Baloney theater
I have compiled a list of the 10 worst movies to be nominated for Best Picture in the last 15 years (1993-2008). It’s my way of celebrating the Oscars with a good start:
10. Jerry Maguire. This movie was more about how cute it was. How cute the boy is, how cute Renée Zellweger is, how annoying Cuba Gooding Jr. is. The popularity of this movie caused the following disasters: “Daddy Day Camp,” “Snow Dogs,” TomKat, show me the money, and other American tragedies. Had the Academy foreseen these events as I did when I saw it, there would not have been an Oscar for Cuba or a Best Picture nod.
9. The Full Monty. It wasn’t a bad movie; it’s not as good of a film to be competing against “Titantic” and “L.A. Confidential.” I’m glad that I found Tom Wilkerson. He has grown on me.
8. Four Weddings and a Funeral. I didn’t enjoy this as much as the general population did. Plus, it didn’t add to cinematic history as much as the other four films did: “Forrest Gump,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Quiz Show” and “The Shawshank Redemption.” It only spawned “Love Actually” and “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” unfortunate Hollywood events.
7. Sideways. People made a big deal about Virginia Madsen’s monologue on life and wine. The best part was Paul Giamatti drinking his prized wine with a hamburger. The fact that the Academy ignored his and Sandra Oh’s performances merits its inclusion on this list.
6. Erin Brockovich. Because it killed the Best Picture Oscar chances for “Traffic” and I just don’t like Julia Roberts.
5. The Crying Game. Forest Whitaker with a British accent. Bad. I couldn’t get past that part.
4. The Departed. Yeah, Marty Scorsese gets an Oscar; yeah he wins Best Picture. Boo, for a overly hyped remake. “The Aviator” a year earlier was a stronger film, as was “Casino” and “Goodfellas.” Leave the lifetime achievement awards for later. To beat “Babel” that year is insulting.
3. Michael Clayton. I’ll have a review on this later. There were no standout performances, no standout dialogue, and no standout action. By far, this movie adds nothing to film history.
2. Juno. Yeah, I gave this a bad review. There were so many earlier movies that paved the way for this one to happen: “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Rushmore,” “Harold & Maude,” etc. Why is there so much praise for an out-of-date film?
1. The Sixth Sense. Unfortunate events this movie cause: 1) Bruce Willis thinks he’s an actor. 2) M. Night Shyamalan thinks he can make any movie he wants and make it “scary.” Ewwww! 3) Haley Joel Osmond’s drunk-driving crash. 4) “Unbreakable.” 5) “Pay It Forward.” 6) Mischa Barton’s DUI. 7) My cyanic view on Hollywood. 8) Shyamalan’s appearance in all his movies. Even Spike Lee stopped doing that in his movies. 9) Donnie Wahlberg’s presence in other horror movies. 10) People thinking that this is scary.
permalink | Comment [1] | popular culture | 02/22/2008
Gossip girl
Jamie Lynn Spears on Monday:
She’s more open about her own situation, saying she has no serious boyfriend.
“I kind of just keep my options open,” she says. “I have a bunch of friends that I always hang out with, a bunch of guy friends.”
Source
Jamie Lynn Spears on Tuesday:
Jamie Lynn Spears, the 16-year-old “Zoey 101” star and sister of Britney, told OK! magazine that she’s pregnant and that the father is her boyfriend, Casey Aldridge.
“It was a shock for both of us, so unexpected,” she said. “I was in complete and total shock and so was he.”
Source
Discuss at will!
permalink | Comment | popular culture | 12/19/2007
Snitch-free
There are many reasons why I am happy to work at night. It usually involves the fact that there’s nothing on television. Last night proved to be correct. Three shows (The Black Carpet, The Daily Show and Jimmy Kimmel) had on the same topic: snitching. I really didn’t need to see Anderson Cooper interview Cam’ron three times last night about how he’d move if he lived next to a serial killer but would not tell the police. Nor could I use the stereotype being thrown in my face that blacks would rather die or leave well enough alone before calling the cops.
Maybe I’m mad about this because of the fact that last week my mother called me at work twice to tell me that the next-door neighbor had his stereo blasting and was dancing and talking to himself in the hallway. I told her to call management and the cops, but she refused. Instead, she decided to bug me at work. If she doesn’t want to do anything about it, then she ought to learn to appreciate reggae at loud volumes.
Thanks to popular culture, I will never live in peace, just in fear and deafness.
permalink | Comment | popular culture | 05/04/2007
Clicker
I’m watching television again, and I have to rev up the VCR for my viewings of “24,” Law & Order: SVU” and “Knights of Prosperity.” However, I still haven’t decided where “Heroes” will fit on my recording schedule. It’s on at the same time as “24” and I work at night. What is the most troubling is that the VCR has a mind of its own or I sometimes forget to rewind my tape in order to have full episodes.
It’s easier on some days when ABC has the episodes available to watch online, but NBC and FOX are so fickle about their streaming coverage. I used to rely on NBC for “Heroes,” but now there are two-minute video recaps online. And on Sunday, I only got the first five minutes of the “24” premiere. Plus, I can’t do any EP recording with my bad model of a TV/VCR.
At first, I immediately went to the ‘Net to find reviews and deals for TiVo or a DVR. I also found ways to make my own DVR, but I don’t have an old PC that can capture video. So, I began to factor out how much I would fork over for TiVo. Luckily, I had checked out the Electronics Guide published by “Consumer Reports” which stated that it’s not the best time to buy either of those with the approaching switch from analog to digital.
Now, I have to be more careful and willing to make sacrifices. Thank goodness for Amazon Unbox so that I could watch the missed “24” premiere.
permalink | Comment [2] | popular culture | 01/18/2007
Radio on the TV
There aren’t any great television show theme songs out there anymore. Now, it’s just the popular song of the moment being played for five seconds or just the title card with one repeating musical note. Networks aren’t really spending money on musicians to make new ones these days, and that’s depressing.
However, my faith was restored when I heard the theme to “The Knights of Prosperity” on ABC. It’s funny and catchy, and it’s a rip-off of the theme to “Shaft.” There’s nothing wrong with that. The best line is “It’s knights with a ‘k,’ not a ‘n,’”
