I've never done an illegal drug in my life, so I am the last person to be able to answer this. What is the worst way to take a drug: by needle or by snorting?
My deep fear of needles makes me inclined to lead toward the heroine type drugs that are pumped into a vein through the long metallic point, but sniffing a powder into my body through my nasal cavity makes me cringe. So which is it? Would you rather use a needle to inject heroine and other type drugs or is snorting cocaine and other powders that have been divided into lines on a mirror (is that too much of a Scarface-type 80s reference) the way to go?
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Biggest Turnarounds In NFL History
While being essentially snowed in for the weekend, Joanna and I worked to get some things off our DVR, which included the NFL Network's great show America's Game. The documentaries follow a Super Bowl team from a specific year and chronicle their journey to that championship. The episodes include memories shared from key players and coaches from the team that won the Lombardi Trophy.
After viewing about half of the episodes that have aired in the past year, a common storyline is turning around a horrible franchise by hiring a new coach or drafting a key player. It got me wondering what Super Bowl winning team had the worst record the prior year to being crowned the best in the league. I found that most teams had decent, if not great, records the year before winning the championship. However, there were a few out there with some pretty putrid records.
We begin with the 1980 San Francisco 49ers. The team that dominated the 80s with four Super Bowl championship seasons in that decade started off with a losing record. In 1980, the Joe Montana-led 49ers finished with a 6-10 record, equating to a .375 winning percentage. Despite a losing record for the year, the season resulted in Montana's first big comeback game (which was a record at the time) against the New Orleans Saints and winning the starting job as quarterback, receiver Dwight Clark stepping up as a go-to player and running back Earl Cooper.
It took nearly two decades for the St. Louis Rams to set the a new low season record for a team who would go on to win the Super Bowl the next year. In 1998, before being labeled the "Greatest Show on Turf," the Rams could only put up a 4-12 record, resulting in a .250 winning percentage. Following this dismal year, the Rams acquired quarterback Trent Green (who would end up sitting on the bench due to injury in 1999 allowing for Kurt Warner's rise to stardom) and running back Marshall Faulk.
Mentioning the New England Patriots in the new millenium and the majority of football fans can't avoid using the word dynasty. Yet, in 2000, Bill Belichick, in his first season as the Patriot's head coach, could only obtain a .313 winning percentage with a 5-11 record. Those in the know expected the same from the Patriots the next year as the team's quarterback coach died of cardiac arrest during training camp, offensive tackle Bruce Armstrong retired, receiver Terry Glenn held out for more money and was hit with a four-game drug suspension, and an injury sidelined Drew Bledsoe early in the season, resulting in a then-unknown Tom Brady stepping up as the leader behind center.
There were some other teams in history that had 8-8 records the season prior to winning the big game, but these three were the lowest of the low.
We begin with the 1980 San Francisco 49ers. The team that dominated the 80s with four Super Bowl championship seasons in that decade started off with a losing record. In 1980, the Joe Montana-led 49ers finished with a 6-10 record, equating to a .375 winning percentage. Despite a losing record for the year, the season resulted in Montana's first big comeback game (which was a record at the time) against the New Orleans Saints and winning the starting job as quarterback, receiver Dwight Clark stepping up as a go-to player and running back Earl Cooper.
It took nearly two decades for the St. Louis Rams to set the a new low season record for a team who would go on to win the Super Bowl the next year. In 1998, before being labeled the "Greatest Show on Turf," the Rams could only put up a 4-12 record, resulting in a .250 winning percentage. Following this dismal year, the Rams acquired quarterback Trent Green (who would end up sitting on the bench due to injury in 1999 allowing for Kurt Warner's rise to stardom) and running back Marshall Faulk.
Mentioning the New England Patriots in the new millenium and the majority of football fans can't avoid using the word dynasty. Yet, in 2000, Bill Belichick, in his first season as the Patriot's head coach, could only obtain a .313 winning percentage with a 5-11 record. Those in the know expected the same from the Patriots the next year as the team's quarterback coach died of cardiac arrest during training camp, offensive tackle Bruce Armstrong retired, receiver Terry Glenn held out for more money and was hit with a four-game drug suspension, and an injury sidelined Drew Bledsoe early in the season, resulting in a then-unknown Tom Brady stepping up as the leader behind center.
There were some other teams in history that had 8-8 records the season prior to winning the big game, but these three were the lowest of the low.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Call A Cop, Cuz They Were Robbed
As the Oscars are approaching I have started to think about past ceremonies and some of the decisions made by the Academy. It's no secret that mistakes have been made in the past and the group's stuffy decisions haven't necessarily represented the feelings of normal moviegoers.
While watching a movie I had no particular interest in, I started thinking about great films that were nominated for Best Picture, but lost. I went through the historical archives of the Academy Awards and dug up 10 years that wonderful movies lost the Best Picture award whether it was to an inferior film or a victim of a stacked year.
I would like it noted that since I haven't seen all the films ever nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, I can't give a complete list and this is obviously my opinion. However, I have seen the winners from each year and can decide among the films nominated that I have seen if they are better than the winner.
1933: 42nd Street and She Done Him Wrong lost to Cavalcade
While both 42nd Street and She Done Him Wrong aren't the most spectacular and moving pictures, they are certainly more enjoyable than Cavalcade.
Mae West is certainly the best thing about She Done Him Wrong and her screen time is what makes this movie so delightful. It is one of the few films West was in prior to the Hays Code censorship era of Hollywood.
42nd Street is the original backstage musical that has spawned so many clichés those who hate musicals complain about. With a loaded cast that included Ginger Rogers before she was known as Fred Astaire's leading lady it revitalized the musical genre.
1938: Grand Illusion lost to You Can't Take it With You
I'm not going to get much love for picking a French war film over a Pulitzer Prize-winning comedic play turned into a Frank Capra film starring Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore and James Stewart. Yet, Grand Illusion is a magnificent film dealing with class relations among French soldiers captured in a German prisoner of war camp. The film's action that is made up of soldiers trying to plan and execute an escape should keep the casual watcher interested, but I urge everyone to truly pay attention to the relationships between the characters and the story being told, you will experience one of the greatest anti-war films of all time.
This would be one of those years that a lot of great films were made, as You Can't Take it With You beat out not only Grand Illusion, but also Boys Town and The Adventures of Robin Hood.
1940: The Great Dictator lost to Rebecca
The Great Dictator is hands down Charlie Chaplin's greatest work. It blends slapstick comedy with anti-war satire and anti-Hitler farce. I personally love Rebecca, thinking it is one of Alfred Hitchcock's best films prior to his golden years of the 1950s and 60s. But when compared to Chaplin's The Great Dictator it just doesn't stand up.
Chaplin crafts a gem of a film that brought to the forefront the star's feelings about the repression taking place in Europe toward the Jewish people. He started filming one week after the start of World War II.
The ending monologue reversing the anti-Semitic views of the antagonist are one of the most rousing in film history.
1941: Citizen Kane lost to How Green Was My Valley
I really like How Green Was My Valley. I really do. But what Orson Welles did with Citizen Kane changed filmmaking forever. There are lots of technical aspects about movies today that come naturally because of what Welles started with this movie, but those are too tedious to really go into detail about that. What the everyday moviegoer cares about that Citizen Kane pioneered includes the credits being placed at the end as they are today, dialogue overlapping in a scene like a more normal conversation and the advent of frames being completely in focus so the viewer can see action both close and far away clearly.
While Citizen Kane might not have been appreciated in its time, it certainly has held the test of time better than How Green Was My Valley and its contributions to the film industry is why it deserved the Oscar for Best Picture.
1951: A Streetcar Named Desire lost to An American in Paris
I've got no problem with Gene Kelly and tap-dancing musicals. In fact, Singing in the Rain is one of my favorite movies of all time (and second in the musical genre next to My Fair Lady), but how An American in Paris beat out Marlon Brando's method acting and Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama I'll never know. Nothing about An American in Paris stands out today, whereas Brando screaming out "STELLA!!!" and Vivien Leigh's quote about the kindness of strangers has lived on for decades.
1956: Giant, The King and I, and The Ten Commandments lost to Around the World in 80 Days
Choose any of these and you'll find a better Best Picture than Around the World in 80 Days. I haven't even seen Friendly Persuasion and I feel pretty confident that it is better than Around the World in 80 Days.
1964: Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb lost to My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is probably my favorite musical (in a close race with Singing in the Rain), but Stanley Kubrick's anti-war dark comedy is simply the superior film. The Academy loved Audrey Hepburn (and so do I), but this snub would be the first of many Kubrick received throughout his career. He won only a single Oscar in his lifetime and that was for Best Special Visual Effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey, despite receiving 13 nominations total.
1969: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid lost to Midnight Cowboy
In my opinion, Midnight Cowboy is the worst movie to ever win the Best Picture Oscar. The subject of a male gigolo or hustler or whatever in New York City who befriends a petty thief is simply not for me. I can admit the acting and characters might have been great, but I simply can't get behind anything else the movie offered. Besides, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is my favorite Western film and I would be much happier had it received the Academy Award.
1990: Goodfellas lost to Dances With Wolves
To begin, Dances With Wolves is a really good movie. Kevin Costner directed a good story about a soldier out of his elements learning the ways of the Native Americans, eventually becoming sympathetic to their cause and assisting the tribe once the evil White people started encroaching on their land (sound familiar to another movie nominated for a lot of awards this year).
However, Goodfellas is Martin Scorsese's best film and should have been the movie that got him his first Oscar (not The Departed). Everything, including the storytelling, characters, music, dialogue and acting, is top-notch and deserving of awards. Goodfellas is one of the few mafia films that can stand up to The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II as best of its genre.
1998: Saving Private Ryan lost to Shakespeare in Love
This year is the entire reason for doing this list. I've always been irked by this loss because in my estimation Saving Private Ryan is so much a better movie than Shakespeare in Love that it is not even funny. The only apparent flaw people complain about in Saving Private Ryan is the scenes at the beginning and end of the picture with the old man and his family visiting the soldiers' graves. I think those parts are nice bookends to a brilliant movie and without them the impact of the group's actions to go save Private Ryan is sort of lost.
