Let’s get free-form, y’all!  My ingestion of pop culture lately has been less structured than usual, leaving me kind of at a loss for cohesive blog posts pertaining to one topic.  So, this being my blog and since you’re not my real mom (except you, Mom) I’m going to, just this week, hit you with a mix of mini-posts, covering a plethora of topics (plethora being taken at its loosest definition).  Ready? Here we go! (If you read that in Mario’s voice, will you marry me?)

– I finally watched The Ladykillers (Tom Hanks version) and while that is not exciting news by any stretch of the imagination, it is big for me because that finally makes me a Coen brothers completist (directorial).  I suppose if there has to be a Coen brothers film that you haven’t seen, The Ladykillers is probably the best (in that it’s basically their worst), but I liked it.  It has problems, sure, Marlon Wayans is ungodly annoying in it, and, being a remake of a perfectly decent film, it’s fundamentally pointless.  But Tom Hanks is terrific in it, it’s got some solid black comedy (cribbed from the original, but whatever), and it’s got a kick-ass gospel soundtrack.

– I bailed on Infinite Jest.  I don’t think I even made it to a hundred pages.  I know, I’m terrible.  What I read I enjoyed, but the thousand-plus pages and all those footnotes were too stressful so I gave up.  I’ll give it another go at some point.  I’ll also finish The Grapes of Wrath and Of Human Bondage at some point, too, I swear.

– I saw Thor.  It was awesome.  I wasn’t watching it terribly critically, so that’s basically the end of my discussion on the topic.  I have some thoughts about how Marvel is handling the build-up to The Avengers, but I’ll save that for after Captain America.

– I started reading The Hunger Games.  The writing’s a bit clunky, but it’s entertaining and fairly easy, which is refreshing after I let David Foster Wallace down (I’m sure he’s taking it very personally from beyond the grave).  I hadn’t really heard anything about it up until all the casting announcements started pouring out, and I became curious.  It’s surprisingly dark (given that it’s about kids being forced to murder each other) and compelling (albeit, kind of cheaply), so I can see what all the fuss is about.

– I’ve been reading some Batman graphic novels.  Some.  Not many.  Three to be exact.  In the past month I’ve read (in order) Batman: Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, and The Killing Joke.  I’ve never been huge into comics and I’ve always regretted that.  The catalogues are just so massive, I wouldn’t know where to jump in, so I tend to stick to graphic novels, or limited comics runs in graphic novel form.  I thoroughly enjoyed these three,  The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke especially.  Batman is one of the few superheroes that you can get really dark with and these books took advantage.  And I will totally take any suggestions for other graphic novels worth reading.

– Amazingly enough, Glee has actually been kind of okay lately.  It’s nowhere near as good as its first season, but it hasn’t been wildly divergent or actively terrible, so it gets a pass from me.  This week even found a reason for Sue to actually act the way she does in the form of her sister dying (the show kind of tried to use this as a way of retconning her character for the season, but I’m not having it).  The finale’s next week, and I gotta say it, I’m hopeful.  The tournament episodes are usually better than most, although Quinn’s up to some pointless shenanigans, so it could go either way.  As long as it isn’t a total trainwreck, I’ll be fine with signing back up next year.

– I watched On The Town starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra a couple weeks ago, and holy crap did I love that movie!  I figured I’d like it fine, given that it’s an MGM musical from the heyday of MGM musicals and Gene Kelly was awesome, but I completely fell in love with it.  It’s pure entertainment, with great songs, wonderful ensemble work, and a sense of palpable joy throughout.  Singin’ In The Rain is still the best musical, but On The Town just might be my favorite.

– CBS cancelled Mad Love.  That doesn’t surprise me.  I am disappointed by the news, because I enjoyed the show.  It wasn’t the most original (or funniest) show ever, but it was delightful in its own way, and I will miss it.  I’m pissed, however, because clearly they had plans for a season 2 and they ended the finale with Tyler Labine and Judy Greer realizing they had feelings for each other, but with Labine hooking up with Greer’s boss instead in a moment of weakness.  And that’s frustrating.  It’s The Class all over again.

–I want to see Bridesmaids.  Not as a social statement, or a display of my support of equality for women (for the record: I do support that), I just want to see it because it looks hilarious and I like the cast.  Deal with it.

– I finally saw The Road Warrior.  When that scenario comes true, I call dibs on the one-sleeve leather jacket.

Posted under Kyle's Adventures in Pop Culture