Time to Deflate DeflateGate

Let’s start with the fact that I am a Dolphins fan and would love to see the Patriots lose. Let’s throw that out there, right now.

Here is the truth: Deflategate is horrifically overrated, overblown, and a distraction from the fact that the NFL hates the current Super Bowl matchup.

Deflategate is overshadowing the upcoming Super Bowl and simultaneously hiding the lackluster NFL season which cheated the Detroit Lions out of a playoff win, mishandled the cases of Adrian Peterson AND Ray Rice, continues the secret blackballing of Tim Tebow and Michael Sam (Don’t deny it), and continues its mistreatment of Marshall Lynch and his obvious social anxiety problems. Roger Goodell continues to baffle and frustrate with his inconsistent ways of enforcing the rules and punishments---and ridiculous attempts to deliver football to a clearly-uninterested England when cities like Toronto, Mexico City, Montreal, and Los Angeles are still missing their NFL franchise. So how can we totally erase the grim 2014-2015 NFL season? Have potentially a Packers/Broncos Super Bowl. And it didn’t happen. And the NFL higher-ups are pissed.

Yes, the New England Patriots have Spygate in their resume so of course the entire actual thing is suspicious. Somehow, someway the footballs got deflated---even though NONE of those footballs were used in the second half when the Patriots ripped apart both sides of Indianapolis. It could be an equipment manager. It could be the third-string quarterback involved in one of Bill Belichick’s absolutely evil schemes. It could have been Tom Brady, who likes the ball a certain way (like all quarterbacks). It could have been that the balls weren’t even inspected. It could have been the weather. Or all this could be what we call it in baseball: home field advantage.

Fun truth: every home team in all sports has one or two tricks up their sleeve to gain the advantage on the road team---this is why the home team wins 75% of their games. The San Francisco Giants during the World Series put extra water on the field so the Royals couldn’t steal any bases. The Boston Celtics never fixed their basketball court during the Boston Garden days, resulting in the Celtics having the upper hand on how the ball handles off the ground in certain sections. The Seattle Seahawks’ stadium is built for noise, as even a slightly smaller crowd can sound like a jet engine and dismantle the Richter scale (and may have even manufactured crowd noise in some instances). The Metrodome used to jack up the air conditioning when the Twins had the lead going into the final inning. The Blue Jays may or may not have had people disguised as fans stealing signs—and this goes with the Detroit Tigers as well.Even my Tampa Bay Rays lowered the left field wall to allow for more potential home run robbery---even though it wound up helping the team in a totally different way....

Side note...poor Evan Longoria. His 2015 is going to suck. Anyways, back on topic....



The point is, Home Field Advantage. This is all Home Field Advantage. Don’t like the disadvantaged footballs? Win more games then.



The other factor we must face is, ALL quarterbacks like their footballs with a certain grip, a certain weight. This is not a Patriots thing, this is an all quarterbacks thing. And I can promise you 1,250% that if it was Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Tony Romo, or even Andrew Luck altering the football this would be a non-issue. The Golden Boys of Football would be untouched by controversy like this. Peyton Manning can be caught smoking a massive blunt while inside one of his Papa Johns and I bet you the NFL will look the other direction. If the Packers had committed the BountyGate scandal, we would not see their coach knocked out for a year.

The New England Patriots have been under a much closer watch, and it has been this way for a very long time. There is Patriots fatigue outside of Florida and the New England area. They are nowhere near being the most liked team in the NFL. The NFL secretly loves the Broncos and probably hates the fact that once again New England is in the Super Bowl. They are equally pissed that the polarizing Seattle Seahawks passed the more-likable Green Bay Packers to enter the championship dance. 4 of the 5 most popular NFL teams were in the playoffs---and none are in the Super Bowl right now. In order to settle the Patriots fatigue and in order to attempt to bring down the disliked Brady/Belichick combination, we have this non-issue of inflated footballs. If the NFL believes that New England is the ONLY home team to not follow the football weight rules, they are just as dumb as I believe.

