Quote of the Day

"I’ve spent years of constantly learning the same lesson over and over again, that you can work and work and work on something, and bang your head against the wall and know it inside and out — but then, in that moment, if you’re not relaxed in your mind and body, that’s all for nothing. A lot of that work won’t be seen unless you’re grounded and present. I just don’t think there’s ever anything wrong with attempting to be present."

That's I'm Thinking of Ending Things leading man Jesse Plemons towards the end of a wonderful profile in The New York Times today on the precipice of that wonderful Charlie Kaufman film dropping on Netflix -- I reviewed the film earlier this week right here... well "review" is always a weird word for what I do when I really get into what I wanna do, when a movie inspires me to do it, and Charlie Kaufman always inspires me. My point is I didn't mention in the many many words I typed how good Plemons (or his leading lady Jessie Buckley) is in the film, and he (and she) is very very good. ITOET is way way too weird for awards shows so I'm not getting my hopes up, but this has been a weird year! Who knows? Anyway go read the chat -- there are Kirsten Dunst quotes, after all!

Good Morning, World

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A happy 59th birthday to the actor Steven Bauer, whose career seems to have found a little renaissance thanks to that small role he had on Breaking Bad a couple of years ago. You should of course recognize him as the cute guy in Scarface (there weren't many cute people in that movie, Michelle Pfeiffer obviously excepted, so that word narrows it way own) not to mention a million sleazy 90s straight-to-video type movies. Like this one seen above, something called Drive By Lightning. Or perhaps the scene where he oils himself down in a movie called Thief of Hearts is more your flavor?

I wouldn't blame you for finding that more to your flavor. And then there's also the 1994 film Stranger By Night, which we previously gratuitized here.  Point being, thanks for the memories, Steven - the sleazy sleazy memories. Hit the jump for a bunch more...

I Am Link

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--- Fass of the Devil - Well this is the sort of unexpected treat that the internet was invented to give me and me alone -- here's House of the Devil director Ti West talking about (well actually reviewing, basically) Slow West. Do you think he was drawn by the movie's name? Is that his nickname in bed? Kidding, Ti! Anyway he loves the film as well he should, I already said it's great. Ti doesn't mention Michael Fassbender's longjohns though, which seems an egregious oversight.

--- And Speaking of Slow West (the movie not Ti West having sex) here's our pal Diana doing an interview with the great Ben Mendelsohn over at Slant about the movie, which is out in some theaters and on demand tomorrow, finally. Love the story that he tells about the fur coat in the film, and how he snatched it up for himself. 

--- Mad Ending - Do you guys watch Mad Men? I assume most of you do since you seem the type. I should be the type but I could never get into it and then it was too late and I'll never go back. Never! I've seen all the Bob Benson scenes and that's all that really matters. (See how I managed to sneak an excuse for that James Wolk picture in here? Like magic.) Anyway my pal Sean sees this weekend's finale coming and wrote up the best and worst series finales for Rolling Stone. Out of the ones I've seen I agree except I think he over-values the last episode of Breaking Bad a smidge; that robot-gun was awfully silly.

--- Being Hateful - I guess I'm as fickle as a Kansas twister because in theory, thanks to everything he's given me, I ought to be very excited about a new Quentin Tarantino movie, but because his last movie was probably my least favorite of all his movies I feel kinda meh about The Hateful Eight. It doesn't help that it's another Revenge Western - he might need to switch things up next time out. Anyway I know most of these pictures from TH8 have been online for a bit but I think a couple are new.

--- His Women - Mr. Miranda July, aka Beginners director Mike Mills (I will always refer tom him as "Mr. Miranda July" unless they get divorced in which case I'll refer to him as "the ex Mr. Miranda July"), has lined up his cast for his Beginners follow-up, called 20th Century Women, and it's a doozy - it will star Greta Gerwig, Annette Bening, and Elle Fanning as a trio of women from three generations surrounding one young man; Mills is basing it on his own childhood. 

--- Monster Mass - I think that every single person who read the news today that Samuel L. Jackson has taken on the role of "scientist" (or "biochemistry professor," whatever, same diff) in the upcoming remake of The Blob heard the exact same phrase in their heads all at once -- "I have had it with this motherfucking blob!" Thatt's probably too obvious - they should just re-enact his speechifying scene from Deep Blue Sea instead. Here's our previous post on the subject of this remake.

--- Fancy Carr - We told you a couple of weeks ago that Cary Fukunaga is set to turn Caleb Carr's as far as I remember it terrific book The Alienist into a miniseries for TNT - well they're really going for it: Variety's reporting that the studio is giving him five million dollars PER EPISODE to make the series. That's forty million bucks for the eight-episode run. Soembody's a True Detective fan over there!

--- The Fry Guys - Michael Keaton and Laura Dern are gearing up to make The Founder with the John Lee Hancock, director of The Blind Side and Saving Mr Banks - it's a true-story about the guy who built McDonalds into you know, what McDonalds is. Dern is playing his first wife. (thanks Mac) I find it interesting that Hancock's going from making a movie about Disney to making a movie about McDonalds though. I'm sensing an interest in American Corporate Identity. Anyway I hope he tells us about the original Hamburglar most of all, because WTF.

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Be My Boba Tonight

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THR is reporting that Oscar nominee slash unsalted breadstick Felicity Jones has landed the leading female role in the first of what will eventually be thousands Star Wars spin-offs, and that the leading male role is either going to Aaron Paul or Edgar Ramirez. I think you can tell where my sympathies lie in that decision based off of the photograph I've chosen to headline this post with. But come on - take a look at what Edgar Ramirez would look like as Boba Fett:

I mean is there really even a question here?

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I Am Link

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--- Hugh Bot - There's a new trailer for Neill Blomkap's Chappie out (you can watch the previous one over here) and I'm still not convinced that turning Sharlto Copley into a CG robot was the best use of his, you know talents, but we'll see. At least Hugh Jackman's bad-guy trousers seem tight so there'll be something for me to look at. In related news I will be seeing Hugh Jackman's play The River this weekend! I hope it's just ninety minutes of him flexing his biceps.

--- Witch Off - I remember liking Gregory Maguire's book of Wicked way way back in the day, when that kind of thing still seemed clever, but I've never seen the stage musical - it's always sold out and/or only at full-price, plus the commercials they show here in New York make the music sound like a bunch of screaming. I'm good, thanks! Anyway I'll probably see the movie if they ever make it, because I have to see movies I don't have tons of interest in sometimes (hello Into the Woods), and it's closer than ever - EW says that Stephen Daldry, director of Billy Elliot, has been working on it for awhile and we might see the movie by 2016. This movie will be SO BIG; it's crazy they've waited this long to do it.

--- Deep Creek - Judging a book by its cover, or rather judging a YouTube clip by its boring cover-photo, I'm guessing that the first footage from Battle Creek, the new series written by Breaking Bad's Vince Gilligan (with a pilot directed by Bryan Singer) doesn't have Josh Duhmale's dick anywhere in it so I'm not in a big rush. But y'all do and watch it and tell me if I'm being shortsighted. I mean, Bryan Singer did shoot it. Here's a link to some nice shots of Joshie on the set, though.

--- Little Woman - My first instinct upon reading that Reese Witherspoon's re-teaming with Election director Alexander Payne is elation... for a second, and then I remember all the crap Payne's been making for the past several years, and oh my heart sinks. But Election's so good that a little bubble of hope escapes all the same. The movie's called Downsizing, back in November Matt Damon had joined the film as the lead; it's a satire of some sort about a man shrinking himself or something. It's probably going to be a preachy Honey I Shrunk The Kids, basically. Alec Baldwin, Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Sudeikis have also joined the cast.

--- Burning Love - How strange to find two hunks heating up the live-action Pete's Dragon movie, of all places - Wes Bentley and Michael C Hall have both joined the film, along with Robert Redford and Bryce Dallas Howard and some newcomer kid nobody's heard of. Maybe Wes and Mike are playing the kid's two dads and there'll be a scene of slow tender lovemaking lit by the smoky glare of the dragon's nostrils. You know, for kids.

