Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Video of the Day

It's finally Wednesday, which means no more work for the rest of the week and instead...all cookin' and eatin'. Since my mother in so intent on poisoning the rest of the family by making me help cook for T-Day, let's all pray that my family and I make it through the rest of the week. Anyhow, I will try to get to some blogging at some point this weekend but I must warn you, I will have Rock Band at my disposal (Elliott, you are my god) so don't hold your breath waiting for a new post because I will probably be busy on stage, rocking out.

Your VotD comes from New York Times The Best Fan Vids of 2008. This is a Supernatural video that is totally worth watching; very "visually dynamic". They also have one for Firefly which is majorly creepy, but really well done. Thanks to Whedonesque for the link.


The Fifth Circle from Luminosity Deville on Vimeo.

I hope everyone has a great and fattening Turkey Day. Also, if anyone even begins to eat that blasphemous tofurkey, I will immediately know and come to assassinate you. There is however, a slim possibility that I will be too busy playing the Rock Band guitar to go ninja on your tofurkey-eating butt, but I wouldn't take that chance if I were you.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Tuesday Ramblings

There are so many great things to talk about today, I can barely contain my excitement! But then again, Tuesday always follows Monday and Monday is Heroes night, so for me the excitement isn't unusual. Hey, it's the little things. I'm easily entertained. So, let's get started.

Corrie, Ryan and Tina can all testify to my expectant and excited cries of "SMOOCHIES! SMOOCHIES!" during last Monday's Heroes. As I quivered and jumped around on my couch, hoping to see some Sylar (shirtless, yum) and Elle lovin', it did occur to me that I shouldn't be living so vicariously through the possible, and totally hot, love scene between two psycho serial killers. But in all honesty, Sylar (Zachary Quinto) and Elle (Kristen Bell) have become my two favorite characters to watch on Heroes. Creating a back-story and a history between the two was a brilliant idea. Together they have what one would call GOLD, a kind of chemistry gold that brings to mind the Veronica/Logan relationship from Veronica Mars. Again, being honest, I never saw this relationship coming, but maybe I'm just really slow like that. Though I sadly didn't get my vicarious smoochies last Monday, I did get them last night and boy was it worth the wait.

Elle: We can't take what we want anymore!
Sylar: Says who?
*Commence totally hot kissing scene

Sylar and Elle finally moving forward with their tense and edgy relationship brought to mind the scene in Dexter when him and Lilah had their first creepy, sadistic serial killer sex scene. Albeit, that was HBO and far more grotesque (coughtotallyhotcough) and detailed than NBC's strangely sweet kissing scene. Still, the verdict is in: a romance between two semi-creepy and psychotic (and lets not forget sexy) criminals is Number 1 on the Must See Hotness chart.
As a side thought: I was wracking my brain daily as to who future Sylar's baby momma might be and it seems we have a winner! Now all I need to do is figure out why they named him Noah...












On another note, I feel like I am obligated to again discuss the greatness of Supernatural this season. I fear I am going to be forced to watch last Thursday's episode (Heaven and Hell) for the fourth time tonight when Tina and Katie come over for our weekly Buffy night. But it's so frakkin' good, I don't really mind that much. The season just gets better and better and again (with a small amount of fear of sounding even more nerdy than I already do), Angels vs. Demons, coolest story line ever! And since I have already raved about one smooching scene in this post, I won't go on and on about the Dean and Anna baby-making scene in the Impala (pssssitwastotallyawesome). Oh Dean...*swoon*. Ok, composing myself...


The last order of business (which includes your SotD) involves another thrilling CW show, Smallville. Yes, I know it's been on for eight (!) years and it's getting old. I feel ya. In fact, I felt ya about three seasons ago when I finally stopped watching. But let's review the facts of this new and improved season:

1) Lana is gone. Already this makes the show ten times better.
2) Justin Hartley, aka Green Arrow, is a regular. They basically took a smelly, rotting growth (Lana) and replaced it with beautiful, healing man-hotness.


