Now hold on. Let's look at the title of the post. I know what you're thinking. "Alex, the implied swearing is uncharacteristic of you. Also, are you a douche now?" No. I'm not. I just wanted to make a post about one of my new favorite podcasts. That's right. WTF With Marc Maron. Now I know, I'm kind of late on this one. Everyone listens to this thing, right? Actually, wrong. In fact, I know that our primary reader, Kerry (also primary contributor), does not listen to this podcast. Listen to it, Kerry.
Kerry and I saw Marc Maron perform as part of the Stand Uppity tour with Andy Kindler and Winfrey family fav Eugene Mirman. I'll admit, I wasn't familiar with Marc Maron before the show, but his performance was good! So I found out about his podcast shortly after this and I gave it the ol' download. For some reason, at the time, I was not feelin' it. So I had a few episodes that sat in my iTunes for a year or two.
I just recently discovered it, and I've been burning through episodes. It's so good. Seriously, give it a listen. He's really open about everything in his life, and he talks about himself a lot, which is what I think originally turned me off from it. His guests are also really open. As much as I love Comedy Death Ray Radio (a LOT), those guys are always crackin' funnies! Scott Aukerman was on WTF and he hardly cracked any funnies. It was just a really good interview! The Judd Apatow episode is one of the best interviews I've heard. It's all so good.
Make sure you check out the Bob Odenkirk interview. If I find an interview with him, I straight up stop what I'm doing and listen to it/read it. That guy is my hero. Check it out you guys, seriously.
I've been watching Gilmore Girls and letting my emotions get the best of me and, well, I'll just give you a little hint as to what I bought on iTunes.
That's right. I bought a Sam Phillips album, so now I can annoy Alex with all the strummy "lalala" songs. Maybe someday I'll make a post about my deep connection to Gilmore Girls and how this show has really nursed me through some difficult times in my life. And maybe someday I'll scrape together the money for therapy so I can get over using a television show as an emotional crutch! Haha. You're funny, Winfrey.
I missed SNL's season premiere last night because I was on vacation. Don't get me wrong; I love having better things to do on a Saturday night than watch television. Still, though, I wanted to see how the new cast members did. Judging by this clip, AWESOME! I know sometimes impressions aren't "ccol" or whatever the kids are saying these days, but I really love a spot-on impresison. I have simple tastes.
Did you guys get the All Delighted People EP? If not, you should at least download the title track. It's over 11 minutes long! Seriously, just listen to it. Sufjan Stevens has been rockin' it lately.
I gave in. I checked out Freedom from the library. I am extremely sensitive to hype; that's why I read Twilight (well, that AND my masochistic nature AND my love of making fun of things AND the fact that it was cheap). I just could not resist Freedom after hearing about it everywhere. Will I actually read it? Probably not. But I will at least open it. I think Jonathan Franzen is a remarkable author (I'm really going out on a limb here by asserting an unusual opinion, I know), but come on...Freedom is a TERRIBLE title. Titling my stories was the thing I sucked the most at in my workshops. Almost every critique would be like, "Um, your title? Not doing it for me." So I understand, Franzen. I get it. Titles are hard. But couldn't you have come up with something that didn't make me think of two George Michael songs?
On second thought, never mind! Those are great songs. Keep up the good title work.
Alex is always all, "Ugh, grad students." And with good reason. He's talking, of course, about a very specific type of grad student...not someone studying, say, physics, microbiology, or anything with a practical application. Humanities grad students. Film grad students. Y'all know what I'm talking about, and so does television!
I saw this video a while ago, and I'd been meaning to post about it. It's one of those videos that you never forget. It's also one of the few music videos that has actually scared me. It is directed by Eric Wareheim (and Fatal Farm worked on it!), which is strange. I guess I never really knew what he was capable of because of what he does with Tim and Eric and most of his other videos, but man. This is something. Seriously, watch it.
It looks so good. And it is so much more than just a shock I think. I can't explain it, but I know that I like it. There are parts of Tim and Eric that are creepy, and this video has something that I can't explain that I love in scary movies. What I'm saying is, Eric Wareheim, direct a horror film. Just think on it.
Not a super exciting update, but I seriously can't stop listening to this song. The whole album is good, but this song is really somethin' special. Recommended if you like She & Him, but wish they were less poppy/more jangly and also more about sex.
It's no secret that I love romantic comedies. I'm pretty sure I've started other blog posts with that exact sentence, so it's also no secret that I know it's not a secret. Ever since I saw the trailer for Going the Distance, I knew I had to see it as soon as possible. Rarely do movies come out that are so made for me.
Firstly and most importantly, I LOVE Drew Barrymore. I love everything about her. Mostly I love that, no matter what movie she's in, it seems like she picked out her own wardrobe. Her clothes are so wacky! She dresses like a five year old whose mother is like, "I'm tired, wear what you want" and so she just piles on the sparkle and camo with stripes or whatever. All of the other things I love about this movie are summed up really well in Owen Gleiberman's EW review, which you can read here if you so wish. I agreed wholeheartedly with the Gleibs (as I do about half the time) when he wrote this:
Going the Distance is a light and tasty morsel of a romantic comedy in which two smart, funny, and basically sweet people try to conduct a cross-country relationship. The movie, which sounds like it was spun out of an advice column, is very high-concept, except that it has a gently authentic tone, a flavor rooted in its affection for the shrewd innocence of the 1980s. For the first 15 minutes or so, I actually wondered if it was set in the '80s....After two love montages set to the Cure's ''Just Like Heaven'' and the Pretenders' ''Don't Get Me Wrong,'' I began to think: Between this feel-good '80s jukebox and the fact that no one in the film has yet sent a text message, which year is this?...As it turns out, Going the Distance is quite contemporary, but the wistful retro vibe is no accident. The director, Nanette Burstein, is...out to take us back to an earlier vibe — to a time when pop music was optimistic, and so were movie romances. Erin and Garrett don't just fall into glorified lust. They fall in love because they like each other's company.
He's right; this is VERY much like an 80's romantic comedy. The montages are so montage-y it's almost laughable (I mean, they are dancing on a beach!), which I really like. If you're going to do a montage, you might as well go whole-hog and just do it up right. There's no such thing as a subtle montage, anyway. Going the Distance was also a lot more realistic than most romantic comedies, which is both a pro and a con. H did not like that the movie's humor skewed blue (this movie is like 95% made up of dick jokes) because he thought it seemed out of place in what he called a "chick flick." I didn't agree though, and not just because I don't use the term chick flick (barf, sorry). The characters talked to each other basically like real people talk to each other. My friends and I spend about 50% of our time talking about sex and the other 50% talking about our jobs, and I think that's pretty typical, so I found those relationships to be accurately depicted. The relationship between Justin Long and Drew Barrymore's characters was believable, too, and not just because Justin Long's character reminded me so much of H (without all the womanizing). I loved this movie. It has some of my favorite romantic comedy conventions (including the whole "How can this person have their brilliant career AND the love of their life??" conundrum) while also being genuinely funny and believable. And I can't leave out the importance of Jason Sudekis, Charlie Day, Jim Gaffigan, and Mike Birbiglia, who all took the movie to the next level (the next level being the funnier one). And MOST importantly, one of Drew Barrymore's New York friends is played by Natalie Morales, the girl who plays Aziz's girlfriend on Parks and Rec. H tried to tell me I was wrong but I knew I was right. Suck on that.
