9, Land of the Lost- I was setting myself up to be disappointed by the series finale of Lost. Season 6 had been a big disappointment, and it sure didn't help that two episodes before the finale an episode was devoted to Jacob and his crazy mom with only about 30 seconds of footage with any of the "real" Lost stars. But then finale day came. The series finale of Lost certainly did not give any redemption for season 6 for me, but it lived up and surpassed my expectations of providing closure to an overall great series. I know there are many who wanted more questions answered and thought the whole purgatory story was the easy way out, but Jack reuniting with his father and many of the other series cast mates in the chapel will go down for me as one of the best moments of any series-- ever. It made me forgive the misfires such as Alison Janney, Nikki and Paulo, and Jack's love affair with Bai Ling. Jack, Sawyer, Ben, Locke, Kate, Hurley, Mr. Eko, Sun, and all the others will be missed on my television screen.
10. The Gays of our Lives- Just a few short years ago gay characters on a TV series were given filler scenes and rarely given a storyline. Just a few short years ago gay characters in the movies were either the sassy best friend or the hate crime or AIDS victim. 2010 showed how all of that could change. In 2010 gay characters in television shows and movies became more complicated, interesting and in many cases ordinary. Cam and Mitchell continued to make us laugh, but also showed that they were very much an equal part of a Modern Family (which has been singled out as a popular show among *gasp* Republicans). Curt on Glee was the standout in an uneven season of Glee. He showed the reality of bullying in high schools toward gay teens and the complicated road to acceptance among family and friends.In reality TV, Mondo on Project Runway became the deisgner that the world was cheering for. Film showed us that there are just as many great stories to be minded from gay characters as their straight counterparts. The entertaining but not great film I Love You Philip Morris showed a world of lies and scams that seemed so unbelievable, and it also happened to be about two gay characters. On the other side of the spectrum The Kids are Alright told the story of an ordinary family who happened to have two moms. 2010 proved that acceptance of gay people was happening and that people were interested in our stories. There will be no turning back in 2011.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
My 2011 resolutions
Part 5 of my previous blog post is coming soon, but here are my 2011 resolutions:
In 2011 I will not stress over life so much. I say that every year and I did succeed this year up until the last couple months.
In 2011 I will travel. :)
In 2011 I will eat more fruits and vegetables and other healthy food
In 2011 I will read more of my multitude if unread books
And finally
In 2011 I will have no large parties at my house. Only small gatherings of 12 or less.
That's enough. If you have too many it's harder to be successful. What are yours?
In 2011 I will not stress over life so much. I say that every year and I did succeed this year up until the last couple months.
In 2011 I will travel. :)
In 2011 I will eat more fruits and vegetables and other healthy food
In 2011 I will read more of my multitude if unread books
And finally
In 2011 I will have no large parties at my house. Only small gatherings of 12 or less.
That's enough. If you have too many it's harder to be successful. What are yours?
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Things that Really Entertained me in 2010- Part 4
7. To Sleep Per Chance To Dream- In 1984 I eagerly awaited a film called Dreamscape starring Dennis Quaid and Kate Capshaw. I think even then I knew it was cheesy. It still fascinated me though because it was about entering the world of dreams. Twenty six years (!!??) later director Christopher Nolan recreated the complicated world of dreams again in Inception. I won't say that I understand everything that happened in the movie, and anyone who says they did is lying. However, Inception showed the cinematic possibilities of dreams through the potential from the creation of worlds and layering dreams that was all strung together with edge of your seat action. Leonardo DiCaprio leads an all star but under rated cast (Marion Cotilliard, in particular, was excellent and Ellen Page was not annoying per usual) into a world that brought me back to Dreamscape and then kicked it up to another level. It was also the summer blockbuster that hopefully proved once and for all there is large audience potential for films that require thinking and intelligence.
8. The Meat is On- Lady Gaga didn't release any new music in 2010, but you couldn't escape songs from The Fame and The Fame Monster in the last year. And why would you want to escape them? While her lyrics often seemed simple anead d silly, there was still something clever about them and something brilliant about her pop arrangements. She also singlehandedly made people care again about the nearly dead music videos with her creative and entertaining videos for Paparazzi, Bad Romance, and perhaps the best of them all, Telephone. During the summer, she launched what has to have been the biggest tour of the year. It was highly unusual for an artist who was so relatively new to fame to headline their own stadium tour and sell it out at almost every venue. During her time off from music and the road, Lady Gaga entertained me with her sometimes off the wall behavior, whether it was flipping the bird at photographers at a baseball game or wearing a dress made of meat at the VMAs. It was also a rare thing for someone of her caliber to embrace the gay community as she did. She raised money for gay chartities at every concert (while also making these charities a part of her show) and fought tirelessly for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and other gay issues. Perhaps Lady Gaga is given too much credit for being an original which she never really claimed to be. It is obvious the influence that other pop stars like Madonna and David Bowie have had on her as well as artists like Alexander McQueen and Leigh Bowery. But is anything truly original anymore? Regardless, 2010 was the year that Lady Gaga walked the fine line of over-exposure and was always fascinating and entertaining.
Finally, Part 5 will be coming soon with the end of a sure to be classic television show and a cultural shift in entertainment.
8. The Meat is On- Lady Gaga didn't release any new music in 2010, but you couldn't escape songs from The Fame and The Fame Monster in the last year. And why would you want to escape them? While her lyrics often seemed simple anead d silly, there was still something clever about them and something brilliant about her pop arrangements. She also singlehandedly made people care again about the nearly dead music videos with her creative and entertaining videos for Paparazzi, Bad Romance, and perhaps the best of them all, Telephone. During the summer, she launched what has to have been the biggest tour of the year. It was highly unusual for an artist who was so relatively new to fame to headline their own stadium tour and sell it out at almost every venue. During her time off from music and the road, Lady Gaga entertained me with her sometimes off the wall behavior, whether it was flipping the bird at photographers at a baseball game or wearing a dress made of meat at the VMAs. It was also a rare thing for someone of her caliber to embrace the gay community as she did. She raised money for gay chartities at every concert (while also making these charities a part of her show) and fought tirelessly for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and other gay issues. Perhaps Lady Gaga is given too much credit for being an original which she never really claimed to be. It is obvious the influence that other pop stars like Madonna and David Bowie have had on her as well as artists like Alexander McQueen and Leigh Bowery. But is anything truly original anymore? Regardless, 2010 was the year that Lady Gaga walked the fine line of over-exposure and was always fascinating and entertaining.
Finally, Part 5 will be coming soon with the end of a sure to be classic television show and a cultural shift in entertainment.
Old Habits Die Hard
I will get back to my list of entertaining things. I was just thinking about my neighbor. I can hear him put out his garbage can every sumday night for Monday morning collection. The problem us that the garbage collection day changed to Tuesday over two years ago. I guess habits are hard to break. Any habits that you want to break in the new year? For me it would be my same old junk food habit and breaking my anxiety habit!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Ten Things that Really Entertained Me in 2010 Part 3
5. Genius is Complicated- 2010 could have been the year that Kanye West spent repenting for his sins against Taylor Swift, and in fact, it started out that way. But crazy can only hide for so long and as soon as Kanye West discovered Twitter the old Kanye was back. Even if I wasn't a fan, which I am, I would have subscribed to his Twitter feed to find out what Kanye was going to ramble about on any given day. He didn't hold back and quickly the repentance tour was over. That is exactly how I like my Kanye West!! His crazy talk would have been entertaining enough, but Kanye also reminded us how he became well known in the first place--his talent. It started for me during his performances on SNL this past fall. He performed in front of a white backdrop and at that moment he went beyond being a rapper or musician for me. He became an artist. Then he one upped those performances by releasing his next album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy which was easily his strongest and most consistent collection of music yet. The past few years showed that Kanye West could be knocked off his self made pedestal, but 2010 proved that he could step right back up better than ever.
6. Don't Mess With A Renaissance Man-How did James Franco follow up his banner 2008 in which he has critically acclaimed roles in the films Pineapple Express and Milk? He decided to take on a "say what?" storyline on General Hospital. It wasn't a move that a movie star would make, but it has become increasingly apparent that James Franco has no interest in being a movie star. He has shown interest in being a soap opera actor, a novelist, an exhibited artist, a short film writer and director, and of course a graduate stident enrolled in several different programs sometimes concurrently. Luckily in 2010 he still wanted to be in the movies, and this year he gave two of the best performances of his career in 127 Hours and Howl. Both roles showed the type of risks he is willing to take as an actor. 127 Hours is likely to get Franco his first Academy award nomination. With all that going on in 2010, one might wonder if James Franco was..well....stressed. But he maintains his affable stoneresque personality off screen in interviews which makes me wonder if even that is a just another piece of performance artist. With James Franco we may never know. He will keep us guessing what will come next.
Number 7 and 8 will be a movie that was the stuff of dreams and a pop star who combined music, fashion and performance art.
6. Don't Mess With A Renaissance Man-How did James Franco follow up his banner 2008 in which he has critically acclaimed roles in the films Pineapple Express and Milk? He decided to take on a "say what?" storyline on General Hospital. It wasn't a move that a movie star would make, but it has become increasingly apparent that James Franco has no interest in being a movie star. He has shown interest in being a soap opera actor, a novelist, an exhibited artist, a short film writer and director, and of course a graduate stident enrolled in several different programs sometimes concurrently. Luckily in 2010 he still wanted to be in the movies, and this year he gave two of the best performances of his career in 127 Hours and Howl. Both roles showed the type of risks he is willing to take as an actor. 127 Hours is likely to get Franco his first Academy award nomination. With all that going on in 2010, one might wonder if James Franco was..well....stressed. But he maintains his affable stoneresque personality off screen in interviews which makes me wonder if even that is a just another piece of performance artist. With James Franco we may never know. He will keep us guessing what will come next.
Number 7 and 8 will be a movie that was the stuff of dreams and a pop star who combined music, fashion and performance art.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Ten Things that entertained me in 2010 Part 2
3. The Girl Who Sold Millions of Books- Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who..." trilogy is an international phenomenon. To me the stories themselves are suspenseful yet someone formulaic crime drama (though I have to admit I am just now half way through the second book). The stories have launched three worldwide successful films, and the American version of "Dragon Tattoo" which is currently being made will likely be a huge hit also. I have enjoyed the stories, but there is one thing that makes them special and that is the character Lizbeth Salander. Lizbeth can be heroic, complicated and unlikeable sometimes all in the same page. Her character will be the legacy of the books, and the plots are always the most compelling when she is on the page. Since Larsson died shortly after the publication of the third book, we will likely never read another book with Lizbeth as a character, but in 2010 she may have been fiction's most compelling character.
4. They've got a friend in me- Most of the time sequels come and go with apprehension and most of them never live up to the original movie from which they came. But very few expected Toy Story 3 to disappoint. That is a tall order to live up to, but Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the toybox finished up with the same same joy and excitement that they began with back in 1995. The films have always been about childhood and different passages in a child's life, but Toy Story 3 took on the most challenging passage of them all: the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood. Toy Story 3 kept it light when it could as the toys made their escape from a daycare from hell, and then the movie gets serious as it leads up to its final tear inducing moments. A generation has grown up with the Toy Story movies. If a child watched the first movie when they were 5 years old they were 20 when they watched Toy Story 3. They have watched the character of Andy grow into adulthood as they have, but Andy's toys will always remain timeless.
4. They've got a friend in me- Most of the time sequels come and go with apprehension and most of them never live up to the original movie from which they came. But very few expected Toy Story 3 to disappoint. That is a tall order to live up to, but Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the toybox finished up with the same same joy and excitement that they began with back in 1995. The films have always been about childhood and different passages in a child's life, but Toy Story 3 took on the most challenging passage of them all: the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood. Toy Story 3 kept it light when it could as the toys made their escape from a daycare from hell, and then the movie gets serious as it leads up to its final tear inducing moments. A generation has grown up with the Toy Story movies. If a child watched the first movie when they were 5 years old they were 20 when they watched Toy Story 3. They have watched the character of Andy grow into adulthood as they have, but Andy's toys will always remain timeless.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Ten things that really entertained me in 2010 Part 1
I'm starting a blog again and decided to start now that I am on vacation. My first posts will be reflecting back on 2010. Right now I will start with the world of entertainment. These are not ranked in any particular order.
