My bologna has a first name.....

Well, my lack of a well-paying job and worsening financial situation has left me rather apathetic to posting on a semi-regular basis, hopefully when things turn around (if), it will all get better. Still though, no reason not to post my own personal Oscar picks. Tough one this year.

Best Actor: Mickey Rourke

This could just as easily go to Sean Penn, but as the ceremony arrives, I just haven't heard the buzz surrounding Penn as you would normally expect to hear around a winner; so I'm guessing the comeback story of Rourke wins the day here.

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger

It could go to someone else, but then that person would be hated forever. The good thing is that Ledger would actually deserve the Oscar, as his performance was worthy, not just mass hysteria to honor a deceased star.

Best Actress: Kate Winslet

Again, this could easily go to Meryl Streep, and I'm sure the Academy would love to honor her again, but I think the Academy would love to honor Winslet for the first time even more. Plus, it's about the Holocaust, Ricky Gervais is right on that point.

Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz

This race is a bit more open. The only performance that has stayed with me is Cruz's. The Wrestler is all about Rourke, so I don't think it will go to Tomei. Henson was fine but forgettable. Adams was also fine but a bit one note, though people do seem to like her. Davis did a great job with her scene, but I didn't think it was as amazing as others thought. So I say Cruz, with hesitation.

Best Animated Feature: WALL-E

The Panda beat it at the animation awards, but more people vote for the Oscar, so WALL-E will take home it's due.

Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The film looked beautiful, and it got to follow the characters through many different time periods. Maybe The Dark Knight could upset it, and if it had scored a Best Picture nod it might have, but Button has to win something.

Best Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire

Maybe not the best choice, but it was vibrant and kinetic, and that will win the day.

Best Costume Design: The Duchess

After watching Elizabeth: The Golden Sequel win, I realized that Best Costume means best period film, so The Duchess will win for its finery.

Best Director: Danny Boyle

I actually liked Slumdog Millionaire and was happy to see it nominated for so many awards. Frost/Nixon and Button I thought were boring, The Reader was good until that twist, then the film started to unravel. I loved Milk, but I don't think it has enough oomph to overthrow Slumdog in major categories. So Boyle will take home the Oscar.

Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire

A two way race between Man and Herzog's Encounters. Man wins because 1. The man involved is a great storyteller and 2. It's about the World Trade Center.

Best Documentary Short: Smile Pinki

I arrived 3 hours early for the screenings of the shorts and it was already sold out! What's the deal? MOMA needs to hold 2 screenings at least. A tougher call without seeing them, but consensus seems to be between the MLK associated The Witness and the Indian Cleft Lip story Smile Pinki. I'm thinking cute and adorable wins the day, so Pinki will take it.

Best Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

Spirited and kinetic wins the day. It does seem as if fast paced usually wins the day here.

Best Foreign Language: The Class

The Class is an amazing film, and not just because I'm an unemployed teacher. This category can be tough to call as only qualified voters and vote, and 3 of the nominees has not been released to see yet, but I can't imagine much being better than The Class.

Best Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I'd love to see Hellboy II win here, but I think most people would associate the makeup jobs with visual effects, so Button will pick up the Oscar here, and hey, it has to win something.

Best Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire

Hmmm....I wonder what the opposite of this award would be? Remember when it used to be 2 different awards? Anyhoo, the Indian rhythms of Slumdog will win as it's new to many.

Best Original Song: Jai Ho

Everyone watches the dance to it over the end credits of Slumdog, so how can it not win?

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

The coronation will be around 11:30ish EST. I found Button to be rather dull and that seems to be a minor refrain, so that will keep it from winning. Frost/Nixon was also dull and I'm not exactly sure how that got nominated. Milk would be my second choice, and it would be a worthy winner, but again, no oomph. The Reader's second half keeps it from winning. So Slumdog it is.

Best Animated Short Film: La Maison en Petits Cubes

These I did see. All 5 are good, but La Maison was quite touching and brought a tear to my eye. Only Presto has a chance to unseat it.

Best Live Action Short Film: Toyland

It's about the Holocaust, and is actually good to boot.

