Who’d have thunk it? Smack in the middle of a frivolous New Yorker article about Christmas stockings and the overpriced things we can stuff in them, I found a quote that distills one of the biggest reasons I love the theatre.

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Well, it’s official. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced the nominees for the 67th annual Golden Globe awards, and so the peak of movie awards season is officially upon us. From now until the Oscars, it’s a good time to be a cinema geek.

Here are some  reactions to the nominees. What are yours?

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They say Hamlet is one of the most challenging roles ever created for the theatre, so it’s appropriate that Brian Cox has started training young Theo so early. By the time he’s in second grade, the kid will really understand this soliloquy:

After the jump,  I’m going to list the full text of this famous speech. Then I’m going to list the many pop culture projects whose titles have been inspired by it. (Or at least, I’m going to list every one I can think of.)

And then I’m going to suggest future projects that can borrow their names from this beloved text.

(hat tip to Roommate Joe for Tweeting the video and to the Fametracker folk for inspiring the structure of this post)

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By DOUG STRASSLER

A funny thing happened to me while I was on the way home for Thanksgiving. Going through my iTunes, I started thinking about Madonna’s “You’ll See,” a single from her Something to Remember collection of ballads and a great song that, as far as I know, only I still listen to.

Released in 1996, “You’ll See” is a sequel song to “Take a Bow,” which had come out the year before. But it’s not a sequel in the same sloppy way Britney’s “Stronger” is a sequel to “…Baby One More time.” Whereas the singer in “Bow” is defeated by song’s end, “You’ll See” is a rally cry; she has recovered from hurt and declares that she may have been down but is in no way out. The video, too, is a sequel to “Bow,” using the same director and the same actor who played the bullfighter in the previous video (it was part of Madonna’s hard lobbying to get cast as Evita). The song was a modest hit at the time, reaching #6 on the charts, and yet no one ever talks about it now.

Imagine my shock, then, when I discovered the very next day that Susan Boyle has covered “You’ll See” on her I Dreamed a Dream album – you know, currently the best-selling album in the country. Boyle has reportedly sung this song at auditions, and used it as a personal mantra, for years. Whodathunkit?

“You’ll See” is just one example of what I’ve called a musical forget-me-nots: Songs from major artists that had their moment and then, for whatever reason, got lost in the folds of time instead of being added to the list of that singer’s cherished accomplishments. Below, I list several more songs by huge singers that have faded away:

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Damn, Luda.

In other words, Ludacris has dropped his latest single, “How Low,” and it is, as they say, fiya.

Luda’s flow on this song is amazing. He zips through the verses with machine gun speed, yet every word is clear. His voice also bobs and weaves around the slamming beat, making the song feel textured and exciting.

But let’s address the obvious, shall we? The “chipmunk voice” in the chorus. Rappers have been using this effect since at least P.M. Dawn, but it rarely appears on big, mainstream singles (see note below). Will it alienate people? Annoy them? Possibly. But for me, since it isn’t overused, the effect injects “How Low” with Ludacris’ trademark playfulness. He’s one of the only major rapper who doesn’t take himself seriously all the time—he’s even been known to smile—so it makes perfect sense for him to have a naughty chipmunk in his crew. (How do you think they’ll deal with the effect in the video? A cartoon Ludacris who climbs up women’s skirts? A claymation critter smoking a bowl?)

I can’t quite call “How Low” a masterpiece, since it’s yet another ode to booties dropping in clubs, but despite his lack of narrative inspiration, Ludacris has still delivered a hot hit.

Note: Please check the comments section of this post. A comment from Emily elucidated the deep history of the chipmunk effect, which added to my appreciation of “How Low.”

Yesterday, thanks to the following clip from Mo’nique’s new talk show on BET, Roommate Joe and I had an online chat about Mo’nique’s apparent antipathy toward campaigning for an Oscar for Precious.

This led to a spirited conversation that touched on everything from my iPod to Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds perfume.

Please enjoy (and join) our conversation!

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You guys… you won’t believe this: My video for my rap song “Silence (of the Lambs)” has just been featured on the website AllHipHop.com.

