South Dakota, Everyone

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Oscar Predix

Avatar will win best picture, because no, Hurt Locker won't, neither will Sandra Bullock Helps the Black People, neither will Jews in Trouble, neither will Disney Kills Old People, etc. etc.

You remember the last time a movie earned the most money ever, was directed by James Cameron and won? Well, it's gonna happen again. And get over it, 'cause Avatar was a good movie, mmmkay?

Kathryn Bigelow will win her directing Oscar. She won the DGA, end of story. They're not going to give it to her ex, since they didn't give it to him for his 'Fuck You Money" movie 13 years ago.

I think the best actor category is really a face-off between Jeff Bridges and Jeremy Renner. Not entirely sure though, because I haven't seen Crazy Heart yet. The buzz around Bridges is huge, so it's probably a good bet. They're not going to give it to Morgan Freeman. C'mon, are they really serious about him getting this nom when the main character in Rugby Cures Racism was played by Matt Damon?

Christoph Waltz will win best supporting actor for his turn in Inglourious Basterds. This is a fact, like photosynthesis. Sorry, Sir-in-Canada Christopher Plummer. Better luck next time.

Sandra Bullock will not win best actress for ending racism with sports, especially if Matt Damon won't win in that role, ESPECIALLY if Morgan Freeman won't win for playing Nelson Mandella. Except Bullock will win. Because the Academy sent us a message a few years ago that films the likes of Crash are high-caliber social commentary. They are very, very stupid, after all. Sorry to all the other nominees, but this is Bullock's year. I'll be sure to rent The Net to celebrate.

Really don't know who's winning best supporting actress. Haven't seen most of them yet. Vera Farmiga is very good in Up In The Air. But the Crazy Heart buzz may give it to Gyllenhaal.

Animated category's hard this year. I loved so much of it, but I especially loved Up, and Pixar's a good bet in any year, especially since, in the new expanded (and perfectly uselessly expanded) category, Up won't beat Avatar. So Up it is. As much as I love Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox, they're more niche market films, and we know how the Academy feels about those!

Film editing, cinematography and screenwriting must all go to Inglourious Basterds.

And frankly, it was the best film of 2009, period, and I will brook no argument on this. It's an extraordinary, extraordinary film.

In the Loop should win adapted screenplay, but Up In The Air will win, which is ok, because it's awesome, and Jason Reitman deserves a screenplay award for writing this wonderful movie.

All that scribbling here, but really, this is Avatar's year, because in case you haven't noticed, Hollywood needs money too, right now, and Avatar will bring it in like Tolkien did seven years ago. Avatar will win every fx category there is, for all its animation and 3-d layering. So be it. It was a good movie.

Always Wanted This

Q. I've read enough of your writing to gather that you admire, or did admire at one time, the film "Pink Floyd - The Wall." This is one of my all-time favorite films, and you are my all-time favorite film writer. I've read enough of your reviews and commentary to pick up on multiple references to this film, always positive, but have never read your actual full length review of the film. I assume there must be one. Maybe there isn't. I can't find it on IMDb.com or your own website.
Paul Apel

A. I did and do love it. I have no idea why I didn't review it at the time. It has been chosen for opening night of Ebertfest 2010, and between now and then I plan to write a Great Movie piece about it.

- Ebert's Answerman Column

It was, and remains, an extraordinary movie:

An Example...

....of a producer whom I would not normally find myself in a position to play, but still find very, very interesting, and of course, very good. Tricky, unique production technique here:



Major Lazer - When You Hear the Bassline (Tony Senghore mix)

It's Dutch, Bitch

Rogerseventytwo - Imagination

Oh Bother

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Remember this, from last week? Well, it turns out strapping them down Alex-the-Droog isn't the worst advice, because apparently their entire careers are dependent on their collective amnesia and the amnesia of their followers. Christ on a melting cap.

Required Viewing

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Every single one of these unbelievably addlepated nitwits who've been repeating this meme ought to be forced droog-in-a-chair to watch this clip and get goddamned real.

The stupidity of these people would just be funny if it weren't so predatory.

But It's Ok

When Lynch Met Lucas from Sascha Ciezata on Vimeo.

(Via)

Idiocracy

Every two months or so she comes back. People start acting like she has a chance. I don't know, maybe she does. I still doubt it.

My family is in lockstep with comparing Obama to Latin-American dictators. They believe everything they hear on the radio and on Fox News. They think Obama's going to raise the taxes on people's retirement funds (since they heard this on the radio, it's probably complete bullshit).

He may well have to, though. And if that happens, I'm not crying for anyone in my family who voted for two criminal presidents starting in 1968, and supported policies since then that have driven up the deficit and rammed our economy into oblivion. Not crying for any of you who did that. If you really believe in limited government, vote like it. You never, ever have, and in my most extreme moments, when I look at the likelihood of retiring with any sort of benefits myself, I gotta say, I don't care if they tax you into the stone-age. You break it, you bought it.

'Course, you could support a policy of raising the tax-rate for the wealthy back up to a pre-Reagan 70%. Deficit fixed, debt paid down, well before the middle-age of us millenials.

But we won't. And Obama won't. Because he's a radical socialist(?).

And they may have to raise your taxes, your never-ending Obama temper-tantrum notwithstanding.

Good luck with your Alaskan horrorshow.

Oh, For the Love of Beagles

Today at the Daily Dish:

Stay Classy, Rush

The now Miss America judge said this to Gretchen Carlson:

I love women. I don’t know where all this got started. I love the women’s movement — especially when walking behind it.

