Talk of Life

Clear Eyes. Full Hearts.

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:50:04 GMT

I almost never post on LJ anymore, but I wanted to share something and make one last plea to anyone who might be reading this.

Salon has given its annual Buffy Award for the most underappreciated TV show to . . . you guessed it, Friday Night Lights.

If you aren't watching this show, why not?

If you've never even seen an episode, check out the wonderful picspams by typicrobots to see what you're missing. (She's done the first seven episodes so far.) How can a show about football -- FOOTBALL! -- be the most beautiful show on TV? I don't know, but it is. It's so beautifully shot, beautifully directed, beautifully acted.

Yes, I know, you hate football. So do I. But I love FNL.

If you are still mourning the loss of Everwood, or Once and Again, or My So-Called Life, or heck, even Party of Five, you owe it to yourself to try this show, at least two or three episodes. It isn't about football, it's about people. (People who love football, okay, but some of them hate it. So you won't be alone.) It doesn't have vampires, or demons, or serial killers on the loose, or strange and obscure medical mysteries -- it's just about regular people, living regular lives, and doing the best they can with what they have.

If you are already on the FNL bandwagon, what do you love most about the show? And what have you done to try to convince others to try it out? Any luck so far?

I get a lot of raised eyebrows and "I can't believe you of all people are watching a show about football. You hate football!"

I know! But doesn't that tell you something about how good it is?

FNL Lives!

Fri, 11 May 2007 16:01:09 GMT

I so want to be mad at NBC for screwing up The Office last night and going over (damn it!) . . . but then they go and renew Friday Night Lights, so I can't.

Thank you, NBC, for bringing us another year of the Dillon Panthers.

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose.

If you aren't watching FNL, you should be. (And this is from someone who HATES football.)

Lord, beer me strength.

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:51:44 GMT

Am I the only one who was pretty disappointed with the 30 Rock season finale? That must have seemed funnier on paper. Or something.

But The Office was hilarious. It never disappoints.

Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.

Alec Baldwin: Rageaholic

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:09:48 GMT

Oh, man. I knew Alec Baldwin had a bad temper, but this is pretty appalling.

Have y'all heard this? Wow.

It's going to be hard to look at him as Jack Donaghy without thinking of him calling his 11-year-old daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig." And threatening her in a very menacing tone.

All this time, I thought Kim Basinger was the nutty one. But I wouldn't want that man around my child either, if that's the kind of tone he takes with her on a regular basis.

For the parents out there, what do you think?

I know that you probably wouldn't want anyone to record you when you are yelling at your kid, but I honestly can not imagine talking to my child like this, no matter how mad I was.

And her crime was failing to answer the phone? Yeah, that's not something you'd expect from an 11-year-old. Sheesh.

You just know Kim Basinger (or more likely her lawyer) leaked this to the press, but I can't say that I really blame her. It's only going to help her in their custody fight. This is going to be a PR nightmare for him.

I am extremely gruntled

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:43:46 GMT

Oh, Office! How I missed you. {{{hugs it}}}

Angela's reaction to the fight was the best part of the episode.

I think I also have a crush on the Law Stylist. Anyone else? Floyd (he has a name!!) is all kinds of adorable.

Thank you, NBC, for renewing 30 Rock. Yea!!

And Thomas Jefferson flipping off the Maury crowd was the best part of that episode. Where do they come up with that stuff?

Philli-mination

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:56:12 GMT

Lesson of the day: Spelling counts, people!

I was never a huge fan of Rob and Amber, but they definitely made TAR more entertaining as a viewer. I was very sorry to see them get Philiminated, especially over the unbelievably annoying Mirna and Schmirna.

And I'm an attorney, so I know when someone's lying to me.

Blech. SHUT IT, MIRNA.

Man, I hate her.

GO TEAM CHA CHA CHA.

In other news, Saturday (March 10) was the 10th anniversary of the the airing of the Buffy pilot. That was some good TV. Entirely pointy, you might say.

ETA: Oh yeah, Battlestar Galactica was on last night also. I have absolutely nothing to say about this episode. I was kinda bored, actually. (Although sad about the noticeable change in the credits. *sniff*) Next week better be good!

It's not personal, Paul.

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 22:59:17 GMT

NO!! Say it ain't so!

Apparently, Paul Adelstein (Kellerman aka Lance) has signed on to the Grey's Anatomy spinoff (aka the Addison show).

Boo.

I don't want to watch PB without him. He's so good at being so bad.

And I don't want to watch this GA spin-off either. I've been very happy with my decision to drop GA from my TiVo Season Pass list and I had no intention of going back there.

But I might have to, just to see how he does in a role that doesn't require him to be pure evil. At least I don't think it does.

And please, please, don't let his character get a silly McNickname.

Also, Tweener is charged with vehicular manslaughter.

Battlestar Galactica

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 00:17:40 GMT

I'm many days behind on LJ and I'm trying to catch up.

I haven't read any of the BSG reactions but I'm looking forward to seeing what people thought about "Maelstrom."

But I have a quick question.

Okay, I'm not sure if I want to be spoiled, but this episode is going to drive me to seek spoilers out. I don't know if I want to keep watching if there is no hope for Kara to ever come back. I can't stand this!

After the episode was over, I was arguing with myself:

They wouldn't kill Kara off, would they?

OMG, they killed Kara! They will do anything on this show.

OMG Wait! Maybe she's a Cylon! They WILL do anything on this show.

No, WAIT! They wouldn't make Kara a Cylon! She only thinks she's a Cylon!

But wait! If she's not a Cylon, that means she must be dead! They wouldn't kill Kara off, would they?

Grrr. Aaargh.

Question: [/dwight] Without giving away any direct spoilers, can someone reassure me that I should keep watching? I really don't think I can take watching BSG without Starbuck. :(

I know a lot of people hated her, but she's about 75% of why I love this show. (20% is Laura Roslin and 5% is Bamber. Not Lee, mind you, but Bamber.)

And also: Should I try to remain spoiler-free or should I put myself out of my misery? I'm sure there must be spoilers out there about the "Final Five." I can't decide if I want to know, but the waaaaiting is the hardest part. [/tom petty]

Is anyone watching The Amazing Race All-Stars (aka The Amazing Race with a lot of annoying teams you didn't like much the first time around, except for Rob & Amber and Cha Cha Cha)?

Mirna and Shmirna need to GO.

And Mirna needs to be punched in the face. Preferably by a "native" after she yells something at him/her in that awful fake accented pidgin English ("less-o of the rapid-o!").

Yuppie Apollo?

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 17:45:51 GMT

What was Jamie Bamber doing on Cold Case?

I thought my eyes were deceiving me for a minute, because, dude, isn't he like a REGULAR on another show about pilots in space and stuff? I could understand if maybe he was on another NBC/Universal show, but CC is on CBS. How'd that happen?

I don't normally watch CC, but I saw the beginning because I padded The Amazing Race. (Damn football and how it screws up my TiVo scheduling.)

(ETA: It wasn't actually football that ran over -- because football is OVER, duh! -- but GOLF. Whatever, CBS. Start your damn shows on time! Grrr. You are no friend of TiVoers, CBS.)

Go Team Cha Cha Cha. I forgot how much I hated Mirna, oh she of the pidgin English that she thinks is "communicating with locals." STFU, Mirna.

You're as beautiful as the Queen of England.

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 17:24:46 GMT

So The Office was on last night.

Michael was a jerk, Pam and Jim pined for each other, and Dwight was weird and funny. And none of these things are spoilers, because they apply to every single episode. But for the people who don't want to read about how Michael was a jerk, I offer a cut tag.

Is there anyone else who was hoping that Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration, would just punch Michael in the face?

I don't remember the last time I hated Michael that much. Ugh.

People love to talk about "diversity" on TV, but diversity of size is not something you see much. I really appreciate that The Office portrays an overweight woman who has an actual social life -- a romance even! -- and isn't relegated to the "sassy fat friend."

Congratulations to Phyllis and Bob on their wedding. :)

TOBY!!! Yeah!

I love Toby. I'm so glad he got his one little moment of happiness. Of course it won't last, but still.

ETA: I'm not commenting on Jam/Pim/Karen/Roy, but I love what they are doing with that storyline. Oh, the pain. *sigh*

But it's so real and believable. Timing is everything, isn't it? I think that's true.

. . .

I am still loving 30 Rock. I really only like the Liz/Jack stuff, but that's enough to love.

I don't think I've seen characters quite like either of them before on TV, and their relationship is also something different and unique. I actually don't see any attraction or romantic feelings between them at all, although that might be a minority opinion. I like that they have a professional boss/employee relationship that borders, kind of, on friendship, but just because he's a man and she's a woman doesn't mean there has to be romance.

And how cute was Jason Sudeikis at the end? I've never thought that he was that cute on SNL before, but he rocked it as the "Law stylist." (I'm totally calling myself that from now on, btw.)

This would have worked on Ugly Betty. Heh.

. . .

It's very sad about Anna Nicole Smith. But nobody is actually shocked at her death, are they? C'mon now. In her last ET interview, she was barely coherent. And looked like death warmed over. Pun intended. It was only a matter of time.

We can be Heroes

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 20:07:51 GMT

EW asks: Who should be killed off Heroes? (Spoilers, I guess. But nothing solid is revealed.)

"Someone is Mo-hindering my ability to enjoy the show!"

Heh.

I keep wanting to love this show like so many people do. But the clunky dialogue, uneven and downright bad acting gets in the way. It's still fun, though.

SAG about covers it

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:26:58 GMT

The SAG Awards were a big old snoozefest, weren't they? I kept waiting for a big surprise, but it didn't really happen.

Okay, Little Miss Sunshine winning Best Ensemble Cast over The Departed was sort of a surprise. I haven't seen LMS, but I can't imagine a better overall cast than The Departed. Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen were the minor supporting characters, y'all! President Bartlet and Jack Donaghy! I guess I'll have to see LMS, but I'm afraid it can't possibly live up to expectations now.

How great is it that the cast of the Mary Tyler Moore Show (RIP, Ted) gave the Comedy Ensemble award to The Office? Did y'all see John Krasinski totally chatting up MTM herself right there on stage? Heh. The Office folks must have been so excited. I know I would have been. I need to go find the photos to see who posed with MTM because you know they were all getting photos backstage.

One thing I did like was the bit between Steve Carell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. One Day at a Time. Heh.

Speaking of the '80s, Marky Mark and the Fresh Prince are nominated for Oscars! Not to mention one of the Bad News Bears not named Tatum. Next year I expect a nomination for Vanilla Ice after he shows up as a heroin addict in a gritty indie film by Joe Carnahan.

Seriously, though, Marky Mark? Whoda thunk it? He was great in The Departed, but he was fortunate to be given such a colorful role. Matt Damon had the bigger, tougher, and more subtle role and he's getting ignored in favor of the praise for everyone else. The entire cast was superb, really and it's too bad The Oscars don't have an ensemble category.

Note to Forest: Now that you've won a couple of awards, you might want to think about preparing a speech next time. Just a thought. Still love ya though!

Why don't they just re-name every awards show this year The Helen Mirren Show and be done with it? Give 'em all to her already.

Julie Andrews is awesome.

BSG: Rapture

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 16:38:11 GMT

Please don't let it be Starbuck who is the Cylon. Or Roslin.

I am totally UNSPOILED on the identity of the Cylon, so please don't spoil me if you know who it is. (Does anyone know for sure? I don't keep up with BSG spoilers in general.)

Speculations and theories are always welcome.

WTF?

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 23:35:10 GMT

Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood? Huh?

Beeswax Not Yours, Inc.

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 19:27:52 GMT

Okay, Office fans. I have three questions for you:

1. Can this show get any better?

2. How much is Angela going to make Andy suffer? When I saw Angela's face, all I could think was Oh, Dear. [/Phyllis]

3. What do we think about Jim's "confession" to Karen? Is Jim a liar? 'Cause his definition of a "crush" may be different from mine. But I don't want to call him a Big Fat Liar because he is JIM. ::sigh::

You can pay me back later for the makeover.

ETA: And how awesome was that photo of young Jim&Dwight? What a great team they were! A well-oiled sales machine. Heh.

Have I mentioned how much I love this show?

SAG stuff

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:36:26 GMT

So the SAG Award Nominations have been announced.

I'm thrilled to see two nominations for Leo DiCaprio (shut it! he was great!), but can someone explain to me how he is considered a "supporting" actor in The Departed? Who was considered the "lead" then? Jack Nicholson? I thought Leo was the lead, or maybe Leo and Matt Damon were co-leads, with support from Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg.

I'm also happy to see a nomination for Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock. He makes that whole show. I still laugh thinking about the video of Jack's outtakes.

Is any of this usable?

Speaking of which, did anyone see Beauty and the Geek last night? Tori's attempts at reading a teleprompter reminded me of Jack's video. Except she was being totally serious.

Sayonara to Seth and Ryan

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:57:47 GMT

The O.C. = Officially Cancelled.

ETA: Has anyone seen the movie Primer? I meant to include this in my last post, but I don't remember the last time a movie had me more confused. Oh, wait, yes I do. Mulholland Drive. But I expect total confusion from a David Lynch movie.

Where was JIM?

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 19:45:29 GMT

Why was there a Thursday night with no Office?

Damn NBC.

GIP, Pt. 2

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 03:16:20 GMT

GIP. Part Deux.

Thanks again to wisteria_.

I couldn't stop at just one BSG icon, and I love Roslin's expression here. I wish I could work for her. She'd be such a great boss. Yeah, she does have to order executions on occasion, but who doesn't? All in a day's work.

GIP

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 03:12:43 GMT

GIP.

Thanks to the awesome wisteria_ for the most awesome icon. Simple and perfect.

BSG on the Big Screen

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 02:06:30 GMT

I'm very out of the loop lately and I'm days behind on LJ, but just in case any BSG fans out there didn't know about this already:

See Battlestar Galactica on the big screen.

Episode 10 "The Eye of Jupiter" is playing in theaters in six cities around the country next Thursday December 14, one day before it airs on TV.

I have no idea what the general consensus is on "Unfinished Business," but I ATE IT UP WITH A SPOON. And I hate boxing.

I'm sure that a lot of people just hate Kara now more than ever, but I LOVE her. Yes, she's got issues. No, I probably wouldn't like her much if I knew her in real life. But boy, she makes for good TV. And Katee Sackhoff is all kinds of great.

I really need a BSG icon. I only wish I had time to go looking for one, because the last time I went in search of one I couldn't find one that grabbed me. Something tells me this episode produced a few good ones.

So sad

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 02:02:52 GMT

The death of James Kim is very, very sad. I can't imagine the horror that he went through before he died, thinking that his family was probably dead or dying also. My heart goes out to his family.

I hope that if any good comes out of this, it's that people will learn some harsh lessons.

Before setting out on a road trip, check the weather report.

Don't take unnecessary chances by driving in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a snowstorm when you don't have to be there. Especially if you have two small children who depend on you for their safety.

And if you do have to be on the road in winter weather for whatever reason, try to prepare for the worst-case scenario and pack the appropriate clothing and gear.

I hate to sound harsh, but the more I read about what happened, the more it seems that James and Kati Kim made a series of bad decisions reflecting seriously poor judgment. We all do it on occasion (I know plenty of people who have get-there-itis), but this story should make everyone think the next time they set out on a road trip, especially in an unfamiliar area. Kati Kim will probably be wracked with guilt for the rest of her life because she didn't insist to her husband that they change their plans when they found out that a bad snowstorm was coming. They must have had a conversation about it: Honey, do we really want to go driving over a mountain in the middle of a blizzard? What if we get stuck? But they had a hotel reservation and probably didn't want to lose their deposit.

Kramer

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:16:16 GMT

Did any of y'all see Letterman last night?

Michael Richards is a very strange man.

And he needs a publicist, like pronto. It seemed as if he had nothing prepared at all and he just rambled on and on, digging himself into an even worse hole.

I'm not sure what he can do to fix the mess he's in, but he certainly didn't help himself much with that appearance. Even Dave and Jerry seemed flummoxed and they tried to help him out, but it didn't work.

That Bond movie looks good

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 16:21:45 GMT

Okay, so normally I don't watch commercials because I have TiVo, and that's sort of one of the advantages of having TiVo.

But as I was FFing through stuff, I noticed some ads for holiday movies and stopped to watch.

Oh, this Deck the Halls looks bad. Matthew Broderick, do you need the money that badly? And you're married to Kristin Davis, that's funny. I guess the wife had a hand in that, helping out her SatC pal. Is that Kristin Chenoweth playing Danny Devito's daughter? Oh wait. NO. She's his WIFE.

Let me see if I have this straight: we're supposed to believe that gorgeous Kristin Chenoweth is married to schlubby Danny Devito who is not only shlubby but like 30 YEARS OLDER THAN HER? Huh? I think he's older than my mom! Are they serious?

Oh, I get it. They're both short. Duh. Of course that makes them a perfect match.

Okay, this Holiday movie looks a little better. Kate Winslet! Cameron Diaz! They switch places! Hilarity and romance ensues. Ooh, and Jude Law makes everything better! But who is that playing Kate Winslet's dream man? Can that really be Jack Black? For real?

I can buy that gorgeous Cameron Diaz ends up with gorgeous Jude Law, but we're supposed to believe that gorgeous Kate Winslet can't find anyone better than shlubby Jack Black?? SERIOUSLY? (And I like Jack Black fine, but c'mon now.)

Bite me, Hollywood.

And you wonder why people don't want to go to the movies anymore. Stop giving us this shit.

Then again, I have no objections to Daniel Craig.

Is anyone excited about any upcoming holiday movies? Anyone have any recommendations or warnings for any movies out right now? What does everyone think about the new Bond movie? Is it as good as it looks? What else is worth seeing?

I know athenacqd is already excited about the next Harry Potter, but that's still months away.

Heroes Marathon

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 22:55:11 GMT

If you've been hearing all the buzz about Heroes and wondering what the fuss is about, the Sci Fi Channel will be running a marathon of the first six episodes on Wednesday November 29.

I'm still on the fence about this show. I find it a bit uneven and the characters aren't as appealing to me as they should be by this point.

On the other hand, a lot of stuff generally happens in every episode and the story is engrossing enough to keep me interested and entertained from week to week. And that's saying a lot, because most TV shows bore me to death.

Plus, I have residual affection for Greg Grunberg and Adrian Pasdar, so that helps.

Although it would help even more if they had a main female character other than a stripper and a cheerleader. Sometimes it seems as if this show is designed strictly for the teenage boy comic-book crowd, which is about as far from my demo as it gets.

[ETA: Mohinder and Simone are also considered among the "heroes"? How so? She's described as "Isaac's girlfriend," for crying out loud. If that's supposed to be heroic, that's news to me.]