Best of A Decade: 2006

Between finishing high school and starting college, you'd think that I wouldn't have had a lot of time for movies. You would think wrong. This was the year I really started becoming a pop culture junky. My obsession with musical theatre began to wane and I was hooked on the silver screen!

Tristan and Isolde

Ahh James Franco. So beautiful. By taking the magic that makes the story of Tristan and Isolde interesting though, they just made a nice little take on Lancelot and Guenivere, which is fine. Because I like that story too.

Cars

Notice there have been a lot of Pixar movies here? I love Cars. I love Paul Newman voicing the old Paul Newman car. I love George Carlin as a hippie VW bus. I love Jeremy Piven as Lightening McQueen's agent, Ari Gold, I mean Harv. I love it's quiet little story line. I love everything about it.

Take The Lead

Antonio Banderas does the tango...do I need to say more? I will, mostly about Lauren Collins as a debutante. Because Paige in a private school uniform is still Paige, is she not?

John Tucker Must Die

I love movies that were clearly made ten years too late, and this is one of those movies. It fits on the shelf quite nicely next to Ten Things, and Drive Me Crazy. And Brittney Snow is adorable, as is Penn Badgely. (BTW, in flashback, Brittney plays Penn's stepmother Lilly on Gossip Girl! Funners!) Sophia Bush is hilarious as Brooke Davis, I mean, some other girl who is nothing like Brooke at all whatsoever. Oh right and Jesse Metcalfe has his shirt off almost as much as Taylor Lautner in New Moon. And he's legal.

Clerks II

While hardly the best of the man's work, I do like this particular entry in Kevin Smith's catalogue. It was nice to see Dante and Randal back behind the counter, and Elias, the socially retarded born again kid, obsessed with the Transformers and Lord of The Rings, is one of Smith's better comic creations. Also pillow pants.

Accepted

I love Justin Long. There I said it. Plus this was the first movie I saw with my college friends. And it brought Jonah Hill to our attention ("Ask me about my weiner!) and Blake Lively was actually likable in something. It's a silly little romp, but it's a lot of fun.

The Devil Wears Prada

The clothes, the shoes, the Emily Blunt, the Meryl Streep! Yes, the adorable Anne Hathaway is the least of the good things in this gem of a chick flick. Streep won a Golden Globe for her performance as Miranda Priestly. (A mistake in my opinion, but I'll get to that next.) And did I mention the clothes?

Dreamgirls

I'm sorry, I drifted off for a minute thinking about this movie. It's probably the best of the new era musicals. Beyonce was robbed of a Globe and Oscar nom (see, I said I would get to it.) And Eddie Murphy was unreal. And shall we talk about Jennifer Hudson's Oscar winning performance as Effie?

Rocky Balboa

Not the best movie in the series, but it beats out Rock V. Also, Milo Ventimiglia fulfilled the prophecy put down by Amy Sherman-Paladino all those years ago..."I know Jess seems exciting, because he's dark and brooding, and he's seen a lot of Stalone movies!" "Nothing wouldn't happen to wear a leather jacket and do a convincing 'Adrian!' would it?" Plus there's the whole Milo-Philly correlation. In Gilmore Girls, Jess ends up in Philadelphia. American Dreams takes place in Philadelphia and then this. I'm just waiting for Peter Petrelli to head to the city of brotherly, love.

The Departed

If I watched this movie one more time, I'm pretty sure my roommate Jen was going to kill me. But it's just so good! It's all star cast shines and Scorcese finally won his best director Oscar. (He probably should have gotten it three years before for Gangs of New York.) It's always interesting to see a movie where everyone but one character ends up dead at the end.

Best of A Decade: 2005

In Good Company

This is one of those highly underrated movies that people tend to forget about. Topher Grace stars as a synergizing business wunderkind who gets moved into a sports magazine ad department, previously dominated by Dennis Quaid. What follows is a story about life, business, family and friendship. Grace's Carter becomes infatuated with Quaid's daughter, played with cutey sex appeal by Scarlett Johansson, and eventually learns the value of hard work and ethics. Plus any movie that uses Peter Gabriel's "Salsbury Hill" deserves notation.

Sin City

"You go down the right alley in Sin City, and you can find anything." Robert Rodriguez is BRILLIANT! Seriously people? It's called Desperado. Also Planet Terror. Anyway, Sin City is the beginning of Rodriguez's partnership with comic God Frank Miller, on Miller's iconic stories of Basin City and it's underground. The second film is in the works, but his one focuses on stories, "The Hard Goodbye," "That Yellow Bastard," "The Big Fat Kill," and "The Customer is Always Right." The style, all green screen was later adopted for other comic adaptations. But Sin City was the first, and by far the best.

Fever Pitch

Apparently this movie is supposed to be a fluffy romantic comedy. I think it's a tragedy. I remember watching the second half of it with my hands over my eyes. Also this only furthered my brother and my theory that the 2004 Baseball post season was a large media conspiracy intent on destroying everything Yankee fans held dear.

Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of The Sith

On multiple viewings, not a favorite. But I walked out of the theater and said "WOW! Thank God!" The first twenty minutes are a return to the joy of the original Star Wars trilogy. Actually the first two hours are really good. It's the last half hour (minus the kick ass duel fights between Sidious/Yoda and Obi-Wan/Anikan) that kill it. Plus, Jimmy Smits? Really?

Batman Begins

"Why do we fall?" "It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me." "I don't need to kill you, but I don't need to save you either." I could just keep quoting it, but I won't. It's just awesome. Nolan's vision of Batman is so clear it's hard to talk about much else. The movie isn't perfect. (The Scarecrow? Really? That's your villain choice) But the flaws are minimal. As great as The Dark Knight was, I prefer Begins. I love origin stories.

Sky High

I don't care that it's one of the lamer Disney tween movies of the decade. It has a character in it named "Warren Peace!" Get it? That's comedy man. Also a punk girl who can shapeshift into a Guinea Pig. And Michael Angorano is one of those underrated young actors who people never think of, but when they see him always love. (I adore his work on Will and Grace as Jack's son Elliott.)

The 40 Year Old Virgin

Judd Apatow. I think the man is one of the best writers out there. I'm serious. Watch the movies that he wrote, not just produced and be awed by what he does. The absurdity of his vulgar sex comedies are offset by such incredible heart and reality that you can't help but root for his out there protagonists.

Wedding Crashers

Hello world, meet Isla Fisher.

Walk The Line

You'll notice that Reese Witherspoon is on this list a lot. She's one of my favorite actresses. But Walk The Line gets its note because of, well everything. It was released in a time when music bio-pics were flooding (Ray is the other really good one) but it stands out because of it's heart and the greatness of the music. Oh, right and Joaquin Phoenix and Reese did their own singing, so you know, cute.

Corpse Bride

Yay Tim Burton doing it right! I miss when Tim Burton got it right. Don't you?

Serenity

Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion. Big Screen time and budget. Oh and um, this:

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire

Back before Edward Cullen and his whole not showering thing, I had a major crush on Robert Pattinson because of his performance as Cedric Diggory. By far the most faithful adaptation of the six movies so far, it's not the best, but it's my favorite book. Shut up! I like exploring the "world" of a fantasy universe. And this one does that more than any of the others. Plus VIKTOR KRUM!!!!!

