so here i am. back from the abyss after months of wasted time, wasted effort, wasted desires and spinning my wheels. back to the beginning again. so here goes nothing. at any rate, i'm going to start regularly blogging again. i know, i've said it, and you've heard it all before, but i'm going to try and be diligent about it this time, because it truly is refreshing to get some of this shit out there, even if only 2-3 people actually take the time to actually read it. so what's new you ask? well, not a lot with me, quite a lot with the world. well, actually, not really anything with the world, but there is some serious shit that's new in the only parts of the world i really care about, sports, movies, tv.
1. If you know me, you know I'm a Bills fan. If you haven't been living under a rock in Barrow Alaska for the past month, you know that the Bills recently signed Terrell "i'm a fuck" Owens. a lot of you are probably asking yourself: "Brens, what do you think?", and the answer is: I fucking love it. now listen to my explanation. first, the bills are a moribund franchise, mired in mediocrity and mired in a dying city. SOMETHING had to be done to make a splash. they haven't made the playoffs since 1999, and every year since then they have finished between 6-10 and 9-7. that, my friends, is mediocrity. we're talking about a team that was at one point last season 5-1, and ended 2-8. in a season in which mike "i have two rings" shanahan was fired, dick "my teams consistently underachieve" jauron kept his job. i live 400 miles from buffalo and i'm at my wit's end. imagine if you live in Western NY and you're a season ticket holder or some shit. you probably contemplate suicide weekly. so, why not bring in a guy who will generate some excitement? yes, TO is a horse's ass, and he has repeatedly shown a propensity to throw coaches, quarterbacks and franchises under the bus when he's not happy. however, look back at his track record, in his first year, he always behaves himself, a honeymoon of sorts. therefore, where's the drawback in signing him to a 1-year deal? particularly when his football life is on the line. if he signs a 1-year deal at 35 years old and fucks up, who's signing him next year? answer: no one. however, he realizes (or should realize) that he has an opportunity to parlay this one season into an opportunity with buffalo or another franchise over the next several years and end his career on a high note en route to a first-ballot hall of fame slot. This goes without saying that on paper, TO probably helps the Bills more than he would any other franchise. the Bills' offense has needed a second receiver for 5 years now. Lee Evans is a great deep threat, but he's too small and not durable enough to run over the middle or get the tough yards. TO relishes that role. for years teams have been able to double evans and/or stack the line against the run. with TO and Evans, who do you double? you need safeties off the line of scrimmage, which opens up the run. Lynch is one of the rising RBs in the league, and if it wasn't for purple jesus in Minn, people would be talking about him as the great young RB in the league. TO has MUCH more to lose than the Bills do. for the aforementioned reasons, i LOVE the signing.
2. so much has been written about this being the "golden age" of television. and i think there's a lot of merit to that. when i think of quality, damn good television, the vast majority of it has aired in the last 10 years or so. this is no more true than with battlestar galactica, which we sadly said goodbye to last night.
is it set in space, in a distant star system? absolutely. however, at its core, it's a series about human beings, family, society, and the bonds between us. it's probably the best acted series i've ever seen (hell, the two leads have been nominated for oscars), and the writing is exquisite. shrouded in myth, by unlike LOST, this is not self-created myth, but myth that hints at the core of what makes us human. let me just say, there's a reason that the U.N. hosted a forum for the creators of BSG to talk about the issues in the show. despite being set thousands of light years away and featuring a war between humans and their rebelling former robotic slaves, it somehow manages to be the best show about 1.) the military, 2.) what makes us "human", 3.) philosophy and 4.) religion that i've ever seen. (as well as one of the better shows about family and the bonds between us). in addition, its' got that "ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances" vibe going for it, which i can't get enough of. in a way, by breaking the constraints of our present setting, the show is permitted to make broader statements about who we are and what we're about without getting caught up in the muck of the when and where. are there holes? absolutely. but check out the 4-episode miniseries, i guarantee you'll be hooked and that you won't be disappointed. i won't spoil anything here, because i know people that should watch it and have yet to watch it, but it's about the ride, not the destination. the ride (and it's one hell of a ride) is all the fun. it's so rare that today a series can be of such quality while simultaneously bringing so much to the table. so whether or not I, or anyone else, thought that the ending was or was not fitting of the series, i do know that i'm going to miss it. at any rate, i'm sad to see it go, the world is worse off without it. (although there is a two hour TV movie airing this fall, and a prequel series (that i'm not sold on) starts in april) 3. In other entertainment news: the big story is Watchmen . Love it, hate it, don't know about it, whatever. this is what i do know about it. you need to fucking see it. is it perfect? no, far from it. i give it an 8.1. but it's not about this one fucking movie and whether or not it lives up to expectations or is over stylized or under acted or whatever. Watchmen is about the future of hollywood. it took 20 years to get this movie made, and Zach Snyder, for all of his shortcomings, tried to make it as well as it could be made. people's careers are on the line here. a lot of individuals made a lot of sacrifices and put themselves out there to try to put a product out there not for hollywood and the studios, but for the fans. so if you are a fan of films that take a chance, that tell stories for the stories' sake and not for some warm happy hollywood ending and to line the pockets of the powers that be, support this fucking film. it's made approx. $100 mil domestically thus far. ok, but not really that good. do you think the studios are going to put out more hard-R films with high budgets that pull no punches and are ambiguous in their message if Watchmen is considered a commercial fail? you'd better fucking believe they won't. now, if you are a fan of Spider-Man (aimed at 13 year olds) and "Pirates" (aimed at 12 year olds), then you probably won't care about this likely outcome. however, if you're a fucking adult, capable of thinking critically about the world around you and the preconceived notions held by society, then this will be a fucking tragedy. we, as the consumers, have the ultimate say in this matter. we can determine what gets made and what doesn't, by refusing to go see fucking "Race to Witch Mountain" and nic cage's latest shitfest and beverly hills chihuahah just b/c you saw a couple of commercials. demand more, and you will get more. demand more than staring at a screen blankly, laughing a couple of times, drooling on yourself and forgetting completely about what you just saw 6 minutes later. i'm not saying that watchmen is that film (although i guarantee that if you haven't read the novel, upon leaving the theater, you will want to), but at least its fucking trying, which is so much more than 99% of the shit put out can say.
3. finally, one thing has been happening lately that has truly changed my life. i'm referring, of course, to HBO's brilliant "Eastbound and Down", the study of a true force of nature. Kenny Powers, a washed-up superstar who squandered his talent and all of his money, and winds up living with his brother and teaching middle school gym, relentlessly travels through the world. watch this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kkAoLOA0HQ , and prepare to do nothing else for 3 hours of your life than laugh really, really hard. kenny powers actually reminds me a lot of daniel plainview, also known as DDL in "There Will Be Blood", in that he's a completely uncompromising man who runs roughshod over every and anyone in pursuit of whatever it is he's trying to get. now, Danny McBride (the drug dealer from "Pineapple Express" and pyromaniac FX guy from "Tropic Thunder") is playing the exact same character that Will Ferrell has been trying to play in Blades of Glory, Talledega Nights, Semi-Pro, and others, only for whatever reason, McBride is much more likeable in the role. where Ferrell is entirely oblivious and obstinate to the point of parody, McBride never crosses that line. he also manages to bring a believability to the role, in that you actually believe that Kenny Powers could be a real man, where i never felt that way about rickey bobby or any of ferrell's other sports figures. i think a key is everyone playing it straight to McBride's absurdity, it really adds a needed bit of credibility to the whole enterprise. at any rate, check out EB & D, it carries my highest recommendation.
No comments:
Post a Comment