory back in the present and stops bouncing around in time.

The three-part / four-hour season finale is one of the most exciting story arcs of the whole series. We see events that eventually lead to some of the characters getting off the island, though not in as easy a way as we might have expected. I can't remember exactly why, but I count Part 1 as an honorable mention instead of a favorite probably because the action and intrigue was just ramping up at that point.

"The Economist" is definitely the best Sayid story. In retrospect, it's a little depressing though. When combined with what happens to Sayid in season six's sideways universe, it's pretty obvious that Sayid was perpetually screwed. No matter how hard he tried to redeem himself, on the island, in 1977, off the island, or in the sidewaysverse, he was always meant to be a killer. It reminds me of a line from the otherwise forgettable 1996 Michael Douglas film "The Ghost and the Darkness" in which his character, a famous hunter named Charles Remington, is hired to kill two lions reeking havoc on a railroad operation in Kenya. Someone asks Remington if he enjoys killing and if not, why do it. Remington responds, "Because I've got a gift." It's the same with Sayid. His gift, but also his curse, is his ability to torture and kill.

No surprise, but "Ji Yeon" is another honorable mention simply because it's a Sun-centric episode. I love the part at the end when Hurley goes to visit Sun in Seoul. She and Hurley take Ji Yeon to a grave that is reserved for Jin. At that time, we still didn't know if Jin was really dead, on the island but pretending to be dead to the outside world, or assumed to be dead by the Oceanic 6 but actually alive. Consequently, another tear-filled moment.

My Favorite Episodes of Lost - Season 3

2010-05-23T11:51:00.000-05:00

Ahh, Season 3 of Lost. Lost is one of my favorite shows, even at its worst it’s still better than most of the crap on TV, and the season ended pretty well. But, let’s face it. Season 3 was the worst season of Lost. Or, I guess it’d be more appropriate to say it’s the “least good” season of Lost.

Season 3 started off with the lackluster six-episode mini-arc in which Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are stuck in love triangle hell while held captive by the Others. Despite those six episodes not being that great, their saving grace is the introduction of the character of Juliet Burke, the sympathetic, blond Other (played by Elizabeth Mitchell) who became one of my favorite characters. Also, the first few minutes of the season premiere episode are dedicated to her (one of the best character introductions ever) as well as the sight of the Oceanic plane breaking up in air from the viewpoint of the Others barracks, also introduced for the first time.

Season 3 also brought us “Stranger in a Strange Land,” the infamous Jack-centric episode dedicated to the origins of his tattoo in Thailand, generally considered to be one of the worst episodes of the series. According to Lostpedia.com, that episode was the turning point in which the studio finally allowed the producers to set an end date for the series.

Season 3 - Favorite

[3.16] One of Us

Season 3 - Honorable Mentions

[3.10] Tricia Tanaka is Dead

[3.14] Expose

[3.18] D.O.C.

[3.21] Greatest Hits

[3.22] Through the Looking Glass (Part 1)

[3.23] Through the Looking Glass (Part 2)

“One of Us” is my favorite episode of the season mostly because it focuses on Juliet. I love how it shows her vulnerable side as we see her a normal doctor before her time on the island hardened her. I think it’s a great image of Juliet climbing out of the hatch of the submarine and taking her first look at the island. It’s such a polar opposite to her character’s fate in the season 5 finale. When she comes to the island she climbs up out of a hole in the water (the submarine hatch), willingly, into the light (sunshine of the island). In the season 5 finale, she falls into a hole in the earth (the 1977 Swan Station drill site), unwillingly, into darkness. Her character goes full circle, and though this is the 2nd Juliet-centric episode of this season, the best part of her backstory begins here.

As if her character introduction in the season premiere weren’t already Emmy-worthy enough, Elizabeth Mitchell continues to deliver in the scene in which Ben shows Juliet on a TV monitor that her sister is now cancer free and has a son named Julian. Juliet is overjoyed and grips the screen crying wishing she could hold her sister and nephew. That’s heartbreaking enough, but when Ben radios to Mikhail to turn off the connection, and the monitor goes blank, Juliet begs for more time and for the opportunity to go home after being stuck on the island for three years. Ben won’t let her until she finishes her work for which she adamantly claims she’s exhausted all possibilities.

“Tricia Tanaka is Dead” and “D.O.C.” are two of my honorable mentions simply because they focus on two of my other favorite characters, Hurley and Sun, respectively. I also love the triumphant moment in “Tanaka” in which Hurley is able to get the old Dharma van running again. And, “D.O.C.” also marks the beginning of the freighter storyline as Charlie, Desmond, Hurley, and Jin deal with the wounded Naomi Dorrit, the first member of the freighter crew to land on the island, which eventually leads to the Oceanic 6 getting off the island.

Most fans *hated* the way new characters Nikki and Paulo were written into the show in season 3. They simply emerged out of the nameless, faceless extras littering the beach (as at that time, Oceanic 815 still had over three dozen survivors from the middle section of the plane) and started injecting themselves into the story, such as the mission to one of the underground Dharma stations. Even the producers eventually admitted those characters were a mistake. I didn’t mind them nearly as much as others did. Regardless of how awkwardly Nikki and Paulo were introduced, “Expose” is one of my honorable mentions from the season because it was a brilliant way of writing them out of the show, sending them to a horrifying death deserving of such hated characters.

“Greatest Hits” and Parts 1 and 2 of “Through the Looking Glass” are all honorable mentions for basically forming one looong, exciting four-hour season finale (with part 2 of “Glass” being two hours). They’re just short of being favorites because of a heavy centricity on Jack in the final three hours. But, the Charlie-centric “Greatest Hits” was a great way of writing out an un-even, yet ultimately likable character who’s last sacrificial act served as a heroic warning that would drive much of the tension and mystery for the rest of seasons 3 and 4.

My Favorite Episodes of Lost - Season 2

2010-05-23T08:09:00.001-05:00

While I really like Season 2 overall, because I like the Swan Station setting and the introductions of Desmond, Ben (a.k.a. Henry Gale), and The Others, not many episodes stand out as exceptional enough to be all-time favorites.

Season 2 - Favorite

[2.07] The Other 48 Days

Season 2 - Honorable Mentions

[2.04] Everybody Hates Hugo
[2.05] ...And Found
[2.16] The Whole Truth
[2.17] Lockdown
[2.19] S.O.S.

I like "The Other 48 Days" the best out of Season 2 because it shows us something completely different -- what happened to the people in the tail section. We see that there were actually several survivors. Some were abducted by The Others, including the kids. We're introduced to whole new set of characters: Ana Lucia, Libby, Mr. Eko, Rose's husband Bernard, and the flight attendant Cindy. Considering that Ana Lucia, Libby, and Eko all get killed, Cindy joins the Others, and Bernard eventually "retires" with Rose, the tail section story doesn't really add much in the grand scheme of things, but it's an interesting diversion, especially considering how it's woven so intelligently into the main storyline with the Tailies finding Sawyer, Michael, and Jin after the raft explosion.

I like "Everybody Hates Hugo" because it focuses on one of my favorite characters, Hurley. It begins with a dream sequence in which he's speaking Korean, and Jin, standing beside a guy in a chicken outfit, speaks perfect English. Later, we see what happens when Hurley wins the lottery and how it affects his responsibility in rationing the Swan Station food stash. Many of my favorite scenes in Lost are the "music montages" in which emotional music plays over a scene without dialogue. They're occasionally done in slight slow motion and usually involve departures, reunions, mourning, celebration, etc. The music montage in this episode is Hurley giving out *all* of the food to the entire group of survivors in one night, which brightens everyone's mood and basically turns a normal night on the island into a party. It's one of Hurley's finest moments.

I like "...And Found" and "The Whole Truth" simply because they focus on Sun & Jin who are always interesting characters to learn more about, even when they're story doesn't seem that important in the grand scheme of things. "Lockdown" is good because we get to see the map drawn in invisible ink on the Swan Station blast door and see some interesting interactions between Locke and Ben. "S.O.S." is unique because it's the only Bernard & Rose -centric episode.

My Favorite Episodes of Lost - Season 1

2010-05-22T10:02:00.001-05:00

After six seasons, the TV show Lost ends tomorrow night. A lot of satisfaction in the series is riding on the climactic finale. Even though unanswered questions & dangling plot threads are at this point a foregone conclusion, it’s still my hope that the final 2.5 hours will wrap up the mind-bending, time-twisting series in a way that surpasses expectations. I simply don’t know how they can do it, but maybe Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse will pull off the seemingly impossible and deliver a finale packed full of drama, emotion, humor, clarification, cohesion, and closure. (And, there better be a prominent guest appearance from Elizabeth Mitchell as the massively-missed Juliet.)

In preparation for Sunday’s finale event, as well as the replay of the pilot episode tonight, I thought I’d list out my favorite episodes from the series. It’s too hard to rank them or to limit them to a top 10 list, so I’ll just go season by season...

Season 1

[1.01] Pilot (Part 1)

[1.02] Pilot (Part 2)

[1.04] Walkabout

[1.05] House of the Rising Sun

[1.06] The Moth

[1.17] ...In Translation

[1.18] Numbers

[1.23] Exodus (Part 1)

The two-part “Pilot” episode is more than just the pilot of a series; it’s virtually a movie. I remember being pleasantly surprised at how action-packed it was. I’m not sure I knew ahead of time that there’d be a sci-fi or fantasy element, so I was immediately intrigued by the unseen yet formidable-sounding monster in the jungle. I didn’t know that character flashbacks would be a staple of the series’ early run, so Lost did a good job of concentrating on character development from the very beginning.

The other episodes are my favorites almost entirely because of one scene per episode...

"Walkabout": The shocking revelation that Locke was confined to a wheelchair before coming to the island, which apparently healed him and allowed him to walk again.
“House of the Rising Sun”: The Korean woman, Sun Kwon, revealing to Michael (and, consequently, the audience) that she knows how to speak English but hasn’t told her husband Jin.
“The Moth”: The redemption of drug-addicted Charlie where he chooses to throw the heroin in the fire and Locke says he’s proud of him.
“...In Translation": Sun unexpectedly revealing to the rest of the castaways, including her husband, that she could speak English.
"Numbers": Hurley being so desperate to have someone believe him that he confronts an armed & slightly insane Danielle Rousseau about the cursed numbers and then hugs her when she agrees that the numbers are cursed.

But, the single greatest scene of the season and still one of the greatest of the entire series, is not in the two-hour season finale, but in the season’s penultimate episode “Exodus (Part 1).” In that episode, Michael’s well designed raft is ready to set sail so that he, Walt, Jin, and Sawyer can bring back help to the other survivors of Oceanic 815.

First, Sun gives Jin a list of English words spelled out phonetically to help him communicate on the raft. Jin apologizes for all he’s done wrong, and they have a tearful goodbye. As the awesome musical score starts up, the rest of the scene happens without words. Charlie collects the last of the survivors’ notes for the messages in a bottle. Claire kisses her baby. Walt says goodbye to his dog Vincent. Jin kisses the forehead of baby Aaron. Michael & Sun, who have had a certain chemistry, have an awkward moment where they don’t know whether to shake hands or hug. Jin & Charlie hug. Walt gives Vincent to Shannon. Charlie gives the bottle of messages to Sawyer. Sawyer realizes that with Kate being in the group going to get dynamite from the Black Rock (revealed for the first time in this episode) there’s no one who likes him enough to hug him goodbye. The survivors (still several dozen at this time) push the raft into the water and hoop & holler at it’s successful launching. Vincent runs out into the water, and Walt has to tell him stay behind. Sayid & Charlie have their arms around each other and holler when Sawyer raises the raft’s sail. The camera focuses on Jin as he stares with love at his wife still on the beach, and she looks back at him. And, the music becomes exceedingly bold & triumphant as we see the raft successfully sailing off into deeper water.

If there were a Top 10 list, maybe even Top 5 list, of best scenes of the series, that would *have* to be in there.

=====

So, that’s the best of Season 1. This ended up being long enough, that I’ll do separate blog entries for each season...

