Care To Place Your Bet?

Will Saddam actually be put to death?

Taxicab Confessions

Bravo has hailed "Taxicab Confessions," the latest HBO series to find a cable home in the syndication market. The channel is acquiring nine episodes of "Taxicab," a racy, unscripted hidden-camera series in which real-life taxi passengers share the skeletons in their closet with the drivers. Bravo is dispatching the episodes in late-night blocks beginning Friday (12/29), including a New Year's Eve marathon.

Never A Dull Moment

Wondering what to do to keep the kiddo's busy while traveling? Or, that pesky passenger?
Click Here you will definitely thank me for finding this!!!!

Happy Mac Owner

Well, this is certainly a handy tip! I always wondered how to do this!!

Macworld has posted a handy, simple tip for minimizing every open window from one application in one swift click of the mouse: just hold your Option key when clicking the minimize button on one of the windows.

This probably won't be the most groundbreaking shortcut you learned this year, but this is the kind of shortcut that, when integrated with your workflow, will start to save you a little time. If you want to marvel at the beauty of the synchronized minimize, try holding Option-Shift and then clicking minimize.

Lost No More?

Rumors swirling that Ana-Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez) is returning to Lost.

No Wii For Me

Some other chicks name got pulled. Damn.

Dirt

Not getting awesome buzz, but don't forget that it airs 1/2. If you're going out of town, set your TiVo's now!

The Advocate's Top Tens

No pretension here...

Film

1. The Devil Wears Prada
2. Little Miss Sunshine
3. Quinceanera
4. Shortbus
5. The Queen
6. Dreamgirls
7. Volver
8. An Inconvenient Truth
9. Borat
10. Another Gay Movie

TV

1. Ugly Betty
2. Project Runway
3. The Daily Show
4. The Office
5. Real Time with Bill Maher
6. South Park
7. America's Next Top Model
8. The L Word
9. Work Out
10. Colbert Report

Music

1. Justin Timberlake
2. Beck
3. Dixie Chicks
4. Indigo Girls
5. Scissor Sisters
6. k.d.lang
7. Goldfrapp
8. Fergie
9. Christina Aguilera
10. Grizzly Bear

Last-Minute Gift Ideas

In case you have any last-minute shopping needs... I bring you.... Tampon Crafts

Trump v Rosie

Wow! This is getting uuuuugly!!!!

AllofMP3 Being Sued

Several major record labels sued the operator of the Russian music Web site AllofMP3.com on Wednesday, claiming the company has been profiting by selling copies of music without their permission. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York against Moscow-based Mediaservices, which owns AllofMP3 and another music site, allTunes.com.

A slate of major record labels, including Arista Records LLC, Warner Bros. Records Inc., Capitol Records Inc. and UMG Recordings Inc., are behind the lawsuit. The labels claim Mediaservices' sites sell millions of songs by their artists without paying them "a dime" for the right to do so. "Defendant's entire business ... amounts to nothing more than a massive infringement of plaintiffs' exclusive rights under the Copyright Act and New York law," according to the lawsuit. The music companies are seeking a court order against Mediaservices and unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

A call and an e-mail seeking comment from the Washington D.C.-based spokesman for Mediaservices were not immediately returned. AllofMP3 typically charges under $1 for an entire album and just cents per track. By contrast, an album at Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store and other licensed services typically costs about $10 and a song 99 cents. Mediaservices has maintained that by paying royalties to a Russian licensing group, the Web site is in compliance with Russian laws. The music industry contends that the Russian licensing group doesn't have the authority to collect and distribute royalties. This fall, Visa International and MasterCard Inc. stopped accepting credit card transactions for purchases made at Mediaservices' sites.

Earlier this year, the British Phonographic Industry filed copyright infringement claims against Mediaservices in Britain on behalf of the major recording companies.

Trump and Miss USA

Why do you think he gave her a second chance after fucking boys, fucking girls, doing coke, getting wasted, etc?

My guess? Because The Trump fucked her and did coke with her. That's my theory, and I haven't heard it anywhere else, but it seems to me that it's the only way he would give her a second chance. To save his own hide.

Onion AV Club Weighs in on 2006

Best Films:

1. Children of Men
2. United 93
3. The Departed
4. Brick
5. A Prairie Home Companion
6. Half Nelson
7. The Prestige
8. Pan's Labrynth
9. Letters From Iwo Jima
10. The Devil And Daniel Johnston

All the critics get there say over at: http://www.avclub.com/content/node/56789

Christmas Carol Trivia

I got 84% correct. Take the quiz and report your results!

Wiiiiiiiiiiiii

So yeah, I qualified to win a Wii. Synch your clocks and join me at 8:00am EST on Friday and pray they draw my name!

New Years Eve

What is everyone doing?

I'm still plan-less. Kind of like Bush in Iraq.

Alien

The impetus for the listening tour was the release last week of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group's 79 recommendations for policy and goal changes, which coincided with a CBS poll that said only 21% of the public shares the president's "stay the course" policies in Iraq. This is roughly the same percentage of the public that, in another poll, said it believes crop circles are caused by UFOs.

[Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

The Return of Courtney Love

Train Wreck.

This woman, as much as I love her, is a nut. I have no other comment.

Catch it on VH-1 to see for yourself.

Devil Wears Prada

Somehow Meryl Streep managed to make that horrible woman into a real person. There were a number of scenes, really quiet ones, that completely blew me away. And it's because I had no idea I would actually feel something for this condescending bitch. She is so quiet throughout most the movie, but what she says is so over the top and nasty. This is great acting, and I almost think she deserves to win Best Actress for this. But I still have to see The Queen and Volver.

Lost Back Sooner Rather Than Later?

Word is ABC is in a bind for Wednesdays. Daybreak is cancelled. They are airing reruns of The Worst Sitcom Ever... I mean, According to Jim, in its place. And they are desperate to get Lost back.

This could be great news, considering it's currently scheduled to come back in, like, 2009.

Lost Sneak Peeks

Whee!!!! This is fun!!! Go check out these promo clips over on You Tube.

First Lady Has Growth Removed

Do they mean that dude she stands next to?

sigh... if it were only so easy......

