Things with More Appeal.19

The League started on FX two or three weeks ago. I wasn't too jazzed about it, mostly because I don't give a shit about fantasy football, and It's Always Sunny has been turning me off since season 3 (the self-congratulatory arrogance and "wackiness" is nowhere near as funny as the honesty and plausibility of the first season, but that is another post, entirely). I decided to watch The League anyway, because Nick Kroll.

It turns out, The League is fucking awesome. I can't say that I'm ROFFL (Rolling On the Floor Fingerbanging, Laughing) incessantly, but I almost never have that reaction to any comedy show-- even when it's an extra hilarious ep of Two and a Half Men!

Quite honestly, The League is great because it isn't trying to be over the top, setting-otters-on-fire-funny. It's just consistently brave and edgy, and they don't "wait for it" after a character delivers a choice line. They throw away jokes that are funnier than anything on Family Guy or The Nanny or whatever it is the kids are into, without dwelling on it because on The League there's always another funny line immediately. They don't need/don't have the time to beg for the laugh or shove in your face that they're COORS LIGHT SNOWBOARDS EXTREME COMEDY. The show knows it's funny, but not in an arrogant, pleading way. It's dope.

The characters are still anchored in reality, they're just funnier than people are in reality, which is why it's definitely fun and worth it to watch a TV show about them. So, yeah, join The League: You'll feel like a winner!*

*Sorry.

Things with More Appeal.18

A few weeks ago I saw the documentary-ish film Food, Inc. I wouldn't recommend it if you ever want to eat again. But, if you are actually interested in what exactly goes into the taco salad or whatever traditional Mexican delicacy you're shoving into your Chalupa-hole, you should definitely watch it.

It's really only a "documentary" in the sense that Michael Moore movies are documentaries; but, I found this one way less self-righteous and bloated. Food, Inc. indeed takes a definite point of view, but if you're on the opposing side, you're probably Lucifer. 

I've mentioned before that I take more interest than many in just what the fuck it is we're all eating, and this flick is pretty much entirely about that. The nice thing about seeing the movie is that it doesn't involve reading books or actually doing anything. And, every ticket comes with a free soapbox, so you can go yell on the nearest corner after it's over and hoot n' holler about how ConAgra and Yum! foods are giving us all "the diabetes." 

Indeed, you will feel like your supermarket is less a place to procure food and sundries, and more a place to get some palatable poisons, after seeing this film. But fret not, the next time you get blackout drunk, I'm confident you'll still be able to rationalize eating that bacon cheeseburger chimichanga with extra syrup. "Pobody's nerfect!"

What I like most about Food, Inc. is that, at the end, the filmmakers include specific ways that we can all take action and seize control of an industry that seems to control us. In the end, they show that it's not entirely hopeless, after all. Just...mostly hopeless.

Things with More Appeal.17

So, I've been neglecting you, reader. However, this is only because there really hasn't been anything worth talking about for a couple of weeks, other than politics. I have enough sense to know that the only way to make this blog any worse would be to expound on my political allegiances, and I'd only reveal my ignorance further. As tempting as it is to have my very own nothing-but-spin-zone feature on here (perhaps I could title a weekly series The LTNA Variable!), I decided to revisit my erstwhile-turned-sporadic "weekly" series. Indeed, here's something that I like, which I now bequeath to you, my cuddlecub: Metalocalypse.

This show, unlike some of its suckfest brethren of the ADD-stoner eleven minute cartoons of [adult swim] (Squidbillies, 12 oz. Mouse, Robot Chicken), helps keep the average quality level of the [adult swim] lineup above board, along with other jewels like The Boondocks, for which I have already expressed my profound love in previous entries.

It's about a death metal band called Dethklok, and I'm not going to tell you much else about it. All you need to know is that the humor of the show has little or nothing to do with death metal, so don't be reluctant to check the show out just because metal isn't "your thing." Besides, it's by Brendon Small, who has proven he doesn't suck plenty of times in earlier works. So, fucking watch it.

Who needs a taste?

In Case You're Stuck at Work Today Like Me...

Perhaps Mr. Colbert can bring a smile to your face. I've been cracking up over this clip since it first aired on TCR in September. 100% tits.

Happy Chris Farley Day

Chris Farley
February 15, 1964 - December 18, 1997

Ten years later, and I still miss ya buddy.

"This Post Came Prematurely" Or, "Things with More Appeal.16"

Tuesday night, I went to a preview screening, as us Hollywood hot shots do. It was for a flick called Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and I laughed my balls off. Clean off! Since the movie is a comedy, this is a good thing.