Notes:
While I like The Maltese Falcon more than How Green Was My Valley and would watch it more likely than the latter, I am okay with it losing the 1940 Best Picture award because it is a close race between those two films. However, Citizen Kane should have beaten both due to the significant impact it had on how movies would be made for decades to come.
The 1946 winner The Best Years of Our Lives is an astounding movie that captures the lives of three families following World War II. I adore this film and am glad it won the Best Picture Oscar, but it is hard to let go that It's a Wonderful Life didn't win. Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is a classic that I watch at least once a year (usually around Christmas). Both are great movies and could have won in my opinion.
Laurence Olivier's production of Hamlet in 1948 is certainly one of the best and I respect him as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, but I really like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The story of three men in search for gold and how greed tears them apart, both inside and out, is an excellent cautionary tale. This is another case of two movies being really close in the running that both could have ended up with the statue.
In 1950, two movies that are in my opinion top-notch were released to the public and could easily be considered the best of its year. Those two films are All About Eve and Sunset Blvd. All About Eve ended up winning the Oscars for both Best Picture and Best Director, but it certainly wouldn't have been a far reach for director Billy Wilder and producer Charles Brackett to have taken home the top prizes that year for Sunset Blvd.
It is sad to see To Kill A Mockingbird lose to Lawrence of Arabia in 1962, but the better film did win. If only the Gregory Peck-starring film had been released a year later, because surely it would have beaten the overrated Tom Jones.
I struggled on a decision between 1994's The Shawshank Redemption and Forrest Gump. Both are glorious movies and excellent in their own ways. Shawshank probably has the edge and likely deserved the Best Picture honor, but I'm not too disappointed it went to Forrest Gump.
While watching a movie I had no particular interest in, I started thinking about great films that were nominated for Best Picture, but lost. I went through the historical archives of the Academy Awards and dug up 10 years that wonderful movies lost the Best Picture award whether it was to an inferior film or a victim of a stacked year.
I would like it noted that since I haven't seen all the films ever nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, I can't give a complete list and this is obviously my opinion. However, I have seen the winners from each year and can decide among the films nominated that I have seen if they are better than the winner.
1933: 42nd Street and She Done Him Wrong lost to Cavalcade
While both 42nd Street and She Done Him Wrong aren't the most spectacular and moving pictures, they are certainly more enjoyable than Cavalcade.
Mae West is certainly the best thing about She Done Him Wrong and her screen time is what makes this movie so delightful. It is one of the few films West was in prior to the Hays Code censorship era of Hollywood.
42nd Street is the original backstage musical that has spawned so many clichés those who hate musicals complain about. With a loaded cast that included Ginger Rogers before she was known as Fred Astaire's leading lady it revitalized the musical genre.
1938: Grand Illusion lost to You Can't Take it With You
I'm not going to get much love for picking a French war film over a Pulitzer Prize-winning comedic play turned into a Frank Capra film starring Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore and James Stewart. Yet, Grand Illusion is a magnificent film dealing with class relations among French soldiers captured in a German prisoner of war camp. The film's action that is made up of soldiers trying to plan and execute an escape should keep the casual watcher interested, but I urge everyone to truly pay attention to the relationships between the characters and the story being told, you will experience one of the greatest anti-war films of all time.
This would be one of those years that a lot of great films were made, as You Can't Take it With You beat out not only Grand Illusion, but also Boys Town and The Adventures of Robin Hood.
1940: The Great Dictator lost to Rebecca
The Great Dictator is hands down Charlie Chaplin's greatest work. It blends slapstick comedy with anti-war satire and anti-Hitler farce. I personally love Rebecca, thinking it is one of Alfred Hitchcock's best films prior to his golden years of the 1950s and 60s. But when compared to Chaplin's The Great Dictator it just doesn't stand up.
Chaplin crafts a gem of a film that brought to the forefront the star's feelings about the repression taking place in Europe toward the Jewish people. He started filming one week after the start of World War II.
The ending monologue reversing the anti-Semitic views of the antagonist are one of the most rousing in film history.
1941: Citizen Kane lost to How Green Was My Valley
I really like How Green Was My Valley. I really do. But what Orson Welles did with Citizen Kane changed filmmaking forever. There are lots of technical aspects about movies today that come naturally because of what Welles started with this movie, but those are too tedious to really go into detail about that. What the everyday moviegoer cares about that Citizen Kane pioneered includes the credits being placed at the end as they are today, dialogue overlapping in a scene like a more normal conversation and the advent of frames being completely in focus so the viewer can see action both close and far away clearly.
While Citizen Kane might not have been appreciated in its time, it certainly has held the test of time better than How Green Was My Valley and its contributions to the film industry is why it deserved the Oscar for Best Picture.
