Monday, March 28, 2011

Spongebob XVI: Love, Anger, Desperation, and Sorrow

Episode 16a: Valentine's Day

Many people consider Spongebob and Patrick to be toooooootally gay for each other. This sorta episode might feed into those theories. Spongebob is into Valentine's Day and gets Patrick the greatest gift evar: A chocolate hot air balloon in the shape of a heart. BUT, in Estonia Valentine's Day is sõbrapäev which translates to Friend's Day. And that's what they are: really, really good friends.

This is a very emotional episode for Patrick. 
First, we see him having some talent and skill which quickly escalates to confusion and panic as per usual.



Then he gets crazy happy, because of Spongebob's promised epicness.
Spongebob had an elaborate scheme planned out. But it goes slightly array, and in a feat of desperation:



So, Patrick is not amused, but at least I can take some enjoyment in his siriusness.

Then, he rages. And boy, when Patrick rages, he really rages.

VIDEO

Quotables:
"Patrick need love too!"
"I defy you, heart-man!"



And I'll leave you with that epic cliffhanger.
Does Patrick brutally murder everyone else and defile their corpses? Or does some miracle from the sky solve the problem?
Watch the full episode somehow to find out!


Also, Spongebob is apparently a troll.





If I had editing skills, I'd try to put the proper face over his, but I think Sponge's expression is close enough.



Problem?


Good episode.


E16b: The Paper

Similar to the Idiot Box episode which comes in a later season, this episode involves the fact the Spongebob has epic imagination while Squidward lacks said skill. I bring up the other episode, because it has the more well known line that I wanted to mention:




So In this episode it is not a box, but rather a piece of paper. Squidward throws it out and Spongebob wants it. He won't stop pestering Squidward about it, so Squid does the rookie mistake in movies saying "not matter how much I beg or plead or etc, don't give it back, let me out, etc."

Then Spongebob does some epic stuff with the paper. Which is basically the entire episode. So I wont show everything. My two favorite ones are when Squidward tries to disprove the papers awesomeness, but fails miserably:



Too great.

And:



Which reminds me of an older episode where Spongebob is unable to play music with a napkin. I guess he practiced in the meantime.... or maybe regular paper and tissue paper are just too different.


Anyway, Squidward trades all his belongings for the paper, and then realizes what an idiot he is.

The good that comes out of it is, this episode answers the age old question: What would Spongebob look like wearing Squidward's shirt?



And there is your answer.


Great episode. Unfortunate it didn't air as often, as it is paired with the Valentine's Day one, which airs only at...well around Valentine's Day.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Sunday Comic

Apparently I am starting a web-comic with some people. Initially most of our ideas are Pokemon-centric, due to the fact it has consumed a lot of focus recently. Hopefully it'll expand later. For now, I'll post them in this blog, but once it gets going, then I'll make a separate thing for it. But for now, you can just filter the blog with the "comic" label.
And here it is:



 

Writing: Chris Reintal & Aris Bionat
Illustration: Kathy Tieu



It always sort of irked me that one could use HMs outside of battle even if the pokemon was fainted. From a gameplay standpoint it makes sense, logically not. So this shows how using HMs like that should turn out.

 For those who don't know, that is a picture of the Hindenburg disaster (1937). The pokemon is Drifblim, a balloon, ergo the parallel.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Spongebob XV: Dr. Patrick in Inception. BRAAAAWWWWWRRRRMMM

So ya, 

Episode 15a: Sleepy Time

So before there was Inception, there was Spongebob invading peoples dreams. He flies out of his dream and goes into other main characters' dreams: Gary, Patrick, Sandy, Mr. Krabs, Plankton, and Pearl.

He even tried to put an idea into someone else's brain- Inception. BRAAAAAAAWRMMM. He was however unsuccessful, because for it to work the target has to have a brain in the first place.




So as great as Patrick's dream is. I prefer Squidward's. Such wonderful mjuuzik.



The voice of an angel.

In Spongebob's own dream he gets a drivers license.


