The Correct Opinions of a Tired Individual

2006-06-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

X-Men 3, The Break Up, and Cars-- a slew of reviews.

X-Men 3: The Last Stand

I enjoyed it, but it is a pimple on the ass of X2.

The whole movie looked rushed: they rushed to write it, they rushed to make the special effects, and they wanted the movie to rush along so they rushed to the editing room to rush out any spare scenes that help us feel for the characters.

Don't get me wrong, I dug it, and I'll recommend it to all my friends. Shit, I'll probably see it again. But without the writing team of the last movie and without Bryan Singer, the movie just becomes a comic book movie-- it loses everything that had been built up so wonderfully in the last one. It's no longer based in reality, but in a world where everything is summed up nicely with one-liners that we can put in trailers, and the end is tied off with a nice little bow.

There were many issues brought up that I found interesting, that were promptly shooed off the screen. An additional 15 minutes would've REALLY helped this film. And an additional year to fix the movie-- 4 months at the beginning of the process to fix the script, and 8 months at the end to fix the special effects (it looked like all the special effects budget went to the Golden Gate Bridge shot, and everything else suffered...even the jet, which looked real in the FIRST movie, looked like it flew off a made-for-SciFi movie).

Everyone go see it, cuz it seriously isn't that bad. It's got a lot of great moments to geek out about. But if you're looking for a movie that isn't just a comic book movie, but is also a damn fine piece of cinema in its own right, we're gonna need to wait for Superman Returns, the next work by the writers/director who brought us the greatest comic book movie ever, X2.

The Break Up

Don't see it. It's a uncomfortable nasty unfunny movie about unsympathetic characters who never should have gotten together in the first place. Occasional amusing moments from Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman, John Michael Higgins, and Justin Long (and by occasional I mean they share about five or six funny moments total) don't break up the fact that this movie is like watching two people you really like have a knock-down drag-out fight for two hours as you sit there unable to escape. It is brutally honest fighting with very VERY few punchlines. I am one of the biggest Vince Vaughn fans there is, and he has a couple of nice quotables, but nothing so great that it merits wasting money on this film.

Cars

Hopefully this does not represent the direction in which Pixar is going.

The Incredibles took Pixar in a phenomenal direction, with a total lack of predictability and action sequences that put you on the edge of your seat. Imagination coming out of your ASS.

Cars has very very little of the imagination.

First off, let me say that the animation is unfuckingbelievable. After watching all the shitty previews for computer animated movies before it, it really does remind people that Pixar is the ONLY group of people really doing it out there. This movie is again a step forward, making it just like every Pixar film before it: the best animation in a computer-animated movie to date.

Also, the movie has its heart in the right place. It's very pleasant, the conclusion is very satisfying, and it's filled with puns and amusing cameos that will be enjoyed.

However, before I go into spoilers, let me say that this is the SAFEST Pixar film to date, the one that took the fewest risks, the one that lacked the "Holy shit, how are they going to get out of this?" factor that nearly every Pixar film before it had. Almost every twist and turn of the plot is set up a mile away, anticipated, and delivered exactly when you expect it to. This doesn't discredit the film, which still animates the story beautifully and executes each of these twists and turns with perfect timing. However, great storytelling never really covers up the feeling of deja vu, that you've seen this story before.

******* SPOILERS THAT AREN'T UNEXPECTED BUT ARE SPOILERS NONETHELESS ***********

I'll set up the scenario, you tell me what you predict will happen:

1. Lightning, who has no crew chief and no pit crew, meets in the small town a small car who is able to put on Lightning's wheels very quickly. Guess who shows up at the final race? Also, he meets an embittered car who has retired from the racing world. Any guess on who ends up being the new crew chief?

2. The girl car tells Lightning she'd give anything to see the town the way it once was, with all the signs lit up in all its glory. When Lightning wants to do something nice for Sally, guess what the nice gesture is?

3. Lightning loses a race in the country town because he's not used to driving on dirt. The retired race car tells him a secret of how to make a hard turn, which Lightning laughs off. Will Lightning have to make a similar turn on dirt in the final race? BONUS QUESTION: Will the retired race car smile warmly and comment on how impressive Lightning's driving is?

4. There are some souped-up Fast and the Furious type cars that appear at one point in the movie. Which genre of music plays during this scene of the movie, a genre that really doesn't fit well into a sweet Pixar movie?

5. The Larry the Cable Guy car says he's ALWAYS wanted to take a ride in a "hellycopter." Any predictions as to what he gets to do at the end of the movie?

