Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Jason just linked to an article at The New Yorker with a list of the five scariest movies of all time. I’ve only seen one of the films on the list — The Silence of the Lambs — which I thought was a great thriller, but it didn’t particularly scare me. Cannibals and serial killers are simply not high on my list of Things Which Frighten.
I just don’t see how anyone could make a list like this and not include Jaws. I’m 35 years old and I still think of that damn shark any time I’m in the ocean. Is there anyone in the world that doesn’t? Hell, I think it wasn’t until I was out of my twenties that I could swim in a $#&* pool without being scared.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Do you remember when Robin Williams attempts to teach Nathan Lane how to be a real man in The Birdcage? It’s one of my favorite scenes in one of my favorite movies. Williams asks,
How do you feel about that call today? I mean the Dolphins! Fourth-and-three play on their 30 yard line with only 34 seconds to go!
How do you think I feel? Betrayed, bewildered …
Today it was the Gators and fourth and one with a little under a minute to go. Either way it’s the same. I just can’t believe it. Again. How does the Heisman trophy winner fail to get a single yard? You really can’t blame Tebow, though. That game was lost on the sidelines.
It was another brutal early season weekend in college football. (Didn’t this happen last year, too?) Yes, seven of the AP top twenty-five teams lost, but that doesn’t make it any easier if you happened to be on the losing side.
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Friday, August 15, 2008
While we were waiting for the Olympics to start out here on the West coast, we caught the end of an old Entourage episode on HBO. The track playing over the end credits was Sinnerman, by Nina Simone. That song is also played during the conclusion of The Thomas Crown Affair remake with Pierce Brosnan, which has been on television a few hundred thousand times lately, and I really like it. This time I remembered to email a note to myself from my iPhone to download it.
I’m not about to drop $9.99 for an album when I only want one song.
Since Phelps isn’t racing until 10pm, I decided to grab the song. I’ll gladly pay $.99 for a track on iTunes, so I fired ‘er up and … ugh … Of course that’s one of the “album only” songs. For some mysterious reason every now and then Apple (or the record label, or who knows) sets it so that some songs cannot be downloaded individually. You have to buy the whole album to get the track. While I’m okay to shell $.99 for a great song, I’m loathe to drop $9.99 for an album when I only want one song.
So of course I flip iTunes the bird and fire up Limewire. But for some reason, even though there are apparently hundreds of copies of that song available, none of them will download. (I suspect my ISP is blocking Limewire, actually.)
Torrents to the rescue. I found a copy on torrents.to, fired up Transmission, and should have the whole Thomas Crown Affair OST in about twenty minutes. This is why I love the Internets.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
My friends Bob and Gretchen were in town last night for the X-Files premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. I met them afterwards and we went to Citizen Smith for a late dinner. (It took me just under an hour to get to the restaurant from my house, even though it’s only about eight miles away, because a single block of Hollywood Boulevard was closed for the movie.) Just like every time I’ve been there, the food was delicious and the service was atrocious. We had a great time, though.
Monday, July 21, 2008
It took me almost ten years, but I finally got around to watching The Big Lebowski. I watched it with my buddy Bob on Sunday afternoon in his totally awesome, tricked-out basement theater in Denver and I thought it was hysterical. Surreal, yes, to be sure. It was beyond odd. Like Swingers, one of my all-time favorite films, I think that much of it is completely incomprehensible to anyone who hasn’t lived in Los Angeles for a while. But it’s definitely a great movie if you enjoy the Coen brothers’ stuff.
Friday, July 18, 2008
My wife and I went to see The Dark Knight at 12:45am. I am a huge Batman fan and this movie did not disappoint. It was just a hair under three hours long, and — aside from the fact that I knew I was going to be late to work today — I didn’t want it to end. The film is at least as good as Batman Begins, if not better; and I thought that was the best Batman film ever. I also thought that all of the Oscar talk for Heath Ledger as the Joker was merely because of the actor’s untimely death, but after seeing his performance I don’t see how he couldn’t get nominated. Run, don’t walk, to see this in the theater. It. Is. Awesome.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Jay Mohr’s Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live is the second “uncensored” book I’ve read about SNL. (I read Live from New York about two years ago.) Mohr is on the radio pretty frequently here in LA and I really enjoy Last Comic Standing when I catch it. His breakout role was as evil sports agent Bob Sugar in Jerry Maguire, and he appeared in the cult classic, life-in-LA film Go. This book is about the two years he spent as a writer and featured player on SNL. Yes, as you’d expect, there are a boatload of funny stories about all the crazy behind-the-scenes antics of the cast and guest hosts. But the great part about it is the story of his personal life and his struggles with depression, anxiety, and fame. It’s a really fascinating read and I definitely recommend it.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
This weekend I finished reading Busting Vegas by Ben Mezrich, the same guy that wrote Bringing Down the House. It’s pretty much the same story: M.I.T. math geeks take on the gambling industry. David and Goliath, etc. It’s a good, quick read. I’d definitely grab Bringing Down the House first, though. It was much more in-depth and — although both are allegedly true stories — it felt much less like a fictionalized account. “Busting Vegas” tends to focus more on the relationships and touchy-feely parts of the story; there are chapters written by the author in the first person and there’s a smallish love-story sub-plot. Either way I should warn you that the chances of learning any magic Blackjack skills and winning big are slim. But it’s still a fun book and perfect for reading while you’re on the beach this summer baking in the sun.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Are you wondering what media I consumed this weekend? I knew you were. And so I shall tell you.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
A week or two ago I linked to a video clip my friend made: Casino Royale with Cheese, a seriously funny film about how James Bond would handle being paired with a really annoying partner. It’s a great little piece of web satire that’s now been nominated at the MTV Movie Awards! Go vote for it!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Great quote in an article at Gizmodo on the futility of enforcing copyright law:
According to blueprints from the Acme Company, the MPAA will next attempt to mount a large red rocket and light its fuse while aiming it at the place where the Malaysian movie pirates are eating strategically placed birdseed.