--- Winter Queen - Berlin's Film Fest is coming up soon and over at The Film Experience Nat's taking a look at the first image of Juliette Binoche (oh Juli) rocking her best Zhivago fur in Nobody Wants the Night, which is the opening night film. I would watch a remake of Zhivago starring Juli - don't you dare say she's too old for the Julie Christie part, she is Binoche, she is right for every part!

--- And Finally, DH has got several new pictures from Marvel's Ant-Man in a gallery over here; I'm kinda keen on the shot below of Paul Rudd standing beside his costume but mostly because I'm pretending that he's not wearing any pants. We make our own fun. Click here for that shirtless shot of Paul in the trailer.

Getting Cold For Kiki

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I was in a bar a few weeks ago where they were playing Drop Dead Gorgeous on the TVs, so that's what I think of immediately upon reading today's wonderful news that Kirsten Dunst, wonderful Kirsten Dunst, will be busting out her Midwestern accent again as she's has joined the cast of the second season of Fargo. Her role might have something to do with it too:

"Dunst will play Peggy Blomquist, “a small town beautician with big city dreams who is trying to figure out who she really is and what she really wants as she struggles with traditional societal expectations. She shares her home with her husband Ed (played by Jesse Plemons), a butcher’s assistant, who wants to be supportive of his wife’s self-discovery, even if he doesn’t quite understand it.”

Ooh Jesse Plemons, we like him very much too, and he'll fit right into the Fargo world like a ginger glove. The second season is a prequel to the first, taking us back to 1979 and some happenings surrounding the character played in the first season by Keith Carradine; that character hasn't been cast yet, but Jeffrey Donovan will also play someone on the show (probably somebody who seems a little coked-out, since that's his specialty).

None of the people from the first season will re-appear which makes me kinda sad - I adored Allison Tolman... and Billy Bob... oh who am I kidding, I adored everybody, even Tom Hanks' kid. I loved the show. Any of y'all fans?
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One Day My Two Princes Will Come

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Well now I have that Spin Doctors song stuck in my head, lucky me. I don't know Sondheim's music for this show at all, please tell me that Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen will be covering the Spin Doctors??? That would be so Sondhiem. (I think I just made some people's heads explode with that sentence, hardy har.) Anyway JJ has the first set of pictures from Into the Woods, Rob Marshall's upcoming Oscar-season musical, and obviously I gravitated to the shots of Pine & Magnussen since they (and okay some Meryl too) are the only reasons I'll be seeing this thing.

Speaking of Billy Magnussen though, he's on stage taking his clothes off again -- huzzah! (See a big gratuitous post on Billy here.) The show is called Sex With Strangers and he's acting opposite Breaking Bad's wonderful wine-slinger Anna Gunn. You can see a clip reel here (thanks Mac) and here are a couple of pictures...

Who Wore It Best?

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poll by twiigs.com

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I Am Link

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--- Red Doom - Four actors are being plopped into the gladiator ring of public opinion before they slit three's throats and pick a winner  of who'll play Dr. Doom in the Fantastic Four reboot - Sam Riley, Eddie Redmayne, Toby Ribbell (dunno him) and my favorite of course Domhnall Gleeson; love the idea of a ginger Dr. Doom! Bring that shit on. (I also think Redmayne could nail this though - his pretty face is totally unsettling, I'm surprised he hasn't played more villains.)

--- Famous Fans - I hate the way this gallery's set up (click-through's like this are the devil's abortion) but it's fun to see what the favorite movies of a bunch of random celebrities are so we can judge them accordingly. Since she loves him so much I'm surprised Carey Mulligan hasn't gotten herself cast in a Steven Spielberg movie yet.

