More Blood

26 Jan

I went with Barry today to see There Will Be Blood and I’ve gotta say, I still think the movie is, ahem, bloody great. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say I’ve now sat through this two-hour-and-forty-minute-long movie twice and I could certainly stand to do it again. And again. I can’t quite explain it, but I feel the same way about P.T. Anderson’s other epic-length movies, particularly Magnolia, in that I can watch them over and over and they never get tired. Here, Daniel Day-Lewis is just incredible, that music is awesome, the screenplay is great, the cinematography is breathtaking … it’s all just amazing. Even on a second viewing, the film didn’t drag or anything. And, despite how many times I’ve repeated or used that milkshake line in recent weeks, it still works in context. Yeah, I really do like this movie. Have you seen it yet? No? Well, what are you waiting for? Go! Go now!

I’ve Got Nothing

26 Jan

Today is one of my least favorite days of the year. It’s the day when I get my hopes up that maybe this will be the year I actually get through and am able to buy some Red Sox tickets — but instead I’m let down and ticketless. And every year it’s the same old story: I wake up early, log onto redsox.com at exactly the right time, pick a game I really want to see (this year it was May 17 vs the Milwaukee Brewers), and then wait. And wait. And wait. And watch the Virtual Waiting Room refresh every 30 seconds. Refresh again. And again. And simultaneously, I’m calling on my cell and my home phone, and hearing a busy signal or that nice recording telling me that “All signals are busy right now. Please try again.” And I know that all over the Boston area people are having the same experience as me. And finally, when I’ve had enough I just shut down the computer and walk away, a defeated man. Again. When I try some time later, of course tickets for the game I wanted to see are all gone. Really and seriously, I just want to know: how does someone like myself get tickets the day they go on sale? Why must I get shut out every year? When will the Sox figure out a way to put tickets on sale so that brokers are the ones that get screwed, not nice guys like me? I just want two tickets to one game. Is that asking so much?

And to add to the frustration, tickets for Gavin Degraw’s March 1 show at the Paradise also went on sale today, and I was otherwise occupied the minute they went on sale, so when I called and logged on three hours later they were all gone. (No surprise there, though, given the small venue and the fact that I tried too late.) SO, I’m completely ticketless today for the events I wanted to see. That sucks.

There Will Be Oscars

22 Jan

Oscar nominations this morning were basically as expected (for me, at least), but four things in particular are worth mentioning:

1. Tommy Lee Jones’ nomination for In the Valley of Elah was an awesome surprise. I liked the movie, and Jones’ performance in it is one of the best of the year. I said it when I saw the movie and I’m saying it now. Jones totally deserves his spot on the list. Even if he had to take the spot from Ryan Gosling or Denzel Washington.

2. That there is no nomination for Jonny Greenwood’s score for There Will Be Blood is just a crime. Music is as integral a part of that movie as Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance, and it too deserved to be recognized. Blood would still be great without the score, but it’s even better with it. [Update: Apparently, the score was not eligible. Who knew?]

3. Overjoyed that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova got a nomination for “Falling Slowly,” the song from Once. But jeez, the rest of that category is just embarrassing. Nothing from Hairspray or Into the Wild?? Hopefully “Falling Slowly” will be a lock to win now. As it should be anyway. (And in a perfect world, Once would also have been nominated for Best Picture.)

4. Norbit: 1, Hairspray: 0. That’s just wrong on so many levels, even if Norbit‘s nom is for makeup (no surprise, I guess).

You know, some people make a big deal about how “no one’s seen (or heard of) the nominated films.” Well, whose problem is that? The films nominated are very good. Go see them! Especially There Will Be Blood. I may actually go see it for a second time this weekend. And I guess I’m going to have to go see Atonement now after all, even though I really don’t have much interest.

But in the meantime, I’m rooting for most anything Blood-related. And so should you.

They Might Be Giants …

20 Jan

… but we can beat ’em. After all, we did just that three weeks ago.


Hey, the Pats have to beat up on someone in the Super Bowl. It might as well be a team from New York.

