IMDB 250 - Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)

Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)

As the title suggests, this is a dog story. It's a "G Rated" "Family Film" that's appropriate for the family of all ages.

I went into it quite cynically. Family films rarely make it into the IMDB 250 and this one I'd never even heard of before. Ever. Could it really be that good if it's been out for three years and I've never even heard of it?

The first half is an exercise in formula. Through some sort of mix up a man (Richard Gere) finds a lost puppy. The puppy is about the cutest puppy ever and yet he simply can't find anyone else to take him and nobody comes forth to claim him. So he keeps him despite his wife's disapproval. And, of course, the puppy gets into all sorts of mischief.

But while we've seen the first half in movies before, the second half takes a turn that is a "different take" on things. And even going into it with arms folded, it did get to me. You know how it is... If you've ever owned a dog or simply like dogs or have any feeling towards any animal whatsoever, I think you'd have to be made of stone not to (at the very least) well up at this movie. And it's safe to say I'm definitely not made of stone.

7.8/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 377.

The Late Night Premiere

The first episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers premiered tonight and the future is uncertain.

Late night talk shows almost always start slow, they almost always take time to find their groove and get the proper footing. So I don't think anyone can predict anything from just the first show. However it did have noticeable weaknesses.

What should have been the obvious strength of the show was a huge weakness. Seth Meyers comes from the "Weekend Update" desk at Saturday Night Live so making jokes about the news is second nature at this point. But that's also the problem. The monologue is supposed to be direct communication to the audience - it's supposed to be conversational - Seth belted out the jokes in exactly the same "fake newscaster" style that he's been doing on "Weekend Update". Everything he said sounded like yelling and the jokes suffered. That's an easy fix though so hopefully it happens.

Over to desk chat: more yell-talking. The band is also a bit strange, one of the members is Fred Armisen (which would be a bonus) but there's some strange arrangement where he's going to be in the band some of the time but often leave to do other things, I don't know how it works. The comedy was standard cheap late night stuff but at least he stopped yelling for them. The interviews (Amy Poehler and Joe Biden) were fine if a little low on energy.

And that's the show. In summary, it felt like Steps 1-5 on how to do a talk show. It's as if they're simply going through the motions of filling up network time with no passion for originality or personality. I want to emphasize again that the long-term success of a talk show is just about impossible to predict. But right now the point is more about whether I'm suitably interested in following it nightly. I don't see anything to grab onto thus far.

As of now the episode isn't available online. When it is, you'll find it here.

Edit: To be totally fair to the new Late Night, my viewing of it may have been affected by the news that I may have just lost a large sum of money. That isn't good for entertainment, surely. That's a whole other story. You can watch the show and decide for yourself anyway.

IMDB 250 - Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)

"Elite Squad: The Enemy Within". If you're like me, that title sends a shiver of awfulness up your spine. Well, I can tell you it isn't as bad as the title suggests. It's a Brazilian movie and the title is probably just a matter of translation.

"Elite Squad: beh beh behbeh" examines crime and corruption within Rio de Janeiro at all levels. Drugs and guns are rampant, the police are thoroughly corrupt and the people who command them (the government) are criminals themselves. The gangs are out of control and so the police employ extremely draconian measures to fight back... which makes them ever more unpopular with the people they're supposed to protect. There is seemingly no end to the city's problems and no solution in sight.

"Elite Squad: etc, etc" is more about events than characters and has an almost constant stream of world-weary narration. It's gritty, it's violent, it's "action-packed". It's actually well made and well acted. But it's one of those movies that's not bad, but also didn't interest me in any way. There was no point where I cared about what happened. Thus, the two hour running time seemed like an eternity.

5/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 376.

Serious Jibber-Jabber - Ken Burns

Conan sits down and talks to Documentarian Ken Burns ("The Civil War", "Baseball", "Lewis and Clark", etc.) about speeches, Lincoln, Presidential History and the history of our nation.

