How freaking cool would it be to get a ticket to this:
"After weeks of speculation, the Police confirmed today (Jan. 30) that it will reunite to open the 49th annual Grammy Awards Feb. 11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The group has not performed live since its 2003 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; the Grammy appearance is widely expected to kick off a year's worth of reunion shows throughout the world."
You don't have to put on the red light.
I haven't seen all the movies that are up for the Oscars, so i'm going to guess about some of these picks. My information comes from movie reviews, awards show buzz, and just personal opinion. But if I had to vote on the Ocars, given the current crappy nominations, here would be my picks:
ACTOR -- LEADING
*Leonardo DiCaprio – BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling – HALF NELSON
Peter O’Toole – VENUS
Will Smith – THE PURSUIT of happyness
Forest Whitaker – THE LAST KING of scotland
Leo all the way. He was so good in The Departed, I'm giving it to him for that.
ACTOR -- SUPPORTING
Alan Arkin – LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jackie Earle Haley – LITTLE CHILDREN
Djimon Hounsou – BLOOD DIAMOND
Eddie Murphy – DREAMGIRLS
*Mark Wahlberg – THE DEPARTED
Marky Mark gets my vote. He rocked.
ACTRESS -- LEADING
Penélope Cruz – VOLVER
Judi Dench – NOTES ON A SCANDAL
*Helen Mirren – THE QUEEN
Meryl Streep – THE DEVIL WEARS prada
Kate Winslet – LITTLE CHILDREN
Helen Mirren. She's so classy, and even though I haven't seen it, I'm betting she was awesome. Meryl Streep is a close 2nd.
ACTRESS -- SUPPORTING
Adriana Barraza – BABEL
*Cate Blanchett – NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Abigail Breslin – LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jennifer Hudson – DREAMGIRLS
Rinko Kikuchi – BABEL
Cate Blanchett. She's always been one of my favorite actresses.
ANIMATED FEATURE
*CARS
HAPPY FEET
MONSTER HOUSE
Cars. I guess.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE BLACK DAHLIA
*CHILDREN OF MEN
THE ILLUSIONIST
PAN’S LABYRINTH
THE PRESTIGE
Children of Men in a heartbeat. The 5 minutes uncut scene through the remains of the city is un-be-lievable.
COSTUME DESIGN
CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
DREAMGIRLS
*MARIE ANTOINETTE
THE QUEEN
Has to be Marie Antoinette. The costumes were astonishing.
DIRECTING
BABEL
*THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
THE QUEEN
UNITED 93
The Departed. OF COURSE! It's Scorcese!
ORIGINAL SONG
“I Need to Wake Up” – AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
“Listen” – DREAMGIRLS
“Love You I Do” – DREAMGIRLS
“Our Town” – CARS
*“Patience” – DREAMGIRLS
Something from Dreamgirls. Who cares which one.
FILM EDITING
*BABEL
BLOOD DIAMOND
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
UNITED 93
I'll give it to Babel, since they had so many storylines. But my heart is with Children of Men.
VISUAL EFFECTS
*PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN:
DEAD MAN’S CHEST
POSEIDON
SUPERMAN RETURNS
Pirates, no question.
SCREENPLAY -- ADAPTED
BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
*CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
LITTLE CHILDREN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Children of Men!
SCREENPLAY -- ORIGINAL
BABEL
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
*LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
PAN’S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN
Gotta be Little Miss Sunshine. What a wacky, endearing, great film.
BEST PICTURE
BABEL
*THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN
Easy one. The Departed, no question.
IT'S A BOY!
Obviously, I'm ecstatic to have a son on the way. Noah measures 9 inches long, and weighs about 11 ounces. Everything looks great, he's healthy, and please pray he stays that way!
I want to give an update about Children of Men. The Oscar Nominations came out today, and apparently COM is considered an '06 film. And the only nomination it got was Best Adapted Screenplay. This is incredibly stupid, but not all that suprising if I think that the entire movie was promoting the Pro-Life position. A few years ago, The Cider House Rules is nominated for all sorts of awards, and won a few, and it's promoting abortion. It's a despicable film that I absolutely hate, but a winner none the less. And Children of Men gets ignored. What a bummer since it's BY FAR the best movie of the last year...even though I saw it in January.