3) Lois Lane. Yes, she was a bit annoying a first but she has grown on me and the budding romance between her and Clark is very interesting and exciting (and often times hilarious) to watch.


4) The Chloe/Jimmy story line is also very fun to watch, especially with the addition of Doomsday...


5) Doomsday, played by the devilish Sam Witwer, the only creature that can defeat Superman. They are seriously bringing out the big guns this season.



And those are just a few of the improvements seen this season. The hollow, black void that was Lex Luther's does tend to put a damper on things, but it's not as bad as I previously thought. All the exciting new characters usually distract me from missing one of my favorite villains, though it makes me feel slightly guilty. He is Lex Luther, after all. One must always miss him when he's not around causing trouble for our man of blue and red.

Anyhow, last Thursday's episode BLEW me away. Yes, I used all caps. Deal with it. The Cloverfield/Blair Witch opening scene was totally awesome and a great way to spice things up. It really gave the episode a doomed feeling (get it, doomed? As in DOOMSDAY! Mwahahaha..ok, I'm done now). But the very best part of the episode was the end sequence, which I have supplied for you below. Not surprisingly, they used another Vast song to bring out the completely helpless and sorrowful emotions of the montage. Vast is fastly becoming one of my favorite bands. They were already used in a previous Smallville episode and also in an Angel episode. Saying their sound is hauntingly beautiful doesn't even begin to cover it. Your SotD is Don't Take Your Love Away, from the end sequence.



Don't Take Your Love Away
By: Vast

I am looking for an inspiration
And I think I found it in your heart
It's the kind of thing you get when you're not looking
It's the kind of thing you had from the start

Put me on a ship that is sinking
On a voyage to an untamed land
Take away the freedoms I wanted
I understand

Please, don't take your love away from me
Don't take your love away from me
Please don't take your love away from me

Please don't take your love from me
Please don't take your love from me

Put me inside flesh that is dying
A ghost that wanders without rest
Buried by desires and weakness
I understand

Please, don't take your love away from me
Don't take your love away from me
Please don't take your love from me
Please don't take your love from me

Monday, November 24, 2008

Twilight Review

I know what you're thinking. I'm a sucky, crappy blogger. I'm a poor excuse for an Internet journalist, constantly shirking my duties and letting down my readers. Wait...I have no readers! I'm free and clear of any journalistic obligations! Score!

Still, in my defense, I did write a post yesterday while I was sitting at Panera but for some devilish reason, my post didn't actually post. Panera Bread may smell like heaven, but it's wi-fi is sent straight from HELL! Anyway, I should probably stop rambling and get to the point of this post...



My Twilight Review

I went to see Twilight with a small group of Twilight fans (and a couple non-fans too but I pretended like they didn't really exist) on Thursday night for the midnight showing at Atlantic Station. We sat down in line about two hours before the showing, cementing our bums to the dirty theater carpet, therefore ensuring ourselves perfect seating arrangements for the film. The theater was filled with loud, annoying teenage girls but we knew to expect that. I told myself I would control my temper as long as everyone shut the hell up once the movie started. Apparently, even that was asking for too much. I spent a good part of my weekend receiving calls from friends asking me what I thought about the movie. I could hardly give them a coherent answer, but this was the jist of it:

First and foremost, I need to see the movie again. As I mentioned above, the twittering, giggling, yelling tween girls never actually shut the hell up throughout the whole film. I nearly gave in to my primeval instinct to horribly slay a couple constant gigglers behind me. But I curved that desire because nobody appreciates bloodshed during a movie (maybe IN a movie, but not DURING a movie). Still, the constant laughing, swooning and yelling took its toll and it was difficult to stay immersed in the story.

Speaking of story, I would describe the flow as extremely choppy. I didn't really notice it until Katie pointed it out, but once she did I couldn't stop thinking about it. The cast and crew tried so hard to give us fans all the scenes from the book that we loved, but in doing so they made each scene shorter and gave us hardly any transition scenes. They just jumped from one scene to the next without any flow between. Alot of movies have this problem, so it wasn't a great big deal, but it should still be pointed out.