Best Sound Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

This probably should go to The Dark Knight, but I think most voters are going to give it to Heath Ledger and call it a day, so the kineticism of Slumdog will win here.

Best Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire

This probably should go to The Dark Knight, but I think most voters are going to give it to Heath Ledger and call it a day, so the kineticism of Slumdog will win here.

Best Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Brad Pitt looking 16 again? What's not to love. Besides, Button has to win something.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog takes a concept that sounds cringe inducing to hear and makes a great film out of it. I know some others don't like Slumdog, but I'm not one of them.

Best Original Screenplay: Milk

Here's the category that Milk can win in. Unless there's an swelling of support for Mike Leigh, Dustin Lance Black will win.

Good Bye 2008

And Good Riddance; hopefully 2009 has better things in store.

Merry Christmas

A few days early, but I won't be around to post the next few days. So I wish all a very Merry Christmas!

Really Black Friday

WalMart worker killed.

Gobble.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Fingers Crossed!

Ok, I finally broke down and made an appointment with a career counselor. I'm not finding a job on my own and my nest egg has sprouted wings and is flying away quickly. I'm hoping a professional can shore up my resume and presentation skills and I'll be jobbed again ASAP. Then I can be a bit happier and will actually feel like posting more often than 1 time a month, contrary to what I wanted to do, but the lack of employment and the current financial status don't put me in the mood to do much of anything than crawl under a rock.

BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA

And I thought my students were hard to get an answer out of.

GAHHH! Get out of my Head!

Crap

AWWWW...I was hoping to see him dance more. He's my favorite. Why did they have to stick him with a sucky partner?

[title of show]

I finally had the chance to see this on Saturday night. I had heard about the show for a few years, and when the closing notice went up, I didn't want to miss it. I was not disappointed. The show had me laughing from start to finish. I'll skip plot specifics since they should be pretty well known by now or www.titleofshow.com can give them to you. The actors are all from the off-broadway version and it's obvious they truly have come to inhabit their roles. Even most of the songs were catchy, to the point where I ordered the cast album, something I haven't done for a show in years.

After the show, all the performers come out the stage door and spend as much time is needed to say hi to all the fans and sign autographs and take pictures. I've never seen Broadway actors act so nice toward their fans. I've gotten my share of autographs, but most actors make it seem like a chore they have to do. Here, they sign, chat you up and thank you for coming. And Hunter Bell in person....very attractive.

Such a shame that it's closing on Oct. 12th. Hopefully something can be done to keep it going a little longer. I'd love the opportunity to see it a few more times. If anyone reading this has thought about seeing it, or is looking for something to see in the next two weeks, I would highly recommend it.

New York Film Festival

So I will be attending the NYFF again this year, as I have been doing every year since 1994. Damn, time flies fast. Either way, here is my schedule of films (there are a few I can't attend, so if anyone sees this who lives in the NY area, you're welcome to ask me for my ticket.)

9/26 8:00pm The Class
9/27 6:00pm Happy-Go-Lucky (This is one of the films I can't attend, anyone?)
9/28 12:00pm Happy-Go-Lucky
9/28 9:00pm I'm Gonna Explode
9/30 9:15pm The Northern Land (Not sure I'm going to see this, anyone?)
10/1 9:15pm Waltz with Bashir (Stuck in Westchester that night, anyone?)
10/4 6:15pm Ashes of Time Redux
10/4 9:15pm Changeling
10/5 3:00pm Four Nights With Anna
10/5 9:00pm Gomorrah
10/6 9:15pm The Headless Woman (Not sure I'm going to see this, anyone?)
10/7 6:00pm Che
10/9 6:00pm Tokyo Sonata
10/9 9:00pm Tulpan
10/10 6:00pm A Christmas Tale
10/10 9:45pm Let it Rain
10/11 1:30pm Darren Aronofsky: Director's Dialogue
10/12 2:30pm Bullet in the Head
10/12 5:15pm Serbis
10/12 8:30pm The Wrestler

I will attending all of these alone, save for The Wrestler. Look for the person who is the saddest one there and come say HI!

