TV, Books, and Film

TV - LOST joke on Kimmel

2010-05-13T19:30:00.003-04:00

THIS is fantastic. Take two minutes out of your day and enjoy.

TV - LOST joke on Kimmel

2010-05-13T19:30:00.001-04:00

THIS is fantastic. Take three minutes out of your day and enjoy.

TV - Embedded Commercials

2010-05-07T20:54:00.003-04:00

The embedded commercials in television shows are getting to a point that is just pathetic and desperate. I'm trying to decide which is the worst offender - Gossip Girl or Bones.

Gossip Girl

So, Gossip Girl is shamelessly plugging bing.com, that search engine that is trying to compete with Google. Here are some of the things they have done:

1. Shown lingering over the shoulder shots of people looking up information on the internet on bing.com. Mildly annoying, but really not much worse than normal product placement.

2. Concocted a situation where te characters needed to find some information quickly. One says, "We'll just look it up on Bing," or something to that effect and sits down at the computer. Three seconds later after some furious typing, he says, "Done!" That one is pretty bad. I mean, if you cut out the 15 seconds of the show where that happened, I'm pretty sure it would be identical to an actual commercial for bing.

3. In the midst of preparing for a fashion show, with all kinds of people running around trying to get things done, the frazzled designer is asked a question. Her response? "Just bing it." Bing. It. As in, look it up on bing.com. As in, they are trying to replace the phrase "google it" with the phrase "bing it." Now THAT is just pathetic. Epic failure on the part of both Gossip Girl and bing.com. Gossip Girl, because it makes me lose respect for the show - not that I had a lot to begin with (though, don't get me wrong, I love the show). Bing.com, because it just reeks of kid brother syndrome. They are trying to force a square peg into a round hole. It would be like Puffs brand facial tissue trying to get people to call all facial tissue "puffs." Just accept that your competitor's name has become the generic term and move on with convincing people that you have the better product. Don't try to take over the generic term! It's just pathetic, and it's not going to work. That ship has sailed, bing.com. People are not going to start saying, "Bing it," when they mean "look it up on the internet." However, if your search engine is really that great and is superior to Google, maybe one day people will say, "Google it on bing."

Bones

So, Bones has been doing ads for Toyota. Mostly out of the mouth of Angela Montenegro. There have only been two glaring incidents.

1. Angela is driving a Toyota Sienna with another character in the car. The other character asks why Angela drives a mini-van (she's not a mom, so it makes no sense, right?). Angela replies that the Sienna has plenty of room for all her art supplies (do art supplies really take up that much room?) and that she is bad at parallel parking, so she likes the rearview camera. It was so jarring I had to pause it and ask my husband whether what I thought had just happened had in fact just happened. And while I generally like the actress who plays Angela, she is terrible at these little mini-commercials, so if they must keep them on the show, I think they should give them to someone else. Maybe no one else will agree to do them.

2. In last night's episode, Angela and Hodgins are driving in a Prius. Hodgins is driving but Angela is showing him something on a camera, I think. He starts to veer out of his land and the car automatically pulls him back into his lane. He says, "Whoa! What happened!?" Angela helpfully points to a littls screen showing to lane lines and tells Hodgins that the Prius helps you stay in your lane. "It's pretty cool," she says. He agrees that it's cool and does it again, prompting a police office to pull him over and ask if he's been drinking. This incident led to Hodgins and Angela being loked up in a jail cell together for an extended period of time in which they realize that they still love each other and before leaving the jail, they get MARRIED. That's right, an embedded Toyota Prius commercial led to a wedding.

So, which is worse? I really can't decide. Telling someone to "Bing it," is pretty ridiculous, but using an embedded commercial as a lame-ass plot device to lead to a wedding is also pretty much unforgivable.

TV - What is wrong with me?!

2010-05-05T16:40:00.001-04:00

Dear "Glee" and "American Idol" - I wish I knew how to quit you! Why can't I stop watching these terrible shows?!? Read more for my whiny ramblings and my sad prediction for tonight's Idol.

My beef with Glee can be summarized easily: it makes absolutely no effort to make any sense! At every turn the characters make totally bizzarre choices that come from such flawed and unrealisitc decision processes that my stomach starts to ache. What gets me is that the show's writers/producers/directors claim that this is a character piece first and a singing concert second. Absolutely false. And don't even get me started on the barf-inducing Will Schuster / Matthew Morrison. This show is SO BAD but I can't look away. I groan and literally hold my hands over my eyes, but then I peak through my fingers... For how much longer can this go on? I think it will help if the musical numbers continue their downward slope. Perhaps soon I will be able to break free.

And as for Idol - there's nothing much to say that you don't know already. The contestants are completely lack-luster. I enjoy Crystal's voice, but (as I think Metta said to me once??) there's no way in any other season she'd have made it past the final three. And now that she is sort of sassing the judges I truly fear that she won't win the crown. Would she even want it? I'm not sure... But the fact that Lee would win this season is SO SAD. In any other season would he have even made it to the top TWELVE? Dispicable!

After last night's Sinatra show I'm actually thinking that Crystal is in serious trouble of being in the bottom two. I predict Lee and Mike will be told they're safe - perhaps giving us a vision of the most boring season finale of Idol in HISTORY - and then it'll be down to Crystal, Aaron*, and Casey. Then I really do think it'll be between Crystal and Casey with Casey going home. That boy is crazy pretty but Kara was absolutely right when she said he bleats like a lamb. It's time for him to move on the Calvin Klein ads and perhaps a pleasant troubadour career ("Jealous Guy" was tremendous).

I think Aaron will have gotten more votes that Crystal because I wouldn't be surprised if he had a strong Southern Mom vote (Clay Aiken style) who would've really loved his hair last night. Crystal, on the otherhand, got sassy, sang weird, and showed off her back tattoo.

Anyway - God help me I can't stop watching these terrible programs. Please keep me in your prayers.

* It took me three minutes to come up with that kid's name. THAT'S HOW BAD THIS SEASON IS!

TV and Book - "Justified"

2010-04-28T19:15:00.000-04:00

Due to enthusiastic recommendations from the Dwyer's and Damon Lindelof, I decided to catch up with the new show on FX, Justified. It is super good! A little procedural, a lot Western, smirky and engaging. AND it gives me a new TV boyfriend to help with me with my soon-to-be-enacted Sawyer withdrawal and my enduring Don Draper hiatus heartpangs.

Because I'm a little OCD, I decided I had to read the short story by Elmore Leonard, "Fire in the Hole," from which the show is based before tuning in. Funny thing - the pilot episode of "Justified" is just about 95% word-for-word the short story. Seriously! I've never seen a truer page-to-screen adaption. So don't feel like you have to read the story to catch any further insight - although it's certainly well written. It can be found in Leonard's collection of short stories called "When the Women Come Out to Dance."

And as for "Justified" it's on Tuesday nights at 10pm on FX. As of this post, we're between episode 6 and 7 now of the first season. 5 episodes are kept on Hulu, but as of right now you can still watch the pilot on FX's website.

The 7 Most Soul-Crushing Series Finales in TV History

2010-04-17T14:32:00.000-04:00

via @DamonLindelof who I assume is trying to keep the Lost finale in perspective:

The 7 Most Soul-Crushing Series Finales in TV History

TV - The End of Lost: Realistic Expectations

2010-04-09T10:23:00.001-04:00

There has been a vast outcry regarding my lack of Lost posts so I'm here to placate the masses (hi Tony!). Read on!

A lot of people in the blogosphere are super pissy right now about LOST (and a lot of people are with me – really content with how the finale season is playing out. But, you know, the naysayers are always the loudest). They want more answers faster and they want every answer to every mythological nugget that has been presented in the past 6 years, and they want the reveals to be utterly mind-blowing.

I feel a little sorry for these viewers because they just are not going to be satisfied. Like I said, I am very content with how this season is progressing. I feel like we’re on a solid path and that I’m going to be at peace with how this show ends. What keeps me focused and calm?: Realistic expectations. Here’s what I think is important when considering the answers to Lost:

The answers are going to be kind of vague:

A lot of the naysayers are going to be left unsatisfied because they don’t appreciate the answers they’re given. They want every element of every mystery explained, leaving no room for drawing our own viewer conclusions.

Take The Numbers: we’ve learned that each of the candidates for who will take over Jacob’s jobbie have been assigned a number. The numbers correspond to the degrees on the lighthouse dial that show the candidates’ off-Island homelands (I think). For me, this is good enough. Why these particular numbers and how did Jacob come up with them? Well, I’m curious as to how Jacob found the castaways and decided they warranted touching, but I don’t care why Hugo is #8 and not #23. For some aspects, you’re going to have to use your imagination. And thank goodness for that, because it’s those kinds of brain-teasers that keep the show alive after it’s concluded.

I earnestly believe that people who want more explained for them regarding the mythology of the show are going to have the opportunity to learn more in another medium. (See the game “The Lost Experience” illustrating how the numbers are linked to “The Valenzetti Equation” and The Dharama Initative.) There is also “Lost University” (a blue-ray educational experience) and the creators have deemed both of these other forums canon. And I totally think a post-Lost graphic novel explaining more aspects of the mythology (not the character stories) is a distinct possibility. But as for hashing out relevant physics theorems, Greek mythology, and Egyptian hieroglyphics decoding- it just isn’t going to happen on network television.

The answers are going to be accessible:

This may seem like a weird statement, considering we’re talking about a show involving time-travel, parallel universes, and smoke monsters. But what I mean is that whatever this show is about is going to be able to be explained over coffee. You’re not going to need a calculator or a master’s degree or to have to read a thousand and ten lostpedia entries in order to grasp it all.

One of my favorite lost bloggers, Entertainment Weekly’s “Doc” Jensen, has totally melted his brain coming up with the most cockamamie theories and I hope he’s having fun because it’s just totally coo-coo-clock rambling. He dedicated a 10-page column recently to a theory that the Smoke Monster / Man in Black is actually the embodiment of all the souls of the people who have died on the Island – with Juliet and Daniel Faraday’s minds primarily driving his ship. What?! I think it’s really obvious that the MIB is a person – a special person – but a person with human motivations. Look at the history of Richard Alpert: his narrative is full of mythology and fantasy, but it still is a narrative based on emotions, not science fiction. I know the answers to Lost aren’t going to be simple, or easy to explain to someone who never saw the show, but I honestly believe it’s going to be able to be boiled down to a one-pager. Does that make sense? Is it irony that I can’t clearly explain my theory that Lost will be able to be clearly explained?

The answers are going to be “schmoopy”:

In our house, schmoopy means gushy. Sentimental and fluffy, in a sense. Maybe a little corny. Think about all of the talk in “Harry Potter” about how Voldemort could be beaten because he never knew truelove. Or all of Battlestar Gallactica’s talk about God and the dangers of human decadence. It’s good stuff, but it’s also a little cornball. I’m expecting this when it comes to Lost’s conclusion. At some point I think there’s going to be a speech regarding the importance of love and acceptance, or salvation, or trusting fate – something like that. And I’m glad I’m prepared, because those types of speeches can be a little off-putting when you’re not in the right headspace.

This is a story about characters. It is not a story about an Island where lots of crazy scientific stuff is happening. I think with each introduction of another wacky element to the Island (electromagnetism, etc…) there were viewers who were more married to the mythology than to the characters, and they are going to have their hearts broken. These are the people who thought the smoke monster was nanobots. It’s not nanobots, nerds! It’s an angry dude!

Take a look at this paragraph from a previous post I wrote comparing Lost to Stephen King's "The Stand":

I would say the main thing I learned about Lost after reading this book is that Team Darlton share King's sentiment that mythology should only be the background for a story about character-development. "The Stand" ended with a solid understanding that the characters faced their faults and gained peace in their sense-of-self. They were presented with opportunities to receive redemption, and those that embraced them gained comfort. The conclusion did not address any of the questions that arose from the mythological experiences. Why were these people the survivors? Who exactly are Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg? We have a sense at the answers, but much much much is left to interpretation. I fear Lost will end in a similar fashion, but I also think the fan involvement with the show will shape it in such a way that more questions will be answered than would be if King was at the helm.

I like that past-Jenna. She’s smart.

So, bottom-line (too late I know) is that if you think Lost is going to end with a man in a white lab-coat conducting a two-hour long Power Point presentation explaining every last exhaustive detail – I truly hope you’re wrong. It’s going to end, it’s going to be about humanity – not science – and we’re going to be left to our own imaginations when it comes to connecting some of the dots. Thank goodness for that because I like using my brain, and it’s a way to keep the show alive after it’s all over.

We can just hope that they conclude the basic, essential story-elements and we’re not left completely on our own to imagine an ending – like The Sopranos. “Don’t stah- BLACK SCREEN.”

Project Runway - 4/1/2010

2010-04-02T12:45:00.003-04:00

So, it's been awhile. Probably no one is reading anymore. Anyway, Project Runway was crazy last night. Seriously, crazy.

So, last night, the challenge was to design a red carpet dress for, guess who?, Heidi Klum. They acted like it was a huge deal to have the designers design something for Heidi, but I'm pretty sure they did that last season as well. It was cute once. Now it just seems like she is making Project Runway into her own little sweatshop.

So, while the designers are sketching, prior to going to buy fabric, Maya just disappears from the room. She comes back with Tim to announce that she's pulling out of the competition. I was waiting for her to say that her mom died, or she was diagnosed with cancer or something. Instead, apparently, she just didn't think she was ready to continue any further. She wasn't confident that she knew who she was as an artist (to borrow a phrase from American Idol), and she didn't want to continue.

Now, on one hand, I totally understand. She received a critique a couple of weeks ago that she was too referential and that it would be really destructive for her to show her work only to have people say, "That looks just like X." So, I could see how she would be worried about continuing in the competition and having her career damaged because, even though she makes great clothes, people think she is a copycat. Plus, it takes some guts to pull out of a competition like that when you know that it's going to be on national television and people are going to label you a quitter.

On the other hand, she must be crazy. I really liked most of her stuff, and I think she was one of the better designers left. She very easily could have made it to the finals. I almost feel like, if her concern was that she was too referential, she should have just taken crazy risks and made totally innovative garments, even if they weren't as good as some of her other stuff, instead of just dropping out. It could have been a good learning opportunity to just basically throw out everything she thought she knew about her own style and get some critiques from Heidi & Co. and then just get auf'd like everyone else.

Then, to take Maya's place, they brought Anthony back. I really thought he would just be a huge mess, because he would be stressed and he would get less sleep than the other designers, but his dress was gorgeous and he ended up co-winning.

Emilio, the other co-winner, was less deserving, in my opinion. It was a pretty dress and I appreciate the fact that he made the dress properly by making the boning, etc. But that little tab on the side looked like the thing on the back of shoes. To me, there was nothing really special about the dress. It was just a pretty dress. I think someone else said that Seth Aaron's dress looked like a dress that the person who was helping hand out the awards would wear. I felt that way about Emilio's dress.

Oh yeah, plus Seth Aaron's model got debo'ed by Donna Karen, so he had to work with a different model he had never used before. They probably would have made a bigger deal about that if Maya hadn't left on the same episode.

I'm not sure there are three people remaining that I think deserve to be at fashion week. I think the judges have gotten rid of more talented people in previous weeks than the people who are remaining. But it is still a million times better than last season, so we will see.

Lost- "The Substitue" E4S6

2010-02-17T16:37:00.002-05:00

This is my first post about LOST in the sixth and final season. Do not read until after you have seen "The Substitue" (Season 6, Episode 4).

Last night’s LOST was fantastic, especially coming off of the slow-paced “What Kate Does” episode. When the Smokey-Possessed-Locke says, “Come with me and I promise I’ll tell you everything,” I think there were fans everywhere who were exhausted from changing sick baby diapers all day saying YESYESYES MOMMY NEEDS THIS. Oh wait, maybe that was just me.

“The Substitute” was the fourth episode of this final season (if you count the 2-hour premiere as two episodes). I’ve held off on writing about the show on this blog because, after being presented with a “flash-sideways” parallel universe storytelling device, a slew of new Temple-dwelling characters, and more questions created than answered, I needed to play wait-and-see. I was not too excited about any of the three things I just mentioned, but now I have re-gained my confidence.

For one, it looks like we’re going to be very reliant on Sawyer. He is broken and sad, and an emotional loose cannon. But since he has nothing to lose, he gets to be our guide leading us towards exposition! Follow Smokey and let’s figure out what this whole Island thing is all about… why not? Turns out Smokey’s going to lead us towards a nifty little cave, showing us a scale weighing a black rock vs. a white rock (reminding me of Greg and my favorite Ralph quote from the Simpsons: “the rat is a symbol for obviousness!”) and, oh yea, a whole slew of names matched with numbers. Most (not Kate) of our castaways have been assigned to THE numbers and have so far remained un-scratched. For a whole look at which names are up there look HERE. It’s interesting! Almost every one of the names that are decipherable can be matched to a character previously seen on Lost.

This episode also gave us some insight into Smokey himself. He was a man, he feels like he’s trapped, he’s super old, and he’s haunted by a dirty blonde Other boy. But this episode also underlined a major pre-exisiting question: is Smokey the good guy or the bad guy? And, consequently, is Jacob good or bad? Obviously there are a slew of people who have sided with Jacob (Ilana, Richard, Temple-Dwellers), but that doesn’t mean that what Smokey represents is necessarily “bad” – maybe what he wants is “bad” for the creepy Island that conducts psychological / anthropological tests but is “good” for people who want to live normal lives.

We know that Smokey is saying Jacob tampered with the castaways’ lives when he groped them in their pasts. Is this a clue to the side-ways world? Are we seeing how life would have progressed had our characters never been touched by Jacob? My current theory is yes, that’s exactly what we’re seeing and at some point the castaways who make it to the finale are going to get a choice: live this Island life existence, or be consciously teleported into this non-Island life. In fact, it already seems that those who die on the Island are having their brains switch over to their sideways bodies. Juliet’s dying words about going Dutch on coffee seem like a sure-fire preview to a sideways storyline, and did you see Locke’s corpse SMILING laying dead on the beach when we just finished seeing how happy his side-ways life is leading?

Sideways world is not perfect: Locke’s still is in a wheelchair, Kate is still a fugitive, and Jack still seems to have daddy issues. However, although it may not be perfect, it is better. The characters seem more at peace and less arrogant. John can laugh when he bites it into his lawn, Kate can run towards someone rather than always running away, and Jack can stomach listening to Locke talk about some spirituality.

But I’m not too attached to my theories. They are just little mind-games to help me get through the week. Mostly I’m just enjoying the ride, fine with being proven wrong, and feeling bitter sweet thinking about how few episodes are left.

Big Love - Again

2010-02-03T13:20:00.002-05:00

Whoa. I'm not really sure what is going on with Big Love right now, but it's still an awesome show. What's throwing me - though I knew it was coming from reading things ahead of time - is the focus on Margene and Ben. We did that storyline already, didn't we?

I can't decide if I completely hate the fact that they are revisiting that stry line or if it is good, because I think they are handling it better this time than they did the last time, in part simply because Ben is older and more mature, so he's handling it better.

But what is really throwing me is how Bill is behaving, not just with respect to Margene and Ben, but overall. We've seen him like this before, when he's so focused on something that he completely stops caring about everyone else, but in last Sunday's episode, with him asking Don to take the fall when it comes out that Home Plus is a front for polygamy or essentially kicking Ben out of the house after finding out that he has feelings for Margene, Bill is currently at his least sympathetic. Especially since what he is doing to Ben is exactly what his own father did to him - kicked him out of the house because he was sexual competition.

Anyway, it's going to be interesting to see where things go from here, particularly how Barb reacts to Ben leaving, and whether or not Bill can redeem himself or slides further into a completely unsympathetic character.

Project Runway Season 7

2010-01-22T19:35:00.013-05:00

Project Runway is back, and I don't just mean that it's newest season has started airing. I mean that it's back to being good. Read on for my brief analysis with pictures!

Metta made a really good point last season that it was a mistake when the judges dismissed the contestants who were making weirder, more avant garde clothes in favor of letting all the somewhat talented but rather boring designers stay. I think the judges must read our blog (har har) because they are definitely rewarding risk and cutting the boring fat.

Let's look at episode one:

I betcha all the other contestants thought Ping (the resident "I don't use mannequins - I just throw fabrics on my head" crazy designer) was in the bottom three when she was summoned to stay on the stage for judging. Nope! She was in the TOP three, and I get it. This is a weird draping look that wouldn't work hanging on the rack at Macy's, but it's definitely fashion:

And here is the losing dress:

This dress was not the "ugliest" out there, but it was poorly sewn and it's a bit blah.

Here was a dress that I thought should have been in the bottom:

Now let's look at Episode 2 and you'll see a continuation on the judges favoring risk rather than boredom.

This time Ping was in the bottom:

This dress was a hot mess. What you can't see in the above image is that the poor model's bare ass is almost entirely exposed when the garment is viewed from behind. It's a bad fit, to say the least, and poorly executed. But the shape is innovative, if not pretty. They let Ping stay and instead kicked out Pamela for this little number:

This dress fit poorly, and it was boring, and that was enough for the judges to say "aufweidersehen." They had complemented Pamela on her brilliant execution of dying the fabrics, the celebrated her transformation of burlap into a faux-denim, and they even remarked on the skill of her sewing (the stitching can look perfect even when the fit is off). However, when pressed for who they wanted to see more from, they decided to pass on one of a handful of the mousy cocktail clan and hope for more poise from Ping's future designs.

