Oscars Primer 2012

The year in film will be celebrated this Sunday night as the 84th annual Academy Awards will be held in Los Angeles. This, of course, means that it’s time for my annual preview/predictions post. Making predictions this close to the awards is pretty easy, but that’s not going to stop me from gloating about my 14 for 17 record over the past 3 years. Maybe next year I’ll actually challenge myself and make the predictions in the days after the nominations come out. Either way, I had seen 9 of the 10 films nominated for Best Picture before the Oscars last year and I only went 4 for 6 in my predictions (by far my worst performance). This year I’ve only seen 4 of the 9 films up for the biggest award of the night. The frontrunners at this juncture appear to be The Artist and The Descendants. The Artist is a silent film directed by a French film maker about the decline of silent film star in the 1920’s. The Descendants is about a man trying to keep his family together while his world is falling apart. Both films won Golden Globes, but they weren’t matched up as The Artist won Best Picture for Comedy/Musical and The Descendants won Best Picture for Drama.

Although Billy Crystal is back to restore some semblance of order as the host after last year’s Anne Hathaway/James Franco debacle, I think that this year’s show is going to have a foreign feel to it. It won’t be as bad as the NBA Draft usually is, but it will be close.

And now on to my preview/predictions…


Best Picture

The Artist



A silent film star struggles to adjust to the new era of talkies as a rising female actress starts to steal the spotlight. This film is the odds on favorite to win.


The Descendants



Definitely my favorite of the films I’ve seen. In it, George Clooney has to tell his friends and family members that his wife, who he recently found out cheated on him and is in a coma after a boating accident, is dying while simultaneously having to make an important decision about a large piece of land that’s been past down in his family for generations.


Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close



People are really eating up this 9/11 centric film. I, for one, think it looks terrible, but it’s definitely not politically correct to say that this movie sucks because its plot is so tied to our jingoistic culture.


The Help



An up and coming writing decided to write a book about how the African American maids feel about their white employers in the 1960s. This film is definitely the dark horse (pun clearly intended) for Best Picture. After all, it did win the top prize at the Screen Actor’s Guild awards.


Hugo



Believe it or not this film has nothing to do with the famous author Victor Hugo (Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame) like I originally thought. It’s a PG film with a child protagonist who’s trying to figure out a message from his late father, so in many ways it’s just like Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, but Hugo was directed by Martin Scorsese.


Midnight in Paris



A Woody Allen film in which an engaged couple go with the bride-to-be’s parents on a trip to Paris. As the groom in waiting falls in love with the city’s nightlife he realizes that he’s also falling out of love with his fiancée.


Moneyball



For starters, I know it’s a nerd thing to say, but the book was better. That said, I’m impressed that a book, albeit a sports one, that was so numbers based was successfully turned into a decent film. I’m also glad that they didn’t alter the ending and have the Oakland Athletics win the AL or the World Series.


The Tree of Life



If someone could explain what the fuck is going on in this movie I would greatly appreciate it. I seriously haven’t seen a movie this bad since Joe Dirt (2001).


War Horse



One of my male friends told me balled his eyes out at this film directed by Stephen Spielberg, so I’ll assume that it’s awful. I’ve disliked people’s fascination with horses for a long time. For example, I never understood the public outpouring when the horse Barbaro had to be put down. How does a horse garner so many fans across the country? Like, who would send flowers to a horse that they’ve never seen in person?


Which film should win? The Descendants

Which film will win? The Artist


Best Actor

Demian Bichir in A Better Life- In this film Bilchir plays an illegal immigrant landscaper (stereotype much) living in LA who works tirelessly to provide a future for his son, but his son gets involved with some local gangs.

George Clooney in The Descendants- Clooney is the odds on favorite to win and if he does it will be well deserved. He nailed his character’s outward stoicism while also revealing the built up angst, anger, worry, fear, sadness, and exhaustion that his character was dealing with internally.

Jean Dujardin in The Artist- Some think that Clooney will edge out Dujardin for Best Actor because The Artist is going to win in so many other categories, but his performance was so unique that I think he’ll come out on top.

Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- In this film Oldman plays a retired spy who’s brought back into the fold by the British government during the height of the Cold War to figure out which one of their current MI6 agents is actually working for Russia. This movie looks awesome.

