Did you miss the Golden Globes last night? Here's my liveblog!
Hidden images found under Tudor portraits
Read Todd VanDerWerff on making your own luck.
How Scientology Seduced Tom Cruise
J.J. Abrams Named MIT Media Lab. The tweet I first saw about this referred to Abrams and a "cohort of characters," so I was hoping that meant that MIT had given Walter Bishop some sort of official position, but alas.
Bad News for Vampire Cops Everywhere
Mo Ryan's Girls season two review has an interesting context/comparison for reactions to the show.
How Well Do You Know Jack the Ripper?
Showing posts with label Girls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Girls. Show all posts
Monday, January 14, 2013
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
What I Watched: White Heat, Veep, Girls
Live+7: White Heat, "The Personal Is Political (EP104)" - As this series continues, my feelings become more mixed: The huge time jumps let them visit different interesting periods of history, but make it hard to stay attached to the characters or even follow exactly what's going on with them. This week, I particularly loved Orla's support of Jay and his heartbreaking scene with his family.
Veep, "Full Disclosure (EP107)" - I wasn't as wild about this episode as I've been of some of the previous ones, but it was still solid and I'm still loving the show overall. I was really disappointed, though, that the pregnancy was dispensed with so quickly - I was hoping that they'd do something more interesting with that. Same with Ted, now that I think about it: I'd rather see the way they learned to negotiate the relationship rather than just have the quick joke of someone breaking up by proxy.
Girls, "Weirdos Need Girlfriends Too (EP108)" - Oh, Adam Adam Adam. I think Hannah and Adam's relationship is one of the most realistic I've seen on TV. The "angry guys" theme was well done. I also loved Marnie's wallowing (to Demi Lovato!) and her speech about how it's not fun being the uptight one. I'm really glad I've stuck with this show; it's been such an unexpected delight for me.
On the list... Teen Wolf, Lost Girl
Veep, "Full Disclosure (EP107)" - I wasn't as wild about this episode as I've been of some of the previous ones, but it was still solid and I'm still loving the show overall. I was really disappointed, though, that the pregnancy was dispensed with so quickly - I was hoping that they'd do something more interesting with that. Same with Ted, now that I think about it: I'd rather see the way they learned to negotiate the relationship rather than just have the quick joke of someone breaking up by proxy.
Girls, "Weirdos Need Girlfriends Too (EP108)" - Oh, Adam Adam Adam. I think Hannah and Adam's relationship is one of the most realistic I've seen on TV. The "angry guys" theme was well done. I also loved Marnie's wallowing (to Demi Lovato!) and her speech about how it's not fun being the uptight one. I'm really glad I've stuck with this show; it's been such an unexpected delight for me.
On the list... Teen Wolf, Lost Girl
Monday, May 21, 2012
What I Watched: Game of Thrones, Veep, Girls
Live-ish:Game of Thrones, "The Prince of Winterfell (EP208)" - This episode didn't particularly strike me as a stand-out, but it was solid, and at this point in the season of any serialized show, there's usually a lot of setup for the finale. Tyrion, of course, continues to be the best, and everyone should just listen to him. I also never liked Arya until she started hanging out with Tywin, so that's . . . odd.
Veep, "Nicknames (EP105)" - I'm still loving this - it's probably my favorite of the HBO Sunday night shows - and Jonah and Dan's faux-bromance was my favorite thing last night, as they're my two favorite characters. I'm impressed with the line this show as walked between combining real-feeling moments with humor while not being so ridiculous that it's all just a joke.
Girls, "The Return (EP106)" - This was the first episode that didn't take place in New York and didn't really include the girls other than Hannah, so I was a little worried that it wouldn't be as engaging, but it more than made up for the lack of main characters with the way it handled Hannah's trip home to Michigan. It was pitch-perfect, from Hannah's instant reversion to the emotional age of 12 when she entered her parents' house to her interactions with former classmates to the ridiculous benefit event.
Catching Up: The Killing, "The Cage (EP102)" - I know I'm really late to the party, but this show is fascinating so far. I'm hoping that knowing everyone's frustration with how the first season ended - and having season 2 on the TiVo already - will mean I don't wind up hating it.
Game of Thrones - I like this but don't find it as compelling as a lot of my friends do, so I hadn't watched most of this season until I decided to catch up yesterday. I think I like it on an intellectual level but don't find it emotionally engaging. I'm not sure whether I'd feel this way no matter what or whether it has to do with having read the book already. Although I don't mean to sound so negative - I like it a lot and it's extremely well-done.
Royal Pains - I love this show but missed the third season, so I'm catching up before it comes back next month. The third season is rather darker than the earlier ones, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It also occurred to me while watching yesterday that USA shows are basically the only things that make hot weather look appealing to me. Good thing they're on almost every night this summer.
On the list... Sherlock, The Killing, The Borgias
Veep, "Nicknames (EP105)" - I'm still loving this - it's probably my favorite of the HBO Sunday night shows - and Jonah and Dan's faux-bromance was my favorite thing last night, as they're my two favorite characters. I'm impressed with the line this show as walked between combining real-feeling moments with humor while not being so ridiculous that it's all just a joke.
