Finally, a Best Films/TV of 2015 list.

Films in no specific order:
BEASTS OF NO NATION
CAROL
SPOTLIGHT
AMY
WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE?
INSIDE OUT
BROOKLYN
THE BIG SHORT
LOVE AND MERCY
THE REVENANT
STEVE JOBS
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
ROOM
TRAINWRECK
Honorable Mention: TRUTH, 99 HOMES, THE END OF THE TOUR, JOY, WHILE WE'RE YOUNG, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, CREED, MERU, CALL ME LUCKY

Series/Miniseries TV in no particular order:
TRANSPARENT
LOOKING Season 2
UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT
MAKING A MURDERER
WOLF HALL
SHOW ME A HERO
Honorable Mention: THE JINX, ASH VS EVIL DEAD, AMERICAN CRIME Season 1, HOUSE OF CARDS Season 3

Daniel Nester's cringeworthy poetry open-mike etiquette post.

http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2015/11/20-things-not-to-do-at-an-open-poetry-reading-by-daniel-nester.html

The above counts as poets--most of them having separated themselves sufficiently from allegedly less-talented companions--still eager to eat their own.

But, of course, with alleged humor.

The Motion Picture Academy tries to rise above its limitations.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has entered Consecutive Year Two of all-white acting nominations--mentioned quite a bit in the last few days.  And, of course, there's the noticeable failure to recognize independent films not distributed by major studios/studio-run specialty units; this includes Netflix's BEASTS OF NO NATION, Spike Lee's Amazon-backed CHI-RAQ and Roadside Attractions' Brian Wilson biopic LOVE AND MERCY.

Let's take a brief look at the nomination process:

Excerpted from Wikipedia's "Academy Awards" article:

In late December ballots and copies of the Reminder List of Eligible Releases are mailed to around 6,000 active members. For most categories, members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees only in their respective categories (i.e. only directors vote for directors, writers for writers, actors for actors, etc.). In all major categories, voters use an instant run-off voting ballot, with potential nominees rewarded in the single transferable vote tally for having strong supporters who rank them first.^[34] There are some exceptions in the case of certain categories, like Foreign Film, Documentary and Animated Feature Film, in which movies are selected by special screening committees made up of members from all branches. In the special case of Best Picture, all voting members are eligible to select the nominees for that category. Foreign films must include English subtitles, and each country can submit only one film per year.^[35]

The winners are then determined by a second round of voting in which all members are then allowed to vote in most categories, including Best Picture.^[36]

Thanks in part to the #OscarsSoWhite protests, the Academy recently announced some "we hear you, but we're moving at our own pace" attempts at correction.

http://www.businessinsider.com/who-votes-for-oscars-2016-1

But, as noted by Michael Cieply in THE NEW YORK TIMES--

"....action on possible changes to Oscar balloting was deferred for later consideration."

Likely results of the Academy's wake-up call:

1. Fearful grumbling (with various degrees of racial prejudice exhibited) from rank-and-file Academy members uncomfortable with being pushed into Emeritus no-voting status by not working/not being an Oscar nominee/winner.

2. The number of Best Picture nominees may be set at ten every year, instead of the current "anywhere between five and ten pictures."  This may be the most notable nod to expanding racial diversity and acknowledging popular commercial films (the Academy has done some backsliding on the latter).

3. Unlike what Tom O'Neil of GOLD DERBY proposed recently (a dramatic increase in the number of Academy members), the current Status Quo will only see slight alterations--with future protests being countered with the "we'll get it done by 2020" Academy talking point.

My David Bowie playlist 1969-1980.

1. Space Oddity
2. Ziggy Stardust
3. Rebel Rebel
4. Life On Mars?
5. Starman
6. Suffragette City
7. Fame
8. Young Americans
9.  Imagination
10. Station To Station
11. TVC15
12. Golden Years
13. Sound + Vision
14. Heroes
15. DJ
16. Look Back In Anger
17. Boys Keep Swinging
18. Fashion
19. Scary Monsters
20. Ashes To Ashes

The Glenn Frey playlist--Eagles and solo.

1. Take It Easy
2. Peaceful Easy Feeling
3. Best Of My Love
4. Lyin' Eyes
5. Tequila Sunrise
6. New Kid In Town
7. Smugglers Blues
8. The Heat Is On
9. You Belong To The City
10. Soul Searching
11. Part Of Me, Part Of You

THE NEW YORKER's Richard Brody on the Academy's lack of love for comedy.

Beyond the allegations of racism and rewarding Brand Names for Serious Intentions (Steven Spielberg's BRIDGE OF SPIES doesn't belong on the Best Picture Nominations list), there's the issue of comedy being largely ignored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Richard Brody discusses the "comedy doesn't show enough effort/gravitas/Serious Intentions" attitude of the Academy in his NEW YORKER article "The Baffling 2016 Oscar Nominees."

