What I’m… (The 2 Columns Turned into 1 Edition)

…Renting (part I).
Miami Vice- Over the years Michael Mann has become one of my favorite directors. When I heard he was going to direct a big screen version of the classic 80’s TV show he helped create I went gaga. However between preoccupying myself with moving this summer and some pretty negative word of mouth I found myself waiting to see Crockett and Tubbs until DVD. As if I had to say it the film looks beautiful. Mann shoots action and night scenes better then anyone in Hollywood . Pay particular attention to the way he illuminates the night sky throughout the film. Colin Ferrell and Jamie Foxx are both pretty damn good and the supporting cast, while lacking some of the Mann regulars, holds their own. The plot however is the undoing of the film. It’s convoluted and actually a bit hard to stay interested in. A friend of mine has a theory that Mann makes a great film every other time out and that this was one of the off years. I agree, but even one of his off efforts is still worth a look.



…Renting (part II).
The Sopranos Season 6: Part I- This is it…they swear. After being threatened and scared in the past HBO and creator David Chase swear this is the swan song for our favorite “family”. Watching the first part of the final season you begin to believe them. Old stories being revisited and…gasp…resolved. Being without the HBO tends to crimp my style when it comes to The Sopranos especially when you have to wait months and months to see what people are gabbing about when it aired. For example I could not escape review after review hammering the Tony storyline that dominates the early part of the season. Now 8 months later I got to judge for myself, and I’ve got to say the reviewers got it wrong. My only complaint is that the tale stretches a few too many episodes. If the handful of episodes airing in 2007 match up to this quality then this show will go out with a bang…actually I’m guessing it will go out with a bang anyway.

…Saying Goodbye To.
Newsweek- Believe it or not there was a time when there was no such thing as the internet. To stay informed about world events you could read a newspaper that besides being a daily responsibility, also made your hands dirty or you could subscribe to a weekly news mag. Being the neat freak I am I read the later partly because my folks had a gift subscription to give away. Newsweek gave me a lot to enjoy over the last 7 years I received them. Their coverage of 9/11 was more even handed then most and I really enjoyed their 2004 election coverage. I still read the Perspectives section in the front and the Tip Sheet in the back but now I find myself reading less of the “hard” news in between. Part of this can be blamed on the internet. Like most people I get my news off the net, from Yahoo, my local newspaper or CNN. But the blame cannot entirely lie with the internet for my divorce from Newsweek. The magazine itself has slipped mightily in the last two years. It seems every other issue contains a 20 page spread about the baby boomers or medical advancements or managing your money. As someone who is young(ish), healthy (or so I hope) and without money, these issues appeal to me not. Thus Newsweek is getting the old heave ho at the beginning of 2007.

…Saying Goodbye To…for now.
Nip/Tuck- Last night the show wrapped up another season and in doing so, proved how good a show it is. I’m going to try and keep this spoiler free for those of you who have yet to see it but I’ve got nothing but praise. The episode last night raced by as loose ends and plot lines were rather predictably tied up. Yes, I said predictably but in this case that’s not a negative. While the events might be predictable the way story gets there is not and that’s what this show does best. Ripping off a tactic from the movie Magnolia and turning in an equally impressive result is a perfect example of how this show has continued to surprise me in the less then 2 seasons I’ve been viewing. The reason I’m saying goodbye for now, is that many have speculated that this might be the show’s last dance. If it is, I can’t imagine a better way for it to predictably go out.

…Getting Enough Distance On.
Boy Bands- Boy did I hate me some N’Sync back in the day. Perhaps it was the annoying songs, the screaming kids on TRL, Carson Daly or the girlfriend who made me listen to them in the bedroom. Either way I hated them, and Backstreet, and any of the other groups that dominated the late 90’s and early 2000’s. A funny thing happened though last week when I was watching Scrubs when they used Bye, Bye, Bye in a gag; I actually found myself dancing along. Maybe its nostalgia or maybe its just that without all the annoying trimmings we can now appreciate the pre packaged pop garbage as fun for what it is. That night I found myself downloading Bye Bye Bye and the Backstreet classic, “I want it that way”, with little to no embarrassment. I think sometimes we turn off music due to all the things that are associated with an artist. These aren’t great songs by any means but they’re certainly worth a good dance or two and if you get enough space you can actually enjoy them.