1. The Sopranos season premier was better than most films I've seen recently. As GC calls it, 'little one-hour masterpieces." Somehow, I see why they justify their $100 box sets, as it really is the cost of that many minutes in film, "not TV," as HBO says. Not that I will buy it. I want single episodes in my collection: last night's; last season's meditation on mob masculinity's relationship to homophobia; the Pine Barrens episode directed by Buscemi; and the one directed by Mike Figgis.
2. I'm in abusive relationship with two cheap DVD players. One, the multi-regional (even PAL) Sampo, won't play discs very often, but when it does, they're in awesome surround sound. The other, the Sungale, has shitty sound, but always plays discs--until it decides to carve a circular scratch into them. So I thought I might buy this:
because I want it anyway (someday) and it would absorb the cost of a new DVD player, too. Notice the cylon fighter control. I bet your hand mushes right into that thing while another line inserts into your spinal column. Fuck yeah! But it costs mimimum $600. When I took my car in today to fix a flat, get it inspected, and get an oil change, guess what? It will cost me $600! Irony is a bitter old man with a grey beard, fishy breath, and cheap coffee he brews on the stove of his one-room shack.
3. In talking with my new friend S about literature, I realized that as much as I have contempt for "feel good" texts, she knows infinitely more about her chosen genre--romance novels--than I do about my genre. I know I won't be able to read many romance novels, but I'm fascinated by their ability to manipulate readers using the keep-the-lovers-together-then-pull-them-apart method. Like I don't LOVE keep-the-monster-away-then-make-it-jump-out.
4. I've been re-reading my dissertation and am horrified by the number of typos. I am cursed never to see them until after the whole world can download them.
5. The Halloween trailer is finally out. I say with trepidation, it could be good. I liked The Devil's Rejects, but not so much House of a Thousand Corpses. I'm not expecting the usual shot-by-shot aping of Carpenter's masterpiece, but a making it bloodier and grittier: grindhousier. Let the flaming begin on this one: I won't defend him. But I think we just can't tell.
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/halloween.html
Monday, April 9, 2007
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5 comments:
Where the fuck are you going that a flat fix, inspection and oil change costs $600?! Wherever it is, STOP. That's way, way, WAY too much for all that.
Also, PS3 is selling like balls. Why? Because it's insanely-expensive and has no killer, exclusive games. GTA IV will be on XBox 360, as will Halo 3, which will be exclusive and unbelievably awesome.
Consult with Keith on this as well. He has much knowledge.
A "tire rod" I believe, had to be completely replaced, and the whole tire itself--from sitting in my driveway for two weeks. All my fault.
Yeah the PS3 might have awesome specs, but no good games. GTA IV won't be enough.
Saw the Sopranos. The big, howling fat guy fight was fun, but I'm really tired of these charactes acting exactly the same for ten fucking years. Lots of yelling, and assholish behavior, and not enough interesting mob stuff. Blah.
No way! It's all supposed to move post-Godfather, etc, and happen entirely within the domestic sphere. They lost a lot of viewers when the mob stuff went away and it was all about Carmela's anger and control, but I think that's where it should stay. I think it's really not part of the gangster/mob genre.
I rather liked the fight because it wasn't about guns or in an urban setting, like the Bing. Tony was staring at the water, and the loons became the ducks from the first episode of season one--brilliant. He knows he's old and had to pull out his passive agressive weapons rather than his agressive ones. The arc of his character is to get more and more depraved and sociopathic, and he's not going to get that way with mere guns and goons.
First, with regard to B.E.M.'s initial post, I have tried to recommend a solid, cheap mechanic to B these past years to no avail. I have come to accept B's proclivity to overspend on his VW--I liken it to overspending on my cat. Irrational? Yes, but alas, "there's always a wildcard where love is involved." (Name the film reference for that last line and I'll give you a cookie.)
Next, I disagree with one of B's minor points: The Sopranos really is a part of the gangster/mob genre. But I agree with his overall opinion--the show is generally excellent. I think it is, if not a reinvention of the mob genre, an expansion of the new direction it took with the early Godfather films. Both Sopranos and GF I and II, in turn, took their cue from the late Cagney masterpiece WHITE HEAT. The Sopranos did so more directly, since the Godfather films were all about patriarchy and Cagney's movie was about matriarchy (a la Ma Barker).
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