Mood Upswing

Well, my attempt to find decent employment has not produced anything yet, but at least I'm back to tutoring. This way, my bank account won't quite fall off at the rate it has been. I'm still holding off on the last resort of prostituting myself, I think I'm attractive enough, but would any possible cients be?

Either way, I've been kicking myself at not writing more. I believe the complete lack of focus going on in my life doesn't add. I think about writing a post, but then remember that I could go watch this TV show, or go see that movie, or read some book, and all thoughts about posting fly out the window. I watched both of the Sci-Fi Dune miniseries in 2 days, when I could easily have talked about the movies I've seen, or my trip to Ocean City.

But I've been reading other blogs for quite some time now on a regular basis, and I figure I have to do something, even if it's something as simple as posting a video, so I'm going to try to forget all the other distractions and try to do something each day.

Idea....Stolen

I'm still wading my way through the countless hours of the Olympics I've Tivo'd, hence the total lack of posts for the past few weeks. I was hoping to do some Olympic posts, but am basically spending all my free time watching Table Tennis. Anyway, I saw this on MSNBC today and couldn't pass it up. It's the way I'd like to go, except I want my eyes open.

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26290833/?gt1=43001

The Other O.C.

Part 3 of my summer vacation starts in a few hours. I'll be driving down to Atlantic City for the night (and hopefully a few jackpots), then on Saturday, a short hop to Ocean City. This one will be a family vacation for the week: sister, brother-in-law, nieces..... I'll be back on August 9, just in time for the Olympics and finding a job. Hopefully, once I get a job, I be able to do more regular updates here. Without a job, all the free time I have makes it harder to write posts, every time I try to type, my mind races to about 10 other things I could be doing. With the regiment of a job, I'll be forced to budget time more wisely.

Have a great week everyone!

Step Brothers Haiku Review

Ferrell and Reilly
Hate then learn to tolerate
Much laughter ensues.

The Dark Knight Haiku Review

Batman, Joker, Dent
Good and Evil push and pull
Viewer is left pleased.

Fdot responds to panta924

This is basically a continuation of my Revolutionary Road review and the comments left by panta924.

I purposely left out technical considerations of the film. Being a screening, we will given the typical caveat that color correction and sound still needed to be completed; and indeed, the first few establishing shots of the film were so dark that it was difficult to discern what they were. I assume those will be fixed up in time for the general release. Addressing the mentioned areas:

Cinematography: It's certainly serviceable, but nothing that truly stood out from the film. A large percentage of the film takes place indoors during the daytime, so there is a lot of typical indoor office and house lighting. The cinematographer is Roger Deakins, so I was hoping for a bit more. It's not disappointing by any means, just not amazing.

Such: The music was bad. This is not one of Thomas Newman's better scores. It was either too dramatic for the scene, or didn't fit the mood the scene.

Screenplay: This is the film's major flaw. The screenplay is the major reason I gave the film a C-. Revolutionary Road is not a bad film, it's a dull film. The decision to start the film with a major argument and continue after the opening credits with more marital strife never allows the audience to develop a relationship with the characters. You just don't really care what happens to them. The decision to movie to Paris is milked for a few laughs, but the decision is made right after another major argument. One scene is Frank and April yelling at each other, the next scene is April playing the doting wife and coming up with this plan. The way that Winslet plays April gives the audience a sense that there is some sort of mental imbalance within her, but the film doesn't spend 1 second exploring that possibility, so April just comes off as an incredibly strange character. I don't need everything explained to me in a movie, but dropping no clues can leave one confused. Mental Issue? Suburban Malaise? Who knows? The ending of the film also falls short (I haven't read the book, so I don't know if it matches up). It's telegraphed well in advance, so it's not much of a shock, then it's followed by a strange coda of two scenes featuring the secondary characters of the movie (a neighbor couple and Kathy Bates' real estate agent). The film just presents Frank and April as miserable for so much of the running time, that it just wears you down.

Leo: Well, I like Leo, so I'm happy to say that he does do a good job in the film. However, he isn't given that much to do. Apart from the arguments with April and an argument with Michael Shannon's character, he is largely reactionary. His character arc is very small and undramatic, so he has nothing big to sink his acting chops into. He pulls off what he has to do well, but I wish there was more for him to do.