Girls, "The Return (EP106)" - This was the first episode that didn't take place in New York and didn't really include the girls other than Hannah, so I was a little worried that it wouldn't be as engaging, but it more than made up for the lack of main characters with the way it handled Hannah's trip home to Michigan. It was pitch-perfect, from Hannah's instant reversion to the emotional age of 12 when she entered her parents' house to her interactions with former classmates to the ridiculous benefit event.
Catching Up: The Killing, "The Cage (EP102)" - I know I'm really late to the party, but this show is fascinating so far. I'm hoping that knowing everyone's frustration with how the first season ended - and having season 2 on the TiVo already - will mean I don't wind up hating it.
Game of Thrones - I like this but don't find it as compelling as a lot of my friends do, so I hadn't watched most of this season until I decided to catch up yesterday. I think I like it on an intellectual level but don't find it emotionally engaging. I'm not sure whether I'd feel this way no matter what or whether it has to do with having read the book already. Although I don't mean to sound so negative - I like it a lot and it's extremely well-done.
Royal Pains - I love this show but missed the third season, so I'm catching up before it comes back next month. The third season is rather darker than the earlier ones, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It also occurred to me while watching yesterday that USA shows are basically the only things that make hot weather look appealing to me. Good thing they're on almost every night this summer.
On the list... Sherlock, The Killing, The Borgias
Sunday, May 20, 2012
What I Watched: Common Law, Girls, Scandal
Live+7: Common Law, "Ride-Along (EP102)" - So far, at least, I don't think this show is quite at the level of White Collar or Burn Notice, but this episode was thoroughly enjoyable, and after two episodes I'm definitely into it enough to keep watching. The one thing I'm worried about is that the therapy bit will get annoying and repetitive after a while. It was a good hook for the show, but I'm not necessarily sure how long they can keep it up (or keep it onscreen, at least).
Catching up: Girls - I hadn't watched this since the premiere, and while I wasn't sure whether I'd like it from that episode, I definitely like it after watching the subsequent ones. The writing is strong, and the characters all feel like slightly exaggerated versions of people I know. That said, I understand why it's certainly not for everyone. It definitely feels like it has niche appeal.
Scandal - I hadn't watched this one since the premiere either, but I watched the rest of the season yesterday and got completely addicted. It's the perfect blend of political machinations, soapy personal stuff, and a little mystery solving, and the cast is incredible, especially Josh Malina, Kate Burton, and Tony Goldwyn. And really, you can keep all the paranormal love stories and whatever - apparently President/fixer is the kind of forbidden romance I can get behind. This ended with quite a cliffhanger, though I'm not as invested in Quinn's mystery as in the political stuff, and I'm so glad it's coming back in the fall.
Catching up: Girls - I hadn't watched this since the premiere, and while I wasn't sure whether I'd like it from that episode, I definitely like it after watching the subsequent ones. The writing is strong, and the characters all feel like slightly exaggerated versions of people I know. That said, I understand why it's certainly not for everyone. It definitely feels like it has niche appeal.
Scandal - I hadn't watched this one since the premiere either, but I watched the rest of the season yesterday and got completely addicted. It's the perfect blend of political machinations, soapy personal stuff, and a little mystery solving, and the cast is incredible, especially Josh Malina, Kate Burton, and Tony Goldwyn. And really, you can keep all the paranormal love stories and whatever - apparently President/fixer is the kind of forbidden romance I can get behind. This ended with quite a cliffhanger, though I'm not as invested in Quinn's mystery as in the political stuff, and I'm so glad it's coming back in the fall.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Morning Coffee (5/9/12)
It's . . . Wednesday? Yeah. This week may actually kill me.
Ugh. North Carolina.
Pulitzer entries != Pulitzer nominations, Jonah Goldberg.
Sherlock personality quiz! I'm Sherlock, apparently. Huh.
Alex and Maia Shibutani attend a state dinner, remain adorable.
Lena Dunham Responds to Why HBO’s ‘Girls’ Is So White. That's . . . a pretty good response, really.
Ugh. North Carolina.
Pulitzer entries != Pulitzer nominations, Jonah Goldberg.
Sherlock personality quiz! I'm Sherlock, apparently. Huh.
Alex and Maia Shibutani attend a state dinner, remain adorable.
Lena Dunham Responds to Why HBO’s ‘Girls’ Is So White. That's . . . a pretty good response, really.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
I know you want to read another post about #Girls.
Since everyone else in the world is talking about Girls, I figured I might as well throw in my two cents. On the one hand, I thought it was an absolutely pitch-perfect representation of (a subset of) people from roughly my generation and socioeconomic background. Virtually every line seemed right on, seemed to be something I have actually heard someone say.* So that made me say "This is amazing and I must watch it." On the other hand, the people it so realistically portrays are ones who often drive me completely nuts in real life, so whether I'll be able to keep watching it without being wholly annoyed by the characters is an open question. But I'm willing to give it a chance.