I went back and found some stuff I wrote near this day one year ago, and three years ago. What I find extremely interesting is how hard I was on the Colts after last year's loss! Wow, was I angry! And the title of the post "insert foot in mouth" speaks pretty loudly after Sunday's glorious victory. You'll see - the first post is from last year, the second is from 3 years ago:
What can I say? I have been wrong before, and I'll be wrong again. I was certainly wrong in this case. The Colts let me down.....again. When all the stars were aligned, they got every break imaginable, the Patriots lost, to eliminate that roadblock....and they still played like crap. Never mind that Mike Vanderjagt has a history of missing big, game-winning kicks, and just added to that. Never mind that Peyton led us back in the last few minutes, given a couple of HUGE breaks. What I want to talk about is the absolute butt-kicking we were given in the first three quarters of what was one of the 5 biggest games in the history of the Indianapolis Colts. Not rusty? Puh-lease. They looked like a '74 Pinto kept out in the rain. Not intense? Gimme a break. I couldn't see fire in the eyes of one of those punks. And it leads me to say something that I hoped I would never have to say: I just don't think Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy can win the big games. Tony continually gets outcoached in the playoffs, and Peyton consistently plays below his regular season levels in any playoff game that means anything (or where there is an above-average defense). I guess we could have seen this coming. Look at where they were previously, what was the stigma? Peyton could never beat Florida, or win the big game at Tennessee. Dungy got kicked out of Tampa for not being able to win in the playoffs. And they have brought that to Indy. I mean, they win their first 13 games, and then can only muster 3 points in the first three quarters? THREE POINTS??? They were absolutely terrible! And against a defensive unit that got torn up in the first half last week playing a John Kitna-led Bengal offense! Now, some will say that I'm jumping the gun, that what I'm saying has no bearing in fact. But consider the source. We've been in 1 AFC championship game, 2 Divisional playoff games, and 3 Wild-card games (according to last count) and in the 3 that matter, Peyton is 0-3. Perhaps it's not Peyton's fault. Maybe the offensive line didn't give him the opportunities he needed. But this is a guy who prides himself on his ability to recognize defenses and blitzes, and throw out of them anyway. And he refused to throw the ball, and instead took 4 CRITICAL sacks. Or maybe it's Vanderjagt's fault. Poppycock I say. Without a ridiculously bad call on an interception by Polamalu, and a crazily uncharacteristic fumble by Jerome Bettis, Mike doesn't even get the chance to tie the game! Now don't get me wrong, I'm livid that Vanderjagt misses big kick after big kick. The only ones he can hit are when there is no pressure, and they're already up 3 touchdowns. But...this is already too long. Screw the Colts, screw Peyton Manning, and there's no way they will ever win the Super Bowl if they couldn't do it this year. And I don't want this rant to sound like I'm abandoning my team, far from it. I will still be a fan, but I refuse to ever again have confidence in this bunch of bungling idiots. They just let me and the entire city of Indianapolis down, time and time again.
Duane had a very interesting post a couple days ago about TV programming. I am with him, it's gone downhill. And I would do things differently. I liked his schedule, but only to a point. My TV station (The Uncle Josh Broadcasting Corporation) would be a little bit different. Here is how the daily schedule would go:
6AM: Sesame St.
7: Transformers
7:30: The Superfriends
8: Sportscenter
9: The Price is Right
10: The Incredible Hulk
11: MacGyver
12PM: The Noon Movie
2: Beverly Hills 90210
3: Lois and Clark, The New Adventures of Superman
4: Jeopardy!
4:30: Cheers
5: Simpsons
5:30: Seinfeld
6: Friends
6:30: Seinfeld
7: Knight Rider
8: Survivor
9: 24
10: Saturday Night Live
11:30: Conan O'Brien
12:30AM-6AM: Reruns of Seinfeld, Friends, and Simpsons
I think I would change it a bit nowadays though. I would add The O.C., and Lost. What would have to come out, is Knight Rider, and the Incredibly Hulk, with everything moving up an hour. Other than that, it looks great! Amazing the continuity with which I watch my shows:)
I swear to you, I almost had a heart attack last night. It was the end of the AFC Championship game, and the only thing standing in the way of the Colts and the Super Bowl was one touchdown and Tom Brady. And then the drive. And then the interception. And then it happened...FINALLY. Finally, Peyton Manning has silenced the doubters. Finally, Indianapolis is headed to Miami and the SB. Finally, the monkey is off our backs. I don't think Lacey and I have ever screamed so loudly or jumped so high in our lives. It was incredible. I feel bad for our neighbors because it was after 10 at night, but who cares? I think I was half passing out, half laughing when Lacey turned to me with about 2 minutes left in the game, slapped me across the arm and said "I NEVER cared about football until I met you, how could you???!!!" It was one of the proudest moments of my life:) Anyway, we are on cloud nine today (and a little tired) and we still have Wednesday to look forward to, when we find out the sex of the baby...so stay tuned!!!