Anticipated Movies of 2010

2010-03-10T18:43:00.004-05:00

Here are lists of movies in 2010 that I'm certain, tempted, or iffy about seeing:

Must See

*** Iron Man 2 *** (May 07)
The A-Team (June 11)
Toy Story 3 (June 18)
Harry Potter and Deathly Hollows, Part 1 (November 19)
Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (December 10)
Tron Legacy (December 17)

Curious / Tempted

She's Out of My League (March 12)
How to Train Your Dragon (March 26)
Clash of the Titans (March 26)
Kick-Ass (April 16)
The Last Airbender (July 02)
Inception (July 16)
Red (October 22)

Iffy

Hot Tub Time Machine (March 26)
Date Night (April 09)
The Losers (April 23)
Robin Hood (May 14)
The Karate Kid (June 11)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (July 16)
Salt (July 23)

Hmm, so far, not a single movie in August or September and only one in October for which I've only read the cast list & a paragraph summary. Well, it's a little soon to know what's that far ahead anyway.

Pondering About Lost: Red, the Third Symbolic Color???

2010-02-28T19:01:00.003-05:00

If you look up black & white at Lostpeida.wiki.com, there are a lot examples of the use of black & white. But, some examples introduce a third color... Red.

There’s the joke Michael's nurse tells, “What’s white, black, and red all over?”
There are three cars, one of each color, in Locke’s dad’s driveway.
In a Desmond flashback, he & Eloise Hawking witness a man in red shoes getting killed. The man’s other clothing was black & white.
I don’t remember this, but according to Lostpedia, Ben’s kitchen is red, white, and black.
There are numerous examples of one character in a scene wearing black, another white, but sometimes a third character in the scene is wearing red.
The creators of the show obviously make a big deal out of white & black, but as an homage & in-joke, they have also adopted the Star Trek tradition of “red shirts” being easily killed off.

So, what does the red mean? It could represent yet a third major entity, like Jacob & Smokey, that we still haven’t met yet. It could represent the blood that will be shed in the conflict between the two opposing sides. It could represent the survivors of Oceanic 815 being the variables in an equation that has constants on either side.

On another of my favorite shows, Babylon 5, “understanding” is one time described as a three-edged sword -- your side, their side, and the truth. I believe that’s what’s going on in Lost.

Smokey is angry, jaded, alone, single-minded, obsessed with getting home. He justifies his actions by advocating free-will. Jacob is entrenched in the island, paranoid about its protection (warranted or not), willing to observe & manipulate the lives of hundreds of innocent people and entrap & endanger them over his own beliefs. He’s set in his ways, and he’s brainwashed the Others with his philosophy. They’re the black & white, but I don’t think it makes either of them right.

I think our main characters represent the color red, the third edge of the sword, the truth. They represent a mix of good & evil, a mix of fate & free will, a mix of faith & rational thought. They are caught in the middle. And, either that means they will bring compromise & balance to the island, or they’ll be forced to choose sides in a battle that will end the conflict once & for all -- and only half will survive.

...Or, maybe, red in Lost doesn’t mean anything at all. :(

Pondering About Lost: Light & Dark May Not Equal Good vs. Evil

2010-02-28T14:44:00.003-05:00

A common theme on the show has been black & white, dark & light. Here are just a few examples:

the colors of backgammon pieces
the white & black stones found beside the “Adam & Eve” skeletons in the caves
the keys on a piano, played by several characters in the Lost universe (including Jack & his fiance, Daniel Faraday, and Jack’s alternate timeline son)
the colors in the Dharma logo and the Lost title screen
Rose & Bernard
appearances of animals or stuffed animals that are black & white including: stuffed panda, stuffed whale, polar bears (which have black skin but appear white because of their translucent fur), white rabbits with black numbers on them, etc.
the black & white rocks on the scale in Jacob’s seaside cave
*numerous* examples of characters in the same scene wearing clothes of opposite colors -- one character in black & another in white or one character wearing something that has both white & black in it

One might automatically assume that this theme implies a conflict of good vs. evil. That is definitely a possibility. However, I have a hard time seeing any character in this show, even Jacob and the Smoke Monster, as being completely good or completely evil.

Some assume that Jacob is the good guy and that Smokey is the bad guy. But, Jacob has also encouraged the Others to do some awfully dark things through his cryptic lists. It’s still unclear whether he sanctioned the Others to commit kidnapping, torture, and murder, but he never stopped them either. When face-to-face with Ben, he totally dismissed Ben’s work & devotion, but if he didn’t approve of Ben’s leadership, why didn’t he ever intervene to expel Ben from power? I’ll agree that Jacob seems to have better intentions and is the lesser of two “evils,” but his hands are *not* clean.

Some assume that the opposite is true, Smokey could be good, Jacob could be bad. Smokey has killed a multitude of people. Even if you could argue that some of his kills were done in self defense or were acts of justice on behalf of others, I keep thinking about his ruthless slaughter of Mr. Eko. Had Mr. Eko committed some atrocities? Yes. But, he had turned his life around. He redeemed himself. So did Sawyer & Sayid, and Smokey hasn’t killed them -- yet. How could Smokey possibly justify killing Eko?

So, what’s the deal with white & black, light vs. dark? I think the theme implies two diametrically opposed philosophies. I don’t think it’s good vs. evil. I think order vs. chaos would be too much of a ripoff of another favorite show of mine. I think fate vs. free will is close but not quite it (I may speak to that in a separate blog entry). Regardless or what it is, I think the colors represent two sides that are equal & opposite, regardless of what their motivations are. But, I don’t think either side is completely good nor completely evil. The conflict is about something...else.

Pondering About Lost: How Can The Island Sink?

2010-02-28T01:30:00.002-05:00

Regardless of whether Jughead really did explode and regardless of whether it directly caused the splitting of the timeline, I am *not* convinced that the detonation of Jughead is the reason the island is at the bottom of the sea in the season 6 premiere. Here are the two main reasons:

An island, like any other land mass, is still attached to the sea floor. It’s like a mountain in the ocean. Much of the mountain is underwater, and the part we think of as the island is just the dry land portion that is exposed above sea level. Sinking the island would be like sinking a mountain.
If a bomb was powerful enough to “sink” an island, it would also be powerful enough to damage (if not obliterate) the Dharma/Others barracks, the security fence, and the Tawaret statue foot, all of which are relatively intact when we see the island underwater.

So, how is the island underwater? My only guess is that the island was moved, as Eloise Hawking said it could be and as we saw in the season four finale when Ben turned the frozen donkey wheel. Only, in its last move in the new timeline, it landed in a location where the sea floor was deeper than usual so that none of the island could be exposed above sea level.

Some fans online have theorized that this is how the Black Rock shipwrecked in the middle of the island. It could be that the ship sunk over a submerged island, came to rest in the middle of it, and became landlocked the next time the island was moved to a higher elevation.

The only other way the island could move and/or sink is that the island is free-floating, not attached to the sea floor at all. I’m not sure that is geologically possible. Plus, if the boundaries of the island were finite, I would think all the sand would eventually erode off the edges.

So, why is the island underwater & intact at the same time? If my theory is wrong, I can’t wait to see how Damon & Carlton will explain this new mystery.

Revised 2009 Movie Rankings: 23, Not 22, Movies; I Forgot About "Taken"

2010-01-03T22:42:00.003-05:00

I keep forgetting to include "Taken" among my movies that I saw in 2009. IMDb.com lists it as a 2008 movie because it was released in 2008 in a few dozen countries, but it didn't make it to the U.S. until 2009.

I admit, "Taken" is another 2009 movie I didn't see in theaters, though I always meant to. I saw it on DVD at a friend's house and then rented it via TiVo a few months later. But, I'm still counting it.

I'm glad to count it, as it was one of the best movies of 2009. It was a surprisingly well written action movie about a character, played with perfection by Liam Neeson, that is smart, capable, and fast on his feet but without seeming superhuman. It's relentless & fast paced but without feeling spastic or lacking a human element. It's like a Daniel Craig-era Bond movie or a Jason Bourne movie without the memory loss subplot.

So, here's my revised list of 23, not 22, movies I saw in 2009...

All 23 Movies I Saw In 2009

23. (F) Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
22. (C-) Push
21. (C) The Soloist
20. (C+) G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
19. (C+) District 9
18. (B-) Monsters vs. Aliens
17. (B-) X-Men Origins: Wolverine
16. (B-) Terminator Salvation
15. (B) The Proposal
14. (B) Julie & Julia
13. (B) 2012
12. (B) Moon
11. (B) Sherlock Holmes
10. (B) Avatar
09. (B+) 500 Days of Summer
08. (B+) Gran Torino
07. (B+) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
06. (B+) The Time Traveler’s Wife
05. (B+) Watchmen

04. (B+) Taken
03. (A-) Up
02. (A-) The Blind Side
01. (A) Star Trek

Note: I just got back from seeing Avatar a 2nd time, this time in 3-D. I know I may be in the minority on this, but I still have to give it a B, not a B+. Despite how amazing it looked, I still got a little bored both times. Without a less predictable story and multidimensional characters, it's not much more than an exercise in amazing special effects. I'm not alone. I've read reviews where the writer has said you could turn the volume down on the movie or listen to an iPod while you watch, and it would still be amazing. Sorry, not good enough for me. I don't want *just* great visuals. I'd rather have lesser visuals if it means a greater story. In fact, even the story wouldn't be so bad if not for so many aspects of it feeling done before. Don't get me wrong, the movie overall was still good, just not great.

My Ranks for All Twenty-Two 2009 Movies I Saw This Year

2010-01-01T23:05:00.004-05:00

This wasn't a great year for movies. Last summer's big three were The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and Wall-E -- and that was just the summer. This year didn't seem as big. Sure, the Star Trek franchise was resurrected with a shockingly good reboot/re-imagining, and The Blind Side was a surprising Thanksgiving success that continues to sell out and earned Sandra Bullock a Golden Globe nomination. But, the year also gave us one of the worst movies all time with Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

There weren't enough excellent movies to have a top 10 list of 2009, so I'll just rank all 22 that I saw, from worst to best. I admit, I saw Push, The Soloist, and The Proposal on DVD rather than the big screen, but as 2009 movies, I'm still counting them.

All 22 Movies I Saw In 2009

22. (F) Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
21. (C-) Push
20. (C) The Soloist
19. (C+) G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
18. (C+) District 9
17. (B-) Monsters vs. Aliens
16. (B-) X-Men Origins: Wolverine
15. (B-) Terminator Salvation
14. (B) The Proposal
13. (B) Julie & Julia
12. (B) 2012
11. (B) Moon
10. (B) Sherlock Holmes
09. (B) Avatar
08. (B+) 500 Days of Summer
07. (B+) Gran Torino
06. (B+) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
05. (B+) The Time Traveler’s Wife
04. (B+) Watchmen
03. (A-) Up
02. (A-) The Blind Side
01. (A) Star Trek

My Favorite TV Shows of the Decade (Top 25 Long-Lived; Top 15 Short-Lived)

2009-12-31T11:41:00.005-05:00

Well, I've already ranked my top 30 movies of the decade. I thought I'd try ranking my favorite TV shows of the decade. Ranking TV shows is more difficult because some are older, some are newer, some are brand new, some last a while, and some were short lived. So, I'm breaking my favorites into three categories...

I'm considering a Long-Lived Favorite to be a show that went past two complete seasons (or is about to, such as "Chuck" which will air season 3 in 2010). Short-Lived Favorites will be shows that lasted two complete seasons or less but have already finished their run. Current Honorable Mentions are shows that just started, are renewed for a forthcoming 2nd season, or are in the middle of their 2nd season.

And, to be on the list of long-lived favorites for the decade, at least half the run had to take place in & after the year 2000. "Ally McBeal" just barely squeaks by, riding the fence between the '90s & 2000s. And, it ranks in the middle with it's best season (4) and worst season (5) both taking place in the 2000s. "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" ranks lower because its best season (5) but also two worst seasons (6 & 7) take place in the 2000s. The season 6 finale and almost all of season 7 of "Gilmore Girls" were a travesty too, but its first 5.75 excellent seasons take place all in the 2000s, so it still ranks very high. Had it not been for the very last scene of that season 6 finale and subsequent unevenness of season 7, "Gilmore Girls" could have been at least two ranks higher.

And, oh yeah, I don't get premium channels, so no Sopranos, True Blood, etc. Sorry, but it's my list.

