DVDs This Week
Pick of the Week:
Mad Men: Season 1 – One of the very finest US import shows of the past few years, Mad Men stands as a beacon, as the final moment of American television greatness in the Sopranos/Wire-era. It concerns itself with Madison Avenue ad men in the early 1960s, hungover with the sexism and other societal issues that plagued the previous decade are beginning to fall. It’s about manhood being brought back and a host of other lofty explorations of archetype. Mostly though, it’s about great acting, beautiful writing and a perfect sense of place. Wonderful.
Also out:
Futurama: Beast with a Billion Backs – See the review on Screenjabber for more info but my take; Bender is too funny and overawes everyone else. Thankfully, he’s so funny that it’s still great.
Other Boleyn Girl – Haven’t seen it and don’t really want to. Portman and Johannson may be pretty but they never really deliver the goods when the part truly demands. Well, Portman sometimes.
The Bank Job – Again not seen but probably will as it has Jason Statham and our household has a truly unhealthy obsession with his craft.
Diary of the Dead – Tom’s verdict: Worst movie he’s seen this year.
Oz Season 5 – Still a brutal, bleak masterwork of American television, rarely bettered.
Taxi to the Dark Side – An oppressively bleak and angering work that’s absolutely essential viewing.
Be Kind Rewind – Very enjoyable little comedy with a slight loss of tone occasionally but a big beating heart at its core.
Picnic at Hanging Rock – Peter Weir’s lyrical, hypnotic cult classic.
Garage – Anne Marie Duff is in it so there’s a solid reason to watch. Maybe the most underrated actress in England.
L’Avventura – Antonioni’s masterpiece and the Sight & Sound reader’s second favourite film ever.
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit – A great book becomes a brilliantly acted piece of drama.
DVDs Last Week
I missed putting this up last week… sorry!
Pick of the Week: Indiana Jones Special Editions – Brand-spanking new editions of three classic adventure films preceding the upcoming fourth instalment.
Also Out:
PS I Love You – Rom-com with Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler. Apparently, not great.
Alien vs Predator: Requiem – An inferior sequel to a terrible movie.
American Dad: Season 3 – Ever-improving Family Guy off-shoot.
Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium – Colourful toy shop fantasy with Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman.
Local Hero – New edition of brilliant Scottish masterpiece from Bill Forsyth.
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story – Disappointing Apatow-stable effort with a couple of laughs.
The War Zone – Heavy Tim Roth-directed autobiography. Not for the faint-hearted but worth it overall.
Region 1:
I’m Not There – Terrific, imaginative biopic of Dylan by Todd Haynes.
The Great Debaters – Denzel-directed inspirational true-life drama. Got a couple of Golden Globe nods.
Untraceable – MySpace tech thriller which you could rent if you literally had nothing else to do. Literally nothing.
Linky & Alexander
Colin Farrell has joined Paz Vega in Triage.
A whole host of stars have joined New York, I Love You. This includes the reuniting Boleyn sistaz Scarlett and Natalie. Add to that Shia LeBeouf and Julie Christie.
TV Guide has info on the return of The Office.
There will be more Robin Sparkles on How I Met Your Mother.
There could be an extra hour of Lost this season.
The AV Club has a feature on Primer.
…and another one on Eragon which is somewhat less praise-filled.
Spoiler! Who will be gay on Pushing Daisies?
Anthony Lane comments on Shine a Light.
Woody Allen has made a few minor enemies in Catalonia.
El Linko
NoTofu has got some chat time with Girl Talk.
The AV Club talks to Daniel Johnston.
Cat Power is live on Leno right here.
All music so far. Drowned in Sound picks the five best Nick Cave records.
PopMatters has some theories on Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Guardian readers recommend songs about sweeties.
Pick you favourite Beckham look on PopSugar UK.
Slate has a review of The Other Boleyn Girl. Also, it discusses how to get rid of nail-biting, an article which could literally be a letter to me.
The new Iron Man trailer which played during Lost is right here.
