Sufficient Cynic

2011- About to get Reel (and other terrible wordplay)

2012-02-04T20:38:00.000-08:00

I hope I'm not the only person who feels this way, but I'm going to come right out and say it: 2011 was a rough one at the movies. I was underwhelmed more often than not, and even the movies I liked, when I thought about them in comparison to other years, were not always entirely awesome. That being said, I did make a Top 10 list, despite not even having finished and posted reviews for all of them. But I figure it'll be good to have it in print, just for reference. So here, in all of its glorious mediocrity is the official top 10 of 2011...as voted on by me:

1. Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 - I'll admit it, this is entirely an emotional pick. There are other, perhaps, "better" movies, if you believe the Academy, but as a fan of the gigantic machine that is the Potter franchise, I couldn't have been happier with the final installment of this series. The seventh book has always been my favorite, and it just seems as if everyone involved in the films realized the importance of doing it justice and justice was done.

2. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Incredibly atmospheric, slow-burning suspense, and beautiful performances all around, it's the way spy movies used to be, and thankfully, still can be. Also, it had Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, and Tom Hardy all in the same film, sometimes the same scenes. I'm honestly surprised that a corner of the world didn't implode from the high awesome factor.

3. Midnight In Paris-I can't claim to be a fan of all of Woody Allen's work, but I would say that I'm a fan of most of what I've seen of Mr. Allen's. He's a writer's filmmaker and I always love that. In this, apparently the most accessible of his films, reality and fantasy, past and present combine to create the dream-like existence that's the equivalent of heaven for anyone who's ever pondered the possibility of putting their stories to paper. And the unspoken character that is the city of Paris creates an atmosphere that is part exotic, part nostalgic, and more romantic in its banal moments than any residential area has the right to be.

4. The Artist- To say I was cautious about this film would be an understatement. I was worried and attempted to avoid it, for fear of disappointment. But sometimes, the hype is justified, and in this case, it's all rightly earned. The Artist is a silent movie with so much character and charm that it practically oozes off the screen. If you walk out of this movie feeling worse than you went into it, well, you might want to up your dosage of Cymbalta.

5. Captain America- I love Chris Evans, mostly because he's very, very attractive, with a smarmy kind of charm that I can't resist. He's had several roles that should have made him more of a leading man than he has yet been, up to this point, but his choices are odd, and usually, although his performances are generally claimed to be the best part of any movie he's in, his films tank. So I was, yet again, very nervous about this and attempted to keep my expectations well below "hopeful". But Captain America is so stylish, and perfectly balanced that it's difficult not to respond to it.

6. Hugo- Again, something of a surprise, I remember seeing the trailer for this movie the first time and contorting my face into an expression that can best be described as "uuuhhh...what?!" especially when the "Directed by Martin Scorsese" card popped up on the screen. I had no idea what to make of a Scorsese children's movie but it turns out that if anyone can direct a family-friendly movie, it's the same guy who brought you the scene where Joe Pesci beats people with a baseball bat. Hugo has beautiful cinematography and an engaging story that is made for movie lovers. Ode, homage, whichever word you choose to use, this is a loving sendup from a man who loves the movies and who wants everyone to feel the same...and by the end, you probably do.

7. Super 8- I know most people will question this entry, and question away, but the truth is, sometimes I think people are just afraid to admit that they still like feeling happy at the movies. Super 8 is the Spielberg movie that Spielberg didn't necessarily make with his own hands, but whose influence you feel nonetheless. The cast of child actors is truly wonderful, and with moments of adolescent awkwardness mixed with a little bit of heartbreak and a little bit of happiness, I think it's one that's definitely worth a second, or first look, if you managed to skip its theatrical release.

8. The Muppets- really, what is there not to like about singing, dancing puppets that shaped the childhoods of roughly 60% of the movie-going public, and clucking chickens who belt out a rendition of well, politely put, "Forget You..." (Cluck You)? I'm not entirely certain what people who saw this, and didn't like it, were expecting. But it was so vibrant and relevant, while at the same time being just slightly over-the-top enough to wrangle out some well-deserved laughs that it shouldn't be missed. If you're not at least a little teary-eyed by the time Kermit sings "Pictures in my Head", well then you've missed some important ingredient in the recipe.

9. Paul- released in March, I'm sure this one was forgotten by many, but it's Nick Frost & Simon Pegg, with a Seth Rogen-voiced alien. I'm not entirely certain what there is to dislike. And, as apparently was the theme this year, you can tell that this was a project that was about bringing fun, joy, and some nostalgia back to the movies. More entertaining than it really had any right to be.

10. Attack the Block- I had been looking forward to this movie months ahead of its scheduled US release date. If you missed the limited distribution it had in theaters here, see if you can pick it up on demand or from Netflix at some point in the near future. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Again, a group of unknown, mostly young actors, with the exception of a fantastic cameo from a track-suit sporting Nick Frost, it's unexpected, full of great chases and action, and bound to leave a mark.

Almost Made the Cut:

-Mission Impossible 4
-Drive
-Warrior
-X-Men First Class
-The Debt
-Beginners
-Bridesmaids
-Hanna
-The Source Code

An Open Letter To Employers

2012-01-26T15:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Employers:

What follows will be a list of 5 serious questions that I'm sure will only garner reassuring, though still unbelievable answers from you, but questions that need to be discussed nonetheless. These are questions that I'm asking on behalf of people who are willing, able and have demonstrated in the past the ability to work. I'm not talking about the people who don't care, who call out as often as possible, or who simply refuse, or worse, forget to show up for gainful employment. In the worst economy that I can remember, and the worst economy that most people of job-holding age can remember, gaining employment has seemingly turned into the equivalent of winning the lottery or being able to ride a unicorn into town; one of those things that we're all vaguely aware might happen somewhere at some point in time, but not really to anyone we know on a personal level. Despite the rhetoric of any politician who is currently occupied with trying to get elected or re-elected, I have yet to see much improvement, either in the actual numbers, or in the incalculable but still tangible morality of the country. Perhaps some clarification on the part of us working simpletons might help at least one of those situations.

Question #1: Just how much experience do you really need to learn or be able to hold down a job?

I used to think that graduating from an accredited college or university would be enough to secure employment in a job, but that has now proven to be an outdated theory. I either needed to A) spend more money for a graduate degree that, despite its ability to really fill out a frame, will still prove ultimately useless due to the flooding of the job market or B) should have started internships at the age of 16, when I certainly had absolutely no idea what could potentially make me happy in a long term career, considering I was still navigating the tricky waters of prom dresses and second gear. Considering that I've held down the same job for 5 years, and been "promoted" or at least laterally moved as is more likely to happen, well, anywhere these days, I (perhaps foolishly) have assumed that this would be testament enough to the fact that my learning abilities and drive are apparent even on resume paper. It's not as if I'm working in a cubicle applying for the chief surgeon job at Boston General. Are you really certain that familiarizing myself with software and getting acquainted with a new work environment requires 4 years of previous experience at a job that will have no bearing on this one anyway? Can you truly not trust me when I say that, I graduated college, I drive a car, I pay my rent, I clean my clothes, I (sometimes) cook my food, I'm pretty sure I'm capable of learning any computer program on my own without the help of a supplemental class that will charge me 3,000 dollars that I don't have?

Question #2: Do you even look at cold online submissions?

The internet has done wonderful things for the world. It's opened a world of knowledge that few could have foreseen in 1988. I am now able to know what all of my friends are eating in real time, how old Kirk Douglas is without having to open a pesky Almanac or Encyclopedia, and what everyone thinks is the biggest problem in the world (I'll give you a hint it's either something to do with religion or politics) thanks to the timely and considerate comments on that Coldplay video I watched on Youtube, yes, the ones where they're in giant stuffed elephant heads. It's also made it possible so that not only are classified ads online, but several startup companies have made a pretty good living of posting job listings for various fields. Do you happen to look at any of those submissions from Monster.com, Media Bistro, or your personal websites or is that just something that happens when your 13 year old intern has enough time to do it?

Question #3: Going along with #2, how many people do you hire who don't know someone already at the company?

When did the "it's not what you know, it's who you know" mantra become the most reliable piece of advice to both the employer and those seeking employment? It seems, these days, that the only people who get hired without knowing someone at any company are celebrities, who, let's face it, probably don't need the kind of money they're going to be making anyway. I mean, had I known that what would be required of me before getting an internship at (insert any magazine here) was that I have appeared in a viral video or reality show, I would have started working on my camera-ready appearance about the same time I was studying for the SATs, although even then, it might have been too late. How are you supposed to network in college? Was I simply not good enough at it, or was I too worried about achieving high marks in classes that no one in the position of giving me a job would care about?

Question #4: Why is it so difficult to let someone know about the status of their application...did you mean to put the job offer on the internet?

This one has a fairly short explanation. I applied to a job in May of last year, and heard back about the position in October. Surprise! I didn't get it, good thing I didn't get that apartment in the new city I was looking to be employed in. Really, five months for a response?

Question #5: What happened to apprenticeships or internships for people who aren't just students?

I've never been afraid of hard work. I'm also pretty proficient at saving. Just because I don't have a clear cut path of, say, someone who's always loved medicine, or someone who's known they wanted to be a teacher since Kindergarten, why do my interests have to be limited to simply what I've happened to have experience in? The reason I'm looking for a new job is so that I can change fields, why would I only be interested in jobs that are in the same field? Why not allow me, if I can afford it, to work for you for free? Why not allow me to make connections, to learn on the job, to figure out if this field is the right one for me, without requiring that I receive school credit and school credit only for it? Why should every avenue for advancement require a toll to pass, when no one can even guarantee that there will be a job, despite the "availability" of one at the end of the road?

Crystal Ball

2012-01-19T17:29:00.000-08:00

Well, it's almost Oscar time, and despite the fact that I've been at least marginally disappointed by the fare offered in 2011, it's kind of like tradition to at least hazard a guess at what the nominees will be. Some of my actual hopes I've had to denote unto themselves, since it's almost a certainty that the Academy will deliberately try to break my heart by either nominating deserving actors in UNdeserving roles (I'm looking at you Gosling) or just refuse to nominate them at all. Anywho, this usually turns in to an unsaid bet amongst my roommates and myself, so if you want to ante up, just let me know. In fact, if you want to check out my roommate's guesses, you can head over to his blog HERE

As for my predictions:

Best Picture:

The Artist

The Descendants

Hugo

The Help

Midnight In Paris

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Hopeful: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Director

Martin Scorsese-Hugo

Alexander Payne-The Descendants

Michael Hazanavicius- The Artist

Woody Allen-Midnight in Paris

David Fincher-The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Hopeful: Nicholas Winding Refn-Drive

Best Actress

Meryl Streep-The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams-My Week With Marilyn

Viola Davis-The Help

Tilda Swinton-We Need To Talk About Kevin

Glenn Close-Albert Nobbs

Hopeful: Charlize Theron-Young Adult

Best Actor:

George Clooney-The Descendants

Brad Pitt-Moneyball

Jean Dujardin-The Artist

Gary Oldman-Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Michael Fassbender-Shame

Hopeful: Ryan Gosling-Drive

Best Supporting Actor:

Christopher Plummer-Beginners

Kenneth Brannagh-My Week With Marilyn

Albert Brooks-Drive

Jonah Hill-Moneyball

Ben Kingsley-Hugo

Hopeful: Patton Oswalt-Young Adult

Best SupportingActress:

Octavia Spencer-The Help

Berenice Bejo- The Artist

Jessica Chastain-The Help

Melissa McCarthy-Bridesmaids

Shailene Woodley-The Descendants

Best OriginalScreenplay:

Woody Allen-Midnight in Paris

Michael Hazanavicius-The Artist

Will Reiser- 50/50

Diablo Cody-Young Adult

Kristen Wiig/Annie Mumolo-Bridesmaids

Hopeful: Mike Mills-Beginners

Best AdaptedScreenplay:

Alexander Payne/Nat Faxon/Jim Rash-The Descendants

Tate Taylor-The Help

Steve Zaillian/Aaron Sorkin-Moneyball

Bridget O’Connor/Peter Straughan- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

John Logan-Hugo

Hopeful: Richard Curtis & Lee Hall-War Horse

Best Foreign LanguageFilm:

A Separation-Iran

Pina-Germany

Footnote-Israel

In Darkness-Poland

Monsier Lazhar-Canada

Best Animated Feature:

Rango

The Adventures of Tin Tin

Puss In Boots

Best Documentary:

Paradise Lost 3 Purgatory

Pina

Project Nim

Sing Your Song

Battle For Brooklyn

Best Original Score

The Artist

Hugo

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The Adventures of Tin Tin

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Original Song:

Hello, Hello-Elton John/Lady Gaga-Gnomeo & Juliet

Pictures In My Head- The Muppets

The Living Proof-Mary J. Blige-The Help

Gathering Stories-Jonsi-We Bought a Zoo

The Keeper-Chris Cornell-Machine Gun Preacher

Hopeful:Think You Can Wait- The National -Win Win

Best Sound Mixing

The Artist

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Hugo

Drive

Moneyball

Hopeful: Attack The Block

Best Sound Editing:

The Artist

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Hugo

Drive

War Horse

Best Art Direction:

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2

The Artist

Midnight In Paris

Hugo

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Best Cinematography:

War Horse

The Artist

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Hugo

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Possibility: Midnight In Paris

Best Makeup:

The Artist

My Week With Marilyn

The Iron Lady

Albert Nobbs

Hugo

Best Costume Design:

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The Artist

Jane Eyre

Midnight In Paris

Hugo

Best Editing:

The Artist

Hugo

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Drive

Best Visual Effects:

The Adventures of Tintin

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2

Hugo

Rise of the Planet of The Apes

War Horse

If you want to put your own guesses together before the nominations are announced on Tuesday January 24th, you can visit pretty much any of the entertainment blogs, but these are some standbys:

I'll be doing a Top 10 list at some point, whether it's before or after awards season remains to be seen since many of the awards favorites only get limited release in the year of their eligibility.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

2012-01-06T20:57:00.000-08:00

I will admit to being an Anglophile. Ask anyone who has known me for more than 20 minutes, and that facet of my character should have already made itself plain. I have been for as long as I can remember. It's the natural outcome when one has been reared on a steady diet of PBS and Jane Austen. Armed with this, perhaps, new knowledge of myself, it should come as no surprise that I had indeed been looking forward to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy for quite a while. Between the phenomenal cast, the intriguing trailer and the spy genre in general, I find it difficult to believe that there are people that WOULDN'T be excited to see it; but alas, there are people who will be turned off by it for one reason or another, and the loss is theirs because this is a movie that is deserving of at least one viewing, perhaps even requiring more.
First, a quick background lesson on the source material. Published in 1974, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the first in what would become known as John Le Carre's "Karla trilogy" focusing on the efforts of British Intelligence during the Cold War. In 1979, it was also made into a mini series starring Alec Guinness, although I admit, I would have a difficult time now seeing Obi-Wan as a master spy in modern attire, apparently his performance was so impressive, it ended up influencing Le Carre's writing for the character, George Smiley, in subsequent novels. In no uncertain terms, Le Carre's novels were a pretty big deal at the time, although I hadn't (and I'm sure a good percentage of my generation) hadn't heard of them until this modern adaptation. A little bit of digging and Youtubing will also provide you with the knowledge that Le Carre himself was ex-British Intelligence himself, so there's at least a modicum of authenticity lent to the subject, despite the fiction that the pages hold.
Set in 1973 London, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, is the story of George Smiley (the sublime as always Gary Oldman), a retired intelligence officer, who is given the unenviable task of uncovering a double agent. It's the height of The Cold War and someone at the top of the intelligence community's food chain is trading secrets with the Russians. After his recently-deceased boss, code named Control (John Hurt) has narrowed the field of possible suspects down to five men, Smiley must take up the mantle and determine which one, Tinker (Toby Jones), Tailor (Colin Firth), Soldier (Ciaran Hinds, Spy or Poor Man (all code names taken from a British nursery rhyme) is the traitor. Through a haze of flashbacks and suspense-filled moments, the film unfolds itself and between the storytelling and the film production, you simply cannot look away.
Unlike many of the recent American interpretations of spy films (The Bourne Identity, Mission Impossible, both of which I adore, by the way) this film doesn't fall back on the habits of spoon-feeding an attention deficient audience. George Smiley does not have the appearance of Ethan Hunt or Jason Bourne. He's a regular man, in fact, he's an aging man in a world that has decided to move forward without his permission. He has a strained (at best) relationship with his wife, he is reserved, impeccably dressed and a slave to the habits that he has invented for himself. Yet, in a world in which technology and tactics are changing at a breakneck pace, he has been viewed as a remnant, and discarded. Begrudgingly he accepts the task laid before him and what Oldman's entrancing performance brings to the forefront is that Smiley is not a man to be underestimated. Fully in control of every situation and every person in that situation, it's as if his influence is never felt, until it's too late for the other person involved. And yet, despite all professional power, he does have his personal weaknesses. Oldman's Smiley is a man who seems to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and yet trudges on, determined and, every now and then, quietly triumphant. His scene on the tarmac in which he confronts one of his targets could be a master class in understated, yet, ultimate control. His voice never rises, his face set as if in a mold, literally framed by his perfectly-period glasses, he sees nothing and everything, he is the poster boy for self-awareness, except for one heartbreaking moment at an office Christmas party.
In fact, Smiley is the pace-setter for this film, along with, of course, Swedish director Tomas Alfredson (Let The Right One In). It unfolds like a foreign film, a slow, steady, suspenseful pace is set and all the pieces are laid out before us. It's not a strictly linear story, and yet the flashbacks, especially the flashbacks of the Christmas Party, weave in and out beautifully. The Christmas Party felt to me like the scene of the van falling in Inception, the one moment that everyone in the audience could be brought back to in order to reset and see where everything started to unravel. With movies like this, it's impossible not to be guessing from the beginning, and to the credit of everyone involved, enough breadcrumbs are thrown to keep everyone on the trail, but surprisingly, I don't think the reveal is the culmination of the movie. Of course, it's important, but there was another moment that stood out to me, as being the moment where everything becomes decided. If you really want to know the moment, you can ask me, after you've seen the film, but I won't give it away here.
This is a film heavy with not just style, but atmosphere. Everything from the clothing and hairstyles to the music make this feel as if you had stepped through time back in to the 70s, and for a subject that could easily be seen as outdated, it feels both entertaining and relevant. While I do feel that the main characters of the title are slightly under-developed, this is Oldman's show, and he grabs the reigns, controlling the audience much as he controls his targets, without ostentation, just a firm knowledge of the fact that he's the one throwing this party, everyone else is just here as a guest. Although, the guest who deserves the MVP is Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) as Peter, the audience stand-in, and much put-upon assistant to Smiley. The moment when he realizes just how dangerous this business really is turns into one of the emotional footholds of the movie. We see through his eyes, guessing along with him, holding our breath, unaware, until they're almost breached, of just how high the stakes are. It's a surprisingly quiet, unfettered, and human movie for a story about spies and the 70s. Since he seems to have always been aiming to be the anti-Bond, it seems that this is absolutely and adaptation that Le Carre and all the players involved should be proud of.

Overall: 5 out of 5

Game Over Man

2012-01-04T20:12:00.000-08:00

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There are books that you read when you're younger that, for some reason or other, when you go back to re-visit them, they seem to have changed on you. Of course, it's you that's different, but it doesn't feel that way. It feels like the book has betrayed you; has messed with your mind in some way so that what it was able to do was to plant false memories, so that over the years, you've convinced yourself that the book had impacted you, had meant something that, it turns out, it didn't. The disappointment is devastating. Luckily, Ender's Game does not suffer from reader's remorse. It is as fully engaging, adventurous, and heartbreaking as it first seemed to me when I read it in high school.
It had been a long time, about 10 years, since I had first read the book. However, with a novel so fully-fleshed out as this, it's a difficult one to forget. It's the kind of novel, I've learned, that gets passed around from friend to friend, word of mouth, until, when you meet someone that hasn't read it, at first there's the shock of such a statement, then a fleeting sadness for something that's clearly missing in the person's life and then the immediate recommendation and/or handing over of a battered copy filled with turned-down pages, coffee-stains (well you hope they're coffee stains) and a spine that's been so overused that it frequently falls open of it's own accord. Perhaps I'm over-romanticizing this, but the bottom line is that, if you're a fan of science fiction and you have still managed to not read this book, please, immediately finish whatever you are in the middle of and then kindly pick up the nearest paper or electronic copy of this book.
I myself was the unwitting target of the "you have to read this" recommendation and being the gullible 18 year old that I was at the time, I accepted. I found out two things about myself after reading it: 1) I could only wish of having an imagination and the wherewithal to tell such a complex story in such a straightforward way (I'm still wishing this and hoping that someday it comes true) and 2) I was indeed the geek that I had always feared I might be. Ender's Game will always be the book that finally helped me come to terms with the fact that I was a Sci-Fi fan.
The premise is deceptively simple. Set in a future in which space travel is not only common, but necessary, a 6-year-old, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin has, for all intents and purposes been "manufactured" to become the next great military commander. Removed from his family, he attends Battle School with other children his age, the next great era of soldiers, all specially chosen to defeat an alien race that none of them have ever actually had any contact with. He's a genius, a brilliant tactician, everything the military could have asked for, and yet, he's still, ultimately a child. A child who reasons with adult logic, but who still feels things as intensely as you can only do when you're young. For a while, the novel seems mostly fun and games, literally, but with political and religious undertones that bring what could be an other-worldly story squarely to the human level.
Now, I know that there are people who have an issue with Orson Scott Card for his own political standings, and some people who are incapable of separating author from story, but I hope that more people are able to read this novel with an open mind. Ultimately it's a story not about any category of ideals, but about humans and human nature. What we expect, what we teach, what we want, and most importantly what we need. It's a novel about how, even in the darkest, coldest places of the world, where it seems like only cruelty and calculation can make a difference, love, friendship and forgiveness can still be found, and that best part of us is always what we hope to come back to.

View all my reviews

One Day- a novel idea

2011-12-29T13:35:00.000-08:00

My mother taped a movie off of some network tv channel forever ago called Same Time Next Year starring Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn. That film had a similar premise to this novel, a premise that could have easily been hokey: a story told on the same day, over 20 years, detailing the lives of two people. But when it's done as well as David Nicholls has done it, the hokiness quickly gives way to genuine emotion and attachment to the characters. I'm not denying that there's a gimmick attached to this book, the time capsule aspect (for lack of a better comparison) is bait that you either bite or you don't, but what's amazing is that this quirky idea doesn't dominate the focus of the novel; it's just simply the vehicle through which an even more detailed portrait of the characters is drawn. By freeing himself of the conventional ties of storytelling, Nicholls has created a deeply intimate, thoughtful, and ultimately moving character study. Oh no, is my hopeless romantic starting to show?
Beginning on the night of their graduation in 1988, Dexter and Emma, have a one night stand on what turns out to be the most important night of their lives. Dexter is everything that a leading man should be: handsome, mostly intelligent, witty, and seemingly unattainable or un-trainable, depending on how you look at it. He's rakish and rebellious and all of those other R-adjectives used to describe men who possess a self-confidence that borders on arrogant, but with enough good sense to pull themselves up, just before going over the cliff, well at least some of the time. Emma is his opposite (of course). Bookish, whip-smart, attractive, but not attractive enough to incur the jealousy of other women, and more deserving of happiness than she actually believes herself to be.
On the 15th of July, every year for the next 20 years, what is presented are glimpses of a relationship that, despite both Dexter and Emma's best efforts, stands the tests of time. I realize that "tests of time" is a terribly banal turn of phrase to use here, but in this instance, it truly does fit. Through vacations, weddings, affairs, divorces, children, and sometimes just plain stubbornness, what emerges is an authentic look at the relationships that change people, the relationships that change us. While the two characters sometimes seem a bit stereotypical, and while this is, at its heart, a romance, with Nicholls beautiful prose and realistic approach to situations, it turns in to much more than your mother's beach chair companion.
By the end of the novel, it should be plain that the title does not simply refer to the chronological set-up of the book, it also refers to that often-used answer that most of us give as an excuse for putting off the things that really make us happy; you know, we'll get to it, one day, I mean there's plenty of time right? What Nicholls so wonderfully captures are moments, snapshots of moments, the idiotic, angst-filled, anger-fueled, awkward, hurtful and, sometimes, just plain happy moments that create situations and reactions that we, as mere humans, cannot guess the repercussions of. Even, as a reader, although we think we're trained to know who belongs together and how things will end, just like life, the book takes some unexpected turns.
While sometimes feeling stretched, the situations never really feel forced or completely impossible. The characters don't always get what they want and the most convenient path is often the one that Nicholls refuses to take as an author, which is refreshing. With a novel entirely focused on two characters, the dialogue and banter better be good, and here it really does shine. The descriptions are never over-wrought, and while it's not exactly re-inventing the wheel, this kind of feels like the literary equivalent of outfitting your wheel with some nice, expensive chrome rims. I mean, if I was in a fight with someone I would probably ask David Nicholls to write my comeback quips for me. There is enough realism in this to make the down moments not only relatable, but even uncomfortable and yet, despite the turbulence, there's something that seems a lot like optimism at the core of it all.
I hesitate to call Dexter or Emma a hero/heroine because they're not really. They're just people, with flaws and worries and problems, hopes and dreams, and boring jobs to fill the time in between. They have no superpowers, they don't seem to possess anything remarkable, except their friendship, and when you really stop and think about it, friendship really is a remarkable thing isn't it? And that seems to be the point that Nicholls is making. While the normal tangent of a romance is discarded here, what cannot be overlooked is that it's the details that make a character; the little things, the moments that most people think of as throw away instants, that really count. While the big picture, the next year, the next five years, the future, is always the main focus for people, that constant delaying means that time is simply slipping away, melting into the mundane repetitiveness of every day life, but even in that routine, there might be a moment that we should latch on to. Sometimes our hopes let us down, our dreams crumble, or our hearts break. But if we're lucky, that won't always be the case and as Nicholls proves here, all it takes is one day, it might have even been today and you just haven't realized it yet.

Overall 4 out of 5

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (aka Payback's A Lisbeth)

2011-12-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

When I first heard that Hollywood was getting its gold-plated grubby hands all over the hugely popular Millennium Trilogy to essentially re-do what was an equally popular Swedish series of film adaptations, I quickly found a soapbox and told anyone who would listen all of the usual arguments:

-This was pointless
-It was for people who were too lazy to read subtitles (which, in fairness still may be true)
-Yet another uninspired, unoriginal idea that would be served up to the masses in place of something worthy
-There was no way it could possibly be as good as the original.

I'll admit that when I jump the gun, my opinions are neither logical, nor is there any reasoning with me. I'm right and that's the end of it. And then, oh so slowly, details about the adaptation began to trickle out. Daniel Craig was cast as Mikael Blomkvist...well, crap. Rooney Mara, fresh off of her short, but impressive turn in The Social Network would replace (Noomi) Rapace (did you see what I did there) as Lisbeth Salander...well, interesting at least. Oh, and David Fincher would be directing it...well, dammit! Hollywood had dangled the bait and like the sheeple that I sometimes fear I'm becoming, I fell for it; though I have been attempting to reign in my expectations. But after having seen it, I have come to the conclusion that, while I'm still not entirely wrong, perhaps waiting and seeing is a more beneficial approach to the entertainment industry, although I doubt I'll ever fully train myself to be just that patient.

In case you have remained willfully deaf to the screaming of pop culture, the Millennium Trilogy follows the story of Lisbeth Salander, (Mara) a computer-hacking research phenom with a murky past and her unlikely relationship with Mikael Blomkvist (Craig), an investigative reporter who, when we meet him, is on the losing end of a libel scandal. The first installment, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, follows Lisbeth and Mikhail's seemingly divergent paths until necessity forces them together to solve a mysterious murder on a remote island in northern Sweden. To the basics of the plot, Fincher stays faithful:

Mikael Blomkvist, on sabbatical from his journalistic duties at Millennium magazine after a fall from grace, accepts a job working for the wealthy industrialist Henrik Vanger (played here wonderfully by Christopher Plummer). He is to masquerade as a biographer for Vanger, in order to plunge to the roots of the Vanger family tree to unearth a secret that has plagued Henrik for nearly 40 years: who killed Harriet? Harriet, Vanger's great-niece and the favorite to take over the family business must have, according to Vanger, been murdered by a family member. When Blomkvist finally decides he needs a research assistant to help him sift through 40 years of notes and photos, Salander is contacted, and thus begin the twists and turns of the thriller.

On the whole, the film is more of a return to form for Fincher. While I still think last years The Social Network was a more intriguing film, this one is closer to a David Fincher movie than that odd misstep, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Re-teamed here with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the music fills some of the surprisingly long dialogue-less moments with an industrially-cold atmosphere, that's fitting for both the characters and the locations. Ironically, that chill is perhaps the only problem I have with the film.

While The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a beautifully shot film, mostly thanks to the clean, modern lines of Swedish design and the freshly-fallen-snow landscape, the characters on display here are rarely more than two-dimensional. I don't really blame any single factor; everyone on this production was wedged between the proverbial rock and hard place. Still, coming in at a whopping 158 minutes, one would think that there would be more of an attachment to characters. For me, it was impossible to forget that Daniel Craig, was, well, Daniel Craig (part of which was only exacerbated by his non-existent Swedish accent) and that Rooney Mara was trying so very hard to be Lisbeth, or maybe I should just blame the bleached out eyebrows.

