On Thursday night, at 8:15 p.m. the trailers rolled. I sat through the Indiana Jones, The Dark Knight and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. But the previews, which are sometimes the best part of going to the movies, couldn't top the film after them.
The film was Iron Man, the Jon Faverau-Robert Downey Jr. sure-to-be-blockbuster. It blew me out of the water. Everything, from the casting to the plot to the special effects impressed.
But now, after seeing Iron Man and letting it sit for a few days, I'm really impressed. I don't know if any other film this summer will do quite what this film did. Maybe The Dark Knight can, but that's it.
Could it be the best superhero movie ever? Possibly. Time will tell.
In Columbia, Missouri, there is an annual film festival called The True/False Film Festival. It's pretty freaking fantastic.
I've volunteered at this fest the past four years, and sadly, this is my last year. Because it's my last, I want to share with you all what it is all about.
The fest is in its fifth year, and now the event has grown to a much bigger status. It's an all-documentary version of Sundance. There are no celebrities, no paparazzi and no giant media outlets. But there are a lot of doc filmmakers who come out to pimp their films.
The most noted guest we have this year is Alex Gibney, the newest Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature for his film Taxi to the Dark Side (seen below).
I'm not necessarily a Magnetic Fields kind of guy. Every time one of my hipster friends played one of their songs, I just ignored it and pretended to dig it.
However, in January, Stephen Merritt and company released a new album, Distortion:
Once again, I paid no attention to their release whatsoever. But I heard a snippet of the anti-"O.C." anthem "California Girls" the other day and now I can't stop listening to it.
The song is inherently a pop ditty with mean lyrics. But what makes it indie-ish is the band's insistence to bury the harmonies under monstrous feedback and well, distortion.
All in all, it's a highly recommended track, one that will make me check out the rest of their album and maybe, just maybe, I'll check out their back catalogue too.
To hear the song just click HERE and select "California Girls."
Okay. I saw the trailer in December, and I wanted to puke because of it's sweetness and supposedly forced charm.
Just look at this photo:
Every Valentine's Day, I usually am disappointed with my movie selection. But after seeing a few reviews, I think we might have a decent V-Day movie on our hands.
Yes, I'm talking about Definitely, Maybe, the film featuring Ryan Reynolds and Abigail Breslin as a cutesy dream team of father and daughter.
Will I see it in theaters? Only on a date. But, I might secretly be tempted to watch it on cable if that doesn't happen.
The Writers Guild of America voted to officially end the strike. This is great news to anyone who watches network television. Writers will go back to work tomorrow The top-rated shows will likely come back in April for six to eight episode arcs that will end the season.
Now I will get a few more episodes of my favorite network show, House, M.D., and I will get to find out what happens to the Wilson's new relationship and the new fellows. I wonder if they may get fired at the end of the season because their names have not been added to the opening credits. Or perhaps they will change the team again before next season, and we'll have new opening credits next season...
By the way, enjoy some extra special House bloopers.
And on that note, it's time to go back to watching the best non-scripted soap opera on television: Politics!
Congratulations to Barack Obama for winning the Potomac primaries in Virgina, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
I'm supposed to be all objective because I'm a journalist. I have respect for most of the other candidates, and I appreciate the diversity of ideas. However, Obama is who I voted for in the Missouri primary, and I have no doubt that he will be our next president.
While we've all seen Obama-mania on the news and around various constituencies, I believe one person, most likely the one we should get to know as well as the candidate, is Michelle Obama, the future first lady.
Last night, she had a great interview with Larry King. Not surprisingly, she looked alive, while he just sat there about to fall asleep. Watch this interview, and you will get to see how well Michelle rounds out Barack.
He calls her the "rock." And after watching this interview, I am convinced she will be a fantastic first lady; a classy, intelligent female with a lot of heart and the ability to assist her man with the hard problems he will have to face in 2009.
Here is the video.
Take care, Sean Ludwig ninety eighth in line to the presidency
