Okay, I was keeping score on last night's Academy Awards. That's because I had entered MUBI's contest to name all the winners. Anyway, I did as well as I usually do when predicting the Final Four at the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Which means I stunk. And trust me, I had help with Entertainment Weekly's picks which are usually correct. So this being an awards show, it's time to hand out my awards for the program.
1. Biggest Tease- Anne Hathaway. Hey, get your mind out of there, it's not what you think. During the middle of the program she sings a song making fun of Hugh Jackman for not doing a musical number with her like they did two years ago. Now you think Hugh will change his mind and they'll break out into song and dance. But noooo... By the way, has any producer thought about putting the two in a musical? Both are attractive and clearly can sing and dance.
2. Biggest Mistake Repeated Over and Over- Future programs must stop the performances of the best song nominees. They usually kill the momentum of the show. And if you eliminated them, the show would end on time. I mean they don't play three minutes of movie scores. This is a movie awards program. But that leads us to...
3. Biggest Surprise- Nope it's not "The Lost Thing" winning best Animated Short Film. It was the fact that Zachary Levi ("Chuck" from Chuck) can sing. And I mean he can sing well. Okay, it may not be a secret to you but I don't follow his career.
4. Worst Hair- What was up with Scarlett Johannson's hair? It looked like she just got out of bed. Frizzled and sticking out.
5. Best Fashion Comeback- Helena Bonham Carter. It wasn't a complete success. A little too Goth for me but it was much better than that disaster she wore at the Golden Globes.
6. Best "Up Yours" Moment- Tie. Randy Newman describes that at the awards luncheon, winners are told they should not have lists in their speech. Then proceeds to list his gratitude. He also blasts the Academy for having only four nominees in the song category.
Melissa Leo. After winning the award for "The Fighter" she was genuinely relived. Probably because of the cleavage bearing campaign she put on. During her speech, she dropped the "F" bomb. Cool. And hey, it's use in "The King" was important.
7. Going in the Wrong Direction Award- Tie. Last year the Academy opened up the Best Picture award to ten films to make the show more popular. This dilution is a big mistake.
Hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco. In another effort to be increase the ratings, the show's hosts were two young people designed to appeal to the younger demographic. So we had a bored James Franco and the lovely but vanilla Anne Hathaway. Even the open was lame. In the skit, they go into the dream world of Alec Baldwin ala "Inception" to find the secrets of hosting. Alec Baldwin?! How about Billy Crystal? Did anyone ever think of Robin Williams? Having these two host the show is just cheap pandering. And it didn't work.
The big ending. In an effort to show that the magic of film crosses all demographics except old people, the show had public school kids perform "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Then all the winners came out on stage. It was a big ending. Sigh. But the show has gone on for over three hours. Just have Anne and James say goodnight. Cue the "Hooray for Hollywood" song. That's how it should end. We're all tired and want to get drunk.
8. Best Presenters- Tie. Oprah Winfrey was just great. Her speech about the need for documentaries was inspiring. And it brought a seriousness to the film industry. It's not just commerce. It's art. It's a message.
Sandra Bullock. Her jokes about the best actors worked. Oh and by the way, having one actor summarize the performances is much better than last year's pal actor introductions.
Steven Speilberg. In one short introduction, he tells you one movie will win but notes that all the films are great. He says the winner will join the ranks of films like "The Godfather" while the others will join the ranks of films like "Citizen Kane."
9. Best Acceptance Speech- Tie. David Seidler won for Best Original Screenplay. If you look at his IMDB page and Wikipedia page, you realize it's been a long road for this writer. And it was poignant to see and hear him reach the pinnacle.
Christian Bale won Best Supporting Actor for playing Dicky Eklund in "The Fighter." There's always an element of danger for Bale, so you sat on pins and needles as he started to speak. First, you find out that he's not that bad of a guy. He directed attention to the real Eklund sitting in the audience. Second, you find out he's got a sense of humor. He talked about his co-star's Melissa Leo's "F" bomb and noted he's been know to use that word. It's a reference to his meltdown on the set of "Terminator: Salvation." (2009)
And the final award...
