THE WIRE is back!

Look what happened to Ashlee Simpson - I found her real look much cuter then the Jessica Clone she's been turned into. What is up with Joe Simpson? He's a really creepy dude.

KILL BILL PART 2 (TNT)

The Girl was sick this weekend so we ended up watching the edited tv version of this - even without letterbox and 5.1 - this movie still rocks the house. QT was at his very best here. Best Edit: instead of calling her a "cunt" - Bill calls The Bride a "sour puss."

Grade: A +

THE WIRE (HBO)
Sprawling. Ambitious. Trenchant. Da Bomb.
Grade: A

THE WIRE (HBO)
Episode 2. Sprawling. Ambitious. Trenchant. Moving. Da Bomb.
Grade: A +

THE PATH TO 9/11 (ABC)
I just watched the first 30 minutes of this 5 hour movie - will wait till I'm done to offer a real review - but - just based on the opening incident - they bombed the WTC over 8 years ago - they were supposed to topple over each other - apparently they kept going till they got it right. I'll leave my anger and my politics out of this - but the film is really good and I'll finish it over the weekend.

LOST (SEASON 2 DVDS)
Up to episode 10 - we just found out the back story on Mr. Ecco. It's a different show from the first season - and I like where it's going - I just wonder if they do.
Grade: A -

LOST (SEASON 2 DVDS)
Me and THE GIRL just watched up to ep 16 - it's getting really nasty again. I think I hate Sawyer for crushing that frog in front of Hurley. Charlie has turned into a little nasty freak. And the tension between Lock and Jack is palpable. I can't figure out if Sun is lying about her pregancy to spare Jin's feelings - and lastly - while I do love this show - they put a LOT of effort into building up the character of ANNA LUCIA - only to cast her with an actress that doesn't have near the acting chops nor the gravitas - and frankly, looks WAY WAY WAY too young to be playing this bad-ass jaded cop. She's much better in scenes where she's in and out - as opposed to the first batch of eps where she was front and center. And I think the guy in the Hatch is with the others - but that's just my guess - we won't know till netflix gets here on monday.
I can't wait.
Grade: A

DUETS (FOX)
I only tune in for Hal Sparks - Rock God.

THE SHIELD (SEASON 1 DVD)
Just watched this with the girl - great circle of initial 13 eps - was great to re-watch them. At the time I thought the real-estate scam was not only bullshit, but way to much caught up in the "corruption" theme of the whole series - but I liked it much better the second time around - or maybe I'm just more partial to stuff I watch with the girl Also - every episode has an extremely annoying and self congratulatory commentary - but hey - it is a great show, so maybe they've earned their bragging rights. There are TONS of extras, including like - 30 deleted scenes.
Grade: A

THE VIEW (ABC)
Peppery Rosie! I hear she's not getting along there and wants to re-design the show. My prediction: she will not last the season but ABC or another network will give her her own show. This won't last.

RESCUE ME (3rd SEASON FINALE - FX)
The Girl hasn't seen this yet - I fucked up on TIVO so she missed the last 5 or so of the season - but suffice it to say - I thought the season ended very well - though the bit with Tommy's brother seemed REALLY convenient.
Grade: B

FLAVA OF LOVE (VH1)
This might be the BEST of all reality shows now that BB ALL STARS has finished. These women on these shows - they are fucking HILARIOUS - and Flav is just a star. This 2nd season is getting really good - now that NEW YORK is back up in this bitch.
Grade: A

BIG BROTHER ALL STARS (CBS)
Hands down - one of the very best seasons ever of any reality show. The finale' was great, and Mike Boogie did an excellent job of turning the jury on his side - but he had a lot more votes than I would've thought, as the jury voted for his game play, rather then indulge their vengeance of not winning. This was really a sequel to season 2 - as Dr. Will won that, his sidekick now picks up the pace to win the prize the 2nd time around. I can't believe how much hatred for Erica was on display - and I plan to interview both Boogie and Dr. Will for this blog. Mike - you did it.
Grade: A +

THE VIEW (ABC)
They had on Mike Boogie, Erica and Janelle. Rosie gave Mike a bunch of shit. Elizabeth talked strangely about "reality shows" - perhaps forgetting that she's be nothing without SURVIVOR, where she was "discovered."

CARRIE (DVD)
Horror film done as art. Spectacular turns from Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie. John Travolta shines in his very first role, as does Nancy Allen. The extras are packed - the transfer devine - alas - no commentary - but a docu that catches up with most of the principles 30 years later - and 30 years later - that ending still scared the shit out of everybody in the house and probably changed movies forever. If you've forgotten, I refer to the scene where Amy Irving puts flowers on a grave...
A

WEEDS (SHOWTIME)
Continues to get better and better - with twists I never see coming and a refreshing "newness" that places it in the upper echelon of half hour dramadies. I like this show a LOT. The Girl LOVES IT.
Grade: B +

DANE COOK: VICIOUS CYCLE (HBO)
Shocking only in the fact that Dane seems to have worked on his material and actually made me laugh hard quite a few times. A very good show and Dane Cook is finally in top form (for Dane.) While it doesn't have the tear stained belly laughs that Eddie, Chris Rock or even Mitch Hedberg used to deliver, it was a great concert and I laughed a LOT.
Grade: B

NIP/TUCK (FX)
Continues to be really good in it's 4th season. Another good episode. They seemed to have really forgotten about The Carver (Thank God) and now we can set our sites back on Kimberly, where they belong. And Matt's becoming a Scientologist - will the insanity ever stop? And will Matt ever find a suitable hair style?
Grade: B +

From time to time, my buddy MARK WALDMAN writes a poem that I fancy enough to share with my blog readers. Although usually on the depressing side, the uplift is in the craft.

As usual - please feel free and feel encouraged to leave anonymous postings on my board.

And now, I give you mark's latest:

All the famous writers, and me

by Mark G. Waldman

Some of them are terrificothers mortifying

I can't make it past a few pages f

or someothers

I can pour through endlessly

Hard to say what makes a writer greator

at least what forms that connection

I find the more flowery the language

and more density to the work

the more I nod off

I honestly think I have attention-deficit problems

though I've never been diagnosed with anything

I can focus for a long time on what I like

not so long and what I don't

if the writing is boringI skim

I've skimmed a lot in life

When the words are pure

and the sentiment relatable I am there

I won't go into what writers I like

and which I don't

some you would guess

others you wouldn't

and occasionally a fist fight might break out

and there's nothing more tragic

than literary-minded dorks beating hell out of one another

I like it quick

and I like it clean

I like it to make sense

I like whimsy

I like the words to be organicand feel as if I wrote them

I like to smirk when I read

and occasionally laugh out loud

if it's sad I like to feel profoundly moved

and pages of bullshit doesn't make me move more

in fact

quite the opposite

I recall one summer in my youth

laying in my backyard on a too hot day

trying to drink some sunlight into my pasty, pale skin

Flies buzzed around it was unbearably sizzling and I was reading a convoluted

yet famous book

by a well-regarded Southern writerI read

and read

and re-read

and swatted away flies,while my skinboiled

I finally gave up

went inside

figured that this Southern writer must be wonderful but I was missing it

The writing was too thick

too unwieldy

and me without any interest

so

whether the writer is from the South

or a slob from California beware

if there are flies buzzing around

and the weather conditions not just so

you don't stand a chance

***by Mark Waldman