And it’s October. Another month and another column full of shit that I love. To offset all the shit that I hate on a daily basis. You need some balance in life, baby, and that’s what this column is all about.
The months seem shorter and shorter all the time – I can’t believe that it’s already the month for Halloween. I have a feeling that if I did this column towards the end of the month instead of the beginning, I’d be loving lots of classic horror films showing in theaters – including a rare 3D presentation of Friday the 13th 3D – but maybe I’ll just wrap that up in a ‘What I’m loving about seeing movies in LA’ entry. This intro, by the way, could be listed under ‘What I’m loving in filler material.’
And so on to the lovin’…
What I’m loving on the internet: horror-movie-a-day.blogspot.com. My friend Brian has a blog called Horror Movie A Day, and it’s exactly that. Every day Brian watches a horror movie he has never seen before (and Brian’s seen a lot of horror movies, so he’s watching some obscure and weird stuff) and then reviews it. For the month of October he’s doing two a day – one film he’s never seen and a classic he hasn’t yet written about. Brian’s reviews are often hilarious, and I think he’s happiest when his daily horror movie turns out to be a complete piece of trash. It’ll be interesting to see what films he picks for his October extras; he’s already started with Evil Dead, and since Brian is the biggest Halloween fan I know, he’ll surely sneak a Mike Myers picture in there somewhere.
What I’m loving in my Los Angeles life: Seeing movies on the studio lots. In New York City I would screen films at a handful of screening rooms, mostly in midtown Manhattan, all of them in office buildings. In Los Angeles I have been to the Warner Bros, Fox and Sony lots to see movies in their in-house screening rooms, and as a movie nerd it’s awesome. At a screening of 30 Days of Night on the Sony lot last week I was shown where the Yellow Brick Road once stood. After leaving a Warner Bros lot screening of Blade Runner: The Final Cut I walked down the street where the Deckard/Zhora chase was shot. Every time I go on the Fox lot I’m greeted by a giant mural of Vader vs Luke from Empire. And that’s just the cool historical stuff; nevermind how awesome it is to pass extras in full costume having a smoke break or bumping into the occasional celebrity.
What I love on TV: The girls of Friday Night Lights. I’ve been making my way through the first season of Friday Night Lights and I have to say that I don’t get the accolades heaped on the show. It’s good, and I guess better than most of the shit aired on network television (but then again that’s why I’ve turned to consuming most of my TV on DVD), but it doesn’t deserve all the praise I’ve been hearing. Unless the praise is really just a polite way of saying, ‘Holy shit, all the babes on this show are so fucking hot.’ That praise I cannot argue, as the show has some of the finest collection of females available on television today. Connie Britton is the ultimate MILF, while Aimee Teegarden (spell check in aisle 4, please) embodies jail bait hotness as her daughter. Adrianne Palicki is slutty perfect hotness as slutty high school slut Tyra. But the actress who really makes me keep popping DVDs in the player is Minka Kelly. This girl is like a Nagasaki of sexuality. I don’t think she can act worth shit, but if she flashed me that smile I’d go and steal her an Oscar.
Note: Love Train continues after the babe.
What I’m loving in travel: TVs in the back of airplane seats. How did we ever fly without little TVs in the backs of our seats? My introduction to this glorious phenomenon began with the beloved JetBlue, and it’s becoming such an industry standard that even the possible worst major airline, American, has them on their newer planes. Flying to Europe from LA is hardly a fun trip in coach, but having a little personal TV makes everything so much better. Coming home from Europe I found the TV saved my life – my Nintendo DS wouldn’t charge overseas for some reason and I was too fucked in the head to read anything, so I just stared at the little TV (when I was nodding off for a minute until my snoring woke me up). I especially love that most of the little TVs have a channel that will show you your plane’s position on a map. I can – and have – watch that for hours.
What I’m loving in my friends: Turning me on. To new stuff, that is. One of the great things about moving to a new city and meeting new people is that I get introduced to new things. Sometimes your circle of friends becomes a little stagnant, interest-wise – you’re all into the same things and you all discover new things at about the same time. But when you get to know new people, they have a backlog of things they like to share with you, and there’s no better way to get into something new than by seeing it through the eyes of someone who has real enthusiasm. That’s how I recently finally saw Little Britain, and I’m coming to love it. The same goes for this excellent new Australian comedy, Summer Heights High, and especially the wonderful character Jonah Takalau. And there’s more – video games, books, albums, even foods. These are things I could have found on my own, but getting them this way makes them so much better. By the way, at the rate this is going I’m going to be kissing my friends’ asses every month in this column – they’re all making my life so much better. Especially when they’re going with me to Jumbo’s Clown Room… which will probably make the list next month.