Movies and Shows
Blondie – Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, 1979
This is AMAZING! Debbie Harry in her white-hot prime. The freaking drummer is insane, doing his best Keith Moon impression in his gold lamé suit.
A
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Ultimatum
I hadn’t watched any of these since the third installment came out in 2007, when I watched all three in three days. I repeated that over three nights last month. They still hold up really well. It was good to be reminded how much they influenced the Daniel Craig-era Bond movies.
Also, Matt Damon runs weird.
A-, A-, A-
Damon’s running: C-
Eastbound & Down, season one
I’ve never watched this, but have seen the Will Ferrell blooper collection plenty of times. One of my brothers-in-law and I like to repeat “Let the boy watch!” anytime we are together. This was about what I expected: dumb yet hilarious.
B+
The Commute: A four day paddle to work
Beau Miles up to his usual bullshit. I wish I had his adventurous spirit.
A
Old School
I caught the last half to two-thirds of this on Comedy Central one night. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve watched it. It holds up, although I wish I had been watching the un-edited version.
A-
Arrested Development, season one.
Before our trip I was looking for something to watch and decided to blaze through season one of this classic. I’m repeating myself, but this hold up, too. Quite well, in fact. Funny seeing Will Arnett back before he started working out and got biceps.
A
The Report
Red Notice
The Trial of the Chicago 7
These are the three movies I watched on our flights to/from Hawaii.
The Report fits right in with movies like State of Play that are focused on what should be boring investigations yet translate quite well into cinematic drama.
Red Notice was kind of dumb, but mindless entertainment and perfect for a plane. And I’ll watch anything with Gal Gadot.
The Trial of the Chicago 7
This was surprisingly funny. Not in an Old School way, but more in an “I expected this to be awfully heavy and I’m laughing way more than I thought” kind of way. Aaron Sorkin FTW, obviously.
I haven’t read, yet, about how historically accurate it was. But I enjoyed the hell out of it. Terrific acting all around, headlined by Sacha Baron Cohen, who continues to amaze me with his range.
A-, B-, A-
Shorts
The War On Drugs: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
So freaking good.
A+
Wake Turbulence From a Paper Airplane
Science! Beautiful science.
A-
‘The Green Reapers’
Unexpectedly awesome.
A-
Middle Kids – Records In My Life
One night I was watching a lot of Middle Kids vids and came across this charming piece from their early days.
A
Birds with Arms
On the one hand, it’s a bummer this is only 30 seconds long. On the other, it might get dumb if it was 60 seconds long.
A
Every Aston Martin in James Bond Explained
Ooooh, this is some sexy shit.
A
Roast Charlie Sheen – Jeff Ross
Jeff Ross Takes Bruce Willis to the Cleaners – Roast of Bruce Willis
Jeff Ross – Drew Carey Roast
Jeff Ross Gets Brutally Honest with Caitlyn Jenner (Full Set) – Roast of Alec Baldwin
Jeff Ross – Roast of Pamela Anderson
Jeff Ross – Roast Of James Franco
Another late-night binge. I stumbled across one of Ross’ roasts and spent the next hour or so working through some of his best.
A
How I Grew Up in The Coldest Town on Earth
No thank you. Tuck this away for when we go through a stretch where it doesn’t get above freezing for a week or two to remind yourself how good you have it.
B+
A whale saved my life
What an amazing story!
A+
Podcasts
Song Exploder: The War on Drugs
Adam Granduciel talking about the making of the single “I Don’t Live Here Anymore.” This is great, complete with segments of the various stages of demos the song went through. I especially love the tidbit about him leaving in a vocal flub because he could never come up with a lyric that fit that moment.
A
James Bond’s Spycraft Sound — Switched On Pop
Another piece that dives into the science behind music. It traces the common DNA on the music of the James Bond series.
B-