The problem inherent in Hollywood remakes is that they're Hollywood. I think what the original film had going for it was that, at least to foreign audiences, Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace were relative unknowns, with little that needed proving. Here there were just too many obstacles to overcome. The entire story relies on the chemistry between Lisbeth and Mikael, and here it just felt slightly forced. Rooney Mara's Lisbeth seems to have ratcheted up the vengeance factor, and in an attempt to avoid the unavoidable comparison, has overcompensated by going for a performance with less ability for connection with the audience. Lisbeth is not designed to be warm and fuzzy, this is true, and I'll say again, that for this film, if this is the first one you're seeing, then this might not seem like such an important issue. Everything about this film fits, as it stands, but it just feels like there were still aspects of the drawing that weren't entirely colored in. The relationship between Erika and Mikael is convoluted, the other office workers are largely ignored, which is a shame since Joel Kinnaman (the best part of AMC's The Killing) has been cast if only for the briefest of moments, so don't blink, and Mikael's relationship with his daughter and sister seem simply perfunctory, not really a part of him as a person.

But, as with most David Fincher movies, what it can never be accused of is lacking in style. The opening sequence is reminiscent of all of those great James Bond movie openings and is appropriately (for so many reasons) set to a re-make of Led Zeppelin's "The Immigrant Song" featuring Karen O from The Yeah Yeah Yeahs on vocals. Not only is this a film that does indeed take place in the land of ice and snow, but it also focuses on a family whose ties to the Third Reich are one of the many disturbing issues that have separated them. This is a more than adequate remake, although still unnecessary, and again, puts Fincher in the spotlight, which is a good thing. In other hands, this could have been a mess, but in a weak year for movies, and with a story that itself is involving, it's an entertaining, disturbing, intelligent thriller that, should you choose to see it, will not cause you to feel as though you've wasted your time or money. But if you're squeamish, you should go in knowing that Lisbeth Salander is not a girl that a misogynist should mess with and should you disrespect her in any way, there will be her own form of private hell to pay.

Overall: 4 out of 5 (If you've read the novels or have already seen the Swedish versions, just go in prepared to view them as completely different vehicles of storytelling)

Screen Actors Guild

2011-12-15T06:42:00.000-08:00

So the truth of the matter is that I've been terribly, terribly lazy since fall television started. The darkness comes on earlier in this hemisphere and new episodes start and all of a sudden I find myself using my free time, whatever of that there is, to roll through the DVR like the television-consumption equivalent of Cookie Monster. I have to say, television in 2011 has been something of a surprising bright spot. On the other hand films, which used to constitute the bulk of most of my blog postings, has been, by and large, disappointing.
Perhaps it goes all the way back to last year's Oscars where The King's Speech won, defeating The Social Network in what can only be described as a baffling resistance to modernity, at least from this girl's perspective. It brought to light, once again, my always-conflicted issues with the Oscar-bait situation. There were several good movies early on, a summer season that roughly broke even, and a bunch of fall movies that I was excited about, but many just fell flat. I will admit to not having seen the same number of movies that I have in the past, but that wasn't necessarily all as a result from my own scheduling issues. Most of the time the weekly offerings were somewhat slim pickins. More than any year I can remember in recent history, this year has heard me repeating the phrase "well it was better than I thought it would be but...." and the generally jaded feeling has carried through to the now last-ditch Oscar effort of the winter season For those of us with nothing more pressing to worry about, we all know what this means. A new awards show every week until one movie rises to the surface, allowing its momentum to carry it through to the end where it's crowned The Chosen One. A few years ago, it was a long shot that Slumdog Millionaire would be at the front of the pack, and the same thing can be said a couple of years later with The Hurt Locker, but much like all political nominations, there comes a point where the pack separates and it becomes clear that someone will be the clear and obvious choice. What I will say is that, no matter how much I may complain about the lackluster output of the year, I always enjoy watching the race take shape, even if it is maddeningly prodded on by men behind the scenes (and by men I really just mean whichever Weinstein has gotten up first that day, but again, I love those guys for producing Good Will Hunting and the early Tarantino movies...so what can you do?!).

So here it all goes again. The SAGs (Screen Actor's Guild) NOMINATIONS came out yesterday. This show usually resembles the last day of the senior year of high school. Everyone forgets that they once dunked someone's head in a toilet or backed in to someone in the parking lot or stole their friend's date to prom out of desperation and all competition-fueled conflicts are forgotten. Since it's only voted on by actors, they're all in this together, one, very pretty, family, just hoping to be employed next year, and so what results are nominations that look a lot like the back of a yearbook. There's a couple of "Most Likely To Succeed" nominations, where people clearly voted for what they THOUGHT other people would want to win and then there's the "Most Popular" nominations, ones who people genuinely like and want to see good things happen to. The result is a somewhat cloudy take on the year in review. If you'd like to see the full list, hopefully you've clicked on the link above. If you want to just know my takes on the biggest surprises and disappointments, follow me, won't you:

Biggest Surprises (the good kind):

Demian Bichir- A Better Life (Best Actor)
Nick Nolte- Warrior (Best Supporting Actor)
Melissa McCarthy- Bridesmaids (Best Supporting Actress)
Midnight in Paris- Best Cast

Biggest Dissapointments:
No Ryan Gosling for Drive
Meryl Streep and Glenn Close both get Best Actress nominations

It's always good when a smaller movies like A Better Life can grab some attention, and hopefully I'll get a chance to see it before the end of the year. On the downside, despite many people being rankled at the fact that there was a movie called DRIVE and it didn't star Paul Walker or a professional wrestler, it was a movie that contained a fantastic performance by Ryan Gosling. What does this guy have to do to be taken seriously?! Well, maybe he should just follow Leo's path and take a generic historical-figure biopic directed by a Hollywood darling. As far as Meryl and Glenn go, listen, I'm all about females getting great roles in films, and to be fair, I haven't seen either of these films, but also, I don't really want to. They look predictable and a bit like shameless self-promotion to me. Sure, they've both reached the point in their career when they can do these pet project type things, but there doesn't really seem to be a single "YES! I need to see this" moment in either of the trailers for The Iron Lady or Albert Nobbs. Also, the whole "oh my goodness, it's a woman playing a man" or "wow! She DOES look like Thatcher" shouldn't get you a nomination for acting, it should get your makeup artists recognized. But judge for yourself. Here are the respective trailers for The Iron Lady and Albert Nobbs

The SAGs are also for Television and Game of Thrones received an Ensemble nomination, which is about all you could ask for during your Freshman year. Maybe next year some individual awards will trickle through and just because I want to hype up for the second season as much as possible, here you go guys:

The Winner-A contemplation on bold titles

2011-11-21T20:30:00.001-08:00

Well, I've said it before, I'm a sucker for mysteries/crime/thrillers. I always have been. While other people were soaking up Judy Blume, I firmly ignored the conversations between God and Margaret and stayed up all night reading The Pelican Brief and The Client. Now, there are two questions that pop up given that information: the first being the question of how was I allowed to stay up all night at 13 (or so) the second is what was I really doing reading those books? To the first question I'll say that, in defense of my parents, I usually (and probably very poorly) tried to cover up the fact that I had snuck back downstairs (better lighting) by turning off the light as soon as I heard any motion from upstairs as long as dawn was seeping through the window. If it was that early (or late, depending on how you look at it) that sound probably wasn't just the house settling. If my life were an actual detective novel and my parents actual detectives, had they placed their hands over the lamp's bulb, heat would have still been emanating and my cover blown. Who am I kidding, I'm sure my tiptoes up the stairs weren't nearly as quiet as I thought and they've known all along. They were probably just happy I wasn't at a sleepover where a liquor cabinet was present. Grisham they could handle, Beam would have been a completely different offense. However addressing the second issue, gets to the heart of this review, so I'll ruminate on that presently.
There is something about the mystery genre that allows for the forgiveness of god-awful, terrible writing. Provided that the plot is there, a simple whodunit could, ostensibly, be written by a person with no more than a fifth-grade vocabulary and still be engaging. At least, that's my opinion. And that's why Grisham had to share nightstand space with my eighth grade graduation invitations. It's also why I'm conflicted on how to review David Baldacci's The Winner.
Set in modern day, which according to the copyright on the book is 1997, The Winner tells the story of LuAnn Tyler, a hick from Hicksville (here called Rikersville, GA) who just wants a better life for her daughter. After being approached by a man capable of fixing the lottery, she must determine just how much she wants her life to change. I'll let a very minor spoiler slip in here, so be warned, she decides to take the lotto guarantee. The book then skips ahead ten years to pick up on the ramifications of LuAnn's decision. I'm going to do my best to make the rest of this as spoiler free as I can, but the fact remains that it's been 14 years since the publication of this book, so I'm not promising anything.
The upside for me is that, despite several moments of having to put the book down in order to roll my eyes at the cornball nature of a sentence, I did continue to pick it back up. That could be because I was just thrilled to be reading something that wasn't mentally taxing or it could be because I was legitimately caught up in the suspense. I would like to give the benefit of the doubt and say that it was the latter. There is something there that kept the pages turning and there were some legitimate surprises that made me sit back and say "huh...nicely played Mr. Baldacci, nicely played". The idea itself is intriguing as well, I mean, who hasn't dreamt of their post-lottery-winning life, especially in the current economic situation? It's incredibly easy to relate to the decision to say yes to someone who offers you a completely new, debt-free life.
Here's the downside: If I'm being completely honest, and remember this is coming from someone who has never been published, so certainly take it with even less than a grain of salt, there are moments when the writing is terrible. Usually, as I read, the scenario starts to play itself out in my mind and a cinematic quality begins to take shape as the faces and reactions of characters form. It all becomes a mental motion picture. I mean that's why we all read, correct? And also why so many people are loathe to accept adaptations? Well here, the only thing that formed was a Youtube playback of an over-acted high school play. That's the best analogy I can make. Despite the fact that his main character is indeed a heroine, Mr. Baldacci seems to have no idea how women actually think. By this, I mean to say that women do not speak, or think, like sentences from a romance novel, and we certainly don't assume that men think in those terms either. Here's a passage to illustrate the point...and remember this is NOT a Danielle Steel novel:
"Her gaze seemed to be pasted onto his face, all the sunlight streaming through the window
seemed to be blocked out as though an eclipse were occurring" (p.248)
Amazing, right? His heroine also just happens to be that perfect mixture of independent kick-ass and damsel in distress often described using the help of feline adjectives and placing her body as the main focus of every sentence about her. It's clear that he's trying so hard not to objectify women that the end result seems to be the exact opposite. Lu-Ann Tyler comes off as a combination of Lara Croft and Maryann from Gilligan's Island. I'll try not to even mention the fact that the phrase "making love" is used in seriousness. Throw in the fact that he has to clarify that the cell phone is "portable" as well as that modems and fax machines are high-tech, and it all just felt slightly dated for me, in 2011. Also, there's a whole lot of explanation instead of action that goes on, continually pulling you out of the book and back in to your own mind where you say to yourself "yeah, yeah, I get it, now move on".
With it's short chapters and lengthy page count, it's not surprising that this isn't a great book. It probably wasn't meant to be. It was meant to keep people engaged at the beach, or in a cabin, and I can see, and attest to the fact, that it does just that, but re-reads will be unnecessary, and possibly painful unless you really love similes (especially involving trains) or think Matthew Riggs is totally dreamy.
I thank the book for allowing me to check off another book read in my yearly tally, but wish that it would have kept up the Grisham vibe of the first part of the book before veering down the path filled with exclamations, stereotypes and worst of all, the use of the phrase "worldwide crime syndicate".

Overall: 2 out of 5

Random Thoughts: Halloween Week

2011-11-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while. It's a combination of many things, mostly me feeling that whatever is going through my head is unfit for posting on this blog. I mean what is this, an online journal? If it was, I can guarantee you there'd be a ton more things ~~scratched out~~ (although it'd probably be only boys' names) But since I feel like I have to write something (sometimes I just get that way. I'd like to think that it means that writing is important enough for me that I can't go that long without exercising that creative muscle, but I fear it probably just means that I like the sound of my own typing) this blog is about to get another digitized version of verbal hodgepodge. Feel free to stop reading if it gets too boring (you can even stop now if you need, I commend you for getting this far).

Top 5 of Week of 10/30-11/4 (yeah it's not a full week, but hasn't there already been enough happening?)

#5: The (sometimes) nameless Autumn Nor'Easter:
I'm sure almost everything that could have been said, has been said, online, on the news, on Twitter (which, weirdly, counts as news now anyway) but a genuine whopper of a storm smashed Connecticut, knocking out power for most of the week. It started early Saturday afternoon (come on meteorologists get it together, there's no reason that you couldn't pinpoint a time the closer everything got) and snowed straight through until early Sunday morning. It's odd how, despite the knowledge that weather/nature itself is a volatile, fickle part of the environment, we're all really quite upset when it defies our self-imposed logic. It's not supposed to snow in October, but it did; and it didn't just snow. If this had been January, I'm positive that this would have been a full-blown blizzard warning with a more defined pre-snow population freak out. As it stands, this was a nameless bully waiting in an alley that roughed us up and then bolted right before the cops showed up. Although I have heard rumors that they've finally decided on calling this storm "Alfred". I wish I was the person paid to think up storm names

#4: It's a New Dawn, It's a New Day, It's A New...Bedspread:
Yes, I still call them bedspreads even though they all have fancy names now: Comforters, Duvets, Quilts, whatever your choice of phrasing, they're the things that are essentially the focal point of your bedroom. And I've found, that, over a long period of time, they can have an, even if unacknowledged, effect on your daily outlook. Being the indecisive person that I am, I've been through many by this point in my life. The first one I remember having was my "Rainbow Brite" one. I was obsessed. Stuffed Sprites and nightgowns were not enough, not for this girl. No, I needed the bedspread, the dust ruffle (seriously, why were dust ruffles ever invented?!) the shams, the pillowcases and the curtains. Then I went through my "Spot" the dog phase, then my celestial phase (that was quite awful now that I think about it. All dark navy and gold). As I grew up, I went for the cleaner but still colorful look of a "4-patch" comforter (and yes, before you ask, I painted each wall in my room one of the colors, bless my parents for their patience) and then came college. Through most of it, I had this odd grey-blue-with-palm-trees-island-esque one, with a red matching fleece blanket and then I decided that I needed lighter and cleaner in my life. First a mint green duvet, that I then covered with white & grey print before moving on to completely white. I thought I could pull off the "all-white" bedroom look. "All-White" is classy, it's chic, it's pulled together, and unfortunately, it's not meant for girls who get highlighter and juice stains on said white comforter. In essence, I'm only halfway classy and chic. I'm also half scattered and colorful (as I like to consider myself...not one comment from anyone disputing this) so hence I treated myself, as a way of warding off Seasonal Affective Disorder, a new quilt. It's lovely and from Antropologie (since I'm in a name dropping mood. See, classy, like I said)

#3: Halloween

I don't know why, and I can't explain it, but I'm not really a "Halloween" kind of girl. I mean I went out on Halloween like every kid and my parents tried for a while, but by the time I was in high school, the mystique was gone. I wasn't in to scary movies, I didn't like the hassle of trying to think of someone else to be, mostly because I have a difficult enough time figuring out who I really want to be, and I guess, all in all, I prefer other holidays more. But we live in a world where Halloween exists pretty much all the time and most especially in the months of September and October. I keep thinking every year will be the year that I care more, but it hasn't really happened yet. Although prep work did include a trip to Salem, MA last weekend, which was pretty interesting. However, I give kudos to people who can really get in the spirit and there are several in my life that do. This year's costumes I was surrounded by included a "Redbox" kind of like a Tardis, but red and delivering DVDs insteand of DRS and companions, a homemade "Beaker" which came out awesome and an Alien homage complete with a stuffed Chestburster. Afterwards I decided the Chestburster was too good of a prop to waste and since sometimes I pretend I'm a photographer I took some "portraits". This is a favorite:

#2: Fall Television:

Despite the fact that The World Series provided us with a ton of great moments, it will still be remembered by me as the series that pushed Fringe back a week. I'm obsessed this has been documented, so I won't go any further in to detail about it. I've even successfully hooked my parents, although that isn't really the most difficult of tasks. But other favorite shows have had great showings so far in the fall. My (pretty strictly regimented) schedule is as follows:

Sunday-The Walking Dead

Monday-Castle (If you say you're not charmed by Nathan Fillion, you're a liar)

Tuesday- Glee (mostly because of this)/ The New Girl (despite its sometimes awful, awful cheesy factor)

Wednesday-Survivor/ BBC America Dramaville (This series its Whitechapel, but if you haven't seen Luther, and you're a fan of THE WIRE, please, as they say, get on top of that)

Thursday-The Vampire Diaries (yes, this is the entry where all of my dirty, little, not-so-secrets come out)

Friday-Fringe (I'm seriously considering naming my child either Olivia or Peter)

My DVR is scheduled for Grimm too. Once Upon A Time is intriguing but the fairy tale sections are so overwrought with dramatic costumes and not-quite-there effects that I was taken aback for a moment, but it's growing on me. American Horror Story is just too much for me, although serious accolades to Dylan McDermott for just turning 50 and having abs like that. So there you have it. I realize that this probably means I'm terribly plugged in and that I'll be on the first ship to outerspace once Wall-E is in charge of cleaning up our planet, but let me assure you, it's really not that serious. This is just the odd melange of things that I think channels should take notice of, instead of putting everything on the chopping block if it doesn't appease the entire U.S. within a two week stint. If you have suggestions of anything I'm missing out on, let me know, although I'd have to switch the schedule around a bit....

#1: Books that I don't find a job

About two weeks ago, I posed the question "Do you trudge through a book just for the sake of saying you've finished it, even if you kind of hate every page, or do you put it down?" I'm one of those people that usually refuses to give up. I won't give in to anything, arguments, workouts, all-you-can-eat buffets, but I just finally found myself tapping out (I don't think I'm fully qualified to use that term, but I'm keeping it in there) of a novel. And then I picked up another one, and I realized, ok, maybe I do have certain standards and certain types of novels that I'm constantly drawn to. I suppose that's the best thing about getting older, finally recognizing that, in this whole world, a world that's filled with so many options that, more often than not, your brain is at best overwhelmed, at worst, completely jumbled and jammed, that when your instincts are telling you "kick it to the curb" just listen. There's something else out there that will grab your attention, and, as I'm almost certain will be the case with this book, break your heart. I guess ultimately I fall under the "I'd rather feel something than nothing" category.

Artsy Fartsy

2011-10-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

I can't explain why, but I'm obsessed with all of the photography programs now available on phones. Seriously, it's like when I turn on my phone I become a character in a movie about a person who is being re-introduced to the modern world after awaking from a coma. Anyway, there could be a million discussions that branch off of this idea, about how technology is offering the same talents to everyone, about whether or not it still counts as art if it's taken on a phone, about whether I should be as happy with something if it only took me a moment to capture instead of setting up the perfect shot like Ansel Adams, but when it boils down to it, I just love things that I find pleasing to the eye, like this:

Deep Slider or Coverage of the ALCS Game 3

2011-10-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

Well despite the fact that this turned out to be a thoroughly bland game commentating wise, I captured what I could from the Fox crew.

I have to say a few things right from the start:

1. I feel like I should be slightly less sarcastic towards Tim McCarver since he looks like he's aged about 2 and a half years in a one year period of time. I truly hope nothing is seriously wrong with him, but I can't find any confirmation because when I put in "Tim McCarver Sick" as a search in Google, for the next two pages all that comes up are pages like THIS. On the other hand, maybe he just stopped dying his hair and eyebrows to undergo the minor heart surgery I was finally able to weed out of the complaints.

2. I'm pretty sure Aretha Franklin stole that outfit she wore to over-sing the National Anthem from my mom's closet. I know that Aretha has had some rough patches, but you're the Queen of Soul, you can do better. Just because I can, let's get this game started off on the right foot. You can take your pick of Marvin or Whitney

3. Fox, I'm all about the pomp and circumstance of big sporting events, I'll even give you your ridiculous side videos, but for crying out loud, cut the "pre-game" show down to 5 minutes and just have everyone say this line: "whichever team wins tonight, it'll be the team to score the most runs". We understand, I promise you.

Here are McCarver's Rules for Detroit Winning:

Austin Jackson needs to get on base. He says he has three keys, but that's the only one he talks about. I'm guessing Jackson, Cabrera and Martinez are his three keys.

Then Buck utters the phrase "Turn The Page" and yup, you guessed it, a dramatic montage of the players getting ready for the game. Fox is so clever

At 8:39, we have our first cut-away DURING THE GAME to check in on relaxed Tim & Joe. Just a couple of dudes, sans sports coats, hanging out shooting the bull, because, after all, that's what you tuned in to see right. All of this baseball stuff is just a prelude to the chat. Good thing they cut away so we could see that awkward high five.

During the "Ump with the Mic" bit, we hear Jim Wolf ask the batboys they're nicknames and then proceed to tell them to call him Wolfie. Just don't get into his white, windowless van boys. I can't believe that this is what Fox spends their sports budget on.

There's a tiger with glowing green eyes somewhere at Comerica Park. It's like a flashback to Big Trouble in Little China without ever having taken acid

Timmy Mac Says:

- "Sometimes pitchers get impatient...and they don't make a pitch bad enough" (I know, my brain is struggling to wrap itself around this too)
- "Sleep in November " (after Beltre hits a foul off of his shin, I think it's his version of 'walk it off')
-about Nelson Cruz "He may be the strongest guy in either league...and that means the strongest guy to hit a baseball" (8:29)
-The "deep slider" (it slides... deeply)
-"If sliders don't go down, they go out" (I just hope he's still referring to baseballs and not his most recent Chili's experience)
-"And the Tigers are not the type of offense that's going to score runs with their legs"
-On Old Spice Ads "Classic!" Joey B. does offer up that he thinks "Geicos are good". (Phew I was wondering what they thought, had been wondering for like a year)
-Watching Adrian Beltre hit the deck after yet again hitting the ball off of his leg "Boy that had to hurt"
-"It's tough to play in October without something bothering you"
-"I've heard different theories on those oblique injuries...we're not saying that that's what Victor has...a lot of people think it might be pumping iron too much". (Are teams now employing an army of 1985 Arnold Schwarzennegers to help condition the players, welcome to 2011 Timmy)
-"This guy's a winner...that might be, when all is said and done one of the best things you can say about a player"
-"Sleep in November" (again, I swear, when talking about the Tigers arriving at 5:30 am before this game)
-"You don't have first base open, but you do have an open base"
-"You know what Tiger fans are saying tonight...if we win tonight then that gets us to Verlander" (I didn't know that Tim was so psychically tuned to the entire Tigers fandom, but who am I to question)

Joey Buckaroo Says:

-Terry Francona is driving somewhere in the South saying that he knew that Kinsler would jump on the first pitch of his first at-bat at some point. (I don't know how much of any of this is true)
-He yet again says that Francona is driving somewhere in the south with his daughter. (I'm beginning to think that Tito's new job is going to be as a character in a John Grisham novel.)
-"that's a lot of body into that swing" (on Miguel Cabrera's home run)

Kenny "Home Depot" Rosenthal

-cryptically twirls his bowtie and talks about the rumor that Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein might be going to the Cubbies. If you'll notice, Boston is nowhere near this game.
-Home Depot starts talking about the trade between Seattle and Detroit that got the Tigers Fister. Kenny is like the Fox equivalent of Walter Winchell

A Tale of Love and Gloves

2011-09-16T23:40:00.000-07:00

Drive, the most recent film by Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, Valhalla Rising) began its slow but steady climb towards cultural awareness a few months ago, with the release of what is, in my opinion, one of the best trailers of the year. Steady buzz has followed, including a very favorable showing at the Cannes Film Festival where Refn won Best Director, and heaps of critical praise. Word of mouth seems to be unstoppable at this point, with whispers of Oscar soon to follow, I'm sure, both for Ryan Gosling's performance and for Refn's directing. What I can't figure out entirely, is if this film will be able to hold up to its almost pre-destined reputation, or if further viewing will simply prove it to be something of a novelty. I'll further clarify my reaction after a brief recap.
Drive focuses on the life of a nomadic young driver, in Los Angeles. By day, he puts his skills to use as a stunt man in the movie business and mechanic; by night, he's a get-away driver who lives by a strict code which allows him to wash his hands of being an accomplice, should the need arise. He is focused, intelligent, full of rage, and, of course, driven. Along the way, surprising even himself, he forms an attachment with his neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her young son Benicio (newcomer, Kaden Leos). When Irene's husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac) is released from prison, the Driver's world is suddenly turned upside down. Standard is unable to escape an old debt, and feeling beholden to Irene and Benicio, the Driver agrees to help him pull one last job, expecting that, once it's accomplished, everyone will be able to go their own way, safely. This does not sit well for shady businessmen Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks) and his partner, Nino (Ron Pearlman) whose intertwined dealings inevitably leave the Driver surrounded on all sides.
I thought I was fairly well prepared to understand the basic plot, considering that it's well hashed out in the trailer, as most films are these days. What's important to note about this movie is that the plot is secondary to character. We've all seen this story, over and over before. We, the generation that has already grown up with The Godfather, and who have anointed our own cinematic godfather in Martin Scorsese, know what happens when you attempt to outsmart "the family". But this is no generic heist movie, and the difference can be felt, not just seen.
When I said before that I was surprised by the warm welcome for this film, that was for 2 major reasons. The first is that this film is shot and paced like a foreign movie. The pauses, the conveyance of full phrases of expression in a glance, the way the audience is treated in comparison to the characters. It's all very tricky and shadowed. The audience is almost always held at an arm's length, with just a few moments of breakthrough conveyed by Gosling's intense, nuanced stare. But be certain, we never understand this character; I doubt we're ever meant to. Many of the scenes are filled with a silence that goes on for, what many would say is, a beat too long. The suspense is palpable, like a character in and of itself, informing everyone involved in the experience, from the actors in the scene to the audience. It just, simply, doesn't feel anything like the usual fare. Part of me thinks that the reason the appreciation level has seemingly skyrocketed with this movie upon viewing is that, some people just don't know what else to do with it. It certainly LOOKS the way an award-winning movie should look, but it feels unlike anything I've seen recently, which is both good, and unsettling. It seems that when those movies come around, they tend to be viewed as "artistic" and therefore, nudged towards the favorable side of the scale.
The second reason that I'm slightly surprised is that, the two best words I can think of when using to describe it is "visceral" and "unrelenting". It's a difficult movie to watch, in some ways, but in production terms, it's also strikingly beautiful. Mostly shot using the green, yellow, and red of a stoplight as its filters, everything feels just slightly heightened, as if there were an almost operatic tone to the whole story. The love the Driver feels for Irene and Benicio is instant and innocent, full of tragic longing. The innate abilities the Driver has to both put things together and tear them apart with his bare hands imply an almost super-human quality. The tale itself, tragic in the sense that, even in the beginning, we all know how this must end, reaching its climax in one brief, literally shining moment, before almost instantaneously dissolving. And the violence that cannot be contained once let loose. I'm a sturdy girl, raised on a cinematic diet of Quentin Tarantino and the previously mentioned Mr. Scorsese, not to mention one of the generation at which the bloodbath of Scream first premiered, but this is something different. This is something that feels deliberately raw and unsanitary. But judging from his work on Bronson, Refn doesn't like his audience to be a flaccid spectator, he wants them to be an engaged witness. There is a distinct difference.
To the best of my abilities, the only way I can come up with to describe Drive to anyone is as a neon urban western that exists outside of time, with a dash of musical thrown in. Our main character is a nameless antihero/hero conundrum who has been put here to protect the innocents and then moves on. We're not certain where he comes from or what his background is, only that he mostly lets his hands do the talking, and that he's unafraid of getting them dirty. He's Clint Eastwood and James Dean rolled into one, alternately looking in desperate need of a hug from a neglectful father and like he'd just as soon strangle someone as talk to them. Instead of a cowboy hat and holster, he wears a scorpion jacket (that looks like it escaped from the Karate Kid wardrobe room in 1988) and leather driving gloves. He rarely speaks, but just when it feels as if the emotions threaten to overwhelm him, a catchy synth-backed tune comes on, explaining just what's going on in his mind. At other times, when the Driver is preoccupied with his own thoughts, sometimes there's a low droning buzz that drowns out the other characters' dialogue. It's both convenient and unconventional, and precisely keys in to the audience's participation.
Gosling has to be, and is, the standout here. This is his world and everyone else is just a brief player on the stage. He's frightening and pitiable, often in the same moment, secluding himself away as if even he's afraid of his own power. Mulligan doesn't have a lot to do here, besides shine. She's often shot in slow motion with a dreamlike quality about her, like a Ghetto Virgin Mary. The other bit players, including Brooks and Bryan Cranston's Shannon, the Driver's boss, are all memorable, but it must be said that I don't think Ron Pearlman will ever be able to NOT be Ron Pearlman in any role. Nino is over-the-top, spouting racial slurs like "thank yous" and there was a slight feeling of "ok, I get it, he's the big baddie". But like I said, this isn't a movie about the other people, or even about the points that move the story forward. This is simply about the Driver, and in that, it's successful. It's one of the most unique character studies I've ever seen. It might prove to be a polarizing film, and even now, after seeing it and thinking about it over and over, I can't decide if I actually liked it, or if I just couldn't look away. Maybe the latter means that it was more successful in its mission.

Overall: 3.75 out of 5.

This could be one worth revisiting in a little while, after I've had time to digest it further. I think everyone who's curious should certainly go see it. Perhaps you'll think it's absolutely brilliant right off the bat, just, speaking of digestion, make sure if you're squeamish you go on an empty stomach.

