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Wisconsin and other Travels

Well I've been busy, off traveling around the world, or at least the midwest. And that was weeks ago actually. I went back to see an old friend get married and it was very nice. I got to see some friends I haven't seen in 10 years or more, so that was nice. But I only got one day in Wisconsin, the rest was spent in Chicago, sleeping. I couldn't believe how much I slept, but it was good to finally get some rest.

I flew there, which was a tough one for me, but it ended up being much worse in my head then in reality. I think I may just get over this fear after all. We'll see.

And a quick work plug, Sports Kids Moms & Dads starts airing on Bravo this Wednesday at 10/9c, you can see my name for a split second before they squeeze me out.

And if you're in the UK, or get UK channels, you can see our doc Power Lesbians on Sunday at 10pm, it's on Sky. Camp Michael Jackson also premiers on Sky in early June, so that's something to watch out for. On CMJ, I actually get my own card, which is a big deal let me tell you.

Technorati Tags: TV, Travel, Wisconsin

Inside Deep Throat

Inside Deep Throat is now open in 9 cities. If it's in one of yours, go see it right now.

Next week it opens in 14 more, then the world.

Inside Deep Throat

In it's second weekend, Inside Deep Throat will be opening in Wisconsin. Madison to be more precise. I was hoping it was going to open at the Oriental in Milwaukee, which is beautiful, but Madison is good enough. And I suppose, if it does well enough, and of course it will, it may still show there.

Sundance

I knew I was missing out when I skipped Sundance. Never again

.

Star Siting

I saw Scott William Winters at Starbucks on my way to work this morning. You know, the guy who played Cyril O'Reily on Oz. As they say, he's a lot taller in person.

I miss Oz.

West Wing O' Crap

Well the West Wing is just crap now. 30 second death scene?

Leonard Cohen

I can't stop listening to Everybody Knows.

I've been kind of obsessed with Pump Up the Volume lately.

While I'm at it, his version of Hallelujah is pretty damn good too.

TiVo and Netflix?

TiVo and Netflix join forces for broadband movies.

If this is true, I may just have to abandon my DirecTV Tivo, which surely won't support it, and live with two boxes with the little IR transmitters.

I've been tempted to do this for awhile since DirecTV refuses to support Tivo's series 2 features, including online scheduling. I've stayed with it only because you can record two things at once, a feature the standard Tivo really should include, and because I hate the dual box setup.

Porn in 60 Seconds

Nothing like 60 Minutes doing a segment on porn. Who knew porn could be so dry.

Weekend Movies

In my attempt to catch up on my collection of movies from Netflix I watched three on Sunday:

Big Fish, which I've had for over two months, was not nearly as bad nor as good as everyone has said. Right in the middle I think.

50 First Dates, another Adam Sandler movie. Perfectly enjoyable.

The Whole Ten Yards, the first one was good.

Next on the list, The Man Who Wasn't There, which I've also had for two months, and The Weather Underground.

Themes

I realized tonight that I hate themes. I don't mean a something as general as simplicity or even a specific decade, but rather a motorcycle built with a fire truck theme.

I think it goes all the way back to junior high with those dances. Yuck. They were also so god awful. Then there was prom, with some awful under the sea theme. I'm sure you know what I mean.

Now there's cars, motorcycles, and houses with themes. There's just something horribly wrong with designing something to look like something else. Design should be unique and stand on it's own, embracing itself. Why on earth do you want your house to look like a movie theater or a stadium?

But I do watch all those shows.

Mystic River

I finally got around to watching Mystic River today. I haven't been very good at getting the most out of Netflix. It was good, but at the same time it drove me crazy. I can't stand watching people make mistakes, and in this one, a big one is made. It was hard for me to watch. I kept fiddling and averting my eyes. If I was a little bit less self-conscience I would be one of those people that yells to the characters on screen.

Media Off Line

So I'm sitting here watching the Discovery Channel and I'm skipping through the commercials using Tivo's thirty second skip. If you have Tivo and use the skip feature, you know that when it skips, it hangs for a split second on a single frame. Anyway, as I'm skipping a commercial for Discovery's Shark Week I see a familiar image, the Avid Media Off Line graphic. When I replay it to see if I actually saw it, it doesn't seem to be there, so I use another great Tivo feature, slow motion, lo and behold at least two frames of off line media. Oops.

Media Consolidatio

Ted Tuner's Beef With Big Media.

A Peanut a Day

The strangest looking women was just on The Daily Show. She wasn't all together unattractive, but rather cartoonish. She had this perfectly round face with a tiny little mouth. Very much like the Peanuts. She was funny as hell though. Her upcoming books has a great name too, Assassination Vacation. Oh yeah, her name is Sarah Vowell.

