HBO's John Adams

I'm looking forward to watching HBO tonight for the first episode of their 7-part mini-series, John Adams, a biopic of the 2nd President and the story of the first fifty years of the United States.

HBO has made a bunch of great historical films: Band of Brothers, From the Earth to the Moon, and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. This one looks good too. It'll probably be more informative than anything you learned about John Adams from school. They could probably show this movie in 6th grade and skip history class for the rest of the year.

Paul Giamatti plays John Adams and Laura Linney plays his wife Abigail.

It should be cool seeing all the other characters from history too, like Benjamin Franklin (played by the great Tom Wilkinson).

If you don't know who invented something, or you wonder who said some famous quote, you should always assume it's Ben Franklin. The next time you're playing your glass harmonica during a thunderstorm, thank Ben that the lightning rod on your house will protect you from electricity shooting right up your urinary catheter.

Samuel Adams is in this movie too. You know, the guy who invented beer . Oh wait, that was probably Ben Franklin.

Tom Hanks, JFK, and Band of Brothers

I read on Yahoo! that Tom Hanks is producing a new 10-part miniseries for HBO on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

It's based on Vincent Bugliosi's Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy which disclaims many conspiracy theories and contends that Lee Harvey Oswald
was the sole party behind the 1963 Kennedy assassination.

I don't buy it, and apparently 75% of the American public agrees with me. And you should, unless you somehow fell asleep during the 206 minute movie JFK. Impossible! Supposedly this miniseries will reverse that trend and we'll all believe the Warren Report.

Tom Hanks' production company is called Playtone and they've worked with HBO before on the miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, Band of Brothers, and the upcoming John Adams and The Pacific.

Band of Brothers is one of the best movies I have ever seen, especially about war, and The Pacific is its successor.

Whereas Band of Brothers focused on US involvement in the European Theater of Operations, the new series will be about the Pacific Theater of Operations.

The Pacific will not be associated with any of the characters from Band of Brothers and is to be based primarily on two memoirs by US Marines: With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge and Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie.

The series will tell the stories of the two authors and Marine John Basilone, as the war against Japan rages.

Production of the series started in August 2007, in Australia. I'm really looking forward to The Pacific, but it won't be finished until sometime in 2009.

Flight of the Conchords

We really enjoy the show Flight of the Conchords on HBO.

Here are some clips, all probably copyright violations:


What You're Into



Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros



Here's a part of their comedy act, on which the show is based: