SleepingPoliceman

IMDB.com: Oscar nominations

I had no idea that anyone gave a shit about The Reader…that taking the place of The Dark Knight is the other big surprise for me. Not that I think TDK needed to be nominated…I just sort of thought it would be, despite all the backlash. I would have liked to see The Wrestler get a nod too. I’ll have to wait until I see The Reader, Frost/Nixon and Milk before I decide which ones needed to be booted for the two guys in tights.

The other immediate craziness: no nomination for Springsteen. I’m fine with that, since he won for Philadelphia. I respect the man, but don’t really care about him. Nevertheless, I figured that he would get some love. Slumdog is great, but two songs from it? Whatever, the good part in all that is hopefully this creates a clear path for my boy Peter to win a statue.

Good to see the Downey love, even though on the whole Tropic Thunder was a letdown for me.

This year’s Norbitaward: the DVDs for Wanted can now tout is an Oscar nominated picture. Huh.

My unofficial early predictions after the jump.

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So watching the Oscars the other night reminded me of two things. One, I need to finish my 2007 In Music posts so I can get out my 2007 in Movies posts. I probably won’t be done with reviewing 2007 until March 2008 begins. Uncalled for.

Two, something that’s been bothering me for a while. They did a little montage…well, many little montages, actually, but this one in particular. It was a montage of all the Best Picture winners. It ended, of course, with 2006’s The Departed. Which was a phenomenal movie, and is I assume generally considered to be pretty great.

But I’ve heard some chatter, mainly from The Sports Guy, that Nicholson’s performance in that movie is considered awful. There’s never really any further exposition about why it’s awful…just that he did a horrible job and brings down the whole movie.

Uhhhh…what? Really? I’ve seen the movie a handful of times, even once with this vague criticism fresh in my mind. And, frankly, I don’t get it. I’m not saying it’s the best performance he’s ever turned in. I’m not saying his Boston accent isn’t hellishly forced from time to time. And I’m not saying that it’s everything you possibly could have dreamed it might be when you heard that Scorcese was finally directing Jack. But…it’s a perfectly credible performance, with some great moments. He very rarely ends up looking like the over-the-top maniacal caricature of himself that he can sometimes resort to…and when he does (most obviously when he makes the rat face in the closed restaurant when questioning DiCaprio), it makes sense in the context of the movie as Costello is totally falling apart.

So I turn it over to you, dear readers: what gives? Where’s the negative energy? Is it people pissed that Jack wouldn’t wear a Sox hat in the movie because he loves the Yankees so much? Is it Simmons-heads dittoing away at whatever the BSG tells them? Is it just that some people are sick of Nich…olson? Teach me, people. Teach me.

“Did you hear about Heath Ledger?” My mother has a way of introducing subjects that let you know exactly where they’re going…she’s like a walking inadvertent headline writer. As soon as she said that in a particular tone, I knew she wasn’t talking about an arrest or a bad interview or a sudden appearance at a club with Britney. Before she got her next sentence out, I knew we were talking death. And I then had an immediate and visceral response:

What does this mean for the Batman movies?

I’ve never been supremely overly affected by a celebrity death. I was 2 when Lennon died, and by the time George passed, he had been sick for a while and everyone knew it was coming. I didn’t really start liking Nirvana until after Cobain committed suicide, so that day was more thinking about other people who care and less about caring myself. I also hadn’t really started loving the music of Kevin Gilbert or Elliott Smith when they died. The most distraught a celebrity death ever made me was probably when Phil Hartman was killed…that one still would be “too soon” for me if I was playing a game of Celebrity Dinner.

And I can’t say that I’m supremely touched or emotional about the loss of Heath Ledger. He was a damn good actor, and I never heard anything bad about him. It sucks that he died (for whatever reason it turns out he did, whether it’s accidental OD, intentional OD, pneumonia, whatever), and it especially sucks that he left behind a young daughter. Any loss of human life, especially at an early age, is an unfortunate, self-contained tragedy. Godspeed to him on whatever journey he undertakes on the other side. I feel bad that he’s gone. But, you know…not really, soul-chillingly bad.

But…but…OK, I won’t lie that I’ve worried about confronting this before. I spent the first half of this decade secretly terrified that someone integral to the Star Wars movies would croak before they were done. Ewan could spin out on his bike and not be able to complete Episode III. Anthony Daniels could have a stroke before recording all of 3PO’s lines (and the ensuing commercials). Lucas himself could drop the coil. John Williams was my always number 1 fear…he’s not super-old, but he’s not young either, and I could just imagine a despondent Lucas giving an interview to Bill Moyers, saying, “Johnny stopped in the doorway and he pointed at his head and said, ‘George, I have the final theme for you – it’s all up here.’ Then he walked out, and that was the last time I ever saw him. We just cobbled together outtakes from the Special Edition Ewok song to fill the space.”

