The 100 Film Initiative

Being a TV enthusiast (I even majored in television), my knowledge of the film world has been lacking. In 2007, I decided to change this by watching 100 movies for the first time. Sadly, work, TV (both on cable and on DVD) and improv kept me from completing my goal. But can anyone scoff at seeing 80 movies in a year? Yes, some of you can. But for me, a movie every 4.5 days is a mighty accomplishment. This year has had its ups and downs, and here they are in order of least favorite to most favorite.

And for all you year-end list enthusiasts, my 2007 films will be in gold.

80. Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem
79. Transformers
When seeing utter crap like Aliens vs. Predator and Alvin & The Chipmunks, this stinkbomb was used as the measuring device. AVP-R was determined to be worse because whereas some creativity was used to make Transformers, none was used in AVP-R (although both had about the same amount of subtlety and class). A&tC was deemed better because it...well...didn't offend me as much. But really, I can't think of a worse time I've had in a theater during a movie that should have been all out stupid/glorious fun. The plot wasn't there, the acting was horrible, the humor disturbing, everything about it aside from the special effects was a misfire.
78. Zoo
77. Brick
Pretty painful to get through. I don't really enjoy noir to begin with, but I tend to enjoy anachronistic storytelling means re-imagined in high schools. And I would have enjoyed this more...if anyone in the movie had been at all believable as human beings existing on the planet earth anytime in the last decade. The script was 100% 1940s-derived, and if there's one thing I hate in movies, it's characters acting in ways you know they really never would (like Melinda & Melinda's world where everyone is a jazz enthusiast).
76. Battle Royale
75. Alvin & The Chipmunks
74. Melinda & Melinda
73. Bad Boys
72. Fire In The Sky
71. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
70. Trekkies 2
69. The Howling
68. Unbreakable
67. Starwoids
66. Die Hard 2: Die Harder
65. Beverly Hills Cop
64. Grindhouse
This would have been higher if there wasn't a good 30 minutes of Death Proof where I wanted to drive a car through the theater and murder people to make up for the lack of it on screen. Really, I don't care about 1960s garage rock bands and John Hughes references when Kurt Russell kills people with his car. Give me more car killings!
63. Strangers With Candy
62. Interstella 5555
61. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
60. Superman
Really underwhelming, especially considering the two decades of hype I've had stuffed in my brain. Slow, bordering on boring, and a totally laughable time-reversal at the end.
59. Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
58. Thank You For Smoking
57. Zach Galifianakis: Live
56. The Graduate
55. Cars
54. Singing In The Rain
53. Hairspray
52. Polyester
51. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
50. Night & Fog
49. Stripes
48. Matchstick Men
47. The Elephant Man
46. Barton Fink
45. Bottle Rocket
44. Super Size Me
43. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
42. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
41. Sid & Nancy
40. Dan In Real Life
39. Walk The Line
38. Pulp Fiction
37. Capturing the Friedmans
36. Grey Gardens
35. The Celluloid Closet
34. This Is Spinal Tap
33. Deliverance
32. Die Hard With A Vengeance
Isn't this movie awesome? I've started to appreciate movies more if they utilize Manhattan as a setting well. Plus Sam Jackson being angry never gets old.
31. The Big Lebowski
30. The Comedians Of Comedy
29. The Birdcage
28. Jesus Camp
Scary, both because of the intense subject matter and the memories it brings back of my childhood. One of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
27. United 93
26. Little Miss Sunshine
25. Rear Window
24. Waiting for Guffman
23. Amelie
22. Wet Hot American Summer
21. In & Out
20. Planes, Trains & Automobiles
19. The Darjeeling Limited
Did a movie polarize critics more than this one this year? People either Beatles-loved it or Limp Bizkit-hated it. I quite enjoyed it, if I do say so myself. It was entertaining, touching, funny, and I enjoy being manipulated by slow motion and old songs, especially if that old song is a Kinks one. I guess Wes Anderson's shtick is getting old to some people, but I think it worked long enough to make me a fan of this film.
18. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
17. Superbad
16. Die Hard
15. Adaptation
14. Inherit The Wind
13. Stranger Than Fiction
12. Citizen Ruth
11. Crash
10. Match Point
9. Coal Miner's Daughter
8. American Beauty
7. Children Of Men
6. Harold and Maude
5. Spider-Man 3
4. Fargo
3. DiG!
I don't even know how to describe this documentary. I know that watching a film about the struggling careers of two feuding 90s indie bands (The Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre) doesn't sound interesting to people who aren't familiar with either of those two bands, but I truly feel that the storytelling created through the editing and the characters captured so brutally real that they transcend the bias of fandom and speak on a purely thematic level powerful enough to appeal to anyone who enjoys rock and roll music.
2. Juno
This may be the first non-comic and non-Star Wars related film to actually make me giddy while watching it. This is what real people sound like. They speak with distinct voices full of their own slang and inside jokes. And the way Diablo Cody made every character three dimensional and even relatable is awe-inspiring. I hope that I can do that one day. Ellen Page deserves an Oscar and Michael Cera is gunning for one two.
1. Hot Fuzz
Okay, I was pretty giddy when I watched Shaun of the Dead because of the distinct new voice I was hearing. The boys Pegg and Wright hit another home run, topping Shaun by making a movie that I know was as much fun to create as it is to watch. And that's what I appreciate. Every detail in the story, every line, just everything, is fun a thousand times over without ever devolving into retardo-silliness. If I had it my way, these guys would make every movie to come out from now on. I'd love to see them do Transformers 2.

