A Couch Potato’s Worst Nightmare

10 Sep

Entertainment Weekly’s annual Fall TV Preview issue is out, and that can only mean one thing: It’s time to set up my DVR so I don’t miss out on any of the new TV hitting airwaves over the course of the next month or so.

Every year I get the issue and I become interested in watching many of the new and returning shows. (Not that I needed the issue to tell me I was interested, but having them all in front of me like that solidifies my interest.) It’s like Christmas for a TV fan like me.

But it’s also a challenge because there’s not enough room on my DVR and not enough hours in the day to watch all these shows — especially if I actually want to have a life outside my apartment, which I do.

So my solution is simple: I have a three-strikes rule. I’ll do my best to watch what I want to, and if I get three episodes behind on any one show, I stop trying to watch it. That seems to work just fine. And it doesn’t take very long to pick out the good shows and the bad ones, the ones I should make time for and the ones I should give up on.

This year, I may need to apply that rule more readily, what with seven shows I have slated to watch on Tuesday nights alone.

So … what shows are on my must-watch list this year? To continue my annual tradition, here’s a list of what I’m looking forward to this fall: Continue reading →

Girls Behaving Badly for Fun and Profit

9 Sep

Why should guys have all the fun?

After years and years of watching men in movies like The Hangover do gross things and generally behaving badly, women are starting to step up to the plate and say, “Anything you can do, we can do too!” Which is why we now have movies like Bridesmaids at the multiplex, and actresses like Melissa McCarthy taking a dump in a bathroom sink on the big screen.

Good times.

Like with those guy-centric movies, the ones showing women behaving badly have been mixed. Some have definitely been better than others. And I suspect this will continue to be the case for some time.

Which brings us to the two most recent movies where female actresses get to show their less, well, demure side: For a Good Time, Call… and Bachelorette. Let’s look at them both, starting with the not-so-good one.

Continue reading →

I’m Ready for the Start of Something New

3 Sep

When you live in the general Boston area, it’s hard not to be reminded of the passage of time.

Every May, for example, when graduation season is in full swing, it’s only natural to take stock and think of all you’ve accomplished since you graduated. Have the years been good to you, or have you not gone all that far since “Pomp and Circumstance” was playing?

A similar thing happens every Labor Day weekend: As the city deals with the influx of college students and the chaos and hell of moving day, your first instinct is to be reminded that, oh no, another school year is starting and the city’s a lot more crowded and a lot louder than it was just days earlier. Continue reading →

The Bike Wants to Go Fast

2 Sep

The end of summer is always a slow time, what with people taking time off to enjoy the last gasp of these warm-weather months before things start up again and get busy.

So what a fun bit of counter-programming the movie Premium Rush is.

This brisk, action-packed story of a New York City bike messenger (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) caught in the middle of a suspicious delivery picks up the pace on these lazy days and gives the audience what feels like a quick cinematic shot of Jolt cola.

That is to say, it’s a refreshing but not completely satisfying caffeine boost. Continue reading →

Happy 7th Blogiversary to Me!

1 Sep

I never thought I’d be writing this blog post.

Seven years ago today, on September 1, 2005, I started a blog. I called it Martin’s Musings.

Really, I did so by accident. A friend had started a blog, and to comment on one of her posts, I had to create an account on Blogger.com. So all of a sudden I had a blog of my own.

In those early days, I had no real direction or raison d’être, and the random stuff I posted reflected that.

But over time, as I got the hang of blogging, and started to understand how it worked, Martin’s Musings got better and started to gain some legitimacy. Continue reading →

25 Things I Learned This Summer

31 Aug

Where does the time go?

It feels like just yesterday it was Memorial Day, and we were making all kinds of plans. Now here we are at Labor Day weekend and summer is over.

Sure, I know. Summer doesn’t technically end till September 21 — or, if you really have a hard time letting go, when the weather actually cools down sometime in October. But mentally, I think we all consider the end of summer to be on Labor Day. Right?

The last three months were great for me; I hope you can say the same for yourself. They were relaxing, fun, and productive, and while I didn’t get to everything on my to-do list, I was plenty busy and I enjoyed myself.

I also learned quite a bit. So here, before the sun sets on summer, are just 25 of the many things I learned over the past three months.

Continue reading →

Two Reviews, One Blog Post

30 Aug

At first glance, the two movies Celeste and Jesse Forever and Sleepwalk with Me would seem to have little in common.

The first is a story of best friends who get married, only to realize it was a mistake, and then have a hard time moving on.

The latter is a dramatized monologue about a guy trying to make it as a standup comedian, who can’t seem to do the right thing and dump his girlfriend. Oh yeah, and he sleepwalks too.

So why, then, are these two movies appearing in the same review? Because they both engendered the same response from me — meh — and I didn’t feel like writing two separate reviews.

Ah, the benefits of not being a professional movie critic. Continue reading →

Day or Night, I Love Walking This City

29 Aug

I have a confession to make.

Remember earlier this year when I said I was going to use part of my newfound free time to work out?

And remember how I was true to my word on that first day and went to the gym to use the equipment?

Well … I haven’t gone back to the gym since then. Not even once.

Oh well.

I’m sure you’re surprised to learn this.

But here’s the thing: Even though I haven’t been using the gym, I have been staying active. Continue reading →

Thanks for Keeping Me Alive

27 Aug

In the late 1960s, a singer-songwriter named Rodgriguez was developing a following in Detroit.

Described as an “inner-city poet” and a “wandering spirit,” and hailed as a peer of Bob Dylan, Rodriguez released his debut album, the critically acclaimed Cold Fact, in 1970. A year later, he released his follow-up, Coming from Reality.

But despite the accolades, very few copies of the two albums were sold, and Rodriguez was soon dropped by the record label.

That’s just one of the confounding things we learn in the excellent new documentary Searching for Sugar Man. Continue reading →

Could You Ever Quit Social Media Cold Turkey?

21 Aug

A friend of mine disappeared last week.

One minute he was there, and the next, I couldn’t find him.

Perhaps I should clarify: He disappeared from Facebook last week. He had posted something funny, I commented on it, and when I went to look at the post an hour or two later, it was gone — as was his entire profile.

I checked Twitter, and he wasn’t there either.

These days, that’s tantamount to someone disappearing off the face of the earth. Continue reading →

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