I'm so envious of blitzenbon; I wish was about to see The Idiots for the first time. There's nothing like a batshit movie that's just different from anything else. Manderlay is my least favorite of his- that was a bitter disappointment coming off Dogville.

I'm still in love with Dogville, Dancer in the Dark and Breaking the Waves. I thought The Element of Crime, Epidemic and Europa were more "interesting" than good. For me, the underrated one is The Five Obstructions- I thought that was a lot of fun.

Streaming?
But then it won't be wrapped in plastic.

Cooper's chief virtue is his unflagging honesty.

I liked MR. That setting is just about the only place where his bombast can pay off.

Joseph von Sternberg's Underworld and The Last Command- 2 excellent silents.
Ozu's The End of Summer
And I rewatched The Social Network, which definitely rewards a second viewing.

What foreign classics don't come through Criterion?

Hey, I can be convinced on DH, it certainly has its strong points. Some of the Billy Crystal/Elizabeth Shue/Judy Davis material makes me cringe- I can't stop watching it though. For me, the last unqualified great movie was Bullets Over Broadway. But the 4 year stretch of DH/Celebrity/Sweet and Lowdown/Small Time…

The premise of Melinda and Melinda wasn't the problem, the problem was the unfunny comedy and the wooden drama. But I like VCB quite a bit. I also get a kick out of Deconstructing Harry, I know it''s not great, but I have a soft spot for that one.

Twin Peaks is the shit. It's hard to imagine how that big ole bag of weirdness ever aired on network TV. The first 15 episodes or so are incredible, then there's a huge dip in quality, but it's worth sticking with because the last few episodes are amazing.

He's certainly the greatest Missoulan artist of the second half of the 20th century. As for the rest of the nation, I'll take Mr. Dylan and/or Kubrick.

I'm Going Home is a great movie, I didn't even realize that was his. Another one I liked is A Talking Picture from 2003. As Noel says, it didn't have much of a story, but I thought it was really interesting. I remember a lot of "educational" speeches about Portuguese history and archeology, but it was all pretty…

My bad, the Harvard alumnus lunch was Season 3, obviously.

LC, I also caught that goofing on the alumnus grammar- it was pretty lame. I wonder if Graham even notices these things when she reads the scripts. In keeping with Season 4, Lorelai will now break up with her boyfriend over a business deal gone bad with her family member.

News From Home
That parting shot of the WTC and lower Manhattan is the most beautiful shot I've seen of the Twin Towers. I really choked up on that one.

Ondine and Charlie Wilson's War. Two solid B's.

I'm not so down on Cassadaga, but it sounds pretty slick and maybe a bit over-produced compared to the other albums. Some of those songs are top-notch though; Four Winds, Lime Tree, No One Would Riot for Less, and Soul Singer all make the grade for me.

Sorry, that's none of the Oberst songs were all that good.

And while the Monsters of Folk album was awfully good, I noticed that none of t

I think all the Bright Eyes albums have a handful of good-to-great songs. For me the exception is Wide Awake, which I find entirely brilliant.