J: Back in 2005, I wrote a post on my top 10 TV "ships" (relationships). Now that five(!) years have passed, I think it's time for an update. What are some of your favorite ships, past and present?
Jennifer: My original list was pretty complete at the time, so I'll add some from the last five years:
1. Pam/Jim on The Office- Like I've mentioned before, I'm not really that big a fan of them in the context of the rest of the show but on their own they've just had such a great love story.
2. Veronica/Logan on Veronica Mars - Epic! "I thought our story was epic, you know. You and me. Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined and blood shed. Epic."
3. Jaye/Eric on Wonderfalls - Jaye's one of my favorite TV characters ever and it was torture watching her keep screwing up things with Eric. But it all ended on a good note, so another fanwank happily ever after.
4. Matt/Julie on Friday Night Lights - Kind of the perfect high school romance.
5. Sid/Cassie on Skins - Both crazy and damaged but somehow they just fit.
Some current ones: Casey/Cappie on Greek (I think they bring out the best in eachother), Blair/Chuck on Gossip Girl (though lately they've been very old married couple), Kate/Sawyer on Lost (I'm still on season 5 so I suppose my opinion may change but they're hot together).
Mira: Ooh, fun! I'm a major shipper-- I pretty much will not watch any show without a ship for me to root for. And if it doesn't have one, then the show better be pretty *damn* awesome.
1. Luke/Loralie from Gilmore Girls: Hands down my favorite couple of all time. In fact the show was only really awesome when they were together in my opinion.
2. Pam/Jim from The Office:I've only watched Season 1, parts of Season 2 and the crucial Pam & Jim episodes. They're the only characters I care about and I love everything about them. Even if Pam was psycho when giving birth!
3. Cooper/Charlotte from Private Practice: I love, love, love them. Their personalities are so different but they work so well together. I love how they're so dysfunctionally perfect for each other.
4. Meredith/Derek a.k.a. MerDer from Grey's Anatomy: Basically I hate the show when there's MerDer drama. It's just a better and more interesting show when MerDer are happy and together and the story lines are elsewhere.
5. House/Cuddy from House: I actually stopped watching this show, but I still harbor a wish for the two of them to get together already and be dysfunctional together. I like dysfunctional couples, obviously.
Honorable mentions: Pacey/Joey from Dawson's Creek, Buffy/Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy/Spike from BtVS, Anya/Xander from BtVS, Lily/Marshall from How I Met Your Mother, Sydney/Vaughn from Alias... This list could go on and on and on! Eek!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
NBC Thursdays...the balance has shifted?
Sometime this season I came to a realization: I like Community and Parks and Recreation a lot better than its older and more acclaimed Thursday night companions, 30 Rock and The Office.
On first examination, the premise for Community seems a little too pat: take all the different stereotypes of people who go to community college, stick them in a Spanish study group, and they all become friends. But by hiring some really incredibly funny actors and combining the zany humor with a surprising amount of heart, the show somehow just really works. The Abed/Troy dynamic is hilarious and Alison Brie (Annie) has proven to be one of the funniest actresses around. (And how awesome that she's on 2 hit shows at the same time--she also recurs on Mad Men as Trudy, Pete's wife. There was a reference to Mad Men in an episode of Community a few weeks back that felt really meta.) I think part of the show's success is that it realizes how absurd some "everyday" things actually are and takes them to extremes. Like I love how Greendale's mascot is the "Human Being" in an effort to be totally, completely sensitive and correct. I sometimes do wonder if this is what community colleges are really like--I've always thought of them as more commuter campuses where people are more just in and out without dorms and events and sports teams, but I could be wrong?
While I was hooked on Community from the very beginning, Parks and Recreation took awhile longer for me to get into. At first there was some confusion about whether it was actually an Office spinoff or not and I felt like the similarity between Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope and Michael Scott was strange and I just wasn't that into the whole crusade about "the pit." But something changed in the second season and it just started to get a lot funnier. They incorporated Ann and Andy into the cast a little better, with Ann dating Mark and Andy becoming a shoe shiner at City Hall and flirting with April, and I think Leslie's been toned down a little. She's still a little crazy but it's much more believable that she's a government employee that's actually kind of good at her job. The supporting cast has been allowed to shine more too, especially Ron and Donna. And um, I really love Aziz Ansari. He kind of does the same sort of thing in every role I've seen him in but so far I'm totally okay with that.
My love for The Office has been waning for awhile now. The show has always been somewhat inconsistent...there are incredibly funny moments or occasionally whole episodes, but sometimes things just fall flat or go too far. Michael and Dwight are too often just stupid and preposterous and cringe-worthy and Pam and Jim have become kind of smug and annoying. They're still one of my favorite couples when it's just about them, but around everyone else they can be almost mean. I know that the rest of the Office characters are crazy but I don't like seeing Pam and Jim think and act like they're so much better than everyone else. I mean, there are still some high points: I still like Andy and Erin and I did like the Michael Scott Paper Company from last season. I'm still watching but I'm not laughing as much.
