Ryan’s Junk Drawer (February 11)

by Ryan Syrek

"With great junk, comes great responsibility" - Better Off Ted

Finally! I made you wait for my junk too long this week, and I apologize. My junk is something that nobody should wait for, as a general rule. I've been trying to get people to look at my junk whenever they want for years now. The more the merrier, when it comes to my junk, I say! And yet, here I go, making you think my junk wasn't...

Things You Should Buy Me (Volume 64)

by Ryan Syrek

I suppose I should be thankful. Right now, everybody around me is either infected with some plague that is clearly a precursor to the zombie apocalypse or otherwise afflicted with mental ailments. Me? I feel sleepy pie and have a tiny throat tickle. So I SHOULD be satisfied with having superior hit points to everyone else, but I'm not. I want stuff. More stuff. Expensive stuff. Stuff you buy....

Daily Dump for Wednesday (February 9)

by Ryan Syrek

Not to keep whining every opening paragraph, but I've been inexplicably exhausted lately. If it turns out that there really IS an invisible midget sitting on my chest, I'm going to be pissed. And slightly amused...but mostly pissed. I'm hoping this weekend will see me catch up on some sleep and get some much needed mental catch-up time, but it's probably going to devolve into some spontaneously...

The Soderbergh Experience

by Leo Adam Biga

Steven Soderbergh may not generate the snobby, effete buzz of some name directors, yet he’s arguably the most prolific and accomplished American filmmaker of the past 20 years. As special guest for the Feb. 20 Film Streams Feature Event III, An Evening with Steven Soderbergh, he headlines Omaha’s must-see cinema event of 2011. Skeptics must concede he has the juice to qualify as an elite...

Don’t Laugh at Tiny Projections

by Ryan Syrek

Oscar pleasure is usually reserved for grouches or award show addicts. As both, one of my favorite weekends has finally arrived: Film Streams at the Ruth Sokolof Theater (FilmStreams.org) presents its annual screening of the year’s Oscar-nominated short films. These proud members of the itty-bitty cine committee are pint-sized powerhouses proudly packaged together for ease-of-viewing on the big...

Cutting Room for February 9

by Ryan Syrek

• After decades of supporting roles, Samuel L. Jackson has finally made it: He’s getting his own sidekick. As everyone of the nerd persuasion knows, Jackson plays Nick Fury in the upcoming Avengers movie, a movie that represents a personal pinnacle of joy … and it isn’t even made yet. Apparently, Jackson is getting a sassy assistant (comic fans know her as Maria Hill), and word is that “How...

Daily Dump for Tuesday (February 8)

by Ryan Syrek

I have new appreciation for the depths of Han Solo's affection for Luke Skywalker today. If a dear friend of mine was laying in the middle of my driveway, I would have to seriously reconsider how much he or she meant to me given the overwhelming amount of ice out there and the sub-sub-sub-zero wind chills. My mailwoman was driving an AT-AT. I could keep going with the Hoth jokes, but can we just...