In case you have not heard by now, actor Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain) died today at the age of 28. It was reportedly due to either a drug overdose or possibly suicide. I was not a big fan of Ledger's work, but it is always a shame when someone with so much going for them throws it all away. In other Hollywood news today, the Academy Awards (Oscar) nominations were announced. I definitely do not get the chance to see as many movies in the theater as I did before my daughter was born, so when I do get that chance I want to see the most entertaining movies out at that time. I used to try to see as many Oscar nominated films that I could prior to the awards ceremony, but in recent years many of those films really have not interested me that much.

This year's Oscar nominations for Best Picture include: Juno, Michael Clayton, Atonement, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Of those films, I have seen both Juno and Michael Clayton. With the ceremony scheduled for about a month from now (Sunday, February 24th), I do not anticipate seeing any of the other three nominated films. If you want to know my feelings on Juno, please go back and read my posting from January 6^th. I really enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it. Juno also has several other major nominations including Best Original Screenplay (Diablo Cody), Best Lead Actress (Ellen Page) and Best Director (Jason Reitman). I have not discussed Michael Clayton before, but I also really enjoyed this movie. It is a very intense film starring George Clooney and written/directed by Tony Gilroy (who also wrote the Bourne Identity and its two sequels). Michael Clayton received seven total nominations including Best Original Screenplay (Gilroy), Best Lead Actor (Clooney), Best Supporting Actor (Tom Wilkinson), Best Supporting Actress (Tilda Swinton) and Best Director (Gilroy). I will be cheering for both of these films to win as many awards as possible.

Reading the Oscar nominations today just seem to reinforce my opinion that the entertainment quality of movies over the last few years seems to be lacking. There are years in the past where three or four of the nominated films for Best Picture were incredible. I started to think about some of the great films that have been nominated in the past, but were not Best Picture Oscar winners. This list included some pretty special movies, so I decided to do a Top 10. I am just going to go back as far as 1988 because this is when I started to acknowledge and appreciate quality cinema. Here is OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 10 BEST PICTURE NOMINATED, but not winning, FILMS (1988-present):
Honorable Mention. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Two Towers (2002) - I only list these as honorable mention because in 2003 The Return of the King was awarded the Best Picture Oscar. If that was not the case, I would have put them on the list.
10. Little Miss Sunshine (2006) - Quirky but enjoyable film lost to The Departed and probably rightfully so.
9. A Few Good Men (1992) - This film appeared on my Tom Cruise (January 7^th) and Rob Reiner (January 12^th) Top 10 lists, but lost to the Clint Eastwood western Unforgiven
8. Good Will Hunting (1997) - This was an amazing year for movies with all 5 nominated films being outstanding, but Titanic took home most of the gold.
7. L.A. Confidential (1997) - Another outstanding film from 1997 which I just recently discussed in my January 15^th posting.
6. Dead Poets' Society (1989) - The great Robin Williams film lost to Driving Miss Daisy which is a little questionable in my opinion.
5. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - This was another fantastic year with at least three very deserving films. Forrest Gump won and was probably the most deserving.
4. Sideways (2004) - I really enjoyed this film that centered around a trip to wine country. It lost out to Million Dollar Baby which is difficult to argue with.
3. Saving Private Ryan (1998) - In what I feel was the biggest error in Oscar history, this amazing film lost to Shakespeare In Love. Saving Private Ryan is a special movie and deserved this award.
2. Jerry Maguire (1996) - This is one of my all-time favorite movies. It lost out to The English Patient which I feel is one of the worst films ever to win the Best Picture Oscar.
1. Pulp Fiction (1994) - This might be my favorite movie ever, though it might not hold the same appeal to everybody. Another film from 1994, which lost out to Gump. I love this movie and will likely do an entire posting just on it.

There's my Top 10. Wow, what an impressive list of movies. It was very tough to narrow this list down. If I could add one more movie, it would probably be As Good As It Gets which would make 3 films from 1997 on the list. Other films that were close to making the cut include: Lost in Translation (2003), Mystic River (2003), The Sixth Sense (1999), JFK (1991) and Goodfellas (1990). What do you think??? What movies are missing from this list?

That's all I have for tonight. Thanks for reading. Please subscribe or come back often. Peace and love.

Check this out: HOW DID WE EVER SURVIVE?

Looking back, it's hard to believe that we have lived as long as we have.

As children we would ride in cars with no air conditioning, no seat belts and no air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

Our baby cribs were painted with bright colored lead-based paint. We often chewed on the crib, ingesting the paint.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes we had no helmets.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times we learned to solve the problem.

During summer vacation we would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day.

We played dodge ball and sometimes the ball would really hurt.

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank sugar soda, but we were never over weight; we were always outside playing.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Some students weren't as smart as others or didn't work hard so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade.

That generation produced some of the greatest risk-takers and problem solvers in recent history.

We had the freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

AMAZING, ISN'T IT?

Quote of the day: "We make a living by what we get; We make a life by what we give." -W.A. Nance

Download this: "Sweet Pea" by Amos Lee - You might recognize this catchy tune from the AT&T commercial with the Dad taking pictures of a little stuffed monkey. Amos Lee has a lot of great songs, but this is one of my favorites.