I’m not sure what exactly prompted me to rent David Mamet’s State and Main this weekend – I think we were talking movies at work recently and someone mentioned it and it stuck in my cranium. Then yesterday I was at Queen Video looking for something to offset the weightiness of my other selection (From Hell, if you were wondering) and it just popped into my head, so I grabbed it. It’s an ensemble comedy about a movie crew trying to shoot a film in a small Vermont town with the predictable Hollywood-types vs local-yokels schtick, but it’s well-written and pretty clever – sometimes too much so. But the formidable cast (Alec Baldwin, Sarah Jessica Parker, William H Macy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Julia Stiles, David Paymer) does a good enough job with their parts and it was a pretty enjoyable watch. And who’d have ever thought they’d see Hoffman in a non-creep romantic lead?

This weekend has been pretty nuts for me buying scads of DVDs and CDs – besides getting an order from Truthflies.com delivered, the used CD shops in my area were well-stocked for a change. A good thing that all the time spent not shopping has been dedicated to working, so as to afford my indulgences. A run-down of my acquisitions for past couple days, keeping in mind I haven’t had a chance to really give any of them a close listen yet so impressions are very preliminary:

• Centro-Matic / Distance And Clime – More fuzzed-out rootsy rock from Austin, this one’s less focused than last year’s Love You Just The Same but still very good.
  

• various artists / Wig In A Box: Songs From and Inspired by Hedwig & The Angry Inch – As I said yesterday, surprisingly good. Really, the only track that I haven’t taken to is Bob Mould’s “Nailed”, and that’s mostly because it’s done in his Loudbomb/Modulate electronic persona. Now I want to see the movie again.
  

• Laura Cantrell / When The Roses Bloom Again – I already talked about discovering Laura Cantrell through mp3s a few weeks ago, and I’m happy to say that she’s even better over an entire album.
  

• Belle & Sebastian / Fans Only DVD – A really nice package, and doing well to remind me of why I loved this band so in the first place.
  

• Hawaii / Hawaii – Local dream-pop/rock band whom I’ve seen live before and piqued my interest. The album is pretty all over the place, stylistically, and it’s going to take some more listens before I can really comment. It’s a little heavier than I was expecting.
  

• Preston School Of Industry / Monsoon – Haven’t listened to this one yet at all. But it’s Spiral Stairs, so I’ve a pretty good idea of what to expect.
  

• Songs: Ohia / The Magnolia Electric Co. – Long-standing presence on my “haven’t heard but sounds like something I’d like” list, and as it spins right now, I think I’m right. Update: Looks like somone has hacked the Songs: Ohia website – Brasilians for Osama Bin Laden? Weird.
  

• The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring Extended Edition DVD – Yeah, I’ve seen it a few times already but it’s nice to have, y’know.
  

I’ve also got the Director’s Label The Complete Works Of Spike Jonze on loan from 517, and that’s going to take a while to get through. The man truly made some brilliant videos, and Sofia Coppola as a gymnast in the Chemical Brothers’ “Electrobank” vid is too cute. Watch the vid here.

I am all awash in media.

np – Songs: Ohia / The Magnolia Electric Co.

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