The situation with 30 Rock is a little less clear. It took me a little while to get into this show too...at first I didn't "get" it. But after hearing some good things, I caught up with the first season in a Netflix streaming marathon and I officially became a fan. Tina Fey is awesome and Alec Baldwin is doing the best work of his career but somehow I feel like the show has lost steam a little. There are still plenty of funny moments but I've been underwhelmed by the huge amount of guest casting (I cringe just thinking about Julianne Moore and that Boston accent...and I like Julianne Moore!) and I don't know, maybe this isn't the right expectation for a show like this but I sometimes wish there'd be a little more development in characters like Jenna and Tracy and Kenneth. I feel like they're still basically doing the same schtick as in the first season and maybe I'm getting a little tired of it.
So maybe it's just inevitable that after a few seasons things start to decline? I'm totally loving Parks and Recreation and Community now but perhaps that won't last either?
On first examination, the premise for Community seems a little too pat: take all the different stereotypes of people who go to community college, stick them in a Spanish study group, and they all become friends. But by hiring some really incredibly funny actors and combining the zany humor with a surprising amount of heart, the show somehow just really works. The Abed/Troy dynamic is hilarious and Alison Brie (Annie) has proven to be one of the funniest actresses around. (And how awesome that she's on 2 hit shows at the same time--she also recurs on Mad Men as Trudy, Pete's wife. There was a reference to Mad Men in an episode of Community a few weeks back that felt really meta.) I think part of the show's success is that it realizes how absurd some "everyday" things actually are and takes them to extremes. Like I love how Greendale's mascot is the "Human Being" in an effort to be totally, completely sensitive and correct. I sometimes do wonder if this is what community colleges are really like--I've always thought of them as more commuter campuses where people are more just in and out without dorms and events and sports teams, but I could be wrong?
While I was hooked on Community from the very beginning, Parks and Recreation took awhile longer for me to get into. At first there was some confusion about whether it was actually an Office spinoff or not and I felt like the similarity between Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope and Michael Scott was strange and I just wasn't that into the whole crusade about "the pit." But something changed in the second season and it just started to get a lot funnier. They incorporated Ann and Andy into the cast a little better, with Ann dating Mark and Andy becoming a shoe shiner at City Hall and flirting with April, and I think Leslie's been toned down a little. She's still a little crazy but it's much more believable that she's a government employee that's actually kind of good at her job. The supporting cast has been allowed to shine more too, especially Ron and Donna. And um, I really love Aziz Ansari. He kind of does the same sort of thing in every role I've seen him in but so far I'm totally okay with that. 
My love for The Office has been waning for awhile now. The show has always been somewhat inconsistent...there are incredibly funny moments or occasionally whole episodes, but sometimes things just fall flat or go too far. Michael and Dwight are too often just stupid and preposterous and cringe-worthy and Pam and Jim have become kind of smug and annoying. They're still one of my favorite couples when it's just about them, but around everyone else they can be almost mean. I know that the rest of the Office characters are crazy but I don't like seeing Pam and Jim think and act like they're so much better than everyone else. I mean, there are still some high points: I still like Andy and Erin and I did like the Michael Scott Paper Company from last season. I'm still watching but I'm not laughing as much.
The situation with 30 Rock is a little less clear. It took me a little while to get into this show too...at first I didn't "get" it. But after hearing some good things, I caught up with the first season in a Netflix streaming marathon and I officially became a fan. Tina Fey is awesome and Alec Baldwin is doing the best work of his career but somehow I feel like the show has lost steam a little. There are still plenty of funny moments but I've been underwhelmed by the huge amount of guest casting (I cringe just thinking about Julianne Moore and that Boston accent...and I like Julianne Moore!) and I don't know, maybe this isn't the right expectation for a show like this but I sometimes wish there'd be a little more development in characters like Jenna and Tracy and Kenneth. I feel like they're still basically doing the same schtick as in the first season and maybe I'm getting a little tired of it.So maybe it's just inevitable that after a few seasons things start to decline? I'm totally loving Parks and Recreation and Community now but perhaps that won't last either?
Thursday, March 18, 2010
T^2: Remake!
M: With the slew of old shows/movies revived in new, plasticky packages, if you could remake any TV show/movie what would it be? What changes would you make?
Jennifer: This is kind of a tough one because honestly, my knowledge of old TV shows and movies is kind of lacking and I generally don't like the idea of remaking things that are less than say, twenty years old. And really, sometimes it's better to leave a good thing alone. But there are some TV shows that kind of failed or never found an audience but that I thought had intriguing premises that I wouldn't mind seeing remade. Like Reunion, that mystery show with the high school friends 20 years later, or Kidnapped or The Nine. All of them were very serialized with somewhat complex plotting and large ensemble casts that I think would be good candidates for reworking but I guess there's a reason none of them finished out their first seasons. I mean, take Cupid...try to remake a failed show and you just end up with another failed show.