Some interesting info there- apparently he lives on Conch street. Date of birth is July 14th, 1986. That makes him 25. So that settles the issue of his age he is.  Though I have a theory that the episodes aren't necessarily in the proper order in the timeline (this eliminates most contradictions between episodes). Also apparently Spongebob is 4 inches tall and weighs 1 oz. Which means Sandy should be a lot bigger than Sponge...but then again so should Squidward.

Also, Mr. Krabs' license is seen. Which has more interesting info



Born in 1942. Man is he OOOOOOOOOOOOld. And apparently twice as tall as Spongebob. Green eyes? Also Krabs' hair is N/A, but for Spongebob is says yellow? Something to think aboot.


This episode also features the greatest limerick. The floor is yours Gary:





A decent episode. It is like mini-episodes in each dream. Some are better than others. More important, lots of interesting info aboot Krabs and Sponge.


Episode 15b: Suds


Spongebob leaves his fridge door open all night which freezes his house(Ignore the fact that leaving the fridge door open would heat the house). SO he gets the sponge equivalent of the cold. Patrick stops Spongebob from going to the doctors and becomes


DOCTOR PATRICK!

 

Greatest montage evar. Well doctor montage atleast.


Patrick is also surprisingly clever.





Sandy takes Spongebob to the doctors, he gets treated. And Patrick gets his comeuppance, and that's it.

This episode aired a lot. I used to not really like it, but looking back on it it's actually quite good.



Monday, March 21, 2011

Spongebob! XIV: Kah-rah-té in THE FUTURE!

Episode 14a: SB-129

This is the 4th episode which will be nominated from the 1st season for the best episode evar thing I'll do....eventually

So here is the whole thing. Or at least there would be, but blogspot is being a jerk.

So here goes.

Spongebob and Patrick want to go jellyfishing with Squidward. All Squid wants to do is play the clarinet.





SO he runs away and hides. But gets trapped in the Krusty Krab freezer for 2000 years.

THIS is the future of undersea life:




Shiny isn't it?

In the future he meets Spongtron and apparently there are 486 clones, one for each letter of the alphabet. 
So he tries to go back with a time machine and ends up in prehistoric times. Has to escape from there, ends up in...well.... nowhere.



Then he makes it back to Bikini Bottem where some brutal time-traveling irony awaits him.

If that's a bit complicated, I'll let Squidward explain it himself



...That.... didn't help at all.

FF (fun fact): There is a calendar visible in the future showing the date March 6, 4017


Episode 14b: Karate Choppers
Apparently Spongebob and Sandy like karate. In this episode Spongebob is actually decent, though usually he gets the crap beat out of him and is overall physically very weak.

Spongebob gets paranoid about Sandy coming to fight him it affects him at his job. So Mr. Krabs hastily fires him. And Sponge's world is crushed:



Well, he does get his job back, but no karate. But the two friendos couldn't resit and things get out of hand.



I just love the line, it's like the Krusty Krab on crack from "Employee of the Month". Say some not very intense line very intensely.



Anyway, I don't feel like explaining too much, but in the end its all good. And Squid has another great line. He is just too awesome. Never change!



A very good episode.


And I love this face. Not his best, but still really good.


Saturday, March 19, 2011

So I'm actually doing it

Round One, Game One: Tyranitar vs Dragonair

It is unfortunate I can't do this in two columns side by side, but it is still doable.

So Tyranitar is one of the pre-tourney favorites, which is unfortunate, because I really like Dragonair. Well see how I close it is with the criterium I presented.










Name:

Tyranitar- Name is derived from tyrant and Tyrannosaurus, the second coolest dinosaur (the first being Ankylosaurus obviously). And Tyranitar sorta does have a dinosaur vibe to it.

Dragonair- Dragon, duh! Also, one theory is that it originated from the word debonair meaning graceful and sophisticated. I know Dragonair doesn't look like a dragon, but I'll get to that later.

Dinosaurs > Dragons. Dinosaurs actually existed and they are ridonculous.

Classification:
Tyranitar- The armor pokemon. Really? That's it. Tyranitar deserves better. I mean if he was an Ankylosaurus it would make more sense.... Also, apparently Donphan also is the armor pokemon. Comparing one of the greats to Donphan is inexcusable.

Dragonair- The dragon pokemon. Simple. Good.

Dragon > Armor

More pictures!



Pokedex entries:
So another new one I decided to use. I won't read out all the entries, but it'll be sorta a summary of the best points. Also, the pokedex entry for Magikarp wins Black and White (for now, since I haven't seen all of them yet).

Tyranitar- He can take down mountains and maps must be redrawn after he rampages. And apparently it can't be harmed by any attacks. Love how pokedex entries exaggerate. Also, Tyrannitar is only 6'7". How is it going to take down a mountain. But ignoring the extremes of the pokedex, its entry is badass. Way badass.

Dragonair- It can change the weather at will and fly without wings. Now that is even more badass than moving mountains. The weather! Sirius shit right there.



Appearance

Two polar opposites I guess.

Tyrannitar is badass looking. Like a Boss. The only flaw is probably that his arms are a bit on the short side (which makes a bit of sense if he is based somewhat on T-Rex.).
While Dragonair is elegant and regal. Such a simple design and beauty is achieved.
















Tough to compare the too, but I think I am going to go with badassness.

Shiny:

Tyrannitar is a boring beige and the blue part turns purple.  Very meh.


Dragonair is an elegant pink. Pink and Blue, very appropriate.




Pokepeople:






I guess with theses it is mostly what the person looks like. With some there is also cool composition. This one goes to Tyrannitar, the Dragonair lady is sorta boring as not elegant enough to do justice to the poke.


Other Evolutions:
Both are three stage pokes, easy to compare

Tyranitar-
First stage is Larvitar which is like a mini-Tyranitar:


All good.
But then the 2nd stage is Pupitar. It just looks dumb. Well not all that dumb, it's got a cool spiky head.



Dragonair-
1st stage is Dratini, which is like a mini-Dragonair.



Solid.

And then the 3rd stage (Dragonair is the 2nd stage. With some it isn't the final form that's the coolest. It happens, especially with the 5th gen it seems. I prefer the first stages with many pokes) explains the name origin- Dragonite which actually looks like a dragon. Why they made him orange is beyond me. But he is awesome. More awesome than Pupitar atleast.




Funny how both these evolutionary tracks have one stage that is vastly different.


Competitive:

Well, Tyranitar wins this by default, since Dragonair isn't a final stage. In comparison with Dragonite it is actually pretty interesting. They both have the same overall stats (600 total base stats) which is tied for 2nd best out of all the non-legendary pokemon (Slaking is first). The main difference is that Tyranitar has more HP and Defense while Dragonite has Speed (and Sp. Atk, but that doesn't really matter).

Type wise Dragonite is a bit better. They both have a 4x weakness- Dragonite with ice and Tyranitar with fighting. Fighting is much more common competitively. Also Tyranitar is weak to earthquake while Dragonite is immune.

They are both standard Sweepers (high attack, try to kill everything with strong moves). Move-sets aren't very interesting.

The deciding factor is that Dragonite is inferior to Salamance who has the same type combo of Dragon Flying. Salamance lacks Defense but has higher speed, making it a better sweeper. Tyranitar has a very good ability which causes (almost) permanent sandstorm. One other pokemon has this ability, but Tyranitar is much better. So competitively Tyranitar is vastly...well maybe not vastly, but superior.


Nostaliga factor:

Well, I didn't get to use either of them on my team of 6 against the Elite Four which is unfortunate. Though I am correcting that mistake with Tyranitar in Black when I face the Elite Four again.

A special little thing that only Dragonair gets:
My first Pokemon trading card.




I still have it in a separate plastic case.


