Monday, April 21, 2008

The Viewing of The Return of Jezebel James


So, I didn't watch this show when it did premiere on Fox this winter, but they still have it up in their On Demand. I only saw this because I was looking to see if I had seen last week's episode of The Simpsons. Morbid curiosity drove me to watch it because it has Amy Sherma-Palladino (creator of Gilmore Girls, which I love), Parker Posey (to me, she's wooden, but those indie people seem to love her) and Lauren Ambrose (she was good on Six Feet Under) but the show died a quick, painful death on prime time. I had to see how possibly bad the show was. I watched all three aired episodes.

Verdict:

The Bad
1. Sherman-Palladino is not suited for the traditional, three camera sitcom. It should have been single camera.
2. Parker Posey saying Coco.
3. The fast paced, pop culture referenced dialogue.
4. The changing of Posey's house to the biggest co-op in NY.
5. The show's name comes from an imaginary friend of Coco's that's turned into a book.

The Good
1. Seeing Gilmore Girl regulars.
2. The fast paced, pop culture referenced dialogue.
3. No commercials tanks to Fox On Demand.
4. I laughed a few times.
5. I can't think of it.


So, I don't think it would have become appointment viewing, but I might have caught it on Lifetime as reruns, which would have been inevitable.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Honey Bear

Friday, April 18, 2008

Greek Tomato Tart



Yum, I haven't done a recipe in a while. This one caught my attention, it seems that anything that has tomatoes and cheese gets my attention. So, here is a greek tomato tart that looks simple and delicious.

Movies

This week started as a crazy feminist revenge binge and ended with comedy.

The Brave One - Foster goes psycho. Pretty much the whole movie.

Hard Candy - Page goes crazy. These teenagers today, I don't know what's gotten into them.

Freaks and Geeks - A long cancelled tv show that my friends rave about. I like it, I have the next dvd coming.

The Chumscrubber - Again with these kids today. Bell was good, why isn't he in more movies. The rest of the cast is full of surprises, delightful ones.

Instant:
Dilbert - I watched the full first season, at times funny and then not.

Murder, She Wrote - The first episode which apparently was a movie. I never knew that she wasn't always a writer.

Kaiser Chiefs - Predict A Riot

Friday, April 11, 2008

Friday Movies

A long update....
for a long absence.

God Grew Tired of Us - It was okay, it seemed like a gloss over of the refugee's experience in America. I felt for their plight. They were Sudanese lost boys.

Brokeback Mountain - I rented this one right after Heath's death, which made it all the more heart breaking.

O Fantasma - Oh boy, quite interesting. A case study on the decent into madness or whatever running around a garbage dump in a latex suit qualifies as.

Far From Heaven - Very beautifully shot and Moore is amazing. It's frustrating to see people's "open-minded" responses to racism but it was so true.

Babel - This quite the integrated story and it was well done but I wouldn't watch it again even though it has Garcia and Blanchett in it.

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix - I enjoyed it. I read the book a while ago, so I'm not sure what was left out because it covered most of what I could remember.

The Science of Sleep - It was different but a little further out there that I wanted to go. But Garcia was great.

Cars - I finally watched this Pixar gem and really liked it. It was much better than I thought it would be and there is a sequel on the way.

Inside Man - This one was quite good. Foster, Owen, Washington, and Captain Von Trapp team up for a fun suspense flick. I'd watch it again.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age - Blanchett does quite well but the film over all fails to live up to its predecessor and it has Owen in it also.

Wedding Crashers - I wanted something light and funny. It didn't disappoint and it didn't try to be more than it was.

Finding Neverland - A touching film that shows our societal norms hinder creativity and imagination. Depp and Winslet shine.

Thumbsucker - ehh, it had an interesting cast but on a whole it didn't so anything for me. Swinton I love and now I've seen a few films with the lead, Lou Taylor Pucci.

Blades of Glory - I got this one solely for Amy Poehler and Will Arnett, the married couple playing brother and sister. the rest of it was quite ehh, a few funny moments.

