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Saturday, November 24, 2007

Smallville: Blue

ORIGINAL EPISODES, THURSDAYS @ 8PM ON THE CW

Yet again I'm disappointed in the writers at "Smallville." I don't get how they think, I really don't. Time and again they give us formidable foes for Clark to go up against and every time these guys get beaten in one episode. Why do the writers on this show refuse to keep an enemy going for more than episode, with the obvious exception of the Luthors? It makes no sense to me. Don't get me wrong, I love this show; it's one of my favorites. But it gets me angry when I invest so much time in the show, get excited about the new characters, and then they're gone after 40 minutes.

Anyway, tonight Clark went up against Zor-El, Jor-El's nemesis and brother. As usual, Clark's emotions got the better of him and when he heard his mother's voice from Kara's crystal he put it into the panel at the fortress which released bother his mother and Zor-El. Well, actually I shouldn't say released as much as recreated them from the DNA in the crystal. Clark seems to be letting his emotions get the best of him entirely too much. They control his actions when he should be using his brain instead. Just as it always happens, this didn't turn out quite the way Clark had hoped. In the end, he couldn't control Zor-El and he had to choose between what he wanted and what was right; either his mother stays and so does Zor-El or both of them go. Clearly, he had to choose to destroy the crystal and say goodbye to his mother. I really couldn't feel all that bad for him since it was his brash actions that brought all this about to begin with and it almost culminated in the deaths of every person on the planet. You can't bring back the dead and he needs to get past that or he'll never be able to move on.

The idea of the blue kryptonite was interesting though. I never read the comic books but I really hope this is the end of all the colored kryptonite. Every season there seems to be a new kind that messes with Clark and to be honest, it's getting a little old. The fact that the the blue kryptonite strips him of his powers is a very dangerous weapon however and Clark better hope there aren't any other sample laying around anywhere.

Lara was beautiful, kind, and a great mother. I can see why Clark would want her to stay. What was more interesting however was the insightfulness of Kryptonians. After only a couple minutes with Lana, Lara was able to see the darkness growing inside of her; something that Clark has been blind to for so long. Hopefully she'll head Lara's warnings before it's too late. The fact that she saw it so easily might be the shock that Lana needs to snap out of her funk.

There were a couple HUGE events towards the end of the episode though. First, Kara lost her memory!!! Yet, another side effect of Clark's refusal to put his emotions aside and listen to his brain. When he destroyed the crystal Kara was somehow transported to Cleveland (or was it Detroit?). Not only that but she has no memory of who she is at all. Clark though believes she's dead and has no idea if she's alive, let alone somewhere with no memory. This can't be good and I hope there's more to this than just Kara walking around trying to figure out she's special. That would be terrible and extremely boring. Second, Gabriel is Julius Luthor! I definitely did NOT see this coming. I knew he was in Lex's back pocket but I never would have guessed this. With Gabriel/Julius defying Lex and still seeing Lois, this should become a very interesting family feud.

Before I go, I should mention that Clark seems to have something interesting going on. Whatever Jor-El did to him can't be good, it never is. Maybe he's going to force him to begin the training program he wanted him to do or maybe send him to some sort of prison. Maybe he'll even strip him of his powers for a time. Who knows. But for now enjoy the review and I'll see you next week!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

The Real World Sydney: The Birds & Off The Hook

ORIGINAL EPISODES, WEDNESDAYS @ 10PM ON MTV

So here's how today's review is laid out. I'm basically combining the last two episodes into one review because I think they fit well together and the same drama has sort of bled it into each episode.

