Britt's On

Whoops. I've definitely been absentee for some time. That's not to say I haven't been a media fiend over the last few months. Quite the opposite. And therefore busy. Anyway here are my top 10 thoughts on media happenings since I last wrote in...gulp...October.

10) Homeland and American Horror Story provided two of the most enjoyable viewing experiences I've had on television in recent memory. If only every year brought such gems to my screen. Oh and I'm still digging Revenge. SO glad I picked that one up.

9) I feel like I've lost a lot of steam for this year's Oscars race. It's probably because I saw all of the movies (except War Horse...I just can't...) as of a few weeks ago, so its been a little anti-climactic since then. I don't feel passionately about any particular film. Midnight in Paris was definitely my favourite, but I know it doesn't have a shot for much beyond best screenplay.

8) Survivor was dissatisfying. The conclusion anyway. I have this weird issue where I secretly root for people like Natalie (Samoa) and Sophie (this last season) but not really expect them to win and then when they're in a position to I regret cheering for them. Coach deserved the win in my opinion. I loved this season altogether, it definitely had some good characters and 'moments', although I'm still not a fan of Redemption and a little tired of back-to-back 'bring 'em back' seasons. I'm glad they're going in a fresh direction this season.

7) I watched both the Golden Globes and the Grammys. Not much to say on either. I thought Emma Stone was best dressed at the GG's and I'm excited she'll (likely) be at the Oscars this year. Adele is a precious flower and like the rest of the world, I'm so happy for her success.

6) New Girl continues to be my new favourite comedy. I still love Modern Family and guffaw on occasion at The Office, but I'm so intrigued by where this show is going...and can go. It just feels like a really fresh take on the 90s 'Friends'-type comedy, although I know other people are toting 'Happy Endings' in that respect.

5) I've read a sh*t ton of books in the last few months, that should come as no surprise. I meant to do some dreamcasting on here. Let's see if I can remember...I found 'The Night Circus' incredibly difficult to cast but I know it's going to be a sensational movie. I think I had someone like Olivia Wilde in there for Celia. I just read 'Before I Go To Sleep' and I thought of Kate Winslet for Christine and Jude Law for Ben.

4) On Whitney Houston: serious tragedy. She clearly needed help for a long time and it's a shame no one was able to give it to her. Between her and Amy Winehouse I hope someone somewhere finds a way to connect with these people. I can only imagine Lindsay Lohan's name showing up next...

3) The Walking Dead. Disappointing season so far, not much improved by this week's mid-season premiere. They need to GTFO the GD farm. Also the scriptwriting still feels awkwardly clunky and expositional.

2) I watched both the Swedish and American versions of 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' in the last few months. The BF was not interested in the American version at all because he felt like he'd seen it all with the serviceable Swedish adaptation. But I have to say, I thought the American version kicked ass. Rooney Mara was superlative, and in my humble opinion, deserving of an Oscar. Perhaps if they make - and sustain the quality level - of all three she'll get rewarded down the road.

1) I'm feeling Project Runway All Stars for the most part. I'll admit there is something problematic with the fact we are seeing style point-of-views that we're already well familiar with, as opposed to seeing what a new crop of designers would have brought to the table. But at the same time it's refreshing to see such ambition, talent, and commitment to said points of view.

0) Oh yes, a bonus post. I'm quite enjoying the new Canadian show The LA Complex. It's from the creators of Degrassi so this should come as no surprise, but I'm finding it surprisingly well-plotted, acted, and paced. I'm so psyched for the actors (particularly Cassie Steele) that its received a US pickup for the summer.

I PROMISE to write back after the Oscars. That is all.

- Britt's On

I've got a rule around these parts when it comes to jelly-vision watching. Basically, my aim is to watch three episodes of a show (if I can stand it) and make my decision as to whether to continue after that point. After reading EW's Fall TV Preview, a few more shows have made the cut in the last week. Only after my three-episode rule will I have the guts to turf or set up a series recording for anything that isn't part of my regularly scheduled programming.

Without further ado...

TUESDAYS

Ringer
Talk about a premiere trying to do too much...with a more experienced showrunner, the premiere probably would have been a little less ambitious (and would have had way better special FX for the damn boat scene). BUT, it definitely sparked intrigue. I do hope the show learns to gain a sense of humour at some point - right now it's all serious, all the time, which doesn't lend itself well to SMG's considerable talents, along with castmate Kristoffer Polaha.
Survey Says: I stuck with 'Dollhouse' the whole way through out of Buffy nostalgia (granted Joss Whedon was at the helm). I'm giving Ringer three episodes to *keep* me hooked as I'm not sure how this concept will work in the long, long-term.


