So I finally managed to make it to a fishbowl today. I got to see Mates of State, who honestly I haven’t heard of before, but it seems like I’ve heard a song or two of theirs on kexp.

I listened to a couple of their track from their latest album Bring it Back. It sounded pretty good, good enough that I wanted to go anyway. They were good and music was really interesting. The part I liked about them the most was it was fun to watch them. Maybe it was the setting, a small room with 50 people and just them two, but their interactions where the best part. They looked at each other the whole time and exchanged smiles and laughs at every little thing when the missed a beat or false started. It was amusing, cute even.

Their cd made my wish list, and I would highly recommend going to check them out live if you get the chance.

Unlike most of my friends I had never seen, or at least remember seeing The Princess Bride. I went to Fry’s electronics store the other day on an exploration trip down south to Renton, WA. I looked through their cheap movies sections and found it for 9.99 and figured it would have to be worth it if since there’s quite a few quotes that get thrown around from the movie in my Lexington friend group.

So I bought it and headed back to my (temporary) place to watch the movie on a laptop. I’m not a fan of viewing this way and if I have a choice I won’t do so again. At any rate, back to the point. The movie was pretty good. It was cheeky and over-the-top at points, but I was left with the impression that it was on purpose. It almost seemed like a childrens (Neverending Story) type movie, but was a bit adult at times in visuals and implied meaning, though I suppose the latter was subtle enough to be lost on most kids. It was a pretty good movie and I’m glad i finally got to see it and not dissapointed that I own it. I’d give it a buy it on dvd (for 9.99)

While looking around today i ran across a blog entry mentioning that amazon.com has full song music downloads for quite a few artists with good songs on most albums. There’s also a top downloads page.

My finds thus far:

• Allison Crowe, especially her cover of Hallelujah. There’s a lot of her stuff on there.
• The Decemberists
• Jeff Hanson “This Time It Will”
• Martha Wainwright. i’ve heard of her, but not heard her
  stuff. i believe she has been a guest of woodsongs

And i’ve only listened to about 1/3 of what i found in a 15 min period. There’s also a lot of Allison Krauss on there as well.

Somehow i’d managed not to see Casino when it originally came out. I went through Universal HD (hdtv channel on local cable) a few weeks ago and marked a couple of movies to record and it was one of them. I’m definitely a fan of HDTV movies, they easily blow away DVD’s even on my (non-HDTV) high end tv. At any rate, the move was pretty dark, being directed by Martin Scorsese that’s not too surprising. It kinda had a 1970′s Taxi Driver feel to it. The acting was pretty amazing, the three main characters were done so well that i completely forgot who they were (in real life.)

Joe Pesci gave a performance that was probably only second to his work in the great film With Honors. His character (Nicky Santoro) was viscous and despicable, but for some reason i still managed to identify with him up till the closing moments of the movie.

Sharon Stone did an excellent job of falling apart in a horrifying and disgusting manner enough so that you felt sorry for Ace. She’s plays Ginger who’s out to take care of herself using all means at her disposal.

Robert De Niro as Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein plays a bookie turned casino manager who falls completely for Ginger who seems to feel mild liking towards him. De Niro’s performance is very good, up to his usual standard, but nothing stellar, for him. Ace and Nicky are childhood friends and the vicious Nicky has protected Ace in the past at the direction of their mutual bosses. Ace is chosen to run the Tangers on the behalf of the mob bosses and seems to be perfectly made for the job. Everything is going great for him until Nicky decides to come out to Vegas and Ginger begins her downward spiral. It’s really hard to blame either Nicky or Ginger singly as they both seem to haplessly start things in motion by being themselves.

There are quite a few other big names in the movie, none of which really deserve mention next to the above three, not so much because of their performance, but due to the main three’s outstanding jobs and characters. All in all this movie is ok though, despite the stellar performances the story just doesn’t really do that much for me. It’s probably a see it at the dollar movie or rent it.

I could of sworn that i’d already done about about Garden State, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I really really liked the movie. It wasn’t a great story. It wasn’t the funniest thing i’ve ever seen, though one of the scenes would probably make the top 10, but that’s probably just because of the mood i was in. I guess if i had to point to something that made it a great movie it would be Natilie Portman and her character, intriguingly neurotic and cute. The movie was written, directed, and produced by the guy from Scrubs, Zach Braff, who is hilarous on Scrubs and pretty good in this movie. I wished i’d seen this one in the theater.

Over The Edge is about a group of bored suburban teens who turn to drugs, alcohol, and sex. It came on Trio as i was flipping through stations. It’s not that good, but for some reason i couldn’t manage to stop watching it. The only person your likely to recognize is a pretty young Matt Dillon. It’s definitely a 70′s movie, trying to be a bit artsy at times, over dramatic/acted. Watch it if it’s on TV, otherwise pass.

I had seen the first in the series Bourne Identity when it was in theaters and really liked it, but i didn’t go to see the second for one reason or another. Part of it may of been that several people had told me they didn’t like it as much as the first. I really enjoyed the Bourne Supremacy i found that it had everything the first did and added in quite a bit more depth in story and emotion. Matt Damon does an excellent job with the main character as he ties up loose ends from the previous installment and learns more of his missing past. I wished i’d gone and seen this one in the theater, it would of been worth it.

Saved was pretty good. I’d heard a lot about it, which is usually a bad thing, but i wasn’t at all dissapointed. Macaulay Culkin was really good, as was Eva Amurri. The story centers around a group of christian highschool teens, the uber christian variety that every highschool seems to have. Mandy Moore was very dislikeable as the ring leader of the christian crew and while no outright evil, is very misguided. The ones who are too busy acting christian to actually be. The main character is a young girl who comes to believe that jesus has told her to sleep with her gay boyfriend in order to cure him. She ends up getting pregnant and goes through some major life/faith changes as a result affecting all those around here. The christian clic shuns her and she finds friends in the outcasts of the school who are there for her. It’s a Rent it.

Introducing the movies category… I haven’t posted in a bit and that’s mainly b/c i haven’t run across anything that really inspired me to do so. I’ve had thoughts and opinions on the recent election, but nothing that hasn’t been repeated 50 times before. A few minutes ago i ran across a sit where a guy listed every movie he’s ever seen, which i thought was kinda dumb since he didn’t say anything more than their titles. However, it did inspire me to create this new category (“Movies”) and place into it a bit of a review one of the best moves i’ve seen in a while: “Shaun of the Dead”.

The movie was great, entertaining, a good laugh, original, etc. One of the funniest i’ve seen in quite some time. Jennifer and I went to the movies with no specific intentions and she brought it and up we decided to go see it knowing very little about it. I won’t bother laying out the story-line (IMDB can handle that) but i will say that it’s the wittiest dumb comedy i can think of. It’s a bit spoofy, a bit goofy, and a lot funny just watch it.