a broken lull.

GEORGE A. ROMERO'S LAND OF THE DEAD (UNRATED DIRECTOR'S CUT)
George A. Romero (USA 2005)

6.5
wow. what. the. fuck. happened.
seriously. there are no traces of George Romero on this film. well, there is, but the brilliance of the first three flicks are nowhere to be found. this looks like a direct sequel to last year's action remake of Dawn of the Dead. there is no tension, no suspense and, most depressingly, no fucking creepiness! the only cool element thankfully brought back from the first films are the amazing on-camera KNB makeup and effects. but sadly, they even managed to fuck that up by using loads of fake CGI blood spurts and brain chunks. bor-ing. a goddamn yawn is what this is! god, George - what the fuck happened? the creepy, foggy black and white intro to this film was good, but then it cuts to what looks like the Dawn remake and everything just falls flat. i was so ready to love this film!! the cinematography is what tipped me off to the non-George factor. it was just all over the place. i don't remember it moving everywhere like that in the other films. Miroslaw Baszak was responsible for the cinematography. holy shit: i was just checking his imdb resumer and guess what? Miroslaw was director of photography on the second unit on the Dawn remake!!! what did i tell you? what the fuck did i say??? fuck! the camera moves along way too much and pans all the fuck around. there's just no point and no tension being built up. ohmyfuckinggod. you my man, are one of the big reasons i didn't enjoy this film and feel it has been spoiled. the other big reason, though, is attributed to Romero himself. the story. it's just awful. there are no characters, stars look like they're just there to be in a Romero film, and the dialogue, which was at the very least down-to-earth before, is just plain silly this time around. and George makes the mistake of putting the story right in the middle of a complez society. the first films worked best because there were simple, straightforward and claustrophobic. but here it's just like every other shoot-em-up with a few renegade loner groups out to fend for themselves and the big bad rich folk. yeah. like a straight-to-vhs '80's flick. but there are a few saving graces that made the film bearable - Simon Baker and Asia Argento. and thank god Baker is the lead so we at least have him to watch throughout this sad attempt of a film. he (and Asia too, for her alloted screen time) brings some much needed human touch. (oh! the music! the fucking horrible techno-driven, action film music. shit.) oh, okay. i can think of one last great element -- head zombie Eugene Clark. i have no idea why the zombies' makeups were more colorful than before, thus giving Clark a bit more human quality than hoped for a zombie. but, having said that, it didn't take anything away from his perfect portrayal of an "intelligent" being. and he was the only menacing aspect of the film. once again - thank god he was a lead. (i guess Romero or whoever casted this film did a great job on the leads.) although the film didn't feature zombie Bob from Day of the Dead, Clark's Big Daddy was an amazing and worthy addition to the series. he was able to bring so much emotion and sympathy to thhis character. and the man's resume is somehow filled with made-for-tv movies. i hope someone took notice and will put him in bigger stuff. he's certainly made for it. kudos to the casting directors for finding this man. but, in the end, there are just no words for hos disappointed i was in this flick. George, you really let me down. hopefully you the film was rushed into production (for a long time the Dead films were always gonna be a trilogy. period) and you didn't know what you were doing. or maybe Miroslaw really did fuck it up (ah, no - the script). well, let's move on and forget this little bump and be thankful you brought Simon Baker and Eugene Clark to our attention. oh, before i forget - one of the best things about the trilogy, for me, was the social commentary. so, what with this one, you may ask. well, it is there, if you're familiar with the previous films and George's writing and are willing to look for it, and it's a damn interesting idea at that, but i felt the spirit of the Dawn remake just trumped all of that and buried it rather quickly. so the film actually reads like a normal action zombie film. point a, point b, do this, do this. oh, and shoot 'em up because we have the firepower now. yeah, there's a lot of tension in that. sigh. the film isn't bad, you can easily watch the whole thing, but it's not a really good film. it should have been (and could have been; there is a promising story buried under all the Aliens wannabe posturing - ps. James Cameron made sure he had full, believable characters before heading into the macho stuff - and he had macho stuff, instead of this paper-thin straight-to-vhs yawn) so much more. but sadly, it simply falls flat. hopefully, though, there will be a next time for George and he will redeem himself (in my eyes, at least) as the legendary filmmaker he is.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:43 AM |

