Thursday Morning Miscellany

First, American Idol. So far I have not called a perfect "bottom three," though I did get two out of three this week. However, I'm three-for-three in that each week one of my bottom three actually goes home. Next week's theme: Tony Bennett songs. I actually even like Tony Bennett, but seriously, I have yet to see LaKisha or Melinda do a song that was recorded in the last twenty years. I'd like them to get on that.

Also, what I think may be a fun link: http://tmastc.blogspot.com/2007/03/one-shining-moment.html.

It's all of the "One Shining Moment" montages (which they play each year following the men's NCAA basketball championship game) from the last ten years. I haven't had a chance to actually watch them, yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

Pat and I watched The Illusionist last night. Once again, I was sucked in to a movie by the cast: Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti (okay, Jessica Biel is also in it, so I guess that should've been a giant red flag). And, once again, the movie fell flat. It wasn't bad (unlike Man of the Year and American Dreamz). I'd even give it three out of five stars on Netflix. But, it also wasn't great. And, I honestly don't even have much to say about it. The accents were horrendous and I figured out the plot twist all on my own. Also, I really liked the story idea, but thought it wasn't executed as well as it could've been. This movie falls short of its potential. But don't we all?

Finally, an article from The Boston Globe about superstitious baseball players: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/03/29/quirk_of_fortune/.

Being mildly superstitious myself, I enjoyed it.

Happy Thursday!

American Idol

Three contestants were ballsy enough to actually choose No Doubt songs, two more chose songs from the Police, and two more from Donna Summer. Apparently there was a shortage of pop music to choose from.

My picks for this week's bottom three: Sanjaya, Chris Sligh, and Haley. Sanjaya, in particular, took things to a whole new level of awful.

Also, I now officially have an enormous girl-crush on Gwen Stefani. HUGE girl crush.

Join hands and hearts and voices...

Went to Matty D's concert last night (and by Matty D's, I mean the Charles River Wind Ensemble's). I've never seen a wind ensemble do an encore before, but it was pretty much the highlight of my weekend because they played the Kellerman's anthem from Dirty Dancing. Less than twenty-four hours later, I've already forgotten the real title of the song. C'est la vie.

Saw two movies this weekend: Man of the Year and The Crying Game.

Man of the Year was not good. Much like American Dreamz, it was a case of good cast, bad plot (both starring actresses from Mystic River, incidentally). The cast included Robin Williams, who is admittedly hit or miss, but it also had Christoper Walken, Laura Linney, Jeff Goldblum, and Lewis Black. For what it's worth, the political humor was pretty funny. Unfortunately, it wasn't funny enough to compensate for the painfully weak plot.

I don't really have much to say about The Crying Game. It was apparently nominated for six Oscars and even won one (best original screenplay) and perhaps if I'd seen it when it came out in 1992, I would've been a bit more impressed (Well, if I were 25 in 1992. Probably if I'd seen it as a ten-year-old, I'd mostly have been traumatized.). Sadly, 15 years later, I'd already learned what is referred to on imdb.com as "the big twist." It's hard to say much without giving it away, but I think the subject matter has a lower shock-value today than it did fifteen years ago.

last night's Grey's

Honestly, this article from Entertainment Weekly's website pretty much sums up my feelings.

Only, I've been saying that there are too many characters since the end of last season.



I especially agree with this, even though I really don't want to:

Now, what's great about Izzie...is that she seems to have fallen in love with George somewhere along the road to morning. I would argue that this is highly, highly unlikely, and borderline ridiculous...It doesn't make much sense, and yet Izzie redeemed the subplot, because her speeches were so well written, and (this is key) Katherine Heigl is a fantastic actress...No, this hookup doesn't make much sense, but damned if Izzie and Heigl aren't out to make you buy it.

I actually did find the scenes with Izzie surprisingly bearable, considering I think that the whole George-Izzie storyline is the most absurd yet. From the writers' blog I gather that the writers (and show creator Shonda Rhimes especially) think that the whole George and Izzie thing was inevitable, that it was there under our noses the whole time (apparently, there can be no great male-female friendships without sex and romantic feelings, a notion I find ridiculous). However, from what I've heard from friends and read online, I can tell I'm not alone in thinking that this came totally out of left field and feels awkward and forced.

A few more musings:

• I am psyched that Cristina and Burke made up. I love them and have from the beginning.
• I thought it was weird that they tried to bring up the whole Addison-Alex thing after not acknowledging it for several episodes. I thought that storyline was totally over now that Addison is jumping ship (and has made a pact with Mark to renew their relationship if he keeps his pants on).
• I thought Derek's overprotective thing was hot when it was kept between him and Mark and just overbearing once he shared it with Meredith. If I were her, I'd be annoyed, too. Also, I think they are in for trouble. She's essentially the reason he bombed his interview to become chief. Escaping Addison and Mark and becoming chief of surgery at Seattle Grace were the two reasons he came to Seattle and now neither of those things is happening.
• George, of all characters, has now slept with three women on this show. He's surpassed even Mark the "Man-Whore." Didn't see that coming.
• I thought that this week the writer's again brought the humor of the first season and I love it (some gems: "be kind, please rewind" and "we're talking about Burke now").

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NBA

Among my friends, I'm a minority in that I still actually enjoy the NBA. But, I really do. And today, I've found two pretty cool NBA-related links:

Agent Zero: The Blog

How have I gone all season without knowing that Gilbert Arenas has a blog? Man, I love him. And I'm definitely going to spend today catchingup on all of his entries.

Top Ten Basketball Commercials

Sadly, this guy limits himself to commercials for basketball shoes, which eliminates two of my personal favorite basketball commercials: Jordan vs. Jordan and Nothing But Net. Still, considering he keeps it to the shoes, he did a pretty good job.

American Idol

For the first time in six seasons, I'm apparently following American Idol. There are still too many singers for me to be bothered with sharing my thoughts about all of them, so I'll just say that my bottom three for next week are Stephanie, Sanjaya and Haley. Hopefully, America (and not I, because even though they've finally got me watching, they definitely don't have me voting) will send Sanjaya home.

15 Channels

Average Joe sees just 15 channels

In short, the average U.S. household gets 104.2 channels, but watches only 15 of them. I think Pat and I only regularly watch a dozen or so: CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, Comedy Central, ESPN, USA (when Psych is on), SciFi (when Eureka is on), NESN (during baseball season), and Food Network. Sometimes we watch the weekend morning crap on E! and VH1 and Pat really likes the Discovery channel.

Not that anyone is that interested in what channels I specifically watch, but I just thought it was an interesting exercise to think about how many channels we get and how many we actually watch.

snowed in

I was supposed to be having tapas for dinner and Chelle was supposed to be coming from Maine, but the weather had other plans. But, there will still be hockey tonight, so there's something to look forward to. Hopefully, Chelle will be able to come down tomorrow.

I watched The Black Donnellys and Imagine Me and You this week, but didn't really have anything to say about them (I was pretty neutral about both.), but Grey's was new last night so I finally have some thoughts to share. Incidentally, I think I'm breaking up with The Black Donnellys. The first episode roped me in, but the last two were distinctly meh.



Last night's Grey's was old school, first season Grey's and I loved it, even if I did NOT love the ending. It was mostly light, pretty funny (loved the cafeteria scene), and it showed off some of my favorite relationships: Cristina and Meredith, Meredith and her Dad, and Alex and Izzie. Along this same vein, it revisited the storylines of the first season: the race for the chief position (in the first season Burke and Derek realize Richard has promised chief to both of them) and the relationship between Meredith and her family.

The hospital drama was fairly light, not overly dramatic like bombs in chest cavities or ferry boat accidents. Not to say it wasn't serious, but it just wasn't overdone. Let's face it: people are not watching Grey's for the medical aspect (I think that's much more ER's realm, but I haven't watched it in years and years, so I'm not sure.). I really liked the casting of Shohreh Aghdashloo, even if I was mildly bored by her case. She has a good screen presence.

I'm glad Meredith is trying to form a relationship with her father. Who would've guessed she'd hit it off so well with the stepmom? I feel like I'd really resent her for having "my" family and "my" life that I never got to have. But, good for Mere for being a better person than I am.

It seems to me that Burke and Cristina could really use a break from relationship drama, but I have to admit, I liked the particular wrench they threw into the works this week. Cristina was that girl...hard to believe after the snippy remarks she made to Meredith in the first season about sleeping with Shepherd. Of course, then she just went and hooked up with an attending herself anyway, so that was always sort of hypocritical.

