6/9

Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Animated Feature, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture


Missed: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director.

Still, impressive I must say

2010 Oscar Predictions

Tomorrow are the Oscars, I figure since I'll be guessing anyway might as well put down my predictions for the major categories here. This is based on my opinion/what I've heard from the media, but it's all just speculation. * are for the movies I have seen.

Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges: Crazy Heart
George Clooney: Up in the Air*
Colin Firth: A Single Man
Morgan Freeman: Invictus
Jeremy Renner: The Hurt Locker*

Prediction: Jeff Bridges. While I very much liked both Clooney and Renner's performances, neither really blew me away. From what I've heard Bridges has a very good shot

Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon: Invictus
Woody Harrelson: The Messenger
Christopher Plummer: The Last Station
Stanley Tucci: The Lovely Bones
Christopher Waltz: Inglorious Bastards*

Prediction: Christopher Waltz. While his is the only performance I saw, I thought he did a great job there. I think he has an excellent shot

Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock: The Blind Side*
Helen Mirren: The Last Situation
Carey Mulligan: An Education
Gabourey Sidibe: Precious
Meryl Streep: Julie and Julia

Prediction: Gabourey Sidibe. I have no idea on this one. Sandra Bullock was good, but not amazing. This was a complete guess

Actress in a Supporting Role
Penelope Cruz: Nine
Vera Farminga: Up in the Air*
Maggie Gyllenhaal: Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick: Up in the Air*
Mo'Nique: Precious

Prediction: Maggie Gyllenhaal. The two from Up in the Air might cancel each other out and Penelope Cruz won the same category last year.

Animated Feature Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox*
The Princess and the Frog*
The Secret of Kells
Up*

Prediction: Up. This is the first time Pixar has real competition, especially with another Disney movie that was so well animated. However, Up is nominated for Best Picture as well, so shouldn't it win based on that alone? Aside from that, it was one of my favorite movies of the year, one of Pixar's best

Best Director
James Cameron: Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow: The Hurt Locker*
Quentin Tarantino: Inglorious Bastards*
Lee Daniels: Precious
Jason Reitman: Up in the Air*

Prediction: Quentin Tarantino. Very similar to Wes Anderson, Tarantino just has this style of direction that is automatically associated with him and his movies. Bastards was very good, but I liked Up in the Air more. Still, the little things that go on in Bastards is why Tarantino will win in my opinion.

Best Adapted Screenplay
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air*

Prediction: Precious. This is a tough category to win because the name of it alone makes it compared to what it's adapted from. From what I've heard of Precious, it has a very good shot

Best Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker*
Inglorious Bastards*
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up*

Prediction: The Hurt Locker. While the dialogue wasn't the strong suit of this movie, the suspense was. That wasn't accidental, it was written that way. I loved the stories in both Bastards and Up, so either of those would have my votes as well

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side*
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker*
Inglorious Bastards*
Precious
A Serious Man
Up*
Up in the Air*

Prediction: The Hurt Locker. Like Platoon, a great war film goes a long way here. I'm not a fan of the 10 nominations, but now I can at least brag that I've seen more of them this year. Hurt Locker was the best movie I saw last year, so that is why I am predicting it.

My Inner Letterman

Who doesn't love top 10 lists? Especially ones about the coming end of the decade! Well with the help of Wikipedia, I've made some top 10 lists of the decade!

Favorite TV Shows:

1. Arrested Development (03-06)
2. Scrubs (01-present)
3. Psych (06-present)
4. The Office (05-present)
5. Futurama (99-03)
6. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (99-present)/The Colbert Report (05-present)
7. Freaks and Geeks (99-2000)
8. South Park (97-present)
9. Undeclared (01-02)
10. How I Met Your Mother (05-present)

• Just Missed: My Name is Earl, Monk, Band of Brothers, Weeds
• Not on Long Enough Yet: Mad Men, Big Bang Theory, Community, Modern Family, Breaking Bad

Favorite Albums:

1. "How It Goes" by Big D & the Kids Table
2. "Everything Goes Numb" by Streetlight Manifesto
3. "Somewhere In the Between" by Streetlight Manifesto
4. "The '59 Sound" by The Gaslight Anthem
5. "Keasbey Nights" by Streetlight Manifesto
6. "And the Battle Begun" by Rx Bandits
7. "Three Cheers of Disappointment" by The Arrogant Sons of Bitches
8. "The Sufferer and the Witness" by Rise Against
9. "Scrambles" by Bomb the Music Industry!
10. "Get Warmer" by Bomb the Music Industry!

Favorite New Bands (Formed Since 2000)

1. Streetlight Manifesto
2. The Gaslight Anthem
3. The Aggrolites
4. Whole Wheat Bread
5. Westbound Train
6. Bomb the Music Industry!
7. Hub City Stompers
8. Bedouin Soundclash
9. The Flatliners
10. Street Dogs

Favorite Movies:

1. Knocked Up
2. Lord of War
3. Super Troopers
4. Superbad
5. Shaun of the Dead
6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
7. Catch Me if You Can
8. Role Models
9. Matchstick Men
10. The 40 Year Old Virgin

Favorite Yankee Moments

1. Game 7, 2003 ALCS (Aaron Boone Game)
2. Yankees Win 2009 World Series
3. Games 4/5 2001 World Series: Tino ties it in the 9th with 2 outs, Jeter Walk-Off, Brosius Ties it in the 9th with 2 outs the next night.
4. Jeter's Defense: 2001 ALDS flip to get Giambi at home, 2004 dives into the stands against Boston
5. August 2006: Yankees complete 5-game sweep in Boston
6. 2009 World Series: "Damon's Mad Dash"
7. May 09: A-Rod homers on his first pitch of the season in Baltimore (seen in person)
8. 2000 World Series: Yankees beat Mets in 5 in Subway Series
9. 2009: Jeter passes Henry Louis Gehrig as the Yankees all time hits leader
10. August 2007: A-Rod hits his 500th home run