NHL
New York Rangers 5 Montreal 2
Game #11 of 82

wow. what a fricking score. but the scoresheet doesn't do justice to the game. sure the Rangers were everywhere and they dominated, but it was a humiliating game for the Canadiens. after the disastrous 3-0 first period, the Rangers held onto their huge lead in the second. the third period, howerever, saw the return of the hungry Canadiens with two amazing goals (that finally went past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist), but the puck was simply on New York's side as the disheartened Bell Centre crowd saw them score two quick goals late in the third that sealed the Habs' fate. btw, i don't care what Souray's excuses are - take him out of his misery. he may be a leader in the dressing room but he's a fucking moronic cone on the ice. as for the game, they had to have at least one bad game this season, i guess. now it's out of the way. bring back the old team now. we're ready.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:30 AM |

NHL
Montreal 3 Ottawa 4 (OT)
Game #10 of 82

shit. but hey, the return of Zednik is something to be happy for (was Dagenais scratched? i heard Zednik was joining the 2nd line, with Ribeiro and Ryder) and it sounds like it was an exciting game. plus it finished in overtime. couldn't ask for anything more out of the third loss out of the first ten games, really. dunno who they're playing saturday, but i sadly won't be able to catch it as the ex and i have planned to watch a movie (since we'll likely have a roommate-less apartment for one evening).

Posted by Anonymous | 12:57 AM |

MELINDA AND MELINDA
Woody Allen (USA 2004)

6.0
an unsettingly unfunny dissection of comedy and tragedy. the story is split into two parts - one tragedy, one comedy. but both tell the same tale. honestly, i didn't get the tragic side of the story. it didn't feel a whole lot different than the comedy, i'll tell you that. and having actors play the Woody Allen Role, complete with tics and manneurisms was annoying. but after a while (a long annoying while) you get that this is a film version of his films. but that doesn't take away the blandness and awkward scenes between actors. the wink is not as present as it could have been. so i don't know if Woody Allen's purpose was to analize his movies by creating a distance between his art and his audience, or if it was just plainly lazy and derivative, but the end result is surely disappointing. again, maybe i didn't get it, but i usually enjoy Woody's films. not this one. my entertainment was reduced to holding onto moments of magic, as when Chiwetel Ejiofor enters the scene. even Radha Mitchell seems to sparkle when she interacts with him (of course that's part of the point but what's the point of annoying your audience with a bad film for the first 40 minutes?). but Ejifor was a true revelation for me. man, he's good. he spews the Woody dialogue like no other character has ever done and just breaks through the screen with graceful charm. anyway, i'm glad i watched it but i'm not gonna see this film ever again. see it if you're a Woody Allen fan and are curious as to how Will Ferrell, Radha Mitchell, and Amanda Peet do in a Woody Allen film (SNL skit/good Woody impression after a while, very good/Mia Farrow role, very good).

Posted by Anonymous | 11:17 AM |

NHL
Philadelphia 2 Montreal 3
Game #9 of 82

the Habs are aquiring quite a record this year (7 wins in 9 games).

i took off early from work because i thought the roommate was spending the night at his girlfriend's place. i even called three times after 9 pm to make sure. but right before i leave the job i check my messages ...and they're all gone! shit. i get home, and sure enough, he's here. but alone. watch some tv, go take my shower, and i come out to... an empty apartment once again. lol. hey, at least i've got the apartment now (although i could've finished my entire shift and come to an empty apartment :) gonna watch a movie!! yay. i haven't had nearly enough time to do that in the past few weeks.

and because Just Jared rules today:

Michael Vartan vs Bradley Cooper, Part 2 (i am looking forward to hearing Vartan speak french).
Alanis and Ryan Reynolds at last weekend's Colorado-Canucks game.

have a great night/morning :)

