- Last night after work at the bookstore, I headed to Wal-mart, despite my need for sleep, to price some DVD box sets. My priorities are occasionally freaky like that. I did, to be honest, intend to actually buy another DVD box set, just to give myself something safe and all-encompassing to do this weekend, but Wal-mart's DVD prices, usually quite nice, did not impress me. Thus, I didn't end up buying the twisted, genius second season of NIP/TUCK, the first season of LOST, the initial miniseries of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, the first and second seasons of ONCE & AGAIN or the "Hey, let's introduce four obnoxious new characters!" sophomore-slump season of THE O.C. I'm not entirely sure yet what I'm going to buy, for I probably shouldn't buy anything. Still, the glory of NIP/TUCK is calling to me. I heart its second season. I heart Dr. Troy. I heart Joely Richardson. I heart that the show brazenly rips all of its central relationships apart by the fourth episode of the season. I heart that Famke Janssen, Vanessa Redgrave and Jill Clayburgh appear multiple times on the show, and Famke in particular kicks all kinds of ass. (Watch it, and you'll see that Famke was ROBBED when she didn't get an Emmy nomination.) I heart the episode with the Kimber doll. I heart the episode that's set entirely in Julia's mind. I heart when Dr. Troy dumps blind Rebecca Gayheart because of a freakin' hilarious incident involving his Lambroghini. That episode alone is worth the price of the box set, actually. Oh dear God, in writing this, I've just convinced myself to buy NIP/TUCK's second season. Thank you, Dr. Troy.
- Sunday is September 11. It's been four years. And all the stuff on the news now, though unrelated to 9/11, is carrying the same tone and feel to me. I'm going to embrace escapism this weekend.
- Kanye West is supposed to appear on another telethon tonight, and he's received tons and tons of press (both critical and praising) for what he said on last week's telethon. And he has the top single on Billboard's Hot 100 chart with "Golddigger," which Shalewa tells me all about. His album Late Registration received a lot of great notices last week, and his debut album was praised just as much if not moreso. Around the VMAs two weeks ago, Suge Knight was shot at a party West hosted. Given all the stuff I've read about him lately, it strikes me as incredibly strange that I personally have not, you know, heard any of his music yet. Perhaps I should remedy that this weekend. My store has his stuff on sale.
- Last week, I picked up my copy of Chuck Klosterman's SEX, DRUGS AND COCOA PUFFS again, and I read five or six pop-culture-centered essays out of it. Great book. Great, great book. My favorite essay, thus far, has been Klosterman's absurd, hilarious piece about going on a road tour with a Guns N' Roses cover band named Paradise City. Aside from the whole Chinese Democracy "comeback" debacle, Axl Rose does merit a little worship even now, doesn't he?
- The sixth season of GILMORE GIRLS begins on Tuesday. Will Luke accept Lorelai's marriage proposal? What the hell is wrong with Rory, stealing a boat, dropping out of Yale and moving in with her grandparents? Why why why do I love Logan so? And why on Earth was Lauren Graham not nominated for an Emmy? Most of these questions, which have perplexed Lupo and I all summer, will be answered. Lorelai, you have my undivided attention.
- For those of you who've not read the angry, angry yet still very funny posts over at The Black Saint lately, SER's been in rare form this week in addressing issues surrounding the New Orleans flood. Barbara Bush is a bitch for what she said.
- Clean the apartment. The bathroom looks like swampland.
- Check last week's list.
- Vic and I are both interested in THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, which opens in theaters today, and the reviews of it have been solid. Though the film's previews make it look like it's your average freaky horror movie, the cast, including Laura Linney, Campbell Scott and Tom Wilkinson, suggests it's something more substantial. From what I understand, the story's told RASHOMON-style, and it's got a lot of courtroom drama infused in it.
- The films of the great, beautiful movie star Greta Garbo are finally available on DVD this week, in honor of her 100th birthday. Many of them, including some great ones like the hilarious NINOTCHKA, CAMILLE and QUEEN CHRISTINA, were only available on VHS until now. GRAND HOTEL, where she appeared alongside a cast full of stars, was an early winner of the Best Picture Oscar. There will never be another movie star like Garbo. In fact, there cannot be. She started in silents, where her stern, odd, harsh, amazing face expressed a thousand emotions and she always looked like a goddess, and she was one of the few who was able to carry her fame into an extremely successful career in "talkies" of the '30s. (In QUEEN CHRISTINA, at one point, the camera spends an ungodly amount of time just studying Garbo's beauty, as though daring you to find a single flaw.) And then, suddenly, Garbo retired, essentially disappearing from public view and becoming the subject of speculation and legend. Because of all this, she was great. Garbo had an unparalleled mystique about her, both onscreen and off, because of her talent and because of her face. If you love old movies yet you've never before watched Garbo, then you're in for a treat.
- Finally, the new fall TV season begins in earnest this week. I've already mentioned shows like EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS and HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER here, but is there anything else anyone's looking forward to? I'm kinda looking forward to MY NAME IS EARL because Jaime Pressley's on that show. And COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, which a lot of people are looking forward to, just looks silly to me, mostly because somebody jacked up Geena Davis's hairdo. What's on your Must-See TV list this fall?
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