Top 25 Favorite Long-Lived TV Shows from 2000 - 2009

25. Rescue Me (2004 - current)

24. Last Comic Standing (2003 - 2008)

22. (tie) Brothers & Sisters (2006 - current)

22. (tie) Prison Break (2005 - 2009)

20. (tie) Beauty & the Geek (2005 - 2008)

20. (tie) Mythbusters (2003 - current)

19. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (1999 - current)

18. Survivor (2000 - current)

16. (tie) South Park (1997 - current)

16. (tie) Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (1997 - 2003)

15. The O.C. (2003 - 2007)

14. Scrubs (2001 - current)

13. Ally McBeal (1997 - 2002)

11. (tie) The 4400 (2004 - 2007)

11. (tie) Chuck (2007 - current)

10. The Shield (2002 - 2008)

09. Boston Legal (2004 - 2008)

08. Stargate: Atlantis (2004 - 2009)

07. Battlestar Galactica (2004 - 2009)

06. House (2004 - current)

05. Gilmore Girls (2000 - 2007)

04. Stargate: SG-1 (1997 - 2007)

03. The Practice (1997 - 2004)

02. The West Wing (1999 - 2006)

01. Lost (2004 - current)

Top 15 Favorite Short-Lived TV Shows from 2000 - 2009

15. Kid Nation (2007, 13 episodes)

14. The Jeff Dunham Show (2009, 6 episodes)

13. Who Wants to Be a Superhero (2006 - 2007, two seasons, 14 episodes)

12. New Amsterdam (2008, 8 episodes)

11. Women's Murder Club (2007 - 2008, 13 episodes)

10. Kings (2009, 13 episodes)

08. (tie) John Doe (2002 - 2003, 21 episodes)

08. (tie) Defying Gravity (2009, 13 episodes)

07. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008 - 2009, two seasons, 31 eps)

04. (tie) Standoff (2006 - 2007, 18 episodes)

04. (tie) Journeyman (2007, 13 episodes)

04. (tie) Moonlight (2007 - 2008, 16 episodes)

03. Men In Trees (2006 - 2008, two seasons, 36 episodes)

02. Jericho (2006 - 2008, two seasons, 29 episodes)

01. Firefly (2002, 14 episodes -- 3 of those never aired, found on DVD only)

Current Honorable Mentions

- Cougar Town

- FlashForward

- Glee

- Sanctuary

- Star Wars: The Clone Wars

- Stargate: Universe

- V

- Warehouse 13

So, what are your favorite TV shows of the decade???

My Top 30 Favorite Films of the Decade (2000 - 2009)

2009-12-31T00:25:00.008-05:00

It's always so hard to rank movies (TV shows too). There are so many factors to consider, so many shades of grey.

Some movies are fresh on your mind. Some you're having to judge based on memories of when you saw them several years ago. For instance, I constantly wonder whether "Under the Tuscan Sun" should be one of only nine movie to which I give the ultimate A+ grade. At one time, I must have thought so. I haven't gotten around to watching it lately, so as odd as it feels to say it's better than "The Dark Knight" or even "Iron Man," I'm going to have to go on my opinion of it that is several years old.

Then there's the conflict between objective observation of quality and inexplicable personal appeal. In other words, the best movies and your favorite movies aren't always the same things. Sometimes a movie blows you away the first time, but you have little or no interest in seeing it again. "Memento" would be an excellent example of this. Other times, a flawed or less ambitious movie still has higher re-watch factor, such as "Love Actually" or "Frequency."

Anyway, here's my best attempt to rank the best -- uhm, I mean, my favorite -- movies of the 2000 - 2009 decade. I may change my mind on half of it later, but it'll do for now:

30. The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
29. Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
28. X2: X-Men United (2003)
27. Watchmen (2009)
26. The Prestige (2006)
25. Children of Men (2006)
24. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
23. Ocean's 12 (2004)
22. The Queen (2006)
21. Up (2009)
20. Waitress (2007)
19. Serenity (2005)
18. The Lake House (2006)
17. Spider-Man (2002)
16. Cars (2006)
15. Wall-E (2008)
14. Love Actually (2003)
13. Batman Begins (2005)
12. The Blind Side (2009)
11. Ocean's 13 (2007)
10. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
09. Iron Man (2008)
08. Star Trek (2009)
07. Ocean's 11 (2001)
06. Finding Nemo (2003)
05. The Dark Knight (2008)
04. Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
03. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
02. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
01. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)

Honorable Mentions: The Bourne Trilogy (2002/2004/2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Gran Torino (2009), Casino Royale (2006), 500 Days of Summer (2009), United 93 (2006), The Bucket List (2008), The Terminal (2004), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), and Frequency (2000).

Yes, "Avatar" is intentionally left out. It's on the borderline. It looked good, but the story was a little weak & unoriginal. All the super-glowing reviews I've heard for it on blogs & podcasts -- even the ones from people who admitted the flaws in the story -- come from people who saw it in 3-D. When I went, it was sold out in 3-D. It looked great in 2-D, but I've heard it's just not the same. I'm tempted to see it again, this time in 3-D, to see if the increase in quality raises my opinion of it from B to B+. If so, then it will be an Honorable Mention of the decade too.

And, I'm sure my Facebook friends are tired of excuses I find to mention this, but I think it can't be said enough... The worst movie of 2009, one of the worst cinematic travesties of the decade, and yes, one of the worst movies of all time was, sadly & shamefully, "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen." It joins the ranks of other Grade-F movies "Highlander 2: The Quickening," "Event Horizon," "Batman & Robin," "Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows," and "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier."

Analysis of Stargate Universe Series Premiere: "Air, Parts 1 & 2 (of 3)"

2009-10-04T20:38:00.008-05:00

Spoiler Warning: This post contains mild to massive spoilers. Do not read if you haven't seen the premiere of SGU but plan to.

Friday night (October 2) was the premiere of the new Stargate Universe series on SyFy. I've been looking forward to more Stargate but was a little worried about the new show.

I was relieved that the 2-hour pilot didn't suck. In fact, I liked it. But, as I, unfortunately, just proved as a guest on a podcast (SciFiPartyLine), I have a little trouble explaining *why* I liked it. I watched the pilot for the 2nd time earlier today and typed out six pages of notes, including specific likes, specific dislikes, mysteries & unanswered questions, similarities to other shows, random observations, nitpicks, etc. I can easily dissect the show. And, I can overlook or forgive the negatives & nitpicks for now. I just can't quite verbalize why *overall* I really did like it.

Well, maybe I can now...
(1) I liked it because I simply liked the sum of its parts (see list below).
(2) I like the overall Stargate franchise, and the pilot episode did nothing that spit in the face of where it came from. It's different enough to feel fresh, but it still feels like Stargate. So, it'd be hard for me to not like it.

Here's my analysis of the episode in list form...

Things I Liked

The premise.
Most (but not all) of the characters.
The performances.
Everything about Chloe Armstrong, daughter/executive assistant to Calif. Senator Armstrong, and the performance of her by Elyse Levesque.
How well a lieutenant, Matthew Scott, took command when Col. Young was injured. Stargate hasn't shown too many junior officers taking command of situations. Scott did well.
The scene where Dr. Rush cries (I love it when characters cry).
The all-too-brief battle scene.
The cameos of SG-1 characters.
The dangling of a few mysteries & unanswered questions (see that list below).

Things I Didn't Like

Some of the transitions between scenes weren't that smooth.
The Sergeant Ronald Greer character (but, I think it might be intentional that he's not that likable).
Not enough space battle.
Major "Half-Spoiler": As soon as someone said the airlock to the shuttle (which was leaking atmosphere from the whole ship) would have to be closed from the inside, it was totally predictable who would close it.
With multiple locations, multiple flashbacks, a lot of characters, and a lot of premise to set up, I wondered how confusing it might be to those not already familiar with Stargate.

Questions & Observation About Technology & Equipment

Why do people get flung out of the Destiny's stargate when they walked into the stargate on the Icarus base?
Why does the Destiny's stargate vent steam after the wormhole closes?
Dr. Rush says the ship travels faster than light but not in hyperspace. So, what kind of propulsion is it?
Why does everything shimmer as the Destiny enters or exits FTL travel?
They figured out how to make the stargate on the Icarus base outgoing only. That's neat. No more need for an iris like the Cheyenne Mountain gate or a force field like the Atlantis gate.
After evacuating from Icarus base onto the starship Destiny, the survivors only have 23 guns & limited ammo. I wonder how long that will last.
They have only the batteries they have in their walkie-talkies. How long will they last?
The have limited food. I think they said they have little or no water. They do have seeds. Will they grow food onboard?
They learned how to control the Ancient "communication stones" with a man-made base instead of the Ancient cone base "thingy." Plus, they figured out how to pass a visual signal through them too.

Mysteries & Unanswered Questions

Does Dr. Rush know more than he's letting on?
In Colonel Everett's flashback, why did he collapse? Does he have a health problem, and will that become a complication later on, since they only have an Air Force medic & probably little or no medical or surgical tools?
Who in the photo is Dr. Rush crying over? Wife & daughter? Sister & niece?
What are in the Ancient crates onboard the Destiny?
Will they handle supply shortages & the searching for food & supplies better than Star Trek: Voyager did?
Before being interrupted, was Dr. Rush about to imply that the ship is sentient? He already claimed the ship was aware of the needs of its inhabitants & making stops at habitable worlds accordingly.

Similarities to Other Shows

Lost: The chaos of the first few minutes, people being flung out of the stargate & tripping over each other, felt like the first few minute of Lost's pilot episode (okay, granted not as cool as Lost did it).
Lost: Will the flashbacks continue, or was that just for the pilot (to establish the characters).
Lost: Could the civilians & minor non-coms be cannon fodder like background characters on Lost have been over the years?
Star Trek - Voyager: A starship stranded in uncharted territory with potentially limited supplies.
Sliders: A countdown clock before each subsequent FTL jump.

Nitpicks (I wouldn't be me, if I didn't have nitpicks)

The Stargate program seems to give out non-disclosure agreements like candy. They gave one to Eli Wallace, but before he had a chance to read the first page, they already beamed him to the George Hammond (a Daedalus-class Earth starship named after General Hammond, a character from SG-1 that died off screen after the actor that played him passed away in June 2008).
In a flashback, IOA representative Camille Wray is talking to Air Force medic Lt. Tamara Johansen, and she makes a reference to *Colonel* O'Neill. Jack O'Neill was promoted from Colonel to Brigadier General in SG-1 season 8 episode 2 and is already a Lt. General. So, by calling him a Colonel, either the actor slipped up, the script writer slipped up, or the flashback was from a whole *five* years ago, which is plausible but not likely.
Colonel Telford (the barely seen Lou Diamond Phillips) is seen in an F-302 during an air battle. Would they really have someone as highly ranked as a full Colonel out in a little tiny fighter during an intense battle?
Massive Spoiler: Woops!!! No one had to die. They found onboard the Destiny remote control floating cameras that they named Kinos. When going through the crates of supplies, they found a whole crate of something that looked like rolls of tape. Surely, somewhere on the ship, there is a pointy thing. They could have taped a pointy thing onto a Kino, remote controlled the Kino into the shuttle, and pressed the button for the airlock door remotely. The senator didn't have to sacrifice himself by going in and pushing the button. But, then, there would have been less drama. :)

Boston Globe - Top 50 Science Fiction TV Show List

2009-07-05T12:27:00.003-05:00

I was surfing the web when I found the Boston Globe list of Top 50 Science Fiction Television Shows of All Time. I’m pretty sure it’s an old list considering the omission of Heroes (a currently flawed & frustrating series that would probably earn a spot in a more current list if only for its first season). Also, I can’t help but wonder if this list’s #1 spot would be different now, following that show’s controversial final season, especially the final episode. Anyway, here’s the full list:

50. Earth: Final Conflict
49. The Wild Wild West
48. 3rd Rock From the Sun
47. Buck Rogers
46. That Was Then
45. The Greatest American Hero
44. Lois & Clark
43. Nowhere Man
42. Science Fiction Theatre
41. Futurama
40. The Thunderbirds
39. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
38. Batman (1960s)
37. Space 1999
36. The Bionic Woman
35. Battlestar Galactica (original)
34. The Avengers
33. Lost In Space
32. My Favorite Martian
31. Alien Nation
30. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
29. The Six Million Dollar Man
28. Adventures of Superman
27. Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
26. Stargate: Atlantis
25. The Jetsons
24. Wonder Woman
23. Tales From the Crypt
22. Andromeda
21. Quantum Leap
20. The Hitchhiker
19. Dark Angel
18. V
17. Firefly
16. Flash Gordon
15. Logan’s Run
14. Star Trek: Voyager
13. The Outer Limits
12. Xena: Warrior Princess
11. Lost
10. Sliders
09. Mystery Science Theater 3000
08. Dr. Who
07. The Twilight Zone
06. Stargate: SG-1
05. Babylon 5
04. X-Files
03. Star Trek: The Next Generation
02. Star Trek (The Original Series)
01. Battlestar Galactica (new)

My Random Observations:
First, I’m shocked Buffy is not in the top 10 list. On many other lists, it’s in the top 5. It’d be high on my list too if not for the disappointing final two seasons, but I’m usually in the minority in that opinion. I still think it should be a few spots higher if only for its first five seasons. I’m surprised Firefly isn’t higher as well, unless it’s short life span counted against it.