Mira: I was originally thinking of this question because when the Harry Potter movies first started coming out I was quite dismayed. I felt that something that could have been even more fantastic was shortchanged. Ultimately, I ended up really enjoying the actors chosen to play the parts and even the movies themselves. However, there is still a part of me that thinks the better venue for the books would've been a TV show; a season for each year. With all the little stories and intricacies of the books, I really think it has potential. Only thing is the production stage required might be too big of a budget for TV. I dunno. In any case, a show I would love to see redone is Sweet Valley High. I loved the books growing up, and if you think about the original series -- there were some edgy storylines in the book that were completely glossed over by the horrible TV show that did exist. Plus those two twins who played Jessica and Elizabeth? BLECH! They didn't look "good girl" enough for my image of them. I think that the series could just have been a much better show but they made Enid really annoying, Todd really stupid, the twins sexy, and uh, the dork, Watson?, almost borderline cool. BLEH! I think Sweet Valley High done right could be way better than Degrassi or 90210 or Saved by the Bell (Gasp! Yes, I said that!) or any of those other high school shows... :)
Jennifer: This is kind of a tough one because honestly, my knowledge of old TV shows and movies is kind of lacking and I generally don't like the idea of remaking things that are less than say, twenty years old. And really, sometimes it's better to leave a good thing alone. But there are some TV shows that kind of failed or never found an audience but that I thought had intriguing premises that I wouldn't mind seeing remade. Like Reunion, that mystery show with the high school friends 20 years later, or Kidnapped or The Nine. All of them were very serialized with somewhat complex plotting and large ensemble casts that I think would be good candidates for reworking but I guess there's a reason none of them finished out their first seasons. I mean, take Cupid...try to remake a failed show and you just end up with another failed show.
Mira: I was originally thinking of this question because when the Harry Potter movies first started coming out I was quite dismayed. I felt that something that could have been even more fantastic was shortchanged. Ultimately, I ended up really enjoying the actors chosen to play the parts and even the movies themselves. However, there is still a part of me that thinks the better venue for the books would've been a TV show; a season for each year. With all the little stories and intricacies of the books, I really think it has potential. Only thing is the production stage required might be too big of a budget for TV. I dunno. In any case, a show I would love to see redone is Sweet Valley High. I loved the books growing up, and if you think about the original series -- there were some edgy storylines in the book that were completely glossed over by the horrible TV show that did exist. Plus those two twins who played Jessica and Elizabeth? BLECH! They didn't look "good girl" enough for my image of them. I think that the series could just have been a much better show but they made Enid really annoying, Todd really stupid, the twins sexy, and uh, the dork, Watson?, almost borderline cool. BLEH! I think Sweet Valley High done right could be way better than Degrassi or 90210 or Saved by the Bell (Gasp! Yes, I said that!) or any of those other high school shows... :)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Thursday Talk Week 10
J: So another Oscars go by with even more movies I haven't seen that I have to add to my monstrous Netflix queue. So for this week, which famous/acclaimed movies have you never seen?
Jennifer: I've never seen a single James Bond movie. I haven't seen any of the Terminators or : I've never seen a single James Bond movie. I haven't seen any of the Terminators or Aliens. I've never watched Braveheart or Gladiator or Gone With the Wind the whole way through. I don't think I've ever really watched a Western or any Woody Allen movies. Of recent Best Picture winners, I haven't seen The Hurt Locker, No Country for Old Men, the Departed, Million Dollar Baby, the Silence of the Lambs, Dance with Wolves...ok this is getting embarrassing!
Mira: I haven't seen Casablanca, Schindler's List, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Braveheart, The Dark Knight. Of the last decade of Best Picture winners, I haven't seen: Hurt Locker, No Country for Old Men, Million Dollar Baby.
Jennifer: I've never seen a single James Bond movie. I haven't seen any of the Terminators or : I've never seen a single James Bond movie. I haven't seen any of the Terminators or Aliens. I've never watched Braveheart or Gladiator or Gone With the Wind the whole way through. I don't think I've ever really watched a Western or any Woody Allen movies. Of recent Best Picture winners, I haven't seen The Hurt Locker, No Country for Old Men, the Departed, Million Dollar Baby, the Silence of the Lambs, Dance with Wolves...ok this is getting embarrassing!
Mira: I haven't seen Casablanca, Schindler's List, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Braveheart, The Dark Knight. Of the last decade of Best Picture winners, I haven't seen: Hurt Locker, No Country for Old Men, Million Dollar Baby.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
T^2: Award
M: If you could win any media/entertainment-related award, what would it be and why?
