George Clooney returning to ER for final episode!!

NBC. April 2nd. Be there or forever ensure my wrath.

The Secret White House Record Collection

It turns out moving into the White House has a few perks (who knew?)—and Rolling Stone has little story about the history of the big house's record library.

It goes pretty much how you would expect: It started off boring with Nixon, improved under Carter (Sex Pistols! Neil Young!) and Grandpa Reagan got confused and moved them to the basement.

Will Obama update the collection? I hope so. He is, after all, the hip-hop President. (My first additions: Rakim's "Paid in Full," Nas' "Illmatic" and Wu-Tang Clan's "Enter the Wu-Tang.")

What do you think? What records need to be in the White House library?

Name your price: Cadence Weapon's new album

The most recent artist to jump onboard the digital music release with a "name your price" style of purchase is Cadence Weapon. His new album is more of a mixtape but it features, according to Cadence Weapon's website "exclusive new Cadence Weapon tracks, remixes and collaborations." And yes that means you can pay nothing.

The album is 20 tracks, and is called Separation Anxiety. Previous bands to have used the "name your price" purchase method have been Radiohead (for In Rainbows) and Nine Inch Nails (for The Slip). And while Separation Anxiety isn't exactly an album, hell, at least it's free (if you so choose) and since when do you pass up free music?

Download Separation Anxiety here.

"Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" Mini-Review

If your a fan of the Underworld franchise, then you'll probably enjoy this flick, a prequel to the first two films Underworld and Underworld: Evolution. If not, don't bother.

I've only ever seen the first Underworld, and I probably would have avoided this one except tickets were free. But, it seems that the most important elements of the film were covered in a brief flashback sequence in the first film (although with a different actress).

I'll be honest, I fell asleep during Rise of the Lycans, only awoken by werewolves (lycans, whatever) and vampires tearing each other new assholes.

Unfortunately, no matter how good CGI gets, werewolves continue to look weird and kind of lame. 

By the way, contrary to what you might think, Kate Beckinsale is not in this film (not that it matters), the girl in all the previews just really looks like her. 

On a final note, what is Michael Sheen still doing acting in movies like this? After playing Tony Blair in The Queen, the late Portland State alumn Art Honeyman in Music Within, and David Frost in the Oscar nominated Frost/Nixon, why is he still playing Lucian the Lycan?

I give this movie 1.5 stars for brevity, and only waking me up occasionally while I napped.

Sapient makes pretty

For fans of Sandpeople (who are hear almost within range of outnumbering the group members themselves) there can be few greater joys than hearing a good solo project from the group.

Thankfully, Sapient is the driving force behind a damned good solo project that should be lauded frequently and vocally.

Observe:

6 cups, 1 box

All I want to know is, when is this going to be available at the student store? (And yes, this is a real product that you can buy with dollars.)

Oscar Nominations!

In announcing things that don't really matter news, the Acadamy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences released the 2009 Oscar nominees today, and they pretty much went exactly as expected.

Here they are (with some links to Vanguard reviews):

BEST PICTURE

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

BEST DIRECTOR

David Fincher - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant - Milk
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

BEST FOREIGN FILM

The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Eric Roth and Robin Swicord - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button;
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
David Hare - The Reader
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Mike Leigh - Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter - WALL-E

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

BEST ART DIRECTION

Changeling
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Changeling
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST SOUND MIXING

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

BEST SOUND EDITING

The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Alexandre Desplat
Defiance - James Newton Howard
Milk - Danny Elfman
Slumdog Millionaire - AR Rahman
WALL-E - Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Down To Earth from WALL-E - Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire - AR Rahman and Gulzar
O Saya from Slumdog Millionaire - AR Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

BEST COSTUME

Australia
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters At The End Of The World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness - From The Balcony Of Room 306

BEST FILM EDITING

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST MAKE-UP

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Auf Der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon On The Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man