Brad Pitt in Moneyball- I thought Pitt’s portrayal of Billy Beane was one of the highlights of the film, but I don’t think it was good enough to win Best Actor.




Which actor should win? George Clooney in The Descendants

Which actor will win? Jean Dujardin in The Artist


Best Actress

Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs- She plays a female servant living in Ireland in the late 1800s who disguises herself as a man. That’s all you need to know.

Viola Davis in The Help- I haven’t seen the film, but I know that she’s going to win. Also, if I'm not mistaken she could be just the second African American woman (Halle Berry) to win the most prestigious award in acting.

Rooney Mara in The Girl in the Dragon Tattoo- The 26-year-old actress with rich football blood played the title role in The Girl in the Dragon Tattoo and she played it well. The character she knocked out of the park is a dark, deft, socially awkward investigator with an axe to grind.

Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady- She plays former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Hence the nomination.

Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn- Back to back years with a Best Actress nomination for Heath Ledger’s widow (they were engaged, so is widow the right word?). Last year it was for her role in the indie film Blue Valentine. This year it’s for playing Marilyn Monroe.




Which actress should win? Rooney Mara in The Girl in the Dragon Tattoo

Which actress will win? Viola Davis in The Help


Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn- Branagh plays an English film maker who struggles to keep Marilyn Monroe in line as his lead actress.

Jonah Hill in Moneyball- He plays a sabermetrician, based on a real person, who inspires Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane to re-evaluate how he builds a baseball team. The film was flawed in many ways (no mention of Hudson, Zito, and Mulder?) and I personally didn’t think that Jonah Hill did anything to warrant an Oscar nomination.

Nick Nolte in Warrior- The man with the most famous mug shot of all time plays an alcoholic former boxer tasked with training his ex-patriot son who’s struggling financially to compete in MMA.

Christopher Plummer in Beginners- In this film Plummer plays an elderly man with terminal cancer who tells his son that he’s gay despite being married to his late wife for 40+ years.

Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close- Originally I thought this was the kid and I was going to rant about how it’s bullshit that he got nominated in this category because he’s the main character. Sydow actually plays a man who helps the kid figure out what his late dad’s message is and he apparently doesn’t speak. He has the word “Yes” written on one hand and the word “No” written on the other. If this fact didn’t prove how terrible this film is I don’t know what will.




Which actor do I want to win? Nick Nolte in Warrior

Which actor is going to win? Christopher Plummer in Beginners


Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo in The Artist- I haven’t seen the film, but she’s the female lead, so I’m going to go ahead and disregard her nomination.

Jessica Chastain in The Help- She plays one of the white women. She has no chance.

Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids- She won an Emmy last year for her role in the CBS comedy Mike and Molly (I know no one that watches that show), but she’s not going to win an Oscar for her role in Bridesmaids. She was funny, but I had heard great things and she didn’t live up to my expectations. Plus, female humor is not nearly as funny as male humor.

Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs- She didn’t even make the first 15 actors/actresses listed on IMDB from the film, so I’m definitely rooting for her even though she’s British.

Octavia Spencer in The Help- She plays one of the black maids. She’s going to win.




Which actress should win? No clue and I don’t really care

Which actress is going to win? Octavia Spencer in The Help


Best Director (or as l like to call it- “The five movies that would have been nominated for Best Picture had the Academy stuck with the format of only nominating 5 films”)

Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen, who’s 76 (I would have guessed 63), hasn’t won this award since 1978 (Annie Hall) and he’s not going to win it this year either.

Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist- If you direct a silent film that garners this much critical acclaim you must have done something right.

Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life- There’s a 20 minute interlude that looks like a mixture of screensavers from 2003 about 20 minutes into this film that I don’t think I would understand even if Malick was in the room to explain it to me.

Alexander Payne for The Descendants- I think this movie was more plot driven than anything else. I guess it’s a compliment sometimes when you don’t notice the work of the director, but I don’t think that it’s the case here.

Martin Scorsese for Hugo- I’m sure that the film is great, but I get the feeling that Marty, and to the same token Woody Allen, gets nominated so often because of their stature. It’s almost like how Derek Jeter won a bunch of Golden Gloves even those he’s a horrendous defensive shortstop.