Las Vegas Film Critics

Best Picture
The Departed

Best Actor
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Best Actress
Helen Mirren, The Queen

Best Supporting Actor
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted)
Jason Reitman, Thank You For Smoking

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, Children of Men

Best Film Editing
Thelma Schoonmaker, The Departed

Best Score
Thomas Newman, The Good German

Best Song
Ordinary Miracle, David Stewart and Glen Ballard, Charlotte’s Web
Performed by Sarah McLachlan

Best Family Film
Charlotte’s Web

Best Documentary
An Inconvenient Truth

Best Animated Film
Monster House

Best Foreign Film
Pan’s Labyrinth

Best Costume Design
Marie Antoinette

Best Art Direction
Marie Antoinette

Best Visual Effects
X-Men: The Last Stand"

Youth in Film Award
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine

Best DVD (Packaging, Design and Content)
Superman Ultimate Collectors Edition (Warner Home Entertainment)

William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award
Peter O’Toole

LVFCS Top Ten Films for 2006
Letters From Iwo Jima
The Departed
Babel
United 93
Dreamgirls
Blood Diamond
Thank You For Smoking
Perfume
The Queen
Flags of Our Fathers

London Film Critics Nomination

The Attenborough Award, British Film of the Year

Children of Men directed by Alfonso Cuaron
The Queen directed by Stephen Frears
Red Road directed by Andrea Arnold
The Last King of Scotland directed by Kevin Macdonald
The Wind That Shakes the Barley directed by Ken Loach

Film of the Year

The Departed directed by Martin Scorsese
Little Miss Sunshine directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris Volver directed by Pedro Almodovar
United 93 directed by Paul Greengrass
The Queen directed by Stephen Frears

British Producer of the Year

Paul Greengrass, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner - United 93
Al Clark, Ken Marshall, Rachel Robey, Paul Andrew Williams - London to Brighton
Lisa Bryer, Andrea Calderwood, Charles Steel - The Last King of Scotland
Rebecca O’Brien - The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Graham King – The Departed

Screenwriter of the Year

Peter Morgan - The Queen
Noah Baumbach - The Squid and the Whale
Guillermo del Toro - Pan’s Labyrinth
Dan Futterman – Capote
Michael Arndt - Little Miss Sunshine

British Newcomer of the Year

Andrea Arnold - writer/director, Red Road
Paul Andrew Williams - writer/director, London to Brighton
Jodie Whittaker - actress, Venus
Clare-Hope Ashitey - actress, Children of Men
Rebecca Hall - actress, The Prestige

British Actress of the year in support

Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada
Emma Thompson - Stranger Than Fiction
Juliet Stevenson – Pierrepoint
Emily Watson - The Proposition
Helen McCrory - The Queen

British Actor of the year in support

Eddie Marsan – Pierrepoint
Michael Caine - The Prestige
Bill Nighy - Notes on a Scandal
Leslie Phillips – Venus
Dominic Cooper - The History Boys

British Actress of the Year

Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Kate Winslett - Little Children
Loraine Stanley - London to Brighton
Kate Dickie - Red Road

British Actor of the Year

Sacha Baron Cohen – Borat
Toby Jones – Infamous
Timothy Spall – Pierrepoint
James McAvoy - The Last King of Scotland
Christian Bale - The Prestige

British Director of the Year

Andrea Arnold - Red Road
Stephen Frears - The Queen
Christopher Nolan - The Prestige
Kevin Macdonald - The Last King of Scotland
Ken Loach - The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Foreign Language Film of the Year

L’Enfant directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
The Death of Mr Lazarescu directed by Cristi Piuiu
Volver directed by Pedro Almodovar
Pan’s Labyrinth directed by Guillermo del Toro
Black Book directed by Paul Verhoeven
Apolcalypto directed by Mel Gibson

Actress of the Year

Helen Mirren - The Queen
Penelope Cruz – Volver
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada
Joan Allen - The Upside of Anger

Actor of the Year

Jeff Daniels - The Squid and the Whale
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Capote
Richard Griffiths - The History Boys
David Strathairn - Goodnight, and Good Luck
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland

Director of the Year

Guillermo del Toro - Pan’s Labyrinth
Pedro Almodovar – Volver
Paul Greengrass - United 93
Martin Scorsese - The Departed
Alfonso Cuaron - Children of Men

Variety has a great Oscar rundown... past and present

JOE MORGENSTERN
Film critic for the Wall Street Journal
Best: "Lord of the Rings." What I realized when I saw that movie was that this is what the movies can do; they can create worlds and create audiences to visit those worlds. It was a genuine event. At a time when so many productions are pitifully impoverished, here Peter Jackson just arrayed every technique known to moviemaking man.
Worst: Uppermost in my mind is the bogus uplift of "Forrest Gump," especially in a year when the alternatives were "Pulp Fiction," "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Quiz Show." "The English Patient" was right down there, too -- it seemed an example of the bogus literary quality that the Academy sometimes goes for. And I defer to no one in my admiration for Bertolucci, but "The Last Emperor" was pretty vapid.
Overlooked: "Out of Sight." It's an Altmanesque movie, with that quicksilver quality. It's alive and mercurial, ironic and romantic. That 15-minute scene at the top of the motel in Detroit is one of the most beautiful things I've seen.
This year: It doesn't feel like a great year, though I was a great admirer of "The Departed," or most of it, and the Algerian film "Days of Glory" was suberb.

MOLLY HASKELL
Film scholar, author and co-host of Turner Classic Movies' "The Essentials"
Best: "Unforgiven," "Silence of the Lambs." It's interesting not just that they're genre films, but also that they're very dark, especially "Silence." Genre films usually don't win because they're not obvious or ambitious enough for the Oscars. But that's what makes them appealing, of course.
Worst: "Forrest Gump," "Braveheart." "Braveheart" was just a lot of noise about nothing. And "Gump" was the worst kind of crowdpleaser in that it just pandered to the audience.
Overlooked: "The Grifters" is a genre movie that really crosses over between pulp and elegance. "Empire of the Sun" I still think is Spielberg's best film. And I can see why "Leaving Las Vegas" didn't win; it's so dark and, to some people, depressing, though not to me.
This year: One of my favorites is "Volver," as well as "Blood Diamond," "Casino Royale" and "Notes on a Scandal." I think with the exception of "Dreamgirls" (not one of my favorites) all the front-runners are incredibly violent and male-oriented, and I wonder if films that don't interest female audiences can win Oscars. "The Departed" is very violent but heartbreaking, too. Nor is "The Queen" precisely a feel-good movie, that ultimate critical put-down. I detest "Borat," which offends almost everyone -- everyone except savvy condescending liberals.

RICHARD SCHICKEL
Author and film critic for Time magazine
Best: "Unforgiven, "Schindler's List." "Unforgiven" is one of the very best Westerns ever made, and has a really interesting mix of characters. In a certain sense, it's almost a modernist Western, with a rich panoply of mixed motives. And like "Unforgiven" could have just been a Western, "Schindler's List" could have just been a moral drama. But it has real life in the characters.
Worst: It's a long list. I'm not big on "Lord of the Rings," "Braveheart" or "The English Patient." A lot of these are so predictably right-thinking. There's nothing objectionable about the point of view they express, but they're just uninteresting movies.
Overlooked: I loved "Secrets and Lies," which was just a terrific movie, but we knew it wasn't going to win. And nothing against "Million Dollar Baby," but "The Aviator" was a genuine epic.
This year: It's a hard year to predict. I do think "The Departed" is a superb movie. "The Queen" is awfully good, as is "Flags of Our Fathers," which I think has been very misunderstood.

JOHN ANDERSON
Critic for Newsday and Daily Variety
Best: "Silence of the Lambs." It just holds up so well. You could argue that it's almost a police procedural, but it's been tweaked.
Worst: "Crash." I really hated "Crash"; it was pretty much the "yeah, no shit" movie of all time.
Overlooked: "Topsy-Turvy" should have won everything; it's one of the best movies I've ever seen, although 1999 was a strange year in that very few of the nominated films have had an afterlife. I don't think people even think about them much now; they don't resonate. That same year you also had "Being John Malkovich" and "Election" -- those were great movies.
This year: People are talking seriously about "Little Miss Sunshine" getting Oscar attention, and if all the tentpole movies hadn't crashed and burned the way they did, people wouldn't even be considering it. The only one that seems a shoo-in for a nomination would be "The Queen."

Xanadu: The Musical

Coming to Broadway. May 2007. Yes.

Writer's Guild TV Noms

The Writer's Guild has got some damn good taste.

DRAMATIC SERIES
Deadwood
Grey’s Anatomy
Lost
The Sopranos
24

COMEDY SERIES
Arrested Development
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
The Office
30 Rock

NEW SERIES
Friday Night Lights
Heroes
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
30 Rock
Ugly Betty

COMEDY/VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) SERIES
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Late Night with Conan O’Brien
Penn & Teller: Bullshit
Real Tim With Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live

The Globes

MOTION PICTURE CATEGORIES
DRAMATIC PICTURE
"Babel"
"The Departed"
"The Queen"
"Bobby"
"Little Children"

MUSICAL OR COMEDY PICTURE
"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"
"Dreamgirls"
"Little Miss Sunshine"
"The Devil Wears Prada"
"Thank You For Smoking"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE
"Apocalypto" (USA)
"Letters From Iwo Jima" (USA/Japan)
"Lives of Others" (Germany)
"Pan's Labyrinth" (Mexico)
"Volver" (Spain)

BEST DIRECTOR
Clint Eastwood, "Letters From Iwo Jima"
Clint Eastwood, "Flags Of Our Fathers"
Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"
Stephen Frears, "The Queen"
Alejandro González Iñárritu, "Babel"

BEST DRAMATIC ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio, "Blood Diamond"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Departed"
Peter O'Toole, "Venus"
Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness"
Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland"

BEST DRAMATIC ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, "Volver"
Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "SherryBaby"
Helen Mirren, "The Queen"
Kate Winslet, "Little Children"

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Sacha Baron Cohen, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"
Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"
Aaron Eckhart, "Thank You For Smoking"
Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Kinky Boots"
Will Ferrell, "Stranger Than Fiction"

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Annette Bening, "Running With Scissors"
Toni Collette, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Beyonce Knowles, "Dreamgirls"
Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada"
Renee Zellweger, "Miss Potter"

SUPPORTING DRAMATIC ACTOR
Ben Affleck, "Hollywoodland"
Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls"
Jack Nicholson, "The Departed"
Brad Pitt, "Babel"
Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed"

SUPPORTING DRAMATIC ACTRESS
Adriana Barraza, "Babel"
Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal"
Emily Blunt, "The Devil Wears Prada"
Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"
Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel"

ANIMATED FILM
"Cars"
"Happy Feet"
"Monster House"

SCREENPLAY
Guillermo Arriaga, "Babel"
Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, "Little Children"
Patrick Marber, "Notes on a Scandal"
William Monahan, "The Departed"
Peter Morgan, "The Queen"

ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat, "The Painted Veil"
Clint Mansell, "The Fountain"
Gustavo Santaolalla, "Babel"
Carlo Siliotto, "Nomad"
Hans Zimmer, "The Da Vinci Code"

SONG
"A Father's Way" from "The Pursuit of Happyness"
"Listen" from "Dreamgirls"
"Never Gonna Break My Faith" from "Bobby"
"The Song of the Heart" from "Happy Feet"
"Try Not to Remember" from "Home of the Brave"

TELEVISION CATEGORIES
DRAMATIC TV SERIES
"24"
"Big Love"
"Grey's Anatomy"
"Heroes"
"Lost"

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA
Patrick Dempsey, "Grey's Anatomy"
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"
Hugh Laurie, "House"
Bill Paxton, "Big Love"
Kiefer Sutherland, "24"

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA
Patricia Arquette, "Medium"
Edie Falco, "The Sopranos"
Evangeline Lilly, "Lost"
Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"
Ellen Pompeo, "Grey's Anatomy"

TV SERIES, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
"The Office"
"Desperate Housewives"
"Entourage"
"Ugly Betty"
"Weeds"

BEST ACTOR, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Zach Braff, "Scrubs
Steve Carell, "The Office"
Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"
Jason Lee, "My Name is Earl"
Tony Shalhoub, "Monk"

BEST ACTRESS, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Marcia Cross, "Desperate Housewives"
Felicity Huffman, "Desperate Housewives"
America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds"

BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
"Bleak House"
"Broken Trail"
"Elizabeth I"
"Mrs. Harris"
"Prime Suspect: The Final Act"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Gillian Anderson, "Bleak House"
Annette Bening, "Mrs. Harris"
Helen Mirren , "Eilzabeth I"
Helen Mirren, "Prime Suspect: The Final Act"
Sophie Okonedo, "Tsunami, The Aftermath"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Andre Braugher, "Thief"
Robert Duvall, "Broken Trail"
Michael Ealy, "Sleeper Cell: American Terror"
Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Tsunami, The Aftermath"
Ben Kingsley, "Mrs. Harris"
Bill Nighy, "Gideon's Daughter"
Matthew Perry, "The Ron Clark Story"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Emily Blunt, "Gideon's Daughter"
Toni Collette, "Tsunami, The Aftermath"
Katherine Heigl, "Grey's Anatomy"
Sarah Paulson, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"
Elizabeth Perkins, "Weeds"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Thomas Haden Church, "Broken Trail"
Jeremy Irons, "Elizabeth I"
Justin Kirk, "Weeds"
Masi Oka, "Heroes"
Jeremy Piven, "Entourage"

CECIL B. DEMILLE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Warren Beatty

15 Best Places to Waste Time on the Web

Check out this article and then go waste some time!

