News-Record.com

Local blogger, DJ and Go Triad contributor Joe Scott is helping to organize a film series at the Carousel Luxury Cinemas on Battleground Ave.

The Mix-Tape Film Series will give many of us a second (or in some cases a first) chance to see some great (and some...er...cult...) films on the big screen.

First up on September 3: a personal favorite -- The Big Lebowski.

In the coming months: everything from the high-brow perversity of Blue Velvet to the low brow juvenile nostalgia of The Monster Squad.

I'm not really a big-screen, 35 mm fetishist, so there are only a few of these I think will be really improved by seeing them in the theater (Edward Scissorhands chief among them) -- but tickets are $3, popcorn $1.25 and beer's $1 so I'll probably end up seeing quite a few of these.

You should too.

I've been listening to The Black Keys' latest album, Attack and Release, since it came out.

I've got this song stuck in my head and can't seem to shake it:

They're playing at the Ryman Auditorium in October and I'm thinking about taking a trip to Nashville to visit some friends and see them live.

Word is they're amazing live.

Cracked.com has a hilarious (and surprisingly educational) list of The 5 Greatest Things Ever Accomplished While High.

The list includes Coca-Cola, Psychoanalysis, the discovery of the DNA and (wait for it...) The Ten Commandments.

It also includes the following caveat: "To make the cut, an accomplishment has to be considered great by people who could pass a field sobriety test. So no Grateful Dead music."

Cory Doctorow gave a talk at the Cambridge Business Lectures Series.

Really fascinating stuff - the Internet as the world's most perfect copy machine, Digital Rights Management, why Paris Hilton's genitals are like the undead on the Net, etc. Worth listening to.

I think we can all agree that although Oliver Stone's political/historical movies (JFK, Nixon) are fascinating, they have to be viewed as a sort of historical fiction with a heavy bent toward speculative psychoanalysis and melodrama.

But you still do want to go see them.

Right now I'm reading First Son by Bill Minutaglio, a veteran Texas journalist who delves deep into the lives of the Bush clan.

Hopefully Stone's movie will do a little of what Minutaglio's book does -- help to humanize a man who has been both demonized and lionized beyond all logic at a turbulent period in American history.

After enjoying the new Seth Rogan weed action/comedy Pineapple Express (and, perhaps, a doobie of his own), Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers compiled a list of ten movies that belong in the Stoner Movie Hall of Fame.

Though the last one's a bit of a cop out, it's hard to argue with these selections.

Except to say...no Dude, Where's My Car?

On a related note: Cheech and Chong are apparently touring again.

A new book from the Harry Potter universe has been announced.

The Tales of Beedle The Bard is being called a classic of the wizarding world translated from ancient runes by Hermione Granger, with extensive commentary by that clever old queen Albus Dumbledore.

So, I just watched the new Harry Potter trailer. Was it just me, or were there parts reminiscent of Lord of the Rings? Just glimpses -- the ring, Dumbledore/Gandalf in the fire ... maybe it's just me.

Anyway, I think the trailer looks great! The kid is really creepy, in a real 'Bad Seed' sort of way. Perfect casting!

Check out this undeniably wonderful 5-in-1 inflatable sleeper-sofa.

I'm a little old for it now -- and already have two inflatable beds for camping/guests which my girlfriend thinks are "ghetto."

But for $61 shipped, I definitely would have rocked this in a dorm room.

It's summer, which means reality TV is at its best. You've probably been a Survivor or Real World fan. You've glanced, with disgust, at I (heart) New York.
But you probably haven't been watching the newest round of strange, test-of-wills, change-your-life, reality shows.
Check 'em out.

Queen Bees, on The N, Fridays at 8:30 p.m.
Seven royal bitches -- those girls who talk smack about their peers in gym class or berate their boyfriends in public -- are put into mean girl rehab.
The one who makes the biggest turnaround win $25,000. Finally, a chance watch the nastiest women get what they give.

The Baby Borrowers, on NBC, Wednesdays 9 p.m.
The commercials promise, "It's not TV. It's birth control."
Five teenage couples are given a chance to live together like adults -- with jobs and children.
The results are revealing. Couples break up. The fight over cleanup responsibilities. They decide they couldn't possible take care of children -- not right now at least.
The finale is this week, but you can catch earlier episodes on WeTV.

From G's to Gents, on MTV
Fonzworth Bentley turns a bunch of rough and tumble dudes into polished gentlemen.
The characters are priceless. And from the looks of the season preview, Bentley manages to have a real, positive affect on these gangstas.