Lowlights/Highlights of 2012

Lowlights of the year

15.  Cats on Facebook:  In short there are too damn many of them.  I am a cat person and I think cats are adorable little creatures, but everyone posting meme's (And really Meme's should be on this list in their own category) and stupid little quotes with cat faces is really annoying.  Or the pictures of cats playing the piano.  In my day we called that cat torture.

14.  Gangnam Style and other silly songs:  You know I almost missed Poker face and Lady Gaga this year.  Songs like Gangnam Style and Die Young and Call Me Maybe are so DAMN Popular and have no cultural significance whatsoever.  Actually no, they do have cultural significance as a sign of the end times.  Thank god for the emergence of Imagine Dragons and the Lumineers making this year not a complete bust.  

13.  Facebook IPO:  The movie, The Social Network showed America that Mark Zuckerberg is an absolute genius.  It also showed that he is a total douchebag (some say unfairly), and has a massive ego.  Well his ego shined through for all the world to see when on May 18th of this year he let Facebook go onto the Market with its Initial Public Offering.  Pundits called it a cultural touchstone."  They were wrong.  Currently it is facing litigation for executive violations, it lost a quarter of its value within a month and lost more than half in three months.  A massive Flop.  It was 'unliked' in weeks.

Han Solo doesn't like The Hunger Games

12.  People Who Liked The Hunger Games and/or Prometheus:  Because they are so stupid and poorly made.  I'm sure many of you enjoyed The Hunger Games, but those of you who thought it was actually a good movie are simply wrong.  Let's briefly recap.  A movie about child murder where the main character is proven to be a hunter with a bow, how is she a hunter with a bow you ask?  She shoots ONE bird.  Then in the rankings she gets the best ranking when she misses, hits the bullseye, and hits an apple.  Hey there, sure that apple shot was impressive but she still only managed 66%, a D.  This movie is called the hunger games, WHY is no one actually hungry?  It should have been called the slightly famished games.  Why does the shaking cam give audience members seizures?  Why the hell is Peeta part of the alliance?  Why don't they kill him to begin with, obviously they are grouping the best together and weeding out the rest.  Why keep him alive?  Because he knows where Katniss is, how the hell does he know that?  Everyone has stupid names and I am the first to admit that I love classic literature but calling someone Seneca and Caesar and Cato should have something to do with the actual plot.  The only thing that Wes Bentley as Seneca does that is remotely close to the real Seneca is the Emperor asks him to kill himself.  Caesar isn't Caesar like at all.  Haymitch is better in the book.  Why is there one racist district.  God that movie was awful.

11.  Honey Boo Boo:  Honey Boo Boo is dumbing down America and what they do to that poor child is horrible.  There, spent enough time on the little girl?  Back to the above rant.  This movie is formulated that pure happenstance allows the characters to survive, never in the history of the games has the occurrences that occur here happened.  Um, I call Bullshit.  And back to the racist district, notice that only one district has people of color.  Racist bastards.  Oh and don't let me forget Prometheus.  Anyone who liked this movie is even worse than those who liked the 'sort of hungry games.'  Prometheus is one of the worst movies I have ever seen, period.  Shall we recap.  Run sideways, not straight and it doesn't hit you.  What the hell is Michael Fassbender doing killing people?  What the hell is Michael Fassbender doing throughout the whole movie?  What the hell is Michael Fassbender doing in this movie, he's much too good of an actor to be in this atrocity to film study.  Was this movie a not so subtle abortion message movie, with that crazy abortion machine.  What was the point of the alien freaking out?  What was the point of this whole movie?  Why does it take until the final five seconds to actually look like a prequel to aliens?  Nothing is answered.  What was that black goo?  Why did it look like Ridley Scott's 12 year old son did the makeup.  Why was the old man played by handsome actor Guy Pearce?  What about the issue with oxygen?  They bring along a biologist and then they find an alien body and what does the biologist want to do: run away.  God damn this movie was horrible.

10.  Benghazi: After a rant like the one above I feel very stupid attempting to sound anything more than just plain sorry for the events in Benghazi, the loss of life, and the death of the Ambassador.  I don't fully know what happened, but it is a tragedy either way and I believe the President was trying to divert us from going to war.  Either way, a terrible tragedy.

9.  Donald Trump:  Is the biggest windbag on the planet.  From his failed 'run at the presidency,' to his twitter rants to his constant belief that the President is from another country or an alien, Donald Trump, like Keith Olbermann would say, is the worst person in the world.   

8.  Hurricane Sandy:  Another terrible tragedy, one that I won't make a mess of by trying to write about it humorously.  The only thing I will say is that the Red Cross website for Hurricane Sandy donations is:  http://www.redcross.org/hurricane-sandy.  Give what you can, if you can.

7.  The Flu:  As I am writing I am on Day 8 of the flu.  I am finally beginning to recover.  Every year there are about 3 to 5 million cases every year of severe illness and around 300 to 500,000 deaths a year.  I got it plus a wonderful bout of Pneumonia to go with it.  If you get the chance to get this, don't.  It was one of the most painful experiences of my life.  I have had the stomach flu before but never this transformed flu/pneumonia virus.  Truly awful.  Get your shots every year.  

