A Decision To Be Indecisive

With it being Christmas I have an excuse for watching absolutely NOTHING this week. Sure, I started the stand-up special Daniel Tosh: Completely Serious and watched most of the "Blackadder" Christmas special but, apart from that, nada.

Hell, I didn't watch any movies of any form this past week. Though I did watch She's Out of My League and Furry Vengeance on my PVR today, so that's something.

Much like Black Friday in the States you'll find Boxing Day. A major shopping event the day after Christmas it's meant to squeeze even more money out of people, and get any cash they got from relatives out of their pockets as quickly as possible, all in the name of retail.

And, yes, I fall victim to this trick also.

Yesterday Best Buy and Futureshop (they're both the same company) started their online Boxing Day sales early and, after both their servers crashed multiple times and couldn't handle the traffic, I managed to order a few things that were on sale.

From BestBuy it was two blu-rays to the tune of The A-Team and Whip It for $15 each. Since the former has only been out a few weeks that's a good deal.

Futureshop's main draw for me was the fifth season of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" for $10 - so you know I bought that. Also grabbed the blu-ray of Starship Troopers for $8 and the new Disturbed album for the same.

Tomorrow I work at 5am getting stuff ready for the Boxing Day crowd at my store and the only thing I have my glimmers on there that's on sale is Alan Wake for my 360 for $20.

Now, onwards to Christmas!

The most slender of week's on Netflix here but that's because of the holiday season and just how utterly crazy work/life has been.

Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale
If you had to classify Gaffigan it would be as a "foodie". Almost the entire run time of this somewhat bloated 86 minute stand-up comedy special focuses on various forms of food. Which is fine and dandy if most of it wasn't passable. His rant about Hot Pockets isn't bad and there are a few chuckles to be had but he over-uses his high-pitched 'audience member inside voice' shtick too much and, in the end, I found myself a tiny bit bored with his routine.

ClarkWorld
Didn't actually get through most of this fairly interesting documentary about filmmaker Bob Clark (Porky's, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, etc.) because the streaming cut out mid-way through. Apparently this is a known problem judging from all the complaints on the Netflix site. I might finish watching it if they can get around to putting up a complete version.

A busier week for my Netflix this time but I'm still stuck in a cycle of documentaries and 80s movies with horror, my genre of choice, nowhere in sight...

Brewster's Millions
I've recently been revisiting the work of Walter Hill and this comedy starring Richard Pryor and John Candy is one of the oddest things on his resume. It's not that he can't do the genre, it just feels out of place amongst The Warriors, 48 Hrs., and Streets of Fire. Hadn't seen this in over ten years and it was an agreeable mix of Pryor's "aww shucks" charisma, Candy's comedic flair (he's not in this as much as I remembered), and a 'what if?' plot where Pryor's Brewster has to spend 30 million in 30 days and come out of it with no assets in order to inherit 300 million.

Blood Into Wine
Not a person who enjoys drinking wine, or really gives much of a care about the process that goes into making it, I was surprised to find myself watching this. There's a simple reason though and that's because it follows the path of Tool front man Maynard James Keenan as he tries to get a winery off the ground in the arid landscape of Arizona. I enjoyed seeing a side of Keenan we don't get from his stage persona and I actually found myself intrigued by the whole process of going from grapes to alcohol.

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Dana Carvey
Carvey created a lot of memorable characters on the show during his run and this compilation shows us not only his talent for impersonating various celebrities/politicians but also gives us a look at his comedic timing that seemed to be lacking from feature films like Clean Slate and Master of Disguise. You get the Church Lady, muscle-bound lunkheads Hans & Frans, numerous sketches with him playing George Bush, Sr. and the "Chopping Broccoli" sketch I still find myself singing to this day. It's not as good as the Eddie Murphy compilation but there was still some good laughs here.

Private Resort
Even if this didn't star a young Johnny Depp and Rob Morrow ("Northern Exposure") I still would have watched it simply because I'm a sucker for 80s sex comedies. Sure, it might be another vacation T&A flick but under the direction of George Bowers (who did 1982's underrated My Tutor) it's a goofy romp that delivers all the naked breasts, slapstick, and silly comedy you'd expect. Plus it gave me a chance to fulfill my childhood dream of seeing Leslie Easterbrook (known best for playing hard-ass instructor Callahan in the Police Academy flicks) in a see-thru nightie.

