30 Minutes Late

For once, I actually think the Oscars focused on the movies than themselves. Generally we get the usual AMPAS President’s speech, the nod to the ballot counters, and the usual stupid tripe like a montage of animal actors. This year, we got a lot of new surprises and a much more intimate setting.

What I liked:

• Introductions to each nominated actor with a charming ass-kiss for each one. Sure, it was cheesy sometimes (and horribly canned in others), but it was a great push towards recognizing everyone in full frame instead of the usual boxes. Huge kudos for this new concept since we also get to see five previous Oscar winners on stage as well.
• More showcasing of each film during the introduction to the nominees of each category. More about the films is better. This is a show based around them after all.
• Closer and smaller stage made things feel intimate. I hated the gigantic staircase and cold demeanor of the old stage. This feels like the nominees are allowed to be in the shot more often.
• Hugh Jackman is a charmer, though I hated the “Musical is Back” segment. Wonderful nods to silliness (”I am Wolverine” and the whole cheap Oscars shtick) were much appreciated given the uptight nature of the Academy.
• The “magic trick” from the Man on Wire win.
• Faster pacing by having several categories introduced by one set of presenters. Loved this and loved the set change for each group of categories. Absolutely awesome concept.
• Nobody was played off.
• All montages were about the films of 2008 rather than some strange topic. Finally we get something that makes sense. Sure, they played segments from Space Chimps and The Clone Wars, but it’s fine since at least they weren’t being snooty about it.
• The Deceased roll is now including movie critics.

What I didn’t like:

• The previously mentioned “Musical is Back” segment. Tripe.
• The ass-kiss segments were really great…when they worked. Some were just so ridiculously canned, you felt bad for the nominee.
• No official musical score selections for each winner. WTF, Michael Giacchino. I expected better from you! >:(
• Really awkward song mash-up sequence. I would have preferred 1.5 minute segments of each song and that’s it. (Though The Boss not being there was also a crime)
• Finally I thought we found the right way to keep audience members from playing favorites during the Deceased film roll, but near the end we still got the favoritism. :(

How did I do on picks? I missed 4 categories I usually always get. I called Adrian Brody over Daniel Day-Lewis and Jack Nicholson that one year. I called all the short films correctly two years in a row. I even called The Lives of Others over Pan’s Labyrinth. But this year? I miss two short films, Actor, and Foreign Language Film with the last one being the only *big* surprise this year. It would have been amazing to have a perfect ballot, though it’s not like this year was surprising at all.

As usual, I have my Oscar picks. Generally, I get all of the technical and short film subjects, but this year I’m more certain I have a lot of the big categories. I’m really hoping to see something interesting tonight like Melissa Leo winning Best Actress. Let’s just see how many I get right tonight. I am picking purely on predicted winners, not based on who I believe should win.

Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Director: Danny Boyle

Actor: Mickey Rourke

Actress: Kate Winslet

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger

Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz

Original Screenplay: Milk

Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire

Documentary: Man on Wire

Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire

Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

Animated Feature: Wall*E

Song: Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire

Score: A.R Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire

Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Costume Design: The Duchess

Foreign Language Film: Waltz with Bashir

Sound Editing: The Dark Knight

Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire

Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Live Action Short: Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Documentary Short: Conscience of Nhem En

Animated Short:  Presto

This is not a review. This is a warning.

A few years ago, Keita Takahasi brought forth Katamari Damacy, a wonderfully bizarre game with a satisfying gameplay mechanic and charmingly fun environment. Then Namco milked a little more and brought us We Love Katamari. Then Me & My Katamari for PSP. Then Beautiful Katamari for Xbox 360 and I Love Katamari for iPhone.

Mr. Takahashi went on to say he wanted to leave video games to work on designing playgrounds. I wish he did because then I’d still have my $5 I paid to play Noby Noby Boy, the latest “game” directed by Mr. Takahashi. In fact, I’d have my money and my time back (even though it was just a precious 15 minutes).

Noby Noby Boy is a digital toy. You can move Boy around and he can stretch out and swallow things (and poop them out). That’s about it. You have several different environments to play in, though all of them will be just as boring. There’s a clear Katamari design element going on, though none of the fun from that game is available in Noby Noby Boy. In fact, Noby Noby Boy is about as fun as watching a kid play with a Stretch Armstrong toy.

It’s been a while since I updated the blog, but that can mostly be attributed to the fact that I’ve been busy podcasting every weekend and the week’s have become steadily more active at work. I do want to include this little story since it doesn’t really fit in anywhere else in the 30ML network.

I usually pick up a six pack of beer from Trader Joe’s every time I shop. It’s not that TJ’s has the best beer selection, but more like they totally know how to present beer to me in a way that gets me interested. Well, they had an end-cap display of some Full Sail Ltd. Formula 1 and I was curious to see if it’d be worthy it. I previously tried out Black Toad, a supposed substitute for Guinness, and I hated it so much I still haven’t finished the last (awful) bottle of it in the fridge. But, for $6.99, you sort of gamble as to whether the brew will be tasty.

Full Sail has been around my TJ’s for a bit, and I finally decided I’d try the Ltd Formula 1 since it was a limited version. Generally, any food manufacturer makes a limited version of anything because it’s terrible (see Mountain Dew Gamer Fuel), but I’m a sucker for this type of stuff anyways. I was surprised to discover that it went down incredibly smooth and had virtually no aftertaste. The overall feel is a bit nutty and crisp, with a little bitterness in the mix, but it was entirely a casual beer. I felt like I was having New Glarus’ Fat Squirrel, but less of a sharp flavor. And given how rarely I can get access to New Glarus beer, that’s a really good thing.

Now if only there was a way to find something similar to the deliciousness of New Glarus Spotted Cow.