You've Got To Accentuate The Positive: What's Good About The 2013 Oscar Nominations?

It's very easy to be cynical about the Oscars, especially since at their worst, they're little more than a smug, self-satisfied display of onanism practiced by people who already have too many reasons to feel pleased with themselves. This year's ceremony could potentially be even worse thanks to the presence of host Seth Macfarlane, a man who is the very embodiment of smug, self-satisfied onanism. At their best, though, the Academy Awards act as a celebration of the pageantry and magic of the movies, and even a disastrous slate of nominations can provide for plenty of discourse, and a car-crash of an awards ceremony promises to be great fodder for the rubberneckers of the world.

Film Review: Ted (2012)

Growing up in a town just outside of Boston, John Bennett was such a thoroughly lonely child that he even  envied the Jewish kid everyone else on the street would regularly beat up. So one Christmas he wished that the stuffed teddy bear he received as a present would come to life so that he could finally have a friend. Since there is nothing more powerful than a child's wish (other than military hardware) that wish came true, and John and Ted vowed to be best friends forever. Fast forward twenty-something years and John (Mark Wahlberg) and Ted (voiced by writer-director Seth MacFarlane) share an apartment together where they routinely waste their days getting spectacularly high whilst watching Flash Gordon. When this behaviour endangers John's chance for a promotion, as well as his relationship with his girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis), John is forced to choose between growing up, or getting rid of his best friend/stuffed toy.