A Great Week
This week saw the release of two media events: Stephen Colbert’s I Am America (And So Can You!) and Radiohead’s In Rainbows. With these two hotly anticipated releases, I think we can safely say that the stock market is secure for at least another month.I can’t say anything yet about either release. My copy of Colbert’s book is in the mail, and I have only listened to the Radiohead album twice. But maybe there are others out there more willing to venture an opinion.
So I ask: What do you think of Colbert’s new book and Radiohead’s new album?
Comments
More pomising are a new album by Jens Lekman and a new movie by Wes Anderson (which, judging by the "Hotel Chevalier," I am going to love).
By the way, I just watched Ingmar Bergman's "The Silence," and was floored. I think something might have just changed in the way I watch movies.
So far, I agree with you about the Radiohead album, but I need to listen to it a little more to be sure.
I'm glad you've discovered Jens Lekman. You should listen to his first album if you haven't already. He's a great artist.
As for Wes Anderson, his films have been less and less enjoyable for me. I really like "Rushmore," but his films tend to be all style and little substance. I really recommend this Slate.com article for a discussion of the very problematic handling of race in Anderson's films, particularly in his new film.
I'm glad you've been initiated into the world of Bergman. The Silence is a very good movie, but I think the rest of the "faith trilogy" is even better; in particular, Winter Light is superb. I recommend going through and watching all of his films. It will change the way you watch film for good. In particular, watch Wild Strawberries, Persona, Scenes from a Marriage, and Fanny & Alexander. And of course The Seventh Seal, if you haven't watched it already.
I'm not sure if you are to be pitied or commended, because while you have been missing out on one of this country's greatest political satirists, you are probably spending your time much more wisely that those of us glued to our cable TV on weekday nights. :)
Stephen Colbert is a talk-show host on Comedy Central. His show, The Colbert Report (pronounced "Coal-bear Ra-pour" - think French) was a split-off from Jon Stewart's Daily Show. Colbert plays a pompous naive ultra-conservative -- an intentional imitation of Bill O'Reilly, whom he calls "Papa Bear." The show is a brilliant socio-politico-cultural critique, and you can watch it at 11:30 pm on Comedy Central Monday-Thursday, with repeats at 10:30 am and 8:30 pm on the following day.
The single best introduction to Stephen Colbert is his speech at the White House Correspondent's Dinner in 2006. Frank Rich called this speech the event that turned the tide in the mid-term election. You can watch it on youtube. Here are the three videos:
Pt. 1
Pt. 2
Pt. 3
But in order to get some of the background to his Correspondent's Dinner speech, you also have to know about his inaugural episode, in which he coined the now-famous word "truthiness." The American Dialect Society named it "Word of the Year" in 2005 and then Merriam-Webster's did the same in 2006. You can read about it on Wikipedia.
Enjoy!