MISCELLANEOUS MISCELLANY: A LITTLE HOUSECLEANING

I’ve been sitting here today trying to write the long-awaited why-have-so-many-critics-drunk-the-Michael-Mann-Kool-Aid post, but I’m just too exhausted. Today I had my first session with a trainer. I decided that before I turn 35 (which is shockingly way too soon), I have to stop being such a lazy slob. But talk about reality standing up and bitch-slapping me across the face. Damn did it suck. And now, I’m so exhausted (also didn’t get enough sleep last night — thank you insomnia; no not either film; yes, that was lame).

So here are just a few little tidbits bouncing around my brain:

1) I’ve been trying for a while to get the domain outoffocus.com. Sadly, no luck. If you go there, you just get one of those random search pages, this one ostensibly controlled by a Jeep dealer I suppose. I’ve actually tried emailing the listed registered contact, but to no avail. outoffocus.net is taken too. I’m considering getting outoffocusblog.com, but … blech. I did happen to buy a while ago outoffocus.info, outoffocus.us and outoffocus.name a while ago because they were available for like 33 cents. So hey, if you want to get here, don’t use bookmarks, and think to type it, be my guest. It will all bring you to typepad … at least for the time being. Of course, if there’s someone out there who wants to help me design an actual good-looking site, I do have my own server space, just not enough of the technical know-how. So by “help,” I kind of mean, hear my brief idea and then set-it-up for me. And considering all the ad-dollars I pull in here (uhm, do you see any ads?), I can pay you only in college credit. And probably, not even that.

2) No, I have not had 9 Songs and The Beat That My Heart Skipped all this time. I’ve been burning my way through lots of Netflix discs, especially a few TV series. This summer has had to be the best summer television season in a long time, and discovering new shows has included playing catch-up with a few via DVD. I watched Prison Break pretty religiously during the season, but then they took that little hiatus, and when it came back, I was in Tribeca-rules-my-life-land. Sure, I DiVo’d all the episodes, but I was literally watching no tv, so things kept getting bounced off because Time Warner doesn’t yet offer a 100 hour DiVo. Hence, Prison Break is on its way.

3) I started this little DVD-watching project which isn’t going as well as it should be. I realized I have too many DVDs I haven’t watched much (if at all). Yet, I can’t help collecting more. So I decided to give myself a systematic way of watching them. First, I’m working my way through all my various boxed sets/collections, watching certain filmmakers/actors work in chronological order. Then I’m going to go through my other discs sorted by filmmaker, then all my Criterion discs, and then … I don’t know. But it’s a plan. The only reason I say it’s not going well is that I keep getting sidetracked by … well, my other Netflix rentals, various television, trying to actually read, plus all the other things I am/need to be/should be doing right now that are probably more important in the grand scheme of things. Anyway, that’s why you see so much Woody Allen on this list. Next up are “Astaire & Rogers Collection, Vol. 1” and “The Complete James Dean Collection”. (I was just thinking, “Will there ever be an “Astaire & Rogers Vol. 2″?” Yay!)

4) I saw a trailer for Stranger Than Fiction this weekend. Wow, does that look great. Wow, what an idea. Wow, it looks like another Charlie Kaufman/Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry partnership. Wow … Marc Forster? I mean … (sigh) … Marc Forster. I’m just not a big fan. I found his 2000 IFP Spirit Award-winning film Everything Put Together to be less moving and emotionally dramatic than over-stylized (for its story), tedious and just somewhat dull. I despised Monster’s Ball (no, I’m not overstating it; if you ask the people with me that night, I ranted for a good 30 minutes after leaving the theater). I actually liked Finding Neverland overall, but he still lets simple things like editing and camera set-up get in the way of just telling the story. (I’ll never forget the dog’s-eye view of the front door which served no purpose other than giving us … a dog’s-eye view of the front door.) I never actually got around to seeing Stay, although I did want to. I heard mixed reactions. Anyway, who knows from a trailer, but Stranger Than Fiction looks like a really imaginative and interesting story from playwright and new screenwriter (and former Lucy Liu fiance) Zach Helm, who Variety, Esquire and Fade In have all touted as the next big thing. Here’s hoping Forster takes a step beyond Neverland in his storytelling and doesn’t let the apparent whimsy of the story make him lose control and stop paying attention to the actual telling of it.

5) I live in New York, not Connecticut, but Joe Lieberman? Please. It would be “irresponsible and inconsistent with my principles” to quit, you say? What principles are those? The ones that had you lose an election and decide that’s not good enough? It’s just sleazy.