I don't really have the time or energy to go back through last year, figure out which albums came out (and which I bought), and then compile a top ten list. It's a lot easier to compile a list of the 10 most-listened-to songs from my ipod last year. These didn't necessarily come out last year, they just populated my ipod the most.
I will say that Stadium Arcadium (the chili peppers) was my favorite album from last year, and I listened to it by far the most. The Last Kiss soundtrack was my favorite compilation disc and was probably 2nd most listened to as albums go. But I digress. Here they are:
1.Collide - Howie Day
2.The One I Love - David Gray
3.Fix You - Coldplay
4.Wet Sand - Red Hot Chili Peppers
5.Arms of a Woman - Amos Lee
6.Time to Say Goodbye - Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman
7.Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
8.Origin of the Species - U2
9.Soul Meets Body - Death Cab for Cutie
10.Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Now that the Golden Globes have come and gone, I will give out my top 10 movies of the year. Keep in mind a couple of things. First, I did not see a ton of movies last year, so this is based only on what I saw. Babel, The Queen, Flags of our Fathers, and others are not on here because of that reason. Second, it doesn't include Children of Men, because I'm still in limbo on what year that technically came out in. If it was included, it would be #1 with a bullet. But I guess I can save it until next year.
1.The Departed - Scorcese at his best with an unbelievable cast. Marky Mark was fantastic, but of course Leo steals the show.
2.The Prestige - Another great director, another great movie. Hugh Jackman rocks this one, and the twists and turns really got me. Not quite on par with Memento, but great none the less.
3.Casino Royale - I have an affinity for Goldeneye, but the more I think about it, the more I come to realize that this is the best Bond movie ever...or at least that I have seen. Daniel Craig, man. This is a great flick; fun, thoughtful, action-packed, sexy, you name it.
4.Apocalypto - Mel does it again. Bloody, to be sure, but packed with symbolism and the Gospel. Doesn't pull any punches with the disgusting culture we call the Mayans.
5.Little Miss Sunshine - Some weird, not-for-everyone stuff in it, but overall has a great script, great performances, and one hilarious dance scene on par with Napoleon Dynamite. Great message too, if you know what to look for.
6.United 93 - Intense, intense, intense. But extremely well-made, and a very important film. Excellent performances by the unknowns, too. Good stuff.
7.Lady in the Water - What a great social commentary, and criticism of critics! Shymalan isn't getting the buffer of great press he once was, but regardless of what you hear, this is an excellent movie.
8.Nacho Libre - Seeing Jack Black do this, The Holiday, and a Tenacious D movie in the same year is truly incredible. This movie is not only hilarious, but understated and witty in the same vein. On a side note, I've never seen Joel laugh so hard as he did in this movie...then again, I didn't see Borat with him...
9.The Illusionist - Refer to my previous post.
10.The Last Kiss - I had a hard time putting this on here because all of the male characters in this movie SUCK, but the speech Tom Wilkinson gives at the end is a fantastic payoff, and the script really is excellent. Lacey and I are Zach Braff nerds, but there's too much meaningless nudity in here, so beware.
Ok, ok. You had me at Jack Bauer. 24 is back!!!!!! Just thought I'd share.
Oh and btw, the Colts are in the AFC Championship, one game away from the super bowl. So pray for us:)
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Lacey and I saw a couple movies this weekend. First off, we rented the Illusionist, with Edward Norton. This was similar to The Prestige, even though it came out earlier. It was a very good-looking movie, well-acted (I love Norton), and we both really enjoyed this movie. Good plot, good script, definitely a movie I'd see again. It probably didn't quite attain the same level as the prestige, but they were much different films. Anyway, good flick.
