"The Artist" star Jean Dujardin, accepting his award for Best Actor, one of the many awards won by the film last night.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
The following were on my mind between Thursday, February 23rd to Monday, February 27th:
- As a whole, I thought that last night's Oscars telecast was much better than I expected, in that it managed to be the epitome of average. Sure, there were many parts of it that I hated. I thought Billy Crystal's opening sketch and monologue (basically the same thing that he's always done) was dreadful and completely devoid of any fresh or hilarious moments, as was Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow's banter about Downey's documentary crew before presenting the awards for Best Documentary Feature, and both Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz flashing their backsides while doing their awards presentation, and a few other bits that never panned out. Also, there were these strange problems with the show's audio that often made it hard for me to hear just what those people were saying.
But there were still plenty of bright moments to outweigh them: Chris Rock's funny bit while presenting Best Animated Feature (although a bit disrespectful to talented voice actors like Dan Castellaneta and Maurice Lemarche who have made solid careers out of their voiceover talent), Emma Stone totally getting into her "first time presenting" bantor with Ben Stiller, the "Wizard of Oz" sketch involving Christopher Guest's comedy troupe, and the terrific acceptance speech from people like "A Separation" director, Asghar Farhadi, Best Supporting Actor winner Christopher Plummer, and Merryl Streep. And Crystal, while lacking humor almost throughout the show, did a respectable enough job in being non-threatening and pleasant especially coming in on such short notice after Eddie Murphy bailed as the original host. I would rather have him as the host than an uninterested James Franco and a desperate-to-entertain Anne Hathaway anyday.
And now, here are some other thoughts that I had of the night (and, trust me, there were quite a few):
a. It's fitting that the majority of this year's films nominated for Best Picture had to do with the past and nostalgia, because the whole show seemed to essentially be about the Academy trying to remind everyone over and over again just how magical the movies are, and we all still enjoy going to a movie theater and getting entranced into the action just as back in the day when families would pay fifty cents to spend an entire Sunday afternoon watching two features, a newsreel, and a Disney cartoon. Not only did they bring out the 15th different variation of the same movie montage this year, they had a bunch of celebrities from Brad Pitt to Patton Oswalt to even Adam Sandler (apparently, the Academy didn't get the memo that maybe asking an 11 time Razzie nominee to tell audiences what a good film should do wasn't such a good idea) talk about why they love the film going experience, including which films inspired them to pursue their path in the business. They even brought out Cirque de Soleil to even perform about the moviegoing experience (because what Billy Crystal Oscar would be like without a few texting jokes, amirite?), and it seemed like a bunch of nominees received a memo beforehand to use this theme in their acceptance speech.
b. Considering that Streep has already won the award twice and was nominated for an acting award fifteen more time, I found it interesting that her win for Best Actress over Viola Davis was considered the major upset of the night.
c. So glad that "Community's" Jim Rash picked up the award for Best Adapted Screenplay last night (all while also getting in the news for hilariously paying homage to Angelina Jolie's pose). Now, the show has an Academy Award winner in addition to having an Emmy award winning show-runner, an Emmy award winning actor who plays a racist old man, the lead actor from "The Soup," the Asian guy from "The Hangover" that plays a crazy guy, an up and comer rapper and comedian, as well as two incredible hot female co-stars. If NBC doesn't use any of this to promote "Community" before their March 15th return, then they have truly showed that they just don't care about the show any more.
d. Another pleasant surprise: Brett McKenzie picking up the Oscar for Best Original Song for "Man or Muppet." Now, as a "Flight of the Conchords" fan, I'm hoping that this might be the new inspirational boost to give him and Jemaine new ideas for the long-awaited third season of the show.
e. I wonder who we will first see appear on the Oscars in the future, if at all: Woody Allen or Terrence Mallick?
f. Speaking of Terrence Mallick, I can't believe that his film "The Tree of Life" didn't at least pick up the award for Best Cinematography (easily the best part of that movie). I'm sure the "Hugo" was stunning to watch (especially in 3D), but Emmanuel Lubezki's work on the film was one of the few examples that I've seen in recent films wear every shot, every moment put on screen looked like a work of art. Not only that, but he did in a way where he was able to capture every meaningful light and transparency that was needed.
g. I have no words for this photo. I just...
h. As everyone and their mother expected would happen, "The Artist" came out as the big winner of the night, winning 5 awards (tied with "Hugo" for the most of any movie) including Best Costume Design, Best Actor, Best Director, and, of course Best Picture. Honestly, I'm not all that mad about it. The film was like "The King's Speech" (another film that Harvey Weinstein manipulated the Academy with to get himself another big trophy). It was pleasant, it was well-made, and it was overall enjoyable, but it didn't come close to being the best film of the year. Over the years, I see it being mostly remembered as the movie who won just because of its silent-film gimmick. Still, I hope that this won't be the last that we see of Michael Hazanavicius, Jean Dujardin, Benerice Bejo, and the rest of that movie's main contributors. Hopefully, their follow-ups (with sound) will be just as good, if not better.
i. I kind of feel bad for Gary Oldman. The guy had worked years to get to this point with his nomination in "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," only to have his biggest chance at glory defeating by a Frenchman who not many had heard of before this year.
j. If I'm to judge the reception of a film by the Academy based on the applause it got during the moment that tom Cruise was announcing their names, it looks like not many of them liked "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" either. How that much-maligned movie got nominated in the first place is something that I will never know.
k. I love Martin Scorsese as much as the next movie lover, but some of the god-like complements he got from the "Hugo" people that won awards last night were a bit too much. Glad the "Bridesmaids" girls addressed it with that Scorsese drinking game joke.
l. I wonder how alternate universe me thought of Eddie Murphy's job as host in his version of the Oscars.
m. Final Oscar predictions tally: 9-2, with my only wrong guesses being Viola Davis winning Best Actress for "The Help" and "Paradise Lost 3" winning Best Documentary. Damn you, Merryl Streep, for letting me get Best Actress wrong! DAMN YOUUUU!
- I was not all that interested in the new ABC comedy "Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23" before last night, but after they aired a promo of it during the Oscars with that clever "Breaking Bad" reference at the end, I now kind of have to.
- My God, has Paul Rudd ever aged in the last twenty years? I for the life of me cannot distinguish him in 2012's "Wanderlust" for him in 2005's "The 40 Year Old Virgin," 2001's "Wet, Hot, American Summer," or even 1995's "Clueless."
- It's just impossible for me to mention the show "Revenge" without getting my knees, holding my hands up in the air, and shouting the name for five seconds.
- For some reason, I tend to enjoy songs that play on the radio then songs when played on my iPod. I also tend to more likely watch an repeat of a TV episode more if it was on the small screen then if I were to pop it up on my DVD player. I still cannot seem to explain it.
- "30 Rock's" special Leap Day episode was one of the finest episodes that I've seen of the show in quite a while. I enjoyed everything about it: the inspired writing, the Jim Carrey cameo in a "Groundhog Day"/"It's a Wonderful Life"/"Bruce Almighty" spoof, the fact that they may have just created the new Festivus with all of the Leap Day traditions on the show, and so much more. Guess that not having a Christmas episode this season turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
- Lately, there have been three types of songs that I've noticed played on classic rock stations: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and filler in between Zeppelin and Floyd.
More random thoughts to come on Monday. Until then, enjoy the start of your workweek! And since I hope we posting on Wednesday, enjoy your Leap Day 2012 as well! Take chances that day. Remember, as Leap Day William might say, nothing counts on that day until March.
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
END OF THE WEEK:
It's Sunday morning. It's nearly 2 a.m. Let's just get this over with...
Picture of the Week: Rick Santorum's Picture Made Out of Gay Porn Stills
Glad that they at least made it out of the man, not Dan Savage's definition of the word.
Optimistic Statistic of the Week: First Time Jobless Claims in America at Four Year Low
The economy may still be having its problems, but the unemployment rate is also officially down to 8.3 percent while the DOW Jones is at its highest levels since 1997. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.
