Archive for February, 2009
oscar predictions ’09 »
Friday, February 20th, 2009
… Because the big show is Sunday, I need to get the predictions out there. I mean, only amateurs wait ’til afterward to extol their brilliance. I can extol at the drop of a hat. (::hat drops to floor::)
Titles in italics will probably be winners. Titles in bold are ones I’m pulling for. *s are by ones I haven’t seen.
ANIMATED FEATURE
- Bolt *
- Kung Fu Panda *
- WALL-E
ORIGINAL SONG
- Slumdog Millionaire – “Jai Ho”
- Slumdog Millionaire – “O Saya”
- WALL-E – “Down to Earth”
EDITING
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- Frost/Nixon *
- Milk
- Slumdog Millionaire
CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Changeling
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Doubt
- Frost/Nixon *
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- Frozen River *
- Happy-Go-Lucky *
- In Bruges
- Milk
- WALL-E
DIRECTING
- Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
- Stephen Daldry (The Reader)
- David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
- Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon) *
- Gus Van Sant (Milk)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Amy Adams (Doubt)
- Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
- Viola Davis (Doubt)
- Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
- Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Josh Brolin (Milk)
- Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder) *
- Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
- Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
- Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)
ACTRESS
- Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married) *
- Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
- Melissa Leo (Frozen River) *
- Meryl Streep (Doubt)
- Kate Winslet (The Reader)
ACTOR
- Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)
- Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) *
- Sean Penn (Milk)
- Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
- Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
PICTURE
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire
I doubt I’ll be as victorious as last year (sarcasm) but one can hope I’ll catch a few. It wasn’t a good season (tons of repeats on here) but the ones listed were fairly solid. (As you can tell from the above, I’m quite partial to Slumdog Millionaire.)
I know you can’t wait ’til the recap to fully appreciate my genius. I know it. (Delusion is the first step toward success, right?)
In case you think you’re smarter than I am (and probably are), pick a category or two and lay out your prediction in the comments. We’ll see on Monday who emerges with the prize.*
* There is no prize.
kin »
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
One throbs with empathy. Her heart is heavier than her head, filled with thoughtful and caring. She feels more for strangers than I do for myself. She’s quick to trust, vulnerable where I’m shielded.
She prefers to understand before interjecting, letting conversation soak before responding. Dripping with self-doubt and she’s self-assured, intermittently, she’s fiery when put on the defensive.
Another pulses with social energy, witty and entertaining. She befriends easily, spritzed with shy. Able to discuss about anything with anyone, she is quick to ask and understand. (more…)
the times goes crazy (yawn) »
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
Friday, under their “First Look Blog” the folk over at The New York Times Online went nuts and introduced a new “article skimmer.” As far as I can tell, they took the layout and concept of AllTop and added a blurb with an image. (Original!)
There will probably be ads among the articles. How will that affect the clean feel of it or the usefulness? What about user-generated homepages based on predetermined areas of interest? (A homepage with the top articles from Sports, World and Arts, for example.)
Many already have RSS readers or dynamic bookmarks to access the content they want while avoiding the ads and nonsense that typically comes with. Now The New York Times can manage (read: inject ads into) their own “feed.” The idea is already nearing ubiquitous so it’s boring but I still like it.
With improvements, and with varying versions for different applications, this could be big step away from a print-oriented business model (Front page, See [page], top content). Considering newspapers have had to resort to putting ads on the front page and above the fold, it’s about time.
To their credit, The New York Times has consistently been ahead of the curve with online projects. They opened up their online archives awhile back when they disabled pay accounts and they’ve put their fingers into quite a few social media pots.
One can only hope that their being early-adopters will help. They’ll need to attract enough readers to compensate for their current, too-perishable audience that’s discontinuing subscriptions because they’re grandchildren have started emailing them photos.
Update from previous post: Some have said, in so many words, “who cares?” to the TOS change within Facebook. Understandable. My point was they’ve made another of many mistakes. Their failure to notify users, their post-wreckage band-aide post, their arrogant grab of content and their complete defiance of the data portability flag they’ve wrapped themselves in is what’s outrageous. Not them doing it in the first place.
From a company so melodramatically moronic, it should have been expected. Zuckerberg and Co. have essentially told us to chill out, that they won’t use our content how we wouldn’t want, and we should trust them. When someone asks me to trust them (especially after proving themselves untrustworthy), I don’t.
relationship: my money and facebook »
Monday, February 16th, 2009
I wanted to title this, “why the stewards of data portability can’t be trusted” but nobody off my followers list would have read further.