It makes no sense to me why three Star Trek series are on the list, but Deep Space Nine (my favorite) is not one of them. While I wasn’t the biggest fan myself, I can’t imagine why Farscape is missing as well.

To me, Battlestar Galactica is good (at times superb) but over-rated as a whole. It had excellent production quality and exciting action scenes. But, I was never as crazy about the characters as most people were, I feel the story arc went a little wayward, I have mixed feelings about how the series wrapped up at the end, and my biggest complaint is it’s unrelenting gloominess that sometimes made it depressing to watch.

Despite the exceptions mentioned, this is still a decent list. I like any list that doesn’t forget Alien Nation, gives the Stargate franchise some credit, and includes Babylon 5 in the top five.

Since this list might be a few years old, I’d like to think Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Moonlight, and Journeyman, could have earned spots on a more current list, despite all three shows being short-lived. The jury is still out on Dollhouse and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Tragically missing from the list:
- Crusade
- Farscape
- Highlander: The Series
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- The 4400

Should be higher on the list:
- Babylon 5
- Lost
- Firefly
- Quantum Leap
- Stargate: Atlantis
- Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
- Alien Nation

Should be lower on the list:
- Andromeda
- Dark Angel
- Star Trek: Voyager
- Xena: Warrior Princess
- Mystery Science Theater 3000
- X-Files
- Battlestar Galactica (new)

Note: MST3K was great, but I say it should be lower because it's more comedy than sci-fi.

Should not be on the list at all:
- Batman (1960s)

My Personal Top 12 List:
12. Crusade (short-lived sequel series to Babylon 5)
11. Quantum Leap
10. Battlestar Galactica
09. Alien Nation (1 season plus 5 TV movies)
08. The 4400
07. Firefly
06. Stargate: Atlantis
04. (tie) Star Trek: The Next Generation
04. (tie) Stargate: SG-1
03. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
02. Lost
01. Babylon 5

Honorable Mention:
- Chuck (more spy than sci-fi, but the Intersect technology is definitely a sci-fi element)

My Very Weird Dream About the TV Show "Lost" (with an even stranger sitcom crossover)

2009-06-28T04:11:00.002-05:00

It's 4:43AM, and I just woke up from the weirdest Lost dream. The details are already starting to fade, but it had something to do with Locke having written a small book with illustrations.

He's found some way of binding the book with makeshift glue, and is in a hurry to give it to someone before he turns invisible or something. I think at the last minute, while the glue is still drying, he gives it to Charlie, and at that point in the dream, I think I'm Charlie, because it's from my POV that I receive the book.

Then there's a subplot with Hurley. I've already lost half of it, but right before I woke up, it ended with Hurley seeming to have not been on the island at all. Instead he's somewhere I didn't recognize surrounded by young people. It might have been a mental institution, but wherever it was, I only saw it from one angle and it felt like a TV set, as if that subplot was taking place in a sitcom. They were having some kind of party. Right before they give Hurley presents, they turn the lights out for a second. When the lights come back on, Hurley has vanished. Then, there's someone at the door, and that's when I woke up.

The two weirdest things about the dream are: (1) The dream actually felt like it was making total sense up until the moment Hurley vanished; (2) For some reason, half the cast of The Facts of Life were at Hurley's party. I definitely remember seeing Natalie & Mrs. Garrett. Blair might have been there, and I think Jo appeared at the last second. I don't remember seeing Tootie.

My subconscious mixing together Lost and The Facts of Life??? Seriously, what the #@!! is wrong with me?

Live Blogging: 81st Annual Academy Awards [Half-Hour 8]

2009-02-22T23:37:00.002-05:00

Best Actress must be next. They're doing the five past winners thing again. The nominees: Anne Hathaway, Kate Winslet, Melissa Leo, Meryl Streep, and Angelina Jolie. I only saw The Reader and Changeling, and I liked Jolie in Changeling better. It will almost certainly go to Winslet or Streep, but Jolie is my pick anyway. The winner: Kate Winslet. Oh, hey, she thanked Peter Jackson too. He directed one of her first films (if not *the* first film for her).

Wow, her speech went on for a while, and they didn't interrupt her with music. They haven't done that all night. They must just be letting this one go long tonight if it has to.

Best Actor is next. The presenters: Michael Douglas presenting Frank Langella. Robert DeNiro presenting Sean Penn. Adrian Brody presenting Richard Jenkins. Anthony Hopkins presenting Brad Pitt (they were together in the great movie Meet Joe Black), and Ben Kingsley presenting Mickey Rourke. My pick is Frank Langella, though Mickey Rourke is almost certain to win. Winner: Sean Penn. Wow, his wife Robin Wright Penn looks great! Dude, thank your wife. Thank your wife. There's the political commentary. Two more things? More political commentary. Mentions Mickey Rourke. Did he thank his wife??? If he did, I sure did miss it.

Best Picture, presented by Steven Spielberg. First, a Best Picture nominee montage, with a focus on this year's nominees but with clips from past winners sprinkled in. The nominees: Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, and Slumdog Millionaire. My pick: Slumdog Millionaire. Winner: Slumdog Millionaire. Good. It truly was the most deserving out of those nominated.

-----

Comments on the show:

The new way of presenting acting nominees with five past winners per category saying nice things about the current year's nominees was a good idea in a way, but it carried on a little long and dragged down the momentum of the show.

I don't understand why there were only three Best Song nominees instead of five, but I do like the fact that they combined shorter versions of them all together into one performance rather than doing full versions of each, sprinkled throughout the show.

I also like how they clumped similar categories together back to back using the same presenters to save time, though I think having Will Smith present four or five awards all on his own was a little excessive.

I wasn't so sure about Hugh Jackman hosting since I've never watched him host the Tony Awards, but it really didn't matter much because once the show got started, there really wasn't too much for him to do.

And, not once did they start music in the middle of a person's speech. That was respectful. Now, if winners will just learn to police themselves on how long they go on crying and catching their breath, the show might be over by 11:30.

Overall, I liked the show. You could tell they were trying new things, and many of them worked or were at least improvements. With a little tweaking (and, I'm sorry, some overall better nominees), next year's show could be excellent.

Live Blogging: 81st Annual Academy Awards [Half-Hour 7]

2009-02-22T23:04:00.003-05:00

Liam Neeson and Freida Pinto are up to present Best Foreign Language Film. Woops. I don't think the nominees were in the same order on the screen as they were in which they read them aloud. Whatever won, it's a Japanese film.

Queen Latifah is on stage. Oh, here we go... In Memoriam (with Queen Latifah singing "I'll Be Seeing You"): Bernie Mac. Michael Crichton. Pat Hingle. Roy Scheider. Isaac Hayes. Ricardo Mantalban. Stan Winston. James Whitmore. Charlton Heston. Sydney Pollack. Paul Newman.

I wish they had filled the screen with the memoriam images. Instead we got a view of the stage which had monitors showing various pictures of those that passed away and their work. The end result is that the images of them were very small on the TV screen. A few times, a person's name got cut off at the bottom of the screen or was just too small to read well. I know they're trying some new things this year, but I'd rather they just let the memoriam fill the screen as they have in the past.

Reese Witherspoon is up to present the Best Director award. Her dress is a little weird. Anyway, my pick is Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (although Chris Nolan for The Dark Knight would have been just as deserving had he been nominated). Winner: Danny Boyle -- who, in my defense, really does look like Rudy Giuliani, so it was an honest mistake.

Live Blogging: 81st Annual Academy Awards [Half-Hour 6]

2009-02-22T22:37:00.003-05:00

Okay, if they still have to do Score, Song, Best Foreign Film, Best Picture, a tribute to Jerry Lewis (?), and the In Memoriam parts, they must not be trying to finish by 11:00. They haven't done the boring lawyer part yet either.

Eddie Murphy is out to present the Jean Hersholt Award (whatever that is). The recipient is Jerry Lewis. These parts are usually long & boring. Time for raspberry jelly toast.

And, now a music montage of the Best Score nominees. Zac Efron & Alicia Keys are out to present the award. My pick: Slumdog Millionaire. Winner: Slumdog Millionaire.

Now, the best Original Song. One nominee from WALL-E and two from Slumdog Millionaire. Being performed on stage. Why are there not five nominees? My pick: WALL-E. I have to admit a little bit of language bias for my pick. Although, wow, the Indian songs are pretty catchy & lively. And, they did a little bit of a blend of songs at the end. Nice. The winner: "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire. And, now that I see the songs performed, which jogs my memory how they sounded in the movie, I think I'm okay with the Slumdog win. That was a great song, even if the lyrics were in a different language.

Live Blogging: 81st Annual Academy Awards [Half-Hour 5]

2009-02-22T22:00:00.003-05:00

Looks like Best Supporting Actor is up next. They're bringing out five past winners again. This could take a while. Cuba Gooding, Jr. did a great job introducing Robert Downey, Jr.'s nomination. Kevin Klein is doing the introduction for Heath Ledger. And, the winner is: Heath Ledger. No surprise. His parents & sister are accepting the award on his behalf. Very nice.

The next award must be for Best Feature Documentary. Interesting how they're introducing them by showing clips of some of the filmmakers talking about their films. Bill Maher (urgh) is there to take a pot-shot at religion and maybe just present a freakin' award in the process. The winner: Man on Wire. Now, the Best Documentary Short Film. Winner: Smile Pinki.

And, now the 2008 action movie montage. Kind of weird that they take the effort to recognize action movies, but they never consider nominating one.

Will Smith is up to present the award for Best Visual Effects. There should be more than two nominees for this. My pick is Iron Man. The Dark Knight would be okay. *But,* *of course,* it goes to Benjamin Button.

Will Smith stays for Best Sound Editing. The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Slumdog Millionaire, WALL-E, and Wanted. Great nominees. My pick: WALL-E. Winner: The Dark Knight. Wow! I wasn't expecting that. It probably would have been my 2nd choice, though Iron Man would have been an extremely close 3rd.

Will Smith still up for Best Sound Mixing. Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire, WALL-E, and Wanted. My pick: WALL-E. Winner: Slumdog Millionaire. Wow! Another surprise.

Oh, that's not Rudy Giuliani in the audience. That must be Danny Boyle, director of Slumdog Millionaire. Woops.

Will Smith *still* up for Best Film Editing. I do like how they're grouping the awards together this year. The nominees: Frost/Nixon, The Dark Knight, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, and Benjamin Button. My pick: Slumdog Millionaire. The winner: Slumdog Millionaire.

Live Blogging: 81st Annual Academy Awards [Half-Hour 4]

2009-02-22T21:29:00.002-05:00

Natalie Portman & Ben Stiller are out to present Best Cinematographer. Ben Stiller looks like Joaquin Phoenix did on David Letterman with the wild hair, shaggy beard, and sunglasses. It's the funniest thing Stiller has ever done (which isn't saying much). Natalie Portman looks hotter than Angelina Jolie too, though I'd prefer to see her hair down. My pick is Slumdog Millionaire with The Dark Knight an *extremely* close 2nd choice. The winner: Slumdog Millionaire. Woohoo.

Now, the guys from Pineapple Express are watching clips from 2008 comedies. So, were there only 1.5 comedies last year. Most of their clips are from dramas.

Those guys are up to present Best Short Film. No clue here. The winner is...something from Germany.

Hugh Jackman is singing & dancing in a tux & top hat. Very un-Wolverine-like. I think that's Beyonce who's joining him now. They're doing a Oscar song montage.

Ooh, a commercial for a Sandra Bullock movie with Ryan Reynolds and Betty White. I am there. It's called The Proposal. I have to wait until June for it. Bummer.

Live Blogging: 81st Annual Academy Awards [Half-Hour 3]

2009-02-22T21:03:00.003-05:00

Jennifer Anniston and Jack Black are up to present Best Animated Feature: Bolt, Kung-Fu, and WALL-E. My pick: WALL-E (duh). The winner: WALL-E!

