This week’s 90210 was a fun little episode that provided some laughs, some catty fighting and some great escapist television. It progressed the storylines of the Annie vs Naomi battle as well as the Adrianna/Navid/Teddy love triangle, as well as continuing the aftermath of Silver and Dixon’s break up. At the start Navid is proclaiming his new mission to be overly nice to the 30-something high school student Teddy to prove he isn’t jealous, as Dixon sets off on a quest to find his “Female Dixon”.
Busy with his news paper duties love triangle Navid loans Dixson his Lamborghini to get pizza where he meets a hot, fun older woman who shares his love of baseball and music. The two appear to hit it off so, in the great tradition of many classic 90210 plots, Dixon lies about being a high school student and pretends to be an executive in the music business. The two setup a date for that weekend, but coincidentally both end up on Teddy’s yacht for a party Dixon is invited to and she is DJing before their date.
At the party are a sea-sick Navid, still trying to prove he isn’t jealous, and Adrianna who is busy with Teddy giving Navid a reason to be jealous I in the first place. To her credit she is for now taking the high road and turning down Teddy’s advances. I really enjoyed how these scenes played out, with Navid starting to think Teddy isn’t so bad as he gets to know him and Teddy meanwhile making good on the threat Navid thought he imagined.
Also on board the yacht are Naomi, Annie and Liam continuing their (now played out) drama and throwing poor Silver in the middle of it. I must say I am starting to like Annie this year, she is going back and fourth between being a victim and the aggressor in tormenting the irrational Naomi. It is far more interesting than her dull, aw-shucks girl-next-door personae from last year. Liam is still the one completely to blame for this for A) sleeping with Naomi’s sister and B) not coming clean about it when Naomi incorrectly blames Annie for her sister’s trespasses. These scenes took on a great soapy ridiculousness as Annie first gets the boy from the sexting to prove Naomi sent it out to Silver. However, after clearing her good name Annie goes strictly on the offensive by lying to Naomi that she’s been sleeping with Liam since they got together as Liam stands there looking dumb and pretty. The cliff-hanger to this is Liam breaking into some basement and looking at blueprints, I can’t imagine what his plan is now.
The only other really interesting development is whether or not Kelly Taylor is going to try and steal Principal Harry Wilson away from Aunt Becky. It will be really interesting to see where they are going with this plot in the future, but my guess is that it could just be a red herring plot that won’t go anywhere because the Wilson’s just don’t feel like a couple headed for affairs and divorce to me. Yeah, and also I’m just waiting for Naomi’s sister to be revealed as the one who stole her boy away, my real hope is that once this happens Naomi kicks her out of the house and over to Melrose Place because train-wreck could use somebody as coldhearted as her.
This week’s Gossip Girl is centered around Blair, Dan Humphrey, Vanessa and Georgina beginning their first week as freshman at NYU and trying to find their place at school. Elsewhere our other characters kind of do things, but not really. Being called “The Freshman” this episode is all about the new college kids and those wacky shenanigans you get up to when you inexplicably move out of your multi-floor luxury apartment and into a dorm with a roommate for no explicable reason whatsoever. I thought this was a show about rich people? If I wanted to watch freshman eat pizza I’d become the guy who seeps the floor at the pizza place and says, “Hey kids, where’s the cool parties this weekend?” (Yes, I stole a joke from Xander)
Before we get to the goods I’m going to get the other plots out of the way that I, and apparently the writers, didn’t really care about. Serena mopes around the entire episode, she decided not to go to Brown though I didn’t understand her reasoning (maybe I went to the bathroom at some point, but I think they just were vague about it). S. bounces around from her place, to Chuck’s to Rufus’s loft and generally acts like a pill. Though I do give her some props for telling Rufus he’s more scared of Lilly than she is. Chuck is trying to put together a business deal and wearing a lot of purple. Serena ruins his business deal by mentioning to investors that behind the restaurant is a speakeasy; she does this once accidentally and once just to be a bitch. Carter gets mad at Serena but then kisses her anyways. Nathan and the so far underused Joanna Garcia as Bree Buckely don’t leave their hotel. Yawns all around.
Thankfully the bulk of the episode is about the delightfully ridiculous power struggle between Blair and Georgina. Blair is always at her best when she’s scheming against somebody, especially one of her best adversaries. And Georgina is at her best when she’s on Gossip Girl and not quitting to star in one of the millions of shows about nurses, boo. After weaseling her way into becoming Blair’s roommate Georgina further dismays Blair by ruining her sushi/cocktail party by having a pizza and video night. (But lets get real, while pizza and movie is the #1 dorm activity when dealing with freshman free booze trumps EVERYTHING). Most of this conflict rang true for me because college students would totally shun somebody who tries as hard as Blair in favor of somebody who is (seemingly) laid back like Georgina.
