more things that apparently only i like

  • Posted on
  • by

I thought the film "Lone Star" magnificent, but I couldn't name another soul who's mentioned it. A marvelous murder-mystery/cultural study set in a typically Saylesian location, a Texas border town. It explores interracial and intergenerational issues without pretense, in complete service of the story, better than any film I've ever seen. (Spoiler alert: unlike "Sixth Sense," the surprise in which I saw coming from the opening act, Lone Star shocked me. Its surprise genuinely surprised me.) More praised but kind of forgotten is Robert Altman's "The Player," another murder-mystery/cultural study of sorts, this time set in a movie studio. People think I'm insane for saying this, but it has the most erotic sex scene I've ever seen, a scene that 1) shows absolutely nothing and 2) overcomes the significant handicap of Tim Robbins' involvement. (Spoiler alert: What makes it erotic is purely emotional undercurrent: in the middle of their consumation, he tries to tell her a terrible secret that she already suspects but doesn't want confirmed. Powerful stuff.) And Spike Lee's 25th Hour is an overlooked near-masterpiece about a man tying up his relationships before beginning his prison sentence. The film features a heartwrenching parental moment from Brian Cox and one of the finest ensembles I've ever seen: Edward Norton, Rosario Dawson, Barry Pepper, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and, um, Tony Siragusa too. Those of us who remember a young Spike blustering that white directors shouldn't tell black stories smirk at his nearly all-white casting, but really the story and characters transcend race. As it should be. Sublime storytelling from a mature filmmaker. I loved this film.

"Andrew Henry's Meadow," my favorite childhood book. It's too subversive for modern parents—the hero runs away from home and finds happiness—but it's fun and marvelously illustrated, and it addresses important themes of self-reliance and self-possession head-on. Not to mention it was prescient.

Chicks in sweats. Or better yet, in those flannel pants things. Do they have a name? Now, I appreciate a woman in painstakingly-selected heels just as much as anyone else; I just like the comfortably dressed-down look even more. Love, love, love how women dress down when they're home for the weekend. Love it.

Bobby "Blue" Bland. An upbeat, velvety smooth R&B/blues artist whose voice sounds eerily like the late Ray Charles. He gets bonus points for using lots of organ. If it don't got organ, it ain't music. Me'Shell Ndegeocello is a very different sort of R&B artist, and some of her library does nothing for me, but if you want your soul to positively ache—and really, who among us doesn't?— think about your long lost love and put on her single "Beautiful."

Microsoft Streets and Trips. I seldom use its route-planning feature, but man, I can't live without this app. I couldn't before I was boating; now I'm married to it. It is to Mapquest what Tivo is to your VCR. Google Earth also seems to be strangely unknown.