I Wish I Had More To Say

Despite there really not being much to talk about, it is too cold to go sit in my car for lunch, my boss is out of town, and I am putting off some paperwork. So I figured I would kill a few minutes with typing out something.

 

I am extremely put out with fantasy football right now, so I've completely dropped that as a hobby. I'll likely get sucked back in next week after winning, but until that happens I am trying to get back into some former diversions. My kids take up most of my free time right now. Emery is about to begin basketball. Jack has recently taken up creating new superheroes in a notebook. He draws them up and makes up names. A lot of them are characters that already exist, but he has a few funny ones, like Banana Man (who looks like a banana) and Monkey Kid (who has banana guns). I'm sensing a theme with him. Sawyer is wrapping up a season of tee-ball and is already wanting to move up into machine pitch.

 

I'm extremely behind on my movie watching. I've yet to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, It Chapter 2, Ad Astra, or Joker. And coming out soon is Terminator: Dark Fate and Doctor Sleep. No matter what is going on in my life, the two movies I know I will not be missing in the theater are Star Wars IV: The Rise of Skywalker and No Time to Die.

 

Speaking of No Time to Die, when are we getting a teaser trailer for that film? I know it isn't seeing a massive release until April, but they've wrapped up principal photography already. We should have seen something by now, and the fact that we haven't yet has me a little worried. There have been massive delays and setbacks, so my expectations are lower than normal, but it is still a new Bond film, so expectations are still at a 9.62 instead of the normal 10.

 

We did get a teaser poster a few weeks ago. It was okay, but nothing as great as the first poster for Spectre. I'd like to believe a poster or trailer's greatness is equitable to the final product of the movie, but the last Craig outing proved that wrong. So maybe all the problems and lackluster information about the newest film will prove to be the opposite and it turns out to be the best since Casino Royale.

 

Here is the poster that was released recently.

 

 

 

I don't have a ton of slow days lately, so I likely will not be back to type up something unless it is James Bond related. Until a new trailer or poster or something of interest happens, I'll be seeing you.

Bond 25 Is ...

No Time to Die.

 

I know I don't make it around as much as I used to, but certain milestones in my life are worth posting about and the title of a new James Bond movie is one of them. This is the fourth title to have the word "die" in it. The others are Live and Let Die, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Die Another Day. The theme song to Quantum of Solace was titled "Another Way to Die."

 

April 2020 is still a long time away, but getting a title means we will be getting a teaser trailer soon. Then a few more announcements about the picture will trickle through, and then the singer of the theme song will be known, and finally the full-length trailer and international trailer will drop. By that time it will almost be upon us.

 

Today is an exciting day.

Oscar Nominees Announced

With 2018 coming to a close, the last remaining remnant of that year is the award ceremonies that follow in early 2019, and my favorite of these is the Academy Awards. While I don't consider any awards show to be gospel when it comes to marking what is the best in a given time frame (especially since the medium of film is subjective and what is good to one person might not be that way to another), the Academy Awards, or Oscars, are my favorite mostly because it is the longest standing awards show for film and the statue is iconic.

What I like most about awards shows like the Oscars and Golden Globes is that it brings to the forefront movies most people don't see in a given year. Winners like The Shape of Water and The King's Speech wouldn't normally get a massive viewing audience, but by being named best of the year it garnered more attention than it normally would. Do I  really believe The Shape of Water is a more well crafted film than Dunkirk or Get Out or The King's Speech is better than The Social Network or Toy Story 3? No, but that is what's great about these awards shows. Others not like me who end up seeing only the popular films pushed by big production studios might become curious about smaller movies that garner more attention during awards season.

When I was younger and the Academy only recognized five nominees for each category I normally had seen most of the nominated films prior to announcing its list a few weeks before the big night. Since having kids my free time to see the "important" films has been less and less. The past few years I normally have to catch up prior to the night of the ceremony and that is done at a special screening of the Best Picture nominees at AMC Theatres. This year is no different. Of the eight Best Picture nominees, I have seen only Black Panther. The films I'm looking forward to viewing in the coming weeks are Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, and A Star is Born. Roma peaks my interest only because of all the praise it has been getting, but the actual story doesn't sound very interesting. As for Blackkklansman, The Green Book, and Vice, I could take those or leave them.

I am disappointed that First Man wasn't nominated for Best Picture. I thought it was a long shot that it would be, but I missed it in theaters and was hoping to get a second chance at the special screening. I was also a little surprised that If Beale Street Could Talk wasn't nominated in the Best Picture category. The biggest snub I saw was leaving Bradley Cooper out of the Best Director category. With eight nominations total, I just assumed Cooper would also be in the running for Best Director.

No movie is in contention for the Academy's Big Five, which is Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. Only three films have won the Big Five: It Happened One Night, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and The Silence of the Lambs.

We'll see how all this shakes out, but I am already formulating my picks and hope to win another year in the Best Picker category at our annual Oscars party.