Which director should win? Michel Hazanavicius

Which director will win? Michel Hazanavicius

Hate List 2.0

Well folks, I think it's about time to update my hate list. Again, it's more of a "things that irriate/annoy me" list, but hate sounds a lot cooler. For those of you that have forgotten, my first installment went a little something like this:

1.) One word text messages
2.) Women that keep their maiden names
3.) Cigarette smoking
4.) Drew Barrymore
5.) People that wait at a 4-way stop sign until an oncoming car comes to a complete stop before they go
6.) Pocket dialing
7.) Touchdown. Commercial. Kickoff. Commercial.
8.) The word "cliche"
9.) People who smack their lips when they eat
10.) The "Happy Birthday (insert name here)" Facebook wall post

And now for installment version 2.0....

1.) People who reference the speech writing process when giving a speech- Like give the speech, don't tell the audience about your thought process when you sat down to write the speech. I think it's tacky when people say things like, "When I was first asked to give this speech I immediately thought of the quote by", "When I thought about what I would say today, I wrote down a few key points", "In college I was taught to start a speech with a quote, joke, or personal story".

Is your speech about giving a speech? or is there an actual topic? The commencement speaker at my sisters' graduation last weekend commited this faux pas and it particularly bothered me because that is like the major league of giving speeches.

Speaking of giving a commencement speech, I think I'm going to add that to my lifelong to-do list. I don't know how I'm going to become worthy of such an honor, but I think I could deliver a rip-roaring, practical commencement address.

2.) People who claim that they can't see a credit card/ticket screen- I've been behind two such people (more often than not women) in the past month and it's irked me both times. The first was a woman buying a train ticket on the platform who took forever claiming that she couldn't see the screen because of the glare. Now I'll admit that sometimes there is a glare, but it's really not that hard to deal with. All you have to do is position your body in front of the screen and focus just a little bit and you should have no problem. Another fool proof method is to wear sunglasses (which I do not do).

Which brings us to the second time this happened to me in the past month. A woman in front of me at the checkout in the grocery store claimed that she couldn't read the credit card screen, which is mind boggling because there isn't a glare when you're indoors. Her problem was that she was wearing sunglasses (which I contend still shouldn't have made it difficult to read the screen).

I consider myself to be a relatively patient person, but when things like this slow me up, I get a little upset.

3.) People who fail to take control of the intersection when making a left hand turn- If you're the first in line at a red light and it turns green, under no circumstances should you have to wait at that red light again. How people don't realize this is beyond me. Let's say you're taking a left, but a long line of cars in the opposite direction is going straight. What you should do is idle out into the middle of the intersection to "take control". This way, when the light turns red, you have to complete your turn or else traffic can not continue. I'm under the impression that at least two cars per green light cycle should be able to make a left hand turn even if traffic in the opposite direction is continuous. Too many times have I sat behind someone that doesn't take control and is subsequently forced to wait through the same red light twice.

4.) The "Wow, that's a low price" Staples commercial- This, to me, is negative advertising. If I need office supplies I am now going to go out of way to avoid Staples because of this horrendously annoying commercial. I'm not kidding when I say that it's right up there with the 13 letter word for marriage proposal travesty that I bagged on months ago. I literally cringe every time I see it and immediately turn the dial.

5.) When all of the responses to an email chain on Gmail suddenly repurpose themselves and you have to scroll through them all to see the most recent response- I'm not sure if I explained that properly, but that's something that I'll never understand.

6.) Meryl Streep- Everyone always says that, "She's such a great actress" "She's the actress of our generation" "She's beautiful", but let's get a few things straight. I'm willing to admit that she's a very talented actress. There's no denying that; however I've never enjoyed any of her performances. To me, she seems a bit pretentious, especially at the Academy Awards. Also, she's definitely not the actress of my generation seeing that she's 37 years my senior. Lastly, she's by no means "beautiful" now and quite frankly she wasn't that good looking back in her hey day.