********* SPOILERS OVER *****************

Despite all this, it's worth seeing for the gorgeous animation, the great storytelling, and the general feel/humor we're used to in a Pixar film. Even Larry the Cable Guy has moments of being funny, which I never could have imagined. I just hope that the next Pixar film takes steps away from familiar storytelling-- they've always done genres (the buddies, the misfit, the father-son, the family working together, etc), but they've told those stories with wild unexpected twists and creativity. If anyone can do that, it's Brad Bird in Ratatouille. So my hopes are still high. But in terms of FILMMAKING, this is not a step forward for Pixar. Animation, yes, but not filmmaking.

And be sure to stick around during the closing credits for hilarity.

P.S. Both the black Cadillac and the Latino lowrider are borderline offensive and not funny.

2006-05-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

The DaVinci Code a.k.a. How to Fail at Filmmaking

I never read the book, but man, I feel for those of you who did. You must have been bored out of your damn minds.

Let me start by saying I feel like this material could DEFINITELY make a very interesting movie. The conspiracies, the escapes, the treasure hunting...couple that with how HUGE the book is, and there's no way this film shouldn't at LEAST be entertaining.

And it is, to a degree. But it's all based on the strength of the material. Ron Howard has done his best to take interesting material and make it as dull and awful as possible.

Let me highlight all of the things he did wrong:

1. He ruined Tom Hanks in this film. Audrey Tatou as well, for that matter. Both of them have ZERO sense of discovery. They take everything they see as fact-- they are never surprised, they never are excited/scared to learn things, and they never grow. Tom Hanks is the KING of making discovering exciting/touching/etc., so I can't blame this on Tom Hanks. Someone told me the book is very much like this-- the character learns something new, they move on, with little to-do or reaction to the astounding secrets they're uncovering. So maybe this was done by Ron Howard to be more faithful to the book. But goddammit, you couldn't have taken out a few of those Beautiful Mind special effect shots on the letters and instead put a few more seconds of Tom Hanks discovering in wonder? Tom Hanks unlocks an ENORMOUS riddle, and his reaction is at best muted? Audrey Tatou discovers what she does (I'll keep it spoiler-free), and she merely sits down and thinks? There's no excitement/panic? There's SO MUCH emotional ground to be explored, and neither of them did. I can't blame them, for they're both terrific actors in my past experiences watching them. The blame has got to go on Ron for this one.

2. The cinematography is awful. Purely, truly awful. This movie is all about art-- the examination, discovery, appreciation of art, and what art can teach us. You're telling me, Ron Howard, that a film about art has to look like a piece of shit? You couldn't have, oh, I don't know, BRIGHTENED IT UP A BIT? Every single event in this film with little exception takes place in a very murky night. Every shot looks like mud was flung onto the camera lens and filmed through that. A film about art, and not a single frame on screen is pretty to look at. *shakes head*

3. The score was simply too much. It made everything-- including the non-reactions of Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou-- seem VERY melodramatic. Ooh, I'm solving puzzles with my mind! *score plays frenetic suspense music* I'm sitting down in the back of a van! *score plays frenetic suspense music* I'm looking at a painting! *score plays frenetic suspense music* I mean, come ON already. Also, Paul Bettany hamming it up as Silas wasn't aided by the music either. I usually love Paul Bettany, but the dude just put on a "creepy face" and went to work with it.

4. When adapting a well-known book, you need to stay true to as much of it as possible. However, it's more important to capture the feel and the emotions that the book stimulates than to nail every single plot point on the head. I realize this may not have been Akiva the Hun's fault. But even so, unless the book is boring, unsuspenseful, and unemotional, they failed to capture what the book is about. I realize there are MANY critics of the book, but millions of people apparently dig it, so there must be SOMETHING missing on the screen if it's a boring movie.

5. I can't get into the editing of this film. It hurts me to think about. Just bad.

6. The NY Times said they handles all the controversy and stuff with "kid gloves". I couldn't agree more. I haven't even read the book, but when three of Tom Hanks' lines in a row are "We don't know that, and many scholars and believers would disagree with this theory," it becomes very VERY clear that the filmmakers are trying to cover their asses. There's already so much in the film that if a Catholic was trying to find something to make them mad, they'd find it with EASE. A bunch of skeptical sentences trying to cover their asses aren't gonna solve anything, they just look like glaring "love me" calls.

