Zachary Levi as Abraham Lincoln

He's moving up in the government! First he was just a member of the Nerd Herd at Buy More, then he became a secret agent spy and the Intersect. Now, he's going to be playing the sixteenth President of the United States. Zachary Levi, all-around amazing person, will be portraying Abraham Lincoln in the ninth season of the supernatural comedy on Hulu, Deadbeat. This is great news for society and I think history textbooks should have their photographs updated.

Paul Rudd Returning to Parks and Rec!

In a final season of Parks and Recreation that already boasts so many cameos and recurring guest appearances in Blake Anderson, Jorma Taccone, Rachel Dratch, Rutger Hauer, Jon Hamm, Rashida Jones, Rob Lowe, and more, things just got even better in Pawnee. Paul Rudd, America's sweetheart, is going to reprise his role as Bobby Newport, the most endearing antagonist ever, for two episodes! This is so totally awesome sauce!

2014-15 Fantasy Football Third Place

This year, after a first-place finish in the regular season, my fantasy football team finished in third place in the playoffs with a final score of 89-76 in the third place match. The season did not go as planned, but it was still exciting and fun to do with friends! This post is meant to serve as a thank you to the players who propelled me to that lofty position.

QB - Andrew Luck - Indianapolis Colts
RB - Le'Veon Bell - Pittsburgh Steelers
RB - Mark Ingram - New Orleans Saints
WR - Vincent Jackson - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
WR - Kelvin Benjamin - Carolina Panthers
TE - Delanie Walker - Tennessee Titans
WR - Calvin Johnson - Detroit Lions
WR - Reggie Wayne - Indianapolis Colts
RB - Chris Ivory - New York Jets
D/ST - New England Patriots
K - Cody Parkery - Philadelphia Eagles
QB - Drew Brees - New Orleans Saints
RB - Reggie Bush - Detroit Lions
RB - Shane Vereen - New England Patriots
TE - Jordan Cameron - Cleveland Browns
WR - Steve Smith - Baltimore Ravens
K - Nick Novak - San Diego Chargers
D/ST - Detroit Lions
WR - Brandon LaFell - New England Patriots
TE - Dwayne Allen - Indianapolis Colts
RB - Jonas Gray - New England Patriots
RB - Ahmad Bradshaw - Indianapolis Colts

Those who weren't on the final roster:

WR - Dwayne Bowe - Kansas City Chiefs
WR - Michael Crabtree - San Francisco 49ers
WR - Tavon Austin - St. Louis Rams
K - Matt Prater - Detroit Lions
D/ST - San Francisco 49ers
TE - Kyle Rudolph - Minnesota Vikings

Good season!

100 Favorite Movies: 29

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started watching this movie in my adolescent literature class during my sophomore year in high school. I had heard amazing things about this movie, but I've also never been big on movies or television shows set in prison. It's just not my thing. But this was more than just a prison movie. This was a movie about friendship, resilience, and the triumph of the human spirit. And yes, you've heard all that about this movie before, but it's okay. It's still great to hear again. Plus, not many movies show the climax on the poster, but this one does and it's still glorious.

Drama directed by Frank Darabont and written by Frank Darapont in 1994.

Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, John Malkovich, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, Mark Rolston, and James Whitmore.

Tune in Monday (maybe) for number twenty-eight!

The Greatest Sketch in the History of Saturday Night Live

In honor of Saturday Night Live's fortieth anniversary, NBC began a search for the best sketch in the history of the show. The quest began with Twitter users voting with links to the sketches via Hulu and Yahoo Screen. They were compiled, here, on snlbythedecade.com, where you can currently vote for the best sketch of the 2000s. The winner for each decade has been unveiled on the Today Show so far and then they're going to be pitted against each other. Crazy, right? I've had to make some very tough choices when I vote.

Watching The Princess Bride for the First Time

As you know, Buzzfeed is an excellent source for your desire for unconventional journalism. One of their latest articles follows Krystie Yandoli, a woman who has never seen The Princess Bride before. In the article, she details her experience watching it for the very first time. It's an entertaining read and a great first step in the endeavor to make sure everyone in the world has seen this movie. The full article is at Buzzfeed's website.

100 Favorite Movies: 30

I struggled tirelessly with where to put this one because it's just so good. Toy Story, the very first Pixar film and one of its very best, is a classic. Any time I watch it, I just get slammed with all the nostalgia held in the world. Every part of it is amazing. It's got such great humor, a surprisingly invigorating plot, an amazing soundtrack, and unparalleled characterization. It's the first one in the greatest cinematic trilogy the world has ever known. And it is a great way to kick off the top thirty.

Animated comedy directed by John Lasseter and written by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Coen, and Alec Sokolow in 1995.

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, and John Morris.

Tune in tomorrow for number twenty-nine!

Scrubs Reunion!

This is the beauty of Zach Braff's Instagram. On December 28, he posted this surprise photo of himself with Donald Faison and John C. McGinley. AKA: J.D., Turk, and Dr. Cox from Scrubs! Plus, just last week he shared a snapshot of himself with Sarah Chalke (Elliot). The bonds formed by Scrubs will never ever die!

This Week's Entertainment by David

2015 Best Picture Poll

A new poll has been posted to right of this post! With the 2015 Academy Awards less than a month away, it's time to make predictions about who will be the winners of the show. The biggest category is the one we're tackling here at this blog. The race for Best Picture is on and there are so many good contenders! To which film does your vote go?

Farewell, Rajon Rondo

Well, it's happened. There have been rumors about the Boston Celtics trading Rajon Rondo for as long as I can remember, but now there is an ultimate truth to them. My favorite Celtics player since 2007 who played through it all. He played to an NBA championship, a return to the finals, the Skills Challenge, All-Star weekend, Sports Illustrated covers, and so much more en route to becoming the captain of the Celtics. And now, eight years after I took to him and his hustle, selfless play, he is no longer in Boston. On December 18, Rondo was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in return for Jameer Nelson (another great point guard), Brandan Wright, Jae Crowder, and two draft picks. Thank you for everything, Rondo and I still wish you the best in your NBA career. You're still one of my favorite players. To help bid farewell to his time in The Hub, here is the video montage Boston created for the point guard upon his return to the Garden. The 2008 championship team is now completely dispersed.

Parks and Recreation in Thirty Seconds

When Entertainment Weekly recently had the entire cast of Parks and Recreation in their offices for the magazine's cover shoot, they seized the opportunity to have them do something fun for a farewell to the show. Each of the regular cast members on the show now (Amy Poehler, Chris Pratt, Aubrey Plaza, Adam Scott, Jim O'Heir, Retta, Aziz Ansari, and Nick Offerman) took thirty seconds each to describe the show. One compilation is here, but you can see all of them at the Entertainment Weekly website if you want. They're pretty entertaining!

Pee-Wee Herman on Netflix

This is not big news. No, this transcends the idea of big news. This is exciting huge unprecedented STOLEN-BICYCLE level news. The new Pee-Wee Herman that Paul Reubens has been teasing for a long time has finally found its home. The Judd Apatow-produced film will be distributed by Netflix. I think it's safe to say that America is better for this. A country eagerly awaits more details...

Robin Williams and Ben Stiller: Prom Style

Oh, great. Just what we needed. Another reason to miss Robin Williams. In this video that was first uploaded in May, but resurfaced in December, Robin Williams and Ben Stiller, while on the set of Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, help their co-star, Skyler Gisondo, ask a girl to his high school's prom. This is a video that demands to be treasured.

BoJack Horseman Christmas Special

This is pretty awesome and yet another example of the television innovation that has been pervading Netflix over the last two years or so. They already give you recommendations from what people like Gob Bluth and Frank Underwood are watching, but now they've taken one of their best original shows, BoJack Horseman, to the next level. BoJack was once on an old family comedy called Horsin' Around and Netflix added that as its own show to the database and now, for the holiday season, they added Sabrina's Christmas Wish: The BoJack Horseman Christmas Special to the Netflix world. This is the greatest society.

100 Favorite Movies: 31

A true modern classic. Lilo and Stitch was one of those rare Disney movies from the early-2000s that was actually good. It is a surprisingly frequently funny film with a great heart behind it. Couple that with completely innovative characters, a popping setting, and a melodious soundtrack, it's become always rewatchable. Whenever I see it on Disney Channel, I'm always primed to turn it on because it's just so good! "I can't give Pudge tuna! I'd be an abomination!"

Animated comedy directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois and written by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois in 2002.

Starring: Christopher Michael Sanders, Daveigh Chase, Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers, Kevin McDonald, Ving Rhames, Kevin Michael Richardson, Zoe Caldwell, and Jason Scott Lee.

Tune in Wednesday (maybe) for number thirty!

2014 Power Awards

The votes have been submitted, tallied, and finalized. And the results are in! The best of 2014 is before you and now you can take a trip down memory lane as all the winners are here. All the winners. Here you are, ladies and gentlemen of the year-end jury.

