a broken lull.

24
11AM - 12PM

DISAPPOINTMENT: –noun; when the writers of 24 finally get down to writing Jack's father into the show, and apparently giving him the bulk of this season's plot, teasing us with his existence through an entire episode, only to reveal in the next one that he has been played by ...James Cromwell? now, James Cromwell is a fine actor, don't get me wrong. after all these years of Kiefer being asked if his father, DONALD SUTHERLAND, would ever make an appearance on the show, and the only answer was always, 'he'd have to play my father.' that, my friends, is a huge letdown. and i think i was staking my interest in this season on this fact alone. Jack's pretty much back to boring macho posturing now anyways, so i'm not following him. what else is there? the nukes have been done to death before. the Guantanamo Bay thing is done. the democrat-republican talking points are paper-thin exercises in 'content' (they have to study Aaron Sorkin if they wanna do it with any kind of drama). last season, i did notice the writing starting to awkwardly lean closer to that of a soap opera. and i'm scared the writers haven't figured it yet. hopefully they'll take a much needed break soon.

i can't see James Cromwell has Jack's dad because of this. Donald would have been too perfect. apparently, Kiefer has said that the pairing would have to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so hopefully this project is for the very near future.

ps. Darren McCarthy was an NHL hockey player with the Detroit Red Wings.

pps. why didn't Walid just drop the cellphone on the ground where he bumped into the fellow detainee?? showed him to try and be stupid (and not to mention a very lame bumping 'accident' to get the cellphone).

Posted by Anonymous | 1:09 PM |

before i go to sleep ... Tim found one of the greatest pieces of live footage of our wee lil' princess, miss Shirley herself. (love her.) (thanks, Tim!)

and a good night, or morning, to you all.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:52 AM |

ohfuckinghell. why didn't anybody tell me The Good, The Bad & The Queen was Damon Albarn's new project (with Danger Mouse, no less!)...? i stepped into a record store this afternoon and looked around, saw this album, among other interesting releases, but decided to leave the store before buying something i didn't need. now i'll have to go back tomorrow :)

i need to look up reviews for current releases before making my way to stores. :)

oh my god, Cheney is a PRICK!

Posted by Anonymous | 6:40 PM |

24
ohmyfreakinggodtheydidit.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:22 PM |

NHL
Buffalo 3 Montreal 4

we blew a 3-0 lead in the third but got a great goal from Ryder at the end. awesome. we'll take that. a great way to distance ourselves from the slump and go into the week-long All-Star break. it woulda been rather uncomfortable going into that week on a nasty loss. good one.

ps. great little post on A Theory of Ice, a hockey blog i just heard about through Sisu. funny. and dead on :)

pps. hockey is the greatest game in the world. let Georges Laraques show you why. (spoiler - don't read the text below the video.)

Posted by Anonymous | 10:28 PM |

Looking back at '06 / FILMS.
i finally sat down long enough to write some quick thoughts about my favorite-favorite film experiences of 2006.
asterisked titles link to original reviews.
here we go - in no particular order:


The Weather Man*..Gore Verbinski usa 2005
it's been a while since i've seen this film but what i can remember is a solid character study from Verbinski and Nicolas Cage.

To Kill A Mockingbird*..Robert Mulligan usa 1962
never have i felt such a close intimate relationship with a movie. this movie was nothing short of a revelation for me.

Inside Man*..Spike Lee usa 2006
Lee takes on the world of thrillers with this sharp popcorn movie. Jodie Foster is kind of wasted in a superfluous role but that doesn't take anything away from the film's tight drama.

Mean Creek..Jacob Aaron Estes usa 2004
a cool little, slow-burner drama set out in the country during one summer. great performances by the kids and solid, quiet atmosphere from Estes. highly recommended.

Fade To Black..Pat Paulson & Michael John Warren usa 2004
the Jay-Z documentary. i can't count the number of times i've gone back to the Timbaland sequences :) i think i've tried to show every one of my friends at one point. a fun film for fan's of good music.

