VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 3/19/11

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F this.  F that.  Whatever.

Original Version
1. Mumford & Sons – “The Cave”
2. P!nk – “F****** Perfect”
3. Cee-Lo Green – “F*** You”
4. Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”
5. Lady GaGa – “Born This Way”
6. The Script – “For the First Time”
7. Avril Lavigne – “What the Hell”
8. Two Door Cinema Club – “What You Know”
9. Ke$ha – “Blow”
10. Britney Spears – “Hold It Against Me”
11. Foo Fighters – “Rope”
12. Christina Perri – “Jar of Hearts”
13. Train – “Marry Me”
14. Bruno Mars – “Grenade”
15. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Closer to the Edge”
16. Maroon 5 – “Never Gonna Leave This Bed”
17. Kings of Leon – “Pyro”
18. Colbie Caillat – “I Do”
19. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – “Paris (Ooh La La)”
20. Enrique Iglesias ft. Ludacris and DJ Frank E – “Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You)”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Paris (Ooh La La)
2. Rolling in the Deep
3. Pyro
4. Rope
5. Blow
6. The Cave
7. F*** You
8. Born This Way
9. What You Know
10. What the Hell
11. Jar of Hearts
12. Grenade
13. Hold It Against Me
14. Closer to the Edge
15. Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You)
16. Never Gonna Leave This Bed
17. F****** Perfect
18. For the First Time
19. I Do
20. Marry Me

SNL Recap March 12, 2011: Zach Galifianakis/Jessie J

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Wh’ are those, cargo shorts?

Cold Opening – March (Actual) Madness Selection Show
Kenan didn’t even bother to do an impression of Greg Gumbel (no surprise).  Sudeikis already kind of sounds like Jim Nantz.   Andy’s Dick Vitale was serviceable and about what one would expect.  There were some scattershot good lines here and there.  Melissa Leo: huh?   The solidness of the idea elevated the whole. B

Zach Galifianakis’s Monologue
I’ve seen Zach’s stand-up before.   He included parts of his act in his monologue the first time he hosted, and he included some other bits this time around.   The Axe/Ask Body Spray joke is tops.  Gotta love Hoobastank. A-

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VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 3/12/11

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Must be the season of the unicorn.

Original Version
1. Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”
2. P!nk – “F****** Perfect”
3. Avril Lavigne – “What the Hell”
4. Cee-Lo Green – “F*** You”
5. Mumford & Sons – “The Cave”
6. Britney Spears – “Hold It Against Me”
7. Train – “Marry Me”
8. The Script – “For the First Time”
9. Christina Perri – “Jar of Hearts”
10. Lady GaGa – “Born This Way”
11. Two Door Cinema Club – “What You Know”
12. Ke$ha – “Blow”
13. Bruno Mars – “Grenade”
14. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Closer to the Edge”
15. Maroon 5 – “Never Gonna Leave This Bed”
16. Linkin Park – “Waiting for the End”
17. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – “Paris (Ooh La La)”
18. My Chemical Romance – “SING”
19. Kings of Leon – “Pyro”
20. Keri Hilson – “Pretty Girl Rock”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Paris (Ooh La La)
2. Rolling in the Deep
3. Pyro
4. Blow
5. The Cave
6. F*** You
7. Born This Way
8. SING
9. What You Know
10. What the Hell
11. Jar of Hearts
12. Waiting for the End
13. Grenade
14. Hold It Against Me
15. Closer to the Edge
16. Pretty Girl Rock
17. Never Gonna Leave This Bed
18. F****** Perfect
19. For the First Time
20. Marry Me

SNL Recap March 5, 2011: Miley Cyrus/The Strokes

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Cold Opening – Duh! Winning! with Charlie Sheen
But of course this week SNL did not open with a political sketch.   Obviously Sheen was going to be all over this episode.  This was a clever premise to take him on, and considering the way he has dominated his interviews, it wasn’t too crazy an idea to make Sheen the interviewer.  Unfortunately, the guest choices did not really fit.  John Galliano and Gaddafi may have also had some issues this past week, but neither exemplifies “bi-winning” the way Charlie does.  And Xtina was totally out of place.  Gaddafi did get in a good line about dressing like Humpty Hump, though.  Thankfully, there was an appropriate guest when Lindsay showed up, as her troubles are actually of the sort that can be rationalized and dressed up the way Sheen has his. B