Georgina also has managed to cloy her way back into Dan Humphrey’s good graces (after, you know, pretending to be somebody named Sarah and dating him for a few weeks first season). And true to form, Vanessa first self-righteously judges Dan for not giving Georgina a second change and then judges him again for giving her a third chance. I think she seriously has a sociopathic personality disorder because she really acts like she is better than everybody all of the time, its kinda funny I may turn it into a drinking game. She also continues to date Single White Humphrey, Scott, but I’m getting confused as to why this kid seems to be so interested in Dan Humphrey (who doesn’t know they’re half-siblings) but doesn’t seem to care at all about Little J., Eric or Serena who are also his half-siblings. I hope this turns out to be like One Tree Hill and ends in Dan Humphrey realizing he’s just a stalker and kicking him down the stairs while in a cheerleading outfit, but let’s be honest Dan Humphrey doesn’t have Peyton’s legs.
I guess the biggest mystery of all is what exactly does Georgina want from the gang? She certainly has been successful at bonding with Dan Humphrey, making more friends than Blair and throwing a good roof top kegger, but what is her end game? We didn’t need Georgina to knock Blair down a notch, it was obvious from the get-go to anybody who went to college that people wouldn’t embrace Blair. It seems unusual to make a character with a limited shelf life be the dramatic center of the plot, but I’ve loved Michelle Trachtenberg since Pete and Pete so for now I’m just enjoying it while we can. Overall this week was better than last, if they can just incorporate the other characters in better things will really be rolling.
Posted by yeahandalso on Sep 18, 2009 in Uncategorized
9 the new animated feature from director Shane Acker based on his screenplay with Pamela Pettler and produced by Tim Burton is a new as new and exciting a film as any you’re likely to see this month. Assuming of course you want to see an animated film for grown-up about rag-dolls come to life, filled with philosophical musings and action sequences. Set in a bleak, post-apocalyptic future the dolls battles mechanical monsters and find salivation. In the process they learn about their own creation and the fate of humanity.
The movie opens with the titular #9 being stitched together, his wooden hands put in place and given binuclear lenses for vision. His creator soon collapses daead and little #9 wakes up distressed, confused and unable to speak. He grabs a small, gold disc and nervously heads out into the big world. He soon meets another like him the kindly, old inventor #2 (Martin Landau) who helps him find his voice, Elijah Wood’s voice to be exact. #2 is quickly dragged away by the Beat into forbidden lands and #9 finds himself in hiding with other like him ruled over by the stern #1. #9 convinces the affable #5 (John C. Reilly) to help him on a rescue mission into the forbidden zone where they meet the few remaining dolls.
Once the setup is in place 9 really takes off with thrilling action sequences and providing back-story for this universe. As they try and research the Beast and find a way to save their brethren the dolls learn about the fall of man and rise of machines. Similar to The Matrix the events are rather predictable. However, instead of the heavy handed Neo is Jesus treatment, 9 goes in a different direction to explore the essence of humanity and what will become of Earth after we are gone.
While I appreciate the sci-fi philosophy the real reason to go see 9 is the stunning visuals. Based on Acker’s 2006 Oscar winning animated short the world is at once adorable and terrifying. With darkened skies, towering ruins and ravishing machines our little puppet heroes are dwarfed by all the surrounds them. The dolls themselves are cute and very expressive in the same way the Wall-E managed to be, saying so much with so little to work with. I am regretful I wasn’t able to view it in 3D because the sprawling action would have been very effective in that format.
9 does have some problems, mainly that the dialogue isn’t as interesting as the implications of the plot could have allowed it to be. I also wasn’t incredibly fond of the Girl Power! she-warrior #7 voiced by Jennifer Connelly. I am all for female empowerment, but her character didn’t really have any flaws our vulnerabilities like the others and it was just sort of annoying. Those complaints don’t make for a bad movie, just highlight some wasted potential. There are many sequences that completely work, I was enthralled by the scene set to Somewhere Over the Rainbow that contrasted sunny skies with lurking menace. While 9 is not perfect I did really enjoy watching it as a slightly more intelligent pop-corn flick. And I for one hope it starts a trend in visually ambitious, intellectual animation for adults.
