I recently saw a trailer for the new Meryl Streep movie called It’s Complicated. It obviously looks like nothing I would ever want to see; but hey, women in menopause need movies to watch too. This actually has nothing to do with the movie itself, but the title. “It’s complicated” has turned in to a phrase with an annoyance level up there with, “too much information”. This phrase, said mostly by women is typically being used to describe a romantic relationship. Even on Facebook, you can say that you are in a relationship, married, single, engaged or it’s complicated. I see more and more people using the it’s complicated option. This drives me nuts. What is anyone supposed to get out of this and what does it mean? You’re either in a relationship or not. Get over yourself. By saying it’s complicated, it sounds like you are just baiting people to ask you about your drama. Or maybe you are secretly trying to say that you aren’t in an official relationship, but you have someone you bang late night when you’re drunk. Either that, or the person you are in a relationship with is married. No one except for maybe some close friends and family cares or wants to know about your complicated relationship. Aside from that, it just sounds lame.
Person 1: So, you dating anyone right now?
Person 2: Well… it’s complicated. Ya know?
Person 1: (in a very cheesy laugh) Oh ha ha. Yeah… I know what you mean.
Actually no, we don’t know what you mean and before you try to explain yourself… Just. Shut. Up. I think most people that use this phrase actually are single people that hate being single and this is a way for them to avoid the embarrassment of having to say…
Person 2: Actually I am single, lonely and feeling utterly helpless. I spend every evening alone watching Meryl Streep movies and petting my cats. (begins to cry hysterically) I’m a good catch, right? I’m not fat. All I want is to have babies and no one wants to give me any.
Well ok. Maybe that’s “too much information”. Maybe she should stick to saying “it’s complicated”. Maybe I should shut up and talk about something else.
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I saw the Golden Globe nominations this week and I couldn’t help but think that this was a down year for movies. Having said that (thank you Larry and Jerry), I haven’t seen everything and there are still some promising movies that haven’t hit theaters yet. Still though, take a look at some of the nominations.
For those of you that aren’t familiar, the Golden Globes work a little differently than the Oscars. There are two sets of nominees for Best Picture, Actress and Actor. There is a Best (fill in the category) for Drama and one for Musical or Comedy.
It must have been a horrible year to be a woman in Hollywood. The Best Actress nominees are shameful. Half of the ten are a total joke, the other half seem either legitimate or I don’t know enough about them to form an opinion. I should tell you that I don’t have to see a movie to necessarily to form an opinion on it. I just know that some movies are going to be god awful. Old Dogs? Knew it. Just like I can tell you that Sherlock Holmes and The Bounty Hunter are going to be embarrassing. Anyway… two women were nominated twice. Meryl Streep, for Julie and Julia and the other of course for It’s Complicated. Ugh. The other double nominee is Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side and The Proposal. I can see the Blind Side, I guess. It’s the kind of overly sentimental fluff that so many people like, the sappy performances get confused for being good. The Proposal though boggles my mind. One critic said it was, “…a romantic comedy so numbing it feels like Novocain.” It’s the type of role that that you can interchange actresses and the movie won’t be any better or worse regardless who they have playing it. Bullock, Jennifer Gardner, Katherine Heigl, maybe Julia Roberts; it just wouldn’t make a difference. That type of performance and role should never be nominated for anything. Speaking of Roberts, she was nominated for Duplicity. This movie came and went and I honestly never heard a word about her performance being anything special. She has turned in to one of my least favorite actresses out there. She plays every role she’s in nowadays with this sexy arrogance that drives me crazy. It probably wouldn’t bother me if she was still somewhat, I don’t know… sexy? Julia, you just don’t have it anymore. Honestly you never really did in my opinion. So that brings me to who I am guessing will win these. The Best Actress in a Drama will likely go to Gabourey Sidibe for Precious. It’s the type of movie that I am scared to see because I feel like I already have enough to be depressed about than to watch how miserable this poor girl’s life is. I haven’t read a single thing that says the movie is anything less 
than top notch though and the voters would love to give the award to an out of nowhere actress. My backup winner here would be Carey Mulligan for An Education. For Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, I am literally just using process of elimination and giving it to Marion Cotillard in Nine. I don’t know anything about the performance, but we’ve discussed the alternatives and you know how I feel about them. Plus, musicals always do well and I happen to be a fan of Marion for obvious reasons.
The men have a much more impressive set of nominees. Some of this may have to do with the fact that there are just more good roles written for men; but that’s a different topic. The only one that seems totally out there and horrible is in the Musical or Comedy category. Robert Downey Jr was nominated for Sherlock Holmes. I didn’t know that was supposed to be a comedy. Also, have you seen the commercials? It literally looks like one of the worst movies of the year. Do you remember Wild Wild West with Will Smith? Do you remember how big of a bomb it was? That’s what the new Sherlock looks like to me. Since when was Sherlock Holmes a badass action guy? With Guy Ritchie directing, all signs point to this movie giving you a headache. The rest of the slate is pretty solid. Every time Daniel Day Lewis is nominated for anything, you have to consider him the favorite. With that said, I am going with Matt Damon in The Informant! and will 
make Lewis my runner up. In the drama category I think Jeff Bridges takes it for his role as a washed up country singer in Crazy Heart. I can’t wait to see this movie. George Clooney will be my runner up for his role in Up in the Air.