Jennifer: This one's easy. When I was a kid I wanted to grow up to be a novelist and win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. I think that's still my pick, although maybe it could be the Newbery Award for a children's book. In reality, I doubt I'll ever actually write a book, never mind get it published and win an award. But I can dream though, right?
Mira: Haha, I've always wanted to write, too. But I've also been obsessed with the entire creative process of bringing a story to life. So for me, I'd love to win an Oscar for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay, based on a book that I wrote. :)
Jennifer: This one's easy. When I was a kid I wanted to grow up to be a novelist and win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. I think that's still my pick, although maybe it could be the Newbery Award for a children's book. In reality, I doubt I'll ever actually write a book, never mind get it published and win an award. But I can dream though, right?
Mira: Haha, I've always wanted to write, too. But I've also been obsessed with the entire creative process of bringing a story to life. So for me, I'd love to win an Oscar for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay, based on a book that I wrote. :)
Monday, March 01, 2010
A few recommended reads
Since Mira has been trying to post more about the "and books and movies and music too" part of our blog, I figured I might as well contribute as well. So here are a couple of books I've read and enjoyed lately. (Although, I rarely finish books that I don't like. So basically every book I've read outside of an English class is one that I've enjoyed on some level....)
In the Woods by Tana French - I don't read very many mystery novels--maybe due to the same reason I don't watch police procedurals--but every once in awhile I find one that makes me think I should read more. In the Woods is a pretty classic police murder mystery but I thought everything about it was just extremely well done. The first-person narrator, Rob Ryan, is a police detective assigned to his first big case: a murdered 12-year-old girl found in the woods outside of Dublin. The twist is that, in a unsolved case from twenty years earlier, two children disappeared in the very same woods. A third child was found, his sneakers filled with blood and unable to remember anything about what happened to his two friends. Rob Ryan was that third child. He and his partner/best friend, Cassie Maddox, investigate the new murder while trying to keep Rob's identity a secret, even as details start to tie the two cases together. The author does a great job developing all the characters and building up suspense all while keeping the readers guessing. There's a sequel of sorts, this time featuring Cassie Maddox, called "The Likeness" that's next up on my reading list.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - Some books make me realize how little I know about the history of countries outside of the US and maybe Europe and some parts of Asia. This book is about a Dominican family living in New Jersey but also delves into some modern history of the Dominican Republic, namely the reign of the dictator Rafael Trujillo, who I have to admit I'd never even heard of before. This is definitely not a dry, serious novel though. The writing is super colorful, with tons of science-fiction and comic book references, a lot of Spanish slang thrown in, and cheeky footnotes containing relevant historical details. The story is split up into several sections, weaving Oscar's story with that of his sister, mother, and grandfather, set in both America and the Dominican Republic, and the world the author creates just feels so full and layered. There's a lot to take in, culture and history and politics and romance and family--but all wrapped up in a really funny and page-turning package. Highly recommended!
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger - It seems that with this second novel (the first being The Time Traveler's Wife) Niffenegger is kind of carving out a little niche for herself--novels that are based around some science fiction or supernatural element but are really not in the science fiction or supernatural genres. In the Time Traveler's Wife it was obviously time travel; in this novel, it's ghosts. The story is set in and around Highgate Cemetary in London, and revolves around two sets of twins, Julia and Valentina, and their mother, Edie and her twin Elspeth. (Like I've mentioned before, I'm pretty fascinated by twins so I totally loved that aspect of this book.) Somehow the author just has this knack for giving a modern setting a kind of old-fashioned feel and then shaking it up with a supernatural storyline and making it all work together. Well, in this case, for at least for the first half of the book. The story takes some surprising turns in the second half and the characters started doing things that were just plainly BAD IDEAS and the way it all turned off was pretty bizarre and I thought, unsettling. (Though perhaps that was the intent?) But I still really like Niffenegger's writing and originality and am looking forward to what she does next.
In the Woods by Tana French - I don't read very many mystery novels--maybe due to the same reason I don't watch police procedurals--but every once in awhile I find one that makes me think I should read more. In the Woods is a pretty classic police murder mystery but I thought everything about it was just extremely well done. The first-person narrator, Rob Ryan, is a police detective assigned to his first big case: a murdered 12-year-old girl found in the woods outside of Dublin. The twist is that, in a unsolved case from twenty years earlier, two children disappeared in the very same woods. A third child was found, his sneakers filled with blood and unable to remember anything about what happened to his two friends. Rob Ryan was that third child. He and his partner/best friend, Cassie Maddox, investigate the new murder while trying to keep Rob's identity a secret, even as details start to tie the two cases together. The author does a great job developing all the characters and building up suspense all while keeping the readers guessing. There's a sequel of sorts, this time featuring Cassie Maddox, called "The Likeness" that's next up on my reading list. 
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - Some books make me realize how little I know about the history of countries outside of the US and maybe Europe and some parts of Asia. This book is about a Dominican family living in New Jersey but also delves into some modern history of the Dominican Republic, namely the reign of the dictator Rafael Trujillo, who I have to admit I'd never even heard of before. This is definitely not a dry, serious novel though. The writing is super colorful, with tons of science-fiction and comic book references, a lot of Spanish slang thrown in, and cheeky footnotes containing relevant historical details. The story is split up into several sections, weaving Oscar's story with that of his sister, mother, and grandfather, set in both America and the Dominican Republic, and the world the author creates just feels so full and layered. There's a lot to take in, culture and history and politics and romance and family--but all wrapped up in a really funny and page-turning package. Highly recommended!
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger - It seems that with this second novel (the first being The Time Traveler's Wife) Niffenegger is kind of carving out a little niche for herself--novels that are based around some science fiction or supernatural element but are really not in the science fiction or supernatural genres. In the Time Traveler's Wife it was obviously time travel; in this novel, it's ghosts. The story is set in and around Highgate Cemetary in London, and revolves around two sets of twins, Julia and Valentina, and their mother, Edie and her twin Elspeth. (Like I've mentioned before, I'm pretty fascinated by twins so I totally loved that aspect of this book.) Somehow the author just has this knack for giving a modern setting a kind of old-fashioned feel and then shaking it up with a supernatural storyline and making it all work together. Well, in this case, for at least for the first half of the book. The story takes some surprising turns in the second half and the characters started doing things that were just plainly BAD IDEAS and the way it all turned off was pretty bizarre and I thought, unsettling. (Though perhaps that was the intent?) But I still really like Niffenegger's writing and originality and am looking forward to what she does next.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
a musical, a movie
I'll admit that I'm a little bit of a Broadway snob; I don't prefer to watch Broadway musicals off Broadway, especially not with a traveling cast. But I made an exception this one time for a few reasons: a-1) it's kind of hard for me to get up to NYC as often as I'd like, a-2) let alone make time for a Broadway musical while I'm up there!; b-1) I really wanted to see In the Heights, b-2) but didn't know any details on what it is about or anything (meaning, could it really hurt me NOT to see it on Broadway? Probably not!); c) the timing worked out; and d) I really wanted to see it!
So... why did I want to see it? It's a bit trivial-sounding, but the guy who wrote/composed and originally starred in it is Lin-Manuel Miranda, a Hunter alumn! He actually graduated a few years ahead of me, and I don't know that I remember him from my time in Hunter (though apparently he starred/was in most of the theater productions during those years), but I love hearing about successful HCHS alumni. Anyway, I'm really, really glad I got to see it in Baltimore. It reminded me of just how much I love going to see musicals, and I was unbelievably impressed with everything about In the Heights. The spoken word/rap by the main character, the colorful characters who represented real people so well, the way the storyline and characters were so seamlessly introduced and built upon, the elements of humor injected throughout, the gorgeous set... Everything! There was one thing that could make it better -- I really, really want to see it performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Haha, yeah, I know unlikely -- at least live. Fortunately a movie version is in the works with Lin-Manuel Miranda reprising his role as Usnavi, so perhaps one day I'll get my wish, kind of. :)
Now onto the movie. I'm not really sure why, but for whatever reason watching In the Heights got me thinking about the creative process behind composing/performing/writing. And somehow that lead me to think about a surprise movie I watched on TV in the past few months that I really, really enjoyed (and the more I think about it, the better I like it!): August Rush. I'm not sure why I didn't notice this movie existed when it was in theaters, but at some point randomly, I happened upon it on cable TV and watched it. In any case, the characters were so varied and fantastic (Keri Russell as the naive, young classical cellist completely controlled by her father; that guy who looks like Ewan McGregor as a wild, carefree rock musician; the kid who played Charlie in the Chocolate Factory movie as a poor orphan with incredible musical talents; Robin Williams as a crazed man who exploits homeless kids' talents for profit), the music drove the movie and it was fantastic, there was a couple and a family for me to root for (since I'm such a shipper), and there was a happy ending. My kind of movie! In any case, there was really no reason for this movie to pop into my head so randomly, but it did today, and now I really, really want to watch it again! Have I mentioned that I *really* like this movie? :)
So... why did I want to see it? It's a bit trivial-sounding, but the guy who wrote/composed and originally starred in it is Lin-Manuel Miranda, a Hunter alumn! He actually graduated a few years ahead of me, and I don't know that I remember him from my time in Hunter (though apparently he starred/was in most of the theater productions during those years), but I love hearing about successful HCHS alumni. Anyway, I'm really, really glad I got to see it in Baltimore. It reminded me of just how much I love going to see musicals, and I was unbelievably impressed with everything about In the Heights. The spoken word/rap by the main character, the colorful characters who represented real people so well, the way the storyline and characters were so seamlessly introduced and built upon, the elements of humor injected throughout, the gorgeous set... Everything! There was one thing that could make it better -- I really, really want to see it performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Haha, yeah, I know unlikely -- at least live. Fortunately a movie version is in the works with Lin-Manuel Miranda reprising his role as Usnavi, so perhaps one day I'll get my wish, kind of. :)
