Mad Men - All about Peggy

I watched two episodes of Mad Men last night and here is what stuck with me - Peggy is where it's at.

She set out to prove Don wrong in the season's second episode. She was not going to be ignored anymore. She was not going to be powerless. She is in control of her destiny. She went to a bar alone, picked up a guy, told him no to sex, and dashed before morning without giving her number. As the night went on she gained more and more confidence. Don was her idol and as far as she had come, he didn't give her or her gender a full share of respect yet. (I think Don actually respects her more than anyone else that works for him...she just has a chip on her shoulder.)

She did the same thing with her co-workers. She smoked pot, drank rum, and realized that there was nothing to fear. She broke on through to the other side. She is in a good place right now and I like it.

As far as Don goes, he gave a nice speech to the MSG guy, the guy in the bar, and his brother-in-law. It doesn't sit well with me that he is mad at Roger. I like these guys as a team, friendly competing and not enemies tolerating each other.

There was also a lot of singing and dancing. Roger in blackface was hilarious and Pete can really cut a rug. Also, Joan with an accordion was a little sad and Paul was a lame Ivy man. It was all so mesmerizing. This show puts me into a trace like state and I like it.

This is meant to be played loud!

The Last Waltz is the best music movie of all-time, hands down. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film chronicles the last concert ever the The Band. A who's who of 70's rock stars sit in on the concert that took place on Thanksgiving. A truly enjoyable event.

Tonight at 8Pm on VH1 Classic Rock
Tues at 12:30 AM on Palladia HD
Tues at 4:PM on VH1 Classic Rock

An oldie but a goodie...

I was watching testosterone TV on Versus the other day and I realized where I recognized their ad campaign. Check this link out. Part 1 and part 2 are hilarious. All the rest are knock-offs, including the Big Lebowski ad.

Speaking of Big Lebowski, there is a documentary coming out in October on the fans who follow the movie like it is Star Wars or Star Trek. They even have Lebowski fests every year. I wonder if they have a world's laziest man competition and a Caucasian drinking contest. Or a nihilist contest...who cares the least about winning. Great movie.

True Blood - The Queen of Yahtzee

"This town may be filled with crazy red necks and dumbasses, but they are still Americans and that used to mean something." "Still does!"

With lines like that and images like a vampire Yahtzee game, Eric in a dress, and Jason walking into a tree, this was probably the funniest episode of True Blood of the year. This season has been building steam episode after episode and this one perfectly placed the chess pieces where they needed to be for the finale.

Lafayette, Tara, and Eggs have Sookie and a giant egg. Is that where he gets his nickname?

Eric and Bill are competing for Sookie. Eric's plan is unknown (my guess is it involves Lafayette) while Bill's is to offer up Sam and then strike at the right moment.

Jason and Andy are going on a mission to save their town against all odds (as hilariously as possible).

Rarely is a show legitimately scary and funny but this show most definitely pulls it off...case in point - Lafayette sprinkling the pills like chicken feed.

Inglourious Basterds - I want my scalps!

This movie is awesome. I am gonna come right out and say it. I have been a fan of Tarantino since day 1. I was a defender of his movies when he got ripped. I get it. He made his post modern opus with Pulp. It was so original and so well written (to this day I think it is the best screenplay to a movie I ever watched) that his street cred was at an all time level.

If you are at all familiar with the legend of Tarantino, he is an unmatched student of films. His post-Pulp movies have all been pitch perfect tributes to the genre. Whether it is blaxploitation and Jackie Brown or B-movie action double features with Grindhouse (specifically Death Proof) or Hong Kong martial arts movies/spaghetti westerns with Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2. Now comes the Basterds being a tribute to WWII movies, especially German movies.

The movies are made by a guy who loves movies, that much is indisputable. His scenes are made with a reverence that you don't get from almost any other movie. I mean no one is making movies like him. They are not made for you. They are not made to win Oscars. They are made the way a true fan would demand a proper tribute be made.

This particular movie was ten years in the making. Tarantino read Goebbells diary and studied German film making. It was set to be even longer than Kill Bill. Speaking of Kill Bill, KB was written as a diversion from his work on Basterds.

As far as the movie goes, it is about a band of renegade Jewish Americans on a blood thirsty mission of Nazi scalping pitted against the wits of a superb Nazi Jew Hunter. The Jew Hunter is getting mad props for his part, and boy are they well deserved. But, Brad Pitt, as the leader of the Basterds, has gotten mixed reviews. Well I am here to tell you he is exactly what he is supposed to be. Hilarious. I won't give plot points away, but trust me...this must be seen.

Sleep Show

I have a thing where I need to watch TV to fall asleep. Dead silence is tortuous to me. For years, I fell asleep and awoke to ESPN, specifically SportsCenter. It was the soundtrack to my nights. From 3AM to 5AM, they re-ran the game from the night before. I wasn't a fan of falling asleep to an old game, so if I was up at that time I went with a TV show on DVD.

Fast forward to present day and my wife isn't into falling asleep with the TV on. She is willing to compromise and let me watch TV but just not SportsCenter (all she hears is yelling announcers). So, that leaves me ever seeking a new Sleep Show. Here are the two characteristics of a good sleep show...keep it light and keep it familiar. I try to stick to sitcoms I have seen before. I am on Season 6 of Scrubs the second time trough. I have also gone through That 70s Show from Season 1 to 7. Most nights I don't even get through a full episode so it takes a long time to finish a season.

I may go through 70s Show one more time but then I think I am going to head into Gilmore Girls. I've seen it, it is generally light, and my wife owns the entire series on DVD. Any other suggestions?

Check out the cover of the new EW

I can't wait for the new Curb to start!

Check it out here.