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Friday, February 29, 2008
Was I that bad? Gross. (quarterlife)
Yes, blogs are pretty self-indulgent. And, shit, my prior email was in fact indulgejohn@. But, really, I never meant to make my ramblings, as well as my bloging buds' everyday ongoing bullshit, into a nationwide cryfest meant for mass consumption. (I mean, it would've been fun for us, but pretty much not for anyone else.) Who the hell thought creating characters about "bloggers"?
NBC! That's who!
Okay, to be fair, quarterlife was created by the producers who also brought critically acclaimed television on "My so-called life", "Once and Again", and "thirtysomething". And, quarterlife was initially an internet show: shown streamed, chopped, and basically not really meant to be considered a coherent television drama.
I never watched the show online. I'm as much a techhead as the next person, but the only videos I like to watch on the net are old videos, funny gags, and sports highlights. (Okay, okay. Something else, but.. nevermind.)
The first half of the "pilot" started out, I dunno, regular enough. We get the point: 20somethings who are lost. I turned off the show to either sleep or watch something else and just came back to it a few days later. What ensued was cringe-inducing. The shots seemed overindulgent, as you know - and I know, like blogging is. But I hardly doubt I should give them credit because I'm SURE that was purely coincidental.
Matt Roush, from TVguide.com DUMPED ON the show and was pretty on-point with what's all wrong with that 44 minutes I just completely can not recoup. Dylan, the lead and main blogger (well, none of them are bloggers but Dylan) was sensational as a prettier, real Earth version of Smeagol. Who's her precious? She's new at a magazine company. She's a "writer" even though she referred to bit of sarcasm as irony. What? Her friends comprise of an actor/bartender, a filmmaker making arthouse Toyota/Scion dealership commercials, a smarmy best friend of the "filmmaker" who has family money, a girlfriend of smarmy guy who is pined over by "filmmaker", and there's some tech nerd who's helping the guys make the commercial.
Okay. Caught up? Are those our 20-something archetypes? Woe-be-me creatiphiles? Okay, okay. That makes sense.
The creators/writers really miss in this show since we ARE generally okay with those archetypes for this show. People will always be empathetic to watching lost people find their way. We're all lost. We really are. We're all in a state of flux or fearing one around the corner. We'll watch others who are wading in our own current. So how'd they miss? All these stupid kids do is whine! No one's happy. And yeah, that's the point of a mid-20s angst type of show, but do that in lieu of any real redeeming everyday qualities? Geez, these characters make the One Tree Hill characters look like surviving citizens of Caprica.
These 20somethings are not adults. Dylan, as Matt Roush wrote, is easily the most annoying character to hit television in a long time. Her discussion with Lisa outside of the bar that turned into some hit-and-run conversation about an orgasm was like listening to any of the adolescents in any of our favorite teen dramas but far more immature. The conversation that the two best friends had in the basement where they made up was surreal. If they had an Enhanced/Pop-up-video version of the show like they do with LOST, I'm sure it would've read, "Look! Finally a 3 Dimensional male character with real emotions... Uh, hello? Why aren't you crying yet?" At one point, I was grumbling to myself about the shortcomings of pretty people.
When I was watching those scenes I thought about whether my adverse reaction to them was due to the characters' supposed adulthood (like I wouldn't mind if I saw it in Gossip Girl), and it really wasn't that. Gossip Girl, though having "high school" characters have such more substance than their (I guess) pre-professional counterparts in quarterlife. The whine was as bad as Dawson's Creek, but that was a 10 YEAR OLD SHOW and it had a heart and soul to the stories, if nothing more than a soap.
For a pilot episode, it had 3 of its 6 main players shed tears for completely different incidents. quarterlife is stock full of tears and completely no real emotion. Lisa, the very pretty actress, was berated by her acting teacher for not knowing herself and not exuding any real sexaulity because she wasn't real to herself. She's a fitting metaphor of the show.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
AI: Elimination #2
Okay, seeing their sadness and disappointment.. and I'm scoring myself on who gets booted. I'm an A-hole, yeah?
Okay. Well. I am.
Jason: 1 point
Alexandreia: 1 point (She's not THAT good. Prolly doesn't deserve to go in the 2nd episode, though.)
hence...
Amanda: 0 points
(Did Carly get extensions?)
Wow, Kady knew she should've left, too.
Alaina: 0 points
(Okay, Kristy Lee, Amanda, and Kady better feel lucky... and like SHIT!)
