Monday, September 29, 2008

Wow, I really am watching too much television

Yahoo!!! ND won, Cubs, well, they won a week ago and the Bears!!! A good weekend for all.

Watched a couple episodes of John Safran vs. God. He attempted to skewer the Catholic Church and actually ended up considering joining up. Not that I'd ever tell anyone to join, it's not my business, but I thought it was cool. He became an alterboy and liked the ritual of it. He also thought the priest was cool. He wasn't the most religious chap, as are most priests I encounter, some, but not all, are actually pretty cynical, which I tend to be as well. Next, he explored something that I never knew existed ... ok, my LDS friends ... Mormon cinema (sometimes called Mollywood). John actually pitched a movie idea called "Extreme Mormons", which dealt with bike riding missionaries going into the worst of the worst urban areas and doing what they do best. The people at the LDS film office loved the idea and were serious about greenlighting it with a title change since Mormon isn't necessarily a nice term. So, any of my LDS friends out there. If you have a copy of God's Army, The Singles Ward, the RM or Brigham City in your movie collections ... can I borrow them? I love films and didn't even know this genre existed. I mean, what do we Catholics have ... Dogma? Granted I loved it, that cynical Catholic thing ya know? DaVinci Code? Ok, we have a laugh out loud cynical comedy and a drama about murderous priests ... oh wait, Heaven Help Us was a great Catholic comedy ... and The Magdelene Sisters ... dang, I guess there's quite a Catholic movie genre out there. Oops.

I think Pam, Girl on the Loose is over for the season and it was magnificent. I feel that since we were born one day apart to the day in 1967, we totally should be friends. I don't know, she is really a wonder. She has her head on straight in terms of her business and her boys, even Tommy, but man, she sure acts like a dumb blond with men ... I mean, Kid Rock .... Rick Solomon (marrying him because she put herself up as a bet in poker???) Well, anyway, the show was a big fat surprise.

Mad Men ... last nights episode was a marinator. It was dull while watching it, but as it marinates overnight, you realize it's one of the best episodes of the season. Betty is completely losing her mind. I really thought she was going to do the deed with the stable guy, but no, she sets him up with her friend and then calmly removes the phone from the hook so they can't call. Don & Peggy are total dopplegangers. They are sensitive to other's feelings, but in the end, it's about them. The best, and this took me by surprise, was the revelation of Roger & Jane! Mona barging into Don's office because she feels that Don told Roger to leave her for Jane ... wow, that was a great scene. And poor Freddy ... pees his pants and gets fired. Don didn't want to do it, but had no choice. Peggy got his job, she didn't want to get it that way, but she had no choice. I do like how she lit into Pete though ... what a worm.

Watched a movie ... was it one of the worst movies I've ever seen? Yea, maybe. It's called Fierce People. It has no excuse for being bad either ... Diane Lane (who will forever be the little girl from A Little Romance ... sigh, one of my favorite films of all time) and Donald Sutherland ... a legend. And also, Anton Yelchin, who is a great actor already. He played the son in Huff, one of those shows that didn't deserve to be cancelled. Anyway, I can't even describe it ... mom's a drug addict and a masseuse to Donald Sutherland's character, who has no ... well, nothing downstairs due to cancer .. he's a billionaire and opens up his house to drug addict mom and son ... mayhem ensues, murder, balloon rides ... just stupid. I only kept watching because I wanted to see the cast, but man, I want my 2 hours back. Boooooo!!!!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

My teams are killing me ... well except for one.

ND ... lord, what can I say ... please guys, make it look better against Purdue. And the Bears, good grief. But at least they beat the Colts, that will get me at least through December.

Cubs clinch! Cubs clinch!!!!

No Mad Men this week, because they were too busy winning the Emmy for the best drama on tv!!!Yea!!!! I still wish they would create an emmy for best facial expressions because John Slattery would win it hands down!

