Planning Continues, Oscar Picks & I Dream of Culkin

I got a lot of planning done on the San Francisco trip yesterday. I’ve gone through all the web sites that I marked as favorites and moved a lot of the information over to a Word Document. I pretty much have the list of stuff I’d like to do nailed down. It’s about getting everything to fit together in a three day span.

My first day is just going to be a travel day pretty much. I bought tickets to the Giants/Brewers game. But that will be it. My fifth day is a travel day back to Atlanta. So everything else needs to fit in those three days and it looks like that’s going to be a touch fit.

I went to Barnes & Noble and bought a map and a book (after looking at every book on the subject) and I’m at least starting to see how the city fits together and how this trip needs to be planned. I’m starting to get more excited about it now. I went to bed last night and I couldn’t sleep because I kept picturing maps of the city.

Macaulay of My Dreams

I had the most bizarre dream I’ve had in a while. I was in San Francisco and I was going to a movie. They had several different Butterfinger products at the concession area and I asked if they had Butterfinger BBs, which I haven’t seen in a while. So the guy who’s behind the counter says that they only have what’s out in view. But the crazy thing is that the guy who says this is Mike Schwartz, a writer for Scrubs who has a recurring role on the show as a death metal listening, air-drumming delivery guy named Lloyd.

I ordered a Butterfinger Star (which to my knowledge isn’t real but probably should be) and the guy that completes the order is Macaulay Culkin. He takes the Butterfinger Star out of the wrapper and places it in a napkin and as he’s handing it to me, he drops it. He picks it back up and tries to make me take it. I told him I didn’t want it if it fell on the ground but he insisted that it had been less than 5 seconds and that he knew the floors were clean since he’d just cleaned them a couple hours earlier.

I asked for the manager and she ordered Macaulay to get me another one, which he did but in full view of the manager, he spit on it several times. The manager looked at me and said, “Well, you had to kind of expect that to happen, didn’t you?” She walked away and then the lights went out. I took off running toward the theater where my movie was playing and Macaulay jumped over the counter and started running after me, eventually tackling me before I could get to the theater.

And that’s when I woke up.

Slumdog Review

After sitting in Barnes & Noble for 40 minutes trying to decide on what San Francisco book to go with, I went to the movies and saw ‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ which I had nearly seen a few times…and I think I might’ve enjoyed it more if I’d seen it earlier.

When it was a small movie that was just playing in one theater in the area, I don’t think I would’ve been as nitpicky as I was. Instead, it got nominated for Best Picture and I watched it more critically. It wasn’t bad but it was a little over-hyped. Maybe more than just a little.

I found the most compelling scenes to be the game show sequences and I tend to find game shows compelling…that’s why I watched ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ back when it first came out. The movie mainly just made me want to watch the Game Show Network.

I didn’t find any of the performances to be all that interesting (especially the adult actors in the back story who were largely caricatures) and while the story-telling device was not ordinary, it wasn’t entirely unique either. Quite honestly, the device wore thin after a while. I also think the gimmick robbed the film of the suspense that could've developed without it. That's kind of the problem with flashbacks, expecially a movie that relies on them as heavily as this one does.

There’s little complexity to the story in that you know how everyone’s going to react to everything within the first act. That means there are virtually no surprises in this film and the ending is predictable.

Oh, and what was with the song and dance ending? I was walking out of the theater after I thought it was over and there was this crazy little dancing sequence. No movie nominated for Best Picture should have a dance sequence ending like that. It was crazy.
I’d heard this movie described as exhilarating and uplifting and I left the theater neither exhilarated nor uplifted. It was okay. Certainly not the best movie of the year.

2.5 out of 4

Oscar Alert

So the Academy Awards are on Sunday and while I haven’t seen all the films, I still feel more than qualified to offer my opinion on who should win and who will win.

For Best Actor:

I saw Frank Langella in ‘Frost/Nixon,’ Sean Penn in ‘Milk,’ Brad Pitt in ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ and Mickey Rourke in ‘The Wrestler.’ I didn’t see Richard Jenkins in ‘The Vistor’

I don’t think there was a more emotionally packed performance than Mickey Rourke. It was subtle and complex and deeply affecting. No question that he should win.

