On DVD:
Season 1 of "The Wire" - The ONLY American TV show with any heart, soul, and balls! I admire (and welcome) any installment which challenges the fragile conventions of human convolutedness through religious heresy, media circus control, and overall hypocrisy, and one in which I "learn something". I challenge anyone here to find a show that gives a 50-50 split attention with detectives/law enforcement AND a drug empire in (insert locale here, though the series takes place in Baltimore), or a show that doesn't suffocate on dried pieces of its own fecal, sugarcoated pretentiousness. This show gives me hope that at least outside South Park, The Boondocks (comic and animated series), Metalocalypse, Futurama, and Pixar films (yeah, a majority of them are animated, I know...I have this fond hatred of watching young and old folks on commericals and regulated cable excrement popping out 'clever' and 'sassy' phrases; trust me, it's painful, and I live in the U.S.A. too). I highly recommend this to anyone who hasn't seen it; those who have, disregard. I plan to see the other seasons in the future.
When The Last Sword Is Drawn - A recent samurai film from Yojiro Takita, I enjoyed it. Excellent action, dead-on pacing, some blurbs of humor and repose, an unpredictable and affecting storyline. It features a samurai named Kanichiro who used to train students and be a part of a certain clan, then left his home and family to join a group to protect the Shogun (took place around the Edo period). Even when he was away, the guy sent whatever money he had to his family...it's just awesome. I recommend it for anyone into these type of films.
United 93 - Wow, powerful...intense...not sucky. Everything a movie should be, although it focused more on four young hijackers and their plot to take down the plane rather than the people on board, but I later learned there were interviews with members of those who lost their lives on that fated collision. I hope I didn't ruin the appeal. Anyway, worth seeing; better than a lot of the 9/11 garbage out there, especially that Oliver Stone movie (can't remember the name, but it was crap).
In cinema:
WALL-E - Outside of the characters, profound charm, and slow-paced but well-executed humor of Azumanga Daioh (and Yotsuba&!), I have never stated ANYTHING else as being 'cute' or 'adorable'. But one look at the petite, titular character of Pixar's latest high-quality, kick-ass film, I seriously went 'Awwwww!!' 'Nuff said! Wall-E is just friggin' adorable...the way he moves around with his little tank treads, the little noises he makes, the things he collects, and damn, the way he waves...awwwww! In Azumanga Daioh, I've thought that all throughout when viewing the daily odysseys of Osaka (Ayumu Kasuga), Tomo, Sakaki, Chiyo-chan, Yomi, Kagura, and the others (same with the manga Yotsuba&! with Yotsuba, Fuka, Ena, Asagi, Kowaii, Jumbo, etc), but now, I have another installment to unwind this 'warm, fuzzy' sentiment. They got the same director who worked on Finding Nemo, and I loved that movie as well. In fact, I will proudly go view WALL-E again in the near future. By the way, this is the ONLY movie I looked forward to this year, and I'm spent.