Drop Dead Legs

1/01 - etc. 

Twilight Zone Marathon @ SyFyHD

On New Year's Eve I cleared my DVR to record over two days of episodes which I watched hours at a time over the next week or so. Really enjoyable, the first time I ever took to seriously learn the shows history, techniques, and influence (IMDB helped to navigate). Amazingly, this was not even the full run, there are still a few still to watch including the entirety of Season 4 which are hour longs, and thus not part of any syndication airings. Thankfully Amazon Prime and/or Hulu have them all available to stream.

1/02 

Made a shopping trip to Haight Street with a couple goals in mind: 

Amoeba to sell DVDs (most were titles I had upgraded to Blu-ray), Dr. Martens to buy some new shoes (haven't worn DM's since my twenties - they are SO comfortable), American Apparel (for some shirts). Then back on the 71 bus downtown to catch a movie…

The Impossible @ Century Centre 130pm (1:47) Tense, thrilling tear-jerker based on a true story with a grueling performance by Naomi Watts (with some nasty leg injuries). And some stunning special effects of tsunami devastation.

1/04 

Triple bill of films with strong female characters, two of which involve leg amputations.

Tristana (Bunuel, 1970) @ Opera Plaza 

Here's the whole darn thing on YouTube (be sure to turn on English captions)

Zero Dark Thirty @ Century Centre

Rust and Bone @ Embarcadero

1/11

Amour @ Clay

Amazing, sad, poetic. The bit with the pigeon… profoundly funny. Overheard a woman after saying it was a primer on taking care of the elderly. Not looking forward to it myself.

California Solo @ Opera Plaza -  Character study of a fallen former rock star. Right up my alley. Terrific performance from Robert Carlyle. Some very cool music on the soundtrack. Him selling his vintage Les Paul (instead of giving it to his estranged daughter) is a only a minor tragic moment in a story filled with much larger mistakes.

1/11-13

Showtime did their annual free preview weekend so I took advantage and watched all of Dexter Season 7 (12 episodes) and Homeland Season 1& 2 (24 episodes) via On Demand. This helped prepare me for Sunday nights Golden Globes during which Homeland won a few awards (again, at least this time I knew why). Even though, by many accounts, this second season was nowhere near as good as the first. I dunno, having wolfed down the whole affair in about two days, I enjoyed it all. Kinda made me forget about Dexter which was fun but seems to be running out of steam.

Had some drama with Comcast this month which I don't really want to get into all the details of right now (macroblocking). A technician finally made it out and seemed to have fixed the (minor) problem but now a week later, it's back. May be weather related. 

Around the same time our heat wouldn't work. After some tinkering with the thermostat and the gas heater itself I got it working again. A service visit from PG&E helped to confirm it.

1/17
Anna Karenina @ Stonestown - This was on my To See list from last year, but I ignored it after reading some middling reviews. A few Oscar nominations (cinematography, costume, score, production design) convinced me to go and I was pleasantly surprised how good it was (and how deserved those noms are). Looked and felt like a musical, but there was no singing. Kinda wish Les Miz had been more like this. Particularly impressed by the romantic score (Dario Marianelli) and supporting actress Alicia Vikander (who was so good in A Royal Affair).

1/18 

Latest episode of The Todd Glass Show podcast is one of its finest, due to the guest participation of two of my favorite comics (and both fans of Todd's show) Paul F. Tompkins and Jen Kirkman.

1/18-19 

The folks at Earwolf did a cool thing, signing up with the Video Podcast Network and video streaming a few of their shows (and others) live from Sundance. They were fun to watch and also awkward as the hosts had to deal with technical glitches natural for first-time efforts. Overall a success and good move towards the future. The shows aired (already among my favorites) were: Comedy Bang Bang (two episodes), You Made it Weird, Who Charted?, & Call Chelsea Peretti. 

