Category: Movies, TV

… and I’m not talking about Science Fiction. We had a movie marathon this week related to one of Maria’s classes. I had an overload of racism, corruption, and violence. We began with Training Day starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. Next up was American History X with Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. Last we had Four Brothers led by Mark Wahlberg.

All of these films were set in places that I don’t want to believe exist, but I know that they do. Places where there are gun fights in broad daylight. Places were your life is in real jeopardy simply because of your skin color. Places where you can be ruined if you don’t sell yourself.

I don’t think I could survive in any of them.

Aaron Sorkin has created another great TV show in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. This isn’t unexpected since his previous efforts, Sports Night and The West Wing, were excellent. There is witty, intelligent dialog with interesting, imperfect characters.

In Studio 60 I’ve noticed some autobiographical elements. Partners doing a TV show (Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme), one with a substance abuse problem (Sorkin), one burning out by doing it all himself (Sorkin again), and maybe more. I haven’t researched Schlamme’s history to know if there is more of him in the characters. Maybe I’ll dig a little and see what I can find.

The show is great on it’s own and these personal elements are icing on the cake.