A Foolish Consistency

Parts one and two of my weekend in Little Rock covering the Memphis Tigers basketball team for the paper I work for, the Memphis Flyer, can be found

Part One here

and

Part Two here.

Part 3 will be an exclusive on A Foolish Consistency, soon.

I'd give my left foot to decipher this Canadian riddle.

The fine folks at Southwest Tennessee Community College loaded me up on some parting gifts for my brown bag lunch participation.

And, yes, the little red thing is a STCC-logo pedometer.

See the previous post for results of the Cinemapprentice Oscars Pick-em Contest.

My own Oscars contest wasn't the only one I entered this year. I also attempted to "Beat Beifuss", the local daily's annual pick-em contest. The "Beifuss" in the contest name refers to John Beifuss, the film critic for The Commercial Appeal.

I think I entered the year Chicago won best pic. I did not do so well.

I debated for a long time if I should enter Beifuss' contest this year. After all, I'm a critic for a competing newspaper, the Memphis Flyer, though we're a weekly. I certainly didn't want to be a jackass. But then I remembered: I write for the Flyer. Being a jackass is in the job description!

Last minute, I decided to enter the contest.

How did I do Oscar night? In Beifuss' 10 categories, I had a perfect score. Beifuss himself got 8.

I was pretty pleased. I was curious what would happen next.

The CA announced the winners yesterday, with this story.

Make sure you read the comments. (Full disclosure: I know who jbseymour is, but I swear I don't know the other people... well, at least, I don't know if I know them.

Of particular relevance is the excerpted passage:

"As always, we picked the 10 winners in the Beat Beifuss contest at random from the list of all those who beat me. Each winner will receive 20 free Malco movie tickets.

The winners are:

Alison Crone of Memphis.
John Friedlander of Cordova.
Allison Graves of Collierville.
Melissa Mann of Memphis.
Diana Powell of Bellingham, Wash.
Lee Powell of Memphis.
Robin Reeves of West Memphis.
Josh Tims of Ripley, Tenn.
Dee Dee Tipler of Lakeland.
Paul Williford of Memphis.

Williford and Greg Akers of Memphis were the only two contestants to predict all 10 Oscar winners correctly. Akers was not chosen as a Beat Beifuss winner, but in recognition of his infallibility, we will give him something nice from The Commercial Appeal prize closet."

First, let me say, this is incredibly gracious of Beifuss to even mention me. He could've just let it go, knowing that I wasn't one of the 10 selected and knowing that I write for another publication. (He confirmed through certain channels that I was, indeed, the same person who had entered his contest.)

Second, the story isn't done yet. I called to see what I'll get from the "prize closet," but I haven't heard what it is yet. I've been told I'll be contacted later this week to let me know it's ready for me to pick up. I'll post pics when I get whatever it is.

It does suck that I won't get the 20 free Malco tickets. Those things come in handy. Although, how ironic would it have been if I used Malco tickets the CA gave me so that I could go see movies and then write reviews of them for the Flyer? Very, I'll suggest.

And, you can be sure, when I get the inevitable CA T-shirt or other daily-news gear, it'll be displayed proudly at my desk in the Memphis Flyer building.

(On a side note, I had lunch last week with John Friedlander of Cordova, one of the 10 Beat Beifuss winners. He teaches film at Southwest Tennessee Community College, and I met him when I did my brown bag talk. He and I and the STCC Honors Program coordinator had lunch that day. To my knowledge, Dee Dee Tipler of Lakeland was not also dining at Interim that afternoon.)

Sorry it's taken me awhile to get the results posted. Don't feel bad for the winner, though. He's been notified of his victory.

Foreign Language Picture
My Pick: Katyn
Correct Pick: The Counterfeiters

Original Song
My Pick: Falling Slowly
Correct Pick: Falling Slowly

Supporting Actor
My Pick: Javier Bardem
Correct Pick: Javier Bardem

Actor
My Pick: Daniel Day-Lewis
Correct Pick: Daniel Day-Lewis

Supporting Actress
My Pick: Tilda Swinton
Correct Pick: Tilda Swinton

Actress
My Pick: Marion Cotillard
Correct Pick: Marion Cotillard

Adapted Screenplay
My Pick: No Country for Old Men
Correct Pick: No Country for Old Men

Original Screenplay
My Pick: Juno
Correct Pick: Juno

Director
My Pick: Coens
Correct Pick: Coens

Picture
My Pick: No Country for Old Men
Correct Pick: No Country for Old Men

Tiebreaker (Not needed)
Animated Short
My Pick: I Met the Walrus
Correct Pick: Peter and the Wolf

My final score: 9 out of 10, missing Foreign Picture

Next closest score: Two folks had 8 out of 10. Bunches more with 7 right.

In other words: I won.

The most important category of the night: Supporting Actress. If Cate Blanchett wins the Oscar, Ichthyophile wins the Pick-em Contest. If Amy Ryan wins the Oscar, pammermac wins the Pick-em. But Tilda Swinton won the Oscar.
In other words, Ichthyophile and pammermac are losers.

What prize I get for winning: Akira Kurosawa’s Drunken Angel

Thanks to all who played. See you again next year!