We are in for an exciting Super Bowl. The NFL needs to drop this non-issue, and focus on the upcoming game. End of story. Its over.





P.S. I don’t hear much talk about how the Seahawks lead the NFL in PED suspensions in the past 5 years…….

The DIAC 2015 Oscar Ballot

It’s Oscar Season! The nominations have come in and despite a few expected turns, there were some surprises, but even more snubs. It’s also apparently the Whitest Academy Awards in quite some time, but let’s not flip out just yet---the minority pool had not been very deep in 2014. Although we do indeed have a Hispanic director (probably winning it too) being nominated, there really wasn’t anything too powerful coming from other sources. The entire ranking of top-rated movies according to Rotten Tomatoes were predominantly Caucasian-led films. So although I do know and acknowledge the racial divide happening in Midwest/Northeast America (don’t deny it New York City), in the Oscars it’s mainly because there wasn’t the variety in good films we have seen in years past. But the Oscars shouldn’t just pat itself on the back for 12 Years a Slave winning the whole thing last year---you still did snub David Oyewolo for his role as Martin Luther King Jr.

We are going to break down each category, and I will announce my personal pick, who I think will win, and what snubs have occurred in the field. Let’s go:









Best Picture
DIAC Pick: Whiplash
My Prediction: Boyhood
Snub: Gone Girl, Nightcrawler, in a smaller scale The Raid 2 and The Lego Movie


Best Picture belongs to Whiplash, no questions asked. It was the top film of 2014, and combines superb directing and flawless acting from J.K. Simmons and company. It was indie without containing the self-indulgent flavor, while telling a great story that never swerves away from the main themes of art, competition, and consequences of perfection. Whiplash will not win, but it definitely deserves the win. If Gone Girl had tightened its editing ever so slightly it would have been the best mystery/thriller in years. But it still should have gotten at least the nomination for dominating the cinematic conversation for the entire Fall season.

Boyhood is a cinematic achievement, even if it has a very weak final 20 minutes. It is going to run with the prize because of the sheer collaborative effort required to make the movie and the insane amount of guts needed to pull off the stunt. Too much could have gone wrong on the way to filming the final scenes, and by movie miracle it worked out. The Raid 2 has no Oscar flavor, but is one of the best action movies in the last 30 years----seriously. The Lego Movie was my personal pick for runner-up in the Best Picture category, so being snubbed from the main prize personally affects me.

P.S. Stoked that the overindulgent Interstellar lost out on almost everything. Good job guys.


Best Actor
DIAC Pick: Ralph Fiennes
My Prediction: Michael Keaton
Snub: Ralph Fiennes, David Oyewolo


Ralph Fiennes got snubbed. Badly. That man was perfect in his quirky role in Grand Budapest Hotel, and there are few actors that could have pulled off that role with such sincerity. The category upsets me royally, although Michael Keaton does deserve his place in the sun after all these years. After all, Keaton gave life to Bruce Wayne and Beetlejuice in the 80s without much praise. After a consistently good career its his time, its his turn. But darn it Fiennes should have AT LEAST gotten the nomination.


Best Actress
DIAC Pick: Rosamund Pike
My Prediction: Julianne Moore
Snub: Jennifer Aniston (believe it or not)


Pike will not win mainly because the Oscars have all but looked the other direction in terms of Gone Girl. Pike deserves this win because of reasons I can’t describe without spoiling the movie. Just know that she lost lots of weight, and took turns and made moves that few actresses today could ever dream of pulling off. Not to mention, its not an easy role to pull off. Won’t say any more.

Aniston has tried egregiously hard to shake off her Friends image with roles in We’re the Millers, Horrible Bosses, and Cake. She at least deserves the nod for campaigning so hard to prove her worth in terms of acting after the decade in the popular sitcom. Might have to wait another year honey.


