Favorite Pic of the Day for February 24th

Above:
Seth MacFarlane really does have a Seth MacFarlane smile!

-Check out today's birthdays HERE:-

Thanks For The Memories

Every year, like many of you, I look forward to watching The Academy Awards. Most years, I end the evening wondering why exactly I was so excited. Over the last 10 years or so, more often than not, the Oscars are more slow than show.

I finally discovered last year that the Academy Awards are actually more interesting looking back rather than enjoying them in the present. Maybe it is because when the Oscar's actually air in February, most of us have not really had time to watch all of the movies, many of whom were just released in December. Maybe it is that really great performances really need time to be truly appreciated. I bet, that if the Oscars were delayed, by a six months or a year, the winners would vary greatly.

I look forward to the Oscars because of the past. I remember begging to be allowed to say up when I was young and watching with my mother. I remember staying up late watching alone in my teens, with friends in my twenties, and the few years I threw my own viewing parities. I remember the great moments (Cher), the great speeches (Jodi Foster for The Accused), and the the cringe worth moments (Calling all dwarfs...)

Tonight's show right now looks like a winner. Seth MacFarlene is great, and from what I read, there will be some great musical performance. If however, like past years, the show is a snooze fest, we can moan about it tomorrow then talk about how great it was 10 years from now.

Snow White finally tells her side at The Hollywood Reporter.com

Pitt Rockin the Carpets!

Pitt and Paltow, Pitt and Aniston (Emmy) and Pitt and Jolie:

Best Actor and Supporting Actor Nominee's

Most years on the day of The Academy Awards, I post an 'ode to their nude scenes' feature on the nominated actors. This year, every actor but one nominated was covered during my ode to the Golden Globes in January. You can see those posts HERE: HERE: & HERE: You can see Mr. Robert De Niro below.

Ode To Affleck

Daniel Day-Lewis will most likely win the Oscar. He was truly incredible in Lincoln. Lincoln was so beautifully acted, beautifully written, such incredible speeches, almost lyrical. Beautifully shot and directed, and to me, excruciatingly boring. I know I know many LOVED it, but I was head bobbing through most of the last hour.

The movie I did not head bob my through was Argo. Although after reading recent accounts by people directly involved, Argo may not be as historically accurate as Lincoln (the Canadian connections especially), Argo is certainly the more interesting movie. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire film, the last half hour especially.

I have loved and respected Ben Affleck for awhile, but until Argo, not sure I ever really lusted after him...

I crushed hard over Affleck as Tony Mendez, and I am sure I am not alone. His 70's hair, sort of unkempt look, tight pants and poly blend suits created one of the hottest characters Affleck has played. I don't think it is an accident Tony was so hot, I am sure his appearance was well thought out. In a movie with little to no nudity or sex, it was important to have a lead who had viewers experiencing a little tingle.

Affleck also made Mendez so hot through his confidence, not arrogant or cocky, simply confident in his abilities. So tonight, when hopefully Argo takes best picture, Affleck can forget any hard feelings about being left out of the best director category, he has made up for it at every award show since.

Ode To Affleck

Bounce

Glory Days

Hollywoodland

Reindeer Games

Django Uncovered

I sort of always have mixed feelings after seeing any movie from Quentin Tarantino. On the one hand I respect his desire to tell stories differently and to pay homage to cinema, not to mention actors, from the past. My problem with Quentin is that he brings out the 'little ole woman' in me as I usually find his movies far to busy, noisy and exploitative in it's brutality and violence. I know the writer/director does it for a reason, but with all his smoke and mirrors, I don't think he succeeds as well as he may thing. If the goal is show the brutality of slavery, Roots set a standard. Slavery may have been the base of Django Unchained, but it was not the theme, revenge, bloody revenge, was what was really brought front and center on the screen.

One of the things I do love about a Tarantino and his films is the casting. I did not especially like Django, but I did enjoy many of the performances. In Django Unchained, Tarantino brought together a smorgasbord of men many of who have been hunking it up on screens for decades. Of course there are the usual suspects, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio. In DJ, Tarantino also brought in Jamie Foxx, Walton Goggins, Dennis Christopher, James Remar and an inspired turn by Don Johnson as Big Daddy. I could not help but thinking of the images of Don from the play 'Fortune and Men's Eyes' (first image above)when seeing him on screen as Big Daddy. (Check out my previous post featuring more images from the play HERE:). There were also blink and you'll miss him appearance by Tom Wopat, Russ Tamblyn, Don Stroud, Bruce Dern, Robert Carradine, Jonah Hill and Matt Houston's Lee Horsley.

There were also several hunks that were at one time associated with the film who either bolted, or were called away and didn't make the final cut. Kurt Russell, Sacha Baron Conen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were also all connected with the film as you can see from the early movie poster above. Finally there is one actor I really wish Tarantino had left on the cutting room floor and that is Tarantino himself. Although I never was able to truly be fully involved with story, his appearance near the end of the film was jolting. Any impact there might of been was pulled savagely away with his clunky and far too jarring appearance. But I digress, this post is not to marvel at the film itself, but the men, many of whom have appeared in the past uncovered of Django Unchained!

Jamie Foxx

Jamie in Any Given Sunday

Christoph Waltz
Below: Christoph in 'Feuer und Schwert - Die Legende von Tristan und Isolde' (Fire and Sword)

Samuel L. Jackson
Below: in Pulp Fiction

Below: in The Caveman's Valentine

Leonardo DiCaprio
Below in 'Total Eclipse'

Dennis Christopher
Below in Nine Lives

Walton Goggins
Below: in Red Dirt

James Remar
Below: in 'The Surgeon'

Don Johnson

Below: in The Harrad Experiment