Mickey on the mat

Is Mickey Rourke that good in The Wrestler? Almost. But the real standout is Darren Aronofsky's direction. This guy has been one of our best filmmakers since 1998, when he came out of Sundance with his ultra-cheap, ultra-complex, migraine-inducingly brilliant Pi. With The Wrestler, he's again taken lemons and made lemonade, building a custom-made tower that Rourke has managed to crawl atop, despite the spandex and pain killers. Looked to me like Aronofsky shot and edited to accomodate Rourke's performance, like any good director should, but can Rourke beat Sean Penn for the Oscar gold? Penn's recent SAG win looks to be making this a tougher match than originally anticipated...

Is Meryl Jersey's biggest loser?

So what's up with that Kate Winslet Oscar nom for The Reader? Looks like Hollywood was as disappointed in Revolutionary Road as we were. Popular opinion has it that this is Winslet's year, but she's still young(ish) and she's got it all, it just seems like she's been around forever. And are they really going to give her the gold for The Reader (which is now being marketed as "a thriller")? Or are the stars aligning to finally give Meryl Streep a third statuette for her riveting work in Doubt, in which she channels later period Bette Davis, with a flawless Brooklyn Irish accent to boot. Sure, Meryl's been nominated more than anyone in history, but (as she's pointed out herself) that also means that she's lost more than anyone in history. Jersey's Sarah Bernhardt recently won the SAG award, so this is shaping up to be a real horse race. As long as a split vote doesn't throw it Anne Hathaway's wide-smiled way, I'll be satisfied.

Amy Stein's Domesticated

Surfing the other night, I stumbled upon Oregon-based photographer Amy Stein's work, particularly her recent collection, Domesticated. Her work here looks like a series of stills from a David Lynch-directed adaptation of Into the Wild...or maybe Annie Lebowitz meets Norman Bates. Stein combines suburban landscapes, neat composition, and (honestly) taxidermy. Her photos are sharp, cinematic, and they look they might actually bite. Check her out.

The new 3-D

Digital 3-D accompanies the otherwise lame remake of the 1981 slasher pic My Bloody Valentine. Amazing that they remade it. It's sort of like warming up a fast-food burger that's been in the back of the freezer for a couple of decades. We're happy to report that the new 3-D ("Real D") is a major jump forward, thanks in large part to the sufficiently sturdy Ray Ban-like shades that you get with every ticket (see left). But is there a Hollywood director out there who knows how to use the new technology artistically? Calling Tim Burton...

"I Should Be So Lucky"

Classic French & Saunders here. Every time I watch this, I laugh. Every time. It's a bit long by today's ADD standards, but stick with it. Big rewards.

If every wall is a door...

...then isn't it a good idea that we all know how to use a few power tools? I've been (re)organizing my parent's long-neglected basement and found that my father has nine (yes, 9) power saws...and that's not including the table saws. These saws range in size from a petite, mouse-sized gadget (for cutting small moldings?) to slasher-movie two-hander. Having been raised not to touch such things, I still look at them, decades later, sure that even plugging them in would mean losing a finger or two. Shall I give it a try...or do I leave those walls as is? Vote to the right.