Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Snow day '09

My office is closed today, though it's my day off anyway so I'm the big loser this cycle. We're snowed in instead in central Iowa (by order of the DOT, whom I now obey without quarrel) with nothing more to do but count Tiger Woods' mistresses and blog.

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Are the tabloids even checking the evidence at this point, or does any woman with a professional headshot get a free headline?

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Wake me when Tiger scores with Lindsay Lohan.

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All evidence indicates that Iowa Senator Charles Grassley believes homosexuality should be punishable by imprisonment and/or death.

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Top 10 films of the decade :

10. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
9. Talk to Her (2002)
8. Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
7. Up (2009)
6. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2002)
5. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
4. Mulholland Drive (2001)
3. Lost in Translation (2003)
2. Sideways (2004)
1. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Discuss.

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If you're still snowed in on Sunday, and even if you aren't, you won't want to miss Howard Zinn's "The People Speak" on the History Channel at 7 central, produced by Zinn, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Chris Moore, and Anthony Arnove. The documentary is live performances of artists delivering the great songs and orations of the nation: Viggo Mortensen leading Shay's Rebellion, Kerry Washington channeling Sojourner Truth, and David Strathairn as Eugene Debs. Damon reads from John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," and Morgan Freeman from Frederick Douglass' "The Meaning of July Fourth for the American Negro." There are musical performances by Eddie Vedder, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. The presentation is inspired by Zinn's epic tome, "A People's History of the United States," first published in 1980, and somebody needs to TiVo this for me.

4 Comments:

At 6:51 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Hint received and TiVo scheduled.

 
At 8:43 PM, Blogger CM said...

Thanks, Rob. I just wanted to make sure you're reading this. You forgot to congratulate me on my 5th anniversary.

 
At 10:04 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

I'll never understand what you think is so great about Sideways. Seems like a very average "great movie" to me. It's a very competent, well-written movie with some realistic self-loathing characters, but there's a hundred movies like that.

Plus that one actor's dad was a real d-bag to Pete Rose.

 
At 6:02 PM, Blogger CM said...

Funny, I can't think of another movie "like that" since the death of Billy Wilder, but I'd love to see them if they're so ubiquitous. Steer the way. "Election" surely fits the mold, but wrong decade.

Alexander Payne is more skilled than any other living filmmaker of delivering a human comedy that's neither too contrived, like a "Little Miss Sunshine," too precious, like "Juno," too bizarre, like every Wes Anderson movie other than "Tanenbaums," nor too unfunny, like every Judd Apatow movie.

"Sideways" is dark, but light. Warm, but crass. It's hilarious. No characters are written or performed as tin types, as you pointed out. I thought it was completely absorbing.

 

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