RIP Eartha Kitt

I can't say that I knew a lot about Kitt's well-rounded career but she did make a sexy Catwoman in the 1960's Batman TV show.

Although it's pretty impressive that at one point in Kitt's career, Orson Welles declared (I'm sure with a glass of brandy in his hand) that she was "most exciting woman in the world."

I'll toast to that.

More Zach madness...

Enjoy...

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis by Between Two Ferns

Imperial Stormtrooper apologist

Heads up to Bop for bringing up this image at the Christmas party last Saturday.

"Those were the droids I was looking for."

Top Five Christmas Songs

Here's my top five Christmas tunes...

5. "We Three Kings of Oriental" by The Beach Boys

This is one of my favorite Christmas hymns and I really like The Beach Boys version as it almost has an air of mysticism to it. Really...how can one beat the angelic harmonies of The Beach Boys.

4. "O Come All Ye Faithful" by Elvis Presley

This is my favorite religious Christmas song and Elvis's version has a majestic quality that fits the song.

3. "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" by U2

I know U2 is just covering this song...but they completely own it.

2. "Happy X-mas (War is Over)" by John Lennon

Not many contemporary artists have written memorable original Christmas songs...but John Lennon did. And it's truly a classic.

1. "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" by Bruce Springsteen

Santa Claus is Coming to Town isn't my favorite Christmas song but Springsteen's rendition of it is. The Boss proves that even Christmas carols can rock.

Between Two Ferns

Late World with Zach was truly ahead of its time.

Here is Zach's latest comedic shenanigans from the website, Funny or Die.

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis by Between Two Ferns

Best Picture talk

With my love of movies, I always follow closely which movies will get nominated for Oscars—particularly for Best Picture. With the possibility of The Dark Knight getting a Best Picture nomination (it would be justifiable so) I’ve taken even more interest into the speculating process.

I believe at this point there’s six strong contenders—Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, The Dark Knight and Revolutionary Road.

Many year-end critics lists have been coming out so the race is definitely taking shape.

Milk, The Dark Knight, Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon and WALL-E all made AFI’s list of the top ten movies of 2008.

Milk has won the Southeastern, San Fransicso and New York Critics Circle award for Best Picture.

Benjamin Button as won the St. Louis Film Critics Award.

Slumdog Millionaire has taken home the San Diego, Boston (tie), Washington DC Critics Circle Award for Best Pictures and was named Best Picture by the National Board of Review.

The Dark Knight has won the Austin Film Critics Award for Best Picture and finished runner up with the LA Film Critics Association.

Interestingly enough WALL-E won top honors with the LA Circle and tied Slumdog Millionaire with the Boston Critics.

Unfortunately for WALL-E, I believe its fortune is going to be relegated to the category of Best Animated Film. I don’t think that’s fair because the movie is Best Picture material but I’m afraid that’s going to be the case. But it’s definitely a dark horse candidate.

Now why is Revolutionary Road still in the discussion…I believe that’s it’s still in the discussion because it scored some major nominations at the Golden Globes (Best Picture, Actor & Actress). But one might need to take that with a grain of salt because…as I have mentioned before…the Golden Globes tend to lean towards star power so nominating Leonardo DiCaprio would help fill that need (look…they nominated Tom Cruise as well). Plus sometimes the Golden Globes are just zippy so it’s hard to put a lot of stock into their decisions although it has been better lately.

At this point I would put Milk and Slumdog Millionaire as locks for Best Picture. It appears to me that the following four films… The Dark Knight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road and Frost/Nixon are fighting for the final three spots. Although I do see WALL-E as the top dark horse candidate. The next tier of possibilities would be Doubt (strong cast), The Wrestler (the Mickey Rourke comeback) and Rachel Getting Married (female bloggers love t his movie) and maybe Gran Torino (because the Academy loves Clint Eastwood).

My five to be the Best Picture nominees as of right now would be Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Dark Knight.

"Milk" Movie Review

With the holiday season in full swing we find ourselves inundated with Oscar-worthy films, making the end of year push for recognition. This week we decided to watch Milk (R), the Harvey Milk biopic starring Sean Penn, James Franco, and Josh Brolin. The film follows the political career of Milk, who became the first openly gay person elected to major political office when he won a city supervisor election in 1977 San Francisco. Gus Van Sant directs.