Fahrenheit 9/11

My bosses at WOW bought everyone tickets to see Fahrenheit 9/11 yesterday. I think 37 of us ended up attending. We saw it at the Arclight which is a really nice theater here in Hollywood.

The movie was really powerful, but it's hard not to be when you're showing the burned bodies of soldiers being dragged through the streets. There was a point that I thought I was going to have to leave, I was getting sick to my stomach.

As powerful as it was, I left the theater not completely convinced of Moore's point. I hate Bush, but showing him shaking the hands of Saudi leaders isn't really that big of a deal. If you look through archive footage, you can find the same thing with Clinton, really any president, they are considered Allies after all (even if they probably shouldn't be).

There are some really cheap shots in it too. I'm all for making Bush look like an idiot, but do you really need to show Bush staring into nowhere cut with scenes from 9/11? I'm not sure what he was supposed to be doing after the first plane hit.

Having said all that, I really liked it and I think it help energize the left. God knows we need it. What Fahrenheit 9/11 does best is track Bush's lies and cronyism. You know Bush is in the pocket of certain big business, but Moore really seals the deal here.

Also, on the way to the theater, there was women with a picket sign that read "Euthanize Arnold". We got stickers. I have no idea why she wants to euthanize him, but the stickers are neat. I really should watch the news.

Highway

I watched Highway last night and it was the weirdest thing. Different parts kept jogging my memory, as if I've seen it before, but the rest was completely new. The movie is not old enough for me to have seen it and forgotten it; my memory isn't that bad. My only guess is that one of my old roommates was watching it and I was coming in and out of the room. Though that doesn't really make sense either, because I would have just watched it...

Moving on, it was really good. Who doesn't love a good "on the road" movie?

The OC

If your into the OC you can find my feelings about last nights episode mixed in with others at the WOW Report. I should just write it here, but I'm lazy today.

The Best Week Ever blog pretty much covers my feelings as well.

Santa Sangre

It was recommended to me that I see Santa Sangre, a film about a armless women who's son followers her around acting as her arms. Apparently he stands behind her all day, sort of like all those little funny skits you did as a kid.

Netflix doesn't have it, so I probably won't end up seeing it, which is probably for the best. It looks creepy.

Jennifer Garner

I didn't think it was possible to dislike her anymore than I already did. Jennifer Garner in InStyle Magazine.

Missing Siblings

I love watching old episodes of my favorite shows. You can gleam so much from them. One of the big things is lots of characters seem to have had siblings at one time. For example, on an early episode of That 70's Show titled "Eric's Burger Job" Donna mentions being home alone for the weekend except for her sister. As far as I know, that the last time this sister is mentioned.

And in Seinfeld, Jerry, George, and Elaine all mention siblings in the earliest episodes. I believe George had a brother and Jerry a sister. I don't remember Elaine's.

Fun facts.

Overhaulin'

I just finished watching an episode of Overhaulin' on TLC. In the episode I watched, they take a high-school kid's truck and tell him it's stolen. When they're doing the interviews, the parents let it be known that the boy was so upset that he couldn't stop crying. Now I'm not against crying, I've been known to do my fair share, but my guess is that this kid probably doesn't want everyone in the country knowing he was crying over his stolen truck. Plus, it's just mean.

Also, does anyone else think that people are never excited enough on shows like this? Where's the excitement?

Update

I'm not sure what's going on, but I don't work for the show so I can't help anyone get their cars Overhauled.

Things that are inevitable

John and Rebecca Stamos are over? Who knew.

Deadwood

This was also posted at the WOW Report.

I’m a whore for “true stories." Give me any old movie, no matter how low rent, campy, or dreadful, put “based on a true story” under the title and I’m hooked. Remember Auto Focus? Loved it. Prefontaine? Loved it so much I actually considered taking his name.

So it’s no surprise that I’ve taken a liking to Deadwood, HBO’s new western. It has everything one can ask for in a show: prostitutes, murderers, gamblers, heroes--and in all combinations. Al Swearengen makes the ultimate bad guy, with his utter lack of morals and all. Seth Bullock, otherwise known as Montana, makes a great reluctant hero, as did Wild Bill.

To tell you the truth, the whole thing seems like Tombstone made for episodic television. But without the wit of Doc Holiday. It has its problems though. Take the recent killing of Wild Bill. The writers have taken some leeway here, which was inevitable. In truth, he should have died a few episodes ago at the hand of that angry brother and the murderer’s brother should have died in Kansas. What about Calamity Jane? Turns out she was married to Wild Bill, at least that’s the claim, and they meet in Deadwood. Jane was also known to be a little loose with her charms, if the pay was right. But isn’t inaccuracy part of the genre’s greatness? Everyone’s life needs a little rewriting.