However, I tend to think that Sean Penn will win for his portrayal of Harvey Milk. I wouldn’t be horribly upset if that happened. It was a very good performance and within 10 minutes, I got past that it was Sean Penn playing someone else. Largely for political reasons (with Prop 8 in California), I think Penn will win Best Actor.

For Best Supporting Actor:

I saw Josh Brolin in ‘Milk,’ Robert Downey Jr. in ‘Tropic Thunder’ Philip Seymour Hoffman in ‘Doubt’ and Heath Ledger in ‘The Dark Knight.’ I didn’t see Michael Shannon in ‘Revolutionary Road.’

I love that Robert Downey Jr. got nominated for a comedy. He was what made that movie work to the degree that it did. I’m not sure how Philip Seymour Hoffman was nominated for Supporting Actor when he seemed to be the male lead in ‘Doubt.’ It’s strange that he was in almost every scene and Viola Davis was in one scene and both were nominated as Supporting Actor/Actress. And I heard that Michael Shannon was only in one or two scenes in ‘Revolutionary Road.’

Heath Ledger embodied a new portrayal of the Joker, a character that has been played so many times, and yet Ledger made it his. I completely got past who was playing the Joker and just focused on the character as independent from the actor. I think he deserves to win and I think he will win.

For Best Actress:

I saw Anne Hathaway in ‘Rachel Getting Married’ and Meryl Streep in ‘Doubt.’ I didn’t see Angelina Jolie in ‘Changeling,’ Melissa Leo in ‘Frozen River’ and Kate Winslet in ‘The Reader.’

I don’t have much of an opinion in this category. Streep was better than Hathaway but I don’t think either will win and I’m not sure either deserves to win.

I expect to see Kate Winslet win her first Oscar in six nominations…largely because she hasn’t won one yet.

For Best Supporting Actress:

I saw Amy Adams and Viola Davis in ‘Doubt,’ Taraji P. Henson in ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ and Marissa Tomei in ‘The Wrestler.’ I didn’t see Penelope Cruz in ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona.’

You hafta think that Amy Adams and Viola Davis cancel each other out for appearing in the same movie. I still have a problem with an actress appearing in one scene and being nominated. Jay Leno told Viola Davis when she was on his show that even though she was on screen for nine minutes, it felt like she was on screen for the whole movie. He was stunned that it was just nine minutes. No, for me, it felt like it was nine minutes...maybe eight.

The second time I saw ‘The Wrestler,’ I focused less on Mickey Rourke’s character and more on Marissa Tomei. There was so much going on with her and the movie didn’t focus too much on it. Tomei was able to convey something deeper and that’s a credit to her. Without question she should win this (though I would’ve put her in Best Actress). I don’t expect that she will win though since she won an Oscar for ‘My Cousin Vinny’ in a turn that I don’t think deserved even a nomination. There’s even a widely circulated, though apparently false, rumor that says the award was supposed to go to someone else but that Jack Palance incorrectly announced Tomei as the winner instead.

I have a weird feeling that Viola Davis might win this but I’m going to pick Penelope Cruz instead.

For Best Director:

I saw ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,’ ‘Frost/Nixon,’ ‘Milk’ and ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’ I didn’t see ‘The Reader.’

Throwing out there that ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Wrestler’ should’ve been considered in this category as well as in Best Picture, I think that David Fincher should win for ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.’ It’s a technical achievement and he handles the movie greatly, never letting the special effects overwhelm the story.

I think ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ will win Best Director for Danny Boyle. The first part of the movie was directed well but it just went on too much with a gimmicky device that wears thin. He had the same problem in ‘Trainspotting’ and ‘A Life Less Ordinary.’

For Best Picture:

I saw ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,’ ‘Frost/Nixon,’ ‘Milk’ and ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’ I didn’t see ‘The Reader.’

I don’t think any of these movies deserve to win. My first pick would be ‘The Wrestler.’ Second pick would be ‘The Dark Knight.’ Since those weren’t nominated, I’ll go with ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,’ a movie that I liked more when I got out of the theater and less the more I think about it.

I think ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ will win because apparently a lot of other people were exhilarated and uplifted by this movie.

