Best of the Week - Third Week of February

Best TV show I saw: Nothing that was absolutely spectacular this week. Although I did enjoy Michael Scott’s movie Threat Level Midnight during this episode’s episode of The Office, I have to give this week’s award to Community which continued its second season streak of hits. I have to admit that last year I thought this show was hit or miss (although more hits than misses), but this season it has really hit its stride with some of the funniest characters on TV: Abed and Troy play off each other too well. The look on Danny Glover’s face when he was in the presence of Levar Burton this week was comedy gold.

Best movie I saw: I just finished watching Machete. It was a perfect continuation to the Grindhouse films that Tarantino and Rodriguez started back in 2008. I hope they continue putting out these cheaper movies that are really all about fun than anything else. Since these films don’t take themselves too seriously, they are able to get such well respected actors (Robert DeNiro) and celebrities to poke fun of themselves (Linsdsey Lohan).

I also enjoyed: The Swedish version of The Girl Who Played With Fire. This movie may not have been as god as it’s previous installment. However, I enjoyed the novel this movie was based on so much that it was great to see a film version of it. Although the first movie I think benefited from a a lot of the editing it got from the source material, this movie took a little too much of the fun and mystery out of the book and as a result was a little boring.

Best thing I read: I finally finished up the 5^th deluxe volume of Invincible. This is a comic book that tells the story of a kid who finds out his father was basically Superman, but a Superman that came to Earth to take over the planet. He finds out his father was evil and gets him to leave earth and then becomes a hero to try and make-up for his father’s bad actions. It is really a great story in the vein of old-school Spider-Man with a character that has human problems along with superhero ones. All of this happens in a comic book that also happens to be one of the bloodiest books out there. Also, since it is creator-owned you never know what is going to happen and who might die in any given episode.

I also enjoyed: A short novel that I received for free at Comicon called Brains: A Zombie Memoir by Robin Becker. The author approached me while I walked past her at Comicon and gave me the book for free. The story follows a college professor that becomes a zombie during a zombie apocalypse but keeps his smarts while also thirsting for Brains and writing the memoir as it goes on. He understands that he is a Zombie, but hopes he can somehow find some sort of peace with the humans. He meets other Zombies along the way that have other special abilities (one that is fast, one that can speak still and one that is a nurse and can bandage them all up as they get injured). The book tries a little bit too hard to be clever, but for what it is I enjoyed it.

Best music I heard: The new Radiohead CD was just released, but I have not had a chance to properly listen to it yet. Since most of their CDs take some time a few listens to fully marinate, I will reserve any judgment for the time being.