Entertainment.I watched part of the Grammys last night for the first time in quite a few years. I’m not an old timer, but on an average year I haven’t heard of half of the nominees.
That said, I was pleased to see that the Dixie Chicks won several categories they were nominated in. It was [...]
Four shows that I’m enjoying right now that you should be too:
Friday Night Lights – I can’t really tell you how good this show is, but even if I did, you probably wouldn’t watch it. Besides me and a few people in Florida, nobody else has bothered. Maybe you don’t like football. [...]
I normally shun reality shows, but I’ve watched every season of American Idol since the last few episodes of season one. I usually watch a few of the terrible auditions, skip the Hollywood group rounds, and then come back for the top twelve.
In all the seasons I’ve watched the show, I can’t say that [...]
I don’t have a problem tossing labels around with reckless abandon so I’ll go ahead and say that Tom Cruise is a serious wacko. You know, nutcase, wack job, weirdo, psycho, lunatic, etc. But you knew that. I can’t see his face without thinking “silent birth”, but that’s just because I’m one of [...]
The Academy Awards telecast will start in a few hours, and although I had intended to offer my list of best films several weeks ago, well…better late than never.
I could write a separate entry about many of the films listed here, but a few words will have to suffice. These notes are not plot [...]
Brokeback Mountain was the best movie I saw last year.
In talking about this movie, I know that I’m not going to convince you to go see it if you are offended by the subject matter. You may be surprised that I would go see it, and now you’ve decided that you’re never going to [...]
I don’t talk about movies much on this site, and for good reason. I don’t really see that many movies. I’m more of a TV guy. I like to multi-task (at home) and it’s more or less frowned upon to take a computer into theaters in Austin. So, we mostly rent [...]
I’ve been passed a book baton (yes, another baton) by Christian (Trench) over at 7milesdown, and since I don’t have any fresh content anyway, let’s pretend like this is interesting. Well, at least as interesting as anything else you read on this site. Set your standards low.
Number of Books on Shelf
I’d say somewhere [...]
According to early projections, the weekend box office has beaten the same period in 2004 for the first time in 19 weeks. The awful reviews didn’t stop Fantastic Four from pulling in the crowds, and for some reason, people were still interested in watching Tom “Crazy as Hell” Cruise survive a poorly planned alien [...]
Erik Sagen, the mastermind behind Kartooner has passed me the musical baton, so…
Total volume of music files on my computer
My main machine at home has about 26GB, and thanks to Ian and his wonderful library, I have another 12GB on an external drive I used to carry back and forth to work. I [...]
Like most kids who grew up in the 80’s, I broke my fair share of Atari joysticks before moving over to the original Nintendo and spending hours with my buddy Mario. I never bought a Nintendo beyond the Super version (SNES), but I still have both systems in a big Rubbermaid container in the [...]
I’m willing to believe that my attraction to low rated television shows is somehow due to a force of nature that I’m not yet aware of. Otherwise, it’s difficult to explain why most of the shows I’ve watched over the years have been low rated, cult classics that were often cancelled well before completing [...]
Million Dollar Baby is one of those movies that comes along and reminds me that trying to make art conform to any sort of list is damn near impossible. I could easily tell you that after I walked out of the theater on Saturday, I was positive that I had just watched the best [...]
A few weeks before Christmas, we attended a special screening of two classic Buffy episodes at the Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Austin. The Alamo is a locally owned movie theater that serves a full menu, right to your seat. You can even enjoy a frosty pint of Shiner Bock while viewing the film [...]
Well, maybe not movie awards in the conventional sense. I don’t have a category for sound editing or best supporting actress, and I’m skipping the opening musical number. This is a list of the five movies I feel represent the best of 2004, and several others that should be given similar consideration. [...]
You’ve probably heard by now that Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake were involved in an altercation with photographers outside a hotel in Los Angeles last Saturday. Apparently Diaz used her Charlie’s Angels training to land a couple of karate chops on one photographer’s neck, and then tripped him and grabbed his camera. According [...]
“Listen, I got news for ya, it’s nice to be involved with somebody who’s interested in something other than Nick-at-Nite. Now he’s got a grip on reality, he’s happy, he’s well adjusted.” – Elaine Benes, 1992
I’ve written about it before, but I have a hopeless addiction to Nick-at-Nite. And let’s face it, outside of [...]