Best Supporting Actor
DIAC Pick: J.K. Simmons
My Prediction: J.K. Simmons
Snubs: Doesn’t matter




If J.K. Simmons doesn’t win this one, I am going to flip out. This man is phenomenal at character acting, doing flawless small-time work in Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Juno, Up in the Air, I Love You Man, among other television roles. I am not kidding, I will flip over a table if he loses. I am guaranteeing this. There will be a tweet and everything. Give it to him. Please. His performance was the BEST of 2014.


Best Supporting Actress
DIAC Pick: Patricia Arquette
My Prediction: Patricia Arquette
Snubs: Carrie Coon and Kim Dickens from Gone Girl


Try playing a role for 12 years for one movie. Not going to be an easy task. Arquette has the toughest role by taking up the most adult screentime and having to play off two kids with no acting experience for a majority of the movie. She convincingly plays a mom who makes a series of bad decisions that affects her, the kids, and her future. Her final moments were the most heartbreaking, and probably would have made for the superior ending. Ugh, the ending……

P.S. The females of Gone Girl deserve more attention.


Best Directing
DIAC Pick: David Fincher
My Prediction: Richard Linklater
Snubs: David Fincher, Damian Chazzelle, Gareth Evans


The top 3 directing jobs of the entire year were snubbed. You’ve got to be kidding me. With the Chazzelle snub, there’s less of a chance for Whiplash to win Best Picture. With the Fincher snub, its more evidence that his film material is far too dark for the Academy to recognize, even though he is one of the best in the business. After Fight Club and Social Network, one would hope he someday gets his due.

Finally, Gareth Evans deserves at least a nod for spending his painstaking months making the action ridiculousness that is The Raid 2. Seriously watch it, and name me 5 directors that can pull off what he did. Truth is, besides Fincher, Tarantino, and maybe a younger Jackie Chan the options are severely limited. Linklater will win this Oscar no questions asked because of the task he tackled.


Best Original Screenplay
DIAC Pick: The Grand Budapest Hotel
My Prediction: Birdman
Snubs: The Lego Movie


Budapest Hotel is one of the best movies of 2014 that lacks the Oscar-winning flavor. Nonetheless, it has the best screenplay by far. It will not win, but if I had things my way I would at least give Wes Anderson the Spike Jonze treatment by giving him the creativity points with the screenplay nod. Birdman has a chance of winning the entire thing, but at the very least it will earn the Oscar for writing the script that gives the 1989 Batman his Best Actor prize.


Best Adapted Screenplay
DIAC Pick: Whiplash
My Prediction: Whiplash
Snubs: Gone Girl


Gone Girl is the best adapted screenplay, but Whiplash was the superior screenplay over---however it should have gone for Original Screenplay. Slight issue aside, Gone Girl should have at least gotten the nomination. But I am pretty sure the dark Flower Power flavor of Gone Girl prevented the old folks from voting it in. Whiplash on the other hand is a great script, an Oscar-worthy script to boot.


Best Animated Film
DIAC Pick: The Lego Movie
My Prediction: How to Train Your Dragon 2
Snub: The Lego Movie, The Lego Movie, The Lego Movie, The Lego Movie, The Lego Movie, The Lego Movie


We will not discuss this any further. The Lego Movie is the second best movie of the year. No nomination means the terrorists won.


Best Foreign Language Film
DIAC Pick: The Raid 2
My Prediction: Ida
Snub: The Raid 2


Let me tell you a story. I saw The Raid 2 in theaters by myself, and was joined by 5 other strangers scattered in the cinema. Amongst the 6 of us, the tension could still be felt. By the time we reached the final action sequence, there was no breathing. By the time the final fight began, it felt like there was a shortage of oxygen in the room. The Raid 2 is the greatest non-American film of 2014, and the best action movie since Legend of Drunken Master. It is an experience that every action fan must encounter. And I honestly couldn’t care less about who wins this prize.


