Intense Sunday Nights

I have a select number of shows I simply cannot miss. But for the most part, I’m a-okay falling behind a few weeks and catching up on a cold, rainy Saturday/Sunday. Homeland is not one of them. If I miss it on a Sunday, I feel like I’m missing the most important news in the world.

If you haven’t heard of Homeland or watched it, it’s time. This show brings an intensity to Sunday nights you never knew you needed. I get so sucked into the plot lines and characters that I really think Abu Nazir is a terrorist out there and we’re trying to catch him. The minute you think you have the show figured out, you realize you don’t. The show continues to surprise and delight, even on its less thrilling episodes (note: that is practically an oxymoron).

But it’s not just the watching of the show I enjoy. Over on Grantland, Andy Greenwald writes thrilling recaps and analyses after every episode. It’s the highlight of my Monday to read and then discuss with BLB over afternoon coffee. As the second season wraps in 3 weeks, this Christmas/Winter season is the perfect time to catch up on the series. You must start from the beginning and I can assure you, when you have all the episodes at your disposal, it will be hard to walk away.

It’s television like this that makes me so happy and grateful there are Americans out there who could careless about the latest Real Housewives or MTV reality show. People appreciate the detailed, dramatic script peppered with some lightheartedness. And I for one, cannot get enough.

Signs

Last night, Amanda and I went to a screening of Jeff, Who Lives At Home. The film, from the Duplass brothers, played at the Film Festival last year and stars Jason Segel, Ed Helms and Susan Sarandon. I went in expecting lots of laugh and not too much thinking.

The film delivered in humor, cringe-worthy moments and just complete absurdity. But that’s not what kept me engaged, the script was superb. The way everything tied at the end with a nice little bow you just didn’t see coming and it all was because Jeff (Segel) watched Signs one day and decides when someone calls him as a wrong number, it’s a sign he’s supposed to do something great with his life.

For me, I completely believe in signs, though I’m sure it’s just my imagination making something more in order to make me feel better about my decisions. But I couldn’t help but take it as a sign that I need to finish editing my book and send off when upon exiting the theatre, we walked right by my writing idol, Roger Ebert.

The film opens on Friday, March 16.