Posted by Anonymous | 12:10 AM |

NHL
New York Islanders 3 Montreal 4
Game #8 of 82

fucking awesome. didn't see a freaking second of the game but i like the end result.

i spent the entire day and evening at the ex-roommate's house for my birthday. but the day started with the ex waking me up from sleep. i realized the roommate must've come home already and let her in. she made me some pancakes for my bday :) then off to the ex-roommate's. we spent the afternoon out on Mount Orford, enjoying the incredible scenery. the sun was out but it was still chilly. very much fall weather and i enjoyed it (even though i was clearly under-dressed for the occasion). tonight she and her boyfriend cooked me a great meal and the evening ended at around 10:30. not bad. and i got me some nice phone calls wishing me a happy birthday. it was not the busiest of birthdays but it was a sincerely nice one. (oh, and i also ran into my first girlfriend's father at the grocery store! :P he recognized me (i did go out with his daughter for almost 3 years - but that ended 8 years ago!!) i had a lot of fun with him back then. the chemistry was still there today.

3:50 PM

hey. how are ya? i'm back to being a bit under the weather, myself. trying to take care of my poor little body. i should go to the grocery store in a little bit. i should. btw, check this little Friendster horoscope for me today:

Love happens in the darnedest places, doesn't it? In the grocery store, at the corner bodega -- and, less infrequently, at work. So if you're just now getting used to the idea that this new position might be absolutely perfect after all, and that there's really not one more 'perk' you could possibly have imagined, try not to be too surprised when someone you admire lets you know it's mutual -- and not because your work is so exemplary.

not too bad, uh? :) have a good one.

7:07 PM

whew. the roommate and his girlfriend, who'd come back late this afternoon, just went back to the girlfriend's place for the night :) i'm gonna watch a movie tonight. this'll be the first entire evening i'll have to myself in about a week or two. about damn time.

but that's not what i've interrupted the blog for. oh no. check this out -- i (heart) music finds the next big thing to come out of Montreal ...and names Heroes & Villains!! now, i haven't heard a note from this band -but- i heard about the band almosta year ago. i was lucky enough to meet up with a friend, and fellow indie music-lover, in the lineup of the Montreal Pixies show last year. she told me about this band some of her friends (or her boyfriend's friends?) were in, who's music she found really interesting. she urged me to check out their site. and yep, the band was Heroes & Villains (here's the evidence). it's nice to see the name pop up as the next big thing :)

btw, if you're looking to rent Gus Van Sant's Last Days tomorrow, make sure you get the full frame version as this is the original aspect ratio the film was shot in (the info on the dvd is still a bit sketchy at this point as Zip says it's a 2-disc set with the full frame and widescreen versions appearing on separate discs while DVD Talk and DVD Town both say it's a single flipper disc. maybe there are separate canadian and american sets. or maybe Zip's info was the initial one and forgot to update it. that could be it).

Posted by Anonymous | 12:06 AM |

boy, was i deluded... lol :)
about my birthday surprise at work, that is. see, we've been planning surprise birthdays for the past two people (like birthday lunches). i was next. so far, uh, not so much :P i really thought they'd surprise me with something tonight, like at dinner or, going out after our shift or i'd come home to a birthday party. but none of those things happened tonight. lol. wow. my ego was taken down a notch :) i was paranoid about it too. the girl i caught in a lie about my birthday did get me a nice cake and gave it to me at dinner. that was nice. i remembered she did that for two other people so i'm not in such bad company. the biggest letdown was how much planning i thought had gone into it (lol) because i make it a point to surprise people with elaborate stuff; so i thought they'd get me tonight. i guess tonight not :) of course most of my closest friends from work weren't working tonight so that didn't help matters much.

about New Lab Girl: she was MIA tonight. but i saw Original Lab Girl, who's been on the day shift for the past two months as well. was surprised to see her walking by in the cafeteria. i wasn't sure because i'd only spotted her shirt but i turned to my ex-partner, who was sitting over at the other end of the table, who immediately glanced at me and nodded :P (we still got it :) but that was it. and they, the lab people, didn't come to the cafeteria for their break tonight. next week, i guess (sigh). it couldn't have been a fluke that worked only one evening, could it? hopefully not. (damn.)

tomorrow morning i'm going to the ex-roommate's place. we'll probably take a walk outside and then i guess i'm invited for dinner, which is nice. talk to you soon.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:03 AM |

one day left before my Birthday! :D
and i know my friends from work are working on a little something for tomorrow but i don't know what. should be cute.

ooh, did i tell you i finally saw New Lab Girl again this week???? I DID! i thought she was out of my life after not seeing her at work for the past 2 or 3 months. but tonight, there she is, walking in the cafeteria during dinner. it took me a few seconds to realize who the cute girl who was looking my way (and it's a big cafeteria) was, though. and you know what? she kept trying to make eye contact!! :D how funny. and it felt much more deliberate than before. needless to say, i was ecstatic. it happened two or three times during dinner. the last time i was walking past their table. i just glanced up at her and looked straight down with a huge smile on my face as she was turning back to look at me :) a few hours later, breaktime. she comes in halfway through our break but i have my back to her. we get up and leave, passing her table. she has her back to us and i've got the ex-girlfriend (who works with me) right in front of me stopping every few seconds because she's mock-fighting with a friend so i can't check out New Lab Girl because i've got the ex in my face. lol. it's pathetic, i know :) anyway. i did see her turning around right as we were passing her table and looking at me but i never got to make eye contact that time. that was tuesday. i called in sick last night and tonight she didn't seem to be there. i'm hoping to see her tomorrow to see if tuesday was a fluke. (it wasn't, from the way she was looking at me, but i'd still like some kind of ongoing confirmation thing, you know ;)

speaking of tomorrow (and when i say tomorrow i mean friday); i love my horoscope (3rd and 4th lines, especially):

Everything is turning in your favor. Put yourself on the line and you will get the deal you want. A chance to do something with someone who excites you is likely. Love and romance look very promising.

now, who in their right mind would resist me, really? :) would you turn me down? ...nah, didn't think so ;)

Posted by Anonymous | 12:21 AM |

oh, btw, i got my Amazon order monday ... it'd shipped friday evening(!). i put in the order last week after being frustrated of running around for a (low-priced) copy of the 2cd Broken Social Scene album. the other two are albums i had waiting on my want list.

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE - BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE (2cd, bonus ep)
THE GO! TEAM - THUNDER, LIGHTNING, STRIKE (north america, bonus tracks)
SLEATER-KINNEY - THE WOODS

too funny: The Taunting Cat.

9:53 PM

Clint Eastwood is gonna shoot his upcoming film Flag of our Fathers as two separate entities. the film is about the storming of Iwo Jima and Eastwood thought it important to also tell the Japanese side. i say this is brilliant. kudos to him for doing it this way. especially involving something as touchy as the All-Mighty American Military Ego. i applaud every time someone tries to give a different perspective. this shall not disappoint.

11:18 PM

shit. after weeks of patiently holding on to their emails, insound finally got me with their 25% off quiz/sale. hopefully all four items are available and will ship shortly. (these are great choices, i feel, and i'll let you know about them when i get them, but i really need to lay off the credit card. lol.) now i gotta get to bed. for real. i called in sick tonight because i've been under the weather for the past 3 days, but this morning i really felt my body being sluggish. slept for over an hour this evening and ate a healthy meal. hopefully it'll be gone by tomorrow morning.

Posted by Anonymous | 2:03 AM |

NHL
Boston 3 Montreal 4
Game #7 of 82

whoa!! i was at work tonight so i couldn't catch the game. i wasn't even aware there was a game tonight, though, until i asked a fellow Habs fan/coworker who was carrying a portable radio. at breaktime we asked him what the score was and he told us he'd turned it off when the Habs were trailing 2-0 in the first period :) he seemed disappointed and frustrated. i wasn't. i mean, it's hard to come back against a two-goal lead, especially in the first period, but it can be done. but this 4-3 thing was a shock. wow. very cool. kudos to the players for pinching in. and according to the article above, tonight's was a highlights game for the Habs. hopefully i'll remember to catch them when i wake up tomorrow morning :)

Posted by Anonymous | 1:11 AM |

Colin (Greenwood) speaks: "listening to new modeselektor album, and waiting to get the boards of canada and pharrell williams tomorrow."