Stories of the Week:
-The Actual Story of the Week: Maryland Senate Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill; Expected to Be Signed by Governor
If everything goes well, Maryland will now officially be the second state this month to legalize gay marriage, joining the state of Washington. Add this with the debut of "Smash" and the season premiere of Ru Paul's "Drag Race" a few weeks ago, and this is the biggest month for gay people since the time Lady Gaga and Kathy Griffin both had TV specials on.
-The Tiger Woods Saga of '09 Memorial Story of the Week: Sasha Baron Cohen's Quest to Go to The Oscars as "The Dictator"
Yes, because the reputation of the Academy Awards has been pristine before Cohen decided to dress up as one the character in his upcoming movie.
Unlikely Allies of the Week: Mitt Romney and Ron Paul
Who both seemed like they were on a mission to tag team one another against Rick Santorum during this past week's Republican presidential debate in Arizona, the 20th and (hopefully) final one since the summer. Heading into the debate, the former Pennsylvania Senator with both the momentum and the lead in the polls after winning the trifecta in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado a couple of weeks back. But then he was given the unlucky position of heading into the seat right in-between the Texas congressman and former Massachusetts governor, where he then took a long and impressive two hour beating from each of the two (but mostly from Paul) about his character, his voting history, etc. Now, his momentum is waning, and it appears that things are expected to go back to normal again for the 12th time in this race, with Romney winning and looking like the front-runner again.
Video of the Week: "Maya Angelou Prank Show"
In one of the most consistently good episodes of "Saturday Night Live" in recent moment, this three minute sketch was the cream of the crop. Also, Maya Rudolph saying "act of whimsy" is officially one of my favorite things now.
Person of the Week: Whoever The Hell This Self-Indulgent Banker Is
for actually deciding that, as a tip, he would decide to go with what in his mind must have been a daring and bold political statement by paying the waiter only 1% out of his $133 bill and then writing "get a real job" next to it. I don't know who this guy is, but I'm pretty sure he's the same type of asshat who laughs at his own jokes and who is ironically the most demanding customer while eating out. If there was any other time for the Internet to do what they did to Herman Raju, now would be the time.
And that's the way it was! Enjoy Oscar Sunday, and enjoy the rest of the weekend as a whole!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
Get ready to hear a bunch of middle aged Americans pretend that this man's nonthreatening banter made the Oscars fun to watch again come Monday.
In less than forty eight hours from now, the top stars and executives in the film industry will all gather at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood for this year's edition of the Academy Awards, arguably the most prestigious of all prestigious awards show, where we find out whose work this year in movies a bunch of white men liked the most. Billy Crystal will host the Brian Grazer produced telecast (one which will probably end up as the lowest rated ever thanks to the fact that only one of the films up for Best Picture grossed over $100 million in the box office) in what will be the man's ninth time hosting after original hosting choice Eddie Murphy decided that he would rather stay loyal to his "Tower Heist" director instead. It's Hollywood's biggest night, and for those of us who were not lucky to be invited and have fun with all of the beautiful people, it means that all that's left is to sit back, watch along at home, and maybe speculate on what's going to happen before hand.
This is where this post comes in, as for the third year in the row I will be selecting my picks for eleven of the night's biggest awards. Before I get started, I just want to remind everyone that this is not a predictions post coming from somebody who is an avid moviegoer and who basis his picks based on his own critique of every film. And while this year I broke my record for most Best Picture nominated films watched beforehand with five (in chronological order: "The Tree of Life," "Midnight in Paris," "Moneyball," "The Help," and "The Artist"), it's still not enough for me to base my entire post on that basis alone. So, instead, the following predictions that you're about to see are mostly based on a combination of a few factors: critical reception, momentum, and past accolades. It may not be the most honest method, but it usually works.
Now, let's get right down to business!
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Prediction: "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
This one was a pretty tough choice for me to decide simply because there just wasn't any clear frontrunners this year. All five films have been critically acclaimed (although not as much so as "The Interrupters" and "Senna" were, two films that got surprisingly shortlisted), and based on reading what other have had to say on this category I have no reason to believe that any one of these five won't be taking home the gold. Part of me wanted to choose "Undefeated" simply because it's a Harvey Weinstein film, and as we've have seen in the past few years ("The English Patient," "The King's Speech" and now "The Artist") the man has the talent of swaying voters his way through guerrilla marketing and hype. "Pina" was also a pretty tempting choice simply because I assume that the Academy might have been breathtaken enough by the 3D to give this dance documentary their love. But for my money, this category is probably going to be awarded to "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory," the final film of the documentary trilogy by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. This is one of those rare films that have actually made a real impact on people's lives, and I think it'll be helped a lot by the ending, with each member of the "West Memphis 3" finally being released from prison and nearly two decades locked up behind bars.
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Prediction: "A Separation"
An Iranian film about the divorce of a middle-class couple that many have claimed to be not only the best foreign film of the year, but also the best film period. None of the other films nominated in this category have a chance in upsetting them.BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILMPrediction: "Rango"
Animation studio powerhouse Pixar does not have a film nominated this year, which means that for the first time since 2006 there will be another studio that will take be taking center stage once the winner is announced. Unfortunately, just because Pixar isn't in the race does not mean that it's the most wide open that it has ever been. Over the past few weeks, it has been made pretty clear that "Rango," the Gore Verbanski computer animated film with Johnny Depp's starring voice the Paramount stamp of approval will be entering the awards ceremony with all of the talking points, all of the buzz, and in the end all of the accolades. The rest of the films are either Dreamworks films that were pleasant to watch but not well-made enough for an award ("Kung Fu Panda," "Puss in Boots") or too small scale in recognition ("A Cat in Paris," "Chico and Rita").
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Prediction: Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Winner of the Golden Globe a mere month and a half prior, Allen's script has been heralded as one of his best, and with good reason, as it really was the highlight of arguably his best 21st Century film. But then again, any dedicated writer would do a great job given the opportunity of writing dialogue for the likes of Ernest Hemmingway, the Fitzgeralds, and Salvador Dali, let alone a man like Woody Allen who has been nominated in this category 14 times before and won it twice. "The Artist" and "A Separation" could upset, but I highly doubt that this will be the case. Once again, this is yet another Oscars no-brainer.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAYPrediction: Alexander Payne, Jim Rash, and Nat Faxon, "The Descendants"
When "The Descendants" premiered in theaters this past November, it was essentially predicted to compete toe to toe with "The Artist" come Oscar night. However, despite picking up all of the major Golden Globe Awards in the drama categories this past January, "The Descendant's" prospect of hitting big come Oscar night (particularly in categories like Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director) once "The Artist" started winning big in pretty much every other awards show in sight. One category that "The Descendants" hasn't been bested by "The Artist" at this point has been in the screenplay category, where it's chances of winning have all but decreased. It picked up the WGA Award in the very same category a mere week ago, and it's expected to pick up the Independent Spirit Award as well. The closest competitor for the trio who wrote it is Aaron Sorkin (winner of this same category last year) with his script for "Moneyball" that he co-wrote with Steven Zaillian. The duo beat them for the Golden Globes last month, but their momentum has been waning in the last few weeks, and I have a feeling that Sorkin's win last year will prevent the Academy from giving the man his second in a row.
Besides, why would anyone deny "Community's" Dean Pelton the Oscar? I mean, just look how fabulous he looks in this painsuit!
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Prediction: Christopher Plummer as Hal Fields in "The Beginners"
It's kind of hard not to pick Plummer in this category, simply because the man has won pretty much every other major award out there, including the BAFTA, the Golden Globe, the SAG, and most likely tomorrow's Independent Spirit Award (not to mention about a dozen other major accolades from critics organizations). In an acting career that has spanned nearly 55 years, expect to see the 82 year old finally hoisting the Oscar that he has so long deserved.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Prediction: Octavia Spencer as Minny Jackson in "The Help"
"The Help" has received polarizing reviews ever since it premiered in theaters, but there's always been one thing that pretty much everybody watching it has agreed on: the acting is pretty damn good. One of the highlights, of course, was Spencer's performance as Minny Jackson, the frustrated Southern maid who helped Emma Stone write a tell-all book about all the random escapades with her feces (or something like that). Like her male counterpart Christopher Plummer, Spencer has also led the way in previous victories for a category where no one (not even the female co-star of "The Artist") has given her any serious competition. Hopefully this will be the start of a nice career to come, although considering the limited number of roles for black women in Hollywood, I have a feeling that it will end up being more "one-and-done" at best.
