Fake Mailbag #3

Nothing to break a blog slump like a bonafide, 100% fake mailbag...

As always, these are completely fake emails definitely not written by actual readers...

So the Oscars last night...zzzzzzz.... - Everybody, Everywhere

Good grief. I'm not going waste much time ragging on how bad the Oscars were, especially since nobody forced me to watch them (though since I live in LA I'm basically legally obligated to do so) but here are some quick thoughts...

- Just painfully unfunny. Maybe I'd expect such gaffs from Ben Stiller, but who wrote those jokes for Baldwin and Martin? Those are two of the funniest guys around and it hurt me to watch them for almost the whole show. Talk about your obvious jokes. Their joke for Woody Harrelson was, "Is he high?" That's not only the single most obvious joke/comment to make but it's the least creative phrasing of it. Martin/Baldwin would have, in all seriousness, been better improvising the whole show. Martin's best comment, after all, did come after Precious screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher's less-than-eloquent acceptance speech, when Martin quipped, "I helped him write that speech," or something like that.

- I am glad Avatar didn't win but, as my movie list made clear, it's not like I thought The Hurt Locker was as good as the night made it seem. Best picture/director I'm fine with, I realize Tarantino didn't have much of a shot, but I really think/suspect Inglourious Basterds deserved best original screenplay. Though, to be fair, I haven't read either of them, though I will within the week. I'll take it back if the HL script blows me away.

- I thought (okay, someone I was watching it with pointed this out first) that it was amusing that Chris Pine (Cpt. Kirk in the new Star Trek) introduced District 9, given that were it not for D9, Star Trek would have likely* been nominated.

* Source: nothing.

- This ceremony was so poorly planned I can't even begin to understand what they were thinking. Couldn't they have guessed that they might be short on time? The Best Picture announcement was so anticlimactic. I want more Hanks! I want some suspense! Maybe we skip the tribute to "horror" films (Twilight?) in case the show runs long. Right? The Hurt Locker dancers? Really? No example shots for best cinematography? Kind of a mess. The bar is already low for awards shows but this was one of the worst, most boring ones I've seen.

Enough of that. I don't like to complain so let's move on.

One of your favorite shows wrapped up its season and you haven't talked about it at all? Where's the FNL love? - Connie, Austin

Is that really true? Let me just check my new handy-dandy search bar...and...wow. That is true!

I loved Season 4 of Friday Night Lights. But, then again, I just love Friday Night Lights in general. FNL is at its best when it deals with normal, everyday life-type storylines, and though it veered into a few outlandish areas this season, it was mostly strong. I rewatched S3 recently, and though I was reminded of how much I miss the old JD McCoy, I think S4 is probably even slightly better than S3, though they are very similar.

They each have an all-time great episode (Smash's farewell of "Hello, Goodbye" in S3 and "The Son" in S4) and then finish really strongly. They differ in their flaws, S4's being continuity/logic, especially in relation to the past seasons, and S3 having some storylines that tie up too easily and don't really go anywhere. But all in all, great TV and I'll probably write some more about S4 as it re-airs on NBC next month.

Did you catch Zach Galifianakis on SNL last night? - Seth, NYC

I skipped around on Hulu. I thought his opening monologue was funny and I really liked the digital short of him wandering into the different sets of NBC shows.

But...

What I was really taken with on SNL though, was how well Vampire Weekend played. They sounded great, were loose and confident, and they seemed to be having a lot of fun. Not to sound too much like Malcolm Gladwell, but I think VW has performed enough now that they've trimmed the rough edges from their live act. I think this is a common occurrence for young bands in that at some point within the first year or two, they make a big jump and go from an average live band to a really good. I noticed the same thing with Fleet Foxes over the last two summers, although in their case they went from a really good live act to a great one.

Speaking of which...

Hey, how about this internet thing? Found any good stuff on there recently? - Al, Washington DC

Yes. Yes, I have.

First, my favorite singer Robin Pecknold (of Fleet Foxes) recently released a video of him covering a Joanna Newsom song. I'm really, really bummed that I'm not going to get to see him open for her on this tour. At least I have this awesome video...



This is the best thing that came out of last night...



This has been all over the internet, but I've still gotta post it in case some people still haven't seen it. I'm not a huge fan of OK Go, nor do I dislike them, but this video is crazy...



Is this blog going downhill? - Lex, Juniper

Hopefully not, but that's a fair question. With so many recent visitors and this weird thing called "work" that most people apparently do everyday, I've had less time for blogging, but I'll try and learn to overcome such petty obstacles.

Until then...