For the fourteen loyal P&B readers who don't visit Mike D'Angelo's blog, please stop by, won't you? He just finished a countdown of the best movies of the year, at least according to a selected number of movie nerds. While those results may not be of much interest to non-nerds (though I will always maintain that the Skandies is the best and most interesting of all movie surveys/awards), Mike's posts include clips of the year's best scenes (as voted on by said movie nerds -- the idea is that these are the year's best scenes that can be seen completely divorced from context). So you'll get to see some awesome clips, everything from Children of Men's miraculous "automobile ambush" trick-shot (voted #1 scene of the year) to Borat wrestling in the nude to this hilarious bit from Talledega Nights, a scene I hadn't seen before. My favorite scene of the year is here as well. Good stuff.
Also, if you have a Tradesports/Intrade account, check out the low, low prices on Peter O'Toole. Definitely worth a flyer. You'll also find good prices for Little Miss Sunshine for picture and Scorsese (who's a lock but not priced like one) for director. Alan Arkin might be worth a gamble as well. Make sure you buy me a beer if you score big, but take these tips at your own risk.
