Now That The Oscars Are Over...

...I can finally start talking about important things again, such as the return of "Mad Men" on March 25. The show has been on hiatus for almost two years ago, and that unbearably long time almost made me forget how great this show is. "Breaking Bad" has taken over the spotlight as AMC's best show, but one does not simply forget about "Mad Men."

I bring this up because today, a very provocative teaser poster was revealed for the next season. Usually, teasers don't mean much to me, but "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner can brilliantly tell the story of the entire upcoming season in just one image. From what I can tell, we will be entering a much less sheltered era. Things will become much more exposed, including Don Draper (Jon Hamm) himself. Weiner ambiguously says that by the end of this season, we will know what the show is really about. This fifth season could be the show's best one yet. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves yet. For now, take a look at the new poster. Discuss:

Read more over at The New York Times.

Oscars 2012 Wrap Up: Let the Dog Speak

And now, I conclude my incessant takeover of your Social Media newsfeeds with my very last blog post of awards season. As predicted, "The Artist" took home the top prize and a few more. Most surprisingly, Meryl Streep beat out Viola Davis for Best Actress, because apparently people were outraged that she only won two. Most disappointingly, George Clooney lost Best Actor to Jean Dujardin. I have respect for Mr. Dujardin and he gave a great performance, but his transformation was nothing like Clooney's.

For now, Clooney will just have to live with the fact that he's George Clooney.

The Oscars: The Drinking Game

Given my age, I cannot officially endorse any drinking of any sort. So I will say that this game is for the 21+ readers out there (or if you are overseas, 12+ most likely). If you're underage, then I guess you'll just have to have a fun night with grape juice or something. Use your imagination. Many people have made Oscar drinking games in the past, but I would like to think that mine is at least slightly original. Here are the cues to drink. Feel free to add in any of your own: 

• Billy Crystal makes a joke about how old Christopher Plummer is. 
• Sean Penn addresses a humanitarian crisis.
• A montage honoring old movies.
• A montage honoring a bunch of movies that came out in the past year that nobody liked but still get a mention at the Oscars anyway. 
• In their acceptance speech, an award winner tells their kids watching at home to "go to bed." 
• Someone makes a joke about George Clooney.
• George Clooney says something really funny and charming.
• George Clooney makes a reference to a humanitarian crisis or a political cause in his acceptance speech.
• Someone makes a joke about Meryl Streep.
• Someone appears on stage in a "War Horse" costume.
• A dance number dedicated to silent movies.
• Someone makes a joke about how many movies Ryan Gosling has been in this year.
• Sean Penn goes on stage saying the previous joke about Ryan Gosling wasn't funny, and that he is a talented and valued actor.
• A nominee mouths something at the camera, or makes a Jim Halpert face. 
• Two talented actors get on stage and perform a terrible bit of scripted publicity for their upcoming movie.
• Someone makes a joke about the amount of Jews in the room. 
• Someone makes a joke about Republicans, to which the entire audience cheers.
• Fox News runs a new story about liberal bias in Hollywood the next day (this one is for the morning after). 

The Oscars: Who Will Win

Best Picture: The Artist

            Thanks to a strange new voting system, there are nine Best Picture nominees this year. “War Horse” might have won in a different year, and “Hugo” merits much consideration for transforming 3D into a viable art form. This year, the nostalgia of “The Artist” has been contagious in various awards ceremonies. Look for it to be the second silent movie ever to win Best Picture.              

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)

            With just a few rare exceptions, the Best Picture and Best Director choices go to the same movie. Hazanavicius will be victorious along with his movie for bringing the art of silence to typically noisy 21^st century movie theaters. Plus, he already picked up the Directors Guild of America Award. So far, only 6 directors who have this honor have not gone on to win the Oscar. Hazanavicius will not be a part of this statistic.

Horrible Decisions: The Ten Best Movies That Weren't Nominated For Best Picture

As I get older, I feel that I get more and more pessimistic about award ceremonies, especially the Oscars. Unlike sports-related competitions, the Oscars are not about which movie is best, but rather which movie had the most lavish ad campaign. The recent revelation that Academy voters are none too diverse certainly did not help. To think that some of the most revered movies of all time weren't even nominated. They are the bold outsiders. Some were completely overlooked, others were just too damn "hip." Many on the proceeding list would be chosen by many, and a few I exclusively would have chosen had I been a voter. I present with you the ten best movies that deserved a Best Picture nomination, arranged by year of release:

Horrible Decisions: The Ten Best Movies That Didn't Win Best Picture

Every once in a while, I ponder why the Oscars even exist, and why I should care. Sure, they have no monumental impact on the world, but for me, the Oscars are a little like Super Bowl, just a little less dramatic. Voters have a bad habit of picking the wrong winner, year after year. Sometimes, the real winner is obvious. Other times, people won't realize it until 50 years later. Click after the jump for my list of the ten best movies that should have won Best Picture (sorted by year of release):

Morning Madness: Nicolas Cage's 100 Greatest Movie Quotes

I took this video, like most of the videos I post, from FilmDrunk. The first thing I can think is, I guess this video had to get made? It is the 100 greatest movie quotes from Nicolas Cage.

Cage is known sometimes for being a great actor who takes great rolls ("Adaptation," "Raising Arizona") and other times the complete opposite ("The Wicker Man"). He also seems to belong to the acting camp that believes that shouting a line will make it better. For whatever reason, my favorite quote here is, "What's in the bag? A shark or something?"

No more words are necessary, time to watch for yourself: