So while I'm consistently missing weeknight TV shows because of getting home from work late or double scheduled timeslots, I occasionally find myself with nothing to watch and honestly, my choices lately have been a little odd. Here are my newest (and strangest) picks:
1. America's Top Model: I'm not very interested in fashion or beauty but apparently I'm interested in watching tall skinny girls (most of whom are younger than me) who want to be supermodels...
2. Charmed: I can't believe this show is still on. I haven't watched it since like freshman year in college so I'm not too clear on what the heck is going on, but it's really still the same as ever.
3. Everwood: I used to hate this show with a passion, but for some reason it's kind of grown on me. I'm still not too interested in the grown-ups, but Bright is awesome and Ephram and Amy aren't being annoying so uh, yeah...
4. Iron Chef America: I watched the original Iron Chef a couple of times and thought it was amusing but I never got that into it. I prefer the American version for a few reasons, the most important being Alton Brown's commentary. I love Alton Brown. The guest judges can be interesting as well.
5. Degrassi the Next Generation: This is so seriously addictive. The characters are all played by actors of the right age and they're all very average-looking, not super Hollywood pretty. They manage to tackle all sorts of tough topics without getting too afterschool special, but it's still funny and cute too.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Friday, October 14, 2005
top 5 TV shows from my childhood
A trip down memory lane...
1. Full House (too embarassing to watch anymore)
2. Saved by the Bell
3. Beverly Hills 90210
4. Blossom (haha, this needs to be rerun or put on DVD)
5. Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (really unsure of why I liked this so much...)
1. Full House (too embarassing to watch anymore)
2. Saved by the Bell
3. Beverly Hills 90210
4. Blossom (haha, this needs to be rerun or put on DVD)
5. Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (really unsure of why I liked this so much...)
Sunday, October 09, 2005
movie review catch-up
Serenity: I was a big fan of Firefly and was pretty upset when it was cancelled, but I had no idea that the cult following would be so strong as to actually make way for a movie to be made. What amazes me is that some of the biggest fans of Firefly were people who had never watched Buffy or Angel and had no idea who Joss Whedon was. Anyway, I felt like this movie was mostly made for the fans but I think that people who had never watched the show could enjoy it too. First of all, the word "firefly" was never even mentioned, and they didn't make too many references to things that happened in the series either. But the fact that this world and its characters had already existed for 15 episodes helped make the movie very tight and complete. I was really impressed with the plotline, and there were more than a few surprises. And it had all of the classic Joss Whedon quirky humor combined with great human emotion. Hopefully this will pave the way for Joss to make more movies or TV shows. We miss him!
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: I saw the shorts with Wallace & Gromit a few years back, and I was super excited to hear that they were going to be making a full-length feature with them. Wallace is a inventor whose good-intentioned plans often go wrong, and Gromit is his dog and business partner that ends up getting them out of all of their trouble spots. Gromit is so cute! And he knits! He doesn't talk at all but you can always see what he's thinking, which is pretty amazing considering he's just a little plasticine figure. Haha, anyway, this movie was very cute and smart and wacky and I just loved it. While all the computer generated Pixar stuff is getting better and better, it's nice to see that some people still have the dedication to do old fashioned stop-motion animation and make it great.
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: I saw the shorts with Wallace & Gromit a few years back, and I was super excited to hear that they were going to be making a full-length feature with them. Wallace is a inventor whose good-intentioned plans often go wrong, and Gromit is his dog and business partner that ends up getting them out of all of their trouble spots. Gromit is so cute! And he knits! He doesn't talk at all but you can always see what he's thinking, which is pretty amazing considering he's just a little plasticine figure. Haha, anyway, this movie was very cute and smart and wacky and I just loved it. While all the computer generated Pixar stuff is getting better and better, it's nice to see that some people still have the dedication to do old fashioned stop-motion animation and make it great.
Friday, October 07, 2005
my top 5 fandom moments
Since it's my birthday today (I'm 22!) I thought I'd do a more personal list as well. I used to be pretty involved in a few online TV fandoms and these are some funny things that I did or happened to me as a result of them. They're sort of like testaments to my obsessiveness...