1/20 

NFC Championship - SF 49ers beat Atlanta Falcons (after a lot of effort). Fun game, only the second NFL program I've watched all season. Would have stayed home to watch the AFC (Pats v. Ravens) but had to go to see some live comedy…

The Sklar Brothers @ Cobb's Comedy Club, 8pm - I wrote about twin brothers Jason & Randy a few weeks back. First time I seen 'em was two years ago at SF Sketchfest doing a live version of their podcast Sklarbro County, which I had just begun listening to.* Now I'm a regular and despite not being a "sports guy" I find their takes on the Wide World of Sports  hilarious. Their standup act is fast, funny, and smart. They will sometimes literally complete each others sentences, play out scenes as characters, or pile-on tagging each other's jokes (what they call an "avalanche," or "laugh-alanche"). I met them after, bought a shirt, and complimented the heck out of them and they were both gracious and friendly. Their podcast turned me on to The Sheepdogs, whose recent video they directed.

*Second time was at a particularly chaotic Benson Interruption, also part of SFSF 2011.

1/21

The Rabbi's Cat @ Embarcadero 

This was an exotic delight, like Matisse's forays into Morocco. Based on a French comic series. Really enjoyed the character designs, backgrounds, and peculiar side trips into different animation styles. Also appreciated the high and low mixture of silly sexual matters with serious religious critique, with all characters yearning towards a place of acceptance.

Mama / The Last Stand @ Metreon 

Mama was creepy/scary. Chastain was hot as a punk and the kids were effectively freaky. But the sound design was overdone (like a lot of modern horror) and the CGI creature, once fully revealed, was weak and a bit silly looking.

TLS - I don't care about Arnold and never have, so he was not the draw for me, it was  director Kim Ji-Woon whose previous films I have enjoyed (A Tale of Two Sisters, I Saw The Devil, and The Good, The Bad, & The Weird). His U.S. debut is dumb as hell but fun to watch, though not nearly as stylish as his South Korean work.

All month

The Simpsons Season 5 (1994) 4 discs @ Netflix. I consider this period the peak of this long-running series for both its dense plots and fluidity of animation. These are among my favorites and they set the bar high for the subsequent nearly 20 seasons since. Each disc has 6 episodes each, all with commentaries by the creative team which are both funny and informative. I am so familiar with these shows that I am only renting them now for the extra behind-the-scenes insights. Currently watching Season 6.

CULTDUNG Post-Apocalyptic Revue

Nah, I ain't dead. Just a bit overwhelmed. Been keeping track of my consumption (the TRUE purpose of this blog) over the last 3 quarters. Some dates are lost to the ages. Opinions are scarce, but if you want I'll write a custom review for you. Categories are more mixed-up than ever, but bear with us. We made it through…

CABLE / DVR / TV

HBO - Boardwalk Empire Seasons 1 & 2 watched On Demand in two days (9/15-16) just in time for the premiere of Season 3 (which recently ended). Greatly enjoy it, but admit it might have peaked near the end of S2. Worth it for the sets and costuming alone. And any scene with Michael Shannon. Or Paz, or Gretchen…

Newsroom - frustrated by the highs and lows of this Aaron Sorkin project. Brilliant political fantasy blended into a limp soap opera performed by a fine cast. Love to hate it. Much more consistently great have been Game of Thrones, Veep, and Girls. 

7/04-7 John Adams (2008) mini series on HBO. Nice Independence Day prelude to this year's Lincoln movie.

Brody Stevens: Enjoy It! @ HBOGO - 6 episode series documenting the ups and downs of an eccentric comic. Funny and troubling. Also really enjoyed The Ricky Gervais Show - Season 3 and caught up with a bunch of old episodes via HBOGO.

Totally Biased w/ W. Kamau Bell is good, as is Wilfred, The League, and of course Louie. All on FX.

8/05-8/09 The Golden Girls on HCHD - 8 episodes from 1989: 8 from end of season 4, last 4 of season 7 (finale), first 4 of season 1 (incl. pilot by Susan Harris). A running joke on The Todd Glass Show this year has been the guy who always talks about "The Golden Girls," dispensing trivia both true and untrue. After looking into the show I learned it was a well-respected and very popular show in it's time (1985-1992). So I watched a few from the beginning, middle, and end of it's run and was pleasantly surprised by how funny and charming it was. But 16 episodes will do me fine for a while. 

Being on the Hallmark Channel for the first time in my life I saw promos for The Good Witch Marathon (starring Catherine Bell from JAG) which I ended up watching way too much of. Really watered down occultism and saccharine family drama. But somehow watchable…

AMC - Hell On Wheels Season 2 - spun its wheels (ha!) mid-season but really picked up steam at the conclusion. Felt like a series finale. The Walking Dead Season 3 was much improved this year. And Breaking Bad was superbly dark.

London 2012 Summer Olympics  - July/August

Tetyana Gamera-Shmyrko
London 2012 Women's Marathon, 5th Place

For whatever reason ended up watching a lot of this, for the first time ever: running, weightlifting, even some skeet shooting. All the American hype got me to enjoy female gymnastics (the rhythmic portion was actually my favorite - no U.S. team there), but the swimming bored me. Opening and closing ceremonies were artful spectacles with a lot of good music. But perhaps the best thing to come out of it was this internet meme.

Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Floor Exercise finals: 

Aliya Mustafina Russia, Aly Raisman USA, Catalina Ponor Romania

U.S. Open 2012 @ Olympic Club, Daly City. Sunday 6/17 (Father's Day)

Watched over 6 hours on TV. Finally learned to appreciate golf.

Also watched the SF Giants win the World Series. That was fun.

COMEDY 

Live shows

8/02 Greg Proops: The Smartest Man In The World Podcast Live taping @ Punch Line (2 hours!)

8/03 Comedy Bang Bang Live  w/ Scott Aukerman, Kurt Braunohler, Paul F. Tompkins, and James Adomian @ The Herbst Theatre

8/31 Brian Regan @ Cobb's

10/05 Patton Oswalt w/ Chris Garcia, Kumail Nanjiani, and Mike Drucker @ Cobb's

11/29 Pete Holmes, Kyle Kinane, Natasha Muse, & Ian Karmel  @ Cobb's

12/02 You Made It Weird w/ Pete Holmes live podcast. Guests TJ Miller, Doug Benson, Moshe Kasher, Alex Koll, & Kyle Kinane @ Cobb's

The 12th Annual SF Sketchfest is coming up in January and I have tickets for 23 different shows over 3 weeks. Some three a day. I consider it a vacation of sorts in my home city. No Spanglers or Jen Kirkman this year, but plenty of other delights. Had a Sophie's Choice to make between Jimmy Pardo and Doug Benson for one date… 

Specials & Documentaries

Burning Love - scathing and sexy parody of reality dating shows, 14 episodes. Second season is coming soon.

Comedy Central have aired a slew of quality new hour specials from comics I admire: Amy Schumer, Demetri Martin, Kyle Kinane, Gary Gulman, and Eugene Mirman. Paul F. Tompkins had a great release with Laboring Under Delusions of which the DVD has extra material and a commentary by PFT in character as legendary director/producer Garry Marshall. 

6/15 Eddie Pepitone: The Bitter Buddha - great doc about a great comic only now getting his due (thanks Capone)

8/04 Comedian (2002) Netflix DVD - Great doc about Jerry Seinfeld's return to standup, contrasted with a cocky up-and-comer who is driven but less talented. Many fun bonus features on the DVD. The soundtrack features a bunch of great jazz, rock, and R&B. Some fan made a YouTube playlist that is worth a listen.

11/04 Punching the Clown (2009, Henry Phillips in a self-made film about the struggles of a standup comedian) Netflix

11/07 Todd Glass has a new one out, a Netflix streaming exclusive. 

11/30 Maria Bamford's Special Special Special @ Chill.com (filmed before an audience of just her parents. Amazing)

SCTV re-watched all 5 of the DVD sets. Still holds up - prefer them to SNL from the same period (early 80's). Enhanced by a lot of useful info gleaned from SCTV Guide. Official channel 

Been watching the Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist show (1995-2002) which I'd never seen the whole run of. Great stuff but after about 3 of them at a time I get sleepy. A clip from when cartoon Louis CK still had hair…

MOVIES / NETFLIX / VOD

Sometime in April I re-watched the first four Batman and first six Star Trek movies (some with Rifftrax accompaniment) and realized the Tim Burton Batflix are better than I remembered. And that the Trek films were never very good, esp. compared to the original TV series.

