Thursday, May 29, 2008

Sex and the City: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

First off, let me clarify that in spite of any negative comments made in the article to follow, I am a devout and faithful lover of "Sex and the City." Nothing will ever change that. But that doesn't mean that the show is or was ever perfect; it has a mess of flaws. And in view of it being such a cultural touchstone for so many women, it seems prudent to open a discussion of what is worth emulating in the series, and what is not.

The Good:
  • Portrayal of Female Friendship: These girls were always there for each other. I'm not sure if it was the fact that these girls were single, lived in a big city, or all had bad relationships with their families, but they always showed up for each other when needed and acted as family throughout the show. It was a theme reiterated time and time again. When one of the girls flaked out because of a boyfriend, the others called her on it, but understood. At Miranda's reception, when the girls are confronted with Sam's cancer diagnosis, Charlotte tells Miranda to "go off, be with your people." Miranda's response: "You are my people and we'll talk about it now." Reception be damned, you girls are my family and that comes first! I also always loved Charlotte's naive notion that, "Maybe we can be each other's soulmates , and then we can let men be just these great, nice guys to have fun with." And that was the basic truth of this show. Because after all the hype about one true love and soulmates (which the show covered so well) it's nice to know that you have friends in your life who will understand you and stick around longer than romantic partners. It was very telling that Big's magic words, to get the green light from the girls to go after Carrie, is that he calls them her soulmates: "A guy's just lucky to come in fourth." Don't we all want those kinds of friends? I also loved how the show portrayed the individual friendships between the girls. Sure, they function as a family and will band together when necessary, but they are individuals who respond to each other in different ways. And that is true of life: we go to different friends for different things. Carrie goes to Samantha when she needs to talk, but doesn't want to be judged; she goes to Miranda when she needs to be smacked upside the face with reality; she goes to Charlotte when she needs a boost of optimism or to indulge in crazy love-talk. Sam and Charlotte occupy opposite ends of the sexual spectrum, and the show addressed their conflicting ideologies realistically, but Sam was always there for Charlotte and Charlotte was always there for Sam, regardless. It's nice to see a group of women who can collectively support each other, but also retain their individuality and separate point of view.
  • Sex Lives: It acknowledged the fact that women have and like sex! Shocking! After the myriad of bullshit shows I have had to sit through where teenage female characters are made to feel like whores for wanting to have sex, for enjoying sex, or for having had sex with more than one person, it is such a relief to watch the ladies of "Sex and the City" be so uninhibited and shameless in their sex lives. They explored sexuality in many facets, from lesbianism and bisexuality, to oral, anal, break-up and rebound sex. While it may not be every one's bag to hear about or experience all of these sexual arenas, I applaud the show for opening up the dialogue. It not only reflects the reality that many girlfriends gossip about their sex lives, or get their diaphragms stuck, or need advice on how to deal with sexual fetishes, but it portrayed the sexual appetites of these characters as healthy rather than promiscuous. It's about time the sex lives of women were treated with the same open-minded leeway as the sex lives of men.
  • Singleton Issues: The older I get, the more I relate to the problem of being a single woman in a world expecting everyone to be part of a couple. This show recognized the embarrassment of going to a party populated with couples and being treated like the potential homewrecker. It acknowledged the condescending "You'll find him" offered up by acquaintances who are already married, as if finding the one is the ultimate goal of every woman's life. The pressure to marry, the loneliness of celebrating birthdays and holidays alone, the shame of spending money on yourself rather than procreating to spend your money on your children, watching ex-boyfriends who were afraid of commitment settle down with women half their age. These are some of the hardships, humiliations and realities of life without a partner. Even when the girls are in relationships, their history of depending on and providing for themselves becomes an issue: Miranda is too butch and independent, Samantha doesn't like to talk about feelings or can't find a guy to help her out when she's sick, Charlotte considers converting to Judaism for a man, and Carrie and Mr. Big went through many trials in order to secure a proper dating ritual that satisfies both parties. The point is, this show continued to recognize and realistically deal with the negotiating and compromise that takes place within relationships while also taking into account how age, independence and an unwillingness to settle affects those relationship compromises the older you get.