1. I get a bootleg copy of Graduation Day Part 2 (also Buffy the Vampire Slayer) mailed to me on VHS from Canada after the WB decided to pull their airing of it due to Columbine.
2. I write a fan letter to Shiri Appleby of Roswell and actually receive an autographed picture in the mail. I also write a fan letter and receive an autographed picture of Chad Michael Murray who was on Gilmore Girls at the time.
3. Seth Green (Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) wishes me a happy birthday on the posting board.
4. I actually spend $25 on a Roswell fanzine of fanfic and art.
5. I actually write a piece of Roswell fanfic and submit it to a well-known fanfic site. (You can still check it out here).
I laugh at this stuff now, but I know that I didn't really go as far as a lot of other fans. Since I was still in high school I couldn't go to any of the fan parties (all in LA) or meet any cast members or anything like that but at the time I really really wished I could have so I think I still qualified as obsessed. Haha, fun times.
1. I get a bootleg copy of Graduation Day Part 2 (also Buffy the Vampire Slayer) mailed to me on VHS from Canada after the WB decided to pull their airing of it due to Columbine.
2. I write a fan letter to Shiri Appleby of Roswell and actually receive an autographed picture in the mail. I also write a fan letter and receive an autographed picture of Chad Michael Murray who was on Gilmore Girls at the time.
3. Seth Green (Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) wishes me a happy birthday on the posting board.
4. I actually spend $25 on a Roswell fanzine of fanfic and art.
5. I actually write a piece of Roswell fanfic and submit it to a well-known fanfic site. (You can still check it out here).
I laugh at this stuff now, but I know that I didn't really go as far as a lot of other fans. Since I was still in high school I couldn't go to any of the fan parties (all in LA) or meet any cast members or anything like that but at the time I really really wished I could have so I think I still qualified as obsessed. Haha, fun times.
top 5 favorite forgotten TV shows
This is a tribute to those random TV shows that I watched and enjoyed but that were never very popular, were cancelled early, and never made it to much of a cult status (with descriptions because there's a good chance you don't remember them either).
1. Grosse Pointe (a show about the fictional cast of a 90210-type show)
2. Jake 2.0 (an IT guy for the NSA gets genetically enhanced by a bunch of nano-robots)
3. Do Over (a thirty-something year old man gets sent back in time to being 14 years old in the 1980s)
4. Jack & Jill (a WB soap about a group of singles in NYC...Mira loved this as well and we were super upset when it finished on a cliffhanger)
5. Cupid (Jeremy Piven as Cupid. No, seriously)
1. Grosse Pointe (a show about the fictional cast of a 90210-type show)
2. Jake 2.0 (an IT guy for the NSA gets genetically enhanced by a bunch of nano-robots)
3. Do Over (a thirty-something year old man gets sent back in time to being 14 years old in the 1980s)
4. Jack & Jill (a WB soap about a group of singles in NYC...Mira loved this as well and we were super upset when it finished on a cliffhanger)
5. Cupid (Jeremy Piven as Cupid. No, seriously)
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Fall 2005 Season Premiere Wrap-Up Part II
Okay yes, I forgot to do the Friday top 5 last week, so I'll do two lists this week to make up for it. Plus I have a few other posts lined up, so stay tuned!
Just Legal: Only caught bits and pieces of this, but I kind of liked it. It’s a fun idea, a kid lawyer who has no experience joins forces with an older, down-and-out, and jaded lawyer. I’m not really into legal shows either (not since the Practice went down) but this definitely has potential.
My Name is Earl: Surprisingly I liked this a lot. I've always liked Jason Lee and I was surprised to see that he'd decided to do television, but he's excellent in this. It's really quirky and just different from any other sitcom on TV. The networks seem to have abandoned the whole hipster-in-the-city concept and I'm pretty glad about that because I was never into Friends and Will&Grace and all of that Must See TV stuff. I don't know if rednecks would be offended by this show or not, but it's actually relatively good-hearted at the core. It also sets up a nice formula for each episode (Earl crossing something off of his list) but allows plenty of room for anything crazy they want to throw in.