Literature
Book of the Year: Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Author of the Year: B.J. Novak
Sports
Athlete of the Year: Madison Bumgarner
Team of the Year: Connecticut Huskies
Film
Movie of the Year: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Leading Actor of the Year: Ralph Fiennes for The Grand Budapest Hotel
Leading Actress of the Year: Kristen Wiig for The Skeleton Twins
Supporting Actor of the Year: Jeff Goldblum for The Grand Budapest Hotel
Supporting Actress of the Year: Zoe Saldana for Guardians of the Galaxy
Animated Movie of the Year: The LEGO Movie
Animated Voice of the Year: Will Arnett for The LEGO Movie
Song in a Movie of the Year: Hooked on a Feeling from Guardians of the Galaxy
Movie Character of the Year: M. Gustave H. from The Grand Budapest Hotel
Director of the Year: Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel
Television
Comedy of the Year: The Mindy Project
Drama of the Year: Gotham
Reality Program of the Year: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
Variety Program of the Year: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Animated Program of the Year: Bob's Burgers
Animated Voice of the Year: Seth MacFarlane for Family Guy
Reality Host of the Year: Billy Eichner for Billy on the Street
Variety Host of the Year: Jimmy Fallon for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Lead Comedy Actor of the Year: Elijah Wood for Wilfred
Lead Comedy Actress of the Year: Wendi McLendon-Covey for The Goldbergs
Supporting Comedy Actor of the Year: Kenan Thompson for Saturday Night Live
Supporting Comedy Actress of the Year: Cecily Strong for Saturday Night Live
Drama Actor of the Year: Jon Hamm for Mad Men
Drama Actress of the Year: Robin Wright for House of Cards
Guest Actor of the Year: Bill Hader for Saturday Night Live
Guest Actress of the Year: Megan Mullally for Parks and Recreation
Special of the Year: Michael Buble's Christmas Special
Music
Song of the Year: Take Me to Church by Hozier
Album of the Year: Yes! by Hozier
Singer of the Year: Justin Timberlake
Band of the Year: Maroon 5
Overall
Celebrity of the Year: Jimmy Fallon

Congratulations to all the winners! This was fun.

The Grand Budapest Hotel led the pack, by the way, with five wins.

This Week's Sports by David

2015 Movie Poll Results

The poll that encompassed January of 2015 has come to an end. And you, the readers, have declared that the movie you're most looking forward to seeing in 2015 is Peanuts, the new movie about Charlie Brown and the whole crew. I think that's a solid choice to vote for and even though this is a huge year for movies, it's nice to see a heart-warming classic come out on top. Here are the final results:

1. Peanuts - 5 votes - 62%
2. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens - 4 votes - 50%
3. Jurassic World - 3 votes - 37%
4. Avengers: Age of Ultron - 2 votes - 25%
5. Ant-Man - 1 vote - 12%

The rest all finished with zero votes. But no matter! Congrats to Peanuts!
What poll should come next? What do you think?

David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian

Could this finally be the end of Schwimmer Fatigue? I mean, sure, Schwimmer Fatigue will never truly die, but this could be a step in the right direction for the former Ross Geller. David Schwimmer put everything he had into the role of Ross that he became so tired, he was never a part of another hugely-successful thing. But now, he's got a big role coming. In Ryan Murphy's spin-off HBO series of American Horror Story, American Crime Story, David Schwimmer will be playing Robert Kardashian, the lawyer of O.J. Simpson, in the story of the case. This is really intriguing!

Li'l Sebastian at the Wrap Party

  Chris Pratt -- Pays Tribute to Lil Sebastian ... At 'Parks and Rec' Party
  - Watch More
  Celebrity Videos
  or
  Subscribe


At the Parks and Recreation wrap party, Chris Pratt graciously took it upon himself to sing a recurring song from the beloved show, 5,000 Candles in the Wind. AKA, it was the song with which to bid farewell to the iconic pony, L'il Sebastian. Be warned: this is heart-wrenching.

Serial Parody

Well, unfortunately, the first season of NPR's Serial podcast ended about a month ago, but not without a proper Internet/pop culture-y farewell. Serial got the Funny or Die treatment as it was parodied in an accurate way. All the voices are just so spot on! "Because, like, I'm so well-spoken, you know?" is the highlight. Enjoy if you view.

Return to Camp Winnipesaukee

It's hard to believe that Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake went twenty months without making another one of these. In the past, they've sang Africa and I Only Wanna Be with You at sleep-away camp, but now Justin returns to The Tonight Show for the first time since February to sing Jumper by Third Eye Blind. It's glorious and I'm so happy to see them in those beds again. Plus, Mr. Fletcher! Thank you, Obama!

Reading The Empire Strikes Back

This is probably the best thing ever. Acclaimed director Jason Reitman likes to do these things from time to time where he gets a bunch of celebrities together to read iconic movie scripts. His most recent installment of these was The Empire Strikes Back of the Star Wars series. And the cast was amazing. Mark Hammil played The Emperor, Ellen Page played Han Solo, Jessica Alba read for Leia, Stephen Merchant was C-3PO, Aaron Paul was Luke Skywalker, Rainn Wilson was Chewbacca, J.K. Simmons was Darth Vader, Dennis Haysbert took on Lando, and Kevin Pollak was Yoda. GLORIOUSLY AMAZING! That's a sight to behold.

