Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I’m not one to usually post about trailers of a movie I haven’t seen yet, but…c’mon…Kristen Bell in bikini…in a Judd Apatow movie with that guy from “How I Met Your Mother” and that other guy from Superbad and Bill Heder from SNL…it’s got something for everyone!

The Abominable Charles Christopher

The only bad thing about The Abominable Charles Christopher is the waiting for new strips to be released.

Southland Tales Explained, Sortof

John and I caught Southland Tales at this year’s Fantastic Fest. There was so much going on in this movie that honestly most of it just went in one eye ball and out the other, but I’ve been meaning to go back and watch it after reading the accompanying graphic novels.

Anywho, Salon has an article today that does a decent job explaining this long, trippy, fabulous mess of a film.

The Fantastic Fest crowd, in my opinion, is one of the best audiences a director can hope for - a bunch of smart, geeky folks with a huge mass of film knowledge. But my impression was that we all left the theatre going “wwaaah?” and I remember wondering what hope the film possibly has if our audience didn’t get it. But I have to admit is was a fun ride (once I gave up trying to make sense of things) and there’s a Justin Timberlake scene that makes the whole thing beyond worth it. Curious to hear people’s thoughts if you’ve seen it.

Sacrilicious

I was thinking about making my own version of this super cute Smores Nativity Scene, but I’m afraid that at some point I would want to torch and eat the holy family. Happy Holidays, ya’ll.

2007 Music

Another good year for music. Best of what I got to follow …

The National Boxer – Man do I love “Mistaken for Strangers.” A song to make one pine for old Psychedelic Furs records and a bunch of other tunes as moody supporting material.

Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga – Took a few listens to settle in, but solidly won me over. The pure nostalgic pleasure of “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” will put you on cloud nine.

LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver – I never really got into the bulk of their previous effort, but this one does it for me. Sophisticated disco and electronica.

Ted Leo Living With The Living – A mixed bag. At times, the songs are capable of evoking the best parts of early Police, Clash and Joe Jackson. Then he’ll follow with a goofy, whining song about the war or beer or something. Trim the gristle and pare it down to 7 of the 15 tunes and you have yourself a damn fine album.

Feist The Reminder – Could probably duke it out with Spoon for best of the year. Excellent pop sensibilities, great songwriting. “My Moon My Man” is the proverbial breath of fresh air. Well done, lady!

Jose Gonzalez In Our Nature – Folk that mingles with Nick Drake and early Shins is carried by this dude’s vocals, which have a unique, ethereal quality.

Ryan Adams Easy Tiger / Follow The Lights – Everyone’s favorite target wisely returns to Heartbreaker and Gold for inspiration and mostly succeeds. The FTL EP is included here because other than the dopey cover of Down In a Hole (WTF Ryan OMG), the new tunes are solid and the re-worked ones just might replace the originals in my mind.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Baby 81 – A return to what they do best, aping the Jesus & Mary Chain, which is totally fine by me.

Of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are Your The Destroyer? - Weird, dark … disco-influenced electronica for the most part. Strangely addictive.

Andrew Bird Armchair Apocrypha – A guy who deserves much more recognition than he gets. A nice companion to The National’s disc, though more complicated and upbeat.

Tegan + Sara The Con – These gals want to assume the best parts of Blondie and Missing Persons and we should let them.

Radiohead In Rainbows – Well done, gents.

Honorable Mentions: Wilco, Shins, Springsteen & Debbie Harry discs. Not bad, just not too interesting.

Ye-Gads: Apples in Stereo. Can’t remember the name of the disc, but it was uniformly shitty.

Happy holidays and joy to all your worlds.

BNAT 2007 Schwag Bag

I’m working on a full post to discuss all the films we saw with reviews and stories about the event. For now, you can occupy yourself with this Flickr set of the things Becky and I found in our bag o’ schwag. Not pictured is the HD-DVD player that we also received. (Now, I know you’re dying for more stories!)

The Return of Juno (Ad)

I’m not sure if it is intentional or dynamically appropriate, but this article about the rise in teenage pregnancy came with an ad for Juno.

Sidenote #1: I saw Juno again on Tuesday night and it is still wonderful. (I would still leave my wife in a highly inappropriate manner for Ellen Page.) I took the time to focus on Jennifer Garner during this viewing. The first few seasons of Alias had me falling madly for Garner as she kicked so much ass. The last season or two (or was it three?) bundled with her successive film roles dulled that emotion, and the tabloid Bennifer 2 explosion left me with the opposite feeling — I kinda hated to even see her — but she has redeemed herself with Juno and I believe she may be looking at a Best Supporting Actress nom.

Sidenote #2: It’s a good thing all those abstinence classes are having such a strong impact on America’s youth. /snark