Movies: My 2009 Oscar picks

I've been really pressed under project deadlines so here are my rapid-fire gut calls for this year's Oscar winners (bold is my pick, bold italic is the likely winner):

Best Picture: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious: Based on the Novel ’Push’ by Sapphire, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air.
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart; George Clooney, Up in the Air; Colin Firth, A Single Man; Morgan Freeman, Invictus; Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker.
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side; Helen Mirren, The Last Station; Carey Mulligan, An Education; Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire; Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia.
Best Supporting Actor: Matt Damon, Invictus; Woody Harrelson, The Messenger; Christopher Plummer, The Last Station; Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones; Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds.
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Nine; Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air; Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart; Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air; Mo’Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel ’Push’ by Sapphire.
Best Director: James Cameron, Avatar; Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker; Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds; Lee Daniels, Precious: Based on the Novel ’Push’ by Sapphire; Jason Reitman, Up in the Air.
Best Foreign Language Film: Ajami, Israel; El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Argentina; The Milk of Sorrow, Peru; Un Prophete, France; The White Ribbon, Germany.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, District 9; Nick Hornby, An Education; Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, In the Loop; Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious: Based on the Novel ’Push’ by Sapphire; Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air.
Best Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker; Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds; Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, The Messenger; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man; Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy, Up.
Best Animated Feature Film: Coraline; Fantastic Mr. Fox; The Princess and the Frog; The Secret of Kells; Up.
Best Art Direction: Avatar, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Nine, Sherlock Holmes, The Young Victoria.
Best Cinematography: Avatar, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, The White Ribbon.
Best Sound Mixing: Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Star Trek, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Best Sound Editing: Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Star Trek, Up.
Best Original Score: Avatar, James Horner; Fantastic Mr. Fox, Alexandre Desplat; The Hurt Locker, Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders; Sherlock Holmes, Hans Zimmer; Up, Michael Giacchino.
Best Original Song: Almost There from The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman; Down in New Orleans from The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman; Loin de Paname from Paris 36, Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas; Take It All from Nine, Maury Yeston; The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart) from Crazy Heart, Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.
Best Costume: Bright Star, Coco Before Chanel, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Nine, The Young Victoria.
Best Documentary Feature: Burma VJ, The Cove, Food, Inc. The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Which Way Home.
Best Documentary (short subject): China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province, The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner, The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant, Music by Prudence, Rabbit a la Berlin.
Best Film Editing: Avatar, District 9, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious: Based on the Novel ’Push’ by Sapphire.
Best Makeup: Il Divo, Star Trek, The Young Victoria.
Best Animated Short Film: French Roast, Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty, The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte), Logorama, A Matter of Loaf and Death.
Best Live Action Short Film: The Door, Instead of Abracadabra, Kavi, Miracle Fish, The New Tenants.
Best Visual Effects: Avatar, District 9, Star Trek.

Netflix: Correction, Netflix contravenes its most active members

I realize I frequently use verbal shorthand that conflates or implies a bunch of reasons beneath one word or phrase so let me explain why I said Netflix "hates" those who use the community features:

1) Netflix point-blank announced it would eliminate multiple profiles, limiting every account to one (thus requiring families and individuals who have 2-5 profiles to purchase that many separate accounts or do without) until users' hue and cry caused them to recant

2) Despite hundreds of millions in revenues, Netflix has failed to upgrade its infrastructure to support the use of community features, causing system performance to slow to a crawl or time out in system errors for a vast majority of the time (even on fast systems), wasting countless hours of time for its most active users

3) Netflix has again tried to do away with community features by eliminating list access on the movie pages, greatly handicapping facility and access to lists in general, and so hiding and handicapping access to Friends that it couldn't be worse unless Friends were completely eliminated, and (of course the biggie)

4) Netflix sees its most active users as a drain on its profits because we watch more movies (hence the court decision that affirmed the sin of throttling, which Netflix admitted and atoned for in part with a legal settlement) instead of a net gain in revenues because of the loyalty and goodwill engendered by the many hundreds of its most active members.

So is "hate" too strong a term? Let's see:

1) Netflix intended to lobotomize multiple profiles until members objected

2) Netflix is effectively starving members who use community features (or any features beyond viewing a movie page or queue or adding to a queue)

3) Netflix has performed cosmetic surgery so as to all but cut off use of the community features

4) Netflix has worked intentionally since its founding to dilute the movie-watching, reviewing, and community participation of its most active and creative members.

(In its defense, I'm sure it's been no picnic for Netflix to deal with the sniping and spoiler wars of its most negative members, the "haters.")

So sure, "hate" is too strong a term, esp. since Netflix doesn't sink to rampant profanity. Let's just say "strong negative orientation and active policy of disentitlement or, if possible, elimination." Better?

Netflix: Netflix hates its most active members

Robowriter here. Sure, under the new fluffy airhead design I can still get to Friends by the tiny link at the bottom of the page (hm, all but hidden away like New Releases under the tiny RSS link) but it requires many more steps and is so time-consuming as to be useless. (The system has already been so slow that my extremely fast machine has not been able to call up my Notebook page for 13 months now.) Sure, I can pound a nail in with my thumb -- but why would I?

What really fries me though is the loss of the Top 10 lists on the movie page plus the link to add a movie to my lists (and esp. to see what lists it's already on). I cannot tell you how convoluted listmaking has now become. It was a tedious labor of love before but now it's four times as much tedium. I'm pretty sure I cannot continue listmaking at this pace.

I've always told everyone "Netflix rocks!" Now I can no longer say that. Why? Netflix clearly hates its most active and supportive members who give their time and enthusiasm to promoting Netflix and its movies to others. Netflix clearly hates its community features, repeatedly tries to get rid of them, and therefore its most loyal customers.

I don't mind the airy design per se. Just don't take away useful features! Removing value only alienates your customers, Netflix. Bring back the Friends tab and the Top 10 lists!