Ryan: With solid performances and expert directing, Milk is an extremely well-crafted movie. It didn’t blow me away but it’ll be in the conversation for Best Picture come Oscar time. Van Sant has fashioned a movie that’s not only historic but relevant as well. I value the fact that the movie doesn’t express its story with a specific agenda in mind. It presents the facts impartially and argues rightly that discrimination (especially with some of the homophobic legislation in the 1970's) in American is simply unacceptable.

Andy: As is usually the case when he is in a movie, Sean Penn carries Milk along the whole way, and the movie is only as strong as his performance. In this case, the movie is very strong. It is absolutely no secret that Penn is one of (if not the) best actors of his generation, and Milk is another feather in his acting cap. His performance is real, moving, and full of an energy that makes Harvey Milk seem like a guy you would want on your side. When the announcements come out for best actor nominations, it will be very hard to imagine Penn not making the list.

Ryan: Sean Penn is no stranger to the Oscars and he’ll be familiar with them again. He has delivered some stellar performances in his illustrious acting career and here with Milk he delivers another worthy performance. He portrays Milk as a real person and not as a caricature or savior. Penn is leading the way but the rest of the cast performs admirable as well. Franco and Brolin finish off their strong years with noteworthy performances and Hirsh continues to show that he’s one of the best young talents in today’s Hollywood.

Andy: Brolin has had an amazing run starting with last year’s No Country for Old Men. He does a remarkable job of being the understated political foil to Penn’s Milk. He is nowhere near as flashy in Milk as he was in W, but his performance is even-keeled and subtle in a way that many actors have a hard time pulling off. As for Franco, he continues his remarkably versatile career. He has carved out a niche as a high quality supporting player in spite of his leading-man abilities and looks. It is still likely that someday he will break big, but for now he seems happy doing what he is doing.

Ryan: In the past several years Van Sant has spent his time making more intimate albeit smaller productions. There's nothing wrong with that but it's nice to see him succeeding again with a major motion picture. An Oscar nomination for Best Director would not be out of the question either. It seems like bio-pics have been a dime a dozen lately so it's refreshing that Van Sant has produced a movie that feels fresh and energetic. By weaving in actual footage of some of the events depicted in the movie, Van Sant has created a bio-pic that conveys more authenticity than most biographical movies.

Andy: I was surprised to see that Van Sant’s last major release was Finding Forrester (2000). After the huge commercial success of Good Will Hunting, Van Sant is still a very familiar name in Hollywood, but has contented himself with smaller films over the large part of the last decade. Milk is unlikely to be a huge box-office hit, but it does allow one of the better directors out there a chance to shine on a larger stage.

Milk is not a perfect film, but it does everything very well. It seems likely we will be hearing more about this movie when the Oscars come around early next year.

Final grade: A-.

"Wolverine" Trailer

Doesn't look bad...but I can't say that it looks very awesome either.

I do lack Jackman and he does an awesome job playing Wolverine/Logan.

Maybe we'll see the Wolvie's Berserker Attack in this movie.

Saturday Morning Thoughts

Jenny and I had been slacking off a bit with our workouts at the Armory so we decided this morning to go bright and early. Consequently it's 9:00 and we've already had our workout for the day. I feel pretty good.

A few things...

--I got The Dark Knight on DVD...and yes I've watched all the special features and the movie again. Their really aren't any earth shattering special features (no deleted scenes or commentary tracks) but I did like watching the mini-web news episodes from Gotham City News. As for the movie...it still holds up after the fifth viewing. The more I watch it the more impressed I get with Christopher Nolan, the director. With every act in the movie the action successfully builds on one another thus creating an intense (and exciting) rising action. There's a purposeful rebooting of the action during the transitions between the acts thereby creating a new rising in the action and drama. I just love how the movie resolves itself and how it ends. It's just perfect.

--The Golden Globe Awards were announced earlier this week. It's hard to get too worked up either way with the Globes. The awards don't hold any weight but it's normally entertaining watching the show (and not a press conference...like last year's debacle). Initially I was frustrated The Dark Knight only scored one nomination (supporting role for Heath Ledger) but that might not be that bad of an omen when the Oscars are announced. The Golden Globes sometimes have that WTF mentality--like nominating Tom Cruise for best supporting actor for Tropic Thunder. That was a glorified cameo that was amusing but not awesome.

