The 90+ Degrees Media Marathon
In an ongoing effort to remain in fully air conditioned environs, Miss B. and I have absorbed many outstanding dishes from the media buffet.
Here is a list of appetizers and entrees we have recently consumed (in no particular order).
1. District 9 rocketed immediately to the Top 5 of my floating list of best sci-fi films. Sharlto Copley as Wikus van der Merwe is completely sensational - riveting, believable and deeply sympathetic. Oh, and the SFX were hands down the best I've ever seen.
2. The Rachel Madow Show - Every other talking head on television should just quit and she should have her own freakin' 24-hour show.
3. Except for Dylan Rattigan, whose other MSNBC show, Morning Meeting, is quickly proving that there ARE smart, rational people on TV talking about the news.
4. Oh, and also except for Jon Stewart ,who with a wink and nod to all of us who truly understand, has turned the Daily Show into the rabid watchdog of the advertising-and-drama driven 24-hour news networks. His interview tonight with "Lady Death Panels", Betsy McCaughey simply MUST be watched online when it goes live tomorrow...
5. I was reluctant to watch Nurse Jackie since I have several family members in the medical profession and hospital shows usually just piss me off, but it's really fucking good and without a doubt one of the most realistic portrayals of a drug addict ever televised.
6. Moon is another candidate for my list of best sci-fi films. It's ALL about Sam, who manages to top his performances in two other sci-fi films I hold dear, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Galaxy Quest.
7. Due to the fact that the electrical system in my apartment was being repaired (no more fires shooting from our outlets, yay!), we had to seek other air conditioning and finally got around to seeing The Hangover. I laughed more and harder than the last time I laughed long and hard in the theater, which was when I saw the 40 Year Old Virgin...
8. In the Loop popped up in our cable box's pay-per-view movies list. Knowing very little about it other than some well-regarded but mostly drowned-out buzz, we rented it and were completely and immediately sucked into its rapid-fire foul-mouthed parade of fools. There has been no sharper or funnier satire of governmental bullshit EVER. And it's probably the best filmed satire since Dr. Strangelove. No kidding.
9. Almost by default, I must add Smashing Magazine to this list since a large number of google searches over the past two months have sent me to their vast archives of actually helpful articles. What may appear at first to be little more than lists of lists is actually valuable to me for keeping up with new HTML/CSS tips, browsing for design inspiration, and occasionally learning something about Photoshop I didn't even know existed...
10. The Discovery Channel has hit me in my "RPG soft-spot" with The Colony, which is probably one of the most elaborate games ever staged and which reminds me a lot of sitting in a garage with my friends playing Gamma World when I was a teenager. For the record, I think Michael's a giant baby, George needs to eat a steak and grow a pair, and John is the man I want to be when I grow up.
11. While randomly flipping channels, I stopped to watch Rogue simply because it was the only movie on 20+ movie channels that wasn't already half-way through. This obscure Australian monster-crocodile flick was surprising in its subtlety, tension and startlingly realistic CG "hero" croc - and features a totally solid cast led by Rhada Mitchell, Michael Vartan and Sam Worthington.