10. Best Moment- Kirk Douglas' presentation of the Best Supporting Actress Award. Douglas who is ninety four and has suffered a stroke still has it. The old coot hammed it up. He had fun. And who knew he had such great comic timing. Yeah, he kept the nominees waiting. So what? The man's a legend and was a riot. Great to see him.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Quality Films Can Do Well At the Box Office
Remember how last year's Oscar for Best Picture went to the little seen, "The Hurt Locker?" And how some bitched and moaned about how a movie that nobody saw beat out the mighty "Avatar." It's a different year. According to the USA Today, five of the nominees for Best Picture did well at the box office.
It's a good thing that five quality films did well at the box office. Making movies is after all, a business. It's an interesting business because it marries art with commerce. But one hopes that Hollywood executives see that art films can do well commercially. Perhaps more will get made. And who knows, maybe Michael Bay might someday direct a family drama.
It's a good thing that five quality films did well at the box office. Making movies is after all, a business. It's an interesting business because it marries art with commerce. But one hopes that Hollywood executives see that art films can do well commercially. Perhaps more will get made. And who knows, maybe Michael Bay might someday direct a family drama.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Getting unstuck on Tsavo Highway while playing Halo 3, Legendary
Okay, you're playing Halo 3 on the Legendary difficulty. Maybe you've been told this but Mission 3, Tsavo Highway is the hardest on this setting. I mean it starts out pretty straight forward, then you cross the broken bridge and hit Rally Point Alpha. And you got stuck in the buildings by a Wraith and Brutes. Well let me help you with how to get out of it.
First, let's assume you've played the game on the normal difficulty. So before you start Mission 3 Tsavo Highway, you should look up different ways on how to complete it on Legendary. Here's some from Halo Wiki. I've also posted a video below where a player just drove through the whole level on Legendary!
Second, if you're going to use a Chopper in the Rally Point Alpha area, don't have your Marines armed with a Fuel Rod gun at the area before Alpha where the force field is. Why? Your Marines may destroy all the Choppers and you won't be able to drive one over. And yes, you can drive a Chopper over the broken bridge using the steel beams that allow you to cross on foot.
1. Getting Stuck at Rally Point Alpha.
If you've played this game on the normal difficulty and cross the broken bridge, you usually advance by foot to the buildings on your left. First, that's the high ground and it provides excellent cover for the oncoming onslaught. On Legendary difficulty, this creates a problem. Because once you've wiped out the first set of Brutes, a minimum of two Phantoms will deploy more Brutes with gold Brute Chieftains. You will see at least three Chieftains and two of them will have a Fuel Rod gun. The third will be armed with a Brute Shot. And to make matters worse, they'll have a Wraith. Remember, that on Legendary, enemies are more accurate, have more health and fire at a ludicrous rate.
2. Getting Unstuck at Rally Point Alpha.
If you're like me, you want to kill all enemies in an area. So I got stuck in the two buildings on the hill which usually contains a machine gun turret on normal. Ha. On Legendary, the sadists at Bungie have removed it. The first thing you should do is be patient. The Wraith will kill you in seconds if it has an open shot. Luckily for you, you have cover.
a. Find cover. The Wraith cannot kill you if you're behind the buildings. Look at he broken wall in front of the buildings. Now look to the right corner where the wall meets the hill. This far corner can protect you. But remember to be patient. If the Wraith knows you're around there, it will bombard the area for about four shots. Stay down while there. When it stops run to behind the buildings. Now if the Wraith sees you in the buildings, you'll will be killed so keep your cover behind the buildings.
b. Use the Battle Rifle. You will run out of sniper ammo quickly because its bullets don't have as much power as they do on lower settings. The battle rifle has a scope and this is important. There's a ton of ammo in the fallen locker in the left building. Remember take head shots.
c. Find good sniping points. The first one is by the left building, facing the Wraith. There's a point at the back of the building that will let you snipe Brutes on the path leading up to the buildings. Here you can snipe but when the Wraith locates you, move to the back for cover. Since the Wraith fires a rainbow type shot, you can hear it fire, allowing you to run. Of course, if you see it targeting you, then move to cover.