Let me start by saying that Isaac is insane. It's plain and simple, he's just insane. He sees birds because he used to be addicted to acid? Now, I'm not a doctor or anything but I'm sure there is absolutely nothing normal about that occurring even after being addicted to a powerful drug. Add to the insanity the fact that he sees black birds once in a while and if he does it means someone close to him is dead. That's just creepy and the fact that it actually turns out to be correct is even creepier. How in the world can something like that happen? What's even more odd to me is that he claims its a result of taking acid for a long time. So is he saying that if you're addicted to acid then the after effects cause you to become some sort of psychic? I don't know what's wrong with this guy but I've had this odd feeling all season that something just wasn't right with him. He's always seemed a bit off and this may explain a whole lot.

So what was Isaac's response to seeing the black bird? He leaves the house very early in the morning to go back home for his grandfather's funeral. At least he told Noirin where he was going so that someone knew but he should have mentioned something to the roommates. Plus, his note about being faxed to China was just weird. Hopefully everything was alright back at home, or at least as alright as it can be after losing someone close to you.

I was VERY angry at the blatant attempt at creating drama by the producers during this episode. Are we really expected to believe that it was pure coincidence that Dunbar, Ashli, Kelly Anne, and Cohutta were put on the same work team? I think it's pretty crappy to screw with a guy that's trying to stay faithful to his girlfriend (not that he's trying all that hard as we see in the next episode). More than that though, it's a shot at our (the viewers) intelligence that we wouldn't notice such an obvious attempt at creating drama. Also, Parisa and Trisha on the same team? Blatant attempt to create drama? Hmmmm. On this note though, I have to say that I think Ashli is very scummy. She claims to not be the type of girl that hooks up with a guy who has a girlfriend yet she takes every opportunity she can to flirt with him and put her hands on him. For instance, when they were at the bar not only did she call another girl trying to hit on Dunbar a slut (which was totally random and not necessary) but she also was openly flirting with him and grinding with him on the dance floor. Who really was the slut there?
Dunbar better watch out or Julie is going to dump his butt faster than he can even say the name Ashli. As we see in the next episode, he finds even more creative ways of getting close to crossing the line he can never go back over.

(next episode)

In "Off The Hook" Dunbar became a moron. Alright, alright...he was a moron even before tonight. Does the guy seriously think that just because he hasn't actually hooked up with Ashli at this point that Julie isn't going to dump his butt when the episodes aired? If my girlfriend was constantly talking about another guy, flirting with him non-stop, grinding with him at the bar every night she goes out, and now sleeping in the same bed with him, we'd be over in a heartbeat. I cannot understand what he's thinking at all. Obviously he isn't thinking too much or he wouldn't be doing any of this. Can he really think that just by placing a pillow between himself and Ashli in bed that he's safe from being accused of cheating? PLEASE! You two were cuddling all night while your faithful and understanding girlfriend is at home thinking you're still in love with her. Then on top of all this Dunbar picks a fight with Julie because she thought the nickname "Dummybear" was funny. Which it totally is by the way. If Julie has any respect for herself she'll dump him the second she sees this episode because there's no way he'll stay faithful down the road if he's willing to do all of this and justify it too.

Before I move on, I'd just like to point out again how ridiculous Ashli is. She totally pulls Dunbar into this web of cheating even when he's not thinking about it (not that he's totally innocent). The perfect example is Ashli's teasing about having a 3-way spooning with her and Kelly Anne. No guy in their right mind would avoid that conversation. Any conversation about two beautiful girls wanting to spoon with you will always be something you want to hear about. And Ashli totally kept pushing the point, trying to get him worked up thinking about it. She's very devious and I could totally see her getting Dunbar to cheat and then being like, oh whatever I don't want you now. He needs to watch his back and decide one way or the other what he wants.

As for everyone else in the house Kelly Anne and Cohutta have been pretty quiet lately with their goings on. Apparently they sleep in each others bed on a regular basis but we haven't seen too much drama from them. For now I'll take that as a hint that they may actually be establishing a legitimate relationship there. Unfortunately, it seems a pregnancy scare is going to be coming their way in the near future...

