Pandora's Box: 2014 and the Death of the Modern Relationship

Where did it all go wrong? It seemed like a good idea at the time. It was exclusive. You had to be an invited college and have a college e-mail address to have an account. Not everyone could join. There were no babies, pets, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. It was by all means of the definition, a club. Then came the money. Oh, it's always the money.

Facebook has turned into a billion dollar empire thanks to some guys who were drunk and knew some code to create a website. Sound familiar? It should, because that's how most "good ideas" in the modern age have started. However, it has gone too far. Now I know that this blog entry will be posted on my personal Facebook page, and I get that there is a twinge of hypocrisy brewing in it all, but this is it for me. I'm out.

THE ROOT OF EVIL
Quick, without cheating, when is my birthday? Where am I living right now? What am I doing for work? Who am I in a relationship with and for how long? Do you EVEN care? My birthday, for those who didn't see it as a reminder on Facebook, was August 20th. My phone rang twice. It buzzed a few more times with text messages. I had several messages in my Facebook inbox because I disabled posts to my wall. There was effort, I will give everyone that, but how hard is it really to click on the app, have it tell you it was my birthday, and type out a short greeting?

Now, before you think I'm whining I want to highlight this point. Up until my birthday I was doing the same thing. I saw it was someone's birthday, typed a quick message and that was it. If they liked it, great, couldn't be too hard to touch the screen. If they commented, wow, same amount of effort I took to type it. It's convenient. It's quick and then it's over. Right now, I have a little over 300 "friends" on Facebook. I could tell you MAYBE when 15-20 of their birthdays are and that is a stretch. Try it yourself. My point behind it all is we have stopped caring far too much about life and what is going on in each other's lives and social media is to blame.

DEFINING FRIENDSHIPS
How often do you talk to your friends? For the sake of argument, throw texting out of the equation. How often do you pick up the phone and legitimately talk to your friends? Most would say it isn't often enough. I know I am lumped into that category. I see what they're doing by clicking a button. This day and age has allowed us all to keep up with where we eat, drink, sleep, fly to, and when the next generation of social media induced consumers will be joining the planet. Stunning, right? Take a gander at your timeline. Guaranteed there is someone who had an amazing meal, is at a bar or out with friends, on vacation somewhere, or pregnant.

Tonight I found out one of my closest friends is engaged and getting married next year. I got a text before it hit Facebook. Life is busy sometimes, and I know we'll talk soon, but we shouldn't find out about these types of things online. When did it become such a great idea to document nearly every moment of our lives on the internet?  This was my problem with Twitter (and the ultimate reason I decided to quit it on january 1st). Here I am nine months later coming to the same realization with Facebook. Friendships and relationships need work and they need it beyond the mashing of a few buttons on the touch screen.

I met my best friend towards the end of 2001. I didn't know he was my best friend at the time. It just sort of spiraled into it. To this day we may see each other a handful of times a year, and talk about once a month, but if something happened in life where the other one needed anything, we would drop whatever it is and make it happen. It's happened before and it will happen again. Friendships are those that have a lasting impression on your life. They're those that get lost in the shuffle of everyday chaos, but pick right back up whenever it is you get to talk again.

Facebook "friends" are for all intents and purposes, people we know. Some could fall into that definition of a friendship. Some are family, which should fall into that friendship definition as well but often does not. The majority, though, are people we have come across in life at one point or another and feel the need to stay connected to in the hopes they like the picture of the chicken alfredo we had for dinner last night.

I know there will be the folks who say they use it to post pictures of their kids so that they can stay in touch with family. It's a cop out. It's 2014. Start a texting group and share. My sister does it, so can you. Your children never asked for you to put their lives online for the world to see and just because your neighbor does it, it doesn't make it right. It all boils down to ease and convenience. I get that. One button and BOOM, Johnny is potty training and it already has 37 likes. If someone took a picture of you at your most vulnerable time, they would be considered a creep. Well guess what, you just joined that club.

THE SOLUTION
It's simple. Figure out who matters in your life and make sure you are a part of their LIFE, and not their online persona. I'd like to believe that not everyone airs every piece of dirty laundry they have online and that there are real struggles going on that most never find out about because it wasn't a status update.