So to recap:
Name:                Tyranitar     
Classification:     Dragonair
Pokedex:           Dragonair
                         Dragonair

Appearance:      Tyranitar
Shiny:                Dragonair
Pokepeople:      Tyranitar
Evolutions:         Dragonair
                         Tyranitar

Competitive:      Tyranitar

Nostalgia:          Dragonair gets a point
It's actually a 6 v 3 for Dragonair, but not all of them are worth the same. Shiny and evolutions sort of go together. Hence why there are sub-divisions and those group winners.

Overall winnar is:






Somewhat unfortunate Dragonair had to lose in the first round, but thus is life. In the end I'll give my top 5 or 10 in a non-specific order in case some of my favs go up against each other early.

Next round will be Wednesday.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Superspecialawesome Battle of the Ultimate Challange: Round 1

is delayed.

Today I was going to do the first match-up in best pokemon evar bracket, but I found out some horrible news. Also I am lazy.
Today one of the greatest voices of recent times died.



Nate Dogg




He didn't really have any great hits on his own, but he was featured on a lot of amazing songs. He usually just sang in the chorus and how glorious those choruses were. He has such a unique voice, seems almost auto-tuned.

To those that say rappers aren't singers, I say yes, but Nate Dogg has had the voice of an Angel. Every hip-hop/rap song should have featured him somewhere. He was only 41 which is very unfortunate. Also unfortunate that I am unfamiliar with his solo work


Here is some of his work with other artists where he takes the back seat, but still rocks it like a boss:


Soooooo amazing. The voice!



Also some changes to the pokemon thing.

I'll be doing it twice a week: Wednesday and Saturday.

Also, more criteria, so the deciding factors:

Name
Classification

Appearance
Shiny
Appearance of Other evolutions 
Concept art- there is this one set of almost all the pokemon, where they are with a person who looks/is dressed similar. I call the set pokepeople.

Compettive usefulness
Uniqueness of movesets
Winner of head-to-head


So there, Round 1 will be Saturday



Monday, March 14, 2011

Spongebob! XIII: The horror. THE HORROR!

Aparently I forgot to upload this. I really did do it on Monday, but idk what happaned. So here. Better late than never.




Episode 13a: Scaredy Pants

Spongebob is scared of a lot of things, which makes Halloween a difficult time for him. So he tries to make a scary costume.

Redudant, but- the horror! THE HORROR!


He is unsuccessful though.
Spongebob "figures" out what the problem is; Patrick has a harder time using his "brain".




Sorta meh episode. But it is the first appearance of The Flying Dutchman. He is mentioned earlier, but this is the first time he says and does something.

Also, apparently Patrick is a woodsmith





And trees grow in Spongebob's closet.


Episode 13b: I Was A Teenage Gary

Ugh, a very unfunny episode. It has a few moments, but it is very miss.

Squidward is supposed to take care of Gary, Spongebob's snail, because Spongebob leaves for the weekend. He forgets, and Gary is dying. A doctor is called, gives them snail plasma. Squid accidentally pricks Sponge, who turns into a snail.
The initial transformation is pretty cool





Also Squid screams. A lot....... A lot.



Friday, March 11, 2011

Spongebob! XII: Spongebob works hard and goes to the prom*

*Not in that order

But before I get to the episodes, I thought about when doing the best episode evar at the end. I mentioned I'd limit it to 5 per season, but I only picked two 1st season episodes. That's not fair, so I decided to include two episode I already talked about:
E02b: Ripped Pants
E10b: F.U.N.

And for those who don't remember E05a: Pizza Delivery is also in, and the last two are later in the season.

Episode 12a: The Chaperon

I remember seeing this episode a lot. Too many times. Did not really like it. Hence why I only have one clip and it is just a song.... which is decent I guess.




Ugggghh.... the plot is that Pearl doesn't have a date for the prom, Spongebob goes, ruins everything. Pearl ends up having a decent time. Also, there is something about a dummy, idk.

But at least the following episode which is attached to this is good.

Episode 12b: Employee of the Month

Spongebob has been employee of the month consistently for a while. Squidward sees it for the sham that it really is- it is to make Spongebob work harder. Sponge however keeps constantly mocking Squidward, up to a point where the latter decides he'll usurp Spongebob.
They have an epic battle trying to prevent the other from getting to work on time. But when they do get to work, they go crazy. And as I like to call it

The Krusty Krab on crack (though I guess it is called Charlie Sheen nowadays)




A great episode, which may not be apparent by the fact I only have one clip, though it is hilarious.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

March Madness

So apparently there is a college basketball tournament or bracket or sth. It has to do with sports, so why would I know?

And I also found my picture collection that I thought forever lost.

Alos Pokemon Black and White came out recently which I am picking up this weekend.

So in combination of those two facts, I made a bracket of the best pokemon evar!
So to make it even sorta, I picked 8 out of each of the 4 generations (being unfamiliar with the 5th). It is somewhat unfair, because 2nd gen > 1st gen > 3rd gen > 4th gen (maybe 4th > 3rd gen, but I am not as attached to the newer pokemans), so giving them each 8 sort of skews it. But whatever.

So to decide the winner in a match-up I will use 5 categories:

Name- Does it sound cool? How is it derived (like Blastoise- blast + tortoise)?

Classification- Like Blastoise is  the turtle pokemon, Mightyena is the bite pokemon (wtf is that?!)

Appearance- Badass, cool, wtf?, and cute (though there isn't any of that in the top 32).
Compare different sprites where they both exist in the same  generation. and also very important (for some) is the Shiny.

Evolutions- How cool do the evolutions/pre-evolutions/associated evolutions look.
Good evolutions > no evolutions > bad looking evolutions

Competitive battling- usefulness and uniqueness. Not necessarily which one is the best, being a hipster I don't usually like using the OU (overused) pokemon, so my teams consist of the not best pokemon.

Also, with the help of random numbers, I made up the bracket. I won't show it yet, so the pokemon involved can be a surprise, but after the 1st round, then I can post what it looks like to show that I am not cheating or sth.

So I'll do 1 match-up a week starting next week.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Spongebob! XI: Muscular Ghosts


Before we get to the main event, I have some original content to present:

::drum roll::






I think some explanation is required. Starcraft II  (and Starcraft) has a unit called the Zealot, whose body is seen in the picture above. In the main game, one can only use the regular zealot, but in custom games there is more variety, including dark zealots and zealot outcasts. I couldn't find a decent picture of a zealot outcast, so I just used a regular zealot; it works well enough. And the heads attached to the bodies are those of Andre 3000 and Big Boi, the two members of the hip-hop group Outkast. 
SO there you go- zealot outkast. I. Am. Hilarious.


And now, back to the show:

Episode 11a: MuscleBob BuffPants

Spongebob is weak. Very weak. Very, very weak (most of the time; some episodes break this continuity).

So he sees this commercial:
To the careful examiner, it is apparent that these muscles do not make one strong. So the plot continues, that everyone is impressed by his muscles and Sandy enters him into the anchor throwing contest.


I remember seeing this episode a lot in my childhood and not really liking it. I continue to not like it.


Episode 10b: Squidward, the Unfriendly Ghost

Luckily, this episode starts off strong with the greatest game ever:



Also, the rest of the episode stays quite strong. Squidward makes a wax statue of himself, S&B break it and believe that they killed Squidward. He then comes out of the shower in a robe with steam following behind, so S&B realize the obvious, that it is the ghost of Squidward. 

Squid takes advantage, making his neighbors obey his every word.
Like:



That is interesting, because Spongebob is able to play fantastic music with a piece of paper. Is a tissue really so different?


My favorite moment is one that is sooooooo not suited for the target audience:



Did you get it? Toulouse-Lautrec was a French artist in the late 19th century, which is something that young children obviously know. I applaud the writers for including this joke. Kudos!

Great episode.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Spongebob! X: A FUN talent show

Episode 10: Culture Shock


Squidward puts on a talent show at the Krusty Krab. People do things, some do well, some not so much. And for the moment they've all been waiting for..... Well, I'll let Squidward do it:




So, apparently besides being a great clarinet player, Squid is also an excellent dancer. BUT the audience doesn't think so. They much rather prefer Spongebob and his talent: mopping up after the show.




I guess people just hate Squidward and love Spongebob. 

A decent episode.


Episode 10b: F.U.N.

One of the most loved episode of all time. It's a Plankton-centric episode. He devises a plan to befriend Spongebob. And they sing this very well-known song:



Eventhough that is the most famous part of the episode, it has other great moments:




And then one of the most "dramatic" moments in all of the seasons:








An excellent episode.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Movies of 2010

So now, that it is March, I can recap my favorite films of the previous year. I could say this is because February is full of crap releases and now I can finally look forward in the year, but it is more to do aboot laziness. I finally watched all the "good" movies and now I can do a proper list.

Do some of the Oscar nominees and winners make it into my list?!
Read more to find out.

Yes, yes they do.





SOOOOOOO here is my top 5:





1. Scott Pilgrim vs The World- My opinions on this have been made clear. It is my #10 favorite film of all time. Epic is epic is epic.

10/10
IMDB: 7.8
RT: 81%




2. Toy Story 3- I literally just explained my opinion on it on the last post. It is #22 on my all-time list. And the only other movie to get a 10.

10/10




3. Shutter Island- Somewhat hypocritically, this was released last February. It is a psychologically thriller featuring Leo DiCaprio going crazy. He is a US marshal looking into a missing patient from a high-security insane asylum. Things start going weird. There is a lot of tension. And the ending is awesome as it sure be for this genre. The last line....well penultimate line.... of the film is very awesome and resounding. The ending could have been a bit more ambiguous, but w/e. Also Mark Ruffalo is there, and he's a cool guy. But this is Leo's film as with any movie he is in. He should have totally gotten an Oscar nom.

9/10
IMDB: 8.0
RT: 68% (Whaaaaaaat?)




4. Inception- Also, discussed this yesterday.
9/10
IMDB: 8.9
RT: 86%





5. Black Swan- I totally mentioned this movie earlier.....when could it have been?

9/10
IMDB: 8.5
RT: 88%

Also, these:

6. The Fighter- Mentioned yesterday.
9/10 
IMDB: 8.1
RT: 90%

7. Kick-Ass- Nick Cage is actually awesome. Crazy violence that I wasn't expecting honestly. 

9/10 
IMDB: 8.0
RT: 76%

8. Easy A- A high school comedy that was actually great. Emma Stone is cooli-o. Has some great jokes and dialogue.
This scene problably wins it:



Parents that are actually funny, whatddaya know...

8/10 
IMDB: 7.2
RT: 86%

9. The Kid's Are All Right- I totally had a separate review for this, go find it.

8/10
IMDB: 7.3
RT: 94%

10. 4.3.2.1.- I will discuss it in the following section.


Guilty pleasures of the year:
Movies that maybe aren't so great, but I enjoyed.

4.3.2.1.- Take place over 3 days. But follows 4 friends, who are attractive ~20 year old girls as evidence of this poster. Also, they're British.....thought you'd like to know. They do they're own thing, and you see some of them in passing in interesting situations. When the plot-line of one character reaches a certain points, the film goes back to the beginning, but then follows another person. It is very entertaining. There is an overarching action-y plot, which isn't all that impressive, but the things that happen in between is interesting. Also, all of the girls find moments when they need to be scantily clad, which is always cool. It is entertaining, and that's all I need some time.

8/10
IMDB: 5.9
RT: 36%





Repo Men- A great action movie. Jude Law's character repossesses artificial organs. Then in brutal irony he gets an artificial heart and falls behind on payments. He goes on the run! Intense fighting. And the cool thing is that there is a twist at the end. Maybe I should have seen it coming if I payed more attention, but it was still pretty awesome. Just sort of mindless action for the most part, but I had fun with it.

8/10
IMDB:
RT: 22%


Disappointment:

Date Night-  Stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey so it should have been epic. But it was just mediocre. Oh well.

6/10
IMDB: 6.4
RT: 67%

Also, I was really excited for True Grit, so, eventhough it was good, I was hoping for a lot more.



