Archives

Category: TV, movies, and media

Holiday Music Countdown: Number 17, with the Velvet Fog (Sunday, 09 December 2007 06:57 PM ): Counting down my twenty-five favorite holiday songs. (Find previous posts here.) 17. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting by an Open Fire) (Mel Torme) Mel Torme co-wrote "The Christmas Song" with Bob Wells in 1944. From the Wikipedia article: "I saw...

The only thing to live for is today (Friday, 07 December 2007 09:35 PM ): Happy birthday, Tom Waits. (Thanks to T&A Anthony for the reminder, and for posting a great video from my favorite Waits album, Mule Variations.)...

Song for a snowy Friday: "Great" (Friday, 07 December 2007 04:28 PM ):

Holiday Music Countdown: Number 20, with diamond rings underneath the tree (Thursday, 06 December 2007 03:48 PM ): 20. Merry Christmas Baby (Lou Rawls) Christmas is supposed to be a happy time. Really, really happy. That pressure for everyone to be happy may be what brings some of us to long to hear the blues. "Merry Christmas Baby"...

Holiday Music Countdown: Numbers 22 and 21, with troubadours, the King, Bing, and a thin white duke (Wednesday, 05 December 2007 07:14 PM ): Continuing my highly-subjective countdown of the 25 best holiday songs. (See previous entry here.) 22. Blue Christmas (Ernest Tubb and His Texas Troubadours, Elvis Presley) Elvis wasn't the first person to sing "Blue Christmas." It was recorded by Ernest...

Holiday Music Countdown: Numbers 25 to 23, with mambo, sleigh rides, and sanity restoration (Tuesday, 04 December 2007 02:23 AM ): I'm not a religious person, and I'm turned off by the commercialism and pageantry of the winter holiday season. But I adore holiday songs. I wait as long as I can to start listening to them, and then once Thanksgiving...

Month Impossible: Day Twenty-seven, Murderers, animated treadmills, and yet more writing (Tuesday, 27 November 2007 11:36 PM ): I've mentioned before that "Murderers," currently playing at City Theatre on Pittsburgh's South Side, is a terrific play and well worth your time and money, yes? The play is three monologues, each by a different actor, each beginning with...

Tenacious Kane (Tuesday, 27 November 2007 01:57 AM ): Apropos of nothing: If anyone is planning a biopic of my hero Orson Welles, I hope they will consider my other hero Jack Black for the lead.    ...

Month Impossible: Day Twenty-six, Let's get it on (Monday, 26 November 2007 11:59 PM ): Steelers win. Worst ever Monday Night Football game, and possibly worst ever NFL game. But we won, and it counts. Starting my NaNoWriMo writing for the day ... now. Yeah, it sucks. Even my mom thinks I'm not going...

Month Impossible: Day Seventeen, 2PointHome (Saturday, 17 November 2007 11:56 PM ): If you've been following my Month of Challenges, you know that today I planned to finally catch up on NaNoWriMo. You also probably know me better than I do, and guessed that I would not succeed in this plan. I...

Somebody's day off (Monday, 12 November 2007 03:39 PM ): Separated at birth? Sergey Brin of Google (from the Android SDK promo video -- which amusingly is on YouTube) .... ... and Ferris Bueller. I think that means this guy must be Cameron: (Video spotted on Engadget)...

Sunday videos -- Fionn Regan (Sunday, 22 July 2007 12:19 PM ): For unexplained reasons, iTunes will not let me buy anything this morning. Thus, I cannot purchase "The End of History" by Fionn Regan. I've just learned about it (ads and banners on the web work at least some of the...

New music Tuesday (Tuesday, 26 June 2007 09:39 AM ): An update on the Beastie Boys' new album, The Mix-Up: so far, so very groovalicious. This video isn't much to watch, except to glimpse the hair of Adam Horovitz (on the drums), which has blossomed into a wondrous Jew-fro. A...