The death of Robin Williams was tragic. What seemed to be one of the funniest and happiest men on the planet in the depths of depression. How many of his friends reached out just to say hello, to see how he was doing? How many people do you know that are going through a hard time? Sometimes people do air their troubles online because they don't have anyone who will pick up the phone and call them to see how they are. Let that sink in. That is sad beyond words, but there is a fix.

Here's my challenge to those who made it this far. Delete Twitter (unless you use it for work, and I get that) from your phone. Delete Facebook from your phone (I did earlier today) and don't worry; you can always download it again if you just can't handle the withdraw. When you have that urge to see what everyone is doing, connect with an old friend. It can start as texting, but try and have a conversation. I guarantee you'll learn more in a 10-15 minute phone call than you did the last year of scrolling through your Facebook feed reading random updates. If you want, send someone an e-mail. The art of writing is lost. If it's not 140 characters or less, we don't know what to do anymore. And lastly, disconnect from time to time. I recently read my post from when I was at Augusta last spring and they did not allow cell phones. It was truly a glorious day where I didn't worry once if anyone was posting earth shattering news online.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm out. My account will still be active. I'll log on occasionally to see if anyone has sent me a message through Facebook, but honestly that's it. My phone number is there. Give me a call, sometime.

Augusta National...There's Nothing Like It

Today was a bucket list kind of a day.  It's one thing to be fortunate enough to have tickets to get inside the gates of Augusta National, it's another to have them for a Wednesday before the Masters.  Outside of Sunday, this is the day to go, in my amateur opinion. You have morning practice rounds and then the par 3 contest, all on the most beautiful golf course I have ever seen in my life.

The fairways were perfect. The rough was not rough, until you compared it to the fairways.  And then there are the greens. They are as tough to watch in person as you can imagine they ever would be watching on tv.

I'm getting ahead of myself and need to back track.  Augusta National is Disney World on crack and steroids. Disney needs to take notes and start applying it to their brand.  From the second you get out of your car (from the FREE parking lot), the walk up to the gate is pleasant.  There are signs everywhere telling you to leave your phones in the car (being disconnected never felt better) and there is a greeter for each side of the walkway and two in the middle.  Every one is welcoming you to the Masters and thanking you for coming.

You walk in and immediately the attention to detail smacks you in the face. Every person working is as friendly as the next, including the BATHROOM ATTENDANTS.  This was bizarre on a whole new level but still a very nice touch.  Guys in the rest rooms spraying down everything, getting you towels after washing your hands, all in the shadows of signs that read "No Tipping".

The food prices are legendary because they probably haven't changed in my lifetime.  An egg salad sandwich ($1.50) and a beer ($3.00) for breakfast and it was time to see some of the course.  Right away, you turn a corner and the beauty of the 13th hole takes you aback for a moment. Behind it, the 16th, where a roar erupts after Bubba Watson hits a hole-in-one while practicing.  The 16th butts right up to number 15 and who's coming down the fairway? Tiger, of course. He's playing a practice round with Fred Couples, which makes it even cooler.

Practice rounds are exactly that.  Seeing the professionals try different things here and there all in preparation for the big dance.  They're loose, but focused all at the same time.  There's a trend starting here and it's again what makes a practice round special.  The beauty and the spectacle make it near impossible not to point a camera at everything and take a picture.  Every hole is as beautiful as you can imagine it to be watching it for years on television.  This is for sure what sets the practice rounds apart from the tournament rounds. Having the memories is one thing, but getting to relive them whenever you want via a photograph is another.

And it's the memory of something like the Par 3 Contest that will never go away. Kids are caddying for
their dads and even now, wives and girlfriends are getting in on the action. It's laid back and fun for everyone involved.  Parked under a shade tree behind the 8th green on the Par 3 is one of the neatest spots in golf.  You see the shots come down the hill on 8 and then the 9th, where most players are letting their kids putt out for them.

The rest of the Par 3 Course has it's allure as well.  It's short and easy to cover in less than an hour.  As undulating as the main course, the challenges it provides are less treacherous but equally as fun to see.

Then it happens.  There's a moment in time where the stars align and the Godfathers of Golf come knocking.  That moment was today.  Now seen as the three wise men who kick off the Masters on Thursday morning, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player are in a grouping for the Par 3 Contest and they're one hole away from being within earshot.  The crowds grow in size comparable to the one's seen when Tiger is working on his short game.  Everyone wants a glimpse and it's that moment when the stars align even more to make sure the glimpse is crystal clear. This is a moment in sports that cannot be duplicated.

