Movie Time: Good Night, and Good Luck

Time to hit up the Netflix and see where we're at...
Last night we settled in with a pizza and Good Night, and Good Luck.

I quite liked it. I love Clooney's subtle and calm and simplistic directorial style. Though this movie seemed vastly different from Confessions of Dangerous Mind, there are enough similarities to say that the man has a style now and I like it. I hope he continues to direct.

The story is about how Edward R. Murrow took on Joseph McCarthy in the 50's, a lone journalist (who really was just a ringleader with guts) taking on a politician who was abusing Americans left and right in the name of patriotism. Obvious parallels can be drawn to our current political climate.

David Straitharn was awesome; I was on the Phillip Seymour Hoffman bandwagon for Oscar when he won because he embodied Capote so well; well, Straitharn totally morphed into Murrow too and in some ways, I'm wondering if he was robbed now. Some other interesting things that stood out: Jeff Daniels' appearance onscreen as soon as the town of Dexter, Michigan was mentioned. And another one was the performance of Ray Wise, currently the VP on 24 but forever in our hearts the Dad of Laura Palmer on Twin Peaks. That man, playing a reporter from CBS who was labelled as a "pinko" by the press and relentlessly pursued - he broke my heart. So quietly did he fall apart.

Race, Australia Style

Why'd Fran and Barry have to wait till they were eliminated to be cute?

So yeah, they came in last and I'm not too disappointed because they constantly negative about what position they were in. I mean, they started in first and then seemed to spend the rest of the leg talking about being last. And I just don't like that.

I also don't like nor get the hatred of the Hippies by MoJo. The Hippies are all trying to help everyone at each stage of the Race and for some reason they are hated by MoJo who I now like even less than the Frats.

Ray and Yolanda are my current choice for number one but they need to pick it up a bit.

Newbie

You may have noticed we've got a new name over on the side there...Larka will be joining us occasionally, when the mood strikes her, with her insight on some of her favorite shows.
WELCOME LARKA!

Anyone else who'd like to join can leave us a note about it and we'll get in touch...

Gilmore Girls: Friend or Foe?

So I guess the creator of Gilmore is leaving after this season, officially, and taking her husband with her.

I must say I'm not too concerned. I think the episodes she writes and directs are usually the better ones but I'm still willing to give the show a shot without them. And frankly the episodes by her husband are generally my least favorite...so it's not to big a deal to me.

Discuss.

Lane Rocks!

Article on Keiko Agena, who plays Lane on Gilmore.
I love the picture of her.

Racing through Oman

Well the kings of first place finally dropped down and almost out.
Fran and Barry - yes, they of the "let's walk by the clue box 15 times before realizing where it is" - beat all the other whippersnappers on an actual sorta physical leg of the race. Digging through sand in the desert is not exactly for the weak and Barry kicked some bootie. But mainly it was the lack of map reading skills of the other teams that put Fran and Barry on top.

The hippies came in last - but it was the first non-elimination round so they are still in it. Poor dark haired hippie. He made me tired and hot just watching him dig and dig.

Overall a few bottlenecks made this leg much closer than it's been lately. And the frat boys got cocky and finally it caught up with them - they are in fourth due to a "short cut" on a map they couldn't read well anyway.

It's The Right Thing To Do

Jack White Coca-Cola ad.
Quite catchy.

58 seats and 62 Koreans

So on tonight's Gilmore, Lane and Zach tied the knot several times. They had a Buddhist wedding for her gramma, a 7th Day Adventist wedding for her mother who then went home to bed so Lane and Zach could have the reception they wanted complete with hot dogs, french fries and Kirk's Yummy Bartenders.

All heck of course broke loose throughout the episode. First Sookie's naughty cookies over expanded. Then the bachelor and bachelorette parties merged when Stars Hollow proved too lame for either to be fun. Then the Buddhist wedding complete with fight between Mrs. Kim and her mother. Poor Lane having to have "the talk" with Mrs. Kim before her church wedding.
The dash to the church to grab a seat complete with Miss Patti's camping gear as she staked out seats the night before. Brian and Lane version 2.0 (the exchange student) made out. Lulu accidentally made Kirk jealous by having the yummy bartenders give her fruit in her drink turning the bar into self-serve.

Which leads unfortunately to a Lorelei meltdown. Where she announced to the whole town that she'll never marry, that her granddaughter will marry before she does...all in a supposed speech to congratulate Lane and Zach.

In the end, Christopher, her de facto date, brings her home as Rory dashes off to injured Logan whose Costa Rica trip of course went wrong...while Luke calls from the road and Lorelei reverts to acting like everything is just a-ok.

Brian 2.0

So What About Brian returned last night in what I think is its regular time slot.
I think it's a good place for it as the last show in prime time on Monday...it's not so packed with action that you can't sleep afterward.
HOWEVER, it's not so packed with action that I'm so enthralled that I caught every minute of it either. It was very easy for me to get up and go do things around the house and still catch on to the show when I got back.

Brian "accomplished" what his best friend the slimy Adam calls "2 in 24" last night and did so with roommates to boot! Oh Brian, Will Marjorie ever take you in with that kind of behavior? His other best friend who runs the game developing place with him...he's breaking my heart. Showing his kids' pictures to potential dates on the open marriage is not a way to win them over. Poor thing. Also his attempted pick up of the delivery girl was quite funny.

As long as they don't change the time slot, I'll watch it again. That's a ringing endorsement, no?

Celebrity Cooking SHOWDOWN!

Well, it wasn't quite what I wanted it to be but it was still entertaining. I think the chef pass thing won it for Cindy Margolis. I thought Alison Sweeney's menu sounded the most appetizing (even though I don't eat beef) and I believe she did the most of her own cooking; i think the chef pass allowed the other two to have their chefs come in and do all the cooking on some of the tougher parts. I probably won't watch tomorrow (GILMORE) but will watch the rest of the week I think. Just curious though...if they are rated on presentation and flavor, how are we to pick a winner? Are they going to mail us samples?

What About Brian?

Well, what about him? I checked it out last night. I'm amazed how I can't even watch a regular drama without someone losing a baby. Geez.

Anyway, it's got that 7th Heaven guy as the lead, making him Brian I suppose, and he's your typical late 20's/early 30's guy who can't find the right woman. I loved his "girlfriend" - they one they called "car girl" because he picked her up at a car accident. He couldn't seem to dump her.

The big story is that he's in love with his best friend's fiancee who has a major flaw in that she seems willing to settle for his jerk of a best friend even though she and Brian and made for each other. Their other friends are married and starting an open marriage which just really seems icky to me.

But overall, I think I'd give it another shot. I think it's on again tonight with a new episode.

Compare that to Pepper Dennis, a show on the WB that I tried to watch last night and couldn't sit through. The only thing I found remotely interesting is that the best friend from Boy Meets World is in it and I wanted to see him all growed up.
Yeah, that wasn't enough for me to sit through more than 20 minutes of the show.
BOO.

Da Race Gets Tough!

Everyone bunched up at the start but then a bunch of mistakes spread everyone out, even though the Frat Boys still won the leg. And if they don't fall behind soon, it's really gonna be boring. But the hippies finally cracked and came in last (well, next to last, making them last for next time) so there's still hope.

It's too bad that it was raining so hard in Greece. I'm sure the scenery we missed because of the downpour was gorgeous.

So first off the teams had to do product placement for the Da Vinci code movie. Snooze.

But the thing that destroyed some teams was their inability to read a clue. They were to take a train to a certain stop and three of them got off early and thought they could just use the bus to get to the right stop. Dudes, when Phil says take the train he means TAKE THE TRAIN.

Then there was fun in getting lost on a way to a clue. So everything continued to fall apart. Yolanda is a tough one, helping to wrestle that guy out of the ring. And then even though some teams made up time on the last task, their arrival at the mat involved 15 minute delays because they didn't TAKE THE TRAIN.

Lake and Michelle are gone so I'm ok with anyone who wins. Even though the frat boys annoy me, they are running a great race.

You let women ride the horses!?!

Oh, I'm beginning to approve of this passive aggressive Logan reconciliation Rory's got going on. Sure, it's not the mature way to handle it but seeing Logan get punished is tons of fun. Plus it gives us a great opportunity to see Logan in torture.
Fun fun fun.

Luke on a field trip is fun to watch. He's so awkward in social situations as it is; putting him with a bunch of teenagers - especially geeky ones - was a good idea. Of course, it continues to postpone Lorelei and Luke dealing with their relationship which is rather tired. Luke is obviously uncomfortable trying to handle both situations at the same time but it's tiresome to watch at this point. More Luke and Lorelei please!

Lorelei ruined Mrs. Kim's hideous wedding dress in an act of defiance against her parents who seem to be sneaking their way into a house in Stars Hollow. I'm not convinced that it's for them...but we'll see.