(Wow. Are they desperate for ratings? I gotta see what they're getting. Is Idol losing steam? I wouldn't mind.)
(Oh, wait, did Daughtry get NO love? Haha. Nice.)
Robbie: 1 point
This week's points: 3 of 4.
Total: 4.5 of 8.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Scripted stuff..
Eli Stone is still good. It's a lawyer show so you get what you expect in that department, but the strength of the show still relies on the lead and the supporting cast. Let's just assume that people in big firms go nutrs sometimes, with the pressure, that Eli's weirdness is everyday culture.
I just watched the first quarter or quarterlife on NBC. If the lead character's a writer, why did she refer to someting as irony that was totally NOT irony?
Anyway, it's alright... so far..
AI: Top 10 Girls
Okay... here we go..
Carly - A little pitchy. I totally wanna get a new tattoo. She definitely has command of her voice..
See, Randy said what I already said. I should be a judge. I'd like to coach Kristy Lee Cook. Hmm. Okay.. singing... competition..
Simon's spot on. Song choice.. yeah.
It's cool that she's panting.. and sweating.. NO NO, not like that. It just shows how much she threw in. Cool.
Syesha - Sounds good. If she comes up with a good ending, she'll do herself justice. Hmm.
I don't think it was "indulgent". Maybe a bad song choice, but there was nothing wrong with it. Simon's definitely stretching for something.
Brooke - (Pre video: I'm already rolling my eyes.) Well, she definitely sounds better than last week. Her facial expressions are a bit too much. She looks uncomfortable.
Yes, I agree that the song choice was good. Good performance.
Ramielle - (Wow, what a surprise. A filipina that danced polynesian.. naks. BTW, Ryan, I bet her native language is English.) Cool that she's doing something more lively. She does sing a little old school. She does have a strong voice, though. She needs to stop doing that cutesy thing, btw. She already looks younger than she is.. and she has more talent than having to rely on that.
Kristy Lee Cook - (Hmm. Get dirty. Yay.) Oh no. Well, she's more alive this week. I just don't think her voice compares to the other girls. You get nothing out of this.
I love that shirt, though.
Oh, there are two cooks.
WOW, classic rock from Amanda? Another surprise.
BTW, I watched Paradise Hotel 3 the other night.. since when I was younger I totally enjoyed the stupidity of the first one.. and the girls were hot. Okay.. so, it totally did nothing for me. On the other hand, Real World/Road Rules this week it REALLY did get nasty.. and Danny attacking Johanna (wrongly) and yelling at her that he "didn't speak Spanish" was uncalled for and Racist. I can hear someone say he wasn't racist.. it was just a bad moment. Well, what he said was racist. And, well, if he's NOT racist.. he's definitely okay with it. I'm sorta.. okay. Nevermind.
Okay..
Amanda - that was bad. C'mon. Pitchy.
I don't understand when Simon says "indulgent song".
Alaina - (uh, wtf was that? strange food habit? that's all you have?!!?) When the first thing that comes out of your mouth when you're singing is a breath.. not good. It sounds sorta disjointed. All over the place.. Super pitchy. Not so good.
Alexandria - I love this girl's grandma from the audition show.. cute lady. I can't say she's created any interest for me, though. She can sing.. but this is a bit pitchy.. and whiny..
Yeah, safe choice = BORING. I said Boring before Simon did. What?
Yes, I liked that, "wtf are you talking about Paula" look. Btw, Paula loves that "relevant" word. She needs to shut it up.
Kady - Woah.. watch that step. She looks really uncomfortable. Bad song choice. She needs to stop singing songs she just wants to sing, and start COMPETING. I think she really has a nice and strong voice, and this does nothing for her. Felt very contained.
This would be an interesting story.. like short story. The conflict's not very unique, but there's something there. She's full of talent and personality, but she's hitting a ceiling in her creativity when she's on stage. Hmm.
Asia'h - Soft notes.. oversinging soft notes. Not going well. Hmm. Oversinging everything. =/ Rough, Simon, but true. She's not THAT good.
Winners for the week:
Brooke - she showed a lot this week
Kristy Lee - she bounced back
Carly - so did she
Losers:
Kady - she wasn't bad, but she needed to bounce back and didn't.
Amanda - she tried to show some range and it didn't do much.
Alaina - she can really sing, also, but didn't do much.
Honestly, almost everyone was pretty bland.
Top 3:
Brooke
Ramielle
Carly
Getting the boot:
Amanda
Alexandria
Alternate:
Kady
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
AI: Top 10 Dudes
This week's...
Winners:
David Hernandez - I agre. Dude just sounded good. Performed much better.
Chikezie - He was in his groove this week. He should stay in that zone to do himself justice.
Luke Menard - He's got an interesting voice. He's not Top 3, but he's a winner this week since he sounded and performed much better than last week.
David Cook - okay, I was rough on him last week, but he definitely sounded in his comfort zone this week. He definitely has a rock voice (as opposed to Robbie). He sounds better when he's not doing that irritating breathy thing with his voice. I disagree with Simon that he doesn't have charisma. Last week Simon would've been right with that! I thought he performed really well today.
David Archuleta - A bit bold with the new arrangement.. started off slowly.. but I think he again showed his voice and command. Yup, he ripped it. Again, started off slowly, but really blew that shit out. "Maturity"/Command. Cool.
Losers:
Jason Yeager
Danny Noriega - Okay, really bad start. He sounded better as it went on.. but still..
Robbie - Now he has two of them questioning his rockhood. Well.. one way or another, I don't think he's all that great. He wasn't bad this week, but..
Subpar to their best:
Michael Johns - wasn't his best, but he's safe.
Jason Castro - wasn't his best, but he's safe.
Guys did a much better than week.
Top 3:
David Archuleta
David Hernandez
Chikezie
Getting the Boots:
Jason Yeager
Robbie
Alternate:
Danny Noriega
Monday, February 25, 2008
SNL: 2/23/08 - Tina Fey
I've noticed that SNL episodes after a long hiatus usually fall very flat. This episode with everything involved: a whole season's worth of unused sketches, writers having a long time of wacky ideas to rummage their brains, and Tina Fey making her return begged for letdown. I thought it was pretty good overall.
Sketch 1: CNN Democratic Debate (As with most of their political sketches since I've been a regular watcher, this was pretty underwhelming. Fred Armisan, who I think is very undervalued, was not very good as Obama. The gist of the sketch was there and was relatively funny, but it wasn't anything special.
Sketch 2: Tina's Monologue was great. Having Steve Martin didn't hurt, but I knew that Tina was pretty much going to cover the strike and then play awkward/low-confidence girl like Liz Lemon on 30 Rock and it was fun. I loved her rendition of the oldtime movie "I can do it."
Sketch 3: Annuale commercial was pretty funny. I thought it was one of their better spoof ads.
Sketch 4: Rock of Love was pretty bad. Nothing special excpet for bagging on the girls and the show. Could've been better.
Sketch 5: Digital Short: A Message for Old People - this was pretty funny overall. Nothing crazy outstanding, but it was pretty good. W'sup with "The Transforming Robots"? Did Universal not want to allow them to use it? Wait. Paramount/Dreamworks. Hmm.
Sketch 6: What that Bitch Talking Bout? wasn't anything special, but I thought it hit where it was supposed to.
Performance 1: Carrie Underwood. Okay, as much as I could watch her HD all day, she sure doesn't do much on stage but stand in front of a mic stand and sing. She also started out sorta pitchy. Oh, wait, wrong show. Ironic.
Sketch 7: Weekend Update was alright. I thought some of the stuff missed. I gotta say, though, that Mike Huckabee's little piece was pretty funny. Nice to see somebody being able to laugh at himself. Now, for real, just go away. (Btw, Mike Huckabee Biopic - totally unnecessary but probably would be good just to see Kevin Spacey do it.) Nice to have Tina back behind the desk even though, as much as I agree with the gist that Hilary definitely gets discredited for various things because she's a woman, I just don't trust her.
Another interesting note on Huckabee is that he's received high publicity on comedy shows that are obviously left-leaning.. or swimming (Daily Show, Colbert Report, and the current SNL) - when he's probably the most "conservative" of the top 3 or 4 Republican candidates.
Okay, watching this portion again, it definitely did it better as it went along. Some of the first few "news" articles didn't hit.
I love Amy Poehler.
Sketch 8: NBC's Thursday Night: Celebrity Apprentice Overload was alright, but it went too long. It was cool to see everyone doing impersonations, though. Kristen's really good in a lot of what she does. Bill Heder rocks! Okay, this was better than I thought the first time. I think I'm done with The Donald routine, though. Darrell Hammond's got major talent elsewhere. Let's retire The Donald, yeah? Thanks!