100 Favorite Movies: 32

And once again in this list we return to a more Christmas-y side of things. Christmas Vacation, of the National Lampoon variety, is (and sorry for any controversy) the best installment of the entire Vacation film franchise. Chevy Chase is at his best, the children are well-cast, and the rest of the family is just the icing on the fruitcake. Christmas Vacation is a tradition for me and my family on the day we decorate for the holidays. It's always nice to see how much better our endeavor went compared to the Griswolds. Hip hip hooray for Christmas Vacation!

Holiday comedy directed by Jeremiah Chechik and written by John Hughes in 1989.

Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, John Randolph, Diane Ladd, E.G. Marshall, Doris Roberts, Miriam Flynn, Cody Burger, Ellen Hamilton Latzen, William Hickey, Mae Questel, Sam McMurray, Nicholas Guest, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Brian Doyle-Murray.

Tune in Monday for number thirty-one!

Phoning Pedroia

The friendship between Jon Lester and Dustin Pedroia is one of those rare ones in baseball that transcends teams and becomes about the people. After signing with the Chicago Cubs, Lester said his phone call to Pedroia was the toughest part of the whole ordeal, "Those guys I'll love and consider my brothers until I'm dead. But yeah, that one was probably the most difficult." Pedroia responded with, "There are no words that I can tell you for you to understand how much Jon and his family mean to me and my family." You gotta love these two. The full article is here.

What a Twitter Thread

@markmo2k pic.twitter.com/ribfXrMbzE
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) December 15, 2014

On December 15th, Brandon McCarthy tweeted about Chris Rock's movie, Top Five, after recently altering his Twitter photo to correlate with his new MLB team. A fan pointed this out with an Arrested Development reference and McCarthy, a fan of comedy, returned with another reference to spark a thread of greatness. You gotta love how Arrested Development can bring everyone together.

100 Favorite Movies: 33

This one changed the game. I'm pretty sure I saw Finding Nemo at my town's drive-in theater over a dozen times. It was such a big movie, though, and good gosh it was great! A huge ensemble cast of marine life came together to create a Pixar epic about a boy and his father and a journey through the sea. The film is basically presented in segments with the events at the dentist's office taking a back seat to the events in the sea with each animal encounter better than the last. It all comes to a head with Crush, though. There is nothing better in this movie besides the scene in the East Australian Current. The EAC, brah!

Animated comedy directed by Andrew Stanton and written by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, and David Reynolds in 2003.

Starring: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Brad Garrett, Allison Janney, Austin Pendleton, Stephen Root, Vicki Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, John Ratzenberger, Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, Barry Humphries, and Eric Bana.

Tune in tomorrow for number thirty-two!

This Week's Entertainment by David

Fat Schmidt Lip Sync

When you put those four words together is it not an amazing combination? Zooey Deschanel recently (and delightfully alerted) the masses to a classic moment in Max Greenfield's life: when he donned the fat suit, became Fat Schmidt, and lip-synced Rihanna's song, "We Found Love." It is a beautiful, beautiful video that needs to be watched on a 24/7 loop until the end of eternity.

100 Favorite Movies: 34

This one is probably the most recent movie on the entire list as it came out in August 2014, about two months before we started this list. But then again, it was so good and so deserving of such a high spot that its recent release should not deter from its high stature. Guardians of the Galaxy was definitely a high-concept and modern Marvel movie that caused some uncertainty among movie and comic fans alike. But ultimately, thanks to great control and an amiable cast, it was a smash hit and it became the biggest film of 2014. Everybody was hooked on a feeling with this superhero/modern day Star Wars cinematic classic.

Superhero action comedy directed by James Gunn and written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman in 2014.

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Josh Brolin, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, and Benicio del Toro.

Tune in tomorrow for number thirty-three!

The Last Day of Filming Parks and Rec

pic.twitter.com/5NSjWyYz06
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) December 12, 2014

On December 12, Parks and Recreation finished filming an commenced a series wrap on the entire cast and crew. It's a really heartbreaking day, but to help us get through it, showrunner Mike Schur and many other members of the show tweeted out photos from the last day of filming. You can see more here, but get ready for a rabbit hole of emotion! We love you, Pawnee!

Stephen Colbert Laughing

The Colbert Report
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Colbert Report on Facebook

To say a proper farewell to Stephen Colbert's tenure on The Colbert Report, a hilarious super-cut was created by Comedy Central of Stephen breaking character and laughing through multiple segments. My personal favorite is, "Suq Madiq," but there's so much goodness to savor in the video as a whole. Please enjoy the hilarity!