I’m a binge/purge anti/pro-consumerist. I have two Facebook accounts. Both facts are perilously close to becoming problems. My lack of trust in others and knowing Facebook is a sham run by morons has me anxious.
I’ve slowed my financial flow. I’ve replaced much of my decayed savings in the last month or so and am attempting to be more frugal. (Somehow I’ve misplaced ≈$25 somewhere so I can’t claim I’m doing well.) Unfortunately, when it comes to personal data, I can’t do the same to protect my online persona.
Note for those with lives off the interweb:
There’s a set of folk who are flexing their keggels in wait for “data portability.” This basically means all your profile/personal data is open so it can be accessed from anywhere. (One profile, multiple sites. Fun, right?) Facebook Connect (with so much of this data) was the beacon of hope for the data-portables.
Without time to remove or edit current profiles, Facebook decided to change their Terms of Service so they have control of users’ data forever. (In my limited grasp of space-time continuums and Sci-Fi movies, that’s a long time.) Thus, they’ve proven they can’t be trusted. Again.
Facebook uses it’s ample user base within a corporate-control experiment in a desperate attempt to generate any revenue. Still, they’re a (or the) primary player and should be held to account. (Myspace, et al shouldn’t be trusted either.)
How Facebook could have better managed their manipulation (an incomplete list):
- Announce the change (people could reduce the amount of information on their profile)
- Provide the option to remove one’s data from pool (profile appears the same, data not sold)
- Change as an opt-in under the guise of providing better service
- Delete the data upon deletion of an account (their 150+ million users should provide sufficient data for sale).
These would have provided less data to start but would have let users grow comfortable with the idea.
One of the underlying goals of data portability is control, use of your data as you see fit. Facebook taking that control (essentially stealing your data indefinitely) is an affront to just that. For now, just like my dismal savings (and worse outlook), I can only omit (nights on the town = profile information).
Data portability could be a powerful tool for users and marketers alike (follow @alisamleo at Web is Social), but until we have control, it will remain a movement for cheerleaders on the fringe. Users’ common sense (read: fear) and corporate manipulation will continue to render it completely ineffective.
For those on Facebook or considering joining (who isn’t on it? I mean… really…), take note and watch what you’re putting into their systems. Your profile will outlive you.
Cross-posted at Sex Drugs and Intellectual Freedom.
Update: Some have said, in so many words, “who cares?” to the TOS change within Facebook. Understandable. My point was they’ve made another of many mistakes. Their failure to notify users, their post-wreckage band-aide post, their arrogant grab of content and their complete defiance of the data portability flag they’ve wrapped themselves in is what’s outrageous. Not them doing it in the first place.
From a company so melodramatically moronic, it should have been expected. Zuckerberg and Co. have essentially told us to chill out, that they won’t use our content how we wouldn’t want, and we should trust them. When someone asks me to trust them (especially after proving themselves untrustworthy), I don’t.
friday free for all »
Friday, February 13th, 2009
… I was sick Saturday night through Tuesday night. I caught up on “Flight of the Conchords,” “Six Feet Under,” finished “This Land is Their Land” and watched a few movies. Calling that productive is like calling me handsome or universally liked. (In that it’s so obvious it causes nosebleeds, of course.)
… Wednesday, Girlfriend and I had a night out. With the trips and work and pulling my hair out (metaphorically) and all that, it’s been awhile. As it’s winter and Minneapolis can make a witch’s teet seem tropical, we went to a movie. (The Reader, more on that later.)
Kerasotes, awhile back, bought out the multi-screen downtown. They offer a Five Buck Club (free!) that sends you a card and then emails about upcoming shows you can get at that ridiculously low (high, for the “back in my day” folk) price. If you’re not part of the club, you’re dimmer than an compact-fluorescent after the Apocalypse, I guess, is what I’m saying.
… This weekend is Valentine’s Day. I try (and fail) to make Girlfriend feel as special as I think she is every day. Luckily, there’s a day when I can do that when everyone else is doing the same. (Individuality!)
Guys, make sure you do something worthy of her telling her friends about it. It’s all she thinks about (according to all the sexist ads out this week) between how many carats her dream ring is/which detergent to use/how fat she feels and how annoyed she is that you like sports/don’t vacuum/are a terrible father.
Singles, here’s your annual chance for some pity-play. Happy hunting!