4/29 Natural Selection @ Lumiere 

5/05 Marvel's The Avengers 3D  @ Regal Chicago 

5/06 The Innkeepers / Mansome  @ Capone's

5/11 Dark Shadows / The Five Year Engagement 

5/18 God Bless America / The Dictator 

Freak Dance VOD (Matt Besser of UCB's parody of 80's dance flix - I hated it)

5/20 Sound of My Voice  @ Stonestown

5/29 The Princess Bride (1987) HBO

6/06 The Aristocrats (2005) Netflix 

6/03 Bernie @ Embarcadero / Moonrise Kingdom  @ Metreon

6/08 Prometheus XD-3D @ Century 20 Daly City 

6/09 Raising Arizona (1987) / The Ladykillers (2004) Coen Bros. DVD

6/16 That's My Boy 

6/23 Safety Not Guaranteed / Prometheus (2D) @ Metreon

also, Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap

Directed by Ice-T, with some nice aerial photography of NYC, Detroit, and L.A., and lots of great raps and knowledge dropped. Intimate interviews and, despite the high-powered guests, not at all corporate. Loads of of beloved artists were omitted, but I loved it nonetheless. 

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory HBO VOD conclusion of the West Memphis Three saga I wrote about a year ago…

6/24 The King of Comedy (1982) DVD

6/26 Your Sister's Sister @ Embarcadero / Brave 3D @ Century Centre 9 

6/27 Win Win (2011)  HBO/DVR - bit part by Melanie Lynskey who I am crushing on real hard now

July? The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) - MGMHD - a Powell & Pressburger masterpiece.

July? CQ (2001) DVR

7/01 Ted / Magic Mike @ AMC Van Ness 14

7/04 The Amazing Spider-Man 3D - XD @ Century Daly City

7/20 The Dark Knight Rises / Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D @ Century 20 Daly City

7/28 Beasts of the Southern Wild @ Cinearts Empire

August? For a Good Time, Call... @ Metreon

8/01 The Loved One (1965) Netflix DVD - brilliant satire on the funeral business starring Robert Morse (Bert Cooper from Mad Men), Jonathan Winters, and a young Paul Williams.

8/02 Ruby Sparks @ Metreon / Farewell, My Queen @ Embarcadero 

8/03 Killer Joe @ Embarcadero 

8/10 Searching for Sugar Man / Celeste & Jesse Forever @ Embarcadero, Metreon

8/12 The Campaign / Hope Springs 

8/19 Paranorman 3D / Painted Skin: The Resurrection @ Metreon

8/25 Premium Rush / Hit & Run @ AMC Van Ness

8/27 Robot & Frank @ Sundance Kabuki / Compliance @ Bridge

9/23 Dredd 3D / End of Watch / The Master @ AMC Van Ness

9/30 Pitch Perfect / Looper @ Century 20

10/13 Atlas Shrugged, Part 1 (terrible adaptation of a book I once loved for reasons I can't recall) /

Last Days Here (excellent, depressing biopic about the leader of obscure Maryland heavy metal band Pentagram) @ Netflix Instant Watch

10/14 Seven Psychopaths / Frankenweenie 3D / Atlas Shrugged, Part 2 (a little better than part 1, but still bad) @ Metreon

10/15 Sinister / Argo @ AMC Van Ness

10/20 Smashed / Tai Chi Zero / Fat Kid Rules The World / The Selling @ Embarcadero, Metreon, Opera Plaza

10/24 Stunt Rock (1978) DVD (ordered this and the soundtrack from the drummer of the band)

Black Dynamite (2009) Bluray Netflix 

 