The Bad:


  • Samantha's sexuality: I have no problem with the writers of this show making Samantha their go-to sex girl. It's not the fact that she has indiscriminate sex with a different partner on practically every episode that bothers me; it's the fact that her rationale for doing so partially conceals some real issues. Sam often uses male behavior as an example of how she should behave: just because some men are horny, emotionally stunted assholes does not mean Sam has to emulate their choices. She often makes pointed comments about "men and all that crazy testosterone" and it comes off as less understanding of men, and more a desire to become one. I don't mean to come down on the one female character whose sex life doesn't revolve around a desire to be emotionally appealing to a man, but the act seems forced and more like denial than reality. Her fear of intimacy was so bad she couldn't even hold Smith's hand. That seems a little ridiculous to me, as if the writers were trying to force cute intimacy problems down our throats to make it funny rather than have Sam actually address the problem. There were occasional forays into her stunted emotional development, but usually Kim Catrall was used as dependable comic relief and the writers rarely gave her a storyline even close to approaching the emotional complexity of one of Carrie's. This always bothered me because it was a disservice to both the actress and the character.
  • The Column as Set-up: Every week Carrie writes a column with a "theme." Conveniently, each of the girls' particular problem somehow fits into that "theme" and if it doesn't, well dammit, it's forced. Like the episode where Carrie had to deal with her ex, Mr. Big, and Miranda had to deal with her ex, Steve, and Sam missed her ex, James, and Charlotte was confronted with....the memory of her old horse? Poignant. Often the main question asked by Carrie in the column is a ridiculously oversimplified concept such as "Can you make a mistake and miss your fate?" Or "What comes first: the chicken or the sex?" Or "Are relationships the religion of the '90's?" God, I hope not. I realize the the column is a gimmick, designed to make the show more accessible (and not all of the questions are stupid), but why must they shoehorn an entire world of dating issues into concise, bland, pedantic platitudes? Can't the girls just find their own way without having to service an overall concept? They were interesting characters and trying to make each storyline fit within the requisite "theme" only served to increase the amount of stories told purely for comedy. Miranda does something dangerous by having a crush on a sandwich? Sam devirginizes a "Sam Jones" because of karma? Charlotte has to act like an immature gossipy cheerleader for an entire episode? Hey - the theme was "high school"! In addition to the generalized column themes, because each episode is structured from Carrie's writing about the events we are witnessing, the writers saw fit to link scenes with ridiculous voice-overs. "While Samantha was getting freaky uptown, Miranda was freaking out downtown." Isn't that cute? The way we linked freaky/freaky and uptown/downtown? We're so devilishly clever! The absolute worst one is from "The Ick Factor." In the first scene, Charlotte and Harry are eating ice cream; in the second, a newly engaged Steve and Miranda are carrying groceries while discussing their wedding venue. The linking narration? "And from licking, to loving..." AHHHHH! GAG ME!!! Why are those things necessary? The writers learned their lesson in the first two seasons and dropped the interviews with the camera; why couldn't some of the cutesy narration meet the same fate?
  • Carrie: I ignored this problem for a long time, but the fact is, Carrie is a self-involved, self-obsessed character. I often blamed this on the writing situation: Carrie was the main character and her struggles always comprised the A-storyline of every episode. The girls had to talk about her and she had to turn the conversation back to herself in order for the storylines to move forward. But that doesn't excuse her rampant whining and self-absorption. It's all right for a character to have flaws, and Carrie's are mostly realistic. What isn't realistic is that her friends wouldn't call her on it more often. You don't get to obsess over Big for the better part of 4 years, continuing to go back to him no matter how badly he has treated you, and then throw a fit when your friends point out, "But he was such an asshole to you!" You don't get to lean on gal-pal Stanford for years, talking about your own, more important sex life, and then when Stanford finally gets a boyfriend, blow off his attempts to talk about his own relationship. (I know, Stanny did call her on that one, but it took an entire episode of Carrie whining about her dead, dead, dead relationship with Aidan for it to happen.) If Aidan tells you he doesn't want to get back together after you cheated on him, you don't get to stalk him and employ the date rapists defense: "His words said no, but his kiss said yes." If you accept a man's engagement proposal, WEAR HIS DAMN RING ON YOUR FINGER! Otherwise, spare his feelings and say no! (I do understand how Carrie got into that situation and I do sympathize with her, but damn if she isn't indecisive and fairly ignorant of the feelings of others.) After all the times Sam has been there for you, and not judged you, and listened to your bitching, could you just let Sam talk about her fear of cancer and not make it all about you!!! Really, Carrie! To be fair, there are a lot of instances of Carrie being the good friend (comforting Charlotte over her miscarriage, continually advising Miranda to just tell Steve how she feels, offering to call off Char's first wedding if she has changed her mind) but more often than not, Carrie turns any discussion of her friend's problem back around to herself, and any friend who does that gets grating after awhile. All that said, I do still love her, mainly because Sarah Jessica Parker is an amazing actress who makes me love Carrie in spite of her glaringly obvious shortcomings.