1951: A Streetcar Named Desire lost to An American in Paris
I've got no problem with Gene Kelly and tap-dancing musicals. In fact, Singing in the Rain is one of my favorite movies of all time (and second in the musical genre next to My Fair Lady), but how An American in Paris beat out Marlon Brando's method acting and Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama I'll never know. Nothing about An American in Paris stands out today, whereas Brando screaming out "STELLA!!!" and Vivien Leigh's quote about the kindness of strangers has lived on for decades.
1956: Giant, The King and I, and The Ten Commandments lost to Around the World in 80 Days
Choose any of these and you'll find a better Best Picture than Around the World in 80 Days. I haven't even seen Friendly Persuasion and I feel pretty confident that it is better than Around the World in 80 Days.
1964: Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb lost to My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is probably my favorite musical (in a close race with Singing in the Rain), but Stanley Kubrick's anti-war dark comedy is simply the superior film. The Academy loved Audrey Hepburn (and so do I), but this snub would be the first of many Kubrick received throughout his career. He won only a single Oscar in his lifetime and that was for Best Special Visual Effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey, despite receiving 13 nominations total.
1969: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid lost to Midnight Cowboy
In my opinion, Midnight Cowboy is the worst movie to ever win the Best Picture Oscar. The subject of a male gigolo or hustler or whatever in New York City who befriends a petty thief is simply not for me. I can admit the acting and characters might have been great, but I simply can't get behind anything else the movie offered. Besides, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is my favorite Western film and I would be much happier had it received the Academy Award.
1990: Goodfellas lost to Dances With Wolves
To begin, Dances With Wolves is a really good movie. Kevin Costner directed a good story about a soldier out of his elements learning the ways of the Native Americans, eventually becoming sympathetic to their cause and assisting the tribe once the evil White people started encroaching on their land (sound familiar to another movie nominated for a lot of awards this year).
However, Goodfellas is Martin Scorsese's best film and should have been the movie that got him his first Oscar (not The Departed). Everything, including the storytelling, characters, music, dialogue and acting, is top-notch and deserving of awards. Goodfellas is one of the few mafia films that can stand up to The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II as best of its genre.
1998: Saving Private Ryan lost to Shakespeare in Love
This year is the entire reason for doing this list. I've always been irked by this loss because in my estimation Saving Private Ryan is so much a better movie than Shakespeare in Love that it is not even funny. The only apparent flaw people complain about in Saving Private Ryan is the scenes at the beginning and end of the picture with the old man and his family visiting the soldiers' graves. I think those parts are nice bookends to a brilliant movie and without them the impact of the group's actions to go save Private Ryan is sort of lost.
Notes:
While I like The Maltese Falcon more than How Green Was My Valley and would watch it more likely than the latter, I am okay with it losing the 1940 Best Picture award because it is a close race between those two films. However, Citizen Kane should have beaten both due to the significant impact it had on how movies would be made for decades to come.
The 1946 winner The Best Years of Our Lives is an astounding movie that captures the lives of three families following World War II. I adore this film and am glad it won the Best Picture Oscar, but it is hard to let go that It's a Wonderful Life didn't win. Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is a classic that I watch at least once a year (usually around Christmas). Both are great movies and could have won in my opinion.
Laurence Olivier's production of Hamlet in 1948 is certainly one of the best and I respect him as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, but I really like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The story of three men in search for gold and how greed tears them apart, both inside and out, is an excellent cautionary tale. This is another case of two movies being really close in the running that both could have ended up with the statue.
In 1950, two movies that are in my opinion top-notch were released to the public and could easily be considered the best of its year. Those two films are All About Eve and Sunset Blvd. All About Eve ended up winning the Oscars for both Best Picture and Best Director, but it certainly wouldn't have been a far reach for director Billy Wilder and producer Charles Brackett to have taken home the top prizes that year for Sunset Blvd.
It is sad to see To Kill A Mockingbird lose to Lawrence of Arabia in 1962, but the better film did win. If only the Gregory Peck-starring film had been released a year later, because surely it would have beaten the overrated Tom Jones.
I struggled on a decision between 1994's The Shawshank Redemption and Forrest Gump. Both are glorious movies and excellent in their own ways. Shawshank probably has the edge and likely deserved the Best Picture honor, but I'm not too disappointed it went to Forrest Gump.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
AMC's Best Picture Nominees Event Schedule Is Ready (Update)
Nevermind if you read this post already. AMC screwed up somewhere along the way and they have to redo the schedule. I'll let you know when it is ready.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
So AMC Theatres Is Ticking Me Off
The theater chain was supposed to release the schedule for the upcoming 10 Oscar Best Picture Nominees in two weekends watching program yesterday, but they released a statement saying to return Monday night. The schedule was never released and as of 9:30 Tuesday night they still don't have an idea when it is going to be ready.
AMC Theatres has already stated that Avatar would be shown in 3D on Feb. 27 and people were given the option to vote what the other four movies would be to go with it. I threw out an idea on AMC's facebook page to use the following schedule.