Best Cinematography
DIAC Pick: Grand Budapest Hotel
My Prediction: Grand Budapest Hotel
Snub: Nightcrawler, Gone Girl


Aesthetically, Grand Budapest Hotel is the film of the year—and yes, even more so than the space opera Interstellar. Filmed over in Europe, Grand Budapest Hotel does a superb job giving each locale lots of pop, lots of color, lots of quirk. No location here looks like anything you had seen in celluloid before, even the prison visually springs at you like an adult pop-up book. Your goal as a director is to make a movie that allows the viewer to immediately know that it came from you, without a doubt. Few directors today can achieve this (Tarantino and Edgar Wright) but Wes Anderson belongs on that list.

That being said, Gone Girl and Nightcrawler ONCE AGAIN gets snubbed as the camerawork enabled for simple settings to have a dark, mysterious, and foreboding look. No love for the dark pulp movies this year.


Best Editing
DIAC Pick: The Raid 2
My Prediction: Boyhood
Snub: Nightcrawler


One of the greatest sequences of editing in the history of the art was the 15 minute showdown Jackie Chan had against everybody (I mean everybody) in the factory in the climax of Legend of Drunken Master. But since this is a martial arts movie, it won’t get the golden acclaim it truly deserves. Fight scenes are some of the toughest feats to edit coherently---a simple sequence can take months to film and splice together thoroughly.

Taking 12 years of filmmaking and managing to condense it into an entertaining and tight story is an editing miracle. But The Raid 2’s final fight sequence is a masterpiece of filming, scoping, and editing. To be able to deliver such intensity in such a small package and have it flow flawlessly from one short spurt to the next was nothing short of brilliant. But it won’t win. Boyhood is good, and worthy of this Oscar at least, but the best of 2014? The Raid 2: the fight against Hammer Girl, Bat Boy, and The Assassin.


Best Production Design
DIAC Pick: Gone Girl
Prediction: Grand Budapest Hotel
Snub: The Lego Movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier


If I liked ties more often, I would give both Gone Girl and Grand Budapest Hotel the same Oscar for excellence in different ways. From beginning to end Gone Girl spins down a totally different direction, far off of the normal missing woman film. Every detail, every word, every note booming from the speakers gave the movie an addicting personality that became the talk of the fall.

Grand Budapest Hotel on the other hand is a dark adult fairy tale of a story that is comically bright, whimsically paced, and detailed down to the very cake that was being consumed in the prison. In a year full of well-produced films these two stood out like sore thumbs.


Best Makeup
DIAC Pick: Grand Budapest Hotel
Prediction: Grand Budapest Hotel


Like I said before, it’s the prettiest and most aesthetically pleasing film of 2014. Nothing more to see here, move on.


Best Original Soundtrack
DIAC Pick: Interstellar
Prediction: Interstellar
Snubs: Gone Girl, Nightcrawler, The Lego Movie, The Raid 2


This one is toughhhhhh. I have flipped between Gone Girl and Interstellar but went with the latter because the latter kept the movie afloat. Gone Girl was doing fine without the soundtrack, and actually could have benefited from less music. Interstellar on the other hand was struggling storywise and needed the technical to keep everyone from dying inside. Hans Zimmer threw the kitchen sink on this one and the result is his finest work since Dead Man’s Chest.

But the snubs, my goodness. Nightcrawler also had an intense soundtrack that deserves praise, while Lego Movie 2’s music was unique and very fitting with the rest of the hyperactive instant classic. Last but not least, The Raid 2 took pages from Hans Zimmer’s skillset and provided a booming score that climaxed with the final battle that sounded like a Batman/Joker battle.


Best Original Song
DIAC Pick: Everything is Awesome
Prediction: Everything is Awesome




…………………………enough said……………


Best Sound Editing
DIAC Pick: Whiplash
My Prediction: American Sniper
Snubs: Lego Movie, Whiplash, Big Hero 6, Captain America


Not even sure what anyone was thinking in this category. Whiplash sounds flawless, no questions asked. It is a musical movie and with that you need for the production to be just as stimulating to the ears as to the eyes. And with a movie with such a meticulous nature, the instruments, the notes, and the music altogether needs to be perfect. Whiplash should have at the very least gotten the nod.