Callie was so right to kick George out, though I can understand the point of the many opinions I've read today that say the whole "insecure, snapping at George all the time, keeping secrets like living in the basement and having rich parents" thing gets old. George was so wrong to end up in bed with a naked Izzie, even if it turns out nothing happened. This just can't end well.

Another way this episode went back to basics: it was about the interns. The original premise of this show was that it would focus on the interns and only on the residents and attendings as they related to the interns. There was Derek's storyline with his friend from New York, but otherwise the focus really was on Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, Alex, and George. Good call. Also, they didn't feel the need to give every character a major storyline this week: we only briefly saw Bailey, Mark, Addison, and the chief. That's the best approach to a large cast, in my opinion, focus on some of the characters one week, some the next (although, again, I don't mind if they just keep focusing on those five, but that's just me...).

Anyway, good Grey's last night. I'm pissy about having to wait two more weeks for another episode. And when the heck is Heroes going to be back?

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HOBEY BAKER

For the first time in eight years, a Boston University hockey player has been named a finalist for the Hobey Baker award (college hockey's top individual honor) and he needs our help to win! Please go to www.hobeybaker.com/voting to vote for John Curry.

To read more, you can visit Curry Up for College Hockey's Top Honor and www.CurryforHobey.com.

Vote early and vote often (literally, you can vote as many times as you like)!!

I've got a case of the Mondays.

But, not too badly. I'm just really tired today and my "to do" list is really long.

It was a good weekend. Saw some good hockey. And some bad hockey, but we're advancing to the next round, so I choose to focus on the good. I also had my last ice skating class. It was my best one yet, so I'm disappointed it's over. I learned how to do a really neat trick called a "mohawk" and a very basic spin. That made me dizzy, though, so I wasn't a fan.

I also discovered a new favorite movie: Bring it On: All or Nothing.
Yes, you read that correctly. I got it from Netflix Saturday afternoon and mailed it back on my way in this morning and still found time to watch it twice. Pat is in Texas this week chaperoning an Alternative Spring Break trip, so I'm trying to squeeze in as many stupid girly movies as possible and this was the perfect way to start off.



I don't even know where to begin. It was just freakin' hilarious. (And, as many of you know, I have a not-so-secret love of watching good cheerleading. One of the many great things about ESPN2.) Plus, it has Claire from Heroes and the actress who played Claire's fellow cheerleader Jackie. I haven't seen Bring it On Again all the way through because it's just that bad, but I think one place where it failed that BIO: AON succeeded was the formula. BIOA takes place in college. The main conflict is between the cheerleading squad and a group of kids that didn't make the cut. BIO: AON goes back to high school and the conflict is between two cheerleading squads from different economic and social backgrounds. It's kind of a caricature of the original. For example, in the original we had "cheertator" and "cheerocracy." In BIO: AON, everything that can have the word "cheer" inserted, does. The only one I can bring to mind right now is "cheersanity," but there are so many more.

Some other miscellaneous musings about Bring it On: All or Nothing:

• High school sexuality...Now, I don't mean to suggest that anything that happened in this movie didn't happen in real life at my own high school. But, it seems like movies are more willing to acknowledge teenage sexuality than they used to be. Or, maybe I'm just old enough now that I'm totally grossed out by teenage sexuality, so I'd be more comfortable if it were glossed over a little. :-P
• Pepperoni Pineapple pizza...I've never known anyone but me to order this particular combo, but Britney (aka Claire) and her boyfriend order it one night. I haven't had this in a long time because as much as I love pepperoni, it's just too greasy on pizza most of the time. I've got a craving now, though.
• High school English class...Britney's first class (really want to refer to her as Claire...it's hard since they are both cheerleaders) is supposedly English. And yet, there are a lot of dates written on the board and some stuff I didn't feel like pausing on about the Civil Rights movement. There was also a poster of Abe Lincoln. While all these things are certainly relevant in the realm of literature, it just seemed more like a history or social science class. Perhaps I should've taken the time to pause and investigate more closely what was on the board to verify this. Also, I think that it would've been a better tactic to have them reading King Lear or Hamlet, both of which I had to suffer through as a senior, to show that even though these kids are separated by class and race, there are some things we all have in common. Okay, that's enough deep reflection on a clearly mindless movie...

Anyway, definitely rent this if you liked the original. It's a nice Sunday morning movie--no thinking, no mental effort, just laughing. Good stuff.