I suppose I could go on about some of Miranda's ridiculous storylines, the history making fashion (both good and bad), some of the anvil-like metaphors employed by the writers, the fabulousness of Standford and Anthony, and ability to introduce a child to the cast without jumping the shark, like most sitcoms....I could say a lot more. This particular list is only a few of the wonderful and not-so-wonderful things about "Sex and the City." Suffice to say, it was a great show, with talented actresses playing awesome characters, and it allowed us females to enjoy a show that was all about us, for a change. That was nice.



Wednesday, May 28, 2008

What's the Best Superhero Name?

With the rash of superhero movies that come out faithfully every summer, stupid questions like this inevitably find their way into my brain. (Btw, did you know that there are plans to make film versions of Captain America, the Flash, Wolverine, Justice League of America, and Green Lantern? Do we need movies about every comic book hero, ever? I think not. We will be overrun!)

So I went to see Iron Man a week ago (and he may be my new favorite, replacing Batman, but only because Robert Downey, Jr. is amazing!) and I started thinking about the lameness of so many superhero names. Their powers and appeal are debatable - all have their merits - but so many of their names are unimaginative.

I have compiled a list of the best names I could find, among the more well-known superheroes, and they are available to vote on in the poll to your left. Remember, it's the name that counts, not the coolness factor of the superhero. Only the name.

But because you can't debate the cache' of names without being drawn to judge the merits of the heroes, I have also included a poll to vote on your favorite superhero. I picked mostly biggies, but if your particular favorite isn't listed, feel free to comment with it here.

I know this is a fairly prosaic poll (I'm sure we have all voiced our favorite superheroes many times before) but I just can't sit through the plethora of summer movies without being drawn to this question again and again!