This week's K-Rock was hilarious. Joan Rivers, like her or not, is a very funny lady. The guys got fired from their usual club gig, so their manager, who is funny as heck, booked them into a jazz club and the group managed to sway a bunch of jazz fans, and Joan Rivers to boot. The thing I like about Joan is that she's willing to make fun of herself. A key scene was of her in the spa getting every non-surgical treatment there was. I still find it hard to believe those guys are a real band because they are very good comic actors. I guess next weeks episode has Dave Navarro, should be fun, lots and lots of Carmen Elektra jokes, I'm sure.

Daily Show is back. Had Bill Clinton on ... ok, this isn't a blatantly political blahg, but I miss that philandering old coot.

Been watching this show on Planet Green called Stuff Happens. It's hosted by uber-geek, Bill Nye (the science guy). He's funny. He picks out a subject, like dinner, and goes into how wasteful humans are and how we wreck the planet just by having dinner ... sigh. Yea, guilt me into "going green" please. I like the information presented and now I throw my coffee grounds into my garden rather that in the garbage. I'll do that much. But I'm not going to change my life worrying about cattle farts affecting the polar ice caps. Buying organic shade grown coffee and throwing the grounds into my garden is about as far as I go ... only because organic, shade grown coffee is tasty!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

The Darjeeling Limited

Getting ready to watch ND and Michigan State .... saying hail mary's and our father's, but I'll take a break.

Watched the Darjeeling Limited. I'm a so-so fan of Wes Anderson films. Loved Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Royal Tennenbaums, but thought the Life Aquatic was dumb as heck. I will say that I really liked Darjeeling. As usual, the characters are complex and completely screwed up. Has there been a Wes Anderson film without Owen Wilson? Now there's a guy I just want to shake. He SEEMS to be a really smart guy, even though he looks and acts like a doofus. I thought he was downright charming in Night and the Museum, but Wedding Crashers ... duh ... Drillbit Taylor, you're kidding. I thought he and Ben Stiller should have switched roles in Permanent Midnight. Adrian Brody is just so weird that he's great. It will take a HUGE HUGE HUGE role choice for me to think otherwise since he was just so perfect in The Pianist. Talk about deserving that Oscar. Jason Schwartzman is creepy, just creepy. But Owen is great, he and Wes make a great team.

His films also make use of great cameos ... Natalie Portman and Bill Murray. Again, has there been a Wes Anderson movie without Bill Murray. I love that guy, Murray. He seems like such a jag and I would be askeered to be in the same room with him because he seems really really mean, but I'm happy to watch him in movies. I think I'm one of the few people who thought he was fabulous in Lost in Translation. Oh and Angelica Houston makes a great cameo as well as the mother who the 3 guys are trying to track down in India.

I have to wonder how realistic the film was. It was shot mainly in India and I thought it felt authentic, but I could be wrong.

Watched a Globe Trekker episode about Southern Mexico. Ian loved it, but I thought it would be the last place on earth I'd want to travel. It just doesn't look like that much fun. Acupulco ... cheesy and expensive and the Mayan ruins are cool, but it just seems like a very dangerous place. Don't like to travel to dangerous places. If I have to travel to a dangerous place, I at least want to be in a police state, like I was in the Soviet Union. It was scary, but I knew that the KGB or the cops were everywhere. But I digress.

Monday, September 15, 2008

From one girl with glasses ...

I think I've mentioned before that I'm a tepid fan of Tina Fey. My dad adores her and he thinks I'm jealous ... well, maybe I am. But I always thought she took the whole girl with glasses thing too far in order to hide the fact that she is one of the mean girls that she wrote about in her movie, Mean Girls. But after watching her do complete justice to Sarah Palin on SNL last weekend, ok, I'll admit it, I'm a fan now. You just get down with your girl with glasses self. But I suppose that I should be thanking Sarah Palin because that is what turned me. Thanks Governor "I can see Russia from my house", I'm going to get major mileage out of that line.

Mad Men was ok ... not fantabulous, but ok. It dealt with the women. Betty is going to end up in the looney bin. I thought for sure that Don was going to find her trying to cut herself on the glass that she cut her foot on. I mean, I have to give her credit for trying to stand up for herself to Don, but she's married to Don ... unshakeable Don. He did get shaken by Jimmy Barrett last week, but no woman will ever outdo him. They'll end up tied up, like Bobbie. Ok, he's going with Betty's request to stay in the office, but that won't last. Betty needs to bed that guy from the stables, pronto!!!

