Sleigh Bells N.E.E.T.

Brooklyn’s finest hardcore dance electronica pop? Is that enough sub genres? Is that even an accurate description? Probably. Check out the track below for a sample and their MySpace page for more in-depth info.

[audio:sleighbellscrownontheground.mp3]

-John

Welcome back to another exciting installment of GTM-OE. I’m happy to be back guest hosting while Rhett is abroad, no doubt putting the finishing touches on his acceptance speech for the Geneva Humanitarian award he’s receiving. He’s a man among men. As always, the picture above is your first clue, leave your guesses in the comments section and I’ll update as needed. Good luck…

Update: Only 2 guesses so far, and neither one is correct. Your next clue is the video clip below:

Update II: Still no correct guesses, but I’m hoping someone can put it together with this third and final clue:

Update III: No correct guesses, though I suspect James figured it out at the end. The answer was Saving Silverman which featured Jason Biggs, Jack Black and the always awesome Steve Zahn as members of a Neil Diamond cover band who feed kindnapping victims sandwiches from Arby’s. I guess that means I win this week since I stumped everyone. Congratulations to me, I will tell all my friends how great I am but only for this week, since next week one of you will surely step up and answer correctly. Thanks to everyone for playing and I’ll see you back here next time.

My prize:

-John

Welcome back to another mind-blowing edition of GTM-OE. I’m happy to be back guest-hosting while Rhett and his hot air balloon club ready their equpiment for a circumnaviagtion of the globe. Pretty intense stuff. I only ask that he sports a handlebar moustache for the duration of the trip. The picture above is your first clue, leave guesses in the comments section and I’ll update as necessary. Good luck…

Update: We have a winner! Again on only the first clue. You guys have gotten too good, but I’m glad to see we also have some new individuals out there making guesses. The correct answer was Rounders – the poker-centric movie starring Matt Damon, Ed Norton and John Malkovich. For those who haven’t seen it – Oreos play a big role. Congratulations to Hales for being this week’s winner. Be sure to tell all of your friends how great you are Hales, but only for this week since next week no one will find old trivia victories relevant. Thanks to everyone for playing and I’ll see you back here next time.

Hales’ prize:

-John

This is a real Yale recruitment video. No clue what they were thinking, but apparently it was made by students and alumni. I don’t think you’ll find that shocking after watching it. Holy crap it’s hilarious/terrible/confusing/awesome?/ridiculous. Never thought matriculate would fit so well into a showtune. Enjoy.

-John

North Mississippi Allstars Tone-cool

Cranking out sweet blues-rock jams since 1996, the North Mississippi Allstars have released nine albums and even served time as Caron Daly’s in-house band on Late Night With Carson Daly. Band members fluctuate between other blues ensembles (Black Crowes, Robert Randolph and The Family Band) but they still find time to crank out killer tunes with each other. Feast your senses on the track below and tell me it doesn’t make you want to head on down to the south and drink one of those sweet tea vodka drinks. Oh, you don’t know about sweet tea vodka? The South wins again…

[audio:northmississippiallstarsgoindownsouth.mp3]

-John

Welcome back to another exciting edition of GTM-OE. I’m happy to be back guest-hosting while Rhett continues to decypher ancient stone tablets transcribed in Linear A. Way harder then Linear B. After taking a week off to recover from a “vacation” I’m ready to bring you your first clue: the picture above. Leave guesses in the comments section and I’ll update as necessary. Good luck.

Update: We have a winner! The correct answer was The Chase starring Charlie Sheen and Kristy Swanson. Kind of a dumb movie, but I always liked it. It takes place mostly in a car, Kristy Swanson looks great, she gets it on with Charlie Sheen in a speeding BMW, and Flea, Anthony Kiedis, and Henry Rollins all have weird roles. Worth checking out if you’ve never seen it. I wonder if James went over to IMDb and checked out Flea’s credits or took that one off the top of his head? Either way, he’s this week’s winner. Be sure to tell your friends how cool you are James, but only for this week, because I’m limiting your greatness due to the fact that I didn’t get to use my Swanson frozen dinner or Vinny Chase clues. Thanks to everyone for playing (all 3 of you – let’s step it up next week) and I’ll see you back here next week.

James’ Prize:

-John

The Heavy Ninja Tune

Holy crap this band is awesome. Definitely one of the best bands I’ve heard in a long time and their newest album, The House That Dirt Built, is fantastic from start to finish. The Heavy revels in new-wave soul and funk, and have plenty of attitude to spare. The group, from Noid, England (like The Noid from the old Dominos ads), made a splash in 2008 at SXSW and gained some publicity through publicaiton like SPIN and Rolling Stone. However, you probably have heard them in that new KIA commercial where the toys and stuffed animals take the car joyriding and go to some bars and dance clubs in Vegas. This song is incredible, this album is incredible and everything about this band, so far, is, well, incredible. Plus their label is called Ninja Tune. Awesome.

[audio:theheavyhowyoulikemenow.mp3]

-John

Welcome back to another exciting edition of GTM-OE. I’m happy to be back here guest-hosting while your usual host, Rhett, continues to orbit our Earth preparing to dock with the International Space Station and make critical repairs. As always, the picture above is your first clue, post your guesses in the comments section and I’ll update as needed. Good luck…

Update: We have a winner! The correct answer was Joy Ride starring a bunch of people and the always awesome Steve Zahn, who adopted the CB handle “candycane” to trick a homicidal trucker into thinking he was going to get laid. Steve Zahn is the man – love that guy. Congratulations to this week’s winner CC. Be sure to tell all your friends how great you are CC, but only for this week, because two weeks seems like a long time to carry around the pressure of being great. Thanks to everyone for playing and we’ll see you back here next week.

CC’s Prize:

-John

So, a couple of weeks ago the Academy Award nominations were released, and, quite honestly, there weren’t a lot of surprises. Most of the actors and actresses we thought would be there are there, all the directors we thought would get nominated did – and the decision to nominate ten films for best picture was just as dumb as we all thought it would be. Seriously, it’s ridiculous. Basically, if you thought about making a movie last year it is being considered for an Academy Award. I thought about submitting a film I made about how my upstairs carpet produces what I think to be an abnormally large amount of lint. It had it all: drama, suspense and riveting plot twists. I decided not to enter it because it didn’t seem fair to everyone else; somtimes greatest needs to be put on hold. Anyway, let’s take a look at the nominees and I’ll provide some killer commentary.

Supporting Actress:

Penelope Cruz, Nine
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Mo’nique, Precious
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart

Did anyone see Nine? Wasn’t there an animated Tim Burton movie with the same name this year? Kind of weird. That movie had a bunch of hot women in it so I guess that deserves a nomination. Kendrick and Farmiga are both great in Up in the Air and I heard Gyllenhaal was a nice compliment to Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart, but this is Mo’nique’s award. She’ll win this easily and deserves every bit of it. Her performance was savagely intense and ran the gamut of emotions, often sliding in and out of dissappointed tears and off-kilter rage in the same scene. Great stuff from her. Who would have guessed that the chick who poured mustard on a guy, while violently riding him, in Beerfest, would go on to win an Oscar? She caught someone’s eye.

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Matt Damon, Invictus
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

From what I understand, The Lovely Bones was a lovely pile of dog vomit (way worse than regular vomit), so I find it strange that Stanley Tucci was moinated at all – but maybe he was really good. I think he’s a good ballroom dancer in real life. So, there’s that. Matt Damon is the man and all, but I feel like he was nominated because he was in a movie about Apartheid, so no real merit there. Plummer was in a movie I’ve never heard of (and I’ve heard of a lot of movies) but I hope is about Station from Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. Woody is, and always will be, awesome and I heard he was great in The Messenger, but I would support him much more if he were nominated for his turn in Zombieland. That movie was the bomb track. Unfortunately for Woody, Christopher Waltz was too much of a beast in Basterds. He crushed. Flawless execution of coniving evil and sinister charm, and his performance in the opening scene alone is masterful. Look for him in the upcoming Green Hornet with Seth Rogen and Cameron Diaz.

Best Actress:

Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia
Sandra Bullock, The Blindside
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Carey Mulligan, An Education

Mirren, Mulligan and Streep? Boring! Mulligan is supposed to be a breakout star in her role but that movie looked like a snooze-fest, and if Meryl Streep released a sex tape she would get a nomination for it, so hers seems rather obligatory. Sidibe was great in Precious and really captured the hopelessness of ghetto-life, but it’s America’s newest sweetheart, Ms. Bullock, who’s going to take this one down. I remember having a conversation back in the early fall that there was a real lack of quality female roles this year, and Bullock had a chance for a nomination. It sounded ridiculous at the time but it started to snowball as that film continued to kill it at the box office, and now a possible nomination has turned into a probable win. And really – it’s not that different from when Julia Roberts won hers. Similiar roles, similar lack of competition – so what’s the big deal? I’ve always liked Sandra Bullock (can never turn off Forces of Nature when it’s on TBS or TNT, which is all the f-ing time) so I’m happy for her. She had a huge year at the box office, and no one else really ran away with it – so give it to her. Everyone else can get over it.

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Renner was great in The Hurt Locker, but I don’t think he’s going to pull it out; same with Clooney. Freeman played Mandella in a movie and therefore got a required nomination (see Damon above) even though I’m sure he’s really great in it. I’m just saying you have to really go out of your way to get the role of Mandella and not get an Oscar nomination. You’d have to speak with a French accent and pretend Mandella was a midnight livestock trucker to effectively sabotage yourself. Didn’t see A Single Man, but Firth supposedly comes correct. But all that coming-correctness was all in vain in my opinion because I think Bridges is going home with the hardware. He’s put in his dues as an actor and delivers every time no matter the role. He’s waited patiently and has been rewarded with a part that allowed him to be the centerpiece. The Dude abides.

Best Director/Screenplay/Picture

James Cameron will get the director nod, because Avatar is not going to win best picture. Reitman is going to get a screenplay award because Up in the Air is not going to win best picture. The Hurt Locker will win best picture because I think the Academy is going to reject the Avatar hype and go with a well-received war film. Some will call it an upset, but it really won’t be. Avatar is a cool movie and worth seeing because it is a decent story and represents the next step in film-making technology. The special effects and imagination are dazzling and certianly worthy of praise – it’s just not the best movie of the year. It just isn’t. And even though the Academy makes mistakes sometimes, I don’t think it’s going to do it this time around. I just get the feeling they’re not buying in like everyone else is. Mark it down – The Hurt Locker, champion movie of the world.

Now you have my expert picks and can enter your office Oscar pool with confidence and bravado. Start talking trash now. Tell Ron in accounting his Oscar picks should be written on toilet paper because you’re going to wipe your ass with them. Seriously – do it. Ron has always been kind of a dick…

The Academy Awards are on March 7th, 8:00pm on ABC

-John