My various geeky obsessions will do battle in the coming weeks (Tuesday, 26 June 2007 12:15 AM ): Upcoming dates of importance to me: June 26 (today!): New Beastie Boys album released. Supposed to be as good as Paul's Boutique and Check Your Head! Must download before heading out of office. July 10: New They Might Be Giants...

Gonna make you sweat (Wednesday, 20 December 2006 12:25 AM ): You wouldn't guess it to look at me, but I enjoy exercising. No, honest, it's true. Especially weight training or heading out for a little jog at the end of the day. I can still get bored though, so I...

Meet the new boss (Monday, 27 November 2006 07:14 PM ): David Caruso on CSI: Miami: king of the tacky one-liner. (Thanks to Defamer.)...

Something To Be Desired (Monday, 27 November 2006 12:19 PM ): Some nice press in today's Post-Gazette about Pittsburgh's own web-based soap comedy, Something To Be Desired: "Something To Be Desired," or "STBD" for short, is a hybrid of sitcom and soap opera. Its characters live in Pittsburgh and mostly work...

Immersed in the environment (Saturday, 18 November 2006 01:53 PM ): Continuing my Cambridge/Boston nostalgia trip: I ate lunch at Legal Seafoods. When I was an undergrad, my parents were apparently concerned that I would not eat properly. So my dad gave me a credit card, and instructed me to eat...

Futures of entertainment (Friday, 17 November 2006 05:23 PM ): UPDATE: I rarely use the "extended entry" feature of my very old version of MovableType, so I didn't realize it was broken. The extended part of this post was out of reach because of the error, so I've pulled it...

Suggestions for enjoying "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (Monday, 16 October 2006 09:50 PM ): Watching pretty people talking fast while they walk? Sign me up.

In fashion, one day you're in, and the next you're out (Wednesday, 27 September 2006 12:35 PM ): Speaking of fashion, tonight brings us a new episode of Project Runway. I didn't want to like this show, but I'm drawn to it -- the design challenges, the psychological battles, the excellent and horrific outfits, and Heidi Klum's hypnotizing...

Great Moments in Journalism (Tuesday, 06 June 2006 10:59 AM ): Someone at the Economist needs a vacation.

Eureka (Sunday, 26 February 2006 10:16 AM ): If you are a writer of fiction or a watcher of episodic TV, or both, check out Kung Fu Monkey, the blog of TV and movie screenwriter John Rogers. (He wrote the much-vilified Catwoman, but he seems otherwise meritorious, and...

A bitch of an unsatisfactory situation (Sunday, 12 February 2006 06:39 PM ): Last night I went to see Brokeback Mountain. I went with my handsome friend John. His wife Michele set it up.

Hey, I know that guy! (Tuesday, 20 December 2005 12:56 PM ): My main impressions of Randal are that he seemed generally serious and that he's very, very tall.

He was indeed the glass / Wherein the noble youth did dress themselves (Monday, 10 October 2005 04:27 PM ): Did you miss the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre's production of Henry IV last fall? If so, you missed a damn fine version of a classic play. But you can get an infintesimal taste of the acting from it by...

Great Moments in Journalism (Thursday, 29 September 2005 11:51 AM ): "Cornell Haynes Jr. is a lover, not a fighter."

How the West was won (and the East, and the North, and the South) (Wednesday, 13 July 2005 10:03 AM ): The first part of National Geographic's adaptation of Guns, Germs, and Steel was broadcast Monday, but you can catch replays of it at odd hours through this week. The program is billed as a miniseries, which for me evokes images...

Brad Bird on NPR (Wednesday, 06 April 2005 04:11 PM ): Terry Gross of Fresh Air talks to my hero Brad Bird of Iron Giant and The Incredibles. You can hear it online. Topics include the origins of The Incredibles, how their superpowers come from family archetypes, and his own most-desired...

A mutual sight for sore eyes (Tuesday, 22 March 2005 12:25 AM ): The only way this song could be any more perfect in my view would be for it to be peformed live in my living room. Having been exposed to it (via TMFTML) I googled up Devin Davis's website and ordered...

