my opinion matters

The Newsroom is the latest Aaron Sorkin project, which airs on HBO and just finished it’s first season. I love Aaron Sorkin the same way I love John Williams – they are amazing visionaries and I will at least try to like everything they do. Weird Al is also included in this group. Unfortunately for Sorkin, The West Wing was seriously one of the greatest television shows of all time, which makes anything else he tries comparable to The West Wing and obviously not as good. Studio 60 barely made it through its first season and, to be fair, it was not good. I enjoyed it because of Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford, but everyone pretty much agrees that it was a failed attempt. I wonder if it was because Sorkin was trying so hard to change it up from The West Wing that he went a little too far. Or maybe, since his wheelhouse is politics, doing a project about a late night sketch comedy show just didn’t work out. However, The Newsroom is back where he belongs – polit

I'm not usually a fan of HBO or Showtime programming lately because it's all sex without a plot line. I also never watched True Blood  because Anna Paquin makes me irritated. However, after years of cajoling, my dad finally got me to watch it, and I am now obsessed. So much that I even want to read the books. It's genius. I mean, seriously. First of all, they make vampires like a new subset of society that is consistently discriminated against. Hilarious. Some of the gore is a little... gore-y, but it is HBO after all, and they are the only ones who can actually get away with it. Being able to cuss on television also allows for more interesting and violent plot lines, which is always a good thing in my book, as long as it makes sense... for the most part. Some of the stuff is a little out there - like were-panthers, fairies and shape shifters, but it's really no different than the shows I've been watching for years like Buffy  or The Vampire Diaries . I wish there

I suck. For years I thought that the entire Star Wars franchise was lame and stupid. I saw Episode III and liked it, but I wasn't over the moon about it. I had no idea what I was missing. I recently went through and watched every Star Wars film from start to finish, from the original all the way through baby Anakin and the emergence of Darth Vader. Amazing. While the original movie was great, it was really The Empire Strikes Back that really surprised me. It was great from start to finish. I found that there was no lameness, no nerdy stupidness to ruin my experience. The acting was great, the effects we great, and I even. Ended the stuff that was obviously added by George Lucas at a later time. Let me take a second to discuss this. I understand that fans (the rabid ones at least) were really pissed that Lucas went back through his films and not only enchanced the effects, but added some crappy cgi... Which was great at the time but not so great in 2012. For me, I liked the cha

Okay, so everyone (including Elvis Duran in the morning) was talking about the book Fifty Shades of Grey , and I was only mildly interested. Then, it was on the cover of Entertainment Weekly , and they were saying it is the most popular ebook of, like, all time. Who can pass that up? Because I know it was basically a porn novel disguised as erotica, I refused to pay for it... So I downloaded. I am about a quarter of the way through the second book in the trilogy and damn if it isn't a fun read. The author used to write twilight fan fiction, which is nerdy and lame, but it got her a book deal. She writes like Stephanie Meyer in that sort of annoying and not particularly talented way, but also in that same way that actually makes you care about werewolves and vampires that sparkle. This trilogy is the same way. I have no interest in erotica, mostly because they use stupid synonyms for penis and vagina, but I am compelled to read the next kindle page, the next chapter. The characte

I totally rock. I guessed everything right, and that makes me happy for being right but also makes me happy because the right stuff won. HUZZAH!

Hooray! It's Oscar night! I have seen quite a few of the nominated films, including The Artist , which I hope will win absolutely everything it's nominated for. It's unique and different, but it's beautifully acted and the cinematography is wonderful as well. I hope it gets what it deserves. I have again chosen to pick only what I want to win rather than what will win: Best Picture: The Artist Best Actor: Jean Dujardin (for The Artist ) Best Actress: Meryl Streep (for The Iron Lady ) Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer (for Beginners ) Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer (for The Help ) I am still pulling for John Williams, but The Artist probably deserves it - it was a silent film, afterall. Cheers! Have a great Oscar night!!!!

