Showing posts with label MTV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MTV. Show all posts

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Lisa Ling-ering

Whenever I become aware of someone or something it seems to envelop my everything, regardless of whether I want it to or not.

Weirdly, this is what happened with Lisa Ling. Sure, I'd heard of her, but once her sister got holed up in Korea last year and she was on TV everywhere crying about it (as she should have been, of course!) it seemed as if she never went away.

And now on Oprah's surprisingly decent/entertaining new TV channel, OWN, Lisa has her very own show called Our America with Lisa Ling, which is a sort of documentary series that covers taboo topics; so far she's done sex offenders, transgendered people, for example.

Last week's episode was, interestingly, about the idea (movement) of "praying the gay away." It's being rerun right this very minute, actually, with a follow-up airing afterwards. It's a very enthralling subject, and to see these people recognize the fact that they've had these attractions and yet deny them so vehemently is something that I don't think I can ever really understand.

I love watching specials about subjects like these. May I recommend National Geographic documentary specials (like the ones on the Amish and Mail-Order Brides) and MTV's True Life if you, too, are interested in these little-covered areas of society?

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

US Skins Review

First things first: I have another stinkin' snow day, which really screws me up, ugh. However, intelligently I am using this day to watch an episode of Community on-Demand. It's "Mixology Certification," and the episode is taking place on MY BIRTHDAY, December 3rd, and Troy's birthday is the day after mine! Yay!

This has thrown me off, plus I'm irritated, so this review will probably suck.

Anyway. Skins on MTV.

L to R: Chris, Daisy (Jal), Abbud (Anwar), Tea (Maxxie), Tony, Michelle, Stanley (Sid), Cadie (Cassie), Eura (Effy)

As I mentioned yesterday, I am a fan of the original British series; thus, it was hard not to let bias seep through as I watched last night's "Tony," which was essentially a remake of the very first episode of the original show. I didn't enjoy this pilot: let's get that out of the way. However, I didn't enjoy the original very much, either. The emphasis in both versions of "Tony" is on the intense partying and drug use that the characters participate in. This is undeniable; however, what I like about Skins is that the rest of the episodes focuses instead on character development, studying each character intimately. (Not in that sense.)

Those character study moments were absent from this episode. Characters were either broadly painted (Abbud, the new Anwar; Tony; Stanley aka Sid; even Effy who looked like a 28-year-old drug addict) or flat beyond belief. While this was obviously the pilot, from the previews they showed afterwards it didn't seem that the show was going to get much deeper.

Let's talk about some of the major differences to the characters, because even though this is a transplant largely word-for-word, there are some changes. The obvious one is that Maxxie is now a lesbian, Tea (I keep pronouncing that like the drink instead of Tay-uh, haha). While Tea is accepted into the group, like Maxxie was, it seems like she may not be out of the closet. This changes the character a bit, as Maxxie was out and proud, but because there was less drama there he faded into the background much of the time. Tea also reminds me more of a female Tony than a female Maxxie; Maxxie was sweet and sincere, not one to take authority. Tea seemed confident and strong; this should prove to be a big difference.

Michelle and Tea were similar, I think; Michelle in the British series seemed to live just for Tony's love, and wasn't a very strong-willed girl. The American Michelle was someone who, while watching, kept striking me as very "cool." Her being with Tony in a reciprocated relationship made more sense here, because Michelle was easily the coolest, strongest girl out of anyone we watched. You could see why Stanley liked her so much. (Also she's perfectly cast in that she kind of looks like the original Michelle, weirdly orange hair aside.) Speaking of Stanley, while Sid was a lovable loser who just wanted a girlfriend really, really badly, Stanley was a bland pothead. He was extremely boring, and you could tell that the director really wanted us to root for him. However, his actor was not able to sell me on the character; he failed to make an impression on me, much unlike Sid did.

The acting by everyone was terrible. Evey single one of them. I had read that Tony and Tea's actors were surprising standouts, but when I watched I found them to be just as terrible as everyone else. I'm not sure if it was the direction, the fact that they have to live up to the amazingly strong original cast, or if these kids are just that bad at acting, but at times it seemed like they had learned the dialogue phonetically. This could make sense; it's impossible to completely match the cadence of the original script, with its heavy usage of British slang (that weirdly enough they kept in; the scene when Chris acts for "skins" felt really, really false to me, more than everything else), so for some of them it was a struggle to keep up while the rest didn't even try.

