Some of mine… Film: Let the Right One In (Sweden) Synechdoche, New York Tell No One (France) Milk The Dark Knight TV: The Wire The Mighty Boosh (British import: DVD) Gossip Girl The Daily Show The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric Music: Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago Atlas Sound: Let the Blind Lead [...]
Archive for the ‘Television’ category
Early Christmas presents for you, or last-minute gift guide? You decide.
Have you noticed that low-cost 1980s-era gifts are back all over the tee-vee set? I know that they re-appear nearly every Christmas season, but this year they seem really ramped up. Is it a sign of the recession, or simply cheesy nostalgia? Who knows? Who cares? But those annoying commercials everyone loves to hate are [...]
Thursday favorites: Rankin and Bass animation
When I was a kid, I didn’t care if television made us violent or contributed to bad grades or meant we had neglectful parents. I loved watching television. Television was what we did: after school, before bed, late on Friday night and two thirds of the day on Saturday. If we wanted to watch something, [...]
Thursday politics
I haven’t caught much of the convention. Ted Kennedy was inspiring. Hillary’s speech sounded good on paper, but I haven’t seen the video. I did catch her calling for Obama’s nomination to happen by acclamation, which was a pretty effective piece of political theater, I thought. Bill was pretty great. Biden’s sounding good — “This [...]
It’s because of Nadia Comaneci, isn’t it?
We’ve talked here before, right, about what makes you cry? Emotionally manipulative movies, weddings? For me, it’s the Inspiring Sports Story. It works every time, in all its variations: Overcoming Adversity, the Nice Guy You Can Relate to Despite His Being a World-Class Athlete, the Ragtag Team that Comes from Behind, etc. I get a [...]
On Principal
Watching the television show is not a lonely exercise. The clothes are pretty, the shoes are shiny, and usually the question Carrie asks – a question like, “Were we all in fact just dating the same person over and over again?” – rings a bell with your own life. Each of the four characters has [...]
Thursday playlist: “The One to Beat” edition
David Archuleta, Murray, UT, age 17. The new Donny Osmond? Any additional thoughts on dropping the opening verses? He kept them here, when he was only 13: Marketing like that + talent like that = shoe in shoo in? [Ed: oops.] Whatever the case, that’s a risky song choice, for any number of reasons. Dig [...]
Lost in Lost
If you’ve never watched the ABC series Lost, there’s a good chance this post will mean nothing to you. If you’d like to know more, though, click here, then watch the season 4 preview episode called “Lost: Past Present Future,” which should take about 40 minutes. Or you can watch the entire series and then [...]
Tidy TV
I like order, progress, and productivity. I feel good when I’ve ironed and tidied and organized. I have numerous lists and love crossing things off. It would be nice to be laid back and go with the flow, but my flow won’t go until it’s tidy. And cable TV knows I’m out there. And it [...]
“Why We Write” #18: Dorothy Gale
Over the holiday, there were a series of essays by big wigs called “Why We Write.” Whenever anyone asks me why I write, the immediate answer is that I don’t know how to do anything else. I do, of course – I can fill an ice tray like a pro and have on occasion sold [...]