I am moving away from this category, because it just makes me mad.


Best Sound Mixing
DIAC Pick: Whiplash
My Prediction: Whiplash


See previous explanation.


Best Visual Effects
DIAC Pick: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
My Prediction: Interstellar


Interstellar may seem like the obvious choice the obvious answer. However, Captain America had the tough task of translating a comic book character, persona, and storyline into modern day culture and blend it without causing too much visual jarring. The fights, the explosions, the larger than life climactic sequence in Captain America were actually a step up from The Avengers, and that’s saying a lot.

Interstellar loses points because the visually-superior Gravity happened the year before.



Final Notes:
Best Costume Design
DIAC Pick: The Grand Budapest Hotel
My Prediction: Mr. Turner


Best Documentary
DIAC Pick: Citizenfour
My Prediction: Citizenfour
Snub: Life itself



If it were up to me, Whiplash and Grand Budapest Hotel would win 5 Oscars each, and Whiplash would latch the Best Picture prize, while we give Grand Budapest Hotel the Best Actor and Original Screenplay nod. Best Director however should go to David Fincher, with his movie walking away with 3 Oscars altogether.

That being said, I see Boyhood winning it all, Grand Budapest and Interstellar splitting the technicals, and a nice emotional Oscar for Michael Keaton.


We shall see what February 22nd will bring us…

The Unexpected Quality Mess of the 2014-2015 NBA Season

So the NBA has a little problem. The league currently has no expected storyline.



There is a parity going on that has not been witnessed since the 90s. It started with the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs that went absolutely crazy and lead to nearly every series hitting 7 games. Small lowbrow teams like the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, and Golden State Warriors exited the first round with nothing but fire in their hearts. So would it be coincidence that this same batch of teams became the most aggressive in the offseason and in turn have produced some of the best teams currently competing in the NBA right now?

It’s the no-name teams rocking the standings and shaking the NBA upside-down. The best team in the NBA is the Golden State Warriors, which at one point were matching the pace of the 96 Bulls. The best team in the Eastern Conference (and arguably the second-best team in the NBA) is the Atlanta Hawks—which are now known as the Spurs of the East, minus the hardcore fanbase…well minus an actual fanbase. Although Stephen Curry is reaching superstar status, his name still doesn’t hold the weight of a Kobe Bryant, a LeBron James, or even a Blake Griffin. And can the casual crowd even name 5 players for the Hawks?

The Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors are two essentially forgotten East teams that are actually playing darn good ball right now. They combine for a 50-24 record and have better records than the Cavs, the Bulls, and even the Spurs. Creeping up into the conversation are the Milwaukee Bucks (better record than LeBron) and the quietly-surging Detroit Pistons (From dead last to 2 games behind the 8 seed in a span of a couple weeks).

On the Wild Wild West, we have the Golden State Warriors and the Portland Trail Blazers outperforming the more popular casual NBA teams like the Lakers, Clippers, and Thunder. In a season which expected the Clippers and Spurs to fight on top and injury-ridden star-driven teams like the Lakers and Pelicans to mount huge gains, all has fallen by the wayside as we are seeing franchise history-making start after franchise history-making start. While the West is usually a bloodbath, the top 4 teams in the East are separated by just 4 games.

So let’s talk about the popular teams, and then laugh at them. We can start with the tankalicious Boston Celtics, which is actually run by a good coach and with the slightest bit of effort can at least nab a #8 seed. We have the Cavs, which are run by a tired-and-less-aggressive LeBron, the statistical enigma Kevin Love, and the not-quite-there Kyrie Irving. There’s the Kobe-Should-Retire Los Angeles Lakers not going anywhere at all, and even the brother team Clippers despite a good record never looks like a team you should fear.