The second sniping point is the right hand corner where the broken wall meets the hill. The wall has openings that allow you to peek out and shoot Brutes. Now watch out since Brutes may come up the path and flank you.
The third sniping point is if the Brutes advance to the buildings, especially the Chieftain carrying the Fuel Rod gun. Okay, retreat to the back and behind the right building. The back corner on the right side is idea. Here, you can snipe a Chieftain through the buildings opening and use the corner for cover.
d. Keep moving. Don't let Brutes flank you. And don't let the Wraith have a clear shot. The operative word is run.
e. Goad the Brutes. You may have to goad the Brutes to expose themselves. I do it this way. I run towards the Wraith and throw a plasma grenade at a Chieftain. Now you might damage one but it causes the Brutes to move. I run to the back of the buildings and then move to the broken wall to the right corner. If successful, the Brutes will move up the path where I can shoot them.
f. Use the large pipes behind the Wraith. Okay, after you've wiped out all or most of the Brutes, you can leave the two buildings. Hopefully you've picked up a Fuel Rod gun left behind by the Chieftains. By the way, don't move until you've at least killed the Chieftains and most of their escorts. Now run to the building below and to the right. Keep in cover. Run to the crashed trucks to the right. Okay, you should be taking fire but if you keep moving and under cover, you'll be all right.
Now move to the large pipes behind the Wraith. Go into them. You're under cover. Now be patient. Kill any Brute survivors by popping in and out of cover. Now be careful because any flanking Brutes will kill you. If you're patient, the Wraith may expose its back to you. Run to the back; board it and destroy the Wraith.
With all the Brutes and the Wraith dead, you get the welcome sound of a Pelican. It drops a Warthog and troops for you to use in the next area. Of course, arm your Marine passenger with Fuel Rod guns so you'll be really packing for the fight ahead.
Tsavo Highway Legendary Speed Run. This guy completed it in less than five minutes!
First, let's assume you've played the game on the normal difficulty. So before you start Mission 3 Tsavo Highway, you should look up different ways on how to complete it on Legendary. Here's some from Halo Wiki. I've also posted a video below where a player just drove through the whole level on Legendary!
Second, if you're going to use a Chopper in the Rally Point Alpha area, don't have your Marines armed with a Fuel Rod gun at the area before Alpha where the force field is. Why? Your Marines may destroy all the Choppers and you won't be able to drive one over. And yes, you can drive a Chopper over the broken bridge using the steel beams that allow you to cross on foot.
1. Getting Stuck at Rally Point Alpha.
If you've played this game on the normal difficulty and cross the broken bridge, you usually advance by foot to the buildings on your left. First, that's the high ground and it provides excellent cover for the oncoming onslaught. On Legendary difficulty, this creates a problem. Because once you've wiped out the first set of Brutes, a minimum of two Phantoms will deploy more Brutes with gold Brute Chieftains. You will see at least three Chieftains and two of them will have a Fuel Rod gun. The third will be armed with a Brute Shot. And to make matters worse, they'll have a Wraith. Remember, that on Legendary, enemies are more accurate, have more health and fire at a ludicrous rate.
2. Getting Unstuck at Rally Point Alpha.
If you're like me, you want to kill all enemies in an area. So I got stuck in the two buildings on the hill which usually contains a machine gun turret on normal. Ha. On Legendary, the sadists at Bungie have removed it. The first thing you should do is be patient. The Wraith will kill you in seconds if it has an open shot. Luckily for you, you have cover.
a. Find cover. The Wraith cannot kill you if you're behind the buildings. Look at he broken wall in front of the buildings. Now look to the right corner where the wall meets the hill. This far corner can protect you. But remember to be patient. If the Wraith knows you're around there, it will bombard the area for about four shots. Stay down while there. When it stops run to behind the buildings. Now if the Wraith sees you in the buildings, you'll will be killed so keep your cover behind the buildings.
b. Use the Battle Rifle. You will run out of sniper ammo quickly because its bullets don't have as much power as they do on lower settings. The battle rifle has a scope and this is important. There's a ton of ammo in the fallen locker in the left building. Remember take head shots.
c. Find good sniping points. The first one is by the left building, facing the Wraith. There's a point at the back of the building that will let you snipe Brutes on the path leading up to the buildings. Here you can snipe but when the Wraith locates you, move to the back for cover. Since the Wraith fires a rainbow type shot, you can hear it fire, allowing you to run. Of course, if you see it targeting you, then move to cover.
The second sniping point is the right hand corner where the broken wall meets the hill. The wall has openings that allow you to peek out and shoot Brutes. Now watch out since Brutes may come up the path and flank you.
The third sniping point is if the Brutes advance to the buildings, especially the Chieftain carrying the Fuel Rod gun. Okay, retreat to the back and behind the right building. The back corner on the right side is idea. Here, you can snipe a Chieftain through the buildings opening and use the corner for cover.
d. Keep moving. Don't let Brutes flank you. And don't let the Wraith have a clear shot. The operative word is run.
e. Goad the Brutes. You may have to goad the Brutes to expose themselves. I do it this way. I run towards the Wraith and throw a plasma grenade at a Chieftain. Now you might damage one but it causes the Brutes to move. I run to the back of the buildings and then move to the broken wall to the right corner. If successful, the Brutes will move up the path where I can shoot them.
f. Use the large pipes behind the Wraith. Okay, after you've wiped out all or most of the Brutes, you can leave the two buildings. Hopefully you've picked up a Fuel Rod gun left behind by the Chieftains. By the way, don't move until you've at least killed the Chieftains and most of their escorts. Now run to the building below and to the right. Keep in cover. Run to the crashed trucks to the right. Okay, you should be taking fire but if you keep moving and under cover, you'll be all right.
Now move to the large pipes behind the Wraith. Go into them. You're under cover. Now be patient. Kill any Brute survivors by popping in and out of cover. Now be careful because any flanking Brutes will kill you. If you're patient, the Wraith may expose its back to you. Run to the back; board it and destroy the Wraith.
With all the Brutes and the Wraith dead, you get the welcome sound of a Pelican. It drops a Warthog and troops for you to use in the next area. Of course, arm your Marine passenger with Fuel Rod guns so you'll be really packing for the fight ahead.
Tsavo Highway Legendary Speed Run. This guy completed it in less than five minutes!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Stephen Colbert Takes On Tea Party Racist Mark Williams
Remember Tea Party Express' Mark Williams? Last summer he posted on his blog, a fake letter to Abraham Lincoln implying that African Americans are lazy and wanted to be slaves to a welfare state. (Here's one story from Rachel Maddow and another from Keith Olbermann posted on this blog.) Well, he has concocted a plan to infiltrate the government unions and then embarrass them. It kind of reminds me of what the Nazis did by burning down the Reichstag and blaming the Communists. Well, my man Stephen Colbert does a funny video piece about Williams tactics, complete with a puppy.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Bust in Show | ||||
| ||||
3D Films Are Dark
I've often complained about modern 3D films being badly lit. Here's an article from Film.com by Christine Champ as to why 3D films are so dark. The article states that two separate pictures are projected, viewers lose half the light. Adding to the darkness, is the fact you have to wear dark polarized glasses and the movie projector also is using a filter. Now you can guess why Warner abandoned converting "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One." (2010) A lot of the movie takes place at night.
Now according to the article, here's why it's important to shoot in 3D or if converted to set up scenes for 3D. The director and the director of photography can compensate for the loss of light. Let's hope when Paramount makes Bad Robot release the new Star Trek film in 3-D, that they expand the budget to allow it to be shot in 3D. Native 3D looks much better and the effects have more pop to them.
Now according to the article, here's why it's important to shoot in 3D or if converted to set up scenes for 3D. The director and the director of photography can compensate for the loss of light. Let's hope when Paramount makes Bad Robot release the new Star Trek film in 3-D, that they expand the budget to allow it to be shot in 3D. Native 3D looks much better and the effects have more pop to them.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Why the Cincinnati Bengals should stay away from Cam Newton.
With the Cincinnati Bengals having the fourth pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, the Bengals are likely to look at the quarterback position. That's because Carson Palmer has threatened to retire. Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton certainly should be on any team that needs a quarterback's radar. But hold on. Newton said to Sports Illustrated Peter King, "I see myself not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon." That should send red flags to the Bengals. Of course, that won't stop owner Mike Brown from making another bonehead decision. But if he's listening, here's two reasons why he should not pick Newton in the first round and let him fall to the third.
1) Akili Smith- This disaster by Mike Brown bore more tragedy than most of his decisions. Smith had only one successful year at Oregon. Sound familiar? Newton basically had one year of success at the major college level and that was at Auburn. To make matters worse in the Smith draft pick, the New Orleans Saints offered all their draft picks to get the Bengals number one pick. While Smith was athletic and probably looked great in underwear football, he was a bust of epic proportions. He would only start seventeen games for the Bengals. And was released in 2002. His NFL career then went into a tailspin and crashed. (Wikipedia article.) Cam Newton smells like Akili Smith.
2) Chad Ochocinco or Chad Johnson or whatever his name- Chad Ochocinco had plenty of talent as a wide receiver. But he was more concerned about his post football life as an entertainer. Let' see there were three reality shows and more are probably coming. "Dancing with the Stars." Some dating show. "The TOchocino Show." He loves the Internet and tweets frequently. All that focus on himself and not working to get on the same page as Carson Palmer has hurt the team. After hearing the words of Newton, I'm convinced of one thing. Cam Newton Equals Chad Ochocinco.
Owner Mike Brown must not fall in love with just athleticism. Football is a team sport. It's won in the trenches, in the battle between offensive and defensive linemen. Mike, rebuild the offensive and defensive lines.
1) Akili Smith- This disaster by Mike Brown bore more tragedy than most of his decisions. Smith had only one successful year at Oregon. Sound familiar? Newton basically had one year of success at the major college level and that was at Auburn. To make matters worse in the Smith draft pick, the New Orleans Saints offered all their draft picks to get the Bengals number one pick. While Smith was athletic and probably looked great in underwear football, he was a bust of epic proportions. He would only start seventeen games for the Bengals. And was released in 2002. His NFL career then went into a tailspin and crashed. (Wikipedia article.) Cam Newton smells like Akili Smith.
2) Chad Ochocinco or Chad Johnson or whatever his name- Chad Ochocinco had plenty of talent as a wide receiver. But he was more concerned about his post football life as an entertainer. Let' see there were three reality shows and more are probably coming. "Dancing with the Stars." Some dating show. "The TOchocino Show." He loves the Internet and tweets frequently. All that focus on himself and not working to get on the same page as Carson Palmer has hurt the team. After hearing the words of Newton, I'm convinced of one thing. Cam Newton Equals Chad Ochocinco.
Owner Mike Brown must not fall in love with just athleticism. Football is a team sport. It's won in the trenches, in the battle between offensive and defensive linemen. Mike, rebuild the offensive and defensive lines.
Stephen Colbert Takes on Wisconsin's Effort to Destroy Unions
Last night Stephen Colbert took on Republican Governor Scott Walker's move to destroy government worker unions. And then there are the conservative talking heads comparing unions with 9/11! With his usual sarcasm and wit, Colbert was brilliant in discussing the issue. Check out his piece.
Colbert then interviews Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| A Less Perfect Union | ||||
| ||||
Colbert then interviews Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| A Less Perfect Union - Randi Weingarten | ||||
| ||||
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