My Year in Lists, Part 3: TV, Movies, and "Be Seeing You"

"My Year in Lists" by Los Campesinos!

This is the first New Year's Eve in years that I've actually been a functioning person and not just a depressed blob. Yay me! Although that "functioning" part only goes so far: despite my obvious love for television, I cannot for the life of me make a coherent list of what I liked watching this year. I can try, but it's really difficult. Behold, the fruits of my effort:

FAVORITE SHOW OF 2010

 30 Rock

Obviously. The latter half of Season 4 and everything shown of Season 5 so far has been wonderful. From the introduction of CAROL, to the rapid-fire and insane jokes, 30 Rock this year was pretty consistently perfect. Sure, there were definitely some clunkers (I for one would prefer to never see that episode guest-starring John Slattery ever again), but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say this was the funniest show on TV in 2010.

Best episodes: Season 4's "Don Geiss, America and Hope" and "I Do Do," Season 5's "When It Rains, It Pours," "Live Show," "Reaganing," and "College"

Honorable Mentions: Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Flapjack on Cartoon Network. The latter had a really terrible series finale though. Why did it even have to end?! Regardless, Cartoon Network is in the middle of a mini-Renaissance here with its new cartoon block. Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Robotomy (NOT MAD, bleck) made for a solid hour of Monday night TV this year. It was the most consistently entertaining slew of shows this side of Thursday Nights on NBC. Check out these episodes: "The Duke" (Adventure Time), "The Unicorns Have Got to Go," (Regular Show), "All Hands on Deck" (Flapjack)

The Fonzie For TV's Most Improved: Parks and Recreation; Community. I went from cringing every time these shows were on to laughing at them much more than I was laughing at The Office, which I was watching voluntarily. Okay, that isn't hard, but Parks and Recreation and Community both had great seasons this year. While Parks and Rec was relegated to a mid-season replacement (Thanks Outsourced...) Community has been rocking it all Fall long. I recommend marathoning it on Hulu as I did recently. 

Stupidest Reality Show That I Actually Watched Weekly: Pathetically I basically watch NBC comedies, cartoons, and MTV docu-reality shows and that's kind of it. The worst of the latter was easily Teen Mom. I don't think I need to even explain this choice. It's obvious. Even I got tired of it and I don't think I'll be watching it again next year. Runner-up is this season's Project Runway, which gets the title solely because GRETCHEN DID NOT DESERVE TO WIN AND I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO STRESS THIS ENOUGH. TEAM MONDO FOREVER.

Most Surprisingly Great Reality Show: Tie between Work of Art and Top Chef: Just Desserts. Why don't you read my posts about them and find out for yourself how entertaining they were? Those Magical Elves really know their stuff and had a really strong year, and with the repeatedly awesome Top Chef: All Stars continuing its season into the New Year it's looking like 2011 will be great for them, too. 

Obviously, I need to start watching Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and every other show you like. I will!

THE MOVIES I SAW THIS YEAR*

*The reviews are ones I published on my Flixster. Yep.

How to Train Your Dragon

AWW. IT WAS SO GOOD. It was really adorable and well-done in just about every way. The celebrity voice acting was actually quite good and I didn't even realize that it was all done by celebrities until the credits at the end. The story of Hiccup and Toothless was really sweet. I thought it was kind of annoying that all of the other kids started to like Hiccup when he showed dragon taming prowess, seemingly ONLY because of this talent, but by the end I barely minded. Also, the animation was of a very high quality; I think it was Dreamworks' best looking film to date. Highly recommended!

Also had the most surprising yet perfect ending to any movie I saw this year. I have to watch this again (on my Blu-ray :]) soon.

 Exit Through the Gift Shop

Movies like this are the kinds of documentaries that I like. Cool and interesting.

 Since that review is utter nonsense, read my post about the movie instead.

Please Give

The acting was good, but the story was meandering and ultimately pointless.

I think this was my least favorite of all of the movies I saw this year. I'm surprised that it got so many good reviews. This movie was largely forgettable; if it weren't for the excellent Rebecca Hall (who is on her way to making it really big; see: The Town), then I think I would have liked this movie even less. Rebecca Hall made it worth watching, even though I feel like her character became less and less interesting as the movie went on. Oh, and the girl playing Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt's daughter was great, too.

Toy Story 3

This was THE single most perfect ending I've ever seen to a trilogy in my life. The Toy Story series is my favorite of all time, the first one being my favorite movie ever, and this one is now most likely my second favorite. Definitely in my Top 5. I'm not that much of an emotional person but I was sobbing while watching it. It was EXCELLENT. Hilarious AND beautiful. You need to see this. Now. NOW. GO NOW.

 Yes, this is one of my favorite movies of all-time, and easily of the entire year. Really just perfect.  I need to watch my fancy Blu-ray of it soon...

