Yet ANOTHER blog about pop culture - movies, music, books, sports, etc. - or whatever else comes to mind. Because there aren't nearly enough of those out there.
I read an article today that there are talks going on to make another Buffy the Vampire Slayer theatrical movie. However, this new movie will have nothing to do with either the television show or Joss Whedon, the mastermind of that show. Predictably, the internet is up in arms over this. Fans of the TV version of Buffy are, for the most part, dedicated almost to the point of being rabid in their love for the vampire world that Whedon created (as evidenced by the fact that the Buffy comic book, which picked up the story after the last season, routinely is within the top 15 for sales every month and is the only non-superhero, non- DC or Marvel book to sell that high). I realize that thanks to Twilight, Hollywood is vampire-crazy right now. The thing that I don't understand is that the main driving force (other than a like of any original ideas, which I'll get to in a minute) between all of the remakes that have bombarded us the last 10 years or so is that Hollywood producers think that by slapping a well-known name on a movie or TV show, that there will already be a built-in audience and there is that much more of a chance that it will make money. That being the case, why would you start off by alienating the biggest potential fan base for your movie before you even get out of the talking stage?
As I stated above, the glut of remakes that Hollywood has forced upon us just show how few original ideas there are out there and how afraid the studios are to take a chance on anything. Unfortunately, for the most part, you can't really blame them - people don't really want originality, they want something that they are comfortable with. That's why Hollywood will remake something, no matter how obscure or unrelated it ends up being to the original in anything but name - I just read recently that they are thinking about a remake to "Flight of the Navigator"... does ANYONE even remember that movie???
The sad thing is, if we are going to be fed a constant diet of remakes, the least they could do is make them good. Almost all of them SUCK. For every remake that is just as good or better than the original, like Battlestar Galactica or The Office, you get 150 Charlie's Angels or Miami Vices, which are unwatchable. Yet, the studios keep pumping them out, and people still keep watching them. I don't know why it still bothers me so much. I should be numbed to it by now, but I am not. Whenever I read an article on Ain't It Cool or The AV Club about the latest remake that is in discussion (which is usually once a week), I get all irate - "How DARE they? Is nothing sacred?" Oh well. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go watch the preview trailer for the remake of "V" that will appear on ABC this fall...
I just finished watching "How To Lose Friends and Alienate People" with Simon Pegg (I thought the movie was decent and probably enjoyed it more because of Pegg. I love him - if you haven't seen "Shawn of the Dead" or "Hot Fuzz", you should. As soon as possible). One of the themes of the movie is the culture of celebrity that is created and sustained by both the public and the media that doesn't necessarily relate to how talented the person is or the quality of their craft. I was all set to go off on a rant against how I hate that this happens and I was ready to identify people, TV shows, movies that are famous or popular that I think are worthless. Then, I decided why bother. I just didn't have the energy to go on a long winded tirade about a subject for which I am in the minority (this is probably just an rare occurrence - I usually like nothing better than to disparage the poor taste of others, but I just wasn't feeling it tonight). I know that the majority of people in this country like mediocre fare - why else are American Idol, Two and a Half Men, Nickelback and Paul Blart: Mall Cop popular?
So, rather than harp on things that popular that have no reason to be so, I decided to pick 4 people/bands/shows that should be much more popular than they are:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt While he is not as well known today by name, I am sure there are a lot of people that would recognize him if they saw a picture of him (and he was wearing a long-haired wig). He first came to the public's attention as Tommy, the youngest member of the cast of "3rd Rock From the Sun." Few people that saw him back then would figure that he would become one of the most talented and versatile young actors in Hollywood today. He impressed many critics with is role in "Mysterious Skin", but my favorite performance of his was in "Brick." He was able to take a challenging role in a movie that sought to take a typical 40's film noir plot (along with the same kind of hard-boiled dialog you would expect from a film of this type) and convincingly portray the kind of world-weary sleuth that you could favorably compare to a Sam Spade or a Philip Marlowe. He is set to star as Cobra Commander in the live-action GI Joe movie this summer, so maybe he is on the verge of stardom (although from everything I have read and seen about this movie, I am not optimistic about its chances...)
New Pornographers The New Pornographers are an alternative band that write and perform some of the catchiest pop songs that you will ever hear. Except that no one other than indie rock fans have any idea who they are. Their best songs have hooks that stick right in your brain and have you humming them long after you have heard the song. As far as pop music today, there is nothing that you will hear on your local Top 40 station that can hold a candle to the songs that Carl Newman, Dan Bejar, Neko Case and the rest of the Pornographers have released on their 4 discs. They have shown that "pop music" doesn't have to be a type of music that is associated with bland, corporate created, bubble gum crap.