The Peggy/Colin Hanks storyline is kind of lame. Not sure where it's going.

Joanie bayyyybeeee!!! Well, she got a taste for what Peggy is going through didn't she??? I kind of felt sorry for her. Roger has screwed her over twice now. Wonder what the third will be??? Am I the only one who thinks that John Slattery should win an emmy for his facial expressions alone??? I mean, it's hysterical how devious he looks, but in a funny way. Even his pause to wait for Harry to open the door, FOR HIM ... classic!

True Blood ... so freaking cool! The scene where Bill has Sookie under his spell was ... well, I don't want to type how the scene was, it was just so ... incredibly ... well, you know. Shoot, even the scene where he's cleaning her up after the beating was so ... incredibly ... you know ... Lot's of "you knows" in this show.

I gave up on I Want You. It was like watching a soft core porn film and, not that I'm some righteous prude, but come on .. it was just dumb.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Why do I do this to myself

Finished watching the Grey Zone. It was by far THE most depressing Holocaust movie. Not that there are any uplifting Holocaust movies, but this one was particularly depressing. Amazing cast though, Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, David Arquette, Natasha Lyonne, and a virtually unrecognizable Mira Sorvino. The movie is based on a book by a Hungarian physician who worked with Josef Mengele in Auschwitz. There was a group of Jewish men who worked to keep order in the camps, assuring the prisoners that they would be safe ... basically lying to them to maintain order. A girl manages to survive the gas chamber and is nursed back shortly before an uprising by the men of the camp. The ending isn't surprising .. but it just bummed me out more than any other Holocaust film I've seen. It was written and directed by Tim Blake Nelson of O Brother Where Art Thou fame. For playing such a loveable dolt in that film, he is a remarkable writer and director. "Pete, we thought you wuz a hornnnnnnneeeeeeeeeey toad".

Also watched a great documentary called The Source. I am fascinated by the Beat movement. Could Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady look any more normal than they did? Who knew they jock types would go on to found one of the most influential subcultures in history. The Beats begat the hippies. I love the characters behind the people. Borroughs, what a freak .. Ginsburg ... brilliant oddball ... Kerouac & Cassady ... unlikely founders of a movement. I tried to read On The Road, but I guess my feeble brain just could wrap itself around it. Borroughs too ... just way beyond my realm. I'd rather admit that I don't understand a word they write, than pretend that I do. I'll admit it ... I'm just not bright enough for their writing! But honestly, I think their legacy is more than their writings, it's their personas, you can relate to Ginsburg without ever reading Howl. You hear On The Road and you get what the big picture is. Anyway, the Source is a great documentary film. John Turturro performs Howl, Hopper read Burroughs and Johnny Depp performs Kerouac, all very very good.

Friday, September 12, 2008

John Safran vs. God

I've watched this show off and on for a year or so. John Safran is this whiney voiced Australian comedian with a wicked lisp. His humor is super sarcastic, I mean the guy ends each and every show by saying "go to hell" ... but for some reason, when he says it, maybe it's the aussie accent and the lisp, I kind of chuckle.

He takes on religion head on ... he participates. Last night, he went to a Zen Buddhist monastery in Japan and proceeded to get the tar beat out of him in order to answer the question "who you are". He also took Australians to task with regard to some people posting signs outside their doors announcing that they recognize that the indigenous people of Australia are the original owners of the property. Well, he sent some Aborigines to the door and asked if they could have their house back ... and I will say, that unlike an American, who would probably spew a litany of expletives to get the "hoo-hoo" off my property, they invited them in for tea ... the Aboriginal people were kind of shocked, but they went in and had some tea. It's kind of hard to get mad at that.

