This week, I'm sharing 2 Robyn clips.
She had a moderate U.S. hit in 1998 with "Show Me Love" (not to be confused with Robin S's dance floor hit of the same name)
Among the boy bands of that era, the song didn't really stand out to me. In 2005, she released an album overseas that is a classic in my eyes. It seems like all the creative, inventive pop comes from outside the U.S. (Robbie Williams, Annie, etc) If you're bored of the stuff on radio (and I can't imagine why you still listen to radio, check out some of these artists to hear how creative, exciting, and fun pop music can be.
To refresh your memory, here's 1998's "Show Me Love"
And here's "Konichiwa Bitches" (a song that contains one of my favorite lines in music history). "And in the North Pole, I'll ice you son!"
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Old To The New #2
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Say What #2
Say What???
Our weekly list of the top TV quotes.
4. THE AMAZING RACE'S SHANA & JENNIFER:"These people bring flies"
3.PROJECT RUNWAY'S HEIDI KLUM:"People might not like it if their dress was spit on. What planet are you from"
2. AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL'S CHANTAL:"I had no idea China was this futuristic place. I feel like we're a part of the Jetsons"
1. SAMANTHA WHO'S ANDREA:"I would kill to have a food allergy. It's like nature's diet. I spent 5 years trying to become lactose intolerant"
Monday, November 26, 2007
Don't Throw Away Your Television #2
The week in scripted TV: 11/18/07-11/24/07
Since this was a slow TV week, I just wanted to include a list of the shows that I attempted to watch this season but didn't stick with: Next Great American Band, Pushing Daisies (couldn't stand the pretenious narration), Cane (moved at the pace of a turtle), Journeyman (I wish they had explored the mythology of why he was able to time travel), Bionic Woman (what a mess! They had no idea where they were going with this or what the tone should be)
Aliens In America
I'm losing interest. I really hate the father and it seems like every episode has a similar theme. Raja and Justin are outcasts and they wind up doing something to temporarily fit in with everyone else. It's cute, but gets old fast.
Dirty Sexy Money
The reason for Simon’s vendetta against the Darling family was lame, but I’m glad that they went into his reasons for hating the family. And was the show trying to get deep talking about Communism? C’mon now, this is Dirty Sexy Money..We don’t want politics. And I didn’t realize that Patrick and his wife lived in the Darling’s penthouse. I thought she complained earlier in the episode about being tired of hotel food and living out of a suitcase. This episode was so much more enjoyable for me without Samaire Armstrone.
Grey's Anatomy
The abrupt ending caught me off guard. I thought that the episode was going to go longer than the 1 hour and 2 minutes that Tivo programmed it for.. Nice to see Seth Green, Harold Gale (Brian from Queer As Folk) and Cress Williams (remember him from 90210? He was Brandon’s friend D’Shawn that couldn’t read and went to some dance with Donna).
Heroes
I didn't believe for one second that they killed Noah. He's by far the most compelling character on the show and it would definitely be deadly to the show if he was dead. Obviously, Adam Monroe saved his life and now they'll work together to take down the company. I've never been entirely clear about what Claire's mother and brother know about the Company. Kristen Bell's character is a complete mess and I'm not liking Elle at all. Even she can't rise above the horrible dialogue and lack of logic that is Heroes.
Nip/Tuck
I’m disappointed that this season doesn’t seem to have an arc yet. It couldn’t possibly be the search for the “ass bandit” could it? I hate the character of Eden, but I know your supposed to, so they’re doing a good job. Rosie O’Donnell was tolerable and I’m sure we’ll see her again with her new husband. Oliver Platt is hysterical. During this episode I thought about all of F/X’s shows and how they absorb me to the screen like no other network. I don’t know what it is.
Private Practice
Oh look everyone, Addison wants a baby and seems to have good maternal instincts. Blah, blah, blah. Either make her pregnant or give her some new storylines. And what was up with Trunk? I thought the cop introduced last week was going to be her new love interest, and from the previews it looks like he’s going to be back. Her date with Trunk just seemed out of place.
Ugly Betty
I'm surprised that ABC aired new episodes on Thanksgiving night, but maybe they're just trying to promote October Road's return. Anyway, this was definitely the weakest Ugly Betty episodes in a long while. We've heard Betty give Daniel the "You can do it" pep talk too many times already and we've seen Betty save Mode too often also. If Wilehmenia had a rich father she could ask for money to start her own magazine, why would she go through so much trouble to try and marry Bradford to control Mode? Amanda's "wall of fame" with her potential fathers cracks me up every time they show it
Still On The Tivo
Everybody Hates Chris, Moonlight
Friday, November 23, 2007
Reality Ramble #2
The Week In Reality TV: 11/16/07-11/22/07
The Amazing Race
Poor Maria and Julia. If they had known that they would finish behind Lorena and Jason, I wonder if they still would have reminded Lorena that she can switch camels. In a post show interview, they said it was freezing, raining, and windy and they had been attempting that challenge for 5 hours so they temporarily forgot about the game and just wanted to help Lorena out. C'mon people. You can never forget! Phil saying he was shocked that 4 teams all finished at the same was amusing. That's what happens when you organize the race so they're all forced to be on the same plane and create challenges where they can't begin until certain things open in the morning. I do think the challenge with the school children was one of the coolest they've ever done. Anything that helps the kids is alright with me. :-)
America's Next Top Model
The most boring season continues. I'm so glad they didn't eliminate Heather. She's not going to win, but she's way better than Lisa (who looks like she's 40). Jenah should go next week. I'm so tired of her jacked up teeth and her boring, crack head type look. It's obvious that the girls just like to pick on Heather and make fun of her disability. Of course they'll never come out and say that, but they get a kick out of her reactions.
America's Psychic Challenge
Why is it slightly satisfying for me to see these psychics mess up these challenges? Some of them have their moments, but most of the stuff they say and do is so general. Maybe there's a little bit of psychic in all of us? Because I can even score points on some of these challenges
America's Most Smartest Model
Awww. Poor Daniel. They should have given Daniel a break and cut Angela instead. Yes, Daniel wasn't able to get a decent shot off, but he only had 1 minute and by far had the most difficult anima. And he's been much better in the competition up to this point than Angela has. I'm guessing they didn't eliminated Angela, because they didn't want Rachael to be the only girl left. I'm not worried though, I'm sure the clock is ticking for Angela's boring ass.
Beauty and the Geek
Of course, I'm extremely ecstatic to see Dave and Jasmine in the final 2. I think Dave has made the biggest transformation of any geek. I'd forgotten just how geeky he was. Him trying to build up the courage to ask out Nicole was just so damn cute! I'm assuming they are just friends now or else Dave wouldn't have a website trying to find himself a date
Biggest Loser
Don't you just love it when people are hypocritcal on reality shows? This episode was full of it with Sam appearing to stand up for the integrity of the game and say they shouldn't be voting out the biggest threats, after he sabotaged the weigh-in a few weeks ago. And let's not forget Julie (I LOATHE her) criticizing Isabeau and not voting with the team the week before. The 2 hour episodes are definitely heavily padded for time. How many times have we heard them say B is the last red team member remaining? Fox Reality Channel is showing an all day marathon on Thanksgiving of The Biggest Loser UK. I'm not interested in it, but Charles wants me to Tivo it for him.
I Love New York
What an uncharcteristically serious episode this week? As hard as it is to believe, it does seem like New York is growing up this season and I'm so glad she didn't bring Chance back. He's such a nutcase and has tons of maturing to do. They kept hinting that Pretty had something to hide (his sexuality, perhaps?) but we didn't get an exit interview with him or even get to see his real name. Something was fishy about that. I used to think that Taylor Made and New York made an odd looking couple, but he looks much funnier with his wife. And if Mr. Wise isn't the next one to go, I'll be shocked.
Phenomenon
Yay..It's over! That thing to guess what was inside Criss Angel's envelope was absolutely ridiculous. And he gave some stupid speech about 9/11 being able to be prevented if someone could have predicted it. What does that have to do with you writing 911 inside an envelope. The host is really bad and it's obvious when they are running out of time because he always cuts people off in mid-sentence.
Project Runway
For the second week in a row, the judges eliminated the right person. I'm not a fan of team challenges because the person who comes up with the worst design is always the one to go. I always feel they should get some credit for coming up with a better design than their partner. But in this episode, Marion's design was so hideous that he HAD to go. That looked like the burlap sacks we used to use for the potato sack races in elementary school field days. (I came in 3rd place one year). Ricky needs to give up the crying. He's the Andre of season 4. And didn't last week's previews show Jack revealing some big secret. With the story already out there about the controversy surrounding his exit, I'm curious to see how it's edited.
The Shot
It seems fairly simple to take a picture of a woman in a beautiful dress in a pool. If you let her swim around and snap the camera, I'm sure the dress will look all flowy. But they managed to make this shoot more complicated than it should have been. I'm glad Dean wasn't the one to go because he's the closest thing to eye candy we have on this show.
Ultimate Fighter
This episode featured one of the funniest "cut to commercial" moments in reality TV history. Will Matt Hughes roll a strike or not? Actually, about 10 minutes of this episode focused on the bowling game between the 2 coaches. And I'm confused about why a commercial advertised Matt Hughes VS Matt Serra on pay-per-view the end of December. I thought they were going to fight each other during the finale which airs on Spike. I hope so, because I want to see Hughes kick Serra's butt! (hopefully!)
Still On The Tivo: A Shot Of Love With Tila Tequila (because MTV sucks and they can't submit the correct schedule to Tivo), Kid Nation
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Old To The New #1
Welcome to the first weekly edition of "Old To The New" This is where I present 2 related You Tube clips. One old: one new.
This week, I wanted to focus on Duran Duran, a band who have been around for 26 years, since 1981. Most of you probably aren't aware that they released their 12th studio album "The Red Carpet Massacre" last week. It includes 2 songs featuring Justin Timberlake, 3 songs featuring Timbaland, and the rest of the album is produced by Timbaland protege Nate "Danja" Hills. The band has described the album as "in some ways a homage to our roots as a band, more direct and a return to our dance and 'new wave' origins."
