The "People's" Choice Awards?

So the other night I attempted to watch the People's Choice Awards on CBS. I usually don't bother because most times the things nominated are stupid and the winners are even worse.

Well, this year's show didn't disappoint!

I was really jazzed that "The Dark Knight" won a bunch of awards, it deserves every single one. But, a movie that made $500+ million dollars domestically is pretty popular. Hence, the people's choice. No surprise there.

That line of thinking went right out the window for "Favorite Leading Lady" which, by the way, I don't know the difference between "Favorite Leading Lady" and "Favorite Female Movie Star." Sounds like the same thing to me. Other than the fact that there were different people nominated in the two categories. "Ah ha! Instead of getting three famous people to show up to our awards, we can get six!"

So "Favorite Female Movie Star" had Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon and Cate Blanchett.

The "Favorite Leading Lady" category had Anne Hathaway for "Rachel Getting Married," Kate Hudson for "My Best Friend's Girl" and Queen Latifah for "The Secret Life of Bees."

Really?

REALLY?

Never mind that Latifah was hosting the awards show, which made the nomination a little dubious, but only one of those movies was a"hit" in the general sense.

"Rachel Getting Married" has made a little more than $10 million, "My Best Friend's Girl" made $19 million and "The Secret Life of Bees" made $37+ million (budget was $11).

I can KIND OF see Hathaway, but maybe for "Get Smart" which made $130+ million!

Hudson won, shocking considering the Rotten Tomatoes rating for "My Best Friend's Girl" was 16% (ouch.)

So either no one really voted or the people would have voted for Hudson even if she starred in "Crap: The Musical!"

Yay! and Nay!

Just a bit ago Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor at the Critics Choice Awards! Woot!

But, then "Slumdog Millionaire" won Best Picture. Boo!

New episode, kinda, up!

Golden Globes predictions

With the Golden Globes fast approaching I thought it was time for a few predictions. Keep in mind that I am predicting who I think will win, not who I am necessarily rooting for, (cough"30Rock"cough.)

Remember predictions are based on a complicated system that includes hours of endless TV watching, hundreds of dollars spent on delicious movie theater popcorn and of course, guessing.

Best Picture Drama: "Slumdog Millionaire"

Best Actor Drama: Mickey Rourke-"The Wrestler"

Best Actress Drama: Angelina Jolie-"Changeling"

Best Picture Musical/Comedy: "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"

Best Actor Musical/Comedy: Dustin Hoffman-"Last Chance Harvey"

Best Actress Musical/Comedy: Emma Thompson-"Last Chance Harvey"

Best Director: Ron Howard-"Frost/Nixon"

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger-"The Dark Knight"

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis-"Doubt"

Best TV Drama: "Dexter"

Best Actor TV Drama: Hugh Laurie-"House"

Best Actress TV Drama: Kyra Sedgwick-"The Closer"

Best TV Comedy: "30 Rock"

Best Actor TV Comedy: Alec Baldwin-"30 Rock"

Best Actress TV Comedy: Tina Fey-"30 Rock"

Writer's Guild nominations surprise

Just a few minutes ago the Writer's Guild of America unveiled the nominations for its Writer's Guild Awards and there are some surprises, both good and bad, in the list of nominees:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• "Burn After Reading," Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• "Milk," Written by Dustin Lance Black
• "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Written by Woody Allen
• "The Visitor," Written by Tom McCarthy
• "The Wrestler," Written by Robert Siegel

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen Story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord; Based on the Short Story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
• "The Dark Knight," Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan; Story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer; Based on Characters Appearing in Comic Books Published by DC Comics.
• "Doubt," Screenplay by John Patrick Shanley, Based on his Stage Play.
• "Frost/Nixon," Screenplay by Peter Morgan, Based on his Stage Play.
• "Slumdog Millionaire," Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, Based on the Novel Q and A by Vikas Swarup.

So, that sure is a wide variety of films there. The best one, of course, being "The Dark Knight" which really needed a WGA nod to help it's chances of getting an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. It missed out on the Screen Actor's Guild equivilant of Best Picture, but scored a Producer's Guild nomination for Best Picture. The clincher will be the Director's Guild nominations, announced tomorrow. If Christopher Nolan is nominated then "The Dark Knight" has a really great chance of getting a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards. Just think about that for a second, a comic book movie nominated for Best Picture.

Bad surprises; I fully expected to see "In Bruges" get an Original Screenplay nod. The script was the best part of the film. Maybe the Guild didn't like the "One F-word every 1.18 minutes" ratio. Well, f-that.

I was happy with the nominations for "The Wrestler" and "The Visitor," which I saw last night and it was good.

In Adapted Screenplay, "Doubt" scored a nomination and maybe shouldn't have. That was my main problem with the movie was the script. Well, that and the funky camera angles. "Slumdog Millionaire" is riding a wave of hype all the way to the bank and that doesn't make me happy. Watch the next episode of Viewpoints On... for my feelings on the film. Just a hint, it's not in my top ten (or 15) of 2008.

So, I have seen five out of the 10 nominees. That is pretty good for me. That number will go up by one, hopefully, if "Frost/Nixon" ever gets released around here.

Visual Effects finalists

So, the Oscars just announced the seven finalists for the "Best Visual Effects" award. Yeah it's a little odd the way they do it, but it's good to see their way of thinking.

“Australia”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“Iron Man”
“Journey to the Center of the Earth”
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

This list will be narrowed down to the final three official nominations when the entire list is announced on Jan. 22.

A few thoughts:

I have seen four films on that list; “The Dark Knight,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” “Iron Man” and “Journey to the Center of the Earth.”

“The Dark Knight” should be on there, I bet it will make it to the final three.

“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” has really great costume and creature designs, but when it comes to the CGI-fight scenes they look CGI. That is a bad thing in my book.

“Iron Man” is a strong candidate. I watched some behind the scenes footage from the film and there were parts of the movie, like Robert Downey Jr. just standing around in parts of the armor which I thought were not CGI, but a really good costume design person, but turned out to be total CGI. I was really impressed. The only downside is the scene where he really uses the armor for the first time against the terrorists. That scene didn't have the greatest CGI, the filmmakers probably didn't send in that scene to be judged. Smart move.

“Journey to the Center of the Earth” is the weakest of the four, in my opinion. There were some clever moments, but mostly everything was overly colorful and bright. My eight-year-old niece loved the movie, I was just somewhat impressed.

One major omission is "Cloverfield" which I thought had the best CGI this year. My whole arguement is that normally is has to be hard to make good special effects on normal movie cameras. How harder is it to make great effects on handheld cameras?

Other films taken off the original 15 movie shortlist; “Quantum of Solace” (Which had good CGI),
“The Spiderwick Chronicles,” “The Incredible Hulk,”
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (The CG gophers killed it I bet), “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “Hancock” and “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.”

Worst movie of the year explanation

In our most recent episode of "Viewpoints On..." (coughlookbelowcoughcough) we ran down our best and worst things of 2008.

To refresh some memories, or for you lazy folk, Stephanie and I stated that "Indiana Jones" and "The X-Files 2" were the worst movies of the year. We both had many, many reasons for those claims and I am sure many moviegoers would agree with us.

But, what about "The Hottie and the Nottie?" Or "Disaster Film?" Those movies HAD to have been worse than both of those picks. I will give you that. And I am sure there were dozens more that stunk up the box office in 2008. There is only one problem... we didn't see those movies.

I can't speak for Stephanie, but I can most times see a bad movie coming from a mile away. Did anyone really think that "Over Her Dead Body" was going to be an instant classic? Or that "The Love Guru" was going to make $400 million dollars?

I know I didn't.

So when I say this is the worst movie of whatever year, what I am really saying is "This is the worst movie I SAW this year."

And no I didn't see "Saw" this year...

New episode... year end edition!

In this episode Stephanie and I discuss the good and the bad of Pop Culture in 2008. We had a lot to talk about and there was some good stuff that we just couldn't fit into the show (You can see by the show being four parts is one example.)

So, over the next week or so we'll be blogging about some of our other best and worst of 2008 thoughts. But, for now, and as promised in the episode, a few more of Dan's 2008 thoughts.

Worst movie of 2008: "Hellboy 2"

I took my girlfriend to see it, building it up: "I sear, the first one was really cool! It was fun! There was this ninja made of sand, and Ron Perlman was really funny, and it was just awesome! You'll like it, I promise!" Well, lo and behold, Guillermo Del Toro must've dropped acid with Tim Burton and Frank Miller, because this movie was a hefty, never-ending pile of crap. As they trudged through reintroducing EVERY CHARACTER, my girlfriend stared at me. "No, no, it'll get better, they have to do this for people who didn't see the first one." Then they hammed up the dialouge, threw in some random characters like a German doctor made of smoke (ripping himself off??) and a legless demon and... well, it was just a never-ending onslaught of useless garbage. By the time Hellboy killed the giant monster that turned into flowers, covering the street in greenery like a Nissan commercial, I was standing, yelling at the screen "Why would you do this to me??!!" So, all in all, Hellboy II makes you wonder why an original that was good but only got mediocre fanfare would inspire Del Toro to make another, but so... so so so much worse.