What it lacks in accuracy, it more than makes up for in drama. In four episodes the dead count is already at 12. It reminds me of the good old days of Oz. Almost all the dead came from episode one, a good way to draw an audience. Then there’s the conflict; I have high hopes for Joanie Stubbs’ new saloon, and not just because she’s hot.

But my favorite part of Deadwood has to be that creepy little girl. Village of the Damned anyone?

Nick & Jessica

The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour? I thought variety shows went out with the 70s.

Model Ass Kickin'

Who knew that a model getting his ass kicked would be such a hit? Inside Edition and Extra. I hear it may even end up in print.

I have to admit that I don't really watch either show, so thank God for Tivo, or I would have actually had to watch those shows.

Lost in Translation

I just finished watching Lost in Translation. Let me say this first; I liked it. I thought it was a very good movie.

With that said, how exactly did it garnish such praise, let alone Oscar noms? Almost nothing about this film seemed to stand out. The screenplay was not something to write home about. Everyone was talking about Bill Murray, but he didn't seem exceptional to me. The best thing about the film was the cinematography, which was truly outstanding, but no one was talking about that. Was there just a lack of stand out films last year?

Is it that it tried to tell a story without really telling it? Because that's been done before.

I think Sofia Coppola did better with The Virgin Suicides.

If your looking for a film where two people on opposite sides of the age spectrum use each other to help find themselves, Harold and Maude is much better. Plus it has that bad-ass Jag.

But like I said, it was a very good movie.

DVD Player

My Playstation has stopped playing DVDs. It still plays games just fine though. That's something I guess.

With my Netflix account, it's sort of critical that I have a DVD player, so I spent some time this afternoon looking around for a new one. My major desire is to have it be cheap and reliable. I don't have a big TV or a any sort of home entertainment center, so I'm not too concerned with fancy features. Any thing should do. After looking around, I decided on the Philips DVD727 Progressive-Scan DVD Player. For $75, you can't beat it. And rumor has it that with a little hack it can be region free.

Speaking of Playstation, I can't wait for Gran Turismo 4

Arrested Development

Arrested Development is my new favorite show. It took me awhile to find it, but now that I have, I'm in love.

Sopranos

I watched the season premier of the Sopranos tonight. I gotta say, not that great. Nothing really seemed to stand out, and the opening scene, can I just say, a little on the nose. Thanks for the reminder that Carmela is man-less now and apparently doesn't know how to rake.

And what's with the picture they're using on HBO's site? Just a tad over dramatic? There was a time when I loved this show, but now I'm not so sure. I'm sure it will improve, but by how much?

I find my self wondering when Six Feet Under starts again?

Pirates of the Caribbean

Finally I got around to seeing Pirates of the Caribbean. It was as good as I was told it would be. You have to love the friendly, funny, and non-killing pirate.

Star Sightings

My first big star sighting: Sean Connery at the Pig N Whistle.

The Oscars

As I'm sure you all know, the Oscars are this Sunday. I live just a block away from the Kodak Theater where they are held. Hollywood Blvd. is closed down and there are security personal everywhere. I was walking through that area last night and in order to get through I had to walk through the Hollywood & Highland Complex. I was in there for a good while, I got lost, and I must have seen dozens of guards. I swear you would think the president was coming for a visit. It's been like that all week.

I'm wondering what it's going to be like on Sunday. How many people, that sorta thing. If I'm feeling frisky, I may even wander down there and take a few pictures.

I hear that there won't be a time limit to speeches this year. What were they thinking? This thing will be going until three in the morning.

I was going to pick which film I thought should win Best Picture, but it just occurred to me that I haven't seen any of the nominated films. This is the first year that I can remember where I haven't seen at least a couple of them. You should feel free to predict the winners though.

Deep Throat

I just got back from watching Deep Throat at a theater down the street from my work. WoW is making a documentary about it with Imagine films.

Something about a women with her clitoris in her throat that's just classic.

More something about working at a place where you watch porn with your coworkers.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Johnny Depp was very funny in Once Upon a Time in Mexico. The whole thing was rather great actually. I've never seen any of the other El Mariachi films. I guess it's time.

Netflix

What ever happened to Rick Moranis? His career really took a dive after My Blue Heaven. Maybe it was all those Honey I shrank the Kids movies.