:P

by the way, the delayed October Criterions are finally all coming out next week. Amazon.ca says November 1st but we'll see if they don't get them in a bit earlier. i'm especially looking forward to the Sixties Swordplay set.

The Colbert Report starts tonight.
i seriously thought this was on already since they made the announcement, like, three months ago. this is good news, though. i didn't miss much.
goldenfiddle |

Posted by Anonymous | 12:42 PM |

NHL
Toronto 3 Montreal 2
Game #6 of 82

1:58 PM

so something happened not on our way to the forum.
yesterday the ex and i decided to waste the rainy day in Montreal. we were suppose to drive out to her friend's parents' house (to give them back their camping equipment the ex and her friend had used in Europe) but they couldn't on saturday. so i thought, why not go to Montreal? we could shop around and catch a film. so off we went. on our way there i remembered that Toronto was playing the Canadiens that very evening, and i was pretty sure it was in Montreal. so i tell the ex and chuckle about how close we'll be to the big game (i wanted to watch it on tv but the roommate would probably take over the living room that evening, and a flick in Montreal wouldn't be something to spit on). the ex likes and understands hockey but hasn't followed the NHL in a quite a few years. we were curious and thought we'd swing by the Bell Centre to see how much the tickets would be; if any were left, that is. (Toronto -- on a saturday night? forget it.) we shopped around, came across more than a few Leafs and Canadiens shirts, and around 5-ish we made our way to the Bell Centre. a few scalpers stopped us along the way. we asked about their prices but they were too expensive. the ex didn't wanna spend over a hundred bucks per ticket. and i wasn't gonna pressure her into going to a hockey game anyway. she'd take the decision and i'd just gladly follow. the game was indeed sold-out, btw, so if we were gonna go we'd have to go with the scalpers. our interesting detour was coming to an end but we decided to go eat first, come back to see new prices, and make a decision then (but we'd have to be quick if we were to catch a 7 pm-ish film anyway). we came back to the Bell Centre at around 6 and saw our familiar scalpers. the first one was selling us two tickets in the blue section (the highest), centre ice, for $70 each. a bit expensive since the tix are $25-35 but we could afford it. i blankly asked the ex if she wanted to go or not (i didn't care either way) and she decided she did wanna go :D so bought them, headed back to a Second Cup and came back for the game 20 minutes later --- I GOT INTO THE TORONTO VS MONTREAL GAME !!! :D i couldn't believe it. that so wasn't what my day was supposed to be about. the fact that it was a saturday was cool. the fact that it was Toronto-Montreal was spectacular. but that it all happened so quickly and unexpectedly made it just pure joy. and i couldn't thank the ex enough for that, as she has always been able to go with the flow. and that always impressed me. during the warm-up and subsequent pre-game waiting period, i just kept getting more and more excited as the minutes ticked by :P i honestly wouldn't have cared if we hadn't got in --it was a win-win situation both ways-- but since i hadn't expected going to the Bell Centre, against the Leafs, that night, i guess it hadn't sunk in until i saw the players prepare for the game :) it was hella cool. as for the game itself, it was okay. there were some spectacular plays and breathtaking moments (Alex Kovalev, you are a god, sir), and i was literally on the edge of my seat (and, a lot of times, on my feet) for at least half the game. then there were the Leafs fans filling up the building :) the last game i went to at the Bell Centre was against the Leafs and i kept marveling at the electric atmosphere it all generated. we got to meet a few cool Toronto fans who were sitting beside us. it was simply one awesome evening...

