pretend you got no money.

Posted on | by Mike

Work today sucks. These links do not.

1) Dave Kehr's New DVD reviews. I'm a huge fan of Dave Kehr. His reviews for the chicago reader and the chicago tribune from 74-92 still stand strong today. He's a brilliant critic, with just enough theory and humor behind his writing to get you to think about your favorite movies in a brand new way. However, ever since taking off for New York he hasn't found a good venue for himself (outside of Film Comment). He's been reduced to doing bi-weekly profiles for the New York Times; nobody from Chicago should have to take a backseat to Janet Maslin and her nytimes cronies.

Now he has finally found his outlet. Every Tuesday he reviews the latest DVDs coming out. With the way DVDs are now perfectly timed to theaterical releases and other DVDs, he can take jabs at what is playing at the weekly googloplex or form a column of serial reviews around a singular idea. That link has all of his columns (scroll down) for free in the backlog. It's probably the most entertaining and clever writing on movies that is done weekly – Enjoy!

2) William Shatner covering Pulp's Common People. Either you get it or you don't. This is the first track off his upcoming album, Has Been (shorter clips at that website), which will feature duets with Aimee Mann, Ben Folds (also the producer), and Henry Rollins among others.

If you don't get it, but want to try, I'd recommend renting the movie Free Enterprise. The movie stars a very young Eric McCormack, who is no doubt embarrassed as hell that this movie was one of his first starring roles. For those who already get it, Star Trek Series One Season One is now available in stores!

I used to be the biggest Next Gen fan, but as I get older I'm far more into the original series. The Next Gen is very, to put it bluntly, corporate, with all the staff meetings and flat hierarchies and team-building tasks. There's a lot of problem solving through communication between teams and rational dialogue. The original series has a lot more fighting and go-go dancers. The set design is straight out of an Eero Saarinen retrospective, and the special effects are campy beyond belief. And there is almost always someone in a rubber lizard suit chasing people. What world would you rather live in?

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