I've said this about other interviews in the past but I'll say it again because it's true.... an hour-long interview with a Documentarian is a big commitment but it really is worth it. It's a great interview.

IMDB 250 - Three Colors: Red (1994)

Three Colors: Red (1994)

"Three Colors: Red" feels like the quintessential foreign movie. It's slow, deliberate, nothing but conversation and it deals with weighty philosophical ideas. It's also a French language film set in Switzerland and has a Polish Director.

A model in Geneva hits a dog with her car and looks for the owner. She finds the owner is a retired Judge who now spends his time listening in to his neighbors phone conversations. She's disgusted but also clearly drawn to the man and attempts to know him.

Although this movie is from 1994, it looks like it's from 1984. It looks and feels like Director Krzysztof Piesiewicz's other work "The Decalogue". That's not a criticism exactly, just an observation. In fact, I liked "The Decalogue" so much that I enjoy it. It must be a particular camera or type of film he used.

"Red" is part of a trilogy in which some of the characters in one movie show up in the other two. There's also a suggestion that some of the characters are actually the same character, but at a different point in time. The "Three Colors" trilogy, and this film, are about the interconnectedness of all of our lives and about the way all of our lives are disconnected as well. And it's all up to chance, destiny or serendipity as to which lives touch which others.

8/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 375.

Conan Delivers Flowers

For Valentine's Day Conan helps deliver flowers. Though some people call it "Valenties Day".

Conan's hair is outta control in this one. It's like Catherine O'Hara in "Waiting for Guffman".

Tonight Show - Brian Williams Raps

Jimmy Fallon is back with another episode of "Brian Williams Raps" and this one is extra special. You gotta love "Rapper's Delight", everyone loves "Rapper's Delight". It's basically the law.

Tonight Show - Harry Styles Interview

On Jimmy Fallon's second night as host of the Tonight Show an audible was called. Kristen Wiig was scheduled to be the second guest but at the last second, Harry Styles (of One Direction fame) suddenly became available. So he cancelled Kristen Wiig and chose to interview Harry instead.

The result looked like this:

Conan Remembers Sid Caesar

Conan had a show to honor the comedy legend Sid Caesar who passed away last week. His first and only guest was Mel Brooks who wrote for Caesar on "Your Show of Shows".



Watch the full episode here. They did a great job of choosing and showing clips of the great sketches (and editing them down because of the kids and their attention spans).

But I thought I would link one of my own favorites that wasn't covered by Conan. Here's the Clock Sketch:


You can see the direct line from Caesar's German doubletalk and Conan's German impression as well as the Clock Sketch to SNL's Tunnel of Love Sketch.

The Tonight Show Premiere

The first episode of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon aired last night. It makes no sense that NBC is premiering it at midnight while the Olympics are still happening when there's no reason why they couldn't just wait for the Olympics to be over. Not good.

First Guest: Will Smith
First Musical Guest: U2

Here's the beginning of the monologue:



These first shows are never very good. It always takes a while to settle in. Even the crowd was nervously quiet for some reason.

The opening is directed by Spike Lee. The new set looks good. Obviously the large curtain behind the monologue is a throwback to the Johnny Carson days. The Roots are still the band and they've added a brass section (perhaps also a Carson throwback) giving them a very different sound. Speaking of sound, one of my nitpicky complaints about Conan's Tonight Show was that the set made it sound like he was talking from the other end of a large hall - there was always an uncomfortable echo. Fortunately, this set doesn't suffer from that problem.

Would you like to see the full episode? Well, unlike Late Night where all the episodes were posted online, I don't see any corresponding system for The Tonight Show. Definitely a step backward. Ahh, the joys of NBC.

Edit: Although there is no link on the official website, the full episode is on Hulu. Watch it here.

The Last Episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Friday was the last episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Watch it here.

Total Number of Episodes: 969.
Last Guest: Andy Samberg.
Last Musical Guest: Arguably Buckwheat Zydeco.
Last Guest Performance: The Muppets.

