The Oscar Nominations are in, so let's start our annual pissing and moaning!

With the Oscar nominations upon us, the next 33 days until the live telecast where Ellen Degeneres will stutter and make crow sounds will be a mind-numbing endeavor. Why, do you ask? It's the time where the entire internet lights up with disapproval, criticism and negativity over the nominations, to the point where I pretty much just leave the moobynet and go watch some new movies. Also having the Victoria Film Festival in two weeks helps as a distraction.

What is bizarro is how people get wrapped up in the prestigous awards and how personal it all gets. Already I've heard people bitch about Little Miss Sunshine getting so many nominations, Dreamgirls not getting a best picture nomination, "Where's Jack?" and "Is that movie Babel really as good as people say?" Suddenly, everyone's a critic, second-guessing the nominations and think they're the authority on the Oscars.

And you know what? It doesn't fucking matter people. The voting members of the academy nominated these people and these are results of the added up numbers, so it's their fault that you didn't get what you wanted. And even if you did, there's a million people who disagree with you and think otherwise, so nobody wins by endlessly bitching.

Last year was probably the worst year of public reaction when Crash won best picture, and all of a sudden the film was a veiled piece of shit that was hated by the general populace. It made Roger Ebert's Best of 2005 list, I gave it a four star rating and it had an extremely high critic count on Rotton Tomatoes, but that didn't stop the hatred because (insert film title here) should have won instead.

So perhaps "The Departed" shouldn't win Best Picture. It's a film I love, yet if it does win there will be some weird public outcry because they thought "The Queen" should have won. Or "Babel." In the end, it doesn't really matter what you think, or what I think. Get over it and enjoy the telecast.

I'll soon be posting my list of favorite performances and technical achivements in this blog. These are who I consider the winners in cinema last year. I don't need the Oscars to tell me that.

Jason
efilmcritic.com

Why are people afraid of subtitles?

Here's a new one for you movie-theatre etiqutte folk:

So a buddy and I are at a Saturday afternoon show of the ridiculously awesome "Pan's Labyrinth" (which I probably shouldn't have seen on the same day as Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima" because too much cinematic awesomeness can overload your circuits) and see that there's a good amount of people in attendance. Translation: people are here to see two hours of a girl in a fantasy world and are disappointed when it turns out that it's set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War and there's lots of "above ground" activity in the flick.

But anyway, as the previews unspool and the feature begins with the subtitles on screen, an actual conversation takes place between what I assume is a father and son behind me:

Kid: Is this movie subtitled?
Dad: No, it's dubbed.
Kid: How do you know?
Dad: When they start talking it'll be in english.

And then, the movie begins and they're talking in Spanish. Immediately I thought the two were going to get up and walk out of the theatre, which I have witnessed in the past. What I also didn't get is why the dad dismissively said that the movie was dubbed because that practice hardly EVER happens anymore (remember Pinocchio?) and the advertising, theatre marquee and common sense would tell you that this film is in its original spanish language with english subtitles. I also heard an audible groan come from the back of the theatre where several teenagers were in attendance (was "Stomp The Yard" sold out downstairs?).

I have never understood why people are so against seeing a movie if it's in a foreign language and can read subtitles. You can read this, right? Well then, you can read subtitles. Like anything else, you get used to it and it's not a problem for the rest of your life.

Perhaps it's because I see over 100 movies at the Vancouver International Film Festival every year and over two-thirds of them are subtitled that I question why anyone who can read would have a problem reading subtitles. Still, if you won't see a film because of this, you're an idiot. Think of all the cinematic experience you can have just by reaching out there and not going for the typical megaplex blockbuster, but "nooo, there are like words 'n shit on the screen...somebody find my "Pirates of the Caribbean" DVD dang nabbit!"

I should also mention that KIDS WERE AT THIS SCREENING. For a 14a movie (US folk: that's like your PG-13, but you have to have an adult with you if you're under 14 unlike the "All ages admitted" moniker of the American rating) that is wall to wall with explicit gory violence and violent imagery. But you know, they see a young Spanish girl on the newspaper ad in the foreground and a costumed creature in the background...that can't be bad for kids at all, can it?

Jason
efilmcritic.com

The Iphone and the question of why people are so obsessed with Ipods.

I was reading an article on the bus today about the Itunes new thingy-majig, the Iphone. I had heard about it weeks ago, said "Hey I'll be getting that...NOT!" to myself and changed the channel to Jon Stewart. But reading the article made me curious about what the heck is the deal with this infernal racket that is nearly a year away from release in Canada.