Inception

Okay, I'll be honest - the last 1/3 of the movie was a little weak. I'll try to avoid spoilers but it just was confusing and went on too long. That aside, this movie was a perfect action movie - exciting, fun, smart, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. It seems complicated - it is. But it all starts to make a ton of sense until you start worrying that your life may be but a dream, too. (Well, the last part's confusing, but ignore that for now.) The acting was awesome and the story was the bomb. SEE IT.

 Also see my mini-review here.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I liked it a LOT more than I thought I would. It was by no means perfect, but it was FUN, and that's what it needed to be. It wasn't a completely faithful adaptation, and there were definite problems, but the sum of its parts were wholly satisfying. WHOLLY. SATISFYING.

 CAPITAL LETTERS. Read my mini-review here.

Summer Wars

It was quite good. It reminded me a lot of Digimon: The Movie -- in a good way! It was very hardcore and sometimes unbelievable but still a lot of fun. Great characters. I must say though, overall I liked The Girl Who Leapt Through Time better. But this was still great.

 This movie is now out in select theaters in English, so go see it if you can! (Not that it wasn't great in Japanese. Subtitles, though, aren't for everyone.)

The Social Network

I enjoyed the dialogue. Aaron Sorkin's a master. I also liked Andrew Garfield and Armie Hammer (great name) as the Winklevi, tee-hee. Jesse Eisenberg made Mark Zuckerberg into this disturbing, depressed, awkward, uncomfortable to watch tragic (tragicomic?) figure, and I think his performance was so subtle that I didn't realize how good it was until the last scene. The last scene really brought it all together for me. That's when I knew that Mark was indeed our hero, or anti-hero. I had thought it was Eduardo all along. While Eduardo wasn't a villain perse, it's clear that Mark is our poor unfortunate soul of a very, very rich main character. Man, that guy's rich. But, um, yeah, do believe the hype, because this movie is very good.

I look forward to hearing this film's name called for nearly every category at next year's Oscars. I look even more forward to it winning several awards (maybe even Best Picture?).

Catfish

I got a very cool opportunity to watch this movie at a screening that had a Q&A afterwards with the directors + Nev. VERY cool. And since I'm a kid and there were other kids there and kids are just awesome, Nev and Rel stuck around for an hour (maybe even more; they were still talking to other people 20 minutes after I left!) and took more questions and talked to us. Very cool. All of the other girls were fawning over Nev but my friends and I talked to Rel, who was similarly very nice (but not as...not charming, but obsessed with the ladies). So, very cool. Although Henry disappeared. I wanted to talk to him, too. Oh well. It was cool talking to/shaking the hand of a filmmaker.

 Ah yes, my non-review. This movie was almost as much of a thriller as Inception was, and in that regard, it succeeded. Sure, it may be a bit dubious morally, but it was a heck of a ride.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I

I think I may be closer to a 4.5 on this one, but I really did love it, and would rank it up there with 1 and 3. It did feel like there was more "exposition" (even though these movies abandoned trying to re-familiarize audiences with the overarching plot about 3/4 movies ago, which is both good and bad) than actual action but I enjoyed it as a more character-driven story than other movies were. I really love the interaction between our main gang, especially Harry and Hermione and Ron and Hermione (I just love Hermione), and it was nice seeing pretty much all of our favorite characters again, even briefly (LUPIN HI LUPIN...WAIT WHERE ARE YOU GOING COME BACK AND BE IN THE WHOLE MOVIE PLEASE he looked really good in this movie, I feel like he's decreasing in age or something). This movie was SO BEAUTIFUL, I really felt like saying "wow" the whole time. The colors and the locations were great. Those HP kids better be grateful that they got to see all of these amazing places. The ending felt a bit odd; "No, Harry, I can't help Dobby, we haven't reached our death quota yet! And also it would be a perfectly sad way to end this movie! So let's end it now! Predictably! But let's also remind people that this is TBC by showing Voldemort! Yay!" Also I haven't read the book since it came out so the movie was a bit hard to follow at times, but even so this felt like one of the most succinct (despite its running time) films in the series, as well as the most engaging, and I'm SO READY for Part 2!

Stealth-edit. (how could I forget this movie?!?!)

BOOM. MOVIES OF THE YEAR. RIGHT THERE. Sort of.

Movies I wanted to see but didn't but will see soon: Black Swan; The King's Speech; 127 Hours; True Grit; Greenberg; The Kids Are All Right; Easy A; Winter's Bone; Waiting for "Superman"; Somewhere; Tangled; The Illusionist; Blue Valentine. Yeah, I don't get out much.

Alrighty then. There you have it. 2010 was a pretty decent year for me in many ways. 2011's going to be extremely scary, but I'm going to be cautiously optimistic. Optimism! That's new for me.

So, be seeing you in 2011, then!

