The Inevitable Oscar Post

So it is that time of year where the film industry steps back to congratulate itself in the ultimate form. As someone who probably takes films too seriously, I also tend to give major importance to the Oscars as well. At their best, I see the Oscars as an opportunity to recognize the year's greatest artistic achievements in film. At their worst, they can be decided merely because of money spent on campaigns or "entertainment" value. Despite these hopes the show is usually filled with many disappointments. Thankfully, with John Stewart hosting once again, that aspect will keep me amused.

I think that this year I am pretty well prepared. I have seen a majority of the films in the major categories. Unfortunately I have not yet seen In the Valley of Elah, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, or I'm Not There.

Best Picture: Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood
What will win: As much as the Academy sometimes likes to throw in a surprise, No Country For Old Men seems destined for victory here. It has won too many other awards and has too much buzz up to this point to be denied.
What I want to win: I am really torn with this year's choices. It was a great year for films. I personally would be very happy to see either Juno or There Will Be Blood win. They are both flawless films.

Best Actor: George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lee Jones, Viggo Mortensen
Who will win: This is a lock. Daniel Day-Lewis
Who I want to win: All respect to Viggo who gave an amazing performance, but Day-Lewis could be one of the best ever at his craft.

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard, Laura Linney, Ellen Page
Who will win: I think at this point Julie Christie is a pretty solid lock, but keep on the lookout for a surprise.
Who I want to win: Marion Cotillard was flat out brilliant. I don't know how that performance can be denied. Although I can't say I'd be terribly upset if Christie won as she was amazing. Here's hoping some Academy asshole loses their job for not nominating Angelina Jolie. Her performance in A Mighty Heart was gut-wrenching. She deserved at least a nom.

Best Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, Javier Bardem, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Holbrook, Tom Wilkinson
Who will win: Again, I think this is another lock. Javier Bardem, like his character, is unstoppable.
Who I want to win: I can't help but be sentimental here. Can anyone honestly say that seeing Hal Holbrook win wouldn't be one of the greatest moments in Oscar history? I'm still digesting his performance from the shamefully under-nominated Into the Wild.

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, Ruby Dee, Saoirse Ronan, Amy Ryan, Tilda Swinton
Who will win: This is probably the toughest race to call of the night. I think Amy Ryan will ride enough buzz to the win.
Who I want to win: I didn't see Cate so it is hard to judge, but my favorite performance was Tilda Swinton's.

Best Director: Julian Schnabel, Jason Reitman, Tony Gilroy, Joel and Ethan Coen, Paul Thomas Anderson
Who will win: The Coen Brothers will probably take this as long as their film wins best picture.
Who I want to win: Anderson is one of my favorite directors. So I would be immensely psyched to see him finally win an Oscar for his brilliant work.

Best Animated Film: Persepolis, Ratatouille, Surf's Up
What will win: Ratatouille
What I want to win: Persepolis was fantastic and should have been up for best foreign language film. However, I have no faith in the Academy to pull their heads out of their asses long enough to choose this film to win.

Best Writing Adapted: Atonement, Away From Her, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood
Who will win: I think as goes best picture and best director, so goes this category. The Coens will win again.
Who I want to win: I want Anderson to win for TWBB but I would also be happy to see a surprise victory for Sarah Polley and Away From Her.

Best Writing Original: Juno, Lars and the Real Girl, Michael Clayton, Ratatouille, The Savages
Who will win: This race could definitely be interesting. My guess is either with of Diablo Cody of Juno or Tony Gilroy of Michael Clayton.
Who I want to win: I would be very happy if either Cody or Tamara Jenkins of The Savages won.

Best Music: The Academy did its best to screw up both of the music categories this year. I am boycotting the Best Score category because of the lack of a nomination for Jonny Greenwood in There Will Be Blood. His score helped make that film what it was. The Best Song category could be even more ridiculous. 3 nominations for Enchanted? Really?? Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova better win for "Falling Slowly" from Once or something will be thrown at my television.

So those are my picks for the main awards. Please comment if you agree or disagree. And what I love best about the Oscars is that it pushes people to at least go out and watch some of the best films cinema has to offer.