Because each scene seemed cut-off it also made the viewer feel like each scene had lost potential. We got all the scenes we wanted (thanks cast & crew!) but they either contained incorrect elements (the meadow scene was very pretty but it was missing the center focus of Bella touching Edward's skin) or the scene wasn't long enough for the viewer to really feel any emotions about it. Bella and Edward's relationship is INTENSE and as great as Robert Pattinson is at giving us that dead sexy stare, we just can't feel that intensity without a longer, more in-depth scene.


As was expected, the movie has its share of corny parts. When you are reading the novel, you don't get any kind of corny feel. At least I didn't. But often when you transition book to film, you come up with over-the-top scenes. Some were worse than others and it certainly gave the film a humours aspect that I wasn't expecting but corny scenes were hardly the film's biggest problem.

Characters. As a friend angrily replied on Facebook, they were empty. This really only applies to the Cullens. They are one of the best parts of the novels and we just didn't get enough time with them. They had the potential to make this film great and take some of the pressure off the Edward/Bella relationship, but instead we got more and more corny, intense scenes with Edward and Bella and not enough lightweight, enjoyable scenes with the Cullens. The kitchen scene at the Cullen house was perfection and the baseball scene was one of my favorites. We needed more scenes like those.


People who constantly criticize and complain without ever offering up a solution suck. I don't want to be one of those people. In the end, I enjoyed watching this film. I'm much happier that they made it then I would have been if they hadn't. I had no problem with the acting or the directing. The camera work in the forest when Bella is telling Edward that she knows what he is was magnificent. It was perfect for the scene and I loved it.

Here is my one and only piece of advise for New Moon. Don't be afraid to make it longer. That was the source of all the major problems with Twilight. I know studios and producers and whoever often think that if a movie is over 2 hours long, nobody will go see it. That is just NOT the case. See: Casino Royale, LOTR movies for just a couple examples. Your fans will happily sit through a 4 hour movie if it meant more time with their favorite characters. Two hours was just not long enough. Even a mere 30 minutes extra would have done wonders to improve the film's flow and character development.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. I went in expecting too much and that was my fault but it was still a great film to watch. If the studio, director, script writer and actors can learn from their mistakes from Twilight, then New Moon will be wonderful.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Monday Ramblings

I've got a couple different issues to discuss and ramble about today and since this blog has an average of maybe 2 viewers (Ok, yes, I'm rounding up. So sue me) it's mostly me rambling to...me. I'm like the crazy, old cat lady except instead of talking to my cat, I'm talking to my blog (Ok, yes, I talk to my cats too. So sue me). Anyway, onward and outward.

This weekend my two BFFs (Tina and Katie) and I stole away to a magical land. A land of couches and big leather chairs that swallow you whole in their soft, lazy embrace. A land of cooking whilst under duress, crazy family reunions (minus two: my wayward sister Jamie and my cat, Candy, who was killed recently by an evil dog; my heart still aches) and the traditional talk of cocaine, sex and Judaism at the restaurant table. I drove home yesterday, not with visions of candy canes and sugarplums in my head (Christmas is coming!), but with visions of demons, vampires, shapeshifters, the Winchester boys (be still, my heart) and kooky southern bells. We spent all of Saturday and part of early Sunday morning catching up with this season's Supernatural and True Blood. I will not speak of the nightmares I suffered when I finally fell into bed. It's just too bad they didn't also contain bedroom scenes with Sam and Dean. Needless to say, the two shows are rocking my relatively dull world. This season's Supernatural is by far it's best to date and with the addition of angels to the list of supernatural creatures, it's only getting better and better. True Blood is just as exciting to watch. Except for the crawl-out-of-the-ground-naked-and-have-sex part. That was...interesting and not to mention...dirty. No pun intended. Anyway, it was a fun and relaxing weekend (at least while my mother was out of the room).