I liked it a LOT more than I thought I would. It was by no means perfect, but it was FUN, and that's what it needed to be. It wasn't a completely faithful adaptation, and there were definite problems, but the sum of its parts were wholly satisfying. WHOLLY. SATISFYING.
clear rating

The acting was good, but the story was meandering and ultimately pointless.
clear rating

Caution: Disturbing Golden Globes Nominations Rant/"Analysis" As Maddeningly Typed Out by Newly 17-Year-Old Below

I'm an awards show junkie. I believe I've established this?

Yeah. Unfortunately the Golden Globes are widely regarded ("widely" = by me, and maybe only me) as the worst of the big shows, but they are the most perfect fodder for my constant girlish rage at all things movie/TV-related so by gum, I shall watch them! And I shall obsess over the freak show nominations that the HFPA makes! And I shall force you to endure this obsession via posting about it in capital letters! AHA! Also I'm obligated to watch the Golden Globes and all of the above and everything because Ricky Gervais is hosting (again) and that man deserves my constant attention. (I'm of the teeny tiny camp that believes that Extras is better than The Office, but I hold this view only because I find the former funnier. The Office is more significant and I will never deny that. 'Cuz I know you care so much?)

So, let's start with the Big Ones:
Best Motion Picture: Drama

• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The King's Speech
• The Social Network

Okay, actually, there isn't much to rant about here. This list seems to be pretty standard as far as this awards season is going, although the inclusion of Inception really does sort of confuse me. I REALLY liked the movie, but I don't know. It had problems. Maybe they're nominating it because, like me, the HFPA loves Leo and JGL? Hmm? Maybe? Yes? But other than that, actually, this category is alright. I'm betting on Social Network, which was great, although I haven't compared the reviews between it and Black Swan, The Fighter, and The King's Speech enough to be sure. (Although I think Speech is really its only true competition.)

Best Motion Picture - Comedy

• Alice in Wonderland
• Burlesque
• The Kids Are All Right
• Red
• The Tourist

This. Category. Is. A. Load. of. AWFUL HORRIBLE TERRIBLE-NESS-NESS-NESS I MEAN AAAGH WHAT? WHAT? WHAAAAAT? (Here be the Caps Lock abuse.) HOW IS ALICE IN WONDERLAND A COMEDY OR WORTHY OF ANY SORT OF "MAIN" AWARD? BURLESQUE GOT MIDDLING REVIEWS SO HUH? WHAT? SINCE WHEN WAS THE TOURIST A COMEDY? AND RED OVER SOMETHING WITH MORE CONSISTENTLY POSITIVE REVIEWS LIKE SCOTT PILGRIM? Okay, Scott Pilgrim was divisive and those foreigners at the HFPA, I could see them not "getting" it. BUT STILL. I think it was the funniest movie I saw this year SO OBVIOUSLY THAT SHOULD MEAN SOMETHING CONSIDERING THIS IS "BEST COMEDY" RIGHT? AAAAAH. This is the WORST slate of noms in ANY category that I've seen since maybe the 2008 Oscars when Ben Button was considered a serious contender despite the fact that it wasn't that great and Slumdog Millionaire won over Milk which, in my opinion, was MUCH better. UGH. I HATE THIS.

Best Television Series - Drama

• Boardwalk Empire
• Dexter
• The Good Wife
• Mad Men
• The Walking Dead

This category irks me. I'll get to Comedy in a second (or minute or ten minutes) but why does that have 6 nominees and this 5? Asymmetrical! Asymmetrical! Why Boardwalk Empire and not Breaking Stinkin' Bad, man? When everyone who knows anything in TV knows that this season was one of its best? For that matter, which seasons of these shows are the nominations based on, considering that seasons end in May and start in September? Are they based on last season? End of last and beginning of the current season? It's extremely non-sensical. Thankfully, I don't really care too much about drama other than a couple of things so this looks otherwise normal. I believe that this will become the standard and we'll see Walking Dead nom'd at the Emmys next year. But we're not seeing Boardwalk Empire, I know that's for sure... Who knows though?

Best Television Series - Comedy (and Musical)

• The Big Bang Theory
• The Big C
• Glee
• Modern Family
• Nurse Jackie
• 30 Rock

I still don't get it. Nurse Jackie is a comedy? Huh? I really need to get Showtime. I thought The Big C wasn't supposed to be very good? And again: six nominees? Really? Was that necessary? Glee won last year and if it wins again I don't think I'll ever watch the Globes ever again. Really. That's just wrong. Glee is a fun guilty pleasure, not a serious awards contender. As always I'm rooting for 30 Rock, which has been consistently wonderful all season-long. Plus I bet the HFPA is in love with Matt Damon (Carol! CAROL!) so come on, guys! Do it for Matt!