Posted by Anonymous | 1:58 PM |

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Ridley Scott, 2005 .USA

5.5
a lavish, grittily shot little piece of epic filmmaking that starts out being about one man's redemption from his sins and a universal harmony of the world's major religions. actually, that all gets muddled by a mightily weak screenplay. this is one horrible little flick, half-heartedly directed by Ridley himself. i don't recognize the man anymore. i started noticing the descent with Black Hawk Down. then there was the spectacularly boring craptitude that was Gladiator (yeah, i said it). i actually liked Hannibal, and Matchstick Men had something interesting about it (despite the odd choice of portraying Nicolas Cage's ticks as "funny". then this -- Kingdom of Heaven. so the previous two were not return to form. you seem to be out of touch, my man. what can we do to help? take a vacation. travel around the world. anything to help you get back into that master director's chair you once had. i believe you still have it in you. you directed some of most solid modern day films - Blade Runner, Alien, and Thelma & Lousie come to mind. you are better than this! take a break. breathe a little. escape Hollywood. you need it. where were we? oh, yeah -- the weak-ass script. dressed as a generic spiritual quest, the story is so bland you can barely stay awake. there are some moments of interests (sadly, mostly during the battle scenes, though; not much of a spiritual film, is it now?) but definitely not enough for me to recommend this pretend film. i'm still not sure if the writer had an honest belief in his themes and story, or if it was just thrown up there in the hopes of eliciting some kind of illusion of depth. [ oh god - William Monahan, the film's sole writer wrote the screenplay for Scorsese's The Departed and Jurassic Park IV. help us. ] whatever the original intent was, the film simply abandons its honestly interesting themes (although too simple and earnest) after introducing them. it does bring them up from time to time to help us remember what the film is supposed to be about (because a film has to have substance to survive, otherwise it would crumble under its own stupid pretenses), but other than that it drops the ball right in front of your eyes, time and time again, completely unaware of its own lack of content. if you're looking for some reddemable quality, i would go with Ridley and John Mathieson's cold visuals. the film does look good and the dvd transfer is slick. (btw, Mathieson entered Ridley's professional life with 2000's Gladiator; although his style is incredibly similar to that of Scott's previous collaborators (i thought he had a single accomplice during that time, but no, he had different DP's), he seems to have become a regular contributor these past few years -- is he one of the reasons Scott's films have become so tired?). but i can easily dismiss this flick as there's just not enough meat on the bones to make it even a good film. leave it. you'll be better off without it.

ps. hey, lookie here -- my roommate loved it :P

Posted by Anonymous | 11:11 AM |

NHL
Montreal 2 Atlanta 0
Game #5 of 82

[ didn't see this game because of work. ]
Montreal continues with their strong season start by nailing a fourth win in five games. weird that they lost the one home game, though, but i love that they won all four away games. important games to win. i'm incredibly excited by what i'm seeing this team becoming. saturday, Toronto's in town. should be a good fight, especially considering Montreal's win in TO a mere 5 days ago.

10:03 AM

uh..... and next week Apple will release a car small enough to fit up your urethra.
your grandmother's iPod is better than yours: i hope you got your nano last week 'cause the surprisingly not-too-expensive 5th generation iPod is out next week. and it has goddamn video playback. yeah. and a TV Out.
oh, and the new iTunes 6 is out already. is that busy enough for ya?

1:43 PM

there's a free NHL Network preview until the end of the month, for those interested in such a thing :)
since we switched to Bell ExpressVU i lost TSN, which i am mourning in this new hockey season. it feels good to have it back in my life, though, even if it is only for a short month :)
RedFlagDeals.com |

Posted by Anonymous | 1:19 AM |

NHL
Ottawa 4 Montreal 2
Game #5 of 82

didn't see the game because i was at work. did manage to catch a 4-minute glimpse of the third period when it was 3-2. i have no idea how they played (from what i saw they must have held up quite well for most of the game for the score to be that close) but, with their 3-0 record so far, they had to lose a game sometime :)

ho-ly shit: King Kong: Peter Jackson's Production Diaries 2-Disc Set from Universal [ scroll down ]. brilliant.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:24 AM |