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The Dive From Clausen's Pier

The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer Why is it so much easier for me to write about what I dislike about a book/movie/tv show than what I like? Actually, it's not even that it's more difficult to write about it, it's just more difficult to identify exactly what I like or why I like it. I really liked The Dive From Clausen's Pier (for a description, check out Amazon's listing), but it's hard to put my finger on why. Watch me try, though.


This story just seems so authentic to me. Strange that I found a book about unhappy marriages to be so false, but one about a woman’s fiancé being paralyzed in a diving accident to ring so true. I’m sure the odds are actually in favor of the unhappy marriage occurring in real life. Perhaps because, aside from her fiancé becoming a paraplegic and her subsequent running away to New York, Carrie Bell’s life, and the way it is related through this novel, is so ordinary. Carrie goes shopping, she hangs out with her roommates in the kitchen, she cooks dinner, she sews…it’s all so…normal. And yet, that sounds boring. Somehow, Ann Packer kept me interested in reading about Carrie’s day-to-day life. Something about living that “normal” life in the wake of something so clearly tragic and out-of-the-ordinary…

I also like that this book challenged me a little. Here’s the thing: I really like happy endings. Or at least mostly happy endings. Take, for example, The Time Traveler’s Wife. Yes, I cried and cried and cried at the end. But, Clare and Henry are happy for as long as they can be, and there is some closure at the end. It isn’t like Henry leaves Clare for another woman or something. They never stop being in love. I like that. With The Dive From Clausen’s Pier, there is no “perfect” ending. Carrie has to make a choice (digression: I just caught myself writing about this book in the past tense, something I assume I’ve probably done on this blog before, now that I think about it, and the English major in me cried a little) and neither option is totally ideal nor totally depressing. So, my comfort zone was stretched a little. It’s good for me to expand that zone now and again.

The characters in The Dive From Clausen’s Pier are also very sympathetic. I felt like I could be one of them, almost. I can easily understand why Carrie, after living her whole life in Madison, WI, and dating the same guy throughout high school and their four years at “the U,” feels like she needs to get out of there. Sometimes, I can’t even spend a weekend in Auburn, ME, without wanting to high-tail it out of there, and I haven’t lived there full-time in seven and a half years. And yet, how can you not also be mad at her like Rooster and Jamie? How does someone leave their fiancé after he’s paralyzed in a diving accident (even if the relationship was already on the rocks)? How can Carrie be so caught up in her own drama that she doesn’t do anything about Lynn’s dangerous behavior? The whole story is told from Carrie’s point of view, so I understand how suffocated she feels in Madison, but I also can understand that to everyone else she looks selfish and self-absorbed. And she kind of is. But, I can relate. Personally, I probably would’ve felt too obligated to stay and would never have actually run. But, I would’ve wanted to. And, I would’ve felt guilty for wanting to.

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busy Wednesday

Busy night last night-I finished reading The Dive From Clausen's Pier; Trish came over for dinner (enchiladas and coffee cake for dessert); and Pat and I watched Boondock Saints (sorry, Rand, I couldn't wait!) and Heroes.


I gave Boondock Saints three out of five stars on Netflix, so that's an "I liked it." Here's why:

• I thought I had the ending all figured out, but I didn't, and I was totally surprised by the twist with The Duke. I like to be surprised on occasion.
• Cute guys with Irish accents and tattoos.
• I liked some of the...I'm not sure what to call them...filming techniques? Well, specifically, I liked when Willem Dafoe was re-creating the crimes and the scenes played out around him. They do a similar thing sometimes on Criminal Minds, but that just doesn't work for me (or impress me) the way this did.
• Speaking of Willem Dafoe, his character (and the way he played him) was...I don't know, I'm at a loss for words. For his performance alone, I highly recommend that you see Boondock Saints, if you haven't already.

Still, I didn't "really like it" or "love it," though. The plot itself didn't really do much for me. Also, the cat? Was that necessary?

Heroes, aka This Show is So Awesome and I Can't Believe We Have to Wait Six More Weeks for Another Episode

I'm going to stick with the list format because I think that's the only way I'll be able to sort through my reactions.

Hiro...just when I was thinking, "Wow, I'm getting bored with Hiro--say it ain't so!" Then, Ando showed up and saved the day.

Nathan...another morally ambiguous character like HRG. You know he is trying to do good, protect people, but as soon as Linderman makes the promise of power, he rolls right over. Don't go to the dark side, Nathan.