Children of Men

Okay, I'm dying to see this movie. Julianne Moore is the hotness, and it's good to get excited about one of her movies again.

"There are two ways of defending Children of Men as the best film of 2006. The first one is "passionately" and it goes like this:
Alfonso Cuarón's new work is a technical and narrative masterpiece. One thing I teach on my Film Criticism class is that we should never take seriously a critic who often writes sentences such as "one of the most I-don't-know-what of movie history!" or "the most blah-blah-blah of the last decade." There are just too many movies for us to make such bold statements. In my 12 year career, I only did that once, when I argued that The Return of the King had the biggest battle scene ever. However, three years later, I'm going to risk my reputation again by saying that Children of Men has not one or two, but three of the most spectacular shots ever conceived by a filmmaker. And the best thing is the film is more than technically marvelous; it tells a touching story full of significance. I fell deeply in love with this movie.

"Ok. That was the passionate speech. Fortunately, Children of Men is rich enough that it allows its fans to defend it from a more rational, cold and detached point of view as well. And if I'm going to succeed on making a case for why it's the best of 2006, that's how we should proceed."

[Source: Movie City News]

R.I.P. Peter Boyle

Man, that's sad news. Peter Boyle passed away today. I have Young Frankenstein in my TiVo queue right now, so it will be a good time to watch that flick again.

Things That Bug Me

People who say begels instead of bagels.
These people also often say tol-et and melk.
Her-sees instead of Hershey's
Mondee instead of Monday
Warsh instead of Wash, Warshington vs. Washington
Feel instead of Fill

-did these same people forget phonics or did they never participate in a phonics class?

Guess what's more popular than the Iraq War?

Gay marriage, legalizing pot, banning handguns, and rescinding the death penalty.

Check out the latest polls.

And imagine if the Democratic party tried to make one of those issues the centerpiece of their campaigns. Hi, media.

Wolfmother

I'm seeing them tonight. With people from Spin Magazine. We're going backstage.

UPDATE: So I didn't go back stage. They rock. They are awesome. You can tell when a band is a real band when they're tight on stage and live. They are a real throw back to classic 70s rock, but they're also very modern. Get their album if you haven't already.

Before the concert, I went to dinner with my friends at Spin magazine. We sat between the marketing manager for Wolfmother and the guy that scouted and signed them. I talked to him for a while. He said he didn't quite know what made him good at what he did. He wasn't particularly good at figuring out lyrics, he wasn't a trained musician... yet, he signed Wolfmother, TV on the Radio and Buckcherry! And he was also stoned out of his damn mind. It was so much fun.

We also went into the after party. Saw the guys come in, but really I was focused on drinking as much for free as possible.

San Francisco Film Critics Circle

Two questions about the Oscars. 1) Does this mean Borat will be nominated for Best Actor? I think so. 2) Inconvenient Truth will win. Question is: Will Al Gore announce his bid for the presidency? On to the winners... I kind of like Little Children winning best picture, but I'm surprised Kate Winslet didn't for Best Actress.


Best Picture
Little Children

Best Director
Paul Greengrass for United 93

Best Original Screenplay
Brick

Best Adapted Screenplay
Little Children

Best Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen for Borat

Best Actress
Helen Mirren for The Queen

Best Supporting Actor
Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children

Best Supporting Actress
Adriana Barraza for Babel

Best Foreign Language Film
Pan's Labyrinth

Best Documentary
An Inconvenient Truth

Marlon Riggs Award for courage & vision in the Bay Area film community
Stephen Salmons co-founder & artistic director San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Special Citation in honor of Arthur Lazere
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

Broadcast Film Critics Awards Nominations

This looks almost right:

BEST PICTURE
Babel
Blood Diamond
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Children
Little Miss Sunshine
Notes on a Scandal
The Queen
United 93

BEST ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Departed
Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole - Venus
Will Smith - The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland

BEST ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz - Volver
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet - Little Children

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Affleck - Hollywoodland
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Adam Beach - Flags of Our Fathers
Djimon Hounsou - Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Jack Nicholson - The Departed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adriana Barraza - Babel
Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi - Babel
Catherine O'Hara - For Your Consideration
Emma Thompson - Stranger Than Fiction

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Babel
Bobby
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
A Prairie Home Companion

BEST DIRECTOR
Bill Condon - Dreamgirls
Clint Eastwood - Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears - The Queen
Paul Greengrass - United 93
Martin Scorsese - The Departed

BEST WRITER
Michael Arndt - Little Miss Sunshine
Guillermo Arriaga - Babel
Todd Field and Tom Perrotta - Little Children
Zach Helm - Stranger Than Fiction
William Monahan - The Departed
Peter Morgan - The Queen

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Cars
Flushed Away
Happy Feet
Monster House
Over the Hedge

BEST YOUNG ACTOR
Cameron Bright - Thank You For Smoking
Joseph Cross - Running With Scissors
Paul Dano - Little Miss Sunshine
Freddie Highmore - A Good Year
Jaden Christopher Syre Smith - The Pursuit of Happyness

BEST YOUNG ACTRESS
Ivana Baquero - Pan's Labyrinth
Abigail Breslin - Little Miss Sunshine
Shareeka Epps - Half Nelson
Dakota Fanning - Charlotte's Web
Keke Palmer - Akeelah and the Bee

BEST COMEDY MOVIE
Borat
For Your Consideration
Little Miss Sunshine
The Devil Wears Prada
Thank You For Smoking

BEST FAMILY FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Akeelah and the Bee
Charlotte's Web
Flicka
Lassie
Pirates of the Caribbean 2

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Elizabeth I
The Librarian
Nightmares & Dreamscapes
The Ron Clark Story
When the Levees Broke

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Apocalypto
Days of Glory
Letters from Iwo Jima
Pan's Labyrinth
Volver
Water

BEST SONG
I Need to Wake Up - Melissa Etheridge - An Inconvenient Truth
Listen - Beyonce - Dreamgirls
My Little Girl - Tim McGraw - Flicka
The Neighbor - Dixie Chicks - Shut Up & Sing
Never Gonna Break My Faith - Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige - Bobby
Ordinary Miracle - Sarah McLachlan - Charlotte's Web

BEST SOUNDTRACK
Babel
Cars
Dreamgirls
Happy Feet
Marie Antoinette

BEST COMPOSER
Philip Glass - The Illusionist
Clint Mansell - The Fountain
Thomas Newman - The Good German
Gustavo Santaolalla - Babel
Howard Shore - The Departed
Hans Zimmer - The Da Vinci Code

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
An Inconvenient Truth
Shut Up & Sing
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Who Killed the Electric Car?
Wordplay

Nip/Tuck

I haven't watched in a few weeks because I think this show is just marginally better than that recent Pam Anderson show on Fox (Stacked?). But I heard the season has a great cliffhanger. It's going to TiVo, we'll just see if I have the motivation to ever watch it.

