bye bye, bentham!

lost this week... what can i say? i think i gasped audibly about seven times during this episode. 

thoughts/theories:

• desmond is going to get shipwrecked on the island, just like he did the first time. (only this time he will be with penny and li'l charlie.) this goes back to ms. hawking telling desmond "the island isn't done with you yet" and the fact that they need to recreate the situations under which they first arrived on the island. so it totally makes sense that desmond wasn't on the plane.
• caesar is going to try to be the leader and locke is going to have to fight him. et tu, brute?
• i really want the farraday/hawking/widmore saga to be solved. at this point it is possible that farraday is widmore's son, and that charlotte is widmore's daughter. but i don't think both could be true...
• i think it's so interesting that good and evil keep being skewed. i don't think widmore or ben are all evil, but it's hard to see the good in either of them sometimes.
• i don't know what i think of the theories over at the lost diary... i don't think either theory about locke/ben is true.

questions:

• why did ben kill locke? 
  
• what was it about mentioning ms. hawking that sent ben over the edge?
  
• why did they show walt for .005 seconds? is that all we're ever going to get of him?
• is michael still alive?
• is abbadon gone forever?

it's like where's waldo, except it's me.

so i was an extra on the collegehumor show on mtv. see if you can spot me! (hint: i am wearing two different outfits.)

The CollegeHumor Show - MTV Shows

milking the case of the slumdog frost reader.

so i realized that i never talked about LOST this week. how silly of me! i agree with the folks over at the lost diary, i think this was a strange yet wonderful episode. ms. hawking's pendulum room--aka the lamp post--was creepy and cool, just like her.

thoughts/theories:

• ben didn't tell hurley to be on the plane. hurley had a guitar with him. i think ghost charlie told him to be on the plane, and he was carrying charlie's guitar.
• i think sayid's arrest has something to do with recreating the circumstances of the flight. (re: kate in handcuffs.)
• i still think boone and shannon will be back, mark my words.
• who built the lamp post?

questions:

• where the hell are bernard and rose? i've been wondering it for like 3 episodes now.
• why was jin in a dharma outfit?
• what happened to aaron?
• who beat up ben?

and now for un-LOST related  news: the oscars are on tonight!

oscar predictions:

(the * indicates who i think will be the winner.)

Performance by an actor in a leading role:
Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor"
Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn in "Milk"
Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" 

*Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" 

i wish this was going to sean penn, but it seems like mickey's gonna take it.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role:
Josh Brolin in "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt"
*Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight" 
Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road" 

sad, but definitely deserves the recognition.

Performance by an actress in a leading role:
Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married" 
Angelina Jolie in "Changeling" 
Melissa Leo in "Frozen River" 
Meryl Streep in "Doubt" 
*Kate Winslet in "The Reader" 

love of my life. i can't wait to see her win.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role:
Amy Adams in "Doubt" 
*Penélope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" 
Viola Davis in "Doubt" 
Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" 
Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler" 

this one i'm not positive about, but i'll be happy with any of these ladies winning.

Best animated feature film of the year:
"Bolt" 
"Kung Fu Panda" 
*"WALL-E"

duh.

Achievement in art direction:
"Changeling" Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
*"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"  Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
"The Dark Knight" Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
"The Duchess" Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
"Revolutionary Road" Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

Achievement in cinematography:
"Changeling"  Tom Stern
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"  Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight"  Wally Pfister
"The Reader"  Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
*"Slumdog Millionaire"  Anthony Dod Mantle

Achievement in costume design:
"Australia" Catherine Martin
*"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Jacqueline West
"The Duchess" Michael O'Connor
"Milk" Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road" Albert Wolsky

Achievement in directing:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"  David Fincher
"Frost/Nixon"  Ron Howard
"Milk"  Gus Van Sant
"The Reader"  Stephen Daldry
*"Slumdog Millionaire"  Danny Boyle

i think daldry and van sant deserve recognition, but this is just a landslide.

Best documentary feature:
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
"Encounters at the End of the World"
"The Garden"
"Man on Wire" 
*"Trouble the Water"

Best documentary short subject:
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
"The Final Inch"
"Smile Pinki"
*"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"

Achievement in film editing:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight"  Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon"  Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"Milk"  Elliot Graham
*"Slumdog Millionaire"  Chris Dickens

Best foreign language film of the year:
"The Baader Meinhof Complex"  - Germany
"The Class"   - France
"Departures"   - Japan
"Revanche"   - Austria
*"Waltz with Bashir"  - Israel

Achievement in makeup:
*"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Greg Cannom
"The Dark Knight"  John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army"  Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

it should be "the dark knight."

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score):
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"  Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance"  James Newton Howard
"Milk"  Danny Elfman
*"Slumdog Millionaire"  A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E"  Thomas Newman

i'm relatively obsessed with the soundtrack.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song):
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E"  Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
*"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire"  Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire"  Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Best motion picture of the year:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" 
"Frost/Nixon" 
"Milk" 
"The Reader" 
*"Slumdog Millionaire" 

it should be "the reader" or "milk," but it won't be.

Best animated short film:
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
"Lavatory - Lovestory"
"Oktapodi" 
*"Presto" 
"This Way Up"

everytime i watch "wall-e," i get excited to watch "presto" first.

Best live action short film:
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)" 
"Manon on the Asphalt" 
"New Boy" 
*"The Pig"
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

Achievement in sound editing:
*"The Dark Knight" Richard King
"Iron Man"  Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
"Slumdog Millionaire"  Tom Sayers
"WALL-E"  Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
"Wanted"  Wylie Stateman

Achievement in sound mixing:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"  David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
"The Dark Knight"  Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
*"Slumdog Millionaire"  Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
"WALL-E"  Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
"Wanted"  Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Achievement in visual effects:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
*"The Dark Knight" Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
"Iron Man" John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

Adapted screenplay:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"  Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord

"Doubt"  Written by John Patrick Shanley
"Frost/Nixon"  Screenplay by Peter Morgan
*"The Reader"  Screenplay by David Hare
"Slumdog Millionaire"  Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

let's hear it for the playwrights reppin' at the oscars! repruhzent!

Original screenplay:
"Frozen River"  Written by Courtney Hunt
"Happy-Go-Lucky"  Written by Mike Leigh
"In Bruges"  Written by Martin McDonagh
*"Milk"  Written by Dustin Lance Black
"WALL-E"  Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

if the people in the academy read the new york times review of "wall-e" then it would win. it is absolutely brilliant.

a modern analysis of "hi-diddle-dee-dee."

Hi-diddle-dee-dee
An actor's life for me
A high silk hat and a silver cane (alright, the hat sounds cool. the cane is just silly and superfluous.)
A watch of gold with a diamond chain (clearly, you're confusing being an actor with being a rapper, pinocchio.)

Hi-diddle-dee-day
An actor's life is gay (fact.)
It's great to be a celebrity (i don't know, some have major issues with privacy infringement. and not all actors are celebrities.)
An actor's life for me

Hi-diddle-dee-dum
An actor's life is fun

Hi-diddle-dee-dee
An actor's life for me
A wax mustache and a beaver coat (now that's just ridiculous.)
A pony cart and a billy goat (why would an actor want a pony cart?! or a billy goat?! perhaps the modern equivalent would be a porsche boxer and a small puppy.)

Hi-diddle-dee-dum
An actor's life is fun
You wear your hair in a pompadour (i don't even know what that means.)
You ride around in a coach and four
You stop and buy out a candy store (ok, i'll admit, that sounds pretty cool.)
An actor's life for me!

Hi diddle dee dee
An actor's life for me
A high silk hat and a silver cane
A watch of gold and a diamond chain (i thought we figured this out already, pinoc: your career choice would more aptly be RAPPER. pinocizzle.)

Hi diddle dee doo
You sleep till after two (LIES. i'd say the average wake up time is 8am.)
You promenade a big cigar (no, you huddle outside of the tisch building smoking marlboros.)
You tour the world in a private car (no, you tour the city on the subway.)
You dine on chicken and caviar (no, you live off of coffee and fruit from the street vendors. or overpay at karen's.)
An actor's life for me! (fact.)

single and fabulous... exclamation point!

if you haven't seen this movie yet, and you are single, do the chick thing: go see it today. it's adorable and funny and has some real moments that you and your friends will turn to each other and say, "OMG YOU KNOW I DO THAT!" in this world, guys who ignore you actually don't like you. when you dramatically break a mirror, you have to sweep up the mess you just made. and sometimes, people surprise you... and you can surprise yourself.

whether you see the movie or not, take today to remember this carrie bradshaw quote, "so maybe it won't look like you thought it would in high school, but it's important to remember that love is possible. anything is possible. this is new york."

happy valentine's day.

come look at the freaks.

in my disability & sexuality class, we've been discussing the history of the freak show in america. most of the readings have made it seem as though the age of the freak show has passed, but watching TLC i would beg to differ. the program line-up is as follows:

little people big world.



mermaid girl.



pregnant man.



tree man.



the woman with giant legs.



