A Star is Reborn: My Top 25 Songs performed by Lady Gaga

Something that you may know about me is that I LOVE Lady Gaga. I have now seen her 5 times in concert and have been anticipating the opening of her first starring role in "A Star is Born" since the day they showed the first trailer and announced the opening date. In anticipation of seeing that movie next week, the dropping of her new song "Shallow", and the release of the soundtrack next Friday, here are 25 favorite Lady Gaga songs that are pre "A Star is Born"

25. Til It Happens to You- This song was Lady Gaga's first but probably not last Oscar nomination. She lost to an inferior James Bond song by Sam Smith.

24. The Cure- a surprisingly upbeat song considering it is for Lady Gaga's close friend who was dying and has sense died of cancer. 

23. Million Reasons- The finale to her big Super Bowl performance

22. Venus- This song is not loved by everyone, but I like the campy space age vibe to it.

21. Donatella- Another camp favorite from the underrated, in my opinion, Artpop album. 

20. A-yo: Perhaps the most danceable song on Gaga's Joanne album

19.  Judas-the video with Darryl from The Walking Dead in it

18. The Edge of Glory- This wasn't one of my favorites when it came out, but it definitely has grown on me

17. Boys Boys Boys: One of her few non hits off her first album that doesn't fill like album filler. It is a lot of fun. 

16. Dance in the Dark: Another early non hit. It reminds me of Madonna's Vogue, but it is basically about dead people. 

15. Telephone: A collaboration of two of the greatest modern pop artists. 

14.  Joanne: Another song that grew on me. i especially like the more piano driven acoustic version. 

13. Scheibe- She will always have some songs that compare to Madonna even if their careers have taken different paths. This one reminds me of Rescue Me by Madonna

12. Bloody Mary- Born This Way is my favorite album of hers. It has so many great songs. This is one of them. 

11.  Dope- This was one of the standouts on Artpop which is unfortunately considered a flop. 

And now my top 10 Lady Gaga songs!

10.  Diamond Heart- Some of the best songs on Joanne were not the singles. Including this one. 

9. Love Game: Thanks for giving us disco stick as a new vocabulary word. 

8. Grigio Girls- The best song off of the Joanne album

7. You and I- My love for this song always depends on the version. I prefer the piano version over the Shania Twained up radio version. 

6. Hair- Another great empowerment anthem off of Born This Way

5. Born This Way: The best song off of the best overall album. One of the most earnestly pro queer songs to ever become a huge hit. 

4. Just Dance; The song that started it all is also one of her true classics. 

3. Gypsy: The best song off Artpop. If it had been the first single it might have been a bigger hit. This is my ultimate travel song. 

2. Paparazzi- That video. Those sunglasses and Alexander Skarsgard

1. Bad Romance- An obvious choice but a worthy one. Lady Gaga was obviously influenced by Queen and this is her Bohemian Rhapsody

My Favorites of the 2017/18 TV Season- My winners now included!

I watch a lot of TV! Here are my favorites of the last television season.

Best Supporting Actress in A Comedy Series

Zazie Beetz Atlanta

Alex Borstein The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel-WINNER

Donna Lynne Champlin Crazy ex Girlfriend

Jenifer Lewis blackish

Laurie Metcalf Roseanne

Natasha Rothwell Insecure

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Joseph Fiennes The Handmaid’s Tale

David Harbour Stranger Things

Justin Hartley This is Us

Noah Schnapp Stranger Things

Holt McCallany Mindhunter-WINNER

Richard Schiff The Good Doctor

Best Supporting Actress in a Mini Series, TV Movie or Special

Sara Bareilles Jesus Chris Superstar

Penelope Cruz American Crime Story- The Assassination of Gianni Versace

Laura Dern Twin Peaks

Nicole Kidman Top of the Lake: China Girl

Judith Light American Crime Story- The Assassination of Gianni Versace-WINNER

Naomi Watts Twin Peaks

Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Cameron Britton Mindhunter-WINNER

Ron Cephas Brown This is Us

Joseph Cross Mindhunter

O.T. Fagbenle The Handmaid’s Tale

David Haig Killing Eve

Gerald McRaney This is Us

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Tituss Burgess Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt

Daniel Levy Schitt’s Creek-WINNER

Tony Shalhoub The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Bryan Tyree Henry Atlanta

Henry Winkler Barry

Zach Woods Silicon Valley

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Alexis Bledel The Handmaid’s Tale

Ann Dowd The Handmaid’s Tale

Domique Fishback The Deuce

Susan Kelechi Watson This is Us

Chrissy Metz This is Us

Yvonne Strahovski The Handmaid’s Tale-WINNER

Best Supporting Actor in Mini Series, TV Movie or Special.