I was checking the headlines today and came across this nice little soft new article on eyebrow shaping for men. It doesn’t really have anything new to offer, just suggested it is a growing trend for men to tend to their brows. I think that guys have been doing this for quite a while now but its still kinda funny to read about. I’m glad they took the time to point out that you shouldn’t take it too far because then it has the opposite effect and makes you look worse. My tip is to imagine two lines that go straight up from the inner corners of your eyes and then pluck anything in-between. Also, look at the basic shape of your eyebrow and pluck any stray hairs that seem outside the general pattern, but don’t go so far as to change the entire shape or size. If you really want to make a big change in the eyebrow department, definitely leave it to a professional.
Glee continues to impress in its third outing with a episode about the power of confidence, plus…you know singing and dancing. This week follows the creation of an a new acapella group, dalliances with a rival show choir’s choreographer and some hilarious unrequited love. The biggest conflict this episode stems from Rachel complaining Mr. Schuester’s choreography isn’t good enough, breaking his confidence as a coach and causing him to withdraw. An upset Mr. Schuster commiserates with his male coworkers and after a rousing rendition of For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow they agree to form a male acapella rap group, the Acafellas. After kicking Sandy out for being creepy and loosing other members the group is down to just Mr. Schuester’s and coach Tanaka.
Meanwhile distressed at their coach’s new lack of enthusiasm Rachel and the gleeks try and hire the state champ’s choreographer. The choreographer does get a few laughs with his mean attacks, ordering them to loose weight, learn to walk, quit or get plastic surgery. However, the entire plotline feels ripped off from Bring it On the criticism scene itself was practically taken verbatim. The big difference is that because this is Glee these kids at least have the sense to stand up for themselves and kick him to the curb. Good job gang!
As Rachel continues her cloying for perfection Finn seeks fulfillment outside the group and joins the Acafellas. Mohawked bad-boy Puck is also persuaded to join believing the group will attract major MILFs. By the time their performance comes around the group has managed to put together a pretty good show of bad 90’s R&B. Throw in a surprisingly hilarious Josh Grobin cameo (complete with restraining order against Sandy) and the whole episode makes for some great TV.
After only three episodes Glee really has become the phenomenon it was designed to be. I always know something has to be good when its recommended by everybody from close friends to my own mother. The songs are fun, the visuals are good and the performances are very strong. Glee makes for a fun hour of escapist TV. For me the big standouts are Jemma Mays and Matthew Morrison as Lima High’s own Ross and Rachel, will they, won’t the couple. Jane Lynch is of course hilarious, but I would much rather she have stayed on Party Down instead (or done both) as her character there was far funnier and more original than the Cheerleading coach, Sue, who is a bit too one note.
The only major concern I have is that the plot seems to be rocketing forward far faster than it needs to, which worries me about where it‘s headed. The glee club was formed in the pilot and in that episode alone Finn decided to quit and rejoin, as did Mr. Schuester. Now this week there are threats to both of them remaining. Similarly Sue already hiring spies and successfully getting them in the club feels like fast forward. It just seems that they could have built those conflicts slower. And also the romances are the same way, it was only episode 2 and already Finn and Rachel were kissing and Terri Schuester is already faking a pregnancy to save her marriage. I am hopeful though because this show was creates by Ryan Murphy of Nip/Tuck fame and anybody who has seen that knows he can handle plots at break-neck speeds. Let’s just cross out fingers Glee doesn’t swing towards the batshit crazy Nip/Tuck is known for.
90210 has come back strong this year after a very rocky and inconsistent first season. Tonight’s episode was what we want from out teen soaps: back-stabbing, love triangles and a good sex scandal. The main plot follows the cell phone image(s) of good girl gone bad, Annie, and her desperate plea to Naomi not to release them. Considering that entire storyline is completely dependant on Naomi refusing to believe something that didn’t happen, didn’t happen they still managed to get a lot of juicy tension out of it. And perhaps most shocking of all, I actually start to feel something other than annoyance for Annie. I don’t know of it was just the plot or if Shanae “Grimey” Grimes took some acting lessons over the hiatus but her character is finally coming together they way it should have last year. The only thing that really bugged me about the “sexting” plot (besides the fact that sexting is like cyber-sex via text not texting nude pics, CW get your teen speak right) is this is 90210’s second plot involving nude high school kids in digital media, do kiddie porn laws not apply in that zip? Because seriously all those kids should be registered sex offenders, or is Annie already 18? Either way Silver definitely wasn’t last season.