Jess showed up. Or rather Luke, April and Rory showed up at Jess' publishing house. I like the new and improved and mature Jess. He was rather sweet about Rory attempting to use him to get back at Logan and served as a way for Rory to finally admit what the viewers have been dying to know: how could she stay with Logan?!? Because she loves him and she doesn't understand why herself. Problem? Jess and Rory have WAY more chemistry than Rory and Logan so it was a bit odd to see her leaving Jess to go back to Logan when Jess should be the one she loves so much.

Double the Pleasure, Double the Trump!

Last night we had two all-new episodes of the Apprentice. Ho-hum. I think they seriously need to overhaul the tasks they give these people.

First up: re-do a rec room at a Boys and Girls Club with supplies from Ace Hardware (of course). Lenny was the losing PM because 1) he's hardheaded and won't listen to brainstorming and 2) he spent all his money on expensive music equipment that only some kids will be into. And then of course there's 3) he can't defend himself out of a paper bag, let alone a firing in Trump's boardroom. Lenny didn't even get a chance to bring people back to the boardroom; Trump just up and fired him.


Second Episode: Something disgusting involving some sort of 7-11 pizza sandwich that you couldn't pay me to eat. Leslie got the boot because she set the price point too high even though she was the better PM and her team functioned better; she lost to the other team because the price was too high. Lee proved to be annoying.

Dancing Machine!

I forgot to post about Phil's Dancing on Amazing Race the other night. How? I'm not sure. It made me laugh out loud. I love Phil. He seems so serious most of the time but at heart you know you wanna hang with him.

TVGasm posted a clip of Phil V. Trump dancing.
Check it out!

Today

I've always watched the Today Show, at least on the days when I've been up early enough to watch TV, or was actually home to watch it. (In high school I was up that early but long gone to school before it began...).

So it's a morning habit that I'm invested in when they start talking about who is going to wake me up.

I'm pretty happy that Meredith Viera is replacing Katie Couric. I liked Katie but she's been visibly bored with the show for a few years now. And Meredith is sarcastic enough to work in really really well with Matt and Al.

Now, what of the VIEW? Meredith is the best part of that show; or, some might argue, the only watchable part of the show.

With Meredith gone, will Star and Joy finally succumb to a celebrity death match? And will Star recover from the bootie kicking Joy will give her?

Viva Italia!

Ok, the hippies are back on my list. While they were the first to admit that they were butchering town names in Italy, they also felt the need to yell the phrase "pizza pie" as they ran through the streets of Italy on this evening's Amazing Race.
So I'm not sure. I like them better than the frat boys but they aren't my favorites.

I think Ray and Yolanda are. Just decided that.

Kayak Polo looks sorta annoying but I like the concept of it.

Italy was the true reason to watch tonight, as I'm sure Greece will be next week.
Just beautiful.

The Nerds are gone. I feel rather Meh about that.

Turk Time

Turk is quickly becoming my favorite character on Scrubs.

Tonight he bemoaned his loss of Turk Time: his one day off a week without his wife is interrupted by JD needing him to hang out.

What does Turk do typically?

Strip to his comfies.
Catch up on his paperwork.
Watch Gilmore Girls.
Then checks in with JD about it..."I'm so MAD at Lorelei!"

Paris is my new best friend

So who could not adore Paris after her tirade at Logan tonight?
Drunken Rory took Logan back...yet she then disappeared without telling him where she was going and escaped to Stars Hollow for a few days. So all is obviously not forgiven. But Rory is being the typical good girl and acting like all is right with the world. She also decided to visit Luke's Baby's Mama - and Lorelei was upset by it.

Second favorite scene (after the Paris tirade): Lorelei entertaining her parents in her home when Luke arrives and wordlessly disappears upon hearing that they were there.

Zach won over Mrs. Kim and re-proposed to Lane.

Lorelei, similarly to Rory, acts like she's not bothered by how Luke behaves...he accepts a bag from Anna (the baby mama) and she acts like all is well. Yeah, right.

Next week: JESS.

DOH!

So now we know who's the real brains behind this whole mess on 24 don't we?

In short, Jack survives the blow up from last time.

CTU is taken over by Homeland Security because it's the only way Audrey can keep Chloe on to help with Jack.

Wayne and Aaron meet up with Evelyn who knows the real person behind the day...but won't tell because Henderson has her daughter.

Jack and Wayne help her get her daughter back, Henderson escapes and it's revealed that his "boss," the man behind it all, the evil one indeed is....

President Wimpy.

NO WAY!