Pride & Prejudice

Although not the definitive adaptation of Jane Austen's most famous novel, it is the one you can stand to watch more than once a year without tons of chardonnay to aid in the six hours of exact translation. Not that this is something I've done. Ever. *cough* But I do love Ang Lee's interpretation. Kiera Knightley and Matthew Mcfayden's Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are adorable and awkward as their romance blossoms.

Rent

Yes, I went the day it opened, and I wore a jean mini skirt, pink fishnets and black leather boots. Yes, I quacked at the screen when Aaron Lohr started singing "Will I?" (If you don't get it leave!) And yes, I cried, a lot. It's not a perfect movie, but before they released the final performance on DVD, it was all we had OK?

Coming in 2006: Tristan and Isolde, Clerks II, Dreamgirls, The Departed and more.

Best of A Decade: 2004

2004 was a lean year for new movies for me, because I spent a lot of it catching up on stuff I missed in 2003. But there were definitely some stand outs, and here they are.

Garden State

I think that Garden State is one of the most romantic movies ever made. Plus I love a good behind the scenes story, and Garden State has one of the best. When Zach Braff got the job as Dr. Jon Dorian on Scrubs he immediately quit his day job. When he found out it would be a year before he would actually be working on the show, he sat down and wrote this little beauty. Plus it made me not hate Natalie Portman, and got me listening to Frou Frou.

Jersey Girl

One of the things that I love about Kevin Smith's movies is that there isn't an ounce of pretension in them. They are exactly what they are, with no apologies. Jersey Girl is a soft, sweet, marshmallow of a movie about fatherhood, family and being who you are. It doesn't try to be something else and that's what makes it great. Also Ben Affleck and that little girl singing Sweeney Todd. That's good too.

Saved!

"I am filled with Christ's love!" Let's face it, Born Again Christianity is funny. Most religion is funny, when you employ comedy. This movie, about a perfectly behaved born again girl who's boyfriend tells her he's gay, so she has sex with him to prove he isn't (one is the lesser sin!) and then finds herself pregnant and ostracized. And as good as Jena Malone is in this as Mary, it's Mandy Moore owns as the meanest mean girl you'll ever see. One who thinks she's doing God's work.

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

Ben Stiller's character in this movie is just an R rated version of his Heaveyweights character from the 90s, but what makes this movie great are in the fact that the characters are all so out there that Vince Vaughn is the strait man. Also it ends with the heroes receiving a trunk full of gold labeled "deus ex machina." I love a good Greek drama joke, don't you?

De-Lovely

OK, another one of those not that good movies that the experience of made it for me. I went to go see this Cole Porter bio-pic with the cast of a production of Anything Goes I'd just finished. We all sang along and it was very nerdy and very fun.

Spider-Man 2

The first movie was better. But it didn't have Alfred Molina in it as Doc Oc. Therefore there wasn't that wonderful visual that I get every time I see it...That of him singing if "If I were A Rich Man," and doing the Tevye shimmy with all of those mechanical arms. So funny!

Shaun of The Dead

I love Simon Pegg. I love him. I love this movie and it's gory funny, perfectness. A lot of laughing.

The Incredibles

As good as superhero movies get, they're not better than The Incredibles. Everything about this was funny.

Finding Neverland

I'd watch Kate Winslet in anything. But I really love this movie, and James Barry, the author of Peter Pan. Less because of Winslet, and even less because of Johnny Depp and more for Freddie Highmore, as Peter, the precocious boy whose name Barry steals for the play.

Coming in 2005: Episode III, Walk The Line, Rent and more!

Best of a Decade: 2003

I was finishing out my first year of high school, and I still maintain that 2003 was the beset summer of my life. That being said, I didn't see a lot of movies, which is why this is a slightly shorter list.

Bend it Like Beckham

Kiera Knightley and Parminder Nagra are fantastic in this girl power comedy about soccer, family and finding yourself. But without this movie we probably never would have gotten Neela on ER.

The Lizzie McGuire Movie

I've mentioned my Duff-love, no? I loved this little gem of a Disney tween flick. When Lizzie and crew head to Rome for the summer and she becomes a pop star it's absolutely perfect. And she and Gordo get together at the end, and Kate and Ethan do too. Plus try getting that song out of your head. "Have you ever seen such a beautiful night? I could almost kiss the stars for shining so bright..."

X2: X Men United

The first X Men movie brought about the era of comic book movie blockbusters. This one proved that they could be amazing movies. With the mythos of the X-Men established the movie was allowed to dive into the characters. Centered around a combination of stories, including Wolverine's quest to piece together his past, Jean Grey's growing powers, and a government sponsored researching wanting to take revenge on Dr. X and the other mutants, it makes for an extremely compelling action flick. Plus you know, HUGH JACKMAN!

Down With Love

A more modern take on the screwball comedies of Doris Day and Rock Hudson, starring Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellwegger. The clothes and look are divine, the script is pithy and bantery, and of course, it ends with a song. The twist ending is kind of out there but nothing says "Battle of The Sexes" like that montage where we hear the Sinatra version of "Fly Me To The Moon" mashed up with the Astrud Gibrelto version (in that battle, Frank wins. Frank always wins!)

Finding Nemo

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." Pixar has magical powers. I've always admired how well they tell stories. Nemo is not an exception. Brightly colored, fast moving and lovely, the story of the little fish and his dedicated father is beautiful. I still haven't yet figured out if Marlin and Dory are supposed to be a couple at the end. Also, I love the sharks. "Fish are friends, not food."

Camp

As a Sondheim obsessed, overly critical sixteen year old, I truly felt that this was the greatest piece of film ever. My friends and I still quote it incessantly, although we do feel that it's probably not the cinematic masterpiece it once was. And a few of the Camp alumni have done pretty well for themselves. Anna Kendrick, is well, Anna Kendrick. Dequina Moore has done some really great work on Broadway and Robin DeJesus...well, "Lights up on Washington Heights..."

(He's the little kid in the hat!)

Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl

"They're making a movie based on a Disney ride? That'll never work!" Guess what? It worked. The first Pirates movie was unbelievably brilliant. Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow is one of his greatest method creations, and Geoffrey Rush's Captain Barbosa is still my favorite part of this whole series. Orlando Bloom is even decent in this first one, and Elizabeth was still really cool and hadn't gotten annoying yet. Work has begun on a fourth installment (Without Will and Elizabeth) but nothing will ever beat this first go round, probably because it was such a surprise.

School of Rock

Jack Black is a comic genius. This is a movie that showcases every minute detail of that. Not to mention the music is very very good. And Adam Pascal plays the lead singer of the band that kicks Black out. And Sarah Silverman is great as the annoying girlfriend. And Miranda Cosgrove...just Miranda Cosgrove.

Elf

Instantly quotable, warm, fuzzy. Jon Favreau's instant Christmas classic, gave us everything we like about Will Ferrell without all of that stuff that's annoying. Not to mention it introduced everyone to Zooey DesChanel's singing voice. "The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear!"

The Lord of The Ring: The Return of The King

Sometimes movies become events. Sometimes event movies tie themselves in with a moment in our lives and we can't ever untie them. This is one of those movies. My sister and I went to go see it not two hours after hearing that our Uncle Billy had passed on, to escape from what we were feeling. We laughed, we cried, we were those obnoxious people that chanted "Rudy, Rudy, Rudy!" as Sam carried Frodo up Mount Doom. It was a good three hours.

So that was 2003.

Coming in 2004: Garden State, De-Lovely, The Incredibles.

Best of A Decade: 2002

I finished out middle school and headed to high school. My taste started to grow up a little, and I think it shows in the movies that come in the rest of the decade.

A Walk To Remember

My friends and I went into this movie with every intention of mocking it. After all, Mandy Moore could dye her hair brown but that didn't make her an actress! We left weeping, and stayed that way for hours. I'm not a huge fan of the way Nicholas Sparks's stories tug on the heartstrings, but Walk is the exception. It's just so lovely.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

My father is one of six. My mother is one of five. I have many cousins who are all up in each other's bussiness. We're Irish, not Greek. But still. I relate to this movie. Anyone with a big family does.

Divine Secrets of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Another movie that I took to, purely out of relatability. I grew up with three best friends. Get it? Also Ashley Judd and Maggie Smith rock hard!

Austin Powers in Goldmember

Mike Meyers remains one of the most influential people when it comes to my taste in comedy. The first two Austin Powers movies were brilliant. This one was fun. I saw it like 3 times in the theaters. For volume alone it warrants a place on this list.

The Importance of Being Earnest

The summer before high school I went to theater camp. We did a scene from The Importance of Being Earnest. I fell in love comedy of manners. I continue that love today. Also, Oscar Wilde was amazing.

Sweet Home Alabama

This was the first social outing of my high school life. The first Friday of high school, the girls I had been eating lunch with and I went to go see this. I really liked it because I love anytime people get to use their real accents.

8 Mile

I love Eminem. I know! This comes as a shock to many people. 8 Mile is a big part of the reason why I love him. I admire hip hop in general for the way they lay everything out on the table, but Marshall really did it in this movie, which is inspired by his life as a poor kid in Detroit. Rabbit, Em's character is tortured and sad, he fights the only way he can, with his words. The movie's theme "Lose Yourself" was the first hip hop song to win an Oscar. Though two years later "It's Hard out Here for a pimp" would get more recognition, I still maintain that Em gets boxed out by the hip hop community because of his whiteness, and his refusal to play the game.

Gangs Of New York

Scorcese's epic tale of the birth of New York street gangs during the Civil War is violent, dirty and unbelievable. 30 years in the making, every detail is exquisite. Plus it revealed Leonardo DiCaprio as a man, and started a partnership between him and Scorcese that would define both artists for the decade.

Chicago

Moulin Rouge! was the birth pains and the baby cries for the new era of musical films but Chicago was it's first steps. A high profile cast of incredible talent, a large budget and an incredible new voice in director Rob Marshall gave this movie everything it needed. The idea of having the musical take place inside of Roxie's head as a real movie happened on the outside was beautiful and made the whole thing more accessible to modern audiences. A well deserved Best Picture.

Drumline

Another movie that makes the list because of the sheer number of times I saw it. My middle school friends, who went to our public high school, while as I went to a neighboring town's Catholic, were all in marching band. So they loved this movie. I like it a lot. I like Nick Cannon.

2003's list includes: Pirates of The Caribbean, School of Rock and Finding Nemo!

The cinder or the shiny apple of it's eye.

Tonight's Glee was unbelievable tonight.

Lea Michelle doing "Don't Rain on My Parade," was so unreal.

I don't know how I'll make it until April waiting for new episodes. But I guess I'll have to.

Best of a Decade: 2001

In 2001 I was thirteen. It was a year of slumber parties, bar and bat mitzvahs, lounging by the pool without any care in the world. It was also a year that we rented a lot of movies.

Save The Last Dance

White girls can dance hip hop too! No really they can! Julia Styles had already worked her way into our hearts with 10 Things but this just made us all love her more. The story of a ballet dancer who moves to the south side of Chicago, and achieves her dream of attending Juliard, and meets a hot black future doctor! Actually it's a really sweet little across the tracks love story with some nice characters inside of their ghetto stereotypes.

Sugar and Spice

I was very into cheerleading in middle school. This movie was about a cheerleading squad who's captain gets pregnant and so they rob a bank. It's really funny. Diane, the pregnant one, and her boyfriend Jack (get it?) are clueless and perky about their situation. Also Jack is played by a young James Marsden. So there's that.

Get Over It

Before HSM there was Get Over It. It could be filed into the strange world that was late 90s early 00s teen comedies, but this movie, which was actually a full blown musical is much better than that. It's transcended by Martin Short as a crazy kept down drama teacher. Not to mention the fact that the production they're working on is A Midsummer Night's Rocking Eve, an adaptation of Shakespeare that feature such great numbers as "It's fun to be a fairy," and "Hermia, why don't you love me?" Also, Sisquo of Thong Song fame is the token black guy. And Shane West does a really bad English accent.

Josie and The Pussycats

I was Val for Halloween this year with two of my friends being Josie and Melody. Obviously, I look the most like Rosario Dawson (that's a joke, by the way!) But this is one of those movies that you love when you're a tweener, and then watch again once you understand that it's actually a satire of the music industry and laugh even harder. Plus the soundtrack is pretty rocking.

Moulin Rouge!

It brought musicals back to life. Or it was at least the first jolt. Plus who knew that Obi-Wan and Nicole Kidman could sing? Another one where the music is unbelievable. "Tango Del Roxanne" is incredibly powerful and the original song "Come What May" is as touching a love duet as Broadway has come up with in the past twenty years.

Shrek

Remember when Shrek was like really cool and slick and new and funny? Before they ran it into the ground. My sister and I saw it in the theater and we could not stop laughing. Eddie Murphy's performance as Donkey just made everything better.

Pearl Harbor

This movie always gets the short end of the stick. Sure it's a little overblown, but aren't epics always that way? I still get choked up just thinking about the end when Rafe and Evelyn are standing on their farm and the little boy runs out and he says, "Danny, do you want to go up?" Weeping!

Legally Blonde

Another movie that was brilliant and then ruined by lesser sequels and a Broadway musical that we don't talk about. (I don't CARE how good it was! Was Reese Witherspoon Elle? Don't care!) Everyone fell in love with Elle Woods and the fact that she solved the big case and got the guy (not the guy she came for, but LUKE WILSON!) and then graduated from law school, all while being herself was great. Plus you know, "The other day I saw Cameron Diaz at Fred Segel and I talked her out of buying this really heinous orange sweater. Whoever said orange was the new pink was seriously deranged!"

Ocean's Eleven

Coolest movie ever. George Clooney in a tux 80% of the time. Brad Pitt and George Clooney call Matt Damon "The Kid" most of the time. This is the movie that got Matt promoted to the cool kids table. (I have this theory that Hollywood is just like middle school. See, Ben and Matt used to sit at the nerdy table, with Kevin Smith and Jason Lee and the other Askiewers. Ben's back there...except for when he's with his cool girlfriend. Matt doesn't talk to them in the halls anymore, because then George and Brad wouldn't invite him to the cool parties.)

Coming in 2002: The Divine Secrets of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, 8 Mile and Chicago.

Best of A Decade: 2000

There's a lot of talk about the "Best Films of The Decade" going on right now. Me, I'm focusing on my favorites from each year, each in their own . These may not be the greatest movies, many of them didn't make money, or win any awards. These are just the ones that mean something to me. Sometimes, these are bad movies. I was twelve when this decade started, and my taste reflects it. These are the movies that mean something to me, they have some special significance.

Or they're just awesome

High Fidelity

John Cusack, Jack Black and an amazing soundtrack. Plus a cameo from Bruce Springsteen. This is a movie that calls up lazy Saturday mornings sitting in my PJs with my sister and my dad, creating our own Top 5s.

All I Wanna Do

This is a movie about an all girls boarding school where Kirsten Dunst, Rachel Leigh Cook and the girl that played Abby on Dawson's have great haircuts and awesome sixties clothes. Also they call penises "the hairy bird." This is a slumber party movie, especially when you go to all girl's school and consider yourselves to be social outcasts, like me and my friends did.

Keeping The Faith

A priest and a rabbi both fall in love with their childhood friend...guess how that ends? Really this movie is just the perfect example of why Edward Norton should do more comedy. I love this movie, because it talks about that idea that me and my youth group friends dealt with that so many people don't acknowledge exists, the young attractive priest. They are out there, and we are very sad every time we see them.

Almost Famous

"Listen to Tommy with a candle burning, it'll change your world." Cameron Crowe's opus to life on the road gives us something to think about. Can rock and roll save the world? Crowe seems to think so, but only in it's purest form. The "industry of cool" that is shown as developing in the movie cannot. But the movie that introduced us to Kate Hudson, and made "Tiny Dancer" a bus trip staple deserves it's place in movie greatness.

Meet The Parents

My friends and I saw this movie the weekend it opened. We laughed harder than we had in a long time. Robert DiNiro turns his icon status into comic gold and Ben Stiller's angry neurotic is better than ever here. Blythe Danner is fabulous too, as Pam's blissfully adorable mother.

Pay It Forward

One of those movies that I loved the first time I saw. Haley Joel Osment is adorably unflappable, Kevin Spacey is smart and interesting and Helen Hunt manages to feel both real and unreal at the same time. The "pay it forward" concept is important, the idea of doing three favors, and saying that all the person need do is do three favors for someone else could change the world. A real pay it forward movement would do this world good.

Miss Congeniality

Sandra Bullock has this amazing ability to be tough and feminine at the same time. Miss Congeniality is prime example of this. Even deeply undercover as a beauty pageant contestant Grace Hart is tough, but she's beautiful. Not to mention this has one of the best supporting casts in the world. Michael Caine, Candace Bergen and William Shatner are spectacular.

Coming for 2001: Save The Last Dance, Legally Blonde, Pearl Harbor and more.

The River don't flow

OK, let's caveat before I start here.

Summer Glau is really good at what she does. Seriously, she does that whole slightly crazy, tilt of the head thing, combined with her sweet littleness, it's terrifying and wonderful to watch.

It really worked on last night's twin episodes of Dollhouse.

I don't love Dollhouse. I never really have. I like it, I'm relieved that it's ending next month, because it means that Joss can move on to other projects (Dr. Horrible sequel!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Anyway, last night's episodes focused on the senator who has been claiming that he has evidence to take down the dollhouse. He does, and the evidence is Madeline aka Melly aka November.

It turns out that the senator himself is a doll. Well, not exactly, he was a political dynasty playboy who Rossum "enhanced" to become the ideal advocate. The plan was to take down Adelle and the LA Dollhouse, giving their tool the political leverage to keep Rossum safe forever. After some trickery on Topher's part, the LA Dollhousers figured out the plan and tried to break it down.

This is where Summer came in. She played Bennet, the genius programmer at the DC Dollhouse. Basically, she was River Tam, her character from Firefly but a more nutso sociopathic River. Like in that episode where she stabbed Jayne, or whenever she heard the code word in Serenity.

I have to admit she did a great job, and I was scared of her. As it turned out Bennet was working with Caroline before Caroline became Echo, and she abandoned her injured, leaving her arm paralyzed. As a result, Bennet is bent on revenge. She tortures Echo to pay for Caroline's crimes.

The real joy came though when Bennet and Topher met and worked together, in a giddy sociopathic nerd love thing. They're really into each other. Meanwhile, with Adelle and Topher off in DC trying to save the dollhouse, Topher left Victor behind, imprinted as him. This was hilarious, and pure joy for me. I've always wanted more Xander....I mean, Wash...I mean Topher.

Anyway, I think Dollhouse has set up a good home stretch for itself.

And it was nice to see River again. We nerds miss her.

A Glimpse of the Future

This week's Glee definitely took the show to a place it hasn't gone before, and I place I'm pretty sure it will go again, if it wants to transcend itself at any level.

While I love Glee for the music, the laughs and the quasi surreal aspects. But even me, the queen of Sunshine and Butterflies television, was getting frustrated with how clean everything was coming off (and I don't mean clean, like sexless clean, I mean clean, everything wraps up neatly at the end of the episode clean.) but this week Glee went to what my creative non fiction professor refers to as "The Dark Place." (Hi Dr. Krauss!) I used to pull my hair out trying to get there, because I didn't understand what he meant. It's the kind of thing you don't know until you see it. And this week, we saw it.

Will found out that Terry was lying about the pregnancy and we saw not only a side of Will that we've never seen but I side I wasn't sure Morrison had. OK, I'll admit it, Musical Acting is mostly smiles and nodding. There, I said it! So excuse me for thinking that's all Mr. Link Larkin had in him. He doesn't. The scene where he found out was so crazy intense I got what I call the Schindler's giggles (When watching Schindler's List for the first time my body had no way to release how uncomfortable I was watching some of the scenes, namely the one where they march everyone out of the ghetto and the Nazis pull randoms out of line to shoot them, and I got a severe case of the giggles.)

The episode was also about yearbook photos. Principal Figgins decided not to include the glee club, because the picture always gets vandalized. After a lot of hemming and hawing, Quinn manages to blackmail Sue into giving up one of the Cherrio's pages for glee. However the final scene of the show was of the football players drawing all over the page.

Why am I sure that the show will go there again? Well because of this man silly:

(That's Joss Whedon!)

You might just make it after all.

God bless Hulu.

Really. Today I was going to watch an episode of 30 Rock on a study break, and saw recommended on the bottom The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

It's been years since I watched Mary Tyler Moore. It's one of my mother's favorites, and we watched it all the time when I was little, back when Nick at Night showed shows that hadn't premiered when I can remember them or were even cancelled before I was born. (I remember watching the first seasons of The Nanny, George Lopez, Malcolm in The Middle and Everybody Hates Chris.)

It's hard to argue how influential Mary Tyler Moore was. If you watch Mary and Rhoda discuss their single girl blues and add some F bombs and more specifics about what goes on between them and their men, you'd have Sex and The City. Mary's dedication to her career and dealings with her misanthopic boss and wacky coworkers clearly inspired Tina Fey and her alter ego Liz Lemmon.

Let's not take away from the show itself though. It's ridiculously funny. Also Mary's miniskirts are so mod and adorable!

And I called it!

Donny Osmond was crowned the winner on Dancing with The Stars last night.

It's not really a shock to me.

The Osmonds are all powerful.

I'm actually pretty happy. While I'm not hugely into them, ther can really be no objection to the Osmond squeaky clean form of entertainment. Someone like Donny Osmond suits DWTS very well. And I love Kym, and I'm glad she finally got a win.

Next season I'm pulling for Edyta, since Julianne still isn't coming back.

For EC's consideration

I'm not quite done tearing New Moon apart just yet. I mean, I pretty much am, but this is something I've been aiming to write for a while, but never got around to.

Movieline posted this little piece about what Edward Cullen could learn from other B-Movie vampires. Me? I'm just talking about those of his kindred, the good vampires. Those who share in his "boo hoo, woe to me who has eternal life," philosophy. That being said, his brothers have some stuff to teach him too. A lot actually.

Bill Compton: True Blood/The Southern Vampire Novels

Lesson for EC: Drinking your beloved's blood is A-OK, so long as she says so.

Bill feeds off of girlfriend Sookie Stackhouse all the time. She's fine and they have a mostly functional relationship. Plus having her blood in his system makes him more attuned to her. He can sense when she's in trouble. For Edward, who sees himself as Bella's protector, that's got to be appealing.

Stefan and Damon Salvatore: The Vampire Diaries

Lesson for EC: As a teenage vampire attending high school, you can socialize and participate in school activities normally. Truly!

Stefan goes to parties, and hangs out with his classmates, he even joined the football team for an episode (then his brother Damon ate the coach, but you know, whatever) He befriends love Elena's buddies, and even makes nice with her ex boyfriend Matt. Even Damon, the evil one, socializes normally in Mystic Falls. He's buddies with the sheriff (he boinked her daughter) and haunts the neighborhood bar. The Cullens could learn a thing or two from the Salvatore brothers, when it comes to interpersonal relations.

Angel: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel

Lesson for EC: You ask before you start climbing in your mortal lady's window, thank you very much.

Granted, like most every vampire but Edward, Angel requires an invitation to enter someone's home, but even once he had unfettered access to Buffy's place, Angel always asked permission to come in. "I'm just trying to be polite." He often explains. Not to mention for all of his skulking and brooding, he never out and out stalks the poor girl. Sure, that time he sat in the sewer and watched her before they met in LA was err, odd, it wasn't a pattern. Get the difference Edward? Angel never stayed up and watched Buffy sleep all night, because really, ew.

Louis: Interview with A Vampire

Lesson for EC: Brooding and guilt will get you nowhere, except lonely talking to a reporter in a hotel room.

Louis became a vampire out of his guilt for the loss of his family. Then he made Claudia into a vampire out of guilt for killing her mother. Then he let Claudia "kill" Lestat out of guilt for turning her into a vampire. Do you get the picture? In the end where did it land him? Alone, in a hotel room telling Christian Slater his life story. Oh and Lestat was TOTALLY stalking him. Quit brooding Eddie not everything bad is your fault.

Lesson from all of them: Lightening up is totally allowed from time to time. Really.

Even Angel and Louis, the broodiest of the broody find time for some fun. Angel likes to listen to Barry Manilow, plus he makes eggs for Cordelia when they solve a case, and Louis goes to the movies. Stefan, as we mentioned plays football, also pool, and he has a best friend named Lexi, who apparently hooked up with Jon Bon Jovi once. Bill unwinds with a nice cold TruBlood at Merlotte's or he plays his Wii, (seriously, apparently vampires love Wii.) How does Edward unwind? He composes melancholy music about Bella or plays chess with Alice. Sorry, not gonna cut it. Even his brothers do better, Jasper and Emmet wrestle with each other in the garage.

Two Households, Alike in Dignity

I got back from seeing New Moon at around midnight. I immediately sat down to blog about it and found myself unable to string together any sentence more coherent than, "It was awesome!" Now that I've had a night to sleep on it, I'll try to do more than that.

First of all, I have to say it is a huge step up from the first film, it's funny, fairly well paced and well shot. The performances are stronger, particularly Kristin Stewart's. I was right in what I said about a year ago, Weitz's experience with teen sex comedies definitely made for some of the best scenes. The awkward trip to the movies where Bella finds she's on a date with Jacob and Mike at the same time, both unintentionally reads better and funnier than anything in Twilight. The decision to have the narration this time around be a result of emails that Bella is sending to Alice (always bounced back, but she uses them as a kind of journal) was brilliant and more engaging than just being in Bella's head.

I was impressed by the performances this time around. While I still find myself struggling with the Robert Pattinson/Ed Westwick method of hiding the English accent (I'm going to whisper whenever I start to slip!) Over all Pattinson's performance was more relaxed in this one than in the first. He seemed more at ease. Maybe it was just his lack of screen time that did it.

Like I said, Kristin Stewart really stepped up her game. She looks hollow and ghostlike during her depression, she is immediately at ease when she starts spending time with Jacob, and she's actually angry from time to time, even engaging. I have to admit I had my doubts about her being able to do anything but the awkwardness she played one note in the first film but she pulled it off. The "voting" scene, where Bella asks the Cullens their opinion on her becoming a vampire, she's downright assertive, a side of Bella that I didn't think she got across in Twilight, and one of my favorite aspects of the character. Once again, I no longer despair Breaking Dawn, I mean, I do, because I don't love it as much as the others, but I know that she'll be able to pull off Bella's changes. I wasn't sure before.

Taylor Lautner was unbelievable. As has been said by the cast in several interviews, he takes this movie and runs with it. From the moment he walked on screen he commands every scene. For one thing he comes on the scene much earlier, showing up at Forks High to give Bella a birthday present. When he hugs her and shoots Edward a dirty look over her shoulder, like a child playing with another kids toy without permission, it's wonderful. When Bella starts hanging out with him, he's giddy about it, just wanting to be with the girl who he's clearly been crushing on since childhood. The negotiations of their relative "ages" is one of my favorite parts of the book series and it's done beautifully here. The first time Bella sees Jacob after his transformation is heartbreaking. You see him fighting with everything he has to keep himself under control. The chemistry between Lautner and Stewart is wonderful, way better than the chemistry between Stewart and Pattinson.

OK, on to my favorite part, of both Twilight, and now New Moon. The smaller roles, and how good they were.

Billy Burke again steals all his scenes as Charlie Swann. He balances quiet intensity and goofy young dad-ness perfectly. When Bella disappears and Sam finds her the tenderness when he takes her from him is amazing.

Big points once again go to Anna Kendrick and Michael Welch, who execute Mike and Jessica with humor and heart. Kendrick is about to burst into her own with Up in The Air but her performance here is once again scene stealing, as she and Bella walk out of a movie theater together and she rambles about "What's wrong with consumerism? I like shopping!" I couldn't help laughing very very hard, not quite as hard as I do at this but still:

Anyway, she was great. Welch was also great, particularly in the movie scene that I described earlier.

The Wolf Pack was great, if underused. I understand people are there for the love triangle, but the depth of the minor characters is what I think takes the saga above what it should be. And I was also annoyed because The Volturi and the Cullens get that depth and the wolves don't.

Which brings us to the Volturi. The scenes in Volterra were captivating, Dakota Fanning was terrfying and Michael Sheen did an excellent impression of Tom Cruise in Interview With A Vampire. The scene was amazing, particularly a special effect when Felix cracked Edwards head against the marble floor. I can't even begin to explain it.

The final confrontation between Bella, Jacob and Edward was cutting. And ending it exactly as Edward proposed rather than showing the argument between the pair was a brilliant way to bring excitement from Eclipse. Which is coming June 20. Seven months. There was already a teaser poster in the lobby of the theater. I'm excited, to say the least.

So overall, though it has it's problems, New Moon is a better put together and cleaner film than Twilight. The action got stepped up and I have high hopes for Eclipse, it's my favorite book in the series, so I'm prepped for disappointment.

Howl at the Moon

So here's the big one for the week! Werewolves haven't ever gotten the glamorous treatment that vampires have in pop culture. They are distinctly less sexy. But they're often times a whole lot more fun. Face it, while vampires have cornered the market on brooding and sexy and all of that, werewolves are more savage, they are literally the animal within. So let's explore that shall we?

Scott Howard: Teen Wolf/Todd Howard: Teen Wolf Too

Played by Michael J. Fox and Jason Bateman respectively, these wolves, like many get their wolfiness from a genetic quirk. While Fox got the better movie, both take into account the hilarity that can come from a teenage boy sprouting lots of body hair, and like a couple of the witches here, it's all just a metaphor for puberty. Plus watching Michael J Fox Dunk is effing hilarious.

Tommy Dawkins: Big Wolf On Campus

Just like Fox and Bateman Tommy found wolfdom more fun than anything. Plus he used it to become a super hero. Or maybe not. I really don't remember details about this show. But I thought it was awesome when I was ten. I do remember one time he time traveled and then ended up back in our time, but because he interfered with something in the 80s The Communists took over. So, he interfered with the past and changed the future, also like Michael J. Fox. Oh, also, Rachel LaFevre was on season 1, and now she plays Victoria in Twilight. So there's that.

Remus Lupin: Harry Potter

Lupin was my favorite character. He was awesome. He was by far the best defense against the dark arts teacher. Probably because you know, he was his subject. I'm still not over the fact that he died. Not at all. Seriosuly. The first time I read Deathly Hallows I cried for like a half an hour. Not joking. Anyway, one of the only traditional werewolves in recent memory, Lupin changes at the full moon, and only at the full moon, also if he doesn't drink his potion he goes crazy and tries to eat Hermione.

Daniel "Oz" Osbourne: Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Oz became a werewolf when his little cousin bit his finger. To keep himself and the other Scooby gang members safe he locked himself in the rare book cage in the Sunnydale High library. He started out as a traditional werewolf, but after time focused the powers and could become a wolf at any time. Plus he was in a band.

And finally, you knew it was coming:

Jacob Black: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn

A result of the strange genetic quirk in the Quilieute people, brought about to protect the tribe from vampires, Jacob is a shapeshifting werewolf with lots of angst to go along with it. Granted the angst is less about his wolf state and more about how Bella doesn't love him, but still. Jacob eventually leaves the Quilieute pack behind in Breaking Dawn, because he disagrees with leader Sam Uley's decision that the pack will kill Bella and her unborn half vampire baby, who as it turns out is Jacob's soul mate. (I don't really care for Breaking Dawn. I think it's kind of a stretch) After imprinting on Rennesme, the Cullens accept him as one of their own. (Except Rosalie, because you know, bitch!) and he even forms his own little mini pack with Seth and Leah Clearwater. So that's pretty cool.

Why I miss HS sometimes...OK a lot of time

Today on twitter I had some really fun exchanges with my high school friends about New Moon. Well, not so much New Moon as Taylor's hotness, and the fact that we are WAYYY creepy for being this sprung over a 17 year old boy. Do guys feel this creepy when they're all into teenage girl stars?

Anyway it began like this:

Me: Just watched Taylor Lautner interview on Jay Leno. I'm going be watching New Moon entirely with my hand over my mouth.

Me: Please Note, this is to prevent squealing and hysterics, not vomiting. Although maybe some vomiting.

Responses:

Katie: I will squeal & get hysterical... and then realize his age ends in 'teen'...and THEN I will vomit.

Ali: Personally I thought he was way hotter with the long hair.

Me: Yeah, but he didn't have his shirt off with the long hair. It's a trade off. In Eclipse we get both if they stick to the book.

Ali: And he'll be legal by then. This could be an all around win! #wearecreeps

We used to have conversations like this all the time. Ah youth!

And just for posterity. Shirtless Taylor Lautner!

So close!

So, last night on Gossip Girl Nate and Serena almost got together, and then she hooked up with his married cousin instead.

Serena is a big big whore.

And the Gossip Girl writers are cruel to me.

In other news, the NYU kids did a quasi-ironic cabaret musical of Snow White set to the music of Lady Ga-Ga. Which is the single most realistic thing Gossip Girl has ever done!

Plus now Dan is in love with Vanessa and she's crushing on a gay guy. (We don't know that he's gay, but I think it's a safe bet)

I'm sad to see Hilary go, because I love her, but I was sick of Olivia.

Jenny's new drug dealer boyfriend is going to be amazing, especially once Erik gets a hold of it. But I am not a fan of this new Jenny/Chuck dynamic, because I am very afraid of where they'll take them. Blair and Chuck need to stay together so that there can be a fabulous series finale Blair/Chuck wedding.

Through the Wardrobe, Looking Glass, In The East

As part two of my exploration into the world of the supernatural comes in alternate worlds. To be specific, I'm not talking about alternate universes here. That's Sci-Fi, and they need their own series of in depth posts. Hell, just the ones in the DC comics universe alone would need like three! These are mystical worlds that work and operate next to or instead of ours. Usually there's magic involved.

Narnia: The Chronicles of Narnia

The granddaddy of all of magical worlds is C.S. Lewis's world through the wardrobe. Narnia is a place where animals talk and children rule (literally, the greatest rulers of the realm are the Pevensie kids, Peter, the oldest is twelve.) Take with it a healthy dose of Biblical allegory, and you've got a recipe for the kind of place that every kid wants to be and that's good for them. It's like apple juice. Little kids love the stuff, and it gives them nutrients. Plus in Narnia, Jesus is a lion and Moses is a horse! Which is so much cooler than a carpenter and a dude with a beard. And the seven deadly sins are represented by seven islands. (Dawn Treader is my favorite book in the series.) I can't write fully on most of the theology, since when I read the books I went to a public school where Jesus was a four letter word, not because you're taking the Lord's name in vain but because you might offend one of the four non Christian students in your class, and we didn't go into those elements of them, but Jen, I'm counting on you here to fill in the blanks!

