1.7 Once a Rat, always the worst.

I've NEVER liked this guy. His appearance on "Entourage" felt all too real, the horror stories out of Hollywood about the way he presents himself, a lot of it was clearly true, but it all finally came to a head this week:

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=84110

Honestly, is THIS who should have been producing the Oscars, the most glamorous night in Hollywood??!! The man made "Rush Hour 3", we should keep him AWAY from the Kodak, not let him RUN THE SHOW!

Shame on Brett Ratner (like that hasn't been said before) for finally being the douche better-natured folk couldn't believe him to actually be. Hopefully all the garbage about the "casting couch" type of stuff that goes on with him is as fake as his alleged (now confirmed fictional) tryst with Olivia Munn.

Talk about shooting above your pay grade there, Rat.

OH, I FORGOT TO MENTION! This is the gutless director who RUINED the original X-Men trilogy with "The Last Stand:", which honestly, as a comic book movie, stinks worse than "Ghost Rider". Maybe even "Elektra". At least that movie was doomed from the get-go, "X-Men 3" had potential. Ugh.

Maybe the Academy will put a call in to McG, clearly their first choice was as inspired....

1.6 Tis' the season for tunes!

It's been a particularly good year for Christmas music this year, simply because a decent and harmless act decided to do a whole album! And I'm not talking about Bieber.

I'm talking about indie darlings She & Him! Seriously, since this record got announced, it's been crazy high on my radar. I am a total sucker for the Zooey Deschanel schtick (if you want to cynically refer to it as that.), and the retro chic quality of all their recordings to date just gets my warm and fuzzy side buzzing. I really wouldn't want the market to become saturated, there are after all, only so many Christmas songs, but when a group like this takes it on, the sound remains so original. It's a really exciting reminder of the greatest season of all, and a total gem in this years release catalogue.

Also, it would be my duty as a massive fan to inform everyone that Coldplay did write and release an original Christmas song last year, titled "Christmas Lights". The stunning cover art is pictured here. It's probably one of their absolute best songs, everyone should have it in heavy rotation this holiday season.

So, how does everyone feel about yuletide music? I don't think I have many readers (full stop there, really....) who don't celebrate Christmas, so this feels like a pretty open question. Love to see some comments and feedback!

TRY THESE TUNES: Coldplay "Christmas Lights", She & Him "A Very She & Him Christmas" (album), James Taylor "At Christmas" (album)

1.5 Boxed In

EDIT: I've heard my posts are a bit long winded. I can believe that. Instead of posting these massive novel-like updates, I'll focus more on bringing posts more frequently, ideally one or two a day. We'll see how that goes.


I have an addiction. Well, I have a few. But one that's getting a real work out this season imparticular. It's Box Sets. I can't stay away. I've done some crazy things to get my hands on even crazier items. Do I regret it? Not nesscarily.

It does make me seem like this crazy consumer, someone obsessed with monetary goods, but that can be turned back on almost anyone. Do you own fancy clothes and sniff at anything from anywhere simple? What about your car? Everyone has their vices they contend with and accept. In the end, collecting is almost a sport for me. I'm rarely competing with anyone I know, most people I know can barely appreciate the gravity that some of what I've gathered means.

I'm not going to talk about rare stuff though. I'm talking about Box Sets. The ones that have come out THIS YEAR. It has been wild...

1. The BIG One: U2's "Achtung Baby" 20th Anniversary Uber Box Set

Yeah. 6 CD's, 4 DVD's, 5 45's, the album on Vinyl, and BONO'S FUCKING SUGLASSES. Books too. This had to happen. I'm the only biggest U2 fan I know, and I'm going to walk around my house wearing those sunglasses. And only those sunglasses.

 2. Last Year's Epic Battle: The White Stripes Holiday Merchandise Set

This was announced maybe two weeks before it was due to be released, right around December... 5th, I recall. There were only going to be 333 of them released. They're beautiful. It had to be mine. I had no idea how I was going to find $500 by the date. In the end, I had to wait up all night refreshing the Third Man Store webpage, they went on sale at 5:15 AM. This is my life.

3. The Aforementioned: The Smiths Complete

I've discussed this one in great detail. It's one hell of a package, probably the best value for the dollar, considering I paid $175 for an item (thank you, Amazon's Pre-Order Price Guarantee!) that I could flip for around $800 already. But would I? Not on your life.

The craziest part here is what I didn't partake in. Pink Floyd have just reissued everything, and while they're not my favorites, that "Dark Side of the Moon" box is calling me... Nirvana's "Nevermind" celebrated an anniversary and subsequently tried to lure me in, I resisted altogether. The Beach Boys "Smile Sessions" remains a moot point with me, I can't see myself committing to the full box (5 discs, 4 of which are outtakes, it's way too in depth for it's own good), the double disc special edition is sharp. Not to mention the Bowie "Station To Station" box I snagged in early January... Oh, and of course Coldplay have a box set version of "Mylo Xyloto". Rest assured, it's been ordered.

But honestly, do box sets appeal to anyone like they do to me? Music box sets tend to offer a lot more than say, video games or movies (and I certainly have my fair share of those...), but is this content overload anyone else's jam? Let me know!

TRY THESE TUNES: Iggy Pop "Real Wild Child", The Bravery "Slow Poison"