LA Notebook

1:32:36 PM PST

  We're in the middle of a blogging boom. Bloggers are becoming celebrities and there's even money to be made. Sometimes, a lot of money. Gawker reportedly earns $2 million annually in advertising revenue. AOL (that would be my employer) recently paid $25 million for Weblogs. Even music geeks at the South by Southwest festival will be asking, "Does your blog have a business?"

So, it's no surprise that if blogs are big business, big business would be jumping on that bandwagon. (I'm just waiting for the Wal*Mart blog.) Next week, you'll find me at the Blog Business Summit, where speakers will be talking about all aspects of blogging for businesses. I'm really excited about the chance to meet some folks from Six Apart, the creators of Moveable Type and TypePad. Yeah, so I'm a blogging geek too.

If you're interested in attending the Blog Business Summit on March 16 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport, Six Apart is offering a discount on the registration.

 

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3:48:17 PM PST
Feeling Quiet

  The jokes were flat. The montages were tedious. And the only real surprise came at the very end when 'Crash' beat out 'Brokeback Mountain' for the big prize. The reviews are coming in fast and furious for last night's yawner of an Oscars broadcast. In a word, it was boring, despite some choice zingers from freshman host Jon Stewart here and there. And to think these people get paid millions to be entertaining? A sampling of reviews...

Defamer: "Worst. Oscars. Ever."

Washington Post: "Memo to Stewart: Keep Your 'Daily' Job"

MSNBC: "Stewart ranks with Chris Rock as Oscar failure"

USA Today: "Stewart gave a weak show some punch"

Your thoughts?

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1:55:17 PM PST
Feeling Anxious
Hearing 'Brokeback Mountain' soundtrack

  Live from the Kodak Theatre

Need more than just the pre-pre-Oscars show on TV? Look for Oscar night tidbits from these bloggers stationed deep inside the Kodak Theatre:

USA Today's O-Factor

NY Times' Carpetbagger

And Defamer is sure to offer all-you-can-eat snarkiness tonight -- starting with its 1,000th 'Brokeback' Mountain joke.

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12:40:59 PM PST

   2006 Independent Spirit Awards

What can you say about the state of the Independent Spirit Awards when 3 of the 5 best feature nominees are also up for the same award at the Oscars? Well, at least the films -- 'Brokeback Mountain,' 'Good Night, and Good Luck' and 'Capote' -- are independent in spirit, if not in actual studio/financial terms.

At any rate, the laidback ceremony is a fun way for famous and soon-to-be-famous to shake off those pre-Oscars jitters with a Grey Goose and tonic on the beach. The awards are held each year under a big white tent on the Santa Monica boardwalk on the afternoon before the Oscars.

The biggest honors were split between 'Brokeback,' 'Capote,' 'Crash' and 'Transamerica.' The Hollywood Reporter has the news story. We've got the pictures...

 
David Strathairn (nominee, best male lead, 'Good Night, and Good Luck') going with the really casual look.

Amy Adams (winner, best supporting female, 'Junebug') is the sweetest little thing. She plays a darnn good Southern preggie.

Host Sarah Silverman's monologue was full of raunchy sex jokes. This photo pretty much sums it up.

Here, Billy, blow on this.

Matt Dillon won for best male lead for playing the rogue cop in 'Crash.' See that face? Yeah, he's good.

Ludacris ('Crash' and 'Hustleand Flow') getting his executive look on.

George Clooney praying to the Oscar gods for a win tonight for best supporting actor.

Ang Lee ('Brokeback Mountain')... perhaps the most unassuming director in Hollywood. Here's the man to beat tonight for best director.

Kevin Smith, an indie's indie director, had a funny, f-worded bit about falling love with his wife at a previous Independent Spirit Awards. We can't print it here but, trust us, it was hilarious.

Miranda July wrote, directed and starred in one of the most unsung movies this year, 'Me and You and Everyone We Know.' And she's got 'em killer blue eyes.

Ben McKenzie and Zooey Deschanel flirting at the Shutters on the Beach afterparty. Watch out Marissa!

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3:06:51 PM PST
Feeling Chillin'

 No disrespect to Jon Stewart -- I know several people within a 10-yard radius of me that would take issue with any slight to the man -- but I will miss Chris Rock at this year's awards show. As my best friend and I try and gather friends last-minute for a star-obsessed soiree in South Central, we'll also be silently wondering what too-brutally-honest-for-Hollywood thing Rock would have said in his opening monologue this year.

But maybe it's a good thing in the end. No doubt a few jokes in about "Crash" and a few more about "Brokeback Mountain," and he could very well be boo-ed off the stage. The movies are just too sensitive this year for my man.

Somebody -- give this man a mic!

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10:46:59 AM PST
Feeling Anxious

An awards show about movies?! BAH! For many it's all about the fashion and making fun of the hopeless, starry few -- the skanky-rich suckers who arrive either off their meds or looking like they've been blackmailed into frumpdom.

