Tonight a bunch of my fellow English majors and I had a Pride and Prejudice night. We've just finished reading it in our Novels by Women class.
First of all, I don't recommend watching an entire BBC mini series in one night. It's fairly taxing. But I do recommend watching it with a fairly intoxicated boy who's never seen it before, or read the book, or seen the other movie version, as we did, with my friend Margaret's boyfriend Scott.
We got such witty statements such as:
"I really kind of hate that bitch in the bonnet!" (On Mrs. Bennett)
"Wow, this is the early 1800s right? I want to shoot that guy with a musket. They still had muskets then right?" (On Mr. Collins)
Me: Darcy's totally putting Lizzie in the spank bank. Scott: Dude, she is collecting interest in the spank bank right now, she's deep in there.
"I like that guy. The one who's always drunk or sleeping." (Mr. Hurst)
Yeah...not exactly critical brilliance but definitely a new way to look at it.
So there is a rather fantastic rumor flying around the internet. We all know about the upcoming Gossip Girl spinoff centered around Lilly and her teen years in LA (If you didn't know, now you do) But the latest rumor is that Young Lilly will be played by Brittany Snow.
I've made it no secret that the Lilly/Rufus subplot is my second favorite part of Gossip Girl (Chuck/Blair obviously being the first) and I adore Kelly Rutherford. And I absolutely love Brittany! American Dreams is one of my all time favorite shows.
Although, creepy factor! She did hook up with Penn Badgely in John Tucker Must Die...I'm just saying.
Of course this means that I'm secretly going to be rooting for Heroes to be canceled so that Milo can show up and play young Rufus.
Come on, you know you want to see what would happen. Obviously this fight wouldn't be physical until the very end, this would be about conniving and backstabbing and obviously fabulous outfits and hissy fits. Let's look at their strong points.
Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl):
Signature: Headbands. We all know about Blair's flair for keeping her fantastic raven locks off her face with those wonderful little satin bands. It's gotten to the point that in mid catfight Serena pulled one off. I mean, it's all about the headbands.
Greatest Victory: Her outing of Jenny Humprhey/Erik Vanderwoodsen's boyfriend was unbelievably played. Not only that it showcased her greatest asset as well.
Greatest Asset: Blind Loyalty. Blair will do anything to help her friends. Even if it means breaking her own heart, like when she exposed the secret affair between her boyfriend and his step mother to save Nate from life as said step mother's gigolo. Or when she went all the way to Queens (GASP!) to expose Georgina's manipulation of Dan. Or even how she went to bat for Jenny against her mother, the list goes on and on. If only she and Chuck could get their act together, then she’d have it all!
Greatest Weakness: Overactive imagination and paranoia. Blair always thinks someone, usually Serena, is out to get her, although occasionally it’s Jenny. These paranoias get acted out in dreams of Audrey Hepburn movies. (Blair is always Audrey, until Serena is)
Ally: Chuck Bass. Blair's at her best when she's teamed up with her ex lover, who's at his best when he's wearing a paisley bow tie. And well, he’s Chuck Bass.
Sharpay Evans (High School Musical):
Signature: Bedazzling things. Her microphone, her cell phone, her clothes, her shoes, her brother.
Greatest Victory: Sharpay manipulated the director of the drama club to change the date of callbacks so that Troy and Gabriella would have to miss them. Of course Wildcat hijinks undid her manipulations, but in any universe other than one created by Disney Channel her plan would have been a success.
Greatest Asset: Ambition. Sharpay is a girl who knows what she wants and she goes for it. Whether it's the lead in the school show or Troy Bolton, she goes out full force, not caring who she hurts, even her own twin brother.
Greatest Weakness: The Wildcats. Sharpay just can't seem to get around their whole real friendships and true love and teamwork thing! Try though she might, she just can't do it.
Ally: Ryan Evans. Despite her poor treatment of him, Ryan continues to follow Sharpay's schemes. Oddly, like Chuck, he's at his best in strange outfits. Also, everybody loves a good jazz square.
Kelly Taylor (Beverly Hills 90210):
Signature: Love Triangles. Kelly has been at the center of some of the greatest love triangles in the history of television. The first, Kelly/Dylan/Brenda, the second Brandon/Kelly/Dylan. Both were clearly the best parts of 90210 besides whenever David would rap.
Greatest Victory: Dylan McKay. In the finale, she leaves Beverly Hills to be with him. We find out that later on they had a child together (Thanks to the now wildly popular 90210 spin off.) and upon Kelly’s request Brenda deleted Dylan from her cell phone contacts, but not without tears.
Greatest Asset: The bizarre ability to make every man she’s ever met fall madly in love with her. Whether it was David’s adorable but slightly creepy crush on her in the early years at West Beverly, Dylan’s decision to cheat on Brenda with her, Brandon’s inability to sell the engagement ring he bought for her, Steve’s six season long hang up on their relationship, that coke head guy Collin’s falling for her, that other guy who they bro
ught in to replace Brandon, Ryan Matthews on the new show, well, you get the point.
