Entertainment Roundup

This post was actually written on 3.12.2005, but I think I saved it to get back to later. I'm posting it now because it has some good information in it.

TV:

I can't recommend Reno 911 enough. I had heard about it on a messageboard, so I checked it out on cable one night. I think the first scene I watched was in the second season when Lt. Dangle was doing a seminar class for bad drivers. He starts reprimanding them in a harsh tone, really letting his anger go. Then he calmly asks if everyone has learned their lesson. Everyone says yes, so Dangle says the class is supposed to last for 6 hours, but as long as they've learned their lesson he would let them go. I knew from that first exposure that I'd be getting the DVD without hesitation. The value for this TV series on DVD is great. You get 14 episodes for $20. Definitely not bad for a DVD that I will watch over and over again. This is easily my second favorite TV show next to Family Guy. And that's saying a lot. Word has it that Season 2 will be on DVD in June.

I picked up Season 3 of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I really liked this one compared to the previous seasons because it had a theme built around a new restaurant that Larry is taking part in opening. It kind of gives the show some a base, instead of just random subjects from show to show. I like all the CYE shows, but this season especially held some gems.

I've also started slowly watching CSI and Law and Order. Of the two I probably like CSI better because the drama between the characters (at least in the shows I've seen) is kept to a minimum. I don't like shows where every single character has quirks and issues with everyone else. Plus, just learning about the methods they have now to catch criminals is incredible. Well, it looks good on TV at least.

Last night I caught my first episode of Henry's Film Corner on IFC featuring Henry Rollins. Henry definitely gives some good recommendations for movies. I really need to start watching more independent films.

Music:

I've been listening to a lot of different music lately.
-The Grateful Dead: Skeletons from the Closet, American Beauty, and In the Dark
-Bob Dylan: Greatest Hits
-The History of Jazz CD Set
-Nixon's Spirit (featuring Hunter S. Thompson) by Paul Oakenfold
-The last two free songs on iTunes
-Tricky
-Tripping Billies by Dave Matthews Band
-Wouldn't it be Nice by the Beach Boys
-Six Days on the Road by Dave Dudley
-Goodbye Horses by Q. Lazarus
-The Siderunners
-Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Soundtrack
-Slunt
-Nine Inch Nails
-And a ton of other shit.

DVD Movies

Last weekend Morgan and I bought a new couch, so it was a TV watching weekend. We rented movies at the dollar movie store and sat on our new couch a lot. The first night we rented Cellular and Saw. Both are decent movies, but of the two, Cellular was probably better. I think I liked the chase scenes through LA and the continuity goofs that we found throughout the movie. Saw started off decent, then just careened into a shitty ending.

This weekend I rented Super Size Me and Code 46 (which I will be watching later on). Super Size Me is a documentary about a guy who goes on a diet of McDonald's for a month. Yeah, ok, so not the most ground-breaking idea. Obviously, he's going to have health problems, gain weight, and overall just not feel well. Big deal. But the movie is much more than that. First of all, it's funny and provocative. It's not a boring sleeper, and it's not so in-your-face to be nauseating. But the crowning achievement of this movie, in my opinion, isn't even the central idea. Throughout the movie, it weaves in and out of his steadily failing health on his diet to commentary on fast food culture, specifically McDonald's. The best extra feature of this DVD is the interview with Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser. The first thing he brings to light is that McDonald's food is scientifically designed to taste good. Literally. The most scientifically enhanced products that McDonald's offer are the chicken nuggets and the milkshakes. They are enhanced with chemicals to make it taste the way it does. One thing that he said that made sense was after calmly bashing McDonald's (and other fast food giants) is that he points out a great alternative to McDonald's: In-N-Out. While he mentions that it's not health food, he said that the food made at In-N-Out is fresh. The burgers are made from real beef (vice being freeze dried), the potatoes are cut fresh in the stores, the milkshakes are made from real ice cream, the workers get paid well, and they receive medical benefits, which is just about the opposite of McDonald's. Their beef is culled from thousands of different cattle the world over and made into patties, then frozen. Everything from McDonald's comes in frozen packages. All they do is heat it up and put it together and give it to you. Another great extra feature of the DVD is "The Smoking Fry", where they take 2 McDonald's hamburgers and a fish sandwich, and a large fry, and put them into their own clear jar for an experiment. Then they take a normal burger and fries like you would make at home and put them in their own jars. Then they let them sit. After a week, everything started to show mold except the McDonald's fries. After two weeks the mold was more pronounced on everything, but again, nothing on the Mickey D's fries. After ten weeks, everything but the McDonald's fries were molded so bad you could hardly tell what it was. The fries looked just like you buy them at McDonald's. And you're going to put that in your body? I've never liked McDonald's, ever, but I have went there a few times, always because I'm with other people and there isn't a choice, but I would never go their on my own free will. After finding out the horrible truth behind the food and the company, I will never eat there again. I highly recommend this movie.

Books

After watching Super Size Me, I had to go pick up the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser that I've been wanting to read since I first seen it at a bookstore the week it came out. I've always been into more social/sociology type books, and this book has certainly started off as a captivating read. It has managed to keep my attention for almost 50 pages, so it's a winner. Since I naturally don't like fast food, this book is certain to add some concrete facts as to why I don't. I've never really questioned why I don't like fast food, other than I think the whole thing is easily forgotten and transitory. It's not like I'm having a real meal, it's like I'm eating whatever comes out the other end of the production line. Starting this book, I've read some pretty horrifying things said by Ray Kroc and Walt Disney (he had a lot to do with McDonald's), who were both extreme cutthroat capitalists. The first part of the book goes into how we became a nation obsessed with fast food. One big thing that pushed it along was the automotive revolution leading to the inception of the drive-thru. Another thing was social change caused women to work, which meant that there wasn't a mother at home to cook and clean, thereby creating a need for something "fast, tasty, and cheap." Thus, fast food was born. So that's where I'm at now. This book is The Jungle for our times.

I finally finished the Bill Hicks biography, American Scream. If you like Bill Hicks, it's definitely worth a read.