100 Favorite Movies: 35

The movie based on Ouija boards was too scary, the movie based on Chutes and Ladders was too weird, and the movie based on Battleship had too much Rihanna in it. But the Clue movie just did it right and it's probably because of the quick and witty humor. It's one of the only movies on this list to be based on a board game and it's also one of the only to feature multiple endings. In that, it was so unique, but so delightful a journey that anyone who doesn't include it on a top one hundred list probably hasn't seen the movie. It's really quite good (like Tim Curry) and it's like it's my own singing telegram!

Mystery comedy directed by Jonathan Lynn and written by Jonathan Lynn and John Landis in 1985.

Starring: Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, Colleen Camp, and Lee Ving.

Tune in tomorrow for number thirty-four!

The 2015 Golden Globe Awards

As expected, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler crushed it in their last hosting stint for the Golden Globes. Their monologue kill as they crucified Bill Cosby, among others, and ended it with a Cumberbatchy bang. Cumberbatch would later return in the recurring bit involving North Korea and Margaret Cho that proved to be the extent of Fey's and Poehler's involvement. There was a lot cut for time, which is too bad, but when the duo did appear, they were amazing. Additionally, despite Birdman raking in both the most nominees and the most awards, The Grand Budapest Hotel shocked the world and won Best Comedy or Musical Film. It was a great night and a great show! Fare thee well, Amy and Tina. You were the best hosts they'll ever have.

Steve Carell Joins The Ragtime Gals

These are two minutes and twenty-six seconds of pure bliss. Sure, The Ragtime Gals have been known to perform as just four at times, but the occasional celebrity makes an appearance (like Justin Timberlake or Kevin Spacey). Now, in the latest rendition of a modern song, Steve Carell has joined the barbershop quartet to sing Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye. It's a great surprise, but above this, it is beauty and it is grace.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today is the day on which to honor the late reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A man I once learned about and always knew about, but this year (what with U.S. History II on my resume and all) I know just a little bit more. Let's take today to honor him. To honor a great man.

This Week's Sports by David

Guardians of the Galaxy Honest Trailer

The honest trailers are probably one of the best recurring and popular segments on YouTube. They take good (or bad) movies and present them as the public truly sees them. It's so great! And 2014's biggest movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, finally got the treatment. "What else are ya gonna do? Watch DC movies?" It's one to remember!

The Colbert Report

The Colbert Report
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Colbert Report on Facebook

We are about to say goodbye to another show like we have so many times before. This time, it's a farewell to The Colbert Report and above you have the intro (not the December 18 one, but rather September of 2013). A good intro for the post, too. Full spoilers ahead.

The episode began with Jon Stewart ending The Daily Show by asking if Stephen was ready for the end. And Colbert pretended as if he had no idea what Jon was talking about. The episode continued in regular Colbert Report fashion with a topical and humorous commentary. But then the true finale-aspect started to become clear. Colbert delivered his final edition of The Word, a segment featured on over one-third of the episodes over the course of nine years.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,The Colbert Report on Facebook,Video Archive

Then, the episode started to become epic or, as Entertainment Weekly described it, "immortal." Stephen Colbert found himself in a classic showdown with recurring Report character, Grimmy, AKA The Grim Reaper. Instead of dying, though, as many expected, the character of Colbert killed the reaper and achieved immortality. Freaking awesome!

Then, like nothing ever happened, Stephen began to sing, We'll Meet Again, and Jon Stewart walked out onto the stage. But then so did so many more. Randy Newman, Bryan Cranston, James Franco, Mandy Patinkin, Tom Brokaw, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Barry Manilow, Patrick Stewart, Ariana Huffington, Patrick Stewart, Alan Alda, Elijah Wood, Eliot Spitzer, Tim Meadows, Ken Burns, Vince Gilligan, Bill Clinton, C.O.L.B.E.R.T., and more were there. It seemed like every celebrity came by to sing and help Stephen say farewell.



Then, The Colbert Report ended exactly as it should have, but as no one expected it to conclude. On the rooftop of the building in which his show was filmed, Colbert wielded his Captain America shield and stared into the distance as he pondered what to do next. Then, Santa Claus and Abraham Lincoln descended onto the roof to reveal Alex Trebek, the man with all the answers to make Stephen feel better about departing. He then flew into the moonlight and said farewell to Colbert Nation.

What a beautiful ending. I'm excited to see how Stephen tackles the Late Show, but I'm still going to heavily miss The Colbert Report. It was one of the best ever.

Thank you, Stephen.

Finding Dory Plot Revealed

Pixar is going to be very busy in the next three or so years. In 2015, they have Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur, two promising original movies, coming out and subsequent to that, a sequel to The Incredibles, a third Cars movie, and a very skepticism-inducing fourth Toy Story film, will be released. But this post isn't about any of those. This post is about the second phase of the long-awaited sequel to the 2003 classic, Finding Nemo. We were given the title card for Finding Dory a little while ago without any outside knowledge. Now, as the movie continues to progress, we know a little more. Apparently, the film will not be about physically searching for Dory, but rather Dory searching for herself. Whoa. Deep. Like the ocean. Sounds interesting!