6.  Coaching in Football:  Today everyone is getting fired which I find slightly hilarious but that isn't such a low point.  Every year this happens and although there is a much higher turnover this year than in the past, it's still just how it goes.  But as I learned this year, in college football, this is just the game always.  Coaches no longer have any loyalty to a given program.  We say the bowls matter but apparently not to the coaches, just how many interim coaches are coaching bowl games this year.  There is a lack of respect among the coaches in college football, they sign a five year deal, promise everything to the kids, and then bail for greener pastures two years in.  They have always said the game is about the student athletes.  It has never been about the student athletes, it's all about money.  

5.  The Crisis in Syria:  This is another situation that I feel inadequate to talk about in an educated manner.  I don't know who is right, who is wrong, all I know is people are dying daily and something needs to be done.  I wish I knew what that something was.

4.  The Fiscal Cliff:  Or the political battle of the year, or the dumbest political battle of the year (and with the elections that is saying something).  What this should really be titled is:  The tax debate, where Americans realize Congress sucks.  I think both sides are wrong, but no one, and I mean no one other than the President is actually discussing the actual issues.  Congress is throwing a hissy fit and the Senate is sucking their thumbs and it all has to do with three men of supreme stupidity.  Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, and Harry Reid.  

3.  Politics:  I have made numerous blog posts about this so I won't bother you with anything more.  But please, oh please, can we try and do a little governing.  A little governing would be nice.

2.  Concussions:  Both in football stars and in me.  After suffering three concussions that nearly cost me my life in October I fully understand the harm of a concussion and get why football players need to take it easier.  Suffering this way as I have for three months has been the hardest thing I have ever dealt with and will continue to deal with.  I wish that pain on no one, ever.    

1.  Guns:  Trayvon Martin, Aurora, Oak Tree Sikh Temple, Oregon, Newtown, just to name a few.  The issue of guns is now as it has forever been in the American consciousness.  Hopefully now it will be at the front.  I am not anti gun.  I understand the importance of the Second Amendment, but something needs to be done.  No average citizen should be able to own an AK-47, should be able to purchase "cop-killer" bullets, a Sniper rifle.  Diane Sawyer did a special on 20/20 in 2009 called "If I Only Had A Gun," in which Sawyer looked at how much training is needed to actually prepare you for the realism of an in class room shooting.  Many police do not know fully how to react, how can the average citizen.  I'm not saying that giving everyone training fixes the problem, but it is at least a start.  Hand guns and shooting rifles, that's it in my opinion for personal weaponry.  Want to shoot an AK-47, fine.  Go to the range, have them available there.  In 2011 over 31,940 people were killed from gun injuries.  This year is going to be more.  I'm tired of seeing children dying far too young.  Something needs to change.

Lights of the Year

Super PACS:  Why is this just a light and not low or high?  Well while Super PACS represent so many of the financial mistrust in the political elections, the ads ran by Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart's Super PAC was hilarious.  So it is both a good and a bad year for PACS.

Highlights of the Year

15.  That Stupid Commercial:  As I have said so many times this year, that stupid KIA car commercial with dancing hamsters just gets me every time.  I love that commercial.  It's brilliant.  Watch it if you haven't.  Nothing more to say.  

14.  Legalizing Marijuana:  Congratulations to Colorado and Washington for being the highest states in the nation.  Just think if the Seahawks played the Broncos in the Superbowl, we could all have a great great time.  Also we made steps to finally getting rid of this war on drugs.  At least for Marijuana.  As I have said for years, let the government sell it and tax it.  Win win.

13.  SB 1070 is Struck Down:  Thank God.  I worked hard to fight against this bill and when the Supreme Court agreed with the racist and constitutional irregularities the bill was struck down.  A victory.  

12.  Superhero Movies:  And by movies I mean two, not that crap about Spiderman.  The Avengers was just genius.  A great superhero movie.  Fun, funny, sad, dramatic, action, and super.  It was great.  The Dark Knight Rises, while I still contend is not actually a superhero movie, although that flying bat thing made it a bit more superhero than real (or the fact his tires on the cycle switch directions).  I thought TDKR was a brilliant movie and really believe it deserves an Oscar nod, if not fully for the movie, but for the mistake of not nominating The Dark Knight.  

11.  The Apocalypse:  Didn't happen.  Oops.   

10.5.  Butoh:  If you don't know what it is find out.  It has changed my life forever.

10.  Science:  Science was big this year.  The Mars Rover, which had everyone really excited (Not me exactly), but I guess that is a big deal.  Kind of badass landing a small vehicle on another planet.  And the Higgs Boson discovery and the repercussions of finding it.  All in all, great year for Science, you know if you are into that kind of thing.

9.  Rookie Quarterbacks:  Uh, yeah.  Just kind of.  Never in the history of football have we see three rookie QBs lead their teams to the playoffs, and from two of the teams that previously sucked.  The Colts were the worst team in 2011 and now they are the wild card with 11 wins.  Not too shabby.  Oh and RG III is changing the game for the better.  Congratulations to Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, and RG III.  Here's hoping Peyton gets to play Luck.

8.  I Found British Television:  And I love it.  A lot.  I have known about Mock The Week since one of my best friends mentioned it two years ago, but I had not fully explored it until this year.  Now I watch Mock the Week, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, 8 out of Ten Cats, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, Countdown, Sherlock, Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, The British X Factor, Black Adder, Extras, & That Mitchell and Webb Look.  I would watch more, but I simply don't have enough time.  They have changed my perspective on American TV and changed a lot of my vocabulary.  If you haven't seen Sherlock, watch it.  Simply Brilliant.  