The Toy
Why not follow up one Richard Pryor film with another? What struck me most about this Richard Donner effort was just how borderline racist the entire thing is. From the premise of a spoiled rich kid choosing Pryor as his plaything downwards The Toy just reeks of bad decisions. They even manage to waste Jackie Gleason in this, which is truly a shame. Pryor is probably the only thing keeping this afloat as the child actor they've paired him with (Scott Schwartz in his film debut) is annoying from the get-go. There's a poor attempt at a message tucked into the script but you really won't care. This is up there with Donner's The Goonies as an 80s flick that really hasn't aged well at all.

Another small-ish week for watching stuff on Netflix.

North Shore
I'm a sucker for 80s extreme sports movies and this 1987 surfing flick seemed to fit the bill. It's about an Arizona surfing champ who goes to the north shore of Hawaii and learns how to surf from a local board shaper while dealing with the locals (who don't like him much) and trying to get with a local hottie (Nia Peebles, from "Fame"). This one is pretty passable and Matt Adler has barely any personality in the lead but the scenery is decent and Gregory Harrison is solid as Adler's mentor figure.

I Need That Record!
My viewing of documentaries continues with this look at the importance, and dwindling supply, of independent record stores and what they mean to music fans everywhere. There's also brief looks at how the industry is on a downward swing, and why, with plentiful interviews with musicians and lots of focus on the owners of record shops that have been affected by the age of mp3. For a music fan like myself this was an interesting watch and it really hit home with me as I remember plentiful times milling around a local record store trying to find that one hidden gem amongst all the CDs and cassettes.

I've also started watching the first series of "Red Dwarf" and am currently on episode four. They have all eight series on Netflix so I'll probably check it out since there's only 6-8 episodes per season. It's a chintzy sci-fi comedy type of deal from England and the first 3 episodes aren't terrible but didn't hit my funny bone quite enough - I've heard the series only gets better from here though.

In the age of digital legal/non-legal music downloading the value of a physical CD release of an album is becoming less and less important and as people start ripping their collections to their computers or external hard drives they're dumping their discs off on local thrift stores. This gives me the opportunity to swoop in and pick stuff up for dirt cheap. I shall be chronicling these finds here.

Today I spent a grand total of 6.50 on 6 discs. And it was a great score simply because I've been getting very into picking up a lot of the 80s glam metal and 90s rock that dominated the air waves before grunge came along and effectively killed the beast.

David Lee Roth, "Skyscraper" ($1): I'm more familiar with his Van Halen work and first solo album "Eat 'Em and Smile" but I do know 'Just Like Paradise' from this and Steve Vai on lead guitar is always a welcome thing.

David Lee Roth, "A Little Ain't Enough" ($1): For some reason this album just got ripped apart by critics but I remember really enjoying it when I bought the cassette in 1991. Obviously the title track is the best, however 'Hammerhead Shark' and 'Drop in the Bucket' were favourites of mine all those years ago. Just noticed it was produced by Bob Rock which explains its radio friendly vibe.

Steelheart, "Steelheart" ($1): Here's a band I've never actually heard but always remembered their name. I'll be giving this a spin later but it apparently sounds like glam mixed with Guns 'N Roses. I see on the credits that Bruce Dickinson is credited as executive producer but I can't find any information as to whether it's the same Bruce who sings for Maiden.

Steelheart, "Tangled in Reins" ($1): This was sitting right beside the debut album so I figured I'd buy both. It's co-produced by Tom Werman who helmed albums by lots of great acts much as Motley Crue, Cheap Trick, and Twisted Sister (to name a few) and apparently leans more towards an Axl and the boys sound that the first album did.

Armored Saint, "Symbol of Salvation" ($1): Another band I'm not overly familiar with that I simply picked up because singer John Bush would go on to be the front man for influential thrash metallers Anthrax. I've seen a few of their videos over the years and it sounds like straight-ahead metal with a medieval slant - for a buck I'm willing to take a chance.