Anniston & Black stay up there for Best Animated Short Film. A couple of them look foreign. I think Presto will win, and I base my prediction on absolutely nothing. Hmm. The French one won. Well, the title sounded French, but the award acceptor is Japanese and speaks barely any English. Interesting.

Daniel Craig and Sarah Jessica Parker are up to present Best Art Direction. I totally forgot to make my pick for this earlier. The winner: Benjamin Button. Let me look again at the nominees. Nope, out of the three I saw, I would have picked The Dark Knight or Changeling instead.

Craig & Parker remain to present Best Costume Design. Benjamin Button is the only one I saw. The winner: The Duchess. Don't know; didn't see it.

And, they're still up there for Best Makeup. My pick is Hellboy II. Benjamin Button will probably get it though. And, it does.

Two people I don't know are to present...a 2008 love montage. Oh, that reminds me, I still wanted to see Last Chance Harvey.

Live Blogging: 81st Annual Academy Awards [Half-Hour 2]

2009-02-22T20:29:00.003-05:00

And, the Oscars have begun. Less fanfare than usual. No prelude, clip montage, etc. Just Hugh Jackman.

It's going to be hard to get used to hearing Jackman's Australian accent. I'm so used to hearing him as Wolverine. He's singing now. He's bringing back the nominee music montage that only Billy Crystal used to do. He brought Anne Hathaway on stage to help with the Frost/Nixon segment. Oh, she can sing too.

I like how the The Reader portion of the music montage had nothing to do with The Reader. The lyrics implied that Hugh never got around to seeing The Reader. That's okay; he didn't miss much. Now, Hugh's sitting on Frank Langella's lap.

Hugh's pointing out several nominees in the front row. Where is Jack Nicholson? He's not nominated for anything, but doesn't he usually get an honorary front row seat anyway?

Woops. They had a little trouble with the curtains when revealing the screen to show the previous Best Actress montage. You could actually hear someone say, "Open them!"

Five actresses are up to present the Best Supporting Actresses. My pick is Taraji P. Henson out of the two movies I saw, but she may be the least likely of the five to win. Wow, this is a long presentation. They're talking about the roles of the nominees rather than showing clips. If they do this with every award, this will be a long night. The winner: Penelope Cruz. Wow, they're letting her go on forever with her acceptance. This show may last until Tuesday.

Steve Martin and Tina Fey are up to present one of the screenplay categories. Tina Fey looks better than Angelina Jolie too. This is the Original Screenplay category. The only one I've seen here is WALL-E, so it's automatically my pick. I wish J. Michael Straczynski had been nominated for Changeling. And, the winner is: Milk.

Now, the Adapted Screenplay category. Benjamin Button, Doubt, Frost/Nixon, The Reader, and Slumdog Millionaire. My pick is Slumdog, with Frost/Nixon a very close 2nd choice. The winner: Slumdog Millionaire. Woohoo.

Was that Rudy Giuliani in the crowd?

Live Blogging: 81st Annual Academy Awards [Half-Hour 1]

2009-02-22T20:01:00.004-05:00

Red carpet time...

Kate Winslet looks great. Josh Brolin, yeah who cares, he's with Diane Lane. Diane Lane always looks great. I can't tell if she's got short hair or just wearing it up. I like her better with longer hair (I like just about any woman with longer hair). But, she looks good anyway. Amy Adams look good too.

Taraji P. Henson looks good too. There's Pitt & Jolie -- super briefly. I'm sure everyone will be saying how hot Jolie is. I actually think Diane Lane and Amy Adams are hotter.

There's the cast of Slumdog Millionaire, including the kids that played the younger versions of the main characters. Freida Pinto -- another woman hotter than Angelina Jolie.

Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens -- Who are they? Am I that old already? Am I that out of touch? Okay, yes. I am, and I know it.

Holy crap, Robert Downey, Jr.'s wife is the hottest yet. Dude, keep staying off the drugs. Screwing up that marriage would be a crime. :)

Miley Cyrus looks like she's wearing a silver Christmas tree from Wal-Mart. Anne Hathaway looks good. Her dress makes her look like a metallic mermaid.

And, here are the lawyers from Price Watershouse Coopers dressed in boredom. Penelope Cruz looks good from the waist up, but from the waist down she looks like she's wearing the curtains from old haunted house. Richard Jenkins -- I don't know who he is.

There's Marisa Tomei. She looks really great, but it's surprising how un-revealing her dress is. Maybe that's intentional since she shows nearly everything in The Wrestler. Also, it's probably cold out there. Practical choice Marisa.

Now they're talking about the stage and the music. And, that's pretty much it for the red carpet.

2009 Oscar Picks

2009-02-22T19:43:00.002-05:00

The Oscars are tonight. Real quick, before they air, my wishes and predictions are below.

Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

1st Choice: Slumdog Millionaire
2nd Choice: Frost/Nixon
3rd Choice: Benjamin Button
4th Choice: The Reader
(Didn’t see Milk.)
All four that I saw were good, but only Slumdog Millionaire left me a complete sense of satisfaction. Benjamin Button, while containing a lot of nice technical achievements, was a little over-rated story-wise. And, neither Frost/Nixon nor The Reader were quite as engaging and enthralling as I think they were meant to be. After seeing four of these movies now, I will join many others who claim that, despite being a summer popcorn movie based on a comic book, The Dark Knight *really* does deserve to be in this list. It is no less special, epic, emotional, engaging, or well made than the ones actually nominated. I didn’t get around to seeing WALL-E a 2nd time to see if I thought it deserved to be in this list, but I do remember enjoying it more than I enjoyed The Reader.

Best Director

David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant - Milk

Similar opinion as above. Same order of preference. There’s no reason Christopher Nolan shouldn’t be in this list.

Best Actor

Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

From all the hype, it sounds like Mickey Rourke is a lock, but I saw The Wrestler yesterday, and I just wasn’t as impressed as the rest of the world. I like Brad Pitt (not for the reasons ladies like him); I think he’s capable, watchable, and likable. But, I wasn’t blown away by his performance. Having not seen Milk or The Visitor, Langella gets my vote by default.

Best Actress

Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winselt - The Reader

The only two I saw here were The Reader and Changeling. I’m doubting Angelina Jolie is not much of a contender for this, especially with Winslet & Streep in the mix, but I actually liked her performance. From what I’ve heard, Hathaway has a good shot, but that movie, or at least her character in that movie, didn’t look very watchable to me from the trailers & clips I saw of it.

Best Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey, Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

A default vote, since The Dark Knight was the only movie here I saw. But, Ledger is a lock. I have a hard time imagining anyone else winning, regardless of the reasons people voted the way they did. And, he definitely deserves to be nominated to say the least.

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Maria Tomei - The Wrestler

I only saw Button & Wrestler. It sounds like Tomei may be a favorite for this, and she was good in her small role. However, I can’t help but wonder, was her emoting and delivery of lines enough to get her the nomination, or does the Academy give extra credit whenever an actress spins on a pole, wears a fishnet body stocking, bends over to the camera wearing a thong, and lets the makeup department litter her body with fake tattoos and nipple piercings. I’ll go with Taraji P. Henson, even though I think she’s a long shot.

Best Original Screenplay

WALL-E
Happy-Go-Lucky
Frozen River
In Bruges
Milk

Another default vote. WALL-E was the only one I saw. I’ve read good things about In Bruges and Happy-Go-Lucky. I’m intrigued enough that I might check them out on video someday.

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Doubt

My choices here have the exact same order of preference as my Best Picture and Best Director picks.

Best Animated Feature

Bolt
Kung-Fu Panda
WALL-E

Didn’t see Kung-Fu Panda though I’ve heard it’s good. Bolt was good, but not *quite* as good as I was hoping. In fact, my broadest complaint with it is that it felt a little short on overall quality compared to a Pixar movie. So, no brainer, it’s WALL-E.

Best Cinematography

Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

1st Choice: Slumdog Millionaire
2nd Choice: The Dark Knight (very, very, very close 2nd; virtually a tie)
3rd Choice: Changeling
4th Choice: Ben. Button
5th Choice: The Reader
Ooh, tough, tough, category. Slumdog felt unique in it’s overall look. It was at time lively and kinetic but without using an excess of shaky-cam, which is about the only thing that keeps The Dark Knight from being my #1 pick. I liked the visual look & feel of Changeling. The camerawork in Benjamin Button was good, but I can’t remember any particular impressive scenes. And, I’m not entirely sure why The Reader is in the list.

Best Costume Design

Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

A default vote. Button is the only one I saw.

Best Film Editing

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog did such a good job cutting between the different time periods & settings. It was a little confusing in the beginning, but I like how things come together in the end. I think the editing had to be done carefully to balance all the elements.

Best Makeup

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Excellent category. Benjamin Button had people looking different ages, and Dark Knight had the deformities of the Joker & Two-Face (although much of Two-Face’s look was done digitally). But, the makeup work done in Hellboy II was original, diverse, extensive, creative, and impressive.

Best Original Score

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E

I don’t notice music too much in movies, but I think Slumdog may have stood out here.

Best Original Song

“Down to Earth” from WALL-E
“Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire
“O Saya” from Slumdog Millionaire

Sort of a default vote for WALL-E. Although I saw Slumdog, I wouldn’t have understood the words in the songs. Why are there only three nominees instead of five? Did enough people complain about the live performances of the Best Song nominees that they shrank the list?

Best Sound Editing

The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

I’m no expert on sound, but since there’s no dialogue in the first half of WALL-E, the strength of the movie relies on two main things: images and sounds effects. I think WALL-E is a lock for one, if not both, of the sound awards.

Best Sound Mixing

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

Same opinion as for Best Sound Editing.

Best Visual Effects

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

Another really great category. With all the armor, computer screens, and in-helmet displays done by computer graphics, I’d be shocked if Iron Man didn’t win. But, there again, I almost forgot about the digital effects used to make Harvey Dent look like Two-Face in The Dark Knight. While equally excellent in quality, I think Iron Man is still more deserving when you factor in quantity of effects.

EDIT
I neglected to include Best Art Direction. Out of the three I saw, I would have preferred The Dark Knight or Changeling to win, but Benjamin Button got it instead.

My Ratings for Oscar-Nominated Movies

2009-02-21T23:11:00.002-05:00

My list of movies I’ve seen that are getting two or more Oscar nominations each, along with my letter grade and the list of nominations for each:

(A) Iron Man - 2 Nominations

Best Sound Editing
Best Visual Effects

(A) WALL-E - 6 Nominations

Best Animated Feature
Best Original Screenplay - Andrew Stantion, Jim Reardon, and Pete Docter
Best Original Score
Best Original Song - “Down to Earth”
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing

(A) The Dark Knight - 8 Nominations

Best Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger
Best Cinematography
Best Film Editing
Best Art Direction
Best Makeup
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects

(B+) Changeling - 3 Nominations

Best Lead Actress - Angelina Jolie
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography

(A-) Slumdog Millionaire - 10 Nominations

Best Picture
Best Director - Danny Boyle
Best Adapted Screenplay - Simon Beaufoy
Best Cinematography
Best Film Editing
Best Original Score
Best Original Song - “Jai Ho”
Best Original Song - “O Saya”
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing

(B+) Frost/Nixon - 5 Nominations

Best Picture
Best Director - Ron Howard
Best Lead Actor - Frank Langella
Best Adapted Screenplay - Peter Morgan
Best Film Editing

(B) The Reader - 5 Nominations

Best Picture
Best Director - Stephen Daltry
Best Actress - Kate Winslet
Best Adapted Screenplay - David Hare
Best Cinematography

(B-) The Wrestler - 2 Nominations

Best Lead Actor - Mickey Rourke
Best Supporting Actress - Marisa Tomei

(B+) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - 13 Nominations

Best Picture
Best Director - David Fincher
Best Actor - Brad Pitt
Best Supporting Actress - Taraji P. Henson
Best Adapted Screenplay - Eric Roth & Robin Swicord
Best Cinematography
Best Film Editing
Best Art Direction
Best Costume Design
Best Makeup
Best Original Score
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects

America's Emptiest Cities According to Forbes.com

2009-02-17T00:16:00.003-05:00

An article at Forbes.com lists America's 15 Emptiest Cities based on rental vacancies and housing vacancies. The way they list the names of multiple cities per list item, I think they're actually listing metro areas rather than cities proper.