Living in a new city and not knowing anyone has left me with a lot of free time after work. To help fill it I rejoined Netflix. I was a member several years ago when it was first getting off. Then you got 4 movies for $20/month. Now it's only 3, or 5 for $30. Still it's a good deal if watch a lot of movies, and you can't get much more convenient.

The problem is, I have a hard time filling my queue up. I know there are a million movies I want to see, but I can never seem to remember them when I go to add some to the queue. I need to start a list or something.

Terminator 3

I just finished watching Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Can I just say how completely and utterly unfulfilled it left me. I kind of liked it.

Roger & Me

While at Target the other day I was going to buy Bowling for Columbine but they didn't have it. I was a little disappointed and dead set on buying something by Michael Moore. So I bought Roger & Me instead. Why they had that and not Bowling for Columbine is beyond my understanding.

Anyway, it was as good as I remember it being. That is, not that great but worth watching. Not sure if I really want to own it, but it was really cheap.

Classics

Doc Hollywood

Now there is a good movie.

Matchstick Men

I completely forgot to mention that I saw Matchstick Men on Tuesday. Josh was kind enough to take me to a matinee. I thought it was fairly good, but predictable. I should have waited to see it on DVD, but there isn't much else out right now.

Whenever you see Sam Rockwell in a movie, you know he's going to turn out to be a bad guy. Never fails.

My Cousin Vinny

I haven't been watching a lot of movies latley, too busy doing nothing I guess. I did manage to break free long enough to catch My Cousin Vinny today though. I love this movie, as I think most people do. Marisa Tomei is hot, hot, hot. And come on, Ralph Macchio is in it.

Meet Joe Black

I just finished watching Meet Joe Black. I remember watching it when it first came out on DVD, in fact I believe it was one of the first DVDs that I watched. I can't remember how I felt about it then, but I liked it today. Even though it's cheesy, it made me feel good. Of course I have been really sappy lately, so that makes sense.

Two Johns in Two Days

Johnny Cash died today at 71, less than four months after his wife passed. The original man in black will be missed at our house.

John Ritter also died. At 54 it seems that he should have had a few years left. Get your hearts checked.

Beep Beep

I've always hated watching movies on television. Dubbing over the curse words annoys the hell out of me. So watching Bulworth on FX tonight was a pleasant surprise. Instead of dubbing over, they just beeped them out. If you have seen Bulworth, you'll know that there is a lot of beeping. Not only for the dialog, but most of the music as well. It's pretty funny really, and much better. Well in my opinion anyway.

Boomerang

Boomerang

Who would have thought that there was a time that Halle Berry was the "ugly" one.

The Matrix Reloaded

The 6 story screen at the Imax theater was insane. Definitely the way to see an action movie. My only complaint, at that size you can really see the CG.

The Matrix Reloaded itself wasn't very good. I don't think it was as bad as some have said, but a let down none the less. I didn't think the fight scenes were very good this time. Here's hoping the third will be better.

Movies & Nudity

In the midst of the large thunderstorm last night, Erica I watched Phone Booth. Not what I would call a great movie. The whole thing was rather dull and Forest Whitaker's character could not have been more cheesy.

There was one thing that redeemed it though. Every time I would say that he should do a particular thing, he would do it. For the most part anyway.

We also watched Old School. I've seen it before, but it is still funny as hell.

Panic Room

Did anyone else notice the spots for the commercials in Panic Room? A nice fade to black, black for 5 seconds, then fade in. Nothing like being prepared for the networks.

Also, is it just me, or didn't Forest Whitaker's character get shot in the end? It seemed to be missing from the HBO version, but I swear that's what happened when I saw it in the theater. Has my memory actually progressed from forgetting to making things up?

Country Bears

Bonnie Riatt and Don Henley, duet of song while bears in the movie Country Bears. Strange.

July 4th

My day has been interesting. It started by watching Cocktail and continued with a barbecue. Nothing like some beer brats to make a summer holiday complete. After we finished eating, we headed off to a traditional barbecue in the suburbs. We didn't eat, but did have a few beers and there may have been a frisbee thrown around.

I love the Fourth of July. I hope everyone else had a great one as well. It's now time for bed.

Punch-Drunk Love & Others

I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong. As it turns out How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days was funny. It's not going to win any awards, but it does entertain.

I was also able to catch Punch-Drunk Love last night. Now this one can win awards. It was great, but nothing like how it was portrayed in the trailers. I'm not sure it was supposed to be that funny, but I couldn't stop laughing.

Moonlight Mile

Along with renting Storytelling last night we also picked up Moonlight Mile. I just finished watching it and it is probably the best serious movie I've seen all year.

Jake Gyllenhaal is fast becoming one of my favorite actors.