BEST ACTOR
Prediction: Jean Dujardin as George Valentin in "The Artist"
At this point, this category is just basically a two-man race between Dujardin and George Clooney, both of whom picked up a Golden Globes for themselves last month. At first, I thought that perhaps Clooney would pick up the award, since the man already has an Oscar under his belt and had what was one of his best performances in years from the minds of many critics that have seen it. That said, Clooney is someone who in undoubtedly be nominated for many more Oscars to come. At this point, it doesn't look as Dujardin has the same kind of future, and I feel that the Academy will use this kind of logic to give him the win. Plus, he picked up the SAG Award last month, and that awards show has been dead on since 2005 when it comes to foreshadowing who would win this category.
BEST ACTRESS
Prediction: Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark in "The Help"
Another category that's in a two-horse race, another category that will probably be won by the lesser known name. From all that I've heard, Meryl Streep was superb playing Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady" and most definitely deserves was is a record 17th career nomination for her role in that film. However, I think that her many victories and acting triumphs in the past will be the factor that prevents her from winning on Sunday, along with the fact that no actress has won the award without her film being nominated for Best Picture since Marion Cotillard did it in 2007. Davis, on the other hand, was the backbone of "The Help," playing her role with great dignity and depth.She also seems to have the edge in support of the Academy by what I've been reading in recent weeks. Expect to see her upset the veteran actress to become only the second black woman in history to pick up a victory in this category.
BEST DIRECTOR
Prediction: Michael Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
When deciding this category, I just usually do it like my man Roger Ebert and pick the guy that won the Directors Guild of America award for the same year. The winner of the DGA has won the Oscar for Best Director ten times out of the last 11 years, and this year it went to the Frenchman with the tough-to-pronounce name who decided to make an homage to the silent film. Martin Scorsese and Alexander Payne are the two that have the best chance to pull the upset in this one.
BEST PICTUREPrediction: "The Artist"Was it the really the best film of the year? No, not really. But then again, that hardly ever happens at the Oscars these days. Was it a proper homage to the long abandoned silent film genre? Not to those who are fans of silent films they are. But it's still a delightful, feel good film that appeals to people with its nostalgia and grand novelty, and for that reason it's going to complete it's tour-de-force winter of award wins after award wins with the most prestigious award of all.
In the previous two years that I've been giving out Oscar picks, my success rate in predicting this awards show has been fairly decent, with myself finishing each year with 8 out of 10 correct and 7 out of 9 categories correct respectively. Selfishly, I hope that I can do just as well (if not better) this time around. Anyways, that's going to do it with this post. Enjoy Oscar Night, everyone!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
The following were on my mind between Monday, February 20th, and Thursday, February 23rd:
- Holy crap! Newt Gingrich's third and current wife looks like one of those replica robots from the movie "Stepford Wives."
-Speaking of Gingrich, I enjoy how much he kisses Ron Paul's ass in every Republican presidential debate, believing that he just might get part of the libertarian vote despite the fact that he's the biggest Washington insider out of all four remaining candidates.
- So I finally got around to watching "The Help" a few days back. I liked the movie better when it was called "The Blind Side," or better yet, "Driving Miss Daisy." In other words, it's just another one of those "white people solving black people's problems and everything is all better" films that were well acted but lacking in a good story that it needed to manipulate its audience with various sentimental moments to fill that void. And considering how it the highest grossing film out of all these Best Picture nominees and nominated for a bunch of awards, that manipulation worked to perfection.
- I love how the Jeremy Lin story has just completely downplayed how magnificent the Miami Heat (and especially Lebron James) have been playing. If this had been happening same time last year with the team winning 8 out of their last 9, it would have been the spotlight of the league for sure. But since everyone is swept in the quest of making their own Lin puns, it's barely talked about in the national stage. Considering how their every move was analyzed last season, though, this is probably just what the team desires at the moment.
- Man, "Archer" is having just a spectacular season three! Outside of maybe the Dodge spy car episode from two weeks ago, I can't think of any episode since the show "Heart of Archness" trilogy back in the early fall that was anything but in the A to B+ range, led largely by the stellar scripts by Adam Reed, who is just on a roll creatively. Glad that it's now officially getting renewed for a fourth season.
- I don't care if it's premiering during March Madness, or that's it's going back to the same timeslot that it's been doing badly in the ratings. The important thing is that NBC has finally, at long last, released "Community" from hiatus purgatory and given it a return date (on March 15th) and will be back to air the rest of season three uninterrupted for twelve straight weeks. And, for me, that's all that matters at this point.
-The fact that Obama, who is against SuperPACs, is secretly trying to get money into his own SuperPAC doesn't bother me. The rules of this race allow such a thing, and the Republicans are exploiting the Citizens United ruling like potheads exploit the "medicinal marijuana" loophole. In another words, this election is a gun fight, and the president is allowed to have his gun.
More to come on Monday. Enjoy the rest of your workweek!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
If you're an American, then I hope that you've been enjoying your President's Day so far. If you're an overseas reader, then I hope that your most-likely average Monday has also been going well. Regardless, thanks for once again stopping by and reading my crap. Now, let's get down to the goodies...
The following were on my mind between Thursday, February 16th and Monday, February 20th:
- While season four of "Parks and Recreations" has not been up to par with how good season three was, I have still been enjoying it as a whole, although there have been a few problems that I've been noticing with the show that showrunner Mike Shur might need to address. The first problem is Andy, who has been Flanderized into this show's Kevin from "The Office," a bumbling goof who resorts himself to going as far as eating an entire bottle of whipped cream just to see if there's a clue that no right minded person knows will be there. My second problem with the show is Ann Perkins. There just doesn't seem to be any real need of her as a character (moreso this season) and it just seems that she's only there to be in a relationship with another character on the show (now Tom Haverford, probably the strangest choice by the show yet).
- I wonder if there's anyone who assumes that the Academy Award nominated documentary "The Undefeated" is the one about Sarah Palin, and not about the story of the high school football team.
- Speaking of the Academy Awards, they're an award show that almost always goes past its three hour time limit, so I don't see why they should also be booking Cirque de Soleil. I think that the show would go along just fine without people seeing their act play out in what will surely be a boring fashion.
- I applaud "The Simpsons" for making it to 500 episodes, but as a longtime fan of the show last night's monumental episode was not one to make me happy that the show has still been going on all of these years. It was one of those many post-1997 episodes where you can tell that the writers put little effort into making it, and all of the gags just seemed to fall flat. I, personally, never even laughed once the whole time, and this season has actually been one of the better ones in recent memory (this year's Christmas episode was especially great).
- Hollywood trying to maximize their profit by getting money off a famous person's death. Shocking! (http://gawker.com/5886685/studios-allegedly-pull-all-whitney-houston-titles-from-netflix-to-make-more-money-off-the-dvd-sales)
- If I had a nickel for everytime somebody said "Gee wilikers!" in my lifetime, I'd owe all of you ten cents. Because I'm the only one I've ever heard say "Gee wilikers!"
More of the RTs to come this Thursday. See you then!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
END OF THE WEEK:
Week 8 of the 2012 is in the books, and with it another seven days where a bunch of stuff happened. Here's another installment of "End of the Week" to separate all of the latest stories and moments into the most essential.
This Week in Puns Gone Awry: Those Involving Jeremy Lin
In a two week period that has seen almost every variation of Lin's name and ethnicity used in headlines and by people trying to make a clever play on words ("Saturday Night Live" even satired this phenomenon last night), it was inevitable that we would see a few people getting a little too out of hand and create punned headlines that were more inappropriate than it should have been. Such was the case this week, when ESPN.com editor Anthony Federico posted the headline "Chink in the Armor" on Friday for the website's mobile viewers after the Knicks lost to the Hornets. ESPN reacted pretty swiftly the news, firing Federico for his derogatory comment (whether it was intended to be used as a slur or not) as well as suspending a few TV and radio personalities who made similar mistakes when talking about Lin. Some people unsurprisingly took the other side of the argument, saying that it was no big deal. But if you ask me, those people are (wait for it)........Lin-sane.
