I don't even realize how much I miss the humor of Buffy until I watched this clip for the never realized Buffy animated series. She hit herself in the head with a stake! So perfect. Why isn't anything else on tv quite this funny? Why didn't a network pick this up? Why aren't they just doing it on the web so I can get my fix? The world is full of unanswered questions.
What's more exciting than finding not one, but two new limited edition M&Ms in the candy aisle? Making all your friends try them and tell you what they think! I found new Wildly Cherry M&Ms with no fanfare on a break from class. Why hadn't I been informed of a new flavor? I immediately bought them and broke them out during class. I could smell the cherry before I even popped one in my mouth.
Me: "Woah, that's a lot of cherry..."
L, my classmate: "Mmmm"
My mom: "Oh, this is like a cherry cordial, but not as good as those cherry kisses."
My boyfriend: refused to try them on the basis that they were cherry and therefore disgusting.
If you like cherry cordials, you'll probably like these just fine. I found the cherry taste very overwhelming and sort of like cough syrup. Also, they are made with semi-sweet chocolate, which the candy coating couldn't sweeten up enough for me. I couldn't have more than one or two. In fact, I think half of the pack is still in my book bag.
I found the mint crisp flavor at a Walgreen's when I was feeling rather bad and had stopped to get a Sprite and some medicine. I was more excited about these because of the Indiana Jones tie-in and commercials. These were made with a dark chocolate which I like more than the semi-sweet.
Me: "Hmmm... these are... strong. What kind of mint is that?"
Mom: "I think it's more of a spearmint than a regular mint."
boyfriend: "eh." (he's a man of few words.)
Now I really like mint and chocolate, but as soon as my mom said spearmint I realized they reminded me of mouthwash, but not in that fresh mouth feeling way. I liked them much more than the Wildly Cherry flavor, but they didn't have that "pop in your mouth" feeling that makes M&Ms so evil. They did have barely decipherable icons based on the new Indy movie: a skull, a temple, a fedora. Those were mostly rubbed off from being in the bag.
I managed to finish the little bag one day when I was famished at work, but I have been spoiled by the 3 Musketeers Mint bars. They have a wonderful light mint flavor that I can't get enough of. Mom puts a mini one in her coffee for a treat. It makes me wonder who does the taste testing for these companies.
I just discovered a post comparing all the Republican primary candidates to villains from the Buffyverse, complete with pictures! Not only are Neil Sinhababu's picks eerily accurate, but he explains all his choices very well.
Anyone else think the new iPod commercial looks like an ad for Trapper Keeper binders from the 80's? Neon colors + geometric designs makes me think of giant hair and plastic jewelry. Some of them might have even had silhouettes...
Hey, have you seen the commercial for that new tv series, Scarlet? I love a kick butt heroine and it has that cute nerdy guy from C.S.I.:NY, A.J. Buckley.
Cool. So what is it about?
It's by the guy who created Supernatural and Smallville, so it's going to be good.
But what is it about?
Um...
That's pretty much what I discovered when I went to look up information on Scarlet. Even when I went to the official website, I couldn't find any plot or backstory. So who is Scarlet, the elusive star with a mysterious smile?
She's a virus. And no, not in a cool Terminator android kind of way. She is part of a viral marketing ploy to sell LG XCanvas Scarlett LCD TVs a "series" of five tvs that cost between $1500+ for the 32 inch to almost $5300 for the 52 inch. Thats over $100 an inch for all you mathimatical types. Her red eye seems to indicate some infrared technology.
For more proof just check out the subliminal advertising spotted by some attentive youtubers:
00:16 - "We're going to put her in every home in the planet"
00:21 - "What do you mean she's going to change TV forever?"
00:49 - "The evidence is staring you in the face"
00:54 - "Things aren't always what they seem" i.e., this is not a real tv show
00:28 - Notice the tv behind the actress
While it seems to be a decent viral marketing campaign, I can't help but think quite a few people are going to feel cheated when, instead of a new tv show airing on monday, they find out that Scarlet is another expensive tv. I suppose some will be struck by the cleverness of the ad, but after a long writer's strike is it really a good idea to tease the many people that are clamoring for new shows?
At least it's less creepy than Texas Instruments "It's the mirrors" commercials.
Despite how much I like him, I initially kept Ryan Reynolds out of My TV Boyfriends because he is neither on tv nor was he single. But now that I've heard that he and Alanis Morrissette have ended their four year relationship I really think he deserves his own entry!
I liked the movie Van Wilder back in the day more for its Lampoon treatment of college life than any one particular character. I was in college at the time and it was fun to laugh with someone else on the extended "super senior" plan. I really became intrigued was when I caught a little youtube video someone made for a fictional Spike show:
Watching all of Blade: Trinity sealed it for me. He was hot and funny, sign me up! Sure it will be hard to follow Alanis. She's beautiful, talented, and has been chosen to play God in a Kevin Smith movie. But now that he's single, I feel like I have a .0000000001% better chance of nabbing him.
Now, please excuse me while I run out and see Smokin' Aces to get my Ryan fix.
Every week I spend quality time with guys who are impossibly good looking, brave, funny, and charming... too bad I have to share them with millions of other girls. There are a plethora of McDreamy and McSteamy men on tv to tempt female viewers. I thought I would share some of my favorite tv guys that are flying under the radar.
Men in Charge
Agent Seely Booth, Bones. He's number one with a bullet. Besides being good looking and charming, FBI Agent Booth feels ferociously protective towards his partner, Dr. Temperence Brennen. When Brennen was shot at by a serial killer, Booth wouldn't let her out of his sight and ended up getting blown up by a bomb meant for her. If that wasn't enough, I could always rely on him to stop by with late night Chinese food to cheer me up after a bad day.
Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Firefly. Captain of the space ship Serenity, Mal carries a gun and can the man take a beating or what? In a mere half a season he's gotten punched, knifed, shot multiple times, burned, tortured (complete with ear removal), drugged, run through with a sword, and killed (but he got better). He's also pretty confident, getting away with wearing a dress or a fancy suit (earning the nickname "Captain Tightpants"). He does what's right and what he believes in while still being little bit naughty. I know it would never work out between me and the emotionally withdrawn space captain. But I can't help it. I even dreamed about him once. He's just so... stirring. 
Sheriff Jack Carter, Eureka. Jack is quick on his feet and has an easy smile. He just seems like a nice honest guy who would follow through if he said he would fix something I was complaining about, like a leaky faucet or a parking ticket.
Bad Bad Boys
Any of the Winchester men, Supernatural. These guys are heating up spine chilling situations week after week. Take your pick between cute younger brother Sam, steamy older brother Dean, or the intense father (with the gorgeous eyes) John. Sure, fighting demons is hard work, but it's fun too and those guys are extra cute when they smile.
Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. It took a long time for the bleach blond vampire to grow on me, but you can only resist the sexy smirks for so long (I'm a sucker for a good smirk). I actually didn't totally fall for him until the very last episode of Angel. Knowing he would probably die that night, he spent his last day on earth reading his own poetry at an open mic bar. I melted like ooey gooey ice cream.
Smart is Sexy
Jack Hodgins, Bones. Jack is a brilliant scientist, heir to a large fortune, and completely adorable. Jack has had many shining moments like the time he emerged from the decontamination shower in just a towel or his romantic kiss with Angela on the swing set, but he recently shined when he was buried alive by a serial killer and used his brains to escape. He also enjoys conspiracy theories and hospital pudding.
Mohinder Suresh, Heroes. It's really hard to choose from all the great guys on Heroes. It was a tough race between Mohinder and Hiro, but I have to go with tall, dark, and seriously smart. Oh, and the accent doesn't hurt either.
Just Regular Guys
Richie Velch, The Class. Playing on my weakness for red heads, Richie is sarcastic, sweet, and pretty screwed up. He totally won me over with his heartfelt love for Lina and the speech about magnesium and water. The character is probably not my ideal guy, but it this case I might be a bit more drawn to the quality of the acting.
Stosh "Piz" Piznarski, Veronica Mars. Cute, naive, and willing to go bowling just to hang out with a girl he likes. I just can't help but go "awwww." He's a better catch than some of those other jerks on the show. So far he's admitted when he did something stupid and was as nice as possible to a girl who he wasn't into. I also have a feeling that Piz has a strong side that will come out when Veronica needs it the most... something about the way he blew off Logan. Oh, and the crazy dancing; I love that he's not afraid to make a fool of himself to help save people!
Bear Grylls, Man vs. Wild. I know, I know. I shouldn't put people from a reality show on this list (especially ones that are married), but this guy jumped in a frozen lake and then stripped down to his British flag boxer shorts. Then he took those off too and I've never seen any one so cold look so hot. Couple that with the fact that he could save us if we were stranded somewhere and he's on the list.
Great guys are often underappreciated, so if any of these faces are new to you check them out on tv or dvd. With the amount of television I watch, my expectations have probably been ruined for real guys, so leave a comment let me know your favorite tv guys or girls. It will make me feel better about having so many tv boyfriends.
Stranger than Fiction stars Will Ferrell as Harold Crick, a lonely IRS agent that begins to hear a female voice narrating his life. The voice not only has intimate knowledge of his actions and thoughts but foretells his imminent death. Harold is understandably upset when he hears this and seeks help from a friend, a psychiatrist, and eventually a professor of literature played by Dustin Hoffman.
Harold hopes to find the source of the mystery narrator or, at the very least, the plot of his story before his untimely demise. He begins changing aspects of his life in hopes of thwarting the narration, but throughout the movie even the audience isn't sure if he's in a comedy or a tragedy.