Next we get to Parisa and Trisha. Ah, don't we just love these two. Well...no we don't but I do have some friends that think Trisha is gorgeous. Personally, I think she's alright; nothing special. But that's all besides the point. The point here is that these two just cannot seem to get along at all. Every week I go back and forth between who is right and who is wrong. Each of them seems to do something stupid and inconsiderate to the other, alternating between aggressor and aggressee. I've come to the conclusion though that they're is no right person in all of this; they're both equally wrong. They both purposely egg on the other and both of them purposely attack the other, looking for ways to start a fight. Tonight, for instance, Trisha purposely had to push Parisa's button about the phone calls while Parisa just had to ignore all the roommates cleaning and go work out. Parisa knew this would drive Trisha nuts just as Trisha knew making fun of Parisa's family would do the same. In the end though, it seems Trisha may have lost. She let her temper boil over and pushed Parisa down to the floor. As we all know, physical attacks are not permitted in the house and I guess now Parisa gets to decide whether Trisha stays or goes.

Parisa certainly has a tough decision to make now. Given the animosity with Trisha and how much she's been hurt, of course she should want to send her home. She probably even deserves to go after everything she's done to her. But if Parisa sends her home then the other roommates are going to be pissed at her the rest of their time there since Parisa has been just as bad. This is a tough situation but I think Parisa may end up letting her stay. These situations often turn into love fests where the person in Parisa's shoes allows the other to stay. Then they end up reconciling the rest of the season. I don't see them being best friends but if Parisa wants to save face and show she's above all this she should let her stay.

Fun times at the Real World house. I'm glad to see the drama picking up a bit. Things should start to get even more interesting in the next couple of weeks. Until next week, enjoy the review!

Gossip Girl: Seventeen Candles

ORIGINAL EPISODES, WEDNESDAYS @ 9PM ON THE CW

Blair is 17 and things aren't so rosy. First off, her relationship with Nate has ended and although she's sort of still hoping they could get back together, she's immensely depressed that their 10+ year relationship is ending. Second, she slept with Chuck! In the back on a limo! After stripping in his burlesque club! Crazy! We all knew she was a bit of a hard ass and has no problem taking anyone on and making them feel like less than nothing. But a wild child? I thought that title went to Serena's pre-exodus from New York personality? Looks like she's taking a page out of Serena's well written book and throwing all caution as well as reason to the wind.

Unfortunately, in all of this Chuck as fallen for Blair. Who knew he could ever actually feel something for someone else? This guy is one of the worst people you could ever know, loves sleeping with loads of random women, and yet somehow he falls for Blair after one night? I somehow doubt this would be possible in real life, so I'm going to suspend my disbelief for the time being. I have been enjoying the quick retorts to Chucks advances by Blair. She's very witty and it's fun watching her put him down at every turn. I wonder if maybe this is just a rebound for her. I mean, she wanted nothing to do with him after that night until Nate never showed up at her birthday party and she started making out with Chuck again. If that's the case then good for her because Chuck is definitely not the best boyfriend to choose.

Speaking of messed up relationships, Alison (Rufus' wife) showed up with Jenny! She's beautiful but dangerous. This woman not only left him and the family but she also had an affair. It doesn't matter that she's telling the truth now or that it only happened once. The fact is that she did it and abandoned her family. I understand that Rufus is still in love with her but he needs to be more careful. He jumped headfirst back into the relationship in this episode without solving any of the problems that led to the current state of affairs. It's never good to ignore such major issues because they're just going to be there again when the euphoria of the moment wears off. At least there's one person happy in all of this - Jenny. This really just goes to show how immature she still is and how exposed she is to being hurt as she tries to immerse herself in the world of the rich.

As for Dan, his relationship with Serena seems to be the only normal one. They're really getting a lot closer despite some problems they're having; which by the way are totally normal. Vanessa is definitely a buzz kill and can totally ruin their relationship if she doesn't back off. At least her and Serena seem to be making an effort to get to know each other now. The Guitar Hero duel was awesome; Serena is pretty sick at that game. I think they could really be friends if not for the fact that they're in love with the same guy. By the way, it was totally fair of Serena to want to be Dan's go to girl. He can't be with her and still go to Vanessa all the time even if she's his best friend. He's walking a tricky line right now and he better watch out because before he knows it he could be left without any girls in his life.

Before I end tonight's review can I just say that Nate and Jenny are totally random and not at all a good couple. I don't see it at all and I'm a little disappointed in this story line. I guess it's sort of necessary in order to give Jenny her chance at the throne. Anyway, I'm sure you're all just as anxious to see the next episode after having the Thanksgiving Week off, so until then enjoy the review!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Pushing Daises: Bitches

ORIGINAL EPISODES, WEDNESDAYS @ 8PM ON ABC

"That's the most tragic thing I've ever heard with the exception of the big ticket items like famine and genocide." Best line of the night; best line of the week; best line of the month! This show is great and the writing is becoming more and more exceptional every week. I'm actually surprised at how much this show has grown on me. Before the premiere I was debating whether I even wanted to start watching at all and here I am a month and a half later touting the greatness that is "Pushing Daisies."

It's hard to describe exactly why this show is such a work of genius without making you think I'm on some sort of controlled substance. The premise of the show, as you all know, is far out there and no where close the traditional formats we're used to watching. I mean, for starters, it's about a guy who can bring people back to life my touching them. I could say about a thousand more words on the show and a newcomer still wouldn't hear anything other than that and automatically dismiss me. So if you haven't watched this show, don't expect me to put the premise into some easy to use, microwavable format for you so you can decide quickly if you want to watch. Just trust me, and the millions of loyal viewers who tune in every week, and take a leap of faith. Give the show a chance for a few weeks and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Most viewers probably think that Ned and Chuck are the reason this show is successful, and while they are a big part, the truth is that Emerson is what completes the circle. Without his comedic presence this show wouldn't be what it is and likely would be very boring. I absolutely love that he is sickened by all the lovey-dovey talk between the characters. It really makes scenes that might otherwise be sappy extremely funny. Speaking of which, excellent use of the term "Gangsta Love" by Emerson. I actually think he should pursue the wife #3 of the polygamist. They were hilarious together and her equally brash and sarcastic attitude compliments him well, bringing out an even funnier side of his character.

I should mention that Ned was an idiot for not telling Chuck about Olive's kiss. He did nothing wrong and should have told her. By hiding it he made it seem as if there actually was something to hide. It is interesting how much the idea of having someone to touch is getting to Ned. I don't think he really likes Olive but the fact that it's an actual possibility and someone he doesn't have to worry about touching, is why he keeps thinking about. Ned and Chuck seem to have worked out their issues with that for now but I have the feeling this isn't going away for good anytime soon.

By the way, did anyone else recognize the setting for the funeral in this episode? It was Stars Hollow!! Both "Gilmore Girls" and "Pushing Daisies" are filmed on the Warner Bros. lot in California and Stars Hollow is actually a permanent, free standing set located on the lot. It was great seeing the old town again.
This episode was an excellent, yet generic, "Pushing Daisies" plot. I will give the writers props for originality by using a crossbred dog as the catalyst for one of the four wives of the polygamist murdering the husband. Never saw that coming but I did enjoy the episode. It was also great to see Olive a regular part of the gang now (although as Emerson made sure, she gets no cut of the reward money). She's a great and vital part of the cast and I'm glad she's finally part of the overall story lines.

I very much enjoyed tonight's episode and I'm sure you did too. Keep tuning in for as long as the show is still on the air until the writer's strike catches up with the episodes. I'll do my best to get an updated count on the new episodes remaining and let you know about it next week. Until then, enjoy the review!

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Technological Difficulties

Due to a few issues with the computer and the blog I have been unable to post many of last weeks reviews. They will be up early this week. Please check back for the latest reviews and thoughts!