7.  The Olympics:  Brought us together as they so often do.  Phelps setting the record, Gabby Douglas and the American Gymnastics squad, Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky.  Watching the British do well on their home soil.  Watching the Americans do better.  Insane Usain Bolt.  And of course Oscar Pistorius, Blade Runner, the runner with no legs.  It was a truly inspirational two weeks.  Brought to you 12 hours after it actually happened...

Julius Caesar

6.  Julius Caesar:  The theatrical highlight of my year.  Directing a post-apocalyptic Julius Caesar that was eight years in production.  The theatrical highlight of my life.  I worked with a cast and crew of amazing women and men of all ages and met some of the best young actors that I have ever seen.  To Bill, Braden, Amy and Duane.  To Paul, Brandon, John, and Jake.  To Lynaea, Jessie, Leeann, and Gretchen.  To Connett and Noel.  And to Stephen.  Thank you so very very much.

5.  Acting in Movies:  Acting is back baby.  For a while I was worried, but that worry has gone out the window.  For the men you have, Denzel in Flight, Phoenix and Hoffman in The Master, Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables, Tom Hanks and Jim Sturgess in Cloud Atlas, Bale and Hardy in TDKR, Joseph Gordon-Levitt in everything, Waltz and Foxx in Django Unchained, The Cast of Moonrise Kingdom, Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook, Affleck in Argo, Hawkes in The Sessions, and many many more (Haven't seen Life of Pi or Zero Dark Thirty)  The highlights in acting and why I thought it was back came in Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones give two of the greatest acting performances I have ever seen.  Simply masterful.  For the Women you have:  Helen Hunt in The Sessions, Field in Lincoln, The amazing Quvenzhane Wallis from Beast of the Southern Wild, Amy Adams in The Master, Maggie Smith in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Emmanuelle Riva in Amour, Watts in The Impossible, Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook, and I hear Zero Dark Thirty with Jessica Chastain is great.  Plus many many more (Weisz, Cotillard, Mirren, Dench, Streep)  But the standout performance for women this year is hands down Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables, one song has redefined her career.

Oscar Winner

4.  Movies that inspire:  There were so many movies this year that I found to be incredibly inspiring.  A top ten list in no particular order would be:  Brooklyn Castle, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Cloud Atlas, Premium Rush, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lincoln, Les Miserables, TDKR, Moonrise Kingdom, and even Here Comes the Boom.  Two of these films, Here Comes the Boom and Premium Rush aren't even great movies, but as an incoming teacher I liked Here Comes the Boom and something about Michael Shannon and Joseph Gordon-Levitt just gets me excited.  Perks of Being a Wallflower would be number one.  It helped to get me through a very difficult time.  

3.  Gay Marriage:  For the Win and about damn time.  This year we welcomed Maine, Maryland, and Washington and helped Minnesota along the way.  This year for the first time in our nations history a sitting president on May 9th publicly declared his support for the legalization of same-sex marriage.  From the songs like Macklemore's Same Love to the votes across the country.  From the President to a friend, Shane Bitney Crone and the work he is doing with It Could Happen to You.  The world is a better, brighter place because of the work they have done this year.  So very proud to be an Iowan.  

2.  Electing a President:  The Election ended and someone actually won.  And it was a very good choice in Barack Obama.  Immediately he has set to work with a new vigor that I have wanted to see from him since his first inauguration.  Despite the nay-sayers (putting that term lightly) Obama won the election with ease, riding on the coat tails of more than 47% of the country.  Congratulations to President Barack Obama.

1.  Graduate School:  Well of course this is the highlight of the year.  In the spring I was lucky enough to be a finalist at Sarah Lawrence, Towson, Michigan at Flint, and VCU.  Although I was wait listed at Sarah Lawrence, my dream school I chose the capital of the Confederacy, changed my dreams, and went to VCU.  Despite the trials and tribulations that I have faced, mostly through illness and concussions it is still and possibly forever will be the smartest decision I have ever made.  VCU is the right education for me and although I have been sick, and ill, and not in the right mindset, I am at home in Richmond and VCU is in my heart.  Go Rams.

Happy New Year. 

On Life and a Thanksgiving Turkey

I have decided that I dislike the month of December.  In the past two Decembers I have lost two of my mentors, teachers, and friends.  Before that I have lost friends and family and now, tomorrow, the world will be coming to an end.  So December, screw you.  

With the end of the world so close I thought it gave me license to talk a little about life.  About my life and life in general.  So here goes nothing.

On Tuesday December 18th, 2012 the world lost one of its finest colleagues.  Mr. Winston Alnot was a man of superior passion, not just for his work but for his life.  A genius of a mind in his own right, he was much more than just a teacher.  He was a world class chef, a champion chess player, and a fantastic molder of young minds.  In town he was famous for his Thanksgiving meal which he cooked, on school grounds, starting very early the last day of classes before the break.  Mr. Alnot would get a turkey, kill it on the spot, and then he and other teachers would cook the meal.  His belief was that the only way students could appreciate history, they also had to be a part of history.  The meal was discontinued towards the end of his career, but his passion for "living history" never dampened.