Mission: Impossible III*..J.J. Abrams usa 2006
J.J. Abrams did it. it's Alias on a big-ass movie screen. kick ass film. nothing more to add.

Match Point*..Woody Allen uk usa luxembourg 2005
Jonathan Rhys Meyers once again lights up the screen. this time in a twisted romantic drama. and for the first time since Lost In Translation, Scarlett Johansson looks so fucking at ease on film. effortlessly magnetic, as needed.

L'audition..Luc Picard canada 2005
a very personal and intimate (yet charming) drama about a man and his son. Picard manages to keep things light despite the heavy subject matter. highly recommended.

Paradise Now..Hany Abu-Assad netherlands france germany 2005
i guess i was lucky last year. i got to see a handful of films that really stuck with me through the year. and this, is one of them. i gotta go back to it sometime soon. a very human drama. from my point-of-view, nothing controversial or flashy about it. just characters and a story.

Nine Lives..Rodrigo García usa 2004
and speaking of stories, here's one i thought back on this past week. Rodrigo García's vignettes are fun and poignant. not all of them work (i can think of two that didn't for me) but the ones that hit you will stay with you for a long time.

Jarhead..Sam Mendes usa 2005
Jake Gyllenhaal and a macho demeanour. Sam Mendes created a quietly affecting little movie. the film is so quiet at times that you feel Mendes has taken out your eardrums. a numbing, quiet film experience.

Dave Chappelle's Block Party..Michel Gondry usa 2005
Gondry mixes in a few stories, amazing musical acts and Chappelle's laidback nature. once again, for fans of great music.

Strangers With Candy*..Paul Dinello usa 2005
2006 was the year i finally got to see the Strangers With Candy series. and i have this film to thank for it. glad i saw the tv show before watching the film as the inside jokes are a lot of fun. not the funniest film of the year (Borat is) but when it hits, it's definitely a fucking riot. saw it twice. in theaters. laughed as hard both times even though i knew the jokes.

The Descent..Neil Marshall uk 2005
i enjoyed this. and i wasn't sure i would either because i hated Marshall's Dog Soldiers so much i stopped watching it after 30 minutes. a group of friends go down a cave... and that's all i'm gonna say. heard an opinion as to what the story was about recently and i couldn't believed i'd missed the metaphor. gonna go back to it.

Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan..Larry Charles usa 2006
nothing needs to be said for this. the less you know the better. as with Strangers With Candy, the film is not perfect (the scripted segues held the flow of the film down for me) but you can't hold it against the film. it's just too hilarious to withstand any form of criticism. glad Cohen got a Golden Globe out for it. the man's a genius.

Babel..Alejandro González Iñárritu usa mexico 2006
not necessarily my film of the year, but for sheer human proportions, this film was, at times, magical for me. pitch perfect music, crazy performances (Rinko Kikuchi was tremendous), and a seemingly random flow made this a joyful film experience.

Casino Royale..Martin Campbell usa germany uk czech republic 2006
Daniel Craig is Bond. period. and Martin Campbell directed a fucking throwback to the good old days of Bond. a lot of fun.

The Host..Bong Joon-ho south korea 2006
Bong Joon-ho's The Host was one of the surprises of the year for me. he made me believe, despite the cartoonish design of the beast, that a monster was set loose in that oceanfront. funny, terrifying, and dramatic. definitely a fun film that was at once serious and didn't take itself too seriously. the perfect mix.

Children Of Men..Alfonso Cuarón uk usa 2006
and my film of the year... Alfonso Cuarón's Children Of Men. what starts out as a seemingly typical thriller ends up taking me on a different plane altogether. brilliant filmmaking. i have no idea how Cuarón did it but it worked for me. (and, as with Babel, accompanied by a perfectly, precisely-chosen score.)

