Whine & Cheese

Oscar Nominations (And Winners!)

Ok, I wasn't planning on doing a post on the Academy Award nominations this morning, since I really have not seen many of the films (for the record: Brokeback, Walk The Line, Munich)...

But heck, the performance in the film (or the film itself) has little to do with why someone (something) wins.  So here are this year's nominees and who I think will win:

Best Picture
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich
Despite being a bit concerned about Crash winning at this weekend's SAG awards, I still think Brokeback will take home the biggie.  Was kind of surprised to see Munich here, but what's the Oscars without a Spielberg film?  I am guessing it probably nudged out Walk The Line.

Actor
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Terrence Howard, "Hustle & Flow"
Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain"
Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line"
David Strathairn, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
This one is a runaway for Hoffman.

Actress
Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley, "Pride & Prejudice"
Charlize Theron, "North Country"
Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"
A two-horse race between Huffman and Witherspoon... before this weekend, I thought Huffman had a fairly decent lead, until Witherspoon took home the SAG... still too close to call, but I think Huffman is showing signs of momentum loss.

Supporting Actor
George Clooney, "Syriana"
Matt Dillon, "Crash"
Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"
William Hurt, "A History of Violence"
Nice to see Gyllenhaal get a nod since he has largely be ignored during the award season (perhaps confusion about where to put him... is this really a supporting character?)... who would have ever thunk we'd see Academy Award nominee Matt Dillion?  But this one, I think will go to Giamatti... with Clooney being the only other nominee with a chance.

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, "Junebug"
Catherine Keener, "Capote"
Frances McDormand, "North Country"
Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain"
No real thoughts on this one... but my gut (and the name I have seen most) in this category goes to Weisz.

Director
Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Bennett Miller, "Capote"
Paul Haggis, "Crash"
George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Steven Spielberg, "Munich"
Even if there is a Crash upset in the Picture category, Lee appears pretty safe to take home the directing trophy.

Adapted Screenplay
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"
Dan Futterman, "Capote"
Jeffrey Caine, "The Constant Gardener"
Josh Olson, "A History of Violence"
Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, "Munich"
Again, a pretty safe call for the respected McMurtry and his writing partner Ossana.

Original Screenplay
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, "Crash"
George Clooney and Grant Heslov, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Woody Allen, "Match Point"
Noah Baumbach, "The Squid and the Whale"
Stephen Gaghan, "Syriana"
Crash is gaining momentum... but I will still go with Clooney and Heslov as a way of honoring the film and allowing Clooney to win one of his three nominations.

A full list of the nominees can be found here.

Walk The Line

On Saturday, we finally got around to seeing Walk The Line.  We had been meaning to see it when it first came out (months ago?)... so while there were a couple of "new" Oscar buzz films released this weekend, we decided to play catch-up... particularly since the movie just took home the Golden Globes for best picture, actor, and actress in a musical or comedy.

Since it has been out for awhile, it was in one of those smaller theaters in the multi-plex, so with the limited seating I am guessing the Saturday matinee was sold-out (or pretty darn close)... apparently, we were not the only ones scratching the film off our "to-do" list.   

The movie was pretty much your standard bio-pic and, on the heels of last year's Ray, it was hard not to make comparisons between the two movies.

I determined that all you pretty much need to pitch a film these days is a Mad Libs template... do you remember Mad Libs?  I loved it as a kid... a cohort would have a story where you needed to "fill in the blanks" with such things as a noun, a verb, a fruit, a number... once those words were supplied, the story would be read back to you, often to comic effect.

My movie Mad Libs would go something like this:

Let's make a movie about (music genre) icon, (singer, preferably recently deceased).  We'll first go back in time and recount their years in (primarily rural U.S. state), where they experienced (early childhood trauma). This will provide the emotional core of the movie. Singer will face (initial setback #1) and (initial setback #2), but will slowly achieve success.  Ultimately, this will all be threatened by (type of addiction) which leads to (relationship problem).  Singer battles and defeats demons... becoming the legend they are today.  I think (young-ish actor not known for a singing voice) would be brilliantly embody the title character... and we should name the film either (singer's last name) or (singer's greatest hit song)! 

Voila!  I am a movie producer!

