#Nerdy Thoughts on the Oscars ...

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Aaron Fitzgerald

Most people who know me know that my favorite movie of 2010 was, “Inception.”  But last year we saw a slew of good movies, some of which won and some that didn’t.  From the gritty antics of, “True Grit”, to the insanity that takes over Natalie Portman’s mind in, “Black Sawn.”  It seemed in 2010 that there were filmmakers who were willing to push the boundaries and give good actors roles they could chew on.  How can anyone forget the memorable performance by Christian Bale in, “The Fighter.”  Not only were these superb films but they sported some of the best performances by actors that we’ve seen in years.

 I don’t want to sound like a party pooper but the fact that Christopher Nolan wasn’t nominated for best director seems like a major mistake.  That entire movie was Nolan.  Nothing we saw on the screen wasn’t personally approved by him.  That’s like nominating Mozart’s orchestra but not the composer.

“The Social Network”, for all its positive points, a great script, terrific actors, great direction, to me seemed to suffer from an unsympathetic central character.  “True Grit”, which is extremely faithful to the book and has charming dialogue, is pretty straight forward with no surprises.  I have to say as someone who’s gone crazy, “Black Swan”, captures the mindset of a person going insane almost perfectly.  I haven’t seen the other movies which were nominated for best actress but Natalie Portman did an excellent job.

You can’t write a piece on the 2010 Academy Awards without talking about, “The King’s Speech.”  Definitely a fine film, this work of cinema rests solely on its lead actor.  Colin Firth carries the entire story from beginning to end.  The directing is competent, but personally I would have gone with David Fincher or Christopher Nolan.  Geoffrey Rush is charming as the speech therapist but he doesn’t do as much of stretch as Christian Bale does.  Hands down, Bale stole the show for best supporting actor this past year.

 To me a huge debate is what constitutes an original screenplay.  I think, “The King’s Speech’s”, script was pretty good, but it was based on a true story.  Christopher Nolan’s, “Inception”, script was one hundred percent original in every respect.  As much as I enjoyed, “The King’s Speech”, I firmly believe that, “Inception”, deserved it.  I don’t think there is much argument that Aaron Sorkin’s adapted screenplay deserved the award.  That script was brilliant from beginning to end.

So to recap the awards.  “The King’s Speech”, won four.  Well, of course, the four big ones. Best picture, best director, best actor and best original screenplay.  “Inception”, walked away with four.  It won best cinematography, and let’s admit it, the movie was beautiful.  It also won best sound editing, sound mixing and best visual effects.  Okay, it didn’t win the big ones, but all of these artists for these wins did a superb job on the film.  “The Social Network”, took three Oscars.  For me the first one is debatable, which is best original score.  Personally, I preferred Hans Zimmer’s score for, “Inception.” I think, “The Fighter”, was a good contender for best editing, but, “The Social Network”, was extremely good in that category.  I already mentioned my thoughts on Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay.

All in all a satisfying Oscar year for me.  Some don’t agree, as with any art form, but for me, I enjoyed the nominations and wins.  Congratulations to the winners and the nominees.

#thatisall

Happy Birthday Aaron!!

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Happy Birthday Aaron Fitzgerald!!!

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Hope your bday is as good for you as it was for me. Oh shoe ... do you know what you do to me?

#RAWR!!

A #Nerd Rant! American McGee’s Alice

#Talk Nerdy To Me Lover’s Aaron Fitzgerald

Designed by American McGee and using the Quake game engine, “Alice”, is an enjoyable romp through an insane world.  Alice is being kept at an insane asylum and dreaming of a world inside her warped mind.  Along the way she meets an array bizarre characters and villains as she journeys through Wonderland in hopes of defeating the Red Queen and restoring peace to her world and her mind.  A twisted take on the popular book, “American McGee’s Alice”, should be delightful fun for any avid gamer.

The game play is pretty straightforward.  The maps are strictly linear in nature and there is no roaming around as in games such as, “Everquest”, and, “World Of Warcraft.”  Instead of health Alice has sanity and magic instead of mana.  As you journey through the levels you find weapons which are referred to as toys.  There’s a knife, cards, croquet mallet, jacks and ice wand to name a few.  My personal favorite is the ice wand, which unfortunately needs magic to work.