Sketch 9: Inappropriate Best Man Toast was pretty good. Nothing new or spectacular, but it was funny.
Sketch 10: Virgania Horsen's Hot Air Balloon Rides - I really liked this sketch. Kristen was so good with her "blandness" and I LOVED the low-quality cheap ad effects.
Sketch 11: I Drink Your Milkshake: Okay, dude, Bill Heder's Daniel Plainview was spot on! I loved the credit scene too. Lots of work for a seemingly one-time skit. Being that I heard the There Will Be Blood soundbytes everyday on KNBR, I really gotta repeat that Heder was good.. obviously since I posted it earlier. "I abandoned my BOY! I abandoned my CHILD!"
Performance 2: Again, in a totally HD-worthy black/biker get-up, Carrie Underwood's looking great... standing behind that mic stand. At least the guitarists are allowed to move. I'm sure this would've looked the same with a still image.
Sketch 12: Lady Business - this was okay. True in its satire, but wasn't anything all that great.
Oh, I was worried that Don Pardo wasn't going to make it past 90 after trying to blow out those candles. At first, I thought that they put on those trick candles. I was thinking, "dude, that's not just mean, but that's life threatening." I was really really worried. Were you?
Sunday, February 24, 2008
I Drink Your Milkshake
Friday, February 22, 2008
Ahh. TV. Juno. Reality TV. Everything.
No shame
I'm glad I'm getting judged for my American Idol viewership. At least I know people are reading my rants. I'm very serious about that. I really don't care about what I watch or what I listen to. I know that my tastes range from profound to utterly pathetic, but that's why I admit to being a media whore. I soak it all up for what it's worth.
So, for the past few weeks, my viewing menu's consisted of:
- NBA basketball (All-star game and the GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS!)
- Lost (ooh.. it's been CRAZY the last two weeks)
- Eli Stone (I still like this a lot, overall. They got heavier last week. I do have to apologize for including Natasha Henstridge in the same sentence with Victor Garber and Tom Cavanaugh.)
- Smallville.. til, I guess they ran out of pre-strike episodes last week. (BTW, I miss Supernatural. Lost over Supernatural. At the parents' place, there's usually Basketball on Thursdays.)
- Buffy S1-S4. Well.. this obviously isn't on the air. I have the whole set and it's been pretty damn good since the middle/late middle of Season 2.
- Survivorman on Discovery Channel
- The Universe on History Channel
- other special geological/historical shows on History or Discovery
- American Idol
- America's Best Dance Crew (This show rocks just because the dance crews, mostly, are crazy sick! Jabbawockeez, Kaba Modern, Status Quo, Live in Color.. SICK!!! W'sup with JC being mr hyper critical though.. all these kids learned to dance on their own and with each other. He learned in a Disney studio.. c'mon! I do like the judges on this show better than Randy, Paula, and Simon. They're much more real.. much more specific.. and much more supportive even in their criticisms. The dance crews look like they're learning - and really, this show's about the dancing, not the personalities. That's especially targeted towards AC Slater and his Cristina Aguilera "urban" accent.)
- Real World Road Rules Gauntlet 3 - these kids make me laugh.
- Best Week Ever
- Bones re-runs on Friday nights (but I guess they stopped those).
- Ghost Hunters International
- Bone Detectives (History Channel) - I think I don't want to be an Archaeologist when I grow up, anymore.
So.. there's been a major dearth in my scripted TV schedule. Oh, lately I've been re-watching the OC Season 4 and How I Met Your Mother S2.
Because I'm overly wired, I'm usually on my laptop when I watch TV, but I can't do that to my faves.. and definitely not the scripted hour-long dramas. I think, overall, that's why "reality tv" is so easy to digest. It flies by. There's not subteraneous level of needed thought. It's just there. Easy to soak up even when you're flipping through webpages or whatever else. I actually got through a 2 hour American Idol episode in about 30-40 minutes. I skipped everything except the performances and judge's thoughts. Anyway, that's why it sometimes takes me YEARS to watch films that I'd love to indulge in because I always have something else to distract me. I can fly through stupid movies like no one's business.
Anyway, I'm content with who I am and my playlists.
BTW, my music playlist lately has included:
- The Beatles
- Alicia Keys
- 80's Ballads (Heart "Alone", Def Leppard "Love Bites")
- Bon Jovi
- ACDC
- 90's Slow Jams
- Weezer
- The Fray
- Sappy rockpop
- Juno soundtrack
- a sprinkling of hip hop, here and there
So, whatever's whatever.
Juno...
by the way, was a really fun and well made movie. Kitty Pryde was wonderful, as was George Michael Bluth. Actually, I thought the supporting roles were wonderfully cast.
End of the Strike
I really am glad the strike's over.. but I feel like Smallville and Scrubs, both in their final 7th seasons, are getting a screw job on their path to retirement. =(
Oh, Spider-man
I jumped on board the Spider-man bandwagon in the early 90s when Erik Larsen became the main artist of Amazing Spider-man. I didn't read comics, though, at the time. I loved drawing - or redrawing what I saw. I didn't really start reading the damn words until college. I wasn't back into the Amazing fold until the middle of J. Michael Strazynski's run - a few issues before Sins Past. Well, maybe a year before. I started when Peter and MJ were still separated. Anyway, there was much buzz at the turn of the year when Marvel ended the big "what's going to happen to Aunt May" story arc with Peter and Mary Jane agreeing to wipe out their whole relationship so that Mephisto, aka the Devil, would restore Aunt May's health.
Well, not only did that reboot Peter and Mary Jane's relationship, but it also reboot, I dunno, 20 years or so of Spider-man canon. So, all the money I spent in my Spider-man comic book buying life is all completely inconsequential garbage.
It's sorta strange that they made such a huge retcon. I mean.. HUGE! I've read the first two issues of the ALL NEW (ALL OLD) Spider-man, and it's.. like a badly envisioned return to glory - you know, like when Jason Seaver went way back to 60s Rock Band Jason for his birthday in Growing Pains. At least that was just a one time thing. And they didn't erase Maggie or Mike or Carol or Ben. They could've retconned Chrissy and Luke, but they weren't created yet to be retconned. Anyway..
They wanted to un-age Spiderman. Superheroes have a glaring shelf life when they're married or having to be adults. Spouses are no good. Children are no good. Full time jobs are no good. Or so we're told. So now, Peter's a broke, mercenary hero like he was in his swinging teens, but he's the same adult age as before the doom and gloom of his adulthood and Civil War and his outing of his alterego, and all that. So, basically, he's a single, debonair, bachelor... SCRUB! Weird.
I'm not bashing the idea in all. Business is business. Chances need to be taken, but this one seemed weird.
Okay, enough for now.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
AI: Results Night 1
That music video to Daughtry was pretty cool. Everyone looked fabulous. It's sorta sad since 4 of them got all did up to lead up to getting did tonight. =(
Okay. The guys ensemble was TERRIBLE!!!
David Hernandez.. wow, his stage presence is scary. (Not a euphemism for good. YIKES.)
Alaina can sing!
Syesha had pitch problems.
So did Asia'h.
Kristy's still super cute.
I really don't get David Cook.
I wonder if Danny was mad that he didn't get a solo.
(BTW. Moment of Truth is a big waste of time. It's best worst moments are in commercials.)
Elimination 1: WOAH, Garrett got kicked out pretty cold. Yikes. That was.. wow. Hmm, he's much sadder than he's letting on. You can hear it in his voice. Well, he's young. He can work it out as Randy said. He has potential - he losing his focus and sounding worse. Aww, kid. he's feeling bad. (0 points)
Elimination 2: Amy Davis. She knew it. She knew she didn't do so well last night. She was the hapa? She knew her and Kristy were knocking at bottom 2 territory. She's looks much prettier the last two nights. These goodbye performances are terrible.. holding in the tears. Why do they do this every year? (1 point)
It's still totally ironic to me that Paula (though she was my first official celebrity crush) is a judge on a singing competition. Hmm. Well, those who can't.. coach... and they judge, I guess.
Elimination 3: Joanne. Yeah, I skipped this last night and it's not such a great performance. Her vocals aren't that great either. Great spirt though. Oh no, I feel like I'm commenting like Paula. (1/2 point)
Elimination 4: Colton. Wow, I thought he was talented enough to not be one of the first two out. Chikezie.. you better feel lucky, buddy. Try harder. Aww, all the kiddos are crying. =( It's okay, y'all. You're still there. I really like this song. (0 points)
True, if you don't want Simon to be mean, don't ask him to talk. Haha. Aww, sorry Colton.
TOTAL SCORE WEEK 1: 1.5 out 4
Wow, I've never ever seen one second of Don't Forget the Lyrics except when passing by when my parents are watching.. what is up with the super dramatic voiceover guy.
