Feature Presentation: Looking Back

EPL Goals 1992-2007

This is one of the many I items I treated myself to for my birthday.  Got the three disc set pretty cheap, but no price can be put on the memories I had from the early days of the Premier League.

I started following (very distantly) Manchester United during the first season of the Premier League when they ended their 26 year drought of winning the title.  Robson, Bruce, Hughes and company led the Red Devils to glory in those early years, followed by Keane, Cantona, and the kids before Cole, Yorke, Solskjaer and Stam took over. 

Going through the seasons, I picked up new information, like Nicky Barmby played for Spurs?  Had no idea.  Plus there were all the clubs that have fallen away like Crystal Palace and Norwich and Swindon and Charlton and QPR.

Great goals and great memories.

Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop

I picked this up at the library because I had just finished The War for Late Night.   The tour looked brutal and showed Conan’s struggle between the rush of performing and the need to always be “on”.  Loved the fly on the wall nature of the documentary and feel that I may have missed out a comedic voice.

Community Season 2

Love this show because almost everything is in my wheel house: sense of community amongst the study group, pop culture references throughout, the yearning for the days of college, and just a hint of awkwardness. 

Not every episode is a winner but the season as a whole is thoroughly enjoyable, especially the trampoline episode and the epic two part, Fistful of Dollars/Star Wars inspired, paintball finale.  Even the Zombie episode wasn’t too bad and that’s not really my thing. 

Is the show the most amazing thing ever?  No but it’s a fun, non-nutritious snack that I can’t get enough of. 

Once Brothers

ESPN, to celebrate their 30^th anniversary, released a series called 30 for 30, which covered a wide range of sports and topics.  One of the first ones I heard about was Once Brothers, the story of the Yugoslavian Basketball Team from the late 80’s, early 90’s.  This was particularly interesting to me because of my love of the Croatian Sensation, the Waiter, Toni Kukoc.  I knew of their success—silver in 1988 Olympics and 1990 World Champions—but I didn’t know their story.

The film is Vlade Divac’s account of his rise from small town to Yugoslavian basketball club star to world champion to NBA players and the relationships with his teammates, which became more and more strained as the former Soviet Republic broke apart.  It was heart wrenching to see him and Drazen Petrovic drift apart after a moment of nationalistic pride from Vlade.  The whole film had me on the verge of tears, as the glory and drama and tragedy of that team was retold.  I highly recommend this movie.  This is bigger than basketball and is story of friendship and hard work and redemption.

In Your Ear

It’s been a while, so I’ll just start and see where this goes.

Some of the member of Arcade Fire were in studio for theSound Opinions podcast.  Nothing earth shattering, just cool to hear their story and some of their tunes.  I am super behind on this pod and hope to catch up over the holidays.

Florence and the Machine opened up for U2 earlier this summer.  My brother-in-law didn’t know anything about U2 but was super stoked to see this group.  I checked out their debut album, Lungs.  I love the opening track, Dog Days Are Over, and can’t help but clap and smile during the chorus.  Drumming Song is a driving track that is pretty good.  The final track You’ve Got the Love is fantastic.  Love all the instrumentation and the tune is super catchy.

I don’t even know how I came across this song, So Cool by Bewitched Hands on the Top of Our Heads, but I love it.  Work is another track that is pretty good.

At a Halloween Party, the hosts had a party mix on Pandora and Beyonce’s Crazy In Love and I started jamming, which surprised everyone there.  Have to admit this is a guilty pleasure of mine.  Love that song. 

Moving on . . .

I admit I am late to the Kings of Leon phenomenon.  I was aware of their music somewhere out in the ether but never really sought them out, so I’ve decided to start at the beginning and give them a whirl.  Their first album, Youth and Young Manhood, is ok, nothing special in my opinion.  The first cut, Red Morning Light, is not too bad, and it is followed by Happy Alone, which was a popular song that I was familiar with.  California Waiting is decent, and Molly’s Chamber is another song that I had heard but didn’t really do it for me.  Holy Roller Novocaine might be a favorite track.  I have the next record on hold, so we’ll see how that one is.

Finally, I saw sloan for the umpteenth time at St. Andrew’s Friday night.  The band was touring in support of their 10^th album, The Double Cross, which I had listened to it a couple of times on their website but hadn’t thought much of it.  After hearing most the tracks live, I am really coming around.  I already thought Unkind was up there as one of their best tracks ever, and the live version kicked ASS!!  There are several more great cuts, including The Answer Was You, It’s Plain To See, Beverly Terrace and Traces.

The band keeps cranking out the tunes, and their live versions of Ill Placed Trust, Who Taught You to Live Like That? and Money City Maniacs were epic.  They also played Deeper Than Beauty during the encore, which was sweet because I hadn’t heard that live in years.  Chris mentioned that they want to do a tour just playing songs from Twice Removed.  Sign me up as it is my favorite album. 

