Mission: Inconvenient Code: X3 and you and 32 teams in Germany

My writing and my liver aren't the only things I've been neglecting the past few months. Until last week, I hadn't received a new Netflix DVD since mid-April and the last movie I returned, Me and You and Everyone We Know, had been sitting in my room since late February. So yeah, I'm not really getting my $18.99 worth. Of course, the flipside is that I'm unaffected by Netflix's shipping issues that bother a lot of other customers.

But I'm not canceling my membership anytime soon. Without Netflix, I wouldn't be seeing any movies I want to see. I've talked about the movie theater experience in New York before - while it's nice to get flicks in limited release, the downside is that tickets are now between $10.25 and $11.25 and your ass has to be in your seat 20 minutes before the posted showtime (or 35 minutes before the movie actually starts). So it's not really worth the trouble unless (a) there's a girl involved, (b) you absolutely have to kill time and you've done everything you possibly could accomplish in New York, or (c) you wanted to drop Brokeback jokes while the movie was still culturally relevant.

As it stands, I sort of want to see X3 only because I saw the first two and feel obligated, but I've only heard tepid reviews. I'm curious about Inconvenient Truth, but shit, I'm not going to spend 2 hours inside, air conditioned or not, so I can listen to Al Gore. And the Code? Wigga please.

And since I'm too stingy/poor to give any more money to Time Warner beyond the small fortune I'm paying for internet access, pay per view isn't an option either. Which means that I'm really stuck with Netflix if I am to remain on speaking terms with my generation's zeitgeist.

Now that the incredibly longwinded intro is out of the way, how was Me and You and..., you ask? I liked it, quite a bit. Granted, I couldn't give two shits about the grownup couple - the characters and their dialog seemed like the typical indie film contrivance. But the kids were fantastic, especially the 6-year-old sending dirty instant messages and the two teenage girls trying to discover their sexuality - which makes the film (and me) sound perverted as shit, but it's (and I'm) really not. It's really all sweet and ernest, in a strange but non-creepy way (I am also sweet and ernest, in a strange but non-creepy way).

That said, I'm not sure if I can recommend the film. I like slow moving films that don't make sense until about Act 4 and have no real resolution - I know a lot of people don't dig that. And I don't know how much of my enjoyment came from wanting to like the film. Still, it's not the worst way to spend a couple of hours before you go to bed, which is more than can be said for Happiness, an overrated, disconnected piece of dreck that tries way too hard to shock without purpose.

Which brings up a question - can I watch a decent indie film that's not about lonely people trying to find their place in the world and connect with other people. Look, I liked Me and You.... I even liked I Heart Huckabees, a decent film that suffered from the weight of expectations. But can I see some fucking variety? How about Linklater or Gondry direct a disaster flick or a political thriller? Surely Miranda July can write a movie about an ice hockey playing hamster, can't she? I get it. There are lonely people trying to find companionship in every quirky way. A death in the family is a great way to meet cute chicks. Enough. Although I'll never get tired of French actresses, ever ever Eva Green.


"Segway Nature Tour" uploaded to Flickr by camlin

So you know the World Cup is less than 2 weeks away, right? So this site is going to be heavy on soccer content from this point on. I'll start you off with a few items:

Highlights from the Germany vs Japan friendly from Monday, which Japan should have won easily if not for some poor finishing and lax defending on set pieces. I post this mostly because I think the Japanese announcer is crying at about the 5:30 mark in the video. It's a frickin' friendly.


Our favorite Clint on the US national team, rapping for Nike. If you like Texas hip hop, you might like this. I wouldn't know, but I like this Nacogdoches, TX style a lot more than that Paul Wall shit.


Finally, the Chinese government tells its people to avoid hooligans in Germany, which I guess is like telling you to avoid hipsters on Clinton Street or overweight tourists in Times Square. The Chinese national team did its part by not qualifying for Germany. Good on them.