As for my favorite right now? That'd probably be Amy. Look at the awesome skirt she did for the potato sack challenge!:

TV- Big Love

2010-01-10T21:05:00.001-05:00

The new episode hasn't even started yet, but I have to say this. The new opening is UNACCEPTABLE! The old opening was one of the best ever and I was waiting in anticipation for the Beach Boys to start singing, and then this weird emo crap starts playing. Unacceptable.

Golden Globe Nominations

2009-12-16T06:24:00.003-05:00

I really like awards season! Obviously Metta and I have been very busy and too important to post regularly on our little bloggy here, but I did want to make a little comment about one of the nominations:

Matthew Morrison – Glee (FOX)

SERIOUSLY?!?!?11??!?! He is TEH WORST part of that show by a MILLION!!!

However, I was happy to see the multiple nods for Big Love. This past season was phenomenal and I'm glad the nominators didn't forget about this show during its hiatus.

General Hospital

2009-11-27T22:51:00.002-05:00

That's right. Don't adjust your screen. General. Hospital.

So, I saw on Hulu that James Franco was guest starring on General Hospital. How do you not at least check it out after that?! So I watched a couple of episodes and that show is CRAZY! Absolute insanity. Nothing even makes sense! There is some god-awful acting (Maxie is unforgivable), some ridiculous plots, and some ridiculous dialogue.

However, I got totally sucked in. Here's a little bit of an explanation, if you need one. I watched General Hospital somewhat regularly when I was about 16. Maybe even younger. I was watching when Jonathan Jackson quit playing Lucky and I was watching when Nikolas Cassadine first showed up.

So, Jonathan Jackson just recently returned to the show as Lucky after probably ten or more years off the show. So, it kind of felt like I had never stopped watching. Obviously a lot has changed. Many, many people have died, cheated on their significant others, lied about whose child their baby was, etc. But there is a sense of continuity. It is exactly the same show it was when I watched it last.

Plus, they've got a Veronica Mars alum, and a Battlestar Galactica alum on the show now as well, which equals even more points for the show.

Like I said, I haven't been watching, but this might be kind of a little golden era for General Hospital. Despite a lot of bad actors, there are actually some good ones as well. Although James Franco is just creeping me out. His storyline is completely ridiculous and weird, and hard to believe. But I'm going to keep watching.

TV - V

2009-11-03T21:00:00.002-05:00

Now THAT is how a show should start. None of this dilly-dallying. Get right into the meat of the show is an hour-long pilot. Well done. Keep reading for more.

I had serious concerns when they pulled the whole, "Where were you when JFK was shot? Where were you on 9/11?" crap at the beginning, but this was a stellar pilot. I don't know how I'm going to feel about the show going forward, but this was definitely the way to start off right.

This was only an hour long, but it felt like two. It was jam packed with information and action, and only minimal exposition and back-story. I especially liked that they not only set up the splinter group, who believes that the Visitors are reptilian aliens who have been hiding among us for years, but also firmly established that the splinter group is right. A lesser show *cough* Flash Forward *cough* would have dragged that out for weeks, until you were so annoyed that you didn't even care about the reveal. Also, I'm glad that they have told us upfront that not all Visitors are evil and that there are "traitors" out there who will help the humans.

Really nice performances, too. Gotta love Elizabeth Mitchell. Scott Wolf is perfectly cast as a half-smarmy, half-sincere broadcast journalist. Morena Baccarin is fantastic, and fantastically unsettling as Anna, leader of the Visitors. The only misstep, IMO, is Alan Tudyk. Dollhouse just pulled a similar switcheroo with him last season, so I saw it coming as soon as he appeared on the screen. The man is insanely talented, don't just use him to trick people.

I could care less about Elizabeth Mitchell's son and his hard-on for the blond alien chick. I hope that storyline either gets way better or falls into the background.

I'll definitely keep watching for awhile. Especially since Tuesday is useless otherwise.

TV - The Office - Subtle Sexuality Webisode

2009-11-02T15:35:00.001-05:00

If you guys haven't checked out the latest webisode series from The Office, it's a must! Especially the third chapter featuring the awesome music video for Kelly and Erin's band's single "Male Prima Donna."

TV - American Idol - Adam Lambert Cover Art

2009-10-29T05:16:00.004-04:00

Here's Adam Lambert's cover art for his upcoming album:

Some people are saying that this super glam-y Glambert cover art will alienate his older home-Mom fans from Idol, but I don't really think so. For one, I think people knew that this boy was a David Bowie inspired superstar when they voted for him on Idol. For another - who really cares about album art? When you buy an album on iTunes it's not the same as buying the CD and constantly fiddling with the CD case. But this was definitely worth showing because it makes me so happy! Can you stop giggling? I can't.

The Office Episode "The Lover"

2009-10-26T06:51:00.002-04:00

"tb" makes a great point that a point about last week's episode of The Office, entitled "The Lover," most certainly deserves a blog post! I will go as far as to say it was my favorite episode in recent memory. The Pam / Michael storyline was hilarious: there is now the potential for Michael to become Pam's stepfather, and that is AWESOME.

But really the best part of the entire episode (season... show history?!) was Dwight asking Michael if he would like him to give him "the chills". There's an egg on your head and the yolk is pouring down... The last time I heard that I was in fifth grade on a playground in that weird sleep-over day-spa dynamic that little girls have where we were all rubbing each other's backs, braiding hair, and painting nails. I laughed until my stomach hurt, and it's been a while since that happened.

Run, Fatboy, Run

2009-10-25T21:47:00.003-04:00

Cute movie. Exactly what I was in the mood for last night. Light, funny, not too much thinking involved, Hank Azaria. Click to keep reading.

We rented a movie for the first time in a very long time last night. We actually rented two, but we haven't watched the other one yet.

Run, Fatboy, Run was a perfect rental for me. It's something I missed in the theaters and it's just fun. Basic plot: Loser guy leaves gorgeous and talented pregnant fiance at the altar on their wedding day. Five years later, he's still a loser. He sees her and their son regularly, but she's moved on . . . to a successful hedge fund manager who runs marathons for charities. The next marathon is a month away. Naturally, loser guy decides that to win back the girl, he has to run in the marathon. Let me tell you from my husband's experience. You cannot train for a marathon in three weeks. No way. I thought that was going to be a huge issue. But, trust me, when you see how he runs the marathon, his training regimen is not a problem.

It's a cliched happy ending, he finishes the race - kind of - and the hedge fund guy turns out to be a jerk. They don't 100% tell you that he and the girl get back together, but it certainly seems to be heading that direction.

What makes this movie really worth watching are very good comedic performances from Simon Pegg, Hank Azaria and Dylan Moran. If you're looking for something fun and light to rent, this is a perfect choice.

The other movie we rented was Blood Diamond. Somehow I don't think it will be as much fun.

Book - The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

2009-10-15T08:00:00.004-04:00

Any talk about the Twilight books being "potato-chip literature" can now be thrown out the window. I can't remember if "The Da Vinci Code" was written this incredibly poorly, but let me assure you that there have been "Choose Your Own Adventure" books with more linguistic nuance than Brown's latest page-turner. That being said, "The Lost Symbol" takes the reader on a fun and exciting journey into the real-life world of American Freemasons and Noetic Science.

You don't watch the "National Treasure" movies for the method-acting, and you don't read Dan Brown to build your literary chops. You do it for fun! And while at the same time you might find your brain getting squishy from reading the phrase So-and-So "did a double-take" or "it's so obvious! How could we not have seen it before?" over and over again, or when you realize that that man has been described as "elegant" enough times that you have to assume he's actually a swan, the book actually does teach you a little about American History.

Another interesting note about this book... I can't help but wonder if Dan Brown is throwing a middle-finger at the production studios trying to turn this into another blockbuster movie. There are a lot of aspects to this thriller that will make it difficult to translate to screen. For one, we need to be shocked about the powerful members in our society who are actually Freemasons, and that's going to be hard to do in a short period of time without actually casting prominent political figures. There's also a weirdo death and resurrection scene and perhaps most difficult for a movie adaptation, one of the most exciting chase scenes takes place in absolute pitch-black darkness. 10 minutes of looking at a black screen might make for a strange cinematic experience...

Film - Invention of Lying

2009-10-15T07:51:00.003-04:00

Ricky Gervais's new comedy "Invention of Lying" makes for a perfectly enjoyable date-movie experience. It's a comedy about a world where people are incapable of lying and ignorant of their ability to speak un-truths. After setting up this amusing culture, and establishing that Gervais's character is in love with an adorable Jennifer Gardner, he goes on to dig into the concept of religion from an atheist perspective. How can people subscribe to the silly concept of a giant man living in the sky, sometimes creating messes of their lives, sometimes granting them great gifts? Because it makes them feel safe and less afraid of the afterlife.

The movie is clever and provides some laughs, but I really expected more from Gervais. The script could have benefited from more time at the editing desk. For example, is Gervais saying that in this world people are incapable of lying or are they incapable of holding-their-tongues? It's unclear. The romantic obstacles between Gardner and Gervais's character are also a little perplexing, with a lot of talk about the necessity of proper genetic matching to create perfect children that doesn't quite settle well. However, I'd say if you were looking for a movie to rent on a lazy weeknight, this one would lead to an overall positive experience.

More importantly, let's discuss how crazy it would be to see Jennifer Gardner and Hillary Swank co-star in a film together? Another "Boys Don't Cry" type ambiguous gender film would benefit from this sharp-jawed manish-yet-also-pretty duo.

Book - A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

2009-10-15T07:40:00.003-04:00

Metta's husband recently leant me the book "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole, and I am so grateful he did! Although written in the 1960s, this book wasn't released until two decades later and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981. It tells the story of Ignatius, an over-educated blow-hard who's obsessed with Medieval philosophy but derives pleasure from being aesthetically assaulted by popular culture. Think Michael Moore, with constant gas issues and more infatuated with ancient European philosophers than capitalism or health-care. After enjoying many years writing furious screeds against modern society in his bedroom at his mother's house, circumstances necessitate that the 30-something Ignatius finally go out into the real world and find a job. On his journeys we run into a variety of other eccentric, well-developed characters who shape each other's lives in an elaborate web of interactions. This book is funny, smart, and impressively executed.

Film - Jennifer's Body

2009-10-12T06:53:00.006-04:00

Why didn't people go an see Jennifer's Body? I thought it was really fun. True, there are plenty of people who detest Diablo Cody's distinctive writing style. You have to be able to stomach substituting "jealous" for being "Lime-Green Jell-O," but I think that's cute and perfectly fitting with a high-school horror flick.

Some say the film didn't fare well because people were sick of Megan Fox. Although this may be the case, that's too bad, because she was really perfect in this role. I actually think the movie would have done a lot better if it had delayed its release to the beginning of October. When I was in High School, loads of friends would get together and go see a horror movie around Halloween and this one would have been perfect for those who wanted to see something scary-fun, not truly horrifying (like Paranormal Activity).

TV - Greek

2009-10-06T21:07:00.004-04:00

Why don't more people recognize what a great show this is? EW is on board. It gets good reviews. I know there are people out there watching this show, but for some reason, my friends don't seem to be on board.

I think a lot of people put this show in some kind of category where, maybe if they were bored and there was a marathon on, they would give it a shot, but it's worthy of much more attention.

Part of the reason I love this show is the same reason I love My Boys. I don't want to say that the show is realistic, because watching one episode would make it clear that it is not. However, despite the things that are unrealistic, there is something authentic about a large portion of the dialogue, the performances, and even some of the situations.

One of the things that I absolutely love about this show is how relationships ebb and flow. Now, that happens on every show, mostly in an effort to keep viewers interested, instead of getting bored. What this show manages to do that I think some shows miss, is that it shows you all the detail and provides more context and explanation for why these relationships are ebbing and flowing, and why people are taking their lives the direction they do.

Probably the most interesting is the relationship between Casey and Evan. I didn't think I would ever find Evan likable after some of the stuff that went on in the last season. And I didn't think it would ever make sense for him to be friends with Casey on the show again, or with Cappie, for that matter. But I'm back on his side now. He's likable again and, because they gave context, and, frankly, because the performance by Jake McDorman is so natural, I believe that these people would be friends with him again, and would see that he's actually changed.

Anyway, watch the show. Don't put it on the, "Oh, I'll watch it some day when I'm bored" list. It's too good for that. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's one of my top three favorite shows that are currently airing new episodes. And that's saying a lot, because I watch a lot of TV.

TV - Dancing with the Stars

2009-09-23T20:35:00.002-04:00

Don't laugh at me. I don't generally watch Dancing with the Stars, but as Jenna mentioned, Tuesday is a wasteland.

So, I'm only posting for one reason, though there are additional things I could talk about. But there is only one reason I'm going to actually watch this show - sometimes - this season.

Kelly Osbourne.

She is absolutely fabulous. Everything about her performances is genuine and full of joy. I have seen portions of this show before, and I'm sure there have been better dancers, but I seriously doubt there has ever been anyone on the show who is such a complete joy to watch.

Even better was Ozzy getting choked up when asked about what it was like to watch is daughter dance. He was so proud. He was seriously a choked up. It was incredibly sweet.

I will actually keep watching, just to see her. But I'll probably flip the channel while everyone else is dancing.

TV - The Emmys

2009-09-23T06:19:00.004-04:00

Remember last year's Emmys? Oh the horror. A gaggle of uncooperative and uncomfortable reality TV hosts took the stage and "improved" an intro that made everyone shudder.

Thank goodness the Television Overlords recognized the splendor that is Neil Patrick Harris, and thank goodness NPH had the good sense to demand being a producer for the show as well, so that there was some hope in it being run efficiently while also being entertaining. I think he was successful. Read on for more.

In general I thought the show was good, the winners were boring. None of my favorites won in the acting categories, nor did any of my second favorites with the exception of Kristen Chenoweth, who I still love and think is great and looked amazing, although I though Wiig or Poehler probably deserved the nod after an actually amazing year of SNL.

Grouping the awards in genre was a neat idea, by which I mean that it was tidy and easy to follow. However, that kind of lead to a real boring middle section of who-gives-a-care about Amazing Race, Little Dorrit, or Gray Gardens.

But the real story here is NPH. I loved how dapper he was, that he's a song-and-dance man, that he cared enough and showed that he cared by staying on stage. I cannot believe that he didn't win his Emmy! That was the biggest crock-of-hoohah especially considering who he lost to. Anyway, I loved the Dr. Horrible bit and the blunt discussion that broadcast television is fading into the background as the world expands into On-Demand and Internet viewing.

Wait, maybe that's the real story: the television world is certainly in a crazy shifting, expanding state. The way ratings are determined and valued is in flux as DVR viewings have to count almost as much as live-viewing, let alone factoring in Hulu or iTunes downloads. America isn't all sitting down on the couch at the same minute to have a shared experience anymore, and valuing commercials that air along with live programming is sooo 20th century. To quote presenter and nominee Julia Louis-Dreyfus, perhaps this is the "last official year of network broadcast television" ... but probably not. : )

Book - The Road

2009-09-21T06:34:00.003-04:00

The most recent pick for my book-club was "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. I am so happy that this was our choice. What an amazing novel: my favorite since "...Edgar Sawtelle." It doesn't sound like it should be an enjoyable book: the story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a father and son wander the lands trying to survive. However, thanks to the captivating writing and the powerful emotions it provokes, reading this book was a beautiful experience. Read on for further discussion.

The reader doesn't know what cataclysmic event took place to ruin the continent, but the land is now burnt to a crisp and ash hangs in the air making is dusty and gray during the day and absolutely pitch-black at night. We don't know how long the world has been in this shape, but can estimate that it's been perhaps somewhere around eight years (the boy was born into this world just a few days after the incident and seems to be around eight years old when we pick up their story). The father and son, who are given no names nor any real physical descriptions, are heading south to beat the worst of the winter and to perhaps see the state of the ocean. They search for survival supplies and exist on any found canned foods, as nothing is able to grow in this utterly barren landscape. Perhaps most frighteningly, there are roving gangs of evil people who have resorted to cannibalism - real life zombies!

The writing is simple prose mixed with poetic and cryptic passages that are chilling and beautiful. I had to resort to my dictionary about a thousand times thanks to McCarthy's vast vocabulary, but his way with words is worth the effort. One reviewer remarked that the urgency provoked in the writing made the reader feel they HAD to turn the pages in order to help the father and son survive: so true!

This is a tremendous parable about love and humanity that has often been associated with a biblical style. It's true that the father comes off as a sometimes vengeful God while the son is the encapsulation of mercy and hope. Together these two "carry the light" while in the darkest of circumstances that is in no way clichéd.

Important Issue #1: Male Boob Equivalent

2009-09-19T10:07:00.003-04:00

This is an important discussion that has taken place in my house for sometime. What is the male equivalent to the full-frontal boob shot? Read on for clearer explanation and a sexy Edward picture.

Women have butts and so do men. Full-frontal shots of pubic areas carry the same "wow" factor regardless of sex. But what packs the same punch as a full frontal boob-shot when men are involved? Yes, I know that men have nipples and chests, but those are hardly as sexualized as the female breasts.

Although this area could be found on the female form as well, my vote is for the pelvic indentations found on the male lower abdomen, usually accompanied by some sort of "treasure trail," as illustrated within the yellow box below. I anxiously await your thoughts on this important issue!

TV - Fall Schedule

2009-09-17T04:23:00.004-04:00

This is more for my convenience, but please feel free to read-on for a handy schedule of when television shows start their new seasons. I edited the one created by Ausiellio from EW significantly, but you can view his complete schedule HERE.

Thursday, September 17:
Bones, 8 p.m. (Fox)
Community, 9:30 p.m. (NBC)
Fringe, 9 p.m. (Fox)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, 10 p.m. (FX)
The Office, 9 p.m. (NBC)
Parks and Recreation, 8:30 p.m. (NBC)
Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday, 8 p.m. (NBC)

Friday, September 18:
Crash, 10 p.m. (Starz)

Sunday, September 20:
Bored to Death, 9:30 p.m. (HBO)
Curb Your Enthusiasm, 9 p.m. (HBO)

Monday, September 21:
The Big Bang Theory, 9:30 p.m. (CBS)
Castle, 10 p.m. (ABC)
Heroes, 8 p.m. (NBC)
House, 8 p.m. (Fox)
How I Met Your Mother, 8 p.m. (CBS)

Thursday, September 24:
Flash Forward, 8 p.m. (ABC)
The Mentalist, 10 p.m. (CBS)

Friday, September 25:
Dollhouse, 9 p.m. (Fox)
Ghost Whisperer, 8 p.m. (CBS)

Saturday, September 26:
Saturday Night Live, 11:30 p.m. (NBC)

Sunday, September 27:
The Cleveland Show, 8:30 p.m. (Fox)
Dexter, 9 p.m. (Showtime)
Family Guy, 9 p.m. (Fox)
The Simpsons, 8 p.m. (Fox)

Monday, October 5:
Sherri, 7 p.m. (Lifetime)

Friday, October 9:
Ugly Betty, 8 p.m. (ABC)

Thursday, October 15:
30 Rock, 9:30 p.m. (NBC)

Tuesday, November 3:
V, 8 p.m. (ABC)

Book - The Lovely Bones

2009-09-16T18:58:00.002-04:00

Alice Sebold's debut novel was a huge best-seller a couple of years ago. Now more readers are looking at it with a more critical eye. Why? Because it doesn't really live up to the hype. The story is a bleak one: a 14 year old girl, Susie, is raped and murdered by her next-door neighbor. I'm not spoiling anything by telling you that, it happens in the first couple of pages. Susie then proceeds to heaven where she is able to look over her grieving family and have insight into their thoughts.

Don't be fooled: this is not a murder mystery. The story is not about the evil man getting caught and being brought to justice. Although Susie's father pursues finding the culprit, this novel is much more about how each member of the family deals with grief... and nothing really happens. They live troubled lives and suffer a bunch but nothing really progresses except time (the book spans about eight years).

Beyond the critiques of the narration "gimmick," due attention has been brought to the fact that the writing style is forced. There are some crazy similes, one of the worst being "Her pupils dilated, pulsing in and out like small, ferocious olives". THIS WOMAN wrote a hilarious and scathing review that is worth reading for other examples of the crazy language and just for a good laugh. However, whereas this woman would only recommend the book "to enemies" I would recommend it to anyone who can handle somewhat sappy stories. The book isn't all that long and the depiction of heaven is interesting and thought-provoking.

Even though this review is long enough already, it's still worth talking about the fact that this is going to soon be a major motion picture that has been cited as a possible Oscar contender. I have to say this is an incredibly ambitious endeavor. Let alone the fact that there is 14 year old getting raped and murdered at the get-go... half of the story takes place in heaven! There's also the fact that the story covers eight years (the younger brother ages from 4 - 12 years old)! It is also a book that depends greatly on the like-ability of multiple children and tweens (yikes! child actors!). And, without giving too much away, there is a bizarre, erotic, exorcism-type scene. So yea... should be good! I certainly want to trust Peter Jackson, however, this is also the director who decided it was okay to leave this as the final line of "King Kong": " 'Twas beauty killed the beast!" 'TWAS IT?!

