This week's Top Five:
"Scott's Top 5 Media Pics for The Summer"
1) This American Life (Radio)
Gwyn introduced me to this wonderful program. This is a weekly radio show that is produced out of Chicago's WBEZ station and aired all over the place on NPR. The format of the show is a little loose, but a topic is chosen, then the rest of the show centers around that topic. At the moment I am listening to 'Georgia Rambler' where 9 people went to small towns in Georgia to find 'The Most Interesting Person in Town,' and is a series of interview and small town stories. Other episodes have covered criminal cases, they dive in to political situation, economic situations... Really anything they find interesting, and that is the cool thing, they ask questions that most people are also asking in their heads. And they present it in a fair, clear, yet light manner. For those of you who don't like finding radio shows (other than Click and Clack's Car Talk) you can listen to the program online here or get the podcast! It is great. I have been going through the archives, one by one.
2) Pushing Daisies (TV, originally on ABC 2 seasons, now Cancelled)
I think best described as a humorous CSI - Law and Order mix, set in Wonderland, with a bit of a twist. The show follows the story of a Pie maker, Ned, who can bring people back to life by touching them, but then when he touches them again, they return to being dead. This may seem morbid, but they are very tasteful about it. And the visuals are simply stunning and magical, the 'world' is very imaginative and colorful. The dialogue is witty and fast. The characters are great. One of my new favorites. If you have Netflix (Mom, Dad... nudge nudge...) I highly suggest checking it out via streaming.
3) Jericho (TV, originally on CBS 2 seasons, now cancelled)
Joe, one of Larry's old roommates, suggested that I watch this, turned out to be a great suggestion. Story of a small mid-west town that is trying to survive after the majority of the large cities in the US were destroyed in a nuclear attack. Lots of diverse characters, lots of back story, lots of drama and action. Not as bloody and dreary as most post-apocalyptic narratives, very realistic and conceivable. I don't think everyone would enjoy it (most likely why it was cancelled), but worth checking out.
4) Speed of Darkness - Flogging Molly
Yes, it is true, Flogging Molly released a new album. I was alerted to this from a e-mail from Chris, where he said he didn't quite know what to think of it, and asked if I had heard it. We came to the conclusion that while it did not rise to the standard of Drunken Lullabies, it was still a decent album. From my own raiting, I would say that it is not as good as their first 3 albums, but it is great compared to Float. One thing that I really enjoy about the album is how it centers around Detroit, and seems to be sung to the unemployed working class. It gives the album a feeling of depression era disparity, that works really well. A little more folk-y then punk-y, certainly something for music fans. The video for 'Don't Shut them Down' is beautifully done.
5) X-Men First Class
I don't know what number this is in the line up, possibly 5th or 6th of X-men movies, but it might be my favorite out of all of them. Covering the origins of Xavier and Magneto and the start of the X-men, this film was both action packed and emotion packed. I thought for a comic book movie it had great acting, and of course great visual effects and action. I don't really have much more to say then, go see it.
Honorable Mentions:
Going out in Style - Dropkick Murphy's (new album)
Endgame - Rise Against (new album)
Pearl and the Beard (band)
Sucker Punch (movie)
127 Hours (movie)
Insidious (movie)
The Other Guys (movie)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (movie, surprisingly good)
The Academy Is... (band)
Come back next week, same time, for more top 5 picks from yours truly. If you want to contribute, let me know what top 5 things you want to know!
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