Eventually the episode deviated from the original enough that I no longer had a point of comparison and was forced to watch the show for what it was. This is where I meet some kind of conundrum: at the end of the episode I decided that, had I not known what the rest of the (original) series was capable of in terms of plot and character, I would give up on this show and never watch it again. I really hated this episode; it was boring, I didn't like any of the characters, the acting was terrible, but what if I hadn't known some of the more interesting things that happened later on in the original show? What if I had given up on that after the pilot, too? Because the British pilot was similarly bad, although it was better in that the characters made immediate impressions on me, especially Tony whose cell phone scene in the original was one of my favorite moments in the entire show, just for how well he sold it. So should I keep giving this show a chance?

I might, but it doesn't look good. When your central character is so weak and uninteresting, what is there to stay for? Next week should be Cadie (the new Cassie)'s episode, and while the Cassie episode in the original was one of that series' best, that was partially because Cassie was a phenomenally-played character. Cadie? She just seems to be your typical angsty teen, only she's a little "weirder" and has also tried to kill herself multiple times. Cadie was one of the least intriguing characters in this episode. There was no air of mystery surrounding her (ETA: this is also true of the new Effy, Eura, who made me angry beyond belief despite her being in two scenes), and her budding relationship with Stan was abrupt and unbelievable. The scene with the two of them in the kitchen was one of the episode's worst.  Cassie was the most original character on the show; I'm struggling with how I could describe here. Cadie was one of the least compelling here. Differences like these water the US Skins down until it gets to the point where even taken as its own show it's not interesting.

I can see how American teens who haven't seen the original show can get into this; the cast is "pretty," the partying is kind of funny (although they totally ruined "Tabitha's," aka Abigail's, party which was another moment that made the show stand out to me in that first episode, as she had everyone take off their shoes as to not ruin her parents' new rug) and I guess maybe more realistic than parties shown in other shows, there's the promise of tons of relationship drama. But as an American teen who has seen the first two series of Skins, I can't say that there's any reason for me to continue to watch this.

I really did want to give this show the benefit of the doubt. I admit that I thought it looked terrible by virtue of MTV's involvement from the getgo, but I didn't want to hate it as much as I ended up doing. It really just was not my cup of tea, even if there's that small promise of it linearly following the plot of the original show (which I can assure you/me will not happen).

Skins gets one and a half Tony's singing wildly inappropriate songs to repressed schoolgirls out of 5.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

My Sucky Life as Sucky Suck Suck Liz (Who Sucks)

Remember that girl whose abnormally large head I bore witness to last summer? Liz Lee is her name. She isn't famous, so if you know who she is then I'm sorry, because this must mean that you are familiar with her show, the existence of which is unwarranted, unnecessary, and makes me slightly more resentful than normal (bear in mind that I am extremely resentful always).

Yes, well, Little Miss Liz "I'm A Nerd! I'm So Weird! Lawl, Let's Go Shop At Urban Outfitters Because They Sell Personalities That I Can Afford With My Rich Parents' Money! Aren't I Such A Witty Little Geek? Star Wars!" Lee has just been rewarded for her thoughtful and worthwhile contributions to the human race by MTV with a second season of her completely, 100% true television programme.

Lee must be having "quickies" with some higher-up over at MTV or something. Either that's how this happened or she really is that pathetic and lives a life unaffected by the infiltration of cameras; this is because she perhaps has no life beyond the one that she creates for the entertainment (or derision; mostly derision) of others. Obviously, the whole reality show genre is huge right now, and I'm not even complaining about that necessarily; I watch more 16 and Pregnant than I'd like to admit. The difference here is that Lee is completely without note: her entire world, her titular "life," is constructed by producers. It is not just one aspect of her self that she is exploiting for us voyueristic 18-34s to watch, mock, and criticize, it is her entire being.

What's sad is that the "self" being projected, labeled as "truth," is highly unlikely to be her real self. A docu-drama about some non-conformist teenage girl, unbiased and without those obnoxious voice overs that MTV likes to sprinkle (or rather, douse) over everything, could be quite interesting if it was without the editing and off-camera direction that so defines Lee's show.

Perhaps my giving attention to this needy, fame-seeking girl is not the smartest thing to do, but you don't come here expecting "smart things," do you? I hope not. I'll leave you with the unfortunate trailer for the unfortunate second season of her unfortunate show, My Unfortunate Life as the Unfortunate "Liz." I would tell you when it's premiering but I don't want you to watch the show and contribute to the girl's ego and ratings. I hope a season 3 is not a forgone conclusion over at Viacom, because this girl needs to develop her real life character instead of handing her blank canvas of a body over to the college grads who are in charge of cultivating and creating her image for her, pasting stickers of indie bands on her forehead, tattooing anime references on her back, doodling Yoda on her stomach, coloring her hair, painting her lips that obnoxious red color, and just generally making her into an intolerable freak hole.


Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Relevant Things Going On in My Life Right Now #2

Me cosplaying as Captain Willard from Apocalypse Now. LOLOLOL (That's not funny, is it?)

It seems like every time I want to write these things, I'm watching something on MTV. This time, it's True Life: I Hate My Face. Ladies, don't worry, you're not alone; I hate your faces too!

So, that aside:
  • MTV Movie Awards: I saw them yesterday, and then again today (not by choice the second time!) They weren't that good, at all. Predictably, Twilight swept everything. Pretty lame. Trying to think of funny moments right now and failing really hard. Oh, actually, no, Aziz Ansari was surprisingly funny; I liked his Human Giant skit and the one with Zach Galifianakis. He was teaching Zachy G. how to have "swagga." It was as funny as it sounds. The opening with Les Grossman (from the stinking 2-year-old Tropic Thunder, I mean, come on guys, he's funny, but why are you bringing him back now? So random) was pretty funny. Michael Cera bookends. Yep.
  • Apocalypse Now: Just saw the end today. It was a pretty excellent movie, aside from the fact that I had no clue what was going on half the time. But that's what happens when you watch it over a period of a week. You know. "THE HORROR, THE HORROR!" Why is "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" such a popular line? Really. But I did love that character, even though he really wasn't that important in the long run. And --spoiler-- who ever thought that Lance would be the only one in Martin Sheen's party left? NOT I STEVE CARELL
  • The Hard Times of RJ Berger hatred: Okay. So. You should probably know me well enough to know that I kind of HATE a lot of things. Sometimes I just make assumptions. Usually, though, my assumptions are OVER 9000% CORRECT. This is one of those times. RJ Berger is some little demon that reared its ugly little head in some MTV/Viacom office saying "PUT ME ON TELEVISION OR I WILL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU AND MAYBE ALL OF YOUR SHETLAND PONIES TOO." We all know how much Viacom employees love their complimentary Viacom Corp. Shetland ponies, so they, begrudgingly, obeyed Mr. Berger's commands and gave him his horrible show. Okay, so, back to the assumption thing: I kind of haven't seen the whole show yet. But really, if you saw the commercials, you'd know - it's not necessary for me to see it to know that it sucks. I MEAN. COME ON. RJ is supposed to be 15 and HE LOOKS CORY MONTEITH-AGED. Man, it's just not okay. After it premiered on Sunday, I checked the Internetz and saw that most people above the age of 14 called it crud. I also found out that it was a lot more...um...yeah, just read this: http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-hard-times-of-rj-berger-pilot,41841/
  • Old video game commercials: Okay, these aren't that old, but remember now: I'm young and stuff. There's the Kirby! Nightmare in Dreamland one that has that song that everyone who was worth my time (oh snizz oh snizz) knew all the words to back in, like, fourth grade; then there's the Super Smash Bros. one from all the way back in the 90s. That one's one of the GREATEST. EVER. It's even greater than my cat. And my cat is pretty darn great. (ETA: Upon further consideration, I have decided that my cat is still greater than this commercial.) Oh! Then there's the Pokemon Red and Blue commercial. Guess who's in it? DRAKE BELL. Gasp! Giggle! Squee! Here's another one that's actually really depressing for a commercial trying to sell you two really expensive kids' games. Man, Nintendo had the best commercials back in the day. Now? Meh.
  • E3 excitement: OH MY GOD IT STARTS NEXT TUESDAY GAIZ. I am SOSOSOSOSOSO excited. I think this year's going to be AWESOME BEYOND BELIEF LIKE TOTALLY FERRLZ. I probably shouldn't hype it so much BUT IT'S HARD NOT TO, MAN! Last year it was really early, and I had Study Hall 9th period so I left school early to go watch the press conferences. Now it's during my Finals week, so I come home even EARLIER! :D ...but then I have to study. But PSH THAT CAN WAIT. Plus, on the last day I don't have any tests. I might have to be resuscitated, guys. Be on hand.
  • Glee season finale: This season was insanely long. Insanely. Scarily, even. The thing is, it wasn't really any longer than the average season, number of episodes-wise. It just lasted the ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR. It was crazed. This episode had a lot of problems; it felt completely like a different show. Refer to this annoyingly positive but still pretty on-the-nose review: http://www.avclub.com/articles/journey,41944/ Here's the single-greatest moment from not just the episode, but also probably the season (next to Kurt's "Rose's Turn" and that sweet moment with him and his dad and Finn); it's Jonathan Groff singing "Bohemian Rhapsody!" 

