Is Johnny Cash rolling in his grave?

After retiring from acting, Joaquin Phoenix seems to be making a rather unexpected career change: he wants to try his hand at rapping. Call me cynical, but I can't see him doing a transition from Johnny Cash (whom he was fabulous as in Walk the Line) to the likes of Eminem. And if his career as a rapper falls through, I'd hate to have to see him crawl back to acting with his tail between his legs (is that the crawl of shame, maybe?).

Personally, I think he should have remained in acting, because he had proven himself quite worthy, and was capable of great accomplishments.

Beautiful music (IV), and reflections

I first discovered Beethoven when I was 16. I watched the Bela Legosi-Boris Karlof movie The Black Cat, which prominently featured the famous "heartbeat" second movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. From there it was all downhill for me, because by the time I was 19, I had become intimately familiar with almost all of Beethoven's musical output.

Out of all of Beethoven's music, though, my very favorite piece isn't a symphony or a concerto or any major composition. Rather, it's a movement from one of his late string quartets: the String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, third movement.

I really can't describe in words what this piece of music means to me—how deeply personal, deeply cherished, and how deeply connected I feel to its spirit. I think, at its core, this music provides a window into a very unique time in my life, because for me it symbolizes my youthful transition from boyhood into manhood. Why do I say this? Because when I first discovered this piece, I was only a few short months away from graduating high school and immediately moving onto college. And as anyone who's been to high school knows, that's a tough transition to make, because you're simultaneously excited and yearning to shake off the dust of your hometown and venture out on your own, yet scared shitless to leave behind the comfortable, familiar life you've made for yourself at home among friends and family.

At least that's how it was for me.

And when I listen to this piece of music, I can honestly see back in time 12 and a half years, to a much younger and untried version of myself—a time where I'm not 31 years old but 18, where I'm facing a future that's both exciting and uncertain. If I close my eyes and listen to this music, I can see with unbelievable clarity the bulletin board and desk in my first dorm room at McElwain Hall in June of 1996. I can see myself standing in the back yard of my parents' house in E-ville one May afternoon and thinking that I'd soon be leaving this all behind. I can see myself walking along Pollock Road one foggy, solitary summer morning en route to English 015. I can see and smell 271 Willard, the classroom where I had my first college courses that freshman summer. I can see myself driving to Wiconisco late one May afternoon to pick up prom flowers from Red's Greenhouse. I can see myself walking with some summer friends back from Pattee Library one July evening, with my friend Westy trying to coax a squirrel out of the bushes. I can see myself walking through Kern Building with these same summer friends, looking for some squash equipment to rent. And laugh if you will, but I can even remember the youthful heartbreaks I was feeling at the time. :)

When I listen to this music, I honestly feel like I'm being granted a second viewing of a small part of my life. Just a small portion out of a much longer journey, but one that firmly embodies transition for me—transition that I was feeling on so many levels.

From just a musical standpoint, too, I don't think I've ever listened to a piece of music that spoke to me as much as this slow movement does. Not just for the recollections it calls to mind, but for how deeply personal and intimate this music is. It's some of the saddest music I've ever heard, but still some of the most quietly grateful. And in the end, that's the feeling this music leaves me with—gratitude, for not only the ability to remember a unique time in my life, but my gratitude for having lived it once.

And now, without further ado, I invite you to listen along with me . . . and reflect.

First half of the movement

Second half of the movement

The Oscar nominations have been announced, too!

On the heels of yesterday's announcement of Razzie nominees, this morning I listened to the live video feed of this year's Oscar nominations. It's always good to see Forest Whitaker on the stage and on the screen, and I can think of no better person to announce this year's crop of nominees.

Best Picture: I have to admit, I was a little surprised that The Dark Knight didn't get a Best Picture nod. I'm not necessarily bothered by it, mind you, but the buzz for it was definitely strong. And it still got eight nominations—no small task! Though I think Benjamin Button came away with something like 13 nominations (to include Best Picture), which is quite a wallop. And Frost/Nixon I'm just aching to see! Even though it'll likely lose to the emerging favorite, Slumdog Millionaire.

Prediction: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director: Even though I'm fine with The Dark Knight not getting a Best Picture nod, I was hoping that director Christopher Nolan would get a Best Director nod. He's a bit overdue for one, I think. (I still think he and much of Memento got snubbed at the Oscars a number of years back.) I was also disappointed that Darren Aronofsky didn't receive a nomination for The Wrestler. Like Nolan, Aronofsky is definitely overdue for some Oscar consideration. Though I was quite delighted to see David Fincher finally get a nomination! He's proven himself to be a very capable filmmaker over the years, helming such great films as Se7en, Fight Club, and Zodiac. Ron Howard's kind of a no-brainer, even though I often go both ways with his films (some I love, some I hate).