Labels: Films

Posted by Anonymous | 1:57 PM |

MARY!!! did you see Huet's performance last night?????? outta this world. you gotta check out the highlight reels today. amazing.

well, the Habs finally ended their slump with a 4-1 win over Atlanta. Carbo's new lines were very effective and i couldn't spot anyone other than Souray and Rivet who made too many mistakes last night. great team effort. very promising.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:26 AM |

two quick links for the day:

the genius of Prince.

TR Knight on Ellen.
no idea who this was before watching this clip but it is a riveting human moment on national tv (vs Isaiah Washington).

Posted by Anonymous | 11:56 PM |

the Habs are lost right now. will come back after the break. we are so very sorry.
(hopefully, they'll be smart and try to rebuild from within.)
(btw, the boos don't help.)

Posted by Anonymous | 12:40 PM |

what a great, weird weekend this has been.
first off, my best friend just got engaged. her boyfriend asked her to marry him this past tuesday on their 3rd anniversary. (she'd been jokingly bugging him for the past two christmases:) the ring is beautiful. i didn't see it firsthand because they had to get a new, smaller one for her. but she did show me the company's website and it's kinda unique and very stylish. btw, she only told me about her engagement yesterday because she didn't wanna let me know through emails like she did with her other friends. sweet.s

then, my brother met Lord Stanley's Cup yesterday :P
got pictures and everything. it's a beauty. and somehow...magical.

make sure your bladder's empty by 8 tonight. 24's revving back up for another sleepless run for thousands of hardcore fans.
Part 2 of the Season Premiere Event airs tomorrow night at 8 as well. btw, here's another brilliant story by Kiefer on the Jack doll, which has been in the works for years. dammit! i wanna go to the Bell Centre now. check out this awesome story (in french, sorry).

ah. apparently, Studio 60 is starting back next week, and not tonight. oh well. as long as we get some new stories, i'll be alright.

Posted by Anonymous | 2:17 PM |

CBC's HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA is upon us once again. enjoy the 13 hours of hockey later today. and something i just learned of this week -- this year, the Day is coming to us live from Nelson, BC. what's in Nelson? MY FUCKING BROTHER !!!!! :) he moved there with his girlfriend last fall. goddammit. and apparently the Stanley Cup is making an appearance in town :D holy fucking hell. have a great day, all.

9:23 AM

shit. i really need to watch the My Sassy Girl dvd before the remake comes out. here's another reason to do so - Elisha Cuthbert (great casting choice; i would choose for them not to remake great films, but if they had to do it, Elsha is inspired casting for the title role) in a cool little scene from the movie, which i'm pretty sure wasn't in the original.

Posted by Anonymous | 12:47 AM |

NHL
Montreal 4 Philadelphia 2

:D
nothing to say. the first period was intense in that a total of three goals were scored in a 55-second stretch :) kind of crazy. the Flyers controlled the puck well and battled their way but the third period again turned in our favour. i have no idea what the plan is with Chris Higgins once Radek Bonk comes back in the lineup, though. Higgins has been his spectacular self with Johnson, as has Plekanec. is Higgins a center? maybe not, i know Pleks is. dunno who was centering the line. if it was Pleks, then he'll be the one going out. that's gonna be some deadly fourth line when it happens (we gotta stop dressing Downey and Murray, as helpful as they can be, at some fucking point to make some space for the more talented players). man, we got some depth now!

Posted by Anonymous | 10:59 AM |

NHL
Atlanta 2 Montreal 4

finally, the nasty flu bug is off the team's back ! :) glad to see it gone. it was amazingly obvious that this team was not fighting the virus anymore tonight. wow. we got good old team back. it feels good to see them playing with confidence again. everyone played their asses off (we still need to find a team for Samsonov) and Huet was there with the spectacular saves. i really hope we can hold onto a spot for Grabovski. he looks amazing playing with Kovalev and Kovy seems to feed off the kid like crazy. on to the next one! :)

Butch Vig has been working with Shirley for her upcoming solo album !!! and they're planning on recording a few new Garbage tracks this year !!! :D OMFG. also, Butch is the one responsible for putting together the Wally benefit Garbage are gonna be playing live on.

