Wednesday, October 26, 2011
thoughts on How I Met Your Mother: "Noretta"
Well. I pretty much did not enjoy that one little bit, as imagining your romantic partner as one of your parents is gross, not funny. I did like that Barney didn't let it be a dealbreaker, though, because if he and Nora broke up because of something stupid like that, that would be...well, stupid. I like Kevin, too.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
thoughts on the Footloose remake
A few of us went to see the new Footloose movie this evening, and a good time was had by all. It was a fun movie; there were literally four dance scenes that had me grinning from ear to ear (the scene where they dance in front of the burger shop or whatever it is, which is much more of a production in the remake than in the original; the scene at the country dance bar, which is also more of a production; the Willard "Let's Hear it for the Boy" scene, which is mostly the same; and the scene at the dance at the end). Thoughts like, "That looks like a lot of fun," and, "They look like they're having fun," crossed my mind more than once, which says a lot, I think, for a dance movie. Anyway, I don't want to spend a tons of time comparing it to the original, but here are a few differences that I thought were interesting:
1) Unlike in the original, Ren's uncle is not even a little bit of a jerk; he's very supportive, always has his back, and even goes so far as to stand up to Reverend Moore on his behalf. It's pretty awesome.
2) Dennis Quaid's Reverend Moore is angrier than John Lithgow's was. Like, John Lithgow just came across as genuinely concerned for the kids of Bomont (sp?); Dennis Quaid comes across as kind of controlling. This movie, moreso than the previous version, made it clear that both Reverend Moore and Ariel are reacting to their son's/brother's death in really extreme, reactionary ways. With that in mind...
3)...in the original, Ariel came across as rebellious and tough. In this movie, at one point I actually thought to myself, "I think something might be wrong with her." The weird thing is that this moment happened during a scene that was also in the original, the scene where Ariel stands in front of an oncoming train. In the original, it just seemed like, "There's crazy Ariel doing more crazy stuff." I never remember worrying that she was in any real danger, or actually had any intention of dying. In this movie, she really seemed like she might have a death wish. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. Like, if this makes sense, in the original, even when she was doing potentially dangerous stuff, it seemed 1) like basic normal teenage rebellion and 2) like she could take care of herself, so there was no reason to worry about it. Here, I felt like we should be worried for her. For much of the movie, I kind of missed tough Ariel from the original, but now that I think about it more, I think I liked Julianne Hough's performance. She came across more as someone putting on an act rather than someone who was genuinely tough, which I think was right given her character's history.
4) I've heard some critics say that Kenny Wormald, who played Ren, didn't have Kevin Bacon' charisma. I've gotta say, I liked him a lot. Very confident. Played Ren as having a lot of nerve. I also liked whoever played Willard (no, I don't feel like looking his name up).
5) The fight scenes seemed more violent in this movie. Like, you know that part where they go out of town to the country bar, and Willard gets in a fight with that guy who hits on Rusty? In this movie, Rusty HITS HIM WITH A BEER BOTTLE. Like, it shatters, and he crumples to the ground. Like, for a second there I was like, "OH MY GOD, IS HE DEAD?!" And when Chuck shows up at the dance with his friends and they get in a fight with Ren and Willard, I had this weird "SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET KILLED!" worry that I didn't get in the original.
6) What all of these comparisons seem to be coming down to is that the stakes felt higher here, somehow. Everything seemed like a bigger deal. Conversations felt more intense. Tensions were higher. You felt like something big could happen at any moment. Maybe that's why the dance numbers felt like so much fun-- it really did seem like a big deal for these characters to feel like celebrating. All of that is good, I think. Yeah. I liked it a lot.
Oh, and P.S.-- you know that part in the original where Ariel takes Ren to that place near the train tracks where people have written quotes and song lyrics and stuff, and proceeds to read him a horrible, horrible poem she wrote? She doesn't read him the horrible, horrible poem here. This is another Good Thing.
1) Unlike in the original, Ren's uncle is not even a little bit of a jerk; he's very supportive, always has his back, and even goes so far as to stand up to Reverend Moore on his behalf. It's pretty awesome.
2) Dennis Quaid's Reverend Moore is angrier than John Lithgow's was. Like, John Lithgow just came across as genuinely concerned for the kids of Bomont (sp?); Dennis Quaid comes across as kind of controlling. This movie, moreso than the previous version, made it clear that both Reverend Moore and Ariel are reacting to their son's/brother's death in really extreme, reactionary ways. With that in mind...
3)...in the original, Ariel came across as rebellious and tough. In this movie, at one point I actually thought to myself, "I think something might be wrong with her." The weird thing is that this moment happened during a scene that was also in the original, the scene where Ariel stands in front of an oncoming train. In the original, it just seemed like, "There's crazy Ariel doing more crazy stuff." I never remember worrying that she was in any real danger, or actually had any intention of dying. In this movie, she really seemed like she might have a death wish. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. Like, if this makes sense, in the original, even when she was doing potentially dangerous stuff, it seemed 1) like basic normal teenage rebellion and 2) like she could take care of herself, so there was no reason to worry about it. Here, I felt like we should be worried for her. For much of the movie, I kind of missed tough Ariel from the original, but now that I think about it more, I think I liked Julianne Hough's performance. She came across more as someone putting on an act rather than someone who was genuinely tough, which I think was right given her character's history.
4) I've heard some critics say that Kenny Wormald, who played Ren, didn't have Kevin Bacon' charisma. I've gotta say, I liked him a lot. Very confident. Played Ren as having a lot of nerve. I also liked whoever played Willard (no, I don't feel like looking his name up).
5) The fight scenes seemed more violent in this movie. Like, you know that part where they go out of town to the country bar, and Willard gets in a fight with that guy who hits on Rusty? In this movie, Rusty HITS HIM WITH A BEER BOTTLE. Like, it shatters, and he crumples to the ground. Like, for a second there I was like, "OH MY GOD, IS HE DEAD?!" And when Chuck shows up at the dance with his friends and they get in a fight with Ren and Willard, I had this weird "SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET KILLED!" worry that I didn't get in the original.
6) What all of these comparisons seem to be coming down to is that the stakes felt higher here, somehow. Everything seemed like a bigger deal. Conversations felt more intense. Tensions were higher. You felt like something big could happen at any moment. Maybe that's why the dance numbers felt like so much fun-- it really did seem like a big deal for these characters to feel like celebrating. All of that is good, I think. Yeah. I liked it a lot.
Oh, and P.S.-- you know that part in the original where Ariel takes Ren to that place near the train tracks where people have written quotes and song lyrics and stuff, and proceeds to read him a horrible, horrible poem she wrote? She doesn't read him the horrible, horrible poem here. This is another Good Thing.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
randomness/How I Met Your Mother: "Mystery vs. History"/Glee: "Asian F"
1) Who was I kidding, only filling my pasta bowl half full the second time around? What am I, trying to be dainty?
2)In the summer, I often have a glass of lemonade in the evening. In the fall, apple cider. In the winter, hot chocolate. Tonight it is definitely hot chocolate weather, and I am NOT happy about it.
3) How much did I love Kevin calling out the HIMYM gang on being codependent and incestuous? Don't get me wrong; I like this show a lot. I also get that on TV shows, they have a core cast that is on every episode; rarely does anyone go away for more than an episode or two, and rarely do any new additions to the group show up more than just occasionally. However. Lately I have felt critical/concerned about the fact that these people seem to have so few friends or interests outside of the group. I don't feel like it was always this way. Back when Marshall was in law school, he used to hang out with his classmates sometimes (I miss Big Tall Brad, by the way). They used to show Lily painting. Robin used to go to the shooting range. And they used to show one or the other of them drifting away from the group at different times: Barney and Ted had that big fight after Barney slept with Robin. Lily spent that summer in San Francisco. Robin stayed away for awhile (okay, like two episodes, but still) when she was living with Don. I feel like all of that is normal. In real groups of friends, someone gets busy with work, someone starts dating someone, and you all stay friends, but you don't hang out constantly. I guess I'm just feeling like this season so far has been more focused on just the five of them than usual. At any rate, I enjoyed Kevin calling them out.
4) I am SUPER bummed that Robin's dad is no longer played by Eric Braeden (a.k.a. Victor Newman). Seriously, what the hell?
5) I do not date as often as Ted does, which is perhaps why I didn't realize that scoping out your potential date on the internet before the first date was A Thing until recently, and it kind of weirded me out when I did find that out. Anyway, funny that that came up in this episode.
6) On to Glee. I liked the most recent episode (which I realize was on like a couple of weeks ago at this point-- sorry, slipping) a lot more than the previous one. In fact, the only thing that made me angry was when Will invited Emma's parents over even after she told him that she wasn't ready for him to meet them. Crossing a line. But what are you going to do, it's Will.
7) I really liked Mike Chang's storyline. Like, I wish we'd gotten more set-up for it, that they'd brought up before that his father was super obsessed with him getting into a good college and stuff. Even so, I really liked that we did see Mike genuinely struggle with the decision over whether to try out for the musical, and that his mom was so supportive when he told her that he wanted to pursue singing/dancing even if it meant his grades weren't perfect. I really like Mike Chang in general, actually. Glad he got some attention for once.