TV - Thursday

2009-09-16T04:57:00.003-04:00

Are you serious Thursday night?! That's way too much quality television for one evening. Once things get cooking this fall there will be:

FlashForward on ABC
Bones on FOX
The Vampire Diaries on CW
The Office / Community / 30 Rock on NBC (and yea, probably Parks and Recreation, too)
It's Always Sunny... on FX
AND Project Runway on Lifetime.

That's 6 hours of TV I would gladly watch all on one night. Yikes. None of these could've been moved to the barren waste-lands of Tuesday or Wednesday?!

Books - "Pride and Prejudice" and "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"

2009-09-13T07:52:00.006-04:00

Compare the first lines from these two books:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

And

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

There you have the differences between Jane Austen's classic, and the hysterical zombie infused version co-authored by Seth Grahame-Smith.

I had never read "Pride and Prejudice" so I decided to read these two books in tandem: a couple chapters of the original followed by the corresponding chapters in the Zombie version. This was certainly an enjoyable experience, if not more than a little redundant. Gramhme-Smith's book contains 70% (at least) of the classic story in word-by-word verbatim (which is why he only gets a co-author credit alongside Miss Austen herself). P&P&Z is also a tiny bit longer, to allow more space to dedicate to crazy zombie killing mayhem without losing any of the original story.

As for the original work itself, I had a very nice time reading the story. It was witty and romantic. P&P&Z had all the same wit and romance, but also many more laugh-out-loud moments that appealed to the 13-year-old boy in me. Not only does the new version have zombies and ninjas, it also has a lot of poop, barf, and balls jokes. The balls jokes are particularly amusing, (e.g. “Balls are always a subject which makes a lady energetic” and “I find that balls are much more enjoyable when they cease to remain private.”) although I wish that Gramhme would have made the characters ignorant of the puns instead of writing about how they'd snicker at themselves.

If I were a high-school English teacher, I'd give my students a choice between reading these two books. I think it would create a fun conversation between those who chose to read the classic and those who chose to read the zombie version. Those who read Gramhme's version would still be able to ace a proficiency test on the classic, as essentially all of the original language and plot-points are encompassed in the Zombie book.

Greg and I both are greatly looking forward to "Sense and Sensibility and Sea-monsters" that will be released later this week from the same publishing house as P&P&Z.

TV - Project Runway 9/10

2009-09-11T22:35:00.002-04:00

I've never been a fan of the whole idea that producers get involved in competition-type reality shows in order to keep the interesting people on the show. But, in my opinion, they needed to do a little more of that on this season of Project Runway.

So, I'm not a fan of the way over the top, super out there designers. Usually, I'm not even a fan of the "good" ones who are way over the top. But they do make the show a little more interesting. This season, they eliminated the two "kooks" on the very first two weeks, and in week four, they eliminated the only black woman, who was also prone to more colorful (though usually tasteless) creations. To be fair, she did get kicked out for designing a pretty boring black dress that I could probably go buy at Sears. But they have eliminated a lot of entertainment value in the first three weeks.

What remains are a number of very talented designers, but also a number of designers who don't really stand out from one another - with some exceptions, obviously - and no one who I would describe as even a little bit avant garde.

I'll still watch, because I just like seeing the runway show with all the pretty outfits, but I think from a pure entertainment value/ratings game perspective, the producers made a mistake. Especially since, in each of the first two contestants to be eliminated were up against the guy who basically sent a model down the runway covered in pantyhose material - who was subsequently eliminated in week three. I would rather have had an additional week of annoying and bizarre Malvin than an extra week of annoying and boring Mitchell.

On another note, Gordana's dress was far and away my favorite last night, and I didn't get the winning outfit at all. It looked sloppy and scrunched up and just plain ugly.

TV - Glee Revisited

2009-09-11T06:17:00.004-04:00

When I saw the pilot of Glee (as blogged about HERE) I was entertained, but skeptical. I can say after seeing the second episode that I am completely on board now. This show has spunk and awkwardness that is rare for television. Almost every one of Jane Lych's lines are forever-quoteable ("That was the most offensive thing I've seen in 20 years of teaching — and that includes an elementary school production of Hair"). And the song choices this episode were also superb (LOVED "Take a Bow"). I really hope the show can keep its ratings up while also keeping the kookiness and the more PG-13 themes and jokes.

Film - Ponyo

2009-09-06T16:54:00.002-04:00

Hayao Miyazaki can do no wrong. Just like his other films, Ponyo manages to completely immerse the audience in pure magic. Read on for more about the movie, but I went in knowing basically nothing about the movie, other than my general knowledge of Miyazaki, and I highly recommend seeing the film this way. It's just the kind of movie that you should really experience without any preconceived notions. However, if you've alread seen it or just can't keep yourself from reading my incredible insights, read on.

So, I didn't know going in that this is basically a retelling of the little mermaid. Of course, it is tweaked a lot, to fit Miyazaki's style, but that's the underlying tale. The main tweak is that the human boy and the "little mermaid" who is named either Brunhilde or Ponyo, depending on who you ask, are little kids.

In typical Miyazaki fashion, there are some extreme characters, like Ponyo's father, voiced by Liam Neeson, who is a long-haired, sea man who appears to be wearing make-up all the time, or her mother who is an enormous and beautiful sea goddess of some kind. But the absolute delight of this film lies in Ponyo herself.

I'll admit that I was slightly antsy for the first twenty or thirty minutes. It was fun, but it didn't have the spark I was looking for. But once Ponyo becomes a real girl, it's amazing. She is energetic and innocent. She causes a major sea storm without even realizing it. She loves ham. A lot.

This wasn't my favorite Miyazaki movie, but it was still absolutely fantastic. Fun, magical, beautiful. A wonderful way to spend a couple hours.

Book and TV - The Stand and Lost

2009-09-06T09:04:00.004-04:00

Damon and Carlton (Executive Producers and Head Writers for the show) have long cited Stephen King's "The Stand" as their main inspiration source-material for shaping the story-line of Lost. Therefore, I couldn't resist picking up this huge novel in an attempt to gain insight into one of my favorite shows. It also doesn't hurt that this epic-tale has been judged by many respectable sources to be King's magnum opus. So read on for my review of the book, my insights into how it might relate to Lost, and also some excerpts of interviews where Team Darlton discuss "The Stand."

"The Stand" is about a world where a super-flu epidemic strikes, killing almost all of humanity. Those that are inexplicably immune begin to have the same dreams pulling them together. King introduces the reader to a tremendous amount of characters (like Lost) who are all seeking some sort of redemption. Almost every character seems well-rounded and creates interest, also like Lost (although in The Stand, absolutely every character talks like Sawyer so they may grate on you a bit at times). And, many of the characters are similar (e.g. pregnant chick, rocker, stoic leader, even an impressive dog).

The circumstances faced by the characters in this novel and Lost are also comparable. The characters in King's work who have survived experience a mythological "pull" sensation that draws them together to start and shape a society. They all understand that they need some semblance of order and togetherness if they are going to survive, especially considering there is a village of evil Others not too far off in the West. And, not to spoil too much, the beginning of the end is marked by a big-bomb detonation.

So what insights can be gathered comparing these two works? I would say the main thing I learned about Lost after reading this book is that Team Darlton share King's sentiment that mythology should only be the background for a story about character-development. "The Stand" ended with a solid understanding that the characters faced their faults and gained peace in their sense-of-self. They were presented with opportunities to receive redemption, and those that embraced them gained comfort. The conclusion did not address any of the questions that arose from the mythological experiences. Why were these people the survivors? Who exactly are Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg? We have a sense at the answers, but much much much is left to interpretation. I fear Lost will end in a similar fashion, but I also think the fan involvement with the show will shape it in such a way that more questions will be answered than would be if King was at the helm.

As for which work I enjoy more, I am confidently in the camp of Lost, even though the show has yet to conclude and it could still spoil my affections. King's mythology is wrapped up in the same good versus evil debate, but there is never any question as to who is good and who is bad. WIth characters like Jacob, the Man in Black, Christian Shephard's ghost, and Ben (just to name a few!) Lost has not been so quick as to identify who we should be rooting for. There are many more shades of gray and a lot more ambivalence. Also, Lost has so many more elements to its mythology: Dharma, Hanso, Widmore, Time-Travel, and on and on. It's a much more complex-world and I like the complexity.

Anyway below are some excerpts which will allow Carlton and Damon to express their own opinions on how "The Stand" has influenced them:

Here is a snippet of the interview between the writing team and King that was conducted by Entertainment Weekly. The entire interview can be read HERE:

Carlton Cuse: For us, The Stand has been a model. Lost is about a bunch of people stranded on an island. It's compelling, but kind of tiny. But what sustains you are the characters. In The Stand, I was completely gripped by everyone you introduced in that story — how they come together, what their individual stories are, how they face the premise. That was such a good model for Lost.

Lindelof: The first meeting I had with J.J. about Lost, we talked about The Stand, and it kept suggesting ideas throughout the process. The character of Charlie was always going to be a druggie rocker, but when Dominic Monaghan came in to audition we started saying, ''What if he was a one-hit wonder?'' I said, ''Like the guy in The Stand! The guy with just this one song.''

King: Yeah. ''Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?''

Lindelof: His entire character sort of is constructed around that. The thing about The Stand is that there are all the archetypes, and we embraced the same thing. The strong, silent, heroic type. The nerdy guy. The techie. The pregnant girl. All those characters exist in The Stand, too.

---
And here's another little comment Carlton gave Variety:

For both Damon and me Stephen King’s “The Stand” was the most influential model for “Lost.” Because “Lost” is not the tenth carbon copy of a medical, legal or cop show there wasn’t a clear roadmap for how to make it work for 100 episodes by looking at other TV shows. So instead we turned to “The Stand,” a 1,000-page novel with a high-concept idea at the core: most of the world’s inhabitants have been killed by a super flu. What we loved about the book was that what sustains the 1,000 pages is not the mythology of the super flu but the stories of the characters. The mystery of what was happening on this island had to be secondary to the mystery of “who are these people?”
--

Book - The Magicians

2009-09-04T20:02:00.002-04:00

So, when I was visiting with my friend, Laura, she basically forced this book on me. Im not complaining. For a complete fantasy geek like me, this was totally great. The premise isn't really new: a teenage boy who always wished there was something more to life finds out there is, and is accepted to a highly selective school of magic. Adventures ensue.

However, this book is more of a commentary on that almost universal desire than it is an actual representation of that desire. Or at least, that's what it is trying for, I think.

So, there is almost an annoying focus on how much the main character, Quentin, wishes and believes that there is more to the world than his mundane existence. At first, I was like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it." But once you get into the book, it's good that you understand the level of his obsession with a more adventurous and magical life.

The book heavily alludes to a series of books Quentin read as a child which are basically the Chronicles of Narnia. The main focus of his inability to accept the "regular" world is that he never stopped wishing that those books were real, and that "Fillory" which is the Narnia counterpart, was a place he could actually get to. Come to find out, he's right - shocker.

I don't know. Part of me wants to just say that the book was just kind of a good mishmash of a bunch of other fantasy books I love so much, but I really do think that this book was able to focus in on the interest in fantasy and magic that many of us still have, even as adults, and to kind of pick it apart. I think that in the end the book kind of advocates that the interest is good for you, but taking it to an obsession is unhealthy.

Anyway, in a very reading-heavy summer, I enjoyed this as much or more than everything else that I read for the first time this summer. The only thing I would say is that people who are very familiar with Chronicles of Narnia would probably enjoy it more than people who aren't.

Film - Julie and Julia

2009-09-03T07:42:00.001-04:00

What a joyous experience it was to watch this movie! There are so many things to like. For one, it is a smartly written script by Nora Ephron. You might think that this was just a film adaptation of Julie Powell's book "Julie & Julia" but you'd only be correct in part. Powell's book is half of the story - the half describing the efforts of a young bureaucrat who, while struggling to find a sense of self, tackles all the recipes in "The Art of French Cooking." Ephron intertwines this story perfectly with the life Julia Child herself, adapting from Child's "My Life in France."

The performances are also stellar. If Meryl Streep got a nomination for her work in "The Devil Wears Prada," then one would hope she gets the same recognition for her hilarious and yet dead-on portrayal of Julia Child.

And also - it was so refreshing to see a movie featuring great husbands. We see tons of stories where guys make nice love interests- but how do those men stand the test of time? Supportive, funny, smart and sexy - these are some great dudes.

It might be a bit of an overstatement, but I do truly believe that this is the type of movie I'd like to see land one of those bonus 5 Best Picture nominations. It was smartly crafted, featured superb performances, and made you feel great. Can a feel-good movie be deserving of a nomination? With ten spots open it's a possibility.

Film - The Time Traveler's Wife

2009-09-03T07:13:00.004-04:00

Although a classic case of "the book was better," (read my review of the book HERE) the film version of "The Time Traveler's Wife" is not completely without merit. I like Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, and they are given a huge pass by getting to play much more watered-down and likable versions of Audrey Niffenegger's characters. However, their like-ability comes at the price of depth. And they are not the only elements of the book that are sanitized. In the book, Henry's injury is much more severe, Clare faces even more difficulties with her attempts at conceiving a baby, the overall language is borderline caustic, and the ending is.... different.

As for the time-traveling itself, without having read the book the movie's explanations of Henry's "Chrono-Displacement Disorder" might be a hard pill to swallow.

If you've read the book, this would be a nice supplement to your reading experience. If you haven't, no need to see this film.

Book - The Wet Nurse's Tale

2009-09-03T06:31:00.003-04:00

Erica Eisdorfer has written a lovely novel about the life of a wet nurse in Victorian England. Susan Rose is a bawdy scullery maid who ends up becoming a wet nurse after an unexpected pregnancy. Susan faces many heart-breaking challenges, but faces them all dead-on with vigor, spunk, and a tremendous amount of cunning. She acknowledges when she's acting immorally, but always provides a sympathetic excuse. As a Gypsy once told her, "you'll see to yourself, girl." Read on for more.

Eisdorfer's book provides a welcome glimpse into the world of nursing babies. I don't think you'd have to have the experience in order to find these passages charming, although the fact that I was actively breastfeeding my own baby while reading the story probably enhanced my perception of the novel.

The novel is interrupted periodically with little vignettes of women's reasons for giving their children over to a wet nurse (all of them customers of Susan's mother, a woman who wet nursed well into her 40s). There have been some complaints that these asides are distracting, however, I welcomed them. They were not only short, interesting stories; they provided insight into raising children in the Victorian era. There were no bottles and certainly no formulas during this time. If a woman couldn't nurse her baby, her healthy alternatives were limited. These anecdotes were informative and also prevented me from running with my original assumption that any woman who would give her baby over to a wet nurse was a monster.

If I were to have any complaints, it might be about the ending, where Susan's luck trumps her cunning. However, this is a super-fast, enjoyable, moving and funny read that I would recommend to anyone (particularly maternal females).

Books - Loving Frank, Mary, and Ahab's Wife

2009-08-31T17:27:00.004-04:00

I read the book "Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan a couple of weeks ago. It tells the tale of Mamah Cheney, a real-life woman who had a long-term affair with the world's most famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. The book was fine, however, it reminded me of two other novels written in a similar style that I enjoyed much more than this particular piece. So read on for summaries and a brief review of not just this book, but also "Mary" by Janis Cook Newman and "Ahab's Wife" by Sena Jeter Naslund.

"Loving Frank": Little is known about the true nature of Mamah Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright's romance. What Horan has mainly to rely on are newspaper articles written in the melodramatic stylings of yellow journalism, which was at its peak during their affair. Horan takes what was described as a salacious scandal and fleshes out these two characters' courtship into an elaborate tale of love overcoming obstacles. The tale has a lot of interesting elements, including Cheney's mission to advance the Women's Movement, which was in full-swing during the 1910s when the book takes place. The down-side to the novel is that Cheney and Wright are fairly unsympathetic characters, and you have to spend a lot of time with them. Wright is pompous and careless with his finances, to the detriment of many. Cheney sacrifices being a mother to her children (let alone a wife to her husband - both Cheney and Wright are married) in order to pursue her relationship with Wright. Horan tries to relay the overwhelming angst Cheney feels leaving her kids, but it wasn't enough for me to excuse her actions.

"Mary" by Janis Cook Newman is similar to Horan's piece, but infinitely more interesting. This is also a novel based on a historical figure whose life was steeped in scandal. This is the story of Mary Todd Lincoln and Newman weaves a captivating yarn relaying Mary and Abe's romance, and how Mary eventually came to find herself institutionalized in a mental hospital. In Newman's book, the story is written from the first-person perspective of the protagonist. Mary frankly describes herself as an incredibly passionate woman whose sexual longings get her in trouble with a relatively prudish (but not gay) Abraham and eventually lead her to a life of careless shopping sprees. That sounds dumb, but it's not. Here is an example of a character who does many unlikable things, but can still keep the reader on her side due to Newman's writing skill.

"Ahab's Wife" takes place roughly during the same time as "Mary": mid-19th century. Now Una is not a historical figure. She is the wife of Captain Ahab alluded to only once in Melville's classic "Moby Dick." However, Naslund, like Newman and Horan, saw an interesting character and ran with her story. This book is long and sometimes overly descriptive, but also excellent. Una is smart as a whip, and Naslund has a good time having her heroine encounter many prominent historical figures throughout the 1800s.

All three of these books showcase intelligent women looking for their place in world during the Suffrage Movement in America. None of them jive-well with the cultural norms of their times and fight being outcast from society at every turn. All three were books I'm glad to have read, but I'd read "Mary" or "Ahab's Wife" again before re-reading "Loving Frank," myself.

Books - Sookie Stackhouse vs. TV - True Blood

2009-08-26T16:57:00.002-04:00

So, I have now read the first seven* Sookie Stackhouse novels twice (I ran out of books while in Europe) and I am caught up on True Blood. I have some thoughts about comparisons.

As I mentioned before, the secondary characters - Lafayette, Tara, Jason, Hoyt, etc. - are all fleshed out much more thoroughly in True Blood than they are in the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I definitely think this is a major positive for the show, since these characters are really the most interesting part of the show, to me anyway.

However. After a second read of the books, and catching up to where we are with the TV show, I've got to say that I prefer Sookie, Bill and Eric in the books to Sookie, Bill and Eric on the show. I've already explained about Sookie. The real issue is Eric and Bill.

In the books, Bill is nowhere approaching the saint he is turning out to be in the television show. The books take a much more middle of the road approach to the whole good versus evil debate than the show does.

For instance, in a recent episode, there was an attack on a vampire nest and Bill was told to go after the humans responsible. He bit one of them, but then said, "Tell your people that a vampire showed mercy where humans did not," or something to that effect. In the correlating incident in the books, Bill kills at least one of the responsible humans. Now, I personally prefer this grey-area Bill to the White Hat Bill from True Blood.

Similarly, Eric seems to be pretty firmly in the Black Hat camp on the show (though there is a little bit of room there). In the books, he doesn't ask Lorena to keep Bill away from Sookie, though he does trick Sookie into drinking his blood.

It just seems to me that the television show is head more into black/white territory, and I like my television with a healthy dose of grey. We'll see if this continues, but as it stands right now, I'm not really on board with the Bill/Sookie/Eric dynamic that's going on in True Blood as compared to the novels.

I will say one thing, though. I hope that television show can keep the number of Sookie's suitors relatively low. In the books there are no fewer than seven men who relatively seriously vie for her affections (if not more). It gets a little out of hand, honestly. I'd like it if the TV show could keep it down to like three - maybe four.

And again, I still prefer the TV show. The acting, the production, and the supporting characters make it a much fuller story and experience. It's just that when it comes to Bill and Eric, in particular, I think the books to a better job of keeping them both in grey area, as opposed to White Hat Bill and Black Hat Eric.

*Disclaimer - I think there are at least two more published books, and possibly some short stories that I have missed, but I doubt they significantly change the points I'm making here.

Film - Inglourious Basterds

2009-08-23T14:33:00.002-04:00

Some people absolutely love Quentin Tarantino, and I'm one of them. Bring on the long, drawn-out conversations filled with quirky quips, the awesome soundtracks, the chapter titles, and the grab-bag of surprises including drawing on the screen and sudden narration. That's his bag, and God Bless Him. It'll take a while for me to decide if Tarantino's latest WWII Jewish Revenge Fantasy is my favorite of his films, but I'm thinking it just may be. Read on for my discussion of this awesome movie.

Going into this movie, I thought it was going to focus solely on a gang of unruly American soldiers, looking to give the Nazi's a taste of their own merciless medicine. That certainly is an enjoyable part of it. Brad Pitt's Aldo Raine, may be a caricature but if you're not smiling as he basketball pivots to the camera explaining his scalp quota, there's something sad about you. There's also plenty to like about the "Bear Jew" and the pleasing presence of B.J. Novak. Novak is great on television, but that bizarre face with its lop-sided Dali-esque melting eyes shines extra-bright on the big screen.

However, the Basterds are only a part of this movie. The other half is focused on the story of Shoshana - and that's actually where the movie begins. Shoshana is played brilliantly by a beautiful french actress Mélanie Laurent, however, the true stand-out performance is that of Austrian actor, Christoph Waltz. Waltz plays the uber-villian, Col. Hans Landa, who comes across a lot scarier than Hitler or Goebbels. When he strikes up a conversation, people freeze and sweat. He's the Jew Hunter, and he's gonna getcha. Waltz won the award for Best Actor at Cannes and I wouldn't be surprised at all if his name comes up at Oscar time.

