20/20 The Life and Death of Robin Williams Special Full Episode.

At the 26:00 mark into this video, he refers to his charitable outreach efforts as the Buddhist gift and then says, "I would call it the Christian gift. . ." which is about giving back and being part of something greater than the self. Like many people who might identify as Christian, he never shied away from pointing out hypocrisy. How many big-talking conservative Americans actually went to Iraq or Afghanistan ? Though I was dimly aware that his mother got involved in "Christian Science" I admit that despite being a fan of Robin Williams since at least 1978 I was sure he was agnostic or an atheist. It is sad to find out in this context, after his death, he believed in " a loving God" as he says in that segment of this video, 26 minutes in. We can believe what we wish with the full power of our will and intuition, but if the mind/body chemistry is off it can end up driving the bus and obviously any one of us might be passengers in our own lives or deaths. It must also follow that we may not be in full control of our day-to-day plans and routines and choices to fully live life unless we can make sure our health is right and don't kid ourselves that we are totally in control. The unconscious mind, our food, our water intake, medications, the onset of an illness, our sleep, and our unwillingness to face weakness may together wrest control unless it is managed. People can be fickle. Moods can be fickle. If character is action, then Robin Williams confronted many demons from himself and others when he had control. Turns out his contracts for events even had a rider that insisted homeless people be hired and put to work during any show. Hopefully others carry that on.

Raspberry to the Raspberries

The Golden Raspberry Awards made a couple of "decisions" this year that were asinine.

They named Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as worst sequel, prequel or rip-off. So right away that kind of statement says they can't be watching very many movies.

They named The Love Guru as Worst movie of the year, when one of their other nominees was Disaster Movie - the hardest thing I've forced myself to sit through (and on-line, illegally, at that). The Love Guru isn't Austin Powers, but it is in no way what the headlines made it out to be.

I don't know how they decide their "nominees," but any member of their site can vote.

I went so far as to write an e-mail to John Wilson HeadRAZZberry@razzies.com to
point out their (admittedly obvious) core problem:

While anyone can vote, who exactly is a) paying to vote and b) dilligently sitting through the alleged worst movies of the year to determine in all fairness which they feel should be assessed as the worst of the worst?

And you know something, The Happening was a well made movie. It was dark and had something to say and presented disturbing ideas - but if like me you view the world's problems as mostly someone else' fault it has a welcome message.

This is not to say they are always wrong. But noting Ewe Boll as worst director is not something that requires a knack for that kind of observation. You read a blurb or a dozen polls that call him worst, see his movies tank, and there it is. But he doesn't exactly represent the Hollywood elite that the razzies claim to be making fun of.

If you do go to razzies.com, by the looks of some of the ads on their page I'd say make sure you have good spyware protection. It looks like their sponsors aren't exactly top drawer, nor the brilliant minds that frequent that site let alone pay to.

Consider the mentality of people who pay the following rates to participate in discussions at razzies.com and to vote:

Generic RAZZIE Member Rate – Just $25.00
• Annual RENEWAL Rate: JUST $20.00!!
F.O.G. (Friend of Golden RAZZberry) $50.00
• Put 4 Friends (or Yourself and 3 Friends!) on our RAZZIE Membership/Mailing List and SAVE 50% OFF Regular Rates (JUST $12.50 Per Person!)
RAZZberry Inner Sanctum – $75.00
• Acknowledgment in RAZZIE Program (if desired)
• Addition of Up to 6 Names to RAZZIE Membership/Mailing List
Berry Important Member – $100.00
• Acknowledgment in RAZZIE Program (or Guaranteed Anonymity, if desired)
• Addition of Up to 8 Names to RAZZIE Membership/Mailing List
Razzie Supporting Member – $250.00
• Add up to 25 NAMES of friends, co-workers, etc. to The RAZZIE Membership/Mailing List, PLUS: Acknowledgment in the RAZZIE Program (or Guaranteed Anonymity, if desired).
LIFETIME Membership – $500.00
• Add 55 NAMES of friends, co-workers, etc. to The RAZZIE Membership/Mailing List, Acknowledgment in the RAZZIE Program(or Guaranteed Anonymity, if desired)

C.C.L. about the Oscars

Combined with the fact that a non-comic is hosting this year, it doesn't look very interesting. Here is a list of things I couldn't care less about:

1. Best Picture: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon," "Milk," "The Reader," "Slumdog Millionaire."

2. Actor: Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"; Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"; Sean Penn, "Milk"; Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"; Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler."

3. Actress: Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"; Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"; Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"; Meryl Streep, "Doubt"; Kate Winslet, "The Reader."

4. Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, "Milk"; Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"; Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"; Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"; Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road."

5. Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "Doubt"; Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"; Viola Davis, "Doubt"; Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"; Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler."

6. Director: David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"; Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"; Gus Van Sant, "Milk"; Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"; Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire."

7. Foreign Film: "The Baader Meinhof Complex," Germany; "The Class," France; "Departures," Japan; "Revanche," Austria; "Waltz With Bashir," Israel.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"; John Patrick Shanley, "Doubt"; Peter Morgan, "Frost/Nixon"; David Hare, "The Reader"; Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire."

9. Original Screenplay: Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"; Mike Leigh, "Happy-Go-Lucky"; Martin McDonagh, "In Bruges"; Dustin Lance Black, "Milk"; Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, "WALL-E."

10. Animated Feature Film: "Bolt"; "Kung Fu Panda"; "WALL-E."

11. Art Direction: "Changeling," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Dark Knight," "The Duchess," "Revolutionary Road."

12. Cinematography: "Changeling," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Dark Knight," "The Reader," "Slumdog Millionaire."

13. Sound Mixing: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Dark Knight," "Slumdog Millionaire," "WALL-E," "Wanted."

14. Sound Editing: "The Dark Knight," "Iron Man," "Slumdog Millionaire," "WALL-E," "Wanted."

15. Original Score: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat; "Defiance," James Newton Howard; "Milk," Danny Elfman; "Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman; "WALL-E," Thomas Newman.

16. Original Song: "Down to Earth" from "WALL-E," Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman and Gulzar; "O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam.

17. Costume: "Australia," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Duchess," "Milk," "Revolutionary Road."

18. Documentary Feature: "The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)," "Encounters at the End of the World," "The Garden," "Man on Wire," "Trouble the Water."

19. Documentary (short subject): "The Conscience of Nhem En," "The Final Inch," "Smile Pinki," "The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306."

20. Film Editing: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Dark Knight," "Frost/Nixon," "Milk," "Slumdog Millionaire."

21. Makeup: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Dark Knight," "Hellboy II: The Golden Army."

22. Animated Short Film: "La Maison en Petits Cubes," "Lavatory — Lovestory," "Oktapodi," "Presto," "This Way Up."

23. Live Action Short Film: "Auf der Strecke (On the Line)," "Manon on the Asphalt," "New Boy," "The Pig," "Spielzeugland (Toyland)."

24. Visual Effects: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Dark Knight," "Iron Man."


That's the list. Yawn. I've actually seen many of them and no doubt the others are well done, but I just don't care. Here's what they left out:

25. Most Underrated: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.