And of course, there’s the New York Knicks. What a joke of a team. Not enough words can describe the sorry behaviors of that organization…..should have kept Jeremy Lin and done your best to keep that squad intact all those years ago.



So how can the NBA market the “big games” when all the “big teams” are doing terribly? Both teams in the NBA Finals a season ago are struggling, the expected Eastern Conference contenders are in the lower end of the playoff spectrum, and all of the biggest stars are playing for mediocre teams. It was an unprepared parity that flipped the league upside down. Unlike the NFL and MLB (especially…especially), the NBA markets itself through superstars as opposed to the chance that your hometown team can make the postseason and create some memories.

The NFL and its constant hype 16-game schedule allows for everyone to believe that their team has a shot. If they win a few in a row, Super Bowl is in conversation. Even the Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Browns had a few weeks of hype before succumbing to an unfortunate end. MLB despite having a 162 game season is enjoying the sheer balance of talent amongst every franchise in the market. Even the Houston Astros had the phenomenal hitter Jose Altuve giving the team some spotlight. And of course, let’s not forget the yearly September baseball which has 12-16 teams still in the playoff hunt.

NBA however runs on dynasties, runs on mainstream teams, runs on bandwagon fans. The NBA fell in love with the Miami Heat because it racked up new fans that wanted to follow a team that would consistently win. NBA secretly loved the Lakers/Celtics rivalry because those two were always winning and in opposite coasts. The NBA loved the Bulls because that team was the King of the Mountain, and to basketball, it’s always more fun when you see dozens of teams try to knock down the champ. Dynasties don’t do as well in other leagues. MLB didn’t benefit from the Yankees winning 3 years in a row, but definitely benefited from the 2001-2006 stretch when a different team won the World Series each season.

This season of the NBA has been pound for pound the most intriguing since the 1998-1999 season when Jordan retired (again), opening the door for any team to take over and win. Currently, we have an entourage of small-market teams that have suddenly become awesome, have suddenly started winning, and have stopped fearing the popular teams with the superstars. The other night the Orlando Magic went into Chicago and took down the Derrick Rose Bulls without issue. But despite the quality of the season, they aren’t translating into huge TV numbers because the NBA simply doesn’t know how to handle parity. It doesn’t know how to figure out how to add intrigue to a season that is led by teams without big names. The hardcore sports fan is enjoying the tossed salad of parity but to the mainstream fan? They probably stopped watching weeks ago....




Just imagine the chaos if we get an Atlanta Hawks/Golden State Warriors NBA Finals. And you think the World Series gets low ratings….

Religion Didn't Do it. The Bad Men Holding the Guns Did it.

23.2% of the world that is associated with a religion consider themselves Islamic.



1.57 billion people are of the Islamic religion according to 2012 stats.



You know what this means? It’s time to stop attaching the fabled Islam religion to these terrorist attacks. It’s time to destroy the notion that it’s the religion’s fault that we had a dozen unnecessarily die at the hands of a wicked trio over in Paris. ISIS, 9/11, the Boston Bombings, etc. are caused by evil people, not people closely associated with the faith. No religion in the planet causes or forces people to be violent, this is guaranteed. In Islam’s moral commandments, killing is frowned upon. Hatred is frowned upon. Violence is frowned upon. What has happened to the editors and cartoonists is not an accepted practice—it is plain and simple an evil act.

Every religion has their bad eggs, their small population that misinterprets the words of excruciating old books and attempts to justify what is said in modern times. Hey Christians attacking the Muslim world for recent attacks, am I allowed to bring up the youth-killing monster Anders Breivik? Killed 70+ in a country notorious for NO crime while housing Christian fundamentalist ideals and dreams of eliminating Muslims from Norway. The Virginia Tech Shooter went to a Korean Presbyterian church. No mentions of his religion when discussing the killings. Oh yea…Hitler….Christian.