I've Got a Pitbull Now

2011-09-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

I know that this is a hotly contested debate, but I've always stood firm on the fact that the best of the Back to the Future installments is its second entry, aptly titled Back to the Future Pt. II. The first one is great. I'm not taking away from it. It gets huge points for featuring "Power of Love" and for, generally, being an awesome addition to 80s pop culture. However, the second installment upped the ante. We finally got to go TO the future, not only an important aspect of the space-time contiuum, but a necessary journey if the title was to continue to hold any weight. The future was chock full of interesting things, but let's face facts, there were two standouts on Marty's jaunt and it was, of course, the hoverboard and the awesome Nike shoes. Now, I may never get to see a hoverboard, and even if it does come around, my coordination and balance might not be tops by the time I'm 40, but there is some very exciting news from the world of shoes that has me so giddy that even a trip over water on a powerless hoverboard couldn't dampen my spirits.

First there's this, to whet your appetite:

And then there's THIS ARTICLE from Yahoo that speaks of an invite-only event (GOD, I wish I had been there!!) and an automatic-lacing technology patent by Nike. Every other article pretty much says the same thing, but all I know is that I would LOVE to own a pair of these, I mean is there anyone out there who wouldn't?!?! Sure it seems like we're falling down the nostalgia hole once again, but is it really nostalgia if they were supposed to be from the future? I'll leave you with that thought to ponder. And if you're going to succeed in wrestling this shoe off of a shelf or by cutting the person in front of the Nike store who's been camped out for days, you'll probably want to take a Pitbull with you. Not the hoverboard, the dog. I'm still waiting for my auto-dry jacket though.

Soulless

2011-09-03T23:38:00.000-07:00

Soulless by Gail Carriger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's been a very long time since I have stayed up to finish a book. Probably the last time it happened was with the final Harry Potter installment, and before that, in my teens, it was probably a John Grisham novel, and most likely The Pelican Brief. That being said, it's just turned 2 am and I've just finished Soulless, and was delighted the entire way through.

I've put myself through a rigorous year of reading, so far, not in the number of books but in the kinds of books that I've chosen to pick up. Engrossed in lengthy series books, like A Dance With Dragons, and serious novels like Cloud Atlas, I needed a brain reset, and badly. I needed something quick and fun, and the first of the Parasol Protectorate was just that.

The heroine, one Miss Alexia Tarabotti, is a mischievous, intelligent, strong-willed character, much in the vein of Lizzie Bennett and Jo March, and as often as possible, refuses to take "no" or "you can't" as an answer. She is set in a re-imagined world of the 19th century, where science-fiction has trumped the fiction part and Hyde Park is filled with dirigible balloon rides and steam-powered carriages. The bustle of Victorian gowns can still be heard (and seen) but "supernaturals" (vampire, werewolves, ghosts) are common knowledge and have acclimated to society, as much as acclimation is possible. Part romance, part mystery, the story unfolds with easy, steady momentum and never lacks for interesting phrasing, or straight up fun use of vocabulary.

When reading about the author at the end, it's unsurprising that one of her first influences listed is Jane Austen. Soulless reads like a steampunk reimagning of Pride and Prejudice, and, I have to say, the brooding, mysterious werewolf Lord Conall Maccon is what I would imagine the perfect supernatural hybrid of Mr. Rochester and Mr. Darcy would be, except furrier. Alexia's family, her nerve-prone mama, shallow sisters, and unconcerned stepfather, are all caricatures of characters from novels most of us have already read, but for some reason, with this book, that familiarity is satirical, and results in more of an appreciation for a nod & a wink at the style than an anger at unoriginality. In fact, the entire book is filled with such flamboyant names and ideas, that it's difficult to do anything but simply sit back and enjoy.

I couldn't give it more than three stars, because essentially, the story is fluff. It's the literary equivalent of that 55-second roller coaster ride. You pretty much know what you're going to get, but you still enjoy the 360 degree loops and sharp drops all the same. It's not challenging, but it's so much fun that it almost negates any sort of criticism that could be put upon it. Essentially, it just made me want to sit down and have tea with the author (Gail Carriger), Alexia Tarabotti, and Lizzie Bennett and gossip about the world the way that only intelligent, colorful, interesting, albeit females, can. Bring on the scones and the next in the series!

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New Mantra

2011-09-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Before today, I'd never heard of Anais Nin. Now I'm Wikipedia-ing and Amazon-ing like crazy. I pretty much love the the directness of this quote:

I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman.
Anais Nin

Initially courtesy of this Tumblr:

If I had a lifeboard (which I don't...yet) this quote would be on it.

Cloud Atlas

2011-08-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There's a reason I still love having tangible, paper books. No, it's not the extra weight in my purse or that I think I look cooler when I'm reading an actual book, turning actual pages in public places (alright, yes, it's a little bit that reason) but I love feeling connected to the words on a page. I like knowing that I can highlight and write in margins and leave my very own, albeit small, mark in a better, more inspiring piece of work. I like the thought that my notes and ideas and the quotes that I love will now, forever, if you use pen, be a part of the work. And now, my copy of Cloud Atlas is branded for life as my own. I'm pretty pleased about this.
In an odd turn of events, last night I happened to see Midnight In Paris, a film that I would consider a film for writers. In much the same way, this is a book for writers. It's equal parts inspiring and jealousy-inducing and it's rich and velvety. You can just fall into this novel, get lost inside its characters and its prose and, most of the time, allow the chair your sitting on or the bed your sitting up in to disappear completely, escapism at its finest. No easy feat considering that there are 6 worlds to land in and 6 characters (kind of) to adjust to. What took me aback was just how quickly and smoothly the transition between characters (and worlds) happened; within the mere turn of a page in fact. One moment you're on a late nineteenth century boat, baking in the Pacific sun, the next you're in 1920s Belgium, and all the time that's passed is a moment.
The novel's form is unlike any book that I've read. Beginning in the late 1800s and working through, generation by generation to the distant future, then circling back around again, a beautiful loop is made through time, about time. It's all cyclical in the end, isn't it? The decisions we make today create the future, and yet, the future will, at some point, be someone's past. It's all fluid and changing, and the only thing that gets in the way are our meaningless, meaningful lives. None of us are born knowing we'll be the one the future is reliant upon and none of us knows which one holds the keys to the past. Oh what a tangled web, indeed. Mitchell even plays with the idea of formats within formats, sometimes opting for first person accounts, sometimes third person, sometimes journal entries and sometimes epistolary techniques are employed. Though thankfully, rarely more than one at a time. The only thing tying all of these worlds together, in the book, is the subtle hint at the idea of reincarnation. We've all been here before, and yet, it's always a new world we come back to.
The stories read as vignettes, in a way. Snippets of life that are as much about modes of communication as they are about humanity and technology and the combined impact on the environment at large. Often, it's not a particularly comforting view of the world, and yet, there's always something familiar for the audience to root itself in. Sometimes it's just an idea, sometimes it's a character, but always, the undeniable universality of being human is on display. In a way, each story deals with a theme too: trust, love, isolation, fear, morality, and survival, and entire paragraphs could be written on the analysis of those, but I'll try not to delve too deeply here. Suffice it to say, there's a lot going on.
And even with all of this, what kept everything moving, for me, was simply the beauty of Mitchell's phrasing. It wasn't just that his ideas were infinitely worthy of discussion, but that he was able to envelop them in such a way that sometime re-reading was desired, not demanded. Each of Mitchell's characters has such a distinct voice, a language that is familiar to only them and their time, that even given just one sentence from each, I'm almost certain that a reader would be able to match them.
And yet, sometimes it was this distinct voice that caused me pause. I got hopelessly led astray right at the peak of the temporal arc, finding it difficult to follow along with Zachary's story. The language took some getting used to, and I found that for me, my enjoyment of reading it waned slightly, and I was beyond thrilled to learn that i would be going back to Corporacracy and Sonmi-451. As was bound to happen some stories are more interesting than others (I took a keen interest in Frobisher, Sonmi-451 and Louisa Rey) and found that some of the characters even became more interesting the second time around, and yes, I'm looking at you Timothy Cavendish, but on the whole, to not recommend this book based on a few, personal preferences would be to allow people to miss out on what very well might be one of the most unique and exciting books I've read in a very, very long time.

Overall, really a 4.5, but since Goodreads is only set up to handle more decisive minds, I'll take the low road, mainly for difficulty level, but to some people, that might be the draw.

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Dreamland

2011-08-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

I would never qualify myself as a Woody Allen fan. I respect his writing and his neuroses honesty, I appreciate his dedication to consistently trying to come up with new ideas, but on the whole, I have only really seen 3 of his movies that I can think of. Maybe only 2 and a half at that. In fact, now that I've just looked up his repertoire on IMDB, I can really only claim to have seen Annie Hall and Hannah And Her Sisters. I'll admit, this is a shortcoming of mine. Once someone finally sat me down to watch Annie Hall, I was impressed; when I heard Max Von Sydow utter the line "If Jesus came back and saw what was being done in his name, he'd never stop throwing up" I was jealous. Perhaps this is why I don't watch more Woody Allen, the inherent, bitter pill that's a home grown cocktail of jealousy and inadequacy. It's hard to feel like you still want to write when you sometimes wonder if all the good lines have already been written.

That said, Midnight In Paris is a movie for writers, and a movie for dreamers, and, as such, is easily his most accessible film for me. For a film whose running time is only 94 minutes, there's quite a bit packed into this highly imaginative yarn, if you'll allow the word, because really that's what it is.

Midnight In Paris is the story of what happens when you get the most envy-inducing case of cold feet ever put to celluloid. Gil (Owen Wilson) is a writer and wannabe novelist. I know that might sound redundant to some, but if there weren't definitions and categories, where would a Woody Allen film be left to wander? Even then, Gil doesn't want to simply be a novelist, he wants his writing to be art. He yearns for his version of the golden years of Paris, the rainy, roaring 20s where vagabond art communities popped up around cafes during the day and galavanted where the champagne flowed at night. Gil's fiancee, Inez (Rachel McAdams) is his polar opposite, intent only on reality, and beyond that, devoid of any actual understanding of art or the nomadic spirit. Inez and her parents are wealthy, privileged, self-appointed intellectuals whose appreciation of the world is limited to catch phrases, comfort and material possessions. In other words, Allen's heightened idea of the embodiment of today's society. Their scenes are all shot in the daytime, and are increasingly annoying, bordering on grating. It's no wonder that Gil prefers his surprising, and yet, welcomed escape into his world of 20s Paris, courtesy of what can most easily be described as a magical car, every night as the clock strikes 12.

What happens after midnight is Gil's fairy tale world comes to life. He drinks with F. Scott Fitzgerald, receives life lessons from Ernest Hemingway and editing notes from Gertrude Stein. It's all shot with a warm glowing soft light, the kind of light that happens when the neon fades away and the streetlamps come on. More and more, this is the world that draws us in, and I actually found myself dreading the moments when Gil had to return to the real world, pained at the thought of him ever having to relinquish his imaginary world passport.

It's cringingly clear just how unhappy Gil is in the choices he's made in his life, and yet, he seems resigned to the idea that this is the way things go. He seems to feel that logical decisions are required despite the knowledge that life, at its essence, is illogical. The foundations of his world start to crack when he meets a beautiful Parisian ingenue named Adriana (Marion Cotillard) who arrived in 1920s Paris as a fashion student and found her true calling as a muse to some of the greatest artists of the century. Slowly, but surely, the things that Gil really wants out of life begin to emerge from his reliable exterior.

There is something wonderful about the fairy tale aspect of this film that allows for all of these delightfully quirky characters (because, as we see them, through Gil's eyes, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein, and the rest are all at their stereotypical 2-dimensional personas, particularly the flamboyant Dali, and therefore characters) to fill his world with the equivalent of an intellect's pop culture references. And yet, while it's sophisticated to a point, Midnight In Paris has become Allen's most successful film to date probably because at it's heart, it's about something everyone can relate to: the desire to be successful at what it is we want our lives to be. Not everyone wants to run away to Paris and live the life of an artist, but everyone, at some point, has been faced with the choice to raise the stakes or call, and it's that decision that changes everyone's life, no matter what decision they make. Perhaps a better understanding of the question isn't "to be or not to be" but instead "to regret or not regret". While the ending wraps up a little neatly for the questions it raised (for me), I'll forgive it, since it was such a fun, thoughtful, engaging journey. And because I'm always a fan of a slightly new take on a fairy tale. It's sheer escapism for the cultured masses, and even more enjoyable for those people who can laugh at the cultured masses while sipping coffee and figuring out how best to daydream their time away.

Overall 4.5

Top 5- Saturday 8-27-11

2011-08-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

5. Fringe- It's time to come to grips with the fact that summer is almost over. I'm having a tough time with it. But there are things to look forward to. I'll never be the person that lists "cooler mornings" and "sweaters" as things to look forward to in fall. Every time someone says that I just want to stare them down and say "REALLY?!" But I'll acknowledge that fall tv is exciting to me (I know, I know, don't worry, I'm working on getting a life) and while Dr. Who's return (Tonight on BBC America) is a DVR staple, I love Fringe beyond explanation. It started out being that show that just happened to have Pacey Witter in it, and over three seasons has become something of a metaphysical mystery of television. It's engaging, smart, and the cast is BRILLIANT. I've already said it but John Noble as Walter Bishop really is one of the most brilliant characters on television, certainly now, maybe ever.

4. This song:

3. Adding to the Amazon Wish List.

2. John Grant's Queen of Denmark- There's something old and something new, and something altogether engaging about this album, I feel like. Some of the musical arrangements are reminscent of 70s piano pop (Abba and Elton, etc) but the lyrics are cutting and intelligent and filled with accessible references. Some of it takes you by surprise and can't help but leave a smile on your face.

1.Hurricane Irene- Duh. Any time there's a natural disaster, 24 hour news reports, regional freakouts, it's always going to be the first thing on everyone's minds. Despite the fact that most of us have seen something similar to this at least once in our lifetimes, seeing bread aisles literally emptied is hilarious, annoying and predictable all at the same time. My personal favorites are always the people that get sent out to report on the storm.
Sometimes it looks like THIS
It SHOULD look like THIS
But of course, when there are other humans involved, it looks like THIS

So go ahead, hunker down, get your books, your flashlights, your canned goods, your batteries (which hopefully you bought last week in a some sort of precognitive state) and your bottled water (although I hear all that's left in the markets is Perrier) and make your hurricane playlist. Just try not to be one of those guys that ends up on Youtube because you thought it'd be a good idea to go surfing in a hurricane. It's going to be a bumpy couple of days.

Top 5

2011-08-19T04:19:00.000-07:00

Top 5 for 8/18/2011

1. Making dinner instead of buying it

2. Edamame

3. Minneapolis-Dear Minnesota, why do you have to have such freaking cold winters? Minneapolis seems like it would be such an amazing town. Maybe I'll visit next summer.

4.Thinking I Can Dance

5. Robin Hood

Top 5 for 8/17/2011

1. Becoming an appraiser

2. Estate Sales/Garage Sales/Re-Purposing Anything

3. Borders- one of the few remaining of the actual stores in the Trumbull Mall. I bought this book. Hopefully soon I'll be posting up some of the recipes I attempt to make

4. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

5. Learning to draw Botanical Art

A Dance With Dragons

2011-08-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

This post contains spoilers, they're not that terrible, I tried to keep them brief, but talking about a book like this, it's tough to be completely spoiler-free. Sorry in advance, but I've given you a 2-sentence warning. If you're reading the post from this point on, don't say I didn't give you full disclosure ahead of time.

I'll start off by saying this. My review is one short of five mainly because I'm angry. I'm angry at the things that happened, I'm angry about the characters that are still wandering around Westeros with nary a mention of them, and I'm angry that I have to wait for the next installment. I am indeed in a foul mood. That being said, the sheer fact that I care enough to be that angry, that I'm invested enough in characters to commence crying, is a testament to Martin's storytelling. It's also going to be a great struggle to walk the fine line of illustrating the high points of the book without giving too much away because this one, even more than others, despite the separate nature of the 4th and 5th books, sees worlds coming together and partnerships being made that, honestly, I don't think anyone saw coming. The fun is realizing those for yourself.
Before I continue, let me say, if you haven't read the previous 4 books, or if you're not really familiar with the source material, nothing you read beyond this point will make any sense to you. I'll be speaking of sigils, The Seven, names like Targaryen and Mormont, so if none of these mean anything to you, it's best to bail out now.
A Dance With Dragons, picks up essentially where the third book, A Storm of Swords leaves us, covering some of the same time period as Feast For Crows, but starting off on the opposite end of the character spectrum. Where Feast For Crows revolved around the Greyjoys, Dorne, Brienne and Sansa, Jaime, Cersei and Sam (mostly) this one focuses much and more (sorry I've just been dying to use that phrase) on Jon, Dany, what's going on at Winterfell, and everyone's favorite half-man, Tyrion.
Here's the quick recap: Dany is in Meereen, Tyrion is fleeing across the narrow sea after having just given his father the worst case of indigestion ever (Pepto-Bismal does NOT list arrow quivers alongside the vomiting and diarrhea it claims to soothe) and Jon is Lord Commander at The Wall, a job that is only slightly more difficult than being Michelle Bachman's campaign PR manager. The kingdoms are askew, with nothing tying them together besides marriage pacts and promises of land and lordships, an environment that only benefits schemers and sellswords, who, in most cases, are one in the same. To use the term "mercurial" seems to be an understatement. The phrase most often thrown around in A Dance With Dragons are the words of House Targaryen, "fire and blood". Winter is no longer coming, it's here and it's pissed.
In Meereen, Dany must deal with several armies who want to see her dead, infighting amongst her own, and of course, growing dragons, all the problems a world leader would normally have to face. For the most part, I found her storyline blander than in the previous books. She's so politically-focused this time around, and let's face facts, Dany is no Cersei. She's too just and too inexperienced, at least by political standards, and from the outset the audience can see that this is going nowhere good in a hurry. It's a painful, drawn out process of, often aloud, wondering "WHY?!".
Jon faces similar inexperience issues at The Wall. Having been maneuvered into the Lord Commander position by Sam, he falls back on his Winterfell training and his Stark standards of honor and duty. We all recall how well those served Definitely Headless Ned. Having seen Sam's journey in the previous book, we know that Jon sends Sam away early on, with Gilly and Aemon, essentially forcing the brains of the operation to set sail. Not to say that Jon isn't intelligent, he is, and he's thoughtful, but he's not necessarily savvy. More than once he returns to Ygritte's mantra, and as a reader you begin to agree with the red-headed wildingling that, in fact, "You Know Nothing Jon Snow".
And finally Tyrion. Wonderful, stubborn, witty Tyrion. He's the character we all know Martin pours the most of himself into. He's always the best part of every book, and a major part of the reason I had such a tough time with Feast For Crows. Tyrion is simply trying to survive. He acknowledges he's on the run and can no longer be considered a Lord of Casterly Rock, but that certainly won't stop him from being Tyrion. Survival mode brings out the best in Tyrion, who, despite his wishes, doesn't seem to be made to be complacent. His journey is by far the most intriguing, with the most interesting pairings and most high-voltage revelations. I would feel too terrible if I gave away more than that.
Beyond these three major characters, there are the introductions of several additional characters, who hopefully will be sticking around for quite a while (I kind of quickly grew attached to a tag-along dwarf named Penny), but as any of the fans of the series know, pinning your hopes on a character's long-term situation is an emotionally unsatisfying action. If Tyrion really wanted to make his gold back, he should have become a bookie in Vegas taking odds on Martin character survivals.
As a reader of the series from about three and a half years ago, later than many, earlier than some, I had been anticipating this installment with the rest of the rabid fanbase, and (foolishly) expected more satisfaction than I received. I am fully aware that there are still two more books in the works, but I hoped some of the previous stories might have had those loose ends ties, instead of still fraying in the wind. It was not to be for this fifth book in the series. What we get instead are players that are more defined, a chess board that finally seems to be set, and a looming ending which could still go either way. As someone who appreciates a nice bow to wrap up my gifts, this uncertainty is unsatisfying, despite the fact that I recognize its necessity.
A Dance With Dragons does define itself in the series though, not just from sheer density but also as the one in which two themes seemed to be emerging simultaneously. The first theme, and Martin almost beats you over the head with it in this book, is identity. All of our characters now, well, at least all of our main, point of view characters, are finally past struggling to define themselves and have clearly chosen the path they will travel down. It's almost as if this is the book where the evolution ends and the only thing left to do is figure out who is fit to survive, which is always easier said than done when Martin is the judge, jury and executioner of the characters.
The second theme, one that's always been around but which I found exceedingly prominent in this book, is the notion of religion. All of the readers know that each different area of Westeros has its deities. The North and Beyond the Wall have The Old Gods and their Weirwoods, King's Landing has its 7 and its Septs, the Iron Islands have their Drowned God and the Red Priests have R'hllor, but I feel like the emphasis was stronger in this book. While the first 3 novels of the series focused heavily on the physical act of war, it looks like these later books will have to deal the war for men's (and women's) beliefs. [book:A Storm of Swords|62291][book:A Feast for Crows|13497]
The writing style itself is not altered dramatically from previous books, although I do feel like the descriptive nature was enhanced. There were moments where I just wanted the plot to move ahead at a quicker pace, but honestly, what would ASOIAF be without knowing exactly what kind of rodents on sticks they sold in the fighting pits? If you've stuck with it this long, you'll continue to stick with it. Enough surprises, of all kinds, happened in this book, that, despite a fleeting notion that I wanted to give up, I know I can't. I find Martin's storytelling to be addictive, and I can only go so long before needing a fix. Overall, better than Feast For Crows, but still lacking the pounding momentum of Clash of Kings.

4 stars

Loverboy

2011-08-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

I came in this morning and saw that Norris had gotten a start on Working (Out) For the Weekend. He's great at push ups but has real problems with that bendable right knee. Have a good weekend everyone

Get With It

2011-08-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

I was originally going to title this post "obsessions" but that makes me sound creepy-weird instead of just quirky. I'll acknowledge being quirky, but not creepy. I stopped being creepy the summer between high school and college. With that understood, I just wanted to do a quick post on the three songs that I've been listening to (almost exclusively) for the last week and a half. I don't know why. Asking why would be like asking "Who glued all these quarters to the floor?" except that that question had a defined answer. I suppose it'd be more like asking "what's with you today?" Oh how I will always love you Empire Records. I was really trying to wait this out, to see if it warranted a post, but I can't stop listening to these things, so maybe this will act as some sort of intervention. You may hate them, you may love them, you might not care at all about any of them, but maybe, just maybe, you'll find something you like. That's all I'm really here for:

Record Club

2011-08-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

So I'm not sure if I've talked about Record Club out loud (i.e. on the internet) before, but if not, consider this your introduction. We're just a small group of co-workers who are constantly looking for new and old interesting sounds. We've tended to stay towards the obvious for this first round of records, but hopefully, we'll be expanding our reach soon. If you want to check out the records, or see some of the "reviews",
Check us out HERE

It's in a constant state of updating, so there will be more stuff added and more albums shared, but I'd love to hear thoughts or suggestions. Feedback is always helpful, well almost always. As long as its not a comment from one of those weird "I'm a 26year old fmle who married the mn of hr drmz" spambots. Those are decidedly NOT helpful.
Enjoy!

The Apes Also Rise

2011-08-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

I'd like to say a couple of things to set the scene for my mindset going into this movie. First, I remember seeing this trailer for the first time and then thinking "REALLY?!?! This looks terrible. I will most certainly NOT be seeing this movie". Secondly, on the Friday that I went to see this after work I was so beleaguered that when the young man at the ticket counter said "Next person" and I walked up, I said "One ticket for Planet Of ...I mean Rising Planet" and he said "I know what you mean" and I said "Thanks" in an embarrassed, but not overly embarrassed fashion. I say this because I think that it illustrates the two key problems with this film: that it's based on a franchise that I'm still curious as to why it has yet to die out and the title is slightly ridiculous. This second reasoning could just be me.
I was thoroughly prepared to ignore this film as I have other films this summer (you won't fool me again, Michael Bay! I'm not paying for you to add a nitrogen tank to your Porsche!) and then an odd thing happened. It started to get really, I mean, overly good reviews. People started to bandy the word "Oscar" about in reference to something other than a garbage can, and suddenly I was confused. I went, mostly because my roommates were going and what else was I going to do on a Friday night? And I have to say, I didn't hate it. That doesn't mean that I loved it either, but it means that, like several other films released this year, it evoked what seems to be my most reliable opinion of films of 2011 "it was better than I thought it would be".
Setting things up in a way that can best be described as a "prequel" to the 1968 film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes takes place in modern time (please don't ask me to explain how this makes any sense) set against the backdrop of Corporate America's love of money and a pharmaceutical company searching for the cure to Alzheimer's. James Franco plays Will Rodman (to be honest, I had to look up his character's name on IMDB. I couldn't for the life of me recall) a brilliant scientist/doctor who is desperately trying to rush a drug into human trials; a drug that will cure Alzheimer's, and, we find out, Will's dad Charles (John Lithgow). Following a debacle that results from the side effects of the initial drug formula, Will takes his work home with him, to figure out his formula on his father. He also brings home a baby chimp who, unknown to Will, has been genetically altered by the cure. Charles, who while in the throes of his disease can only recite Shakespeare and tinker at the piano, names the chimp Caesar, and what follows is a relatively peaceful period of 8 years, while the cure helps Charles recover and Caesar grows into an adult (chimp).
Then the fecal matter starts to stick to the wall. Charles starts to relapse and Caesar grows rebellious, sending everything into a downward spiral. Brian Cox and ~~Draco Malfoy~~ Tom Felton make an appearance as a father/son team that PETA would really love to get their hands on, as Caesar is taken away from Will and placed in a "sanctuary". It is in these scenes that the heart of the film lies, in these weeks that Caesar is caged, figuring out how he can break free. It's a moving and engaging sequence that I wish hadn't been interrupted by cuts back to watch Will flounder at his job and the villains be superdy duperdy Villainy. I was genuinely taken by surprise at one moment, which I don't want to give away here (because I'm sure you'd like to experience that moment too if you see this movie) but you'll know it when you see it. It's a scene that's well done, beautifully-timed and despite the effects bonanza that is the "apes break out sequence" seems to me to really be the climax of the film.
Everything that is being said in other reviews about Andy Serkis is true. What he brings to motion capture characters is something amazing and unique and here he gives such a solid central character in Caesar that it's easy to get caught up in the film. The basis of the film is also plausible, much to the benefit of the movie. I buy that some pharmaceutical company would want to find a cure badly enough to not let things like ethics or humanity get in the way of success. I mean I'm sure it happens every day. It is this believability that sets this film apart from the rest in this franchise, and I think, part of the reason that people are reacting to this outing with such wild enthusiasm.
But, for me, it did have its drawbacks. I honestly didn't understand why Freida Pinto's Caroline is even in the mix. She seemed like a wasted character, her only responsibility, being to separate Caesar from Will. Beyond that, she brings little to the table, but I don't blame the actress, just the material she had to work with. Secondly, the villains are so dastardly it seems like they spend their free time practicing cackles in front of the mirror and placing their fingertips together even when doing simple tasks, like deciding if they want a Baconator or a Double Baconator. I mean, we're talking Hans Gruber but without the Alan Rickman-ness and the snappy one-liners. And finally, I'm just not certain I buy James Franco in serious roles. I know that might sound unfair, but I simply don't. It always feels like the end of every one of his shots should have him winking at the camera. He's trying so hard to be earnest that, for me, he falls flat and comes off false. But then again, maybe he knew that he wasn't the main character, that Caesar is the main character, and so maybe it's not that big of a deal.
I enjoyed the nods to the original film; there's a scene where Caesar is playing with a plastic Statue of Liberty toy and one where Charlton Heston appears in all of his leather-clad glory (on a television screen). And, of course, there's the "damn dirty ape" line, said with delicious knowing relish, but still I can't get over the moon about this one. I liked Caesar, but never identified with him, although I know every kid under the age of 12 in the theater I saw it in now wants a baby chimp for Christmas. I also thought that the ending of the Will-Caesar storyline was both irresponsible and unnecessary. If he was just going to let him go, why chase him all across the bridge? I know, I know, it's just a movie, and yet, I couldn't stop asking myself "why?!"

Overall, the effects are brilliant, Andy Serkis is genius, but everything else was just "ok" for me.

3.5 B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Hip Cat

2011-08-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

Life is mostly made up of the right combination of luck and inspiration. When you're lucky enough to get the right inspiration, usually, good things happen or perhaps a little bit more of the world is revealed to you. When I run across something and I think, "hmmm...I should look in to that" and I then proceed to ignore this notion, it never fails that I'll run through the next several weeks in a slump, desperate for something new and interesting to reveal itself. When that same initial source once again shows up in my life, I try to take advantage and pay attention this time.
So it happened with Serge Gainsbourg. I had seen the preview for the movie about his life several months ago and thought to myself "huh, I kind of want to listen to some of his stuff". I'm currently listening to one of his first releases, "Du Chant A La Une!" and, even if you don't speak French (let's face facts, despite my actual degree, my fluency could be called in to question) the music doesn't need to be translated. It's a mix of genres, mostly jazz based, sounding like something that Dean Martin would have recorded, with even more of a winking nature, if he had been French. Why do the French inherently just seem cooler than the rest of the world? I've never been able to really answer this question, but it is the reason I started taking French in high school. Ok, there was another reason I started taking French, but I don't talk about him anymore. Anyway, here's the film preview to perhaps pique your interest. :

And then, perhaps, you'll want to give the album a listen
If this doesn't make you want to run down the beaches of Marseilles in a polka-dot bikini and then later that night sip champagne on an outdoor patio while debating the merits of Monet and Manet, I'm not sure what will. Then again, maybe you feel like that every day.

