Double/Triple Features I would show should I ever own a movie theater

The Big Sleep (1946), The Long Goodbye (1973), The Big Lebowski (1998)

Philip Marlowe. Philip Marlowe falls asleep in 1946, and wakes up in 1973. Man seemingly falls asleep in 1973, wakes up in 1990, and becomes Philip Marlowe.

Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Pledge (2001)

Jack's On the Waterfront/Streetcar Named Desire. Jack's Godfather/Apocalypse Now.

Being There (1980), Edward Scissorhands (1991)

Tried thinking of a something to say that didn't make either of these seem totally lame. Suffice it to say, that they essentially contain the same story.

The Pillow Book (1996), Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Layered music. Layered visuals. Layered narrative. Layered performances. Damn.

Snake Eyes (1998), Panic Room (2002)

Story? Who cares. You know what's going to happen? That's the point. Now you can ignore it and focus on the camera.

Thank you New York Giants

Seriously, thank you.

I would have love to see the Packers face Dallas again but honestly Favre has some weird phobia when he's down there. That fact was confirmed by his play prior to getting hurt in the Thursday night game down there earlier in the season. So as much I as would love to see the Packers get the chance to redeem themselves, facing an injured New York team at home at Lambeau creates a much easier path to the Super Bowl.

That said, that was an incredible game. The Giants defense came through and Romo (along with his offensive line) couldn't get it done.

In short, I cannot wait until Sunday, because if the Packers play like they played (post Ryan Grant fumbles, which seemed to only fuel his amazing game otherwise) some of the best football they have played all year. This is obviously a good thing going into the most important game of the year. Also, is bodes well for them handling the Giants, especially at home.

Go Packers.

Writerless Television

If you have not been sharing space underneath a rock with Mike Huckabee, you know about the writer's strike. You may or may not know that last night Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien have come back to their shows, albeit without writers. I was curious to see what would happen, for as many of my era do, I happen to loathe Leno and love Conan. As suspected Leno got the laughs from the half-soused tourist rabble that lap up his inane observations even though he said nothing remotely amusing. Conan was in top form basically because he did nothing but be his ridiculous red-headed self. It was like a strange dada exercise. He threatened to do a show where he did nothing but dance. I personally want this to happen. Anyway I am here again struggling through Leno to get to Conan. Incidentally, to make a joke about how women are the stronger sex, Howie Mandel just uttered the edgiest/funniest words spoken on the Tonight Show in years. Speaking to the audience, he askes, "How many women here are menstrating?"

Anway, I'm sitting in my basement waiting for Conan to start, and am breaking down and posting again, because I would prefer to ignore whatever musical guest they convinced to break picket lines.

Things I Enjoy

Conan O'Brien minus his writers
Conan O'Brien plus his writers
Conan O'Brien's Strike Beard
Pastime Paradise - Stevie Wonder
Song Coolio sampled for Gangsta's Paradise.
"The Man in the Well" - Ira Sher
A haunting short story I first heard on this episode of This American Life. (You can stream it for free on that website. Incidentally you can skip ahead to the 30 minute mark for the story, but the David Sedaris story before it is great as well.)

Dylan, Rabin

Started this over the summer. I posted twice and promptly went into a blog-coma. A few things have brought me out of that coma, but I'll give most of the credit (blame?) to the fact that it's winter break and I'm mildly bored. I figure if I post a couple times over break, sharing my useless thoughts will become habit and then the world will be treated to my insight on a permanent basis.

The other reasons for restarting this are these...

Blood on the Tracks

Bob Dylan's 1975 album has snuck up on me, but I think it may now sneak in right behind Blonde on Blonde as my second favorite of his. Let it be noted that I am no Dylan junkie. There are plenty of albums I do not own, and plenty that I have not even listened to. Nevertheless, Blood on the Tracks has slowly been pecking at me, and today it really set in.

Personal highlights:
Idiot Wind and You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go may be the one of the most sublimely emotionally conflicting pairs of songs ever placed next to each other. Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts is probably one of my favorite Dylan songs, but listening through the album it is almost too much fun in the context of such a personal album. Someone posted a comment on an AVClub message board a while back that they don't like the song because it sounds insincere. I don't buy that but can understand the argument. The song is just so much fun that the sincerity seems hidden.


My Year in Flops

The AVClub doesn't do a whole lot wrong in my book, but with his year long series of biweekly reviews of infamous/famous/completely unknown films that bombed at the box-office, Nathan Rabin has produced something that will probably outlive him, and most certainly outlive its year stay on their website, whether in anthology book form or just in the minds of people like me who place filminess next to godliness, and scour the internet looking for evidence to support that belief.

They are informative, hilarious and more often than not, spot-on. The comments section is always good for a laugh (as it always is on AVClub).

Check them out, the year is almost up. He's through 99 of 104.

Favorites:

Howard the Duck, Pinocchio, It's Pat: The Movie but they are quite seriously all great.