Thank goodness for Tarantino. He writes and directs in such a way that I find both funny, kitschy, and brilliant. At two and a half hours long, I was suspecting some points of serious drag, but I never found them. Truly a new favorite for me!

TV - Project Runway S6E1

2009-08-23T10:28:00.003-04:00

Season Six of the world's most awesomest reality-competition show, Project Runway, started last week on it's new network Lifetime. Full of big personalities and classic gimmicky names (Hello, Qristyl!) there was also plenty of talent to go around. Read on for my spoiler-heavy discussion of the first episode of the new season.

Upon meeting all of the contestants, there are some that seem more likeable than others from the get-go. There's Ra'Mon who I've got to love because apparently he was well on his way to being a neurosurgeon, and I like big brains. I also like Epperson, who is the oldest guy and looks like you might see him drumming happily on the sidewalk in Ann Arbor. I also liked Logan who said he was the type of guy who could look under the hood and repair his limo, should it break-down on his way to Fashion Week.

I certainly did not care for Johnny, who was all to eager to let everyone know he was a recovering addict and then called out to his competitors to talk him through his panic attack, when I'm sure they were all undergoing tremendous amounts of anxiety.
I also did not have a lot of patience for Nicolas, who claims to make dresses out of feathers and champagne. That just doesn't sound practical!

As far as the runway goes, my favorite was not signaled out for recognition. I absolutely loved Irina's beautiful antique lace gown. It was gorgeous and definitely Academy Awards red-carpet worthy. And although it might not have been bad enough to warrant getting kicked-out, the over-looked bobby tassel dress by Carol was pretty hideous.

Out of the judges favorites, my antagonism towards Johnny extended to my distaste for his dress. The judges seemed to applaud the structure, rather than the arresting color. Certainly the bright, lipstick red with black sequin detail seemed off-putting to me, however I wasn't able to appreciate the shape of the gown even when imagining it in a solid black fabric. The front was such a broad sack, only the skinniest of anorexic starlets would be able to avoid looking like a whale in this outfit. And the back was a bit too-much reveal.

I felt bad for Mitchell. He made a mistake in not allowing himself some wiggle room with the fitting, and I hope he learns from it. The Victorian color wasn't my favorite, but the look was a lot more interesting in it's original form, with the blue watercolor fabric trickling down the legs. If things hadn't gotten so screwed up during the fitting, Mitchell had a real possibility for a successful look with the dramatic collar and a shorter skirt, to make the outfit more contemporary.

As for Ari, she was definitely a case of an artist who works through fashion rather than a fashion designer. She was a bit too out-there, although I didn't think her outfit was the worst thing to come across the PR stage in its history.

TV - Project Runway All-Star Challenge

2009-08-21T06:19:00.003-04:00

Project Runway is backkkk! And in a true treat, a delicious appetizer was presented before the new season started. In Project Runway All Stars we were able to see how designers Korto, Uli, Sweet P, Daniel V, Jeffrey, Santino, Chris, and Mychael have evolved since their time in the competition. They created a small collection of three looks with a bonus fourth look thrown in at the last minute made from un-traditional materials. Read on for my thoughts on the results.

The judges sort of had a weird inconsistency. On one hand, they seemed anxious to see how the designers have grown since they last judged their looks. On the other hand, when the designers evolved significantly, the judges were uncomfortable not-recognizing the contestants style from years past.

The main victim of this thinking was Uli. Uli presented an awesome collection, but her lack of prints and flowy beach-dresses threw the judges for a loop. They were blinded by her change in aesthetic that they couldn't see the looks she presented for what they were: truly awesome designs! Her restaurant look was superb. That she wasn't included in the top four was a real shame.

On the other hand, Chris presented a look that was very different from his costumey presentation in seasons past. He made three sober looks out of the same flannel plaid, the first two were barely distinguishable to me. I thought he was given a bit too much praise. One thing I did love, though, was how Heidi talked Mama to him when he was getting a bit too overwhelmed with his admirable humility. Oh, Heidi... I've missed you!

(Naturally I missed Tim the most. When he said to Mychael "It displeases me!" and when he slammed himself into that heavy workroom door I was in absolute Gunn Euphoria.)

So anyway, back to the runway: the winner was Daniel V. Was this deserved? I'm sort of ambivalent. His red carpet dress was my favorite and I agree that it was perfect. However, I thought his restaurant challenge fourth look was the worst. That he's also sort of in the pocket of Project Runway (he's had all of the judges write for his new book and he's a PR sponsored blogger) was a bit uncomfortable as well. But what made me the most uncomfortable was Korto's totally pissy response to getting second place. She received a lot of praise and was shown a tremendous amount of respect. That she sees coming in second out of this terrific group as a diss is weird and insulting.

Overall I was so happy to be back in the world of Project Runway, regardless of the network switch. I thought all of the designers had at least one look that I thought was successful. Certainly it was great to see so many talented looks in an 7 person show. Normally when there are still 7 designers kicking around in a season, there are still plenty of duds. Here it truly was a matter of who was the best of the best.

TV - Mad Men

2009-08-10T17:30:00.007-04:00

People of Earth: there are only *6* more days to suffer through until the return of Mad Men. In case you haven't seen the show yet - don't worry - this is plenty of time to watch all of Season One and Season Two. The DVD box sets are on super sale at Best Buy and are pretty darn cheap on iTunes (like $17 bucks for all of Season One... not bad for 13 hours of goodness!)

A lot of people in my life don't like the show. My husband and father for starters, and maybe Metta said once she couldn't get into it. These people hold a large amount of real-estate in my heart but they are so so so so wrong. Mad Men is good. It is not chipper, but it is radiantly beautiful. Talk about a show shot like a movie.

One of my favorite things about the show is the roles it has provided three very lucky actresses. It's the 1960s in both the corporate and suburban world, it's not such a great time to be a woman. It's all about being seen not heard, and these gals are struggling to feel valued. January Jones, Christina Hendricks, and Emmy nominated Elisabeth Moss are all super stars.

And then of course we have the real reason to watch: JON HAMM!! Did you know they used footage of him from his high school swim team to draw Prince Eric? : D

Familiar with the show? Click HERE to see two awesome videos from Hamm's peformance on SNL (Two A-Holes Go To An Ad Agency in the 1960s and Don Draper's Guide to Life)

Here are some cocktail recipes so you can get in the mood proper:

Gimlet:
2 oz. Gin
1/2 oz. Lime Juice

Combine in a shaker with ice.
Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Serve with a lime squeeze.

Old Fashioned:
2 oz blended whiskey
1 sugar cube
1 dash bitters
1 slice lemon
1 cherry
1 slice orange

Combine the sugar cube, bitters, and 1 tsp. water in an old-fashioned glass. Muddle well, add blended whiskey, and stir. Add a twist of lemon peel and ice cubes. Add slices of orange and lemon and top with the cherry. Serve with a swizzle stick.

Pimm's Cup:
2 oz Pimm's No. 1
3 oz lemonade
lemon twist for garnish
cucumber slice or peel for garnish

Pour the Pimm's into a collins glass with ice cubes.
Add the lemonade and (if desired) a splash of club soda or lemon-lime soda.
Garnish with the lemon twist and cucumber.

Books - Sookie Stackhouse Novels by Charlaine Harris

2009-08-10T14:15:00.003-04:00

So, I'm in Europe with very spotty internet, but while I'm on vacation, I usually do a lot of reading. This is no exception. I read the first seven Sookie Stackhouse novels in a week. I bought a boxed set that I thought had the first eight books, but I can't seem to find the eighth. Maybe it's in my car, back in the states. Anyway, I just wanted to write a brief entry about these books while I have internet.

So, it's almost amazing that Alan Ball and the producers/writers of True Blood were able to make such an amazing series from the source material of the Sookie Stackhouse novels. That isn't to say that I don't like the novels, but the show is just SO much richer in every way. The characters are more interesting and developed; the stories are more detailed, etc. For instance, Tara barely rates mentioning in the books, and basically the same is true for Jason. I think part of why the show is able to do so much more is that the books are completely from Sookie's point of vies, so there are no scenes in the books that she isn't in. That makes it difficult to fully develop characters, since you never know what is going on with them outside of Sookie's presence.

That being said, these books are like crack. Like I said, I read seven of them in a week. I couldn't put them down. They are totally fun and funny. One thing I actually like better in the books is Sookie herself. I personlly think Anna Paquin is great in the show, but in the books, Sookie is a little more... believable? Maybe that's the word I'm looking for. I'm not sure that word has a place in a romance series about vampires. I would say these are better than the Twilight books, maybe n par with my beloved L.J. Smith novels.

I also just want to say, that if I had more time, I would have a LOT more to say about these books, but I'm trying to keep it relatively short. If you need some slightly smutty, fun summer reading, I highly recommend these books.

Book - Frank McCourt

2009-08-09T07:35:00.002-04:00

I meant to write this post several weeks ago upon hearing the news of Frank McCourt's death, but this is better late than never. Many may know of Frank McCourt's most popular memoir "Angela's Ashes." If you haven't read this book than you might be thinking of it like I once did - a very sad memoir best to be avoided unless one wants to feel depressed about poor Irish lads. However, you'd only be part right. Yes. McCourt had a very sad childhood - depressing on all fronts. However, Frank writes about it in an incredibly hilarious and moving way. I can't remember the time I devoured a (non-Harry Potter) book so ravenously.

When I finished "Angela's Ashes" I was so sad that I would no longer get to witness Frank's brilliant story-telling... but then I found out there was a sequel, and then yet another memoir about his teaching career. Please do yourself a favor and read not just "Angela's Ashes" but also "'Tis" and "Teacher Man." They are all incredible.

TV - My Top Ten Favorite Shows

2009-07-30T12:34:00.005-04:00

Just because this is half my blog and I can do what I want to, here are my top 10 favorite shows on television right now (meaning they haven't been canceled and will be coming back if they are not on right now):

In no particular order:

1. Project Runway
2. Mad Men
3. Big Love
4. The Office
5. 30 Rock
6. Lost
7. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
8. How I Met Your Mother
9. True Blood
10. Hung

That is all.

TV - True Blood

2009-07-30T11:56:00.002-04:00

I've emerged from a hellish three weeks culminating in the bar exam, to make a post about True Blood. There are a lot of cool things going on in the show, but for right now I just want to talk about Jason Stackhouse.

I absolutely love what is going on with his character right now. His sincerity about wanting to believe and wanting to learn about God and the Fellowhip of the Sun is so interesting and believable. Jason is exactly the kind of person who would respond to kind of evangelical Christianity. He was coming out of a tragic and scarring incident and the people in the church gave him hope and direction (even though we as viewers know that it's not a good direction). I love that he's not at all certain of his ability to live within the strictures of Christianity, but that he's kind of desperate to try.

But, it all came to a head (no pun intended) with a bathtub hand job from the preacher's wife, Sarah. When she walked into the bathroom, I thought to myself, "Oh no! They are going to ruin this amazing storyline, because she's going to come in here and he's going to go back to his old self and have sex with her." Instead, she couches her desire for him in religion, which is totally perfect. He has no background in religion, or really even in morals of any kind, whereas she is the wife of a preacher and has been involved in the church for most of her life. Based on everything he has learned with the Fellowship, he thinks that anything happening between them is wrong, but she uses her position as religious teacher to try to convince him that it is okay. In the best moment of the entire season, to me anyway, she starts to reach into the tub to touch him and he says, "No." She pauses and says, "You don't mean that." With an utterly anguished look on his face, he responds, "No, but I ought to."

The following episode, after seeing what a horrible man the preacher is and how his marriage to Sarah is deteriorating, Sarah and Jason do have sex (or at least I assume so, since they started ripping each other's clothes off). But again, she couches it all in religion. She tells Jason that God wants this; that she knows she is supposed to be the woman behind a great man and that her husband isn't that man. Jason is. She says that God told her this is right, and in response, with genuine innocence and incredulity, he says, "You talk to God?"

Maybe it's because of my own experience with religion, but I completely sympathize with how hard he is trying to truly believe. It's like he knows deep down that there's something not 100% right, but he sees the good there, too. Plus, everyone tells him what a great person he is, which is something that has probably never happened in his entire life up until now.

Anyway, like I said, there are a lot of cool things going on, but this is definitely my favorite. I can't wait to see the fall out from sleeping with Sarah. I'm wondering if she'll be able to continue convincing him that this is all completely consistent with Christianity, or if he will start to see through her. And if he does start to see through her, what will he give up: Sarah or the church?

TV and Film - Re-cut Trailers

2009-07-22T14:22:00.002-04:00

Here's a funny fanvid of "The Office" turned into a horror movie. And here's another one.

These are cool, but they reminded me of one of my favorite things ever: this re-invented trailer to "The Shining."

Film - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009-07-21T14:20:00.003-04:00

I am really lucky. There is almost nothing that can get between me and my love for all things "Harry Potter." Before I saw the 6th movie in the series, I had heard the grumblings that "true" fans were pissed. However, when I heard the little "dah dee dah dah dee dah deeeee dahhhhh" I was not sitting with my arms crossed across my chest, waiting to be disappointed - I was squealing. And I left the theater with a big smile on my face, too. For a further discussion full of SPOILERS, click read more.

Would I love it if the movies were two-day-long page-by-page recitings of the novels? Of course! Did the movie over-emphasize the teen-romance aspects of the book? You betcha. Even with its over two-and-a-half running time, they left out a lot of incredible scenes describing the history of Voldemort and his ancestry and the Horcruxes (hello - the House of Gaunt, please!!) in favor of some serious hormones.

However - I am not without hope. After all, the seventh book is being made into two movies. Perhaps this sixth film is a bit of a place-holder, and our one last chance to really laugh and think like teenage students before we leave Hogwarts for the next two films and prepare for the final show-down. [There's a word for the funny song that comes up late in Act Two during musicals that brings levity to the trying times, but I can't remember what it is. Maybe it's just "comedic relief." ] So maybe the seventh movie will go back and address some of the more Horcruxy-elements of book six to help flesh-out the film.

I hope so.

But even if not, I'm still probably going to love that seventh movie. And the eighth, too. It's so much more fun to giggle than grumble and I love the Harry Potter Universe so much it'd take a real stinker to drag me down.

And just to touch on some other elements of Half-Blood real quick:

The Ginny and Harry kiss was not just majorly different from the book, it was also slightly problematic. Is Ginny going to be the one to remember the tiara in the Room of Requirement?

And Harry not being frozen for the final Dumbledore scene was a bit weird. Instead of being paralyzed they sort of established that he was trusting the "Shhh"-y Snape to take care of matters upstairs, and that seems like a stretch.

As far as the acting goes, Emily Watson's performance was LOADS better than her work on Pheonix. Daniel Radcliffe actually has real potential. Jim Broadbent and, as always, Alan Rickman were pretty great.

Were the changes too egregious for you to enjoy yourself? Who of the children actors will shape up to have a real acting career, after these films are finished? I want to know!

TV - 2009 Emmy Nominations

2009-07-21T07:40:00.006-04:00

Recently the nominees for the 2009 Emmy's were released. There were few changes from the nominations of last year, especially in the Drama category. However, Neil Patrick Harris hosting is a major reason to tune-in. The comparison of his sure-to-be awesome take as master of ceremonies to the reality TV hosts debacle of last year will be startling! Furthermore, Jeremy Piven was not nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series this year, making it seem like NPH will finally get the much deserved award. Read more for further discussion on the few surprise nominees and the snubs.

The category of Best Comedy Series is the most improved. "How I Met Your Mother" finally makes the cut, and "Two and a Half Men" is finally taken off the list. "Flight of the Conchords" is given a nod, which is sort of a better-late-than-never nom considering Season Two was not nearly as brilliant as Season One. "Family Guy" shocked many for its nomination. It's the first animated series to ever be given the nod! The big WTF, though, goes to the nomination of "Entourage," a show that when it's at it's best is only a B minus production and last year was sub-par even by those standards. In the place of "Entourage" should be "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." Just in case you forgot, Season Four of the always hilarious "...Sunny..." featured not just the cannibalism episode but also "Who Pooped the Bed?": one of the funniest half-hours to ever grace basic cable.

As for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, I was really happy and surprised to see Jemaine Clement get a nomination for his lovely, quirky performance in "... Conchords." I was also happy to see Jim Parsons get due praise for his performance on "The Big Bang Theory," as he is good enough on that show to make my husband and I tune-in every week despite the corny jokes and lame laugh-track. That's really saying something. The WTF here goes to Tony Shalhoub: really? People are still watching "Monk"?

For the Supporting Actor and Actress nominations I was happy to see Jack McBrayer, Tracy Morgan, Kristen Wiig, Kristen Chenoweth, and Jane Krakowski. I was stupefied by Kevin Dillon making it on the list again.

Moving on to the Drama categories, there isn't much to say as there are barely any changes to the nominations list from last year. The best of the few changes was that "Big Love" was added to the nomination list for Best Drama Series. However, one of the major snubs was that none of the amazing female actresses from Big Love (specifically Chloë Sevigny and Amanda Seyfried) were chosen.

And really? House? Last Season was just about as Jump-the-Sharky as seasons can get. There were hallucinations, inexplicable suicides, and then more hallucinations. In its place on the Best Drama list should have been... DUH... BATTLESTAR GA-FREAKIN-LACTICA! That this show wasn't nominated, and hasn't been nominated, and that none of the actors weren't and haven't been nominated is a CRIME punishable by groin kickings.

Books - Twilght Series Part Two

2009-07-17T08:25:00.003-04:00

We've already discussed the issues in this series regarding abusive boyfriends and lousy writing. Putting both of those aside, it's time to discuss the weirdness that is the fourth book, "Breaking Dawn." Read on for a spoiler-heavy discussion.

The first three books fit together in a nice little trio. In the first book, Bella falls in love with Edward. In the second, she falls for Jacob. In the third, she makes her choice. And even though there are plenty of adventures and mythological backstories that are shared in these books, this love-triangle is pretty much what they are about.

So with the love-triangle seemingly resolved at the end of "Eclipse," what were we to expect for the fourth book? If you guessed "something bizarre," then you win! In this book not only does Meyer dedicate a whole third of the book to a change-up in narrator, she also takes on a much darker tone. Now there are blood-thirsty vampire babies! Delicious sippy-cups of O-negative! And a birth story that just might encourage the most eager of tween readers to keep their thighs together, even if Edward creeps along.

This book would make a lot more sense if it came along some 5 years after "Eclipse" was released and was the first in a new "So Bella's a Vampire" series.

However, I've got to admit: I liked it the best out of the series. I know Metta's going to slug me in the arm for saying that, but although I realize it is very different from the first three, I like it... maybe even because of the differences. It was so bizarre I was smiling way more than I did while reading any of the previous books, and I liked those, too.

Now don't get me wrong here: this book is still laughably offensive in its treatment towards Bella, and the writing stylings haven't improved in the slightest. There's also the fact that everything gets wrapped up in the prettiest of pretty packages, saving perhaps for the fact that poor Jacob will never be able to "get with" the love of his life (as she will never develop past a 7 year old's physique). But as I had already embraced most of these issues throughout my journey reading the first three books, I was along for the ride by the time I cracked "Breaking Dawn."

The real question is: how the heck are they going to make this into a movie? The first two books should adapt easily enough, but once you throw in telepathic wolves and boys who grow larger every time you see them you're getting tricky. Then with "Breaking Dawn" you have not just the wolves, but also the unsightly birthing scene, the incredible transformation in Bella's appearance, and the fact that the newborn baby will develop to look like a 5 year old by the time the books ends.

So that should be interesting! Anyway, I'm anxiously awaiting Metta's comments because I know she was not a fan of this fourth book in a major way. Perhaps my experience was enhanced by the fact I was spoiled to the fact that Bella would end up with Edward, and that she would have her baby delivered traumatically by edward biting through her uterus. Also - maybe there is something to be said that I read all four books in the course of 20 days? We shall see.

Of course - I think blog readers are used to the fact that Metta and I sometimes come down on different sides. She is a Jacob, I am an Edward. She is a Jack, I am a Sawyer. But I love her a lot anyways because that's just how awesome she is.

Book - The Time Traveler's Wife

2009-07-15T15:45:00.003-04:00

I joined a "Stay-at-Home Parent Book Club" the other day, and the book to be discussed was "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. Even though I read this book about 2 years ago, a lot of it has stayed with me and I was happy to hear others' reflections. It's a truly beautiful book that's more romance than anything else, but also plenty science-fiction to keep it cerebral. Even better - much of it takes place in Michigan (South Haven, Metta) and it is written gorgeously! The film adaptation of this book will be released in August of this year, starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana. I strongly encourage you to read this book before seeing the movie. Read on for a bit more about this beautiful novel.

Henry is a man who suffers from a genetic disorder, later coined "Chrono-Displacement," that results in him being able to travel through time. He can only travel to other moments of his life, both past and future, and he cannot control when he'll travel and where he will land. The disease is much like epilepsy, brought-on by stress and/or flashing lights. This is a really interesting way to establish Henry's dilemma: much more believable then sometime truly sci-fi like "your mom was from Mars."

Another great element to this novel is that it embraces the time-travel theory that Metta and I both like best: pre-determinism. What happened, happened and there is no way to change the future. There are no parallel universes and Henry is unable to alter his life regardless of how he intervenes in his past and future. Not that he doesn't try. Henry visits himself at various ages throughout his life, and he visits his wife throughout almost her entire life, starting in her early childhood. (Would you visit an elementary school aged version of your partner? I would!)