10/27 Cloud Atlas / The Perks of Being a Wallflower @ Daly City

11/04 Wreck-It Ralph 3D / Flight @ Daly City 

11/10 Lincoln XD / The Man With The Iron Fists @ Century Centre 9

11/11 Skyfall XD @ Century 20 Daly City

11/14 The In-Laws (1979) Netflix 

11/17 Holy Motors @ Embarcadero (Before the movie I banged into a wheelchair accessible seat and fell to the ground, spilling half my popcorn. Knee was sore for a while after. Might have affected my mood but this film is a true work of art)

Silver Linings Playbook @ Century Centre 9

11/21 Starlet @ Landmark E St DC

The Queen of Versailles DVD @ Pat's

Hello I Must Be Going DVD @ Finn's - Melanie Lynskey again, starring this time

11/22 The Ambassador DVD / Bad 25 (Spike Lee) ABCTV

11/23 Argo DVD (w/ family after our day trip to Philly, my second time)

11/26 Life of Pi / Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Pt. 2

11/29 Chasing Ice @ Embarcadero

12/08 Hitchcock / Killing Them Softly @ Metreon (no fountain sodas, had to pay 4$ for a 12oz bottle, no ice)

12/09 Liz & Dick - Lifetime (HDTGM podcast did an episode on it so I went in knowing it was terrible)

Midnight Run (1988) - Netflix

12/15 The Hobbit pt.1 3D @ AMC Van Ness / A Royal Affair @ Opera Plaza

12/21 The Hobbit HFR 3D / This Is 40 @ Daly City

Favorites

That is, films that evoked in me a particularly strong aesthetic or emotional reaction: 

Holy Motors, A Royal Affair, Chasing Ice, Fat Kid Rules The World, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Starlet, Dredd 3D, The Master, Farewell My Queen, Magic Mike, Moonrise Kingdom, Prometheus 3D, Beasts of the Southern Wild. 

Comedies (with both "dram" and "rom" qualities) I liked a lot were:

Ted, This is 40, The Five Year Engagement, For A Good Time Call, Your Sister's Sister, Safety Not Guaranteed, Pitch Perfect. 

The big budget hero/fantasy and animated blockbusters entertained me mostly, but rarely hit my sweet spot. Sorry, Hollywood.

MUSIC

R.I.P.

My fave Donna Summer track from Bad Girls

Just got the new Big Boi - it's a good one.

New to me this year: Alabama Shakes, Little Dragon, Santigold, The Sheepdogs, Sleeper Agent, Talib Kweli (who I always thought of as merely Mos Def's sidekick but turns out has a lot of great albums of his own). My favorite song of the year:

PODCASTS

Some new ones and discoveries have been Call Chelsea Peretti, a silly, sarcastic call-in show with a comedienne I love, and Tolkien Professor, whose Riddles In the Dark and Hobbit lecture series helped me re-discover the wonder of that book, and prepared me for the inevitable differences in the film adaptation. Stopped listening to film review shows entirely, but do like Filmspotting SVU (Streaming Video Unit) from the hosts of the now defunct IFC News podcast. Also, more comedy with Pete Holmes' You Made It Weird, The Dana Gould Hour, and The Long Shot Podcast (now in it's sixth season).

After having some dramatic overages on my data plan, I reset my iPhone, deleting all my apps. Found a new podcast streaming app called Instacast that I love. Still using iTunes for some shows, but this way I'm not collecting mp3 files that I only listen to once, and can get new episodes without syncing to my Mac.

RIFFTRAX

The boys were busy this year with more video on demand riffs of obscure schlock than ever before, augmented by a handful of live broadcasts and current movie riffs:

The Curse of Bigfoot / Mutant / Prisoners of the Lost Universe / Brainiac (1963) / Bloody Pit Of Horror / RT Presents: Flatliners (w/ Cole Stratton & Janet Varney) / Future Force / Neutron the Atomic Superman vs. the Death Robots / 

Live: "MANOS" THE HANDS OF FATE - Fathom event (new riffs of an old MST3K favorite now in in restored print. Still a baffling mess, it's more of a "worst movie ever" than any by Ed Wood) / 

The Hunger Games / The Guy From Harlem / The Bermuda Triangle / The Revenge of Dr. X / 

Live: BIRDEMIC - Fathom event (a great riff of a new bad movie classic, but a poor audio mix marred my enjoyment) / 

Tourist Trap / Nightmare At Noon / Future Zone / Christmas with RiffTrax: Santa's Village of Madness

VACATION

Took two trips this year, one to Chicago in the spring and another at Thanksgiving to Maryland. Both good times but marred but foot/leg pains that crippled me for a day each time.