Now I know what I'll be doing on April 29 (Thursday, 17 February 2005 09:56 AM ): The trailer for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has leaked to the internet....

Product message (optional) (Monday, 07 February 2005 10:52 AM ): I like football, but I watch the Super Bowl primarily for the commercials (free registration required). I look forward to seeing lively, interesting advertisements, and I'm typically disappointed. This year was no exception. Also as usual this year, despite my...

We don't make movies for kids (Sunday, 02 January 2005 01:08 PM ): From janitor to animator: a career at Pixar. The local cineplex is littered with movies made by studios who want to second-guess what the audience wants. We find we get better results by making what we want, and then assuming...

Wishing you a swinging holiday (Thursday, 16 December 2004 12:55 PM ): On my mini-iPod right now, I have 344 holiday songs. Some are duplicates -- every lounge-style holiday album seems to include Dean Martin's version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside," and if it doesn't it should -- but even so that...

Chewing gum is really gross (Friday, 10 December 2004 08:04 PM ): I case you have not yet seen it: the first trailer for Tim Burton's "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." (Link via Screenhead.)...

The Faders -- and you! -- on the BBC (Wednesday, 10 November 2004 10:39 PM ): Want to be on British television? You can be -- we got the hookup for you. The Faders, our favorite local alt-country-and-more hipsters, are about to have a close encounter with the BBC, and they want you to be there....

Our top story (Tuesday, 09 November 2004 10:40 AM ): The folks at the Guardian Unlimited are experimenting with a new use of blogs: From today, we're experimenting with the idea of a "newsdesk update" Newsblog entry. Every weekday morning, one of our editors will tell you some of the...

Incredible (Saturday, 06 November 2004 10:44 PM ): The Incredibles has been in national release for two days now. Have you seen it yet? If not, why not? My Brilliant Mistakes recommends it highly. We'll be going again as soon as we can. You may join us if...

Does this superhero suit make me look fat? (Thursday, 04 November 2004 10:09 AM ): Here's just the thing to soothe my ills: The Incredibles, Pixar's latest animated feature, opens tomorrow. It's all over local press and the internet, including many interviews with the creator/director, Brad Bird. The official movie site is fun, especially the...

From the outside, looking in (Tuesday, 02 November 2004 06:30 PM ): From the Guardian Unlimited (yes, I'm referencing British people again), a succinct guide to interpreting hour-by-hour exit poll results. Combine this with a color-coded map of the states, preferably one that lets you play out electoral college scenarios, and you...

I'm your other mother (Friday, 29 October 2004 07:25 PM ): Three Italian film students have, as a class project, created a "trailer" for Neil Gaiman's wonderful book Coraline. You can view it online....

Let's get small (Thursday, 21 October 2004 05:58 PM ): Of the Google searches by which people find this site, the one that pleases me most is "electric dog polisher." We have thus far mentioned such a thing only once and yet we're currently in the top 10 sites using...

Football's version of the Zapruder film (Monday, 18 October 2004 11:19 AM ): After yesterday's exciting win over Dallas, with rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger becoming the first Steelers QB to win in Dallas since 1982, it would seem Steelers fans couldn't be happier. But the good news keeps coming. Physics shows that...

Make it rain (Friday, 01 October 2004 09:51 AM ): For other Tom Waits fans without TVs and/or cable: his performance of "Make It Rain" on Letterman, plus the matching interview, posted by I'm Just Saying (to whom I'm personally very grateful). (Link via the ailing Syntax of Things.)...

Moshe The Explainer (Tuesday, 24 August 2004 09:15 PM ): Should I say again how terrific the interviews at the Onion A.V. Club are, or has that become boring? This week's is with Peter Falk, whom I love most for Columbo, but also for The In-Laws (so much for this),...

Copyright © 2004 – 2007 Cynthia Closkey