Greatest Weakness: Low Self Esteem. She lost her virginity in a date rape, and lived for years with an alcoholic and drug addicted ex model mother, these things screwed her up a little bit. It doesn’t help that someone graffitied “Kelly is a Slut” on that tile in the hallway (I wonder if it’s still there and the new West Bev kids will find it?) Kelly’s low self esteem leads her to do incredibly stupid things, like develop a cocaine addiction, or not marry Brandon.
Ally: Donna Martin. Donna always has her bffs back. Whether she’s protecting her from Brenda’s vicious bitch barbs or that creepy stalker girl, she’s the one you want or your side.
Clair Standish (The Breakfast Club):
Signature: Whining. Claire whines through the whole movie. To be fair they all do, but her a little more than the others. But we love Molly Ringwald, so we move past this.
Greatest Victory: Defending her virgin status. When Claire explodes and admits to the other Saturday detention kids that she’s a virgin and that’s she’s mostly OK with this, it’s really quite touching.
Greatest Asset: Uncontrollable hostility towards her rich divorced parents. Claire just wants to get back at them the way they use her to get back at each other.
Greatest Weakness: I mentioned the whining already, no?
Ally: John Bender. Claire’s got bad boy Bender on her side by the end of the movie, and we all know he’s not afraid to get a little crazy.
Paige Michelchuck (Degrassi: The Next Generation)
Signature: Backhanded Compliments. Hon, trust me, you do not want to get in the way when Paige lets these babies go. She “Sweetied” and “Hon’ed” her way to captain of the Spirit Squad, cutest couple, and even into the VIP party for Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh?
Greatest Victory: Manny Santos’s public humiliation. At the prom in season 4 or 5, Manny shows up in the same dress as Paige and Paige arranges for her to be elected prom queen, she shows her up by somehow arranging for Manny’s dress to get ripped off in front of everyone. Hey, Manny needed a wake up call, you don’t mess with Paige!
Greatest Asset: Her ability to reinvent herself. Paige has been through a lot of stages. There was Young Paige, Post Rape Paige, Spinner’s Paige, Single Paige, Lesbian Paige, Devil Wears Prada Paige, you get the po
int. We’ve seen a lot of different sides to this girl, and she uses them all to her advantage.
Greatest Weakness: Quick Trigger Finger. Paige acts, thinks, and then regrets. Like when she goes into the bedroom to makeout with Dean and, well, he rapes her. Or when she crashes Spinner’s car into Dean’s, or when she started dating that teacher, or when she slept with Spinner while he was still with Darcy, or kicked Manny off the spirit squad or almost burned down her dorm room. I could keep going, but I think you get the point
Ally: For Paige I had trouble picking so she gets two. Gavin “Spinner” Mason and Alex Nunez. Spinner has always stood by his honey bee, and we all know he can throw and take a punch. And Alex, well, we all know about Alex and Paigey’s little same sex tryst, but they managed to stay besties even after their romance
went south, and Alex became a pothead stripper, and Paige started working in the exciting Toronto fashion scene.
Brooke Davis (One Tree Hill)
(Note: Though not the most Queen Bee-ish picture, its one of my favorites, and from my favorite episode.)
Signature: Fashion. Brooke’s a designer, and like Kelly Taylor and Donna Martin before her she’s wildly successful at it, even at a very young age. In the four years later seasons Brooke is rich, fabulous and ready for anything.
Greatest Victory: Clothes over Bros. In an attempt to take back her life and slutty image Brooke started her wildly successful clothing line and made it into a world wide brand. Of course this still didn’t bring her fulfillment. You get the feeling that if real world events (Chad and Sophia divorce and he marries a seventeen year old extra) hadn’t interfered she would have even had Lucas Scott to share it with.
Greatest Asset: Pigheadedness. Brooke wants what she wants, and she gets it. Lucas Scott, Clothes over Bros, Chase in Season 4, a baby (OK so she ended up with a teenager, but whatever).
Greatest Weakness: Pigheadedness. Brooke wants what she wants, and she doesn’t let go. It can be a problem.
Ally: Peyton Sawyer. True bffs, nothing can break up Peyton and Brooke, not even their mutual true love for a certain blond dreamy eyed, far too sensitive basketball hunk. Alright, they briefly didn’t speak over him, but they got past it, just like besties always should.
Regina George (Mean Girls)
Signature: Burn Book. Regina and her “army of skanks” keep clipping of pictures from the yearbook and write their bitchy little barbs. Poor Cady Heron didn’t even know what hit her. Regina ate her soul before she even knew what was happening.
Greatest Victory: Unlike many of the others listed here, Regina doesn’t actually win anything. She doesn’t die, so I guess there’s that. The closest thing to a victory I would say when she gets Aaron Samuels back just because Cady wanted him.
Greatest Asset: No scruples and a sadistic personality. Regina does things just to hurt people and doesn’t care how far she has to go to stay on top. She showed up at the Spring Fling in an effing spinal halo for craps sake. She made photo copies of the burn book and threw them around the school to throw her “friends” under the bus.
Greatest Weakness: Anger management issues. See her freak out when Cady doesn’t invite her to her party. This leads to the burn book reveal.