Freeman

I got to shake Martin Freeman's hand today. For those of you who don't know who Martin Freeman is, I'll let Wikipedia clear that up for you:

"Martin Freeman (born September 8, 1971) is an English actor. He is most famous for his roles as Tim Canterbury in the BBC's Golden Globe winning comedy The Office, and as Arthur Dent in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

He was a guest on an XM Radio program today and I got to tag along and escort him up to the fifth floor. I made sure to introduce myself and, when leaving, I stuck my hand out again and waited for him to notice, thus getting another shake (this wasn't awkward, the wait time was only a second). I did NOT reveal any of the following facts:

1. I cried at the series finale of the UK Office.
2. I contemplated making an action figure for Tim Canterbury (his Office character) out of a Fox Mulder and Arthur Dent figure.
3. A picture of him as Tim appeared in my 'heroes' section on my myspace page for years.
4. I was cast to play him in a stage production of an episode of The Office. I was cast by myself and this idea only made it to the early levels of planning, but the whole thing was cast (David, Gareth, Dawn).
5. I was him for Halloween.
6. I run one of the first, if not the first Tim Canterbury myspace profiles.

He's short (5'7" according to his imdb profile) so that makes him infintely cooler in my book. A good day.

"Coal Miner's Daughter" is a great great movie. This and "Walk The Line" both make me think of/miss home. Is there a southern-film genre? I think I'm running out of country superstar biopics to watch, and I really don't even like old country music all that much and I hate new country. I just miss the Southerny aspects of my old life.

"Manband" has been an awesome show, the three episodes I watched. It was both insanely cheesy (the music video, "Whatchu think'bout nights in manHYATtin") and touching (Color Me Badd guy has a drinking problem and a catty wife! LFO guy has Leukemia!). Even though their songs are so 1997 and their voices leave a lot to be desired, I want them to succeed.

The new Go! Team album is too much fun, but of course not as strong as Thunder, Lightning, Strike. It's still better than Challengers and Kala, so it might be the album of 2007 after New Magnetic Wonder.

My 401 class show was yesterday. I think I performed strongly and I, for the most/most important part, had fun. 401 was filled with mixed emotions and some really tough scenes, but Delaney was a great teacher who gave some of the best notes I've ever gotten. He was always honest and also surprised me with how friendly and open he was. It was a good experience and I hope to start 501 soon.

So hungry!

If this blog was a child, it would have quietly passed away from malnourishment a couple days ago, slumped in my closet, the dying cries being drowned out by "Grip Like A Vice" by The Go! Team and the evangelical ramblings of those crazy kids in Jesus Camp.

Here's what I've been up to. The first sentence informs you of what the rest of the paragraph is about, so skip the ones you don't care about.

1. I acquired a roommate at the start of this month, her musings can be read here (along with pictures of our apartment, documentation I have not been able to produce ever since I was robbed). Living with someone has both ups and downs. I can no longer walk around the apartment in my underwear, marveling at my stunning physique in the giant mirror doors in my foyer. My ego may start to suffer from the lack of self-ogling. On the plus side, I've actually had meals and someone to watch movies with, so it's a winning situation. And who knows, she may eventually warm to the idea of me flexing my nearly nude self. Um, a lot of that was a joke.

2. My improv group that has been practicing since May finally has a name and a debut date. We are Bad Data (myspace link) after oh-so-much deliberation and our first show will be at Under St. Mark's on September 1st, with Sherpa. I feel a lot more confident about myself when I'm with these guys (or gals, actually, me and Mitch are far outnumbered) and I think we're on the way to forming a nice solid unit. Crazy, I've been performing with Jess and Katey for almost a year now. A year! I'm looking forward to getting into the performing scene; I feel a bit like Rob in High Fidelity when he finally releases an album he produced after years of loving music. You become a part of what you love.

3. I started interning at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater the first Friday of this month. The internship lasts the duration of two back-to-back UCB classes (usually 4-6 months), the first of mine begins at the start of September. It's a special sketch writing class focusing on writing for Saturday Night Live. I'm way excited about it. Back to the internship, I'm loving it so far. I love being a wee bit responsible for the running of the theater. I feel like I'm earning my keep in a way, that this differentiates me from just being a touristy person stopping by. I feel like I'm paying my dues, I feel as good as I did when I was interning at Late Show. Also, this is as close as I'm going to come to feeling like a cast member in Empire Records. It's awesome.

4. My 401 class with Michael Delaney is another case entirely. We had our first class show (of two) on Monday and it went....okay. I've been struggling, or just getting by, in class, not really making any huge mistakes or getting a lot of notes. Until Sunday. I got a weird note. Delaney told me I tend to always play character games that are fine, but they take focus away from my scene partner and can become dull and boring to the audience. Okay sometimes, but I do this in every scene I'm in, so, no good. It was also a compliment because he said I'm clever and a really funny guy, and that I have the ability to take anything (anything) tossed at me in a scene and justify it immediately. That's good. I just need to learn how to apply that to enhancing my scene partner and not myself.

5. I'm doing poorly with my 100 Film Initiative. I've only seen 53 movies this year which puts me about two months behind schedule. No doubt how busy I've been has affected this, but on the plus side, I think this is a record. I can't think of any other time when I've seen 53 movies in a year, so, go me. Stranger Than Fiction was the last one I watched and I thought it was really touching, so much so it deserved a five star rating (thus causing an even greater rift in me and Ashley's Netflix similarity rating). I also got to see Superbad a good while before it opens and I can say that it is good. Highly entertaining with just enough smarts and true character work to balance out the gross out humor and constant barrage of f-bombs (it distracted me at times, so what?).

6. I bought tickets to see The Apples In Stereo in September. I would have gotten Go! Team tickets but they sold out before I even knew they were on sale. This greatly irritates me since every time I watch a clip of them on YouTube, I become immediately envious of the people in the front row getting sprayed by the sweat being blasted off of Ninja's body by her jubilant jumping and dancing. I mean, they have a great live show, even if the vocals are completely different live than on the record (I'm still not sure if I have the UK or US version of the debut album, or if the supposed changes are even noticeable). The Hives have a date in October not opening for Maroon 5, so I have to figure out when those go on sale and get them. Seeing The Hives live will complete a 5 year long mission of mine.

7. Comic books are great. I spent The Great Flood Day last week (right?) reading the start of Bill Sienkiewicz's run on New Mutants and I haven't been let down. The art is solid (better at the start than towards the end) and Claremont's characterization is a thing to study and emulate. The man was a genius. Reading these issues for the first time (yep!) makes me love Cannonball and Wolfsbane even more. And yeah, shame on me for reading them for the first time. I got most of the 80s spin-off books at random times and usually in bulk, so I never made it through all of them.

8. I'm G.I. Joe crazy right now and the 25th Anniversary of the relaunched Hasbro line is the reason. The action figures that are coming out/have come out are breathtaking. Seriously. I spent a whole afternoon reading about the Joes on wikipedia and have decided to buy back issues of the Marvel Comics series. I wonder what happened to me and the Joes. I've been a fan for as long as I can remember and they stood the test of time, outliving TMNT and existing alongside Star Wars and the X-Men until the comic ended in 1995. But then they just sorta faded away, I guess my outgrowing toys (in the playing-with-them capacity) and the disappearance of the comic and cartoon erasing them from my mind and day-to-day existence.

9. I've been included in a sketch group that is tentatively called Zartan (after I realized that every member of Cobra's code-names would be a great improv/sketch team name). I performed in a sketch a couple weeks ago at UCB's "Liquid Courage" (a show where anyone can perform a sketch, as long as you sign up and, you know, have a sketch prepared). The goal is to do this every time "Courage" is offered and eventually start performing at other venues and putting things on YouTube.

10. Things that annoy me: FedEx/delivery people not having pens when they deliver something and need you to sign for it. Subway rides to Brooklyn.

Hopefully this was enough to keep the child that is my blog alive for a little while longer.

Spider-Man 3

I've seen it.

Here's what I thought.

And I'm spoiler crazy.

I'm also completely biased, since Spider-Man 2 is constantly at war with X2: X-Men United for the spot of Digsy's Second Favorite Movie Ever. SM2's themes, it's acting, it's over the top direction, and that dang subway scene, they all get to me and stand together as many many reasons as to why movies exist. It's a perfect movie, in my opinion.