12/22 Had a nice pre Xmas pork loin dinner with Rob, Nancy, & brother Paul. Fish house punch was consumed, gifts were exchanged, laughs were had. I was mega late because electrician Mike Umble graciously replaced an outdoor light, outlet and indoor switch for my home. 

And it's true what they say about asparagus pee…

Shameful Young Artists

Holiday Cheer

Had a nice visit over Christmas with family (mostly in-laws). Saturday saw the Masters of Venice exhibit at the de Young, ate at Park Chow, attempted to see Playland @ the Conservatory (but it was closed early), then took a nice walk around Land's End to see the ruins of the Sutro Baths and some lovely views of the bay.

Sunday featured opening gifts, a terrific dinner prepared by Nancy and her mother, much drinking and talk about movies (for Anna - here Nathan Rabin argues that Joe Versus The Volcano is a "Secret Success"). We then managed to watch three films: 

Sunshine Cleaning (Netflix DVD - good, light fun considering the grim premise + it confirms my crush on Amy Adams)

Amy A.  looking great in the awful Night at the Museum sequel

The Hangover, Part 2 (Comcast On Demand - as David Bax from BP said, "Probably a better movie than the first one, but they forgot to make it funny.")

Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom (DVD - much better than I remembered it. But then, for me, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a perfect film, so any sequels seem less - more on this later…).

I also caught a few comedy specials online and TV:

Apple Sisters Variety Show

The Nerdist: Year in Review (BBC America)

Rifftrax

Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (live streaming)

Magic Christmas Tree (VOD)

Movies 

Young Adult  (12/10 @  Metreon)

Charlize Theron gives a dynamic performance as as unlikable woman yearning for her glory days in high school. Comedian Patton Oswalt plays a lovable loser making the best out of a bad situation. The latest film from director Jason Reitman (Up In The Air) and writer Diablo Cody (Juno) is a touching comedy/drama about grown-ups who still have some growing up to do.

Shame (12/11 @ Embarcadero)

Michael Fassbender (man-crush) stars in this adult film (NC-17) meant for adults. I've never seen a film with this much sex and nudity that was also such a buzz-kill. But it's a work of art that made me somewhat nostalgic for late nights in Manhattan.

The Artist (12/18 @ Embarcadero)

Capone did a great interview with the director who reveals this was not the film's original title. Makes sense, as the "artist" in question is actually an "actor," but the current name fits, telling the story of how creative people must adapt to changing trends in their field. Perhaps even more than this year's My Week With Marilyn and Hugo, it gives a insightful look into what goes on behind the camera to create "movie magic." And yes, it's a "silent movie" (i.e., no dialogue) but it does have a score (and in two surreal scenes, a soundtrack).

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol IMAX (12/26 @ Metreon)

First off: too much punctuation in that title. But I liked it a lot. Action movie of the year, narrowly beating out Fast Five. I am a Tom Cruise hater, so I never saw the first three, but may now visit them. Pixar director Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Iron Giant) did a fine job, again featuring his fascination with machines and gears in motion. 

