There are only two nominees for Best Original Song at this year's Academy Awards. The Oscar will either go to the folks behind Real in Rio or Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie's pretty awesome Man or Muppet.

It's pretty bizarre that only two songs were deemed worthy of being nominated, but it's pretty cool that Bret might actually win an Oscar.

Here's that Real in Rio song that doesn't stand chance.

And here's your winner, Man or Muppet.

If you want to read more of my Conchords entries, click here.

Entry Permalink

3 comments

Tweet

Below are the top 40 movies in 2011 according to box office receipts.

Two things immediately spring to mind: hot damn that's a lot of sequels and I sure haven't seen many popular movies in 2011.

I'll bold the ones I've seen, since I know you're curious.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
4. The Hangover Part II
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
6. Fast Five
7. Cars 2
8. Thor
9. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
10. Captain America: The First Avenger
11. The Help
12. Bridesmaids
13. Kung Fu Panda 2
14. X-Men: First Class
15. Rio
16. Puss in Boots
17. The Smurfs
18. Super 8
19. Rango
20. Horrible Bosses
21. Green Lantern
22. Hop
23. Paranormal Activity 3
24. Just Go With It
25. Bad Teacher
26. Cowboys & Aliens
27. Gnomeo and Juliet
28. The Green Hornet
29. The Lion King (in 3D)
30. Crazy, Stupid, Love.
31. Real Steel
32. Battle: Los Angeles
33. Immortals
34. Zookeeper
35. Limitless
36. Tower Heist
37. Contagion
38. Moneyball
39. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
40. The Muppets

Entry Permalink

6 comments

Tweet

I just learnt Men in Black 3 is coming to theatres this summer. There's a new trailer for Men in Black 3 that the kids seem to be enjoying. Here it is:

I must confess, I've never seen Men in Black, nor have I seen Men in Black 2. I naturally gravitate away from the big blockbusters, and Men in Black failed to reel me in.

Did I miss anything?

Entry Permalink

8 comments

Tweet

This is Charlie Chaplin's final speech in The Great Dictator, a movie he made when Hitler was at the height of his power and America and Germany were still at peace.

Here's the transcript from what is possibly the greatest speech ever made:

Hope... I'm sorry but I don't want to be an Emperor - that's not my business - I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that.

We all want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone.

The way of life can be free and beautiful.

But we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men's souls - has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.

We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little: More than machinery we need humanity; More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say "Do not despair".

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish...

Soldiers - don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you - who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder.

Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate - only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers - don't fight for slavery, fight for liberty.

In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written " the kingdom of God is within man " - not one man, nor a group of men - but in all men - in you, the people.

You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let's use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfil their promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness.

Soldiers - in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

Look up! Look up! The clouds are lifting - the sun is breaking through. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world. A kind new world where men will rise above their hate and brutality.

The soul of man has been given wings - and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow - into the light of hope - into the future, that glorious future that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up. Look up.

Entry Permalink

3 comments

Tweet

I've been honest about my love for Siskel and Ebert. They've closed the balcony, but there are still a tonne of memories left behind, including this time in 1996 when Gene Siskel reversed his thumb in the middle of taping.

The movie was Broken Arrow, a forgettable action flick as I recall, and for the first and only time in the show's history, a reviewer reversed his decision after being persuaded by the other.

Ebert was right. Siskel was a wise man to change course, I just wish he had done that after reviewing Gross Pointe Blank.

Entry Permalink

1 comment

Tweet

On the heels of the PS3 Michael ad comes this supercut that proves every line of dialogue in The Lost Boys is "Michael".

Entry Permalink

No comments

Tweet

Cinema's most overused line very well may be "You just don't get it, do you?"

0:00 – 2:00
——————–
1. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
2. Breaking and Entering (2006)
3. Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007)
4. Annapolis (2006)
5. Daylight (1996)
6. Platoon (1986)
7. The Invincible Iron Man (2007)
8. Tooth Fairy (2010)
9. Hud (1963)
10. The General’s Daughter (1999)
11. Clockers (1995)
12. The Karate Kid, Part III (1989)
13. I Sell the Dead (2008)
14. Norbit (2007)
15. Cruel Intentions 3 (2004)
16. Danika (2006)
17. Meet the Browns (2008)
18. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
19. Music Within (2007)
20. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)
21. In the Cut (2003)
22. Laws of Attraction (2004)
23. Married to the Mob (1988)
24. Stigmata (1999)
25. Is It Fall Yet? (2000)
26. Space Truckers (1996)

2:00 – 4:00
——————–
27. Speed (1994)
28. The Hottie & the Nottie (2008)
29. The Hottie & the Nottie (2008)
30. Unthinkable (2010)
31. Dead Ringers (1988)
32. Crows Zero (2007)
33. It’s a Boy Girl Thing (2006)
34. My Cousin Vinny (1992)
35. The Rookie (1990)
36. Kangaroo Jack (2003)
37. Stigmata (1999)
38. Four Lions (2010)
39. Insomnia (2002)
40. Supernova (2000)
41. Coraline (2009)
42. Frat Party (2009)
43. Jumper (2008)
44. Jumper (2008)
45. Scary Movie 4 (2006)
46. Shaft (2000)
47. Toy Story (1995)
48. The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
49. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)
50. So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)
51. Last Light (1993)
52. Eye of the Beast (2007)
53. Cliffhanger (1993)
54. ATL (2006)
55. Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)

4:00 – 6:00
——————–
56. Hitch (2005)
57. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
58. The Prestige (2006)
59. After School Special (2003)
60. Particles of Truth (2003)
61. 25th Hour (2002)
62. After School Special (2003)
63. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
64. Sugarhouse (2007)
65. The Terminator (1984)
66. Mission: Impossible II (2000)
67. Monsters vs Aliens (2009)
68. And Then Came Lola (2009)
69. The Final Season (2007)
70. Mandragora (1997)
71. Miss Conception (2008)
72. Racing with the Moon (1984)
73. Garage Days (2002)
74. Soldier (1998)
75. The Second Civil War (1997)
76. RKO 281 (1999)
77. Gabriel (2007)
78. Shadow of Fear (2004)
79. Pinocchio 3000 (2004)
80. I Witness (2003)
81. Side Effects (2005)
82. XIII: The Conspiracy (2008)
83. The Quiet Family (1998)
84. Loch Ness (1996)

6:00 – ENDING CREDIT
——————–
85. Covert One: The Hades Factor (2006)
86. Throttle (2005)
87. Spartan (2004)
88. The Truth About Love (2005)
89. Unknown (2006)
90. Out for Blood (2004)
91. After Sex (2007)
92. Three Can Play That Game (2007)
93. 100 Feet (2008)
94. Black Knight (2001)
95. Hot Rod (2007)
96. Payback (1999)
97. How to Deal (2003)
98. Another Gay Movie (2006)
99. Cheats (2002)
100. Exam (2009)
101. Like Minds (2006)
102. The General’s Daughter (1999)

Entry Permalink

1 comment

Tweet

Keaton once said, "I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of him." Well, I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is an Evangelical Christian.

Heaven help us...

Entry Permalink

17 comments

Tweet