Ally: Again, I have to give her two, Gretchen Weiners and Karen Smith. The plastics are at their best when united. Because divided its just the end of Mean Girls. Where there's no drama. Where's the fun in that?
Bree Vandekanmp Hodge (Desperate Housewives):
Signature:Just to preface this, I thought long and hard as too which housewife would get the queen bee title. I went with Bree, I'll explain why later, but her signature is her home maker skills, which she has now made a career out of.
Greatest Victory: Her cookbook, which is a best seller. Bree has made her life something truly remarkable and totally taken back her ice queen perfection obsessed image. Good for her!
Greatest Asset: Lack of emotional attachment to anything. Bree can distance herself emotionally from most situations, which absolutely plays to her advantage.
Greatest Weakness: Alcoholism. Bree is a full blown alcoholic, and she trusts very few people with this secret. Especially her relapse which we learned about in the beginning of season 4.
Ally: Katherine Mayfair. Katherine is Bree's best friend and business partner and the pair make a great team. They butt heads quite a bit, but they almost always work it out. And Katherine was the only person who knew about her relapse, until she confessed it to her husband Orson.
Galinda Upland (Wicked):
Signature: Galinda lingo. We all wishafy that we could talkerate like a Galindafied drone without sounding like an ass. Or an Ass? We do have to make the distinction, since we're in Wicked land!
Greatest Victory: (Spoiler Alert!) Expelling the Wizard from Oz and sending Madame Morrible to prison taking revenge and control after Elphaba's death. Also Elphaba's makeover. But only because "Popular" is still my favorite song to perform at random caberet nights.
Greatest Weakness: Uh, none. Cause she's awesome! No, actually, she's a bit full of herself and just a smidge weak willed, oh right and shallow. But she's genuinely self absorbed and deeply shallow (Yes, I know its Fiyero's line about himself but it fits her.)
Ally: Elphie of course! Galinda and Elphaba are the best example of girl best friends in recent memory. You know, how they love each other, but still fight like crazy, but when it comes down to it, they have each other's backs. And plus she's got magic on her side! Magic!
So, those are the contenders, I’d love comments, and votes (I have open commenting, so if you’re on the site, you can comment, you don't need to be a blogspot member!) and I’ll declare a winner in a later post!
Can we just preface this by saying that I am madly one hundred percent in love with Hugh Jackman. No really. I love him.
It was interesting for me watching the Oscars with people who didn't know about his theater pedigree. They were shocked at his singing voice. Pleasantly obviously, but still, it didn't occur to me that there was anyone in the world who hadn't seen him host the Tonys 5 times, or listened to their Boy From Oz OBC until it was scratched, or stayed up until 4 in the morning that one time because the London Oklahoma was on PBS...I mean, not that I did those things those are just for instances, but still. Yeah. He's the man. I loved the "Musicals are Back" number, because I love him and Beyonce is one of the most talented people on the planet, and oh right, I'm a huge ass theater geek and as a result I rejoice that the musical is back. WICKED people. We want to see WICKED!!!! Also Aida. Thank you.
I'm very glad for Heath Ledger's win...The acceptance by his family was lovely. I wonder why Michelle wasn't there, but I digress. There's little to say on it. It was quie nice.
I really like the way that the show was set up and the presentations. For once they made it truly an honor to be nominated by having all of the nominees be honored. It also made me pity Cuba Gooding Jr. Pity the poor man. Lord did he have potential and Jesus Christ did he squander it. Anyway, I thought the revamp worked, made it intimate, the goal was achieved.
I guess shades of Blue are this years color, which kinda sucks for me since I outgrew my interest in wearing blue quite a while ago. I'll watch fashion police tonight and probably do a full overview tomorrow. (Oscars are big, I need time to process them) But right now, without really looking at everyone side by side, Frieda Pinto is my best dressed. She looked gorgeous. I was also impressed by Miley Cyrus, who often mis steps and looked absolutely gorgeous in her gown. But that is another post, perhaps for later.
So yesterday I trekked down to the mall and shelled out 21 bucks for the frills free (No special features) HSM 3 DVD. Let me tell you something: I don't think I've ever been more disappointed in a movie. That's not to say I haven't seen worse...there's definitely worse out there, I mean I've never been so disappointed...and for those of you that were with me that night, that includes Spider Man 3.
I love the concepts behind the High School Musical series, and actually the entire tween entertainment industry that has boomed in the past 5 years. I think clean wholesome, but still quality entertainment is really hard to do and I really believe that with maybe not its current but at least its recent lineup Disney Channel has captured it, the way Nickelodeon did when I was a kid. That being said, the HSM actual movies have just gotten progressively worse.
Now, HSM 3 technically is flawless...really, the choreography and direction are great, the performances are about what you expect, I'll get to that later. But there is no heart. The first HSM had heart by crap load. Heart was really the only thing to recomend it as something special. The second one had less heart but it was still something small, something beautiful. This movie is bigger than itself, bigger than its cast, and definitely bigger than its heart.
