Sleeping with the television on

Part of the bittersweet joy of being laid up is watching a lot of TV. Or in my case, sleeping to a lot of TV. I have become extremely adept at this -- a skill honed on airplanes. Plug in my headphones, select a film on my iPod that I don't need to see to "watch" (like CLUE), and fall asleep to the comforting sounds. Better than a white noise machine.

Problem is, you can (even in this day and age) run out of things to watch. There's several things I want to see now available on iTunes movie rentals, but many of them are films that both Gus and I want to see, so I don't want to spoil the fun by watching them first. I just sent back all my Blockbuster dvds. And I watched all of the films in my collection that are appropriate -- after all, when you're sick and want the freedom to drift off to guilt-free sleep, you don't want anything too dramatic, or suspenseful, or even subtitled. You want easy and engaging.

Hulu.com oddly has a few movies available, most of which I've either seen or don't want to see. It does, however, have SIDEWAYS, and since I am one of the few artsy-fartsy film lovers that never saw this gem, I figured it was my big chance. Took two watchings (drifted off in the middle of the double date dinner), but enjoyed it quite a bit. And then, in my desperation, I pulled AMERICAN SPLENDOR out of my personal dvd collection, figuring I'd go for a Paul Giamatti double feature.

To clarify: I won my copy of this DVD in 2004, and it's sat in my collection since. Not sure why I did not watch it before now -- there were always other things I wanted to watch more, or it seemed like not the right movie for the moment. I'm a dumb ass. This movie is amazing -- the construct of it alone is fantastic. The casting is so perfect -- even Hope Davis, whom I love to be annoyed by, was 100% the right choice. And although I saw Judah Friedlander's name in the opening credits, it took all the way til the special features to figure out who he played -- who knew he was so good of an actor?!

The special features also gave me a glimpse of Roger Ebert. Not sure if he's had his latest surgery yet, but I hope it successfully restores his voice. I had the privilege of seeing one of his special screenings as part of the Chicago International Film Festival a couple of years ago, and then again this past October saw his appearance at the tribute to him at the opening night of the film fest (KITE RUNNER). Amazing to see two such different Eberts. And I have taken since to reading his reviews in the Friday paper. Such a brilliant man -- we (and certainly he) are fortunate that he is able to continue sharing his brilliance with us in the written word, regardless of the outcome, but again, my thoughts are with him.

Now, let me finish my dinner (take out), so I can sleep to How To Look Good Naked. That Carson Kressley -- who knew he wasn't just a gay minstrel, but rather is the feel-good hit of the winter?