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-2016-oscar-nominees

Excerpt:
"The Best Director nominations go to three showy filmmakers (Adam McKay, George Miller, and Alejandro González Iñárritu) and two nearly invisible ones (Tom McCarthy and Lenny Abrahamson). McKay had the oddest inspiration of the five. He applied the freewheeling loopiness of his comedies (notably “Anchorman”) to a political subject, proving once more that comedy gets no respect—most significantly, in the absence of any nominations for “Trainwreck.” Outside of the oddball interpolations of star announcers in “The Big Short,” there’s hardly a giggle or a guffaw in any of the Best Picture nominees. (Leonardo DiCaprio gave one of the greatest comic performances in recent years in “The Wolf of Wall Street”; he’ll likely win an Oscar for his relentlessly grim grind through “The Revenant.”) Comedy that the Academy feels comfortable taking seriously, comedy that comes trademarked as topical—that’s what the members watch on TV or streaming. It’s exactly why the revitalization of big-screen comedy—a job that Judd Apatow took on a decade ago and is attempting all over again—is tougher than ever."

Facebook commenter on Donald Trump's appeal.

From commenter Ryan Hartman re a Facebook post by Patton Oswalt on the likelihood of a Donald Trump fade after last night's GOP debate:

Trump has one dangerous weapon in that he is unapologetic. And that appeals to a lot of people. This idea that the individual is greater than the whole nowadays is terrifying. Where you can't say or do anything because one person somewhere might take offense.

When did personal offense become the worst thing in the world?

Well he doesn't give half a shit. And he spews insane garbage, but he's ballsy enough not to care who complains about it. It's probably the one thing that you have to tip your hat towards.

Still, he was only ever a bear on a unicycle. The media reported on him because he's saying crazy shit. The volume of shit escalated the volume of reporting, and all of the sudden we turned around and thought he was popular just because he was always on the news - but he was popular in the way a 10 car pile up is popular.

Sure, we all stop and look at it, but it doesn't mean we liked it.

Predicting several 2016 Academy Award winners.

BEST PICTURE: THE MARTIAN
BEST ACTOR: Leonardo DiCaprio, THE REVENANT
BEST ACTRESS: Brie Larson, ROOM
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Sylvester Stallone, CREED (or, if an upset occurs: Mark Ruffalo, SPOTLIGHT)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Alicia Vikander, THE DANISH GIRL
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, THE REVENANT
BEST DIRECTOR: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, THE REVENANT
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: INSIDE OUT
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: THE LOOK OF SILENCE
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: SON OF SAUL
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: SPOTLIGHT
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: THE BIG SHORT

RIP David Bowie.

After the news of David Bowie's passing from cancer at age 69 was announced, I turned to the CNN International broadcast where the anchors (and one young employee of THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER) were engaging in "what Bowie meant to me" ruminations

Like a lot of middle-class people in my generation, I was aware of David Bowie in the 1970s (particularly "Fame.""Golden Years" and hearing the DAVID LIVE version of "Changes" on a friend's 8-track car stereo), but my true entry point was in the fall of 1980 when he livened up the generally rock-allergic THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON by performing "Life On Mars" and "Ashes To Ashes" from the then-new SCARY MONSTERS.

Nearly three years later, in an age that reinstated suit-and-tie conservatism, I embraced the bleached-blonde "normal" Bowie and the Nile Rodgers-produced LET'S DANCE.

Fast forward to the fall of 2014 when (with more knowledge of Bowie's music--plus having attended the Shrine Auditorium show on what was to be his final concert tour) my wife Valarie and I had the opportunity to see the DAVID BOWIE IS... museum exhibition in Chicago.

The exhibit, among other things, helped to underline Bowie's stick-to-it work ethic--after all, it took at least five years of trial and error before the breakthrough of SPACE ODDITY in 1969.

I haven't yet heard all of the now-final album BLACKSTAR.  But I do appreciate that, near the end, Bowie was still willing to challenge himself musically, confident that numerous generations of passionate fans would take time to listen and be engaged by his artistry.

Some sights and sounds of 1966.

BATMAN 1966--The Batusi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsYA8Gr5NTY
THE GREEN HORNET--Opening Credits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIwsqFjfKPs
THE BEATLES--Tomorrow Never Knows Vincent Garnier Remix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0iJbcBtR3U
THE CHASE trailer (Brando/Redford/Jane Fonda/E.G. Marshall)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a4MR7qcTzI
THE WILD ANGELS trailer (Peter Fonda/Nancy Sinatra/Bruce Dern)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIwMluO8zRs
Stanley Kubrick interviewed by Jeremy Berstein
https://vimeo.com/3589811
Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein 1966
https://vimeo.com/27373410
SIMON AND GARFUNKEL--I Am A Rock
https://vimeo.com/100299891
THE WHO--Substitute French TV 1966
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ojc5Z-8Mdk
OTIS REDDING--Stax Tour 1966
https://vimeo.com/25960595
THE MONKEES--Last Train To Clarksville
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcXpKiY2MXE
THE BYRDS--Eight Miles High
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoSwOrytf_M
THE SUPREMES--Guest appearance on THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RabQLuj4N8
THE BEACH BOYS--Sloop John B Promo film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSAoEf1Ib58
CILLA BLACK--For No One
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMXai67rESY
SECONDS trailer (Rock Hudson/John Randolph/Will Geer)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-vmD-vhh4I
BLOW UP trailer (David Hemmings/Vanessa Redgrave)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrJ9U75OZOw
BOB DYLAN--Like A Rolling Stone Live in England May 17, 1966
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3_qfMaAWak