Unfortunately, two of North Carolina's metro areas are in the list, including the Greensboro/High Point area. At first look I thought Winston-Salem was included in that, especially since Winston-Salem has been cranking out the house construction in recent years despite not bursting at the seams with new jobs. But Winston-Salem and Greensboro are considered different metro areas now, so maybe Greensboro is worse off than Winston-Salem. On the other hand, I think they made the list out of the nation's 75 largest metros, and the Winston-Salem metro may be a little lower on the list than #75. My guess is, what's bad news for Greensboro is bad news for Winston too.

Here's the Forbes list of America's Emptiest Cities (Metro Areas):

15. (tie) Charlotte/Gastonia/Concord, NC
15. (tie) Cincinnati, Ohio / Middletown, KY
14. Bakersfield, CA
13. Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater, FL
12. Chicago/Naperville/Joliet, IL
11. Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/Miami Beach, FL
09. (tie) Indianapolis, IN
09. (tie) Jacksonville, FL
08. Kansas City, MO / Kansas City, KS
07. Orlando, FL
06. Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale, AZ
05. Dayton, OH
04. Greensboro/High Point, NC
03. Atlanta/Sandy Springs/Marietta, GA
02. Detroit/Warren/Livonia, MI
01. Las Vegas/Paradise, NV

New Presidential Rankings By C-SPAN (updated to include George W. Bush)

2009-02-16T15:45:00.005-05:00

In time for President's Day, C-SPAN is releasing their new list of presidential rankings.

Here are parts of their overall list, with their 2009 rankings in the 1st column, 1999 rankings in the 2nd column, and some of my commentary in italics):

Top 10
01 - 01 - Abraham Lincoln
02 - 03 - George Washington
03 - 02 - Franklin D. Roosevelt
04 - 04 - Theodore Roosevelt
05 - 05 - Harry S. Truman
06 - 08 - John F. Kennedy
07 - 07 - Thomas Jefferson
08 - 09 - Dwight D. Eisenhower
09 - 06 - Woodrow Wilson
10 - 11 - Ronald Reagan (Ronny breached the top 10, baby; woohoo!)

Excerpts from the Middle of the List
12 - 12 - James Polk (Born in North Carolina)
15 - 21 - Bill Clinton (Holy crap, how did he jump up six spots?)
18 - 20 - George H. W. Bush
21 - 17 - Grover Cleveland (Wow, how'd he drop 4 spots? I thought he was a good one.)
23 - 33 - Ulysses S. Grant (Up 10 spots?!? Is he coming back from the grave and bribing historians?)
25 - 22 - Jimmy Carter

Bottom 10
33 - 26 - Rutherford B. Hayes
34 - 34 - Herbert Hoover
35 - 36 - John Tyler
36 - n/a - George W. Bush (Any surprise?)
37 - 35 - Millard Fillmore
38 - 38 - Warren G. Harding
39 - 37 - William Henry Harrison
40 - 39 - Franklin D. Pierce
41 - 40 - Andrew Johnson (President right after Lincoln)
42 - 41 - James Buchanan (President right before Lincoln)

C-SPAN also breaks down the list of Presidents by several categories. Here's how some of the presidents did in those categories:

Public Persuasion
01. Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)
02. Lincoln
03. Reagan
04. Teddy Roosevelt (TR)
05. Washington
10. Clinton
30. GHW Bush
36. GW Bush

Crisis Leadership
01. Lincoln
02. FDR
03. Washington
04. Truman
05. TR
11. GHW Bush
12. Reagan
15. Clinton
25. GW Bush

Economic Management
01. Washington
02. Lincoln
03. Clinton
04. TR
05. FDR
17. Reagan
23. GHW Bush
40. GW Bush

Moral Authority
01. Wash
02. Linc
03. FDR
04. TR
05. Eisenhower
08. Reagan
19. GHW Bush
35. GW Bush
37. Clinton

International Relations
01. Wash
02. FDR
03. Linc
04. Truman
05. TR
08. Reagan
09. GHW Bush
16. Clinton
41. GW Bush

Administrative Skills
01. Wash
02. Linc
03. FDR
04. TR
05. Eisenhower
16. GHW Bush
20. Clinton
30. Reagan
37. GW Bush

Relations With Congress
01. FDR
02. Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ)
03. Linc
04. Wash
05. Jefferson
08. Reagan
19. Clinton
20. GHW Bush
36. GW Bush

Vision/Setting An Agenda
01. Linc
02. FDR
03. Wash
04. Wilson
05. TR
07. Reagan
15. Clinton
25. GW Bush
34. GHW Bush

Pursued Equal Justice For All
01. Linc
02. LBJ
03. Truman
04. Clinton
05. Carter
14. GHW Bush
16. Reagan
24. GW Bush

Performance Within Context of Times
01. Linc
02. Wash
03. FDR
04. TR
05. Truman
07. Reagan
16. Clinton
19. GHW Bush
36. GW Bush

Partial Best Picture Commentary

2009-02-13T11:46:00.004-05:00

For some reason, it's been hard for me to keep in the habit of blogging for the last few months, including doing full-fledged movie reviews, but I still have a tendency to leave comments on other people's blogs.

Quoted below is the comment I made to an entry about the Best Picture nominated film Frost/Nixon over at TheReelAddict.com. The writer of the original post said they were having trouble "getting" Frost/Nixon. My comment strays a bit into my overall opinion of this year's Best Picture nominees.

I know what you mean. I have similar feeling about all four of the five Best Picture nominees I’ve seen. They’re good, but not quite *that* good. Slumdog Millionaire comes the closest to having a complete, epic, well rounded story with a satisfying emotional payoff at the end (even if the plot depends too much on a convenient series of coincidences).

I feel that the strength of Frost/Nixon was in the performances which play very well, sometimes in very intense close-up monologues. I also noticed the similarities between Frost/Nixon and sports movies. But, that’s one of the elements I actually liked. It was interesting to see Frost & Nixon spar for a while, then go back to their respective corners to re-group and then break between rounds. It felt like a boxing match. I don’t like sports, particularly boxing, but it was interesting to me to see the typical sports formula applied to a long interview where words were flying rather than fists. I liked that twist.

The biggest problem with this movie and other Oscar nominees from this year and other years is what I call the “so what” factor. Sometimes, I watch a movie and no matter how well made it was or how much I respect the performances, I still feel like, “Eh, so what.”

Did I learn anything, did I get excited, did I laugh a lot, did I almost tear up a little, am I more relaxed or in a better mood for having seen the movie? If the answer to all those questions is “no,” then the movie didn’t quite hit every mark. I sort of learned some things about both Frost & Nixon through the movie, but with biopics, it’s always hard to tell what’s true and what’s creative license.

As good as Kate Winslet’s performance was, I feel that The Reader definitely missed on all those marks. While I may sound like the typical geek (which I am), I’m more convinced now that The Dark Knight should have at least been nominated. For a comic book movie, it had all the high production values and top caliber performances you’d expect from an Oscar-worthy movie, but it was also written well and covered a lot of moral and philosophical issues without being depressing or draining. I might need to see Wall-E again to determine if I’d feel the same way about it (as good as it was, I think my expectations for it were *even higher* which clouded my opinion of it).

Frost/Nixon would be my 3rd choice for Best Picture after Slumdog Millionaire (1st) and Benjamin Button (2nd choice; also less emotional gravitas than it’s given credit for).

My Top Favorite 10 TV Shows of 2008

2008-12-31T23:14:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately, 2008 was a sucky year for TV. It started with the 2nd half of the writers strike. Then, the 2007-2008 season ended with cancellations of several good or promising shows, including Beauty & the Geek, Jericho, Men In Trees, Moonlight, New Amsterdam, and Women’s Murder Club. Journeyman and The 4400, after half a season and four seasons, respectively, didn’t even make it to 2008, due to cancellation, and neither did Rescue Me, due to a strike-related delay.

In the 2008-2009 season, I couldn’t get enthused about new shows, I quickly grew tired of Ugly Betty and Fringe, Heroes had yet another disappointing volume, Boston Legal’s abbreviated fifth & final season did not quite live up to its bar-raising fourth season, and I didn’t even bother with any more of Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and especially the gaudy & morbid Pushing Daisies.

But, there were some bright spots. Lost redeemed itself with a fairly impressive season four, Battlestar Galactica delivered some interesting moments, I continue to like House’s new team better than his old team, Chuck and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles continue to increase in quality, and The Shield concluded its six-year run with some compelling and satisfying episodes.

So, without ranking them (because that’s just too hard to pull off), here’s my list of top 10 TV shows of 2008 in alphabetical order:

Battlestar Galactica
Sometimes this show is a little bit too serious and depressing for me. So, I don’t love it as much as most people. But, the show still delivers good drama, Emmy-worthy performances, lots of mystery, and shocking revelations. It may not be the most well-rounded show on TV, but it’s still currently the best made sci-fi show.

Chuck
So far, Chuck has not suffered from sophomore year slump. They continue to develop the characters’ relationships and backstories in a warm, comical, and intelligent way. It has a great mix of drama, comedy, action, and romance. And, the show has lots of potential directions it could take, such as the introduction of Chuck & Ellie’s long lost dad or Ellie learning about her brother’s secret life.

House
Some have criticized the new direction of the show with a new team and more focus on the support characters. But, I like it. Deep-thinking Taub and geeky Cutner are more interesting than Chase and Cameron. And, aside from House himself, Thirteen (a.k.a. Dr. Rema Hadley), the bisexual doctor dealing with a shortened life span due to her Huntington’s disease, has the best storyline of all. However, the budding romances between House & Cuddy and between Foreman & Thirteen might take further convincing.

Jericho
Cancelled after season one but brought back for a brief 2nd season due to fan outcry, the show ended its overall story arc in a fast-paced, action-packed way. While I did miss the quiet moments of drama and character development, it was still rewarding to see the show wrap up the bulk of its apocalyptic storyline instead of leaving us all hanging.

Lost
I liked the concept of the Oceanic Six and enjoyed the flash-forwards. The show continues to introduce new questions but is also providing answers to mysteries at a more reasonable pace. In fact, the show’s overall pace feels better now that there are around half a dozen fewer episodes per season. Unlike Heroes, which continues to decline, Lost redeemed itself after a disappointing third season.

Men In Trees
I might have to turn in my man card for saying this, but to me, this show was the new Gilmore Girls (and, I’m referring to GG’s first five seasons, when it was still excellent). It had great writing, quirky characters, an interesting setting, and a perfect blend of drama & comedy. First, ABC cut the first season of Men In Trees short but redeemed itself by just adding those episodes to a full season two and giving the show a post-Grey’s Anatomy timeslot -- for a while. But, then it was moved again, put on a hiatus, and finally cancelled without warning, so the series ended on a cliffhanger of sorts. I felt the quality of the show was just as good, if not better, than in its first season with the exception of Patrick’s amnesia storyline which messed up the relationship between him and Annie. Had the show survived, I’d like to think their relationship would have repaired itself unlike the bad direction Luke & Lorelai took in season six of Gilmore Girls (which made its last two seasons painful to watch).

Moonlight
A vampire show in the age of vampire mania with a vampire leading man and human leading woman that were declared hottest TV couple by TV Guide... And CBS cancelled it. Moonlight was just getting really good too and, if I understand correctly, wasn’t getting horrible ratings. Since CBS also cancelled Jericho and didn’t give Kid Nation a 2nd season, I declare CBS to be the new Fox. Moonlight lasted 16 episodes. The show that took it’s time slot in fall 2008, The Ex List, was cancelled after only four episodes. Good move CBS.

Prison Break
In a way, this show doesn’t deserve a top 10 slot. It’s a sometimes ludicrous show. Because it should have only lasted one season (and, its first season *was* great), it constantly has to re-invent itself to have lasted to its current *fourth* season. And, three years later, it still depends on fake outs, redirection, coincidences, double crosses, and a hefty suspension of disbelief. But, somehow, it still works. I still find myself curious every week to see what crazy thing is going to happen next. It’s not a soap opera or a reality show, but it has that same guilty pleasure feel to it.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Just when I started to worry this show would be a one-trick pony, it finds new ways to explore the Terminator universe. More people and cyborgs traveling back in time, including a female liquid metal terminator, Derek’s girlfriend, and her undercover companion. There’s also a deepening exploration of character psyches, and who would have guessed that Derek would be such a cool character when played by Brian Austin Green -- who was David Silver on Beverly Hills 90210. Somehow, I actually believe he’s a soldier from the future.