The 2015 Grammy Nominees

The nominees for the fifty-seventh Grammy Awards were announced back in December and one in particular delights me! Take Me to Church by Hozier was nominated for Song of the Year! That's huge! Granted, it's probably unlikely to win, but you never know. Hey, Viva la Vida by Coldplay won back in 2009. There's always hope for Hozier. Here are the three major categories:

Song of the Year
Chandelier by Sia
All About That Bass by Meaghan Trainor
Shake It Off by Taylor Swift
Stay with Me by Sam Smith
Take Me to Church by Hozier

Record of the Year
Fancy by Iggy Azalea
Chandelier by Sia
All About That Bass by Meaghan Trainor
Shake It Off by Taylor Swift
Stay with Me by Sam Smith

Album of the Year
Morning Phase by Beck
Beyonce by Beyonce
x by Ed Sheeran
In the Lonely Hour by Sam Smith
Girl by Pharrell Williams

The full list is here. Go Hozier!

The Best Comic Strip of 2014

Well, everybody we have our winner! After three hundred and sixty-five days of intense comicry and three rounds of cartoon battle, the best comic strip of 2014 has been named. And the winner is one I never thought would win, but am very pleased to see it take home the title: Beetle Bailey! What an underdog! Beetle came in as the seventh seed in the tournament, but look at them now. I'm not sure what Greg and Mort Walker were thinking with this strip, but it's just so bizarrely weird that it's hilarious. Who knows?! Congratulations! Here's a look at the previous champions from other years, for good measure:

2013

 2012

 2011

 2010

 2009

 2008

Congratulations, Beetle Bailey!

Doctor Strange - Benedict Cumberbatch

Marvel has a few movies that are coming up with leads already cast (Thor: Ragnarok - Chris Hemsworth, Captain America: Civil War - Chris Evans, Black Panther - Chadwick Boseman), but some are still up in the air. Captain Marvel, Inhumans, and Doctor Strange, for example. But wait! Doctor Strange is no longer on that list. Benedict Cumberbatch is going to be portraying Stephen Strange in the November 4, 2016 film! Sure I would have preferred Jon Hamm or Will Arnett or Ryan Gosling (three of the names that were tossed around), but I think Benedict could be a good choice. He certainly looks the part. We'll just have to wait and see!

The Intergalactic Squabble of Vestigial Proportions

That's not the real title of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, but if Wes Anderson directed the movie then it very well could be. But what would a Wes Andersonian version of Star Wars (Jason Schwartzman) look like? Luckily, there are people out there who edited the trailer as if it was done by Wes. And it's spectacular.

100 Favorite Movies: 36

Ah, yes. Tom Hanks in his younger and more vulnerable years. Big is one of those movies that you saw once all the way through and it was awesome, but now you can only see it on HBO 2 or Cinemax about three-fifths through. Nevertheless, the movie is a classic and so very entertaining. It seems to have a tired concept, but what is oft forgot is that Big somewhat popularized such a plot. Sure, there are some borderline (modern-day) creepy aspects of the film, but all of those are wiped away with the innocent scene with Josh and MacMillan dancing on the big piano. It's probably my all-time favorite scene in any movie ever. So good.

Fantasy comedy directed by Penny Marshall and written by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg in 1988.

Starring: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard, Jared Rushton, David Moscow, and Jon Lovitz.

Tune in Tuesday for number thirty-five!

Screenplays Online

As you know, in anticipation of awards season, many movies and their screenwriters send out copies of the screenplays written to voters in the Academy and the Hollywood Foreign Press and all that good stuff. For this awards season, though, many screenwriters have put the scripts online for public viewing! And this is great news because now I can read the genius that is The Grand Budapest Hotel. The full list is here! You can also read movies like Boyhood, Birdman, Gone Girl, and more. (Budapest is the way to go, though.)

The Lonely Island Slate

The Lonely Island, a comedy-music group made up of Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, and Andy Samberg, used to be a driving force behind Saturday Night Live, but back in January of 2014, they signed an overall developmental deal with FOX to continue making and producing television comedies like Brooklyn Nine-Nine. And just recently they announced the concepts of some of those shows. One is a science-fiction comedy starring Danny Pudi, one is a mockumentary comedy starring Neal Brennan, and a hidden-camera show starring Andre Hyland. They make good stuff so I have no doubt they will all be worth watching!

100 Favorite Movies: 37

I'm not entirely sure why, but this is absolutely my favorite movie in the Indiana Jones series. Raiders is great and Temple of Doom is amazing, but this one is my favorite of the three. And of course, you have the fourth one, but it's this one that does it for me. There are so many great parts to this film that have become iconic, in a way, and the leap of faith is one that stands out to me. I think there's just something subtly, but also entirely special about this one. It's a delight to watch!