I saw an episode last year where he visited ... was it a pentecostal .. church. They attempted to exorcise the Jewish demons out of him. What transpired was weird. He seemed to go into some kind of trance and growled and just acted strangely. He refuses to cop to acting, but it was really odd. This preacher told him to go after the LDS church, which he tried, but failed. About the only thing he could find punch line worthy was the whole "magic underwear" (the preacher's words) thing. Safran was able to procure these undergarments in Salt Lake City and really didn't see what the big hairy deal was. Nice try Pentecostal man.

He also wanted to see how easy it would be to get a fatwa issued by a Muslim Imam. And the really scary part, he was able to do it with ease at a Mosque in London. He made up a story about a rival celebrity and before a Sharia court, a fatwa was issued for the death of this guy. Talk about having to backtrack!

I'm watching 2 movies ... one is I Want You ... a Michael Winterbottom film, and the other is The Grey Zone, written by Tim Blake Nelson. I can't figure out what the Winterbottom film is about yet ... hopefully nothing like Jude (still traumatized by that film) and the Grey Zone is about Birkenau, a Death Camp and based upon a true story, yea, that one will end happy, I'm sure ... not.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

The Queen

Watched The Queen ... it's an understatement to say it was fabulous. As I am thoroughly obsessed with all things old money, it would make sense for me to be equally intrigued by all things royal. Helen Mirren deserved 2 Oscars for her portrayal of QEII. James Cromwell as Prince Phillip was born to play that role and I adored him in Babe too. Oh heck, loved him in Six Feet Under ... he's just a great actor. The guy who comes out smelling like roses in the film is Prince Charles, unbelieveable! Everyone was great. I spent half the movie chuckling because of how ... how do I say it ... British, stiff upper lipped they were. It was almost Pythonesque. I spent part of the moving crying because, heck, Diana died and seeing Prince Charles's reaction was moving, which Prince Phillip's cure was to take the boys hunting ... ironic since their mothered died being hunted by the media. Anyway, such a great film.

No Daily Show this week. They need a break after such great coverage during the conventions.

Still watching Pam, Girl on the Loose and llllllllllllllllllllllllovin' it. I'm actually not so ashamed to say that anymore.

Monday, September 8, 2008

It's a great day

I'm basking in the warm glow of victory. Notre Dame won ugly and the Bears beat the Colts ... I'm as happy as a pig in doo.

Mad Men was absolutely fantastic. If the guy who plays Jimmy Barrett doesn't get some kind of award, then all awards shows should be banned. He drew Don in by using Betty ... I loved it. Each and every scene, first with Jimmy & Betty, calmly telling Betty exactly what she was thinking and then Jimmy twisting the knife in Don's gut. He's no dumb comedian, that's for sure! And then Betty upchucking all over Don's purty new car. I had to laugh though, when Don and family went out for a picnic in his new car and they just non-challantly chucked all their garbage in the field ... no regard for anything, they just didn't want the garbage. I gasped. What a different time that was. And Joan-y baby was put in her place, that's for sure. Sweet Jane ... sweet sweet Jane. She's a young version of Joan. She probably did the same thing when she was a lowly secretary. It's going to be interesting. Jane has Roger right where she wants him and Roger is Joan's weak spot. What an interesting triangle this is going to be. As long as Joan is engaged, she has to be cool, but if that engagement gets called of ... rut ro! Jane better just quit.

Watched the premiere episode of True Blood ... wow. It's about modern day vampires in Louisiana (where else?). Anna Paquin, sweet little Oscar winning Anna Paquin ... played Holly Hunter's daughter in the Piano. Both deserved those Oscars. She's all grown up with a Letterman style gap between her front teeth. She's a mortal who can hear people's thoughts. She's intriugued by the vampires who don't need human blood anymore to live. I have it set up as a season pass on my tivo now. Alan Ball, who created the most excellent, Six Feet Under, created this one ... so to say there are some twisted storylines is an understatement. Lots of blood, gore and naked-ness. Not for the faint of heart ... not a family drama.

And I have to give a nod to the Daily Show's coverage of the GOP convention ... kudos! The Reformed Maverick bit was worth the entire week. Just fabulous. They deserve the week off!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Yea!!! TV is back!!!

