SPOILER ALERT!!!
I decided I'm going to use this entry to make a few recommendations and reviews of things I've been digging lately.
The Last Kiss
I didn't go into this movie with as much anticipation as I did Garden State, but I was excited, because despite the opinion of some critics I've enjoyed Zach Braff in everything I have ever seen him in. (That includes his 3 seconds in Manhattan Murder Mystery.)
It was a difficult film to watch, but a good film. It was one of those movies that asks you to follow the story of a character whose actions you can't completely condone. Michael isn't the kind of warm and cuddly disaffected young adult that Andrew Largeman was. You feel less sympathy for this character, but it is a well-delivered performance by Braff. Some critics seemed to think the movie was condoning or justifying Michael's actions, but I didn't see it that way. I was cringing the whole time as he took his relationship with Kim each step further.
It was a very well-written, well-performed movie that is definitely worth seeing.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
This show has already been hyped so much, I don''t know how much more I can say about it. But I watched the premiere last night and it lived up to my expectations.
I can't say that I'm a devotee of The West Wing, but I have watched several episodes of the short-lived Sports Night. Studio 60 has the same kind of dialogue that set that show apart. I'm looking forward to watching this show for years to come.
The Office
My most anticipated return of the new season. I can't wait for Thursday. The season finale was a great episode with the kind of cliff-hanger ending you love to see in a finale. I hope this show continues to gain strength and distinguish itself from the British version as it did in the second season.
SONG OF THE MOMENT:
All Deliberate Speed - Mae
Will everyone love them on HBO?
In Ed Sherman's column in today's Chicago Tribune, he talks about an upcoming HBO documentary that tells the tales of Cubs' woes over the last 98 years.
The documentary, which airs Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. (set those TiVos), is narrated by Dennis Farina and features interviews with former Cubs and celebrity fans.
HBO did a similar documentary on the Boston Red Sox in 2004, and the team went on to win the World Series. Of course, Sherman goes on to make jokes about how the Cubs will win the Series in 2007 as a result of this documentary.
It's great to me that this documentary is being made. I hope I get a chance to watch it. But connecting the fact that the Red Sox won when HBO made a documentary on them to the Cubs fortune is exactly what's wrong with the Cubs, in my opinion. Instead of concentrating on getting a good product on the field and expecting excellence, the Cubs organization and many of its beat writers and fans are content to go on talking about curse, goats and Bartman.
It would be great if the Cubs did win the Series next year. But it's not going to happen because some cosmic force generated by an HBO documentary. It will happen if the team gets a manager who can stress fundamental baseball and winning without depending on steroid-fueled homeruns and fixes its deficiencies in hitting and pitching. It's about time we Cub fans start to demand success and stop helping the team make excuses for blowing it year after year. I've been happy to see half-empty bleachers at Wrigley Field in the waning days of this horrendous season.
SONG OF THE MOMENT:
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
I know it's over-played, but I came to the realization yesterday that for me, this song is the new "Hey Ya." No matter how many times I hear it, I don't get sick of it.
p.s.: I opened that letter I wrote to myself 5 year ago. Pretty interesting reading. I haven't been able to post it yet, because of computer problems, but I will when I get a chance.
As much as I love being spontaneous, I also like thinking about the future and imagining where I'll be in five or 10 years. It's fun to think about the places I'll go and what I'll be doing. I don't know that five years ago I could have predicted what my life would be like now.
What makes planning for the future so nerve-wracking is the possibility of failure. I have definite goals for what I want to do with my life and I know I'll be disappointed if I don't accomplish them. I want to move on from my current job to a reporting position at a daily, hopefully within a year, two at most. At some point, I want to go back to school and get a master of fine arts in creative writing. I want to write a book. I want to have a family.
But what happens if these plans don't work out? Will I be disappointed? I've made plans for the future before that haven't panned out, and it's actually turned out to be a good thing. I don't believe in fate or that what should happen will. But sometimes, by accident, things do work out for the best.
Anyway, while writing this, I realized that I have a letter sitting in my sock drawer at home that I had to write to myself in AP English junior year of high school. We were supposed to wait five years to open it. I think it's going to be five years sometime this month. I should check that out and see where I though I'd be now five years ago. I'll let you know when I do.
Also, I realized I write a lot of self-absorbed introspective kind of things here. If you're ever sick of hearing it, tell me and I'll find fun things from the Internet or something like that to put here instead.
SONG OF THE MOMENT:
Soul Meets Body - Death Cab for Cuite (the cool live version I heard on Q101 yesterday. Not sure where it's from, but it was good.)