Jolie Pitts

Do you want to hear about how they fell in love? From Splash News (whatever the fuck that is):

Jolie says that the time she spent getting to know Pitt before his split was "not as exciting as what a lot of people would like to believe. We spent a lot of time contemplating and thinking and talking about what we both wanted in life and realized that we wanted very, very similar things.

"And then we just continued to take time. We remained very, very good friends – with this realization – for a long time," she says. "And then life developed in a way where we could be together, where it felt like something we would do, we should do."

In fact, it was her son, Madddox, now 5, who helped seal the deal. (Jolie and Pitt are also parents to Zahara, 23 months, and Shiloh, 6 months.) One day, Maddox "just out of the blue called him Dad," says Jolie. "It was amazing. We were playing with cars on the floor of a hotel room, and we both heard it and didn't say anything and just looked at each other. So that was probably the most defining moment, when he decided that we would all be a family."

Jolie also says she'd be willing to meet with Aniston, but "That would be her decision, and I would welcome it."

Pitt has said he and Jolie would not wed until all couples can legally marry, and Jolie agrees that tying the knot is not a priority. "We both have been married before, so it's not marriage that's necessarily kept some people together," she says. "We are legally bound to our children, not to each other, and I think that's the most important thing."

The Lost Room

I watched the first part last night, and it was very good. Intriguing, and for all the supernatural shit going on, very realistic. Plus, who can miss anything with anyone from the Six Feet Under cast:

"The Sci Fi Channel’s ambitious three-part miniseries "The Lost Room" definitely isn’t aimed at viewers who have trouble suspending their disbelief. No, this twisty tale debuting tonight at 9 p.m. is designed for fantasy buffs who never missed an episode of "The X-Files." But as even non–sci-fi enthusiasts will appreciate, "The Lost Room" boasts an ace cast headed by Peter Krause and Julianna Margulies.

"Krause plays Joe Miller, a Pittsburgh homicide detective who becomes the owner of a magical motel room key. The key opens any door with a keyhole and leads to the mysterious Room 10 at the Sunshine Motel on Route 66. As the convoluted, way-out-there plot unfolds, Miller learns that the key is just one of more than 100 objects that were in the room on a day in 1961 when an extraordinary event occurred there.

"All the objects have special powers. A comb allows its owner to become invisible, a pen electrocutes people, and a bus ticket transports its holder to Gallup, New Mexico (where the motel is located). The key is considered perhaps the most valuable object of all, so numerous "object collectors" hope to wrest it from Miller."

[Source: Media Life Magazine]

I can't wait to watch part 2 and 3 later this week!

And in More Princess Diana News...

Duran Duran, Bryan Ferry, Elton John and Joss Stone will headline a concert honoring the Princess at Wembley Stadium next year.

--I'd go just to see Joss Stone! Love her!

50 Worst Artists in Music History

I beg to differ with some of this as it seems totally pointed at 80s band... but... interesting nonetheless.

Notes of Reality

Survivor
8pm Thursday then big finale on Sunday. Sounds like there will be a finale of 3 instead of the usual 2. Plus, the final two challenges have been said to be frustrating. Not sure this is terribly shocking but definitely have a final 3 is gonna put a wrench in somebody's plans. I'll be tuning in for sure. This has been one of the better seasons, actually.

30 Days
Morgan Spurlock's show, 30 Days, has been renewed for a third season. And, Morgan himself will be featured in two episodes. All around good news there. Great show!

New York Film Critics Circle Awards

And they keep on comin.... look for The Departed to get tons of Oscar nominations. And Jennifer Hudson is going to win Best Supporting Actress. Guaranateed.

Best Picture
United 93
Runners-up: The Queen
The Departed

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Runners-Up: Stephen Frears, The Queen,
Clint Eastwood, Letters From Iwo Jima

Best Non-Fiction Film
Deliver Us From Evil
Runners-Up: 49 Up
Borat
An Inconvenient Truth

Best Foreign-Language Film
Army of Shadows
Runners-Up: Volver
The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu

Best First Film
Half Nelson
Runners-Up: Little Miss Sunshine
A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints

Best Animated Feature
Happy Feet
Runners-Up: A Scanner Darkly
Cars

Best Actor
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Runners-Up: Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat

Best Actress
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Runners-Up: Judi Dench, Notes On A Scandal
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada

Best Supporting Actor
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Runners-Up: Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Steve Carell, Little Miss Sunshine

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Runners-Up: Shareeka Epps, Half Nelson
Catherine O'Hara, For Your Consideration

Best Cinematography
Guillermo Navarro, Pan's Labrynth
Runners-Up: Curse Of The Golden Flower
Children Of Men

Best Screenplay
Peter Morgan, The Queen
Runners-Up: The Departed
Little Miss Sunshine

Tom Delay's New Blog

One of the first comments on his new blog:

"Everyone already assumes bloggers are unemployed losers... thanks for reinforcing that stereotype..."

Whose Bugging Diana?

The US it seems. And tell me again why this is newsworthy? The woman died nearly 10 years ago! The US eavesdropping on people's phone calls is so blasé these days.

85 pounds!

So Nicole Richie gets busted for DUI. So what's making news? No... not the fact she smoked pot and took Vicodin and then decided to get behind the wheel of a car... it's the fact she weighed in a 85 pounds. OMG!

Soupa-Bowl

So Prince will perform at halftime. Good, bad, yeah, nay?

Discuss.

American Film Institute Top TV Shows

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
DEXTER
ELIZABETH I
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
HEROES
THE OFFICE
SOUTH PARK
24
THE WEST WING
THE WIRE

Good to see Dexter and The Office up there. Not crazy about the others (because I really don't watch any of them).

New Spielberg Show on Fox

I used to love and obsess over everything Spielberg. Not as much anymore, but the guy doesn't really touch any projects that turn out as shit. So this sounds pretty good.

"Untitled show will revolve around two young American physicists in WWII who discover a way to pinch time and travel to the future. They wind up hopping between 2007 and the 1940s in order to aid the war effort -- but in the process begin to upset the space-time continuum.

"Along the way, one of the physi-cists also enlists a woman in 2007 to help him adjust to culture shock, and the two develop a relationship."