Whatcha reading there?!

Picture is not related, but I think it is hilarious.


Also, Hot Tub Time Machine (7/10). Watch it!


Also, as well include the top 3 for the last decade:

2009:
1. Watchmen 10/10 (#32 all-time)
2. World's Greatest Dad 10/10 (#38)
3. Up 10/10 (#52)
Also, Mega shark vs Giant Octopus  10/10 (#57)
Such a great year
2008:
1.  Wall-E 10/10 (#28)
2.  Moon 10/10 (#43)
3. Bender's Big Score 10/10 (#47)


2007:
1. Sügisball (Autumn Ball) 10/10 (#42)
2. Jan Uuspõld läheb Tartusse (127 Kilometers) 10/10 (#56)
3. The Bourne Ultimatum 9/10

Estonia FTW!
2006:
1. The Prestige 10/10 (#2)
2. Stranger Than Fiction 9/10
3. The Departed 9/10

2005:
1. Sin City 10/10 (#34)
2. Kohtumine tundmatuga 10/10 (#37)
3. Corpse Bride 9/10

2004:
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 10/10  (#1)
2. Anchorman 9/10
3. Der Untergang (The Downfall) 9/10

Also, Mean Girls 9/10. Guiltiest pleasure.

2003:
1. Underworld 10/10 (#30)
2. Kill Bill Vol. 1 10/10 (#41)
3. Love Actually 10/10 (#46)

2002:
1. About Schmidt 10/10 (#15)
2. Catch Me If You Can 10/10 (#20)
3. The Bourne Identity 10/10 (#48)

Also, Cheats 10/10 (# 50). Another guilty pleasure.

2001:
1.  Battle Royale 10/10 (#7)
2. Amelie 10/10 (#11)
3. Monsters, Inc. 10/10 (#31)

2000:
1. American Psycho 10/10 (#40)
2. Meet The Parents 10/10 (#59)
3. Memento 9/10

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Oscars 2011

So that happened. I didn't watch it, but I did check out the winners and I am glad that Inception got more Oscar's than The Social Network. There were plenty of no-duh's and a few surprises.

The performance awards were the same as anywhere else: 
Leading actor Colin Firth because he is really good at stammering.
Leading actress Natalie Portman (w00t!), because she danced ballet
Supporting actor Christian Bale (w00t again!) because he did a lot of crack
Supporting actress Melissa Leo, because she played Bale's mother and is even more unlikable than that crackhead

Though with the last one, not to say Leo didn't deserve it, maybe it should have gone to Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit, but that's not a big deal. 

Best Director- the dude for King's Speech. BOO! Give it to Aronofsky, damnit!

Creepy mustache or creepiest mustache?

On the topic of facial hair, Christian Bale wins


Matching hair and beard color is sooooo mainstream!


He looks like a lumberjack ax-murderer. A great role for him, considering his previous experience:

Most up-beat murder I know of


Best original screenplay- The King's Speech. BOOOOOOOOOO! That movie is all about the acting, the script is booooring. Have the lead played sub-par'ly and you have a giant piece of crap. Give the Oscar to Inception, because even with meh acting it was still a fantastic movie.


Sound editing, mixing n stuff- Inception of course. It had the most memorable score, and there for got the Oscar for best original score, owaitsocialnetworkgotitinsteadwtf!?

I mean, how can you not give original score to Inception as well?
Has the Academy forgotten the BRAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWRRRMMMMM


That should have also been nominated for best original song. Not the whole song, just that one note.

uhhh...
Best animated- Toy Story 3 obviously


hmmmmm....
Now, I am not an expert on movie editing, but even I can see that Scott Pilgrim had some amazing editing.  The best by far. And I'm not saying that because I love the movie anyway. But apparently it wasn't good enough to get nominated. Le shame.


And best picture. Glad The Social Network didn't win, but also unfortunate that The King's Speech did. Didn't really like either. 

Who should have won? 