Middle Earth: The Hobbit, The Lord of The Rings

Meant more to be a stand in as a magical version of our Middle Ages, making it more of an alternate world than a magical realm, it nonetheless makes the list. JRR Tolkien's world is rich with history and it's own cultures. Magic here is a lot like Narnian magic, it's not a thing possessed by some, it's a force of it's own, that certain people (elves, wizards, to a degree dwarves) can harness. Plus dragons. There are dragons, or one dragon.

The Wizarding World: Harry Potter

What's interesting about JK Rowling's alternate world is that unlike others it exists in the same space as ours and we just can't see it, or as characters often say, "Muggles don't look properly." It's a brilliant way to ground Harry Potter in reality. And luckily for us, Universal Studios is providing us the chance to go to these places. No really. See?

Wonderland: Through The Looking Glass, Alice in Wonderland

Lewis Carroll's creation of Wonderland wins for trippiest alternate world. Although the original book wasn't the result of an acid trip, although I think there was Opium involved, most of the subsequent adaptations were made with hallucinogens. Wonderland, like Narnia is meant to teach lessons, mostly about being yourself, but not disobeying authority, except when the authority is stupid. Or something. You know what? Just look at the pretty flowers.

Avalon: Every adaptation of Camelot ever, except Jerry Bruckheimer's King Arthur, which sucks really badly anyway, so who cares?

Avalon, like The Wizarding World, is unique in that it exists physically in our world, and it's shrouded in mystery. In some versions, Avalon is merely an island, in others it is a place beyond our world where The Once and Future King, Arthur, goes to wait until it is time for him to return. (Confused? Yeah, there are academics who dedicate their whole careers to trying to figure out this mess.) It's certainly the residence of The Lady of The Lake. Who's magic. We think. Unless you follow Meg Cabot's interpretation. Then she's a teenage track star who likes to hang out in her pool and has a thing for quarter backs.

So there you have it. I realized after I wrote the entry that all of my examples are literary, but I think it's because these places are easier to create in books than on film. Even the film adaptations of these books have trouble translating them. Metaphor doesn't always work visually.

It's Witchcraft

With New Moon finally opening on Friday (has it really only been a year since Twilight? How are Ironman fanatics dealing with having to wait three years for their sequel?) I have a laser focus. I'm in a twisted joy and fear based swirl of excitement around the supernatural.

So I've decided to write about it. I could write about vampires, (I've been working on a "favorites" list) but New Moon isn't about vampires, I mean, they're there, but it's really about the other.

Today, I'm talking witches. Not real witches, the kind that pop culture has taken and elevated to super status. Here they are, my favorite magic makers here.

The Halliwell Sisters: Charmed

I loved Charmed. I watched season 1 again recently and realized it really doesn't exactly hold up. But for pure The WB late 90s early millenium nostalgia, it's the best. Plus Alyssa Milano is amazing. I personally think the show suffered when Shannen Doherty left and was replaced by Rose McGowan as a formerly unknown fourth sister (not because I prefer Doherty to McGowan, let me make that clear, McGowan is way better! I didn't like the way Piper functioned as oldest sister) The Charmed ones were great and the epic scope of their mission is always good.

Willow Rosenberg: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel

Willow started experimenting with Wicca at the end of season 2, in an attempt to restore Angel's soul. She later developed incredible powers which consumed her by season 6. Willow's magical solutions to Buffy and the rest of the gang's problems proved helpful, even if Giles consistently disapproved.

Samantha Stevens, Endora, Tabitha Stevens: Bewitched

Without Sam, as a pretty good witch on this quasi misogynistic classic there would be none of the others on this list. Samantha's mother Endora was constantly making trouble for poor Sam and her much put upon magic-phobic husband Darrin. Then came adorable daughter Tabitha, who manifested her magic powers early, and also made plenty of trouble.

Sabrina Spellman: Sabrina The Teenage Witch

A direct descendant of Samantha's, Sabrina's magic was much more about hijinks and hilarity than anything else. Plus it was a metaphor for puberty, so that was cool. Sabrina's magic caused her no end of problems, she had to lie to her friends about it, and even when she came clean to high school sweetie Harvey about it, it took him five more years to come around. But didn't we all wish when we were tweens that we could point our fingers and summon up a dance lesson with Britney Spears, and then watching reruns now, wish we could point and get the couture that Sabrina does.

Jean "Jinx" Honeychurch: Jinx

In Meg Cabot's less successful novel, Jean is a powerful prophesied witch who has to escape to New York City relatives when she turns the most popular boy in her small Iowa town into a crazy stalker with a love spell. When Jean's cousin Tory starts thinking that she's the one who's the witch, it spells difficulty, when they have their sights set on the same boy, who really only likes Jean. In the end it's Jean's commitment to not misusing magic that saves her. Personally I'd have rather seen Cabot turn this into a series rather than the too big for it's britches Airhead Science Fiction story.

The Wicked Witch of The West, Elphaba: The Wizard of Oz, Wicked

She struck fear into the hearts of children everywhere for generations, then she was the center of a heady confusing novel, and then she touched the hearts of freaky girls everywhere in her own musical. The shrieks of Margaret Hamilton's green witch are terrifying, right out of play pretends about the mean old neighbor. I've only read Maguire's novel once, but I didn't really get it. Then came Idina Menzel taking on the icon in Wicked. If your heart doesn't break as she sings "I'm Not That Girl" you need to get a new. Thankfully, we're in Oz, which means we could probably find you one.

Hermione Granger: The Harry Potter series

The talent behind the men. Hermione was the one who found the ways for Harry's plans and hijinks to make them legendary. If it weren't for the her and her bizarre ability to memorize thick volumes, (Hogwarts: A History) they never would have found the Sorceror's stone and Voldemort would have come back full force four years before Harry was ready and smacked his ass. Of course then Cedric Diggory might have been spared, but I digress. Hermione's book smarts are absolutely the driving force behind Harry and the success of his adventures.

So those are my witches. Coming before the end of the week, alternate worlds, mythological creatures and of course, werewolves!

"Big Wheels Keep on Turning"

I've been hoping for a few things from Glee and I got them this week.

I really wanted to look more deeply into Artie and Tina. I was getting frustrated by the lack of exploration into characters with potential. I like that we've gotten to know Puck and Quinn, but I as feeling jipped out of getting to know the characters we met in the pilot.

The episode focused on Will deciding to get the kids to empathize with him by having them all ride around in whellchairs at least 3 hours a day. And then a romance between Artie and Tina. I nearly fell over I was so happy. Tina admitted that she's only been pretending to have a stutter because as a shy child she didn't want to talk to people. Upset that they no longer had their need to overcome something in common Artie walked (or rolled) away. It was extremely touching, and Chris Colfer's rendition of "Dancing With Myself" was beautiful.

There were two other smaller stories happening, including Kurt and Rachel trying for the same solo, "Defying Gravity" from Wicked. Because my mom and I have been calling Lea Michelle "Little Idina" since the show began, I was extremely amused. There is a resemblance between her and Idina Menzel. A big one.

Anyway, this storyline wouldn't have been much if it hadn't been for the interaction with Kurt's dad, played by one of my personal favorites, Mike O'Malley. O'Malley starred in one of my favorite shows, the much maligned Yes Dear, and would you know it, he can actually act. I love the way they're showing that although he's still trying to understand his son's sexuality, he loves the kid and is going to do what he can to help his son. Also, it reminded me of my dad, trying to understand glee club in terms of sports...he still calls intermission "half time" because he knows it bugs me and my brother and sister.