7.) When my DVR fails to record the scenes from the next episode- This isn't a huge deal, but I'm a sucker for the scenes for the next episode, so I get bothered when I miss them. I also routinely miss The Daily Show's moment of zen about once a week even though I record The Daily Show from 11-11:30 and The Colbert Report from 11:30-12. How that's possible I can't figure out. I realize that the DVR is set to record by exact times, but can't we figure out a way to record the shows themselves from start to finish?

8.) Ironing- I can't stand ironing. It's such a tedious and annoying task. Not to mention that I think I'm bad at it (if that's even possible). I'll iron a shirt and pants and there won't be any wrinkles. Then I'll put said shirt and pants on and it's wrinkles galore. Call me crazy, but I think that not having to iron your clothes ever again (as well as other tedious tasks) is a major selling point for marriage.

9.) Facebook messages from events- There's nothing worse than signing onto Facebook and seeing that you have a message only to then find out that it's from an event that you haven't responded to yet. Oh the party starts at 8:15 instead of 8:30? The open bar is $40 not $35? Seriously, I don't care. Stop wasting my time.

10.) Wearing glasses in the rain- There's some money to made here. Someone needs to invent something to literally wipe this problem away (sorry about the bad pun, it's what I do). I don't think wipers on glasses are really practical, but maybe water resistant glasses? Quickdry frames?

Oscars 2010

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards will be held this Sunday, which means that it's time for me to handicap the year's best in film. In case you haven't been paying attention, and I assume that most of you haven't, the major storyline this year is the much hyped rivalry between James Cameron's Avatar and Kathyrn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker. Entering the home stretch these two films seem to be the frontrunners for Best Picture and their respective directors seem to be the frontrunners for Best Director. Now what makes this plot so interesting is that Cameron and Bigelow were married from 1989-1991. They claim to be on amicable terms, but I don't buy it. Bigelow has not re-married, nor had she wed anyone prior to Cameron, whereas Cameron is currently on wife #5 (Bigelow was #3). Call me crazy, but I think that there's definitely some deep felt bitterness/tension there.

So am I on Team Cameron or Team Kathryn? Well, normally in these situations I side with the man, but he's Canadian and she's American and I'm still bitter about the gold medal hockey game. I actually don't really want either of their movies to win Best Picture (although I think one of them will), so I'll go ahead and give Bigelow my support in the Best Director category. Also, if she wins, she'll be the first female to take home Uncle Oscar in that category(assuming I did my research properly). Who said I wasn't for the societal advancement of women?

Now for my Best Picture/Best Actor/Actress/Best Supporting Actor/Actress picks and breakdown. In case you're a gambler, remember that I went 4/5 on my picks last year. There's gotta be a way to gamble on this, right?


Best Picture

Avatar

As I wrote last month, this movie was made for 13 year old boys and has no business being considered for Best Picture.

The Blind Side

If you don’t at least choke up while reading this article about the true story behind this movie then feel free to never talk to me again.

District 9

This is a joke, right? I blame all of the supporters of The Dark Knight that pissed and moaned when the Academy snubbed Christopher Nolan's film. Is this really what you wanted? A sci-fi movie about aliens living in Africa? I'm going to stop before I get even more angry.

An Education

Probably a benficiary of the expansion to 10 nominees, but I can see why people liked this coming of age story. Also, I think the Academy gives bonus points for films that primarily use English actors.

The Hurt Locker

One of the three nominees that I've actually seen (I'm a fake ass movie buff). It was definitely a good and entertaining movie, but I wasn’t wild about it. Maybe it was that I had high expectations or that I didn't get something that the critics did (both distinct possibilities), but I gave it about a 3.7 out of 5.

Inglourious Basterds

Really? This movie was good? I thought it was supposed to be a slapstick comedy. That being said, it’s currently sitting atop my Netflix queue.

Precious

A poor, fat black girl, who at 15 (I think) is pregnant with her second child, gets inspired to turn her life around by a few teachers at a new, special school. I'm sure the movie is very good, but the plot seems like it's been done a million times.

A Serious Man

Are there special rules for movies written or produced by the Coen brothers like there are for Notre Dame in the BCS?

Up

You mean to tell me that someone with an Oscar vote chose this animated work as their favorite film of the year (one of the requisites to earn a nomination)? I'm sure that this movie has a nice message and all, but there's no chance that it's deserving of an Oscar nomination.