8) I still hate this whole "second glee club" storyline. However, I did find it realistic that Mercedes would choose to quit New Directions and join it. Mr. Schue was being a HUGE jerk to her-- like, seriously, she's literally vomiting during dance practice and he's yelling at her for being lazy? What's up with that? And that whole "we're going to double cast the lead" thing had to have been frustrating, since Mercedes CLEARLY did better in the audition; it's just that no one ever wants to tell Rachel no. I'm often a Rachel apologist, but I do get frustrated with how she thinks she has to win EVERYTHING. And running for student council president against Kurt was a crappy thing to do.
9) Guess that's it! Yaay!
2)In the summer, I often have a glass of lemonade in the evening. In the fall, apple cider. In the winter, hot chocolate. Tonight it is definitely hot chocolate weather, and I am NOT happy about it.
3) How much did I love Kevin calling out the HIMYM gang on being codependent and incestuous? Don't get me wrong; I like this show a lot. I also get that on TV shows, they have a core cast that is on every episode; rarely does anyone go away for more than an episode or two, and rarely do any new additions to the group show up more than just occasionally. However. Lately I have felt critical/concerned about the fact that these people seem to have so few friends or interests outside of the group. I don't feel like it was always this way. Back when Marshall was in law school, he used to hang out with his classmates sometimes (I miss Big Tall Brad, by the way). They used to show Lily painting. Robin used to go to the shooting range. And they used to show one or the other of them drifting away from the group at different times: Barney and Ted had that big fight after Barney slept with Robin. Lily spent that summer in San Francisco. Robin stayed away for awhile (okay, like two episodes, but still) when she was living with Don. I feel like all of that is normal. In real groups of friends, someone gets busy with work, someone starts dating someone, and you all stay friends, but you don't hang out constantly. I guess I'm just feeling like this season so far has been more focused on just the five of them than usual. At any rate, I enjoyed Kevin calling them out.
4) I am SUPER bummed that Robin's dad is no longer played by Eric Braeden (a.k.a. Victor Newman). Seriously, what the hell?
5) I do not date as often as Ted does, which is perhaps why I didn't realize that scoping out your potential date on the internet before the first date was A Thing until recently, and it kind of weirded me out when I did find that out. Anyway, funny that that came up in this episode.
6) On to Glee. I liked the most recent episode (which I realize was on like a couple of weeks ago at this point-- sorry, slipping) a lot more than the previous one. In fact, the only thing that made me angry was when Will invited Emma's parents over even after she told him that she wasn't ready for him to meet them. Crossing a line. But what are you going to do, it's Will.
7) I really liked Mike Chang's storyline. Like, I wish we'd gotten more set-up for it, that they'd brought up before that his father was super obsessed with him getting into a good college and stuff. Even so, I really liked that we did see Mike genuinely struggle with the decision over whether to try out for the musical, and that his mom was so supportive when he told her that he wanted to pursue singing/dancing even if it meant his grades weren't perfect. I really like Mike Chang in general, actually. Glad he got some attention for once.
8) I still hate this whole "second glee club" storyline. However, I did find it realistic that Mercedes would choose to quit New Directions and join it. Mr. Schue was being a HUGE jerk to her-- like, seriously, she's literally vomiting during dance practice and he's yelling at her for being lazy? What's up with that? And that whole "we're going to double cast the lead" thing had to have been frustrating, since Mercedes CLEARLY did better in the audition; it's just that no one ever wants to tell Rachel no. I'm often a Rachel apologist, but I do get frustrated with how she thinks she has to win EVERYTHING. And running for student council president against Kurt was a crappy thing to do.
9) Guess that's it! Yaay!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
thoughts on How I Met Your Mother: "Field Trip"
Okay, so I didn't think this episode was awesome, or anything, but I did like 1) Kal Penn 2) Barney's extensive slides on Ewoks, and how he knew random stuff about the kids in Ted's class 3) the extensive polling of the kids in Ted's class and ESPECIALLY 4) when Martin Short told Marshall he was going to hunker down in a bunker with a bunch of canned goods and all five seasons of Friday Night Lights, and Marshall was all, "First of all, skip Season Two." HA! That season was so jacked up. Friday Night Lights fans, remember when Tim Riggins wanted to move out of his brother's house and Mindy was all, "I know a guy who will probably let you crash on his laundry room floor if you help him take care of his ferrets"? And Tim Riggins SAID YES, and wound up accidentally stumbling into the dude's meth lab, and then wound up spontaneously stealing $3,000 from under the dude's coffee table? And then he just showed up at Lyla's church in the middle of a service all, "Hey, I need to borrow $3,000 so some meth dealers don't kill me," and she was just like, "If I give it to you, will you never talk to me again?" And remember when Tim and Lyla had to go down to Mexico to try to talk Jason Street out of getting experimental surgery, and they almost had a threesome but didn't? And remember how Matt Saracen lost his virginity to his grandma's nurse? Yeah. Not Friday Night Lights's finest hour, but pretty darn entertaining.