Quickly, the other categories:

Best Animated Film: ‘Wall-E’ should and will win.
Art Direction: ‘The Dark Knight’ should win but ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ will win
Cinematography: ‘The Dark Knight’ should win and I think it might actually win
Costume Design: ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ should win, ‘The Duchess’ will win
Documentary Feature: ‘Man on Wire’ should and will win
Documentary Short: ‘Smile Pinki’ will win
Film Editing: ‘The Dark Knight’ should win but ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ will win
Foreign Language Film: ‘Waltz with Bahir’ will win
Makeup: ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ should and will win
Music (Score): ‘Wall-E’ should win and I think it actually might, though ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ will probably win this one too
Music (Song): ‘Jai Ho’ in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ will win but there are only three nominees here. Why the hell isn’t ‘The Wrestler’ by Bruce Springsteen not nominated. Of all the snubs, that’s the worst one. That’s without question the best movie song of the year.
Short Film (Animated): ‘La Maison en Petits Cubes’ will win
Short Film (Live Action): ‘Spielzeugland’ will win
Sound Editing: ‘The Dark Knight’ should and will win
Sound Mixing: ‘The Dark Knight’ should and will win
Visual Effects: ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ should and will win
Writing (Adapted Screenplay): ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ should win but I think ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ will win
Writing (Original Screenplay): ‘Wall-E’ should win but ‘Milk’ will win

It'll be interesting to see who wins, though not interesting enough to actually watch it on Sunday.

The Off-Season of Discontent Continues

So Ken Griffey Jr. didn’t sign with the Braves despite several media reports saying the deal was going to happen. In fact, the headline on AJC.com was, ‘Griffey signs with the Braves.’ AJC’s Dave O’Brien, in his blog, invited readers to shoot him if he wasn’t a Brave by the end of Wednesday. No word on whether a reader took him up on his offer or not.

You know, it wasn’t even like I originally wanted Griffey to sign. It isn’t the point really. It’s like this: Mike Hampton was with the Braves for six years (that’s right Brave’s fans, it was six years) and played in just 85 games. In two seasons, he didn’t through a single pitch. I didn’t want him to come back. But then we offered him a contract and he rejected it to sign with the Astros. All the sudden, I was mad. ‘How dare he reject us! We should be rejecting him!’

Jake Peavy was thought to be coming to Atlanta and I was excited and then it didn’t happen. Later he told friends that even if he’d been traded, he wasn’t sure he’d waive his no trade clause to play for the Braves.

Then AJ Burnett was expected to sign with the Braves and I really didn’t want him to sign and he went with the Yankees instead. Again, the Braves were rejected again.

And the craziest one was former Brave Rafael Furcal, who apparently had a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that he was going to sign with the Braves before he bolted back to the Dodgers. It’s not that I really wanted him to sign but once it looked like he was coming back here, I was disappointed when he bailed.

Obviously there’s the John Smoltz situation. I expected him to be back with the team if he could pitch and he signed with Boston. I understand why he did it but I’m just frustrated about it.

Finally, there’s Ken Griffey Jr. I didn’t initially want the team to sign him but I started thinking positively about it once it appeared that it was going to happen. After all, he contacted Atlanta about wanting to be a Brave, not the other way around. Chipper Jones seemed positive it was going to happen, though he noted that he wouldn’t believe it unless is ass was in the clubhouse. Alas, his ass never arrived.

This offseason has really sucked.

Final Thoughts

I don’t know why people think babies are so cute. They’ve been sent to Earth to replace us and I think they know that on some level. That’s why I think babies are creepy.

I saw a truck for a company called Accurate Forklift. What a weird name? Is inaccuracy a major issue in the forklift industry. ‘Hey, Manny, you picked up the wrong box again with your forklift! Try to be more accurate!’

Hey, I saw an Aaron’s truck on Thursday. Just wanted to share that.

On the drive in on Wednesday, I saw an old red VW Beetle. Now’s probably the best time to apologize to Paulette for punching her in the arm and yelling, ‘Punch buggy red!’

A guy was caught going 137 miles in a ’93 Civic. That’s impressive. I couldn’t get my Accord to go faster than 110.

I saw a sign that read, ‘Keep the sugar and cream closed unless you like little critters in your coffee.’ Well, as a matter of fact, I do love critters in my coffee. It makes it crunchier.