SNL Highlights: Zach Galifinakis

Zach Galifinakis hosted his first SNL and I really hope he comes back to host again. Comedians usually have great episodes, since they are comfortable making fools of themselves, are used to the pressure of live shows, and have the timing down.  Below are the best skits of the night:

Opening Monologue:


This was the best opening monologue all season, and then some. A couple of my favorite lines:

"I like dark comedies, that's why I like the Wayans Bros."
"If you read my blog, you know I'm really into pilates. And by pilates, I mean waffles."

Great Grandpa's Funeral:

They did this skit before. I think with Ryan Reynolds and Abby Elliot? Although, this took it to a whole new level, particularly the coffin kiss.

Zach Drops By The Set:



Loved looking to see where/how he would show up. The L&O and 30 Rock bits were great, but the SNL moment with the little kid was the best.

Vampire Weekend!


This didn't air during the show, but Zach shaved his beard mid-show:

82nd Academy Award Predictions

The Oscars have finally arrived! They were delayed this year because of the Winter Olympics, and I'm so glad they've finally arrived. While the extra weeks of campaigning have helped the awareness of most titles, it has actually hurt The Hurt Locker's chances.

Below are the nominees:
Who I want to win
Who I think will win

Best Picture	Best Director
Avatar The Blind Side District 9 An Education The Hurt Locker Inglourious Basterds Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire A Serious Man Up Up in the Air	Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker James Cameron – Avatar Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Jason Reitman – Up in the Air Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Best Actor	Best Actress
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart as Bad Blake George Clooney – Up in the Air as Ryan Bingham Colin Firth – A Single Man as George Falconer Morgan Freeman – Invictus as Nelson Mandela Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker as Sgt. William James	Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side as Leigh Anne Tuohy Helen Mirren – The Last Station as Sofya Tolstoy Carey Mulligan – An Education as Jenny Miller Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire as Claireece "Precious" Jones Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia as Julia Child
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress
Matt Damon – Invictus as François Pienaar Woody Harrelson – The Messenger as Capt. Tony Stone Christopher Plummer – The Last Station as Leo Tolstoy Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones as George Harvey Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds as Col. Hans Landa	Penélope Cruz – Nine as Carla Albanese Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air as Alex Goran Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart as Jean Craddock Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air as Natalie Keener Mo'Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire as Mary Lee Johnston
Best Original Screenplay	Best Adapted Screenplay
The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino The Messenger – Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman A Serious Man – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Up – Tom McCarthy, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter	District 9 – Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell from Alive in Joburg by Blomkamp An Education – Nick Hornby from An Education by Lynn Barber In the Loop – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche from The Thick of It created by Iannucci Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire – Geoffrey Fletcher from Push by Sapphire Up in the Air – Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner from Up in the Air by Walter Kirn
Best Animated Feature	Best Foreign Language Film
Coraline – Henry Selick Fantastic Mr. Fox – Wes Anderson The Princess and the Frog – Ron Clements and John Musker The Secret of Kells – Tomm Moore Up – Pete Docter	Ajami (Israel) in Arabic and Hebrew – Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Argentina) in Spanish – Juan José Campanella The Milk of Sorrow (Peru) in Spanish and Quechua – Claudia Llosa Un Prophète (France) in French, Corsican and Arabic – Jacques Audiard The White Ribbon (Germany) in German – Michael Haneke

Best Original Score	Best Original Song
Avatar – James Horner Fantastic Mr. Fox – Alexandre Desplat The Hurt Locker – Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders Sherlock Holmes – Hans Zimmer Up – Michael Giacchino	"Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog – Randy Newman "Down in New Orleans" from The Princess and the Frog – Randy Newman "Loin de Paname" from Paris 36 – Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas "Take it All" from Nine – Maury Yeston "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from Crazy Heart – Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett

Who do you guys think will win?

Related Links:
Oscar the Grouch Oscar Picks
30 Years of Oscar Highlights in 3 Minutes

Chuck: Chuck's Secret

There's been a lot of buzz about this episode from film critics who got advance screeners. I can't wait to see how it all goes down!

Star Trek: How it Should Have Ended

Happy Friday! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. :)

Linkulous: Booze, 2012, Twitter Effect, and more!

Some of the more interesting articles I read this week: 

Millennials: The Workers of the Future?

Naps Boost Learning Capacity -who else thinks nap time should be come standard in all grades and the work force?

Chile Earthquake May Have Shortened Days on Earth - 2012 is coming!

Bringing New Understanding to the Director's Cut 

Scientists Create Hangover Free Booze 

10 Signs You Should Unfriend Someone on Facebook 

George Washington University: Our Bad! - that's one brutal mistake. Poor students!

Oh dear, who's killed film criticism this week? 

How Lionsgate Plans to Take on 'Twitter Effect' for 'Kick-Ass' 

5 Reasons Lost's Parallel Universe is a Waste of Time - I hate to say it, but I kind of agree with this.