MEDIA MONDAY
Sorry, late to the post today.

But what have you been reading, watching, listening to?

Retro
I'm not sure what new project he's up to, and it probably is great, but not sure I can handle the new playlist over at David Byrne Radio.

Article 19 Film Recommendation: The Weather Man
************ (12 out of 19)

Warning: this does not contain specific plot spoilers, but is a general spoiler.

This film suffers from being foolishly marketed and was doomed to box office disappointment almost by design. Commercials and previews convey a tone of comedy about a lovable but troubled weather man, not unlike the advertising look given Bruce Almighty. The truth is this is a seriously depressing film about a depressed man living a depressing life. It also has some truly funny moments and lines, and one or 2 poignant ones. My problem with it is not that it's depressing. (Roger Ebert, who seems to have loved it, asks all the right questions to establish that a depressing movie does not equal a bad movie. I agree) It's that it never quite scratches beneath the surface of the title character's existential dilemma. Of his many relationships we witness, none occasion a big question, demand a telling decision, or allow for a moment of self-discovery. While we see a few moments of his redeeming qualities, nobody on screen seems to notice, or care, including himself. And then, the plot turn that ends the film lets him off the hook too easy. The person sitting next to me said, of a scene in which Nicholas Cage passes out drinking liquor out of one of those miniature bottles, "It's like Leaving Las Vegas but with smaller bottles." An apt description actually of the entire film, both its aims and its execution.

Weekend Box Office
1. Chicken Little
2. Zathura
3. Derailed
4. Get Rich or Die Tryin'
5. Jarhead

How far out of it am I? I haven't even heard of #s 2,3 or 4. But I did catch The Weather Man (#13) and will give a brief recommendation later.