Here is my recent netflix activity and thoughts

"Punch Drunk Love" - Even better than I thought it would be. The chaotic, clanging music drove me near insanity. Really funny, and scary at the same time occasionally. Anderson taking Sandler's typical man-child and turning it into something completely different and real was fucking nuts.

"The Squid and the Whale" - hated it, didn't finish it. One of the most pretentious movies I have ever seen. Here's my attempt at Squid and the Whale dialogue -
Jeff Daniels - "People are dumb, yes, people are really dumb."
Daniels' son - "I like name dropping authors and famous works of prrrrrrose"
Daniels - "Me too. Kafka, Kafka Kafka, Well I guess it's time for me to go do something really emotional and kinda mean spirited."
Daniels' son - "Kafka, Kafka, Kafka"

Simply name-dropping famous writers doesn't make your writing great, it just makes it obnoxious. How about using some of Kafka's themes, etc as homage? Then again i dind't even finish it, so maybe they make good by the end.

At least the camera work and Wes Anderson style colors was really cool, but jeez.

"Ratatouille" - Pixar never disappoints (cept "Cars"). Its like old Hollywood, Well-told stories, with real emotions and complex themes for adults, and lots of fun for the kids. So much better than animated movies like "Shrek" that people say are "really funny" and "have humor for adults and kids." Ratatouille didn't have to throw in ham-handed sexual innuendo for adults to laugh at to keep them entertained between kid-aimed idiocy. (OK, there was one moment of innuendo, and it was great.)

"Michael Clayton" - The film never treats the audience like an idiot, never over-explains like other thrillers, and they managed to make a thriller void of any Luddite fear mongering ("Untraceable").
But I do think they tried to disguise a really simple plot by masterfully executing it in a gray and vague way that forced you to pay attention and figure it out yourself.

"Garden State" - I hate the word quirky, but it was quirky. It was funny and charming and clever. It was good. Zach Braff bothers me as a dramatic actor. He just seems to let his jaw hang loose and mouth breaths all over his serious lines. Anyone whose perspective on the world was changed by this film (most of the 20-year-olds in my Film Appreciation class) needs to get out more, and avoid being pandered to so easily.

"The Wire" Takes a while to get into, I'm on the third season now, but it is as good as everyone said it was. Legalize it.

"I'm Not There" Too non-linear for me to enjoy. I'm a huge Dylan fan, so I loved the music, loved the myth of Dylan represented through several fictitious characters, but it was just too abstract for me. I guess I'm square.

"Repo Man" "Lets go eat sushi and not pay for it." hahahaha, 'nuff said, it's a punk classic.

"Adaptation" Another one as good as everyone said it was. Kaufman is a fucking genius.

I haven't ever blogged, so I'm starting with a list

!. Finally downloaded The Hold Steady's "Boys and Girls in America."
Bloggers like to call them America's best bar band, but Springfield watering holes are more likely to play Soulja Boy over the stereo than pay any band whose singer's timbre vagualy recals Elvis Costello.

@. I enjoyed walking around Chicago like a wide eyed yokel this past week. Even the run down blocks of dilapidated buildings were more interesting than the run down blocks in Springfield. I go to Chicago about once a year, and every time it serves as some sort of magical motivation to find a way the fuck out of spfld. Even the music in (I'm assuming) non-trendy bars was heads and shoulders above that in spfld. A tequila lounge played a Beatles melody via sax over some trip-hop before drifting into the Beastie's "Get it Together" followed by Biggie's "Juicy" verses mashed on a Kanye beat.

#. "I'm Not There" was a disappointment. Blanchet played a man fairly well, but it felt more like that '80s teen flick where the girl pretends to be a boy and awkward moments ensue. It played homage to Dylan's self-myth making machine, blending fiction and fact in some scenes, but favoring straight out fiction in too many.

$$$. I hope to get more comfortable with this blog writing tone. We will see ...