Oscar Watch 2011

It's come time for a decision, re: "Oscar Watch 2011". Last year, I'd seen 4 of the films named to the American Film Institute's Top 10 list. The AFI announced their awards recently, and I've seen a grand total of.... zero. #timmfail. There are a couple on the list that I absolutely plan on seeing (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, War Horse), a few that I planned on seeing just never got around to (Moneyball, J. Edgar, The Help), a couple that certainly intrigued me (Hugo, The Descendants), one I wouldn't mind seeing (The Tree of Life), one I absolutely avoided seeing (Bridgesmaids) and one I've only vaguely heard of (Midnight in Paris). Plus this list is only a starting point, as there are a bunch of movies this year that I've heard wonderful things about, but aren't on the list (Drive, Ides of March, 50/50... to name a few). 

So I'm putting together a list of the big buzzworthy movies, culled from various best-of lists and such... fortunately, all seem to be available for me to see (or, in some cases, will be available within the next month or so). Here's what I'm going to strive to see:

My list

• The Adventures of Tintin - out 12/21


• Bridesmaids - out currently on blu-ray, added to my Netflix queue.


• Carnage - out 12/16


• The Descendants - out in theaters now


• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - out 12/25


• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - out 12/18


• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - already seen, full review to follow


• The Help - out currently on blu-ray, added to my Netflix queue


• Hugo - out in theaters now


• Ides of March - out in theaters now


• The Iron Lady - out 1/13


• J. Edgar - out in theaters now


• Midnight in Paris - blu-ray comes out 12/20


• Moneyball - blu-ray comes out 1/10


• The Tree of Life - out currently on blu-ray, added to my Netflix queue


• War Horse - out 12/25 (though I won't be seeing it until I see the play in January)


• We Bought a Zoo - out 12/23


• 50/50 - out in theaters now, though may be difficult to find

Of course, as I generate this list, I think of a slew of others... but this is what I will begin with. This will be a vaunting task... but I will try my best. Hell, I may even start tonight. Stay tuned for updates!

Could these movie posters be any more awesome?

See the full gallery on Posterous

'Amazing Spider-Man' and 'The Dark Knight Rises'.

Is it next summer yet?

Zoey in her chair... surely expecting something.

timmmc.com is back on Posterous

I'm an indecisive cad when it comes to hosting my website. It's back on Posterous now... so the last 7 posts may have some wonky formatting. Just a head's up.

Taming of the Shrew

As my regular readers know (lol, regular readers), I've been missing in action for almost a month and a half now. I've been taking part in my alma mater's production of Taming of the Shrew, which was certainly an experience (I'm not naming the college because I don't want this turned up in search engines... though obviously the school can be uncovered rather easily)

I graduated from in the spring of 2008, meaning that kids that came in as freshmen during my senior year graduated last spring, spring 2011. After first realizing how freaking old that made me feel, I sat back and took stock of the theatre department: It's almost exactly the same, for better and for worse.

The better: the department is still strong. Very strong. You have a wide variety of "types" in the department. There is a wealth of very good young actors. You have students clearly buying into what various professors are teaching. You have a department that when it comes together, puts on damn good productions. But even with all that, the negatives are still there. I won't get into specifics, but there is a rift in the department that always tended to make the rehearsal process borderline miserable, a characteristic today's department still has. It's disappointing, really, but I'd have a hard time envisioning a scenario where it wasn't always going to be the case.

In the end, however, the actual performances of the show righted all rehearsal wrongs. I can honestly say I was miserable leading up the weekend performances... but when I left campus on Sunday, I did so with a heavy heart. I never would have thought I'd say this a week ago, but I am very glad I took part in the production.

Also, one last note... I learned that stereotypes exist because, well, they are real. When I went to school, a number of the students fit into a number of typical theater stereotypes. All those students are now gone... replaced by more stereotypes. In several cases, I could look at certain people and find a 1-to-1 correlation with a classmate. I even found someone that reminded me of myself. I was accordingly freaked out.

But now, it's back to my regular schedule of TV, movies and theatre watching. Escapist entertainment, I've missed you.