I knew Mr. Alnot as a teacher at the end of his career.  By that time the years of teaching had tired him and many said he was not the same teacher that he once was.  I never once witnessed these claims.  Mr. Alnot was one of the most influential people in my small world.  He wrote letters to each school that I applied for, and depending on the program, changed the letter to fit the school.  He taught me criminal justice, world history, and sociology.  He showed me what the constitution really meant, he showed me the worlds of Rome and Ancient Greece, and he inspired me with a world of blossoming unions created through community.  He also taught me chess.  And through his education of chess he taught me how to appreciate even the disappointments in my life.

One afternoon towards the end of a particular semester, I forget which one, Mr. Alnot and I sat down to a game of chess.  This wasn't our first game, but in the dozen or so previous meetings he had beaten me easily.  As I went to make my first move he stopped me, and he spoke a few sentences that have had a massive impact on my life.  He picked up the pawn I was about to use, looked at it, then looked me square in the eye and said, "You always have to look three moves in front of you, not just at your current turn.  Grant, this is as true in chess as it is in life.  Understand and live in your present, but see the board of your life always, always know that with every action there will be decisions put out in front of you.  Know which path you are going to take and then take it.  You can always come back, but never to the same place you were before.  Look at the board, take a breath, and relax.  It's your turn."  I won the game.  He smiled as he always did and said, "I will see you tomorrow Mr. Freeman."

After Mr. Alnot retired I only saw him twice.  Once was briefly at a Farmers Market and the second time was a few days over a year ago today.  We were leaving the open casket viewing of my other mentor, hero, and friend, Maggie Ellison.  As I walked out into the night I saw a man, bundled up to withstand the cold, he looked at me, and although they were far too tired, I saw his eyes briefly light up.  Mr. Alnot smiled and said, "It's wonderful to see you Mr. Freeman."  After a few brief pleasantries, after all we were both heart broken over the passing of Maggie, I said I needed to go.  I could tell that he didn't have any hair and figured, but did not ask out of respect that it was cancer.  I said, "Please take care of yourself Mr. Alnot."  I am not sure what he said, but I know that he smiled, grinned, and shook my hand.  That is what I remember from my last visit with him.

Life is a very tricky thing, one that very few of us fully understand or appreciate until we lose someone we love or until we are nearing our final breath.  By writing this post I am not saying that I now understand or truly appreciate my life, but I can tell you that I am getting better.

For the first time in my life I am putting my health as the top priority.  After a year of near fatal concussions and illnesses I am finally understanding that without my health I will never achieve the goals that I have set out in front of me.  And the goals, I finally have goals, achievable dreams that coexist along with my morals for how I choose to live as a human being on this earth.  I want to live in a world that considers neighbors as important as it considers family.  Where getting along is the dream, but understanding one another is the achievable consequence of pursuing that course.  I want to live in a world that is not divided by race, religion, sex, sexual attraction, politics, or belief, but instead is united by commonality and mutual respect for the morality of humanity.  I want to live in a world that values its fine arts as much as its sports, where it recognizes and praises the creative minds as well as the strong bodies.  I want to live in a world that cherishes its children and puts their priorities above their own.  I want to live in a world that respects the world that it lives in.  

Those are my goals.  Achievable, no?  Well I believe they are.  Maybe not for the world at large but for my world, the one that encompasses myself, my family, and my friends, yes I believe that I will strive for this everyday.  My compass for navigating through these hazardous waters will be theatre.  Theatre has the ability to drive away the forces of hate, to procure a better working tomorrow, and to enlighten minds and hearts.  With theatre we open the world of imagination, of learning, and of creative fun.  With theatre we can change all those goals above for communities in this country and the world.  Together we can slowly rebuild our planet.

The road will be hard.  And for all I know the world will be short, if the world does indeed end tomorrow, but it is the road that I wish to travel on.  And I will fall and I will lose hope and I will fail at times to live up to what I believe in.  But I can only look three moves in front of me and see that I am still walking.  I hope that you can join me and walk with me on that road.  And we will live for today, while building a better future for tomorrow.

A good seven points

Grant Freeman

"Always Believe"  

"Our hearts are broken today."

Today I had planned to write a much more different post.  One that outlined my guidebook for the weirdest Christmas Presents of the year.  It was light hearted, simple, and occasionally funny.  Unfortunately now that is the farthest thing from my mind.  I wish this post was more eloquent, but I wrote it with a very heavy heart:

Today an unspeakable tragedy rocked a small town in Connecticut.  On any given day the murdering of 26 people, 27 including the shooter is an atrocity.  Today is something different, when even our children aren't safe, and twenty kids are dead.  Kids.  Six beloved faculty and staff.  And one madman.   This was an act that began with a matricide and ended in a massacre that has shaken the American collective to its core.  A senseless crime which stirs many more questions than answers.  It is a truly terrible day in American History.

Immediately after the story went national, social media and new media universes exploded with chatter.  Some prayers, some rants, all astonished.  Shock, a feeling that I understand, was felt by millions, hundreds of millions across our country today.  Naturally people wanted someone to blame and instead of going after the 20 year-old shooter, the issue of gun control was the ultimate villain.  Hundreds, thousands, millions poured online and on television to complain about gun control, politics, legislative issues, mental health, and left vs. right ideologies.  Today was a despicable day in our history and although my pain and sorrow is with the families of Newtown CT, my anger is towards the American people.  