NHL
Montreal 5 Toronto 4
Game #4 of 82

i was at my aunt's and uncle's in Ottawa saturday (actually Hull). we drove down yesterday for my aunt's 50th birthday anniversary (it was an excuse to see them and my cousins, and bring along my brother from Banff, whom they hadn't seen in 7 years, as a surprise :) we came back this afternoon. we were able to catch last night's game (hey, good call on benching Dagenais!! couldn't agree more) and play some NHL 2004 with my cousin on the GameCube :) i got up at 6:30 this morning to drive my brother down to the airport with my uncle. it was damn early, i'll tell you that much, but there was no cloud in sight. it was especially nice and crispy out. a good way to start the day. needless to say i slept like a fucking brick on the backseat on our 4-hour drive back home this afternoon :)

on our way back, as seems to have become the new tradition recently, i made my mom and her boyfriend stop by Record Runner in downtown Ottawa. after dropping my brother off at the airport this morning i didn't feel like going back to bed so i decided to read more precisely about albums i was interested in and made a list. of course they were all priced around $19.99 so i left them there but i managed to get a mix of cheap new releases and older stuff i'd been looking for for a while but were usually a bit expensive. i snatched the following:

MISS KITTIN & THE HACKER - FIRST ALBUM
RILO KILEY - more adventurous
COCOROSIE - Noah's Ark
LADYTRON - WITCHING HOUR

Posted by Anonymous | 11:46 PM |

NHL
Montreal 4 New York Rangers 3 OT
Game #3 of 82

Ryder started the Montreal party with his 2nd of the season (his first was the winner the day before), then superstar hopefuls (we've got quite a few in our roster) Higgins and Perezhogin each scored their first NHL goal tonight. but the Rangers went into overdrive in the last half of the third period on what looked like Jagr's whim and things got quite intense for a few minutes. but all's well that ended well for Montreal fans as the game went into overtime and Michael Ryder scored, not only his 2nd of the game, but already his third goal of the season, and his 2nd game-winning goal in as many games/days for the team. brilliant. i wasn't sure about the game going in but, after a sleepy first period, the team settled in and started playing some inspired hockey. glad to see Julien and Gainey use the young guys to their full potential. you can see it re-energizing the team.

ps. i missed last night's game but was able to find it online. but there doesn't seem to be a steady stream of NHL games on torrent sites (i rechecked the site and found more games than i initially did, so maybe i did jump the gun a bit -- it was only the NHL's 2nd day after all). does anybody where i could find more hockey torrents? thanks :)

U2 are given the keys to tonight's Late Night with Conan?
dunno. this is the first i've heard of it. but even though i've grown amazingly tired of the band, oh, say, at least five years ago, it sounds damn cool nonetheless.

Posted by Anonymous | 4:34 PM |

there was nothing good about saturday night's SNL Premiere. SNL still sucks, apparently. but aside from the usual dreadful suckiness of the show, there was newcomer Bill Hader (a member of LA's Second City -- and apparently recommended by Megan Mullally to SNL) who was refreshingly funny and actually got the audience excited and interested in the show. it's been a long time since i last saw a cast member elicit so much enthusiasm--especially a newbie, and on his first night. also, if you haven't seen the show or heard about it, there was one pure gem that shone bright. it was the Kanye West intro. pure gold. thanks to whoever thought of that one. brilliant.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:37 PM |

today's the day we've been waiting for for the past year, people!!
the NHL Season is upon us!!!!!!!!!!!

a few weeks ago i realized that the NHL's and the Canadiens' first game would be tonight - i immediately asked my brother if we could make it an evening and watch the game together :) tonight's the night, folks! let the games begin!!

i have so missed NHL hockey. especially Canadiens' hockey. god: Saku, Kovalev, Zednik. and now all the new blood. plus, the players who were rookies two years ago but now have solid roles in the team because they showed they could take them on. brilliant. i LOVE it!

update: Montreal 2 vs Boston 1 !!

the first period was exciting, but Montreal lagged off for the 2nd and first half of the third. thankfully some inspired plays showed up from time to time and Michael Ryder scored with twelve seconds to go to the game. Raycroft had no chance as Kovalev, Koivu, and Ryder all took shots one after the other while the Boston defense was sleeping somewhere. it was beautiful. when we put our heads together we can come up with some amazing stuff. i would've loved to see shootouts but i guess that'll be for next time. oh, and hopefully Julien benches, or even better, sends down Dagenais. the guy is not a professional hockey player. sure he showed he could be play great bursts of hockey with Ribeiro but that was two years ago and he's just a hindrance now. after last night's game i won't be crying anymore if he goes. send him off and bring in the amazing new guys!

next game is tonight against the New York Rangers (and newly-acquired, from the Canadiens, just last week, Marcel Hossa).

