Next week I will be dedicating an unhealthy amount of time to watch the extras on the new Lost Season 1 DVD set. The divisional and wild card races in baseball are also getting down to the wire, and my team is right in the heat of things. So it’s safe to say that until October, I will be a vidiot. To top things off, the second season of Lost debuts in a few weeks, plus Alias and Survivor: Guatemala. Have I mentioned that TiVo is my best friend?

Sean Penn is Mr. Serious. I don’t know if he has laughed on camera since We’re No Angels with Robert DeNiro. Of course I’m referring to Penn’s body of work post-Fast Times at Ridgemont High. His above-average talent stood out in movies as early as 1981, in Taps. I think it’s time we all forgive him for the Madonna period, which resulted in Shanghai Surprise. Only two years after that debacle, he was back in prime form opposite Robert Duvall in Colors. Penn was a busy man in the 90′s, and his best from that decade includes Carlito’s Way (for the hair alone!), Dead Man Walking (he should have won the Oscar), and The Game (an underrated thriller co-starring Michael Douglas). I am also drawn to Penn’s recent films, where he is displaying more vulnerability and raw emotion (Mystic River and 21 Grams).

A movie with Oscar potential and strong buzz, slated for release this December, that I am adding to my must-see list is Brokeback Mountain. Based on an award-winning short story by Annie Proulx (she also wrote The Shipping News) and directed by Ang Lee (who helmed 2 in my top 10 – The Ice Storm and Sense & Sensibility), Brokeback stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two cowboys who share a secret romance. I have no idea whether Middle America is ready for this, even if the concept is cushioned by two very straight and aesthetically pleasing actors, but I will be standing in line on opening night. 

Andrew Niccol is probably not a household name. He wrote and directed Gattaca, an underrated sci-fi film recognized more as the movie where Uma and Ethan fell in love onscreen and off.  He also penned The Truman Show (one of my favorites) and The Terminal (I haven’t seen this yet).

I am intrigued by the upcoming Lord of War, starring Nicolas Cage, which Niccol also wrote and directed. At least from the trailer preview, it doesn’t appear to have the same futuristic feel as Gattaca and Truman. Besides, I prefer tragic and/or neurotic Cage in Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation to action hero fluff like Con Air.

While watching the Highland Games today, surrounded by plaid kilts and haggis, I realized that So I Married an Axe Murderer is actually a damn funny movie. Directed by Thomas Schlamme (Christine Lahti’s husband), this quirky comedy features one of Mike Myers’ most subdued performances. If that is even physically plausible. One of my favorite SNL phrases of all time was a Myers specialty: ”If it’s not Scottish, it SUCKS!”

I am hesitant to see The Constant Gardener because the last theatrical adaptation of a John LeCarre book, The Tailor of Panama, was a tad misogynistic. I was quite disappointed to see Jamie Lee Curtis in a retread of her atrocious role from True Lies.

Films opening soon that I am looking forward to include Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown (starring a non-heroic Orlando Bloom with an American accent), Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman in yet another transformational role), and Good Night, and Good Luck (about Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy, directed by George Clooney).

Current releases I need to see before they disappear from theaters are Hustle & Flow (Terrence Howard is a huge star on the rise - see him in Crash as well), Murderball (about quad rugby players), Junebug (an indie with good buzz) and The Aristocrats (one very dirty joke, as told by over 100 comedians.

I wouldn’t turn down a dinner invitation to Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes’ house. I’d love to talk shop about American Beauty (which he directed) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which she starred in). Can you imagine how funny the evening would be at the table with Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live) and Will Arnett (Arrested Development)? At least for me, the dream meal would have been with the amazing comedy household of Gene Wilder (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory) and Gilda Radner (SNL). Am I the only one who actually thinks about such possibilities?

I have a small secret. I still enjoy movies aimed at the 12-22 year old demographic. 10 Things I Hate About You rocked, and Saved was pretty damn funny. Mandy Moore was surprisingly good, as she is in Entourage this season. Lindsay Lohan needs to eat a few sandwiches, but she ruled in Mean Girls and Freaky Friday. The jury is still out on Hilary Duff as an actress, and don’t get me started on the Olsen twins. As a younger lass, Red Dawn scared me but you can’t go wrong with the lethal combination of C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze (that’s right – Baby and Johnny onscreen three years prior to Dirty Dancing!). Speaking of C. Thomas Howell, how great is The Outsiders? Starring the youthful Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, and Diane Lane, Francis Ford Coppola directed this adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s book (she also wrote two other Matt Dillon vehicles – Rumble Fish and Tex). Moving on in the 80′s, Howard Deutch directed a few of my favorites, including Some Kind of Wonderful and Pretty in Pink. Of course before Pretty in Pink, Molly Ringwald gave us two classic performances in Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. We can’t mention Ringwald without also giving a shout out to Andrew McCarthy, who disappeared for a while after starring in St. Elmo’s Fire, Less Than Zero and Mannequin, only to reemerge with quality films like Weekend at Bernies.