The Office: I love this show because the people on it are so ordinary and unglamorous. Of course everything is definitely exaggerated, and Steve Carrell is just crazy and hilarious. but now that I'm in the working world I seem to relate to this kind of stuff now. I still have yet to watch the original BBC version though(mostly because I couldn't concentrate enough to understand their accents).
The Apprentice Martha Stewart: In high school I jokingly said that I wanted to be Martha Stewart when I grew up, but that doesn’t mean I’d ever apply for this show. I like what her company is about: cooking, crafts, decorating, etc., but I really would not want to build a multimillion dollar corporation. Regardless, I was really curious to see how the candidates and tasks would differ from the Trump version, and I was kind of impressed. The children’s book thing was very Martha Stewart and a really good idea. Haha, I also love how she fired Jeff by saying “you just don’t fit in” and he was obviously expecting to be told “you’re fired” and looked confused. And she wrote him a personal note afterward! So completely Martha Stewart. I was a little turned off by her whole prison thing but man, you have to admit that she has a very very distinctive persona and was really the perfect person to head another Apprentice.
Lost: I watched the first episode since Veronica Mars hadn’t premiered yet (same timeslot) and all I’m going to say is, what the hell? The episode was a very strange combination of boring, predictable, suprising, and completely bizarre. And nothing really happened until the last 5 minutes. I’m not going to be keeping up with this weekly. I’ll either wait until the DVDs come out or periodically catch up on a bunch of episodes at a time. I refuse to be frustrated like I was last season….
Invasion: Liked this better than Threshold, I think, but I'm still not really impressed. It's kind of too soon to say though, since they didn't really tell us what's going on at all. I like that the main cast are regular people and not government agents though.
Veronica Mars: AHHH. Don’t want to spoil this for Mira, but this show is still completely awesome and better than anything else on TV right now. But man, I really seem to have it for the bad boys because Logan is so hot. Hotter than Gilmore Girls Logan BY FAR. Yes, I know he’s a jerk. And he’s immature. And he has a massive amount of emotional baggage. But HE’S HOT.
Alias: Again, don't want to spoil, but I'm still annoyed at J.J. Abrams. He's so good at messing with our heads that I can't be sure of anything that happens on this show. I'm probably going to take the same approach as with Lost and catch up periodically because the cliffhangers just kill me and I can't take the frustration week after week. I'm kind of skeptical of how they're going to keep the show interesting with Jennifer Garner being very very pregnant. One of the key components of Alias has always been Sydney kicking ass and if she can't do that then it'll just be strange. Hopefully this will be the last season because it's really just been losing steam for awhile now.
Everybody Hates Chris: I'm not that big of a fan of Chris Rock, but the show had really good buzz so I checked it out. And it's actually just a really funny family sitcom. The kid who's playing Chris is doing a super good job and while all the characters and lines are really funny, the show is surprisingly real and heartfelt. Not something you really expect from Chris Rock.
Jennifer's final TV lineup: Who the heck knows? Haha. For the first time in my life I have my own TV but there are too many shows in the same timeslots and I've been getting home too late to watch half of them anyway. I need DVR/Tivo. If I could only just decide to get it...
Just Legal: Only caught bits and pieces of this, but I kind of liked it. It’s a fun idea, a kid lawyer who has no experience joins forces with an older, down-and-out, and jaded lawyer. I’m not really into legal shows either (not since the Practice went down) but this definitely has potential.
My Name is Earl: Surprisingly I liked this a lot. I've always liked Jason Lee and I was surprised to see that he'd decided to do television, but he's excellent in this. It's really quirky and just different from any other sitcom on TV. The networks seem to have abandoned the whole hipster-in-the-city concept and I'm pretty glad about that because I was never into Friends and Will&Grace and all of that Must See TV stuff. I don't know if rednecks would be offended by this show or not, but it's actually relatively good-hearted at the core. It also sets up a nice formula for each episode (Earl crossing something off of his list) but allows plenty of room for anything crazy they want to throw in.
