Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose.

(warning: To all three of our readers, it's gonna be long and rambly)

Sometimes you have to rise to meet life's challenges. Triathlons. Senior theses. Watching 6 consecutive episodes of Friday Night Lights on a Sunday night. As I write I am still streaming via Netflix so it might be 7. It's true that FNL is filled with cliches. Football as metaphor for life. High school "sophomores" with sick receding hairlines. The town slut who acts like she can f*** with the best of them but is really, just a marshmallow inside who wants to be loved. It gets worse. The golden boy star quarterback suffers a tackle that lands him in a wheelchair during THE FIRST GAME. The second string milquetoast QB (who loves Jackson Pollock and Bob Dylan) steps up and has "one hell of an arm."

But it's okay. Because of Taylor Kitsch. Just look to the left. He plays Tim Riggins "Riggs," a cuspy alcoholic defensive lineman (? I just made that up). He has the body of a Greek god and that face. God. Those cheekbones could cut through steel and he has a Edward Furlong anemic look in the eye area that gets me. every. time. And he's good. He's a good actor. But mostly he's a good handsome looking guy. He was a one time Abercrombie model. I know--you can cry and curse--I did. Okay, aside from his appearance, Kitsch has perfected that hard-breathing-I'm-about-to-cry-in-a-very-masculine-angry-way sort of acting. He heaves with the best of them.

And all cliches aside, FNL is really good. Set in backwater Dillon, Texas, FNL is about a town that eats, drinks and breathes football. It's filmed in a sort of muted way and it weaves elegantly through multiple story lines. Of course there's latent racism and overt sexism. Like, how come all the white kids have names like "Jason" and "Tim" and the two black characters are named "Voodoo" and "Smash"? I'm being serious. Maybe it's a sort of "only black folk are cool enough to carry off nicknames." I hope so.

And on another note, I've always envied what I term "the universally lovable young male." I feel like older men and young men have, or can have, an enviable bond. Curt words. Cursing. Respect. And also, it's fucked up that a movie/show can explore male relationships ad nauseum and still be marketed as a show about the human condition, whereas a movie about women is a chick flick. Yeah, that's right. I'm going on a long feminist rant now. See Manohla Dargis "Fuck them". Alright, done with that.

The actors are really good. Kyle Chandler, (from what I gather on IMDB, a B- character actor) does really good as Coach Taylor, a straight talking, honest, doe eyed man in his 40's. But it's a young 40's for all you ladies. Minka Kelly is adequate, a bit of a poor man's Penelope Cruz, but she plays her perfect virginesque role well. The breakout star is, of course, Kitsch but I've already written about him. I guess I could write more. Kitsch's Riggs is stoic. Few words. Long glances. Melting panties. Whoa, excuse me.

The storyline is tight and characters are fleshed out. Alright, I am now on my third slice of chocolate cake and the 7th episode of FNL. I'll be back with more FNL developments...