Video of the Week: "John Cleese Carefully Considers Your Futile Comments"
I'm sure those whose comments he addressed were quite surprised.
TV Premiere of the Week: "The Walking Dead's" Season 2 Return
which managed to break its own record for the most-watched episode in scripted cable TV history. Last Sunday, the return of the show from its short two-month hiatus was watched by a total of 8.1 million viewers (10.1 million if you counted the repeats on the same night) and received a 4.2 rating in the coveted 18-49 demo. The season 2 premiere from back in October received 7.3 million viewers and a 3.8 18-49 rating. Considering how it was going up against the Grammys that same night, I'd say that this makes the ratings record much more impressive, and proof that zombies once again just how insanely popular this show has become.
Stories of the Week:
-The Actual Story of the Week: Obama's Payroll Tax Cut Extension is Finally Passed in Congress
-The Tiger Woods Saga of '09 Memorial Story of the Week: 18 Year Old Texas Cowgirl Arrested Naked After Car Chase With Police
She was arrested while wearing nothing but a pair of cowboy boots. Yup, can't get any more Texas than that.
Person of the Week: Fashion Model Kate Upton
This was quite a big week for the gorgeous 19 year old from Florida, earning the cover of this year's Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and earning an appearance on this week's newest episode of "Saturday Night Live." She also rejected polarizing CNBC sports reporter Darell Rovell's marriage proposal on Valentine's Day, but that really has nothing to do with the previous two outside of how great it was to see Rovell embarrassed that way. The point is that in a week that was pretty slow in the news, she stood out for having her popularity and presence in the spotlight skyrocket, and that's why she earned this week's pick for PotW in my mind.
-Runner-up: House Republicans
For scheduling a committee on the contraceptives issue with only men presiding on the committee, a political disaster if there ever was one. But then again, this is a party whose top female voice is arguably Sarah Palin, so what did you expect?
And that's the way it was! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everybody!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
The following were on my mind between Monday, February 13th and Thursday, February 16th:
- Lin-sanity: Tebowmania but with the consistently decent play to back up the hype, although it's pretty hard to imagine that it would have existed without the fact that it's being taken place in New York.
- I have to say, the people making "Community" sure do know what guest stars their cult fans would like to see. In this season alone, they've not only brought along Michael K. Williams, but also John Goodman, Martin Starr, and in the future people like John Hodgman and now Giancarlo Esposito.Now, if only NBC would just GIVE THE SHOW A GOD DAMN RETURN DATE, just so fans can see how all of these twelve remaining episodes play out. But, no. They still remain inclined to keep that return date a secret. Did I mention that I hate the network for doing this?
- Well, I guess it's true what they say about the abusees returning to their abusers. (http://gawker.com/5885840/chris-brown-and-rhianna-to-collaborate-on-a-song)
- I'm starting to think that NetFlix is trying to purposely switch to instant streaming only. For the past few months, they've been sending quite a few movies and TV shows whose disks were scratched and (in some cases) just plain unwatchable because of all the damages.
- I wonder if announcers of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show TV broadcasts ever thought about saying "bitch" multiple times on-air when talking about a female. After all, it's not like doing so will be immoral. Technically, they will be saying the word just as Webster's dictionary intended them to.
- It doesn't matter that I didn't have a date this Valentine's Day. As long as I got to spend time watching Raylan Givens chasing after bad guys and Dewey Crowe chasing after a kidney on what was the best episode of "Justified" season three to date, I was just fine.
More random thoughts to come this Thursday! Until then, have a wonderful end to your workweek.
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
After having my last two posts written and uploaded onto this site at least two days after they were supposed to, I've decided to make it up to you on this Valentine's Day Eve by posting the newest edition of "Random Thoughts" six hours earlier. So, without further ado, let's get started.
The following were on my mind between Tuesday, February 7th to Monday, February 13th:
- First the music video for "All of The Lights," and now the music video to "Niggas in Paris." What does Kanye West have against the good people of this world with epillepsy?
-The first Sunday after the Super Bowl is just the worst. It's the first time since early August where you don't get a Sunday without at least one NFL football game (that means preseason, regular season, and/or postseason games), and it's the first day where you have to officially settle into six months with golf, baseball and basketball replacements. It's like getting adjusted into life after prison, only much worse.
- I'm glad that the producers of "House" and FOX decided to end the show after this season. There was once a time when this was arguably the best procedural in all of television. Now, it's just gotten old and watchable, with often stale plotlines, so I'm glad they're ending it before they officially run it into the ground...more so, that is. I hope that the showrunners of "The Office" can take note of this.
- Every notice how people refer to drinking milk as drinking a glass of it, yet almost always refer to drinking tea as drinking a cup of it? I have nowhere to got with this. Just thought that this was interesting.
- Oh, why did Whitney Houston have to die? Why couldn't it have been the TV show "Whitney" instead?
- Zooey Deschanel's "adorkable" personality is just fine now, but in a few years (8-12 years, specifically) it will just become old and fairly creepy. And, unless she changes her image soon, I'm afraid that her ukele playing won't be able to save her then.
- Are the Grammys the least meaningful of all the major awards shows? After all, music is arguably the most subjective piece of art, so just because someone got more awards doesn't mean that people are going to sway their opinion on that artist, album or song. Furthermore, the awards show has a reputation of rewarding the artists that sold the most records, not the won who had the most critical reception. Otherwise, Arcade Fire winning Best Album a year ago wouldn't have been as shocking as it was. Finally, the show is just not as big of an event as other awards shows like the Oscars are outside of a few exceptions (like this year, where over 40 million tuned in to watch the Grammys last night thanks in large part to Whitney Houston's death), and the winners just aren't as relevant in long-term memory. I bet you if people were asked who won Best Picture or Best Album from a certain year, the majority would answer the former with more ease.
Now, if we're talking about which awards ceremony is a better "show" to watch, then well...that's different. I would rather watch the Beach Boys play with both Maroon 5 and Foster the People than Billy Crystal performing a short "skit" with a dead Bob Hope (or any other crappy thing that Bruce Vilanch thinks up) on the Oscars every time.
Be sure to stop by this Thursday more of "RT" goodness. Otherwise, enjoy the rest of your day, and happy early Valentine's to you all.
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
END OF THE WEEK:
Sorry for the two day late post, but in a week that took me six days to write a post about the latest Super Bowl, this tardiness should be treated as much milder by comparison. Without further ado, here's the newest look back at a week that was:
Death of the Week: Whitney Houston
She was one of the top pop stars of the '80s and '90s, with a singing voice that can only be described as "once in a generation," only to have all of that destroyed with a tragic substance abuse problem to drugs and alcohol. Nonetheless, she will still be greatly missed by many. And now, just because, here is her singing the "Star Spangled Banner" during Super Bowl XXV, one of the greatest renditions of the national anthem ever. Go ahead, watch that clip. I dare you to not feel something while listening.
Celebrity Photo of the Week: Macaulay Culkin's "Gaunt" Photo
Man, he looks like Jim Carroll came back from the dead. Then again, this is how any man would probably look like, too, if they had just broken up with Mila Kunis.
Music Video of the Week: Kanye West and Jay-Z, "Niggas in Paris"
Wow, I actually...liked it?
Stories of the Week:
-The Actual Story of the Week: Rick Santorum Sweeps Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado
And just like that, we have yet another frontrunner in the race to challenge Mitt Romney. And once again we are supposed to believe that this is the real deal, and this newest "flavor of the month" won't die down in popularity like the last 11 or so previous non-Romney "frontrunners." Call me when something new happens in this race.
- The Tiger Woods Saga of '09 Memorial Story of the Week: Man Adopts Girlfriend Following Lawsuit
I'm sure that the shouting during sex just got a lot more accurate.
Milestone of the Week: "Phantom of the Opera" Has 10,000th Performance on Broadway
You'd figure people would have seen enough mask revealings by now. I guess I was wrong.