Each character was both quirky and realistic and so well cast that you can't help but like them. Harold seems to be afflicted with minor Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that has him counting everything from his toothbrush strokes to the bathroom tiles. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays an anti-establishment bakery owner getting audited by Crick. Emma Thompson plays the novelist with writer's block trying to think of the perfect death scene, and Queen Latifah plays her assistant calmly pushing the novelist towards her deadline. Marc Foster has done a dream job of directing them all. Will Ferrell shows his strength as an actor, not just a comedic actor. He is real and vulnerable without losing his comic muscle.
I also loved the thoughtful effects that went into the movie. In the opening title sequence Harold's OCD is given some mathematical visual effects that pop up around him as he goes about his daily business and his counting. His wristwatch is even given odd lights and sounds that turn it into a minor character.
The movie was shot entirely in Chicago thanks in part to Zach Helm, the screenplay's writer, going to DePaul University in the 90's. The great thing about the background scenery is that it is textured and nuanced, without the sweeping views of skylines and the Grant Park fountain that have ended up being cliched stock images. The real Chicago is seen through bus windows as they move over bridges. Even the camera angles make you feel like you are moving realistically through the actual city, not just a scenic landscape.
Lastly, the music played in the movie is both subtle and sweet. It's a mix of old and new tunes that blend into the movie's scenes without jarring the audience. Thought and care went into placing the songs so the scenes just felt right, without any extra thought on the part of the audience. In one scene, Harold is strumming an acoustic guitar with his eyes closed, playing the only song he's learned, and once again it feels real and is a perfect pick for the unsure hero.
This movie is a charming gem that had my laughing and crying in equal measure. Not only was it interesting and entertaining, but it toys with the idea of a worthwhile life and death. It has the simple enticing character of movies like Amelie or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I feel Stranger than Fiction is the most refreshing movie I've seen in a long time. If this review felt like a love letter to a movie, it was, because that movie is a love letter to anyone who enjoys a fun, thoughtful film.
Part of the fun of reality television is all of the drama, controversy, and rumors abound as the action takes place. This season of Dancing with the Stars has had a fun kick start without being bogged down by any really horrible dancers that plagued last season. The first big controversy involved a number of the couples doing illegal lifts all in the same night. I figured they probably got together beforehand and thought that if they all did it they wouldn't get punished. They were wrong. Dances that would have scored the first perfect tens of the season got only sixes and eights.
The other fun rumor was the talk that surrounded Willa Ford and Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Have they been fooling around when the cameras are off? Are they a couple? I thought Willa was a lackluster performer at first, but as she improved each week and the rumors grew she became one of my favorites. Unfortunately, all that was cut short this week when she received the least amount of viewer votes despite her excellent rumba that earned her a first place position with the judges.
I like to see the best dancers move forward so it bugs me when people who are doing an excellent job and improving every week get kicked off because they don't have the huge fan base of others. It happened with Master P last season and it's happening to a lesser extent with Sarah Evans this week. Sarah is a country star, which gives her more fans than Willa, who only had one hit single that I remember, "I wanna be Bad."
Unfortunately it looks like I won't get to see Sarah leave based on viewer votes, because it's been reported that she is leaving because of an impending divorce and family issues. That's too bad, for her personally and for her dance partner professionally. I'm always impressed by how the professionals teach and choreograph with amateur dancers.
Usually, I'm a little skeptical about unsubstantiated rumors of hanky panky, but watching Willa and Maks makes it seem highly plausible. In their first few weeks together they argued, yelled, and stormed out of the room whenever they rehearsed, but each week their dancing got better and better. I don't think you can tell much about a relationship based on how they dance (or else Drew and Cheryl from last season would have been having quite a steamy affair).
Tiny details, a smirk or a kiss on the forehead, make me kind of suspicious. Of course the show was milking it by having them do a side shoot at a romantic beach at sunset, Maks with his shirt off and both of them doing sensuous hip movements.
In all interviews they denied being a couple, or more accurately, Willa denied it... and Willa is a bad liar. Maksim would say that Willa was his favorite student and that he wanted to get to know her better after the competition. It actually made me think that Maksim might be more into her than she was willing to be while in competition. Maybe she's even worried that he's just into her because they are dance partners.
Will he make an effort to be with her when he doesn't have to? Will there be any chemistry between them without the spark of dance and competition? Well, now he gets his chance. I actually have visions of Willa hanging around backstage even though she is long gone. I guess my litmus test will be if I see her cheering him on every week. They actually make a cute couple, Willa has a cute Piper Perabo-ness to her and Maksim has the presence of a more mature man (I was shocked to find out he was the same age as me!).
Fox started off the fall season early with some strong returning dramas and some weak new comedies.
Probably my favorite show from last fall that made it another season is Bones. The show still follows the forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), her team of geeks, and FBI agent Seely Booth (David Boreanaz, getting hotter and more charismatic every day) as they solve murders every week based on the bones of the victims.
This season's premiere did a good job of establishing characters and dynamics for newcomers, but didn't have the umph of some of last season's nail biters. It made the extra effort of immediately pointing out the Brennan has poor social skills, but is highly intelligent. I'm hoping they will stop being so obvious and just let the character develop like she did last season.
All characters, almost from their opening lines were painted so anyone could catch on to their quirks. Angela (Michaela Conlin) is tactful, nice, friendly and the least geeky of the scientists. Zack (Eric Millegan) is smart but naive and Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) is into conspiracy theories and wacky experiments. In a single scene where Booth interrogates a drug dealer he establishes that he is tough, street smart, and caring.
The premiere managed to throw in a fair amount of back story, including last seasons finale involving Brennan's bank robber parents and missing father. Additionally they threw in a bit of info about how heroin is made, sold, and how it affects the body; and an economy lesson about the profit of shorting stocks. But wait, they had to introduce an entirely new character, Dr. Cam Sayoran (Tamara Taylor).
Cam was promoted over Brennan's head as the new Head of Forensics. She has had an implied sexual relationship with Booth in the past. I didn't know if I would like her, but she seems nice and personable, giving out cute nicknames like Zack-A-Roni and Hodge-Podge. She's pretty no-nonsense and likes to point out that she's the one in charge, alternately endearing and scaring her new employees.
What really struck me is how the characters are interacting this season. Brennan seems much more open with Booth, being able to ask him personal questions and let her guard down around him. So much so that even though they still have scenes where they talk in hushed tones with their noses inches apart, there is less of a sexual tension vibe and much more of a friend vibe. What the show is playing up is the budding romance between Angela and Hodgins. Again, they are almost being too obvious about it all. Mostly I feel sorry for Zack. With so many complex storylines and new character relationships he has hardly any screen time at all.
Still it's early and not only was the case a bit (overly) complicated, but the big draw was the aftermath of a train wreck. I'm really surprised that the producers went with that idea over the initial pitch of a serial killer after FBI agents. That has much more drama and is so promising that I hope they use the idea later in the season.
The season is off to a slow, but interesting start and there are definitely some promising episodes on future Wednesday. Episodes in which certain hot actors get lucky (and naked), imprisoned serial killers continue to terrorize, and mysteries are explored. I'm sure the writers will hit their stride right around sweeps.
Tuesday night's House, the medical diagnostic procedural show with the most interesting characters is back again with a few new twists. The premiere started with House running pain free, being off drugs, and even being a little less mean than before despite his best efforts. Luckily they didn't keep him without his vices for long. He's already back to limping, popping vicodin and attempting to kill people.
Really I like House because of the main character. He's mean, bitter, depressed, lonely, and makes it funny. It's too bad his ex-wife is gone, because that was a fun storyline and made his character act in unexplainable ways. At least his best friend and boss are still messing with him. In the first episode they already started lying to him. By the second episode House started making jokes about his boss being pregnant. Although she denies it I'm sure it will mean something later on.
Unfortunately by the second episode they already started to reach over the deep end by once again delving inside the mind of someone whose brain is acting oddly. I really wish they would keep the special effects to a minimum, because I don't tune in because I miss X-files. What I find far more interesting is the sexy but underage young girl who has a crush on House and starts stalking him. I'm sure it will get everyone's panties in a twist.
Fox's first sitcom premiere was Thursday night's new show 'Til Death. May I just start by saying that I love Brad Garrett. He's hilarious. Which is why I don't understand why they cast him in a show where he ends up being just another Raymond. The show has him as one half of an older married couple who meets a couple of newlyweds who are still full of ideals. Oh gee, I've been married a long time, but I still screw up with my wife. Plant hand on forehead, repeat joke about never having sex. I might have laughed once during the entire half hour.
The next half hour I was pleasantly surprised by the show Happy Hour. It's an interesting group of New Yorkers who live in the same apartment complex, maybe a little like Friends if they were cynical and drank more. Henry was just dumped by the girl he moved to New York to be with. He moves in with a swingin' bachelor whose old roommate just left. That old roommate moved in with his controlling girlfriend that everyone else hates. Add in another funny but smart girl who is just one of the guys and you've got something that made me laugh repeatedly. It's really too bad that it will probably be one of the first shows to get cancelled.
I'm feeling pretty nerdy today considering I just took a few decently difficult Whedon related quizzes and aced them all. Try your luck with a Buffy Quote Quiz and the How Well Do You Know Serenity Quiz.
After that chill out to Weird Al's latest video, White & Nerdy, featuring a cameo by Seth Green and his action figure collection! There's an easy quiz related to the video as well.
One more thing, watch the winner of the fireflyfans.net Firefly Episode Trailer Contest. It made me feel all sentimental.
