Unyielding Commissioning Expects Low Ratings

The Verve reuinion – As you know, we’ve been out of touch. But we are pleased to discover that The Verve has reunited. Back in 1999, due to tension between guitarist Nick McCabe and frontman Richard Ashcroft, the band broke up much to the detriment of everyone involved. Aschcroft embarked on a solo career that amounted to only minimal success. Without McCabe’s songcrafting, Ashcroft’s work simply wasn’t as compelling. After claiming they are "getting back together for the joy of the music," they've been playing shows in England and are supposedly working on new material. We’ve seen similar reunions from bands before and they’ve almost always been money-making jaunts with little passion or artistic output (we're talking to you, Living Colour, Jane's Addiction, and hell, everybody else). But for some reason we have high hopes for this little-band-that-could from Wigan. The fact that they've all been knocked down a peg is the biggest reason. Of course, Ashcroft and McCabe could start fighting again at the drop of a hat.

Get your Oscar Noms! – As previously stated, we’re totally out of the loop due to traversing the nation for the last five months. Consequently, we haven't seen many of the movies nominated for Oscars yet. Multiplex, here we come. Er - wait a minute. It seems that none of the films up for big prizes are of the multiplex variety. Juno is up for four big awards including Best Picture. Michael Clayton garnered six nominations. Honestly, I don't think anybody really knows how these will be awarded. It should be an exciting ceremony. Well, at least for us and people who like independent film. Spider Man 3, Wild Hogs, and the other big box office winners from 2007 aren't included mean that public at large is probably not going to bother tuning in. That of course assumes that the writers strike is resolved before then.

Zodiac was completely shut out which we here find to be a travesty. Granted, we've seen scant few of the films named, but it should have at least gotten a Best Director nod for Fincher. Outside of Best Actress, it seems like they only nominated five movies across the board. One can't help but wonder if Harvey Weinstein put the fix in.

And of course the other nominees – People, you get to vote. Please weigh in on this year’s Kaelin award winner. Remember, voting is not just a privilege, it’s a duty.