Yeah, so that was a long tangent. Anyway, this episode of How I Met Your Mother also had a "What?!" moment, which is when Bob Saget very seriously says something that makes me go, "What?!" Marshall: "We're going to save the environment!" Bob Saget: "And kids, as you know...THEY DID." Me: "WHAT?!"
Anyway. Like I said, not a classic, or anything, but pretty fun.
Yeah, so that was a long tangent. Anyway, this episode of How I Met Your Mother also had a "What?!" moment, which is when Bob Saget very seriously says something that makes me go, "What?!" Marshall: "We're going to save the environment!" Bob Saget: "And kids, as you know...THEY DID." Me: "WHAT?!"
Anyway. Like I said, not a classic, or anything, but pretty fun.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
thoughts on Glee: I Am Unicorn
1) I'm very behind on Glee, you guys. I'm never home on Tuesday nights, I don't have a DVR, and Fox doesn't put up new episodes for eight days. So...yeah. Just seeing "I Am Unicorn" now.
2) I hated this episode a lot. Why does Shelby keep saying that she "gave Rachel up"? She was an egg donor and surrogate mother, right? She was paid to have a baby for Rachel's dads? So...why does she have all this regret over "not being there for her"? And why THE HECK does Quinn think she can get custody of Beth? She WILLINGLY gave her up for adoption! And why does everyone act like if Beth doesn't have contact with her biological parents she is going to have a horrible, horrible life? All of that stuff was OFFENSIVE. I would think that you could demonstrate that Quinn and Shelby have mixed feelings about not raising their biological children without making it seem like they *did something wrong.* Unfortunately, they don't seem to be going that route.
3) I hate this Sugar Mata character, and I hate this whole "second glee club" business. How are they going to find kids for a second glee club when they can barely find enough kids for one?
4) I did like it a lot when Mr. Schue told off Quinn for acting like the glee club was the source of all of her problems. I wish he would have made her apologize before letting her join again.
5) I also liked Blaine's song. Not so much Kurt's or Rachel's. And I know this season they're trying to go back to shows that are about the stories, as opposed to the songs, but come on. Only three songs in an hourlong show about a glee club? Also, I was mad at the way Kurt reacted when it became clear at the end that Blaine was going to try out for Tony. I thought that whole thing with the unicorn posters was supposed to mean that he was comfortable with who he was, and with the fact that there are some parts (including Tony) that he probably isn't right for. If not, what was the point of Burt's little speech?
6) I like that Emma's hair is more natural-looking this season. She also wore a very cute black and white outfit at the beginning that I would like to have.
I think that's it. The season premiere won me over, but this one almost lost me again.
2) I hated this episode a lot. Why does Shelby keep saying that she "gave Rachel up"? She was an egg donor and surrogate mother, right? She was paid to have a baby for Rachel's dads? So...why does she have all this regret over "not being there for her"? And why THE HECK does Quinn think she can get custody of Beth? She WILLINGLY gave her up for adoption! And why does everyone act like if Beth doesn't have contact with her biological parents she is going to have a horrible, horrible life? All of that stuff was OFFENSIVE. I would think that you could demonstrate that Quinn and Shelby have mixed feelings about not raising their biological children without making it seem like they *did something wrong.* Unfortunately, they don't seem to be going that route.
3) I hate this Sugar Mata character, and I hate this whole "second glee club" business. How are they going to find kids for a second glee club when they can barely find enough kids for one?
4) I did like it a lot when Mr. Schue told off Quinn for acting like the glee club was the source of all of her problems. I wish he would have made her apologize before letting her join again.
5) I also liked Blaine's song. Not so much Kurt's or Rachel's. And I know this season they're trying to go back to shows that are about the stories, as opposed to the songs, but come on. Only three songs in an hourlong show about a glee club? Also, I was mad at the way Kurt reacted when it became clear at the end that Blaine was going to try out for Tony. I thought that whole thing with the unicorn posters was supposed to mean that he was comfortable with who he was, and with the fact that there are some parts (including Tony) that he probably isn't right for. If not, what was the point of Burt's little speech?
6) I like that Emma's hair is more natural-looking this season. She also wore a very cute black and white outfit at the beginning that I would like to have.
I think that's it. The season premiere won me over, but this one almost lost me again.
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