And why isn't it deserving of such an honor? Simple. Because it has its own category. Based on this nomination, Up is now a lock to win the Oscar for Best Animated Film (which is sort of was anyway, but you get my point).

Up in the Air

I think that this film was the best of the year. Hands down. The movie not only has the right blend of romance, drama, and comedy, but it also makes you think as you're walking out of the theater. Simply put, the movie has a moral message.

Which movie will win? The Hurt Locker
Which movie should win/am I rooting for? Up in the Air
Which movie am I rooting against? Avatar/Up


Best Actor

Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart- In this film, Bridges plays a rundown, alcoholic country singer, who is inspired to turn things around by a female reporter. I haven’t seen it yet, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s a better version of The Wrestler (2009). Bridges pretty much has this award in the bag and, of course, the dude abides.

George Clooney in Up in the Air- Clooney is very good in this film, but probably not good enough to win. This role isn’t Clooney’s best (Michael Clayton is), but it’s certainly Oscar worthy, although his performance gets a bit overshadowed by Anna Kendrick's.

Colin Firth in A Single Man- No real surprise to see that Firth got nominated for playing a gay man who plans on committing suicide to cope with the loss of his partner of 16 years who died in a car accident 8 months earlier.

Morgan Freeman in Invictus- When you’re handpicked by a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize to portray him on the silver screen you’re going to get nominated for an Oscar.

Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker- In this film Renner plays an American soldier in Iraq who seems de-sensitized to war despite his high pressure job of disarming bombs. His even keel, almost light-hearted way of going about him job is a bit perplexing, but it’s what gives the character depth. If I was Renner I’d probably write an acceptance speech, but I wouldn’t plan on giving it.

Which actor will win? Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
Which actor should win/am I rooting for? Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
Which actor am I rooting against? n/a


Best Actress

Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side- I’ve always had a thing for Sandra and I’m glad to see that she finally earned an Oscar nomination. How she wasn’t nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Speed (1994) is beyond me. Come Sunday, you can bet your bottom dollar that the 45 year old starlet will join the sacred sorority of Best Actress winners.

Helen Mirren in The Last Station- Mirren won this award for her role in The Queen (2006), so she shouldn’t expect to return to the podium anytime soon. In the past 40 years only Jodie Foster (’88 and ’91) and Hilary Swank (’99 and ’04) have won the award twice.

Carey Mulligan in An Education- I’m officially rooting against the 24 year old Mulligan solely based on the fact that she dates Shia LeBouf. I don’t want him to get anywhere near an Academy Award.

Gabourey Sidibe in Precious- If she wins (and she won’t), Sidibe would be only the second woman of African American descent to take home the prize. This means that Halle Berry, for her role in Monster’s Ball (2000), is the Jackie Robinson/Barack Obama of the award.

Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia- Is the Academy giving out legacy nominations now? This is kind of like Derek Jeter winning the AL Gold Glove last year even though he was nowhere close to being the best defensive shortstop in the American League.

Which actress will win? Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Which actress should win/am I rooting for? Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Which actress am I rooting against? Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia/Carey Mulligan in An Education


Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon in Invictus- I like Damon and have not seen the movie, but this is what ESPN.Com’s Bill Simmons wrote about it back in December.

"While watching Invictus, I had an idea during one of the few moments when I wasn't obsessing over the insanity of Matt Damon being cast as 6-foot-3 South African rugby legend Francois Pienaar. You know how Dwight Howard stands out on a basketball court? That was Pienaar on a rugby field. Six-3, built like granite, bowled over guys like Brandon Jacobs. Since Damon can't be taller than 5-9, they took one of the most imposing physical specimens in rugby history and eliminated the quality that made him memorable. It made as much sense as casting Damon as Dirk Nowitzki. Ah, screw it, he's an A-lister, we need him. ... We'll just make Nowitzki a point guard, nobody will notice. Sorry. I noticed. And couldn't get past it."

No way he wins, right?

Woody Harrelson in The Messenger- In this film, Harrelson plays an army officer who is responsible for notifying family members of those that have died in service to our country. I don’t think he’s going to win, but I’d definitely be okay with it if he did.