The second movie we watched was Children of Men. This movie was directed by a secularist pagan, Alfonso Cuaron. And if you see it, you will know why I mentioned that...it's ASTOUNDING that a man like that could have directed this movie. I mean, it's like a 2 hour commercial for the sanctity of life and the Pro-life movement. This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long, long time. If imdb is right, and it's considered a 2006 movie, it is easily (EASILY) #1 for the year, and I can't think of anything topping it this year, either. Clive Owen and Julianne Moore were terrific, the score was very understated, the directing/cinematography I can't even talk about because it was so amazing, the script was fantastic...in fact, I can't think of one flaw that this movie has. My pitiful words don't do it justice at all. Go read a better review of it at thecedarroom.org - it really captures the film well. There are so many good things about this movie...I'm not kidding when I say I was on the verge of tears for the last hour of it - STRAIGHT. Now, it is rated R for strong violence and very strong language, so beware of that. But if you possibly can, you have to go see this movie. Powerful stuff.
Lacey went in for her first visit with the regular OB doctor today, and things look great! She heard the baby's heartbeat, and it's going strong at around 150 bpm. I'm jealous that all I was listening to was kids complaining in class while she was listening to our baby's heart. But that's another story. Anyway, there are no problems, and we will find out the sex of the baby on January 24th! So I'll update you then. We have already picked out the names, and it will be revealed then as well (although most of you already know what they are). I can't wait! Continue to pray for Lacey and the baby, Lacey hasn't been feeling all that well lately, so hopefully that passes soon.
Holy crap. That's all I could say after our time in Monroe. We arrived there in the middle of the afternoon on Christmas eve, and were there a full 9 days (and then some). I think we attended over 4 thousand parties and gatherings. When Lacey and I got home last Wednesday, she was in bed for 16 hours (she slept almost 15) and I was in bed for about 12 (I slept most of that) after the Irish debacle (don't get me started). We were exhausted. Now, part of that came from the fact that we left Jen and Bart's at almost midnight Tuesday night, and woke up at 4 the next morning (I only slept around 2 hours) to drive 12 hours, and part of that was Lacey's coughing, and being sick, but most of it was from going...and going...and going...and going...and going while we were in good old Funroe. Here's a recap.
Got there Christmas eve (Sunday), unpacked, went to church, and visited with the family at the Rocketts. After a 12 hour drive, we were pretty stoked to relax, especially with all the madness we had endured doing 3 Christmases with the Melton side before we left. Anyway, we woke up Monday morning, and headed to Rocketts for Christmas breakfast, visiting, presents, nephews, and wrapping paper. That night was Christmas at Grandma's, which was a blast. I've already recapped my, count 'em, SIX movies in the previous post so I'm gonna skip that. Tuesday had one of those, a whole lot of shopping for the girls, and game night at Jen and Bart's with the fam. Catch Phrase was the game of choice and it was played...A LOT. Wednesday we hung out with family, and ended at Jen and Bart's again, where we smoked the hooka, and drank around the chiminea with a lot of old friends until pretty late. Thursday was another game night, this time with friends. Note to self: don't ever play Bamboozle again, especially with Amy Booth, because she likes to cheat:) And oh yeah, I also got to have another world famous airport lounge Long Island Iced Tea with Christin. Friday was more bustling about, we went to Thomas and Emily's for news of her latest pregnancy, and ended up at Booths for some pre-funk Karaoke. It was just a warm-up, and I tested out both Young MC's Bust a Move, and Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive. Saturday I got to hang out some more, we did Pueblo with the gang (about 22 of our closest friends), and ended up at Matt's with the guys. All I'm going to say is Dane Cook and Borat. Sunday was church times 2, and of course the New Year's Eve party at Booths. It was a lot of fun, a lot of singing, and a lot of alcohol. Highlights were the guys ganging up on A Whole New World and the Backstreet Boys, Bray and Kajsa doing Beauty and the Beast, and Jordan dancing everywhere. Monday I got to watch some football with my nephews and Father-in-law, and get beat in no-limit hold-em by Jonathon and his Dad. Tuesday was the last movie, pool with Jonathon, Bray and Jordan, Lacey's shower, and more poker. This time I finished in 2nd place, but lost to Mr. Branson again. On the river. We ended (fittingly) at Jen and Bart's hanging out with family, Regan, and Slash until way too late. After we got home, we pretty much did nothing, and loved every minute of it. Thank you to all of the people that came to hang out with us, and had us over to their homes. We had a great time, but are glad to be back. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.