--Speaking of Hollywood...in a bit of surprise...Hugh Jackman will be hosting the Oscars. I was a bit surprised at first but I don't think it's bad move. Most people equate Jackman with his Wolverine screen persona but he's also a song and dance man and he does have experience with hosting...as he hosted the Tonys for a couple of years. He's charismatic guy and I think he'll be fine. He's also a versatile guy...how many people are aware that he has already won an Emmy (for hosting the 58th Tony Awards) and a Tony (best actor from "The Boy From Oz").

"Bolt" Movie Review

We switch things up a bit in this week’s review and take a look at a film that’s been hovering around the top of the box-office for a number of weeks. Bolt (PG) is the latest animated feature film from Disney Pictures and tells the tale of a TV-star canine who truly believes that his TV life is actually his reality. The movie showcases the voicing talents of John Travolta, Miley Cyrus and Susie Essman.

Ryan: As far as animated films goes, Bolt is a pleasant movie-going experience. The film will not only satisfy kids but the adults that accompany them as well. The movie doesn’t have the depth or quite the substance of a Pixar movie (and maybe it’s not fair to compare every new animated release to Pixar) but it’s an entertaining film. The movie is not cutting edge in any facet including the animation but it succeeds as a pleasurable family film.

Andy: The art of making an animated kid’s film for wide release has fairly well been perfected. While not all of them are going to be amazing, it is impressive how few of them are bad. It is pretty safe to say that Bolt will give you exactly what you expect. It is fun to watch, funny at times, and never boring. You cannot really ask for much more out of a children’s movie than that.

Ryan: One aspect of Bolt that kind of surprised me is how well the filmmakers executed the whole dual reality theme. Having a kid-driven film with a story dealing with confusing realities is an idea that might be over a lot of kid's heads. Thankfully the filmmakers handled the story aptly (and cleverly) and the movie is relatively easy to follow even for younger audience members. And I believe that older moviegoers will appreciate how the movie tries to aspire to be more than just a straight-ahead animated tale.

Andy: A nice aspect of Bolt is that it is, in its heart, an action movie. The opening sequence is full of over the top action that takes full advantage of the animated medium to deliver some very fun shots. What’s more, the whole thing is done tongue-in-cheek enough that it doesn’t seem absurd. The action is maintained throughout the rest of the film enough to keep viewers of all ages interested.

Ryan: It seems that nowadays the voicing talents in animated features are almost as important (or more) to the perception of the movie than ever before. Whether or not that's good or bad is a discussion for another time but I tend to think that getting “big names” is not always the best strategy. With Bolt Travolta and Cyrus are the two biggest names and neither of them enhance or distract from the film. Without the question the best voice work is done by Susie Essman as Mittens the cat. She brings a lot of energy to her work (check her out on TV's, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and in Bolt she brings a (albeit toned down) level of sassiness.

Andy: While Bolt does not fail on any level, it fails to achieve a level of superiority that many animated films strive for. That’s fine; it doesn’t seem like Bolt was trying to redefine anything. It fully accomplishes its goal of being a cute, entertaining animated option for the holiday season. It may not be the most memorable cartoon movie to come out this year, but it’s hard to find any real complaints about it, either.

Bolt is an above average animated feature with few surprises and few shortcomings. Final grade: B.

Obama Plays it Cool

I'm taking a break from all the Greg Maddux hoopla to post a video from last week's SNL.





What the heck...here's another one from last week's episode (this one's a little bit more...how you say...how you say...dirty).

More Greg Maddux love

I'm liking the title...Greatest Living Pitcher.

To check out his press conference and a host of articles on mlb.com click here.

Here's SI's Tom Verducci with a nice piece on the genius of Greg Maddux.

ESPN's Rob Neyer waxes on what more can be said about Maddux and Gene Wojeicchowski writes about everything that Maddux wasn't.

I particularly liked this quote from former Braves President, Stan Kasten...

"He's one of the greatest pitchers ever, and still people don't recognize him. He's like Clark Kent. He puts on those glasses, walks through a mall and people don't recognize him."

"Where have you gone Greg Maddux..."

Well I've been pretty disallusioned by the news of Maddux's impending retirement on Monday. And yes I understand that my entire view of this situation is completely self-centered.

But I've spent so much time, energy, and effort into following his career that I almost feel that there will be a small void in my life now. That assertion is (almost) completely ridiculous but so be it....it is what it is...or it was what it was. Whatever.