But, all kidding aside, this was really a wonderful film and one that we enjoyed immensely.  As with Ray, the performances likely outshine the film as a whole... again, no originality points when it comes to its "plot" and execution... though nothing wrong with how it was shot...  the prison sequence which anchors the film is simply electrifying, I got goose bumps. 

Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are outstanding and are certainly deserving of all the critical praise/awards that have been heaped upon them.  And their singing (yes, they do all their own singing - no dubbing or lip-synching) was really quite impressive.  And sorry (well, not really) to the Brokeback devotees -- we both agreed, with little hesitation, that in a Heath vs. Joaquin Best Actor battle, our votes would be for Joaquin.

So, definitely a thumbs up... recommended if you haven't yet walked to movie theater line yourself!

Brokeback ... Finally!

Well call off the posse, we finally saw Brokeback Mountain this past weekend.

It has been a long time coming.  As you may remember, I wasn't terribly enthusiastic about seing it in the first place.  I have been reading about this movie for what seems like years and it just seemed as if the hype was somewhere in the stratosphere... even far beyond the soaring heights of the very peak that gives this story its title.  I knew the gay community would embrace it regardless, but beyond this peer pressure when it started getting all kind of critical praise and winning awards it was clear that this was something beyond the run-of-the-mill gay genre film.  That said, I still had some trepidation, worrying how I would come back on some Monday morning and write that it was "just alright" or "okay." 

Fortunate for me, I don't have to worry about that now.  I thought it was just incredible and beautiful film that far far exceeded my lowered expectations.  The movie has been reviewed to death in blogland, so I am really left without a whole lot to say that has not been said before over and over and over again... subtle, powerful, emotional, aching, haunting... it just washes right over you... I can't remember a film in recent years where the visuals so accurately captured the mood of the film... which was only further enhanced by the film's spare and heart-breaking score.  So, all in all, I hope there is still some room on the Brokeback bandwagon for me! (Though we'll have to wait and see if I get as obsessed by it as some others).

As Scott mentions, the movie has been out for at least a month here in the Phoenix metro area... and this was its second week of wider release and I would still guess that our Saturday night showing was sold-out.  I expected a sparse crowd and certainly not primarily hetero.  In our politically conservative state, Phoenix may be an island of "blue" but this particular theater was definitely in one of the "redder" suburbs. 

I have been cynical about this film being groundbreaking or a watershed... but now I am thinking it may create a subtle shift in people's attitudes, while certainly not those far off to the right (who probably avoid a 5-mile radius of any theater showing it for fear of catching something) it may affect those "undecideds"... and while I am certainly biased, I can't help but think that anyone walking out of the theater can not just come to the conclusion that love is love, no matter who or what we are.

While we on our leather reclines and watching something on TiVo on Sunday, I said one of the more memorable lines from the film "You know it could always be like this, just like this, always" ...

Of course I was saying this for comic effect since we were doing something quite mundane... but still it is incredible (and encouraging) to be living in time that is really not that far removed from Jack and Ennis... but eons away in so many other ways.  Sure there may be (and likely are) those whispers in the neighborhood about two guys shacking up, but we can and do do it.. and for that I am very thankful.

Movies, Movies, Movies

Have been quite active in watching movies over the past couple of weeks.  I think we went to the actual movie theater more in the last few weeks than we did for the first 11 months of 2005!  You already have my thoughts on Rent and Munich, so here are some thoughts on some others:

Currently Playing at a Theater Near You:

King Kong - First, I should add that we have only seen the first of Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy, not quite into that whole story... but we do know that Jackson loves a big (huge!) picture, and Kong is certainly a movie of epic proportions.  As expected, the technical aspects and special effects in this film are astounding.  It is really hard to choose what was more impressive... Jackson's version of Skull Island or his recreation of early 20th century NYC.  Once the movie got going, it was pretty much an exhausting roller coaster ride... but it had to get going.  Saw this one with Todd and his sister and, after the film, we all admitted to dozing off during the movie's first hour.  While some of the first hour were certainly necessary to set-up the story, the movie could have easily lost an hour elsewhere.  Some of the action sequences were truly unnecessary, more of a "look what we can do" exhibition... that said, they were all pretty spectacular. 