Mini-Reviews: Iron Man & Speed Racer


  • IRON MAN: Why has Iron Man become such satisfying phenomenon? The answer: Robert Downey, Jr. In a movie industry overpopulated with whiny, dour, heavy-laden superheroes, Downey's take on Tony Stark is a welcome relief. A womanizer with an abundance of confidence, style, and dry wit, Stark is one of the only superheroes whose alter ego is more interesting than his superpowers. Downey has always been an ace at oddball characters with a disinterested, insouciant verbal prowess and from the first frame of the movie, his line delivery is perfection. Whether he is bantering with reporters, facing off with terrorists or conversing freely with his computer, Stark is imbued with an intelligence, humor and warmth that infuses the entire film with life. The origins of his superhero status take place in the current day Middle Eastern war zone; in fact, Stark is kidnapped by Afghani terrorists. This development worried me at first, but the film manages to incorporate these current world events organically into this tale without exploiting the politics of the situation. In fact, it is what Stark learns while kidnapped that inspires his superhero's greatest motivation - to shut down his arms-manufacturing plant. As we learned so sentimentally in Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility," but here that principle is connected to real world concerns (weapons manufacture and theft) which grounds the story in a kind of reality. As Stark's confidante assistant Pepper Potts and best friend Rhodey, both Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard have an easy chemistry with Downey. Paltrow's Potts is skittish, but with a backbone that acts as an amusing foil to Downey's overconfidence. And Howard has an easy rapport that does suggest a long friendship between the two characters. Neither was given much opportunity to shine in this first installment, but I hope if the franchise continues, their fascinating dynamics with Stark are further explored. The construction of the iron suit and it's many tests provide great action sequences, highlighted with humor, and Jeff Bridges is very sly as Stark's corrupt business parter. The only real flaw in the film comes in the final showdown. Although the villain was well-established, the face-off with Iron Man came off as clunky and without enough dramatic build-up to support it emotionally. It also hurts that the superhero and his nemesis are not visible for most of the fight due to their iron suits. However, my quibbles with the final action sequence are minor as the overall film provides ample destruction of higher quality. And let me just say, those who may have doubted Downey's ability to take on the role of a superhero, well they were wrong.

  • SPEED RACER: This visual spectacle from the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix) is high on the adrenaline and low on the character development. From it's engaging and masterful opening race sequence we are introduced to the Racer family through a series of colorful flashbacks and an energizing action rhythm. However, the rest of the film never fully pays off on that original promise. We are plunged into a familiar morality tale as the integrity-laden Racer family is plunged into the shady world of corporate greed and corruption. Speed (Emile Hirsch, not required to do much but act the dewey innocent) is recruited by the evil Royalton Industries to train as their new racer. He passes because selling out led to the death of his older brother Rex in a race, a tragedy which hangs over the entire family. When Mr. Royalton threatens to force him out of the sport forever, Speed teams up with the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox) to overcome the odds, expose the bad guys, and make it to the Grand Prix. While the Racer family is noble, the inherent conflict of big business vs. honest family seems redundant and the actors aren't given any meaty character growth to sink their teeth into (which is a shame as both John Goodman and Susan Sarandon would be up to the task). The PG romance between Speed and his girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) is too tame for anyone over 10, and the antics of little brother Sprittle and the family monkey, Chim Chim, while true to the anime' character's original roots, seem lifted from an entirely different movie. Without the benefit of interesting characters, the film does have an impressive array of visual tricks in it's bag. Somehow the Wachowskis have created a world that utilizes the intense color palette and static background of a video game and synthesized it with both the extreme movement of an anime' film and the physicality of real actors. The final result is a seamless blend of environments that feels like a real world despite it's obvious inauthenticity. The film has been accused of having too aggressive a visual style, but I found it to be the most original and enjoyable aspect of the film. (As someone who counts Moulin Rouge as her favorite film, of course I am thrilled by a visual assault to the senses.) I have never been a fan of auto-racing, but was riveted by the action in each of the racing sequences and the ingenious feats performed by the drivers and their cars. And when the final, exhilarating race came to an end, I was surprised by how involved I had become in the adrenaline of the competition and the (marginal) emotional payoff for the main characters. The movie is definitely too long, and the family conflict never comes off as more than an oversimplified fight from an episode of "Full House" but the well-crafted action sequences in their amazing visual style have a catchy energy and made this a movie worth seeing.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

All Alone in the Dark


One of the links I posted on Sunday was to an article on the Scanners blog titled "Movies Too Personal to Share With an Audience." It raises the question: Do we each have certain movies that we only watch in private? Are some movies just too special to risk being shared with others?

For the most part, I don't think I have that problem. If you know me, and most of you do, you know I'm the kind of person who thrives on the high of watching a beloved movie of mine with a first-timer - the rush of watching r
eactions to something I admire. I do it with TV shows, movies, music, music videos, just about anything I love, I force others to experience, hoping for that same reaction from them. It's like reliving the high of seeing it for the first time.