The Hold Steady Another alternative band that is relatively unknown outside of indie rock fans. The Hold Steady are more straightforward rock and roll than The New Pornographers, though, so they should have even more mainstream appeal. I am not sure why they have not crossed over and received more radio airplay. They also put on one of the best live shows around in terms of getting the crowd into it and also how into the show the band is (singer Craig Finn is a real character). I have seen them 3 times now and I will continue to see them every chance I get.
30 Rock You may be asking, "how can a series that won the 'Best Comedy Series' Emmy 2 years in a row need to be more popular?" Have you seen the ratings for this show? Its one of the best shows on TV and nobody is watching it. If it wasn't for the fact that NBC overall is in the crapper ratings-wise, they probably wouldn't have stuck behind it as strongly as they have. Each and every week, Alec Baldwin hits it out of the park with his portrayal of Jack Donaghy, the head of NBC. Tracy Morgan is so off the wall as Tracy Jordan (who I am pretty sure is just an exaggerated version of Morgan's real life persona). I know lots of people that love the Office that don't stick around to watch 30 rock afterward and I don't understand it.
Right now, I am sitting outside in the afternoon, working from home (and other than this blog post I actually HAVE been working). It is gorgeous out and I am partially involved in one of my favorite summer activities - sitting outside and listening to music (I would be completely enjoying this activity if I had a beer as well, but it is a little early for that). I have been listening to a few CD's today that will probably be in heavy rotation this summer - the new Wilco, Camera Obscura, Maximo Park, Bat for Lashes, Depeche Mode. There will be others, but that is what has made the list so far - I am in the process of listening/re-listening to all the CD's I have that came out this year in order to a.) add some newer songs to my master iPod play list, and b.) come up with a "Top 10 CD's from 2009 (so far") list for a future blog post (early front runner for best disc of the year - Bat For Lashes). I really prefer more upbeat stuff in the summer, so there are some good low key discs that came out this year that won't make it on to the "summer rotation" list. Oh well, they will get their due once fall rolls around and only football and Halloween can save me from total depression.
Good music and summer go hand and hand for me, whether its sitting outside at a BBQ (or for no other reason than it is nice out) or just driving around on a beautiful day blasting some tunes. I can't think of ever doing one of those activities without some good music on the stereo (and it doesn't even have to be the kind of music I am really into - I have some great memories of sitting around with my family in the summer while some oldies or classic rock is blaring in the background). Now, I know that I am really into music (that should probably have read REALLY), so I am a little biased on this subject, but I just cannot understand how some people just aren't into music at all or have absolutely no opinions about music (I know people like this). I am not talking about people's tastes in music - I know a lot of people who have wildly different tastes than me that are really into what they like. I mean people that could really not care less about music (I guess its more of an indifference to music). This is unfathomable to me. As far as I am concerned, good music makes EVERYTHING better - a drive, a picnic, a party, a trip to the bar, work, mowing the lawn. If you are having a mediocre time at any of those and some good music comes on, your experience instantly improves (at least for me). I can't imagine how boring your life must be that, in those situations, your mood isn't affected by adding music to the mix.
When I was at home for lunch today, I saw a little bit of a program on Bravo counting down the All-Time Best TV Characters. Now, I personally like my all-time lists a little more narrowed down than that - comedy and drama should be separate (plus, as is usual with things like this, their rankings were ridiculous - Dr. Johnny Fever at #68???? Come on!). So, I figured that it would be a good companion to my Top 5 TV Comedy post to do a list of the Top 5 TV Comedy Characters. And away we go...
1.) Homer J. Simpson
Unfortunately, in the last few seasons, Homer has been portrayed as JUST an idiot - he does a lot of stupid things that even HE can't possible think would work. That isn't nearly as funny as the way he used to be. Sure he has always been an idiot, but most of the ridiculous things that he did were, at least in his mind, well reasoned and sure to work (one of my favorite additions to Homer's character over the years was when they had him start wearing the reading glasses, usually when he was researching some crazy scheme). You could sympathize with him at the same time as laughing at him - he sincerely thought capers like concocting your own liquor in the basement was a good idea. Plus, he has had some of the all time greatest quotable lines:
Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon? Lisa: No. Homer: Ham? Lisa: No. Homer: Pork chops? Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal. Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.