Breakfast on Pluto - It's okay. Murphy knows how to be fem, that's for sure. But they tended to mumble and I didn't quite follow the whole thing.

Jesus Camp - Scary, scary, scary. Basically how evangelicals breakdown kids and rebuild them to do their political/religious work.

I Could Never Be Your Woman - Sadly this was not Clueless in a mid-life crisis. It wasn't awful and Rudd and Pfeiffer do well in it. But it is lacking something.

Fast Food Nation - It's Sinclair's The Jungle for the modern age. It doesn't add anything that wasn't there a 100 years ago but it does have a pretty surprising ensemble cast.

Mysterious Skin - Gordon-Levitt has been picking some provocative roles and this one's out there. It's a strong story of a child's way of dealing with abuse. It's intense.

The Bourne Ultimatum - Another solid offering in the Bourne saga. Good fast paced action, but you have to pay attention unless all you want are chases.

Winter Passing - Daschanel is the only child of eccentric writers going back home to make some money off the remaining one. Ferrel in not his usual role which is a bonus. Over all could have been funnier, more emotional, darker, something stronger.

Spartan - Veronica Mars is in this one, only reason to rent it, but she isn't in it until the end. Otherwise it's just pseudo political thriller starring Kilmer. meh.

Enchanted - Yay! I really enjoyed it. I have been a Disney animation fan forever. This film has so many references that if I drank I would make it a game every time I spotted one.

Burnt Money - The fictionalized account of the last month of two bank robbers from Argentina that go out in a blaze of gunfire, drugs and lust/love. The film ends powerfully and it stuck with me for a long time.

Zodiac - A murderer is on the loose and he loves the media but no one ever catches him. That is until one cartoonist catches obsession fever. It's a bit long, but well acted and overall done.

Across The Universe - Oh Magic. It's like a long music video with a very loose plot based on a decade starring The Beatles songs. Beautiful and lovely voices and pretty pictures.

Wristcutters: A Love Story - I posted about this movie a few months back. It's not as good as it could be but enjoyable nonetheless. Plus, GOB is in it!

Now, Netflix also has an instant viewing feature which I have taken advantage of and those films are the following:

I'm Reed Fish - Quirky little film about the director making a film about his life in the movie butthe movie's about his life. There are three layers here, it kills time nicely.

Chalk - I mocumentary about high school teachers that I couldn't even finish.

The Great Happiness Space - A documentary about Japanese guys that's job is to make women happy and separate them from their hard earned money. I didn't finish this one either.

The Motorcycle Diaries - Interesting look at the beginning's of Che's life. But there are issues with showing his idealistic start without continuing to show the after mass of his ways.

The Ten - I wish it were funnier. There were a lot of cool people in it.

A bunch of Miss Marple Mysteries - I love Agatha Christie.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - The Sweets

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

McBoing Boing



This is a fun and visually interesting cartoon with a story by Dr. Seuss and it even won an Oscar. The animation is innovative and still feels fresh, it makes today's cartoons look lazy. Enjoy.

Razorlight - In The Morning


Apparently I already know half their album because it is played at work but I came across this song and enjoyed it.

Monday, April 7, 2008

The Simpsons


Last night's episode has to be one of my favorites in recent memory. It can be found here for a limited time. Now apparently this episode first aired back on Jan. 27 this year, but obviously I didn't catch that. It's not on the Fox website right now but maybe soon. The Bart and Lisa bring up the fact that Marge and Homer are close to forty yet always say they had Bart right out of high school yet he's only ten. So Homer and Marge tell a little story about the nineties, it has Homer going from Boys II Men to Kurt Cobain, Marge with a Rachel hair cut while they live in a Melrose Place style apartment complex. There are cameos from Weird Al and Kurt Loder. I loved their jab at the current President Bush when they proclaim there can never be a worse president than one that would lie in a deposition in a civil case, never. While it totally ruins the continuity of The Simpson's universe and fails to even stay true to the nineties timeline.

Tilly and the Wall - Beat Control


fun!