Oscar Nominations

The Oscar nominees were announced this morning and my first thought was what a waste of time the Golden Globes are. Three of the Best Picture nominees, Crash, Munich, and Capote, weren't even nominated at the Globes. The two that were nominated at both are Brokeback Mountain, and Good Night and Good Luck. Of those five I've only seen Crash. I liked it enough to buy the DVD, so I'm happy it was included, although I also bought the Constant Gardener expecting it to be nominated, and wanting to watch it before the awards, but it got snubbed. So, having seen almost none of these movies, here are my early predictions (which will be followed by later predictions closer to the show).

Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman-Capote
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon-Walk the Line
Best Director: Ang Lee-Brokeback Mountain
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti-Cinderella Man
Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz-The Constant Gardener
Best Original Screenplay: Crash
Best Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain

The Wonderful World of Animation

I love Cartoons almost as much as I love ice cream. And although I haven't gotten around to ranking my favourite ice creams yet, here are my top 35 Cartoons of all time.

35. Voltron
34. Astro Boy
33. Duck Tales
32. Smurfs
31. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
30. Gargoyles
29. Ren and Stimpy
28. Muppet Babies
27. The Jetsons
26. Laff-A-Lympics
25. Wacky Races
24. Pinky and the Brain
23. Superman
22. Tom and Jerry
21. Tiny Toon Adventures
20. Gummi Bears
19. Spider-Man
18. X-Men
17. The Flinstones
16. G.I. Joe
15. Super Friends
14. Yogi Bear
13. Futurama
12. Scooby Doo
11. Transformers
10. Justice League
9. Looney Tunes
8. South Park
7. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
6. Star Wars: Clone Wars
5. Family Guy
4. The Simpsons
3. Thundercats
2. Batman: The Animated Series
1. Justice League Unlimited

Long Time

Man, another two weeks and I haven't bothered to add anything. I seriously need to keep up with this. Big TV tonight as it's the second week of American Idol. Last week was classic Idol hilarity and I'm sure tonight will not disappoint. Another show I've been totally digging is Dancing with the Stars. I caught a bit of the show last year, but didn't get into it at the start. This season has been great. George Hamilton is simply "the Man", Stacey Kiebler is hot as hell, Master P is retarded, but his dance partner is gorgeous. And best of all, is the crazy judge Bruno. So far the only disappointment was that Kenny Mayne went off in week one. That guy could have been weeks of entertainment, if only he could dance.

In Poker news, I got to watch the WSOP Tournament of Champions the other week. With both Phil Hellmuth, and Mike Matusow at the table, this was probably the most entertaining televised poker I've ever watched. Great play, great banter (except from Steve Dannenman, what a moron) exciting the whole way. In my own poker play, things have for the most part been good. A couple Saturdays ago, I had a pretty good run at the Limit table at Casino Croft. There was some drunk giving his money away, and some of the other players seemed to be distracted by the female at the table. Last Saturday however was probably the worst session of poker I ever had. My cards were cold. REALLY Cold, like they were in the Antarctic cold. Only one hand truly pissed me off, the rest I just couldn't get anything. I scooped one full pot all night, and one I split. Online things are not bad. I've slowly been grinding my bankroll back up. I better get working at things if I'm gonna be playing poker full time come September (that's the pipe dream). And finally, the WPT event at the Gold Strike casino finished up yesterday. The final table was a doozy, featuring Scotty Nguyen, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Gavin Smith, and An "The Boss" Tran. When the dust had settled two men were left standing. Scotty Nguyen, and Michael Mizrachi. Almost equal in chips, we were surely in for a great heads up battle... or not. Heads Up lasted exactly one hand. The money went in pre-flop with the Grinder holding everyone's favourite Backstreet Boy, AJ, while Scotty held AQ. Scotty ending up making a flush, and as he had slightly more chips than the Grinder it was all over Baby.

Anyway, Idols on so I'm off.

Bizzle Out.