The other biggest plot is the brewing love triangle between Navid, Adrianna and the new 30-something high school student/movie star’s kid/pro-level tennis player, Teddy. I’m a little disappointed in this twist, Adrianna and Navid have been my favorite characters since pretty early on and this doesn’t really seem all that consistent with the relationship that’s been established between them, and also Navid isn’t usually such a dick. I am thrilled that Jessica Lowndess was actually promoted to series regular though, because she can act circles around the other girls. Hopefully Teddy becomes more interesting as time goes on, and I can stop noticing that looks like he should be one of the parents and not one of the kids.
Elsewhere Token and Silver continued their annoying breakup, for the record I think both of them could do better but I do side with Dixon as Silver is just nuts. Rumer Willis made a cameo appearance, not memorable but if it became a recurring role I wouldn’t mind, I begrudgingly admit she can be charming. Ryan also came back, but I’ve heard he may be leaving for Melrose Place which is all well and good, Melrose really needs the help and Glee definitely wins the hot TV teach award anyways. So far, even though we’re only two episodes in, it seems like season 2 will be a big improvement over last year!
Gossip Girl made it’s triumphant return last night with a fun, exciting and scandalous premier. When we had last checked in Gossip Girl had dropped the biggest gossip bomb and xoxoed out the season with everybody’s secrets on the table. Georgina had wormed her way into becoming Blair’s roommate and B. had crowned Little J the new Queen of Constance before perhaps the biggest twist of finally becoming a real couple with Chuck. It seemed that everything was set to go back to a calmer, innocent time but as all upper eastsiders know that cannot last for long.
Catching up with the gang we find that Jenny and Eric have been spending the summer in the Hamptons and trying to cover up the scandals Serena has gotten involved in abroad. Chuck and Blair appear, at first, to be back to their usual jealous love/hate selves but we learn a bit later on that they are really just into role-playing which is both hilarious and a little sad. Nate literally flies into town with the extremely delightful Joanna Garcia who has joined the cast as Bree Buckley, the daughter of a political family that rivals the Archibalds. And finally our main girl S. comes back, trailed by paparazzi and apparently involved with bad-boy Carter. Vanessa continues to be a self righteous, annoying and condescending but now is dating the Rufus/Lilly love child, which is perhaps the first interesting thing she has done. Also Dan has shaggier hair now, but mostly just was stressed out about everything else and kinda plotless this week.
As the episode went on I thought that Serena really dominated in terms of intriguing plots. Her romantic development with Carter was not too surprising, but following a horse chase and the gorgeous forest setting I found it rather welcomed. The big reveal of course is that Serena is intentionally baiting the paparazzi in the hopes that her long lost father will see the pictures and want to contact her. A great twist, but I felt pretty bad for poor Jenny and Eric who both really tried to keep all Serena’s exploits a secret, as well as Rufus who was trying to buy up the photos Serena herself was hawking to the media. All and all this was a pretty great start and next week with the return of my fav bad girl Georgia and the start of college things are really going to heat up!
I have been really busy lately, I am moving to a new apartment and now on a new domain for the blog! I did manage to get a bit of time to kick back and relax with one of my favorite guilty pleasures: movies where sharkes eat people. 12 Days of Terror showed up in my mailbox so I decided to watch it. Check out the trailer and my review below:
12 Days of Terror tell the “true” story of the shark attacks of 1916 off the Jersey shore. The case is credited as being the inspiration for the best shark movie of all time, Jaws. Produced in 2004 for The Discovery Channel the story follows what happens when a small town is overcome by a series of brutal and deadly shark attacks. The story is rather simplistic, but the production is quite a bit better than your standard made for TV movie.
Colin Egglesfield, from the new Melrose Place reboot, stars as Alex a lifeguard who becomes immediately involved with the events from the first attack. Egglesfield is effective as the earnest lifeguard who tries to prevent further tragedy by getting the locals to take the attacks seriously. After several attacks Alex teams up with the de facto Quinn character, Captain played by the always enjoyable John Rhys-Davies (Gimli from Lord of the Rings).
The plot is a bit too straight forward, striving for historical accuracy to the detriment of intrigue. Beginning by setting up a love triangle between Alex, his ex and her fiancé the moving seemingly forgets about that plot about halfway through. There are some tense scenes later on, but as a whole the movie is not very thrilling. The shark hunt at the end is probably the highlight of the film. While Jaws knew to focus on the chase, 12 Days of Terror spends the majority of time waiting for it and it makes for a somewhat disappointing experience.