Let me first say that I believe in the 2nd Amendment.  I believe the founders put it into law for a reason.  I  believe that we need to have an overhaul of our gun control policies.  To own and possibly use a handgun is an understandable purchase.   On the other hand, an AK-47, semi-automatic machine guns, "cop killer bullets," have no place in average American hands.  I believe that we need to take better care of our mentally ill, our disabled, and our displaced.  I believe Obamacare is a step in that direction, but it is not even remotely enough.  I believe in the power of Liberal governance and in the power of anti-violence, anti-domestic violence, and alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs.  I believe in these things and many more.  I also believe that the way in which all of these issues being discussed today is despicable.

Today is a day in which we mourn the loss of 27 people.  When we, as this American collective, project love onto a day filled with hate.  Instead we made this day into a political and social snake pit.  As President Obama finished his speech, media commentators with their first words began to talk about how he could have used more emotion like that out on the campaign.  Facebook exploded with comments focused entirely on mental health and gun control.  Pointless arguments were posed.  Anger and hate filled the net and the airwaves.  

A friend, one who I respect, told me that this is the exact time to discuss these issues, that if we don't we will fall back into the swing of things within a few weeks.  Perhaps he is right, and I know that Americans move on far too quickly, but if he is completely correct than I don't want to live in his world.  A political argument was being waged while the bodies were still warm.  This is wrong.  We need to all grow a conscience.  And fast.  If anyone thought that gun control laws would be changed overnight, then they have a serious problem with understanding how this country works.  Since laws can't be changed with so much immediacy, we need to take a moment, a day, a week to mourn the lives of those who perished.  Screw the politics and the debate.  The only thing that Americans should be doing tonight is hugging their loved ones and telling them that they love them.  We should collectively be hoping and praying for love in a world that is so consumed by hate.  To turn today into a political pissing match is spiting on the graves of those who have died.  Graves, I might add, that haven't even been dug.  

You tell me that you are sick of ignoring tragedies by honoring them.  What the hell is wrong with you.  Everyday I am vocal about my belief in the need for gun control policy changes.  Where is everyone else.  Today I choose to mourn the dead, yes to honor them, and if you think for one second that I am ignoring a tragedy then you are dead wrong.  I only wish to take pause, to have a moment of silence for Dawn Hochsprung and Mary Sherlach, the principal and psychologist who perished.  I only wish to remember the lives that were ended so quickly.  I only wish to pray for the victims of the second worst school shooting in American History.  Have a heart, take time, reflect, pray, hope, cry, mourn.  Those are human qualities that so many of us seem to have lost.  You don't want the issue of gun control to leave the news then you keep talking about it, you be vocal, constantly.  But not today.  Today you cry.  Today you remember when Hochsprung, the VP, and Sherlach ran into the hall, only one of them returned.  Today you remember the "beautiful little kids."  Today you think of your own children, your own families, your own friends.  

Tomorrow you get to work

Today your heart is broken.

I finish with the closing scene from the West Wing episode 20 Hours in America, Part II.  Martin Sheen, as President Bartlet remarks on a bombing at a fictional college in Iowa.  

Bartlet:  "We did not seek nor did we provoke an assault on our freedom and our way of life. We did not expect nor did we invite a confrontation with evil. Yet the true measure of a people's strength is how they rise to master that moment when it does arrive. Forty-four people were killed a couple of hours ago at Kennison State University. Three swimmers from the men's team were killed and two others are in critical condition, when, after having heard the explosion from their practice facility, they ran into the fire to help get people out. Ran into the fire. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight. They're our students and our teachers and our parents and our friends. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels."

10 Movie (Oscar) Guarantees

Today is another list.  I worked on trying to put out the Soundtrack on 2012, best songs of the year, but that just seemed too subjective, so instead these are my top ten bold statements in movies this year.  Call it an Oscar preview with a couple other facts sprinkled in.

Hugo Weaving in Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas will win best Makeup Design at the Academy Awards:  And the fact that anyone else will be nominated is just a joke.  Without a doubt Cloud Atlas is the best makeup designed movie of the year, if not of the decade.  To think the amount of makeup that they had to go through a day on set is mind-blowing.  Although the movie has been slammed for casting white actors in 'yellow face,' aka casting non asians to play asians this movie made the right decision and I found no racism involved in their decision.  The movie is so amazingly complicated that it could only have worked to carry the same actors through the entire story line.  And while a couple of the makeup designs were so-so, the rest were absolutely amazing.  Trailer

