Month: December 2008
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My Mouth’s Bleedin’!
Today is the day, the only day of the year, when I watch It’s A Wonderful Life. Watching the classic Christmas movie with a bowl of popcorn and a crackling fire on Christmas Eve has become perhaps the longest tradition with my family. Another tradition, getting up at 5 a.m. on Christmas morning and waiting…
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Lovin’ Lincoln
I finally went on the most important pilgrimage a history buff must go on: to Springfield, IL, for the loads of Lincoln lore there. First, I went with my dad to the Old State Capitol where Lincoln worked as a state legislator. Though mostly recreated, the building smacked of authenticity. But the biggest and best…
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Hottest. Cast. Ever.
Yes, even Hurley. It seems a little smaller cast than years previous, but I think it’s definitely the strongest. The fifth and penultimate season of Lost premieres January 21 at 9/8 central. I can’t wait.
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Happy-Go-Millionaire
Hallelujah! It’s Oscar season! I guess seeing Rachel Getting Married was technically my first dive into this year’s plethora of Oscar bait, but tonight I dove down further by seeing Happy-Go-Lucky and Slumdog Millionaire, two small films that are getting a lot of buzz and landing on some critics’ Best of 2008 lists. Naturally, I…
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The Sting
Originally published in the North Central Chronicle in October 2008 as part of a series called “Chad Picks Classic Flicks.” Welcome back to “Chad Picks Classic Flicks.” I was catching up on more recent films over the summer but I’m excited to start a new year of discovering the new in films of old. This…
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Canopy Glow by Anathallo
One of my favorite albums of the year: Over the last eight years they have been making music together, Anathallo’s sound has evolved slowly and subtly. Starting in 2001 with Luminous Luminescence in the Atlas Position and continuing with A Holiday at the Sea two years later, the band had adopted an almost avant garde…
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The War by Ken Burns
I’m still working my way through it, but I’ve already come to appreciate Ken Burns’ seven-part 2007 miniseries The War. Burns explains in the making-of feature that he wanted to show the war not through historians but through average citizens, men and women and children from every corner of the country who endured the front…