Business Items :: Saturday Morning Viewing

{ 2008 06 28 }

Saturday Morning Viewing

I know that [Warning: I linked to the BBC site. Since the U.S. broadcasts are a few weeks behind, there are spoilers to be found] Dr. Who has never been what most people would call “good,” but between what’s been going on there and the general tone of last season’s Torchwood make me wonder what the hell’s going on with the British zeitgeist. Humanism I get, but the recent absence of Daleks has led to some preachy plotlines and downright indulgent soliloquies. Moreover, the stark contrast between the American Capt. Jack and his left-of-Amnesty International British cohorts leads me to the jarring conclusion that, on some level, our English-speaking brethren across the pond view their American cousins as a cutthroat Hegelian other. Silly redcoats.

Leaving the lights off when you use the bathroom may help conserve energy, but it’s not always the best idea.

Review - The Hammer: I wish I’d been more skeptical of the hype. Sure, it’s funny, but it’s not as funny as Bill Simmons and Adam Corolla led me to believe. Altogether, my experience with The Hammer was a lesson in tropes. #1: I find myself disappointed by an independent film for which I had high hopes. #2: Everyman finds direction and obtains a wholly satisfying life en route to achieving his newly rediscovered goal. Perhaps it’s just a reflection of my momentary(?) bitterness that I would’ve preferred something a bit more There Will Be Blood-esque: through single-minded ruthlessness, man achieves his goal to the exclusion of all other facets of life. I’m not saying that trope is exactly fit for a romantic comedy, but the full-on happy ending didn’t sit quite right with me. Besides, flat delivery did the jokes a disservice, and I would’ve rather seen Constance Zimmer exchange roles with Heather Juergensen (believability be damned!).

Is it just me, or does Kay Bailey Hutchison bring to mind Laura Dern’s portrayal of Katherine Harris in HBO’s Recount for everyone?

Maybe I’m getting tainted by an abundance of horror. Sure, I’d say I’m predisposed to a darker kind of humor than most (see: Steppenwolf, “Aeroplane” by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Danny DeVito, etc.), but this summer I’ve been required to watch 3-6 hours of horror films per week for class. It’s entirely possible that, somewhere between The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (not Dennis Hopper’s best film) and Hostel (way too easy to see myself getting caught in THAT trap), my sensibilities may have been subverted by a media-imposed expectation of sadism. Between the thought that this may be a microcosm of such films’ effect on the audience-at-large and the sticker pinned to my desk (”What we think, we become” - Buddha), I find myself caught in a conundrum of post-modern reflection.
Maybe dick and fart jokes can save the world, after all.