Best TV of 2008:

"LOST"- Of course. This was my first season watching it on TV since I was shown the light through a week-long intensive of the first three seasons. And I wasn't disappointed! This show still has the best writing on TV, and some of the best acting. Michael Emerson (who plays Ben) came in on Season 2 and has really stolen the spotlight as the enigmatic and always crafty Benjamin Linus.

"HOUSE"- Another show I recently picked up the adddiction to. It's consistantly interesting, educational, and hillarious. At times, it can get formulaic, but with the addition of a new staff last season, including Kal Penn, the show knows how to keep it fresh. Hugh Laurie is most likely to win a Golden Globe for being the most consistantly amazing actor on TV.

"HEROES"- It only gets number three for coming back from a horrible season 2. I'm not saying it's by any means fantastic, it's still running on "E" and the car's shaking, but it just might get to the gas station in time. I don't know where Tim Kring is getting his actors, but if I had to hear Papa Petrelli READ another line, I would've put one between his eyes to. Once again, Sylar saves the day. :-) ** Tim and Stephanie note: The island sun must have fried Dan's brain a bit. "Heroes" not only was running on empty, but also ran someone over, went off a cliff and exploded. **

"FRINGE"- Thank God there's at least one new show with potential! I've been watching at a slow pace, btu I've come to the conclusion that if a stronger storyline is formed, Fringe could be the next X-files. By the way, did anyone else notice that the kid from the Mighty Ducks is in it, and his dad sounds like Hans? ** Tim note: I agree. **

"THE OFFICE"- For a show that's NEVER really been bland, The Office is kind of juggling the ball. It still gets about one roaring laugh from me every now and then, but with Pam going away for a while, Angela getting married, etc, too many changes start to take th elife out of the show. Very nice bombshell in last week's episode, though! ** Tim note: Referring to the outing of Angela/Dwight having sex **

New episode up and an issue with movie soundtracks

In this episode I talked a bit about "Yes Man" and how I enjoyed the music in the movie, especially the Zooey Deschanel parts. I knew she could sing from "Elf" but I had no idea singing was going to be a part of her character in this film.

Here is an example of one of the songs from the movie:



Funny stuff. But, here is my main issue with actors singing in movies. If it rocks and is cool, why aren't the movie companies releasing these songs ahead of time? Put them on some radio stations or release them as ITunes singles. Get some real buzz going. Heck, put out an official YouTube video and watch the hits rack up.

This move would have been perfect for "Walk Hard," but it wasn't until after I saw the movie that I fell in love with the music. Who knew that John C. Reilly could sing like that? I didn't.


I first felt this way with this gem of a video from the Hugh Grant movie "Music and Lyrics," which we watched in the newsroom at least two dozen times (a lowball estimate):



Click on the video to take you to the main page and look at the number of hits on that video alone: 5,764,723! A vast majority of those hits were AFTER the movie was released. Imagine how much more money "Music and Lyrics" would have made then?

Just a thought.

New Viewpoints On... videos!

Here are some of our recent episodes of Viewpoints On... (The first parts, following the links while watching for other parts.)

Tim's thoughts on Leno in primetime

We ran a little long in the show today and had to cut some stuff on the fly. One bit was my main issue with Jay Leno getting a prime time 10 p.m. slot Monday-Friday on NBC.

Really?

NBC is so far is last place that this is its big idea?

How about stop making crappy shows? Yeah, "Kath and Kim" I am talking about you.

And while we are on the subject of crappy and NBC, that stupid chime thing they do to promote the different shows is BEYOND stupid. Like someone thought "Hey, that's cool, I guess I'll watch 'My Own Worst Enemy' after all!"

They made it a point to say they know Leno won't beat shows like "CSI." Well, why bother then? Since when do we do things to not be first place? "I know we'll be last place, but it'll be a funny last place!"

And either the "Law and Order" shows are moving to 9 p.m. or getting cut.

