Tom : "The Wire" :: You : ??

[Sarah]

I find that the older I get, the more I just want to be entertained.

[masterofsparks]

I find that the older I get, the more I just want to be entertained.

Is that why you just watched Salo the other day?

I know what you mean, though. English classes in college kinda dulled my tolerance for heavy lit*.


*says the person who just read Infinite Jest. Totally bragging.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

Monk.

ive never seen one episode but everyone says its funny.  although, i did just see my first episode (featuring john torturro)...and teared up. 

[Fido]

Things that I instinctively avoid for some reason, although I have a hunch that I might like them, include TV series like Dexter, Grey's Anatomy, 30 Rock, and Mad Men. Why avoid these? No idea.

Things that I instinctively avoid because I know I will dislike them include any movies featuring vampires, wizardry, spells, medieval shit, anything remotely Tolkienesque, "special powers," weddings and wedding planning, Owen Wilson and James Van Der Beek.

[<<<<<]

Oh man, medieval shit is the BEST.  Esp, if it has Julia Ormond playing a princess of some sort.  Except for First Knight.  Seriously, what gave with the costuming on that film??  Sean Connery looked like a cop.    

[Denim Gremlin]

Things that I instinctively avoid for some reason, although I have a hunch that I might like them, include TV series like Dexter, Grey's Anatomy, 30 Rock, and Mad Men. Why avoid these? No idea.

dexter sucks, grey's anatomy suck, you can skip them.

I love mad men. it doesn't appeal to everyone i guess but i think it's one of the best things on tv recently.

and avoiding 30 rock makes no sense. it's fucking hilarious. now that it's Always Sunny in Philadelphia done with it's season it's definitely the funniest show right now.

[A.M. Thomas]

ADDENDUM:  Forgot to mention the almost complete absence of women.  At one point, one sees what might be the backs of the heads of some heavily covered Arab ladies, and a bit later several are visible ululating in the distance.  And a few dead, presumably raped women appear near the end,  That's it, as far as I noticed. 

See, what did I tell you:  boy's own adventure.

Boy's own adventure?  Or gay boy's own adventure?

Interpreting the sexuality of someone who never clearly identified his own preferences might be unfair, but there is a lot of evidence to at least question T.E. Lawrence's avoidance of the subject.  More importantly, though, is that the film itself recognizes T.E.'s potential homosexuality.  Remember when, in the film, he prances around on top of the train, waving his gun around?  Both David Lean and Peter O'Toole seemed to place at least some importance on that aspect of T.E.'s character.  Which might also explain the lack of female roles in the film.  How could a gay character have a love interest?

Well, that, and the fact that it takes place in an Arabian country during the early twentieth century.

ANYWAY:
I do love Lawrence of Arabia.  Actually, I've grown to love a lot of the epic films of the 50s and 60s in all of their ostentatiousness (The Red Shoes and all of the work of The Archers immediately comes to mind).  And that is in large part what I love about Lawrence of Arabia: it's scope.  I've always wanted to see it in a theater where, I imagine, those shots in the desert look especially epic; the long shot of Lawrence slowly coming over the horizon, at first appearing as just a speck.

[A.M. Thomas]

I've never done heroin.  I hear it's pretty rad.

In all seriousness, I bet I would love acid or shrooms, but I'm way too scared of what would happen to my fragile, fragile brain if I were to take them.

[Sarah]

Oh, good heavens, of course T. E. Lawrence as portrayed by Peter O'Toole is madly gay.  The film isn't exactly subtle on that score.  Nor is it subtle on the subject of his sadomasochistic tendencies.*

And of course the absence of women is perfectly understandable.  It's just a little startling when you realize you haven't (clearly) seen one woman in all of the many minutes that make up this long movie.

*Psst, whenever I call something "a boy's own adventure," homoeroticism is implicit in the term.

[Bryan]

and avoiding 30 rock makes no sense. it's fucking hilarious. now that it's Always Sunny in Philadelphia done with it's season it's definitely the funniest show right now.

Definitely. Do yourself a favour! I know that the whole idea of this is that the avoidance is irrational, but it really is a fantastic show.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

Response after a brief skimming of this list: I will never watch Titanic, because all the people who told me, "no, seriously, it's really good" were the same people who said that about Forrest fucking Gump, which I watched TWICE just to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

That, and I generally won't see anything on Broadway anymore unless family is in town and they're paying.  But to be more specific: Neil LaBute.  Don't care!  Also, any David Mamet except Glengarry Glen Ross, which I admit is pretty good.  And I will never see Stuff Happens in any medium.  WHO GIVES A SHIT.

I won't read Chuck Klosterman or Chuck Palaniuk.  I know the latter is crap, and the former might be OK, but I'm judging a book by its cover here.

Agreed on Scrubs.  I will also never watch House or Boston Legal.

In comics, I avoided Brian Michael Bendis for years, then finally gave in and I'm still ambivalent, leaning towards I-was-right-all-along.  Half the time it feels like the guy doesn't understand basic story construction, not to mention that it feels like I'm reading a bowdlerized transcript of the Howard Stern show, but spoken by superheroes.  Sometimes it can be pretty good, though.

Now, general thread responses:

I'm just "meh" about a lot of indie rock, including Pavement (I actually like both the Silver Jews and Malkmus' solo stuff better), Neutral Milk Hotel, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, etc. etc.  I don't hate any of it, but I do feel like I'm missing something.  Love GBV, though.

I love Lost, Lawrence of Arabia, and The Pogues.  I like Rush.

Here is my ultimate sin: I like The Grateful Dead, and not just their studio work. 

[<<<<<]

Speaking of Tolkeinesque stuff, just finished watching Pan's Labyrinth.  Holy moley, that was pretty good.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

Oh, another one: Will Oldham, aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy.  I don't even want to take the time to listen to it for free.

[yesno]

Oh, another one: Will Oldham, aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy.  I don't even want to take the time to listen to it for free.

"A Minor Place" is so good.  Ridiculously good. If that album doesn't give you the willies then you are possibly a replicant.

[Bryan]

I know it's pointless - or rather, it's the whole point of the thread - but anyway I want to keep rebutting people on this topic, too.