Marge: Homer, the plant called. They said if you don't show up tomorrow don't bother showing up on Monday. Homer: Woo-hoo. Four-day weekend.
Homer: Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.
Homer: Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals ... except the weasel.
And there is of course this...
2.) GOB Bluth
The magic. The Segway. The racially charged puppet act. What isn't there to love about GOB on Arrested Development? I think that I love about GOB the most though is the fact that he doesn't see any of his bad habits in himself - like the unreliability and the sneakiness - but he instead sees them in his brother Michael and GOB is constantly out to get him - Michael: "Well, you've already got her hating me, or at least your version of me. Which is you." It is really GOB, and not Buster, who is the most pathetic member of a truly pathetic family - no one in the family really cares for him other than Michael (and even that is debatable some times) and all he really wants is to be loved and included in the family responsibilities (unless those responsibilities get too hard, then all he really wants is the title, the office, and the paycheck).
Quotes:
Gob: [to Michael] Tell you what. You may not be good with women, but you are great with other people's women. I'll give you that.
Michael: Boy, the lengths you'll go to sleep with a woman. Gob: Believe me, we didn't do any sleeping. I had sex last night. Narrator: But he really didn't. Gob: Yes, I did.
Gob: I've got the marriage and none of the good parts. It's like so far it's been all chain and no ball.
Sitwell: The only thing I ask is, out of the 450 homes we build, one be given to a disadvantaged family from the inner city. Gob: That’s great. So the other 449 families live in fear? Is that what we’re saying?
Gob: The cow is coming after me. Michael: Your wife? She was super-thin. Gob: She was? What about her cans? She have big cans? Michael: You don't remember her at all, do you? Gob: Hey, it was one night of wild passion! Michael: And yet you didn't notice her body? Gob: I like to look in the mirror.
3.) Dwight K. Schrute
In what seems to be a running theme with my favorite characters, most of the laughs regarding Dwight on The Office stem from the juxtaposition between what Dwight thinks is reality and actual reality (or at least what passes for reality in the world of The Office). Dwight is constantly confronted with the behavior of others that are incompatible to the mostly emotionless, do it yourself, law of the jungle, Quaker/amish/nazi upbringing, bizzarro world that Dwight inhabits (in his own mind). Conversely, his co-workers (and especially Michael Scott) are confronted with Dwight's solutions to the problems that pop up every week that, while they seem perfectly rational to Dwight, usually cause either disgust or utter astonishment. Those are some of my favorite Office moments.
Quotes:
Dwight: OK, first let's go over some parameters. How many people can I fire? Michael: Uh, none. You're picking a healthcare plan.
Dwight: The purse girl hits everything on my checklist: creamy skin, straight teeth, curly hair, amazing breasts. Not for me, for my children. The Schrutes produce very thirsty babies.
Dwight: When I die, I want to be frozen. And if they have to freeze me in pieces, so be it. I will wake up stronger than ever, because I will have used that time to figure out exactly why I died. And what moves I could have used to defend myself better now that I know what hold he had me in.
Dwight: [bringing in a dead goose] I accidentally ran over it. It's a Christmas miracle! Toby: C'mon, Dwight, we talked about this: no dead animals in the office.
4.) Dr. Perry Cox
On Scrubs, Dr. Cox thinks he is the brightest, most talented and most hilarious doctor in the entire hospital. He thinks everyone is beneath him and he lets it be known. The best moments of Scrubs usually fall into one of two categories: 1.) Dr. Cox flaunts his superiority over someone by either a long winded berating or a carefully orchestrated trick that makes his victim think that they were actually right; or 2.) Dr. Cox either intentionally or accidentally lets another character see a crack in his armor - he really does care about the people he works with and the patients he treats. His problem is that he cares too much and he refuses to let it show most of the time. Scrubs has always been a great mix of silly comedy and depressing character moments (that make the comedic parts stand out that much more) and Dr. Cox is the best representation of that formula.
Quotes:
Dr. Cox: Hey, newbie. You know what your problem is? J.D.: My bones hurt? Dr. Cox: You were gonna, what, rescue me from loneliness with a three-dollar six-pack of light beer? It turns out, you can't save people from themselves, newbie. We just treat 'em. You treat that kid with a respiratory problem, and when he comes back with cancer, go ahead and treat that, too. J.D.: [sarcastic] Well, thanks for the pick-me-up! Dr. Cox: Hey! Smokers, drinkers, druggies, fatties, whatever. All I'm saying is that if you keep living and dying on whether or not a person changes, well... you're not gonna make it as a doctor, that's all. Now... come here and gimme a hug. [J.D. hesitates to move.] It's okay. Come here, come here. [J.D. approaches him.] Aw, get outta here! And take this piss-water with you. [He shoves the six-pack into J.D.'s hands.] It's embarrassing to have it here. Cox's Buddy: I'll drink it! Dr. Cox: Eh! [taking the beer back] I'll take the beer. You beat it.