The Family Stone - A pretty easy selection as I worship at the altar of Sarah Jessica Parker and certainly feel a side trip to the chapel of Dermot Mulroney is always worthwhile.  However, on a couple of occasions, this film was a bit too eerie.  Just like all couples, we occasionally do hit a few relationship road bumps in our house and we had a few of those in these past couple of weeks. Now while the on-screen issues were exponentially worse than our own, after some simmering on both our parts our "clear the air" discussion was almost a word-by-word playout of one that occurred in the movie. Very strange indeed!  But back to the film, it was a really wonderful ensemble piece... more dramatic than I expected (it seemed to be billed/marketed as a "holiday family gathering" comedy) and in the end a bit too unrealistic and predictable (predictably unrealistic!)... but it was a good look at a pretty quirky family with some issues (and I think we can all relate to that!).  Enjoyed SJP doing a much more brittle version of Carrie Bradshaw (sorry SJ, it is just impossible for me to separate you from Carrie).

On Cable or Available for Rental:

To Kill A Mockingbird - Todd recently read the novel and I had read it waaay back in high school, but this was the first time either of us saw the classic film starring Gregory Peck.  Obviously, I don't remember too much of the story... but Todd said it seemed like a pretty good, but condensed, version of the Harper Lee novel.  Good film, which I am sure was pretty racy (no pun intended) for the time... heck, with some of the themes and plot, I am guessing TKaM is not even on high school reading lists in these 'politically correct' times.

The Italian Job - This was a fun, brainless spy/action film starring Charlize Theron, Mark Wahlberg, and Ed Norton... but I wanted to watch it for one other reason... MINI Coopers are featured prominently in the latter half of the film... which was a lot of fun for me...  though I probably should not drive my Cooper like Marky Mark when my own Cooper arrives!  It was also nice to see Venice (the "Italian" part of the job) featured prominently in the first sequence of the filim, since I had just read the "all things Venice" John Berendt book, The City of Falling Angels.

Paper Clips - This was an HBO documentary about a school in Tennessee that did an interesting project - collecting a paper clip for every person who was killed in the Holocaust.  After receiving some national publicity, they easily accomplished (and far exceeded) that goal... with the rest of the documentary focused on making a lasting memorial.  Needless to say the film is quite emotional, Holocaust survivors visit the small town and tell their stories...and it is overwhelming to see bucket fulls of paper clips and think they represent just one person killed.  That said, the documentary has a bit more amateurish feel to it than other HBO fare... but I think that was just try to make it more accessible for people of all ages.

I Heart Huckabees - A very, very strange and quirky film so probably not everyone's cup of tea.  It features Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin as "existential detectives" who stalk their "clients" in hopes of figuring out what makes them tick.   The flick's ensemble also features Jude Law, Naomi Watts, and Mark Wahlberg.  I had a hard time with it at times, but kept an open mind.

Waiting For Guffman - After seeing Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, I finally got around to watching the first film from this particular acting troupe that features Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, and Fred Willard (among others!).  This one centered around characters in a small town in Missouri putting on a musical pageant to celebrate the town's 150th anniversary.  It is easy to see why those other two films were green-lighted (green lit?) after this one -- quietly and quirkily hilarious!

Munich

I don't read as much as I used to and we certainly do not go out to the movies all that often these days... so it was quite a surprise opening the year-end issue of Entertainment Weekly and seeing that I was reading the #1 non-fiction book of the year (The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion... blog review of that still pending) and that we had just returned from seeing Owen Gleiberman's #1 movie of the year - Steven Spielberg's Munich.

I am sure most of you are aware that this is the movie that recounts the aftermath of the killing of 11 Israeli athletes by a Palestinian terrorist group, Black September, at the 1972 Summer Olympic games in Munich.  Now I was a bit too young to remember the actual event... at age 5, I am sure my parents did not have me sitting in front of the television set as the tragedy unfolded... but over the years I have certainly seen footage of the masked terrorists on the balcony of the Israeli's apartment and Jim McKay's statement "They're all gone" still sends a shiver down my spine (as it just did again as I typed it).

