Sunday, February 26, 2012

Recommendations of the Week [2/26-3/3]: Oscars (& Buy Hunger Games Tickets)

(Image courtesy of TheUrbanDaily)
It's time for another of my Recommendations of the Week. These recommendations can be something that happened in the past week that I read, watched, participated in, etc., or something coming up in the following week. Feel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments section below.

Jeff Dodge's Recommendations of the Week [2/26-3/3]:

TV Shows:
Academy Awards (8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT, ABC)


Whenever the three biggest award shows come around (Emmys, Golden Globes and Oscars), I am always excited to watch. And if you follow me, you know that I always make my predictions. And I just posted my predictions yesterday for tonight's Oscars (check them out HERE). Some categories are easy to predict (The Artist for Best Picture, Christopher Plummer for Best Supporting Actor, Rango for Best Animated Film, among others), while there are others that could go either way.

After Meryl Streep won her Golden Globe for The Iron Lady, everyone was assuming that she would win the Oscar as well. But the tide as of late seems to be turning towards Viola Davis for The Help (every prediction I've read online is going with Viola). And while she is just as deserving, I really, really want Meryl to finally win an Oscar after years of being snubbed (I have nothing against Sandra Bullock because she was great in The Blind Side, but Meryl deserved it more for playing Julia Child).

DVDs:
Hugo (Tuesday, February 28)

In my third year of college, one of the courses I took was a Children's Literature class taught by a brilliant, kind and caring professor by the name of Nancy Johnson. This class instantly became one of my favorite courses ever. A lot of people think that children's books are just that...for children. But that is far from the truth. Just look at the biggest literary success story of our generation: Harry Potter. When first released, they may have been marketed as a children's series, but we all know that's not what ended up happening. I still read some books once in a while that publishers would constitute as for children. But I do it because I know that what really matters is not the marketing, but the quality of the story.

This brings me to Hugo. To tie this all in, one of the books I read in that class was The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick, one of the most brilliant "children's books" I've ever read. And not just that, but unique as well. I've never seen or experienced a book like this. Whenever there are illustrations in a book, usually they are to accompany the story which is found within the text. But text and illustrations are combined in a fascinating way in Hugo Cabret where you have to read both text and image to understand the story. When a part of the text ends and we are treated with images, the story continues where the text left off and we have to "read" the images. I just loved it.

The movie version, Hugo, was released in theaters last fall. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go out and see it at that time. But over the course of award season, I've obviously heard excellent things about this Martin Scorsese directed film. I have it on hold at the library. I'm low on the list, so it'll be a little while before it gets to me. But once I'm through reading Inheritance (which I'm currently reading) and re-reading The Hunger Games (in anticipation of that book's film release next month), then I will be going back to re-read and re-experience The Invention of Hugo Cabret leading up to me watching the film.

Movie Tickets:
The Hunger Games (Pre-Buy Tickets Now)

While you're out picking up your copy of Hugo, you might as well stop by your local movie theater to buy an advance ticket to The Hunger Games, one of the most anticipated films of 2012. We're just under a month away from The Hunger Games being released in theaters. Every week now, it seems that the anticipation and hype and buzz continue getting bigger and stronger. For me, the wait has become unbearable. And tickets just went on sale last week and have already beaten records, with many showings already sold out. I will most likely be buying my tickets sometime this week.


Politics:
Arizona Primary (Tuesday)
Michigan Primary (Tuesday)
Washington GOP Caucus (Saturday)

Websites:
TV Watch Online (@TVWatchOnline)
Bieber Guy (@Bieber_Guy)
BuddyTV
The BizzNiz   >>>See Below>>>

I added a new website to the above list that I haven't listed here before. It is The BizzNiz. Next week, the live shows begin on American Idol season 11. If you remember from my 2012 America's Got Talent and The X Factor recaps/reviews, I did those over at OMGWire. And as I've mentioned on this blog before, that website is no longer online. But I am fortunate enough to have joined with The BizzNiz to provide American Idol season 11 recaps/reviews for the remainder of the season once the live shows begin on Tuesday. I urge you to go check out The BizzNiz because they're a fantastic website, providing the latest entertainment news. And don't worry, I will provide links to their site whenever I contribute over there.

Jeff Dodge Blog:
Recommendations of the Week [2/19-2/25]: Celeb Apprentice (& Buy Your Hunger Games Tickets)
Quotes of the Week: President's Way, Washington's Birthday
Video of the Week: Crazy Chair Illusion
American Idol 11 Week 6: The Best from Final Judgment Parts 1 & 2
Jeff Dodge's 2012 Oscar Predictions

BuddyTV Articles (Articles I've Written):
'Glee': Listen to Songs from Regionals Episode, 'On My Way'
'Smash': Listen to Three Songs from Episode 3, 'Enter Mr. DiMaggio'
No 'Glee' Concert Tour in 2012
'Smash Video Previews from 'The Cost of Art,' Guest Starring Nick Jonas

Follow me on Twitter @TheJeffDodge. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, either tweet me, e-mail me or leave a comment below.

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