ITOHW Oscars in Review

To the new Bob Hope! I tip my hat to Seth McFarlane, far and away the most consistent laughs at Oscar. Sharp, vulgar, genuine and surprisingly respectable, he killed it. They better rehire for quality purposes and so we never be exposed to any meaningless media over "who's going to host the Oscar next year?"  I particularly liked the John Wilkes Booth joke: "What? Too soon? It's been over 150 years people!" One question to the screenwriter who won the Adapted Screenplay award for Argo: Yeah, so the chase scene on the runway in the end...sorry, what did you adapt that from?

"She's surprised to see Chris Tucker back in cinema"

Beasts of the Southern Wild

"What? I'm the youngest person ever to be nominated for Best Actress?"

There’s a big problem taking place at the end of 2012: very few people are talking about the best movie of the year. Argo was great, but it you want to see something even better and devoid of any Hollywood cheese, go see Beasts of the Southern Wild. Where Shawn of the Dead can be classified as a drama/comedy/zombie/romantic film, BOTSW can be labelled a drama/children’s fantasy/period piece/geographical film that will revitalize your hope in humanity, authentic films and child acting. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen the entire time and sat in my chair for minutes afterwards. Watch.

Ticketmaster. Not cool.

You're not a god ticketmaste

Some companies are essentially monopolies, in that they conquer so much of the market that they immediately pop in our heads as the head honcho. For buying music online it's iTunes. For pop it's Coke. For tickets it's Ticketmaster. Whereas we all dig iTunes and Coke, we don't like Ticketmaster. Why? You wait forever on the phone, their website is never straightforward, the human verification words are always convoluted as s**t and I'm sorry, why I do need go through with Ticketmaster all the f**king time? They get too much money from musicians and fans.

Blunderbuss (J.W.'s new album)

By the time Jack White is 60 he will have a repertoire as full and diverse as Paul McCartney. There is no artist that can attack each sub-genre of rock and roll and turn it on its head like Mr. White can. He is Elvis of the 21st century, mysterious and epic and bitchin'. His first solo vehicle, Blunderbuss, gives us the all-encompassing artist. It's loud, bluesy, sweet, offbeat, abrasive. It's the best album you will hear this year. Do yourself a favour and rock out to the new King of Rock 'n Roll. And then chill out to him.

Yo Mr. White! You look like a hybrid of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp!

The Entire Work of Trey Parker and Matt Stone

Now that Trey and Matt have conquered Broadway and the subsequent Tony Awards with The Book of Mormon, go back and check out the evolution of two of the most important and hard-working satirists in America. From the student film Cannibal the Musical to the abrasive Team America: World Police, your stomach will hurt from laughing and your brain will be blown by the brilliant political and social statements that linger underneath layers of ridiculous characters and crude drawings. Eric Hartman is the Kramer of the 2000s and the South Park film from 1999 is still stupidly hilarious. 

Two of the most important men in America. My first joke-free caption

Nick Drake

Mick Jagger and Jackson Browne had a lovechild

Nick Drake is easily one of the most underrated musicians in the 20th century. He would have preferred in that way. As mentioned by fan friends and Wikipedia, Nick was a very depressed and private man leading up to his overdose. Nick never reached platinum status or gold certified or whatever commercially credible term you can think of. He was a terrific songwriter, talented lyricist, impeccable guitar player and had a powerfully mellow voice. Pink Moon is to Bryter Layter as what Nevermind is to In Utero: the former is more popular but the latter is more personal and impactful.

The Squid and the Whale

"Yeah it's Kafkaesque, cause it was written by Kafka."

After Jeff Daniel's fall from popularity and before Jesse Eisenberg became famous for his really good performance in The Social Network the two delivered the best performances of their careers (so far) as father and son Bernard and Walt Berkman coping with the shittiness that is divorce and joint custody. The acting, writing and sountrack make it more than worthwhile, but there's something unexplainable, perhaps that all the elements work well together making for a classic indie that is definitely influenced by new-wave French cinema and Woody Allen. It's also written and directed by a guy named Noah.