Now onto the movie. I'm not really sure why, but for whatever reason watching In the Heights got me thinking about the creative process behind composing/performing/writing. And somehow that lead me to think about a surprise movie I watched on TV in the past few months that I really, really enjoyed (and the more I think about it, the better I like it!): August Rush. I'm not sure why I didn't notice this movie existed when it was in theaters, but at some point randomly, I happened upon it on cable TV and watched it. In any case, the characters were so varied and fantastic (Keri Russell as the naive, young classical cellist completely controlled by her father; that guy who looks like Ewan McGregor as a wild, carefree rock musician; the kid who played Charlie in the Chocolate Factory movie as a poor orphan with incredible musical talents; Robin Williams as a crazed man who exploits homeless kids' talents for profit), the music drove the movie and it was fantastic, there was a couple and a family for me to root for (since I'm such a shipper), and there was a happy ending. My kind of movie! In any case, there was really no reason for this movie to pop into my head so randomly, but it did today, and now I really, really want to watch it again! Have I mentioned that I *really* like this movie? :)
Skins: Messy British teen life
My first impression of Skins wasn't entirely positive...I was kind of turned off by the large amounts of drugs, alcohol, sex, nudity, and just relatively consequence-free teen debauchery in the very first episode. But my general rule is to give a show at least 2 or 3 episodes before passing judgment on it and I discovered that there was something really fresh and different about the storytelling that completely reeled me in. Somehow I managed to let four seasons (or series, as they call it in the UK; there are 8-10 episodes per series) go by without posting about it again, so here goes my attempt to rewind and recap. A warning though, if you haven't watched the show and don't want to be spoiled, then stop here! I also mention some plot points from season 4 which hasn't started airing in the US on BBC America yet. Skins' form of storytelling is that each episode focuses on just one character. The show is actually quite artsy--very indie-movie-like in its camera angles and music choices--and the tone and look of each episode depends on which character is being featured. Things have tended to lean towards the somber/dreary end of things because this is definitely a show that "goes there" with its issues but there have also been some great moments of lightness and humor amidst the messiness. There are ongoing plotlines, but seeing this world from the perspective of just one (or sometimes two) characters each week brings a new dimension to the idea of show being "character-driven."
Also, this is a kind of risky concept, but at the end of season 2 when the characters graduated from college (basically the 2 years of school right before university), the cast was almost completely turned over, and the show plans to do the same with the new generation of characters that was featured in seasons 3 and 4. Of course this leads to endless discussion of whether the first or second generation of characters and their episodes were "better" or whatever, but honestly I think that so far the writers have done an excellent job of creating a new group of very different characters.
The first generation was anchored by Tony, a master manipulator whose twisted schemes end up completely alienating his friends and, in a typical over-the-top Skins moment, gets hit by a bus in the first season finale. He suffers some mental damage and recovers over the course of the second season and semi-redeems himself. My favorite first generation characters was Cassie though. She's a very sweet and kind of spacey girl who has some issues with eating disorders and mental instability. She falls in love with Sid, Tony's best friend and sort of general sad sack, and they become one of my favorite couples of all time, despite some pretty terrible and annoying plot obstacles and out-of-character moments in the second season and somewhat frustrating open ending to their story. Sid actually dates Michelle, Tony's ex-girlfriend, who he's had a hopeless crush on for years, for a few episodes which I HATED. But the funny thing about Skins is that even when the characters are doing things that you hate, the filming and music can be so beautiful that you can't help appreciate it. The scene where Sid and Michelle first get together was so incredibly gorgeous with the perfect background music (Untitled #3 by Sigur Ros). Another example of this is in the third season, the scene with Effy and Freddie in the lake. They're one of those annoying couples that say they're completely in love but I, as a viewer, am really hard-pressed to understand why, but that one scene was also gorgeous.
So I guess I jumped ahead to the second generation...it's more fresh in my memory anyway. Effy was actually in the first and second seasons as Tony's younger sister, and she was one of the few characters to stay in the show. She's definitely something of an enigma. In seasons 1 and 2, she was actually mute, choosing to express herself basically only in mysterious smiles, but showed that she can be even more crazy and manipulative than her older brother. When she returns in season 3, she's speaking now and has broken out as completely wild (you should see some of the outfits she gets away with) and utterly desirable by basically every guy she meets, including best friends, Cook and Freddie. The love triangle (or polygon...teen shows like this are always very incestuous) ended up kind of swallowing up the entire season, which I was not a fan of, because honestly both couples kind of suck. Cook is crass and rude and violent, and Freddie is a sanctimonious slacker. Freddie "wins" for now but I know the story's not over yet.Anyway, outside of the evil love triangle, there are Katie and Emily, who are twins, which has always kind of fascinated me (I blame Sweet Valley High). Initially Katie is the dominant twin, dating a footballer and aiming to be popular at school, but Emily slowly begins to break out of her shadow. In one of the best storylines the show has produced, Emily falls in love with political and opinionated Naomi, who at first insists that she's straight but eventually falls in love right back. (Of course the writers manage to screw this up in season 4, like they feel the need to do with every relationship...) There's also Thomas, an African immigrant; Pandora, Effy's endearingly airheaded best friend; and JJ, a high-functioning autistic who's been best friends with Cook and Freddie since childhood.
