Friday, February 25, 2005
Thank God it's Friday
I know you're with me on this one. Yeah, it was a short work week, but I'll be damned if I'm not really tired right now for some reason. Feh.
Anyway, last night Arizona survived a poor performance against Washington St. Probably too busy looking ahead to tomorrow's conference decider against Washington. In the win last night, Lute Olson tied John Wooden for most Pac 10 victories.
On the pro scene, the trade deadline passed yesterday. Marc Stein dissects. Couple thoughts on the NBA trades:
- Vin Baker is still in the league?!
- Is Antoine Walker returning to Boston Danny Ainge's way of saying, "Yeah, I don't really know what I'm doing?"
- What the hell is Golden St. doing with Baron Davis? They'll waste his talent.
- What the hell is Golden St. doing with Nikoloz Tskitishvili? Most overrated "commodity" in the league.
- Isiah Thomas is hell-bent on destroying the Knicks.
- Keith Van Horn to Dallas. Who cares?
- Aside from 76ers robbing Sacramento blind and grabbing Mr. Regular Season, Chris Webber, I think the Spurs had the next best move acquiring Nazr Mohammed. San Antonio look a solid bet to win the title.
Oh yeah, Oscars are this Sunday. Haven't put too much thought into these picks, but here they are.
Best Picture
Winner: Million Dollar Baby -- It's the darkhorse, but everyone seems to be falling all over themselves for the tearjerker. Can't say I agree with it, but I wouldn't be shocked.
Runner-up: The Aviator -- Definitely the favorite to win (a Hollywood story about Hollywood), but maybe being too giant a project might turn off some voters.
Rooting for (seen 4/5): Sideways
Best Actor
Winner: Jamie Foxx -- Did you see his Golden Globes speech?
Runner-up: Leonardo DiCaprio -- Absolutely terrific performance. Might curry favor with older crowd enamored by Howard Hughes.
Rootin for (seen 4/5): Don Cheadle
Best Actress
Winner: Hilary Swank -- I'm so close to changing this to Annette Bening because she's "owed one" (whatever that means) and Swank has won in the past, but Swank is amazing and carries MDB. I don't buy the nobody saw "Being Julia" argument, though. Nobody saw "Blue Sky" either, but Jessica Lange still won.
Runner-up: Annette Bening. Don't count out Catalina Sandeno Moreno, though. Swank and Bening could split the vote, leaving Moreno an opening.
Rooting for (seen 2/5): Hilary Swank
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Morgan Freeman -- Always the toughest category to pick every year, but this is essentially Freeman's lifetime achievement award. One top notch performance after another and while this role might not match up to those of his past, it's probably worthy of a statue.
Runner-up: Alan Alda -- Perfect in The Aviator. An old favorite in town. Golden Globe winner Clive Owen (probably my favorite performance of the year) also has a fighting chance.
Rooting for (seen 5/5): Clive Owen
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Cate Blanchett -- Overwhelming favorite. Charming as hell. An Oscar performance.
Runner-up: Laura Linney -- Honestly, Blanchett leaves everyone else in the rear view.
Rooting for (seen 5/5): Cate Blanchett
Best Director
Winner: Martin Scorsese -- Finally!
Runner-up: Clint Eastwood -- Everybody loves Clint. I think if there's a split this year between Picture and Director then he'll have to settle for only taking best picture. Poor guy... Plus he already has a best director.
Rooting for (seen 3/5): Martin Scorsese
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Charlie Kaufman -- Genius finally acknowledged. Having the WGA award under his belt is a good omen, too.
Runner-up: Brad Bird -- Maybe no bigger crowd pleaser than "The Incredibles." But it's animated which, unfortunately, is a strike against it.
Rooting for (seen 4/5): Charlie Kaufman
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor -- It won't win best picture, so the critical praise for "Sideways" will manifest itself into a best screenplay award.
Runner-up: Paul Haggis -- You just never know. "Million Dollar Baby" might have people under a mystic trance.