There are several frustrations felt by both him and his love, Clare, regarding the seeming lack of free will. For one, how would you deal with learning who you were going to marry at the age of 6? Or when you were going to die? Would you be interested in meeting the child your wife was pregnant with when she was 10 years old?

Henry suffers greatly trying to control his disease, and Clare does, too. While he is thrown about time without any warning, Clare is left alone and sick with worry. It's sort of a modern-day version of the Odyssey in some sense. Anyway, it kind of reflects the trials of any relationship dealing with miscommunications and the fear that comes with separation. A truly enjoyable and thoughtful piece.

TV - Sesame Street

2009-07-15T14:48:00.002-04:00

Sesame Street is awesome. I watch it with Lloyd every now-and-then when one of us is particularly exhausted or crabby. They have amazing celebrity guest stars and hilarious jokes that can actually make me LOL. Today one of the characters called for a taxi and the taxi driver wore sunglasses and a mohawk, looking exactly like a Muppet Robert De Niro. Hilarious. That is all.

Internet Video - A Very Potter Musical

2009-07-12T08:57:00.004-04:00

So, I don't think this technically counts as film, but I'm going to sneak it on to this blog anyway. A Very Potter Musical is a musical parody of Harry Potter which was written, produced and performed by students at the University of Michigan (which is this blog's alma mater three times over, in case you didn't know).

The composer and star, Darren Criss, is a musician that my husband saw perform at Potbelly's in Ann Arbor, and really liked. He does mostly covers, like this, or this, or this but based on A Very Potter Musical, he's clearly got some composing chops as well. I believe he is a music major at U of M - though I don't know in what specific area.

Anyway, I wish I had been there to see them perform A Very Potter Musical in person. We didn't even hear about it before we moved in May, and it was performed in June, so we must have been totally out of the loop. Anyway, the video is uploaded to YouTube in 23 parts. Don't be intimidated. I know that's a lot of video to watch on your computer, but stick with it through the end because it is totally worth it. Dustin isn't even a Harry Potter fan or a musical theatre junkie, and I think he even liked it more than I did. Highlights - Draco Malfoy, Voldemort and Quirrel, and the inexplicable focus on Zac Efron.

ETA: It wasn't performed in June. It was performed in April. We were totally there, just completely missed it.

Book - The Red Tent

2009-07-09T18:25:00.003-04:00

My mother handed me "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant to read on a whim, only remembering that she had read it before and enjoyed it. However, this was such an appropriate book for me to read I can't believe I hadn't come across it sooner. No, not because I spend my "moon times" in a crimson tent with fellow females (although I kind of like that idea, in a weird way). I'll explain more in the Read More section, but for now, simply know that if you are looking for a moving book about mothers and daughters and like the idea of "woman's space," you might enjoy this very peaceful read. I certainly did.

Why was this book so appropriate for me to read? For one, it's "historical" fiction, taking a bible story and expounding on just a couple of lines of verse. Historical fiction is awesome, and if you have any recommendations for great books in this genre, please share in the comments. For another, this book is about Dinah, daughter of Leah and Jacob, from the Book of Geneses, and I have been reading the bible off and on throughout this year. (Don't remember why I'm reading the bible? Here ya go.) And lastly, it has a slew of stories about midwives and birthing and I am an absolute birth junkie. If you are into any one of those three things (historical fiction, the bible, or birth stories) then this book would be worth your time.

Film - Back to the Future

2009-07-08T14:48:00.003-04:00

So, after the BTTF II & III debacle, we decided to watch the original the other night. Now, that is an awesome movie that stands up. Seriously, I know this isn't the case, but it is as if different people were responsible for the two sequels. The storytelling is so much better in the original that it's like the writers had a labotomy between when the original was made and when they wrote the sequels.

Anyway, I still don't concede that the time travel is either sensible or internally consistent, but I don't care because the movie is just so awesome. Nothing beats 1955 Doc shrieking "One-point-twenty-one jiggawatts!"

Film - Air Guitar Nation

2009-07-08T14:42:00.003-04:00

The other day I watched the documentary from 2007 "Air Guitar Nation." This film chronicles the journeys of the first ever North American air guitar competition, and follows our country's representatives to the international championship in Finland. Although enjoyable and fun, I am only luke-warm in my reception towards this movie. In terms of documentaries introducing viewers to a highly competitive weirdo world we never knew existed, I kept wanting this film to become as engrossing as the vastly superior "King of Kong." Read on for a further discussion and comparison...

"Air Guitar Nation" showcases performers who dress-up outrageously and create rocker personas full of moxie. They and the judges are in on the joke of a rock-and-roll competition where no one has an instrument. However, for a while there seems like there could be a division amongst competitors between those who see air guitar as an art-form and those who see it as sort of a comedy platform. The end result is that everyone appreciates what everyone else is doing, and everyone is having a good time.

"King of Kong," on the other hand, was gripping. There was scheming, there were villains, there was heartbreak.

Although I definitely wouldn't discourage you from watching "Air Guitar Nation," my hope is that you will use the film as a mere amuse bouche before watching the very fulfilling meal that is "King of Kong." If you've already seen "Kong," maybe this little snack of "Air Guitar Nation" will leave a slightly bitter taste.

Books - Twilght Series

2009-07-08T06:21:00.000-04:00

For fear of being out of touch, I have started reading the “Twilight” series by Stephenie Meyer. I have read the first book and am into the second. My husband has even joined the fun, having already finished “Twilight” and “New Moon” (a family that reads young adult vampire romance stories stays together, right?). Although I haven’t finished the entire series, I thought I’d go ahead and start blogging about these books now.

Most of the buzz I’ve heard about this series is that it sets up unrealistic romance expectations for the young female readers. Man, that’s for sure! But let’s broaden up this discussion to whether you’d be okay with your hypothetical 12 year-old daughter getting sucked up into Meyer’s smoldering world of vampires.

First off, I’m always going to be in favor of any book that gets young adults passionate about reading. So much better than a video game or reality TV show for their supple brains!

However, as an avid reader myself, I don’t think I’d be able to help myself but be disappointed in the lack of literary merit these books bring to the table. Sure - it is a successful piece of escapist literature if droves of people go out and buy the books and read them ravenously. However, who says escapist literature can’t have complex sentence structures? Or better-developed characters and mythologies? I know that these books are supposed to be written from the perspective of a 17 and counting year-old girl, but she is also supposed to be intelligent. How come she keeps awkwardly forcing nouns into adverbs? I distinctly remember Bella describing her day as “nightmarish.”

And Bella herself isn’t much more than a “Mary Sue” character, to borrow a phrase from the world of fan fiction. Through Bella, we live a fantasy of being swept off our feet by a beautiful boy… and better yet we get to choose this handsome devil over scores of other eligible bachelors, because every single male Bella meets fancies her. But Bella herself is short-changed of real-depth. We know she is clumsy (all the better for getting saved!) and we know she sacrifices hers safety and sanity for those she loves (dating a dude who kind of wants to kill her, hanging with his family of fellow vamps, and even the fact that she gave up her entire teenage life in order to give her mom some space to get jiggy with a minor-leaguer).

But literary criticism aside, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty with our issues of feminism and saving our beloved hypothetical teenage daughter from a world of romantic disillusionment. Surely this book presents a scary idea for teenage love: Edward likes to creep into Bella’s home without permission and watch her sleep. He is possessive and invades her privacy. He spies on her friends to get closer to her. He has unpredictable mood-swings and some major anger issues. And Bella is nothing but flattered by his gestures and treasures his every broody characteristic. Is this the sort-of relationship we’d like to see our daughter be a part of? Surely not- it’s abusive! However, our daughter is not reading an instruction manual on how to be a teenager in love. She’s reading a piece of fiction, and we’ve raised her better than for her to take any one piece of media and hold it as the ultimate guide for how to live a life.

And afterall, isn’t this essentially the story of Romeo and Juliet? There’s a love that forces the young couple (Juliet’s 15, no?) to forsake their families and their safety in order to be together? However, at least then our daughter would be reading Shakespeare.

So for all the hub-bub out there about this book being bad for its female readers, I’m going to go ahead and vote “nay.” We can’t blame Meyer for our daughter’s decision to date abusive weirdos- that’s a parental failure. More than likely Meyer is doing us a favor: setting our daughters up with high enough expectations that they won’t waste their time dating immature high-school jocks, saving themselves for more worthy suitors in college.

And just in case you really do have a high-school daughter reading these books, you might just want to show her THIS VIDEO MASHUP showing us in a nicely produced 6 minute movie how Buffy would react to Edward’s stalking.

Film - Jennifer's Body - Red Band Trailer

2009-07-07T12:01:00.003-04:00

The red band trailer for the new Diablo Cody-penned horror movie, "Jennifer's Body" starring Megan Fox, was released earlier this week. I liked Juno a lot, and I like Diablo Cody okay, though I think she's a little too pop-culturish for her own good. I'm not sure how I feel about this movie, though. I'm not crazy about horror movies, though there are a few I am partial to. But I kind of dig this trailer. I'm getting a little excited about this movie in spite of myself. Amanda Seyfield is always good, so that's a plus. Kyle Gallner (who, coincidentally enough has also appeared in both Veronica Mars and Big Love with Seyfield) is also in it, and I keep hoping that kid gets some more jobs. I think he gets overshadowed by less talented, but better looking peers. Unfortunate.

Anyway, what do you think? I'm worried that it will just be meh. But I hope it will be better than meh.

Film - Being There

2009-07-05T10:14:00.003-04:00

Everyone has a homework assignment, especially Metta: if you haven't seen it already, go rent Peter Sellers' "Being There." I need to discuss this movie, but only with people who've seen it. Post in the comments after viewing, and I we will start a discussion.

Film - Snakes on a Plan on FX

2009-07-04T18:55:00.002-04:00

Just in case you haven't seen this 25 second clip yet, it's good for a quick giggle. AND you can buy a t-shirt!!

And here is the rest of it. Don't delete the line in between, as that is where the magic read more tag resides.

Book - Wordy Shipmates

2009-07-03T08:02:00.003-04:00

You may not know this, but my family-tree can be traced all the way back to the pilgrims of Plymouth Colony. This discovery only added to my motivation to read Sarah Vowell's latest non-fiction work, "The Wordy Shipmates." In this book Vowell explores the lives of Puritans living in America during the 1630s. Although it couldn't compare to Vowell's "Assassination Vacation" (where she dissects the forced deaths of US Presidents Lincoln, McKinley, and Garfield) or her other historical and personal essays in "The Party Cloudy Patriot", I liked this book a lot and recommend it to anyone interested in exploring that weird time in American history, some 140 years before the Revolution, when Connecticut was the wild frontier. Read on for my further discussion.

Vowell is a tremendous font of knowledge (she is also a frequent contributer to "This American Life" and was the voice of Violet in "The Incredibles"). Her research is tireless, but she only passes-on the goodies. The way Vowell writes is incredibly approachable, bestowing incredible amounts of knowledge without ever insulting her reader's intelligence. That she is not teaching some AP History class in a struggling high school somewhere is sort of a crime, as she ignites a passion for even the dullest of subjects.

In this book, Vowell's passion for learning about the Puritans seems to be traced to her evangelical up-bringing, and also the frequent usage of the phrase "city on a hill" in popular American political discourse. We learn that John Winthrop used the bible phrase as a source for inspiration to those joining him on his quest to the New World. He had the highest of hopes for his soon-to-be home in Massachusetts Bay as he expounded on the colony's ability to set an example to the rest of the world on living a devout, Calvinist life. But how would his hopes compare to the realities of New England life?

The Massachusetts Bay gang have their share of trials in the 1630s. They have a fierce antagonist in Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson. Through a refusal to send back their charter, they face the possibility of going to war with England, they suffer a brain-drain as Thomas Hooker leads many good parishioners off to Connecticut, and they go to war against the Pequot Indian tribe. With each trial, Winthrop drifts further and further away from his hopeful self and closer to resembling the oppressive King he had escaped just a few years earlier.

Vowell entranced me once again with her endless knowledge and witty anecdotes. Now I have to sit back and wait for the next historical moment to tickle her fancy, and then for her write all about it and share with me the booty of her patient research.

Back to the Future II & III

2009-06-27T22:46:00.005-04:00

So, Dustin and I both had it in our heads that Back to the Future Part II was the best Back to the Future movie. I don't know when those opinions were formed for either of us, but it had to be a very long time ago. Like before we had eyeballs. Or brains. Or any sense of what makes a good movie.

So, you may wonder why we started with Part II. So, Dustin had it ranked at number 3 on his flickchart. I said that was ridiculous, because it was ranked above all of the Indiana Jones movies and all of the Star Wars movies. I, on the other hand, have Raiders of the Lost Ark ranked very high on my list. I said that it was heresy to rank even the best Back to the Future movie above the best Indiana Jones movie. Dustin disagreed. So, we decided we had to watch Part II and then watch Raiders to see who was right.

It didn't take long for Dustin to completely disavow his previous position. Back to the Future II isn't just the worst of the Back to the Future movies, it is just flat out a TERRIBLE movie. It obviously doesn't benefit from the fact that the future scenes are supposed to be six years from now, but that hasn't been a fatal problem for other movies, like 12 Monkeys or even Demolition Man. But it's also just a terrible movie. It copies ninety percent of the plot and dialogue from the original. I know that's supposed to be funny or whatever, but it's just lame.

So, as soon as it was over, we decided we had to watch Part II, which we both previously thought was the worst of the three movies. We're only about a half hour in right now, but it's already better than Part II by a LOT, and I don't think it would be possible for it to get so bad that it would be worse than Part II.

I don't have much else to say. I just wanted to impeach Dustin's taste in movies.

Film - 12 Monkeys

2009-06-27T19:36:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned, we watched 12 Monkeys recently. I haven't seen it in probably five years, so there was a lot that I didn't remember. I mostly just remembered that I really liked it.

I really enjoy Terry Guilliam, and this is definitely my favorite Guilliam movie, with Brazil a somewhat close second. Both are dystopic films, which is pretty much my favorite genre whether we're talking TV, books or film, and Guilliam does a fantastic job of just making the viewer feel out-of-sorts, which makes the bizarre future he creates seem even more bizarre.

Dustin and I were discussing the film that 12 Monkeys is based on. It's a french short film called La Jete. It's kind of experimental, using still images for most of the film, except for one moment when a woman's eye blinks. I loved that film, even though it was more experimental than I usually go for. Dustin was far from impressed. But if nothing else, he still appreciates it for inspiring 12 Monkeys.

The reason I bring up La Jete is that that one eye blinking in the original film is supposed to highlight the main question posed by both films - how do we know what is real? In 12 Monkeys, John Cole thinks he knows what reality is, but because he travels back in time - and then tells everyone that he has traveled back in time - he's considered crazy and put in an asylum. Eventually, he convinces himself that he is crazy and that he's not from the future at all. But he does this more because the future he comes from is so bleak that he wants to believe that it's not real. He wants to believe that the past he keeps visiting is the only reality, because he's happier there than he is in the future. He loves a woman there, and the human race hasn't been all but wiped out. It's a better reality for him. But is it the real reality? The movie certainly takes the position that it isn't. But from the perspective of John Cole, there's no real proof that it's not. If people tell him that he's crazy, and he starts to believe it, then there's no real way for him to convince himself that the future is real. Kathryn, the psychiatrist, can prove to herself that he's actually time-travelling, because she sees the photo of him from WWI, and he just disappears when he gets brought back to the future. But even if she explains that to John, if he truly believed he was delusional, he might just believe that he was imagining her showing him the proof, because it aided his delusion. That's not really how the movie plays out, but it's interesting to consider.

It wouldn't be a blog post about 12 Monkeys without mentioning Brad Pitt's performance. I think that was the first time I was really impressed with him as an actor. That's not really fair, because he had already done Seven and Legends of the Fall - both great movies. You can make fun of me for Legends of the Fall, but I stand by my opinion. But this role was just different. He'd always been the pretty boy, love interest guy, and this movie was a departure from that. A brilliant departure.

Book - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009-06-26T07:27:00.005-04:00

I'm re-reading "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" in preparation for the movie. I'm back in the same mind-set I always get into when I watch the movies and read the HP books: it really sucks being a Muggle. Frown. That is all.

BTW: If you want to critique me for re-reading and re-watching so many different things, save yourself the time. Time spent gladly is never time wasted.

Film - 10 Best Picture Nominees

2009-06-24T16:31:00.003-04:00

The Academy will nominate 10 films for this year's Best Picture category! Super exciting. I always love the Oscars and this will make the race even more interesting. Click HERE to read the LA Times article.

And here is the rest of it. Don't delete the line in between, as that is where the magic read more tag resides.

Film - The Departed

2009-06-24T13:21:00.001-04:00

So, thanks to Flickchart Dustin and I have been re-watching some of our highly ranked movies that we haven't seen in awhile. I plan on keeping this going all summer long. There will probably be some Eternal Sunshine and some Children of Men coming up soon.

But so far, we've watched 12 Monkeys and The Departed. I'll post about 12 Monkeys later, but posting about The Departed can't wait. There are spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution.

Such an effing fantastic movie. I'm so glad that I watched it after recently watching Revolutionary Road (which was blogged about here by co-blogger Jenna). Revolutionary Road was, in my opinion, overacted and it kind of dulled my opinion of Leonardo DiCaprio. But watching The Departed brought him back to the top again. He dominates the movie. There are a thousand little moments where the camera catches him with a small eye movement or a fleeting facial expression that just makes his character a real person. I really almost forget that he's acting when I watch this movie.

Another great thing about rewatching this movie is that I would remember things that I loved about the movie shortly before they happened, so I was like a little kid, on the edge of my seat waiting for all of my favorite moments - like almost every line out of Mark Wahlberg's mouth.

But, best of all for me was that I had the exact same reaction to the end of the film that I had the first time I saw it. The first time I watched the movie, I was completely shocked when Costigan gets shot coming out of the elevator. Immediately following the shock though, I felt almost physically ill. Now, you may think that sounds like a bad thing, but just about my favorite thing about movies is that they are able to make me experience emotions that I wouldn't normally (and really wouldn't want to) experience in real life. So, I relish the fact that the movie is able to make me feel, even for only a few minutes, that kind of physical pain over not over the death of a particular character, but over the injustice of a world where that character dies. And even better than that is the moment when Sullivan walks into his apartment, and sees Dignum there. The shot revealing Dignum pans up from his feet, which are covered in plastic, up his jumpsuit and gloved hands to his face. Because the shot is like that, you have some confusion for a moment. You know there's someone in the apartment who shouldn't be there, and you know that they are up to something sketchy, since people don't generally walk around with plastic covered feet. But you don't know that it's Dignum right away, and the movie has done a pretty good job of making you forget about Dignum for the last half hour or so, and you're pretty much convinced that there's no one who could avenge Costigan's death. So, when that camera gets up to Dignum's face, you want to jump out of your chair. Sullivan starts to talk, and for a split second, you think that maybe he's going to get out of this, too, but the movie gets rid of that possibility very quickly. The point here, is that I thought that since I already knew that these things were going to happen, that I wouldn't have such a strong reaction watching them this time. But, when Costigan got shot, I writhed around on the couch, mumbling, "No, no, no!" And when Dignum blew Sullivan's brains out, I clenched my fists, like it was somehow my victory. But seriously, after that whole movie about crime and violence and the injustice of Costigan's death, somehow Dignum murdering Sullivan (and it most certainly is murder, planned, pre-meditated murder) makes you feel like all is right with the world.

Film - flickchart.com

2009-06-22T14:03:00.003-04:00

If you are starting to feel like may you aren't dedicating enough hours to the internet, you might want to visit flickchart.com. This site has you choose between two movies to generate a list of your favorite films of all time. There are some weird issues with the site. One being the distractingly obtuse posters they present for some of the movies. Read the titles below to posters to make sure you know which movie you are selecting. Also, it's incredibly difficult to compare certain films. How can I compare "Kindergarten Cop" to "Taxi Driver" ?! And then there's the issue of the shame you feel based on some selections: yes, so sue me, I picked "Robin Hood" over "Ghandi". But perhaps the biggest glitch is this site has a hard time letting go of certain films that make it too high on your list. For some reason it thought "The Count of Monte Cristo" was my second favorite movie EVER and would not change its mind, nor would it present me with the proper battles between films to set the record straight. Thankfully you can kill the film off of your list and start again. Read on for my current top 20 picks, as generated by the site, in a debatable order. Hopefully Metta will post hers in the comments!

1. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The Godfather
3. Rain Man
4. Love Actually
5. Little Miss Sunshine
6. Wall - E
7. Shakespeare in Love
8. Jerry Maguire
9. Braveheart
10. National Treasure
11. Forrest Gump
12. Kung Fu Hustle
13. The Last of the Mohicans (inaccurate)
14. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
15. Brokeback Mountain
16. The Usual Suspects
17. The Departed
18. The Red Violin
19. The Hours
20. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (not my favorite HP film)

Film - My Kid Could Paint That

2009-06-16T17:19:00.007-04:00

After viewing "Who the $%#! is Jackson Pollack," I remembered hearing about another art-based documentary "My Kid Could Paint That." So I moved this movie up my queue and checked it out. The movies are similar in many ways. They both explore the world of modern, abstract art, and they both conclude with unanswered questions, leaving the audience to make their own judgments. However, where "Who the $%#!..." made me smile even when I was frustrated, "My Kid..." made me sad. To hear a brief summary and more of my thoughts, click "Read More."