J.D.: Your ex-wife. She's the answer. Dr. Cox: Uhhh... Things that ruined my life. Things that took half my money. Things with sharp edges!
Dr. Cox: Newbie, the only way you could be less productive right now is if you were in fact, the wall on which you're leaning against. Of course, then you'd be providing some jackass with a wall on which to lean against and reflect on what a jackass he truly is. I-I-I know, here it's a conundrum, but don't you worry about it. I'll tackle that one right upstairs [points to his head]. In the meantime, you could at least pretend to be doing some work. And right about now, even though you don't have your basket, oh it's just a terrific time for you to skip away, Shirley.
Dr. Cox: Fine. Let me just tell you how it ends. Dr. Phil says, "And how is that working out... for you?" And then the big fat lady cries, waah. Alright. I'm sure you're wondering why I accepted the position of Residency Director considering my disdain for, well... all of you. Is it the extra four dollars a week in my paycheck? Or is it the fact that I finally have a chance to make a difference in this god forsaken hellhole? [Elliot looks pleased and impressed] Dr. Cox: It's all about the four dollars, trust me.
5.) Bill McNeal
NewsRadio was one of my favorite shows in the '90s and I do not think it gets the proper recognition for how funny it was. This mostly due to its short run - it only lasted a few seasons because it went down hill after the sad death of Phil Hartman, who played Bill. Bill McNeil was a character that showcased all of the best and funniest character traits that Hartman excelled at during his time on Saturday Night Live - Bill could zip through smarminess, a false sense of superiority and an overblown sense of indignation, usually all within the same scene. His funniest bits, however usually involved the various tricks and put-downs he inflicted on the office geek, Matthew (who was played by lunatic Andy Dick, who used to be capable of fine comedy instead of just having the ability to make you want to claw out your eyes and rip off your ears whenever he appears on your screen). My favorite episode of NewsRadio involving Bill was "The Cane" (which you can find on Hulu) - Bill buys a cane in an effort to show off how much better he is than everyone and of course manages to annoy the hell out of people with it. The closing scene where Bill goes through a litany of canes to show that he will never give it up is a classic.
Quotes
Dave: Why? Because I'm the boss Bill, that's why! That's why Bill. And I will not be manipulated, I will not be contradicted, and I will not be intimidated! Bill: Well, I didn't realize you were a man of such strong conviction. Of such deeply felt moral tenacity, of such remarkable centeredness... Dave: Alright Bill, I'm not going to be sucked-up to either. Bill: Well, you've eliminated all my options. All that's left is backstabbing.
[Matthew is worried he's going to get "The Shaft" - a bonus of zero dollars.] Bill: Say Joe, who's the black private dick that's a sex machine for all the chicks? Joe: Bill, I think that would be Shaft. [Matthew notices and looks up] Bill: And who's the cat that won't cop out when there's danger all about? Joe: Again Bill, we're talkin' 'bout Shaft. Bill: Damn right. Joe: You know, they say that cat Shaft is one bad mother- Matthew: Shut up you guys! Mr. James: [entering] Hey what's goin' on? Bill: We're just talking about Shaft. Mr. James: I can dig it.
Bill: Do you have a special lady in your life? Dave: No. Bill: I'm sorry, that was presumptuous of me. Do you have a special person in your life?
[Beth shows Bill a nude photo of herself, disguised with a paper bag so he won't recognize her] Beth: Bill, what do you think of this photo? Bill: Who is that? Beth: Oh, it's a friend of mine doing a thesis at NYU, it's a fine arts program. Bill: Uh-huh. Well it's an interesting commentary on the objectification of the female form and of course the masks women are forced to wear in our society. If I were the NEA I'd give her five or six grand. Beth: Well Bill do you think it's sexy? Bill: Well I don't really think that's germane to a discussion of the statement the artist is trying to make. Beth: Thank you Bill. [Bill walks over to Matthew] Bill: Beth's showing nudie photos of herself with a paper bag over her head. Check it out.