Borrowing plot elements from One Tree Hill, Troy agonizes over whether to take a basketball scholarship to please his father and the expectations of those around him, while Gabriela prepares to go off to Stanford...I'm serious, I think that some of the lines the pair speak when discussing their future were actually spoken first by Nathan and Haley. The Zefron is very cute, and I think he's more talented than he gets credit for (Hairspray people, watch it, love it, embrace it, the kid is good.) but agnst does not wear well on that face. Vanessa Hudgens is really nothing special. She was cute in the first one, bordering on good in the second and in the third she practically speaking disappears. I honestly have no memory of her performance, good or bad, she left no impression.
Lucas Grabeel was once again neglected and I still think he's the most talented of the HSM bunch, my God, the boy can dance. His fosse tribute in "I want it all" is pretty unreal. They also disrupted the artistic integrity of Ryan's character by throwing in a crush on Kelsi the piano player. One of my favorite elements of the series was that the reason Ryan didn't end up with a girl was because he was gay but because it was DCOM they couldn't say that. It kind of bums me out that that's gone.
Ashley Tisdale and her new nose are fine. Sharpay has become a characature of herself though. There was something very real about that character in the first movie. Well, I know what it was, she was the musical theater divas that I had spent so much of my time with in high school. By 3 she's become more of a joke than anything else. Although the Sharpay/Ryan number "I want it all" is one of the highlights of the whole thing.
But the real statue for rising above the little they've been given goes to Corbin Bleu. Like Grabeel, he was pretty overlooked in the first movie, given his chance to shine in the second and steals the show here in the third. The number "The Boys are Back" with him and Efron is the absolute best in the whole movie. And he actually manages to like act or something. The scene where Troy reveals that he and Chad will not in fact be playing college basketball together, its in Bleu's eyes how hurt he is at his bff's abandonement.
The smaller characters are great. Zeke, Martha, Kelsi, Taylor, Jason, they're all there and fabulous as they've been throughout, and we wouldn't mind seeing more of them. The seeds planted for a possible HSM 4 are very there...three freshmen, a british bitch who worships Sharpay a la the Blair Waldorf drones, and two basketball kids who want to be Troy and Chad show up and release a new energy into the movie.
The grownups are also good. Ms. Darbus becomes an actual human as she reminds Troy that he is talented and looks at home on a stage. Coach Bolton dispenses his good dad but misguided advice well, and Mrs. Montez smiles and says "Gabby" just perfectly. Oh and the random Asian principal is back.
All in all, its not horrible by any means, I just think that HSM belongs on the small screen (I didn't see it in theaters) But I suppose the time has come for me to set aside childish things...then again maybe it just wasn't very good. Either way, Troy's graduation speech, (Here's a question, why does the captain of the basketball team get to make a speech at graduation? Not like, the valedictorian, aka probably Taylor or Gabriela? I mean, no school is that obsessed with sports!) Anyway, it was a nice little goodbye to East High, but my HSM fever cooled a couple years ago.
I think the island is like Narnia...but like an evil Narnia.
Think about it...there are rules, only certain people can get to the Island. Sometimes when you leave the Island, you can never go back. The Island has its own will.
Jacob can be Aslan. Ben is the White Witch. John is the Pevensie kids. And last night we even got a theological allegory...Jack in comparison to Thomas the Apostle...initially the brave one, who chose to look into death, and stand by Jesus on his return to Judea, and then the doubter, who refused to believe...it was very good writing, I was highly impressed, the Lost writing is almost always good, but this was very very good.
Anyway, big answers to questions on last nights episodes...how the Island was found in the first place, how to get to the Island, what happened to Frank. Will Desmond come back? (He says no, but Narnia, I mean the Island isn't done with him yet.)
I'm getting excited about Lost again, which is good because I was apathetic at the start of this season, but these past few episodes have been very good. It'll be weird next year when it's the shows final season. But I'll have Dollhouse in its place.
I have to say (now that we're hitting the halfway point) its been a good TV season so far, but there's nothing like when the spring replacement news and the cable season start being announced. Its pretty thrilling. Here's the stuff that I'm pretty psyched for.
Returns:
My Boys: PJ and the boys may be my favorite gang on TV. The problem is they're only on for like five weeks a year! Damn cable schedules. But the cliffhanger they left us with last summer (PJ and Jack in her hotel room before Bobby's wedding, and Bobby realizing he loved her.) was good, although I'm rooting for PJ/Brandon not PJ/Bobby and definitely not PJ/Jack. But I'm also interested in seeing how Mike and that girl he met, and Kenny/Stephanie pan out. Not to mention, well everything about this show is awesome, and if I didn't want to visit Chicago before, I want to do this.
Greek: Summer wouldn't be summer without Casey, Cappie, Rusty and Rebecca. And Ashleigh and Calvin and Evan and Franny and the rest of the greeks from Cyprus Rhodes. I really can't wait for Ashleigh's ZBZ to really take shape (I still love them for making her president over Casey, ballsy misdirect!) With Cappie and Rebecca officially over and Casey finally getting her act together I think this will bring about what we all want, Casey/Cappie in love forever.
Rescue Me: 22 eps, that's all there is to say. 22 straight episodes of Rescue Me.
