Screwed again Costanza...

The Oscars

I am not quite sure what to think about this year’s Academy Awards. Martin Scorsese was slighted yet again, joining Robert Altman and Alfred Hitchcock in the 0 for 5 category for Best Director. There have been far too many snubs and outrages in the Academy…though I know you simply cannot please everyone. Someone will always seemingly get robbed…whether that includes not getting a nomination…or the shiny statue itself.
Still there have been a lot of crazy snubs in the last 10 years or so.

Not necessarily in a particular order...

10) GLADIATOR WINS BEST PICTURE, 2001
In what was already a dismal year, the icing on the cake was that Gladiator, a summer action blockbuster, would win best picture up against movies of greater importance and achievment. Don't get me wrong, I loved Gladiator, but in a year that was sparse in the great movies department, it still had movies like Traffic and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Even Almost Famous. It showed that the Academy was through with awarding great achievment, instead, more commercial fare...

09) JIM CARREY SNUBBED 2 YEARS IN A ROW (1999, 2000)
Okay, I know, here’s a controversial one. Not many people would argue that Jim Carrey is really that great an actor, and even fewer would argue that he deserved nods for Truman Show or Man on the Moon. First of all, in a time when everyone has gotten at least one nomination, to see Carrey act his heart out, and defy his image, was something that awed me two years in a row. I felt that he at least deserved to be recognized with an Oscar Nomination. And I was outraged come Oscar Nomination Morning, to see his name off the cut two years in a row. This outrage brought to you by the Academy’s lack of voting for people that make more money than they do. Maybe he didnt deserve one for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but another terrific performance by a gifted actor nonetheless.

08) MARTIN SCORSESE LOSES BEST DIRECTOR 2 YEARS IN A ROW (2003, 2004)
I know many would disagree with this: mainly those who are not Marty Scorsese fans, and those who were less than fans of Gangs of New York. Well, my personal feelings of the director and his movies aside, I think he should have won last year. Yes, a lot of passion went into making The Pianist by Roman Polanski, and Chicago would have gotten nowhere without its director. But Gangs of New York combined so many of Scorsese’s celebrated styles and located them in a beautiful 19th century New York. Of the movie, I feel it is a mutilated masterpiece…of its direction, undeniably great. I’m outraged that the academy will hand out IOU Oscars left and right, but refuse to award the directors who have given birth to modern cinema: Altman, Kubrick, Hitchcock, and of course, Martin Scorsese. I don't want even get into his loss this year....

07) FORREST GUMP WINS BEST PICTURE IN 1994
Okay, and here's the great twist! I loved Forrest Gump, I own the dvd, it was solid all the way through.. But Pulp Fiction is not only a better film, by far, but also, a far more important film to cinema, its history and future. By now its almost a universally accepted fact that Pulp Fiction is the movie of the '90's, and Quentin Tarantino, the boy wonder who revamped the medium. The academy is so out-of-touch with the times, and what is important, that they almost always give the award to the wrong movie. And fifty years later, when generations look back at what won, they think "what the hell?!?!," and stick with the real best picture of that year: For example..anyone see Chariots of Fire? Or do you think in 50 years people might remember a film called "Raiders of the Lost Ark"?
That said..it seems like I am pulling for Pulp Fiction. And I am. But the award should have gone to Shawshank Redemption. I may be biased, as it is most likely my favorite film of all time! Just watch the special featurette on the new dvd of this film and tell me if it doesn’t convince you..its regarded by most people in the last 10 years or so, as their favorite film. Check out its rating on IMDB
Oh, and by the way..this is almost another entry in the top 10 but The Shawshank Redemption won...ZERO Oscars.

06) THE SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE IN 1999 OUTRAGE
Okay, I thought that Saving Private Ryan should have won, ultimately. At the time of the Oscars, I thought for sure it was going to. I was pleasantly surprised by Shakespeare in Love, and realized how different each movie is, and how similar: one is an important war film, perhaps the most realistic ever made, and the other is one of the most cleverly written romantic comedies in years. Private Ryan is a shockingly graphic film, while Shakespeare is a lighthearted film that is unmanipulating, and genuinely fun. Both are very well directed, acted, filmed, written, and all the rest, making both films worthy of the prize. Even the Academy was split, they honored the technical achievement to Private Ryan with a director Oscar and editing, sound, etc, and gave picture to Shakespeare in Love, along with acting and writing Oscars. Very split...I think the academy admired both films equally. But boy oh boy..go online and search around for oscar outrages..and you'll find 32872334243 websites devoted this controversy. There isnt one. Both were up to the task. You cannot give it to both.