AI: Ladies top 12 and tonight's elimination Night
Simon was spot on for most.. I see his point with Carly but she has the best control with a dope ass voice.
Top 3:
Siyesha
Ramiele
Carly
Asia'h
Worst:
Brooke (bad song choice and she sounded flat).
Kristy Lee Cook (this makes me sad. I'd love to watch her in HD all day.)
Amy Davis
MID:
Kady can sing.. I think she deserves a long run.
GETTING THE BOOTS for Week 1:
Guys:
tooo many davids..
David Cook
Chikezie
Girls:
Amy
Brooke
Alternate:
Jason
Joanne
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
American Idol: 2/19/08 the guys
Since I'm watching anyway.. and I'm getting totally irritated.. (and because my girl cardin mckinley's nowhere to be found.. =( )
David Hernandez - do I really want to watch a guy sing a happy song looking like he wanted to kill me? Yeah, Simon got it right that dude had to loosen up.
Chikezie - Dude, Simon was right. It sounded bland.. the "whoo" was wack.
David Ross - Yuck. He has this breathy sort of singing style that's just irritating. I have no hope for any of the guys except for the Australian dude.
Jason Yeager - I gotta agree with Simon again. It was boring. No, not the song.. the rendition.
Robbie Carrico - Wsup with skipping out on that high note, though? I think he'd be a great Roger in RENT. Not totally sold in his overall voice.
(DUDE, Paula, SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE SINGING!!)
Yeah, I agree again with Simon because he doesn't totally have the real rock vibe.. yet.
David Archuleta - Woah.. screwed up a bit there a few times.. but he had the best performance. Kinda got lost a bit at times, but really, he has great stage presence. (Yes, Paula, confidence. Thanks for something concrete.)
Danny Noriega - okay, this dude bugs the crap out of me.. sorta seems really waaaay too into himself. (I gotta say that about Chikezie too). But, dude can sing. This song might be too easy for him. See.. I swear I wrote that before Randy said it didn't let him do his thing. And dude.. WAAAAAY too much sass, man. Seriously.
Luke Menard - Sorta "pitchy" at times, but during 80s night he better sing some Richard Marx, man. 70s night - a little bit of James Taylor? Haha. He has a nice voice, not very strong, though. (See, Randy was right.) Not sure what he's trying to present with the clothes, though. Oh dude.. it's VERY forgetable. Stay confident, but geez. C'mon.
Colton Berry - Again, not sure about the wardrobe choice. I think this is a good song for him. He can definitely cover that 60s vibe. He can't dance. Yes.. Simon's right, again.. it wasn't anything like crazy memorable.
(Paula sucks. Stop bullshitting those damn kids.)
Garrett Haley - Eh. It's not terrible. He can sing, but the softer parts, like most of these folks, present trouble. They can wail, but can't sing the simple parts. The end was much better than the start.
Simon's on a roll. A little bit too much this time. But, yes, it was too safe. And boring. Randy was right. He didn't do shit with the song.
Jason Castro - I thought it was good. Let's see what the judges say... Top 2? Yeah, definitely. I thought it was a bit better than David's and I love that little dude. Effortless? Yes. Pitchy? Yes. Real? Yes.
Michael Johns - (don't let me down, dude....) The Doors! Wow. I thought it was okay.. blew it out middle to the end, though. His voice is sick. Natural rasp and control. And a very natural performer.
Winners: EASY, David, Jason, and Michael. If Michael's not top 3, I'm leaving when he does... except for Kristy Lee something or other.
Okay, a lot of them can sing, but I don't know if anyone else will be able step up with their performances.
Kristy Lee Cook. Yum.
I hope Ramielle will represent us well - she can sing, no doubt. She looks like she's a little sparkplug performer too. Siyesha might be the strongest voice, and I really like the Irish girl.
Aww, Cardin. =( No myspace?
Friday, February 08, 2008
The Cool Crowd: Almost Everyone's Truant (and extra credit coolness)
Where does my life go when the tv writer's are on strike?
No answers, please. Just rhetorical.