The last episode has a strange feel to it - the timing is off and Jimmy doesn't have any "punch" in the jokes because he's constantly verging on becoming "emotional". But the weight of the moment justifies it.

Speaking of "the weight"... the last segments of the "last shows" are part of TV history and lore. Jack Paar's "Come on, Lika... we're going home", Johnny Carson on the stool, etc.

In terms of "Late Night", when Letterman left Late Night, the last segment, he sat behind the desk and spoke to the audience. Conan's last segment on Late Night was the similar. Jimmy's bucked the trend (perhaps partly because he wouldn't be able to get through it without becoming a weeping mess). Instead of a speech, he performs The Band's "The Weight" with the Muppets and does it in a loving recreation of the version that appears in the movie "The Last Waltz".



"The Last Waltz" is a concert movie that covers The Band's last concert. The parallels with the situation of Jimmy's last show are obvious. Jimmy plays drums and plays on an identical set to Levon Helm's drum set in that movie. Jimmy grew up in upstate New York, not far from Levon's adopted home. I love that they got all the little touches right. The lighting is the same, the colors are the same, the recreation is so complete they even mimic Scorceses style of rotating around the musicians in tracking shots. Compare. I obviously love it. It's a great way to say goodbye.

The first episode of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon airs February 17th 2014.
Late Night with Seth Meyers starts February 24th 2014.

Conan - Punxsutawney Dr. Phil

Is this funny? Is it stupid? It's both! It's so stupid that it's funny...

The Super Bridges

As always, I have an ongoing project to boycott the Super Bowl as long as I don't have a rooting interest (Pre-2011, 2011, 2012, 2013). This year's Super Bowl replacement activity was..... watching "The Bridges of Madison County".

This movie came out in 1995 and got a lot of press as being a tremendous "chick flick". I had never seen it but was always curious about it so it seemed to be the right thing for the Super Bowl.

"The Bridges of Madison County" is about the bridges of Madison County. Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood star as bridges #1 and #2.

"The Bridges of Madison County" is about a housewife (Meryl Streep) who has an affair with a photographer (Clint Eastwood). She finds true love but must decide whether to follow it or stay with her family.... And that's pretty much it. It's a very simple story told in pretty tight confines - it's the type of movie that could have easily been a play (even though it really wasn't).

Meryl Streep is as excellent as always and Clint Eastwood is good too. There isn't a whole lot to say about this movie... it's a simple story, well told. It's somewhat sensual or erotic and it kind of becomes a tearjerker at some point. The whole movie depends entirely on the chemistry of the two leads and that works.

Conclusion: Definitely better than "The Notebook", probably not as good as "Steel Magnolias". Although, with that last one, it's kind of an "apples and oranges" situation.

7/10.

Movie Review: Nebraska (2013)

Nebraska (2013)

I went to see "Nebraska" at the theater at 9PM on a Tuesday and crossed two items off my bucket list. I don't really have a bucket list, but you know... Firstly, it's in black and white and so I saw a black and white movie in the theater for the first time (as best I remember). Secondly, I've always wanted to go to a movie and be the only one in the theater and that's exactly what happened with this movie. The movie theater must have known that no one was watching because they left the house lights at 100% for the first 20 minutes of the movie. But it was alright.

As the for the movie itself, it's a great movie. Bruce Dern plays an old man who gets a "Publisher's Clearing House" type letter in the mail and believes he must get to Nebraska to claim his million dollars. He's also possibly slipping into senility and Will Forte (friggin' Will Forte), as his son, must deal with the consequences. It's very subtle, very minimal and it's both a great drama and a great comedy. It reminds me of "Lost in Translation" in many respects. I especially loved the the black and white photography on the big screen - it looks amazing.

7/10.

Late Night - The Passing of the Pickle

It's a Late Night tradition that when a new host takes over, the Late Night Pickle gets passed to the new regime. In about a month, Jimmy Fallon becomes the new host of the Tonight Show and Seth Meyers will be the new host of Late Night***. And so it's time to pass the pickle.