Posted by Anonymous | 2:24 AM |

HOLYSHIT. the Habs actually had 5 players that were struck with the flu on thursday, which explains a lot of the sluggish play (Souray was obviously even more sluggish than usual). hopefully they got some meds in their bodies for this weekend's two games. but guess what? they recalled the brilliant Maxim Lapierre. good move. like him a lot. he'll give some much needed spark. but the biggest news for me? they also called up Mikhail Grabowski !! we heard a lot about him at training camp and was sad to not see him with the team at the start of the season. can't wait to see the line changes Carbo can also do with him in the lineup (can we dream 2nd line? just to see?).

4:19 PM

don't fucking anger the Montreal Canadiens.
the New York Rangers, i'm afraid, have just awoken a sleeping beast.

4:23 PM

what the fuck did i tell you? it's now 2-2 :D

5:39 PM

well, the Habs lost 4-3. but they gave the Rangers one hell of a fight. i'm not ashamed of my team and am looking forward to tomorrow's matchup against the Devils.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:28 AM |

the Canadiens lost, BADLY, last night, 5-1 against the Washington Capitals. it's not that they didn't play well --they simply dominated the first ten minutes of the game-- but then a couple of goals went in for the Caps, a goalie interference call on Koivu while Kovalev(?) put the puck in the net and the Caps just went offense-crazy on our asses. we seemed to lose our momentum right there and then. oh well. we're bound to lose some. oh, and Huet was pulled after four goals... ouch :) to his defense, though, it was not his fault. the Caps were playing incredibly well, they were hungry, and our guys just didn't respond.

we have two afternoon games this weekend, (New York Rangers/New Jersey Devils) back in Montreal. 3PM CBC/RDS, TSN/RDS.

ps. i'll say it again -- the RDS announcers --especially Yvon Pedneault-- SUCK!!! fucking degenerate. it's always the Habs' fault. negative one-track mind. do yourselves a favour and watch the games on CBC and TSN this weekend :) i know i will.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:55 AM |

what the fuck is it about She Wants Revenge???
now, don't get me wrong. i have nothing against them. i've only heard one of their songs and, as far as i can remember, i enjoyed it enough. but first they got Shirley to appear the video for said song. now they've worked with Timbaland in the studio !!!

ps. i almost linked to garbage.com for Shirley. that made me realize that a Shirley (solo) website is surely in the works for sometime this year, uh?

Posted by Anonymous | 9:18 AM |

WELCOME TO 2007!!!

it's gonna be funny writing 07 everywhere now.
i rung in the New Year with a couple of friends. we ate great food, listened to cool music (we took turns finding our favorite songs of 06 on two iPods and switched the iTrip from iPod to iPod in between songs:) and drank a lot (both white and red wine, champagne). got a slight headache when i woke up this morning but it's gone now. came back home around noon. it was beautiful out. fresh snow and ice melting on the road. the clouds came in this afternoon but it should clear up by tomorrow. planning on taking a long walk around the lake close to downtown. i've got the home to myself until wednesday so my two days off couldn't be more appropriate :) planning on watching a few films.

i also can't wait to get back to work on wednesday. there's this girl with whom i've played eye-and-smile-tag for a while now (going on two years this month?:) she has a boyfriend but it's still definitely a fun thing to do. i think she may have wanted to start a conversation with me last week at work, though (maybe to wish me a happy new year? guys can dream too:) but the "signal" wasn't obvious and i only caught on to its possibility a minute too late to react properly. i regret not acting on it right away. oh well. i hope she understands -if this indeed was her intention- that i could have misinterpreted her actions. we'll see later this week :) so that was on my mind last night as i tried getting into the festivities. lol. i got out of my sad state late in the evening and thankfully got on with the party.

i hope you had a nice time as well.

Posted by Anonymous | 6:04 PM |