Christopher Plummer in The Last Station- The 80 year old Plummer garnered his first Academy Award nomination for his role as the Russian literary giant Leo Tolstoy in this film. In case you didn’t know (although you should), Tolstoy wrote War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones- Apparently Tucci gives a stirring performance as the neighborhood serial killer in The Lovely Bones, but his chances of winning are slim because the critics considered Peter Jackson’s film a flop.

Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds- Waltz has received rave reviews for his role as the terrifying and hilarious Col. Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's summer blockbuster and just about everybody projects him to win the award on Sunday.

Which actor will win? Christopher Waltz in Inglorious Basterds
Which actor should win/am I rooting for? Christopher Waltz in Inglorious Basterds
Which actor am I rooting against? Matt Damon in Invictus


Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz in Nine- Cruz won this award last year for her role in Woody Allen’s Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona (2008), but I don’t think she has much of a chance to repeat. This seems more like a token nomination to me.

Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air- She was good, but if she didn’t get a nomination in this category for her role in The Departed (2006) then she certainly doesn’t deserve one here.

Maggie Gyllenhall in Crazy Heart- Gyllenhall is slowly working her way into Drew Barrymore (a staple of my Hate List) territory. She’s unattractive and borderline annoying.

Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air- The best thing to come out of the teenager vampire craze was fantastic in this film. I literally couldn’t get enough of her performance, but I unfortunately don’t think the first time nominee is going to win.

Mo’Nique in Precious- I haven’t seen the movie, but apparently this comic turned actress was so awesomely destructive in this role that she pretty much already has this award on her mantel.

Which actress will win? Mo'Nique in Precious
Which actress should win? Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
Which actress am I rooting against? Maggie Gyllenhall in Crazy Heart

Netflix, Do it

Last week I finally signed up for Netflix and already I think it's one of the greatest decisions that I've ever made. If you don't already have an account do yourself a favor and get one as soon as possible.

In the past few weeks two of my best friends have all but praised Netflix, so I finally took their advice and signed up. Honestly, I don't know why a self proclaimed movie buff like myself didn't have an account sooner. Maybe it was my loyalty to the Blockbuster brand that held me off for this long. Last summer renting movies from Blockbuster was the method to my movie watching madness. My parents paid $20 a month and we got to rent two movies at a time. I went there so often that I was practically on a first name basis with the guy that worked there. By that I mean I knew that his name was Chris because he wore a name tag. He never asked me for my name, but it was clear that he recognized me based on my regular business.

That being said, Blockbuster is the past and Netflix is the future. For only $8.99 a month I can rent as many movies as time will allow. The number of movies I end up renting per month will be based on how quickly I watch the movies once I get them and how quickly the United States Postal Service sends them to and fro the Netflix warehouse closest to my apartment. Think about this for a minute. If you see a movie in theaters you're usually paying anywhere from $9-$11.50 (for yourself) and if you rent 2 movies from Blockbuster or Hollywood Video it usually costs about $8-$10. I figure that if I rent 3 movies from Netflix per month (I think I'll probably end up renting 7-8) I'll be saving money/getting a deal.

Now not only is Netflix convenient because I don't have to leave my apartment to rent movies, but they take care of all the shipping costs and there are no late fees. They send you a movie in the mail. You watch it and then send it back. Then they send you whatever movie you have selected next on your queue.

Which brings us to the online Netflix experience. Once you sign up for Netflix you get an online account/username what have you. On your account you create your queue, which is a list of the movies that you want to see. Like I said before, once you send Netflix a movie back in the mail they send you whatever you have next on your queue. Also on your account they have you rate movies that you've already seen and based on your ratings they offer suggestions (which are fairly accurate) of movies that you might like. The more movies that you rate the more accurate the suggestions.

As if Netflix couldn't get any better they offer hundreds of movies that you can view instantly online. Watching movies instantly does not affect your queue whatsoever.So far I've seen one movie that Netflix has sent me (and they've emailed me to tell me that another one is on the way) and three instantly online, which I'll breakdown right now.


1.) Casablanca (1942)



I've long heard that Casablanca (which I believe is Spanish for white house) is one of the greatest movies of all time, so it's been on my radar for a while. Sure it's in black and white, but it won the Oscar for Best Picture and it's routinely referenced on Jeopardy. Based on those two facts I needed to see it.