Def Leppard, "Vault: Greatest Hits 1980-1995" ($1.50): I'm not a huge fan of Def Leppard's arena rock so picking this one up is pretty much all I need of their catalog. I dig their earlier stuff like 'Rock of Ages' and 'Foolin' and can tolerate their late 80s popularity peak. Also, since I don't think they've done anything memorable since 1995, the cut-off on this package suits me just fine.

I watched one lonely thing off of Netflix this week and that's simply because most of my time was taken up with Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. If you're a fan of the series be sure to check it out.

How to Eat Fried Worms
There's only one reason I watched this and that's simply because I used to love Thomas Rockwell's book when I was a young tyke. The movie adaptation really doesn't have a lot to do with the book but I still found it to be oddly charming with some amusing moments and a young cast who really do a great job with the material. It's a goofy kids comedy but I was entertained for its 84 minute run time. Alexander Gould (who plays Mary-Louise Parker's youngest son on "Weeds") was my favourite of the kids as the neurotic "Twitch".

Here's what I streamed on Netflix this week:

Hot Pursuit
Haven't seen this 80s John Cusack comedy since seeing it on Cable TV way back when and, after spending 92 minutes with it, it's easy to see why this is the most forgotten of Cusack's 80s teen comedies. This has nothing on Better Off Dead, Say Anything... or One Crazy Summer. It's a passable time and I can't remember laughing once. Cusack is likable enough, there's some familiar faces in side roles, and it fits into the 80s mold pretty well until taking on a crime-thriller atmosphere in the finale - which tries to have a young Ben Stiller and his father, Jerry, as the baddies... yeah.

Nice Dreams
The more I revisit these Cheech & Chong flicks the more I realize I really only like Up in Smoke. Sure, Next Movie had some alright laughs but this third effort hangs the idea of the duo selling marijuana out of an ice cream truck on one random-ass plot that stumbles around without any real focus and barely any laughs. They even manage to waste Stacy Keach horribly as a returning Sgt. Stendanko.

Nightmare in Red, White and Blue
Much like American Grindhouse this film-based documentary brings in various film directors/producers for talking head interviews while tracing the history of American horror movies from Thomas Edison's ill-fated "Frankenstein" adaptation right up to modern day "torture porn". Lance Henriksen makes for an appropriate narrator and it does cover the expected films (Jaws, Psycho, etc.) but it does manage to shine the light on a few more obscure flicks and it's always cool to see interviews with the likes of Larry Cohen and Brian Yuzna.

a/k/a Tommy Chong
A fairly interesting documentary about comedian Thomas Chong's 2003 arrest for selling glass bongs on the internet follows his court case, looks at the DEA's involvement and gives brief focus to Chong's jail time. It's certainly not the most concise or best made documentary you're going to see but it does make some good points and gives a human-side to the pot loving comedian. I didn't mind my 80 minutes with this but there are better marijuana based documentaries out there.

Detroit Rock City
I was browsing the queue and saw the cover art for this. Seeing as I hadn't seen it since about 2000, and that I've been on a kick listening to older rock music like Kiss, I decided to give this another spin. When it was over I did like it better than the first time I saw it all those years ago and managed to get a few decent belly-laughs from it - plus Lin Shaye is pretty damn awesome as the religious mother who thinks the make-up wearing band are evil.

A couple of years ago I was listening to a podcast where they shared the first five songs that came up on their iPods when they hit shuffle. Then they'd talk about each song and why it was there. It was an interesting concept and I did my own post about it at the time.

Now, because I'm pretty bored tonight, I decided I would hit shuffle on my Zune (which contains every single album I own - over 800) to see what happens.

Here's the results:
1. Galactic Cowboys, "Kaptain Krude"
This was a recent thrift store find for me as it's out-of-print and it's an eccentric enough mix of music styles. "Kaptain Krude" is about the Exxon Valdez spill it's a thrashy affair but with melodic hooks & is one of the stand-outs for me so far in my limited spins of the disc.

2. Rancid, "Ghetto Box"
A 72 second blast of punk in your typical Rancid style. I don't have any real attachment to this song and, as the song before this, this was a recent cheap find at a local thrift store.

3. Beastie Boys, "Intergalactic"
PLANETARY! Catchy hip-hop from three white, Jewish New Yawkers. I still consider Paul's Boutique to be their best album but when this song hit in 1998 I ran out and bought the album. It's more experimental than past releases with its instrumental breaks but you really can't do much wrong with the Beasties.