New Stuff:
Castle: Nathan Fillion solves crimes...Thank you Hammer Man! LOLZ. OK, for serious, I'm looking forward to this. I mean, Fillion is really really fun to watch. He was fun to watch on Firely, and on DH (Season 4 peeps, he plays Katherine's husband, you're welcome!) and he was really really fun to watch in Dr. Horrible (I will continue to pimp it. I will spread the NPH love anyway I can) and the girl looks pretty good too. ABC has been on kind of a hot streak with new shows in the past five years (They also cancel the good stuff, I'm talking about you PushingDaisiesDirtySexyMoneyCashmereMafia) so they've got a leg up.
Cupid: The CW tried this concept earlier in the year with Valentine, which I didn't watch, no one did, that's why it only ran for two episodes, but they didn't have Will's cop boyfriend as Cupid and that adorable blonde from Cashmere Mafia as his shrink who's trying to convince him he isn't Cupid. It looks very very cute.
Southland: I reported on it last night. But I repeat, BEN MCKENZIE AS A COP! Really, I don't care how bad it is, its Ben McKenzie as a cop, I will watch it every week.
Kings: I really don't understand what this show is supposed to be, and I probably won't watch it.
Jeez, Heroes...every time I think I'm out you suck me back in.
I mean...Claire's got a new boy toy, who looks remarkably Milo like. Way to go casting. Oh right, and he's Aquaman. Which totes beats Mohinder's change into Spiderman and Peter's Rogue powers, or Tracy not Nikki's Ice Man imitation.
Moira Kelly? REALLY? MOIRA EFFING KELLY?????? God, I love to hate that woman. Doesn't matter whether she's having stupid not as good as Donna sexual tension with Josh on The West Wing (Oh Mandy, where art thou?) Or playing mother to a son who I'm pretty sure is only seven years younger than her. (I know Karen was supposed to be 17 when she had Lucas, but considering Chad was about 37 when they filmed the OTH pilot it still doesn't quite work out) and now shutting down Nathan's (Nathan haha, sorry, maybe you have to be me to find it funny) evil plot to destroy all the heroes. OK, actually I think she'll make an interesting addition to the cast...she is really good at looking concerned and lecturing so matching her up with Nathan and Tracy is a good move.
But the real treat came in the form of Ando getting a love interest, Sylar ditching that obnoxious kid and in the preview for the new John Wells show, Southland.
It looks like a fairly standard cop drama but it has something else going for it...Ryan Atwood.
OK, so Ben McKenzie, as a cop. Yes, you heard me right, Ben McKenzie as a cop. I know, I squealed too.
And the show looks pretty good too, and we haven't had a really solid cop drama (you know, just regular cop drama, no murder investigation) in a while. Remember Third Watch? That was a good show. NYPD Blue, also good.
Wine hangovers are kind of good for nothing, except getting caught up on TV online. This morning I watched the premiere of Dollhouse.
Let me preface this review with a few things. I love Joss Whedon. LOVE HIM! I think he's brilliant, he changed TV (Without Buffy, there would no WB, with no WB there would be no Felicity, with no Felicity there's no JJ Abrams...I think that speaks for itself), and oh right the greatest peice of web based entertainment EVER!!
But saying that...I think Dollhouse fell short. I expect certain things from Whedon...I want wit and banter to combine with darkness to create something different. I saw very very little of Joss's wit in this pilot. The concept is ripe for it, the idea of wiping the minds of a group of people and then reprogramming them for various tasks and in between they live in a beautiful Asian Deco themed home without a care in the world.
Eliza Dushku is great as Echo, the "doll" at the center. She's always been highly underrated. Remember Bring it On? You know the original one, where she and Kirsten Dunst and a pre DH Jesse Metcalfe were really really funny. Or you know Buffy, where she was better than Buffy? I admire Joss's dedication to his discoveries.
The whole thing was just too slow and too dark. It felt like I was watching JJ Abrams's stuff. If I wanted to watch JJ Abrams, I would. Where were the biting quips? Everyone was talking way too slow.
And what's a shame is you know that Fox is going to keep it around for a while: 1. Because they're still trying to atone to Whedon fans for pulling the plug on Firefly 2. Because they don't cancel anything! (Except Arrested Development) Sarah Connor Chronicles springs to mind, also the past four or five years of Family Guy, also The Simpsons... 3. Because there's a lot of naked or semi naked Eliza Dushku and she's really really hot.
I'll watch the already made seven episodes as they come and report as to my further interest in the show. I'd like to see Sarah Michelle make a guest appereance. Seriously, what are she and Freddie up to lately that she's disappeared?
Personally, I'd rather see the sequel to Dr. Horrible happen than more of this. But I guess between How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang, Dollhouse and Castle, its not likely to happen until hiatus! Bummer
I'm perpetually single. I don't have boyfriends...I never have. This makes me sad quite often. It makes me very sad around this time of the year. Valentines day is an excuse for single people to eat chocolate and drink a bottle of wine and watch movies that squash all thoughts of romance. (What? That's not what I'm doing tomorrow...uh uh! Actually it probably is.) Over the week, my single girl friends and I have been putting together a list of things to watch besides a Sex and The City marathon, and won't make you cry, at least, not about not having a boyfriend or girlfriend.
