Life Could Be A Dream

It's been announced by Universal Pictures that Gore Verbinski (of Pirates of the Caribbean fame) has been selected to direct a remake of the 1985 classic Clue, which in turn was based on the popular board game from Hasbro.

Annnnd, I'm officially psyched.

Assuming Verbinski updates the material with current references (goodbye communism and singing telegrams, hello terrorism and electronic communication), preserves the tone of the original movie (two parts mystery, one part scary, one part comedy), and selects a quality cast (how about bringing along Johnny Depp, or honoring Tim Curry by bringing him back in the fake Mr. Boddy role?), then I think we're in for a real treat.

Or he can butcher the whole thing. As always, I'll be remaining optimistic.

*If you recognize the significance between the title of this post and the movie Clue, then you, my friend, are a true fan.
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Sunday Night Is Oscar Night

The 2009 Academy Awards have arrived...and so have my predictions!

[UPDATE: 18 out of 24 correct, very pleased. See you next year, Oscars!]

Best Picture
And the Oscar goes to...Slumdog Millionaire.
Don't count out...Milk? Curious Case? Let's face it, Slumdog is a lock.

Best Director
And the Oscar goes to...Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire.
Don't count out...Gus Van Sant for Milk, but again Slumdog is pretty solid here too.

Best Actor
And the Oscar goes to...Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler.
Don't count out...Sean Penn for Milk, in a pretty tight race.

Best Actress
And the Oscar goes to...Kate Winslet for The Reader.
Don't count out...the nomination leader herself, Meryl Streep for Doubt.

Best Supporting Actor
And the Oscar goes to...Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight.
Don't count out...pigs flying, because that's what it would take for Ledger to lose this award.

Best Supporting Actress
And the Oscar goes to...Viola Davis for Doubt.
Don't count out...Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the perceived front-runner.

Best Original Screenplay
And the Oscar goes to...Milk.
Don't count out...Wall-E.

Best Adapted Screenplay
And the Oscar goes to...Slumdog Millionaire.
Don't count out...a deserving Frost/Nixon not winning.

Best Animated Feature Film
And the Oscar goes to...Wall-E.
Don't count out...did I mention that Wall-E is animated gold?

Best Cinematography
And the Oscar goes to...Slumdog Millionaire.
Don't count out...the visuals of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Best Film Editing
And the Oscar goes to...Slumdog Millionaire.
Don't count out...The Dark Knight.

Best Art Direction
And the Oscar goes to...The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Don't count out...The Dark Knight, again.

Best Costume Design
And the Oscar goes to...The Duchess.
Don't count out...The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Best Makeup
And the Oscar goes to...the old and young of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Don't count out...the Joker's face in The Dark Knight.

Best Visual Effects
And the Oscar goes to...The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Don't count out...you guessed it, The Dark Knight.

Best Sound Editing
And the Oscar goes to...The Dark Knight.
Don't count out...Wall-E.

Best Sound Mixing
And the Oscar goes to...The Dark Knight.
Don't count out...Wall-E.

Best Original Score
And the Oscar goes to...Slumdog Millionaire.
Don't count out...poor Thomas Newman of Wall-E.

Best Original Song
And the Oscar goes to...'Jai Ho' from Slumdog Millionaire, because you can't get it out of your head.
Don't count out...'Down to Earth' from Wall-E (Newman!).

Best Foreign Language Film
And the Oscar goes to...The Class (France), maybe.
Don't count out... the strong contender Waltz with Bashir (Israel).

Best Documentary Feature Film
And the Oscar goes to...Man on Wire.
Don't count out...Encounters at the End of the World or Trouble the Water.

Best Documentary Short Film
And the Oscar goes to...The Witness.
Don't count out...The Conscience of Nhem En.

Best Animated Short Film
And the Oscar goes to...Presto.
Don't count out...La Maison en Petits Cubes or This Way Up.

Best Live Action Short Film
And the Oscar goes to...Spielzeugland (Toyland).
Don't count out...New Boy or The Pig.
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That's right.

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Psyched For Sykes

She's a woman. She's an African American. She's gay. Definitely not the typical description of the person selected to be the entertainer of the White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner (May 9th).

More importantly, she's funny.
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They Don't Look A Day Over 175

In honor of the "200th birthdays" of President Abraham Lincoln and naturalist Charles Darwin, I urge you join me in reading the following two books:

Combined, we're talking about 1,360 pages...let's get started, shall we?

