Author: David Medsker (Page 57 of 65)

Your guide to the Oscars

Okay, so it’s not an NCAA bracket, but admit it, Oscar pools are fun. If nothing else, you can pretend that you’re watching to see how many you get right, then place additional wagers along the way, like First Winner to Cry, First Winner to Thank Their Agent Before Their Spouse, and of course, First Winner to Spout off about What a Horrible Job Bush Is Doing as President. Actually, Jon Stewart will probably win that last one before a single name is read.

Resident Bullz-Eye movie critics David Medsker and Jason Zingale tag-teamed the major categories – along with a couple minor categories that they enjoy – and created a handicapper to help you through the longest dog and pony show the world has ever known. Read through the first two categories below.

Best Supporting Actor

George Clooney, “Syriana”
Matt Dillon, “Crash”
Paul Giamatti, “Cinderella Man”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Brokeback Mountain”
William Hurt, “A History of Violence”

The Best Supporting Actor category could, and usually does, go any which way, but the two leading candidates have to be Hollywood poster boy George Clooney and Academy Award reject Paul Giamatti. For two years running, Giamatti has been robbed of a nomination in the Best Actor category (in 2003 for “American Splendor” and in 2004 for “Sideways”), and he would have won last year’s award had he been nominated. This year, the Academy may be looking to make up for their past mistakes, but I wouldn’t put it past them to give the Oscar to George. The dark horse in all of this craziness is Jake Gyllenhaal, who deserves the award just as much as the other two men, while both Matt Dillon and William Hurt have been honored with a nomination at the wrong time, and would have had a much stronger run any other year.

And the Oscar goes toGeorge Clooney
And the Oscar belongs toPaul Giamatti (Jason). Anyone but William Hurt (David).

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, “Junebug”
Catherine Keener, “Capote”
Frances McDormand, “North Country”
Rachel Weisz, “The Constant Gardener”
Michele Williams, “Brokeback Mountain”

We hate to admit, but the first question we had when looking at this list was, “Who’s Amy Adams, and what is ‘Junebug’?” Likewise, it’s intriguing that both Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand were nominated for their performances in a movie that no one liked. Rachel Weisz gets her first nod, but joking about how stupid Americans are isn’t going to help her cause. This looks like a battle between the hard-working indie queen (Keener) and the “Dawson’s Creek” eye candy (Williams). And more often than not, the one with the bigger box office wins. That’s what happens when you try to limit the number of screeners that go out to Academy voters out of fear of piracy, Jack Valenti. You’re squashing the little man. How do you sleep at night?

And yet, a major upset seems to be afoot here. Sorry, Michele ma belle, but despite your great scene with Heath and the fishing pole, you’re going home empty handed.

And the Oscar goes toRachel Weisz (Jason). Catherine Keener (David).
And the Oscar belongs toMichele Williams

Check out the rest of the preview here.

24 Hour 10: I just tried to kill President Yuri, I’m going to Disneyland!

Okay, Dada fans, I know it’s “Dizz Knee Land,” no need to harass me.

It’s a pity I’ve already deleted tonight’s episode from my DVR, because when Novick and the President are discussing the pros and cons of changing the route of the Russian president’s motorcade, I would swear that Logan, in his most manic fit of indecision yet, literally clucks like a chicken. “Should we alert the Secret Service?” Novick asks him. “Yes! No! Wait! Buck Buck Brawwwwwk!” Logan stammers, even though his decision to allow the Warlock to bomb the motorcade means that he’s sending his wife to her grave. I would love to know of one president who has ever dreamt of doing such a thing. Well, besides Clinton, that is.

Even funnier is that he wasn’t even the episode’s biggest wacko. Samwise Gamgee locked up Buchanan last week, and this week he fires Sandra Bullock (IT drone Carrie, who’s a dead ringer for Miss “Speed”) for, well, doing her job. He then yells, loudly and nonstop, at Audrey, Chloe, Curtis and Edgar when they try to alert him to the possibility that, hello, the Russian president’s motorcade is about to get attacked. Curtis finally loses patience with how Samwise is running CTU into the ground, and invokes Section 112 (mental incapacity, blah blah blah). And even that isn’t enough to shut Samwise up, who orders the guards to shoot Curtis, the field agent. The guards, knowing exactly how a gunfight with Curtis is going to go down, say, “What would you like us to do, Mr. Curtis?” Smart men, those guards. Buchanan is back in charge, but Samwise is not done by any means, you can bet on it.

