Episode 3 – In Review

The third episode has arrived and it finds my co-host and I joined by my girlfriend Erika Houtz to discuss the recent Emmy’s ceremony followed by our top five television shows currently airing new episodes.

Just a few thoughts on this years Emmys in summation.  Neil Patrick Harris easily gave the best live performance of the year.  A category for best variety show event saw Hugh Jackman win for his performance of the opening number at the Oscars but if Harris’ performance was in the running it would be a quantum finish.  Mad Men and 30 Rock repeated last year’s top honors and it could not be more well deserved.  If I could, I would personally thank Tina Fey and Matthew Weiner for making television exciting again.  The sensation third season of Mad Men has just started and it is not too late to catch up on the best quality show around.

The three of us leapt into an algonquin roundtable of sorts generating the following list of the best television on air as we see it.

Erika’s Top 5:

1.  Mad Men

2.  Big Love – New season in January

3.  Top Chef

4.  United States of Tara

5.  Curb Your Enthusiasm

Dane’s Top 5:

1.  30 Rock

2.  It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia

3.  South Park

4.  The Daily Show

5.  Jeapordy

James’ Top 5:

1.  Mad Men

2.  30 Rock

3.  Curb Your Enthusiasm

4.  United States of Tara*/Party Down

– I didn’t get a chance to talk about Party Down which is a great new show airing on Starz.  Ken Marino, part of the same group that did the sketch comedy show The State, plays the owner of a catering company in LA primarily staffed by indifferent failed actors/comedians.  It’s a hilarious riff on LA culture with some interesting characters that go beyond the zany sitcom archetypes.

5.  The Daily Show

It’s clear that we all share a certain reverence for the siren song of the glowing glass box and I hope you share our enthusiasm or at least enjoy hearing us enthused for 45 minutes of pure entertainment.

~James

*Note, we said on the show that Diablo Cody directed Juno which is not accurate.  She wrote the screenplay for the film, and won the Oscar for best original screenplay, and Jason Reitman directed.

Episode 2 – In Review

Episode 2 found us ruminating on my favorite novel of the past few years, Infinite Jest.  Sadly, David Foster Wallace commit suicide in September of 2008.  The literary world lost a brilliant luminary, but we lost a voice defining our generation in a singular way.

Dane discussed the informational revolution embodied by his new iPod touch.  Joining the throng of the unprecedentedly well-informed, Dane discussed the implications of having a device that connects one to all the threads of the world wide interweb.

We moved from these oversentimental topics to our top five favorite indie film directors.  Our lists, as well as some of our recommended films from each director, are summarized below:

James:

1.  Werner Herzog

Encounters at the End of the World

Aguirre the Wrath of God

Rescue Dawn/Little Dieter Needs to Fly

2.   Charlie Kauffman

3.   Rian Johnson

Brick:

The Brothers Bloom

4.   Sophia Coppola

The Virgin Suicides

Lost in Translation

(the minor) Marie Antoinette

5.   Jim Jarmucsh

Dead Man

Dane:

1.   Danny Boyle

Trainspotting (iconic trailer)

28 Days Later

Sunshine (brilliant science fiction film)

2.   Charlie Kaufman

3.   Darren Aronofsky

Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler

4.   Wes Anderson

The Royal Tenenbaums

Rushmore

5.   Christopher Nolan

The freaking Dark Knight people

Memento (yes it is the same director)

The final segment of the show focuses on the new mumblecore film Humpday.  Mumblecore is something of a new wave in indie filmmaking, primarily characterized by true to life dialogue, and un-hyperbolized characters and scenarios.  Humpday is a fantastic exploration of how the paths we chose in life come to define us in ways we simultaneously accept and resist.   It is one of my personal favorites of the year so check it out at your local cineplex.

I hope you enjoyed the show.  We enjoyed you giving it the time to listen.

~James

Episode 1 In Review

Having listened to the first episode you’ll probably agree that we spin through a lot of topics relatively quickly so I’ve provided some summary links below to the weekly obsessions and top five segments that Dane and I did for the introduction to the inaugural episode.

Dane’s weekly obsession:

This American Life, Episode 80 – Running After Antelope.  Available streaming for free, or for a nominal fee if downloading and portability are more your thing (and frugality is not).

James’ weekly obsessions:

The state DVD release

The films of Georges Méliès including Le voyage dans la Lune:

Dane’s top five podcasts:

Radio Lab

This American Life

The Ricky Gervais Show

Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me

Fresh Air

James’ top five podcasts (overlap links excluded):

This American Life

Radio Lab

Fresh Air

Filmspotting

Scene Unseen

Hope you enjoyed the first episode, more to come.

~James