While the hostage taking and tragic end are re-created on film (masterfully mixed with actual footage), the focus of the film is the team of Isreali special agents (assassins) that were sent out to kill the Palenstinians who planned and executed the attack one-by-one.

Now, I think there is probably no such thing as a "bad" Spielberg film... visually the film is amazing and there is certainly packs an emotional whallop... though I would say the tone is a colder than some of Spielberg's "serious" works such as Schindler's List, Armistad, or The Color Purple... but given the theme of vengeance that is pretty much expected.  Despite his Jewish ancestry, Spielberg is careful (almost too much) to not take sides... the Israelis accidentally meet up with a Palestinian crew during one stakeout and their take on the Israel is discussed... and the Israeli assassins are shown as emotionally tormented by their assignment given that it is not terribly different (or less heinous) than the attack that sets the events of this film into motion.

The peformances are incredible... and it amazes me that Eric Bana (as Avner, the group's leader) has not been talked up more for an Academy Award or even a nomination (no actors from the film were even recognized by the Golden Globes).  I am not terribly familar with Bana's body of work, but if Munich is any indication, he should have no trouble finding "leading man" acting gigs in the future.  And I would be remiss to say, that the guy is quite the stud.

That said, the problem I have with the film is that other than what that occurred in Munich at the Olympic Games, the rest of the story is truly unknown and likely never will be known .  While Spielberg notes at the beginning of the flim that what you will see is "inspired by actual events," a quick Internet search will dispute some very basic things shown in the film (i.e. there were several teams of assassins, Israeli PM Golda Meir's involvement, etc)... and the book on which the movie is based (George Jonas' Vengeance) has been dubbed by some as a "work of fiction" with much of the book's story supplied by a man who posed as an Israeli agent...  this Reuters piece goes into all this a bit more.

So while I have absolutely no problems with the artistic qualities of the Munich, it is just a slightly troubling side-effect to have to pan for facts amongst what is apparently a lot of fiction... and I am guessing most American moviegoers will view the events shown in the film as "gospel" since it comes from the lens of Spielberg.

Make The Yuletide Gay

It was quite the busy weekend... and, in retrospect, quite the gay one. 

We saw Evita on Friday night, Saturday spent most of the day "decking the halls" for our Saturday night visit with Scott & Buckaroo... and saw Rent.  Now while I didn't don any "gay apparel" to the best of my knowledge it was all quite merry.  It is quite nice to have some friends again (most of my old clan has picked up and left town over the years) and better yet it is nice to have a couple who are very much in the "same place" as we are... in fact, often times I think we are looking in the mirror... we have quite a bit in common personality-wise that is for sure.

Despite reassurances from Scott, I was determined to get the holiday decorating done before they arrived.  We did the outdoor light display a couple of weeks ago... but since then, the house has remained sterile... with the exception of the pre-lit tree being up but not decorated.  I  tend to need a little motivation every now and then... and a gay male couple coming over for a holiday visit provided the much needed impetus... dare I say, even more than a mother-in-law would!   It all fell together quickly (and in a comfortable amount of time) as you would expect from a gay guy... Christmas village imagined and created, stockings hung, halls decked, tree trimmed, ingredients for pomegranate martinis purchased and ready to go.

We had a great time... a nice spicy Mexican dinner to star things off, over to see Rent, and then back to the house to check out the neighborhood light displays and those pomegranate martinis (though I think I prefer my earlier martini "fuzzy fairy" concoction) and conversation.  It is hard to believe we didn't even know S&B existed a year ago... we look forward to more good times in the years ahead.

Ok, back to Friday night and Evita.  This was my third go-round with the stage production and I have seen the Madonna film at least a couple of times as well. Since this was my first ever Broadway musical back in the early 80s I pretty much know every word. 

Unfortunately, we had an understudy as Eva.  Now most of the time (especially in these touring productions where there is rarely a "name" in the major role) I don't really ever notice the subs and a lot of times I am impressed with them.  But not so this time around... it was pretty evident early on that the actress was miscast (even as an understudy)... she was quite diminutive (which could be overcome)... but she was just too "perky"...  an attribute often not associated with the former first lady of Argentina.  Now this gal was a capable singer, but just not for this particular role.