Collapse of the Week: The Romanian Government
[insert Dracula-related joke here]
Video of the Week: "Will Ferrell's Old Milwuakee Super Bowl Spot"
The video quality may be poor, but this commercial is not. And this only aired in Nebraska? Lucky Cornhuskers! Meanwhile, my local ad was for just some air conditioning repair company.
Person of the Week: New York Kicks Point Guard Jeremy Lin
Before this week, this 2010 Harvard grad and second year player was struggling to make it in the NBA. His first team, the Golden State Warriors, cut him after one season that saw him spend the majority of time in the D-League, only to be signed by the Houston Rockets just so that he could be cut again. Then, he was picked up as a free agent by the Knicks in December as a replacement for the injured Chauncey Billups under the promise that they would get rid of him quickly if he didn't preform to the expectations. But then, Lin was given a chance by coach Mike D'Antoni with extra playing time and starting spot last Saturday against the New, and since then the newest NBA sensation that is "Lin-sanity" was born.
Over the course of the next five games, Lin would end up scoring at least 20 points in each game to the point where he passed Allen Iverson's record for most points in an NBA player's first five starts. On Friday, he even scored 38 points over Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, and on Saturday, he helped his team win a close game over the Timberwolves with a few clutch free throws at the end of the game. His jersey has now become the top selling in the NBA. Furthermore, his Knicks have won each of those five games, officially getting themselves back into the NBA playoff picture, with players like Jared Jeffries and Scott Novak improving in play considerably thanks to the many open shots that Lin helped give with his presence. Not bad from someone who had to sleep on his brother's couch not too long ago.
In a way, Lin become the newest sensation was a perfect storm of starting at the right time and, more importantly, in the right market. Early February after the Super Bowl is a relatively slow time for sports news in sports. There's no football, baseball doesn't start spring training for another few weeks, there are no major golf or tennis tournaments for another two months at least, and the Winter Olympics happen only once every four years. That means the only thing that there is to talk about in sports on a daily basis is basketball, hockey, and NFL free agency rumors that won't come to fruition until March. So for Lin to begin his hot streak at this period in the sports season (and in a market like New York where everything that happens there is, by the logic of East Coast elitism, more important than if it were to happen anywhere else) is like Tim Tebow getting all of those comeback victories at the height of interest in the NFL. No wonder that certain media sites are trying to bank on the popularity of Jesusback by making him into the NBA's version of Tebow.
And that's the way it was! Hope you enjoy those seven days of the 2012 calendar, and I hope that this week turns into a better one.
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, celebrating his second Super Bowl victory and second Super Bowl MVP
[Ed. note: Apologies for this being nearly a week late. Unfortunately, I just couldn't find the time to post it until long after the Giants celebration parade was finished. Hopefully, the material isn't too outdated for it to be un-readable for you.]
SUPER BOWL XLVI
NEW YORK GIANTS: (21)
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: (17)
Like most Hollywood sequels, this year's Super Bowl rematch between the Patriots and Giants wasn't nearly as good as the match-up the two teams played together four years ago in Glendale, Arizona. Sure, the scoreboard ended up being slightly higher, and sure it had its many moment, with the game even going down to the final possible second with a Hail Mary shot into the endzone. But the game, as entertaining as it was, never had a moment as remarkable as the Tyree play (although NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth did all he could to hype the Mario Manningham 4th quarter sideline catch up into Tyree-level proportions). It also never had a storyline as big as "underdog defeats perfect 18-0 football team" like Super Bowl XLII. If anything else, it's also degraded by how awfully similar it was to that first Super Bowl the two teams first played together. Too similar, in fact (Patriots being the Vegas favorites, Manning outplaying Brady and winning the game's MVP, Coughlin out-coaching Belichick, key mistakes by New England at the end, a final drive by the Giants to take the lead and then winning it thanks to some clutch defense, etc.). If there was one phrase to describe New York's run to the championship, there is none better than "deja vu," because that's how the past month and a half has felt like watching this team reach the NFL's mountaintop.
Sunday's game began for the Giants the way that it ended, with the team catching almost all the break. Nearly every drive, every key play and every important call by the refs went in favor of New York that first quarter. It began after their first offensive drive failed to move farther into New England territory, with team punter Sam Weatherford kicking the football all the way down into the Patriots own six yard line. One play later, in one of his most unproffessional moments of his entire career, Brady threw the ball away deep down the middle to nobody while in the end zone and as Justin Tuck was trying to bring him down, a play in which referee John Parry ruled as a safety. Suddenly, the Giants had themselves a 2-0 lead, and by rule had their offense receive the ball right back immediately after. It was an impressive drive by the Giants, with Manning starting it out 5-for-5 in completions and Ahmad Bradshaw rushing for 28 yards. Then, on 3rd & 3 at the Patriots 11 yard line, New York caught themselves another break when the refs ruled a 12 men on the field penalty against the Patriots on a play in which Brandon Spikes stripped the ball caught by Victor Cruz. Two plays later, the team would capitalize on their lucky break with Manning throwing the football in very tight coverage to Cruz in the end zone for the touchdown. Now it was 9-0 G-men.
But as everyone who has seen the Patriots play football in the last decade know, just because the team started it badly doesn't mean that they're knocked down quickly. Not with Tom Brady, and not in as big of a stage as this game was. Immediately after the Giants scored, this veteran New England team came right back with a scoring drive of its own, driving down the field 70 yards for a Stephen Gostkowski field goal. Then, after a ten minute period in which nothing of importance happened outside of Giants tight end Travis Beckum being injured, the Patriots received the ball right back with four minutes remaining in the half down at their own 2 yd. line following another wonderful punt by Weatherford.
What followed was a nearly four minute drive which showed just why they were the AFC's top offense this season, driving down the field 98 yards and ending with a 3 yard score to give New England their first lead of the night. Brady, who threw for 5,236 yards in the regular season, went a perfect 10-for-10 on the drive to four different receivers, including tight end star Rob Gronkowski, who caught one of only two passes in a game that clearly showed the effect of his injured ankle on his performance.The scoring would continue immediately in the start of the second half, with the team receiving the football and driving down the field another 80 yards for yet another score, this time on a 12 yard TD pass from Brady to Aaron Hernandez. And just like that, the team which started the game off so poorly finished scoring 17 unanswered points to take an 8 point lead in this game. The momentum had been clearly shifted.
By the time the fourth quarter had begun, the Patriots were leading 17-15, thanks to two subsequent drives by the New York offenses that resulted in two field goals by kicker Lawrence Tynes, closening the gap on New England (one of those drives also featured another big break in favor of New York, with a 2nd and 9 that resulted in fullback Henry Hynoski recovering a ball that the Patriots' Jared Mayo stripped from Hakeem Nicks). Once again, the stage was set for what was sure to be yet another close finish between these two teams. On the second play of the quarter, Brady ran a play that could be best described as what would have happened had the famous David Tyree catch four years ago worked the other way around. He got out a tackle, moved out of the pocket and to the right, threw it deep downfield to Gronkowski, only to have that pass caught by linebacker Chase Blackburn, who made a great effort in chasing down the not-fully-health tight end and get into the correct position to catch the ball. Unfortunately for Blackburn, his team was unable to do anything with that interception outside of recovering one of their owen fumbles for the third time (this time the fumble came from Bradshaw), and the Patriots ended up receiving the football right back at their own 8 yard line.
That 4th quarter for the Patriots started out great. On a 3rd & 3 deep inside their own territory, Brady was able to connect with Woodhead for a 19 yard gain, continuing the drive. Two plays later, it was Brady, again, completing his pass to Welker, followed by two more passes to Gronkowski and Hernandez. Suddenly, the Patriots found themselves with five minutes left in Giants territory facing a defense that had only one timeout remaining (they had just spent their first two on the previous drive). It was New England's game for the taking. All they needed were just a few first downs and that would've clinched their fourth title in franchise history for good. But then Welker uncharacteristically dropped a pass as he was wide open on 2nd down, and then Deion Branch (a Super Bowl MVP himself a mere seven years before) missed his chance at catching a pass on 3rd and 11. The Giants offense were going to have the ball with 3:53 remaining on the clock and one final shot at taking the lead. The reaction from the Patriots defense during this point in the game pretty much says it all.