[Bill sets up a cubicle around his desk] Dave: Have you thought about how this will make you co-workers feel? Bill: Actually, one of the great things about the cubicle is not having to think about my co-workers at all.
This weekend is the latest installment of what has now turned into an annual event here in Columbus - Rock on the Range (although Ohio is pretty flat, so I don't know what range they are talking about). Its a weekend long music fest full of hard rock bands, most of which were popular about 5 years ago - Slipknot, Korn, Buckcherry, Saliva, etc. Even if these bands were popular now, this is exactly the type of show that you would think I would never want to go to for free, let alone pay to see. I don't like these bands or this type of music. In fact, I HATE these bands. With a passion. HOWEVER...
I was in attendance at the first ever Rock on the Range 3 years ago (it was only a one day show that year that did so well - SIGH - that it was expanded the following year). Now, let me explain - I didn't intend to go to this show. The night before, a friend of mine from back home calls me and says that he is coming to Columbus to go to the show and he had an extra ticket. I don't get to see him too often and I had no plans, so I agreed to go with him (maybe not one of my better decisions). Of course, I didn't know that the ticket would cost me $70 and the beers were $7.50, but oh well, he is an old friend.
I should have known we were in trouble when, after waiting in line for about 25 minutes just to get in, we found out that if you wanted to get access to the field level of Crew Stadium (where the stage was), you needed a wrist band. In order to get a wrist band, you needed a.) to have one of the employees mark your ticket with a sharpie, and b.) show this marked ticket to another employee and they would give you the wrist band. The concert promoters (or whoever the hell was running things that day) decided that waiting in line to do this was for suckers. They had 2 groups of employees - 1 with sharpies and 1 with fistfuls of wrist bands - stationed about 10 ft apart and you had to crowd around each group and yell at them to get their attention. It was like a cross between the floor of the New York Stock exchange and a scene from the Amazing Race whenever they are in India and children discover the contestants have money. It was RIDICULOUS. Luckily, we got tipped off about the sharpie portion of the process, so we brought one with us which allowed us to skip that step and save us about 20 minutes. However, getting the wrist bands themselves was still a struggle - I had to forcefully pull my friend's girlfriend out of the crowd by her arm after we got ours like I was rescuing her from quicksand. Eventually, we got our bands (which was better than a lot of people could say - they only gave out a certain number of wrist bands even though there was a lot more room on the field available than was used by spectators) and we were off!
Now, I am not going to waste any time talking about the music... it was just as awful as you imagine. I really didn't pay too much attention to it anyway. I was too busy drinking beers, smoking cigarettes and people watching. First, since, like I said, there weren't enough wrist bands for everyone that wanted to get to the field level, people were constantly trying to sneak in by hopping the rail. However, since these people were drunk, they weren't quite as stealthy as they thought. Needless to say, every single one of them were spotted right away by security. Now, here is where the fun starts - they ALL decided to try and run away from security. You would hear the crowd start to roar and turn around to see some jackass (usually shirtless) trying to escape security. None of them made it. My second favorite running activity was spotting the mullets. Lets just say I lost count within the first half hour. The best thing I saw all day, though, wasn't related to either of these events - it was the 13 year old girl that was there with her parents and their friends (it was very obvious that the parents were only there to escort their daughter and they probably got their friends to come along just to see ZZ Top, the headliner). She was standing in front of her parents in a wifebeater, with her arm in the air, sporting a GIGANTIC shiner, singing at the top of her lungs the song "Crazy Bitch" by... Buckcherry (sorry, I had to look it up on Wikipedia). It was just as classy as it sounds (look up the lyrics - I'm sure her parents were proud).
"Jon and Kate + 8" is probably my least favorite tv show that I have ever seen. In the history of my television viewing. Now, I really hate reality television in general (except for The Amazing Race - that is the only one that I watch because I like seeing the different places they go in the world and I like how they integrate local culture into the tasks that they make the contestants perform), but this one rubs me the wrong way even more than the rest. Now, let me stop for a second to say that I have never actively set out to watch this show. My girlfriend used to watch it (while I was in the room) until she read some less than flattering articles about the Gosselins that made her decide to give up on the show (I was very pleased when she made that decision because it seemed like this fucking show was on 17 out of 24 hours a day). I will admit that the kids on the show were very cute. However, Kate just struck me as a very calculated, phony person. She tried to present a persona to the public how she was a loving wife, but every so often you could see a few cracks in this act that made it seem like maybe in reality she wasn't the nicest person. Also, I really couldn't understand why they would want to do this to their children - it has to be hard enough to raise that many children at once and making sure they have a normal upbringing without turning their life into a spectacle. I also find using your children to generate fame and fortune for yourself to be very slimy.