Ten things that really entertained me in 2010:
1. Here's to the ladies who don't sing so great!
In 2010 (and really in any year) my Ipod was filled with female singers who were more entertaining popstars than strong vocalists. In 2010 Katy Perry proved to me that she wasn't the one album wonder that I had thought she might be but hoped she wasn't when I saw her in concert in 2008. Perry entertained me with odes to stilettos in the sand, pearls, teenage dreams, and...uh.....peacocks. While spending most of my summer in Europe and waiting for Katy Perry's new CD to be released, I had Kylie Minogue who proved with her new music from Aphrodite that she deserves to be the international sensation that she is, and made me hope it would be this music that would finally help Kylie really catch on in America. But it appears it was not to be. Making Kylie Minogue's vocals sound like Pavarotti are the autotuned tunes of Ke$ha. Yeah I know she can't sing, but I couldn't resist her drunken appearances, her trash bag fashion sense and her simple silly rhymes about partying, drinking, glitter, more partying, more drinking and old dudes! And finally dominating the world of pop and country was Taylor Swift. In 2010 Swift continued her transformation from America's Sweetheart to America's Stalker (seriously why would ANY guy date her? they end up in a song). Whether it was singing about forgiving Kanye West (the best thing that ever happened to her career), boys who did her wrong, boys who she did wrong, and breaking up a wedding, my ears couldn't stop listening. Even when she was out of tune.
2. All You Zombies Hide Your Faces- I didn't think I would like The Walking Dead. Zombies have never scared me or really interested me because they are so very slow! But somehow The Walking Dead was different. Maybe it was the possibly doomed characters who reminded me of characters from my dearly departed Lost (Andrew Lincoln is the breakout star here!). Maybe it was the cleverness as shown in perhaps the best scene of any TV show in 2010 when two of the survivors cover themselves in blood and guts to trick the dead into thinking they are also walking dead so they can make there escape. Whatever it was, in six short episodes I was hooked. The Walking Dead was the only new show in 2010 that was appointment television. It is going to be a long wait for Season 2.
Number 3 and 4 are coming soon. One is from the world of books, the other is a cinematic end to characters who have awed inspired generations.
What TV series and pop music entertained you in 2010?
Ten things that really entertained me in 2010:
1. Here's to the ladies who don't sing so great!
In 2010 (and really in any year) my Ipod was filled with female singers who were more entertaining popstars than strong vocalists. In 2010 Katy Perry proved to me that she wasn't the one album wonder that I had thought she might be but hoped she wasn't when I saw her in concert in 2008. Perry entertained me with odes to stilettos in the sand, pearls, teenage dreams, and...uh.....peacocks. While spending most of my summer in Europe and waiting for Katy Perry's new CD to be released, I had Kylie Minogue who proved with her new music from Aphrodite that she deserves to be the international sensation that she is, and made me hope it would be this music that would finally help Kylie really catch on in America. But it appears it was not to be. Making Kylie Minogue's vocals sound like Pavarotti are the autotuned tunes of Ke$ha. Yeah I know she can't sing, but I couldn't resist her drunken appearances, her trash bag fashion sense and her simple silly rhymes about partying, drinking, glitter, more partying, more drinking and old dudes! And finally dominating the world of pop and country was Taylor Swift. In 2010 Swift continued her transformation from America's Sweetheart to America's Stalker (seriously why would ANY guy date her? they end up in a song). Whether it was singing about forgiving Kanye West (the best thing that ever happened to her career), boys who did her wrong, boys who she did wrong, and breaking up a wedding, my ears couldn't stop listening. Even when she was out of tune.
2. All You Zombies Hide Your Faces- I didn't think I would like The Walking Dead. Zombies have never scared me or really interested me because they are so very slow! But somehow The Walking Dead was different. Maybe it was the possibly doomed characters who reminded me of characters from my dearly departed Lost (Andrew Lincoln is the breakout star here!). Maybe it was the cleverness as shown in perhaps the best scene of any TV show in 2010 when two of the survivors cover themselves in blood and guts to trick the dead into thinking they are also walking dead so they can make there escape. Whatever it was, in six short episodes I was hooked. The Walking Dead was the only new show in 2010 that was appointment television. It is going to be a long wait for Season 2.
Number 3 and 4 are coming soon. One is from the world of books, the other is a cinematic end to characters who have awed inspired generations.
What TV series and pop music entertained you in 2010?
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