Bottom line: It wasn't all bad, because the story for those who didn't read the book is fairly interesting. However, for those who did read the book, you'll more than likely be bored as sin. And for those of us who haven't read the book, you'll really understand that the only thing this film has going for it is material, because Ron Howard does his best to butcher a potentially interesting film.

2006-05-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

10 Things I Hate About Commandments a.k.a. a comedy 3000 years in the making.

Movies:

Mission: Impossible III- Since my expectations were absolutely through the roof (I love this series, I love Philip Seymour Hoffman, and JJ Abrams has done phenomenal work on Lost), I was a little disappointed. However, it is still an enjoyable film. I just wish there had been more Philip Seymour Hoffman in it, since he absolutely dominates the screen for about the 15 minutes or so that he's actually on it.

Poseidon- A lot better than the reviews are saying. Yes, the dialogue is wooden. Yes, the characters don't have a whole lot of depth. But it doesn't matter. This movie is about people trying to escape from an upsidedown boat, and Wolfgang Petersen clearly knows this. This movie doesn't make the mistake he made in Perfect Storm, where you get an hour to know these people before the tragedy hits. You get ten minutes, tops. Then the action begins. I loved Richard Dreyfuss in this movie, Emmy Rossum is gorgeous, and I think Josh Lucas has a really good career ahead of him, because he did a pretty damn good job as the leader. The special effects are really terrific and seamless for the majority of the film. If you don't think that the ship getting hit by the tidal wave is really fucking cool, then there's something wrong with you. This is a very solid B-grade summer movie, and it's a shame the critics are smashing it. Read Lisa Schwartzbaum's review of it at www.ew.com to see someone who got it right.

TV:

American Idol- If Taylor Hicks wins, I'm buying a t-shirt. I might buy a t-shirt anyway. I'm so fucking happy, because he's been the guy I rooted for since the day I saw his audition in one of the very first episodes. An energetic gray-haired soul singer with kind of a Joe Cocker thing going on? We need one of those today. And he's made it to the top 2. I pray to God he wins, and you bet your ass I'll be voting.

Lost- This finale will be amazing. They've already revealed so much this season, and they've promised to answer so many questions. It will be unreal. Anyone who has ever watched Lost should tune in.

The Office- Although I cried with laughter during the season finale, I really hope they haven't ruined the show. I won't spoil what happens for those of you catching up. But it was one of the funniest episodes all season. I have the entire Season 2 on my computer for those of you who'd like to catch up. Shoot me a line, I'll hook you up.

Sports:

Cavs v. Pistons- Is it just me, or will anyone else be really upset if the Cavs lose? They've fought so damn hard in a series I thought they'd be swept in. I would be EXTREMELY giddy if Lebron beat those crybaby Pistons and made it to the conference finals.

2006-05-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

LOST IS THE BEST SHOW ON TELEVISION. PERIOD.

Before I begin my discussion of the newest episode of Lost, I invite you to watch this very interesting ALTERNATE ENDING to the first season of Lost. It certainly would have given a lot more for people to think about at the end of the season.

This would have been a daring move by JJ Abrams and Co., in my humble opinion.

And of course I'm not going to discuss what happened on Lost. I will say that the makers of this show have more balls than any other television writers right now. They are taking a seemingly unsolvable riddle and giving answers to questions as they create new questions, giving us more and more to think about. This season has had FAR less stalling than Season One, and I am grateful for it. There's something cinematic about Lost. Perhaps it's the score, perhaps it's the way it's filmed. Whatever it is, these guys are genius. Cheers to the best show there is.

Sports:

So Raja Bell got suspended for clotheslining Kobe Bryant, claiming that Kobe had been elbowing him all game and that Phil Jackson was taunting him on the sideline. Raja was the only one on Phoenix's squad who could defend Kobe, leaving Phoenix without their best defender going to the Lakers' homecourt facing elimination.

Good luck, guys.

Here's what I wrote about the events on Okayplayer.com:

"As a Kobe hater, and a man rooting for the Suns in a big way this series, Raja fucked up.

You let a great player and a great coach in your head and you couldn't keep your cool.

This is PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL. This is a time when you do whatever it takes to win. Great players and great coaches will use the power that they have earned over their careers to intimidate you. As the man defending that great player, it is YOUR JOB to brush that shit off, take it like a man, and let your actions on defense do the talking for you.

Getting elbowed sucks. But Kobe I'm sure has been pulled, elbowed, slammed, tripped, hit with flagrants, and everything else in this series and all season long FAR worse than Raja Bell has, not to mention some of those bows, tugs, and punches probably came from Raja himself. So forgive me if I have to side with Mamba on this one.

When you are in the playoffs, you can't let people fuck with your head, and if they do, you CERTAINLY can't act on it. I mean, come on. That's common sense. Raja Bell fucked up, let his emotions get in the way of doing his job, and as a result he will likely cost the Suns their shot at taking back this series.

Now, I do NOT think that Raja is a CLASSLESS player. Let's keep in mind earlier this year Kobe said he elbowed Mike Miller in the face because he wanted to let him know he couldn't "come down the lane and look pretty and shoot jump shots and dunk the ball and finger-roll the ball and all sorts of cute stuff. And we've got to stop that." Hard fouls are part of basketball. Sending people "messages" is part of basketball. However, if you're one of the dummies who decides to send their message through a flagrant foul as opposed to just playing the game physical and getting inside the head of your opponent, then you need to be ready to face the consequences.

Raja's consequences will be spending the rest of the summer in Phoenix."

Here's the clothesline in question:

Another angle:

2006-05-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

Catching up with media after a month of hard work is harder than I thought. Thank goodness I've been done since Friday so I can catch up by watching...

Movies:

Thank You For Smoking- I laughed at quite a bit of this. However, I left the theater overall disappointed. The actors and the dialogue were all sharp, as could be expected. The director just didn't tackle the satire with a dark, realistic enough approach. You know how in Dr. Strangelove, there's no flash or pizzazz, nothing that screams "Look! We're making a hilarious movie!" Everything is treated with gravity, which is why the silliness that occurs makes us laugh. Finding the light in the darkness is tough to do, which is why satires tackling very serious issues either come off as amazing or come of as a letdown. This leans towards letdown. Jason Reitman directed it as One Big Joke after another. I wish a director would've taken this material and based it further into reality, which would've REALLY taken the rich satire potential in this topic and run with it. For a great example of Aaron Eckhart leading a black-as-night satire, rent Neil Labute's In The Company of Men. It is brilliant (note: but not a date movie under any circumstances).

Scary Movie 4- So it's not funny, that's a given. However, I was QUITE impressed with the production design on the film. Every single set and costume looks directly out of Saw, The Village, The Grudge, War of the Worlds, et al. It's a shame they couldn't take advantage of the job done, but the production design alone made me laugh at times. When the Asian kid in the scene from The Grudge came crawling down the stairs, and then got twisted into a ball and rolled down, I laughed, because at first it looked like the same damn scene from the other movie. Same with the "monsters" from The Village (a movie I really really hate)-- they look exactly the same as the movie. So it's not totally irredeemable. I just wish some of the cleverness from The Naked Gun films, which comes out in very small spurts in this film, was present throughout.

TV:

The Shield- So I just saw the finale of The Shield. YIKES. There's gonna be some serious shit next season. My favorite line of the entire season:

**** mild spoiler ****

"Your ex-wife's pussy...tastes...like sweet butter."

**** end of mild spoiler ****

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! GET EM VIC!!!!

Lost- Oh wait. Lost is making me wait forever. Goddammit, what the fuck is wrong with just playing the episode when we wanna see it? I'm starting to lose the suspense they build, and the characters I care about are fading from my mind. Just show me the fucking episodes and answer my questions!!!

Sports:

College basketball- Josh McRoberts is coming back. Saints be praised! Now if we can land Lance Thomas for next year (announcement is Thursday), we're gonna have a nice young core to make a decent run next year, something I wouldn't have thought was possible 2 years ago.

NFL- Is it just me, or did the Jaguars have a REALLY kickass draft? A new TE (since Kyle Brady sucks), a new RB (since Freddy is older than Jesus), and some beef to add to the O-line. I'm pleased. And yeah, the Texans are a long way away from getting better

NBA- Comments on the playoffs:
1. The game with Kobe hitting the game-winner= instant classic. I'm a Kobe hater, and I still gotta give props to the guy. The best game of the series.
2. The Clippers have embarrassed the Nuggets. Sam Cassell a.k.a. ET is that dude.
3. Lebron James is going to be one of the all-time best players in the NBA in just a few more years. He's 21, and he's already playing the way Michael did in his early NBA seasons. I am excited to watch this guy grow (and potentially to be living in Ohio in a year).
4. The Heat need to suck it up and win the damn thing. Bitching and moaning is not a good look in the playoffs. Gary Payton, it ain't 1992. Sit your ass back on the bench where it belongs.
5. If I was Chris Kaman, I would've shoved that guy too. For those of you not in the know, Kaman got a flagrant foul for shoving Reggie Evans. Kaman complained to the league that Evans grabbed his testicles from behind and pulled hard. Here's the video and the press conference:

You grab a man's balls and pull? Reggie Evans needs to be suspended for the rest of the playoffs (i.e. tonight).

