77th Annual...

The nominations for the 2005 Academy Awards were announced this past Tuesday and I regret to say that I can't really offer any real opinions about many of these pictures nominated. I am embarassed to say that I have only seen one of the five Best Picture nominees, Ray. I fully intend on seeing each of the remaining four and I'm most excited about The Aviator, Sideways, and Million Dollar Baby. The fact that Ray was even nominated in the first place tells me that either A) the Academy overlooked a much better film *cough* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind *cough* or B) 2004 was not a very good year for cinema. I'd probably lean toward the former as I think it was a solid year for film. Getting back on point, Ray is not worthy of the title "Best Picture of the Year." Was it a good performance by Jamie Foxx? Yes. Will he win an Oscar for it? Probably. (I don't think he should.) But it is, on the whole, not a good movie.

Commercials

I'm not really one of those people who get that pissed of at commercials. Yeah they're annoying sometimes but you deal with it. Either you change the channel, you don't look at the billboard, you turn the page in the magazine, etc. Deal with it, right. It seems that nowadays people seem to get pissed off at commercials at the movies in particular moreso than at other places. I went to the movies on Monday the 17th; it was a double feature, Elektra and The Phantom of the Opera. Of course, there were commercials before each movie. I, for one, don't mind the commercials at all. It's not that I necessarily want them, it's just that I simply don't mind them. They are just another way for companies to reach their consumers. Ads have become a part of life and we all deal with it everyday. Suck it up and deal, that's my answer. I've actually come to love one of the commercials. I mean love. It's the one for Coca-Cola's new "half the sugar, half the carbs" soda "C2." It features the Queen song "I Want to Break Free." It makes me want to dance. I love it.

The movies were pretty good too. Elektra was better than I expected but not that great. Phantom should win some gold. Pretty darn good.