I've been told the photo on my main page makes me look like the girl from Night of the Living Dead (which is what I get for trying to go arty with a black and white photo). It's been a slow summer, and before the big fall schedule started up I thought I would take a quick look at the rising menace of zombies.
I never really thought much about zombies except for appreciating them as a classic monster of the horror genre that cropped up from time to time in cartoons, episodes of Buffy, and cheesy movies like My Boyfriend's Back. That all changed once I got to college.
My college roommates used to play the Resident Evil video games in the dark for maximum spooky effect. One time I was watching and my roommate said "Did you see that?" Apparently when his character walked by a zombie on the floor he saw it twitch, so when he had it walk by again I was focused for a small movement. Suddenly, the zombie grabbed the character's leg and took a huge bite out of it! I was so startled I squealed like the big wuss I am and, that night, I slept with my bedroom door locked.
Movies like Resident Evil and 28 Days Later are putting the horror back in what had turned into a campy genre. I, of course, prefer the slow moving "classic" zombies. You know, the ones I could feasibly outrun. Although modern filmmakers have amped up zombies to heighten action in horror movies, I'm still definitely more Shaun of the Dead than Dawn of the Dead.
With the new resurgence of zombies in popular culture, many artist and writers are taking the basic concept and making it their own. Recently I read a fantastic Salon.com article where they asked people to imagine their dream tv show. My favorite was a proposal for a funny but insightful zombie show called "Afterlife" with the tagline "We're here, we're dead, get used to it."
Greg Gutfeld describes his idea by saying: "The series focuses on the aftermath of a worldwide zombie uprising of 2007, triggered by a sexually transmitted virus that renders its victim physically dead, but still conscious and fully capable of carrying on "living." The key difference: They have no pulse, they smell, and without formaldehyde, they decompose."
My favorite character is the zombie grandmother named Rosie, 'she spends her time educating children on the stereotypes attached to the post-livers: that they are cannibalistic, that they are lazy, or worse, that they are really alive but simply "acting dead to get free stuff like welfare."'
Another terrific online zombie find is the flash cartoon Xombified about a good zombie named Dirge who is helping a lost little girl named Zoe get back to the last human city when she mysteriously ends up in the zombie infested outside world. I really like the pairing of the characters and the storyline. There is even a zombie dog. Check out the first seven episodes and you'll be dying (oh man sorry, I was hoping I would get through this article without an unintended pun) for the exciting conclusion.
For a little more gore check out Ross Campbell's The Abandoned, a graphic novel in which everyone over the age of 23 mysteriously dies and then rises from the dead. All the young characters must run for their lives and fight of their parents and the other elderly zombies. Uniquely, this story is drawn in black, white, and red. Tokyopop has the first volume up for online viewing.
I know someone who is convinced that something bad is going to happen in 2012 (based on the end of the Mayan calendar and various predictions) and that thing will be an uprising of zombies. He faithfully read The Zombie Survival Guide and has a secret plan for the zombie outbreak that he refuses to tell me in case I become one of the hoards of undead.
He was one of the many who were taken in by a very authentic-looking article about a "zombie parasite" in Cambodia: After death, this parasite is able to restart the heart of its victim for up to two hours after the initial demise of the person where the individual behaves in extremely violent ways from what is believed to be a combination of brain damage and a chemical released into blood during "resurrection."
Another April Fool's article used a picture of Sam, a three time champion of the World's Ugliest Dog contest, to espouse the discovery of zombie dogs. I'm sure zombie paranoia is felt by others, including Largo from the webcomic Megatokyo (he once mistook ravers for zombies) and songwriter Jonathan Coulton (who's song Re: Your Brains is mildly hilarious), and the cult classic will stay alive and well (oh damn, another one!) until at least 2012.
You've got six years to prepare for the zombie onslaught, so get cracking by checking out some zombie lifehacks.
This summer spotty internet access and a new DVR have gotten me to watch a lot of new shows. Here is a rundown of some of my current favorites.
Reality Shows:
I never really thought of myself as someone who liked reality shows. Besides watching Dancing with the Stars with my mom, I tried to avoid them. This summer those tricky buggers seeped into my life and I got hooked. And not just watching them regularly hooked, I mean yelling at the television, stomach in knots over who gets kicked off hooked.
Who wants to be a Superhero?: I didn't know what to expect when I tuned into Sci-Fi for this Stan Lee reality show, but it's probably one of the best ones out there. A group of Superhero hopefuls, in homemade outfits, compete to win their own comic book and a Sci-Fi movie made about their character. The challenges they face are either deceptively easy or seriously scary. In the very first episode they were told to do a quick change in public without being seen and try and cross the finish line with the best time. What they didn't know was that there was a little girl crying out for help right near the finish line, and the real challenge was to help her. Yeah, more than a few ran right by her.
A couple weeks ago they got suited up in body armor and had to fight off two very real attack dogs. Last week they had to go out in their outfits and order a takeout lunch, which doesn't seem very hard, until we find out that the waiters are plants. Each superhero was asked what their real name was and most forgot that Stan has a huge rule about never revealing your secret identity. It's the twists that really make this show excellent. After they kicked off a hopeful who was a real jerk, Stan turned around and made him the show's supervillain! My absolute favorite hero is Major Victory, who is both charming and funny and sometimes breaks into superhero poses.
Project Runway: Everyone online was talking about how great the show is but I never really got it. Then Bravo ran a marathon of episodes last week and now I'm excitedly waiting the next installment. Most all of the fashion design hopefuls have some sort of personality clash or weird quirk. Seriously, can Angela just quit with the rosettes already?
Personally, I just love critiquing the outfits and guessing who the judges will pick as the winner. The episode where they modernized the style of a fashion icon (like Jackie O. Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, or Pam Greer) really wowed me. Who knew hot pants could look so good?
DesignStar: Pretty much the same format as Project Runway, but with designers of rooms competing to win their own show on HGTV. Every week someone really surprises me, usually with an out of left field genius design, but sometimes just by glaring mistakes made. In this show I really pick favorites and people to hate.
My initial favorite was cute Vanessa because of the great orange and brown bedroom. But she choked when she had to do a room on her own (repeat after me: "a hairdryer is not good wall art"). Temple really stepped up when she was finally on her own by decorating an awesome room out of auto parts, but she was a really disorganized leader in the next challenge. My new favorite is David, the hot artist guy. Sure his designs have been uber phenomenal (he made hamster balls look like excellent decorative accents), but he spends half the show with his shirt off. One word: Freckles.
The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency: This is by no means a good show. I think Janice probably has some sort of chemical imbalance in her brain that makes her act like a psycho egomaniac. But this show, even a little more than Top Model, shows exactly what the modeling industry is like because nothing is fair. At least on Top Model the girls get a challenge every week, but on JD one minute someone wants to fire you and the next they say you did an awesome job.
Oxygen was running a marathon the other day and it was like watching a train wreck, albeit a familiar one. Trying to teach young models runway walking, yelling at them about their hair or cuticles, pressuring them to lose more and more weight. It's crazy, it's the business, and it's real.
America's Got Talent: This show is probably my guilty pleasure. I don't really want to admit that I like it, but I still watch it every week. It's got everything from acrobats, little girls that sing or yodel, Asian-American acapella, clog dancing, Rapping Granny and more! This week is the season finale and I really hope some of my favorites do well.
Last Comic Standing: This show ended last week, but it was a very entertaining ride. Some of the funniest people got knocked out unexpectedly and some unexpected people really did well. I'm sure Bravo will be showing reruns sometime soon and you can catch my favorites online: Roz, who has a big attitude to go with her hilarious delivery; Gabriel, the guy who could have won it all if he hadn't got kicked off for using a BlackBerry; Chris, the love child Willy Wonka and Cosmo Kramer; Josh, the guy who makes it ok to laugh at cerebral palsy.
Quirky Shows:
Summer is a great time for fun quirky shows. So pull up a big comfy chair and save the drama for the fall line up.
Eureka: Just when I had given up on shows with fresh concepts, along comes Eureka, a Sci-Fi show which enters on a town where all the government's top scientist and researchers live and work. The town sheriff investigates whenever something odd happens. He's no rocket scientist, but he's good at his job keeping a keen eye out and connecting the dots. The show opened to the highest ratings ever for a Sci-Fi show premiere.
The casting director for Eureka did an excellent job because I can just look at each actor and figure out which character archetype they represent. The hero has an honest smile, bright clear eyes, and a slightly chiseled jaw. The secretly evil character has angular eyes, sharp cheekbones, and a smirk. Check it out and see if you can tell who's who.
Psych: The USA network really produces some great characters. Psych is about a fun, flirty, but irresponsible guy who has a skill for remembering what he sees, almost like a modern Sherlock Holmes. He calls in tips to the police for rewards, but they start getting suspicious when he knows so much about crimes. So, he says he's psychic and is suddenly allowed to work on big cases that stump the police. It's just plain fun and comes on right after Monk. They are also showing some episodes on broadcast TV but I'm sure they'll stop soon hoping to get people to buy cable.
Life on Mars: Sometimes I'm really disappointed by what makes it on to the BBC, since they have some pretty great shows over there. Luckily Life on Mars is a winner. Sam Tyler is a modern day police detective that gets hit by a car while working on a case. When he wakes up, he's in 1973. Is he in a coma, is he crazy, or did he really time travel? The funny thing is, that's barely important. The best thing about this show is showing how a modern day guy has to deal with the 1970's. His new partners at the police station think nothing of beating up suspects, planting evidence, or leaving a stakeout to grab a pint at the pub. The show has a crime every week and the leading guy is really intriguing. Oh yeah, and sometimes there is a creepy little girl with a clown that talks to Sam in his sleep...
