Breaking My Rule

I generally don't like to comment on topics that could be considered... controversial. My opinion on religion, politics, and other hot button issues are no one's business but my own. Plenty of people like to discuss, debate, create hostility, and just generally post that their opinion is the correct opinion and if you don't agree, well... insert nasty comment here and I refuse to spread that negativity around. And I'm breaking my one rule. But it's worth it.

It's the holiday season and in my mind, everyone should be friendly and cheerful and just being good human beings. It's the time of year where even your most hated enemy gives you a smile and wishes you a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Whatever Holiday Well-Wishes That You Don't Find Offensive. (Not in my case; my enemy has decided to just straight up ignore me. In the immortal words of RENT's Tom Collins, "Merry Christmas, b*tches!") But to my dismay and honestly distress, there is a cloud hanging above me on the eve my favorite holiday.

There have been many disturbing and unfortunate examples of intolerance and just general nastiness this whole year and in recent years. People have been brought under fire for numerous reasons, whether they be justified or not, and the reactions, or lack of a reaction, of those individuals above said people are also brought under fire. It's a never-ending cycle of hate and finger pointing.

In a world where we've seen great acts of humanity, awareness, and generosity, it's hard to believe there is still so much hate out there but we can't pretend that it's not present. With social marking making it an option for millions of people to express their opinions, opinions are just that; a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. But what happens to the world when you can't see past your own opinion to at least acknowledge another person's view?

I do not condone any negative comments said toward any faction of society. A person is allowed to have their own viewpoint but in today's world your viewpoint is instantly labeled right or wrong with no room for discussion. Instead I wonder what happened to people's general niceness and why we must all be so mean to each other. Who are we to condemn people for their lifestyle, religion, political affiliations, and any other subject that I've missed. The world is too bleak as it is to focus on the negative and yet that is a favorite past time for most of the world.

The recent comments by a certain reality star are disturbing for multiple reasons and there are many people to blame. It's also not the first time in the history of the entertainment industry that a person has made derogatory remarks and gotten punished for it. Regardless if you support the comments, you can't say them to a national magazine and not expect to get a reaction. I don't watch the personality's TV show nor am I included in a group of people that he offended in the article, yet I was offended on a human level. Why do we have to tear each other down?

When I see all the fighting that is directly or indirectly caused by these remarks I think of Pope Francis' recent words on the subject and I am filled with hope for our future. "If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?" The most important man in the Catholic Church has expressed what I've always said, 'Who am I to judge?'. We aren't God, or whatever other religious figure that you believe in. I don't believe that God will punish people for who they love and for wanting to be treated equally. And that's about all I have to say on the matter.

So during the final days of the Christmas season, can we please remember why it's supposed to be 'the most wonderful time of year'? As Linus famously quotes the Bible during A Charlie Brown Christmas, "And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."

Key word: All people.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The Best TV You Aren't Watching: Part 1 of 3

Readers, it's been said that this year we've witnessed some of television's finest and I would have to agree. Not with the collective choices of shows (Dexter, Breaking Bad, Mad Men) but with some shows that are newer but have all collectively hit their own creative hot streak.

The first show that I'd like to bring to your attention is sure to get no attention because it currently resides on a network generally dismissed as a weak channel that regularly exploits the marketing ploy of having gorgeous males shirtless, all the time. That's right, you guessed it: The CW. While some of these accusations are true that doesn't stop the network executives from getting solid shows on the air. Who are we to overlook quality television, story, and acting because actors are hot? Shame on you.

(I'm looking at you Hart of Dixie. But please don't ever ever EVER stop.)

 

I may have gotten a little zealous on that last point, but it's a stigma that The CW has been fighting for the last couple of years. With The Vampire Diaries success came a new kind of entertainment to the network that had been lacking since the days of ... well I can't honestly say that One Tree Hill was a "great" show nor will I ever speak badly about it. With the critical and (for The CW) ratings hit of The Vampire Diaries, the network was able to create one of the best shows in recent years, and it's only in Season Two currently so that's saying something.

I'm talking about Arrow. For those of you unfamiliar with the show here's a brief synopsis: a wealthy playboy named Oliver Queen (played brilliantly by Stephen Amell) gets shipwrecked on an island that holds unspeakable dangers for five years. His father sacrificed himself while drifting in the sea so that Oliver had a chance to survive but not before telling his son about a seedy and corrupt underworld back home in fictional Starling City where his mother, sister Thea, and now ex-girlfriend Laurel Lance believe him to be dead. After he is rescued, Oliver decides to devote his life to bringing those corrupt to justice as the vigilante The Hood with the help of his "body guard" John Diggle and the world's best updated "Girl Friday", Felicity Smoak.

Phew. But come on, doesn't that sound amazing??? That's what I thought... and then it was December and I was on vacation and I realized I had 9 episodes sitting on my DVR gathering dust. I was at the "must watch now or delete and give up" stage that I occasionally find myself. I know, a real Sophie's Choice. Luckily for me the day after Christmas I was bed ridden with a cold and migraine. What to do? I decided to give the show a chance and I thank the TV Gods for that migraine because I can't imagine my TV world without Arrow.

Now I know that none of that really means anything to you unless you take my word on TV and movies ver batim. In case you don't, which you should, I'm prepared to give you evidence:

The Acting:
There are few shows that I can say consistently get better with age and Arrow is definitely one of them. The show operates between the current day where Oliver is now working under the name "Arrow" to his life on the island. Initially the creators said they had a set time and ending in mind which gives each episode a definitive feeling. Stephen Amell has to play so many variations of his characters and he does so seamlessly. I can not say enough good things about his acting. He's displayed so many emotions you wonder how he's able to specifically channel each one when they change so fast in the script. And the rest of the cast isn't exactly chopped liver either. Perhaps the best example of this would be Emily Bett Rickards who plays Felicity Smoak. Initially supposed to be a quick one-off character in one script, she was almost immediately moved up to recurring status before finally (much to the joy of Arrow fans everywhere) given full series regular status. Rickards' Felicity has grown from a tech-savvy geek expressing inappropriate comments about Oliver's hotness to his own Girl Friday and in her own right an active part in his crime fighting. While still dropping inappropriate comments about his body.

