Pop culture bits and pieces, mostly from Entertainment Weekly
1. I tried to find it on the website, but couldn't - did any of you read the article by Lisa Schwarzbaum about the state of modern "chick flicks"? As annoying as she usually is, I pretty much agreed with her that women grasped onto these movies in the first place because they featured smart, interesting women who we wanted to be like. They had a professional goal, or were genuinely looking for love and friendship, or had strong ties to their families, or were charmingly clumsy in ways we could relate to. Nowadays, she says, movies like Bride Wars, Shopaholic, He's Just..., etc., are making women shallower than ever, and turning them into creatures that we can't relate to anymore, because no women are actually like that.
I liked her take, and thought it was an interesting assessment.
2. According to Michael Ausiello, also in his EW column, Katharine Heigl and TR Knight are both trying to get out of their contracts at the end of the season.
This made me think about what has gone wrong over there at Grey's, and this is what I've come up with: stop rotating around the cast members! In it's inception, Grey's was an ensemble drama, and without a doubt, the best part (and the entire point) of the first season was the friendship between the five interns. Addison was a welcome addition, and Callie provided a semi interesting foil for George. Otherwise... stop adding cast members! Once they messed with that ensemble is when the show really started to go downhill and veer off its course. And now, two of the original cast members are so disappointed with the fact that they're being ignored, that they want to quit.
Perhaps the solution to their problem of original cast members leaving and new ones not lasting is that they need to stop trying to add new ones, especially "quirky" ones. Give the show back its heart, and then you can give the characters love interests, if you must.
3. I saw this band from Minneapolis play tonight, called "Sick of Sarah." This is the second time I've seen them play in Chicago, and they're really fun. You all should check them out.
4. I saw Confessions of a Shopaholic and He's Just Not that Into You this past weekend. They both kind of sucked, but that was expected. I expected to have rants about both of them, though, and they were both just boring enough that I don't even care. Actually, that's not true. My one rant is this:
My problem with He's Just Not that Into You (seriously, with this title?) is the title and basic concept. I mean, the concepts and ideas explored in the movie actually made sense - exploring different relationships, different personality types, and how we read other people's signals and reactions towards us. I just wished it wasn't so one sided, and so focused on these women trying to get men to fall for them, when they weren't even sure they liked the guys in the first place. Figuring out how to start a relationship is universal to men, women, gay, straight, friendship, work relationships... I kind of wished this movie had looked at it that way.
5. Unrelated, but I did laundry today. It had been so long since I did laundry that I was beginning to look like the old, homeless lady who sometimes hangs out in the lobby of my building. But now, I have pajamas that are cute and are flattering and match.
I liked her take, and thought it was an interesting assessment.
2. According to Michael Ausiello, also in his EW column, Katharine Heigl and TR Knight are both trying to get out of their contracts at the end of the season.
This made me think about what has gone wrong over there at Grey's, and this is what I've come up with: stop rotating around the cast members! In it's inception, Grey's was an ensemble drama, and without a doubt, the best part (and the entire point) of the first season was the friendship between the five interns. Addison was a welcome addition, and Callie provided a semi interesting foil for George. Otherwise... stop adding cast members! Once they messed with that ensemble is when the show really started to go downhill and veer off its course. And now, two of the original cast members are so disappointed with the fact that they're being ignored, that they want to quit.
Perhaps the solution to their problem of original cast members leaving and new ones not lasting is that they need to stop trying to add new ones, especially "quirky" ones. Give the show back its heart, and then you can give the characters love interests, if you must.
3. I saw this band from Minneapolis play tonight, called "Sick of Sarah." This is the second time I've seen them play in Chicago, and they're really fun. You all should check them out.
4. I saw Confessions of a Shopaholic and He's Just Not that Into You this past weekend. They both kind of sucked, but that was expected. I expected to have rants about both of them, though, and they were both just boring enough that I don't even care. Actually, that's not true. My one rant is this:
My problem with He's Just Not that Into You (seriously, with this title?) is the title and basic concept. I mean, the concepts and ideas explored in the movie actually made sense - exploring different relationships, different personality types, and how we read other people's signals and reactions towards us. I just wished it wasn't so one sided, and so focused on these women trying to get men to fall for them, when they weren't even sure they liked the guys in the first place. Figuring out how to start a relationship is universal to men, women, gay, straight, friendship, work relationships... I kind of wished this movie had looked at it that way.
5. Unrelated, but I did laundry today. It had been so long since I did laundry that I was beginning to look like the old, homeless lady who sometimes hangs out in the lobby of my building. But now, I have pajamas that are cute and are flattering and match.