Sunday Morning Tuneage & Weekly TV (8/25/13)

Crazy week of work as usual this time of year.  It will be followed by what is typically the weirdest and most stressful of the year - it's the start of classes on Wednesday and the first football game of the season on Saturday.  And on top of that - the kids start school, Caleb keeps practicing baseball and the most stressful of all - Christian starts his Senior season of Varsity football on Friday night.  I'll be a mess that day.  Today is a full day of work and I have to get out of the house in a minute.  Until then, I'm reading reviews of TV shows for the Fall and listening to some tuneage . . . 

SUNDAY MORNING TUNEAGE

KEYSHIA COLES - PLAYA CARDZ RIGHT (feat. 2PAC)  It's funny how a song from 5 years ago can sometimes seem like a song from 5 years ago - not just the other day, like I seem to remember 2008.  I'm a fan of this song - the 2Pac rap is purported to be his last before his death but I'm thinking that's part of the "story" to sell the song.  It played on both Keyshia's album and on one of the last 2Pac albums.  Fun but dated.

SOMETHING RANDOM . . . nothing this week . . .

DEADLIGHTS OF 2013. . .  Lisa Robin Kelly was Laurie Forman - Eric's older sister on "That 70s Show" . . . Allen Lanier was the keyboardist and guitarist for Blue Oyster Cult.  He also dated Patti Smith for a time in the Seventies . . . Elmore Leonard is up there with the most influential authors in my life.  I'm talking about the hierarchy of modern writers and his Crime and Western novels have made me want to be a better writer.  Favorite works - Hombre, Get Shorty, and La Brava. . . Ted Post directed some of my favorite films and until a few years ago I never associated them with the same guy.  We all know him from MAGNUM FORCE, HANG 'EM HIGH, Twilight Zone episodes and BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES . . . Lee Thompson Young was Jett Jackson but he was also Chris on "Friday Night Lights" . . . 

QUICK LIST (a random, uninformed list off the top of Shawn's head)

BEST GUS VAN SANT FiLMS OF ALL-TIME

10.  ELEPHANT (2003)  Too simple to call it a retelling of the Columbine story but the likeness to that story makes it hard to think of much else.

9.  PROMISED LAND (2013)  Based on a David Eggers story.  Matt Damon seems to play the reserved role best when Gus is directing him.  These two might make some pretty impressive films in the future.

8.  MILK (2008)  I really wanted to like this more.  Really interesting "real" story makes me wish too much for a doc more than a fictional version.  Can't say that Sean Penn isn't brilliant though.

7. PSYCHO (1998)  I was totally against this when it first came out.  A shot for shot remakes seemed useless.  But now I appreciate what he was trying to do.  Just maybe not the perfect source material for this type of experiment.  The feminism of the 90s is so different than the message of the 60s.  Vince Vaughn is also miscast.  Story of some of the Van Sant films that just fall short.

6.  FINDING FORRESTER (2000)  Sean Connery plays what has become the "Robin Williams character" in Van Sant films.  It's not the most original film but I find it better upon future viewings.

5.  EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES (1993)  I feel like this film based on the Tom Robbins book doesn't get nearly enough attention anymore.  It's relatively forgotten.  Yes it's uneven.  Uma Thurman was probably not the best choice for casting.  But some really funny moments and a fun cast make this a good time. 

4.  TO DIE FOR (1995)  Matt Dillion used to be Van Sant's Matt Damon - the satire here is razor sharp.  I saw it again recently and Nicole Kidman overacts a bit for the humor but it doesn't work well against Dillon's work here.

3.  GOOD WILL HUNTING (1998)  The teaming with Affleck and Damon wouldn't make much sense on paper.  But it works and it works because Van Sant knows to tell the story from a distance.  He uses Robin Williams perfectly as a filter for the characters.

2.  MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO (1991)  River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves probably both give their best performances of their careers.  The theme of unrequited love is really strong in this film.  The story kills me every time.

1.  DRUGSTORE COWBOY (1989)  Matt Dillion, Kelly Lynch, James LeGros and Heather Graham made the ultimate 1970s drug film.  The Portland setting was perfect and it works on so many levels.  Wonderfully acted and scripted - Van Sant tells his stories at such a leisurely pace that you need to watch for very subtle signs.  I could watch this monthly.

