Why I'm Watching the NBA All-Star Game Instead of the Oscars

The Academy Awards. Yet another awards show in Hollywood, but it is considered the biggest honor in the film industry to win an Oscar, similar to winning an Emmy for television work, a Tony for stage work, and a blue ribbon for an 8th grade science project. Hardly anyone ever remembers for what movie an actor won their award for, just that they won, especially if they win more than once. The Oscars are not a measure of talent, they're a political process used to perpetuate a star's career, or identify hot newcomers. More often than not, Oscars are undeserved in the 6 major categories, Film, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress. Other categories like film editing and screenplay writing are generally well-deserved but are unfortunately hardly recognized. Besides all that, why would I want to watch an awards show that voted to give itself 10 options for Best Picture, but only nominated 9? I know the Academy is essentially saying 2011 was a really shitty year for movies, but there wasn't another movie that was better than fucking War Horse?

The NBA All-Star Game. Once a year, the NBA masturbates to itself by showcasing its superstars and rising talent to a more casual audience in hopes to bring in more fans, while making sports writers and diehard fans groan. The Rising Stars challenge was an interesting twist on the Rookies vs Sophomores Game, but the game itself was uninteresting, other than watching Ricky Rubio passing alley oops to Blake Griffin and seeing Charles Barkley gloat all over Shaq.

All-Star Saturday was incredibly flat, where the most compelling event was the 3-point shootout, surprisingly won by Kevin Love. The Shooting Stars contest was awful as usual, and the Skill Challenge involved Tony Parker of all people being better than Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook. The Slam Dunk Contest was about as godawful as you could imagine it. Rather than taking known stars, the NBA instead decided to showcase young guys who hardly anyone has ever heard of. In an effort to return to basics and stepping away from theatrics, the slam dunk contest was horribly boring, save for Jeremy Evans' dunk over Gordon Hayward while also dunking 2 balls off alley oops. The general public felt the same way, voting for Evans to be the champion in a contest that wasn't even close because of the lack of originality and skill. Yeah, it was cute to see Chase Budinger prove white men can jump to Sean Combs (I will never refer to him by his roulette wheel nicknames), but he didn't do much else.

What do I expect from the All-Star Game then? I expect to see Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, and Andrew Bynum play on the same team at the exact same time. Oh, and Kevin Durant as well, I guess. The Western Conference All-Star starters are a clear cut example that the capital of basketball is Los Angeles, not New York, and that the East Coast Bias will not stop talking about Jeremy Lin, but won't mention the Clippers' meteoric rise (albeit thanks to BASKETBALL REASONS). The TNT analysts have already mentioned their displeasure in the All-Star reserves, saying that while they hate that fans choose the starters, it's obvious the fans know more than the coaches, who make terrible reserve selections every year.

I expect to be entertained at one event and bored with disgust at the other. After all, I can just check to see who won the awards on my phone during the game.

Harrison Ford in Talks to Appear in Blade Runner 2

The more time passes, the more it looks like Blade Runner 2 is going to be a lot more than a pipe dream. First, Ridley Scott confirmed that he would be directing the movie, second, that it was confirmed to be a sequel and not a prequel, and now there are talks to bring Harrison Ford back in the role of Deckard, the Blade Runner.


This would be gigantic for the film's legitimacy since Harrison Ford has been very vocal over the years of his disapproval of how Blade Runner was marketed and edited, as well as his very contentious relationship with Ridley Scott.


Blade Runner 2 is set to begin filming sometime in 2013. It is unknown if it will follow the plot of one of the official sequel novels.


Update: Disregard Harrison Ford news, the producers say those rumors are false!

84th Academy Awards Nominees Announced - Hollywood Honors the Mediocre, Full of Major Snubs

Don't bother watching this year.

This morning, the nominees for the 84th Academy Awards were announced. Man, what a stinker 2011 was for movies... or so the Academy would like you to believe. The nominees in every category after the break, followed by Moviefone's list of biggest snubs.

Yep, I'm Making a Gossip Post

In October 2011, British comedian Russell Brand and Californian singer Katy Perry got married. Their marriage shocked most people in entertainment media who did not even know the couple knew each other. Many doubters of their relationship wagered bets that their marriage would not last a year, given how incredibly busy Katy Perry is with her concerts and Russel Brand with his comedy shows and film schedule, notwithstanding most insider's total inability to understand what, if anything, they had in common.


Well the couple in fact did last more than a year, but only by a few months. The couple has officially divorced and will both begin 2012 as single divorcees! This is wonderful news for pretty much any man between the age of 18-90 because now Katy Perry in her infinite weirdness is back on the market. Russell Brand is uh... also weird and I pray for the poor woman who has to listen to his voice on a daily basis.


Hey, it's a slow news day, cut me some slack Jack.


Update!: The Brands did not sign a prenup! Because of their wildly differing incomes, Katy Perry stands to lose A LOT of money.

MY BODY IS NOT READY FOR THIS

Behold! The first poster for The Dark Knight Rises! What does it mean!? Must Gotham fall for Batman to rise? Will Batman shine through the darkness of Gotham? WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN AND WHY CAN'T I TIME TRAVEL TO ONE YEAR FROM NOW!?!?!?!? THURSDAY CANNOT COME FAST ENOUGH, I NEED MY TEASER TRAILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!