05) FARGO LOSES BEST PICTURE IN 1997
There are a couple of films, like maybe five, that defined the '90's, and Fargo was one of them. It was a groundbreaking film...one that mixed up genre filmmaking just as much as Pulp Fiction. Oh, and the Academy, stupid as they can be, gives the award to, SURPRISE! -- the epic. I'm not arguing the merit of English Patient, yet, why the hell did Fargo lose to that movie!?!?! Why?!?! Fargo is a movie that will be around forever...it's the crowning achievement of two of the most exciting directors working today! This is a move that defines outrage! I can understand if a movie is too quirky, or unconventional for Academy taste, but Fargo is such an appealing and entertaining film, that packs a genuine wallop at the end....

04) RANDY NEWMAN
Now granted, I don't own ANY of his cds or the scores he has written. In fact, all I have is "I love L.A." on mp3, because when the Lakers win a playoff game, I enjoy playing that song...just like they did at the Forum. But Randy Newman NEVER winning an award for Best Original Score, despite God knows how many nominations. One win for an innocuous pop song, that's it, all that's been given to one of Hollywood's finest screen composers.

03) THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING LOSES BEST PICTURE TO A BEAUTIFUL MIND IN 2002
Twenty years from now, people will look back at A Beautiful Mind winning the best picture oscar over FOTR, and not only wonder what the hell "A Beautiful Mind" was, but more importantly, how the hell it won over to the first installment of one of the greatest cinematic achievements in the history of motion picture. It will be as much a bewilderment as Raging Bull losing in 1980. And this isn't because I'm a LOTR fanboy who thinks that these films are the second coming of Citizen Kane...I just happen to be a very strong enthusiast for great movies. I couldn't believe it, that night in March of 2002 when A Beautiful Mind took home the Oscar...What was even more shocking was that Ron Howard got the Director Oscar, over a film like LOTR. Peter Jackson's direction of that film..was brilliant. It's one more example of how bad the Academy is at picking the truly most important film of a given year, they're incapable of it! They're too busy giving out IOU Oscars, and voting for themselves, to actually award the art form...in my opinion, this is one of the worst things that has happened at the Awards Ceremony since I started watching it.

02) TITANIC WINNING ANYTHING IN 1998
Titanic is the only Best Picture winner since 1966 not to get even a Screenplay nomination. What are you doing winning Best Picture if your screenplay can't even be nominated? Come on! Ok, so perhaps it should have won for effects or some other technical awards..it was a masterpiece in that department. But I think the Academy..and most people in general..simply got caught up in the huge media explosion for this film and rode it all the way from the boxoffice to the podium. Let's not forget about a little gem called L.A. Confidential shall we?


01)I am still trying to figure out my number one..any suggestions?


HONORABLE MENTION:
-Adaptation not winning an Oscar for the screenplay (original or adapted, doesnt matter)
-Hoop Dreams not getting a best documentary nomination in 1994 much less a best pic nomination
-Roberto Benigni over Edward Norton for best actor
-Amélie loses Best Foreign Language Film to No Man's Land
-Memento losing best editing
-Denzel Washington loses for Malcom X
-Glory not getting a Best Picture nomination
-Russel Crowe not getting Best Actor for The Insider
-Kim Basinger winning for Best Supporting Actress
-Ralph Fiennes not winning best supporting actor award for Schindler's List
-Julia Roberts winning for Erin Brockovich over Ellen Burstyn for Requiem for a Dream.


Oh..by the way..the single biggest Oscar outrage of the last 10 years is letting Whoopi Goldberg host the show.

Quit your jibba jabba!

This semi-famous quote by Mr. T. is the thesis statement to what I have been feeling about lately. So much of what is going on in “today’s society” is overblown by words and takes too much time. I may not be an important person, but my time is still valuable to me. So while watching The damn Apprentice tonight I thought I'd log on and run through the topic of reality television..a topic that wastes my time and I wish it wouldn’t anymore...but some of it is so damn addictive. I shouldve gone to the gym after dinner..