Huge fan of Gus Van Sant films.  He's a true filmmaker - attention to detail and revolving scenes around themes is his specialty.  But there can be problems with casting actors not right for the roles.  And sometimes that's enough to ruin a film.  His worst?  RESTLESS was dumb, LAST DAYS didn't do justice to the subject matter and PARANOID PARK about an unsolved murder in Portland should have made a wonderful film and was quite a letdown.

NETFLIX PLAY NOW OF THE WEEK . . . Start with some LCD Soundsystem on in the background with SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS . . . Errol Morris makes some of the very best and intriguing documentaries of all-time - watch TABLOID - I don't want to even tell you what to expect . . .  ARBITRAGE is just part of my new love for Richard Gere - half way through this and it's wonderful.

Shawn's fave movies according to FLICKCHART

#249 - Battle Royale

#546 - Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the WereRabbit

#684 - Superman III

RANDOM PROJECT UPDATE -   The SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE project.  Picked back up with a couple episodes this week.  Still making my way through Season Two.  The addition of Bill Murray in the middle of the season marked such an important move.  It right away gave the show that second star - with Belushi - that the show needed after Chevy left.  Just finished the just so-so episode with Ruth Gordon and Chuck Berry.  But next up is one of my favorites of the season - Fran Tarkenton and Leo Sayer.  What a great and weird combination.  I need to not let so much time pass between episodes.

SHAWN'S TOP ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME (a tribute to the art of the album)

#27  Still deciding . . . hard choices.

Previous Rankings

#28 - The Clash - London Calling (1979)

#29 - Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988)

#30 - New Order - Power, Corruption, Lies (1983)

#31 - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

#32 - Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)

THIS WEEK IN TELEVISION

MONDAY
OLBERMANN (ESPN2)  There's no way this show can capture the magic of Patrick / Olbermann SportCenters in the 80s and 90s.  But I'm curious.  The man does know about sports and sports history.

AMERICA VS IRAQ (NAT GEO)  Interviews with Tony Blair and Dick Cheney among others help put some perspective to the past 10 years plus of battles.

TUESDAY
PRETY LITTLE LIARS (ABC FAM)  Dee will be disappointed that this is the mid-season finale for PLL.  But I think this is the spin-off for "Ravenswood".  

RGIII: THE WILL TO WIN (ESPN)  I love sports docs - this hour is on a Redskin, I know.  But he is a Baylor grad and it's really hard to not cheer for him.

WEDNESDAY
THE BRIDGE (FX)  Is this "The Killing" of this season - a show that I should be watching but haven't even read very much about?

THE MUSIC MAN (TCM)  This is the 1962 film version with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones.  I've been listening to the soundtrack lots lately - felt like watching it again and lo and behold.

THURSDAY
HOLLYWOOD GAME NIGHT (NBC)  I think people watch this.  But it's NBC, so the bar is pretty low.  

THE PITCH (AMC)  This "Mad Men"-ish show was one I wanted to check out when it debuted.  The descriptions look interesting - this week they pitch ways to get people to buy more extended warranties on home electronics.  Good luck.

FRIDAY
SIDE BY SIDE (PBS)  Keanu Reeves produced and hosts this look at the battle between traditional filmmaking and all of the digital capabilities of modern technology.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL:  TEXAS TECH VS. SMU (ESPN)  Never too early to start college football - and this Texas-sized match-up should be pretty good.  I'll have to catch up after the high school games.

SATURDAY
COLLEGE FOOTBALL (ABC / ESPN)  Saturday nights are awesome in the Fall - tonight has two great ones - Georgia vs. Clemson and LSU vs. TCU.  These are pretty awesome match-ups for the first week of NCAA Football.

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS (PBS)  Mumford and Sons from 2009.  Since I missed their concert here in Dallas and Austin - it's the closest I'll come this time around.

SUNDAY
TV'S FUNNIEST OF THE FUNNIEST: PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA SPECIAL (NBC)  A long title for a show that I'm really interested in watching.  It's essentially just a clip show but it's a clip show about TV comedies.  Sure I've probably seen them - but they are classics because they are still great to see again.

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR . . . More coming soon . . .

"I can't promise that I won't let you down.

And I can't promise you that I will be the only one around

When your hope falls down."  Mumford & Sons

Hold on to what you believe.  Stay hard.

sb