Speaking of clean balls (once you see the movie, you'll realize that segue was completely apropos), Jason Segel wrote and stars in it. Since he's always played the "best friend" character in everything from Freaks and Geeks to Knocked Up, I wasn't sure what to expect from him in the lead role-- particularly one he'd written for himself. I'm happy to report he came through, and I can't wait to see what's next for him. But, I'm still not going to watch How I Met Your Mother.

FSM is the next R-rated comedy slated to be released from Judd Apatow's company, Apatow Productions. Right now, it's set to come out May 30th next year. I realize that's ages away, so it's quite the blogtease to be posting about this movie now. Still though, the release date means that once everyone is tired of repeating lines from Walk Hard, Sarah will be out just in time to give moronic frat boys something else to reference when they're taking breaks from blowing each other.

The Apatow connection is more than enough street cred to get a lot of asses in the seats. But, in case you're a re-re and that still isn't enough, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader and Jonah Hill are in it too. Oh, and if you have a heterosexual penis, that bitch from Veronica Mars is in it as well, along with Meg Griffin. Plus, Liz Cackowski of Jeannie Tate fame! Freakin' sweet, no?

Things with More Appeal.15

I've been trying to decide what to talk about today for a little while. I've been pretty ambivalent toward gossip fodder these days, which, of course, used to be the bread and vegemite of LTNA. But, I guess somewhere along the way I stopped giving a shit about any of it, and realized I probably never really did in the first place. After all, how many times can you tell that old joke about how when you stick your hand under Paris Hilton's skirt, it feels like you're feeding a pony? Seventy three is the answer, and in my two and a half years of zealous, turned sporadic, turned absent, turned semi-zealous again writing of this blog, I have reached my quota.

Still, I do like to think of this as an entertainment and showbusiness-oriented virtual soapbox, or "demiblog" if you will, so that explains the nonsensical hodgepodge of miscellany in the recent posts you see below. And, in keeping with that, here is a new installment of Things with More Appeal, on a Wednesday as LTNA tradition mandates. This week's Thing happens to be The Greatest TV Show of All Time: The Wire.

If you've never seen The Wire, do so. That's pretty much all I can say to you, because describing why is futile. Watching the show is the only way to give it its due justice, and my hackneyed praises would merely sully it's luminous splendor.

If you have seen The Wire, and simply didn't care for the show, that is repugnant and inconceivable, and you can get the fuck out of here. For real, son. I have a no re-re policy on this one.

It is nearly December, and the fourth season of The Wire is being released on DVD this Tuesday, December 4th. That gives you ample time to get that Netflix queue in order so you can catch up, in preparation for the 5th and final season, premiering Sunday, January 6th on HBO. Better yet, take advantage of some of the holiday sales going on and just buy the first four seasons on DVD if you don't already have them. I know HBO DVDs don't come cheap, but you won't regret it. And, if you do regret it, then you're a fucking imbecile and you have larger issues to handle.

I cannot tell you how much I've been looking forward to the conclusion of this show, but this post should give a fair indication. I'll be posting more about The Wire as we get closer to the premiere, and more news and videos begin to surface. There are already five teasers I've managed to find, so check out the ones for McNulty and Marlo if you're curious. Courtesy of YouTube, everyone's favorite content pirates, please find one of the teasers for the new season below, featuring everyone's favorite stick-up boy, Omar Little. While it's the most brief teaser of the five, the blue balls of anticipation it manages to build for the new season hurt so good, and make it a real success. So get ready to cough up some blood and enjoy!

Things with More Appeal.14

Reunited, and it feels so...fair. Now that I'm "back" and all, I've decided to have my first post exhibit me phoning it in with my customary efficiency. You knew what this was.

To wit, I'm resurrecting the whole Things with More Appeal bit. It is marvelous filler, after all. I haven't decided if I'm going to be doing these often, or with any regularity. Nevertheless, we're off, with the first installment of TWMA v. 2.0. Time to get your dick wet!

This week's Thing isn't anything new, or at least it isn't anything new to me. However, I revisited it recently because it's f'in hilarious, and I was pleased to discover it held up on a second (and immediate third) viewing. It's a sketch called The Jeannie Tate Show about a crazy soccer mom who hosts a talk show from her mini van while she's running errands. Her guest is Bill Hader(!) from SNL, whom I lurve. I was planning to have his wife, Maggie Carey, destroyed so I could have him for myself, until I learned that she directed this sketch. A keen comedic sensibility can offset even my most bloodthirsy murderous intentions. For now.

You can check out some of her other stuff here, but Jeannie Tate is definitely my favorite.

So, enjoy!