So now here was Eli Manning's chance to lead his offense to victory. He had a similar situation happen to him when these two teams played each other four years ago in the Super Bowl, and this past November in their regular season re-match. Both times, he successfully pulled it off. And from the first play of the drive, it was hard not to believe that it would happen again. On that play, Manning threw the ball in a pass down the sidelines to Mario Manningham (who in the previous drive stopped a big play from happening when he caught a catch out of bounds, erasing what would've been a 20+ yard game), and Manningham was able catch the ball and have both feet in bounds despite being closely covered by two Patriots defenders. The catch proved to be a very valuable play, both in that drive and in that entire game, and all Patriots coach Bill Belichick could do was watch it unfold right next to him while challenging the play to hopefully see if it could be somehow overturned (it didn't.)
The drive continued. After an incomplete pass, Manningham caught two more Manning passes to take the offense down to the Patriots own 32 yard line. The very next play: another completion, this time to Hakeem Nicks that sent the game to the two minute warning. And on and on that Giants offense marched, to the point where it was 2nd & 6 and the team was six yards away from scoring the game winning touchdown. At this point in the game, it seemed as if the Giants were probably going to rush it up the middle for a few more plays, stopping the clock just in time for Tynes to attempt the game winning field goal. If you watched the game you already knew what happened next: Bradshaw running with none of the Patriots defenders attempting to block him (as by the order of Belichick, who decided that he would rather have Brady throw the football in the final minute than rely on his special teams to stop what would have been a field goal from PAT range), realizing the situation, trying to make an effort to stop just short of the end zone, and then falling on his butt for a touchdown when he realized it was too late.
In my many years of watc
hing the Super Bowl, Bradshaw's TD was one of the strangest scores that I've ever seen. After all, the position that Bradshaw put himself is a moment that many dream of, the chance to charging into the end zone in the final minute and helping his team win the game, being celebrated as a hero by his team's fan in the process, like Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII. And yet, he treated the end zone as if were hot lava, stopping just before he passed the mark and made one last second attempt to kneel down and give the Patriots offense less time to score before reluctantly deciding to go through with it just because his momentum was already too great. It was glory being overshadowed by selfishness, and it helped in making one of the most anticlimactic score in NFL history.
After failing to convert a two-point conversion, the Patriots got the ball back with under 0:50 seconds left on the game clock. Brady was able to manage a drive that took his team all the way down to midfield with five seconds remaining for one throw-able Hail Mary attempt, but it was no use. New York's defense stopped the Patriots receivers from catching the football in the end zone, and that was the end of that. Once again, the Giants bested the Patriots in a close one. New York picked up its fourth Super Bowl title in franchise history, while the Patriots became the 4th team ever to lose four Super Bowl in franchise history and Tom Coughlin became the oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl.
And as for Eli Manning? Well, let's just say that he deserves every bit of the MVP award that he won after going an impressive 30-for-40 with nearly 300 yards, along with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Back in August, he said that he saw himself in the same class of quarterbacks as Tom Brady. Seven months later, and now with his second Super Bowl victory in the record books, I'm pretty sure that more people agree with him on that statement that ever before.
So, yeah, not a bad game, and not a bad end to what has been a relatively entertaining post-lockout season. But what about all the other stuff that occurred during Super Bowl Sunday? Don't worry, I have my thoughts on all of these things too...
Kelly Clarkson Singing "The Star Spangled Banner": After Christina Aguilera's infamous performance of the national anthem at last year's Super Bowl, I would've considered Clarkson's performance to be a gem if she had just memorized all of the words correctly (and considering the fact that she sung the anthem numerous times before, I had no worries in that department). And memorize the lyrics she did, all while performing the anthem in a very respectable manner. She sang it with grace, she sang it without trying to over-do the whole thing, and she did it like a true professional, hardly showing her nervousness performing in front of over a combined 100 million people both in the stadium and at home. Overall, a solid effort by Clarkson, and further proof that female American Idol alums should just be the permanent singers of the national anthem every Super Bowl Sunday (I'm not even joking with this one. Has there ever been a time in the past five years where a former "American Idol" singer, whether Jordin Sparks or Jennifer Hudson or whoever, ever sang the anthem badly? I certainly can't remember.)
Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton singing "America the Beautiful": Ditto. I'm not that big of a country music fan, but both of them did an amicable job performing together. Not much else to say with this one.
Jake Ballard's Falling on the Giants Sidelines in the 4th Quarter: Good Lord, was this cringe-inducing to watch live! Here was Ballard, a few plays after he suffered an injury to his knee, trying to test it and see if he can ever return to the game or not (at the time, Ballard was the Giants' only available tight end at the time with Beckum's injury earlier in the game, so once he became injured himself they essentially had no one to play that position). Next thing you know, he looked like Barbaro at the Preakness, falling down trying to run straight and holding his knee in what looked to be even greater pain. Two days later on the same day that Ballard was supposed to be celebrating with his teammates it was announced by the Giants medical staff that he suffered an ACL tear, and who knows what will happen of his career in the future as a result of this. A bittersweet night for Ballard, indeed.
Rush Limbaugh Picking His Nose: Man, even when he has boogers in his nose, he goes to the right! Say what you will about Rush, but at least the guy is consistent.
Madonna Singing in the Halftime Show: Before we get down to the actual show itself, let's just get to the thing that I'm sure this halftime show will be remembered for the most in years to come: M.I.A., the self-consciously edgy female rapper/pop singer doing something self-consciously edgy by flipping the bird in the middle of the performance, and possibly receiving a fine from the FCC as a result. Not since Janet Jackson helped coined the term "wardrobe malfunction" in Super Bowl XXXVIII has there ever been a moment in the Super Bowl halftime show that has sparked such outrage by the Parents' Television Council and all the Helen Lovejoy types who were upset at the possibility of precious little children noticing a hand gesture that matched the lyrics she was singing. Personally, I really don't see what the big deal was, but maybe it's just that I was one of the many who were to distracted by the graphics to notice that one second gesture. Hell, it wasn't even among the top three raciest thing to happen during that performance! I just find it hard to believe that all these people would be so focused on this, while hardly paying attention to all the various vagina wavings and all the unbleeped words like "shit" and "nigga." If anything, you actually helped give M.I.A. what she wanted all along from this: additional publicity, and just in time for the upcoming release of her newest album this summer.
Now, as for the rest of the show: in itself, it wasn't all that great. Madonna was understandably nervous about singing in what turned out to be an audience of 114 million people, and it showed many times throughout the performance. Also, it had LMFAO, and my dislike of the band has reached "Whitney" levels of despising. On the other hand, it was still one of the finer halftime show that I've seen in years, better than the majority of the ones that we've seen given by aging rockers and terrible pop groups like the Black Eye Peas. Cee-Lo Green/Nicki Minaj/M.I.A. were fine in their supportive roles, and I rather enjoyed the fun, cheer leading themed middle portion. The last time I enjoyed a halftime show this much, Pink was singing "Purple Rain" on an electric guitar in actual rain. Besides, it had a man in a robe jumping on a wire! Doesn't get any better than that!
The NBC Broadcast: Throughout this past season, NBC has consistently given NFL fans some of the highest quality telecasts of the games from any network, and this past Sunday night was no exception. The additional cameras that were added specifically for this game proved to be money well spent, and their NBCEE-It technology, which gave fans the ability to see close-ups of every play in crystal-clear quality, was put to good use when the referees for this game had to review Mario Manningham's catch. Also, as Awful Announcing pointed out, I rather appreciated the reserved nature of their broadcast. In a two week period that made this game arguably the most hyped up in Super Bowl history, it was rather nice for them to cast almost all of the hype aside and focus on what mattered the most: the actual football game. No shots of Peyton Manning in the booth, no mention of Eli trying to win a Super Bowl in "the house his brother built" until after game, none of that. Sadly, if only they could have applied that same strategy to directing Tom Brady graphics.
