Year: 2008
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Saving No Country For The Band of Brothers
I just noticed this: They all have basically the same design. I love all three of these films so I don’t really care, but I just thought it was curious.
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Great Scott And Last ‘Lost’
Somehow I’m not surprised by this bit of news. At least McClellan is willing to admit he was wrong about something. In other, happier news: Lost finale tomorrow! I have high hopes for another mind-blower. Don’t let me down, writers. The finale of The Office was uninspiring, so give me something to love on TV…
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The Things They Carried
“A true war story is never moral,” writes Tim O’Brien in his book The Things They Carried. Indeed, if there ever was a hard lesson learned by the United States, its citizens and, most importantly, the soldiers during the Vietnam War, it was that war was without morals, no matter how Hollywood depicted it. The stories…
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Lost Vs. The Office
It seems like after the writers’ strike-induced hiatus, LOST got a whole lot better and The Office got a whole lot worse. LOST‘s entire 4th season has been, overall, pretty fantastic. They’ve taken a new yet exciting direction with the implementation of flash-forwards and they now have an end date for the series, so they’re…
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Iron Man
I think us moviegoers have caught on to the whole Superhero Movie thing. We’ve learned that comic book superheroes are born out of a freak radioactive experiment gone wrong, or out of childhood anger, yadda yadda yadda. We know that evil villains will eventually be outsmarted and killed due to excessive monologuing. We’ve caught on…
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Knife To Meet You
True story from NPR: Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner. But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform,…
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This! Is!…
Jeopardy! Tim rocked my world and nabbed some killer free tickets to the final night of the Jeopardy taping at the Kohl Center in Madison. It was the final two tapings of the College Tournament of Champions, episodes that will air May 15 and 16. Here’s what I learned:
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Macho, Macho Men: Vulnerability in ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘The Bourne Identity’
Originally published in the North Central Chronicle on April 25, 2008. John McClane, Rambo, the Terminator. They are the American Action Hero: muscular, terse, a killing machine. They favor spouting clever catchphrases and blowing stuff up over expressing emotion. To them, women are hors d’oeuvres best enjoyed while they serve cold dishes of revenge to…
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Favre’s Retirement Ends Golden Age Of Quarterbacks
Published in the North Central Chronicle on March 28, 2008. February 3, 1997. My first Super Bowl. It was so exciting; the first game I remember seeing on television and my team was playing. It was my Green Bay Packers. And it was my Brett Favre. My family hosted the party. I was decked out in my…
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On Brett Favre’s Retirement
My first memory of Brett Favre was watching him win Super Bowl XXXI. My family hosted a huge party in our basement. I watched as he threw a long shot down the middle on an audible to Andre Rison for the first score, then to Antonio Freeman down the right sideline for a score. I…
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The Oscars — ‘Once’ Wins!
I got two of my Oscar picks wrong – not bad. I don’t remember why I didn’t pick Diablo Cody to win, but I’m glad she did. Yay for Once! It was pretty lame that Marketa Irglova got cut off, but pretty awesome that Jon Stewart gave her time later. The only reason why the…
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12 Angry Men
Published in the North Central Chronicle on Feb. 22, 2008, as part of a series called “Chad Picks Classic Flicks.” I was about 7 years old when O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder. I’ve seen the highlights—the slow-speed chase, O.J. struggling with the glove—but I don’t remember the sensational media coverage or the racial debates…
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Listen Up, Academy…
My 2007 ACADEMY AWARD PICKS: Best Picture Who will win: No Country for Old Men Who should win: No Country for Old Men Best Director Who will win: The Coen Brothers for No Country for Old Men Who should win: The Coen Brothers Best Actor Who will win: Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood…
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Lord of the Rings
The Turner Classic Movies channel is showing Academy Award winning films all day every day this month in a series called “31 Days of Oscar.” I watched Lord of the Rings: Return of the King last night and realized something. I would remember that trilogy for the rest of my life. I hadn’t read the…
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The Gaze, Ctd.
I was at the Union again last night, working the concession stand. The first band played, then they were hanging out by their merch table. A trio of girls, probably my age, sauntered in and started to flirt with the drummer of the first band. I’ve seen this before. It has happened to me at…
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War Is Hell
Published in the North Central Chronicle on February 8, 2008. John Edwards is out of the race. I think he would have made a fine president. His fight against poverty and corruption did not jive well with mainstream media narratives, though they were well-publicized cornerstones of Edwards’ stump speech. But his other equally important message…
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The Beginning Of The End
Here’s what Natalie thinks about the season premiere of LOST last night. I think I agree with her.