"My Kid Could Paint That" starts almost as a laugh about the world of Modern Art. Surely we have all seen a painting in a gallery where we thought, "Holy heck, it's a yellow rectangle on a red background! Anyone could do this!" Well here was a three-year-old (seen mostly in the film at age four) who was painting elaborate, colorful, and yes, masterful works of art that were selling for tens of thousands of dollars once brought to the attention of a local gallery owner. We delve into a debate about the true value of these pieces: are people buying the art for its intrinsic value? Or are they buying into the gimmick of a toddler receiving international praise for finger-painting? Pollack was also criticized in such a manner. Were people buying his art or were they buying a piece of the troubled celebrity?

Surely Marla's paintings showcase nice color combinations, as well as great diversity in texture and smart compositions. The documentary wants to move towards the exploration of a prodigy, but it hits a road block: the parents are reluctant to have Marla be videotaped while painting. How can we study this girl's genius when we are never allowed to see her work? The documentarian tries once to film Marla as she paints, but she seems lost and creates a muddy mess on her canvas. Her father gets upset and claims she "always does this when the cameras are rolling," referring to other failed attempts at having her painting documented by film crews from various news operations.

Eventually the movie can't help itself but become an expose. Is Marla really the one painting these pieces that are selling for tens of thousands of dollars? The documentarian, Amir Bar-Lev, hates to pose the question, as he has let himself become incredibly attached to this family. Once Marla's parents discover that Amir is debating their honesty, the trust is broken and the documentary-experience ends. The true nature of Marla's talent remains a mystery.

As one journalist points-out during the piece, this is more a story about adults than a child. Can Marla's parents be trusted? You'll have to draw your own conclusion.

TV - Lost Season Five

2009-06-16T14:34:00.003-04:00

So much for my re-watching experience lasting me until next season begins, as was the original intention. I have no finished watching the not-too-distant Season Five! Read on for my musings.

Locke: Okay so I need to download and question a lot of information regarding Locke. Mainly my thinking all boils down to is Locke really getting signs from Jacob, or has he always been playing into the hands of the Man in Black? Is he supposed to lead the Others? Certainly Locke has always been an easily seduced dude, and perhaps one of these two leaders (or both) have been taking advantage of his gullible nature in order to further their missions.

Is Locke really meant to lead the Others?: Just for funsies, let’s take a gander at the history of how those dudes in Tibet determine the next Dalai Lama: High Lamas go to a holy lake to watch for signs that will lead them to the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Once they think they have found the boy, they have him perform a series of tests to affirm the rebirth. The High Lamas ask the boy to choose from a variety of objects. If the boy chooses the artifacts that belonged to the previous Dalai Lama, then this is seen as confirmation that the signs have pointed them to the correct reborn leader.

Locke was presented with a baseball glove, a knife, a vial of sand, a “Book of Laws,” a compass, and a comic book entitled “Mystery Tales.” He picks the vial and the compass, and Richard seems hopeful. However, then he takes the knife and Richard is angry. Locke has failed the test. What was the other object Locke was supposed to pick? The compass is especially interesting because it is a mobius loop. If it is the same compass passed between Richard and Locke, then we have seen Richard give Locke the compass in 2007, then Locke gives Richard back the compass in 1954, and then Richard gives Locke the compass BACK in 2007. So it’s a time-loop conundrum item with no origin, making it pretty special.

So is Locke supposed to be the leader of the Others (and is the leader of the Others really Jacob’s second in command)? He fails the test as a child. However, Richard seems to have changed his mind by the time Locke becomes introduced to the Others in Season Three, saying he’s special. Certainly Locke has some report with the Island, considering it healed his legs and gave him all sorts of visions. The smoke monster lets Locke live on two different occasions. However, Christian tells Locke that HE was supposed to be the one to move the Donkey Wheel, meaning he was supposed to be kicked off the Island for forever… so: What’s the deal with Locke?

Another interesting tid-bit: Locke hears someone say “Help me” in the Jacob cabin. My current theory is that this was the Man in Black, who was trapped in the cabin somehow (and kept in there through a ring of ash). And the end of season five we see that the ring of ash has been trampled through, troubling team Ilana, and of course by this time the Man in Black has embodied Zombie Locke.

Smoke Monster: Who he is and who he isn’t

With the Smoke Monster holding trial against Ben in Season Five, there are a lot more questions about the nature of this ash cloud.

Yemi: I’m fairly certain the smoke monster appeared as Yemi. Notice that Yemi’s body was missing.

Christian: so Christian is also roaming around the Island, and Jack discovered that his dead body was missing from inside the coffin. Is Christian a smoke monster incarnate as well?

ZombieLocke: A reader of this blog (?!), Dean, questioned if ZombieLocke is the Smoke Monster. If this is true, then that means the Man in Black is the Smoke Monster. It would also mean that either Christian is not Smokey, or Smokey can be in more than one place at a time considering Locke is with Ben and Cesar during the same time Christian is with Sun and Lapidus (I think). Delving further, Smokey tells Ben to do whatever ZombieLocke says, leading us to believe that these two could be one in the same. However, I think it could just as easily go in the direction that Jacob wants the Man in Black to find the loophole because he knows something we don’t (is Jacob the Smoke Monster?). ZombieLocke seemed a bit surprised that Smokey told Ben to follow Locke’s lead. Notice also that Locke’s body has not mysteriously disappeared. Ilana has it… In conclusion: I really have no idea what I’m talking about.

Change the future?

Okay so now that we’ve theorized some about Locke, Jacob, the Man in Black, and Smokey, let’s tackle the final scene again.

Throughout my re-watching experience, I’ve also listened to the Official Lost Podcast hosted by the executive producers and head writers Damon and Carlton. They have said a lot of stuff that makes me feel a bit more comfortable, although still confused, with the whole “Did they change the future” question.

To start, throughout their season three finale and season four podcasts, they often discussed the fact that they were “paradox averse.” They do not believe in parallel universes or that the future could be changed. A lot of their discussions about these issues came when fans were asking them if the flash-forwards were definitely what was going to happen in the future, or if they were only one possible vision of a potential future.

The producers also stand-behind Eliose’s course correction thesis. If something is meant to happen, it’s going to happen no matter what. It’s a “What happened, happened” look at the past and the future.

However, then Faraday comes up with this whole “The Variable” theory that could possibly lead them to believe they *can* change the future. Damon and Carlton said that a scene that was cut from this episode explained Faraday’s new theory pretty clearly: think of a pebble being thrown into a stream. Although it creates a little splash, it does not affect the path of the stream. (Desmond catching a pigeon so Charlie wouldn’t was only a pebble in the stream: Charlie still eventually died.) Now picture tossing in a boulder! Suddenly the stream has a huge obstacle, and it will change its course. Apparently Daniel hypothesizes that doing something super duper major will change the course of the future, like detonating a hydrogen bomb and blowing up the Island. However, I would have originally thought that Sayid shooting baby Ben would have been a boulder, and if we are going to buy into this theory, than we have to classify that action as a pebble.

So my conclusions? Although I think that setting off the bomb is going to mess things up for a couple of episodes at the start of season six, it’s not going to be big enough to stop the Island from course-correcting and getting all of the original fuselage castaways back together (memories intact) at the same time on the Island to face the big reveal of what it all means together. I believe the writers will stick to their guns and avoid alternate universes where the fuselage gang doesn’t remember their Seasons 1 – 5 experiences.

What I can’t develop is a theory for how those scenes where Jacob touched our various castaways at points in their past are going to play-out. Are they going to be relevant for where or when and in what mental state the characters “wake-up” after the bomb detonation? Part of what makes those moments so interesting is that for some of the characters, they are touched before having crashed on the Island, but for others, it is after they have returned as part of the Oceanic Six.

Trivia:

If you made it this far, then you deserve a nice little trivia tid-bit. Did you know that the aforementioned head writers come up with clever codenames for the whopper scenes in the finales?

- Season One’s scene where Walt was kidnapped was called “The Bagel” for no logical reason.

- Season Two’s scene where those dudes call Penny to tell her they “found it” was called “The Challah” only because they wanted to continue the trend of naming these scenes after Jewish breads.

- Season Three’s scene where Jack yells at Kate that they “have to go back,” which was a flash-forward, was called “The Rattlesnake in the Mailbox” because Carlton was telling Damon about how spooky and surprising it would be to find such a thing and they both thought it set the appropriate mood.

- Season Four’s scene where it is revealed that Locke was actually the body in the casket was called “The Frozen Donkey Wheel” as a way to deter spoiler sites (for there was a leaked image of Ben turning a frozen donkey wheel, which is an earlier scene).

- Season Five’s scene where Juliet detonates that son-of-a-bitch of a bomb was called “The Fork in the Toaster.” This name was actually chosen by a fan in a “name the finale scene” contest held by the podcast. There have been rumors that the final scene was actually supposed to be the one where Ben kicks Jacob into the fire, but I think the name fits and the finale works better with the Juliet ending.

Film - New Robin Hood Movie

2009-06-15T10:21:00.004-04:00

Thank you to my husband for bring this to my attention!

Starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, and Kevin Durand from Evil Mr. Keamy Lost fame! Here's the imdb page.

TV - Lost Season Four

2009-06-13T08:07:00.000-04:00

So Season Four is all about getting off the Island and the freighter folk. We meet Daniel Faraday, Charlotte, Miles (my favorite of the new crew), Frank Lapidus and a whole slew of meanies out to get Ben Linus. Instead of flashbacks, we have flash-forwards where we learn about the lives of the Oceanic Six off of the Island. Although this Season was cut short by the writers’ strike, it actually seems the longest, placing itself as my second least favorite year of Lost. Read on for a discussion of some interesting ideas presented in this season.

Good v. Evil

A major element to Season Four is the debate over who is good and who is evil. This is a key theme to the entire series, but it’s especially highlighted in this year. Are the freighter folk really out to kill everyone on the Island? Is Charles Widmore the bad guy, or is Ben the bad guy? Is it good to get off the island or is it bad to get off the Island is sort of an extension of this.

Regarding the intentions of Widmore, naturally his hired-hand Evil Keamy didn’t hesitate to do a “shock and awe” on New Otherton in his attempt to get Ben. Was it Charles Widmore’s plan to kill everyone on the Island after apprehending Ben? I’m not sure.

Certainly the science team was looking out for the livelihood of the castaways in an attempt to gain trust and because they are not bad people. Daniel and Charlotte made the journey to the Tempest to render the evil poison gases inert in order to prevent Ben from gassing the non-Temple folks on the Island. Was Ben really going to gas the Island? I believe Ben was willing to sacrifice the lives of the castaways in order to kill the freighter folk, knowing his Others were safe in the Temple. So Charles and Ben were both willing to kill those who interfered with their objectives (capturing Ben / not getting captured). Thus we’re sort stuck in a stale-mate in the debate of who is good and who is bad.

This brings us to the War these two characters discuss. We are unsure of who represents what side. They both have been leaders of the Others with the assistance of Richard Alpert, and thus they both have theoretically been serving Jacob. But is that the case? I think it’s possible that Widmore could represent the Man in Black somehow.

Another reason to think that Ben represents Jacob and Widmore is on the side of the Man in Black is their discussion in Charles' penthouse suite. Ben charges Widmore with changing the rules by killing his daughter. Widmore questions if Ben is there to kill him. Ben says “You know I can’t do that” leading me to believe that there are larger Island forces governing their behavior. Remember in Season Five how the Man in Black wanted to kill Jacob, but knew that he’d need to find a loop-hole in order to do so? Interesting parallel!

However, we still don’t know which of the leaders (Jacob or the Man in Black) is evil, therefore learning that Ben and Widmore are indeed working for these guys doesn’t solve the mystery for who should really be wearing white and black. I’d put my money on Ben and Jacob somehow being on the side of goodness. If nothing else, Widmore’s henchman Abbadon (whose name is a reference to Satan or the anti-Christ) certainly looks evil…

Tunisia:

Maybe you’re wondering what the deal is with Tunisia being the exit for the Island. It may interest you to know that Tunisia is the anti-podal point of some empty South Pacific ocean spot not too far from Australia. Do the characters travel through the center of the Earth when they turn the frozen donkey wheel? Very Jules Verne!

Aaron:

What’s the deal with Aaron? Claire was told by the psychic that no one should raise the baby but her. If we are to believe the psychic, why should Aaron not be raised by anyone else? Was the psychic foreseeing that Claire would run away with Christian leaving Aaron behind, and that this would be bad news for Claire and the Island? Or was he reacting to Aaron being adopted by Kate (essentially) because they got off the Island, and this is the negative experience the psychic was picking-up? Or could it be something truly about Aaron being raised by other parents? We’ll have to leave this to Season Six.

Best Moment:

Sawyer jumping out of the helicopter. I know that this scene has a possible underlying element that Sawyer wasn’t in fact being heroic, but rather being a coward unwilling to take the risk of pursuing a future with Kate. I don’t care. Those folk want to get on the freighter, and he allows that to happen. Also, he is embracing the thinking Kate should have adopted: nothing but trouble awaits Sawyer on the mainland, why bother? He is rewarded with three blissful years as a respected head of security and boyfriend to Juliet. <>

Films - Up & The Hangover

2009-06-10T18:32:00.000-04:00

My internet is FINALLY back. So, that means I'm back to blogging. Lucky you. We saw Up about a week ago and The Hangover last Sunday. I'm going to briefly blog about both of them. The internet's a big place and I've got a lot of internetting to do.

First, Up. It was fantastic. Pixar has completely perfected the combination of funny sweet that turns me into a little puddle of whimpering mush.

The movie begins with about fifteen minutes of backstory on the main character. As a little kid, he idolizes an explorer/adventurer, and he is lucky enough to find a little girl who shares his passion. They share a dream of following in their idol's footsteps to travel to Paradise Falls, in South America.

We follow them through their lives. They fall in love and get married. In a small tragic montage, we learn that his wife wanted to have children, but they weren't able to. They built a very happy life together, but never traveled to South America. He buys some plane tickets when they are getting older, but his beloved wife passes away before they are able to take the trip.

I'm pausing here. Those first twenty minutes were completely touching. Some friends of mine felt like it was too manipulative. I understand the criticism, I just don't agree. It was a brief but necessary set up for us to understand Carl as an old man. Because, you see, for most of the film, he is crotchety and mean, but the audience still needs to like him. That first twenty minutes explains to the audience why he is the way he is, and it allows us to cheer for him despite how mean he sometimes is.

Then he goes on his adventure. He accidentally brings along a little boy scout. I'll forgo giving away the details of the rest of the plot. I'll just say I laughed a lot.

Also, a different friend suggested that Up was actually better than Wall-E, which was the second best movie of last year, BTW. I have to disagree. I do think that Up is a more even movie. The least good parts of Wall-E were not as good as the least good parts of Up, but the best parts of Wall-E are transcendent.

Okay, on to The Hangover. What can I say. It was EXACTLY what I thought it would be. Hilarious, gross, shocking, and wonderful. Also, Bradley Cooper is insanely hot. I'm glad he's finally getting a little bit of buzz. He totally deserves it. He's hilarious, gorgeous and majorly talented. Can't wait to see what he's in next.

Zach Galafinakis was stellar. He also deserves to finally have large roles in mainstream movies. There are some pretty shocking shots during the end credits involving him, so stick around, for sure.

Ed Helms was great, too, but I knew that already.

The movie itself is basically Dude, Where's My Car? There is definitely an intentional homage involving an impounded car and Cleo King. There's no way it was a coincidence that she plays a police office in both movies, and has impounded the protagonists car in both movies. Considering how much I love Dude, Where's My Car? (for anyone who is curious, I'm not sarcastic about that at all; it's a great movie), it makes sense that I loved this.

Delicious screwball comedy goodness.

Film - Who the $%#! is Jackson Pollack

2009-06-10T06:55:00.000-04:00

The other day I watched this 74-minute documentary about a woman who bought what could be a real Jackson Pollack painting at a thrift store for $5. Tess is a bawdy broad who drives an 18-wheeler, and loves to dumpster dive. After getting a heads-up from a local art teacher that she may be the proud owner of a 25 million dollar treasure, she sets out on a quest to have the painting authenticated.

The juxtaposition between her gruff and spunky personality against the snootiness of the art world's elite is a hoot, and the battle between science and soul is fascinating. Definitely worth the short amount of time, if only to hear Tess's bullshit story about how the painting could be linked from Pollack to herself.

TV - Lost Season Three

2009-06-10T06:41:00.000-04:00

In my continued (and surprisingly fast-moving) quest to re-watch all of Lost, I have finished Season Three. This was by-far my favorite season of the five, and that’s saying something considering how much I love this show. Read on for my musings.

There are a lot of reasons for why Season Three is my favorite. For one, there are so many answers given to previously established mysteries. We learn how Locke’s legs became paralyzed, we learn about Jack’s tattoos, we learn a whole lot about what’s going on with the Others, and we certainly gain a better understanding of the Smoke Monster (hint: I don’t think it’s nanobots!).

Smoke Monter
When the Smoke Monster encountered Eko in Season Two, it flashed images of his life-story. It would appear in Season Three that Smokey has used this information in order to learn what form it should take to best get Eko’s attention. When Eko sees Yemi, the “ghost” says “You talk to me as if I was your brother,” and the executive producers confirmed in their podcast that this was an incarnation of the Smoke Monster.

So we learn that Smokey can take the form of people (and horsies!) and that it probably does so for a set purpose (to lead the characters towards an enlightenment experience?). Since Eko gets beaten to death by the Monster after refusing to apologize for the crimes that haunt him, I think it’s safe to assume that Smokey, at least in part, is on the Island to lead the castaways to redemption.

Shipper Friendly
Another awesome part about Season Three is that it is incredibly shipper friendly. Kate and Sawyer get-in-on while Jack watches, Jack and Juliet start their relationship, Claire and Charlie kiss, we learn that Ben had a mad crush on Juliet, and Jack tells Kate he loves her. It’s also really interesting to watch any of the scenes between Sawyer and Juliet, knowing what happens in Season Five. I could even be convinced that Juliet knew what would happen between her and Sawyer in future-1977 should some wacky story-telling lead us in that direction.

The Others
One of the joys about re-watching Season Three was that this time around I could really like Ben and Juliet. Well, with Ben it’s more of a love-to-hate type reaction. Learning about his history on the Island in “The Man Behind the Curtain” was crazy-fun and also exciting because I know there’s a chunk of history missing there that I hope will be revealed in Season Six. What happened to Anne? What happened between his first encounter with Richard and the Purge? I bet we’ll get some answers.

Speaking of Richard, we learn a significant amount about him in Season Three, but not nearly enough. (BTW: How does he get the Man from Tallahassee without the aid of the submarine and so freaking fast?) I think one of the ways that the writers will reveal much of the Island mythology next year is through a Richard flash-back episode and that would be AMAZING.

And we also hear a lot more about the Super-Mega Other: Jacob. Was he really the one in the cabin telling John to help him? Or was that the Man in Black? We know now that Ben couldn’t really see or hear anything in the cabin, so has Ben ever really gotten directions from Jacob? The list with the names of Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley was said to be from Jacob in Season Two, but in Season Three we see Juliet and Ben discussing who to put on the list in the Pearl Station… so Ben’s actual relationship with Jacob is still a bit of mystery.

Expose:

One of the weirdest episodes in all of Lost history is "Expose." How bizarre to have a complete filler episode on a series that had for two and a half years prior been relying on a reveal-some, question-some pace. I remember being completely baffled and frustrated when watching this episode live because it was essentially a waste of a week for someone who wanted answers. This time around I enjoyed the episode because for one, I think getting buried alive is crazy compelling. For another, it really illustrated how the creators and writers listen to the fans. They heard that the fan community wanted to learn more about the whole slew of other castaways (called the "socks" by the writers), so they introduced Nikki and Paulo. Then they heard the tremendous backlash against these idiots, so they took an episode to get their story-line out of the way and kill 'em off. I love that they respect their fans and were able to react to the response in a timely manner.

Finale:
Season three is made all the better by it’s awesome finale. Whether or not you knew right away that those were flash-forwards (like co-blogger Metta did), it’s still a cool change of pace! The mysteries were a lot less frustrating when you knew that the characters would be reaching a certain destination at some point, it was just a matter of how they got to that point and where they would go from there.

Repeated Lines:
We have to indoctrinate Charlie in the “Don’t tell me what I can’t do” crew. We also have a new repeated line when Locke quotes Eko saying “don’t confuse coincidence for fate.”

Questions:
Of course there are still many questions. One of which is why can’t a nice show like Lost afford good wigs? Some of the hairdos in the flash-backs were beyond laughable.

Film - Girls Just Want to Have Fun Remake

2009-06-03T08:45:00.000-04:00

I don't know whether to be very happy or very sad about this news. "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" is a masterpiece. I strongly encourage you to watch the original before you see this remake (whenever it gets made). As for the Miley Cyrus casting rumors? I think it could be a good thing! She reminds me of a young Sarah Jessica, actually...