We have a couple of gay guys sitting next to us this season and we pretty much gay "bashed" the poor girl during intermission.  One of the guys said "I could do better" to which I turned my flame to high and responded "I have done better."

Our Evita came full circle on Saturday night seeing the movie version of Rent (if you have seen Rent, you know an Akita named Evita has a bit of an accident).  Now Rent has ascended to the top of my list of favorite musicals.  So I went into the movie with a bit of trepidation... I love the play, would the movie ruin it? 

Thankfully not... while it was pretty faithful to the stage version, it still took me awhile to get into it.  On the stage, you expect the characters to break into song... so it did not seem quite as natural seeing a character singing while riding a bike down a city street or in some other more "real life" setting.  I think it is even a tad more awkward in a "sing thru" like Rent (although some of the lyric were turned into spoken dialogue).  The movie took off for me deep into "act one" with Maureen's performance of "Over The Moon" and from there I was very much with it.

I thought all the performances were great... particulary the Broadway non-originators, Rosario Dawson (Mimi) and Tracie Thoms (Joanne).  Heck, a few more moments of Rosario dancing in the Cat Scratch Club may have converted me... she was H.O.T. (okay, a 'conversion' would be difficult since we were watching a musical!).  And, Idina Menzel (Maureen) really kicked ass.

So I give the movie thumbs-up, although I don't think it was quite as successful of a transition to the silver screen as Chicago.  But if you like/love the play, I am sure you will be a fan of the movie version.

Top 100s

Well, you know I am struggling for things to blog about if I do a babbling post about TiVo Season Passes and have to dub Adam Goldberg a "birthday stud"... I guess some days it is probably best to skip a day! ;-)

But I won't let that stop me... so today, I will get some inspiration from a couple of Top 100 lists that I stumbled across recently. The first is Time Magazine's Top 100 Novels.  I thought I would do pretty well with this list, since there are a couple of limitations working in my favor... first, the novels are English language... second, they were published after 1923 (when Time came into existence).

Alas, I only managed to scratch 14 of the 100 novels off the list... so not exactly a point of pride for someone who thinks he is reasonably well-read... here are the titles I have read:

Are You There God? It's Me Margaret - Judy Blume
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Beloved - Toni Morrison
The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
1984 - George Orwell
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
White Teeth - Zadie Smith

So pretty sad, that one of my fourteen is a Judy Blume book... and that of the above titles there are probably only a handful that I can say I honestly enjoyed reading (many were from high school English class).

I did fair better on the British magazine Total Film's 100 Greatest Films of All Time... proving that it is easier to watch than to read something, I have seen 46 of the 100 films on the list.  I won't list them all out there.. but here is their Top 10 (with the films I have seen in bold).

1. Good Fellas
2. Vertigo
3. Jaws
4. Fight Club
5. The Godfather Part II
6. Citizen Kane
7. Toyko Story
8. The Empire Strikes Back
9. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
10. His Girl Friday

If you haven't guessed, this list is causing some conversation.  It is not often you see Martin Scorsese's Good Fellas heading the list (heck, let alone even ahead of Raging Bull -- which is ranked #28).  But there is plenty else to argue about... Gone With the Wind absent from the list... Sideways ahead of such 'classics' as The Graduate, Wizard of Oz, Psycho, and Casablanca?  Die Hard nudging out Blue Velvet (and heck, even any of the films just mentioned)?

War of the Words

We actually managed to get out to the movie theater this past weekend and given that it has racked up $112 million thus far... I am sure we were not the only ones who saw War Of The Worlds.

As always, I will give you a SPOILER WARNING... while I don't intend to give much away plot-wise you may want to avoid this post if you still plan to go see it.

So it was a pretty good movie... I think under the hands of a lesser director than Spielberg it may have had some problems... but it was very well done... and the special effects were really quite good.  I find it hard to be wow-ed these days.  Of late, the phrase "special effect, special effect!" tends to blink in my mind far more often than just allowing myself to suspend disbelief that I am witnessing actual destruction.  And perhaps even more shockingly, for two hours in a dark and cool theater, I was able to forget that Tom Cruise is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.   

