At some point, we’re going to have to rise up against the movie studios, declaring in one voice that we won’t stand for movies that require us to anticipate with base expectations just to squeeze a little enjoyment of them. I call this the “well, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be” corollary, spawn of the “as long as it’s better than Fantastic 4” theorem. The newest variable thrown into this equation of mediocrity is Ghost Rider, Marvel’s wintertime grasp at your dollar while you wait for superior summer fare to arrive, complete with paper-thin acting, a barely passable plot, and iffy effects.

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Surprise winners ruled the evening at last night’s Academy Awards. Alan Arkin took home a well-deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and Happy Feet stole away the animation award from Cars and Monster House, but perhaps the biggest shock came from the Best Original Song category. With three numbers from Dreamgirls dominating the nominees, it was expected that it would be an easy category to handicap. And though two of the songs were only half decent, “I Love You, I Do” deserved recognition but had to defer to Melissa Etheridge and her ballad created for the global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

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I’m not by any means a comic book aficionado (I leave that to Pat, who you will get to know better if I ever get that podcasting idea together), but since the outpouring of geek love for comic book movies started a few years ago, I’ve been subscribing to Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man and generally enjoying what I read while staying cautiously on the “passive observer” side of the comic geek line. Over the past half dozen issues, thought, I couldn’t help but turn into a bit of a snob as the Ultimate writers rehashed one of the most controversial stories in Spidey history: the clone saga.

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At right is the list of most-viewed articles today on Blogcritics.org, the “sinister cabal of writers” that I’ve been doing music and movie reviews for over the past few months in exchange for swag. I know, I know, it seems more likely that I’d be shamelessly promoting my own story on the demise of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, but my article is actually the one right above it: a review of the debut album from American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee. Earlier today, it was the number one most read story. Am I ashamed that I had to write a review of “popular” music to get that kind of readership? Sure. But at least I got to start a flame war with a bunch of Taylor Hicks fans.

Back later today (or at least tomorrow morning) with regularly-scheduled programming.

Music Review: Katharine McPhee - Katharine McPhee (Blogcritics.org)

Update (1:25 p.m.) - And now it’s officially gone from the top 5. Maybe the Soul Patrol will leave me alone now.

Yes, I know that NBC committed to running a whole season, and yes, I still am a shameless promoter of the show and all things Sorkin, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the folks over at Throwing Things are right and we’ve seen the last of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Ratings have steadily declined over the past several weeks, and even the staunchest supporters of the show have grown weary of the fact that this show could be summed up as “Hey, did you know Aaron Sorkin dated Kristin Chenoweth and that it didn’t go well?” On a wider scale, the general public has had a difficult time being berated for any number of things, from watching reality television to being Republican.

That said, there have been plenty of fantastic moments over the short run of Studio 60, last night’s comedy-rich episode among them. My personal favorite remains the Christmas episode, which laid low on preaching and focused on characters. Comments are welcome; let’s just hope this isn’t an Irish wake for a fabulous show. Then again, there’s always a second life on DVD. Think Sorkin’ll produce a few straight-to-video seasons if NBC cancels it and we ask nicely?

…not to be confused with Friday Night Lights, which is on Wednesday and is a fantastic show. Start watching.

In the age of Tivo, Netflix, BitTorrent, iTunes, free streaming episodes online, and the still-reliable VCR, it’s almost inappropriate to complain about the unavailability of time to watch television. But for several weeks now, I’ve been dealing with an incredible internal struggle on Tuesday nights: whether to dedicate my hour between 9 and 10 p.m. to watch Veronica Mars or House. That debate intensifies on nights like tonight, when I will not be in my house during that hour and must tape both, but only watch one before I collapse after an evening of not knowing my lines for Beauty and the Beast.

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I understand that I haven’t written a film review in a while, and you have to understand that I haven’t seen anything in a while, and what I’ve seen hasn’t been review-worthy. Take, for instance, Smokin’ Aces, a twisting tale of cops, mobsters, and hit men. It feels like a hodgepodge of second-tier genre movies, too loaded wit adrenaline to stand back and figure out where to go next.

At its best moment, Aces seems like an audition tape for Ryan Reynolds and Jeremy Piven’s inclusion in the cast of Ocean’s 14. Their characters - Reynolds as an FBI agent, Piven as the titular mobster who has inspired a bevy of contract killers to zero in on him - are slick enough to sit alongside the Ocean’s crew and banter their way through organized crime. Throw in Ben Affleck, seen here as a hit man, into the mix for good measure.

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I gave the Barenaked Ladies a lot of flak for their most recent release, Barenaked Ladies are Me, but as I have listened more and more to the CD, I’ve found it more and more tolerable. What I’m really impressed with, though, is the Ladies’ embracing of digital technology, releasing the album on thumb drives, encouraging fans to dub their voices over the studio instrumental tracks, and now rounding up a boatload of YouTube non-celebrities to perform the music video for what appears to be their new single, “Sound of Your Voice.” It’s one of the better songs on the album, and it’s made all the better by an innovative video idea. Check it out after the jump. Click the play button on the screen, not the “watch” link.

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Sure, last night’s Super Bowl was notable for its racial implications and for the fact that Bill Simmons’ mentions of the “Manning Face” will probably be cut in half, but the news of more concern to Movie Hawk was yesterday’s victory by Saint Joseph’s over Dayton, an historic victory in that it earned Hawk head coach Phil Martelli his 235th win, enough to make him the second winningest coach in school history. He’s now only 74 wins away from the all-time record - at his pace, it will only take 4 years.

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Punxsutawney Phil rose from his wintertime slumber this morning long enough to tell the world to expect spring to arrive early this year, not that Al Gore couldn’t have told you that years ago. And while I’m inclined to listen more to Bill Murray than an oversized rat - or the groundhog, for that matter (ba dam bum) - spring couldn’t come sooner. It’s not a matter of weather, really. With the Eagles out of the playoffs and the Flyers and Sixers looking more realistically to ping pong balls than championship rings, it’s summertime sport that promises to raise Philadelphia from its funk. Now, I know a thing or two about baseball, but ask me to figure out who to play based on VORP and I’ll claim to have a headache. Look to the sidebar to get some of the best, most comprehensive Phillies coverage you can gather. Here’s what I do know, though: these Phils need to break into the postseason, or the city might collapse on itself in grief. But hey, at least that means we care again.