From the guy who brought you The Notebook...

This morning while I was ironing my 4-foot stack of shirts and pants, I popped in Alpha Dog to pass the time. It seemed like one of those movies I didn't have to pay too much attention to in order to know what was going on.

For the most part, I was right. At some point near the end I had to put the iron down because I was watching too much of the TV and not enough of the pair of pants I was ironing. It was good, JT was good, Bruce Willis was good, Harry Dean Stanton makes an appearance (and who doesn't love Harry Dean Stanton?) and... Well, this comment pretty much sums it up. I would just add that at one point Eminem does make a soundtrack appearance - shocking!

It wasn't until I watched the "making of" that I learned it was a true story. (I'm sure all the former LA folks already know this.) I also learned that all the actors worship Nick Cassavetes and all the movies he's ever made, which I thought would be more like 20 but it's really only about five, one of which was Blow, and one of which was - yes - The Notebook. Maybe I should reconsider on that one. Seems odd that Ryan Gosling would choose a crappy teenage love story... are there drug dealers in The Notebook?

If you do opt to queue it up, I recommend watching it at night with the blinds closed and the lights off. Many of the scenes are at night and it was really difficult to see what was going on with the sun shining in the room.

(You might also close the windows - according to IMDB the word "fuck" or its derivatives is said 310 times, according to me it's said very loudly most of those 310 times. I ended up closing my kitchen window so as not to offend the new neighbors who were in the process of moving in next door.)