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

MADE From Bad to Worse

Today I watched a lot of MADE. I was bored, okay?

Two of the three episodes were about cheerleading. The first one was actually not completely horrible. The second one was, though! Why are cheerleaders so whiny?

Was that horribly vague? Good.

The last episode I watched, which was a premiere, was by far the worst, though. Absolute crud. It was about some crazy anime fan who gives all anime fans a bad name. (Here is a video. Thanks, MTV, for not letting me stinking embed. You are so sensible and fair.)

"Amanda," whose name will be in quotes because she's practically a TV character herself, is an insanely awkward, overweight MySpace user (and this is in a post-Facebook world, mind you!) who claims to have no friends or social skills. She wants to be an "independent woman." In her spare time, she likes to make MySpace accounts where she role plays as Sonic the Hedgehog and some really plain-looking moe girl. The latter's profile pic is of the girl lying on her back, pulling her shirt up and probably not wearing underwear.

Moving on.

Despite how awful I'm making her sound, "Amanda" didn't seem that bad, as far as weeaboos go. Sure, she doesn't know squat about any anime that hasn't been on Adult Swim or butchered by 4Kids, but most people haven't, sadly. But then she started crying. Over and over and over again. She would never, ever stop crying.

Her MADE coach was this really obnoxious girl named Julie who would make "Amanda" do all of these idiotic exercises to make her like herself. She also made "Amanda" wear makeup and the hottest fashions one can buy on the cheap from the 2003 store. Okay, whatever. Julie, however, also made her stand on a street corner in Times Square like a cheap prostitute holding a sign reading, "I Have Self-Esteem Problems. Compliment Me." Yes, Julie, that's definitely going to raise her confidence. The stupid girl stood in the middle of the busiest, brightest stinking spot of the loudest city this side of Beijing wearing some ugly sweater and crying her eyes out for the fifth hour straight. It was really pathetic. It would have been sad if I didn't hate this whiny brat so much.

Later on in the show, "Amanda" asked Julie if she could go to Mokucon, which is some stupid anime convention in Rutgers of all nasty places to hold a convention that doesn't even have a website or anything. She wants to go because Vic Mignogna (seen at right) was going to be there. That's when I knew this girl sucked. I love FMA, too, babycakes (sorry, I say that sometimes), but anyone who knows squat about Vic Mig knows he's an borderline insane Evangelical Christian. And I mean, I love Evangelical Christians as much as the next girl, but...wait, actually, no, I HATE EVAGELICAL CHRISTIANS. (No offense to any Evangelicals reading this? Not that there'd be any.)

So, after being denied, "Amanda" starts - guess what? - crying. AGAIN. "I wanna meet Vic, waaaaah, he loves me, I love him, I wanna go to Rutgers and spend $60 so I can touch his perfect effeminate face, maybe he'll kiss me and give me his cowboy hat and spew his pure Christian ideals that I usually pretend to not know about onto my antisocial cheeks!" That's a paraphrase, obviously, but you know.

But GUESS WHAT? Because Julie is soooo "cool" (a word the coach on the okay cheerleading episode used to death, ugh), she gets Vic to go out to dinner with "Amanda"! And the entire time, Vic says, "Sweetie, no, yer beautiful! SwEEEtie!" and then he laughs obnoxiously. "Amanda," after embracing Vic for what has to be the eightieth time during their dinner (which consists of huge and numerous plates of fried meats), tells him about her lifelong dream. You guessed it! She wants to be a VOICE ACTOR. Because that's ENTIRELY POSSIBLE.

And from then on the episode spirals from being an irritating but not completely intolerable romp in the land of Weeaboo-nia to be a nightmareish rollercoaster ride through someone's unfortunate life. She begins pursuing acceptance into the New York Film Academy's acting program. Obviously, she's terrible at voice acting, regular acting, speaking in a voice that isn't annoying (and trust me, I know and am a master of annoying voices), but people keep leading her on, telling her that she's awesome. One particularly saddening part is when her dad is talking about how expensive the school will be: "But if there's anyone who's gonna get dat der talent scholarship, it's 'Amanda!'" And then we see her acting. It's awful.

In the end, though, she gets into the bloody school. The bloody school where my man Joseph Gordon-Levitt once lectured. It's...it just doesn't make sense. At all.

There was more that I just skipped over, but they were stupid and not worth mentioning. (Parties, pssh, who cares? Visiting Stony Brook of all cruddy places? Boring.) MADE isn't known for being, you know, very realistic or anything less than annoying, but I don't usually find myself so bothered by what I'm watching at the end of the episode. So, thank you, "Amanda," for making it my first time.