BSG: Razor
I finally watched Battlestar Galactica: Razor a few weeks ago - over two months after I recorded it and even signed up for (but never attended) the free movie screening. Unlike most of my other nugget/toaster loving friends, I wasn't really all that in love with the end product. I didn't mind that most of the episode/movie didn't advance much in the overall story except for the stuff about Starbuck. I couldn't complain about Kendra Shaw - or the actress who played her. Instead, what I found lacking in it was what persisted in most of first half of the episode/movie. The flashbacks scenes seemed to cut the continuity of the story to the point that it was very "clip show" like. They say a profound line - it flips to the backstory. It was almost as incohesive as dance suites getting introduced during PCNs.
The actual character building and plotline were fine. It was BSG and any portion of BSG is worth loving especially at these times of striking scribes.
Rating the Chucks
Chuck 1: Chuck (NBC)
As I've written in the past, this show never really aroused much of my interest. Zachary Levi isn't bad as a bumbling anti-superhero, but overall I felt much missing.
Chuck 2: Pushing Daisies (ABC)
As I've written in the past, this show was the one that caught my earliest and greatest interest from the freshman class this season. Since then, though, I've found it a bit of a struggle to come back every week. The quirk is still fine and the colors are as well, but I guess it hasn't been capturing enough of me to pull me away from my laptop. Chuck's still quite cute (both physically and personally), and it was still one of my favorite scenes when both Chuck and Ned are on the roof with the bees and wearing their Chucks. Chuck wears them because they're named after her. Ned wears them because they're named after her.
Chuck 3: Gossip Girl (CW)
The big, bad, spoiled potential date rapist is an interesting character and obviously perfect for the shows cynical and satiric look at the underbelly of upper east side glamour. He's sort of like the back up point guard in this show. First string would be Serena (even though Dan's the main protaganist). The best stories are running through her. B - Blair could easily be our back up point, but right now, the best stories are running through Chuck. While it took me a while to warm up to this show (since I was only watching initially to see if Josh Schwartz could do it again), this has been my favorite new show of the season.
So, as they go so far:
Best Chuck: Gossip Girl's sex fiend and manipulative p-dubbed mofo.
Next Best Chuck: Pushing Daisies' "untouchable" sweetheart.
Third Place Chuck: the dorky namesake.
Speaking of Names
The week that Eli Stone premiers on ABC following the triumphant Season 4 coming out party of Lost, the NFL's favorite toilet paper Eli Manning cemented his place in history because of his namesake.. but even more importantly because he finally played up to his draft position (and his namesake). Despite what he and Archie did to San Diego when he was drafted, I couldn't help but cheer HIM on. Oh yes, I was more rooting against New England (and more importantly against Belichek, Harrison, and their fans... and I guess a bit against Moss), but after the Green Bay game any football fan (minus New England) had to cheer for the Giants (maybe just because a New England blowout early in the game would've screwed yet another overly hyped Superbowl).
But, that other Eli: Eli Stone had a pretty good showing himself. I had high hopes for this show when I first found Marc Guggenheim and then found him to be a creator on the show. What I loved about Guggenheim's Wolverine: Civil War 6-issue arc was his pacing and how he captured the strength and the vulnerability of Wolverine with seeming ease. I thought the Eli Stone pilot was written and acted well. All of the main characters seem to have a lot of stories to tell in each of them. The humor was great. The lawsuit was a bit too much (and obviously inaccurate.. you know.. autism doesn't just happen over night). The dancing in the lobby was great and right when I thought they were cutting it too late, Eli started busting a groove and we snapped back to the rest of the real world. Yeah, easy gag, but it was done well. For a pilot it did a good job of building interest in the characters without laboring over slamming them down our throats or bucking the trend and glossing over essential nuggets of knowledge to let us wait to put together the pieces (like Journeyman creators did).
It actually had quite a cast, also, for a midseason starter: Victor Garber (Alias), Tom Cavanaugh (Ed), and Natasha Henstridge (Species). Eli's brother had a recurring in "Tell Me You Love Me" (at least it looked like him) and his mother played Arnold's partner in Kindergarten Cop.
Oh Wait! There's another Eli!
I watched There Will Be Blood and was underwhelmed with the overall experience. I didn't understand why it was regarded as such a CLASSIC - but then again, I'm an idiot to film making so what the hell do I know? Anyway, once I thought about it more, I've actually liked it more. Probably won't EVER see it again, but I thought there were pieces that were clever or deep and just good. Overall, though, Daniel Day Lewis and Paul Dano were frickin' incredible.
I just checked IMDB, and realized it was Paul Dano who was supposed to be the "star" of the "school video" in The Girl Next Door. Right? Funny, the other background friend was named Eli in the film.
