Saturday, February 25, 2012

Annual List of Academy Award Nominated Films (If Vivid Entertainment Had  Been the Producers)*




Albert’s Knob
War Whore
W.E.T.
Midnight in Paris Hilton
Money for Ball Play
My Week in Marilyn
The Teat of Life
The Lady’s Iron Snatch
Reel Steal
Puss in Boots
Super 8
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Favorites from Past Years
The Lovely Bone
Pubic Enemies
It's Cumplicated
Legs Up in the Air
The Breeder
In Her Glorious bASSterd
Winter's Boner
Inception
Julie & Julia

Have any inappropriate porn puns for other Oscar nominated movies? Post away!


*Content may be found as immature

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Cougar Town Claws Back Onto ABC's 
Schedule Tonight, February 14th at 8:30pm



In what caused many fans to break out into their own 'no no dances,'^1 ABC decided to bench Cougar Town until midseason causing a 9-month break between the second season finale and tonight's third season premiere. However, loyal followers can once again continue their 'confidence dancing'^2 as the wait is finally over with tonight's season three premiere. 

I was fortunate enough to catch the premiere entitled 'Ain't Love Strange,' when I attended a panel event with the cast (Courteney Cox, Josh Hopkins, Dan Byrd, Christa Miller, Ian Gomez, Brian Van Holt, but sadly sans Busy Phillips) and co-creators (Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel) at the LA Paley Center for Media last Wednesday. The episode provided several opportunities to loudly say, 'LAUGH,'^3 and (as the ABC promo department wants us to know) tonight's climax even proposes several new storylines for the future. 

Cougar Town (like Lawrence's Scrubs) has always been an incredibly silly show with great touches of heart thrown in there. However, Cougar Town has shifted tonally from exploring the dating adventures of a 40-something woman on the prowl in Southern Florida to following a group of slightly co-dependent (both on each other and on their glasses of wine) friends, lovingly known as the Cul de Sac Crew, as they are grappa-ling (see what I did there?) with having to be a grown-up by maintaining their immature nature through fun, catchy games.^4 and ^5

This very talented ensemble (coming at a very close second to Parks and Rec) creates a very relatable cast of characters that works because despite trying to conform to what is expected of them, the Cul de Sac Crew ends up embracing their own flaws^6 as well as each others',^7 whereby normal society remains all judge-y. Therefore, do not hesitate to invite your co-dependent gang over to your couch every Tuesday at 8:30pm and spend some time with Cougar Town. Just don't forget to have plenty of bottles of wine.^8

The hilarious panel also provided the following insight:

- Dan Byrd was heavily ridiculed on set for being 'all method-y/schmactor-y' after debating whether or not his character, Travis, would actually wait 20 seconds (enough time to get another actor's line out) to open the noisy bag of chips thrown at him
- Christa Miller aka Ellie Torres aka Bill Lawrence's wife is the music supervisor on Cougar Town and  also served the same role on Scrubs, where she incorporated The Shins 'New Slang' two years before Zach Braff made it the song that would 'change your life' in Garden State
- The entire cast will always be willing to sign any wine glasses you have on you
- Courteney Cox will direct two episodes this year
- One episode will have several homages to Groundhog Day
- David Arquette will guest star in the third season finale as a concierge attracted to the married Ellie Torres 
- We will meet Ellie's even more caustic mother this season
- The Cul de Sac Crew will be making their way cross-country for one of the important birthplaces of wine, Napa Valley, for a very important event
- One cougar on the show will remain... well kinda. Carolyn Hennesy's hysterical Barb will be back but married to a slightly older character we are already familiar with
- The adorable Sarah Chalke will romance Brian Van Holt's Bobby Cobb this season
- One episode will have several homages to Groundhog Day
- There will be more Cougar Town/Community subtle references, especially a conclusion to Cougarton Abbey
- One episode will have several homages to Groundhog Day
- Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel wholeheartedly acknowledge Jules and Travis' way too close mother/son relationship^9
- The writers' answer for why we rarely see Jules at work or Travis in class? The show predominantly takes place on the weekend! Duh!

^1

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Saturday, February 4, 2012

Addendum A)
2010 Films that I Saw in 2011 that I Would Have Included on Last Year's List
It’s Kind of a Funny Story
A 2010 movie that appealed to me a lot in the trailer (found below): quirky feel, Keir Gilchrist (United States of Tara), my fav Ida Maria song, and a One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest vibe. Fortunately, when I saw it this year, it lived up to my hype. 



Zach Galifaniakas co-stars, which would be a major draw for most people, although I only truly find him funny in his Between Two Ferns videos. However, in It's Kind of a Funny Story, I more than tolerated Galifianakas' slightly muted but grounded performance.

It also featured one of my favorite movie moments this year:



Greenberg
I liked Greenberg when I caught it on It's Not TV (re: HBO), but didn't realize how much right off the bat. I had only seen one other Noah Baumbach directed flick (the equally very flawed character-driven Margot at the Wedding, which I enjoyed more than a lot of other people apparently. And yes, I am plenty disappointed that I still have yet to see The Squid and the Whale) and appreciated his complex leads who appear out of place in their current surroundings. 

I continued to catch parts of Greenberg when It's Not TV would re-air it and ended up watching it from whenever I tuned in until the end credits (despite needing to sleep or do something else). I consider this the true test of if a movie has an impact on oneself. The Ben Stiller/Greta Gerwig vehicle about a hapless forty-something spending a couple of weeks in LA is certainly not something that everyone needs to immediately see, but this quiet, smart, relatable character/relationship study might be just the thing if you happen to catch it on your DVR.


Never Let Me Go
Heartbreaking. Beautifully cinematography. Wonderfully sci-fi despite being set in the British countryside in the ‘80s. Amazing performances from the three leads (Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and especially, Andrew Garfield) and their perfectly cast younger counterparts (Izzy Meikle-Small, Ella Purnell, and Charlie Rowe, respectively) all featured in the trailer below.



Addendum B)
Random Nominees I  Wouldn’t Have Overlooked
Best Actor- Ewan McGregor,  Beginners
Best Actor- Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
Best Actor- Ryan Gosling, Drive
Best Actor- Michael Fassender, Shame
Best Actress- Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Best Actress- Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Best Actress- Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Actress- Carey Mulligan, Shame
Best Supporting Actress- Ellen Page, Super
Best Supporting Actress- Rose Byrne, Bridesmaids
Best Supporting Actress- Melanie Laurent, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Melancholia
Best Supporting Actor- Michael Sheen, Midnight in Paris
Best Supporting Actor- Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris
Best Supporting Actor- Jon Hamm, Bridesmaids
Best Documentary- The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (Morgan Spurlock)
Best Visual Effects- Super 8

Feel free to add any of your nods that you felt got snubbed below in the comment section. 


And stay tuned for my upcoming (albeit inappropriate) entry for more interactive-ness. Yay, social media.