Nothing to Report and Other Randomness

I'm in the dog days of summer. Nothing seems to be happening. I've gone back to jogging after a three day respite. Yippee. I still need to get new headphones, but I have discovered that one of my older pair still works surprisingly well. I haven't seen any new movies lately. The last thing I watched was Napoleon Dynamite on Thursday. I'm behind on my Netflix. I still have Rules of the Game, Contempt and Bloody Sunday to watch. I have yet to put up my thoughts on Ned Kelly and Breathless, because I'm waiting to watch the other 3. My rental queue (or however it is spelled) is up to about 45 films. The two I really want that just arrived on DVD - The Bad Seed and Freaks - both have a "Very Long Wait." Who knows when I'll get those! Dogville comes to DVD next week, so that will keep me occupied. Also, we get Garden State on Friday, so I'll be making a trip there to catch that as well several others until that one.



This week also brings in Exorcist: The Beginning, Without a Paddle and Open Water. I am dying to see the last one as I find the concept of being stranded in the ocean with all that deep, nothingness below you a terrifying one. Great reviews, too. The other two are fairly disposable but I do plan on seeing both versions of E:TB when available. The next couple of weeks is nothing great, though if you tell me you have ZERO desire to see Anacondas: The Hunt For the Blood Orchid I wouldn't believe you for a second. It looks exactly to be the type of late summer cheesy/fun/bad movie we really need to rescue us from the cheesy/dull/bad other films. Somewhere in all that messiness is Vanity Fair, so far earning some mixed reviews. Premiere gave it 2 stars, but it seemed more a personal reaction than an actual review. AICN has has 2 very positive reviews, and several others popping up are 3-3.5 stars-ish. Nevertheless, it is the front-runner for Best Costume Design at the Oscars and Witherspoon will no doubt earn her third much deserved Golden Globe nomination.



Entertainment Weekly came out with its Fall Movie Preview. Perhaps the most exciting part of this issue was not anything about the fall releases but rather a TV review by "editor at large" Ken Tucker. He reviewed Nick at Nite's All In the Family and Roseanne, giving AITF an A- and Roseanne an A. YES! I love Roseanne so much it is not even funny. (My feelings, not the show!) I started watching this show at the beginning of last fall and have probably averaged about 7-8 episodes a week. I'm fairly certain I've seen them all at least once. It is not a hard task considering the show is 2 & 2:30PM on Fox 43, 11 & 11:30PM on Nick at Nite, 2&2:30AM on Nick at Nite and 1& 1:30PM on Oxygen. The taboo-busting show is a genuine original with its loving take on the struggles of the working class of middle America. The writing is razor sharp with quotable one liners. It is worth noting that Amy Sherman-Palodino (the creator of Gilmore Girls) and Joss Whedon (the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) were both writers for the show at one time. Everyone in the cast is top notch and casted to perfection. My favorite characters are Darlene and Aunt Jackie. Darlene is probably the greatest portrait of a teenager to ever hit television. Sara Gilbert is so dead on and you actually feel her hatred for her world. This isn't a case of pretty-girl-playing-frumpy-girl unbelievability. Snaps to Tucker for pointing out an early episode - writting by the aforementioned Whedon - where Darlene reads a very moving poem about her inability to fit in with the sports-loving boys or the makeup-loving girls. The episodes where her teenage depression really kick in are among the series' best. Laurie Metcalf is so great as the just as lost Aunt Jackie. Drifting from job to job, she remains a loving force more of a friend than family for the Connors' three guarenteed to be screwed over kids. I dare you not to laugh till you cry in an episode where Jackie and Roseanne's father passes away and Jackie has to call their aunt to tell them that their father has died. The call is the most hilarious thing I think I've seen in a sitcom, and proves how much Metcalf deserved her two Emmys. Tucker, in his review, also brought up the political relevance in both shows. All In the Family is a republican take on society, though a more critical one. Roseanne and her clan would most definately be rooting for John Kerry. I could go on and on about how truly great Roseanne is and how in a day when reality is what people watch and sitcoms are eroding, it is a wonderful reminder of the sitcom at its best. It is considered by many, including me, to be one of the best shows to ever air on television. As far as the rather odd last season, well, it was a big disappointment. Though I find the series last episode, which pulled out a huge shock at the end, to be superior to most of that season and the shock at the end in which we realize everything that actually happened to be unexpectedly moving.





(Speaking of Roseanne, coming soon will be a list of my all-time favorite TV Shows.)