The Writing:
The only other show successfully blowing through plot lines as fast as Arrow is the Shonda Rhimes hit Scandal. The writers on Arrow leave you breathless episode after episode and rarely do you have a slow hour of television. The dialogue is generally on point but it's really Amell, David Ramsey's Diggle, and Rickards who deliver the best interactions. The show also knows how to create fully dimensional characters and it doesn't feel the need to express lane those plots either. One of last season's more grating characters, Paul Blackthorne's Detective Lance aka Laurel's disapproving father, was just a bit too gruff and grumpy. But with a demotion this season forcing him into the field, he is one of the more fully fleshed out characters that I look forward to seeing on my screen. Other minor characters who have benefited from this slow and steady character development are Thea, played with a softness that her portrayer Willa Holland hasn't been able to use before, and her thug-turned-wannabe hero boyfriend Roy, played with perfect intensity by Colton Haynes. The show knows where to pack a punch, literally and metaphorically.

The Relationships:
Arrow boasts some of the best couplings/bromances/teams on television right now. There are almost too many to count. As mentioned above the core three (Olive/Diggle/Felicity) is the real treat and they share the screen 65% of the time and rightly so. From her first appearance, sparks flew between Oliver and Felicity and the writers knowing just how to torture fangirls everywhere, put their romance on slow burn. I mean, slowwwwwwwww burn. And boy, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's been so satisfying watching the two of them actually get to know each other and the flaws that they hide from the world. His looks at her inappropriate comments are almost better than a full on kiss. Almost. Thea and Roy's relationship is also a fun addition to the show as well as Felicity's new alliance with Detective Lance.

Somehow I've managed to only allude to Oliver's hotness without listing it as a "reason" to watch the show. Well... the man is ripped. The show doesn't deny nor shy away from blatantly promoting his.. um... assets. And why not? Plus, he's not the only one. Diggle and Roy are definitely impressive and the ladies get to show off their attributes with killer dresses and heels. The great part is: it may be the reason you give the show a chance but it won't be the reason you come back. That credit is all the shows.

 

It's A Marvel World After All

I'm sensing a disturbance in the force, readers. After watching Thor: The Dark World last night, I am left with a nagging feeling. Where do we, as movie goers and film executives go from here?

The movie itself rates an A-/B+ in my grading scale purely based on the entertainment factor. In this installment in the franchise, Thor, aka Chris Hemsworth, knows who he is supposed to be and wants nothing more than to be that for his realm and his father. Of course there is one problem: his true love Jane, Natalie Portman,  is a human and he hasn't seen her (minus some creepy/uber-romantic, depending on your point of view, watching over her by using the Guardian to keep an eye out) in two years since he first saved Earth. Some shady plot devices get thrown in and he can return to Jane and bring her back to his home of Asgard. Tragedy strikes and Thor must go to the one person we all love and know will be his doom, Loki. Here is where the movie really shines: during the scenes shared between Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston is the chemistry that is reminiscent of The Avengers;  not that the movie is bland in the human world. No, thankfully Darby, portrayed once again by Kat Dennings, is back and speaking from the minds of the viewers exactly what we would be saying were we in this position. Ladies interested in seeing Hemsworth with his shirt off will have to make do with one teasing scene in the beginning because while the movie doesn't drop the humor it does do away with gratuitous scenes like that. With twists that I could see coming, the movie was more than entertaining but lacked significant movement in the Marvel universe, at least in my opinion. Side Note: Stay for two closing credits scenes. One in the middle and one at the very end. It's not until the closing credit scene (that Marvel has perfected to an art) that we really get a sense of why this whole battle was important in the grand scheme of things.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

The closing credit scene takes two of Thor's mates to "The Collector" (played by an almost unrecognizable Benecio Del Toro) to hold the Aether which nearly destroyed the Nine Realms in the movie. This is the first time movie goers are getting a glimpse into the next big phase of Marvel's (World Domination) Plan: Guardians of the Galaxy (8/14) which is currently slated to come out after this spring's Captain America: The Winter Soldier( 4/14).  The final movie in Phase 2 of this plan will end with the next Avengers collab, Age of Ultron in 2015.

Phew. I'm exhausted just writing that. And herein lies the problem: in a world where superhero movies are so popular and already have a built in fan base, why stop? Phase 3 is already in pre-production with Ant-Man coming out two months after Age of Ultron in July of 2015. The next logical movie would be another Iron Man/Thor/Captain America stand alone but... Robert Downey Jr. is only signed on to play Tony Stark for the next two Avengers movies. Chris Hemsworth is locked in as well as Chris Evans but you have to wonder, how long do they want to be playing these characters? They aren't as old as RDJ; Hemsworth is 30 and Evans is 32 to RDJ's 48. Clearly these have at least another 10 years of screen time as they characters.

But what about superhero fatigue? Will it ever happen to the main movie going audience? You never really know. Marvel, along with Disney, is threatening to have one of the biggest movie monopolies I've ever even heard of and they are showing no signs of slowing down. But what happens when they want to reboot a series? DC Comics is known for doing that (see Batman and Superman) to mixed success. With the news of Ben Affleck taking over the Cowled Cape from Christian Bale (arguably people's defining Batman) there was outrage and the scales tipped a little bit in DC's favor. Once the dominant superhero blockbuster, they have been forced to make bold moves to stay in the public's awareness. Marvel is everywhere you look these day: your TV has a struggling in the ratings but still steady enough to warrant a full season pick up show focused on the day to day missions of it's erstwhile S.H.I.E.L.D. and soon to be coming to a Netflix near you will be 4 13 episode mini-season of smaller characters from the Marvel universe.

I'm not saying that Marvel should stop everything immediately and only produce one movie every 3 years. I just wonder how these movies will hold up against the test of time. Will they be redone in 15, 20 years? I for one will not be OK with that. Just as Hugh Jackman will always be Wolverine, these other men will always be The Avengers. I can't imagine any other hot, phenomenal actors taking over the roles.