On a personal note, I think Seth Meyers is a funny guy but I'm not sure whether I'll be watching his show. We'll see what happens...

*** All of this is dependent upon NBC not acting as stupidly as NBC usually acts and also upon Jay Leno actually going away this time. Are we really confident this will happen? I'm not.

Conan Talks to Interns

Conan has a lot of interns working for him. In a very special remote, he talks to them about what it's like to do what they do...

Conan - Jordan Schlansky Gets Organized

Conan feels Jordan Schlansky's office is dangerously unorganized so he hires a professional organizer to help him get his act together.

Any time Conan visits Jordan Schlansky, it's just money in the comedy bank.

Late Show - Christmas Traditions

Friday was the last Late Show before Christmas so it was the annual Christmas show.

First off, the greatest story of all-time: Jay Thomas' "Lone Ranger" story followed by the football/meatball challenge. Well, one snag this year: Jay Thomas is currently recovering from an injury and couldn't do it. So John McEnroe (with some help from the cue cards) steps in for him.

[52:49]

For the Quarterback Meatball Challenge, John hit tennis balls at the top of the tree but was unable to hit it.

And, of course, Darlene Love performs "Christmas Baby (Please Come Home)".

One bonus this year: celebrities opening up disappointing gifts:

Merry Christmas.

Conan Visits a Doll Store

Conan visits the "American Girl" store and the result is hilarity. He even develops his own "play pattern".

Conan Goes for a Ride

Conan, Ice Cube and Kevin Hart go for a ride in a car. I don't know why - I think it's a commercial for the app they use - but it's good.

IMDB 250 - Incendies (2010)

Incendies (2010)

"Incendies" is a Canadian film, filmed in the French language and set in Lebanon. As it begins, two twins are reading the will of their recently deceased mother. In the will she requests that they find their father and brother, both of whom they have never met. In order to track them down, they have to piece together the pieces of their mother's life which we experience in flashbacks.

If there was ever going to be a first scene that hooks me in, it would be this movie's. The film starts with basically a music video for the Radiohead song "You and Whose Army". I'm in. And then later on in the film, the song "Like Spinning Plates" makes an appearance.

Soundtrack aside, "Incendies" is a pretty powerful film with an extremely clever story. One scene in particular I found to be extremely powerful and the ending is quite a twist. It reminds of a modern day "Dr. Zhivago" in the way it cuts to the past to reconstruct a person's life, shows the devastating effects that world events have on the lives of average people and the fact that the ending delivers such an emotional punch.

8/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 374.

Conan Auditions for Commercials

Conan goes to a Commercial Acting School and tries his hand at making commercials. He's like a cat that's ready to pounce and he uses his turn signals to avoid an accident.

Will Forte, Freakin' Will Forte

Will Forte was on Late Night recently.

First, he unveiled his submission for the new "Tonight Show" theme song. Frankly, it sounds a lot like his proposal for the "Late Night" theme song.



Then, he performed a very special medley of James Ingram songs... but there's something a bit off about the whole thing...

Conan Goes to BlizzCon

Every year there's a convention that centers around the online role-playing game "World of Warcraft". Conan attended this year and filed a report on the goings-on.

Conan at the Track

Conan goes to the horse track and gets to call a race.

Another Event in Television History

The creators of The Greatest Event in Television History 1 and 2 are back but with a slightly more humble attitude. This time, they hope to create AN Event in Television History by filming a shot-for-shot recreation of the "Too Close for Comfort" intro.

Can they pull it off? Find out...

More Conan at 20

More Conan clips from the past 20 years were added to the Conan website.