Feb. 27:
A Serious Man
Up
Precious
Avatar
The Blind Side
March 6:
Up in the Air
Inglourious Basterd
An Education
The Hurt Locker
District 9
My schedule splits the two frontrunners with the best chance of winning the Oscar (which is Avatar and The Hurt Locker) and it also splits the two science-fiction movies between both days. Another good thing about my schedule is the run times for both days end up being separated by only two minutes (Feb. 27 ends up running for 6 hours and 2 minutes; March 6 is 6 hours flat).
After posting my schedule, another guy then listed his idea. Basically we were showing AMC that it shouldn't take this long to put together a schedule of 10 movies. The business said they have to take more things into account than just run times and genres, but they should have already had a good idea of what the schedule would be prior to the end of voting. Just my opinion.
Wednesday Morning Update:
Still no schedule. By this point it isn't even the fact that tickets go on sale Friday but nobody even knows what movies are playing on what day. The point of it all now is being told we would have a schedule ready on Monday and two days later we're not even sure if it will be ready any time this afternoon or tonight.
The company's Facebook page was turning ugly with frustrated voices like mine being heard regarding the wait, but now people are stating as long as it is out before Friday they don't mind. They are stating how great it is AMC is being so open about the wait and apologetic. However, AMC really isn't being that honest about the whole thing. I'm not saying they are lying to us by any means. But they just aren't updating that much or giving a time table of any sorts.
If they would just say, "OK, we'll be ready on Thursday night. We promise. Check back then," it would be all good. It is this constant aggravation of having to repeatedly check their Web site that is ticking me off.
AMC Theatres has already stated that Avatar would be shown in 3D on Feb. 27 and people were given the option to vote what the other four movies would be to go with it. I threw out an idea on AMC's facebook page to use the following schedule.
Feb. 27:
A Serious Man
Up
Precious
Avatar
The Blind Side
March 6:
Up in the Air
Inglourious Basterd
An Education
The Hurt Locker
District 9
My schedule splits the two frontrunners with the best chance of winning the Oscar (which is Avatar and The Hurt Locker) and it also splits the two science-fiction movies between both days. Another good thing about my schedule is the run times for both days end up being separated by only two minutes (Feb. 27 ends up running for 6 hours and 2 minutes; March 6 is 6 hours flat).
After posting my schedule, another guy then listed his idea. Basically we were showing AMC that it shouldn't take this long to put together a schedule of 10 movies. The business said they have to take more things into account than just run times and genres, but they should have already had a good idea of what the schedule would be prior to the end of voting. Just my opinion.
Wednesday Morning Update:
Still no schedule. By this point it isn't even the fact that tickets go on sale Friday but nobody even knows what movies are playing on what day. The point of it all now is being told we would have a schedule ready on Monday and two days later we're not even sure if it will be ready any time this afternoon or tonight.
The company's Facebook page was turning ugly with frustrated voices like mine being heard regarding the wait, but now people are stating as long as it is out before Friday they don't mind. They are stating how great it is AMC is being so open about the wait and apologetic. However, AMC really isn't being that honest about the whole thing. I'm not saying they are lying to us by any means. But they just aren't updating that much or giving a time table of any sorts.
If they would just say, "OK, we'll be ready on Thursday night. We promise. Check back then," it would be all good. It is this constant aggravation of having to repeatedly check their Web site that is ticking me off.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Maybe Next Year Colts (Not At The Cowboys Expense Though)
It's a disappointing night. The Saints won. Manning lost. Hopefully he will get another shot in the future to win more Super Bowl Championships and fulfill his legacy as one of the greatest to ever play the game.
I'm happy for Drew Brees. He seems like a really good guy. It is just a shame Jeremy Shockey had to win a ring. That guy sucks.
I'm happy for Drew Brees. He seems like a really good guy. It is just a shame Jeremy Shockey had to win a ring. That guy sucks.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Don't F With The Manning
As Super Bowl Sunday nears I get more and more excited about the prospect of Peyton Manning winning another title. Since getting into football these past few years, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback has been pretty much as close to cluch as you can get. I didn't pay attention through the years that everyone questioned him and whether he could win the big game. The year I got into football was the season he did just that.
My personal rule regarding football games is you don't bet against Peyton Manning. No matter how high the odds are stacked against him, you just don't count him out for one second. By the end of his career he will be in the discussion for greatest quarterback to ever play the game. It is unavoidable. Even if he loses on Sunday, which I don't think is going to happen.
His leadership at the line of scrimmage, dedication to mastering his craft and in-the-moment actions to throw off defenses like dummy audibles, varying snap counts, fake pumps, play action maneuvering and avoidance of eye contact with the receiver he is actually going to. You would think losing Marvin Harrison and Anthony Gonzalez while adding two receivers who going into the year had a combined four receptions in the NFL would be too much of an obstacle for Manning to overcome. But what did he do? Went on to nearly have a perfect 16-0 season had his coach not benched the brilliant QB in the third quarter of Week 16.
Although it is his characteristics on the field that makes him the legend he will become known as decades to come, it's his off-the-field commercials and Saturday Night Live hosting spot that gives him the charisma and charm he is also known to have by non-sports enthusiasts. It's just a shame he has to be related to Eli "Dumb Face" Manning.
My personal rule regarding football games is you don't bet against Peyton Manning. No matter how high the odds are stacked against him, you just don't count him out for one second. By the end of his career he will be in the discussion for greatest quarterback to ever play the game. It is unavoidable. Even if he loses on Sunday, which I don't think is going to happen.
His leadership at the line of scrimmage, dedication to mastering his craft and in-the-moment actions to throw off defenses like dummy audibles, varying snap counts, fake pumps, play action maneuvering and avoidance of eye contact with the receiver he is actually going to. You would think losing Marvin Harrison and Anthony Gonzalez while adding two receivers who going into the year had a combined four receptions in the NFL would be too much of an obstacle for Manning to overcome. But what did he do? Went on to nearly have a perfect 16-0 season had his coach not benched the brilliant QB in the third quarter of Week 16.
Although it is his characteristics on the field that makes him the legend he will become known as decades to come, it's his off-the-field commercials and Saturday Night Live hosting spot that gives him the charisma and charm he is also known to have by non-sports enthusiasts. It's just a shame he has to be related to Eli "Dumb Face" Manning.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Okay, So Big News
This is a big deal regarding everything in my life that is not important. This does not involve anything regarding my wife, my child, my job status or my slowly degrading health. So don't get too excited and suffer from shortness of breath or anything.
No, this post is in regard to the promotion AMC Theatres is taking part in by showing off the ten Academy Award Best Picture nominees. Two years ago my wife and I took part in the same sort of thing when the Grapevine Mills theater showed the five films nominated, including eventual winner No Country For Old Men. We loved it and wanted to do it every year after that. Unfortunately, we didn't even make it back the following year and then this year I was worried it wouldn't happen because of the rule change that doubled the number of nominees.
Well, they are still going to show the films on Feb. 27 and March 6. The line-up will be announced and I'll know which movies will be shown on what day. I'm hoping to see them all, even the ones I've already seen (which include Avatar, District 9, Inglourious Basterds, and Up).
As soon as the list of films with the specific date is released I'll throw it up here in case I need an easy place to find the listing for my own knowledge.
That was a joke for all my readers out there, which is pretty much me. I can't even convince my wife to read this thing.
No, this post is in regard to the promotion AMC Theatres is taking part in by showing off the ten Academy Award Best Picture nominees. Two years ago my wife and I took part in the same sort of thing when the Grapevine Mills theater showed the five films nominated, including eventual winner No Country For Old Men. We loved it and wanted to do it every year after that. Unfortunately, we didn't even make it back the following year and then this year I was worried it wouldn't happen because of the rule change that doubled the number of nominees.
Well, they are still going to show the films on Feb. 27 and March 6. The line-up will be announced and I'll know which movies will be shown on what day. I'm hoping to see them all, even the ones I've already seen (which include Avatar, District 9, Inglourious Basterds, and Up).
As soon as the list of films with the specific date is released I'll throw it up here in case I need an easy place to find the listing for my own knowledge.
That was a joke for all my readers out there, which is pretty much me. I can't even convince my wife to read this thing.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
An Interesting Article
Although it was written prior to the announcement of this year's Oscar nominees, this link will take you to an article that ponders what the last decade's nominee lists would look like had the ten Best Picture nominee rule been put into effect in 2000.
The most interesting part of the article is when the writer suggests that the rule would have divided the votes for Crash in 2005 that would have resulted in Brokeback Mountain winning the top prize, like many feel it deserved.
The most interesting part of the article is when the writer suggests that the rule would have divided the votes for Crash in 2005 that would have resulted in Brokeback Mountain winning the top prize, like many feel it deserved.
How Avatar Stacks Up In Tickets Sold
A lot of hype has been made about the amount of money Avatar has made, and rightly so because in the short time it has been in theaters it has crushed previous records. However, due to inflation, box office receipts aren't always the most honest ways to compare movies from different decades.
The music industry keeps count of things by records sold and the equivalent of that in the movie business is by the amount of tickets sold for a film. If you go by those statistics then James Cameron's Avatar falls behind some pretty important films to the 26th spot. Avatar will certainly move up the list, but there is just no way it is going to break the top five any time soon.
Here is the list of the top 30 movies, the year the film was initially release, the estimated amount of tickets sold and their unadjusted domestic gross.
1. Gone With the Wind (1939) - 202,044,600 tickets sold/$198.6 million
2. Star Wars (1977) - 178,119,600 tickets sold/$460.9 million
3. The Sound of Music (1965) - 142,415,400 tickets sold/$158.6 million
4. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - 141,854,300 tickets sold/$435.1 million
5. The Ten Commandments (1956) - 131,000,000 tickets sold/$65.5 million
6. Titanic (1997) - 128,345,900 tickets sold/$600.7 million
7. Jaws (1975) - 128,078,800 tickets sold/$260 million
8. Doctor Zhivago (1965) - 124,135,500 tickets sold/$111.7 million
9. The Exorcist (1973) - 110,568,700 tickets sold/$232.6 million
10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) - 109,000,000 tickets sold/$184.9 million
11. 101 Dalmatians (1961) - 99,917,300 tickets sold/$144.8 million
12. The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - 98,180,600 tickets sold/$290.4 million
13. Ben-Hur (1959) - 98,000,000 tickets sold/$74 million
14. Return of the Jedi (1983) - 94,059,400 tickets sold/$309.3 million
15. The Sting (1973) - 89,142,900 tickets sold/$156 million
16. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - 88,141,900 tickets sold/$242.3 million
17. Jurassic Park (1993) - 86,205,800 tickets sold/$357 million
18. The Graduate (1967) - 85,571,400 tickets sold/$104.9 million
19. Star Wars: Episode I (1999) - 84,825,800 tickets sold/$431 million
20. Fantasia (1941) - 83,043,500 tickets sold/$76.5 million
21. The Godfather (1972) - 78,922,600 tickets sold/$134.9 million
22. Forrest Gump (1994) - 78,545,600 tickets sold/$329.6 million
23. Mary Poppins (1964) - 78,181,800 tickets sold/$102.2 million
24. The Lion King (1994) - 77,231,800 tickets sold/$328.5 million
25. Grease (1978) - 76,921,800 tickets sold/$188.3 million
26. Avatar (2009) - 76,421,000 tickets sold/$601 million
27. Thunderball (1965) - 74,800,000 tickets sold/$63.5 million
28. The Dark Knight (2008) - 74,282,100 tickets sold/$533.3 million
29. The Jungle Book (1967) - 73,679,900 tickets sold/$141.8 million
30. Sleeping Beauty (1959) - 72,676,100 tickets sold/$51.6 million
The music industry keeps count of things by records sold and the equivalent of that in the movie business is by the amount of tickets sold for a film. If you go by those statistics then James Cameron's Avatar falls behind some pretty important films to the 26th spot. Avatar will certainly move up the list, but there is just no way it is going to break the top five any time soon.
Here is the list of the top 30 movies, the year the film was initially release, the estimated amount of tickets sold and their unadjusted domestic gross.
1. Gone With the Wind (1939) - 202,044,600 tickets sold/$198.6 million
2. Star Wars (1977) - 178,119,600 tickets sold/$460.9 million
3. The Sound of Music (1965) - 142,415,400 tickets sold/$158.6 million
4. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - 141,854,300 tickets sold/$435.1 million
5. The Ten Commandments (1956) - 131,000,000 tickets sold/$65.5 million
6. Titanic (1997) - 128,345,900 tickets sold/$600.7 million
7. Jaws (1975) - 128,078,800 tickets sold/$260 million
8. Doctor Zhivago (1965) - 124,135,500 tickets sold/$111.7 million
9. The Exorcist (1973) - 110,568,700 tickets sold/$232.6 million
10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) - 109,000,000 tickets sold/$184.9 million
11. 101 Dalmatians (1961) - 99,917,300 tickets sold/$144.8 million
12. The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - 98,180,600 tickets sold/$290.4 million
13. Ben-Hur (1959) - 98,000,000 tickets sold/$74 million
14. Return of the Jedi (1983) - 94,059,400 tickets sold/$309.3 million
15. The Sting (1973) - 89,142,900 tickets sold/$156 million
16. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - 88,141,900 tickets sold/$242.3 million
17. Jurassic Park (1993) - 86,205,800 tickets sold/$357 million
18. The Graduate (1967) - 85,571,400 tickets sold/$104.9 million
19. Star Wars: Episode I (1999) - 84,825,800 tickets sold/$431 million
20. Fantasia (1941) - 83,043,500 tickets sold/$76.5 million
21. The Godfather (1972) - 78,922,600 tickets sold/$134.9 million
22. Forrest Gump (1994) - 78,545,600 tickets sold/$329.6 million
23. Mary Poppins (1964) - 78,181,800 tickets sold/$102.2 million
24. The Lion King (1994) - 77,231,800 tickets sold/$328.5 million
25. Grease (1978) - 76,921,800 tickets sold/$188.3 million
26. Avatar (2009) - 76,421,000 tickets sold/$601 million
27. Thunderball (1965) - 74,800,000 tickets sold/$63.5 million
28. The Dark Knight (2008) - 74,282,100 tickets sold/$533.3 million
29. The Jungle Book (1967) - 73,679,900 tickets sold/$141.8 million
30. Sleeping Beauty (1959) - 72,676,100 tickets sold/$51.6 million
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
And The Nominees Are ...
This morning the nominees for the Academy Awards were announced. Despite sleeping in and having my wife record the broadcast, she did give me one tease about a nominee that made me very happy to hear.
Avatar and The Hurt Locker each received nine nominations, the most for a movie this year. Inglourious Basterds fell short of that honor by just one. Precious and Up in the Air received six nominations. Pixar's Up received five nominations.
So here are the nominees for the major nominees.
Best Picture:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
I've seen four of the ten nominees for this category and hopefully I can find time in the next month to view the other six. Well, what am I saying hopefully. I've got nothing else to do. I am happy to see Up nominated because ever since it was released I have been saying how good of a movie it was.