Adventure drama directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Jeffrey Boam and Tom Stoppard in 1989.

Starring: Harrison Ford, River Phoenix, Sean Connery, Alex Hyde-White, Alison Doody, and Denholm Elliott.

Tune in tomorrow for number thirty-six!

The Second Annual Power Awards Nominations

It's that time of the year again! Why not throw one more set of awards to keep track of into the mix, right? Right! It's for the greater good. We have the very best in literature, sports, music, television, and film represented here from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014. Nothing that lingered from 2013 and nothing that just missed the cut in 2015. These are the 2014 Power Awards. And these are the nominations. Please vote if you desire to do so.

Literature:

Book of the Year
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
One More Thing by B.J. Novak
Poking a Dead Frog by Mike Sacks
Carsick by John Waters
Live from New York by James Miller and Tom Shales

Author of the Year
David Sedaris
B.J. Novak
Amy Poehler
Joshua Ferris
Megan Amram

Sports:

Athlete of the Year
Madison Bumgarner
Thomas Muller
Russell Wilson
LeBron James
Tim Duncan

Team of the Year
Seattle Seahawks
Los Angeles Kings
San Francisco Giants
San Antonio Spurs
Connecticut Huskies

Film:

Movie of the Year
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Unbroken
This Is Where I Leave You
The Skeleton Twins

Leading Actor of the Year
Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Bill Hader (The Skeleton Twins)
Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Jack O'Connell (Unbroken)
Jason Schwartzman (Listen Up Philip)

Leading Actress of the Year
Tina Fey (This Is Where I Leave You)
Kristen Wiig (The Skeleton Twins)
Amy Poehler (They Came Together)
Jenny Slate (Obvious Child)
Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)

Supporting Actor of the Year
Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Miyavi (Unbroken)
Logan Lerman (Fury)
Jeff Goldblum (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Channing Tatum (22 Jump Street)

Supporting Actress of the Year
Tilda Swinton (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Rose Byrne (Neighbors)
Scarlett Johansson (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
Jane Fonda (This Is Where I Leave You)
Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy)

Animated Movie of the Year
The LEGO Movie
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls

Animated Voice of the Year
Chris Pratt (The LEGO Movie)
Will Arnett (The LEGO Movie)
Alison Brie (The LEGO Movie)
Will Ferrell (The LEGO Movie)
Scott Adsit (Big Hero 6)

Song in a Movie of the Year
Everything Is Awesome (The LEGO Movie)
Miracles (Unbroken)
Hooked on a Feeling (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Moonshine (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (The Skeleton Twins)

Movie Character of the Year
M. Gustave H. (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Rocket Raccoon (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Groot (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Kermit the Frog (Muppets Most Wanted)
Wendy Altman (This Is Where I Leave You)

Director of the Year
Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Angelina Jolie (Unbroken)
Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Philip)
James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Joe and Anthony Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

Television:

Comedy of the Year
The Mindy Project
Wilfred
Community
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Parks and Recreation

Drama of the Year
Mad Men
House of Cards
The Newsroom
Fargo
Gotham

Reality Program of the Year
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
The Amazing Race
Billy on the Street
The Voice
The Price Is Right

Variety Program of the Year
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Saturday Night Live
The Colbert Report
Nathan for You
Late Night with Seth Meyers

Animated Program of the Year
BoJack Horseman
Bob's Burgers
Family Guy
The Awesomes
The Simpsons

Animated Voice of the Year
Will Arnett (BoJack Horseman)
Aaron Paul (BoJack Horseman)
Amy Sedaris (BoJack Horseman)
Seth Macfarlane (Family Guy)
Seth Meyers (The Awesomes)

Reality Host of the Year
Billy Eichner (Billy on the Street)
Neil deGrasse Tyson (Cosmos)
Adam Richman (Food Fighters)
Phil Keoghan (The Amazing Race)
Wayne Brady (Let's Make a Deal)

Variety Host of the Year
Jimmy Fallon (The Tonight Show)
Seth Meyers (Late Night)
Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report)
Nathan Fielder (Nathan for You)
Jon Stewart (The Daily Show)

Lead Comedy Actor of the Year
Joel McHale (Community)
Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
Elijah Wood (Wilfred)
Jason Gann (Wilfred)
James Roday (Psych)

Lead Comedy Actress of the Year
Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)
Zooey Deschanel (New Girl)
Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs)
Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer)

Supporting Comedy Actor of the Year
Danny Pudi (Community)
Dule Hill (Psych)
Max Greenfield (New Girl)
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother)
Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live)