He's also got one brewing about the fashion industry. Cool!

Yawn....

Amazing Race finale. I think the most exciting part was catching sight of that one dude's eyebrows. Wow!

In The Womb: Animals

Nothing like watching a dolphin, 9 labs and an elephant go from sperm to baby. So cute! You must watch this show on National Geographic Channel. And coming in January, In The Womb: Multiples. All about human twins!

M:I:III or whatever the hell

Eh, it was all right. Tom Cruise plays Tom Cruise. (Seriously, Ethan Hunt is not a character at all.) The rest of the movie was good, certainly better than any of the other Mission: Impossible movies. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a great baddy. The action was good, if not exciting at times. But what is up with the damn rabbit's foot?

Cinema Paradiso

Lou Lumenick and Kyle Smith talk about 2006 films in the New York Post. Great back and forth, and very long!

Lou: 2006’s movies were notably better than last year’s dismal crop. I had seven or eight titles left over that would have made last year’s 10-best list.

Kyle: I agree. But it’s too bad the Oscar cart is pulling the pony. Many of the best films are being released at
the end of the year so they’ll stick in the minds of awards voters, but some are going to get lost in the pile.
I can see that happening with “The Painted Veil,” (opens Dec. 20) an elegant, oldfashioned love story set during a cholera epidemic in 1920s China. Ed Norton and Naomi Watts are a feuding husband and wife who get to know each other after marriage - just as we get to know them both.

Lou: Same for “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Dec. 24), the year’s true masterpiece. I’m afraid it might get hurt by all the competition. It’s a tough sell already - it’s a fairy tale, it has a 12-year-old protagonist and there’s R-rated
violence that limits the audience to adults.
But nothing moved me as much as director Guillermo del Toro’s stunning vision of two contrasting worlds, one of fantasy and the other with World War II fascists. It’s
unforgettable.

Kyle: To me, the Matt Damon movies “The Departed” and “The Good Shepherd” (Dec. 22) are masterpieces. “The Departed” is such a fast-paced demon of a movie, with its hilariously nasty dialogue and tough, smart performances, that I kept checking my watch because I didn’t want it to ever end. And the Robert De Niro-directed “The Good Shepherd” is “The Godfather” of CIA movies, a tense epic of business and family. It sets a new standard for cloak and dagger.
But the film of the year, if not the decade,
is “United 93.” Every American should see it. It was one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had in a theater, and it’s a lasting monument to American courage.

Lou: I loved “The Departed,” but I’d stop short of calling it a masterpiece, not when you have Jack Nicholson breaking character in the middle of the movie. “The Good Shepherd” was too slow-moving, coolly cerebral and décor-obsessed to get my juices going. As far as period thrillers go, I got much more into Steven Soderbergh’s Golden Age of Hollywood homage “The Good German” (Friday) which landed just outside my 10-best list.
I was even more swept up by the evocation of the 1940s in Clint Eastwood’s “Flags of Our Fathers” and his deeply moving Japanese-language companion film, “Letters From Iwo Jima” (Dec. 20). I totally agree with you on “United 93” - it’s devastating stuff. But when it came to reconstructing recent history, I think Stephen Frears’ “The Queen” was the top-of-thelist with its battle of wits between Queen Elizabeth and Tony Blair.

Read the rest.

Boston Society of Film Critics

Big surprise, they like The Departed. A lot.

Best Picture
The Departed
United 93, runner-up

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Paul Greengrass, United 93, runner-up

Best Actor
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson, runner-up

Best Actress
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal, runner-up

Best Supporting Actor
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed
TIE: Michael Sheen, The Queen; Alec Baldwin, The Departed/Running with Scissors/The Good Shepherd, runners-up

Best Supporting Actress
Shareeka Epps, Half Nelson
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wore Prada, runner-up

Best Ensemble Cast
United 93
The Departed, runner-up

Best Screenplay
William Monahan, The Departed
Peter Morgan, The Queen, runner-up

Best Foreign Language Film
Pan's Labyrinth
Volver, runner-up

Best Documentary
TIE: Deliver Us From Evil/Shut Up & Sing
51 Birch Street, runner-up

Best New Filmmaker
Ryan Fleck, Half Nelson
Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, Little Miss Sunshine, runners-up

Best Cinematography
Guillermo Navarro. Pan's Labyrinth
TIE: Stuart Dryburgh, The Painted Veil; Xiaoding Zhao, Curse of the Golden Flower, runners-up

American Film Institute Top Ten

Grain of salt with these guys.....

BABEL
BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
DREAMGIRLS
HALF NELSON
HAPPY FEET
INSIDE MAN
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
UNITED 93

New York Online Film Critics Awards

Picture
The Queen

Director
Stephen Frears, The Queen

Actor
Forrest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Actress
Helen Mirren, The Queen

Supporting Actor
Michael Sheen, The Queen

Supporting Actress
(Tie) Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
and Catherine O'Hara, For Your Consideration

Screenplay
Peter Morgan, The Queen

Ensemble Cast
Little Miss Sunshine

Debut as Director
Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris - Little Miss Sunshine

Breakthrough Performer
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Cinematography
Dick Pope, The Illusionist

Film Score
Philip Glass, The Illusionist

Documentary Feature
An Inconvenient Truth

Animated Feature
Happy Feet

Foreign Language Picture
Pan's Labrynth

Humanitarian Award
DEEPA MEHTA (Water) for taking risks to create films about
the difficulties of social change in India especially as it affects
women.

Ten Best Pictures (Alphabetical)
BABEL (Paramount Vantage)
THE FOUNTAIN (Warner Bros.)
INLAND EMPIRE (Absurda)
LITTLE CHILDREN (New Line)
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (Fox Searchlight)
PAN'S LABYRINTH (Picturehouse)
THE QUEEN (Miramax)
THANK YOU FOR SMOKING (Fox Searchlight)
VOLVER (Sony Pictures Classics)
WATER (Fox Searchlight)

Los Angeles Film Critics Awards

BEST PICTURE
Letters from Iwo Jima
Runner Up: The Queen

DIRECTOR
Paul Greengrass, United 93
Runner-up: Clint Eastwood, Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima

ACTRESS
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Runner-up: Penelope Cruz, Volver

ACTOR:
Tie - Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat
and Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

SCREENPLAY
The Queen by Peter Morgan
Runner-up: Little Miss Sunshine by Michael Arndt

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Luminita Gheorghiu, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
Runner-up: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Sheen, The Queen
Runner-up: Sergi Lopez, Pan's Labyrinth

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Lives of Others directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Runner-up: Volver directed by Pedro Almodovar

DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTION FILM
An Inconvenient Truth directed by Davis Guggenheim
Runner-up: Darwin's Nightmare directed by Hubert Sauper

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Eugenio Caballero, Pan's Labyrinth
Runner-up: Jim Clay, Veronica Falzon, Geoffrey Kirkland, Children of Men

ANIMATION
Happy Feet (George Miller)
Runner-up: Cars (John Lasseter, Joe Ranft)

MUSIC
Alexandre Desplat, The Painted Veil and The Queen
Runner-up: Thomas Newman, The Good German and Little Children

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki, Children of Men
Runner-up: Tom Stern, Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima

NEW GENERATION
Michael Arndt, Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris - Little Miss Sunshine

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
Robert Mulligan

INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL
Tie - Old Joy directed by Kelly Reichardt
and In Between Days directed by So Yong Kim

SPECIAL CITATIONS
To Jean-Pierre Melville's 1969 film Army of Shadows which had its U.S. premiere this year, and to Jonas Mekas for his career as a critic and filmmaker.

Washington DC Area Film Critics Awards

Best Film
United 93

Best Actor
Forrest Whitaker, Last King of Scotland

Best Actress
Helen Mirren, The Queen

Best Supporting Actor
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson, Best Supporting Actress

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Best Original Screenplay
Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jason Reitman, Thank You For Smoking

Best Foreign Film
Pan's Labrynth

Best Animated Feature
Happy Feet

Best Documentary
An Inconvenient Truth

Best Ensemble
Little Miss Sunshine

Best Art Direction
Marie Antoinette

Oh yeah.

I love TOP CHEF. Can't get enough.

Real World: Denver

Man, that was an intense episode. Drunk plus racist doesn't equal good. That's for sure. Here's a recap:

They all got drunk and one of the black guys hates on the white guy, who is maybe racist but definitely drunk, and they fight and fight (verbally) and threaten each other with physical violence until the white guy decides to go to a hotel for the night and then everyone makes up the next day and everyone stays in Denver.

So that's the recap. It was kind of a nasty episode. It made Michael Richards' stand up act look like Blues Clue. And if I were a producer, I would be working overtime to make sure everyone stays in Denver. It was that much drama.

Great Lost Quote

"The monster and the Others are NOTHING compared to what ELSE is in the jungle." - Damon Lindelof

Now my thoughts on the Grammies

Is this the Grammies for 2004 or what? James Blunt is a new artist HUH? Coldplay?! I'm surprised the Macerana isn't nominated for best dance song.

Lame, lame, lame.

And I told someone the other day: The Dixie Chicks are taking home best album.

Not nominated (that I noticed, anyways) but deserves to be:

MUSE - Black Holes and Revelations (easily one of the best albums of the year - completely ignored)
Ben Harper - Both Sides of the Gun (easily his best album to date)
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
Beck - The Information
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam (their best, at least since I was in high school)
Scissor Sisters (this one's for Jen!)

I'm sure there's plenty more, but this is just what I can think of off the top of my head.

The Grammies - Smaller Categories I Like

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal

Talk- Coldplay
How To Save A Life- The Fray
Steady, As She Goes- The Raconteurs
Dani California- Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Saints Are Coming- U2 & Green Day

Best Hard Rock Performance

Crazy Bitch- Buckcherry
Every Day Is Exactly The Same- Nine Inch Nails
Lonely Day- System Of A Down
Vicarious- Tool
Woman- Wolfmother

Best Rock Song
Chasing Cars- Snow Patrol
Dani California- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Lookin' For A Leader- Neil Young
Someday Baby- Bob Dylan
When You Were Young- The Killers

Best Rock Album

Try!- John Mayer Trio
Highway Companion- Tom Petty
Broken Boy Soldiers- The Raconteurs
Stadium Arcadium- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Living With War- Neil Young

Best Alternative Music Album

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not- Arctic Monkeys
At War With The Mystics- The Flaming Lips
St. Elsewhere- Gnarls Barkley
Show Your Bones- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Eraser- Thom Yorke

The Grammies - The Big Awards

Record of the Year:

Be Without You- Mary J. Blige
You're Beautiful- James Blunt
Not Ready To Make Nice- Dixie Chicks
Crazy- Gnarls Barkley
Put Your Records On- Corinne Bailey Rae

Album Of The Year

Taking The Long Way- Dixie Chicks
St. Elsewhere- Gnarls Barkley
Continuum- John Mayer
Stadium Arcadium- Red Hot Chili Peppers
FutureSex/LoveSounds- Justin Timberlake


Song Of The Year

Be Without You- Johnta Austin, Mary J. Blige, Bryan-Michael Cox & Jason Perry, songwriters (Mary J. Blige)
Jesus, Take The Wheel- Brett James, Hillary Lindsey & Gordie Sampson, songwriters (Carrie Underwood)
Not Ready To Make Nice- Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Dixie
Chicks)
Put Your Records On- John Beck, Steve Chrisanthou & Corinne Bailey Rae, songwriters (Corinne Bailey
Rae)
You're Beautiful- James Blunt, Amanda Ghost & Sacha Skarbek, songwriters (James Blunt)

Best New Artist

James Blunt
Chris Brown
Imogen Heap
Corinne Bailey Rae
Carrie Underwood

New Music Thursday

My new tunes:

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - So Divided
Aimee Mann - Another Drifter in the Snow
Army of Anyone
Beck - The Information
Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
The Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards
Damien Rice - 9
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
Foo Fighters - Skin & Bones
Incubus - Light Grenades
Justin Timberlake - Futuresex/Lovesounds
Mates of State - Bring it back
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
Ryan Adams - The Suicide Handbook
Sarah McLachlan - Wintersong
Sparklehorse - Dreamt For Light Years In the Belly of a Mountain
Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life
Sufjan Stevens - A Sun Came!
Sufjan Stevens - Enjoy your Rabbit
Surjan Stevens - Songs for Christmas
U2 - U218
Wolfmother - Wolfmother

So far, my favorites are Trail of Dead (one of my favorite bands), Cold War Kids (electric rock punk stuff), Damien Rice (a nice, barely noticeably different direction from his last album), Foo Fighters. Not so much into The Decemberists yet.

What are you listening to?

Milk Ads Forced Down in SF

Damn San Francisco liberals. I bet Nancy had something to do with this. From Ad Age:

"Special-interest groups representing the homeless, the obese, diabetics and citizens who just don't like scents have succeeded in scuttling an outdoor campaign from California Milk Processor Board involving some new scent technology. The Metropolitan Transit Commission yesterday ordered the scent strips removed."