I also rather enjoyed the announcing by both Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, up to a point. Michaels was Michaels, showing once again he's one of his proffession's most respected play-by-play man (he even had one of his patented "New Or-lee-uns" troll pronunciations, which I always enjoy). And Collinsworth...well, he wasn't perfect, that's for sure. I've already brought up his need to try to immediately hype of Manningham's 4th quarter catch to Tyree-level proportions, but let's also not forget his call after Welker's big drop when he said that Welker would normally make this catch "100 times out of 100." He also had this weird moment (also in the 4th, interesting enough) where he had one of the weirdest transitions I've ever seen, in which he used Michael's mentioning of how BenJarvus Green-Ellis never fumbled the football in his entire career to talk about the impact Hurricane Katrina had on Green-Ellis's family seemingly at random just so he could say something. In other words, a pretty hit-or-miss night for what is supposed to be one of the more tolerant NFL analysts during a game.
The Commercials: While watching the Super Bowl, my initial reaction of the commercials was the same that I've gotten every Super Bowl over the past few years: that of disappointment. On the one hand, there were pretty much zero ads this time around involving shots into the groin, a traditional staple of the lazy Super Bowl commercials in the previous years. Some companies (like "Bud Light," for instance) even decided to grow up and run ads that were more serious and more mature. Also, as with every year, I ended up liking more individual ads than I downright hated. On the other hand, outside of a few gems here and there, this year's class will probably go down in my mind as arguably the least memorable slate of Super Bowl ads to date (that is, until its inevitably succeeded by next year's ads). There were very few that I would have considered to be "instant classics" and far more that I would consider to be more hype than substance: safe, lacking creativity and just not fit of the "Super Bowl ads" mystique that seems to grow every year (along with the $3.5 million per 30 seconds price tag). In other words, they were "meh" at best.
But enough about this year's ads in general. Now let's talk about which individual ads worked and which ones were downright terrible. Here are the ads that I would consider to be the best and worst from Super Bowl XLVI:
The Best:
- Chrysler, "Halftime in America with Clint Eastwood"
Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the one that will go down for me as the crowning jewel of Sunday's Super Bowl commercials. Trying to capture the success and rave reviews from last year's "Imported From Detroit" ad featuring rapper Eminem (another Super Bowl gem in and of itself), the Detroit auto company decided to run an ad just after Madonna's halftime show that featured Clint Eastwood (whose last movie as an actor, "Gran Torino," was filmed in Michigan) making an inspiring speech about how, just like the game's still in halftime, America is in halftime, too. And even though America (or, more specifically, Detroit) has been beaten down quite a bit over the years, there's still another half for the country to pick itself by their boot straps and let the world "hear the roar of our engines," so to speak. The production of the ad was stupendous (and, I imagine, expensive) and so good that if Eastwood had announced right then and there that he was running for President, I would have given some serious thoughts to vote for him. I mean, it's hard not to consider it when the guy still looks like he can kick your ass at age 81.
- Volkswagen, "The Dog Strikes Back"
In another attempt to try to re-create the success of their ad from a year before, Volkswagen aired an ad of an overweight dog getting fit to the tune of James Brown in order to get past the doggy door and chase after their company's car. But just when you think the ad was over, lo and behold we are transported to the Cantina bar from the first "Star Wars" movie where we see two aliens argue over whether this ad, which they watched along with us, was better than last year's famous ad with the kid dressed as Darth Vader (you know the one). The one who said that this year's ad was better ended up being choked by what appears to have been Vader himself. While I thought the addition of the aliens were superfluous, the ad was still adorable enough for me to let it slide, and much better than the upcoming 3D re-release of the prequels. Should be interesting to see what the car company does next year to inevitably end its trilogy of "Star Wars" ads.
- Chevy Silverado, "2012'
So, apparently, using a Chevy Silverado during the apocalypse is the equivalent of being a cockroach. I'll buy that. In all seriousness, I liked how they were able to poke fun at the idea of the Mayan apocalypse, putting a sense of humor to the whole thing, all while taking a quick little shot at Ford (proving that even though they're both American car companies, the friendly competition between the two still lives on). Plus, it had Twinkies. Ads with Twinkies, to me, are always in favor.
- Sketchers, "Go Fun Mr. Quiggly!"
In this ad, we see a tiny little French bulldog competing in a dog racing event full of bigger, stronger greyhounds and winning it handily thanks to the help of his two pairs of Sketchers shoes. It was a simple ad with a simple premise, and it paid off well, largely because of the dog's adorableness. One of the few ads that night which made me smile. Also, "Mr. Quiggly"? Fantastic name for a dog.
- Bud Light, "Wego the Dog"
While I'm in the topic of discussing good ads involving dogs, another one that worked well was this ad from Bud Light that also included a message to save rescue dogs from animal shelters. In it, the company used it's tag line from the past year "Here We Go" and turn it into an ad in which there was a dog named "Wego" who confused people's mentioning of the slogan as a sign that they wanted a beer. It certainly put the company's other ads that night to shame (and I will get to some of those later).
- Kia, "A Dream Car. For Real Life"
A day of Super Bowl commercials would not be complete without some good ole' fashion sexism, and that was certainly the case this year. However, I did appreciate how some companies tried to be original in the manner which they tried to target products to men and using sex and masculinity. This Kia commercial is one example of this. Sure, the ad started out what you would expect, with a man dreaming of Adrianna Lima in a revealing outfit and driving 200 mph to Motley Crue music and babes in bikinis cheering him on. But how often do these ads usually end with the man deciding to go back to his wife? Not very often, that's for sure.
- Marvel, "The Avengers- Trailer"
Yeah, I don't think I'll be a rebel when I say that this was the best movie trailer of the many that aired on Sunday. And it was followed by a Victoria's Secret ad? Twelve year old me would have exploded!
-Budweiser, "Prohibition"
Did you know that there once was a time when Budweiser could not be legally bought and sold for 13 years? Well, Budweiser remembers, and they don't want you to forget the joy we felt when those first Clydesdales came rushing to St. Louis with the newest batches of cold brew just waiting for your consumption. Overall, much like the Chrysler ad with Eastwood, I appreciated the company for putting great effort into this ads. The production was gorgeous, although I didn't like how they essentially spoiled the ending of "Boardwalk Empire" to everybody.
- NFL, "NFL Safety Timeline"
It's goal was to convince viewers watching the game that the NFL has made an effort to continually improve player safety, and despite whatever former NFLPA players might play about that statement, it worked really well in its minute of air-time.
-Toyota Camry, "Reinvented."
One of the main themes of this year's Super Bowl ads were companies trying to throw as many jokes as possible in a short span of time in order to see which ones stick. This commercial, about Toyota continuing to reinvent life just like it reinvented its newest Camry, was one of those ads, yet it was probably one of the best in doing so. I particularly enjoyed the first thirty seconds, which featured a cop that does massages while arresting you, a couch made of both men and women (particularly the guy's "I'm fine with this" reaction), a baby that time travels for some reason, and a DMV that is just slightly nicer (notice that she still has that smile even while giving the customer ice cream).
- Best Buy, "Phone Innovators"
In a nice twist to the idea of bringing in celebrities to endorse a product, Best Buy decided to switch things up a bit by asking the people behind the creation of many notable inventions to the cell phone before announcing that they are the one-stop shop to helping you pick a phone that's just right for you. It's a really well done ad, and I especially enjoyed the ad poking fun at recent events, with the co-creators of Words With Friends being asked to stop playing it on the play, much like Alec Baldwin from a month ago.
- Audi, "Vampire Party"
I'm not sure why a car company would try to make an ad in which they advertised the bright lights of one of their most heavily promoted models, but I guess that's what Audi wanted. And you know what? They sent that message pretty clearly in this one, which featured vampires being blown up at the sight of light. When watching this commercial for the first time, my dad (mj50) hated it, and complained that it was $3.5 million spent terribly by the company. Me? Personally, the ad grew with me overtime.
- Chevy Sonic, "Stunt Anthem"
To me, this ad was one of the most inspired of this year's Super Bowl, with the company deciding to have fun with its new Sonic by having it flip, bungee jump, and fall from the sky with OK Go strapped in it. Overall, the ad did a great job in trying to brand the Sonic as an exciting car to have for young people, and the music playing in the background ("We Are Young" by Janelle Monae) was an excellent choice. Made all the other non-Chevy cars advertised that night look like Oldsmobiles by comparison.