Watching Katy Perry perform, I'm thinking she has sour grapes about the divorce. In general, I enjoy Katy Perry - except that I think she sounds awful live because she can't really hit the high notes she thinks she can. Once she and Russell Brand announced they were getting divorced, I decided to side with Russell Brand. He is super funny and great - so in general, I think Katy Perry kind of sucks now. Yes, I am fickle and I don't care. They're celebrities - it's not like they're real people. :) Okay. Look. I try not to be too judgmental... at least for people I like. And I like Adele a lot. But her performance was... weird. I remember when she performed "Someone Like You" - it was amazing and her tone and pitch were dead on. Tonight she did "Rolling in the Deep" and, well, it was off. Like, I guess she hit all of the notes and everything, but the tone of her voice sounds messed up. I know she had surgery on her vocal chords and this was her

You know, I always think the Grammys are going to be great, and I am usually disappointed. This year, so far, is no exception. It's only an hour into the show and everything has been boring. What I don't like is that they hardly give out any awards anymore on the live telecast - it's all performances, and usually pretty crappy ones. I mean, seriously. Rihanna and Coldplay? Rihanna's part was okay, but Coldplay sucks and it's not exciting or fun to listen to at all. Speaking of Rihanna, I am happy for her that she wanted to sing live instead of lip synching her performance, but maybe she should have opted for lip synching if she was going to sound so awful. I'm just saying. And by the way, why is it okay to like Chris Brown again? I thought we all got together and decided that we would hate him forever. Why am I the only one sticking to the plan? I am excited to see Adele perform, and Nicki Minaj - but overall I'm sure it will suck. It is also lame that Whitn

I am very happy that the nominees for the Oscars this year are different from the Golden Globes nominees. Of course, there are overlaps, but I think it's a good thing. So far I have been disappointed with the films I've seen. I watched Moneyball yesterday and... I don't even have anything to say about it. It was fine - nothing special. I hope that changes as I watch more films. I am especially excited about The Artist because it's something so different and unique. Most of the nominated movies are ones I haven't even heard of - which is fun because I don't know what to expect. I am happy to see The Ides of March is not heavily nominated - this gives me hope because that movie... well... it sucked. Let's keep it real. First of all, I want to mention that I don't care about a lot of the categories. Some, like editing and art direction are really hard to guess because I don't know enough about it. I will stick to the major acting awards, best picture,

I just finished the book Divergent by Veronica Roth, and I absolutely loved it. So okay. Basically it's like The Hunger Games , with an interesting twist. It's a post-war culture where everyone has decided that the old methodologies about war and life are all messed up, but there are different groups that think there was something different wrong with life. As a result, people are separated into factions according to this belief: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. The Candor value honesty, and think the world went awry because people lied too much. They speak their mind constantly and are always honest. The Abnegation value selflessness, and think the world went awry because people were too selfish. They do community service and do not do anything remotely self-indulgent. They are also most of the leaders because they are selfless. The Dauntless value bravery, and think the world went awry because people were too cowardly. They serve as the protectors of the wo

I am officially eleven minutes into this movie, and I am really enjoying it. Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen. I absolutely adore Michael Sheen, who also did a brief stint on 30 Rock - it's fun to see him do an American accent. I don't really enjoy Owen Wilson - I think he's self-indulgent and probably a total jerk in real life, but he has good comedic timing. And even though I want to hate him, the character they want us to hate is Michael Sheen, an obnoxious know-it-all who even argues with a tour guide because he knows best. Hilarious. Anyway, it's painfully clear that this is a Woody Allen film, because they are all eerily similar with that campy-independent-movie music. I am usually not a fan, but the script is usually funny and very true to real life. Anyway, Owen Wilson is a writer from California who goes on vacation to France with his fiance. He's writing a book about France in the 1920s and mysteriously is transported to... France in the 1920s a

What started out like an awesome Aaron Sorkin-y political film quickly devolved into Primary Colors in present day. George Clooney played a Democratic candidate in the Ohio primary and his campaign was run by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ryan Gosling. It was good, don't get me wrong. The writing was solid - funny where needed, poignant where necessary. But it was too short and never delved into the political process at all - it became a story about what happens when Gosling finds out Clooney got an intern pregnant. That was pretty much the summary of the film. The best things about the film were Hoffman and Paul Giamatti, who is always a genius. The greatest line was when Gosling confronted Clooney about the affair, telling him that he broke the number one rule in politics, "You can lie, you can cheat, you can start a war, you can bankrupt the country. But you can't fuck the intern." Good stuff. Funny and also true. Gosling's character was difficult to portray bec