Prediction: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor: Frank Langella, Sean Penn, and Mickey Rourke all seemed like shoo-ins for a nomination. Brad Pitt was actually a surprise, as was Richard Jenkins. I had actually been wondering if Michael Sheen was going to get a companion nomination for Frost/Nixon, but alas, no.

Prediction: Mickey Rourke, even though I find myself cheering for Frank Langella right now

Best Actress: Now this category could become rather interesting, because we have some really serious contenders here! Kate Winslet is on her—what, sixth, seventh Oscar nomination now? Without a win, I might add? Though I had figured she'd get a nomination for Revolutionary Road rather than The Reader. Personally, I think she deserved an Oscar win for Little Children, though I think the award went to Helen Mirren that year. Now as to Meryl Streep? I know I've said this many times before, but I don't like her as an actress, even though she does look quite convincing in Doubt. I actually wasn't expecting Anne Hathaway's nomination, though Angelina Jolie's nomination for Changeling doesn't come as a surprise. (From what I'd heard, she was the saving grace of the picture.)

Prediction: I think it'll be a toss-up between Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet

Best Supporting Actor: All eyes of the world were looking a posthumous nomination for Heath Ledger, and they sure got it! On the anniversary of his death, no less! The real surprise to me was Robert Downey, Jr.'s nomination for Tropic Thunder. I haven't seen that film, and I had largely written off his role as a joke. Apparently it wasn't, though! Philip Seymour Hoffman continues to amaze us, though I had expected his nomination to be in the leading actor rather than supporting actor category.

Prediction: Heath Ledger becoming only the second posthumous Oscar winner in more than 30 years, and if anyone would score an upset in this category, it'd likely be Robert Downey, Jr.

Best Supporting Actress: I was quite happy to see Viola Davis get a nomination! I've liked her as an actress going all the way back to her short role as the social worker in Traffic, and to see her finally get the recognition she deserves is just wonderful. Though she'll likely have to duke it out with Amy Adams for the win, because Amy Adams is another fabulous actress in her own right. I actually wasn't expecting a nomination for Marisa Tomei, though I'd have to see The Wrestler to judge for myself the merits of her performance. I think with her it's a case of slowly earning my respect. Her Oscar win for My Cousin Vinny is still among the greatest whiskey-tango-foxtrot moments in Oscar history, though her next nomination for In the Bedroom was very well deserved.

Prediction: Amy Adams

Best Original Screenplay: This is a hard category to analyze, mostly because I haven't seen any of these films, but have instead heard of their strengths. Seeing WALL-E among the nominees was unexpected, though not so much for Milk or In Bruges.

Prediction: WALL-E

Best Adapted Screenplay: Here we have so many of the Best Picture nominees!

Prediction: Slumdog Millionaire

I personally think The Dark Knight will sweep up technical wins for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, and Best Art Direction, though Hellboy II might have a fighting chance against it with Best Makeup. And I can see Best Visual Effects going to Benjamin Button.

WALL-E is simply a lock for winning Best Animated Feaure. Because if it's a Pixar film, you know damn well it's gonna win an Oscar.

And now comes the hard part . . . waiting one more month for the awards ceremony! And I fully intend to live-blog the ceremony once again, so stay tuned!

The Razzie nominations are out!

With all the buildup to yesterday's inauguration, I almost forgot about the Razzie and Oscar nominations being released (today and tomorrow, respectively)!

As I've stated in previous years, the Razzie Awards are kind of like a reverse Oscar, rewarding the worst films of the year rather than the best. I often get a kick out of these nominations, because some films truly are bad, and fully deserve being called out.

Anyway, onto the examination of this year's nominees!

Worst Picture: From this list, the only film I've seen is The Happening, and as much as I like M. Night Shyamalan's early films, The Happening was definitely not happening. I had been hoping for a comeback from Lady in the Water, but alas, this was not it.

Prediction: The Love Guru

Worst Actor: Again, from this list, I've only seen Mark Wahlberg in The Happening. Perennial favorite Eddie Murphy is back again with a nomination for Meet Dave, which is kinda saddening, because I still think he gets a bad rap from Hollywood. Al Pacino's nomination surprised me, actually, because I've always thought him to be a great actor. Though I haven't seen Righteous Kill yet, so I can't judge his performance.

Prediction: Mike Myers for The Love Guru

Worst Actress: See, now I'm very surprised that Zooey Deschanel didn't get a nomination for The Happening, because she looked completely lost throughout the whole film (not to mention bug-eyed!).

Prediction: Paris Hilton for The Hottie and the Nottie

Worst Supporting Actor: I haven't seen any of these films, though I've heard that Pierce Brosnan was a terrible singer in Mamma Mia! I'm actually a little surprised that James Cromwell wasn't nominated for W., because he struck me as being greatly miscast as Papa Bush.

