Movies:
Black Snake Moan
Amazing. I can’t believe more people didn’t talk about this movie. It’s brilliant. Caveat: I like movies that are, in and of themselves, parables. This is one of them. If you insist on taking movie plots literally, it may not be for you. But man, oh man, this movie had such a pitch perfect rhythm. And Sam smokes. I’ve already seen it twice.
Television:
The Shield
One of my top 2 or 3 favorite shows of the past 7 years. Final Season start has officially been announced: Sept 2!
This American Life (TV version)
A reason to have Showtime. Non-fiction documentary style journalism. I confess many of them are a wee bit depressing, but season 2’s finale, called John Smith, is unbelievable. They took 7 people, all different stages of life, with one thing in common: they’re all named John Smith. 11 weeks old, 8 y.o. , 23 y.o., 36 y.o., 43 y.o., 70 and 79. And they interweave it so when the 70 year old is talking about past regrets, you see the 23 year old going through his routine. Or when the parents of the 11 week old are considering how their young son will end up, you see the 79 y.o. sitting at the family dinner table. It’s mesmerizing.