In an effort to stop myself from blogging non-stop about Twilight, here's some fun scoop on Heroes from Kristen Dos Santos. Seriously, I want her job. She has my total dream job, no question about it. I'm not above admitting my total and complete jealousy of her. Check out below for some TV scoop.



Also, in case you haven't heard, it pains me to report that it's very possible that Pushing Daisies will get cancelled after this season. It's not confirmed, but the next two weeks are crucial. It's a great show. It's unique, funny, inspirational, eccentric and complex. Please try to watch this week and next to show your support. It would suck to have this show off the air and instead have some dreadful non-scripted show in its place. Like we need more reality, come on people. Open your minds and realize the beauty and power of your and others imaginations. And of course, the total cuteness of Lee Pace. Don't miss out on that.


Friday, November 14, 2008

And...New Watchmen Trailer!!

This movie looks like the coolest frakkin' movie ever. Yes, I am excited about Twilight and Harry Potter, but this is all icing baby. Now, I refuse to actually read the comic, since I tend to be picky with my comic book art and I don't really like the drawings for "Watchmen" (sorry artist, no offense, its just not my bag of tea). I'm sure the story rocks, but personally, I'll wait for the film to rock my world. Sad part: looks like Jeffery Dean Morgan, one of the main reasons I'm going to love this film, dies early on and that TOTALLY sucks. There he goes, out the window. So sad. Still, this film is just....beautiful looking.



Thanks again to Joblo for the video!

New HP Trailer!

Holy crapola. I can't believe we have to wait until next year to see this film. What torture!




Thanks to JoBlo for the video!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Twilight Vanity Fair Outtakes

These pictures were just so pretty, I had to post them. Props to the photographer, she did a beautiful job. Everyone looks amazing; my favorite aspect being Kristen Stewart's tennis shoes with the dress. Brilliant. Hope you like!


















Thanks to HGE for the story and follow this link to the original Vanity Fair page.


Twilight Craze

Oh dear God, I hate teenage girls. They seriously make ALL of us females look bad. I really hope that I was never like this when I was a teenager, but who knows, I probably was. Still, I just cringe every time I see a video like this with Rob. The poor, poor boy. Until the Twilight craze dies down (and it could be YEARS, especially if they make the three other books into films) his life will be filled with fangirl stalkers, paparazzi and constant media attention all swirling around a nomadic lifestyle like a boiling tornado of popstar evil. How was it that Rob put it? Like walking into "the gates of hell". I couldn't have said it better myself. To all you twittering tween girls out there: GET A GRIP! If for nothing else, for poor Rob's sanity.




Thanks to HGE for the video.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Legend of the Seeker


One day, several months ago, I was browsing through a bookstore with my dad in Perry, Georgia. Seeing as there is nothing but tractors, deer and lonely cotton fields in southern Georgia, a bookstore stop is always a highlight of any visit to see my parents. As I browsed through an entertainment magazine that had caught my eye, three words stopped my hands from turning to the next page; Wizard's First Rule. "What's this?", I thought. A small article, accompanied by one small picture, told me that Sam Raimi (of Spider-man fame) was working on a series for syndication. A series that was based off Terry Goodkind's 1995 book, "Wizard's First Rule". Trembling with excitement, I ran to my dad to show him the article. I proceeded to screech in his ear about the frakkin' awesome idea that we might actually get to see this book series, which we had both been reading for over ten years (there are twelve books in the series, the last one, "Confessor", released only last year), played out in a fairly decent fashion on our television sets. I couldn't wait.


I ended up missing the first episode, which premiered on November 1st, since I couldn't find the showing anywhere in my television guide. But last Saturday, as I was channel surfing (something I try to avoid at all costs), I came across several showings and recorded every one of them. I was concerned that the show creators would make a Sci-Fi Channel-looking show which was not shot very well and had amazingly corny dialogue. Well, it ended up having it's fair share of corniness, but it was shot WAY better than I had predicted and I enjoyed every minute of it. The fight scenes were beautifully choreographed and the casting of Craig Horner and Bridget Regan was brilliant. The casting of Zedd, however, I was not happy with at all. Zedd is supposed to be warm and grandfatherly and Bruce Spence is more Tales from the Crypt than anything. But other than that, it's a great show and I am very proud and happy it turned out so well.