Prediction: Uwe Boll, for reasons which will become obvious below

Worst Supporting Actress: Again, didn't see any of these films. Yet between Paris Hilton, Carmen Electra, and Jenny McCarthy, I can't help but notice a trend here!

Prediction: Paris Hilton for Repo

Worst Screen Couple: I'm surprised again that we didn't have a nomination from The Happening, for Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel.

Prediction: Uwe Boll & ANY Actor, Camera or Screenplay

Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel: I was actually disappointed to see Indy 4 listed as a nominee. Yes, it wasn't anywhere near the scale of Raiders, but it was still a fun movie experience!

Prediction: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Worst Director: It looks like the list of directors almost perfectly matches up with the nominations for Worst Picture.

Prediction: I think this could possibly be a tie, between Uwe Boll for Postal and M. Night Shyamalan for The Happening

Worst Screenplay: Again, an almost exact match between Worst Picture and Worst Director nominees.

Prediction: M. Night Shyamalan for The Happening

Worst Career Achievement: There's only one nomination! And it's for Uwe Boll, who's being dubbed "Germany’s Answer to Ed Wood." Ouch!!! (Does that mean Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are going to make a movie about him, too?)

I thought this day would never come!

After eight long years, today marks the end of the Bush-Cheney presidency disaster! And I think the music clip below fully captures my feelings on the matter.



This next clip perfectly sums up what will surely become W's legacy.



So sayonara, you sorry bastards! Don't let the door smack your asses on the way out!

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN!!!

And here I thought the biggest news of today was that Patrick McGoohan had died. But it's not. Rather, it's that Ricardo Montalban has died!

He seems to be most remembered for his role on Fantasy Island, but I remember him instead as Vincent Ludwig from The Naked Gun, and especially as the super-nemesis Khan from Star Trek. His climactic starship battle against Captain Kirk at the end of Star Trek II is historic.

May Khan rest in peace.

Now let's all get drunk and play ping pong!

On today, the 31st anniversary of my birth, I'm anticipating a quiet birthday, which is fine by me. Last year I celebrated my 30th birthday by going to the Caps-Flyers game with Will, Erica, Wiley, and Ashley. And the year before that, I ventured to Atlantic City with Colby and Mary.

It's good to have a birthday on a weekend!

But for those years where my birthday falls in the middle of the week (like this one), I'm content enough to celebrate on a smaller scale. Some ideas I had floated around included a visit to Ben's Chili Bowl, a visit to the Vienna Inn, a viewing of Frost/Nixon . . . but in the end, I decided to spend my birthday the right way: with my fabulous girlfriend Nora, who's cooking a roast for dinner and supposedly baking a cake! Is there any better way to spend your birthday than that? :)

Oh, and as to the title of this post, that will be my birthday mantra going forward!

Earworms (V)

On the drive to North Carolina over New Year's, I seemed to only pick up oldies stations on the radio. Thus, this has been stuck in my head for days.



Though my real preference would be for this to be my earworm today.



What can I say—I have a soft spot for classic rock. :)

Nothing is sacred anymore (X)

Just when I thought I'd seen everything, someone comes along and combines South Park with The Big Lebowski.

Bitten by the Oscar bug

Well, it's finally happened: I've been bitten by the Oscar bug for this year. I think it finally hit me when I began browsing and commenting on IMDB's Oscar Buzz message board today. It also didn't help that I saw a news article about how the Oscar website has been revamped, and that it's only a little more than two weeks before this year's nominations are announced.

As always, I'll continue the tradition of live-blogging the Oscar ceremony, though I haven't seen many of the films that seem to be garnering a lot of the buzz. Valkyrie was the last film I saw in the theater, and I'm hoping to catch Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler, and Doubt in the coming days/weeks. I may also try to see Gran Torino, even though I hate how Clint Eastwood has become Oscar's golden boy in the last few years. (Forgive me, but Million Dollar Baby did not deserve Best Picture.)

And The Dark Knight? You know, I can't seem to figure out how that'll fit into this year's Oscars. Heath Ledger seems like a shoo-in for a Best Supporting Actor nomination, his death notwithstanding, and it would be nice if Gary Oldman received a nomination, too! As to whether the film will land a Best Picture nomination? That I still can't say. Don't get me wrong, it was a good movie! But if it gets a Best Picture nod, I kinda think it'll be due to its long blockbuster ride—much the same way Titanic was back in the day—rather than working from the story itself. Though I don't doubt it'll land a ton of technical nominations, like Best Sound, Cinematography, Art Direction. And maybe, maybe, nominations for Screenplay and Director.

But we shall see, won't we! And it won't be too much longer. :) As I say, only a little more than two weeks till nominations are announced!!!

A terrible letdown

I can think of no other way to sum up my disappointment in this year's Rose Bowl.