Oh Captain, My Captain (America)

2011-07-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

When it comes to comic book adaptations, on more than one occasion I've been known to utter the phrase "I just don't get what the big deal is about them." I almost always enjoy them (with a few notable exceptions) but I'm at a distinct disadvantage since I'm usually unfamiliar with the source material. Neither comics nor graphic novels were my geek buttons to push (at least not in the past) so beyond an "oh yeah I've heard of that guy" for the lesser known or "well, yeah, duh of course" for the high rollers, you know your Batmans and Supermans and Spider Mans of the world, I paid them about as much attention as any of your average popcorn movies.

I prepared myself to take Captain America, the latest origin story of Marvel's Avengers series, with a similar grain of salt. I was already nervous, attempting to buffer my expectations, after having experienced an entire range of emotions, just with this summer's releases of adaptations. X-Men: First Class being on the top end of the spectrum, Thor resting comfortably in the middle and Green Lantern rotting away, experiencing only the saddest and most boring of existences at the bottom end of said spectrum. Captain America, as far as I was concerned was a chancy roll of the dice. The good news was that the odds were already tilted towards favorable, with the casting of Chris Evans and the gratuitous shirtless scene in the previews. I would honestly pay at least $4.00 just to see that shot, so what was there to lose by going on cheap Tuesday? It turns out Captain America is a pretty solid bet for anyone who feels bogged down by the current state of the summer release schedule.

Opening with a present day sequence set on a frozen tundra, the discovery of an oddly shaped flying machine and Captain America's long-frozen shield leads into a fade that then firmly plants us in World War II era New York. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a skinny kid who just wants to do the right thing. He stands up to bullies, he shushes the loudmouths in movie theaters, I'm guessing he walks old ladies across the road, and of course, he want to enlist in the army. Despite sticking out like a sore thumb and being deemed a scrawny asthmatic by his naysaying colonel (Tommy Lee Jones) Rogers proves to be clever, practical, and most importantly, a good guy. We're talking the underdoggiest of underdogs, but as in all great characters, these minor roadblocks have only helped to provide him with the moral fiber that the rest of us mere humans can only aspire to. Luckily, there's a serum, created by Dr. Abraham Erskine (the wonderfully accented, slightly impish Stanley Tucci) that can finally match his inner man and outer man. If I can say so, what an outer man he proves to be, as Peggy (Hayley Atwell) a British agent working with the US Army, can attest. Why she insists on handing him that tee shirt, I'll never understand, but good for you Peggy for showing such modesty and restraint.

After a quick detour of bond-raising, during which he earns the nickname Captain America, Rogers takes his chances on the front line to rescue his friend "Bucky" Barnes (Sebastian Stan). As a sidenote, I freaking love comic book character names. After his daring rescue results in the salvation of other prisoners of war, Captain America is allowed his own mission of finding and destroying the weapons warehouses of one dastardly Johann Schmidt (the always deliciously villainous Hugo Weaving). Schmidt has decided to take the pure evilness of being a Nazi and ratchet it up a couple of notches by also fashioning himself as a modern-day, world-destruction-seeking diety, mostly because of some terrible side effects he experienced with one of Erskine's test serums. These side effects include loss of appetite, headache, sore throat (I'm assuming) as well as loss of nose and human face, and a distinct discoloration of the skin, which of course, lead to the name Red Skull. As you can imagine, what results is a simple, streamlined, yet highly entertaining good versus evil tale.

To me, the success of the film is this simplicity. Nothing is overly complicated and the setting is absolutely perfect for this story. All of the pieces set themselves up perfectly. The hero is heroic without being a jerk about it, the villain is so evil that he's slightly over the top (think any Bond villain, but also add in the Nazi factor) which makes for a satisfactory confrontation and there are no sidetracking storylines. What they do, with great success, is what I was always told to do with writing, especially for standardized tests: KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid...I'm sure it's since been changed to something much less derogatory because kids these days are too sensitive, but whatever your formula, you know what I'm saying). However, the reason they can keep the storyline so simple is because there are so many other factors going on, that the entertainment value never wanes.

The cast is top notch; even the lesser featured men of Rogers "platoon" is filled with people you recognize and characters that I sometimes wished had MORE of a part. The characters are appealing, the music (by the almost always wonderful Alan Silvestri with a little help from Alan Menken) is engaging and perfectly fitting and the visual style is, well, kind of gorgeous to look at. In stark contrast to Kenneth Branagh's Thor, which was so bright on Earth and so lushly gleaming on Asgard, as well as the easy realism of Iron Man, Captain America floats somewhere between the dreamy, drawn world of the comic book and the gritty blue-grey drabness of war, with the most color coming off of our hero's costume or glinting off of his trusty shield. The setting does indeed make the Red Skull even redder, it seems. Overall, Joe Johnston is able to achieve a tone that is just slightly melodramatic, but completely and wonderfully in the vein of those wartime news stories that we both see as the audience and watch WITH the audience in the film.

While I was always going to love Evans as the lead (I feel like his "big name" films have always managed to flop somehow, despite him being the best part of them) I was surprised at how much I also liked Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, the no-nonsense, yet feminine romantic interest. It's a rare thing to have a woman who is shown as being both capable and emotionally vulnerable in these roles, and having just come off of a discussion about how I find Mary Jane to be completely useless in general, and more specifically, to Spidey, I enjoyed seeing a movie where I was able to go "now THAT'S the kind of female roles we should be applauding!" The chemistry is there and believable without being an annoyance or a distraction. It was more Stark and Potts than Thor and Jane (part of what I found annoying about that film, even though I'm a huge fan of Natalie Portman).

With all of these things working for it, as well as solid writing that both manages to avoid pitfalls while subtly winking at the over-the-top nature inherent to comic books, I'd say that this, all in all, is just a really fascinating study on the making of a superhero and what a superhero is really made of.

Overall 4.5

Goodbye -the double-edged Sword of Gryffindor of words

2011-07-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

By the time this finally gets put up, it will be a week since I've seen the movie the first time. If you haven't seen it by now, I apologize if there's anything I give away. I feel like there are so many things that I would like to say about the final Harry Potter film that there will probably be points where I ramble in this post, but please, if possible, stick with it and let me know what you thought too. Spoilers Ahead so you might want to Expecto Patronum yourself from them, if you've yet to see the film, that is.

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 released this past weekend (in case you spend your weekends under that boulder I pass on the way home) and including midnight showings and the 3-day weekend box office, it has since grossed more than 168 million dollars. My reason for such a staggering outpouring of support? This is the last time any of us will have a chance to say goodbye to the stories that have shaped our imaginations for more than 10 years and to the pop culture phenomenon that is Harry Potter.
For myself, as a fan of the series, this last film was always going to be slightly emotional. In truth, I'm always slightly emotional. Perhaps I should say that it was always going to be a lock that my tears would flow easily down well-worn paths on my cheek. After all, the last book did not cause me to skimp on emotion, so why should the movie? The reality is that "skimp" is never a word that could be associated with the Harry Potter series, so just as with the books, this last film is an all-encompassing look at good v. evil, love and hatred, life and death, darkness and triumph.
Now there will always be two types of naysayers to any franchise based on books. There will be those who dislike the books just because of their existence, citing the literature as "rip-offs", "unoriginal", "poorly written" or just plain "too popular". This group of people, in specific reference to Harry Potter, I will never understand. Perhaps my fandom fringes on the fact that I was in the target demographic for the books, perhaps it was the fact that I've always been a fan of anything escapist, perhaps it was the fact that I've always wanted to be British. Who knows? But as a promoter of all things Potter, when these people roll their eyes or huff or scoff or any of those other borderline-insultory verbs, I will always only grant them a baffled look and a silent, judgmental "10 Points to Slytherin". I respect their right to an opinion, but for the love of all that is bright and good in this world, why THAT opinion? However, much like tiny, soulless, doomed baby Voldemort, they are beyond my help.
In the second group of bemoaners, there will be those who love the books so much that no visual interpretation will ever please them. Again, for these people, nothing short of a 4 hour version of Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone, complete with what Professor Quirrell had for breakfast would have satiated their intense desire for utter correctness. I'm guessing Quirrell was a Pop-Tart and butterbeer kind of guy, not a Toaster Strudel fan. I mean you have to be on the go if your working for the Dark Lord.
For the rest of us, I always have been of the opinion that the books and films should be taken as companion pieces. After all, without the books, the films do not exist, and without the films, the books fail to reach the mass audience that they since have. It's a fact of life. In this social network-saturated world, all things are, inherently, reliant on at least a quasi-symbiotic relationship with the media. The books are where the heart of everything about the stories lie. J.K. Rowling's words open up a world that very few could have ever imagined before, and if they did imagine it, they certainly never described it or ushered us in in such a beautiful way. The books are where WE become a part of the world, but the films are where the world comes to life. Sure we're resigned to spectators for the film, but that's ok, as long as what we've imagined and our own expectations are met. For being responsible for bringing an entirely different world into existence, literally, building from the ground-up, I say kudos to the film production teams for doing just that. Few can argue that anything less than a magical world was brought before our eyes, and if they did argue it, I'm sure I would tune out halfway through their explanation because, doubtless, their opinions wouldn't hold water. It's about time that this production team finally won an Oscar, but like most things American, we're sorely lacking behind the Brits in terms of recognition for the franchise.
If any of the films were to do it, though, this should be the one. As a final film, it's a truly wonderful end bow tied around a story that had wrapped (for readers) nearly 4 years ago. And yet, despite the fact that I KNEW what was going to happen, watching it end was still somehow suspenseful and just as equally satisfying as finishing that last page always is.
Picking up exactly where Part 1 ends, Dobby has been buried at Shell Cottage and Harry now faces two fronts in his battle against Voldemort. The first is the journey left to him by Dumbledore, the tracking of the Horcruxes; while the second is that of the Deathly Hallows (the invisibility cloak, the resurrection stone and the elder wand) which can only belong to the "master of death". Harry chooses to continue hunting the Horcruxes, leading our main trio on a dangerous journey to the belly of the Gringott's beast, and eventually, out of its high, vaulted ceilings in a roller-coaster of a scene that actually made me think to myself "maybe I should see this in 3D at some point".
The second third is a battle royale of sorts, a siege on Hogwarts (an imposing character in and of its castle self) with action sequences that still had me biting my nails and holding my breath. And while all of the explosions and chaos of these scenes could overwhelm the senses, the filming is saved by moments of quiet dignity, and, one of my favorites, the eerily silent run through the front line for Ron, Harry and Hermione on their way to find Lord V.
Snape's backstory, the one that I was just hoping could do such a wonderfully complex character justice, did more than that. This is where my tear ducts really wrestled away control from my hypothalamus and declared victory, to spring non-stop through the rest of the movie. This is what really begins the last, and understandably, most emotional third of the story. This is where we really have to start saying goodbye, for the last and final time. Although Snape's story seems to jump a little quickly for my liking, it is tempered, by one drawn out scene, intermittently cut, of Snape climbing the stairs to Harry's room on that fateful night 17 years ago. The last of this sequence of scenes, with Snape cradling Lily in his arms feels like the reason that the always amazing Alan Rickman was cast so many years ago. It was all building up to his last 5 minutes on screen, and every single second is worth it.
To continue on more, about the scene where Harry meets his parents, Sirius and Lupin in the woods, to discuss our collective final encounter with Dumbledore, to have to explain the fact that I really actually like Narcissa Malfoy, to discuss THE KISS, how Neville actually admits to liking Luna, to expound on my revenge-satisfied self at the fate that Bellatrix Lestrange meets (I'll just say that I was thrilled to pieces, and also, that Molly Weasley is BOSS in that scene) would be to give away the joys of the film. Those are the moments we had all been waiting for; those were the moments that fans cheered (literally) at that first midnight showing. I will give away one flat-out spoiler because I can't contain myself. I will never, ever tire of watching Neville Longbottom cut the head off of Nagini, never. Such a suspenseful moment, with such a well-deserved payoff for a character that has gone from beloved goof to hero. Those character journeys are why we read, and those are the journeys that it really does pay to see shown on the big screen.
In keeping with the visual tone of the last 3 movies, those since David Yates has taken over, the film has a dreamlike blueish/grayish nature about it, when its at its darkest. This is no longer the golden, bright world filled with just snitches and broomsticks. It's what a world on the brink of devastation should look like, even if watching the stones of Hogwarts crumble hurts somewhere in the middle of your chest.
The final film stays as true to the book as it can. It's already been hamstrung by the fact that the series has left some things out in the past, but nothing essential has ever been overlooked. Everything that is at the core of the series and, therefore, at the core of these movies, is there. And as always at its center is Harry, Hermione and Ron. The final shots of its "endings" revolve solely on these three and rightly so. This was always a series about growing up, about the trials you face and about the people who see you through, no matter what. This, like all great series, reiterates one of humanity's greatest lessons: that it's not simply about the family you're born with, it's about the people you choose to be part of your family; that none of us are ever truly alone, as long as we're willing to love and trust in return. In a world brimming with flying cars, snitches, Aurors, and butterbeer, what was always the most important, and what was always the most easily understood to those of us that fell under its spell, is that it was first and foremost, about love, the same decision that Lily had made at the very beginning of Harry's story. Pretty heavy stuff for a supposed kids book, huh?
While the bitterness of the end of this series has been moderately tempered (at least for me) by the fact that it has been brought to fruition and met with such a satisfying end on screen (and for available for purchase just in time for Christmas I'm sure), what will stick with me from this last film, even more than any of the scenes that I cheered at, is a scene of such quiet importance that I just can't let it go unrecognized. In what will probably be one of Steve Kloves greatest contributions to the franchise, Dumbledore utters a line which acts as an ode to not just Rowling, but all of those authors who have conjured up worlds that fans live to read, just for the chance to be a part of it: "in my not so humble opinion, words are our most inexhaustible source of magic". And so they are, and always will be.
So on my EXTREMELY humble blog, what I'd like to say, in terms of Harry Potter, is thank you. Thank you to J.K. Rowling, thank you to the actors and the directors and screenwriters and the teams that have given me something to look forward to for the last 10 years Beyond that, thank you to all authors for those very precious words. Although it will be tough, this last film has tucked this wonderful franchise in to bed, and now it's time to find another literary adventure.

I'm not capable of judging this film as just a film, and it's my favorite movie of the year, so far, so of course, it gets:

5 stars from me.

I'd understand if the casual audience member gave it a lower mark, but still, it does stand out as one of the series best, I think.

Geek Week

2011-07-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt like sometimes you just have so much to do that, to attempt to tackle everything would require a power far greater than human? And so what do you do? You keep letting things pile up right? Finishing only the quickest and easiest things necessary to complete the day. That's how life has been for the last three months, or so, I'd say. Stacks of mail, piles of laundry, one unfinished book put down only to be replaced by its unfinished successor. It's been exhausting, all of these additions to my "to-do" list. Well, I've finally gotten around to finishing most of the stuff that had been weighing down the hind part of my brain, and I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, that now it's just about time to start celebrating Geek Week.

Just so you know, when I refer to "Geek Week", I'm referring to nothing official, at least not on my side. There is a website with that designated URL, and if you're looking for that you can find them HERE. If they're what you were initially searching for, I apologize for wasting your time with the mundane details of my daily life, and send you on your way to exciting geekified pop culture news stories. The Geek Week I'm referring to is simply the release of the two most exciting things of interest to me, which just happen to be happening in the same week:

George R.R. Martin's 5th installment of the A Song of Ice & Fire series titled "A Dance With Dragons"

and of course

The U.S. release of Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2

Also, if you're in the New Haven area, Criterion will be playing Jurassic Park (and let's face facts, if I don't qualify as a Spielberg geek, I'd like to meet the person who got my place at the convention).

So, there might be some additional posts for Geek Week, but if not, please forgive me; I'm just busy hip-checking 14-year olds for a better place in line, buying a second pair of 3-D Potter Glasses (I need one for my Hope Chest!) or calling and/or texting my dad and/or friends to say "DID YOU JUST READ THAT?!?!" It's going to be exhausting (again) but in a far more entertaining way than paying your car taxes.

Hope everyone else is busy enjoying their week too (geek or not). Anything your doing for your very own Geek Week?

Pulling in to Procrastination Station-SYTYCD Top 7

2011-07-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

So I should be cleaning my room like I told myself I would do. But it's So You Think You Can Dance night and I got back later than I thought I would. I've had the show permanently paused on Cat Deeley's vaguely kimono inspired dress (a clear step down from the last couple of weeks, come on Cat) for roughly 20 minutes while I finished dinner. I get far too distracted when I have more than two things going on. But I'm settled now.

In case you didn't know, last week, Miranda and Robert bid adieu. I give that a big boo. I can't understand what Ryan is still doing here. But as it stands, much like the forgotten food from my freezer that I rescued from Frigidaire purgatory for dinner, I'll have to make do with things as they currently stand. Alright, time to release Cat Deeley from her frozen paused pose and kick off our shoes.

The set-up will be similar to last week's, and I'm guessing it will be this way until we get down to the Top 10, when the couples will start doing 2 pieces each. For now, we're going with 2 group numbers and 7 individual couple numbers.

Judges: Tonight's panel is filled with Mary, Nigel, Travis Wall, and Carmen Electra. Yes, that Carmen Electra. I like how Cat grills her about her dancing credentials to make everyone aware that, yes, she knows her jetees from her pirouettes. People must still be reeling from Robin Antin.

One of the group numbers is first and this week, they've separated it by gender. The remaining boys will be doing a contemporary piece.

Dance #1 (group)
Choreographer: Justin Giles
Style: Contemporary
Theme: 7 stages of grief with each guy representing a different stage
Song: Prague by Damien Rice

I'm growing slightly tired of the "girls are the beasts and the boys are struggling to keep up" theme this season. Most of the guys look really strong on this one. It's not that surprising since most are contemporary dancers by trade. Chris has some timing problems in the beginning. I think his nerves were causing him some anticipation problems. Relax Chris, lots of guys experience that (sorry, I know that's an old joke, but I just couldn't resist). I'm really beginning to love Tadd, by the way. Marko get's a prime spot in the middle, as "anger". There's no need to pimp him. I think we all know he's at least in the Top 5. Overall, it's solid, and I liked, for the theme, how it was choreographed with each guy receiving the same amount of the spotlight, well mostly.

Dance #2 (Couple 1)
Couple: Melanie & Marko
Choreographer: Ray Leeper
Style: Jazz
Theme: Sounds a lot like Romeo & Juliet
Song: Americano by Lady Gaga

There's something slightly Abba about this Gaga song. I'm distracted by all the ruffles. It's fun and energetic. The judges love it and Mary renames Marko the "Domination Man" presumably because of the barchested suspenders.

Dance #3 (Couple 2)
Couple: Sasha & Alexander
Choreographer: Shaun Evaristo
Style: Hip Hop
Theme: First Date First Base
Song: To The Moon by Miguel

Alexander doesn't hit very hard for hip hop. Every move has a very polished soft feel, but he holds on pretty well. At the same time Sasha is the kind of girl who can go into a hands-free cartwheel and land on one foot and still hold on. But the judges start ripping on the routine. Once one of the boo bears gets invited to the picnic, they all start arriving, although Travis is the one holdout who says he "liked" it. Not a huge endorsement.

Dance #4 (Couple 3)
Couple: Jordan & Tadd
Choreographer: Toni Redpath
Style: Waltz
Theme: Sirens-the Grasshoppers of the Underwater World
Song: Nocturne (Secret Garden)

Unlike Ryan, who still hasn't proven more to me, Jordan has been at least climbing very slowly out of my "least favorite" circle of reality dance television hell. Tadd's just awesome. He has such great finishing moves for a breaker.

Dance #5 (Couple 4)
Couple: Clarice & Jess
Choreographer: Justin Giles
Style: Contemporary
Theme: The end of a relationship. I feel bad, I think Justin might have had an emotional run-in lately
Song: Light Through the Branches by Celeste Lear

I feel like the only thing keeping this from being called lyrical hip hop is that it's not to a Ne-Yo song. Jess is right when he uses the word "intricate". It's a beautiful routine and this couple just keeps getting better. I'm increasingly impressed with how much I actually like Jess as a dancer. I have to say, I think he's second strongest on the boys' side right behind Marko. It is my favorite routine of the night so far. And much like the audience and the judges, let's all pretend to ignore the fact that Travis just said "sexual chemistry".

Dance #6 (Couple 5)
Couple: Ashley & Chris
Choreographer: Liz Lira
Style: Salsa
Theme: Sexy Speedy Salsa
Song: Mambo Beat by Tito Puente

I was really nervous, but I think that Chris just totally went for it. I don't think that the judges are entirely fair in their opinions on this routine as they virtually tear it up and glue it back together just so they can tear it up again.

Dance #7 (Couple 6)
Couple: Ricky & Ryan
Choreographer: Chucky Klapow
Style: Jazz
Theme: Cult of Fashion!!
Song: Fashion by David Bowie (OBVIOUSLY)

Is it so wrong of me that I think it's not entirely fair that someone who has already worked with Mia Michaels and gotten paid to be an ensemble dancer in House isn't really the most amateur of dancers? I mean I'm sure she's better than I am, but, whoa, she almost fell out of her pirouette though. There's something very Rocky Horror about this routine. They're pimping out this couple tonight. They want to remind you that RYAN NEEDS TO BE HERE. I'll admit that I was jealous that Nigel thought of the phrase "zombie Zoolander" before I did.

Dance #8 (Couple 7)
Couple: Caitlynn & Mitchell
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Style: Contemporary
Theme: Falling in Love
Song: To Love You More by Celine Dion....seriously

The lifts are actually impressive and live up to the hype. Really well done and the pimp slot of the night is deserved for this routine. Everything comes together here. Despite the overly dramatic nature of La Dion, this routine just flows so beautifully. It's the one here tonight that can legitimately be called eloquent. Also, the assisted lift he does where he basically helps her do a roundoff and land in a split is timed gorgeously and is so impressive because it looks so effortless. I can't imagine what that took.

Dance #9 (Group routine 2)
Choreographer: Ray Leeper
Style: Jazz
Theme: Basically like Stuntman Mike from Deathproof except replace the car with dancing and the man with 7 girls
Song: My Discarded Men by Eartha Kitt with Bronski Beat (I couldn't find the remix quickly enough, so this is just Eartha Kitt's version)

It was so fun and slinky and the judges can't comment on it anyway, but it's worth a Youtube viewing if you can find it.

I might try to do my nighttime rankings and here goes:

Mitchell & Caitlynn
Clarice & Jess
Marko & Melenie
Ryan & Ricky
Jordan & Tadd
Sasha & Alexander (I hate doing this)
Ashley & Chris

I'm thinking Ryan and Chris might go home. So far they've all been already paired couples who have gone home. It's about time to see what happens when you break the couples up.

Because Everyone Should Watch This

2011-07-01T05:41:00.000-07:00

You can find more SYTYCD videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/SYTYCDFanS08V2

SYTYCD- Top 16- The Show After

2011-06-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

Good Wednesday evening everyone. The warmth of the day is starting to release into a very pleasant evening in my neck of the suburbs. I hope all of you are enjoying an equally gorgeous twilight. I hope that mostly because, let's face it, how much despair can we So You Think You Can Dance fans muster? We're reminded at the top of the show by Cat (in her faux bob and super-sequined sheath) that it was a BRUTAL quadruple elimination last week. I'm still slightly stunned that Missy and Wadi are gone. That's right. I haven't even watched the results show to see how exactly that came to be; I just can't bring myself to bear that kind of pain. I knew Iveta would be the end of Nick. CURSES!!! Anyway, we've all managed to make it through, relatively unscathed I'm assuming. If you're injured, I'm sure Fox is just itching to start a new reality series called "So You Think You Can Sue". As it stands, with the breeze blowing in through the screen, I'm relaxed and ready to get this show started. Hopefully you are too. Should I wait...no..you're set, ok, good.

The judges this evening: Lil' C (he's working on a rap album), Mary, Nigel and Kristin Chenowith (she's working on a country album). I should have titled this post "A Little Bit Country a Little Bit Rap n' Roll" but sometimes the inspiration just lags.

They've divided the remaining group in half and each group will perform one extra number, bringing the total dance count to 10 for this episode.

First up is Ryan, Marko, Tadd, Clarice, Miranda, Mitchell, Sasha, and Chris in a Tyce Diorio routine. Song: Hit the Road Jack- Ray Charles
There are chairs, with lights on the bottom, being used as both seats and projectiles. It's slightly worrisome, but everyone escapes with everything essential intact. Marko's tumbling is ridiculously impressive at the end.

As a quick aside, I usually try to go through the commercials as quickly as possible, but if you have yet to see the "denim fashion" Huggies commercial, I think it's worth taking a look at. I would say for "s***s n' giggles" but that seems terribly inappropriate for a diaper advertisement. I mean if you're already reading this blog, you've got an extra 30 seconds to spare, no? The ad is both tongue-in-cheek and kind of disturbing. Plus, it's for DENIM DIAPERS. If this was twitter, denim diapers would be hashtagged as #FirstWorldProblems.

The theme for the interviews this week is "What was your first performance?" I hope next week's is "Which stuffed animal did you love the most when you were 4?"

Dance #2 (Couple # 01):
Couple: Sasha & Alexander
Choreographer: Dee Caspary
Style: Contemporary
Theme: He's a piano player and she's the haunting memory of love lost "The piano keys represent the keys to his heart"-yes, that's a real quote
Song: Belong by the Cary Brothers

It's a great song choice with a really beautiful incorporation of the piano. It's just solid work. There wasn't any crazy lift or difficult partnering, but the timing was important and the punctuation moves were well executed.

The general consensus among the judges is that Sasha's awesome, Alexander is good, the dance was adequate bordering on impressive.

Dance #3 (Couple #02):
Couple: Caitlynn & Mitchell
Choreographer: Jean-Marc Genereux
Style: Samba
Theme: Hot, Spicy, Sexy, Butt-astic "Your Hips are Speakers!!"
Song: Put It In a Love Song by Alicia Keys f/ Beyonce

The opening move and lift is great. They sell it, they really do. Mitchell is doing a fantastic job of partnering, for ballroom not being his main style.

The judges are LOVING it.

Dance #4 (couple #3)
Couple: Miranda & Robert
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Style: Broadway
Theme: A Classy Night Lady and her Musician Man
Song: It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got that Swing) from the Sophisticated Ladies soundtrack

There is a lot going on and some random changes in the tempo of the dance. I think Robert is great at interpreting the character and this dance was more about character. Miranda is fantastic as always and Tyce made the most of her extenstions. This couple is trying really hard to become my third favorite couple behind Melanie & Marko and Sasha & Alexander.

Dance #5 (Couple 04)
Couple: Melanie & Marko
Choreographer: Napoleon & Tabitha
Style: Lyrical Hip Hop
Theme: My Best Friend's Wedding- if Julia Roberts had gotten the guy
Song: I Got You by Leona Lewis

Is there anything these two can't do, seriously?! They're amazing. Everything is amazing. And I got stupid 16-year-old girl chills when he kissed her. I'm such a sucker. Every time. It's so good. They should just kind of stop the competition now and give the next 6 weeks over to making these guys a 6-week finale, and then just call them both America's Favorite Pair.

The judges pretty much say the same thing. They're a "power couple", they're "extra buck". It's a re-watch for me.

Dance #6 (Couple #5)
Couple: Ashley & Chris
Choreographer: YES! Sonya Tayeh
Style: Jazz
Theme: Half Creepy/Zombie
Song: Lights Go Down by Telepathe

It's another character-based routine. Let's face facts, the problem is that they went after Melanie & Marko. Chris is really a great partner here. And I think it looks like he's worked on the technical side too. There's nothing outstanding as being terribly out of place.

Nigel thinks they were too technical. And Mary starts talking as if this could be one of the bottom dances of the night.

Dance #7 (Couple 06)
Couple: Clarice & Jess
Choreographer: Jean-Marc Genereux
Style: Foxtrot
Theme: A crooner who decides to dance instead. You got me
Song: Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra

I really like this routine actually. Jess' personality isn't distracting...or Clarice brought hers up, I'm not sure which. But they worked really well this week and the scene where they traveled across stage with precision hands was just simplistic beauty. Jess is so light on his feet it's almost textbook and borderline unbelievable. He actually does display some Gene Kelly-ness in this one, and trust me, I never thought I'd write that.

Dance #8 (Couple 07)
Couple: Ryan & Ricky
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Style: Contemporary
Theme: Crumbling relationship
Song: With Every Heartbeat (acoustic) by Robyn

I just don't connect with Ryan for some reason. I don't know what it is. This dance is beautiful and the ribbon is difficult for sure. Ricky's partnering is right there and Ryan's finishing every movement, but there's just something that didn't grab me about this routine despite everything.

Dance #9 (couple 08)
Couple: Jordan & Tadd
Choreographer: Napoleon & Tabitha
Style: Hip Hop
Theme: Just two wild & crazy college students bed hopping
Song: Memories by David Guetta f/ Kid Cudi

Jordan is out slightly out of her element here with hip hop. I just don't think it's as impressive as last week's Sasha or Miranda's hip hop routines. Tadd is crazy good and he picks up the slack in the routine.

Dance #10 (group dance) Melanie, Jordan, Ashley, Caitlynn, Ricky, Jess, Robert and Alexander
Choreographer: Dee Capary
Song: Poison & Wine by The Civil Wars

So that's it for the performance show. If I'm guessing, Chris is going home for the guys and Ryan goes home for the girls. I think the bottom three couples might be Ashley & Chris (for their creepy half-dead routine) Miranda & Robert and Ricky & Ryan. This season is seriously difficult. I think it might come down, for the next couple of weeks, just to who has a more appealing personality. When the personality and the dance comes together (like it did for Jess and Mitchell tonight) it's really tough. I love Robert & Miranda though, so I don't want to see either go home. We'll find out in a mere 23 hours!

If I'm throwing out Youtube suggestions or internet viewing suggestions, I'd go with Melanie & Marko's and Jess & Clarice's.

SYTYCD Top 20 (again)

2011-06-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

The President Obama thinks he can Pre-Empt Edition

By now, you've just sat through President Obama's speech commemorating the 10th year we've been in Afghanistan and that the troops will start to be withdrawn.

I've been extremely distracted with trying to get this new look for the blog up and running. I hope you like it. If you don't like it, I hope you don't tell me. But let's try for the quickest re-cap of So You Think You Can Dance in my (albeit recent) re-cap history. Part of what will also make this re-cap so quick is that I honestly can't even bear to write down the "embarrassing things we learn about contestants" montages.

There's a quick reminder of the DRAMA from last week. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE PEOPLE!! And then, without so much as an opening dance (perhaps because of the President's speech or perhaps because we've got to keep things moving here with 20 contestants still) we're into the partner introductions.

Sasha & Alexander win the intros with an impressive throw!

Tonight's Judges are Nigel, Mary and Debbie Reynolds. I'm good with this decision. Debbie has proven her chops. If you can keep up with Gene Kelly and you've grown old gracefully, you've certainly earned the right to judge some flashy young'uns. I can't wait to see what she has to say about Jordan.

Cat: Debbie...it's fantastic to have you here
Debbie: It's fantastic to be alive!

This should be all sorts of wonderful

Dance #1:
Couple: Ryan & Ricky
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Style: Jazz
Song: Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer
We're warned that this is "x-rated" and that they just feel "awkward". Luckily the only thing awkward is Ricky's faux-leather corset and suspenders ensemble. This is a great song and the dancing is solid. None of that weird smiling from Ryan that we had last week. They at least attempt to get in to character and the moves are done with the necessary precision.

Oh no, during the break we get a glimpse of the remake of Footloose. This has awful written all over it. I'm not even sure what accent the guy playing Wren is supposed to be doing. It sounds like it might be some sort of Boston-related accent, if a Boston accent sounded like someone was literally trying to swallow their words. It's the same exact movie, but with less relevance and even more already-built-in nostalgic cheese. Oh and old buses instead of tractors.

Dance #2:
Couple: Caitlynn & Mitchell
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
Style: Contemporary
Theme: Relationship gone haywire!
Song: Turning Tables by Adele
For the first few bars, it's hard to concentrate on Mitchell. He seems so far away on television. He has a giant jetee that is beautiful though. There's the usual punctuated dramatic reaches, but it flows well and they seem to be a really good partnership. Solid and borderline impressive. We find out Mitchell has unintentionally gone all Ike Turner on Caitlynn.

Dance #3:
Couple: Missy & Wadi
Choreographer: Jean-Marc Genereux
Style: Cha-Cha
Theme: SPICY!
Song: Cannibal by Kesha

It's not as impressive as their routine last week, and they seem to be dragging a bit, but they're both really trying to keep it together. Wadi is especially trying, but it's just not all come together quite yet. Whoa, Nigel is already telling Wadi "if you're in the bottom three..." but they can't praise Missy enough.

Dance #4:
Couple: Iveta & Nick

Choreographer: Nakul Dev Mahajan

Style: Bollywood

Theme: LIGHTNING!!

Song: Baawre from the Luck By Chance soundtrack

Bollywood, when done even adequately, is impressive to me, but their timing seemed a bit off and I don't know that Iveta really finished off all over her wrist flicks, etc. Debbie admits that attempting to do Bollywood would "Freak Her OUT!"

Dance #5:

Couple: Robert & Miranda

Choreographer: Napoleon & Tabitha

Style: Hip Hop

Theme: Woodpeckers...what?

Song: Break Ya Neck by Busta Rhymes

I'm pretty psyched that Robert got Hip Hop and Miranda does more than keep up. This is a really impressive routine. I hate to jump the gun, but it's reminiscent of the Outa Your Mind Routine though this routine never reaches the speed of that one. But the precision is well done and Miranda does a standing backflip. Come on!

Debbie's words "They're just fabulous"

Dance #6:

Couple: Jess & Clarice

Choreographer: Stacey Tookey

Style: Contemporary

Theme: A Royal Love Story with lifts!

Song: Cathedrals by Jump Little Children

Jess is not in his element and Clarice is. That's the easiest way to describe this. I mean Jess is ok, but he's awkward in the partnering here.

Debbie's words: "Let's all go home with Mommy Debbie"

Dance #7:

Couple: Tadd & Jordan

Choreographer: Jean-Marc Genereux

Style: Viennese Waltz

Theme: Space & Grace

Song: Fade Into Me by David Cook

Uh Oh, there's a bench involved. This instantly conjures up images of one of the most-known routines of all-time on this show. It's not as good as that routine, but it's definitely more of a success than the Cha-Cha routine. It was actually really well done on both of their parts.

Debbie's Words: I actually think what she says is slightly blasphemous and I'm having trouble typing it. Ok, here goes she says "Have you ever heard of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire...and Cyd Charisse...you were just as beautiful as them".

Dance #8

Couple: Marko & Melanie

Choreographer: Mandy Moore

Style: Jazz

Theme: Hats and old school style

Song: Sing with a Swing (Raf Marchesini Radio Edit) by DKS

I think Marko has the flashier role here and his partnering is definitely solid. I love this couple. I can't help it, they're fantastic.

Debbie's Words: I thought "if he doesn't catch her you'll be split"

Dance #9:

Couple: Alexander & Sasha

Choreographer: Napoleon & Tabitha

Style: Hip Hop

Theme: Soldier Comes Home

Song: Coming Home by Diddy Dirty Money (I feel a little dirty money just having written that alias) and Skylar Grey

It's an impressive amount of eye contact to build the chemistry. I think the first part is stronger than the second part though. And I still think Alexander is the weaker dancer in this partnership. Sasha just tears up the floor.

Debbie's words: "We loved you"

Dance #10:

Couple: Chris & Ashley

Choreographer: Spencer Liff

Style: Broadway

Theme: The Big House (with props in the form of bars) with a side of sexual tension

Song: Please Mr. Jailer by Rachel Sweet

Chris displays a surprising amount of upper-body strength through the routine. It is kind of odd that there isn't much use of stage space with this number but there's a lot of stuff that works here. It's a bluesy slinky song with matching choreography.

Debbie's Words: "You're just wonderful, you're both great...sensational"

Oh man, Debbie better be back tomorrow!

Speaking of tomorrow, if I'm calling it, the bottom three dances are:

Missy & Wadi

Jess & Clarice

Iveta & Nick

But I was having a difficult time coming up with a third dance. I do think this week changed a lot of perceptions. It'll be intriguing to see who gets the boot now. Or maybe they don't get a boot, maybe they get to go home with Mommy Debbie.

Songs in Scenes

2011-06-21T10:48:00.000-07:00

Looking for the perfect introduction to soundtrack compilations? Record Club attempted to make one this morning and here's how it turned out. Hope this keeps you occupied and entertained!

Ok, so there are 20 tracks:

Here’s the Link to the Playlist:

http://grooveshark.com/#/playlist/Songs+In+Scenes/55675823

Here’s the Track Listing:

Moon River- Audrey Hepburn- Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Pusherman- Curtis Mayfield- SuperFly

Ride Of The Valkyries- (Wilhelm) Richard Wagner- Apocalypse Now

Stuck In The Middle With You- Stealer’s Wheel- Reservoir Dogs

4 Sho Sho- North Star f/ RZA- Ghost Dog

Ecstasy of Gold- Ennio Morricone- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Power of Love- Huey Lewis & The news- Back To The Future

Zip Code- Black Knights- Ghost Dog

Let’s Get It On- Jack Black- High Fidelity

Superfly- Curtis Mayfield- Superfly

This One’s From The Heart- Tom Waits & Crystal Gayle- One From The Heart

Fast Shadow- Wu Tang Clan- Ghost Dog

A Quick One While He’s Away- The Who- Rushmore

The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Bob Dylan- Watchmen

End Credits-John Williams- Jurassic Park

GoldFinger- Shirley Bassey- Goldfinger

Samurai Showdown- RZA- Ghost Dog

Through the Roof N Underground- Gogol Bordello- Wristcutters: A Love Story

Wake Up- Rage Against The Machine- The Matrix

Lux Aeterna- Clint Mansell- Requiem for a Dream

A little Acronym Extra

2011-06-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

Since Christopher Scott has featured so prominently in this season of So You Think You Can Dance, and since sometimes I forget that Lil' C is an amazing dancer when he's so busy trying to put together cryptic verbal rhymes as comments, I thought that this would be an appropriate extra to put up on the blog. It's the Leage of Extraordinary Dancers (LXD) at the TED Conference

If you haven't heard of TED, there are a ton of talks worth taking a look at everything ranging from amazing new scientific information to intriguing solutions to world problems. You can find a quick overview of the conference on the Wikipedia page

Or you can go directly to the TED Conference Page and click on whichever one sounds the most appealing to you

SYTYCD- This isn't goodbye...well it kind of is

2011-06-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

It's Thursday and that means the legs are on the chopping block on So You Think You Can Dance. Cat's wearing an incredibly pink number and after reassurances about how difficult this season is going to be we're into it:

Group Intro Dance:
Song: XR2- M.I.A.

It's pretty awesome. It's like a combination of Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation meeting Lady Gaga and it's choreographed by Sonya Tayeh, so you know you can't go wrong.

July 30th is going to be National Dance day in case you're interested in taking part in it. I'm almost positive that there's a chance that we'll be hearing more about this in upcoming episodes, so relax in case you feel like you just MUST hear more details.

First three couples up:

Marko & Melanie
Wadi & Missy
Iveta & Nick

All of them are safe, although based on her leopard print leotard, I'm not entirely certain that Iveta doesn't deserve to spend a night being questioned by the fashion police.

Next up:
Chris & Ashley
Jordan & Tadd- Bottom Three
Caitlynn & (injured) Mitchell- Mitchell is already in the Bottom Three/ Caitlynn is safe
Jess & Clarice- Bottom Three

Keri Hilson is the first extraneous performance of the season. I always love how when they're on SYTYCD, the performers feel the need to prove that they can dance too. Keri takes the entire first chorus off to show off what is described in the song as "shake, wind and roll".

Ricky & Ryan- Safe- mmmmm well I'm happy Ricky is sticking around
Alexander & Sasha- safe
Robert & Miranda- Bottom Three

Next up, they bring on a dancer to show us just how the Gopak is supposed to look. It's basically just leap after leap and while the amount of air is quite impressive, it's still nothing that any of the dancers on this show should be expected to know. People need to cut Janine and Phillip some slack, it wasn't their fault. Though it is still in the running for worst routine ever on this show

Mitchell's solo is to John Mayer's "Say". And it's impressive. He stands on his one-legged developpe for an impressive amount of time

Jordan's solo is to Nadia Oh's "Hot Like Wow", presumably because we're supposed to acknowledge that Jordan is indeed "Hot Like Wow". I get it, I'm just over her schtick. Her supposedly sexy shoulder shimmies shake her one-side fringed bra which gives her wow-factor a decidedly lopsided feel and then proceeds to basically prance instead of dance. I was trying to be kind last night but the gold lame underpants are just too much for me to handle. There's nothing that impressive about her solo. I hope she's outie 5000 after this.

Tadd's solo is to Brian Setzer Orchestra's "Jump Jive and Wail". If you were old enough to turn a radio dial in 1998, chances are, you might have given yourself some sort of partial lobotomy after hearing this song more than 5 times in one day. It's an interesting choice for a breaker though and he still has impressive stuff.

Clarice's solo is to Christina Aguilera's Glam. I still think Clarice is more talented than she showed last night. I'd like to see her given a second chance.

Jess's solo is to Robbie William's Mr. Bojangles. There really is something wonderful about watching him dance, I just wish he didn't feel the need to over-do it on the screen time. We get it, you're "that guy" but like Gaga says best, just dance Jess, just dance.

Miranda's solo is to Leona Lewis' version of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and she is totally dancing for her life. She opens with a gigantic leap and a forward, hands-free cartwheel. She's taking it seriously and I think she most definitely should be sticking around.

Robert's solo is to Omarion's "Electric" He pulls a bunch of stuff from the Michael Jackson playbook.

Lady Gaga is going to be a guest judge later on this year, so she has that going for her and they're premiering her new video for "Edge of Glory" aka one of the two songs I like from her, mainly because it has an extremely strong whiff of Bruce Springsteen about it, thanks to Clarence Clemons' sax and the angsty "us against the world" sensibility of the lyrics. It's all Madonna outfits and Billy Jean setting but I can't deny it's compulsive sing-along-with-ability and Uh oh! They don't finish the whole video. Somewhere little monsters put their paws up and roared out in horror at being cheated out of the entire video! That's ok, I'm sure it was on Youtube either earlier today or about 30 seconds after Fox started airing it.

Calm down kids, here you go:

The Judges Decision and they're asking Mitchell and Robert to dance again, so I'm going to guess that the decision is between these two. I have to say I think Robert tried to change it up a bit while Mitchell pretty much stuck with the same stuff. Granted, it's a tough place to be put in, but that might have been part of the reasoning behind getting them to dance again too, just to see what they bring to the table.

Nigel insists on using nicknames and calls Jess "Jessie" several times.
They're not sending ANYONE home this week..WHAAATT?!?! This is a competition people. As retribution, two couples are going home next week. Boo! I hate these games. I'm sorry if you guys spent time reading this update just to find out that no one went home. But please, don't poke a stick in the messenger's bike. I can't do anything but write down what's happened.

So there you have it, 10 more performances to look forward to next week and probably more interesting short shorts for Jordan to pull out of the wardrobe trunk. If they put Robert in glasses again, I might very well cry.

SYTYCD-Top 20-So Let It Be Choreographed, So Let It Be Done

2011-06-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday, kind readers, and that means, it's indeed time time to buy your tickets for the Hot Tamale train. You all will be riding first class, since you've agreed to read my blog. There are some poor saps who'll be traveling second class. They'll be guide-less through this dance odyssey which is filled with crazy themes, glitter, sparkles, strained ligaments and, of course, high-powered screams but that's an individual choice. So with that said, it's time to get to the Top 20 performances!

Last week Cat was in her feel good, summer white dress, a dress fit for a celebration! This week Cat's in a somber (albeit sequined) black number, presumably since this is the first week some dancers will get the "Thanks, but you're not anywhere close to America's favorite dancer" speech. It's always a tough week, because, like another great Cat, Cat Stevens, once said, "the first cut is the deepest".

If I'm being honest, which I usually try to be, if I were on this show, this introduction 10-seconds would scare the bejeezus out of me. It's not long enough to do anything vastly impressive, and yet, you have to say SOMETHING about who you are. I secretly titter at the ones who try to over-impress and the ones who look like deer in headlights. It's a fine line, intro-moves, a very fine line. You're best bet is to go with an impressive sort of backflip.

Tonight's Panel:

Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, and Megan Mullally (if you don't get it, I can assure you I don't really either, but she swears that A) she has a background in dance and B) She's a super-uber every-episode watching fan)

Also INJURY REPORT: Mitchell is out with some sort of wrist injury

Each contestant gets 8 seconds to say what they're about...hrrrmmmmm. Here are the highlights before we get to the dances:

Jordan: "I want to be a Pussycat Doll really bad"

Tadd :"when I was little I thought I was caucasian"

Sasha: She likes purple

Alexander: He Speaks Spanish

Clarice: She's shy sometimes

Jess: He specializes in Brodway and makes "funny" (annoying) noises

Ryan: She loves Mexican food and Law & Order: SVU

Ricky: He likes cheer music

Caitlynn: She's super excited about everything in life

Mitchell: He's allergic to onions and likes chocolate

Miranda: She has a nightlight

Robert: He loves wrestling and dogs and cats, but separately

Missy: She wants to marry an Australian

Wadi: He's born in Jamaica, raised in America and loves Japan

Melanie: she used to wear a helmet because she was/is narcoleptic

Marko: likes to eat and falls off chairs

Ashley: loves waffles and has swag

Chris: 1 of 7 kids

Iveta: She likes monkeys

Nick: clearly is not taking this 8 second thing seriously. I like it

Dance #1

Dancers: Tadd & Jordan
Style: Afro Jazz
Choreographer: Sean Cheesman
Theme: "It's inspired by the lava of a volcano"...of course
Music: Afro Celt Sound System- Riding the Waves

The costumes have a tribal thing going on which means there's not much material spread amongst the two and they've both got pink streaks in their hair. The opening pose is impressive as are Jordan's extensions. Tadd has a lot of strength as a partner and overall it's a solid, high energy performance. No glaring mistakes.

Nigel says "that volcano exploded all over the stage". I'll leave you to do with that comment as you will.
The rest of the comments are pretty much a love fest.

Dance #2 :
Dancers: Alexander & Sasha
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Travis Wall
Theme: Alexander's conscious is literally coming back to "tear him to shreds"
Song: Sarah McLachlan - Stupid (the Mark Bell Mix)

Sasha is a powerhouse, and that could just be because of the way that the dance was choreographed, but it's still more impressive on her part than on Alexander's.

All of the judges say pretty much the same thing. Except unfortunately Nigel calls "Alexander" "Alex" and I don't think he's an "Alex".

Dance #3:
Dancers: Jess and Clarice
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Theme: They're in love (or something like that)
Song: Liza Minelli- Me and My Baby

It's tough for me to admit, but Jess does have a great stage presence for this routine. He's perfectly sharp and even though his part of the routine isn't the showy part, your eyes keep getting drawn to him. Jess's dad, I'm guessing, has made a "vote yes for Jess" poster and mom and dad have matching shirts with his face on them. I'm curious to see how he does in other genres. His personality is just too big for me, but his dancing is really impressive.

Nigel tells Clarice, she's going to need to step it up to keep up with Jess.

Dance #4:
Dancers: Ryan & Ricky
Style: Lyrical Hip Hop
Choreographer: Dave Scott
Theme: It's a love story...but she's gone
Song: Lighthouse Family- Ain't No Sunshine

Ryan keeps smiling and I don't think it's really required for this dance routine. I think Ricky gets it more than Ryan, but that could be my own objections to Ryan. I don't know, I'll hear what the judges have to say.

Nigel says the same thing but I think he gives her too much credit. Over the last four dances, we've had stars made and favorites declared. Relax guys, it's just the first episode. And Ryan gets the chance to over-complicate things by explaining why she was smiling. Blah.

Dance #5:
Dancers: Caitlynn & Mitchell
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Theme: What we can accomplish without fear
Song: La Roux- In for the Kill (Skream's Let's Get Ravey Remix)

Since Mitchell's out, Season 7's Robert is IN as the stand-in. If you don't remember Robert, you need to watch THIS

It's a powerful routine that just seems to flow. There are some great moves and lifts. I think I just have to get used to Caitlynn's relentlessly positive attitude. It's not a bad thing and not her fault. Caitlynn's extensions are also out of control and she has great ability, it just makes me realize that I can't wait until Sasha gets paired up with a Sonya Tayeh routine

Mary Murphy gets super excited about this one and Sonya tells Caitlynn several times that she loves her. This girl has the judges in the palm of her hand.

Robert also has a gigantic personality, so much that it also sometimes overshadows his talent

Dance #6:
Dancers: Miranda & Robert
Style: Latin
Choreographer: Jason Gilkison
Theme: She's out of his league, but he's going for it anyway
Song: Bruno Mars- Runaway Baby

Again, Robert's in the Urkel glasses, and I'm beginning to be slightly annoyed. It's just a really fun, clean routine. It's not as impressive or deep as the previous ones have been, but I thought they had a really great partnership.

And Robert is the first person that Nigel picks on. He tells him that now he's got to point his toes and he says that Miranda is going to have to work harder to keep up with the other girls. And Marry boards the Hot Tamale train for the first time.

Dance #7:
Dancers: Missy & Wadi
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Sean Cheesman
Theme: Pandora's box has just been opened & what's inside are your demon clones
Song: Lady Gaga- Judas (Rehab Remix)

Ok, that ridiculously high arabesque turn was impressive. And holy crap, Wadi is all over and backflipping off that box. It's a routine that definitely leaves its mark. Their timing was a bit off sometimes, but I think that their commitment to the whole thing almost takes the sting off of that.

Dance #8:
Dancers: Marko & Melanie
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Travis Wall
Theme: 2 statues who come alive
Song: Ingrid Michaelson- Turn to Stone

Holy crap. I can't believe how power-packed this routine is. I have very high expectations. Ok when the chorus kicks in, I legitimately have chills. These two were in my list of favorites last week and they just strengthen their positions with this performance. Travis Wall is unfairly talented. Marko's traveling handstand is such a show of quiet strength and Melanie's developpes and arabesques are what they teach in workshops that people wish they could do.

All three judges are on their feet and Mary's actually choked up. And Nigel whips out the "E" word- Emmy.

Dance #9:
Dancers: Ashley & Chris
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographer: Chris Scott
Theme: Cheater, cheater
Song: Cee Lo Green- Forget You

The timing seems to be an issue here, with Chris being a little slow but no one says anything outright, so maybe it's all in my head.

Dance #10:
Dancers: Nick & Iveta
Style: Ballroom/Quickstep
Choreographer: Jason Gilkison
Theme: teach Nick how to do Ballroom
Song: Sweet- Ballroom Blitz

I'm conflicted about how I feel about this partnership. Iveta doesn't seem to dig the fact that Nick's her partner at first, but everyone loves the performance.

This is going to be a really really tough season to predict on a weekly basis. After this week, I think

Bottom three boys are
Alexander, Ricky and Mitchell

Bottom three girls are:
Ryan, Clarice, and Jordan

But only time and phone calls and online votes will tell.

In Focus- Super 8 is.... Super Gr8

2011-06-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

You knew that title was coming right? I mean I didn't really fool anyone with it, and although it's not the most clever thing that has ever whirled through my cortex, I kind of like it, so I'm keeping it, thank you very much.
I'll also warn you that this is also going to be a completely biased take on this movie so if you're looking for more objective opinions, perhaps more takes on the technical aspect of the film, I encourage you to check out my friend Chris' blog HERE. As it is, this will probably end up sounding like a love letter to Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams, and you know what, at this very moment, I kind of feel as if that's warranted.
I'm contemplating the idea of writing a separate blog to really flesh out why I had the reaction I had to this movie, my own homage to Spielberg, which is probably long overdue, and just keeping this as succinct as possible, which, really, is probably the best option. If you clicked here, you wanted to know about Super 8, not about how I cry every time I watch E.T. right? So here goes.
To put things as simply as possible, with all romanticism intended, I feel like the quote on the TV spot for Super 8, the one that says something to the effect of "Spielberg and Abrams remind us of what it means to go to the movies" is entirely appropriate and deserved. I've never been the kind of person who could only take technicalities alone into consideration. I'm more of a heart-on-your-sleeve/sob-not-so-quietly-into-your-napkin/I-can't-believe-that-commercial-where-the-dad-drops-the-daughter-off-at-college-made-me-weep-openly kind of girl. I like emotion. I like feeling my heart strings tugged. I enjoy nostalgia as much as I enjoy looking forward. Super 8 is like the best of all of those things combined, and while it's not perfect, it's entirely satisfying.
Directed by J.J. Abrams, the current heir to Spielberg's story-telling throne, Super 8 begins on a cold winter's day made all the more bleak by a funeral. In the fictional town of Lillian, OH, and steeped in the atmosphere of 1979 Americana, Joe Lamb (newcomer Joel Courtney) has lost his mother in a factory accident. "Did you see what was in the coffin?" asks a young boy at a dinner table, and I mentally shake my first at Mr. Abrams because only he would be allowed to remind the audience that, oh yeah, I'm the guy who came up with LOST.
Skipping ahead 4 months, it's the last day of school and Joe and his friends are making plans to finish the movie they've been working on. Charles Kaznyk (Riley Griffiths) Joe's best friend is a Spielberg/Abrams hybrid, an ambitious boy with dreams that clearly stretch beyond the Cleveland film festivals, who is determined to make his zombie movie the best it could possibly be. Three other friends, over-anxious Martin (Gabriel Basso), entirely too cautious Preston (Zach Mills) and pyromaniacal Cary (Ryan Lee) make up the unlikely film crew and all are, presumably, besotted with Alice (Elle Fanning) a last minute addition to the production, a pretty girl from the wrong side of the tracks.
On the night of their big shoot, a train crash of magnificent proportions occurs, in which something that is decidedly not human escapes and begins to turn their small suburban paradise into a danger zone. The adventure that ensues is part creature feature, part disaster movie, and entirely a coming-of-age tale that is full of so much heart and innocence that it's difficult to leave feeling anything other than hopeful.

The comparisons of this film to Spielberg (who, in fact, produced Super 8) are inevitable, and some might say, through the marketing campaign, even welcomed. They're banking on the fact that you loved Spielberg as a kid, and if you did, chances are you'll like this too. But there's something essential that you must remember going into this movie. You must be entirely willing to lose yourself in the story, participate in escapism of the first degree. There are bits of what feels like just about every pre-Schindler's List Spielberg adventure movie, and I'm pretty sure that Abrams has not shied away from saying that yes, this is essentially an homage to the kind of movies that he watched as a kid, which just happened to be directed by, well, you know who.

Similiarities will most easily be seen with Close Encounters and E.T. Perhaps it's just that I'm less familiar with Close Encounters, but Super 8, side-by-side, seems most related to E.T. but not in entirely conventional ways. The fundamental details of Super 8 seem to be almost an exact negative of that film.

Where E.T. is a story about a middle child being raised by a single mother, Super 8 is the story of an only child being raised by a single father. Where E.T. is entirely about the creature, I would argue that this film only uses the creature as bait. While E.T. only featured Elliott and his bond with the (I think) adorable, wrinkly, pot-bellied alien until about the last 20 minutes of the film, Super 8 offers the audience is a glimpse at what it would have been like to see all of Elliott's brothers friends interact the entire time, with the focus on the bond of human relationships in the face of alien threats and all that entails.

And yet, there are similarities. The "them" in this US vs. Them scenario is the military and the boys must still ride their super-bitchin' BMX bikes and drive under-age to evade these (unfortunately) one-dimensional villains at every turn. There are glimpses of Jurassic Park, particularly in a scene involving an escape from a bus and there's a nice nod to Indiana Jones as, at one point, Kyle Chandler is forced to knock a guy out and take his uniform to blend in (a moment which elicited whoops from our audience). There are reminiscences of JAWS in the buildup of the suspense of the creature reveal and the adults still just don't really get what it's like to be a kid and remain in the periphery of the story until their necessary moment of clarity arrives but these are all things I'm fine with. And while it would be tempting to say "hey this sounds almost EXACTLY like (insert film title here)" there are enough of the films technical aspects to set it apart as a J.J. Abrams movie.

The train crash is an impressive visual, and the photography and lighting are heightened and, in moments, especially the moments at night, there's a slightly futuristic feel to the exposed lighting and glints that are often cast on the actors. The soundtrack is also distinctively Abrams, once again handing over the score reigns to Michael Giacchino, whose subtle emotive notes seem to make every moment complete. When there isn't original score playing there is the constant reference to pop music, everything from Blondie's Heart of Glass to The Knack's My Sharona substituting as your guide to awareness of where you are in time and place. Funnily enough, it was this aspect that stood out to me as distinctly different from Spielberg. While (I'll be presumptive and call him) Steve's films always have the ever-present John Williams, he rarely branches out into pop territory. This is one of the clearest indicators that this is a film made by a man who was actually 13 during 1979, and the clearest indicator that there is, along with a lot of fantastical elements in the film, also a nice chunk of nostalgia and authenticity that inform its production. By casting relative unknowns, Abrams has allowed for the kind of clean-slate experience that audiences so rarely get these days. Most of us have no preconceived notions of Joel Courtney or Ryan Lee or Riley Griffiths, and so we allow them to be what we see onscreen: boys figuring out that the world may not always be what they want it to be, but still with enough ignorance to believe they can make things right. I have to say, that the casting of Joel Courtney is equal parts luck and brilliance, as he's a young actor that has such an open, honest face he can convey the emotion in the raise of an eyebrow, and heck, you just want to root for him. Elle Fanning is a standout as well, and Abrams brilliant direction of her first "zombie movie" scene does almost make you stop and stare. It's the kind of understated, hit you in the gut, kind of scene that can be found in these kinds of movies, my favorite example being the scene of Brody and Michael at the dinner table in JAWS.

Is the film perfect? Not entirely. For me it loses steam with the military storyline. That's just there for the explosions budget, to keep the people who are getting too antsy for a Michael Bay movie, at, well at bay. But it shines in it's moments featuring the kids, and that's the majority of the film. For me, what Abrams has done so well is he's captured the ESSENCE of why people fell in love with Spielberg films; he's captured the emotions. When I think of Spielberg's older films, the ones that are truly a part of my childhood and the fiber of who I am, one word comes to mind: wonder. It is not the type of wonder that is used as a verb, to ponder or deliberate. It's the kind of wonder that is used as a synonym for awe, the kind of feeling that can only really be experienced when you're open to believing in something because your unawareness of what life might have in store for you hasn't yet taken root to allow for cynicism to grow. That kind of wonder is what Super 8 has in spades, and I'm ok falling for that, even if it's not my first time at this rodeo. It's a movie about growing up, first loves, what it means to be afraid, and learning to let go. And what can I say, I sometimes just love movies made by guys who love movies the same way I do and aren't afraid to let it show.

Overall : 5

Out Of The Moo

2011-06-11T16:13:00.000-07:00

Two things happened to me today that I absolutely did not see coming.

1. Due to my indecisive nature, once I had run through the second season of The Adventures Of Merlin on Hulu (thanks Hulu!), I decided to take a risk on the ABC mid-season replacement sitcom "Happy Endings". Kind of an odd title, and the pilot wasn't completely stellar, but every episode I have watched after that has made me actually laugh out loud. Not just pretend I did and write in a text as LOL. The dialog is so weirdly wonderful with pop culture references that it almost seems like something Joss Whedon or Josh Schwartz would do, and I feel like if it were on any other network, they might pimp it out a little more to give it the credit it deserves.

If you want a sample of what I'm talking about, here's some of the dialog from Episode 10:

Dave: Just tell me one thing. What would Segal do in this situation?
Max: Well I think it's pretty cut and dry. He'd fly over to Bo's house on an eagle, leap through the front window tear his throat out use it as a dream catcher and then ride away on a polar bear.

Watch this please!!

2. I saw this on my drive back from work- you're welcome:

SYTYCD-Let the Countdown Begin! Top 20 Revealed

2011-06-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

Well the good news is that massive rains and storms have melted some of the heat away, the bad news is, I'm on pins and needles as to whether our cable and/or power will hold out. So far (I'm knocking on my wooden coffee table as I write this) everything looks good. Welcome back, if you're a returning reader, or just "Welcome!" if you're new to the blog or SYTYCD, in general. It's time to chill out with an open window or a fan and your favorite drink or food (I'm dining on Chinese takeout tonight, hey I warned you I was lazy) as you settle in to watch some dancer's dreams get dashed, some dancers wishes fulfilled and some truly great over-exaggerations!

Cat Deeley welcomes us too and it's off to the races

Cat's lacey white dress signals us that this is indeed a big night. Tonight, as the dancers are revealed, they'll perform, so we're kind of jumping right in this season. 9 performances are happening tonight. Good, I was getting slightly antsy.

Our Judges tonight: Robin Antin, Lil' C, Tyce Diorio, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe

This season: There will be a Top 20, and then when they get down to Top 10, the All-Stars will be brought in to partner, which actually sounds like a pretty good compromise:

It's time to see how everything's panned out and also time for
Over-Exaggeration #1: "The dancer's will take THE LONGEST WALK OF THEIR LIVES"
We watch as all of the dancers are herded into a waiting room with dramatic replays and the echoing of frantic statements: "But She's A DANCER Dancer dancer"

Ricky from Salt Lake City- IN
Miranda-IN
Melanie-IN (she's a Top 5 pick for me)
Abigail- OUT
Kate (I think) - OUT
Natalia & Sasha- Sasha is IN/ Natalia is OUT

First routine: Ricky, Miranda, Melanie and Sasha
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
Style: Contemporary
Song: In This Shirt by The Irrepressibles
Fog fills the stage to lend some more drama and it's a routine filled with great choreography. Each dancer gets a moment to shine, as well as a couple of lifts and partnering moments. There was a particularly great section where all 4 of them are together for 3 8-counts before moving across the stage together, but broken out by horizontal and vertical partnering. It's really beautiful.

Chris Cole- IN
Wadi - IN
Tadd- IN

Song break: Diana Ross- Reach Out & Touch (Somebody's Hand)

Little O (Virgil)- OUT (why?!?)
Drace- OUT
Robert Taylor Jr.- IN!
Bryce "Professor Lock" Johnson-OUT

Second Routine: Chris, Wadi, Tadd & Robert
Choreographer: Dave Scott
Style: Hip Hop
Song: Everyday (Coolin') by Swizz Beatz featuring Eve
Totally enjoyable. I'm a little worried for Robert because he seems like he might have taken on some sort of "Urkel" mantle, which one might say the routine was built around, but it was still filled with great tricks, a bit of everyone's personality, and hard, precise hits. I can't wait to see more from these guys.

Leni-OUT
Iveta- Mary is getting super choked up now- IN

And since there's only going to be one (Strictly) Ballroom dancer this year, she gets her own routine:
Third Routine: Iveta and Pasha (from Season 3)
Choreographer: Jason Gilkison
Style: Ballroom- looks like Paso Doble
Song: On the Floor- J. Lo featuring Pitbull
And we get awfully close to boarding the Hot Tamale train. I would probably like Iveta more if she hadn't stooped to stripper-cop status in Vegas.

Judges Decisions Flashback:
Clarice: IN
Bridget: OUT
Marko: IN (with a bullet...get it...no good?)
Jordan: IN
Missy: IN

Routine #4: Clarice, Marko, Jordan and Missy
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh (YAY!!!)
Style: Jazz
Song: Vanguardian- Steed Lord
God, I love Sonya Tayeh's dances, I always have!! They're like Nine-Inch Nails meets Martha Graham meets dystopian society. Seriously, "gorgeous power" is the way to describe it. They all held their own, but Marko stood out since he was the only guy.

Judges Flashback:
Jess: IN (despite Nigel calling him arrogant)
Nick: IN

Playing in the background: "The Winner Is" by Devotchka (if it sounds familiar it's because it can be heard on the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack)

Routine #5: Nick & Jess
Choreographer: Christopher Scott
Style: Broadway Tap
Song: Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter by Nina Simone
I'll admit it. I like Nick. Especially when he's directly up against Jess. Man that is a crazy routine though and they both did a great job, and Jess especially had the James Brown moves down. Just saying, if it comes down to a choice between the two, I'm picking Nick.

Judges Flashback:
Caitlynn: IN
Ashley: IN
Ryan: IN
Alexa: OUT
Mitchell: IN
Alexander: IN
Jeremiah: OUT

OOF...an interesting last group:
Routine #6: Ryan, Caitlynn, Ashley, Mitchell and Alexander:
Choreographer: Travis Wall (another favorite)
Style: Contemporary
Song: Moth's Wings by Passion Pit
For some reason, the first thing this routine reminds me of is the Viva La Vida Coldplay routine that Billy Bell was part of a couple seasons ago:

It's a gorgeous routine that, for me, is so fantastic because, of course, the moves are there, but it's about a feeling, a motion.

Routine #7: Top 10 Guys
Choreographer: Christopher Scott
Style: Hip Hop with a touch of Contemporary
Song: Velocity by Nathan Lanier

In case you're curious, Plan B's "Welcome To Hell" is also playing again in the background during the guys "contemporary" rehearsal moments

With the opening and closing doors and the sharp suits it feels like The Matrix meets Inception and it's pretty awesome. By the time you get to the Fouette turns it's been on like Donkey Kong for a while. Nigel also says it reminds him of The Matrix, so I'm in good company.
Hahahahha Nigel does make a comment about the audience not just favoring the boys on this program "unlike other programs" which shall remained unnamed. Hey Nigel, don't you produce both though?

Routine #8: Top 10 Girls
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Style: jazz geisha creepy girls
Song: Prop Drop & Roll by Chronique Sneed & Lisette Bustamante
Again, I always feel like it's possible that Sonya might very well be a replicant sent through time from Blade Runner to bring the world amazing dances. Also these costumes are brilliant.

Routine #9: Top 20 Dancers
Song: Little Bird by Annie Lennox

I have to say, I already do have some favorites, so I'll go ahead and put them out there:
Melanie, Wadi, Sasha, Marko, Ashley, Nick and Clarice. But the fantastic thing about this show is that there are always some surprises. It depends on the dance, the choreography, everything. I mean Jose made it way farther than I thought he would, so out of this Top 20, things could get well and truly interesting. So here's hoping you guys found someone you're willing to see week after week for THE BEST DANCING IN THE WORLD...or at least the best dancing on network television. Until next week!

SYTYCD-Viva Rock Your Socks Off Vegas Round

2011-06-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in So You Think You Can Dance posts; there were family obligations to attend to last week and they unfortunately did not allow for viewing, so I'm two nights/3 episodes behind, but since we're still in the audition rounds I'm ok with that. My DVR luckily caught all of the auditions, and I'll go back and do quick re-caps (eventually, hopefully-I have a nasty habit of turning my procrastination into neglect), but for now, why linger in the past? Let's move this competition onwards and upwards. Since it's currently sweltering in my almost-stagnant apartment, it's appropriate that we're heading in to the (commercialized) desert to find the dancers who will go on; it also means that hopefully we don't have to put up with any more people who booty drop or crawl across the stage and say they were telling the story of a lovesick grasshopper. However, these rounds also mean lots of tears and pulled hamstrings. Honestly, I'm not sure which I prefer. That being said (in my Oprah-iest of Oprah voices) YOU'RE GOING TO LAAASSSSS VEGASSSSS...

On the Panel for Vegas Week: Robin Antin, Adam Shankman, Debbie Allen, Tyce Diorio, Mary Murphy, and Nigel Lythgoe

The ones who make the cut each day will proceed through 5 choreography rounds:

Round 1: Hip Hop
Round 2: Broadway
Round 3: Ballroom
Round 4: Group
Round 5: Contemporary

But not before they perform solos once again, with the possibility of being cut before they even get to the choreographed rounds. Seems like kind of a waste of a ticket to me, but surely Rupert Murdoch has money to burn and some poor 19 year old having their dreams dashed before they make it to the group round is worth the 300.00 bucks I'm sure. It's worth more perhaps, because it's Reality Television GOLD!!

I'm slightly tired of Yvetta. She's been here twice and now she's pulled out the big guns. And yes, by "guns" I mean her boobs, dressing as a stripper cop

Next up is Unitard Marlon. If he's one who made the cuts during city auditions, I'm wondering just how much of those I should go back and watch.

After 15, 7 are cut and Marlon certainly has something to say about the chop
A montage of tears

Uh Oh, I feel like the montage of sisterly love can only lead to upsetting things for one of them. Shockingly, both of them make it through to the next round! They're down to 114 dancers now, if you're keeping count, with 46 gone.

Napolean & Tabitha!!! are choreographing the hip hop routine, so it might be amazing!
Adam says they're basically keeping China around because she's a "beautiful girl". Blah
The NappyTabs routine proves to much for some and now it's time for the second-chance hip hop round, with Yvetta and China and all of the second-timers are through

Round 2: Broadway with Tyce, where apparently, the girls role is "100% trash". Tyce needs to write a book of quotes "You're filling in with LIFE!"
It seems like most people make it through Broadway round unscathed except for Five-Time Rebecca who the judges seem to have no sympathy for. If you do it a sixth time Rebecca, dress like stripper cop.

Round 3: Jive with Jason Gilkison
Oy, another Ryan Ramirez montage. Sooo tired of her. And now it's time to have a chat about how fat girls can't dance because, well, because they're fat. Poor Natalia. But after making an example of her, they give her a stronger partner and she went through! Alexis Mason (Janine's sister) gets a chance to dance for her life when Rebecca didn't. Curious. Does So You Think You Can Dance give legacy privileges?

Round 4: GROUP ROUND- get out your claws, because the fur's about to fly!
Natalia is down for the count. Her group is talking about how they're not a complete group without her and wouldn't perform without her. Hate to break it to you, but those dancers are going to dance no matter who's on the line.

This is the first time we get names with faces:
Group 1: Bridget, Caitlynn, Ricky, Clarice and Wadi perform to some vaguely 60s music that I couldn't find the name of. They are the most harmonious group, so harmonious they might have ridden in on Unicorns and the judges love them!

I love that Nigel keeps harping on the fact that Natalia is "overweight". She's "knocking down walls and barriers" and although Nigel probably means it in the best way possible, it make her sound a lot like Juggernaut from the X-Men. Get over it Nigel! I could have told you years ago that you don't have to be a size 2 to dance. It's just the spandex that's a real bitch.

Round 5: Contemporary- with Travis Wall
Ryan Ramirez is down with some sort of tailbone pain. That's no good. I didn't want that. Oh injuries, the killer of dancer's dreams. Natalia is also headed to the hospital, with low blood sugar. Ryan's back and she's through. Along with a bunch of other people who are sobbing their body weight in tears. Arielle looks like she's about to have a nervous breakdown, or she's auditioning for the role of crazy Mrs. Rochester who burns down the house. Jeremiah is far too emotional for me. DC doesn't want to go home, he doesn't want to go home and Debbie Allen verbally smacks the truth in to him and tells him to "MAN UP!"

It's the final day and that means one final solo
They make Natalia stand up there and tell everyone how it feels to be the bigger girl in classes, and everyone sheds a tear. Several more make the cut, but it's not the final cut. That will wait for tomorrow night, if you can wait that long, unfortunately my psychic powers are waning, I have to wait for sleep to recharge them, or I would tell you who the Top 20 will be. As it stands, we'll leave the hopefuls to their penthouse shennanigans and I'll meet whoever is still reading, back here tomorrow night. Well, not here, like with me, unless you're one of my roommates, just the generic here, like the rest stop on the Internet SuperHighway.

Songs included in this episode:
Queen- Keep Yourself Alive
Chicago Soundtrack-When You're Good To Mama (Yvetta)
Nicki Minaj-Fly
Awolnation-Sail
Adele-Rumour Has It
Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne-Look At Me Now
Fosse Soundtrack- I Gotcha
Oh Land- Sun of a Gun
Elvis- Blue Suede Shoes, but it seems like it's a re-mix
David Lanz- Variations on a Theme from Pachelbel's Canon in D Major
Young the Giant-My Body
Bruno Mars-Grenade
Plan B-Welcome to Hell
Vitamin String Quartet- Yellow
Michael Andrews -Mad World
The Temptations- I Wish It Would Rain
Requiem for a Dream soundtrack- Lux Aeterna

Post-Posting

I should apologize if I thoroughly confused any of you. The last track has been changed. Alexis Mason's final solo was done to "Lux Aeterna" from the soundtrack for the movie Requiem for a Dream. If you'd like to listen to it in its entirety just to make certain, you can listen here:

Also, there's another great website for So You Think You Can Dance fans here: Pure So You Think You Can Dance

Check them out, but hopefully keep coming back for my witty banter!

SYTYCD-The Heat Is On & The Flowers Are in Your Hair-ep.1/ep. 2

2011-05-26T20:09:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again people!! And I couldn't be more excited to be honest. The fall shows are wrapping and evenings in the summer tend to be lazy and what better way to be lazy than by watching other people dance and listening to (usually) good music?! Ever since American Idol jumped the shark (even I came to grips with the fact that that really happened in Season 7 and Season 8 was just the settling of the storm) I needed to find a reality show to replace it and So You Think You Can Dance has been it. Survivor is the default show, but luckily, they have opposite schedules, so it's a win-win for me. I can only handle one reality show on my viewing schedule. If I watched more than one, I'd both ruin my faith in humanity and ruin my possibility of sanity, so I cut my losses. I'm going to try to keep these short and concise, at least for the audition rounds and only focus on the serious dancers, I can already say that I'm not certain the former stripper featured in the preview will make my cut for blog-worthiness, unless her "booty dropping" is truly astounding

So here we are and 1st up is Atlanta:

Judges: Nigel, Mary Murphy, and Lil' C

Bianka-Columbian Salsa-I'm not great at judging ballroom. As long as your feet are moving, you've managed to not perform a face plant and you don't cause your partner to drop you, I assume you're doing well.
Result: Choreography- through to Vegas

Name:Melanie Moore
Style:Contemporary
Music: The Meadow-from the New Moon soundtrack
Backstory: She's an art student and her father passed away after a transplant.
Holy crap her lines and extensions are out of control. It's a routine packed with impressive moves but I agree with Nigel that I hope she can do other styles or that her talent translates to other routines.
RESULT: VEGAS BOUND

Name:Deon & Damon
Style: Hip Hop
Backstory: Just two dudes who love the ladies
For the goofy story, it's surprisingly well choreographed and sweet. I like these guys. Big personality and cheeky talent, hard to beat.
RESULT: VEGAS BOUND

Montage to B.O.B's MAGIC -10 Dancers, whose backstories we don't have, get sent straight through to Vegas.

Name: Marco Germar
Style: Contemporary
Music- James Morrison "If You Don't Wanna Love Me"
Backstory:Shot in the Shoulder
I'm always impressed by male contemporary dancers. It requires so much athleticism and Marco doesn't skimp throwing in several backflips. Oh Mary agrees with me and uses the word athleticism too! Put me in a chair! and name me conductor of the Hot Tamale Train!!
Result: Choreography-Through to Vegas

Holy crap Jakob's teaching choreography! Love that guy!

Name: Kimalee Piedad
Style: Contemporary
Music: Sarah Bareilles-Gravity
Backstory: None, but her non-competing partner has no need of a shirt, just a leather arm band. It's weird
Here's the deal. If you've watched this show, you know that one of the most beautiful routines, choreographed by Mia Michaels was done to this song featuring Kayla and Kapuono:

It's a tough song to use, in my opinion. She's good but I'm always weary of folks who bring a partner who's not trying out.
Result: VEGAS BOUND

Just a short mention of someone calling himself "White Chocolate" who insists on making things awkward. At least the montage of dancers not good enough to make the cut is done to a great song Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Off With Your Head"

Name: Kyre Batiste
Style: Hip Hop
Song: Eurythmics-Sweet Dreams
Backstory: Grandma's in the crowd and she's a pistol. I'm a sucker for these things.
Cleverly choreographed with spindly limbs that seem to not have need of joints. I'd love to see if this guy could do well in choreography. He seems like he could be a great wild card.
Result: Choreography- Not in- that's a bummer

Montage of 7 more dancers in: Lifehouse- All in All

SAN FRANCISCO (ep. 2)

Song: Marlena Shaw- California Soul (the Diplo/Mad DeCent Remix)
Judges: Tyce, Nigel, and Toni

Name: Amber Williams
Style: Contemporary
Song: Kesha- Boots & Boys
Backstory: This girl is the child that Ritalin was created for. She better be really good or her extremely high energy level will eat through that last nerve I'm hanging on to. I hate to admit she's pretty good. Athletic jumping, great extensions, and the all important "musicality".
Result: VEGAS BOUND

Name: Timothy Joseph
Style: B-Boy
Backstory: He likes to hit and hit hard
He does have impressive tricks, and there have been other contestants who have made it far starting out at B-Boy style, like Legacy in Season 6, so we'll see.
Result: Choreography-OUT due to injury

Quick stop for Ieshia Moss-aka The Booty Popper. She's all wigs and eye make-up and short Wellington boots. I wish I had 1/10 of her confidence

Name: Danielle
Style: Contemporary
Backstory: She's been abandoned by her dad but not before he caused the family to lose everything and become homeless
Song: Florence +The Machine-Cosmic Love
She's good but not phenomenal. A lot of dramatic pauses where there's no choreography besides walking forward.
Result: Choreography-Through to Vegas (and lots of boyband fan screaming ensues)

By the way, Cat Deeley might be one of the few people in the world who can carry off a jumpsuit.

Name:Ashley Rich
Style: Contemporary
Backstory: Dance is, like, who she is
Song: Marvin Sapp- The Best In Me
She has legs that go on for miles, seriously. It's unfair. Great control, musicality
Result: VEGAS BOUND

Montage of dancers to Whitney Houston's version of "You Light Up My Life"

Oh no, it's the rise of the Underdog and the Underdog is a crier. He cries so much it's uncomfortable and embarrassing
Song: LeToya- Lazy

Day 2:

Name: Jeffrey McCann
Style: B-Boy
Backstory: on his own at 15, hustler, dancing was his way out
Song: James Brown -Get on the Good Foot
More musical and choreographed than Timothy. Not as many backflips, but more similar to both Legacy and Jose, who made it fairly far in this competition in consecutive years.
Result: VEGAS BOUND

Name: Ryan Ramirez
Style: Contemporary
Backstory: I'm kind of over this girl. She was on last season and was **this close** to the Top 24, so she'll probably make it this time barring injury and/or stage fright. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the girl who's already worked with Mia Michaels?!
Song: Angus & Julia Stone-Walk It Off
She is good though and you can tell she's better at storytelling than some of the other contemporary dancers.
RESULT: VEGAS BOUND

Montage to Brooke Fraser's "Something in the Water"
Dancers featured : Whitney Bezzant & Lilly Nguyen

Feature on TURFing (Taking Up Room On the Floor) which includes aspects of Swagger/Feetwork/Pantomiming/Storytelling. I'll admit, I've never heard of this specific style

Name: Levi Allen
Style: TURFing
He's going to get major points for unique-ness. There's a lot required in this and the gliding is impressive. It's Michael Jackson inspired.
Result: Choreography- not through

7 more dancers do make it. We don't get their names
Exit Montage to Elsinore's "Yes Yes Yes"

Next Week: Salt Lake City and New York City- be there or if you're not watching, just know you're even lazier than I am. You can't sleep knowing that can you?!

Television Finales Op Ed-Glee Style

2011-05-24T22:34:00.000-07:00

Is Glee having a case of the Terrible Twos? I'm torn over my overall reaction to Season 2 but before I work this out by writing this out, let's jump back in time
Now, jump off your Hoverboard
2 years ago, probably almost to the day, the performance episode of the American Idol season finale was airing and Kris Allen was getting ready to surprise a very vocal, very angry group of Adam Lambert fans by taking the crown that year. It had been a pretty good evening over on Idol, back when Simon was still stewing in that last seat. But it was what came on next that I was actually even more, if that's possible, excited about. For several weeks by that point Fox had been airing TV spots and previews about a show featuring what seemed to be the Bad News Bears of show choirs. I was beyond excited and although a solid 60% of that excitement was due to the a cappella version of "Don't Stop Believing" that has now become synonymous with the series the other 40% of that excitement was due to the fact that I was in show choir in high school, am a sucker for music-related projects and still like high school-set dramas despite that fact that at my last birthday I blew out 28 candles. Well I didn't really, I didn't have enough room on my ice cream cupcakes for 28 candles but so goes life. Perhaps I'm poorly adjusted to adult life, but I was pretty into the idea of Glee. And then the pilot blew me away.
Granted, Fox had mounted it's 4 horseman of the media advertising apocalypse to make this show a success, most likely because it was such a risk (let's face it, the last musical telvision show had been Cop Rock and who remembers that?! Put your hand down Steven Sondheim!) Musicals are always categorized under "niche" for some reason and "niche" almost never translates to ratings. But it's first season Glee defied the odds. The fact that it had such tremendous financial backing was secondary to the creative team. Ryan Murphy & co, rarely play it safe. If you're looking for proof just check out "Nip/Tuck" and the criminally under-watched "Popular". He's a guy who seems to run with stereotypes so far that you're not sure whether you've been lapped by them, duped by them or flat out punched in the gut by them, but they almost never resemble what you thought they would. This was the guy who could lead us into the brave new world of post-millennium high school in a way we hadn't seen before and it worked. The writing was superb and funny and biting and sarcastic. Every line was a double edged sword or entendre or however you'd most appreciate it being put to you. It was new and fresh and musically delicious and who didn't love it? Besides men who are too afraid of admitting that a little dash of musicality here and there will always make life better, it seemed like almost everyone did.
I was excited for the second season. Sure there had been perhaps two or three episodes in season one (post-winter hiatus) that perhaps hadn't lived up to previous standards but those were tough standards anyway. Off the top of my head I'll say "Funk" for sure, left me wanting more, but overall, when I scan through the episode titles, I remember at least one performance, and therefore the general storyline of the episode. That's not so easy for me to do with this season.
The first six episodes (Auditions, Britney/Brittany, Grilled Cheesus, Duets, the Rocky Horror Glee Show and Never Been Kissed) were all somewhat reliable to me. Some people might complain about the theme episodes (Britney and Rocky Horror) but I'm really fine with these two. Others hated the blatant attempt to bring up the notion of religion with the Grilled Cheesus episode. For me, I enjoyed it. I thought the whole idea of Glee was built on the notion of satirization and if you can't stand the heat by all means, there's the kitchen door. As for Never Been Kissed, is there a person reading this blog who hasn't heard Darren Criss and the Beelzebubs performance (as Blaine and The Warblers)? It was maybe one of the best introductions for a character on a TV show in the last 5 years.
But then it felt like the sails on S.S. Glee started to droop. I'm aware that any ship that would be that big probably wouldn't have sails, but allow me my creative license. It seemed like there was just too much going on in a way. Actually that's where I'm torn, I'm not sure if I felt that there was too much or not enough or if that changed from episode to episode for me.
In a second season that had already introduced at least three new characters (Sam, Blaine, and the minor character of Coach Bieste) and promoted two more to a more regular basis, though still apparently as "guest stars" (Lauren Zizes and Mike Chang) it felt like, for all of the avenues that could have been pursued story-line wise, by the end of each episode I was underwhelmed. Everything has felt extremely haphazardly put together, like at the creative meetings, nothing much was turned down. Each episode looks like the visual equivalent of 5 people sitting around going "and then we can do this, and how about this, oh and don't forget about this story" in excited, rushed voices. The lack of cohesion was just never solidly there. Here's Holly, she's going away, no she's coming back so that Emma and Will can't be together. Here's Finn and Rachel, nope they're not together (for the dumbest reason ever) so that Finn and Quinn can get together so that later we can break them up to get Finn and Rachel back. Emma's married, but not really. Now she's definitely not married. And it felt like for a while there, every week was a different message with an exclamation point. Bullying is bad! Religion is a personal decision! and the biggest exclamation point of all ACCEPTANCE!! I appreciate all of these, I do. But it felt as if a lot of these messages were delivered just as wonderfully, if in a more subtle context, in the first season. To try and make Glee mainstream accessible (and therefore boost the ratings) it seemed like the brilliancy of satirization had, more often than not, been replaced with, what is so often the downfall of great performance-related art in America, the dumb-down effect.
Here's the deal. People who don't like shows are never going to like shows because they'll never get over their own issues. At least not a majority of those people. If I took 10 of my friends who are Bruce Springsteen fans and said "Glee is doing a Bruce Springsteen episode" 8 of them would roll their eyes and utter profanities cursing the television and record companies for allowing this travesty to take place while 1 of them would be really excited. The other one probably wouldn't change their plans to watch the episode, but would watch it anyway if it was on, or if forced into submission by their partner. Ratings have become the bane of the television viewer's existence because it plays into every creative change that is made by the head honchos.
There were several things that this season did beautifully. I liked the attempt to educate people about the journey of homosexual teens both through the Karofsky storyline and through the somewhat surprising, but, I think, ultimately satisfying Santana storyline. I loved the introduction of the new characters, I just wish Sam had had more exposition and hey, whatever did happen to Coach Bieste? Was she just brought in to prove that "unattractive" women can be kissed by Matthew Morrison? I loved that just about every family dynamic is being explored, from a blended family (Kurt and Finn became step brothers) to the toll taken by the economic downturn (Sam should have gotten more time with this storyline) although I am still anxiously awaiting the introduction of Rachel's fathers.
But then there are the major issues with this season: Why did Sue suddenly go from being razor sharp to Dr. Evil, a villain so over the top that the humor was often time sucked out immediately even before the punchline had been delivered? Why is there an insistence on messing with fan-approved relationships? No one wanted to see Finn and Quinn back together, so why force it? When did cameo-casting become Oscar or Tony-nominated required? I'm still baffled by how many people actually like Sunshine Corazon, despite the fact that Charice has only been given roughly 15 minutes of screen time over the season (and that's generous). In fact, I'm somewhat baffled by how many people know Charice. This show worked because it was new people and new faces with talent, the occasional high-brow guest appearance is always a treat, but to be touting guest appearances and catering to those storylines more than to the core characters is a little distressing to an audience invested in the relationships.
There will be people that disagree with me, for different reasons (they didn't go far enough, they didn't change enough, they pushed too far, no way, this season was perfect!! etc. etc) but I'm just hoping that what was once my favorite show of the year, was maybe just using this season to re-set its course and recover from the adulation. Maybe the bar was set too high, maybe the theme episodes are going overboard, or maybe there just should have been more Sue, but this was a tougher season to get through for me, although ultimately I still have to applaud the show because hey, I still laughed more than I would have if I wasn't watching, I legitimately wiped tears from my eyes more than once this season and I still downloaded:

-What I did For Love
-Teenage Dream
-I want to Hold Your Hand
-Baby
-Blackbird
-Get It Right
-I Feel Pretty/Unpretty (one of my nominations for best song of the season)
-Somewhere Only We Know
-Try A Little Tenderness (because seriously, more people should know Otis Redding)

In fact, maybe my reaction to this season was my fault. Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe I just wanted things to feel easy, the way they had last season. Everything felt so difficult and forced and overly-wrought. It shouldn't be that tough, not for a television show. But hey, Glee, I'm only saying these things because I still love you and still have lots of things to look forward to. The only thing I ask is, how about once a relationship is settled, we let it simmer for a while. SPOILER ALERT, I'd kind of like to see Sam and Mercedes pan out, and hey can Blaine and the Warblers show up at McKinley? Oh and please stop kowtowing to pop culture. You're the show that makes pop culture not the show that picks up its tossed out scraps, so please, no more Rebecca Black-esque covers.

In Case You're Interested-Podcast Reminder

2011-05-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

So, in case there are people out there interested, I thought I should update a bit as to why my blogging has been so haphazard lately. It's mostly because of this new HBO series Game of Thrones. If you enjoy reading in general, or, more specifically, like fantasy series, and no one has yet been kind enough to point you in the direction of The Song of Fire and Ice series, let me be the first to do so. Go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble or your local bookshop, if you're still lucky enough to have a charming one of those, and at least get the first book. If you don't like it by the end of that book, you're never going to like the series. I, personally love it.

HBO has been kind enough to grant us obsessive fans a series that, as of now, still seems to bring the best of the books to life. In addition to having a strict viewing schedule, I also am lucky enough to be part of a podcast (with some of my other friends who are fans) about said series. The podcast is just about the show, so if you just watch the show and don't want any book spoilers, we do our best. I'll give fair warning, the language isn't always refined, neither on the show, nor in our real life podding, so if you have children, it's probably best to not listen while they're in earshot. If you have children, you probably haven't seen anything on HBO besides the 10th airing of How to Train Your Dragon in months, if we're being honest. As of right now, the series has aired it's 6th episode and things are about to get really, thoroughly interesting. However, if you have managed to see the series, or read the books, or both, then you might be curious to listen to the podcast.
If you'd like you can go to the main page:

HERE

Or if you're on Twitter or Facebook, you should be able to find us searching LDW Podcast. It also is available on Itunes for download, again, by searching LDW Podcast. If there are any questions, about finding the podcast or listening to it, I'll do my best to answer or get the answers from my delightful 'castmates!

If you enjoy, be sure to leave us a message!!

Thanks for putting up with shameless self promotion for a bit!

Random Discussion Starter

2011-05-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

So, I know that this is one of those timely topics that seems to pop up out of nowhere and now with the internet providing us with enough social networking to basically have a story broadcast within seconds, gets everyone involved quickly, only to fizzle out later, but there's still an important aspect worth discussing in it. But if you haven't heard of James Tate yet, first, read the story HERE.
I'll fully admit that this early in the game, and it is still relatively early since it only happened Friday (although 4 days, including the weekend, is the equivalent of 6 weeks in human Internet years) it's possible that not all of the facts have been disseminated. It's possible that there's something that the masses are unaware of, but the truth is, that doesn't really matter anymore. What matters is the story being told through the near-rabid online community and that story boils down to this: The kid got creative about asking his date to prom and now he can't go.
Here's how the school administrator is spinning it: Trespassing and posing a safety threat.
Now, it seems to me, in my rational mind, that there would have to be some severe details missing to make the jump to posing a safety risk for something that involved cardboard lettering and tape.
My bigger question, to the U.S. education system at large is this: WHERE ARE YOUR PRIORITIES? Within the last year, bullying has been one of the biggest subjects out there and yet, I'm almost positive that bullying would gain a lesser punishment than this harmless action. I'm also positive that if this kid was nearly flunking all of his classes, he'd still have the opportunity to attend prom. If you want to know why it's so difficult to be a teenager these days, there are several reasons, but lack of priorities and a fundamental drought of common sense at the higher levels seem to be two pretty important issues that are worthy of discussion. Lack of common sense in all aspects of life today is a pretty big issue in and of itself, but when situations like this arise, I lose all sense of normalcy and tend to lean towards exaggeration because the punishment seems a bit over the line, and by a bit over the line I mean completely nonsensical.
I know that these are tricky situations. I know that a lot of times teachers and principles are hamstrung by being put in difficult positions by difficult parents, difficult colleagues or difficult students, and there is a certain amount of understanding that needs to be granted. When it comes to the education system, I personally think that there are far too many cooks in the kitchen, including the Chef Boyardee of education, standardized testing. That being said, asking a student to prom is most decidedly not the same as say threatening a teacher, threatening a student or being the reason that metal detectors need to be put in schools.
We are in the middle of an evolving generation, changing even more quickly than previous generations due to the sheer overwhelming power of technology. A person's thoughts, life, interests, relationship status, new job, new baby, new puppy, and current punishment are all up for mass consumption, on the tangled web we've woven, within moments of reception. It's nearly impossible that Mr. Tate did something else before he tweeted about his punishment. Moreover, by remaining quiet on the subject, the headmaster has merely sped up the process of becoming the voiceless villain in this underdog scenario. There are a few social relationships that have always been counted on in this world. Parents V. Children/Teachers V. Students/ Socks V. Greasers and He-Man V. Skeletor. The thing is, rarely are movies made about the teachers or the parents or the Socks or Skeletor getting to tell their side of the story. As headmaster of a school, someone who presumably has years of experience with children, someone who, I'm hoping, has common sense, would it not be clear how this story would sort itself out? Why not simply save yourself the hassle of going through what will be a national story by the morning? This wasn't a dangerous prank, no one stole anyone's car or raised someone up the flagpole by their underwear.
I realize I'm opening myself up to the whole "where do you draw the line" argument, but seriously people, just stop and think like a normal human being for a moment. What these kids are living with now is a world where standing out and getting noticed gets Youtube hits and Today show appearances. The underdog story has always been what we've lived for. The difference is that now, instead of making sure that John Hughes writes the script and Cameron Crowe directs, Jon Bender tweets about making out with Claire and Lloyd Dobbler's stereo serenade gets put up on Vimeo so that Bobby McGee down the street now feels badly about having only asked out his prom date between lunch and math class. Way to go Bobby, now you'll never be as famous as Rebecca Black.
I'm sure there are a lot of factors that I might be missing and a lot of ways in which the situation could be different. Maybe if this guy didn't look like the all-American boy, it wouldn't be such a big deal. Maybe if this kid had a habit of trespassing and say, smoking pot, instead of putting up a cardboard prom invitation it would change public perception. Maybe it really is the policy that if there's an in-school suspension this close to the end of the year then there's no prom. Perhaps if the girl had said no, this wouldn't have such a romantic high-school drama notion attached to it and James Tate wouldn't care at all if he was suspended from prom. All I know is that in a world that's filled with recessions, war, famine, bullying, suicides, political extremism, religious extremism and near-constant bombardment about everyone else's status in the world, punishing a kid for a prom proposal seems a bit silly. Proms, seem a bit silly for that matter, but hey, we need to take enjoyment from the small joys we can right? For future reference though, maybe kids should just stick with passing a "check yes or no" note in class. Just be sure you're not going to get caught, because I'm pretty sure in about 20 years the punishment for that will be the removal of one small limb.

It Must Be Something With the Moon

2011-04-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

*Editor's Note* If you read this post before you saw this amendment added to it, I apologize because apparently, in my overwhelming excitement over the Harry Potter trailer, I forgot to actually EMBED that video into this post, and so that third paragraph must have seemed highly confusing. Although I do like The Streets song quite a bit, the video is hardly anything to elicit three views. I've hopefully changed this, and added the trailer for your viewing pleasure. Sorry to have been so confusing and seemingly completely weird.

I've been completely neglectful of my blog as of late. If there are people who look forward to reading my ramblings, I apologize. It's been a crazy kind of month, and especially odd in the last week or so. There's a sort of writer's block that has taken hold of my brain, but it's odd in the sense that I can't really figure out if there's too much that I want to write about or too little that I want to write about. It seems like it's getting increasingly difficult to separate the interesting topics from the eye-roll worthy topics. There's also an odd sense of media overpowering going on. Some of this is my own fault. I'm around media all day. I have a job that demands it. Sometimes to help me focus (that's what I tell myself) I add some music into my day, which inevitably leads me to remember something, look up something on Wikipedia or remember to write down to look up something so that when I come home, I'm yet, again, on the Internet. If anyone has seen those Bing! commercials that's kind of how my brain has been feeling. Am I the only one? Is it perhaps just a weird cycle of the moon? Am I turning into some sort of robot? (That last question was a foolish one. I would know if I was a robot...right?) Perhaps like most other things this week, I'll just blame the Royal Wedding.

By the way, can anyone, and I mean ANYONE explain to me why in the world the media is so desperately trying to convey our attention to an event that the entire world so clearly feels it's being forced to care about? I mean, are there honestly people (who don't have an invitation) who truly care about this wedding? I hope they're happy and I hope that this ultimately turns out to be one of the best decisions of their lives, but I have to feel like they'd rather have gone on a surprise trip to Fiji and had some random tourists, preferably named Mabel and Louis, be witnesses and just get the whole thing over with.

Well for now, I'll leave you with something British, but not royally British, at least not yet. Although it does kind of beg the question, when William is King and Catherine is Queen (she can't go by Kate once she's got the ring and the crown...and why didn't she just spell it Cate?!) who will they perhaps be Knighting or giving out OBE's to? I mean it's kind of frightening to think that at some point people might actually have to call her Dame GaGa. While you're pondering that, you can listen to this song, which I was inadvertently reminded of today:
&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/iframe&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;Though thinking about the context, that might be the WORST song ever to include in a post about any kind of wedding, but it is what it is.&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;Having absolutely nothing to do with the Royal couple, unless they're huge fans of Harry Potter, here's the trailer for the final (NOOOOO!!!!) Harry Potter film.&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mObK5XD8udk?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen&amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Then There's This:

Since I'm usually in the habit of being completely honest, I'll walk you through the process of watching this. The first time I made a noise that was somewhere between a squeal and a gasp and a triumphant, emphatic "YES!" (I know that for those of you with your minds in the gutter that sounds like an awkward description...but refrain from going there...you couldn't could you, alright now you're back) when I saw Molly Weasley fighting Bellatrix, even if it was only for about 3/4 of a second. I remember the day I joined the Facebook group "Molly Weasley Has 99 Problems but a Bitch Ain't One" like it was yesterday. I then watched it a second time and slightly welled up with tears when I saw two moments involving Fred Weasley and Lupin & Tonks. If you're reading this and have no idea what I'm talking about, no I will not tell you, but trust me, you probably do NOT want to be with me when I see this movie the first time. It will be more emotionally draining than when I had my hamster put down. Yes, you read that correctly. Chelsea, the hamster, was suffering from wet tail and it probably wasn't going to end in a pretty manner anyway, so to minimize suffering on both sides, she made one last trip to the vet. That was an awful day. I'm almost positive that watching the final installment of Harry Potter will be equally as difficult. I will not apologize for my attachment to these characters. I then promptly called my parents, sent them the link, made them watch the trailer, and then watched it a third time, stopping at every frame. So yeah, I'm pretty excited for July.

As a final topic, before I go and try to calm myself through meditation (kind of) I just wanted to say that one thing that has been keeping me a bit busy is the new(ish) podcast I'm on called Lions, Dragons, and Wolves. It's a podcast discussing the HBO series Game of Thrones. If you've heard of it, and would like to listen, as you're watching along, listen instead of watching along or listen and have no idea what's going on, but just want to hear my voice, then by all means check it out. We're actually listed on iTunes (which I'm pretty excited about) just go to the store and search Lions Dragons & Wolves in the podcast section (subscribing to it is free) or you can go to Foswar.com to listen to them there. Feel free to let me know what you think.

Well, this was certainly a longer post than I was intending, and although the substance might have not been of the life-changing sort, I hope you enjoyed the nonsense.

Two Trains Leave Chicago at the Same Time

2011-04-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

Source Code's Equation Equals an Entertaining Ride

Just last year, there was another train-related film released called Unstoppable. Do not confuse these two movies. While Unstoppable was highly entertaining at the basic popcorn-movie level, Source Code has a much deeper subtext and a much more substantial plot than even I expected. And the odd thing is, it weirdly coincided with conversations I had been having in real life. I get completely creeped when coincidences like that happen.
I had just recently been discussing the fact that I pretty much dropped out of science after my AP Chem class in high school. I took advanced biology senior year, but let's face facts, I had gone about as deeply down the science rabbit hole as I was willing to go at 17. Yes, unfortunately, I am one of those severely right-brained people who scoffed (in reality was too afraid of failing or being killed by) calculus and physics and so here I am, at 28, just now beginning to understand some of the ideas behind these areas. Calculus I still could care less about, but physics has begun to burrow a hole somewhere in my brain and refuses to leave. I say this because the ideas of physics, particularly the theories behind alternate existences and time travel, play quite a role in Source Code. Surprised? So was I, I mean, this was a March release. However, it's not so entirely surprising when one thinks that director Duncan Jones' last (and debut) film was the highly acclaimed Moon, starring Sam Rockwell. It seems like Mr. Jones might be another thinking man/woman's director, and that is something I am always interested in.
At its very basic the level, the film is an alternating of two scenes. One is a commuter train that is/is about to/has been the subject of a terrorist attack; the other is a military base of unknown location. Colter Stevens (the always delightfully stubbled Jake Gyllenhaal) is the only character who travels between these two worlds. His mission is to go back to the start and find the bomber, and the bomb if possible, in hopes of preventing further terrorist attacks. It's all part of a new military protocol in the war against terror.
While the notion of simply reliving the same 8 minutes for an entire 93 minute movie may seem a bit, well, monotonous to some of you, let me assure you, this film is anything but monotonous, as long as you're willing to dig a little deeper into your own beliefs on what really makes up the world. It posits similar ideas as the fantastic and, sadly under-watched, television series Fringe in terms of opening up the thought of different or even alternate existences, which certainly helped in my appreciation of this movie. However, while a television series has roughly 22 episodes to get its message across, this film does the same thing in a mere hour and half, which, in my book, is quite an accomplishment. There is enough action and suspenseful beating-the-clock moments that I'm sure even those who are unwilling to dig deeper will find enjoyment in, but this movie is really one best enjoyed with other people who will also want to discuss the mind-blowing possibilities afterwards.
In a way, it reminded me a bit of Sunshine, the Danny Boyle film, and I'm not entirely certain why. Perhaps it's because it feels like a film that will continue to reveal a layer of questions even after successive viewings, but I feel certain in saying that this movie is both more accessible and more optimistic than Sunshine for those of you who cringed when I brought up the latter. There is also a sort of Run Lola Run set up to it, but despite my brain jumping to these comparisons it is very much its own movie. It was an unexpected enjoyment in a more often than not dreary month at the movies.

Overall: 4 stars. It's really difficult to argue with Jake Gyllenhaal and a healthy dose of thought all rolled in to one movie

Paul, Or The Movie that Reminds me Why Spielberg is Amazing

2011-04-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

Granted, this is late getting out, very late. So late, in fact, that if you read this post and think to yourself, "Yes, I should definitely see this movie" you might want to check to make sure that your local multiplex is still having showings and haven't turned their theater over to be the 4th one screening Scream 4 for the weekend. But sometimes tardy is the way life goes. All that being said, if you're a fan of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kristen Wiig, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, buddy movies, Spielberg movies, alien movies or pop culture in general you've hopefully already seen Paul. If you haven't, for shame, immediately open a new tab in this browser window, go to your Netflix account and for crying out loud, put it on your queue, although, in all honesty, I'm saying this as a fan of all of the above.
Paul is hands-down the first movie that I've actually wanted to see in 2011. I'm not sure if I'm actually getting pickier or if the pickings have gotten slimmer, but either way, it's the first one I've willingly handed money over for. There was that weird incident with Just Go With It that happened about two weeks before Paul, but I liken that to a crack addict's need to hit the pipe. It had legitimately been about a month since I had seen a movie in the theater and a friend suggested it and, like a thirsty man in the desert, I latched on to that offering. It honestly wasn't as terrible as I was certain it was going to be, but that's the blessing of lowered expectations. You're better off just watching 50 First Dates or The Wedding Singer on TBS for the 400th time, they both have better soundtracks. Paul is a very different kind of movie.
The premise is fairly straightforward and easily gleaned from the trailer. Two friends, and perfectly nerd-tastic comic book collaborators are on holiday in the US, primarily for the gathering of geeks known as Comic-Con. Before departing back home (to England) they take a road trip that hits more than a few bumps once they run into Paul, an alien escapee. The trick is to get Paul back where he belongs before he's caught, they're caught or all of the above. Along for the ride is Kristen Wiig, as a devout cyclopsed creationist, Jason Bateman as a shady Government Man, Sigourney Weaver as Ripley from the dark side, and a host of other great cameos. That's the short of it. But when have you ever known me to stop there?
The premise isn't what's great about Paul. What's great about this movie is that it's made by guys I love who also happen to love the same movies I love. It's like the world's best inside joke. As someone who grew up worshipping, and honestly, I still do, Steven Spielberg (two of his movies crack my Top 5, yeah, that's you Jaws and E.T.) Paul is like an ode to my childhood. And it seems that it's that way for Pegg and Frost as well, and probably for most of the people involved in this movie.
For those of you about to get all up in arms, there are plenty of Star Wars references as well, as is usual when Pegg and Frost get together, and those are very much welcomed; however, those weren't the ones that I enjoyed so much the first time around. There are the overtly, dialogue quoting moments, but there are also quieter moments of filmic celebration, and those subtle times are what really continued to draw me in. My favorite is at the end, and I'm hesitant to talk about it, but suffice it to say, that great attention to detail was paid to a movie about a certain Reese's-loving non-human, right down to Gertie's teddy bear. And you get the obligatory "Let her go you Bitch!" which is always a bonus in a movie with Sigourney Weaver in it.
Pegg and Frost are as enjoyable as ever (I mean really, is there anything these guys aren't appealing in? Together or separately?...No? I thought not) and Seth Rogen's voice was actually made for voiceovers I believe. His voice is as much the heart of this movie as any of the other players and he makes Paul a lovable, believable character who just happens to be CGI. I can't imagine that Greg Mottola (Knocked Up) had too difficult a time on this shoot. In fact, I can't imagine anyone did. Is Paul a vanity project? Sure. Is it the kind of movie I would want to make as someone who loves movies like this? Absolutely.
While usually I'm a stickler for substance over style, in this case, I'm willing to say that I will happily own this movie and re-watch it to my heart's content because it's easier than watching all of my favorite movies separately.

Overall: 4 UFOs. I can't ignore the fact that some of the silliness is over the top, or some of the best dialogue is directly lifted or that you might be able to guess exactly where the story is going, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the ride.

Because it's sunny

2011-04-09T14:54:00.000-07:00

Today feels like the first day of spring for some reason. We've managed to have decent weather in March, but it did seem unseasonably cold for a while. And then it was just gray for the last five days. It was literally nothing but gray. It wasn't even warm or cold just well, blah. The sun finally has broken through. It's April and it's about to break 60 degrees and tomorrow is my birthday. We're living in exciting times people! On my way back from seeing Jane Eyre, I opened my sunroof and rolled the windows down and my Ipod offered up this suggestion. It had been a while since I'd listened to Frightened Rabbit, but their show in October in NYC was a highlight of the last quarter of 2010, so I took it, and listened about two more times and realized it is indeed the most perfect first day of spring song, for some reason. If you can think of a better one, I take your challenge, and feel free to post them. Until then, just click this, listen, and feel free to dance around your home while the sunshine still streams through your windows. It's ok, I'm giving you permission.

Hopefully

2011-04-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try and get my act together to write up reviews for Paul, The Source Code and Hanna. All of which I recommend. Tune in, hopefully sooner rather than later, for the reasons why!

The National Theatre's (and Mary Shelley's) Captivating Frankenstein

2011-04-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

On the cusp of my 28th birthday, I decided to give myself a present. After reading a very small article from a source that is now irretrievable from my memory bank, I realized that The National Theatre in London would be putting on a new production of Frankenstein. Actually, even though you didn't get to witness it first hand, let me recount the last few moments where I looked on my Facebook page (thanks Mark Zuckerberg for that moment by moment chronicling of my life feature), found the original post and recalled that it was on March 2nd and from Slashfilm.com. I would hate for someone not to get the credit they deserved in this post. So there I was, reading, seeing a fantastic looking trailer, and suddenly things kept getting better and better. The play was directed by Danny Boyle (what?!) it was starring Jonny Lee Miller (YES! I've loved him since Hackers!) AND Benedict Cumberbatch (theater gods, have you been reading my mind or pulling Inception-like stunts to make my dreams a reality?!) and still it got better. The production was going to be part of The National Theatre's fantastic National Theatre Live program, in which poor saps like us, mostly those who don't live in London where The National is housed, can get to watch their productions live, via cameras recording their live performances. There was no way I could pass this up.

Unfortunately, the early performances in March were unmanageable for me, and in somewhat of a huff, I thought I would have to give up. But still feeling the pull that I HAD to see this, I went searching the National's website once again and lo and behold, there were still April performances. One credit card transaction later, I was an extremely pleased seat filler.
It's an odd situation, going in to a theater with a screen to watch another theatre where a live performance is taking place. I wasn't entirely certain how it might feel. It turns out, there is a slight element of voyeurism going on, and not just of the stage, but of the audience. I watched as the London seat fillers, well, filled their seats. I watched them have conversations, I watched them get situated and I thanked Odin that there wasn't a camera trained on me. Or was there...? Just kidding. About the camera part, not about the being creeped out by the potential of voyeurs part. So there I was, as the play began with the great ringing clang of a bell.
I forgot to mention the main "catch" of this version of Frankenstein: Benedict Cumberbatch (of recent Sherlock recognition) and Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting, Eli Stone) switch roles every evening. This means that The National has recorded both versions. One version where Cumberbatch plays the Creature and Miller is Frankenstein and the reverse scenario as well. I happened to be seeing the version where Miller was the Creature and Cumberbatch was Victor Frankenstein. I'm not certain I could have planned it better.
From that opening bell, the stage is swathed in red lighting with a circular screen containing the Creature, from which he is birthed. As much as Frankenstein's subtitle may be "the modern Prometheus", this was Da Vinci's Vetruvian man too. Only the man was a newborn, incapable of speech, unfamiliar with sound and touch, on unsteady legs. Watching a gorified Miller as he, for nearly 10 minutes, only communicates in grunts and muscle spasms, and unsteady steps, was like watching a master class in the art of spellbinding. As an actor, he's so committed to the physicality of depicting what happens when a person first becomes truly aware of their body that it's mesmerizing, embarrassing, and visceral all at the same time. His first run around the stage brings both sadness and joy, because, well, most of the audience knows where this is all going to end up. But in the moment, Miller's vulnerability is undeniable. We'd all like to think we'd never abandon this person. But the hideous scars still remind us, he's a creature.
Danny Boyle seems to have a thing for trains. Between Trainspotting and the definitive montage set to the wildly catchy "Paper Planes" in Slumdog Millionaire it's an undeniable fact. And the showiest scene in this play features, of course, a train. It's only the front part of a steam-driven locomotive, filled with choreographed extras and music done by Underworld, a progressive electronica UK outfit, but it feels just right. As the train barrels towards the audience, it narrowly misses the Creature, who reacts as any frightened being would, and this scene, quite literally, sets us on the true collision course.
The remainder of the hour belongs to Miller, who truly is stunning in this role. Unafraid of slinging saliva as he begins to try to form his mouth around words and his journey, constantly played on raised feet that don't know how to stand quite still, he is the embodiment of the Creature, but he is more than that. Where other interpretations have treated Frankenstein's vision come to life as a secondary necessity, this version gives a face and tortured eyes to the soul beneath the body. It really is something to watch in amazement. As the first part ends, the Creature has finally learned, not just words and stories, but those ever-powerful human emotions, chief among them, revenge.
I say "first part" but this production does not have an intermission. You're warned of that in the beginning, so take that early bathroom break when you can.
The essential halfway point is marked with the return of Victor, whom we only briefly see at the beginning as he flees what he sees as his monstrosity. I do have to admit to missing Mr. Cumberbatch for a while, but when I saw the extremely powerful confrontation that sets up the second part, I was happy to have been kept waiting. When Miller and Cumberbatch are onstage together, it's hypnotizing. It's part of the brilliance of the entire set-up of this production. By having both actors switch roles every night, they've managed to both remain individual and, yet, pick up on each other's nuances, so that, as the story goes on, the mirror imaging is undeniable. Not only are scientist and experiment the same, we are the same. We are all both Creature and Frankenstein at the same time.
The first confrontation ends with a plea from the Creature for a female version of himself so that he might actually know companionship and love, the best parts of ourselves. Frankenstein, driven by his ego, agrees, but of course those plans are of the best laid nature, and we all know what happens to those. Sticking as closely to the novel as a 2-hour production can allow, the scene with Elizabeth (Frankenstein's bride) in her room is powerful and heartbreaking at the same time, as is the end where the final confrontation between master and slave/Creature and creator must come to terms with both their pasts and their futures, which are, of course, inevitably intertwined. By the time the final bell rings, you might be a little exhausted.
In this production, the Creature is clearly the flashy part, but Miller plays it with enough held back that at the moments when he lets go, the audience is unprepared. There is such heart and soul in his pleadings to understand human nature and such sadness when all he finds are our faults, that it's impossible not to be taken by him. Cumberbatch is the foil to this showiness. He is conservative, seclusive, reigned-in entirely, without release, except for one awful and chilling moment. He seemed like the perfect Victor to me. It was everything I loved about him in Sherlock but something about the stage and the interaction led an air of accessibility to it. Of the others in the cast, Naomie Harris' (probably best known for Pirates of the Carribbean:At World's End) Elizabeth is equal parts lovely and nurturing, the "perfect" woman and her brother William (played by the eager Jared Richard) form the emotional ties. The rest of the fairly small cast perform admirably, but still feel like they're not really in the same show as Cumberbatch and Miller. Seeming especially out of his depth, and sadly, is George Harris (known to me as Kingsley from the phenomenon known as Harry Potter). His emotional/overemotional reactions seemed off and a bit like he was trying to play the character for more than needed. It's ok to be second string to these guys. Miller and Cumberbatch ARE the show.
The setting is nothing extravagant, a screen that forms a semi-circle and one secondary level that comes and goes as needed, but everything is perfectly spaced, and the giant cluster of lightbulbs that form an electric chandelier above the stage is brilliant. As human emotions are experienced it brightens and dims as necessary. Underworld's music is the final, fitting piece. Equal parts human heartbeat and Industrial Revolution with a beat that beckons us forward and warns us at the same time, that we may not like what we see. The script is filled with subtle, welcomed, moments of lightness, and heartbreaking confessions, and all the while honoring all of those elements that make Frankenstein a classic novel today. I do believe that Mary Shelley would, at the very least, enjoy this night out at the theatre. Catch it if you can!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

2011-04-01T10:36:00.000-07:00

Just in case you're preparing like I am for the 15 minute preview of Game of Thrones on Sunday on HBO, here's a little something to keep as a reminder.

Entertainment Weekly, who thankfully seems to be backing this adaptation, therefore raising it's profile, and hopefully it's popularity (and let's face it, popularity and ratings are what guarantee further seasons) currently has about 46 production stills up.

THIS LINK goes to the most recent 10 character intro photos

and

THIS LINK goes to the previous 36 photos, which you may or may not have seen.
Bonus points in the imaginary game I have running in my head go to you if you can guess my favorite photo. Unfortunately your bonus points will probably not be able to be validated since A) it's an imaginary game and B) you may not be close enough for me to take out for a drink/coffee. However, if you do live close enough, perhaps a chai latte will be yours all yours for a correct guess.

Don't forget to tune in to the podcast here, if you haven't already listened to the first episode. Second episode will be arriving forthwith

Please Play At A Theater Near Me

2011-04-01T04:08:00.000-07:00

I'm always excited about trailers. Sometimes they're the best part of the movies, let's face facts (especially when the movie is Transformers 2). More often than not, I rest on my laurels about getting the word out about trailers, mostly because we're more than likely going to have the trailers for the major movies engraved on the back of our eyelids for a period of time ranging from three weeks to two months. I wouldn't need to let people know that Scream 4 is coming out, because Dimension's doing the heavy lifting for me. Other times, it seems like IMDB takes some trailers and puts it in their very own hidden stash of awesome, and you have to root around like a 5 year old on Christmas Eve to try and find them. Although to be fair, I've never found a really good trailer in my mother's closet so their hiding spots are a little better I suppose.

Anyway, here are a couple of trailers for movies that I hope will make it over to a theater that's at least within a 40 minute drive for me. I'd easily drive 40 minutes to an hour to see a movie I really wanted to. Some might call that outlandish. I call it thorough:

Attack the Block: (Yes, that's Nick Frost and yes, he's mostly the reason I want to see this)

When Harry Tries To Marry: ( I refuse to apologize for liking movies clearly made for daydreaming girls)

Poetry

For other super random movies that, if they sound intriguing you might want to look up on your own, here are the links to lineups from some film festivals:

Sundance 2011
SXSW 2011
Nashville Film Festival 2011

Cannes Film Festival (but don't bother clicking this one quite yet, the official release of the accepted films is still a couple of weeks away, on April 14th)
Venice and Toronto film festivals will be held later in the year as well, so no programs are up as of yet.

It's Happening!

2011-03-29T06:33:00.000-07:00

We are now officially 2 weeks and 6 days away from the debut of Game of Thrones on HBO. Yeah, I'm kind of excited. Not simply because there will be a total eyeful of adorable British boys (Kit Harington, you're about to make all the fangirls swoon!) but also because this seems like the perfect storm of material and adaptation. Let's face facts, HBO has a pretty great track record for shows, and this story with its built-in fan base pretty much guarantee that good things should happen.

Because of all of the HBO hoopla, Entertainment Weekly has decided to make Game of Thrones (the first book in the Song of Fire & Ice series) its Bookshelf Book Club pick. Since it is longer than most of their Book Club picks, it's being treated slightly different. For more details, feel free to take a look here:

EW Bookshelf Link

In addition, my friend Seth had the brilliant idea to start a podcast, which I was lucky enough to be asked to partake in. As of right now, there are 4 of us, and we'll be discussing the show (after it airs) with as few spoilers as possible, just a kind of react/recap thing. If you're not so much a reader (or if you just happen to miss hearing my voice) you can check out our very first podcast here:

Lions, Dragons & Wolves Link

It's kind of exciting and we'd love feedback, so anyone who's remotely interested, please check it out!!

Sorry in Advance

2011-03-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for a post that you can just waste time reading, well then, welcome to one and all, you've found it. I've been trying to write a Top 10 list of Broadway showstoppers, because that's what I do in my downtime, and I've been frustrated because I can't narrow it down and I think I've already covered too much Broadway in a very short span of time.
So, to fill the void I was watching the DVR'd American Idol and suddenly realized a couple of things. So here, in no true order, are the things that have been occupying the brain space while I watched the show that was once American Idol and is now American wanna-be divas.

Why don't they sell Pacific Shrimp soft tacos and burritos at Taco Bell all year round and not just during lent. For those of you who are naysayers about seafood at Taco Bell, I must ask the question, have you had Taco Bell? None of the meat is all that real or fresh. That's why it's smothered in delicious taco seasoning, and covered with sour cream, cheese and various other creamy sauces with vague cilantro flavor. And that's why it's delicious. The "Pacific" shrimp taco and burrito (bravo marketing geniuses for making the seafood appear more authentic) are no less delicious, and perhaps better than some other things on the menu...yes, I'm talking to you scary Volcano taco. I'm already at Taco Bell, I'm not looking for something MORE explosive, but I like your winking irony.

