http://youtu.be/qrmOoR7CShc

I'd say mostly Antonioni's (thanks DropDown ) Fellini's "La Dolce Vita". Anybody watching "True Detective", the new show starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey? Pretty good so far. I recommend it.

Stuart Herward is my John Travolta-fied name. What's yours? http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/low_concept/2014/03/john_travolta_called_idina_menzel_adele_dazeem_what_s_your_travolta_name.html

So sad that Alice Herz-Sommer died a week before the Oscars. Overrated? Fine, if you want to feel that way about it, go ahead. One man's trash is another man's treasure. But I had to chuckle when you rant about "Gravity"'s use of CGI and then bring up an even more overrated film like Scorsese's "Wolf of Wall St." that also has CGI all over it. "Gravity" told its story with grace and visual poetry in an emotionally gripping taut 90 minutes, with not a wasted shot. The stunning opening 13-minute tracking shot alone was enough to warrant Alfonso Cuaron getting Best Director. The entire film was a tour de force of camera movement and making the viewer feel like part of the experience...that we were out in space with Sandra. He gave just enough back story to the character to give the film emotional resonance without overloading it with unecessary exposition, which is a flaw of many modern movies. Read any article about the creativity and persistence involved in the making of "Gravity" (American Cinematographer and Cinefex magazines are a couple of good places to start) and you will see that it's a little simplistic to criticize the movie being done on computers. CGI does have a place in film, when it is used wisely, as it is in "Gravity". Hello? It's not as if the cast and crew can actually fly out into space and film the movie. CGI is useful for representing something that does not exist in the real world, or to recreate an environment that it would be physically impossible to film in...such as outer space. I don't mind CGI when it is used for those reasons. What I can't stand is when CGI is used to fake things that used to be done for real...like battle scenes or even real locations. Take "Ben-Hur", for instance. One of the reasons that movie is still thrilling is that those are real horses and chariots that Charlton Heston is riding. That was a real track and set that chariot race was filmed on. Nowadays, when you see these big action epics like "Troy" or "300" or "Thor", the CGI makes everything look so fake that you are emotionally uninvolved. The slack storytelling usually inherent in these types of movies doesn't help. Alfonso Cuaron had a good reason to use CGI. What is Martin Scorsese's excuse? There was no reason "Wolf of Wall St." needed to be slathered with CGI the way it was. But then, CGI was the least of "Wolf of Wall St." problems. A one-note movie that went on way too long. There was nothing new in that film that we didn't know before. Hmmm, people that work in Wall St. are assholes? Check. People high on coke are unpleasant to be around? Check. People that work in Wall St. and are loaded on coke are really loathsome? Double-check. Rich jerks like to snort coke out of hooker's assholes? Okay...that was kind of different. Leo DiCaprio's character ran the gamut from A to A...there was no character arc, no curve, no backgrounding in how he got that way or any interest in what he was doing or why it was illegal. Jonah Hill's character was even worse...as portrayed, he was psychotic and it is farcical to think a guy like that could rise to a V.P. position in any corporation. The whole movie plays out like a frat boy's fantasy. There isn't one flesh-and-blood female character in the film. It's all bimbos with fake boobs. Really, it just gets tiring seeing scene after scene of guys drinking and doing drugs and acting like idiots, treating women like pieces of meat. I'm not buying Scorsese's protestations that he was showing the damage that these guys did and how he was portraying the dark underbelly of capitalist greed. Maybe he thought he was doing that initially, but the whole film plays like a love letter to Jordan Belfort. Christ, even at the end, he is still the same scammer...he hasn't changed and has no remorse. The movie is three and a half hours spent with people you don't want to be with. Not one character in the film is worth emotionally investing in, which means you have basically wasted more than three hours of your life. Okay, there is one...Matthew McConaughey's character is pretty goofy and he perks up the film. But he's gone after 10 minutes or so and then you're left with the annoying Jonah Hill and the endless procession of bimbos. In fact, there is so much gratuitous nudity and sex in "Wolf of Wall St.", it reminded me of Tom Wolfe's absurd "I Am Charlotte Simmons" novel, where old Mr. Wolfe was trying to show the kids how hep he still was and filled his book with bad sex scene after bad sex scene and tried his hand at rap lyrics. Scorsese seems to be trying to do the same thing with "Wolf of Wall St."...show the kids he's still got it and can get down and dirty with the best of them. But after awhile, all the naked flesh and f-bombs just get wearying and infantile and silly. Scorsese even takes the easy way out and cheapens his argument by refusing to show exactly what it was that Jordan Belfort did and why it was illegal. All we get are the standard Wall Street movie cliches of people screaming into telephones and acting crazy. Every time there's a hint that some explanation of the financial chicanery might be forthcoming, Leo cracks to the camera about that being boring and the audience wouldn't understand it anyway. That's a bullshit copout by Scorsese. This is the guy who in "Goodfellas" and "Casino" spent plenty of time elaborately showing step-by-step the methodology and tactics of the gangsters and the casinos, and now all of a sudden, he gets cold feet? There are other problems with "Wolf of Wall St." but it doesn't matter now anyway. The Oscars are over and done with. Like it or not, "Gravity" will still be taught in film schools twenty, fifty years from now, while "Wolf of Wall St." will be consigned to the dustbin along with "Wall Street II". Not unexpected nor was it a shock that Sandra Bullock didn't win. It was a shock only to those who weren't paying attention. Cate Blanchett was the odds-on favourite for months...she had the shortest odds in Vegas. She was even more of a lock than Jared Leto. She won Best Actress at the Golden Globes, the BAFTAS, the SAGs, practically every critics group and award show leading up to the Oscars...it was a no-brainer. Just because "Gravity" was winning all the technical awards early had no bearing on what was going to happen in the artistic categories. "Gravity" was expected to win for Visual Effects and Cinematography, etc., just as Cate and Jared and McConoughey were expected to win their categories. The shock would have been if Sandra, or even more so, Meryl Streep, had won. Maybe 10-15 years ago, but he's not as feared as he used to be. He only won one Oscar this year, for "20 Feet from Stardom", and had nothing to do with whomever won Best Actress. I plan on being dead by then. Seriously, as Led Dirigible pointed out, your remark is irrelevant as you missed the point. It was not about age, but her plastic surgery disaster. Look how great Sally Field, Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Blythe Danner, Sidney Poitier, and others all look. And, they have fully functional use of their mouths. I feared for Kim that if she opened her mouth too far it would crack apart. planted was right, she looked like the Joker from Batman. I really would like to know the psychology that goes into a woman deciding to do that to her face, even in the face of all the evidence out there in public on how horrible it looks. How anyone can look at Kim Novak or Goldie Hawn now and say, "that's what I want done to my face" is baffling.

