March 2009
2 posts
5 tags
2 tags
The 25 Most Important Albums In My Life
So, SarahSpy, a very good blog, has declared this week “Alltime Favorite Albums Week,” so I can’t resist making a list. I started with a list of around 35 and cut it down to 25 (sorry Morphine, sorry Morrissey, sorry Modest Mouse and my sincerest apologies, R.E.M.) and I also decided not to include more than one record by any artist (so there goes Kid A, Crooked Rain, Crooked...
February 2009
9 posts
Things I Did This Week
In an effort to get out of the house more, I made plans for every night this week, sometimes going so far as to double book with more than one person. You see, lately, I haven’t done anything. I’m newly graduated and newly single and newly in possession of Roswell on DVD, so I spend all of my time sitting in my house wearing my Snuggie (the blanket with the armholes) and watching TV...
A Week Indoors + Dollhouse
Just got home from work and watched the second episode of Dollhouse (“The Target”). It was really really good. Better than the first one. I especially loved the structure of it, what with all the glimpses into the aftermath of Alpha’s massacre at the Dollhouse. Dushku was better too. And it was written and directed by Stephen S. DeKnight, who wrote a few of my favorite episodes...
Some Capsules
So, I may or may not post full reviews of any or all of these on Slow Century. But, for the record, here’s what I’ve thought about a few things this week.
Coraline blew my mind. It’s one of the most realistic portrayals of childhood I’ve ever seen on film. The stop-motion animation is beautiful. And, even though I always hate 3-D, it worked pretty well here. A
The...
Friday Night: Where Good TV Goes To Die
slowcenturyarts:
by Daniel Erenberg
With Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse set to premiere this Friday night, it must finally be said and agreed upon that Friday is currently the best night of the week for TV. After all, NBC and Sci-Fi are airing near-perfect seasons of Friday Night Lights and Battlestar Galactica, respectfully, and FOX is working hard to create a Geek brand on Friday nights by pairing...
Comic Book Review: Secret Warriors #1, by Jonathan...
slowcenturyarts:
by Daniel Erenberg
Comic books will never be understood by mainstream audiences, and it’s all the fault of the comic book companies. Here, Marvel have a wonderful new book, written by the interesting indie creator Jonathan Hickman, doing his first mainstream comic book work, co-plotted by superstar writer Brian Michael Bendis and penciled beautifully by rising star Stefano...
New York Comic Con Coverage: Day 3 (of 3)
slowcenturyarts:
by Daniel Erenberg
It was impossible for me to be too depressed today, because I was about to see two of my three modern TV idols in person. I feel as though Joss Whedon, Josh Schwartz and J.J. Abrams are at the top of the heap in terms of TV writing these days (I’m gonna go ahead and wait until Matthew Weiner’s follow-up to Mad Men to add him to this list). Abrams wasn’t...
New York Comic Con Coverage: Day 2 (of 3)
slowcenturyarts:
by Daniel Erenberg
Like the middle chapter of most trilogies, the second day of Comic Con felt a bit like filler, killing time until the grand conclusion. I woke up in better spirits this morning (though still not great) and walked over to the Javits Center with my head held medium-high. There were only two Saturday panels that I really gave a shit about and those were Cup O’...
New York Comic Con Coverage: Day 1 (of 3)
slowcenturyarts:
by Daniel Erenberg
For the second straight year, your intrepid reporter is going through a breakup during the New York Comic Con. So, for the second straight year, going into the Jacob Javits Center, I wasn’t excited. I was depressed. And not only about the breakup, mind you. Something sort of personal that had been building up for the last couple weeks came to a strong head...
Music Review: Noble Beast, by Andrew Bird
slowcenturyarts:
by Daniel Erenberg
Andrew Bird is a musician who, historically, has flitted between genres like a hummingbird. For a while there, with each record released, you never quite knew what to expect. So it’s a little bit dismaying that his new release, Noble Beast, sounds so much like an Andrew Bird record. All the signs are there that it is clearly him being himself: the...
January 2009
6 posts
Comic Book Review: Dark Avengers #1, by Brian...
slowcenturyarts:
by Daniel Erenberg
The new Marvel ongoing series, Dark Avengers, wisely plays off of the fascinating results of their big 2008 event series, Secret Invasion. Norman Osborn, the former Green Goblin, has wrested control of S.H.I.E.L.D., the world peace-keeping task force, away from Tony Stark, disbanded the whole thing and set up a new organization, which he calls H.A.M.M.E.R....
Film Review: The Lodger
slowcenturyarts:
by Daniel Erenberg
The Lodger was released in theaters on January 23rd. It comes out on DVD on February 10th. This is not usually a good sign for a film, but it seemed like The Lodger might have been different. It is billed as an homage to Alfred Hitchcock, complete with many of Hitchcock’s signature shots and set-ups, and it boasts a truly impressive cast, which includes...
Film Review: My Bloody Valentine 3-D
slowcenturyarts:
by Daniel Erenberg
3-D technology can make anything cheesy. So a film that is meant solely to scare the shit out of you might not be the best choice for it. I can sort of see what they were going for though. The first killing in the movie pops an eyeball out at you, and later in the film a human heart goes flying out into the audience. But these shots should elicit more shock...
TV Review: Lie To Me
slowcenturyarts:
by Daniel Erenberg
I’ll give FOX the credit they deserve. Tim Roth is an inspired choice to headline a procedural dramedy, and the fact that the network was able to steer him away from the new Quentin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds in order to appear in what is essentially House if they let Hugh Laurie be British is nothing short of remarkable. And Tim Roth does not let...
TV Review: The United States of Tara
slowcenturyarts:
by Daniel Erenberg
Toni Collette is going to win an Emmy for her performance in the new Showtime series, The United States of Tara. After all, this is the kind of performance that the Best Actress in a Comedy Series category was built for. As Tara, a woman with split personalities, she is also required to play three “alters,” including T, a 15 year-old lolita who is besties...
Biggie Smalls Was A Total Dick
by Daniel Erenberg
So after the monstrous rush to see every supposedly Oscar-worthy film that came out in the tail-end of December in order to be eligible for award consideration (by the way, who are you kidding, Defiance?) the first film of 2009 that I give a shit about is Notorious. Notorious is a lovely Alfred Hitchcock film, but now it is also a very Ray-like biopic about the life of...