Another type of moment that is similar is one that is experienced by those who are playing the course for the first time. Augusta has been taking care of the amateurs since the beginning. Bobby Jones knew what it meant to be an amateur and this has been an integral part of Augusta's traditions. The Crow's Nest is offered as a place to stay and for the week, the amateur is given the royal treatment by the
patrons of Augusta.  This year is that year for TJ Vogel.  A golfer for the University of Florida, Vogel was eating up the spotlight and enjoying everything about the Par 3 Contest. He was playing with the only golfer who ever shot a 59, Al Geiberger. Two differing generations coming together and enjoying a round of golf.  There's nothing like it.

And then there's this. Everything described to this point is great. Words don't mean anything compared to the time that is spent between a father and a son in one of the most magical of places. Had it been a "guy's trip" or something along those lines, it still would have been fun but it wouldn't have been special. Parents are only around for a limited part of our lives and opportunities like this are once in a lifetime. Two generations coming together to enjoy a round of golf. There's really nothing like it.

Game Over

This wasn't a game, yet both men wore uniforms.  One in blue, the other in red.

This wasn't a game, yet there is this need to declare one man a winner and one man a loser.

This wasn't a game, yet there are some this morning who feel the need to gloat or to be depressed.

Our competitive nature as human beings has destroyed the political process in our country and made it about winning and losing and no longer about the ideals and fundamentals of running a country.  I can say all of this because when the battle of the "Obamas" and the "Romneys" took place on the playing field of America, I decided to cheer for the referees.  I wasn't on either team.  I wasn't part of the problem that now permeates social media with pompousness and arrogance by the winners or shock and disbelief that has swept the losing sideline.  I was a fan hoping that the referee's would be as welcome here as they were in the NFL after the replacements botched the first part of the season.

It didn't happen and now we have two years to see what the country is made of.  I say two years because in 2014, campaigns will start forming and we'll go through this process once again.  Two years and over $2 billion were spent to change absolutely nothing.  The power in either chamber of congress went unchanged and the highest office in the land remained the same. How much of the time and effort spent over the past two years could have been dedicated to truly focusing on the problems that plague our country?  How much of that money could have gone to fixing some of the issues with our infrastructure?

I have an American idea.  It has to be a better idea/blueprint for the future than what we have in place right now.  I know I'm still young but that was the 4th Presidential Election I voted in.  In my lifetime, all but 1 President has won their reelection bid.

The electoral college is a dated system that has to go.  More people would vote/care if they TRULY knew their vote counted.  News stations calling the results AS THE POLLS CLOSE makes you feel worthless.  Unless you live in Florida or Ohio, your vote isn't scrutinized as heavily at all. Get rid of the EC and make it all about the popular vote.

Next thing to do is to give the President 8 years to actually accomplish something.  A President is in Office for 2 years trying not to screw up so that he can go out the next 2 years and try and buy (Key word: BUY) himself another 4 years.  Again, the amount of money that was wasted on this election could actually have gone to some good instead of polarizing campaigns.

The final step in this puzzle is to instill term limits to the real crooks in this caper and that is the folks who occupy the Senate and the House (While we're at it, the Supreme Court Justices could be eligible for some sort of citizen review also).  In any job in the world, if you fail on a consistent basis, you lose your job.  In America, you can fail at the highest level and keep your job because of the letter next to your name on the ballot.  It's wrong in so many ways, yet the uneducated mass blindly allows it to remain the status quo.

An addendum to this plan is for the politicians to put up or shut up.  They campaign on this idea that Americans need to put party politics aside.  While that may be a glorified pipe dream, someone needs to step to the plate and do something really bold.  I challenge President Obama and future leaders to legitimately put the other party in cabinet positions or positions of advisement within their administration.  I know my views on Jon Huntsman have not been lost on many but there is a Reagan Republican who served his country at the request of the President.  Albeit as an ambassador but he managed to forget the letter next to his name and remember that he was an American first.

The bitterness and divisiveness of our election system will fix nothing.  We need to strip the system of what it has become and rebuild from the ground up. We need to forget about winning and losing and think about the future generations that will never benefit from a group of people so focused on winning a game that they lose sight of the fact that the fix has been in on the game for years and we all lose if we continue to play.

Fear-mongering 2012

In our every day lives we are constantly faced with choices.  More often than not, the society we have become gives its consumers and citizens more than two choices when it comes time to make a decision.

