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The X-Games are on this weekend, so I've got it on in the background. I used to watch it obsessively when I was kid, even saving up my money to pay for ESPN2 for a month so I could catch all the action. Back when it started it was about 10 days long and had bungy jumping, in-line skating, and street luge, among several other events. Now it's consolidated a lot, and only lasts the weekend. And while I get dropping bungee jumping, the inline skating was pretty cool and street luge was awesome!
Today is also National Dance Day! Or at least as construed by So You Think You Can Dance (by far my favorite reality show). There's a reason it keeps winning the Emmy's each year for best choreography and has some of the most interesting (go to 2:35) and varied (go to 1:10) dancing you can see on TV. This season hasn't been as good, but at least with the Tivo I can skip over all the boring talking parts.
Amelie (my favorite movie of all time) ended up being ranked as the best shot movie of the decade by survey of the American Society of Cinematographers (you know the ASC you almost always see after a Cinematographer's name? That's this group). I have to say I completely agree with them, as so many shots in that movie just took my breath away the first time I saw it. Most of the movies on that list are very high up on my favorite movie list, including my second favorite movie, Requiem for a Dream. Cinematography is basically just a series of moving photographs, which is why I've always been drawn to that aspect of movies the most.
I think it's also why I like watching music videos, because it allows for a lot of experimentation and unique ideas that probably wouldn't make it, nor even work, in a full length movie. A very recent example of this is the new Sara Bareilles video that I was watching this morning on the Tivo (watching music videos without one is pure torture with all the repeats and commercials). I've always wanted to keep track of all the different shots and camera movements I've found cool in movies and videos, and create a best-of mash-up. But I don't think the sum of the parts would be better than all the parts, since it ruins the setup. I think I'll stick with photography
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