--- Cappy Et Al - In Avengers-World news, apparently the people who've seen the third Captain America already have gone nuts for it, so the guys who directed it are already breaking down ideas for the third film; also we have confirmation that the so-called "stinger" to the movie (the mid-credits sequence) was directed by Joss Whedon, which fits in with what Thomas Kretschmann was saying (we can expect to see him in that then). Oh and Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson are so totally in love with Joss' script for the second Avengers movie that they're going to marry it.

--- The Doctor's In - Oh wait more Marvel stuff (since they rule the world and all) - the list of directors for the Doctor Strange movie is at three. Three names we've heard before. Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies), Mark Andrews (Brave) and Scott Derrickson (Sinister) are who's up to bat. Of those three Levine's my favorite, but I'm curious what a straight-up horror director like Derrickson might do. And speaking of Derrickson, here's a chat with Sinister and Insidious producer Jason Blum on the state of the sequels for those films - the third Insidious is apparently set to film this Summer.

--- Prime Beef - And because one or two or twenty is never enough if you've got a property with heat, we also might be getting more 300 movies says its producer, as well as maybe another Immortals? Wasn't the first one sort of a flop? I don't remember it doing all that well but I might be mixing it up with something else. Anyway no complaints here - every movie can be half-naked gladiator movies from now on, I'm okay with that,

--- Winter's Tale - The cast of Game of Thrones is on the cover of Vanity Fair this month (what an odd pairing) and here's some info from inside the issue, like the word that George R. R. Martin has indeed told the show-runners how the books end (Get to work, George! I do not want the damned show ruining the books for me!!!) and also yes, President Obama gets screeners before the show airs. I am suddenly interested in politics.

--- Lady Detectives - Loved this piece by Nathaniel over at The Film Experience on the current state of women in film and television, especially the bit with regards to the massive culture-bomb that was True Detective versus the extremely similar save being female-centric Top of the Lake which was met with comparative quiet; I have to admit I'm part of the problem - I hate-watched every episode of True Detective (save a few good beats - mainly Woody Harrelson - that show was just terrible, you guys) but I still haven't finished watching Top of the Lake and I loved what I saw (I think I made it through two or three episodes).

--- Woof Creek - Since he's not getting to make more Transformers movies it seems to be time for Josh Duhamel to go back to TV, but this is better than any TV he's been attached to before (save Lara Flynn Boyle getting blown off a Vegas roof-top, natch) so things are maybe looking up - he's going to co-star opposite Oz's Dean Winters in that new show produced (and written by some, I think?) Breaking Bad's Vince Gilligan called Battle Creek; Bryan Singer's directing the pilot.

--- Dream Weaver - Neil Gaiman says he has met with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and writer-director David Goyer about the Sandman movie and appears to be happy with what they're doing - he says they might hire the screenwriter Jack Thorne to write the script; news to me here is Thorne's previously apparently already adapted Gaiman's lovely little book The Ocean at the End of the Lane into a script? That's what I want to see.
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Who Wore It Best?

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The Pork Pie: Buster Keaton or Heisenberg?

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poll by twiigs.com

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A happy 58th birthday to Bryan Cranston!

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I Am Link

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--- Agent Evil - In an interview with a German magazine Thomas Kretschmann talked about his role in the second Avengers movie - you may recall he was cast as an evil Nazi, which, well, he's got like 50 of those on his resume at this point - and he may have given away the fact that he's showing up in the second Captain America movie accidentally, by admitting he already filmed some stuff with Joss even though Avengers hasn't filmed a frame yet. Or maybe Joss just filmed him getting out of a bathtub for his "private" collection - that's what I would do!

--- Clock Stoppers - Last we week we heard Terry Gilliam talk about what he would have done with Watchmen had his version been made; now comes time for Zack Snyder to throw a fit and defend his own movie. I like Zack's movie more than most but Zack needs to step off Terry freaking Gilliam if he knows what's smart. He's much more charming over here where he's geeking out about testing the new Superman and Batman suits at the same time.

--- America Fuck No - Chris Evans says that once he's done playing Captain America he's going to take a break from acting. (Cue the snark lines about him ever starting acting in 3 2 1...) Well the way he words it's once he's "done with this Marvel contract," which well isn't he signed on for like ten more years or some nonsense? I imagine they've got him hooked in at least to a third Avengers movie.

