The State of the Cabins (6/2/10)

Movies watched for the first time (non-theatrically) since last week:
* Land of the Lost - As mentioned previously, I have this habit of recording fair/bad movies to watch during times when I may or may not be sleepy. I feel compelled to see them, and sadly, I'd rather watch them than one of the many "classic" films already sitting on my DVR. Yes, I have a problem.

LOTL is just the latest example. I had to see how bad Will Ferrell's cover of the TV show was. And boy did it live up to the advance billing. Now, the TV show was no great masterpiece, what with the cheesy effects, bad acting and men in rubber suits hissing a lot. But c'mon - did the lowest common denominator have to be used in every instance? I'm wondering if I can't lay some of the blame on Jorma Taccone (what a name, eh?), who played Chaka here, and most recently directed MacGruber (he's also a longtime SNL writer). Grubes played to the LCD at every available opportunity, but a) at least some of it was funny and b) it wasn't a remake of a Saturday's morning children's show.

Yet there's the lovable, used-to-be-a-child Chaka groping Holly within seconds of their meeting. And, hehehe, look at the giant mosquito thing on Ferrell's neck! HI-larious! And the major plot point regarding dino-poop - my knees hurt from all the slappifying.

The only funny parts? The opening and closing scenes involving Matt Lauer. I think that says it all.

* 44 Inch Chest - Like I told Steve and Brian on Sunday as we started talking about this movie, "I was a big fan of your show until you had me watch this...now, I think we might have to re-evaluate our relationship."

"From the writers of Sexy Beast," says the DVD cover of 44 Inch Chest. On top of that, it co-stars two of the main guys from Beast, Ian McShane and Ray Winstone. So going in, you'd think you knew what you were getting into.

So much for expectations.

If you're looking for a boring, stagey, all-talk-and-no-action movie featuring weak and blatant attempts to curse as creatively and repetitively as possible, this is your movie (you cunting sh#% f$$k!). If you're looking for a narrative, good writing, characters that you give a shit about, or productions values beyond what I might be able to make with a $20,000 budget, look elsewhere.

The only bright spot is McShane, and he's not in it nearly enough to make it worth your while.

Music I'm currently obsessed with:
I need your help. Instead of listening to shitloads of new music this week, I've been in a funk, saddened by the shuttering of my beloved Lala.com, which Apple purchased a ways back. Instead of furthering this fledgling site, they decided it was competing with iTunes, I suppose, though I've heard rumblings that the takedown of Lala is a sign that iTunes will finally be moving into the cloud and away from being software. Let's hope so.

In the meantime, I want to know: what music service do you listen to? Likes? Dislikes? Cost? All that jazz. Lala was great (in my eyes) for what it offered: upon signing up, you received credits for 50 "web" songs (read: non-downloadable) that you could listen to as much as you want via their site. Additionally, you could listen to every song on their site once for free - after that, you could either listen to a 30-second sample or purchase a version of it (web or MP3). A great way to experiment and bounce around all styles and such risk-free. I know other services are somewhat similar, but not quite the same - which do you like best?

Book I'm currently reading:
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest arrived yesterday. Booyah. Will be starting it tomorrow.