Posted by Anonymous | 11:13 AM |

Jonathan Lethem gives us his ten favorite Criterion films.
(all of his choices are great films, but i've gotta give it to him for Jacques Becker's Le trou - an outstanding film that i quickly found a fondness for.)

Posted by Anonymous | 10:56 PM |

î'm telling you, i'm not a pimp for Future Shop (maybe a whore) but i do love low prices and FS are in a class of their own when it comes to inexpensive new releases. there's just no competition. so here are a bunch of new releases that you can get for close to nothing today at Future Shop:

Fiona Apple EXTRAORDINARY MACHINE $11.99
Franz Ferdinand YOU COULD HAVE IT SO MUCH BETTER $9.99
The International (Noise) Conspiracy ARMED LOVE $10.99
My Morning Jacket Z $13.99

the more expensive ones i'll be holding out on:

The Go! Team THUNDER, LIGHTNING, STRIKE (Bonus Tracks) $18.99
Ladytron WITCHING HOUR $21.99

okay. i figured out the deal with the Broken Social Scene delay. today the standard edition comes out, but according to FS, the 2cd edition is the one being delayed to next week.
FS will have that one for $12.99.

Archambault has these:

Trina THE GLAMOREST LIFE [PA] $12.99
Twista THE DAY AFTER [PA] $12.99

shit. they're actually $22.99 each!! the $12.99 pricetags are for the album download. fuck you, Archambault!

FS has them for $16.99 and $15.99 respectively. i may only get the Twista today (i love Trina's voice and she has a great lineup, but Twista has Timbaland, The Neptunes, and Kanye).

2:59 PM

hey, Pete Townshend's on Blogger.

here's my update on today's new releases. i only managed to get the Fiona Apple and Franz Ferdinand albums. weird. very weird. Future Shop didn't have anything else (other than the Ladytron, which was $21.99) and HMV either. as i said - weird. so i came back (the ex finally called me - she's at her sister's house and is coming back as we speak. told me to call her up tonight if i could) and ordered the International (Noise), My Morning Jacket, and Twista albums. the site has all of them in stock, which is a nice surprise. i won't have them today but at least i'll have them at those cheap prices. i'm hungry. gotta go.

Posted by Anonymous | 8:58 AM |

oh my god. Kevin Smith is off Fletch Won.
the film's producer tries to make it look like the film ain't gonna be shit now.
(that is one shitty, shitty, shitty decision.)

oh god. so tomorrow's the day i go broke. god help us all, music-lovers.

6:05 PM

even though i didn't do much, i had a hell of a day.
went running with the iPod again. i found a track about 10 minutes away from here that i can jog to. a good addition/change to my usual routine. the ex hasn't called yet. her plane's coming in today, but i just don't know when exactly. but she also has to get her car from her parents' house a good hour away from here. so may even stay the night. dunno. i cleaned my slate today so i could see her whenever she'd come back. it looks like the roommate is spending the night at his girlfriend's tonight. yay. will have the apartment to myself. gonna watch a movie if the ex doesn't call.

Criterion has announced its January 2006 slate (so far no double disc sets but it's still early. love the Kurosawa cover).

THE BAD SLEEP WELL Akira Kurosawa, 1960
YOUNG MR. LINCOLN John Ford, 1939
THE VIRGIN SPRING Ingmar Bergman, 1960
THE CHILDREN ARE WATCHING US Vittorio De Sica, 1944

Posted by Anonymous | 4:03 PM |

Steve Carrell and Kanye West open up the SNL season tonight.
i'm happy.
these past few seasons have been lackluster -at best- but they at least got something right with these two. kudos.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:47 AM |