AllHipHop is a really influential hip-hop site, so this is huge.
Follow this link to see my video there. Then leave a comment and let them know how awesome you think it is.

And of course, I must give a big shout out to Illseed, who is the bomb.

You guys. You guys. Tonight, the Cartoon Network is airing Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I think it was on network television last month, but since I’m not sure, I’m pretending that didn’t happen. Instead, I will consider this airing to be the one that counts. It’s the one that will officially launch my Christmas season.

Do you know what I mean? It just doesn’t  feel like the the holidays can begin until I’ve seen The Grinch. (And I’m talking about the classic cartoon, not the Jim Carrey movie or the Broadway musical.)

Now, watching The Grinch is more of a personal tradition. I can watch it by myself, even, and that’s okay. The rest of my essential holiday viewing, however, requires my family. Otherwise it doesn’t count.

Every year, my parents and I watch Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. In case you don’t know, that’s a 1977 special that was created by Jim Henson and his stable of puppetry geniuses. It tells the story of Ma Otter and her son Emmet, poor river creatures who use love and music and an O. Henry-style twist to overcome poverty and have a very special Christmas. I cannot overstate this movie’s awesomeness. If you’ve seen it, then all I have to say is this: A mess of mama’s barbecue.

My family’s other viewing tradition began back in 1985, when I celebrated my seventh birthday by going with a group of my friends to see Santa Claus: The Movie at the theater. Now, the Blankenship clan fires it up every year.

Is this movie good? Um… no. Not really. There’s this subplot where a rebellious elf (Dudley Moore) runs away from the North Pole and joins forces with a ruthless businessman (John Lithgow) who wants to use the elf’s toy ideas to launch “Christmas 2.” Then a homeless boy and rich girl get involved, and… weird stuff happens. People eat magic lollipops that make them fly. Eighties hairdos seem to take on lives of their own.

The opening thirty minutes of Santa Clause: The Movie, however, are pretty magical. They explain how Santa Claus got selected for his job and how his magic works. There’s also a fun montage of “Christmas through the years,” in which Santa has to respond to things like the Industrial Age.

For a while, my family tried to watch the entire movie every year, but we never quite made it. We’d always fall asleep or take phone calls or suddenly remember there was some leftover ham that needed eating. So now, we basically just watch the first few scenes. Or, like, we’ll say we’re going to watch the whole thing, but we know we aren’t. In fact, we probably spend as much time discussing when we’ll watch the movie—Christmas Eve? Christmas Day? Next week?—as we do actually watching it. But at this point, that conversation feels as festive as the event itself.

So about how you guys? Do you have holiday viewing traditions? Are there things you watch by yourself, just to feel festive? Do you and your siblings spend every Christmas Eve watching old episodes of Huckleberry Hound? Do you know it’s Hanukkah when your dad pulls out the DVD of Aliens?

I want to know your stories. I’ll be free to read them anytime except tonight, between 8:00 and 8:30. That’s when I’ve got a date with Max, the reindeer dog.

I’m quoted several times in a story posted today on ABCNews.com. Luchina Fisher questions why some black critics and audiences are pushing back against Precious and not The Blind Side, and I weigh in with my point of view. (Look for me on pages two and three.)

You may remember that I wrote about my reaction to Precious and to the trailer for The Blind Side. Interestingly, my piece on The Blind Side has gotten lots of response on the interwebs. According to my Google alert, lots of people think I’m an idiot and a moron and, oh, a goober for arguing that the Hollywood treatment of a powerful true story might be the slightest bit patronizing. But I love Sandra Bullock as a blonde, so does that count for something?

Anyway… if the ABCNews.com story is sending you to The Critical Condition for the first time, then I welcome you! Please, have a look around. Sample the peanut brittle. Joining our seemingly endless debate about Adam Lambert. And don’t forget to watch my rap video abotu The Silence of the Lambs.

So I really enjoyed Up in the Air, the new George Clooney movie that’s currently rolling out nationwide. I’ve realized I like it for the same basic reason that I like About Schmidt, which is one of my favorite movies of the decade.

Intriguing, right? Well, getting ready to learn more… with major spoilers.

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