Sunday, June 22, 2008

This is not a celeb gossip blog, I swear

While waiting for a friend at The Grove to go see Get Smart (which, by the way... so much better than the reviews had made me expect... I think a lot of the negative reviews were complaining that it wasn't really the same tone as the show... but, um, hello, it was still hilarious spy comedy... with enough references to please and enough hits on the hit/miss joke scale to be hilarious), I saw two American Idol final twelve contestants from season seven.

I would have wanted to run into any two except Jason Castro and Kristy Lee Cook (and the random tall dude hanging with them).

Hilarious side note, Jason was walking around with an "inconspicuous" sweater over his hair. Not sure if it was an attempt to hide the dreadlocks... but way to draw suspicion!

Sigh.

What I'd give for a Carly Smithson / Michael Johns sighting.

... and, comments are closed because I can't be bothered by any more Jason Castro love e-mails.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Camp Rock

So, obvi, the Camp Rock ratings were pretty swell for Friday's premiere (8.9 million viewers). I'm especially interested in the unique viewer cume from that, Saturday's ABC airing, and Sunday's ABC Family airing.

Because it's hot as Satan's sack in Los Angeles, I'm at home with a Pinkberry and the television. Seriously, it's too hot to do anything else. Don't judge me.

Anyway, I'm not going to hold CR up to a really high standard... but I am going to dissect it a little bit for my own larfs. Can it be as campy-awesome as the HSMs?

Demi Lovato is cute. Note the fact that this and the HSM franchise have Latina tween leads. Good formula, people. We're three minutes in and we have a family hug. Ladies and gents, we are in for a G rated fairy tale ride...

I have no idea which Jonas Brother is which, but I think the one who is playing "Shane Gray" would probably qualify as "the hot one"? So. Much. Hair. Product.

If this is a music camp, why are half of the kids disembarking from cars and buses and pop-locking? I'm confused. I mean, I know that many people who are performers can both dance and sing or play musical instruments (and sometimes also act).

The girl who plays CR's version of Sharpay (character is Tess... no idea the actress's name) does have the Tiz's presence or over the top flair. Demerit!

Lola's song at the "Opening Night Jam" felt soooo prerecorded. Mitchie (Demi's character) had a solo song before that didn't smack of prerecord (though, of course, it was). I mean... Ashlee Simpson was more believably singing than this presentation.

And Mitchie lies about what her mother does. Anyone else have a sneaking suspicion this will come back to haunt Mitchie and will eventually lead to a family hug when Mitchie (and possibly everyone else at the camp) learns to love who they are and who their parents are, not the whole fame/fortune/status angle?

I love that Tess has Asian and black girlfriends who do her bidding and let her think for them just like Blair Waldorf. Aw, and Tess has mother issues because the woman is always working and can't spend time being her mother. Now I wonder if eventually Tess's bitch veneer will fade and she'll be jealous of Mitchie's relationship with her mother.

It's nice that Mitchie's alarm clock doesn't wake up anyone else in that cabin so she can sneak out and help her mother. Nice and convenient. Just saying.

Is Mitchie going to be singing the same song over and over again?

OMG, we've crossed into the assimilate with the mindless mass plotline. Is this a Pixar movie?

Whichever Jonas Brother that is, his pants are way too tight. Also, back in the narrative world of CR... Shane Gray is in a band. Why is he teaching a dance class (although the fact that there is a dance class helps somewhat with my earlier question about the randomly pop-locking campers)? I'm really impressed (again, in the narrative world) that all of the students were able to pick up the routine... given that HE DIDN'T TEACH ANYTHING.

Why does the DRUMMER need to translate the beat from the sticks to his feet? If he is a DRUMMER? Sigh. I know, I know.

The spoiled bitch character is performing a song with a chorus "I'm too cool for you." Yeah. We've crossed over into ridiculousness, we're approaching campy... I'm not sure if it's campy-awesome, yet, but I'm going to try and shut up now and just watch...

ZOMG, and now we're hitting the "I want to be an artist, not a commercial entity" theme. We're approaching critical mass, people... and we're only 46 minutes in.

Can you really put a paying camper on kitchen duty as a punishment? I mean, outside of child labor laws, there has to be something wrong with that.

Leave it to the smartish white girl to point out the idiocy of Mitchie's whole lie spiral crap. Zzzz.

Mitchie insults Tess, kind of, everyone laughs including Tess's Asian and black friends, then Tess walks off and the Asian and black friend follow after her... as does Mitchie?

