The 5 Media-related things on my mind this week:
1. Moment of silence for Heath Ledger. That dude was a hell of an actor who was only getting better with each film. It’s a real shame and sadness to lose such a talented guy so early in his life.
2. Watched the new AMC series Breaking Bad, starring Bryan Cranston (the dad from Malcom in the Middle), about a 50-year-old chemistry teacher who decides to make a life change by becoming a crystal meth cook. Pilot episode was great (they are replaying it on AMC all the time) and the 2nd episode is this Sunday night. With literally nothing else on, this is definitely a show worth checking out.
3. Watched new episodes of Chuck on NBC last night. Not sure why, but NBC decided to dump its last two Chuck episodes on one random night, with little advertising and at weird time-slots. The first episode was lame (the show is called “Chuck”, not “Casey.”), though the second episode was right on point.
4. Last weekend, Teeth, a film I reviewed months ago from the Edinburgh Film Festival, was released in the U.S. Now’s your chance to go see one of the weirdest, most unique films I’ve ever watched.
5. Unfortunately, I myself can’t see this movie because it isn’t playing in the Illadelph, but I’m hearing terrific things about 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, a Romanian film that won the Palm D’Or prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Go out and see this if you can. Here’s a great review of the film from Media Maven favorite, James Berardinelli’s Reelviews.
4 Comments
January 25, 2008 at 2:42 pm
First of all, as an older representative of your readership, I truly appreciate and respect your ability to find media related items to write about during these times of shall we say, “meager offerings”.
Secondly, you make me think about things from a different angle and inspire me to make a list of movies to rent (Once and Eternal Sunshine) and go see (The Diving Bell).
Finally, I am loathe to admit to you that I actually enjoyed “Juno” (clearly I am not alone) because it was refreshing and an almost tongue in cheek look at a very serious and prevalent subject matter. I will continue to read your entries and just wanted you to know that your words and opinions are valued and noted (if not always agreed upon).
January 26, 2008 at 11:10 pm
See, I thought the first episode of Chuck was perfect, and the second was kind of all over the place. Clearly, you do not appreciate Adam Baldwin enough my friend.
Casey + Fedora + Alcohol + Neil Diamond + No Pants = Great Television. Look it up in the textbooks.
Enjoyed Breaking Bad, but it definitely isn’t inspiring me quite yet.
January 27, 2008 at 2:38 am
Was hoping to hear from you soon, Myles. I agree on Breaking Bad– I’m intrigued, but certainly not hooked yet. As for Chuck, agree to disagree?
January 27, 2008 at 2:41 am
LOVE hearing from you, Andie! And I’m so glad I’m able to help with recommendations, etc. — that’s the main reason I started this blog in the first place. As for Juno, I definitely enjoyed it, and I appreciate your, well, appreciation of it. But no matter how good, unique or refreshing it is, I can’t ever see it as Best Picture worthy. Never. It just doesn’t come close to that level of excellence, at least not in my book. But I’m glad you enjoyed it!