Funny story for you who chose to "Read More." I once agreed to eat a piece of rhubarb pie (which I hated) in return for having the rest of my male roommates (Bob, Tom, and Greg) watch GJWTHF with me. Good times. .

TV - Lost Season Two

2009-06-01T19:40:00.000-04:00

I've finished re-watching Season Two of Lost. Read more for my analysis, favorite moments, some trivia, and questions that I still have about this season.

Season Two is not one of my favorite seasons. I guess I won't be sure where to place it until after I've re-watched the first five, but I'm going to guess it'll be either my second or absolute least favorite. The success of Lost rides in it's ability to keep viewer's engaged in the Island's mysteries and in the characters emotional journeys. Season Two focused a bit too much on the Mystery of the Hatch and the character bickering was tiresome. Not only were Locke and Jack constantly feuding, but Charlie drifts dangerously close to unlikable.

New Characters
Although I somewhat resented the time it took to get to know the slew of new characters presented this season, almost all of them are welcome additions, like Desmond, Mr. Eko, Libby, and "Henry Gale." One is a triumphant annoyance: Ana Lucia. in true Lost style, Ana was presented in such a way that the audience was supposed to have a strong (negative) reaction to her, that would then be questioned once her back-story was revealed. However, learning Ana's story that she had been shot in the abdomen, resulting in the loss of her pregnancy, really didn't do much in reducing my hatred of her. The massive backlash against Ana was so powerful that the writers made a last minute decision to kill Libby off as well as Ana in "Two for the Road" in order to create the necessary emotional-blow.

Repeated Lines:

Add Mr. Eko to the "Don't tell me what I can't do!" club!

Favorite Moments:

- The Rose and Bernard reunion, of course! It was great knowing that Rose's gut was right all along and that her husband was, in fact, alive. It's also great for the 'shippers out there (hello: me!) to have a stable relationship to enjoy.

- The Orientation film: what a creepy, weird scene! I love a great big WTF moment on Lost, and this true introduction to the Dharma Initiative is one of my favorites.

- In the episode "The Hunting Party," we get a nice chat from a bearded Tom. This is another one of those truly game-changing moments in Lost: there's no denying from here on out that our castaways are not alone on the Island. And that "Light them up!" shout, revealing that our castaways are surrounded by Others with torches is a truly exciting, nerve-wracking scene.

- Knowing who "Henry Gale" really is makes watching the episodes with him trapped in the ammo room so much more enjoyable. My favorite scene of his is watching him react to Eko's redemption speech in "Maternity Leave," complete with his slack jawed reception of Eko's beard trimmings. Although Ben prides himself on always sticking to a plan, he lets a genuine "oh shit - this be crazy" face slip-out.

Favorite Episode:

It was hard for me to pick a favorite episode from this season. Although many episodes contained great moments, the episode as a whole was often tainted by endless Ana Lucia hating, or Locke vs. Jack grumblings (which were important for defining these characters, but a bit exhausting).

I'm going to go ahead and pick "What Kate Did." Here was an episode with a nice answer to a mystery, as well as some relationshippy goodness, and some more mystery with the appearance of Kate's black horse and Michael IMing "Walt" on the computer.

I have to say, I'm sticking to my guns about my theories regarding Kate/Jack/and Sawyer. In this episode Kate attacks Jack for his goodness and is mad knowing that she'll "never be good" like him. She also addresses the fact that Sawyer reminds her of the ugliest parts of her - the fact that she can have murder in her heart because step-dad was actually dad-dad. But the fact that Sawyer represents who she really is and Jack is what she "just ain't" is a pretty good predictor in my book about with whom Kate'd have the most successful relationship. Take that sentence structure and basic grammar!

Trivia:

Creator and Executive Producer Damon Lindelof confirmed the Hatch's hieroglyphics mean "Underworld" in Egyptian.

A glass eye was found by the Tailies along with the bible and the radio. Did you know the world's "first glass eye" was supposedly found in a tomb containing a backgammon game? (See Season One)

We hear Mama Cass's "Make Your Own Kind of Music" a lot in Season Two. While vacationing at the Virgin Islands, Mama Cass was hit on the head by a falling copper pipe and claimed that after the incident her vocal range had increased by three notes.

The Dharma Initiative logo incorporates the "ba gua" Chinese symbol, which represents eight interrelated concepts such as wind, water, mountain, and earth.

Questions:

The Smoke Monster: In Season One it ate the Pilot immediately. Then it showed Locke a brilliant white light. Then in this season it shows Eko flashes from his past. Certainly the monster behaves differently based on with whom it's interacting. What drives the Monster's behavior?

Libby: Libby was shown in the same mental institution as Hurley. What's the deal there, especially considering she said she was a psychologist?

Walt: We hear from Ms. Klugh some interesting hints at Walt's talents (teleportation?), and we've gotten the idea that he can kill birds when he's angry and throw a mean knife. Certainly he has some special abilities that I'd love to have explained.

The Pearl Station: What was the experiment being monitored? Was it watching people push the button over in the Hatch? Or was it watching them take their shots? Or was the experiment, like Desmond hinted, the other way around and the monitors were actually the test-subjects?

That's more than enough on that. Hope you took something away of value to help you with your own Lost theorizing!

TV - Lost - Four-Toed Statue

2009-05-28T06:13:00.000-04:00

An ABC Episode Recap of the Lost finale clarified the identity of the Four-Toed Statue. Click "Read More" for my analysis on the significance of her identity in relation to Jacob and Lost as a whole.

The statue is a representation of Taweret! Let's begin our discussion with her name. Taweret means "(one) who is great," which links up nicely with the answer to "What lies in the shadow of the statue?:" "The one who will save us all." Certainly Taweret signifies what we already knew: Jacob is a big-freaking deal.

Although my research on this is a bit murky (but props to me for looking beyond Wikipedia), it seems that Taweret was married to Apep, the Egyptian deity associated with evil. Taweret could then be seen as a counter-point to evilness and was often considered the "Restrainer of Evil". Is Jacob really good and counter-balancing the evilness of The Man in Black (or the other way around)? Let's not get carried away. Because Apep could only come out at night, Taweret was seen as responsible for all evil acts that occurred during the day. In fact, Taweret was considered a demon! Her likeness was composed of multiple man-killing animals, most notably the hippopotamus, lioness, and crocodile.

Perhaps the most intriguing link between Taweret and the mythology of Lost is that she was seen as the protector of pregnancy and childbirth. Pregnant women wore amulets of her likeness around their necks to be protected from any evilness jeopardizing the safe delivery of their babies. Obviously, we know there are some major fertility issues on the Island amongst the Others. However, Claire was able to give birth to Aaron, and Sun was miraculously impregnated by Jin (who was supposedly infertile) while residing on the Island.

Digging deeper, almost every character on Lost has major Mommy issues. Ben's mother died during child-birth. Jack decided to turn on his father when he realized the woman Christian killed while performing surgery drunk was pregnant. Ana Lucia cracked after getting shot in the abdomen, losing her pregnancy. The list could go on.

So now we ask, when did the damage to the statue occur, leaving nothing but the calf and foot, and when did the fertility issues amongst the Others arise? Certainly there could be a connection there.

What else do you know about Taweret that could be seen as relevant to Lost? And isn't this fun?!

TV - Preview - The Vampire Diaries

2009-05-27T19:48:00.000-04:00

As mentioned in my Apocalypse post, the CW has picked up a pilot of "The Vampire Diaries" based on the series by L.J. Smith, staring Ian Somerhalder and some other people that I don't care about. This is why that matters to me.

When I was in high school, I read a lot. I am talking like maybe two or three books a day. And by books, I mean 170-page young adult novels. I consumed them like crack - or popcorn, or that it is more believable that I would actually consume. One of the primary authors of my high school reading era was L.J. Smith. She wrote fantasy novels with a heavily romantic focus. I read just about everything she wrote. A year or so ago, when I became aware of the Twilight mania, I thought, this sounds just like L.J. Smith. After having read the entire Twilight Saga (and completely enjoying it - with the exception of the ridiculous fourth book) I still prefer my old school L.J. Smith. I thought to myself, 'I bet this Twilight craze will bring some publicity to L.J. Smith.' Sure enough, most of her books, written in the mid '90's have been reprinted and reissued. I have to stop myself from buying them just to support her, since I already own just about everything she has written.

The Vampire Diaries was never my favorite series of hers. I liked the set-up and the characters, but it was one of her earlier series and I don't think she had quite worked out the whole love triangle angle that would become a huge focus of most if not all of her subsequent books. I am a HUGE sucker for a love triangle. Especially one where I can actually see the person in the middle with either of the other two. And as low-brow as her books are, in my opinion, she's got that down.

So, I'm hoping that the new show keeps the characters and set-up, but manages to use the love triangle more effectively than it was used in the books.

Also, I have to ask, why do TV shows cast guys who are older than their characters are supposed to look as vampires? It's going to make things really difficult when Ian Somerhalder (who is 31, and playing a character who was made into a vampire at 21, and therefore should look eternally 21), starts to look older, assuming this show lasts more than one season. It happened on Buffy with David Boreanaz and James Marsters. They were both older than their characters were supposed to look when the series started, so it could only get worse from there. I mean, I'm glad to have Ian Somerhalder on a TV show again (since he is just objectively beautiful), but seriously, guys. Think about the fact that this person is not supposed to age when you cast them.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the show. I know perfectly well that it could be completely awful. But Ian Somerhalder knows hat he's doing and the guy who directed the pilot has directed shows for Dexter, so I have an inkling of hope that it could actually be good.

TV - American Idol Results Scam

2009-05-27T06:48:00.000-04:00

I declare a foul! I don't know if this would have really made a difference determining this season's winner, but it sucks knowing that scheming like this might be going on.

Film - Best Theme-Setting Scores

2009-05-26T17:09:00.000-04:00

The other day I heard the theme song to "The Lord of the Rings" (remember? "Eeeeee-Aahhhhhh eh-ah-eh-ah-eeeee-ahhhh." There, that should help), and I got to thinking about what an incredibly powerful piece of music that is. I turned to my husband, Greg, and said "I think that LOTR has the best theme-setting score. Whenever I hear that music I am automatically scared, excited, nervous, and on-the-edge of my seat," which I think are the perfect emotions to be experiencing when following Frodo on his quest.

Greg said, "I think you mean besides Darth Vadar's theme in the Star Wars movies" and he has a point there (dah dah dah dum-da-dum, dum-da-dum). That music tells you to "Hello! Evil on it's way!," but in a playful manner, perfectly in keeping with the original three films. (While watching Episodes 1 - 3 you should be experiencing some gagging and eye-rolling emotions).

I'm going to stick with my original premise that for me, for you, for me, LOTR has the best theme-setting score. What are your thoughts? Leave a comment.

The Apocalypse - A Buffy movie sans Joss Whedon

2009-05-26T12:52:00.000-04:00

Thanks, Jenna, for bringing the apocalypse to my attention.

Fran Rubel Kuzui is a complete idiot. There has been talk of a Buffy movie since the series went off the air in 2003. Alternating rumors that it was in development or that it would never happen made fans like myself appear bi-polar to outside observers. You'd think we would all be thrilled now that Kuzui, the rights holder to the franchise, is actively pursuing a Buffy feature film. You'd be wrong.

The reason we fans have been clamoring for a film, is that we are invested in the lives of the characters from the TV show. We want to know what happens to them after Sunnydale is leveled. Luckily, Joss Whedon's Season Eight comics have done that, to an extent, but I'd really like to see a movie with all of the characters from the Buffyverse with a little bit more closure on some of the main storylines (who does Buffy end up with, or does she not end up with anyone?, does Angel get to become human?, why was Angel brought back from hell?).

However, this feature film, spearheaded by Kuzui isn't going to be a sequel or continuation of the television show. Instead, in the wake of the Twilight frenzy, it's going to be a complete reboot, ignoring both the TV show, and the 1992 movie, and trying to gain a whole new generation of fans. Seems like a good idea, right?

Problem #1: The only reason the Buffy franchise is so successful is because of the insanely rabid fans. There aren't very many casual Buffy-watchers. People either never watched enough to get hooked, or they are completely nuts about it. Those are the only two options. By rebooting the franchise, and ignoring the characters that the fanbase cares about, the feature film may appeal to a new generation, but it will completely alienate the existing fans. And without the existing fans on board, I doubt the movie will do very well.

Problem #2: Joss Whedon has not even been approached about being involved. So, this pretty much guarantees that the movie will suck. You can't do Buffy without Joss in complete control. They took control away from Joss for the 1992 movie, and look what happened. Plus, now, the rapid fans of the TV show aren't just going to ignore the movie, they will actively work to undermine it. Speaking as a rabid fan, I promise you, this will happen. Check out the article and accompanying poll at EW.com. If there are riots, I will totally go.

Problem #3: We are flooded with vampire related TV shows and movies right now. The CW just picked up a show based on L.J. Smith's "The Vampire Diaries" starring Ian Somerhalder (Boone from Lost), and some other people that I don't care about. Plus the Twilight books and movies, True Blood, etc. I can't think of others right now, but it just seems like it is everywhere. A reboot of Buffy right now would just fall in with the vampire frenzy and probably wouldn't stand out at all. If it were a sequel to the series, it would work, because the aforementioned rabid fans would make it stand out. But if it's just going to be a from scratch movie, what makes it different from all the other vampire stuff. I realize that the fact that vampires are "so hot right now" is a reason to make the film now. Kuzui practically says as much in the Hollywood Reporter article, but fads change so quickly. By the time the movie is made and comes out, vampires might be "so over."

Problem #4: I hate the idea. And we all know how much pull I have with my highpowered blog.

Book & TV - The Worthing Saga by Orson Scott Card, and Dollhouse

2009-05-23T23:51:00.000-04:00

So, when watching the two part season finale of Dollhouse, I was inspired to re-read The Worthing Saga by Orson Scott Card, because of some similarities. Both stories involve taping people's memories and/or personalities and then replaying them into themselves or others. More after the jump.
The Worthing Saga is one of my favorite books of all time. I've probably read it six or seven times, and every time, I'm surprised at how much I love it every time. It's a very involved story; it's not called a saga for nothing. It's got three separate main worlds that the saga takes place in, separated by thousands of years AND thousands of light years. But the most compelling thing for me, in the entire saga is the use of a drug called somec. Somec is a drug that allows the people in this society to basically hibernate. The drug is used as a social status symbol. People with a lot of money, power, talent or intelligence are given somec and allowed to use it at high levels, like spending five years sleeping and one year awake. That way, they can live five times longer than they would have otherwise. The ruler, an empress-like woman called Mother, wakes for one day every ten years.

But that's not really the part that interests me. What interests me is that prior to taking the drug, a person's mind is taped into a bubble, and then it is played back into their head when they wake. There's a short story about a woman who was in love with a very powerful man. She had invalid parents who desperately needed her to take care of them. The man she loved wanted to marry her, but she couldn't leave her parents. So he offered to put her on somec until they passed away. He would make sure that they were taken care of, but she wouldn't have to do it herself, and she wouldn't get any older. She was conflicted, but she agreed, so he took her to the place to have her mind taped. But after her mind was taped, and before they gave her the drug, she changed her mind. She couldn't leave her parents. So he took her home and she stayed with her parents. They lived five more years, in which she became reclusive and bitter. After they died, the man returned, and still wanted to marry her. She couldn't do it. She was too unhappy, to bitter, and she couldn't move forward. So, he offered to put her to sleep and then play the old tape back into her head. She wouldn't remember the past five years, so she wouldn't be the bitter, sad person that she was, but he would tell her what had happened, so she could know that she had done the right thing. So, they did that, and they were happy for a short period of time, but slowly, it started happening that she couldn't live with herself. She couldn't remember taking care of her parents, so for her it was like it had never happened. And she couldn't live with that, because it wasn't the decision that SHE would make. It made her crazy to feel as though, and to remember that she had not taken care of her parents, even though she was told that she had. And she couldn't live with remembering having made a decision that isn't the one she would make.

On Dollhouse, there are dolls, or actives, who come in "voluntarily" and have their memories wiped so that they become blank slates. That way, they can be imprinted with different personalities. However, there is a character named Alpha. Before he became an active, he was a criminal. He had kidnapped a woman and had slashed her face with a knife. He would have killed her if he had not gotten caught. After his mind is wiped, when he is in the doll/"blank slate" phase, he slashes the face of another doll.

These two situations have a shared idea behind them. They both suggest that even if our minds can be wiped, our memories erased, and possibly different ones put in, there is still something that makes you you. There are still things that you simply wouldn't do, because of who you are, even if you can't remember why. Or, in Alpha's case, there are still things that you will do, even if you have no memories or personality which should make you want to do them. Neither The Worthing Saga, nor Dollhouse specifically addresses the idea of a soul, but I think that is what they are both implying.

It's also a strong comment on the nature/nurture debate. They both indicate that there is a very strong nature component. I don't think either requires the belief that people's personalities and decisions are 100% due to nature, but it suggests that there are major components of who we are which are ingrained, and removing our memories won't eliminate those.

TV - Lost Season One

2009-05-23T20:49:00.000-04:00

Re-watching Lost has been more rewarding than I predicted. I thought it was going to be fun, I didn't realize it was going to be crazy, awesome fun.

I'm already completely invested in the characters, and I know some answers to the mysteries they are questioning right now (so I'm not burdened with that "WTF?!" rage). Most importantly, I don't really remember any of the details of the early seasons, so as I watch, I still get surprised and even sometimes teary-eyed!

After the jump here, I'm going to go on a tremendous rant about Lost. If you feel like nerding-out with me, please, read on!

The outline to the following rant is as follows:
1. Character Analysis
2. Favorite Moments and Episodes
3. Repeated Lines and Their Significance
4. Goofy Theories

1. Character Analysis:

JACK:
Without doubt the most complicated character, for me, is Jack. All of the other characters' redemption stories are a bit more cut and dry, but Jack's is layered and difficult for me to wrap my head around. My best guess is that he needs to accept humility, because obviously pride is a major problem for our "hero." We hear Christian telling Jack he doesn't have what it takes to be a hero because he cannot deal with failure.

However, I think this goes beyond him accepting that failure is sometimes inevitable. I think he is meant to have humility towards his abilities as a human to control his own fate. The Island is haunting Jack with images of his father. One time Jack follows Christian through the jungle and falls of a cliff-edge, only to be saved by Locke. Is Christian being used as a tool to lead Jack to follow Locke (and his Man of Faith philosophies)? Obviously, we see Jack embrace ideas of Destiny and Purpose in Season Five. The big question is: what will be the pay-off for Jack's believing in Fate? (I'm capitalizing like a German here!)

SAYID:
Sayid says an interesting line at the beginning of this season: "Losing hope is a dangerous thing." We see how this philosophy plays out in Season Five when he has lost Nadia and is back on the Island he so desperately wanted to escape. With no hope left in his heart, he shoots a child (albeit a child version of Ben) and signs up for Jack's mission of blowing up a hydrogen bomb to destroy his 1977-day self in favor of granting sweet Island-ignorance to future versions of Sayid.

Sayid is also a major player. First he's trying to bone Kate, and then he moves on to Shannon (INEXPLICABLY: She's the worst!). All while grieving the loss of Nadia?! I get that it's been seven years since he lost track of Nadia, but still: if he was this ready to move on, wouldn't he have a wife or girlfriend on the mainland? What leads him to go on a booty quest only after he crash lands on an Island of mystery?

KATE:
In the very first episode, Jack explains to Kate his Count to Five method of dealing with stress (which we learn in Season Five was actually taught to him by his father, interesting!). Kate responds that if she had been in such an intense situation, she probably would have run. Jack says that she doesn't believe she would have, and that, my friends, is why Kate falls for Jack. He believes the best of her. Whenever Jack treats Kate like the schemer she is (as when he asks her if she poisoned Michael) she gets mega-pissed. But Kate did poison Michael (second-handedly, by giving Sun the idea), so she gets mad at Jack for not believing that she's a person she isn't.

Sawyer, on the other hand, loves Kate for who she really is, not some ideal image of her. (DISCLAIMER: Sawyer is my favorite character and has been from the first time I watched Season One, and although I'm not thrilled about Kate, I want Sawyer to be happy, and if that means being loved by Kate, so be it.)

2. Favorite Moments and Episode

SAWYER AND KATE PLAY "I NEVER": Sawyer doesn't need any mugshot pictures to realize that Kate's a fugitive: he knows that just by looking at her. I think that when it really boils down to who Kate is supposed to be with, it's Sawyer.

CLAIRE CUTS CHARLIE'S HAIR WHILE HE WRITES A SONG: It's called "The Monster Eats the Pilot"!

BACKGAMMON BETWEEN LOCKE AND WALT: "Two players, two sides: light and dark." Finding out what's up with Walt is something I hope gets fleshed out a bit more in Season Six, even though Walt will look like he's 25.

Favorite Episode: Exodus Part One
This episode is such an amazing piece of work. My two favorite parts are when Sawyer tells Jack about his chance encounter with Christian, and of course the entire goodbye scene. Sun and Jin reconciling was sweet enough to bring me to tears! I also loved the shots of Sawyer and Kate looking for each other at various points to attempt a goodbye. But the best is the entire ending scene. We see the raft hit the water successfully, and everyone is happy and sad and scared and hopeful! There's a slow fade, but then OH YEA! BAM! The shot of the smoke billowing up into the sky signifying that the Other's will soon be attacking. SO GOOD.