Parenthood
A solid season premiere, although the last three minutes were cut off cause of stupid America's Got Talent, so I never saw Adam's final decision. I assume he's opening the studio with Crosby though. I'm a tad confused by Kristina's working situation, and irritated by Hattie / Alex in the premiere, but I loved the 'FNL' joke they slipped in. Altogether a promising start to another year with the Braverman clan.
Survey Says: Obviously I'm going to continue watching. I love this show. Plus...Jason Ritter!

WEDNESDAYS

Survivor: South Pacific
Interesting season premiere...Ozzy and Coach coming back are SO different than Rob and Russell. I think there are some potentially great characters among this cast, and again, Ozzy and Coach can be considered liabilities more than Russell or Rob ever was, so I'll be curious to see how this plays out for them. I predict neither one will make the finals, but one of them may make the final episode.
Survey Says: The tribe has spoken, of course I'm watching!


ANTM All Stars
*Pulls face* The season premiere did nothing to dissuade me that an all-star edition of the show was a BAD idea. Why? Well for one, these girls supposedly have careers to fall back on. Top Model works best when it rewards girls who surprise or grow with the competition. We know what these girls are capable of, and if anything, getting eliminated early on in the show may be a bigger hindrance than help to their careers. The whole thing just felt LOUD and overdone and unnecessary...everything felt like it was on warp speed. I actually like the way the characters unfurl on the show normally. I'm not sure how this one'll go...but I'll watch.
Survey Says: I'm the stalwart amongst my friends that still watches this show. I'm not about to quit now.


Up All Night
Surprise! This is one show that sneaked its way into my fall TV preview, after the big glowing article in Entertainment Weekly. I went into it with an open mind - I'm not exactly the target demographic. My main thoughts? Will Arnett is 90% of the reason why I'd watch this show. Christina Applegate's 'smart girl in a world of insane people' one-liners fell kind of flat without character development, and Maya Rudolph's talk-show host was something we've (quite literally) seen before, but still funny. The baby was cute!! I just wonder what kind of legs this show has with only three lead characters...
Survey Says: I'm test-driving three new comedies this Fall - 'Two Broke Girls' and 'New Girl' premiere this week. I'm only willing to take on one, maybe two, new ones...and at this point, I don't know that 'Up All Night' will cut it. An admirable debut though.

THURSDAYS

The Secret Circle
How pretty is this photo? Stunning scene from the pilot episode of CW / Kevin Williamson's new paranormal drama, 'The Secret Circle'. Generally speaking, I liked it. There was a decent amount of intrigue (if slightly overdone in the way Williamson is known for) and Britt Robertson is great. The only way this show will become a casualty at this point - because I see its potential - is if I simply feel overwhelmed with other, more mature programming.
Survey Says: A show with legs beyond the initial 'what happened to the last circle?' conceit. I'm definitely willing to go past the first episode.

SUNDAY

Emmys 2011
Yeah this was a one-off, but it bears some notice:
- Why must every awards show do a musical opening? Kind of boring. Jane Lynch was an okay host, but sometimes her quips felt a little off-colour (like her attack on Tom Cruise. So five years ago). I LOVED her segment on the Mad Men set though.

- I was SO happy with some of the surprise wins. Julie Bowen seemed floored, and I was totally cheering for Ty Burrell (my fave Modern Family member) to take it as well. Melissa McCarthy ascending from 'character actor' to 'best lead actress' was precious. Margo Martindale, who I primarily know as 'Ninah' on 'The Riches' seemed just tickled. And MOST IMPORTANTLY - Kyle Chandler, the beating heart of Friday Night Lights 'Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose' was finally recognized for his amazing, soul-stirring turn as Coach Taylor. If I didn't talk about the finale before, it's because I watched it on DVD instead of live, week-by-week. It was amazing. I was so happy for Jason Katims to walk away with the writing award, and would have been content with that. But for them to also recognize KC was brilliant. He was so humble and sweet.

- Some great acceptance speeches this year. Ty Burrell, and the Modern Family writer / creators, stand out in particular. I barely fast-forwarded through the speeches.

- Kate Winslet now has an EGO. Not an 'ego', but she's just a 'T' away from the legendary acting quad-fecta of EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). Kudos Kate.

- Fashion. Lots of red, which I'm so bored with. I appreciated the pops of colour and there were a few truly stunning choices on the Red Carpet this year. No major disasters.

- Does anyone remember when the Housewives were the talk of the carpet? Oh how the mighty have fallen - not a single Wisteria Lane appearance this year.

- Overall I was fine with the telecast. I would have liked to see Steve Carrell and Connie Britton win their categories, but generally speaking I thought the Emmy voters did a solid, well-rounded job of awarding a very talented bunch of pretty people. Kudos.