I have to admit it, I really have fallen for the Ford Explorer Go Do commercial featuring Jonsi's "Go Do". It features people doing all sorts of adventurous, fun-looking things that I wish I too could be doing. The truth is, if I traded in my trusty Corolla and purchased a Ford Explorer, A) I would feel bad about trading in my Corolla. It's been with me through thick and thin, through that towing, through those speeding tickets, through that fender that got bent. I apologize Corolla, for all of the things you've had to endure and I'm sorry now, that you're out in a snow storm in March. Yes, you read that correctly, a snow storm in March.
I would feel bad about the fact that I had purchased an SUV because no matter how many miles it gets, I'm sure it's less than my reliable TC. I would also probably have to take on a payment plan, which at this stage in my life is simply ridiculous.
On the upside, with my Corolla getting the smooshed-between-two-giant-magnet treatments, I, apparently would be able to go surfing, go snowboarding, climb mountains, join friends around campfires and have my children playfully pulled along sleds by my awesome Golden Retriever. But then I don't have children or a Golden Retriever, so really, what fun could a Ford Explorer promise? In case you don't want to have fake life envy like me, here's just the song:

In case you like to imagine that you're also chasing a baby cow through some unknown field (RUN BABY COW, THE GUY CHASING YOU IS EMPLOYED BY IN-N-OUT AND THEY JUST RAN OUT OF PRE-MADE PATTIES!!) you can relive all of your glorious imaginary Explorer existence here:

And yes Ford, if you'd like to give me a little bit of bank to me, I know you may not have a lot to give, I would accept it.

Last night ABC ran a special on the "greatest movies of our time". I had no idea the format would essentially be a million different Top 5 lists. It's like they've been reading my blog or something. While it's always enjoyable watching random clips of movies, this seems a lot like cheating. If I give you the category of Best Heist Movie Featuring a Star from Inception, you're not going to have as much competition as simply opening up the field to Best Heist Movie, so a bravo is also due to ABC for figuring out a way to buck its own system! The best thing about this show was that Gone With The Wind took the "Best Movie of Something" category and Citizen Kane was nowhere to be seen. Just like Scarlett O'Hara, kickin' ass and throwing dirt at the competition.

Are you really missing if you're hiding out in a barn?

They make peanut butter canolis at Libby's in North Haven. I don't care that this isn't traditional, I don't care that they're probably 800 grams of fat, I don't care. The only thing that matters is they're delicious. Did you read when I said PEANUT BUTTER CANOLIS?! If I drove a Ford Explorer I'd be buying a Peanut Butter Canoli every day for the rest of my life, and then I'd also have to eventually upgrade to the less adventurous Ford Expedition with giant driver's side seating.

Captain America finally has a trailer out and in case you were wondering, yes that shot of Chris Evans gloriously glistening pectorals and washboard abs is still available for mass female consumption. I will also never apologize for finding this appealing. Sure it's pandering to the ladies in a bid to get them to go to a movie that beyond those 2 minutes will probably not appeal as much to them as to their boyfriends (who have been fooled into thinking they're going to a comic book movie) but hey, buying a movie ticket costs the same no matter why you're going. Better get to ogling Chris Evans while he's still super hot and pimping it:
For those actually interested in the movie, the link is below:
http://www.flix66.com/videos/

For those just interested in the pecks, here's the pic, but before you look, I'm charging 7.50....that's matinee price people!

Now, to the thing that really brought me here. I used to watch American Idol. I didn't really start until Season 5, and even then it was only half-heartedly. I followed Season 6 every week and then Season 7 replaced any actual religion I might have once followed. David Cook became my god, and I'm still pretty ok with that decision, although he does need to finish that second album quickly, my patience isn't what it used to be now that I'm three weeks away from being another year older. But still, I would drive hours to see David Cook. Season 8 was better than Season 6, not better than Season 7, but it is the only season that I blogged faithfully. Those can still be found on here if you keep clicking on the "older" posts button at the bottom of this page, but that's only advisable if you have literally hours to kill. You might also simply be able to search "American Idol" in the labels. However, none of that matters so much. What does matter is my own gullibility.
About three weeks ago, I fell for the old "This is the best group we've ever had [Dawg]" bit. I can't believe it. I stayed away all last year, telling myself I was finally weaned off of it; that I could finally fly the nest of pop culture addiction and find a rewarding experience on another network. Apparently, this is untrue, because I came back. With Kara/Cara (she wasn't a siamese twin or a split personality, that I know of, I'm just too lazy to actually look up the spelling of her name) and Ellen vamoosing, I figured I'd "just check it out". Little did I know this was the time-tested phrase of every former Idol addict. I gave in and watched the first episode of the Top 13 (nothing before it, I swear!) and I was fooled. Casey Abrams was my boy! I even voted (I say that with the sort of defiant delusional thinking voice that one usually uses when attempting to deny the cold hard facts )Well that brought me back for another week, and suddenly there were cracks in the Idoline veneer. Casey performed Nirvana's "Teen Spirit" and while it was still clearly the best performance of the pack, that'd be like saying that my dad could finish the Tour De France in a faster time than Stephen Hawking. Neither of them are Lance Armstrong is what I'm saying. And yet, with this "talent" the judges were still heaping praise.
Fast forward to this week. No literally, that's all I did this week on the DVR was fast forward and then pause it long enough to laugh until my belly ached. It's Mo-Town week this week people, and if you have any love for Mo-Town, or anyone associated with that once-magnificent record label, please turn your ears away now. Here's the lineup:

Casey- I Heard It Through the Grapevine (why did you slick back your hair and growl so much?!?!)

Thia-Heat Wave (there's nothing left to say about this one that isn't cold....get it...cold?! It's like watching High School Talent Show every week from this chick)

Jacob- You're All I Need to Get By (if you just heard a wood cracking noise, that was Marvin attempting to dig himself out of his grave using the Pai Mei technique)

Lauren-You Keep Me Hanging On (sorry for the lame pun, but this is me letting go...of this song)

Stefano-Hello (as in HELLO?! David Cook did this a bajillion times better, and by better I mean, he didn't go with the cruise-ship for retirees version. I will admit to laughing hysterically after those terrible two glory notes at the end. I'm sure you'll be able to find this on the internet by the morning after)

Haley-You Really Got a Hold On Me (the 40-year-old kind of drunk Mom on Karaoke & Patron night at the local bar version)

Scotty- For Once In My Life (the whitest version of this song ever sung. Look for it in Wrangler ads in about 3 months) His voice isn't bad, it's just an awful version of this song.

Pia-All In Love Is Fair -so clearly a front-runner, they've literally groomed her for this performance. A full string section is accompanying her performance. She also "chose" a much lesser-known song so that she wouldn't have to compete with preconceived notions. Very good vocal performance though. I can't mock.

Paul-Tracks of My Tears (hey remember when Adam Lambert sung this to pretty much perfection two years ago? ) He's smartened up and is standing behind his guitar instead of flailing around spasmatically the way he has for the last two weeks. Seriously if you want to see what the early signs of a peanut butter canoli poisioning look like, just look up Paul's performances of "Come Pick Me Up" or "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues". He's reverted back to the form that got him on the show. Good move bud. I like the voice rasp.

Naima-Dancing in The Streets-vocally, again, I can't hate. Probably the best performance of the night. The dancing on the other hand is an unnecessary attempt at FELA. I'm tempted to call this pandering.

James-Just Enough for the City-I like this kid. I don't care that he's an Adam Lambert clone in a more dude-a-riffic way. It's ok. For those of you, like me, who at one point, really loved this show, and are wondering what this season is like, I'd suggest watching this performance on the better end of things, at least. I also like that James looks like he could eat Ryan Seacrest's head off in one bite because there's easily an 8-inch height difference and I'm pretty sure he's got a good 40 pounds on Ryan too.

I know what you're thinking. I'm so clearly not over Idol if I can't help myself from recapping it. You're completely right. I'm not over it. I may always kind of want to watch it, but if this is the best group they've ever had, then I am thoroughly confused. Someone's lying somewhere and I'm all about getting to the truth of the conspiracy.

For others takes on Idol:
for the hilariously cynical, http://www.votefortheworst.com/
for the serious, http://www.ew.com/ew/ (I think there's at least like 4 different articles every day about Idol on here)

Speaking of conspiracies...why aren't you watching Fringe?! Yes you, reading this. You should be watching the best show on television. And that's not me lying to you, that's me telling the truth.

That's pretty much it for my random thoughts of the night. I'll leave you with this, which I may have put on here before, but may not have. I can't remember. Either way this feels like something soul-shaking to me. And as long as Thia is still in the talent pool I pray there's no Springsteen night on Idol

Nice & Easy

2011-03-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

Every now and then, you should remember that something as amazing as this exists, so consider this your daily reminder of awesome

Broadway: Just Du-Et

2011-03-07T00:10:00.000-08:00

I've just finished watching the 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables on PBS and it's put me back in a Broadway mood (again). Last year ended with me on a Stephen Sondheim kick, again mostly due to the fact that I had just watched his birthday celebration on PBS, and I was hooked on listening to at least four of his musicals (Into the Woods, A Little Night Music, Company, and Sweeney Todd) on a daily basis. Now for some people that may be a lot to process, for others you might be thinking, why wouldn't you listen to (insert Sondheim musical here) or (insert other Sondheim musical here)?! The thing is that if we're going with the Breakfast Club's theory of the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions, then, in this world, there are musical theater people and there are non-musical theater people. I've always been the former. It could be because I was in dance shoes before I was 4, it could be that my very first memory of my birthday happened when I was 5 and seeing Cats, it could be genetic. Who really knows? Once I'm on a kick, there's really no stopping me. So, as I began scouring Youtube for performances of Les Miserables songs, it, of course, led me to other songs that I love, and I thought, since I'm here, I might as well make a list of the Broadway duets that I deem to be the best/most entertaining/most important. I'm also limiting this to shows that I've seen or listened to at least once. If there is some obscure one out there and you want to suggest it, comment, please! I'll check it out I promise
It should also be noted that I'm beginning this at 11:45 pm, I'm bound to not mention someone's favorite (please forgive me) and may end up sounding slightly delusional towards the end. I'm going to attempt to go in chronological order to keep this as fair as possible, so if you have any complaints, suggestions or heinously overlooked duets, please feel free to leave a comment. This is mostly a list for people who are supremely bored at their work, or during their day, so ultimately, I just hope you find this a bit entertaining. If you find something you like, or go to Wikipedia to find out a little more about one of the musicals, then my mission is accomplished. Let's get started:

1930s:
The Musical: Anything Goes
The Song: It's De-Lovely
The reason for the song: Because love is clearly De-Lovely, and a whole lot of other alliterative descriptions.
The reason it's on the list: Because it's Cole Porter and one of the first great musicals
The Link

1940s:

The Musical: Oklahoma
The Song: People Will Say We're In Love
The Reason for the Song: Again, everyone knows in musicals, the only way to show someone you love them is to sing. Curly was the best of both worlds, a manly cowboy who sang to his lady
The Reason it's on the list: Because I lived on Rodgers & Hammerstein and when I was little I watched this musical quite often, and had kind of a weird crush on Gordon McRae. I know, I know, that's not stuff to write on the Internet, but I won't deny it.
The Link

The Musical: Annie Get Your Gun
The Song: They Say It's Wonderful
The Reason for the Song: Because how do you know if falling in love is wonderful, unless you're told so?
The Reason it's On the List: Seeing this musical in person was one of the best surprises I can remember having in the theater. I wasn't expecting to like it all that much and I really loved it.
The Link

The Musical: Carousel
The Song: If I loved You
The Reason for the Song: See above reason, except instead of Curly being a cowboy, replace Curly with Billy and "cowboy" with "barker"
The Reason It's On The List: Because Carousel is, more often than not, one of the forgotten musicals, and the only reason someone might look it up is if they run across "You'll Never Walk Alone". To me, it's the darkest of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals, but it's also, ultimately the one that I find the most moving.
The Link

1950s:
The Musical: The King and I
The Song: I Have Dreamed
The Reason for the Song: Again, love declarations are always best made when accompanied by an orchestra. Two people who aren't supposed to be together are getting ready to make a run for it.
The Reason It's On the List: Mainly because, even though this isn't one of my favorites, South Pacific didn't have any duets that weren't a reprise, so I went with the next R & H work
The Link

The Musical: The Sound of Music
The Song: Sixteen Going on Seventeen
The Reason for the Song: Rolf's trying to give Liesl life lessons. Too bad he turns out to be a Nazi, snuffing out young love and forcing her to run into the mountains with her family.
The Reason it's On the List: Because if there was one musical that defined my childhood, it was this one and if there was one thing I wanted to do more than anything else in life it would have been getting to play Liesl and running around those benches. Although I still think it's ridiculous when, in the movie she spins around and yells "wheeee!" Chill out Liesl, Rolf's SO not who you think he is.
The Link (song)
The Link (video)-so you can see Liesl run around the covered gazebo like I was explaining, it might make more sense

The Musical: West Side Story
The Song: Tonight
The reason for the Song: Tony and Maria are falling in love and have to hide it from their racist friends and family. Singing is clearly the only way around prejudice (duh!)
The Reason It's on the List: It's one of my all time favorites. I think everything about it is beautiful.
The Link: CLICK

The Musical: Guys & Dolls
The Song: Guys & Dolls
The Reason For the Song: Because single guys have to find legitimate reasons to be annoyed with their attached friends.
The Reason It's On the List: Again, this is one that I've only seen in movie form, but goodness gracious, if Marlon Brando isn't one of the most beautiful men ever put on screen in this movie. He's not on this song, but he's a reason to watch.
The Link: This is kind of a cheat, because in the clip it's as a trio, but in the musical, it was only a duet between Benny and Nicely, so it still counts. My blog, my rules.

1970s:
The Musical: Company
The Song: Barcelona
The Reason for the Song: Bobby, the consummate bachelor thinks he's ready to settle down. He asks April to stay after a one-night stand, to his surprise, she agrees
The Reason It's on the List: Even though it's not my favorite from this musical, Company needs to be on the list.
The Link
The other link (Marry me a Little)

The Musical: A Little Night Music
The Song: Everyday a Little Death
The Reason for the Song: Because sometimes marriage is boring and monotonous and sometimes love turns from wonderful to "what just happened?" over the years
The Reason It's On the List: It's nice to hear a song about marriage being boring and monotonous
The Link

The Musical: Godspell
The Song: All For The Best
The Reason for the Song: Like all of the other songs in this musical, it's a rhythmic parable
The Reason It's On the List: Because there was no way that I was making a list of musicals and not including Godspell, since most of the best memories I have from being 13 revolve around me being cast and performing in my middle school production of this. Also, attempting to learn this song is one of the most amusing things I've ever witnessed.
The Link

1980s:

The Musical: The Phantom of the Opera
The Song: All I Ask Of You
The Reason for the Song: Because what better way is there to escape the creepy stalker who teaches you how to sing than falling for your once childhood friend who turned out to be handsome, rich and sensitive to boot?
The Reason It's on the List: I could have gone with the obvious "Phantom of the Opera" which is all power and resonating organ, but I like this one better.
The Link

The Musical: Miss Saigon
The Song: Last Night of the World
The Reason for the Song: Chris is trying to get Kim out of Vietnam, the problem:he's a soldier, she's a lady of the night, but with a heart of gold (of course!) During the fall of Saigon, this is, to say the least, inconvenient.
The Reason It's on the List: Because if I could sound like anyone, I might very well wish to have Lea Solanga's voice.
The Link

The Musical: Les Miserables
The Song: A Little Fall of Rain
The Reason for the Song: Poor Eponine, I always felt sorrier for her than I did for Cosette. Eponine's about to die in the arms of the man she loves, and he realizes, a little late, why she's been hanging around him so much. The lesson, boys are stupid and you shouldn't take a bullet for them, unless there's a ring on your finger
The Reason It's on the List: Because of all of the moments that move me to tears in this musical, this one takes the cake, but it does it quietly and with grace and dignity.
The Link

The Musical: Cats
The Song: Gus (The Theater Cat)
The Reason for the Song: It's a musical based on poems with people dressed as cats who sing and dance; there's rarely a real reason for the songs in this show. Essentially, Asparagus (Gus) is recounting his fondest memories from one of his previous 8 lives.
The Reason it's on the List: Pure nostalgia.
The Link

1990s

The Musical: Jekyll & Hyde
The Song: In His Eyes
The Reason for the Song: Two women love the same man, it sounds like an old story, but when that man turns out to be two different men, it gets a little more interesting.
The Reason It's On the List:When you have each perspective sung by Linda Eder and Christiane Noll, you end up with a song to which I sang both parts in my room at the top of my lung for roughly 6 month stints. This wins my award for "Musical that was much better than it had any right to Be"
The Link

The Musical: Aida
The Song: Written in the Stars
The Reason for the Song: Based on the opera of the same name, Aida and Radames are forced to lament (is there really anything else to do in a musical?!) their situations in life. You know the story, Boy enslaves Girl, Girl gives Enslaver what for, Boy realizes he likes being told his place and falls in love with Girl, but the catch is she's still a slave and now Boy pretty much has to give her up or die.
The Reason It's on the List: Because its Heather Headley and Adam Pascal
The Link

The Musical: Rent
The Song: Another Day
The Reason for the Song: Mimi really wants to go out. Roger really needs to get out. He's the recluse, she's the sex kitten, they'd make the perfect pair, if only she could get him to realize that "now" is the only thing that matters in life. Get with it Roger.
The Reason It's On the List: You knew it would be, right? I mean I could have gone with I'll Cover You, or Without You, or Take Me or Leave Me, but this song is what solidified Rent for me. No day but today...sure, it's on a million affirmation calendars, but it sounds so much better in song version.
The Link

2000s:
The Musical: Wicked
The Song: As Long As You're Mine
The Reason for the Song: Elpheba and Fiyero finally realize they're perfect for each other.
The Reason It's on the List: I just really love to belt this one out.
The Link

The Musical: Tarzan
The Song: For the First Time
The Reason for the Song: Every Disney musical needs the love song to hang its hat on.
The Reason It's on the List: I'm a sucker for Disney musicals and probably always will be.
The Link

Honorable Mentions:
The Wedding Singer-If I told You
Chess-I know Him So Well

2011 Books-#1 The Phantom of Pemberley

2011-03-06T12:12:00.000-08:00

Let me put this simply: The Phantom of Pemberley might very well be one of the worst books I've ever completed. I've never been the kind of person who could simply give up on a book. I figure that there are plenty of things in my life that I procrastinate on/don't follow through with that I can't add books to that list. Books are usually a nice, engaging form of distraction, at the very least, a minor form of obsession when they capture me at the right time with the right story or style. The Phantom of Pemberley was severely lacking in all aspects.
Before we get into all of that though, I feel, for some reason, like I should explain the thinking behind me even picking up such a book. I was wandering around one of the two major book retailers remaining in business and, despite my already lengthy to-read list, I was insistent that I wanted something new. I should have just turned around and walked out, but really, who does what's best for them? No, instead I found myself slowly picking up the book solely on the mention of the word "Pemberley", clever marketing as such a title probably works on the vast number of Jane Austen fans in the world. The idea of the growing number of Jane Austen fans is really a separate discussion in and of itself, but I would venture to say that the number of "sequels" and "inspired by" novels with the aim of imitating or making money off of Ms. Austen's style are almost a sub-genre all by themselves. I've read a few that have been successful, by my standards, like "Mr. Darcy's Daughters" and, let's face it, when the Seasonal Affective Disorder starts to kick in in early January, sometimes you just want something comforting, and so I fell for the old "you like Jane Austen, you'll like this" idea. I was duped, or perhaps, I duped myself.
At the outset it seems like something that should be entirely appealing. The summary on the back claims to be written in "Regency style and including Austen's romantic entanglements and sardonic humor". It states that it's a "suspense-packed sequel to Pride and Prejudice". It basically reads like it should be what happens when Austen meets Agatha Christie. What's not to like about that?! On second thought, don't answer that question.
The inherent problem in all of these kinds of novels is that, well, they're not written by Jane Austen, and so, as much as someone might attempt to copy her style, they're not her with her nineteenth century sensibilities. What ends up being churned out by Ms. Jeffers, the author of The Phantom of Pemberley, is some horrifying cross between a romance novel and a sub-par mystery, with full snippets of Pride and Prejudice ideas and dialogue bandied about as if it were an original take. It's not. I feel like, in the reading elitist part of my soul, this is the kind of book that Jane Austen subtly mocked in Northanger Abbey. It's not gothic, perhaps, but it is overly romanced.
I find myself in a quandary. I consider Pride and Prejudice to be one of the greatest love stories of all time, mostly because it's not simply about love. It's about all of those things that go on in life that conspire against love happening. It's funny, it's embarrassing, it's real. None of that exists here. It's decidedly unrealistic, although it is embarrassing, to me, that I've read it.
I suppose my biggest gripe is that Elizabeth and Darcy have somehow been morphed into the uberest of uber-couples, not only in love, but living solely for one another. It's ridiculous, in a way. These are actual quotes from the book:

Of Darcy: "Without Elizabeth in his arms, he felt bereft of life-she had imprinted herself on his soul" (p.240)
Elizabeth speaking this time: "We have an undeniable connection- a oneness that spans the universe"

Are you kidding me?!?! The Elizabeth Bennett that has always existed in my mind would read lines like this and laugh. "Imprinted...on his soul"?! That's some Twilight crap. Not to mention the fact that on at least one occasion I marked the use of the word "totally" as in "I had totally forgotten" (p.177) Really? "Totally"?! As in "that dress looks totally awesome on you"?! When did the Darcys move to Sun Valley? But all of this pales in comparison to the ultimate explanation of who the killer is, so beware, SPOILER ALERT is on, starting now:

I usually don't do this, I usually encourage lots of people to read the books and maintain the suspense of a novel, especially of a murder mystery, because, let's face it, the suspense is the best part. Even now, I'm torn, but I can't really help myself:

The murderer is a certain rakish George Wickham...but it's not really because it's Wickham with Multiple Personality Disorder.

Yes, you read that correctly, George Wickham gets the Sybil treatment where one personality includes a Scottish character which allows for some "interesting" dialogue, to say the least.

I'm not certain whether this would have all been so offensive if it hadn't dragged on for more than 400 pages. Like I said, ultimately I can't blame Ms. Jeffers for probably being a legitimate Austen fan, and I don't blame her for wanting to turn a profit on the Austen fandom. I do blame her for turning it into a soap opera. Or maybe Pride and Prejudice was that generation's soap opera. Maybe I don't know anything, but I do know that I'll probably never read this book again.

Stars: 1-because I don't feel ok giving any book a zero, and the parts of Pride and Prejudice that were lifted I enjoyed reading again.

A Contemplation on Rent

2011-02-16T22:57:00.000-08:00

This post will be completely self-indulgent, but I figure, what's the point of having my very own space in the Internet, if not to state my opinions as if they were facts? Blogs and talking heads would be completely useless, resulting in even more unemployed masses, if people finally realized that just anyone can open their mouth and utter a statement that sounds truthful enough that it could border on fact, but, in reality, is not. This has rose-colored saunter down memory lane over the last couple of weeks feels like it was inevitably leading here. Discoveries of old mixtapes, high school photos, reminders of the fact that I have a 10 year high school reunion coming up, the listening to of too much Tori Amos, all of those bits and pieces of my old self, the part of me before college, seem to be held together by the glue that is called Rent. Even that intense burst of teenage comet crushdom known as NSync, are eclipsed by my once, and still intense love for this musical. So here is my offering in that vein, a loving, remembering rant on Rent.
If this were 15 years ago, Rent would be in the midst of it's off-Broadway run. The story of Rent has even become somewhat mythical, mainly due to the unexpected death of its writer and lyricist, Jonathan Larson, from an aortic dissection, the night before the musical's off-Broadway debut, January 25th. That's right, it's been 15 years since Contempo Casuals, Post-Grunge, the Real World all ruled their respectful fields. And in a way, Rent grew just as much out of those things as out of its original source material, Puccini's "La Boheme". But if you want more about the accurate, or perhaps not so accurate, since it's been edited by human hands, you can browse the Wikipedia page at your own leisure.
There will be those who will automatically scoff since this falls under the category of musical theater. As someone who was raised on Rodgers & Hammerstein, I don't understand this notion. There's some protest to the idea that people burst into song, well that's the whole point, people, it's theater (which means the only requirement is that it tell a story to a live audience) with music. But the fact of the matter is that, when it debuted in 1996, Rent was the most culturally relevent show that I had ever heard of. In fact, at the time I was 13. I was in the midst of a pretty great 7th grade, but I had my ear to the ground, and sure enough, the vibrations of Rent were starting to make their way towards Connecticut.
It would still be another 3 years before I actually saw it in person, and that was the touring company at the Oakdale theater. At sixteen, it seemed profound to me. It was adult, and I knew that mostly because the F---word was used more than once, there was a distinct discussion of "masturbation" and "dildos", all in the same song no less, which was mortifying at that age as I sat next to my mother. I was, perhaps, a little sheltered in my only child world, but even thinking about it now, it would still be a little mortifying, if I'm honest. But it's frank acceptance and discussion of sexuality was closer to the way my friends and I talked, and so I got it. And it was that familiarity that made me feel more adult, and more a part of this world.
By the time it got to "Out Tonight", I knew, without a doubt, that more than anything in this world, just once I wanted to be MiMi. I glossed over all of the terrible things in her poverty-ridden life. The fact that she worked at a shady club and did a dance involving handcuffs, the fact that she was addicted to some sort of strong narcotic, because several are mentioned in "Christmas Bells" although it's generally accepted that heroin, (smack) was MiMi's drug of choice. None of these things really mattered that much to me. I would be the poster child for art influencing the young, if I weren't so anxious about disappointing others. No, by the time she steps onto the fire exit in those skin tight pleather blue pants and her hair releases that glitter, I only saw three important things about MiMi. She was 19, living in New York City, and she knew how to get what she wanted.
In the same way, all of the characters represented something about me. Mark was into film, Joanne was intelligent, Roger was the artist, Collins was the Robin Hooding-vagabond, Angel was the free spirit, Maureen was the indecisive attention-seeker. All of those generic categorizations melded harmoniously in songs that I soon knew every word to. I mean every word. I mean all 4 simultaneous lines going on at the same time kind of memorization, and then at a certain point, it just began to be one of those things that I kind of identified myself with. That's when I realized what the fanbase for Rent was really like.
For an entire generation of fangirls, myself included, Rent has become our version of Woodstock. It was on the cultural barometer. It was about being proactive, not reactive; it was about friendship, the kind of transcendent friendship that you so desperately need during your teens, and as I've found, well beyond. It's about being culturally aware, dropping the names of poets and authors and musicians that I'd rarely heard talked about up until that point, but suddenly began to think were cool. It's about AIDS, and escaping, and acceptance and optimism but most of all it's about love. For a hopeless romantic like me, what more did I need? There are moments in the songs, specific moments, that when I hear I feel the same exact way I felt when I first heard it. When Mimi pleads "there's only us, there's only this, forget regret or life is yours to miss" it feels like not just the moment she's asking Roger to listen to her, it feels like it's the moment that was written to speak to a generation. When Collins sings "when your heart has expired" during the reprise of I'll Cover You, it always sounded to me like what I imagined having your soul stripped away would feel like, when it's done by the right Collins, which is preferably Jesse L. Martin. Adam Pascal will always be the Roger in my head and Anthony Rapp must have at least thought once about changing his name to Mark Cohen. In point of fact, I'm one of those people who thinks that the original Broadway cast of this show is iconic, and yelp with delight when I hear that any alum is getting more work. I've seen replacements and touring casts galore, and they've all felt special in a way, mostly because with live theater, there is an intensity and an energy that doesn't exist elsewhere, but I wish that I could have seen them all together when this was just the little show that could, before, it, you know, won a Pulitzer prize.
However, what ended up happening with Rent is that it felt like it created a community of its own. Something that became much bigger than the show, especially for those who saw it more than once or twice or three times. The lengthy success of Rent had as much to do with the time in which it was created as it did with its universal themes. Without the Internet to keep people connected, the fan groups that formed with an intensity that can only be found in those slightly-fringe, but accepted, cult pop culture phenomenon, might not have continued for 12 years. Maybe it's even more important than Larson first wrote, this idea of "connection in an isolating age".
I could be wildly over-exaggerating. I'm sure there are critics who call Rent trite and screechy and lots of terrible other things, and in thirty years, people may or may not remember it and kids may or may not think it's dated, but there's something weirdly personal about this show, and for its fans that's what's always brought us back, no matter how many years have passed. When I first saw it, this was the group of people I wanted to hang out with, and weirdly enough, it kind of turns out that I have. Maybe it's a self-fulfilling prophecy kind of thing.
Perhaps Benny's right. Perhaps Bohemia is dead and it was always a fallacy we created on nostalgic nights like this to remember the best of ourselves that never really existed in the same time and place all at once, but I guess that's why I'm glad the arts exist. There's now something so solidly comforting in listening to that soundtrack and remembering all the optimism I had when I was 16 and hoping that it's still there, somewhere deep down. Often, I'm like Mark asking myself "How did I get here, how the hell?" But those times when the future seems so unknown and the past seems so far away, it's nice to listen to the reminder that maybe there really is no day but today. However, I will always blame Rent for making me love the Rogers of the world, instead of the more dependable Mark's of the world.