The new Beck album "Morning Phase is beautiful. A sequel of sorts to "Sea Change", with similar lush orchestration and shimmery acoustics instead of the funky electro-bleep experiments of recent albums like "Guero" and "The Information". Sheer gorgeousness...just in time for Spring. http://youtu.be/iea-ozFzGzw http://youtu.be/GZo8_IV0IGQ http://youtu.be/9ev5gip24SE

As usual, the vocals are the weak spot. I find that the problem with most modern metal, dark metal, death metal, whatever, is that even when you do find a song that is good music-wise, the vocals are laughably bad. All these bands try to come off as scary and Satan-obsessed, but with their cheesy singing, it's not scary at all...it's funny and idiotic. It makes you want to give the singer a cookie and a glass of milk.

Not bad. Nice that Mick Taylor got to play with Keef on his "Slipping Away", although why they don't let Taylor play on "Gimmie Shelter" is mystifying. I still say L.A. got the best Stones show of the past 30-some-odd years last year when they added both "Sway" and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" to the set with Mick Taylor.

That brought a smile to my face.

Woohoo! We're in last place...Lakers tied with Utah and Sacramento at 21-39 for last in the Western Conference. Yeah, get that Lotto pick Lakers! This calls for a song...

Finiahed 21-3 and won the first place gift bag at the Oscar party. I'm a little tipsy from all the wine and champagne and a little tired from the long week, so I won't say much. But I thought the show was much more enjoyable overall than the last few have been. I really wasn't expecting Ellen Degeneres to be that good, but she was much better than the last time she hosted. I had to laugh at the pizza gag because I recognized the pizza place they came from: Big Momma's on Hollywood Blvd. They left out some people in the In Memoriam section, as they always do, but it was much more tastefully presented than the past few years...until, that is, Bette Midler came out and sang that song. As usual, checking out the clothes and hairstyles was a big part of the fun. Lots of fabulous women...and a few disasters, plastic surgery and otherwise. It was nice to see Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto break up the monotony of penguin suits on the men's side. Why is everyone afraid of a little colour. Where is Johnny Weir when you need him? The highlight of the night for me was Matthew McConaughey's acceptance speech. He nailed it; gracious, effusive, thoughtful, funny, not too long. All right, all right, all right. Jared Leto's tribute to his mother was a nice touch, too. Much better than his Golden Globe speech. Last thought of the night: Liza Minnelli?