Back to my guilty mindless television viewing!!!

Gossip Girl's season opener was great! But Chuck isn't nasty enough .. come on! He's Chuck!!! And am I the only one who thought the "Baron"s English accent didn't seem right? Now Chuck IS really British and his American accent is superb. Every storyline was pretty good ... even whiney Serena and Dan's plot ... ooooooo, caught kissing Nate, but it all worked out. And seeing a real NYC socialite, Tinsley Mortimer, or is it Mortimer Tinsley ... anyway, it was cool to see one of THEM poking fun. Heck, even Lydia Hearst was seduced by Chuck at the end of the season.

My most guilty of guilty pleasure shows ... I've been watching for a couple weeks and can only muster up the bravery the write about it now is Pam, Girl on the Loose. Pam Anderson and I share a birthday, we are the same age, we are both mothers and we both look really mushy without makeup on. Watching this show gives me fits because, normally, I think she's nothing but a huzzy who makes really bad decisions picking men. What makes it even worse, is that her crap behavior actually makes Tommy Lee look like a responsible adult! Heck, Tommy's show over on Planet Green makes him seem downright likeable and fun. Now, Pam's show .... sigh ... she's kind of a cool gal. But why does she do what she does when it comes to men???? We see her making her own decisions about her boys, her house, she does her own housework .... she seems like someone who's public persona is opposite of her private persona. The show is really well done and she probably has a lot to do with the decision making. It's a really good show and I can't believe I am writing that.

I love the Independent Film Channel. I started watching a show called Z Rock ... it's about a real rock band called Z02 who's day gig is a kid's band. It's hilarious. Each of the guys are good actors and I had to do some research and find out that yes indeed they really are a band. I've watched 2 episodes so far. One episode had them going after a Wiggles type band and completely owning them in the end. Their manager is a former groupie, so she gets the score with them.

Watched a good movie last night called The Brave One. Jodie Foster plays victims so very well and has won awards for it. Here she goes vigilante on a group who beat the crap out of her and killed her fiance AND stole their dog :( And Terrence Howard was fantastic as usual. I've not seen him in a bad movie, as much as I loathed Crash, he was very good in it.

The Shield started last night, need to record it. It's the final season for Mackie!!!! I'm going to go ahead and predict that he gets his bald butt blown away at the end.

Monday, September 1, 2008

I am McPalin!

I'm in such a funk! I'm over the Olympics, ok ... and this political season is making me vomit in my mouth a little each and every day. The only thing that is keeping me somwhat sane is the Daily Show. I can actually LAUGH while watching the political coverage and they haven't even had any chance to go after the McPalin ticket. I'm sorry, but what the heck is up with little miss beehive??? I mean, she looks like a freaking B-52 ... I expect her to launch into Rock Lobster when she's at the mike. Maybe she'll do that for the convention! I'd watch that one. I am dubbing this election:

McOlection between McPalin and OBiden. I won't be voting for either of them.

Mad Men was fan-freaking-tastic! Seriously every single scene was out of this world. The best shot was at the end with Don looking like a brick wall has fallen on top of him. The shot of his reflection sitting on the can ... great work. And Pegggy! You know, Joan is one of the best heroines on tv. She says it like it is in 5 words or less. I loved the look Pete gave her in the strip club. She's romping all over his sorry angry butt. She'll get further than him and he may very well knock someone else up, we'll see by the end of the season. And Duck ... now, I'm no fan of English Setters, but how can anyone with half a brain let a dog go in Manhattan ... how!!! Hopefully he has tags and will be returned. And Roger gave the best double take of the evening looking over Don's secretary. It's about the only thing on tv that's keeping me sane at this point.

New shows are gearing up soon. I'll see how Heroes, Pushing Daisies and Chuck go. I want to see the new Keitel show ... can't think of the name ... ugh! Harvey Keitel is great. Born of Scorcese and resurrected of Tarantino .. ahhhhhhhhh.

Well, the DS should have fun with the GOP convention this week. If there is a convention. I honestly don't think McCain wants to be president anymore.