The boss fights have different strategies and are all pretty challenging.  I found the Jabberwocky to be the most difficult.  You travel through some pretty amazing and unique levels throughout the game.  From a demented school to a wooded area and an ice cavern.  The artwork is probably the game’s best attribute.  It has incredible three dimensional art and beautiful texturing.  The cut scenes are long enough to get a sense of the story and short enough so you don’t get bored.

A sequel to the game is due out in 2011 and it’ll be interesting to see how Alice gets thrown back into Wonderland for a second time.  If anything the new one will be gorgeous to look at and a joy to play.  Check out Amazon to purchase a copy of the original.  I believe used copies go for around thirty five bucks and an unopened version is in the two hundred range.  Give it a spin and enjoy your journey through a twisted Wonderland.



A #Nerd Rant! The Secret Of NIMH

#TalkNerdyToMeLover’s Aaron Fitzgerald

Don Bluth’s, “The Secret Of NIMH”, is by far my favorite animated film of all time.  Bluth and his team of artists began production on this amazing movie in Bluth’s garage while they were still working at Disney.  The renegades weren’t happy with Disney’s productions at the time, wishing to produce traditional rated G films for families as Walt had done.  United Artists picked up the movie and it was released with very limited advertising.  The critics raved about it but it did less than modest at the box office.

My first memory of it was to watch it on HBO at three o’clock in the morning when I was fourteen.  I must say I was blown away by the visuals.  The background art is just incredible.  The animation is fluid and rivals all of Disney’s masterpieces.  I watched it over and over.  The sequence with the Great Owl is just downright gorgeous.  I particularly love the scene where Mrs. Brisby is flying on Jeremy’s back.  It may be a little overdone but it’s excellent nonetheless.  And I must not forget Mrs. Brisby’s journey into the rose bush.

Loosely based on the book, “Mrs. Frisby And The Rat’s Of NIMH”, the story revolves around a young widowed mouse, Mrs. Brisby, who’s son Timothy is sick with  pneumonia and can’t be moved whereby they are threatened by the farmer digging up the farm with the plow.  Mrs. Brisby is instructed by the Great Owl to seek the help of a society of intelligent rats that live in the rose bush by the farmhouse who can use their technology to move her house to the lee of the stone thereby protecting her family.  Once introduced to the rats she discovers a frightening secret about them which leads to a thrilling conclusion of a battle between good and evil.

Although the film didn’t garner a ton of box office sales it quickly became a classic favorite to a lot of people and led to Bluth’s company getting a deal with Steven Spielberg to produce their second feature, “An American Tail”, which did fair well with ticket sales.  Although the second venture is a bit lighter and more family friendly I still think, “The Secret Of NIMH”, is their masterpiece.  Love you, Don!

A #Nerd #Randombling: Learning About Love

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Aaron Fitzgerald

I’ve been called a nice guy, a sweet guy and an asshole.  I’ve always been insecure around the opposite sex and I have no idea why.  I talked to a friend about it and he said it just might be the way you are.  When I was young I didn’t know shit about love.  There was this girl, Corey, who I met in acting class when we were kids and I fell madly in love with her.  We’d talk on the phone everyday for hours.  I was a bit of a naïve idiot.  When she walked into the room my face would light up, so my friends told me later in life.  But honestly, I was obsessed with her.  Too obsessed.  I would tell how much I was in love with her all the time and she didn’t understand any of it.  One time she told me to listen to the words of Sting’s “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free.”  I never got it until later in life.  Once I was able to let her go that’s when she felt comfortable enough to open up to me.   Life is strange.

The second woman I fell in love with was a Canadian girl, Sherry.  Sherry and I met in a writing chat room.  The both of us were insecure about ourselves but we developed a terrific friendship.  We’d chat all the time.  Finally, after several years of interacting online we finally met.  She was just as awesome in person as she was online.  She was able to overcome her insecure about her weight, signed up at a gym and lost all the weight.  And if that wasn’t enough she got a job as a personal trainer at the gym she worked out at.  How cool is that?  Unfortunately we lived to far away from each other for our relationship to work and now she’s married.  But, she will always be a good friend of mine.

I’m still not sure if I know everything about love, but I’ve learned a lot over the years, mainly from these two amazing women.