Brandon Victor Dixon Jesus Christ Superstar

Cody Fern American Crime Story- The Assassination of Gianni Versace-WINNER

Edgar Ramirez American Crime Story- The Assassination of Gianni Versace

Jason Ritter The Tale

Jimmi Simpson Black Mirror: USS Callister

Finn Wittrock American Crime Story- The Assassination of Gianni Versace

Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

Vanessa Bayer Will & Grace

Anne Bedian Roseanne

Tovah Feldshuh Crazy Ex Girlfriend

Jane Lynch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel-WINNER

Laurie Metcalf Big Bang Theory

Molly Shannon Will & Grace

Best Episode of a Drama Series

Episode 10 Mindhunter

God, I’m Tired  Killing Eve-WINNER

June The Handmaid’s Tale

Number Three This is US

Smart Power The Handmaid’s Tale

This Big, Amazing, Beautiful Life This is Us

Best Reality Show

Queer Eye-WINNER

Rupaul’s Drag Race

Shark Tank

Survivor

Top Chef

Best Episode of a Comedy Series

Chapter IV Dear White People

FUBU Atlanta

I Never Want to see Josh Again Crazy Ex Girlfriend-WINNER

Know Your Truth Barry

Pilot The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

R-E-S-P-E-C-T blackish

Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Joy Brunson This is Us

Kate Burton Scandal

Viola Davis Scandal

Cherry Jones The Handmaid’s Tale

Marisa Tomei The Handmaid’s Tale

Samira Wiley The Handmaid’s Tale-WINNER

Best Lead Actor in A Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson blackish

Iain Armitage Young Sheldon

Donald Glover Atlanta

John Goodman Roseanne-WINNER

Bill Hader Barry

Matt Leblanc Episodes

Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Jodie Comer Killing Eve

Maggie Gyllenhaal The Deuce

Laura Linney Ozark

Mandy Moore This Is Us

Elizabeth Moss The Handmaid’s Tale-WINNER

Sandra Oh Killing Eve

Best Lead Actor in a Mini Series, TV Movie or Special

Darren Criss American Crime Story- The Assassination of Gianni Versace-WINNER

John Legend Jesus Christ Superstar

Kyle McLachlan Twin Peaks

Al Pacino Paterno

Evan Peters American Horror Story- Cult

Jesse Plemons Black Mirror: USS Callister

Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

Alec Baldwin Will & Grace

Daveed Diggs blackish

Chris Messina The Mindy Project

Nick Offerman Will & Grace

Robert S Powell Atlanta

Wallace Shawn The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel-WINNER

Best Lead Actress in a Mini Series, TV Movie or Special

Laura Dern The Tale-WINNER

Anna Deveare Smith Notes form the Field

Rosemary Dewitt Black Mirror: Archangel

Elizabeth Moss Top of the Lake: China Girl

Cristin Milioti Black Mirror: USS Callister

Sarah Paulson American Horror Story- Cult

Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman Ozark

Sterling K Brown This is Us-WINNER

James Franco The Deuce

Jonathan Groff Mindhunter

Freddie Highmore The Good Doctor

Milo Ventimiglia This is Us

Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Rachel Bloom Crazy Ex Girlfriend

Rachel Brosnahan Marvelous Mrs. Maisel-WINNER

Logan Browning Dear White People

Tracey Ellis Ross blackish

Catherine O’Hara Schitt’s Creek

Issa Rae Insecure

Best Mini Series, TV Movie or Special

American Crime Story- The Assassination of Gianni Versace-WINNER

American Horror Story- Cult

Black Mirror: USS Callister

Jesus Christ Superstar

The Tale

Twin Peaks

Best Comedy Series

Barry

Blackish

Crazy ex Girlfriend

Dear White People

Insecure

Marvelous Mrs. Maisel-WINNER

Schitt’s Creek

Best Drama Series

The Deuce

The Handmaid’s Tale-WINNER

Killing Eve

Mindhunter

Rise

Stranger Things

This Is Us

I'll Watch "Roseanne" if I want to

Some of my progressive, open minded friends have a LOT to say about Roseanne Barr and her show this week. It's as if since the March For Your Life marches are over, they need something new to be outraged about. To which i say, please keep being outraged by gun violence!.

Look, I get it.  The anger toward Trump in 2016 getting elected isn't going away, and every day it becomes less and less about "our person not winning" and more and more about "the worst possible person in all of humanity won" So yeah, I am angry at people who voted for Trump (like Roseanne the non fiction person) and still support his "policies" (like Roseanne the non fiction person). Honestly, I mostly avoid any kind of conversation or interaction at all with family or friends who I know voted for Trump. There is definitely some sort of Civil War going on in our country right now that doesn't as of yet involve a war level of gun fire and blood shed.

BUT I am equally angry and some of my liberal friends who are usually on my team, but who voted for Jill Stein or wrote in Bernie or worst of all did not vote at all. They are just as responsible for the Trump presidency as any one who DID vote for him. Those people have joining our parades NOW, but they don't get a free pass. At least not with me.

So with all that anger going around, is lecturing people on how they shouldn't be watching a TV show really a battle you want to fight?

It isn't for me. I should also tell you that I don't like when people tell me what to do. So if you lecture me to do something, it will most likely have the opposite effect. If my parents were alive, you can ask them. They know this well. And while I express my strong opinions about many many things out of my mouth and on social media, I try very hard not to tell people what to do. I try to lay out the facts, and if people make stupid choices despite that then so be it. I say I try to do this, so if you ever see or hear differently please call me out on my BS.

But I digress. So getting back to "Roseanne". "Roseanne" is perhaps my favorite comedy show of all time. So I was always going to watch the reboot of "Roseanne" since the day it was announced into existence, but I REALLY REALLY was going to watch it after some of my very "progressive thinking" friends willed me not to watch it.  That's just what I do. I kind of like doing my own thinking.

It's funny that Roseanne is getting called out by liberals because of her politics because back when it was on long ago, it was getting called out by conservatives. My mother, who leaned conservative, hated it for the reasons I liked it. I liked it because no TV program is ever going to show a 100% percent realistic family, but for me Roseanne was the closest I had ever seen and I still believe that to be true.

So yes the actress who plays Roseanne is infuriating to people for many reasons. Right now she is infuriating to liberal minded people (including myself) because she voted and supports Trump, but she used to infuriate conservatives because of her treatment of their sacred national anthem. Roseanne has always been a rabble rouser  or a pot stirrer. Being a bit of a pot stirrer myself, i have always liked that about her even when I don't agree with her (and that is fairly often).

Separating the artist and the art is always tricky. It is something I have struggled with with a lot of Woody Allen movies among other things. But in this case Roseanne may be on to something. She voted for the same person that 46% of voters also voted for.  So she wasn't alone in that vote, but she realized how polarized this country is and now she is making a statement about that on her show. I was interested to see how the reboot  would address our 2018 reality, and i am really pleased with what she did. Her show is not pro Trump as some have said. One character being pro something doesn't make the whole show pro something. My guess is that more of her writers and actors on the show did not vote for Trump than did  and that opposite point of view is certainly more than represented on the show that I watched last night.

The other thing besides the family aspect of Roseanne that I have always appreciated is the way her show takes on issues that other shows won't usually touch. And not just that,  but her show takes on these issues in a very gray way. What I mean is as humans we like things to be black or white. Art is often either pro this or against that. Gray is uncomfortable for most people. But " Roseanne" has always dealt with issues in a gray way. The show puts the issues out there but doesn't do our thinking for us. So whether or not I agree with a character's point of view on her show I appreciate that it wasn't just one viewpoint that was shoved down my throat like I see in a lot of other artistic expression.

I like that. We need more of tha--t especially now. So yeah, if you don't like Roseanne and don't want to watch her show. HAVE AT IT. But I can and will watch "Roseanne" if I want to .

At long last!! My favorites in 2017 film!

The Oscars were about a month ago, and I am pretty much caught up on anything that I want to see (or in some cases didn’t want to see) from 2017.

I will give my favorite choice of any category that I Have listed with more than one person or movie at a later date.

Here are some areas where I just outright chose my favorite!

Best Animated Film: Coco
Best Use of Sound in A Film: Dunkirk
Best Hair styling in a Film: I, Tonya
Best Make up in a Film: Wonder
Best Documentary Film:  Strong  Island
Best Production Design: The Shape Of Water
Best Visual Effects in a Film: Okja
Best Editing in a Film: Dunkirk
Best Foreign Language Film: A Fantastic Woman    Chile

The rest of the categories will have 5 choices except for Best Picture which will have ten.

My 5 favorite performances by a Supporting Male Actor were:
Armie Hammer Call Me By Your Name
Richard Jenkins The Shape Of Water
Jason Mitchell Mudbound
Ray Romano The Big Sick
Michael Stuhlbarg Call Me By Your Name -BEST OF 2017


Best Cinematography
Call Me by Your Name
Dunkirk- BEST OF 2017
The Florida Project
Mudbound
The Shape Of Water

Best Costume Design
Beauty and the Beast
I, Tonya
Phantom Thread- BEST OF 2017
The Post
The Shape Of Water

My 5 favorite performances by a Female Actor I’m a Supporting Role Were:
Mary J Blige Mudbound
Holly Hunter The Big Sick
Allison Janney I, Tonya
Laurie Metcalf  Lady Bird- BEST OF 2017
Octavia Spencer The Shape Of Water

Best Original Music Score in a Film:


Dunkirk
Mudbound- BEST OF 2017
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape Of Water

Best Original Song in a Film
Evermore Beauty and the Beast
Mighty River Mudbound
Mystery of Love Call Me By Your Name-BEST OF 2017
This is Me The Greatest Showman
Tightrope The Greatest Showman

Best Adapted Screenplay
All the Money in the World
Call Me By Your Name- BEST OF 2017
The Disaster Artist
Mudbound
Wonder Woman

Best Original Screenplay
The Big Sick- BEST OF 2017
I, Tonya
Lady Bird
The Post
The Shape Of Water

Best Direction of a Film:
Guillermo del Toro The Shape Of Water
Greta Gerwig Lady Bird -BEST OF 2017
Luca Guadagnino Call Me By Your Name
Dee Rees Mudbound
Steven Spielberg The Post

My favorite Lead Performances by a Female Actor were:
Margot Robbie I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan Lady Bird- BEST OF 2017
Meryl Streep The Post
Daniela Vega A Fantastic Woman
Michelle Williams All the Money in the World

My favorite Lead Performances by a Male Actor were:
Timothée  Chalamet Call My By Your Name - BEST OF 2017
James Franco The Disaster Artist

Jake Gyllenhaal Stronger
Daniel Kaluuya Get Out
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart BPM

And the Ten Best Films Of 2017 were:
10. The Florida Project
9.  Dunkirk
8.  Wonder Woman
7.  A Fantastic Woman
6. the Shape Of Water
5. The Post
4.  Mudbound
3. the Big Sick
2. Call Me By Your Name

And the Best Film  of 2017 is

Lady Bird

In Summary
Coco- Best Animated Film
Strong Island- Best Documentary
Okja- Best Visual effects
Wonder- Best Make Up
I, Tonya- Best Hairstyling
Shape of Water- Best Set Direction
Phantom Thread- Best Costumes
A Fantastic Woman- Best Foreign Film
Mudbound- Best Original Score
The Big Sick- best Original Screenplay
Dunkirk- Best Use Of Sound, Editing, and Cinemotography
Call Me By Your Name- Best Original Song, Best Supporting Male Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Lead Male Actor
Lady Bird- Best Supporting Female Actor, Best Director, Best Lead Female Actress and Best Film

Onto great films in 2018!

