It's such a Friday

When you Google Image my full name (which no, I'm not revealing - even though most of you already know it) this is the first thing that comes up:

I'm obviously having a really productive work day.

Jane Austen + Zombies = Awesome

As someone who loves both the novels of Jane Austen and zombie movies, this sounds like perfection:

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead."



My prediction: Best Book of 2009.

Things I Don't Understand: Twitter

So, everyone (my friend Colin) has been bugging me to use Twitter, which is apparently like just your Facebook status updated with every little thing you ever do, say or think. Is this really necessary? I don't even use my Facebook status to actually keep people abreast of what I'm doing...I just put whatever song lyric/movie quote I have in my head at the moment (or I use it to profess my undying love for John Locke. The world needs to know these things!). Can someone please explain this to me? Or am I totally right (as usual) that Twitter is for egomaniacs with too much time on their hands? Well?

Okay, I Give In...

I love the new Kelly Clarkson single, "My Life Would Suck Without You" which is, apparently, the fastest rising single in history. Congrats, Kelly. You've hooked me again, you beezy.

Top 5: TV Stars Most in Need of a Sandwich

I recently started watching Burn Notice (because, despite pleas to "get out" and "see sunshine," I like living my life in front of my television) and it prompted this post: TV stars who could really stand to eat more.

Gabrielle Anwar - Burn Notice

Rose Byrne - Damages

The Entire Cast of 90210
(Except for Jennie Garth. Kelly Taylor looks good!)

Jennifer Carpenter - Dexter

Taylor Momsen - Gossip Girl

The follies of youth

I got an email from an old friend over the weekend telling me I owed her two hours of her life back.

She’d rented a movie I told her I liked a few years ago. It’s a quasi-gangster flick called the Boondock Saints, which, as I recall, I mostly liked because it was filmed in Boston and I thought the leads were hot. Even at the time I knew it was full of shoddy acting and clichés, but I got passed it. I honestly haven't seen it in years and don't recall why I liked it, but I won't deny that I did.

(Sidenote: I found out a few years ago this movie is kind of infamous because of the guy who made it. There’s a scathing documentary about him called Overnight).

When I first read the email, I was embarrassed. Having someone tell you a movie you liked was “painfully bad” and the worst movie she’d seen in a long time always makes you question your taste. Then I started thinking about: I was "all about" that movie when I was 18 or 19, around the same time I was "all about" ska and voluntarily watching Dawson’s Creek. Why would anyone take a recommendation from such a person? Ever?

There’s a lot of things in my past I’m not proud of, stylistically speaking. Movies, music, books, clothes, etc. that I not only enjoyed but was proud of enjoying, on which I now look back and cringe. I like to think I've grown up, matured, become a woman of discriminating tastes, but that doesn't change the fact that I owned a pair of Doc Martins until long after they were socially acceptable (if they ever really were).

Sometimes, these things have a way of creeping up on you like the ghost of Jacob Marley, loudly shaking their chains at inopportune moments and reminding you of just how far you haven't come. Often, this happens one way or another in the form of a person you've known since you were in eighth grade.

Now that I've let some skeletons out of my closet, it's your turn. What terrible reminders of the loser you once were - and deep down inside always will be - do you secretly fear a new boyfriend or girlfriend discovering in a box under the bed: Limp Bizkit CDs, Kabbalah bracelets, the ticket stubs from the 14 times you saw The Blair Witch Project? Spill it, kids!

Meanwhile, I’m going to find a copy of Boondock Saints and see if it was really that bad…

This (mostly) Just In...

It's been Oscarmania this week at The Watchword, so let's finish of the week with a roundup of things you may or may not have already heard about:

TV: I Wish I Knew How to Quit You - American Idol, Lost, Damages, Flight of the Conchords, Big Love, BSG...all back to fill my DVR nightly. Thank God. I was actually starting to think I'd have to leave my apartment and socialize.

Veronica Mars Movie: Moving Along - I wish it would move along a bit faster, but apparently being patient is good for me? Sounds like a bunch of psycho-babble to me, but I'll try and work it.

Obama: Best Pesident Ever!!! - Too soon?

And finally, just because the Oscars snub The Boss does not mean we will follow suit. His awesome song from The Wrestler:

And the Nominees Are...

I correctly predicted 72 out of 97 nominations, which is an improvement from last year's 66 out of 99 (last year there were 5 nominated songs).

You can see the complete list of nominations here.

FAVORITE SURPRISES:
1. Martin McDonagh's original screenplay nomination for In Bruges!
2. Richard Jenkins best actor nomination for The Visitor (as I had predicted)
3. Frozen River's Melissa Leo nominated for best actress instead of Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky

BIGGEST UPSETS
1. No nomination for Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan
2. No Best Picture nomination for The Dark Knight
3. No nomination for Bruce Springsteen's The Wrestler
4. The Reader gets nominated for Best Picture and Best Director
5. Wanted gets nominations in Sound caegories instead of Defiance

BEST OF THE OVERLOOKED
PICTURE: In Bruges and The Visitor
DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan "The Dark Knight" and Martin McDonagh "In Bruges"
ACTOR: Colin Farrell "In Bruges" and Clint Eastwood "Gran Torino"
ACTRESS: Emily Mortimer "Transsiberian" and Rebecca Hall "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Liev Schreiber "Defiance" and Colin Farrell "Cassandra's Dream"
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Rosemarie DeWitt "Rachel Getting Married" and Michelle Williams "Synecdoche, New York"
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Tom McCarthy "The Visitor" and Charlie Kaufman "Synecdoche, New York"
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: David S. Goyer and the Nolan brothers "The Dark Knight" and Clark Gregg "Choke"

The Rest of the Nominees Will Be...

You're missing out if you don't check out the MySpace blog for more in depth analysis plus what I would vote for in these categories.

For a complete list of my predictions as well as picks for the best of 2008 including my Top 25, you can check it out here.

And here are my predictions for the four remaining categories not covered in my previous entries. Check back tomorrow for the results.


PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E

DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky "The Wrestler"
Danny Boyle "Slumdog Millionaire"
David Fincher "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Christopher Nolan "The Dark Knight"
Gus Van Sant "Milk"

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
Doubt - John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
The Reader - David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh
Milk - Dustin Lance Black
Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Woody Allen
The Visitor - Tom McCarthy
WALL-E - Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon

Even More Nominees Will Be...

As usual you can read in depth analysis as well as my own preferences for these choices by checking out the MySpace blog which also includes links for many possible contenders for Original Song and Music Score. But here are the predictions.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Encounters At the End of the World
I.O.U.S.A.
Man On Wire
Standard Operating Procedure
Trouble the Water

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
3 Monkeys (Turkey)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Everlasting Moments (Sweden)
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Alexandre Desplat
Defiance - James Newton Howard
Revolutionary Road - Thomas Newman
Slumdog Millionaire - A.R. Rahman
WALL-E - Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Down To Earth "WALL-E" - Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
Gran Torino "Gran Torino" - Jamie Cullum, Michael Stevens, and Clint and Kyle Eastwood
I Thought I Lost You "Bolt" - Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele
Jaiho "Slumdog Millionaire" - A.R. Rahman
The Wrestler "The Wrestler" - Bruce Springsteen

Tomorrow I'll be posting my predictions in the remaining categories (Picture, Director, Screenplays) and then let you know how I did on Thursday after they announce the nominations.