Here I go thinking I’m all back into the swing of things, multiple posts on a day even, and then suddenly I miss one. I know, it’s certainly no capital crime, but I do have several items I do keep intending to put up here. However, the big thing that has happened this week is that after continual major frustration with the lack of finding a job and the lack of finding anything on my desk, I’m trying to systematically go through every piece of paper and every pile (and if you know me or, especially, have ever seen my apartment, you know there are a lot of piles) and do something with it. This, shockingly enough, takes a lot of time, and instead of allowing myself to productively procrastinate, or, as I usually do, simply procrastinate, I’m trying to take hold of the adverb in that two-word phrase.
I did, however, get an email today that simply cried out to me, “Take a moment and post something.” In my little TV Guide diatribe on Tuesday, I mentioned how awfully behind the magazine always seemed to be. Well, now I want to yell at whomever Entertainment Weekly has put in charge of actually compiling their realtively new weekly “Must List,” now accompanied, for people who at any time registered on their web site, by a weekly email providing a little preview for the list. My email telling me, “The things we lover for your weekend …” (featuring items from the upcoming Aug. 5 issue “Must List”) was comprised of the following (I’ve excised the descriptions):
- Book: “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” by J.K. Rowling
- Movie: Billy Bob Thornton in Bad News Bears
- DVD: The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Is this how the magazine that wants to be your sole arbiter of all things entertainment tells you what’s cool and hip and interesting to check-out? A book that doesn’t really need any more publicity, but more importantly came out two weeks ago? A movie that was a major release last weekend? And as shown by its #5 ranking on the box office chart, it could have used EW‘s letting people know they “must” see it before now. At least Season 2 of The Mary Tyler Moore Show actually didn’t come out until this past Tuesday so that’s current.
I don’t mean to indicate that the only items that should appear on the “Must List” need to be brand new, but come on: “Harry Potter” now? Give me a break. I think it’s great if EW is able to use this list to actually highlight quality films/TV/music/books that may have slipped under the radar whether they’re new or not. They do successfully do that at times, and I’m not saying the major releases like “Harry Potter” or Bad News Bears shouldn’t be included, but let’s try to make them timely, OK, because too often (like now) it’s just lame.
Out of Focus 