Miley Cyrus’s Monologue
I feel that Miley must have watched the SNL Backstage special, specifically, the portion about monologues.  According to that retrospective, hosts have been told that the monologue is their opportunity to introduce themselves to the audience, to say, “This is who I am.”  Miley took that advice, and came out swinging.   By addressing her “controversies,” she demonstrated the best way to call bullshit: instead of getting angry, she made a joke out of it.   I don’t think I’ve ever seen a host work an audience for a specific reaction in a non-joking way the way Miley did.   (That was quite a reaction when she mentioned Hannah Montana, and those shouts didn’t sound like they came from 12-year-olds.) B+

Babyspanx
I laughed a few times. Original Grade: C+ Adjusted Grade: B-

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VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 3/5/11

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“SING” was the perfect replacement for “I’m in Here.”

Original Version
1. Britney Spears – “Hold It Against Me”
2. Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”
3. P!nk – “F****** Perfect”
4. Train – “Marry Me”
5. Avril Lavigne – “What the Hell”
6. Mumford & Sons – “The Cave”
7. Christina Perri – “Jar of Hearts”
8. Cee-Lo Green “F*** You”
9. The Script – “For the First Time”
10. Taylor Swift – “Back to December”
11. Maroon 5 – “Never Gonna Leave This Bed”
12. Bruno Mars – “Grenade”
13. Linkin Park – “Waiting for the End”
14. Two Door Cinema Club – “What You Know”
15. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Closer to the Edge”
16. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – “Paris (Ooh La La)”
17. Kings of Leon – “Pyro”
18. Keri Hilson – “Pretty Girl Rock”
19. Sick Puppies – “Maybe”
20. My Chemical Romance – “SING”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Paris (Ooh La La)
2. Rolling in the Deep
3. Pyro
4. The Cave
5. F*** You
6. SING
7. What You Know
8. Jar of Hearts
9. Waiting for the End
10. What the Hell
11. Grenade
12. Back to December
13. Hold It Against Me
14. Closer to the Edge
15. Maybe
16. Pretty Girl Rock
17. Never Gonna Leave This Bed
18. F****** Perfect
19. For the First Time
20. Marry Me

Jmunney’s 2010 Oscar Prediction Contest Results

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Thank you to everyone who entered my blog’s inaugural Oscar contest. To my blog readers whom I do not know personally, you certainly made it interesting. This year’s winner was Joel Steven, one of those entrants whom I do not know personally. Joel correctly predicted 19 out of 24 categories. Congratulations Joel!
The toughest category proved to be Animated Short, which nobody got right, with everybody making the same wrong selection (Day & Night). Lead Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Animated Feature, and Sound Editing proved easier, with everyone correctly picking Colin Firth, Aaron Sorkin, Toy Story 3, and Inception, respectively.
Detailed results are below:

1. Joel Steven – 19

2. Greg Hernandez – 17

3. Walter Wojcik – 16

T4. Brenton Andreasik – 15

T4. Joe Ball – 15

T4. Dave Coyle – 15

7. Rob Malone – 14

8. Jason Tkach – 11

VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 2/26/11

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Could anyone understand a word out of Adele?

Original Version
1. Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”
2. Train – “Marry Me”
3. Pink – “F****** Perfect”
4. Mumford & Sons – “The Cave”
5. Christina Perri – “Jar of Hearts”
6. Taylor Swift – “Back to December”
7. The Script – “For the First Time”
8. Avril Lavigne – “What the Hell”
9. Bruno Mars – “Grenade”
10. Cee-Lo Green – “F*** You”
11. Britney Spears – “Hold It Against Me”
12. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – “Paris (Ooh La La)”
13. Kings of Leon – “Pyro”
14. Maroon 5 – “Never Gonna Leave This Bed”
15. Linkin Park – “Waiting for the End”
16. Keri Hilson – “Pretty Girl Rock”
17. Two Door Cinema Club – “What You Know”
18. Sick Puppies – “Maybe”
19. Sia – “I’m in Here”
20. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Closer to the Edge”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Paris (Ooh La La)
2. Rolling in the Deep
3. Pyro
4. The Cave
5. F*** You
6. I’m in Here
7. What You Know
8. Jar of Hearts
9. Waiting for the End
10. What the Hell
11. Grenade
12. Back to December
13. Hold It Against Me
14. Closer to the Edge
15. Maybe
16. Never Gonna Leave This Bed
17. Pretty Girl Rock
18. F****** Perfect
19. For the First Time
20. Marry Me

Jmunney’s 2010 Oscar Prediction Contest

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ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT!

