February 11, 2004

ALL I WANT, THE SIX

ALL I WANT, THE SIX MONTHS AFTER CHRISTMAS: What three pop-culture events was I most looking forward to in the first half of 2004? The new Norah Jones album, the Peter Biskind Miramax book, and the fifth season of "The Sopranos." Today, on at least some level, I experienced all three.
How is "Feels Like Home"? It's very, very good. Not "Come Away With Me" good, but still good. Most likely it will only win two or three Grammys, instead of eight, but don't hold that against it. Best songs are "Sunrise," "Those Sweet Words," and "Humble Me"; I'm not crazy about the Dolly Parton duet, but that's just me.
Biskind's "Down and Dirty Pictures" arrived via Amazon today; I've been looking forward to the book ever since it was announced, due to my love of the author's '70s opus "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls," which may very well be my favorite non-fiction book of all time. Biskind this time gives the treatment to '90s indie Hollywood; I can't wait to get started reading it.
And as for Tony and Co., we've got just once month to go out of the 15-month layoff, and tapes of the first four episodes were sent to critics this week. One such critic was the world's foremost "Sopranos" authority, the New York Post's Adam Buckman- though even the cynical Buckman calls the series "revitalized," mostly due to new characters played by Steve Buscemi, Robert Loggia, and legendary Hoboken tough-guy actor Frank Vincent. Ah, yet another reason to look forward to "Sex and the City" ending forever...

AND SPEAKING OF HBO SUNDAY NIGHT: This year's "Curb Your Enthusiam" season started a bit slow but has gradually improved throughout, as there's been at least one laugh-out-loud moment in each of the last three episodes. I'm thinking specifically of the golf-club-at-the-funeral thing, not to mention the picking-up-a-hooker-just-to-use-the-carpool-lane.
Then again, 'Curb' has sort of been overshadowed this year, partially because of the SATC hype, and partially because, on consecutive Sundays it's been up against the Golden Globes, the Super Bowl, and the Grammys, with the NBA All-Star Game and the Oscars still to come. At least that'll all be out of the way by the time "Sopranos" starts.

Posted by Stephen Silver at February 11, 2004 11:17 PM
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