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John

Which brings us to tonight's word...

My Interests

Music:

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS, C86, Sarah Records, 14 Iced Bears, American Music Club, The Arrogants, The Bats, Bauhaus, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Beat Happening, Biff Bang Pow!, Big Black, The Birthday Party, Blackalicious, Blondie, BMX Bandits, Billy Bragg, Brilliant Corners, The Byrds, John Cale, Laura Cantrell, Cars Can Be Blue, Neko Case, Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, The Clash, The Clean, The Chills, Leonard Cohen, Dead Can Dance, Donovan, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, Alejandro Escovedo, Felt, The Field Mice/Trembling Blue Stars, The Flatmates, The Freakin' Hott, The Free Design, Galaxie 500, The Go-Betweens, Vic Godard, Guided by Voices, Darren Hanlon, Emmylou Harris, The Hit Parade, Daniel Johnston, The Kinks, The Lucksmiths, Lydia Lunch, The Magnetic Fields, Marc with a "C," McCarthy, The Mekons, Milky Wimpshake, Neutral Milk Hotel, New Pornographers, Nirvana, Nothing Painted Blue, Phil Ochs, Will Oldham, Orange Juice, Os Mutantes, Pavement, The Pixies, John Prine, The Raincoats, R.E.M., The Replacements, The Robot Ate Me, Simon & Garfunkel, Nina Simone, The Skatalites, The Slits, The Smiths, Sonic Youth, Bruce Springsteen, Superchunk, Swans, Talking Heads, Talulah Gosh/Heavenly/Marine Research, Teenage Fanclub, Television Personalities, They Might Be Giants; Throbbing Gristle, Tullycraft, Tom Waits, Scott Walker, The Wedding Present, Hank Williams Sr., Lucinda Williams, Yo La Tengo, Neil Young, Warren Zevon, Zombies! Organize!!, John Zorn.

Movies:

My top 100 favorite movies of all time:100. Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950) 99. An American in Paris (Vincente Minnelli, 1951) 98. Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch, 1984) 97. Blow-Up (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1967) 96. High Plains Drifter (Clint Eastwood, 1975) 95. The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and Her Lover (Peter Greenaway, 1992) 94. Blood Simple (Coen Brothers, 1984) 93. Army of Shadows (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1969) 92. Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, 1959) 91. Meet Me in Saint Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944) 90. The Virgin Spring (Ingmar Bergman, 1960) 89. Le Trou (Jacques Becker, 1960) 88. Slacker (Richard Linklater, 1991) 87. Where is the Friend’s Home? (Abbas Kiarostami, 1989) 86. Coffee and Cigarettes (Jim Jarmusch, 2005) 85. Bringing up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938) 84. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974) 83. The Kingdom (Lars von Trier, 1994) 82. Music and Lyrics (Marc Lawrence, 2007) 81. Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski) 80. Simple Men (Hal Hartley, 1992) 79. Thieves Like Us (Robert Altman, 1974) 78. Cache (Michael Haneke, 2005) 77. The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006) 76. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) 75. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (Sam Peckinpah, 1974) 74. Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996) 73. The Tenant (Roman Polanski, 1976) 72. A Woman in a Woman (Jean-Luc Godard, 1962) 71. Shock Corridor (Samuel Fuller, 1963) 70. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) 69. Down By Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986) 68. The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956) 67. Three Times (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 2006) 66. Diner (Barry Levinson, 1982) 65. A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956) 64. L’Eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1963) 63. Metropolitan (Whit Stillman, 1990) 62. Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh, 1996) 61. Modern Romance (Albert Brooks, 1982) 60. Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks, 1939) 59. Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945) 58. Fast Food Nation (Richard Linklater, 2006) 57. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962) 56. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977) 55. Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953) 54. Bob Roberts (Tim Robbins, 1992) 53. The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray, 1952) 52. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955) 51. Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959) 50. Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1992) 49. Written on the Wind (Douglas Sirk, 1957) 48. What Happened Was … (Tom Noonan, 1994) 47. A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavettes, 1974) 46. Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979) 45. White Dog (Samuel Fuller, 1983) 44. Lancelot of the Lake (Robert Bresson, 1974) 43. Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960) 42. The Big Red One (Samuel Fuller, 1980) 41. Week-End (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967) 40. The Puffy Chair (Duplass Brothers, 2006) 39. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004) 38. Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955) 37. Surviving Desire (Hal Hartley, 1991) 36. Roger Dodger (Dylan Kidd, 2002) 35. Sherman’s March (Ross McElwee, 1980) 34. In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950) 33. L’Argent (Robert Bresson, 1983) 32. Forty Guns (Samuel Fuller, 1957) 31. Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2000) 30. My Life to Live (Jean-Luc Godard, 1962) 29. The Shape of Things (Neil LaBute, 2003) 28. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976) 27. Nashville (Robert Altman, 1975) 26. Zero Day (Ben Coccio, 2004) 25. Schizopolis (Steven Soderbergh, 1997) 24. Play it Again, Sam (Herbert Ross, 1972) 23. Junebug (Phil Morrison, 2005) 22. Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder, 1951) 21. The Player (Robert Altman, 1992) 20. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2004) 19. In the Company of Men (Neil LaBute, 1997) 18. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971) 17. Mouchette (Robert Bresson, 1967) 16. Scenes From a Marriage (Ingmar Bergman, 1983) 15. Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966) 14. Faces (John Cassavettes, 1968) 13. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004) 12. Dirty Work (Bob Saget, 1998) 11. Mutual Appreciation (Andrew Bujalski, 2006) 10. The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, 2005) 9. Contempt (Jean-Luc Godard, 1964) 8. Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984) 7. Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk, 1956) 6. Some Came Running (Vincente Minnelli, 1958) 5. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940) 4. Short Cuts (Robert Altman, 1993) 3. Kicking and Screaming (Noah Baumbach, 1995) 2. Trust (Hal Hartley, 1990) 1. High Fidelity (Stephen Frears, 2000)