However, I do think there are some titles I would be reluctant to share with others. Some movies are just too weird. Secretary covers sadomasochism with an odd dark humor, but many of the fetishes and the way they are expressed would probably turn others off. Even if I understand the implicit sweetness of their intention, I wouldn't want to watch others have a negative reaction to that. Can you say "Awk-ward." I recently discovered Me and You and Everyone We Know which portrays a relationship through whimsy; it's pretty strange and unusual. It also has some scenes of teenage sexuality that are completely innocent, but could seem subversive to many. I think these movies are great, but I don't think I'd want to watch them with anybody, and I wouldn't recommend them to most.

There are a lot of movies that I have watched with others many times, and it's no problem, but I prefer to watch them alone because then I can cry in peace! The Bridges of Madison County in particular is a movie I can cry buckets over. I'm not sure exactly why (the movie didn't even rank in my Top 100) but for some reason, I put this on when I need to have a good cathartic cry. And it's usually better to do that without Elizabeth teasing me, and without making my throat sore trying to choke back the tears. Once I had an "inspirational cry movie fest" which included Field of Dreams, October Sky, and Dead Poets Society. That was definitely done alone, but I frequently watch these titles with the fam. Also love to watch (and cry over) Legends of the Fall and A River Runs Through It alone, although privacy is not necessary.

Another category: nostalgic movies. I made Elizabeth watch Summer Magic (one of the lesser Haley Mills/Disney productions) with me last year and she still hasn't forgiven me. I guess it's not that great, but I will forever love it because I loved it as a kid. Unfortunately, that quality isn't transferable. I would also include The Gnome Mobile (another old Disney flick), the original That Darn Cat, and Gidget in this category. (Loving Gidget is kinda embarrassing and I don't blame anyone for finding it a hokey piece of malarkey, but it makes me happy! Don't you wish life were as easy as a '60's beach flick? I do.)

So, as to the actual question: Movies that must be watched alone because they are just too personal to share with others at the same time. I don't have many; I've been blessed with a pretty awesome set of friends and family who also dig movies - all kinds of movies - and I can generally find at least one other person who will enjoy a movie with me (as long as I choose the friend wisely). Magnolia is a possibility, although I have enjoyed watching this with others. However, there's something about it's length, tone, and sense of loneliness that makes it appropriate to watch alone. I think I feel it deeper when in the privacy of my bedroom. And The Virgin Suicides, while being a film I have watched with Elizabeth, is also something that feels somewhat sacred and should be watched alone.

So, I guess I'm a pretty bad example of this concept. There aren't many things that I hold to be special enough to not try and find SOMEONE who will share that affinity with me. There are some things that absolutely should not be watched alone. The TV show "Firefly" had a small, but devout fanbase and I was introduced to it on DVD by a friend. Last summer we went to watch a special screening of the follow-up movie Serenity at a theater in Portland, with a crowd full of "Firefly" fans. That was a hoot. It's nice to watch a movie where you know every person in the audience loves all the characters and storylines as much as you do. It's especially awesome to watch it within a fan community because you can cheer and clap and boo outloud along with every other person in the audience. That is so fun!

So what about you guys? Any movies you prefer to watch alone?

Weekly Links

Here are this week's selections. Damon - you might get a kick out of the "Cylon President" link (it's not an article, just a funny character reference), and I really loved the "Worthless Character Additions" story as it sadly happens to many a great show.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Season Finales


Well, it's that time of the year again and the writers strik
e has left all of my shows in an odd quandry; faced with less time to resolve this season's plot points, some shows featured thrown-together finales that rushed to pre-determined plot points and left us feeling a little cheated! (Okay, mainly "Gossip Girl." Most of the other shows were about the same quality, strike or no. And I promise, this is likely the last time you'll have to hear about "Gossip Girl" until next fall. Probably...)

THE COMEDIES:

In the positive column, the comedies didn't seem to suffer as bad. "
How I Met Your Mother" resolved the Ted/Barney standoff with relatively little contrivance (if you don't include TWO car wrecks involving major characters in one episode, which I don't) and they also managed to sneak in the adoring BARNEY LOVES ROBIN shot! I am such a sucker for the bad boys who turn out to have super-soft, gooey cores (Logan Echolls, Spike, Chuck Bass, etc.) because there's nothing better than watching a jackass twist because he can't admit he's in love! At least for me.