The pattern the show seems to have developed is that the first season with a generation introduces the characters and sets up relationships, and then the second season basically just tears it all down and gets messy and depressing. With the first generation, Tony is brain damaged, Sid's father dies, Cassie spirals out of control and runs away, Jal gets pregnant, and Chris dies.
With the second generation, we're following a similar path in season 4. But one thing I've sort of liked is that the kids' actions are finally producing some real-world consequences. Sometimes I feel like the show sort of glosses over all the partying and trashing of houses and crashing of cars as just typical teen behavior, but in the first episode of season 4, Cook and Naomi are dealing drugs at a party and a girl from their school takes some and jumps to her death from a balcony in the club. Thomas is DJing the party and ends up getting kicked out of school and Cook, who confesses to selling the drugs to protect Naomi, is sent to prison.
The show is definitely far from perfect but I really admire and appreciate what they're trying to do with complex characters and controversial issues and there are some really transcendent moments of beautiful storytelling and film making. I also like that the writing staff is young and they hire mostly unknown actors that are playing their real ages. MTV is making an American version, possibly set in Baltimore, but I'm not sure how to feel about that. One of the British creators is involved so that makes me hopeful but I wonder how well it will translate. Plus MTV hasn't proven that it can do scripted programming. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
a book... or two.
I haven't had time to read at all -- my life's been crazy the past few weeks. Okay, that's a lie... There was a nice 1 week period this month when my life wasn't crazy. (During the crazy snowstorm. I didn't/couldn't go anywhere and I didn't do a single productive thing!) But in any case, for whatever reason, I still have been unable to make time to read anything. Well at least nothing worth blogging about. Truthfully, I haven't even been doing my reading for classes. ::sigh:: Haha, in any case, I have two books on my to-read list. Well, okay, I have a bajillion books on my to-read list. And another bajillion books on my shelf, bought and waiting to be read. But anyway, that's besides the point. I just picked up two books recently, off of recommendations from b-school professors (and because they were cheap on Amazon). Anyway, I almost never, ever read non-fiction books. Love fiction, hate non-fiction; that's how it's always been for me. We'll see if either of these two books change my opinion... Haha, I can't believe I'm reading recommended non-fiction business-related books... Makes me feel like a huge dork and unbelievably old. Especially given how much of my reading tends to revolve around children's literature normally.
So, here are the two books... We'll see what I think about them!
- Tough Choices, a memoir by Carly Fiorina
- Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School, by Philip Delves Broughton.
So, here are the two books... We'll see what I think about them!
- Tough Choices, a memoir by Carly Fiorina
- Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School, by Philip Delves Broughton.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Thursday Talk Week 8
J: In your opinion, what is the worst movie (or TV) adaptation of a book you've read? And on the flip side, which movie (or TV) adaptation did you think was actually better than the book?
Jennifer: I realize this is a pretty broad question but couldn't think of a good way to narrow it down, so interpret it however you like. My answer to the first part is possibly ridiculous because I'm going to pick young adult books that were made into TV movies. Obviously I shouldn't have had such high expectations of TV movies, but bad is bad. The first is A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle, one of my favorite authors. All that needs to be said about that is that Mischa Barton played Vicky, the main character. Runner up is The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney, a book with a totally ridiculous premise but was really engrossing and I thought written quite well. Another bad casting choice for the TV movie -- Kellie Martin. I actually don't mind Kellie Martin normally but I thought she was just so completely wrong for the role of Janie. These were so bad I've kind of blocked them from my memory so I can't even go into more detail of why I hated them!
As for adaptations that I thought were better than the book, I might as well keep with the teen genre and go with Gossip Girl and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The Gossip Girl book series was a phenomenon on its own but after reading the first few I realized that none of the characters were particularly likable. In my opinion, the TV series took the setting and the basic idea of the characters and went in a different and better direction. With the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, I thought the books were fine although the writing was somewhat weak, but the movie was one of my favorites from that year. The movie didn't change much of the story at all but the casting was pretty darn near perfect with America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, Amber Tamblyn, and Blake Lively.