You're buying a new TV?  Congratulations, please choose from the hundreds that are in stock at not just one, but several different stores. In fact, we encourage you to shop for the best deal out there and if you should stumble upon that, we will not only match that price, but we will beat it by 10%.

Taking the family out to eat to celebrate Junior's middle school graduation?  Well you're in luck (and not just because this will likely be the last time you get to see Junior walk across a stage of any kind) because in a town like yours, there are probably at least a hundred different choices where you can break from the norm and stop talking to Junior's future boss through a glorified walkie talkie to order your super sized "value" meal with a Diet Coke.  Go splurge and take the family somewhere real nice for a change.  You have plenty of options.

Why is it that in a society where we have so many choices when it comes to self-satisfaction that we only have an either/or option within the political spectrum?  Who decided that when we go into the voting booth that we are going to have to choose between either chocolate or vanilla ice cream (no pun intended since this is how it has been for years).  What happened to strawberry?  Or chocolate chip?  Can a brother get some goddamn rocky road for a change? Why are we stuck with just chocolate and vanilla?  Surely there are more people like me that are sick of just the two choices we have anymore.  But why is nobody doing anything about it?  Fear-mongering.

Fear-mongering is what has become of our political system and the Republican and Democratic parties have hired the best around to promote their fear-mongering messages to the masses.  CNN, FOX News and the like are hired hands in a world gone mad.  Society has become so afraid of bucking the system and trying to believe in something new that we have developed this warped society where even the thought of another option would be catastrophic.  It is the firm belief of many that you could not logically decide to vote for a third party because that would either take away a vote from one guy and give it to the other.  What happened to voting FOR someone and not picking the lesser of two evils? Gone are the days of idealistic candidates and here are the times of who is marketable to the minions. People want to casually forget the fact that politicians and candidates are products of their corporate masters who are only trying to get elected to satisfy the machines' specific agendas.

I am calling for a viable third party. And a fourth and fifth while we are at it.  It is time to stop being satisfied with a choice between one or the other and start bringing together ideas and rebuilding what has been broken for far too long.  For those about to immerse yourself in the freak show we call a Presidential Election, this guy's vote is up for grabs.  However, do not try and sell me on the two choices I have seen my entire adult life (all 14 years of it) because I will not buy into the system anymore.  And you can call that what you want, but to me, not settling for the lesser of two evils has to be one of the most patriotic acts one could take part in.  Won't you join me?

Wild, Wild, West

Most good things are worth having a thoughtful conversation over.  Movies are no different and neither are the subcategories within the movie world.  Tonight I re-watched, for probably the 50th time (at least), the greatest Western ever made.  I threw out a challenge, more out of the curiosity to see what others thought should be deserving enough of that title, and got a few responses.  Apologies to the fans of Young Guns II, Almost Heroes, and Bad Girls, but there are 5 movies that stand out amongst the greatest ever made in the category of Western.  

5. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Most movie critics will debunk the spaghetti western and not give it the time of day.  I am quite the opposite.  There is something to be said about the entire Man With No Name Trilogy.  The culmination of the entire trilogy is my favorite of the three films and it has everything a fan of a western would want.  What sets this ahead of the films below it is the soundtrack.  Not only the eerily familiar title track but the also popular Ecstasy of Gold that brings the film together at the end.  Eastwood is Eastwood but this movie puts him above his other performances

4. The Proposition

Here's the movie you probably have not seen yet but you need to...immediately.  The 2005 Australian film set in the Outback is not the typical western but it has all of the elements that make it one of the best.  Guy Pearce, who most will remember from his fantastic performance in LA Confidential, is a memorable protagonist caught between the grips of justice and the morals of murder.  Not giving anything away but his struggles with conscience help give the film depth at times when you think it will lose you. 

3. The Searchers

Some might view it as a sacrilege to only have one John Wayne movie in the top 5 for this category.  However, John Ford's masterpiece stands above all the rest.  The AFI has it listed as the number one western ever made, hence the reasoning of a mini-blog like this.  It is my favorite of all the classic westerns and one that can be embraced not only for its stunning cinematography, but for John Wayne not playing the typical John Wayne character.  Like all on this list, if you have not seen it; then you are most certainly missing out.