Supporting Comedy Actress of the Year
Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation)
Alison Brie (Community)
Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live)
Carrie Brownstein (Portlandia)

Drama Actor of the Year
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)
Martin Freeman (Fargo)
John Slattery (Mad Men)
Corey Stoll (House of Cards)

Drama Actress of the Year
Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
Robin Wright (House of Cards)
Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)
Allison Tolman (Fargo)
Kate Mara (House of Cards)

Guest Actor of the Year
Jonathan Banks (Community)
B.J. Novak (The Newsroom)
Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live)
Val Kilmer (Psych)
Jon Hamm (Parks and Recreation)

Guest Actress of the Year
Brie Larson (Community)
Cristin Milioti (How I Met Your Mother)
Mimi Rogers (Wilfred)
Tracey Wigfield (The Mindy Project)
Megan Mullally (Parks and Recreation)

Special of the Year
Best of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Saturday Night Live Christmas Special
Peter Pan Live!
Michael Buble's Christmas Special
The 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards

Music:

Song of the Year
Take Me to Church by Hozier
The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) by U2
Love Someone by Jason Mraz
Magic by Coldplay
Here Comes Trouble by Chronixx

Album of the Year
Hozier by Hozier
Yes! by Jason Mraz
Awesome Mix Vol. 1 by James Gunn
Songs of Innocence by U2
Ghost Stories by Coldplay

Singer of the Year
Jason Mraz
Hozier
Justin Timberlake
Sia
John Legend

Band of the Year
Coldplay
U2
Maroon 5
OneRepublic
She & Him

Overall:

Celebrity of the Year
Jimmy Fallon
Amy Poehler
B.J. Novak
Hozier
Wes Anderson

If you wish to do so, I would greatly appreciate it if you'd vote! It's fun thing of which to be a part. Get excited! The winners will be announced one week from today so you might as well say, "Oh boy!"

Nominee Leaderboard:

The Grand Budapest Hotel (11)
Guardians of the Galaxy (7)
The LEGO Movie (6)
Mad Men (5)
Saturday Night Live (5)
Parks and Recreation (5)
House of Cards (5)
Unbroken (5)
Amy Poehler (4)
B.J. Novak (4)
Jimmy Fallon (4)
This Is Where I Leave You (4)
The Skeleton Twins (4)
Wilfred (4)
Hozier (4)
Jason Mraz (4)
U2 (4)
Coldplay (4)

Happy voting!

This Week's Entertainment by David

100 Favorite Movies: 38

This movie has a lot of things that define what I love in a movie. For me, it's almost always about characters. Characters, characters, characters. That's what matters. Truly. Without good characters, it's hard to make a good movie. But I also always love the idea of a bottle movie of sorts, if that makes sense. For example, 12 Angry Men takes place almost entirely in the deliberation room and the dialogue moves the plot along. There's so much to savor in this movie. It. Is. Brilliant.

Courtroom drama directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Reginald Rose in 1957.

Starring: Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Henry Fonda, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec, and Robert Webber.

Tune in tomorrow for number thirty-seven!

Pearls Before Swine v. Beetle Bailey

Well, here we are. The Comics Tournament championship. You can see, in the bracket above, that perennial contender, Pearls Before Swine, is going head-to-head with dark horse in the rough, Beetle Bailey. It's a fierce matchup for the finals, but someone's got to win. For whom will you vote?

Pearls Before Swine

Beetle Bailey

Good luck to both!

Suicide Squad Cast

DC's upcoming super-villain team-up movie, Suicide Squad, announced its cast last month and the most interesting actor set to appear in the movie is the man who will become the first to play the Joker since Heath Ledger: Jared Leto. In addition to Leto, Will Smith will play Deadshot, Tom Hardy will star as Rick Flag, Margot Robbie will portray Harley Quinn, and Jai Courtney and Cara Delevingne will play Boomerang and Enchantress, respectively. Not a bad cast! It will be interesting to see how an all-antagonist movie stacks up against the other all-star films pervading the movie industry.

100 Favorite Movies: 39

Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. Two SNL greats coming together for a great comedy. It's your classic formula for switcheroo movie, but it works because it's so deliriously entertaining. The movie is so layered and it really is the crown jewels of films that you can find on the guide at any time. But what makes it special is that you can watch it at any time. Probably the best to come from the Eddie Murphy-era of the 1980s when he churned out winner after winner.

Comedy directed by John Landis and written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod in 1983.

Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kristin Holby, and Paul Gleason.

Tune in tomorrow for number thirty-eight!

Mutts v. Beetle Bailey

Whoever thought we'd see Beetle Bailey make it so far? But that's what makes the comics tournament so annually exciting! The idea of Beetle Bailey advancing to the finals is so intriguing, but it's also so in your hands. Who advances? You decide!

Mutts

Beetle Bailey

Good luck picking between heart and humor!