3. Repeated Lines and Their Significance:

I'M LETTING YOU OFF THE HOOK: Both Rose and Boone tell Jack that they are forgiving him for his broken promises. All part of Jack learning that failure is sometimes inevitable?

DO YOU HAVE MY BACK?: This is how people on Lost as their significant others if they love them. We see Jack ask Kate in this season, and we will see it be a key element to the blossoming of Sawyer and Juliet's romance in Season Five.

DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T DO: Both Jack and Locke yell this sentence, always wanting to feel empowered and constantly feeling challenged by others. They long for limitless abilities and complete confidence in those abilities by those who surround them.

4. Goofy Theories:

I've got to tell you, I'm starting to think that VINCENT IS JACOB.

IS THE SMOKE MONSTER THE MAN IN BLACK / JACOB / OR SOMETHING ELSE?
The monster certainly doesn't seem happy that the castaways are on his Island, so it seems more likely that it's The Man in Black rather than Jacob.

The monster also revealed itself in some way to Locke. He says that he looked into the eye of the Island and it was beautiful: which makes me think it's plausible that Jacob is the monster.

I feel pretty confident that the monster is under the control of one of these guys, rather than it being an independent-minded spirit or a creation of the Others.

But seriously, Vincent... something's going on there.

Film - Terminator: Salvation, McG

2009-05-22T23:50:00.000-04:00

I really wanted to like this movie. Desperately, actually. I love dystopic visions of the future (even if that future is only nine years off). I love Christian Bale. I love action movies. I thought it was a guarantee.

Well, I liked it. But I only liked it. Here are the good things about the movie. SPOILERS follow.

The acting. Almost everyone was way above the usual action movie level of acting. Christian Bale was his usual awesomeness and Aussie recruit Sam Worthington more than holds his own. My husband said that there wasn't enough Christian Bale in the movie, but whenever Bale wasn't on the screen, Worthington was, so it was all fine by me. Anton Yelchin is great as Kyle Reese, though his other summer release (Star Trek) is a far superior movie, even if his part isn't quite as big. The rest of the cast is good, but forgettable.

The action. Tons of great action sequences. I actually jumped a couple of times, which I didn't expect to happen. They found lots of interesting ways to destroy seemingly indestructible machines. I was particularly fond of the chase with the motorcycle class of terminators.

Still on the good things. The mood and tone of the movie were exactly what I was looking for. Dark, desolate and barren. Director McG did a fantastic job of realizing what most viewers of the Terminator series imagined for the future of that world. The world that Kyle Reese was sent back from.

The Ah-nohld cameo. Speaks for itself.

Ok, the Bad things.

The women. One was pregnant, and might as well have been barefoot and in the kitchen. She was basically only there to be John Connor's pregnant wife. I don't even remember the character's name. I could look it up, but I'm making a point here. She was played by Bryce Dallas Howard, who did a fine job, but had very little to work with. Ho hum. Dustin pointed out that she was a doctor, but that was completely not central to her character. The other, Blair, played by Moon Bloodgood, was just pathetic. She is supposed to be all tough, she's a Resistance pilot, for crying out loud, but she has to be saved twice in her first few minutes on screen by Marcus (Sam Worthington). Then, when everyone realizes Marcus is (mostly) a machine, she sticks by him and believes he's on their side. Whether she's right or wrong isn't important to me (and she's kind of right and kind of wrong, as it turns out), but the fact that she buys his story just because he made her go all weak in the knees is ridiculous. Come on now.

Some story points. First of all, the resistance has found this signal that shuts down the machines. But they have to get close enough to a machine to broadcast the signal to shut it down. Lame. Totally lame. Luckily it turned out to be a Skynet ploy, but that just made me wonder why they weren't more suspicious of such an obvious easy way out of all of this. Second, Blair and John Connor both trust Marcus even after they know he's part machine. WHY?! I mean, in the end, his intentions were in the right place, but he was programmed and sent to them by Skynet, so they really shouldn't have trusted him. And these people have been fighting against the machines for a long time, you would think they'd be a little more wary about trusting one of them. Third, at the end of the movie, John Connor is mortally wounded and Marcus offers to provide his own human heart (which has been described multiple times throughout the movie as being very strong) as a transplant to save John. This struck me as a little hokey, just on the surface. Blair is basically fine with it (even though she risked her own life to break him out earlier in the movie and she clearly believes that he is a person, not a machine), which is bizarre. Then, as they are laying on medical cots, about to be operated on, Marcus and John look over at each other, and John gives a little nod. I laughed out loud. The guy is a living being who is choosing to die so that he can donate his heart to you, and you're going to give a little grateful nod to him? It was ludicrous. It completely cheapened the moment (even though I already thought the moment was ridiculous).

The story was too repetitive. It seemed like the same thing over and over again, instead of a narrative which was moving forward. Eventually, it moved forward, but it wasn't moving forward for large chunks of the movie.

Lack of mythology. Terminator has an incredibly rich mythology about destiny and fate and free will. It was all but lost in this movie.

Basically, all the bad stuff, I blame on the writers. So, John D. Brancato, and Michael Ferris, you get a big thumbs down from me, and everyone else gets a thumbs up.

TV - Glee

2009-05-22T13:40:00.001-04:00

After the American Idol finale, Fox aired a preview premier of the High-School Musical infused hour-long comedy "Glee." There was certainly a lot to like about this cooky program, brought to us from the creative minds of "Nip/Tuck."

For one, there's Lea Michele. She originated the lead role in the broadway production of "Spring Awakening," and she's a tremendous talent. She has all the drive of Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon's character in "Election") with no hopes for the popularity. The other members of the New Directions glee club have a bit to prove. The adult characters are infused with more than their share of quirks, and are played by skilled actors.

However, there are a lot of wrinkles that need to be smoothed out in the fall, when the show resumes. Are they going to continue with the multiple narrators? I hope not. Although it's a easy way to gain access to the background stories of the characters, I find it a bit scatter-brained. Maybe they could give each character their own episode to narrate, and alternate it every week.

There's also the fear that eventually the show will start to take itself too seriously, as was the downfall of "Nip/Tuck." Keeping it light and fun, with plenty of odd-ball humor, will be the saving grace of this program. We'll be checking back in come September!

TV - The Fashion Show

2009-05-22T13:07:00.000-04:00

I am currently in the middle of viewing the third episode "The Fashion Show." I've been waiting for the show to gain its footing before writing a review, but now I've had it.

The casting for this show is obnoxious. I am sure there were thousands of aspiring fashion designers who auditioned, and yet they chose to cast almost exclusively based on personality. The skill levels are laughable in several contestants. To give you some insight: three designers have said that they do not know how to sew. They are designers in the same way that every middle school girl says that she wants to be a fashion designer: they doodle dresses but have no idea how to get the design from paper to runway. What did they think this competition was going to be? That there would be a team of pattern makers and sewers helping the contestants with each challenge?!

In the second episode, a contestant pieced together an outfit with safety pins, and admitted openly that he doesn't think sewing is important and STILL WASN'T ELIMINATED.

The other annoyance is that the show has relied completely on team challenges, even in the mini-challenges, with the exception of one event so far in the first three episodes.

On the positive side, the challenges are creative and interesting, just like in Project Runway. Also, in a divergence from PR, the Fashion Show hosts a real runway show with a full audience every week, which is sort of fun.

I will continue to watch, simply because I have a lot of time pinned underneath a sleeping baby. Furthermore, I've got to have faith that eventually those without talent will be voted off and we could be left with 5 or so authentic, talented designers.

TV - American Idol 5/20

2009-05-21T16:38:00.000-04:00

Kris for the win!

Like we've already written here, this is not a complete shock to most. Kris was sure to have picked up some Danny votes (even though many voted for Kris to be in the finale as a Gokey Block), and Adam can be a bit off-putting to some (*cough* who are idiots *cough*). But let's not loose perspective: there were almost 100 millions votes cast and dial idol claimed it was the first time they had no reasonable guess who was going to win. If you won essentially 49% of 100 million votes, you shouldn't feel like a loser!

And gosh darnnit if those two cute kids didn't make it seem like they were just there to have fun, anyway. Kris's mom put it best when she almost forgot why they were there the show was such a blast.

My favorite moment? The Kara Surprise! Once I accepted the dismal fact that Idol was going to waste time giving a bonus 15 seconds of fame to the corny/tacky Norman, Tatiana, and Bikini Girl, I was at least happy that they were going to let Bikini crash and burn on stage for all the mock. Did you HEAR her first couple of notes? Oooo trainwreck. I would have been happy enough listening to her suffer, but then Kara came out goofily diva-ing out. Is she the best singer and performer in the world? No! But she's a heck of a lot better than most of the Top 13. And moreover, she has a sense of HUMOR! She flashed her slammin' body in front of all of America (let alone thousands of LIVE viewers) to see for the sake of fun and charity. Way to go!

The night featured chart-topping performers covering the entire spectrum of music genres and history. Some guest singers were more welcome than others. I love her majesty, Queen Latifah but am lost on the appeal of Lil Rounds. Rod Stewart is a great crooner, but is kind of scary to look at and certainly in the wrong venue (do tweens even know who this guy is?). Steve Martin is fantastic, but Corkrey sort of slaughtered that sweet diddy.

On the other hand, I'd never turn down an opportunity to see masked striped weirdos frisk will.i.am! And I thought the Cyndi Lauper/ Alison version of "Time after Time" was pretty incredible (the dulcimer never gets enough respect!).

I'm not a Keith Urban fan, but Kris seemed to handle that number quite pleasantly.

But c'mon... KISS?!?!?! How frakkin' fantastic! Not to mention Adam's wardrobe straight from the closet of Lady Ga Ga or some sort of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles villain. And then to have that number followed not to shortly by the Queen performance. Please tell me there were some backstage wheelings and dealings (especially after the Adam loss) where Brian May at least proposed the idea of hiring Glambert.

When the results were announced, I was happy for Kris! I think he is going to be a great artist. I also have to admit I was happy he gave Adam the praise he deserved. And in further snarkiness, I am happy for Adam that he doesn't have to deal with being an "Idol." If he wants to wear the highest of club-boi platform boots with the shiniest of guyliners, he can do so without any producers giving him notes. All the press without the constraints!

Lastly, for anyone buying into the culture war, please take a cue from these guys. Kris is a person of faith who does not see his love of God interfering with developing a close friendship with a (possibly) gay man. Kris oozes love and peace, and I hope his music brings enlightenment to those who have hate in their hearts.

Mid-Idol Finale Update

2009-05-20T20:25:00.000-04:00

This is my version of SNL's Weekend Update "Really?!" segment.

REALLY?! American Idol? Really!? On the night of the finale when you've got all these amazingly fortunate, talented people performing you're going to go back and make fun of the bad auditions from the beginning? Really?!

I mean, really, it's lame early in the season, but at this point, when you don't need to do it to keep viewers it's just inexcusable. I mean, really.

ETA:
REALLY?! Bikini Girl? Really? Haven't you done enough to show that you are misogynistic as a show? Really?! And with a boob job? REALLY!? And then Kara DioGuardi comes out pathetically trying to convince us that she should have made it as a singer? REALLY!? And then she also has a bikini on?! Actually that last part was kind of funny, and it was for charity, so that was okay with me. But, really?

TV - American Idol 5/19

2009-05-20T12:21:00.000-04:00

For me, for you two, dawgs, the finale was a bit of a let-down.

Even before the blue glow of the Idol stage illuminated my television screen, I was agitated. How much hype has been given to the "culture war" represented by the final two? Why did the many bloggers and columnists have to take the Adam/Kris finale and make it so... personal? I get that producers like a nice polar story-line, but why did it have to be Gay versus God? For one, I think Kris and Adam have made it pretty clear that they are not trying to label themselves as either a voice for the evangelicals or the homosexuals. For another, hello! There's already a perfectly good story-line to be had here: the explosive, power-house rocker versus the soulful, acoustic crooner!

Anyway - getting to the actual show:

I was pretty bummed that the contestants had to do a repeat performance, unlike last year where David Cook was able to present a new song. I thought both Adam and Kris nailed their songs, but it just didn't have the surprise factor. I think Kris benefited from this round because he did an even better job on "Ain't No Sunshine..." than he did the first time.

I thought that the producer's pick songs were great fits for the artists, and again, they both did fantastic jobs.

Now let's get to this atroshe Idol Anthem! When I heard that Kara had co-wrote the finale song, I was given an inkling of hope that she would redeem herself to all the haters. The Idol Anthems have always been terrible, and this one ended up being no exception. Something about hurricanes and fighting another day... and then there's that "You Can Go Higher!/You Can Go Deeper!" bit drilling "DO RE MI FA MI DO RE MI FA MI" into my head so completely that it provided the soundtrack for ensuing nightmares.

Neither song sounded great when sung by the contestants. Adam came across as shrill and out of breath, not to mention like he was attempting to become a sugary pop star when he is a metallic and glittery rocker to the core. The song was more suited for Kris, but he was also straining (despite the songs limited range, when in too high of a key, it was a killer).

However, the night ended on a great note: While Ryan was cueing all of America to vote for their favorite contestant Adam let out a goofy, joyous, "THIS GUY!" while pointing to his compatriot. And Kris didn't miss a beat shooting it right back at my future best friend.

Who will win? I'm really not sure! There's been so much hype about church groups voting for Kris, maybe he will snag the title. But with "No Boundaries" as the first single for the newest Idol, maybe Adam is secretly hoping to avoid the confetti shower!

Books - The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

2009-05-20T00:42:00.000-04:00

This is the first Sherlock Holmes story I have ever read. I can't believe it took me this long to read one, but now I will definitely be reading a few more.

The story is about a woman who is about to get married. She's very frightened because she keeps hearing strange noises in the middle of the night, the same noises her sister heard two years earlier when she was about to get married, but she died before she could. Now Holmes is trying to keep her safe and find out what happened to her sister.

I'm not going to give away the whole mystery, but I've just got to say, it was refreshing. Compared to most of what I read or watch today, it was incredibly straightforward. Holmes is presented with a problem and he uses observation and rational thinking to solve it. Where's the time traveling and dimension jumping!? :o)

To be honest, the final solution is pretty far-fetched, but it's still just flat out fun. The story is short; it's kind of like the literary equivalent of . . . some kind of snack food. Quick and satisfying. Self-contained. Maybe Pringles.

It's also good for a laugh because the famous second, Watson, is a complete moron. I had no idea coming in, I just assumed that he was at least somewhat helpful, but he seems to be there purely to ask questions and sound like an idiot. But it's entertaining.

Anyway, I'll be reading more Holmes stories soon. Another note is that I read the whole story on my iPod Touch. The program is a reader that scrolls the text up like a teleprompter and you can control the speed by tilting it. I thought it would get annoying, and it might have been if I was reading a whole book, but for a story this length, it was actually great.

TV - Idol Gossip

2009-05-18T06:47:00.000-04:00

Apparently Anoop and Megan Joy are an item now?!

All I can think about is how 'Noop Dog's parents are taking this news... Not only does divorcee Corkrey have a baby, but let's not forget (most importantly): bitch be crazy!

Film - Star Trek

2009-05-16T21:56:00.001-04:00

Disclaimer: I have never, ever seen an episode of Star Trek or any of the previous movies.

So, Star Trek. I knew it would be awesome, because, well, it's SF and it's J.J. Abrams. That's just a recipe for goodness. And it was completely awesome.

I just have to say that all three J.J. Abrams-related media (TV Shows - Fringe* and Lost, and the Star Trek movie) that I have watched recently are dealing with time travel and alternate realities. They each take a slightly different approach to time travel and/or alternate realities, but the overlap is kind of interesting.

The version in Star Trek is one that I can really get on board with. Basically, it is that when someone travels back in time - through a black hole in the case of the movie - they create an alternate reality. The place they came from, where in the past they had not traveled back in time, still exists, but it's an alternate future/dimension/reality. I really like this, because you can have it both ways here. In one sense, it's impossible to change the past. They can't go back into their own past and change what happened. But they can change it in an alternate dimension. It helps with the paradox problem (i.e., if I go back in time and change things so that I am never born, how did I get to the past to make that change).

We haven't quite figured out how Lost if going to deal with time travel, since we ended on a kind of cliffhanger. Fringe isn't about time travel at all, but it is about alternate dimensions. They talk about the fact that every time people make a decision, reality splinters, like a branch of a tree. So, that's consistent with the Star Trek version of time travel, because someone showing up today and claiming to be from the future would be one branch, and the reality where that never happened would be another.

I don't want to go into to much else from the movie, because I know my co-blogger hasn't seen it yet, but I do want to say one other thing. The casting was fantastic, except for one glaring, confusing, question mark. Winona Ryder as Spock's mother. She's only six years older than Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock, and they had to age her with make-up. Are you telling me they couldn't find a more age-appropriate actress? I've looked all over the internet to see if there was an explanation for this casting choice, but I didn't find anything. Very confusing. It actually took me way out of the movie.

But the bottom line was that the movie was fantastic. If you haven't already seen it, I highly recommend it.

*I didn't blog about the Fringe season finale, but it was fantastic. The major twist was COMPLETELY shocking, but also fit perfectly with the show, which is really hard to do. Just wanted to give them their props.

TV - Dollhouse Renewed

2009-05-16T16:21:00.000-04:00

The official announcement comes on Monday, but it's been leaked that Fox has ordered thirteen more episodes of Dollhouse. Joss had to agree to do it on a reduced budget, but apparently the agreement has been signed.

Here's hoping that Fox puts it in a slightly better time slot next year.

TV - Lost - Josh Holloway is awesome

2009-05-16T10:48:00.001-04:00

THIS ARTICLE IS ABSOLUTE TRUTH!

TV - Bones - 5/14/2009

2009-05-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

Oh dear. Bones, Bones, Bones. What have you done? That was almost a comically awful hour of television. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything amusing about it. It was just awful.

For those who don't watch the show, I'll give a very short recap. Bones is about a female forensic anthropologist, nicknamed Bones (who is also a bestselling author) who helps a male FBI agent named Booth solve crimes. There has now been four seasons of sexual tension leading up to the two of them FINALLY relieving that tension in tonight's season finale. Or at least, that's what was promised.

For the last few months, the creators, stars and the Ausiello Files have assured we viewers that Bones and Booth would in fact do the deed in tonight's episode and that it would be neither a dream, nor a hallucination. But they held back from completely stating that it would be 100% real.

In last week's episode, it came out that Booth has a brain tumor which is causing him to have hallucinations, including seeing Stewie from Family Guy. That, in and of itself, was almost enough to jump the shark. But I thought they made it work. It tied in with previous episodes where Booth had seen a ghost of an old army buddy. So, I stayed on board.

But tonight. Oh tonight. The entire episode was one of two things. From the ending, it wasn't clear which, but it was either going on inside Booth's head while he was in a post-op coma, or it was a book that Bones was working on, but ended up deleting. In the episode, Booth and Bones are married and they own a night club where all of the people who usually work with them solving crimes, also worked. Kind of a Wizard of Oz type thing.

As if that wasn't bad enough. Booth wakes up at the end of the episode, and Bones is in the hopsital room. She tells him that the operation was a success, but that he had a reaction to the anesthetic. Then he looks up at her and says, "Who are you?"

REALLY?! Amnesia!? You just had an alternate universe episode on a non-supernatural show, and now you're giving one of your main characters amnesia. As I tweeted earlier today, this was the biggest shark jumping since Fonzie actually jumped over a shark.

Huge, huge disappointment.

TV - My Boys

2009-05-14T12:54:00.000-04:00

So, I've been watching My Boys for the past couple of years and I just wanted to do a little shout-out here. Generally, I think TV comedy is in a mess right now. There are a few shows getting it right, but for the most part, hour long dramas, or dramedies in some cases, are just way, way better. Exceptions include The Office, 30 Rock, and How I Met Your Mother but that's really about it.

Now, My Boys. There's no particular reason to think it would be any better than most of the sit-coms on ABC or CBS. It is a single camera show without a laugh track, like The Office or 30 Rock (as opposed to a multi-camera show with a laugh track and a studio audience like Two and a Half Men), which is a good sign, but there isn't really any star power. The most famous person on the show is Jim Gaffigan, who is certainly at least a D-list celebrity, but still.

Also, the show has some traditional sit-com style jokes, which can be a bit groan-worthy to modern TV viewers. I generally avoid that style of comedy, but I'm able to get past the occasional groan on this show.

The reason I put up with all of it is that there is something so natural about the performances that I sit through almost the entire episode wishing that I was friends with the characters.

First of all, the writing is, on occasion, insanely realistic. Like normally, even on shows like The Office and 30 Rock, I, as a viewer, notice something strange, and wish the characters would comment on it, but they don't. On My Boys, they do. For example, recently, two female characters were having lunch and for some reason, the analogies they were making kept coming around to animals. I turned to my husband and said, "Man, they just can't stop talking about animals." Seconds later, one of the characters says something like, "This conversation has a lot of animals in it." It was just so gratifying. I felt like "Yes! That's what normal people would actually say in that situation!" And it happens a number of times each episode.

Second, the actors are just completely natural. I mean, the Office seems forced compared to these performances. I have to imagine that the actors really like each other and have a great time making the show, because it really just comes across as a group of friends hanging out and living their life. And they are funny and seem like a lot of fun.

To summarize, basically, I watch the show because I wish the people on it would be friends with me.