I totally want to play Texas Holdem with Marty Logan. She bluffs in the limo at first when Chicken Little calls her and demands that she tell the Suvarovs that she has to get out of the car to attend to some other matters. But after a while, when they continue to drive, she totally plays her hand, knocking on the glass and asking Agent Aaron Pierce, the human Labrador retriever, if there have been any changes to the schedule. Agent Pierce assures her that everything’s fine, but you can bet your sweet bippy that moment of unguarded terror did not escape her Russian “friends”. Expect the Russian president to declare the treaty null and void before too long, and that is what frustrates me the most. Logan should have known – and if it escaped his grasp, Novick should have at least brought it up – that if the Russian president is killed on American soil, the Russians will declare war on the United States. Try explaining that to the American public. “Sorry, guys, I thought that if I allowed the Ruskie vodka swilling atheist to get whacked, I could save some American lives. My bad.” There is just no way of dressing the truth up in that one.

One very telling moment about who the show’s most important characters really are: when the Suvarov’s car took the hit with the missile, Buffybot and I said, “Oh, no, Aaron!” That’s right, we weren’t at all concerned about the First Lady, who in Hour 1 was our favorite character on the show. But you can’t kill the dog, damn it. The producers of “24” clearly know how well loved Pierce is, because Old Yeller then goes on to waste all of the baddies by himself (curious that they only had one missile to launch at the car). How sad it will be, then, when Old Yeller commits some other heroic act in order to defend the people he loves, only to become rabid and force his “family” to put him down.

All this, and I still haven’t mentioned Robocop’s introduction as Christopher Henderson, a former CTU bigwig and current link to the nerve gas. Uncanny, isn’t it, that his instincts haven’t left him at all when his secretary has to unexpectedly leave her post (he waits behind his door and zaps Jack the second he walks in) and he instantly comes up with a way to kill Jack out of sight. As soon as I heard the word “bunker,” I thought, “Bunker not good. Jack die.” Well, anyone but Jack and Keith Richards, anyway.

For those who don’t watch the scenes for next week, for God’s sake, stop reading now! Okay, are we all here? Good. Kim finally comes back, even though IMDb thinks she’s been in nearly every episode this season, and it appears that Tony wakes up from his brush with death. My question is: where is that canister of gas released? They imply that it’s in CTU, but this is Fox, people. When they would advertise “Melrose Place,” they’d say, “One of these characters will die,” when what they meant was, “One of these characters will dye…their hair another color.” You can never, ever take their sneak previews at face value.

Box Office Roundup: Church folks comin’

Based on Sunday’s estimates:

1) Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion: $30.2 million (first week)
Who needs advance word of mouth from critics (this was not screened for us) when you have the power of the pulpit?
2) Eight Below: $15.7 million ($45 million, second week)
There was speculation that Paul Walker could have back-to-back movies at #1 at the box office. As you can see, not only did that not happen, it didn’t even come close to happening (“Running Scared,” $3 million, ninth place). Balance is restored in the universe.
3) The Pink Panther: $11.3 million ($61 million, third week)
Sure, Clive Owen’s cameo was good, but it wasn’t that good.
4) Date Movie: $9.2 million ($33.9 million, second week)
There’s a Latino wedding planner with a big butt. Ah? Ah? Ya keeping up with us…? Jesus.
5) Curious George: $10.1 million ($35.8 million, second week)
Only four months until “Cars,” kids. It can’t come quickly enough.

The church of Scientology about to declare war on Cuba

Defamer points out that while Tom Cruise’s legal attack dog Bert Fields is planning an offensive against “Life & Style” magazine so massive that nothing will grow on the site of what will soon be the remains of their former headquarters for hundreds of years, a conversation took place in another corner of cyberspace that will certainly make e-meters all over southern California explode with fake righteous indignation. Yep, Cuba Gooding Jr. his bad self is telling it like it is. From blackfilm.com:

BF: You were in “Jerry Maguire.” Do you still keep in touch with Tom Cruise?

CGJ: I do.

BF: What do you think of him and Katie as a couple?

CGJ: I heard they weren’t a couple. Are they a couple or not? Good lawd. I showed him “Shadowboxer.”

The eye of Sauron sees all, Cuba, so beware: the lawyer orcs are surely coming.

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