Highlights include:

Seinfeld Auditions

2003 Year in Review (Clutch Cargo)

Late Night Rain Delay

Best of Late Night Comedy Vol. 1

Best of Late Night Comedy Vol. 2

Best of Late Night Comedy Vol. 3

Best of Late Night Comedy Vol. 4

Best of Late Night Comedy Vol. 5

Best of Tonight Show Comedy

Best of Conan Comedy Vol. 1

Best of Conan Comedy Vol. 2

And so forth...

IMDB 250 - Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

I don't really need to describe the plot or rate the various aspects of the film. This movie lives up to the Star Trek name, it's as good or better than the previous installment. It's a great action movie. It's everything you'd want a Star Trek movie to be, I think.

In this installment, I got particular enjoyment out of Simon Pegg's performance as Scotty and Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy. Both are excellent renditions of the legendary characters.

8/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 373.

IMDB 250 - Like Stars on Earth (2007)

Like Stars on Earth (2007)

A boy struggles in school and in life until an inspired, vibrant teacher comes along and recognizes that he simply has dyslexia.

Well, it's tough to be cynical about a movie where a little boy realizes his potential because someone cared about him. I will say that this movie is charming and it is somewhat touching in some places. Having said that, it really isn't that good. It's cloying and obvious and filled with cookie-cutter scenes that we've all seen a thousand times. It also has too many songs and there's no reason for a dance number (yes, I know it's the cultural norm).

I wouldn't say it's awful but it's like a "very special episode" of "Growing Pains" if "Growing Pains" episodes were 3 hours long.

5/10.

Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 372.

Conan's 20 Year Anniversary

Late Night with Conan O'Brien first went on the air September 13, 1993 - 20 years ago. His first guests were John Goodman, Drew Barrymore and musical guest Radiohead.

All this week Conan has been celebrating the anniversary by playing montages of the best moments of his 20 years on late night. There are too many to link to but you can find all the uploaded clips at TeamCoco.com/Conan20. They'll only be available for a few weeks though.

A few personal notables:

20 Years of Bloopers

The World's Oldest Stuntman (a video I put on youtube before it was removed by NBC)

The Clive Clemmons Totally Inappropriate Response Channel

Conan Goes to Bartending School

Conan and Andy Have a Staring Contest

Abe Lincoln Money Shots (don't watch it)

The Max On Max Channel (don't watch it either)

The "Not Cool Zeus" Channel

Conan Visits Houston

Conan Dines with Jordan Schlansky

Conan's "Making the Band" - Dudez A-Plenti (note: Conan's own website gets the name of the band wrong. Pfff.)

And on, and on, and on. Check it out.

Serious Jibber-Jabber - Mel Brooks

Conan sits down for a long-form interview with Mel Brooks. They discuss Automats and little else...

Conan Reviews Video Games - PC Horror Games

Conan is back with another video game review. This time, in honor of Halloween, he's reviewing a few horror games for the PC.

This video is kind of Not Safe for Work.

Late Night - 1980s Cop Show

Long time, no post. Well, I didn't go anywhere, it's just that the Late Night Comedy field has been sparse lately.

But this is good.

Jimmy Fallon and Alec Baldwin remember their 1980s cop show:

IMDB 250 - The Hobbit (2012)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

I think I like this movie more than the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Having not read any of the books, I can't say why for sure but I can speculate.

I guess that when you spread one book over three movies (instead of three books over three movies), the material is allowed to "breath". You can handle things more slowly and naturally. The beginning of the first Lord of the Rings movie feels jarring - they setup multiple characters, races, histories all at once and then things move seemingly very fast (and perhaps seemingly at random). The beginning of this movie only needs to setup a few characters and a few flashbacks to history to get going. It's much easier to get into. As a fantasy movie, it feels less of a "list of scenes that we need to cover" and edges closer to "Alice in Wonderland" or "The Wizard of Oz".

I also think that Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins is easier to like than Elijah Wood. The group of dwarves that he accompanies are also much more fun than "the fellowship". It follows, then, that the action sequences work more because you care about the characters involved.

It also helps that this movie can start at the beginning. The LOTR trilogy didn't have that. It, again, feels simpler and easier to follow. Perhaps if this movie had been released first, I would have enjoyed LOTR more.