--- Claws Down - So much superhero news today, damn! Here's Hugh Jackman talking about the very real possibility that sooner rather than later a younger dude will be slipping into his Wolverine claws and taking up the mutant mantle. Honestly at seven films down I'm kind of ready for Jackman to do something else, too. As long as he keeps taking his clothes off, of course! But the bulging vein Wolverine look has gotten to be too much. Smaller and sleeker but still naked - that's what he should do.

--- Breaking Good - X-Men director Bryan Singer, who keeps trying his hand at TV to varying effect, has signed up to direct and executive produce a series from Breaking Bad's Vince Gilligan called Battle Creek which will star Oz's Dean Winter as a detective who teams up with an FBI agent to clean up a dirty Michigan town. Gosh we've never heard a story like that before.

--- Knick Of Time - Steven Soderbergh's Cinemax series (say that five times fast) The Knick starring Clive Owen is out sometime this Summer, and we've got a batch of brief little teasers to whet our everythings til then. I see a most fancy man moustache!

--- Gull Droppings - A Dutch director that hasn't done anything here in the US yet has been signed up for the Birds remake, excuse me re-imagining - they say they're adapting DuMaurier's book, which only has attacking birds in common with the movie that Alfred Hitchcock made. After a long time signed up with the project they now say that Naomi Watts has departed; good for her.

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Edgar All Over

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Today the news broke that Errol Morris is making his first non-documentary film in 23 years - it's called Holland, Michigan and it's about a woman who, and I quote, "starts an affair after she suspects her husband is cheating on her, only to learn that her spouse is a serial killer." Sounds fun! Even better the trio will be played by Naomi Watts, Bryan Cranston, and Edgar Ramirez. That's a great cast, and seeing Edgar's name shuffled me off towards pictures of him natch, which is what led to a pair of discoveries. First I found this trio of pictures from the upcoming thriller Egdar's in with Eric Bana and Joel McHale called Deliver Us From Evil (it was called Beware the Night when I first heard about it):

Obviously this is a movie we're excited about thanks to that endlessly hunky cast, but it's got a possibly fun sounding concept involving cops and priests teaming up to fight a city full of devils; we were actually just talking about the film last week when that very similar sounding James Badge Dale film Spectral was announced. The film is out in July. And then there's...

... this shirtless shot of Egdar in the boxing bio-pic Hands of Stone with Robert DeNiro, which is of interest because did you just see the word "shirtless" that I wrote? That's why. (via)
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Pinkman & Dom

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I linked to the new trailer for Need For Speed yesterday but I feel as if this split second shot of Aaron Paul and Dominic Cooper standing reeeeeally close to each other deserves a moment to shine, so here it is. Shine on, bitch.

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I Am Link

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--- Selfie Love - I don't really feel like giving this its own post but I do feel as if I should at least take note of James Franco's shirtless selfie over at Instagram, since I have that responsibility, I guess. So yeah. James Franco uses his nips for attention, again. Go you, James Franco.

--- McQueen's Man - Here's a video chat with Chiwetel Ejiofor about 12 Years a Slave. I saw the film a second time on Sunday at MoMA, Chewy was supposed to be there for a Q&A but bailed, damn him. Anyway I was even more bowled over by the film this second time through. (Here's my original review.) Y'all better go see it!

--- Further Adventures - When the second Insidious movie made a bunch of money (and if you ask me, was actually pretty good while doing so) we figured the studio would want a third one even though the director of the first two, James Wan, says he's done with horror movies (for now). Sure enough the studio has set a date for Insidious: Chapter 3 - it'll be out in April of 2015. I still find it weird, horror movies not in October, even though honestly I'd love there to be a new horror movie opening 52 weeks a year. Writer Leigh Whannell is returning; I assume Patrick Wilson and Rose Byne will too. What else have they got that's this successful? And anyway we've got to see Patrick Wilson stand cluelessly in front of something scary again.