(Correction: On the original post, I had the nominees for adapted and original screenplay switched up.  A few of you figured this out and made your picks accordingly.  One submitter did not figure it out, but I will transfer those selections to the correct categories, so all the picks will be counted correctly.)

The 2010 Oscars are soon approaching.  The ceremony will air at 8:00 PM Eastern Time on Sunday, February 27, on ABC, to be exact, which means there is still enough time for another Oscar prediction contest.  This particular contest is of the simple pick the winners variety.  The winner will receive nothing, except for bragging rights.  Keep in mind, if you make predictions but do not enter this contest, whatever bragging rights you earn will not be official.  Winning this contest will make those rights official.  Come next year, the prize of this contest may have some monetary value.

Also next year, I am planning to also include an alternative oscar contest, which will quiz you on your predicting abilities for various random aspects of the Oscar results and telecast (How long will the show be?  Who will be the first winner to cry?  Who will have the longest acceptance speech?, etc.).  I did not feel that I had enough time this year to fully do justice to the alternative contest, thus why it will be making its initial appearance next year.

The list of nominees appears below.  To enter the contest, predict the winner in each category and e-mail your predictions to me at jeffmalonesemailaccount@gmail.com.  All entries must be received by 7:59 on Sunday, February 27.

Best Picture 
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Best Actor
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

Best Actress
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David O. Russell, The Fighter

Original Screenplay
Mike Leigh, Another Year
Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, and Keith Dorrington, The Fighter
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
David Seidler, The King’s Speech

Adapted Screenplay
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, True Grit
Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini, Winter’s Bone

Documentary Feature
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land

Documentary Short
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

Animated Feature
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

Foreign Language Film
Biutiful (Mexico)
Dogtooth (Greece)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada)
Outside the Law (Hors-la-Loi) (Algeria)

Film Editing
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King’s Speech
The Social Network

Cinematography
Black Swan
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
Inception
The King’s Speech
True Grit

Animated Short Film
Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let’s Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

Live Action Short Film
The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143

Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

Sound Mixing
Inception
The King’s Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King’s Speech
The Tempest
True Grit

Makeup
Barney’s Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman

Original Score
A.R. Rahman, 127 Hours
John Powell, How to Train Your Dragon
Hans Zimmer, Inception
Alexandre Desplat, The King’s Speech
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network

Original Song
“If I Rise,” by A.R. Rahman, Dido, and Rollo Armstrong, 127 Hours
“Coming Home,” by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges, and Hillary Lindsey, Country Strong
“I See the Light,” by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, Tangled
“We Belong Together,” by Randy Newman, Toy Story 3

Oscar Presenters

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It has been announced that the presentation of the acting categories at this year’s Oscars ceremony will not consist of groups of five presenters, one assigned to each nominee, as had been the case the past two years.  That’s too bad, because I had some ideas for whom they could have called on to present.  I preferred last year’s version, in which the presenters were former co-stars (or some other similar relation) of the nominees, as opposed to two years ago, when the presenters were just past winners in that category.  If the five-for-five format had been stuck with, here’s who I would have recommended:

Lead Actress
-John Cusack, for Annette Bening: In case Bening wins this year, it would be nice to have her co-star from The Grifters, which was the first movie she was nominated for.
-Tom Cruise, for Nicole Kidman: I’m sure they get along these days.  Tom doesn’t make a lot of live appearances on TV these days, so whenever he does, it is always a treat.
-Bill Engvall, for Jennifer Lawrence: I thought that Jennifer had come out of nowhere.  It turns out that she’d been playing one of the kids on The Bill Engvall Show for the past few years.
-Andy Samberg or Chris Parnell, for Natalie Portman: Before Black Swan, Natalie showed some edge in the classic SNL digital short, “Natalie Raps.”
-Joshua Jackson, for Michelle Williams: With Fringe being a great show, Joshua has had as much success lately as his former Dawson’s Creek-mate.

