TNMC

Written by John Shea   

I feel obligated to write something about the Oscars, even though it was a few days ago and we had a live chat in which I said pretty much everything I thought about it already.  So here's a quick wrap up.  It was a pretty good show.  Hugh Jackman made a fine host.  I suspect those song and dance numbers play a lot better at the theater than on TV but he did them very well.  I liked the stage set up a lot.  It made the whole thing seem a bit more intimate.  There were fewer montages than in previous years, which was good.  The performances for best score and original song were nicely truncated.  Usually those segments take way too much time.  I wasn't that crazy about the presentation of the acting awards.  Sure, it's nice to see all those great actors together but it took too much time and started to feel like they were handing out Nobel prizes instead of Oscars.  It was too self important.   But over all I give them credit for a good job over hauling the show.

As for the awards themselves, my predictions were pretty shaky.  My instincts are a little more accurate than my tastes but not by a lot.  I was disappointed that Mickey Rourke didn't win best actor.  Don't take that as any sort of slight on Sean Penn, who was phenomenal in Milk.  I'm not complaining that he won, he deserved it.  I was just rooting for Rourke because it made such a good story.  I was genuinely startled that WALL-E didn't win more awards, particularly the sound awards.  And I was genuinely annoyed that Werner Herzog didn't win best feature documentary for Encounters at the End of the World.  But life goes on.

I want to thank everyone who showed up for the live chat.  It was a good time that is always better the more people get involved.

Written by John Shea   

Here we go again kids. It's time to try and predict who those crazy Academy voters are going to pick as the winners at the Oscars this weekend. I can't actually claim to have seen all the nominated films, but that doesn't necessarily affect my picking skills. Personal taste is a lousy way to pick the winners. The years where I've made my picks based on my taste have shown me to be spectacularly out of step with Academy voters. Years where I've largely ignored my tastes and tried to read the tea leaves as it were, I've been pretty damn accurate. That approach is also a lot more time consuming, and time is something I just don't really have any of. So this year I will use a combination of personal taste and instinct. I expect this will make me slightly more accurate than working purely from taste. Got all that? Who cares. Let's go.

Written by John Shea   

There are certain traditions around this website. One is the abusive reception of newcomers to the forums. Another is the annual live chat during the Oscars, which incidentally we will be doing yet again this year, so if you plan on watching the Oscars, stop by for a chat during the big event. But the tradition I'm speaking of now is my top ten list, presented way later than any other critic in the game. Most critics do this in late November or early December. Me, I like to put my list out two, maybe three months into the next year. Last year's list is so late that this year's list will actually be out first. I could give reasons but let's face it, I'm simply a procrastinator. So before I start stalling, let's get right to it.

Written by John Shea    For the first time that I can remember, I didn't watch or listen to so much as a second of the Super Bowl.  I am aware that the Steelers won the game, because people kept giving me updates.  But I made zero effort to experience the game and that is a first for me.  I love football dearly.  And I'm not just trying to act like I'm too cool to watch it, because clearly I am not cool.  Ask anyone.  I'm also not saying that I didn't watch because I don't care about these particular areas the teams come from, as if somehow I'm in a position to slam Pittsburgh or Arizona.  No.  I didn't watch because I'm a bitter bastard and I'm still pissy that the NY Giants did not make it back to the Super Bowl.  This is me being a bad loser.  This is me throwing blame at the people responsible for this failure.  That's right, I'm looking at you Plaxico.

Congratulations Pittsburgh.  I'm sure you deserved it and that you won a hard fought game.

Shot himself in the leg.  He shot himself in the leg.  Are you kidding me?

Written by John Shea    Last night I watched The Departed, which I fucking love.  Normally I wouldn't swear in such a statement but somehow it seems appropriate when talking about that particular movie.  Now, I've seen The Departed several times to date.  Probably something like a half dozen times.  The reasons are many.  It is brilliantly written, wonderfully acted and confidently shot.  Martin Scorsese and his merry band did a great job.  But I can say that about a lot of movies and I don't find myself returning to them over and over again.

Written by John Shea    Last night I watched the movie Mongol.  I'm not really going to review it, but I definitely want to talk about it.  A few weeks ago I discovered the podcast Hardcore History by Dan Carlin.  History has always fascinated me, although like many students I didn't usually enjoy history classes.  There are no doubt exceptions but most of the ones I took focused heavily on the memorization of dates and general themes.  History is at its best when told as a good story.  And that's what I love about Harcore History.  Carlin picks a topic that interests him and then tells us a good story.  He rarely moves in a straight linear fashion and even less often focuses on dates.  He is much more interested in the stories and what all of it tells us about humanity.  If history classes were taught in this style and with this sort of passion, students would never complain about taking history courses.  They would look forward to them.