2. Blazing Saddles

Poke fun all you want at this choice but it is true.  Mel Brooks made the second greatest western ever.  If you look at the elements that make up a western, this one has them all, and then some.  The hilarity of this movie is what moved it up the list but all westerns have some sort of tongue in cheek play on the events going on.  The inside jokes and jabs at Hollywood are more relevant if you knew the times and those they were poking fun at but it still stands the test of time, remaining a movie I will watch if it is on.  

1. Unforgiven

This is what I watched tonight and will probably watch again a couple more times this year.  I love this movie.  It is dark, in your face, and real.  It makes you feel like you could be living in the times of Big Whiskey, Wyoming and amongst a town where if you are not in the sheriff's circle, you should probably not be there at all.  Every actor gives the performance of their career and it only adds to Clint's ability to shoot a beautiful movie.  

Hope you enjoyed my list and insight.  Feel free to comment or rebuke my selections.  I welcome all kinds of healthy debate.  And before you do insist on arguing, please give these titles a shot.  I do not think you will be disappointed.  

Breaking Backs: Mainstream Media's Attempt to Shut Us All Up

Quick, I want everyone to go out and tell grocery stores and magazine stands (do they even have those outside of airports and New York City streets?) to remove EVERY SINGLE COPY OF THE ECONOMIST from their shelves because they said that Saddam Hussein was a great dictator.  It's true.  In 2007, they said of Saddam that he was "one of the last of the 20th century's great dictators, but not the least in terms of egotism, or cruelty, or morbid will to power." Shame on them, right?  From a historian's perspective, absolutely not.  From a logical human being's perspective, no way.  But, from someone looking to make a story out of a sound byte and not the entire quote, The Economist should be banned right along with Catcher in the Rye and students in school should know what a horrible publication they are because they said that Saddam Hussein was a great dictator.

This level of absurdity is nothing new to the American media and it continued recently with the public outcry against Miami Marlins' manager Ozzie Guillen.  Guillen was quoted as saying that he "loved Fidel Castro" and immediately the streets of Miami had a flashback to the days of the Mariel Boatlift. If the educated people in this country bothered to read the rest of the quote (or try and find it since the media conveniently left it out of their stories), they would have seen that Guillen's admiration came from the fact that he could not believe the Cuban President (dictator to America) was still in power after all these years given the harsh conditions he placed his people under.  Guillen was suspended by his team for five games and held a press conference to not only apologize (a move that is now standard whenever someone says something that somebody else does not agree with), but to clarify his statements for the media since his original quote was lost in translation to those who can not imagine that it REALLY does say something about either the man or the system that Castro is still in power.  Jim Norton had a great tweet this morning in which he said "Why aren't Cubans who fled repressive Castro supporting the rights of Guillen to say something they don't agree with?"

Our culture is working against the freedoms they try and protect and they do not even realize it.  Here are some historical facts.  Abraham Lincoln could have cared less about freeing slaves; he was more concerned with the preservation of the Union.  Adolf Hitler returned Germany to the world power it was before World War I in just a few short years.  Saddam Hussein was an anti-Soviet leader in the Middle East and the United States liked that in the middle of the Cold War.  Fidel Castro rose to power behind a revolution in a country that was being used as a stash house and money laundromat for organized crime figures of the 50's and early 60's.  Each of these men hold some sort of place in the history books.  It usually depends on who is writing the history as to how they are viewed.  Lincoln was one of the greatest Presidents that this country has ever seen.  Hitler was one of the worst mass murderers the world will ever know.  Saddam was right behind him.  And Castro has not been worried about by many in the United States since the end of The Cuban Missile Crisis.

Ozzie Guillen said something he believed in.  His complete thought and quote was not far off from a logical truth.  Given the fact that those of us raised in a democratic society have been led to believe our entire lives that anything that is not a democracy is evil, it is not hard to see why the mainstream media was so quick to jump down Ozzie's throat and condemn him for his remarks.  Ozzie has said that he does not agree with Castro's politics.  Coming from Venezuela (another country that is led by a "dictator"), the historian in me tends to think that Ozzie understands what it takes for the men in power to remain in power under different forms of government.  The United States was quick to implement a term limit for the President after Franklin Roosevelt was re-elected twice just in case someone like him ever came along again gained so much popularity that the idea of a "dictator-esque" democracy could not present itself.