1. A Hard Day's Night, Help or Yellow Submarine: Forget romance! The Beatles movies don't even have coherent plots. But they are a whole lot of fun and the music is great.
2. Cruel Intentions: Just been dumped? Or don't have anyone at all? At least your boyfriend didn't deflower you in a twisted attempt to have sex with his step sister. Oh right, and naked Ryan Phillipe. Really, that should be enough.
3. Anything produced by but not written by Judd Apatow except Forgetting Sarah Marshall: Initially this was "Anything with Apatow's name on it" but The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up are actually pretty romantic and Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the love story I want to happen to me...mostly because I would do anything for a guy like Jason Segel...but Superbad and Pineapple Express...really they're the perfect V-Day treats! Silliness, guys who you would never ever want to end up with...except Michael Cera, who's just adorable.
4. Zoolander: Just trust Blue Steel...also WHAM! WHAM just makes you happy.
5. Sin City: Really? I need to go on...OK...It's a movie about an unstoppable killer who's avenging the murder of hooker who he loves. Or a crazy lone gun with a mysterious past who's defending the hooker he loves. Or a disgraced cop protecting the stripper who loves him after he saved her from a pedophile when she was a little girl. Not romantic.
6. Anything directed by Quentin Tarantino, especially Pulp Fiction: BLOOD! GORE! F-BOMBS! COCAINE! Not romantic, but awesome.
7. Fight Club: Sure, Chuck Pahdluck claims that Fight Club is the 90s version The Great Gatsby. But really? Tyler/The Narrator and Marla's relationship isn't quite the expansive love of Daisy and Gatsby. In fact its totally secondary to a bunch of guys running around beating the snot out of each other, cutting off people's balls and Meatloaf's man boobs. Also, shirtless Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.
8. Down With Love: So it's actually a really sweet chick flick. But its less about that and more about the clothes...And Ewan McGregor channeling Frank Sinatra. Mm...
9. Uplifting Based on A True Story Sports Films: Rudy, Brian's Song, Remember The Titans, Miracle, any of them.
10. Animal House: Substitute Old School, Accepted or Talladega Nights, if you can't get a hold of the real thing. The point is that there should be farting and lots of it and if possible a food fight.
Things to stay away from: Anything starring Hugh Grant except maybe Mickey Blue Eyes, and that only after a few drinks. Anything based on a novel by Jane Austen or Nicholas Sparks. Say it with me: I will not watch The Notebook, I will not watch A Walk To Remember, I will not fantasize about Mr. Darcy showing up at my house and telling me I'm his soulmate. Disney Princesses are also a bad plan, and classic romances.
So that's my little pop culture Valentine's fix...Hope it helps <3 and if not, this is the quote that always gets me through this darkest of days:
I am someone who is looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can't-live-without-each-other love.
Yeah...I know I said to resist the Sex and The City pull...but no one knows better how to deal with being single than Carrie.
So last night I watched Monday's Big Bang Theory where Leonard's mother (played by Christine Barinski LOVE HER!) called out Raj and Howard on their "Asexual homosexual marriage" in non genius terms, a bromance!
I love the term "Bromance" I think its really funny, and being the pop culture historian that I am I'm going to offer in this post some of the greatest bromances throughout time. These are my ten favorites, in no particular order.
1. Casablanca: Rick/Sam, Rick/Louis The classic love story actually offers us two of the greatest Bromances ever. Rick and Sam, and Rick and Louis. With Sam and Rick you get the blind loyalty that is so important to the Bromance. Even at double the salary Sam won't leave Rick, and Rick, when selling his Cafe Americain, makes sure first and foremost that Sam is taken care of. And as for Louis and Rick, its all about the banter baby. There's nothing in the world better for a Bromance than banter. And like many a good one, it is declared, OK, so its the last line of the movie but it is still very important. "Louis, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
2. M*A*S*H Hawkeye/Trapper and Hawkeye/BJ M*A*S*H was groundbreaking, it was anti-war at a time when being anti-war=being anti-American. It dropped the laugh track. It pioneered the bromance! Hawkeye and Trapper drank, pranked and bantered for the first three seasons, and then Hawkeye and BJ drank, pranked, bantered and preached for the rest. Honestly, you just can't beat them, because of the Alda factor. Anything Alan Alda touches just becomes better. Honestly, it does.
3. The Odd Couple Felix/Oscar
Whether its the play (there were too many pictures to pick), the movie (One of my favorites, Jack Lemmon is a true Bromance pioneer, he was also in Some Like It Hot!) or the TV show, Felix and Oscar are so important to the bromance that they need to be mentioned. After all their fights bordered on marital. Oh right, and they're funny, and Neil Simon created them. Just go with it.
4. Boy Meets World: Corey/Shawn I'm a child of the 90s. I wanted a relationship with my best friend like theirs. Not that my best friends aren't awesome...but we aren't Corey and Shawn, because as much as Corey and Topanga are the "love story" of this little show that could, it was really all about Corey and Shaw. And Eric and Feeney...but I can only do so much in one post.