5 Moves by the Yankees I did not like at the time:

1. Trading for Randy Johnson
2. Signing Johnny Damon (I was wrong)
3. Signing Damaso Marte for a 3 year deal after he SUCKED in 08
4. Letting Andy Pettitte go in 2003
5. Trading for Bobby Abreu in 2006 (I was wrong)

"Funny People" and Whisky.....no clever title, just a descrpition of Saturday

"Funny People" finally came out and I was very pumped to see it. Unfortunately....it wasn't amazing. Good? Yes. Funny? Yes......But not great nor hilarious. One thing it is is LONG. But I will give credit where credit is due

• Seth Rogan and Jonah Hill ("1 and 3/4 Seth"), hilarious as always
• Adam Sandler made fun of his typical movies and was great for the movie. His other movies suck, and he basically acknowledged it in this
• Always love to see "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared" Alumni, most notably Jason Schwartzman, Carla Gallo, and Steve Bannos.
• Silent Apatow Regulars to appear in Movie poster form: Elizabeth Banks and Ken Jeong
• Probably the funniest person in "Funny People"....Eminem
• GREAT other cameos (Dave Atell, Ray Ramano, Andy Dick, Sarah Silverman, Norm Macdonald to name a few off the top of my head)
• And the best thing from the movie: Aziz Ansari as RAAAAAAAANDY. Not only was he being basically a shitty Dane Cook-comic, but has taken it so much further. Watch all the 8 videos he uploaded http://www.youtube.com/user/RAAAAAAAANDY

Really the biggest problem is how long the movie is. The other Apatow movies are long, but they were much much funnier. I know that this one wasn't supposed to as funny, but it really disappointed because I was REALLY anticipating it. To compare it using an earlier post (http://bgklein.blogspot.com/2009/06/oh-im-sure-if-they-were-orsen-wells-itd.html), I would rank "Funny People" at 9. Behind "Zack and Miri", but above "Adventureland". Judd Apatow himself is going to be quiet next year, only involved in the "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" spin off.....which I'm sure wont disappoint.

Then after seeing that Saturday, I went to my friend Liz's to celebrate our good friend Kyle's 20th birthday. Long story short, 5th of Jack was gone by the end of the night along with some good ol' Natty Bohs. Good times minus people getting sick and cats waking me up.

And then today, we won our first playoff game in Softball. Finals are Thursday and Friday, should be reporting on that soon.

Also soon to come:

• Thursday's trip the Yankee Stadium for Yankees v Red Socks (yes, soCKS)
• A post regarding live shows I've seen as it seems I have new followers from the wide wide world of web who found my blog via google
• On that note, Google "Fluent in Stroll" (Not Strictly Rude)......I'm so proud
• Also more to come.....maybe more complaints about Tina. I think that's why the Google search came up so highly

Oh, I'm sure if they were Orsen Wells it'd be ok but since they're Judd Apatow its like the worst thing I can do

So I saw "The Year One" tonight...it was eh. Reviews are right, not really their best despite a pretty good cast (minus Jack Black). If you have nothing to do, no harm in seeing it, but I wouldn't make it priority. Speaking of "not being their best", I decided to think about what was their best works. "Their" being from the Judd Apatow "Pantheon" (Allen Sepinwall's words), movies written/directed or produced by him, OR written by/staring/featuring actors from his works.

I decided to rank my favorites of what has come from the ashes of Freaks and Geeks (1999) and Undeclared (2001), as well as influenced by the Apatow produced Anchorman (2004). I also listed which main regular players appear in them, but didn't list some minor actors (such as Steve Bannos who is from "Freaks" and in "Undeclared", "Virgin", "Superbad", and "Pineapple" I tried not to go too far from the Apatow track, but some works listed he has nothing to do with but feature enough actors to include. Other shows/works to note include Party Down, Reno 911, and The State.

1. Knocked Up (Seth Rogan, Bill Hader, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Martin Starr, Jason Segel, Jonah Hill, Ken Jeong, Steve Carell, James Franco, Jay Baruchel, Kristen Wiig, Craig Robinson, Louden Wainwright, Adam Scott, Carla Gallo)
2. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Segel, Hader, Rudd, Hill, Kristen Bell, Gallo, Wiig)
3. Superbad (Hill, Rogan, Michael Cera, Hader, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Joe Lo Truglio, Kevin Corrigan, Gallo, Danny McBride, Starr, David Krumholtz, About 5 other Freaks/Undeclared Alumni)
4. Role Models (Rudd, Lo Truglio, Mintz-Plasse, Jane Lynch, Elizabeth Banks, Jeong)
5. The 40 Year Old Virgin (Carell, Rogan, Rudd, Banks, Mann, Lynch, Gerry Bednob, Hill, Wainwright, Gallo)
6. Pineapple Express (Rogan, Franco, McBride, Robinson, Corrigan, LoTruglio, Hader, Jeong)
7. I Love You, Man* (Rudd, Segel, Gallo, LoTruglio, Krumholtz)
8. Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Rogan, Banks, Robinson, Bednob, Justin Long)
9. Adventureland* (Hader, Wiig, Starr)
10. Fanboys* (Baruchel, Rogan, McBride, Bell, Robinson)
11. The Year One* (Cera, Hader, Rudd, Mintz-Plasse)

* I also saw these ones once. "I Love You, Man" and "Adventureland" have the potential to move up, I don't see "Fanboys" nor "The Year One" going anywhere but down after seeing them again.

I'm very much looking forward to "Funny People" later this summer, written and directed by Judd Apatow himself, a can't miss formula.