Again: imagine Reagan saying something like that. You can't, can you?


Love your writing, Sully, even though your Reagan-crush blinds you, sometimes:

...But the reverse is true. Each year the need grows greater; the program grows greater. We were told four years ago that 17 million people went to bed hungry each night. Well that was probably true. They were all on a diet.

- Ronald Reagan - A Time For Choosing (Speech 1964)

University of &$#*&$

I don't agree with a lot of this, but holy shit it's funny (and great film criticism).

(Hat Tip: Nastinchka)

Squeee

Our President, Consitutional Scholar

Article II, Section 3

"He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."

First, it's not only allowed that the president would give his views on the 3rd branch's ruling, it is a constitutional requirement, if he feels it needs consideration by Congress...

-Excellent letter to Glenn Greenwald, response to his excellent entry today.


















More context here.

In Other, Happier Posts

Grum is awesome. That is all



(via Too Many Sebastians)

With This One.....

I don't want to get philosophical. I don't want to try and wade through finer points of the law.

It's simple: Abortion is legal, and shooting doctors point-blank in church is first degree murder.

Any other judicial consideration of that crime is enabling the murder of conscious, feeling human beings, who, along with their loved ones, are capable of suffering.

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These conservatives are lawless.

*Fnarp*

(via IamFakeBlood)

Blech-quiem.

From reader reactions at The Dish:

I was looking at the tally a few minutes ago, and it looks like Brown won by 100,000 votes. 100,000 people get to derail the possibility of health insurance for 40 million? In a state where they have already passed this same reform? How does that make any sense at all? The states represented by Democrats in the Senate have populations that vastly outnumber those represented by Republicans. They need to represent us.

Health-care reform is a bastardized gift to private insurers. I dunno, maybe this is for the best, somehow.

If they're gonna call y'all a bunch of pinko socialists and (GASP) liberals, might as well push for single payer and a repeal of DADT. Just sayin', cowards.

Addendum:

All that said, and as horrible as the Democrats have been all year, the most amazing -- and depressing -- aspect of all of this is how Americans have so quickly forgotten how thoroughly the Republicans, during their eight-year reign, destroyed the country. Whatever the source of our national woes are, re-empowering that faction cannot possibly be the answer to anything.

Subhuman Garbage

You may have heard that Rush Limbaugh said some stupid, hateful shit about Haiti and how Obama blah blah blah. I never, ever listen to Limbaugh, so I, like most of you, I assume, only ever hear about the worst of the worse things that come out of his mouth. His most recent comments take the cake.

Many people on the left, like Olbermann, have said their piece (I have yet to hear anybody whatsoever on the right condemn Limbaugh).

None comes close in their rejoinders to Roger Ebert. It occurs to me, the two have at least one thing in common. They both have wide audiences. Limbaugh has millions of listeners a day, and Ebert has perhaps that many readers and fans. The differences start after that. One encourages, inspires, and nurtures a journey towards clearer, more mature discernment of nearly all things. The other takes direct advantage of the base ignorance of his following. One can be enjoyed by the illiterate. The other, well:

To: Rush Limbaugh
From: Roger Ebert

You should be horse-whipped for the insult you have paid to the highest office of our nation.

Having followed President Obama's suggestion and donated money to the Red Cross for relief in Haiti, I was offended to hear you suggest the President might be a thief capable of stealing money intended for the earthquake victims.

Here is a transcript from your program on Thursday:

Justin of Raleigh, North Carolina: "Why does Obama say if you want to donate some money, you could go to whitehouse.gov to direct you how to do so? If I wanted to donate to the Red Cross, why do I have to go to the White House page to donate?"

Limbaugh: "Exactly. Would you trust the money's gonna go to Haiti?"

Justin: "No."

Rush: "But would you trust that your name's gonna end up on a mailing list for the Obama people to start asking you for campaign donations for him and other causes?"

Justin: "Absolutely!"

Limbaugh: "Absolutely!"


That's what was said.

Unlike you and Justin of Raleigh, I went to Obama's web site, and discovered the link there leads directly to the Red Cross. I can think of a reason why anyone might want to go via the White House. That way they can be absolutely sure they're clicking on the Red Cross and not a fake site set up to exploit the tragedy.

But let me be sure I have this right. You and Justin agree that Obama might steal money intended for the Red Cross to help the wretched of Haiti.

This conversation came 48 hours after many of us had seen pitiful sights from Port au Prince. Tens of thousands are believed still alive beneath the rubble. You twisted their suffering into an opportunity to demean the character of the President of the United States.

This cannot have been an accident. A day earlier, a sound bite from your show went viral, in which you said Obama would exploit the situation to please his "black followers -- both the light-skinned and the dark-skinned ones."

Sen. Harry Reid made his careless comment thoughtlessly. Yours must have came after some thought. A one-liner in code to please your listeners who enjoy hearing African-Americans discussed in racist language. Yes, racist -- as anyone living in this country must realize.

You have a sizable listening audience. You apparently know how to please them. Anybody given a $400 million contract must know what he is doing.

That's what offends me. You know exactly what you're doing.

Just The Facts, Ma'am.

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There are things worth griping about with this presidency. But lately, all I've been hearing is Republican talk, everywhere, and it attempts to obscure the facts.

What Decade Is It?

Ali Love - Love Harder



This should be on the radio, on the teevee, everywhere.

Damn sexy.

(hopefully out before Valentine's Day Versus set)