Okay, here we go! Time to predict the big three!

Best Actress: Okay, “Black Swan” wasn’t anywhere near my favorite movie out of the list of Oscar picks…but I definitely believe Natalie Portman deserves an Oscar! Even if you aren’t a horror fan, there’s still plenty to appreciate in her complex performance.

Best Actor: It’s a good group this year, but I’m going to play it safe and throw in a vote for Colin Firth.  I’ve loved him since “Bridget Jones” (because he’s precious!), but his performance in “The King’s Speech” blew me away.  I’m also a big fan of Jesse Eisenberg, but I doubt the Academy will give him the award, especially since many feel a win for Firth is long overdue.

Best Picture: I can understand lots of people disagreeing with me on this one…but my vote is most certainly for “The Social Network.”  For those of you who are crying out for “Black Swan” or the ever-popular “Inception”…please don’t hate me! Here’s my reasoning.  “Black Swan” was well-acted, but not enough of a shocking thriller to make me feel like it was groundbreaking.  Additionally, I feel like some elements of it (like extra violence or the gratuitous lesbian action) were less for artistic purposes, and more for getting people in the seats.

In regards to “Inception”, I’m honestly one of its biggest fans.  However, as thrilling, inventive, and fun as it was, I still don’t know that it screams “OSCAR!” for me.  This is because the script and directing were amazing and creative. However, the acting wasn’t necessarily the most taxing I’ve ever seen any of the cast do.  Heck, Leonardo (who I LOVE in most films) was pretty much playing a less complicated version of a character from something like “Shutter Island.”  Is it a great movie? YES! Is it a life-changing film better than any this year?…Probably not.

The reason I’m such a fan of “The Social Network” is that it has a little bit of everything.  In my opinion, the acting was stellar.  The rapid-fire script set a unique tone that perfectly captured the emotions of the characters without going over the top.  When I stop to truly think about it, “The Social Network” is a modern story of our generation that is infused with heavy themes from such greats as “The Graduate” and “Citizen Kane.”  To be honest, I’d be okay with almost any of the nominated pictures taking home the gold.  “The Social Network” is just my favorite out of all of them for the reasons listed above.

Well, that’s my Oscar Talk for 2011.  What do you all think? Have I made any terrible errors in my judgment, or is my awards radar right on?

Ladies and Gents, Oscar Season is finally here!  Personally, I’m pretty proud of my track record, having seen six out of the ten nominated films (and I may actually catch a seventh soon!).  Here are some of my thoughts and predictions for this year’s awards ceremony.

Best Supporting Actress: So here’s the deal. I have not yet seen “The Fighter” even though I’ve heard it’s pretty great.  I’m just never much of a sports movies gal.  However, if previous awards shows are any indication, I’m guessing the statue will go to Melissa Leo.  If it were up to me, this category would go to Hailee Steinfeld for “True Grit.”  Her performance was a surprise favorite for me, and I’m actually kind of baffled by the fact that she’s not up for Lead Actress instead.

Best Supporting Actor: I’m not as familiar with some of the nominees in this category, so I’ll keep it brief.  First of all, if other award shows set a precedent, then I have no doubt that Christian Bale could win.  However, I’d definitely be pleased with a win for Geoffrey Rush for “The King’s Speech.”

Best Director: This one is kind of a tough call.  I’m a big fan of “The Social Network” and David Fincher, so he’s my first pick.  However, I also wouldn’t rule out Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan.”  The man knows how to make a creepy, creepy movie!

Best Animated Film: “Toy Story 3” FOR SURE! I love dragons and all, but “Toy Story 3” is one of the best movies of the year.  It wins in my book, and I’m guessing Academy voters swooned over it too!

Wow, I’m doing a lot of begging these days.

One of the more revolutionary shows in the last couple years, “Huge” focused on what it’s like to be an overweight teen. The show is magnificent because, unlike shows like “Mike and Molly” it isn’t just about rolling out tired fat jokes.