In other words, yes, when considering the possible death of another human being, I placed the fear that a piece of fluffy celluloid entertainment that I wanted to see might somehow be compromised over the value of the life in question. And now I’m doing it again, but not in a hypothetical situation. It’s Holyfield, and important questions need to be answered: was he finished with filming The Dark Knight? If so, had he done what he needed to do in post-production?* If there have to be reshoots before the June release, what will they do to get new footage? And what if the Joker was supposed to still be around in the third movie…will they recast? Will they do some weird Livia Soprano CGI thing? Will they re-write the whole tale and take the Joker out of chapter 3? If so, what will we be missing by not having the greatest character in this particular universe involved in the story?

These are the things that concern me. Those things, and the fact that I’m a horrible, self-centered human being for caring about a movie instead of someone’s life. But in my defense…the movie looks really good.

R.I.P., Mr. Ledger. I apologize on behalf of my twisted priorities.

*Apparently, Harry Knowles says yes to both of those first two questions. In case you, too, were worried about such things…you savages.

Vegas was great. LOVE was amazing. Details forthcoming. For now, though, it’s time to focus on this:

GameSpot: Ghostbusters to slime consoles, PC

Wow. Monumental. I…don’t know what to say. The next gen consoles meeting one of the greatest films of all time. This will either be the greatest thing that’s happened in the past decade…or the worst.

Do I read correctly that there was a plan of this being a movie, but instead they’re making it a game? Or is that implication just clunky writing on the part of the GameSpot scribe? And what kind of game will this be? A shooter? An RPG? Action-adventure? Will this be the final revelation of the alleged GB3 plot where the Ghostbusters go to hell?

I don’t know. What I do know is that Bill Murray is involved, which I would have never thought possible. Maybe selling his soul for those two Garfield movies did have an unsuspected side benefit. As long as Winston and Louis are around too, and they include proton packs and Ecto 1 and Slimer…the circle will be complete. And I’ll have a nerd-out the likes of which have rarely been seen outside of theaters showing long-awaited Lucasfilm pre-/se-quels.

For now we just have to hope the story and the gameplay are well designed, well integrated and well worth the anticipation that is bubbling over within me. They have a high standard to top…very high indeed.

Assuming that Shia LaBeouf wasn’t just telling a lame joke that didn’t make anyone laugh, the title for the fourth Indy movie was announced tonight. (Or at least was broadcast tonight…when do they do the show, anyway? Is it still live? I don’t know anything anymore.) Anyway, the title:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Well. I see. I’m going to agree with Rob’s reaction and say, “Huh. Well, Attack Of The Clones sounded weird to me too at the time.” (Note: for those people out there that hated the prequels and are desperately afraid that Indy IV will be as bad as they were, this will not be an encouraging reaction.)

My main concern with it is this: it sounds a lot more like Temple of Doom than anything else. And I think we all know that Doom, while having some awesome banter and set pieces, is the weakest of the trilogy. (If you disagree, you’re wrong. Seriously, flat out wrong. Don’t bother arguing. Your arguments will go unheeded. La la la la la la la la.) And the reason it was the weakest of the trilogy? They strayed away from the basic plot of, “adventurous archaeologist searches for items from Judeo-Christian mythology while fighting the Nazis.” Instead, the plot seemed to be more, “adventurous archaeologist, unnecessary sidekick and an annoying woman search for magic potato rocks while fighting weird foreign brown people.” (Hey, I love the movies, but they do basically classify all the people in India as weird foreign brown people.)

So now we have a title that talks about a crystal skull…now, I might have to re-read Deuteronomy, but I don’t think that’s Biblical. And we know Mr. Shaker Heights is going to be Indiana’s sidekick, and that any sidekick can be annoying. And we further know that the movie is set in the 1950’s, so the Nazi angle is likely out the window. So let’s just say that, while I will be there on opening day, I’m expecting this to be more Doom and less Crusade. Let’s hope it’s not too much worse than Doom.

And now I want to hear no more spoilers about it. They, too, will go unheeded. La la la la la la la la.

edit: and to blatantly discuss disposable pop culture, Britney looked all right tonight body-wise, but awful performance-wise. Sure, she was lip-synching…but she did it as if she had only heard the song once before. And danced as if she was getting instructions through her Time-Life microphone.

As for even more disposable pop culture, I now think Lacey might take it all the way home. And, I’m not gonna lie…that doesn’t turn me on.

1. boston.com: Friendly sold to buyout firm in $337m deal

Wait…this doesn’t mean that Friendly’s will close, does it? Where will I go to get a peanut butter cup Friend-Z, and then vomit afterwards? Where will I get a band aid with my ice cream? What restaurants will we close down due to disease outbreaks?

Just kidding, Friendly’s…P.T. still loves you. Please don’t close.

2. AICN: Watchmen casting

Looks like Manlio and I were on to something with the Jude Law thing. I don’t know who Patrick Wilson is, but Jackie Earle Haley definitely could work as Rorschach. And I couldn’t be happier that Keanu Reeves “priced himself out” of this production. Ted as Dr. Manhattan? No thanks. Plus, it leads to the inevitable Speed 2 jokes if they really go with Jason Patric. (And I think I speak for Manlio when I say: CGI! CGI!”)

3. boston.com: Many sex offenders end up at shelters

But sex offenders released from prison often find themselves boxed out from housing. Gerard Theriault, for example, was forced out of a homeless shelter.

After living for more than a year in the basement of St. Paul’s Church, the 64-year-old pedophile returned to the Dorchester shelter one day in February and was told he had to leave, immediately.

The Archdiocese of Boston had decided it would no longer allow sex offenders like Theriault, who spent five years in prison for molesting a child, to stay at the shelter, which the Pine Street Inn has run for 20 years.

The irony is palpable. Palpable.

This is a list of things that I’m not allowed to purchase again:

1. The original Star Wars trilogy.

2. Genesis’ albums from 1976-1982.

The reason I’m not allowed to purchase them is because I now own them multiple times over. As in I have the SW films twice on VHS, twice on official DVDs, and twice on burnt-from-laser-discs DVDr. (Thanks, jz.) The Genesis albums I have on vinyl, cassette, regular CD, remastered CD…and now on a remixed and 5.1-ed up CD/DVD package, thanks to the new box set I just bought today.

If these things get re-released in shiny new packaging (or crappy new packaging) and with some sort of new technical development, I feel compelled to buy them. It’s a sickness. And I need to quit cold turkey.

(Note: I did not include the other Genesis albums on this list, because I will inevitably buy the other two box sets when they are released. A sickness.)

In my continuing quest to motivate myself to write more often and regularly, I have teamed up with my friend Carmen (who’s a guy, even though his name is Carmen, and no one else in the world is named Carmen and isn’t a girl…it’s messed up, I know. I also know a girl named Collin, but that’s neither here nor there nor in between) to have frequent “Writer’s Meetings.” These Writer’s Meetings are designed to be times for the two of us to bring in recent work, share it with each other, critique, offer suggestions, and assign homework-esque tasks to ensure we both keep writing.

The structure is brilliant. The execution, however, is not. What normally happens is we get together, we say, “Have you written anything?” “No…you?” “Not really.” Then we go get food somewhere, bitch about things that annoy us, swap funny stories, and then say that next time, we’ll actually have some real work done. Lather, rinse, etc.

But this time we’re really rededicating ourselves. OK, OK…dedicating ourselves. So Carmen swung by Monday evening, we got in the car and headed to a local establishment that has quiet tables (along with food and beverages…since, you know, we aren’t machines). We had writing pads and lists of ideas and plans for what it was we wanted to accomplish, in this meeting, in this week, and in the next few months. The pieces were in place.

Then, on the way to our destination, we drove by Palmer Video on Broadway in Somerville, and saw they were having a going out of business sale. Last day before closing, DVDs were $5 each. Everything must go. So we went. And spent the evening hunting and gathering our way through the corpse of a once-thriving video store. I mean…you can’t turn this opportunity down, can you?

More after the jump.

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One post, two subjects. First off, I’ve been horribly neglectful of a friend, and want to throw a shout-out his way. My friend Pete (who was in the illustrious Without A Net improv group with me in college) is spending a few months living in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. He’s been talking about doing something like this since college, and the talk ramped up over the years until now, finally, he’s all rock. He’s documenting his adventures on his new blog.

The updates are somewhat sporadic, but still quality. Check it out if you think you’ll be interested, or if you want to kill a little more time at work. And don’t hold it against him if he starts talking about being a Yankee fan…he’s still a nice guy, he just was raised in the wrong environment. (Note: southwestern Connecticut = the wrong environment.)

That was Part I. Part II:

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(Note: this is not a commentary on the political developments of the day. But you should probably all know about the stuff that’s going down…check jz’s post below for some news stories.)

I’m doing my best to not harp on the broken computer thing, but I will say that not having internet access at home has led me to fall behind on some important things. One of those would be checking out other people’s blogs. Which explains how I missed this blog post from Manlio about Watchmen. As he warns in that post, this is a pretty nerdy discussion that will only really matter for people who have read the books. Be warned otherwise.

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