But why stop there with the remakes, it's  all Hollywood can do these days it seems. Star Wars isn't getting a remake necessarily but it's certainly a reboot much like the great Star Trek franchise just received, and I'm not saying that that movie doesn't add something to our pop culture but besides that one movie, when was the last time a decent remake was done? I'm sure I could come up with one, but why must Hollywood take gems from it's crown and grind it down into paper currency to make it's money? Why make new movies when adaptations and remakes already have a built-in fan base of people who will pay to ridicule the movie? That means that perhaps the most influential series in recent pop culture history, Harry Potter, could one day be in the line of fire. I can't imagine anyone else in the world filling those shoes and I would never want it to be done. The only way I can even conceive of it being "redone" would be to make the books into a mini-series so that more content from the books that got left out in the movies could get to be seen. And that's a big if.

For now all we can do is wait and see how this grand (world domination) plan plays out. Will Marvel end up on top? At the end of the first two movies in Phase 2, the only string that holds our Avengers together is that they are alive and essentially giving up their "super" life to lead normal lives with the women they love. We will see if this holds true when Cap gets his due in what is sure to be much better than his first solo movie outing. If it is, then we can all piece together what Joss Whedon has in mind to get our favorite band of super hero misfits back together...

Date night with shawarma of course.

The Case of the Single Girl

When things don't work out in your life, you always look back and start examining where it could have gone wrong. So when I had to deal with a break up this past week, my crazy brain went into overdrive, (over) analyzing what I could have done differently. I feel that I am qualified to be the lead investigator in this matter because it's my life but more importantly because I've been watching a lot of "Sherlock Holmes" themed television/movies lately. Clearly the erstwhile detective and I could crack The Case of the Single Girl. ( I know, super clever.)

I have always been a fan of Sherlock Holmes and his many variations. I read the books as a child, fell in love with Robert Downey Jr. in the recent revival, and watch Elementary on CBS which had the neat idea to twist Holmes' relationship with his companion Dr. Watson by making the character a female foil. Until recently I had not given in to the British retelling, Sherlock, but one day I found myself interested enough and was hooked shortly after. This influx of Holmesian thinking makes me more than qualified to solve the aforementioned mystery.

My imaginary Holmes' and I must start the investigation at the beginning. Single Girl is a mid-twenties, fairly attractive female who has not been in a serious relationship. Her story begins when she decides on her birthday to join an online dating site on a whim purely based on a "oh why the hell not" attitude. From sources, we have gathered that she was not a quiet girl, rather multiple reports detail her being social, outgoing, and quite popular. The first month of activity on the site proved fruitless and in an effort to be more proactive about her situation, she set about to find the "one".

After a series of awful dates (one suitor had rotted teeth reports confirm), Single Girl met a nice gentleman. Based on her past experiences, Single Girl kept the man and the news quiet for fear of getting too excited. Things were good but hard, their work schedules were not conducive to a regular dating relationship. Not one to bite a gift horse in the mouth, Single Girl made her peace with that and decided it was worth it. Alas, the gentleman couldn't maintain those same feelings and ended the relationship after a couple months.

Single Girl was understandably a bit down in the dumps but after a couple days of being sad, she decided to hire our crack team of investigators to see if we can solve her case of singledom. Let's dig deeper, shall we readers???

Potential Flaws:

-She likes too many movies. After several meetings with Single Girl, one will notice that she often drops movie and TV quotes into normal conversation and not realize what she is doing. This could be a deterrent for potential mates.

- Her beauty is too girl next door. She isn't drop dead gorgeous, nor does she have that natural beauty that some people are gifted with. She works at her good looks. Although she has been known to make a few jaws drop when she wants to. There is photographic evidence.

- She is loud. She has a loud voice. And a loud laugh.

- Her love of sports could intimidate men. She is not afraid of voicing her opinions at the TV screen in public or at an actual game.

- An avid eater, she could one day get fat. It happens to the best of people.

After examining the evidence... we are stumped. Her "flaws" are more like quirks and could be seen as quite endearing to the right person. She is clearly popular as she has many friends and is beloved by all, or so we assume. There must be something else a foot. A villain that she and we are not aware of...

I Need A Hero... Or Do I?

As the great Bonnie Tyler once said, "Where have all the good men gone and where are all the Gods? Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds?" She really needed a hero you guys. (Excuse me while I Footloose dance for a minute.) This song is currently playing in my head as I contemplate a couple of articles I read this week. The topic of the articles is the rise and demise of the "antihero".  An antihero is a character who seemingly has no redeeming qualities, does and says horrible things to those around them, and yet the viewer keeps rooting for or in some case rooting against them.

The reason for this influx interest about the antihero can be traced to t the recent finales of Dexter and Breaking Bad. I'll be honest with you, I didn't watch these shows. At the time of their start, I didn't have cable and I didn't feel like shelling out money for the seasons. I make no apologies. Both actors, Michael C. Hall as Dexter and Bryan Cranston as Walter White, are phenomenal and I have no problem with them having received awards for these roles. So just know that my expertise on these specific "antiheroes" is coming from a purely observational level. However, I have always been attracted as a viewer to these type of characters.

Why? No, I am not a crazy psychopathic killer or a burgeoning meth queen. It's the portrayal and the layers that these kind of characters have that is so interesting to watch. My main experience with the "antihero" primarily would come from Hugh Laurie's House who just tickled me with his prickliness and rude antics. You loved him too. Two Golden Globes and two Emmy nominations meant that the TV business did too. I first fell in love with him in Season Two when he snarkily responded to his underlings witnessing a fight with the boss, "Don't worry. Mommy and Daddy still love you." My heart was his.

The articles this past week focus on the rise of this charismatic character and his seeming end. Apparently, the antihero has run his course in our pop culture society and we no longer need him or care about his dilemmas. The dramas on network television trying to capture the residual critical and ratings love of the antihero are failing to draw viewers. See: NBC's Ironside which had the lowest rated premiere debut on the network ever this past week. SIDE NOTE: I say "his" mostly because it is always a man playing this role. If a woman were to play the "antihero" she would just be called a frigid rhymes with witch and no one would think anything of it. END SIDE NOTE

So finally let's get to my opinion on the topic of these complicated, unlikeable men. I like them. They intrigue me. As a person, I am always convinced that there is good in someone. Even after they do something horrible. In TV or even the movie world, I relish these characters that embrace their inner evil and don't care about the consequences. They love power and power makes them desirable. They are often hilarious and give amazing speeches. The real world has these people and I clearly don't associate with them. But the more the fictional characters kill or plot, the more I fall under their spell.