Reality tv. Settle in for the long haul everyone, cuz I’ve got something to say about this. Television has become mediocre...at best. Long gone are the days of classic television filled with wit, substance and topics that hit home. How I miss Cheers, Seinfeld, Family Ties, The Cosby Show..even CHiPs. Take a show like the “Sex and the City” for instance. What a terrible show that became! But it was still funny, it still had substance and it made you think. Now, there is “Celebrity Fear Factor,” “Celebrity Mole” and, my absolute favorite, “Celebrity Fit Club.
Yes, Celebrity Fit Club.
Let me explain to you the concept behind “Celebrity Fit Club.” How I was hoping it was a typo and was "Celebrity Fight Club"...a bunch of no-name celebrities who eat more in a day than the residents of Chad eat in a year combined have come together to lose weight. So, they all lose weight...then they will be really good people. Oh wait, you mean after you drop 20 pounds you aren’t going to be washed up like a whale off Cape Hatteras? I didn’t know that! Fantastic!..and how about “American Idol?” All the talent this year is astounding. Did you see the hot ass chick with the huge rack who had no talent? How about those triplets that didn’t make it? What about that oh-so-sexy latino guy?! Gosh, that Simon is mean. The cool thing about that series of statements is that I could have copy/pasted it from any article from any other season of this show. Have you not seen it before? Well let me break it down for you:

You suck.

That is the point of this show. Some people really have talent, others are obviously placed there by Fox so the competition isn’t just the same voice in a different body twenty bazillion times, and so we can see the judges laugh at people. The entire point of this show is to crush the dreams of 99,999 Americans and turn one person into a pop icon. If that’s not democracy, I don’t know what is.

Have I become the lowest of the low?

No..I am not talking about drugs..or cheating or some criminal act. I am talking about..writing a blog entry about Paris Hilton. Apparently her information from her cell phone was leaked out..hacked..whatever..and the numbers, and cell phone photos..are somehwere on the net..and well..lets just say..I have them.

So lets see..who is on the list? Lets post a few, shall we? Well, Ill edit one character/digit from each..just in case some sort of legal thing comes into play. Though I am pretty sure not a single number works anymore.

Aguilera, Christina
1-310-917-919x

Altice, Summer
1-714-928-249x

Dupri, Jermaine
http://mail.sidekick.dngr.com/compose?to=slash7x@tmail.com

Durst, Fred
http://mail.sidekick.dngr.com/compose?to=fx@attwireless.blackberry.net

Eminem
1-917-776-764x

Fergie
+1-323-855-905x

Green, Seth
1-323-573-004x

Lohan, Lindsey
+1-347-596-999x

Philippoussis, Mark
http://mail.sidekick.dngr.com/compose?to=markx@tmail.com

Vin Diesel
+1-310-279-631x

and so on and so forth.

I'd post the pictures too..but alas, you can see Paris' boobies in a couple pictures..and this is a family place...though I am not quite sure there are too many people who HAVENT seen her breasts as of yet..

Anyways..sad that there are hackers doing this sort of thing..but I feel no pity for poor Paris.

Anyways..I am off..I am gonna go call Vin Diesel and congratulate him on "The Pacifier"..looks Oscar-worthy!

Downfall

Last night I went to the Portland International Film Festival to see a film I had been highly anticipating seeing; "Downfall". An Oscar nominated German movie, "Downfall", was absolutely incredible. At just over 2 and half hours, it had better be.

Bruno Ganz' portrayal of Hitler accomplishes the impossible by giving human life to a curse; his performance is the foundation of telling one the darkest stories without crossing to the sordid. The actor said he wanted the audience to pity Hitler, even just for fleeting moments..and the Jew that I am, you might think it impossible for me to feel any shred of decency, pity, sadness etc for that man. I am not sure I allowed myself to feel that pity, but Ganz takes you inside the madness that was Hitler, and while you laugh at some of Hitler's repeated tirades at his generals, you still feel in some ways..sorry (?) for the man and his minions who would not carry out his plans to win the war and the glory of the Third Reich. I cannot stress it enough..the Ganz's portryal..his acting..was fantastic.

Not only do you get the inside scoop of Hitler's final days and the downfall of the Reich, but the film takes you inside many of his loyal followers as well as the more notorious members of his party; Himmler, Goebbels, Eva Braun, Albert Speer and more. Everyone displayed a top shelf job. Alexandra Maria Lara plays Traudl Junge, Hitler's chosen secretary. The film’s story begins with Hitler choosing Junge from a group of six woman summoned to his headquarters to apply as his personal secretary. Traudl Junge herself is featured in a brief interview at the end of the film. She died in February, 2002, shortly after the publication of her book. In her commentary she repeats the most damning of admissions—few knew the extent of the horrors of the Reich, but most could known if they had only tried.


Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer

Some people chose to flee the bunker during the final days. Some left on Hitler's "orders. But those that were left in the bunker, most notably Hitler, Eva Braun, Magda and Joseph Goebbels and their children, had no plans for after the fall of National Socialism. They had no plans for a world that they could not command. For them, there was no alternative to victory. As time ran short, they ended their lives. Most of those around them followed suit. Many ending their last hours in heavy drinking and final reminiscing over times victorious. One of Hitler's last comments was that he was glad that he was able to rid Germany of the Jews. That sort of brought me back to my "normal" level of hatred for the man and that regime.

Downfall is a powerful work and it depicts an insiders view of what the man was probably like in his final days. It could be an invaluable lesson for nations and leaders of the present and the future. This could be one of the best war movies ever. I highly recommend this film, especially if you are highly interested in this era as I am. It truly isnt to be missed. Just make sure you eat a solid meal before you go.

Krazy Glue

Just curious, but..has anyone ever used Krazy Glue and NOT got it somewhere on their fingers?
I'm about 128 for 128 at successfully getting it on both the item in question, as well as my fingers..along with some assorted lint or hairs or dust, crumbs..etc.
Sigh.

The support war rages on...

I really dont know how to vent my frustrations with customer sipport properly. I thought one blog entry was enough. And that was only a couple days ago.

So here I am, at home, on a Saturday night..(read: LOSER), and noticing my computer was running slow, I thought I'd actually reboot the thing. Upon reboot, it will not connect to the internet. I notice this first because my firewall shoots me a message, followed by the stupid internet link thing that Half-Life 2 infests your computer with. But I thought..uhh..maybe its some sort of loose cord, or the message is wrong..so I try connecting to Google. ESPN. Nothing. $#%@!

Well, I try rebooting again, to the same results. So, I run a Norton Anti-Virus check, but all it found was some stupid spyware thing, which I, in the immortal words of StrongBad, "DELETED!" So..now we come to the part of my life that warranted this whole blog entry. I call Verizon customer support (my DSL ISP).

"Your wait time is approximately less than 30 minutes." Great. Well, I had some crap to do around the house, so I put the phone on speaker mode and clean up my laundry, do some dishes, put away some paperwork thats been sittin' out..and 30 minutes later..nothing..so I start going through an issue of Cargo magazine I half-read..and then some Money Magazine that I also only read part way through...and..57 minutes later.."Verizon Customer Support, can I get your home telephone number please?"
So we go through the usuals "Is your modem unplugged?" "Have you rebooted?"
Dude. I know theres some 61 year old person living in Chad who has not ever used a computer before, and granted, he doesnt know that Im not that guy, but I am not a complete moron. I may not know much about service packets and going deep inside my registry to edit the keys..but I can tell when I have kicked a cord. So I humor him. We check all the main things. We reboot. Twice. I cannot connect using IE or Netscape. I tried telnetting..wouldnt work. But in DOS, it does ping websites. Odd.
I also notice theres only been 3 lights on my modem...
Normally I have 4 lights on my modem, which he INSISTS cannot all be on at once . "Thats..like..impossible..it would..break the thing" he claims. Well, I was about 95% sure all the lights are on all the time..my computer uses the usb jack, and the laptop uses the ethernet port..but whatever. I humored him again. So, after 35 more minutes (thats 122 minutes!), he said it was beyond him fixing it and suggested I bring the computer back to its manufacturer (haha, I made the computer myself, I'm fucked..great joke). I hung up with the support technician and thought..well, theres a shop just up the road a bit...of course, its almost Sunday, and Monday is a holiday..happy happy joy joy. Plus I knew, it isnt the computer itself..it had to be either the connection or the modem..Then I remembered a client I work with also freelances as a computer fix-it-nerd..and well, I could call him on Tuesday..
I ran Norton Disk Doctor..nothing. I thought, well..I did download some new key generator for WinZip (shhhhh)..and all these windows popped up then from the site and Anti-Virus was killing trojan horses and other viruses faster than Robitussin on a bad day, so I thought, shit, running Spybot couldnt hurt.
It found 37 freakin little cookie/tracker/pests in my computer..which again, I DELETED!
Ok..so I cross my fingers...I type slowly..e-s-p-n-dot-go-com-enter..never was I so glad to see NASCAR prominently displayed.
So there ya have it. Forget customer support. Forget Norton. Forget it all. Spybot, you have a new best friend.

SigAmp link. Interesting.

I got bamboozled I tell ya...

You see them everywhere this time of year..innocent faces at the grocery store..
"Please, can you just help out?"
"Sir, only a little bit of your time will help my cause.."
Yes, those little shits are everywhere again; long ponytailed hair, freshly scrubbed cheeks, little brown sashes with a few badges...pestering you with their sweet smiles and doe eyes..
"Would you like to buy a box of Girl-Scout cookies?"..its more like a frontal assault, not an offer for a mediocre box of fat.
So, as usual, I walked over to the table where they had them. They are usually overloaded with Samoas (not my favorite)..and I finally saw some Tag-alongs, and they even had some fat free lemon and powdered sugar thing that looked appetizing.
I asked "How much is it for 1 box? A dollar?"...2 bucks for 2 boxes wouldnt be too bad...
Laughter.
"Three-fifty..."
Cripes!
Freakin inflation has even hit the Girl Scouts of America. I almost thought about walking away..considering I just spent $75 at Costco and another 25 at the grocery store..but whatever. I am not convinced the Scouts need the money more than I do. It has got to be some sort of scam. I even think I read something about that..a few years ago perhaps..a scandal or some newsworthy item in the paper about the corrupted little shits. Maybe its an urban legend?! I stood there a second longer debating.
I decided on one box of Tag-alongs. And the little girl had the same voice as Howard Stern's "Miss Howard Stern" bimbo.."Thank You!"
Right.
I walked away.
They had just swindled another sucker out of 3.50

Natasha says to tell my ebay/paypal story

I have an internet friend/Instant Messenger friend named Natasha...who is one of the most techno-savvy, geeky yet cool people I have had the pleasure of talking to off and on for probably 3 years now. I asked her for her opinion about my blog and in not so many words, she said it sucks ass, but has potential. She claimed she really values my opinions on movies and things. So I should add that. I apparently brainwashed her into getting NetFlix...So Ill try to accomodate her..especially since movies are one of the loves of my life. But why would anyone want to read my opinions about movies? Everyone tells you a movie is great..or sucks..and I probably agree with about 3% of the population. Natasha said besides some cool ranting, I should talk about my ordeal with paypal/ebay. Not a bad idea. One of the most infuriating things to ever happen to me...Back in Sep/Oct of 2003, I bought a PDA on ebay with some of my birthday money. I have had, for the most part, good luck on ebay..no one has ever ripped me off, and only a few people refused to pay or didnt leave feedback..etc. Now, I admit, I am a bit..thorough..with larger purchases. I test drove 12 cars before buying one..and I looked at tons of reviews and prices and things before settling on a PDA. So I sent the lady the money and of course, never received the item. She claims she had her brother send it our priority mail, though i paid for UPS/FedEx. she has no receipt. After arguing with her in 400 emails, I asked to be reimbursed, which she didnt do. I asked paypal to reimburse me after filing a complaint. They found "in my favor" on the issue, but could not get a hold of my funds. I filed a complaint with ebay, as per their instructions. No response from them. I tried to find out the lady's email address/name/phone..etc. All bogus. I tried to file a complaint in court. Apparently, because I didnt drive up to Mountain View, Ca and serve paypal myself, the complaint was invalid. I complained to the Better Business Bureau, but they told me to file a legal complaint with the courts...sigh. I wrote to the President of Ebay..and his secretary wrote me back saying ebay cannot ensure the quality of every transaction. Ummm..obviously. The only mistake I did..was I used paypal with my checking account, instead of my credit card. Fine, a dumb move. But considering I had been on ebay for 6 years at the time, and never had a problem..guess I was a bit naive/trusting in that everything would always be fine. This lady had good feedback from other transactions...so..what the hell!?So..in summary, dont buy the Sony PEG-UX-50 on Ebay from Donna O'Brien (aka Madonna Indra aka..???) as you will lose out on $576.98 plus about a year of your life.Thanks Natasha..I feel better now :)

