For every stoplight I didn't make
Every chance I did or I didn't take
All the nights I went too far
All the girls that broke my heart
All the doors that I had to close
All the things I knew but I didn't know
Thank God for all I missed
Cause it led me here to this
I found this song because Nessa wanted it on her iPod so I downloaded it and have been listening to it every since. I like to live my life with no regrets and I strongly believe that everything happens for a purpose. That's what this song gets to. With everything that goes wrong in life we need to believe that it all leads us to something that is great. Every downfall molds us into someone who knows what they need to be happy and eventual we take the measures to find that happy ending.
Since I am such a huge fan of TV and like to make lists of my favorite things it was only naturally that I choose my favorite TV moments from the 2010 - 2011 TV season. And since I've been blessed with a great nickname which always serves as a great snack to watch TV with it only makes sense to call these the POPCORN Award.
Today I will post the first five awards:
Worst Storyline
Chucks entire second half storyline on Gossip Girl
Owen and Christina fight over wanting a child on Grey’s Anatomy
Adrianna steals a dead guys song book on 90210
And the winner is ...
Owen and Christina from Grey's Anatomy
It's not that I don't think they should have the conversation about having children. I think that's one of the conversations couples should have when they get serious. But that's where the problem lies. They are fighting about this after they got married. Maybe they should have talked this through before saying their vows. Maybe Owen could have even written that he wanted kids into his vows so Christina could give her patented sarcastic face and left him at the alter. It just makes no sense that they only really discussed having children after being married for like a year.
Best storyline Dan and Blair becoming friends on Gossip Girl
Alternate worlds on Fringe
Agent 0 on Chuck
And the surprising winner is ...
Dan and Blair from Gossip Girl
As much as I loved the Alternate Worlds storyline on Fringe I was shocked at how much I loved Dan and Blair working together. For the entire middle part of the season it's what kept me watching Gossip Girl. Of course the writers screwed it up like they always do with the good stuff on Gossip Girl but I think they were even surprised by the chemistry between Penn Badgley and Leighton Meester.
Show that was canceled and should have been
Hellcats
Mad Love
United States of Tara
And the winner is ...
Hellcats
I don't watch United States of Tara but my wife loves it and I always hate seeing shows other people love get cancelled prematurely. I did like the few episodes I saw of Mad Love and think it could have grown into a successful show if given the chance. I just think Hellcats could have been so much more if the writers were given a chance to retool the show. They needed to stop focusing so much on the adult characters and stop making Marti such a perfect character. The show had a lot of potential to grow like One Tree Hill grew in the early seasons.
Show that was renewed and shouldn't have been
90210
One Tree Hill
The Office
And the winners are ...
90210 and One Tree Hill
90210 should have ended. High school shows never survive once the show moves to college. It's why One Tree Hill skipped the college years all together. And for One Tree Hill I am glad they are getting the last 13 episodes and hope they bring in Lucas and Peyton before it's all done but the way the season ended with Jamie dribbling in the Keith Scott hoodie was so poetic and a great bookend for the series.
Most Underused character
Alex from Grey's Anatomy
Nate from Gossip Girl
Mike Chang from Glee
And the winner is ...
Nate from Gossip Girl
The guy just sits around looking pretty. He's really just there to be a crutch for other characters story lines and if he wasn't so pretty he probably would have been written out because the show has rarely ever had anything useful to do with him.
Let me start by saying I only watched this movie because Nessa wanted to order it on Pay Per View. I am not really a fan of Jennifer Aniston and had no intention to watch the movie. I was pleasantly surprised that I loved the movie.
Aniston was great in this movie. She was charming as the mother and worked well with Sandler and the children. There were alot of small moments where she had such joy on her face which you don't see much in her acting. Especially the scene where Sandler's character teaches her son to swim.
Sandler was really good in the film. I enjoy most of his movies but it was refreshing to see his comedy grow outside of just stupid humor and adapt into a more adult yet still funny sense of humor. It fits him well. Brooklyn Decker did well in her role as well. Not a lot of people can pull off the move from being a model to being an actor and I don't see any Oscars in her future but I can see her doing well in romantic comedies and action flicks.