There is a subset of the "antihero", more commonly romanticized by being called a "bad boy". The "bad boy" isn't bad by nature, it's the upbringing, situation, people, or traumas that have formed him into that lovable rhymes with chick that every girl wants to just cuddle. These are the best dressed, wittiest men on television. The main examples would be Damon from The Vampire Diaries and Ryan Atwood of the late but always timely The O.C., although there are countless others. These characters have redeeming qualities, like their love of a family member or a good woman, and over time you see the pieces that made them the way they are today come together. Sometimes they change for the better and sometimes people just learn to expose the better sides to their advantage.

There is also the "conflicted" man who longs to do the right thing but circumstance can't allow it. The poster child for this kind of character would have to be Fitz on the sudsy ABC show Scandal. He is clearly the male lead who should get the female lead. Only problem is that he's married. Oh, and he's the President of the United States. No big deal. Clearly this will never work out but man, when he looks at her. SWOOOOOON. And then there are his speeches about his love for this other woman that you can physically see take the emotional toll on his body. Le sigh.

So do we really need to lose these men? And more importantly, do we really need a hero? The answer that we should get is that yes, as long as there is solid character development and a solid story to build upon. Being a rhymes with chick for no reason does not good television make. As viewers, we expect to invest in characters and as investors we expect to be entertained while getting the best story possible.

So maybe there aren't any more 'white knights upon a fiery steed' coming to save us. But maybe that's a good thing.

'Twas the Night Before TV Premiere Week...

'Twas the night before TV Premiere week, and all through the house,
Not a television set was buzzing, not even the computer's mouse;
The new television schedule hung with care,
In hopes that Monday night at 8 pm Eastern Time would soon be there.
Kate lay snuggled up tight in her bed
While visions of new and old programming danced in her head;
And Mother in her disapproval, and Dad who didn't give a hoot
Had just settled down to the inevitable dispute
When out of the darkness Cordy created a clatter
I sprang awake to see what was the matter:
It was just a squirrel; and to sleep we all went
Awaiting the following day, sure to be full of argument.

As the day ticked on and on, young Kate was filled with anticipation
For that new season of television, waiting for its appreciation.
Final seasons, sure to be filled with such declarations:
NOOOOO. YESSSSS. WHYYYY. GAHHHHHH.
(Rhyming is hard. Sue me.)
Shows in the middle of their run that can only get better or worse
And some shows trying to fight off the inevitable television curse.
New shows that show so much promise
Only to be on the bubble before they even get a chance to develop a love rhombus.

With a color-coded schedule with no room for taping error
There are always early casualties; despite critic favor.
Blacklist, Hostages, and Dads have already lost their chance,
What shows will lose their spot at my loving glance?
And who could have for seen Sleepy Hollow, a supernatural adventure with romance
being the first new show to get a season pass?
Will Agents of SHIELD  and The Crazy Ones capture my attention
or will they fail in spectacular fashion?*

Entertaining shows are hard to find, let alone with broad appeal,
And looking at the crop of new shows, very few of them seem to seal the deal.
I like to give them an opportunity to impress me
But most of time they depress me.
With so few new shows on the air
It can lead me to wallow in despair.
The state of television is already fickle and diminishing
What with premium cable and high class channels winning;
When will network television get their comeback
Stealing back some of the acclaim it recently lacks?

Those questions are harder ones than I have time to beseech,
Why be sad when such a night is within my reach!?
So I'll put away my questions and ugghs,
Instead I'll settle down, grab some snacks, and my newest wine mug!
So here's to a new season of television filled with laughs and cries
Spoilers and deaths, gasps and whys?
I look forward to new beginnings and dread the ends
And if you try to reach me during a weeknight, you're dead.

(The answer is no, they won't but again it rhymed. Rhyming is hard!!!)

40 Days of No Closure

I don't know what I expected. I knew this was coming. I predicted it. But still... GAHHH!

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I have become obsessed with a blog called "40 Days of Dating". It detailed two friends experiment to see if they could date each other and break their "bad" relationship habits. If you have not had the pleasure of reading the most addictive blog here it is: http://fortydaysofdating.com/

Today was Day 40 and I was hitting the refresh button every five minutes, waiting until the screen changed. When it finally did, I was filled with terror. I knew it wasn't going to end with a happy ending and I was prepared to come to grips that this wasn't a happily-ever-after story.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

You actually don't know where they stand after 40 Days!!! They have a video of them reading some of the last blog entries and then they get really sad and just look at each other. They say,  "I'm sorry" and then walk away. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN????

I know they signed with a talent agency during an unexpected break right before Labor Day weekend and I'm super jealous of whoever gets to write the script for what I think is the most interesting modern love story I have heard in a while. But what happened to them? Are they still friends? Did they realize that they couldn't even be friends anymore? No, we don't know. It just ends.

This is becoming a trend in recent years in movies. Why give the audience an actual ending when we can just end and let them waste their lives trying to figure out what happened. OK, that may be a little harsh but that is how it can feel after investing your time and emotions into stories and characters. Obviously these are real people with real emotions and a happy ending was never really in the cards for them.

I have written before about one of the best romantic movies I had ever seen didn't even have a happy ending, but at least it had an ending. Too many movies just think that the audience will be OK with wasting their time to not have any form of closure. Some of you may argue that that's the point of those films and I am here to say: No thanks! Life is too full of things that you can't get closure on. Why would I waste 2 hours, 2 weeks, or 2 years of my life in a fictional (or in this case real) story only to be told that the conclusion is there is no conclusion.

I'm still hoping that there will be some kind of follow-up interview between the two people who I became emotionally invested in while reading about their attempt to find love. One article I found today suggested that while the relationship was fake and new school in the way it was presented, the way the romance both individuals attempted to woo the other with was old school in that it is an element missing from most modern relationships.