A lot of the discussion about this seems to be happening in extremes - "They're amazing!" "They're awful!" "They're just like me!" "Not everyone is like this!" - and I think that sort of willfully misses the point. Hannah isn't a hero, but I don't think the show tries to claim she is. And I don't think she's a villain either. As someone who insisted on moving out and supporting herself as quickly as possible when many of her peers were not,** I definitely sympathize with the "JUST GET A JOB" contingent, but it's also true that we grew up being told that we were different, that we were special, that we could do anything we wanted and should follow our dreams regardless of dumb stuff like money. Some of us, you know, got over that, and some kept buying into it. (My favorite quote from Josh Charles's character on The Good Wife comes to mind: "What happened to work? Not everybody can pursue their dreams. Someone has to work.") For what it's worth, I thought Hannah continuing to take her parents' money while she had an unpaid internship was much less morally objectionable than her parents cutting her off with no notice. Two months or something, fine, but no warning? She could lose her apartment! It could seriously mess up her credit rating! It just didn't seem like a constructive step toward actually getting her to the point of successfully supporting herself in the long run.
It also seems that the money-related things are taking up most of the air in the discussion, but while I was yelling "Just go get a job in a store! That's what I did!" at the screen for a lot of that, so much of the other stuff, about friendships and relationships and jobs, seemed very true and possibly more universal - by which I mean universal to this specific demographic, not universal to everyone. The self-delusional faux-intellectual nonsense, the friends we don't actually like, the sketchily-defined romantic and sexual relationships . . . that was all done really well. "Joy Lin knows Photoshop" is one of the most perfect lines I've heard in a while. So I'm hoping that in future episodes the show focuses less on the one specific issue of parental support and continues to explore all these other things as well.
I don't have the time or energy to get into the whole question of privilege right now, except to say: Yes, the main characters are from privileged backgrounds. But most shows on TV are about characters who are at least upper middle class, or even unquestionably rich (Bones, Castle, and Gossip Girl come to mind there), and while I'm not saying this shouldn't be discussed in general, I'm not sure why people are making an issue of it in Girls specifically. Also: I've always assumed that TV that is generally aspirational draws bigger audiences, or in other words, people like to watch people in nice clothes and pretty houses. Again, not saying this is good, but if I were to complain about this, Girls is not where I would start.
* Well, okay, I'm not getting into questions of apartment size/what New York is really like/etc. Just talking about the general emotional/life stuff.
** And fine: My phone is still on my parents' family plan. So the line about that cracked me up.
A lot of the discussion about this seems to be happening in extremes - "They're amazing!" "They're awful!" "They're just like me!" "Not everyone is like this!" - and I think that sort of willfully misses the point. Hannah isn't a hero, but I don't think the show tries to claim she is. And I don't think she's a villain either. As someone who insisted on moving out and supporting herself as quickly as possible when many of her peers were not,** I definitely sympathize with the "JUST GET A JOB" contingent, but it's also true that we grew up being told that we were different, that we were special, that we could do anything we wanted and should follow our dreams regardless of dumb stuff like money. Some of us, you know, got over that, and some kept buying into it. (My favorite quote from Josh Charles's character on The Good Wife comes to mind: "What happened to work? Not everybody can pursue their dreams. Someone has to work.") For what it's worth, I thought Hannah continuing to take her parents' money while she had an unpaid internship was much less morally objectionable than her parents cutting her off with no notice. Two months or something, fine, but no warning? She could lose her apartment! It could seriously mess up her credit rating! It just didn't seem like a constructive step toward actually getting her to the point of successfully supporting herself in the long run.
It also seems that the money-related things are taking up most of the air in the discussion, but while I was yelling "Just go get a job in a store! That's what I did!" at the screen for a lot of that, so much of the other stuff, about friendships and relationships and jobs, seemed very true and possibly more universal - by which I mean universal to this specific demographic, not universal to everyone. The self-delusional faux-intellectual nonsense, the friends we don't actually like, the sketchily-defined romantic and sexual relationships . . . that was all done really well. "Joy Lin knows Photoshop" is one of the most perfect lines I've heard in a while. So I'm hoping that in future episodes the show focuses less on the one specific issue of parental support and continues to explore all these other things as well.
I don't have the time or energy to get into the whole question of privilege right now, except to say: Yes, the main characters are from privileged backgrounds. But most shows on TV are about characters who are at least upper middle class, or even unquestionably rich (Bones, Castle, and Gossip Girl come to mind there), and while I'm not saying this shouldn't be discussed in general, I'm not sure why people are making an issue of it in Girls specifically. Also: I've always assumed that TV that is generally aspirational draws bigger audiences, or in other words, people like to watch people in nice clothes and pretty houses. Again, not saying this is good, but if I were to complain about this, Girls is not where I would start.
* Well, okay, I'm not getting into questions of apartment size/what New York is really like/etc. Just talking about the general emotional/life stuff.
** And fine: My phone is still on my parents' family plan. So the line about that cracked me up.
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