Follow this link to see some videos and check out the video below to get a idea about the show. Maybe you'll give it a try! Gotta love corny!




Monday, November 10, 2008

Introducing...


Robert Pattinson...not as the delicious Edward Cullen, but as Rob Pattinson, the musician. And a dang good one, I dare say. Rob also has two songs on the Twilight soundtrack and even though I had heard his music before, this just reinforces my high opinion of him as an artist. Which is exactly how he wants to be seen. Though he has no plans to pursue his music anytime soon (I suppose acting comes first), he really should rethink that decision. Not that he isn't a great actor, but he's got some serious Bob Dylan potential. He wrote this song, "Never Think", about a year ago and it fit so well with Twilight that Catherine Hardwick (the director) put it in her final edit of the film. It's an amazingly emotional and sincerely humble song that fits Edward to a T. It also fits with what I know about Rob also. Anyway, enough rambling. Ignore the video and just close your eyes and listen.




MusicPlaylist src="http://assets.myflashfetish.com/images/make-own.gif">
Music Playlist at MixPod.com



Never Think
By: Rob Pattinson

I should never think
What's in your heart
What's in our home
So I won't

You'll learn to hate me
But still call me baby
Oh love
So call me by my name

And save your soul
Save your soul
Before your to far gone
Before nothing can be done

I'll try to decide when
She'll lie in the end
I ain't got no fight in me
In this whole damn world
So hold off
She should hold off
It's the one thing that I've known

Once I put my coat on
I coming out in this all wrong
She standing outside holding me
Saying oh please
I'm in love
I'm in love

Girl save your soul
Go on save your soul
Before it's to far gone
And before nothing can be done

Cause without me
You got it all
So hold on
Without me you got it all
So hold on
Without me you got it all
Without me you got it all
So hold on
Without me you got it all
Without me you got it all
So hold on

Friday, November 7, 2008

Dollhouse


There has been a lot of rumor surrounding the production of this show and most of it is not good. I don't know if I have ever heard about a new show having this much trouble before it has even aired, but leave it to FOX to screw with Joss's stuff. I'm not really sure what to think but I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing goes under. But, fortunately, I'm sure the network has already spent too much money on it to quit now. We can only hope...

A new promo for the show has just been released so check it out and tune in February 13th and show your Joss support.


Lost Season 5


I could not be more excited about this coming January. Not only does Dollhouse finally premiere, but Lost starts it's fifth season. This show might have lagged a little in previous seasons, but last season made up for any prior mistakes and if this promo is any indication of what next season will be like...we might want to grab our couch helmets and buckle in for a gloriously unpredictable, frustrating, awe-inspiring and totally bumpy ride. I'm ready, are you?



Wednesday, November 5, 2008

I Caught Myself - Twilight Soundtrack


As some of you may know, the Twilight Soundtrack was released yesterday, so I went ahead and bought the album off iTunes (you get 3 bonus tracks, how exciting!). It's pretty good and I really like a lot of the songs...but...it sets a tone that seems off from the kind of tone I got while reading the book. Now, I'm not one of those morons that think you can make a movie in the EXACT image of the book. If you are going to be one of those people, you are going to be disappointed a lot of time. Film isn't literature. And vice versa. You can write one page of a script that can cover 20 pages of a novel. It's not about what you have time to put into the movie or what important parts you end up excluding or lines that don't match perfectly, it's about how you create the movie to honor the book's central themes, characters and events. As long as we all go into the theater hoping for a great film that centers on some of our most favorite literary characters, we will most likely walk out with smiles on our faces and feeling perfectly content with life (that is, if Hardwick doesn't screw it up). That's all I'm asking for and that's all I'm going in hoping for.