Best Animated Film

• Despicable Me
• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Illusionist
• Tangled
• Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3. Easily. I LOVED How to Train Your Dragon but Toy Story 3 was one of the best movies I've ever seen. It really was. I am madly in love with that movie. I felt like this was an especially strong year for animation, so I'm sad that the Oscars are going to only nominate three films. I think this is a great list, covering all of the bases.

So the big categories are sort of lopsided, obviously...Motion Picture Comedy is so wretched, and TV Drama is weird...but other than that, these noms are safe and as expected.

Acting is a whole other story.

DRAMATIC PAUSE.

That's an overstatement. It's really not that bad. It's just the Motion Picture Comedy category again...

Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy

• Johnny Depp for The Tourist
• Johnny Depp for Alice in Wonderland
• Paul Giamatti for Barney's Version
• Jake Gyllenhaal (TWO A'S) for Love and Other Drugs
• Kevin Spacey for Casino Jack

Okay. Okay. WHAT. IS. THIS. OHOHO JOHNNY DEPP VS. JOHNNY DEPP HOW FUNNY. I assume that's where the "Comedy" in the title comes from, yes? Because THESE MOVIES ARE NOT COMEDIES. MY GOD. Okay, well, perhaps Barney's Version and Casino Jack are, but considering that NEITHER ARE OUT IN THEATRES YET, it's hard to tell. I'm getting a feeling that the HFPA gives preference to movies that premiered at foreign film festivals or something because that's the only way this can work. I mean. Dayum. And what the freak, isn't Love and Other Drugs about how Anne Hathaway has Parkinson's Disease or something? Huh? Jake Gyll! Explain this to me! BLAAARGLE.

Yes, I know this blog is well-written/articulate, never resorting to childish nonsense words. Thank you for noticing.

Some other things of note because I'm getting tired of re-typing the ENITRE list for each category again:

• Piper Perabo for TV Supporting in Covert Affairs: what the crud is this doing here?
• Katey Segal for Sons of Anarchy in TV Supporting: very nicely done, HFPA, very nicely done.
• Scott Caan for Hawaii Five-O in TV Supporting: ...um
• Julia Stiles for Dexter in TV Supporting: Julia Stiles is awful. Awful.
• No Armie Hammer for The Social Network in Motion Picture Supporting: what the what? He was so good though! (At least we've got Andrew Garfield.)
• Halle Berry for Frankie and Alice in Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama: I consider myself reasonably aware of what's going on in the industry but I can't say I've ever heard of this movie, so obviously I'm confused. 

You know what's annoying? This post isn't even that long but it took me an hour and a half to write. I'm sure that "half" comes from just trying to find the list in a properly formatted way, so thanks to IMDb for being the only place that organizes the nominations properly.

Also, I'm really upset about the lack of Yogi Bear, The Nutcracker 3D, and Marmaduke nominations. I was so sure that those three were going to sweep the categories! 

p.s. misleading title is misleading? discuss

New York Comic-Con/Anime Festival 2010

I went to Comic-Con/NYAF this past weekend. It was pretty awesome. Yay!

I saw the standard cosplayers; there were so many Lightning's and Yukiko's and Ramona's of different shapes/colors/sizes, it was pretty nuts. But I actually liked a lot of the costumes I saw; it's awesome how much effort some of these people put in, and how much confidence they had, wearing skimpy outfits and posing for picture after picture. I know I took pictures!

I also got to see the first ever New York screening of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya on Friday. I was really excited for that, but man, the other people in the room were obnoxious as HECK. They laughed at every little thing, even if it wasn't all that funny; they applauded everything, too. It was insane. I mean, I loved being around a whole room full of people who I knew loved the same anime that I did, but they were so irritating. This girl we sat next to laughed so loudly and annoyingly, and this guy we sat behind waved to the voice actors who hosted the panel and I think he was dressed up as an InuYasha character or something and it was horrible. Towards the end of the movie -SPOILER ALERT- Kyon (main character) got stabbed out of the blue and everyone started laughing and clapping. How is that funny or applause-worthy whatsoever? They were taking me out of it, and it nearly ruined it for me. I still really enjoyed the movie but I hope I can see it in the comfort of my own home soon.

I wanted to go to the Square Enix panel, also, but it was full. Other things I wanted to do: play the games! Nintendo's booth had Kirby's Epic Yarn, Donkey Kong Country, Wii Party, and some other games that I really wanted to try but I never got the chance. I watched some guys play Kirby for awhile and it looked so gorgeous and cute, though. I really want it! Now.

I did get to play a little bit of Okamiden, but I had no clue what was going on. It did look really cute, though. I got a poster, a little mask-type thing, and some Chibiterasu silly bands from the Capcom area, which was nice. I wanted to play Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and get a poster, but that game was one of the most popular there, and I think you could only get a poster from one of the signings, which I didn't go to. Oh well.