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Confirmed: Joaquin Phoenix Is Disturbed

And a genuine asshole.
But more importantly, he's clearly mentally unwell.

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Monday Musing

Why is it that if a human being (or dog, cat, raccoon, etc.) were to fall from a height that was 100 times their own height (for example, a 6 foot tall human falling from a 600 foot height), there would be a result of almost certain death for that being, however, if a bug were to fall the same relative distance of 100 times its own height (as often occurs when someone knocks a spider from the top of a wall to the floor below, for instance), the bug not only survives the fall but remains capable enough to rapidly crawl away?

I assume there is a perfectly logical explanation for this phenomenon, involving a physics-based explanation, an entomology-based explanation, or both. Unless there are any physicists or entomologists reading this blog (highly unlikely), I assume my query will remain a mystery to myself and to all those similarly intrigued......so, just myself then.

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Kicking Up A Fuss For James Whitmore

One of the brilliant elements of a brilliant film.

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How Does Your Foot Taste, Andy?

That's right, President Bush's Chief of Staff Andrew Card, who has spent the past few weeks feigning outrage over the "disrespect" of President Obama sometimes not wearing a suit jacket in the Oval Office, just stepped in a big pile of...well, take a look for yourself:

UT OH! Looks like Etiquette Officer Andy believes that President Bush didn't "respect the office of the President" either! AND, it also appears that Card condemns President Kennedy, President Ford, President Reagan, President Carter, and President Clinton as non-suit jacket-wearing heathens, too!

How incredibly ironic it is that Card initiated this little tirade about Oval Office dress codes and the sanctity of our American democracy, both because (a) his boss's administration arguably did more to harm our nation than any before it, and (b) given the vast array of crises our nation currently faces, to be focusing his interviews on suits and ties is ridiculous, pathetic, and insulting.

Kudos, Mr. Card. I hope you're enjoying your epic fail.
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PC Game Night

I guess the last PC computer game I remember purchasing was Sim Tower (definitely one of my favorites of the Sim series) sometime around the end of middle school/the beginning of high school...so we're talking about 12 years ago. And thus as this anecdotal evidence demonstrates, except for the phenomenon that is MMORPG gaming like World of Warcraft, mass-market consumers have largely deserted PC computer gaming for the more desirable world of console gaming.

That being said, I highly recommend you download the following two PC computer games, ASAP. The first game is Popcap's Peggle, an incredibly addictive 'Snood meets Brick Breaker' type of game with tons of unique levels and game mechanics; also available is the equally fun expansion companion game Peggle Nights. The second game is Blendo's Gravity Bone (...must...suppress...immature...joke...), a fascinatingly quirky spy game that can only be appreciated by playing it for yourself; plus, the entire arc of the game takes about 10 amusing minutes to complete, classic dramatic ending included.

And, I've saved the best news for last...these games are absolutely FREE! The direct download link for Peggle is here, for Peggle Nights is here, and for Gravity Bone is here. There are full versions of Peggle and Peggle Nights available for purchase, but the free trial versions offer more than enough gaming fun to last a long while.

Go now and start downloading, you'll thank me later. Oh, I almost forgot to mention...Peggle involves a talking unicorn and Gravity Bone involves exploding birds. Like I said, you'll thank me later.
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And, My Favorite Super Bowl Commercial Was...

~~~ Careerbuilder.com's 'Hate Work' ~~~
There are very few images that prove to be funnier than the
repetitive punching of a snobbish, coffee-drinking koala.

[Honorable Mention: Monster.com's 'Moose', Bud Light's 'Conan',
Hulu's 'Alec Baldwin', and Pepsi's 'Pepsuber'.]

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Great Game

Way to make it interesting there in the 4th quarter! I was so nervous I almost threw up my nachos, six layer dip, bread, spinach dip, cheese hoagie, iced tea, ice cream cake, cookie, brownie, more nachos...

I need to go to the gym, right now.

P.S. Should the need ever arise to make a movie about Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin (he is, after all, the youngest NFL coach to ever make it to win the Super Bowl), is there really any question as to what actor would play him?

First there was his riveting performance in the underappreciated Love & Basketball...now, Omar Epps prepares for his return to the sports film genre in...Steeler Country, coming soon to a theater near you.

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