Here’s an op-ed piece written by Angelina Jolie for the Washington Post.
Could Cleveland be getting his own show?
David Denby takes in the new cinematic offerings of Definitely Maybe, Vantage Point and The Counterfeiters.
John McCain – Liberal Republican.
Obama is ahead in Texas and it’s close in Ohio.
You Only Link Twice
Ewww. Sorry folks, but due to pestering from occasional contributer Tom, I’m doing Bond films this week. This will end.
Pitchfork loves the new album from Mountain Goats. A good starting point, if you like what you’ve heard, would be The Sunset Tree.
The AV Club lists twenty-two remakes which veer drastically from the path of the originals.
PopMatters has some notes on New York graffiti and Grant Wood’s American Gothic works.
Lindsey Lohan has recreated Marilyn Munroe’s last photoshoot for NY Magazine.
More details have emerged on the new Death Cab record.
E has invited the Queen to come and see Eels.
Could John McCain reinvent the concept of the Republican?
Sir Mix-a-lot would love the Ivory Coast.
What impact will the writer’s strike have on US drama?
America’s Next Top Model, officially the greatest reality show of all time, is coming back!
Chloe Sevigny discusses her new clothing line.
It is possible that James Franco may be doing some nude work for Gus Van Sant. Unsurprising given Van Sant’s delectation for a chiseled bod but Franco’s the man. Start rejoicing now ladies.
Natalie Portman’s directorial debut is going to be in Hebrew.
Senior Bush is getting behind McCain’s bid.
Finally, further James Franco-relatedly, is the trailer for Pineapple Express below which is somewhat not suitable for loud watching in the workplace.
The Phaaaantom of the Linkera is there, inside your mind!
Bumper edition for this Christian sabbath, little eye-using folk, starting with the Comics Panel at The AV Club which reviews the new Walking Dead volume.
On the theme, The Best American Comics 2007 is shown some love on PopMatters.
Stylus lists its top ten favourite on-screen comedy twos.
New Steve Carell-starring vehicle, Dan In Real Life, is given the once over on Salon.
While it is disturbing that Saw could see not only the upcoming volume four, but may also have two more to go beyond that, this, from Slate, is possibly worse.
It is lovely, always to read news about Adam Brody. And here some is, courtesy of PopSugar.
It’s chocolate day, and what better way to celebrate than make these.
This, well, this is just a little bit odd.
Paste reviews reissues of the greatly eccentric Robyn Hitchcock. If only one, purchase I Often Dream Of Trains.
Check out this mixtape from Natalie Portman, done for charidee. All done especially for you. Promise.
Also check out this utterly bonkers trailer for Anthony Hopkins new movie. Hmmm….
John Patterson waxes sorrowful on interviews being nothing like Interview. I’m assuming he means Steve Buscemi being present?
The Independent profiles supremely underrated folkster Fionn Regan.
According to Time, it’s about to get heavy up in here! Barack vs Hillary! You wanna ring the bell, Apollo?
Shakey’s back again, and Jon Pareles talks to him in The New York Times about Chrome Dreams II.
You should check this out too, even though I’m pretty sure that Entertainment Weekly readers won’t have found space for Chuck Norris.
This is what we did last night. RATED!
The Darjeeling Limited
I was lucky enough to attend a screening of The Darjeeling Limited last Monday and I have to tell you I was completely enamored with it. The infamous ‘nude Natalie Portman’ short film, Hotel Chevalier, played before the movie, and was a fantastic accompaniment, adding more layers to Jason Schwartzman’s character that added more clarity to parts of the main feature. Owen Wilson seemed more world-wise than usual, and acted his socks off. Appearances by Anderson regulars also add even more interest to a finely detailed mise-en-scene, with most of the movie set in India there’s a lot of room for the quirky touches that are so typical of Wes Anderson.
So, yeah. I loved it. I’ll link to my review when it’s up, but rest assured it’s a great movie.
Electricity & Lust 
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