You definitely do get the feel of their earlier music but it doesn't sound dated at all. They've managed to completely make their signature style sound modern, something I feel Madonna will not be able to accomplish with her attempts to remain relevant by recording with Timbaland and Pharrell Williams. Even in the tracks not produced by Timbaland, his influence is felt. I've always been a fan of Duran Duran and highly recommend this to anyone who likes pop music in any way, shape, or form.
I wanted to share my favorite Duran Duran video of all-time "A View To A Kill" It was released in 1985 and is the theme song to the James Bond movie of the same name. I remember only watching the opening credits of the movie repeatedly and then changing it when the song is over. Hard to believe, but it's also one of their only U.S. number 1 singles (along with "The Reflex")
And, here's my favorite song from the new album, "Skin Divers". It is one of the tracks produced by Timbaland. This homemade video I found on You Tube is very, very well done.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Say What? #1
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Monday, November 19, 2007
Celebrity Apprentice Cast
According to the executive producer, there were 125 interested celebrities, and this is the best cast they could select? Donald Trump said that he selected the cast based upon their business experience. "These people have all done something very dramatic with money."
• Trace Adkins (country music singer)
• Carol Alt (model/actress)
• Stephen Baldwin (actor, The Usual Suspects)
• Nadia Comaneci (Olympic gold-medal gymnast)
• Tiffany Fallon (2005 Playboy Playmate of the Year)
• Jennie Finch (Olympic gold-medal softball player)
• Nely Galan (producer, Telemundo)
• Marilu Henner (actress, Taxi)
• Lennox Lewis (former heavyweight champion)
• Piers Morgan (judge, America's Got Talent)
• Omarosa (Apprentice Season 1 contestant)
• Tito Ortiz (UFC champion)
• Vincent Pastore (actor, The Sopranos)
• Gene Simmons (KISS frontman)
Don't Throw Away Your Television #1
The week in scripted TV: 11/11/07-11/17/07
Aliens In America
Why isn’t anyone watching this show? Sure, it’s not great, but it’s a solid half hour of comedy. This is the most comedies I’ve ever watched in a TV season. Any show that can combine xenophobia, homophobia, and incest and still somehow be uplifting and have a slight message is a keeper in my book. The only thing on this show I don’t like is the father played by Scott Patterson (formerly of Gilmore Girls). He tends to have the most physical comedy written for him and I’m not really a fan of that.
Brothers & Sisters
This was my favorite episode ever of this series. They really nailed the family dynamic among the Walkers and the writing on the show is just brilliant. There’s usually one moment every TV season that chokes me up and Saul’s coming out to Nora was it. His pain was palpable and his emotions just seemed so realisitic. I totally understand why Justin fell asleep when Kitty was talking to him. I always tune out during her and Robert’s storyline and wish there were only 4 Walker siblings instead of 5. I also wondered why Holly was at the intervention so I’m glad Justin asked her. But I think someone should have at least called Rebecca and told her what Justin’s plan was. I really wish they hadn’t made Tommy cheat on his wife. After Sarah’s drama with Joe, I wish there was one stable marriage in the family. It seems obvious that they’re heading down a road where Leyla will tell Julia Tommy was cheating.
Desperate Housewives
No show has ever made their main characters more unlikeable. I’ve always hated Susan and her goofiness and stupidity. Surprisingly in this episode she was the least annoying. Gaby showing no remorse for killing Victor was in character for her but seemed extreme. Doesn’t Bree think she should at least ask Danielle if she has any opinion on if they baby should be baptized (but I do love the name Benjamin Hoge), and Lynette’s treatment of her mother was not funny even though they wanted us to think it was.
Dirty Sexy Money
This is my favorite new show of the season, but I still feel something is missing. I think it’s the fact that we don’t see much interaction among the Darling siblings. The reason why I enjoy Brothers & Sisters so much is that the Walker clan has so much interaction with each other. I also don’t know if we’re supposed to feel sorry for Karen and Brian or hate them? Brian was unbelievably hostile towards Brian Jr. but should we sympathize now that he’s taken away from him? Should we pity Karen or feel angry at her? I guess that’s what makes this show so intriguing. Hopefully, they’ll work out the kinks as the season goes on.
Everybody Hates Chris
Tichina Arnold is the most underrated actress on television. She cracks me up at least twice an episode. I’m glad this show has 22 episodes completed so if the strike continues, at least Charles and I will have our comfort food every Monday night.
Friday Night Lights
This was one of my least favorite episodes of the series ever. For me, these characters are so real and experience so much outside of school, that it seems out of place for them to be doing school activities such as Pantherama. Sometimes, I even forget that there’s a football team in Dillon. I’m not a fan of Julie’s storyline with her straight out of the early 90’s teacher. And I couldn’t care less about Santiago (is that his first name or does everyone just call him by his last name?), but anything that gives Buddy Garrity more screen time is fine with me. Brad Leland is amazing on the show. And I know it’s been said before but the NBC promo department sucks. They show Landry confessing in the police station. I’m sure the whole episode will be about whether or not he will confess, and obviously now we know he does.
General Hospital.
I’m so pissed they killed Emily. And if the rumors are true that Georgie will die soon, then I decided that I’m done with it. The reason why I started watching again 2 years ago, because I liked the way they seemed to be respecting history and still using their classic characters and families. I find it appalling that they focus on ridiculous Spinelli who can’t even complete a full sentence and spit in the face of every long term fan of the show. It makes no sense to kill Emily and Georgie. If there is some contract issues and they want to leave the show, they can have them go off to college or something. There’s no reason to make their exits so final. The writing has been horrible and they have a way of never following up on anything. I’m fed up! End of rant.
Grey’s Anatomy
I didn’t buy Miranda’s breakdown at the end of the episode AT ALL. She’s such a strong and confident woman that it seemed so unlike her to be sobbing over not getting the guy she wanted in high school. Shoot, I don’t even remember high school. It seems like the producers are finally realizing that Izzy and George are SO much better as friends and I really miss that best friend vibe between them. I’m also happy that they didn’t ruin the character of Callie during this horrible storyline. I’m sure I’m not the only one that can’t help but think of the gay teacher that mentored Ricky on My So Called Life whenever Thatcher is on. And please, PLEASE do something with Sloan!!!
Gossip Girl
A typical episode. I’m fearing that this may be following in the footsteps of The OC, also created by Josh Schwartz. Season 1 of that show was excellent but they went through way too many stories in the first season and season 2 felt like more of the same old stuff. We’ve already seen Blair forgive Nate and Serena so easily and become best friends again. I also wish that they played up the conflict between the poorer kids and the richer kids. The parent stories are so boring and they need to be spiced up also. I’m not a fan of Vanessa either.
Heroes
These last 2 episodes have really been an improvement from the beginning of season 2, but I can’t shake the feeling while watching that this show could be great if the right people were behind the scenes. It was nice to see more of Kristen Bell..Elle can’t compete with Veronica, but she is capable of brightening up any scene. Once again, Alejandro and Maya completely destroyed the pace and momentum of the episode. Their scenes were completely un-necessary and didn’t advance their story at all. We already know she has some kind of disease and he can cure it. The reason for DL’s death was pointless too. Why didn’t they just have him die at Kirby Plaza. But it was nice to see the family back together one last time. I always thought that DL looked very much like he could be Micah’s father in really life. I’m still confused on what exactly the Company did to Nikki. Did they actually take her power away or just teach her how to suppress the multiple personalities. Also, I wonder why the company locked up Adam and Peter, while in season 1 they were shown to just tag and study the heroes.
My Name Is Earl
Thursday nights at 8pm is the worst time slot for me because I record Ugly Betty and Survivor on the downstairs Tivo so I'm forced to record My Name Is Earl and 30 Rock on the upstairs Tivo. Since I'm less comfortable up there watching TV, I tend to not enjoy these shows as much as I would if I watched downstairs. But I"m rambling. I like that Earl has been in prison the whole season so far, but I’m ready for him to get out and start crossing things off his list again. Sometimes, the continuity on this show is wacky (are Randy and Catalina still married?), but I don’t care. It’s a great 30 minute ride every week and I laugh out loud at least 3 times an episode
Nip/Tuck
Something about this season just doesn’t thrill me. I wasn’t that into last season either. I know most critics hated season 3, but I really liked the whole mystery of The Carver. Anyway, I always liked when Sean was the straight arrow of the team, and I’m not too crazy about seeing this darker side of him.
Private Practice
Yes, I’m still watching this. I really enjoyed the Taye Diggs and Sara Gilbert story this week. (It was also very nice to see Sprague Grayden again) I don’t give a crap about Addison and Pete, and I’m rooting for Cooper to be happy (with or without Violet). I also HATE Audra McDonald and really wish they stuck with Merrin Dungey. The baby storylines are already repetitive. This week alone saw 3 women giving birth at different points during the episode. I guess that there’s not as many interesting cases at Oceanside Wellness Center as there are at Seattle Grace, but I’ll be happy if there are no more birthing stories for the rest of the season.
Reaper
This was my favorite episode since the pilot. I really wish they would dive into the mythology of the show more and this was a good start with their investigation of Gladys. The climax wasn’t the usually boring one where Sam uses the vessel to snatch up the escaped soul. I really liked that they showed the moral ambiguities that the devil possesses. I hope they show Sam struggle with his duty more in the future. Yes, this is a comedy so I don’t want it to get too deep, but there’s a lot of conflict that can arise. My major problem with this show is that the devil keeps giving Sam clues and wants him to figure out the identity of the escaped soul himself. I guess I just don’t understand why the devil can’t bring the souls back himself or at least tell Sam where they are. I guess he just “gets off” on toying with him.
Samantha Who
I keep saying I’ll give this show one more episode before quitting, but I haven’t yet. I always wonder why her family and friends would put her in these situations without telling her details about what happened prior to her amnesia. Wouldn’t her friends tell her there was a restraining order against her and for what? This concept is getting old really quick but since the ratings are so good, I’m guessing the format won’t change any time soon.
Scrubs
I still watch this show more out of habit then an excitement for it. I feel the characters have not developed or changed in 7 seasons and now I’m just watching it because if you’ve seen 6 seasons of a show, you can’t stop during the 7th and final one.
30 Rock
This show just keeps getting better and better. I would say that I was “in like” with season 1, but now I’m “in love” with season 2. Tracy Morgan is hilarious. I’ve been listening to and singing Werewolf Bar Mtizvah non stop. I love that this show was able to spoof NBC’s stupid Green Week stunt. The plot this episode with Liz thinking her Middle Eastern neighbors were terrorists was hysterical. She sees a map in their apartment with thumb tacks inserted all over. Then she sees them filming themselves in the park doing military style training. She’s very hesitant but finally decides to report them. It turns out they were just trying out for The Amazing Race. This is such a smart comedy and I’m so glad I gave it a second chance after I gave up after the pilot.
Ugly Betty
I was really happy that the writers didn’t go the predictable route and have Bradford die at the wedding. Claire, Daniel and Alexis needed that forgiveness and closure with him. Judith Light needs an Emmy for this (but so does Ana Ortiz, so I’m conflicted). The scenes with Claire and Yoga at the Suarez home were among the funniest I’ve seen in television history. This show is perfect at balancing the humor and drama and this episode was the perfect example of that.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
R.I.P. Drawn Together
This was indeed a very sad week in television history. For reasons unknown, it appears that Comedy Central has decided not to renew Drawn Together for a 4th season. The show gets decent ratings and is very popular on college campuses. The creators, Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser, have signed an exclusive deal with Fox. No official word has been released yet, but I'm pretty sure that if the show was going to be renewed, we would have heard by now.
For anyone that hasn't seen it, the show is very hard to describe. Here's the description straight from www.wikipedia.com:
Drawn Together is an American animated television series that uses a sitcom format with a TV reality show setting. The show's eight cartoon characters are a combination of recognizable parodies of cartoon stock characters and other generic young people whose characters all parody the general personality types that typically are seen in TV reality shows. The characters agreed to live in a house together in a setup similar to that of The Surreal Life.
It was the reality concept that initially drew me to the show. I'm usually not a fan of that type of humor, and the only other show I've ever watched on Comedy Central was Chappelle Show. I fell in love with the characters on Drawn Together instantly. And the show is so wrong, that it's right. I'll never forget their use of cereal characters, Clara's cousin Bleh, Ling Ling's driving test, or their trip to India. Most of all I'll miss Foxxy Love and her unique use for a lightsaber. So, I offer this tribute and wish the 8 houseguests the best on their journey through life.
Charles adds: It was very much a show that always made the obvious joke. I'm typically a pretty politically correct person, so I was surprised that I thought that the lewd and totally non-PC humor was as funny as it was. But I did. It's definitely unlike anything else I'm into at all. Maybe that was the whole appeal of it.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
BAKED ZITI MOVIE REVIEW #1
BAKED ZITI MOVIE REVIEW #1
So I won’t bore you with a long introductory This-Is-Who-I-Am-And-This-Is-What-I’m-All-About accompaniment to my first foray into the world of film, but I do think at least some background information is in order. No worries, as I have no intentions to break out the family vacation slides or tell you things that happened when you were just thiiiiiiiiis high. It’s just a little information that will hopefully help put these bad boys in context.
I was (Was? You don’t say …) a bit of an attention whore as a child. I always had to be going, doing, being the center of the universe, working overtime to have all eyes on me. For that reason, anything televised was never a big thing for me when I was younger, because it was pretty impossible to be interactive. Music videos were, of course, an awesome exception to the rule, because you could practice the dance moves and sing along, and they typically made great conversation pieces. Television shows? Not so much. While I occasionally enjoyed the Huxtable or Keaton crisis du jour, I still felt like a performer stuck in a spectator’s body.
I hated watching movies. I absolutely hated it. I don’t know that it had much to do with movies. I think it had a lot more to do with the fact that it was usually code for “sit down and be quiet, people are trying to watch something.” Being told to close my 8-year old eyes during some of the raunchier parts of Dirty Dancing frustrated me; watching some Sunday afternoon movie on TV with bad overdubbing and lots of commercial breaks just left me feeling like I wasted my time.
Somewhere along the way, my tastes changed, but it took a while. I grew accustomed to my cinematic deficiency and I’m not sure I realized what I was missing until I watched American Beauty. Now granted, it’s probably not anywhere near the best movie of all time (though it is the favorite of someone I love very, very much), and it’s probably a bit like saying Jessica Simpson is the greatest pop star of all time, but it was the first time I watched a movie where I really, honestly felt a connection to the characters and was shocked and laughed and thought and all of that great stuff. It was the first time I had seen any type of movie where I felt like it was something more than just an all right way to pass the time.
I’ve watched many other movies since then, most of which I plan to watch again so I can review them for this particular blog, but it was American Beauty that created a bit of a spark in me, and an interest in digging a little deeper and finding out what’s out there.
So, in typically obnoxious postmodern fashion, I decided to take you, the Interweb, on that journey with me. Without further ado, let’s get started.
TARNATION (2004)
I first heard about this actually just a few weeks ago. (I make no illusions of being a buff of any sort.) I was watching some feature on the history of gay cinema, and this was mentioned. It looked interesting, and I thought I would watch it.
So I’ve read a few Internet reviews of people saying this is a pretty self-obsessed film, but I’m not sure I see much particularly wrong with that. (Such a point of view coming from those who take the time to set up an account where they can wax poetic about what they like and what they don’t, not that there’s anything wrong with that, seems hypocritical, and maybe even a bit lower on the food chain in Generation Me.) For me, this totally worked. All I could think while watching this was that I wish I had some key moments in my life caught on film.
And maybe that’s a weird bit of … something. Yeah. I don’t want to call it a criticism of the film, but this is definitely something intended for a very specific audience. Actually, I’m not even totally comfortable saying that, because this feels like something that is more intended for the filmmaker than any audience. And more power to him. But it’s a different type of reaction this movie sparks than most other ones I’ve seen that I’ve loved - one where if you have any artistic leanings at all, you’ll be inspired to do something creative. If you don’t, I’m not sure what you’ll think of this or if you’ll like it, although you’re certainly entitled to your opinion.
Enough diplomacy. There is some engaging story here. Jonathan Carouette, the star of the show and the filmmaker, has quite the life. He doesn’t meet his father until he’s in his thirties, and his mother is in and out of mental institutions. He lives with his grandparents throughout his childhood -- his grandmother seems quite the toothless charm and his grandfather seems like a decent guy. Grandpa's scruples are questioned a little later, but it's ambiguous enough that I think most viewers will come away with varying opinions of him, both for better and for worse.
Jonathan is a hopelessly gay Boy Wonder, doing drag shows for his 8mm camera at a very young age, curiously pretending to be a woman suffering from domestic abuse. As he gets older, unlike most of us, the spirit of imagination and tireless creativity only magnifies, and carries him through some challenging times in his life. What starts as a healthy escape and a case of raw artistic expression eventually turns into what is described in the film as Dissociative Personality Disorder, where Jonathan sees himself in the same way he sees other people. It might be mistaken as referring to himself in the third person by a casual observer, but he's actually speaking of himself as if he's someone he knows, not as if he's speaking about himself. He seems to have high hopes for Jonathan, and by this point, I was starting to as well.
One aspect where I really think this film deserves so much credit is ironically the same area that seems to be getting the most criticism, and I think clarification is in order -- to judge Tarnation is not to judge Jonathan Carouette, but I think the line has become irreparably blurred. I'm tempted to credit that to some high-quality filmmaking myself, but let's look at this from all angles. It would be nary impossible to watch this and not make personal judgments about Jonathan. At times, he seemed a bit self-obsessed and unwilling to take responsibility for his own actions (I believe such creatures are typically referred to as teenagers), at times he seemed like he was exploiting his family's natural dysfunction by filming them in such smarmy fashion, at times he was disrespectful, and he was even violent at times. It's actually the violence that makes it so much easier to make my ultimate point, because it's not shown on camera and it's explained in clear, concise fashion anyway. Giving yourself a favorable edit would be the easy way out, but Carouette paints a pretty full picture and doesn't avoid the uncomfortable or the unflattering. Blowing off the message (the film) for the dislike of the messenger (the filmmaker) would be a colossal mistake.
With that said, there is a lack of moral center here at times, typically a crucial part of any storytelling. Relying on Jonathan to provide that will only leave you disappointed -- he is a child for most of this after all, and that's a pretty heavy burden to put on a kid's shoulders. In a world driven by competition, it's easy to be inclined to take sides, to declare someone here the villain and someone the hero. In truth, everyone involved is a different shade of gray.
The truly impressive part of this is obviously that it was made for a few hundred dollars with standard Mac software. It was a fearlessly unique combination of film, family photos and slides spanning Jonathan's entire life, and it appears to be one of the first of its kind. The story has plenty of text and does at times feel like a glorified Power Point presentation, but those moments are necessary to keep the narrative consistent, and to explain the gaps in time when the cameras were not rolling.
There also is no lack of relevance. You see how mental disorders and drug culture have warped a family, how body image, women's lib, desire for fame and an increasing divorce rate have affected a generation, and you see someone who knows he's gay from a pretty young age grow up, experiencing the same hopes and fears and break-ups and make-ups as anyone else.
Bottom line, this is enjoyable, provocative, and one of a kind -- and very much worth seeing.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Reality Ramble #1
The week in Reality TV: 11/9/07-11/15/07
Amazing Race
I had Tivo issues so I missed about 10 minutes in the middle. Not a good season for the gay competitors..Last week Ari went, and now it was the lesbian ministers. I loved when Kate said that they have a strong faith in God but don’t think he really cares if they win the show or not. I always hated when people on reality shows (Vecepia from Survivor: Marquesas was the worst at this) assume that God wants them to win because they deserve it..I never understood why God would think they are more worthy than anyone else. Anyway, my initial pick to win, based on no scientific evidence at all, is TK and Rachel. I’m rooting for Kynt and Vyxen. I’m really glad they cut the number of episodes this season and there won’t be any non-elimination episodes. I always felt cheated after watching those. I never understood why they didn’t just cast more teams in the beginning.
America's Next Top Model
Who else out there agrees with me that this is the least exciting season ever because of the cast. No one even looks like a model to me. I tend to be fans of the quirky and unique girls (like Jade and Lisa D'Amato from Cycle 5). that's why my favorite this season was Victoria. Out of the girls left, I'd like to see Heather win but of course she's not going to. There's no way they'll let someone with a mental disability be America's next top model. Hopefully, Bianca doesn't win because she seems like an ugly person inside and out. I also loathe Tyra Banks and her hipocrysy. She's always telling the girls to be themselves but then wants them to change the things about them that make them unique.
America’s Psychic Challenge
I’m assuming that there’s not many of you out there watching this show considering it airs Friday nights on Lifetime, but with two dual tuner Tivo’s in my house, it doesn’t matter when a series airs. Anyway, this is a 8 episode series that is a tournament including 16 psychics. 4 psychics compete each week in 3 challenges and the 2 with the lowest scores are eliminated. This week, the psychics were presented with 5 closed doors, and they had to choose which of the 5 rooms contained someone facing their greatest fear. 4 of the rooms had people relaxing and 1 of them had a woman with her hands in a bowl full of cockroaches. In the second challenge, they were presented with 2 people with illnesses and they had to identify what those illnesses were based on no information at all. For the third challenge, they were taken to the roof of a hotel where a fire occurred 6 years ago. They had to identify as many aspects of what happened there as they could.
Surprisingly it’s been an interesting show and I hope for future seasons. One of the psychics Jackie is from New Orleans and is a very interesting personality. She refuses to hug anyone and even gives vague answers during some of the challenges, not caring how many points she’s going to receive. One of the other contestants predicted that Jackie would get her own show at the end of this. She referrs to herself as the White Serpent and must be doing something right because she’s in the semifinals.
America’s Most Smartest Model
It was so obvious to me that no one was going to get cut after they sent Blonde Rachel home. She’s not even pretty and is sooooooo dumb. Now, it’s going to be tough to eliminate people because they’re all pretty good. My pick to go next is Angela because she’s boring and bland. I’m loving t his show though, and who would have thought that a show obviously meant to spoof Top Model would be much better than that is this season.
Beauty And the Geek
I'm HEAVILY rooting for Dave and Jasmine. They're just so cute and sweet. (Check out www.datedavid.org) I wouldn't be terribly upset if Sam and Nicole won because he hasn't turned out to be as horrible as I was thinking he would be. I wish they had a better way to handle eliminations. I think it would be a much more exciting competition if they switched partners every week. Every thing else would stay the same, with the winners of the 2 competitions nominating the 2 teams for elimination. If they want to keep up the pretense that this really is a social experiment wouldn't it be valuable for the beauties to learn from as many geeks as possible and vice versa?
Big Brother
Due to the writer’s strike, news came out this week that CBS is looking to prepare a new edition of Big Brother for January or February. There’s rumors that it might even be a celebrity edition. First of all, I HATE the idea of doing a celebrity edition of any of these competition reality shows. I mean, have you seen the “celebritites” that are going to be on The Apprentice: Donald Trump? I always feel like they have nowhere near the motivation to play these games as normal contestants do. Also, I’m not too crazy about the idea of a new Big Brother coming up so soon. I prefer it to be a yearly show so I can really build up my anticipation. And it’s way too soon to follow up the entertainment that was Evel Dick (By the way, did you hear that Danielle left her boyfriend and is now living with Nick).
Biggest Loser
Every week I wonder why I watch this...Probably because it's one of the few shows that Charles and I watch together and it's tons of fun to make fun of while it's on,and because I have a crush on Jillian. I hate the way they always change the time of the episodes from 1.5 to 1 to 2 hours. Alison Sweeney is a much better host than Caroline Rhea. I always prefer the male contestants to the females on this show, but this season, the females are particularly loathsome. Does anyone else notice that there comes a point in every season where they stop having the men take off their shirts during weigh-ins? maybe because they have too much excess skin?
I Love New York
The order of elimination over the next few episodes can’t be the same as the order she gave out the chains, could it? It certainly seems that is how it is going to be. But I predict The Entertainer will go before Pretty does. I still don’t understand why anyone would want to be with a woman like New York when she’s rude enough to spit out their food right in front of them. But this whole show is an act anyway. I’m looking forward to seeing Chance in the next episode. I never really cared for him, but he’s entertaining. My favorite episode of last season was when he yelled that he was going to come and beat up Tango so Tango should “Give me your address”
Next Great American Band
What a wasted opportunity. I wasn't expecting much from this, but it should be better than it is. I was a HUGE fan of both seasons of Rock Star and thought the talent on both seasons was amazing. But on this show? It seems like they went out and found the blandest, most generic groups available. And it's so obvious that Sixwire is going to win. Middle America wouldn't have it any other way. Even my 2 favorite bands, Franklin Bridge and Dot Dot Dot aren't very talented either. At least The Light Of Doom are interesting to watch because they're kids but all their songs sound the same. Just goes to show you how important casting is....It takes me about 5 minutes to get through the whole show with fast forwarding, so that's enough time I've spent writing about it.
Phenomenon
Another example of a reality show that wasted a good idea. They should have made this show in the format of Project Runway instead, like they also should have done with On The Lot. I'm not a fan of the tricks where they guess which vase the poisionous snake is in, etc because it's so obvious that one of them is marked. But there have been some "How did they do that?" moments. I'm glad this is a short show and only has 1 more episode.
Project Runway
I'm very excited to have this show back. Just like everyone else, I think this is the best reality competition show and defintiely is the pioneer of that genre. Even in the 4th season, I'm still amazed by the clothes that these people are able to come up with such a short time and with such restrictions. I never quite understood how they're able to alter the garmants so quickly to fit their specific model. It looks like they cast some great personalities and interesting characters this season. Even with all the excitement, I have to say that I was underwhelmed by the runway show. None of the outfits really impressed me and nothing stood out. I'm expecting bigger and better things from these guys in the weeks to come. The judges made the right decisions in their bottom 3 and eliminations. It was fun to watch the show with Charles. He has never seen it before and kept saying "What a cool reality show..They thought of everything"
Salt N Pepa Show
Like all other celebreality shows, it's obvious that many of these situations are set up by the producers. In the case of this show, I don't care! It's such fun to see 2 people who genuniely seem so cool. I've loved Pepa on Surreal Life and I'm loving her here. It's fun to see Salt struggle with her obvious lack of interest in reviving their career balanced with her love of her friend Pepa and wanting to make her happy. How funny was it a few episodes ago when they changed the lyrics of Whatta Man from "A body like Arnold" to "A body like Obama"?
The Shot
What took so long to think of a photography competition? This is a fairly generic show that would not feel out of place on Bravo among Project Runway and Top Chef. I'll watch it to the end but it's not one that will stick in my memory. During the first episode, I knew I recognized contestant Airic from somewhere but I just couldn't place him. A google search showed me that he was one of the contestants on WE's 2005 show "Style Me With Rachel Hunter" I guess he's a stylist and a photographer. I hate when people are cast on multiple shows stealing other people's spots! Marcus Foy has been on 3 shows (Survival Of The Richest, The Janice Dickenson Modeling Agency, and A Shot Of Love With Tila Tequila) and I hated him on all 3. It was very satisfying for me when Janice fired him.
Survivor
Pretty boring episode this week, but this stage of the season usually is. I always love when the obvious choice for elmination wins the immunity and they have to go to plan B. It seems like everyone liked Frosti but he wasn't a very strategic player. He could have done a lot more to cook something up. There's a lot of options and a lot of potential alliances but he wasn't able take advantage of them. I also don't like that they broke the casting rules and cast him even though he was onlly 20 years. I'm sure there's so many people out there that didn't apply because they weren't yet 21 and that sucks for them. I also feel that Todd made a huge mistake last week not getting rid of James and I hope it doesn't come back to haunt him because I"m rooting for him (and Denise)
In other Survivor news, I was pleasantly surprised when I read the rumored cast of Survivor 16 which is an all-stars edition including players from seasons 9-15. If this rumor holds up, it looks like they selected a good diversity of interesting players. I’m really glad they didn’t select any winners because they shouldn’t be given another chance to play!!! However, there are 2 people from this current season rumored to be in the cast, so now I’m not suspecting them to win. I sort of wish I didn’t know this, so I won’t name them incase anyone hasn’t seen the rumored cast yet.
Ultimate Fighter
I had a conflict of interest this episode because I didn't want Mac to win, but I'm a fan of Matt Hughes, and can't stand Matt Serra. At least Mac realizes that he's been grumpy and seems like he wants to change. I got into this show late (season 5), but I'm glad I did. I appreciate that it's a very simple format, a single elimination tournament. I don't quite understand all the intricacies of mixed martial arts so the fights are usually the most boring part of the episode for me. I still do enjoy it and am looking forward to receiving seasons 1, 2, and 3 from Netflix.
Still On The Tivo
A Shot Of Love With Tila Tequila, Kid Nation
Monday, November 12, 2007
Southland Tales Trailer
Reasons To Get Excited About This Movie:
1. It's Richard Kelly's follow up to Donnie Darko
2. He has said in interviews that it's not the kind of movie that makes complete sense the first time you see it. He wanted to make something complex with a lot of layers.
3. Looks like a great cast...Say what you will about them, but Justin Timberlake, Mandy Moore, and Sarah Michelle Gellar definitely have charisma. You can also spot Kevin Smith and Cheri Oteri in the trailer.
4. The Rock is credited as Dwayne Johnson.
5. The soundtrack is produced by Moby and Sarah Michelle Gellar has a song on it called "Teen Hornieness Is Not A Crime"
6. Premiered at Cannes 2 years ago and was supposedely the worst reviewed movie ever to play there, so it may be one of those movies that's "so bad, it's good"
7. But above all that, the trailer has some great imagery and looks very interesting.