The Shield
This was a rough show that was sometimes a little too violent or vulgar for my tastes. But, I held on because the underlying story was based on rich concepts like family, friendship, loyalty, general morality, justice, ends vs. means, sacrifice vs. self interest, etc. And, I just had to find out how it would all end. Unfortunately, the support characters had mundane and open-ended conclusions. But, the storylines for the three remaining Strike Team members, Vic, Shane, and Ronnie, were wrapped up quite nicely in the 90-minute series finale. The final episodes are full of shock, irony, tension, and desperation. Not being a fuzzy, feel-good show, that kind of ending was just right.

Honorable Mentions
- Boston Legal (just short of the top 10 due to a lackluster final season)
- Stargate: Atlantis
- Women’s Murder Club (cancelled)

Top 50 All-Time Favorite TV Shows

2008-03-30T00:02:00.001-05:00

Ain't It Cool News has posted Empire magazine's list of top 50 all-time best TV shows. If you look at the plethora of comments by readers, you can tell it's a much disputed list.

The three most notable things about the list is that it has a fair amount of science fiction (something I don't mind); a few shows on the list are either old, obscure, or British (but not as many as you'd think considering Empire is a British magazine); and almost all the shows are from the 1990s or 2000s.

Lists are often fun to read, but they're also hard to create. There are always items that make the list or don't make the list on a technicality. Narrow the criteria for the list, and it's too hard to eliminate some favorites. Broaden the criteria and stuff gets in despite some flaws.

Below is my best attempt to list *my* Top 50 All-Time Favorite TV Shows. Since it's too hard to rank all of them or even pick a top ten, I have divided them up into categories and will also reveal some Honorable Mentions. I've never had premium cable channels, so The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Deadwood, Dexter, Rome, etc. are automatically missing.

My Top 50 All-Time Favorite TV Shows (for now)

Best of Science Fiction & Fantasy

Alien Nation

Babylon 5

Battlestar Galactica (2004)

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer

Crusade

Firefly

Heroes

Highlander: The Series

John Doe

Journeyman

Lost

Quantum Leap

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Stargate: Atlantis

Stargate: SG-1

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

The 4400

Babylon 5 is my #1 all-time favorite show out of all genres. Buffy: The Vampire Slayer was drastically disappointing in the sixth & seventh seasons, but the high quality of the first five years makes it too hard to eliminate entirely. Highlander: The Series was one of my favorite shows during college. Terminator: tSCC barely makes the list since it's only had seven episodes so far, but I think it has potential if renewed. Alien Nation, Crusade, Firefly, and John Doe were short-lived shows that deserved better. The 4400 lasted four years but was cancelled before it could get a fifth season or a proper series finale. Farscape probably would have made the list had I watched it more consistently, but I only caught it occasionally and was often lost when I did.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Farscape, Moonlight (current), New Amsterdam (current), Sliders
DIS-HONORABLE MENTIONS: Andromeda, Doctor Who (sorry, I just don't get it), Flash Gordon, Lexx, Painkiller Jane, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise

Best of Action/Suspense/Mystery

Chuck

Jericho

Prison Break

Chuck is the best new show of the 2007-2008 season. After fan support won the show a 2nd season of seven episodes, Jericho is once again and permanently cancelled by CBS. The creator of the show is shopping it around to other networks, but the future is bleak. Many criticize Prison Break for beating a dead horse. While it does seem to depend on coincidences, conventient (or sometimes inconventient) timing, unexpected double crosses, and gimmicky cliffhangers a bit too often, it's still a guilty pleasure that's hard to give up. Alias doesn't make the list or even the honorable mentions because I grew tired of it halfway through its run, but it's worth noting that its pilot episode was one of the best series premieres in the last eight years (surpassed only by Lost and maybe Chuck).
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Standoff (cancelled prematurely), The Pretender, Women's Murder Club (current)
DIS-HONORABLE MENTION: 24 (I didn't like the 1st season enough to stick with it)

Best of Drama

House

Rescue Me

The O.C.

The Practice

The Shield

The West Wing

Though not perfect (Rescue Me wasn't that good last season, The O.C.'s third season was hard to watch, and I took a sabbatical from The West Wing during seasons five & six and caught them later in repeats), all six of these shows have excellent writing. Despite the violence & harsh language, repeats of The Shield are surprisingly re-watchable because of the compelling downward spiral the main character, Vic Mackey, takes into corruption. House's procedural format somehow thrives in a world full of arc-driven shows. The recent cast re-shuffle on House may seem like a premature move at re-invention, but it's actually improved the show in its fourth year. The West Wing is a monument to class & intellect that NBC could have used more of in the last two years.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Brothers & Sisters (current), Commander-in-Chief (cancelled prematurely), ER (*only* because of its early years), Grey's Anatomy (current), L.A. Law
DIS-HONORABLE MENTION: Nip/Tuck (thank goodness I stopped watching after the identity of the Carver was revealed a few seasons ago; I've heard it's gotten even worse since then)

Best of Dramedy

Ally McBeal

Boston Legal

Gilmore Girls

Men In Trees

Picket Fences

Ugly Betty

Deserving of their own category, I love shows that blend drama & humor, especially in original, quirky ways. It's no coincidence that three of these shows (Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, Picket Fences) are David E. Kelley shows. He's the master of blending biting social commentary, comforting humanity, and unbelievably eccentric yet relatable characters. Gilmore Girls (for a while there, my #2 all-time favorite show) caught "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer Syndrome" and declined in seasons six & seven, leaving me with mixed feelings about the show as a whole. But, as with B:tVS, the brilliance of the Gilmores' first five years are impossible to ignore.
DIS-HONORABLE MENTION: Pushing Daisies (I'm the only person on the planet who doesn't like that show, and I gave it a chance too)

Best of Comedy

Cheers

Scrubs

Seinfeld

South Park

The Golden Girls

A few years ago, I decided to stop watching half-hour sitcoms. I didn't like the directions characters were taking on Friends, Niles & Daphne getting together took the fun out of Frasier, Spin City wasn't going to be the same without Michael J. Fox, and I simply lost interest in That '70's Show. But, I caught up on Scrubs when it went into 2nd-run syndication and repeats on Comedy Central. The writing on that show is extremely sharp, and it's nice not having the laugh track. South Park is hit & miss. It's sometimes too raunchy or juvenile, but other times, it's pure genius. Though they don't age well with time, I could't deny the enjoyment I got out of Cheers, Seinfeld, and The Golden Girls when they were current.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Frasier, Friends (*only* for its early years), Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Carol Burnett Show, The Cosby Show, The Muppet Show, Whose Line Is It Anyway

Best of Talk, Reality, Nature, or History

Beauty and the Geek

Dirty Jobs

Mythbusters

Survivor

The Daily Show

The Presidents

Okay, so this is an odd Frankenstein of a category, but it's also a small list, so it was best to combine these shows somehow. Beauty and the Geek is a reality/competition show that depends on stereotypes at its core and yet still manages to be as heartwarming & relatable as it is sometimes frustrating & silly. The host of Dirty Jobs, Mike Rowe, is quite possibly the most witty & likable person on TV. Mythbusters is both entertaining & educational, and I like how they respond on the show to fan feedback. Survivor, despite some often questionable casting, is an addictive and seemingly unstoppable cultural phenomenon. The Daily Show, while trying to be just a satirical comedy show, somehow manages to be informative & credible. I love presidential trivia, so for me, frequent repeats of the History Channel's mini-series, The Presidents, has high re-watch value.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Ebert & Roeper At the Movies, Face the Nation, Girls Next Door, Kid Nation (hopefully they'll try a 2nd season), Last Comic Standing, Late Show with David Letterman, Meet the Press, Man vs. Wild, Prime Minister's Questions, Who Wants to Be a Superhero

Best of the 1980s

Airwolf

Knight Rider

The A-Team

The Dukes of Hazard

Transformers

Voltron

Although these are shows that I haven't seen in a long time and probably wouldn't enjoy nearly as much today, I can't deny how iconic these were when I was growing up. In a list of *all-time* favorites, these shows win a place for their significance in the past.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: MacGyver, Little House on the Prairie (used to watch reruns of it in between classes in college; don't ask me why)

Live Blogging: 80th Annual Academy Awards [Hour 4]

2008-02-24T23:26:00.002-05:00

Harrison Ford is up to present Best Original Screenplay. Noms: Juno, Lars and the Real Girl, Michael Clayton, Ratatouille, The Savages. My pick: Juno. The winner: Juno!!! Yay! The screenwriter, Diablo Cody, looks a little like a weirdo, uh, I mean, free spirit, but she is talented to pull off the script that she did.

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Helen Mirren is up to present Best Actor. Is it just me or is Helen Mirren kind of hot for an old chick. I'm pretty sure I said the same thing last year. I loved the fact that after winning an Oscar, she didn't mind being in National Treasure 2. Noms: George Clooney (he was very good in Michael Clayton, the best part of the movie); Daniel Day-Lewis (for There Will Be Blood, my personal pick and sure winner); Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd (ugh, I'm not a Johnny Depp fan); Tommy Lee Jones (for the Valley of Elah; I didn't see that one, but he was really good in No Country for Old Men); Viggo Mortensen (for Eastern Promises). And the winner: Daniel Day-Lewis. No big surprise. Wow, his voice is very difference in real life. Just makes the performance that much more powerful.

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Best Director. Presented by Martin Scorsese. Noms: Diving Bell & Butterfly, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood. The Coen brothers win for No Country for Old Men.

Best Picture. Presented by Denzel Washington. Noms: Atonement (my 5th choice), Juno (my 1st choice), Michael Clayton (my 4th choice), No Country for Old Men (my 3rd choice), There Will Be Blood (my 2nd choice). No Country for Old Men wins. Hmmm. I would say, "It was good, but I don't think it was quite *that* good," because frankly, I felt that way about all the entries this year. I think this was just an "off" year. As a normal, everyday, mainstream movie-goer, Waitress and Ocean's 13 tied as my favorite movies of 2007. I also really respect Juno, Charlie Wilson's War, and The Bucket List. So what do I know.

All in all, a boring, uneventful Oscars ceremony. Nothing wrong with it, just not exciting either. We need another Lord of the Rings movie. ;)

Live Blogging: 80th Annual Academy Awards [Hour 3]

2008-02-24T22:19:00.007-05:00

After the commercial, Jon Stewart is seen playing Wii Tennis against a little girl. That's pretty funny.

Colin Farrell is up to present another nominated song, this one from Once, a movie I've heard good things about and may have to check out on video. The song sounds okay. The guys over at TheMovieBlog.com *hate* the live performances of Best Song nominees, calling it a waste of time. I disagree. Best Song is the only category in which you can enjoy the content live. For everything else, you have to have to have either seen the movie or gotten a good impression from the quick clip.

Jack Nicholson is up to present a montage of Best Picture winners throughout Oscar history.

Renee Zellweger is up to present Best Film Editing. My personal pick and the winner... The Bourne Ultimatum. Wow, Bourne may not be in the main categories, but it's cleaned up in the technicals it was nominated for.

Nicole Kidman is up to present... a freakin' huge necklace she's wearing. It looks like she fell through a chandelier on the way to the stage. Anyway, she's presenting Robert Boyle for an Honorary Oscar in art direction.

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Penelope Cruz is up to present Best Foreign Language Film. I actually saw one or two of the foreign language nominees last year, but last year was a good year. This year, not so much. An Austrian film wins. It's called The Counterfeiters.

Patrick Dempsey is up to present the final Best Song nominee, also from Enchanted. Continuing my earlier argument in support of the live Best Song performances, it breaks up the night. Without the songs, it's just awards and montages. And, frankly, it's the montages I'd like to get rid of.

John Travolta is up to present the winner for Best Song. The winner is the song from Once. Marketa Irglova is really pretty, but unfortunately she wasn't given a chance to say her thanks as her fellow music partner and co-star took up all the time. There's no way he hogged it intentionally. They just didn't give them enough time. When they have two people winning an award, they should let both of them talk, even if each person gets half the time.

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Oh, that's so nice. Jon Stewart gave Marketa her chance to say her thanks. She looks & sounds so nice. Nice job, Jon Stewart.

Cameron Diaz is up to present Best Cinematography, something she can barely pronounce, apparently. Noms: Jesse James, Atonement, Diving Bell & Butterfly, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood. My vote, Blood. And, it wins. Yay.