"The Office" also suffered few setbacks. The Toby departure and Pam/Jim impending engagement both seemed a little quick, but also in character, so their being foisted upon us didn't really bother me. Because it bears repeating, the "mentally challenged" Kevin and new HR rep Holly storyline was so wonderful, well-written and took advantage of Kevin's particular character history. Excellent! And, as I think we covered on Heather's blog, the finale actually felt like good ol' vintage season 2 and 3 "The Office." That's quite an accomplishment! Finally, the secret's out on Dwight and Angela! Can't wait to see the fallout!



GOSSIP GIRL:

Of all the shows I love, the chief casualty of the strike seems to be "Gossip Girl." After a truly excellent freshman season (including 16 well-executed, character building, organically developing episodes) the last two episodes were in a bit of a tailspin. But it was all the strike, I thin
k. Rather than have 9 episodes to close out the big, bad Georgina/Serena killed someone! arc, the show had to make do with only 5. Four episodes is a lot to lose when you're still planning on ending the season at the originally determined plot points.


Good about the finale?: First up - the title was "Much 'I Do' About Nothing" which rocks on so many levels! Also, Serena and Dan needed to break up. I was glad the Lily/Bart union actually happened so Chuck and Eric still get to be step-brothers! Yay! Nate and Chuck made up and are finally best gay friends again! As it should be! And the bestest? Although too rushed, Chuck was all kinds of awesome, helping out Nate, admitting he loved Blair, using his best man toast to win her back and kissing her on the dance floor. Even his reversion back to sleaze in the final minutes was tinged with tragic sadness and acted to perfection by Ed Westwick! Love him! And check out his and Leighton Meester's (Blair) amazing chemistry in the photos below. So hot! (Sorry, will stop indulging my inner fangirl now....)


Bad about the finale?: The scene of Blair finally taking down the muc
h-despised Georgina Sparks was shockingly short, easy and lacked a real confrontation with Serena, the girl she's been stalking, blackmailing and torturing. That's wrong. Even though he was kinda in the right, Dan came off as even more a sanctimonious ass than usual. Chuck's relationship stalemates with both Nate and Blair were solved with only a few lines of dialogue. Rufus and Lily finally had the sex, but seemed to decide not to be together in a scene we didn't get to see!!! Also, while I like where the one week flash-forward has left all the characters (everyone's poised for new relationship drama next season) we didn't get to see Nate/Vanessa break-up (or find out why), we missed all of Chuck's romantic overtures, and the realistic behavior of Chuck in the last 5 minutes seemed wrong because of how it was written. However, I attribute almost all the flaws to the shortened and tampered time frame, because I like all these developments, just wish they were dealt with more gradually. Damn writer's strike!


GREY'S ANATOMY:
That was a lovely season finale! After some other storyline atrocities committed in Season 3 and the first part of this season, if was refreshing to see some actual character development, some happiness, and lot of smooching. Keeping up an impressive streak of good acting from it's guest stars, this week's patients included a boy who had encased himself in cement, and two young kids in love, both addled with the same brain tumor. Really good acting from all of them - got me crying.

Amongst the main characters, Callie finally recognized her feelings for Hahn, and at Mark's prodding, laid a big ol' lesbian kiss on her that was actually kind of sweet and hot. Oh, Mark. I hope next season the writers give you your own love story because Eric Danes is quickly becoming one of the best reasons to watch this show. Justin Chambers rocked as Alex had to deal with hell from Rebecca, but Izzie was there to hold him as he cried. So great to learn some of his shitty childhood backstory, finally! George talked the Chief into letting him retake his intern exam, yay, and had Lexi to thank for helping him rejuvenate his moxie. Lexi was a little annoying, but mostly cute, and George kept up his recent streak of cuddly, snuggly adorableness. And last but not least, Meredith made great strides in therapy, realized she didn't want to let Derek get away, and made a big romantic gesture. Derek did a little growing of his own (baby steps, people) and was on board with the Mer/Der reunion. Now writers, just keep them together from now on, please.