So not only does Spider-Man 3 have a lot to live up to, I'm also more inclined to look at it through rose colored black-rim glasses. And really, it does live up to it. I knew there was no way this would top SM2; I just hoped it would be good. And it is.

The acting is really kicked up a notch in this film. Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire have pretty solid chemistry as Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker and, goshdarnit, I root for them. I want those two to be together, even if their babies would have the most jacked up mouth ever (her gnarly front teeth, his awkward overbite). I've never been a huge fan of James Franco's Harry Osborn, but I love him on Freaks & Geeks so this may just be an annoying character. Yeah, Harry's annoying. He's like Luke in Star Wars: A New Hope but...he never grows up. He's whining about power converters for three movies.

The three new additions to the cast are so superb, they almost steal the movie. Sandman as a villain was, initially, a bore. Seriously, after Green Goblin and Dr. Octopus, Sandman was going to be the big bad? No? But Thomas Haden Church was great casting and he really makes you feel for poor Flint Marko. I mean, he gets a seriously raw deal and, thanks to his powers, can never enjoy a tasty beverage or take a shower again. Using very few words, Church sells Marko/Sandman as a realistic villain with a decent motive. Church manages to emote through sand, a lot of the time. Hard work, but he was up to it.

Bryce Dallas Howard took some time off from making the worst movies ever ("The Village" and "Lady in the Water" anyone?) to make a downright head turning debut as Gwen Stacy. Holy crap, she was born to play this role. She doesn't do much, but the few scenes she's in, she is Gwen Stacy. Blonde, confident, black headband, I was totally expecting her to get thrown off a bridge and hear her neck snap, I was that convinced. Kirsten Dunst can go join a Smashing Pumpkins cover band (she looks like Billy Corgan) for all I care, BDH is ready to go.

Lastly, can I please watch a movie starring Eddie Brock? Topher Grace has such a presence on screen and he just rules every scene he's in. He's hilarious, creepy, intimidating and pathetic all at the same time. This is the best thing to come out of "That 70s Show" since...ever. He makes a great turn as a villain and I wish there was more of him, even if it was odd seeing Topher Grace's head popping out of Venom's body.

The best thing about the movie is how it teeters from being straight up awesome and being downright creeptastic when Peter Parker goes Fall Out Boy with his symbiote hair dye and eyeliner. His libido-strut down the street is hilarious, as is his sexy stare down with Betty Brant. But the dance scene with Gwen and his subsequent rage at MJ is...wow. Something you don't want to see. There's also a butt load of action in the film, and while it's all emotionally charged and relevant (Peter reaching out for Aunt May's engagement ring while being attacked by Harry sticks with me), none of it is as moving as the subway action sequence in SM2. I also loved the scene between Peter and Ursula involving the cookies. Tobey plays a jerk acting sweet so well.

There's a big ol' sense of coincidence throughout this movie that can kinda distract if you let it. Like, the meteor carrying the symbiote just happens to land near Peter and MJ. Flint Marko really killed Uncle Ben. Harry gets amnesia from his fight with Peter just long enough to further the plot. Eddie is at the same cathedral as Peter when the symbiote gets knocked off him. It's all somewhat plausible and the film tries to explain away most of it, but sometimes it comes across as rather tiring. Also, really, darnit, I want a Spider-Man movie where he's just Spider-Man from beginning to end. No manipulation, no giving up, just Spider-Man versus his bad guy. Stiiiiill, it's all good and I think revenge is a fine theme to explore in this film and it finds it's way into every story.

The lack of stakes also kinda got to me, since the world is never in danger. But then again, Spider-Man is not Superman. He deals with his family and friends primarily; he's not going off to Russia to stop nuclear bombs or flying into space to destroy an asteroid. MJ being in danger is as big as the end of the world to Spider-Man, and the delicate pacing and complex characterization of the characters so far gets that point across just fine to the audience.

Overall, this was fine. This was good and worth the wait. Loads of action, loads of comedy. It's a fun movie with lots of fun moments, the fun moments and great acting overshadowing some of the more dicey plot elements.

And remember, I'm biased.

And love is blind.

MY SCORE: **** (out of 5)

I need some time in the sunshine

I wore a t-shirt this weekend. A different one both days, but a lone t-shirt nonetheless. No sweater, no long sleeve shirt, no multiple jackets. Just a t-shirt with a light jacket brought along (just in case). First time this has happened all year and I am glad. Walking to 301 class on Sunday was some sort of crazy joy, listening to my iPod while walking in the sun. I was even smiling at tourists, feeling really happy for their obvious vacation as they wrangled their anxious children. I remember what it was like to be in NYC in the summer on vacation and I'm glad other people are experiencing it.

This is now, the first real weekend of spring. I'll have another tune to yodel in a month, I'm sure.

I spent Friday night watching the entire first season of The Real World, set in New York in 1992. Much like last Friday's viewing of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I got to see NYC in all it's turn-of-the-decade grime as well as be shocked at how well the show stands up today. So many early 90s stereotypes are in the show and they all voice their beliefs so well! So many important issues are touched on (gayness, abortion, drug dealing, racism racism racism, homelessness, ticks on dogs) that I really regret loving the current Real World as much as I do. The show, when it started, was really important and it's turned into a nasty-fest. Not even the later-early seasons (Miami-Seattle) were as aware as the first three seasons.

I watched United 93 on Saturday and had my day thoroughly brought down. Really good movie but, geez, not a movie to watch in the middle of the day. Thankfully Louie came over and we watched an episode of Buffy and Hairspray. Two things that brought my mood up greatly and another two films in my 100 Film Initiative (I'm at 27, I think). I went to the final rooftop party with my friends from Late Show, but we cut out after a little while to go on an adventure.

A karaoke adventure.

Here. At SpotLightLive on Broadway.

The restaurant is at least three stories with a stage complete with lights and real instruments for the back up singers to incompetently strum during songs that "rock." The song selection for such a fancy establishment was appalling, but they made up for it in wild interactive features. Each table had a touch screen (because those are always efficient) computer that let you search for songs (all 38 of them), send messages to other tables, rate people performing, and watch past performances.

I was ready to sign up, the large stage, lights, and MTV reject backup singers did not frighten me. I came up with a list of songs to do on the way there. Knowing this was a fancy place, I thought they'd have a wider array of songs than the dinky sushi bar we normally go to (which has four Strokes songs and a couple Arctic Monkeys songs too, to show how random that place is). I planned on doing REM's "It's The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", anything by The Decemberists (a risk, but about as random as Arctic Monkeys), any B-52's song (preferably "Private Idaho" or one I haven't done), and "Ho" by Ludacris. But this place had none, not even "Love Shack." Somehow, they had "All Day and All Of The Night" by the Kinks, a staple of mine. I requested it, got on the list, all that. My turn got skipped, so I asked what the deal was. Apparently they didn't have it in their computer so it didn't show up on their thing, and there wasn't anything they could do about it. They had never heard of the song and wanted to know how it went, which I refused to enlighten them by singing. Whatever.

The rest of my party went and demanded it be found, and it was. I went on stage and rocked out with those gosh darn back up singers. These singers, let me tell you, sing the entire song on top of you in order to make every performance bearable, I guess. I don't need this. So I made sure to pump up the energy, pick up my mic stand, and do my best rock and roll screams. I showed them what's what.

The rest of my group had equally awesome experiences. Todd jumped on stage and broke it down whiteboy style to "Pump Up The Jam" (the most random song for karaoke ever, I'd say) and later did a paralyzing rendition of No Mercy's "Where Do You Go" after a mishap similar to mine. Ryan did "Sweet Caroline" which really brought the place to its knees, the backup singers looking confused at his crooning, and Reagan poured all of his sass into "Faith" and truly touched the audience.

We owned that karaoke bar, the only person coming close to us being the lady who looked like Kevin Sorbo who sang "Black Horse & The Cherry Tree." She was awesome.

Sunday was a lot quieter, but I had a nice 301 class. I have discovered that my gift is bringing opening games back around, full circle, to the suggestion. We did monologue hotspot, suggestion being tennis, and it got way far away from tennis for about 5 minutes. Most people had forgotten the suggestion, but I managed to link photographs to my time at yearbook and the awkward pictures of tennis players we had to go through. Yes, I was thinking of Nicole. I did this a couple more times during the organic openings we started learning. I only wish I could apply this confidence to my scenes, which seem to be okay. I don't think anyone is afraid to be in scenes with me, I just have noticed that I freeze up a lot and play the same character over and over again, mostly out of that same freezed-up-fear. Oy.

I saw Louie's form, Hotboard, done at the Magnet after class. It was really enjoyable and Louie did a great job of putting the cast together. The form itself was really cool, very quick and lots of song references (which I'm a fan of). I hope it's successful, since it deserves to be, and he gets to do it more often.

I start my 202 class with Joe Wengert on Wednesday. This is going to be a busy week.

Super Weekender

The past couple days have run through my life like gang busters. I haven't had much time to blog or do anything that involves me at home. Friday night was Louie's and Heidi's (his roommate) seder of the rock and roll variety. Passover seders are normally like this; this one involved Talking Heads, Freddy Krueger, the Beatles, and lots of other pop culture-y items. It was good fun and I enjoyed hanging out with people, being in the company of a house party. The art of the house party seems to be lost on New York City. Too many birthdays are celebrated in bars and I don't think I'll ever see show of any sort in what was formerly a living room in NYC. Murfreesboro citizens, be thankful for your homes that inside of which you party.