Benedict Cumberbatch

Star Trek: Into Darkness will be Amazing Despite Alice Eve: Two words:  Benedict Cumberbatch.  This new teaser trailer looks awesome.  Yes, I think there is too much CGI, but need I remind anyone who is directing the film.  Last week I said that I trust Christopher Nolan fully, this week I say the same thing about JJ Abrams.  In the world of film he has yet to let me down.  And the villain is Benedict Cumberbatch.  I have zero shame in saying that I have a man-crush on the BBC's Sherlock actor Cumberbatch.  Just from watching him on Sherlock I can think of no better villain in the next Star Trek movie than him.  And we don't know who he is.  Speculation has it that he is playing the revenge hungry ex Dictator Khan, but he also could be playing ex-crewman Gary Marshall.  Either way I'm hooked.  If you go and see The Hobbit in IMAX the movie is being preceded with the first nine minutes of the new Star Trek movie, so hopefully we will know the identity by then.  The only things that have me slightly concerned about the new film are the facts that Damon Lindelof is one of the writers and Alice Eve.  Lindelof was a great writer, producer in my eyes until he ruined JJ Abram's Lost, and since then he has written Cowboys & Aliens (Flop) and the worst movie in two decades, Prometheus.  My other concern is Alice Eve who looks like a love interest for Kirk.  What the hell is Abrams doing casting Alice Eve?  Alice Eve who is only good in one movie, Stage Beauty and shit in movies like She's Out of My League, Sex in the City 2, ATM, and The Raven.  Yes, she is beautiful, but c'mon, at least Zoe Saldana is beautiful but can act.  Trailer  

The Duchess

Keira Knightley is the Katherine Heigl of Period Pieces: Whether she is running down a hall in Atonement or running down a hall in Anna Karenina or running down a hall and being boring in A Dangerous Method or running down a hall and being boring in The Duchess or she is running down a hall in Pride and Prejudice (Not the good one with Colin Firth); you are bound to see Keira Knightley in a large period dress running down a hallway.  Much in the same way that Heigl is now the go-to actress for shitty "romantic comedies" (at last count she has made at least 8), Knightley is now one in the same, except with terrible period pieces, no that's unfair to say.  Her movies aren't terrible, she is just terrible.  Stick her back in Star Wars A Phantom Menace when she didn't talk behind Natalie Portman.

Searching for Sugar Man Will be Nominated for Best Documentary:  Hands down this is one of the best documentaries of the past year.  It tells the story of a 70's rock legend, Rodriguez, who had little fame in America and then disappeared.  In the meantime he has grown to be bigger than Elvis and idolized in South Africa.  If you get a chance, watch this movie.  Trailer

Quvenzhane Wallis

Quvenzhane Wallis Will Be Nominated for Best Actress:  And then every presenter will have a problem pronouncing her name.  If Wallis is nominated she would be the youngest ever to be nominated at just 6 years-old.  Her performance as Hushpuppy in Beasts of the Southern Wild is absolutely Earth-Shattering.  This is another one of those movies that if you get a chance, watch it, immediately.  Trailer 

Lincoln

Daniel Day-Lewis Will Win Best Actor:  No doubt.  Denzel Washington was amazing in Flight, Joaquin Phoenix in The Master, Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables (will be), and many more were great this year, but they don't come close to Daniel Day-Lewis.  Every time he decides to perform a movie role, he is immediately put into Oscar contention, but this performance is a step and above.  He does the impossible by humanizing Abraham Lincoln.  There is one moment early on in the movie where he comes into a room where his son Tad has fallen asleep by the fireplace.  He picks up the pictures of slaves he was looking at and puts them aside, then he lies down next to his son, until Tad groggily wakes up.  Tad then climbs on top on Lincoln's back and he carries him to bed.  There is something so human about the scene that it nearly brings you to tears.  Even if I didn't know all the research Day-Lewis puts into his roles, I would've been able to see it through his remarkable ability to create a completely new side to a historical figure.  This film is a triumph of the human condition created by an unbelievably amazing actor.  Full Lincoln Q & A

Moonrise Kingdom

Moonrise Kingdom Will Be Nominated for Best Picture:  Wes Anderson is at it again.  Although there is a great debate about which of his films is his best, whether it be Rushmore or The Royal Tenenbaums or Fantastic Mr. Fox or one of his others, this film should and will get his first best picture nomination.  The way in which Anderson flips us in and out of an actually serious situation with light hearted humor and his typical slow, but witty banter is astonishing.  Everyone carried their own weight on this film, which isn't always the case with a cast of huge names.  Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, are all big enough names to carry their own movie, but here they play fully formed but secondary characters to two kids, Jared Gilman (13) and Kara Hayward (14), the latter who would receive an Oscar Nom in any ordinary year.  This may not be Anderson's best film, but it is the culmination after years of creating such extraordinarily simple characters with rich, fulfilling backgrounds.  Trailer

Bane in The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises Will Be Nominated for Best Picture:  Yes, I said it.  Maybe it will get the nod just because The Dark Knight got screwed four years ago, but I think we will see it get the nod because it is a damn good movie.  I understand that there are many problems with it, some that fans have argued over since its release date, the ending, "Robin", etc; but for each and everyone of its issues, two good aspects appear.  This is a heart felt thriller that borders on greatness.  Not a perfect as The Dark Knight but equally as evenly shaped, giving us a very cold, in depth look into the heart of Bruce Wayne.  And for those who had a problem with Bane's voice, I can say, that I was a major fan.  The voice was equal parts hilarious and terrifying.  It was the kind of voice that you laughed at before you realized that he could squeeze the life out of you.  The only issue that Rises is plagued with, in terms of the nomination, is the terrible tragedy in Aurora.  The Academy may not want to celebrate something connected with such a terrible event, but I am confident that they will look passed the shooting to honor a great film.  Trailer

Lincoln Will be Nominated but Lose for Best Picture:  I have been looking forward to Lincoln since 2005, when I first heard about it.  Originally the role was supposed to go to Liam Neeson, but he dropped out only for Lewis to eagerly jump in.  This lived up to my very high expectations with Oscar worthy performances by Day-Lewis, Field, and Tommy Lee Jones, but as per usual the movie suffered from be Spielberg-ed.  I love many of Steven Spielberg's movies and I even like how he paints every movie through the eyes of a child in some way, shape, or form.  The actor who plays Tad was excellent in this film.  But the issue with so many of his films is that he ruins the end.  And without giving away anything of the film, the end ruined this film's chances of winning Best Picture.  Lincoln-Unite Trailer

Les Miserables Will Win Best Picture:  And I haven't even seen it.  But I am positive that it will win.  Based on all the information I have read and seen about this project I feel safe in making this the odds on favorite to win Best Picture.  It has one a the greatest working directors, The King's Speech's Tom Hooper, and he has allowed on set singing which has enlivened the work.  Mark my words.    LES MISERABLES WILL WIN BEST PICTURE!

Trailer

Mickey Mouse and Darth Vader

Star Wars Movies

1.  Empire Strikes Back

2.  Return of the Jedi

3.  A New Hope

------

200.  Revenge of the Sith

201.  The Phantom Menace

202.  Attack of the Clones

Let's be fair, I understand that some people would switch the order around of the first three.  I recently was able to see the originals on the big screen and I have to admit that my bias against A New Hope, no longer exists.  Ultimately I look at the list and think, what are the three best Star Wars movies and they all make the list, in no particular order, although Empire is just so good.  What this list should show is that the "new trilogy" is not in fact Star Wars.  They might have Star Wars in the name, they might have the same characters, but they are certainly not Star Wars.  Much like on The Brady Bunch, with the creation of Cousin Oliver, the show separated from its former to create a hybrid of suck that ended up initially the shows demise.  The "new trilogy" is that Cousin Oliver.  But not all hope is lost.  "There is another."

On October 30, a news story rocked the twitter world shooting straight into the Facebook space and continuing into the news media universe:  George Lucas is selling Star Wars to Disney.  One would have thought with the election just days away most comments would be dealing with the destructive event of the year, but no the cultural phenomenon that is Star Wars captured America's social and cultural media.  Outbursts were common, burning effigies of Lucas were seen, and tragic despair was all but certain.  I remained unfazed, at the time realizing that I had seen it coming for years, but now it brings me a giddy sense of exuberation.  Why?  Disney will save Star Wars.

How?  Star Wars has been dead for years, floating in space like the remains of emissions from the Millennium Falcon.  I don't mean economically, I mean morally.  Economically Star Wars has enjoyed a massive success bringing in 1.1 billion for Menace, 650 million for Clones, and 850 million for Sith. (Worldwide)  And that is merely for the box office.  The amount of money made from Dvd's, toys, and merchandising is far into the billions.  But morally, Star Wars died on November 1, 1994.  That was the day Lucas began to write the Trilogy.  With the first mention of Jar Jar Binks, the changing of Han shooting first, and never-ending mistakes in casting, Star Wars died a slow and painful death.  And I watched it die, even being blinded by its flaws at the time.  

I was a Star Wars fan from birth.  When watching Barney, age 3, my uncle told me "I hate you, you hate me, let's hang Barney from a tree, with a shotgun blast, Barney's on the floor, no more purple dinosaur."  He changed the channel and on came a new universe full of adventure, planets exploding, firefights in space, and lightsabers.  My Uncle was a smart man.  But even before I was born, Star Wars was entering into my family.  My parents saw the originals released, my brother was born on May 25th, the same day both Hope and Jedi were released.  In the end, my family would begin a tradition of suckiness, where my sister would see the premiere of Menace, my brother would see the premiere of Clones, and I would see the premiere of Sith.  I had the collectibles, going from antique shop to shop looking for the lunchbox for my Ewok thermostat.  Yeah, I loved Star Wars.  When Menace was released I saw it and was awed, sure I thought that Binks was an idiot but it didn't matter, Star Wars on the big screen, in my lifetime.  Yeah, it was awesome.  But then 2002 rolled around.  When I was eleven I had decided that I wanted to be an actor in the theatre after I saw the movie 10 Things I Hate About You (True story, this is why I work in theatre today).  I loved Heath Ledger and I knew that it was the career for me.  So when 2002 rolled around I was 14 and ready to see the next awesome Star Wars movie.  Hayden Christensen ruined that movie.  And I hated Star Wars.  I would go on to see Sith but with the hopes that it would turn around the franchise.  Nope.  Actually if Sith wasn't a Star Wars movie, it wouldn't be half bad.  But my eyes had been opened, Menace was atrocious.  I boxed up my Star Wars things and sealed my disgust. My hatred stopped after a few years when I realized that Sith wasn't that bad, because due to the Cousin Oliver theory, the new trilogy wasn't Star Wars.  Star Wars was three movies and only three movies.  

