Oscar Nominations

I'll share my Oscar picks the week before the big day but here are some quick thoughts on the nominations.

Glad to see Munich make it in. Thanks to a lot of buzz that the film was too controversial and the lack of marketing it seemed like a long shot to pick up a nom.

Crash was another mild surprise. Early release usually equals death (see Cinderella Man.)

On the ouch side of things, how about Walk the Line missing out on a best picture and director nod. Maybe it suffered from being released a year after Ray.

I love John Williams as much as the next guy but is it possible to have a year where he doesn't score a score nomination let alone two.

I can't wait to see the musical number for "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp."

So much for Woody Allen's comeback. One nomination does not a comeback make.

Since I'm typing like Yoda how about the lack of special effects nominations for Star Wars, Potter and Sin City. While creating CGI characters like a talking lion and Dakota Fanning are impressive I'm a little surprised.

Most competitive category: Cinematography- Batman is a token nod but still an appreciated one and the other four all have a realistic shot from Geisha's colors to the colorless Good Night.

Least competitive category: Best Actor- Hoffman seems like a lock after Golden Globes and SAG.

I'm off to see Capote today so I'll have completed the five-fecta and seen all the nominees for best picture. My early prediction done Larry King style; Grab your tent and beans its gonna be a Brokeback night. And for my money Michael Jordan is a good basketball player.

Veronica Mars: The Relationship Slayer

Since I am prone to plugging large corporations, that certainly don’t need my endorsement, how about a big shout out to Netflix. Once again I’ve discovered a treat that I bypassed on original broadcast and probably would not have sought out at my local Blockbuster. This treat I speak of…Veronica Mars. I’ll admit that the show intrigued me when it premiered fall of ’04. There were early comparisons to Buffy (one of my top 10 shows of all time) and then there was the critical response including Ain’t It Cool News’s Herc. To top it off I started reading about Buffy alumni making guest spots and then an endorsement from God himself Joss Whedon. Still, in a season that brought me Lost, I didn’t or couldn’t make time for another new show. (It also hurt that I didn’t get my DVR until last March).

So fast forward to fall ’05, I’m adding movies and shows to Netflix like crazy and the smart little site tells me that based on my rentals I might enjoy Veronica Mars Season 1. I add it on and wait. Now in January 2006, I’m finally sinking my teeth into it. I’ve got 4 episodes left and something has struck me; Veronica has managed to cram Buffy’s entire romantic life into one season. Look at these comparisons, (beware mild first season spoilers below):

Duncan= Angel
Both of our heroes fell for men that were once killers (maybe). Not only do these guys dump our ladies in cold hearted fashion but they still hang around and try to be friends.

Troy= Parker
So coming off their “soul mate” relationship with Duncan and Angel respectively, our girls both landed with a truly bad guy. Both tried to put their trust in someone new and both were chewed up and spit out. At least Veronica got some revenge.

Deputy Leo=Riley
This one is too easy because both are men in uniform and both very safe. Also, both stand way behind the mission in terms of priorities and they seem to know it.

Logan=Spike
Here we have men that have helped ruin the lives of our ladies. Yet when help is needed they show up to support them whether out of obligation or desire or both. These are unredeemable men that Veronica and Buffy can’t help but fall for. Unlike Angel and Duncan who can blame a temporary lack of a soul or a bout of epilepsy for their brief psychotic fits, Logan and Spike have nothing easy to blame their behavior on beyond the fact that they’re just evil. However, to say they’re just evil does an injustice to the complexities of these two characters.

Hard to imagine what lies ahead for Veronica although most of you reading this probably had the smarts to get on board early and are enjoying season 2, while I will wait patiently for August and the release of the DVDs.

The Point Game

Ever seen Around the Horn on ESPN? It’s a show where a host arbitrarily gives points to columnists chiming in on all things sport. This goes down as idea #437 that was stolen from me. So I am reclaiming it from here on forward. Each weekend I’ll announce who or what is awarded or deducted points based on my observations of the past week.

+3: Yellowcard for releasing a second major label album that exceeds the quality of their first.
-4: iTunes for putting the album booklet for Yellowcard in QuickTime format that’s hard to read and maneuver. Stick with the PDF format.

+2: The Office for their pre credit teaser on Thursday night’s episode with Ryan getting unwelcome glances while filling in for Pam.

+1: Verizon for restoring my faith in telecommunications companies
-1: Tempest Bledsoe for portraying the spoiled ex child star so stereotypically on Celebrity Fit Club
-5: Barry Bonds for pulling out of the World Baseball Classic not just because I wanted to watch him play but bonus points for opening himself up to another round of media criticism. Hire a PR person already!

And in the one time only category:

+1: George W. Bush for making me laugh harder then I have in months when he became glued to a swinging camera apparatus during his Palestinian election statements. This clip didn’t even need Jon Stewart commentary it spoke for itself. With 1 point in the positive W’s lifetime total is now -49,873.

iPod vs. Razr

It was a cloudy lazy Saturday in January. I was nursing my standard Saturday morning hangover with a vitamin water when I felt the pains of commercialism. I was in a foul mood over the lack of space on my iPod mini and my latest cell phone bill when I realized the only way to solve this would be by spending money on a new tech gadget I have absolutely no need for. My choices: a 20GB iPod or a Motorola razr phone.

iPod
I already have an iPod mini and while 1000 songs provide me with plenty to listen to, it is also a huge pain to take songs on and off when you’ve got 1700 to choose from. Remember you’ll never know when the urge to listen to “Hello” by Lionel Ritchie will strike you. Plus there’s the fact that the new iPods play video. So far there’s plenty of good stuff in their store such as Knight Rider, Laguna Beach, and plenty of high quality music videos. On the con side of things, there’s the fact that I just bought my mini a year ago and have another year on the warranty.

Razr
Don’t ask me why, but after 3 different calling plans I was still getting roaming charge during my many weekend excursions to the Twin Cities. In a last ditch effort I called Verizon to try one last time to rectify the situation. Well not only did they get me on a no roaming plan but they saved me $20 a month and told me I could upgrade to a razr for only $99. Not only does the razr weigh .00000001 pounds but it also plays video you can download including exclusive mini Lost episodes this spring.

The Verdict
So it came down to paying more money for something I really don’t need or paying less something for something I really don’t need. I chose the latter. Later that day, the point was made by my amigo Steve that I have no earthly need to view video on anything smaller then a 17” screen. He makes a good point but at least my arm won’t get tired from lifting the heavy ass phone I use today and as always I’m doing my part to keep our sick sick economy going forward.

And we're off...

Welcome one and...well probably 3 to start with to the Self Loathing Pop Culture Fanatic Blog. What will you find here? Mostly the rantings of a 32 year old single white male who thinks our commercial mass media culture is disgusting as well as praise for the few bright spots (and some low spots) that bring a little sunshine into our lives. You see while I hate myself for it I find myself consuming all manners of film, TV, music, literature, and other muckity muck that sucks a little bit of life out of me each day. So all in all expect a cheery time and a healthy dose of cynicism (because we don't have enough of that in the world).

Cheers,
Karate Pants