“Huge” deals with teen drama along with the idea that it’s always hard to change things about yourself-no matter what age you are or what your weight may be.

Even though ratings are decent, “Huge” has been canceled. But there’s a great last-ditch attempt to save it going on.

Please, I beg you, add your name to the petition to save “Huge” at http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/savehuge

This was started by the ladies at Jezebel, one of my favorite websites. Please help save a poignant t.v. show!

Thanks in advance, readers!

I am not above begging. Not when I’m begging for something REALLY important.

Over the summer, I got hooked on reruns of the NBC show “Community.” At first, I thought it was slow, but the show is full of elegantly crafted self-referential jokes.

For me, watching “Community” is like actually being part of a study group with familiar people. I’ve learned to love each of the characters for their own bizarre quirks. It’s my new favorite show to marathon on DVD after a long day of class.

But the show just isn’t doing great in the ratings, guys. So here’s where I start to beg.

PLEASE watch “Community.” PLEEEEEEASE! Write to NBC and tell them how much you like it! Stage a sit-in if it gets canceled!

…Okay, that last one may be a bit excessive. But you get my drift. Tune in to “Community” and at least give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised!

P.S. I want to leave you with one of my favorite exchanges from the show.

(Pierce and Jeff are about to toast before starting a project)
Pierce: To the empowerage of words
Jeff: …To the irony of that sentence.

Funny, right? RIGHT?!

Ok, seriously, watch it. NBC. Thursdays. 8 p.m.

There’s a Bloody Mary at every meeting. Smoke fills the air constantly. The retro outfits are to die for.

That’s right, the time has come. Erin has finally started watching “Mad Men.”  And she just can’t stop enjoying it!

I bought the first season from Second Time Around, and in the last two days I’ve watched several episodes back-to-back. I was petrified by the idea that “Mad Men” may disappoint me. However, I was almost instantly hooked by the imperfect characters, 60s aesthetic, and the office scandal.

I may be compelled to write more later about Don Draper, Joan Holloway, and all my other favorite workers from Sterling Cooper. For now, though, just consider this the official Phelps Perspective endorsement for “Mad Men.”

This weekend I went to see “Easy A,” which I’d very much been looking forward to. I pretty much preface every conversation that I have about it, “I know it’s a high school movie, and so it’s really not perfect…”

But the truth is, I loved it!

True, “Easy A” is sloppy at times and isn’t a movie for everyone. But it was definitely a movie for me, and probably many other young women out there.

One thing that was much appreciated was the way that no single character was perfect. The protagonist has several flaws, but she’s still trying to be a good person. And everyone has some kind of secret or flaw that makes high school tough to deal with. At the same time, there were certain jokes that I really enjoyed, including a slew of well-placed under-the-radar Ferris Bueller references.

In the end, I guess “Easy A” resonated with me most of all because it did manage to accurately depict so many gender roles and stereotypes from high school and beyond.

And let me just say, if your movie is already pretty good, a decent commentary about gender is an easy way to get me onboard.

Anybody else seen “Easy A”? What did you think?

I’m both excited and nervous about the debut of a new comedy on CBS next week called “Mike and Molly.”

The show, which comes from the people behind successful sitcoms like “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory” is about two characters (Mike and Molly) who meet at a support group for overeaters. There’s an almost instant attraction, and the show moves on in romantic comedy format from there.

I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m already very conflicted. As an overweight individual, it’s nice to see a show with portrayals of realistic life experiences that I’ve personally encountered. At the same time, I can only imagine how easy it will be to roll out jokes that poke fun at the fatties. It’s almost like, “Look at them! Can you imagine people who are overweight actually loving EACH OTHER?!”

I’m willing to give the show a try, and I’m hoping it stays away from the obvious fat-shaming jokes that would be so easy. With any luck, it will lean more towards the attitude of this summer’s ABC Family show “Huge” (which I could go on and on about, but will save for another time).

Once the show starts, I’ll give it an honest review. I just hope it’ll turn into a well-developed comedy with a premise that strengthens the show instead of providing easy or tired jokes.