Even with these lofty expectations, I still thoroughly enjoyed the film. Humphrey Bogart is the absolute man. He's got that Don Draper cocky, cool, and confident quality to him. Also there's something about Ingrid Bergman. She must have been the lure of every man back in the '40's because she's still good looking even by today's standards.

Not only is the entire plot/conflict intriguing, but I could tell why a 23-year-old like me living in 2009 has seen/heard of the film's most memorable lines. For example, Bogart says, "Here's looking at you, kid" to Bergman a few times in the film and to me it was reminiscent of the late Patrick Swayze saying "ditto" (a word I despise by the way) to Demi Moore in Ghost (1990). Also the French Police Chief says, "Round up the usual suspects," which I must assume was the inspiration for the title of the 1995 film The Usual Suspects.


2.) Risky Business (1983)



In the film that helped launch his career into super stardom Tom Cruise plays a high schooler who's parents leave him alone in their house for a week. The entire movie is textbook '80's. In fact, it reminded me a little bit of another '80's cult favorite Weird Science (1985). In the film Cruise's character not only needs to find a boatload of cash to pay for the restoration of his father's Porsche (which ends up in the bottom of a lake), but he also gets into a sticky situation with the pimp of a hooker that he gets involved with. Somehow, someway he gets out of it all by running a brothel in his parent's house the night before they get back. Overall I didn't think too much of the movie, but if you like cheesy '80's plots then give it a whirl.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the movie is when Cruise's character sings Bob Segar's "Old Time Rock and Roll" while wearing tighty whities, socks, and a button up/down shirt. A quick aside- isn't it interesting that shirts of that nature can be called both button ups and button downs even though the words up and down are opposites? Quite frankly, I'm going to call them button downs from here on out because that is how I button them (from the top down). This scene has recently been reinvented with college basketball coaches and now Playboy Playmates in advertisements for Guitar Hero; however this is not what I find to be the scene's most egregious representation.





This outfit has become the default last minute Halloween/Party costume for both guys and girls alike. It's more played out than guys that dress up as Doug Funnie's alter ego Quail Man. While we're on the subject, it should be noted that a former roommate of mine once suggested that we throw a Tom Cruise theme party. This was back when theme parties were the cool thing to do (and maybe they still are, I don't know, I'm getting old). The idea was that people would come to the party dressed as their favorite Tom Cruise character (or favorite character from a Tom Cruise movie). Even though it was a great idea we never had the party, although if we ever did I knew exactly what I would have worn.







3.) Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)



The film swept the 1980 Academy Awards winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Writing for a Screenplay based on material from another medium, so I basically knew that I would have to see it eventually. The movie pitted Dustin Hoffman against Meryl Streep in a custody battle over their 7 year old son. Now if you want to see the movie (and I assume most of you don't) here's your spoiler alert.

Dustin Hoffman's character Ted works in advertising and when he comes home from work one day his wife, Meryl Streep's character, Joanna tells him that she's leaving him. At one point in the conversation, Ted asks her, "What about Billy (their son)?" and Joanna replies by saying that she's not fit to raise him at the moment. Ted holds out hope that Joanna is going to come back, but once weeks turn into months he starts to accept the fact that she isn't.

As the next year and a half go by we see Ted and Billy grow together as father and son. Naturally there are some rocky moments, but Ted makes the best of the situation and always puts Billy ahead of work/social life.

Then, out of nowhere, Joanna shows up and says that she wants Billy back. We find out that she went to California and "found a really good physciatrist" that helped her get her head on straight. She sues for custody and as you can tell by the name of the film it goes to court.

In the heat of the coutroom Ted's lawyer grills Joanna and makes her admit that 1.) she's been a failure in every relationship that she's ever had and 2.) Ted never hit her, cheated on her, drank alcohol in excess, or failed to provide for her or Billy.

Sure enough the judge rules in favor of Joanna which made me furrrrious. This broad packs up and leaves her husband for no good reason. She walks away from her 6 year old son without thinking twice. She goes to California to "find herself". Sees a physchiatrist. Comes back a year and a half later and demands to have custody of the very son that she walked out on? She's clearly not mentally stable, but the judge still rules in her favor? Are we serious??