I've spoken before in my review of "Harry Potter and the Something Something" about how dangerous magic is in movies. I'll repeat myself slightly here because it most definitely applies. The magic in this movie has no logic. Perhaps it's explained in the books, I don't know. But I do know that one scene begins with Gandalf creating a huge explosion of white light and knocking out hundreds of enemies in all directions and then a few minutes later, he's trying to fight off a single attacker with a sword. How does that work? If you can use magic in one instance, what happened in the next? In fact, when ever ANYTHING bad happens in the movie, I'm wondering why magic isn't used. Seems pretty straightforward. Similarly, if a character has just been pushed off a giant cliff and is hurtling toward the ground and a giant eagle appears from nowhere to pick him up, what does that mean for all future "whatever will they do" predicaments? It's extremely hard to worry about the outcome of any dramatic situation when you've already seen how magic can just swoop in out of nowhere and save the day.

Given that we know everything will always turn out fine thanks to magic, I can only guess that it'll be very hard to really be worried by anything in the series to come. But this is enjoyable, imaginative and colorful entertainment. I enjoyed it.

6/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 371.

Conan and Louis C.K. Reminisce

September 13th was the 20th Anniversary of the first Late Night with Conan O'Brien and one of the writers on his first show was Louis C.K.. In this clip they remember the old days...

P&S - Bono as a Wedding Singer

Preston and Steve riff on the idea of Bono being a wedding singer. After the initial intro, be sure your sound is up because it's a little hard to hear.



Incidentally, the same general concept came up before on the Ben Stiller Show.

Late Night - Joking Bad

In the latest Late Night with Jimmy Fallon spoof, Jimmy reveals that his show is a lot like the TV show "Breaking Bad".

If you haven't been watching "Breaking Bad" this won't be funny to you and, more importantly, you're missing out on one of the great TV shows of our time. Everyone else: enjoy.

P&S - Rocky IV Translation

At the end of Rocky IV, Rocky speak to the Soviet people and single-handedly defeats communism. But when he speaks to them, he speaks through a supposedly Russian interpreter. So is the translation in the movie accurate? Preston and Steve investigate it's validity in this clip:



A few explanations to some of the references:

"Carwashes where the people are." is a reference from earlier in the show.
"Been come to known as." is a garbled phrase inside-joke of the show.
"Resist we much." is a quote from Al Sharpton.
"When it's time to change you've got to rearrange." are some of the lyrics of the Brady Bunch song "Time to Change".

Conan - Jordan Schlansky is Late

Conan has discovered that Jordan Schlansky is coming into work late on Fridays and confronts him about it...


Why would they still work on Friday if there's no show? Either do a show 5 days a week for the audience or enjoy a 3 day weekend every week for yourself. This is a lose-lose.

P&S - "The World's End" Interview

A really Preston and Steve interview with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright. They talk about "The World's End", Star Trek and Star Wars.

Late Night - Brian Williams Raps

In this edition of the continuing series where Brian Williams raps classic hip hop, Brian Williams covers the classic "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.

Ride Like the Wind Resurfaces

It's coming up on four years since Christopher Cross performed on the finale of the first ever Yacht Rock Party and the online videos of the performances are long gone. But one of them, "Ride Like the Wind", has resurfaced on vimeo.

If, like me, you can't get enough of this, this is exciting news. Here's Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald and The Roots performing "Ride Like the Wind"...

Jesse and the Rippers Reunite

Jesse and the Rippers reunite for a one-time performance of all their greatest hits. And it all happens on Late Night...



There are two ways you can go with the fact that the vocals are lip synched. Maybe it's sad, cheap and insulting. But they were probably lip synching on "Full House" too so you could take it as perhaps "more authentic". You decide.