Ladies and germs, the Iphone (tm.) It's your Ipod and your phone all rolled into one so you don't have to, like, have more gadgets. But what if I LIKE gadgets?

(Which is kind of what cell phones are doing right now. Rogers Wireless in Canada recently released a 4gb phone along with all the annoying texting, crappy digital photos, slow email downloads...oh and it also makes and receives telephone calls. Almost forgot to mention that.)

And I don't care. Why? Because, dammit, there's nothing wrong with having your phone and MP3 player as two separate things. I never grew up thinking "Man, if only this portable CD player had a phone attached to it!" There's an MP3 player in my Motorola cell phone (don't call me a hypocrite, let me finish), yet I never use it (see?)...the headphone jack is a different size than your usual headphones and they sound like garbage.

And besides...why in god's name would anyone want to fiddle with an Ipod, Itunes and all their propietary content when you can have something beautiful, compatible and user friendly like the Creative Labs Zen Vision M? From my Xmas bonus last year, I had no qualms about plunking down $300 to be the proud owner of an MP3 player is everything that the Ipod Video is not.

Let's run down the list on why you're stupid for buying an Ipod:

- Creative lets you easily transfer MP3's or WMA files even from a backed up DVD-R, so no worries about having to leave a copy on your hard drive. Just drag and drop the files. Easy peasy. Also, you can rip CD's in only a few minutes, which is groovy. Ipod makes sure that all your files are MP3 files and they have to stay on your computer, in the same folder, otherwise Itunes gets angry and explodes.

Creavite:1, Ipod: 0.

- Creative allows you to store XVID's, wmv video and various other video formats on your player, and they play back at a pretty colorful and clean 640x480 resolution. Ipod only does 320x240, has a washed out screen and only supports .mp4 video, so have fun on converting.

Creative: 2, Ipod: 0.

- My Creative has a wallpaper of my dog Fergus (and if Fergus isn't your thing -- how dare you! -- how about one of their 10 colorful skins?)while Ipod's screen stays the same from when you purchase it. Boo to the Pod!

Creative: 3, Ipod. 0

- Buying cases and screen protectors for the Zen M are a bit harder to come by, but once you hit Ebay you'll be amazed at how reasonably priced they are. Apple doesn't do cheap.

Creative: 4, Ipod: 0.

- Creative's a bit heavier but is less prone to snapping than the newer, slimmer Ipod Nano's. The 80gb 'pods are quite durable though and with a good case, should stay that way.

Zen M: 4, Ipod: 1

Tip: once you make the switch to the Zen Vision M (and you will), you may want to keep Itunes for their Podcats. Simply open up the directory file where you keep your Podcast files and drag and drop them into the Zen. Zen'll let you. It's cool like that.

(Before you yak at me by saying my Zen Vision is 60gb and your Ipod Video is 80gb, think about the fact that for a full onslaught of music and the occasional video...that's no difference. I'll never run out of space and neither will you.)

That is all. Earth's still weird.

Jason
efilmcritic.com

Laura is funny and where is Goss? Ramblings.

Laura's a funny girl and Goss is nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, Weinberg is at Sundance and I'm not. That sucks.

Letters From Iwo Jima is one of the very best films of 2006. If you're not seeing it, you're probably seeing Night at the Museum so you should probably see this instead.

Earth is weird.

That is all.

Jason
efilmcritic.com

Holy shit, is he blogging again?

Yeah, I dunno.

You ever have one of those days where nothing gets done and you wander around aimlessly, both literally around the room and inside your own head? Instead of doing a movie marathon today, my toilet backs up, I break the lid when trying to fix said toilet, I run out of food, then barely watch two movies, catch up on email and then have several conversations on IM, not ONE of them with Goss, which is even more strange.

Just finished watching "Dreamgirls" and dug it a bunch. What the trades have been saying about Jennifer Hudson is true. This is her flick and she's flat out amazing.

So what I'm going to try to do is have a quick post at least once a day so those who care about me can read my thoughts from time to time. The blogosphere is still 'raging a strong and might as well get back on the wagon. I also may update that "Ten Hottest Actresses" list as I have many more to talk about.

That and Laura told me to. I also felt like posting an image of Gromit. Because i can.

Talk soon!

Jason
efilmcritic.com