Key quote from Jeff Goodby from the milk board's ad agency:

"I guess The City has once again made herself safe for bus shelters that smell like urine and vomit instead."

Ugly Betty Gets Less Ugly

Rebecca Romijn is joining the cast. Now that Lost is moving to 10pm, I think I can watch Betty! Woo!

Interesting

A new study on television viewing habits commissioned by Warner Bros. Media Research and conducted by SmithGeiger has just been revealed. The study used online interviews, taken last summer, with 1,500 television viewers across the US. Key findings include:

Most TV viewers look to broadcast networks for originals series and to cable networks for acquired programs.

During primetime, viewers almost equally turn to cable networks (52%) as to broadcast (48%).

Viewers gravitate more to familiar acquired shows versus originals, 93% vs. 46%. When channel surfing, 70% of viewers most often stop on familiar shows.

62% of viewers watch acquired series for the first time on cable networks, and then go back to the original broadcast airings.

The findings support the notion that the most familiar shows on cable are classic acquired series such as Seinfeld, Golden Girls, Full House, The Cosby Show and Friends, which haven't been on broadcast television for years. These series perform just as well as more recent series like CSI, House and the various Law & Order versions.

The DaVinci Code

So, it wasn't awful. I know I'm going to enjoy the book. (Yes, I've been under a rock. Actually, I've just been avoiding the rock.)

But the direction was bad, the way the plot unfolded was bad, everything was pretty much BAD. But for some reason, I enjoyed it. Go figure.

Here we go....

It's awards season! And the first awards are the National Board of Review. They sound important and I know they're somewhat reputable, but I have no idea who makes up the board. Anyways, here are the winners:

Best Film
Letters From Iwo Jima

The Top Ten
Letters From Iwo Jima
Babel
Blood Diamond
The Departed
The Devil Wears Prada
Flags Of Our Fathers
The History Boys
Little Miss Sunshine
Notes on a Scandal
The Painted Veil

Best Documentary
An Inconvenient Truth

Top Five Documentaries
An Inconvenient Truth, (and, in alphabetical order) 51 Birch Street, Iraq In Fragments, Shut Up & Sing, Wordplay

Best Foreign Film
Volver

Top Five Foreign Films
Volver, (and, in alphabetical order) Curse Of The Golden Flower, Days Of Glory, Pan's Labyrinth, Water

Top Independent Films
(in alphabetical order) Akeelah And The Bee, Bobby, Catch A Fire, Copying Beethoven, A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, Half Nelson, The Illusionist, Lonesome Jim, Sherrybaby, 10 Items Or Less, Thank You For Smoking

Best Director
Martin Scorsese
The Departed

Best Actor
Forest Whitaker
The Last King of Scotland

Best Actress
Helen Mirren
The Queen

Best Supporting Actor
Djimon Hounsou
Blood Diamond

Best Supporting Actress
Catherine O'Hara
For Your Consideration

Best Animated Feature
Cars

Best Ensemble Cast
The Departed

Breakthrough Performance by an Actor
Ryan Gosling
Half Nelson

Breakthrough Performance by an Actress (2)
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

Best Directorial Debut
Jason Reitman
Thank You for Smoking

Best Original Screenplay
Zach Helm
Stranger Than Fiction

Best Adapted Screenplay
Ron Nyswaner
The Painted Veil

Career Achievement Award
Eli Wallach

Billy Wilder Award For Excellence In Directing
Jonathan Demme

William K. Everson Award For Film History
Donald Krim

Career Achievement in Producing
Irwin Winkler

The Bvlgari Award for NBR Freedom of Expression
Water and World Trade Center

Things That Bug Me

What's bugging me today?

People who speak loudly so they can be heard over everyone else, as if what they are talking about is of more importance than anything else that's being said. You just wanna say, "shut the fuck up, already!"

Cat Stuff

Cats can suffer from a feline form of Alzheimer's disease, Edinburgh scientists revealed today. A study into ageing cats identified a key protein which can build up in the nerve cells in their brains and cause mental deterioration, similar to that in humans.
--but does it explain why my cat pee'd on my husband?

Nip/Tuck

I am not watching this show anymore. It's turned into a gawdy nightmare, but in case you're still tuning in:

Rosie in "Discussions" to Join Nip/Tuck. Rosie O'Donnell's personal rep has confirmed to E! News that she is in "preliminary discussions" to join the cast of Nip/Tuck. This confirmation comes after an accesshollywood.com story reported that Rosie herself said she has been offered the female lead of the show, since, as the story put it, "Joely Richardson is leaving for a year."

But F/X is sticking with its story that Richardson will be back. "Joely is not in the finale, but she will return to Nip/Tuck next year."

Obviously, given that Nip/Tuck shoots in Los Angeles and The View is in New York City, it would be impossible for O'Donnell to do both shows. However, insiders say she's extremely tempted by the offer, since Nip/Tuck is her favorite show on television and she had a blast working on the show as a guest star earlier this season, so she just might abandon Babs and the girls.

And can anyone make sense out of this?
Right this minute: Nip/Tuck is getting a fifth season. Back to this season, there's a huge twist coming in the Dec. 12 finale that doesn't involve a death or a character switching genders. Also, the episode utilizes music — more specifically, a song — in a unique way. Something rarely, if ever, seen in a TV drama. (Hint: that link takes you to a huge clue.) Click Here for the Link.

Lost

Pack the bags, kids. Lost is moving to 10.

Breaking LOST News

Beginning Wednesday, February 7, LOST will now be seen at 10pm instead of 9pm. This suck-ass development is due to American Idol having their results show at 9pm.

I am not happy about this. Not one bit! My kid will be even more upset because she loves Lost and I seriously doubt she'll wanna stay up that late to watch it.

Bored?

It's that time of year.... time for lists! We all love them, so c'mon in and stay awhile.... click the links to your little hearts' content! These should keep you busy until the holidays.

Best Blogs of 2006 That You (maybe) Aren't Reading
50 Greatest Commercials Of The 80s

Mood Music

I've discussed Pandora, now let's discuss Musicovery

Oh La La

Jennifer Aniston is about to set the record straight in an interview in the upcoming Vanity Fair magazine about her breakup with Brad Pitt. She states she did in fact want to have babies with Brad, but starting a family was not the issue. The problem was actually Brad cheating on her with the ultra irresistible Angelina Jolie.

RIP: Allofmp3.com

So sad. This "legal" music download service was my way of getting music for 2+ years. Now I have to resort to other means ($$$).

30 Rock Gets 22

22 Episodes, which is a full season (if you're counting). Now if they would just move it away from Grey's Anatomy. It really is a great show!