So, needless to say, I am enjoying the whole ongoing affair scandal with Jon and Kate to no end. Although, I really wouldn't enjoy it at all if the children were old enough to understand what is going on and see it plastered all over every tabloid in print or on the air. I mean, my schadenfreude has its limits. Since that isn't the case, I can take great joy in quotes like this from Kate (from The Huffington Post): "The next story coming out from the animals that stalk us is about our security person and his family," she said, referring to bodyguard Steve Neild. "Already the allegations they're making about me are disgusting, unthinkable, unfathomable, and I am horrified." Really? The "animals"? I'm sorry, but when you willfully turn your private life into a public spectacle in order to get on TV (since you do not have any talent or any other interesting trait that would allow you to earn your way on to TV), you forfeit the right to be outraged when it spins out of control and certain things about your life become public knowledge that you'd rather hadn't. Personally, I think the public should stay out of the private lives of celebrities. Just because we pay money to see them perform doesn't mean we have the right to invade every bit of their existence and plaster pictures all over the internet of how horrible they look taking out the trash. That's why I would never go up to a celebrity in a private situation - dining out, travelling through the airport, etc. - and ask them for their autograph (I think autographs are stupid anyway, but that's beside the point). However, this situation is different - these people asked the public to come into their lives and then didn't like when the public saw everything.
Way before I ever saw the movie High Fidelity, I would always rank things in my mind in "Top 5" lists and debate when to add something new to the list, or whether I had them in the right order (yeah, I have a lot of running dialogs in my head, so what?). That's probably why I love that movie so much, because I see a lot of myself in Rob (in relation to the musical obsession, not in his taste in clothes - "... it's a Cosby sweater. A Cooooosssssssby sweataahhhh"). So, periodically I am going to present one of my "Top 5" lists (usually when I can't think of anything else to write about... sorta like right now). Here are my "Top 5 TV Comedies":
1.) The Simpsons Sure, the show is a pale shell of what it was in seasons 2-9 or so, and the movie sucked, but when The Simpsons was hitting on all cylinders, it was the funniest, most irreverent, most biting satire ever to be shown on TV. Even the episodes from seasons 10 through about 5 years ago are still pretty good (although, would it kill them to show the earlier seasons more often in syndication? How many damn times do I need to see the episode where Moe becomes a poetry sensation???). South Park has definitely taken over the role of smacking society down through satire (and they do a hell of a job), but without The Simpsons, they never would have had the chance.
2.) Seinfeld Its amazing how many jokes I can get everyday just by relating things that happen in real life to Seinfeld episodes (hmm... maybe I need to freshen up my material). I know that the situations that Jerry and his friends found themselves in got increasingly more outlandish as the series progressed (especially after Larry David left the show - he took any last ties to reality with him when he departed), but it still was outstanding. I really got burned out on the show earlier in the decade, since I was watching it 2-3 times every day due to syndication, but after taking a few years off, it has returned to being fantastically funny whenever I manage to catch it on TBS (I saw the Festivus episode tonight - good stuff).
3.) Arrested Development I already talked about my love of this show in a previous post, so I am not going to say anything further and will instead just show you this:
4.) The Office Probably the "smartest" comedy ever to appear on TV. Week after week, they manage to take situations that make your squirm and cringe because of how uncomfortable they are and still make you laugh your ass off at them. They also make you like and care for a character in Michael Scott who very often is a deplorable human being (although SOME people who are big fans of the show can't stand Michael...). If you ever want an evening of much laughter and drunkenness, pop in a season DVD and play The Office Drinking Game (copyright Dickman and Zack).
5.) WKRP in Cincinnati Like Arrested Development, it ended way to early because of the network dicking around with its time slot (although when CBS canceled it, the last episode ranked 7th in the Nielson's for that week). The characters were zany, as were the situations (the Thanksgiving episode from season 1 ranks as one of the all time funniest half hours ever to air on TV), but not in the hokie way that a lot of late 70's and early 80's shows were "zany". It was head and shoulders above anything else on TV at the time and was different than everything else on too (which usually means it will be short-lived until the tastes of the viewing public catch up with it).
Arrested Development is one of my all-time favorite shows. I have watched my DVD’s (seasons 1-3) from start to finish probably about 5-7 times, plus I have watched various individual episodes too many times to count. Pretty much from the moment it was cancelled, especially in the last year, there has been talk of making an AD movie. I have been looking forward to it as long as it has been rumored, but lately I have been worried about something – what if it sucks? Will I be able to handle it? And I am not talking about if it is a financial flop – I am pretty sure it will fail horribly at the box office. Arrested Development’s big down fall was how hard it was to pick up if you hadn’t been around from the beginning (too many recurring jokes and references to past and future episodes that were a great reward for longtime fans but made it harder to attract new fans). I have very little doubt that anyone who is not a diehard fan is going to see this movie. The original ratings were anemic and, while I know the show was a huge seller on DVD, the crowd of fans can’t be THAT big. So, unless I am totally off base, this will probably be the one and only shot to get more adventures of the Bluth family.
I have to ask again… what if it sucks? What if it is the comedy version of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Intentional comedy version, that is – there was plenty of un-intentional comedy in that fiasco. Although, while Indy IV’s sucking disappointed me, it didn’t hurt as much as it will if AD is terrible. First, it had been 19 years since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade came out, so I didn’t have the closeness anymore that I have with AD. Sure, I still watch my Indy DVD’s every once in a while. I watch Arrested Development ALL THE TIME (hell, I just watched a few episodes the other night). Also, before watching Indy IV, I had seen the Star Wars prequels. I know what George Lucas was capable of. While I am not quite as hard on them as most people, I know that some things are very bad in those movies – terrible dialog, too much unnecessary CGI, etc. Even though I was hoping that Crystal Skull would be an Indiana Jones movie like the first 3, I really wasn’t surprised when it wasn’t. This is different – Mitchell Hurwitz (the brains behind AD) hasn’t had any super flops to make me suspicious yet (I am not counting Sit Down and Shut Up, his animated show on Fox – I haven’t seen any of the episodes to know if the lukewarm reviews it received were justified and I also don’t consider a half dozen episodes of this show enough to constitute a flop big enough to make me nervous). I still think he has the magic.
Basically, I have been vacillating between trying to not get my hopes up and getting wildly excited every time one of the cast members is interviewed and mentions the movie. Michael Cera was the last hold out, but he seems on board, so all that is missing is the script. He seems like the cast member with the most to lose if this movie stinks, since his career is just taking off and he has had a nice string of successful to moderately successful films. At first, his reluctance made me think that maybe there shouldn’t be an AD movie and that we should both just be satisfied with the way the show ended (we as fans got a great 3 season run of hilarious stories and he got the start of his movie career). THEN, I read a description of his next movie - the film is about two men traveling through the stories in the early parts of the Bible - "Zed" (played by Jack Black) and his friend "Oh" (played by Michael Cera). Obviously, he is not afraid of a flop, as this movie has bomb written all over it. Maybe his reluctance to do AD resulted because he’s just a jerk that didn’t want to help out the people who gave him a start. Or not. I still don’t know what to think about this movie. Of course, it will be at least 2010 until it comes out, so maybe I am getting worked up for nothing (ok, so I definitely am definitely getting worked up early for nothing). I will just stick to playing the Arrested Development drinking game for now (and working on the associated t shirt)...
My whole life, whenever anyone asked me what kind of music I like, I always replied, "I like pretty much every kind of music. Except country." I always though this was true. Have you heard what they play on country stations on the radio? I find it unlistenable. It’s bland and it all sounds the same. I know that there are many people who feel differently, as country music stations are usually pretty big ratings winners (or at least they used to be - I may be out of date). I also saw how the crowd reacted at Farm Aid in 2003 when Big and Rich performed. You would have thought that the Beatles AND the Stones were performing on the same stage together. However, I can't stand it.
The second statement about my musical tastes regarding country music that I always used was, "The only country music I like is Johnny Cash." I mean, who doesn't like Johnny Cash? I have had his Folsom and San Quentin CD's in my collection for years (and later added his American Recordings discs as well). I never felt the need to explore older country beyond him for some reason, even though I have some recollection of liking other country artists' hits when I was a kid, like Elvira by the Oak Ridge Boys or The Gambler by Kenny Rogers.
I am really not sure what prompted it, but within the last year or so I decided to start looking into some of the older country artists’ catalogs to see if maybe I would find something that I would like as well as I like The Man In Black. I really wish that I had decided upon this path a lot sooner. Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Conway Twitty and Gram Parsons have all been tested out and added to my music collection. I found out that not only could I no longer say that I do not like country; I was surprised how much I LOVED the songs from these singers. The one thing that really stood out to me was how each of the singers mentioned above had their own distinct styles and how that is sorely lacking from contemporary country. Would any of those guys made it onto the airwaves of country stations today if they were just starting out?
I am pretty sure that the answer to that question would be no, and here is the proof: there ARE artists out there today making country music that doesn't conform to what people think modern country music SHOULD be, and most people have never heard of them. If these artists had started out in the 60's or 70's, I have no doubt that they would have found airtime on country stations. Today, however, they are all pretty much lumped together under the "alternative country" (or alt. country) category, and unfortunately don't even get airtime on most alternative stations. Artists like Calexico, Neko Case, Ryan Adams, Drive-By Truckers, and Lucero put out music influenced by the country greats I previously mentioned (and many others like Patsy Cline) that is really fantastic, but unfortunately goes unnoticed by the millions of country music fans, a lot of who would probably like their music if they just got a chance to hear it. Some suggestions if anyone is interested in checking these artists out:
Calexico - Garden Ruin Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (although you cannot go wrong with any of her CD's) Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
P.S. If anyone has any interest in reading about the "classic" artists in country music, you should really be following "Nashville or Bust" every week on The AV Club, which you can find here: http://www.avclub.com/features/nashville-or-bust/
Lately, I have been obsessed with watching movies from the 1970's. I think it really started after I watched the IFC documentary 'A Decade Under The Influence", which took a look at how cinema changed in the 70's as movies shifted away from the old guard actors, actresses and directors, and also the old guard types of movies - no more musicals - and moved towards a greater sense of realism and grittiness (if you haven't seen the documentary, it is definitely recommended). Movies in the Seventies started to push the boundaries of what had been allowed previously and also challenged the perception of what a movie had to be in order to be a success - movie studios realized that people would still pay to great stories and great performances even if the subject matter was unsettling (or even X-rated, like with Midnight Cowboy). Of course, the studios perception of what people would pay to see was changed AGAIN before the end of the decade when Jaws and Star Wars ushered in the era of the blockbuster, but that's another story.
One of the things that really hit home for me while watching that documentary was how many great movies from the Seventies I had never seen. And I'm talking the BIG ones - Apocalypse Now, All The President's Men. I decided that this was totally unacceptible, so, through the magic of Netflix online, I have been trying to correct that gap in my movie watching history. In watching movies like All the President's Men, Superfly, ...And Justice For All, and Dirty Harry (which I have seen many times, but just caught again on AMC the other day),I was struck by just how polished movies today look compared to older movies. Now, I'm not stupid - I realize that a lot of that is due to the improvement in technology over the last 30 years and also the deterioration of the prints of the older movies. However, thats not all of it. Too many modern directors like to tinker with the "look" of their films - changing the filters, the colors, etc. While there are times that this will add something to the film, most often all it does it create a sense of artificiality. It makes it harder to get lost in a film I think when you are constantly reminded that what you are watching isn't real (and I'm not talking about special effects-laden movies, like sci-fi flicks. Those types of movies already require a suspension of disbelief to get into, and I am fine with that). New technology doesn't always improve things. Anyone else agree or am I just making something out of nothing?
So, I have been thinking about starting a blog for a long time, but never followed through with it. However, I was inspired by my friend Pat (who has a very interesting cooking blog found here: http://rincondelcolon.blogspot.com/ - yeah, some day I'll learn how HTML works and figure out how to post links the right way, but that day isn't here yet) and decided to go for it.
The purpose of this blog is really to just give myself a creative outlet to talk about things I like - what movies I am watching, what music I am listening to, etc. - although I also may occasionally write about whatever is on my mind. I'd really like it if someone read this and was inspired to watch, listen to or read something that is outside their normal tastes (which I think everyone owes it to themselves to do once in a while), but I guess the blog is really just something to do (I realize I am like the 1,000,000,000th person to start their own blog, so I don't expect a whole lot of people to read it). I am going to do my best to try and post everyday or at least every other day.
As for the name of my blog... My friends and I always used to say that, every time we went to see a band, there was usually 1 guy there who was older than most of the people in the crowd. He's the guy that is still listening to the kind of music that most people his age have never even heard of, and he doesn't care. We used to call him "the old guy at the show" (yeah, I know - real original). However, I have gotten to the point in my life that, when I look around the crowd at shows, I can't always spot that guy. It looks like I am now that guy. You know what, I am fine with it...
P.S. - It appears I have a thing for parentheses. I may have to work on that.
