The two lead actresses in Up In The Air won Best Supporting nominations last week. Even though I am rooting for either to win I realize changes are slim. I am keeping an eye on their developing career.

Anna Kendrick Wants To Take Adam Lambert To Oscars!

Anna Kendrick has revealed her dream date for the Oscars — American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert! ● More from: showbizspy.com

Vera Farmiga ‘Fake French Accent’ Helped Boost Lingerie Sales

Vera Farmiga used to fake a French accent to sell underwear. ● More from: postchronicle.com

Leno, Letterman, Quileutes, Seattle Times . . .

Ever try to explain American football to a non-fan? When you do it sounds like a real boring game. The players run around for a few seconds . . . then they all fall down in a big pile. Then we wait for a couple minutes while they slowly get up; meet in a huddle to talk about what they are going to do next and then run around for a couple more seconds.

According to a Wall Street Journal study of four recent football broadcasts the average amount of time the ball is in play on the field during an NFL game is about 11 minutes.

In other words, if you tally up everything that happens between the time the ball is snapped and the play is whistled dead by the officials, there’s barely enough time to prepare a hard-boiled egg. In fact, the average telecast devotes 56% more time to showing replays.

So what do the networks do with the other 174 minutes in a typical broadcast? Not surprisingly, commercials take up about an hour. As many as 75 minutes, or about 60% of the total air time, excluding commercials, is spent on shots of players huddling, standing at the line of scrimmage or just generally milling about between snaps. In the four broadcasts The Journal studied, injured players got six more seconds of camera time than celebrating players. While the network announcers showed up on screen for just 30 seconds, shots of the head coaches and referees took up about 7% of the average show. ● More from: Football Games Have 11 Minutes of Action – WSJ.com

Was the Swine Flu over hyped last year? Sure, 11,000 people died but no where near the normal number of flu related deaths and little short of wiping out humanity. Did the drug industry lobby the World Health Organization to sell vaccine? Was the media complicit?

On The Media Reports

Storm, about trying to prosecute a Serbian war criminal, had me on the edge of my seat . . with a pit in my stomach . . the whole way. The plot had it all: Investigators, lawyers, international justice in action, Serbian thugs trying to intimate witnesses, witnesses, fueled by long simmering rage, bending the truth and even a touch of mature romance. This a European film, months away from a U.S. release, with only one actor I recognized – Anamaria Marinca the star of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. I can not recommended Storm highly enough. Another benefit of belonging to the Film Movement.

Just watched two movies with leading ladies who very much make it worth your time.  Both women carry the film and each in their own way  is  mysterious.  So much in both movies is  happening beneath the surface.

The first is “Cairo Time” (2009-Canada) starring a  middle aged married woman (Patricia Clarkson) on vacation hoping to join her husband in Cairo.  She meets an Egyptian who occupies her time until her husband reappears.

IMDb

The second is “L’avventura” (1960-Italy)  From Micheangelo Antonioni, this is the story of a young  woman (Monica Vitti)  whose friend has dissappeared and she begins flirting with her lover as both search for her.

96% on the T-Meter

The latter is in black and white.  Both also serve as beautiful travelogues.

I just watched three movies with one thing in common: two men in love with the  same woman.

The best of the three:  ”Gloomy Sunday”  (German) 1999.  Set in Budapest just before and after the Nazis  stormed Hungary, most of the movie takes place in a restaurant.  The main characters are the owner of the eatery, it’s hostess, and a piano player.  The title refers to a song the pianist composes that becomes a world wide sensation and eventually alters lives.  It’s old fashioned, romantic, and heart-breaking.

84% on the T-meter

Then there’s “Dresden” : a 2006 German TV miniseries.  The story leads up the bombing of Dresden and involves a German nurse, her fiance, and a British pilot.  It is what it is:  a made-for-TV historical romantic melodrama.  I cared about the characters and learned some more about an horrific event.

IMDb

Finally, “The Education of Charlie Banks” starring Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Wale, Adventureland, and Zombieland).   The love triangle:  A nerd, a bad boy , and preppy-rich coed.  It’s the 80s and most of the movie takes place  on a college campus.  The movie will be best known for a not bad directorial debut from Fred Durst, a star-turn performance from Jason Ritter (yes, that Ritters  son), and the female lead is played by Eva Amurri (Susan Sarandon’s daughter).  Best scene in the movie:  The Alan Parson Project’s “I Wouldn’t Want to be Like You” over the opening credits.

50% on the T-meter

February 3rd, 1959 is a day I will never forget.

Today marks the 51st Anniversary of the tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper).

It just wasn’t a tragic loss of three performers. It was a huge jolt to lovers of the new music. Back in the ’50s most people feared (us teenagers) hoped (parents) or prayed (racists) that rock ‘n roll was a passing fad that would soon fade.

Barely hanging on as a cultural phenomenon things weren’t looking good for the survival of rock ‘n roll.

Two years earlier 25 year old Little Richard quit his successful rock career, claiming he had been warned of his own damnation in a vision. One year earlier 23 year old Jerry Lee Lewis had incurred the scorn of society and lost most radio airplay for marrying his 13 year old cousin and 23 year old Elvis had been drafted; could he survive being away for two years?

And now in early 1959 two of biggest rock ‘n roll hit makers were gone.