My predictions for the winners of the 90th Academy Awards

I am definitely kind of blah about his years Oscars. To be honest, most of the "predicted" winners are not my thing. The acting winners are most likely set and with one exception I wouldn't have even voted to nominate any of them. I actually thought about skipping them this year because I thought I was not going to be getting up super early for work on Monday morning. But that was never really going to happen since I have watched every year since 1983. I have had a good run the past few years with lots of my favorites winning, so this will just not be my year. So I will watch to see if my predictions are correct, see if Kobe Bryant becomes an Oscar winner (it's very possible) and see if Warren and Faye mess everything up again (not going to happen).

Here are my predicted winners for this year's Oscars.

Best Picture: Three Billboards Outside Ebbings, Missouri. Tiri

This is the big question mark of the night. I think it is Billboards vs Share of Water. Some are predicting Get Out, but I just do not see it. I am not a fan of Ebbings, Missouri. I think it is a mess that is sometimes mildly entertaining. I hope my prediction is not correct. It will be the worst Best Picture win since Crash.

I will stand up and cheer if the winner is: Lady Bird or Call Me By Your Name

Best Director:  Guillermo del Toro  Shape of Water
I will stand up and cheer if the winner is: Greta Gerwig Lady Bird

Best Actress: Frances McDormand TBOEM
I will stand up and cheer if the winner is: Saoirse Ronan Lady Bird

Best Actor: Gary Oldman The Darkest Hour
I will stand up and cheer if the winner is: Timothee Chalamet Call Me By Your Name

Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney I, Tonya
I will stand up and cheer is the winner is: Laurie Metcalf Lady Bird

Best Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell TBOEM
I will stand up and cheer if the winner is: Eh. The best supporting actor isn't even nominated, but it would be cool if  Richard Jenkins won.

Best Original Screenplay: Three Billboards Outside Ebbings Missouri
I will stand up and cheer if the winner is : Big Sick or Lady Bird

Best Adapted Screenplay: Call Me By Your Name
I will stand up and cheer if the winner is: I'm good with this one!


Animated Feature: Coco
Animated Short: Dear Basketball
Cinematography: Blade Runner 2049
Documentary Feature: Icarus
Documentary Short: Heroin(e)
Live Action Short: Dekalb Elementary
Foreign Language Film: A Fantastic Woman Chile
Editing: Dunkirk
Sound Editing: Dunkirk
Sound Mixing: Dunkirk
Production Design: Shape of Water
Original Score: Shape of Water
Original Song: This is Me The Greatest Showman
Makeup and Hair: The Darkest Hour
Costume Design: Phantom Thread
Visual Effects: Blade Runner 2049

Ranking (most of) the Pixar films. Updated Sept 2018

Pixar has had a pretty amazing run of high quality animated films with a few minor bumps along the way. A couple nights ago I watched  the soon to be Academy Award winning Coco which is Pixar's 19th film. Pixar has slowly moved into representing lead characters who are minorities (Coco's characters are all Mexican) and women (Brave was the first Pixar film with a female "human" lead character).  While representation has increased, the last few years have been a little rough for the company as they have abandoned creating a lot of unique original stories for sure to be money making sequels. Below is the list of how I would rank most of their films (because frankly there are a couple I am not going to bother with).

Ranking the Pixar Films

N/A Cars 2 and 3 and Monster University.

I watch a lot of movies, so I am not going to waste my time watching sequels to films that originally underwhelmed me. That being said.....

17  Cars: While it is shiny and colorful,  it seems to only exists to sell toys to little boys and girls. Paul Newman's character is the one bit of heart in a film that needs more of it. 

16. Monster's Inc: That year was the year of monster animated films and Shrek deservedly wins the Oscar and is the better movie. I liked the idea of this film being about a young girl who befriends the monsters in her room that she is initially afraid of. But it depends a lot on Billy Crystal's schtick and for me a little Billy Chrystal schtick goes a long way. 

15.  The Good Dinosaur: This is one that everyone forgets exists. 2015 was the only year ever that Pixar released two original non sequel films. One was Inside Out. This one had the unenviable task of following that film. It isn't a bad film. The animation is good, but the story about a dinosaur is thin and had been done better years ago with the non Disney Pixar film The Land Before Time. 