Television:

MSNBC news, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Colbert Report, Real Time with Bill Maher, Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, 30 Rock, The Flight of the Conchords, South Park, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Meet the Press.

Books:

The Bonfire of the Vanities, I am Charlotte Simmons, The Dream Life: Movies, Media and the Mythology of the Sixties, Word Freak, Lies and Lying Liars Who Tell Them, The Truth (With Jokes), State of Denial, High Fidelity, About a Boy, The Last Days of Disco, Timequake, Catch-22, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Our Band Could Be Your Life.

Heroes:

Keith Olbermann, Alfred Butts, Robert Altman, Hal Hartley, Bill Maher, Al Franken...

My Blog

When the scum begins to circle the drain...

So I did manage to win my first 3-day Scrabble tournament, scoring a 19-5 record and $210 that will undoubtedly disappear by the time I leave Park Ave. CDs and Rock 'n' Roll Heaven in my little one-ni...
Posted by John on Fri, 30 May 2008 09:13:00 PST

Popfest lineup so far....

5Th Annual Athens PopFest Artist Lineup Roky Erickson & The Explosives, The Music Tapes, Elf Power, Dark Meat, Boyracer, The Apes, Bunnygrunt, Thee American Revolution, Circulatory System, My Teen...
Posted by John on Tue, 27 May 2008 07:13:00 PST

Am I watching political commentary ... or a monster truck rally?

Anybody catch the new and "improved" Hardball with Chris Matthews last night? I think somebody from Fox News’ graphics department has jumped ship to MSNBC, judging by the amount of agg...
Posted by John on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 03:34:00 PST

Eat it, Swillery

Check out Keith Olbermann’s special comment from last night, one of his best yet. Probably his most controversial one ever, since it’s aimed at a fellow member of our side (I has...
Posted by John on Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:27:00 PST

Some notes on the Mountain Goats’ HERETIC PRIDE

So the Mountain Goats' new album Heretic Pride is in stores now, and it's their best record in eight years. You should buy it immediately. On vinyl. In a nutshell, Heretic Pride is about the fucked-up...
Posted by John on Tue, 19 Feb 2008 07:54:00 PST

My top best (and worst) movies of 2007 ... finally!

Best of the year: 10. Tie: KNOCKED UP and JUNO9. FAY GRIM8. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD7. SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET6. A MIGHTY HEART5. OFFSIDE4. MICHAEL CLAYTON3. CONTROL2...
Posted by John on Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:36:00 PST

Severing all ties with Swillery Clinton

There's a Chris Rock bit that begins something like: "Are we ready for a woman president? I think we're ready for a woman president. But does it have to be that woman?!" Amen to that. I've always had...
Posted by John on Tue, 08 Jan 2008 02:35:00 PST

A whole buncha my latest reviews

The Three Burials of Melquiadas Estrada: ****.r{}*** The Western film is not dead, no matter cynics say  it just mutates every few decades. After the pretty-looking, elegiac morality tales of '40s an...
Posted by John on Thu, 23 Feb 2006 09:35:00 PST

So this is what it's like to be in an abusive relationship!

So I finally know what its like to be in an abusive relationship. Ive never understood why a non-masochistic, well-adjusted person would continually return to an obvious asshole just for a few spora...
Posted by John on Tue, 07 Feb 2006 09:14:00 PST

Last Days review...my opus!

Last Days: ***/**** Pretentious. Boring and sad. You will be sorry. We walked out after 10 excruciatingly boring minutes and watched The Edukators instead. I cant believe they wasted 1 ½ hou...
Posted by John on Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:45:00 PST