Internet:

Here's a man who I've fallen in love with. He's a mixture of a televangelist and a profane pimp. I implore you to watch this video.

2006-04-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

Stephen Colbert has BIG BRASS BALLS.

He just got up at the White House Correspondent's Dinner and delivered a BRUTAL monologue. I am in shock. I have provided it here, in 3 parts:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

2006-03-20T19:23:00.000-08:00

V For Vendetta. W For George Mason. L For UNC.

Movies:

V For Vendetta- As someone who never read the comic, I enjoyed it.

********************* SPOILERS ******************************************

I think Alan Moore saying the filmmakers have no balls is just another classic example of Alan Moore being pretty nutty. I mean, they do kill EVERYONE in the government and blow up the fucking Parliament building via the Underground, which is still probably a timely issue there. I wonder how they feel about the film in London.

The ending bothered me a bit with the dash of cheese it presented (the kiss, the "he is you" speech seemed a bit Wachowskian i.e. rubbing the point in our noses until we have to say "okay, okay, we get it"), but it didn't take away from the film.

I'm glad there was little to no action in the film. The ads made me think it'd be a film heavy in politics and heavy in action. It was far less conventional than I expected after reading the Alan Moore interview.

I thought the acting was pretty damn good. Maybe it's just that I think British actors are awesome. But Stephen Rea and John Hurt are fucking awesome, and Natalie Portman is pretty good. Her transformation is pretty drastic, and it's not just the hair.

************************* SPOILERS OVER *********************************

If you haven't read the comic book, there's a really interesting film here. I understand that there's some bastardization at the end, but overall I don't see why you can't take away ANYTHING positive from this film if you're a fan of the comic book.

It's not a GREAT movie, and there is certainly the feeling that it doesn't live up to its full potential. However, I enjoyed myself, and I certainly found myself more taken in than I anticipated, especially by the acting.

TV:

March Madness- The three best games so far: 1. The Iowa upset. 2. The Tennessee win in the first round at the last second. 3. The UNC UPSET HOLY SHIT IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!

The Office- Stanley deserves his own show. When he yelled at Ryan, I pooped myself with laughter.

2006-03-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

Crash is the worst Best Picture Oscar winner ever. Ever.

You can't convince me otherwise.

Paul Haggis must've blown half of Hollywood to have won two Oscars in a row after two shitty screenplays.

Jack Nicholson just punk'd us all. He pulled a gag and read the worst movie on the ballot just to prove that he's Jack Nicholson and he can do whatever the fuck he wants.

I seriously can't think of a worse Best Picture winner. Ever.

2006-03-04T01:18:00.000-08:00

Jack Bauer is my hero.

Movies:

The Constant Gardener- Really good movie. This movie says about 164050389272 times more about race relations and politics than Crash does. Ray Fiennes is, as usual, wonderful, and I really hope Rachel Weisz wins the Oscar, because I can't really recall a film recently where a character introduced and killed at the beginning is felt throughout the film so vividly. I think credit should be shared with Fiennes, Meirelles, and whoever wrote the fantastic screenplay, because the depiction of a loved one's death haunting and motivating actions was really well done. Never over-dramatic, always beautifully filmed. Go see this one, people.

The Pink Panther- I laughed more than I thought. Cheap gags here, but some funny ones. Steve Martin really is funny, and I wish he'd do classier stuff as of late, because these Cheaper by the Bringing Down the House Panther movies have got to stop. This was worth a matinee viewing though. Martin singlehandedly makes what was a sloppily written and directed film.

TV:

Lost- While watching old episodes, I realized there's never been a worse character on Lost than Boone. He looks like he wandered out of the trailer of extras for the latest WB teen drama, one of those kids who looks like a model as he looks quietly introspective while mellow-white-guy guitar music plays. He's also by miles the worst actor, and what's worse is he's often with the coolest character, Locke. I'm glad I don't have to deal with Boone anymore. Also, the newest episode threw me a lot of new info. Gee thanks, Lost, for giving me all this juicy stuff to wrap my mind around...YET ONLY SHOWING 2 NEW EPISODES IN THE NEXT MONTH AND A HALF.