- Britt's On

Last night was the Golden Globes, which seems to be moving more and more to popular fare (or at least, I can use the word ‘mainstream’) and isn’t quite the barometer of the Oscars that it used to be. They had a good turnout last night though, with few no shows, and quite a star-studded group of actors, musicians, and hybrids (and I’m not talking cars). My ten post-glittery reactions to the show:

10) Proof that the Globes are increasingly populist – shunning Mad Men and Modern Family (two perennial awards favourites, despite the latter being new) in favour of newbie Boardwalk Empire and sickening Glee (not a fan). I have to say that having watched S4 of Mad Men and S1 of BE, I’m surprised Boardwalk took the big prize. I doubt the Emmys will be reflective of this however, as Mad Men had quite possibly their best season ever recently. Poor Jon Hamm, so talented yet always overlooked. He better win for MM’s final season, whenever that may be.

9) I felt like I was watching an episode of Toddlers & Tiaras last night, it was so full-on Pageanty-glitz. Everyone was rocking the spangles, the one-shoulders, and the tulle, it was like a stylists convention. The giant shoulder pads and puffed long sleeves were not a fave of mine, but the bright colour choices for once were. It’s hard for me to single out a favourite really, because while I was overwhelmed by the *interesting* elements of each dress, I wasn’t particularly enraptured with one of them.

8) I forgot how beautiful and ambient The Social Network score was, until it was played repeatedly throughout the night. Kudos to Trent Reznor for the win, as well as the film.

7) Ricky Gervais is hilarious. He was getting a lot of “Clap-ters”, a term I learned from Seth Meyers where an audience gets a joke, but is uncomfortable with laughing at it – more reactionary “ohhhs” than “hahaha”. I’m sure it’s funnier if you’re not there and not being made fun of by him personally, but he sure makes the audiences at home laugh.

6) The biggest showdown of the year – Annette Bening vs. Natalie Portman is no closer to being sorted out, because they were awarded in two different categories. I feel like the momentum is in Portman’s court – Hollywood loves to use the Oscar as a way to roll out the red carpet for Hollywood’s next group of royalty – but Bening has been nominated often enough she might take it.

5) I might not like Glee very much, but Chris Colfer is the most precious button to ever grace an awards stage. In the few episodes and snippets I’ve watched of the show, he’s hands down the best part of it, and a great icon in the troubled times young people seem to be going through.

4) Circling back to The Social Network, I feel like this HAS to win the Oscar. The momentum is fully in their favour at this point, although The King’s Speech has a bit of fustiness that Oscar voters love, and The Kids Are Alright has received a consistent level of praise. The other shoo-ins at this point are Aaron Sorkin’s Social Network script, Colin Firth in The King’s Speech, and someone from The Fighter winning some sort of acting prize.

3) I felt bad (for about a nanosecond) for Angelina and Johnny. Not just because Gervais flat out roughed them up publicly, but because it was brave of them to even bother showing up for a show most people were laughing at their nominations for. I’m sure half the reason why their films / roles were nominated was to make them show up, because not showing up would make things even worse.

2) In last night’s other awkwardly but hilariously inappropriate moment, Robert Downey Jr.’s intro speech for the award he was presenting felt unscripted. And if it was, kudos because it was actually funny, if a little squirm-inducing considering his wifey was chilling in the audience. I love R Downs though, cause he just doesn’t seem to give a shiz. He was wearing sneakers and a cute blue tie that matched his wife’s dress at the Oscars last year, although amusingly Bieber got slammed for doing the same thing this year.

1) I’m going to go out on a limb and say it – Toy Story 3, if Pixar were better at mounting such campaigns, should win Best Picture. Because they won’t, I’m happy with TSN taking it.

I wasn’t looking forward to last night’s Grammy awards. I’m not a fan of awards shows that stack musical interludes and honorary awards in front of actually giving away awards – and the Grammy’s are notorious for that, putting together extremely obscure pairings for what they call ‘once in a lifetime’ and I call ‘stupid’. However, I obliged the boyfriend last night and watched the entire thing from start to finish. I will point out that when we caught up with our PVR, I made him watch a TLC program on the world’s tiniest girl (about the size of a cat if you can imagine, and she’s two). We managed to watch that whole program between catching up with the Grammy’s and were still done watching them at about 10:35.

Anyway to my surprise, last night was a good show. I thought I’d maybe touch on several of the performances – ones that I feel qualified to comment on for one reason or another – and give my grades to the winners and losers of the night.