The Office: I love this show because the people on it are so ordinary and unglamorous. Of course everything is definitely exaggerated, and Steve Carrell is just crazy and hilarious. but now that I'm in the working world I seem to relate to this kind of stuff now. I still have yet to watch the original BBC version though(mostly because I couldn't concentrate enough to understand their accents).
The Apprentice Martha Stewart: In high school I jokingly said that I wanted to be Martha Stewart when I grew up, but that doesn’t mean I’d ever apply for this show. I like what her company is about: cooking, crafts, decorating, etc., but I really would not want to build a multimillion dollar corporation. Regardless, I was really curious to see how the candidates and tasks would differ from the Trump version, and I was kind of impressed. The children’s book thing was very Martha Stewart and a really good idea. Haha, I also love how she fired Jeff by saying “you just don’t fit in” and he was obviously expecting to be told “you’re fired” and looked confused. And she wrote him a personal note afterward! So completely Martha Stewart. I was a little turned off by her whole prison thing but man, you have to admit that she has a very very distinctive persona and was really the perfect person to head another Apprentice.
Lost: I watched the first episode since Veronica Mars hadn’t premiered yet (same timeslot) and all I’m going to say is, what the hell? The episode was a very strange combination of boring, predictable, suprising, and completely bizarre. And nothing really happened until the last 5 minutes. I’m not going to be keeping up with this weekly. I’ll either wait until the DVDs come out or periodically catch up on a bunch of episodes at a time. I refuse to be frustrated like I was last season….
Invasion: Liked this better than Threshold, I think, but I'm still not really impressed. It's kind of too soon to say though, since they didn't really tell us what's going on at all. I like that the main cast are regular people and not government agents though.
Veronica Mars: AHHH. Don’t want to spoil this for Mira, but this show is still completely awesome and better than anything else on TV right now. But man, I really seem to have it for the bad boys because Logan is so hot. Hotter than Gilmore Girls Logan BY FAR. Yes, I know he’s a jerk. And he’s immature. And he has a massive amount of emotional baggage. But HE’S HOT.
Alias: Again, don't want to spoil, but I'm still annoyed at J.J. Abrams. He's so good at messing with our heads that I can't be sure of anything that happens on this show. I'm probably going to take the same approach as with Lost and catch up periodically because the cliffhangers just kill me and I can't take the frustration week after week. I'm kind of skeptical of how they're going to keep the show interesting with Jennifer Garner being very very pregnant. One of the key components of Alias has always been Sydney kicking ass and if she can't do that then it'll just be strange. Hopefully this will be the last season because it's really just been losing steam for awhile now.
Everybody Hates Chris: I'm not that big of a fan of Chris Rock, but the show had really good buzz so I checked it out. And it's actually just a really funny family sitcom. The kid who's playing Chris is doing a super good job and while all the characters and lines are really funny, the show is surprisingly real and heartfelt. Not something you really expect from Chris Rock.
Jennifer's final TV lineup: Who the heck knows? Haha. For the first time in my life I have my own TV but there are too many shows in the same timeslots and I've been getting home too late to watch half of them anyway. I need DVR/Tivo. If I could only just decide to get it...
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
the slacker's turn to write (finally)
I've been slacking on my side of posts, I know. But then again Jenn forgot to do a weekly Top 5 last week. So ha! I'm not the only slacker. Not that I should really be speaking since she's posted the last 50135123 posts. :-D So I'll do a much overdo post....
--Lord of War-- (in theater)
After the back and forth play-arguing of watching this vs. watching Just Like Heaven, I gave in to watching a non-girly movie (I felt a little bad, because I mean it did look like the ultimate girly movie ever). In any case, I went in not knowing ANYTHING about the movie other than Nicholas Cage was in it, and it was gonna be kinda serious. I came out impressed by the underlying political commentary within the movie. I always think that I'm not much of a Nicholas Cage fan, cuz there's something so strange about him, but I quite frequently am impressed by his performances in movies. And this one was no different. There were a few scenes that were a little too gory for my tastes, a little too graphic, but then again any scene with gun shots or blood = too gory or too graphic. So, yeah.... I enjoyed.