Their romance was simple; they really only had to see each other every day. The other rules they made for the experiment were just as simple. They took it steps further with thoughtful and simple gifts, like hand-written notes about why they liked the other person or a cute napkin drawing. This kind of romance isn't dead, like some say chivalry is, but rather it is laughed at and made fun of by most people. Why do we look down on small gestures of affection that were once commonplace in a courtship?

I guess I don't have answers to the questions I'm asking, either from the lack of a successful relationship or maybe because no one does. I like to think that small gestures are coming my way, in whatever form they may be. I hope that I can accept them when they do and not treat them like society does. I do believe that everyone deserves their own version of such a sign of affection, whatever that may be.

 

UPDATED:

 

So I sent this blog out into the world and one of my friends sent me back an article about Tim and Jessica and what their current status is. As I finished reading it I realized why this is affecting me so much: I feel like I got broken up with. These people shared their lives, deepest thoughts, and intimacies with the world and they didn't even know the impact that it would have on themselves. My heart knew they wouldn't stay together, there were too many hurdles for them to get past. I did hope that they could still be friends. I have the feeling that not even that is possible. I guess the real experiment was how do you acknowledge your faults and then once you've done that, can you change them and still be yourself. For right now the answer is we don't know.

 

 





The One Where Everyone Shakes Their Head

It has been said that DVR is the greatest invention of all time. No? That's not the saying? Well in my life it is definitely a top five. (That is probably not even the tiniest bit of an exaggeration.) I would say that in this day in age however it could easily be a top 50 invention amongst the general public.

You all know of my love for a certain TiVo, which may or may not be the reason I'm still single. But what you might not know is that DVR also creates more stress in my life than it should. Some would say that it shouldn't cause any.

Some of you may disagree.

Why? Why would a creation that allows me to record multiple shows at a time be the bane of my existence? Oh, there are reasons. OH HO, there are many!!!!

Reason #1: When you live with more than one person, let alone 3 to 4 at a given time, there will be conflicts. Obviously I believe that my shows take precedence over any other show because I need to keep up new shows to further my craft.

 

I have given that reason on more than one occasion and I stand by it. My mother doesn't really subscribe to my line of reasoning. There may be more battles over some one's show being missed or not taped in our house than any other fight. And I will fight to the death. Besides, why do you need to tape every show on TLC or TVLand??? WHY????

 

Reason #2: I may or may not be the person that decides your show has been on the DVR for an adequate amount of time. I find that a clean DVR makes a happy home. Again, I may be the only that feels this way. Let's just say that other people tapings may have disappeared in the night on more than one occasion. And more often than not it goes unnoticed. But sometimes...

 

 

Reason #3: As some of you may know I am very particular about certain details. DVR space is one of those things. I have no problem saving an entire season of TV if you actually watch them over again. I do this for a select few series. I also have no problem with saving a particular episode after you've watched it because you know you will go back and rewatch it. I get an unnatural pleasure from deleting more than one recording at a time. I prefer my DVR to be below 50% capacity at all times. In a house of 4, it rarely graces that line. The daily panic I have at our capacity is sad and I should probably see a therapist. Instead I revert to Reason #2. #sorryimnotsorry

 

 

Reason #4: .... OK there may only be three reasons. BUT! I believe that they are valid and that I have good points!!! My logic is sound. There is no room for deviation. Why is this so hard to explain and to get people to follow?

 

 

In conclusion... I know I have a problem. Quite a few in fact. But if people just let me have this MY life would be easier! Isn't that what everyone wants? Right? Right? Guys???

 

 



Can You Be Wooed? I Think You Can In Europe.

To woo someone. Flirt. Romance. Court. Persuade. Entice. Pursue.

In an age where declarations of love and finding the next "original" way to do so and post it for the world to see are the norm, it's hard to enjoy the actual reality of having someone tell you they like you or even that they love you without feeling like you were cheated out of a "made for TV" moment. (Wow. Is that a run-on sentence or what? I'm leaving it.) I had the greatest pleasure this past weekend to be a part of two very good friends' wedding. She was a living princess and the look on his face when he saw her for the first time was truly the best part of the ceremony. They truly were the vision of two people in love.

While their love shone in their smiles, I was thrown back into the idea of what we all perceive love and romance to be based on the TV shows and movies we watch. Face it, we all have imagined the dock scene of The Notebook happening to us. And why shouldn't we want that kind of love and passion? But-- have we let Hollywood ruin our romantic side or have they made it better? If you have ever watched a movie or TV show with me you know that my love for love and all small acts of love is great. However, most people think I have an over-romanticized view on how love happens in reality.

                                                    (Yeah, this doesn't ever happen.)

So I decided to take a look at the great moments of love that I found endearing and reverse them: if a suitor (Yep. Suitor. Beau. Main Man. I can go on and on but you don't really want me to do you?) were to recreate certain moments that I deem 'swoon worthy' and see if I would actually still swoon or if I would run away. Here we go!

In Amanda Bynes' movie Sydney White, the main guy character Tyler attempts to get Sydney's attention by serenading her with a group of pledges singing a capella and then he comes out holding a rose to sing the final verse. I. Died. Now, if that had actually happened to me? It would honestly depend on a couple things: what stage of the relationship are we in? This would be adorable as a way to ask me to officially be his girlfriend. But to just go on a date? It would have to be a pretty awesome song and voice to have me not smile politely then decline.

This next moment is as absurd as my reason for loving it. My favorite movie of all-time is Dirty Dancing and I fell hard for Patrick Swayze. Hard. To this day I celebrate his birthday and the day he passed. It's a thing. Throughout the course of the movie how could you not fall for bad boy Johnny??? But what really sealed the deal was the finger move, the "come hither" motion he gives Baby when they first dance together and then again in their "final" dance. If this were to happen in real life? I gotta say, yes. That finger move with a cocky grin would just drive me nuts. As cheesy as it is, and I fully acknowledge that it is monumentally cheesy, I would be won over with that simple gesture.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention some aspect of The Notebook  or really any romantic gesture from a Nicholas Sparks' adaptation. The man knows what women want, ok? We want a strong, sensitive man who isn't afraid to be vulnerable, is good looking with or without a scowl permanently on his face until the female reaches inside his heart and breaks that hard exterior. Am I right? I'm right. I own all of the movies and recently had a marathon of them from the first (Message in a Bottle) to the most recent (Safe Haven) and I gotta tell you: while they are the most romantic collection of movies that exist, I would not fall for any of the moves in them. I know you might scoff at such a sentence. "Kate, that's a bald-faced lie!" It's not, I promise! And here's why: we all might secretly wish to have our own Landon, Noah, John, or Logan, the reality of their love is that you know as you are watching the movies that it is fake. The cheese of it oozes from the dialogue to the glamorous love scenes. (Don't get me wrong. Those are great. Really, really, really great.) But in what world would your guy actually build you your dream house after you broke up with him? Or cross off more than 5 of your "to-do before you die" items on your VERY FIRST DATE? I'm not saying that they don't happen, but those are the Pinterest stories that we read about, sigh, and then say to ourselves, that's the exception not the rule.

