#144 Looky Touchy

Part of the reason I've neglected this site for so long is that I've been attempting to become an honest-to-God blogger. Head over to www.lookytouchy.com to see what I've been doing. The site deals in video game impressions. "Looky" reviews contain my insightful, opinionated and ocassionally funny analysis of screen shots and video for upcoming games. "Touchy" items are actual hands-on impressions. I touch a game and tell you about it.

I'm trying to post daily and keep the writing as fun and entertaining as possible. I figure the world has plenty dead-serious, 3000-word game reviews. Tell your friends, add the site to your RSS feed and click on some ads. I wouldn't mind the ocassional comment either.

Looky Touchy

#143 The IT Crowd

The IT Crowd is a traditional sitcom about two dorks who work in a company's IT department and the suit-type who gets "promoted" to their dungeon office to oversee them. The series is produced by Ash Atalla of The Office and written by Graham Lineman of The Black Books and Big Train. The show has more than a few moments of spot-on nerd humor. It's obvious that this comes from people who get nerd culture. I've spotted multiple Kozyndan posters, Fantagrahpics comics and toys, The Flying Spaghetti Monster and Errorwear T-shirts all within minutes. Only Spaced has managed to create a television environment that true to my life.

There are no publicised plans to air The IT Crowd in the U.S. Don't let that stop you from watching it, though.

The IT Crowd Official Site

#142 Everyday Italian

Television chef Giada De Laurentiis looks like a bobble head. I'm not saying that to be mean or anything. It's just an observation. I gather she's a small woman. A small woman with a big noggin. To me, she seems like a less frigid Natalie Portman.

The two things I dig about Giada are that her granddad made Conan the Barbarian and (more obviously) her cooking. I've been preparing dishes from her book, Everyday Italian. That's the name of her show too.

Our favorite dishes so far are: Ziti with Asparagus, Smoked Mozzerella and Prosciutto, Chicken Parmesan, Marinara, and Torta Di Pasta (which Alexis won't eat because its got eggs in it). We tried her Penne with Vodka Sauce, but the flavor was a bit too complex for our coarse, Midwestern palates.

#141 V for Vendetta

"I'm the devil, here to do the devils work." That's just one of the many lines the Wachoswkis chose not to use when adapting Alan Moore's 20-something-year-old comic book for the screen. But I think it's a telling omission. The line is a quote from Charles "Tex" Watson, a member of Charles Manson's family. He spoke the words before doing his unseemly deeds in the Tate mansion. And V speaks these words in the comic book, aligning himself with the one of the most despicable criminals our time has known.

But the Wachowskis make movies about heroes. And their movie, while a pale, watered-down version of Moores original work, is a pretty good superhero movie. I dig that the destruction of parliament works as a triumphant climax. I'm for any movie that uses Antony and the Johnsons on the soundtrack. And I'm happy that the Wachowskis seem to be learning from their mistakes. They've got a long way to go, but this is a start.

So I didn't absolutely love V for Vendetta. I actually have a ton of problems with the movie (both brothers deserve lashes for their chronic and criminal underuse of today's best actors). But when they're on, they're on. And the scenes around Evey's discovery of "the note" and V's most considerate kill are better than solid filmmaking. Those moments are moving and, unsurprisingly, near panel-for-panel recreations of the orignal comic.

So there. I like it. It's my site. I can like what I want. Considering the fact that I liked Daredevil, the bar for qualification is pretty darn low (blame the after-effects of my "movie pill" for that one.

By the way. If you haven't read the comic, I recommend reading the version that best benefits Alan Moore. Use this simple program to view. Or at the very least buy it used.