"You've Ruined the Show, GOB"

I'm going to hurl Arrested Development Season 4 into the sea. "Return from whence you came!" style. For it has gravely disappointed me.

For starters, there was no Franklin.

And for enders, there was no humor. I found it kind of funny when Lindsey's boyfriend had face blindness, but even that got old quick.

They reused old jokes, and they didn't even reuse them well. It felt that they had written the entire thing in 12 days, and that they were different writers.

The whole season is a "this is what they've been up to," recap that all comes up to and ends on "Cinco de Quatro," or what is supposed to mean the 4th of May, but actually means the Fifth of Fourth. (Is it hilarious that they don't know the first thing about Spanish when they live so close to Mexico? I'm not sure. It might be kind of funny. But it's not enough to be the funniest thing about the entire season, and it kind of is.)

Each episode is dedicated to a different Bluth, detailing why and how said Bluth has changed. Sometimes other Bluths aren't even in an episode, and sometimes the episode is so completely dull because said person's story line is SO BORING.

And I hated how they all changed. They were all pretty much the exact opposite of who they had been before. (Now, of course, this means I actually liked Maeby better, because I never liked Maeby before.)

All in all... it was slightly interesting, but not funny... ever.

(And you think, "Oh finally, a GOB episode!" Nope. Still not funny.)

Mad Men

Yes, sometimes I post about TV shows. Try not to despair about it.

Recently we got Netflix, (mostly for the Arrested Development,) and so I started watching Mad Men. I had watched the pilot before and turned it off because I felt that it was set in the 60's just so they could be horrible, horrible sexiest and get away with it because, hey, it's the 60's. (Notice how time is never considered when people are bashing The Taming of the Shrew. Give Shakespeare a break now and then. Geez.)

So I watched about 8 or so episodes of it this time and... I had to stop. It bothered me to see so many people smoking, (what a sad era!) and to see all the cheating. It made me feel that everyone cheated on their spouse and that it was this normal thing going on in the 60's, and it was just plain horrible.

I can't recommend this show to anyone.

I remember I wanted to watch it because my costume teacher had said the costumes are way authentic. Ug. Who the crap cares?

Plus I really hate that kid from Angel, and January Jones, (although she didn't bother me so much in this. She really bugged me in that X-Men movie.)

You've been Rafikied

If you read my "Ferris Bueller" post, you'd know that I'm going through Netflix watching movies I should have watched by now. This last week the movie to watch was "Top Gun." I knew what happened during the movie, having watched "Hot Shots," but I had never seen it, and I'm ashamed to admit it, I thought Nicole Kidman was in it, and I didn't know Val Kilmer was in it. I also didn't know I'd spend the entire movie wondering what was wrong with everyone's teeth. Man, you could be an actor in the 80's without caps. Who knew!?

So, my take on the movie was that it set the standard for movies to come. We might even be able to blame our Rafiki principle on it. What's that? You've never heard of the Rafiki Principle? Well, it goes a little like this.

Mr. Protagonist decides he doesn't want to do something, whether it's returning to the Pride Lands or finishing flight school, or whatever. Girlie Friend tries to talk Mr. Pro into it. But he can't be swayed by Girlie Friend! He can't do what needs to be done for love, he has to do it for himself! But he can't just sit there and decide to do it for himself without voicing it out loud for the audience to hear! That's where Rafiki, or Viper, comes in. They hit the hero over the head with their walking stick, and the hero goes back to claim his place as king.

And then you lean over to your movie-watching-buddy and say, "Bam! You've been Rafikied."

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Over the last two days, while nursing my adorable 3 month old, I've been watching "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," as I've never seen it straight through.

Every time someone said "Save Ferris," or wrote it on something, it made me think of the 90's band, and I'd go, "Hey. They like 'Save Ferris'." I had to remember I was watching the movie the band got their name from. That was weird.

Minutes into the movie I realized Cameron was the best thing about the movie, and then it hit me that this movie has divided its protagonist. Ferris carries the action forward, but Cameron travels the hero's journey and changes at the end. The climax is when the car shoots out the window, not when Ferris's sister sticks up for him. Which leads me to believe and argue that Cameron is our protagonist.

Anyway, the movie is hilarious. The Dean of Students drops the F-bomb once. There are a couple SH-bombs. There's mention of drugs. There's mention of nudity. There's Charlie Sheen. But other than that....

The funny thing is, someone gave me this movie (on VHS) when I was a teenager for a birthday or Christmas and I still didn't watch it all the way through. I probably said something like, "I NEVER WANTED THIS!" or some ungrateful thing like that, (I was a horrible teenager!) But now I would have gotten rid of it anyway, (it was on VHS!) So I guess it's all a moot point, or as Joey would say, a moo point. "It's a cow's opinion. It's moo."

Ender's Game Trailer

Ender's Game Trailer

Musicals and Me

I was talking with my sister, "Pnutty," one day about how we used to think we loved musicals because we liked all the ones we had seen when we were younger. However, now that we are older we realize that there are a LOT more musicals than the ones we knew, and we don't like MOST of them.

I went ahead and counted the musicals I like. I got to 20. Here they are. They PROVE, that I do not like most musicals. (I say "most," because I don't want to be one of those people who say, "I don't like country music; I only like a few songs." But then all they ever listen to is country.)

Beware, when I say "musicals" I mean musicals that have been on Broadway.

Now the following don't count because I haven't seen the stage-version, but I'd probably like them.
"The Little Mermaid"
"Tarzan"
"Man of La Mancha"
"The Wizard of Oz"
I'm also not counting Gilbert and Sullivan because their "plays" aren't considered plays.

And some things don't count because they haven't been on Broadway, like, "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Moulin Rouge," and, "Aladdin Stage Show."

So, here is my list of

MUSICALS I CAN STAND/LIKE

(In no particular order)

1. "Les Miserables"

2. "The Phantom of the Opera"

3. "Guys 'N' Dolls"

4. "Marry Poppins"

5. "Oklahoma!"

6. "The Sound of Music"

7. "The Music Man"

8. "Brigadoon"

9. "Beauty and the Beast"

10. "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat"

11. "Evita"

12. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"

13. "Chicago"

14. "Into the Woods"

15. "Little Shop of Horrors"

16. "Cinderella"

17. "My Fair Lady"

18. "West Side Story"

19. "Fiddler on the Roof"

20. "Annie"

I can tolerate...

1. "Hello Dolly"

2. "The King and I"

3. "Dream Girls"
4. "Cats" (I saw it live and loved it. I didn't think I would. But in all honesty, the songs blow, [apart from "Memory."])