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Tarantino on who the real king is.
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Oscar Nominations
Hurt Locker & Avatar Dominate
The Hurt Locker and Avatar led the field with 9 nominations a piece and look to butt heads in Picture, Director, Cinematography, Editing, Score, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing. I’m betting THL takes 4 of those.
The selections I’m happiest about are District 9 and Up for Best Picture. District 9 is as inventive as they come and delivers an exceptional story and lead performance to go with it and Up is a film that melds the bittersweet tale of a man losing his wife with a funny and exciting adventure, and doesn’t miss a beat through out. I’d like to see almost anyone else try to do that.
The biggest snub for me was (500) Days of Summer in Original Screenplay which most predicted it for. That said, the films that are in its place (THL, Inglorious Basterds, The Messenger, A Serious Man, Up) are all exceptional works, so at least it wasn’t usurped by Avatar’s script.
Overall a pretty solid, if not a little safe field. But when they get 6 out of 10 of my best pics the same, then I’m pretty happy, but more on that later in the week.
2010 Oscar Nomination Preview, Take 2
Nominations will be handed out tomorrow morning in Los Angeles, so I’ll take my final stab at what the predictions will be. Check here tomorrow for the entire official list.
Best Picture:
- The Hurt Locker
- Avatar
- Inglorious Basterds
- Up In The Air
- Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
- An Education
- Up
- Inivictus
- A Serious Man
- District 9
Other possibilities: Star Trek, The Blind Side, The Messenger, Nine, Crazy Heart, (500) Days of Summer
Only Avatar and The Hurt Locker have a shot at winning this thing, and the real drama will come with what combination of movies will make up those last 4 spots. Any of the “Other possibilities” getting in for one reason or another wouldn’t surprise me.
Best Director:
- Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
- James Cameron - Avatar
- Quentin Tarantino - Inglorious Basterds
- Jason Reitman - Up In The Air
- Lee Daniels - Precious
Other possibilities: Clint Eastwood - Invictus, Neil Blomkamp - District 9, Lone Scherfig - An Education
This is Bigelow’s to lose, and seeing anything but this 5 will be a surprise.
More after the jump.
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News reports destroyed.
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The 2000s: 2009
2009: Music
With The Grammy’s tonight, figured this was a good a time as any to talk about last year in music.
Top 10 Songs:
- 10. Never Had Nobody Like You - M. Ward feat. Zooey Deschanel
- 09. The Weary Kind - Ryan Bingham
- 08. Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare - Matt and Kim
- 07. No News Is Bad News - Dashboard Confessional
- 06. Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z and Alicia Keys
- 05. Reaction - Ace Enders and a Million Different People
- 04. Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap
- 03. Half of My Heart - John Mayer
- 02. Baby Blue - Dave Matthews Band
- 01. All The Pretty Girls - fun.
fun. - Aim & Ignite
This was a very close call between this and DMB’s Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, which was a return to form for the old stalwarts from Virginia. That said, fun.’s lead singer Nate Reuss, formerly of The Format, makes his second appearance on this list with what is essentially the follow up to 2006’s Dog Problems.
Dog Problems was about a man’s fight against his love, his career, and himself. Aim and Ignite is a man moved on from his past and has found happiness in the people around him and a new confidence in himself. Some of those new people are fellow members Jack Antonoff (Steel Train) and Andrew Dost (Anathello) who bring their influence to fun.’s sound, especially Dost who’s proclivity for operatic sound isa big element of the album. Light A Roman Candle With Me sounds like its right out of West Side Story and album ender Take Your Time is a great climax for musical that this album can be at times.
The Gambler is a song about the lifelong relationship of Reuss’ mom and dad and it makes for one of the best love songs in recent memory. I would argue that All The Pretty Girls is one of the catchiest pop songs of the year and works wonderfully as the face of the spirit of this album. Essentially, Aim and Ignite is just fun.
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The 2000s: 2008
2008: Film
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What Paul said. Amen.
This is one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time. Check out this ridiculous violent and amazingly insane intro video for an Alaskan College Hockey Team.
This is most violent polar bear I’ve ever seen.
This couldn’t get any better.
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The 2000s: 2008
2008: Music
Top 10 Songs:
- #10. Spaceman - The Killers
- #09. After Hours - We Are Scientists
- #08. Sentimental Heart - She & Him
- #07. Skinny Love - Bon Iver
- #06. I’m Yours - Jason Mraz
- #05. Halo - Beyonce
- #04. Forever - Chris Brown
- #03. The Wrestler - Bruce Springsteen
- #02. Lovers in Japan - Coldplay
- #01. Love Story - Taylor Swift
That is a weird, weird grouping of artists lol.
2008 wasn’t a great year in albums for me though I should mention Coldplay coming in second with Viva La Vida (or Death and All His Friends). With the exception of 2005’s X&Y Coldplay put out 3 albums that could easily be put into the discussion of some of the best albums of the decade. Of course, they’re extreme popularity has made up obvious targets for haters which really is sad. I can’t imagine there being many haters for my #1 album.
She & Him - Volume I
For those thinking this was blind love for Ms. Deschanel I’ll explain that it was this album that created my super crush on her. Already showing that she was a gifted actress and comedian in films like All The Real Girls and Elf, Zooey’s first passion had always been music. She started writing songs as a teenager but never thought she was good enough to be a full-time musician.
In Elf she showed her pipes are for real on her duet of Baby It’s Cold Outside and started a tradition of filmmakers asking Zooey to sing in their films. This would lead to singer-songwriter M. Ward, who was doing the music for the Deschanel indie-film The Go Getter, to ask her to work on a song for the soundtrack of the film. They had such a good experience in the studio, they decided to work on a few songs that Deschanel had written. And so goes the story of 2008’s best album.
Volume I is an album reminiscent of 60’s pop and 70’s country, with the spirit of those like Brian Wilson and Linda Ronstadt resonating from the speakers. The songs are short and sweet and M. Ward’s production showcases Zooey’s voice, which is the star of this show. It’s beautiful and light and works in diverse ways. It gives an upbeat song like I Was Made For You a fun, summer-like sound while in a slower song like Change Is Hard it lends to the loneliness and sadness of the song.
This year will see the band releasing Volume II on March 23, so expect to be hearing a lot more about that as the date approaches.
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