I came to the conclusion as I was watching “Chuck” why I can’t watch most TV shows. I can’t stand a majority of the actors on television today. Either they’re just too annoying or miscast or just plain and simple, a bad actor. I mean I haven’t seen much of “Chuck” star Zachary Levi, but there’s a certain aggravating quality to him. Maybe it’s the character of Chuck that bothers me or maybe I keep on thinking that dude is a dime store Adam Brody. A long time ago, I talked to a professor about why would Kubrick use an actor like Ryan O’Neal in Barry Lyndon and he said maybe Kubrick wanted an actor that the audience wouldn’t like. So, now when I watch things, I begin to think and wonder if they cast a certain actor for his unlikability. Maybe I’m not supposed to like Chuck or his best friend, but instead be more emotional invested with in the dude from Full Metal Jacket, that blonde and of course, Rachel Bilson. I liked those characters an awful lot. Thought they were interesting, compelling and I was eager to find out what would happen next in their overall individual character arcs.

I also believe that I miss the point of most TV shows because with “Chuck,” I think I’m supposed to be rooting for Chuck and not against him.

It should be noted that I finally went back to “Heroes” and managed to get through most of an episode. Sure, I didn’t fully understand what was going on, but never the less, it was halfway decent. Kristen Bell was sassy and funny. That guy with the glasses was good and I don’t know it was a solid story and wasn’t bogged down in the bullshit with the crummy characters. If anything is going to come out of this strike, I hope that the staff of “Heroes” realizes that they have too many characters and can stand to let a few of the boring ones go.

Two more projects are delayed or put on hold due to the strike. Yet the G.I. Joe film keeps on plugging along; Sienna Miller has either been cast as “The Baroness,” “Scarlet,” or “Lady Jaye”. I’m guessing that Sienna Miller is probably going to wear clothes in it when all we know that she shouldn’t wear clothes ever again. It’s offensive to the eyes; Sienna Miller in clothes, that is.

I went by a couple of  writer picket lines yesterday afternoon and was extremely disappointed. Sure it was late in the afternoon and I only drove by because the guy at Amoeba told me that they didn’t have any import copies of Last Year at Marienbad and I already did my 5 miles. The first line I went to or at least drove by, I had been by a couple of times, but this time, there was nobody out there. Not a single soul with a sign,  not standing strong, not rising above, not nothing (which in the world of double negatives, means they were doing something, but it wasn’t in front of that studio). So, I drove by another place I knew that there were picket lines and I don’t know, it wasn’t that awesome or revolutionary as I would like to be. I guess I have this imagine in my head that the strike should be about knocking the fat cats down a couple of pegs and the people coming together. You know all of those punk rock ideals that you assumed that you would die for when you’re in eighth grade. Yet, it’s just a bunch of nerdy guys and girls talking to each other while leaning against their signs and wearing red shirts. If anything, the striking writers look like a bunch of super fans for the Angels jumping around, trying to get on camera as if it was a news piece on the 11 o’clock news. As I drove by the studio, I naturally honked my horn, but I felt a bit self-conscious of my horn. It’s not the toughest sounding horn and I’m wondering if one honk is good or do I need to do a couple in a row or one, long constant honk to show my support?  Not to mention, most of the time, I think I’m the only one honking my horn. Perhaps if I were to go to the lines much earlier in the morning, I’d hear more horns and signs of support from the people. They might say that the people are with the writers, but I don’t think that most of them actually give a shit. You know, they just want to watch “CSI: Miami” and American Gangster and not think about things.

I should probably check out the march on Hollywood Blvd tomorrow afternoon, but I’d rather march to the beat of my iPod’s drummer and do my 5 along the beach.

I saw this story on TMZ about how Aries Spears couldn’t get into Hyde for a second time in front of the TMZ cameras. I’m not one to knock anybody’s style unless it looks like one has paid far too much for some early 90s nostalgia gear, but maybe, just maybe if Aries Spears stepped up the gear game a bit, he could probably get there. I’m never been, I’ll never get into and most likely, would never want to go to Hyde, but if I were to go to Hyde, I know that I should probably step up the gear a couple of notches. The over sized, Neil Young flannel shirts and Vans most likely won’t pass mustard, so I’d probably go somewhere other than H&M for nice gear. Sometimes, we need to think not out of the box, but inside the box. Yes, nine times out of ten, logic will break your heart, but that one time, it’ll make sense and you’d be stoked on it.

Like if I were to understand the logic behind why I haven’t seen or there isn’t a region 1 release of Last Year at Marienbad, my heart would be broken into many pieces. Shit happens and it’s better that we don’t understand the hows and whys of it. Well, understand the hows and whys of the government and how you can elect an official that has the same beliefs as you, but even then, you’ll probably get your heart broken about things; your candidate might be an idealist, but over time, the lure of big money and corporations will knock him down a couple of pegs. Know your family medical history and your health insurance policy and when the rent is do, but everything else in the world, don’t even bother to understand it because it’ll only bum you out.

You should blind buy it because this is the film where the audio drop, “We had access to too much money, too much equipment and little by little, we went insane” from the DJ Shadow/UNKLE album came from. Also, you should pick up the steal of a DVD, the newly remastered edition of Chinatown. The film looks beautiful, decent interviews with Jack, Robert Towne, Robert Evans and Roman Polanski, and it’s 1ike 13 bucks. Own an American classic for what at least three gallons of gas costs these days.

One thing about No Country For Old Men and I promise it’ll be last thing on the film for a bit or until I see it for a third time. Anyways, in the comment section/post over at the old stomping grounds, frequent commenter Najork makes a comment about how No Country For Old Men felt like a remake of Bergman’s The Seventh Seal and I only make mention of this because first, it’s an excellent point; No Country For Old Men is about facing death and secondly, I think it’s an excellent counter point to one of the thoughts I’ve had about the film; in a way, No Country For Old Men reminded me a lot of Michelangelo Antonioni’s work, in particular Blowup. And I only say this because film studies nerds link Bergman & Antonioni’s films together a lot; hence the special issue of  Cahiers Du Cinema.

And I would say that don’t judge a film entirely on its ending, but I know that there have been films that have been ruined for me personally because of the ending. I just think people need to think about the ending of  No Country For Old Men for a couple of minutes, then maybe a couple of hours afterwards.

I thought that this was a photoshop job, but it’s real.