It is unfair to crucify and look sharply at the billions of good people that had nothing to do with what has been happening in the Middle East and has slowly crept its way into Europe. You are part of the problem if your mindset involves Islam being automatically associated with terrorism. To make it simpler: dining at McDonalds can lead to obesity but not all who dine in the fast food joint are obese. And all this started because of a small series of cartoons. What normal Muslim is going on a rampage over a few drawings? 

Bad people did very bad things. Nothing more, nothing less. Very sure that their God, their Muhammad, their Jesus, and their Moses wouldn’t approve of the behavior, regardless of how they interpret their religion. This is terrorism, no attachments to any religion or spiritual belief. The second they fired their guns their ties to God disappeared.

Disney's Hollywood Studios: The Event Park

So Hollywood Studios is undergoing some crazy major changes in the coming years. Indiana Jones is leaving, the hat is leaving, rumor has it Lights, Motors, Action is also disappearing, and we know that Frozen is being moved and the snow playground is on its final steps. There really won’t be much to do in the park. No afternoon parade? No evening parade or fireworks? Toy Story and Fantasmic will headline Hollywood Studios while the Disney fanbase anticipates the next major renovation---well, after the decent-sounding-but-I-wish-it-was-more TCM Great Movie Ride renovation.

This could kill the attendance of the park, which is already the weakest. However, there is a solution to this: make Hollywood Studios an event park. Make Disney’s Hollywood Studios a park with almost always something different going on. Make it the go-to park for rare characters, rare events, rare appearances, and a variety that will draw all the locals and give the visitors a reason to spend that extra day on Disney property. What events should Hollywood Studios host? Here’s my dream schedule:





January/February: 50 Days of Oscar



This one is simple. Time to celebrate the Academy Award winners from past and present: the actors, actresses, composers, filmmakers, and films that coveted the Oscar gold at one point or another. With 50 Days of Oscar, Disney and TCM can hold special cinematic screenings of Oscar winners, can hold events with special guests, can have a couple big special performances using songs that had won Best Original Song (and we all know Disney has several of THOSE Oscars), and best of all can transform the park into a museum of the Academy Awards. We can change the background music throughout the park to instrumentals of Oscar-winning scores, we can have upgraded upper-scale food menus, and can even sell special merchandise to commemorate the event. Let’s even throw in a motorcade parade featuring characters and moments from classic Oscar-winning films. And all this can lead up to the grand finale, which we can discuss later.





February 1st: Super Bowl Day @ Hollywood Studios



For Super Bowl Sunday, we can turn Hollywood Studios into a massive, massive tailgating party with snacks literally all over the place and special food menus to prepare the crowd for the 6:00 epic game. Guests can show up in full football gear or merely just support their favorite team with a jersey or shirt. Trivia contests will be sprinkled throughout the day for awesome prizes, and when the big game happens you can literally hear the game happen from nearly all corners of the park. All screens will be connected to the Big Game so even while enjoying your day, you can never be too far away from Super Bowl action.






February 22nd: A Night at the Oscars



The 50 Days of Oscar will end right here with an epic finale. For the big evening when the Academy Awards are actually presented, we will roll out a massive red carpet right down Hollywood Boulevard (complete with paparazzi and the Citizens of Hollywood interviewing guests as they enter the park) straight towards the Chinese Theater. You can dress your L.A. best as you make your way to one of several assigned locations to watch the Academy Awards from the Hollywood Studios complete with special gift baskets, an awesome high-class catered menu, and a special fireworks show upon the completion of the award ceremony itself. Throughout this one exclusive day, special Oscar statuette souvenirs can be sold (or won through contests) everywhere as everyone walks out of Hollywood Studios an Oscar winner.






March/April: Villains' Spring Break Extravaganza



For Spring Break, Hollywood Studios belongs to the villains. Throughout the months of March and April, you will find dozens upon dozens of enemies from all the Disney and Pixar (and LucasArts) movies ready for pictures and conversation. We will have exclusive villain merchandise, special gloomy-themed menus, an extensive evening villain’s parade, a darker Fantasmic, killer costume competitions, and best of all Hades helming an awesome dance party show in front of the Chinese Theater.

