Entertainment: Movies, TV, Music, Books

.:What I'm Watching:.

Casablanca. [Of all the "gin joints" in Morocco, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), with husband Victor (Paul Henreid) in tow, had to walk into the one owned by Rick (Humphrey Bogart), a former beau she abandoned in Paris. War looms over them all, and in a much-discussed ending, Rick and Ilsa make heroic but heartbreaking choices. As time goes by, director Michael Curtiz's 1942 classic war noir only gets better. Peter Lorre and Claude Rains also star. ~netflix] yet another classic i've never watched before. and it was soooo good. 5 stars. i love me some classic movies.

The Cleaner. [In this A&E series inspired by actual events, Benjamin Bratt stars as "extreme interventionist" William Banks, a former drug addict who talks to God and now spends his time helping other users turn their lives around. His team of so-called "cleaners" includes a woman he once slept with (Grace Park), a serial complainer (Esteban Powell) and a car salesman (Kevin Michael Richardson) who owes William big for saving his brother's life. ~netflix] it's all right. not great, that's for sure. i like grace park as a maneater, not as a frakkin' cylon. hehe. i never thought i'd say this, but i might actually keep watching the show just to see more of her. i was never a huge grace park fan in Battlestar Galactica, but i really like her in this show. i don't know about the rest of the cast and the writing and stuff, though. i mean, i get that the show's a drama and everything, but does it seriously need to be THAT DRAMATIC? jeez. 3 stars.

Da Ali G Show, Season 1. [Hilarious British comedian and impersonator Sacha Baron Cohen crisscrosses the United States alternating among the three offbeat personalities he plays. Cohen becomes Ali G, the "hip hop journalist" who's really just a white wanna-be rapper; Borat, the gullible newsman from Kazakhstan; and Bruno, the homosexual Austrian fashion plate. Laugh while Ali G, Borat and Bruno discover America and interact with the locals. ~netflix] so funny. i honestly have NO idea how he doesn't just start busting up laughing at these people he's interviewing. 4 stars.

The Dark Knight. [Batman (Christian Bale) teams with Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to continue dismantling Gotham City's criminal organizations in this sequel to Batman Begins. But a psychotic new villain known as the Joker (Heath Ledger) threatens to undo all their good work. The star-studded cast includes Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Caine and Eric Roberts. ~netflix] 5 stars. totally awesome. loved every minute of it. saw it at the imax and it was awesome. when we own this on DVD (you know we will buy it!) i wanna have another movie night. :D

Doomsday. [When a deadly viral epidemic breaks out in present-day Britain, killing hundreds of thousands of people, the government quarantines the infected behind a walled city -- only to be confronted with a resurgence of the disease 30 years in the future. In the vein of Mad Max and 28 Days Later, this morality tale veiled as a sci-fi hypothetical features enough action, combat and suspense to keep audiences wondering, "What if?" ~netflix] this movie has everything! viral outbreaks, blood and gore, mohawks, future stuff, medieval stuff, action, chase scenes, fighting, fires, and the poor man's kate beckinsale. heh. what? she is. this is from the same director who brought you The Descent. (which is an awesome movie, btw... and i don't like horror. although it's not typical horror. whatever. anyway, you should rent it.) anyway, back to Doomsday... like LE said, "i'm not sure if this is a good-bad movie or a bad-bad movie." regardless, i liked it. 3.5 stars.

Umrao Jaan. [Ravishing Indian beauty Aishwarya Rai stars in director J.P. Dutta's remake about a poor girl who is sold into a brothel, where she's transformed into the courtesan Umrao Jaan and falls in love with Nawab Sultan (Abhishek Bachchan). Life as a courtesan is filled with hard knocks as Umrao tries everything in her power to control her own destiny. Shabana Azmi, Sunil Shetty, Divya Dutta, Himani Shivpuri and Kulbhushan Kharbanda also star. ~netflix] very sad. end was confusing. and even though it was 3 hours long, i felt like it was totally unresolved. I NEED CLOSURE!!!! i believe it's a remake of another movie by the same name. but the original doesn't have aishwarya in it. the costumes were breathtaking. 4 stars.

.:What Mia's Watching:.

Little Einsteins: The Flight of the Instrument Fairies. [This colorful collection from the popular Playhouse Disney series includes four fairy-tale adventures, including the never-before-seen episode "Flight of the Instrument Fairies," featuring a band of musical sprites who paint the Artic sky. Join Rocket -- who can gleefully transform from a spaceship to a submarine -- as he guides Quincy, Annie, June and Leo on adventures with a team of lost puppets in Prague and at a black-tie ball in Vienna. ~netflix] while i like that this show introduces kids to various composers and artists, i dislike how annoying this show can get. also, there's a little asian girl character and i noticed that the girl who voices her is asian as well. is that a rule? like, if you have  an asian character, it has to be voiced by an asian? because it seems ridiculous. then again, i'm sure asian peeps would be all up in arms that the asian character isn't voiced by an asian if it weren't... ugh. people are so dumb and ridiculous. oh. right. back to the DVD. your kid will probably be totally mesmerized... but you won't be. hehe. i think mia would give this a 3 or 4 star rating. i am giving it 2.

.:What I'm Listening To:.

Beck: Modern Guilt. produced with Danger Mouse. pretty good. i enjoyed it. i am looking forward to a repeat spin. i think i liked it as much as I liked The Information. maybe even more! 4 stars.

DJ Craze: Fabriclive 38. good fun. seriously. i was not expecting much at all, but it was good times. 3.5 stars.

Mark Farina: Fabric 40. this album was good, but i prefer to see mark farina live. 3 stars.

Tricky: Knowle West Boy. i'm really digging this album. a lot. this is my second spin and i think it's going to be in heavy rotation. drops september 9... or you can get the import now. 4 stars.

.:What I'm Reading:.

Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan. (click here to read the plot summary on wikipedia) a very interesting, very enjoyable read. i'm not done yet (i'm reading two books at once. i should just commit to one and FINISH it. sheesh.), but hopefully i'll finish this next week... :)