The Shane-search-for-Mitchie thing is a cute little Cinderella / Little Mermaid story. And... a game of telephone! Purple monkey dishwasher!

Okay... so "the lie" comes out... but people are more pissed at Mitchie for lying than at Tess for being a complete bitch about it? God, who wants to be friends with any of these people, anyway? Besides Caitlin/Catelyn/Katelynn/however you spell it.

Why are there, like, 7 costumes changes between the reveal scene and the scene where the mother talks to Mitchie?

We're gonna need a montage! A musical performance training montage! Montage!

I really wish the climax didn't have Mitchie spastically gyrating in front of a metallic silver backdrop. Come on, they couldn't let her just stand and perform to the audience, she had to shake like she was suffering from a stroke (until Jonas Brother makes the solo into a duet...)?

The staging in the final group number is all wrong (Mitchie and Jonas Brother at the top, despite her, um, not winning Final Jam...? I mean, yes, makes sense form the "I'm in like with you" storyline, but... sigh, sigh, sigh).

Ultimately, CR was good for what it was supposed to be. It didn't reach the same level that HSM does, I don't think... not as much is at stake, and it's too formula (which, from a printing money for Disney perspective, is a really good thing) to stand out.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Dream Emmy Noms

Because I'm back from location for the time being, have internet access and a bit of time on my hands, but have neither the energy to write nor to think about The Ex List or Project Gary or Eleventh Hour or Life on Mars (which, yay, the leaked online copy was the final David E. Kelley cut, not the rough cut I'd barely stomached before).

Anyway, in my limited world view... and I know, this is so a month in advance of the nominations coming out, I mean, the lists haven't even been cut down to 10 or 15 possibilities for the blue ribbon panels... also, I don't watch Big Love, yes, I've heard it was amazing this season, but, well, I don't watch it so no noms for it from me!

Please note, I may accidentally miscategorize a couple actors and actresses, sometimes (especially on ensemble shows) you never know whether they've put themselves up for supporting or for lead.

Also, it is so refreshing to have a year without The Sopranos filling every drama category!

Best Drama
- The Wire
- Lost
- Mad Men
- House
- Brothers & Sisters
It pains me to not include BSG... but, well, I didn't love a good chunk of this half season. And FNL, oh, you recovered so well late in the game, but the first half was just poorly played (and, no, I couldn't resist that). Also Bones left such a wretched taste in my mouth at the end of the season that it took it out of the running (but a season stopping at the strike episodes? It would've been there).

Lead Drama Actor
- Dominic West (The Wire)
- Hugh Laurie (House)
- Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
- Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
- Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights)

Lead Drama Actress
- Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica)
- Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters)
- Glenn Close (Damages)
- Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)
- Ellen Pompeo (Grey's Anatomy... okay, I know, controversial, but did you notice how when you stopped caring about Meredith one way or the other, you stopped caring about the show? That takes skillz)

Supporting Drama Actor
- Michael Emerson (Lost)
- Jeremy Davies (Lost)
- Dave Annable (Brothers & Sisters)
- Andre Royo (The Wire)
- Ed Westwick (Gossip Girl... you know you love him... again, couldn't resist... and so never going to happen)
-- (no, but seriously) Matthew Rhys (Brothers & Sisters)

Supporting Drama Actress
- Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica)
- Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica)
- Rachel Griffiths (Brothers & Sisters)
- Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
- January Jones (Mad Men)

Best Comedy
- 30 Rock
- The Office
- Desperate Housewives
- How I Met Your Mother
- Pushing Daisies (because, looking back, yeah, I miss it despite the myriad of flaws)

Lead Comedy Actor
- Steve Carell (The Office)
- Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
- Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory)
- Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother)
- Zachary Levi (Chuck... which I am guessing is being submitted as a comedy)

Lead Comedy Actress
- Tina Fey (30 Rock)
- America Ferrera (Ugly Betty)
- Mary Louise Parker (Weeds)
- Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives)
- Dana Delany (Desperate Housewives)

Supporting Comedy Actor
- Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother)
- Jack McBrayer (30 Rock)
- John Krasinski (The Office)
- Rainn Wilson (The Office)
- Michael Urie (Ugly Betty)

Supporting Comedy Actress
- Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother, despite the disturbing continuing lack of red hair)
- Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother)
- Jenna Fischer (The Office)
- Becki Newton (Ugly Betty)
- Jane Krakowski (30 Rock)