Still...Stephenie Meyer created a playlist to follow every one of her Twilight novels. Those playlists gave us an even greater feeling for each book. Music is a HUGE part of the Twilight series, both inside the story of Bella and Edward and outside their universe (aka: our universe). Some of the songs on the album fit perfectly, ie: see Paramore songs. Others, however, give it a faster paced tone that I don't relate to the book. Bella's Lullaby in particular seems off to me. But then again, if Hardwick had created a movie that moved as slow as the first book, no one would go see it besides hardcore Twilight fans, and though we are legion...we are not enough to break the box office, I think. So, we'll just have to wait and see how the music fits with the film and if the faster pace movie can win our hearts akin to the slow paced romantic novel. Though the soundtrack threw me a little, I still have all confidence that the film will earn the position on the pedestal where I have put it.


Below is "I Caught Myself" by Paramore, their second song on the album. It's one of the great ones. I'm really starting to like this band. Let me know how you like it. Enjoy!





MusicPlaylist
Music Playlist at MixPod.com



I Caught Myself
By: Paramore

Down to you,
You're pushing and pulling me down to you.
But I don't know what I,
Now when I caught myself, I had to stop myself.
I'm saying something that I should have never thought.
Now when I caught myself, I had to stop myself.
From saying something that I should have never thought of you.

You're pushing and pulling me down to you,
But I don't know what I want,
No I don't know what I want.

You got it, you got it,
Some kind of magic.
Hypnotic, hypnotic,
You're leaving me breathless.
I hate this, I hate this,
You're not the one I believe in.
With God as my witness.

Now when I caught myself, I had to stop myself,
I'm saying something that I should have never thought.
Now when I caught myself, I had to stop myself,
From saying something that I should have never thought of you.

You're pushing and pulling me down to you.
But I don't know what I want.
No I don't know what I want.

Don't know what I want.
But I know it's not you.
Keep pushing and pulling me down,
But I know in my heart it's not you.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Quotes of the Day



The unfortunate fact stands that, yes, I am still on a school-girl Supernatural kick and since it's Election Day (finally) and I could not be more over all this election crazed America (and yes, admittedly bitter about the fact that all my shows are cancelled tonight so that the networks can cover the election..bah!), I'm going to blog about something OTHER then this potentially world changing election (as if I don't always avoid it, haha). Here are your QotD, curtsy of the witty Supernatural writing team. Oh, and pretty pictures. I do love these boys...*sigh*


Sam:
Dean, there's ten times as much lore about angels as there is about anything else we've ever hunted.
Dean: You know what, there's a ton of lore on unicorns too. In fact, I hear that they ride on silver moonbeams, and that they shoot rainbows out of their ass!
Sam: Wait, there's no such thing as unicorns?

Dean: [Looking at the haunted hotel] We might even run into Fred and Daphne inside. Mmmm... Daphne. Love her.

Dean: I'm not gonna die in a hospital where the nurses aren't even hot.

Sam: Dude, I'm not enabling your sick habit. You're like one of those lab rats that pushes the pleasure button instead of the food button until it dies.
Dean: What are you talking about, I eat.

[Dean falls on top of Sam as they sneak through a half open window]
Dean: Oh, sorry!
Sam: OK, be quiet.
Dean: Me be quiet? You be quiet!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Jensen sings Eye of the Tiger

Pretty much the most BRILLIANT thing I have ever seen in my life. No joking, no over-exaggeration. Total truth. Try not to pee your pants from laughing or swoon like a little girl while you watch this. It'll be hard, but do try.


Decode Video

Holy crap! You get an awesome video for your VotD. Paramore just released their Twilight themed song "Decode" video. It's pretty much swoon worthy. Plus, it totally ROCKS! Literally. Twilight soundtrack gets released tomorrow. Personally, I can't wait!



Thanks again to HGE for the video!

*EDIT: Sorry, it's a little cut off. Follow the HGE link above to see it fully.

Disclaimer

The views expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.