Three great pleasures in life: Music, Food, Sex.
-Anthony Bourdain*
Two certainties: Death, Taxes.
-Benjamin Franklin
*Listened to Bourdain’s appearance on the 1/27/08 SoundOpinions podcast while I walked home. Very entertaining. A favorite line (not an exact quote / I’m paraphrasing): you even show the appearance of enjoying Billy Joel’s music in my kitchen and you’re immediately fired.
DVDs of old (in some cases OLD!) favorites ordered to replace battered, beat-down, taped off HBO (or some such) VHS tapes. In alpha order…
Movies you’ve seen a thousand times = good background for knittin’. If I were doin’ any.
Ah, March, I barely remember you… Ha! Kidding!
The best movie I saw in March was also the only movie I saw (Be Kind, Rewind), so good thing I enjoyed it.
The best book I read in March was definitely The Complete Stories by David Malouf. Really wonderful stories.
The best gig I went to in March is harder to pin down. I was excited to finally see Matt Nathanson and (separately) Dan le Sac. I thought the Raveonettes sounded great. I probably enjoyed Griffin House the most as he was all sassy and laidback and it was a really fun night.
My favorite tunes in March were lots of stuff I was already listening to from February, like new albums from Missy Higgins, Nada Surf, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Bon Iver, Mike Doughty and the Raveonettes; but also stuff I bought in March like new albums from Jesse Malin “Glitter in the Gutter” (which I lovelovelove), Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks and Gnarls Barkley (DangerMouse can do no wrong)!!
Random personal highlights: Hmmm, let’s see, nine-day trip to Japan, I guess that was kind-of a highlight (I guess! Ha!); my newest/youngest cousin was born!: Clark and I had a joint party; and I had a great long Saturday with Carlos and Shei getting back into shooting film (vs. digital).
Lowlights? Long, long, long airplane rides.
So the first time I saw him/them live, I didn’t even have the album yet (small release in ’07, big release 2/19/08). I was worried that seeing him/them again so soon would be too much the same, but given that I had the album to compare it to this time, it felt very different.
They’re really evolving these songs away from the album versions. A lot more atmospheric, more discordance and (purposeful) feedback and such. The falsetto is a little wilder and sometimes turns into a yowl. The three of them sing in harmony a LOT and it’s awesome. It’s a bit more raw and in your face than on the record. Not quite as plaintive and sad, a bit more aggressive in its melancholy. Beautiful.
I really did want to see this one in the theater. But it just could NOT hold my attention on the plane. Too slow moving? Or too much variation in loud & soft, had to keep changing the volume on the headphones? I don’t know what the problem was but I kept tuning out.
After that travesty, on the way home I just watched Juno over and over. Sometimes with the sound, sometimes while I listened to other things. It just gets better and better. If you’re on my Christmas list, you can expect to get it in your package.
This movie’s missing ingredient = A plot.
But Natalie Portman wears super cute outfits in it! So there’s that.
I can see why this tanked at the box office. It’s really a three-part movie. The part with Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep? Pretty much sucked. The part with Robert Redford and the snotty stupid boy in his office? Also pretty much sucked. The part with the two hotties who became soldiers? (This one and this one). Fucking rocked. But sadly they didn’t get that much screen time; certainly not enough to save this movie from the suck pond. p.s. Peter Berg was hot but had even less screen time than they did.
Well. I may never sleep through the night again. Completely mind-twistingly scary and freaky and gross and OH HOLY SHIT! NO NO NO! RUNNNNN!!! RUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!
Dad LOVED it. In his top five for last year. I am not quite as much a fan of the horror genre as he, although I do get just as scared (thanks for passing that one down the gene pool, pops). In fact, if you ever want to have a really good time laughing at other people, you should sit between the two of us at a horror film. And wear ear plugs.
Really well done. Strong performances from unknowns. Great great locations, well chosen. Totally creepy-ass filming. I’m getting shivers just thinking about it and it was over a week ago that I watched it. *SKEEVES*
While I know all the Austen fans are up in a flurry over this one, I thought it was charming and well done and really solid performances from both Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy. My heart broke right along with hers.
My Dad really liked it too. In fact his constant refrain has been “Years from now, nobody’s going to be rewatching Michael Clayton but this movie is still going to be fresh and enjoyable.” I have to agree.
Too bad 90% of the dialogue sounds like it comes straight out of “Gambling for Dummies”.