Dale’s Movie Theater Nightmare and Silly Oscars Stuff

From the British movie rating system to grilling bacon and playing electronic guitars, Dale Smurthwaite at Smurfin’ the Web enjoys life’s simplest pleasures by not wasting time and space.

I welcomed this asset of my Mighty Minion Bureau to let us in on some tidbits that we may not know about him. So today, here he is, giving it to us straight – including ways to shorten the Oscars, an unexpected effect of male menopause and how he rocks out to Symphony X.

Madlab Post: What’s the deal with you and Smurfs?

Dale at Smurfin’ the Web: Haha. Well Basically I've had that (nickname) since I was a kid. My surname is "Smurthwaite" and people always mispronounce it as "Smurfwaite," hence the nickname Smurf. It’s stuck since I was knee high and so it will continue =)

If you were in charge of the Oscars, what would you do to shorten the event and keeping television viewers from turning the channel or falling asleep?

Well, with an average time of 3½ hours, there isn’t much difference between this and the Super Bowl. Viewing figures have been up for the last 4 years. I don’t actually get to watch the awards themselves due to the time differences, but I suppose if I were to try and cut the time, I would miss out some of the silly stuff like selfies and pizza deliveries. How much time did that actually waste? I think an opening number and then just get on with it. The BAFTAS are much shorter, with not too many less categories.

What happened to your CD and DVD collection?

I only have a handful of CDs and DVDs nowadays. I now have everything digital, apart from the few CDs and DVDs that I just could not sell, such as the entire “Farscape” collection on DVD and the “Lord of the Rings” extended DVDs. I had to face the reality that physical copies were just so space consuming and eventually had to go.

What is the worst movie theater experience you ever had?

Probably when I went to see “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.” The reels were played out of order. That -- on top of the fact that the film itself was absolute garbage, it wasn't a good day.

Photo by John Lennard aka yakmooseCan you share any tips on how to make the perfect Bacon butty?

Lovely, I do like a good one. Right, grill your bacon until it is just turning crispy; not too crispy though -- I don't want it breaking off in shards. Butter your bread and insert the bacon. Spread some ketchup on there -- a nice even spread, not too much and top off with some thin slices of cheddar cheese and simply enjoy.

How many guitars do you own?

I only own 1 guitar; a lovely Ibanez EDR which is made of Lucite rather than wood. I would guess that this is my favourite one as it’s the only one I own ;-)

What artists/songs are on your playlist right now?

I have an 8GB iPod Nano. I use it for the car only and my current playlist consists of around 400 songs, including everything from Michael Jackson - Bryan Adams, Escala - Symphony X and 80s cheese - Dio. Theres also some Eurovision stuff on there as well. The contest is in 2 months; look out for my blog series.

What are your thoughts about the British movie rating system?

If we are talking about film age certificates -- I think the whole system is wrong, or maybe I just got old and out of touch. I don’t agree that copious amounts of swearing are allowed in PG13 movies. When I was a kid, you had "U", "PG" "15" and "18".

How has fatherhood impacted your life, views and/or experiences?

Fatherhood is the best thing that has happened to me. As someone who never really wanted kids, to now have 2 is great. Yes, there are bad times with naughtiness, etc., but on the whole, my eldest Xander is a great boy with a very vivid imagination and like his parents, a love for movies and not just the kids Disney stuff -- he appreciates great work like “The Lord of the Rings”, “Labyrinth” and “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.”

Personally, I think I cry at more films and television now more than ever now that I have children. Maybe it’s the male menopause, but I watched “Saving Mr. Banks” and was blubbing. Bring on April! 

If you haven't done so already, be sure to check out Dale's cinematic Theme for April and while you're at it, go visit wife Lady Kell who is doing the A-to-Z Challenge with a super specialized theme about one of the best Sci-Fi television shows ever made, at Kincavel Korner!

Monday Movie Meme – Best Picture Snubs at the Oscars

For every Oscar winning film, there is often one or more that we wish took home the gold instead. So let’s celebrate these films in the theme for this week’s Monday Movie Meme: Best Picture Snubs at the Oscars.

Share on your blog or in the comments section, the movies you’d wish had won an Oscar for Best Picture.

Meaning, films that were obviously nominated but still lost to another (better or worse) motion picture. I’m drawing a blank for picks, so, courtesy of some mentions by Herman at Terrible Analogies, here is a selection of Oscar nominees for Best Picture that were snubbed at the Academy Awards. He picked the movies. I’m just elaborating on them in the descriptions.

Goodfellas

Of the six Oscar nominations this crime drama received in 1991, it lays claim to one – Joe Pesci’s win for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. It’s almost hard to imagine such a favorite gangster flick being snubbed, but alas, “Goodfellas” was upstaged by the adventure movie “Dances with Wolves.” Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather: Part III” was also in the running for best picture. Maybe it wasn’t a good year for mob movies, as far as awards season goes. It’s a damn shame.

Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino’s crime thriller is a cult favorite and arguably one of the best films ever made; nominated for seven Oscars in 1995. It took home one golden statue for Best Writing (basically, Best Screenplay!) but was snubbed in the Best Picture category, where it was up against another goodie – crime drama “The Shawshank Redemption.” However, the romantic drama “Forrest Gump” scored the win for Best Picture that year.

Saving Private Ryan

The Academy could not deny this war movie by Steven Spielberg -- or could they? The World War II film did win five of its eleven Oscar nominations in 1999. Those wins just didn’t include Best Picture, an honor that went to the romantic comedy drama “Shakespeare in Love”.

What Best Picture nominees would YOU say were wrongly snubbed at the Oscars?

What are Your Favorite Oscar Nominees for Best Original Song?

Over the weekend, The LAMB published an Oscars post that I wrote about the Best Original Song nominees. It was an opportunity to explain why the lead tune from “Chasing Ice” is worth a listen despite making the movie seem long and boring.

I also shared how the comedy “Ted” starring Mark Wahlberg allowed Norah Jones’ vocals and the musicians’ talents to work to its advantage but not enough to get my vote. After realizing that “Life Of Pi” didn’t have any memorable songs that stood out and “Les Miserables” just gets props by default, I think that the nominations are all over the place.

Still, everyone has their favorites, which brings me to the theme of this week’s Monday Movie Meme: Best Original Song.

Share on your blog or in the comments section, some of your favorite Oscar nominees for Best Original Song. The song can be from any previous Oscars season, so long as it was among the nominations. Here are my selections for this week’s Best Original Song theme.

Skyfall
This pick needs no explanation, especially since Adele already won a Golden Globe for her James Bond tune. The song is hot! Need I say more? If so, I have you covered -- see when I made a case for Skyfall winning the Oscar for Best Original Song.

I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing
Say what you want about “Armageddon” -- a lot of people think this movie is ass and other people (like me...thanks to Bruce Willis) enjoyed watching it. Regardless, Aerosmith did a fine job making “I don’t want to miss a thing,” which earned them an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song during the late 90s. Although Whitney Houston’s collaboration with Mariah Carey for the “Prince of Egypt” soundtrack eventually took home the golden statue, I would still bump Aerosmith’s track any day of the week!

Lose Yourself
I remember watching the 75th Annual Oscars that year when Eminem -- a rapper -- won for this inspirational track from the dramatic narrative “8 Mile.” The beat and lyrics are so dope, I dare you to claim that you still don’t believe you can take on the world after listening to this song.

What are YOUR favorite Oscar nominees for Best Original Song?