In television it's a bit more realistic (or I am just blanking on those swoon worthy moments. Let's go with more realistic.) just because TV is usually more grounded in the people and not the story. One show, my favorite, was a big fan of the "big romantic gesture" and that would be One Tree Hill. There are two moments (Actually there are more than two but I'm only going to bring up two. Geez, get off my back!) that stand out to me as good examples. The first is from the first season when popular-bad boy Nathan is getting tutored and playing the classic "make the best friend of my enemy fall in love with me so I can ruin his life" game with his half-brother's best friend Haley. I know, and this was just the first season! Anyways, during a tutoring session Nathan offhandedly opens a Cracker Jack box and pulls out the prize, a bracelet. He smiles, slips it on her wrist and says, "Don't say I never gave you anything." It's a small gesture that soon becomes a staple of their love story. The second example is in the fifth season after a four-year time jump and a season's worth of denying his love for Peyton, his high school soul mate and after being left at the alter by his fiancé Lindsey, Lucas goes to the airport and calls someone and tells her that he wants to elope in Vegas. In the season six premiere you find out that he indeed called Peyton and they reunite in the airport terminal. The real-life test? Well any small token would be received in a warm manner, and probably cherished should the relationship become something more. But calling me after spending a year telling me that you don't love me, I ruined your life, and that I should have never come back home to tell me that you do in fact love me and want to spend the rest of our lives together? No thanks.

The last and probably most realistic moment and also the most ridiculous of them all would have to be in You've Got Mail. I love this movie. Love. And the last twenty minutes are truly the best romantic movie (short) that has ever been put on film. It begins with Tom Hanks' character Joe Fox bringing flowers to Meg Ryan's sick Kathleen Kelly. That apartment scene is forever imprinted in my mind as the perfect rom-com sequence. He has realized that he loves her and would take just being her friend but is still willing to see if he can make her fall in love with him. But here's where my skepticism kicks in. In the end, Kathleen discovers that her enemy, the person who basically destroyed her career, is the same person who she fell in love with online. And you know what? She doesn't care. She cries a bit and some perfect dialogue comes out of Hanks' mouth to smooth it over. In real life, you can't tell me that getting flowers doesn't seal the deal with a guy. I have it on good authority from some close friends that the day they received flowers from the guys they were dating is the day they considered them to be their boyfriend. But what I have a hard time believing is that if someone made you lose your way of life, you would forgive them so quickly. I'm not saying you would never forgive them, but that you would only need a sad smile and the brushing away of a tear to make it all better.

There are so many other moments that it is hard to pinpoint them but I guess the verdict for today is that small gestures are more likely to be received than the grandiose ones. And most guys are going to go for the small ones anyways. And that's why we have movies and TV; to fulfill that small gooey center of our heart where the deeply romantic soul lives.

We can keep the cynical exterior and I think that Friends With Benefits sums it up nicely:

Endangered Species

I went to the movies with a guy last night and as we were talking in the parking lot we watched all the other movie goers exit. We ended up trying to guess what movie they had all just left. He couldn't figure out what movie it could be because there was a mix of guys and girls. I suggested Wolverine  and he scoffed at me. "Girls interested in superhero movies. Puhhhlease." (Ok, I may be paraphrasing here.) I felt insulted and proud at the exact same time.

In an age where women are still "the" demographic to try and get to the movies, studios and apparently the average man still think that all women want to see are biopics, dramas, and romcoms. They specifically advertise certain movies to females based on certain advertising gimmicks. The best and most ridiculous example in recent years would be Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike which featured a montage of Channing Tatum and the rest of casts' expertly toned bodies doing things we can only dream of to other women. In reality the movie was a gritty, almost documentary style story of one man's realization that there is more to life than booze, drugs, and women while another falls prey to the same lifestyle. Most women I talked to hated the movie, minus the 18-20 minutes of ridiculously realistic dance routines of the male strippers.

Now, I know most of you are going to call me a hypocrite. Yes, the main reason for me going to see that movie was my boy Channing and his expert dance moves. However, I knew the movie wasn't just going to be about that and I really enjoyed it. As a female, my tastes are not limited to gushy proclamations of love. I can find humor in a lewd joke just like any guy. Why do guys and studios pigeonhole women into this category?

As a girl, if you like superhero movies you are placed into the hot nerd branch. A girl that likes action movies is put into the tomboy branch. If a girl likes lewd comedies, she is instantly one of the guys. And if a lady likes a romantic movie, she is forever the girly girl. There is no in-between.

I know that I've used my "hot nerd" cred, or let's be serious, geek chic title to get into a conversation with a guy. It's a great in and most guys think it's cool that a girl likes action and/or sci-fi movies. Some guys only see "girly" movies because they are forced to. If a guy tells me he really liked The Notebook, I have a hard time believing him. Should we really question what a certain genre of movie says about you? I like to see what a person's favorite movie is because it is more revealing than a whole genre. Most of my friends are up to seeing any kind of movie; are we the minority in a majority of women who only want to see a love story? I can't believe that but there hasn't been much evidence otherwise.

My night ended well; my wide variety of movie genres impressed the guy. I wear my geek chic badge with honor. Even if I am an endangered breed of woman, I would rather be open to other possibilities.

Except foreign films. I definitely don't have time fo' that.