The kids they chose as the son and daughter were cute. The little girl using the British accent was great and the little boy did well in all the scenes he was in especially the Pizza Hut and the swimming scene. Nicole Kidman and Dave Matthews did a good job with their smaller roles and the scene with Dave Matthews picking up a coconut with his butt was awesome
The movie has a great running joke that in most movies would get tiresome but they pulled it off well because it was used in moderation and to show the chemistry between Sandler and Aniston. The relationship between them was built nicely. You get the feeling that they love each other early on in the film and when they realize they are in love it feels like a realistic moment of realizing you are in love with your best friend and you've always been in love with them.
The film had the regular romantic comedy montage of people pondering their feelings and considering their future. It wasn't anything special but it included a great mash up of Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" and The Police's "Every Breathe You Take"
The movie didn't reinvent the romantic comedy but it was delivered in a way that was very enjoyable.
With thanks to my friend Amy for the suggestion this week I will be doing Top Ten High School Movies.
Some honorable mentions this week are Varsity Blues because Dawson with a Texan accent is hilarious, Friday Night Lights and Remember The Titans because they felt move about social politics and football then high school, and Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink because althrough they are great movies there are better 80's high school movies that made the list.
10. High School Musical trilogy
Yes the movies are cheesy but what musical is not cheesy. I think they are fun movies that I happen to enjoy even if people make fun of me for it.
9. Carrie
The ending to this movie always freaked me out. It showed how cruel people can be in high school before we had "Mean Girls." It was horrifying when the pig's blood was dropped on her head and the entire end of the movie is dramatic and spooky.
8. Not Another Teen Movie
There were a few movies I considered putting on the list but luckily I was able to use this movie to cover them all. She's All That, Never Been Kissed, Rudy, Breakfast Club. This movie covers them all and does in a way that's not over done like most of the recent spoof movies that have been released.
7. Grease
It still shocks me that my mother let me watch this movie as a kid. It's crazy how adult content can be so innocently hidden by singing a well timed tune. I also had a crush on Olivia Newton John so bonus points for that.
6. Can’t Hardly Wait
I always liked this movie. I liked how the popular jock became the joke and the nerd was the coolest guy at the party. Maybe it's because I was the nerd in high school. Also this movie makes Jennifer Love Hewitt tolerable which is a hard feat to accomplish and it's hard to not like anything that Ethan Embry is in. He's such a likable guy.
5. American Pie
Even through this movie came out after other great raunchy movies , it also came out when I was old enough to watch the movies in theaters which makes it better because it's from my generation. My older sister has "Weekend at Bernie's" and "Porky's" and we get American Pie trilogy. Personally I think we got the better deal.
4. Dead Poet’s Society
One of my all time favorite movies. I always wished I had a teacher that really inspired me. Sadly I never got inspiration but I don't think any one really did at Sugarloaf. Carbee Diem ... Seize the Carbe, I mean seize the day.
3. Fast Times at Richmond High
Watching the trailer is just as funny as the movie. It's a seriously bad trailer. But the movie showcased what high school is in funny and irrelevant ways.
2. Dazed and Confused
It's crazy to look back and realize that we based a lot of our high school parties on this movie. It's the epitome of what you want the last day of school to be.
1. Breakfast Club
Regardless of what anyone says this is the greatest high school movie ever. I am not looking forward to the day that a movie studio gets around to remaking this movie because I don't think they'll be able to recreate what the actors bought to the movie. Also with the world of social networking we'd know everything about the movie as it is being made and they'd cast popular but bad actors in the roles. The movie showed how people from different cliques could understand each other and maybe even become friends. This quote from the movie sums it up best:
Brian: Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you're crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...
Andrew: ...and an athlete...
Allison: ...and a basket case...
Claire: ...a princess...
Bender: ...and a criminal...
Brian: Does that answer your question?... Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.
On first glance Teen Wolf reminded me a lot of Smallville. You have a young man learning to control his powers. You have the beautiful young girl who the main character lusts after and they even threw in the early makings of a potential love triangle with the popular girl. You have the older friend who you're not sure you can trust but need them to provide information and guidence. You even have the best friend who knows the secret and can help protect the main characterThe major difference is where Smallville had a lot of history to follow and could not step to far away from that history, Teen Wolf can grow into it's own show with no expectations set. It can easily ignore the great 80's movie of the same name.