Storytelling

Having nothing else to do on this Saturday night we decided to rent some movies. While looking around for something (the Saturday night selection was a little thin) we noticed that How to lose a Guy in 10 Days was all out, even though it is guaranteed to be in. So I can look forward to seeing that for free soon. Which is the only way I would be willing to see it anyway.

Hit and Runway

It was a nice lazy Sunday afternoon. I had a couple of tall cans on the back porch with Josh and Serena before retiring inside for a movie. Josh deep fried us some cheese curds and holly showed up just in time to catch it with us.

Hit and Runway was the film of choice and it did not disappoint. It is definitely not the greatest comedy ever made, but it made me laugh. Peter Jacobson's character was incredibly cute, but possibly a little too Woody Allen like.

I seem to like movies about people writing movies.

Next Friday

While nursing my hang over today, I caught Next Friday on TV. Pretty damn disappointing. Friday was so funny but this one just couldn't keep up the pace. I blame the lack of Chris Tucker.

Rock Star

I just caught the end of Rock Star on TV. I forgot how funny it is. The end when Chris 'Izzy' Cole goes "alternative" rock was just too funny for me to handle. The metal was so much cooler, or something.

You have to love the drugged orgy with Jennifer Aniston and Tania the hermaphrodite. Add the in the Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch song during the credits and you have a classic film.

Just a Kiss

After what seemed like a year at Blockbuster, Erica and I finally decided on Just a Kiss. I'd have to say that it was a good choice. Marisa Tomei is always nice to see, especially as a revenge crazed psycho. For some reason I like Ron Eldard as well.

The film is over stylized with the whole animation over the live action thing, but it's done in a way I found enjoyable. The only part I did not like was the ending. I liked the "first" one better. I guess I just prefer sad endings to the "everything works out" ones.

The Transporter

I watched Maid in Manhattan and The Transporter with Erica and Holly last night. What a huge dissapointment. Not Maid in Manhattan, that's to be expected, but The Transporter. For some reason I was under the impression that it was directed by the man who did The Professional which I love. I was mistaken.

The story was so standard and cheesy. The acting was awful. Just Crap.

Movies, Agro, Beer

I went with Erica, Steve, Josh and Serena to the Brew & View last night to see Old School. I love that place, nothing like drinking while watching a funny movie. We ended up staying for the second movie as well. Bringing Down the House sucks. Steve Martin has really gone downhill.

While getting are IDs checked and paying, one of the guys gave Erica a big lecture about not drinking (she is not 21) and if she was caught we would all go to jail. Thinking it was funny, I teased her about not getting us arrested. The guy behind the counter freaked out. He screamed asking if there was a problem with what he had said. Telling him no, that I was just teasing a friend, we walked away. Apparently, steve was still in line, he said that he would "tease my ass right on out of here." How fucking agro can you get? I get enough BS agro attitude in bars, I don't need it from some power hungry asshole while I'm just trying to see a movie with my friends.

I guess he didn't learn the whole "don't scream at your customers" lesson. Jackass.

Butterflies

I have parties to go to both tonight and tomorrow. I'm a little social butterfly, yes I am.

Tonight's party: 1981 RAD. I'm not sure, but I hope it's a reference to the movie RAD (although that was made in '86). I have fond memories of that movie every time I ride my BMX.

Sweet Home Alabama

Along with watching Catch Me If You Can the other night, I also saw Sweet Home Alabama. It should be stated in the out set that I love Reese Witherspoon. She can do no wrong.

Catch Me If You Can

I was unaware that Catch Me If You Can was a true story. It makes the movie much more interesting. Josh has the book so as soon as he finishes it, I will start. One of the better Spielberg movies I've seen in a long time. I'm not really his biggest fan, but I do like Tom Hanks.

House of Yes

Erica and I had plans for later tonight so while we waited for them to take place we decided to watch a movie. The House of Yes was our choice. Actually my choice, she seems to want to watch The Big Lebowski every chance she gets.

Like most anything Parker Posey is in, it's great (well not everything Posey is in). My favorite line in the movie:

If people start telling the truth around here, I'm going to bed.

I don't even mind Tori Spelling that much, though her acting is god awful. Now off to our evening plans.

Swimming with Sharks

The movies continue, today's: Swimming with Sharks.

Drumline

If you can't tell, most of this weekend was spent watching movies. To finish it off I caught Drumline. I have just one question, do they actually have drum offs?

Oh yeah, the 7-up guy is in it.

Hurlyburly

I love when Artie in Hurlyburly gives the girl to Eddie and Mickey. There is something about Garry Shandling being a dirty bastar