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Writer's Block? *

I know, I'm the worst. I'm like the sun; when I'm writing blogs every week it's amazing and you soak up all the rays of my wit and insights. Then I'm gone and you wonder if the sun will ever come out again. As a writer it's hard to know what you are looking for: do you want me to detail my summer TV schedule? Only review movies? Stalk celebrities and write about it? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME????????

I don't know where that came from, I apologize. But really, I don't know what to write about sometimes and I feel that nothing is better than something not that interesting to the masses. (Of course my blog is read by the masses. You shaking your head doesn't change that. Silly masses.) And disappointing my readers is not something I want to do. So what's a girl to do?

I could write about the movies I've seen so far this summer and they vary in style as well as in popularity. Most recently I saw The Conjuring, and it totally blew me away and reaffirmed my love of scary movies. Set in the 70's and based on "true" events, the movie was predictable but believable. Nothing is scarier than possessed or creepy children. I am more convinced of this than ever after that movie. ::shudder:: I also saw The To-Do List which was hilarious and unwatchable at the same time. Having grown up in a American Pie era, one would think that nothing could be truly uncomfortable again in the raunchy coming-of-age type of movies that have been popping up ever since. No. It can and does get more cringe-worthy. Trust. Me.

I could write about how USA shows are blowing the competition out of the water this summer. The network turned up the drama with the new undercover cop drama, Graceland, as well as the heat with the hotter than should be legal cast. As addicting as the some of the drugs they recover, it keeps you on the edge of your seat and wanting more each week. Another of the networks gems is Suits and while the world would be an unbearably difficult place to work in if all men fit their suits like the lawyers on the show did, I wouldn't want it any other way. Oh, and if you can get past the eye candy the show deals plot and dialogue better than most movies out today.

I could express my utter dismay at one of the best shows I've ever had the pleasure of watching get cancelled after months and months and MONTHS of waiting to hear about its fate. Amy Sherman-Palladino's Bunheads was so good. I am still in shock at it's untimely demise. I only began watching because of my love of Palladino's previous hit Gilmore Girls and I was skeptical to say the least. Why? I wasn't a fan of the show's lead, Sutton Foster. She never really intrigued me. And then she made me fall in love with her. With her sharp delivery, fearlessness, and just genuine presence on screen I fell in love so deeply with the show, I felt like I was punched in the gut when it got the official axe. The show's concept wasn't easy to get behind nor was it the "sensational" type of show that was normal for the new "pushing the envelope because we can" attitude of ABC Family. The show was different too; while plot would ease out at a normal for real life but too slow for TV pace, the dialogue was rapidly fast and whip smart. I really could go on and on about this show. Hopefully I can purchase the DVD and relive it on my own.

I could tell you about my foray into the online dating world. I know, way to bury the lead Kate. I still might do this, time will tell. It certainly has made for interesting movie ideas. I just am unsure of sharing the aspect of other peoples' lives and how that will make me look. I know, getting really deep.

I could express to you my utter lack of excitement at the new crop of TV shows coming to our TVs as soon as the end of this month... but again I'm unimpressed with the vast majority of them. Besides the obvious addition of Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D.  I honestly can't tell you what else might make the cut.

So I guess I want to know what you, the supposed masses, would like me to write about. I'm doing this mostly for your benefit, a little bit to keep my writing skills sharpened, and a little bit for myself. What do you enjoy? What do you want me to take a deeper look at? All suggestions are welcome.

Unless I don't like your suggestions.

* The first draft of the song title: "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" from The Sound of Music. Or so I think.

Faithfully

Celebrities are not our friends. They embody characters that writers envisioned. Some do it well, others do it better so that when the show is over you feel like you spent an hour or so with a close personal friend. Again, they are not our actual friends. But when an actor or actress does that extraordinary thing of leaving an actual impact on the viewers, we feel like they are our friend. That we have opinions and stakes in their fictional and real lives. And so when tragedy happens and we lose that friend, we don't know how to handle the news.

Celebrities are not our friends. When they die, it shouldn't effect our daily lives. The normal thing to do is to say a prayer for them, their loved ones and family, and move on. But sometimes, the celebrity made that special connection with the audience and we feel, however crazy it may be, but we feel like they were our friend. And we mourn. And we grieve. It shouldn't be personal. It shouldn't effect our day in such a way that you can only focus on the why's.

Celebrities are not our friends. Many of you know that I have a deep love for Patrick Swayze. When he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, I was devastated. A neighbor and beloved family friend had recently passed away from the same disease and I feared the worst. Of course, Patrick lost the fight against the vicious sickness and I was overcome with grief. He was the first celebrity I had ever loved. I had dreamed that one day he would teach my the actual "Dirty Dancing" dance for my wedding. I dreamed that we would be friends. However unrealistic I knew these dreams to be, I lost the chance at a reality when he passed away. But more, I lost the chance to see him on screen again, and to connect with him in that way only an powerful actor can.

Celebrities are not our friends. Obviously my life went on and I celebrate Patrick Swayze's memory a couple times a year on various anniversaries that are special to me. But the grief I felt late Saturday night was more devastating. Cory Monteith had passed away, reasons unknown still, and I couldn't understand why. How did this happen? He had just completed a voluntary stint in rehab and seemingly come out stronger. He had a loving girlfriend (Lea Michele, another of my favorite actresses), a loving work family who seemed more like a real family to outsiders, and a stable job. Of course, as the reality of the event hit harder another thought came creeping up: how would the show go on? Would I be able to still watch? How could the cast continue on? These were stupid questions but my mind was still struggling to accept the horrible news.

Celebrities are not our friends. I saw Cory Monteith perform once. I went to the Glee: Live! Tour. I screamed with giddy delight when they opened with "Don't Stop Believing". I was hysterical when Cory sang and played the drums during "Jessie's Girl". And the final encore of "Somebody To Love" finished, I remember he came to the edge of the stage, thanked us all for coming and yelled, "We love you!" And we loved him.

Celebrities are not our friends. Yesterday I was in a state of shock over the news. I knew my reaction to his death was a bit much, but I couldn't stop myself for tearing up over the course of the day. I couldn't stop myself from playing my Glee Rewind BluRay and watching his songs from season 1. I couldn't and can't even imagine what his actual friends, family, and Lea are going through. I'm sure they are reliving certain memories over and over again. And with the power of song, they will think of him anytime a song they sang together on the show or for fun plays.

