Seriously, it’s usually boring to talk about the weather, but you’re allowed when it’s record-breaking and you can’t really think about anything else if you don’t have an AC (or a job). As sweaty as it gets at night, I’ll definitely take the hottest day in Seattle ever over making a run at the rainy-day streak again. More scattered thoughts.
- Infinity Ward released Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer footage last week. I haven’t been this excited for a game since . Honestly at this moment I’m more excited for MW2 than Starcraft 2, because I’m sure more friends will play MW2 (and two years passing since Blizzard announced SC2 hasn’t helped). I’m convinced that nothing will ever beat the fun of a dozen close friends playing Counter-Strike in high school when we had more free time than we realized, but MW2 is definitely the current highlight of November. (I guess the first month of NBA should be pretty interesting, but Thanksgiving weekend is gonna be the greatest Xbox LIVE session ever.)
- I need to write up some movie reviews because I’ve gone through a few this summer, here’s a list off the top of my head: This is England (good, but depressing), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (really liked it, but definitely not my favorite in the series), Taken (entertaining but try not to think about it because it gets dumber see: Saw), Men In Black (not as dated as I thought it’d be), Kickboxer (exactly as dated as I thought it’d be).
- I also re-watched Harry Potter 1-5 because Dan ordered the boxed Blu-Ray set. Quick ranking from favorite to least—HP4: Goblet of Fire, HP5: Order of the Phoenix, HP6: Half-Blood Prince, HP3: Prisoner of Azkaban, HP1: Sorcerer’s Stone, HP2: Chamber of Secrets.
- Finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Should’ve looked up the definition of “hallow” because I was thinking it was a British spelling of “hollow” and thought the Deathly Hollows would be a place. And I should’ve just read the first chapter of the book when it came out so I would’ve hooked myself back then. I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest, and my expectations were very high. My last Harry Potter OD coincided with my 21 run and I was yelling in the streets about Sirius Black. This is also known as the most embarrassing moment of my life.
- Bill Simmons has started discussing “Best of the Millennium” topics in his podcast since the aughts are coming to a close. So far he’s named the Jailblazers as the unintentional comedy team of the decade. But the subject that’s got the most time is movie of the decade. He’s settled on Almost Famous for obvious reasons but also takes into account rewatchability. He says The Dark Knight hasn’t had time to be tested for rewatchability and he counts The Lord of the Rings out saying it’s not rewatchable. I think I can agree for Fellowship of the Ring and maybe Return of the King for its length, but I completely disagree if we’re talking The Two Towers.
- As for The Dark Knight, that’s my choice. And I think it’s clearly going to stand the test of time as a rewatchable film. If we’re talking TV broadcasts, the pace of the movie is perfect because you can jump in anywhere and you won’t be more than a few minutes away from a memorable scene. And really, are you changing the channel it’s a Joker scene? Heath Ledger’s performance can never be overrated—it’s one of the best performances in an action movie ever and I think he would’ve won the Supporting Actor award if he didn’t die. And if we’re not talking TV, there’s still too many good things going for it, starting with this: we love Batman!
- Dave Dameshek has also been weighing in on his podcast and chooses No Country for Old Men over Almost Famous. I haven’t seen Almost Famous, but I’d have a hard time putting too many movies over No Country for Old Men. He also throws Children of Men out there. It’s a movie that got good reviews when it came out, but it seems to be a bit forgotten, so I was glad that he mentioned it because it deserves the attention.
- I really like writing these bulleted thoughts as opposted to not writing more singularly focused thoughts (though this could probably be titled “movie thoughts” or something.)
- Good lord it’s hot.