Anyway, it was like clockwork...every fifth (or sixth day...depending on off days) Maddux would pitch. And now that's not going to happen. And what I think that I'm going to miss the most...besides watching him pitch...is conversing about Maddux's games with my dad. That was always a big topic of conversation...and something that we both enjoyed. (And yes...Duane's having a hard time dealing with Maddux retiring as well). But it's not like my Dad and I don't have a lot of common...so we'll be all right.

I did declare last year that when Maddux would retire that my baseball focus would shift entirely to the Cubs. I started liking the Cubs again when Maddux went back there...and although he left there in 2006...I still followed the Cubs. And now that Jenny is a fan of the Cubs...I feel good about making that transition. We'll be able to follow (and suffer) with the Cubs together.

But it's definitely not going to be the same...in terms of my passion. It's going to take some time to deal with it and to allow that passion to fester with the Cubbies. Making a conscious decision to follow a sports team doesn't seem to have the same weight of rooting for a team (or player) that one's always liked--for whatever reason (Although I'm pretty sure that Chuck tackled this same question in one of his books and came to the conclusion that it was somewhat more respectable to choose to root for a given team than to root for a team that one grew up with). But anyway...the transition to the Cubs shouldn't be too difficult because baseball is my favorite sport. But for instance I can't say that watching the Cubs is now my number one sports priority (like it was when Maddux was pitching). That number one spot would now be occupied by the Indiana Hoosiers (boy what a year to make that adjustment).

My sports world is definitely in a reshuffling mode.

An end of an era...

Greg Maddux will announce his retiremnt from baseball on Monday Morning.

At this point I can't even put into words how this makes me feel...so here's Buster Olney's take.

"Australia" Movie Review

This week we take a look at the latest from director Baz Luhrmann. Australia (PG-13) stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman as an unlikely couple running cattle and helping raise a half white-half Aborigine child in late-1930s northern Australia .

Ryan: Baz Luhrmann doesn't make many movies but when he does they arecertainly noteworthy. His films (Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!) are truly unique cinematic experiences although they do alienate some moviegoers. Australia , a historic epic, is much more traditional fare for Luhrmann. Unfortunately the creative elements of his previous works are absent with Australia . Australia is not a bad movie. It's just vastly mediocre.

Andy: The term epic is used frequently to describe movies that are long. In reality, however, epics are supposed to be told in an elevated style, and focus on the adventures of a hero. Australia easily checks the box for being long, but picking one of the characters as the epic hero is not so easy. The film jumps from story to story among the three main characters, not resting on one as the clear hero. As for the elevated style, that is certainly debatable. There is a tone of pretension that accompanies trying to be an epic movie, and that is bound to rub some people the wrong way. I’d say the movie falls somewhere in the slightly above average range.

Ryan: The biggest problem with Australia is that it's too ambitious while not being epic enough. What I mean by that is that Australia is basically three movies in one—the driving of the cattle, the transition to life on the ranch and the Japanese bombing of the town of Darwin . Regrettably these three stories don't transition well from one to another and Luhrmann seems unable to nail down exactly what he wants to do with the narrative as the movie greatly meanders in the second act. Further compounding this complication is the lack of excitement and grandiose when it comes to the resolution of the three conflicts. The movie never lives up to its own extravagance.

Andy: As with most long movies, Australia drags at times. It tells a rather succinct tale involving a cattle run that comes to a fairly natural conclusion around halfway through the movie. Had it ended there, it would have been an entertaining Australian-western. But this movie has loftier goals, and it probably ends up being a lesser film because of it. Had it focused on its cattle-drive narrative while still tackling the issue of the lost generations of half-Aborigine children, it likely would have been a better film.

Ryan: While Australia does have its fair share of issues, it is a decent movie to see on the big screen. Luhrmann does an excellent job shooting the movie and he throws in some nice lavish shots for good measure. The two leads, Kidman and Jackman, perform as well as could be expected with the material that they were given and Luhrmann does a decent job showcasing his stars on the silver screen. I also do like the fact that the movie successfully ties in the Aboriginal culture of Australia . Because any movie that is ambitious enough to call itself Australia has to have an Aboriginal presence.

Andy: The performances in Australia are good, but not great. Jackman and Kidman are both very recognizable and capable stars, but they do not display acting chops that are likely to win any awards this year. Neither of them hinder the film from being enjoyable, but great performances could have elevated this movie to greatness.

Australia has its ups and downs, but ultimately falls short of its ambition.

Final grade: B-.

"Kind Eyes"

I'm thrilled Obama won the presidency...but please...nobody buy me the Victory Plate for Christmas.