The other issue I have is that no matter what he says, it is a giant slap in the face to Conan O'Brien who is set to take over the Tonight Show in a few months. So you expect people to watch Leno, then a half hour of local news, then watch O'Brien? And boy is Jimmy Fallon screwed. He was set to take over O'Brien's old time slot.

So, bad move NBC. Be more creative.

Tim's Black Friday memories/pickups

I hate Black Friday shopping with a passion. I used to work for Wal-Mart in the electronics section and always had to "open" on Black Friday, which meant I had to wake up extra early and deal with throngs of deal seeking "people." I use that term loosely because for some reason cheap TVs and other crap bring out the worst in people. I have seen it all from yelling, fighting, tugs of war over clothes to shopping carts being rammed into heels for people not moving fast enough.

During one year you could hear the rumbling of feet and carts coming from the front of the store. It sounded like a stampede, as if it were the Perris California running of the bulls or something. Another year all I did was fill the row in front of the department with 19 inch televisions, go to the back, load up more and repeat... for 3 hours. And, I apparently, wasn't going fast enough.

This, and an aversion to super large crowds, has helped me avoid going out for Black Friday door busters or sales only from 5 a.m. to noon. One exception is Target, who has done away with door busters in favor of two day sales. Meaning I can stroll in say around 10:30 a.m. get what I want and leave, without having to wait in line... like what happened this morning.

I picked up season 2 of "Psych" for $13.98, which I believe, is a great deal. The Target receipt says it normally costs $39.99. A good basis for comparison is the uber-cheap Web site Deep Discount DVD, which lists "Psych: Season 2" for $39.96. I'll take a $25 savings any day.

Another good deal, sort of, was the "I Am Legend" DVD for $3.98. I say sort of because it is the bare bones version with no real extra features other than some comics. Target lists it as originally costing $13 and Deep Discount DVD has it for $6.58. So I saved about $3.


Now you must excuse me so I can go watch Shawn and Gus perform "Shout."

Goodbye to the best show on television

So last night was the series finale of "The Shield" and wow it was a blockbuster of an episode to end the seven year run of the show.

For a show that started with one cop killing another in cold blood, "The Shield" is known for not pulling any punches and shocking viewers by going further than most shows would dare.

Last night was no different. If the shocks and plot twists throughout the span of the show were slaps across your face, then last night was a steel toe'd boot kick to the gut (including the wind being knocked out of you).

Characters died, some in shocking ways, and in the end everyone got what they deserved. For the real main characters (The Strike Team members) who were just bad people, well, they were basically really evil people, each in the end went out in ways they probably deserved.

I won't spoil it for those who watch it on DVD or have it saved on DVRs, but the last few minutes are both reflective and satisfying.

At a time where there isn't much on television that is worth watching (Yes, I am talking to you NBC) "The Shield" is a reminder that great television is possible and that there is Emmy worthy acting in strange places.

Best Bond girls

To many a Bond girl is just the woman James Bond sleeps with on his way to catching the bad guy, but the best Bond girls are the ones who can hold their own against Bond and don't always fall right into his arms.

Hands down the best Bond girl ever is Honor Blackman in "Goldfinger." She could win just for her name alone, Pussy Galore, however, she is also a pilot for Goldfinger who isn't charmed by Bond. She's not a blind follower of the villain, she just enjoys being paid well. You can't help but admire her independent spirit. She does eventually succumb to Bond's charms, because, well, he is James Bond.

Running a close second is Michelle Yeoh in "Tomorrow Never Dies." She plays Bond's Chinese counterpart Wai Lin. Yeoh is probably the only Bond girl to kick butt better than Bond. When she uses her extensive martial arts skills to take down several bad guys in a Chinese safe house, it is one of the best Bond fight scenes ever.

Finally there is Famke Janssen as Xenia Onatopp in "Goldeneye." As villainous Bond girls go, she is the best. She uses her sex appeal to lure unsuspecting victims and she takes a lot of pleasure in her job. When she and Bond face off, he gets the upper hand, but I always assumed it was because she wanted him to have it. She completely steals the spotlight from Izabella Scorupco.

I'm sure there will be plenty of arguing, but then again, it's not exactly a bad topic to argue about.

Bond, Bauer or Bourne

There was a time when James Bond was the only secret agent that mattered. However, now his crown is being challenged by new heroes Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne.

So the question is, who's the best secret agent? Let's start by examining their qualifications.

James Bond is a oo-agent with MI6, he has a license to kill, a gadget for every occasion and can make any woman change sides with just a wink or a smile.