Toy Story 3 of course. That is a silly question. But if I were to choose the most Oscar-y movie that should have won, I would have gone with The Fighter. And on that note, here is my personal order of favorites and a bit about why.




1. Toy Story 3- The plot is more complex and with more ups and downs emotionally than the first one (which is #17 on my all-time best list for those of you who don't remember). But I like the first one more, mostly due to nostalgia. Also, the fact that the other toys still don't listen to Woody is ridiculous. 
10/10





2. Black Swan- Psychological thrillers are awesome. I haven't seen too many, but I did see two last year which were both great Shutter Island and this. I've always liked Portman and she was great in this. Mila Kunis did her role of sexy free-spirit really well also. The ending, like in most thrillers is very important, and The Black Swan's was a little bit too "huh?" I understood what happened, but I was also like how! why?
Also, the whole "that would be great if I was only casting the white swan, but I am not. I am also casting the black swan," was uttered waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many times. I think it was said about....hmmm....75000 times, though I am bad with estimation.
And why I wouldn't say it is the best picture over The Fighter, is that it doesn't have substance, any deep drama. It's just one person going crazy, which is awesome.

 9/10





3. Inception- BRAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWRRRMMMMM!

Also, the plot is complex, though not as much as people suggest. DiCaprio is awesome, Joseph Gordon Lewitt is as well. And Ellen Page. Everyone has seen it by now, so I won't go into detail. BUT the plot is a bit convoluted at times (really 10 years?!, when you did it in like an hour.....wouldn't there have been a good middle ground, like a month or something?)  and the ending could have been a bit more open-ended, though I liked what he tried to do. Chrisopher Nolan is my favorite director doing original shit, yo!
9/10




4. The Fighter- Compelling drama. Getting to be a bit old boxer is in a bad situation. Brother's a dug deal, mother's also a terrible person who cares more about the older brother. Mark Wahlberg doesn't say much throughout the film, but when he does, he delivers his lines well. The supporting characters are all great, hence why they all got nominated. The ending is a very Hollywood-esque fairy tale one, but since it is based on a true story, its not something you can deduct for.
9/10




5. The Kid's Are All Right- Already posted about this. Just reference that.
8/10




6. 127 Hours- Very well done, considering it is just a dude trapped for 127 hours. James Franco does unusually well, so good for him. The hand severing was pretty gruesome. But knowing that he does cut off his arm and escape alive sorta ruins the movie. There is very little tension because of that knowledge, which is unfortunate.
7/10





7. True Grit- I love the Coen brothers' films, I really do. And this is not their greatest work. They proved they can do sirius things with Best Picture No Country For Old Men. Unfortunately, this movie left me underwhelmed. Even with it's lack of tension, 127 Hours, still left me whelmed. 
The acting is still great.  But the plot had its issues. The confrontation with the man the group is hunting is soooooo anti-climactic as is the ending. The journey there was great, but in the ended I felt a bit cheated.
7/10





8. The Social Network- I felt terrible for using facebook after watching this. If the film is accurate, then Mark Zuckerberg is the worst human being ever, besides murderers and rapists of course. But I seem to be the only one to really feel this way. Other people don't seem to have stolen the facebook idea. It is pretty straightforward that he did. And he stabbed his best friend in the back, which was terrible. The movie following this terrible person and trying at times to make him feel sympathetic just bothered me. The last line "you're not an asshole, you're just trying to hard to be one." I was just shaking my head after that- no, he is an asshole. He was really smart/witty in how he answered the lawyers, but he was still a jerk. Can't root for someone like that.
The biggest thing I got out of this movie is that Justin Timberlake is a surprisingly good actor. He's been in multiple other things, but he hasn't stood out in those. In this one he did great.
7/10




9. The King's Speech- Colin Firth is amazing. Stammers really well. Geoffrey Rush was also very good. But it is still just about a king getting over a speech impediment. At least the main character is likable and you root for him. But the stakes just don't seem all that high. I am amazed they made it as interesting to watch as they did.
7/10


10. Winter's Bone- Didn't care enough to see it.


So there you have it.