Late Night - Jesse & the Rippers; Perm Week

This Friday, Late Night will feature a reunion performance of the legendary band Jesse and the Rippers. The San Francisco band will be playing for the first time in decades. Catch it. It's all part of Late Night's Perm Week.

Rifftrax - Bermuda Triangle

The guys over at Rifftrax have a new riff on the movie "Bermuda Triangle" out. They must have been in a strange mood when they made this new promo to talk about the new release because it's even better than when they discussed "Birdemic"... which was really funny.

Bermuda Triangle:

Return of the Wolf Waker

The journey to liberate the bird-like creatures of Barnard's world had begun with purpose, but readings from the star's core troubled the Wolf Waker. As the Conjoining Plague slowly spread amongst the wolf army, he wondered if they would ever make it home. 

He had witnessed enough pain and cruelty for a thousand lifetimes but still he recoiled at the horrible alien mutations that the plague had wrought. Innocent and loyal wolves were sacrificed - flung screaming into the Ocean of Burning Methane which lay beyond the Great Waste. And now the Bird King had gone mad, calling for a worldwide insurrection against the wolves before he too felt the sting of the Wolf Waker's harmonic spear. 

There were only three keys left to the Quantum Tunnel. Two of them were flying like daggers into the heart of the faltering star...

Stephen Merchant on Drunk History

The first episode of "Drunk History" aired last night and featured a cameo by Stephen Merchant.

In "Drunk History", various regular people get drunk and then tell the story of a particular historical event. Then, actors dramatize the event the way the drunk person told it.

In addition to Steve Merchant as Lincoln, the first episode features Dave Grohl, Jack Black, Fred Willard, Adam Scott, Will Forte and Bob Odenkirk.

The episode can be watched online here. "Drunk History" airs Tuesday nights on Comedy Central.

IMDB 250 - Memories of Murder (2003)

Memories of Murder (2003)

A young woman is raped and murdered in a small South Korean town. The police force looking at the case may be from a rural area, but they have seen their share of murders. Except there's one thing that makes this one different: no evidence. It appears that the killer is a professional - he's systematic enough that they have nothing to go on. Soon after, there is another murder. And then another.

"Memories of Murder" is based on the true story of the first serial killer case in South Korea from 1986 - 1991 which remains unsolved.

Leading the case are two different detectives with two very different methodologies - one from the big city, one from the country. I know that sounds like every buddy cop movie ever but the movie is good enough to make it seem fresh and real. Aside from the almost total absence of guns, there's another aspect that makes this movie rise above the formula - it counterplays the drama of the situation with black humor. South Korea, after all, was under a dictator at that time and police brutality was not unusual. In one scene of the movie, when a detective is unhappy that a suspect will not confess, he dropkicks him after a running start. In a later scene, same situation, another dropkick of the suspect.

Scenes like these are at the heart of why this movie works - it has such a delicate balance to strike and it succeeds. We want justice so we root for these cops but we watch them use brutal tactics and it reminds us of that they're not exactly "the good guys". We want them to succeed to catch the killer and yet, in moments that show their bumbling ineptitude, it works as comedy. It's a very strange and unique stew of feelings and genres.

"Memories of Murder" does all of these things well - it's smart, it twists, it turns, it leaves us guessing. So what's wrong with it? The problem is just the movies format. Police officers trying to track down a serial killer in a procedural drama is something we've (perhaps literally) seen a hundred times before. They find clues, they investigate leads, they bring in suspects - even if these elements are done well (and they are) they can't possibly have the same impact after 3,000 episodes of "Law and Order" have aired.

A very good film - interesting and entertaining - and with a very strong and memorable ending. But it just doesn't rise to the level of being great.

6/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 370.

P&S - Tracy Chapman

During a "Music News" story about a heavy metal festival, Preston and Steve get on a tangent about Tracy Chapman.



This clip is highly edited - the actual discussion was much longer and funnier - you can hear the full segment on this episode of their podcast.

Conan Searches for Mug

A mug was stolen in the Conan offices and Conan takes it upon himself to find it.