In closing I will say something that you may not agree with.  I love Ozzie Guillen.  I love the fact that he says what is on his mind, whether I agree with it or not.  I abhor the fact that the mainstream media makes people afraid to say what they think anymore, just because it might offend someone or someone else might have a dissenting opinion.  To me, the art of conversation and logical debate are a lost art and those in the media who want to be the next one to break the big story or take the partial quote that will light up the front page are to blame.  Shame on you.

And the Academy Award goes to...-2012 Edition

For the second year in a row,  I have managed to see all nine of the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars telecast.  In doing so, I feel somewhat qualified to offer an opinion and my humble selections of who should take home Oscar gold tonight.  It was an odd year for movies and there were several films that offered similar stories.  Overall, it was a fun year to watch and the show tonight will hopefully not disappoint.  If it does, there is always Twitter and 140 character outbursts that will likely happen no matter what. 

Here we go...

I'll start with the screenplays since without one, you can't necessarily have a movie. 

Best Adapted Screenplay- I think this will be one of the awards that goes to The Descendants.  The story was fantastic but one of the driving things that kept this movie in check was the dialogue.  Hugo could upset and take this category but I am not sure how keen Oscar is going to be on Scorsese venturing away from being Scorsese.  The long shot-Moneyball (no pun intended)

Best Original Screenplay- Somehow, and I truly do not understand it to say the least, this will go to The Artist.  If anyone can explain how a silent film wins a screenplay award, they will have the honor of shining Billy Crystal's dome during commercial breaks. I would like to see Midnight in Paris take this but think that Woody thumbed his nose at Hollywood this year and they will not take kindly.  The long shot-Margin Call

Best Original Score-This is one of the no-brainer picks for the night and will definitely go to The Artist, and rightfully so.  Music drove the film and this will be a deserved pick.  The long shot-Hugo

Best Animated Feature Film-  I am not a fan of this category in the least but did see a few.  Based on what I saw and the buzz, I think this will go to Rango.  Not going to pick a long shot because I think this category was added to make the broadcast longer. 

Now for some of the exciting awards...sorry if you were looking for the make-up or costume picks.  You must have me confused with someone else...

Best Supporting Actor-I start with this one because it is another of the locks for the ceremony tonight.  Christopher Plummer will win for his fantastic role in Beginners.  He has won the Golden Globe, the Screen Actor, and the Spirit Award already and Oscar should follow suit.  If I had to pick, I would say the long shot would be Jonah Hill for Moneyball.

Best Supporting Actress-Not a stone-cold lock, but I am going to be surprised if Octavia Spencer does not win for her role in The Help.  She was perfect for the role and she executed.  She also lent the film comedic relief, making her a little more memorable than her counterpart nominee Jessica Chastain.  The long shot- Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids.

Best Actor-I am going to split the difference between the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors and go with George Clooney in The Descendants.  I loved his role in this and in The Ides of March and Clooney continues to take chances outside of the box and will hopefully be rewarded.  The long shot- Brad Pitt for Moneyball.

Best Actress-Again, I will split the difference between the Globes and the Actors but side on the latter and say Viola Davis will win for her role in The Help.  I will admit that I only saw her performance, along with Rooney Mara's in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but Oscar loves Meryl Streep.  Hopefully this year, they get it right.  The long shot-Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs (why? Because you just googled Albert Nobbs)

Best Director-It should be clear where I stand with my winner for Best Picture by saying that I think Alexander Payne should be given the trophy tonight.  Payne has had an already successful career and now more fans of The Descendants are going to go back and watch some of his earlier work.  The long shots-Terrence Malick and Martin Scorsese for Tree of Life and Hugo 


Best Picture- Again, I have seen them all.  I say, without a doubt, it was The Descendants this year.  It wasn't as though I did not like, nor understand why The Artist has received so much praise, but I just think that The Descendants left me the most satisfied as a movie-goer.  Doing that with such an overwhelming subject matter is hard to do and I think the producers, writers, director, and actors did it the best.  For fun, here are my rankings of the nine nominees:

1) The Descendants
2) Moneyball
3) The Help
4) Midnight in Paris
5) The Artist
6) Hugo
7) Tree of Life
8) War Horse
9) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (still cannot figure out why this was even nominated)


So sit back, grab the popcorn and enjoy the show.  Follow me on Twitter if you dare @CoryWStephens.  I'll be live tweeting my thoughts (as dangerous as that may be) during the show.  Thanks for reading!!