4. Them Crooked Vultures, "Spinning in Daffodils"
You'd think a super group with Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) would be the greatest album ever but I still find myself having a lot of trouble actually getting into this one. It's got a sound very similar to Queens, which I dig, and there's a nice, heavy drum sound but I have the same indifference towards this as I did to Velvet Revolver's "Contraband".

5. Twisted Sister, "You Got to Fight"
One of the cast-offs included on the second disc of the 25th Anniversary Edition of "Stay Hungry" this is a quick outtake song that runs about 1:37. It's classic Twisted Sister sounding and you really can't beat their first three albums for arena rock goodness - too bad they weren't taken more seriously after "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" became huge hits.

They've just introduced Netflix up here in Canada in a "streaming only" format and, since I own an Xbox 360, I decided to check it out. Performance wise, I've had absolutely no problems or lag. Selection wise, I'm okay with what's there. A lot of people are annoyed because there's not all the new Hollywood releases on there but, seeing as I'm a huge movie fan, I don't care because there's plenty older films on there that have caught my eye.

For shits 'n' giggles I've decided to keep a running diary of what I've watched from Netflix every week. Since it`s now the middle of November, and I just decided to do this, the first entry will cover two weeks. There`s not a ton of stuff but that`s simply because I have been too caught up in life issues to really feel like watching much.

SNL: Best of Commercial Parodies
I'm a sucker for compilations of "Saturday Night Live" skits and in bite-size form like this there's a lot of chuckles to be had. There was some of my favourites on there like Big Brawn Feminine Napkins and Colon Blow but it was missing the Schlitz Gay ad and a few other notable ones - plus the between skit banter by Will Ferrell where he's infiltrating a New York ad agency was lame.

Cheezy Horror Trailers Vol. 1
At one time trailer compilations were essential for genre fans but now with the internet and youtube they've become unnecessary and this haphazard collection of bad quality trailers proves this. Edited horribly and without any structure there's nothing here you can't see elsewhere.

Upright Citizens Brigade: Asssscat!
I'm hot and cold on improv comedy and despite the fact Upright Citizens Brigade has a good reputation I couldn't really get into this. Not quite sure what it was but I only managed to wring a few mild laughs from this despite the presence of numerous recognizable comedic names.

The F-Bomb: A Documentary
Much like The Aristocrats this documentary gathers various comedians, celebrities, and professionals to talk about the origins, usage and importance of that word we like to randomly yell out when we're super angry. I found this more entertaining than the aforementioned Aristocrats and learnt a few things about the word's origin but I doubt I'd watch this again.

Young & Handsome: An Evening with Jeff Garlin
This month has been a month of performance comedy and documentary and, while I really like Garlin's contributions on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" ("Cock, cock, grandma, Jizm" - right, Josh?) I didn't find much to attach onto during this hour-long stand up comedy act. Too many jokes about him being overweight, a few amusing antedotes about being married, and not a lot else.

I Think We're Alone Now
My friend Wendy stumbled across this when browsing Netflix and hearing it was about two people obsessed with teen pop star Tiffany, I had to watch it. And what a bizarre time it was focusing on a 51-year-old stalker and a 31-year-old hermaphrodite who rely way too much on a washed-up singer to make their lives whole. Tiffany does appear in the background but never actually talks to our documentary crew which would've been quite interesting. What's left if a somewhat sad look at two people unable to face reality that's just so "what the Hell?" you can't help but be compelled.

American Grindhouse
Just watched this a few hours ago and I enjoyed it. I've become interested in documentaries based around the horror genre or music as of late and this was a perfectly acceptable entry that focuses on grindhouse films from 1914 to the late 1970s. Lots of cool interview subjects (John Landis, William Lustig, Larry Cohen) and fun film clips throughout. Going to watch Nightmares in Red, White & Blue to see how it compares to this. American Grindhouse shares similarities with the Ozploitation based documentary Not Quite Hollywood.

I've also checked out a few episodes from the first season of "Mad Men" - not sure what to think of it right now but with "The Walking Dead" and "Dexter" filling my television time it's going to be a slow process going through the season.