it appears to me that the freak show is alive and well in america. now we just guise it in the form of reality television, or put it on the learning channel and expect that people will watch "for educational purposes." people are watching these shows because these disabled people are the modern day equivalents of the bearded lady and the sword-swallowing man. they can watch unattached, from a distance, in the comfort of their own homes. forget coney island, TLC is where the real freak show is. on the one hand, these people obviously wanted to have their stories told on tv, or they wouldn't be there. on the other, they are on tv solely because of their disabilities. (i mean, come on, look at the titles of the shows. they literally are the titles of acts in a freak show.) i wonder if TLC thinks that these shows will increase understanding and empathy, or fear and curiosity. or all of the above. either way, these shows are on the air for one reason: americans love a good freak show.

mama who time travelled me.

for the first time this season, i was thrilled by this week's episode of LOST. first of all, i decided to attend the LOST party @ professor thom's.  each week, there is a different LOST drink special. this week, the special was "whenever anyone sees a ghost or time travels, everyone gets a free shot." this happened to be a week where there were about 10+ time travel moments. thank you, professor thom & jj abrams. second of all, the episode itself was pretty great. i am thrilled that my faraday/hawking theory was proven, and that my charlotte/widmore seems to be so close to being proven, as well. (and from talking to some fellow LOSTphiles @ the party, it seems people think there might be a link between those two families.... ponderous indeed.) also, i love jin. he was the best part of this episode, by far. 

things i am curious about: 

• what is the temple that the monster is guarding? 
  
• how are they gonna bust hurley out of jail? 
  
• is sun's daughter going to go back to the island, too?
  
• is ben actually planning to kill charlotte for his revenge against widmore, not penny?
• what was claire's mom actually investigating? (last week's episode, but i'm still curious.)
• where is claire?!
• will any of the characters encounter their past selves on the island?

in other news... dear cwtv, why do you keep depriving your fans of our beloved GG? i need my chuck/blair fix for the week!

all's fair in love and scripted television drama.

this week on the greatest show of our time, the plot lines were shallow, the homages were stale, but the coats were fabulous. i desperately missed eric, eleanor waldorf, and any semblance of a chuck/blair plot.

let's see...

truer than a PTA meeting about the abuse of the internet:

• yeah, ok, dan would totally have the hots for the infantile english teacher. womp womp. plus 2.
• i am going to disagree with nymag, of course dorota would be wearing her maid cap even while disguised. plus 5.
• i don't know about your high school, but in mine there were PTA meetings for literally everything. nasty things being written on the internet? obvs. plus 10.
• all the guys in high school would totally be applauding the dorky guy for getting with a teacher. plus 10.
• OMFG, chuck + v for reals???? plus 20 if and only if this is a real, undoctored photo. otherwise i still think he's gayer than a picnic basket.

faker than blair ever suggesting oberlin as a viable college choice, even as a joke:

• serena's writing is "nuanced" and "filled with observations of the world around her"? yeah, if the reason she held off on handing it in was that she made her private english tutor write it for her. minus 10.
• the school has always known about the terrible things being written on gossip girl, but never did anything because "the kids didn't complain"? umm... no, i don't think so. minus 30.
• how the hell do both serena and dan know where rachel lives? minus 50.
• why the hell would a teacher accused of inappropriate relations with a student be out at night in a restaurant alone with said student? minus 100.
• re: the final scene of dan/rachel... um... is he 18 yet? minus 5.
• ok i know this is a tv show, but how is it that serena always manages to call dan .003498435 seconds too late to stop him from doing something stupid with some probably crazy, oversexed chick? minus 20.
• chuck's eyes wide shut plot line. what was up with that chick holding the huge tapered candle?! minus 50.

now on to my other tv obsession... LOST. i've gotta agree with the folks over at the lost diary, this season has been rather disappointing. i was, however, thrilled that jin is still alive. i still think my theory about farraday's mom is true, but that wasn't explored at all in this episode. i now also think that miles is dr. candle's son (re: the baby in the first episode of this season) and i also think that charlotte is widmore's illegitimate daughter. i think both of them were either born, conceived, or lived on the island when they were babies. i was also thrilled to see young danielle rousseau on the island! i wonder if the fate of rousseau, the child she is carrying (re: alex), and jin might somehow change now that they have interacted back in time. what i'm thinking will ultimately happen is that all flight 815ers are going to have to be alive/reunited in order to time travel to the present and leave the island safely. (like... the space time continuum has to be corrected. think back to the future.) i'm glad i can still count on locke to give me a beacon of hope/faith (re: his explanation of why he didn't stop his past-self at the hatch.) he had to go through his pain to be where he is now. well said, locke. also... what is up with sun? has she gone over to the dark side? is she so desperate for revenge against ben that she'll use aaron as a hostage to get to him? oy.

in other news, what is it with celebs in the past week? first patti's infamous diva moment, and now christian bale's 'roid rage.

well, as you all know, i love a great remix of a celebrity going crazy. here's revolucian's christian bale remix: