Here are my top 10 favorite films of 2009. Interesting how Moon and 500 Days of Summer weren’t nominated for any Oscars. Hmmm……
1. Moon
5. Michael Jackson’s This Is It
6. White Ribbon
8. In the Loop
9. District 9
10. I Love You Man
Archive for the ‘oscarfest’ Category
John’s Top 10 Films of 2009
Saturday, March 6th, 2010Vote in OscarFest 2010 by March 7th!
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010Are you a friend of mine or even a colleague that I kind of know a little? If so, vote in OscarFet 2010, the Greatest and Best Oscar Pick’em Contest in the World. It’s easy and fun. Just visit http://oscarfest.com, create an account, and make your picks. You can leave a comment, which probably won’t even get screened beforehand. Amazing!
You have until 8pm eastern on March 7, 2010, to cast your votes!
OscarFest 2010 is Coming!
Friday, February 26th, 2010Yes, it’s happening! OscarFest is back and better than ever. Stay tuned…
(click banner for full size)
Starbucks Instant MimeFest
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
It took 38 years for Starbucks to unleash their full-bodied, flavorful instant coffee known as “Via.” It took only one well-documented loss in OscarFest 2003 to steal my likeness for their VIA marketing bulletin.
OscarFest 2009 Comments
Monday, February 23rd, 2009Here is the full list of comments left by OscarFest 2009 participants during voting. This marks the first year that I have not had to edit the comments to make them family or work appropriate. That was sort of a let down. There was also a statistically significant reduction in the number of insults directly toward me. No joke. I ran a t-test. I expect this trend to change in the future.
Devon: I will win!
Marygrace: I can hardly wait to come in 80th this year!
Jessica: I am ashamed to say I have only seen one of these films. OK – I just watched Oktapodi. Now I’ve seen two! At any rate, if I do well at all, it will be because I am able to assess a film’s chance of winning based entirely on how angsty the actors look in a 40 pixel screenshot, how “serious” the color palette looks, and how pretentious the title of the film sounds. That’s MY winning algorithm – utter ignorance making snap judgments, all the way!
Beth: I only saw the Dark Knight, Ironman and Wall-e…how sad is that?
Karl: I will finish dead last in this since I know virtually nothing about any of these films. GO CARDINALS SUPER BOWL CHAMPS
Maral: Write-in candidates next time, dood.
Marina: Thanks for the opportunity to play!
Bardia: GO WALL-E
Patrick: Like last year, this is a shot in the dark since I’ve seen exactly none of these movies…
Ellie: Brangelina mania is already too out of control, so I truly hope neither member of the pretty pair gets picked.
Joan: John, I’m afraid I’m going to have a nightmare tonight after seeing your head on top of Oscar’s body! It’s kinda freaky! Go Sean Penn!
Geoff: Half these movies I haven’t seen. Guess I’m relying on a little luck here…Alyson: Let’s DO this!!!
Mike: I have no idea what some of these movies are…so i guessed.
Gita: Thanks John
Dane: Film V.S. DIGI.
Oggie: I’m hoping I have at least one correct answer.
Grandmar Barbieri: Hi, Dr. John, I plan to win this time!
Gene: Going for broke yet again. Hopefully, I can hit the big zero this year. Failure is the only option! And no – I WILL NOT WATCH THE OSCARS NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU PAY ME!
Carla: It’s a crapshoot!
Lisa: Victory will be mine by the Power of Grayskull!
Theo: Somehow, somewhere, I smell an upset. I don’t know how; I don’t know where. But it’s in the air.
Tim: Nice work, Jono!
Grammy: I am a sure winner!
Kathy: I feel REALLY good about 7 of my choices.
Frank: I never win anything, maybe I will get the golden Oscar this year.
Anna: I’m pretty sure this is the crappiest ballot EVER!
Mark: I admit it’ll be hard to repeat this year – I’ve included way too many sentimental choices…
Brian/Josh: I can foresee no possible situation where I do not win.
Dave: Movies may be the entertainment king of today, but tomorrow will be the paddleball’s day in the sun.
Mary: Hope to be enjoying Oscar night with your mom!
Roger: I guarantee that I win. If not I will double your money. Please send me all of it.
Karen: I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for keeping the OscarFest alive!
Michael : I’m sure I failed big time! 2005 was my year!!!
Jen: One of these days, I will reign again.
The Pejman: Cardinals!
Songlin: Have fun!
Pedrom: This is my year!
Tim: Why am I not nominated on any of these lists?
Jerry: Greetings to all you movie lovers out there. For the 2nd consecutive year I am attempting to be voted Miss Congeniality of the Oscars. Could this be my year?
Ashwini: Thanks John!
Mark: Saw VI wasn’t nominated?
Steve: Just hand me the winning papers.
Jemal: I voted everything Slumdog…. but I’m really mad still that Wall-E wasn’t in Best Picture… HONK!
Jamie: these are the best GUESSES I could come up with
Sarah: Emily made me do it…
Drew: He’s towering over everybody!
Sarah: But we’re all winners just for being nominated…and why yes, I am wearing Chanel, but my swag bag goes to your charity Ohab!
Megan: I haven’t seen most of these movies, so if I do well it’s purely a stroke of luck…
Jag: Good job!
Tim: Hopefully, I beat random test picks this year!
Matt: Betting big on Benjamin. Could be a good bet, could be horribly wrong.
Eric: I haven’t seen any of these movies!
OscarFest 2009 Champions!
Monday, February 23rd, 2009The Champions: Jen, Bobby, and Eric
OscarFest 2009 is accomplished. Congratulations to first-time Champions, Bobby Crane and Eric Doty, and our first repeat Champion, Jen Celusta (Coffey), who voted correctly on 20 out of 24 categories. Amazing! Click HERE to see how you stacked up against the Champions.
Hollywood couldn’t script a more dramatic ending if they tried! With the Best Actor category next, and only three Oscars left, there was an 8-way tie for the Championship. Jen, Bobby, and Eric seperated themselves from the pack by correctly selecting Sean Penn. You had to see it to believe it!
As a result of four generous contributions, $125 will be donated in the Champions’ names to Salvaide, an organization dedicated to fostering social and economic development in El Salvador. Truly a gift that keeps on giving.
Thank you to all 170 of you who participated in this year’s competition. You have made OscarFest 2009 the greatest and best yet. I leave you with some some interesting tidbits about this year’s competition. What have you discovered?
FACT: 170 people voted in OscarFest 2009, eclipsing last year’s total by 55.FACT: $125 will be donated to Salvaide in the Champion’s names. That’s $41.67/Champion.
FACT: The average participant got 11.4 categories correct (out of 24).
FACT: Males averaged 11.4 correct picks.
FACT: Females averaged 11.7 correct picks.
FACT: People related to me averaged 12.7 correct picks.
FACT: My former roommates averaged 11.75 correct picks.
FACT: 87% of participants correctly picked Wall-E for Best Animated Feature, the highest for any category.
FACT: 17% of participants correctly picked La Maison en Petits Cubes for Best Animated Short, the lowest of any category. None of the three Champions got this category right either.
FACT: Last year’s Champion, Mark Tong, got 2 more correct picks this year than he did during his championship run of 2008, but he still still placed a dissapointing 17th place overall.
FACT: The oldest participant in this year’s competition was Grandmar Barbieri at 85 years.
FACT: The youngest participant in this year’s competition were my cousins, Gianna and Adilene, at 1.5 years old.
FACT: 134 participants scored worse than my 1.5 year old cousins, Gianna and Adilene, who, by the way, cannot read or write and have the intelligence of a 1.5 year old child. They have likely never seen a movie in their entire life.
FACT: 12 individuals scored worse than the random pick generator, that is, worse than if they had closed their eyes and randomly banged the keyboard with a meat tenderizer to make their picks (Janis, Lisa, Shara, Ellie, Jenifer, Chris, Bardia, Drew, Karl, Sharon, Dane, and Gene).
FACT: This year’s co-champ, Eric, submitted his picks minutes before the Oscars ceremony began and left the message, “I haven’t seen any of these movies!”. He got was right on 83% of his selections.
FACT: Dr. Gene Gurkoff has now scored 2, 1, 5, and 2 in his four OscarFests for an impressively horrendous average of 2.5 correct picks/year. Only once (2008) has he scored better than the random pick generator.
The Curious Case of OscarFest 2009
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
Nearly a year has passed since Mark Tong stole the OscarFest 2008 crown in most dramatic fashion. This year, the stakes are higher than ever, and it will take all of your movie wits to become Champion.
Are you up to the challenge?
OscarFest 2009 marks a departure from prevoius years, in which the winner recieved nothing more than the right to mock and laugh at his or her peers for all of eternity. This year, I will donate $25 in the Champion’s name to Salvaide, an organization dedicated to fostering social and economic development in El Salvador by empowering those in need.
This is your chance to make a difference. This is your chance to become a legend.
Click here, enter www.oscarfest.com in your webbed browser, or ask a friend to help you navigate to the appropriate Internet location to participate in Oscarfest 2009. Don’t miss out!
OscarFest 2009 Official One Sheet
Saturday, January 24th, 2009
The 2007-2008 Oscar Pick’em: Reflections
Monday, February 25th, 2008Gianna and Adilene Barbieri
(112/113th place)
Those of you too lazy, busy, or not Internet-savvy enough to participate in this year’s Oscar Pick’em should consider that my 1 year-old cousins managed to find time during their hectic schedule to vote. Plan accordingly for next year. I would appreciate it. Thanks.
2007-2008 Academy Awards Pick’Em : Last Day to Vote!
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Movies are good. Voting in the Oscar Pick’em indicates that you like movies. If you do not vote, then you do not like movies; you do not like things that are good; and you probably do not like fluffy bunny tails, puppies, or kittens. This is not something to be proud of.
Thankfully, there are two easy and fun ways to access the voting page:
1. Directly: HERE
2. Indirectly: visit the homepage and click on the Oscar Pick’em link.
1. Directly: HERE
2. Indirectly: visit the homepage and click on the Oscar Pick’em link.
The Pick’em results will be posted the night of Monday February 24th!
I wish you all good luck. (not really)