A POP-POP SALUTE TO BLACK HISTORY MONTH

I can't believe Black History Month is almost over and we have not even addressed it here at Pop-Pop! In the words of Stephanie Tanner, "How rude." Well we've still got nine, count 'em, nine glorious days left to celebrate famous blacks in the world of pop culture. And I am going to go ahead and get the ball rolling. Today we are going to celebrate a man who is full of energy and who, at times, has taken comedy to another realm. He has shown both musical, acting and writing chops, making him a triple threat in the world of pop culture. Now as far as being historic, I guess he is not so much, since he's been in the pop culture eye for less than a decade, but that's good enough for me. So in honor of Black History Month here at "Pop-Pop", we honor the one and only, Jack Black.

Tribute

When someone on the level of Heath Ledger passes away at a young age it always take me a while to fully grasp the loss. There really isn't much I can say about this tragedy that hasn't been said more eloquently by those in the media. All I can say is that he was a tremendous talent. His body of work, though small, was quite impressive.

It has been said often recently, and I agree, that Heath was one of the best actors of his generation. In that vain, I thought the best way to honor him would be to celebrate his peers who I also consider among the best of their generation. Those who are in his age range who represent the acting craft in the highest manner. They should be actors and actresses who don't just choose the safe choices but go after roles that continue to challenge them.

I envision this as a series, with a different person who raises the bar for acting greatness in each post. I encourage my fellow Pop-Pop writers to present their own tributes to quality acting amongst the younger generation, those say 25 to 40.

I could think of no one better for my first choice than the ridiculously talented Christian Bale. To me he is easily the best actor in the business under the age of 40 working today. The Academy should be appalled that he has yet to be nominated for an Oscar. He chooses roles that push him to his absolute physical and mental limits. He has brought depth and resonance to every part and, at least to me, has set the standard by which all young actors should follow. He gives himself over completely to a role like the great Daniel Day-Lewis is famous for doing. He is one of the few actors, that no matter what the overall film looks like, i know his part will be played to perfection and will raise the level of the whole enterprise.

Agreed? Agreed.

For Your Consideration: First Game Show Contestant Who Should Be Shot in 2008

Classic Music Video of the Week

Good morning! And happy day off to teachers, bankers, and other government workers. To the rest of you, I'm sorry.

20 years ago today, the number one song on the Billboard Charts was...

Yes, that's right... "I've Got My Mind Set On You" by George Harrison. I vaguely remember two seperate versions of this video playing on VH1 back in the day, but this one is the most "popular." Those moving animals and sitting room objects get me everytime (especially the squirrel playing the "pipe"). But the dancing George stunt double is so, so cheesy.

So that's your CMVotW! Enjoy, and Happy MLK Jr. Day!

To Watch or Not To Watch?

This is a painful time for those of us who are lovers of quality television. As an ardent supporter of the WGA, I am OK with my current suffering if it means the writers will benefit in the long run. However, that misery grows with every new reality show added to the bunch.

Yes I am that one in the group that hates reality television. I'll admit that I didn't always feel that way. I had watched probably every episode of the Real World for it's first 10 years. As a pre-teen and teenager it matched well with my sensibilities. Once I was old enough to realize most of the antics on the show were pathetic I moved on from reality television. I think reality TV showcases everything that is negative about current society. If that were its purpose and it highlighted those issues in an intelligent light, that would be one thing. But these shows instead revel in the idiocy and debauchery of its own participants and paints it as a way of life that average people should follow.

I admit that occasionally a reality program will catch my eye and I will enjoy it. Scott Baio Is 45... And Single definitely intrigued me because of his idol status that I grew up with. And Confessions of a Matchmaker is endlessly fascinating, in part because Buffalo is about as local as television gets. For the most part though i do resist the urge.

American Idol presents a problem, however. I only watched the first season of the show. Because the music produced is for the most part unoriginal tripe I felt no need to continue watching it. But now there is very little to watch on television and, unfortunately, the majority of people I know and converse with on a regular basis watch AI. So the question I pose is, should I follow my instincts and continue to resist this so-called "cultural phenomenon"? Or should I get off my high porch and watch it so I can participate in the discussions of how stupid Paula is, what a jerk Simon is and how Randy keeps saying, "Yo, dawg"? So I put it to you, the pop-pop audience to give me your opinion.

Classic Music Video of the Week

Oy vey.

What a week this past week has been. I know for several of us, being back to work for a full five (or more) days was painful. Some of us had other things that brought the week down. Personally, I'm glad the week is over, and I know a few other contributors to this blog are too. In order to get the last little bit of frustration of this week out, so we can optimistically move in to the next, please let me present this week's Classic Music Video of the Week (sorry the quality is subpar, as it gets harder and harder to find good vidoes out there):


Everything About You by Ugly Kid Joe



Here's to a great upcoming week!