50 Things You Must Do by the End of the Year at Hollywood.com

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50 Things You Must Do by the End of the Year

By Lien Ta, Hollywood.com Staff | Friday, October 03, 2008

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11. The Decemberists, Always the Bridesmaid: A Single Series
The Portland band, lauded for its riveting storytelling approach to songwriting, has eschewed CDs completely; its latest crop of whimsical ballads will only be available for download (some singles on 10'' vinyl, too). With a hint of rockabilly, "Valerie Plame" muses on the former CIA agent outed by Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff "Scooter" Libby; "O New England" recovers fond (or not) memories of the faithful Northeast. The band will perform the eve of Election Day on Late Night With Conan O'Brien. (Vol. I, Oct. 14; Vol. II, Nov. 4; Vol. III, Dec. 2)

12. The New World: The Extended Cut
When Terrence Malick first revealed The New World in 2005, it was met with lackluster praise, but any true Malick fan was, no doubt, visually riveted by his keen camera-eye depicting the America we had never seen — Colin Farrell and Pocahontas aside. Rabid curiosity for the rumored 30-odd minutes of extra footage powered Malick to release an extended cut, and the privileged few that endured the 172-minute new version described it as "a work of breathtaking imagination" and "not like any other movie." We’ll see. (Oct. 14)

Gena Rowlands as Mabel Longhetti in Castle Hill Productions' 'A Woman Under the Influence'
13. A Woman Under the Influence, Criterion Collection
Written and directed by John Cassavetes, the Oscar-nominated movie of 1974 stars the widowed wife of Cassavetes, the uncompromising Gena Rowlands. Rowlands is a young wife and mother who's gone damned mental, and her husband (Peter Falk), still deeply infatuated in his bride, is helpless to his true love's utterly psychotic behavior. Criterion has restored this most staggering anti-love story in hi-def, and the single disc includes an audio interview with Cassavetes conducted in 1975, a video conversation between Rowlands and Falk, plus rare stills of behind-the-scenes production photos. (Oct. 14)

14. Project Runway (Season Finale)
The contestants of season five had the unfavorable luck of succeeding the beloved Christian Siriano, winner of season four. But! The Gristedes challenge be damned, this once lackluster batch of designers have turned up the fa-ierrrceness with help from: Jerell, who is so nice with his disses ("Come on, Joe. You can work on Nancy Reagan tomorrow."); Kenley, who's entirely too self-congratulatory ("I think I pretty much nailed it."); Korto, who's cutting mumblings always deserve captioning ("It's like this. I'm makin' the baddest vest. You wanna make one? Make one. Shoot."); and Leanne, the silent assassin who dumped her model for Suede's (she's got no funny quips). Three will take the runway. Two will be out. And, only one will be the winner. (Oct. 15)

15. Crash, Starz
Like its muse, the 2005 Oscar's Best Picture of the same name, this 13-part series (Starz's first HBO-like attempt at a big-deal series) will explore such wretched topics of race, class and gender and the collision of all themes therein. Dennis Hopper stars as a drug-reliant record producer, playing opposite an illegal immigrant and the cop who thinks only with his piece (not that piece). The film was polarizing, yes, but what's promising about the TV series is that the two-hour grit of the movie is (a) spread across 13 hours, and (b) dark humor is involved. The exec producer has stated, "We're not making fun of the issues, but I do want to make an entertaining show with people you'd want to spend time with." Nothing like Sandra Bullock, we hope. (Oct. 17)

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