Jack Bauer is a former Counter Terrorist Unit agent who has stopped assassinations and nuclear threats and has sacrificed himself and his family for his country.

Jason Bourne was an assassin for the CIA, since losing his memory he has used his skills to evade the government and get at the truth behind his past.

Best Kill: Bourne, he once killed a guy during a fight with a magazine. Honorable Mention: Bond has the most kills, so he does have the longest list to choose from.

Best Interrogator: Bauer, if you need information from the enemy, nobody tortures a guy like Jack. Honorable Mention: Bond's techniques are more fun if a woman is involved.

Best Undercover Agent: Bond, he will always find a way to infiltrate the villain's organization, whether it's by sleeping with the bad guy's girl or just knocking someone out and stealing their uniform.

Best One-Liners: Bond by a mile, Bauer takes himself very serious and Bourne doesn't even talk half the time.

Better Villains: Bauer, in this new world, his bad guys are more realistic.

The Winner: Bond, while Bourne and Bauer are a little single-minded during their missions, Bond always has time for some romance or maybe a little gambling.

His ability to multi-task while saving the world makes him the clear choice, plus he has the experience having been a spy a good 40 years longer than the other guys.

He should watch his back though, because Bauer and Bourne are closing in on him.

Best James Bond villains

As much as I enjoyed Goldfinger in "Goldfinger," my favorite old-school James Bond villain is Jaws from "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker."

He was superior to Bond in both size and strength which made him a menacing opponent, much more than Mathieu Almalric's screaming like a girl Dominic Greene from "Quantum of Solace." Plus, as a child I was scared of Jaws' metal teeth. Those kinds of things stay with you. Yes he was a bumbling idiot, but he also was sort of Jason Vorhees like where no matter what happened to him like falling from great distances he would always just get up and keep going.


More recently, I would say that Sean Bean's Alec Trevelyan from "Goldeneye"
was my favorite. He was a former 00 agent like Bond and was a formitable foe by being Bond's equal in brains and athletic ability. I think that is what the Daniel Craig versions are missing, one main person to stand up to Bond and not get killed in a few seconds. And no Mr. White does not count.

Best James Bond movies

Without a doubt my favorite James Bond movie is "Goldfinger." Great action, plot, Bond girl, henchman Oddjob and evil villain Goldfinger. It was the most well-rounded of those pre-90s Bond films. It also has one the coolest deaths and iconic scenes in the Bond films where Shirley Eaton was covered in gold paint. So iconic in fact that the new Bond film "Quantum of Solace" does their own version of that scene.

Of the more recent films I like "Goldeneye." Seems as if I have a facination with gold in the titles. Note to producers, make the next Bond film have the word gold somewhere in the title.

Best James Bond Actors

For me you can't really beat Sean Connery at all. But, I believe that Pierce Brosnan gets really close. His performance in "Goldeneye" was great and he nailed it right out of the gate. He could pull off the action and make you smirk at the things that were kind of funny.

Sure "The World is Not Enough" is a stinker of a Bond film, but it was not due to Brosnan as Bond. He did the best with what he had to work with, kind of like George Clooney in "Batman and Robin." He also had great chemistry with the Bond girls and Judi Dench as M.

Let the hate mail begin!

'Heroes!'

This week on "Heroes" we saw...

Wait, really, I am just going to bash it again.

Is there a point of continuing to kick someone while they are down? Beating a dead horse?

'Happy' Halloween?

I don't know if it's just me, but wow has Halloween changed since I was a child.

Sure we still carve pumpkins and people still hand out candy, but everything else just seems to be wonky.

Some Halloween night observations from me sitting out in front of my house:

1. A lot of children/teenagers with no costumes trick or treating. I even saw two 10-12 year olds with no costumes, but chatting on their cell phones. Can have a cell phone, but no costumes?

2. Two older ladies trick or treating, no costumes.

3. A teenage girl wearing a skimpy maid outfit. She wasn't carrying a bag, so she lifted up her skirt up to carry the candy around. Very inappropriate. Sad thing? Her parents were with her...

4. A car pulls up, a kid in a "Scream" outfit jumps out and runs up to get some candy. He runs back to the car, the car pulls away and stops two houses down. Rinse and repeat a few more times. My jaw was on the floor. I have never witnessed lazy trick or treating before.

5. Wearing a mask over regular clothes is NOT a costume!

One thing that did impress me was the amounts of "Thank you's" that I got. That, for sure, made up for all of the above annoying things.