This Sunday, millions will be praying for a big star to pull a Bjork (Remember that dead goose?) a Lara Flynn Boyle (Remember that, that tutu from that, that other awards show?) or the ultimate of cataclysmic couturiety*, a Cher (Though, only Cher can truly pull a Cher.). So, if you're ready to rip 'em to threads, here are the stars presenting awards at this year's ceremony. You're sure to get a clear shot of them on stage.

GALS: Jessica Alba, Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Lopez, Meryl Streep, Hilary Swank, Charlize Theron, Uma Thurman, Lily Tomlin, Naomi Watts, Reese Witherspoon

GUYS: Steve Carell, George Clooney, Clint Eastwood, Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Morgan Freeman, Tom Hanks, Terrence Howard, Ludacris, Keanu Reeves, Will Smith, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson

*couturiety = couture + notoriety

Who will be this year's best dressed?

Parties on Oscar Night | Hollywood's Star Clubs | Visit Tinseltown | You a Star-Seeker?

 

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12:07:52 PM PST

The big night draws near and all bets are on. The conventional wisdom has its money on the gay cowboy flick that is just the sort of Important Film that the Academy loves to honor for Best Picture.

But there are inklings of a 'Brokeback' backlash and a 'Crash' comeback. To wit, Roger Ebert, is predicting 'Crash' will pull off an upset.

'Brokeback Mountain' has more emotional appeal but 'Crash' is "more about ideas than lives," says America's favorite film critic. "I've heard a curious note in the voices of people discussing it: They sound serious and moved, and as if it made them take a longer look at themselves."

Not everyone agrees, of course. And the people's choice, according to a survey by MovieFone? 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.' I guess most of us would rather escape than take a longer look at ourselves. Or even a short one.  

Matt Dillon and Thandie Newton do the tango.

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1:21:56 PM PST

  ''Watch Your Back Mountain''

Justin's right to point out the tittering inanity of the "jokeback" phenomenon, but let's not forget that the subject still has a few miles left, as this week's New Yorker cover demonstrates.  That's what we call commenting on the commenting... or, a meta-jokeback.  (Yes, read the New Yorker and you'll use words like "meta," too.)

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12:45:28 PM PST



Alright already with the gay cowboy jokes and the gay parodies of movies. Aside from the fact that it's just annoying that it's still OK to make fun of gays and to turn a groundbreaking, albeit tedious, gay epic into a scant punchline, what's most unbearable is that all the attempts at humor are just pathetic.

From Star Wars: The Empire Brokeback and Brokeback to the Future to Broke Mac Mountain and Top Gun 2: Brokeback Squadron, it's just a lame-ass crock o' mock. Whatever happened to American ingenuity, assuming it stills applies to our sense of humor? Where's the originality? At least the 'Brokeback Mountain' LEGOs took some degree of creative dementia and toil.

Years from now, I expect Merriam-Webster will add ''jokeback'' to the lexicon of American pop-cult idiocy.

Main Entry: jokeback
Pronunciation: 'jOk-'bak
Etymology: English joke and Brokeback (in reference to numerous parodies made of the 2005 film 'Brokeback Mountain')
Function: noun
1 : a set of jokes or parodies that have been done over and over to the point of not being funny at all < I'm so tired of the gay cowboy jokeback that has been blasted nonstop since 'Brokeback Mountain' came out.>
2: a recycled joke or routine of old jokes <The comic's routine was nothing but a bunch of jokeback. What a hack! I want my money back! >


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4:14:49 PM PST
Feeling Happy

Sunday afternoon, my husband, Steve, and I strolled over to Grauman's Chinese Theatre to take an informal poll on the Oscar noms. It was crowded, fun and I learned three things: people from other countries haven't seen the nominated movies yet (duh!), people from Minnesota thought the weather was great (I was freezing), and I have "one skinny-ass dog." (We brought along our Italian greyhound, Corso, as an ice breaker in case people were shy.)

The results of our polling were inconclusive -- all over the place with one exception: Everyone loves Reese Witherspoon and thinks she should win hands down. "She's just great, that's all" said Lindsey, the warm Minnesotan. Brennan and Eva, a couple from Germany, liked 'Walk the Line,' but didn't think it would win. Gudrun, a Brit buying postcards, thought the same thing.

Darth Vadar (the costumed character who hangs out at Grauman's), was certain that 'Brokeback Mountain' would win the Best Picture prize. Why? "Because everybody's into cowboy movies," he said, as if someone like me should know something so obvious. A couple of people insisted 'Crash' should win because it had a powerful message. And director Ang Lee got a nod from Vincent, who lives in LA and was showing a friend from Connecticut the sights.

And so it went. A Heath Ledger here, a Philip Seymore Hoffman there. No solid trends in our unscientific sampling, but it was a great family outing for us. And, I don't care if my little greyhound is skinny-assed. I love him just the same.

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