14. Finding Dory: Dory, voiced by Ellen Degeneres, was the scene stealing sidecick in Finding Nemo. So why not give that character the lead of a movie? It was amazingly successful, but usually the sidekick is a sidekick for a reason and that is the case here. It is missing a lot of the heart and feels of the original 

13. A Bug's Life: We waited a few years after Toy Story for another Pixar movie. The world of insects was an interesting choice to animate , and this was ultimately an entertaining movie but it is also pretty forgettable. 

12. Wall-E- I know ! I know! People who love Wall-E, love it. And I certainly admire the film for its purpose and for getting much less kid friendly than the films that preceded it. But perhaps I have a child's attention span because I was pretty bored overall by this mostly dialogue free story. 

11. Brave: I was very excited for Merida and her red wavy hair to be the star of the first female character led Pixar film. But aside from that, the story is just good but also expected when i wanted it to be and expected it to be great for what was supposed to be a pioneer for the company.

10. The Incredibles 2- while still a very entertaining movie, this doesn’t feel special anymore after years and years of comic book movies.  What was fresh and new with the original just feels typical now.  

9. Coco: The top 9, for me, are definitely at a much higher level of quality than the bottom 7, so some may think Coco is a bit low here. It was a fun entertaining colorful historical animated film with a really lovely ending. I enjoyed it a lot, and I appreciate the diversity brought by this films, but  that
should tell you that the top 8 of this list is pretty amazing. 

8. Up: Up has one of the very best scenes of any Pixar film or maybe even any film in general with its opening scene. However, the rest of the film had to live up to that and while the story about a young boy's friendship with an elderly man is enjoyable, it never quite lives up to that first scene. 

7. Toy Story 3: When it was announced that in Toy Story 3, Andy would be going off to college and was going to give up his toys, I was expecting a heartbreaker. And for many people it was. But perhaps I am dead inside, but I wanted a little but more emotional heft. I wish this was the last time they were going to the Toy Story because they had a great run. But alas Toy Story 4 is on its way. 

6. Finding Nemo:  Many Pixar films have explored the relationships between the younger generation and the older generation, and Finding Nemo may do that the best and deepest while still being entertaining for the kids. 

5. The Incredibles: Pixar does its own version of comic book movies, and its characters are more interesting and the movie itself is more entertaining that most anything that Marvel and DC puts out on the screen. 

4. Toy Story: Don't faint. Usually this one is everyone's number one and that is partly because it is the first, and everyone remembers the first time they saw this and experienced Pixar's game changing animation. I won't even argue that it isn't great and that it isn't a classic. But we are getting to Sophie's choice here and #4 in a list of mostly great movies is nothing to sneeze about. 

3. Ratatouille: This is the one I love more than most people who make these lists. It is also the one I should hate. If there is anything in this world I am afraid of it is a rodent, and if there is anything that disgusts me is the idea of a rat in the kitchen. So Pixar is genius to get me to love a rat who lives to be a chef. Peter O'Toole's character is also a gem and Patton Oswalt is great as Remy the rat. This has to be near the top of all food themed films as well. 

2. Toy Story 2: Most purists will always say that the original Toy Story is the best, but for me Toy Story 2 is the rare sequel that outdoes the original . This film introduced a much needed main female character that didn't play into stereotypes in Jesse the cowgirl. She also happens to be one of the best characters Pixar created thanks to Joan Cusack's voice work, and the heart breaking scene where her kid dumps her to the tune of one of the most underrated movie songs "When She Loved Me" by Sarah Mclachlan. This one also introduces audiences to Stinky Pete, and  I can thanks this movie for giving me one of my favorite nicknames for kids I know and my pets. 

1. Inside Out: Most people think only a Toy Story movie can be at the top of one of these lists. But Inside Out blew me away with its ambition of being about what is going on in a child's mind. And unlike Wall-E which was also very ambitious this one actually pulls off being a funny and heart breaking movie thanks especially to its perfectly cast "feeling" characters lead by Amy Poehler.  Honestly, in the end for me there wasn't even a debate. Inside Out is the best Pixar movie made so far and also one of the best films ever made period.