The Bottom Line Endorses…
September 11th, 2007, 9:02 am · Post a Comment · posted by patrickdonohue
In the absence (it took me four tries to spell that word right) of any actual sports news breaking today and given that it’s Tuesday I thought I would take a break from the sports world and focus on some things that I love outside the arena of sport. Today, boys and girls, is the first installment of The Bottom Line Endorses…
The Bottom Line endorses… Matt Nathanson “Some Mad Hope”
Lost in the shuffle of major releases from Kanye West, the prolific 50 Cent and of course the soundtrack for High School Musical 2 has been 
this subtle release from one of my favorite singer/songwriters of all-time Matt Nathanson. Having seen Nathanson in concert more than a half dozen times, I find it difficult to divorce the already congealed live version of some of these songs cemented in your mind from the studio recording but the record is still an enjoyable listen. The album is a serious of peaks and troughs. Hard-hitting songs like “Gone” followed by solemn, acoustic ballads like “Bulletproof Weeks,” and then cranks right back up with the driving “Beat of Our Noisy Hearts.” Listen for Death Cab for Cutie drummer Jason McGerr who was the session drummer on the record. In ‘Some Mad Hope,’ Nathanson does what he’s always done well: Make simple but not basic, clever but not patronizing pop music.
The Bottom Line endorses… HEROES, Season 1 DVD
I’ve blogged about Heroes before but this weekend, brace yourself, I 
actually turned off college football to steal a couple episodes of Heroes before watching the season finale after the LSU/VT game turned into a blowout. The season finale was really incredible and it felt like the end of a movie but unfortunately it’s not. Having so enjoyed the first season, I am understandably apprehensive about how the second season of the show will play out. I was having a discussion with a friend of mine about network television the other night and we determined that with a show like Heroes that people are crazy about. The third season is the make or break season. This season will be a trial run for many. Having built buzz from last year and gaining some bandwagon attention and fans, this season will show whether or not the series has legs and isn’t a one hit wonder. Regardless of whether or not season 2 is any good, season 1 was one of the most entertaining seasons of a show that I’ve ever watched.
The Bottom Line Endorses…. KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL
Having read and loved Anthony Bourdain’s autobiography of the same title, I was reticent about watching this show after it was recommended
to me by a friend of mine with similar taste. None the less, I threw it in the Netflix queue, bumped it to the top and watched the first disc. There are some things about this show that prevent me from loving it: First, the main character, played pretty averagely by Bradley Cooper of Wedding Crashers fame, is named Jack Bourdain. While I understand that you’re making a series based on a book (it should be noted that the series was directed by Kevin Wonder himself, Fred Savage) but come on. It’s like saying ‘I’m going to make an adventure movie and the main character’s name is going to be Indiana Thompson’ or ‘I’m going to make a television adaptation of Lord of the Rings and call the main character Stevie Baggins.’ It just doesn’t work. Everytime someone on the show says Bourdain’s full name, I cringe. The best part of the show, by far, is the performance of John Francis Daley, who is the show’s sole source of comedic relief and has some laugh out loud moments in the show along with John Cho of Harold and Kumar fame. I know it probably sounds like I hate this show but I really don’t. Do I understand why this show was cancelled? Yes. The casting is bad, the writing is subpar but the show is pretty enjoyable if you’re really bored and are waiting for season four of The Office to start.