Saturday was spent designing a flyer for my friend Jeffrey Marx's upcoming sketch show at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. I've only been in the city 8 months and I'm about to have something that I designed inside of the most important place (to me) in all of the city. Never mind the fact that I was never hired to design anything for anyone in Tennessee. I hope this leads to more. Saturday evening was my ramshackle improv practice group with some of my fave classmates. It was good and successful, as successful as it can be without a coach. Yoink. But we had fun and any time that I get to hang out with people at my apartment is a good time. Went to see Grindhouse that night. A mixed bag leaning towards good, that movie is. "Planet Terror" was great fun, but "Death Proof" was painful to watch with most of that pain being the "Stop talking, shut up, just SHUT UP, please do something, anything, STOP STOP SHUT UP NO MORE TALK AAAHHHH!!" kind, some being the "this action is so intense it hurts!" kind. Grindhouse was the 23rd entry in The 100 Film Initiative, I do believe.

Louie got to experience Easter/springtime holiday as I know it when we went to his teammate Alexis' brunch. There was a smorgasbord of breakfast food fresh from Paula Deen's cookbook and Easter egg dying. This was the first time in a long time that I've done anything egg-related for Easter. Sunday night I saw TJ & Dave do improv and it was more inspirational and enjoyable than last time. A nice monthly tradition.

I returned to work yesterday but that did not make my day uneventful. No no no! I saw The Protomen last night, fresh from Murfreesboro and thriving in NYC. There was an actual line of people there to see them, including teeny children, pre-teens, and high schoolers that you just know wear t-shirts with wolves on them. The rest of the crowd was the adult type, don't worry. People were pumping their fists, singing along, doing air guitar, all this to a band from Murfreesboro that features people that I hang/hung out with on a semi-regular basis. It was a crazy night and I'm so glad that the band is doing so well. Lots of pride in my hometown.

I couldn't hang out after the show since I had to get up early early to meet Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) at XM.

That post is coming

The picture of me in a Simon and Nick sandwich is too.

$$ Bills Ya'll

I have a roommate. Life is good. This means that I now have an extra $550 for the next two months to, you know, be able to live on. Of course the thought of having money is completely dismantling the good lil' spender I had become. I had dinner delivered Monday night. I bought myself a sandwich for lunch yesterday. I spent $20 on picture frames for the decoration of my newly healthily furnished room (pictures to come soon!). If I can finish Melinda & Melinda I'll return it and get back on track with The 100 Film Initiative. I've only watched Borat and Hot Fuzz in the last month. I'm falling behind.

M&M is not as good as the candy that just popped into your head after reading that abbreviation. Woody, seriously, people like those in your movies don't exist. And those that do aren't enough to make your movie successful, nor do they probably care about seeing themselves represented on the big screen. No one discusses philosophy constantly. No one is insanely well-versed in classical music, especially current classical musicians. It's annoying. Woody, your movies are loved by hipster indie Wes Anderson loving twentysomethings who have studied your films in college and cite Manhattan as a turning point in their film-viewing lives. This fan base loves ScarJo because of Ghost World and Lost in Translation and loves that you love her (Match Point is great). This fan base doesn't give a rat crap about any of the things your characters give a rat crap about and man, it's really hard to relate to them. Woody, stop making pop culture references or start making some that make sense in 2007. There are plenty of equally pretentious bands that are just dying to be referenced by your latest young muse (Arcade Fire, hello!).

And also, try making a movie where no one cheats on their spouse.

I'm trying to think of things to buy with my money. The number one thing on the list is a digital camera, a nice one that's small and portable. A nice zoom and big ol' mega pixels would be good, but the portability is key. My last camera was pretty nifty but pretty bulky. I need this so I can take pictures of The Decemberists on July 16th in Central Park. And upload them on FlickR along with the hundreds of other digital camera-equipped Decemberists fans that will be in attendance.

FlickR has become an obsession of mine. It's crazy that I can just type in a name and see all sorts of pictures, my favorites being celebrities with random fans. Once I get my internet up and running at home, I'll upload my photos to it. The pic above was taken at The Strokes show at the Ryman last year.

That's about it. I'm hungry. I'm going to go BUY lunch.

Bad Food

Friday night was busy, today not so much. I began my doings last night by going to Astoria with my future roommate and checking out an apartment. We both left from our respective jobs to meet up there and amazingly enough, I got on the exact train and car as him a few stops after he boarded. We were not meant to ride that train alone. Oh no. The apartment was marvelous but we agreed to hold off until we see what tomorrow has to offer. Still, the apartment last night was in a quiet little area, one small flight of stairs up, and includes a balcony and a parking spot so I can finally bring Governor Nigel Canterbury of Oxford (my red Mini Cooper) to NYC. That would be a dream. So...hopefully this will work out.

After that I made my way to Danielle's apartment for a viewing of The N series Instant Star and a rousing game of "American Idol Karaoke" for PlayStation. The song choices were atrocious since I really despise modern day Top 40 and hits of the 80s. I karaoke well in bar settings; I karaoke like a champ when its B-52's, Kinks, Franz Ferdinand, or The Strokes. Seriously, you will look up to me after you see me handle the mic. This time? I attempted "Rock With You" by Michael Jackson, of which I only know the chorus and have no clue how the verses go. I got the worst score and then "playfully" turned my nose up at the game for the rest of the night.

After the party died down, Danielle and I went to a bar where every drink comes with a whole pizza. Seriously, I am not picky about pizza. This was amazing. We capped off the night by watching Thursday's episode of The Office and securing my love of Joss Whedon.

Today I have felt like crap. I have no food and no desire to go to the grocery store to buy some more, mainly because I know I'm going to buy the same frozen pizzas, TGI Friday's Quesadilla Rolls, Bowl Appetites, and TV dinners that I do every week. The every week thing is a real problem. I hate going every week. I miss going to Wal-Mart, buying $70 worth of food, loading it up in my car (in which I sing along loudly), and not going back for a month. I also don't feel like properly cooking here, not that I've ever properly cooked. Still, when I lived at BarfCom over the summer with a fully functional kitchen, I attempted cooking at times. I tried pancakes once. I read an issue of Deadpool while eating it.

Is it weird that I can associate memories with what area of my comic library I was re-evaluating?

I did watch two Netflix movies today: Inherit the Wind and DiG! Both were five star entries into the 100 Film Initiative and both stirred up feelings within me. Wind is set in 1920s Tennessee and deals with the Scopes Monkey Trial (the illegal teaching of evolution in a high school and the Bible thumping pandemonium that followed). This hit extremely close to home and got me thinking about my myspace profile and how held back I feel in very basic areas of my personal being. One day. DiG! was probably better just because it didn't depress me a bit. I love the Dandy Warhols so why I haven't seen this movie yet has been a bit of a mystery to me. I could not even imagine being the filmmaker near the insanity that is the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Seriously, brave...brave. Oh, and how come the guy who only plays the tambourine in the band got to sign with the record execs, be on the cover of the DVD, and steal countless scenes with his bug-eyed glasses and weirdly cockeyed bowl cut? He just plays the tambourine!

I'm waiting, counting down the hours, til I get on the train and head to see Reuben Williams. I haven't seen them in two weeks. I almost feel a bit lost, you know, inside. Or whatever.

I also finally did the album artwork to my mix CD for the Improv Resource Center mix CD exchange. Me and my exchange buddy decided to put together a group of songs that tell a story, like a musical. I of course had to make this involve full-on graphic design and Colin Meloy. The musical is titled "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate!" after the Mission of Burma song that starts it all off. And yes, the subtitle is "the tragic tale of an artist and a baker."

Showtime

Today was a good day. I've started to digest two highly enjoyable albums ("Black Sea" by XTC and "Visitations" by Clinic) and watched two enjoyable movies (The Big Lebowski and Dr. Strangelove). I would write detailed reviews of the movies, but they wouldn't amount to more than "they was funnys" and "I don't like ba-bombs, but I do like seeing nihilists get pained!!1" Seriously, I can't review movies. So the 100 Film Initiative soldiers on, Adaptation and Harold and Maude are next.

The evening was spent with a friend I haven't seen in a while, good time catching up. We ate at BRGR, which I pronounce exactly like it's spelled for the sheer fun of it, and did not get sick. In fact, it was delicious. I ate a hamburger that was not made by a pedophile clown! And yes, that was a McDonald's reference!

Post-BRGR (who needs consonants?!), I took my lovely guest to see Reuben Williams at UCB. This was my fifth night in a row spent at UCB. My friends back home used to be shocked when I'd call them from the line at Death By Roo Roo almost every Friday last Fall, wondering how I could go all the time. That was when it was weekly. Now it's nightly. Of course this isn't like going to see a band or a movie every night, which I think people who aren't familiar with improv may liken it to. I understand that. I can't think of anything else like improv, where everytime you go it is 100% different. It's like going over to a friend's house (their basement) and watching a never before seen episode of your favorite sitcom/humorous television show. Tuesday was Harold night, Wednesday was sketch night, Thursday was Magnet and Cage Match, I saw the Stepfathers for the first time last night, and tonight was Reuben Williams again.