So with that... here are some random (and purely in jest) musings about WotW:

• I am fairly confident that Tom Cruise's character Ray lived in Bayonne, New Jersey.  Both my parents lived there in their youth as well as both sets of grandparents... so I am quite familiar with the sites... so pretty sure that it is the Bayonne Bridge that is spectacularly destroyed by the aliens fairly early on in the movie. I tried to Google Earth the neighborhood and think I may have found it.  Sidenote: Google Earth is really quite an amazing thing (click the link and download it, it's free!)... was able to find our house no problem (could tell by the pool and front yard) and even saw my parent's car parked outside their house!  Kind of freaky, but cool!  Thanks to Scott & Buckaroo for introducing me to this fun "time waster."


• I have said it before, I am not a big fan of child actors... and until now I had successfully avoided a Dakota Fanning film.  Granted I have seen here in past movie junkets... and yes she annoyed me in her cute-sy, "wise beyond my age" ways.  The sadist in me was kinda hoping the that she would end up being alien food... but alas, this is a Spielberg film and he is not going to kill a little girl.  But I guess we'll wait and see what becomes of Miss Dakota ten or so years down the road... look what happened to Drew Barrymore after she was featured in a Spielberg alien flick!


• Ok, one quibble in the airplane crash set... again, spectacular... but what are the chances that there would be a relatively clear road for a TV crew and Tommy & family (with a conveniently working vehicle) to ride out of the neighborhood on?


• And what's the deal with Tom's ex in-laws at the end of the film?  Their city has pretty much been destroyed, but the aliens spared their oh-so lovely brownstones... I guess the aliens really showed them by blowing some leafs into the neighborhood!  With nary a hair or pearl necklace out of place, the mom-in-law was probably secretly pleased that surly BoSox fans took the brunt of the destruction.  And why the heck did Tom have to watch the kids for the weekend in the first place?  These people didn't even want to see their grandchildren?!?


• Finally, Tom's ex-(remarried?) wife is pregnant.. and all I kept thinking was...  I hope she doesn't suffer from post-partum depression... I don't know much about it, but will be running out to pick up a copy of Dianetics to see what all the fuss is about.

Trailer For Rent

No, this is NOT a classified ad... just a link to the trailer for the movie version of RENT.

I have to say I was a bit concerned about this "stage to silver screen" translation of what is probably my favorite Broadway musical... but the trailer gave me goosebumps... then again, the rousing "Seasons of Love" usually manages to do that anyhow.

I have to say the characters look a tad on the old side (much of the original/1996 Broadway cast are recreating the roles for the movie version)... but it still looks great... can't wait!  And, these days, looking forward to going out to see a movie in a theater is a very rare thing indeed!

New Sidebar Feature: Movies

I have managed to put yet another sidebar feature on W&C, two of them actually: Movies on TiVo & Recently Screened.  Right now they are on the lower right hand column.

Thanks to the major network shows going with repeats through most of March, we have remarkably caught up on 90%+ of our "regular" TiVo programming.  When that happens, I tend to load up the TiVo with movies.  As I have mentioned before, we don't get out to the movies all that much these days -- so there are many, many, many movies to choose from (and heck we are paying for all these premium channels!).  Thanks to TiVo it is quite easy to find a good movie that is airing at 3:15am on a Tuesday morning.

The list is quite long (and growing more over the next week).  Now keep in mind, this just means that the movie is on our TiVo... it doesn't necessarily mean we will get around to watching it.  I often find myself deleting and re-scheduling a movie for a later date (since we only tend to watch movies on Saturday night)... or just deleting a movie when the TiVo fills up again with other stuff.  Also, be prepared for some of the films to stick around... I confess that Mystic River has been on our TiVo since December!  Haven't quite been in the right "mood" for that one (hear it is a downer).

Underneath that list, I do list the ones that we have got around to watching.  We caught Ray recently on DVD and watched a TiVo'd Supersize Me this weekend.  Highly recommend that documentary... but be prepared to re-consider ever eating fast food with any sort of regularity.

Oh, how did I do the lists?  Well, just used the TypePad TypeList "book" feature... you can just copy in the ASIN for the DVD from Amazon (vs. the ISBN for a book) and still get the neat little thumbnail graphic.