5. The Sandlot Smalls/Benny OK, so The Sandlot isn't exactly a pioneer in the Bromance field. And maybe I could have looked harder to find a picture of both of them...but look at those eyes...as my friends Beatriz and I once said, we were sexually attracted to Benny The Jet before we knew that we were. He's beautiful...right, OK, so Benny and Smalls were best friends and stayed so for their entire lives. And they are legends...or Benny is. Really he's the important one...and look at those eyes!
6. Scrubs JD/Turk So, once upon a time we didn't know who Zach Braff was. And the world was a sadder place. And Donald Faison was merely the cute guy from Clueless and Remember The Titans. But now they're our chocolate bear and vanilla bear. They've serenaded each other more times than most straight couples on TV, including the ode to bromance "Guy Love."
7. Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks II, Various shorts and TV Guest Appearances Jay and Silent Bob Kevin Smith put the bromance into his movies long before Judd Apatow did, all of them center around a guy on guy friendship (Except Jersey Girl, but we don't count it.) But nothing comes anywhere near the hetero life mates who make their way all through the entire series. Maybe its because Jason and Kevin really are so tight. Maybe its because Kevin and Scott Mosier have a real bromance, or because if it weren't for him we wouldn't know about the greatest Hollywood bromance, Ben and Matt, but something about these two drug peddling ne'erdowells just brings a smile to my face. That and Silent Bob is just so wise. Honestly the guy can make you think, and with just a line from Star Wars
8. D2 and D3 The Mighty Ducks Fulton Reed/Dean Portman Sadly, I couldn't find a picture of the Bash Brothers...but I would be a poor poor 90s kid if I left them out. Honestly...they're wonderful, and random, since one scene they hate each other and the next they are BFFs...that's what Fanfiction is for friends, really!
9. Will and Grace Jack/Will The gay bromance is not only often overlooked but its fairly complicated, especially the way its shown in pop culture. But I think Jack and Will have the balance down. They aren't at all involved romantically...although there is a question as to Jack's feelings about his bff. They aren't even soulmates as they have their soulmates elsewhere (Will has Grace, Jack has Karen) and they even find romantic fulfillment elsewhere (Will had Vince, Jack has every gay man in New York, and Kevin Bacon) so they're just best friends, and they really are the best of, whether its heading out to a gay bar when Will has once again had his heart broken or sipping cappachino at Chez Jacques this is it for them, besties for evs!
10. Entourage Vince/Eric/Turtle/Drama/Ari I think the picture says it all. They've been best friends forever, and Ari. They're family. The end.
So there it is...those are my top Bromances...what do you think? Anyone you would add to the list?
I have an obsessive personality. I just do. I suppose its something I should work on, but I really don't want to. I like my obsessions. I enjoy analyzing something down to the juice.
Lately, I've been dwelling on two...and oddly for me, both are musical. The music I've been listening to lately has been a mixture of the classic rock that I've always and probably always will listen to and female Country-Pop singers. Seriously, I've listened to Carrie Underwood, and Julianne Hough and Taylor Swift more in the past weekend than I thought I ever would.
But its this one line in "My Hallelujah Song" by Julianne Hough that's been, I guess haunting is the only appropriate word, but its not really since its got negative connotations
"Life is more than just how many breaths you take But the moments that take your breath away."
I haven't had enough of those moments lately. I'm looking for them again.
Whatever, maybe I'm just feeling contemplative because I'm taking a Creative Nonfiction Writing course as well as a course where we read and analyze memoirs. If anything is going to make you slow down and look at your life its that combination.
So I think my subconscious is telling me to read Romeo and Juliet again. Lately I've found myself stumbling onto it in ways that seem arbitrary and since I just finished psych, plus I'm convinced there's no such thing as coincidence this is the only way I can come up with to explain it.
I've listened to that Taylor Swift song "Love Story" like five times in the past three days. As has been for the past few months, Dire Straits "Romeo and Juliet" is following me (and I forced Katie to follow it too) And my I-Pod was on shuffle today and I listened to "Somewhere." I haven't listened to "Somewhere" in at least a year.
I need to read it again...and I need to get West Side revival tickets.
I have a lot to be grateful for when I think about my upbringing. My parents love me, clothed me, feed me, paid for and are still paying for an amazing education.
But I think if I were to be grateful for one thing over anything else, I'm so grateful for the music. Classic rock permeated my household growing up. And its something that continues to seep into everything I do.
Yesterday my mother texted me letting me know that we now have Springsteen tickets for May 23 at the IZOD Center (I had to retype that, since its still Continental in my head.) I'm 21 years old and this is the third time my parents are treating my to Springsteen. The first time I was 14. It was December of 2001 and I saw him at the Asbury Park Convention Center. It was an exceptionally cool concert because
1. Springsteen any time is an amazing concert 2. Springsteen in a teeny tiny 3000 seat arena is unreal 3. Springsteen in Asbury Park is so rare and special 4. It was December 2001. He had just written, "My City of Ruins," "The Rising," and "You're Missing," and he played all three of them, no one had ever heard the songs, and we were all blown away by their sheer power. 5. It was Christmas time, so he closed with "Santa Clause is Comin to Town" before coming back on and doing "Rosalita."