Nathan's Mama...I didn't see that coming. I love the way this show makes sure everything is connected, that nothing ever happens without a reason, without affecting everything else. Well, except "Wireless." Where is she? Why bring her in at all then just have her disappear? She better come back, or I'll be disappointed. But, I digress. I'd like to learn more about Nathan and Peter's dad and how he plays into this whole thing. And how does Linderman know about the powers? And where was Sulu this week? Which side is he on?

That girl from Stick It...Cool power. Total bitch. Also, if you were really trying to convince someone that you work for a paper company, would you dress like a goth Catholic school girl? Wear some color, put on an actual skirt. Also, why are people with powers so willing to help out HRG's organization?

Niki/Jessica...normally, my least favorite storyline. I like the Jessica is starting to fight back in little ways, though. Still, she's just too far on the periphery of the web of interconnectedness for me to care too much, yet.

Mohinder/Sylar...personally, I prefer the storylines involving HRG's organization and Linderman and the Petrellis and the threat that poses to the heroes to the storyline involving Sylar's threat to the heroes. Like Niki, this seems peripheral and distracting. Also, never ever ever keep the bad guy alive. As soon as you've got him doped, kill him. Duh. You could just as easily get his DNA and solve your little formula puzzle once he's dead.

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more on The Black Donnellys

I forgot to mention one thing I did really like about last night's episode, which I failed to notice in the premiere: the casting of Capt. Janeway as the Donnelly brothers' mother. She's perfect for the mother whose sons are a bunch of good-hearted hoodlums and the widow of a murdered union man. She's got the right voice and there's something about the way she carries herself that really works.

Monday TV (well, some of it)

Caught up on The Class and The Black Donnellys last night. I haven't gotten to Heroes, yet, but I figure I've got time since there won't be another new episode for six weeks.



As a season finale, The Class was alright, but as a series finale it totally stunk, and at this point, no one knows for sure which it was.

I love Richie and Lina (well, mostly Richie), but isn't it a bit early for them to get engaged? Isn't he probably still legally married to Darlene? Also, what was Perry doing there? Technically, I know the answer: the actress who played Holly wanted out, but Perry played well with audiences because gay stereotyping is sooo hilarious. Blah. My favorite "couple" on this show might be Kyle and Ethan, so I like that they had some screen time, and I liked the scenes with Nicole/Yonk/Duncan. I'm glad to see Nicole is feeling a little more torn about adultery and divorce than Richie. I get that his marriage was totally awful and he's better off now, but as with my reaction to Little Children, I wish he'd left Darlene before starting something up with Lina. I'm not sure how I feel about the Kat/Ethan/Duncan storyline. I knew the Kat/Duncan thing was happening as soon as he opened the door and she was there. As a season finale, it's okay that Kat and Ethan were kept apart, but if this was the end of the show, I really wish they would've gotten together.

As for The Black Donnellys...I'm not even sure what to say. Did anything relevant happen at all or was this whole episode just an excuse for gratuitous nudity and violence? I don't mean to be a prude; In fact, I'm all for nudity and violence (although Tommy is that weird kind of too muscular that freaks me out). This just seemed so pointless. The only even slighly important thing that happened was Jenny rejecting Tommy after she slept with him. Interesting timing on that. Also, I can't decide if I think it's funny that Joey keeps inserting himself in the story and the brothers react or if it's just really annoying. I also found myself being really nitpicky about this episode. For example, both Tommy and Kevin happened to be wearing entire outfits that came from the same store and that same store happened to have all of that clothing still in stock and in their sizes, so it was no problem to replace everything. Really?

Last week, I was totally gung-ho about this show. This week, I feel like I could take it or leave it, leaning more towards the latter.

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another article about "meh"

I love it.

Meh - the word that's sweeping the internet

weekend reviews

Saturday, I watched American Dreamz, the Hugh Grant-Mandy Moore movie about reality television and terrorism. Yeah, it's as bad as it sounds. Not that I was expecting cinematic greatness, or anything, but I thought it had potential to be cute and funny. The storyline involving Omer, the undercover terrorist, was okay, but otherwise...awful. I expected more from a cast that included Willem Dafoe, Marcia Gay Harden, and that woman from Legally Blonde and Best in Show. Interesting side note, though: Shohreh Aghdashloo is in it. A week ago that name would've meant nothing to me, but I recently read that she's going to be in an upcoming episode of Grey's.