The third story had me crying. We got a deeper glimpse into Sue's life. Principal Figgins ordered her to hold open tryouts to fill Quinn's spot on Cheerios, and ended up giving the spot to a girl who has Down's Syndrome. Will, and I'm sure the audience were all trying to figure out what her angle was. As it turned out, she didn't have one. In a big reveal Sue has an older sister with Down's, who she goes to visit and read to on a regular basis. I was crying really hard. Down's has impacted my life in very personally, one of my cousins is Downs and I've said many times that he is the best part of our family. He's our heart, and I loved the portrayal that this was the case for Sue too, and it made me weepy.

The final number was "Proud Mary," you know, "Big Wheels Keep on Turning!" Which was a really great song choice, considering the fact that the whole show was about both wheelchairs and being out and proud ("Proud Mary" hi, really easy to make that connection thanks!)

Plus the episode gets bonus points for repeated use of the word, "handicapable" which is the most ridiculous PC term ever and one of my favorites."

CSD and It's Victims

I've spoken before about my severe case of CSD or Character Separation Disorder. It's a terrible disorder that effects pop culture junkies everywhere. It is the inability to separate actors from the popular characters that they've played over the years, usually this happens with actors who work in franchise films, or who have been on television.

Here are some of the actors who I have the most severe cases of CSD with:

Joshua Jackson: The Mighty Ducks, D2: The Mighty Ducks, D3: The Mighty Ducks, Dawson's Creek, Fringe

For most people suffering from CSD Josh will always be Pacey Whitter, the lovable screw up. But anyone who's worth their pop culture weight, knows that Pacey was just a teenaged sexually active version of Charlie Conway, captain of The Quack Attack. And his current character, Peter, is just Pacey in a lab, and since Pacey was really just Charlie, without the skates and with a hotter girlfriend, it stands to reason that Peter is Charlie, all grown up and in a lab.

The Entire Cast of Entourage

This applies most strongly to Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven and Kevin Connolly, but mostly because Jerry Ferrara and Kevin Dillon haven't done much since taking on Turtle and Drama. I can't be the only person who watched The Devil Wears Prada and thought, "Why is Vinnie following Aquaman with this? It doesn't make any sense for his projected career path." Or when I watched He's Just Not That Into You and I felt so bad for poor E when Scarlett Johansson was treating him like crap (the same way his ex Kristen did!) or well, Piven's a totally different story. Watch Keeping Up With The Steins, where he plays Ari but without the potty mouth. Or PCU where he plays Ari running a frat house. Or...well, I think you get the point.

Nathan Fillion: Firefly, Serenity, Castle, Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog

Let's be honest, Nathan Fillion is one of those actors who has fully embraced CSD. Castle is just a riff of Captain Malcolm Reynolds, just like Captain Hammer is a perversion of him. Castle even took this to the next level.

Matt Czurchy: Gilmore Girls, The Good Wife

Logan Huntzberger was a slimy, scummy pathetic excuse for a man until Rory Gilmore whipped him into shape. Matt's character on The Good Wife, Cary, is a slimy, scummy excuse for a man, with no Rory in sight to whip him into shape. This is a clear case of the writers even embracing it, when in last week's episode Cary stalled a judge on the phone as Alicia finished preparing a last minute brief, in the exact same way that Logan did when Paris self destructed one night at The Yale Daily News and he and Rory had to save the day.

Aubrey Graham aka Drake. Degrassi: The Next Generation, Huge ass Rapper

OK, so the first time my friends had me listen to "Unstoppable" I was impressed. I'm not a huge rap fan, but I like some of it (Eminem, Jay-Z, Biggie and Outcast) Then someone told me that it was Jimmy from Degrassi. I laughed, and said "yeah right!" Except it is. Personally, I like this better.

Because let's face it. Ash is a bitch. She had a right to her anger, because I mean, hell, if my boyfriend got Manny Santos pregnant, I wouldn't be happy either. (Of course if my boyfriend was Craig, I might forgive him.) But still, I'm just saying long before "Unstoppable" he was rapping about far more important things. Like how Ash should make Craig lunch.

Tomorrow I'll write about actors who have miraculously overcome CSD. Check it out

27!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love this team. I'll write more when I'm less psyched up!

Familiar Faces make V worth a watch

I was really excited about the new pilot for V. As a casual science fiction fan, I was vaguely aware of the 80's mini series, although I've never seen it (I swear one of these days I'm going to get a Netflix!) and I think the concept of the not quite what they seem alien visitors is always compelling.

To that end the pilot for V was good, but didn't blow me away. The most thrilling moments came as I recognized actors (mostly from other SciFi shows.)

"Hey! That's Juliet from Lost!"

"Wait, isn't that Wash from Firefly!" or more recently "Hey, it's Alpha from Dollhouse!" or more mainstream. "YAR! It be Steve the Pirate from Dodgeball!" This is all just euphemism for "ALAN THUDYK IS THE MAN!" btw

"OMG! It's Inara from Firefly! Is the rest of the crew of Serenity going to show up too now?" (As long as Mal is not too busy solving murders in NYC)

"Hey! That's Supergirl! Or I guess we call her Cara-El, since they haven't yet adopted their 'Super' identities on Smallville."

"That's the other dude from Party of Five!"

I think you get the point. That being said it shows a lot of promise and Juliet was my favorite on Lost so even though she's gone from their I'm interested in what Elizabeth Mitchell does here. And oh right ALAN THUDYK IS THE MAN!

Almost Paradise

Director Kenny Ortega has walked away from the new Footloose film. Check out the full story here.

I'm really bummed. I think Ortega is a good director (HSM and Newsies have their flaws, but they're well directed films) and an unbelievable choreographer. Honestly, he was the redeeming factor for me when it came to this film.

I also think it's interesting that this was conceived as a project for Ortega and Zack Efron and now they've both walked away. Not promising, I can tell you that much.

Although I love Chace Crawford and Julianne Hough, I'm just not convinced that they're going to be able to pull off Footloose. Ren and Ariel are pretty complicated and difficult characters. Ren has to both brood and make the best of things at the same time. While we all love watching Chace brood, something Josh Scwartz hasn't let him do lately, I'm not sure he'll be able to pull off the making the best of it aspect. Although maybe he has hidden depths. To be fair, I wasn't sure Efron could pull off the acting necessary either, but we knew he had the singing and dancing aspect.

Ariel has to flirt with the line of being extremely unlikable. She's petulant, spoiled, impulsive (in the bad way) and demanding. I love Julianne. Adore her. I even voted for Adam Corrolla on DWTS just to keep Julianne around, I'm just not sure if she can surrender the cuteness and the million watt dancer smile for long enough to see the pain that Ariel's going through without taking it so far as to make us hate her.

I was really looking forward to seeing what Ortega did with it. He handles emotion very well in his movies, and one just has to watch Newsies to see how good he can be at "One kid against the world" story.

But then again, that kid was Christian Bale...something tells me Bruce Wayne can do a bit more than Nate Archibald.

What do you think of Ortega's exit?