And no, this will not be a hard-ticket event. Let's please not be stupid.




May: Tomorrowland Movie Night



In honor of the upcoming movie, Hollywood Studios can host a special day in honor of the flick complete with special merchandise, futuristic ice cream and food sold everywhere, and characters from future-based movies like Tron, Meet the Robinsons, Wall-E, Treasure Planet, among others being found scattered all over the park. The evening finishes off with dozens of spots where you can see the new movie before the rest of the nation.




July/August: Pixar Weekends



We all know May and June belongs to Star Wars Weekends. However, we can extend the fun with Pixar Weekends. With Pixar Weekends, all the characters from Toy Story to even upcoming Pixar movies will be found inside the Hollywood Studios—not just in Pixar Place. Throughout this period, we will have special meet-and-greets, special animation lessons on how to draw Pixar characters, a Pixar-heavy art exhibit, the return of the Countdown to Fun parade, music from all the movies being played over the speakers, special screenings of Pixar’s best movies, and best of all a special fireworks display commemorating the Toy Story trilogy.


September: A Night at the Emmys



Similar to the Oscars, we have the red carpet decked out so we can all watch the Emmys on one of several potential screens complete with a television-influenced menu, special gift baskets, and potentially even special guests from past popular Disney shows.




September: ABC Weekends



With ABC Weekends, we can have special guests from popular past and present ABC shows making appearances as we celebrate the history of the famed channel. During these weekends, you can get exclusive sneak peeks at upcoming material from your favorite television shows as well as popular episodes that changed the television landscape. From Three’s Company to Roseanne to Lost to Modern Family, we can celebrate the best Disney television can offer throughout the Food and Wine-conquered month of September. Last but not least, we can even have television shows like The Chew, Good Morning America, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and Jimmy Kimmel have special episodes in the Studios.




October: Disney's Halloween Studios Weekends



Bring out the horror. During the spookiest month of the year, Hollywood Studios will become darker, scarier, and more inviting to the macabre. Tower of Terror will have a shocking new set of sequences, Rockin’ Roller Coaster will get darker with the Twilight Zone treatment, and even Star Tours will have a temporarily scary makeover. We will have special screenings of the classic scary Disney movies (Nightmare Before Christmas, Monster’s Inc., Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Sleepy Hollow) as well as Disney villains making appearances to continue the haunting fun.




December: Star Wars 7



You know its coming. This day will have a parade, meet-and-greet, menu, merchandise, one-day-only exclusive Star Wars 7 scenes in Star Tours, and other special events all dedicated to the upcoming Star Wars movie. And at the end of the day? Why special screenings of said movie of course. I can guarantee you the park will hit 50,000 if the park gives the opportunity to display the movie before the rest of the nation can see it. Absolutely guarantee it.




December 31st: The Hollywood Studios Concert Bash



What better way to cap off the year than provide a 24-hour park experience that includes 24 hours of music from cover bands, actual bands, DJs, acapella groups, musicians, and pretty much anything you can throw on stage? This endless ongoing concert transforms Hollywood Studios into this massive party that also doubles as a grandiose countdown to the New Year with 1,400 minutes of music of all types of genres from all over the world. The music aspect of Hollywood Studios isn’t really explored outside of musicals and Rockin’ Roller Coaster and this concert can fix that. Of course, the New Year will begin with Mulch, Sweat, and Shears---that won’t change. But leading up to it, dozens of artists and musical acts musically igniting the park.


This idea is free Disney, you can have it. But letting you know, Hollywood Studios needs to diversify its offerings throughout the year otherwise it will sink to Universal Studios attendance numbers. With a good healthy event schedule, Hollywood Studios can maintain pace with the other parks until the expansions are complete.