Monthly Archives: January 2011
Netflix Rules of Efficiency
If you’re on any sort of unlimited plan with Netflix, be it 2-movies-at-a-time, 3-at-a-time, or even just the unlimited streaming plans, you need to do a little basic math. How many movies do you have to watch per month before the plans are just not worth it economically? Read the rest of this entry
American Idol Rebooted
I have been watching American Idol, mostly out of a morbid curiosity that drives me to see what the new judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez will be like. Well, none of my predictions have proved accurate about these two. Steven Tyler is an absolute joy to watch. He’s maybe the most entertaining thing on TV right now. There’s no predicting what he will say next and his genuine love of people and music is just infectious. JLo is a thousand times better than Paula Abdul, but seems to occupy the same psychic space on the panel: emotional heart. Even Randy seems fresh sitting next to the two newbies. This is better than AI has ever thought of being before.
I’m not saying it couldn’t still end up as a train wreck, but so far, it’s really fun to watch.
The Other Shows
I haven’t done an “other shows” for a while. If you’re new to the site this is a “catch all” post for you to comment about your favorite shows, new shows about to appear, and let the rest of us know about shows we should be watching but might be missing.
First up, FX’s Justified. It starts on Wednesday February 9th in just a couple of short weeks. This was, I thought, by far the best new show of last year. Wittily written with interesting characters that doesn’t quite go where you expect. Plus it’s nice to have a show taking place in a different local than normal. Yes, I know it’s filmed in the LA area for the most part with 2cd unit shots of Kentucky filling in transitions. But at least it doesn’t typically look like LA. I honestly don’t recall seeing a single shot of the roads around Griffin Park or the zoo unlike nearly every other TV show of the past 40 years.
Two more recent releases: Black Mountain and the Melvins
I’ve heard some praises for Black Mountain but have never really checked them out before. So I decided to check out their 2010 release, Wilderness Heart. I thought they were going to be a stoner metal band. But they’re more of a psychedelic, straight-up rock band…I’m actually having a hard time pinning down their genre.
The Decemberists: The King is Dead (review)
The King is Dead is the Decemberists album I’ve been waiting for.
UPDATE: You can watch The Decemberists perform the album live from Portland (via webcast) at 3:00 p.m. EST today by clicking this link.
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Recent music releases: Iron and Wine, Jesu
I’ve been really out of it musically lately, so I decided to take a look around at what’s new the last couple months.
First recommendation: Iron and Wine‘s new album, Kiss Each Other Clean.
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The Golden Globes
I didn’t actually watch the whole show, because there’s only so much celebrity ego-stroking I can stand, but I thought I’d do a thread on it. So I can complain to my heart’s content.
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Movie Review: The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet is an odd mix of ingredients, some that work and some that don’t, combined to make a decent, but uneven, popcorn movie.
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Bond Themes: Best and Worst
In honor of MGM finally getting back to making a new Bond film before Daniel Craig gets as old and ridiculous as Roger Moore’s last few. (Although check out the film Hopscotch for a fantastic movie about an over the hill spy) Here’s my pick of the best and worst of the Bond themes.
The Best
Steve Evans
RJH
Scott B.
John C.
Susan M
Aaron Brown
ninemoons
arandomjohn
kulturblogadmin
Kyle M
Brad
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MCQ
Wm
Rebecca
Ivan
Geoff J
btdgreg
Clark Goble
Aaron R.
Tim J
