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New Releases for July 12, 2011

Posted 29 weeks 3 days ago | By Tyler C. Hellard | Amusing Myself To Death

Rango I took my ten-year-old son to this movie when it hit theaters a few months ago. He mostly hated it. And that's fair, because I'm not entirely sure this cartoon marketed very much towards children was actually for children. Personally, I thought it was pretty good. Available on DVD, ...

Friday Five: Stampede Foods I Subjected My Son To

Posted 30 weeks 12 hours ago | By Tyler C. Hellard | Amusing Myself To Death

My family and I went to the Stampede grounds three times last year. Once was for the chuck wagon finals. Once was for rides. And once was just to eat all the food. It was a good day, though it probably disqualified me as Father Of the Year. 1. Deep Fried Jelly Beans 2. Deep Fried Mac and...

New Releases for June 28, 2011

Posted 31 weeks 3 days ago | By Tyler C. Hellard | Amusing Myself To Death

The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Limited Extended Edition) Trying to keep up with the various releases of these movies is a losing (and expensive) battle. Personally, I've never been a fan (it's just nine hours of walking!), but some people — including a certain Executive Editor for a magazine I won't mention — can't get enough. I can only assume that between added footage and bonus features in this latest version, she can now spend 82 consecutive hours watching fairy tale creatures walk...

Friday Five: My Guilty Pleasures (Part 1)

Posted 32 weeks 11 hours ago | By Tyler C. Hellard | Amusing Myself To Death

Chuck Klosterman dislikes the term "guilty pleasures" because it "implies that a) people should feel bad for liking things they sincerely enjoy, and b) if these same people were not somehow coerced into watching Road House every time it's on TBS, they'd probably be reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." I can't say much about the second bit — if I didn't watch or listen to crap I feel bad about liking (...

New Releases for June 21, 2011

Posted 32 weeks 3 days ago | By Tyler C. Hellard | Amusing Myself To Death

Bon Iver by Bon Iver If you only buy one album this week, make it the one with a song called "Calgary" (even though I'm pretty sure it's not about Calgary). In all seriousness (!), if you liked For Emma, Forever Ago and Blood Bank, you'll like Bon Iver. And if you didn't like those albums, try this one anyway because it's better in all the right ways. Available on CD and...

Friday Five: Songs About Women I Was In Love With

Posted 33 weeks 12 hours ago | By Tyler C. Hellard | Amusing Myself To Death

In an effort to shamelessly cross promote my own project to the Avenue audience, this week's Friday Five is excerpted from 52 Mix Tapes and a mix tape I created called "To All the Girls I've Loved Before: An Autobiographical Mix Tape of Love, Lust and Heartbreak." 1. "Molly" by Datarock ...

Friday Five: Too Much Of a Good Thing

Posted 34 weeks 13 hours ago | By Tyler C. Hellard | Amusing Myself To Death

I recently watched every episode of the American version of the Office for a post I'm hoping to write next week. As I got to the most recent episodes — the ones where Michael Scott leaves the show and they start searching for a new manager — I found myself wondering why this show has decided to continue. Well, obviously it's continuing because ratings are good and there's still money to be made, but there's no doubt that if the Office hasn't jumped the shark yet (it totally has, by the way), we'll all be able to look at this...

New Releases for June 7, 2011

Posted 34 weeks 3 days ago | By Tyler C. Hellard | Amusing Myself To Death

Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season on DVD, Blu-ray and iTunes According to people I know and mostly trust, this is the best show I've never watched a single episode of. Maybe...

Friday Five: Cancelled Before Their Time

Posted 35 weeks 12 hours ago | By Tyler C. Hellard | Amusing Myself To Death

People always hold up Arrested Development as the gold standard for TV shows cancelled in their prime. I’ve never felt that way. Yes, it was a hilarious show, but it was also a brand of humor that had a limited lifespan. I think we got exactly the right amount of Bluth family, and it’s one of the few times a show ran its course and stopped at a time that would forever preserve it as something we could all look back at fondly. 1. Sports Night I’m currently re-watching these — my third time through — and it makes me want to cry...

New Releases for May 31, 2011

Posted 35 weeks 3 days ago | By Tyler C. Hellard | Amusing Myself To Death

Codes and Keys by Death Cab For Cutie on CD and iTunes This is the one everyone will be talking about this week, though if you were paying attention, you probably downloaded it last week. If I might offer a rare New Releases critique based on having actually experienced the album: It’s totally okay and I’m a big fan of track five. True...