Kaw Kaw Kaw Kaaaaaw

It is 10PM and I am still at work. I am sitting here with absolutely nothing to do. Waiting for the SLOWEST person on Earth to finish their review of a few faxed ballots so that I can pass them through my girlfriend ScanMark 2500. I have spent the last half hour surfing around YouTube and thought I would post this great chicken dance compilation from Arrested Development. The chicken dance makes me laugh every time I see it and is just what I needed right now. Thank you Mr. Inventor of The YouTube. You are a gentleman and a scholar.

The ArcLight Expands to Sherman Oaks

Last week I made the arduous journey to the Mecca of Movie Going Experiences, The ArcLight in Hollywood, to see the fantastic Russian film Day Watch. It was kind of funny because I was THE ONLY person in the theater, yet I was treated to the standard pre-screening introduction of the film and asked to turn my cell phone off etc. As I sat in the front row - middle seat enjoying my caramel corn I thought to myself "This is why I love The ArcLight. I feel like royalty when I am here." It also doesn't hurt that the sound and picture quality is off the charts and the seats are super comfortable. But I digress.

While listening to the pre-screening intro I was provided with some of the best news I have heard in quite some time. The Sherman Oaks Galleria 16 is being converted into another ArcLight Cinema and is scheduled to be operational for the holiday season of this year. This is really exciting, assuming that the quality of service, sound, and picture are equal to that of the Hollywood location. No longer will I have to venture into the heart of Hollywood to enjoy the ArcLight. Instead, I can hop on the 405 and 10 minutes later be enjoying the luxuries of the ArcLight and their eclectic slate of titles. I just hope this doesn't dilute the brand and have a negative impact on their high standard of quality. But only time will tell. Until then, I wait with eager anticipation.

A Few Movies You Might Want to See

My good friend - whose name I won't reveal but his initials are Matt L.....oh wait, too obvious, M. Lybbert - has frequently requested that I post a list of my favorite movies. I have shied away from this because I really struggle to narrow down the list because the list is always changing depending on my mood and what is most fresh in my memory. As soon as I say "this is my favorite movie" somebody will remind me of one that I didn't think of and I will want to amend my list. It is just too hard for me to limit my selections.

Due to the onset of the hell that is summer re-runs on television, I have increased my movie consumption over the last couple of weeks. I have gotten a little lucky and seen quite a few really good ones lately, so I thought I would share them with everybody. Hopefully this will appease the aforementioned Mr. L.

• Once - I recently posted about this movie here and yes I still can't stop talking about it. I love this movie and I love the soundtrack. Everybody I have convinced to see this movie so far has also loved it. If you haven't seen it yet, you are totally missing out.
• Paris je t'aime - This is a series of shorts filmed in Paris about different aspects of love. I didn't really dislike any of the shorts and absolutely loved about 50% of them.
• Eagle vs Shark - I hesitate to call this movie a New Zealand version of Napoleon Dynamite but that is the only way I can think to describe it stylistically. The movie made me laugh and at the same time made me question whether or not I should be laughing because I felt so bad for the characters. It was totally awkward at times. And I totally loved this movie. If you like Flight of the Conchords, then I promise you will like this movie. One of my favorites of the year so far.
• Fantastic 4 - Rise of the Silver Surfer - This was a very enjoyable movie that required no emotional investment. It was nice to sit back and just have fun. The Silver Surfer looked ridiculously good and the chase scene with him and Johnny Storm was phenomenal. Sure the story had a few holes and the dialogue was weak but that doesn't change the fact that it was fun and not pretentious. I liked it way more than Spider Man 3 because it never tried to be something it wasn't.
• Brick - I watched this last night and was sucked in immediately. I loved the cinematography and the biting dialogue. There was a real film noir feel to it but with the twist that all the characters were in a California high school. It was a cool little reality that the writers created and I totally dug it. After The Lookout late last year and now Brick, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (yes THAT Joseph Gordon-Levitt of 3rd Rock From the Sun fame) is quickly turning into one of my favorite actors. It would appear that he has a talent for picking good scripts.
• Chinatown - Usually I don't like movies from the 70's but I thought this one was great. Jack Nicholson was on point and I loved the style of the movie. I thought the dark ending was especially intriguing. One of my friends felt that the pacing was too slow but I thought it was great. Just a solid, dark, detective movie that made me laugh a few times. I'm not sure if the humor was intended but it didn't distract me from the movie. I liked it.
• Goodbye Lenin - A fantastic movie about people growing up in East Germany and the circumstances surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is hard to believe that this happened almost 20 years ago. That makes me feel old. Once again, this movie made me laugh and also made me tear up a little. I love movies that can make me feel such a wide range of emotion. I highly recommend taking the time to watch this one. The scene with the helicopter and the statue of Lenin is fantastic.
• Night Watch and Day Watch - I will lump these two together because they are parts one and two of a trilogy. Night Watch is on DVD and Day Watch is still in the theaters. The best way for me to sum up this series is to call it a Russian Harry Potter for adults. I love the good vs evil - light vs dark concept and I really love how the lines between good and evil are blurred. If you can see Day Watch in the theater then don't miss out. It is a movie meant for the big screen with big sound. The destruction of Moscow would lose a little of its impact if you were watching the scene on a computer with crappy sound.

So if you are going through withdrawals from Lost, The Shield, How I Met Your Mother, 30 Rock, or The Office than I recommend watching any of these movies. They are all great in their own way and are definitely worth your time. Also, I am always looking for new suggestions. If you have any, let me know via the comments. I think A Thin Red Line is on the docket for tonight after the heated debate regarding this movie last night.