Cartoons:
Cartoons are great because you don't have to catch them from the first episode. Everything you need to know is encapsulated in a 30 second intro with a catchy song. None of my top picks are new, but I love them anyway.
Kim Possible: I consider KP to be a classic in the making (and I own a posable Kim doll). Basically a cute redhead cheerleader and her dorky best friend are action heroes who regularly save the world. There are classic evil supervillians who continually try to dominate the world with far fetched plans.
I just got to watch the Kim Possible Movie, A Sitch' in Time, where a time travel monkey idol lets us see how KP accidentally got into regularly saving the day. She just set up a website for babysitting with the slogan "Kim Possible can do anything" and someone in need typed in her address by mistake and called her into help. Her only real skill was being a good acrobatic cheerleader, but it was just what the sitch called for (with all the cris-crossed lasers). Also, seeing an alternate future where all her friends fight an evil dictator and get pretty buff in the process was also fun. KP reruns many times a day on the Disney Channel. And there is also a hairless mole rat named Rufus who is a cute and useful sidekick.
Danny Phantom: I never got into Nickelodeon until I caught an episode of Danny Phantom, a kid who got turned half ghost in an odd accident. The show focuses on Danny and his friends fighting ghosts while clueless adults muck around. His parents call themselves ghost hunters long before they have proof that ghosts even exist. They are responsible for Danny's accident by making a faulty ghost portal. Danny can fly, turn invisible, walk through walls, and take over other people's bodies. It's the usual High School Supernatural comedy that I'm a sucker for (also with a great episode involving an alternate dystopian future). Unfortunately Danny is on his last legs and will be cancelled early next year, so I'm catching all the episodes I can now.
Samurai Champloo: Being without cable for many years I totally missed this show's first run on Cartoon network. It's an excellent anime starring a ronin, a girl, and a vagabond trying to get by in Edo period Japan. The cartoon mixes old Japan with hip-hop music and fresh fighting styles. What I really like about this cartoon is how historically accurate it is for an anime. A lot of the issues that the trio deal with were real social problems happening in Edo Japan. Reruns air on Sunday night on Cartoon Network.
Hopefully all these fun shows will fill the entertainment void until the new fall season starts. I'm really looking forward to the return of Bones, Grey's Anatomy, and Dancing with the Stars. I hoping to be pleasantly surprised by some new shows as well, including Heroes, Disney Channel's The Replacements, Nickelodeon's Kappa Mikey, and Spike TV's Afro Samurai.
Oh crap, I just spilled some of my chai latte on my surge protector! I unplugged it immediately when it started making a crackling sound, but now I'm running on battery power. I hope I didn't do any permanent damage. Maybe I'll just go watch some tv...
Oh how I wish I were in California. This weekend is the annual San Diego Comic-Con and since I can't be at the geek mecca, here are some internet goodies and a glance at some of my favorite comics.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Hopefully the long awaited Buffy season 8 comic is being worked on as I type. Joss will of course be attending the comic-con and the first issue (with art by Georges Jeanty) will be unveiled. The story line is set to run around 20 issues and will be using some old Buffy writers. Finally some canonical goodness over all the speculations and fanfic abound. I can only hope Buffy feels some honest fallout about the death of Spike that she carries with her for a few issues at least.
Tokyopop.com re-launch: The biggest name in Original English Language (OEL) manga is redesigning its site with a lot more content. Yours truly has a weekly column in the Lifestyle section and will be contributing articles from time to time (even with the extra workload, I'm going to try to keep updating here around once a week, although I'm sporadic at the best of times). The new tokyopop.com site will cover more than just manga, like movies, videogames, j-pop, and cosplay, but still appeal to core fans.
NBC Heroes: One of my most anticipated shows coming this fall is Heroes, about a very small group of people all over the world who wake up and have super powers. Hyped to be the next Lost, it promises to be interesting and twisted in the way of plot. Knowing that, we should probably start a pool about which character is going to get killed off first. How come it's never the most annoying one? Preview it at NBC's first look.
Sci-Fi Superheroes: From the clone of the Empire Carpet Guy, Stan Lee, comes a campy, bound to be bad search for the next big superhero. Geeks all over the county have made their own costumes and pretended to have superpowers in Who Wants to be a Superhero?. I'm honestly hoping this falls into the so bad it's good camp, but I'm very apprehensive. There is a reason the live action X-men movies ditched the brightly colored spandex.
Jewel cartoon: We've all wanted to make our own super hero at some point, and if we were already famous it would probably get on the air. Jewel has created a new show for Nickelodeon, 'Punk Rock Angel Girl', about a young girl with powerful lungs that get people to stop being complacent. Jewel, that creative curmudgeon, drew the character concept and wrote the first episode, and she does the voice too.
Here's a quick rundown of some of my favorite comics.
Runaways: Brian K. Vaughan has really breathed new life into a tired genre. A group of teens don't have much in common until they discover that their parents are super-powered villains. What's an angsty kid to do? Runaway, of course! Together they vow to use what limited resources they have to bring down the big bad. They don't all have powers, but they each have something special to offer (the ability to drive and stolen weaponry for example).
My absolute favorite thing about this book is how realistic Vaughan creates the teen characters. They really act like teenagers, with all the whining, drama, and annoyance. Too many books have a young character who acts just like an idealistic adult, how lame and boring. My only caution is that after the third book (issues 13-18) the characters shoot off into the wider Marvel world, filled with tons of mutants, which was too much for me.
Bonus points if you can figure out which character has homosexual tendencies.
Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things: Remember how crappy Junior High was? Now try dealing with that and goblins, doppelgangers, and babysitting a changeling at the same time. Courtney Crumrin is pretty jaded for a kid and has bad attitude to spare. Luckily she's pretty smart too. Watch out if you manage to piss her off because there's no telling what her devious mind will come up with as payback.
The way Ted Naifeh plays with light and shadow is extraordinary. There is a genuine creepy feeling while looking at the stark black and white colors. The first book is still my favorite, but the girl really comes into her own in the next two books which feature scarier monsters and evil adults. I love her dry humor, honest emotions, and the funny chalkboard messages her teachers write like: Creative Writing, just because it happened to you doesn't make it interesting!
Bonus points if you want to check out the additional one-shot Courtney Crumrin Tales, which center around her uncle as a young man.
Genshiken: Genshiken is a manga centering on a college club full of otaku guys. What? No angsty teens or supernatural happenings? That's right, Saki is a complex girl who wants to turn her cutie boyfriend, anime fanboy and video game champion Makoto, into a normal guy. When he signs up for Genshiken, she follows him to meetings trying to sabotage the club. The book also stars shy guy Kanji who is coming to terms with liking anime babes and "adult" video games.
This manga is so fun, exploring awkward relationships between characters and a variety of geeky hobbies. Definitely stick with this one for Ohno, the first girl member of the club who is into cosplay and yaoi. She makes it her mission to get Saki into a cosplay outfit. I've enjoyed every issue out so far and love laughing at all the geek stereotypes explored.
Bonus points for every geeky thing mentioned in the manga that you have done yourself and if you want to check out the Anime DVDs which follow the manga pretty closely through the first few books.
Rising Stars of Manga: These books are dreams made tangible. Every year Tokyopop holds a contest for anyone who wants to draw a twenty page manga. The winners (and one audience favorite) are published in The Rising Stars of Manga. The artwork and stories keep getting better and better and I love the guaranteed variety in every issue.
There's usually a fair amount of controversy over the artistic style (is it manga enough?) and originality. Last year someone redrew the exact panels from a popular manga and claimed it as their own work. Can we say plagiarism?
Bonus points for every time you say "I can't believe that won!" or "I had that same idea!" while reading an issue.
Everafter: This is quite possible the most quality work-in-progress out there. The story revolves around storybook characters locked up in (and trying to escape from) the Everafter Asylum. Red Riding Hood has never been so crazy and deadly. Shaun was a Rising Stars of Manga runner up and his artwork and ideas have really developed well.
I'm constantly in awe of his artwork and originality. I'm equally impressed with how well paced everything is. So many webcomics get bogged down with pages and pages of talking. Shaun is a master of action sequences and revealing back-story like so many breadcrumbs along the way. The only downside is that it is truly a work in progress so waiting for the next issue is killer, but I know it's always worth it. Everafter is currently being posted a bit at a time, but start the entire prologue Here and follow the links.
Bonus points for entering any of Shaun's numerous contests at deviant art. Currently you can enter background characters and concepts that might get drawn into the story.
My Comic: I recently came up with my own idea for a comic. Even though I'm not the best artist I thought I would give it a try. It's mostly a spoof of Buffy where an unlucky girl gets thrown into the same sorts of monster ridden situations, but she's not the chosen one and has zip in the way of superpowers. It starts on her birthday, Friday the 13th.
Bonus points if you make your own comic, regardless of artistic ability. The longer the better and if I get enough, maybe I can have my own homemade anthology.
Captain Jack Sparrow is a marked man. He can outrun the law, but he can't outrun the debt he owes to Davy Jones. The heartless squid-face is coming to collect and just like the first movie, Jones is just one of the people in line. Everyone is chasing Jack for a different reason and just finding him is never enough. If you remember he was "almost" caught a few times in the first movie.
Poor Captain Jack. He spends so much of this movie being scared and running away that we hardly get any quality time with the quirky personality that people fell in love with during the first movie. Luckily, a generous helping of the former cast comes back to entertain (being in either better or worse shape than the last movie). It seems everybody is seeking retribution of some form or another, including an undead monkey.
Will Turner has returned with even more heart, smarts, and thrilling heroics. And I think he has gotten oh so subtly hotter. We get to see his bare back in this movie! Can a bare chest be far behind? I hope not.
Elizabeth has been practicing her swordplay, but then I guess she can't spend all her time sipping pina colodas on Caribbean beaches. She nimbly moves completely out of the victim role in which she was cast during the last movie and decides to take matters into her own hands. Always a crafty woman, Elizabeth has to work extra hard without the use of her feminine wiles as she masquerades as a cabin boy while searching for Will and Jack. Don't worry, she gets to use those wiles in a big way later on.
What I really liked about this movie is that the characters have some great motivation. Will does more than love Elizabeth and Elizabeth does more than try to save her own skin. Try as they might to lead normal lives, both of them are drawn into the action and adventure of piracy.
Also, it pays to watch Curse of the Black Pearl right before heading to the theatre for Dead Man's Chest. There are quite a few inside jokes involving rum, eunuchs, and getting hit in the head with an oar.
There were some low points to the movie as well. Far too many scenes were drawn out for comedic effect and it got a little tired. During numerous action sequences I could have gotten up, gone to the bathroom, made some fresh popcorn and by the time I got back to my seat they would still be going at it.
My biggest issue with this movie is that there was no resolution. In fact, some things that were resolved in the last movie, got unresolved during this one. Once again I felt tricked by Hollywood. I spent 2.5 hours getting set up for the third movie.
I'm all for more screen time with my favorite stars, but if you only have enough plot for one movie then don't try to make two. And for the love of pirates don't make me wait a year to find out how things are going to end!
Today an average looking guy on the other side of the country is turning 42 and I couldn't be happier about it. Why am I celebrating the birthday of a man I've never met? Joss Whedon has had a remarkable influence on my life just by doing what he believes in and loves for years. He is responsible for my evolution as a fangirl.
It started in 1992 when I was about 12 years old, very shy, and decidedly geeky. There was a movie that was fun and witty and, best of all, it showed a girl kicking butt. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was my introduction to the ideas of Joss. If it had stopped there, I might not even remember his name today; but that's the thing about Joss, he keeps trying for bigger and better things.
A few years later, I got very excited when I heard that a show entitled "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was going to be on TV. I made sure all my friends were going to watch the premiere, so we could talk about it in school the next day. I was part of an online discussion group that ranted and raved about the show. There was a heated discussion about whether Angel would turn out to be a vampire, a werewolf, or something else. All of us positing theories based on the nuances of certain lines of dialogue.
That's when my like of the show, turned into full on love. And I'm not talking about crushing on the likes of David Boreanaz and James Marsters (although thank you Joss for casting such "salty goodness"). I'm talking about having the ability to give into a fantasy for an hour every week, and letting it influence me.
It started out small. I stopped wearing quite so much oversized flannel and washed out jeans. I bought myself a pair of knee-high black patent leather boots (I dubbed them my "Buffy boots") and wore them with cute skirts and eye shadow that matched my outfits. I started to throw around "Buffy speak" in everyday conversation and added "-age" to certain words. I collected a few choice cross necklaces.
Even though I was still kind of shy and self-conscious I tried being braver: I spoke up a little more in class, I tried something new even though I was scared, I threw out a sarcastic remark when somebody was picking on me. The results were mixed and it wasn't all because of one TV show, but the influence was there.
Joss, like the champion he is, stuck with me over the years. I really began to care about what was happening with these characters. I felt for Buffy and the gang when they were troubled, I cried when Buffy had to kill Angel to save the world, and I cheered them on when they kicked demon butt (especially Xander). I tuned in to the spin-off "Angel" to see where the new stories could take me.
Then I left home for college and beyond and didn't have access to a TV for months at a time. I set the VCR at my parents' house and hoped for the best. At first I wasn't sure it was worth the effort, but whenever I started watching an episode it felt like I was getting to hang out with old friends again. Eventually the system fell through and I started losing track of what was going on in the Buffyverse, save a few reruns I caught randomly.
I should have known Joss would sneak back into my life, but it caught me by surprise. I was at a video store one night and I saw "Firefly" sitting on the shelf. I had heard about the show and knew Joss had done it, but without regular access to a TV I had missed its short run. I rented all four DVDs and spent the next three days watching episodes whenever I wasn't at school or work.
"Firefly" is epic and excellent. I joined in the growing legions of fans, called Browncoats, that were screaming: "Why did this show get cancelled?" I bought the DVD, showed it to my friends, and then they bought it and showed it to their friends. Then I heard something that made my little heart sing, Joss was making a movie as a continuation of "Firefly". It was named after the ship, Serenity.
I hunted and begged to get tickets to one of the pre-screenings and after two failed attempts I finally succeeded and was sitting in a theatre with other fans. Before the movie there was a message from Joss to his fans. His voice was heartfelt and full of a certain gravity. In his speech were these words, which have become a rallying cry for fans everywhere, "We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty." I almost cried I was so touched. In fact, I kind of teared up just typing that phrase. Just get the Serenity DVD, it's one of the special features, and you'll see what I mean.
That's what Joss does. He touches people with his stories. He engenders an almost unreasonable amount of love and admiration from his fans. There is even a documentary being made about how fans helped Serenity get made, called Done The Impossible. Fans everywhere support him with shirts, websites, and even songs that are a tribute to the man they call Joss. Joss Whedon is probably responsible for me meeting a certain number of my friends through fandoms and websites for Browncoats.
This weekend, all around the country, fans have come together to support the movie Serenity by holding charity screenings to benefit Equality Now. It's a great birthday gift for Joss and it's how I will be celebrating. Recently Joss was honored by Equality Now and asked to give a speech. With his humor and heartfelt gravity he answered the question, "Why do you write such strong women characters?"
This year I bought the complete Chosen collection of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", all seven seasons. I finally saw all that I missed and how it all ended. I realized that I really did miss Buffy and empathized with her struggle with life. She went to emotional places that many adults go through, realistic places with flawed relationships that are entirely messed up. The show is a continuous comfort and I pop in the musical episode anytime I'm feeling down. Sometimes I smile just remembering the question, "What would Buffy Do?" and part of me hopes that some characters will not fade away and still have more stories to tell.
Thank you Joss. Thank you for creating characters and stories that allow me to fall and fall deep. Thank you for showing how people can surprise you again and again. Thank you for being realistic enough to admit that life is hard and sometimes the choices you are given suck. Thank you for being creative enough to come up with new choices. Thank you for having the courage to kill to make great stories, and having the mercy to redeem lost souls.
I'm just one girl, but I'm not the only one who admires and respects Joss Whedon. I'm not the only one who wants to thank him. I sincerely hope he can fathom how he has touched so many lives so deeply. Happy Birthday Joss, here's hoping for many more years with you in my life.
Is the third X-men movie really the last? I hope not, because that would be a disappointing end to an excellent franchise.
This movie finds our heros and villains at odds over a cure for being a mutant, with some reacting with happiness or anger, and some fearful that it will be used as a weapon to wipe out all mutants. The Last Stand had a different director (Brett Ratner) than the first two movies and I'm sorry to report that the difference is obvious. I don't want to blame him totally, because it's not a bad movie; it's just not as good as the other two. Without spoiling anything, here's what I learned about the third installment of X-men:
Wolverine's real mutant power? Killing people. I know the healing factor really comes in handy, because people try to kill him back, but it's those adamantium claws that are really what Wolverine is all about. In this movie, his berserker rages left me feeling a bit blah. Because it's only PG13, there is a limit on gore and violence. Wolverine's best fights turn out to be those in which his claws can't do much damage.
Telekinesis can be freaking scary. Phoenix takes the "I can kill you with my brain" concept to a different level. If you're a fan of X-men you might have been wondering how they were going to pull off the Phoenix thing. While at first what they propose seems totally contradictory to the first two movies, it was soon explained in a way that satisfied me.
Bigger battles equal more destruction. And we're not talking abandoned compound at Alkali Lake destruction, Oh no. We're talking well populated area, innocent bystanders get killed destruction.
It turns out this is both good and bad. Clever fight scenes and special effects are part of the genre, but they shouldn't be the point of a movie. I got the feeling that a big chunk of the budget was spent on a certain special effect. It was a really cool effect, but it was overused to the point that its impact was lessened.
Oh, the one-liners. Oh so many scenes are ended with zingy one-liners. You know, those little witty things said as a parting shot? The movie is riddled with them and when you have that many, some are bound to fall flat. No movie is immune from this (remember the cumbersome "Do you know what happens when a toad is struck by lightning?" parry from the first one), but even for comic book characters it seemed a little much. Luckily there were a few funny sight gags thrown in to mix it up.
Mutant Powers have levels. Level 1 being parlor tricks to level 5 being able to bend others to your will. Apparently a mutant of level 3 or above also gets to be three dimensional and a member of a team (All official X-men are level 3 or above). If mutants are below that then they are personified by their power, and can be fan service or gimmicky cannon fodder. People in the theatre actually laughed when certain low level mutants were called upon seriously to use their power.
Logan loves Jean. Seriously. He doesn't just have a crush on her. He doesn't just think she's hot. He doesn't just want what he can't have. Logan has an epic love for a woman that is out of his reach. This is the actual point of the entire movie. That cure thing, it's a great gimmick to fill the movie with angst and catalyze action, but it's not the story. The movie could have been named "X-men: Logan Loves Jean" and been accurate.
The Last Stand assumes you have seen the other two movies. All the emotional development and buildup movies need to be great? It was left to that Bryan Singer guy. They obviously thought that he had lain such great groundwork that they could focus on trying to be sexy and funny and violent, without wasting more than a couple lines on human concerns.