Rooting for (seen 3/5): Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
Phew! Covered the gammit there. Cheers.
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Anyway, last night Arizona survived a poor performance against Washington St. Probably too busy looking ahead to tomorrow's conference decider against Washington. In the win last night, Lute Olson tied John Wooden for most Pac 10 victories.
On the pro scene, the trade deadline passed yesterday. Marc Stein dissects. Couple thoughts on the NBA trades:
- Vin Baker is still in the league?!
- Is Antoine Walker returning to Boston Danny Ainge's way of saying, "Yeah, I don't really know what I'm doing?"
- What the hell is Golden St. doing with Baron Davis? They'll waste his talent.
- What the hell is Golden St. doing with Nikoloz Tskitishvili? Most overrated "commodity" in the league.
- Isiah Thomas is hell-bent on destroying the Knicks.
- Keith Van Horn to Dallas. Who cares?
- Aside from 76ers robbing Sacramento blind and grabbing Mr. Regular Season, Chris Webber, I think the Spurs had the next best move acquiring Nazr Mohammed. San Antonio look a solid bet to win the title.
Oh yeah, Oscars are this Sunday. Haven't put too much thought into these picks, but here they are.
Best Picture
Winner: Million Dollar Baby -- It's the darkhorse, but everyone seems to be falling all over themselves for the tearjerker. Can't say I agree with it, but I wouldn't be shocked.
Runner-up: The Aviator -- Definitely the favorite to win (a Hollywood story about Hollywood), but maybe being too giant a project might turn off some voters.
Rooting for (seen 4/5): Sideways
Best Actor
Winner: Jamie Foxx -- Did you see his Golden Globes speech?
Runner-up: Leonardo DiCaprio -- Absolutely terrific performance. Might curry favor with older crowd enamored by Howard Hughes.
Rootin for (seen 4/5): Don Cheadle
Best Actress
Winner: Hilary Swank -- I'm so close to changing this to Annette Bening because she's "owed one" (whatever that means) and Swank has won in the past, but Swank is amazing and carries MDB. I don't buy the nobody saw "Being Julia" argument, though. Nobody saw "Blue Sky" either, but Jessica Lange still won.
Runner-up: Annette Bening. Don't count out Catalina Sandeno Moreno, though. Swank and Bening could split the vote, leaving Moreno an opening.
Rooting for (seen 2/5): Hilary Swank
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Morgan Freeman -- Always the toughest category to pick every year, but this is essentially Freeman's lifetime achievement award. One top notch performance after another and while this role might not match up to those of his past, it's probably worthy of a statue.
Runner-up: Alan Alda -- Perfect in The Aviator. An old favorite in town. Golden Globe winner Clive Owen (probably my favorite performance of the year) also has a fighting chance.
Rooting for (seen 5/5): Clive Owen
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Cate Blanchett -- Overwhelming favorite. Charming as hell. An Oscar performance.
Runner-up: Laura Linney -- Honestly, Blanchett leaves everyone else in the rear view.
Rooting for (seen 5/5): Cate Blanchett
Best Director
Winner: Martin Scorsese -- Finally!
Runner-up: Clint Eastwood -- Everybody loves Clint. I think if there's a split this year between Picture and Director then he'll have to settle for only taking best picture. Poor guy... Plus he already has a best director.
Rooting for (seen 3/5): Martin Scorsese
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Charlie Kaufman -- Genius finally acknowledged. Having the WGA award under his belt is a good omen, too.
Runner-up: Brad Bird -- Maybe no bigger crowd pleaser than "The Incredibles." But it's animated which, unfortunately, is a strike against it.
Rooting for (seen 4/5): Charlie Kaufman
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor -- It won't win best picture, so the critical praise for "Sideways" will manifest itself into a best screenplay award.
Runner-up: Paul Haggis -- You just never know. "Million Dollar Baby" might have people under a mystic trance.
Rooting for (seen 3/5): Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
Phew! Covered the gammit there. Cheers.
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