Tell Me What You Don't Like About Yourself

[Photo Credit]

One of the best openings to any movie, ever, is the opening scene to The Big Chill. Of course, there is some mystique about it: Kevin Costner is actually the dead friend whose face we never see, the flashback scenes that included him were cut, and the royalties for the song playing during the funeral were too expensive to get on either of the two soundtracks. Those soundtracks are phenomenal without the song in question, but it is an awesome piece of movie history and the song, well, one of my favorite Stones' tracks: "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

It had been a while since I last heard it and then it appeared, at a crucial moment, in the nip/tuck back catalog. I think it is Season 2, Julia walks through a glass sliding door, and after refusing to do it once, Sean decides to operate on the wife he is separated from. The novocaine comes down. Julia descends from 10. 9. 8. Liz waves the CD player on and I am thinking, this is a fucking huge scene, what are they bringing....and there it was, The Rolling Stones. The dream sequence that follows is masterful, complete with a sexier than sexy Famke Janssen (who, we will later discover, used to be a dude) in a white business suit, top hat and veil, walking Julia through a what-might-have-been scenario that pulls out all the stops.

I started watching nip/tuck last year. I was initially drawn to it because it was very dark and dealt with strange, off-beat topics. Leading up to the Season 4 premiere on September 5th, F/X has been running episodes of the series, in order on Saturday nights (thank you, DVR). Finally able to close the loop on some things I didn't quite pick up on, I am amazed at the character arcs, consistency and writing on this show. Yeah, it is about some plastic surgeons on South Beach that are self absorbed and borderline crazy, but the overall issues that each episode tackles (beauty, drug muling, self-image, sex, rape, serial killers, drug abuse, the porn industry, transgender lifestyles, religion, etc.) are tackled with ease. It is smartly executed, week in and week out. If you can handle watching a scalpul rip into someone's face and a liposuction tool jab back and forth across a human ass for a few minutes, and you stick around for the characters and the subplots, you will be in for a real treat.

I have to hand it to them, someone at F/X knows what the fuck they are doing. I sat back and thought about it the other day and realized that the only shows I crave are on F/X (The Shield, nip/tuck, Rescue Me) and HBO (Entourage, The Sopranos). Rescue Me will be tackled at some point on Metro D (as will The Shield) and I will definitely need to discuss the scene last week when Tommy, a recovering alcoholic and New York firefighter (played by Dennis Leary), walks into a bar and orders "eight fingers" of the most expensive Irish Whiskey in the place and then asks why it is that everyone in the bar could name the last five contestants on American Idol, but they can't name one of the firefighters who died during 9-11. Calling it intense is a gross understatement. Rescue Me is superior to nip/tuck because the plotline (working class families pushing through tragedy and everyday life) is easily accessible and believable, at least moreso than the fantasy world of McNamara & Troy, but both are well worth the watch. And for god's sake, somebody give Denis Leary an Emmy. Please. He has been outrageous this season. Simply phenomenal.

And now, the tracks. First off, the song that begged this post, and then the tracks you are hearing behind the nip/tuck commercials for the next season. I have to admit, these are some solid fucking songs. Fucking around on the website today and I am not going to lie, I am pretty pumped for the new season. Two words: Sanaa Lathan. One more word: gorgeous. I get a feeling this show has just hit its stride...

MP3: The Rolling Stones - "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
MP3: Goldfrapp - "Strict Machine"
MP3: The Real Tuesday Weld - "The Ugly And The Beautiful"