Today I see that Star Wars can be saved.  We can move on from the cast off triplet children of the 2000s and look to the future.  Originally Star Wars was supposed to be more than the original three, with the Seventh movie picking up when Leia, Han, and Luke were much much older.  But disputes and other projects cancelled the future series.  Now Lucasfilm is in the hands of Disney and while most fanboys have turned into crying piles on the floor, I will give you the five reasons the Disney deal is a good thing:

1.  It was already dead, can they do much worse:  

Like I said in 1994 the Star Wars Franchised died.  The invention of the prequel was a terrible terrible decision.  If you thought the Ewoks were bad, the Gungans were worse.  (Also if you think the Ewoks were bad I suggest you take that up with Barney Stinson on HIMYM, who would declare that you are wrong).  What was the problem with the new trilogy, where did it go wrong.  Well George Lucas was involved and he is one of the biggest ego-maniacs on the planet.  Now Disney owns the movies and has already announced that Episode Seven with come out in 2015.  It's not like they can get worse than they already are.  To misuse a quote, Helen Keller once said, "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."  The Prequel trilogy has not vision, Disney has one.  It might have $$$ signs at the end of it, but who doesn't.

2.  History of Disney successes:

Who remembers 2009 when Disney spent another 4 billion dollars to purchase Marvel?  I do, everyone was up in arms that it would be the end of the universe, well the Marvel Universe.  Was it?  No.  Did it get better?  Yes.  The Avengers is one of the most successful movies of the past year and it is already considered one of the greatest superhero movies of all time.  And why?  Disney bought it, they put their financial backs behind it, and then they LEFT MARVEL ALONE.  Disney has a wonderful success rate when they buy other companies and then leave them alone.  It's when they run their own series (Pirates of the Caribbean) that the movies get Disnified and ruined.  

3.  George Lucas turns out to be a good guy?

Who knew right?  But in fact it might be true.  George Lucas you just made 4.05 billion dollars from the Disney Corporation, what are you going to do now?  It would've been great if he went to Disneyland, but no, he is putting the bulk of his money where, into education.  "I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education. It is the key to the survival of the human race. We have to plan for our collective future -- and the first step begins with social, emotional and intellectual tools we provide to our children. As humans, our greatest tool for survival is our ability to think and to adapt -- as educators, storytellers and communicators, our responsibility is to continue to do so."  Said Lucas in 2010.  Now he plans to give the majority of his money to education.  Go George Lucas.

4.  George Lucas won't be writing the movies or directing them:

And when I say, 'Go George Lucas," I also say 'go away George Lucas.'  Without Lucas in charge these movies have a real chance at success.  Remember that Lucas only Directed "A New Hope."  Both Empire and Jedi had other people at their helm.  And when Lucas directed A New Hope, he wasn't yet an ego-maniac.  Very few people realize that the Star Wars franchise is in fact, independent films.  Lucas has owned all of it and while it was distributed by 20th Century Fox, Lucas was the one who foot the bill for all of Hope before he had success for the budgets of Empire and Jedi.  And when Lucas started to become a maniac, the films had other directors.  It was the new trilogy that was entirely directed by Lucas.  Sounds to me like they all had one problem in common.  What the new trilogy suffered most from was stakes.  There were none.  A great example comes in The Phantom Menace as Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor with the ever capably annoying Binks in tow are trying to go through the planet core.  A fish attacks their ship and while Binks is freaking out, Neeson simply says, "There's always a bigger fish," and it is eaten.  That would have never happened in the original trilogy.  Luke would have freaked out and he and Han would have immediately attacked that fish.  Star Wars was never a movie series about the script, or the actors, or even the incredibly stupid plot holes, like the fact that one well placed shot could blow up the Death Star.  It was about raising the stakes, about blowing up planets, and western-like shootouts in space.  It was go-go-go from the beginning, especially go-go-go for the early 80's.  Hopefully Disney can get back to that.

5.  The Directors and the stars:

Harrison Ford has already signed on and I'm sure that Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher have nothing better to do.  (Yes I know that Hamill is a successful voice actor, but Fisher doesn't have shit).  Let's just hope that the Fisher of today, doesn't put on that Leia Slave outfit.  

Of course rumors have been circulating since the purchase of who will write the new movie and who will direct.  Remember that Disney brought on Joss Whedon to do Avengers.  They care about the importance of people who actually care about the movies, the directors who are also the fans.  People who have been mentioned to direct Seven, Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass), Jon Favreau (Iron Man series), Joe Johnston (Honey I Shrunk the Kids, October Sky, and Captain America), and finally David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).  What if one of these gentlemen directed the new series.  And who is writing the movie, well that isn't just a rumor.  Michael Arndt.  Confused by who that is, well you shouldn't be.  He is only the Academy Award winning writer for movies such as Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3, The next Hunger Games movie, and now Star Wars Ep. 7. But if all these names don't excite you, let me throw one into the mix.  What if Christopher Nolan directed Star Wars?  Christopher Nolan, who has yet to direct a bad movie.  Now some have said that this would be a disaster. how would you bridge the cerebral mind of Nolan with the goofy, fantastical universe of Star Wars, but remember of Nolan's seven major movies, he has written six of them (Memento, The Prestige, Inception, and The Dark Knight Trilogy).  Michael Arndt is writing the Star Wars script.  What would happen if Nolan directed Star Wars?  I trust that man completely.  And I have confirmation from a friend that works at Disney that they have at least reached out to inquire about Nolan.

I never thought I would say this, but in the end, I actually trust Disney.  And I expect that Episode Seven is going to take us deep into a long, long, time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away.