For my own future reference, I've now seen ReWi (the abbreviation that's sweeping the nation) five times in fifteen days.

And now I'm back at home, listening to the smoothly abrasive sounds of Showtime at the Apollo. This is a much better follow-up to SNL than the old SNL's they show back home. Sing it, kid! You can touch the sky!

Oscar Schmoscar!

As someone who does not follow the world of film (see: The 100 Film Initiative), Oscar nom day is like any other day. Except I shouldn't expect to watch anything on E! that doesn't deal with golden statues. Not like I watch E! often or ever. But anyway. Here are the noms and the level of hoot I give.

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Leonardo DiCaprio - BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling - HALF NELSON
Peter O'Toole - VENUS
Will Smith - THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Forest Whitaker - THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

My Hoot: Don't give a hoot. Didn't see any of these movies and, really, Ryan Gosling? Where did that come from? Is his entire family in the Academy?

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jackie Earle Haley - LITTLE CHILDREN
Djimon Hounsou - BLOOD DIAMOND
Eddie Murphy - DREAMGIRLS
Mark Wahlberg - THE DEPARTED

My Hoot: I give a little hoot. Eddie Murphy pretty much stole every scene he was in for just acting like the Eddie Murphy of old (the one who said "shut up!" with such vim and vigor on SNL). But Alan Arkin for "Little Miss Sunshine"? Wasn't he dead for most of the movie?

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Penélope Cruz - VOLVER
Judi Dench - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Helen Mirren - THE QUEEN
Meryl Streep - THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Kate Winslet - LITTLE CHILDREN

My Hoot: Microscopic hoot. I'm just pleased that Meryl was nominated for a comedic movie. That I didn't see. But still, I like comedies getting love. No Beyonce either. That's fine.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Adriana Barraza - BABEL
Cate Blanchett - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Abigail Breslin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jennifer Hudson - DREAMGIRLS
Rinko Kikuchi - BABEL

My Hoot: I give a hoot. Jennifer Hudson cut through all the hype and made me a fan. She stole "Dreamgirls" and this Rags To Riches Story: 2007 Edition I am all about.

Best motion picture of the year
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN

My Hoot: I would have given a hoot if "Dreamgirls" hadn't been shafted. And "Little Miss Sunshine" has zero chance. Whatev.

Achievement in directing
BABEL - Alejandro González Iñárritu
THE DEPARTED - Martin Scorsese
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA – Clint Eastwood
THE QUEEN - Stephen Frears
UNITED 93 - Paul Greengrass

My Hoot: Hoot for a friend. Mr. Botox himself, Clint, only got one nod leaving it somewhat even for Scorsese to pull ahead. I'm rooting for him.

And who cares about the rest, really? "X3" didn't get nominated for makeup, getting bested by "Click." Hah. That shows them right! Next time, don't make a shitty movie.

I promise I'll have bigger hoots when the Emmy's are announced.

Digsy has a blog!

To be honest, Digsy has had a blog for a couple of years over at his myspace page. But with Digsy's flock of new year's resolutions, which I refer to as 2007: Kill The Beast, comes a desire to further my stagnant writing habit. And Digsy is now done with third person, this being a truly odd third person narrative since Digsy is not really Brett's name. Or even a nickname that is used in public by anyone.

The 2007: Kill The Beast plan is comprised of many parts and, this being the first blog, I should give a rundown of each and every bit.

First, starting with the name. 2007 has sucked so far. I've suffered both a break in and a break up, gotten a ticket for occupying more than one seat on a mostly empty subway car, and am trying to find my footing in the 9 to 5 world (or 9:30 to 7 in my case). It's been quite a year, a beastly one. My resolutions will tame, maim, and kill this beast.

Thus, 2007: Kill The Beast.

The overall mission statement of 2007: Kill The Beast is to branch out and try new things. Music, movies, clothes, facial hair, all will be documented. The film aspect is the most interesting and it itself will be referred to as The 100 Film Initiative (I really like melodramatic names).

I've signed up with Netflix and they've been my accomplice as I plow through, hopefully, 100 movies this year in a desperate attempt to remedy the fact that I have not seen any movies.

So that's about it. I'll post interesting things I find during my day-to-day required blog reading (I love working in TV). I'll review the films of The 100 Film Initiative (coming tomorrow: "Dr. Strangelove..." and "The Big Lebowski). I'll review new albums as they come out (New Shins and Apples In Stereo in a day's time) and as I discover them (Jonathan Fire*Eater's "Wolf Songs for Lambs").

And most importantly, there'll be lots written about improv comedy and comic books. That's right.

Hold on. It's going to be average.