SPEAKING OF SIGNINGS, I am a sucker for being in the presence of celebrities, so you can imagine how happy I was to MEET THREE (KIND OF MINOR BUT OH WELL) CELEBRITIES! :D I met Patrick Cassels, who works for Collegehumor.com, and got his autograph and a picture with him; he was so nice! Then I got a picture with and an autograph from Judah Friedlander (Frank on 30 Rock), which was pretty awesome, too. He told me to "stay sexy." Hilarious. And the best one of all was meeting Scott Adsit (!!!!! Pete on 30 Rock) who was on his way to the Delocated panel despite not really having anything to do with it! I got his autograph and told him that I loved 30 Rock and Moral Orel and once I mentioned the latter his eyes just lit up and he looked at me and said, "Thank you! I really appreciate that!" And then he asked me if I had seen Delocated and I said that I hadn't but I wanted to and he told me to check it out. AND I DID. And it was okay. It had Todd Barry in it which was great because I love Todd Barry. I also love Scott Adsit!! I wish I'd gotten a picture with him, but at least I'll always have the memory.

Even though I'm the cheapest person around I forced myself to buy stuff: tons and tons of pins, a Scott Pilgrim sticker, and a Scott Pilgrim t-shirt. The Oni Press booth had a ton of cool Scott stuff, and I wanted to get the wristbands but they said "July 2010" on them and were from SDCC, so I decided against it. Also, my wrists are too big for wristbands, anyway. ;_; At least I got the shirt! And a sticker! And I wanted to buy a book from there, Hopeless Savages, but it was $20 and I decided against it. They had a nice booth though. Pretty cool times. Oh, and the pins I got included a Pokeball, a Harvest Moon pin, a Spirited Away pin, a TON of adorable Inception pins, and super cute Wallace and Kim pins. I wanted to get Scott but he was sold out. You know, the only Scott thing I got that actually HAD Scott on it was the sticker. Too bad.

On Saturday night we decided to take a cab to the train station, and we managed to get a stretch limo. It was amazing. We went with these two random people we met; one of them was wearing a green suit. They were also amazing. We paid $30 for 8 people to take a stretch limo from the Javits Center to Grand Central. It was -- guess! -- amazing.

So that was my Comic-Con experience. It was tons of fun. I want to go next year. Can next year be tomorrow? Please? I hope I can meet Scott Adsit again and take a picture with him this time! But any celebrity will do. Please celebrities! Come find me and give me your autographs!

Let's End of the Month Super Cool Post Go!

 (Click the images if you can't read them.)

Links and picture as promised:

• Work of Art Reviews: #1.4 and #1.8 
• Guest Posts: By Max and by "Checkahs"
• Pokemon Posts: On movies and on trainers
• Inception Review: A mini-review
• "Baby" Rant: I was NOT like "baby, baby, baby, ooh!"
• Last night's Futurama: A clip from it anyway

My cat who is better than all the cats of all the times:

(Sorry the quality is poor; my Webcam takes bad pictures. Which reminds me, who wants to make a video blog with me next month? :D)

P.S. "People I do like" = family notwithstanding. Obviously, I saw them plenty. My sister who likes to comment on my blog can confirm that this is true. HEY SISTER LET'S PLAY PERSONA 4 TODAY

Relevant Things Going On in My Life Right Now #4

I have no clue who that chick on the left is. So don't ask.

Have you guys ever seen The Dish on Style Network? Oh, that's right, I forgot. You guys actually have better things to do than watch reruns of Clean House all day long.Well, basically the show just rips-off The Soup but is more woman-centric. Thus, it is also less funny. YOOOOW! It's hosted by Topanga from Boy Meets World, who is the large woman in the picture. She's gotten, well, quite large over the years.

But that's not all!:

• 10 Things I Hate About You: The movie used to be one of my least favorites EVER, but in my quest to become the Coolest Joseph Gordon-Levitt Fan in History or something moronic and pointless like that it was necessary to give it another chance. I still think it's a terrible movie. It doesn't age well - it's INCREDIBLY 90s. That being said, it was tolerable. Heath Ledger, JGL, and David Krumholtz all gave fun performances and their characters made me trudge through the movie. Although JGL played the irritating and dull archetype of the Loser-ish Kid Pining For Inexplicably Attractive Vapid Valley Girl, he did it with STYLE! (When I hear anyone say "with style!" I think of Buzz Lightyear instantly. Oh, Toy Story. You're my best friend.) SO. While I can't recommend this movie, if I ever find myself at your house and you put it on, I will only whine for one hour as opposed to three. 
Smart Guy: There's some new channel called Centric that was airing a Smart Guy marathon today. Man, I love that show. Really! I also love Sister, Sister, which, if it was ever remade, I could DEFINITELY star in. It's about biracial twins! I can play that in my sleep! But anyway, Smart Guy has a cool premise that is executed in a stupid-but-hilarious way. T.J. is the bomb, as is his brother Marcus. MARCUS. And then Marcus' friend! I can't remember his name but I think he used to be my favorite character. And T.J.'s dad is so nice! His sister I couldn't care less about, though. Do you guys like T.J. Mowry or Tia and Tamara Mowry better? I can't choose :(
Weekend Box Office: Excitement! The excellent blog that you guys should follow The Playlist reports that Inception came in first this weekend with $60 million. This was expected, although it is perhaps even a tad higher than initial projections. I'm really happy! I hope that the drop-down percentage is slow and this movie will make back its budget multiple times due to strong word-of-mouth. (Read my mini-review for the movie here.) Other new release The Sorcerer's Apprentice opened in a VERY weak third. Read the post I linked for some really good reasoning as to why that is. It's too bad, really, because I like Jay Baruchel and I wish him ETERNAL HAPPINESS. But he'll be okay.
Cheap Trick: I'm just randomly listening to them over and over again today. My favorites are, very boringly, "Surrender," "Hello There," and my number one favorite is "I Want You to Want Me." They're actually a pretty awesome band - not that I doubted otherwise! But Robin Zander has a really good voice - singing AND speaking! SOMEONE RECOMMEND ME MORE CHEAP TRICK SONGS. NOW.
K.K. Slider: He's the adorable singing dog from Animal Crossing! That game is one of my favorites of all zee times. It's just so nice. I played the GameCube one for HOURS. Possibly over 100 hours in fact. I'll never know for sure. My favorite part of the game was being serenaded by K.K. on Saturday night and then getting a bootleg of the song to play in your house. My two favorite K.K. songs are "K.K. Rock" and "K.K. Parade." Unfortunately, the bootleg of "Parade" really sucks. Only K.K. himself does it justice. "Rock" is one of my favorite songs ever, no joke. It really is. It's been stuck in my head every single day of the last week. Here it is in video form (fast-forward a little to :30-ish):
 
Lisa Simpson: Lisa Simpson is my favorite Simpson, followed by Bart. This review of "Moaning Lisa" paints her, however, as a lovable but fun-killing kid. I agree that she is the most human of the family, but there are TONS of moments where you see her acting like a crazy kid like everyone else. She does like Itchy and Scratchy after all. Read the comments as people talk about how they can (or can't) relate to Lisa and why. It's interesting. And since it's the AV Club, it's also funny. 

I think it's pretty cool that I managed to avoid doing one of these for the first 2 weeks of this month. Last month I did two of these! But I enjoy my Relevant Things series since it gives me more to talk about. It's kind of redundant to say "in my life" though because I never think about anything else than pop culture-type stuff, anyway.

P.S. Still working on the Bieber story...you'll get to read it, eventually.

Inception Mini-Review

Whoa. Just saw Inception. You know it, obviously - it's been hyped by pretty much everyone you know for the last YEAR, since that very first teaser trailer came out. But now that it's out, we all have to wonder - does it live up to the hype?

Well, yes, I'd say so. For the most part.

This is a mini-review. I don't think we (okay, I) here at FWSF have ever done one of those. EXPLANATION TIME WHOO: Basically I'm going to sum up everything in bullet points. It's easier and you're more likely to read it without getting bored! (Hopefully.) Think of it as my notes. WARNING FOR POSSIBLE SPOILERS. I'll try to be a little vague.

• The acting was awesome - for me the standouts were Leo, JGL, Ellen Page, and I guess Tom Hardy. Leo played the tortured married man/dream thief - his usual trope, obviously. But darnit if he's not one of the best guys acting today at playing a tortured soul. 
• I'm conflicted as to whether I'd consider Cillian Murphy's acting to be good; his character, although written multi-dimensionally, it seemed, did not seem to feel. He cried at one point, but I didn't get a good sense for who he was because the acting was cold. It was hard to connect with him.
• On that note - this movie is really one without a clear villain. It may seem like it from the beginning, but eventually the villains become friends. For a movie like this, a thriller, a heist, it seems like there -must- be a villain, but somehow it works without one. Perhaps because there are always people shooting at each other.
• The awesome scenes with JGL being thrown around in the hallway, floating around (they're seen in the trailers, you know what I'm talking about) - so cool. I love trying to figure out how that stuff works. It really amazes me. I know that it was done with sets - but how the heck could they have them floating in the air? That's something I'll be thinking about until I buy the Blu-ray and watch the special features that will hopefully cover the Making Of.   
• Ellen Page was a college student in FRANCE. Why did she have a Nova Scotian accent? Was she French-Canadian? It's a nitpick but IT BUGS ME. P.S. Michael Caine rules, bye

OKAY THESE ARE ALL SPOILERS NOW:

• The last third of the movie was the weakest. Once they got into that third dream, on that snowy mountain, it started to get complicated. The premise of this movie alone seems complicated, but it's well-explained. However, the third dream was not. It was unclear to me what the real goal was, and since everyone and everything was covered in white, it was hard to see who was who. When Tom Hardy was attacking someone, it was hard to be sure that it was not actually the other way around. 
• Limbo - the concept should make sense but Chris Nolan complicated it. At least, for me. Also in that limbo part it was incredibly infuriating that there was SO MUCH TALKING. The snappy dialogue is what sets the movie apart from your typical summer action film, but in this scene I just kept wishing that Leo would punch Marion Cotillard in the face.
• On that note - MARION COTILLARD. Her character was so stinking irritating. Maybe that was the point? She was a psychotic witch who was torturing Leo. If that was the goal then she succeeded. But I really dreaded seeing her on screen once it was revealed she was dead. She was cool when she was trying to kill everyone. 
• Her childhood home - it seemed like they were going to explain her childhood, why it was so important. They were setting things up for a BIG SCENE OF EXPLANATION AND LOTS OF FLASHBACKS but nothing ever came. It was a red herring and annoying at that. 
• JGL and Ellen Page - well, actually, Ariadne and Arthur. (Aren't those names adorable by the way?) I'm sure there's going to be tons of fanfiction about them now. I went into this movie thinking that they were going to avoid romance, but obviously they didn't. Although it was brief, anyway. But I think that scene made everyone love Arthur a little more.
• The ending. If you've seen the movie, let's discuss it in the comments. Mark for spoilers. My personal opinion is that the totem falls down, and that it's NOT a dream. But maybe I'm optimistic. God, I hope not. It better all be real! But the callback to the beginning (I actually love frame narratives even though they're done WAY too frequently) was confusing. Obviously Ken Watanabe had been there for a long time, since he was an old guy with lots and lots of makeup. But Leo? What about him? Do we all have our own limbos? But Leo told Ariadne that he had to go find Ken. How did he know that he was even dead? It couldn't have taken THAT long to find him, because he woke up before the flight was over. But Ken Watanabe had grown so old. That's the problem. That's the case against my opinion. That's why most people will say that the ending was a dream. WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS CHRIS NOLAN WHY

SPOILERS ARE OVER PEOPLE STOP FREAKING OUT NOW

So, while the movie has some missteps, it's something that I think most people will not forget anytime soon. It leaves a lot of unanswered questions that I know I'll be thinking about for a long, long time. Maybe it didn't live up to all of that insurmountable hype, but nothing does. (Except, maybe, The Dark Knight.) It'll probably make you angry - but in a good way. The movie that makes you feel something is the movie that succeeds.

Also, Leo has a really big, squishy head in it. And everyone wears snazzy suits. So you kind of have to see it for that. (Yes, I'm aware that Leo's head is ALWAYS squishy. But it's especially squishy when he's wearing a suit.)

Inception gets 4 and a half Joseph Gordon-Levitt's being mocked by Tom Hardy's out of 5.

Ashamed and Barely Awake

Right now I'm writing something that I hope to get posted for tomorrow/Saturday. Guess what it is? GUESS.

No, whatever you guessed is wrong. I'm writing a story starting Justin Bieber. And it's truly awesome. Maybe you'll get to read it. I hope so, because I really like it. J. Biebs is kind of stupid, kind of jerky in it, but that's what makes it fun. If I post it, then consider this my apology in advance.

I'm pretty tired and don't feel like writing much so I'm just going to leave you a bunch of articles that you should read. Consider it your homework even though it's not graded or even looked at. LIKE ENGLISH 9 HONORS WITH SCHLIEFY HOMEWORK! OR ENGLISH 10 HONORS HOMEWORK! OR AP LANG HOMEWORK! (oh, you know it's true.)

• Whatever Happened to the Box-Office Bomb? from Slate.com
• Vampire Weekend Sued by Contra Cover Model from The AV Club
• Work of Art Recap by Judge Jerry Saltz from New York.com
• Warner Gambles On an Unproven Commodity (Inception) from The L.A. Times

Have a good day. Let me know what you think of those (relatively short!) articles when you read them, which you most definitely will. Right?

I Feel Like I Don't Have Much To Say

today. I just can't think of anything to write about.

I'm pretty obsessed with How to Train Your Dragon right now, so let's talk about this:

This year so far has been pretty terrible when it comes to movies. The Top 5 best-reviewed films of this year so far include 4 movies that were only released in limited and Toy Story 3. While the Top 5 at the end of the year does sometimes look a lot like this, by the summer months, we should be seeing more films that people have actually heard of in the Top 5 - at least one more. Toy Story 3 was amazing (it's probably going to be my pick for the best of the year/decade/my life, etc.)

Look at the Top 10 though - only one of them came out in wide release, too, and that was How to Train Your Dragon, coming in right after TS3 at 6th. The other four were Exit Through the Gift Shop, which I saw, the movie that won Best Foreign Film (so technically it came out last year, anyway), and two other films that most people have never heard of this.

The Oscars expanded the Best Picture playing field to 10 films last year so that wide releases would get attention and they'd get more ratings. Sadly, in a perfect world they would do this because there are 10 very deserving films. Back in the 90s, 80s, 70s, etc., people had heard of the Best Picture nominees. People had SEEN them. Does this mean movies are getting worse in general, or does it just mean that Hollywood productions are starting to lose steam? I'm thinking the latter.

Another thing: when the two best wide releases of the year (so far, but I might wager that they still will be in December) are animated films, I think that means that we need to start giving more credence to the animation genre. Animation is SO GOOD. Every year my top film is usually animated. Last year, it was Up. The year before that? WALL-E. Most widely-released animation isn't as good as Pixar, but every Pixar film is just as good, if not better, than the live action films that come out around it. Same with the limited-release Miyazaki films (I think Tales of Earthsea is this year; last year, it was the pretty good Ponyo), which always place in my EXCLUSIVE "Best of the Year" list. (It's exclusive because it only exists in my head.) DreamWorks either is really good (HTTYD, the original Shrek, and I guess Kung-Fu Panda even though I thought it was boring with AMAZING animation) or really horrible (every other film they've made except Shrek 2, which I for one liked). I almost didn't see HTTYD because the ad campaign was so horrible; they were selling it as yet another pop culture-referencing, stupidly kiddy film, which it isn't, AT ALL. People need to understand that animation is not just kid's fare anymore, and even when it is targeted towards kids (like Ponyo), most animation studios don't seem to get that "kid's film" does NOT equal "idiot's film."

This summer, the movies have been pretty lackluster, TS3 aside, obviously. This has been griped about a lot lately, mostly in passing, apparently, because I can't seem to find many articles. Here's one. Every movie that people hoped would be good turned out to be horrible or mediocre. Iron Man 2 had high expectations and fell flat, critically. I heard a LOT of people say that it was awful. Robin Hood was bad and failed commercially, too; Prince of Persia, The A-Team, Jonah Hex. The only summer film to come out that's gotten good reviews (ONCE AGAIN OTHER THAN TS3 I WILL REITERATE THIS OFTEN) is The Karate Kid, another "kid's film."

The only movies coming out that I'm excited for this summer now are Inception and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Nothing else seems like it's going to be worth the money to me. Despicable Me's been getting good reviews; The Kids Are All Right's supposed to be good, although that's in limited. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (starring Hiccup!) looks like it could be pretty decent. But even though the word on these movies may be good right now, it's more likely than not that they'll end up being the same old dreck that's been pumped out all year. I call it the MacGruber effect: a movie gets positive early buzz but ends up having a negative consensus. But I guess we'll see.

I hope this summer picks up in terms of movies, but I don't see that happening.

(On a side note - does anyone want to get an email saying that a new post has been published? Let me know and I can sign you up for that.)

SCHOOOOOL'S OUT FOREVAH

Not really, unfortunately. But as of today I'm FREE for the summer! YAY. Call me up, Bieber. I know you're not busy.

Since I have nothing to do all summer and have no friends whatsoever (SOMEONE PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT AND PROVE THIS IS FALSE D:), I'm going to be doing lots of blogging, about things like:

• Work of Art, that new art-related reality show on Bravo that is my latest guilty pleasure
• Pokemon, because it rules (and just tons of video games in general)
• Lady Gaga, because she is the complete opposite of Pokemon in that she does not rule, and for a second there I wrote "Pookemon," whoops
• Intervention and Obsessed, two of my favorite shows EVER that are going to be showing new episodes ALL. SUMMER. LONG. THERE IS A GOD AND HIS NAME IS KEN SEELEY
• Hopefully NOT college. No, we will speak about that as little as possible.
• how much I love making lists (expect a lot of them!)
• reviews of movies that I plan on seeing, like INCEPTION! and SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD! and maybe The Last Airbender...if someone PAYS ME. Hee hee, haw haw
• and other random popular culture-y things that may or may not be scarily random or pretentious

Most importantly, though, I will be posting .gifs of people dancing. LIKE THIS ONE:


GIFSoup

I never tire of that. EVER. That's the summer for you/me/US. Now give me a hug! ...Just kidding.

Have you read that Persona 4 comic yet? READ IT READ IT READ IT

Seriously though. Stick around, or I will weakly attempt to cause you physical damage, by such PAINFUL methods as poking and staring menacingly. Oh, yes. SO KEEP READING.