"My Name Is Danny Baram. I Am A Bounty Hunter."

Back in the saddle again.

Just as a point of interest: as of this morning I am obsessed with the song "I Need A Lover (Who Won't Drive Me Crazy)" by John Cougar Mellencamp. I don't know why, except that last night I heard it playing in the soundtrack of some really cheesy early 80's movie on TV and have yet to get it out of my head.

AT WORK:

So the countdown begins to the big Assignment. This week is being spent in the ticket office at NBC guest relations, answering phone calls from crazy people and stuffing envelopes and stuff. I do miss out on seeing some cool stars / bands (namely my sports hero, Sir Charles Barkley, tommorow and Weezer on Thursday) on Leno, but hey at least it gets me on a more regular sleep / waking up schedule so as to prepare me for the next few months that will most likely see me getting to work early and leaving late. And it creates some much needed away-time between me and the ol' page program polyester.

Other than that I'm just biding my time until Monday. I just hope that my biggest fear doesn't occur where I walk into the primetime development offices on Monday and they're like "um, and you are ...?"

But anyways, thanks again to everyone for your congratulations. I have no idea what to expect really, but hopefully it shall all be good.

OTHER STUFF:

Just another example of how sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do - I did, in fact, buy the Batman Begins deluxe edition DVD today, the day of its release. I wasn't going to, but my brother called me as I was driving home from work, from Best Buy in Boston, and told me of his own trek to purchase the long-awaited 2-disc deluxe edition (with packed-in comic book). Well he got my blood flowing despite my weary post-work state, and I quickly detoured towards Best Buy in search of my own copy of Batman bliss. Of course, this being the outskirts of Hollywood, they were sold out of the special edition, with only the barebones regular edition left for sale. So I went to Circuit City. Also out. So I went to the mall, and to like 5 different stores there. Finally at Suncoast Video I found a coveted copy. Sure, it was without the Best Buy-exclusive holographic DVD case, but dammit all, there was no going back now - I had to have it. Ah, the plight of the hardcore fanboy.

Speaking of kewl stuff, a seriously BIG KUDOS to, of all things, TIME MAGAZINE. Why? Well in their latest issue they have an article about the 100 greatest novels of the modern era. And what is included on the list? None other than WATCHMEN, the graphic-novel masterpiece by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. This canonical work DESERVES to be mentioned alongside the works of other, more traditional literary giants. Look, I minored in English in college, and I've read my share of the great books of modern literature. Of everything that I have ever read, ever, WATCHEMEN is, maybe, my favorite. I'm not going to say definitively that it is, but it's up there, and it truly is to comics what something like say Ulysses is to novels - an incomparable work that fully takes advantage of its medium. Try as they might to make a movie version, Holywood can never hope to replicate the real Watchmen experience in film, because this is a work that is wholly comic book, through and through. But seriously, if you've never read Watchmen, READ IT. Go to Borders and buy it. Find out why Alan Moore is one of the greatest literary minds of all time. Find out why Dave Gibbons is one of the greatest illustrators and storytellers. Find out who watches the Watchmen.

MOVIE REVIEW:

- Saw DOMINO over the weekend, and while at first the film annoyed me, and at times confused the hell out of me, overall I came away thinking "hmm, that actually kinda kicked ass." This movie has gotten A LOT of bad press, and people keep describing it as a love it or hate it type of film. But while I didn't love it, I definitely enjoyed it a lot, and I think that behind the crazy psychedellic cinematography there is actually a pretty deep character study going on. To sum up my opinion on director Tony Scott's approach to this film - it is undeniably excessive. The movie plays like one long music video, and every movement is cut to carry the utmost dramatic weight, even if all that's happening is a blink of Domino's eyes. While it can be cool at times when it's more appropriate, like the final, frenetic action-packed showdown, most of the time I think that Domino could have benefitted from a somewhat toned-down directorial style. At first, the crazy colors, hyperkinetic cuts, and nonsensical editing almost totally took me out of the movie, but eventually, I got sucked in. Part of that was because of the awesome cast. Contrary to other reports, Kiera Knightly is pretty effective as Domino Harvey. Sure, she's small and waifish, but she nails the whole angsty disaffected punk-rock rich girl bounty hunter thing. She's like some crazy cyberpunk videogame character come to life. Mickey Rourke rules, in a part he was born to play as a tough as nails bounty hunter. Christopher Walken is hilarious as a forgetful TV show exec. Let's stop right there for a second. Rourke and Walken kicking ass - how can you wholly dismiss a movie when it has that going for it? Oh yeah, you've got some unlikely, great comedy relief from Mo'nique, and from Brian Austin Green and Ian Ziering, a pair of 90210 alums playing themselves, as well. And then, you've got the script from Donnie Darko guru Richard Kelly, which yes, is at times bogged down by Scott's manic directing job, but really shines through in key moments. The first time I thought "yeah, now THAT'S Richard Kelly" was the totally tangential but very funny scene with Monique's character appearing on Jerry Springer - totally surreal and reminiscient of Patrick Swayzee's oddball scenes in Donnie Darko, this is where the movie starts to find its feet and suck you in and actually start to MEAN something. Basically, this is a story about somebody's life, one that is pretty tragic and bleak, being turned into fodder for others to take advantage of - whether its men in lust, fellow bounty hunters, TV producers, the FBI, or mobsters, everyone wants a piece of Domino Harvey basically just because she's a girl with a gun who knows how to use it. Overall, this is a worthwhile movie, and hey, despite the negative reviews it got an ovation in the theater where I saw it as the closing credits, featuring the real Domino Harvey, rolled. If you can get past the confusing, surreal nature of the story, and Playstation game on an acid trip (er, mescaline trip, to be specific about it) approach to filmmaking that Scott employs here, there is a pretty good, even thought-provoking, movie hiding underneath. My grade: B

TV QUICK REVIEWS:

Not much worth going into detail about right now. Earl was decent, Office had a pretty lackluster episode this week considering how good it's been lately, and Gilmore was kind of treading water but had a very nice cliffhanger ending. My grades: Earl: B -, The Office: C+, Gilmore: B

- Been Watching DA ALI G SHOW Season 2. Holy crap, funniest thing ever. Borat straddles the line of tastelessness and I've never laughed so hard at almost anything. If you have yet to experience ALI G, and you like to laugh, check out the DVD's. Otherwise you are just really missing out. Booyakasha.

Alright, I am falling-down tired right now. And tommorow it's more giving bad directions to NBC to people coming from LAX. Just remember: IT'S ALL STREET PARKING, WE DON'T HAVE A FRIGGING LOT!