Flames

Yes, I did it, I killed Yvette. I hated her, so much... That... it... it... flam - flames. Flames, on the side of my face, heaving... breath - , heaving breaths. Heaving breath...

FDot breaks down "Revolutionary Road"

N.B. I saw Revolutionary Road at a test screening this past Wednesday. Obviously, there will be some changes made to it before the final version is released later this year.

Directed by: Sam Mendes

Written by: Justin Haythe based on the Richard Yates' novel.

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon

The Short of it: A depressing slog through a disintegrating marriage that not even test screenings can save.

The Long of it: Obviously, reviewing a test screening comes with it's own set of issues; the least of which is that the version I saw will no doubt have some changes made to it before the final release. However, with a running time of 1:51, there's not a whole lot to work with.

The story is actually quite simple; in 1955, Frank and April Wheeler (DiCaprio and Winslet) are a young married couple (with 2 children) in the suburbs. They both suffer from a superiority complex, believing they are more important then the other rubes who live in the suburbs, and both feeling that they don't have the lives they were meant to live: April wanted to be an actress and Frank just doesn't want to be doing his job. On a whim, they decide that a move to Paris will be beneficial to both.

This plot device is where the problems with the movie start. The film opens with a major fight between Frank and April, so it's hard to develop any feelings for the characters. Then, even though April was majorly annoyed with Frank, suddenly on a dime, she proposes this Paris trip. She'll work as a secretary while Frank just does stuff (seriously, the idea is for him to lay about and read). A good chunk of time is spent watching every secondary character's reaction to this news. Obviously, complications ensue, with Frank in his professional life and April in her personal life. Unfortunately, the movie continues on a slog through fight after fight and depressing scene after depressing scene until the very end of the film.

Here are my main issues with Revolutionary Road.

1. The obvious comic relief. The Wheeler's real estate agent (Kathy Bates) asks the Wheeler's if they would be willing to entertain her son (Michael Shannon) for an afternoon, while he is on a furlough from the local psychiatric ward. Shannon is a breath of fresh air in the proceedings, and is supposed to be the one character who can see through the facade of happiness that the Wheeler's put up, but his character is so odd and tic-y, that it becomes obvious he was needed solely to relieve the film of it's dour tone and liven up the screen for a moment. There are no laughs to be found in the film when Shannon is not on the screen. So while the character is enjoyable to watch, he feels a touch shoehorned in.

2. April Wheeler. This is where the film truly lost it. The character of April obviously suffers from some sort of mental imbalance. In one scene, she will be having a major fight with Frank, telling him that she hates him, never wants to see him again, yet in the next scene, she is playing the perfect housewife. There must be some sort of disorder going on, but the film's major flaw is that it never even remotely delves into examining this idea. The viewer is left with the possibility that either she does have some sort of imbalance, or else she is suffering from the worst case of suburban ennui ever recorded. Winslet overacts slightly in the role, making it even more frustrating that the film ignores this tack.

3. The tone. The film is just depressing. Save for Michael Shannon's two scenes, all the rest of the scenes tend to be fights or discussions about how unhappy they are. I have nothing against a film that wants to be bleak, but Revolutionary Road is such a downer, you can't catch your breath.

4. The ending. I can't imagine that it will be left alone. It's just bad. It's set up so boldly that it comes as no surprise to the viewer when it happens. Worse, it's a bit of an abrupt end, then strangely followed by two scenes with the secondary characters discussing the Wheelers.

The Sum Up: Again, this was a test screening, so the final product will be somewhat different. With a running time already under 2 hours, I'm not sure what can be done with the film. It's just a depressing movie with no surprises that doesn't examine the issues it should. Lightning has not struck twice for DiCaprio and Winslet.

Home Again, Off Again

Well, I arrived home late Tuesday night, just in time to do all my laundry, catch up on my internet sites and pack my suitcases once again. I'm off to Chicago for the 17-22. Then I'll be back for 9 days and it's off to NJ. Aftetr that, I'll be around for a while. Enjoy your weekend!

FDot