--- Murder Mystery - This probably means more to those of you who have watched Broadchurch but I have heard good things about that show and this is quite the cast - David Tennant, Breaking Bad's Anna Gunn, and Jacki Weaver have all signed on for an American remake of the show. 

--- Araki Storm - Gregg Araki's new movie White Bird in a Blizzard (love the title) is going to play at Sundance and The Playlist has the first batch of pictures. It stars Shaileene Woodley as a girl whose mother vanishes. It costars Gabby Sidibe, Chris Meloni, Eva Green, and Shiloh Fernandez - please please please Gregg Araki do not let me down you have Chris Meloni and Shiloh Fernandez in your movie - they must do it with each other.

--- Rodent Celebration - Yesterday was the 85th anniversary of the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, and over at The Film Experience Tim looks back at the mouse's legacy, along with a list of the best of the character's cartoons. I cast a weary eye towards all things Disney usually but that early stuff is indeed monumental.

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Lee Strong

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If you'd have told me that the Lance Armstrong bio-pic was going to become a Can't Miss Event, I'd have said to you, "Only if Jake Gyllenhaal and Matthew McConaughey play themselves and show us the orgies." Well it hasn't come to that (yet) but the cast they're lining up is making it pretty must-see all the same. We've already seen that jaw-dropping (or should I say ball dropping? No? Okay then) picture of Ben Foster looking like a Xerox of Lance; I was excited about Foster all on his own merits because I think he's a wonderful actor, but the resemblance he's managed is deep down in Uncannyville. And today comes word that not one not two not three but there are four other actors signed up for this thing that I really like. What could go wrong? (Famous last words.) Lee Pace has signed on for an unspecified role, while Chris O'Dowd is playing the journalist that's trying to get the facts straight on Armstrong (it's that journalist's book that the movie is based on). And also in "key roles" are Jesse Plemons from Breaking Bad and lovely French actor slash director slash Marion Cotillard piece slash gratuity recipient Guillaume Canet. Now that's a bingo.

Let's All Go To Comic-Con!

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He is the one who knocks. 

You can't blame me for having Breaking Bad on my mind - as y'all probably know, I spent this past weekend taking in the sights and the sounds and the spandex of the New York Comic-Con, and there was so much Breaking Bad up in there, you guys. It was kind of weird.

Well hey, anything that gets more guys that look like that in their tighty-whities in public, I suppose. And I suppose Walter White's sort of a superhero slash super-villain story, in its own way. (And I realize I'm hardly a unique snowflake in pointing that out.) He's got the costumes. The yellow jumpsuits were so ubiquitous I refused to take any pictures of them. I laid down the same law with the Kick-Ass costumes, but really only because nobody looked nearly as good as Aaron Johnson does in it. Ubiquity didn't stop me from some of the other usual suspects though...

Sometimes simplicity is just right, ya know?

So as I do every year I've gathered together my favorite shots of the cosplaying geniuses out of the piles and piles I took. Head with me after the jump and we will stroll along together!

What's A Weekend?

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I'm off to Brooklyn in a few to see Atoms For Peace, aka Thom Yorke's other band. Tomorrow I have a pair of movies at the New York Film Festival to attend (think Miyazaki and the Coen Brothers). And then on Sunday I am going to collapse into a heap of dust (until the Breaking Bad finale comes on, of course). I have tons and tons of reviews to catch up on, I know - with this cold I've had killing me this week the medicine's turned my brain to mush, and words have felt few far between. Let's see how next week rolls, eh? Til then, my friends...

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Quote of the Day

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"There is no Team Walt, really, unless you're a sociopath, or somebody who's unreasonably attached to the sorts of frustrated little boy Alpha Male fantasies that got Walter in trouble in the first place."

I really really appreciate this piece at Vulture on Breaking Bad by Matt Zoller Seitz, especially in the wake of last week's episode, because reading the comments sections of any recaps in its wake has been ten kinds of frustrating for the reasons he susses out. I agree with everything Matt says, but I think the quote up top should be put on tee-shirts.

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