The pilot set the story nicely and did enough to make me want to watch more. It's not always easy to establish characters and story but Teen Wolf did a nice job. The pilot had a nice pace and didn't try to throw too much at you but did set up a lot of potentially interesting stories for the rest of the season.
The acting on the show was ok for a young cast. I did like that most of the actors looked like they truly belonged in high school. Their was moments that the main character reminded me of Keanu Reeves with his delivery and mannerisms but he was likable which is what is needed for a main character. It's always the secondary characters that people cling to and I am not sure that Teen Wolf. Smallville had Chloe. Everwood had Bright. Dawson's Creek had Pacey and the list goes on. I'm not totally sold on the character of Stiles yet but it was a good start and the character definitely has room to grow. The main love interest was a mixed bag as well.She had chemistry with the main actor and the twist at the end gave the story plenty of places to go from here. And watching the previews for the rest of the season shows that the story can go in interesting directions.
The dialogue was well down for the most part. There was a lot of funny moments. My favorite exchange was after the main actor suddenly became good at Lacross and the team's star confronted him.
Jackson: "Where did you get your juice?"
Scott: "My mom gets all the groceries,"
The show has a lot of potential to be a good tv show. I hope it continues to deliver.
Words are flying out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing me
Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
I watched Pleasantville with Nessa tonight and the movie always makes me think about how I view the world. It always amazes me how much people fear change and fear the unknown. They'd rather keep the status quo then grew into someone who accepts others no matter what race or sexual orientation or gender they happen to be. It's such a sad reality.
The movie has a very honest quote in it:
Well--we'll be safe for now--thank goodness we're in a bowling alley--but if George here doesn't get his dinner, any one of us could be next. It could be you Gus, or you Burt, or even you Ralph.... That's real rain out there, gentlemen. This isn't some little "virus" that's going to "clear up on its own." There's something happening to our town and I think we can all see where it comes from. My friends, this isn't about George's dinner or Burt's shirt. It's a question of values. It's a question of whether we're gonna hold onto the values that have made this place great. So the time has come to make a decision. Are we in this alone, or are we in it together?
It shows the mob mentality. Reinforces the thought that change is bad. It only takes one fool to push the wrong agenda or push their so called "morals." There will always be fools who will follow them until the end of time. They are the same people who burn books in the name of God, or burn crosses, or refuse to sell flowers to a gay couple who just want to spend the rest of their lives together. It's not right but it's a part of this world we live in. As the Beatles sang, "Nothings gonna change my world."
It was refreshing to see the people change from black and white to being full color and see what drove them to accept "color." For some people it was simply having sex or falling in love. Others had to simply choice to read a book rather then have sex or just enjoy the rain. For some the change was harder. They had to be driven to protect their loved ones or realize just how much the really loved someone and how much they missed that person in their lives.
I wish everyone could watch movies like Pleasantville and want to live in technicolor instead of black and white. I wish that everyone would just accept others for who they are. That they would just accept the fact that everyone deserves to be happy and in love no matter what.
1. Stanley Cup Finals: It's always more exciting when there's a Canadian team playing for the cup and Vancouver has a great team when they are playing smart. I still think Boston is better then expected but if Vancouver can control the games and play like they have all season hopefully the Cup will come back to Canada.
2. Summer TV: The return of True Blood which the previews are making look like a great season. Plus returning shows Rookie Blue, Hell's Kitchen, America's Got Talent, and So You Think You Can Dance. Also Love Bites looks like it can be a good show. I like Summer TV because I can relax and enjoy it because expectations are lower and most of the shows are reality competition shows that need little time and investment.
3. MTV Movie Awards: I always enjoy these awards because the hijinks are always funny and no one takes them seriously cause it's hard to take an awards show when a Twilight movie is named Movie of the Year. But the show is always entertaining to watch.
4. NBA Draft: I always find it exciting to see which players my Raptors will pick and I enjoy the commentary the media provides. Especially Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.
5. Beaver Tails: It's a great treat and I haven't had one in two years. Plus Nessa tells me that they now have this great new treat called Beaver Bits that comes with Ice Cream. Can't go wrong with that!
