The Funny Papers

John Cole, Bill Day, Andy Marlene, Clay Bennett, David Horsey, Steve Benson

Random Musings

This is me today. This has been me for the last four days. This had better not be me much longer or, well, I dunno, it had just better not be me much longer.

Okay, so the Oscar nominations were announced this morning and, well, after seeing the list, I suggest they just go ahead and change the name of the show to The Whites Only Party.

Last year Ava DuVernay — black and female — was snubbed as director of Selma, as was black actor David Oyelowo, so brilliant as MLK in that film. The year before that the amazing performance of Michael B. Jordan in Fruitvale Station — if you haven’t seen it, I urge you to do so — was completely overlooked.

And now this year … there are no nominations for actors of color this year, and not one of the eight Best Picture nominees have any major roles for minority actors — unless you count The Revenant, a film that featured performances by some Native American actors, and was directed by Mexican director Alejandro Iñárritu.

But where was Straight Out of Compton, which was widely praised as a brilliant film when it was released, as was  Beasts of No Nation, not to mention Idris Elba in that film; and where was Creed, and Michael B. Jordan — though the academy recognized Sylvester Stallone for his “acting” in that film. No Samuel L. Jackson for The Hateful Eight? No Will Smith for Concussion?

Okay, so Smith’s performance received mixed reviews, but then so did Jennifer Lawrence’s in Joy and yet she’s nominated … again.

Just sayin’.

#OscarsSoWhite

So, South Carolina’s governor, Nikki Haley gave the GOP response to the State of the Union and she’s not scoring any points at all … with her own party.

Haley surprised me by taking the GOP to task for laying all of the problems in this country at the feet of the president and saying Republicans had to share some of the blame.

Say.What?

And then she went after [t]Rump, pleading with voters not to pay attention to the “loudest voices.”

Say.WTF?

And naturally, [t]Rump supporters are already jumpi9ng on Haley with some saying [t]Rump should deport her.

Infighting is fun, but I will, for today, give props to Haley for speaking her mind.

I think every job, everywhere, needs to be Spellchecked. Or maybe there’s something else going on in this garage … ?

And speaking of GOP asshats, Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan was on CNN this week criticizing Obama for absolutely everything from terrorism to healthcare to the second season of True Detective to the economy.

When Jake Tapper pointed out that, under Obama, we have seen 68 consecutive months of economic growth, Ryan actually said that we should not compare the economy to where it was yesterday, but where it should be tomorrow, and since it’s not there yet, it’s Obama’s fault.

Jake seriously had to contain the eye roll over that one.

Paul Ryan is a dick.

Just sayin’.

So, while I was sick — and took one day off this week to rest … which hasn’t helped — I saw a little movie called Walter, about a ticket-taker at the local cinema who believes he is the son of God and has agreed to decide the eternal fate of everyone he comes into contact with.

It was an odd film, but the star was one Andrew J. West, who is giving me Hot Gay Nerd as well as Young Anthony Perkins from Psycho.

Do I go for crazy all the time, or just when I’m congested?

And what’s the deal with Sean Penn vacationing with — okay interviewing — El Chapo, the drug lord who crawled like a rat out of prison last year?

Shouldn’t he be arrested for aiding and abetting since he went to visit El Chapo and to interview him for Rolling Stone?

And should Rolling Stone be held accountable, too?

Is it just me, or does it look like Harry Potter, er, Daniel Radcliffe, used the 24-Hour Fitness gym at Hogwarts to a great effect?

Poor Kentucky.

It appears now that Republican Governor Matt Bevin will have to force the state to pay over a million dollars in legal fees for fighting that state’s marriage equality battle in court.

I feel so bad for … no I don’t, this is great!

The Funny Papers

Darrin Bell
Nick Anderson
Clay Bennett
Claytoonz
Bill Day
Jim Morin