I lied. The most awesome was, of course Bailey. Chandra Wilson continues to own both this character and this show. In the finale she got to give great speeches to both cement boy and Izzie, decided to put her family ahead of her career, and impressed everyone with her knowledge of Star Wars factoids. She is a wonder.



I don't know if I'll be back to talk about the most likely amazing two-hour finale of "Lost" next week, but there may be a second edition of Season Finales. Be prepared.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Indiana Jones Hype

Oh, yeah!
I'm super excited for today's release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull although I probably won't see until next weekend at the earliest. (Dad's a big fan and would probably like to see it as a family and he is currently in St. Louis for the college track championships, so that's on hold.) I was thinking of writing something about the Indiana Jones trilogy (like I've been doing in anticipation of "Sex and the City") but any efforts on my part would be contrived and forced. (And probably require too much research. As much as I love these movies, I don't watch them enough to quote and reference them off the top of my head.)

So instead I found these two great posts over as The Cooler blog. (This guy is my go-to-critic for fun, well-written, timely blogs - if he was only into "Gossip Girl" and "Sex and the City" as much as I am....) So this first link is to a post about the immortality of the original franchise score. (It rocks!) And the second post is just some random thoughts on the previous three films by an avid fan. (He talks about what a great villain the Nazi with the burned hand in Raiders is, and I fully agree.) So if you're hungry for some interesting Indiana Jones discussion fodder, may I please direct you to these wonderful posts and here's to having our fingers crossed that the fourth movie doesn't suck!

Also, on a completely different note, I have a lot of stuff to post on the next week or so (including 3 reviews!) so I will most likely have something everyday, and sometimes maybe even two posts on certain days, so please don't miss them!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Top 10 Worst Fashion Moments on SATC


Here are some of the worst examples I could find. I'm sure I've missed a few atrocities, but I didn't have time to scour every frame of every episode. I tried to get the ones that were truly bad, all around, though some of the ugly didn't always transfer from TV to photo, so they may not look as bad as they really are. I also spared us minor fashion offenses like Miranda's first season man-suits, Carrie's day-glo underwear, Sam's assortment of neon jackets and plunging necklines, and Carrie's ubiquitous season 3 flower broaches. Again, all subjective taste.
  • 10 - Carrie's @ the Movies (3.14): I know it's hard to tell in this picture, but Carrie is wearing a particularly unflattering top with shorts, and the kicker are the gold lame' boots she wearing with it. Ahhhh!
  • 9 - Carrie at Brunch with Girls (6.03): I don't even wanna know what pants she's wearing cause the extreme tropical vest paired with the orange striped shirt is bad enough.
  • 8 - Carrie walking and shopping (4.11): I couldn't get a good pic of the whole outfit, but the ill-fitting pink tube top, heavy ghetto gold necklace, frilly broach, and colorful bandana are hideous. If you're gonna wear a bandana, why make the pointy, triangular end stick straight up?
  • 7 - Sam's Big Shopping Hat (3.14): The dress is probably fine. Unfortunately I've been blinded by the lampshade posing as a hat and the overlarge, Jackie-O wannabe sunglasses. Doesn't that thing look a plastic planter or something?
  • 6 - Charlotte's Acupuncture Pants (6.11): Kristin Davis has a lovely figure, but when wardrobe puts her in pleated, plaid, skin tight pants, her ass looks huge! This is not the first time they've done it to her either and I only wish I had a better picture because these pants are atrocious!
  • 5 - Carrie wedding dress shopping (4.15): The shirt is all right, though it shouldn't be worn as a belly barer, and the skirt is kinda cute. But why, oh why is she wearing a belt around her bare midriff? And please tell me what the hell that green, mossy crown is doing around her hair!
  • 4 - Carrie at Brunch (3.03): This is what she had to be wearing when she found out Mr. Big was married! Kick a girl when she's down! Red floral, ruffly shirt with blue plaid pants. Uh-huh. And you didn't see the granny jacket she was wearing over it at brunch either.
  • 3 - Carrie returning from L.A. (3.14): Carrie was so glad to get back to New York she decided to whip out the fanny pack. And pair it with an indigo jump suit. It's the perfect outfit to accompany her Olympic gold medal. And the fanny pack is metallic pink. Of course.
  • 2 - Miranda out and about (2.01): Even her hideous Season 1 suits don't compare to Miranda in overalls, puffy jacket and baseball cap. The look is not becoming. I realize this outfit isn't crazy bad, but Miranda already gets all the lame, no-sex, chocolate addict, crush on a sandwich, lazy ovary storylines and this outfit is like a visual representation of the writers determination to make her as pathetic as possible!
  • 1 - Carrie at lunch (3.15): So, after the fanny pack, of course her next outfit would be a technicolor, tie-dyed hippie spandex suit and tunic with matching head scarf. How is this woman taken seriously? I mean, she gets hit on in this scene! The hell!