Favourite Movie Characters

Below are my top 10 favourite movie characters, and as always, the honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions:
The Dude/Jeffrey Lebowski-Jeff Bridges-The Big Lebowski
Jesus Quintana-Jon Turturro-The Big Lebowski
Roy Munson-Woody Harrelson-Kingpin
Scott Howard-Michael J. Fox-Teen Wolf
Rupert "Stiles" Stilinski-Jerry Levine-Teen Wolf
Herman Blume-Bill Murray-Rushmore
Tony Montana-Al Pacino-Scarface
Sam-Natalie Portman-Garden State
Jack Byrnes-Robert Deniro-Meet the Parents
Teddy KGB-John Malkovich-Rounders
Worm-Ed Norton-Rounders
Rudy Ruettiger-Sean Astin-Rudy
Neo-Keanu Reeves-The Matrix
Gordon Gekko-Michael Douglas-Wall Street
Marv-Mickey Rourke-Sin City
Sgt. Elias Grodin-Willem Dafoe-Platoon
Willie Conway-Timothy Hutton-Beautiful Girls
Verbal Kint-Kevin Spacey-The Usual Suspects
Dean Keaton-Gab Byrne-The Usual Suspects
Russel Hammond-Billy Crudup-Almost Famous
Woody-Toy Story
Happy Gilmore-Adam Sandler-Happy Gilmore
Ron Burgundy-Will Ferrell-Anchorman
Dr. Peter Venkman-Bill Murray-Ghostbusters
Warren Schmidt-Jack Nicholson-About Schmidt
Jeffrey Goines-Brad Pitt-Tweleve Monkeys
Bob Harris-Bill Murray-Lost in Translation
Marge Gunderson-Frances McDormand-Fargo

10. Sam Gamgee-Sean Astin-Lord of the Rings
9. Spider-Man/Peter Parker-Tobey Maguire-Spider-Man 2
8. Will Hunting-Matt Damon-Good Will Hunting
7. Forrest Gump-Tom Hanks-Forrest Gump
6. Wooderson-Matthew McConaughey -Dazed and Confused
5. Captain Jack Sparrow-Johnny Depp-Pirates of the Carribean
4. Lester Bangs-Phillip Seymour Hoffman-Almost Famous
3. Max Fischer-Jason Schwartzman-Rushmore
2. Han Solo-Harrison Ford-Star Wars
1. Indiana Jones-Harrison Ford-Raiders of the Lost Ark

The Lists

Taking a cue from my good friend Matty P (aka The Baron), I'm going to start my series of useless lists. First up is movies. This is damn tough. I'm gonna list what I think is my top 25. I say I think, as it would probably change if I had to sit down and do it again tomorrow, and I might miss some. There will also be honorable mentions becuase they deserve to be noted. Also, I've broken the rules and listed some as the trilogy's. Beside them is my favourite of the 3.

25. Rushmore
24. Garden State
23. The Matrix
22. Saving Private Ryan
21. Wall Street
20. Sin City
19. The Godfather (part 2 the best)
18. Donnie Darko
17. Fargo
16. Forrest Gump
15. Dazed and Confused
14. Goodfellas
13. JFK
12. Platoon
11. Lost in Translation
10. Good Will Hunting
9. Rudy
8. The Shawshank Redemption
7. Beautiful Girls
6. Rounders
5. Indiana Jones Trilogy (The Last Crusade)
4. Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Return of the King)
3. Star Wars Original Trilogy (The Empire Strikes Back)
2. The Usual Suspects
1. Almost Famous


Honorable Mentions: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Princess Mononoke, Toy Story 1 and 2, Batman Begins, Wonder Boys, Appocalypse Now, Boogie Nights, Scarface, Fight Club, Moulin Rouge, Braveheart, Traffic, Pulp Fiction, Full Metal Jacket, All Kevin Smith movies, American Beauty, American History X, Gangs of New York, Spider-Man 2, The Virgin Suicides, Interview with the Vampire, X2, Born on the 4th of July, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, Pirates of the Carribean, The Professional, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Happy Gilmore, Austin Powers films, Billy Madison, The Muppet Movie, Gladiator, Twelve Monkeys, Memento, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Stand By Me, The Outsiders, Snatch, Bring it On.

I'm Back

Man, I can't believe I went almost 2 weeks without internet. But it's back up now and so is the blog baby. We're nearing the end of the bowl season and so far it's been pretty exciting stuff. Unfortunately Notre Dames' game against Ohio State went kind of like I thought it might. The Buckeye's picked on ND's defensive backs all night. Two long touchdown passes, and a long run, Ohio State made the big plays and Notre Dame didn't. The Sugar Bowl was a classic. I told everyone I thought West Virginia was for real, and they showed it, beating one of my favourites, Georgia. As I write this Penn State and Florida State are in triple overtime!, and we've still got Texas-USC tomorrow night. Good Stuff. Already looking ahead to next year, here's a few to keep your eyes on:

West Virginia- Their key play makers are Freshman! These guys could be representing the Big East in the BCS for a few years to come.

Florida- Urban Meyer has turned the program around, and Florida has the top ranked recruiting class in the country. I would expect to see them in the top 10 for most of next year.

Ohio State- Could they start next year at #1? It's possible, but I would say definitely top 3.

Oklahoma- Adrian Peterson is still one of the best backs in the country, and the Sooners will prove a much tougher opponent for Texas next year.

Auburn- Good coaching, good returning players. I like the Tigers.

This just in, Penn State wins the Orange Bowl! Party time in Happy Valley.

Bizzle out.