………

Bunch of "Best of" lists coming out from folks I admire (even when I disagree)

Capone's Best of 2011 (very thorough list of 50 best, separate list of documentaries, and picks for worst) http://www.aintitcool.com/node/52440

A.V. Club 

Best Films (15 picks then lists from each contributor - 3 pages)  

Worst Films

Podcasts 

And a discussion between two critics about why one didn't like Scorsese's 3D film Hugo  

http://www.avclub.com/articles/hugo,67044/

I'm afraid I'll end up on the wrong side of history, but here's my own take on the hype, which I posted in the comments over at Battleship Pretension:

BP episode #249 12/27

"…I am with Tyler on not loving Hugo (and I saw it in 3D opening week). I'd rate it very good, not great, and am baffled by the nearly universal praise it is receiving on so many critics best of the year lists. I am tempted to say "the emperor has no clothes," but won't go that far - I did enjoy the film, I just find the recent spate of Scorsese efforts to be exercises in style rather than satisfying works of art. Tasha Robinson at the A.V. Club is one of the few vocal dissenters, labeling it a "gimcrack" (look it up). 

Not seeing it in 3D likely reveals its flimsy story. What begins with the promise of an inspirational child's fable devolves into a lecture on the importance of film preservation, reducing our protagonist to a passive observer. The central mystery of the automaton was not explored fully enough for me. Beyond its spectacular mise-en-scène and immersive 3D (which was gorgeous) I found the whole thing to be bit precious and ultimately hollow. Kind of like Avatar…"

Food

Ben & Jerry's Limited Batch "Schweddy Balls" ice cream

It only appeared once at my local 7-11 and it is delicious.

Music

While being forced to hear crap dance-pop radio at work for a few weeks this summer, I developed Stockholm Syndrome and started to appreciate the latest hits from divas such as Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, and the like. One song I heard a lot was "Like A G6" (by Far East Movement) which features a sample from this song by Dev which I find kind of hypnotic.

More songs I learned to love: Adele Rolling in the Deep, Rihanna What's My Name, Avril Lavigne What the Hell, Britney Spears Till the World Ends, J. Lo On the Floor , and of course LMFAO Party Rock Anthem.

TV/DVR

Hell On Wheels (AMC)

It's not trying to be Deadwood, though at first I thought it was. It's got the same look, but not the high level of writing. Luckily it's tackling a different set of issues: railroad, racism, immigrants, natives, religion, prostitution (OK, so it's not completely different). It was a ballsy move to kill off two of its most promising characters (the grizzled foreman - played by Ted Levine - and the sickly surveyor) in the very first episode. Kind of a dumb show, but it's a much less frustrating watch than The Walking Dead came to be. Enjoying the muddy Old West setting and the trains. 

An aside: One episode dealing with slavery got me wondering if anyone had ever made a movie about controversial abolitionist John Brown? Turns out he has been portrayed on film and TV, but not in any epic biopic like the one I imagine could be made. 

Metal Evolution (VH1Classic)

While visiting the U.K. in 1981 as a teen I bought Encyclopedia Metallica: The Bible of Heavy Metal (OOP), published during the heyday of the NWOBHM. My copy is filled with passages highlighted with yellow marker as I devoured it's contents multiple times. In four hours (of 11 total) host Sam Dunn has already covered the contents of that book.

Episodes seem way too short considering all the available material, but they are doing a good job cataloging the multi-headed hydra that is Metal. The first few shows covered territory familiar to me, so I can nitpick the omission of bands like Budgie, Blue Oyster Cult, Thin Lizzy, Montrose, and Angel Witch, but can forgive them ignoring B-level bands that I've only come to appreciate as I got older. Curious to see how they handle later 80's trends like hair metal ("nerf metal" as Chuck Eddy labelled it) and thrash.

Web Video

Kind of fitting that I started this year with a post about Mr Plinkett's SW3: Sith review, as he just released his latest takedown of  IJ4-Crystal Skull, making the argument that the latest entry (and hopefully last) betrays everything that made the series so successful. This got me wanting to re-see the second film Temple of Doom which I did Christmas Day with my brother and bro-in-law. It was pretty great, though the parts I remembered best, the mineshaft chase and subsequent brawl on the conveyer belt, now seemed to be the stiffest parts. They feel unnaturally set-bound and reliant on machinery and contraptions for the gags to work. But the rest of the film is a potent blend of old-fashioned action, humor, and the supernatural. Have not seen the two current Spielberg films and am not in a rush to just yet.