Lady Gaga – kicked things off with a bang as per usual, but also as per usual? Gaga was at her best when vamping on the piano with Elton John, stripped away from the hysterics of her OTT dance-y number, complete with Gaga mannequins and flashy MC. I’m a little surprised Ga didn’t get to grab an award on stage.
Grade: B+

Pink – easily one of the best performances of the night. Glitter in the Air is one of my fave tracks off Pink’s last album, and she sang it perfectly with some genuine emotion (did you SEE Keith Urban tearing up when he went to present the next award)? Add to that a breathtaking acrobatic performance where she STILL managed to sound awesome and you’ve got a winner. I respect Pink, as she’s really just kept on doing her own thing from when she first showed up on the scene to today, and she’s still popular. She’s not #1, but she’s continually out there.
Grade: A+

Beyonce – tied for best performance with Pink. “If I Was A Boy” has/had the potential to be a really boring power ballad, but Beyonce’s utilitarian interpretation had her rocking the crowds, putting a big smile on her hubby’s face, and showcased her voice without too many intense vocal gymnastics. Add to that the inspired ‘Oughta Know’ interlude (go Canada go) and you’ve got a stellar, unexpectedly awesome performance.
Grade: A+

Michael Jackson Tribute – despite a relatively ragtag band of performers – Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Carrie Underwood, and Smokey Robinson – they did a really solid job of delivering this tune along with Michael’s angelic vocals. The 3D didn’t quite work (we had on non-Grammy-sanctioned glasses that came with our copy of Coraline), and it mostly resulted in guffaws as the boy and I laughed at the starlets wearing their specs, but it was a nice effort. I felt like Carrie Underwood was kind of the weakest here, surprisingly, but loved her realistic, extension-free hair.
Grade: A-

Black Eyed Peas – Imma Be isn’t my fave song off The E.N.D. but it did lend itself well to the build-up in this futuristic blast of a performance. Plus there is NO WAY to not bop your head and enjoy ‘I Gotta Feeling’ – it would have worked well as a show closer in my opinion, although the ‘good night’ would have been over by then I suppose.
Grade: A

Lil Wayne / Drake / Eminem – Probably the best of the ‘true’ hip hop / R&B performances of the night, although the lyrics were more muddled than the clear cut sound of the actual track. I commented, in regards to Gaga and Drake, those two are living the dream. A couple of years ago they were just doing their thing in a NYC club and ‘wheelchair’ respectively, and now they’re performing with legends in their genres on the Grammy stages. Drake looked a little too happy to be hardcore, but his performance was great – it was good to see Eminem in a positive, supporting role. Perhaps they bonded over their similar struggle against expectations vs. reality (Degrassi Star? Vs. Talented!).
Grade: B+

Taylor Swift (w/Stevie Nicks) – Taylor’s weakness is her live performing, but what she lacks in vocal power she makes up for in charm and energy. The Stevie Nicks middle duet was the most painful part, while the countrified version of ‘You Belong With Me’ was a highlight – imagine, Taylor Swift singing pure country?
Grade: B

Green Day (w/musical guests) – I had no idea Green Day was putting together a musical of ‘American Idiot’ but I am tickled pink at the idea. So is the rest of America I bet, after the brilliant PR move of having cast members from the musical rock out with the band. For the rest of the show, we both commented on how every musical group would be clamouring for their own stage show now. The performance lacked the bells and whistles of others, but it was still solid.
Grade: B+

Bon Jovi – The little three-song condensed set the guys played went on an upward slope, from the weak opening by Richie Sambora through to the fan-selected ‘Livin on a Prayer’. Yet BJ seemed a little, dare I say it, bored? Their energy level wasn’t nearly as high as some of the others last night.
Grade: C+

Maxwell – Apparently this guy is famous down in the US of A. I don’t know him. He had a nice voice but his performance was standard power ballad stuff, which Beyonce managed to overcome…Maxwell did not, and thus I skipped this one.
Grade: C

Jamie Foxx – Another performance I skipped about half of. Foxx’s vocals were buried in auto-tune and there wasn’t really anything special (enter hoochie girls after the operatic debut), unlike the stripped down Eminem/Wayne/Drake performance later that evening.
Grade: C-

Lady Antebellum – The boyfriend is a big fan of these folks, having partied all night with them last time they were in town. There wasn’t anything flashy about their performance, nor did they have any surprise special guests…and it was nice. I’m not super familiar with them, but they are solid performers / songwriters.
Grade: B

There were a few other random performances in there. Zac Brown Band who stole the best new artist award from MGMT – I don’t really have much to say on them. The old person David Foster-helmed soul performance which was pretty snore-y. Dave Matthews band was okay but a little ‘much’. You can do a lot without needing a full jamboree on stage. Jeff Beck and Imelda May started out enchanting but failed to live up to the star power that dominated the stage that night.

Overall though, glad I watched it. Pink and Beyonce were definitely the ladies that rocked the stage, but it was Taylor’s fairy tale and continually surprised gushing that captured our hearts.

- Britt’s On