So is Jared. Pink is looking more sunburned than pink.

What the hell is Whoopie wearing? That Charlize Theron Dior commercial is pretty fierce.

Frozen...just like Kim Novak's face.

Kim Novak is scaring me. Oy vey.

And his sparkly red hightop shoes. Loving that deep red roses stage backdrop.

Yes. The Hat is back!

Lovely indeed. Poor Sally Hawkins though. She appeared nervous and her dress looked a mess. Ellen a lot zingier than usual.

Jennifer Lawrence rocking the red and the short hair!

Amy Adams and Naomi Watts looking good! Love their dresses. The ditzy blonde who interviewed and mispronounced Sidney Poitier's name should be fired.

Finished picking my Oscar ballot for the various Oscar pools I partake of, and thought I would share my picks here for others to compare, or if you wish, to use as a guide. Don't know how many others participate in Oscar pools with their friends but it's a fun way to watch the Academy Awards and perhaps win a little money in the process. I recently re-watched all the nominees, so all the films are still fresh in my mind. Here are my choices for all 24 categories. To be clear, this is who I think will win, not who I want to win. Big difference...although in some categories they were the same. BEST PICTURE: 12 YEARS A SLAVE It's really a three-horse race between "12 Years a Slave", "Gravity", and "American Hustle". "American Hustle" is hurt by the perception of many that it's a comedy, and comedies rarely win Best Picture. "Gravity" suffers from being a space flick...again, space-sci-fi rarely wins at the Oscars. That leaves "12 Years a Slave". There's a sizable British contingent in the Academy, so there's an outside chance that if "12 Years", "Hustle" and "Gravity" split the vote, enough Brits voting for "Philomena" could push it to an upset. Of course, "12 Years" is also a British film, so that's unlikely to happen. DIRECTOR: ALFONSO CUARÓN "Gravity" Deservedly so, too. The Academy won't award the film, but they'll award the man who made it happen. Especially after the Directors Guild honoured him. "Gravity" was a landmark, a game-changer in so many ways, and it was Cuarón's vision and hard work that saw the film through its many hurdles to completion. ACTOR: MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY "Dallas Buyers Club" All right, all right, all right. Because we're living in a McConaissance. I earlier thought that Bruce Dern might have a chance of winning a sentimental vote. But McConaughey just kept winning award after award. I thought it was a shame that the guy from "Fruitvale Station" and Mads Mikkelson from "The Hunt" weren't nominated. ACTRESS: CATE BLANCHETT "Blue Jasmine" As soon as I saw "Blue Jasmine", I knew Cate was the favourite to win this. Sandra Bullock and Amy Adams and Judi Dench are all amazing in their roles, too. But like McConaughey, Cate Blanchett has been sweeping every award in sight. For once, Meryl Streep has no chance. SUPPORTING ACTOR: JARED LETO "Dallas Buyers Club" Incredible to think "Dallas Buyers Club" has no buzz for winning Best Picture but will most likely take home two acting awards. Hard to believe this is the same guy who played Claire Dane's crush Jordan all those years ago on "My So-Called Life". The fact that he took years off from acting to focus on his band 30 Seconds to Mars makes his return even more impressive. SUPPORTING ACTRESS: JENNIFER LAWRENCE "American Hustle" Most people are picking Lupita Nyong'o from "12 Years a Slave", and for a time I was thinking along the same lines. But after reviewing both films, it's no contest. Jennifer Lawrence practically steals every scene she's in as the "Picasso of passive-aggressive karate". Lupita basically has one scene where she gets whipped. Other than that, she barely registers in the film. If she wins, it will be an instance of an award going to someone who did the least since Beatrice Straight won Best Supporting Actress in 1977 for "Network". People say Jennifer Lawrence won last year, so that will hurt her chances this year. But good is good, and she is so fun to watch in "American Hustle" it's difficult to imagine the movie without her. Anybody could have played Lupita's part. ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: "AMERICAN HUSTLE" Since David O. Russell will most likely get shut out in Best Picture and Best Director, this will be his consolation prize. Lot of support for Spike Jonze's "Her" but it sags and becomes a mess in the second half. ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: "12 YEARS A SLAVE" JOHN RIDLEY Pretty much a slamdunk. FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: "THE GREAT BEAUTY" (ITALY) It's a crime that France's "Blue Is the Warmest Colour" wasn't nominated...it should have won. Since it isn't, Italy's "The Great Beauty" is in position to win, especially as it will remind many voters of the golden age of Fellini and Antonioni. "The Hunt" from the Netherlands and "The Broken Circle Breakdown" from Belgium are both very good, but very dark subject matter...probably too heavy to get much support from voters. ANIMATED FEATURE: "FROZEN" A rare case of Pixar getting beat by Disney. This film came out of nowhere to wow the world. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: "20 FEET FROM STARDOM" Always a tough category with many worthy candidates. "The Act of Killing" was one of the most harrowing and memorable films I saw last year and is my favourite of this category. But it's too dark to win...the Academy will go with the crowd-pleasing "20 Feet from Stardom", just as it did last year with Sugar Man. DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM: "THE LADY IN NUMBER 6: MUSIC SAVED MY LIFE" It's about a 109-year old Holocaust survivor...which means Oscar gold. ANIMATED SHORT FILM: "GET A HORSE!" Disney pays homage to its beginnings in this clever and funny farce. "Mr. Hublot" and "Room on the Broom" are both charming enough to pose upset threats, however. LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM: "HELIUM" A real tough one to call. All, except the Finnish entry, are excellent. I'm tempted to pick "The Voorman Problem" because it's the only one in English and it stars Martin Freeman. Buuut, "Helium" is one of those softy tear-jerkers involving a cute kid that the Academy is often a sucker for, subtitles or not. CINEMATOGRAPHY: "GRAVITY" EMMANUEL LUBEZKI Like I said, "Gravity" was a game-changer". It should rule all the technical categories on the night. EDITING: "GRAVITY" ALFONSO CUARÓN & MARK SANGER It's called "editing" for a reason. While so many movies come in at a bloated 2 1/2 - 3 hours, "Gravity" comes in at a taut, economical 90 minutes. Hallelujah! COSTUME DESIGN: "THE GREAT GATSBY" CATHERINE MARTIN PRODUCTION DESIGN: "THE GREAT GATSBY" CATHERINE MARTIN & BEVERLEY DUNN "American Hustle" was my original pick for these two categories. But then I attended a seminar yesterday involving all the Production Design nominees and judging by the in-house applause, Aussie Catherine Martin is beloved and the favourite. MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING: "DALLAS BUYERS CLUB" Fairly easy choice here. It helps that the other two nominees were fairly lame, especially "Lone Ranger". SOUND EDITING: "GRAVITY" SOUND MIXING: "GRAVITY" VISUAL EFFECTS: "GRAVITY" One-two-three slam dunk. Usually these awards go to some summer blockbuster Michael Bay monstrosity, but even The Hobbit's Smaug the Dragon is no match for Gravity's floating teardrop. ORIGINAL SCORE: "GRAVITY" STEPHEN PRICE Alexandre Desplat is well-liked, so his score for "Philomena" could pull an upset. ORIGINAL SONG: "LET IT GO" from "FROZEN" Yes, it's tempting to pick the U2 song from the politically correct Mandela movie. I also liked Karen O's "The Moon Song" from "Her". But "Frozen" is sweeping the country. They even have singalong screenings of "Frozen" already. So...there you have it. My predictions for tonight's Oscars. You can taunt and make fun of how wrong I was tomorrow. If anyone else is involved in an Oscar pool and wants to share your picks, please post them here.

To get to the other side.

You posted the same thing on the thread below this which covers the EXACT same topic. Not to mention all the other threads here that have heaps and heaps of people's lists of their favourite bootlegs. If you cannot find enough shows to fill your iPod from this wealth of sources, I don't know what to think.

Non sequitur.

Interesting and fun concept. Although, to me, part of Communication Breakdown's charm is its brevity. It's like a short, sharp shock to the system. You did manage to include most of my favourite live CBs in your medley.