--A Lot Like Love-- (on the plane)
You know, I wanted to see this movie when it was in theaters. I thought it looked cute. But not really enough to pay to see. But now I've seen it, I want to BUY the DVD!!! I don't know. I like the whole idea that the one is not only out there for you, but could quite possibly be someone you've already met. I liked watching how Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher's characters developed over the 7 year period this movie takes place. I don't know, it was really cute and it made me really happy!
--Marrying the Mafia 2-- (Korean movie)
My first movie in a Korean movie theater! Okay, first off the snack bar is called the "Sweet bar." Second off, EVERYTHING in Korea is couple stuff, so yeah they have couple combos! BAH! What if you don't got your other half!? What if you don't got an other half?! Fourth off, to buy tickets, you gotta get a number, and wait around for however long until your number is called up to the register. Kinda like at the DMV when you're waiting for your license. Or at the Social Security Office. Or at the deli... Fourth off, you get ASSIGNED SEATS! Actually, I found that pretty cool. Because we got good assigned seats since we bought our tickets early enough. So that means you don't need to worry about getting to the movie early to get seats together or anything. But that also means you could get stuck with really crappy seats if you don't purchase early enough. Now enough about the movie going experience. Onto the movie. Actually since this is a Korean movie and all, and it's still in theaters, I don't have too much to say. But it was REALLY REALLY funny. Like there were some scenes where you're just sitting there thinking, this is a bit stupid, this is a bit too much. But then it was funny anyway inspite or because of that! Anyway, I really enjoyed this movie. If you've ever had a desire to watch a Korean action-comedy, this is a good one to watch!
And that is all for tonight. :-)
--Lord of War-- (in theater)
After the back and forth play-arguing of watching this vs. watching Just Like Heaven, I gave in to watching a non-girly movie (I felt a little bad, because I mean it did look like the ultimate girly movie ever). In any case, I went in not knowing ANYTHING about the movie other than Nicholas Cage was in it, and it was gonna be kinda serious. I came out impressed by the underlying political commentary within the movie. I always think that I'm not much of a Nicholas Cage fan, cuz there's something so strange about him, but I quite frequently am impressed by his performances in movies. And this one was no different. There were a few scenes that were a little too gory for my tastes, a little too graphic, but then again any scene with gun shots or blood = too gory or too graphic. So, yeah.... I enjoyed.
--A Lot Like Love-- (on the plane)
You know, I wanted to see this movie when it was in theaters. I thought it looked cute. But not really enough to pay to see. But now I've seen it, I want to BUY the DVD!!! I don't know. I like the whole idea that the one is not only out there for you, but could quite possibly be someone you've already met. I liked watching how Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher's characters developed over the 7 year period this movie takes place. I don't know, it was really cute and it made me really happy!
--Marrying the Mafia 2-- (Korean movie)
My first movie in a Korean movie theater! Okay, first off the snack bar is called the "Sweet bar." Second off, EVERYTHING in Korea is couple stuff, so yeah they have couple combos! BAH! What if you don't got your other half!? What if you don't got an other half?! Fourth off, to buy tickets, you gotta get a number, and wait around for however long until your number is called up to the register. Kinda like at the DMV when you're waiting for your license. Or at the Social Security Office. Or at the deli... Fourth off, you get ASSIGNED SEATS! Actually, I found that pretty cool. Because we got good assigned seats since we bought our tickets early enough. So that means you don't need to worry about getting to the movie early to get seats together or anything. But that also means you could get stuck with really crappy seats if you don't purchase early enough. Now enough about the movie going experience. Onto the movie. Actually since this is a Korean movie and all, and it's still in theaters, I don't have too much to say. But it was REALLY REALLY funny. Like there were some scenes where you're just sitting there thinking, this is a bit stupid, this is a bit too much. But then it was funny anyway inspite or because of that! Anyway, I really enjoyed this movie. If you've ever had a desire to watch a Korean action-comedy, this is a good one to watch!
And that is all for tonight. :-)
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