- NBC, "Brotherhood of Man"
Technically, this wasn't a Super Bowl ad as this aired a couple of hours before kickoff. And yet, I still enjoyed this more than 95% of the other things which happened that night. It felt like an old-school promo that you would see by networks trying to sell their upcoming fall line-ups in the '80s and '90s, and it had some great moments, from Ron Swanson singing to the cast of "Law and Order: SVU" really trying to sell it to, of course, the fact that "Community" was one of the more prominently featured shows there. It's at least good to know that the network still knows of their existence, even if they still have that show on hiatus.
- Honorable Mentions: Acura NSX, "Seinfeld"; Pepsi Max, "Coke Zero Winner"; Doritos, "Man's Best Friend,"; Chevy, "Happy Grad,"; Honda, "Matthew's Day Off,"; Bridgestone, "Performance Basketball"; Fiat, "Seduction" (say what you will about its objectification, but it was probably one of the more effective ads in getting your attention).
The Worst:
5. Hyundai, "Rocky"
I'm not sure what the point of this ad was, but it was a poor waste of cash to advertise it. The only bright side to it was that I'm pretty sure that all those involved had a fun time doing it. Otherwise, it was a bad idea from the start for Hyundai to make this.
4. NBC Thursday Comedies, "Crank"
The channel that gave us one of the day's best ads also gave us one of the worst. Hey, NBC, way to show once again how bad your promo department is! It's one thing to spoil key moments of an episode while running an ad, but it's another thing entirely when you advertisement your shows without focusing on them at all.
3. Bud Light Platinum, "Work"
On the one hand, I appreciate Bud Light trying to mature its image and making it seem as if their new product was the elegant choice of any party. On the other hand, this ad and with the one that played Kanye West's "Runaway" in the background were two of the dullest to air that night, with absolutely no originality from all of the "classy beer" ads that have aired in the past and with seemingly no concrete ideology outside "Bud Light Platinum: Bud Light's older, less interesting older brother." And if there's anything that I hate more than commercials that are unfunny, it's commercials that are unfunny and just plain lazy...which is what this one is.
2. Samsung Galaxy, "Thing Called"
This is just an example of a company trying to hard to make their ad entertaining all while trying to separate themselves from the competition and failing. I mean, is a pen that can write on your phone really something that you would want to say makes you better than the iPhone? This was a commercial that was also a minute longer than it should have been. I don't know about you, but I thought they could've given their message just fine without the too-long musical number at the end. Overall, it's an ad that should've gone back to the drawing board when it was first pitched, and one that I hope the company responds next year with a much better one.
1. GoDaddy.com, "The Cloud"
The king of the terrible Super Bowl ads strikes again! After having the worst set of commercials in the past two Super Bowls, GoDaddy.com returned with yet another bad 30 second commercial whose sole purpose was to woo gullible men onto their website with the tease of something that's just too unrated for TV. Then, of course, you watch it and you find out that the ad is even more unwatchable than it's shortened version. But since the company has been repeating this same formula for years and doesn't appear to be stopping it anytime soon, I have to ask: who are these people that still fall for it & go onto their website to see the rest, and how are they all not 13 years old?
-Dishonorable Mention: Cars.com, "Confident You"; Dannon Oikos Yogurt, "Tease"; Career Builder, "The Business Trip" (another commercials with the monkeys? can't they think of something else to do?); Bud Light, "Welcome to Halftime."
Miscellaneous:
a. This Patriots team may not have won the Super Bowl, but at least they did something on Sunday that no other AFC team has done in 15 years: winning the coin toss. That's something, right?b. This is the fourth time in five years that an NFC team has won a Super Bowl. Is it possible that we have now entered an all new era of conference domination, much like how the NFC dominated during the '80s to mid '90s and how the AFC dominated the game from the late '90s to mid '00s? c. Looking over the box score for this game, it really amazing to see just how close these two teams played against each other in this game. The Giants only ended up having 4 more first downs, 9 more plays total, less than 50 more yards total (including only 12 more yards passing), and only 1 less penalty. They're only major area of dominance was in time possession, with the team holding the ball for over 37 minutes to the Patriots' 23 minutes. Not a surprise, considering how this game was only decided by four mere points and a few inches of separation on that final play between Gronkowski and the ball.d. One other thing that I found interesting to see was seeing how badly the Patriots rushing defense played for most of the game. The pass rush has been criticized many times all throughout the season, and they should be criticized for failing to stop Eli Manning from completing 75% of his throws, but that was supposed to be expected of them. The Patriots defense, meanwhile, didn't come in with similar criticisms, yet ended up looking just as poor, allowing over 114 yards by both Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. e. The weirdest part about this Super Bowl is the fact that we now have to consider both Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning as two future Hall of Famers, even when the New York media were calling for their heads not too long ago. Also, the fact that Eli has officially more Super Bowl rings than his brother Peyton, who only has one. Let those two things sink in for a moment...f. On the second to last play of the game, the Giants had twelve men on the field, giving them a penalty but also wasting seven seconds on the clock. If that was done on purpose by New York (and I have a good feeling that it was), then that was simply a brilliant move by Tom Coughlin, even if it was a little dirty. At that point of the game, the clock was all that mattered, and since a 12 men on the field penalty wouldn't allow the clock to go back to the time that it was before the play, it meant that the Giants would've been able to put in as much players as they wanted to stop Brady from making a big play all while costing New England those seven seconds that they lost forever. Since the NFL is known to be a copycat, I would not be surprised if this strategy were to repeat itself many more times in the future (that is, unless the NFL Rules Committee does something about it).g. Around 111.3 million people tuned in to watch this game, making this Super Bowl the most watched TV show in U.S. television history, just beating out last year's Super Bowl, which had 111 million viewers. This is the third year in the row in which the Super Bowl became the most watched thing in TV history. I don't know about you guys, but I think that this sport of football may be catching on here in North America.h. Do Southerners and rural residents actually enjoy NBC pandering to them with Faith Hill's theme song before every game?i. You go, Rob Gronkowski! Dance the pain (both the loss and the ankle injury) away!j. Bad sportswriting time! Here's the Boston Globe' Eric Wilbur trying to make Tom Brady the goat of this game in his column Monday morning:"A performance as bad as Tom Brady's tonight in Super Bowl XLVI deserves a lead just as lame.
Sorry, Tommy Boy, this one's on you. Your hideous performance led to the Giants' 21-17 Super Bowl title win. How embarrassing for your coach, your teammates, and your fan."
First of all, the whole notion that Tom Brady played a terrible game is bogus. I don't think that I would ever a game performance in which the man threw 27 completions for 276 yards and 2 touchdowns "hideous." Furthermore, I don't think that the blame shouldn't be put so much on Brady as it should to the wide receivers making drops and the defense for failing to pick up loose balls by the Giants and for allowing Eli Manning to score 3 touchdowns on him. But perhaps that's just me making sense.k. Speaking of bad sportswriter, what was up with Rick Reilly going on ESPN hours after the Super Bowl and saying that the Giants and Patriots should play in the Super Bowl every year? Does he know that by doing so it makes the entire regular season and postseason meaningless if these only these two teams get a shot at the title? I wonder how much ESPN paid him to think of that sentence. Whatever it is, it's too much.l. What a night for Giants rookie Greg Jones. First, his team wins the Super Bowl, and then he gets to propose to his girlfriend.Basically, he was the anti-Jake Ballard on Sunday.So, that's all that I have to say about this game (for now). Once again, congratulations to Giants fans on their team winning the Super Bowl. Sure, your team wasn't the best all throughout the season...or one of the five best..or even one of the ten best, but you got hot when it counted, and that's all that matters in the end. Also, I apologize for the long time that it took for me to finally finish writing it. Hopefully the fact that I accomplished it within the week helps you forgive me faster. Otherwise, enjoy the rest of your day, and at least try to enjoy the six month break between this and the return of footballSincerely,Your pal: mj15If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