Sure there are some exceptions, like the scene with Wolverine and Rogue, but as a cohesive unit, I found the movie lacking. Everyone is dealing with the hand they've been dealt in their own way (except apparently Gambit, who I missed in other movies, but I was glad he wasn't shoved into this one). I actually empathized most with Mystique, because Romijn and other actors did an excellent job showing the shapeshifter's emotions.
While everyone is busy running around doing their own thing there isn't one galvanizing thing for everyone to focus on (like I said, the cure is just a gimmick). Whenever their paths cross they interact, but some characters sit out huge portions of this movie.
All of this makes me wonder if they bothered to screen this movie with test audiences to gauge reactions. Sometimes movies withhold information to build suspense. Savvy moviegoers might catch on before the big reveal and it's all part of the fun that keeps us guessing. Some information in this movie is misleading without so much as a wink to the audience.
This gave me a general feeling of discontent throughout most of the movie because in my mind I'm thinking "That's not right, that's not how these things work in movies." They try to make it up to us at the end with a series of mini reveals, but I felt kind of duped.
All I can say is that the movie isn't over until after all the credits roll. Stay in your seat if you don't want to miss out.
I've had some downtime lately due to server issues and have been watching even more tv than usual. I noticed a new commercial for the Lexus ES350 in which robotic arms are sensually caressing fenders and headrests as they finish assembling the car.
Not only is this ad clever (a car so sexy even robots can't resist!), but it had some pretty sweet music playing in the background. After a little searching on Adtunes.com I discovered the song was Amazing Life by Jem.
Every day the airwaves are inundated by more car ads than most any other (except maybe cell phones) and I appreciate it when the ad is fun to watch. Remember the ad for the Volkswagen Golf where two guys picked up a curbside chair that had a peculiar odor? How about the one where the girl in the passenger seat of the Mitsubishi was grooving to that Dirty Vegas song?
In a fit of nostalgia and pop culture appreciation I have compiled a mix of cool songs featured in car commercials from the last few years, starting with Da Da Da by Trio and ending with Jem. Enjoy it during your next road trip!
1. Da Da Da, Trio -Volkswagen Golf 1999
2. Ready to Go, Republica -Mitsubishi Galant 1999
3. Ladyshave, Gus Gus (remixed by Paul Oakenfold) -Mitsubishi Eclipse 2001
4. I Wish That, The Faces -Mitsubishi Galant 2001
5. 20th Century Boy, T. Rex -Mitsubishi Montero 2001
6. Start the Commotion, The Wiseguys -Mitsubishi Eclipse 2001
7. Whoever You Are, Geggy Tah -Merceds C-Coupe 2002
8. Tom's Diner (remix), Suzanne Vega -Nissan Maxima 2002
9. We've Been Had, The Walkmen -Saturn Ion 2003
10. Pink Moon, Nick Drake -Volkswagen Cabrio 2002
11. Light and Day, Polyphonic Spree -Volkswagen Beetle 2003
12. She Sells Sanctuary, The Cult -Ford Mustang 2003
13. Days Go By, Dirty Vegas -Mitsubishi Eclipse 2003
14. Breathe, Telepopmusik -Mitsubishi Outlander 2003
15. Get A Move On, Mr. Sruff -Volvo V70 2003
16. Parsec, Stereo Lab -Volkswagen 2003
17. Horn Dog, Overseer -Mitsubishi Endeavor 2004
18. Do You Realize, The Flaming Lips -Mitsubishi Galant 2004
19. Dust in the Wind, Kansas -Subaru B9 Tribeca 2005
20. Amazing Life, Jem -Lexus ES350 2006
I was watching a rather innocuous commercial for Prudential Real Estate (powered by Yahoo) where Agent 24-7 was being shown the computers and I shouted "Ms. French!" at the television. I'm one of those people who get really excited when they recognize an actor from somewhere else. In this case I recognized Agent 24-7 to be Musetta Vander who played Natalie French (the giant praying mantis disguised as a hot teacher) on a first season episode of Buffy entitled "Teacher's Pet."
I thought it would be fun to make a quiz about actors who had appeared in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" that have popped up in something else recently. They start out easy and get more difficult as you go along. Answers and IMDB links at the bottom. Good Luck!
Level 1: Say my Name!
1) This actress has starred in many movies, most recently Date Movie. She returned to TV with a few episodes of "Veronica Mars" but her new sitcom called "How I Met Your Mother" has gained acclaim. What role did she play on Buffy?
a. Buffy Summers
b. Cordelia Chase
c. Willow Rosenberg
2) This actor got his own show based on his character from "BtvS" and can now be seen as an FBI Agent on Fox's "Bones." Who did he play?
a. Rupert Giles
b. Angel
c. Spike
3) This actor was never British, but his accent fooled many fans. He now has a guest spot as a villain on "Smallville." What was his role on Buffy?
a. Rupert Giles
b. Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
c. Spike
Level 2: Hmmm...
4) This sexy actress has posed for Playboy and is now an evil vixen on "Veronica Mars", but who was she on Buffy?
a. Cordelia Chase
b. Darla
c. Drusilla
5) This actress has done a few movies since her days as the sometimes secretive and misunderstood girl on Buffy. More recently she was a patient on "House" and she was in a commercial for Candies clothing. What character did she play?
a. Amy
b. Tara
c. Dawn
6) This actor was quite the villain on Buffy, but has since gone on to become a leading man and star in the new movie Slither. What was his role on Buffy?
a. The Master
b. Mayor Wilkins
c. Caleb
Level 3: The Nerdery
7) My favorite member of the Nerd Troika had the title sequence of one Buffy episode changed to revolve around him. Most recently he played Doyle on "Gilmore Girls." What was his role on Buffy?
a. Jonathan Levinson
b. Warren Meers
c. Andrew Wells
8) His character was the only Troika member to survive Sunnydale. He was a guest star on "House" and most recently was in Date Movie as Frodo Baggins. Who was he on Buffy?
a. Jonathan Levinson
b. Warren Meers
c. Andrew Wells
9) He played the creator of the Buffy Bot was also on "House" and his new movie, American Dreamz, opens this weekend. What was his character named on Buffy?
a. Jonathan Levinson
b. Warren Meers
c. Andrew Wells
Level 4: Buffy Stumpers
10) This actress played a vampire on Buffy but more recently guest starred on "CSI: Miami" and as a terminal patient on "Supernatural." Which vamp was she?
a. Darla
b. Drusilla
c. Harmony
11) This actor was the first to be turned into a vampire on Buffy. Now he sports a pencil thin mustache on "Conviction." What was his character's name on Buffy?
a. Ford
b. Jesse
c. Owen
12) This actor was on the swim team in Buffy. He was a ghost on the pilot of "Ghost Whisperer" (the one and only episode I watched) and now he's covered in tattoos for his show "Prison Break." What role did he play on Buffy?
a. Alexander Harris
b. Gage Petronzi
c. Cameron Walker
Level 5: Uber Fan
13) This actor had the honor of being the first person to die on Buffy, credited as "Darla's Victim". Now (maybe as payback) he catches bad guys as a detective on "CSI: NY." What descriptive phrase referred to him on Buffy?
a. downward mobility
b. extreme
c. like DeBarge
14) This actor is one of only four to appear in all three of Whedon's TV series. His next movie is The Notorious Bettie Page. What was his role on Buffy?
a. Holden Webster
b. Quentin Travers
c. James Stanley
15) This actor was just a little boy when he was on Buffy. He may be unrecognizable now as the complex son of Bre, Andrew Van De Kamp, on "Desperate Housewives." What was his name on Buffy?
a. Billy Palmer
b. Ted Buchanan
c. Hans Strauss
Bonus Question
16) He was uncredited as Basketball Player #10 in the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Now he's a much bigger star. What is the actor's real name?
a. Seth Green
b. Ben Affleck
c. Toby Maguire
Answers
1)c Alyson Hannigan
2)b David Boreanaz
3)c James Marsters
4)a Charisma Carpenter
5)c Michelle Trachtenberg
6)c Nathan Fillion
7)a Danny Strong
8)c Tom Lenk
9)b Adam Busch
10)a Julie Benz
11)b Eric Balfour
12)b Wentworth Miller
13)b Carmine Giovinazzo (the "extreme dead guy" in Aura's locker)
14)a Jonathan M. Woodward (from "Conversations with Dead People")
15)c Shawn Pyfrom (from "Gingerbread" Episode)
16)b Ben Affleck
I was trying to explain to my mom who Avril Lavigne was, while flipping through a magazine I mentioned her CDs and what she looked like, ending with: "you know, she wears all that black eyeliner." Then I turned the page of my magazine and there was a picture of Avril, but something was wrong. This girl didn't have charcoal rimmed eyes. Her hair was shiny and blonde, neatly pulled into a ponytail with curled ends. And she was smiling!
Avril Lavigne is known for being a pop star with attitude to spare. As a teen sensation, she prided herself on her pseudo-punk image that was all about wearing Dickies and Converse and hanging out with her skater friends. Her songs were about teen life, angsty emotions, and boys. I remember when I had a particularly bad breakup I embraced "My Happy Ending" as a sort of theme song for my bitterness.
While she still has a penchant for black, a lot of other things have changed. Her hair has transformed from strands of brown, black, and bleach to a shining champagne blond ala Hollywood. Avril has traded in her skull covered tank tops for lace trimmed camisoles. The men's ties she once wore with a sarcastic air have been replaced by fitted blazers. Instead of clomping around in combat boots, she is stepping out in pointed toe heels. She used to wear black rubber bracelets and flip off cameramen, but now she is showing off the white diamond on her ring finger.
I would like to think that part of Avril's transformation is due to her engagement to Deryck Whibley, the lead singer of the Canadian band Sum 41. Paparazzi pictures show them shopping together, holding hands, kissing, feeding each other dessert, and whispering in each other's ears. He is probably a big part of why photographers are catching her smiling so much (although I'm sure all the money and fame help too). They live together and have recently decided to call a mansion in Bel Air their home. Avril has even thought about having children some time in the future.
I doubt that twenty-five year old Deryck is the sole cause of her exterior changes. However he may influence her, I believe that Avril is simply growing up. Avril turned twenty-one last year and twenty-one is leaps and bounds more mature than seventeen. The changes seen so easily in photos are really a manifestation of her changing view point as she matures from a teen into a young lady (done without a Britney style 'Not a Girl, Not yet a Woman' number on her last CD). Since she first came onto the scene she has had a chance to explore more and she has started perusing other interests.
Most recently she was seen on the orange carpet with Bruce Willis at Nickelodeon's Annual Kids' Choice Awards. They both provide voices for characters in DreamWorks new animated feature Over the Hedge. Avril is also acting in the think piece Fast Food Nation and a crime thriller called The Flock.
In an article in February's Harper's Bazaar Avril said, "I'm starting to feel more feminine. I'm getting into hair and make-up and image."
To this end, Avril has made efforts to look and dress differently. At the closing ceremony for the Torino Olympics, Avril sang and was sporting her new glam hair and a fitted black ensemble with choice high heeled knee high boots. The Harper's Bazaar photo shoot showed Avril as a graceful beauty. She is wearing designer dresses by Gucci and Chanel. She tells how she received some designer handbags as gifts and fell in love with fashion. Recently, Avril attended the Chanel Haute Couture Show in Paris for Fashion Week.
Her burgeoning interest in fashion led her to join the Ford modeling agency in New York. At 5'2" she probably won't be sauntering down many runways, but she believes that she could do print ads; and after seeing her Harper's photos I tend to agree.
With all of these changes, some fans are bound to feel betrayed. They fell in love with the angry, anti-fashion Avril who uttered the Britney bashing comment, "I won't wear skanky clothes that show my booty, my belly or my boobs." In an interview for Stella she was asked if she stands by that statement.
"'I don't know how far I would go,' she says, adding that the booty comment was made when she was 17. 'I think it would be done in a more classy, sexy way if I was showing more skin, as opposed to a' - she pauses, choosing her words carefully - 'provocative, maybe slutty way.' She starts laughing. 'I'm not saying that about them' - meaning Spears et al - 'I'm just saying.'"
With all these changes going on in her life will her music change too? Avril tells Stella that "the few new songs she's written are more positive than before, but she doesn't anticipate radically changing. 'I believe in expanding and doing different stuff, but I also think it's important to kind of stay familiar to your fans. Your fans like you for what you are.'"
What do you get when you take the plot of Anchorman, shoot it from the point of view of Christina Applegate, set it in Chicago, and take out everything funny? Pepper Dennis.
Pepper Dennis (Rebecca Romijn) is a career minded reporter gunning for the local anchor position. In a move I've seen too many times already, our intrepid heroine hooks up with a random guy at a bar who turns out to be... her new co-worker and he gets the anchor position. What seemed clever and funny in Grey's Anatomy was rendered bland here. Scooby Doo had fresher plot twists. Not a single compelling thing occurred over the next 50 minutes.
I think they were trying to be funny, but I never laughed, even when they had her clumsily trip or bump into things (at least 4 times during the pilot). I guess I just have a hard time believing that someone who has her life so together could lose it all in about a day and a half.
In that same day and a half she supposedly goes from not wanting a guy in her life, to thinking some guy she slept with might be "the one." And then to being mad at him for taking her anchor spot (but still kind of wanting to sleep with him). And then to being annoyed with him for flirting with her at work. And then to being irate at him for exposing her real name on the air (hint: it's not Pepper). And then to thinking he might not be as egocentric as she though, oh wait she changed her mind. And then thinking he might not be so bad because he did one nice thing for her. And then being depressed because she missed her chance with him. Uh huh, yeah, sure. Strong motivated women are always irrational like that.
Although I love Romijn's megawatt smile I really didn't believe many of the emotions she was supposed to be having. She was saying things that could sound happy or upset or angry, but I didn't believe her.
The cast of two dimensional characters surrounding Pepper didn't really help me believe either. I didn't think her love interest Charlie (played by Josh Hopkins) was very cute or charming. They kept trying to play him off as really caring about Pepper but at the same time I was really turned off by how many times he suggested they sleep together (you know, like right now, in the copy room), but she seemed to like him.
I actually liked Pepper's sister Kathy (played by Brooke Burns), who looks pretty similar to Romijn, better than Pepper. The sister was clueless and naive and really looked up to her sister. It was odd, because they were trying to make the character self involved, but she was actually less so than Pepper.
To cap it all off the production was rather schmaltzy. Everything looked a little to clean and sunny to be Chicago. It was more like they had one block of the Gold coast on a really nice day and shot all the footage there. Oh and the melodramatic music during the "emotional" scenes: how many songs can you lay over character dialogue? Too many, in my opinion.
I think my favorite part of the pilot was Pepper's fabulous apartment. The front door was made of copper and pivoted from an axis in the middle. The floors were hardwood. Both the view and the media setup were fantastic. I wished someone cooler lived there.
Now that Dancing with the Stars is over I need to get my vicarious dancing fix elsewhere. I just saw a movie that reminded me again how cool it would be if I could tango. How come all they ever taught at my school was square dancing (the state dance of Illinois, I kid you not) and line dancing?
Last night I enjoyed a sneak preview of Take the Lead starring Antonio Banderas as Pierre Dulaine, a ballroom dance instructor who wants to reach out to inner city kids with dance. Although it's based on a true story the film is solid, fun, and depicts the hardships of both teachers and students realistically, without trying too hard to be gritty.
The core of this movie is the consistent character of Pierre. A genuinely charismatic man, he has set ideas about life and dance and does not waver from them. He knows the value of what he teaches and is willing to take the effort to learn when his experience falls short. When the parent teacher committee (led by a truly repugnant teacher played by John Ortiz) questions the merit of dance lessons he doesn't just tell them that dance teaches respect, trust, and self-esteem, he makes them see it while doing a practical demonstration with the school principal.
Of course, the kids end up showing Pierre a thing or two about their style of dance, but thankfully he leaves all the street dancing to them and just listens when they show him tracks with the same beat can be mixed together.
The highlight of this movie was the cast of relative newcomers and their dancing. The kids were smart and funny and my favorites were Big Girl (played by Shawand Mckenzie) and jokester Eddie (played by Marcus T. Paulk). Probably the best dance (besides the one previewed in the trailer) is a three way tango the top dancers end up doing in competition. Not everyone becomes a great ballroom dancer, but they all try with varying degrees of success.
What I liked most about this film is that it was not overly dramatic. The kids have a lifelike dynamic that involves friendships, crushes, hatred, and awkwardness. There is no burning sexual tension thrown in to grab attention, emotions are played out on the dance floor instead of in the bedroom.
Some of these kids have serious problems, but instead of trumping them up with melodramatic music the movie approaches them with a sort of quiet realism. We see glimpses of troubled home life and how each individual deals with it.
Dancing doesn't solve any of their problems, but it gives them a positive way to learn about themselves and interact with others.
The charming Love Monkey was swiftly cancelled after on three episodes. Now you can see the eight originally filmed episodes on VH1 next month. The first three episodes will be featured back to back on April 11, starting at 7 p.m. ET/PT. The rest will air weekly starting April 18, Tuesdays at 9 p.m. The CBS show featured Tom Cavanagh as Tom Farrell, a record industry guy who gets fired from his big time label for caring more about the music than the money.
One of my favorite parts of the show were the performances by the young Teddy Geiger (also from VH1's "In Search of the New Partridge Family") as Wayne, a young fresh talent that everyone wants to sign. I was hoping for a soundtrack but instead Teddy came out with his own cd, Underage Thinking. It features a couple of songs that were showcased on Love Monkey and a whole lot more.
New York Magazine recently ran an very entertaining article about a certain type of adults the writer called Grups:
"'Grups' is a nerdy reference to an old Star Trek episode in which Kirk and crew land on a planet run entirely by kids, who call grown-ups "grups." All the adults have been killed off by a terrible virus, which also slows the natural aging process, so the kids are trapped in a state of extended prepubescence. They will never grow up. And they are running the show."
Grups are listening to the latest music, dressing like that guy from the swiftly cancelled Love Monkey, and spend their downtime going to concerts and playing extreme sports. He went on to say that for the first time ever there is no generation gap:
"This is an obituary for the generation gap. It is a story about 40-year-old men and women who look, talk, act, and dress like people who are 22 years old."
Is he right?
While reading his article I begin to evaluate my family's potential to be grups.
At twenty-five, I am on the cusp of the grups age bracket. I have never liked loud music or crowded concerts and I feel like a poseur if I wear a concert tee if I'm not a huge fan of the band.
My dad is really into music and tried to take me to concerts when I was younger. He has a Jack Johnson cd, knows who The White Stripes are, but doesn't get the popularity of Gorillaz. He briefly tried to rollerblade when it was popular years ago, but thankfully never got into it.
My mom could care less about music, but happily watches shows with me and is currently on season three of my Buffy dvds. On her last vacation she spent most of her time bird watching.
They both wear sneakers, jeans and sweatshirts. My mom favors hoodies from Sears and my dad has more flannel than a lumberjack. We all agree that distressed jeans are a stupid idea and refuse to buy them. Of course we are middle class and I think my mom would have a heart attack if I told her I spent over $100 for a pair of pre-ripped jeans.
Relieved to find that my parents aren't grups, I try to think about why grups have emerged? A large part of the grups attitude may come from our country's current economic state. In the past, you worked hard for one company your entire life. You climbed the ladder, got health insurance and vacation time, and retired with a tidy pension. Now all around, grups are aware that the mode of work that was there for their parents doesn't even exist today. Layoffs, outsourcing, and debacles like Enron had made the job market tight. New jobs offer a fraction of the pay and benefits that were once part of a standard job offer and aren't even guaranteed to last.
I also believe that grups are very tech savvy and many were enjoying the affluent times and relaxed dress code of the dotcom era. Even though that bubble burst, grups still want the money without the restrictions of the corporate world.
I think that grups can only exist in a relative state of affluence. Although grups take pains to look like they shop at St. Vinnies their clothes are really a status symbol. Grups need the time to keep up with what's hot and the money to pay for it.
Hotness ain't cheap.
This led me to thinking about the advent of computers and the internet at home and at work. How many grups spend their morning scanning celebrity gossip columns online, downloading songs for their i-pods and shopping for Seven jeans? All without having to set foot in a trendy mall store manned by bored teens and blaring music loud enough to give you a migraine.
Also, there is a trend that has rendered children to be more like accessories. I was at a techno music fest in Detroit over the summer and I saw parents pushing their kids in strollers. It reminded me of a picture of Gwyneth Paltrow at a car race with her daughter Apple. Apple was wearing large noise canceling headphones and looking pretty cool for a baby. The writer emphasizes that grups want their kids to be cool.
What's the problem being pointed out here? Are grups irresponsible? Not really. Are they ruining their kids? Nah (although some of their worst fears involve their kids growing up to be republicans). Are they trying to hard to be cool? Maybe
But what does it mean to be an adult? Boring? Only liking the music you grew up listening to, stopping right after high school? Wearing pants that are too short and ties that are too tight? Grups seem to be finding their own way and as long as it's not Daddy's way. They want to have fun, freedom and enjoy their jobs instead of working at one they hate just to make ends meet.
Perhaps they are being facilitated by their boomer parents who are still raking in those pensions and are glad to help junior out with the bills until he finds whatever it is he's looking for and answers those nagging questions:
Was I ever cool? Will I have a chance now, with a wider social circle and more money, to be cool? If I influence them before they hate me, can my kids be cool?
I'm kind of getting stressed just thinking about it. As a friend of mine said, she's stressed enough without her jeans being stressed too. I think I'll leave it to the grups for now.
Last Month I got a copy of Self magazine and, to my delight, Ellen Pompeo from Grey's Anatomy was on the cover. Inside there is an interview that put a lot of emphasis on what she eats and her overall health because Self is a magazine that prides itself on promoting a healthy lifestyle.
I learned that, because of her asthma, Pompeo has (naturally hypoallergenic) toy poodles and that she is naturally skinny to the point that she has to eat every few hours to keep her energy up and ends up consuming around 3,000 calories a day. Pompeo admits that it's a blessing to be able to eat whatever she wants, but laments at all the flack she gets for being thin and how people assume she's anorexic.
This month I opened my new issue of Self and found an entire section where readers wrote in about Pompeo. Two-thirds of the letters were negative! While a few wrote in to share their struggles with being thin and trying maintaining a healthy weight, most complained that Self magazine was promoting a person who looked like she had an eating disorder. Some readers went so far as to say that their lives were hard enough without being discouraged by someone who can eat whatever she wants.
I was shocked!
While Pompeo may not be an average woman (she is a star on a popular series), she is one of the many naturally thin people who make up a decent portion of the population. I want to scream at these negative women: I'm so sorry you're all so narrow minded that you get discouraged by someone who can't help what size she is!
I tend to take this stance because I was naturally skinny for the majority of my life. I've had girls look appraisingly at my boobs and tell me how lucky I am that I can wear a tank top without any extra support (Is that an actual compliment or a dig at my small chest?).
I think that a lot of women get a picture in their head of how they looked at maybe eighteen years old. When they get older and their bodies change, they get so dismayed that they don't look like a teenager anymore. To say that they are discouraged by someone like Pompeo is such a crock. To say she looks anorexic is just spiteful. What they are is envious that she can still fit into her prom dress. Guess what ladies, that prom dress is 20 years out of style and Pompeo is too busy living her life to even think about that chiffon nightmare.
I'm just as dismayed as everyone else when I see a healthy (and too often very young) girl rapidly lose weight. I loved the shapely Lindsay Lohan in Freaky Friday and Mean Girls. I wanted to know what in the world she was thinking as she got skinnier and bonier by the day. I actually shake my head when I see the sunken in cheeks and pointed chin of the once adorable Hillary Duff.
Unfortunately, these girls (and others in the public eye) feel real pressure: the demands of agents telling them to hit the gym a couple more times this week if they want to have a chance to work, the embarrassment of not being able to fit into clothes at a photo shoot because they are all size four or smaller, the pressure of a million dollar contract hinging on gaining or losing ten pounds; not just a magazine cover staring at them.
I was watching Saturday morning cartoons and after Kim Possible I catch part of the JammXKids dance special, a group of multi-cultural kids dancing to promote... uh, moving (don't get me started on how much I hate the 'Verb, it's what you do' campaign).
I wonder if this stuff would be really impressive to me if I was their target audience of ten year olds. To me, it just seems that they are trying to hard to make something hip by creating a brand and throwing everything their trendsetters have seen on the street into it.
The kids are joined by a bevy of big name stars with G rated mass appeal: Shaq (does he still play professional basketball or does he spend his time doing this kind of thing and trying to forget the movie Kazaam?), Queen Latifa, Randy Jackson and JoJo (trying to bring kids to see her new movie, Aquamarine).
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Randy Jackson was hosting the entire thing. I used to try counting how many times he would say 'dog' in a single episode of American Idol. I guess once you do reality tv every other appearance is icing. Has he been on Hollywood squares yet?
Randy tells us that, not only do those kids sing and dance, they are real life superheroes. You see, they go around the country and wherever they find a K.I.T. (kid in trouble) they help them L2D (learn to dance). Because the only real problems a middle schooler has is not being cool enough to dance with their first crush. Right.
Their first victim is played by a child actor who is actually part of the team. They show their superpowers by helping the kid who CDWT (can't dance won't try) by invading his living room, showing him dance moves, and offering encouraging platitudes when he gets frustrated. Soon he's proficient enough in hip hop and "street" dancing (which I believe involves the elusive crunk I've heard about) to impress his lady fair at the school dance. His bully and dance rival sees these awesome dance moves and immediately says he's "out of here" without even challenging the kid to a dance off. If the target audience were a few years older, there would have been a dance off.
And in a move that proves to me that these types of things feed off of each other: the man who got famous by being annoying on the first run of 'Beauty and the Geek', Richard, is going to be on next week's show to learn how to dance.
Part of me wonders whether people do reality tv for the chance to win money or maybe fulfill their dreams or if it's just a hope that they will be memorable enough in some way to get their 15 minutes of fame stretched out. If you're not lucky enough to become a part of the entertainment biz at the age of our JammXKids then you have to try making it through this new genre of tv entertainment.
I mean, it worked for William Hung right? Of course he was a nice guy with lots of class and these new guys are trying to stand out in the worst possible way. The new issue of Rolling Stone did a story on the American idol rejects. I look at the guys who scored the most air time during the American Idol auditions. Loud, flashy, rude, and inappropriate, these hopefuls seem so offended that the judges cannot see their greatness they lash out.
So what's worse? Being in the industry and going overboard trying to make the next big thing or glorifying average people with below average talents? Both have goals of entertaining, but both also leave a kind of bad taste in my mouth. I guess eventually the JammXKids will grow up, move onto their next project, and become more serious actors or pop sensations. What will happen to the people who got their fifteen minutes of fame by being deluded or jerky or wildly inappropriate? I guess if I ever meet Richard, I will ask him.
Oh man, did anyone else catch the season premiere of 'Heist' last night? I've pretty much given up on new shows. Lately they have either been lackluster or cancelled so fast I felt gypped for even liking the characters. Things are still revving up after the mid season break and finally (finally!) I can get caught up in something besides short lived reality shows.
'Heist' is directed by the talented Doug Liman ("The Bourne Identity", "Mr. and Mrs. Smith") and stars cutie Dougray Scott who plays Mickey, the charismatic mastermind behind a plan to rob a row of jewelry stores on Rodeo Drive during Academy Awards week. He's got a crack team of quirky thieves and a secret vendetta against an old partner who shot him, left him for dead, and then insinuated himself with Mickey's wife and young daughter. His main opposition is the female detective Amy Sykes (Michele Hicks) who is tough, smart, and a bit of a kleptomaniac!
The best things about this show are:
The show had its weak points too. A couple things come off as just too convenient for our thieves and I think they overplay the "cat and mouse game" aspect of the show. Overall though I was very happy with this new offering. Although I've said a lot about the pilot, I swear I haven't ruined it. There are a lot more things that pleasantly surprised me that I hope others will discover on their own. Others can criticize the show as a rip-off of Ocean's Eleven, but that's just the genre and 'Heist' is doing it well. I wish I had taped it. Here's hoping for a quick rerun.