Some Thing Stupid

19 Jan

So here’s my question: if some random monster was on the attack in your city, and you were running for your life, and you were filming everything on your camcorder, and it was nighttime … at what point do you turn the camcorder off and just run like hell?

That’s the question I found myself asking multiple times during Cloverfield, the new flick from the J. J. Abrams factory.

Essentially, Cloverfield is Godzilla crossed with The Blair Witch Project.

It’s a horror movie for the YouTube generation. Continue reading →

Swedish Goodness

19 Jan

I really need to move. I say that not because of my annoying neighbors but because I went to IKEA today and I wanted to buy so much stuff. I almost bought a new rug for the bedroom and new pictures for my wall and a knife set to sit on my kitchen counter and a new desk chair and this, that, and the other. Why not, right? It’s all so cheap. Of course, I didn’t buy any of it, and I kept my purchases to just the glasses I went for and a feather duster (random). But I know I have to ramp up my search so I can buy that stuff.

Not that the trip was a waste. After all, I ate well: Swedish meatballs and mac ‘n’ cheese for lunch, a cinnamon roll on the way out … all the essentials. And it’s always a fun (and easy) trip out to Stoughton. But yeah, I hope I move soon so I can go back and fill my new place with all kinds of IKEA crap.

Victory!

19 Jan

The scoreboard now reads Martin: 1, Neighbors: 0. This morning, just after 9 a.m., my upstairs neighbor began to play her piano in the room right above my bedroom. Annoying. But then a violin joined in. Soon it sounded like there was a veritable chamber orchestra playing above my head, as I was trying to sleep in. So since my patience had finally run out, I decided to do what I should have done with my other neighbors a long, long time ago: I fought back. I grabbed a mop and banged on the ceiling three times. And what do you know, they stopped instantly. Minutes later, I looked out my window and saw my neighbor and her violin-playing friend (who, by the way, was not a violin-playing neighbor I knew about) scurry out of the building; they got in a car and drove away — most likely to a practice space at B.U., which if you ask me, is where they should have gone to begin with. What happened to common courtesy? I mean, do people really think that sort of thing is alright and that they won’t be disturbing anyone? ARGH!!! So call me happy this morning, even if I got up earlier than I would have liked. That’s the last time my neighbors will use this building to play their music. I hope they got the message.

I Am Your BROTHER … !

16 Jan


Aw jeez … in a moment of weakness, that show can really crack me up. Check out this clip from Wednesday night’s show — and then try to get the song out of your head.

Nice Jobs

16 Jan

What is it about Steve Jobs that makes his annual Macworld keynote address so damned engaging? I spent an hour and a half Tuesday night — after American Idol, of course — watching the video of his presentation while reading along with Engadget’s running commentary. And I’ll tell you, it was really fun. Yes, that’s in spite of that fact that Steve didn’t even announce anything nearly as exciting as the iPhone, like he did last year. (And I still have last year’s keynote saved as a podcast in my iTunes.) But the point is, it’s a keynote address, one that runs an hour and a half long, and it’s about technology stuff, and it’s very self-congratulatory. That’s not supposed to be exciting. But believe me when I tell you it’s really cool. If you love your iPod or your MacBook or your iMac (like I do), or you want one, I recommend watching. I doubt Steve will be remixed this year. Still, the real thing is pretty great.

She’s Still My Idol

15 Jan

American Idol starts tonight, so I thought I’d take a moment to play a quick game of “Where Is She Now?” with my favorite contestant from last year, Haley Scarnato.

Thanks to Haley Source and MySA.com (and my crack team of Interweb researchers), I’ve learned that Haley is now living in Nashville working on a “country pop” album that’ll be out sometime in 2008. On her allegedly official MySpace page you can hear one of her recent recordings.

And apparently, she’s still tight with Blake Lewis, Jordin Sparks, and Chris Richardson, and she’s going to be in Gina Glocksen’s wedding. Actually, she’s friends with Blake, Jordin, Gina, and Melinda Doolittle on MySpace.

Continue reading →
← Older Entries
Newer Entries →