A rant on customer support and europe...and more.

I really hate repeating myself..in general. I can put up with it if someone didnt hear me. Or if its something complicated and you need to explain it further..or even if its a really odd reference. But dumbing down shit or explaining obvious stuff..annoys the crap out of me. That and customer support..my verizon dsl connection went down...for no reason. I was on the goddman phone with support for a total of about 5 1/2 hours..no joke..getting that fixed..transferred from one dept to another, back in the queue, talking to peeps who cant get stuff done for me..etc. Asking for a manager seemed to go nowhere. And then I lost my damn cell phone..(TRY TO AVOID AT ALL COSTS)..you'd think itd be a fairly easy task to call up T-Mobile and report it missing and then 48 hours later to order a new phone.
Let me tell you..NO, IT ISNT.
More customer support hell, people who didnt order the phone, have different confirm numbers, you cant get the same person on the phone twice..blah blah blah.
The Europeans are WAYYYYYYY ahead in their cell phone deals. Here, we buy some cheap phones usually and then stick with a plan for 1-2 years. Over in Europe..they guard those phones with their life..and they may pay more for them (of course, they get the more advanced phones about a year ahead of us) and yeah, watch that they dont lose those phones..and then every phone works with every carrier (Orange, Vonage..whoever)..and people just sign quickie 1-2 month contracts and just jump carriers whenever there is a good deal on minutes..etc. Ya know..those silly Europeans..have got it all right.
I might miss some stuff from the USA if I ever moved to somewhere in Europe..like ice cubes*, but in general..they work less hours a day, eat better, have more vacation time at work, have cooler cars, are much more liberal about sex and censorship, arent hated throughout the world (except France)..and obviously have better cell phones..

*ice cubes..you try ordering a coke in Spain or England..itll maybe..MAYBE..come cold..possibly have a few bubbles of carbonation left in it..and no ice..They also rarely seem to have water pressure in their hotel showers. And I aint staying at youth hostels either..Ive run the gamut from crap to super nice places..and its few and far between on that end. *shrug*

Mp3s

Do I feel guilty for downloading mp3s....the best answer..sometimes. I fully agree that an artist should be paid for their work, and having others freely distribute it is more than likely, wrong. That said, there is no way in hell I am paying $18.99 for a normal cd. I have downloaded full albums, I have copied cds from friends, and its wrong. I usually dont do that..I tend to see a movie, and remember one or two cool songs and want just those 2 songs, so I download them. For example, Ocean's 11 had a few cool tunes from David Holmes. Well, I wasnt going to buy the whole stupid soundtrack..whats the proper thing to do? I guess for me, since I dont distribute the songs that I dl, I dont feel as bad per se. I get exposed to a lot of new artists and just want to enjoy a few of their songs..not fork over $500 for 20 songs I wanted. I guess I should use iTunes..thats probably the smartest move..but I also dl songs that Ive never heard before..to see if I like them..I am not spending money for that! Sigh. No win situation.

Whats the blog all about anyways?

Ok, so I joined the blogger revolution. I guess some people have themes..I suppose mine are the random musings from a boy who moved from Sunny Southern California (Santa Monica) to the semi-dreary City of Roses; Portland, Oregon...but I love it here actually. While I'll try to update with my take on the poop that I deal with on a semi-daily basis, and drop in a few interesting stories or movie reviews, I am pretty sure most of my entries will usually be filled with useless trivia, plenty of drivel and a few tasty morsels of information...