Hillary Swank is up to present the memoriam montage, the only truly worthy montage of them all. Dabbs Greer, the pastor from Little House on the Prairie. Lois Maxwell, Moneypenny from James Bond movies. Suzanne Pleshette. Ingmar Bergman (not familiar with his work, but his name is very recognizable). And, of course, Heath Ledger.

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Amy Adams is up to present... her really, really pretty, awesome good looks. She's so pretty. Such nice, long, silky, red hair. Such a sweet voice. What is she doing? Oh, she's presenting Best Original Score. Noms: Atonement, Kite Runner, Michael Clayton, Ratatouille, and 3:10 to Yuma. No strong preference here. Dario somebody won for Atonement. Okay. Bye, bye, Amy.

Tom Hanks is up to present U.S. soldiers in Iraq who are presenting Best Documentary Short Subject. That's pretty cool to do it that way. Tom Hanks gets to present the nominations for Best Documentary Feature, which all sound very serious. Taxi to the Dark Side wins.

Live Blogging: 80th Annual Academy Awards [Hour 2]

2008-02-24T21:22:00.005-05:00

Nice montage of bincoulars & periscopes. Now one of bad dreams. I know they're just joking. But, I could do without all montages.

Keri Russell is up to present a song from August Rush, something I never got around to seeing but am still very tempted to. Keri Russell should be nominated for Best Actress in Waitress. Waitress is one of two great films sadly overlooked this year, the other being Charlie Wilson's War. Waitress ties with Ocean's 13 as my favorite movie of 2007, but Waitress would be far more Oscar-friendly. Unfortunately, it came out during the summer, so I guess it got forgotten by Oscar season. If I had done a top 10 list of 2007 movies, Charlie Wilson's War also would have been in the top 10, if not top 5.

Owen Wilson is up to present Best Live Action Short Film. Needless to say, I didn't see any of these. The winner sounds like a French film. Whatever.

Jerry Seinfeld's character from Bee Movie is "up" to present Best Animated Short Film. Wow, bunch of foreign stuff here too. Something called Peter and the Wolf won. Looks like claymation. And, the makers are British this time. American short films must suck.

Alan Arkin is up to present Best Supporting Actress. Tilda Swinton won for her role in Michael Clayton. That's one of only two of the movies that I saw. She said she's giving her award to her agent for bringing her to America. She then jokes about George Clooney wearing the nippled Batsuit under his costume on the the set everyday. George looks embarrassed. But, even he mentioned the horrible movie Batman & Robin during the red carpet pre-show. I think he beats himself up quite a bit for that movie, but I don't blame him at all. I think all the blame rests with Joel Schumacher.

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Jessica Alba is up to present some of the awards already given out previously. Jon then makes a joke about Jessica Alba and Cate Blanchett both being pregnant but that with Jack Nicholson there, they may have to re-tally after the show. That's pretty funny.

Josh Brolin and James McAvoy are up to present Best Adapted Screenplay. Did Josh Brolin just call Jack Nicholson, Mike Nicholson? My pick here is There Will Be Blood. The winners are the Coen brothers for No Country for Old Men.

A boring business guy is up now to explain the voting.

Mylie Cyrus is up to present another song from Enchanted, this one sung by Kristen Chenoweth. Chenoweth is really pretty. She's wearing a pretty nice grey dress. I like grey dresses. Women should wear that color more often. The song, however, is not that great. The choices must not have been that good this year.

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Judi Dench and Halle Berry are up to present... wait, no they're not. Two big curly headed guys whose names I can't remember who starred in movies I can't remember are presenting Best Sound Editing. My vote is for The Bourne Ultimatum. Sweet!!! Bourne won!!! And, I just realized something. This is the only category, other than Best Picture, for which I had seen all five movies. I would have been okay with anyone of them, except Transformers, winning. There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men both had great sound.

Best Sound Mixing. Bourne Ultimatum is up for this one also, so are Old Men, Ratatouille, and Transformers, as well as 3:10 to Yuma which I didn't see. Sweet!!! Bourne Ultimatum won for this one too!!! Excellent.

Forrest Whitaker is up to present Best Actress. From this category, I've only seen Juno, so my vote is for Ellen Page by default. Though, it's not like Cate Blanchett can do any wrong. I also like Laura Linney even though I haven't seen her in much. Marion Cotillard won for La Vie En Rose, a French film. Eehhhh. Whatever.

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Live Blogging: 80th Annual Academy Awards [Hour 1]

2008-02-24T20:30:00.012-05:00

The show is opening with computer graphic montage of images from various movies throughout history. Many of the images come from movies that were probably never up for Oscars, except maybe the technical ones. Lots of sci-fi images.

And, with no fanfare or buildup, here's Jon Stewart. He brings up the Writer's Strike first. "Welcome to the make-up sex," he says.

Jon comments about the focus on killers in several of the nominations this year. "Thank goodness for teenage pregnancy," he says, referring to Juno.

Dang, who is that with George Clooney. Is that his wife, his girlfriend, his cousin? Whoever she is, she's quite, quite nice looking.

Jon awkwardly throw in an Iraq War reference. Then he jokes about John McCain's age.

Jennifer Garner is presenting the first award. Nice dress; slightly weird hair-do. Best Costume Design. I only saw Atonement. The designer for Elizabeth: The Golden Age won. Although I didn't see it, I could tell from clips & previews that it's a pretty deserving movie for this category.

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George Clooney is up to... talk about something, I think the history of the Oscars. He looks less grey right now. I wonder if colors his hair in movies or in real life. Wow, these clips of past Oscars make me wish the more recent Oscars were more interesting.

Anne Hathaway and Steve Carrell are up to present Best Animated Film. Steve was "thinking" he was presenting Best Documentary. Anne corrected him. Did Steve Carrell just say, "Shit"? My vote goes for Ratatouille, but just barely. I think it was good but over-rated. Truthfully, I didn't see Surf's Up, and I wouldn't want to see Persepolis. Ratatouille won. Whatever.

Katherine Heigl is up to present Best Make-Up. She looks pretty nice. She apologizes, saying she's not very good at this and incredibly nervous. I thought she was joking, but maybe not. She pretty much just presents the nominees, and she does look & sound genuinely nervous. La Vie En Rose won for Best Make-Up. Ehh, whatever. This was not a compelling category this year.

Amy Adams is up to sing a nominated song from Enchanted. I like Amy Adams. She was about the only thing I liked about the movie Junebug, and she also played a nice yet under-used character in Charlie Wilson's War. I've heard good things about Enchanted, even from a few male critics, but I haven't brought myself to see it yet. Maybe I'll break down and rent it one day.

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Dwayne Johnson is up to present Best Visual Effects. Noms: Golden Compasss, Pirates 3, Transformers. My picks is Golden Compass. And, it wins. Whoa. I was a little worried it would go to Transformers. Granted, Golden Compass wasn't a great movie (neither is Transformers), but specifically in terms of visuals, I had more problems with Transformers.

Cate Blanchett is up to present Best Art Direction. Noms: American Gangster (probably should have caught that one), Atonement, Golden Compass, Sweeney Todd, and There Will Be Blood. My pick is Golden Compass again. Ugh. Sweeney Todd got it. I didn't see that movie, but I could tell just by looking at it that I wouldn't want to.

Jon is joking about the wide acting range of Cate Blanchett, saying that the pitbull in No Country for Old Men was even played by Cate Blanchett. He then says that even he, right now, is being played by Cate Blanchett.

Jennifer Hudson is up to present Best Supporting Actor. Noms: Casey Affleck, Javier Barden (he'll probably win and is deserving), Phillip Seymour Hoffman (my personal pick), Hal Holbrook, and Tom Wilkinson (good but not super). The winner is: Javier Bardem. No big surprise. Is it just me or does Javier Barden look a lot like Jeffrey Dean Morgan (I think that's the right name of the actor who played Denny in Grey's Anatomy)?

2008 Oscar Picks

2008-02-24T19:54:00.002-05:00

The Oscars are tonight. Real quick, before they air, my wishes and predictions are below.

Best Picture

Atonement

Juno

Michael Clayton

No Country for Old Men

There Will Be Blood

I'm not as enthused about the Oscars this year, so this was the only category in which I was determined to see all five nominees.

1st Choice: Juno
2nd Choice: There Will Be Blood
3rd Choice: No Country for Old Men
4th Choice: Michael Clayton
5th Choice: Atonement

Achievement in Directing

Joel & Ethan Coen -- No Country for Old Men

Paul Thomas Anderson -- There Will Be Blood

Tony Gilroy -- Michael Clayton

Jason Reitman -- Juno

Julian Schnabel -- The Diving Bell and Butterfly

I'd be okay with any of the four I've seen (all but Diving Bell). No strong preference, but I'd say Paul Thomas Anderson is most deserving out of the four.

Best Original Screenplay

Juno

Michael Clayton

Ratatouille

Lars and the Real Girl

The Savages

My pick, by far, is Juno. Not a perfect movie or even a perfect script, but one of the sharpest and wittiest scripts to come around in a while.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Atonement

Away From Her

No Country for Old Men

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

There Will Be Blood

My pick is There Will Be Blood. Old Men & Atonement both had problems, and I didn't see the other two.

Best Actor

George Clooney -- Michael Clayton

Daniel Day-Lewis -- There Will Be Blood

Johnny Depp -- Sweeney Todd

Viggo Mortensen -- Eastern Promises

Tommy Lee Jones -- In The Valley of Elah

Only say Blood & Michael Clayton, but I'd say this has to go to Daniel Day-Lewis.

Best Actress

Ellen Page -- Juno

Julie Christie -- Away From Her

Marion Cotillard -- La Vie En Rose

Cate Blanchett -- Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Laura Linney -- The Savages

Ellen Page, by default. Juno is the only one of the five I saw. I've probably only seen a couple movies with Laura Linney, but I just like her for some reason. So, I'd be okay if she won even though I don't know what The Savages is about.

Best Supporting Actor

Javier Bardem -- No Country for Old Men

Tom Wilkinson -- Michael Clayton

Philip Seymour Hoffman -- Charlie Wilson's War

Hal Holbrook -- Into the Wild

Casey Affleck -- The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

Bardem will probably get this, and that will be okay. But my personal preference is for Hoffman to get it. Charlie Wilson's War deserves more credit.

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett -- I'm Not There

Tilda Swinton -- Michael Clayton

Amy Ryan -- Gone, Baby, Gone

Saorise Ronan -- Atonement

Ruby Dee -- American Gangster

Not much prefernce. I'd say Tilda Swinton was probably a little better than Saorise Ronan and had a bigger role in her movie.

Achievement in Cinematography

Atonement

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

No Country for Old Men

There Will Be Blood

The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

Tough call between Blood & Old Men, but I lean toward Blood.

Best Film Editing

The Bourne Ultimatum

No Country for Old Men

Into the Wild

There Will Be Blood

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

It would be awesome if Bourne Ultimatum won, and I think it should.

Achievement in Sound Editing

There Will Be Blood

The Bourne Ultimatum

Ratatouille

No Country for Old Men

Transformers

Another Blood vote. As long as it's not Transformers.

Achievement in Sound Mixing

The Bourne Ultimatum

Ratatouille

3:10 to Yuma

No Country for Old Men

Transformers

3:10 was the only one I didn't see, and I don't have a preference. Just to make a choice, I'll vote toward No Country for Old Men. As long as it's not Transformers.

Best Art Direction

Atonement

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

There Will Be Blood

American Gangster

The Golden Compass

Not a great movie, but a good look... I say The Golden Compass.

Best Animated Feature Film

Surf's Up

Persepolis

Ratatouille

Didn't see Surf's Up; wouldn't want to see Persepolis; thinking Ratatouille is over-rated. Rat movie gets my vote by default.

Achievement in Costume Design

Atonement

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Across the Universe

La Vie En Rose

Only saw Atonement, but I'd say it's deserving enough.

Best Visual Effects

The Golden Compass

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Transformers

Wouldn't want to see Pirates; was disappointed in the other two. My preference leans toward The Golden Compass.

Movie Review Catch-Up: Just the Scores for Now

2008-02-24T19:03:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, I've gotten waaay behind on blogging, in general, and more specifically, I haven't been reviewing the movies I've been seeing. Maybe it's a habit I'll bet back into. I definitely hope so.

I may catch up on full reviews or at least brief reviews of the movies I've seen over the past few months. But, with the Oscars coming tonight, I thought I would at least give my scores & ratings for each movie.