24- I just started watching this season (via the Internet) and HOLY FUCKING SHIT. The first episode of 24 was unbelievable. The second episode showed where the season is starting to go, but MAN ALIVE I can't wait to keep watching this. I'm only 4 episodes behind in The Shield and about 10 or so episodes behind of 24. Between these 2 and Lost...I don't know how a man is supposed to direct a full-length play and keep up with his serial dramas.

Parental Control- What a great concept for a reality show. MTV has two parents who don't like their son/daughter's significant other choose two potential new significant others for their offspring to go on a date with. Meanwhile, the current boyfriend/girlfriend has to watch these dates with the disapproving parents in the room. It is genius. I wish I had thought of this, because it is easy, easy money in the bank for these people. Room Raiders= lame. Date My Mom= weird and creepy. Parental Control= A-GAME.

2006-03-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

Movies:

Munich, Capote, Good Night and Good Luck- Three really extraordinary films that I hope to see go home with the Best Picture Oscar.

Brokeback Mountain- Haven't seen it. I haven't really given this one a fair chance, seeing as how everyone loved it. I just can't get too hyped about seeing a romantic drama about gay cowboys. There are certain movies that are probably good, but the subject matter doesn't interest you. This is one of those for me. I'll catch it on DVD, I'm sure.

Crash- I can't believe all of the press this is getting. What a horrible movie. Filled to the brim with stereotypes, awful dialogue, and the worst music score I think I've ever heard, I'm stunned at the number of nominations it got. Is the Academy really that desperate to put a movie about race to the forefront of the Best Picture competition? They never put Spike Lee up there. Oh, but wait, this is a Racism For Dummies film done by a white guy who used to write for Walker, Texas Ranger (this is not a joke). It must be because Spike is more dangerous since he (a) is black, (b) takes actual stances in films, not just "racism is bad", and (c) is a legitimately talented filmmaker. I haven't seen one good piece of work by Paul Haggis. Not one.

George Clooney and Paul Giamatti- Both are really fucking cool. If there was a way for both of them to win, I'd be a happy man. But I bet George loses all and wins Supporting Actor and Paul goes home empty-handed. *shakes head*

Murderball- The best documentary I've ever seen, probably the best movie I saw last year, and one of only TWO films that has ever made me cry. If you haven't seen this, you have no God. Go see this, now.

The Best Actor race- Is it just me, or is this one of the best Best Actor races in a long time? I'd really be happy if any one of the nominees won.

TV:

American Idol- If Taylor doesn't win, my heart will break. Runners-up: Mandisa or the bald rocker guy.

Lost- Henry Gale is so fucking guilty.

The Shield and 24- I need to catch up. I saw the first 3 episodes of The Shield, and I LOVED it. I can't wait to see how Vic is gettin out of this one. And that new cop is not too shabby, I tell you what. 24 I haven't even started yet, which I'm embarassed to admit since I hear this season has been great. I need to catch up on my serial action-dramas.

The Office- Seriously the best network comedy since Seinfeld. Nothing comes close. Everyone on this show is hysterical. Every single one. I bought a "Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration" shirt and I wear it proudly.

Newsradio Season 3 on DVD- It was sold out when I went to Best Buy the first day it was available. I guess I should be happy, but I was mostly pissed. I want my Bill MacNeill, goddammit!

Music:

Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine- The current album I'm digging. The title track is phenomenal... it's like a long-lost Judy Garland song. It's so old school, I can't get enough of it. I also saw late last night the music video with Zach Galifanikis (probably misspelled) in it. I was very amused. She gets a thumbs up from me right now.

Prince's "Black Sweat"- I dare you to listen to these drums and not think that Prince has the most longevity of any artist this side of Bob Dylan right now. He's still as funky as ever, this single is ridiculously cool.

The White Stripes' "My Doorbell"- I can't believe this song didn't win the Grammy. The fuck is wrong with their ears? This song is impossible to listen to without wanting to jump up and down.

Pharrell- WHEN IS THIS ALBUM COMING OUT? The fuck, Pharrell? I've been listening to the same damn single for going on 3 months now, and I need it to come out. There's so much potential, I feel like this could be a truly truly great album. I need this album as of yesterday.

Fall Out Boy- The fuck is this guy saying? Matt Colabrese sent me this video, which made me laugh extremely hard: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1651997757427874922&q=Fall+Out+Boy