I also watched Psych. This was probably my least favorite episode yet. Although, I am bummed there won't be any new episodes until July. Psych is good mid-level TV: TV that's not too soapy (Grey's), or scary (Criminal Minds), and you don't have to watch every week (although I do), and yet isn't totally vacuous like reality TV.

I also finished reading Little Children by Tom Perrotta. The movie, starring Kate Winslet, was nominated for three Academy Awards (I didn't see it.). The book wasn't that great. I mean, it wasn't bad. If it had been, I would've stopped reading it. I'm not one of the many people I know who feel compelled to finish reading a book once they start it. The book kept me reading in the first half because I thought it had potential for a big payoff in the second half, but then it mostly disappointed. The storyline involving Ronald James McGorvey, convicted sex offender, took some interesting and disturbing twists, but otherwise nothing unexpected happened.

Little Children was depressing to me. It's important to note the difference between depressing, as in the case of Little Children, and sad, as in the case of The Time Traveler's Wife. For one thing, it's very easy for a book, movie, or show to make me feel sad. I'm a cryer. Also, I like to feel sad sometimes, especially about books, etc. It's very cathartic. On the other hand, I hate feeling depressed. In Little Children, there is not a single happily married couple. It focuses on 3 very unhappily married couples, but manages to highlight at least four other unhappy marriages throughout the course of the novel. I'm not just being a wide-eyed idealist here. I'm not looking for perfection; In fact, I find that in fictional characters imperfection is usually preferred. But, Perrotta seems to be making some greater commentary about marriage as the end of happiness, and I'm just not willing to accept that.

At first, I was going to give Tom Perrotta credit for making me feel something, even if it was just depressed. Generally, I think having an emotional response to a book is a sure sign of good writing, even if you don't like the book. Take, for example, Catcher in the Rye (That's right, I just said I don't like Catcher in the Rye. In fact, I hate it. What are you going to do about it?). If I ran into that punk-ass imaginary brat Holden Caulfield on the street, I'd trip him. But seriously, I've got to give it to J.D. Salinger for creating a character that irritates me so thoroughly. But, back to Tom Perrotta. By the end of the book, I realized it wasn't really anything in the book that made me feel depressed. In fact, I've got about zero sympathy for any of the characters. I simply find the idea that there is no such thing as a happy marriage depressing. The book itself was mostly just...m'eh.

There was one thing I really appreciated about the story at the end. SPOILERS AHEAD!! I like that Sarah and Todd don't end up running away together. I was rooting for them a little, I admit. But, in general, I'm not a huge fan of books or movies romanticizing adultery. As much as I get sucked into those fictional relationships, I'm always aware of just how distasteful I find them to be in real life. If Sarah were my friend, I'd definitely want her to leave Richard and to be happy. But, I'd want her to do it before she slept with someone else. And, I can't help but imagining myself on the other side: as Todd's wife Kathy. Working all day, supporting my husband while he has a summer fling with someone else. Anyway, I was glad it didn't work out. It seemed more true-to-life to me. (I know, I know, I was just griping about how Perrotta didn't give me a single "happily-ever-after" couple. And it's true, I probably would've liked it a little if Todd and Sarah had been that couple. But, I liked the way he resolved it.)

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random movie trivia

Thanks to ALOTT5MA (check out the link to the right), I learned today that Dirty Dancing and The Princess Bride were released the same year (1987). They were also both nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song, Dirty Dancing for "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" and The Princess Bride for "Storybook Love." Dirty Dancing won the Oscar.

Incidentally, Mannequin was also nominated for Best Original Song that year for "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now." Okay, so it's no Dirty Dancing or The Princess Bride, but I'll confess to it being a guilty pleasure movie for me.

1987 was a good year. I was 5.

For real this time.

The Black Donnellys

I really did not want to add another television show to my DVR's repertoire. I even went so far as to not DVR The Black Donnellys while I was out of the house at Trivia Night on Monday. But, then the Tuesday buzz got to me and I couldn't help myself. I went to Randi's to watch it on her DVR. Thank goodness I have a friend that's a TV addict like me! Rand, you are a fantastic enabler.



After the first ten minutes, I was thinking, "M'eh." It moved too fast and I couldn't figure out which brother was which. That made it hard to follow the action and hard to care about anyone since they all kind of melded into one generic Irish-American trouble-maker. Although, I did learn pretty quickly which one Kevin is. He has pretty eyes. Then, I found myself getting into it. Still, with as few as 10 minutes left, I said to Randi, "I can walk away. It's good, and I could definitely get sucked in if I wanted to, but I can also walk away." I was feeling good, no more new TV for me! But then...