Mel Brooks announced this week that he plans to film a sequel to his classic 1987 sci-fi spoof Spaceballs. There is a strong possibility that it will be ready for release shortly before Star Wars: Episode III hits theaters in the Spring of 2005.
I’m sure that everyone has a movie from their childhood that [...]
Jay Leno announced Monday that he will retire from the Tonight Show in 2009 and turn over hosting duties to Conan O’Brien. I like Conan, but it won’t make any difference to me who hosts the Tonight Show as long as David Letterman is still on the air. I’ve always preferred Dave over [...]
Elgin, Texas is probably a lot like most small towns in America. The newspaper favors local stories over hard news, the community is mostly conservative, and there are many of the same problems as larger cities. The difference is that Elgin is also my hometown.
The Dr. Phil television show came to Central Texas a few [...]
With the start of the new Fall season, it’s sad to see that little has changed. Do we really need another reality show about a rich guy weeding out a group of narcissists? And really, another show about crime scene/medical investigators?
Much like teachers who base their lessons on the requirements of standardized tests, [...]
“You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore? That idea of home is gone. Maybe that’s all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place.”
I’ve been thinking about what to say about Garden State for a few [...]
The Star Wars Episode III title was announced on Saturday. In short, I like it. I didn’t care for “The Phantom Menace” and I thought “Attack of the Clones” sounded like a B movie, but “Revenge of the Sith” has an ominous tone that matches the inevitable plot of the forthcoming movie.
I’m [...]
I’m not trying to turn this into a comic blog (I much prefer to grumble about politics), but is there an adult in America that watched the Catwoman trailer and didn’t immediately realize the movie was going to suck?
Oh, I’m sure it seemed like a great idea. Take a comic book character that hasn’t [...]
I’m a big fan of comic book movies. I can’t explain the fascination since I didn’t read comic books as a kid. Honestly, I used to read a few pages if I found them lying around, but I couldn’t believe anyone would be interested in dialogue so steeped in cheese. Maybe I [...]
The problem with most celebrities is that they act like celebrities. Is it possible to appreciate a person’s professional behavior and skill, and yet be appalled by their personal behavior? Of course, what complicates matters is that much of the personal information we know about celebrities we usually don’t know about other people. [...]
Anybody that goes to a comic book movie expecting the hero to lose the big battle against the major villain probably voted for Ralph Nader last election. The hero always wins. With the time saved from not having to ponder major plot points, I’ve been wondering about superhero maintenance. Think cleanup, not [...]
The media reported this weekend that Ray Bradbury is upset that Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” is too close in title to his classic “Fahrenheit 451”.
The 83 year old author was apparently rubbed the wrong way when Moore didn’t ask permission to use a similar title. Bradbury told the press, “That’s not his novel, that’s [...]
We saw Saved! at the theater last week, and I couldn’t recommend it more. Haven’t we all been waiting for a satire about religious fundamentalism posing as a teen comedy? How often do you encounter a character like Pastor Skip who works the crowd by asking, “Who is down with G-O-D? Jesus [...]
I made a real effort to watch the MTV Movie Awards last night, but it’s pretty clear at this point that any clue I ever had has vanished during the latter part of my years on Earth. I felt especially bad for Andy Richter. Poor bastard. With the right material Andy can [...]
Bill Clinton’s memoirs come out on June 22nd. Some say that he hasn’t allowed enough time to pass to gain true perspective on his time in office, but it should make an interesting read regardless. I’d expect a balance between the truth, and a protection of those (Hillary) that still have political viability. [...]
We saw “Mean Girls” at the theater last night. I’ve never been much of a teen movie fan, but few are this well written. The screenplay is by Tina Fey from SNL and it sounds like it. The usual exaggerated extremes of high school are involved, but it’s not as important as [...]
I came across an article about Jolie Holland and her new cd about a week ago. The review sounded promising enough: girl born and raised in Texas, lives in San Francisco, makes music that combines folk, jazz, blues, country, etc. Outside of the San Francisco part, she sounded like plenty of local artists.
I’m [...]
I don’t buy a lot of music. I mostly enjoy older stuff that I already have in one form or another, or else I just listen to the radio. When I do make a purchase, I go out of my way to take my business to a local record store that actually gives [...]
I’m having trouble deciding if I stay up late working on stuff while halfway watching old sitcoms on Nick at Nite, or if I stay up late watching old sitcoms on Nick at Nite while halfway working on stuff.
The last double episode of the early morning is Full House from 4-5. I watched this [...]