1234 - Weirdsville

I gotta say, I was really pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this film. Not only was it a great Canadian film, but just a really good film in general. Some really great plotting, some funny bits, wonderful performances. We need more films like this. It's not a deep morality tale, but it's fun and entertaining.

1233 - The Big Bang Theory: season two

This show continues to delight me. It's light entertainment compared to a lot of shows I enjoy watching, but this isn't a bad thing at all. The writing is quick, clever, and smart. I look forward to trying to write a spec episode of it. If you haven't seen this show yet check it out before the third season starts in the fall. It will make the geek in you very happy.

1232 - The Big Bang Theory: season one

Having just randomly heard about this show, I don't think it was ever on my radar to watch until it was suggested that I spec it. So with a record of watching an entire season (17 episodes) in less than 24 hours, I'm ready for the second season. I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked this show. The stories are quite simple, but there's a wonderfully challenging complexity to the exchanges.
The cast is great, and I love how a lot of the supporting cast is from Roseanne, and also made of of the usual suspects of character actors like Joel Brooks, etc...
Really looking forward to working on my own spec of this series.

1231 - The Terminator

Probably the most important moment in the entire Terminator saga is right here. The conception of John Conner. I haven't watched this film is forever and I'm somewhat interested in watching the newest installment, despite it's horrid reviews. There's some really clever storytelling going on in this film with the set-up and how they handle exposition, etc.... And as a product of it's time the special effects are pretty good as well. There's some great cheesiness to it, but that can't be helped. And it's the first time I realized that Bill Paxton is one of the punks in the beginning.
Essential viewing to anyone into action and/or sci-fi flicks.

1230 - Brick

It took me a really long time to finally sit down and watch this. In terms of the story, it's a detective story. But the brilliance is in the execution of setting it in high school. The slang and lexicon is inventive, the characters familiar yet unique. It's a very stylized film in a unique way, that's what really elevates it. Joseph Goron-Levitt and Nora Zehetner are especially wonderful here. Lots of wonderful little moments and entertaining all the way. Great little film. Look forward to more work from Rian Johnson.

1229 - Sunshine Cleaning

There's a lot to like about this film. It's the kind of film where the actors are so wonderful, it looks so nice, and there's some great things going on that you almost ignore the problems it does have.
Like I said - great cast. Love Alan Arkin. Adore the shit out of Amy Adams, and I find Emily Blunt to be just plain wonderful. It's a simple story, and a nice one. But in the end it just feels a bit... lazy? I kept wanting the story to take me along further, deeper in some aspect. A lot of the films resolutions are over-looked, under-thought, or edited out completely. I realize life doesn't wrap up things in a nice little bow - but at least give me an emotional closer. By not letting certain storylines play out a bit longer I think they shortchanged themselves. It's still a really good enjoyable film, it's just not "great" - which I think it could have been. I feel like I'm being harsh, and it's not my intention - I legitimately enjoyed the film while watching - some laugh out loud moments, a really hard-hitting emotional one. I just think that this film won't stand the test of time when it comes to my influences.

1228 - Observe & Report

I remember seeing the unrated trailer and looking forward to this film. It's... well... I mean it's intended to shock and offend you, so let's deal with that - it does shock, and I'm sure it does offend. But the problem is that it's so busy doing that that it never tries to get you to actually like any of the characters, minus one (Collette Wolfe, far too pretty for the role, but damn if you don't fall in love with her - she's fantastic and I look forward to seeing more of her).
It's essentially Taxi Driver in a mall, which is interesting enough as a concept. It doesn't try to be a cliched film where we see Ronnie get better and improv, and maybe that's to it's fault. At least Rogen takes on the role full force and never detracts.
It's a bit of a mess, but I wouldn't say avoid it. Enough moments to make it worth checking out.

1227 - The Last Seduction

I'm not sure why I haven't gotten around to this, but I'm glad that I finally did. John Dahl is a name I see a lot these days in series I'm into, so it's nice to catch up on some of his earlier work. It blows my mind that Linda Fiorentino all but disappeared for the last decade. She has a fantastic quality to her and it surprises me that she hasn't been more sought after. Although maybe it's a self-imposed exile. Either way, she's fantastic here.
A great little dark film with a fantastically morbid lead character. I dug it.

1226 - The Office: season five

Finally after all these years I'm finally caught up to what is probably the best half-hour show on the air right now. Goddamn is this show good. And this season, really great. From Holly, The Michael Scott Paper Company, and the little extra surprise we learn about at the end of this season, the writers are clearly not scared of messing with the status quo and I for one am excited to see where they take us next. This is a show full of great belly-laughs and then moments of just great heart. Love it.

1225 - One Wonderful Sunday

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit, but this is my first Kurosawa film. And from what I've been told it's an odd entry point. I've got a couple of his other films on his shelf and for one reason or other haven't popped them in. In it's best moments this film is delightful, but there's a dreadfully slow middle that almost ruins the whole thing. Lots of lovely details and it really gives you a sense of Japan in that post-war climate. Ironically this would be a wonderful Sunday afternoon film. You may just find yourself clapping near the end ;-)