Then, Tommy ran over Jimmy, sending Tommy on the straight and narrow and Jimmy down the...curvy and wide? And then, then they switched. Jimmy went to rehab and Tommy...Tommy killed a bunch of guys. And it was cool.

This show is great on a purely visceral level. No thinking necessary. Not yet, anyway. It's got good-looking "Irish" guys (I don't really know if any of them are authentic); a narrator good for some funny one liners (A lot of people think the Irish are a bunch of drunken brawlers. That kind of stereotyping just makes you want to get drunk and punch someone. ); semi-organized crime; and sex and violence. What's not to love? I'm hooked.

Incidentally, I made myself feel better about how much TV I watch on the walk home from Randall's (isn't rationalizing another sign of addiction?). I actually only DVR 10 hours of TV a week, which is less than 1.5 hours a day. And of that 10 hours, 1.5 hours of it are shows I don't watch consistently. My real problem is that I too often watch TV indiscriminately. I come home from work and turn on PTI, which seamlessly goes into SportsCenter, and then I might as well catch those Scrubs reruns on Comedy Central, etc. Saturday mornings, Pat and I get sucked into The Soup and Best Week Ever.

In case you're curious, here's my DVR line-up:

Monday

How I Met Your Mother
The Class
Heroes
Studio 60.../The Black Donnellys

Wednesday

Criminal Minds (This is one I don't watch consistently anymore. The new woman bothers me and I think they are setting up the departure of Reed, who's one of my favorites. Still, it's hard to resist Mandy Patinkin, so I still watch most weeks.)

Thursday

My Name is Earl
The Office (I watch this sporadically.)
Scrubs
Grey's Anatomy
Ace of Cakes (I don't think this is actually on every week.)

Friday

Psych (Dule Hill somehow goes on to do a show I like way better than that other one with those people from The West Wing. Plus, the Psych-outs are awesome.)

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Wacky USB Devices

The Top 15 Wackiest USB Devices

The USB gloves could actually come in handy (oh, wow, unintentional bad pun-sorry!) in my office.

The Black Donnellys...or not

Before I actually get to The Black Donnellys, I'm going to respond to Cristina's comments.

First of all, after it was mentioned to me twice in 24 hours, I added Boondock Saints to my Netflix queue. I'll let you know what I think if Pat and I ever watch the movies we have now so we can send them back...

Secondly, Studio 60. Ugh. I didn't even bother to watch the last two episodes. This show had a lot of potential: Aaron Sorkin (I loved The West Wing), a great cast, an interesting premise. At first, I really liked it (especially the aforementioned "snappy dialog")...somewhere along the way, though, it just went wrong.



Sorkin somehow managed to use a sketch-comedy set as a pulpit for his preachiness even more than he was able to use the White House. Oh, you hate Christians and the FCC and the state of television today? Oh, and you used to have a drug problem? I had NO idea. Thanks, but I don't really care if you aren't bothering to tell me a good story. They choose to focus on the least interesting cast members and storylines, in my opinion. Matt and Harriet? I couldn't care less. Danny stalking Jordan? Creep-tastic. D.L. Hughley every time he's on screen? Snooze-fest.

I like Jordan and her scenes with Steven Weber sizzle with chemistry (not the romantic kind, they just play off each other so well). In fact, I'd say Steven Weber is the unsung hero of this show. I love him as Jack, the exec with a soft side. Also, in the sea of talented actors on this show, he still stands out and steals every scene. You know who else is totally underrated in my mind? Tom Jeter. I can relate to him as someone who clearly feels very attached to his family, while at the same time feeling like he doesn't fit in with them at all. Also, how can you not love his baby-face and his total awkwardness? Hard to believe Nate is the brother of Rob Corddry, an actor I find so grating, I'm guaranteed to change the channel as soon as he's on screen. I'd also like to see more of the writer's room, with the embittered older guy and Darius and Lucy as the fresh blood. There's potential there and instead they are wasting Darius on a storyline with Snooze-fest Simon.

I've clearly done way too much thinking about this show since a) it won't be on the air much longer and b) I've now rambled on long enough that I'm going to postpone sharing my thoughts on The Black Donnellys again.

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