I don’t think there will be much suspense for the Supporting categories; therefore won’t even bother with runners up. Christoph Waltz seems to be an utter lock for his role as the super mean Nazi in Inglorious Bastards. Same goes for Mo’Nique who has been getting a ton of buzz for her role as the super mean mom in Precious.
The nominees for Best Drama actually look ok. I just have this feeling that 
Precious is going to win. I’ll choose Up in the Air as my runner up. The Musical or Comedy category is not nearly as deep. My guess is that Nine wins. Musicals always do well in these award shows. I can’t imagine that any of the other four nominees have much of a chance, so I won’t even bother with a runner up. It is interesting to see The Hangover nominated. It was definitely funny, but there was nothing award worthy about it. I do want to see (500) Days of Summer even though my friend Dave hated it. I have heard enough good things that I will check it out. From what I have read and seen in previews, it looks like it was done in a very clever and new way, which is what I would look for if I was voting for these awards.
With that, I figured I may as well give you a list of my top five movies of the year… so far. Keep in mind that this list is incomplete until I see everything. Here they are.
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Inglorious Bastards
- Up in the Air
- Sugar
- Star Trek
Yeah, that’s right. Star Trek. I saw it again on DVD the other night, and I thought it was great. I went in thinking it was going to be GI Joe or Transformers bad, but it was really well done.
Sugar is going to be one of the more underappreciated movies of the year. My friend Rob told me to see it and I was very happy he did. It’s about a pitcher from the Dominican Republic signed to play Major League Baseball and his life in the minors. It’s more about adjusting to a new culture than it 
is about baseball.
Up in the Air is a very funny look at two very sad subjects; the economy and loneliness. The cast is great and Jason Reitman cemented himself as one of the best young directors going.
Inglorious Bastards is easily Tarantino’s best movie since Pulp Fiction and 
a huge punch in your gut. I was blown away.
See the bottom of my post from 11/30/09 for a short review on Fantastic Mr. Fox. I loved it.
I still do have a lot to see, so Star Trek shouldn’t get too comfortable. The movies I expect to contend for my top 5 that I have yet to see are as follows…
The Hurt Locker
Avatar
District 9
Crazy Heart
A Serious Man
The Informant!
I’ll probably have a final list some time in March.
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I actually had some more things that I wanted to talk about, but this is already getting long so I will save them for another time. I’ll switch gears here for a second and get a little serious…
2009 was a downright bad year. It was a down year for me personally, but my problems can’t compare with those of many others. So many people all over this country have lost their jobs and their homes. Those who can’t afford health care are left with the decision to sink in to insurmountable debt or to leave their illness untreated. Violence and hunger are plaguing millions all over the planet. I don’t remember a year where so many people I know have lost family and friends or have had people close to them get sick and deal with painful surgeries. My thoughts are with all of you that have lost someone and I hope that anyone who is sick can receive the best treatment possible and get better soon. I hope that 2010 is a much happier for you all.
2009 is over and we are entering a new decade. What that means exactly, who knows? I guess we’ll all find out eventually. While it’s nice to look back at the memories of the last ten years, it’s also a chance to look forward at all the new people you’ll meet, places you’ll go and accomplishments you’ll… um… accomplish. I can’t believe ten years have passed since Y2K. It has literally flown by. The next ten will fly by just as fast, so try to slow down and take the time to enjoy it when you can. Some words of wisdom from the not so wise K-Duce. Take them to heart. I’m going to try to.
So from all of us at kduce.com (me) to all you out there who visit me every so often, I thank you. Whether you got to my site on accident by searching for hidden urinal camera pictures, you work for Jimmy Fallon and are stealing my jokes, you are on my mailing list or you just found me randomly; have a wonderful holiday season, an amazing 2010 and long lasting 20-Teens (or whatever they eventually end up calling the decade).
especially since seeing the Golden Globe nominations. How Maya Rudolph wasn’t nominated over Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock or Meryl Streep for Best Actress in a Comedy is beyond me. She’s had one of the best lead actress performances of the year that I have seen so far. This movie could have easily been nominated for Best Comedy. Maybe it’s because it came out in June, maybe because it’s as much of a drama as it is a comedy; I have no idea. Regardless, it’s very well done and now available on DVD. Check it out.
most normal people only see a movie once. For those that do watch movies multiple times, they usually only do so with movies they liked. I liked Huckabees the first time I saw it, but began to “heart” it as I watched it a third, fourth and fifth time. 
executive and Dawn is the spokesmodel. They are a couple and as fake and pretentious as anyone you could imagine. Brad and Albert become enemies as Brad stabs Albert in the back by planning on building a strip mall over a marshland that Albert is trying to save. To spite Albert, Brad hires the Jaffe’s to spy on his and Dawn’s life as well.
was nominated for Departed, and deserved it but this is the performance of his career. I don’t understand some of the movie choices that he makes. He is awesome in supporting/character roles. I am guessing and hoping that when he gets older and the offers for ridiculous action movies start dwindling, we’ll get a chance to see him show off his acting chops more. He is a very good actor, but so far he has only given us glimpses.