Film is very important to me, and I’ve always enjoyed the Acadamy Awards. I’ve made a special effort this year to watch as many Oscar nominated films as I can, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job of it. So, it is with great pride that I present to you my predictions for tomorrow night’s ceremony. But first, I’d like to make it clear which movies I’ve seen, so readers can understand exactly which nominess on which I’m speaking with first-hand knowledge.

Nominated movies I saw as of 2/21/2009:

• Changeling
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Doubt
• Frost/Nixon
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army
• In Bruges
• Iron Man
• Kung Fu Panda
• Milk
• Presto
• Rachel Getting Married
• The Reader
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Tropic Thunder
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• The Visitor
• Wall-E
• Wanted
• The Wrestler

Edit: before the ceremony on Sunday, I was able to catch the following:

• Toyland
• Lavatory – Love Story
• Octapodi
• This Way Up
• Manon on the Asphalt
• On the Line

Because of this, I’ve changed my prediction on the animated short catagory.

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My attention is a grandfather clock.  It may swing in one direction, gathering force so that I am focusing with all my might at the peak of its swing, but as soon as it reaches its peak, that is when it begins to fall away.  Whatever it is I need to be doing will gradually become more frustrating, until the pendulum reaches its deepest valley at which point I will begin to casually look at something else.  Just a glance at my phone, or a tweet from the bird at the top of the clock is where it’ll start.  But soon the mail is in my hands, and it needs a response.  And then an article in the paper demands my attention.  Soon I am doing something else entirely and my focus on that is being stronger.  It is not until I reach that activity’s peak that I realize how lonely the first obligation has become and I begin to try and pull myself away form this new diversion.  The pendulum is falling once more, this time in favor of the more productive activity, but it may be some time before it actually reaches its peak once more.  The damage is done.

I’m not going to pretend that I’m not a sucker for internet trends.  Everyone on facebook is doing the “25 Random Things About Me” post, and I’ve been tagged to do it, so I’m going to.  Here it is:

1. I really love listening to Peter and the Wolf.  Part of it is nostalgia from listening to it as a kid.  Part of it is that I just really enjoy the orchestral piece.  It’s beautiful, and it tells a story in a really unique way.  I like that there’s characters that interact and tell their story without words.  And the narration is really fun too.  For some reason Peter’s theme is the thing that most often gets stuck in my head — ever.  I find myself whistling it all the time.  It’s not that I listen to it on a regular basis, but I did just download and have started listening to it again.

2. I’m more comfortable in smaller groups.  It’s easier to have a more meaningful conversation and I like the general dynamic better.  2-4 people is definitely my favorite way of interacting.

3. Similarly, I’ve always been the type to have a few really close friends rather than a lot of friends that are not as close.  It’s nothing personal to the other people, it’s just what seems to work best for me.

4. Unintentionally, I seem to have put myself to the impossible quest of seeing every worthwhile movie ever made, read every worthwhile comic book ever made, and watching as much good television as I can.  It’s an unfortunate decision due to it’s sheer impossibility and the amount of time in my life it seems to take up.  My Blockbuster.com queue always hovers in the range of 160-170 items and never gets any smaller.

5. I get really nervous when I get my hair cut.  It doesn’t make much sense because I trust the people who I let do it, and even if they did mess up my hair grows absurdly fast.

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The War Against the Bugs began long ago.  It started small, and mysterious.  A few small flies, about the size of a gnat, that would hover around the sink.  But they multiplied.  They reproduced.  And then they swarmed.  You see the fly scouts had managed to capture an important resource that had hid from the eye of our generals.  A banana behind the toaster.  What we had once would provide sustenence for our troops became a key base for the enemy army.  While blackened and degraded beyond usefulness to us, so much so that we forgot of it’s existence, this banana was able to launch a thousand bugs.  Soon there were clouds in our kitchen.  They’d send scouts to other rooms.  The bathroom fell victim.  We tried to fend them off, but they spawned faster than we could destroy.  We searched for their source but found nothing.  Finally the winter came, and as with Napoleon and Hitler, their war failed as the cold set in.  The flies were gone.

And for a time, there was peace.

But now, as spring approaches, a new rebel force is beginning to build up it’s forces.  It thinks it is hidden in the cabinets, but every now and then I catch a scout flying out.  I try and torture information out of them, for the most part they keep their mouths shut.  But one thing has become clear.  The moths are coming.

I started a new internship today, and my first day went really well.  There were a few things I really liked about it, so I thought I might list them.

1. It’s in Santa Monica.  Santa Monica is simply a really nice place to be.  You’ve got the ocean air, there’s actually parking structures, and it’s not as crowded as L.A.  Plus getting into L.A. can be kind of a pain, not that Santa Monica doesn’t have it’s share of traffic, but it avoids the whole central L.A. thing.  Santa Monica just feels better.

2. Lunch.  They pay for lunch, and they do it from nice places that are also healthy.  Also, everyone in the company eats lunch together, which makes for fun discussion, an easy way to get to know everyone, and an oppurtunity to learn from everyone.

3. They keep a copy of the trades in the bathroom.  This one will sound really weird.  I’ll admit that I like to read on the toilet, and the fact that they keep copies in there makes me feel that that’s not a completely strange thing to do.  I like reading the trades, but usually feel like I have to be doing something more productive for the company while I’m at my desk.  This gives me a good oppurtunity to skim through.

4. Friendly co-workers.  Everyone at the compnay seems to be really friendly and laid back.  Additionally, their younger than most people in the film industry, which makes it a bit easier to relate.

5. Perks.  I had to copy some DVDs today, and not only did they suggest making some for myself, they almost made it seem like it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t.