Then I went again this summer, to Giant's Stadium. It was my sister's first Springsteen and once again "Rosalita" our family's anthem (A long and very bizarre story, don't ask!) closed the night and we were literally dancing in the aisles.
Now we're going again, the day after my finals end (what better way to kick off the summer?) and taking my cousin Tommy for his first as a graduation from 8th grade present.
After the Superbowl halftime show I'm itching for a full Springsteen concert and four months is absolutely worth the wait.
I'm just going to dive right into last night...there's really no need for set up
GG: Nellie Yuki's Cat eye glasses. Honestly? Nellie gets more and more fabulous with each appearance she also gets easier and easier to hate, and ratting on Blair in this episode was the final straw. But the cat eye glasses were too too cute. Especially in an episode where the leads were in their uniforms too much to do much fashion wise. Not that we don't love Blair in her uniform. Because well, don't we just love Blair all the time? Dan and Serena are over! FINALLY! I'm sorry, I'm all for happily ever after, I am, but I can't stand Dan. He's everything that annoyed me about my guy friends in high school, without all the stuff I loved about them. Also, Dan and Serena being broken up means that Serena can get together with Nate! HAHA! You thought I forgot, I did not. Until the show is over and beyond I will be rooting for Nerena. And speaking of Nate...Nate and Vanessa being so cute you want to puke. Seriously, there is NO PLOT with those two, its just them being pretty and witty, Nate doesn't even get to brood? What's the point of having those beautiful blue eyes if he's not going to brood? Chuck was suddenly thrown into the plot of a Dan Brown novel? He wakes up in the morning with a strange tribal symbol he doesn't remember on his wrist. Where are we? Smallville Season 4? Then he becomes obsessed with some woman he made out with who it turns out is a nanny from Connecticut, who the secret society that Bart was a member of then kidnaps? What the HELL IS GOING ON? Also, this very stupid plot line further facilitated that Nate and Vanessa boring grossness. Convenient set up for everyone to go to fictional Columbia or NYU equivalents next season...or at least Blair and Dan. By hooking up with his teacher, or well Serena and Blair's teacher, Dan destroyed his Yale chances, and Blair's father told her, "I don't care where you go to college!" Well, I have of a feeling, as the formula goes that at least one person isn't going to go to college, and for a while it looked like Chuck but now I'm thinking its Dan. It's all about the cheekbones: BH 90210, Dylan skipped out, then on DC it was Pacey, I think its going to be Dan. Look:See what I mean? Moving on:
Heroes: Claire Bennett = Badass Mofo. Honestly? Standing up again Mama Petrelli and Nathan to save everyone else. No wonder she's the chosen one! Or is Peter the chosen one? Or is it Hiro? I don't know, they change that weekly. I think the whole "Chosen One" thing is not important to this story arc, though so we have time to go back and figure it out. Mohinder's accent changed again. OK, I get it Sendhil Rammamurthy is from Texas, he's not good at accents, whatever, pick one! Sometimes Mohinder is a high class British educated Indian guy, other times he sounds like the guy from The Simpsons. Its frustrating. Milo's growing his hair out, thank god! I'm not normally a fan of long greasy hair, but on Milo, mm, its just different. Nathan's the bad guy again. All is as it should be. Sylar's alive and out there...dun dun dunnnn...Oh right, and Hiro still doesn't have his powers back. Whatever. If this arc doesn't KICK ASS, I'm done. Heroes has become too time consuming and its not goood enough to be worth the effort anymore. Its very very boring. Milo, you never should have left Gilmore.
OTH: Lucas=The New Dawson. He's all about feelings and hugs with the "Unkindness" movie. Adam=everything we all wanted to say to Dawson while he was making movies. And its really really funny. On a slightly less happy note, Hayley may be losing her job...and Dan might start dating Jamie's teacher? What? I'm confused.
Trust Me: Never fallen into the TNT shows before, but Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanaugh? Will and Ed? Wait? What's that sound? Oh my God! Middle School Reenie? Are you crying? And are those tears of joy?! Of course they are! No, Middle School Reenie, I'm sorry, Vanessa Lengies from American Dreams isn't on the show...but its only been two episodes! Why don't you go listen to some SClub7 and wait around for her. No really? I'm enjoying this show. And mostly for McCormack and Cavanaugh, they're both actors with really interesting conflicting energies that make the show an interesting watch. Although I'm having trouble accepting Eric McCormack as a straight guy with a wife and kids...even though that's who he is in real life. CSD (Character Separation Difficulty) rears its ugly head again...this is the same reason why somewhere back in the recesses of my mind while I'm watching Fringe tonight I'll wonder why Peter doesn't have a hockey jersey on...
Anyway, that being said, Monday night TV is getting to be my favorite, I don't know what I'm going to do when DWTS gets back...I'll work it out.