Lead Actor
-Johnny Depp, for Javier Bardem: Javier’s role in Before Night Falls alongside Depp was likely quite the contrast to Biutiful.
-Sam Elliott, for Jeff Bridges: I figured for Jeff, we should go with someone from his last Coen bros. joint, The Big Lebowski.  Julianne Moore, who would be there anyway for The Kids Are All Right, would have made sense, but she was already used for Jeff last year.  Luckily, Sam makes sense as well and fits in with the Western element of True Grit.
-Kristen Stewart, for Jesse Eisenberg: News of Kristen Stewart presenting could have drawn some Twihards to watching the show, but it could have also turned some people off.  But her performance in Adventureland alongside Eisenberg proved that she actually could act.
-Jennifer Ehle, for Colin Firth: They were iconic together in Pride and Prejudice, and they reunited in The King’s Speech.
-Seth Rogen, for James Franco: Seth, Franco’s Pineapple Express costar, could explain how playing a guy with his arm trapped under a rock is similar to playing a pothead.

Supporting Actress
-Will Ferrell, for Amy Adams: Amy Adams’ characters have a thing for athletes, with Ricky Bobby having preceded Micky Ward.
-Daniel Radcliffe, for Helena Bonham Carter: Harry Potter himself could speak for all Brits by discussing the appropriateness of Bellatrix Lestrange portraying the Queen Mum.
-Robert De Niro, for Melissa Leo: Melissa costarred in a couple of movies with De Niro, albeit two of De Niro’s worst (Everybody’s Fine and Righteous Kill).
-Jeff Bridges, for Hailee Steinfeld: Like Gabourey Sidibe and Carey Mulligan last year, Hailee hadn’t been in anything big before this role, so the presenter would have to be a current costar.
-Guy Pearce, for Jacki Weaver: Most of Jacki’s costars over the course of her career would be unfamiliar to American audiences, so it would make sense to go with her most recognizable costar from Animal Kingdom.

Supporting Actor
-John Malkovich, for Christian Bale: Malkovich costarred with Bale in one of his earliest roles in Empire of the Sun.  Bale was already singularly intense at the age of 13.
-Ian McShane or Timothy Olyphant, for John Hawkes, Hawkes’ biggest role before Winter’s Bone was on the HBO series Deadwood, so either McShane or Olyphant would be appropriate.
-Rose Byrne, for Jeremy Renner: In 2007, Byrne and Renner costarred in an unnecessary, mildly entertaining sequel (28 Weeks Later).  Since then, in the past couple of years, Renner has racked up two Oscar noms, and Byrne two Emmy noms (for Damages).
-Kirsten Dunst, for Mark Ruffalo: Mark Ruffalo had a weird relationship with Kirsten Dunst in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  He had a weird relationship with everybody in The Kids Are All Right.
-Kel Mitchell, for Geoffrey Rush: Kel and Geoffrey Rush were both in Mystery Men.  Considering that his old buddy Kenan has found success on SNL, Kel deserves whatever sort of exposure he can get.

VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 2/19/11

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Bruno Mars doesn’t need to be a You Oughta Know Artist anymore.  We already know him.

Original Version
1. P!nk – “F****** Perfect
2. Train – “Marry Me”
3. Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”
4. The Script – “For the First Time”
5. Taylor Swift – “Back to December”
6. Christina Perri – “Jar of Hearts”
7. Mumford & Sons – “The Cave”
8. Bruno Mars – “Grenade”
9. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals – “Paris (Ooh La La)”
10. Avril Lavigne – “What the Hell”
11. Cee-Lo Green – “F*** You”
12. Kings of Leon – “Pyro”
13. Sick Puppies – “Maybe”
14. Sia – “I’m in Here”
15. Maroon 5 – “Never Gonna Leave This Bed”
16. Crystal Bowersox – “Farmer’s Daughter”
17. Linkin Park – “Waiting for the End”
18. Keri Hilson – “Pretty Girl Rock”
19. James Blunt – “Stay the Night”
20. Two Door Cinema Club – “What You Know”

Jmunney’s Revison
1. Paris (Ooh La La)
2. Rolling in the Deep
3. Pyro
4. The Cave
5. F*** You
6. I’m in Here
7. What You Know
8. Jar of Hearts
9. Waiting for the End
10. What the Hell
11. Grenade
12. Back to December
13. Maybe
14. Stay the Night
15. Never Gonna Leave This Bed
16. Pretty Girl Rock
17. F****** Perfect
18. For the First Time
19. Farmer’s Daughter
20. Marry Me

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