Now, this one is just for Heather. She hates this matching halter and skirt from Season 2 Miranda, and I agree it's fairly ugly. However, I would wear this before any of the items on my list, which is why it didn't make the cut. But it is justifiably horrible, so here's a shout out!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

In Honor of American Idol

Despite my best efforts, I actually watched a majority of this season and came to care about a lot the contestants (damn you, mother!). This week is the finale and I'm personally rooting for David Cook, and in honor of this craptastic show, I'm posting my favorite performances of the season - the ones I've actually gone back and watched again!

  • Carly Smithson, "Come Together": She had a hard time putting together consistently good performances (she tended to get shouty or hit flat notes) but I still think she has the best voice of the female competition, if only she would relax her voice and flow with it. I did really like her last performance of "Jesus Christ, Superstar" but I think her best was probably during the Top12 Beatles week. It's nice to hear a woman on "Come Together"; she's at home with the vibe and on stage, hits most of the notes on pitch and rocks the house.

  • David Cook, "You'll Always Be My Baby": I know most people think he's just like Daughtry, but I like his voice and his arrangements usually work for him, and I would probably buy his album. I was super vulnerable to this performance as this has always been my favorite Mariah Carey song, and he rocked it.


  • Michael Johns, "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right": Personally, in terms of voice, I thought he should end up in the Top 3, but sadly it wasn't meant to be. I suppose he could get a little shouty at times, but he usually had great stage presence, and during Dolly Parton week he sang one of the best vocals of the season. Whenever I hear him sing, at some point I inevitably say, "God, he needs to sing some Bruce Springsteen!" I really feel like his voice would complement a Springsteen song. I just love his voice on this one though, and the piano with sparse electric guitar was a fantastic arrangement choice.

  • David Cook, "Hello": There's a reason I'm rooting for him to win! Considering that the original version of this is such a cheesy song, it's saying a lot that this is a song I would actually go out and buy. I think his voice is really strong and fitting in his chosen arrangement, and I did actually download and listen to this cut repeatedly.



And while this isn't a performance from this season, this is perhaps the best performance I have ever seen from this show. Kelly Clarkson rocks a mean "Stuff Like That There"; I know there have been more impressive vocals on ballads (especially from the array of Season 3 divas) but this song is a really difficult arrangement with a lot of tonal and stylistic shifts and Clarkson is up for the challenge. Plus, I find her incredibly appealing on stage - she performs like a pro.




And one more thing on "Idol" - there was a great article in an issue of Entertainment Weekly a few weeks ago that laid out some suggestions for making the show better next year. I agreed with almost all the ideas (less commercial/product placement!, longer performances!) and thought I'd provide a link here. Also, good news already, when unveiling their schedule for next year Fox revealed that the results shows will only be half an hour! Yay, less boring filler! (Not that I was watching anyway.)


Sunday, May 18, 2008