Feature Presentation: Lots of Laugh, Fire and Blood

Hot Tub Time Machine

When I saw the previews for this movie, I thought it looked interesting.  What could be better than a hot tub, some girls and some brews?  A couple of the guys on my soccer team raved about it, so when I saw it at the library, I picked it up.

Meh.  Talk about the funny parts being the in the trailer.  It was a Back to the Future rip off and not nearly as good.  Yes we know life is about choices, but you don’t get a redo.  Shut up and suspend disbelief.  Ok, but make it worth my while.  Have better jokes and 80’s hair band flashbacks and poke a little fun at yourself.  Don’t have Chevy Chase wandering in and out, mumbling incoherent Zen comments. 

Pass

Breaking Bad, Season 3

Season 3 sees Walter White struggle to keep his marriage and family together while being hunted down by vengeful cousins from a drug cartel.  Tensions are at an all time high in the White house as Skylar files for divorce, knowing the truth of Walter’s activities, but won’t tell anyone else in the family why.  Her stress leads to an affair with her boss, while Walter tries to keep things together.  All the time, Gus is protecting his key cooker from getting axed while trying to get him to make one last batch. 

I only made it halfway through the season before I had to return it to the library and I can’t wait to finish the season.  I see a lot of parallels between this show and the Sopranos in regard to leadership.  Walter White has a skill and some street savvy, yet he undermines himself with some of his decisions, reuniting Pinkman being his chief mistake. 

Anyway, the show—writing, storylines and performances—continue to be top notch and I hope I can completely catch up on the series soon.

Blood Simple

Again reading for comprehension.  For some reason I thought this was a new Coen Brothers movie, not their first.  As soon as the first frame flickered across the screen I knew that this movie was not made in the last 20 years.  The film was a preview of the genius to come.  Very deliberate pacing, solid acting performances, a touch of the unusual, all leading to a dark conclusion.  Not their best by far, but interesting to see the beginning of these film-makers.

See it for film history reasons if nothing else.

Louie

As I tweeted after I watched the first episode, I have found a new personal hero.  Nearly twenty years on from Seinfeld, Louis CK takes the sitcom built around the comedian to a new level.  Part stand up, part struggling divorcee, part loving father, part depressing wanker, Louie looks at modern life with a very different perspective.  I admit he goes way over the line with some his comments, but when he looks at his childhood and examines his day to day routine, there are some real nuggets there.  He is not always the hero, but the light he shines on some issues really makes you stop and think.

See it.

Rescue Me

I finally finished Rescue Me.  After seven seasons, the story of the guys from 62 Truck finally came to an end.  Tommy’s battle with his demons and addictions took several dark, funny and strange turns as the show built towards the finale.  In the end, he was able, for the time being, to remain in control and become the father, husband and firefighter that everyone could be proud of.

I really enjoyed the show.  I always say I hated season 4 because that’s the season he got sober and there was no edge.  This season, his road to sobriety had several speed bumps, dare I say roadblocks, and the tension created really kept the viewer interested.  As for the series finale, it was ok.  The last scenes were a little melodramatic but I don’t have a suggestion (right now) of what I would have done, so I’ll shut up.

Watch this show.  The relationships and developments of the characters are phenomenal.  The respect you will have for fire and law enforcement will grow exponentially.  And you might even learn a little about yourself, your demons and how you treat people.

Feature Presentation--The Modern Family goes Eastbound and Down Once in a Lifetime

Once in a Lifetime

A film about the rise and fall of the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, it is a story with so many great characters—Steve Ross, Chinaglia, Pele, Clive Toye, Beckenbauer, Messing.  For a short window of time, soccer was popular in the US.  I'll be honest, the only thing I actually remember was the name Chicago Sting.  Don't know why.  The couple takeaways from this viewing were the fact that the Cosmos really were ahead of their time in assembling talent from all over the world; say what you want about Maradona, Best, Zidane, and Messi, Pele is truly a global icon; MLS did their homework and have built a stable league that will never conquer the American market but will continue to flourish. 

If you any interest in the history of American soccer, a must see.  If you enjoy locker room bust ups and athletes living the high life, you’ll enjoy this as well.

Modern Family

A well written, well acted comedy about life in these times.  Really enjoy the dynamic of Claire and Phil.  All of the kids are great and bring an added dimension to the show.  My favorite episode may have been the fencing/ice dancing one.  I can’t believe I passed on this show three times before finally watching it.  The 20+ episodes are daunting but they go by quickly

If you like Arrested Development, they you would definitely enjoy this show.

Eastbound and Down

I had heard decent things about this show but really had no idea what to expect.  Well how about a profane, raucous, highly inappropriate comedy about an athlete on the downside of a career?  The show covers a lot of ground in only six episodes, with the cameos by Will Farrell providing moments of comedy gold.  I won’t rush out for season two, not because it wasn’t funny, but I’m not sure I need my vocabulary reinforced in quite that way.

Not for the faint of heart or family viewing, but worth a watch.