Brokeback Mountain, We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen, Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, Uninvited, a crappy TV show, and the Bengals

Brokeback Mountain is the most homoerotic film I've ever seen about sheep. Sheep in the literal and metaphorical sense, as two clearly gay men are herded by society into a furtive relationship that ruins their lives and those who love them. And now that that's done, Princess Diaries breasts! And I wish I knew how to quit you! Sure, it's a touching film of forbidden love, with strong performances from Heath and Jake. Plus, there's quite a few other good performances from the women who aren't quite woman enough for the men. Certainly not the best film of the year, but dear god, is it better than Crash.

We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen begins my documentary on influential musicians released in 2005 minifest. You are not, by the way, allowed to badmouth Double Nickels on the Dime. Just take a look at the amount of far more famous people talking about how awesome they were. Sure, a lot of their songs aren't always the best, but when they do hit that, the lyrics alone are amazing. For added fun in the film, besides lots and lots of concert footage (including at the old home of the 9:30 club), you have Mike Watt, an interesting guy in his own right, talking about D. Boon, one of the most fascinating people in music. Of course, a lot of the stories weren't new, as I'd read the excellent Our Band Could Be Your Life, but it's quite enjoyable anyway. If you don't like the Minutemen, then don't watch this. I also didn't think I could handle the second disc full of live songs of various quality, so the first one was fine for me.

Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man just reminds me that I like Loudon Wainright's acting infinitely more than everything Rufus Wainright has ever done. I might even go so far as to say that he's terrible. Note that that's a might. And Rufus's version of Hallelujah can't hold a candle to Jeff Buckley's (the one in the movie is further marred by the female singers). And his version of Everybody Knows is a travesty (the original of which I love for its use in Pump up the Volume). Teddy Thompson's version of Tonight Will Be Fine was a highlight. As was Jarvis Cocker doing I Can't Forget. Admittedly, I am a fan of the song, ever since I first heard Pixies covering it. Also, you know, Pulp rocks.

Uninvited has quite likely the greatest special feature ever on a DVD. No, not a skip straight to the nudity (there's only a brief flash during a revival scene anyway). It's a 15 minute condensed version of the film. Had I just watched that, it would have been just fifteen minutes of confusion rather than two hours. Some interesting things in this cross between an ultra-religious My Own Private Idaho, Pillow Talk, and Ringu. Seriously, there's even a well. Interior Design is an important aspect of the film. Ghosts, narcolepsy, along with cannibalism (did you miss that deleted scene were Keanu Reeves eats River Phoenix in a seriously misguided attempt to gain his acting talent?) and dropping babies because they're evil. Well, that babies are like cats and that they'll eat their owners if needed. Just an utter mess of a film. Falling asleep in the middle of it after a busy Saturday didn't help.

And, for those of you who are my Netflix friends (if you aren't and want to be, let me know), you might notice I watched the first disc of The Newsroom, a Canadian TV news satire. And I didn't like it. Maybe if I had laughed once in the three episodes (I think it was three, I got bored), I might have actually watched more. But my life is far more important than watching mediocre Canadian TV. It's Degrassi or bust. Actually, there must be a good Canadian TV show besides Degrassi and You Can't Do That on Television. Taking recommendations isn't always 100%, even from people who are 85% similar on Netflix. Which should really be obvious. At least I didn't get the second disc as well.

Also, what the hell, Bengals? That defensive effort would have caused me pain had I been able to watch any of it. Well, I caught about two minutes near the end of the second half, but apparently, the Steelers-Bills blowout was more important in the District than a close exciting divisional rival.