This year the Academy changed things up and allowed ten movies to be nominated for the Best Picture category. If I had to guess, I would say the five movies lucky enough to benefit from the new rule are District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man, and Up.
Best Director:
James Cameron for Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels for Precious
Jason Reitman for Up in the Air
The real showdown will be between Cameron's Avatar for its visual 3D/CGI magnificence and Bigelow's The Hurt Locker for its compelling story. Going into the Oscars, Avatar has already won two Golden Globes for Best Picture and Best Director and The Hurt Locker won at the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement as well as Best Picture and Best Director awards from the National Society of Film Critics, Broadcast Film Critics Association, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, Chicago Film Critics Association, Boston Society of Film Critics, Austin Film Critics Association, and Las Vegas Film Critics Society.
The most interesting thing about the Best Director race between Cameron and Bigelow is they used to be married to one another. Bigelow was Cameron's wife before marrying Terminator star Linda Hamilton. So it is sort of like a Battle of the Exes.
Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart
George Clooney for Up in the Air
Colin Firth for A Single Man
Morgan Freeman for Invictus
Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker
Firth and Renner are receiving their first Oscar nominations this year, but Bridges, Clooney and Freeman have all been nominated four times before (although Clooney's nominations weren't all for acting categories).
Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side
Helen Mirren for The Last Station
Carey Mulligan for An Education
Gabourey Sidibe for Precious
Meryl Streep for Julie and Julia
This is Streep's sixteenth Academy Award nomination, previously winning for 1979's Kramer vs. Kramer and 1982's Sophie's Choice. Both wins were in the supporting actress category.
Best Supporting Actor:
Matt Damon for Invictus
Woody Harrelson for The Messenger
Christopher Plummer for The Last Station
Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress:
Penelope Cruz for Nine
Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air
Mo'Nique for Precious
Best Original Screenplay:
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up
Best Adapted Screenplay:
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air
Best Animated Picture:
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up
There really is no question as to which movie is going to win. It is kind of hard to justify allowing an animated picture being nominated for Best Picture and it not be the best in the animated category.
Avatar and The Hurt Locker each received nine nominations, the most for a movie this year. Inglourious Basterds fell short of that honor by just one. Precious and Up in the Air received six nominations. Pixar's Up received five nominations.
So here are the nominees for the major nominees.
Best Picture:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
I've seen four of the ten nominees for this category and hopefully I can find time in the next month to view the other six. Well, what am I saying hopefully. I've got nothing else to do. I am happy to see Up nominated because ever since it was released I have been saying how good of a movie it was.
This year the Academy changed things up and allowed ten movies to be nominated for the Best Picture category. If I had to guess, I would say the five movies lucky enough to benefit from the new rule are District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man, and Up.
Best Director:
James Cameron for Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels for Precious
Jason Reitman for Up in the Air
The real showdown will be between Cameron's Avatar for its visual 3D/CGI magnificence and Bigelow's The Hurt Locker for its compelling story. Going into the Oscars, Avatar has already won two Golden Globes for Best Picture and Best Director and The Hurt Locker won at the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement as well as Best Picture and Best Director awards from the National Society of Film Critics, Broadcast Film Critics Association, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, Chicago Film Critics Association, Boston Society of Film Critics, Austin Film Critics Association, and Las Vegas Film Critics Society.
The most interesting thing about the Best Director race between Cameron and Bigelow is they used to be married to one another. Bigelow was Cameron's wife before marrying Terminator star Linda Hamilton. So it is sort of like a Battle of the Exes.
Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart
George Clooney for Up in the Air
Colin Firth for A Single Man
Morgan Freeman for Invictus
Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker
Firth and Renner are receiving their first Oscar nominations this year, but Bridges, Clooney and Freeman have all been nominated four times before (although Clooney's nominations weren't all for acting categories).
Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side
Helen Mirren for The Last Station
Carey Mulligan for An Education
Gabourey Sidibe for Precious
Meryl Streep for Julie and Julia
This is Streep's sixteenth Academy Award nomination, previously winning for 1979's Kramer vs. Kramer and 1982's Sophie's Choice. Both wins were in the supporting actress category.
Best Supporting Actor:
Matt Damon for Invictus
Woody Harrelson for The Messenger
Christopher Plummer for The Last Station
Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress:
Penelope Cruz for Nine
Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air
Mo'Nique for Precious
Best Original Screenplay:
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up
Best Adapted Screenplay:
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air
Best Animated Picture:
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up
There really is no question as to which movie is going to win. It is kind of hard to justify allowing an animated picture being nominated for Best Picture and it not be the best in the animated category.
Monday, February 01, 2010
Too Bored To Sleep
Do you ever get so bored at night that you don't want to do anything, and that includes not going to sleep? I keep clicking on the same 10 links while browsing the Internet hoping for an update so I can have something new to read. I guess I'm going to go to bed in order to pass the next nine hours so I can then waste another day with nothing to do. Man do I need a job.
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