The Day the Music Died: A Look Back at a Rock & Roll Tragedy

Today marks the 51st anniversary of “The Day the Music Died,” when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa. The musicians were in the middle of their Winter Dance Party tour — which also featured Dion and the Belmonts — across the frozen Midwest states in 1959 when conditions aboard their tour bus became so bad that the three men opted to charter a plane to their next gig. The rest is rock & roll tragedy: Waylon Jennings gave his seat aboard the plane to the Big Bopper, a decision that would haunt him the rest of his life. Valens won his ticket to fly in a coin flip. An inexperienced pilot named Roger Peterson was ill equipped for the wintry weather. ● More from: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily

“The Day the Music Died” Remembered

Today, 51 years ago, was “The Day the Music Died,” the phrase immortalized in American folk singer/songwriter Don McLean’s 1972 hit “American Pie.” ● More from: Long Island Press

The day the music died

Listening to Jeff McArthur on the drive into work this morning, I was reminded that it was on this date in 1959 that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper boarded that ill-fated plane.

I am huge, huge fan of Buddy Holly’s work. In my view, he will always be cooler than Elvis because he wrote his own tunes. He was also one of the first artists to gain creative control of his work by working as his own producer. ● More from: London Free Press

The Day the Music Died – 51 Years Ago Today

The plane crash took the lives of Buddy Holly, 22; Ritchie Valens, 17; and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, 28 happened on this date in history, 51 years ago today. It is what is now known as the Day the Music Died. The three musicians were part of a part of the Winter Dance Party Tour and were on their way to Appleton and Green Bay, Wis., for the 10th stop on the tour when they boarded the fateful flight. ● More from: National Ledger

Any big surprises among this morning’s Academy Award nominations? Not that I spotted. No Hangover or Invictus in the Best Picture race. No Star Trek which was thought to have an outside chance. (500) Days of Summer didn’t sneak in. I was rooting for Crazy Heart but it didn’t make the field of ten; Jeff Bridges was nominated for Best Actor and has to be the early favorite. District 9 and The Blindside got Best Picture noms but probably wouldn’t have made a five film race. The only acting category which is competitive is Best Actress. There are huge favorites in the other three acting categories. Best Picture is probably between The Hurt Locker and Avatar.

The 82nd Annual Oscar Nominations

Below is the full list of the 82nd Annual Oscar Nominations, which were announced Tuesday morning: ● More from: Carpetbagger Blog – NYTimes.com

82nd Academy Award Nominations

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 82nd Academy Award Nominations this morning in Beverly Hills, CA. The nominees are as follows. ● More from: HitFix.com

‘Avatar,’ ‘Hurt Locker’ top Oscar noms

With nine nominations each, 20th Century Fox’s “Avatar” and Summit Entertainment’s “The Hurt Locker” led bids for the 82nd Academy Awards as 10 films will vie for best pic — the first time since 1943 (when “Casablanca” won) that there have been so many in that category.

Those two are among best-film nominees, which also include “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.), “District 9″ (Sony), “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics), “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Co.-Universal), “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire” (Lionsgate), “A Serious Man” (Focus Features), “Up” (Disney-Pixar) and “Up in the Air” (Paramount-DreamWorks).

Nominations were announced Tuesday morning at 5:38 a.m. by Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences prexy Tom Sherak and Anne Hathaway.

Final ballots will be mailed Feb. 10 and are due back at PricewaterhouseCoopers offices on Tuesday, March 2. Awards will be presented March 7 at the Kodak Theatre, in a show produced by Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic and hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

Complete list of Oscar nominations: ● More from: Variety

Oscars welcome dozen first-time acting nominees, including Sandra Bullock

This year’s 20 acting nominees include five previous Oscar acting winners, another three previous Oscar contenders and 12 newcomers. ● More from: Gold Derby | Los Angeles Times

Oscar nominations — who got snubbed: Clint Eastwood, ‘Star Trek,’ Tobey Maguire

Even with 10 films in the race for best picture at the Oscars, there was no room for Golden Globe champ “The Hangover,” BFCA and PGA nominee “Invictus,” BFCA, Globe and SAG nominee “Nine” and PGA nominee “Star Trek.” ● More from: Gold Derby | Los Angeles Times

How U2 and Paul McCartney got shut out of Oscar nominations

While there were 63 songs contending for a place at this year’s Oscars, only five made the final cut. Last year it was Oscar champ Bruce Springsteen who was snubbed for his Golden Globe-winning title track to “The Wrestler.” This year U2 and Paul McCartney got slapped down by the music branch of the academy for tunes written specifically for films. U2 wrote and performed “Winter” for “Brothers,” while McCartney did the same for “(I Want to) Come Home” from “Everybody’s Fine.” ● More from: Gold Derby | Los Angeles Times

Oscar nominations: Who got snubbed?

Avatar and The Hurt Locker led the Oscar nominations this morning, with nine nods each. There’s a lot to be happy about, like Up’s five nominations including both Best Animated Feature and Best Picture. But while we await EW Oscar expert Dave Karger’s official analysis, let’s talk snubs. Which omission from the list bothers you most? ● More from: EW.com

Sandra Bullock to make awards history?

Could Sandra Bullock be the first person to win a Razzie and an Oscar in the same year? ● More from: blog.reelloop.com

Oscar Watch: Nominations Analysis

The big surprises on Oscar nominations morning: Clint Eastwood’s Invictus (two noms) did not make it into the best picture top ten, while John Lee Hancock’s The Blind Side did. The film’s star, Sandra Bullock also scored her first Oscar nom, as best actress. Not unlike Million Dollar Baby, four-hankie drama The Blind Side wowed voters with its uplifting, emotional Good Samaritan message. District 9 (four noms) and A Serious Man (two) also made it into the ten, while Star Trek (four) did not. ● More from: Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Momentum: Bright Star vs. Young Victoria

In the Oscar derby, what went wrong with Bright Star, which earned one Oscar nomination (for costume) and right with Young Victoria, with three? ● More from: Thompson on Hollywood