Mira: For worst adaptation, I'm going to go with The Golden Compass. It's too hard for me to go through adult books->movie/tv because those are easily displaced in my memory. Plus, it's hard for me to really remember how good those adult books might have been. But children's books I read over and over again. (I will comment that I was contemplating ALL of Nicholas Sparks' books to movies, minus The Notebook, which sadly I love. But on this hate list are: A Walk to Remember, Message in a Bottle, Nights in Rodanthe, and even though I haven't seen it I already hate Dear John. The only thing is... I can't really say his books are all that fantastic either... But at least two out of three of those movies, Walk/Nights, were excruciating for me to sit through.) Anyway, back to The Golden Compass. The reason this movie was so disappointing for me is because it has such great stuff to work with -- I thought that the actors and actresses picked for the movie were perfectly chosen, the special effects to create the world were beautifully thought out, and the storyline from the book quite fantastic, unique and interesting! But the movie itself just fell so short of what it could have been. It felt flat, it was just a nice story, and I was majorly disappointed in it. Overall it wasn't a terrible movie, and if it's on TV, I'm okay sitting through parts of it again, but... it just could have been so much better so for that... it sucks! :)
On the other end, I pick The Princess Diaries. It's similar to Jenn and Sisterhood (which I, too, LOVE!) in that the book(s) aren't terrible at all. In fact I really enjoyed some of the series. But it's very childish and Mia in the book is pretty one-dimensional in that she's a teenage girl who's just that, a teenage girl. Anne Hathaway does an excellent job adding depth to a character who actually comes off being much more mature in the movie than in the book. Julie Andrews as the grandmother brings to life a character that's just not that memorable to me from the book. Plus she plays royalty to the T! :) I love, love, love this movie. Also, this is a rare thing for me to say because I am a person who loves to re-read books (I've read most of my favorite books at least 5 times or more), but I'd much rather re-watch the movie than re-read the books in this case.
Jennifer: I realize this is a pretty broad question but couldn't think of a good way to narrow it down, so interpret it however you like. My answer to the first part is possibly ridiculous because I'm going to pick young adult books that were made into TV movies. Obviously I shouldn't have had such high expectations of TV movies, but bad is bad. The first is A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle, one of my favorite authors. All that needs to be said about that is that Mischa Barton played Vicky, the main character. Runner up is The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney, a book with a totally ridiculous premise but was really engrossing and I thought written quite well. Another bad casting choice for the TV movie -- Kellie Martin. I actually don't mind Kellie Martin normally but I thought she was just so completely wrong for the role of Janie. These were so bad I've kind of blocked them from my memory so I can't even go into more detail of why I hated them!
As for adaptations that I thought were better than the book, I might as well keep with the teen genre and go with Gossip Girl and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The Gossip Girl book series was a phenomenon on its own but after reading the first few I realized that none of the characters were particularly likable. In my opinion, the TV series took the setting and the basic idea of the characters and went in a different and better direction. With the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, I thought the books were fine although the writing was somewhat weak, but the movie was one of my favorites from that year. The movie didn't change much of the story at all but the casting was pretty darn near perfect with America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, Amber Tamblyn, and Blake Lively.
Mira: For worst adaptation, I'm going to go with The Golden Compass. It's too hard for me to go through adult books->movie/tv because those are easily displaced in my memory. Plus, it's hard for me to really remember how good those adult books might have been. But children's books I read over and over again. (I will comment that I was contemplating ALL of Nicholas Sparks' books to movies, minus The Notebook, which sadly I love. But on this hate list are: A Walk to Remember, Message in a Bottle, Nights in Rodanthe, and even though I haven't seen it I already hate Dear John. The only thing is... I can't really say his books are all that fantastic either... But at least two out of three of those movies, Walk/Nights, were excruciating for me to sit through.) Anyway, back to The Golden Compass. The reason this movie was so disappointing for me is because it has such great stuff to work with -- I thought that the actors and actresses picked for the movie were perfectly chosen, the special effects to create the world were beautifully thought out, and the storyline from the book quite fantastic, unique and interesting! But the movie itself just fell so short of what it could have been. It felt flat, it was just a nice story, and I was majorly disappointed in it. Overall it wasn't a terrible movie, and if it's on TV, I'm okay sitting through parts of it again, but... it just could have been so much better so for that... it sucks! :)
On the other end, I pick The Princess Diaries. It's similar to Jenn and Sisterhood (which I, too, LOVE!) in that the book(s) aren't terrible at all. In fact I really enjoyed some of the series. But it's very childish and Mia in the book is pretty one-dimensional in that she's a teenage girl who's just that, a teenage girl. Anne Hathaway does an excellent job adding depth to a character who actually comes off being much more mature in the movie than in the book. Julie Andrews as the grandmother brings to life a character that's just not that memorable to me from the book. Plus she plays royalty to the T! :) I love, love, love this movie. Also, this is a rare thing for me to say because I am a person who loves to re-read books (I've read most of my favorite books at least 5 times or more), but I'd much rather re-watch the movie than re-read the books in this case.
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