THE DIRECTOR INITIALLY THOUGHT IT HAD A "NINETY-FIVE PERCENT CHANCE OF BEING AWFUL":  And yet Rocky das Musical is a hit in Germany, and the Stallone adaptation may come to the States. Here's a trailer.

I WANT THE TINY DOG TO GO WITH THE STATUETTE: From a quick spin, looks like Frank Ocean, the Black Keys, and fun. dominated the Grammy nominations, but a few other things of note:

• Even more departure than usual between Record of the Year (for the recording artist) and Song of the Year (for the songwriter) than usual, with only "Stronger" and "We Are Young" making both categories.  Interestingly, the Grammys split on teen pop confections, giving a Record nod to "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" but a Song nod to "Call Me Maybe."
• Carly Rae Jepsen does not get into the Best New Artist field, which pits fun. and Frank Ocean against one another.  Indeed, the Canadian Cutie is up only for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance (which interestingly is 5 women--used to be separate male/female categories).
• EGOT Watch--Bernadette Peters, Audra McDonald, Matthew Broderick (principal soloists on nominated cast albums), Ellen DeGeneres (spoken word), and Bret McKenzie (for Man or Muppet, up against two Hunger Games songs and Let Me Be Your Star)
• Because of the Grammys' bizarre rules, the album Watch The Throne was eligible last year, while tracks on it are eligible this year--"No Church In The Wild" and "N****s In Paris" both rack up in the rap category.
• Interestingly, I think we have our first nominee for score from a video game, with Journey (a PS3 network game) getting nominated alongside Tintin, Dark Knight Rises, and Hugo.
• Blanked?  Justin Bieber.

PERHAPS THE MOST EVEN NUMBER OF ALL: The BBC would like to remind you that zero is an even number.

MIKE AIN'T MIKE NO MORE:  Damn you, Pelecanos.

We enter "That's Got His Own" (see also Ariano) understanding that bad things are going to happen -- just as the people of Baltimore are trapped in systems which resist sweeping change and only allow for tiny nuggets of hope and progress, so too does The Wire seem trapped in a dramaturgical system in which nothing can stop cruel outcomes in the penultimate episode of a season.

I was about to say "cruel fates," but it wasn't fate. Michael had choices, even at the end of this episode when it came to staying by Cutty's side or showing allegiance to his crew. Randy, as Alan details, has had a score of bad things go badly for him, and now it's up to him to decide whether to give up on the system based on how he's been let down, his you gonna look out for me? rant every bit as devastating as Dee's where the fuck is Wallace? in season one. Dukie,with no stable home, and no more Prezbo do to his laundry? It's hard seeing hope for him, and as the assistant principal notes there are many more Dukies in Prezbo's teaching career to come next.

And then there's Namond, raised in the most stable and middle-class of environments, but with the worst values being impressed upon him by his mother. Is it because he grew up more comfortably that he resists the gangster ethic? Is it because of Bunny? Who knows? But the kid has a chance ... for what, I don't know. What happens when he's no longer in Bunny's class?

Other things happened too: Carcetti's shit-eating tour continued in Annapolis; Lester worked the politics so he can now open up the vacants; Herc took his punishment like a man (just as De'Londa said Wee-Bey did);  Omar has his most audacious heist yet (love the cameo from The Greek's crew); and Bubbs ... okay, kinda saw that coming. But damn you, Pelecanos.

NOT SO PRECIOUSSSSS: It seems that early reaction to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has been rather mixed, with particularly mixed reaction to the high frame rate version that some theatres will present.  Given that, studios seem to have made a rash decision to pile up all their big releases for from the 19th-25th.  This weekend, we have only the terrible-looking Gerard Butler soccer movie and next weekend only The Hobbit as a new wide release.  In contrast, between December 19 and 25, we have SEVEN new wide releases, plus several interesting limited releases for Oscar play--Zero Dark Thirty, The Impossible, Not Fade Away--and, I'm assuming, further expansion of a few other Oscar hopefuls (most notably, Silver Linings Playbook).  Admittedly, I'm still behind (likely fare this weekend is Lincoln and perhaps a trip to Bring It On: The Musical before it closes), but isn't there room here?

A GLASS OF BAILEY'S IRISH CREAM, TOPPED OFF WITH A SHOT OF JAMESON, DROPPED INTACT INTO A PITCHER OF GUINNESS STOUT:  God bless the Fourth Estate; the DN's Molly Eichel tracked down the guy who completed the Irish Bus Bomb at the P&P Club from the end of Anthony Bourdain's Layover trip to Philly. The episode is a wonderful valentine to what Bourdain calls "a town with a low tolerance for bullshit and a whole lot of heart," and I commend it to you all.

DOWN BY THE RIVER WHERE IT'S WARM AND GREEN:  It looks like starting next season, the NBA franchise in Louisiana will abandon its once-buzzworthy nickname from its Charlotte days to become the New Orleans Pelicans. Runner-up appellations included "Krewe" and "Brass".