Celebrities are not our friends. I know this. As I type this, I know most of you will mock me or just shake your head and say "Ohhh Kate." That's fine. I'll be done outwardly mourning today. But every time I hear a song that he sang or watch the show, I'll have a moment of sadness for my friend who left this place to soon. For his friends, family, and for Lea. And that's ok. Because in some ways, Cory was my friend. We hung out once a week for four years. We laughed. We cried. We fell in love. We jammed.

Celebrities are not our friends. But maybe, when they make an impact on another's life, just maybe they are.

"You're one of the most unique talents in the world. You always shine your brightest when you do something personal, something intimately important that defines you. Just do something that takes you back to the roots of your passion."-- Finn Hudson

Man of Steel: Review

The Adventures of Logan

 

The Adventures of Logan

Prologue:

Logan was a normal girl like everyone else. Yes, a girl. Her mother died when she was less than a day old from complications. Her father Troy, barely an adult himself, chose the name Logan because Wolverine was one of his favorite movie characters. (It was also one of his wife’s favorite movies. Troy was a sentimental kind of a guy but didn’t like to show it.) Logan was a normal girl.

Logan thrived in school, went to a University, graduated with honors and moved back home. With a degree in Journalism, she knew her choices for jobs right out of college were slim to none and began looking for a full-time job that could give her that “real world” experience everyone kept talking about. And so Logan got a job as a recruiter.

After two years, Logan was feeling the itch to move on from her “big kid” job. And that’s when it all started to change.

 

Chapter One: Rain Is A Good Thing

Four o’clock. The worst time of day for any 9 to 5 worker. One hour til freedom. One hour of servitude left. Logan sat at her desk trying to seem like she was still working as hard as she had been at 2, but in reality she hadn’t worked that hard at 2. If her boss would leave, she could wait around for a little bit more and leave just early enough to miss most of the weekend traffic. Although, she thought, that was part of the fun of driving home. It was like human Tetris and she loved to beat the game.

     Logan was doodling on her notebook about the concert she had just been to the weekend before, thinking about sending her work in to a website online that featured local events. She had been sending in her work more frequently as her best friend’s uncle’s stepdaughter was one of the editors. “Gotta love connections…” she murmured.

     Logan really wanted to leave work because for the first time tonight she was allowing herself to be set up on a date. Her dating life wasn’t dead per se, but its heartbeat was close to flat lining. Her best friend, Nina, had finally convinced Logan to start being set up and she had finally caved and agreed to drinks and the potential for dinner.

Like most girls who have their minds preoccupied with thoughts of an upcoming date, Logan didn’t check the weather that morning. She also didn’t check it at lunch. She didn’t even bother to look outside in fact. This is important.

After closing down her computer in the slowest way possible, Logan shoved her computer in her bag, grabbed her coat, and was out the office door by 4:57. Into the elevator she went, tapping her foot to some internal beat.

CRACK! The sky is illuminated with lightning as she walks out the front door right into the torrential downpour that had been taking place for the last hour. Frozen, not helping the matter, she glances down to realize that her shirt is almost completely see-thru almost immediately. “Classic.”

 

 

 

 

 

TV/Film: A Haiku

 

 

 

 

 

why must I grow up

no one understands this love

it is in my blood

Great Expectations

Have you ever been waiting for something to happen with so much excitement that when it finally happens, there is a sense of loss because it wasn't as great as you anticipated it being?

As I sat in line for the new Star Trek movie, this thought crossed my mind. I sit in those lines, breathless with anticipation, assuming the movies will be worth every minute. But what happens when it doesn't meet the standard of everything I hoped it would be?

Star Trek Into Darkness was a fantastic film filled with eye-popping special effects and the acting bar raised beyond measure. I gave it an A- in my post-movie blog. Why not an A? Well, I just missed the easy one-liners that the first film had so easily mixed in with the action and storytelling. Not that there weren't funny moments; the film just has a darker tone and the comedy would have lightened the mood where the film meant to take you to a dark place.

Expectations. They can make or break a film.

 I saw The Big Wedding when it first came out solely because I like the ensemble of actors that were in the movie, not because I had an over-whelming desire to see what would happen. I already knew what was going to happen. The movie was fairly predictable but here's the thing: I loved it. The performances were so nuanced and mixed in with other characters storylines that you didn't have to time to sigh that you've already seen this movie. There is nothing like the feeling of leaving a movie more than pleasantly surprised at how much you liked it.

Maybe that's part of the problem: predictability. Most movies, big and small, are fairly predictable. At least to me they are. I am pretty good at predicting what is going to happen before it does. Scratch that- I predict plot points in movies better than anyone else I know, and I have some pretty intelligent friends who can do this very well. The "twists" in the new Star Trek were not mind-blowing but fairly easy to figure out. The director and writers laid out the hints of the audiences like breadcrumbs, basically asking us to come to the conclusion before we even see it happen on screen.

I worry about that time when I'll find movies, especially the ones I wait in line for hours to see, utterly predictable and no longer have that same sense of excitement. The only place I find originality is in B-movies and indie films, and there you have to sift through all the riff-offs of the A-list movie that it was inspired by.

The same can be said for television. I watch more than 80 hours of TV a week and 95% of the time I know what is going to happen before it does. This isn't a negative commentary on the shows, more that I just had the training to be able to do this. I believe this ability stems from watching soap operas since I was about 5, anything that can and could happen does on those shows. I've seen a character die 5 times, have 2 alternate personalities, and a secret twin. Those shows showed me how predictability is it's greatest ally: people want to see these characters happy and then destroyed. It's the way of life on a soap.

Movies and television think that shocking has to be dealt in blood baths, deaths, and surprise babies. These can be exciting and great ratings for the shows, but in all honesty they just delay the slow turn back to predictability. The most "original" shows on TV right now utilize violence and that is a sad commentary on our society. I know how hard it is to be original, I have to come up with these blogs and my own show ideas are little bits of other shows that influenced me.

I guess my really worry is that someday, I won't be able to have the moment of pure delight when a movie or television show is able to pull one over on me. I really don't want to know what will happen then.