Well, I’d almost like to say that “Going the Distance” is a really stupid, not-worth-your-time movie.

But I can’t.

I really, REALLY enjoyed it!! My fiance and I are experiencing some long distance issues (he’s in Louisville while I’m at UD!) and we went to see “Going the Distance” late at night when we were both in town for Labor Day.

In my opinion, it was one of the best date movies we could have picked! There’s a romantic comedy setup that works, but there’s plenty of raunchy humor that guys (and ladies with their mind in the gutter like mine often is) can enjoy! I won’t claim it was perfect, but “Going the Distance” is a lot of fun, and goes by super fast.

Plus, the added bonus was that the pop culture nerd in me LOVED watching a real life Hollywood on-again off-again couple acting out their love on screen.

In short, I’d just like to give “Going the Distance” an official thumbs-up endorsement.  If you don’t like anything else, maybe you can at least appreciate that it includes Jason Sudeikis with a ridiculous mustache.  That’s worth an endorsement in my book any day!

I am in distress.  I simply cannot accept the fact that “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” is having such a crappy time at the box office.

Let me explain further.  I loved “Scott Pilgrim” when I went to see it with a sizeable group of friends before the school year started.  I wouldn’t call it my new favorite movie, and it’s certainly not an example of something that belongs on the American Film Institute’s Top 100 list.

But it’s pretty darn cute.  And pretty darn funny.

There are so many jokes-both visual and verbal-and the entire cast really delivers.  The direction is also inspired, adding the perfect blend of comedy, sass, and videogame/comic humor.  It’s difficult to explain how amusing it is to consistently see a title of “rrrrrriiing!” every time the phone rings in the film.  Similarly, the running joke of Scott sharing a bed with his gay roommate (and his roommate’s boyfriends!) never really gets old.

Anyway, this brings me to the current tragedy: the movie’s box office numbers are unfortunately low (Around $20 million total in its second weekend).  There are several plausible reasons for this, including the fact that “Scott Pilgrim” debuted the same week as hits like “The Expendables.”

Also, the press and advertising makes “Scott Pilgrim” look like it’s exclusively tailored to hipsters and gamers, though there are plenty of jokes for ALL people, even video game-illiterate people such as myself.

The bottom line is that this just makes me sad.  If you’re looking for something to do, and have time to kill, I recommend heading to a theater and bringing a friend to enjoy Scott Pilgrim and his crazy antics.  Hopefully you’ll have the same unexpected joyful reaction that I found in the movie.

I guess the one consolation with “Scott Pilgrim” is that it fits one of my favorite pop culture models.  Bad Box Office + Unbelievably Devoted Fans = CULT CLASSIC IN THE MAKING

Confession: I love my vampire pop culture.  So sue me, the brooding characters and existential conflicts really suck me in (no pun intended).  I watch and read “Twilight” because, frankly, it’s over-the-top escapism.  I tune in to “True Blood” because the characters are engaging, and it’s also based on a book series that I love.  And yes, my other favorite is a little retro “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Buffy is especially awesome in my eyes because of the 90s dialogue and Buffy’s ability to kick some serious tail.  Long story short:  I shamelessly love the vampire genre.

Before you judge me, you should know something, though.  All vampire-lovers are not alike! It’s hard to believe, but it’s true!  The blood in “True Blood” still grosses me out.  I don’t like the idea of being bitten at all. Being in a werewolf/vampire love triangle sounds like a really raw deal to me.  And I am definitely glad that the guys I know don’t sparkle!

So please, just let me enjoy my vampire loving nature in peace.  It’s a silly habit, but we all have our guilty pleasure pop-culture indulgences.  Some people love comics and sci-fi.  Some people are addicted to Jersey Shore and The Real World.  And some people (like me!) enjoy some campy vampire romance in the middle of a hectic school week!

P.S.  What are your favorite guilty pleasures, readers?  Though I am devoted to vampire silliness, I’m always game for a new obsession!